Using Photoshop to Shape Text

Photoshop's Warp Text tool allows you to wrap or bend text around an object in your image to make attention-grabbing, personalized banners or headlines. You can also warp text in both horizontal and/or vertical directions to give your text an individual look and feel.

Photoshop has many means by which to manipulate text, but this will provide a starting point that will especially come in handy if you have not had the chance to use these text features before.

First, open an image to which you want to add text. Choose the horizontal text tool from the toolbar and click the image near to where you want to position your text. Type in the text you would like to add. You can also add the more traditional style enhancements such as bold, italics or underline to your text while in text mode.

When you are done adding your text, select and right-click this text to open the contextual menu. To open the Warp Text dialogue box, choose Warp Text. From this box, you can choose from a selection of pre-defined text warps using the Style pull-down menu. Select the warp that best fits the effect you're trying to accomplish. If you're undecided on the kind of warp you want, try some out to see what effect they have on your image text.

There will be several sliders under the Style pull-down that will allow you to make fine-tuning adjustments to the warp effects. You can change the horizontal and vertical distortion and the text bend here. An option to using the sliders is to enter a percentage value for these properties. Once you have reached the effect desired, simple click OK and the Warp Text effect will be applied to your image.

Create a WaterFall

Using photoshop you can create some pretty awesome effects with pictures alone. Here is a step by step guide to show you how to blend and create a smooth waterfall.

With your image open in Photoshop, grab your Lasso tool from the Tools palette: Select the Lasso tool from the Tools palette.You can also press the letter L on your keyboard to quickly select it.Then, with the Lasso tool selected, drag a selection around your waterfall.

It doesn't have to be surgically precise, but try not to stray too far from the edges of the waterfall: Use the Lasso tool to drag a selection around the waterfall.If you need help with making selections, check out our tutorial Unlock The Full Power Of Basic Selections. Copy the Selection Onto Its Own Layer.

With the waterfall selected, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Windows) / Command+J (Mac) to copy it onto its own layer above the Background layer. You won't see anything happen in the Document Window, but if you look in the Layers palette, you'll see the waterfall on a new layer: Press "Ctrl+J" (Windows) / "Command+J" (Mac) to copy the waterfall onto a new layer.

Apply The Motion Blur Filter To The New Layer With our waterfall now copied to its own layer, we can create our "silky smooth" effect by applying the "Motion Blur" filter to it. To do that, go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, select Blur, and then select Motion Blur. This brings up the Motion Blur dialog box:mPhotoshop's "Motion Blur" dialog box. Adjust the Angle of the blur so it matches the angle at which the water is falling.

In most cases, this would be 90, since water would normally fall straight down. In my case, since the water is rushing so quickly over the edge, it's actually falling at a bit of an angle, so I've set my blur angle to -77.

The easiest way to match your blur angle to the water is to click inside the Angle value box and then increase or decrease the value one degree at a time using the up or down arrow keys on your keyboard, which is what I've done. Once you've set the correct angle, drag the Distance slider at the bottom until your waterfall looks nice and silky. I've dragged mine to a value of 73 pixels, which gives me a nice effect. The image after applying Motion Blur.

Restoring Old Photos with Photoshop

Memories are precious and photos often hold these remembrances of times past. Since photos often become damaged through the passing of time, photo restoration is often sought as a way to save these memories. Pictures can become blurred; the color may fade and photos may even suffer from scratches and marks. Technology has come a long way, now offering a solution to these problems. Photo restoration is now available to everyone with the goal of saving and restoring their photos with the assistance of Photoshop.

The Elements in Photoshop, which are the Dust and Scratch Filter can eliminate marks and blotches in the photograph. Located on the Menu Bar, find the Dust and Scratches Filter and click on the Filter Tab. A drop down menu will appear listing the elements. Choose the Noise Tab and select Dust and Scratches.

After choosing the Dust and Scratches menu, a window will pop up containing two control sliders. The first slider is for the Radius and the other one is for the Threshold. There will also be another window if the preview box is checked. These are the main options that will be used in correcting the image.

Adjusting the Radius slider may remove the scratches; however there the potential that overdoing it can make the edges blurred too. Should this happen, adjust the Threshold slider and this will allow the details to go back and make the picture clearer with the scratches disappearing. The person should be cautious not to set them too far or it will only generate blotches on the picture.

Selecting the whole photo will not diffuse these marks when going to remove them. The alternative is to choose only the part where the scratches are to be found. You may use the Lasso to do this.

You can then feather the edges of the chosen area so that the selected area will not be apparent on the picture. You can do this by clicking the Feather option and click the Scratch and Dust Filter again. You can repeat the process of adjusting the Radius and Threshold sliders to get the texture desired and do away with the scratches.

