Hot Software How-Tos
How To: Remove shadows from a photo in Photoshop
Photoshop remains one of the coolest digital editing tools of all time, and if you're a user, you're likely discovering new tricks every day. One of the most helpful tricks is removing a shadow from an object, such as a face, a car, a cat, a dog or like this tutorial, a child. This excellent tutorial walks you through each and every step to show you how to use Adobe Photoshop to make those shadows vanish. Check it out and clean up your photos today!
How To: Animate a bully splashing a water bottle in Adobe Flash
This tutorial shows you start to finish how to draw an image of a bully with a water bottle in hand and then fling that water bottle onto someone else using FL Studio. This a useful reference piece for trying to animate splashing water or similar water physics. It's not precisely hard to do, but you'll want to pay attention to some of the detail in each piece. Also make sure that you have the most current version of FL Studio installed!
How To: Safely Download Pictures in Bulk from Google Images
Downloading images from Google Images search can be a time consuming and DANGEROUS process. On more than one occasion, while trying to save the full size image and being forced to the originating website, I have accidentally come across malicious websites.
How To: Create a box mosaic effect in Adobe Photosop
A box mosaic is an interesting technique you can use to add interest to your project in Adobe Photoshop. This tutorial shows you how to set up a brush effect and then use that brush effect to create the patterned box mosaic look for your next project. Create a box mosaic effect in Adobe Photosop.
How To: Add a new email address to your cPanel Hosting Account
This tutorial is for people who are already using the cPanel Hosting account, and want to learn how to add a new email address to the existing account (such as for a new employee). It's an easy, quick process - this video shows you how!
How To: Make an animation sequence with Sketchup
As you already know, Sketchup is a very cool program which allows you to design a myriad of things. But, did you know you can then animate those images? You can, and this tutorial will walk you through the steps to show you how. This is a very valuable thing to know if you're presenting something to a class, or client and want to show them the developmental stages of the project. So check out this video, get designing and put those pictures into motion!
How To: Create a slideshow in Dreamweaver CS4 without coding
Are you a Dreamweaver user who's looking to build a slide show? Whether you're presenting a nice slide show of your cats, or your dogs or maybe a 1973 Camero re-build, this tutorial will get you up and running in no time. Check out this video and learn exactly how to create your project. Plus, you'll see that Flash can create a slide show for you with lots of automation. And the best part? You won't need to hunt for your slide projector, slide tray, slide screen AND, you'll never need to worr...
How To: Create a slide show in Dreamweaver CS4 with an extension
Are you a Dreamweaver user who's looking to build a slide show? Check out this video and learn exactly how to create a sweet presentation. Plus, you'll see that Flash can create a slide show for you with lots of automation. Whether you're showing a nice slide show of your cats, or your dogs or maybe a 1973 Camero re-build, this tutorial will get you up and running in no time. And the best part? You won't need to hunt for your slide projector, slide tray, slide screen AND, you won't ever need ...
How To: Create a slideshow in Dreamweaver CS3
If you're Dreamweaver CS3 user who's looking to build a slide show, check out this video. You'll learn the ins and outs of creating a nice presentation, and, you'll see that Flash can create a slide show for you with lots of automation. Whether you're showing a sweet slide show of your cats, dogs, 1973 Camero re-build or whatever, this tutorial will get you up and running in no time. And the best part? You won't need to hunt for your slide projector, slide tray, slide screen AND, you won't ev...
How To: Place and crop images with Adobe Illustrator
If you're using Adobe Illustrator CS4, you know that cropping an image can be less than a simple task. This how-to walks you through the steps, not only showing how to place and move the image, but also how to crop it to the desired sized. Unlike Photoshop which allows you to work directly with pixels, Illustrator treats all images as whole objects. SO, watch this video and end the frustration that Adobe Illustrator can bring when you're cropping an image.
How To: Design custom shoes using Photoshop
Custom leather sneakers like Dunks and Air Force Ones are becoming popular canvases for painters lately, who transform the white slab-sides of the kicks into awesome artworks. This video will show you how to design a custom shoe in Photoshop, working out the kinks before you put paint to shoe and wind up ruining a $120 dollars pair because you painted something you didn't want on it.
How To: Customize sneakers in Photoshop before you paint them
Basketball shoes are expensive, so if you want to use something like Dunks (a big, beautiful white leather canvas) for a custom painted sneaker project you better know what you want to do before you start. Enter Photoshop. This video will teach you how to use Photoshop to plan your kick design out before you paint, helping ensure that you kicks come out the way you want.
How To: Make people fat in photos with Photoshop liquify tool
Wanna have some fun with Photoshop? Well, instead of touching up a photo to make someone look thinner, how about editing the photo to add on a few pound? Or 20? Or 40? Heck, why not an even 100 lbs! Well, with Adobe Photoshop liquify you can push those pounds to the max. Go for it and watch that skinny minnie turn into a beached whale. Of course, you then have the option to turn it all back again. After you post the photo to Facebook.
