Hey guys, how are you?
It's been a while since my last "Go For It" article.

This time, I want to share with you some websites I consider important and helful for every artist & designer.
Since I started my Graphic design course, my teachers have been sharing some cool websites that, like I said, can be extremely helpful in many different ways.

This is just a small example to get you guys inspired. I encourage you to search and explore because I'm sure that there are tons of great websites especialized in art & design.
So... let's go for it!!




Pantone.com

Pantone's website offers all the color guides available. If you're interested in getting into business for real, these color guides are a must have. They can be a bit expensive but, eBay has everything a person needs right? (cof cof)
"The Pantone Color Matching System is largely a standardized color reproduction system. By standardizing the colors, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colors match without direct contact with one another. One such use is standardizing colors in the CMYK process." - Winkipedia source.




PhotoshopUserTV.com

Photoshop User TV is a website with live episodes showing video tutorials with everything there is to know about Photoshop. All videos are done by Photoshop professionals and tutorials are completed with their personal tips and opinions. More than 200 episodes available and also the posibility to participate in Contests and contact the professionalss with your doubts and questions.




Adobe Marketplace & Exchange

Placed in Adobe's website, Adobe Marketplace & Exchange offers a large range of resources and goodies for your Adobe softwares. Either actions, brushes, patterns or 3D.. (the list goes on and on), everything you need to make your Adobe softwares even richer... and all with Abobe's "thumbs up".




Kuler.adobe.com

In my opinion, Kuler is the best thing that my Photoshop teacher presented to us.
Kuler is "the web-hosted application for generating color themes that can inspire any project. No matter what you're creating, with Kuler you can experiment quickly with color variations and browse thousands of themes from the Kuler community".
Want to design a Logo, a Website, (etc) for a Restaurant? - (example)- Just write the key word "restaurant" and lots of color combinations will come up, especially for that theme. Matching colors, theme focused.... everything you need.
This website can really help you to get half the way done. You can also import the color charts directly to your Adobe software. They explain how to do it on the website.




LogoPond.com

Precious website everytime you need inspiration for your designs. Need to design a logo but inspiration is lacking hard time? LogoPond is your solution. Please have in mind that the logos are registered and that copying is bad; copying will make your head fall off (lol).... but getting inspiration from them, to create something yours is always welcome.




BrandsOfTheWorld.com

This website has the same purpose as LogoPond. Here you can find all the best and most creative logos & designs. The best thing is that you can also access to Stock Logos where you can buy awsome exclusive and professional logos and, where you can also sell your original and unique logos. Pretty cool right?


--

Well, I hope you liked this Article and, most of all, I hope you find it useful for your needs.
Either you're an Artist or a Designer (or even both), for sure you'll find something useful over here.

Oh.. and if you have some other cool websites in mind, please share them with me in the comments area.
Thank you!

Previous "Go for it" Articles:

• Go for it - Photoshop Actions
• Go for it - Photoshop Tutorials
• Go for it - Photoshop Brushes
• Go for it - Protect Your Art



Hello guys, how are you?
It's been a while since my last "Go for it" Article so, I guess the time has come to create a new one.
Since mostly all my "Go for it" Articles are digital art related, this time I'm going for Stock Photos!
I hope you find the article useful for your needs!




#FAQ 217 What are "Stock Photos" and can I use "Stock Photos" in my submissions?</a>

"Stock images are images that are posted somewhere with the express intent that it may be used by other artists in their own artwork. Use of these images in this fashion are subject to the artist's license, which may or may not require the payment of fees.

The use of stock imagery at deviantART is permissible if and only if you can provide a link to the source of the stock image along with some kind of proof that you have satisfied the terms of the stock image license.
Please remember to follow all terms and conditions which might be attached to the stock by the provider. Some of the more common terms are non-commercial use only and a requirement to link back to the stock provider but terms can vary greatly so be certain to check.
(...)
Please be aware that not all websites are considered legitimate stock imagery resources. Only the legal owner of the imagery has the ability to offer the work as a stock resource- if the 'stock' website includes images taken from print or film, or includes photographs featuring celebrities or supermodels then you may rest assured that it is not a valid resources site. Likewise "Render" websites are not valid stock sources as they offer copyrighted materials which have been cut apart and which are offered by people without the legal right to do so.

Also be aware that the lack of obvious copyright information does not imply that the imagery is free for use.(...)"
_{this text is part of deviantArt's FAQ 217. Click on the title in order to read the full text information.}

♦♦

Like stated on the above text, not all sources provide valid and legal stock resources. For example, search engines like Google are not valid sources to do stock research.
There are specific websites containing valid resources; some for free and some for purchase.
DeviantArt is a wonderful place to find amazing stock photos but, please ALWAYS read carefully each stocker rules.

