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Do NOT adjust your computer screen; we are in control.:) LightningSymphony is undergoing a few changes.

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Photoshop World 2011 Wrap & Thanks

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Comments Posted on Sep 10, 2011 Last Updated Sep 10, 2011 Posted by Scott Valentine

#PSW was kind of a blur for me. Most of my time was spent on the Expo floor meeting with some fantastic people, including Adobe engineers and managers, fellow authors, editors, and my sponsors. Of course, I can’t forget the friendliest crew at the show, the Facebook Maniacs. This group was very welcoming, and represents an amazingly diverse set of talents. I’ll talk more about them in a future post, and I’ll be naming names – you’ll want to get to know them! But let me get back to the show, my thoughts, and what I heard from others.

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#PSW Thursday

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Comments Posted on Sep 08, 2011 Last Updated Sep 08, 2011 Posted by Scott Valentine

Much of Wednesday was a blur for me at PhotoshopWorld Las Vegas. I only got to sit in on one class (Corey Barker’s 3D intro), and took a whirlwind spin around the Expo floor. But I did get to spend some quality time with a few of the cooler folks in attendance, including Grant Friedman from psdtuts, Patrick Smith from onOne, Jim Tierney (Chief Executive Anarchist) from Digital Anarchy, and the most dedicated Facebook crew I’ve ever encountered.

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Batch rendering 3D in Photoshop CS5

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Comment Posted on Sep 04, 2011 Last Updated Sep 04, 2011 Posted by Scott Valentine

Most of my recent freelance work centers on 3D content within Photoshop. More and more, I’m getting requests to build catalogs of images using a 3D model with many different images. Doing this one at a time is very tedious since the process usually involves a minute or two of placing the artwork, and then up to an hour of rendering. Wash, rinse, repeat. After talking with some fantastic Adobe engineers, I have a solution to present: a script that will take your 3D files and artwork, and batch render them!

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Photoshop Hidden Gem: Straightening Images

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Comments Posted on Aug 25, 2011 Last Updated Aug 25, 2011 Posted by Scott Valentine

John Nack blogged a couple of videos on YouTube, featuring Photoshop Program Manager Bryan O’Neil Hughes. This one shows you how to use the new Puppet Warp tool for image straightening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnmJRl8R6fY

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Alltop picks up LightningSymphony!

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Comments Posted on Jul 17, 2011 Last Updated Jul 17, 2011 Posted by Scott Valentine

Several months ago, I submitted this blog to Alltop.com for inclusion in the Photoshop category. I finally got confirmation that they’d include the feed last night! This is motivating me to post more frequently, so I’m making a list of future blog topics.

While I tend to shoot for original content whenever possible, usually in an editorial fashion (read: spewing my opinion about some topic), I think there is quite a bit of room for sharing other people’s work, too. Here’s the plan: I’ve been pretty good about sharing little web gems on Facebook, so I’ll start posting similar stuff here, but expanded. Rather than just a link and short comment, I’ll share why I think something is interesting.

Once traffic picks up again, I will resume give-away prizes, too.

Stay tuned!

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About Scott Valentine

Scott ValentinePhotographer, Photoshop enthusiast, author, & educator, geek, dad. I love sharing information and getting others jazzed about digital imaging, and was recently honored to become a part of the Adobe Community Professionals. You can find my videos on YouTube and Facebook, and written tutorials on CommunityMX.com. If you want to chat, or have questions, head over to http://PhotoshopTechniques.com/forum and jump into the conversation!

Current Favorite!

  • Wacom Enhancements
  • Mac performance tip for Photoshop CS5
  • Blend Mode Shortcuts

You can turn Wacom pressure options on and off right up in the Options bar. When you have a tool that supports pressure sensitivity selected, click the pen icon over a transparency to control the Opacity and choose the pen icon over a bulls-eye to control the brush size. (via planetphotoshop.com)

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Are simple tasks taking longer in CS5 than CS4? Check out this tip fromMac Performance Guide: Edit your Preferences and adjust your Cache Tile Size to optimize your setup for the kinds of images you work on. MPG suggests just cranking it to 1024 and forgetting it. What works for you?

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Have you explored the blend modes available in Photoshop? If so, you can get to most of your favorites by using a shortcut: Shift + Option/Alt + (first letter of blend mode). For example, Shift+opt/Alt+M changes the current mode to Multiply. The shortcut list isn’t complete, but you can round out and update the shortcuts [...]

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Perpetually…

I'm tinkering with the new site. Bare with me while I try a few things out! In the mean time, check out my photo gallery.

Fun Stuff

Keep checking back for tutorials, tips, discounts, coupons, etc. relating to Photoshop and photography. I'm working on some deals with very cool vendors, so be sure to sign up for the RSS feed (when I get it going). Here from Facebook? Then you found one of the links (click on 'discounts' above).
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