Tutorials

Tutorial: How to convert your hand-lettering into vector shapes using Adobe Shape

Stuff you’ll need if you want to try the techniques in this tutorial:  A smartphone or tablet running the Adobe Shape app A copy of Adobe Photoshop CC and/or Illustrator CC A Creative Cloud subscription (in order to make use of CC Libraries) . Here’s an FAQ page. (Sorry to any legacy Adobe application users. This tutorial relies on features only found of the Creative Cloud Libraries.) Hey kids, there’s […]

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Without aspirations we are nothing but meat with habits :: Nancy Ellen Abrams

I read this quote in a recent article by scientist/philosopher Nancy Ellen Abrams on the NPR website and let out a “bwaaa-hah” that sent my cat into the next room. Love the pull-no-punches ideas from this author and this quote from her is both inspiring and a little sobering. And because I can’t help from spilling my guts about new hand-lettering techniques, here’s the deal with this one: I

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How to Make Kombucha in 6 Easy Steps :: Anatomy of a Runaway Infographic

I’ve been a serious Kombucha drinker for some years now and started making my own in 2013, partly to save money as store bought Kombucha runs about $3-4$ per 12 oz. bottle, as opposed to around $.50/gallon to make it yourself, but also because it’s just big nerdy fun to make a bunch of tea, stick a gelatinous frisbee thing in it and end up with some weird, fizzy

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The Best of Foolish Fire Readers’ Chalkboards

In past chalkboard-related posts I’ve put it out there that I’d love to see what chalkboard background buyers/downloaders are making with these files. On occasion I hear back… So thanks, Marilyn Curtright. Great job, and I’m glad the backgrounds came in handy. With the popularity of chalkboards still on the rise there are more and more free fonts and resources for chalkboard artists who want to create a chalkboard effect

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A Foolish Fire Tutorial :: How to Make a Collage in Photoshop

I’ve been making collages in one form or another since I was old enough to wield scissors and paste, which turned into long hours during the summer and after school stuffed into a poorly ventilated darkroom combining cut-up Kodalith sheet negatives and printing large-scale BW contact prints, which turned into Photoshop 3.0 and a Mac FX, which turned into..well faster and better “scissors and paste” and a permanent “buh bye” to

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High Resolution Chalkboard Backgrounds

NEW! Now get the original .PSD files in high-res In response to multiple inquiries about a customized version of the background, I’m making the original .PSD files used to create the files available in 8.5×11 and 16×20 sizes, both high res. A little more pricey but still a lot less than on stock sites. Check ’em out here. Who knew that a Saturday afternoon inspiration would translate into over

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Excellent hand lettering tutorial

I found this piece by designer Sean McCabe to be right on point, especially if you’re just now becoming interested in hand lettering. It squares with everything any teacher has ever told me about hand lettering and/or calligraphy—which pretty much boils down to “practice, practice, practice…then practice some more”. In other words, if you live long enough you might get good at it. In this tutorial, McCabe describes his

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High-Res Chalkboard Background

How to fake a chalkboard effect in Photoshop

Resources: How to Spiff Up Your Hand Lettering in Photoshop Free Downloadable Chalkboard Backgrounds Hey look…a new Foolish file! Hi-Res Chalkboard backgrounds in 3 flavors! By popular demand we’ve added a set of high-res backgrounds for just a buck ninety-nine. These will work a lot better for anything you intend to print at 8.5×11 and smaller. The Tutorial Every once in a while it’s fun to go off the

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A Beginner’s Guide to Spiffing Up Your Hand Lettering in Photoshop

This post is in response to a comment in one of this past week’s Board postings, asking how one cleans up a file in Photoshop. I’ve been a member of this amazing Pinterest Hand Lettering board (thanks, Amanda) for only about a week and I’m already noticing that by far the most popular method of presenting work is to photograph one’s sketchbook and post it, which is admittedly fast,

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