Photo tricks of the trade (Tutorials)

powerwagon

Senior Member
also check out irfanview, allive ever useda very good program
 
Jpeg files are known as lossy files the lose a bit over time and use.
 

DRB1313

Moderator
Putting Your Signature On the Image using a Brush Tool!

Instead of replying to Ron's thread, I thought I would create this tutorial for Ya'll.
I know I know, This is from someone who has'nt been signing his photos.
If you can make it through the initial set-up, I am confident, you will love this.
CHECK IT OUT

Open Photoshop
Click on "File" then "New" and set as follows:

Width - 3 inches
Height - .5 inches
Resolution - 300
Color mode - RGB
Background Contents - Transparent

Now Click "OK"

Next click on your "Type Tool" and in the options bar at the top do this:

Pick your font style from the drop down arrows.
Set the font size to 30pt.
Set the color to black (Optional)
Set the justification to center. (Optional)
(If your signature does not fit on the document, just lower the font size.)

Now, click in your new document and type your signature.
Once you are satisfied with it, click on your "Move Tool" and you can click and drag your signature to center it in the document.

HERE COMES THE FIRST COOL PART!

At the top, Click on "Select" then "All"
Now, at the top click on "Edit" then "Define Brush Preset"

When the dialog box opens, Name it "My Signature" and click "OK"

CLOSE THE DOCUMENT AND DO NOT SAVE THE CHANGES.
Now Let me show you what you can do with this.

Open a photo in Photoshop.

Type the letter "B", This will open the brush tool.
Now, everytime you want to put a signature on a photo, it is one of your brushes.
After typing the letter "B" you can get to your signature by going to the top and clicking the drop down arrow just to the right of the word brush. It will be the bottom one.

HERES THE SECOND COOL PART!

Once you have your signature brush, just move the curser into your photo and you will see your Name. At this point you can change the size of you signature to any size you want it by using the bracket keys on your keyboard. (These are the two keys to the right of the letter "P". Once you have it to the size you want it, just click it into the spot you want it to go.

HERE'S THE THIRD COOL PART!

You can also change the color of your signature by going to the tool bar and clicking on the forground color picker and then when the dialog box opens choose til your hearts content and then click "OK".
OOOPS! You must do this before clicking the signature into the photo.

OK, TO WRAP THIS UP HERES A BONUS COOL TRICK!

If before you click your signature into your photo, you go to the top and click on "Layer" then "New Layer", you can lower the opacity of your signature to make it semi-transparent and look like a watermark. You will also be able to add Styles to it such as drop shadows and bevels.

I know this seems aweful complicated, but once you have your brush created it only takes seconds to add your signature to a photo and you have many options with it.

THE END!

PS. If I have missed anything or something is not working correctly with your version of Photoshop, let me know, I'm sure we can figure it out.
 

DRB1313

Moderator
Here's an additional tip for matching colors from one that is in your photo for Leo. I saw your response about matching colors exactly in another thread, but decided to put it here.

When using your color sampler tool on a photo, you need to make sure you set the sample size to: "3x3 average".
With your color sampler tool activated, go to the top and change the sampler size to 3x3 average. Colors in a photo are made up of more than one color/Pixel. This will give you an accurate match of what you are sampling.
 

rip18

Senior Member
And a link to how much light/shutter speed a polarizer can "cost" you:

http://www.forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=162714

Feral One's take home message was that if you are shooting wildlife in the early morning or late evening & don't need your polarizing filter - take it off!!!
 
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