August 2007

Creating a Colour Palette from a Picture

Being a designer myself, I have been fascinated by the use of various colours across different media – the web is of particular interest for me. If used judiciously, you can create wonders with a family of colours; a palette or scheme of complimentary colours. You must visit ColorLovers to see what amazing stuff the community is creating back there.

This set me off on a mission to search how palettes could be devised from pictures which can be ultimately used in my daily artworks. After scouring the net endlessly, I found an answer right in my backyard. I have Photoshop CS2 and I am detailing the steps below for those of you interested in knowing the secret. Remember, the fundamental idea behind this exercise is to convert natural colour shades digitally to use in our medium of choice (print, web, fashion, etc.).

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DELL India Service is Deplorable

DELL LogoIt was a dream come true for me when I settled for a DELL Inspiron model for my residence which got delivered and installed last week. I also signed up for the DELL Care Premium (you pay more here), being aware that machines can betray the most dedicated human being anytime. True to my belief, within 48 hours I faced an issue with my DVD/CDROM drive when Windows Vista was unable to load the drivers for the optical drive. Soon after, Vista began ‘checking’ for a solution on the Microsoft server but returned with zero results so I started finding answers on my own. I went to the device manager and uninstalled/reinstalled the driver and so on in vain. I had perceived that behind Vista’s fabulous ‘WOW’ inteface, would also be a ‘thinking brain’ (ala Macintosh) which would take care of the problems with the PC in real-time, thus negating the intervention of a service vendor. I know It’s a far fetched idea but I am always thinking positive. Coming back to my problem, on one website I found an elaborate step-by-step instructions on the issue but the fear of cranking up a machine still under warranty, kept me away from doing anything silly.

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End of the Road for Munnabhai

The law caught up with Sanjay Dutt but the timing was horribly wrong. He was sentenced to 6 years of rigorous imprisonment and Rs. 25,000 fine. A decade ago, he was the ‘Khalnayak’ who caught the imagination of the media, a skirt-chasing-long-hair poster boy who seemingly cared less about societal norms while stacking guns at his home. Today Sanju baba is Munnabhai who preaches non-violence – the darling of the masses, the mellowed middle-aged actor who’s a class apart from his Page 3 rivals, if he has any. The film industry stood firmly behind him this time than before – Ravi Chopra cancelling the premiere of his colourful saga ‘Naya Daur’ and co-stars writing odes on his character in the press. He might not be in the same class as his father, but Sanju is the hero of the common man.

The real jail isn’t going to be easy for an actor of reel life. He’ll appeal in the Supreme Court and cross his fingers tight for a reprieve from the judgement. With over 100 crore INR running on him, even the film fraternity would want him out quickly. Let’s hope and pray things turn out well and we are able to see another sequel of Munnabhai.