An adroit mixture of everyday settings and extraordinary events.
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A compendium of strange-but-true recent events as reported in the legitimate press.
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The world of business and finance gets skewered, as Bottom Liners tackles subjects such as foreign takeovers, office policies, getting a raise, and the fast-paced world of Wall Street.
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A wry look at the absurdities of every day life.
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Lights, Camera, Action!
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Know When to Fold ‘Em
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Safeguard Your Computer
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Rethink Your Business Card
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Idea of the Week |
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Creating Photoshop "Actions"
So, you’ve used Photoshop for awhile now and are fairly adept at cropping, working with layers, changing colored photos to black-and-white and the like.
Have you ever had this happen? You tinkered around with a picture for awhile using Photoshop, and ended up with an image that was creative and different. The only problem is, you can’t remember how you arrived at that final look.
Actions
What you need to learn now is something called “Actions.” In Photoshop, an “Action” is a digitally written record of the steps you’ve taken to enhance or alter a photograph or image.
Some advantages to using Actions are:
- you’ll save time and money
- you can customize actions to fit certain workloads
- you can share actions with others
- you can make a hard copy of an Action you’ve developed, which can become a tutorial for you to use anytime
There is so much that can be done with Actions, it’s actually beyond the scope of what can be presented here. We’ll just touch on the basics.
To create an action, use the Actions palette. The Actions palette is accessed one of two ways:
Use the menu command: select Windows > Actions or
Use the keyboard command: type Alt+F9 (Windows) or Opt+F9 (Mac)
This will open your Actions palette. The palette then becomes your best friend as you create a series of steps to alter a photo, make a record of those steps, save that record and then re-play those steps in the future to achieve the exact same effect with another photo.
Applying Actions to batches of photos
Not only can you alter an individual photo using Actions – you can alter large numbers of photos with Actions. And the beauty of it is, you don’t even have to be at your computer while this is happening.
To process a batch of images, first be sure that the action you want to use is loaded into the Actions palette. Then go to the Batch dialog box (File > Automate > Batch).
The Batch dialogue box contains four main areas:- Play. Choose the action you want to assign to the Batch command.
- Source. Select the images or folders of images you want to alter.
- Destination. Determine the destination for the images you’ll be processing.
- Errors. Photoshop logs any errors that might occur during processing.
Some Action tips
Author Al Ward, Photoshop expert and self-proclaimed addict, suggests a few things to keep in mind as you set up your own actions.
- Use as few displayed dialog boxes and stop messages as possible.
- Establish color codes for your actions.
- Keep the names of your actions as short and descriptive as possible.
- Use keyboard shortcuts.
- Save your actions frequently.
- If you include a Save As command in an action that saves a file as a JPEG, be sure that the Save As Copy check box is checked in the Save As dialog box.
See more great ideas like this!
Click here to visit the Portage Printing Ideas Collection.
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Marketing Tip |
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Grab Attention with Folds
The layout presentation of your marketing materials is just as important as your images, verbiage, and color scheme. A unique layout that incorporates folds demands attention and entices the reader to open and read your marketing piece.
Many folded layouts enable you to present your information as a story - the beginning grabs attention (such as a headline or teaser), the middle tells the story, and the ending asks for a call to action (such as visiting your web site). Here are a few ways to tell your story with creative folds:
- Map your story by folding down a large sheet to a compact size. Every fold opens to reveal new information.
- Roll fold your information to present your message in stages, a little at a time. As the reader unrolls the sheet, the next spread appears.
- Open the gate. Create a two-page “gate” that opens to a four-page spread. Not only does this approach allow ample space for attention grabbing introductions on the gate as well as in-depth information inside, it is an organized way to divide multiple products or services onto different panels.
- Offer a sneak peak of the contents inside by shortening the width of your cover on a bi-fold brochure. For example, use an image on the inside that also sets the tone for the outside.
- Create an accordion folded brochure and make each section a different width, and consider using the extra width as “tabs” for product names or services.
If you’d like other creative marketing ideas, give us a call today. We’ll help you think outside the box and develop eye-catching marketing materials that get read.
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Tech Tips |
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Increase Your Computer’s Security
Computers face security threats every time you go online. Besides using a firewall and anti-virus software, here are a few easy ways to help improve your computer’s security:
- Upgrade to the latest version of your operating system and software to keep your computer secure. Also beware of spammers and download upgrades and patches from official sites only.
- Check for the closed padlock or key symbol in the browser window when entering your credit card details and other personal information on a website.
- If you use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (which is subjected to the largest number of security threats), consider switching internet browsers to a popular safer alternative such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla's Firefox, or Opera. Otherwise, tweak settings and make usage adjustments, such as increasing your web browser’s security level to “high.”
- Disable file sharing on your hard drive, especially if you are on an open wifi network, such as libraries where you don’t know who could be browsing through your files.
- Password protect your wireless network to avoid allowing strangers to use your connection.
- Never sign into financial accounts (banking, Paypal, etc.) while connected to an unprotected wifi connections in locations such as airports or apartment complexes, which may be traps set by hackers to snag your personal information.
- Use caution when downloading, since spammers often hide dangerous malware in programs that are offered free on the internet.
- Do not open attachments unless you are expecting them or click on links in questionable e-mails. Many phishing scams try trick people into opening attachments or clicking links which can install a virus on your computer after you click it.
- Set up e-mail filters that help reduce the levels of spam that reaches your inbox.
- Use strong passwords that are at least seven characters long, mixing digits with lower and uppercase letters. Also change your passwords frequently and do not store them on your machine.
- Password protect your computer login access to prevent unintended harm to your computer from inexperienced internet users, such as young children.
Drop us an e-mail if you’d like other ideas on how to safe-guard your computer or important documents. We’re the printer you can trust to make your life easier!
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