♦♦

Here's a list of some valid and legal stock websites:

• stock.xchng - Free

• STOCKXPERT - For Purchase

• morgueFile - Free

• ShutterStock - For Purchace

• Image*After - Free

• dreamstime - Free & For Purchase

• Getty Images - For Purchase

• freerange - Free

• FreePhotosbank - Free

• imagebase - Free

♦♦

Here's a list of some amazing stock you can find on deviantArt:
_{to search for more stock, just make your research on  Resources & Stock Images > Stock Images or write what you're looking for in the Search Bar}


• Female Model stock
:thumb135412240: :thumb135466346: :thumb135217120: :thumb134723282: :thumb135153676: :thumb134735493:

Mature Content

:thumb132155376:


• Male Model stock
:thumb67130872:

Mature Content

:thumb99611804:

Mature Content

Mature Content

Mature Content

• Children stock
:thumb133218262: :thumb133482174: :thumb134135383: :thumb92176936: :thumb25739950: :thumb27266573: :thumb90743175: :thumb110427644: :thumb73343139: :thumb72252315:


• Animal stock
:thumb50009637: :thumb43626002: :thumb50009867: :thumb134630786:


• Nature stock
:thumb64500184: :thumb82231402: :thumb128701448: :thumb132163072:

Mature Content

:thumb134121937: :thumb134823086: :thumb54238969:


• Places stock
:thumb63749917: :thumb93650912: :thumb134365663: :thumb135376144:


• Objects stock
:thumb135503821: :thumb135518033: :thumb135422228:

Mature Content

:thumb134922680: :thumb132672235:


....And there are much, much more. I'm just showing a very small part of everything you can find all over deviantArt and other stock websites.


Next "Go for it" Article will be about Textures.

Hey guys, how are you?



It's been a while since my last "Go for it" Article.
This time I'm bringing you something different. This time it's not about Photoshop; this time it's about protecting your work.

More and more artists are facing situations such as stolen works, unauthorize use, ripping, etc. We, as artists, are always trying to protect our work but, sometimes nothing seems enough.
For you to fully protect your work it's always adviced that you register and copyright your work, either it's paintings, photographies, digital art, literature, websites, blogs, etc.



So, what is ©Copyright?

In a general way, "Copyright is a form of intellectual property which gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation; after which time the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete. Some jurisdictions also recognize "moral rights" of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work.
Copyright has been internationally standardized, lasting between fifty to a hundred years from the author's death, or a finite period for anonymous or corporate authorship; some jurisdictions have required formalities to establishing copyright, most recognize copyright in any completed work, without formal registration. Generally, copyright is enforced as a civil matter, though some jurisdictions do apply criminal sanctions."
- original definition taken from Winkipedia.

I also advice a close reading to What Is Copyright? which contains many pertinent and important information.

In a general way, and according to many jurisdictions' laws, registering and giving your work a copyright, may cost you some money.
Fortunately there are some websites speciallized in registering and giving you full copyright of your work.
Let's see 2 of them:



My Free Copyright - www.myfreecopyright.com

• How does it work?
"MyFreeCopyright.com provides a third-party, non-repudiation, registered dating of your original digital creation. By using this service, you publicly associate your digital copyright and defined rights to you." (taken from MyFreeCopyrights FAQs)

• How do I protect my art on MyFreeCopyright.com?
You create an account and add your personal information. After this initial step, you have to upload your works or website info, etc. Next, a "digital fingerprint" of your original work is captured, logged and stored. After this procedure you'll be receiving an e-mail with the "fingerprint" code proving your registry and legal rights of your work.
Everytime you submit a copyright protection on MyFreeCopyright, all the information is gathered on a list which contains the copyright information about your work, the "fingerprint" code and all the extra information you added.
Everytime you need to, you have that proof of registry and copyright of your creations. MyFreeCopyright cannot provide legal action but, the information contained in your account have legal value in order too prove the copyrights of your work.



Safe Creative - www.safecreative.org

• How does it work?
"As the author you have personal and patrimonial rights over your work and you will always have to prove that you are the author, to be able to make use of these rights, or to avoid copyright infringement by others. To do this Safe Creative, a free platform for registration and accreditation, supports authors providing legal valid proof. (taken from SafeCreative.org FAQs)

• How do I protect my art on SafeCreative.org?</i>
The procedure is very similar.
You create an account with all your personal information. Then you have to upload the file you want to register and add copyright. You have to add all the pertinent information regarding that same work and choose the type of license you want. During the registry of you work it's possible to choose the type of license and learn the differences between each type.
Once again, this registry will grant you a legal proof that you are the owner and author of your work, giving you full copyright of it.
SafeCreative.org can't offer you direct legal actions but all registries are legal in the court of law.


I advice you to read both websites FAQs because they gather very important and valid information regarding your copyrights and ownership as artists.

For now I'm familiarized with these 2 websites for free copyright registry. For sure there are others.
This is a great step to allow you to regiter your work as your won and give you full rights over it.
If necessary, with these websites you have the legal information to prove you are the real authors of your work and noone else instead.
You just have too check them out and choose which one you like the best; or if you want to, register your work in both websites.
Protect yourselves and your work in advanced.
Be safe!



I hope you find this article useful for your needs.
LuneBleu