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How you can create beautiful images with Photoshop

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Lead & Manage.

We all enjoy beautiful images

 

It’s part of human nature to want to see the world at its best.  We’d all prefer to see a grey scene more colourful; a blurry image clear; an old man at his most appealing; a kitten even cuter.

With the constant improvement of the cameras in our smartphones, plus the amazing choice of digital SLR cameras and lenses available, the world of photography is now at our fingertips.   And with the tools available to us in Photoshop, we can all be great photographers.  You only need to go online to see beautiful images posted by people around the world, using many different scenes and objects as inspiration.

 

You become the artist

Photoshop opens up to you the skill, the talent and the imagination of an artist.  You can have fun and create havoc, using colour and effects to make beautiful images which are clear, crisp and sharp.   It offers professional photography tools which can turn your photos into works of art by cropping and adjusting and even taking out unwanted objects.  You can also use Photoshop to repair old photos.

And did you know that Photoshop is not just for photography?  It’s also used to design graphics, company logos, websites, mobile apps, posters, banners, icons and more, in web, design and 3D projects.

Why choose Photoshop?

When you are ready to take your photography to the next level, Photoshop is the software of choice.

Here’s some of the reasons why:

  • Photoshop gives you powerful tools, allowing you creative control for image manipulation and video editing
  • User reviews have placed their satisfaction level with Photoshop at more than 97%
  • With a range of pricing options for single users, small business, corporates and educational institutes, it offers a solution for everyone
  • There are even plans that include online storage of up to 1TB
  • You can activate Photoshop on two different computers, so you can use it on your desktop machine, and on your laptop when you are travelling
  • Your Photoshop creations can be shared instantly via email, text, social media and more. This can be done from within Adobe Photoshop CC, the latest, online version of the software
  • With online Photoshop CC software, your updates happen automatically

For new users, CTO offers an Introduction to Photoshop course, which teaches you how you can:

  • learn to navigate around your images
  • understand the concepts of file formats, file size, colour modes and image resizing
  • make effective selections in an image
  • understand and work with layers
  • resize images using a variety of techniques
  • understand how to select, use and work with colour
  • create and format text layers
  • draw and format standard custom shapes
  • retouch and repair images
  • understand printing and printing techniques
  • use the Help menu and access online help resources

Here are some beautiful images which showcase the power of Adobe Photoshop when working with your photographs.

Add gorgeous hues to an image which has low colour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjust the light in your favourite kitten photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smooth the skin and add a beautiful background to your photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about Photoshop, CTO can provide you with onsite training, customised to suit your requirements.

The courses are available for a range of skill levels, including Introduction and Advanced Photoshop training.  The Introduction to Photoshop course from CTO assumes little or no knowledge of the software.

 

 

Click here to view the Adobe Photoshop courses available from Corporate Training Options, receive a quote or make a booking.   Training can be provided for up to 8 trainees for the same investment cost.

About Corporate Training Options

Corporate Training Options is an Australian Professional Development Training Company, incorporated in 1992.

Our customised Professional Development courses are available Australia-wide, for business executives and corporate teams, and provide a cost-effective way of ensuring you and your staff are presenting your best image to the world.

CTO Professional Development Training courses are customised to meet your requirements, and your training is provided on-site, on dates which suit you.

For more information on the range of Corporate Training Courses available, please visit the CTO website here

Rosy King

Corporate Training Options

Professional Training  –  Exceptional Results

E: training@cto.com.au

W: cto.com.au

 

Learn Microsoft Project with CTO

Stop tearing your hair out. Learn Microsoft Project !

Written by webplanners on . Posted in News & Tips, Tech & Tools.

Stop tearing your hair out and learn Microsoft Project 

If you are a project manager, you need to learn Microsoft Project.  You will already have excellent leadership and communication skills, however, without the right software tools, managing your projects may be more frustrating, time consuming and cumbersome than it needs to be.

 

Microsoft Project has been specifically designed for project management, scheduling and the allocation of resources.  Online versions allow all project team members to create, access, edit and update projects and tasks from anywhere.  This means your team members can provide their own real time updates on their tasks as they complete them.

 

Project Online real-time visibility is especially important when teams are geographically dispersed.  An online solution provides the ability for your entire team to store data in one central file, and when changes occur, team members can be aware of this and can come up to speed rapidly.

 

When you learn Microsoft Project, you can make use of tools such as:

  • Built-in, customisable Templates, so you don’t have to start projects from scratch
  • Project Planning features such as Gantt charts, and simplified project planning processes
  • Extensive Reports, to keep all your team members on the same page
  • Multiple Timelines, from tasks to upcoming milestones
  • Access to your project data across devices, including Windows, iOS and Android

 

When you are ready to learn Microsoft Project, the  Introduction to Microsoft Project training course from CTO will be beneficial for both team members and project managers.  The training can be customised to your business requirements and will give you the tools to come away from the training with your first project planned and underway.

