Awesomely Active Web Design, Chicago Web Designers

Tuesday, November 8th

An Ode to the Bulleted List - or

How to Trick Non-Readers into Reading

category: writing

I've been writing a lot recently. As a frequent wordsmith, I spend a lot of time cobbling words together in support of all kinds of stuff. I like to think that my various audiences read everything I write with bated breath, but, not being an idiot, I know it isn't so.
Most people are too lazy to read anything. I have spent hours sweating over all kinds of prose only to discover that the people for whom I wrote it haven't bothered to read it. That realization is frustration city, let me tell you. Why should I waste my time writing sentences that no one will read?

She said on 11.08.05 @ 05:38 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Thursday, November 3rd

Who was Out There in October? - or

Visitor Platforms, Browsers, and interests in October

category: hardware, software, trends

October's vistor platforms have been:

Windows 95.6 %
Unknown 2.1 %
Macintosh 1.8%
Linux 0.2%

October's vistor browsers have been:

MS Internet Explorer 91.5 %
Firefox 4.2 %
unknown 1.8%
Safari 1.0 %
Netscape 0.5 %
Mozilla 0.5 %
Opera 0.1 %

He said on 11.03.05 @ 11:51 AM CST [entry page] is printer friendly

Tuesday, October 25th

a meditation on baseball heroes - or

More Sox in the World Series

category: trends

I watched the first two games of the World Series. It was more than a thrill to watch a Chicago team do something other than fall on their faces. Chicago is deservedly famous for teams that screw up at the eleventh hour. I was sadly sure the Sox would screw up somehow, but they didn't.

Things looked more than great when Konerko hit his grand slam. I thought the Sox had it in the bag then. I was scared when the Astros made what looked like their comeback. The greatest moment came with Podsednik's game-winning home run. When the going got tough, Scott was a slugger.

I can live with whatever happens now. They have made it this far, and they have won two good games. If they start losing, they will have to come back to Chicago for the final moment. Strangely, I think it would be easier for me to see them fall at home. Whatever happens, they have made it this far.

She said on 10.25.05 @ 03:13 PM CST [entry page] is printer friendly

Saturday, October 22nd

Free Transform Shortcuts in Photoshop - or

Photoshop Free Transform Keyboard Shortcuts

category: graphics, digital photography and image editing

You can do anything with Free Transform (Ctrl+T) more quickly if you know the keyboard shortcuts rather than selecting one option at a time from the Transform menus, even the Free Transform popup (right click anywhere in the image window).

He said on 10.22.05 @ 09:46 AM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Friday, October 21st

Go Go White Sox - or

White Sox in the World Series

category: trends

Yes, I'm a Cubs fan and proud to admit it. If this World Series were a cross town classic, I would cheer for the Cubs. However, I always love the underdog, and anyone who knows anything about baseball knows that Chicago baseball is all about underdogs. Maybe it's finally our year. Nineteen fifty-nine was a long time ago. I'm too young to remember it. And I doubt there are many fans alive who remember 1917, the last time the Sox actually won the World Series.

I'm glad the Sox are playing the Astros. I don't give a hoot about the Astros. It won't hurt a bit to see them get clobbered. If the Sox had been up against the Cardinals, that might have been tough. The Cards are an old team. I like old teams. To me, the Astros are spring chickens. They haven't been around long enough to know real heartbreak. Let's hope the Astros get their first taste of heartbreak and that we Chicagoans get to taste a win. We deserve the change of pace.
For an interesting point of view, check this out. And make sure to read the final line of the story.

She said on 10.21.05 @ 04:58 PM CST [entry page] is printer friendly

Friday, October 14th

Quick Reference for Photoshop's Pen Tool - or

Photoshop Pen and Path Edit Tools - Quick Reference

category: graphics, digital photography and image editing

Photoshop's Pen Tool and related path and shape edit tools are complicated but correspondingly powerful. Once you get the hang of how they work, you may still need a little refresher to get you back in the groove. This is it.

He said on 10.14.05 @ 03:51 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Saturday, October 8th

Removing a Color Cast in Photoshop - or

Photoshop Color Correction Using Curves

category: digital photography and image editing

Some images have a color cast that you may want to remove. Auto Color does a good job with many images, but not all, and it can be done nondestructively with a Curves, or Levels, adjustment layer. Alternatively, you can remove a color cast manually with Curves, but it's more work and any small error will have you starting over, while Color Balance is difficult guess work because the eye is used to ignoring most color casts. The best approach, bar none, is to use the Eyedroppers in the Curves dialogue box augmented by Threshold and the Info Palette. This is how it's done with a minimum of guess work.

He said on 10.08.05 @ 05:58 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Tuesday, October 4th

More Words about Templates - or

Creating a Template in MS Word

category: writing, software

I needed a new proposal template. It had been a while since I had created a new template, so I started almost at the beginning. Templates are great for document uniformity and for speed. If you create your template well, it will save you a lot of time.

