Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator Keyboard Shortcut Tips

Posted on October 29th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Design.

From Tips and Tric…

When creating in Illustrator and Photoshop I often like to look at my designs from different viewpoints.
Here are a few keyboard shortcuts I frequently use.

  • “Ctrl +” and “Ctrl -” (Mac’s use the Command key)
    • “+” Zoom you in and “-” Zooms you out.
      • Zooming out lets you see design elements in relation to each other. Zooming in lets you catch any stray pixels that you might miss.
  • “Ctrl 0″
    • This centers you on your document at the largest size it can fit in your computer window.
  • “Shift Tab”
    • This clears all palettes except the Toolbox so I can get a good enough view of my work without the Text, History, Swatches, etc. panels in my way but at the same time I still have access to the Toolbox

This is by no means an exhaustive list but I was just working on some new designs, used Shift Tab and decided to write a post about it.

If there’s interest, I’ll add more posts like these. Meanwhile, feel free to share your own most used keyboard shortcuts by commenting below!

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CafePress Connect Latest Pictures

Posted on October 26th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: CP Connect.

Looks like this is nearly the last batch of pictures from the first CafePress conference.

This pic is from Hectic’s collection (click on the picture to see it larger and be taken to his flickr set). This was shown during the opening speech by Fred and Maheesh where they showed how CafePress’s website has evolved. I became a CafePress shopkeepr in 2001 and it didn’t look like this so this must have been from 1999 or 2000.

Kristen (Fox Vox) has her flickr set here.

CafePress’s Angela Low, Community Manager and *fabulous* person, has also uploaded some of her personal pictures and tagged them you can see those as well as the official CafePress photographer’s pictures and everyone else’s in this flickr tag set.

Off of the flickr system you can see pictures from Jean (Rotem Gear), over on her hosted page.

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McDonald’s Money Making Post - Follow Up

Posted on October 26th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Marketing.

Well, it’s official. I have been paid to blog. I have $10 in my PayPal account because of the promotion. I haven’t seen any referral money (the second way you can benefit) but knowing that they did follow through on the “$10 if your post is picked promise” is reassuring.

They are still seeking posts if you’d like to try it for yourself. The link to the program is in the “widget” at the bottom of my original post on the topic if you missed it.

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Graphics Tutorial: Pop Art Inspired by Lichtenstein

Posted on October 25th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Design.

Pop Art Tutorial

Here’s a great Photoshop tutorial for creating Lichtenstein style pop art (in case you need a memory jog, Lichtenstein pop art pieces often featured emotional damsels in distress who cry out in comic book bubbles).

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eComXpo Has Started

Posted on October 24th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Marketing.

eComXpo

I almost forgot about this, having signed up so long ago.

eComXpo

It’s a virtual conference and floor show, you can watch presentations and explore the “floor show” where you can chat live with representatives from many companies, and get free goodies. Last time I attended I got $50 worth of free clicks from Yahoo’s ad network. There are also a lot of prize giveaways and a chat lounge for attendees.

While attending the expo you can still surf around and use your computer as you normally would, literally right now I am typing this while listening to the second keynote of the day about Google Analytics. Presentations are available after the show has ended but you need to pay to access most of the presentations.

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McDonald’s Monopoly Game and a Money Making Post

Posted on October 23rd, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Marketing.

McDonald's Monopoly

This post could alternatively be called, “Procrastination Can Lead to Strange Things”.

First, the back story. As most of you reading this probably know, I recently went on a road trip to attend CafePress Connect, a conference in San Francisco. On the way there I ate at McDonalds and took a cell phone picture meaning to talk about their Monopoly promotion. I didn’t get a chance to send it but it turns out it’s come in handy anyway.

Why? Two reasons. The first is now I can say what I meant to say then… McDonald’s Monopoly promotion, dispite having some problems, is their most popular promotion. I think it’s a great example of how a successful campaign taps into a shared theme. In this case, who among us has not played Monopoly? Who has not had the thrill of collecting all lots in a certain color group?

