theBlog @reneepearson.com
Feed Me: Using Color to Add Emotional Impact to a Photograph
Have you ever taken a picture that was good, but seemed to lack something. In this video tutorial Julieanne Kost discusses how the addition of color as well as supporting imagery can help reinforce the mood and message of a composite image that a single photograph may fail to do on it’s own.
Heads Up! Adobe Creative Cloud Special Pricing
If your livelihood depends on at least two of the Adobe Creative Suite products, you want to know about this. Since I use Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, InDesign & Acrobat Pro, the Creative Cloud was a no brainer for me.* And, as a registered user of at least one Creative Suite product, I qualified for the 1-year promo price of $29.99 per month. That means I’m getting the CS6 Master Collection for $30 a month! The Photoshop Extended upgrade price alone starts at $399. And Illustrator upgrades start at $249. This special sign-up pricing expires on August 31, 2012.
What is Creative Cloud?
“Adobe® Creative Cloud™ is an ongoing membership that lets you download and install any of the Adobe Creative Suite® 6 desktop applications, plus other applications including Adobe Photoshop® Lightroom® 4. You also get online services for file sharing, collaboration, and publishing. Best of all, you get the latest apps and features as soon as they’re released — giving you the freedom to create anything you can imagine.” Adobe Website.
Who’s eligible for the $29.99 Creative Cloud introductory pricing?
Existing customers who have a qualified registered CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5, or CS6 individual product or suite edition and who sign up for the Creative Cloud annual plan directly from Adobe by August 31, 2012, will receive special introductory pricing of US$29.99 per month for the first year of membership.
Learn more about the Adobe Creative Cloud.
Learn more about the special upgrade pricing.
*Disclaimer: I receive no compensation or financial gain from this post. Just wanted you guys to know before the offer expires.
Mac|Life: Print & Display Your Instagrams
Mac|Life is one of the few print magazines I still subscribe to. It’s a great source of tips, techniques and news about all things Apple.
While doing a bit of browsing on their site, I came across a fun little project that gets those Instagram photos off my iPhone and on my walls. If you have an inkjet printer, you can easily do this in an afternoon.
All you need are glossy photo paper, scissors, a color printer, Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or any other image editor that lets you resize images and Instagram. You can find the step-by-steps at the Mac|Life site.
Let me know if you make this! I’d love to see your photos.
Molly Newman: Adding Artful Text to Photos
You can give your photos quick and creative captions with the Phonto app. This is a free app for both the iPhone and iPad. Here’s how to do it:
Laura Coyle: Seamless Repeat Pattern Fills
In this video tutorial I show students in my Automatic Patterns class how to make an Adobe Illustrator pattern fill swatch from the patterns we create in class. If you’re already familiar with the class, you can skip the introduction and go right to 1:30, where the tutorial begins.
In the class, we create seamless repeat patterns using Transform Effects, allowing you to tweak a pattern and see the changes update instantly in CS4 and CS5 — something unheard of before the introduction of the new CS6 Pattern Mode.
The class focuses on exporting png and jpeg images of Illustrator repeat patterns for Spoonflower fabric, blogging, digital scrapbooking and crafting. The tutorial above shows the steps for creating Illustrator fill swatches, so the patterns you create in class can also be applied to any vector art you’re working on in Illustrator.
The tutorial also highlights one of my favorite Adobe Illustrator tools, the Eraser tool. It’s great for working with expanded pattern art, but I’m sure you’ll discover your own uses for the Eraser. Have fun!
Feed me: August 9, 2012
Julieanne Kost: What’s New in Adobe Photoshop CS6
In this video episode, Senior Digital Imaging Evangelist Julieanne Kost shows off some of the new features of Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, part of the new Adobe Creative Cloud. You’ll see the blazingly fast performance of the new Mercury Graphics Engine. You’ll learn about the new improved processing and enhanced controls in Adobe Camera Raw 7, the new photographic blur effects, how to straighten objects using the new Adaptive Wide Angle, and more.
Continue reading at AdobeTV
Renee Pearson: 40 Secret iPhone Features and Shortcuts
I love blog posts that are chock full of awesome tips and techniques. This post, shared by iShot That student Teresa Xanthos in the class forum, definitely qualifies. I couldn’t wait to share it with you!
Whether you’re an iPhone newbie or a veteran, you’ll find lots of juicy tidbits to add to your arsenal. For example, did you know you can put in typing shortcuts similar to Text Expander? That alone will certainly make responding to emails and text messaging faster and easier.
Check out 40 Secret iPhone Features and Shortcuts now, and let us know what you think.
Wanna Learn How: Replacing Color
The winner of the Creating Keepsakes subscription giveaway is commenter #2, Chrystiana Miller who commented:
Thanks for the tutorial!
Congratulations, Chrystiana Miller! Please send us an email to claim your prize.
Hey RP fans! Deena Boese from Creating Keepsakes magazine back at the table with another Photoshop tutorial! This week’s tip comes from the request of last month’s tutorial reader Tenika. She wrote:
The fact that we, as digital memory keepers, can alter and recolor any item is one of the major benefits of digital scrapbooking! We can create custom looks, recolor any paper to match our photos, and double (or triple) the life of every product we have in our digital library! While using the well-known Hue/Saturation Adjustment will change the entire color value of a product, there are sometimes we just want to alter a single color while leaving the others intact. What to do? Let me introduce you to “Replace Color”!
