How They Do That? High Pass Filter

Hi Everyone... It's Jenn (jk703) here to show a sneaky easy peasy tutorial to sharpen with a slight pop for your photos! Plus, we are going to learn another filter that is available in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. We are going to look at the High Pass Filter today...

The High Pass Filter adds a little pop to your photos within seconds and is really easy. The filter allows you to control the awareness and emphasis of the edges of objects that are in your photos. It is also used to sharpen your photos when they might just be a tad out of focus. Here we go...

Here is a Colin... my model for this tutorial! lol! My image is unedited and hasn't been processed at all.

1. First, save your image so the original will be available in case there are any problems. Duplicate your photo onto a new layer. (PC Ctrl-J and Mac Cmd-J).

2. Working on the new layer, choose Filter > Other > High Pass.

3. Set the radius of the pixels somewhere between 3 and 12. Click on Apply. I know that is a large range, but play with it, you can always undo! For my example, I used a radius of 4.7.

4. Now, in the Layers Palette, you are going to change the blend mode of the duplicate image, the one that is grayed out. Choose Overlay.

5. Play with the opacity of the overlay, and you will see slight differences in the edges in your photo. This brings out some of the color and allows for an easy simple pop.

Tips:

• To sharpen the photo without a color pop, try the Soft light or Hard Light blend modes.
• Adjust the sharpness based on what you will be doing with the photo - print or web versions.
• Try creating different layers, and changing the blend modes, and opacity to see what you like the best.
• Try it out on your layouts before uploading to the galleries! A little sharpness goes a long way!

Another example is my sandwich, yes... my life-like magnet sandwich! Looks realistic, right?!

Before High Pass:

After High Pass:

See the top of the sandwich and edges -- they are a little more defined with just a tad of a pop added to the color.

There you have it - an easy pop and sharpen! Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! I'd love to know what you want to see here on Chelle's blog - so be sure to tell us in the comments! Enjoy the rest of your week!

Thanks for visiting!

Jenn (jk703/The Typative Scrapper)

How To: Add A Watercolor Effect

Hi everyone! It's Jenn, aka jk703 here for a visit! I've had a rough week already, so it is nice to be able to check out the forums, and pop into the blog here and share a fun technique!

We are going to delve into the Filters that you have in Photoshop! I know, you are probably repeating what I said when I first heard of Filters. "Fil... what - is that another tool in Photoshop?" The first one that I am going to show you is the Watercolor Effect. This is a part of the Artistic submenu in your Filters Menu.

First, here is Colin... don't mind the pic... it was taken after a bad haircut recently, lol!

OK... First things first. Open your image, and edit as you need. Save the file with a new name. This way you have the original to fall back on if there are any problems.

Next, in your layers Palette, duplicate your background image (your picture), and then turn off that layers visibility. Using the Eraser Tool, you will slowly erase the edges of your image, and with each pass, get a little closer to the main subject. Removing the image can allow for focus, as well as a cool option in the end!

Here is my Eraser's settings when I erased my picture edges.

Here is Colin, less the pesky edges. :) Below Colin, you can see my Layers palette and what yours might look like up to this point.

Up next is the fun filtering! In the top menu toolbar, you need to choose Filter > Artistic > Watercolor.

After you click on Watercolor, a big screen will pop up, and then your photo will appear -- a rather large version! I made mine smaller and started to play with the filter. First, here are just some of the filtering effects you can play with, and under each subheading are more! You have to try them all out!

On the right of the menu you can see the list of the filters that you can play with on your image. Next to that, on the right, there is a small area with different levels and options you can change. This potion will change for each filter.

So, for my example, I click on Watercolor and this is what I came up with:

It is a little hard to see, so I've added a closer view:

A nice little effect to change up your photos. That is it... nice, and simple! Remember above, I said to turn off the visibility of your original picture.... well, here is what happens when you turn it back on. I've added the picture of Colin close up again, so you might be able to really see the detail.

Take a closer look at the meeting point between the areas that I had erased and the areas that are watercolored. There is a slight blend of the original and the Watercolor Filter. Looks pretty cool! I know it is a close up, but on something a little more focused, I think this will look really cool.

