This is nice short handy quick tip when you’re working on a print project, and need to find out how many words are within poster or magazine. It may be something you may not of known is an available feature in indesign, but something which I’m more than certain you will take will utilize at some point in your design career.

I hope you like this quick tip, and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

Tutorial Details

Difficulty: Beginner

Tutorial estimation time: 2mins

Program: InDesign

The Tutorial:

Hello, today I’ll show you how to draw a samurai in Illustrator using shapes, free time and desire … keep your force and soul balanced and let’s start!

Final Image Preview

Step 1: Helmet

With Pen tool (P) draw a half of the helmet and fill with black color. To obtain a symmetrical character, we will draw only half of the shape and then duplicate it.

Duplicate this shape. Make sure that the shape are selected and go to Edit > Copy (Ctrl + C) and Edit > Paste in Front (Ctrl + F).

Now reflect this shape. Go to Object > Transform > Reflect… Choose Vertical Axis and press Ok.

Move the reflected copy to the right to obtain the result:

For the highlight duplicate the second half of shape and fill with gradient white to transparent.

Now with pen tool draw the roots of the helmet.

Duplicate this shape. Go to Edit > Copy (Ctrl + C) and Edit > Paste in Front (Ctrl + F).

Now reflect this shape. Go to Object > Transform > Reflect… Choose Vertical Axis, press Ok and fill with dark gray (#2e2e2f).

Now with pen tool draw details and fill with gradient (#494949 to 2b2b2c), you should obtain this:

Duplicate this shape. Go to Edit > Copy (Ctrl + C) and Edit > Paste in Front (Ctrl + F).

Now reflect this shape. Go to Object > Transform > Reflect… Choose Vertical Axis and put it on the edge of second half of helmet.

Now make the highlight, use pen tool and fill it with radial gradient (#999999 to cacaca).

For the better effect draw another path with pen tool and fill with white color and apply “Gaussian Blur Filter” (Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur…) with radius set to 1.5px.

Step 2: Face

Create a new layer and name it “Face”.

With pen tool and black color, draw a half of face.

Duplicate this shape. Make sure that the shape is selected and go to Edit > Copy (Ctrl + C) and Edit > Paste in Front (Ctrl + F).

Now reflect this shape. Go to Object > Transform > Reflect… Choose Vertical Axis and press Ok.

Put in the right of the shape and fill with gray color (#3E3E3E).

Now with pen tool draw details of the face, and fill with gradient (#333333 to #000000).

Duplicate this shape. Make sure that the shape are selected and go to Edit > Copy (Ctrl + C) and Edit > Paste in Front (Ctrl + F).

Now reflect this shape. Go to Object > Transform > Reflect… Choose Vertical Axis and press Ok. Apply radial gradient (#d2d2d2 to #737373).

Now with pen tool draw eyes.

Duplicate this shape. Make sure that the shape is selected and go to Edit > Copy (Ctrl + C) and Edit > Paste in Front (Ctrl + F).

Now reflect this shape. Go to Object > Transform > Reflect… Choose Vertical Axis and press Ok. Put in the right of the shape.

Now with pen tool draw eyebrows.

With Ellipse tool (L) draw the iris and pupil, black circle for Iris and a smaller white one, for pupil.

Now draw the inner shadow, with pen tool draw a shape and fill with radial gradient (#e3e3e3 to cccccc).

For the shadow select the white shape of the eye. Duplicate it and paste in back (Edit > Copy / Edit Paste in Back). Fill this shape with gray color (#808080) and increase it about 2-3px in height.

Duplicate all the components of the eye and go to Edit > Copy (Ctrl + C) and Edit > Paste in Front (Ctrl + F).

Now reflect this shapes. Go to Object > Transform > Reflect… Choose Vertical Axis and press Ok. Put in the right.

Step 3: Body

Create new layer and name it “Body” and drag it under the “Face” and “Helmet” layers.

