Comment to Win Free Coding Services from PSD2HTML®!

PSD to HTML services have been frequently used by many designers to reduce the amount of time needed for client projects and to increase profitability. Many freelance designers choose to outsource PSD to HTML coding services because it can be more cost effective than doing the coding on their own. Others choose to outsource this work because their coding skills are not as strong as their design skills.

PSD2HTML® has been a leader in the industry since 2005. They have a team of over 370 developers that hand code all of their projects, and they have thousands of satisfied customers. The people at PSD2HTML® have offered to give free coding services to two lucky readers of the Vandelay Design Blog! One lucky reader will win $400 worth of coding credits, and another reader will win $300 worth of coding credits.

PSD2HTML

PSD2HTML® is the leader in the industry because of their high coding standards and because of all the options that they offer. They offer the highest coding quality and a huge variety of compatibility, markup and JavaScript options. They can code web pages, email templates, mobile layouts, and even responsive websites, and they do it quickly. They can implement WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, Magento, and Shopify. You’ll be able to communicate with them through the client area, which serves as a hub for all communication on your project. They also offer a live chat and a phone number is listed on their website. Just check out some examples of code they have created and see testimonials from some of their past customers.

Please see PSD2HTML®’s website for more info on their services.

Giveaway Rules:

To enter the giveaway all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post. The winners will be selected at random on Tuesday, March 12th. At that time this post will be updated to list the winners, and the winners will also be contacted by email.

Comment to Win a Free WordPress Theme or Joomla Template from TemplateMonster

TemplateMonster has offered to give a free WordPress theme or Joomla template to 5 lucky readers of the Vandelay Design Blog! You’ll get the template/theme of your choice, and there is a big selection available.

TemplateMonster

If you are not familiar with TemplateMonster, they have been one of the leading template sellers for years. They offer HTML/CSS templates, WordPress themes, Joomla templates, Drupal templates, e-commerce templates, Facebook layouts, and more.

For this giveaway, the winners will get their choice of any WordPress theme or Joomla template that is available at TemplateMonster. You can browse the available templates here: WordPress themes, Joomla templates.

The huge selection of templates from TemplateMonster makes it possible to find a template for just about any type of website. Some examples of those templates are showcased below:

TemplateMonster

TemplateMonster

TemplateMonster

TemplateMonster

TemplateMonster

TemplateMonster

Rules of the Giveaway:

If you would like to enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post and tell us which template you would like to receive if you are one of the winners. Each of their templates has an item number, so please leave the item number in your comment. The 5 winners will be selected at random on Tuesday, January 29th. At that time this post will be updated to list the winners, and the winners will be contacted by email.

Photoshop Star Best Tutorials from 2012

First of all we want to thank our readers for your support and wish you all the best for 2013. We decided to start the year listing some of the best tutorials that Photoshop Star has published in last year.

We hope in 2013 to publish more tutorials and articles related to Photoshop with more quality and to keep improving site. So take a look and see if you have missed some of our tutorials and articles from last year.

Photoshop Basics

Photoshop Basics: How to set up Photoshop

Before you start using Photoshop you should set it up properly. Don’t worry if you don’t understand what all the options mean, just follow the guidelines below for starters. With time and extensive use the meaning of all those fancy and (apparently) complex options will fall into place and you will know exactly what you want. You have to start somewhere, right?

Photoshop Interface Explained

I remember when I opened Photoshop for the first time I was dazzled by all the buttons, options and tools. It took me some time to get accustomed to the interface and when I was familiar enough with it I modified it so it would meet my specific needs. Don’t worry, I will guide you through the interface so at the end of this article you will have a pretty good understanding of the Photoshop interface.

Introduction to the Photoshop Toolbar

In this article I will give you a quick introduction to the Photoshop CS5 toolbar. The toolbar is a floating panel normally placed at the left of the screen.

Photoshop Channels and Color

Before you can properly use Photoshop you have to understand digital color and how Photoshop deals with it.

Introduction to Photoshop Layers

There is no simple way to start describing layers so let’s begin by seeing them in action.


Text Effects

Fabric Text Effect

This Photoshop tutorial explains how to use Layer Styles and two patterns to create a nice looking fabric text effect.

Fabric Text Effect

Frosted Glass Text Effect

This tutorial will explain how to create a beautiful frosted-rolled glass inspired text effect, using Photoshop Filters and Layer Styles.

