Tip for Tuesday: April 28, 2015

I am a bit behind in my travel  stuff so I decided to make a new category for Tuesday. Every once in a while I see something on line that is not quite a tutorial but more of a tip.

Linda classifies the blend modes that she uses the most for digital scrappinga into three categories after Normal. Normal is normal, no change at all.

Darken - Color Burn and Multiply

Lighten - Screen, Color Dodge

Contrast - Overlay, Soft Light and Hard Light

This one came from Linda Davis a CT member for Anna Aspnes.  I can't believe I never heard this in eight years of using Photoshop Elements. You can watch Linda's video over on the Anna Aspnes YouTube channel.

Another take on this whole business of Blend Modes is at PhotoshopElements.  There are more thorough explanations of the different modes in that post if you really want to get into blends. Here's how they color code them!

Hope this gets you into seeing what each of these blend modes is set up to do without too much effort. Blending really takes you to a new level with your Photoshop or PSE.

Five on Friday: May 16, 2014

1. Yes, it is now the season for air conditioning. I knew it would come soon, but considering this is about a month later than our normal, I can't complain, today i.e.  Complaints most likely in about August.

2. You love fonts too, don't you? Then check out this site that Elise Blaha Cripe found.  The fonts are free and they have great ampersands. Fun, fun, fun.

3. Slowly, quite slowly, I'm working my way through the Photo Artistry course. There are so many good things to learn that I know I need to take my time. I've been pretty good about using PSE shortcuts, but there are so many more. Use, use, use each new one until it's etched in both my memory and my fingers. btw, I bought this course for the sale price. If it's at the $297. price when you check, do know that it goes on sale for half price periodically.

4. I rarely let my iPhone run out of a charge mainly because I rarely talk on the phone. However for those who do, this is pretty cool since it doesn't change the size or weight of your phone.

Buy the Power Purse at the Photojojo Store!

5.  It appears that I will be able to take a break from Hospice cooking for about 6 weeks.  When I go back, I expect to spend a whole day making about 3  meals to be frozen for the next week. I hope this works out for all of us. July traffic going to and from the Eastern Shore can be a nightmare. (Beach traffic for those of you not familiar with my area.)

Haste Makes Regret

A great deal of my day was spent doing some reorganization of my digital supplies in Lightroom. I don't intend to do much more because I am soooo ready for Lightroom 5 and its ability to see .png files. If you're a digi scrapper, you know how many of our goodies are .pngs.

Why was I reorganizing? Well guess who deleted her digi catalog???  I am fast on the draw in emptying my Mac trashcan and sometimes when I get on a roll deleting things, I end up deleting something I don't want deleted. Haste makes regret. I thought that LR catalog was a copy. Sadly it wasn't. It was the original.

I did find it in my Time Machine backups but decided to move some things around in my actual digi stash and then create a new catalog with those digi supplies category by category. I have a very good folder system of organization of the actual files so it wasn't hard or time consuming to do that. I've found it's faster to move things around in Finder (before importing!) than in LR  plus I was ready to delete (eek!) some files in that stash. Yes, tastes change and as I see more and more of what I have, some can go. Let it go, let it go...

The very best thing about this is that all my tags/keywords previously attached to the individual supplies did come into the catalog with each digital element. Halleluiah!!!  Thank you Kayla Lamoreaux for starting me on this path. Keywording does take time, and today I did a lot more, mostly previews. The biggest job on the horizon is still keywording the previews of kits, with all the goodies that are in each kit.  God bless the designers whose previews are clear enough to determine what's actually in the kit. Will I ever be caught up?  I don't know nor do I care. Progress, not perfection.But I do love looking and searching for stuff in Lightroom and then dragging it directly into PSE.  Life is good on the digi front!

How I Learned to Scrub

Recently, I've heard more and more people say 'scrub' in PSE/CS tutorials when they were adjusting a function that had a number value. Font size, percentages, opacity etc. I knew they were doing something but I could never quite see or understand what it was. This tutorial from the Digital Scrapper blog explained it perfectly for me! Now I can scrub with the best of them! Just don't call me a scrubber!

click right here to see the tutorial

AAM Project Life and More

Lately, I have had a dull but often persistent pain in my upper right arm. I attributed this to the increased exercise I was getting in my aerobics class, flinging the arms hither and yon, plus work with weights. But, seriously,  that made no sense, as I had no pain in my left arm.  (I'm right handed btw.) I started to consider it must be something I'm doing... duh.

Well the other day, I 'discovered' that my painful arm is a condition related to what I call 'mouse finger'. It isn't computer work per se, it's using that finger and apparently a muscle connection to my upper arm while in PSE or Lightroom. Guess what I've done a lot of lately....Guess what I enjoy doing???

Well despite my 'injury', I managed to put these two together yesterday. ( eta: Yes, I got them done but with the wrong week. It was only Week 10! What can I say? brain cells failing...) I'm giving the arm a break so no 'Travel With Me Tuesday'.  I do want to get more of that trip done, so maybe Thursday, maybe next week. My arm will make the decision!

