A Little Photoshop Magic
This week I haven't taken any exciting pictures and I've been in a financial seminar all weekend. They are promoting
the use of Investools & a course in understanding market investing. Honestly, I never even knew all those options were
out there for a small investor like me. My husband & I signed up for a class, so I'll let you know how it goes...
In the mean time, maybe I can show you a little something in Photoshop. Let's create something that looks like an
old post card from the 40's. The colors are rather pale. This is an image I took in Orlando (somewhat)
recently. I printed it 12"x18" on an Epson watercolor paper with the intent of adding some traditional media to it--
namely pastels. (Think of them as horrifically expensive chalk.) The problem with pastels is they need a "tooth" (rough)
to grab onto. This paper only has a little, so you can't mix colors. So, then you feel like you need to spend thousands
of dollars to buy every variation of color made so that you can have shades of colors to use...then there are hard &
soft pastels, different brands, etc.
I digress---I printed the image very light so it would be a guideline for me. After working on the image, I decided
that I would probably like it better if it was just a black & white with the tree in color. I'll work on that next, but in
the mean time the pix at the top go like this:
1- Normal: Basic color exposure, pump up the saturation a little.
2- Old Postcard: Copy the background layer & turn it into black & white. CS4 actually has that as a built in filter choice &
you have lots of adjustment tools within it. It works great. (If you have no other choice, desaturate.)
Bring down the opacity to about 40%. Now it's looking old & pale. Combine the layers.
3- Use the eraser tool with a funky brush setting to erase the edges freeform. Voila! (Yes, I confess, I did that first.)
PHOTIP: Don't try to make the edge perfect, it looks better messy. Of course if you are OCD, you can make a selection
that is exact & uniform. Might make an interesting trio to frame together.
Blessings!!
Posted by Pamela at 11/9/2009 7:07 PM 
Categories: Instructional
Tags: old postcard CS4 photoshop Investools pastels
Categories: Instructional
Tags: old postcard CS4 photoshop Investools pastels
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