Frosted Glass Text Effect

Cool Dots Text Effect

This Photoshop tutorial explains how to design a three-dimensional text, which consists of dots and a blurred extension.

Cool Dots Text Effect

Photo Effects

Learn How to Remove a Person from a Photo

In this Photoshop tutorial you will learn how to remove a person from a photo.

Learn How to Remove a Person from a Photo

Facial Rejuvenation Effect in Photoshop

We have another nice Photoshop tutorial on how to do facial retouching as this is one of the most requested type of tutorials.

Facial Rejuvenation Effect in Photoshop

How to Apply a Jaguar Skin to a Woman

On this Photoshop tutorial you will learn how to apply a jaguar skin to a woman by using Photoshop Tools.

How to Apply a Jaguar Skin to a Woman

Drawing

How to Create a Mini Music Player in Adobe Photoshop

In the following tutorial you will learn how to create a mini music player using Photoshop.

How to Create a Mini Music Player in Adobe Photoshop

Create a Simple Drop Down Menu in Adobe Photoshop

In the following tutorial you will learn how to create a simple drop down menu using Photoshop.

Create a Simple Drop Down Menu in Adobe Photoshop

Effects

Create a Adam and Eve scene

In this tutorial we will create an Adam and Eve scene with warm colors and rays of light. We learn some advanced masking techniques so get your selections tools ready. Let’s get started then.

Create a Adam and Eve scene

Create a Dark Dreamy Emotional Photo Manipulation

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to create a Dark dreamy emotional photo manipulation. We’ll come through techniques of manipulating, retouching, layer mask, adjusting light and shadow as well as other several techniques.

Create a Dark Dreamy Emotional Photo Manipulation

Transform a Female into a Dark Elf Using Photoshop Drawing Techniques

In this Photoshop tutorial you will learn how to make drawing-style picture in a fantasy style from one photo. This tutorial is not difficult but it is more suitable for people who have some experience in Photoshop drawing.

Transform a Female into a Dark Elf Using Photoshop Drawing Techniques

How to Draw a Portrait in Photoshop

Another nice tutorial teaching you how to draw a portrait by using Photoshop. This technique is based on using Photoshop brushes and for people who may have some experience in art it’s a good technique but it takes time to achieve this result.

How to Draw a Portrait in Photoshop

Create Space Fantasy Composition

In this tutorial we will create a space fantasy composition using some basic techniques.

Create Space Fantasy Composition

Create a Water Lily in a Cup Effect in Photoshop

On this tutorial we will create a water lily in a cup effect in Photoshop.

Create a Water Lily in a Cup Effect in Photoshop

Limited Time Offer: Save $30 On One Year of Vandelay Premier Membership!

Vandelay Premier December 2012 Discount

If you’re interested in improving your efficiency and effectiveness as a designer during the upcoming year, we’ve got a deal that can help to make it a reality! Through the end of December, 2012 we are offering a savings of $30 per year on membership to Vandelay Premier ($49 instead of $79).

At Vandelay Premier we provide high-quality resources for designers that can be used to speed up the design process and to create designs that your clients will love. Over the past few years we’ve been building up the archives to include more than 650 resource packs with a total value of over $3,500. With this promo you can get access to ALL of the resources available from Vandelay Premier for the next 12 months while paying the price of just a 6 month membership.

To take advantage of this offer all you need to do is select the Annual Membership and use the coupon code “vp2013” when signing up at Vandelay Premier.

Not only will you get access to all our our existing resources (including icon sets, UI sets, PSD files, textures, Photoshop brushes, vectors, logos, print templates, and career resources), but you’ll also get access to all of the resources that are added to the site during your membership. We add several new resource packs each week, so the value of membership is constantly increasing.

Unlike some other membership sites, we don’t limit the number of downloads per day or per month for our members. As a member you will be able to download any and all resources that you would like from our collection.

All of our resources come with an extended multi-use license. You can use them on an unlimited number of personal and commercial projects, and they can even be used in the creation of items that will be sold, such as website templates and WordPress themes. If you decide to cancel your membership you can continue to use any resources that you downloaded while your membership was active.

Below we will showcase some of the more popular resources that you can download as a Vandelay Premier member, but if you want a more detailed look you can browse the archives. If you’re ready to take advantage of this limited-time offer you can signup for a Vandelay Premier annual membership using the coupon code “vp2013“.

