Tip One: Highlight New Features in Photoshop CS2.

If you've recently upgraded to Adobe Photoshop CS2, here is a fun tip to help you uncover those new features a little faster.

In the Window menu, select Workspace > What's New in CS2. This custom workspace adds blue highlights to all the new or updated menu items.

It is a fun way to encourage a little easy discovery. Much better than, say, reading a manual (or even a tips newsletter).

[Source: Brian Wood, Director of Training at eVolve from a recent presentation on Adobe Creative Suite 2.]

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Tip Two: Revive old scanners with VueScan.

If you have an older scanner that is not compatible with Mac OS X, look into VueScan ($49.95 from Hamrick Software). This inexpensive scanning software features a remarkably long list of compatible scanners. VueScan supports over 400 flatbed and film scanners and is compatible with Mac OS X 10.2.8 and later (including 10.4 Tiger). Windows and Linux versions are also available.

http://www.hamrick.com/vsm.html

The software can be downloaded and evaluated free of charge. Once you've confirmed it works with your scanner you can purchase a serial number to remove the security watermarks the evaluation copy adds to your scans.

Note: An added advantage VueScan offers larger teams is the ability to provide a single standardized software interface regardless how many brands of scanners you have spread through the department.

[Source: We recently used VueScan to get a StudioScan IIsi working with Mac OS X 10.3 for Deborah Brown at View Design.]

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QuickTips is a free weekly e-newsletter from CreativeTechs, Inc. Each week we publish a fresh mix of left-brain and right-brain tips based on our real world experience supporting hundreds of creative teams in the greater Seattle area. For a complete archive of previous tips, visit www.creativetechs.com/tips

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