LiveSurface

This is so cool! As a print and packaging designer, I spend a lot of time "comping" digital images to show how designs will look on pack, on a bottle, on a hang tag, on a display, etc, etc. This requires copious amounts of scaling, skewing, perspective, shadow and highlight placement. And while it looks ok, it's never perfect. So I am smitten with LiveSurface.

They have created a stock catalog of some of the most common items that need comping. They're all photographed as a blank canvas and saved as a hi-res TIF, which is good enough for offset printing! Beyond having a blank canvas to work with, they've created layers and masks in Photoshop, and pre-built vanishing point planes. It all sounds a bit technical, but basically you size your flat artwork on their template, paste it into the appropriate layer in Photoshop, and the vanishing point planes snap it into the correct position/perspective/etc. All this, and only 30 bucks a pop! Also, if you sign up with them, you'll receive a link for 1 free download.

Check out the video here to see how it works. Or browse the shop here.