Studio Irene Play Day
We’re so happy to have Irene Alexeeva as our Studio Guest this month. She is bringing the cutest goodies with her! She’ll be releasing something new every week. We wanted you to get a little sneak peek of what’s to come! Here are some pages made with her designs. Currently, we have Wish Maker in the store…
KAIT
CREDITS: Squeak With Love by Irene coming soon to Scrapbookgraphics; Leslie’s Jumpers by Studio Crystal; Century Gothic (font); word art by Mag
MELISSA
CREDITS: Irene Alexeeva’s Wish Maker; Crystal Livesay’s Jumper 44; Hakee (font).
KATE
Always such a thrill when Irene is a guest here. I love the playfulness of her kits. She always includes the cutest elements, and there are plenty of things in her kit to allow for a standard type layout or a fantasy type layout to be created.
CREDITS: Irene Alexeeva’s Wish Maker
FLOR
CREDITS: Wish Maker by Irene Alexeeva
CREDITS: Cocoa Vanilla by Irene Alexeeva coming soon to Scrapbookgraphics
CREDITS: Squeak with Love and Cheese Alpha by Irene Alexeeva coming soon to Scrapbookgraphics
MELINDA
CREDITS: Squeak with Love and Cheese Alpha by Irene Alexeeva coming soon to Scrapbookgraphics; Sketch Collection 32 by Jen Caputo; CK Elsie (font)
COURTNEY
I’m so excited to have Irene as a guest this month! Her kits are so magical and inspiring. Irene hope you enjoy your month here as much as we enjoy having you!
CREDITS: Wish Maker by Irene Alexeeva; Crystal Livesay’s Jumper 43; Line Design’s Tears in Heaven
ROBIN
I’m so glad to see Irene return as a guest this month! Here kits are so cute and inspiring! I love her whimsical style.
CREDITS: Irene Alexeeva’s Wish Maker; Baers Garten’s Adore alpha (recolored); Fee Jardine’s Crazy 4U alphas (recolored)
JENN
Ahh…Irene’s Cocoa Vanilla kit was perfect for some of my photos from our snowbound weekend!
CREDITS: Irene Alexeeva’s Cocoa Vanilla coming soon to Scrapbookgraphics; single stitch by Natali Designs.
BEC
This was fun to whip up! Irene’s kits are always, beautiful, soft and whimsical, but also versatile. Whilst ideal for extractions and fantasy scenes they work just as well for any type of layout, and even my boys can benefit from some of her whimsy!
CREDITS: Wish Maker by Irene Alexeeva
CAROLA
CREDITS: Wish Maker and Fall Fantasia by Irene Alexeeva; Templatez Volume 4 by NeeNee; Playing with Chains by Natali Design; Dreams in Colour 2 – Neutral by MGL; Year In Revue Add-on by Ztampf! and The Essentials by Miss Vivi
We can’t wait to see what you all do with Irene’s kits this month! Keep us posted!
Taking the Plastic off the Lampshades
I am not someone who can readily let things go. I like to get to the bottom of things. I like them to be sorted and neatened and preferably labeled. In my job and in my life I persist through what is often incredibly prickly conversations until I am satisfied that at the minimum, all sides at least understand what the other side is saying. Often I try to make sure that that understanding does not lead to irreparable harm or hurt or offense. It can be tiresome.
Although I am not an ardent fan of the French, I thought I lived well within the confines of two Voltaire quotes: If you wish to converse with me define your terms and I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Turns out the latter was probably not Voltaire but most agree he should have said it.
So I surprised myself this morning. We were staying at a resort on an overnight trip for the Wretched Child’s tenth birthday. We have stayed there before and on the whole, the entire affair is well run. This morning, though, there was a bit of a glitch with getting us seated for breakfast and it took three times as long as it should have. Joe was not best pleased and told the food manager he expected the tab for breakfast to be removed off our bill. The waitress kept coming by asking if we had our coupon yet (we had purchased it as part of our package and had handed it in before we were seated. They had lost it and thus we waited in limbo for quite some time). It was a buffet affair so we kept popping up in different groups to go get more bits and pieces and it so happened I was alone nearly every time she came by on a coupon inquiry. My mind was not there, I was dreaming about something so the first two times I simply said we were waiting for it. Had I been “present” I would have made sure she knew that they had it, they lost it and it was up to them to go get another, it was not our problem and for goodness sake, don’t compound the injury by bugging us every five minutes! She came a third time and asked again. I was about to launch into the story and don’t know why I changed my mind. I just shook my head, gave her a sad look and said, “No, we have no coupon yet.” She walked away. That was easy!