Heck, this promotion is so far reaching that when my friend and I arrived at my brother’s in San Francisco we talked about the promotion and he was saddened that I hadn’t remembered to take my pieces off the table after taking my picture so I could give them to him!
What does that mean for us T-shirt folks? Well it means go out and spend big bucks to tie into Monopoly! No. It means, go out and partner with McDonald’s because they are brilliant! Probably still not in your budget. But really, it means, tap into what your customers cherish in their childhood. Playing monopoly while eating my fries sure took me back. Though I must say I appreciated my chicken sandwich option which wasn’t available back then.

On to reason two of why the picture has come in handy. I’m sure you have noticed the widget in this post by now. It is a “Conversation widget”. If you join the conversation and also blog about McDonald’s I will get a referral fee, I believe I will also get money just by writing this blog post if it gets featured (one of the requisites is having a current picture from McDonald’s). Talk about another interesting promotion! Blog about McDonald’s, get featured in the widget and see what others have posted, and get money. Sounds a little snarky doesn’t it? Well it’s all “transparent” as you can see so to me this is better than folks posing as bloggers but really being ad folks. On my end, I’m just going to take advantage of the opportunity since I’m already procrastinating going to bed. We’ll see if it does as well as their Monopoly deal.

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Javascript Code to Auto Update Copyright Year

Posted on October 21st, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Website Tips.

Still pumped from CP Connect, I’ve been working on sprucing up some of my websites. Before I even got to more complicated things I noticed my copyright would soon be out of date. Copyright years for US residents should read the date of creation of the website to the last date the website was altered. In the case of my climbing site my copyright is from 2002 - 2006. I’ve used a javascript to auto update the last year for some other websites I own but I didn’t do it for this one for some reason. While googling for the script I used in the past, I came across an easier one to use which might help some of you out as well.

Here’s the explanation and cut and paste code. Essentially, you change the year to the first year you created your website and then drop the script where you’d want the copyright statement to appear and then add your name in regular html after it. If the year is any year but what you put in the copyright will be change to read 2005 - 2006 (or whatever the current year is).

As my friend Adam might say, easey peasey!

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CafePress Connect - Overview

Posted on October 21st, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: CP Connect.

I made this shirt during the conference. I’ve decided it’s my official shirt for the Conference and this Blog.

While the sentiment may seem a bit flippant, I see its existence as a direct example of how inspiring CP Connect was for me. In fact, I thought up the design when I realized I was spending a lot of time during my trip simply attending the conference (ok, I did have *some* fun nights out, wink wink) but I wasn’t doing any of the usual “tourist” stuff. Golden Gate Bridge? The old cliche, “Been there, done that” came to mind. My addition then was… “Been there. Done That. Made the T-shirt”. And then, because I was so hyped up about the Conference, having been immersed in brilliant minds all weekend, I actually created the design, uploaded it and made a section for it.

So how was the conference really? It was terrific. It was “better than I expected it would be”, as I only half jokingly told one of its key coordinators. I should explain that statement. I’ve been to a lot of conventions and conferences as attendee, as a vendor, as a guest panelist, as press and as a coordinator. I’ve seen them from all angles and I can tell you that a company’s first conference is usually not a smooth one.

CafePress Connect exceeded my expectations in most ways and merely met them in others. Where CafePress Connect only gained satisfactory marks from me were in the accomodations. The host hotel was more quaint and charming than practical and soundproof, though I did appreciate the discount rate offered to conference goers. Fort Mason’s main building was great but the secondary building was stuffy and a little claustrophobic. Additionally, I appreciated the walking distance location of the hotel to the venue but was also disappointed that it did not have parking.
Where CP Connect exceeded my expectations was in the people aspect of things, which, when it comes down to it, is the most important part of a conference. I was surprised to see so many CafePress employees not only attending but remaining accessible throughout the whole weekend. In so many other conferences key employees would only have limited “face time” with conference goers and there would inevitably be a “back room” where they would disappear to. At CP Connect the CEO (Fred) and VP (Maheesh), co-founders of CafePress, not only hung out all weekend but would even approach convention goers to strike up conversations. I saw members of CafPress legal there as well and we all know how difficult a topic that can be. Shopkeeper panelists were also approachable throughout the weekend. After my own panel for instance, I was checking my schedule just like everyone else.

