Design & Illustration
News from around the design world, along side tips and tricks of the trade that I have picked up as I go along.
Today I will be attempting to review Adobe Nav and Adobe Easel for the iPad.
First I'll cover Nav. This looks like a mighty handy app but there is one fatal floor to it's main feature. The toolbar… One hand is already on my mouse and my other hand is on my keyboard. Currently if I want to swap the foreground-background colour I just hit 'cmd-x' and it's done. To do this on the iPad I need to move one hand to the device and click it… Not much more effort, but an extra step… That's hardly streamlining workflow. The same goes for any other toolbar item, especially if I then need the keyboard to specify a corner radius or some other detail. So far the best use I have come across with Nav is the tab manager, because I get screenshots for each window which makes switching between untitled docs a breeze. This is the first version of the app and I'm pretty sure Adobe will be keen to enhance the app as time goes on.
Easel is more of a painting app for the iPad, similar in the basics to Brushes etc. The difference here is that I can paint away and then send that drawing to photoshop where I can do the finishing touches. This is a nice touch and I can see where this would be really handy. The only thing missing is the ability of sending even a flat image back from photoshop to the iPad. I like this app and I'm pretty sure some of you digital artists out there will be making some awesome drawings on it. I'm not sure who else will use this app though since Brushes and other painting apps are better at ...
Continue reading (permalink)
Posted in 'Design & Illustration'.
To make a pattern that can be used in the Layer styles - Pattern overlay option is really simple. Just make a new document for your pattern, and make your pattern in there, or highlight an area with the rectangular marquee tool that you would like to be the pattern and then:
Edit > Define Pattern
You will now have a pattern to use in the layer select options.
Continue reading (permalink)
Posted in 'Design & Illustration'.
Having had some huge problems trying to get a cross platform CD to work correctly I decided to build a browser & platform detection function. Part 1 of the tutorial is all about detecting which platform you are on. Lets begin...
var playerVersion:String = System.capabilities.version;
var playerType:String = System.capabilities.playerType;
var myLength:Number = length(playerVersion);
var platform:String;
detectPlatform();
function detectPlatform():Void {
var i:Number = 0;
while (i <= myLength) {
i = i + 1;
temp = substring(playerVersion, i, 1);
if (temp eq " ") {
platform = substring(playerVersion, 1, i-1);
}
}
}
trace(platform);
trace(playerType);
If you run it now not much will happen but the trace should return the platform and the player type. Now that we have the details collected we can use the information to do platform and browser dependant actions. Add the code below and put the code in where the specific comments are and you should have a working example. You can remove or comment out the above traces.
if (platform =="MAC") {
//mac code here
if (playerType == "StandAlone") {
//playing in standalone
} else if (playerType == "PlugIn"){
//playing in browser
} else {
//playing in other
//This could be in a test swf
}
} else if (platform == "WIN") {
//PC code here
if (playerType == "StandAlone") {
//playing in standalone on PC
} else if (playerType == "PlugIn"){
//playing in browser other than IE
} else if (playerType == "ActiveX"){
//playing in IE
} else {
//playing in other
//e.g. Test SWF on a PC
}
}
So there you have it. Use it how you want. The next part of this will show you how to open files on each platform using FSCommand and applescript.I built this code using the information and examples provided by http://www.taterboy.com/blog/2009/01/detecting-standalone-or-plugin-flash-players/ and http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/142/tn_14294.html so the credit is due to them.
Continue reading (permalink)
Posted in 'Design & Illustration'.
To select a single keyframe on a flash (CS4) timeline just hold down the cmd button and click. You can then ctrl or right click and do what you need to do. You can also now drag that single key frame to a new place on the timeline and all the positions, rotations, alpha etc for that one keyframe will move together. If you have more that one keyframe to move you can hold down the cmd and then drag the cursor over the required frames.
Continue reading (permalink)
Posted in 'Design & Illustration'.
Why? For any design the environment is usually a second priority to cost. Businesses run to make money so that is where the focus is aimed. So why would a business want to shift more focus onto the environment. What I am briefly going to cover are a few very good reasons for cost and not for the classic argument to save the world for my children and my children's children.
How? What methods are best for saving a bit of cash when designing / producing a product? There are many many ways to reduce cost and help protect the environment. Most just require a bit of extra thinking when designing. Here are a few ways I have found to get you started: When designing products, money can be saved in the long run by carefully designing products to use materials and resources efficiently. This reduces waste during the initial building stage and also at the end of the product life cycle.
Using already recycled materials or using materials that can easily be recycled. Design packaging that can be easily separated into key materials that can be recycled. This reduces disposal costs which are sometimes charged to the original manufacturer. Using simple fastening methods instead of adhesives is often a good way to do this.
Do not over use packaging. Some products do not need a huge box with many layers of wrapping and padding. Not only will you reduce costs in material but transport costs can be reduced due to smaller space usage.
Take ideas from nature. Nature has been designing for quite a bit longer than anyone around and has got the efficient use of materials down to a fine art. Its not just amounts of material used, it's also the ways they are used. Shapes and ...
Continue reading (permalink)
Posted in 'Design & Illustration'.
