photoshop tutorials, photography, digital scrapbooking tutorials

For all you photographers out there--HUGE giveaway

2011-06-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Check out all these awesome vendors!!! Huge giveaway and sale at the soulographer.

click here for details:
http://soulographer.com/

Changing the color of elements or papers.

2010-01-19T14:53:00.003-08:00

Open a new file. Open the element that you want to change and open a paper of the color you want you element changed into.
The background layer should be on the bottom, with the element on top. The topmost layer should be the paper of the color you want your element to become.
Chose blending mode 'color' or try 'luminosity'.
Another option is to click IMAGE-ADJUSTMENTS-VARIATIONS and chose midtones.
Another option is to click the 'fx' icon and choose color overlay with the desired layer selected.

pretty easy

Changing the color of elements or papers.

2010-01-19T14:53:00.001-08:00

making elements look like a sticker

2010-01-19T14:46:00.001-08:00

I've been asked on how I made my "follow me " tag in my sidebar look like a sticker that is peeling off. Well here ya go.

First I typed out my text. Then I clicked on the little symbol in the layers pallette,"fx" and chose the option 'color overlay'.
With that layer selected, I clicked CTRL-L to get a new layer. (CTRL just makes the new layer go underneath the active or selected layer).
Now I expand the marching ants(the selection) by chosing SELECT-MODIFY-EXPAND. Chose your preffered size. Now chose the paint brush tool. Chose the color white and fill the inside of the marching ants.
Now you need to add a drop shadow to make it look like the sticker is being peeled off. I warp the drop shadow to my liking.

templates

2009-12-29T17:57:00.000-08:00

I really love to personalize my own scrapbooking pages, like the one below. I used a ligth polka-dot paper for the background. I used brushes to stamp on the flowers and the text. Then I used clipping masks to create the shape of each photo that got plopped onto the page. But Several designers create cute, gorgeous,read-made templates with fabulous designs and all you have to do is drag your desired photos to the template. You can even create templates yourself. Check out some of my previous posts for links to scrapbook and photo websites. Many have templates for free download and some have them for purchase.

Out of Focus

2009-12-29T17:26:00.000-08:00

I love the mysterious element of things out of focus. My husband purposely focused on the leaves in the foreground, pushing me out of focus.....i love it. I wanted to highlight this cute little toddler, but I wanted to give her a sense of belonging, so I put her parents in the background, out of focus to give more of a story to the photo.

What's your style

2009-12-05T18:39:00.000-08:00

I love this bridge for a larger family pic, like these below. But I am trying to decide my favorite style. All three pics are the same.

original-

a pop of color and contrast- (perhaps the high contrast background is too distracting)

a little more creamy background-(I think I like this one the most!!!!) What do you think?

Nothing's Missing

2009-12-04T17:03:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I am so fascinated with taking pictures of just half a person's face, or their lower half only, but It begins to tell a story, but leaves it somewhat mysterious. I just LOVE this picture with her hands placed perfectly on her lap. It seems so priceless to me.

Going Candid and trying new Angles

2009-12-04T16:50:00.000-08:00

I posted some sneak peak pics of these gorgeous girls, discussing the use of sun in the photo to give it a very unique look. Well later in the day of picture taking, the sun went down when the girls did a clothing change. So I went for more of an urban feel and tried new angles. I laid on my stomach and shot the picture below very close to the ground and I absulutely love the way it looks from this anle. I asked the girls to stop 'posing' and just be themselves to capture a moment, rather than a posed shot. There is something so precious about these candid moments.

Ok, so the pic below is posed, but I just love her eyes, I just had to add this pic to the post. If they have green eyes, get some green in the background to help them pop, same with blue eyes. It's just a little tougher to find blue backgrounds.

Once again the photos below are shot from a really low angle and are candid, making this photo a fave.

I put more of a retro look to this one. I just loooove the look of retro.

how to make your own unique brush

2009-12-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

The logo you see on the photo above is a brush I made myself. Here is how I did it. First I opened a picture of a bird, see photo below. Of course, you could always draw a custom logo and scan it instead.

Then I took the magnetic lasso tool to carefully select the shape of the bird. I continued to expand the selection until I had it just right.

Next, I opened a new blank file to go on top of the bird selection. With that new layer selected, I clicked on my paint bucket tool (set at black) and then clicked on my selection in the photo. This then turned my selection all black, see photo below.

I then dragged the bottom layer (background layer) to the trashcan, since I do not need it anymore. Then I opened a new blank file at 2 inches tall and 10 inches long. I dragged my new black bird on top of the new blank file. I used a white damask brush at 50% opacity and stamped a pattern onto the bird. see photo below.

Then finally, I added some text and I used the line tool to draw a box. Now my brush is ready. I clicked on select--select all and then edit--define brush from selection. I named my brush and hit ok. Now my brush is the last brush in the brush pull-down menu. Now I just stamped that brush onto the first photo in this post.

