Coding and Design Tips & Tutorials

In recent years, Python has exploded to become one of the fastest-growing languages. Traditional object-oriented programming languages have many rigid rules, and Python often breaks the convention of these languages, offering simplicity to counter this rigidity. For novice programmers, it may be more beneficial to learn code through the lens of simplicity and elegance versus robustness and completeness. Both have their tradeoffs, and here are a few key examples of how Python separates itself from the pack.

Topics: Using custom hair brushes to create a selection/mask, Refining the hair mask, Removing a color cast

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Excel spreadsheets have been the standard in the business world, allowing people to leverage spreadsheets for everything from accounting to managing schedules. As one of the world’s most popular software programs, Excel is used in all facets of a company, from human resources to Finance. However, there comes a time when one may look to grow beyond Excel and foray into the world of databases and coding-based solutions.

Topics: Making a selection using Channels & Curves, Refining the selection with the History Brush, Refining the hair mask

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Hair Selections & the Search for the Holy Grail

Hair Selections & the Search for the Holy Grail Everyone’s looking for the easy path. The internet is filled with so-called experts doling out “tips, tricks, and techniques,” and they may sound like they are the answer, but when you try them on your photos, you just get frustrated because they don’t work. You think there’s something wrong with you or your retouching skills, but maybe that technique only worked on that one photo and background combination! It’s not as easy as learning one tip or technique. Hair is more complex than that. A blonde on a dark background must be treated differently than a blonde on a light background.

The internet is full of noise about what counts as “real” data science. This genre is generally a waste of time, but for beginners it can be particularly pernicious. If you’re already feeling like a fish out of water, the last thing you need to hear is that you’re a “fake” data scientist. Nothing more demoralizing!

The GreenSock Animation Platform (GSAP) is a popular set of JavaScript tools for building animations on the web. Anything you see in your web browser can be animated with GSAP. Whether you want to build elegant UI animations or dynamic effects in web apps, games, and interactive stories; GSAP is up to the task.

How does it work? You simply write short snippets of JavaScript code that define how elements should animate and what the timing should be. The benefit of animating with code is that one line of code can animate one thing just as easily as it can animate 1,000 things. With code-driven animation it’s surprisingly easy to randomize your animations and have them respond to user interaction.

GSAP delivers the flexibility and control that professionals need but it’s also easy for beginners to learn, especially with Noble Desktop’s HTML5 Web Animation with GreenSock class. You’ll be amazed at what you can do once you master just a few of the basics. Here are some of the main reasons to learn GSAP:

The thought of programming an app might sound intimidating to anyone who hasn’t tried it before. Never fear! Your brain is up for the challenge.

One of the first things you’ll do as a new programmer is choose a text editor to work with on a regular basis. Two of the most popular text editors, Atom and Sublime, offer features that can make your work a lot easier. But which one is better?

Each year Adobe comes out with new features, so what changed in Photoshop CC 2019? We’ll cover the most important changes we think you should know about.

Changes to Multiple Undo

Prior to Photoshop CC 2019, Cmd–Z (Mac) or Ctrl–Z (Windows) acted as a toggle. It would undo, and then redo the very last thing you did. I always thought this was because of Photoshop’s roots in photography. It was useful to compare the before and after states to see if the retouching/color correction you just applied looks good. Regardless of the reason, it did make Photoshop different than other Creative Cloud apps. CC 2019 changes the keystroke to work like InDesign, Illustrator, etc.

• In CC 2019 each time you hit Cmd–Z (Mac) or Ctrl–Z (Windows), you will go farther back in your file’s history.
• To redo, you now hit Cmd–Shift–Z (Mac) or Ctrl–Shift–Z (Windows).
• Miss the old toggle-style undo? Use Cmd–Opt–Z (Mac) or Ctrl–Alt–Z (Windows).

If you don’t like the new keystrokes, you can revert back to the prior behavior as follows:

1. Go into Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.
2. Check on Use Legacy Undo Shortcuts and click OK.
3. Restart Photoshop.