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The 10 Most Popular Creative Tips So Far.

Today marks our 200th straight Monday publishing this weekly tips email newsletter. Whew! It’s been a lot of work, and a lot of fun. We’d like to send a big thank you to all our readers who have helped make this publication a huge success. Check out some of the most visited tips over the […]
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May 19, 2008
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Build an Acrobat PDF Slideshow.

Say you must produce a looping slideshow of images for a client’s tradeshow booth — but you don’t have many technical details. You know the images will be displayed on a HDTV connected to a Windows laptop. You don’t know what software will be installed, or what image formats that laptop might support. Luckily, you […]
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May 12, 2008
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Proof your email designs in different email clients.

Seasoned graphic designers wouldn’t dream of sending a print project to press without first approving an accurate proof. Your client’s email marketing campaign should be no different. You need to be sure you know what your design looks like on the different email clients your readers might be using. Unless you have a studio filled […]
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April 28, 2008
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Ted Padova’s 101 PDF Forms Tips.

We’ve been mining for Acrobat tips in preparation for Jason Hoppe’s upcoming workshop on Building PDF Forms. This week, we’d like to link to the mother lode of PDF Forms tips: 101 PDF Forms Tips.pdf Ted Padova, author of the Acrobat Bible, has created this free 55-page document that covers some of his most frequent […]
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April 21, 2008
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Create a QuickTime Video Landing Page.

Seattle designer Darlin Gray emailed friends and colleagues links to a short video welcoming them to her new website. What makes this tip-worthy is the simple HTML trick that automatically forwards web visitors to her main website after the video introduction is complete. See her example at: Video Welcome Page: Darlin’s Place Interested in trying […]
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April 14, 2008
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Adobe Lightroom Basics. Free PDF.

Last week, our Adobe trainer, Jason Hoppe, led a fast-paced overview of Adobe Lightroom. This was a lot of fun — and for this week’s creative tip, we’ve posted a free PDF of the 8-page workshop booklet you can download and share: Lightroom Basics.pdf It still amazes me that Jason can crank out a new […]
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April 7, 2008
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Turn Photoshop Layers On/Off in InDesign.

InDesign lets you control the visibility of layers in your placed Photoshop graphics. That can be pretty handy when you find yourself designing a series of related ads that require minor changes to the same image. In InDesign, select a placed Photoshop graphic and choose Object > Object Layer Options. This gives you a dialog box […]
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March 24, 2008
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Proofreading Marks Cheat Sheet.

Just because most of your work is done on the computer screen doesn’t mean marking up hard copy is obsolete. Print out a copy of this proofreading cheat sheet and post it near your desk. The Chicago Manual of Style Online: Proofreading The Chicago Manual of Style started in the 1890s as a single sheet […]
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March 17, 2008
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The Magic Right-Indent Tab.

Right-Indent-Tab.gif

Here is another quick-but-useful tip for InDesign and QuarkXpress. When you need to set a tab that aligns to the right edge of your text box, don’t waste your time fumbling with manual tab stops. Both InDesign and QuarkXPress have a hidden feature that makes this easy. Just remember these shortcut keys:

InDesign: Shift-Tab
QuarkXPress: Option-Tab

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March 10, 2008
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xScope is an Ideal Tool for Web Designers.

xScope-Animated.gif

xScope ($27) is a great utility for Mac-based web and UX (user experience) designers. It provides a number of floating tools for measuring, aligning, and inspecting on-screen graphics.

xScope

You have to play with xScope to get a sense of how helpful it is. It has on-screen rulers, floating guides, and a nicely designed screen overlay that shows the usable space for any screen (including new templates for the iPhone). My favorite feature is a new dimensions tool (shown above), which instantly identifies the pixel dimensions of anything on your screen. Link to the movie below for a better sense of how cool this feature is:

Movie: xScope Dimensions Tool

Download a free trial of xScope and give it a spin.

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March 3, 2008
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