I got up to go to the buffet and the food manager approached me. He explained that he was looking into it but that everybody had had to wait that morning for breakfast, we weren’t the only ones and he would have to go talk to his manager and … this is normally my cue to explain to him what made our case different, to tell him he had already told us he was going to talk to his manager, to tell him to put the waitress on a short chain etcetera. In other words, to let him know exactly what had transpired and to let him know what I expected and the time frame I expected it in. Normally I would also offer to talk to his manager myself. Instead, I smiled at him and interrupted. “I am sure you will talk to whoever you need to. I am just going to go grab my breakfast, okay?” His earnest face became a smile. “Yes!” he was enthusiastic, “go eat!” That was easy, too!
I am not sure if it all worked out at the end. The food manager said it was sorted but I didn’t bother checking with the front desk so I won’t know until the Visa bill comes in. I cannot tell you how much I don’t care.
This week I am going to try to save my slingshot for giants and let the smaller things pass by. There is a rumor going around that it makes life easier.
Miss Behaving: Tantalizing Treatment Tutorials
Have you noticed I’m drawn to alliteration? Terrible yet true. Heh There is an alternative title: “Miss Behaving has gone off her rocker. Maybe.”
Today, I’m going to take you on a photo effects whirlwind tour. I’ve 8 complete super easy tutorials that will take your photos to the next level.
Feast your eyes on what we’ll be learning today.
Eight. WOW! Am I insane? You betcha!
Let’s get started on this crazy train.
One thing before we get started. The first tutorial will be very detailed with screen captures. To save space on the blog, if in the second through eighth tutorial I’ve already covered the method in the first tutorial, I won’t repeat the screen capture.
I’m starting with my favorite effect. It enhances the highlights of your photo and brings a dream quality to it.
Hit “Ctrl + J”. This copies your original photo super fast and easy.
Go to Select > Color Range
This will select your highlights. With the ants marching, hit “Ctrl + J”. Now the highlights are on a separate layer.
Set the Blend Mode to Screen.
The edges are a bit rough so we’re going to fix that. Go to Filter > Gaussian Blur
It looks like she’s been spending way too much time with the powder puff.
I’m going to go back and tweak the saturation and colors to make her look a bit more natural.
Highlight your original photo. Click on the Add new Adjustment Layer (Circled in red.)
Choose the Hue/Saturation. These are my settings:
Click on the Add new Adjustment Layer. Choose the Brightness/Contrast. These are my settings:
Click on the Add new Adjustment Layer. Choose the Color Balance.
Make sure to click on the shadows. These are my settings:
That’s it! At the end of each Treatment, I will add a screenshot of my layer palette which includes what was done to each layer. That way, if you are an advanced PS user, you can just speed on through. :D
This treament has a nice pink hue to it. And it’s so easy it’s mind-boggling.
“Ctrl + J” to duplicate your original layer. “Ctrl + B” for Color Balance. Make sure to click on the “Midtones”. These are my settings:
“Ctrl + J” to duplicate this layer. Change the Blending Mode to Screen.
She’s too colorful. Click on the Add a new Adjustment layer. Choose the Hue/Saturation. These are my settings:
We’re going to add some contrast. Click on the Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose Curves. These are my settings:
That’s it! Here’s the final layer palette:
I like to think this effect has a nice Caramel hue to it. So pretty.
“Ctrl + J” to duplicate your layer. Click on the Add a new Fill Layer. (circled in red)
Select Solid Color. Color is: b76e0f
Change the Blending Mode to “Screen” and lower the Opacity to 70%.
Click on the Add a new Fill Layer. Select Solid Color. Color is: 040747
Change the Blending Mode to “Exclusion” and maintain th Opacity @ 100%
Click on the Add a new Fill Layer. Select Solid Color. Color is: 1e1203
Change the Blending Mode to “Color” and lower the Opacity to 44%
Now to add a little contrast “POP!” Go back and highlight your original photo. “Ctrl + J” to duplicate this layer, then place it on top of all of your current layers and change the Blendingi Mode to “Soft Light” and maintain the Opacity @ 100%.