With pen tool draw the half of body and fill with radial gradient (#000000 to #4c4c4c)

Now with pen tool draw the armor and fill with radial gradient (#ff8b0c to #ff5c0c)

Now make the collar, make the copy of the armor (Edit > Copy / Edit > Paste). After that make a path that will be intersect the armor and you will obtain a collar.

Select the copy of the armor and the path that we created and in PATHFINDER press Intersect and fill with #ff5c0c.

Select all the components of the armor and body and make a copy and reflect them.

For the second half of armor use the lighter gradient (I used #ff9d11 to #fff4b5) for the armor and (#ffcc6a to #ff711e) for the collar.

Step 4: Weapons

With pen tool draw a giant pen in his hand.

Now draw the metallic arrow. With pen tool draw a path as you see in the image and fill with gradient light gray to white.

Now draw a circle inside of this path.

Select the both shapes and in PATHFINDER choose Minus Front to cut this circle from the first shape.

With Pen Tool draw a triangle as you see in the image.

Select the both shapes (Press Ctrl) and in PATHFINDER choose Minus Front.

Select all the components of the weapon, and make a similar copy and put in the right hand.

Go to Edit > Copy (Ctrl + C) and Edit > Paste in Front (Ctrl + F). Object > Transform > Reflect… Choose Vertical Axis and press Ok.

The samurai is ready to fight!

Final result:

Sometimes simple patterns work best. This is great pattern, which comes in 5 different vibrant colours to choose from to use in your design projects. As in all our free design resources the pattern set can be used in commercial and non commercial design projects. The vector set comes in EPS and AI format. Download, enjoy and share your feedback in the comments section below.

License Details

The icon set can be used within commercial and non-commercial design projects. The icon set CAN NOT be redistributed on any other website, without permission from the Creative Nerds team. Creative Nerds have created this icon set, and have full ownership.   If you have any questions regarding license details use the contact us page, in order to get in touch, or comment below.

Preview

A collection of 25 business cards, which are free to download for commercial and non-commercial design use. All the business cards are the standard 85mm by 55mm. All you need to is change the details on the business card, in order to match your details ensure its print ready and send to print.

Business card are not time consuming to create, but having a pre-made business card all ready setup is huge time saver. If you would  like to create your very own business card check out a tutorial roundup we produced a while ago.  30 Tutorials for creating profession business cards. 

1. Scan my QR Code Business Cards

2. Carbon Fiber Business Cards v2

3. FREE Developer Business Card

4. Rainbow Business Card Template

5. John Doe

6. Splatter Business Cards

7. Elegant Business Cards

8. Free Fresh Blue Business Card

9. Free Fresh Blue Business Card

10. Lovely Business Card for Women

11. Green Business Card PSD

12. Blue Business Card PSD

13. Universal Yellow Business Card

14. Hosting Business Card

15. Free Orange Business Card Template 

16. Flowery Business Cards

17. Business Card for Design Studio

18. Business Card Template with QR Code

19. Simple Business Card

20. Subtle Business Card Template

21. Painter Business Card

22. Private Detective Business Card

23. Professional Business Card

24. Flow Media

25. Free Modern Business Card

Another great month compact with lots of Photoshop and illustrator tutorials worth getting teeth sunk into, as well as some web related articles which are a must read. I hope you enjoy the monthly round-up, and would love to hear your thoughts in comments section.

Illustrator

How To Create an 8-Bit Pixel Character in Illustrator

If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know I love creating artwork in Illustrator using simple or basic shapes. This tutorial takes that idea to the extreme by using nothing by the rectangle tool to create a simple 8-bit style pixel character. Pixels are usually associated with Photoshop, but the great thing about Illustrator is your artwork is 100% vector, so unlike Photoshop you can scale your design to any size while retaining those blocky 8-bit characteristics.