How to make a personalized watermark

2009-11-17T16:35:00.000-08:00

Very, very easy to do. First, open a blank file at desired size. I chose 1" heighth x 3" width.
Then I used different text fonts and wrote my blogspots name in black. Then I opened up a swirly brush and stamped it next to the left of my text. Now, click on select-select all (to select your image). Then, click on edit-define brush from selection. Name your watermark in the pop up box and you are done. You will now see your image as a brush that you can now stamp onto any photo. You can choose any color and any opacity. You can see the first photo in this post is with a black brush, set at 75% OPACITY. The second is white at 25% and the last photo is white at 75%. You can adjust the brush size based on your photo. Now don't forget to SAVE your brush as an .abr file, so you can use it again. I always forget to save it, but when I select a new set of brushes, PSE sends a pop up box to remind me that I need to save it. Now it is always there for future use. If you want to save image onto your computer, be sure to save it as a .PNG file.

Adding texture to a photo

2009-11-17T16:00:00.001-08:00

Do you ever wonder how people make their photos look like this? They add texture.

There are several places you can download free textures, see the bottom of my post. The following pictures show a photo, a texture, and the combined texture added to the photo. Here is what was done. First, open the photo and the texture. Drag the texture on top of the photo. Chose a blending mode. In the example below, 'vivid light' blending mode was selected. Then a layer mask was added to mask out the texture effect on the face, skin area.

Here are some of my trials with this. I added dark scratches to the photo below, and then used a layer mask to mask it off of the person. Try all differnt blending modes. Start with 'overlay' and 'screen' at different opacities. Keep trying other blending modes until you get the look you want.

And on this photo below, I used a linen texture, and again used a layer mask to mask it off of her face and body.

Here are some sites for free texture downloads:

http://www.texturelovers.com/

http://www.deviantart.com/#order=9&q=free+textures

http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/search/label/Textures

Sneak Peak...."Here Comes the Sun"

2009-11-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

I did a photo-shoot today right as the sun was going down. I am loving the hazy effect the sun gives these shots. I will probably post about 10 more pics from this shoot, but here is a sneak peak.

Family photo shoot

2009-11-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I did a family photo shoot for a local family. At the end, I did some individual portraits of each child. They changed clothes to fit their own style. He did a great job of giving me attitude for his sk8ter pics.

Blending Modes

2009-11-05T16:06:00.000-08:00

What are Blending Modes? From your photoshop software, you will notive a drop down menu in your layers pallette. It defaults to say "normal", but you can click on it and see several types of blending modes, like color burn, linear burn, overlay, etc. So here is what that means.

Let's say you open up a photo. Now click on the thumbnail of that photo in your layers pallette and select duplicate. Now you have the duplicate image on top of the orinial image. Because your blending modes is defaulted to normal, your photo will look the exact same. Now, with the duplicate layer selected, chose a different blending mode. Below, you will see what different blending modes will look like when you blend a photo with it's duplicate.

Well, now you may ask, what will my photo look like if I blend it with something else. Well, you will only know if you try, but below you can see what this photo looks like when blended with a neutral piece of scrapbook paper.

Now this can very addicting as you now try to put several blending modes on top of eachother. So let's talk about the first photo of this post, with the 4 kids on the bridge.

First I opened the photo and then I dragged a neutral color paper underneath of it. I chose the blending mode, linear burn.

2. I made a duplicate of the photo on top of it and chose blending mode, screen.

3. I made another duplicate on top of that one and chose, linear light.

4. You will have to play with the opacity of each layer to taste. I wanted to desaturate it a little, so with the linear light layer selected, I clicked on image-adjustments-hue/saturation. Once the pop-up box came up, I slid the slider down, to decrease saturation. Do what looks best for your photo.

5. Finally, I took the same paper from the bottom and added a new layer with it on the top and used the blending mode, saturation. Now I am liking the way this photo looks. You might spend hours getting exactly what you want, but practice, practice.

Now, I can't remeber the exact blending modes I used to go from this BEFORE:

to this AFTER:but, I played with it enough to make the background as light as possible after first making it black and white. Once i did that, I placed the photo onto a 12 x 12 new page. I placed it in the corner. I got my eraser tool and set it to 33% opacity and erased around the edges of the photo so it wasn't a blunt rectangle. Then I got my type tool and wrote a few sentences about my daughter, copy and repasted it all over the 12 x 12 layout, staying clear of the photo part. I used my eraser tool with a low opacity to lighten up the text on the bottom left hand corner so that when i wrote the word l.O.V.E, you could see it better. And I finished it off with a border.

Shapes

2009-10-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

option #1

option #2

I had seen photos cut into really neat shapes, and I just had to figure this one out. Photoshop comes installed with several shapes. All you need to do is open a photo or scrapbook element. Click on your shapes tool, then drag it across your photo. Move the photo around inside the frame and resize to taste. Sounds easy enough.

But what if you have an element that is not a shapes file.....and you want the photo to lie within the shape of that element?

First I open the blank document and add the shape ontop of it. I place it where I want it. Now I need to remove the white part of the shape. So I click on my magic wand tool and click on the white space. It should select the white area. Now I just hit delete and the white area is now transparent (checkerboard). Now I will flatten all images. Now, I double click on the only layer (the background layer) and rename it anything I want. By renaming it, It isn't locked anymore. I click on 'make a new layer' and drag that layer below my original layer. I add my photo to that new layer. Because this layer is below the layer with the shape, the photo is peaking right through it, just like a frame. Tricky, but once you got it, you got it. I just love these bracket frames.

