Author: ellen

Create Database-Driven Sites the Easy Way with GoLive 6

Posted on July 17, 2003 by ellen

PHP/MySQL for the rest of us!
(originally published Spring, 2002)

Intro:
Designers now have a new tool to help them create php/mySQL-based
dynamic sites using without a steep learning curve. It is now
almost as easy to create a simple database-driven site as an html-based
one. Adobe’s GoLive 6 has improved their dynamic link module and
completely integrated it into the application. It now includes
php/mySQL support and plenty of help and templates for creating
your first database-driven website.

Why make a dynamic
site?

Getting
started.

How to talk
to MySQL without a Ph.D.

Setting
up the site in GoLive.

Adding Dynamic
Content to your page.

Importing Quizzes directly into Questionmark Perception using list styles

Posted on July 17, 2003 by ellen

Since we have no Questionmark Perception manuals at my office, most of my knowledge of Questionmark comes from trying out things in the application itself or digging around in the questionably organized Questionmark support site. (Any altruistic Info-Architects need a project?)

While so engaged one day, looking for an answer to something else, I found out I could have been importing multiple choice quizzes using Microsoft Word documents! Fortunately I haven’t done too many so far. Here are the directions:

The document must be formatted as a list.

Each question is a level 1 line, each choice is a level 2 (indent once). There should be no excess copy in the document, just

1. Question a. choice 1 b. choice 2 c. choice 3 d. choice 4
2. Question a. choice 1 b. choice 2 c. choice 3 d. choice 4

etc.

Exporting graphics from MS Office

Posted on July 16, 2003 by ellen

I couldn’t believe how difficult it is to get graphics back out of Microsoft Office documents. Someone came to me today for help with recovering graphics from a Powerpoint file. They had inserted the graphics and since lost the original scans, so all that remained were the ppts.

First thing anyone thinks of in Windows is right-click to save the image, which she did. Nothing. (She’s probably still on Windows NT/ Word 97). So she copied all the graphics out of the powerpoint, then couldn’t figure out what do do with the clipped images, so pasted them into Word! And sent me the resulting Word documents. I figured, no problem, just copy each graphic and paste into Photoshop, then save. Nooooooo! You lose a lot of quality that way. You can see nice subtle grayscale antialiasing in the word version, but the photoshop version looks like a bad xerox.

Lessons in dubbing from VHS thru a miniDV deck

Posted on July 10, 2003 by ellen

I was using a Sony GVD-1000 MiniDV deck at work yesterday, trying for the first time to copy a VHS tape from a standard VCR. I plugged the outs from the VCR into the handy

Architectural Photoshop Brushes

Posted on June 22, 2003 by ellen

New Photoshop Brushes based on antique architectural engravings. Get ’em right here! The file is zipped, but is still around 2.2MB. View all my Photoshop Brushes

Photoshop Battles – Art with attitude

Posted on June 20, 2003 by ellen

In the increasingly popular “BattleBay” format, multiple opponents create a smooth vertical or horizontal transition from the previous image to their own new one, usually incorporating the web version of graffiti tags (their web name or their site URL) and any appropriate symbolism. It helps to have a very cool name, and a logo so you can be inserted in people’s “respect” areas. All the efforts are combined in a single long horizontal or vertical scrolling page.

Artists with confidence in their Photoshop Chops are battling it out all over the web. Photoshop Battles (sometimes called Photoshop Tennis) allow you to smackdown your opponent with nothing more than a Wacom Pen and overwhelming ego. One person creates a file in Photoshop and sends it off to their opponent, who then adds a layer and “improves” the image, usually covering it up almost entirely with their own contribution.

“Disappearing” Entries in Movable Type

Posted on June 20, 2003 by ellen

Yesterday I found that all the entries had disappeared off my main moveable type index page. I had recently posted an entry about popup windows, and another about Photoshop brushes, so I knew there should

Photoshop Brushes based on Ernst Haeckel’s engravings

Posted on June 10, 2003 by ellen

For my first contribution to the Photoshop Brushes community, I made a few high-resolution brushes from some of the more elaborate items in Ernst Haeckel’s Kunstformen in Natur. There are only 3 brushes in this

Photoshop Brush Fever!

Posted on June 4, 2003December 3, 2013 by ellen

Photoshop brushes are incredible! I just discovered them and have been playing with them for two days straight.

They’re like rubber stamps on steroids. You can control the brush dynamics – the separation of each individual “stamp”, the color and brightness “jitter”, randomness, edges, etc.

I’ve found many sites that offer free brush sets, but

Truly-Sarah.com

and

AnnikaVonHoldt.com

are my current favorites. AnnikaVonHoldt’s brushes are like instant creativity! You will be creating beautiful and mysterious fantasy images almost automatically.