Literally jumping with energy
Distort, Warp, Liquify. Photoshop offers plenty of distortion functions. But none of them measures up to Illustrator's Envelope. Fortunately, Illustrator doesn't limit itself to vectors; you can edit photographs. Learn how!

Hide Your Tracks? Trash Your Preferences.

The other day, Deke called asking if I knew how to erase the contents of the "Open a Recent Item" list that appears on the Welcome Screen of InDesign. Here's how my thought process unfolded:

Thought 1) Basking in the dubious glory of the master thinking I know something he doesn't.

Thought 2) Supressing speculation on what exactly he was doing in InDesign that he wants to hide. (What, you were writing detailed stories to go with your pictures?)

Thought 3) Noticing that the only questionable thing my Welcome Screen reveals is that I've been working on things other than dekeBooks.

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Stretching a Photo in Illustrator (and Elsewhere)

Hey gang,

Meant to have this post up bright and early Monday morning, but the punative Internet gods conspired against me and robbed me of my usual beloved-martini-in-hand 3am site access. Jerks.

Anyhoo, as promised, more detailed information about the "Stretching a Photo in Illustrator" trick from last week's dekePod. Remember her?

jumper

(Image ©2008 Andrzej Burak. Used by permission of iStockphoto.)

Here's the full story: Read more » 

Assignment Beijing: Derrick Shares Some Olympic Moments

Sometimes, my job totally rules. I spent a chunk of time yesterday editing wonderful photos for a new Photoshop book by Derrick Story. (No worries, dekeFaithful, this one will be a terrific compliment to Deke's work, a concentrated handbook focusing on the specific Photoshop needs of photographers.) Derrick just got back from assignment (for Apple) in Beijing, helping other photographers in the Main Press Center get their images of the events processed and posted. I've already watched Derrick overcome jetlag to regale more than one audience with the tales of his Olympic adventure. He graciously said we could show some of his photos and the stories behind them here, and I think you'll enjoy this Friday treat.

(All photos in this post are copyright ©2008 Derrick Story. Click an image to see it at higher res. No reproducing please.)

Yeah, I told you Derrick knew a thing or two about shooting fireworks. This shot was captured during the opening ceremonies. Derrick was positioned right outside the Bird's Nest with a fast 50mm f/1.4 lens. (By the way, Derrick has more photos and stories on his site, The Digital Story, so I've linked those up where appropriate.) Read more » 

dekeOnline dominates the name Deke

That's right. Google the word "deke," and guess which site comes out on top? deke.com. What are the odds of that? We even beat out that ice hockey term that I've never actually heard anyone actually say.

Okay, so apparently, they bandy that term in Canada. Which brings me to this week's topic: International interest in deke.com. See the map below? The more green you are, the more folks from your country who have visited dekeOnline. It might be the only map where the U.S. is more green than, say, everywhere.

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As You Wish...

Is that victory I smell? Smells like the waxy goodness of a 96-color box of Crayola crayons dumped out on my dining room table.

Which one of these chapter opener pages would you call "purple?" What's that? You can't quite read the label, here let me help: Read more »