categories

tips and tutorials

php script for contact form emailer

Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 5:03 pm

I’m building a web site that requires a simple web form to capture user’s contact info then send the info as an email to the webmaster/account executive for a follow up.

I found the following script: Basic Emailer with PHP at scriptplayground that is very straightforward and implemented it in less than 10 minutes. Very nice indeed.

If you’re looking for a more advanced script with error handling, this script will be inadequate, but it’s a good starting point.

by Danny

how to create hair in photoshop

Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 2:44 pm

A really cool tutorial on how to create a realistic looking hair in photoshop from elfwood.com

by Danny

very cool step-by-step photo manipulation

Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

In this cool step-by-step pseudo photoshop tutorial from seb4d.com, you can see a skillful way to use photoshop to change a bright and happy house into a moody haunted house.

This tutorial explains the methods to achieve the various effects, but it’s not for a beginner because it doesn’t get into the detailed setting. Nevertheless, it’s inspiring.

by Danny

people don’t read on the web

Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 10:24 am

Research from Jakob Nielsen about reading behavior of web user.

On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.

I knew this all along, from usability, eye tracking and my own behavior, but seeing the number is very eye-opening.

An idea for a method to test out the scannability of the content on your page is to ask a person who’s not familiar with your site to read what he sees on the page out loud as fast as he can within 5 seconds. Most web users only stay for 2-3 seconds, but we need to add the extra 2 seconds to accommodate the time needed to do the reading.

Link to article:http://www.useit.com/alertbox/percent-text-read.html

by Danny

more list of (video) photoshop tutorials

Sunday, April 27th, 2008 at 10:17 pm

From speed painting to fashion retouching, this list covers it all (well… it’s extensive enough to keep you busy for a while at least).

Really fascinating videos to watch.

Ok ok… here’s the link: Smashing magazine’s Adobe Photoshop Video Tutorials - Best Of

by Danny

photoshop retouching tutorials

Sunday, April 27th, 2008 at 10:08 pm

Ever wonder how to enhance your photos to make them look like what you see in magazines (yes, they all have been retouched)?

Here’s a great list of tutorials that you can try from photoshoptalent.com : 33 awesome body enhancement photoshop tutorials

The list covers techniques to improve various parts of the figure: hair, eyes, body, etc.

by Danny

tutorial on applying blur filter in Actionscript 3

Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 12:44 am

I just learned how to apply blur filter from with Actionscript 3 from this easy-to-follow tutorial.

by Danny

xml loading tutorial in actionscript 3

Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 8:13 pm

Lee Brimelow from Adobe wrote the following simple tutorial that teaches us how to load XML to Flash with Actionscript 3.

It’s really easy to follow, but to make it work,you need to change the following line:
xml = new XML(e.target.data);
with
var xml:XML = new XML(e.target.data);

by Danny