Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master

1. Open Illustrator.
2. Step 2

   Click on the File menu. Select “Open File.”

3. Step 3

   Navigate to the directory where the Corel Draw file is.

4. Step 4

   Double-click on the file. If a dialog box opens asking you to change the color space, select CMYK and click “OK”. Illustrator requires all objects in a document to be in the same color space. CMYK is Illustrator’s native color space and has the fewest potential conversion errors.

5. Step 5

   Click on the Type menu, and select “Find Fonts.” On the list, look for missing fonts that might have been present on the system that created the file and aren’t present on yours.

6. Step 6

   Save a copy of the file in Illustrator or PDF format.

Put a personal spin on artwork and make your own decals with just a few quick clicks. With a specific technique in mind, such as etching, a variety of computer programs can help create stickers. The Photoshop graphics software from the Adobe Creative Suite offers the ability to transform photographs and drawings into etchings. For a more basic–and free–decal maker, try the Microsoft Paint program, available with the Windows installation, and create simple, cartoonlike etchings.

Using Photoshop

1. Step 1

   Open Photoshop and click “File,” then click “Open” and browse to a photo to use for the etching decal. Double-click it so it appears on the screen.

2. Step 2

   Click the “Filter” menu, then select “Stylize” and choose “Emboss.” The entire picture goes gray.

3. Step 3

   Move the “Height” slider bar to the left to remove all color information from the image, or to the right to have both etching and color detail.

4. Step 4

   Move the “Amount” slider bar to the right to determine how deep the etching goes in the photo.

5. Step 5

   Click the “Angle” circle to change the direction of the etching, flattening some areas and bringing others out more. Click the “OK” button when finished. This results in an etched photo. Move to the next step in this section to create a hand-drawn etched decal.

6. Step 6

   Click “File,” then click “New” and add the dimensions for the decal. Select “CMYK Color” from the “Mode” menu and “Transparent” from the “Contents” section.

7. Step 7

   Click the “Paintbrush” tool from the “Tools” palette on the left side of the screen, then double-click one of the overlapping, square-colored boxes. Choose a paint color, then click “OK.” Choose from the “Brush” menu at the top of the screen, then draw the design.

8. Step 8

   Notice the “Layer 1″ line in the “Layers” palette on the right side of the screen. Double-click it to get the “Layer Style” box. Click through the “Bevel and Emboss,” “Contour” and “Texture” boxes, watching the differences in the etching looks on the drawing. When satisfied, click the “OK” button.

Using Paint

9. Step 1

   Open Paint and click “Image,” then “Attributes.” Set the dimensions of the preferred decal and click the “OK” button. Click “View,” then choose “Zoom” and “Large Size;” this allows more room to draw. Click “Image” and make sure there is no check mark next to “Draw Opaque.” If there is, click the line and it will disappear. This allows for a transparent background for printing on clear decal paper, though it will not look so on the screen.

10. Step 2

    Click the “Paintbrush” tool and select the smallest, square, brush head from the “Tools” palette on the left side of the screen. Click a colored box in the “Color Picker” on the bottom of the screen. Or double-click any colored box for a rainbow of choices.

11. Step 3

    Draw the outline of the decal, then click the “Fill” tool, which looks like a spilling paint can. Click inside the outline and it fills with color.

12. Step 4

    Click the “Paintbrush” again, this time choosing one of the long, slash-mark brush heads. Click the black color box, then drag the cursor around the drawing’s outline to create a black border.

13. Step 5

    Repeat the process with a smaller, slash-mark brush head and a gray paint color, which resembles the outline or crevice seen in etching artwork.

The Adobe Creative Suite is a collection of more than a dozen applications designed to provide a complete set of tools for designing, creating, editing and producing professional grade content. Adobe supports many languages, and changing the language from Thai to English only takes a few mouse clicks.

1. Open the Adobe application in which you wish to change the language.
2. Step 2

   Click on “Edit,” then “Preferences.”

3. Step 3

   Select “English” from the drop-down menu.

4. Step 4

   Close the program and reopen it for the changes to take effect.

Adobe Photoshop is one of the leading photo-editing software programs available. With Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 3, or CS3, it is possible to restore colors, make touch-ups and do much more. This is necessary if the photo’s light and color levels are not balanced or full. Bring out all of the colors and make your photographs more alive by using Adobe Photoshop CS3.

1. Load the photo. Go to “File” and select “Open.” Browse for the photo that you want to edit. Go to “Edit” and select “Paste” if you have an image copied from another source.
2. Step 2

   Go to the “Image” tab. This is located on the top toolbar and has an extensive list of color restoring options. Click “Adjustments”–this is where you will do most of the color restoration.

3. Step 3

   Restore the colors manually using levels. Click the “Levels” option located in “Adjustments.” Click and hold onto the right, left and center markers under “Input Levels” and “Output Levels.” This will lighten and darken the colors depending on how far you slide the markers.