You can do the method again by selecting the spot you would like to alter if there are still detectable marks on the other areas of the picture. To complete the procedure and make the picture acceptable, you can crop the image enough to remove the cracks and torn edges of the picture. The canvas may be use to uniformly crop the image.

You can insert drama into the picture by adding a drop shadow to it. This will make the picture seem as if it has been lifted off the page. The color may also be removed using the controls Shift+Ctrl+U. You can then add color by adding a small amount of Sepia using the Hue or Saturation tab. The contrast may be balanced using the Levels option.

This is a simple solution to removing blotches and marks on an aged photo. It will make the photo look new and fresh, but still maintain a classic appearance. Photoshop offers an easy and fun way to restore photos for viewing for years to come.

Making Coloring Books By Turning A Photo Into A Sketch

Have you ever wanted to make some interesting coloring books? The easiest way to do this is to turn a photo into a sketch. The process is fairly easy and consists of 6 simple steps.

To begin with, choose your photo. You will want to make sure it is the dimensions and resolution you desire your final page to be.

STEP 1 - Duplicate The Background Layer
The first step is to duplicate the background layer. You do this by choosing Layer> New> Layer via Copy. Now you should have 2 layers, the Background Layer, and Layer 1.

STEP 2 - Desaturate The Photo
With Layer 1 selected, choose Image> Adjustments> Desaturate. This will give you a grayscale version of the image.

STEP 3 - Duplicate Layer 1
At this point you need to duplicate Layer 1. Follow step 1 to create your duplicate. Now you should have 3 layers, the Background Layer, Layer 1 and Layer 2.

STEP 4 - Invert Layer 2
With Layer 2 selected, go Image> Adjustments> Invert. This step should make your photo look like a photo negative.

STEP 5 - Change The Layers Blend Mode To Color Dodge
In your Layers Palette change the Layers Blend Mode for the selected layer (Layer 2) to Color Dodge. Color Dodge will make your photo appear almost completely white.

STEP 6 - Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter
Choose Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur. When you see the dialog box start by moving the Radius Slider all the way to the left. Once you've done that you can slowly begin to move it to the right.

At this point take time to experiment and make sure you are getting the desired effect.

Larger numbers (the more you move the slider to the right) will create a more pronounced effect. Please beware however that at some point this will return your sketch back into a photo, which is not what we want, so when you reach that point simply nudge the slider to the left just a little and that should do it!

Do Some Experimenting
Sometimes an image will not work as expected, and so you have to try different methods. If this happens try the Motion Blur Filter and the Radial Blur Filter.

Calling All Artists
Finally, print out your best sketches and create some interesting coloring books. This is a great thing to give the kids, along with some crayons, for those rainy days.

Beyond Editing, and AWAY!!!

Adobe Photoshop today has gone beyond image editing. Today, the software is labeled as an image manipulation tool. This somehow gives people the impression that Adobe Photoshop actually gives them a greater degree of freedom than other image-editing programs available today.

In fact, it actually does. If sight is reality, then Adobe Photoshop can help you create any reality that you want. With Adobe Photoshop, you will be able to create images of other worlds. You will be able to capture the beauty of the universe inside a glass jar.

Your creativity will be unleashed. That's how much Adobe Photoshop can change your life. In the world today, one can easily observe the impact that Adobe Photoshop has wrought on culture. Just like Google, Adobe Photoshop is now being used by people as a verb.

When a person is said to be photoshopping something, it is always assumed that the person is editing an image of come sort, whether he or she is actually using Adobe Photoshop or not.

Creating a Glass Ball tutorial Part II

Following on from Monday's Post..

Step 9 - Choose the duplicated gradient layer, giving it a slightly different gradient of greys and whites. Bring the duplicated gradient layer down, positioning it under both of the other layers. Move it to where it is seen from both sides as it is the rim of the orb.

Step 10 -Erase the parts of the orb that are not needed. Keep Ctrl/Cmd pressed and click on the layer thumbnails; first choose the big outer rim ellipse, having the gray gradient, and then Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+Click on the thumbnail of the upper top portion layer. The 2 ellipses will be selected, but we need to also select the bottom portion of the orb. Choosing the Rectangular marquee tool, hold down shift and drag over the bottom portion. Inverse the selection (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+I) and delete the middle part of the orb.

Step 11. Now to create the glass portion. Create a circle of the same size of the orb, any color you want. Place it behind the other layers.

Step 12 -As with the first outer orb, give this circle the same inner-glow effect, bringing it forward to cover all but the red outer sections of the orb.

Step 13) Go to the layer palette and make the fill amount =0 to make the layer invisible, but keeps the layer effects visible.

