Draw a Character Concept Using Drapery in Photoshop

Photoshop is an excellent tool for manipulating photographs but it can also be used as a means to create stunning digital art. This tutorial is part of a 25-part video tutorial series demonstrating everything you will need to know to start producing digital art in Photoshop. Digital Art for Beginners, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak will begin by teaching you how to draw in Photoshop. At the conclusion of this series you will know all you need to produce your own concept art and matte paintings in Photoshop.
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Professional Sharpening Techniques in Photoshop

You might be surprised how many images are sharpened at some point in Photoshop before you see them in print or online. In this detailed tutorial we will explain how sharpening works, when you should apply sharpening to your images, and how best to do it during the post production process. Let’s get started!
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How to Draw Drapery in Photoshop

Photoshop is an excellent tool for manipulating photographs but it can also be used as a means to create stunning digital art. This tutorial is part of a 25-part video tutorial series demonstrating everything you will need to know to start producing digital art in Photoshop. Digital Art for Beginners, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak will begin by teaching you how to draw in Photoshop. At the conclusion of this series you will know all you need to produce your own concept art and matte paintings in Photoshop.
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20 Ways to Save Kittens and Learn PHP

There’s an old adage – dating back to the 1700s – which, in English, says: “A kitten dies each time a PHP programmer doesn’t follow best practices.” Okay, not really; but just go with it!

Getting started in PHP can be a daunting experience. With that in mind, these 20 tips will teach you how to follow best practices, and save lives…kitty lives.
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Quick Tip: How to Keep the Count with CSS

Did you know that, with CSS, you can create a counter? This can be especially useful for instances where the count is purely needed for presentational purposes. I’ll show you how to use counter-increment in this useful quick tip.
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The Best Way to Learn PHP

Learning something from scratch is almost always an arduous affair — you simply have no idea as to where to start, or not to start, to kick things off. I loathed learning about the idiosyncrasies of C++’s syntax when all I wanted to learn were some darn programming concepts. As I’m sure you can agree, this is a less than ideal situation.

This is where the Nettuts+ “The Best Way to Learn” series comes into the picture. This series is intended to be your blueprint, your road map, your plan of action for learning your topic of choice! You don’t have to worry about finding the best resources, sorting out the bad ones, and figuring out what to learn next. It’s all here. Just follow it, step by step.

Today, we’re going to figure out the best way to learn PHP.
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Quick Tip: How to Use the Transform Panel as a Calculator with Adobe Illustrator

I bet that you’ve been working in Adobe Illustrator and had to use a calculator for mathematically aligning elements and designs. Forget that, with this Quick Tip you will learn how to use the Transform Panel as a calculator. This is a handy tip if you need to scale, position or move objects and elements with precision.
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Quick Tip: How to Create a Simple Web Button Set Using the Appearance Panel

In the following tutorial you will learn how to create your own web buttons set. First, using the Rectangle Tool along with some Pathfinder and Offset options plus a Rounded Corners effect you will create the three starting shapes. Next, a linear gradient plus some Film Grain and Drop Shadow effects will complete the overall button. Finally, some text and a new Drop Shadow effect will help you finish the work. Let’s get started!
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Quick Tip: Using Quick Apply in InDesign CS5

Quick Apply is a feature that holds the ability to allow an InDesign user to save time when accessing styles, commands, scripts and features. The Quick Apply panel is a shortcut to everything InDesign offers.Find out more about this handy feature at the jump.
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Recording Your First Song Part 1 – Overview (Basix)

There are lots of reasons why people want to record music at home. Maybe you want to show off your musical vision to your band mates or show off your skills to potential band mates. On the other hand, maybe you just always fancied realising your own version of your favourite song, or just want some backing tracks to hone your improvisation skills over.
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Adding Flavor to Chords – Suspended Chords – Basix

Today we are going to cover how to add some flavor to your chords and compositions using Sus chords. These are some of those chords where a lot of players can read and play them but they may not understand where they come or how they function. If you have heard of these types of chords but never knew exactly how they were constructed then this tutorial is for you. We will cover everything from basic structure to different voicings of the chords and try to apply them in a creative context. If you want to suspend your old chords for a little while then read on!
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Adding Flavor to Chords – Sixth Chords – Basix

Today we are going to cover how to add some flavor to your chords and compositions using sixths in both major and minor. Just like the 7ths chord tutorial, we will approach this chord concept from the ground up and look it from all possible angles. If you have heard of these types of chords but never knew exactly how they were constructed then this tutorial is for you. We will cover everything from basic structure to different voicings of the chords and try to apply them in a creative context. The sixth chords are waiting, you ready?
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Create Whispy Spirit-like Text

Twice a month we revisit some of our reader’s favorite posts from back in the archives of Aetuts+. Today we’ll look at a Quick Tutorial I posted back in May 2009. I was playing with the good ol’ built in CC plugins and came up with a fun technique. I used CC Smear as the basis to create text that appears in as if a spirit whisped into it.
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Quick Tip – Create A 3D Bouncing Logo

Hello everyone! Today’s tutorial will show you how to create 3D text and then make it bounce it with a simple expression. This effect is quite cool because you can easily modify or change the characters to words, symbols, or even shape layers.
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Endlessly Zoom Into Your Own Droste Effect

In this Basix tutorial, we’ll learn how to create the Droste Effect in Adobe After Effects. We’ll be be parenting our footage to precomps and scaling to give the illusion of an infinite zoom.
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Introduction To Vue 9 xStream: Part 8, 3D Studio Max Integration

