Digital Background - Digital Photography » Photoshop

How to Create a Photoshop Action

admin — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 05:14:21 +0000

By Mandi Pralle

A Photoshop Action is a preprogrammed command or series of commands that one can record and replay in order to save time and reduce the monotony of the repeated actions often required during the development of visual media. It includes all automated commands available within the program through its various menus. For example, if there are a series of steps that a designer prefers to follow in order to achieve a certain effect, that artist can program those steps into one Photoshop Action with the option to create a shortcut key for that action so that this effect can be applied automatically. As another example, if there is a certain format in which a designer must save all of his or her work, a Photoshop Action can be recorded that goes through the entire “Save As” process. This would result resulting in a save that can be completed with the push of a button similar to how one would save a project with the default extension, which can save a good amount of time.

How It Is Done

A Photoshop Action is programmed as follows. Initially, one must ensure that the History/Action window is visible. If not, one can select “Show History” or “Show Actions” from the “Window” menu. Once the History/Action window has been identified, select the “Actions” tab. From there, select the right-pointing arrow just below the “Exit” (“x”) button, which opens up the window’s menu. From the menu, select “New Action…,” which appears first on the list. One can then name the action, select the set under which the action will fall under (this does not need to be changed if one is not interested in stratifying his or her actions), set the color scheme that is associated with this action, and select the shortcut key that will initiate this action, if desired. Once this is completed, click the “Record” button that appears above the “Cancel” button.

The window will disappear and the user can then perform the set of commands of which he or she would like the Action to be comprised. Although the program would then be recording the commands input by the user, it does not record the amount of time it takes to perform these commands. Therefore, any amount of time can be spent recording the commands so that no mistakes are programmed into the Action as well. Once all of the necessary commands have been performed, the user can then open the menu from the arrow in the Actions window and select “Stop Recording,” which will likewise be the first option on the list. The Photoshop Action is thus created. A user can then apply this action whenever necessary by either selecting it from the list within the Actions window or by pressing the designated shortcut keys.

One must bear in mind that Photoshop Actions only apply to automated commands within the program. Subsequently, it excludes all actions performed through the tools menu, such as hand drawn lines, selections, erasures, and paintbrush functions. It is merely used for a series of steps that would otherwise require navigation to various menus followed by numerous selections. In other words, one can program an automated shadow rendering Action by manipulating various menu settings such as the creation of adjustment layers, copy-pastes, the application of bevels and other filers, layer property adjustments, and rasterizations. Alternately, one cannot automatically shadow an object by recording various maneuvers using the dodge and burn tools.
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The Top Photo Editing Software Is Still Photoshop

admin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 06:25:19 +0000

By Ashley Adam

Over time since Photoshop initially became available, several different companies have attempted to make photo editing software to contend with it, however, pretty much all have failed. Microsoft even tried bundling Corel with all the PCs it was selling and even that didn’t work. Individuals who purchased those personal computers still acquired and mounted Photoshop and would either uninstall the Corel or just never use it again. Photo editing software just does not get much better than Photoshop. Regardless if you are a novice only trying to make your Facebook pictures look better or a professional photographer you’ll appreciate all to the impressive stuff that Photoshop can do.

With all the digital cameras available around the world in these days, downloading images directly into Photoshop has totally replaced scanning, sending scanner sales and prices falling. So, who needs a scanner when there aren’t any hard copy prints anymore? The days are gone of driving to the store and dropping off your roll of film to be processed. Even pros who had their own darkroom are now able to digitally download photos right from their very costly, high-end digital SLRs. No more working in the dark with poisonous chemicals and messing with paper prints. A lot of printers offered today can print high-resolution images straight onto photo paper in various sizes so all the user needs to do is download the images straight from their digital camera to the photo editing software, adjust the levels, then print out the digitally retouched photo. What a time saver!

The photo editing software that you obtain when you buy Photoshop is second to none when it comes to various stuff that you can do to your photos. Most people will never use the advanced functions of Photoshop like learning how to mathematically alter the curves so the image is retouched to Art Director specs, but it is nice to know you could if you need to.

Designers and Graphic Artists love Photoshop as it is the easiest to use digital tool in making drop dead gorgeous collages and photo illustrations. There are some outstanding artists using Photoshop as their canvas and creating awe inspiring works of art. Galleries all over the world right now feature the work of these modern-day artists who earn a living manipulating pictures in Photoshop.

The fundamental concept of Photoshop is the fact that you can use it to improve or add to a genuine picture. In the same manner, Photoshop can be used to add things such as color or light. Photo editing software such as Photoshop enables you to use Filters in order to retouch and modify existing photographs and illustrations. You can run a photograph through one of these digital filters, such as Brush Strokes, or Charcoal and the end result will look like a brush stroked painting or even a charcoal drawing. You can also make photos negative or polarize them. You can saturate colors or improve colors completely. Pretty much anything you want to do can be done in Photoshop, the world’s best photo editing software.

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A DIY Guide to Create Digital Photo – Frame Templates

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:01:39 +0000

By Gavin Smith

It is not just adequate to take a good photograph nowadays. You need to work on the basic photograph for quite sometime after it becomes a complete work in itself and is fit for exposure. One of the most important steps in creating the finished product is the editing of the photograph. You need to adjust the color, the light and the size of the photo.

