The content aware move tool sits quietly in the tool section....waiting for the right moment to WOW you. And wow me it did this week!
Ok, I have seen the examples of moving a bird or a kid on the beach. Can't think of when cropping wouldn't fix most problems with centering a subject...or not centering a subject. I always have to have a personal reason for needing a tool to put it into my routine... I love so much about Photoshop....filters, color balance, cloning and healing tools. I look for new ways to use old tools and I am never disappointed.
I needed the content aware tool this week. I had a project that I had to add two more people into. At first I tried the "sneak the guy behind someone with his head popping out trick." I must admit there are times when this is all you have and you can make it work as long as you get the head the right size by fading the head layer before placing it and sizing it to another relative in the line up.
However, this put the picture off balance. I stared and stared at the lack of any symmetry or even logic in the freakish scene I created and decided to follow one of my main rules in life which is..."just because you can doesn't mean you should". So I got Harrington's book off its place of honor on the shelf above my computer, went to page 189 and refreshed my old brain and moved the man on the end of the group shot to make room for the brother. Wow...I moved him a bit to the right (his left haha) and there was a bit of stretching in between where he was and and where he is. But that was fixed easily with the cloning tool and then applying the missing brother layer. Bang. Followed by hours of adjusting color, blurring, adding filtered sun through the trees, adding a grain layer and everything else I could figure out to make it work.
Be ready for the big reveal. My husband tells me when to quit because I will keep going forever....this is a good thing if you are a perfectionist. Goodness knows there are probably a few
photo restorers afflicted with this necessary trait. I always focus on the added person or persons waaaay too much. However, the customer reaction is my reward. They were really really happy with the result so I was too. I see all the flaws...of course. But you have to know that when the customer tells you there is no way it could have been done, you have succeeded.
Today I give the Content Aware Tool the spotlight and my continuing thanks to Richard Harrington for making a book that helps those of us with short attention spans to continue to learn new skills. If you would like to see the before and after, please visit my website and look at the slideshow on the home page....www.photorestoration4u.com. And, find a reason to use this awesome tool this week.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Renee Theuer
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Photo Restoration Hints Twenty Six...What to do about teeny tiny cellphone pictures that are priceless?
OK...We are all going to get this request, if you have not already....someone emails you a picture taken on a cell phone in bad light at a concert of them with a very famous singing group star.
Your lizard brain (amygdala) says, "RUN" and don't look back*
But she or he is (enter friendship or family relationship here___) and you cannot say no. It's a teeny little 5k file and you know you can make it a little better but it probably won't be much improved when you are done.
Nah...you say yes! Because you love a challenge and you love her.
OK...
Down and dirty tips.
Make a 5x7 new file at 2400 dpi. Why? because you are going to cheat using Photo Shops amazing abilities to "interpolate data" . Or, in other words, Photo Shop is about to fill in the missing dots. You have sooo many missing dots in your 5k picture. If you take the picture itself and size it up to 5x7 inches, you will see what I mean. Big squares. Nothing to work with.
After you made you new 5x7 piece of blank "paper", PLACE the picture on it. File/Place for all you Microsoft users. Then, hold down the 'shift' key and pull it by a corner to fill up the frame until you have a picture forming. You can always crop more later to size. Then press enter. You should see more information or 'pixels' on the screen. OK...it is not very pretty yet but it is a little bit better. If not, stop here and go to posters.com and find a picture of the famous person for them and you are done.
But, if you want, here are some things you can do to make it better. Use a soft airbrush and paint in some details lightly in light multiple layers. Make another layer and use the invert tool to make a "negative of the picture and adjust it back about 50 percent to fill in some details. Click on the layer to the right and determine if it helps to fade more or less into one picture. (see my blog on blending or go and buy Understanding Adobe Photoshop CS6 by Richard Harrington).
The trick it to add layers of information to the picture and fade in an out using the percentage tabs for that layer on the work area. You can always make the picture smaller...that always helps, but try these techniques and see if you don't get any better results.
It takes a couple of hours before you finally give up, if you do give up. And like Stuart Smalley said on Saturday Night Live, That's ok, you are ok, you are still a good person ... blah blah blah.
