The assault on human interaction continues…
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10 Photoshop alternatives
Affinity Photo is one of the few image editors outside of Photoshop that supports the CMYK color space, so it’s the only one of these apps that I would call a true Photoshop alternative for designers. The $49 price tag ain’t too shabby, either. Of course, if you’re a web designer or photo hobbiest, you have a ton of options—including the excellent Pixelmator.
We Don’t Need More Designers Who Can Code
I’ve always appreciated someone who has multiple talents. But I much prefer someone who does one or two things extremely well over someone who does a mediocre job at everything.
This article is a must read.
Filed under: I’ll believe it when I see it
Epson has released the EcoTank series of printers, which claim to be able to run for nearly two years without having to replace ink cartridges (with an average run of 60 color and 30 b&w prints per week). The only catch being that you’re going to pay $400-$500 up front for the printer.
My problem has never been that Epson printers cost too much or don’t print ENOUGH. My problem has been that the cartridges clog or expire LONG before the ink cartridge runs out. EVERY. DAMN. TIME!
So file all this happy horseshit under “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
How to export InDesign layers as a layered PSD file
InDesign Secrets shared this excellent InDesign script that converts your layered InDesign file to a layered Photoshop file. Mike Rankin takes you through the simple steps in the article, but I’ll tell you from experience that this is the sort of thing that is best left to designers who are obsessive about details like naming and organizing their layers, regardless of what program they’re working in. And as Mike points out, this is something that is best left as the “final” step—as you won’t know (or have a whole lot of control over) what remains editable after the conversion.
Ideal image sizes for your social media posts: It’s actually really complicated
Who would have thought sharing an image on social media could be so complicated. After all the particulars, it appears that it boils down to using 1024×512 for horizontal images, and 800×1200 for vertical images.
It surely helps to scale and crop your images to the perfect size for each social network, but the bottom line is that if you share compelling images (or pictures of Kim Kardashian’s ass), people will click and open the full size image anyway.
All you need to know about macro photography
Digital Photography School has put together a fantastic collection of links for their best articles on macro photography. If you’re a photography hobbiest, it’s well worth browsing through the articles.
Photo credit: Macro look of the Green frog by Rosan Nepal.
Why “above the fold” in web design is complete bullshit, and why it still matters
“Users don’t scroll for fun. They scroll for a purpose.”
Back in the early days of the web, designing a web page meant putting the most important things “above the fold.” Back then, that meant the first 500-600 pixels. Today, we have screens that show twice that amount on a cell phone, three-times that on small laptops, and even more on desktops. The “fold” is complete bullshit now, as the screen sizes have increased and vary widely by device.
But above the fold design still matters. You’ve probably heard the term “content is king.” It’s the truth that the very best web design can’t escape. If you have great content, and you lead off with it above the fold while giving people a REASON to scroll, people WILL scroll.
Take a quick look at The Fold Manifesto: Why the Page Fold Still Matters.
5 web design myths debunked
Following-up on my earlier post today, here are 5 web design myths that simply aren’t true.
“You can’t have too much choice” is a phrase that all of us are familiar with, but in the context of design, is it true? Bluntly put, no it’s not. In fact, it couldn’t be further from the truth.
I had said that “above the fold” was complete bullshit, and number 2 in this article explains why quite nicely. Too many choices is another area where designers struggle with client requests, along with white space.
This article is a great read, with lots of informative links.
Adobe updates Creative Cloud apps
Adobe has updated the bulk of their Creative Cloud apps such as InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Premiere. Rather than list all the changes, I’ve linked to an update list provided by Macrumors.com. Some of the additions to Photoshop are really interesting, and InDesign seems a bit speedier. Another nice little update from Adobe.