Ninja December 10th, 2007
Check out VectorMagic Beta, an online tool that converts bitmap images to vector. See the comparisons of VectorMagic, Adobe Live Trace and Corel PowerTRACE below:
Related link:
+ Give it a go
Ninja December 7th, 2007
Q My kid brother: How do you draw hair in Illustrator?
A This is how I go about it…
Penguin October 25th, 2007
Photosynth is a technology that looks at any dataset and can reorganize it in any other way. The only limitation is the size of your monitor. You can zoom in and out as deep as you need. But that’s not the coolest thing about Photosynth. It can actually analyze pictures and build a representative model based on the data contained purely in the pictures. Check out the video demo.
Links:
Try Photosynth
Photosynth on Wiki
-Penguin
Penguin September 27th, 2007
Found this article about how software dies, written by Orson Scott Card, of “Ender’s Game” fame.
Related postsThe environment that nutures creative programmers kills management and marketing types - and vice versa.
Ninja August 31st, 2007
Q: Do you know how to change a Pantone spot colour to CMYK in Adobe Illustrator?
A: Yes, I do. Huh, that was an easy question. Just kidding. ~___^ Here are the steps:
So you’ve chosen your spot colors. For this example, I picked PMS 550, PMS 3395, PMS 344, PMS 374, + PMS 389. Open your Swatches Palette (Window > Swatches) to view all the colors.
Click on the arrow in the upper right corner to bring up an additional drop down menu. Scroll + highlight the option “Select All Unused.”
Click on the trash can icon in the lower right of the palette. Whew, feels nice + tidy, huh? Now only the used colors are shown. In this case, they’re all Pantone colors.
Double-click on the name of the color in the Swatches Palette. A Swatch Options box will appear. Change the Color Mode from “Book Color” to “CMYK.” And change the Color Type from “Spot Color” to “Process Color.”
Continue down the list of colors + do the same.
After you’ve converted your colors to 4C (4-color process or CMYK), you’ll notice that the lil’ spot/dot next to the color’s name is gone. In it’s place is a small grey box. This means that you’ve succesffully converted your spot colors to 4-color process.
To revert back to your Pantone colors, simply double-click on the color in your Swatches Palette + change the settings back to the original settings. The small dot will reappear, indicating that they are now spot colors again.
Good luck,
Ninja
Got any more burning questions? Feel free to email me at ninja [at] ninjavspenguin [dot] com. Penguin is also available to answer questions, too! He can be reached at penguin [at] ninjavspenguin [dot] com. =)
Related postsNinja July 27th, 2007
Whatever, Adobe®! Talk about spoilsports! Yesterday morning, Adrian sent this link on Adobe® Photoshop® trademark rules (it’s pretty funny). Example:
CORRECT: The image was enhanced using Adobe® Photoshop® software.
INCORRECT: The image was photoshopped.
He also sent me a sneak preview of his illo for an upcoming book. Apparently it’s going to involve some snazzy 3D process. Holograms? Lenticulars? Pop-ups? Embossing? He’s so cryptic. I can’t wait to see it published!
Related postsNinja July 19th, 2007
Stefan sent over this i-tunes visualizer to me this morning. Normally I just have i-tunes running in the background while I work (currently listening to Bjork’s All is Full of Love single—one of my all-time fav viddies, too). But I gave it a quick go + quietly watched as beautiful colors + star-bursts zoomed my way. Sort of felt like a 2001 space trip. But seriously, I need to get back to work, haha.
Enjoy,
Ninja
Ninja July 18th, 2007
This is bound to create a lot of pedestrian traffic…
Adobe’s put out a 7′x15′ interactive wall outside of the Union Square Virgin Megastore. There’s a slider button on the bottom of the display that reacts to a pedestrian’s walking speed and direction, producing different effects in the animation projected on the display.
Huh, Stefan’s got a good point: it looks like Deanne Cheuk’s work. 
Link:
+ read the NY Times article
Penguin May 14th, 2007
I don’t know how or when this happened, but the detailed view page was broken. I was able to fix it, but who knows how long it was down. Ninja told me that she had went to view The First Kiss two weeks ago, and it was fine.
Anyway, it’s been fixed. Still not sure what happened.
-Penguin
Limited edition lithograph prints. Signed + numbered.
