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The Newsletter of Things Deke: October 5, 2011

Hello, gang:
Today’s top story: Deke has completed his four-part series on the expansive world of 3D in Photoshop Extended. Titled Photoshop CS5 Extended One-on-One: 3D Type Effects, this eye-popping video course shows how to create a total of seven 3D type treatments in Photoshop. Check it out here.

In other news:

• Learn how to use Adobe Camera Raw as a special-effects tool in this week’s free episode of Deke’s Techniques.
• Today’s in-depth article shows you how to set letters ablaze in Photoshop.
• Deke just today finishes work on his next video course, Photoshop Masking and Compositing: Fundamentals.

As always, Deke sends his virtual love.

Best regards,

Lou B
Speaker of the Deke, dekeOnline

Seven 3D Type Effects in Six Hours

Long a 3D enthusiast, Deke decided to make 211 the year he mastered 3D in Photoshop. And master it he did. In addition to creating 26 hours of 3D content for the lynda.com Online Training Library, Deke presented a sold-out half-day 3D workshop at the recent Photoshop World in Las Vegas.

Yesterday, Deke released the last installment in his four-part 3D video series, Photoshop CS5* Extended One-on-One: 3D Type Effects. In this 5-hour-and-51-minute course, Deke shows how to create a total of seven 3D type treatments, including this marquee (made from scratch) for an ancient nightclub. To view a free video trailer of all seven effects, click here.

* In regard to the version number, contrary to the ongoing misconception, there is no Photoshop CS5.5. This course is altogether up-to-date. Enjoy.

Deke’s Techniques: Using Adobe Camera Raw as a Filtering Engine

Remember when you first started using Photoshop? If you’re like Deke and me, you spent your first formative days experimenting with commands under the Filter menu. After all, Photoshop’s filters are fun and they produce some exciting effects. But most of them are pretty gimmicky, which is why they eventually wear our their welcome.

Which got Deke thinking: Might there be a better place to filter images than Photoshop? His answer: Camera Raw. The great thing about Camera Raw is that it offers precise edge-detection capabilities, as well as equally precise color adjustments. Its settings generally make sense, and it opens JPEG and TIFF images with the option to create Smart Objects. Here’s a sample effect from the movie:

In all, Deke shows how to create five different effects, with a follow-up movie that explores something more extreme for members of the lynda.com Online Training Library.

Meanwhile, last week’s free video showed how to create the perfect Macintosh Command key symbol in Illustrator. And before that, Deke showed how to heal one eye onto another with the help of Photoshop’s Clone Source panel.

This Week’s Free Article Explains How to Set 2D Type on Fire

Deke’s latest 3D Type Effects course requires that you own Photoshop Extended. In deference to those of you who don’t, I’ve decided to devote this week’s free member’s-only article to one of my favorite 2D effects, inspired by Deke’s popular “Type Effects” presentation at Photoshop World. We’ll revisit a couple of early Deke’s Techniques videos that demonstrate how to set letters on fire, as pictured below.

Today’s wicked-hot tip comes from Deke’s Techniques #8 and #9 from the vanguard online training company lynda.com.     

Read more »

Coming Soon: The Fundamentals of Masking & Compositing

This very day, Deke finishes recording his next video course, Photoshop Masking and Compositing: Fundamentals. It’s a fresh take on masking, created by popular demand. The course features new material, fresh techniques, and loads of beautiful sample files. Consider the one below, which sports three independent images and a synthetic sunlight effect, the last of which requires a total of eight Smart Filters. Wow, just look at that hair!

Once you gain a handle on the incredibly rich and flexible set of features that make up masking and compositing, the road to Photoshop mastery is yours. Stay tuned. I’ll be sure to let you know when this one goes live.

Featured Image from Fotolia

Today’s image is file #31464837, © Oleg Gekman, from image vendor Fotolia. It shows what I’m not referring to when I talk about editing a mask in Photoshop. It’s also an example of the broad range of stock images, from practical to quirky, that can be found in Fotolia’s massive image bank.     

Log on to Fotolia to view and download this week’s image.

Fotolia protects its artists and offers competitive commissions while keeping prices low, so that everyone can afford and enjoy high-quality artwork.

Visit Fotolia »

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