Latest Blogs

Scanning Around With Gene: Les Merveilles Du Monde

For several decades, when European kids bought Nestle chocolate bars, they got an education along with the sugar fix. "The Wonders of the World" series featured unusual art and encyclopedic text.

Get Creative Video: News for the Week of June 30, 2008

Don't wander the Internet endlessly in search of good podcasts and blogs. Shellie shares a few of her favorites.

Scanning Around With Gene: The Horse and Buggy Printer

Dan X. Solo spent a lifetime building Solotype, one of the world’s most interesting type collections. For three decades he ran his business with unparalleled character and panache.

TypeTalk: Make Microsoft Word Do Your Bidding

Have you ever tried to select text, but Word didn't behave the way you wanted it to? Here's the fix.

Get Creative Video: News for the Week of June 23, 2008

Batch-apply Photoshop Actions; weekly podcast from Bert Monroy; free software audit tools; it's raining word clouds.

Scanning Around with Gene: On the Colorful Road Again

Arizona Highways began with a mission to promote automobile travel. Along the way this colorful magazine became a leading art and photography voice in American publishing.

TypeTalk: Make the Most of What You Have

Many newer OpenType fonts have two kinds of numbers -- one for tables, and one for text. But when a typeface includes only basic tabular numerals, this hidden command helps them look their best.

Get Creative Video: News for the Week of June 16, 2008

This week is a bargain-lover's dream! Watch free Adobe how-to videos, attend a free Quark tour, and send large files for free.

Scanning Around With Gene: Super-Saturated High-Intensity Highways

Thanks to a combination of outstanding photography, a specialized printing process, and a unique publishing model, the magazine Arizona Highways was often referred to as "the most beautiful magazine in America."

TypeTalk: Say What?

When it comes to choosing and setting type, there's a difference between readability and legibility.

Get Creative Video: News for the Week of June 9, 2008

Manipulate Photoshop's drop shadows without monkeying with numbers in the Effects dialog box. Then learn about more new software and a magazine that's just smashing.

Scanning Around With Gene: PageMaker Memories from 6 to 72 Point

Recent announcements from Quark and Adobe are upping the ante when it comes to creative page-layout tools. Through that modern lens, the rudimentary capabilities of the original PageMaker look like stone knives and bearskins.

TypeTalk: The Case of the Mysterious Missing Fonts

Your software says that a font's in your document, even when you can see it's not, or that a font is missing, even when you know you haven't used it. Here's how to crack the case.

Font Fetish: Anticipation (aka Benton Modern Display)

A spirited addition to the straightforward Benton Modern family name.

Get Creative Video: News for the Week of June 2, 2008

Learn about new software from Quark and Adobe, a handy agenda tracker, and find out how to nest styles in InDesign.

TypeTalk: Identify Fonts in PDFs

Need to know all the fonts that appear in a document, but you only have a PDF, not the original file? Here's the solution.

Get Creative Video: News for the Week of May 26, 2008

Merge individual shots into a panorama, get a free book on Photoshop for the Web, laugh at some bad retouching, and more!

Scanning Around with Gene: Drink Up to Summer!

Summer is almost here, and that means stocking up on a variety of refreshing beverages. Ahhhh, there’s nothing like a tall cool one on a blistering summer day.

TypeTalk: When In Rome

If you've ever wondered what the word "Roman" means in typography terms, here's your answer.

Get Creative Video: News for the Week of May 19, 2008

Conduct free online surveys with Google Docs, free cross-platform video conferencing with ooVoo, and take quick screengrabs on a Mac or PC.