Author Archives: Brian Lawler

About Brian Lawler

Brian Lawler is an Emeritus Professor of Graphic Communication at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and was a Guest Professor at Hochschule München from September, 2021 to September, 2022. He writes about graphic arts processes and technologies for various industry publications, and on his blog, The Blognosticator.

AI Crop tool in new Photoshop is delightful

Posted on September 13, 2024 by Brian Lawler

In my previous two posts I have talked about features in the latest (currently beta) version of Photoshop that are worthy of your attention. This is another. Many (many!) times in my career I have wanted/needed a photo to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Software, Technology | Tagged AI, Artificial Intelligence, Blognosticator, Brian Lawler, New Photoshop feature, Photoshop AI Expand, The Blognosticator | Leave a comment

This one is really impressive! AI noise reduction

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Brian Lawler

Yesterday I wrote about using the new AI Erase function in Adobe Camera Raw. You can read about that here. This past week I photographed the annual Festival Mozaic summer music festival. That involved 19 events in both San Luis … Continue reading →

Posted in Panoramic Photography, Photography, Photoshop techniques | Tagged AI, Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence Noise Reduction, Blognosticator, Brian Lawler, Noise reduction in Photoshop, The Blognosticator | Leave a comment

Another victory
for automated intelligence in photography

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Brian Lawler

A few weeks back I wrote about my success in working with ChatGPT to manage some very complex text, making it editable, and making it possible for me to re-publish two out-of-print catalogs of matrices for Linotype and Intertype machines. … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Photography, Photoshop techniques, Software, Technology | Tagged Adobe Photoshop, AI image retouching, Blognosticator, Brian Lawler, Photoshop AI tools, retouching an image with AI, The Blognosticator | Leave a comment

The Linotype and Intertype catalogs

Posted on July 11, 2024 by Brian Lawler

In the previous post I described how I published these out-of-print booklets. These are links to the PDF versions of those publications. Please feel free to download them.

Posted in Gadgets, History, Printing and Printing Processes, Restoring antique printing machines, Technology, Typography | Tagged Blognosticator, Brian Lawler, Cal Poly, Intertype matrix, Intertype matrix catalog, Linotype matrix, Linotype matrix catalog, Shakespeare Press Museum, The Blognosticator | Leave a comment

Of molten lead and ChatGPT

Posted on July 7, 2024 by Brian Lawler

At the core of The Blognosticator are posts about the graphic arts, printing processes, solutions to printing processes, and related items. The blog was originally an arm of Graphic Arts Monthly magazine, who hired me in 2000 to write blogs, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Software, Technology, Typography | Tagged AI in the graphic arts, Blognosticator, Brian Lawler, Cal Poly, ChatGPT in graphic arts, Intertype machine, Linotype machine, Shakespeare Press Museum, The Blognosticator | Leave a comment

Rejection, again!

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Brian Lawler

Chapter 3 – To read from the beginning of this saga, please click here. The rejections came, and quickly! Both the grading and building permit applications were incomplete. The county planners asked for more complete soils engineering plans. I contacted … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures, Building things, Woodworking | Tagged Blognosticator, Brian Lawler, building permits, construction, Steel building, The Blognosticator | Leave a comment

Outright rejection!

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Brian Lawler

In the first installment of this story, I introduced my new shop building, and introduced you to the County Planning Department. They looked at my initial set of plans and threw them back at me. Too big, they said. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures, Building things, Education, Woodworking | Tagged architectural drawing, Blognosticator, Brian Lawler, building permits, Steel building, The Blognosticator | 2 Comments

I’m building a new shop!

Posted on June 23, 2024 by Brian Lawler

I have had a fabulous workshop in my friend Jim’s barn for the past 18 years. It’s the best workshop on earth, and I have enjoyed making things there. It has all of my tools in it, and it has … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures, Building things, Woodworking | Tagged building permits, engineered building, New shop, Steel building, The Blognosticator | Leave a comment

Finally!

Posted on June 14, 2024 by Brian Lawler

I started writing The Blognosticator in July, 2011. At the time I was unable to acquire the domain blognosticator.com. That belonged to a nice woman who had bought it and was holding it, hoping that someone foolish enough to create … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Education, Web | Tagged Brian Lawler, The Blognosticator | Leave a comment

Rack one up to success!

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Brian Lawler

This is the third of a three-part post. To read the first part, please click here. To read the second part, please click here. I finished the bike rack clamps yesterday. I drilled and tapped the holes that needed threading, … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures, Bicycling, Building things, Gadgets | Tagged adding a rack to a carbon-fiber bike, Brian P. Lawler, CNC machining, CNC machining of aluminum, machining aluminum, machining bicycle parts, Superstrata, The Blognosticator | Leave a comment