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A Developer’s Guide to Photoshop

A Developer’s Guide to Photoshop

Kyle Herges on Apr 7th 2011 with 4 comments
This entry is part 1 of 8 in the series Beginning Photoshop for Developers

As a developer, you may have bought into the myth that Photoshop is a tool only comprehensible to the artsy folk. The goal of this series is to shatter that lie by showing just how easy it can be to begin to add aesthetically appealing touches to your mobile web sites and applications. You may not become Raphael overnight, but hopefully you will find the tips and tricks presented here as a fitting complement to your programming prowess. Ready to start learning the tool that can make apps “pop”? Let’s get started.

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Using the Marquee Tool

Using the Marquee Tool

Kyle Herges on Apr 13th 2011 with 2 comments
This entry is part 2 of 8 in the series Beginning Photoshop for Developers

Welcome to the second tutorial in our series on Photoshop for developers. In this quick tip, I’ll introduce you to the fundamentals of making selections with the Marquee Tool.

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Using the Bucket Tool

Using the Bucket Tool

Kyle Herges on Apr 20th 2011 with 1 comment
This entry is part 3 of 8 in the series Beginning Photoshop for Developers

Welcome to the third tutorial in our series on Photoshop for developers! In this Quick Tip, I’ll introduce you to the fundamentals of painting with the Bucket Tool.

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Using the Gradient Tool

Using the Gradient Tool

Kyle Herges on Apr 27th 2011 with 2 comments
This entry is part 4 of 8 in the series Beginning Photoshop for Developers

Welcome to the fourth tutorial in our series on Photoshop for developers! In this Quick Tip, I’ll introduce you to the Gradient Tool and demonstrate the fundamentals of how to use it.

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Designing Mobile App Backgrounds

Designing Mobile App Backgrounds

Kyle Herges on May 12th 2011 with 2 comments
This entry is part 5 of 8 in the series Beginning Photoshop for Developers

Now that we have been introduced Photoshop and a couple of the most essential tools, let’s put the first four tutorials in this series to good use and make a nice background for a mobile application. Designing app backgrounds differs from designing desktop backgrounds in at least one fundamental way: you have to strip out all unnecessary clutter and only provide the user with what is absolutely necessary. Read on to learn more!

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Introduction to Color Theory

Introduction to Color Theory

Kyle Herges on May 27th 2011 with 8 comments
This entry is part 6 of 8 in the series Beginning Photoshop for Developers

Well, if you’ve read the first five articles in this series, you may be asking yourself: “How does all of this relate to Mobile Design?” The purpose of this introductory series is for you to add some new tools and ideas to your mobile design arsenal. This article is no different. Colors can make your application look professional and beautiful, but on the flip side, they can also make it look like your app was made by my five-year-old nephew.

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Drawing Custom Shapes

Drawing Custom Shapes

Kyle Herges on Jun 16th 2011 with 2 comments
This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series Beginning Photoshop for Developers

Shapes have come a long way in Photoshop and knowing how to utilize them in your application can mean the difference between success and failure. Shapes can bring depth, balance and unity to your apps. This tutorial will introduce to you the Photoshop shape tool and teach you to draw basic custom shapes. In the process, you will be prepared for the next tutorial in this series: creating buttons.

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Learn to Create Buttons in Photoshop

Learn to Create Buttons in Photoshop

Kyle Herges on Jun 23rd 2011 with 2 comments
This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series Beginning Photoshop for Developers

We’ve gone through a lot already in this series. I would like to think that from what we’ve covered so far you could start to design some pretty cool stuff! For this tutorial on buttons, I’m going to show you how to make an icon using just four circles. Yep, that’s it, just four! While four circles will get you something pretty cool, I’ll give you even more bang for the buck by showing you how to enhance the graphic by adding two more circles. Let’s get drawing!

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