Photoshop Tips #22


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*1. FILE MANAGEMENT

Working primarily in Photoshop all day long, all week long quickly 
builds quite an image collection. When you reach a certain number, 
remembering which file contains which image or source art is not an 
option. One great way to browse through your collection of images is 
to use ACDSEE.

ACDSEE is a browser program very similar to Windows Explorer. ACDSEE 
allows you to browse image files and immediately see their content in 
a preview pane. To learn more about ACDSEE, go to

http://www.acdsystems.com/index.htm


*2. DON'T STOP AT THE WEB-SAFE COLOR PALETTE

While creating images for the Web, many designers downsample their 
images to the Web-safe color palette (216 colors) and stop there. 
However, reaching the 216 colors of the Web-safe color palette is only 
the beginning.

In many cases, you can further reduce the colors in the image color 
table without degrading or dithering the image. Remember, always push 
your image downsampling to the ultimate extent. The colors you remove 
have a direct correlation to the download and render speed of the Web 
images.


*3. GRAPHICS FILES LOCKED

A subscriber writes:

"I create graphics on a development Web server running Microsoft 
Internet Information Server. Often, I will modify a graphic and 
attempt to save it, only to receive an error message stating that the 
graphic is locked and cannot be modified. My only recourse is to close 
the Photoshop document, open the graphic again, and redo changes. Any 
suggestions?"

This type of behavior can happen when you attempt to edit a graphic 
while your Web server is running. Although there isn't much you can do 
to prevent file locking without your system administrator's help, be 
aware that you don't have to lose all your changes simply because you 
can't save your document to the open file. Save the graphic as a new 
file. Then open the original file and copy and paste your 
modifications into it.


*4. WML, WAP, WBMP

Just when you think you've got a handle on the latest Web technology 
and graphics, something new comes along. The latest platform you'll 
soon be asked to design for is WAP (Wireless Application Protocol).

WAP allows people-on-the-go to use wireless devices, such as cellular 
phones, to surf the Net. Web pages for wireless devices use WML 
(Wireless Markup Language) to deliver content. WML has quite a few 
page width, length, and formatting limitations. In addition, WML and 
WAP support only one graphics file format, WBMP. Although the WML, 
WAP, and WBMP acronyms may be new to you, get used to them--most 
likely you'll be designing for this new community of Internet users 
very soon.


*5. WBMP

In our previous tip, we discussed the emerging wireless Web community 
and the new technology used to reach that community. As you may 
recall, WML is the meta-language you use to deliver content to 
wireless Web users. In addition, WBMP is the only graphics format 
optimized for WML use.

The WBMP format is a 1-bit (black and white) format. Additionally, the 
WBMP image should not be larger than 150x150 pixels. In most cases, 
the WBMP images should be much smaller. Nokia phones, for example, 
have only a 96x65 pixel wide display.


*6. CREATING A WBMP IMAGE

In the last few tips, we've been discussing the WBMP graphics file 
format WML (Wireless Meta Language) uses to display images to the 
wireless Web community. As you may recall, WBMP is a 1-bit (black and 
white) format no larger than 150 pixels wide or high. Currently, core 
Adobe Photoshop does not support the WBMP graphics file format. 
However, there are BMP-to-WBMP converters that can convert a Photoshop 
1-bit BMP to a WBMP.

To download a free BMP-to-WBMP converter application, go to

http://www.gingco.de/wap/


*7. CREATING A WBMP IMAGE IN PHOTOSHOP

Last time, we explained the out-of-box version of Adobe Photoshop does 
not yet support the WBMP format used in wireless Web surfing. Further, 
we told you about a free BMP-to-WBMP converter, located at

http://www.gingco.de/wap/

which you can download until Adobe issues a WBMP update for Photoshop.

Macintosh Photoshop users won't have to wait until the next Photoshop 
update; Macintosh users can download a WBMP plug-in that allows them 
to save Photoshop images as WBMP files. To download the plug-in, go to

http://www.creationflux.com/laurent/wbmp.html


*8. LOOKING FOR A PLUG-IN

Photoshop's power and ease of use continually make it the number one 
graphics application available. However, one application can't be the 
perfect answer for every need. Expanding Photoshop's feature set is 
where plug-ins come in.

Adobe plug-ins allow you add new or enhance existing Photoshop 
features. To find out how far you can take Photoshop, go to the Adobe 
site and check out the extensive list of third-party plug-ins at

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/plugins.html


*9. ILLUSTRATOR/PHOTOSHOP PASTING WORKAROUND

You may have noticed that copying a shape from Adobe Illustrator and 
pasting it into Adobe Photoshop often has inconsistent results. 
Sometimes the shape will insert into your Photoshop document just 
fine. Other times, areas of the pasted shaped are cut off or appear 
incorrectly.

A simple way to avoid this problem is to place a no-fill, no-stroke 
rectangle around the shape you plan to copy. Then, select the 
rectangle along with the shape and copy. When you paste into 
Photoshop, your shape will appear correctly.


*10. A GUIDE TO PERSPECTIVE

If you plan to modify an image to match the perspective in another 
image, you can create guides to help you visualize the perspective 
vanishing point. To do so, choose the Pen tool and draw paths that 
match the boundary of the image perspective.

Once you've created the paths that match the perspective and vanishing 
point of your image, choose Layer, New, Layer. Then, select all the 
paths and choose Stroke Subpath from the Paths palette to create the 
visual perspective guides. Now, use the guides to correctly match the 
perspective of the first image to the second image.
