Graphic design practice embraces a range of cognitive skills, aesthetics and crafts, including typography, visual arts and page layout. Like other forms of design, graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated. It is usually viewed as a superset of technical illustration.
#21175
Digital Photography for the Web
Like digital photography? Here's a look at tools and tricks you can use to create great photos for your site.
Calore, Michael. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Web Design
#22506
A collection of links to online resources for desktop publishers interested in digital photography.
#30857
Digital Photography: Communication, Identity, Memory 
Taking photographs seems no longer primarily an act of memory intended to safeguard a family's pictorial heritage, but is increasingly becoming a tool for an individual's identity formation and communication. Digital cameras, cameraphones, photoblogs and other multipurpose devices are used to promote the use of images as the preferred idiom of a new generation of users. The aim of this article is to explore how technical changes (digitization) combined with growing insights in cognitive science and socio-cultural transformations have affected personal photography. The increased manipulation of photographic images may suit the individual's need for continuous self-remodelling and instant communication and bonding. However, that same manipulability may also lessen our grip on our images' future repurposing and reframing. Memory is not eradicated from digital multipurpose tools. Instead, the function of memory reappears in the networked, distributed nature of digital photographs, as most images are sent over the internet and stored in virtual space.
van Dijck, Jose. Visual Communication (2008). Articles>Graphic Design>Photography>Visual Rhetoric
#14687
Digital Photoreproduction for Documents and Books 
Smith describes the process of digital photoreproduction--the use of digital technology to scan images and save them to a storage medium. The article includes a list of addresses and Web sites for several companies that produce digital photoreproduction machines.
Smith, Gary M. Intercom (2001). Design>Graphic Design>Photography
#21863
It's easy enough to create an irregularly shaped image in Photoshop, but how do you get the rectangular background to disappear when you use that image on the Web or in a print-based layout? Here are some great techniques that'll help you focus on your subject.
Dayton, Linnea and Jack Davis. Adobe Magazine (1998). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design
#28687
Display 2.0: A Look Forward to the High-Definition Web and Its Effect on Our Digital Experience
The adoption of high-resolution displays--with 150 or more pixels per inch--will significantly alter our conception of what the Web and networked applications can potentially be. As the price of high-res displays comes down to earth and early adopters make way for mass consumers, beautiful visualizations of data will enrich the digital realm.
Follett, Jonathan. UXmatters (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Web Design>High Definition
#21492
Distance Measurement in Perspective
In isometric, it is possible to work directly with measurements only on the main axes. Here you can learn what you have to do if you need a measure beyond the main axes.
ITEDO Software (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Isometric
#27039
Dither Scatterplots with XSLT and SVG
Use XSLT and SVG to offset points in X-Y scatterplots so they do not plot on top of each other.
O'Reilly and Associates (2005). Articles>Graphic Design>XML>SVG
#21181
Dithering: Good, Bad, and Ugly
This piece discusses dithering in the context of Web graphics, and introduces the WebScrub image optimization algorithm developed by Todd Fahrner at Verso, realized as freely-downloadable Photoshop plug-ins for Mac and Windows, as well as scripts for the image-processing program DeBabelizer (MacOS only at present).
Fahrner, Todd. Cleverchimp (1997). Design>Graphic Design>Web Design
#28845
Do Too Many Graphics Reduce Sales Page Conversion Rates?
Optimizing an offer page to maximize the number of people who make a purchase or pay for a subscription is a delicate process. You need to get the balance just right.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2006). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>E Commerce
#28734
Documenting networks is playing less with words, and more with diagrams. It also requires an engineering mind, an ability to think out-of-box, and creative mind. Technical writers can rise to a new scale and expand their skill sets if they are able to document networks.
EDITsphere (2007). Articles>Documentation>Intranets>Graphic Design
#22548
Doing Illustrations: A Question of Accuracy and Fairness
Does the illustration I'm creating, or using, depict that person's race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, etc. accurately?
Colon, Aly. Poynter Online (2004). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
#23694
Most technical writers use much more care in choosing words than in presenting numbers. The writer who presents numbers poorly loses credibility. Poorly presented numbers also cause reader misunderstanding that leads to poor decisions.
Robbins, Naomi B. MetroVoice (2002). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Charts and Graphs
#23679
Don't Fool with Graphs, Part II 
Using evenly spaced tick marks to represent different time intervals is a common error which has been repeated several times in recent STC publications and presentations.
Robbins, Naomi B. MetroVoice (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Charts and Graphs
#25966
Don't Forget the Point-and-Shoot
When I travel, I sometimes don't want to lug around my gear bag, filled to the brim with two SLR bodies, several lenses, and accessories. Sometimes-especially at night and when I'm going to breakfast or lunch-I simply want to walk around, see the sights, and take some fun snapshots.
Sammon, Rick. Layers Magazine (2005). Design>Graphic Design>Photography
#21928
If you create technical art in Illustrator, check out these tips - in fact, check them out even if you don't.
Alspach, Ted and Jennifer Alspach. Adobe Magazine (1996). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Adobe Illustrator
#27213
The Draw Layer: A Metaphysical Space (And How to Bring It Back Down to Earth)
Word's draw layer is a metaphysical space where floating objects reside. It really isn't a layer, since floating objects can be sent behind the text layer or brought out in front of it. Either way, they continue to reside in the draw layer.
Rado, Dave and Bill Coan. Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Graphic Design>Software>Microsoft Word
#14162
Duotones are a combination of two grayscale images, using two negatives and two printing plates. Sometimes we see super print quality using two blacks, to add midtones or highlights to an image, or to extend an image's overall tonal range. Back in the '80s the Time-Life Photography series of books used Black and metalic Silver inks to produce probably some of the best high-grade black and white photographic images ever printed. They're no longer in print, but you can find them in most better public or university libraries.
Design and Publishing Center (2002). Design>Publishing>Graphic Design>Color
#20666
To prevent the infographic artists from getting bored somebody invented the web ... But we still think like we do work for printed papers. I won't suggest that we should concentrate on entertainment, but there's a lot we can learn from game-design.
Longauer, Walter. VisualJournalism (2002). Articles>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
#27429
Using the Blend If sliders in the Layer Style dialog box, you can quickly and easily create interesting duotone and silhouette effects.
Bauer, Peter. Planet Photoshop (2006). Design>Graphic Design>Prepress>Adobe Photoshop
#25152
Always use elements contained in the font you're manipulating!
Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Design>Graphic Design>Typography
#22018
Easy Web Graphics would be a good choice for novice or intermediate users of Microsoft FrontPage and Microsoft Photo Editor who want to make better use of those products.
Hudak-David, Ginny. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Graphic Design>Web Design
#21611
En el número 126 nos preguntábamos ¿existe el color?. Ahora, dos revisiones de la literatura que cubren cien años de investigación sobre el factor humano del color revelan cómo y dónde existe el color, y cómo los diseñadores pueden hacer mejor uso de él en entornos reales y simulados. Jim Wise nos lo explica.
Wise, James A. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Design>Graphic Design>Usability>Color
#21640
La Edad de Oro de la Visualización
Después de repasar la semana pasada los inicios de la visualización en este artículo veremos el arranque de los gráficos modernos, la edad de oro de la creatividad gráfica y los avances previos al actual momento de explosión creativa.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
#25771
Unsharp masking, density masking, de-screening etc. Filter formula/ATS filters.
