How to create multi-page PDFs in Illustrator CS2

While Adobe remains deaf to years of pleading for true multiple-page support in Illustrator, they’ve slipped in a little-known feature you might have missed. Adobe Illustrator CS2 now lets you save multiple-page PDFs.

Here’s how to do it in three easy steps:

1. Set the document size

Since Illustrator doesn’t have true pages, you’ll have to cheat by […]

Give and get direct feedback with Photoshop Notes

After slaving away creating beautiful design comps or prototypes in Photoshop, you’ll most likely have to show them to a client, colleague, or creative director to get feedback. Often, this process generates some confusion as emails and verbal exchanges go back and forth. To reduce uncertainty and mix-ups, use Photoshop’s Notes tool to place comments […]

How to choose an easy-to-read typeface

Imagine yourself picking a typeface for your next resumé, book, newsletter, or other text-heavy project. With the dizzying array of typefaces in the world, how do you choose when you simply want one that’s clear and readable? Thankfully, Before & After magazine’s short tutorial, What’s the Right Typeface for Text?, can help you make […]

A styleguide for people who don’t like styleguides

Most major corporations have strict guidelines detailing how their logos should be used. Some can be cumbersome, espousing rules for everything from minimum size requirements to how it should look on the back of a gas guzzling 4x4. The GE styleguide, for example, is a tome at over 300 pages. Imagine my shock, when I […]

I heart Flickr: my new source for joy and design inspiration

My friend Winston recently showed me a Flickr set of Spanish pharmaceutical posters from the 60s. The design work was just beautiful, putting the contemporary staid look of today’s pharmaceutical companies to shame. I never realized Flickr’s potential as a source for both joy and design inspiration until I saw this eye-pleasuring collection.

In the […]

Data visualizations keep spreadsheets sexy

The Michelle Pfeiffer of software, Microsoft Excel manages to remain sexy despite its age. The blog at Juice Analytics is ripe with clever ways to keep those spreadsheets looking good.

Several tips spread across three posts reveal clever ways to visualize data within spreadsheet cells. The first post covers showing bar graphs within cells. A follow-up […]