Dec 06
Dec 06
http://www.marcofolio.net/photoshop/alienize_transform_a_person_into_an_alien.html
In this tutorial is written how to create a very cool looking alien using Adobe Photoshop. Grab a picture of someone and get ready to alienize it!
- Go to File > New (Ctrl+N) to create a new file. Make sure that you have your background settings to Transparent. Now search for a portret on your PC to use and add it to your newly created file. For this tutorial I used a picture of Tom Cruise to alienize (Source file
). Ofcourse you can use a picture of your friend, a family member or even yourself.
- Grab the Eraser Tool (E) and erase the eyes. Now use the Clone Stamp Tool (S) to clone parts of the cheeks over the nose. It’ll look like the nose is erased. Use the Healing Stamp Tool to fix any not natural looking parts on the place where the nose first was.
- Go to Filter > Liquify Tool (Shift+Ctrl+X) and a new window will show. Use the Forward Warp Tool (W) in this window to strech out the empty place where the eyes first were. I used a brush with a size of approxamitely 30 pixels. Strech it untill it has the shape of an alien eye. Press OK to accept the changes.
- I used some alien eyes that I created before (Source file ) and pasted them in the layer behind the face. Scale the eye using Transform (Ctrl+T) untill it’s at a right size. Use the Burn Tool (O) to make the areas around the eyes a little bit darked so it will look more realistic.
- Open up the liquify tool by going to Filter > Liquify Tool (Shift+Ctrl+X). Again, use the Forward Warp Tool (W) and strech out the ears. This time I used a brush with a size of 90. Press OK to save the changes and if you want, use the Burn Tool (O) to darken parts of the ears.
- Get ready to change some colours using Color Balance (Ctrl+B). Play around with the Color Balance and Tone Balance untill you think you have something alien-like. I used these settings:
- Shadows: 0,20,0
- Midtones: 0,20,0
- Highlights: 0,40,0
- Grunge your face. You can use several options for this, for example you could use a grunge brush. Here I used a pattern that I had on my PC (Source file ). On a new layer, cover the face with the whole grunge pattern using Transform (Ctrl+T) or copy-pasting the pattern next to eachother (See left image below). Set the Blending Mode of the grunge layer to Color Burn and the Opacity around 25%.
- Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and select the forehead of the face (See left image below). Duplicate layer part (Ctrl+J) and grab the Free Transform Tool (Ctrl+T). Strech the forehead by selecting the middle square and drag it upward. Merge layers (Ctrl+E) (See middle image below).
Draw facial lines on a new layer using the Brush Tool (B). These lines can be used for detail. Select the lines on the layer and go to Blending Options. In this new window, go to Bevel and Emboss. Use the standard settings but change: Style: Pillow Emboss. I used these values:- Depth: 51%
- Size: 1px
- Soften: 1px
When satisfied, press OK to save the settings. Grab your Burn Tool (O) and burn the lines so that it’ll look more realistic (See right image below).
- Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N). Draw some veins around the eyes using the Brush Tools (B). I used a brush size of 2 pixels (See left image below). Select the content of the veins layer by Ctrl+Click on the image of the layer. Now you should have the veins selected. Select the layer of the face by clicking on it. Now duplicate the selection of the veins (Ctrl+J). You should get a new layer on top of the layer of the face. Delete the layer with the veins that you drew. Now go back to the layer with the outer lines of the veins. Give them color by opening the Color Balance (Ctrl+B). Play around untill you’re satisfied with the colors. Give the layer Soft light or Hard Light to give it more effect. Merge all layers back together (Ctrl+E). Open up Color Balance (Ctrl+B) again and play with the full colors of the image (See right image below).
- Repeat the previous step, but now create some veins on the head (See left image below).
- Adjust the levels of the image by opening the Levels panel (Ctrl+L). Change the levels of the image untill you have a nice, realistic looking face.
And there you have it, your own created alien. This is my final result. Be creative and feel free to post your final result in the comments.
Some people in the comments reported that this tutorial is a copy of one that is posted on worth1000. I checked out the tutorial and I have to admit: It does look-a-like, but it’s not a copy. Furthermore, the tutorial on Worth1000 is way much harder and more for professional than this one.
