Best of the Web – February 2009

Feb 28th in Web Roundups by Emil

February is known for its lack of days when we have a leap year but there is no lack in great Photoshop material! This month we have tutorials on creating a breathtaking fantasy scene, an amazing set of icons and wallpapers, and the usual inspirational articles. So lets get into it!

PG

Author: Emil

Emil Agarunov is from Brooklyn, New York. He has been using Photoshop for around four years and has been using Illustrator lightly for the past couple of years. His main techniques are vector based images and photo-manipulations.

Tutorial Wrap

  • Creating Dynamic Distortion Effects

    Computer Arts provides us another professional tutorial with a great outcome. Here you will learn how to create pro-looking distortions using simple brushes.

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  • Space Explosion Tutorial

    Space art is a very popular type of design style, and it never hurts to learn some new techniques. Here you will make an amazing collision space scene using stocks and brushes. If your looking for more on this subject, then check our tutorial archives: Fiery Photoshop Space Explosion Tutorial.

    Visit Tutorial

  • Creating an Epic Fantasy Scene

    This is another amazing tutorial by the guys at Tutorial9. In this photo-manipulation tutorial you will learn how to take stocks and edit and combine them to create an amazing fantasy scene.

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  • Color Combustion

    Here we have another photo-manipulation tutorial. This one involves very simple Photoshop techniques to create a very colorful scene.

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  • Landscape Tutorial

    This tutorial shows us how to create a breathtaking landscape scene. The author shows you how to take different landscape scenes and merge them together to create one amazing scene.

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  • Photoshop HDR

    This tutorial will show you how to take your photos and apply effects to them and convert to HDR.

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(FREE!) Download Picks

  • 5 Carbon Fiber Textures

    This is a great set of textures if you are into creating sports cars in Photoshop. There is always a need for some carbon fiber, so download this texture.

    Visit Download Site

  • 20 Fantastic Deviant Wallpapers

    The writers at Abduzeedo have rounded up 20 amazing wallpapers from the talented artists of Deviant Art.

    Visit Download Site

  • Photoshop Brush Collection

    Here we have over 200 amazing brushes. There are 9 packs included and they are filled with amazing brushes.

    Visit Download Site

  • Retro Icon Set

    This is an awesome icon set of 10 professionally made retro icons. There are icons for everything from Email to RSS.

    Visit Download Site

  • Custom Vector Pack

    The guys at Bittbox have given us an awesome vector pack. There are 6 different types of vector packs inside of this one. A lot of nice stuff so this is a must download.

    Visit Download Site

  • Vector Set Sampler

    This is an awesome vector set by the guys at GomediaZine. There are 14 great vectors in this pack ranging from superheroes to skeletons. So check it out!

    Visit Download Site

Article Wrap

  • 7 Tips for Improving Your Portfolio

    Now all graphic designers who plan to sell their services need to have portfolio's. So this is an article everyone should really read, these tips to increase the views on your portfolio.

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  • 10 Steps for a Perfect Portfolio

    If you are still unsure on how to perfect your portfolio, than you should definitely check this article which gives you an additional 10 tips to create a perfect portfolio. It also gives you a ton of examples of great portfolios.

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  • How Much to Charge for Design Work?

    This is an informative article that covers multiple designers points of view on formulas for charging clients. Many of the artists pose questions one should ask to derive this number. Some focus on looking at your own expenses and talent, and others have you look to the competitive landscape.

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  • Beautiful Blog Designs

    If you are creating a blog and need some inspiration, then check this post out. The author rounds up 21 of the best looking blogs out there. Or visit Outlaw Design Blog for a look at Cool App websites.

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  • 101 Breathtaking Infrared Photographs

    Infrared photography can really bring a photograph to life in front of your eyes. So you should definitely check out this compilation of 101 amazing infrared photographs.

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  • 40 Creative Inspirational Piece's of Art

    These 40 conceptual designs are extremely creative and colorful. Noupe provides us with "provide you with some creative, expressive and appealing print, packaging, book cover, paper arts, pop-up books, paper toys, posters, et... In other words, anything made of paper."

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  • 42 Twitter Backgrounds

    Now almost everybody has either visited or owns a twitter page. This is a compilation of 42 awesome Twitter backgrounds. If your looking to design your Twitter page, then check this post out for inspiration.

    Visit Download Site


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User Comments

( ADD YOURS )
  1. PG

    Hans Mustermann February 28th

    Nice collection ;-)

    ( Reply )
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    Espj-o February 28th

    Another fine cookie-jar of trixs. :P

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    Oba February 28th

    Fantastic collection. Looking to revamp my portfolio/blog, so this has some very useful links!

    ( Reply )
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    Qiming February 28th

    Ooo, not bad. Fantastic collection.

    ( Reply )
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    djierod February 28th

    Great collection, i’m going to try the Space Explosion tutorial. There are sure alot of handy things in it. Thanks again:)

    ( Reply )
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    Kevin February 28th

    Great list. It will take a while before I’ve looked at all the links.

    ( Reply )
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    Nacho February 28th

    great list! Though the “20 Fantastic Deviant Wallpapers” link is broken.

    ( Reply )
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    Constantin Potorac February 28th

    Great resources and really useful. Not to mention the tutorials, they are really great. By the way stay tuned for another tutorial from Ciursa (autor of Creating an Epic Fantasy Scene) and me here on PSDTUTS.

    ( Reply )
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    Ciursa Ionut February 28th

    I’m glad to see one of my tutorials listed here.

    I can’t wait to publish my first tutorial on PSDTUTS, just like Constantin says.

    ( Reply )
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    Catherine Tsapelik February 28th

    Love such articles. Thanks

    ( Reply )
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    Bjorn February 28th

    A great month (and year!) so far on PSDtuts. Can’t wait to see what’s next!

    ( Reply )
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    Jacob Cass February 28th

    Thanks for the link out Emil (could you give me an email, I couldn’t find yours), you can get mine on my website, linked in my name.

    Also should mention I launched a new blog on branding, identity & logo design:

    http://logodesignerblog.com

    ( Reply )
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    Stunt March 1st

    best

    ( Reply )
  14. PG

    Timothy March 1st

    decent list

    ( Reply )
  15. PG

    Germansn March 1st

    nice post

    ( Reply )
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    insic March 2nd

    cool

    ( Reply )
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    Mathias March 2nd

    I love the Retro Icon set.. thanks

    ( Reply )
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    W3Planting March 2nd

    Cool list, always looking for this kind of post(s) :)

    ( Reply )
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    photofolio March 2nd

    Nice collection. Too nice actually, when to read all this stuff …

    ( Reply )
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    menderes March 2nd

    nicee

    ( Reply )
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    Benedyktus March 2nd

    @ Constantin Potorac/
    Yes, but this artwork was made by Fishbot1337 ;)

    ( Reply )
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    Diego SA March 2nd

    I can’t read these articles! I just forget my work and don’t stop to read it. Well, I’ll find a time to read it! Thanks Emil.
    Back to work!

    ( Reply )
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    Matt March 3rd

    Thanks for featuring PSD Essential guys.

    ( Reply )
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    Bagus Zen March 5th

    Thanks for PS wood brush…really like it

    ( Reply )
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    Ron Scott March 7th

    Thanks for this man, It’s always great to go through these lists.

    ( Reply )
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    Theo March 12th

    THANKS!!!!!!

    ( Reply )
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    Ponsakthi Anand April 15th

    Woooooooooooooooooooooow

    ( Reply )
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    chris April 27th

    i love your collection..i

    ( Reply )
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