CreativeTechs Tips

At the beginning of each year we like to take a moment to discuss the topic of studio backup. Use this checklist as a comparision for your own studio's backup strategy.

Happy New Year! May all your data be safe in 2007.

Protection #1: Keep all Work Files on a redundant RAID.

Too many creative teams store their vital client projects on a single large hard drive, or spread them across a chain of external FireWire drives.

For the most basic level of security, your studio's work files should be stored on a redundant RAID volume. A RAID combines two or more individual hard drives into a single volume. When properly configured, if a single drive fails, the RAID (and your studio) can continue working until the problem drive is replaced. This type of zero-downtime protection is crucial for creative teams that rely on a server-based workflow.

We like the speed and stability of hardware RAIDs such as Apple's Xserve RAID. We've been relieved recently to find more studios choosing to invest in secure server storage for their work files.

Cost conscious teams can still get a level of protection by mirroring two drives using RAID software (Mac OS X provides built-in support for drive mirroring).

Costs: $1,500 - $10,000 for a hardware RAID depending on size and features.

Protection #2: Weekly rotating offsite backup.

While a RAID protects your studio against individual drive failure, you still need an offsite backup. What if something happens to your building -- fire, flood, or theft? Or when a tired designer accidentally deletes the wrong folder of work?

To protect against these problems, our best strategy is building rotating backups with 3 or 4 separate sets (1TB or 2TB drives in most cases). Typically we schedule a backup routine that provides a full backup once a week, with incremental backups every night. At least one backup set should be cycled offsite each week to protect against building-wide damage such as fire.

For backing up a creative team, we recommend EMC's Retrospect. Its not perfect (the interface isn't intuitive, and it take some finesse to maintain) however over the years Retrospect remains one of the most reliable tools for backing up larger studios.

Costs: $800 - $3,000 depending on size of drives needed.

Protection #3: Nightly clone to a FireWire drive.

Note: This third level of protection is optional. Although for fast-moving teams we consider it an important investment.

This recommendation comes from painful experience: Several years ago a key server died at an ad agency we support. The server contained about 300GB of current work (a huge amount at that time). The backup systems worked. No data was lost. However the server died in the middle of crucial deadlines for several client projects. In the time it took to rebuild and restore the server, many panicked art directors had to explain to their upset clients why printing deadlines might not be met that day.

To get a team back up and running quickly after such a problem, we now recommend setting up a daily bootable clone of crucial servers.

This technique uses an inexpensive firewire drive that never leaves your studio. It requires little maintenance, and provides the fastest recovery in case of problems. (See our tip from last year: Plan an emergency Xserve replacement)

Costs: $200 - $1000 depending on size of drive needed.

Protection #4: Perform a monthly backup audit.

Finally, as servers and hard drives get larger, it has become increasingly clear that a creative team's backup system requires ongoing maintenance.

Studios need a monthly backup audit to confirm important data is being properly backed up and that files can be restored when needed. It is easy for problems to creep into any backup system, and unless there is regular maintenance, any backup strategy will fail over time.

We recommend developing a standard weekly and monthly checklist for maintaining your studio's backup. Deputize a reliable, technically savvy person in your studio to maintain the systems, or hire outside experts to help maintain this crucial system.

What About Apple's upcoming Time Machine?

We've been testing beta versions of Time Machine which will be included in the new version of Mac OS X Leopard sometime in 2007. We will release a full tip and updated backup recommendation after Leopard ships. For now, the hardware recommendations above are compatible with future backup options added by Time Machine.

Source: For a photographer's take on this subject, check out the excellent blog article by photographer Chase Jarvis: Important: Storage and Backup Solutions For Your Photography. Also, if you are curious, you can compare this year's recommendations to our 2006 Backup Recommendations.

Posted by Craig Swanson at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

At CreativeTechs one of our highest priorities is developing and maintaining safe, stable backup systems for creative teams.

As a service for Seattle-area creative teams, we are offering a complimentary 1-hour personalized backup strategy session with CreativeTechs' lead consultant Craig Swanson.

We've set aside 4 days in January, and have 16 9 open slots. If you manage a creative team, we encourage you to call and schedule a session. We'll make sure it is a valuable use of your time.