Freelance Starter Kit

The Freelance Starter Kit is our most popular product, and actually it is a bundle of several of our products. The kit was created to help freelance designers to start their business on a solid foundation. It includes invaluable resources like contract templates, proposal and invoice templates, business cards and letterhead templates, marketing materials like portfolio books and brochures, ebooks on topics related to freelancing, interviews with successful designers, financial document templates, email/letter templates, and more.

Freelance Starter Kit

Wireframe Pro

Wireframe Pro is a complete wireframing set for Photoshop. It includes hundreds of elements that can be used to create professional looking wireframes within Photoshop in a matter of minutes. It includes elements like navigation menus, buttons, ribbons, dividers, sliders, form elements, media player elements, and much more. Wireframe Pro also comes with 13 pre-designed layouts/wireframes for various types of websites. In total, the set includes 33 PSD files (13 layouts, 20 PSDs of various design elements).

Wireframe Pro

Menso UI Set

Menso is the most recent of our massive UI sets. It includes 4 PSDs packed full of elements ready to use in your own website and web app designs, all created with attention to detail and a beautiful design style. We’ll also be releasing alternate versions of the Menso UI set in different colors in the coming weeks. The preview below shows only 25% of the resources included in the Menso Light set. You can visit the product page for the full preview.

Menso UI Set

Exotico UI Set

Exotico was the first of our extensive UI sets and it remains as one of the most popular products at Vandelay Premier. It includes 4 PSDs loaded with elements that are ready for use. The preview below shows only 25% of the Exotico set. You can visit the product page for the full preview.

Exotico UI Set

Precio UI Set

Precio is another huge UI set that can help to save time for your own design work. All of the elements are designed with style, and the set includes 4 PSDs full of design elements. The preview below shows only 25% of the Precio set. You can visit the product page for the full preview.

Precio UI Set

Zephirro UI Set for E-Commerce Design

Zephirro is a massive UI set that was created with e-commerce design in mind. The set includes 4 PSDs full of elements that can be used to create your own e-commerce website designs quickly and effectively. It includes things like product lists (grid view and list view), shopping cart layout, shopping cart widgets, pricing tables, and much more. The preview below shows only 25% of the Zephirro set. You can visit the product page for the full preview.

Zephirro UI Set

Wireapp Mobile UI Set

Wireapp is our series of mobile UI sets especially for designing iPhone and iPad apps. It comes in 5 different styles (original, wood, leather, metal, and fabric), and each style includes retina-ready and non-retina versions of the UI elements. The set includes a huge collection of elements that are common to mobile apps, making it easy to design beautiful app interfaces in no time.

Wireapp Mobile UI Set

Premier Texture Bundles

At Vandelay Premier we offer well over 1,000 high-resolution textures for use in your own designs. While those textures are available in more than 200 texture packs, we have also compiled some of them into 3 bundles, which include 125 textures each. Each of the bundles includes a variety of different textures, so with all of these bundles you’ll have just about all the textures you could need. Preview the bundles here: Premier Texture Bundle, Premier Texture Bundle 2, Premier Texture Bundle 3.

Premier Texture Bundle 3

Photoshop Brushes Bundles

We’ve also put some of our more popular Photoshop brush sets into 2 different bundles. Each bundle includes 19 different brush sets. We have sets like watercolor brushes, grunge brushes, paper brushes, splatter brushes, spray paint brushes, textured brushes, wood brushes, bokeh brushes, cracks brushes, and much more. Preview the brush bundles here: Premier Photoshop Brushes Bundle, Premier Photoshop Brushes Bundle 2.

Premier Photoshop Brushes Bundle

Product Mockups

Sometimes you may have a need to present your designs in a particular way. Maybe you need to show a business card design to a client, or perhaps you want to display an e-book cover on a realistic-looking book. At Vandelay Premier we have a number of PSD files that allow you to create beautiful product mockups very easily. Using smart objects you can paste in your own designs and they will be applied to the product automatically. We have mockups for books, magazines, software boxes, CDs, DVDs, identity sets, coffee cups, posters, shopping bags, and more.

Identity Set Mockup Vol. 2

Premier Icon Bundles

Icons are some of the most valuable resources for web designers because they are needed for just about every project. High-quality icons can go a long way towards making a design look great, and icons are of course important for usability purposes as well. We have plenty of icons available for Vandelay Premier members, including the Premier Icon Bundle and the Premier Icon Bundle 2. Each set includes well over 200 icons that are ready to be used in your own designs. These icons come as 64 x 64 .png files, and the source Illustrator files are also included for added versatility. Preview the bundles here: Premier Icon Bundle, Premier Icon Bundle 2.