Some final tips with the Watercolor Filter:

• For the best results - erase most or or all of the background before applying the filter.
• Lighter colored photos give a delicate feel, while darker colored photos will provide a moody after effect.
• If you lose a lot of details, duplicate your original photo and layering the duplicate on top of the Watercolored Filter layer. After moving it above, choose the Multiply Blending mode, adjust the opacity, and this will allow you to bring those details back.

Well... that is a fun technique... I hope you liked it! If there is something that you would like to see, just leave a comment. :)

Happy Wednesday to you all!

Jenn (aka jk703/The Typative Scrapper)

How To - Get more from your frames with the rectangle marquee tool

Hello everyone,

It's Kayla aka keepscrappin here today to share a tip with you. We all love our digi supplies and one of the things I love most about digi supplies is the ability to get more from them. Today, I'm going to show you how to get more from the frames in your digi scrappin stash.

I used Chelle's Creations awesome Spring Breeze kit for our sample layout.

Now, you might be thinking I'm crazy because I don't have a frame on this layout - but do I? (insert evil laugh)

Yes, I do have a frame on my layout. However, I didn't use it as a frame. See the two strips of white paper stitched down on the edge of my paper stack? That was a frame. I just used a little photoshop magic and changed that frame to something that would work better for my layout. And guess what - it was totally easy!

Here's how I did it.

I'm using PSE 7, but I'm sure you can do something similar in other programs.

First open the frame in your photo editing software and SAVE AS a different name so you don't ruin your original frame. I'm using the frame named - cc_springbreeze_double frame.png

I've added a gray background so you can see the frame in the photo.

Then, get your Rectangle marquee tool and select the first box in the option bar as shown in the image below.

Now, draw a selection to remove one side of the frame as in the image below - leaving only the strip of paper that is stitched down.

* Remember that you can reposition your selection by holding down the spacebar before you let up on the mouse to get it right along the edge of the stitched down portion.

Now hit delete.
Then, use your mouse or arrow keys to move the selection to the other side and to select the remaining unwanted portion of the frame.
Hit delete again and you've got yourself a new embellishment for your scrapbook page. Leave it as is or add some more embellishments as desired.

Easy Peasy right! You'll never look at another frame the same again, cuz now you know that it can be so much more with just a little photoshop magic. lol

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and will share your layouts that you've made using Chelle's products with us in her designer gallery here at ScrapMatters.

Take care and as always keepscrappin'!

Tutorial: Basic Extractions

HI Everyone! It's Wednesday and I'm (Jenn/jk703/The Typative Scrapper) back to share a tutorial for you! Today I will touch on Extractions, using the Magnetic Lasso Tool.

Extractions are a time consuming task, and it takes a lot of practice! I, by no means am an expert at this, but I have the basics down! There are basic things that you can learn how to extract, and after you learn them, you could extract anything! There are multiple ways to extract images: Extraction Filters and Presets, Magic Wand, Polygonal Lasso Tool, Pen Tool and the Erase Tool. My example will show how to extract using the Magnetic Lasso Tool. It is easy to extract an object but very difficult to extract hair from a windy day picture. I'm going to start with the basic extraction of a person. Meet my son, Shayne. :)

OK… first things first. Open your photo, Crop, and complete any photo treatments and photo corrections. Save this as a new file, so the original will be available later, if needed.

Double click on your photo layer in the Layers Palette and the little Lock will disappear on your background, changing the picture to a layer.

Next, Choose the Lasso Tool from the toolbar, and choose the sub menu tool: Magnetic Lasso Tool. This tool allows you to slowly go over the edges of the image you want to extract, adding anchor points throughout the edges. My example uses a feather of 3 pixels, and a width of 7 pixels between automatic anchor points.

With your photo selected in the Layers Palette, slowly move the Magnetic Lasso tool around the edge. You will see anchor points popping up as you move along. If you accidentally went the wrong direction, you can slowly move backward to remove the last anchor point, or you can press delete. Unfortunately, I'm unable to get a screen shot of the anchor points - they disappear when I try!

Once you have connected your anchor points, you will have the marching ants around your image, the portion that you want to extract.

