Exquisite Weddings Magazine & The Bride Suite

1

Complete Development from base theme structure to launch including usability wireframe development, 3rd party extension integration, structural changes ‘against’ the original theme framework and extensive CSS modifications.

Click on the image to the left to view full screenshots of this project, or view the current public site now maintained by client staff. New site launches mid-April 2012.

IU Health E-Learning Cafe: Responsive Mobile-Tablet-Standard Framework

2

Complete Development of this Responsive Framework base theme structure to launch including usability wireframe development, 3rd party extension integration, structural changes ‘against’ the original theme framework and extensive CSS modifications.

Click the image to the left to view full screenshots of this project, or view the current public site now maintained by client staff. Note that the content of this site is for registered employees, so much of the heart of the site will be blocked to unregistered visitors.

Property Management: Responsive Mobile-Tablet-Standard Framework

3

Same theme as above and development process but using the ‘bare bones’ (non-Wordpress core files) to integrate with a pre-existing pHp property listing cms.
 

 
The method I recommend for pulling line art, drawings, and handwriting smoothly off their background surfaces. Ok, every image and scenario is going to have qualities that make using one selection tool or another work the best. For the end result here, perhaps even duplicating a Channel might do the trick, however, even for intermediate users, this whole thing about Channels can be more complicated than it’s worth. This exercise involves using a Levels Adjustment Layer and the Select Color Range menu option. 

My exercise example comes from an old clip art book of very detailed etchings. It was manually scanned without any automatic corrections or adjustments.

1 In the Adjustments Panel, add a Levels Adjustment (it’s the second icon, top row). In the Histogram (that charts the image’s shadows, midtones, and highlights), drag the shadows triangle toward the center until you see the Adjustment really darkening the darks. Do the same with the highlights triangle. See below.

If you still have some mid-grey areas, dirt, overall dinginess, move the midtones triangle toward the left as well. In general, you’re using these adjustments to improve what we tend to think of visually as the contrast overall.

2  Make sure you have targeted the original layer with the drawing in it – click once on the layer in the Layers Panel to make sure. Go to the very top menu: Select > Color Range. Now you’ll see this dialogue box (below). Move your cursor over into the actual image area – your cursor should look like an Eyedropper tool. Click on a good, solid black area and you’ll see the preview in the Color Range dialogue box change a bit.

What you see in white in this little preview will be selected when you click “OK”. That Fuzziness setting – that’s what makes Select > Color Range so magical. It’s going to increase the amount of pixels selected, what Photoshop calls “contiguous”, some partially selected (transparent), much like the Refine Edge and Feather Radius options does with other selection tools. (Much like that… but not exactly the same thing.)

3You’ve clicked “OK”, and what you will likely see is a psychotic-looking bunch of marching ants (marquee) around your fish. That was the hardest part… cake, right?

At this point you can do several different things, but I say go ahead and add a layer mask to the fish. Remember, when you have marching ants ON and you click the Layer Mask icon, everything outside those marching ants will be masked away, aka hidden.
4You may want to keep that Levels Adjustment Layer if you like what it’s doing to the layer under it. However, in this particular image example, if we bring in a new background layer, that Levels Adjustment, by default, is adjusting all layers underneath it. The visual below is a quick reminder of how to control that if you still want to maintain all your separate layers. See below:

So, target the Adjustment Layer (just click on it once in the Layers Panel). Now, go back to your Adjustments Panel and hit that 3rd icon over, a set of overlapping circles that, in Photoshop, represents clipping the adjustment to only the layer directly underneath it.

This method of extracting works really well for hand-drawn sketches and line art you want to bring into photoshop to render, paint, or integrate into compositions. In these scenarios, you need  that line art floating on a top layer, free of any original backgrounds so you’re free to render away.

©Christina Pein 2012

I believe acquiring at least a base set of fully-paid for, high-end professional fonts from actual foundries is just as essential as owning licensed, legit Creative Suite software. But just like Creative Suite, the hard part is the cost. So I’m recommending shopping on Veer for some good quality fonts. Since well-done script & gestural typefaces are the hardest to find, here are my favorites on Veer.

Groundswell, Expanded and Revised:
Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

Originally published by Harvard Business Press, this one stays in line with it’s own topic and continually updates with new editions. Click on the image thumbnail to the left or HERE for the new Groundswell, Expanded and Revised edition. Don’t stare at the cover too long or you’ll go blind. Just saying.

Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

Winner of the 2007 Society for Cinema and Media Studies Katherine Singer Kovacs Book Award
2007 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

This was required reading for me, and there are a lot of positive reviews and ratings on it out there that will probably encourage you to buy your own copy. It’s pretty good stuff… I’ve read it.