Source from: http://www.marcofolio.net/photoshop/alienize_transform_a_person_into_an_alien.html
Dec 06
Of all the rooms in your house, your bedroom is the last space you would visit before you retire to take a good night sleep. It is where your body lies in deep solitude as it relaxes and rejuvenates the lost energy for the day. Hence, it is important to come up with a relaxing mood when conceptualizing bedroom decorating ideas, here are a few pictures with bedroom designs that will help you make an idea of how you want to style your bedroom. For more inspiration visit the bedroom section on our website.
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Dec 06
Press Tab will hide tool bar and palette, Shift+Tab will hide only palette.- Hold Shift + click the top blue bar for toolbar and palette will move them to the nearest edge.
- Double click the top blue bar, on any palette window, to minimize it.
- Double click the gray background will bring up open file option, Hold Shift+double click will open up the browser.
- Sick of the default gray background around your image? Select paint bucket, hold shift and click on the gray background, it will change to whatever color you have in your foreground color box.
- In Photoshop, all “Cancel” buttons in a window can be changed to a “Reset” button by holding Alt.
- Caps lock will switch your cursor for accuracy.
- Press F button, it will switch between 3 different screen modes and give you more working area.
- To draw a straight line, click then move to the end point and hold shift + click.
- Hold Ctrl will temporary make any tool into move tool until you release Ctrl.
- Ctrl + Alt and click drag the image, it will make a duplication of the current image over lay on top.
- Hold Space bar, it will make any tool into “Hand Tool” until you release Space bar.
- While in Zoom Tool, Ctrl+space = zoom in, alt+space = zoom out.
- Hold Ctrl and press “+” or “-” it will change the % for image in navigator window.
- When Using eyedropper tool to capture foreground color, hold Alt and click, it will instantly capture the color for background.
- With Measure Tool, draw a line then hold Alt and draw another line from the end of the first line, it will measure the angle.
- Ctrl+Alt+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z will go back and forth in the history.
- Alt+Backspace and Ctrl+Backspace will fill in the whole screen with foreground color or background color, Shift+backspace will bring up option window, Alt+Shift+Backspace and Ctrl+Shift+Backspace, will fill the image with foreground or background color but will leave the alpha transparent area alone.
- When free transforming with Ctrl+T, hold Alt to keep the original image and then to transform a duplicated layer of it. Ctrl+Shift+T to repeat whatever you did in the last transform.
- To make sure your Crop is on the edge of the image, hold Ctrl while cropping.
- Ctrl+J will duplicate the current layer.
- Ctrl+Shift+E will merge all visible layers to one layer, Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E will make a copy of the original and merge all visible layers.
- While using Marquee Tools, hold Alt it will make the starting point as a center of the selection.
- Ctrl + D to deselect, Ctrl+Shift+D to reselect what you deselected.
- While selecting with Marquee tool, pressing the space bar can allow you to move the selection.
- Hold Alt while clicking on the eye icon beside the layer, it will hide all other layers.
- Hold Alt while clicking the pen icon beside the layer, it will unchain this layer from all layers.
- Select a layer, hold Alt and click the top edge of another layer, it will group them.
- File> Automate > Contact Sheet: this can create a small thumbnail for every file, this can save you some time from searching.
- After, draw a path on the image with pen tool, Ctrl+shift+H can hide/show it.
- Ctrl+Tab allows you to switch between different image files you are working on.
- F12 = Revert to how the file was the last time you saved it.
- Holding Shift + Alt while transforming an object will do it proportionally, from the center.
- To center an image, Ctrl + A , Ctrl + X, Ctrl + V, I think it also puts that image on a new layer.
- Ctrl+E will merge the highlighted layer down to the next
- When you have a brush selected, using [ or ] will scroll up or down that brush list.
- Double clicking the zoom tool will make the image 100%, double clicking the hand tool will fit the image to your screen resolution.
- Ctrl + Alt + T to make a copy of the layer in which you want to transform.
- Ctrl + Alt + Right arrow. duplicates the layer you are on.
- Ctrl+[plus key] will let you zoom in on an image anytime while Ctrl+[minus key] zooms out. Ctrl+Alt+[plus key] will zoom in AND RESIZE the window to fit the image size… same for Ctrl+Alt+[minus key] as well.