How To: Turn someone from thin to fat with Photoshop
Everyone wants to be thinner, BUT, what if you'd like to put on a little weight? Or, how about a LOT of weight? Even in a photo? Well this video shows how to use Photoshop and its liquify tool to expand someone from their svelt self to a bigger, beautiful person.
How To: Create an Acapella track in Audacity
OK, your recording session is done and it went great! Well, except for the guitar. And bass. And drums. Oh, the trumpet was off. Tamborine was "meh", the harmonica was off key, the wood block was off time... you get it. The music was all wrong. BUT, the vocals were great. So, this tutorial shows you how to create an acapella track using the popular audio recording/editing software Audacity. This method is a little different than others out there on the web so check this one out and see how it...
How To: Change a dress color using Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is an amazing digital photo editing tool that let's you do a myriad of tasks. In this tutorial you will learn how to change the color of fabric, like a dress, from the existing color to whatever you wish it to be. You'll be using the magic lasso and playing with the color balance sliders to make it happen. The video is quick, but should be all you need to get your job done. So go for it and make that red green now!
How To: Change the color of dresses in Photoshop
If you're using Adobe Photoshop, you may come across a situation where you or a client wishes to change the color of an item of clothing, say a dress, or shorts, or a shirt, or socks, or shoes, or a hat, or gloves - virtually anything - this tutorial can show you how to make it happen. This quick how to is easy to follow and just what you'll need!
How To: Change a dress colour using Photoshop CS5
If you're a fashion designer using Adobe's Photoshop CS5, you already know you can do a host of amazing things. One of the things you'll likely wan to do over and over again is check out your creations in different colors. This quick how to demonstrates what you need to do to go from red to yellow, green to blue, mauve to black and back again. Check it out!
How To: Find out how you will look with a piercing using Photoshop
If you're thinking about getting a piercing, but aren't sure how it will make you look, you can use a program like Photoshop or GIMP to edit in a fake piercing. Start with a photo of yourself, with the area you are considering piercing shown prominently. Then find a picture of someone with the same kind of piercing that you want, and then use some of the editing tools and tricks in photoshops to see how it will look on you!
How To: Make someone look like a punk by giving them a fake eybrow piercing
Want to prank a friend by making them look like a punk? Or get revenge by showing the picture to their parents? Or maybe you just want to see what you would look like wiht an eyebrow piercing yourself. Start with a photo of your subject, one with the eyebrow prominently shown, and then follow the steps in this tutorial to add a fake eyebrow piercing using the tools and techniques in Adobe Photoshop.
How To: Use GIMP to add a fake lip piercing to a photo
GIMP is the free alternative to Photoshop, and many of the things that you can do in Photoshop, you can also do in this open source software. Want to see how you'd look with a lip piercing, or want to touch up a photo and add one where there isn't? This tutorial shows you how to add a fake lip piercing to nearly any photo. It's not that difficult - as long as you're familiar with the basics of GIMP, you'll be able to make this work for you!
How To: Use the Eraser, Scissors and Knife tools in Adobe Illustrator
This is a quick little tutorial that will show you how to use these three versatile tools in Adobe Illustrator. They all involve getting rid of some part of the image you're working with, but each one goes about it in a different way. To get the most out of your Illustrator project, you'll need to be aware of the differences between these tools so you make sure that you always use the right one for the job at hand.
How To: Use Photoscape and install additional fonts
If you're using Photoscape you already know what a cool and free alternative it is to more costly photo editing programs such as Photoshop. You also likely know that the program only comes with so many fonts, but this how to video will show you what to do to install more fonts to expand all your graphic editing goodness. Check it out and learn how to do it! You'll want some sort of zip program such as winzip or winrar to unpack the zipped font files after you download them.
How To: Install additional fonts in Photoscape
Photoscape is a piece of free, photo editing software to use instead of more costly programs such as Photoshop. The program is pretty cool but you may want to install more fonts than what it comes with. If so, check out this video and you'll find out how to get it done. You'll need a zip program like winzip or winrar and you'll of course need Photoscape which you can get here.
How To: Create a reflective glass button in Adobe Illustrator
Whether you're a web developer or a blogger trying to get your name out there in the vast world of fashion design, creating an aesthetically pleasing website is indispensible these days - sort of like making your virtual resume. While fabricating a nice site may seem time-consuming, with a few easy Photoshop tricks you can have it up and looking sexy as hell.
How To: Create a reflective glass text effect on Adobe Illustrator Cs4
It's a well-known, time-honored interior design rule that putting things under glass makes them look more precious and special. Just like adding a spotlight to feature the soloist in a choir, placing a glass cloche or dome on top of a group of ornaments or a floral arrangement instantly adds fashionable curiosity.
