

Let me start by saying a warm "thank you" to deaprting co-manager Jamie B. She set up the group and got it off the ground. We wish her and Garth the best in their adventures in Utah!
After careful thought, I've reached out to my good friend Nate Ludens to join us as co-manager. Nate brings a wealth of experience to bear as both a print designer and a professional photographer. Some of you may have caught Nate's Lightroom presentation a few months back.
Nate blogs here and you can check him out on Linkedin. He also tweets here and hangs his shingle at facebook.
And of course, since he is my friend, I can't resist congratulating him on his latest achievement. His son, Bode, is expected to arrive in the next few weeks.
Both of us are excited to bring more value to the group in 2010. What you'd like to see as far as presentations go in 2010?

ampersands for Haiti: check out the font aid creation by my friend Chank Diesel and designers from the world over http://bit.ly/aZPABQ


Photoshop has been a part of every web designer’s life since they picked up their first mouse.
On February 10th, 2010, Photoshop turns twenty. To mark this anniversary, we’ve come up with an article that takes you through the evolution of Photoshop from its modest beginnings as a bundled program sold with scanners to its current version.
For each version and major feature listed, we couldn’t help but think “did Photoshop ever exist without that feature?”.
Some of the minor details are fun too, such as the one-liner Easter Eggs that Photoshop developers hid in some versions and the fact that the most current versions of Adobe Photoshop CS are equipped with anti-counterfeiting measures for multiple world currencies.
Please join us in thanking the Knolls and Adobe for making all of our lives more awesome, every day.
keep reading: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2010/02/20-years-of-adobe-photoshop/
Another article: http://www.deke.com/content/martini-hour-053-in-which-photoshop-turns-twenty-and-martini-hour-turns-one
http://www.photoshop20anniversary.com/?trackingid=FCRYO&lang=NA


I just posted a new Photoshop CS4 tutorial on my blog at:
http://www.solsistershandbags.com/2009/11/photoshop-tutorial-high-contrast.html


Here's the PDF from my Social Media Presentation given at last month's meeting. Please feel free to use it for personal use ONLY.

Find Your Tribe: Social Media and Meaningful Customer Connections for Business Professionals
Presenter: Krystal Hosmer, VegasPUG
This presentation covers the questions of just what is social media, how it has vastly changed the marketing landscape, how its various tools work and how business people can use these tools to make one-on-one connections with customers. The presentation features examples from the presenter's own practice as well a case study showing the thinking behind the strategy.
Demonstration of Artisteer: The Automated Web Designer
Presenter: Jeff Foster, Extensoft (developers of Aristeer)
Artisteer allows designers to create CMS themes and templates with no coding knowledge necessary. Artisteer is software for Mac and PC that allows non-technical and print designers to easily create website templates, Joomla templates, Drupal themes, Wordpress themes, DotNetNuke skins, and Blogger templates in minutes. http://www.artisteer.com
Basic Server Communication with Flash CS4 Professional
Presenter: John Olson, VegasAUG
After learning the basics of Flash and ActionScript, the next thing that most people tend to want to know is how to have Flash talk to the server, usually involving a contact form. This presentation will focus on getting started using Flash and a little bit of ActionScript and some pre-built server scripts to send information from Flash to an email form handler (we'll be using GoDaddy's gdform). In a more advanced example, we will send and load information with the server without that typical HTML page refresh.
Snacks & goodies will be provided at the meeting so don't eat too much before coming to the meeting.
Attending our meeting gives you points for our semi-annual SOFTWARE RAFFLE - which is NEXT MONTH! So come on down!