Create Detailed Tulips With Gradient Mesh, Without the Mesh Tool in Illustrator

We’re celebrating spring in this tutorial! Here you will learn how to draw beautiful tulips in a vase. We’ll start with a 3D base and then go on to create tulips with Gradient Meshes without the Mesh Tool, all in Adobe Illustrator. So let’s take a closer look.

Quick Tip: How to Draw a Hand Based on Geometric Shapes

Today I’m going to show some simple guidelines you can follow to create a reference base to draw a hand. It will mainly focus on how to place fingers and knuckles along with proportions.

How to Create a Detailed Flag Stand Illustration in Adobe Illustrator

n the following steps you will learn how to create a detailed flag stand illustration in Adobe Illustrator. We’ll start with the pole. Using basic tools and vector shape building techniques along with some complex gradients we’ll create the starting shapes. Next, using the Appearance panel, some basic blending techniques plus one or two effects we’ll add the highlights. Moving to the flag, you will learn how to create a simple pattern, how to easily align your shapes and how to take full advantage of the Transform effect.

Photoshop

Draw an Electric Guitar in Photoshop

In this tutorial, you will draw an electric guitar in Photoshop. We will start by tracing its shape in Adobe Illustrator and then export those paths to Photoshop to add the final touches.

How to Make a Split-Flap Text Display in Photoshop

While in the real world split-flap displays are becoming obsolete in favor of digital displays in places like airports, train stations, bus stations, and so forth, they still live on as a symbol of travel. Whether you use them in app interfaces or a vintage-inspired design, I’m sure that you’ll find this tutorial interesting and useful. In this tutorial, we will use Photoshop to create a split-flap display.

Create a Beautifully Designed 3D Starfish Icon

With just about everyone using a smart phone, it is important for mobile apps to have beautifully designed icons to represent the brand. In this tutorial, we will show you how to create a beautiful 3D starfish icon using several applications including Photoshop, Cinema 4D, and ZBrush. In the process we will show you how to create 3D objects and then combine them with textures in Photoshop to create an amazing icon

How To Give Your Photos a Gloomy Split Toning Effect

We’re probably all familiar with the classic techniques of photographic toning from seeing various examples of Sepia toned images, but for years analog photographers have been experimenting with chemical toners to create various processing effects.

Web & Design articles

The Best Way to Learn CSS

CSS works hand in hand with HTML; HTML sorts out the page structure, CSS makes it look pretty and adds subtle levels of interaction. As a web designer you should really get to grips with both these languages. Even if you don’t do the coding yourself, understanding how they work will help you design for the web.

How To Improve The Deployment Of WordPress Websites

As WordPress matures into a full-fledged CMS and more and more large online publishers come to rely on the platform, the practice of developing and deploying websites becomes increasingly important. High-profile members of the WordPress community, such as core developer Mark Jaquith and Cristi Burca, have spoken on the topic and built tools such as WP-CLI and WP Stackto improve the professionalism of our administration and deployment.

Repurposing Photoshop For The Web 

As WordPress matures into a full-fledged CMS and more and more large online publishers come to rely on the platform, the practice of developing and deploying websites becomes increasingly important. High-profile members of the WordPress community, such as core developer Mark Jaquith and Cristi Burca, have spoken on the topic and built tools such as WP-CLI and WP Stackto improve the professionalism of our administration and deployment.

HTTP: The Protocol Every Web Developer Must Know – Part 1

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It’s a stateless, application-layer protocol for communicating between distributed systems, and is the foundation of the modern web. As a web developer, we all must have a strong understanding of this protocol.

This is a collection of truly powerful real life photos, which each tell their own unique story. I love looking at photographs and trying to put together the back story behind that photo what the person was thinking when the photo was taken? What where their emotions?. A great collection of powerful photos, for which each are worth a thousand words to describe the photo.

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. What photo stood out to you what made impact on you.

