Software Articles

March 2, 2011

Finding The Right Computer Software Training Courses For Your Staff

Filed under: Computers, Software — Tags: , , — admin @ 7:06 pm

Most IT managers agree that computer IT training is a must if their staff are to use software packages effectively. IT (or Information Technology) represents quite a broad spectrum of services within the computing field. A typical IT job may include network troubleshooting, upgrading PC systems, launching a software platform across multiple user terminals, or wiring up a dozen new terminals to the patch panel. Because of this multiplicity of jobs that an IT professional may encounter in the day-to-day grind, computer IT training must be just as diversified and broad, covering an extensive group of subjects.

Rather than attending short courses, many IT professionals prefer an education program where they can continue to get updated computer IT training on a regular basis. Many companies, realizing the speed at which technology is changing in today’s fast paced world, will actually require their IT workers to enrol in such classes. Some companies are going so far as to actually sponsor their employees in regularly scheduled computer IT training. This is seen as a win-win situation, as it is a free benefit for the employee, while the employer can ensure they have professionals who have received the most up-to-date information in the field.

The topics on offer reflect the trends of the day; for example, you will find many IT training classes on all the various web technologies simply because these are the areas that are more rapidly advancing than others. For example, in the networking arena, wireless networking has taken off. In many office environments, using wiring run through the walls and ceiling to connect the computers to a common server is considered ‘old school’ technology. More and more companies are transforming their workplaces into wired hot spots, allowing more freedom of movement and productivity of employees. In order to be able to understand and troubleshoot this type of work environment, the IT professional(s) working in the company making this transition will want to attend a computer IT training class that is tailored to meet their needs.

IT managers should also be on the lookout for the free seminars held in many cities, sponsored by some of the larger hardware and software manufacturers. These computer IT training seminars will present the latest and greatest developments to the IT professionals in the area. Some times the seminars are free, in which case they will attempt to sell you something after the class. However, many of these computer IT training seminars are very professionally produced, and will cost hundreds of dollars to attend. This tab for this type of seminar is very often picked up by the company and accounted for as employee training costs.

Just about everyone needs computer IT training nowadays; basically, it will have an impact on the career of all of us since we are all involved in the Information Technology field. To stay on top of their game, it is no longer an option, but considered a necessity, for IT professionals to attend a regularly scheduled computer IT training class. Don’t miss out on your next promotion or career opportunity because you are unaware of the latest and greatest development in your particular niche of the IT field. Sign up for a computer IT training class today and check out the new technology that just might make the difference for you!

Computer software training courses.

February 26, 2011

Learn The Best Photo Editing Tricks With Adobe Photoshop Training

Filed under: Computers — Tags: , , , — admin @ 8:02 pm

Photoshop is the industry standard for image manipulation and editing in every professional field where graphics are used. Adobe Photoshop has revolutionized the design potential of graphic artists, engineers, and architects across the planet. As Lachmi Khemlani said in AECbytes, “I haven’t come across a single architectural practice in the U.S. that doesn’t use Adobe Photoshop … Photoshop literally rules the roost when it comes to image editing and compositing in architectural firms.” Sign up for Photoshop training today and find out how the power of Photoshop can help you achieve your full potential.

Photoshop’s interface hasn’t changed too much since the earliest versions, so users can easily upgrade to Photoshop CS5 from any previous version. Photoshop CS5 has powerful new features that will aid designers in all fields. You can literally use Photoshop CS5 to create any visual effect that you can image-if you can dream it, you can create it with Photoshop. Like previous versions of Photoshop, CS5 is available for both Macintosh and Windows. And the best thing about the new version is the price: Photoshop CS5 costs less than previous versions of Photoshop.

Great new features in Photoshop CS5 make it easier to composite images in multiple layers. In earlier versions it was necessary to select a required layer in the Layers palette. But now it’s possible to select multiple layers by using a marquee tool. The Show Transform Controls feature allows objects to be reshaped faster than ever before, and it works across multiple layers. Smart Guides is another innovation that makes it easier to align objects, even if they’re on different layers.

So what exactly can Photoshop training can do for you? Well, Photoshop is the industry leader for professional image creation, compositing, and editing. The first time you sit down to check out Photoshop, you’re amazed by how much it can do. Photoshop CS5 has tools and filters that let you create any kind of visual effect imaginable. Adobe Photoshop lets you create everything from simple effects for your own line of greeting cards to breathtaking effects for a feature-length film.