The course assumes little or no knowledge of Microsoft Project, so is perfect for Project newbies, or for team members who have never had formal training in the software.

 

Topics covered include:

  • Key concepts associated with project management
  • Create a new project file
  • Enter tasks into a project file
  • Create relationships between tasks in a project
  • Add resources, including labour, materials and equipment to a project
  • Understand and use resource assignment calculations
  • Assign resources to tasks using a number of different methods
  • Print various aspects of a project
  • Obtain help for Project whenever you need it

 

 

The Technical Stuff  –  Microsoft Project versions explained

To help you decide which version of Microsoft Project best suits your requirements, here is a quick overview of the versions available for you.

 

Microsoft Project on the Desktop

Project Standard

Project Standard is targeted at project managers who are managing small team projects. It is a standalone product and does not have the capability to connect to Project Server.

 

Project Professional

Project Professional has the ability to connect to Project Server, which enables you to gain a portfolio-level view and give View, Update, or Edit access to project team members. It also provides the ability to manage resources and collaborate with your team via Skype for Business.

 

Project Server and Project CAL

Project Server allows you to bring various projects together, and give View, Access, or Edit rights to team members and executives across your organization.

Project Server deployment also requires you to license Windows Server, SQL Server and SharePoint Server. You will also require the corresponding CALs (Client Access Licenses), which provide your users the right to access a server.

 

Microsoft Project in the Cloud

Project Pro for Office 365

Project Pro for Office 365 is a cloud product, which means Microsoft will automatically update the installed client on your PC’s on a recurring basis. You are licensed to install the software on up to five PC’s.

You can connect Project Pro for Office 365 to Project Online. This enables you to gain insight into the portfolio-level view, and give View, Update, or Edit access to project team members. Subscription to Project Pro for Office 365 gives you the right to access Project Online and Project Server.  You also have the ability to manage resources and collaborate with your team via Skype for Business.

 

Project Online

Project Online is the product corresponding to Project Server, but in the cloud.  You can buy subscriptions of Project Online for as many users as you want.

What about CALs?  Since Project Online is in the cloud, you do not require CALs.

If you already have a Project Server deployment and you want to test the cloud, Microsoft allows you to access your existing Project Server deployment via a Project Online subscription.

 

Project Lite

Project Lite is the product which provides access for your team members. In order to use Project Lite, you must have a subscription to Project Online. From a technical standpoint, Project Lite is exactly the same product as Project Online, but offered at a lower price point.

From a licensing standpoint, Project Lite enables you to use a subset of capabilities. These capabilities allow you to view and edit timesheets, manage tasks, add issues and risks, and collaborate on project documents. Similar to Project Online, the subscription to Project Lite gives you access rights to Project Server deployment.

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When you are ready to learn Microsoft Project, CTO can provide you with onsite training customised to suit your requirements.  The courses are available for a range of skill levels, including Introduction, Intermediate and Advanced project training.

Click here to view the Microsoft Project courses available from Corporate Training Options.

 

 

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About Corporate Training Options

Corporate Training Options is an Australian Professional Development Training Company, incorporated in 1992.

Our customised Professional Development courses are available Australia-wide, for business executives and corporate teams, and provide a cost-effective way of ensuring you and your staff are presenting your best image to the world.

CTO Professional Development Training courses are customised to meet your requirements, and your training is provided on-site, on dates which suit you.

 

For more information on the range of Corporate Training Courses available, please visit the CTO website here

 

Rosy King

Corporate Training Options

Professional Training  –  Exceptional Results

 

E: training@cto.com.au

W: cto.com.au

 

The Modern Workplace with Microsoft 365

What are the benefits of Office 365?

Written by webplanners on . Posted in Tech & Tools.

Many of the benefits of Office 365 are provided by productivity tools that may not be fully utilised by users of the software.  Most of us simply do what we’ve always done, and don’t spend time investigating what’s available in new versions of our software.

So here’s a brief overview of what can be achieved with Office 365, to encourage you to invest the time and and resources to take advantage of this powerful software.

 

  • You can create, share and edit your files from all your devices with Office 365 online applications.  This includes your Mac, PC, phone and tablet.
  • Office 365 takes care of your IT.  As long as you have internet connectivity, your cloud services are always accessible and version updates happen automatically.
  • Office 365 syncs emails, calendars and contact information across your devices.  So it’s up to date whenever you need it.
  • Shared calendars let you see when others in your team are available for meetings or calls, and scheduling is easy.
  • There is an admin centre with guides to assist you to set up users easily, to start quickly using the services in Office 365, and to manage all your services in the one place.
  • There is built in security for your data, and compliance and privacy controls help keep your files safe.
  • Microsoft provides a guarantee of 99.9% uptime, so your files are always accessible.
  • And if you lose one of your devices, such as your phone or laptop, Office 365 will allow you to wipe your data from it remotely, to prevent unauthorised access to your information.

