Quick Tip: Apply a Pattern Overlay to a Gradient in Adobe Fireworks
One of the reasons that I enjoy working in Fireworks so much is the ease in which it allows you to apply basic effects to objects. In this brief video tutorial I will demonstrate how to apply a…
Exploring Gradients in Adobe Fireworks
One thing that has always frustrated me about Illustrator and Photoshop is their poor support for gradients. While they have made some strides in recent years, the tools that they provide to manipulate gradients are really sub par.…
Don’t Be Constrained by Control Points: An Introduction to Extreme Path
Hello everyone! Today, I would like to introduce you to Extreme Path, a plug-in for Adobe Illustrator that allows you to manipulate paths and shapes in ways that you can’t otherwise do using Illustrator. One of the biggest…
Working With Auto-Shapes in Fireworks
I mention quite a bit how fond I am of the tools that Fireworks provides to help draw basic shapes. Today I would like to talk a little about one of least known but helpful tools that Fireworks…
How to Distress Text in Seconds With Photoshop Brushes
There are a lot of ways to create distressed text in Photoshop; some techniques are better than others but I have found that the best technique is to use a nice set of Photoshop brushes in combination with…
Adobe Fireworks, the Better Tool for Creating Basic Shapes
When most people think about drawing basic shapes they probably think about Adobe Illustrator or maybe Photoshop; but even as good as those apps are for creating basic shapes, in some cases, Fireworks is even better. In this…
Create a Seamless Heart Pattern From a Simple Heart Shape
I have to say that I have always been fascinated with these types of illustrations; illustrations composed of shapes that form shapes; and while Illustrator allows you to create these types of Illustrations rather easily, there really aren’t…
Use InDesign’s Data Merge Feature to Create Business Cards for Your Entire Office
I’m a big fan of InDesign’s Data Merge feature. Data Merge is the Adobe equivalent to Microsoft Word’s Mail Merge feature and allows you to import information contained in an Excel spreadsheet and use it in your print…
Use Insertion Mode in SymmetryWorks 5 to Create a Seamless Valentine’s Day Pattern
As most of you guys know, I’m a big fan of SymmetryWorks. SymmetryWorks is a plug-in for Adobe Illustrator that allows you to easily create seamless patterns. If you have ever tried to create a complex seamless pattern…
Screencast: How to Edit an Existing Pattern Swatch in Illustrator
When you work with patterns in Illustrator you will find that you are constantly having to tweak them in one way or another. This is because sometimes color schemes or elements in the pattern change for one reason…
How to Create a Seamless Argyle Pattern in Illustrator
You guys may remember last year when I posted a really nice set of seamless argyle patterns for Illustrator on this site. Those patterns quickly became very popular and I received several requests for tutorials on how they were…
Screencast: How to Customize Your Default Illustrator Pattern Swatches
Customizing your default settings for Illustrator can save you tons of time. Adobe has done a lot in recent years to make it easier for us to create new documents but even though they have managed to save…
Screencast: How to Customize Your Default Illustrator Brush Settings
Customizing your default Illustrator brush settings can save you loads of time. How many times have you opened your brush palette in Illustrator only to see the same tired, old, default, Illustrator brushes that you have probably never…
Create Stunning Interlocking Shapes and Light Effects Using Photoshop and Illustrator
I am often asked to write tutorials demonstrating how to create some of the designs in my site’s gallery. One of the more popular requests is for a tutorial demonstrating the effects used in Equidistant; which is one…
Quick Tip: How to Import Pattern Swatches Into Illustrator
We frequently receive comments from readers who have downloaded a set of pattern swatches only to see a blank screen when they attempt to open the file. Our response is typically to tell them just to open up…
