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We've covered creating and saving styles in Illustrator as a way to save time and increase productivity, but what I failed to point out is that the same can be done in Photoshop. When you apply layer style or blending options to your objects or type, moving them from one layer to another is not difficult, but saving them will go much further in speeding up the process and allowing you to use the styles across multiple documents. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Working with guides is almost certainly something you do every day, and at times they seem to only get in the way! In this episode we'll look at a couple of key commands in Adobe InDesign that allow us to "clear up the clutter" when your guides start to take over your document.

In this episode we'll take a look at some of the new Graphic Styles included in Illustrator CS4. There are some handy functions in the "Additive" styles that can help you create and edit popular effects in a flash. I'll also revisit the topic of moving into groups and singling out objects to edit without mucking up the rest of the items in your illustrations. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

If you've ever gone through several layers with type and formatted them with the same properties in Photoshop... YOU'RE DOING IT THE WRONG WAY!! There is a very simple, quick way to select the type on all the Photoshop layers you want and format the font face, color, and other properties all in one shot. Watch the screencast to find out how! Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Making a shape with a stroke and no fill is as easy as a couple clicks in Illustrator, but have you even needed to recreate the same object in Photoshop? There are of course several different ways to go about this (as is the norm in Photoshop), but in this episode we'll look at one method in particular that gives us plenty of control over the appearance of the object and stroke after creating it. As a bonus, we'll take a look at the difference between the layer Opacity and Fill sliders and what effect we get out of each. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Every once in a while I come across a piece of software that I just have to share on the podcast, because it's so damn cool. This would definitely be considered one of those times! xScope is an application from ARTIS Software and The Icon Factory that I think every designer can get some use out of. There are multiple tools within this small application that can boost your productivity, speed up your workflow, and make planning easier when it comes to designing electronic art. The tools are easy to use, right at your fingertips and come at a reasonable price. Check out this podcast to see some of the great features of xScope . Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Just a quick tip in Illustrator here. If you are tired of locking layers or accidentally selecting objects other than the one you are trying to work on, this feature is for you. In CS3 you can isolate groups of objects for easier selection and modifications, and in CS4 they have taken it a step further. Check out how this can work to your advantage! Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcaststo start your free trial today.

Placing an image in Illustrator can be handy for several reasons, one of which, is to trace imagery that must be illustrated. Others may use the functionality for creating layouts in Illustrator and linking images. Whatever the case, it is important to know how to alter and update the linked image once it has already been placed. The focus of this podcast is to place an image and look at how to modify it in Photoshop and then have those changes show up in our linked image. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcaststo start your free trial today.

With the web 2.0 movement, using icons to represent ideas as opposed to stock photography became very popular. This change also brought with it a few design trends that resulted in more simple, intuitive yet elegant components to the page. This movement has now spilled over into all facets of design, so we'll look at one element which is the simple icon. Using Illustrator and Photoshop together, we can quickly and easily create a simple, easy to comprehend icon that can be used for the web and beyond. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

It's back to basics on this episode where we look at how to mimic the features of a rotating gif in Flash. Why you ask... well we need to build a base for our banner before we add more dynamic features to make a jaw-dropping ad that will stand out on any page. We'll cover the basics of creating an animation in the timeline. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

It may not be a very "sexy" feature of Indesign, but the find/change has received a big upgrade and is now very useful for finding items in a lot of different ways. In this episode we'll look at how to find and change a particular typeface in your document, or how to search for type in a certain color and change that color all in one step. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

In this episode we'll jump back to the PDF form we made a couple of weeks ago and learn how to use the tools in Adobe Acrobat to add a submit button and distribute the form so we are able to collect and track the data received when you get responses to your form. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

With the release of the Creative Suite 4 just around the corner, visions of new and improved features are no doubt dancing in designers' heads. We'll take a look at one of those new features included in the new version of Dreamweaver that allows you to quickly and easily externalize all the javascript in your web pages. Go to adobe labs to try out the beta yourself! Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

There is bound to be more than one right way to create a form in Indesign, but there is certainly also a wrong way. We'll look at some of the pitfalls of creating a form, and a sound method for creating one that will be editable and expandable with few problems. Then we'll take that form into Acrobat and look at a very useful tool that can help you create text fields and give you a jump start on a functional online form. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Have you ever been given a piece of artwork and been asked to modify it only to find that the original artist flattened the art? What if there is a font or typeface used in the piece and you don't know what it is? What the Font is a totally cool tool just for this problem! We'll take a look at how to use this free utility to make a guess at what font is being used in a graphic or webpage. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.