become our authorContributors
in .psd magazine should have a style, insight and passion for what
they do and show it in their contribution. Authors, designers,
creators in one word artists come from all creative industries at all levels.
.psd Magazine strives to be increasingly innovative with every
issue. That's why each article,tutorial is unique and selected based on
a specific set of criteria.
Look on the info below and find out how you can get involved by contributing articles, artwork designs, and more...
Can I submit an article for .psd?
Of course, you can. .psd magazine is open to all external
submissions, independent on who you are. All that counts is what you
know and how will you explain it to others. See below for
more information.
IMPORTANT: You need to own the pictures you use in your contribution or have the copy right to it.
What kind of articles does .psd look for?
The mission of .psd is theory through practice. All our articles are prepared with that in mind, and so should be yours .
If
you're wondering what theory through practice means, try to adhese to
the following rules: Do not try to write a man page. Man pages are
examples of... theory through theory. Have you ever tried to use
a completely new application straight by looking at the man page?
How long did it take you to reach information on how to use the tool in
practice, going through various option descriptions etc.? Well, this is
not what our readers want.
Our articles can be compared best to tutorials or howtos. These are examples of theory through practice.
What
has to be done, how to do it, what are the risks associated with
every step and what are your practical experiences with every step .
If you're still wondering if your approach is right, feel free to
contact us.
We don't bite! We're here to help you prepare the best article there can be.
Ok, I want to write.
How do I start?
- The first step will be for you to propose a subject you
specialise in and you'd like to write about. You don't have to be the
top specialist in the world in that subject (although it's nice if you
are). If you are a student and you have an interesting idea, you
can write about it just as well as if you were the top specialist in
Photoshop Usage. What matters is the quality of the article or
tutorial, its' completness, corectness, ease of reading, how
interesting it is etc.
- When we agree on the subject matter (we have to talk first
to see whether this subject has been written about in the past, whether
it's interesting for our readers etc.), then comes the article outline
or completed work of the tutorial. The article's outline is to show
structure and the approach to the subject matter. A good detailed
outline is the best way to see what the final article will look like,
and a great help for you to write the article afterwards.
- When the outline is agreed and accepted, you can start to
write the article. When it's complete, it will be read by our editorial
team and you will receive comments and suggestions as to possible
changes. Then it will also be sent to our betatesting team, which might
give you more suggestions on how to change or expand the article. When
this is complete, the article will be published and most probably
translated to other languages and published in other .psd editions.
writing tips
- Every tutorial/article must have a concrete title, for
example ?Robo-mouse: of Mice and Machines,? and not simply ?Mouse?
Two-part titles are the norm.
- Each article or tutorial should announce 2-3 goals i.e (Learning the positive aspects of different modes for mixing,
encouraging the use of key-board shortcuts,
demonstrating how even the dullest of pictures can be used to create interesting graphics)
- Each article/tutorial should begin with a short
introduction, in which the goal of the exercise is clearly stated, and in
which the reader learns what abilities he will gain, and in which projects he can eventually utilize the end results of his newly won
knowledge.
For example:
Surely each of us has old, black and white photos in their family
albums. They are usually slightly damanged, torn or bent out of shape ?
following many years of use, the paper slowly degrades. Color photos
are also prone to deformation; becoming pale, yellowing and even
staining in some cases. In this exercise, we?ll show you how to
effectively restore your old photographs ?to life? ? making them seem
totally phaseout by the passage of time.
- Every tutorial ought to be divided into specific
stages/portions (each stage/portion should have a title, written
with a small letter). The maximum amount of words in one
stage/portion should be 550.
For Example:
proper restoration
Stemplem (Clone Stamp Tool) can be used to get rid of all types of
dirt, discoloration, stains, marks or wrinkles on a photograph.
The principle by which this tool operates is, contrary to what you
might think, very simply ? it merely duplicates a chosen segment
of the picture and moves it to a new area. All you need to
do is press the [alt] button, indicate a fragment of the
total that you want to duplicate, and then clone it. In this, and all
similar restoration cases, the distance between the test segment and
the segment which will be improved ought to be minimal.
smoothing
The following stage is smoothing particular elements in the picture and
giving them the proper texture. The biggest challenge here is hair ? it
is very hard to restore hair in the face of numerous forms of damage.
