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Adobe today announced the first public preview release of Adobe Edge, a new HTML5 web motion and interaction design tool that allows web designers to bring animation, similar to that created in Flash Professional, to websites using standards likes HTML, JavaScript and CSS. Because of rapid changes around HTML5, Adobe is adopting an open development methodology for Adobe Edge and is releasing the software on the Adobe Labs site much earlier than normal in the development process – before it even reaches beta – in order to allow user feedback to help shape the final product. While in public preview, Adobe Edge will be a no-charge download that web designers are encouraged to explore and provide feedback on, to help shape future preview releases. To download the software, visit www.labs.adobe.com. Adobe Edge, first shown at Adobe MAX 2010, is ideal for designers who want an efficient way to leverage Web standards like HTML to create Web content with motion and transitions. Adobe Edge is being designed as a fast and lightweight professional-grade tool that complements Adobe’s existing Web tools, such as Dreamweave CS5.5, Flash Professional CS5.5 and Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 software. The Adobe Edge preview works natively with HTML. It enables users to add motion to existing HTML documents without hampering design integrity of CSS-based layouts, and it also enables users to easily create visually rich content from scratch, using familiar drawing tools that produce HTML elements styled with CSS3. Users can import standard Web graphics assets such as SVG, PNG, JPG and GIF files and style them using CSS3. The design stage utilizes WebKit to enable design, preview and manipulation of content with incredible fidelity. The innovative timeline feature is both familiar for creative professionals and breaks new ground in animation productivity to enable users to define and customize motion applied to HTML elements with extreme precision. Content created with Edge is designed to work on modern browsers including those on Android, BlackBerry Playbook, iOS , HP webOS and other smartphone mobile devices as well as Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer 9. For more information including system requirements, visit www.adobe.com/go/edgepreview. (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

Optics geek and avid photographer David Huckabay sent us the infographic below along with this note: Not many people understand the science behind a diopter and how it really works. So I have created this easy to read "Infographic" that I think can be very helpful to photographers having problems with manual focus. (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

I really like these messy paint textures from Bittbox. Here's the story: This week I’ve got some really cool dried paint textures from a local welding shop. Someone decided to use a giant piece of plex for a painting palette. I found it in in a back corner of a shop and snapped some images. (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

You can find a complete list of known issues with Adobe products running on Mac OS 10.7 Lion. Among them are some issues with Photoshop in regard to droplets. For that issue, read Droplets don't work | Photoshop CS5, CS4, CS3 | Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). For everything else, read Known Issues with Adobe products on Mac OS 10.7 Lion. (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

You don't have to settle for the ordinary, even when it comes to creating a starburst in Illustrator. In fact, this week Deke shows you two techniques for giving your stellar compositions a customized effect in this single movie. In the first example, you'll start with a simple star shape path, then use such unintuitively named features as Roughen and Pucker, in order to create a celestial body to contend with. And even better, these are dynamic effects you can assess and adjust to your own taste: In the second example, Deke shows a less adjustable—but no less effective—means of customizing the star shape he used in last week’s technique. By using a much more intuitively named feature, the Crystallize tool, you can make iterations of your original path, adjust the opacity, and end up with this effect: Either way, you’ll end up with a couple of techniques in your bag of star-based tricks that allow you to take your celestial creations to new heights. Deke's Techniques is taught by computer graphics guru Deke McClelland, and presented in his signature step-by-step style. The intent is to reveal how various Photoshop and Illustrator features can be combined and leveraged in real-world examples so that they can be applied to creative projects right away. Click here to see all the free clips from this series at lynda.com. You can get a free 7-day trial to the lynda.com Online Training Library. The trial membership entitles you to 7 days of access to all 986 courses in the lynda.com Online Training Library for free. Click sign up on the subscription plan of your choice to get started. After your free 7-day trial period, you will be automatically upgraded to the membership selected, unless you cancel before your trial is up. A credit card is required to ensure uninterrupted access to lynda.com, if you choose to remain a member after your free trial ends. There is no long-term commitment required, and you can cancel any time. After signing up for the free 7-day trial to the lynda.com Online Training Library you'll gain access to over 59,000 video tutorials instantly. Subscriptions to the lynda.com Online Training Library provide anytime access to tens of thousands of video tutorials covering Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, web design, digital imaging, 3D, digital video, animation, and many other topics. View free video clips. (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