To download more shapes, check out www.ladyoak.com. She has more than just shapes so check it out.

Bokeh and my new Nikon50mm f1.4

2009-10-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

------------------------------------------------------------------Bokeh simply means when the background is blury....in otherwords, it is the out-of-focus area typically in the background. This allows the photo viewer to focus on the primary subject and not the distracting background.

So in the photos below, I wanted to get some Halloween pics of my daughter, but didn't want to travel for the 'photo shoot', so I did these in fron of my house, and using my new lens.......................the Nikon 50mm f1.4, which I love, it has such a high aperature, it is great for portraits. It allows the subject full focus and the background the BOKEH.

------------------------------------------------------------Now in this photo, because my daughter is standing very close to the background, then it is going to be in focus as well, though.

This lens is so fast, and is great for low light situations. I love the shallow depth of field it provides. I just have to get used to not zooming in, as it is set to f1.4.

CliPpinG MasKs and Using a Brush as a Die-Cut

2009-10-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

In my previous post titled 'How to get grundgy edges', I discussed using clipping masks as an option. As you can imagine, clipping masks can come in any design. In the below photo I picked an orange color from the photo to use with my clipping mask, so that the photo blended well together. See my tutorial from the previous post on how to use clipping masks.

Obviously, in the two photos below, I used a white colored clipping mask.I used the photo below for the FIRST image you see in this post. Once I attached the clipping mask, I dragged this image onto a white blank document. I added a dark scratch overlay (using a layer mask to erase the effect of the overlay from the photo) and then added some fun text.

I subscribe to thedigitalscrapbookteacher.com. I own her book which is where a lot of this started. (See my previous post titled 'computer smarts???? Here is a Start'. Each month she emails a newsletter with great scrapbooking tips. Here is her latest one. If you like it, subscribe at her website for more.

Open your software and open a new blank document at 300DPI, white background, RGB color.

Click on the 'new layer' icon in your layers pallette.

Now, pick a brush and stamp it directly onto that new layer. In this example a SEA HORSE will be used.

Now, open a paper of your choice (this example is using a flowered brown paper). Once opened drag in down onto the brush stroke in the project bin. It will appear that you have two pieces of paper open in the project bin, but if you look to the right in your layers pallette, you will see 3 layers, with the paper layer on top (which is why you can't see the Sea Horse brushstroke anymore)

Now, with the paper layer selected click CTRL+G (which will group it with previous). You paper has now taken on the shape of your brush.

Backgrounds for photos

2009-10-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes if I want a great close-up portrait, then the background isn't that important because I use such a high aperature, the background is usually so out of focus, but for full body shots I love finding fun backgrounds. I am into rustic, urban, distressed backgrounds. In these photos I used an old fence, an old tractor, and this Star fence.

other projects to do with photoshop

2009-10-04T19:15:00.001-07:00

Yes I use photoshop to enhance pictures, make digital scrapbok layouts, but I use it for EVERYTHING. I even use it in replacement for Microsoft Word sometimes.

Here is my list of things I do with it:

1.make business cards. In photoshop, I can turn the rulers and grids on, so that I can measure exactly how big each card should be. I can use differnt fonts, brushes, etc. to decorate it.

2.make Cards. I LOVE THIS. I make valentines card (see below), Halloween card, even our family Christmas Card. Why use a pre-set design from costco that everyone else might use. This way I know my design is unique.

3.Announcements like baby announcements.

4.Invitations. You can type all the details for where, when, etc. with cute picture and background design. Or check out these book labels or gift tags.

5.Labels for parties. I've made labels for an ice cream buffet one for the flavors, the condiments,etc). I've downloades FREE labels from eatdrinkchic.com, like this one below. And I printed it on sticky paper and adhered it to cute oil and vinegar bottles and gave it away as a gift.

6.I even use it to make "tickets" to a 'dinner-cruise-theme party' (see below). I print on a heavy cardstock, then cut them out.

And the list could go on. If you haven't purchased PSE by this point, think again.

How to get Freebies

2009-09-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

The hobbie of digital scrapbooking really doesn't have to be that expensive. After the purchase of a good How-To book and good software, you could really just download a bunch of freebies if you wanted. A lot of sites offer freebies, some good , some bad. Over on the right sidebar I have a list of digital scrapbooking sites. Click on each one, then look for the word free, freebies, downloads, and you are bound to find something for free.

At 'digital scrapbook pages' they are giving away this digi-kit for free. click on the link.

At free digital scrapbooking, look on the left where it says freebies and there are tons to pick from.

At 'Shabby Princess" click on the word downloads and you will find several kits, including this one.

At "PepperMintCreative "they release a new free digi-kit from time to time, so check back every other month or so and click on FREE. This is the free kit for this month. Download it from their site.

At 'ScrapGirls' they offer a monthly membership in which you get tons of freebies all the time for a very low cost membership fee. They offer this kit for free download

At 'Shabby Miss Jenn Designs' they offer a few freebies like this one below. Just click on the Shoppe and browse for the word GOODIES.

Now there are many other things for free. Google to find Free Brushes, Free Fonts, Free Shapes, Free Textures, etc.