Ross Kimbarovsky is the co-founder of crowdSPRING, a community of 43,000+ graphic designers that helps small businesses from around the world with graphic design needs. You can follow Ross on Twitter @rosskimbarovsky and @crowdSPRING.
Capacity – especially to plan and execute effective marketing strategies – is a big challenge for every small business. In this post, I’ll offer 10 suggestions for how small businesses can supercharge their marketing efforts by leveraging social media. For each suggestion, I will discuss a basic strategy – for those who simply want to get their toes wet, as well as an advanced strategy – for those who want to spend a bit more time and go a bit deeper in their social media marketing efforts. These tips are based on my experience leveraging social media marketing for my company, crowdSPRING.
Read the rest of the article containing the tips and hints n using each of the big social media apps at Mashable

Just added another Photoshop tutorial onmy blog. This is for beginners and was done in CS4.
http://www.solsistershandbags.com/2009/10/tutorial-dull-color-fix-with-duck-girl.html


"Create a Quick Interactive Portfolio Using InDesign"
InDesign CS4 provides new interactive buttons, hyperlinks and page transitions to quickly provide pizzazz to your print documents. Great fix for non-Flash developers.
Presenter: Deb Havre
"Staying in form-ation using InDesign and Acrobat Pro"
No one likes forms and we like them even less when they must be filled out by hand and then deciphered by some unlucky data entry person. Learn how to create an attractive form in InDesign then convert it in Acrobat Pro to a fillable form that can be emailed out, filled in by your customers electronically and then emailed back to you. End Users only need the free acrobat reader to open and fill out the form. You'll also learn how to replace pages in your form and set up or change fields.
Presenter: Krystal Hosmer
"Create Quick Image & Video SlideShows with SlideShowPro"
Use SlideShowPro to quickly place images or videos online. SlideShowPro is a flash-based slideshow application that requires very little setup to create slideshows with images or video. It is very customizable and can work with Flash, Lightroom or just Dreamweaver.
Presenter: John Olson

Hi everyone,
I'm teaching a 3 hour workshop on understanding and using the CURVES command in Adobe Photoshop through UNLV Educational Outreach next Saturday, July 18th. There is still space available. You can register here.
Workshop Description
Curves (when used with adjustment layers and masks) are the most powerful and flexible, but least understood, editing feature in Photoshop. By the end of this workshop, you will understand exactly what the lines mean and how to analyze a photo to create a curve to fix common photos issues such as underexposure, color casts, dull color, washed out skies, faces in shadow, and a myriad of other problems in a few clicks.
THIS IS NOT A FREE WORKSHOP.
Also Coming up:
Manufacturing Beauty with Martin Lapid
Into to Lightroom with Nate Ludens
Our Dreamweaver Group Co-Manager Jill Merk is also offering a workshop this summer.


Adobe Lightroom 2 Presentation, by Nate Ludens
Proofing photos after a session has never been easier. Using Adobe Lightroom 2, I'll show the group how to quickly and effectively sort images and create a batch of photos into a customized online photo gallery.
Nate is also giving a more in-depth workshop on using Lightroom through UNLV educational Outreach. Info will be at the meeting.
You can download a 30 day trial of Lightroom from the Adobe Website
Lightroom e-seminars from Adobe

Introduction to Adobe After Effects, by Nick Merk
... detail coming ...

Semi-Annual VEGAS USER GROUP joint meeting.
Come join all 4 Vegas Groups June 15, 2009 @ 7:00-9:00PM.
VegasPUG - Photoshop & Print User Group
VegasAUG - Adobe User Group with Video & Design
VegasFLEX - Flex, Flash, Flash Catalyst & Rich Internet Application User Group
VegasDUG - Dreamweaver & Web User Group
Located at the UNLV Paradise Campus
851 E. Tropicana Ave. Las Vegas, NV 89119
FREE Pizza! FREE Soda!
Come. Eat. and Enjoy the Raffle for 4 FREE Adobe CS4 Packages!
FREE Linda.com Accounts! FREE Tshirts, Pens, Stickers, and more!!
Join the groups. Bring a friend. Bring a co-worker.
Spread the word and we will see you there!


My name is Jamie Lea Braithwaite {{jamieBEE}}. I was born & raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. I now serve as the Manager of the Adobe Las Vegas Photoshop (& Print) User Group {{VegasPUG.org}}. All my hopes and dreams are to share techno-geek skills with the world!
I started my graphic design career at the age of 7 making birthday cards, posters, and flyers on our Apple IIe and dot-matrix printer. I have always been “that girl” that can help get something done on the computer.