- Pressing X will switch the selected foreground and background colors.
- Pressing D will reset the foreground and backgrounds colors to black and white.
- Ctrl+Alt+Z will do multiple undo, versus just one.
- Ctrl+click a layer thumbnail to select the layer transparency
- To see what your layer mask looks like (and edit it), Alt+click its thumbnail in the layers palette
- When using Polygon lasso tool hold Shift to make a perfect line, it goes every 30 degrees
- Stamp Tool (s) is used to copy an area of image (defined by alt+clicking and area) and paint it somewhere else (cloning). It also works when you have multiple images open at the same time. Alt click an area of any opened file image and paint it anywhere else.
- And remember, pressing enter when you type will take you to a new line just like typing a letter but pressing Ctrl+Enter or Enter on numeric key will finish what you type.
- Pressing Tab key will hide the Tools palette and any other palette that you have on the stage. Pressing “F” will change between Full Screen modes. Using these two tips you can view your work Full Screen without any palettes.(You can press CTL+Alt+0 to fit your work to the screen, or you can press CTL+0 to zoom to 100%)
- Pressing the “+” and “-” keys while holding down CTL+Alt will resize the whole document window, not just the work area.
- Ctrl+click a layer (in layers palette) to select it’s transparency.
- Ctrl+Alt+click between 2 layers in the palette to group them.
- If you have a mini scroll on your mouse, you may use that to zoom in (scroll up) or zoom out (scroll down).
Source from: http://www.techlicious.tv/2007/10/53-ultimate-tips-for-better.html
Dec 06
Ever since Google first let people scour the planet from the comfort of their computers through the Google Earth software program, fans have been on a virtual scavenger hunt from the North Pole to the South Pole looking for anything interesting, unusual, or unexplained. From shipwrecks to crop circles, from ads big enough to be read from space to a giant pink bunny nearly the size of a football field, we’ve collected just a few of the odd and spectacular sights. You can see the same images in Google Maps by clicking the links we provide–but you’ll get a better view by copying the coordinates in parentheses after each link and pasting them into Google Earth’s ‘Fly To’ box. Enjoy the trip!
Only From the Sky
Dubbed The Badlands Guardian by locals, this geological marvel (Google Earth coordinates 50.010083,-110.113006) in Alberta, Canada, bears an uncanny resemblance to a human head wearing a full Native American headdress–and earphones, to boot. Of course, The Guardian was produced naturally. For a more synthetic wonder that can be truly appreciated only from above, check out the giant man-shaped lake (-21.805149,-49.089977) near Bauru, Brazil.
Huge and Unique
Finding huge and unique things via Google Earth is one of the most popular activities within the Google Earth community. This giant pink bunny (Google Earth coordinates 44.244273,7.769737) in Prata Nevoso, Italy, was built by a group of artists from Vienna, according to published accounts. It’s 200 feet long and answers to the name “Hare.”
Crop Circles
Without a doubt, the best thing that ever happened to crop circles is Google Earth. This circle in the desert just outside Beatty, Nevada (Google Earth coordinates 37.401437,-116.86773), is one of hundreds spotted with the software.
Celebrity Obsession
As if Oprah Winfrey’s celebrity weren’t big enough already, an Arizona farmer built a 10-acre homage to the talk show host (Google Earth coordinates 33.225488,-111.5955). Visitors can tell their friends, “I got lost inside Oprah’s head.”
Open Secrets
If you’re in the intelligence business, Google Earth makes hiding big things nearly impossible. This image is believed to be of a 1.8-square-mile scale model of a disputed region on the border of China and India. Google Earth spotters found it in a remote area in north central China (Google Earth coordinates 38.265652,105.9517). One theory on why this model exists comes from the Australian publication The Age, which reported that the scale model is used to train tank drivers.
Bikinis From Space
Spend enough time on Google Earth, and you start thinking that the world is a pretty low-resolution place. But Google Earth is steadily updating its maps with high-resolution pictures. Zoom in on this Google Earth satellite shot of Australia’s Bondi Beach (Google Earth coordinates -33.892351,151.27538), and you can almost read the designer labels on the bikinis.
