[Isotrope]

Hi chemix,
this is not the cleanest solution, but you could find a screen capture utility (that supports video). Load up Photoshop, select your brushes and make sure everything is as you want it, create a big (white background) canvas, hide all the tools and toolbars. Then, start your screengrab utility and draw everything you want.
However, you won’t have any reference for the blueprints. You could always print them out and place them over your tablet and draw over them.
Again, not the perfect solution, but it could work if you’re doing something that’s low/medium-res.

I hope this can, at least, get you on the right path.

Cheers,
iso

[Isotrope]

Hi Gizmo,
if this is something that you rendered, you could go and render it against a background that is similar to the one that you’ll be pasting it onto. Also, (again, if this is something you can re-render), you could un-check your 3D app’s “pre-multiply alpha” setting/option.
In worse case, maybe you could (and this might be a bit experimental) shrink your selection a tiny bit. Or color-correct your contour.
I hope this can help.
Cheers, iso

[Isotrope]

Thanks Mike.
I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. I was away.
I am starting to get familiar with the Appearance palette. And yes, it does do a lot of what I need. But I would like to be able to link different shapes from different groups. Unless, you can have a shape within multiple groups(…?)
Thank you very much for your input, it is much appreciated.
Cheers,
iso

[Isotrope]

Hi Jeff,
how about ripping something and takeing a picture/scanning it? You could then do some masking and maybe work with the Blend modes to integrate it into your comp.
Just an idea.
Cheers,
iso

[Isotrope]

Hi Ben,
Once you’re satisfied with the Trace, hit Expand in the top toolbar.
Now select the white part with the WhiteArrow Selection tool (I’m sorry, I forget the official term), hit Delete and you should be good to go. I tend to add a completely different colored rectangle underneath to make it easy to see if my deletion worked well.
If ever you’ve deleted “too much”, you might have to use the Pathfinder palette a bit (Minus Back) to get it right.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
iso

[Isotrope]

Hi awal,
try looking into Color correction. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Look into Curves.
And remember, you can use selections to apply the effects (in the sense that you needn’t always apply an effect to a whole image but only parts of it). Also, looking into Layer Blend modes might be good.
Good luck,
iso

[Isotrope]

Hi mr_gfx,
since I’m not certain how you’re set-up is, I would suggest that you make a quick selection (Lasso, Ellipse, Rectangle,…) of a part that you want to keep.
Now, press Q. You have just activated the QuickMask tool. Is the part you selected red? or is it the opposite?
I find that some jobs are easier to work on with the Red on the outside, others with the Red on the inside. To revert to normal mode, just hit Q again.
But how do I switch it? you might ask. Look at your main toolbar, right below the Front/Background letter, you’ll find it to the right (I am looking at CS2 but it is quite similar in 6, if I recall correctly). When you find the icon, double-click it. The options will appear. You can even change the Red to something else.

Hope this helps,
iso

[Isotrope]

Hi John,
this may not be the best solution, but have you tried either “choking the selection” or having the Clouds layer blend mode set to “Screen”?
As for dragging it, you could make the Cloud into a Layer if it’s a Background, then use the ctrl-click method to get your selection, then apply a Layer Mask on your Layer, then drag that Layer into your composite.
I hope some of this can help.
Cheers,
iso

[Isotrope]

Hi Elizabeth,
I have one word to add: CSS
Cascading Style Sheets are an amazing design tool. They’re cross-broswer/cross-platform safe. They don’t go weird when viewed in finicky browsers like tables do. They allow absolute positioning, almost as specific as layers in Photoshop. Or they can be used in a very scalable way (with percentages).
…and this is only for element placement. Also, if you set up a style sheet for your text, the whole site will look more professional. If in doubt, spend an hour or two with a typographer once your (graphic) design is in the final stages. You’ll be glad you did. Think of it as the lighting (nothing can replace a good DP) of web design.
When you’re thinking of your designs, try to think that your users will all be at different resolutions. Try to conceive something that is scalable.

As for the CSS… look up the CSS Zen Garden https://www.csszengarden.com/ It will really help you to see what you can do with very clean code.

And.. good luck 🙂
iso