Users were enthusiastic when Google made the Google Nik Collection available for free in March 2016. Google promises users to “easily create the photos you’ve imagined” with this Adobe plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture. We will introduce you to the features of this versatile tool using three visually powerful examples.
Gold in CMYK
You don’t have to buy expensive jewellery to enjoy the luxury of gold. Make your graphic design projects sparkle too by adding a touch of class and sophistication using gold highlights. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the process colours Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key to emulate a realistic gold effect in your print project without using a spot colour.
The 5th colour: relief varnish, UV coating and spot colour
Whether you add relief varnish, blacklight ink or a spot colour to highlight elements in your artwork, the steps required to do this are always the same in Adobe InDesign. This tutorial will demonstrate the process step by step.
20 free Photoshop brushes you will love
There is a huge variety of free Photoshop brushes out there. To spare you the hassle of downloading, installing and trying out the different types, we have put together the best brushes for you. Whether you are a graphic artist, designer or hobby creative, you will love these 20 brush sets. They are free, available for commercial use and you do not have to give credit for them. Ideal for your everyday creative tasks whether at home or at work!
Tutorial: Designing an ambigram in 5 steps
Ambi-what? You have no clue what an ambigram is? That’s a shame really because ambigrams are special. They add a modern, tasteful and contemporary touch to designs. However, creating an ambigram requires a good deal of artistic talent and careful preparation. We have created a tutorial on the subject in time for the first “Ambigram Day”. In this tutorial, we will demonstrate the different steps involved in creating an ambigram and the best approach to designing one.
Free font recognition tools
Imagine you are a design artist surfing the web looking for suitable typefaces and suddenly come across a stunning font that would be perfect for your current design project. But now you are desperately asking yourself: How can I recognize the font? What is the font name? Where can I find it? Is the font free or not? Don’t worry! There are several font recognition tools around to help you solve this. We have tested them and present the top programs so that you can choose the tool that best suits your purposes!
11 + 1 free vintage fonts: 1920s and 1950s
Vintage and retro styles are one of the top design trends this year. Creating an antique look reminiscent of past times opens up an infinity of creative design options. Graphic artists, media designers and other creatives design vintage style menus, stickers, brochures and logos to reflect that retro mood. While the term “vintage” roughly relates to the period between 1920 and 1970, “retro” refers to fashion, furniture or print designs which are imitative of those of the recent past.
The matching fonts emphasize the impact of any vintage or retro style design. We have put together some fonts in the style of the 1920s and 1950s which are free for commercial use.
Ctrl + E: Exporting print-ready PDFs with InDesign
When an online print shop asks you to supply “print-ready PDF files”, chances are you don’t have a clue what they are talking about. That’s not surprising since not everyone is fluent in print language. In this short tutorial, we will demonstrate the PDF export process in Adobe InDesign.