That’s it! Here’s the final layer palette:
I’ve got the blues. Yes … we’re venturing into the cerulean. I love this dark and moody effect.
As always, “Ctrl + J” to duplicate your original layer. “Ctrl + B” to bring up the Color Balance menu. Make sure the Midtones button is ticked. These are my settings:
“Ctrl + U” to adjust the Saturation. I have mine set @ -55
Go to Image > Adjustments > Auto Levels
I want to bring out the beautiful blues. “Ctrl + B” to bring up the Color Balance menu again. Make sure the Midtones button is ticked. These are my settings:
For more blue bliss I’m going to enhace the blacks in the photo. Go to Image > Adjustments > Selective Color
Now you’re going to think I’m crazy but I want to darken the edges and bring in a “highlight” effect. Hit “Ctrl + M” to bring up the Curves Menu. These are my settings:
Now for the highlight effect. Go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects
Ok, yes. You’re right. It’s a tad too dark. Let’s “Ctrl + J” to duplicate the layer and set the Blending Mode to “Screen” and lower the Opacity to 85. Now we have the dark AND the highlight included in the blue tones.
That is it for this tutorial, however, showing you the layer palette wouldn’t do much good. Hopefully, the above instructions are easy to follow and not too wordy. Heh
Good news! We’re halfway though. Are you enjoying this bountiful goodness? LOL
This treatment is more of a Split Toning effect. It’s a nice warm b/w effect and we’re going to do it all with no filters. Yay!
“Ctrl + J” to duplicate your layer. Set the Blending Mode to “Screen” and lower the Opacity to 30% and the Fill to 20%.
Click on Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose the Black/White. These are my settings:
Click on Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose the Color Balance. We’re going to adjust both the Shadows and the Highlights. These are my settings:
Click on Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose the Hue/Saturation. These are my settings:
Click on Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose the Brightness/Contrast. These are my settings:
That’s it! Here’s the final layer palette:
This effect is on the Levels. No, seriously. It’s all about changing the levels. It’s a nice soft subtle change that is a little bit vintage, a little bit soft, and a whole lot of effect.
There’s no final layer screen capture on this one either, because all of the layer changes are done on a single layer.
I’ll bet you think I’m going to say “Ctrl +J”, right? oh well, alright … if you insist. LOL I only say to do this, just in case you need to refer back to your original photo later on in the process and this way it is oh so coneniently there.
Click on Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose the Levels. We’ll be using a lot of our drop down menu to adjust the settings on the RGB, Red, Green and Blue Levels, so I’m just going to go ahead and show you the screen captures of the settings that I used to achieve this effect.
Seriously ladies. That is all there is to it.
This treatment is a veritable oxymoronic achievement. It’s a vivacious POP of contrasts with a wonderful washed out color. Delicious!
All together now … “Ctrl + J”. Ohhh … that’s sounded so beautiful. Go to Image > Adjustments > Shadow/Highlight.
Go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen
Click on Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose the Black/White. We’ll be making a Custom setting and here is what I’ve used for this photo:
Now I’m going to add a Vignette effect. Click on Add a new Fill Layer. Choose the Gradient. We’re going to change the Direction to “Radial” first, then tick off the Reverse button.
It is overwhelming Morgan’s petite little face so I’m going to make the vignette smaller and just coer the corners ot he photo. Rick-click inside the gradient bar to adkust this size.
We’re going to modify the Location and Stop of the the gradient to … well … tell it where to stop. Here is what I’ve used:
Change the Blending Mode to “Soft Light” and lower the Opacity to 50%.
Yes … we’re almost done! Wooohooooo!!!! Oh yes. Here’s the final layer palette:
We’re in the home stretch. I know I was wishing I was just a wee bit less enthusiastic about photo treatments right about now. How about a game. Every time you accomplish a tutorial you have to do a shot. Bwahahaha!!! This way, I know the Tuesday chat girls will be doing them. Hehehe I love you guys! Did I mention, I might have had a shot or two already? *Ahem* Of Nyquil. Back to the business of creating beautiful photographic memories.
Focus.