Grundge Borders, Frames, Clipping Masks,etc.

2009-09-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

People are always asking me how I distress the borders of my photos. Well, there are several ways to do it, some easier than others. I will explain 4 different ways.

with a Brush

scroll down to my post about "Brushes". It explains it better. But a brush is essentially just like if you had a rubber stamp. I downloaded some 'grundge' and 'cracked-edges' brushes and just easily stamped it right onto the photo. In this picture I stamped in white.

Paint or Pencil tool

You could also select your paint or pencil tool and just draw or paint right onto the photo. In the picture above I just drew a bunch of diagonal black lines over the edges of the photo.

Actions

You can purchase or find free "ACTIONS" that do the work for you. You just click on the action and hit 'apply to photo'. See my post titled 'actions into actions' if you are not quite sure what they are. In this photo I applied a free action from the "COFFEE SHOP" in her borders collection. The link to the coffee shop is on my sidebar.

Digital Scrapbook Supplies

Very easy. A lot of digital scrapbook sites sell frames or you can find some free frames for download. I found this cute poloroid frame made by Andrea Rascaglia here....IT IS A FREE DOWNLOAD and she has several. Just click on this link. You just open your photo into photoshop, then click on file-place, and it will search your computer for where you saved the frame you downloaded. Once found, click on place and it will be placed onto your photo and you can then free transform it to fit.

Clipping Masks

ok, this is the hardest one to do, but I love the effect it gives. First off you have to download a clipping mask. Once in photoshop, open up a blank document. Then open up your clipping mask and drag it onto your blank document. Then drag your photo on top of the clipping mask layer. (at this point you can't see the clipping mask anymore, because the photo on top of it is hiding it). Now you just have to group the photo to the clipping mask. First: right click on your photo layer and simplify it (or else it won't group). Second: use the shortcut CTRL+G which is the shorcut for 'group with previous'. Now the two layers are merged as one.

I got these two clipping masks seen in the two pictures below also at the coffee shop. From her site, click on goodies, scroll down and click on frames, then scrool down until you find the place to download her clipping mask collection. She gives a more detailed, step-by-step tutorial on how to download and use all of her products.

Powder Room

2009-09-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

The first thing I will say about this is DO NOT GO CRAZY WITH IT. Powder Room is to enhance a photo, but not to make someonw look totally alien. The first picture is the before. If you look at the AFTER you can see the subtle changes to make a good portrait. I whitened the white part of their eyes and added eye definition. I smoothed their skin and used the clone stamp to remove blemishes like zits. I slightly whitened their teeth as well. It just cleans it up so people look their best. Obviously you could go to extremes and remove wrinkles, even cellulite, but I don't believe in making it look too unnatural

"You don't nee no stinkin' FULL VERSION photoshop"

2009-09-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

I so badly wanted to copy and paste pics from this site, but you can just click on it for the whole article.
Sure CS has more options, but it is also SOOOO expensive in comparison to $50-$100 that photoshop elements is.
You can see from this site, that you can definitly achieve great results from elements, especially if you download a layer mask (which is not offered in elements)(SEE MY POST ON LAYER MASKS).

Simple way to make a Photo go from blah to wow!

2009-08-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

This photo is SOOC (straight out of the camera). But it just doesn't do it for me. 2 simple ways to make your photos pop have to do with correcting color.

Option #1 correct color curves (in the above picture on the RIGHT). In photoshop select to adjust color curves. (Enhance--adjust color--adjust color curves) You will see a diagonal line and 4 sliders. Move the sliders until the sraight diagonal line looks more like the letter "s". You should see a difference as you will in the below photo with the color curves adjusted. Much brighter and pops out at you.

Option #2 might pop even more. In the photo below I changed the levels layer. Go to layers--levels layer. A box will pop up with 3 eyedroppers; black, white, and grey. Click on the black eyedropper and drag it onto your photo and click on something truly black in the photo. Then do the same with the white eyedropper. You are essentially telling it what black and white look like, so it will adjust the color in the photo accordingly. You may have to try it a few times to get it looking right. Sometimes the effect is too drastic and you may need to find a different black or white tone in the picture. You'll figure it out. The picture below was done this way and is a lot brighter than the previous. Which one do you like best?

Vintage and Lomography

2009-08-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

I don't really love the actual photograph itself. It was a crazy hot day, and she didn't want to sit and pose.....but I loved the background and wanted to try to photoshop them for a vintage and lomo look.

Vintage-color

Vintage-Black and White

Lomography

What would I do without a "Layer Mask" ?

2009-08-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

I am so thrilled to have a layer mask. Here is what it is? Let's say you want to add an ethereal glow or a blur to your image. Well, I tried this. I would make a selection around the person in the picture and then blur everything else. Even with a soft brush, it looked horrible. You could see the exact circle I drew around the person. Layer Mask saved me.

Essentially you can add any action to your photo, then you put a "layer mask" on the action layer in your layers pallette. You can then use the brush tool at a really low opacity and softness and by brushing over the person in the photograph, it will remove the effects of the action.

Here is a the original. I added an ethereal glow by Dave found at deviantart.com. Then I made a duplicate layer, so that I could add a gaussian blur to that. I then put a layer mask on the blur layer and removed the blur and glow from the face.