Photoshop training is an ongoing part of the career development of many film and video professionals make. Photoshop is the film and video industry standard for design, creation, and editing of digital images. Adobe Photoshop is the No. 1 tool for image editing, storyboarding, frame editing, compositing, painting, title design, and still photography imaging. As filmmaker Scott Billups said, “Photoshop is the single most commonly used application in motion picture and high-end TV production. Everybody uses it, whether they’re in pre-visualization, production, post-production, or distribution.”

Recent versions of Photoshop now make it easier than ever to integrate film images with computer-generated images and still photographs. If you work in the film or video industry, you already rely on Photoshop CS5 in all stages of the production process. And if you’re considering a career as a graphic designer or visual effects artist, Photoshop training is one of the best ways to achieve your career goals.

Adobe Photoshop training courses in London.

February 25, 2011

InDesign Scripting With The ExtendScript Toolkit

Filed under: Computers — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 12:55 am

ExtendScript is the Adobe implementation of JavaScript which is used to automate the Adobe Creative Suite. The ESTK is an ExtendScript editing utility which contains a number of useful features; however, there is nothing to stop you using your favourite code editor instead. The ESTK development environment now resembles a standard Adobe application with everything in its usual place; which makes it fairly easy to get used to.

Panels are docked on the right and are hidden or made visible by choosing their names from the Window menu. The arrows for Collapse to Icons and Expand Dock work as they do in the Creative Suite programs.

On the right of the menu bar is a drop-down menu containing preset workspace names which, when chosen, automatically rearrange the floating panels into a given configuration. If you come up with an arrangement of panels which you find ideal, you can save it by choosing Create New Workspace from the workspace drop-down menu in the top right of your screen.

The ESTK can display line numbers: an essential feature when working with programming code. This feature can be activated or deactivated by choosing View – Line Numbers or by using the keyboard shortcut: Control-Shift-L on Windows; Command-Shift-L on Mac.

It also offers the colour-coded highlighting of syntax, whereby the colour of words and statements confirms their role within the code: for example, JavaScript keywords are shown in blue and fixed text strings (inside quotation marks) in burgundy.

Another useful feature is Code Collapse whereby the program automatically displays buttons for hiding and revealing blocks of code. This feature simplifies navigation in longer scripts: you can temporarily hide lines as an alternative to constantly having to scroll past them to get to another part of your script. This feature can be activated and deactivated by choosing View – Code Collapse. The program automatically recognizes blocks of code and places a minus-sign icon at the start of each block. If you click on the minus-sign icon, the entire block is hidden and replaced by a horizontal line. The minus-sign icon then changes to a plus-sign. To reveal the hidden block once more, click on the plus-sign icon.

If you have used any of the Microsoft code-editing tools such as the Visual Basic Editor used to create macros in Microsoft Office, you will be familiar with the concept of intelliSense, whereby the code editor offers you a list of context-sensitive options as you enter keywords. By choosing an option from the list, you avoid making syntax errors and you don’t spend so much time looking things up. Adobe Dreamweaver offers a virtually identical feature called code hinting. The ESTK also has an auto completion feature. However, it falls far short of the equivalent features found in Dreamweaver and the Microsoft editors. When you type certain words, lists of suggestions do appear; but they are not very closely targeted to the code you are entering. However, when you are learning a new programming language, every little helps; so why not try it and see what you think. This feature is activated by default: if you wish to deactivate it, choose Edit – Preferences (Windows) or ExtendScript Toolkit – Preferences (Macintosh). Click on the Help category on the left of the Preferences dialog then uncheck the option Enable Auto Completion.

InDesign CS5 Automation Using XML and JavaScript by Grant Gamble

November 11, 2010

Why Invest In Photoshop Training

Filed under: Computers — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:43 am

Beginning to use Photoshop without Photoshop training can be a frustrating experience. I had my first “hands-on” experience with Photoshop in 1995. It was one of the most rewarding and frustrating experiences in my life. I was producing a feature-length animated film for our independent start-up company in Merida, Mexico. We were developing this project with amazing talent-that was the rewarding part of the experience.

It was the first time that I found myself part of a project that relied on digital editing and compositing. Some of the people I worked with and got to know at that time were major talents in the world of high-end digital solutions-people who had risen to top positions at Apple Computer and Silicon Graphics. And then there were the whiz kids just out of college who could do anything you could imagine on a Macintosh computer running Adobe Photoshop. Just watching them use Photoshop to color animation frames in a fraction of the time it would have taken to paint the frames by hand was a great learning experience for me. I had the opportunity to watch people with amazing talent do amazing things with Adobe Photoshop. But when I sat down and started playing around with Photoshop, trying to emulate the simplest effects I had seen others create so effortlessly, I quickly ran into trouble. I didn’t take the time to seek out any sort of Photoshop training; I learned to get by with simpler design software.