Wanna learn how simple it is to replace color in papers and elements? Read on!
In Photoshop, open the patterned paper you wish to recolor. Select Image>Adjustments>Replace Color.
With the eyedropper tool already selected, click on the area of the paper you wish to recolor. Here I sampled the tan background color. In the dialog box, you’ll notice the image portions in the tan value have turned from black to white.
For this example, we’re changing the tan background color to a crisp white. To do this, simply adjust the Lightness slider all the way to +100 and click OK.
Let’s say we have a photo with a green background and want to change the blue flowers in the paper to green. Once again, select Image>Adjustments>Replace Color.
With the eyedropper tool already selected, click on the blue color value in one of the flowers. Again, you’ll notice image portions in the dialog box have turned from black to white. This time adjust the Hue slider until you reach the desired green value. You can also play with the Saturation and Lightness sliders to get the exact color you desire.
Success! Use this technique to create custom looks and breathe new life into digital papers and elements you already own.
And now you know! Try altering a single color in a paper or element, or go crazy and adjust them all to create a one-of-a-kind product, color-designed specifically for your photos! I hope you have fun discovering creative ways to use this fun and easy technique in your layouts! For easy reference, I’ve included a PDF handout you can download and add to your “Wanna Learn How” library.
As always, we want to hear from you! Have you seen a digital technique that made you say, “Oooh! I wanna learn how to do that!”? Leave a comment to let us know what techniques you want to see here. I have a free one-year subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine in my hands that will go to one random (and lucky) commenter. So be sure to drop us a line to be entered in the drawing! Good luck!
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Tutorial: How to Replace Color
Pen Tool Paisleys in Illustrator
Learning to use the Illustrator Pen Tool and bezier curves takes time and practice. Practicing with paisleys can help you master smooth curves, S curves, smooth points and corner points. Then, you’ll be on your way to creating a groovy pattern.
While not a complete introduction to the Pen Tool, this video tutorial demonstrates using the Pen Tool to create a simple curved paisley shape. We modify the Pen with the opt/alt key to change a smooth anchor point to a corner anchor point with independent curve direction handles. I also demonstrate editing the anchor points and curve handles with the White Arrow and “borrowing curves” from standard circles and ellipse shapes.
This tutorial was created in CS6, but the Pen Tool works the same in other versions of Adobe Illustrator. Have some fun with the Pen — it’s the drawing tool that gives you the most control over your curves in Illustrator.
Create Layered French Butterflies
Hi again everyone! This month I have a fun and easy artsy hybrid project for you. These are a lot of fun to make and share with a special child in your life too.
Want to add a little whimsy to a room? Create these easy layered French Butterflies and create a butterfly release for your studio, a child’s room or anywhere you’d like. After you are totally addicted to these like I am, add a magnet to the back to stick to your fringe, or thread them into a fluttering mobile as I had one friend do.
Here I show mine in my art studio, fluttering off of a canvas art piece my grand-daughter and I made flying towards a window.
We created these in a few hours easily using our printer and some water-soluble inks but watercolors do nicely too. You can print in color if you like and not have to worry about painting them too.
What you will need:
Printer
8.5 x 11 Plain paper to print on
Watercolor Paper cut to 8.5 x 11
Pieces of canvas or fabric scraps
Craft Glue I use Aleene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue
Scissors
3M Removable Mounting Tabs 1/2” x 1/2” cut in half
Download the files provided here at the end for your butterflies and ephemera papers.
Optional: Your own ephemera like old book pages or vintage newspapers or ads. Watercolors or water-soluble inks or colored markers.
Start by printing the colored or B/W file of the butterflies onto your watercolor paper.
Let them dry before cutting them out. 15 min for colored, 1 day for the B/W set if you plan on coloring with paints or you take the chance of the ink smearing and it will look dirty.
NOTE: If you are going to paint your own colors, it is easier to do this before cutting them out.
I printed off a colored set and a black and white set to color myself and have some white ones to mix it up for my butterfly release.
Warning! Make plenty as when your friends stop by, they will want to “catch” a few for their home too! I had more than twice as many of these before this photo was taken.
Next print the Ledger page and the Vintage Paper page or use any you have on hand already.
Cut out your butterflies
Place your butterfly on your of your fabric or canvas and fussy cut out around leaving about 1/4 or so border. Rough up the canvas edges for a shabby look with your fingers by rubbing them together along the edges. A little moisture on your finger tips makes this a little easier.
Using your butterfly again, do the same with your ephemera paper leaving a slightly larger border than you did before.
Note: You don’t have to be perfect cutting your canvas or paper shapes, just “wing it” and it will look good.
Assembling:
Layer in this order gluing each piece top with just a dab of craft glue under the butterflies body.
Bottom to top: Ephemera paper, canvas or fabric, butterfly. Option: you can use the two different ephemera papers instead of the fabric or canvas if you like, but the canvas does add a nice whimsy touch.
Bend the wings of your butterfly slightly up and off the canvas.
Done! Attach your double-sided 3M tabs and arrange your butterfly release on your wall!
Optional: Attach a small magnet to the back with the craft glue to use on your frig or lamps too for more whimsy touches!
See many more inspirational tutorials, tips and digi art from Cilenia on her Blog Beautiful Mess.
Enjoy a 30% off coupon to her entire shop at Digitals May 9th — 31st!
Coupon Code: RP30May
Expires May 31st 2012 One use per customer please.
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Pretty Butterflies and Ephemera