1. Riot Canada

2. Gaza Burial

3. Black & White

4. Mohammed Ali

5. Fatima al-Qaws

6. Ras Lanuf, Libya

7. Collaborator

8. Shoe Polished

9. F&O Forgotten Notability

10. Hard Worker

11. Barcelona demonstration

12. Pepper Spray

13. La Tomatina / Spain, Buñol

14. Battle for Libya

15. Shehzad Noorani

16. Gaza

17. Joy at end of run

18. Lovers Bridge

19. Siege of Aleppo

20. interrogation

Sometimes the most simplest pattern works the best. This pattern is great vibrant squared mosaic style seamless vector pattern. The pattern is free to use in commercial and non commercial design project. I hope you like the pattern, and would to love hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

License Details

The pattern set can be used within commercial and non-commercial design projects. The pattern set CAN NOT be redistributed on any other website, without permission from the Creative Nerds team.

If you have any questions regarding license details use the contact us page, in order to get in touch.

Preview

A burger, the king of fast foods! Who doesn’t like burgers? Everyone does! For those designers that are hungry a new tutorial, how to draw a burger in Adobe Illustrator.

Final Image Preview

Step 1

Open Illustrator and create a new document 650 by 800 px.  Rename “Layer 1″ to “Top Bun”. Using the ellipse tool create an ellipse 440 x 240 px, no fill, then create another ellipse 800 x 330 px.Select both of them and press the “Intersect” button on the pathfinder panel. Now we have the shape for out top bun.

Now with your Pen Tool (P) draw another two shapes, like in the image, select all three paths and in the pathfinder panel press the “Minus Front” button.

Give it a fill color. I used #CFAD56, and no stroke. Copy the path (Ctrl+C) and paste in front (Ctrl+F).  Now draw an ellipse as you see below, with your ellipse still selected, while holding Shift click on the the path that we’ve just a copy to select the both and in the pathfinder panel press “Minus Front” again. Give a darker brown color (#B58F43) to the resulting path.

Select the first path that we created and give it a 4pt dark brown (#8C5F28) stroke. On the top panel, press on the “stroke” and Select the “Align Stroke to Outside” option. We’ll apply this option to all our paths.

Step 2

Now let’s put some sesame on our bun. For this, we need to create a new brush. So, draw an ellipse 17 x 10 px, set the #F4DF78 as fill color and give a 2pt stroke with the same color as the bun. Press F5 to open Brushes panel and drag your ellipse there. Check the “New Scatter  Brush” and click ok, name our new brush “Sesame” and enter these values.

Select Paintbrush Tool (B) and start drawing sesame on the bun.

Lock the layer.

Step 3

It’s time to draw cheese! Create a new layer, name it “Cheese” and drag it under the “Top Bun” layer. Using you Pen Tool (P) try to draw a path that will look like a piece of cheese. Set the fill color the same that we used for sesame and #D3AC0B as stroke color.

Now, draw some circles on the cheese, those will be holes. By Shift-clicking select all “holes” and the cheese path and in the pathfinder click on the Minus Front.

Toggle the visibility of the bun layer, select the cheese path, copy it by pressing Ctrl+C and then Ctrl+F and make it no stroke. Then draw an ellipse, select it and the top copy of the cheese path and pres “Minus Front” in the pathfinder. Give the resulting shape a darker yellow color to make it look like a shadow. Lock the layer.

Step 4

There is no burger without meat, so let’s draw meat. Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool and draw a rectangle (420 x 95 px and 30px Corner Radius) with no stroke and #8C5F28 as fill color.

Draw a shadow for it like we did with bun and cheese, and give it a darker color (#6D4821).

Select both (meat and shadow) and press Ctrl+G to group them. Then go to Effect -> Warp -> Arc… Check horizontal, enter the -5 value for Bend and -3 for Vertical Distortion. Press ok, then go to Object -> Expand Appearance. With your group still selected apply Roughen effect that is located in the Effect -> Distort & Transform. Enter these values:

Expand Appearance of the group and press Ctrl+Shift+G to ungroup our paths, select the bigger path and give it a 4pt stroke with a dark brown color.

