Owner: carldashtophamdotcom blog URL:http://www.carl-topham.com/theblog/ Join Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 07:43:05 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: graphic design, webdesign, photoshop, illustrator, dreamweaver hints and tips along with a selection of showcase images from the portfolio of Carl Topham Site statistics:Click here
Vector art hints & tips 2007-02-16 14:32:34 Today I am going to briefly show you how to make a vector image like the one below. In case you are not aware vector images are made up of many separate, scalable bits and pieces. The objects are defined by paths and lines instead of pixels, so they always display at the highest quality whatever the size.
I have only ever made a few vector images but the best method I have found for creating a good looking and simple one is as follows. (more…) Read more:Vector
Website update 2007-02-15 15:08:09 Fresh for the new year, it was decided that a new look website was needed. Starting from the ground up it has been created to include a greater range of images, artworks and simpler navigation. It now uses flash instead of the dreaded frames!
As an added bonus there are also a few new images to see.
Check it out at www.carl-topham.com
Carl
Upcoming features 2007-02-15 13:01:33 carldashtophamdotcom will soon to be adding to the range of media that is shown. Along with the current graphic design, 3d and artwork the following categories will be added in the next few weeks.
Animation -
3d and 2d animated videos of varying topics. Ranging from fly-bys to fully animated shorts.
Interactive -
A selection of flash, shockwave and downloadable programs. Many are just concept works and are just and others were built to aid me in my creative work.
Watch this space…
Carl Read more:Upcoming
, features
I have blog! 2007-02-15 12:26:03 carldashtophamdotcom now has joined the blogging revolution. I will be keeping you up to date on projects, design tips and any other relevent news and info I see fit to share. Â
Carl
eye eye 2007-02-18 18:51:01 I am briefly going to outline how I make images with altered eyes. If you get it right you should be able to create some interesting looking images. I’m not going to cover this in depth. I’m just covering the basics for now.
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skinning a man 2007-02-19 22:00:26 No sadly for you crazy people out there i’m not going to tell you how to take the skin off a man. For starters I wouldn’t have a clue where to start with that. Instead I am going to show you how I went about creating the 360 skin in the picture below. I tell a slight lie there, I will show you half and if you are smart enough to get 180 degrees you can quite easily finish the image all the way around…
(more…) Read more:skinning
Designing with the environment in mind 2007-02-19 12:05:33 Why?
For any design the environment is usually a second priority to cost. Businesses run to make money so that is where the focus is aimed. So why would a business want to shift more focus onto the environment. What I am briefly going to cover are a few very good reasons for cost and not for the classic argument "to save the world for my children and my children's children… (more…) Read more:Designing
Fontastic (part 1) 2007-02-20 22:43:42 Any product or graphic you produce will probably need some form of type on it. You might think all you need to do is choose a font and type away. Wrong! Well 99% of the time anyway. Whether its a simple tag line or a paragraph of information you have to consider two things. Fonts and Typography. There are a few rules you need to follow to make things look great and not just good.
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Concept art 2007-02-21 16:13:46 When you need to show someone how something is going to look what better way than a bit of concept art. It’s great for a early on pitch, it’s quite quick and doesn’t take up too many man hours for the results it produces. If you have the time and money you could model in 3D but if you don’t or can’t then a concept from a sketch is just up your street.
(more…) Read more:Concept
, Concept art
Mapped 2007-02-21 13:34:41 You can now check out where my visitors come from. Either click on the visitor map link in the main menu to the right or go to http://www.carl-topham.com/theblog/?page_id=13 to check it out. It’s going to be da bomb.
This is a new feature using some new plugins so there might be a minor glitch or two. I am also kind of new to PHP and how to get my map to do what I want! I would appreciate and feedback or help anyone can give using wordpress the geotrack plugin.
Brush up your skills 2007-03-01 23:12:56 Brush
es are a crucial part of every creative man and womans photoshop toolbox. Here’s how I go about making mine. Since they can be resized at will once made thay are a great way to add variation to your work at a small one off cost and all you need is 10 mins to get one one the go.
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Masked ball 2007-02-28 23:56:36 Layer masks are where its at. They are better than the eraser tool because the image data is still there but just hidden behind a mask, so you can always change the visable areas later in your image progress. I am going to show how to set up a layer mask so you can start using them in your projects too.
(more…) Read more:Masked
Tutorials for everyone 2007-02-28 23:15:45 After much thinking I realised that most of the tutorials I have been writing are more aimed at advanced users of photoshop and illustrator. This means that from now on I will be covering a whole lot more of the basic and intermediate skills too, since thats the best way to help you guys out with your projects. Then you can let your creatve talents free.