If you don't give up, you will learn some new stuff in Photoshop. You will learn about layers and how incredible the whole concept of layering is.
If it bores the snot out of you, go on to something else. Some of us are crazy enough to think that we can perform miracles. Wanna try? Try this picture of my friend with a One Direction star...sorry, I don't know his name.
Please send me your successful results if you are so inclined and I will post them on a future blog.
Again, thanks for continuing to follow my blog. I appreciate it.
Best Regards
Renee L. Theuer
*a·myg·da·la
Your lizard brain (amygdala) says, "RUN" and don't look back*
But she or he is (enter friendship or family relationship here___) and you cannot say no. It's a teeny little 5k file and you know you can make it a little better but it probably won't be much improved when you are done.
Nah...you say yes! Because you love a challenge and you love her.
OK...
Down and dirty tips.
Make a 5x7 new file at 2400 dpi. Why? because you are going to cheat using Photo Shops amazing abilities to "interpolate data" . Or, in other words, Photo Shop is about to fill in the missing dots. You have sooo many missing dots in your 5k picture. If you take the picture itself and size it up to 5x7 inches, you will see what I mean. Big squares. Nothing to work with.
After you made you new 5x7 piece of blank "paper", PLACE the picture on it. File/Place for all you Microsoft users. Then, hold down the 'shift' key and pull it by a corner to fill up the frame until you have a picture forming. You can always crop more later to size. Then press enter. You should see more information or 'pixels' on the screen. OK...it is not very pretty yet but it is a little bit better. If not, stop here and go to posters.com and find a picture of the famous person for them and you are done.
But, if you want, here are some things you can do to make it better. Use a soft airbrush and paint in some details lightly in light multiple layers. Make another layer and use the invert tool to make a "negative of the picture and adjust it back about 50 percent to fill in some details. Click on the layer to the right and determine if it helps to fade more or less into one picture. (see my blog on blending or go and buy Understanding Adobe Photoshop CS6 by Richard Harrington).
The trick it to add layers of information to the picture and fade in an out using the percentage tabs for that layer on the work area. You can always make the picture smaller...that always helps, but try these techniques and see if you don't get any better results.
It takes a couple of hours before you finally give up, if you do give up. And like Stuart Smalley said on Saturday Night Live, That's ok, you are ok, you are still a good person ... blah blah blah.
If you don't give up, you will learn some new stuff in Photoshop. You will learn about layers and how incredible the whole concept of layering is.
If it bores the snot out of you, go on to something else. Some of us are crazy enough to think that we can perform miracles. Wanna try? Try this picture of my friend with a One Direction star...sorry, I don't know his name.
Please send me your successful results if you are so inclined and I will post them on a future blog.
Again, thanks for continuing to follow my blog. I appreciate it.
Best Regards
Renee L. Theuer
*a·myg·da·la
əˈmigdələ/
noun
ANATOMY
- a roughly almond-shaped mass of gray matter inside each cerebral hemisphere, involved with the experiencing of emotions.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Photo Restoration Hints Number 25 Using Mirror Images for Canvas Wrapping
Want a great way to add a mirror image to your canvas so that you have a beautiful wrap all around the edges of your convas? Of course you do. I have been using Content-Aware Scaling and Plain old cloning around the edges or a nice colored edge to match using the tools in the print command....
However, I found this cool site again the other day. I had seen this a couple of years ago and it helped me a lot. I am going to share it with you now. Go to this link on YouTube.... Breathing Color's Mirror Imaging Method for Canvas Wraps There are people who have commented on other ways to do this using content aware fill...but I like this way because it is great for novice users and the examples are terrific. 27,000 plus people agree with me if you see the comments.
There are lots of ways to do the same things in PhotoShop. Start with one way, get the hang of it and then go to a book or video and find a new way to do it. It all adds to your bag of tricks and helps you continue to try new things. Then, go and invent your own technique to get the look YOU want.
Just because someone does something one way doesn't mean you have to do it the same way. That's the beauty of artistic expression. Adobe Photoshop is the ink and canvas with which we work our magic as photographers and artists. Make a little magic of your own today!!!!