Last treatment is a classic retro, aged, almost vintage look circa 1974. I have real pictures from the time period and holy moly, I looked HOT in my plaid short jumpers. Oh yeah! No seriously, I was five and we were in Orlando, Florida visiting Disney World and it was HOT! hehe
Okk, if you don’t know what I’m going to say … Take a Shot! You need it. If you do know I’m about to type, take a Shot! You’ve earned it on this insane tutorial trek. Honestly, what the Heck was I thinking?? This has been my magnum opus post. (Probably more like I’m channeling the obssessed Captain Ahab and can’t stop!)
You in the back … start us off and we’ll build from there …. “Ctrl + J” to duplicate your layer. Such gorgeous harmony from all of SBG Land. Fabulous working with you, ladies. Take a Shot!
Click on Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose the Hue/Saturation. Lower the Saturation to -25.
Click on Add a new Fill Layer. Choose Solid Color. Color is #530d24.
Change the Blending Mode to “Screen” and maintain the Opacity @ 100%
Click on Add a new Fill Layer. Choose Solid Color. Color is #080638
Change the Blending Mode to “Exclusion” and maintain the Opacity @ 100%
Click on Add a new Fill Layer. Choose Solid Color. Color is #f6e7a9
Change the Blending Mode to “Multiply” and maintain the Opacity @ 100%.
Click on Add a new Fill Layer. Choose a Solid COlor. Color is #d88792
We’re going to Click on a New Adjustment Layer. Choose Levels and select the “Blue” from your drop down menu. Here are the settings I used:
Click on Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose Brightness/Contrast. Set the Contrast to +45
Click on Add a new Adjustment Layer. Choose Hue/Saturation. Lower the Saturation to -15.
Click on Add a new Fill Layer. Choose a Solid Color. Color is #f4ecd4.
Change the Blending Mode to “Soft Light” and maintain the Opacity @ 100%
Go back to the original Photo. Hit “Ctrl + J” one last time for today’s lessons my lovely ladies. Place this layer on top of all of the other layers and change the Blending mode to Soft Light and maintain the Opacity @ 100%.
Here we are at the end of our journey. Here’s the final … final layer palette:
You know, you can apply these tutorial effects to your LO’s as well. Especially if you are using material from multiple designers. Adjusting the hue/saturation, levels and color balance on your finished layout can make a HUGE difference. Take a look at the layout I did with the Impressions of Chocolate kit by our fabulous Studio Girls.
After I was finished with the entire layout, I noticed the chocolate would use a tweaking so they looked more cohesive. I added a new Adjustement Layer. Chose Color Balance. Click on Midtones and used +60/+29/+20. Then added another Adjustment Layer. Chose Hue/Saturation and adjusted the Saturation to -40. It brings the entire look together.
I’ve hoped that you’ve been able to find that there are a myriad of ways to alter, design, enhance, and create a beautiful shot. Every shutter frame deserves at least a little love.
It’s been my priviledge to guide through eight of these processes this evening. Even if it was for the drinking game. LOL Thank you all for taking this adventure with me. Much love and hugs to you and yours. Happy creating!
Finish A Photobook 2010: Ask Wendy
Thursday February 04th 2010, 10:28 am
Filed under:
Tutorials
Q: Wendy, I know you have actions to convert layouts to specific websites specifications. I was wondering if you are just starting a new photo book, is it better to set your canvas up according to the websites specifications before you create the layout? ~Canay
A: This is a great question! If you know you will be printing your layouts in a photobook before you create them, and are sure you won’t need them for any other size, I recommend scrapping them at specs from the get go. This is especially true for unusual size books, like Winkflash’s 12×12 books which is actually more like 13×12. However, if you think you might need to use the layout for several different formats, I suggest scrapping at the largest size possible (like 12×12), and then adjust them later for whatever you choose to do. If you want to print 12×12 prints for one project and 8×8 into an album, I would scrap at 12×12, then resize for the 8×8 book when you are done. Just keep in mind your bleed and margins whenever you scrap and you can make minor adjustments in your design that will prevent you from having so much work after the fact. For example, what I do is scrap at 12×12. When the layout is done, I give it a once over and see if anything important is too close to the edge. If it is, I select all the layers, except the background papers, and reduce it about 5%-6%. Then, I save the layout and a JPG. This minor adjustment is often enough to prevent me from having to resize and add bleed later.
