Easy, funky, crazy clipping masks

I'm prompted to write this short post by a great question from David on the Ask Damien page.

"How would you go about making a storyboard with some 'effect' to its edge?"

This question follows my posts about storyboards and clipping masks (here and here).  If you don't know how to make storyboards and collages and things, I encourage you to read those tutorials.

Ok, David, let's have some fun.  This is the easiest way I know to do this, and I hope you love it.

Creating, saving and using a watermark (PS & PSE)

Putting a watermark on your photos is important if they're going online.  In this tutorial I'm going to give you some simple guidance for making and using your own.

(I've captured this tutorial in Elements 9, and it's relevant to all versions of Photoshop and Elements.  Please also note that I have zero design skills, so please don't laugh at my feeble watermark!)

PART ONE: PLAN IT

As always, a bit of forethought goes a long way.  Take a little time to conceive your design.  This might involve surfing the web to look at other people's watermarks for inspiration; or it might just mean scribbling some ideas with pencil and paper.

PART TWO: MAKE IT

I've always found it's best to actually make your watermark on a photo.  This might seem plainly logical to some of you, but I'm a bit surprised at the number of people who design their watermark on a plain white background, and don't really know how it looks on a photo until they try it out afterwards.

Also, it's a darn good idea to make the watermark bigger than you'll ever need it. Therefore, I make mine on full-res photos, even though I'm only likely to use it on a low-res one.

Pick any old photo, really.  I've chosen this one of a snoozy koala:

The light around your computer

(This article was updated in May 2015)  

Be careful not to underestimate the influence of the ambient light while you're editing your photos.  I've seen many people comment that when they edit photos at night, then look at them during the daytime (or vice versa) they look markedly different.

Of course, when you edit some photos (especially if you're tired), then look at them again a few hours or days later, you're always going to notice some things you'd like to do differently or better.  That's human nature, I guess, and in a way it's a good thing - while you're perpetually critical of your own work, you'll keep striving for improvement.  And as long as you do all your Photoshop editing with layers, it should be very easy to make whatever adjustments you need.

But I'm not here to pester you about layers again.  I want to discuss light.  The light that's around you while you're doing your post-processing.

A Pinterest idea

I've been thinking ...

I know a lot of my readers sometimes struggle with skintones, because you feel uncertain about what looks good and what doesn't. Sometimes when someone shows you how it should look, it gives you some clarity of mind, and you can continue editing with more direction and confidence.

I also know a lot of you are on Pinterest. So, here's what I'm thinking. I think you should create a board called "Skintones I love". And whenever you're cruising around, checking out other photographers' blogs, or whatever, and see a photo with skintones that take your breath away, pin it!

Then, when you're doing your own editing, and feeling a bit uncertain about "is this too yellow?" or whatever, just browse your board. Immerse yourself in great skintones for a few moments, then re-visit your own photo with fresh perspective.

Web browsers and Facebook

I get SO irritated every time I see somebody say "Facebook changes the colour of images".

NO IT DOESN'T.

Facebook makes a mess of the clarity of images, we know that.  Its compression settings are pretty strong, and it plays havoc with our sharpening, in particular.  Nothing we can do about that.  With all the billions and gazillions of images on their servers, can you blame them for compressing them a bit?  Of course not.

But it doesn't change colour.  If you see that your images' colour looks different on Facebook than it did in your editing program, it's your fault, not Facebook's.  It's because you're not using the right browser.

Let's discuss the four main browsers.  We'll start at the bottom of the pile, with Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.  These two have no colour management at all.

Simple storyboard tutorial - part 2: multiple photos

This post is an extension of my last one - Simple clipping mask and storyboard tutorial.  If you're new or relatively new to clipping masks in Photoshop, I encourage you to go back and read it before continuing here.

If you're not new to storyboard creation, you'll notice that the method I'll explain in this article is a little different from most storyboard tutorials.  I assure you I have good reasons for this, and I'll explain them as I go along.

I've captured the screenshots for this tute in Photoshop CS2.  The methods apply to all versions of Photoshop, and to Elements 9 onwards, but NOT Elements 8 or earlier.  If you'd like the tute for older versions of Elements, come and hassle me at Ask Damien :)

As I explained in the previous post, half the battle can be won before you even start, with a bit of planning.  For this example, I want to make a three-image panoramic storyboard to go on Facebook.  I choose a width of 960 (the Facebook maximum) and a height of 300.  I turn on gridlines every thirty pixels, and I'm ready to go:

Simple clipping mask and storyboard tutorial

If you'd like to make your own storyboard or collage, or if you'd simply like to place your photos in a template that somebody else made for you, you need to know about clipping masks.  Clipping masks are the way to fit a photo to a specific shape in a layout.

This is a VERY simple tutorial for beginners.  I've created it in Photoshop CS2, but it will work just the same in all versions of Photoshop and Elements.

Here's the basic little design I'm going to make:

Ok, ok, I know it's simplistic and cheesy.  My creativity is pretty dismal.  But that doesn't matter.  I'm going to show you how to make this design, and in the process I hope to give you the skills and confidence to create your own ... much grander than this :)

STEP 1: Plan plan plan!

Storyboards and collages are a heck of a lot easier if you have a firm concept in your head before you begin.  Sketch it on a piece of paper if it helps (that's what I do).

Tutorial: Orange gradient for a dusk sky

Ok, here's what we're aiming for:

We want a bit of colour in that blown-out sky.  Many thanks to Sue for allowing me to use this photo.

As usual, I've done this tutorial in Elements.  The method is exactly the same in any version of Photoshop.

Here's the original.

First things first, folks.  Make sure you process your photo warm enough!  It looks absolutely stoopid if you add a really warm sky to a really cold photo.  Let's face it, if you take photos at this time of day, they're going to be warm.  Don't fight it.

Strategies for managing out-of-gamut clothing

Very brightly-coloured clothing present a unique problem in post-processing.  Most commonly it's red and orange garments, but it can happen with any vivid colour.  They're invariably out of gamut, and cause channel clipping.  If you shoot Jpeg and this happens, you're screwed.  Make sure you shoot Raw, so that you have plenty of latitude for dealing with it.

When time permits, I intend to write more comprehensive information about this.  For now, here's a brief overview of your four options.

Option 1. Ignore the clipping. This is a genuine option - a lot of people don't mind a bit of clipping in clothing.  Remember that this whole issue boils down to a choice of "bright and clipped" vs "dull and safe".  You might prefer the former over the latter.  (Of course, some clipping is so severe that it can't be ignored.)

Why PPI doesn't matter - yet another analogy

This morning my children asked for a drink of milk.  So I told them to get cups out of the cupboard, and I'd pour them one.

My daughter (4) found a short fat cup, and my son (2) grabbed a taller, thinner cup.  They put them on the table, and I poured the milk.

My daughter immediately asked why her brother had more milk than her.  I tried to explain that they both had the same amount of milk, but it looked as if she had less because her cup was fatter, whereas her brother's cup was thinner.  Needless to say, she didn't really understand the explanation (how do you explain fluid volume to a 4 year old?), so I brought the discussion to a hasty halt with my most fatherly "Just drink your darn milk, ok?"

Replace "milk" with "pixels", and it's pretty much the same discussion we have regularly on forums and Facebook ...

"That photographer's images are 300ppi, and mine are only 72ppi!  Why are hers bigger?"

They're not.  Yours are just as big as hers.  Hers are just in a "thinner glass", that's all.

Just take your darn photos, ok?

:D