A nice surprise was the keynote speaker, Michael Dearing, former eBay exec and current Stanford teacher. I enjoyed his speech and noticed he was surrounded after his talk. For some reason I hadn’t expected a keynote speaker at the conference at all though I can’t say why. He gave us tips on business but also invited us to a program he’d like to start at Stanford where business students could take on our businesses as projects. His school is d.school.

Other Surprises

I loved seeing examples of every product and color CafePress carries. It was great to be able to touch the fabrics, see the colors, etc. The organic cotton t-shirts are super soft and not as thin as I had thought (they looked tissue paper thin to me in the online pictures). My favorite clothing item is still the unisex hoodie. Great weight, quality item. The new products were the surprise. Navy blue tees, women’s long sleeves shirts in white, brown and black and khaki green t-shirts. These were passed around and my head swam with ideas. No date yet for when these products will be available to us but I had a feeling they were eager to get them live.
The other surprise was the announcement of a real CafePress API. They showed a great example of what this means by showing http://www.click-shirt.com which is an example of what you can do with the API but can also be used as a design tool for shopkeepers.

The Panels

I have a limited view on these because I was on two panels: The Top Shopkeeper Strategies one, and the Niche Marketing one. I think both went well and I had others tell me so, but I’ll not expect you to take my word for it either way. If there’s interest I’ll probably make my information available on this website as separate posts. As for the other panels, I enjoyed the ones I was able to attend and learned something from each one. Even the third party tool presentation, with the emphasis being on tools I had already seen online and even downloaded, was helpful because the creators were explaining it themselves and pointing out features I had glossed over when I read the notes online. For instance I didn’t realize you could use either Jen’s tool, Yourdatafeed.com or Adam’s tool Instant-cafe.com as a handy way to just search CafePress or search for your own items. And, of course, both Jen (jgoode) and Adam (buytees) did a great job. The top shopkeeper discussion panel (not to be confused with the strategies one) was largely a feedback panel but it was good to hear the ideas that everyone had and to see when a point was made and see it sink in to the CafePress staff. The Pimp my Shop sessions were great because there was a direct example and specific advice for the lucky shopkeepers chosen from the audience to have their shops pimped. At the same time advice given was usually applicable to others shops as well. In a move which showed their willingness to respond to demand, CafePress squeezed in another Pimp My Shop session into the 2 hour lunch period Sunday since the weather was a little overcast and folks did not linger as long as they otherwise might have over lunch.

Goodies

I’ll mention a side note here on the food. For the cheap price of the conference tickets I would have expected pre-packaged lunch bag food both days of the conference. Instead we had fresh sandwich fixings with many bread choices for us to make things ourselves. We also had dessert options and… available all through the day… chips, cookies, granola bars, drinks, fruit and danishes! Not to mention special treats and alcoholic drinks during the Saturday night Happy Hour party. For $75 (early registration price) convention goers sure got a lot! My favorite was the carrot cake available with Sunday’s lunch, though the green CafePress 7 year anniversary cake was good too.

Another goody was, of course, the goody bag. From my past experience bags usually consist of schedules, other paper goods, maybe a pen or two and then one “main gift”. In my opinon the CafePress bag was a good haul. We got the tote bag (a CafePress one naturally), a mini button, a Holiday Prep guide, a schedule/notebook, a stamps.com pen, and then, in my mind, two “main gifts”. One being a 256 MB flash drive from Zanby and the other being Seth Godin’s book on marketing and business.
The Attendees

I was really happy to see a range of folks attending the conference. I was able to swap stories with other veteran shopkeepers but also talked about my experiences with new folks. Two gals who attended my Niche Shop panel didn’t even have CafePress accounts yet! I took the opportunity to tell them to use my store id, “offline” as their referral. Hey, never miss an opportunity right? It was a nice feeling to give back to the community, to tell my tales to folks just starting out. I made sure to let folks know that I was once on record for saying that I didn’t think you could make a living on CafePress. I’m glad I was wrong.

