The Assistant’s Journal

Microsoft has a spiffy new technology that made the rounds on the blogosphere a month or so ago. They asked Joel to shoot the Statue of Liberty for a Photosynth, which you can see here. (Internet Explorer only — sorry Mac users.)

I can’t believe I didn’t notice this until now. CS2’s stamp/healing brush cursor will change colors so that it contrasts with the area you’re working in. Doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but when you do as much dust-busting in areas of continuous relatively neutral tone as I do, it makes a big difference in eye strain.

Nerd-related: bought my first laptop yesterday. Despite the price-tag related pain, I’m excited about it. Waiting for my copy of XP-64 to come in so’s I can give it a whirl.

I have a new favorite Photoshop trick, learnt from aforementioned videos. If you have a scan (or a horizon line) that’s a little crooked, use the “Measure” tool (in the same slot as the eyedropper in CS) to draw along something in the picture that should be perfectly vertical or horizontal. Then, go to Image -> Rotate -> Arbitrary, and the value you’ll need to straighten the picture out is there automatically. It’s magic, I tell you.