Available Times for Free Planning Sessions:

Wednesday, January 10:     10am: SCHEDULED     Noon: SCHEDULED     2pm: SCHEDULED     4pm: SCHEDULED Wednesday, January 24:     10am: Available     Noon: Available     2pm: SCHEDULED     4pm: Available

Wednesday, January 17:     10am: SCHEDULED     Noon: SCHEDULED     2pm: Available     4pm: Available Wednesday, January 31:     10am: SCHEDULED     Noon: Available     2pm: Available     4pm: Available

The slots tend to fill up quickly, so if you are interested, don't wait.

Posted by Craig Swanson at 12:45 PM | Permalink

From all of us here at CreativeTechs we wish you a safe and warm holiday season. And a prosperous new year.

For anyone looking for one last paper-folding project in 2006, we invite you to pull out an old box of business cards and visit HXA7241 for a step-by-step recipe to create your own business card polyhedra.

See you in 2007!

Source: This tip provided by designer Kurt Jones at Milliman who knows we collect these types of paper folding projects. Thanks Kurt.

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From Digg: Photographer Chase Jarvis shares a rare look into a high-end photo studio's backup protocol. This post is directed at photographers, videographers, or creative studios and is NOT for the weak of heart. He outlines a robust solution that protects a huge amount of data. (Chase shot 35,000 pictures for one job last month.)

read more | digg story

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Here is an inexpensive turntable that lets you easily record your old vinyl record collection to CD or MP3. The turntable comes bundled with Audacity, a recording application that works with both PCs and Macs. Although the turntable can work with any software that supports USB audio input (such as Apple's GarageBand).

Link: Ion iTTUSB Turntable with USB

Craig's Note: I bought this turntable for myself about three months ago with the excuse that we'd write it up as a tip before the end of the year. Well the end of the year is coming soon.

Source: This tip inspired by some last-minute holiday shopping. Excuse the frivolous nature of this tip. Happy holidays!

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Over the weekend we ran the Photoshop CS3 beta through a series of speed benchmarks. The initial results have been encouraging. Overall we are seeing speed increases of 40% to 55% in most Photoshop features compared to Photoshop CS2 on the same Mac Pro system.

We downloaded several test images and actions from a variety of Photoshop benchmark websites. Our results can be compared to other types of computer configurations on those same sites.

Retouch Artists Photoshop Speed Test

The Photoshop mavens at RetouchArtists.com have developed a Photoshop test they believe reflects typical real world functions performed by Photographers. In our tests, Photoshop CS3 was 46% faster than CS2 using this test.

Driver Heaven Photoshop Benchmark

DriverHeaven.com has a test suite that runs Photoshop through 12 standard filters and color conversions. In our tests, Photoshop CS3 was 42% faster than CS2 using this test.

DIY Photoshop Torture Test

We found this test on Jason O’Grady’s Apple blog. It was originally written to test Photoshop speeds on laptops. Photoshop CS3 was 60% faster in the first test, and 46% faster in the second test.

Note: All these benchmarks were run on an Apple Mac Pro 3GHz, with 4GB of RAM. Photoshop was set to take full use of available RAM, and History States set to 1.

Source: We'd like to give a special thanks to Business Consultant Aaron Peabody at the University Village Apple Store who met CreativeTechs' Craig Swanson early Sunday morning to finish additional speed benchmarks on a new 3GHz Mac Pro.

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We don't normally discuss beta software in this tips newsletter. However we're making an exception here. Last Friday, Adobe released a downloadable beta of Photoshop CS3.

We don't recommend installing this beta in any live work environments because it is possible some elements of the CS3 installer could alter your existing CS2 workflow. Nor do we recommend using the Photoshop CS3 beta for any current projects.

A lot of photographers and designers have been asking us about Photoshop CS3 as they debate purchasing Apple's new Intel-based Mac Pros. We spent many hours this weekend putting this latest Photoshop beta through a series of benchmark tests.

Our initial speed benchmarks show that Photoshop CS3 can be almost twice as fast on an Intel-base Mac Pro when compared to CS2 on that same machine.

Source: We'd like to give a special thanks to Business Consultant Aaron Peabody at the University Village Apple Store who met CreativeTechs' Craig Swanson early Sunday morning to finish additional speed benchmarks on a new 3GHz Mac Pro.

