Tried and Tested Tip Number 24 [Photo Editing]

Just a small hint this week :)

Do you ever find that you've edited your photos and think they look really good, and then you upload them on to your space on the internet and they look dull, or over exposed, or just not right?

It might be because of the colour of your background.

Let me give you an example. The default image editing background in Photoshop is this mid grey:

 If I edit an image against that background, I will be editing it in relation to the mid grey. If I then wish to present my photos on the white background of this blog, my photos have the potential to look dull (or generally over/under edited). Similarly, if I was to edit them against a white background, and then upload them to a blog with a black background, they have the potential to look over exposed (or generally over/under edited).

The image above (from Rolled Paper Flowers and Paper Origami Gift Boxes) was edited on a white background, and you can see how it looks different against different backgrounds.

So, how to fix this? In Photoshop, you can right click on the background, and select custom colour. For me in relation to my blog, that is simply white. If you need a specific coloured background, you may wish to enter the code for that colour, pick a close match, or take a screen shot so that you can select the colour within Photoshop. It's a small thing, but it could help your photographs shine a little bit brighter :) 

(Belated) Father's Day!

Father's Day might have come and gone for another year, but I got a bit carried away with posts last weekend and this one slipped the net!

My husband and me celebrate Mother's and Father's Day (in a small way!) because of the relationship we have with our beautiful bunnies. My husband finds the Dentastix advert hilarious when it is shown on TV, and so I couldn't resist taking the concept for Flopsy and Toffee!

So... Creepy or cute?!

Tried and Tested Tip Number 11 [Photoshop Actions]

I've got to be completely honest, Photoshop Actions are quite new to me. I am also quite a purist with photography, so I will often prefer to not edit an image so heavily. However, there are some wonderful Photoshop actions, and I am going to share some I like with you as I discover them!

These first three come from Noise-Less's Variety Pack .3 on deviantArt...

Noise-Less's Variety Pack .3 0.3-1

Noise-Less's Variety Pack .3 0.3-3 plus extra editing.

Noise-Less's Variety Pack .3 0.3-5 plus curves.

And this last one is Photoshop Action 15 by Miss-Etikate on deviantArt.

Miss-Etikate's Photoshop Action 15 plus extra editing.

I found these actions in this article, 100 Free Photoshop Actions, well worth a look! And if you're unsure how to install a Photoshop Action and make it work, I found this tutorial helpful :)

Tried and Tested Tip Number 2 [Photoshop]

Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, a few (or more!) photos will end up with wonky horizons.

This week, I want to share with you a video made by Ice Flow Studios, designed to make your life and my life that bit easier. Have a look...

If you're anything like me, you've been doing this the long way round ALL THIS TIME. Well, take a second, find a wonky photo, and try the straighten tool - it's worth it.

It's also worth mentioning that in your history panel it will come up as the straightening and then the cropping, so you can always do a simple undo and do the crop yourself.