Next, you can refine the edges by clicking on the Refine Edge in the Magnetic Lasso menu bar. The items I use the most are the Feather and Shift Edge. The feather gives the edges a softer look, and the Shift Edge helps remove unwanted background colors from the selections edges.

Before Feather and Shift Edge:

After Feather and Shift Edge:

After you've refined the edges, you will choose Select > Edit in Quick Mask Mode. You image will have the background in bright red, and the image will remain in color. The red will be the section that is to be removed. At this point, you will either add or subtract to your selection by using the Selection Buttons.

Selection Buttons:


Choose Select > Inverse. Your marching ants will have moved from around your selection to marching around the background. Press Delete. You image is extracted, and the background has been replaced with the invisible background. Right click on the image in the layers bar, and duplicate it to your layout or project.

Hope you get to trying this tutorial out soon! See… extractions aren't soooooo hard, right?! I hope this tutorial is clear, and if you have any questions, please let me know by leaving a comment or PM-ing me over at ScrapMatters. Enjoy your week and Happy Humpday!
Jenn (jk703/The Typative Scrapper)

Tips: Blending In!

Hi Everyone! It's Jenn again... here to share some tips about Blending. I've been scrapping about a year, and had no clue what blending was until I started playing with my software. There is so much to learn in Photoshop, these tips are just touching what we can create with our digital scrapbook layouts!

Layer blending modes have been part of Photoshop for years, but I didn't think they were easy to understand at first glance. I was stumped!

Photoshop and Elements allow for layer blend modes that change the way layers react with each other. Some of them you will use in every day and become your favorites; while others you may never like how it turns out. These blending modes are useful on photos and digital scrap supplies. If you have a photo that is too dark, for example, a quick fix may be to duplicate the photo layer in the layers palette and change the duplicate layer mode to Screen. If a photo is too light it can sometimes be corrected by duplicating the photo layer and changing the layer mode to Multiply.

How do you know what layer blend mode to choose? Let's take a look, and take some of the blending mystery away! (A little at least, lol!)

The Blend Modes

Blending is how pixels in two separate layers interact with and effect each other. It might be helpful to think in colors and effects: The base color is the original color in the bottom layer. The blend color is the color being applied by the upper layer. Results are from the blend of those two layers.

Normal mode is the default. The colors of the two layers will not interact in any way. What you see in the image window is basically what you get.

Dissolve makes the lower layer take on the colors of the top layer, and how much depends on the opacity of the upper layer. The layer 1 opacity is set at 50% here. Disolve only affects pixels with some transparency, which is why I lowered the opacity to 50% in this example.

Darken Categories

The key color for the darken modes is white. Anything white will have no effect on the layers below when a darken category mode is selected -- essentially becoming invisible.

Darken compares each pixel value of the upper layer to its counterpart's pixel value of the lower layer and chooses the darker of the two to display.

Multiply darkens the lower layer based on the darkness of the upper layer. No part of the image will get lighter. Any applied tone darker than white darkens the lower layer. White becomes transparent.

Color Burns in the color of the upper layer with the lower layer. No part of the image will get lighte

Linear Burn works like color burn, but more intense to the colors.

Darker Color isn't really a blending. Basically, whichever is darker wins. Of the two layers used, the color will vary across the image, and change according to which is darker at each spot.

Lighten Categories

The key color for the lighten modes is black. Anything black will have no effect on the layers below when a lighten category mode is selected -- essentially becoming invisible.

Lighten works with the new color, if it's lighter than the color, it replaces that color. If it's darker than the color there, it doesn't add anything.

Screen brightens by lightning the lower layer based on the lightness of the upper layer. The result is always lighter, and makes it a good mode for correcting exposure in photos that are too dark.

Color Dodge dodges the lower layer with the upper layer, resulting in a lighter image. No part of the image will be darkened.

Linear Dodge works like screen but with more intense results.

Lighten Color isn't really a blending. Basically, whichever is lighter wins. Of the two layers used, the color will vary across the image, and change according to which is lighter at each spot.

Contrast Categories

The key color for the contrast modes is 50% gray. Anything 50% gray will have no effect on the layers below when a contrast category mode is selected -- essentially becoming invisible.