Here is with the effects added. You can see how the background is blury with an ethereal glow, but the person is not.

Here is the finished product with a little bit of powder room. I made the EYES stand out more. I also removed some discoloration in the lips using the clone tool. And of course, a little bit of burning to the edges.

So if you have photoshop elements like I do, then you may be confused on how I have a layer mask. Elements does not come with them. But the nice people over at coffee shop action, (see my side bar for the link) made a layer mask action for free. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

For a wonderful full tutorial on how to use layer masks, and what they are, click here on the pioneer women.

.:'.:Catch Light...:..., Paint Chip Photos, Rounded Corners

2009-08-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

When it comes to portraits, I believe the single most important thing is the eyes. You want people to zone right into them. I am working on trying to get better catch light (meaning: when there is a small white glistening in the eyes produced from a light source.)

I know some people even create more catch light by reflecting light off of a white poster board and onto the person's face.

I am still trying to find the best places in my house and time of day to get the best catch light.

There are also ways that you can make eyes POP in photoshop. Now without making the person look alien-ish, you can magnify the image to the eye area. Use the burn tool at a low opacity and burn the edges of the iris and also the entire pupil. Then you can use the dodge tool, also at a los opacity to lighten the iris just a little bit. This worked really well on my blue-eyed sister to make her blue eyes more vibrant. But my daughter's rich chocolate eyes did not work because it made her look to alien-ish. She is meant to have rich dark iris'.

Paint Chip Photos and Rounded Corners

I found a great action that will round my corners with one easy button and saves me the work. I love the look of it. I also like to attach my photos to a solid color, almost like a frame to draw the viewer to the color in the photo.

Sorry I've Been Gone

2009-08-04T17:09:00.001-07:00

Well ya know how summers are.......busy. But that doesn't mean I don't have some pictures and tutorials to share.
I am SOOOOOO excited. I am waiting for my new lens to be shipped. I have a standard 28mm-80mm, a zoom 70mm-100mm, macro lens, but nothing with an aperture greater than 3.3.
I got the 50mm f/1.4D. They recently just made the same lens in a G-series. But I think the D will be just fine. It will provide great bokeh, a great portrait lens because it is so fast. Soon to come, I have some posts on rounded corners, paint chip photos, catch light/making eyes pop, and using a layer mask and how to use one in PSE.............and much more, so stay tuned. In the meantime I came across some photos I really liked that were taken by my sister-in-law, Cassie a couple years ago. The only little thing I did, is that I did a little photo-shopping to Malissa's eyes in the picture with the butterfly. Cassie is my go to person to talk to about lenses. She loves photography and has entered some local contests and won. Way to go!!!!!!

Photographing Children

2009-06-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

I love this article. Just click the link. It gives great ideas on what to think about before taking a picture like
Background
Abstract
Angles (different viewpoints)
Posing
Taking picture at their level
candid approach
It also dicusses camera setting such as aperture, ISO, and type of lens

Understanding your camera

2009-06-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

For the record I am NOT a photographer at all. My husband really enjoys it, especially landscape, wildlife, nature, etc. However, I am more interested in photos of people. I love to take his photos and then photoshop them. Here is the problem; Most of his experience is with nature, not people. So, I am now taking a larger interest in the photo taking itself rather than just the "behind the scenes" photoshopping so that I can capture people pictures knowing how I would photoshop it later.

We have the NIKON D50. Here is a great link that can help you to better understand your camera settings. Click HERE.

Here are some of my husbands nature shots, he has SO MANY to choose from

a RAINY day

2009-05-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

Examples of the previous post (coffee shop)

2009-05-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

If you are not quite sure if downloading actions is worth the time, check out my before and afters. One thing I love about the coffee shop actions is that they are all adjustable to taste. So although one of my images may not be exactly your style, you can adjust it to your own individual style. I really like the look of URBAN photography (bright colors, or muted colors, increased contrast, and lighting)

------------original--------------------- with Barista action applied

original ------------------------------------see detail below---------- rasberrry tea action------

with sweet bakery glazes applied in the above middle picture (you can choose from 5 types of glazes, this one is strawberry. The "glaze" is what adds the soft blur effect)

----------original------------------------- see detail below--------

with Vivid action applied (you can choose 4 options: soft, vivid, bright, or urban) this one is using soft

with Vivid action applied using the urban option

------Original-------------------------- with vivid action using the bright option

Original ------------------------------------------with color pop pro action and a vignette added

The Coffee Shop-A MUST HAVE

2009-05-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

Most actions are sold for photoshop CS and it is hard to make them work in elements. I really wanted to purchase ADOBE Lightroom, it is rather expensive and I don't think it will work in elements.

I recently found a website in which the blog author makes her own actions and provides them as FREE downloads. She is wonderful. She is called the Coffee Shop. Click here. Then from her site, click on "actions". Once page loads, then scroll down. She has at least 20 actions you can click on that will then take you to a page that you can download them. Creat a file folder on your computer that you want to download them into. Once downloaded, unzip (extract) the downloaded file. Next you need to install it into your photoshop program. Click here to learn to to install based on which PS version you have and what type of computer (XP, Vista) that you have. If you have a mac, click here for installing directions. Just scroll down the page until you see a link that says "install using MAC"

If you do have CS, then I would highly check out Delight. They have amazing actions that I would love to try.