Thanks for reading my quick blog today. Enjoy the video.
Renée L. Theuer
www.rltphotoartist.com
www.photorestoration4u.com
renee@rltphotoartist.com
However, I found this cool site again the other day. I had seen this a couple of years ago and it helped me a lot. I am going to share it with you now. Go to this link on YouTube.... Breathing Color's Mirror Imaging Method for Canvas Wraps There are people who have commented on other ways to do this using content aware fill...but I like this way because it is great for novice users and the examples are terrific. 27,000 plus people agree with me if you see the comments.
There are lots of ways to do the same things in PhotoShop. Start with one way, get the hang of it and then go to a book or video and find a new way to do it. It all adds to your bag of tricks and helps you continue to try new things. Then, go and invent your own technique to get the look YOU want.
Just because someone does something one way doesn't mean you have to do it the same way. That's the beauty of artistic expression. Adobe Photoshop is the ink and canvas with which we work our magic as photographers and artists. Make a little magic of your own today!!!!
Thanks for reading my quick blog today. Enjoy the video.
Renée L. Theuer
www.rltphotoartist.com
www.photorestoration4u.com
renee@rltphotoartist.com
Returning a Phone to Asurion or other Phone Insurance Company--Cell Phone Memories.... Extra Post
(This is a little extra post ... This week's post is directly underneath this one. Check it out, please....)
Let's call it....Cell Phone Memories...
I recently cracked the glass in my cell phone accidentally. It flew out of my hands and crashed face first on the ground. I cursed the clumsiness that has plagued me all of my life. But, I was thrilled that I had Asurion Insurance for my phone. They were GREAT. I had no trouble submitting my claim and I guess I am not the only idiot that drops her phone. I highly recommend them. I also ordered an Otterbox this time on amazon.com.
I gladly paid the $99.00 deductible fee (because I am a clumsy but grateful idiot and I need my Galaxy S5 to live a happy life) ok...call me shallow...I don't care.
The new phone arrived the next day! WOW! Installation was easy with Verizon, which I have happily been with since forever. Say forever with a Valley Girl accent, please. :-)
I put the old phone in the envelope provided, took off the little tab with the information to track from the back sticker and was about to send it back Monday. Last night at 1:00 in the morning, I remembered that I had some really great pictures on my phone that I had not copied to my desktop computer. I plugged the phone in and searched for the device in "my computer" and there they were. I downloaded them into a cell phone picture file and thought I was done. After all, everything is in the sim card, right? You don't send the sim card back with the broken phone in my insurance plan.
I took out the sim card to see if the actual phone contains the memories of my happy life and sure enough it did. In fact, the more I drilled down into the phone's files, the more information I was able to see. There were saved emails, vzpics, downloads, documents...and lo and behold some adobe documents stored that were actually some information I had sent to my bank. Eeeek. I erased as many personal files as I could.
I am sure that the phone is completely erased and reprogrammed when the insurance company does their reconditioning thing. However, I was wondering what would happen if the phone were stolen from my mail box before the postal carrier got to my house. It could happen.
So, I'm just sayin' ... if you are as paranoid about data protection as I am, this might be a new thing to think about. I was not able to figure out how to completely reformat the phone (which would have probably been my best option) but, I plan to take it directly to the post office tomorrow and I'll be tracking that broken baby until it gets to its destination for reassignment to someone else.
I thought I would pass this information on in case anyone out there was as ignorant as I was. I like the days of removable sd cards...Oh Well....
Have a happy day. I will have more hints on photo restoration next week.
Renee :-)
Let's call it....Cell Phone Memories...
I recently cracked the glass in my cell phone accidentally. It flew out of my hands and crashed face first on the ground. I cursed the clumsiness that has plagued me all of my life. But, I was thrilled that I had Asurion Insurance for my phone. They were GREAT. I had no trouble submitting my claim and I guess I am not the only idiot that drops her phone. I highly recommend them. I also ordered an Otterbox this time on amazon.com.
I gladly paid the $99.00 deductible fee (because I am a clumsy but grateful idiot and I need my Galaxy S5 to live a happy life) ok...call me shallow...I don't care.