Posted by Craig Swanson at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Garbled fonts in Entourage. Corrupt fonts in Safari. Weird symbol fonts in Apple Mail. How frustrating!

Click on any of jumbled font examples that you might be experiencing. We've documented a fix for each font problem on a separate post in our troubleshooting blog.

This troubleshooting guide is our attempt to help simplify many Mac OS X font problems. When you find yourself confronted with garbled text in Entourage, Safari, Mail or other tools, come back to this tip.

Help keep this troubleshooting guide updated! Did this guide help? Got a new example we haven't covered? Send comments or new font problem screenshots to fontfixes@creativetechs.com.

Thanks: Special thanks for contributions from an excellent article by Benjamin Levisay on the Font Geek website.

Source: This tip inspired by our popular free annual font management workshop by CreativeTechs' Craig Swanson: Mac OS X Fonts 2007. Sponsored by Seattle's School of Visual Concepts January 10, 2007 6:30pm.

Posted by Craig Swanson at 11:54 PM | Permalink

This post includes a fix for one source of garbled fonts in Mac OS X. For other fixes check out our special Garbled Fonts Troubleshooting Guide.

The Problem: Safari, Entourage or other applications show unfamiliar characters overlapping each other. If you're seeing garbled text similar to our example above, it is most likely caused by a corrupt font cache file.

The Fix: The best fix for this type of font problem is to clear all your font cache files and restart your Mac. There are various programs that you can use to easily delete font caches. Three are profiled below. If you are looking for a quick fix, FontNuke is free and covers everything but QuarkXPress 6.

FontNuke (Free - requires Mac OS X 10.4)
Mac OS X Font Cache: Yes
Adobe temp font files: Yes
QuarkXPress 6.x font cache: No
Microsoft Office font cache: Yes

Font Finagler ($10 Shareware)
Mac OS X Font Cache: Yes
Adobe temp font files: No
QuarkXPress 6.x font cache: No
Microsoft Office font cache: No

Smasher from Insider Software ($49.95)
Mac OS X Font Cache: Yes (works in demo version)
Adobe temp font files: Yes
QuarkXPress 6.x font cache: Yes
Microsoft Office font cache: Yes

More details: Corrupt Font Cache

Font caches have become a real headache for Mac OS X users. When fonts are activated they are cached for use. Some of these font caches are handled by the OS and some of these font caches are handled by the applications themselves. In either case it is very easy for individual cache files to become corrupt, causing this common display annoyance.

If you are experiencing problems in a specific appliation (Microsoft Entourage for example), you'll want a tool that clears the font caches for that application as well as the general Mac OS X font caches.

Additional Corrupt Font Cache Resources:

CreativeTechs Tip: The Fix for Garbled Text in Entourage Email!

CreativeTechs Tip: Fix Garbled Fonts in Safari, Explorer or Mail.

Font Geek: Dealing with Jumbled Fonts in Your Browser and E-mail Programs.

Adobe TechNote: How to rebuild a corrupt font cache on a Macintosh.

Source: Special thanks for the valuable contributions from an excellent article by Benjamin Levisay on the Font Geek website.

Posted by Craig Swanson at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This post includes a fix for one source of garbled fonts in Mac OS X. For other fixes check out our special Garbled Fonts Troubleshooting Guide.

The Problem: If you have the Helvetica Fractions font installed, text in some applications may appear as overlapping numbers and symbols. This font substitution problem can effect many Mac OS X applications including Address Book, iChat, Safari, Mail and Microsoft Entourage.

The Fix: The short answer is to remove Helvetica Fractions from your font collection. Or if you can't entirely remove it, deactivate it manually when this problem occurs.

In practice, this may take a little hunting to accomplish. Often Helvetica Fractions is included as part of a larger Helvetica font suitcase and can't easily be removed without rebuilding those suitcases. The good news is that few designers actually use Helvetica Fractions in their daily work and this font generally won't be missed.

Tip: If you are managing your font library with FontAgent Pro or Suitcase Fusion (using the Font Vault feature) you should be able to remove the individual Helvetica Fraction fonts without disrupting other Helvetica's in your font library.