Premier Icon Bundle 2

Vector Icon Set

Simple vector icons are extremely versatile and can be used in plenty of web design situations. We have a huge set of 368 vector icons that comes in PSD format. With the icons as vector shapes in Photoshop layers, you can easily add layer styles to customize the look of the icons to suit your needs (colors, gradients, drop shadows, etc.).

Vector Icon Set

Minima Icon Set

Minima is another vector icon set. This one includes 200 different minimalist icons that are ready for use.

Minima Icon Set

Imperfect: A Hand-Drawn Icon Set

Sometimes there will be projects where a more traditional icon set will not be the right fit. Imperfect is a set of 270 icons with a hand-drawn style. They come in Photoshop format using vector shapes, so they can be re-sized according to your needs.

Imperfect: Hand-Drawn Icons

Logo Templates

Logo templates can be highly useful for your clients or for using in your own mockups and demos. We have a growing archive of logo templates available to members. The logos come in .ai and .eps files, so they’re easy to edit and customize as needed.

Logo Templates

Business Card Templates

We’ve recently been adding to our collection of business card templates, and we now have a quality collection that can help when you are in need of a template for your own business cards or for clients.

Business Card Templates

So that is a look at some of the more popular and more notable resources currently available to Vandelay Premier members. If you want to take a more detailed look at the resources you can browse the archives to see everything.

What’s Coming in the Next Year?

By taking advantage of this promotional offer you’ll be getting access to Vandelay Premier for at least the next year, and so you may be wondering what new resources will be added to the site. Our plans for new resources are always flexible as we attempt to see what types of resources are important to our members. While it’s hard to say exactly what will be added throughout the next year we do already have a number of resources ready to go, and others that are currently in development.

We know that our collection of logo templates will be expanded in the next few months as we have our logo designer (Julio Ramos) working on more logos. We also will be expanding our selection of print templates, including business cards, flyers, and brochures. A number of those resources are already designed (by Peter Olexa) and others are in the works. We also have a few variations of the Menso UI set (by Grzegorz Grzelak) already completed that will be released within the next month or two. As far as career resources are concerned, we’ll be adding a few new contract templates in the near future. Of course, we’ll continue to add more of our most popular types of resources like PSD files and textures as well. If you have suggestions about the types of resources that you would like to see in the next year feel free to leave a comment on this post or contact us.

To take advantage of this offer all you need to do is select the Annual Membership and use the coupon code “vp2013” when signing up at Vandelay Premier.

Comment to Win a Free Deal of Your Choice from MightyDeals

Our friends at MightyDeals have offered to give a free product to 5 lucky readers of the Vandelay Design Blog! If you haven’t visited MightyDeals recently you’ll want to take a few minutes to see all of the great deals that you can choose if you’re one of the winners of this giveaway.

MightyDeals

MightyDeals is an outstanding resource for designers and developers because they provide deep discounts on great products that may be able to help in your work. They release a new deal almost every day, and you can subscribe to their mailing list to get notification of new deals so that you never miss out on an amazing deal for that product that you have been wanting.

For this giveaway the winners will be able to choose from any of the available deals. Please take a few minutes to browse the current deals and leave your choice in the comments below. Here the possibilities:

Giveaway Details:

If you would like to enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this blog post and name the product that you would like as your prize. You can say why you would like it, or just simply list the product. The 5 winners will be selected at random on Tuesday, December 18th. This post will be updated to list the winners, and the winners will be contacted by email.

Comment to Win 1 Year of Free Hosting From Zyma

Zyma has offered to give a free hosting account for one year to 15 lucky readers of the Vandelay Design Blog! If you’ve been thinking about starting a new website or considering moving to a new host, this could be a great opportunity.

Zyma

Zyma offers great value hosting from just £1.79 per month. Features include:

  • Unlimited Web space
  • Unlimited Traffic
  • Unlimited Email Accounts
  • Unlimited SQL Databases
  • Unlimited Sub-domains
  • 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
  • Free Transfer & Setup
  • Free Tech Support
  • cPanel Web Hosting
  • Fantastico De Luxe
  • Softaculous Premium
  • Attracta SEO tools via cPanel
  • CloudFlare CDN Support

A full list of features can be seen at their website.

