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Blend Along a Path in Illustrator
When blending from one object to another in Illustrator, you can make the blend follow an existing path by selecting both the blend and the path and choosing Object > Blend > Replace Spine. You can also use this trick to replace the spine in any blend with a new path. To directly edit the spine, [...]
Continue reading...Live Paint Colors Overlaps
17. October 2009
The Live Paint feature in Illustrator lets you apply a color to the area created by the overlap of two shapes — if you then move or edit the original shapes, the overlap remains colored. To use it, just select both shapes with the Selection tool, select the Live Paint Bucket tool, choose a color, and [...]
Continue reading...Select Your Type
11. June 2009
Say you want to make your text easily selectable for future edits, what are your options? If you use paragraph or character styles, then you can simply edit the style to make the changes. Another option is to put all of the text on its own layer — if you’re using different type sizes, use sub [...]
Continue reading...Tear-Off Strip
29. January 2009
In case you haven’t noticed the little strip at the end of the tool sets in the Toolbox, it allows you to create mini-panels of those tool sets. Just click-and-hold on the tool to open the set of tools, then release your mouse button while hovering over the strip. You can make multiple copies of the [...]
Continue reading...Pantone Libraries
29. January 2009
The Pantone Color Bridge libraries are the newer replacements for the older Solid-to-Process guides and the Solid-to-RGB guides. However, they’re not clearly marked. To access these libraries, go to the flyout menu of the Swatches panel and choose Open Swatch Library > Color Books. The new guides installed are: ED, PC, and UP. PC is for process-coated [...]
Continue reading...Smart Objects in Photoshop
21. January 2009
If you place Illustrator art in Photoshop — via Place or cut-and-paste — you can place it as a smart object. (With Place, this happens automatically.) This gives you the ability to resize the art and re-rasterize at the current document’s resolution, no matter what size you make it. And if you increase the resolution of [...]
Continue reading...Image Maps for Web Graphics
21. January 2009
Want to create an image map in Illustrator? Then use the Attributes panel. Create the rectangle or polygon (using the Pen tool), and color the selection area if desired or set the Fill/Stroke to “None.” Now with the object selected, set the Image Map area in the Attributes panel and type in the URL. When you “Save [...]
Continue reading...What are Round Icons?
21. January 2009
Q: What are the little round icons on each layer in the Layers panel used for? A: When you click on the icon (often referred to as the Target icon), you can place any effect (including a layer-based fill or stroke setting) on every object in a layer at once, rather than on a per-object basis. [...]
Continue reading...Why Does My Color Change?
21. January 2009
Q: Why does my color change when I use “Save for Web & Devices?” A: Web graphics default to sRGB, which has a more limited color range than Adobe RGB. Most likely, your RGB color-management settings (Edit > Color Settings) are set to Adobe RGB or other broader-range setting. When you save for the Web, the [...]
Continue reading...Document Raster Settings
21. January 2009
As a rule, you should use effects rather than filters (unless you have a good reason to do otherwise). That’s because filters become permanent when you use them (not counting undos). On the other hand, effects can be edited any time in the future. Plus, effects are affected by the Effect > Document Raster Effects Settings [...]
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Apple News 
Details about the iPad
Apple’s new page detailing all the uber delicious iPad features can be found here. I want one now!
Antiglare Display Option For 15-inch MacBook Pro Now Available
If you prefer a display with antiglare coating for a matte rather than glossy viewing experience, an antiglare display is now available as a configure-to-order option on all 15-inch MacBook Pro models. This display has a silver aluminum bezel, which is the same as the 17-inch antiglare MacBook Pro display.Google CEO Schmidt leaves Apple board
In a statement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs cited potential conflicts of interest in explaining Schmidt’s resignation.
“Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings,” he said.
Apple is racing to offer a portable tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a new revolution.
via Financial Times.
30. November 2009
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