Photoshop expert sings: Ctrl-J, yo!
Click on the image above to watch "101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes," in which author Deke McClelland offers Photoshop tips to a beat.
Anyone who grew up in the era of Schoolhouse Rock's "I'm Just a Bill" knows the lasting educational value of a memorable ditty. If that little song could teach a generation about the progress of legislation on Capitol Hill, it's fair to assume that a rap number could do the same for Adobe Systems' Photoshop. That's the idea, at least.
Deke McClelland, author of a number of books and videos about Photoshop, is out with a music video called "101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes" in which he sings about image-editing software.
Yes, sings. And dances "like a crazy monkey." (Those are his words, not ours.)
"Wanna copy a layer? I say jump it. Ctrl-J," he sings sort of rapper-style, while hopping around frenetically next to a San Francisco freeway overpass. The video's producer, Flying Moose Pictures, has him freestyling his tips in other mean-streets locations--in front of barbed wire, for example, and in a darkened freight elevator.
"I'm king of the hill. I'm your 12-hour pill. You'll learn from me in time. Your attention is mine," McClelland growls into a microphone as the camera pans in for a black-and-white close-up. With videos this entertaining, the whole world could be resizing images--and refining their edges--like a pro.
The video belongs to the newly resurrected DekePod, a series of biweekly videos about computer graphics and digital imaging. Photoshop fans can subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
Leslie Katz, senior editor of CNET's Crave, covers gadgets, games, and most other digital distractions. As a co-host of the CNET News Daily Podcast, she sometimes tries to channel Terry Gross. E-mail Leslie.
