Ivan's blog

Just simple cosmetics for all the Terminal users out there. Open Terminal and drag an image into a window while holding down the Alt (Option) key.

I was so happy with our new soon to be launched CreativeBits logo and tagline: "Switch on the right side of your brain".

And than I find this site! So, now going back to the drawing board. It's not like I've seen that site before, because than I could at least blame it on my subconscious. Even their color scheme is the same as it was for CreativeBits v2. Arrrgh!

If you don't have one already don't wait any longer. It's the greatest email service around. You can't beat the interface and it's very reliable. Only SpyMac can compete with the 1GB space. For a free invite email me.

Click for commentary and all the tools you need for gMail.

Just recently i started using my Desktop and Finder in a different way and it works very well for me.

I always used the Desktop as a temporary folder. I drag images and save files there if no specific directory is present for the job. Screenshots and downloads end up there as well.

In photoshop the measuring tool (I) has a hidden feature. Drag one measuring line and than press Alt (Option) to drag a second one from one of the ends of the first one and measure a second dimension. In the info palette you will be able to read the two dimensions as well as the angle between the two lines.

In a related post, which is btw the very first post on CB, you can read how to fix your horizons with the help of the measuring tool.

You probably already know about the simple Apple-Click (Cmd-Click) for direct layer selection and Ctrl-Click features of the Move tool (V). However as one of our readers Fabio from Rotterdam pointed out to me in an email, you can also link the layers as simply.

Hold the Command key to prevent the Crop tool from snapping to the edge of your document. Turn on full screen mode (by typing "F") and then pull the cropping rectangle beyond the edge of your image to add space to your document (it will be filled with the current background color).

Thanks Craig!

When you have several images open in PS you can scroll around them all at once if you press Shift-Space (or Shift and Hand tool). Great tool for small screens and especially useful if you are working on a big size document and you open a new window to work on a piece of it at 100%, but you prefer to see the whole document in the background scrolling in sync with your smaller window.

Did you know that if the scrollbars are present you can press and hold Apple-Alt (Cmd-Option) to drag the contents of a Finder window as if it was a PS document? Can't tell in what situation would you find it useful though. :)

Fonts designed for print in small sizes don't look good on computer screens. Edges are blurry and details are lost. This is because the monitors in use today have much smaller resolutions than the printers.

Pixel fonts follow the pixel grid of the screen enabling a much cleaner look on screen. Each pixel font is designed for a specific number of pixels in height and it's always indicated with the font. You should only use your bitmap font at that specific size.