Hot Stuff

Weekly Contest - Expression Studio
1 Winner Selected
The Big Picture Magazine - FREE
Real-world solutions to design challenges
Get Creative Videocast
New every week. Watch what's important to you.
Subscribe to Print How-Tos Print How-Tos
QuarkXPress Tips: Graphically Speaking
How-Tos: Written by Jay J. Nelson on July 7, 2008
Good design does not live by text alone. To master QuarkXPress, add these image-oriented tricks to your workflow.
Bake Up a Batch of PDF Files
How-Tos: Written by Donna Baker on June 2, 2008
Open a file, change the header, save the file to a new location, close the file... repeat more times than you can count. If that sounds familiar, help is on the way.
Slim Down Your PDFs
How-Tos: Written by Donna Baker on May 7, 2008
Follow these tips to shrink a PDF's file size and help it display faster.
InDesign Transparency: No Longer the Forbidden Fruit
How-Tos: Written by Mordy Golding Renee Dustman on April 28, 2008
With this advice, you can reap the rewards of transparency and never hear those dreaded words, "It won't print!"
Create Clipping Paths without Photoshop
How-Tos: Written by Robert Underwood on April 25, 2008
Here's how to cut out an image using only QuarkXPress.
HerGeekness Says: Convert Custom Letterhead to Microsoft Word Templates
How-Tos: Written by Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion on April 2, 2008
Is your client insisting on a Word version of your letterhead design? Follow these conversion guidelines to cut down on your pain and maximize your profit.
Seven Tips for a Perfect Printed Piece
How-Tos: Written by Cathy Skoglund on March 26, 2008
Straight from the pros at the bindery, this advice will help ensure glitch-free print jobs.
Turn Color Photos into Duotones in Photoshop
How-Tos: Written by Chad Neuman on March 4, 2008
You can transform one photograph into a wide variety of duotones to use in print or on the Web.
Mastering Master Pages
How-Tos: Written by Robert Underwood on February 4, 2008
Make your life easier with QuarkXPress's automatic page numbering.
Share and Synch Content in QuarkXPress
How-Tos: Written by David Blatner on January 14, 2008
Are you repeating images, text, or stylistic attributes across multiple boxes or even multiple layouts? Use these tools to make sure that content always matches, no matter what changes anyone makes.
InDesign How-To: Take Control of Text Wrap
How-Tos: Written by Renee Dustman on December 10, 2007
Flowing text around all kinds of objects and shapes is easy once you know how.
QuarkXPress Tips
How-Tos: Written by Jay J. Nelson on November 21, 2007
You're sure to find new nuggets of information in this diverse collection of tips.
Microsoft Word for Creative Pros
How-Tos: Written by Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion on November 12, 2007
You're a designer, not a text jockey. But sometimes you're forced to work with Microsoft Word anyway, and when that happens, you'll be glad to have these tips.
InDesign How-to: Mind Your Table Manners
How-Tos: Written by Michael Murphy on November 7, 2007
The best tables communicate their information efficiently and look good doing it. This article doesn't only explain where to find InDesign's table tools. It spends even more time on the design principles behind the most successful tables.
Get Better Output with Photoshop's Automate and Scripts Menus
How-Tos: Written by Ben Long on October 31, 2007
Learn how to automatically output multiple copies of an image in different formats (resizing along the way); print one page with multiple versions of an image; and create diptychs and triptychs.
Git Along, Li'l PDF: How to Stamp Proofs with Your Own Brand
How-Tos: Written by Pariah Burke on October 17, 2007
Acrobat's Stamp tool can prevent a lot of confusion if you use it for things like explaining Lorem Ipsum placeholder text and FPO images on client proofs. But rather than settling for Acrobat's generic stamps, you can create your own. Yeehaw!
QuarkXPress How-To: Use Layers to Corral Overlapping Items
How-Tos: Written by Alistair Dabbs on October 10, 2007
Say you want to edit text in a box that's obscured behind other boxes in a busy layout. You keep clicking on the wrong boxes, accidentally moving items, and generally making a mess. Here's how to fix that problem forever.
Give a 2D Layout a 3D Feel
How-Tos: Written by Robert Underwood on September 7, 2007
With a combination of Photoshop and QuarkXPress, you can weave an image underneath and above a line of type. All it takes is a simple cutout that uses an alpha channel, and a stacking order trick!
Understanding Illustrator's 9-Slice Scaling
How-Tos: Written by Mordy Golding on August 17, 2007
What is it? How do you use it? And is this new feature good for print or the Web?
Collaborate with Acrobat
How-Tos: Written by Taz Tally on July 30, 2007
Whether you're working with offsite team members or gathering feedback from a client, Acrobat's commenting and reviewing tools are unbeatable. Here's how to use them in a powerful, flexible collaborative workflow.