History In the Making
It seems like every TV channel, newspaper, Web site, and Twitter feed is full of facts about today's inauguration of Barack Obama. But how many of these sources give you creative pro angles on the event?

Find out where to go for the best Flickr streams; a 3D view of the swearing-in created by thousands of photographers; the EXIF data of the camera that captured the first-ever digital presidential portrait (do you think it was a Nikon or a Canon?); and a site that puts your face and message in Shepard Fairey's iconic Obama poster.

To see it all, go to "Creative Coverage of the Obama Inauguration."

Terri Stone - Editor in Chief

New Column: Free For All
Late last year, Pariah Burke wrote two articles about handy tools that are online and free. You liked those articles so much -- and there's so much good stuff online -- that we decided to turn the concept into a monthly column, called "Free for All." In this first installment, you can take your pick of Photoshop brushes and fonts, t-shirt design templates, a project timer, and a portable password manager. They're all free!

Related Reading: Here's where it all began.

Photo How-to: Gifts from the Sky
Pro photographer Jeff Wignall knows that you don't need exotic locations to shoot high-impact sunrises and sunsets. Follow his advice and viewers will be as impressed by your shot of a dull suburb as they are by your shot of a Paris street.

Related Reading: At this time of the year, your sunset shots may also include snow.

Create Dynamic Cast Shadows in InDesign
Follow the lead of a hard-boiled private design investigator (you'll never guess who!) as he solves the mystery of his client's missing cast shadow. The identity of the client is also a mystery, but here's a description: "She had more curves than a Bezier tool, and she flowed in with the supple grace of a placed story moving through threaded text frames. Her eyes were rich black, a full-on CMYK mix of deep, mysterious ink. Her smooth skin was like aqueous varnish on ultra-smooth paper. Most striking of all were her lips. I knew instantly what must be written on the cap of her lipstick tube: PANTONE 1797 C."

Related Reading: This is a must-read resource for InDesign users.

TypeTalk: Standard and Discretionary Ligatures
A ligature is a special character created by connecting or combining two or more characters into one. Standard ligatures make text look better. For example, without an "fi" ligature, the hook of the 'f' and the dot of the 'i' might crash into each other. There are also discretionary ligatures, which are more decorative. Ilene Strizver explains how and when to use each kind.

Related Reading: Check this article for a visual pun involving a ligature. Type nerds rule!

An Economic Stimulus Plan for the Rest of Us
Andrew Field has come up with a stimulus plan that could be a lifeline for America's small and medium businesses (and by extension, the rest of the country). Its beauty lies in its simplicity: When the SMBs hire more workers, they get more money.

Related Reading: Tell us how you would improve the economic fate of creative pros.

Free Web Development Project Estimator

Free E-book on Motivating Creative People (Including Yourself)

60 Free Vector Packs

New Free InDesign Plug-In from Rorohiko

InDesign and Leopard Now Play Nice

It's a packed podcast! Hear about font managers, freeways, the future of a venerable convention, and much more.

CreativePro.com Poll: Which has the best short-term green technology potential?

Visit the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks.

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