Make Wood Grain Vector Art in Illustrator

Today I would like to show you how to create your own wood grain vector art in Illustrator.

You can change the colors to your preference for your design.

1st open illustrator create the size page you want to make the wood grain, below is the tools you will be using:

Next select the rectangle tool and draw a thin rectangle the length of the page then select the rectangle and hold the option shift then drag this will copy the exact one below it. Continue until the whole page is full of lines:

Next select all the lines and go to the Object tab>Transform>Transform Each, type in these settings:

This makes the lines different sizes. Next select the warp tool double click it and put in these settings, this will distort the lines when you run the brush over the lines from left to right:

Next select the twirl tool put in these settings and lightly tap the brush over the lines in different places to twirl the line slightly:

Next choose the pucker tool use same settings as before then run the brush over the lines to contrast and pucker them to your liking:

Next select all and pull down from the top to scrunch it together into thinner shapes:

this is how it looks after scrunching it, next draw a retangle box over the top of the lines with a lighter color and send to back:

There you have it your own homemade wood grain vector art from Illustrator. Have fun and be creative!

Quick Mask Mode in Photoshop

Hello out there my blog readers!

I just learned a cool trick in photoshop, I thought I would share it with you along with some photos of what I did. It is the Quick Mask tool.

First open a photo I used an eye just to try it out.

Next double click this box on your tools pallet, another pallet will pop up so copy my settings.

Now you are ready to paint the eyeball with the brush tool by selecting B on your keyboard then you can use [ to make brush go up in size and ] to make the brush go down in size. Now paint the eye around the iris it will show up red when you do this like the photo below:

Next you can press the Q key on the keyboard again to go back to standard mode, this will put whatever you painted into selection mode, next go to the select tab at the top and scroll down to inverse.

Now go to the Image tab scroll to adjustments then to Hue/Saturation. Make sure the preview is on so you can see how the image looks when you start playing around with the setting to achieve what you want the eye to look like as my photo below

Now you know how to use the quick mask mode to change eye color. Cool hu?

Social Networking....Does it work for you?

I was recently talking to some people about how Facebook works for them. Some business swear by Facebook and others do not receive any added business using Facebook. Why is that? I think the younger people (thumb people) the ones that use the internet for everything from telling time to looking up a phone number or map are the ones more likely to use Facebook to find a business or deals.

The businesses that are geared toward an older generation or most of their client are the older generation do not really get anything out of Facebook. Take for example a business that sells hearing aids. Most people who may need a hearing aid are in the older retiree generation. Few are younger like my age or children.

I know that technology is the way to go these days, like scanning QR codes for deals and or coupons at a store on your smart phone. My mother in-law does not have an email or even know how to use the computer. She has never searched the web. She would be in the category of the retired generation. She looks for deals and ads in the Newspaper or mailers.

So just by the type of business you have should determine the market you want to reach out to. Let Clinton Press help with those marketing needs. We can create a marketing strategy to generate business to the different clients you may have.

Also Facebook has worked for us at Clinton Press. It really helps to generate business, especially with a promotion or also when we send out an email blast.

Have a great week!

Sharing Fonts Illegal

Hey everyone,

I recently had a client that was looking for a font, because theirs had become corrupt. We do not know why but he had upgraded to a newer macintosh. The fonts would not load so he sent them to me. I was also unable to use the fonts.

I was thinking since this is a print shop, we receive fonts all the time for print jobs. I sent an email to my graphic designer friends since I was just going to need the fonts to print the job. I actually had one person reply to me that he had the font I was looking for.

In the meantime another client emailed me and said it was illegal to share fonts. Being a print shop and only using the fonts for the printed job, I assume that it was okay. I am not really sure how that applies to a printing company. Most of the fonts are thrown out once used for that job. I wasn't trying to do anything illegal, especially when it comes to the company I work for.

I was wondering if anyone has any information about "borrowing a font" that is just what we did. I like to help out my clients as much as possible for the prepress part, or just educating them with the experience and knowledge I have gained over the years. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and Have a great Day!

QR Codes a funky looking barcode

Have you been seeing the new funky looking square codes lately everywhere? Well we have been getting alot of clients printing with the QR code on it. It is only going to pop up even more. It is the new wave of technology at least in the USA.

Here is what it looks like:

QR codes have been used for years in Japan. I think they used it to track inventory on auto parts. So now we have this wonderful code that is 2 diminsional and can store tons of information. The neat thing about it is you can create it yourself for free. Just google QR code creator and there are lots of sites that let you create it for FREE. We love free.

Here are a few ways people are already using it now:

Stores or retails may have the QR code and when you scan with your cell phone you will receive a coupon right there on the spot.

Small businesses are putting it on there website or business cards. If you put it on the business card you can basically have someone scan it and you can put your contact information and the person who scans it can easily store your info in their phone. Or it can take you directly to their website. Pretty Awesome Hu?

You can use QR codes to take a shortcut to contact, product, coupons, offers, twitter, facebook, linkedin, event details, etc. The possibilities are unlimited. Check it out. What a great way for a small business to send detailed information with the blink of an eye about them!

Trends of the Future

I would like to share a website with you today. It has some really interesting articles on it.

http://thefutureofthings.com.

I recently read about xerox developing a new inkless printer which sounds so cool and unbelievable. This article can be found here:

http://thefutureofthings.com/articles/50/xerox-inkless-printer.html

They say it uses a light source and can last right now from 16 to 24 hours. Xerox has developed a special paper which can be used over and over. At this stage in the testing they said it can be re-used up to 50 times.

Wow wouldn't it be nice to have this technology in the future, imagine how green it will be and also you wouldn't have to have boxes and boxes of recycled paper in the office. I know we recycle tons of paper here at Clinton Press. This new technology is not yet available and they are still working on it. Xerox says it will be a few years off. Check out the article it is truely an amazing trend of the future!

Variable Data

Did you know that we have the capabilities to do variable data (personalization) on envelopes, letters, brochures etc. All you have to do is send Clinton Press a database with your names and addresses of the customers you wish to personalize printed items with.

It is a great and wonderful marketing tool. We can do 4 color process envelope and put your different addresses on them and the letters to match. All you have to do is stuff the letters or have us stuff the letters and mail it out.

The variable data industry is a fast, personal way to reach your customers individually. How about maybe doing a few notepads with a person's name and phone on it. It could be done the exact same way with your database.

Variable is the new wave of the future when it comes to printing. So call us today and ask about variable data options. Have a great week!