Archive for the 'software' Category

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FreeHand & Illustrator Comparison Video Series By Illustrator Garth Bruner

Published on January 18, 2008 in productivity and software. 0 Comments Tags: Adobe, Adobe Illustrator, art, artist, cartoon, FreeHand, illustrator, Mac, productivity, screen capture, software, technique, vector, video.

After various random rounds on Twitter lamenting the demise of Macromedia Freehand, cartoon-style illustratorÂ Garth BrunerÂ decided to do something about it. He’s started posting an ongoingÂ series of YouTube video screencasts demonstrating key differences between Freehand and Adobe Illustrator. He highlights how he created vector art in Freehand, then jumps over to Illustrator to attempt the same task, comparing tools, techniques and workflow.

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11+ Excellent Mac OS X applications for a phenomenal price: MacHeist 2

Published on January 15, 2008 in software and tools. 0 Comments Tags: Apple, art, discount, Mac, Mac OS X, OS X, Photoshop, shareware, software.

As you may have noticed on this blog, I am a bit of a software junkie, particularly shareware/freeware. I love the ingenious functionality some of these independent developers bring to OS X, and also the direct access you have to the creators of the software.

MacHeist 2Â is, as the name implies, a followup to an extremelyÂ Mac-only discount shareware software bundleÂ promotion that debuted in the winter of 2007. Until January 23, 2008 at midnight, for $49 you can snag $370 worth of quality software.Â Last year’s apps were decent, this year’s apps are outstanding. My only regret is that I already own most of the apps that I would want out of the bundle!Â Â

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Even More CS3 & 10.5 Leopard Issues: Photoshop CS3

Published on January 15, 2008 in software. 0 Comments Tags: 10.5, Adobe, Adobe Photoshop, art, Creative Suite, CS3, Leopard, Mac, Mac OS X, OS X, Photoshop.

I just stumbled across some more Creative Suite 3 issues on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, on theÂ Adobe support site Photoshop page. Supposedly this will be fixed by an OS X update, not an Adobe update (and Adobe and Apple are working together on this issue).

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Essential Adobe Illustrator Plug-in: Select Menu

Published on January 13, 2008 in productivity, software and tools. 0 Comments Tags: Adobe, Adobe Illustrator, art, CS3, free, freeware, illustrator, Mac, plugin, productivity, software, tool, vector.

A plugin that I always forget to tout, since the functionality it provides seems so intrinsic to Illustrator once it’s installed, I forget it’s a third-party enhancement.

Select Menu for Adobe Illustrator (Mac and Windows, free) from Graffix Software is available for every version of Illustrator from 8 on up to CS3. It adds additional selectable items under the Select -> Objects menu.

This plugin really comes in handy at the production stage of prepping your art, allowing you to find all sorts of items that you need to preflight. It especially comes in handy after flattening transparency, such as when you export art to an older version of Illustrator. I find lots of klunky and open paths all over the place after flattening transparency, and I couldn’t imagine how much of a pain in the neck it would be to clean up art without Select Menu.

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