Overlay multiplies the light colors and screens the dark colors.

Soft Light will multiply the dark tones and screen the light tones.

Hard Light muliplies the dark colors and screens the light colors.

Vivid Light will dodges or burn the lower layer pixels depending on whether the upper layer pixels are brighter or darker than neutral gray. It works on the contrast of the lower layer.

Linear Light is the same as Vivid light but it works on the brightness of the lower layer.

Pin Light changes the lower layer pixels depending on how bright the pixels are in the upper layer. It acts like Multiply when the upper layer color is darker than neutral gray, and acts like screen if the upper layer color is lighter than neutral gray.

Hard Mix mode enhances the contrast of the underlying layers when blended

Difference reacts to the differences between the upper and lower layer pixels. Large differences lighten the color, and small differences darken the color.

Exclusion uses the darkness of the lower layer to mask the difference between upper and lower layers.

Tonal Categories

Hue changes the hue of the lower layer to the hue of the upper layer but leaves brightness and saturation alone.

Saturation changes the saturation of the lower layer to the hue of the upper layer but leaves brightness and hue alone.

Color changes the hue and saturation of the lower layer to the hue and saturation of the upper layer but leaves luminosity alone.

Luminosity changes the luminosity of the lower layer to the luminosity of the upper layer while leaving hue and saturation the same.

Final Tip:

This is one quick tip that I discovered recently that can save so much time, and make looking at the blend modes so much faster! If you are working on a Photoshop layer and have the move tool selected then you can use the shift key with – or + to go through the layer blend modes, from Normal, Dissolve, Darken, Multiply … right through to Color and Luminosity.

I hope you learned a little more about those Blending Modes! try them with textures, colors, and mix up pattern papers! You never know what you will get unless you play and experiment with your software!

Thanks for visiting! Share what you would like to learn more about -- I'll try to help you out!

Jenn (aka jk703 or The Typative Scrapper)

Wednesday - How To: Stretching Those Scrappin' Supplies

Jenn was busy today, so it's Kayla steppin' in to do the How to this week. I'm not as good with the tutorials as Jenn, but I do have a few tricks I turn to when I'm scrappin'. I'd like to share one with ya'll today.

Want to get more out of your basic, go-to scrappin’ supplies? Of course you do, and so do I. Today I’m going to show you how to stretch your doodles. We’re not really going to stretch them, but just learn how to modify them so they look different and can be used in more ways – thus giving us more scrappin’ supplies. LOL

Today I’m working with Doodleydo: Frames from Chelle’s Creations.

*** available for purchase here. ***

This go-to set is awesome as is, but can be used for so much more with just a little Photoshop magic.

Here’s the frame cc_doodleydo_frame 03.png as it is in Chelle’s set that I'll be showing you how to modify.

And here’s the modified frame used as doodled corner accents on my layout.

Want to know how I did it? Ok! Let’s get started. I’m using PSE 7.0, but it should be similar in other versions of PS. Sorry, I don’t know how to do it other programs.

First open the frame Filename: cc_doodleydo_frame 03.png and save it as another name, so you don’t ruin your original frame file.

Then, get your polygonal lasso tool.

We’re going to make a selection of the area to be cut from the frame.

Click on the upper right hand side just outside of the doodled frame and then move down to the lower left hand side and click again. Then, move across the bottom and make sure you don’t cut off any of the doodles. Click as needed to move your way around the frame and back to the top where you started. When you get back to the starting point the cursor will show a little circle next to it so you know to click and it will connect you selection.

Your selection will look something like this – see the marching ants around the bottom right side?

Now, we are going to cut this selection and put it on its own layer. We will do this by right-clicking inside the selection and going down to layer via cut.

This will cut the selection and put it on a separate layer in the layers palette – like this.

Now that you have two layers with a doodled corner accent in each layer, you can use them on your layout as desired. You can flip them, erase more from the ends, or even recolor them. The possibilities are endless. You can also, save them as .png files with a new name so you can use them again and again.

Well, I hope this little tutorial will help you stretch those scrappin’ supplies and bring new life to your layouts.

Take care and as always keepscrappin’

Kayla

Click. Learn. Tips.