 

Access your Office 365 files everywhere

One of the major benefits of Office 365 is that you can access all your Office applications, plus other productivity services, over the internet.  For business users, these include services such as:

  • Skype – for Business web conferencing
  • Exchange – Online hosted email for business users
  • OneDrive – Secure online file storage
  • Microsoft Teams – for team chats, calls, meetings and more
  • Yammer – for collaboration across a company
  • SharePoint – to share and manage content, information and applications

 

Office 365 plans usually include the desktop version of Office applications, which can be installed across multiple computers and devices.  This is handy for workers on the go, who have a desktop computer in their office, but would also like to access their documents on a laptop, tablet or phone.

Applications are available for both Mac and PC users, and version updates happen automatically via your online subscription.  Desktop applications include:

  • Excel
  • Word
  • PowerPoint
  • Outlook
  • OneNote
  • Publisher (for PC only)
  • Access (for PC only)

There are also Office 365 plans that are online only, which can be a good choice for some business teams.

 

What is Microsoft Office 2016?

Office 2016 is available as either part of the Office 365 suite, or as a one-time purchase for users who simply want a copy of the software installed on their Mac or PC.  The stand alone version of Office 2016 is available via the Office Home or Student 2016 versions.

With the one-time Office 2016 purchase, the applications are not automatically updated.  If you want the latest version you will have to purchase the product again when the new version is released.  Microsoft Office 2016 also does not come with any of the cloud-based services which are part of Office 365.

 

Can you use Office 365 when you are not connected to the Internet?

Most Office 365 plans include the desktop version of Office.  This means you can work offline on an Excel spreadsheet or Word template, and know that next time you connect to the internet all your documents will automatically sync, and be kept up to date.

To find out more about the services included in each of the business plans, you can visit the Microsoft Australia website here.

 

Time to upgrade?  Here are some more benefits of Office 365?

  • Office 365 takes care of your IT for you.  This means as long as you have internet connectivity, your cloud services are always accessible and version updates happen automatically.
  • There is an admin centre with guides to assist you to set up users easily, to start quickly using the services in Office 365, and to manage all your services in the one place.
  • You’re able to take your office anywhere, working on any device.  With Office 365 online applications you can create, share and edit your files from your PC, Mac, phone or tablet.
  • There is built in security for your data, and compliance and privacy controls help keep your files safe.
  • Microsoft provides a guarantee of 99.9% uptime, so your files are always accessible.
  • Office 365 syncs emails, calendars and contact information across your devices for you.  So it’s all up to date whenever you need to access it.  Shared calendars let you see when others in your team are available for meetings or calls, and scheduling is easy.
  • If you lose one of your devices, such as your phone or laptop, Office 365 will allow you to wipe your data from it remotely, to prevent unauthorised access to your information.

 

What is OneDrive?

OneDrive is one of the services provided by Office 365, giving you online storage for your Office files.

  • It allows each user to store up to 1 Terabyte of data.
  • OneDrive gives you access to your files from any device, wherever you are.
  • Automatically sync your files to your desktop, so you can work with your files offline if needed.
  • You can preview any files stored in OneDrive directly from your browser. You can even stream HD video on demand from your browser – without having to download it.
  • OneDrive lets you share files with others, and tracks the history of all activity on files so all users can see what has happened on the file.
  • And if your company is using SharePoint, OneDrive will allow you to collaborate on files with teams; and manage and share files and folders within team sites or intranet sites, or across the organisation.

 

So, are you are considering an upgrade to the Office 365 version?  Or do you already have it but are not using all the features available?

CTO offers onsite, customised training courses around Australia in Microsoft Office 365.  Training is also available for all your favourite Office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Click here to view the Office 365 courses available from Corporate Training Options.

 

 

—

About Corporate Training Options

Corporate Training Options is an Australian Professional Development Training Company, incorporated in 1992.

Our customised Professional Development courses are available Australia-wide, for business executives and corporate teams, and provide a cost-effective way of ensuring you and your staff are presenting your best image to the world.

CTO Professional Development Training courses are customised to meet your requirements, and your training is provided on-site, on dates which suit you.

 

For more information on the range of Corporate Training Courses available, please visit the CTO website here

 

Rosy King

Corporate Training Options

Professional Training  –  Exceptional Results

 

E: training@cto.com.au

W: cto.com.au