I did what was necessary for my text presentations, but I gave up dreaming that I’d ever be able to do anything myself with Photoshop. Like many people, I decided that Photoshop was too deep for me-I wasn’t a graphic designer or visual effects artist anyway, so I saw no need to sign up for Photoshop training. And like most people, I thought that Photoshop training was only for those who wanted to turn their Photoshop skills into a career path. I didn’t have time for it, I didn’t really need it, so I crossed “Photoshop training” off my wish list and went on to other things. That was a big mistake.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was forced to realize-after all these years-how badly I need to learn enough digital editing and compositing to create better graphics and videos for the Internet. Just a hobby to begin with-I told myself-but something that has been in the back of my mind ever since I crossed “Photoshop training” off of my wish list. I had mastered the simpler software and gotten as much out of it as I was going to get. There is only one program in the world that can let me do what I want to do with photos and video-Photoshop. It’s time for me to get serious about Photoshop training.

I hope you’ll decide to get serious about Photoshop training, too. It’s one of the best investments you can make-even if you only want to get the most out of your photos and Internet videos.

Adobe Photoshop classes in London.

November 9, 2010

Making Sense Of Histograms In Photoshop CS5

Filed under: Computers — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:31 am

The Histogram panel in Adobe Photoshop CS5 (Window – Histogram) offers an overview of the tonal range of an image. The histogram is basically a chart which shows how many pixels are present at each luminosity value, with dark pixels on the left and lighter pixels on the right. If no selection is made, the histogram reflects all the pixels in the image. It is also possible to select just part of an image and use the histogram to examine the distribution of pixels just within the selected area. If the image consists of multiple layers, Photoshop displays a pop-up menu which allows you to choose either “Entire Image” or “Selected Layer” to determine which pixels are included in the output shown in the histogram.

A lot of photographs which were shot in average lighting and which contain a variety of colours will have a bell-shaped curve with the most pixels in the middle of the histogram and the number of pixels gradually tailing off in the lighter area to the left and right.

Obviously, the whole point of photography is that it can feature any subject, be shot under different lighting conditions and have different artistic aims. Thus, for example, if an image deliberately has a lot of white: say a white sofa against a white wall, the histogram will have a peak on the left with pixels tailing off in the middle and right. In the context of this image, the skewed shape of the histogram is perfectly healthy. Similarly, if you look at the histogram of a photograph shot at night, don’t be surprised to see a very lopsided chart with most of the pixels on the right… So how do you use the histogram to spot tonal problems in an image?

Histograms are particularly good at detecting whether an image lacks contrast. Images that lack contrast have a histogram where the number of pixels tails off to zero or close to zero in the brightest and darkest parts of the image. Such images tend to have a dull, muddy appearance.

Perhaps the easiest way to correct the problem of an image that lacks contrast is to use the Levels command. Choose Image – Adjustments – Levels and, in the Levels dialog, drag the right triangle over to the right to the position where the pixel distribution falls to nothing. Next, drag the left triangle which represents the white point of the image over to the right to where the pixels disappear. When you click OK, you will notice that the image has a lot more contrast and sharpness.

Adobe Photoshop CS 5 training courses.

April 10, 2010

Demystify Web Development With Adobe Dreamweaver CS4

Filed under: Computers — Tags: , , , , , — Chris Mason @ 8:45 pm

Adobe Dreamweaver has quickly established itself as the leading website creation software available on the market today. There are many organisations as well as individuals that long to have their own website but cannot afford the services of a professional web design company. With Adobe Dreamweaver, nearly anyone can successfully build a web presence. Adobe Dreamweaver is relatively simple to use, pays attention to current web standards, and allows even the less experienced web builder to put together a good looking, functional website.

Just as the use of a graphical interface has changed computing, making it more user-friendly, the use of Adobe Dreamweaver renders people with limited understanding of web construction capable of putting together a quality site. It is also an excellent platform for learning how web sites should be put together. For example, when you create a new page, Dreamweaver lets you choose from a series of standard layouts based on CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), the recommended specification for creating web pages. The code produced by Dreamweaver contains useful comments explaining how the page layout works.

Many small organisations have already learned to rely on Adobe Dreamweaver to build and manage their own website, creating and modifying pages and then uploading them via FTP to make them live and available to the public. Those organisations with a more urgent need to establish a web presence may still turn to professional web development companies to get them started and then use Adobe Dreamweaver when changes need to be made, often saving themselves a small fortune.

