Graphics How-Tos

Create Powerful Backgrounds in Photoshop

Don't let the wrong background ruin an otherwise fine photo. Here's how to remove the original background and create a new one that looks like it came out of a photographer's studio.

View Source: How to Use Photoshop Files with Dreamweaver CS4

Follow along with tutorial files while you learn the best practices in Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

Five Lightroom 2 How-Tos

New tools in Lightroom 2 make it easy to mimic graduated filters; brush in broad and fine adjustments; customize picture packages; create Collections; and even give a photo a watercolor look.

Easy Video Editing in Photoshop. Yes, Photoshop.

No need for a dedicated video application. You can apply adjustment layers and filters to video without leaving Photoshop Extended CS3 or CS4.

Photoshop Graffiti

Use layer blending modes and some masking to add realistic graffiti to a brick wall.

Create Photorealistic Reflections and Shadows

Celebrated digital painter Bert Monroy shares tips on creating realistic reflections and shadows in Photoshop.

Create Rich Media with Acrobat and Flash

If you have Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, you can combine PDFs and Flash files for previously impossible media richness.

Tug and Twirl Text in Illustrator

The sky’s the limit when you convert Illustrator text to outlines. It’s so easy to change each letter’s size, position, and color, and even push and pull letters into fantastic new shapes.

Photoshop How-to: Add Energy and Interest with Layered Images

By layering thematically related photographs and colored backgrounds and foregrounds, you can create unique imagery for print and Web projects.

Create a Searchlight in Photoshop

Whip up a Hollywood-style spotlight effect with realistic-looking beams of light in Photoshop CS3.

HerGeekness Says: Convert Any File Part II

In case of file-conversion emergency, start with a PDF!

Make Vector Splashes

Get all Jackson Pollock and make a splash -- literally. Then use Illustrator's easy Live Trace feature to bring your art into the digital world.

Transform a Busy Photo into a Strong Silhouette

When you want a clean, strong image for a print or Web project, use Illustrator to turn a photo into a striking silhouette.

How to Break into T-Shirt Design

T-shirt design is huge, and thanks to online stores like Threadless, you don't have to open a brick-and-mortar storefront or even build your own Web site to see success.

Rehabilitate Old Photos

Good photo rehabilitation goes beyond repairing typical tears and fading to rebuilding important, but initially unsatisfactory, images that recover the emotional impact of an event. And clients pay a lot for that!

QuarkXPress Tips: Graphically Speaking

Good design does not live by text alone. To master QuarkXPress, add these image-oriented tricks to your workflow.

Create Web Animations in Photoshop CS3

Animate banner ad and graphic objects; transform their shape, size, color; or replace them entirely.

Make Editable Arrows in Photoshop

Create vector arrows you can color, warp, resize, flip, shadow, emboss, and more.

Create a Reflection Effect in Photoshop CS3

Mirror, mirror, how do you get a realistic reflection of your image? In Photoshop CS3, it's easy to mirror images using the Clone Source feature with the Clone Stamp Tool and Healing Brush.

Sidewalk Serendipity

Street photography hones your vision, improves your technical skills, and heightens your reflexes. Plus, it's free and legal!