Q: I am creating a wedding book with many photos taken on cell phones so I am working with some small poor quality jpegs. I want to include these photos as they show important events that were not caught with the decent DSLRs. How would you process these small photos so I don’t end up with either tiny or pixelated images? They look pretty good online but I know their quality or lack of will show through in the printed book. Or is there a place in a photo book for these smaller images? ~MumaSue
A: Sometimes, we have no control over the quality of our photos. Perhaps the only copy is low-resolution. Maybe they were scanned in small and we don’t have the originals. Maybe we neglected to back up our hard drive and only have small versions that were posted online. Whatever the reason, having low quality photos is not a reason to get rid of them. There are a few things you can do.
First, to get an idea of the size you can use without losing quality, open the photo in Photoshop or Elements and select IMAGE>IMAGE SIZE. Note the pixel width. Then, type 150 in the ppi box. Then, enter the original pixel width in the width box. Finally, look at the inches. This new “inch” measurement is the size you can use the photo as. Click OK and save it. A couple comments on this: while 300 ppi is considered the optimum for high quality printing, you can generally get away with 150 ppi if using a traditional photo without type or hard edges. Where you will see quality loss at 150 ppi is around hard edges or where text is over the image. If your photo does not have these two issues, use them at 150 ppi to make them bigger. Second caveat. Saving files as JPG causes lossy compression. This means that some pixels are lost EVERY time you save. Try to avoid resaving your JPG over and over. If you need to make changes, consider saving it as a TIF (TIFs are larger files, but do not lose any quality) until the very end. Then, save the JPG.
Now, if you open a photo and drag it onto your layout, it will be converted to the ppi that the original document is set at. So, if you take your 150 ppi photo, open it and drag it onto your 300 ppi layout, it will come in at it’s 300 ppi equivalent. To get the 150 ppi equivalent, you can simply resize your photo up to 200%. Don’t go higher than 200% or you will start to loose visible quality. To check quality at any time, simply zoom in to your image until you are viewing it at 100% (look for the small percent indicator on the bottom left of the image window.) You don’t want to see jaggy edges or pixel artifacts.
Now that you know how big you can use your photo, you can plan your page. Consider putting lots of little photos on one page in a stamp frame or film strip. Or, place the small photo with a nice frame and element cluster and make it the focal point of the page. Small photos can still be dramatic. Take the same small photo and repeat it over and over on the same page. This is another way of adding interest to a small photo
If neither of those options work for you, I have one more suggestion. First, enlarge your photo to the image size you wish to use. Then, appy some special artistic filters to help hide the jaggy edges and artifacts. Filters like colored pencil, dry brush, rough pastels or watercolor can add drama to your photos while masking the flaws. You can also try blending your photos into textured paper backgrounds which will also hide the flaws. When enlarging photos significantly, you might want to apply a small smart blur to the image to reduce over sharpening.
Q: I used your Artscow Blank Templates for one of my Christmas photo books this past Christmas and I loved the difference it made! That book was so much better than the first two I did without templates! Hubby who has always thought my obsession was a waste of time, loved the gifts I produced! Two books were twenty pages and one was thirty. He has said that he wants biggers books this year, like 100 pages! Now my question-how many pages should I include in a photo book? Will the books stay glued together, etc, with that many pages in them or should I limit the pages to 50? ~GrannyNKy
A: It is important when creating books of higher page count to look for a quality printer. Many printers limit page counts to 100 pages to help ensure durability over time. Others offer a superior, higher quality glue and/or stitching. I would suggest that keeping the page count under 100 pages would be ideal. If you need to go over 100 pages, shop around for someone who can deliver a long-lasting, high quality binding. Most printers guarantee their binding for at least 30 days. If you have any trouble with your binding during that time, definitely contact the printer and see what they can do for you.
Thank you for the questions everyone! Keep them coming. If your question is published on our blog, you will win a $5 coupon to Studio Wendy. Post your questions in our forum.
Wendyzine Scraps offers actions, templates and tools for digiscrappers through Studio Wendy @ Scrapbookgraphics. With over 15 years in the printing industry, she uses her expertise to help scrappers navigate confusing specifications from photobook printers. She’s created actions and templates for several popular photobook printers to help prepare layouts for printing.