4. Step 4

   Restore the colors manually using color balance. Select “Color Balance” under “Adjustments.” Slide the marker towards a specific color to enhance it. Colors include red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow. Move the slider to the colors that are most prominent in the picture. For example, for an image of a forest, you would want to enhance the greens.

5. Step 5

   Restore the colors automatically. Click “Auto Levels” under “Adjustments” to automatically set the color levels. Click “Auto Contrast” to set the contrast and “Auto Color” to balance the colors automatically. This option is easier but gives you less color control.

6. Step 6

   Use the “Healing Brush Tool.” This is located on the left-hand toolbar, indicated by a band-aid icon. Choose the “Spot Healing” tool to cover up blemishes and the “Red Eye” tool to remove red eye from photos.

Knowing which version of Photoshop you have installed can come in handy in a number of situations. Any communication with technical support is made easier the more information you can provide from the beginning. When it comes time to upgrade, you’ll want to know your starting point. Furthermore, there always seem to be new tricks and tips to learn with Photoshop. When you hear about the latest hint, you want an easy way to find out if you have the right software for your new experiment.

Mac OS

1. Step 1

   Click “Photoshop” from the top menu.

2. Step 2

   Click “About Photoshop.”

3. Step 3

   Alternatively, when you open Photoshop you should see the same “About” screen with this information unless you have disabled the introduction screen.

Windows

4. Step 1

   Click “Help” from the top menu.

5. Step 2

   Click “About Photoshop.”

6. Step 3

   Alternatively, when you open Photoshop you should see the same “About” screen with this information unless you have disabled the introduction screen.

FLV, or Flash Video, is a great format to use when putting videos on the Web. Web sites like YouTube actually convert all of its videos into this format before making them available for the public to see. Converting an MPEG-4 video into FLV format is simple and is done with the use of Adobe Media Encoder, which is part of Adobe Creative Suite 4.

Converting MPEG-4 to FLV Video

1. Step 1

   Launch Adobe Media Encoder, because this is the application that will be converting your MPEG-4 file into FLV. It will either be located in your dock or in your applications folder, which can be accessed through the “Finder” tool on the far left part of your dock.

2. Step 2

   Add the video file to the queue once Adobe Media Encoder is up and running. Click “File,” “Add;” this will bring up a new window. Locate the file on your hard disk through this window and click “OK.” This will add the MPEG-4 to the queue.

3. Step 3

   Under the “Format” tab, make sure “FLV | F4V” is selected. You will have a range of format presets to choose from; in the application window, under the “Presets” tab, click the arrow pointing down. This will show a menu of several formats you can export the video in. The option “FLV – Same as source (Flash 8 and higher)” is probably the best option. However, if you see an option that you feel would better suit your delivery method, feel free to choose that one. (Some of the options are more Web-friendly.)

   Under the “Output” tab, click the highlighted text to change the directory where the file will be stored.

4. Step 4

   Once you have your format and preset selected, start the conversion process by clicking “Start Queue” on the right part of the window. This will convert your video into an FLV format and place it in the directory you chose in step 3.

Photoshop is an excellent tool for creating website mockups. When it’s time to deploy your mockup, it would be nice to simply click a button and take your prototype live. However, Photoshop is strictly a graphics program with no HTML capabilities. Fortunately, exporting your mockup into a Web-friendly graphics format like JPEG or GIF, and building a Web page that uses these elements is straightforward. Keep in mind that you must do additional work on the HTML side to create the interactive components like links, menus and pop-ups. The possibilities for interactivity are endless, so brush up on your HTML and CSS.

Basics

1. Step 1

   Open your mockup in Photoshop and export it to a Web-friendly image format. Choose “Save for Web and Devices” from the “File” menu. In the dialog box select a file format such as JPEG, GIF or PNG and choose an image quality.

2. Step 2

   Click “Save” and name your file (for example, myMockup.jpg)

3. Step 3

   Open your HTML editor and create a new HTML file. HTML editors like Dreamweaver will create the skeleton Web page for you.

4. Step 4

   Add an image tag inside the <body> element of your Web page. The image tag will look something like: <img src=”myMockup.jpg” />

5. Step 5

   Save your HTML file, then load it into any Web browser.

A publication designer is a person who designs booklets, books, magazines, reports and other publications requiring layout with visual appeal. Publication designers may work in graphic design firms, government organizations, public relations agencies, private companies or large corporations. They may also work in the freelance arena, providing services to multiple clients at any given time.

1. Learn about typography. Typeface is a critical facet of beautiful and interesting design. A publication designer should have a firm grasp of typography principles and a good understanding of how typeface can affect a design. You can learn about this through tutorials online (see the WebMonkey tutorial in Resources below), through college courses or through learning from an established professional in the field.
2. Step 2

   Educate yourself on proper color principles. Poor color choices can really drag a good design down. Choosing the proper colors for a design is critical to the overall feel of the piece. As with typography, you can learn about the art of color in publication design through tutorials, college courses or from an established professional. You can also purchase a book, such as “The Principles of Color Design” by Wucius Wong (see Resources below).

