TIP: QuickMask Switch-a-roo

When you're using Quick Mask to make a selection, the area you're painting appears clear, and the masked area appear in a red tint. But having the opposite (where you paint appears in red) can really be helpful in making accurate selections. The tip is this: you can quickly toggle between the two "looks" by holding the Option key (PC: Alt-key), and clicking directly on the Quick Mask icon (as shown in the capture) to toggle back and forth. I duplicated the photo (in the screen capture) so you can see how the two different Quick Mask modes look.

Free Cool Music (clearly not Photoshop related)

OK, this isn't exactly Photoshop related, but I had to tell somebody about this, 'cause it's pretty darn slick. Click on this link (http://www.mixed-tape.com) which takes you to the "Mixed Tape" section of Mercedes Benz USA's site (it's tied into the promo for Mercedes' iPod integration). Every 60 days, Mercedes puts a collection of very cool music there. You can listen to the music using their very slick, futuristic music player, but you can also download all the featured music they're playing for free with just one click (click the "Download All Tracks" link). This whole thing is so well done, it's really worth a look even if you're not downloading the music.

Here's another shot...

From our Day in Nikko (click on the image to see a larger version).

Shot in Nikko

Matt, Rod, Jeff and I took a bus from Tokyo to Nikko for the day to do a little shooting of the Shinto Shrines there. The Shrines were beautiful. The lighting was not, but here's one of the shots I got near the Shrines.

TIP: Temporary Layer Unlinking in CS2

So let's say you a bunch of layers all linked together, and you want to move one of those layers without unlinking it from the rest of the group (in other words, you don't want to break up the whole group of linked layers, and then have to go and relink them all over again). Just hold the Shift key and click directly on the little link icon that appears to the right of the file's name. A red "X" will appear over the link to show you it's temporarily unlinked. To relink it once you're done moving it, just Shift-click on the red "X".

More Photoshop World Japan Shots

Check out these two Tokyo-based Web sites that covered Photoshop World Japan. They've got some great photos of the event (remember to click on the photos to see larger versions), but you might have some trouble reading the articles (unless you read Japanese, of course), but it's worth it just to see the photos. The first is at http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/other/2005/11/09/2668.html and the other is http://ascii24.com/news/i/topi/article/2005/11/09/658965-000.html

Shots from Photoshop World Japan

Greetings from Shinagawa, Tokyo! I just some posted from photos (taken by Jeff Kelby) from the first day of Photoshop World Japan. You can see the photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/83124837@N00/sets/1339457/

Check out the Lepp Institute

Right before I left for Japan, I spent a week out at the Lepp Institute for Digital Imaging. If you're a photographer looking for a state-of-the-art hands-on week of in-depth learning, they have the most advanced facility I've ever seen. It's a first class operation top-to-bottom, and George Lepp (the legendary nature photographer) has dedicated his life to sharing what he's learned with other Photographers and Photoshop users, and it's a very special place, run by very special people. Check it out at http://www.leppphoto.com

Off to Photoshop World Japan

I'm leaving first thing tomorrow for Photoshop World Japan (our first Photoshop World outside the U.S.) and we're pretty psyched (accompanying me are Dave Moser, Rod Harlan, and my Photoshop TV co-host Matt Kloskowski). While we're out there, we're going to do an on-scene video report from Tokyo for Photoshop TV, so it should be fun! :) I'm not sure how many posts I'll have a chance to do while I'm out there, but I'll sure try. I'll be back on the 14th. Until then, check out the Photoshop World Japan Web site at http://www.photoshopworld.jp

Shooting with Ben and Marc

I was able to coax Photoshop Guru Ben Willmore (on right), and Marc Pawilger (the guy responsible for managing Adobe's imaging products, like Photoshop. Check your CS2 splash screen--his name appears right below Photoshop inventor Thomas Knoll) into getting up at 5:00 a.m., hiking up a mountain in Los Osos, and shooting the sunrise. Here's a shot of Ben and Marc "on the rocks."

Color mgmt just got easier in Win XP

If you're using Windows XP and Photoshop, then has Microsoft done something to make your day! They just released a new Color Management control panel applet that makes life easier by letting you manage all of Win XP's color management controls in just one place. You can download it FREE from Microsoft's Pro Photography site at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/default.mspx

Another shot from Lepp Land

Here's another I took at our twilight shoot.

A shot from Los Osos, CA

Right now I'm out at the Lepp Institute for Digital Imaging in Los Osos, CA for the annual Lepp Invitational. George invites a number of photographers and Photoshop people (like myself, Ben Willmore, Katrin Eismann, etc.) and for three days we teach each other. Each person does a session, and we share ideas, and techniques. Anyway, before the thing kicks off tomorrow, George scheduled a photo shoot on the beach at a nearby state park. Here's one of the shots I got this afternoon (click on the photo to see a larger version).

Photoshop TV ranks #1

That's right, babeeeeee!!!! Thanks to many fine, fine folks like yourselves, Photoshop TV is now the #1 top-ranked Podcast of ALL podcasts!!! (as evidenced by the screen capture borrowed from Dave Cross's Blog). As you might imagine, we're pretty darn psyched (to say the least).

TIP: Fullscreen Bridge Slideshow Tip

My buddy Terry White came up with this Bridge tip and I love it. OK, here's the scoop: You've just come back from a shoot, and you're reviewing all your photos in the Bridge's Full Screen slideshow mode (Command-L on Mac / Ctrl-L on PC). You can rate your files 1 to 5 stars by just pressing the numbers 1 thru 5 while the image is on screen. Here's the catch: there's no way to delete files (like your 1-star rated files) while you're reviewing your images fullscreen, and even when you're out of full screen mode, the filtering in the Bridge will only let you sort 1-star rated images OR HIGHER. Not just 1-star images. So here's Terry's very clever workaround. Do a Find for just 1-star images. The results (all your worst images) appear in a separate window. Now you can just select all and hit delete. How cool is that!!! Thanks to Terry for sharing this slick trick!