Internet Digital and Graphic Arts Resources

General Resources

• Color Theory: An important introduction to how to work with color, especially in an online environment.
• Computerschool.net: A very basic primer for those who are new to PCs or need a refresher.
• DPI’s Glossary of Terms for the Digital Graphics Industry:  A comprehensive, current glossary of digital arts terms from the Digital Printing & Imaging Association, for those who don't know their Aspect Ratio from their Holography.  
• Graphic Design Basics: More in-depth principles and examples from the world of graphic design.
• Graphic Design Principles: Some very basic principles to keep in mind, such as proximity, alignment, and contrast.
• Peter Norton's Computer Fundamentals: Free web links accompanying Peter Norton's popular book. Click on a Lesson (subject), then on the "For more information…" link to see links to free online primers.
• Shelly Cashman Series Interactive Labs: An excellent tutorial covering such important PC areas as evaluating operating systems, understanding the motherboard, maintaining your hard drive, and understanding multimedia.
• Wannalearn.com's Computer Art and Graphic Design links: A site jam-packed with everything from introductory to advanced topics in Digital Arts.

Imaging and Illustration

• About Fonts: A typography site from Microsoft, which discusses issues and tools in font development.
• Adobe: The company behind Photoshop, Illustrator, and other industry-standard imaging tools.
• Corel: The maker of Paint Shop Pro, a Photoshop rival.
• Digital Photography Tips and Techniques: A collection of links on the essentials of digital photography, from about.com.
• Kodak's Digital Learning Center: An online "book" with chapters and lessons from general to advanced topics.
• Optimizing Images for the Web: Make the Web a better place by learning techniques to "save bandwidth" (minimize download times) when including images on your web site.
• Scanning Tips: Wayne Fulton's excellent site on scanning.

3D & Interactivity

• 3D Basics: A brief overview of what 3D modeling is, from the Department of Educational Technology, San Diego State University.
• 3DLinks Gallery: A gallery of cool artwork created with various 3D modeling programs.
• Books and Online Tutorials for the Major 3D Software Vendors: All your favorite software is listed here: 3D Studio Max, Bryce, Maya, Lightwave, etc.
• FlashGallery: Macromedia's Flash is probably the most popular tool for web animation. Take a virtual stroll through this gallery to see how people are using it.

Video Production and Editing

• Audio Tutorial: A very nice site from mediacollege.com, which explains the physics of sound in laypeople's terms.
• How to Make Wedding Videos: Using the example of making a wedding video, this simple tutorial nevertheless provides valuable pointers for steps common to most video projects. 
• Video Resources: a listing of more Web tutorials and guides on digital video production using tools like QuickTime and iMovie. Especially for Mac users. 

Music Production

• Making Music with MIDI: Using MIDI technology to make music. From midi.org.
• Spinwarp.com Music Production Resources: A site dedicated to sharing tips, tutorials, reviews and other information on making digital music, especially for the bass and drum.

Desktop Publishing

• How to Choose Desktop Publishing Software: Adobe, Quark, PageMaker, etc… here are some good tips on which tool is best for you.  
• Photoshop Tutorials, from Mike’s Sketch Pad: A very nice set of detailed tutorials expressly for the popular software tool, Adobe Photoshop.  
• QuarkXPress Tutorials, from Mike’s Sketch Pad: More detailed tutorials, this time for another popular tool, QuarkXPress.  

Web Design & Development

• Extropia's Introduction to Web Design: Really more for web developers, this is a fairly comprehensive site that covers the technical aspects of web design, from learning HTML tags to XML.
• Jocey Designs' Web Design Principles: Some tried and true principles to remember if you want people to return to your site.
• W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0: Many web sites, especially those for educational or public organizations, are required to be accessible by the disabled and able-bodied alike. The World Wide Web Consortium is a leader in Web site construction guidelines.
• Yahoo Clip Art Directory: If you don't make your own images, you may want to use clip art and other public domain images listed on directories like this one.
• Yahoo Web Page Design and Layout: Accessibility, Bad Style, Graphics, Templates… if it's about web design, it's here.

Other Digital Arts Issues

• Digital arts publishers from the D.A.P. Catalog: A great place to shop for books on various digital arts topics.
• The Digital Society Project: New technologies impact culture and influence societal and personal values. Read about some of these very interesting issues, from the NYPIRG Consumer Protection Project.
• UCLA Ergonomics: If you spend long hours in front of a computer, learn how to make your body more comfortable.
• U.S. Copyright Office: An introduction to copyright issues in the United States, from the Library of Congress.