3. Step 3

   Learn proper layout design. Layout, in and of itself, is an art form. Employing balance, white space, color blocks and visual interest requires skill and an artistic eye. While some people come by this skill naturally, it is in the the best interest of a person interested in this field to receive training through a professional forum such as a college course or from an established professional in the field.

4. Step 4

   Take courses to learn the various graphic design programs. The most often used in the field is the Adobe Creative Suite, which includes the primary tools of a publication designer: Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. As a publications designer, you will probably utilize InDesign most frequently.

5. Step 5

   Create a portfolio. Whether you are going to freelance or work for a company, a portfolio is your ticket into the world of publication design. To effectively compete with other publication designers for jobs, you should establish a Web as well as a print portfolio.

The Adobe Creative Suite is a powerful and intensive set of media and artistic programs. There are few software packages available that match the depth of Adobe’s. Along with this depth, however, comes the problem of not knowing where certain functions and options are when you need them. Fortunately, most resources in Adobe programs are never more than a few clicks away.

Dreamweaver

1. Step 1

   Open Dreamweaver and open an existing document or create a new document from the Welcome screen.

2. Step 2

   Select “Window > Assets” from the application menu. Go to the “Assets” palette and click on the open book icon. This opens the “Library” palette.

3. Step 3

   Switch your view to “Code” and drag pieces of code to the palette for use in other pages and parts of your site.

Flash

4. Step 1

   Open Flash and open an existing document or create a new document from the Welcome screen.

5. Step 2

   Select “Window > Library” from the application window. The “Library” palette will show up on the right side of the application.

6. Step 3

   Select, add or delete your flash project’s symbols, buttons, fonts, etc. in the “Library” palette.

7. Step 4

   Save a workspace that includes the “Library” palette by clicking the workspace drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of the application and selecting “New Workspace.” Enter a name for the workspace and click “OK.”

The website designer looking for web software needs to know which web software will work best for his or her website designing. Options range from high-level web software such as Adobe Dreamweaver to free web software including Evrsoft First Page. Here’s how:

1. Web Software for Web Design: Adobe Dreamweaver. A component of Adobe’s Creative Suite web software, Dreamweaver is a top-of-the-line web development tool. Create CSS rules without coding; view code hinting for Ajax and JavaScript frameworks; design web pages under real-world browsing conditions while still retaining access to your code; and work with Adobe Smart Objects which allows you to link Photoshop documents with the same image in Dreamweaver. If you’re a professional website designer or web developer, Dreamweaver is a great option. For both Macintosh and MS Windows computers.
2. Step 2

   Web Software for Web Design: Microsoft Expression Web. Also for the professional website designer, Microsoft Expression Web is the company’s replacement for the old Microsoft Front Page. The new web software is more like Adobe Dreamweaver in appearance, and allows the website designer to view code and design at the same time. Another notable feature is the web software’s many templates to choose from, either personal or professional. Also included are templates for ASP.NET forms and CSS designs. Microsoft Expression Web is for MS Windows computers only.

3. Step 3

   Web Software for Web Design: NetObjects Fusion. This professional web software offers a range of great features and costs significantly less than Dreamweaver and Expression Web. The web software features drag-and-drop functionality, easy layout, Ajax user interfaces, XHTML, CSS, XML, Javascript, and data-binding objects to RSS feed or database for dynamic site content. NetObjects Fusion claims this can all be accomplished without coding a single line. Also included are a Flash elements library, photo galleries, a website wizard, and even an e-commerce tool for inserting an online store into the website designer’s site. NetObjects also offers free web software package called Fusion Essentials that is downloadable from the company’s website. Both products run on MS Windows computers only.

4. Step 4

   Web Software for Web Design: Namo WebEditor Professional. Significantly less costly than Dreamweaver and Expression Web, Namo WebEditor web software offers up a hefty line of features for its low price of just under $100. The individual or small business website designer will benefit from Namo WebEditor. MS Windows computers only.

5. Step 5

   Web Software for Web Design: Coffee Cup HTML Editor. This kitschy and robust web software includes a nice WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) web design interface with drag and drop functionality. It includes a sizable graphics package and 40 CSS/XHTML templates. It also includes HTML and CSS code completion for easy coding. This lower-priced web software can be downloaded for just under $50 at www.coffeecup.com. If the website designer has limited web design experience or doesn’t know HTML from CSS and Javascript, this may be the right web software. MS Windows computers only.

6. Step 6

   Web Software for Web Design: Evrsoft First Page. This free web design software is available for download from Evrsoft’s website. It offers a range of features including a scrollbar designer, FTP client, tag autocompletion, popup maker, and support for PHP, XHTML, CSS, Javascript, Cold Fusion, Perl, SSI, and ASP. Evrsoft First Page is great for the individual or small business website designer. For MS Windows computers only.