Brushes, how to install, what they do

2009-05-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

I was once very confused on what brushes actually are. Yes, they are exactly what you think they would be, but much more. Your software should come with several installed brushes, that would allow you to paint with any color directly on your project. But brushes are also STAMPS. You would just select your brush of choice, change the color and size and click on you project ONCE rather than holding the mouse button and dragging it like you would if you were painting.

Here are some of my brushes that I stamped onto a white background. I have lace and doily's, damask, doodle, and my favorite is the grundged edges or cracked edges. Just google Free photoshop (your program here) brushes and you are sure to find many sites that will let you download them for free like this one here: http://myphotoshopbrushes.com/brushes. I haven't actually used them so I don't know how good they are.
HOW TO INSTALL THE BRUSH: usually when you download a brush, they will tell you how to install it. Here is how I installed it onto my Windows Vista for Photohop Elements 6. It should be similar and pretty easy to do. Unzip the downloaded folder. Then copy that folder into the BRUSHES folder, by following this path: Local Disk (C:)-program files-adobe-photoshop elements 6.0-presets-brushes. Then the next time you open up your software (photoshop), click on the brush tool and scroll through the different types of brushes until you see the one you installed.
NOTE: sometimes it may take a few hours for your software to realize the new brushes have been installed

Shortcuts for Photoshop

2009-05-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of shortcuts that make photoshop so easy, especially for making signs, posters, digi-scrapping,etc. At least, I know they work in Elements, not sure about CS.

CTRL-N opens a new blank file
ALT-CTRL-N opens a new blank file the same size as the previous
CTRL-O open
CTRL-S save
Shift-CTRL-S save as
CTRL-Z undo
CTRL-C copy
CTRL-V paste
Shift-CTRL-V paste into
CTRL-J new layer/ via copy
CTRL-G group with previous
CTRL-E merge
shift-CTRL-I inverse selection
Esc. de-select

And so long as you are not in "Type mode", you just have to hit the following letters for their shorcut:

V move tool
Z zoom tool
I eyedropper tool
M marquee tools
L lasso tools
W magic wand
A selection brush
T type tools
C crop tool
Y red eye removal
E eraser tools
B brush tools
G gradient tool
U shape tools
D default colors (black and white)
X swap foreground and background colors

ALT-backspace fill with foreground color
CTRL-backspace fill with background color
use the bracket keys [ ] to adjust brush sizes

Urban Photo Calendar

2009-04-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

What a cute Idea. Take photographs off letters and numbers and crop them to 1 inch by 1 inch and then clip them together to make a calendar. At the end of each month, rotate the numbers. The good thing is that you only have to rotate the columns because for example, 14,21,and 28 will always be under 7. I made one, but tried using paperclips..........I need to find the clips that this person used. Or you could put a magnet on the back of each number and magnet them to a magnet board you can get from office depot.

Filters

2009-04-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

Several filters come built in with your photoshop software, including effects to make your photo look like a sketch, a cartoon, blurred, texturized, etc. I like to use these for my backgrounds.

So I use the selection brush to select the foreground. Of course, I magnify the image, so I can get every little pixel. Then I invert the selection, so the background is selected, then I apply my desired filter. This pic is using a film grain filter

and this one is using a stained glass filter.

I Love Lomography

2009-04-10T15:31:00.001-07:00

This first picture is photoshopped to look like lomo. There is a type of old, crappy Russian camera (Lomo) that produces pictures like these. But todays standard camera can't accomplish this look........................but after several photoshop steps, you can achieve this look. I use PS-Elements 6.0, so I will tell you how I did it, then you can modify it to your individual software.

photoshopped image to look like Lomo

naked or SOOC(straight out of camera)

1.First, create a vignette (this causes the edges to become darker) by using the lasso tool and tracing a circle around the object in the picture. Inverse the selection. Now go to layers-new adjustment layer-levels. Move the middle slider arrow to the right until you reach desired effect. Here is what your picture will look like now. Merge layers

2. Now click on Enhance -adjust color-adjust color curves. Move the sliders to create a slanted "s". You really only need to move 2 sliders to do so.
3. Now click on Enhance -adjust color-adjust hue/saturation. Move the hue slider slightly to the left until you get desired effect. (I move the hue to -15)
4. Now create a fill layer and using the paint bucket, fill the layer with black. Click on that layer in your layers pallette and adjust the opacity. I put mine at 10% opacity.
5. Now click on Enhance-Unsharp Mask. Put it at 50% and increase the radius (I put mine at 35) and set the threshold to 0.

6. As an option, you can try a different mode. Click on Image-Mode-Indexed color. If you don't like the effect then Edit-Undo. Merge all layers and save as a JPEG.
And there you have it. I am hoping that somebody will make an action that will do all these steps with the click of a button. I'll keep looking for one. Click here to the coffee shop actions. She does have a free downloadable vignette action that will save you some time.

