Japan Image

Clock image

A breakdown showing how I construct an image with layers.

Focus point

Always check where the focus point is when choosing an image. Zoom right in there to make sure the part you want is in perfect focus.

Cropping and License removal

Cropping and License removal. This really was the first video I made with the screen casting software, CamStudio. Something I have learned about blogging here. It is far faster to upload videos via Youtube and then embed them to blogger. I am not sure why, but the blogger upload is sooooo slow.

Auto contrast Vs Auto Levels

In the case of this photo, auto levels is not the way to go. But in many other cases, auto levels works perfectly. Experiment for yourself, and see what works for your image. A side note, I didn't mean to say sepia in the video. Rather, I just meant to say, ugly blue tone.

Remove Logo

He he, my first screen casting tutorial. How cool. I got it to work! I used a open source program called Camstudio. Google it. It works great with me. Anyway, this is a tutorial about how to remove a simple logo. There will be many more Tutorials to come!

The Lasso Tool

If you right click on this tool you get three options. I think the polygonal lasso tool (the one that makes straight lines, not the image you see here) is by far the most useful. Then the image you see here, the lasso tool is good for drawing lines, but it can be a bit hard use with the mouse. And finally, the Magnetic Lasso tool. Maybe somebody out there likes this tool, but for me, I never use it. I basically just use the
polygonal lasso tool.

I often use this technique. Select an area with the lasso, copy and paste to a new layer. Then alter the color in any way I need to. Finally I will give it a touch of Gaussian Blur, and then merge down to the lower layer. I will give examples of this latter.

The Stamp tool

The stamp tool is an absolute must for removing those pesky corporate logos. Why would you want to do this. Well anybody who has done stock photography knows what I mean. Anyway, the stamp tool has such a wide range of uses, from removing a nasty pimple on the face, to duplicating textures in order to simplify a composition. I could spend all day talking about how useful this tool is, but you get the point.

The Crop Tool

The crop tool is absolutely the first tool I use in almost any situation. I look at the overall composition of the photograph, and I crop out any parts that are not necessary. It also helps to reduce the size of the image. If you use a 16 megapixel camera like myself, this comes in very handy. Also, it depends on the composition, but you should usually save a non-cropped version of every photo just in case. Latter, I will give more detailed examples about how I look at a composition.

Photoshop 7 tools

I these days I run Photoshop 7 on my Vaio PC. I know it is not the most up to date version of photoshop, but it does everything I want. One day in the future, I guess I will have to put out the big bucks for the new CS versions, but for now, I am happy.


Here is an image of the tools on Photoshop 7. It is the bible for any graphic artist. I will give a detailed description on how I use each tool.

Leo in action

Here is Leo talking about Photoshop.

Who is Leo?

Leo Laporte has a great show called The Lab with Leo. He's a funny guy and interesting to listen to. He talks about all aspects of technology and I have learned a lot about using photoshop from his show. I highly recommend giving it a view.

Check out http://www.labwithleo.com/

Background.

Nice background, strong concept. This was done entirely on photoshop. The key to this image is using the path tool. Just stroke the path many times to create the glowing effect. Once you have flattened all the layers, you are ready to go. Just be sure to save a un-flattened version in the PSD (Photoshop) format as well in case you want to go back and make another variation.

Backgrounds

Simple backgrounds like this are so easy to create. It's just made from two layers. The layer with the shaded red fabric is made using black and white stokes on the airbrush, and then blued with Gaussian blur. Then the other layer has all the yellow stars that are simply copied over and over again. Then flatten then image, and you are done. A decent selling image, perfect for any Christmas card is created!

Why create 3D when you can do it in Photoshop?

I have found that you can simulate a lot of 3D effects without using a 3D modeling program. Just use the edit>trasform>distort function to create the illusion of 3D, as I did with the grid on the background of the image above. Then throw in a drop shadow for the arrow. There you have it. Maybe it's not as slick as a 3D modeled image, but it was 3 or 4 times as fast to create. And time is money in this business. I have sold a number of these images, so I can say, it was a smart move to choose photoshop.

As many designers know, working with a 3D modeling program can slow any computer way down compared with photoshop. I run Maya, trust me I know. I am not saying you should never use a 3D program. In many cases, it is the only route, but when you can avoid it, go the photoshop route. It's probably more fun, and a heck of a lot more easy.