Mike Rankin
I guess it all started in 1987, when I traded in my Sears word processor for a Mac 512k. Many thousands of pages later, MacWrite and MacPaint on the 512k have evolved into the Creative Suite 5 on a MacBookPro, but it's never stopped being fun.
I’ve worked in publishing since 1995, mostly making grade 6-12 educational products for history, science, mathematics, and world languages disciplines. I've also worked as an illustrator, drawing for anatomy books, spent a few years as Prepress Specialist using Kodak Prinergy, and as a Software Trainer, training folks in InDesign, InCopy, Illustrator, and Photoshop. I also underwent Six Sigma Black Belt training in business process improvement. Currently I work for a large educational publisher, doing application development (translation: more XML than you can shake a stick at).
I am DTP pack rat, treasuring a lot of stuff that most sane people would consider trash. I proudly display a complete Illustrator 88 package on my desk, along with my set of Photoshop 2.5 floppies, and my InDesign 1.0 CD.
I've written about InDesign for InDesign Secrets and InDesign Magazine.
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on May 8, 2013
As if Adobe didn’t make a big enough splash with their Creative Cloud bombshell this week at MAX, they also revealed two new devices that will offer users the ability to draw, save, and sync assets between devices.
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on May 6, 2013Body:
One of the key questions in this digital age is that of ownership or access.
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on May 5, 2013Body:
Adobe Camera Raw is an incredibly powerful and flexible tool for applying adjustments to images before you open them in Photoshop.
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on May 5, 2013Body:
Adobe's premiere event, MAX: The Creativity Conference has kicked off in Los
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on May 3, 2013Body:
The dictionary (app) defines jargon as “expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.”
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on April 28, 2013Body:
These tips originally appeared in InDesign Magazine.
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on April 25, 2013
The Federal Reserve unveils the new $100 bill design, and an interactive tour of the built-in security features.
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on April 24, 2013
Lots of folks want to make compelling digital experiences for the web and mobile devices, but no one wants to spend a huge amount of time, money, and effort to create to create those experiences.
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on April 23, 2013
A grab bag of shortcuts and hints for creating and outputting PDFs, working with forms, links, signatures, and comments.
- Features: Written by Mike Rankin on April 22, 2013
It has been a week since Adobe announced the availability of the Lightroom 5 beta. Several new features have been added based on the feedback of Lightroom users, including advanced healing options with the Spot Removal tool, the ability to create off-center vignettes, and a one-click perspective correction.
