Photoshop avatar by the face

I asked permission to Incredimail to offer one avatart for free and for personal use, my preferred is this one:

If you are curious you can download the Photoshop file from Megaupload

Do you like tubes?, take tube

You can also watch a time elapsed video of the process, just 6 minutes, from my Youtube channel.

Does the video go too fast? Download the extended version of 60 minutes

Lot of you complain about the speed and size of my Youtube videos, so now you can download the video in full resolution and with no time elapsing.

Sorry? Do you want more avatars?

I created 20 avatars resembling all the age groups of Hiyo users

If you want to download the application with my avatars and lot more for free, you can visit Hiyo.

This application have lot of features, if you want to locate the avatars I designed (I´m sure you do ) click on the following buttons in the Hiyo toolbar:

So… where is the tutorial? If you want the tutorial you must collaborate

This time I´m not going to explain anything, if after seeing the video and downloading the Photoshop file you have any doubt, just comment and I will update the post to ask your questions as soon as possible

It is well known, that with Windows Xp it is not possible to preview the files PSD. This is bothering because the icon does not allow you to distinguish between one file and the others.

Long time ago, I posted some registry files (the famous Psicon.dll) modificated to preview the Photoshop and Illustrator files. With the Photoshop it seemed that it works; but with the Illustrator it did not go with all Windows and Illustrator versions, I could not find out the problem.

With Supericon V3 you can preview the thumbnails of your PSD, Al, EPS and also TIF files. It is a small self installing utility, which works great.

CAUTION: this utility modifies the registry of your operative system. In my case everything works correctly, but I do not assume the responsibility of any problems. My antivirus did not find any spy programms or virus. Use it under your own  responsibility.

COMPATIBILITY: it is checked up for Windows XP, I do not know if it works with Windows Vista. I have not switching yet…. If someone can comment his own experiences it would be very helpful.
 
THANKS: thanks to Big Lupin for using the comments and let me get this utility and thanks to Renoir for the utility.

Searching in my old CDs and Hard Drives, i found some mascot designs. I made this ones to practice when i started designing; i never sold them… so here they are in case anyone wants to use them .

I will add more designs time to time, whenever a order from SOSFactory fails, I will upload the design for free download.

Conditions (please read):

1. You can’t modify, redistribute, or resell the designs.
2. This designs are copyright of SOSFactory. They are for personal use, not comercial.
3. You can’t use them in websites with illegal content (for example: piracy).
4. If you use it in your website you must add a link to SOSFactory.
5. If you decide to use it, i would appreciate if you put it in the comments.
6. If you want us to add more free mascot designs, just donate 1€ or US$ through Paypal to sergitosuanez@hotmail.com. 0US$ received up to date

Instructions:

1. Just click on mascot image and your download will begin.
2. It’s a Photoshop file, compressed with Winzip, you just have to decompress it and you are done.

Freeway´s Child : here is my first Photoshop design. I spent months experimenting with Photoshop, i had no idea of what i was doing and i still didn’t have a Wacom tablet so i did everything with my mouse. The design is original, but i think the color could be a lot better.

Mago: this one was my first mascot design a little bit more professional, look how much the color improved when i bought the Wacom tablet, i started playing with layer modes to get some lighting effects.

I hope you like the designs, i have a couple more i will be adding little by little; if you want to help to maintain this section you just have to donate 1€ or US$ through Paypal to sergitosuanez@hotmail.com.

Everybody know that Windows use a default icon for AI files (Illustrator file format), it is really disturbing when you have a lot of Illustrator files because you cant choice the one you like just looking at the thumbnails.

With this small file you will have customized thumbnail views of your Illustrator files. Remenber I already posted the same for Photoshop files here: Psicon to see thumbnails of Photoshop files

Instrucctions to install :

1. Download Aiicon from HERE and unzip it with Winzip.
2. Put the file Aiicon.dll in the folder (create it if it doesnt appear):
   ‘C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Shell’.
3. Double click on the other file into the zip: aiicon.dll.reg and accept.
4. Then inside of any Windows folder just activate the thumbnail views.

PS: Registry Editing is a black art. Use this unders your responsability.

Everybody know that Windows use a default icon for PSD files, it is really disturbing when you have a lot of Photoshop files because you cant choice the one you like just looking at the thumbnails.

With this small file you will have customized thumbnail views of your Photoshop files.

Instrucctions to install :

1. Download Psicon from HERE and unzip it with Winzip.
2. Put the file psicon.dll in the folder (create it if it doesnt appear):
   ‘C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Shell’.
3. Double click on the other file into the zip: Photoshop_thumbnail.reg and accept.
4. Then inside of any Windows folder just activate the thumbnail views.

PS: Registry Editing is a black art. Use this unders your responsability.

Well, here i bring you another of my essentials, Silhouette is an Illustrator plugin to vectorize bitmaps.

1. It’s free (you only have to wait a countdown of 5 seconds)
2. Quick to download and install
3. It supports several languages
4. It has Manuals
5. It works with almost any Illustrator version
6. It works for PC and MAC
7. AND IT’S VERY EASY TO USE

You can download Silhouette here, after that decompress it with Winzip and put the file "SilhouettePlugIn.aip" in the plugins folder of Illustrator. Then, inside the program, you only have to make visible the Silhouette palette (Window > Show Shilouette tool settings).

It works like a charm to vectorize drawings, i use it to vectorize the lines drawed by hand in paper, after you ink the drawing and you clean it a bit with Photoshop, it’s ready to be vectorized. To vectorize images in color i’m afraid it’s more complicated.