More details: Incorrect Font Substitutions

What is a font substitution problem? It’s very simple: when a document or a webpage calls for a specific font and due to unavailability or inadequate font calls to the OS another font is chosen instead, an incorrect font substitution results. For the most part this isn’t the worst problem to have with a browser or your e-mail application. If a webpage calls for Arial and somehow Arial Narrow (another normal roman font) is used, you would still be able to read the text. Right? So what’s the big deal?

If you have Helvetica-Fraction or Helvetica-FractionBold present in either your font manager or in one of your various OS Fonts folders, then this font could, and often does, get used instead of the normal Helvetica font specified.

Additional Helvetica Fractions Resources:

Apple: Helvetica Fractions font may cause text to display improperly in Address Book, iChat, Safari, Mail

Source: Special thanks for the valuable contributions from an excellent article by Benjamin Levisay on the Font Geek website.

Posted by Craig Swanson at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This post includes a fix for one source of garbled fonts in Mac OS X. For other fixes check out our special Garbled Fonts Troubleshooting Guide.

The Problem: If you have the Times Phonetic font installed, text in some applications may appear as greek symbols. This font substitution problem can effect many Mac OS X applications including Address Book, iChat, Safari, Mail and Microsoft Entourage.

The Fix: The short answer is to remove Times Phonetic from your font collection. Or if you can't entirely remove it, deactivate it manually when this problem occurs.

In practice, this may take a little hunting to accomplish. Sometimes Times Phonetic is included as part of a larger Times font suitcase and can't easily be removed without rebuilding those suitcases. The good news is that few designers use Times Phonetic in their daily work and this font generally won't be missed.

Tip: If you are managing your font library with FontAgent Pro or Suitcase Fusion (using the Font Vault feature) you should be able to remove the individual Times Phonetic fonts without disrupting other Times in your font library.

More details: Incorrect Font Substitutions

What is a font substitution problem? It’s very simple: when a document or a webpage calls for a specific font and due to unavailability or inadequate font calls to the OS another font is chosen instead, an incorrect font substitution results. For the most part this isn’t the worst problem to have with a browser or your e-mail application. If a webpage calls for Arial and somehow Arial Narrow (another normal roman font) is used, you would still be able to read the text. Right? So what’s the big deal?

If you have Times-PhoneticAlternate or Times-PhoneticIPA present in either your font manager or in one of your various OS Fonts folders, then this font could get used instead of the normal Times font specified.

Source: Special thanks for the valuable contributions from an excellent article by Benjamin Levisay on the Font Geek website.

Posted by Craig Swanson at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is one of those tips we hope you'll never have to use.

Should you find yourself needing to recover lost files from a problem hard drive, we've had the most luck with Data Rescue II by Prosoft Engineering:

Link: Data Rescue II

You can download this data recovery tool and scan your hard drive for free. You only need to buy the $100 software if it succeeds in finding files you want to recover.

Unlike other tools, Data Rescue does not attempt to fix drive problems — rather it focuses exclusively on recovering files. You will need to save your recovered files to another hard drive.

Tip: We typically recommend tools such as Apple's Disk Utility or Alsoft's DiskWarrior for "fixing" drive problems. However these tools make changes to the drive which may not be the best choice during serious data loss situations.

No conversation on data recovery would be complete without mentioning the vital importance of having a reliable, automatic, nightly backup. All drives eventually fail. Please help make this tip irrelevant for you by installing and maintaining a good reliable backup system for your studio.

Source: This tip inspired by the recent experience of former CreativeTechs consultant Eric Williams who recently upgraded his mother's computer. Two weeks after erasing her old computer, they discovered they had accidentally missed four years of digital photos. He used Data Rescue to recover the precious photos. Regaining his sanity and being able to sleep at night was well worth the $100.

Posted by Craig Swanson at 05:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Many years ago Seth Godin wrote a small book called The Bootstrapper's Bible. It is no longer in print.

More recently Seth updated that book, divided the ideas into short sections, and released it as a free ebook:

Seth Godin's Bootstrapper's Bible - Free PDF.

The original version was published before Permission Marketing, Unleashing the Ideavirus, Purple Cow, and his other big hits could firmly plant Seth Godin's name in the minds of entrepreneurs and marketing managers. Otherwise this Bootstrapper's guide would certainly be a best seller.