Photo Board Books

2009-04-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

I love making photo books and I just found a company that will make board books. Check out blank slate. With other companies you send them the pictures and they print the book and are pretty expensive. With this company, they send you the blank board book and adhesive printing labels and you just print from home. I'm trying to find a way to laminate it better, so that it lasts longer. I found some great kid friendly images online and uploaded them into photoshop and added my own text. You could use photographs instead of pictures, though.

Digital Scrapbooking????????????

2009-03-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of questions on what digital scrapbooking is and how I make flyers, photobooks, and blog layouts. Well the answer is simply this.
Anything you can make with paper, you can make digitally,except you now have way more options. You purchase paper, buttons, tags, (you name it) from online digital scrapbooking stores(such as shabby princess,polkadot potato). You purchase a program to make your layouts such as Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop, and a few others. Using the software, you open, click and drag different pieces onto your page.

Here are the pros:

-Once you buy something, you can use it forever on other projects and depending on how cool your software is, you can even change it's shape and color. For example, I can purchase a small blue button for a cute baby boy scrapbook page and later can turn it pink,enlarge it for a whole new look on another page.

-It's faster, once you learn the shortcuts.

-No more sticky fingers with dots,glue,tape,etc.

-If your kids wake up or get cranky, you can easily click save.........rather than trying to clean everything up so your toddler doesn't get into it.

-It's also cheaper because you can send several pages at a time to online companies like blurb, or shutterfly and they will bound it into a book at $1 a page. That is very cheap, compared to traditional scrapbooking. You don't have to pay for developing the photo either.

-You can always go hybrid (do a little bit of both)

Here is a recent page I did for my daughters's birthday.

Here are some tutorials and help on how to get started:

http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/tutorials/software_tutorials.asp

http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/scripts/digiscrapping.asp

Finding and Installing FONTS

2009-03-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

I love fonts. My favorites are the cute handwriting type fonts. You can find companies online that will turn your handwriting into a font for a fee. However, check out http://kevinandamanda.com/fonts/fontsforpeas/. Amanda will do it for free if you follow her instructions carefully. Here is my handwriting called Pea*Rayn.

Now what does this have to do with photography, you ask? Well yes you can use fonts in WORD files, but if you are a digi-scrapper, you will really appreciate having some great fonts.
Also check out http://www.dafont.com/. They have a lot of free fonts for download, I love some of their monogrammed fonts.

Here is how to install on Windows VISTA, but should be similar in other versions.

-download the font into the following folder: C:drive>user>documents>fonts.....or create it if you don't have it.

-unzip the compressed folder

-go to contol panel>fonts(be sure you are in classic view). Click on "install new font". If you can not find this command, then right click on the fonts folder and you should see the command to install a new font.

-select the path to find the folder that you downloaded the font into. Once found, click on it and click ok. (Be sure to check "copy fonts to Fonts foler")

-now when you start typing you should see the new font added,if not you either forgot to unzip the file first, or you just need to restart your computer.

Good Luck!

Photos into Stamps

2009-03-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

How would you like to make your own adorable stamps. Click here. You can turn any photo into a real stamp. It's amazing all the things you can do with photos these days.

Wall Murals

2009-03-09T20:11:00.001-07:00

These are perfect for a guy's bedroom, or any other themed room. At PB Teen, you can choose from several different photographs that are made into a 4' x 6' mural that you can hang on a wall. I first saw this in my step-brother's room. He had a mural of a skateboarder and it looked really cool. They sell for about $99, but I found this snoboarder one in their clearance section online. They have more than just sports, so check them out.

Black & White with Color

2009-03-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

There are two ways to add color to your B & W photo
The first photo I like to refer to as "peek-a-boo" color. Start with a colored photo. The easiest way to do this is to use the selection brush and paint over the section you want to keep colored. (Be sure to magnify your image, so you can paint as close to the edges as possible to get every pixel). Then, inverse your selction, so the background is now selected. Then, choose 'convert to black and white'. Only your selected area will become black and white. It's that easy.

The second photo is called "hand tinting". First you want to make your entire picture black and white. Select the brush tool (not the selection brush tool, just the brush tool). Choose a brush with soft edges and choose a foreground color. In this picture, I chose the color pink and painted on top of the B&W dress ( I set the opacity to 50%. Had I left it at 100% it would have been to opaque and dark, and you wouldn't be able to see the polka dots as well) I painted over the bunny with brown at 50% opacity and yellow on the duck at 50% opacity.

If you haven't read my blog, then you should know that I am using Photoshop Elements software to do this.

Here are some really good tips. Always make a duplicate of your photo and then photoshop the duplicate image. That way you can always preserve the original. Or................When you open up the original image, add an adjustment layer to it. You can photoshop the adjustment layer rather than the image itself.

Easy Text Effects

2009-02-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

When you experiment with Photoshop enough, you can learn how to grundge or distress edges. You can even learn how to make torn paper. If you are a scrapbooker, just think, anything you can do with tangible scrapbook supplies, you can do with digital scrapbook supplies. The easiest way to get these effects is to purchase actions (.ATN files) which will do all the steps for you with one press of a button.

make your text look--- Make your text look

like a block------------- like it was stamped.

make your text look ---Add inked edges

like chipped paint------

Get the look of torn paper.