Another way that companies can save a few bucks is by commissioning web designers to create Dreamweaver templates and then using these templates in-house to build the website themselves. This also has the benefit of allowing organizations to maintain control of their site from the outset.

Although Dreamweaver is simple to use, it is unlikely that the average user can simple load it onto their machine and start using it effectively. Most people will benefit from having some Dreamweaver training. This will show them which are the essential aspects of the program and the process of creating a basic site and making it live. A good Dreamweaver training course will also give users an overview of the many web technologies, the underlying code, which Dreamweaver automatically generates as the users visually create their web pages.

One of the best ways to make a site useful for visitors is making it interactive, allowing users to search for the specific content that they want. By attending an advanced Dreamweaver training course, staff within an organization can learn to add database-driven content to their website using technologies such as ASP, PHP or ColdFusion. And, here again, Dreamweaver does the lion’s share of the work, allowing users to create sophisticated search and results pages using the same simple point-and-click and drag-and-drop techniques used to create basic content.

Click here for Adobe Dreamweaver training courses.

How To Transform Adobe Photoshop Selections

Filed under: Computers — Tags: , , , , , — Chris Mason @ 7:42 am

Selections are a big deal in Adobe Photoshop. If your boss says to you, “Can we cut out this person and put them against a different background?”, there is no way that you can tell the program to do this. As far as a computer is concerned, your image is just a series of pixels. How easy or difficult it is to select the person will depend on how much contrast there is between them (or more likely their clothes) and the background scene behind them.

Having made an initial selection, you will often need to transform it in some way. Photoshop selections can be transformed in a manner not dissimilar to the way that objects are transformed in the vector environment. One key thing to remember is that in order for this transformation to work, one of the selection tools has to be active. If the Move tool is active, the pixels inside the selection will also be transformed.

The simplest form of transformation is movement. This can be done either by placing the cursor inside the selection and dragging or by using one of the cursor keys on the keyboard. Each time a cursor key is pressed, the selection will move one pixel in the direction specified. If the Shift key is held down while a cursor key is pressed, the selection will move 10 pixels in the given direction.

For other forms of transformation, choose Transform Selection from the Select menu. A bounding rectangle will then be displayed around the selection with handles similar to those found in vector drawing programs. You can drag the handles to resize the selection or drag just outside the handles to rotate. You can even hold down the Control key and drag the handles to distort your selection.

As well as these manual transformations, Photoshop’s Select menu also contains a number of automatic transformation commands. One of the most commonly used is feathering: Select – Feather. Feathering blurs the edges of a selection enabling the selected area to blend into the non-selected parts of the image. To access the other options go to the Select – Modify sub-menu. For example, the command Select-Modify-Expand allows you to increase the size of the selection by the number of pixels you specify. Naturally, there is also the reverse command: Select-Modify-Contract.

Click here for Photoshop training courses in central London.

March 20, 2010

Adobe Dreamweaver Templates Could Be Your Best Friend

Filed under: Computers — Chris Mason @ 6:23 pm

Dreamweaver templates are one of the program’s most powerful features. Templates allow you to control and update the appearance of an entire site. They are one of the features covered in detail on our Dreamweaver training courses. This article looks at how to set up, apply and modify templates. Templates facilitate site management by allowing you to modify and update several pages at once. A template is a web document (HTML, ASP, ASP.NET, etc. ) which contains a combination of locked elements and editable regions. When creating a new document, if you opt to base it on a template, the page will inherit all of the elements which the template contains. You individualise the page by modifying the content of the editable areas. If you later modify the template, all of the pages which are based on it can be automatically updated.

You can create templates from scratch or you can take an existing document and convert it into a template. To create a template from scratch

1. Choose File – New to display the New Document Window.

2. Click on New Template in the first column of the New Document window.

3. In the second column, specify the type of template you want ((HTML, ASP, ASP.NET, etc. ).

4. In the third column, you may optionally choose one of Dreamweaver’s preset CSS layouts or click None to start with a blank page.

5. Should you decide to use one of the CSS layout, in the forth column, you will need to specify whether the necessary code is placed in the head of the document, in a new CSS file or an existing one.

6. Finally, click Create to generate your new template.

When you create your first template in any site, Dreamweaver creates a special Templates folder which it stores in the root folder of the site. All templates are automatically stored in this folder. You can also take a regular HTML document and convert it into a template.