Support is available to Zyma customers by email and phone, plus they have an online knowledgebase and video tutorials available any time. You can get more details about what Zyma has to offer at their website.

Giveaway Details

If you’d like to enter to win one of the 15 free hosting accounts please leave a comment on this post. The winners will be selected at random on Tuesday, December 11th. At that time this post will be updated to announce the winners and the winners will be contacted by email. Winners will need an active and registered domain name to claim the hosting account. There are no hidden fees or charges and all renewals are made manually.

Comment to Win jQuery Slider Shock (Responsive Slider Script)

Get quality hosting for as little as $4.95 per month with Bluehost.

Our friends at jQuery Slider Shock have offered to give their premium responsive slider script to 5 lucky readers of the Vandelay Design Blog! The winners will get a multisite license in their choice of a WordPress plugin, or the standard jQuery version.

jQuery Slider Shock

Sliders are, of course, one of the most common elements in web design and they are used on websites and blogs of all kinds. But the combination of responsive design and sliders can be difficult without the right tools. jQuery Slider Shock (from the same team behind WP Theme Generator and Iconshock) allows you to create your own customized responsive slider without the need for coding.

With jQuery Slider Shock you’ll have control over a wide variety of elements including:

  • background color
  • height and width
  • margins
  • captions
  • thumbnails
  • transition speed
  • text styling
  • slider frames
  • arrows
  • and much more

In addition to images, it also supports videos, RSS feeds, Twitter feeds, Flickr images, and Instagram images. You’ll also have the option to choose from 31 different transition effects between slides.

There are several different license options available. A limited free version will allow you to try it out with most of the features included. The commercial license, which includes all features and allows you to use with commercial projets, is priced at $19 for a one site license, $29 for a multi site license, and $99 for a developer’s license. It also comes as a WordPress plugin with the same pricing options, or it can be purchased in a combo pack that includes the WordPress plugin and the regular jQuery version for $29, $49, or $129.

Please visit jQuery Slider Shock for a full list of features, to try the free version, or to see a large number of demos.

Giveaway Rules:

If you would like to enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post. The winners will be selected at random on Tuesday, December 4th. This post will be updated at that time to announce the winners, and the winners will be contacted by email.

Black Friday Deals for Designers

Get quality hosting for as little as $4.95 per month with Bluehost.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are huge shopping days and great opportunities to get discounts and deals on all kinds of products. If you’re a designer, or if you’re shopping for a gift for a designer, there are a lot of great products that are currently on sale. And the best news is that you don’t actually have to go out to the stores and face crazy mobs to fight for the amazing deals.

Here we’ll showcase the best deals that we could find for designers and developers this Black Friday. Details on each specific deal are provided below. The first two deals listed are for our own products.

Save 50% on the Freelance Starter Kit

Freelance Starter KitOur most popular product is perfect for designers who want to break into the world of freelancing. It includes valuable items like contract templates, identity set templates, marketing materials, ebooks, interviews with successful designers, and more. Now through Monday, November 26th save 50% with the coupon code “fskbf“. The regular price is $49, so you can get it now for $24.50.
See it here.

Save 75% on the Premier Texture Bundle

Premier Texture BundleOur Premier Texture Bundle includes 125 high resolution textures. Normally it sells for $29, but now through Monday, November 26th you can save 75% with the coupon code “ptbbf“. That means you’ll get 125 textures for just $7.25!
See it here

WPEngine: Big Discount on Managed WordPress Hosting

WPEngineWPEngine is one of the best providers of hosting specifically for WordPress. They offer expert WP support, EverCache technology to speed up your site, backup and security, and much more. Now through Monday, November 26th you can save $25 off each of your first 3 months of hosting, That means you can get expert WP hosting for as little as $4 per month! Use the coupon code “blackcyber” when you are entering payment information.
See it here

Get Hosting for $3.95 Per Month with BlueHost

BlueHostBlueHost is one of the best options for low-cost shared hosting. Their prices are low, but the services is more reliable than most shared hosting providers. You can now get hosting for as little as $3.95 per month, down from the regular price of $6.95. We use BlueHost for some of our own websites and we’ve been very happy with them. No coupon code is needed for this deal.
See it here.