I’ve prepared a VIDEOTUTORIAL by popular request, where i explain how to vectorize with Silhouette. Here you have a screenshot of the parameters i use:

Here is a bunch of resources, free stuff to add that Wow effect to your designs.

Vecteezy: website full of vectors, please see the license type of every file before using then, some of them are free even for commercial use.

Brusheezy: similar to the previous but Photoshop brushes and paterns.

Logos for free: more than 100.000 logotypes in vector format ready to download.

Flags of the world: flags of every country in the world in different file formats.

Free fonts: lot of fonts to download for free.

Free Icons: more than 12.000 icons for Windows, Mac or Linux. Its mainly for personal use (non commercial), please read the license before using them.

Guides for packaging: A complete guide of standard envelope styles and sizes. The measurements for the finished size as well as the enclosure size are provided for all styles and sizes. Plus, each envelope has a downloadable die line for use with your own design.

Free image bank : this is a older post I wrote with lot of freeimage banks.

Maps in PDF: as easy as opening them in Photoshop and choice the dimensions.

Free Mascot designs : another older post with some of my older mascots, ready to download for free.

3d Models: those models are not for free but I think worth taking a look.

My favorite utility to identify fonts

1. Get a high quality image.

If you don’t know a font you just need to get an image of the logo, the bigger the logo is and higher the quality, you’ll get better results.

To explain how it works we will use our SOSFactory logo.

The font used is Nasalization, let’s see if this web application works correctly.

2. Prepare the image

As you can see, our logo had text effects that makes the font identification harder.

So we’ve cleaned the logo all we could. Some advices to get the best results:

1. Try to get the maximum possible of the font letters .
2. Use the most significative characters of the font.
3. Horizontal image of about 140 x 1500 pixels.
4. Best format: Tiff, gray scale at 300 dpi
5. Use images with a good contrast, for example black over white.

3. Let’s go to what the font?‘s website

Let’s visit what the font? as you can see, just hit the button “Search” (Examinar), the search the image in your hard drive and click “Upload”.

4. Help the automated identifier

The automatic application works pretty good, although it may confuse with the special characters.

It’s as simple as changing the boxes with wrong characters.

Remember the letters are case sensitive. When we finish, we just need to hit the “Search” button

5. Check out the results.

As you can see, the results are great

Time to take care of those legal issues that worry us, i will show the model of a confidentiality contract (plus many other things) for freelance designers. The second one is a contract exclusive for author rights or copyright.

You can use them as templates; you can always add or take the clauses you need for each specific case.

Both contracts are in english; i will now comment a bit of each section.

Independent Contractor Non-Solicitation, Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Agreement: this contract is a bit abusive in some aspects, but we have to assume we dont have a extensive clientele, so we have to agree… i have one signed with a big United States toys company.

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR: it clarifies you are an intependent worker (not of the company) and that the company that hires you doesn’t have any responsibilities for the taxes you have to pay.

NON-SOLICITATION: it says you will be good, that you wont take advantage of this situation to hire employees or get clients of the company in your own benefit.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF OWNERSHIP: it simply says you can’t publish any information of the work you are doing.

GRANT OF RIGHTS: we guarantee that all the designs created for the company are of the company and the have unlimited rights over those designs.

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES: it says that the work you are doing is original and that you are a legal worker that fulfills your country law about taxes.

CONSIDERATION: it just says that in case the company doesn’t pay you only have right to charge the normal ammount, you don’t have rights to compensations.

INDEMNIFICATION: if by any reason you cost money to the company you will have to pay it.

CHANGE IN STATUS: it means that if by any reason you get to be part of the company, and the company has to pay taxes in your name, you have to refund it to the company.

ASSIGNMENT: you can’t sub-hire others services without the company’s consent.

REASONABLENESS. ENFORCEMENT, AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF: it says you agree with the contract clauses and that you wont take legal actions against them.

ENTIRE AGREEMENT: here we sign, put our information and the representative of the company does the same.

Copyright Assignment. This contract is much more simple, it says you give all the right of the design, that you are the creator of that design, and that you can sell it according to the law.

Every designer needs to use great photographs to emphasize its design, if you are a begginer photographer and you are interested in making some extra money this can help, here you have a couple of photo banks, normally all of them have a free material section, for others you have to pay a very affordable price.

1. 123rf: this one offers 1€ photos (web), 2€ (printing) and 3€ in high resolution, but there is also a free photos section. Photos look very professional. The site is very nice and also easy to use. Very recommendable.
2. SXC: It’s completely free, you only need to register and start downloading high resolution photographs. The quality of the photos varies, there are some professional and others not so much. The site is very nice and also easy to use; you have tutorials and blogs to spend some time.
3. Dreamstime: similar to 123rf but i find it a bit harder to browse, it needs some order.
4. Microstockphoto: more of the same.
5. Fotolia: more…
6. Inmagine: more…
7. Textureking: this one is a texture photographs bank, if you are a 3D artist this site is great for you.
8. Texturewarehouse: another textures site.
9. Spacetelescope: a lot of space photos. You can download 100 photos in one compressed file. Curious and completely free.

Don’t forget to read the license of each photo, some are free for any use, others just for personal use, and other for commercial use… read them well, you don’t want any trouble

Here you have some more, i didn’t have time to look at these ones, if you test some you like, put it in the comments and i will watch it more thoroughly.