Various Tips Photoshop/Design

[Ammar Midani]

Tips on personal approach:
- You don?t have to have one style, there maybe various styles you wanna dig. On the other hand if you wanna have you own style, you should think of an area which nobody reached, and you got to have your own muses. Don?t think a new style will come soon, you have to try hard for it, just do what you have in your head.

- Don?t get lazy with your style (doing style abuse), always try to hit new grounds.

On a self-promotion side,
- Have a web site with your gallery shown.
- Use the File/ Automate / Web photo gallery in Photoshop
- Some specialized software like Extensis Portfolio, or even Photoshop Album
- Have a physical portfolio of your best work.

Tips on educational edge:
- Have an official lessons method like classroom in a book series.
- Change your outline whenever you read a book or a magazine.
- Make a beginners, advanced, special need outlines


Tips on getting inspired:
- If can?t generate any thing (having a block), when this occur go out don?t stuck in the office/house. Designers are known of being isolated.
- Books
- Magazines
- The Internet
- TV
- Galleries
- Try to dig every little feature in Photoshop
- Have a sketchbook whenever you go ( and your digital camera if possible)

Customizing your Photoshop:
- Get full benefit of the tool presets
- Have various tasks workspaces, and save them.
- Create custom brushes
- Create custom styles
- Create custom patterns


- Use the Window/Documents/ New Window command to view changes you are making to the zoomed one and get the new window to 100%, so you see what is going on with the whole composite.

- Alt (option) double-click an image inside the file browser to open the image without closing the file browser.


Ammar

[Erik]

Ahhh...cher ma?tre...

You say it all...

Practical details perhaps, but oh so true!!!

[C9Mouse]

Ahh, tr?s bon, Ammar!

Indeed, recently I had to step back and asses my own personal style. I was strung out doing web sites and coding work and not at all happy. Fortunately, a good friend of mine from the West Coast (ah, thank God for friends!) suggested that I return to my artistic roots, which of course is cartooning.

I always wanted to do more than cartooning, but by denying my own natural born talent I was making myself miserable. So I returned to these childhood roots of pencil and paper, eraser dust and T-squares, and rediscovered the kind of contentment you are speaking of, Ammar.

It is indeed a wonderous feeling to strive and to break new ground. Just this year I started my first portfolio site - not web design or coding - but straight illustration work, and I must say I've never been happier.

As my favorite author Stephen King once said, "Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work."

Wise words, my friend. Thank you.

thanks!

looking at the galleries of others inspires me most... not so much to copy ideas... i just feel good when i look at good art... always makes me want to grab photoshop

[Ammar Midani]

Glad you found your way C9Mouse.

Thanks.


Ammar

[theKeeper]

Good stuff Ammar, thanks for posting buddy.
Everyone needs to be "reminded" of the practical approach now and again.

And speaking of being REMINDED...

Chester and Doug... please stop taking topics off course everytime you post a reply to them. Try to address the "post", not the "poster".

Thank you.

[Joy Foraker]

Good tips Ammaro Thanks

Getting away from it all with the digital camera really works for me Sometimes the pictures I like the best are the ones I wasn't "going" for anything, I just snapped without worrying about subject, composition or color.

Joyful

[tallat amhfooz]

ur absoultely right special u talking about sketch book or digitall camera its very essential of designer or painters too.. and i also thanks about all u wriet u remind me again next time i obay this..
tahnks alot..
may i call u guru if u dont mind
take care