Hello... Hello all... I hope that the start of 2011 has been fun, happy, and healthy! It's Jenn (jk703) here on this fabulous Wednesday to share some of my recent tip findings! Since I've started Digital Scrapbooking, I found that I like to learn new things to save me time while scrapbooking! Plus, I like to futz around on the internet so it is nice to learn a few tricks that I can share with everyone! So, onto the good stuff!!! :)

2010's Tip of the Decade!

Save, Save, Save! When you are working on one of your digital masterpieces, a great practice to follow is to constantly save your work! To save the file for the first time, press Ctrl+Shift+S (for my fellow Mac users, try this: Cmd+Shift+S) to open the Save As dialog box. If you are working along, and have already saved your layout for the first time, just press Ctrl+S (Mac: Cmd+S) to save the document.

There have been times where I've been working on a layout, and inadvertently something happens. My layout has been lost! It is not fun starting all over again!

Shortcuts Rock!

Every tool that is in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements has a Shortcut! A shortcut is a keyboard function that allows you to quickly access features and functions! It makes life a lot easier! There are many to learn, and you can also program your own in the preferences of the software! Here is a list of some:

V Move M Marquee tools L Lasso tools W Quick Selection, Magic Wand C Crop and Slice Tools I Eyedropper, Color Sampler, Ruler, Note, Count J Spot Healing Brush, Healing Brush, Patch, Red Eye B Brush, Pencil, Color Replacement, Mixer Brush S Clone Stamp, Pattern Stamp Y History Brush, Art History Brush E Eraser tools G Gradient, Paint Bucket O Dodge, Burn, Sponge P Pen tools T Type tools A Path Selection, Direct Selection U Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Line, Custom Shape K 3D Tools N 3D Camera Tools H Hand R Rotate View Z Zoom D Default colors X Switch Foreground and Background colors Q Quick Mask Mode

Many tools in the menu have multiple tools within each group. To switch between tools, add the Shift Key to the letters above. So you would click Shift-W to change between the Quick Selection and Magic Wand tools. There are over 600 shortcuts in Photoshop... many are for brushes, blending or painting. The ones listed above only pertain to each tool! That's a lot to learn!!!!

Symmetrical Sizing!

When working on my layouts, I usually bring my photos in last! Many scrappers do different things, but we may all have to re-size our photos when we bring them into our layouts! I used to get so mad when I tried to re-size and it would be all warped and funny looking! So, to make sure you keep the correct proportions on your photo, try this:

Photoshop Users: Hold down the shift key as you are re-sizing and it will stay in the correct proportions.

Paint Shop Pro Users: Hold down the ALT key, and drag a corner out.

What do you do when you add a photo to your layout and you can't find the Transform Handles? No worries! Many times the images can be larger than the canvas you are working on and the handles are hidden in that background area. They are there, you just can see them! To be able to see them, use the shortcut Ctrl+0 (Mac: Cmd+0) to change the view to Fit to Screen. This will make the photoshop screen zoom out just enough so you can see the transform handles!

Color Collector!

What if there is a color that you see on the web, or in a photo that is NOT open in Photoshop!?Grab that color! It is really easy! My screens were sized really small so that I could take the screen prints that I want to share!! My examples below show Chelle's cool new Alphabet, Printers Block Alpha.

1. Click on the Eyedropper Tool.

2. Next click inside your photoshop file, and hold it.

3. Now drag your mouse cursor - the eyedropper - over to the color that you want to sample. You should see a large circle within your photoshop document.

This is what your screen should look similar. See that big circle, that is what you are looking for!

While you are dragging the cursor, the eyedropper returns when outside of photoshop! Unfortunately, my grab function on my Mac does not grab the actual eyedropper, just my arrowed curson! So...I hope you don't mind using your imagination! lol! As you move the eyedropper, the color will change in the foreground color box.

4. When you let go of the mouse, you will have a new foreground color. I had clicked on the "L" in Block and my eyedropper chose a brownish shade.

So… there are some new tips for you to try out! Hope you learned something, and I would love to know a tip from you! Share your favorite one with us!!! I'd love to learn new ones! Happy Wednesday!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jenn (jk703)