How We Decide

“Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason—and the precise mix depends on the situation. How We Decide shows how people are taking advantage of the new science to make better television shows, win more football games, and improve military intelligence. His goal is to answer two questions that are of interest to just about anyone, from CEOs to firefighters: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better?”

The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement

#1 New York Times Bestseller

“With unequaled insight and brio, New York Times columnist David Brooks has long explored and explained the way we live. Now Brooks turns to the building blocks of human flourishing in a multilayered, profoundly illuminating work grounded in everyday life.”

If you’re looking for training on using XML in InDesign, you’re facing a bit of a challenge. If you’re in a creative profession and you’ve found yourself in a position of needing to learn it and implement it, finding a live training class on this topic won’t be easy. Most live and virtual general InDesign classes offered out there, even “Advanced” ones that I teach, don’t have enough time in the day to dig in to this to the point where you can feel ‘proficient‘ on this alone. If you’re looking for hands-on training on this specific topic, you may need to set up a custom class with an authorized training provider.

As fantastic as this XML in InDesign concept is in the grand scheme of things, expecting anything beyond a brief touch on the subject in a general InDesign Advanced training course is a bit unrealistic. If you’re attending a live class, it is likely that the majority of the other attendees will not be ready or have use for this… yet. So if you’re needing it, you’re in a league of your own right now.

I myself have a very fundamental knowledge of it, enough to use it (grudgingly) if efficiency is a top priority in a client/project scenario. The tricky part is the ‘workflow‘ so to speak. Using it requires some big picture involvement. If there are multiple participants on a project with various roles in a flow, they all need to be on board with this and have training in it as well. When you start to research this topic on your own, you’ll start to sniff what I’m stepping in here.

The Best Resource I’ve Found and Given a Whirl

A Designer’s Guide to Adobe InDesign and XML. It is important to work through start to finish. When you purchase this, the example files used in the book are made available for download. There is also a Nook Edition now available. I’ve had some conversation with the co-author, who is very passionate about the topic. This is apparent about both authors after having gone through this book on my own.

 
PsPrint Lately I’ve been going here the most. Their special pricing is amazing, and the quality is great. I’ve had enough experience with this one that I actually opt out of the Proof options all-together with confidence.

With their ultra-competitive offers, I’ve been able to produce custom pieces like this graduation announcement that would have cost me twice as much anywhere else (like Kinkos). This example is just a simple 5 x 7 on cover stock. My quick photo doesn’t do the actual printing quality justice.

Just for staying with me here, here’s a direct promo code for 20% Off Your Next Print Job at PsPrint (enter “SALE” at checkout)



OvernightPrints.com is one I’ve used with confidence for years. Very affordable pricing, relatively fast turnaround (in the end you’re really at the mercy of your chosen shipping option), and consistent quality. I use OvernightPrints.com for my some own personal printing and even used a spot varnish on my last business card without paying a fortune for it.

PAPER SOURCE

More than just commercial paper products here. Paper Source is the premiere paper store for envelopes and handmade paper products from around the world, with collections of Japanese paper, Lokta and Indian printed papers, and are continuing to add more and more papers with high recycled content.

One of my favorite things relating to printing is Letterpress. In addition to a beautiful selection of finished letterpress products, Paper Source also has a great selection of materials for your own Letterpress Machine.

In addition to papers, I especially like this Desk Embosser & Custom Embosser Plate, something I use on my own art giclee prints to give them an added level of authenticity. I’ve shopped for totally-custom embossers before – having one 100% custom from my own design/signature is crazy-expensive. These at least give you some presets that are fine-tuned to chose from.

Aside from actual products, paper companies and suppliers, in general, can be really great sources of creative inspiration. Check out Paper Source’s Do Something Creative Every Day ®

This is getting hard for me to keep up to date. Sometimes, even as the Instructor, I get as little as a few days notice especially for Virtual Course offerings.

Although I do some direct custom training and individual sessions, I primarily provide instruction on contract with 3-4 different Training Companies in the U.S.

To Enroll or Learn More About Adobe Professional Training,  Visit Ledet Adobe Training

ON-LOCATION

I routinely do on-location 2-4 day sessions in San Diego, Washington DC, Boston, Pittsburgh, Houston, San Antonio, and Chicago with Ledet.

I’m hoping to extend my on-location offerings to more geographic areas this year.

VIRTUAL

I’ve been doing a lot more of this in recent months with excellent results. Typically, the class size is still small (1-4 attendees), which allows for a lot of open dialogue and direct Q&A. They are structured very much like your basic web conference/online meeting, and I’ve found that the general pace of the class is almost the same as a live on-location course. I teach for both Ledet and VHOT.

Coming Soon

After using Dreamweaver on a daily basis now for months on end, I’m in a better position to compose a list of my favorite shortcuts and Dreamweaver features. Stay tuned. I’m workin’ on it.

