Author Archive
The latest entry in my iDevBlogADay Photoshop for Devs series, this one’s a short-but-sweet intro to using layer masks in Photoshop. Layer masks are used to hide areas of a layer without deleting any of the layer’s colour information. I always use layer masks rather than the erase tool. You never know when you’re going to want those pixels back.
Helping iPhone developers hate using Photoshop a little less with simple tricks that make workflows more efficient. View the rest of the screencasts in the “Photoshop for Devs” series.
- Erasing non-destructively with layer masks
- Fine-tuning layer masks with tools like Blur
- Making a selection from your mask
- CAUTION: make sure you’re editing the mask and not the layer
- Moving or copying masks from one layer to another
- Using vector masks and combining them with pixel masks
Coders often find it difficult to relate to designers, much less collaborate and communicate with them in a productive — and enjoyable! — way. If you’re already working with a designer, these tips can help you better understand them; if you’re looking for a designer, this could help you find a competent one.
The latest entry in my iDevBlogADay Photoshop for Devs series, I’ve crammed in as many tips as I could about using layers in Photoshop.
Helping iPhone developers hate using Photoshop a little less with simple tricks that make workflows more efficient. View the rest of the screencasts in the “Photoshop for Devs” series.
- What am I clicking on? (or: why double-clicking on a layer seems to do something different every time)
- Create a new layer
- Move & select layers
- Transform layers
- Group layers
- Duplicate layers
- Duplicate layer effects
- Merge layers
- Fill layers with a colour
- Lock layers
- Layer opacity
- Layer blend modes
During the Game Jam at the 360iDev San Jose 2010, Dan Byers (@coffeedan) worked on and showed a head-to-head tank game for iPad. The game has since been reworked as a space game, and Dan asked me to press the “make look better” button. Below are some samples of the work I did on Star Fighter X2, including a cool time-lapse video of building the spaceship in 3D.
View the game in the App Store.
Logo
Great apps are like babies…
very easy to conceive but very hard to deliver!
- Ted Mico, Interscope / Geffen / A&M
Everyone and their dog has an app or game idea. The skill to implement that idea, and implement it well, is much less common. If you are a designer and love games, this post is for you. The past year and a half have taught me a lot about being a graphic designer and game designer — but not a coder — and what that means when it comes down to actually making and publishing a game on the App Store.
I’ve been getting a lot of requests for this lately, so I might as well make it official.
Click here for info on getting contract art done by We Heart Games.
More samples will be posted online as the games I’m currently working on become public.
Do you save out multiple variations of a graphic by setting layer visibility? Ever wish there was a faster way to do that whenever that graphic needed to be updated?
The latest entry in my iDevBlogADay “Photoshop for Devs” series, I show you how to use Layer Comps to save layer visibility settings so can easily switch between visibility “states” for multiple layers (and even layer styles) at once. This saves you from having a separate document or layer group for each instance of your graphic, and makes your source PSD’s easier to update.
Helping iPhone developers hate using Photoshop a little less with simple tricks that make workflows more efficient. View the rest of the screencasts in the “Photoshop for Devs” series.
- Create broad layer comps to set overall visibility settings for multiple layers at once.
- Fine-tune your layer comps so that you have a comp for every instance of the graphic you are editing.
- Learn how adding and deleting layers affects layer comps.
Do you have skins or themes in your game? Do you arduously make changes to multiple Photoshop documents and save out new PNGs every time you make a change to a theme?
The latest entry in my iDevBlogADay “Photoshop for Devs” series, I show you how to make a master theme template for your games using a single Photoshop file, and export all the required images in a single step. This process can save you hours of annoying, repetitive work.
Helping iPhone developers hate using Photoshop a little less with simple tricks that make workflows more efficient. View the rest of the screencasts in the “Photoshop for Devs” series.
- Lay out your template file using shape layers and “placed” textures for resolution independence.
- Use Photoshop Slices to cut up the document and save out multiple PNG files.
- Create a new theme and save out a whole new batch of images in a few seconds.
- Use Adjustment Layers to quickly create colour variant themes.
Two days ago I offered a free ad spot on my site for fellow indie devs. My goal was to give what little exposure I can provide to some like-minded devs who could use a free boost (who couldn’t?). I also wanted to use it as a place where I make honest recommendations about games I enjoy playing. This seemed to be a simple and low-cost way to do that (the time it takes to insert a new ad is minimal, after that it’s basically maintenance-free).
The latest entry in my iDevBlogADay “Photoshop for Devs” series, we’re going to go into vector shapes in more detail. Vector shapes allow you to create graphics that can be scaled without losing detail.
Helping iPhone developers hate using Photoshop a little less with simple tricks that make workflows more efficient. View the rest of the screencasts in the “Photoshop for Devs” series.
- The basics: creating shapes.
- Selecting and moving points using the Path Selection Tool.
- Editing points (adding and removing points, converting points from corners to curves)
- Booleans (subtracting a shape from another, changing boolean settings after)
- Copy and paste shapes within a layer and from one layer to another