Step 14. As you had done with the red circle, ie, creating a white gradient reflection, create the same in a new layer above the glass layer, so as to create a more realistic lighting effect. Adjust the settings as required to make it as realistic looking as possible.

Step 15. Now select the base layers, ie the grey metal gradient layers and the white elipse, and merge them together. After this press Cntrl+U to adjust the hue of the layer. Since it's grey, click on colorize, and adjust to a redish colour in keeping with the colour of the orb itself.

Step 16) Lastly, make a very small drop shadow to the upper piece of the red orb, in order to create more realism. The lower portion may seem off, so create a new layer above the red lower orb portion. Select the radial gradient tool in the white to nothing option and drag from a point over the red to just a bit inward. Erase parts that are not enclosed within the red portion.

Now you have a glass ball. Any items can be displayed inside the ball now, but make sure they have a good reflection effect added on. This effect will provide the base a shiny and realistic look.

Creating a Glass Ball tutorial Part I

Step 1 - With the circular marquee tool, create a simple circle in any color.

Step 2 - Give the circle an inner-glow layer effect by changing the glow color to black and changing the blend mode to multiply. Using an inner shadow can result in an angular deflection which is why we use the inner glow method for uniformity.

Step 3 Load the selection from the circular area. On a new layer, drag the linear gradient in white to transparent downward from the top making sure it is close but not entirely at the bottom.

Step 4 - Press Ctrl/Cmd+T to change the white gradient. Drag the handles bringing them up going halfway through, and drag it just a bit inward from the top and sides. Now lets create a merge composite layer. To do this, hide the background, create a new blank layer on top and press Alt+Ctrl+Shift+E or Option+Cmd+Shift+E on Mac, creating a merged layer on top.

Step 5. Take the merged layer and create a circular selection above. the circle should be much larger than the original circle. Again use your eyes to tell you what seems right, then copy the section and paste it in to a new layer. This creates the top portion of the orb. Place it again in the proper exact position.

Step 6) On now to the base of the orb and create an elliptical shape fitting in to the bottom half of the circle in a new layer. Duplicate this layer while reducing the size just a bit.

Step 7. Select the larger ellipse layer and load its selection by pressing Ctrl/Cmd and clicking on the layer thumbnail. Now select the cylindrical gradient tool and going with the grey-white-grey-white-grey color combo, drag across.

Step 8 - Again, duplicate this layer bringing the duplicate upward. Arrange the small white portion to above the actual gradiated layer. Link both of these layers while reducing their size some, to ensure that the outer gradiated ellipse is just within the red circle.

Check back again on Wednesday for Part II

Elements 3

The latest entry level image editor from Adobe Systems is called Adobe Photoshop Elements 3. The software package is sort of a cross between Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 and Photoshop Album. You get a host of image organization cum image editing tools.

Photoshop Elements 3 has a very simple user interface and is clearly geared towards for beginners. But don’t be fooled – the tool has some very powerful and flexible tools which even intermediate level users can make use of.

There is an ‘Organizer’ which lets you locate browse your photo collection and locate specific photos of interest. There is an ‘Editor’ where you can perform all sorts of image editing tasks on a photo. The integration between the two is seamless, meaning you can locate a photo in Organizer, then send it to the Editor with one click.

There are a host of options for sharing your photos in Photoshop Elements 3. You can attach the photos to email, burn CDs and DVDs, create calendars and postcards, upload a Web image gallery, among others.

Painting Tools of Photoshop

Both painting and erasing are simple with Photoshop. The painting tools in Photoshop are a fundamental part of just about anything you can do with this program. Not only can you paint in color, you can also make selections, create transparency and much, much more.

Let's take a look at just a few of the more widely used tools in Photoshop such as the pencil, line, paintbrush, airbrush, eraser, paint bucket, and gradient tools, their functions, and their differences.

You can't paint without a brush. Photoshop 5, finds brushes in a floating palette, while Photoshop 6, the brushes palette are attached to the option bar as a drop-down menu.

You have a few options available to you in regards to how you add color. The most common are the paintbrush and the airbrush. Paintbrush is most likely the painting tool you will be using most often. The shortcut key is B. The Paintbrush tool applies color to your document similar to the way a traditional paintbrush would apply paint on paper or canvas.

The airbrush tool works more like a traditional airbrush or spray paint. Its shortcut key is J. The airbrush puts paint on a bit lighter than the paintbrush tool, but when you hold your mouse button down without moving the cursor, the paint builds up just like it would if you were to hold the nozzle down on a can of spray paint.

Of course we make mistakes, so let's know how to fix them. The eraser tool shortcut is E. The standard eraser tool has four painting modes to choose from: paintbrush, airbrush, pencil, and block. The eraser tool paints in transparency,