1. Open the document that you intend to convert into a template.

2. From the File menu, choose Save As Template.

3. Type in a name for the new template and click Save.

All of the elements that you place on a template will be locked. They will appear on each page based on the template but will not be editable. To create the locked regions of a template

1. In the templates folder, double-click the name of the template you wish to edit.

2. Create the elements which you wish to appear on every page.

3. All of these elements will remain automatically locked and unchangeable on all pages based on the template.

4. If you save the changes you have made to the template at this point, Dreamweaver will remind you that you have not yet created any editable regions. Click OK.


Click here for information on Dreamweaver training courses.

March 14, 2010

How To Use Layers In Adobe InDesign CS4

Filed under: Computers — Chris Mason @ 6:59 pm

Layers are a feature in several programs within the Adobe Creative Suite: Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator and InDesign. Their function differs from program to program but, in general, the use of layers serves to offer flexibility of composition. Items of related content can be placed on their own individual layers. Layers can then be made visible or hidden or can be locked to prevent their content being changed. Equally, the stacking order of layers can be changed to determine which elements are displayed in front of which other elements. Layers are not always required when creating documents in InDesign but they can beneficial in several situations.

1. The most common scenario is where you need to produce several different versions of a publication. For example, there may be one version of a catalogue for in-house use and another for clients; or you may need to create different language versions of the same document.

2. Another situation in which layers is useful is where certain page elements take a long time to redraw. For example, if you’re creating a large poster with a high resolution background image, you may find it useful to place it on a separate layer and hide the layer when you are working on other elements.

3. Since layers can be made none-printing simply by hiding them, it is also possible to use layers to store text and other elements which are relevant to the publication but are not to be included in the final version. Such layers could also be used for comments and reminders and can simply be deleted once the publication has been completed.

4. Complex page layouts often require the creation and intricate manipulation of many different InDesign elements. This process can sometimes be made much easier by placing elements on a series of layers.

5. PowerPoint users often complain that elements placed the slide master will always be behind elements placed on the slides. Whilst the same if true of InDesign master page elements, using layers allows to overcome this fact. Simply place all those items which need to be front-most on a separate layer and move that layer to the top of the heap.

6. Layers can also be useful when creating a document by using a similar publication as a template. A full sized scan of the original document can be placed on a locked background layer and used to ensure that each part of the layout is in the right place, has the right dimensions and so forth.


Click here for more information on InDesign tuition

August 20, 2009

Creating CSS Styles In Adobe Dreamweaver CS4

Filed under: Computers — admin @ 7:11 pm

Cascading Styles Sheets (CSS) are a recommendation of the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) and offer web designers precise control over the formatting and layout of web pages. They enable you to set up default formatting rules which the browser will automatically apply to headings, paragraphs and any other elements on a web page. CSS allows web developers to separate the content of their web pages from the style and formatting information. This means that the HTML code is not cluttered with style information and will be processed more quickly by browsers, leading to faster download times. Also, since style definitions are normally stored in external files to which all HTML pages are linked, the entire site can be updated by modifying the CSS file(s), without even having to open any of the HTML pages.

CSS can be implemented in three different ways. Firstly, it can be placed inside an HTML document, in the HEAD area of the page. Secondly, CSS can be placed in an external file with a “.css” file extension. Thirdly, CSS can be placed inline; that is to say, inside HTML tags. The three methods are not mutually exclusive. A typical website may have one or more external style sheets, combined with internal CSS on certain pages and a few smatterings of inline CSS within certain HTML pages. In general, the closer the CSS is to the HTML element it controls, the higher its precedence. Thus inline styles normally take precedence over internal CSS, which, in turn, takes precedence over external CSS definitions.

To create internal CSS rules in Dreamweaver, simply open the HTML page then display the CSS Styles panel by choosing CSS Styles from the Window menu. Next, choose New from the CSS Styles panel menu. At the bottom of the New CSS Rule dialog, Dreamweaver invites you to “Choose where your rule will be defined”. Choose “This document only” from the drop down menu. If, instead, you choose “Create New Style Sheet”, the new CSS rule will be placed in an external file. (Dreamweaver will allow you to specify where the file is placed.) If you would like to link an existing CSS file to an HTML page, choose “Attach Style Sheet” from the CSS  Styles panel menu and click on the Browse button; locate the file then click “OK”.

Once a CSS source, whether internal or external, is associated with an HTML file, Dreamweaver will display the name of the CSS document in the CSS Styles panel whenever the HTML file is open. If the CSS is being stored internally, the rules will be grouped under the heading “style”, indicating that it has been defined within a style element in the HEAD area of the current page.

Dreamweaver training courses in London.

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