Kate Harper's Blog, page 9

Adobe Suite Alternatives

Here's a great article on how to get low cost alternatives to Adobe Software for artists on a budget by Geoffrey Goetz

http://gigaom.com/2013/04/06/how-to-build-your-own-adobe-creative-suite-with-cheaper-mac-app-alternatives/#_=_



Here's an excerpt:




Through apps mostly available via the Mac App Store, you can decide
which components of the software set matter most to you and build up
your own custom suite over time to meet your creative needs.  Here are
the best alternatives I’ve found that offer similar functionality to
what is available in each of Adobe’s products.



Photoshop to Pixelmator ($14.99, Mac) By now it’s no secret that Pixelmator is one of the favorite apps on OS X for many.
When you think of Photoshop, you think more than just applying filters
to your images; you want to edit them. With its multilayered support,
you can easily touch up and enhance your images with Pixelmator.  Many
of the same tools that Photoshop users have become accustomed too are
here too, like the smudge, sponge and brush tools.  Pixelmator also
comes with some basic vector tools that may be all that you need from a
full-featured vector editing tool like Illustrator.  For most of your
day-to-day image editing needs, and at the current low price point of
$15, it is hard to beat Pixelmator.



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Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com

More Street Art

Here's another piece of street art near my house...or perhaps it is mini library? I'm not quite sure.

This is a perfect way of how an artist can make people smile when they walk by on the street.



Do you have any of your own art on the street?






Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com

New Pizza Greeting Card

Here's a card I designed for Leanin' Tree that was published recently.



My favorite pizza is at Zachary's Pizza in Albany, California.  What's yours?










Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com

How to Send Large Files Digitally

Here's an important article by Joan Beiriger on sending large art files:


Art Licensing: How to Transfer Multiple & Large Hi-Res Files
[article excerpt] "...If three or more images are requested, they usually cannot be sent in
one e-mail because it will most likely be rejected by the e-mail
carrier. And, if a large Hi-Res layered Adobe Photoshop image needs to
be sent it may be at least 250MB in size that is impossible to transfer
via e-mail... " continue reading.






~ 

Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com

Please Steal This Art #3

Instead of a "bad hair" day, have you ever have a "bad art" day? Here's a little inspiration when things feel frustrating.  Feel free to  print out, pass on, edit,
or put on your website or blog.
: ) -Kate





Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com

Have you checked out these professional greeting card groups?

GREETING CARD GROUPS






Linkedin Greeting Card, Stationery & Gift Industry Gurus

Networking links of sales, marketing, product development and sourcing
people from these related industries and to help entrepreneurs gain
access to industry knowledge and 'how to's."





Greeting Card Professionals

The worldwide default network for publishers, distributors, designers,
buyers, developers, (online) retailers and anyone else relevant in the
business. Feel free to join and don't forget to invite your colleagues
and business relations.







Greeting Card Professionals

The Independent Greeting Card Professionals Association is composed of
working professionals--and beginning professionals--who create and sell
greeting cards retail or wholesale, at craft fairs or trade shows, or
via the Internet. Members produce work in a variety of greeting card
genres.Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com

Power of Storytelling in Business

I enjoyed this audiobook I checked out from my local library: "The Power of StoryTelling." It was interesting to hear why "story telling" is so important in business -- especially if you have to explain something boring in an interesting way.  I also recommend it to people who have to do presentations.
Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com

Some cards I like

Artist and blog reader Sylvia Shanahan sent me these images of her beautiful pastel note cards. I think her colors and textures are very heartwarming and inviting.



























Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com

Do Copyright Laws Help us or Hurt us?

Sometimes "copyright infringement" is a hot button topic with artists, but copyright law is changing fast in the digital age -- and not always for the artist's benefit.



If you try to access or share some media content, you can be charged with a criminal felony of violating a copyright.



I am particularly concerned about content that was
initially funded by tax payers, but is now being restricted by private companies for a profit.  Aaron Swartz was someone who fought these kind of copyright laws, and it led to a tragic ending.



Today, if you download pictures of  Disney characters without permission, and then share it to your friends for fun, according to current copyright laws, you might face a felony, fines, and 35 years of prison.  One has to ask:  Who wrote these laws? And for whose benefit?  



It is highly unlikely they were written for independent artists and musicians.



Oddly enough, I have never heard of a case where the federal government stepped in to protect an artist when their work was stolen. These cases normally end up in civil court. No one usually goes to jail.



As artists, we need to examine both sides of copyright law and look deeper into these issues and investigate how these laws effect us, and our access to resources.  We may be worried about someone stealing our picture and reproducing it, but I'm equally worried about copyright laws being enforced in such an irrational way, that it shuts down an entire generation of creativity in a society. 




~
Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com

Why Greeting Cards are So Expensive

Here's an interesting article a friend sent to me who is a greeting card sales rep.  Check it out at http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/why-are-greeting-cards-so-expensive/273086/






Why Are Greeting Cards So Expensive?




By Derek Thompson




Why should a piece of paper with a slogan cost $5? The answer starts with classical economics, takes a world tour to China, and ends with you.




PAPER, PEOPLE, AND V-DAY MONOPOLIES




To understand a greeting card's price, start with its most important costs: Paper and people. High-grade paper is necessary to distinguish greeting cards from something you could print from a home computer, and it's getting more expensive. So are people. In China, where greeting cards with "special treatments" (e.g. sound chips) are often produced, wages are rising quickly. In the United States, where Hallmark makes most of its cards, workers are already expensive, creating tension in an industry facing a slow decline in the face of a cultural shift toward paperless greetings. In October last year, Hallmark closed a Kansas City plant and let go of 300 workers. The company declined to comment for this story.




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Kate Harper Designs www.kateharperdesigns.com