Adobe offers a free online tool to create color themes for your work.Adobe Kuler "is a web-hosted application for generating color themes...Whether creating websites, interior designs, scrapbooks, fabric patterns, graphic identities, or any other visual, you can experiment quickly with color variations and browse thousands of themes from the Kuler community. Designed both to stand alone and to complement Adobe Creative Suite® software, Kuler uses Adobe Flash® technology to bring you online tools for color theme creation."
You can use it by applying standard rules of color theory or experiment on your own. The themes you create can be saved and shared. Check it out.
This is mostly a video blog but once in a while I come across a Photoshop tutorial that creates a useful effect that's easy to create. This month in EventDV magazine, Lance Gray, the chief creative pixelmonkey at PixelPops Design, LLC demonstrates how to simulate narrow depth of field in Graphic Thoughts: Faking Depth of Field. 
While it used to be a free magazine, EventDV recently shifted to a paid subscriber only for its print publication. I've found it to be among the most useful of the video magazines I receive. For me it's well worth $17.95 per year.
Today I had the unfortunate experience of attempting to reinstall Adobe's DV Rack HD on an Windows XP machine. For some reason the application, which ran perfectly well for over two years, now refused to run. Although the software had been correctly installed and authorized years ago, it now demanded that an authorization code be re-entered.Adobe uses the codes to prevent software theft which is understandable. And typically accessing a new code from Adobe's customer service after a system crash or other mishap is a simple process - at least until now.
Even though I was able to provide a copy of the sales receipt and the software serial number, Adobe provided absolutely no help. In fact, the company's solution was to tell me that I needed "to buy an upgrade."
This was after spending over an hour on the telephone. That telephone call ended abruptly after John, the Adobe customer service representative hung up the phone after I requested to speak with a manager.
Now the latest version of DV Rack is Adobe's On Location. But you can't purchase an "upgrade". In fact, you can't purchase a stand-alone copy of On Location at all. The cheapest path to getting a copy is to buy it bundled with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 for a whopping $799. Keep in mind that DV Rack cost $530 a little over 2 years ago. And now Adobe's "solution" to this problem is to spend an additional $799.
As I mentioned, I understand the reasoning behind Adobe software authorization. But in the end, if it prevents those who have legally paid for a license to use the software then no doubt Adobe's measures to prevent unlicensed use of its software have gone way overboard.
Any readers that may be aware of any class action suits to seek redress for Adobe's failure to live up to its obligations are encouraged to contact me.