Another very crucial aspect of the photograph is its frame. When we look at digital photographs, the frames tend to have an impact upon us. You must have seen that often, even a good photograph feels incomplete. Although one is not able to pin point the reason behind this, one is left with a sense of lack after looking at the picture. In most cases that this happens, the photo does not have a proper frame.

So when you are working on your photograph, one of your primary concerns should be putting the photograph on a proper digital frame that enhances the look and the feel of the photograph.

There are many ways in which you can create your own digital frame. You can use many programs and software that are available in the market to create your own digital frames. Creating your own frames is a very good option. However, digital designing of frames is not a cakewalk for those who have no idea about how certain programs work.

An effective way to create digital frames is by using Photoshop. You can use the pen tool to create the shape of the frame and then add layers on it to give the colors and the effects to the frame. But creating frames through Photoshop is quite a difficult task for those who are new to Photoshop and those who are not aware of how exactly the tools in Photoshop work.
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Great Ways to Make Money From Home With Photoshop

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:09:27 +0000

By Melanie Evans-Rivera

Who really takes “conventional” pictures anymore? The photo world has gone digital and most of us have followed suit. Adobe Photoshop has actually been around for years but as more people have began relying on digital rather than printed images its use has exploded.

A growing number of people are also using Photoshop to make money from home. The software is not cheap (unless you get lucky on eBay) and the actual learning curve is quite steep. But if you are a creative soul by nature and have a knack for picking up computer programs there are a number of ways you can get a great return on your investment. Here are just some of them:

Start a Photo Editing Business – Put in the most basic terms you take clients flawed image and turn it into a digital masterpiece. You become a sort of “photo doctor” if you like. Photoshop has some incredibly powerful editing tools (do you really think the models in the magazines are quite that flawless?) and if you master them you can work wonders.

Start a Stock Photo Business – If you have some actual photography skills to go with your Photoshop knowledge you can potentially do very well selling images to stock photography sites. Most websites have plenty of pictures and the owners have to source them from somewhere so they turn to one of the many online stock image sites. Many of them accept submissions from freelance amateur photographers and pay a commission of between 20% and 65% on a single photo sale.

Start a Photo Restoration Business – Many people still have plenty of old fashioned photo prints around, but the problem of course is that as these paper images age they degrade. Many an old phot5ograph can be saved and/or enhanced by someone skilled with Photoshop and a lot of people are happy to pay to preserve their precious memories.

Create Social Media Backgrounds – More and more businesses of all sizes are venturing onto social media sites like Twitter and Facebook and need to promote their brand on this sites. One way to do that is by utilizing custom backgrounds and avatars, things that are easy and effectively created in Photoshop.

Greeting Cards, Invitations and Announcements – Personalized versions of all these things can be created in Photoshop to the highest professional standards. However much we venture into the Internet age there is still a huge demand for wedding invitations, birth announcements and an e card will never truly replace the feeling of happiness that a printed greeting card can evoke.

Create Tutorials – After you have taken the time to learn all the ins and outs of Photoshop why not earn money while helping others do the same. Create video tutorials, white reports, even e books and sell them to people who need an extra hand to master the art of photo editing.

For more advice for the home based business professional and for helpful links to and reviews of real work at home opportunities please visit http://myworkathomeresources.com/

Adobe Photoshop Learning to Sharpen Your Skills

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:45:47 +0000

By Alan L Smith

We are all aware of Adobe Photoshop and how its application leads to better learning. It is a software program for image editing that enables its users to edit, change, add, improve or delete pictures. Those aspiring to learn how to use this program can very well become an expert of it and earn money from it.

You would get the chance to know how to make photographs look professional and improve the quality and texture of the pictures so that it gives much more polished look to them. But for beginners don’t expect to start making money just in the starting phase of learning Photoshop. You got to learn certain tricks and techniques for successful application of Adobe Photoshop.

Having self knowledge of Adobe Photoshop leads to saving of money as you yourself can do it for your website. As a option you can also hire graphic designers who can provide Adobe Photoshop services.

This designing tool is considered as pioneer amongst various graphical applications and is a standardized format for image creation and editing for any website. Apart from those desiring to use Photoshop for professional usage, even people interested in learning graphical editing, photograph enhancing can use this skill.

Getting well-versed with this skill can be a little taxing as it might take time and practice to excel it. However Adobe Photoshop contains user interface designed in a very well manner and has good features. Those who are new to Photoshop might not be familiar with all the technical terminologies and require sometime to understand it and use the tools for image editing.

But learning this skill is not difficult as the records show how rapidly people excel this software application and master its basics provided they are trained by a proper source. There are many good and reliable Adobe Photoshop training programs and manual available online. Ample of Photoshop tutorial sites are found that teaches basics of Photoshop in a highly professional and simple manner. You can also refer to books written for this purpose.

Many online Photoshop tutorial websites uses videos and audio presentations for learning purpose for better understanding and clarification.

In Adobe Photoshop all buttons, toolbars, settings, etc are intact and user friendly so that you can understand it easily and apply it. Practice is of paramount importance if you want to excel in Photoshop usage.

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