It is a well developed book. As with all Seth's work this one contains his signature pearls of marketing wisdom. Yet this covers more pragmatic business details than in his more recent books. It is a practical book on evaluating, building and launching an effective business concept.

Some selected excerpts from the ebook:

The Bootstrapper’s Manifesto

I am a bootstrapper. I have initiative and insight and guts, but not much money. I will succeed because my efforts and my focus will defeat bigger and better-funded competitors. I am fearless. I keep my focus on growing the business—not on politics, career advancement, or other wasteful distractions.

I will leverage my skills to become the key to every department of my company, yet realize that hiring experts can be the secret to my success. I will be a fervent and intelligent user of technology, to conserve my two most precious assets: time and money. My secret weapon is knowing how to cut through bureaucracy. My size makes me faster
and more nimble than any company could ever be.

I am a laser beam. Opportunities will try to cloud my focus, but I will not waver from my stated goal and plan—until I change it. And I know that plans were made to be changed. I’m in it for the long haul. Building a business that will last separates me from the opportunist, and is an investment in my brand and my future. Surviving is succeeding, and each day that goes by makes it easier still for me to reach my goals.

I pledge to know more about my field than anyone else. I will read and learn and teach. My greatest asset is the value I can add to my clients through my efforts.

I realize that treating people well on the way up will make it nicer for me on the way back down. I will be scrupulously honest and overt in my dealings, and won’t use my position as a fearless bootstrapper to gain unfair advantage. My reputation will follow me wherever I go, and I will invest in it daily and protect it fiercely.

I am the underdog. I realize that others are rooting for me to succeed, and I will gratefully accept their help when offered. I also understand the power of favors, and will offer them and grant them whenever I can.

I have less to lose than most -- a fact I can turn into a significant competitive advantage.

I am a salesperson. Sooner or later, my income will depend on sales, and those sales can be made only by me, not by an emissary, not by a rep. I will sell by helping others get what they want, by identifying needs and filling them.

I am a guerrilla. I will be persistent, consistent, and willing to invest in the marketing of myself and my business.

I will measure what I do, and won’t lie about it to myself or my spouse. I will set strict financial goals and honestly evaluate my performance. I’ll set limits on time and money and won’t exceed either.

Most of all, I’ll remember that the journey is the reward. I will learn and grow and enjoy every single day.

Building a Business Model that Works:

Coming up with a brilliant idea for a business is not nearly as important as finding a business model that works. Understanding the mechanics of a business model is essential before you start your business. Business models should have the following five attributes:

1. THEY SHOULD BE PROFITABLE. Youʼd be surprised at how often people start businesses that lose money on every product and then try to make it up in volume! That lemonade stand you ran when you were seven was a great lesson—you need to make money to stay in business.

2. THEY SHOULD BE PROTECTIBLE. A profitable business, as mentioned earlier, is going to attract competitors. What are you going to do when they show up? If youʼre accustomed to making $1 on every ice cream sandwich you sell and suddenly thereʼs a price war, you may make only a nickel. Thatʼs not good.

3. THEY SHOULD BE SELF-PRIMING. One of the giant traps bootstrappers fall into is inventing business models that donʼt prime themselves. If you want to sell razor blades, for example, youʼve got to get a whole bunch of people to buy them. Without a lot of razors out there that can use your blade, you lose. Is it possible to build a paradigm-shifting business with just a little money? Sure. Itʼs been done before. But nine times out of ten, youʼll fail. Why? Because youʼre gonna run out of money before you change the world.

4. THEY SHOULD BE ADJUSTABLE. Remember how excited everyone got about the missiles the U.S. used during the (first) Gulf War? Here was a weapon you could aim after you launched it. You could adjust the flight along the way. You need a business model like that if youʼre hoping to maximize your chances of success. If youʼve got to lock it, load it, and launch it, youʼre going to be doing more praying than you need to.

5. THERE SHOULD BE AN EXIT STRATEGY (OPTIONAL). If you can build a business and then sell
it, you get to extract the equity you built. If you canʼt sell it, all you get is the annual profit.
There can be a big difference.

Source: This

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