Since it you that I want to help I am going to leave it to you to request what you want if I haven’t already done it. Just add a comment with your request. It’s open mike night… get singing…
I will try to get a responce to requests within a day or two] Read more:Tutorials
, everyone
Face off 2007-03-05 23:53:11 Peach… I could eat a peach for hours but I could also touch up a photo in about 20 mins. To start with you need a picture. I used my readily available model… me. I also used a close up but this technique will work for most images. In the end you should end up with a much smoother picture, like you had been sitting in a vat of moisturiser for a week or two. It can be quite subtle depending on how much you use it.
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Double Vision 2007-03-05 20:22:57 Do you want to work on a close up of your image and see the bigger picture at the same time without having to buy a 52″+ Super High definition monitor? Simple. Photoshop lets you open more than one window of the same image. With your image window selected simply go to “Window > Arrange > New window for …”. Your new window can now been sized, zoomed and painted on just like the original one.
Tag you’re it 2007-03-06 22:02:31 The tags in question are META tags. They are the bits of code that sit in between the <HEAD> </HEAD> tags and tell search engines whats in a page (except google which actually reads a pages text content). (more…)
Bit on the side 2007-03-06 20:52:28 This is a quick tutorial for anyone using wordpress’s kubrick theme who wants to add a menu sidebar on the side of each of their single posts. It’s pretty basic but it’s also pretty quick to do.
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Photoshop shortcuts 01 2007-03-07 22:18:46 Here is a small collection of a few of the shortcut commands and keys I find very useful in photoshop. Some you will probably know about, but some you might not (more…) Read more:Photoshop
Rate this! 2007-03-09 17:22:14 I am going to cover how to install, setup and implement the 5-star rating system I have running on my blog. It’s pretty quick to setup the basics but will take a little longer to intergrate it fully into your site.
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King of the free 2007-03-18 16:15:00 When making an image it is often necessary to use images as backgrounds or parts of images as textures. Since I am not loaded I have to find the cheap ways to get them. The best way to get some images is to go out and about and take photos of everything. The draw back to this is that you might not be able to get images of certain places and things since they will be half a world away.
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I’m spinning around 2007-03-19 21:50:33 This tutorial will show you how to make a panorama in photoshop using only a few simple tools. All you need is photoshop and some overlapping images. The bigger the overlap the better.
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Champion Contest 2007-03-19 10:54:00 So you think your good at Photoshop do you?? Here’s your chance to lay your cards on the table and show me what you got.
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My friends? 2007-03-20 21:39:58 Who needs friends anyway?! Another annoying box in myspace that can be banished. Its easy and you can do it in 30 seconds flat.
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No Comment 2007-03-20 21:19:32 Sometimes on myspace I like a bit of privacy with my comments. I don’t want everyone reading my comments, plus they mess up my page and make it stupidly long. Everyone hates scrolling too much.
Here’s some quick snippets of code to hide your comments on your main profile page. I am assuming you have basic HTML skills so it shouldn’t look too confusing.
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My whatever space 2007-03-20 20:41:02 Myspace, that wonderful social networking site, allows you to use HTML to customise your profiles look.
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Mail me 2007-03-21 21:25:16 A basic PHP email form if quick and simple to create. It also makes it quicker for your visitors to email you directly from your page. You will need a PHP enabled webserver. If you are using wordpress then you have that sorted already.
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Doooooom dooom doom doom 2007-03-25 12:05:14 There is currently an [bad] issue with my blog. You may have noticed that things keep changing or timing out before loading. Damn damn damn. It maybe be a hosting problem and not my amazing php but in the mean time I have had to start from scratch to fix it. I might just learn something.
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Portability 2007-03-24 20:56:44 Wherever you go you want to be able to have your software with you to use. It’s doubtful that [the library / an internet café / work] will let you install Photoshop or any other software you want to use. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just slap Photoshop on a disk and take it wherever you want to setup shop for the day. Well you can. (more…)
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The earth is flat 2007-03-26 22:48:05 To make a planet with your panoramas and photographs all you need is a suitable photo and 20 mins.
This can be done with pretty much any photo.
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BAND-AID® applied 2007-03-26 21:46:22 Those page errors are a thing of the past, for now at least. Turns out it wasn’t my php or my host. It was the people over at TopBlogArea.com who made my page mess up.
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