Here’s a Start of the Ones I Use the Most:

The first thing I look for is ratings and reviews on a theme, especially anything regarding the quality of the Support & Documentation provided with a theme. When you use a free theme, you’re at the mercy of the theme’s developers or the user community to help you with problems or questions. Ya get what ya pay for, so with free themes, sometimes you may get NO help at all.

If you’re paying for a theme, you should expect at least some decent documentation, and the really good ones are very generous and responsive in their support forums because they have some ‘pride of ownership‘ and they know their theme like nobody’s business. Most of them understand this simple concept – if you’re happy, you’re likely to buy/use/recommend more of their themes, like I’m doing right now (below).

The second thing I look for still relates to the ratings and reviews – any indication you can find on the number of downloads (as in how popular the theme is) and any general ranking system that indicates it is well-liked by users. If a theme looks really cool, that’s one thing. If it doesn’t get near-perfect ratings, I tend to think it’s because the guts of the theme are full of coding conflicts – the technical issues I despise having to fix or deal with or work around… because I’m not a ‘natural developer‘ by nature. I do know enough about how templates are built and structured, in addition to CSS and stuff like that, to know if a template is clean, structured well, and just generally built by sober, English-speaking minds. My ‘back end‘ skills are above average though, so if you’re on the beginner side of things, again, shop the high-ranked popular templates.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH PREMIUM THEMES

Recently I have been buried in the guts of a handful of popular “Premium” WP templates. One foundry I’ve had quite a bit of experience with is OBox. Themes I have used and customized extensively include Briefcase, Depth, Gloss, and Platform. The theme files are thorough, complex, and well-structured- because of this though, I wouldn’t advise doing a lot of customization on your own if you are a beginner.

The most comprehensive collection of premium themes I’ve found is on ThemeForest

After much painful experience working with templates, I know how to ‘shop‘ for the right ones, and by that I mean while keeping in mind what my client needs overall, I can look at a theme’s offerings and gauge if it’s going to be flexible enough, functional enough, if it supports 2-3 menus, if it offers a lot of built-in widgets and if those widgets are appropriate for my client’s content needs, etc.

Two particular themes I have extensive experience in customizing are Duotive Three and Humble. I’m just going to say I absolutely love them in order to keep this post from becoming a nerdy ‘Ode to Code‘ manifesto. Duotive Three has the most extensive documentation and the most responsive support I’ve ever encountered. The theme is highly flexible and just simply beautiful. But in my opinion it’s at a cost – the cost being ease of use for a WordPress beginner… or even an intermediate user. That being said, the support is very thorough, so if you have the time and attention span for a learning curve, by all means dive in! It is important that you go through their tutorials from start to finish. Do not skim and skip around. Seriously. I learned a lot in the process of understanding this theme. As a result, all other themes I’ve customized since have been a big ole pice of cake.

Note: I’m currently using Duotive Three for one of my bigger clients – by bigger I mean a magazine that’s very image-focused (galleries up the ying yang), with a complex navigation (3 separate menu systems), and one cubic ton of content that has to change daily and promote interactivity and frequent return with visitors. This site you’re on right now, 5thStage, uses the Humble template.

KEEP IN MIND

I’m a huge fan of plugins. There are thousands of them out there collectively offered in the WordPress.org Extend area. I’m pretty sure I have at least tried 300 or more of them on various clients’ sites. At this point though, I could narrow that 300+ down to about 20 that I still religiously install, trust, and use on a regular basis. I’ll make a list of those in the next post.

However, I have learned that no matter how incredibly awesome a premium or free theme appears to be, if you plan to add on all kinds of 3rd party plugins, there WILL be conflicts. Premium themes boast a lot of fancy scripts, scripts that are custom built for the theme’s swanky features, like sweet feature slideshows. Plugins written by independent developers are not focused on the intricacies of one particular theme and as a result can override your theme’s scripts and just… make things not work as they should. I’ve found a lot of Social Media plugins to be the worst culprits, especially ones offered right from Facebook’s development section.

FREE TEMPLATES

(The Following was Originally Published in March 2009)

We’ll start with some examples of what’s involved in modifying one of WP’s most complex templates, Atahualpa.  In my experience thus far, it is one of, if not the most flexible and diverse free templates out there.

Yet to really utilize it’s potential, ya kinda gotta know what you’re doing when it comes to CSS, HTML, and PHP.

Now, when I say “modifying the Atahualpa template”, I’m talking about going way beyond changing a few colors and layout options that are already available in the Atahualpa admin interface that works with WordPress. I love a very long, thorough CSS stylesheet to come with a good starting theme. Then, in Dreamweaver’s Code View, I can edit every single detail beyond the WP admin options. Then there’s fine-tuning some of the PHP and JS files, not to mention some magic bending of plug-ins…