 

Lingering Winter Skies? Try this Tutorial

I have to admit, I haven't tried this one yet, but looking at Steph's instructions, I think I could do it. She is so right about those not quite sunny skies of Seattle. I love the city and think I could also live with the Pacific North West climate but you know, those skies don't look so good on the printed page.

So if you want to improve nature, try this little bit of help. Click the image to take you to Steph's tutorial on The Daily Digi.  I hope you enjoy this one!

or click here

Curve a Photo in PSE Tutorial

While this tutorial is done in a much earlier version of PSE - PSE7 - it's still applicable to the newer versions.

I have to say I never knew how to do this or ever saw anything like this. Hope you enjoy it too!

Tuesday Tutorial: Lighten and Brighten Those Images

There are many ways to skin this cat or subject so keep playing with your images and you'll find the method that works for you. This one comes straight from  Sahlin Studio.While Krista Sahlin uses PSCS, it also works just fine in PSE.

I'm using PSE10 on a Mac.

First get your image, here one of us on a Cunard cruise 5 years ago. You may say we look old but to us today, we look much younger! Gravity happens.

The basic image, but with the only layer, normally called 'background' changed to layer 0. Do this by double clicking that layer, over on the right in orange, and you'll get the option to change it to an editable layer. Simple huh?

Now duplicate that layer by clicking on layer 0, then hitting CMD (Cntrl on PC) - J. and you'll see the new duplicate layer on top of the original. Click that duplicate layer, and change the blend mode, the drop down right above the layer, to Screen. Click the eyeball to the left of the layer image and you'll see the on- off difference. Keep it on but you probably want to reduce the opacity as Krista does and as I did.

I reduced the opacity to 42%. That way you have more contrast and the image is no longer so white. Don't worry ...there's more to do!

Now you want to click that layer 0 copy, and duplicate it.  CMD/Cntrl J again. This time, make the blend mode Soft Light. I changed the opacity to 75%.

Looks good to  me. One thing I often did in early days, and still do in some layouts when I am working with lots of copies, is to enter the blend and/or opacity info as the name of the layer. It helps you to see the kind of combos that appeal to you. If you're in CS, you can write your own action. PSE? not yet, maybe in PSE12???

Tuesday Tutorial: Reducing Noise in PSE

This tutorial is taken straight from The Texas Chicks, who I tend to call the Dixie Chicks but they're not! There is a lot more info on the blogpost in different ways to reduce the noise.

Here is how it looked on my computer. I'm working in PSE10 on a Mac.

First, with an image open, go to Filter, Noise, then Reduce Noise.

Using the setting that the Texas Chicks used, gave me this variation.

This was too blury for me so I fiddled with the setting, especially the preserve details.

I liked this one a lot better. By the way, this photo had a considerable amount (for me) of work on the lighting before even getting to the basic image. I did not take it and the only light appeared to be the cake. That's my granddaughter at her 9th or 10th birthday dinner.

Many thanks to The Texas Chicks for giving me a new technique to use. Hope this helps you with your editing!

Tuesday Tutorial: Adding a B&W Background in PSE

I thought this video showed quite a few good techniques in PSE, so I picked this one to share with you. She also shows how to correct a selection that may need a bit of touch up. Have fun with this and tell me if it helped you.

Tuesday Tutorial: PSE 10 Blending

This tutorial caught my eye because it shows several parts of the blending process very clearly. You may not want to make something like the image shown, but adding your own images to a basic photo can give you some wonderful results.



Hope you enjoy this one!

Tuesday Tutorial: Frames and How to Keep Photos Inside

This is a subject that used to give me grief when I first started scrapping and the subject tends to come up every so often on scrapping forums. Maybe you are one of those people wondering how to do this.

If I am using the same frame a lot on a page, I am more likely to make and use a clipping mask and then even save MY masked version in the original file. Of course it didn't always occur to me to save my own edited version til I realized I was making the same clipping masks on the same frames over and over...Some of us learn more slowly than others!

Here is another method or two from the Designer Digitals team. It's worth learning the Magic Wand tool method because the concept is so useful for other things as well. Try it out! Erase is always a good basic method but be sure to save a copy of the photo etc you are erasing. Erasers do slip at inopportune moments and sometimes something is saved before someone notices that ...Ooops! I erased a good part! Yes, I am Someone. How did you guess?!?!

Tuesday Tutorial: Toggle Your Choice

Another great Quick Click from the newsletter of Digital Scrapper.  I am still such a total novice in the wonderful  blending modes that PSE contains.

This Quick Click hint will make it super easy to see theses two blends in their basic form. Then if one appeals to me I can fiddle with the opacity.  In cooking, I've heard this referred to as 'messin' with the recipe' which I DO like to do!

As always I suggest you sign up for the newsletter to get these wonderful tips right in the privacy of your own inbox!

Tuesday Tutorial: Yes, You Can Kern!

This one came from a blog post by Trixie Scraps Designs. Most PSE users didn't think they could kern their text. I sure didn't think I could but once again, I did not feel it was worth the CS price to change just for that. Usually I just used the move tool to squish or stretch the words.