In Part 8 of Wassim’s Ouartsi’s extensive in-depth look at Vue 9 xStream series, we’ll take a look at the integration between Vue 9 xStream and 3D Studio Max and how we can work on projects seamlessly between the two programs. Topics include bringing Vue assets into 3ds Max’s workspace, and how we can combine them with other elements to construct fully realized environments, consisting of terrain, atmospheric effects and foliage.
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Introduction To Vue 9 xStream: Part 7 Creating Animations

Today we’re back with the next installment of Wassim Ouartsi’s massive Introduction To Vue 9 xStream series. In part 7 we’ll be taking an in-depth look at Vue’s powerful animation wizard. Topics include Key animation and the best settings to use when rendering, so let’s get started!
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Introduction To Vue 9 xStream: Part 6 Working With Materials

Today Wassim Ouartsi is back with part 6 of his massive Introduction To Vue 9 xStream series. In this lesson we’ll take an in-depth look at working with materials in Vue. Topics include both the Basic and Advanced material editors and their functions, using layers and creating mixed materials. So let’s get to it!
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HTML5 Avoider Game Tutorial: Keeping Score

So far, we’ve got a never-ending stream of enemies that our avatar must avoid; one touch, and it’s game over. But so what? Since there’s no way to track the player’s progress, they have no idea whether they did better in their latest round than they ever did before. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to keep score, how to display it on the canvas, and how to let the player know when they’ve beaten their own records.
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Quick Tip: How to Debug an AS3 Error #1120

A very common ActionScript error is Error 1120, the “undefined property” error. In fact, this may be the most common compile-time error. Its cause is very simple, but there are a number of ways it can actually be induced. We’ll take a quick tour of some of the scenarios in which you’ll encounter this error, and how to fix them.
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HTML5 Avoider Game Tutorial: Multiple Moving Enemies

In the first part of this series, you learned the basics of using JavaScript and the canvas element to make a very simple HTML5 avoider game. But it’s too simple – the single enemy doesn’t even move – there’s no challenge! In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a never-ending stream of enemies, all falling from the top of the screen.
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Phototuts+ Quiz – Printing

Today, you’ll have another chance to try one of our Phototuts+ quizzes. We’ll have you drowning in ink with this one. We’re going to be testing your knowledge of printing. You know, prints, like those things on Facebook, but more real. Get crackin’ after the jump! And don’t forget to share you results in the comments.
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A Beginner’s Guide to Using Filters – Part 2

For professionals, filters are essential tools which will be taken to each and every shoot they undertake. In the past, before the digital era, filters were used as one of the photographers primary creative tools and with the introduction of digital photography, it could have easily been perceived that post processing would take over that dominance for creative manipulation of photographs. In reality, filters are still as popular as ever, because they offer the photographer means for creativity in-camera that cannot be as effectively replicated in post processing.
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A Beginner’s Guide to Using Filters – Part 1

Filters are a lens add-on that are interesting to many photographers. Providing a number of different of effects and options, filters can either protect your lens investments or add value to your quality optics by improving their performance. Today, we’re going to take a look at the use of filters.
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iOS SDK: Working with UIAlertView and UIAlertViewDelegate

In this tutorial you will be introduced to one of the most commonly used Cocoa-Touch classes: UIAlertView. With this class, you can quickly notify users of important or urgent application information. You may also force user feedback by combining the UIAlertView class with the UIAlertViewDelegate protocol. Read on to learn how!
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Android Essentials: Enhancing Your Applications with App Widgets

A great way to improve your application is by providing an app widget to accompany it. App widgets are simple controls can be placed on places like the Home screen, informing the user of important updates within the application. App widgets remind the user you’re your app exists and help encourage them to use the application more often, among other benefits. In this tutorial, learn to create a simple app widget to enhance to the user’s experience in the Tutlist tutorial application.
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Android Fundamentals: IntentService Basics

Today we’d like to take a quick tour of one of the lesser known, but highly useful types of services you might want to use: the IntentService.
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Quick Tip: Build CSS3 Effects Using Fireworks CS5

One of the really neat things about CSS3 is the ability to create objects containing special effects such as gradients, rounded corners and even drop shadows. In this tutorial I’m going to show you how a new Fireworks extension can do all the hard work for you.
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Building a Website in Progressive Steps: Blog Page

In this part of our Building a Website in Progressive Steps series we’re going to discuss putting a single blog page together, and go over the various elements within the page while pointing out the importance of each. So let’s dig into the tutorial and start talking setting up a blog page!
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Building a Website in Progressive Steps: Page Elements

In this part of our Building a Website in Progressive Steps series we’re going to cover a wide array of elements on a web page, how they are placed, then we’ll discuss the importance of each. So let’s dig into the tutorial and start talking web page elements!
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Create A WordPress Archives Template for Your Theme

An archives page is great way of linking to all of your important archives such as monthly archives and category archives on one dedicated page. It’s a great alternative to simply linking to your older posts in your sidebar and footer. Surprisingly, a lot of themes out there don’t include one by default… so today, we’re going to show you a quick way of building one from scratch.
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Automagic Post Thumbnails & Image Management

Using a custom post thumbnail or featured image function for your posts and pages in WordPress has been a well known trick for a while now. You can use it to create content sliders or other related functions which enhance the overall look of a WordPress site… but using such features can sometimes give you some trouble (or at least I have experienced some difficulties), especially when I’m updating my blog from my mobile device using WordPress for Android or WordPress for BlackBerry. Today, I’m going to show you a few tricks that have helped me out in the past – hopefully they’ll help you out as well!
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PHP for WordPress: Mastering Conditional Statements and Tags

The conditional statements feature is an extremely useful and powerful feature in WordPress; still it remains unused in the development process. You can achieve many things by the simple and smart use of these statements. Sometimes when you need specific text or a unique image to appear on a specific page and not on any other pages in your site, by using conditional statements along with WordPress conditional tags you can achieve this easily without creating multiple pages or templates.
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