African Break Time
National Geographic partnered with Google Earth on a project called Africa Megaflyover. The magazine has made more than 500 high-resolution images accessible through Google Earth, including this close-up view (Google Earth coordinates 15.298693,19.429661) of camels and their caretakers taking a water break in Nigeria.
Auto Antics
Think parking is tough where you live? In Westenbergstraat, Netherlands, drivers apparently have to park on the sides of walls (Google Earth coordinates 52.069207,4.3139865).
Big Commute
Google’s satellites sometimes catch the Earth’s inhabitants on the move, like these ten African elephants (Google Earth coordinates 10.903497,19.93229).
Virtual Sightseeing
Nothing can replace hopping in a plane and going somewhere, but Google Earth gives you a small taste of what you might see when you visit some of the world’s tourist destinations. This spectacular shot shows Victoria Falls (Google Earth coordinates -17.925511,25.858223) on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Other virtual destinations worth flying over are Mt. Everest (27.985866,86.92844) and Mt. Kilimanjaro (-3.0726042,37.343093).
Show Me a Sign
Google Earth doesn’t have advertising, unless you consider the corporate logos and trademarks big enough to be seen from space. This giant Ford logo (Google Earth coordinates 42.302284,-83.231215) is found near (where else?) Detroit, Michigan. You think that’s big? Check out the massive Coca-Cola logo (-18.529225,-70.25002) etched into a hillside in Chile with 70,000 Coke bottles. Haven’t they heard of recycling?
Airplanes in Flight
For aviation buffs, Google Earth offers the unique ability to spot airplanes in midair. One Google Earth Community has Placemarks for more than 3300 planes in flight, including this World War II bomber (Google Earth coordinates 52.336392,-0.1953462) flying over Huntingdon, England.
Floating Failures
The unblinking eyes of the satellites record not only human achievements, but our less successful moments as well. One example is this huge ship (Google Earth coordinates 30.541634,47.825445) floating on its side after a maritime accident in the waters of Basrah, Iraq.
Caught on Satellite
Sometimes Google Earth is lucky enough to catch things as they happen. Here Google Earth captures a truck that crashed (Google Earth coordinates 46.765669,-100.79274) outside of Bismarck, North Dakota. In another instance, Google Earth caught fishermen illegally bottom-trawling (28.102512,-14.265835) beaches near Spain’s Canary Islands.
Map Mysteries
Some of the sights you find in Google Earth are just plain mysterious. For example, why is a fighter jet parked (Google Earth coordinates 48.825183,2.1985795) in what looks to be a residential neighborhood lot near Paris? And why is this lake in Iraq (33.39845000,44.48416800) blood red?
To view the Blood red lake in Iraq, click here
Strange Buildings
The image is from from Chicago, USA. Why do the buildings lean in different angles? strange eh?
Nessie???
What is it in this lake over here?? Did I actually discover Nessie?? 
UFO??
I dont know bout you guys but it sure looks like a UFO is landing on that building.
Microsoft Obsessed with DirectX
Here is an Image of the Microsoft HQ, Are they so obsessed with Direct X that they designed their buildings in the same design as the logo?
Marry Me?
Its written ” Marry Me Tammy” This guy must really be desperate. Did she say Yes?
Firefox Cropcircles
This is one farmer who is a huge fan of firefox. I’m sure he hates Internet explorer with a passion
Where’d that come from
How’d they get that boat in there, there is no path ??
Source from: SoftMall
Some of the images are Courtesy of: PCWorld
Dec 06
1) Can you show me a mock-up to help us choose a designer/developer? No.
I fell for this once when I was young and naive. I made no money and wasted lots of time. Don’t do unpaid work for the chance to be paid — this wouldn’t fly in any other industry, so why web design? The best case scenario (though rare) is that you get a job with a client who knows that you’ll work for free when necessary. The worst case scenario is that they don’t pay you, and still use your stuff, knowing you don’t have the legal resources to do anything about it. Most likely though, you’ll just waste time.
2) Can you give us a discount rate? No.