Save 50% – 80% on Hosting with HostGator

HostGatorHostGator, one of the world’s largest hosting companies, is offering significant discounts on their already low prices. The specific discount depends on the hosting plan that you choose, but details are provided at their website. No coupon code is needed and the offer is available on Black Friday (November 23) and Cyber Monday (November 26).
See it here

205 Photoshop Actions for $17

PhotographyPla.netPhotographyPla.net is offering their full set of 205 Photoshop actions at a discount of 93%! This includes 14 different action sets that normally sell for a total of $238. Now through Monday, November 26th you can get this deal here, no coupon code needed.
See it here

Big Discount on StudioPress and Copyblogger Products

StudioPressStudioPress is one of the leading providers of high-quality WordPress themes. Their Genesis Framework is a great option, and they also have a big selection of child themes to use with Genesis. Now through Monday, November 26th you can save 25% on any purchase! In addition, you can also save big on the Premise WP plugin for sales and lead generation. There is no coupon coded needed, but you must visit this link at Copyblogger first.

Save 30% at ThemeShift

ThemeShiftThemeShift offers a variety of premium WordPress themes, including real estate themes, portfolio themes, business themes, and blogging/news themes. Now through Monday, November 26th you can save 30% on any purchase at ThemeShift with the coupon code “TSBLACKFRIDAY30“.
See it here.

Save 30% on wpCasa (WordPress Real Estate Framework)

wpCasawpCasa is a WordPress theme/framework created specifically for real estate websites. It has a ton of features like customizable layouts, property management, and optional IDX/MLS integration. Now through Monday, November 26th you can save 30% on wpCasa with the coupon code “WPCBLACKFRIDAY30“.
See it here.

Save 40% at Themify on Any Theme or Membership

ThemifyThemify is offering an amazing 40% discount on any of their WordPress themes or even on a membership to get access to all of their themes. This discount is available through Monday, November 26th, no coupon code is needed.
See it here.

Save 60% at FlareThemes

FlareThemesFlareThemes is another provider of premium WordPress themes. They currently have 5 premium themes to choose from, and they’re offering a huge discount of 60% and any purchase. From now until Monday, November 26th you can get the discount by using the coupon code “BLASTOFF“.
See it here.

MightyDeals: 83% Off The Bricks UI Bundle

MightyDealsMightyDeals has a special offer on The Bricks, a massive UI set from DesignModo. Today only you can get The Bricks developer’s license for $49 instead of $289. No coupon code is needed.
See it here.

Save 80% at ThemeSpectrum

ThemeSpectrumThemeSpectrum currently has 8 different premium themes to choose from, and you can get any of them for 80% off. This deal lasts now through Monday, November 26th and no coupon code is needed.
See it here

Save 33% at Udemy

UdemyToday only, you can save 33% on any course at Udemy with the coupon code “BLACKFRIDAY“.
See it here

Save 33% at WPZoom

WPZoomWPZoom offers premium WordPress themes individually as well as by membership. Now through Monday, November 26th you can save 33% on any theme or membership with the coupon code “BLACK2012“.
See it here.

Save 75% at Tokokoo

TokokooTokokoo is a leading provider of e-commerce themes for WordPress. They have a wide variety of themes to choose from, and you can save 75% through November 27th with the coupon code “BLACKFRIDAY“.
See it here.

Black Friday Bundle from InkyDeals

InkyDealsInkyDeals has put together a bundle valued at $1,989 and is offering it for just $49. The bundle includes illustrations, vector packs, Photoshop brushes, Photoshop actions, textures, fonts, and more. No coupon code is needed.
See it here.

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of our affiliate links we receive a commission.

Comment to Win 205 Premium Photoshop Actions!

Get quality hosting for as little as $3.95 per month with Bluehost.

Our friends at PhotographyPla.net have offered to give all of their current Photoshop actions to 5 lucky readers of the Vandelay Design Blog! PhotographyPla.net is a new site that offers high-quality Photoshop actions for a variety of different types of photo effects.

PhotographyPla.net

Photoshop actions can be extremely helpful for speeding up your photo editing process, and for experimenting and getting some cool effects. PhotographyPla.net currently has 14 different sets, totaling 205 individual actions. The regular price to purchase all of these actions would be $238, but you can enter to win them for free by leaving a comment on this post. Also, they are offering a launch special through the end of November. Save 50% on any purchase with the coupon code “LAUNCH”. So if you aren’t one of the lucky winners you can still get a nice discount if you are looking for some quality Photoshop actions.

