Category Archives: Technology

Photoshop Portrait Retouching – 5 Tips For Beginners

Jenny Pauley | May 17, 2013

woman_beforeandafter_feature

Lately, as Wpromote’s lead graphic designer, I’ve gotten a lot of requests from coworkers to teach them how to remove a pimple, wrinkle or under eye circle in Photoshop. While generally I don’t like to change someone’s unique and distinguishing features, there are a few easy methods that will make your photo (and your face) shine just a little bit brighter. I’m starting with this photo of a woman: I don’t know her name or who she is but she looks like an Emily to me.  She’s got a few issues here: piercing scars, a little acne, some under eye circles and some fine wrinkles.  First things first, duplicate the background layer and work off of the copy. Now lets get to it! 1. Spot Healing Brush This tool is awesome for beginners; its easy to use and the results are great. Find the tool that looks like a Band-Aid, … Continue reading →

Romancing The Age Of Clutter

Tim Pickett | January 16, 2013

When was the last time you moved? Actually, scratch that. Let’s narrow it down to when you first moved out of your parent’s house. If you were a movie nut you probably had a healthy collection of DVDs (and dare I add a few VHS tapes you just couldn’t throw out) and if music was your thing you might have a hefty case or two of CDs, maybe even a couple crates of LPs if you were cool or something like that. Or you might have been like me and just had a bit of everything. You don’t realize how stupid it all is until you’re too far invested and you just can’t tell yourself to cut it out (I’m not insulting you, just myself). The first time I heard of someone completely getting rid of their CD collection in favor of the digital age, I was a junior in … Continue reading →

A Tech-Filled Fall

Tim Pickett | September 10, 2012

Fall is fast approaching which means the holiday season is faster approaching but do you know what that really means? Announcements, announcements everywhere! What fun tech gadget announcement is going to capture your heart and dominate your gift list this 2012 holiday season? Here’s a couple that have caught my eye. Tablets are pretty cool but up until recently, you had to dish out some serious cash. The iPad is no longer theuncontested king and if you’re just getting into the tablet game there are more options. Two new announcements are the Google Nexus 7 and the new line of Kindle Fire tablets, which now boasts HD capabilities. Nexus 7 is a 7” tablet with WiFi and the 8GB model is $199 and the 16GB is $249. Fully compatible with the Google Chrome App store, there are plenty of games and apps to play with. Amazon one-upped Google and has … Continue reading →

Time To Speed Up Your Site

Tim Pickett | August 23, 2012

In a world that becomes less and less patient everyday, eliminating down time is a natural progression in business models; a text book case of supply and demand. Hungry? Why wait. Need car insurance? Well 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. Don’t have 15 minutes? Go online. To go online, use Google’s new Chromebook or Chromebox, Google’s new laptop and home computer. You may be asking yourself, “Why would I want a Google computer?” And the advertisements will tell you (as one of the main selling points) that your Google laptop and/or home desktop can boot up in a matter of seconds, eliminating as much down time as possible. Once it’s booted up, it’s only a matter of seconds to get on the web. So if you want to get online to see the hours of that restaurant that you’re trying to hurry to, you can check that … Continue reading →

Competition is the Fuel of Technological Advancements

Tim Pickett | July 2, 2012

Recently inspired by Neil deGrasse Tyson’s two-part YouTube video entitled “We Stopped Dreaming” about NASA space travel (check out Episode I and Episode II if you’d like), I started thinking about how much competition actually sparks advancement. In the purest form of competition we have sports; and when you compete in sports you compete to advance, to reach the ultimate goal of a championship. As Mr. Tyson exclaims, what people don’t understand, or forgot, is that NASA was able to get man on the moon because Russia was able to launch Sputnik before us, sparking a competition on a colossal scale. This competition died when the Cold War ended, and with it the motivation to further advance our space traveling program. Now let’s switch gears to something smaller, like this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which is the biggest video game conference of the year. I’m not here to talk … Continue reading →

6 Geek-Tastic Uses Of The QR Code

Jennifer Kavak | July 18, 2011

As marketing has made its way from the print era over on to the digital realm, QR Codes have sprung up as a tool to transmit virtually any kind of information. By scanning the 2-D image on a smart phone, companies and individuals alike create QR codes for several purposes, such as increasing traffic to websites, boosting eCommerce, making phone calls, and so on. With the exponentially increasing usage of social media outlets, QR Codes have become creative with where they place the code and what information is shared. And whether you’re a VP at Proctor & Gamble, or simply just a devoted geek, you can place QR codes in these locations to promote just about anything. 1. T-Shirts & Accessories What better way to market a product (or yourself) by wearable advertisements? Custom T-shirt sites, like Zazzle.com, can generate QR Codes for you to fashionably sport your brand. What … Continue reading →