There are A LOT of companies out there that do not see web design as a service worth more than $20 an hour. These should never be your clients. In my early post-college years, I used to value “getting the job” so highly, I would take on an inordinate amount of work for the pay. Let me tell you that it’s not worth it. Ever. Remember, you may be doing this company a favor, but on the flip side, you’re hurting your own future, and your family’s. Nowadays, I give my hourly rate immediately, and it weeds out many potential clients. It’s simple math really — if doubling your rate loses half your client work, then you’re still making as much in half the time. If you do excellent work, get paid for it – there will always be comparable “firms” charging double what you are.
3) Will you register and host my site? No.
Sure it seems like a good idea — free recurring revenue right? Well, maybe… if you can first get them to pay, and then if you can justify making $10 a month for the endless phone support you’ll have to give at all hours of the night. You see, once the client thinks that you are responsible for their email and website functionality, you WILL get called all the time when their email shows the slightest wavering or their website 404s for any reason on their home computer. Believe it or not, I’ve even known someone who had a client call about his cell phone functionality just because my friend hosted his site. Don’t do it…it’s not worth it. Give them a registrar and hosting company and let them sign up themselves.
4) Can you copy this site? No.
Now you may think that I answer “No” strictly from a moral standpoint, and although that is true, there are other equally important reasons. First, if they’re copying a site, they have shady ethics themselves and the chances of you getting paid on time and in the full amount are unlikely. Second, doing this type of work reduces you to a monkey, and although some of your work may be like this to pay the bills, why purposely pursue it? Third, if it’s a true copy, the only benefit you may receive is payment - you really won’t get to use it for a portfolio or example work, and furthermore, this type of client is one you do not want work from in the future.
5) Can I pay for my e-commerce site from my website sales? No.
I hate to be the pessimist, but when I am asked this, I want to tell them that they most likely won’t make any money so they might as well ask me to do it for free. Yes, I know there are exceptions, so sometimes I will ask them about their business, marketing, and revenue plans, which 99% of them don’t have. They just thought that selling t-shirts would a novel idea for the internet. I usually go into a spiel about having to support me and my family, and I can’t do it with speculative work — I then recommend Yahoo! Shopping or CafePress, and 9 times out of 10, they never get their site up anyways.
6) I have a great idea. Do you want to…? No.
Not much different from #5, but could be a much larger time waster if you buy in. Again, not trying to be a jerk, but if the person adds little to the potential business outside of speaking an idea, then any work you proceed to do is mere charity (which you may be okay with). But to be honest, I’d rather be charitable with my family and friends and make them partners for free versus a stranger. Trust me, if some really has a great idea, they’ll make you partners AND pay you as well.
7) Do you have an IM account? No.
I might give it out if it’s to a person I can trust during an intensive project, but as a general policy, I tell clients that it’s my general policy not to. The reason here is obvious — you have a life and other clients beyond them. Many clients see you as an on-call employee, and this is bad. This is why you quit your day job…
Can I just pay the whole amount when it’s done? No.
I require 50% up front (unless it’s a huge job — then maybe 33%). I need that assurance that they have “bought in” on this project, and that I can plan on the income, pay bills, and eat. People who want to pay at the end are much more likely to back out after you’ve done tons of work.
9) Is there any way you could get this done tonight or this weekend? No.
Once they know that you helped them out one time, they will expect it in the future. Now you might choose to get extra done at night (I do all the time), but don’t start making promises about getting things done at night or on the weekends/vacation. I know a lot of freelancers that charge night/weekend hours as well, so that might be a possible route to take as well. Because the reason you freelance is for the freedom, right? Right?
10) Can I be sure you won’t use this work in anything else? No.
This is a very sensitive subject because most clients misunderstand it (intellectual property is a tricky subject anyways). In my Terms and Conditions that I require all new clients to sign, I make sure they know that (1) their code has utilized code from other projects which I haven’t charged them for (2) I will probably use code from their project on other projects (3) the own the code and implementation of the project (finished website), but not the actual code pieces (login system, image uploader, etc.). I pride myself in productivity and speed, and I need to use other code all the time to accomplish this. Not to mention that I sell stock Flash which I may need old code to help build. They’re not paying you to create code that they in turn will sell, so make sure they know that it’s the implementation and not the coding that’s theirs.