How To: Create cartoon animation with After Effects
A lot of people use Flash for 2D cartoon animation, but Adobe After Effects is another great tool to create some very cool cartoon animation. This how to gives you a clear idea of the steps to take to use AE as a cartoon creation device. This short video tutorial will demonstrate how to properly export character animation from Flash and import it into After Effects to combine with background and foreground elements. It also gives a handy trick of how to duplicate a character animation clip to...
How To: Fade out photo edges in Adobe Photoshop CS3
With vintage-inspired, indie Etsy pictures being all the rage, isn't it about time you jumped on board the retro picture wagon? Whether you desire making that vignette of schoolbooks from the 1920's topped with mini celluloid deer look more aged and sophisticated or you simply want to endow your portraits with a more old timey feel, fading the edges of a picture is your easiest and quickest way to achieve instant vintage.
How To: Fade the edges of a black and white photo in Photoshop
If only we could fade bad memories of bad exes as easily as we could fade photos. But we digress. If you have a special photo memory you'd like to visually enhance and preserve for posterity, then one of the best tricks you can do is to fade the photo edges using Photoshop.
How To: Create a soft fade around an object in Photoshop
We don't know why exactly, but somehow fading the edges of a photograph makes it look more sentimental. Maybe it's because faded edges remind us of old timey photographs that have yellowed and softened with age, or maybe it's because faded eges endow a sort of dream-like atmosphere to your picture.
How To: Fade the edges of a color photograph in Photoshop easily
Have you taken a photo that's perfect in just about every sense other than one? Like, for instance, that picture of you and your newly minted husband dancing at your wedding reception with your husband's drunken brother getting freaky with one of the waitresses on the side?
How To: Model a Leaf in Maya
Start with a Polygon Plane Start by creating a Polygon Plane with 4 width and 5 height sections.
How To: Insert a movie from iTunes into your Keynote project
The Media Manager that comes with Keynote is a useful tool for adding in all sorts of media to your slideshow or project; and videos can add an extra level of depth and information to your project. Take any movie or clip from your iTunes library and then use the Media Manager tool to insert it into Keynote. It's a very simple process - the whole video showing you how to do it takes barely a minute!
How To: Insert a YouTube movie into your Keynote presentation
Found a video on YouTube that's perfect for your Keynote presentation? It's easy to embed YouTube clips on websites, but how can you successfully insert them into something like a Keynote project? It's actually quite easy! This video, just over a minute long, shows you the basic process behind downloading and re uploading your chosen video. Make sure that you append the .flv file extension to your downloaded fire, and also take care that you have the right to use what you're incorporating.
How To: Create a Motion Trail in Maya 2011
Motion trails in Autodesk Maya can be very handy at times when animating your scene. Keying a bone/joint or other object every so many frames can take up quite a bit of time and can sometimes be a big hassle, too. I have found many times when I could have really used one. I also don't like to search the Internet with a question and not find an answer (at least, without paying for it). So in this how-to article, I will demonstrate going about creating a simple (or complex) motion trail to make...
How To: Use FileZilla to set up an FTP server for your website
If you're running your own website, you'll no doubt want to upload large files. An easy and free software program you can use to set up an FTP server is FileZilla, and this tutorial shows you all the basics of the program.
How To: Create realistic smoke and dust particles in Maya
The key to being able to animate realistic smoke or dust is being able to master the particle texture rate technique in Maya. Once you have gotten this down, you can create any sort of particle effect, such as sand or bubbles in addition to smoke and dust. This three part tutorial series goes in depth into the subtleties of Maya, showing you how to get the most out of working with particles to lend an extra layer of realism to your project.
How To: Burn YouTube Videos to DVD with Freemake Video Converter
Have you ever come across a cute YouTube video that you absolutely fell in love with, and wanted to share it with your friends on a big TV? Unfortunately, YouTube doesn't have a "Burn to DVD" button next to every video. But after following the steps below, you won't need one. You'll be able to rip any video from YouTube and burn it directly to DVD, just in two clicks.
How To: Make a Ringtone in iTunes for Your Apple iPhone
Granted the iPhone is an awesome phone... but their choice for default ringtones kind of, well, stinks. They have plenty of apps you can BUY to PURCHASE ringtones... but why waste money when you can make an unlimited amount of ringtones yourself forFREE? At first glance, it looks complicated and confusing, but I'll break it down so simply, you'll be making ringtones for everyone in iTunes.
How To: Make a time lapse video using Adobe Premiere Pro
Time lapse videos can be used to distort a sense of time around your subject, which makes them very useful special effects in documentaries. By using time lapse, you can show the transition from sunrise to sunset in just a few seconds, or slow down a drop of water hitting a table. The tools in Adobe Premiere can be used to create this effect, and the following tutorial shows you how to take your raw footage and turn it into a time lapse shot.