Design Shack

Photoshop Actions / 13 Aug 2020

How to Use & Install Photoshop Actions

If you aren’t taking advantage of Photoshop actions for editing and image effects, you’re missing out on one of Photoshop’s best features. Here, we’ll take you through how to use Photoshop Actions, and the best steps to install and apply them in seconds.

Photoshop actions can save you time when it comes to repeated tasks, and condense entire paths of editing into a single click. (While it might sound too good to be true, Photoshop actions are a very real thing.) We’ve previously hand-picked the best Photoshop actions out there, and today we’re explaining how to use them!

Final Cut Pro Templates / 12 Aug 2020

22+ Best Final Cut Pro Slideshow Video Templates in 2020

If you’re looking for inspiration to design a unique slideshow video, these Final Cut Pro photo slideshow templates will come in handy.

For this collection, we handpicked some of the best Final Cut Pro slideshow templates you can use to easily create slideshow videos without an effort.

The list includes many different styles of templates for creating slideshow videos for wedding albums, business events, product showcases, social media promos, and much more.

There are both premium and free downloads as well.

Software / 12 Aug 2020

The 10 Best Photoshop Alternatives for Mac (2020)

You don’t have to use Adobe Photoshop on your Mac to edit images like a pro. There are plenty of Photoshop alternatives for Mac that you can download or use in-browser to create just the right images and graphics for your projects. And some of them are completely free!

None of these are necessarily one-size-fits-all solutions. Each tool tends to serve a specific purpose; Do you want to edit online or on a desktop? Are you editing photos or multiple file types? Is all the work for web or will images get printed?

Here’s a list of the best Photoshop alternatives for Mac in 2020, but not in any particular order. Have a read through to find the one that’s right for you.

Business / 11 Aug 2020

Should You Design Your Brand Based on Digital Marketing Needs?

What comes first: branding or strategy? It’s an age-old question for designers and marketers and today extends to digital marketing as well. Should your brand design be based on digital marketing needs?

In today’s marketplace, the answer is overwhelmingly yes. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a brand that isn’t leveraging some type of digital marketing, including social media, to communicate with audiences.

Here’s why.

Photoshop Actions / 10 Aug 2020

30+ Best Watercolor Photoshop Actions

Whether you’re designing a unique website background, a poster, sketch, or creating an artistic photo composition, using a watercolor Photoshop action can make your design stand out from the crowd.

A watercolor effect it’s not an easy effect to master when created from scratch. It takes a lot of work, time, and skill to achieve a realistic watercolor effect in Photoshop. The good news is that using a watercolor Photoshop action can help you skip the learning curve and experiment with a watercolor effect in just a few clicks!

In this collection, we’re featuring some of the best watercolor Photoshop actions you can use to turn your photos into watercolor art, craft amazing backgrounds, and do much more.

We’ve also collected a set of tips for choosing watercolor Photoshop actions to help you make a decision on what type of action you need.

PowerPoint Templates / 10 Aug 2020

How to Design a Presentation for Screen Viewing

Given how the world is changing, you are probably presenting more commonly on screens in virtual conference or webinar settings. That can impact the design of presentations, and you’ll need to think about what to change to make it work well.

There are multiple considerations when designing PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides templates for screen viewing versus when you are presenting live.

Here, we’ll walk through key considerations to help you make the most of designing presentations for screen viewing.

Photoshop Actions / 7 Aug 2020

50+ Best Photoshop Actions of 2020

Adobe Photoshop Actions are a great feature of the app, allowing you to create a process or workflow, record how it worked, and then easily repeat the process again for other photographs or design elements.

Today we’ve collected some of the best Photoshop actions out there, for photographers and graphic designers alike.

They cost just a few dollars but give you an incredibly powerful toolkit to easily repeat complex and intricate processes.

Reviews / 7 Aug 2020

Art Text 4: Design 3D Text Effects Without Photoshop

Art Text 4 allows you to create realistic 3D typography graphics without using Photoshop or Illustrator. In this post, we take a closer look at this cool new app.