She said on 10.04.05 @ 12:38 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Monday, October 3rd

Who was Out There in September? - or

Visitor Platforms, Browsers, and interests in September

category: hardware, software, trends

September's vistor platforms have been:

Windows 94.8 %
Unknown 3.7 %
Macintosh 1.1%
Linux 0.2%

September's vistor browsers have been:

MS Internet Explorer 90.5 %
Firefox 3.9 %
Netscape 0.6 %
Safari 0.6 %
Mozilla 0.3 %
Opera 0.1 %

He said on 10.03.05 @ 06:17 PM CST [entry page] is printer friendly

Friday, September 30th

Transparent Text Effect in Photoshop - or

Make Glass Text in Photoshop Using Curves

category: graphics

We're going to create a transparent text web graphic that, combined with the right blend mode, gives a glass effect to the type. In a nutshell, this means we'll need to create a white chrome look to the text, without sharpening highlights and shadows as you normally would, and then knock out the center of the letters to provide transparency. I'm going to use this graphic to place the Tips and Tricks weblog logo, like a watermark, over the images we use in this weblog to demonstrate graphics and image editing techniques. You can get some interesting variety, depending on the image, by setting different blend modes on the glass text layer. This very blue sky has the glass text set to the Overlay Blend mode. This portrait shows the text layer set to Hard Light. OK, let's get on with it.

He said on 09.30.05 @ 04:36 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Tuesday, September 27th

A Word or Two about Templates - or

Some MS Word Template Hints

category: writing, software

Word processing templates can save you a lot of time and hassle in creating and maintaining documents and document archives. Use templates to achieve uniform appearance in document groups and to quickly create new documents with boilerplate text.

She said on 09.27.05 @ 12:37 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Friday, September 23rd

Photoshop's Most Important Keyboard Shortcuts - or

Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts to Zoom and Navigate

category: digital photography and image editing

Keyboard shortcuts are designed to save you time. Automating repetitive tasks by recording Actions and assigning keyboard shortcuts to them will save you even more time. But, if you're just an occasional Photoshop user, maybe most of the time it just isn't worth the effort.

He said on 09.23.05 @ 04:35 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Tuesday, September 20th

Using Appropriate Levels of Diction - or

Word Choice Matters

category: writing

I received an SOS email from my friend Louise recently. She sent me the text of an email from a colleague in a non-profit organization. She was wondering about her colleague's use of the word tergiversate. Louise admitted that she looked up the word and still couldn't make sense of the word or its use. She asked my opinion of the message and the word choice.

She said on 09.20.05 @ 05:07 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Friday, September 16th

Glamorize Portraits of Women with Photoshop's Liquify Filter - or

Photoshop Liquify Filter to Retouch and Enhance Portraits

category: digital photography and image editing

The original portrait, except for a Levels adjustment, is exactly how it came off the scanner. Now, what can we do? The subject's expression could be thought of as a look of determination, not to smile perhaps, but its effect on her features comes off looking more like flaws. The eyes are hooded, and the upper lip has lost its symmetry. Let's address these issues as a first cut, along with brightening the eyes, the hair, the lips, and losing the Alice Cooper eye makeup. That's probably about as far as we should go to dress up our subject for, say, a realtor's photo business card. Then, as a second cut, we'll go for the glamour and address the size of the eyes, the tip of the nose, and the slight jowl on the right side of the jaw. These more heavy-handed kinds of things work in Hollywood, fashion magazines, and politics, but might be pushing it in a business situation, causing one's client to say, embarrassingly, what a really, really, good picture that is.

He said on 09.16.05 @ 05:14 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

Tuesday, September 13th

View Source Stopped Working in IE6 XP - or

IE 6 Windows XP - View Source Fails to Consistently Open Notepad

category: software

When you choose View, and then View Source in IE6, Notepad is supposed to open, showing the source of the web page the browser is displaying as a text file. Under Windows XP, not Win2000 or Win98, IE6 will intermittently fail to open Notepad. When Notepad fails to open, the Edit option in the File menu is also grayed out.

She said on 09.13.05 @ 01:49 PM CST [entry continued] on printer friendly page

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Tips and Tricks: Chicago web design, copy writing, graphics, digital photography, database design, working with people, and getting a web project up and running.

Maintained by The Staff at Awesomely Active Web Design, Chicago web designers.

An Ode to the Bulleted List - or

How to Trick Non-Readers into Reading

Who was Out There in October? - or

Visitor Platforms, Browsers, and interests in October

a meditation on baseball heroes - or

More Sox in the World Series

Free Transform Shortcuts in Photoshop - or

Photoshop Free Transform Keyboard Shortcuts

Go Go White Sox - or

White Sox in the World Series

Quick Reference for Photoshop's Pen Tool - or

Photoshop Pen and Path Edit Tools - Quick Reference

Removing a Color Cast in Photoshop - or

Photoshop Color Correction Using Curves

More Words about Templates - or

Creating a Template in MS Word

Who was Out There in September? - or

Visitor Platforms, Browsers, and interests in September

Transparent Text Effect in Photoshop - or

Make Glass Text in Photoshop Using Curves

A Word or Two about Templates - or

Some MS Word Template Hints

Photoshop's Most Important Keyboard Shortcuts - or

Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts to Zoom and Navigate

Using Appropriate Levels of Diction - or

Word Choice Matters

Glamorize Portraits of Women with Photoshop's Liquify Filter - or

Photoshop Liquify Filter to Retouch and Enhance Portraits

View Source Stopped Working in IE6 XP - or

IE 6 Windows XP - View Source Fails to Consistently Open Notepad

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