First up, I want to make sure you guys check out the newest version of Layers TV, over there on the right portion of the page. Corey spends some time talking about Illustrator and Masks, while Rich Harrington is back again with a vengeance, talking about Gradient Wipe features in After Effects. It's some really cool stuff so make sure that you check it out, on the right. Also, keep in mind that you can subscribe to our show on iTunes as well.

Terry White on InDesign
This time up, Terry White of the Terry White Techblog is talking to us about how to layout a magazine cover using InDesign. You would think it's easy... oh but it's not. Make sure you read along as Terry takes you through it.

Click here to go straight to Terry's Tutorial

That's it for today everyone. We'll see you guys back here tomorrow with the winner of the Blog contest!

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Stuck under a pile of emails, I thought to myself, "Surely there would be something cool to lighten up my day." Rather than focus on the news or Bloglines - I just focused on you guys! Check out what I mean.

First off, we have Matt Maxwell - A Flash Designer that is not all that he seems. He has taken his displeasure of the AS3 learning curve and made himself a song out of it. I've always wanted to fire up my QuickCam, sample some 50 cent steel drum sounds, and make a killer version of... well, how about I just let you enjoy his song:

Much Needed Photoshop Filters by Amanda
Another reader named Amanda sent me a listing of much needed Photoshop filters. I thought it would be interesting enough to share:

".......Needed Photoshop Filters
(The top ten needed to make life easier)

10. Fire and Brimstone Filter
9. Make Everything Look Fabulous Filter [i'd add a "Make it Fierce" Filter - rc]
8. Remove Annoying Distractions I Should Have Seen When Taking the Picture Filter
7. Remove the Dorky Smile My Friend Decided to Give Me at the Last Minute Filter
6. Convince My Model I'm Right Filter
5. Okay, the "Trained Model" Was Right Do it Her Way Filter
4. Render Hair Filter
3. Stop My Hands from Shaking and Remove Remaining Blur Filter
2. Remove Lens Cap Filter
1. Read My Mind and Do it Without Me Filter

Thanks so much Amanda- Those definitely help!

Layers TV Contest Winner
A congratulations to Jason Maher for winning this week's Layers TV contest. You walk away with an Epson P3000 viewer. Enjoy!

That's it for today everyone. We'll see you guys back here tomorrow morning!

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Happy Tuesday everyone. Things in the city are a little hurried at the time of this posting, due to the impending hurricane, but I say unto you - have no fear! Even with the oncoming storm approaching we'll still make sure that you get a quick dose of Creative Suite goodness. Well, that is, until they start telling us to run home. After that, you're on your own.

Matt Kloskowski has got a pretty good tutorial on creating a trendy circle brush in Photoshop. In the brush world, sometimes making one is just the best option - so kudos to Matt for bringing us the goods. Click on the following link to get to the tutorial:

Trendy Circle Brush in Photosop

Red Camera on Adobe Production Premium
I was checking out Dave Helmly's blog and noticed that he has been playing with some importer plugins to support Red Cameras. From what we're gathering there, Premiere and After Effects are going to be able to work with Red Camera data. Make sure you click on the link below to check that out.

DAV's TechTable - Red Camera Support

That's going to do it for me here today, everyone!

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Happy Monday everyone. Kevin, my buddy here in the office, sent me a link to this and I thought it was interesting enough to share. In photography, some people (I'll included myself here) have a propensity for becoming gear addled — looking for the coolest camera and lens to take out there. This however, pales in comparison to the amount of gear that's sitting out in the Olympics (Congrats Michael Phelps!). Counting everyone's backup cameras, lenses, and the like, you are easily talking figures in the hundreds of thousands of dollars out there.

Click here to check out a cool picture and the article on gear explosion (Via Gizmodo)

New TSA Rules in Effect
And now, a Public Service announcement. It seems that the TSA is becoming a little lax on the guidelines for taking your laptops out of their casing as they go through airport security. There is now a new set of rules as to what you can leave in its case as well as what still needs to be exposed. If you are traveling, it's definitely worth your while to make sure you are aware:

Click here to check out the new TSA rules on Laptop Baggage

Animating Splash in Photoshop and After Effects
Corey Barker has got a great Olympic-inspired tutorial on how to create an animation of water splashing using Photoshop and Illustrator. It's short, sweet, and downright interesting. Click on the link below to go to Corey Barkers tutorial:

Splash Animation with Photoshop and After Effects

Layers Blog Contest
This week I figured I would share my love of Artistic Photo Canvas with more than just one person. Our friends there have given us five 100 dollar gift cards to give away to 5 random blog readers for this week! This is all you have to do:

Go to the Contact portion of the blog and fill out your name, email address, and the answer to these 2 questions:

What was the date of the first Layers TV Episode?
If you go to the Artistic Photo Canvas website, what is the largest Gallery Wrap that you can order?

Contest ends at 5PM on Thursday and we will announce the 5 winners on Friday at 9AM.

That's it for today everyone. Have a wonderful week!

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Happy Friday everyone. I was sitting around reading The Strobist, and I noticed that he too has now gone all iPhone. Back in '07, I talked about using the iPod Touch or iPhone as a portfolio tool, but I never would have thought that this would prove to be so beneficial. The Strobist talks about the importance of keeping a Lighting file, and shows off a couple of different apps that help in the photography process. Awesome stuff if you ask me. While I currently have an iPod touch, I am keep eking closer to wanting to make the switch. The Strobist just makes yet another case for me to do so.

Click here to go to the Strobist site.

The Art of Type Column
James Felici has got a really neat article talking about typography and to how it pertains to checks, boxes, and outlines. Who knew typography would be so cool...

"In honor of this election year, I would like to dedicate a column to a humble bit player in the typographic repertoire: the ballot box. A linchpin of democracy, it doesn’t get the respect it deserves, and learning to use it well teaches some important typographic lessons."

The problem starts with finding one at all. It’s not in any standard character set, and fonts including Symbol, Monotype Sorts, and Zapf Dingbats don’t include one either. Of the popular pi fonts, only Webdings and Wingdings offer them. The Webdings ballot box is a full em square, meaning that it reaches from above a typeface’s ascenders to below its descenders. That’s big, for a ballot box. Wingdings offers three models, which range in weight from normal to horsy to even horsier. These sit on the baseline and are more or less cap-height... (read more of the column here).

D700 reviews are coming in
Quick mention here - If you haven't been to Scott Kelby's blog recently, you might want to go check it out today. Scott's taken the new D700 and put it through its paces. He gives it really high praise. Check it out at the Photoshop Insider.

Moose Peterson also has a couple (his frame counter now says 10,000) shots, and he's got some feedback on the D700. Make sure you see what he has to say here: The Moose Peterson News Blog

Click here to go to Terry White's Tech Blog and read about the assorted projects that he's worked on with the D700. Terry is pure technology. Much of what he talks about I just go out and get because he really knows his stuff.

Layers Blog Contest Winner
Congratulations to Carolyn Lim for winning this week's Layers Blog Contest. Carolyn, you've walked away with a 1 year subscription to the National Association of Photoshop Professionals as well as a signed copy of Scott's upcoming Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers.

That's it for today. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!Read More