http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/category/software/ Software recommendations, news, tips, tutorials, and resources -- related to Web design and development, graphics, photography, the Web, the Internet, RSS, content management systems, weblogs, wireless technology, Windows, Mac, Linux, standards, and other areas of interest. en-us Software Copyright 2000-2008 Shirley Kaiser, SKDesigns. All rights reserved. Shirley Kaiser 2008-04-05T16:50:28-08:00 720 daily 2 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://brainstormsandraves.com/xml/brainstorms88.gif http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/category/software/ 88 31 Software recommendations, news, tips, tutorials, and resources -- related to Web design and development, graphics, photography, the Web, the Internet, RSS, content management systems, weblogs, wireless technology, Windows, Mac, Linux, standards, and other areas of interest. Looking for free Illustrator brushes or symbols? I created 9 free Adobe Illustrator symbols and brushes for anyone who needs rounded triangles or alert symbols, warning symbols. These free brushes and symbols are all fully editable within Adobe Illustrator, so you can change the colors, sizes, and customize them as needed. In addition, I've included resources to many more Illustrator brushes, symbols, tutorials, and resources. (566 words, 12 links, 2 images) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2008/04/05/illustratorbrushes/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2008/04/05/illustratorbrushes/ Shirley Kaiser 2008-04-05T16:50:28 Fascinating reading to be had about the upcoming IE8 via a new interview of Bill Gates by Molly Holzschlag: Conversation with Bill Gates about IE8 and Microsoft Transparency. Not long after the interview, the official IE Blog also announced the upcoming Internet Explorer 8. Check out the complete post that covers that interview, the IE Blog's announcement, an earlier interview with Chris Wilson (IE's platform architect), other information about the upcoming IE8, and IE's current CSS support. Also included are links to lots more resources. (907 words, 26 links) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2007/12/06/ie8/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2007/12/06/ie8/ Shirley Kaiser 2007-12-06T08:31:24 Wondering whether or not to upgrade to the new Adobe Photoshop CS3? Wondering which version of Photoshop CS3 (Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS3 Extended) might be best for your particular needs? Considering whether or not to buy Photoshop CS3 for the first time? Curious about what the experts are writing about the new Photoshop CS3? Below are some well done reviews by top-notch experts who go into detail about the new features, improvements, and the pros and cons of Adobe's new Photoshop CS3. (1078 words, 49 links, 19 images) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2007/05/16/photoshopcs3/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2007/05/16/photoshopcs3/ Shirley Kaiser 2007-05-16T18:35:38 Andy King has a new article out on a fabulous color tool that automates the enhancement of color harmonies for photos or images. Automatic Color Harmony Tools first explains a bit about color harmonies and color psychology, and even snails' involvement in creating purple dye. Andy then describes how the color harmonization process works and provides several image examples along with the math calculations behind creating the best harmonic scheme. He goes on to describe how this automated tool preserves the original colors, the spacial coherency, and density of hues while automatically harmonizing the colors -- all without user intervention. The before and after samples give an idea of the results. Amazing. (260 words, 5 links, 1 image) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2007/01/16/colorharmonies/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2007/01/16/colorharmonies/ Shirley Kaiser 2007-01-16T12:25:37 I learned in the Eudora discussion list this morning that my long-time favorite email program, Eudora, is going open-source. Mozilla's new Penelope project is born. This move also made me reflect on the critically important role of email software with a Web design business. Today's post covers Eudora's major move, the important role of email software, especially in my small Web design business, and some of the current email software options. (1059 words, 20 links, 1 image) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2006/10/11/penelope/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2006/10/11/penelope/ Shirley Kaiser 2006-10-11T09:57:03 While there are certainly quite a few color tools available for creating color schemes and color matching, there's a new one out now by Genometri - GenoColor that takes a very different approach to creating color schemes. GenoPalette will help you create eye-popping color schemes, color combinations, match existing colors, fine tune colors, and calibrate colors. Read more about it, along with links to other helpful color tools, in today's post. (278 words, 7 links) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2006/06/25/genocolor/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2006/06/25/genocolor/ Shirley Kaiser 2006-06-25T19:43:38 Many of you have probably seen references to "Web 2.0" around the 'Net. Tim O'Reilly has taken on writing about what this term means in his recent article, What Is Web 2.0, Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software. It's not just a boring article defining the term or written so that only programmers would understand it, though. Tim's new article overviews how the Internet arrived where it is today, comparing the past with comparables today in a way that even a non-programmer like myself can understand. Today's post provides an overview of this fascinating new article. (389 words, 3 links) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2005/11/07/web20/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2005/11/07/web20/ Shirley Kaiser 2005-11-07T14:23:42 Looking around for a Photoshop plugin to create several favorites/shortcut/bookmark icons as favicon.ico files, I found a great plugin that works beautifully, and it's even free: Free Photoshop ICO Format plugin via telegraphics.com.au. They state that it works with all versions of Photoshop, including CS and CS2, and that it also works with Paint Shop Pro. Actually, you'll find quite a few interesting plugins there for Windows and Mac. The complete post has a few resources on creating them yourself and the art of creating icons, along with links to icons that you can admire for inspiration. (233 words, 6 links) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2005/08/22/favicon/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2005/08/22/favicon/ Shirley Kaiser 2005-08-22T21:06:35 WebVisions 2005 is coming up next week already in Portland, Oregon. I attended this fabulous conference a few years ago, so I can speak from firsthand experience that it's a terrific time to learn a tremendous amount, meet fascinating people with common interests, and have a lot of fun. (177 words, 18 links) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2005/07/07/webvisions2005/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2005/07/07/webvisions2005/ Shirley Kaiser 2005-07-07T17:34:24 Google Toolbar's AutoLink & The Need For Opt-Out is Danny Sullivan's thoughtful follow-up article today on the Google toolbar AutoLink feature currently in Beta testing for Windows Internet Explorer users. He presents arguments in favor of AutoLink and opposed to it, includes links to various opinions, and he expresses his own views and concerns. This one article explains it all quite well. More: See also my post yesterday, Google's New Toolbar Embeds Links Within Your Website Without Your Permission. (106 words, 4 links) http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2005/02/25/moreautolink/ http://brainstormsandraves.com/archives/2005/02/25/moreautolink/ Shirley Kaiser 2005-02-25T21:05:07