Design Vitality

As a designer I see the Photoshop startup screen several times a day. I can easily recall what each one looks like, from 5.0 to CS3. This got me wondering: What did the startup screen look like before I ever used Photoshop?

After some research I was able to find the Photoshop startup screen from the very first retail version all the way until CS3. Take a walk down memory lane and see how many of these you remember and discover the humble beginnings of the world’s most powerful image editor.

• Photoshop 1.0.7
  
  The very first retail edition of Photoshop, and the eye that would appear for many startups.
• Photoshop 2.0.1
  
  The next version introduced color to the splash. Notice the eye in the lens.
• Photoshop 2.5
  
  Version 2.5 had an identical splash, although you no longer had to click anything to continue on. This was also the first version to be ported over to Microsoft Windows.
• Photoshop 3.0
  
  Photoshop 3.0 continued with the paint palette. The eye has now moved on to film strip. This version of Photoshop introduced layers, something that every designer on Earth uses. Tabbed palettes also joined the club, allowing more tools in the same amount of space.
• Photoshop 4.0
  
  The palette and film are now gone, and the eye has become the centerpiece. Photoshop 4.0 brought about adjustment layers and actions. Actions are a life saver for anyone who has done repetitive tasks.
• Photoshop 5.0
  
  Photoshop 5.0 brings back a camera lens. 5.0 also introduced the history palette, allowing multiple undos. Type also remained editable, previously it was rasterized as soon as you left the type tool. (more…)

Now that fixed width layouts are all the craze, what are we to do with all that blank background space? You could go the tried-and-true route with a gradient, but it doesn’t always add much to the background. Why not add some beauty and texture by having a pattern take up some space?

Using this collection of links you should be able to find the perfect background to fill the void in your design!

1. Squidfingers - Patterns
   158 free patterns from Squidfingers.
   
2. Brusheezy - Patterns
   Lots of patterns available for download. The site even includes a rating system to see what others thought of them.
   
3. Photoshop Patterns @ deviantART
   A TON of free patterns by Deviant Art users.
   
4. BioRUST.com :: Adobe Photoshop Patterns
   Free photoshop patterns from Biorust.
   
5. TipClique Photoshop Patterns - Set 001
   5 high resolution Photoshop patterns. Be sure to check the site for collections 2 and 3.
   
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Having a wide variety of brushes gives designers a larger toolset when creating images. Grunge brushes can be used to create a textured site design, floral brushes can help fill empty voids and even more brushes can be used to create nice little touches. Below is a collection of resources for expanding your Adobe Photoshop brush palette:

1. Free Brushes at Brusheezy!
   This site has a very large collection of high quality brushes.
   
2. PS Brushes.net - Photoshop Brushes
   This site currently has 511 quality brushes of all varieties.
   
3. Getbrushes.com - 150+ High Quality Brushes
   Like the name implies, get all your photoshop brushes here.
   
4. Designfruit » Photosho Brushes
   Amazing photoshop brushes made by Design Fruit. All the brushes are also available for purchase as vectors.
   
5. Photoshop Support - Photoshop Brushes
   A mix of swirling and stylish brushes.
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Your website navigation plays an integral role in keeping your site easy to use and navigate. Button tutorials are useful because you can take the techniques you like from a tutorial and use them to make your own custom buttons to match the site your working on.

I have filtered through the millions of results to highlight the 39 button tutorials you should have in your arsenal. (more…)

Video tutorials can make learning new Photoshop skills quick and easy. Unfortunately, hunting down decent Photoshop video tutorials online can be pretty tough.

To save you the trouble of searching through pages of the same videos about editing some girls face over and over, we’ve tracked down some of the better Photoshop video tutorials and put them all in once place. Enjoy! (more…)

Text and the way it looks is a major part of any design. A great design can be cheapened if the text on the page looks wrong. Any logo is almost entirely text. From water to fire, these 51 tutorials will show you how to create any style of text you want.

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Anyone who has ever typed the phrase “graphic design tutorial” in Google knows there are millions of pages out there. To make things easier for those of us wanting to improve our design know-how I have scoured the web from Google to Technorati.

I’ve put together a list of 31 quality graphic design tutorials sources for Photoshop, Illustrator and more that have detailed instructions. (more…)