My favorites is the chipboard effect and inked edges. Go to Atomic Cupcake.com and you can purchase or download some of their free actions. They also have a section that gives great PS Tutorials for beginners. Check them out.

To learn how to install actions, see the below link.

http://saturn-rings.deviantart.com/art/Install-Photoshop-Actions-91683217

Photography into Art and Wallpaper

2009-02-17T14:45:00.000-08:00

If you are an HGTV junkie like me, you see that a lot of designers will use photography as art for the wall. Check out http://www.betterwallpaper.co.uk/default.aspx. You can send them a photo and they will turn it into wallpaper. Since my house isn't huge, I had Ritz camera enlarge a photo into a 20 x 26, changed it to sepia and photoshopped a little border. Put it in a frame and hung it over my mantle.

Ryan takes great pics of flowers, and I hated having them just stuffed in an album, so I framed them and put them on shelves in Kennedee's room when she was born.

Spell with Flickr

2009-02-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

This is so cool. Go to http://metaatem.net/words/ and you can type in any word and it will pull up photos of letters to spell the word you chose. If you have ever seen those really expensive framed pictures that take your last name with cool letter photos like these and then they matte it into a frame and sell it for like $50++++++++.

Now all you have to do is choose your word, right click on each letter and save it. Upload it to your favorite photo developer and frame it yourself. Tip: on the "spell with flickr" website if you left click on the letters, it will give you several different photos to choose from for each letter.

2009-01-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

Again a different action applied that I call "H_D_A" from devianart.com. and then I increased both brightness and the contrast with a soft brush selected around K.

actions into action

2009-01-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

Here is a before and after of some pics in Malibu. The first I used an action by "night light"(set 66). To better explain. To give a picture this type of effect you would have to perform several steps with different tools (in other words there are different layers that have been added to the original background from contrast, lighting, color, opacity, blurs and other filters. An action is when somebody creats an .ATN file that puts all the steps in order. Once you download the action or .ATN file, you just have to click one button and it performs all the steps really fast for you. The only other thing I did,was I added a linear gradient using the colore black and directed it from each corner to her face. That is why the edges are darker (burned) and it gradually gets lighter in the center.

This second photo has been cropped, partially blurred with two different actions applied including "night light" (set 67). I then made a masked selection around Kennedee with a soft brush and increased the brightness and then used the burn and dodge tools for final touches.

No action applied here, I justed did a mask selection around kennedee and did a blur filter.

Computer Smarts? Here is a start

2009-01-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

1 year ago, I felt pretty computer illiterate. It's amazing how much you can learn in a year. If your looking for a good digital scrapbooking how-to book, you must use thedigitalscrapbookteacher.com. You can purchase your book there and it is worth every penny. I bought another basic Photoshop elements book and it didn't give me as much in-depth info. She also gives you tons of freebies from papers to frames, buttons, etc.
However her book is for PSE 5. I have PSE 6.0, so some of her instructions didn't work with my system and this is where I really had to learn my computer. I can now download, unzip, and install anything from brushes (which are like stamps) and actions. I HEART actions. Check out atomic cupcake for some great actions and their are also some freebies at www.deviantart.com

Photo Book for Ryan for Christmas

2009-01-17T22:50:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I made a photobook for Ryan using blurb.com. I took some of my favorite photographs that he has taken and digitally scrapbooked them in Photoshop Elements with different tools, papers, and embelishments from online digital scrapbook stores. They published it in a beautifully put together book with a personalized dust jacket. Here is a slide show of some of the pages. He said this was the best present I ever gave him.

photoshop tutorials, photography, digital scrapbooking tutorials

For all you photographers out there--HUGE giveaway

Changing the color of elements or papers.

Changing the color of elements or papers.

making elements look like a sticker

templates

Out of Focus

What's your style

Nothing's Missing

Going Candid and trying new Angles

how to make your own unique brush

How to make a personalized watermark

Adding texture to a photo

Sneak Peak...."Here Comes the Sun"

Family photo shoot

Blending Modes

Shapes

Bokeh and my new Nikon50mm f1.4

CliPpinG MasKs and Using a Brush as a Die-Cut

Backgrounds for photos

other projects to do with photoshop

How to get Freebies

Grundge Borders, Frames, Clipping Masks,etc.

Powder Room

"You don't nee no stinkin' FULL VERSION photoshop"

Simple way to make a Photo go from blah to wow!

Vintage and Lomography

What would I do without a "Layer Mask" ?

.:*'.:*Catch Light..*.:.*.., Paint Chip Photos, Rounded Corners

Sorry I've Been Gone

Photographing Children

Understanding your camera

a RAINY day

Examples of the previous post (coffee shop)

The Coffee Shop-A MUST HAVE

Brushes, how to install, what they do

Shortcuts for Photoshop

Urban Photo Calendar

Filters

I Love Lomography

Photo Board Books

Digital Scrapbooking????????????

Finding and Installing FONTS

Photos into Stamps

Wall Murals

Black & White with Color

Easy Text Effects

Photography into Art and Wallpaper

Spell with Flickr

actions into action

Computer Smarts? Here is a start

Photo Book for Ryan for Christmas

.:'.:Catch Light...:..., Paint Chip Photos, Rounded Corners