As a graphic designer, you can never be sure of what your next project will entail. Here's an interesting story from Iconwatch that had me pondering what it would be like creating the virtual grocery products with Photoshop: Home plus, a Korean retail chain, broke ground in mobile marketing using a promotional campaign that created a virtual grocery store in a South Korean subway station. Aiming to boost online sales, Home plus duplicated the look of product-packed grocery store shelves, and consumers shopped by scanning QR codes on the "products" with their smartphones. The scanned items were placed in a virtual cart, and after the consumer checked out, Home plus delivered the order to the consumer’s home. (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

At Photoshop Daily you can read a nice simple tutorial on how to create a Lomo Effect In Photoshop. From the intro: Although we work within the digital realm, there is lots of inspiration to be found by looking at traditional photographic effects. Whether it’s a processing style or a camera type, paying homage to retro effects can be a great way to get more from your images. Here we look at a quick and easy way to replicate the lomo (or lomography) style. Traditionally created with a lomography camera, the style has come to be recognised for its strong, contrasting colours and vignette corners. You can still buy lomo cameras relatively cheaply but it’s cheaper still to create the effect in Photoshop! Here’s how it is done... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

From Bittbox, a nice set of free watercolor Photoshop brushes: This is a set of watercolor brushes that measure 2500px on the long side, big enough for nearly all of your projects. Try layering a few of the brushes on top of each other to gain a natural look and feel. Enjoy! (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

No real theme this time, just another nice collection of random free textures from BittBox. Make sure you read below on how to get the high res versions! (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

Here is lesson 4 from Power User Essentials from the Total Training Photoshop CS5 lessons: Batch Processing Images. (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com)

NYC may not have as many fake Apple stores as China, but it has a few and they've caught the eye of Apple. Apple has executed several seizure warrants and removed fake goods that carry the Apple logo or name from these stores. A trademark infringement lawsuit has halted sales of the alleged knockoffs while a District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto considers the case. Apple has asked that one store, known as Apple Story, change its name to avoid confusion with Apple's retail chain. The Cupertino company is also asking for monetary damages and a vendor list so it can trace back the origin of these counterfeit goods.

[Via Engadget; image from f-paper]

Apple cracks down on counterfeit products being sold in NYC originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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creativebitsorg: 3D Android Phones — How will 3D affect your work? http://j.mp/qeEWFQ

Apple is prepping its Asian suppliers to begin production of the next generation iPad in October, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Cupertino company has placed orders for about 1.5 million iPad 3 tablets. Apple is targeting a launch in early 2012 which fits in perfectly with the company's current yearly upgrade schedule. Apple is reportedly ordering 9.7-inch displays with a resolution of 2048 x 1536, increasing the 1024 x 768 resolution of the current iPad and iPad 2 display. Foxconn is the assembler of the iPad and has not commented on its future plans. Apple's Beijing spokeswoman Carolyn Wu also declined to comment.

Wall Street Journal suggests higher-resolution iPad next year originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Digital artists will once again compete live in 12 cities, in rounds that each have a unique creative brief....

Dear Aunt TUAW,

Should I buy a Wi-Fi iPad or a 3G model? I need to know! Please help me choose!

Your loving niece,

Meg

Dear Meg,

Auntie's helped other nieces and nephews with this same dilemma and it always seems to boil down to this: do you own an iPhone?

If not, spring for the 3G. Ubiquitous computing is what really makes iOS sparkle. You won't be sorry you sprung for the 3G experience. Auntie's dad swears by it.

At the same time, the Wi-Fi is usually enough for most iPhone owners. Wi-Fi units are lighter and cheaper. If you need to get work done, there's the iPhone hotspot service if you can't get access near a Coffee House.

The 3G isn't just about getting online. Location-based services make so many apps compelling. So if you can't get those on your phone, be sure to grab them for an iPad.

