Give Your Mac a Tune-Up

So i've had an imac at home for about 2 years now and for the past couple months it just starting opening applications slower and running sluggishly so I decided to get to the bottom of it. After surfing the web and talking to apple care I found a few tips on how to speed up the performance of your mac.

1. First you are going to wanna run Disc Utility which is located within your applications>utilities folder to repair any damages that may be occurring on your harddrive. Highlight your hard drive from the list and have the program repair the permissions. This is a common way to correct some computer errors which could be slowing down your hard drive.

2. It always helps to upgrade your ram. see if your mac is able to be outfitted with more ram.

3. Shut down your mac, unplug the ac cord from your computer and then hold down the computer's power button for 6 seconds. Then plug your mac back in and restart to desktop.

4. Restart your mac again and immediately hold down (Command, Option, P, R) keys

until you will hear the "bootup mac ding" twice. Then let go of the keys and let your computer restart to the desktop.

5. Download an application called AppCleaner. AppCleaner is a free small application which allows you to thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps.

Additional Tip - If you have an apple care protection plan then you have access to download TechTool Deluxe which is a powerful diagnostic utility that allows you to test your computer's critical system components, such as the processor, RAM (random-access memory), VRAM (video random-access memory), the hard disk, and more.

Please feel free to post if you have any other tips as well.

Website: Making Better Inkjet Prints

The author of "301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques" has created a companion website that has a variety of tips and learning resources. Andrew Darlow's intent of this site is to help readers transform their photos and artwork into prints on paper. This site has hundreds of resources for all levels of photographers and artists. Topics range from color management tips and ink jet FAQ's to printer reviews and printing tips. If you've ever had a problem with printing and needed an answer this is a great website to start at.




here is the website:
www.inkjettips.com

the book can be purchased on amazon

Harddrive Failure - Guidelines On Backing Up Your Work

Here are some guidelines for setting up a solid backup system to prevent data loss in case your hard drive fails. Harddrive failure could happen tomorrow, next month or 2 years down the road causing you to lose all of your files and images. Don't wait for that random occurrence to happen. Protect your work! Below are some preventative steps to ensure your files will be safe in the event of a harddrive failure. These guidelines below have been provided by www.dpbestflow.org which is a website dedicated to digital photography best practices and workflow.
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Primary vs. Backups

It may sound obvious, but you can't create a good backup strategy until you know what you're backing up. Therefore you need to designate a primary copy of the data before you create backups. If there is no primary copy, your backup system will always feel like a mess.

At each stage of an image's lifecycle, you need to know which is the primary copy of the data.

The 3-2-1 Rule

The simplest way to remember how to back up your images safely is to use the 3-2-1 rule.

• We recommend keeping 3 copies of any important file (a primary and two backups)
• We recommend having the files on 2 different media types (such as hard drive and optical media), to protect against different types of hazards.*
• 1 copy should be stored offsite (or at least offline).

Backup software

To keep your images safe, you'll need to run the appropriate backup software to manage the process. Backup software might be included with your operating system, but most of this is not geared to the problems encountered by professional photographers. There are several different types of tasks that backup software can perform. Some programs can do nearly all types of backup, and some types only do one or two. Here are the categories:

Basic mirror

The simplest kind of backup, basic mirror software can create a duplicate of the primary copy in a new location. There are a number of different ways that mirrors can be implemented.

Compressed mirror

In a compressed mirror backup, the files are copied to a new location, and then are compressed into a single gigantic file.

Mirror plus incremental backup

In this method, an original copy of the data is updated by remembering changes to files. This can let the user "roll back" to different versions of the data.

Bootable clone

This mirror backup contains all the invisible configuration files necessary to let the computer boot up from the copy. Some software creates a compressed bootable copy of the drive that must first be extracted to a new drive before being used.
Read more about mirror configurations

To read more about backing up your work visit:
http://www.dpbestflow.org/backup/backup-types

Photoshop Tutorials - Great Website

I came across a really great photoshop tutorial website that I wanted to share. The things that I like about this site that sets it apart from the other million tutorial sites out there is that the website is very clean and easy to navigate through, the tutorials are thorough and easy to follow, and there are tons of useful ones that aren't "how to turn a horse into a unicorn and make it look like hes flying across a rainbow".

You can find the main tutorials page at http://psd.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/

Digital Photography Best Practices & Workflow

The American Society of Media Photographers (asmp.org) have recently launched a website with the intended purpose of creating guidelines for the best practices and workflow for Professional Digital Photography. This really is a great website for learning how to best capture and manage your digital photographs. dpBestflow.org is a rich web resource which includes a series of on-line educational seminars, software & hardware solutions, workflow guides and book references, designed to match a wide variety of working styles. Some of the key topics discussed are:

• how to maintain your hardware properly (camera, computer etc...)
  
• how to work with color profiles to ensure accurate color results in your images
• how to properly store and manage your files after they are downloaded to your computer
• what some guidelines are for safely and efficiently backing up your work

here is the link for the quick reference pdf guide to best practices and workflow.
here is the link for where to get started on the dpbestflow.org website.

Stunning Tilt Shift Photography Tutorial

I found a tutorial on tilt shift photography that I wanted to share (provided by www.tiltshiftphotography.net.) The effect is done with Photoshop, using the Lens Blur filter. This tutorial is really a great alternative if you don't have the budget for a $1000+ dollar tilt shift lens. To utilize the fullest effect of this technique your going to want to choose a landscape image that is shot from an elevated point of view. This effect can really produce a cool image that has the look and feel of a miniature model.

You can check out more techniques and discussions on Tilt Shift Photography at www.tiltshiftphotography.net

Smashing Magazine: All Things Design

I wanted to share this online magazine I came across that is a must-read online source for any creative professional or design geek out there. Smashing Magazine is an online magazine and blog dedicated to all things design. This frequently updated site covers everything from lists of inspirational design to HTML tutorials. The navigation of the Smashing website divides the articles into nine categories: graphics, design showcases, inspiration, fonts, how-to, CSS, developer’s toolbox, freebies and tutorials. The articles are often lists of even more articles from around the web, so Smashing Mag does a lot of the research for you.

Here are some recent articles that caught my eye !

• 50 Incredible Photography Techniques
• 50 Free resources that will improve your photography skills
• 10 easy steps to improve your photography skills
  

Blog of Photoshop Tips and Plugins

I have been following this photoshop tricks blog for some time now and I thought I would post it.

http://www.photoshopsupport.com

This blog discusses new photoshop plugins that are out there like new filters or cool edges that you can add to your photographs. Earlier tonight I was previewing a video tutorial that explained how to use the Spot Healing Brush, Hue Saturation sliders, and the liquidfy tool. I actually found a useful tip that shows how to remove redness from a persons facial complexion which I will be applying to a clients photos later this week! Glad I found this tip, it saves me from flipping through 500 pages of my photoshop tips book... ugh.

here are the video links for the spot healing brush, hue & sat, and liquidfy tool

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/09/01/skin-retouching-clips.html