Fred Showing Chart of Shopkeeper Income

Conclusion

Well, I think one of the best indicators of how successful the conference was to me is my lengthened Projects list. I was inspired by the presentations I had seen and the people I met. I learned a lot of tips, even from the little holiday booklet they included in the bag. I feel almost overwhelmed by possiblities between store ideas, store layout changes, promotions I can run, and of course the world opened up by the API. I say “almost overwhelmed” because I believe in this one piece of advice I’ve heard and also given… never stop learning. It may take a while for some things to sink in, but don’t miss the chance to soak it all in and sort it out later.

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Conferences, Are They Worth It?

Posted on October 21st, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Offline Promotion, CP Connect.

I was going to make this post about the CP Connect Conference in general but I got side tracked with an important point. If you have never attended a conference on a subject you are interested in… attend one! This is not just relevant to the CafePress Connect conference but for any conference. In this day and age of information on the internet you might say, “What’s the point of traveling to a conference when I can probably learn what is going to be said by looking stuff up online or maybe even just watching the reports that get posted later on?”

Well, I’ll tell you. Nothing beats in-person interaction. There is a vast difference in looking something up online and being able to absorb it in person… and to be able to ask questions during a session or individually of the speaker later. There is also the factor of being able to discuss the topic with your fellow audience members after the presentation. Discussion can lead to enlightenment.

When you’re looking up something on the net, you *might* be able to post a question or engage in a discussion, say on message board forums about it, but when something is just-happened-live fresh, discussion is easier and more spontaneous. And getting a specific question answered right then and there, is, of course, priceless.

Another big bonus of attending a conference is the social aspect of being amongst peers. Don’t underestimate the value of this. In some cases a conference may be the only time some people get to speak to someone face to face about a topic that consumes a lot of their time. I know that before I attended my first video game conference, aside from my boyfriend and his friend, I had not met anyone else who played games as much as I did. Perhaps we were all freaks, but darn it, we were all freaks together! Attending a conference makes you realize that not only are you not alone, but you share some of the same passions and problems with others… and you can share solutions.

One might counter what I’ve said by saying you can get camaraderie online, through chats or message boards or even email exchanges. I say yes, this is true… to a certain point. Man (and by this I mean all of humankind) is a social animal. Like it or not there is something that is triggered when we are together. Brainstorm sessions work for a reason. People can feed off of other people’s energy. Before you know it, you are breaking out with new designs, new ideas, and a new outlook on the path of your business.

If this all sounds a little too touchy-feely for you, I apologize. But I must use this sort of language to explain the magic that can happen at a conference and no where else. You are with peers, you are often with professionals who influence your business to whom you can give direct feedback (CafePress staff showed up in force for that, let me tell you). You are immersed in this for 2 days (or more), away from your ordinary routine and regular distractions. Is it any wonder then that *during* the CP Connect I knocked out a new t-shirt design? Is it any wonder that though I was on two panels myself as a 5+ year veteran of CafePress and a longer eCommerce Veteran… I still learned something from a panel meant for beginners?

Alright, enough with these hard to measure benefits of conferences. I will throw out more practical reasons to attend a conference. They are tax write offs. You can deduct the price of the ticket, you can deduct travel and lodging. You can deduct 50% of your food and entertainment expenses. You can make business deals during a conference. You can get free stuff. You can learn about tools with practical, money saving applications. You can list your involvement in a conference on your resume or as something to show your seriousness to a would-be money lender or investor. You can learn things ahead of your competition. You can scope out your competition.

Well, there you go, an incomplete, and likely slightly incoherent, long winded response to a question.

Is attending a conference worth it?

Yes.

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Agree, disagree? Agree with a few exceptions? Reply and speak your piece!

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Rodney’s Flickr Pics from the Conference

Posted on October 19th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: CP Connect.

Rodney (a CafePress shopkeeper since 1999!) was kind enough to snap this shot of me with Fred and Maheesh.

You can see the rest of his fabulous photos here.

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