Quark is one of the old steadfast layout programs out there and has quite a following, but as April mentioned InDesign is the direction the future holds as it is more tightly integrated with other apps like Photoshop, Illustrator ...(and all the other Adobe apps ;)...)

More and more developers are making "suite" styled programs to work together and thus some of the older apps will fall into disuse. If you're starting out it's probably a better "time" investment to learn InDesign.

p.s. we also have a pretty inclusive "On-Line Graphics Dictionary" here if you look up on the righthand sidebar under the FEATURES heading, you'll find a link there.

don't be afraid to ask anything, that's why we hang around ;)

:)
retrocity

...oh and welcome to the forum ;)

not in the "normal" sense. by that i mean the guides you pull from the rulers...

you could create a set of rules by drawing lines in some "gawd-awful" colour and "lock" them together and turn that on and off...

i don't have CS, but i don't think it was a feature yet.

any other suggestions??

:)
retrocity

if you're doing a flat (2D) style game than yes you can use PS. but if you want the realism offered in many of the games today you'll need a 3D app (or assistance from someone here on Rendo). I think there are even 3D models in the free stuff area, but again you'd need to have someone render the ships in various positions... if you could post some examples of the graphics we can give you better options ;) hope to hear from you soon, :) retrocity

glad to be a help... that's why i still hang around ;) :) retrocity

hope this helps,
:)
retrocity

A couple of favs:

The 5th Muse

and

8nero

keep em' coming,
:)
retrocity

thanks april! you're a "gem" ;) :) retrocity

DreamSuite has Wrinkle brush/plugin that's part of the DreamSuite Series Two product but it's not free ($149US). You can get it as a "stand-alone" for like $50. not so sure about a "free brush", maybe others know...

:)
retrocity

@sean, that would be the "reverant" answer, or at least to the followers of the Deep Thought... but then 42 has always worked for me. @Hoof, i never understand local festivities either ;) scott

Welllll, actually "childish" would be Nanner-Nanner!! but i wouldn't do that, especially to someone whom i hardly know. they might take it the wrong way ;)

@jaqui, i am still 3D-less (no real 3D programs in my arsenal) so i never pursued the prize, but it was cool to have won.

thanks for stopping by,
:)
retrocity

thanks jaqui ;) the medication and coffee do help me focus

My dear Satan, welcome to the Photoshop Forum, and thank you for taking an interest me and the forum itself.

Let's try and address your questions one-at-a-time...

1. Your IM to me:
   ... first we should go even "further back in time" to the when another member (pstekky) created an entry for the now defunct "Are you up for the Challenge".

in that thread, (do a search on "Jazz challenge" [not my spelling error, it's in the thread title...] the forum if you're interested) Hoofdcommissaris states "...You should shoot a message to retrocity (he tried to get it off the ground and is the moderator who is able to get that page updated). It seems hard to find enough people to flex their creative muscles in the Photoshop Forum. Most of the time it seems like an 'ask & run' kinda forum..."

TAKE A LOOK AROUND, what type of threads are posted here?? have you bothered to "search" through the archives to see what has been attempted and what has not?? I worked over the backroom pages and added the challenge in hopes to drive up some creative input from the members. that was short lived because most members don't come to the PS forum to be challenged, they come to find an answer to their question and then they take off to other forums. For those that do "challenges", we have a "Challenge Forum", we also have a pretty active "Monthly Challenge" in the 2D forum (i see you've entered there)

let's go back to you first question (your IM to me)... if i may post it; you said:
"Instant Message from Satanimus: Hi, could you tell me if there's some specific reason for the Photoshop forum challenge not being closed or changed,or indeed whether there is a reason for the forum to have apparently lost it's Mod'?
Hear from you soon, thanx."

...so let's answer it now... "...if there's some specific reason for the Photoshop forum challenge not being closed or changed" What! someone actually went to the backroom and saw the challenge??? had i known anyone even bothered looking around i would have been more diligent in updating but since it had been nearly a year before anyone even brought it up... i have other things vying for my time...

and for the comment:
"...or indeed whether there is a reason for the forum to have apparently lost it's Mod'?..."
ummmmm according to my "time-card", i've been here EVERYDAY. i do not feel the need to answer EVERY thread or message, as our very talented and knowledgeable members have often helped provide solutions to any issues.

but the real answer as to "why" i didn't answer your IM, i didn't really care for your tone and my mom said if i can't say anything nice, not to say anything at all ;)

still all-in-all, welcome to the forum and hope to see more of your PS work.

:)
retrocity

ps: ask jaqui how the challenge in the "vector" forum went!!

here's a quick "kludge" ( or at least a starting-point, you can tweak it to fit your needs)

1. pick a brush and add some dabs of colour on a canvas (choose the pink you want but add some range, light-medium-dark values...)

2. go to FILTER --> GAUSSIAN BLUR (i adjusted the setting to around 50 pixels)

3. go to FILTER --> ARTISTIC --> PAINT DAUBS (i think i adjusted the settings to around 30 for the Brush Size, 25 for the Sharpness and set the Brush Type to Sparkle)

4. go to FILTER --> PIXELATE--> CRYSTALLIZE (i adjusted the setting for the Cell Size to around 10)

5. Changed the colour using the HUE/SATURATION (Ctrl+U) IMAGE --> ADJUST --> HUE SATURATION and click on the Colourize check box. move the sliders around to get the colour you want.

6. Mask your type to fill it with your "crystallized" background.

you can also run the FILTER --> BRUSH STROKES --> ACCENTED EDGES to get a little more "white" to the edges...

play around and experiment and i'm sure you'll get the effect you're looking for.

hope this helps,
:)
scott

hmmmm, let me see what we can do... BRB, :) retrocity

hey bone, by "frosted" do you mean like ice crystals??? not big ones but small crystals with reflected light highlights?? probably not being clear myself but it is still a few weeks away from the "first frost" in my neck of the woods... :) retrocity

You're right April, the smudge tool is one of the more memory intensive tools in PS. This is because you are actually changing ALL of the pixels under the brush as you move it along. The larger the brush, the more memory is hit. I get lag time with my tablet but learned to move along at a smaller more steady pace. It's really bad when you try to work like you would in traditional media like "oil paint" (which is one reason i always wanted to get the app Painter)

Huck, at least you know it's not something you're doing wrong...

:)
retrocity