One of the things that you’ll really like about the actions from PhotographyPla.net is that they can be edited and customized as needed. Each action is non-destructive and leaves the original photo layer untouched, so if you don’t like the results of the action you can simply delete the layers or groups created by the action. The layers and adjustment layers created by the actions can be edited very easily, which makes them useful even if the default action doesn’t look perfect on your photo.

Here is a preview of the 14 sets that are included in this giveaway. You can see more before and after preview images by clicking on any of the links.

15 Sunrise & Sunset Actions

15 Sunrise & Sunset Actions

12Faux HDR Actions

12Faux HDR Actions

15 Autumn Actions

15 Autumn Actions

12 Vintage Actions – Vol. 1

12 Vintage Actions - Vol. 1

10 Vintage Actions – Vol. 2

10 Vintage Actions - Vol. 2

15 Vintage Actions – Vol. 3

15 Vintage Actions - Vol. 3

10 Black & White Actions

10 Black & White Actions

10 Cross Processing Actions

10 Cross Processing Actions

10 Natural Light Actions

10 Natural Light Actions

18 Soft Colors Actions

18 Soft Colors Actions

11 Faded & Hazy Actions

11 Faded & Hazy Actions

36 Light Leaks Actions

36 Light Leaks Actions

10 Monochromatic Actions

10 Monochromatic Actions

21 Tones Adjustments Actions

21 Tones Adjustments Actions

Some of the photos used for the preview images shown above are copyright Astrogony and martinak15.

Giveaway Details:

To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. The winners will be selected at random on Tuesday, November 27th. At that time, this post will be updated to announce the winners, and the winners will also be contacted by email. The actions require Photoshop CS4, CS5, or CS6.

Comment to Win the Learn to Design Bundle!

Our friends at Stack Social have offered to give a great prize to one lucky reader of the Vandelay Design Blog! They’re currently running a promo called the Learn to Design Bundle, which is a collection of 10 comprehensive online courses from Udemy that teach different aspects of design. If you’re interested in learning some new things and improving your skills, this is a great opportunity.

Learn to Design Bundle

What’s Included in the Learn to Design Bundle?

Create Responsive Web Design
Over 11 lectures and 1.5 hours of content. In the video course you will create a web design that makes use of HTML5 and CSS3, while maintaining backwards compatibility with older browsers. In addition to adjusting your design layout, you’ll explore using CSS to define all imagery in the design, allowing you to send optimized imagery along with our customized design experience.

Create Engaging Websites With Twitter Bootstrap
Over 24 lectures and 1 hour of content. Online course includes HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Photoshop templates you can use for your own projects.

Design Custom WordPress Themes With Dreamweaver
Over 33 lectures and 4 hours of content.Build custom themes, build amazing responsive SEO friendly WordPress websites using WordPress and Adobe Dreamweaver.

Design A Logo From Scratch
Over 41 lectures and 2.5 hours of content. Take a logo design brief from a client and carry out the project all the way to completion.

InDesign CS6 MasterClass
Over 120 lectures and 13.5 hours of content. Learn how to use the power of InDesign CS6 without any prior knowledge.

Photoshop CS6 Crash Course
Over 67 lectures and 4 hours of content. Learn how to use the power of CS6 without any prior knowledge.

Illustrator CS6 Beginner Course
Over 118 lectures and 9.5 hours of content. Instruction is for beginners and advanced users.

Learn Audition CS6 The Easy Way
Over 88 lectures and 12 hours of content. Become an audio editing wizard.

Learn To Master Encore CS6
Over 74 lectures and 8.5 hours of content. Create top quality DVDs and Blue-ray discs.

The Premiere Pro CS6 Bootcamp Course
Over 18 lectures and 2.5 hours of content. Will help take your video editing skills to the next level.

With this bundle you’ll get access to the content of these courses and you’ll be able to go through them at your own pace. There is no expiration, once you have access you can login and view course content at any time. All you need is an internet connection.

For more details please see Stack Social’s page for this bundle.

Contest Rules:

The contest rules are simple. If you’d like to enter all you need to do is leave a comment on this post to express your interest. The winner will be selected at random on Wednesday, October 31. At that time this post will be updated to announce the winner, and the winner will also be contacted by email. A coupon code will be provided to the winner to allow access to the courses. That coupon code must be redeemed by November 8th. Once you have access you will be able to login to Udemy at any point in the future to follow the courses at your own pace.