We are not, however, completely helpless in this respect. Using Smudge
Tool we can change the direction in which the hair is composed. Using
Blur Tool we can blur edges which are too sharp on account of the
cloning process.
- It is necessary to use the proper vocabulary (provided by us)
when describing tools, commands, options, filters.
If, in the place of tool names, filters, or other options we simply use
shorthand in the form of keyboard keys, then we must present them in
the following way:
- In the aim of setting the picture, activate the following measures: [Ctrl]+[R]...
- Next, using [Ctrl]+[T] rotate the segment with the picture...
- Combine the correcting layer with the photo layer using [Ctrl]+[E]...
- All texts must have their spelling checked and be
stylistically and theoretically correct as well as being relatively
comprehensible and direct.
- Each step should be illustrated by screen captures
demonstrating the effect of the step in consecutive order, for example
screen caps of the pallet, or of the tools. There should be 2-3 screen
caps for each step. The screen caps should be composed in photo-shop
(english version).
IMPORTANT: The illustrations ought to be
created using for 1024x768 monitors, saved in 72dpi, using RGB
coloration and in .jpg format. The illustration screen caps should be
consecutively named 01.jpeg ? final effect following step x, 01a.jpeg,
for example illustration of how to set filter, 01b.jpeg ? for example
illustration of pallet layer. The illustration screen caps cannot take
up the entire screen; they ought to be sized to fit within particular
windows.
- Each tutorial/article should consist of a short ending ?
a kind of summary of the steps taken, the effect achieved,
potential uses and the like.
For Example:
We have learned how to heal our photographs of the ailments that time
brings ? thanks to this we can enjoy their magic for our entire lives.
Don?t waste a moment of time; you can preserve your dreams,
happiness and sadness today ? you can preserve the memories contained
in these old photographs.
- It is necessary to send the end result of the work in
a photoshop file with the layers of all files which are necessary
to execute a given exercise.
- Each article must also contain a short note about the author and his picture.
- If you end up with an odd number of steps, you must add
a hint or some sort of keyboard shorthand to fill up the gap
following the last step.
- There must be sub-titles in the articles, and the general
guidelines for articles are the same; commands and shorthands are
written similarly.
- File names cannot have spaces or Polish accent marks.
Rules for cooperation
To get whole info about cooperation, please contact with .psd editors
General info
- Date of publication: first day of the month in which the article will be published.
- Editorial page : 4000 symbols and iapproximately 3 pictures .
- Contract: contract(publisher agreement) is being send to the
author with the authorial issue not longer than one week after the
article is published.
- Personal info should be attached to the article(photo will be nice addition).
- In extreme situation editorial staff will allow to publish under the author's nickname.
- Preffered material's format:
general text format- .sxw(OpenOffice).
picture format- TIFF, BMP, TGA.
- Royalty
We pay 25Euro (for one ditorial page, it means 3800-4000symbols). If
the article is really good and interesting, editorial staff can decide
to increase the royalty. Author gets the royalty for published number
of pages not for as many as he/she will send.
- Deadline
Article should be send 50 days before publishing date (ie.article to
the may issue should be send till 10th march. Author will be informed
about publishing hisher article till the end of the month preceeding
publication. If there is no info,it doesn't mean that it won't be
published, it may be published in one of the following issues. After
the author received decision about publication, he/she should send
his/her personal details which are necessary to fill the agreement
form:
- first and last name
- father's and mothe's first name
- date and place of birth
- ID Number
- TIN number
- Adress and ZIP code
- Bank account
After 7 days of publication the author/publisher's agreement will
be sent with the attached published issue of .psd. The contract should
be signed and sent back within two weeks.
The Software Publishing House reserves the right to refuse
publishing without explanation, and the right to editing texts and
making some changes. Failure to observe above mentioned conditions,
especially deadlines, can influence on the royalty.
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