Yes, there are a few edge cases here -- mostly surrounding grandfathered unlimited plans that can't be used with hotspot service. (Just wait until September/October. Auntie's betting that those unlimited plans are about to drop like flies.) But Auntie's advice holds. If you have connectivity and GPS on your phone, you probably can live without it on your iPad.

Hugs,

Auntie T.

Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me choose between a Wi-Fi and 3G iPad originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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creativebitsorg: Awesome new logo award submission! Beaumonde | Brands of the World™ http://j.mp/oli0zz

Welcome to iPhone 101, the series that explains the basics of iPhone operation. This time, its enabling caps lock.

It always astounds me how many iPhone users don't know how to enable caps lock while typing, not just newcomers. Just the other day I was chatting with a friend who's had an iPhone for almost a year. I suddenly had to send a quick text message and my friend was bewildered to see me type some of that message in all-capital letters without having to repeatedly hit the shift key for every letter in capital I typed.

Well, to relieve your curiosity and sheer frustration, here's how to type in caps lock on the iPhone keyboard. Simply double tap the shift key. That's it! The shift key will turn blue, and everything you type will be in capital letters. To exit this mode, simply tap the shift key again.

Actually, his confusion is understandable. A QWERTY keyboard has a shift key and a caps lock key, but the iPhone's keyboard merges the two keys into one. Holding a typical shift key will produce a series of capital letters. Yet, holding many of the iOS keys produces a pop-up menu of special characters, symbols and accents. Except for the iOS shift key; holding that down simply registers a single tap. A long, long, tap.

Well, regardless of why, now you know how. And if you already knew how, you might know someone who doesn't. Make their day and share this simple, effective iPhone 101 tip. Bonus: it works the same way on the iPad and the iPod touch.

iPhone 101: How to turn caps lock on originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Converse’s latest group of unlikely musical collaborators is perhaps the brand’s strangest since it started producing its “Three Artists, One Song” series in 2008. For the brand’s latest track, “I’m a Goner,” Converse brought together viral rap sensation Soulja Boy, hard-partying hard rocker Andrew W.K. and hip Williamsburg-based punk-pop duo Matt and Kim.

The new track (which you can stream below) leans a bit more laid-back hip-hop than frenetic fast-tempo rock, and it may set the record for the slowest song that Matt and Kim have ever recorded. But, hey, this is more about the experiment than results, and its always exciting to hear how three very different artists can come together to make musical harmony.

The music video for “I’m a Goner” will debut on Sunday at 1:30 EST on MTV2. And, just because it’s Friday and I feel like sharing, did you know that Andrew W.K. isn’t actually a real person, or something like that? Read the extremely strange conspiracy theory here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

When logging in to an account on Lion the login items as well as any applications being resumed get launched right away; in my case, this happens before the system has had a chance to unlock the external encrypted disk that some of these programs need access to, resulting in various issues from unwanted dialog boxes to enter my passphrase to unlock the disk to the programs terminating. For the apps that are launched as a startup item at least there is a work around.

I'm running Lion on a machine with a small internal SSD drive for the OS and applications and a large external drive that holds data such as the iPhoto and iTunes libraries as well as my Dropbox folder. I chose to encrypt the external drive and have my keychain remember the password so that it is always available to me, however I've run into a real annoyance: When I first log in Dropbox is launched (it is a startup item) before the system has had a chance to unlock the external disk housing the dropbox ...

Mission Control includes keyboard shortcuts for each space which use the Control key (^) and Control+Option (^ ⌥). These keys can conflict with quite a few high end apps which use many keyboard shortcuts, and turning them off isn't so obvious.

In Spaces (Now 'Desktops,' which I suppose is more accurate) desktops numbered 1-10 are defined by Control+(1-0) and desktops 11-16 by Control+Option+(1-6). These are useful to know if you regularly use lots of spaces, and are easy to remember.

You can easily turn off ALL Mission Control shortcuts in System Preferences, but the Control Left-right keys are still quite useful, and don't conflict with many apps.

The trick is to have all the desktops active BEFORE you try to edit keyboard shortcuts if you want to edit just the ones for the desktops.

• To turn off just the keys for each Space, first go into Mission Control.
• Now you'll need to add the maximum of 16 desktops to remove all the ke ...