Using Pen Tool (P) draw some paths on the meat with the same stroke settings to add some details to it and lock the layer.

Step 5

Now we’ll draw shredded lettuce. Create a new layer and name in “Lettuce” and drag in under the rest. Try to draw some random paths as you see below, it’s ok if they look a bit strange, when you’ll add some shadows and highlights, they’ll look better. I used #A5B43B as basic color, #84903A for shadows and #788337, but you can use colors that you like.

Try to use shadow color as a fill color for those paths that you’ll place on the left to create a good-looking effect of shadows. Lock the layer.

Step 6

Create a new layer and name it “Bottom Bun” and again drag in under the rest.

Using Rounded Rectangle Tool draw a rectangle 400 x 100 px and 30px as Corner Radius, set the same colors for fill and stroke as you set for top bun.

Select the bun and apply Arc effect with this settings:

Go to Object menu, expand appearance and use the same technique to draw a shadow for it.

Step 7

Our burger is almost ready. We need to add ketchup and mayonnaise. Select Pen Tool and start drawing ketchup and mayonnaise under top bun, Pattie and cheese. Fill “ketchup” paths with a red (#C42F2C) and give them a bloody stroke (#A82828).

For mayonnaise you can set #FDF8C2 for fill and #DDDD97 for stroke.

Draw some drops near the burger.

Step 8

Draw some highlights on the cheese and lettuce with brighter shades of their fill colors.

30.png

Step 9

We need a background now. Draw a rectangle with the same dimensions as our document and apply a radial gradient with any color you like.

Our burger needs a shadow. Draw an ellipse under it 710 x 100 px an apply a radial gradient to it, from a very dark brown to the same brown but with opacity set to 0% and Aspect Ration of the gradient to 20%.

Our burger is now ready! mmm… delicious!

Another great free social media icon set, for all the most popular social media sites. This icon set was a pleasure to create, and I’m really pleased with the end result of how the icons turned out. A nice clear transparent icon set. The icons are free to use in commercial and non commercial design projects, so there’s no limitations upon where and how you these icons.

License Details

The icon set can be used within commercial and non-commercial design projects. The icon set CAN NOT be redistributed on any other website, without permission from the Creative Nerds team. Creative Nerds have created this icon set, and have full ownership.

If you have any questions regarding license details use the contact us page, in order to get in touch, or comment below.

Preview

This round-up is a collection of fundamental tutorials/articles, which will serve as a great base for learning and understanding the basics of some of the more popular Photoshop tools. Photoshop has so many tools and features it can take a life time to master, but if you can understand the fundamentals you can achieve almost anything in Photoshop.

In the roundup we have tried to seek out the best comprehensive guides, for the best Photoshop tools and features. I hope you enjoy the article, and i will look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments section below.

Two year ago we did a similar post which was entitled: “Comprehensive Guides for Understanding the Basic Fundamentals of Illustrator”. This is a similar article another great reference point, for learning and understanding illustrator.

Photoshop’s Pen Tool: The Comprehensive Guide

The Pen Tool makes appearances across almost the entire Adobe product range. Its function and behavior varies depending on the application, but by mastering it youll find you work quicker, smoother and with better results. This guide will give you a comprehensive basis for working with the Pen Tool in Photoshop.

Photoshop Layer Styles Comprehensive Guide

The Pen Tool makes appearances across almost the entire Adobe product range. Its function and behavior varies depending on the application, but by mastering it youll find you work quicker, smoother and with better results. This guide will give you a comprehensive basis for working with the Pen Tool in Photoshop.

Photoshop Brush Tool: A Basic Guide

In this guide, you’ll learn how to use the brush presets, create your own brush from scratch and modify its properties, play with blend modes and pressure controls, besides some useful tricks. How much do you know about Photoshop’s Brushes?