One of the biggest and rising trends in the design world is typography graphics. Instead of using regular fonts, this trend uses unique graphics as a replacement for text titles.

Usually, we only see typography graphics in Hollywood movie posters, but the trend is slowly making its way over to brand and marketing designs as well. Now they can be seen on everything from flyer designs to greeting cards and more.

Creating such typography graphics is a time-consuming process and requires great design knowledge. However, we came across a software that allows you to create amazing-looking typography graphics with just a few clicks called Art Text 4.

Reviews / 6 Aug 2020

Get More Done With a Remote Team and Taskade

Almost every team is adjusting to remote work and better workflows. Taskade can provide that boost for your team, whether you work across the hall or halfway around the world.

The tool looks like a simple to-do app, so it’s easy to use. But the reality is that Taskade is powered by a tree-structured database that will help you manage workflows into action items. It’s made for collaboration and comes with all the robust features you need to manage day to day activity.

Here’s a look at Taskade and how you can make it work for your design team.

After Effects Templates / 6 Aug 2020

How to Use After Effects Templates

Adobe After Effects is a video-based tool that’s used to add elements to moving pictures and animations. Designers use it to create titles, intros, and transitions between video clips to enhance the production value of animations and video projects.

After Effects is one of those tools that’s packed with goodies, including templates that you can use to speed up project workflows. You can create your own templates or find and download them from other sources.

Here, we have a guide to using After Effects so you have everything you need to get started or better use the software.

Lightroom Presets / 5 Aug 2020

20+ Best Lightroom Mobile Presets 2020 (Free & Premium)

Today, we’re bringing you a collection of amazing Lightroom mobile presets to improve your photos like a professional photographer on-the-go.

Enhancing and optimizing your selfies and smartphone photos is now much easier thanks to the Lightroom mobile app. The best part is, anyone can use the mobile app for free.

The Lightroom mobile app can also be a great starting point for amateur photographers to learn how to edit photos. And for photobloggers to improve your photos with high-quality effects.

We handpicked a mix of both premium and free Lightroom mobile presets for you to download. Try a few of these presets and see the results for yourself.

Sketch Templates / 5 Aug 2020

Sketch vs. Figma vs. Adobe XD: Which Design Tool Is Best for Beginners?

There comes a time when every designer needs to decide which design tool they’re going to settle down with for the rest of their career. If you’re in the process of finding your perfect design tool or looking for a replacement, this guide is for you.

Sketch app used to hold the throne as one of the most versatile design apps out there. That’s until two new contenders surfaced to challenge the throne—Figma and Adobe XD.

Both Figma and Adobe XD apps are not only developed by industry leaders but offer some amazing features that managed to steal many users away from Sketch. Of course, Sketch is still one of the best UX design tools available today as well.

For beginning designers, it can be frustrating to find the right tool for their work. In this article, we aim to provide a solid answer to that problem, by comparing Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD against one another. Let’s dive in.

App Templates / 4 Aug 2020

15+ Best Android App Templates (For Mobile Apps) 2020

Developing an app takes a lot of time and work. But, what if there’s a way to build an Android app without writing a single line of code or investing thousands of dollars in app development? That’s exactly what Android app templates allow you to do.

Using an Android app template, you can build a fully functional app for your business, online store, and create powerful native and web-apps without having to break the bank.

In this post, we feature some of the best pre-made Android app templates you can use to build your own mobile apps without coding.

CV & Resume Templates / 3 Aug 2020

50+ Best CV & Resume Templates 2020

A first impression can either make or break your chance of landing a dream job. So choosing one of the best resume templates can give you a fantastic head start. These modern CV templates for Word, Pages, and InDesign are the perfect starting point for creating your new and improved resume!

These beautifully designed resume templates will help you stand out from the crowd, help you showcase the right skills, and improve your chances of landing the job. Some of the templates are free, and others cost a few dollars. All of them are absolutely beautiful!

Having a modern, professional resume doesn’t necessarily mean you will land the job, but it’s a great way to make sure you get the interview! And once you’ve chosen one, remember to read through our guide on how to customize a CV or resume template to make your own mark.