In This Issue

1. Welcome
2. This Month's Tutorial
3. Resources

This Month's Tutorial
One question that I often get is "Do I have to rasterize my text before I can apply a filter to it?" My answer is usually to tell them to duplicate the later and hide the new version that way you can rasterize on and apply your filter then you can always have to original text layer to go back to.  Well after reading a tip in Photoshop User magazine, I decided to create a tutorial to show an alternative (some filters still work better directly on the rasterized text layer but when that is not necessary, this way is great).

1. Add your text layer

2. Now create a new layer above the text later (see earlier tutorials if you forgot how to create a layer).

3. Now using your paint bucket tool, fill this new blank layer with the color you want.

4. Now add the filters you wanted to add to the text.  In this case, I am doing the following three: "Add Noise", "Poster Edges" and "Bas Relief".  You can do whatever filters you want.  There is no specific reason I chose these filters.

5. Now you need to turn this new layer into a clipping mask.  Click Layer then select "Create Clipping Mask".  For you overachievers, use the Alt+Ctrl+G shortcut.

6. To prove that this really works and you can change your text, click on the text layer, then select the text tool and edit your text. I then went and modified the layer style (see earlier tutorials - right click the layer then select blending options) and added "Drop Shadow" and "Inner Shadow".

7. You can now output your finished product - in my case I "Save(d) for Web" as a gif with transparency.

Resources
Here is where I will tell you about resources for learning Photoshop.

NAPP
Membership for one year is only $99 and in addition to getting 12 issues of their magazine, you will often get a free dvd, booklet and cd filled with training videos, samples and tutorials. You also get various discounts on car rental, services at Kinko's, as well as a website filled with thousands of tutorials. If you think you might be interested, pop on over - you will love it.

Canon Photoworkshop
Canon has some online learning for their EOS camera.  Some of the training is generic enough for any camera.  You may want to give it a look.

Free Web Seminars
I came across a bunch of seminars from Adobe - check them out.

Stock Photos
Some people have asked me about using photos from the web and other sources in their work.  Please remember to always ask permission before using images from a website just like you would from a book or magazine.  If you cannot get permission from someone, you may have to buy some images - if so, here are some possibilities.

Closing
Here ends our newsletter - I hope you found it to be helpful and interesting. I am willing to go in whatever direction everyone wants just take a moment to send me your thoughts. Was this too basic? Too advanced? Just right? Drop me a line at stjacobphotoshop@klompy.net and let me know. If you have a question send it in and I will give you something.

Thank you very much.

PS - we have a couple of winners this month - please send an email with the subject "I'm a winner" to stjacobphotoshop@klompy.net to claim your prize.  This month's winners include: John Bassett and Jeff Christofferson.  You must claim your prize within one week.