Photoshop’s Filters

Photoshop’s Filter Gallery is basically a one-stop place for working with filters in your documents. In the Filter Gallery, you can browse through many different types of filters, apply them individually to your image, or even stack them on top of one another like you would with layers. You can get to the Filter Gallery by going to Filter > Filter Gallery.

Everything You Need To know About Photoshop Actions

A screen cast on how to use Photoshop actions this screen cast will teach you how to save, load, and create Photoshop actions and go through its main features and functions.

A Comprehensive Introduction to the Type Tool

Who doesn’t know the Type Tool? This is maybe one of the most powerful and useful tools of Photoshop. We’ve all used it at least once, but do you know all its potential? That’s why I decided to write a comprehensive guide about Photoshop’s Type tool, including do’s and don’ts of the most important features of this tool.

The Lasso Tool In Photoshop

If you’re a more advanced Photoshop user, you’ll probably head straight for the Pen Tool, the tool of choice for making professional quality form-based selections. But if you have a good quality mouse (or even better, a pen tablet), decent drawing skills and a little patience, you may find that the Lasso Tool, another of Photoshop’s basic selection tools, is all you need.

Retouch and Healing Tools

The Spot Healing Brush is primarily used to quickly remove blemishes, imperfections or other unwanted elements from an image. To use it, paint over an imperfection you’d like to get rid of using a suitable brush (brushes can be selected and modified in the options bar). The Spot Healing Brush Tool will automatically try to repair the imperfection by sampling the surrounding area.

Photoshop’s Painting Tools

In Photoshop, the painting tools are used to paint strokes, and fill areas with color or with colors that blend together. Knowing how to use the paint tools is a must for any artist who wishes to use Photoshop.

Photoshop Basics: Blending Modes

If you use Photoshop at all, you need mastery of a simple, but often misunderstood feature in Photoshop – Blending Modes. With so many amazing tools available, it’s easy to overlook this feature, but it should be a part of your toolkit.

A Comprehensive Introduction to Photoshop Selection Techniques

Have you ever had difficulties making selections and thought there was a better way? Let’s review both quick solutions, and on the other side, comprehensive and details techniques for making selections. Each approach has it’s place in your workflow. The more methods you know how to use, the faster and more effectively you’ll move in Photoshop.

A Comprehensive Guide to Photoshop’s Liquify Tool

The Liquify filter may be one of the most commonly used filters in Photoshop’s arsenal. The Liquify filter allows us to distort the pixels in a given image without losing quality. Some designers are a bit intimidated by the Liquify filter, others may use in improperly. Today, we will explain the features of this very powerful filter in detail so you can use it in your work.

How To Use Photoshop Content Aware Tool

A great educational resource, on how to use one of Photoshop’s most powerful new features. The new content aware feature is a great addition to Photoshop. The feature allows Photoshop users to remove objects and people from photographs, while not disrupting the background of the photo, and not showing noticeable amendments.

Useful Applications for the Clone Stamp Tool

Maybe the Clone Stamp Tool is one of the most known tools in Photoshop, but have you ever wondered: what else can I do with the cloning stamp than duplicating pixels and hiding objects? These two short tutorials will show you some new uses for this wonderful tool.

Mastering Photoshop’s Sharpen Tool

The photographs produced by most digital cameras need some degree of sharpening, even when working with a high-end camera bearing a sophisticated sensor. So a clear understanding of sharpening process and its application within Photoshop is essential for creating that perfectly focused crisp image.

Saving Images for the Web

When saving for the web, it’s always important to consider the quality of the image, and the size of the image in order to provide visual clarity without slowing performance. This tutorial will teach you what you need to know about saving images for the web.

Understanding Layer Masks In Photoshop

When saving for the web, it’s always important to consider the quality of the image, and the size of the image in order to provide visual clarity without slowing performance. This tutorial will teach you what you need to know about saving images for the web.