Here's how to use steps that Tracy, aka Trixie, spells out in that blog post. Will it work for me? I'll have to see!!

and after being 'kerned' at 100% it looked like this.

I think I will later try this out to see what it looks like if just one word of a group is kerned,
Here is the basic font.

Now with the word "Astoria" kerned @100%. Interesting.

I suspect this would look a lot more dramatic depending on the font used. This one was just near the top of my font list!  Have fun playing with this, and thank you Tracy for searching the net for this great tip!

Teusday Tutorial: Another PSE Quick Click Shortcut

This one from the Digital Scrapper newsletter  is one I tend to forget. I hope that the writing of this blog post will help me remember to use it. That seems to be the only way for it to stick in my head.  Hope you like this one! I do.

Tuesday Tutorial: Get Back, Get Back

Get back to where you once belonged. Ok the Beatles said it and so did the folks at Digital Scrapper. 
Every once in a while you'll find that your PSE settings get wonky. An easy way to fix those who have strayed from their proper place is to use this Quick Click! 

Tuesday Tutorial: All those Shortcuts

Do you get the newsletters from various scrapbooking stores? You should you know! Why?

1. They're free
2. They often have coupons or offers for products at their store
3. They often have some great tips or tutorials - right in the newsletter!

This short one comes from a recent newsletter from Digital Scrapper. I love shortcuts in PSE and use some all the time. What would we do without the Undo command...CMD-Z or CTRL-Z for you Windows users. If I say CMD, you use CTRL.  Then there is CMD-S for Save, CMD-O for Open, the old standbys CMD-C for Copy, CMD-V for paste. I only get myself in trouble sometimes when I've been doing a lot of cutting and pasting, and reverse them. That's the time for CMD-Z to undo my own mistake!

Now three step ones I'm not sure I can translate into Windows since it's been a good while since I had to deal with the Gates empire.

I really like this 'quick click' from the Digital Scrapper newsletter because it eliminates a few key strokes when you want to make that background a layer. Why would you want to do that? Good question. So you can edit it. Have you ever tried to edit a background and Adobe just sat there petulantly? That's why.

I hope Digital Scrapper continues including more of these 'quick clicks' because any way we can save our hands and wrists makes sense.

Tuesday Tutorial; Making Stripes

I've never been a great fan of stripes but in small doses, imho, they do add a good bit to a scrapbooking page.  Plus, there are times you might like to have just one bit of stripe in the colors of your own choice. Too hard to do? Oh no... The hardest part is walking away from this little bit of fun because you know...some of these little toys can be a way to while away much more time than you imagined!

I saw this idea mentioned on Pugley Pixel as I was going back through her tutorials. Yes, there's no surprise that I fell down the rabbit hole.

click here to Stripe Generator

Did I make any of my own stripes? Yes I did!

What does this look like as a whole paper? Interesting and better looking in Adobe PSE but you get the idea.  I obviously need to learn how to learn more about pattern making because what looks good as a small .png may not look great as a 12x12 page. A designer, I'm not!  but I suspect there are many tutorials out there in helping you learn the translation ratio.

But how do you make that .png into a pattern you ask? Truly easy. When the .png is opened in PSE, go up to your menu bar, Edit -->Define Pattern, and there you are! Name your little creation.  Now go back to or open a blank 12x12.  Once again, go to Edit --> Fill Layer

Under Use, select Pattern. Click custom pattern, and look for your pattern. UNCLICK Preserve Transparency or your white 12x12 will remain white. Ask me how I know... Hit ok, and watch your paper fill with your pattern.

There it is! Try it and have fun! Maybe put a a timer on when you start this. Just sayin'.

Tuesday Tutorial: PSE Drop Shadows on their own Layer

I was looking at a tutorial to make images appeared curled, and while the narrator said you could do it in PSE, I found that there was a CS step I couldn't replicate. However, thanks to the wonderful people who share their knowledge on the internet, an almost solution was found. Drop shadows are not big in my book...I know, I know...we each have things we just don't care about that much. However, being able to curl a photo sounded like fun so here's they basic step you need to get that drop shadow on its own layer.



I still haven't been able to get the actual curl done with the separate shadow layer because I haven't had time to see how to replicate the non-existent Warp tool in PSE. If anyone has an suggestion on how to do that, I'd be glad to hear it!

I'm going to have to investigate the other videos Hummie might have. Hope you like this one!

Tuesday Tutorial: Yes, Actions and Styles Again

Even though this tricky little subject was covered last month, it's always good to have another teacher's perspective on the subject. The method that is clear to one person may not be clear to another. This is why it's always great to have more than one explanation on the same thing. You may have been shaking your head with the way the Texas Chicks explained the process, and if so here's Linda Sattgast, aka as Digital Scrapper telling you how she sees it.

No video, just a link which will take you to a page that looks just like this one. I hope this helps you installing those fun but pesky actions and styles to your program. Oh, and Adobe, why do you make this so complicated for us????