Digital Innovations

Photoshop Actions Of The Month
Aly's Vintage Actions by Alyson Camacho are available free from ActionCentral (www.atncentral.com). This set of six Actions applies various "vintage photo" effects to digital images. The Actions are called Simply Vintage, Very Vintage, Barely Vintage, Old Canvas (with opacity control), Memory Lane (available in low- and high-resolution versions, both with a monochrome option), and the oh-so-cool Black & Color.

Cowabunga! As a fan of classic comic books, I always wanted to be in a cartoon. Maureen Barberio's free Cartoon Action lets all of us be super heroes. Barberio stumbled across this technique for turning a photo into a cartoon and was kind enough to put it into an ATN format and submit it to ActionCentral.

On ActionCentral you'll also find Caricature Sketch, a free action by Sharon Lee Core that's ostensibly about creating caricatures but can also be used to create the look of manipulated Polaroid SX-70 prints--without the crocheting needle. The ZIP file contains the Action and a Word document explaining how to use Liquefy to create a caricature. It also offers suggestions for finishing the image after running the Action.

Pivot Point
When my back-up needs are modest, I use Imation's (www.imation.com/flash) new Pivot Flash Drive. I keep it handy by attaching it to a carabineer hooked to my backpack. Set in a tough rubberized casing, the Pivot Flash Drive is rugged enough to protect important files or applications from damage. Easy to use, security software with 128-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption and password protection keeps sensitive data safe. The Pivot Flash Drive is available in capacities from 256MB-4GB with suggested retail prices ranging from $32.99-$239.99.