The new phone arrived the next day! WOW! Installation was easy with Verizon, which I have happily been with since forever. Say forever with a Valley Girl accent, please. :-)
I put the old phone in the envelope provided, took off the little tab with the information to track from the back sticker and was about to send it back Monday. Last night at 1:00 in the morning, I remembered that I had some really great pictures on my phone that I had not copied to my desktop computer. I plugged the phone in and searched for the device in "my computer" and there they were. I downloaded them into a cell phone picture file and thought I was done. After all, everything is in the sim card, right? You don't send the sim card back with the broken phone in my insurance plan.
I took out the sim card to see if the actual phone contains the memories of my happy life and sure enough it did. In fact, the more I drilled down into the phone's files, the more information I was able to see. There were saved emails, vzpics, downloads, documents...and lo and behold some adobe documents stored that were actually some information I had sent to my bank. Eeeek. I erased as many personal files as I could.
I am sure that the phone is completely erased and reprogrammed when the insurance company does their reconditioning thing. However, I was wondering what would happen if the phone were stolen from my mail box before the postal carrier got to my house. It could happen.
So, I'm just sayin' ... if you are as paranoid about data protection as I am, this might be a new thing to think about. I was not able to figure out how to completely reformat the phone (which would have probably been my best option) but, I plan to take it directly to the post office tomorrow and I'll be tracking that broken baby until it gets to its destination for reassignment to someone else.
I thought I would pass this information on in case anyone out there was as ignorant as I was. I like the days of removable sd cards...Oh Well....
Have a happy day. I will have more hints on photo restoration next week.
Renee :-)
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Photo restoration hints 24 Fun with Blending Modes Shortcut
Using blending modes
Blending modes are used for mixing multiple layers together. There are great examples in Richard Harrington's wonderful book, Understanding Photoshop CS6 on pages 137 through 144. He has wonderful examples in his fabulous book....(yes I bought it and yes I love it,)
I have another way I use this tool as a filter with my picture as I go. It may seem hard at first but once you get the hang of it, you might love using this tool as much as I do. It is fast and dependable and I use it constantly.
So let's say you have a picture that is so far off that you don't even know what to do with it first. You can see an example on my website of a picture of a farmer that was so faded out that there was very little contrast when I started.
Of course, you can start out with automatic contrast. This gives you a great place to start. As I have said in previous blogs, I always take a look at one of the automatic fixes first to get a reference point--saving copies of my various "tangents" including my starting picture. I use one of the automatic tools from the 'Image' box at the top of Photoshop...such as 'automatic color' or 'automatic contrast' or 'automatic tone' on the picture. There is usually no real affect here but it gets you to the 'Fade" tool which appears in the Edit menu under 'Fade' followed by the name of the automatic tool you just used. Click on Edit/Fade and the drop down menu appears. Don't stop there....click the little drop down menu to the right and all kinds of blending options appear.
Then, I take the drop down menu and scroll through the options. There are 27 of them. Practice with a couple...like screen or color burn. Once you drop down the options, you can choose the tool and then dial it up and back from 100%. This tool gives you a seemingly infinite amount of quick adjustments in one place that are pretty nice...I use it for pictures that have absolutely no contrast with the difference tool. You should take a moment and try each one to get an idea of how they work. But I always use this shortcut to get to the fade tool by using one of the three automatic adjustments first. (automatic color, automatic contrast, automatic tone). I especially like the screen tool.
There is probably another way to do this but I have been doing it this way for so long that I really like it. Each blending option has it's own wonderful effect. And if you decide you don't like any of the adjustments, you don't have to back out of lots of history...you just dial back, hit the 'Edit' 'Back' and you can try other
filtering tools.
Additionally, you can always add cross hatch or find edges to get different effects. I can talk about these and the way cool oil painting effects too in an upcoming blog. The purists can skip that part...but for me and my customers, there is nothing like making a picture look like an oil painting with a couple of applied filters and a brushed on finishing polymer coating that dries to look like brush strokes.
Thanks for reading my blog. I hope you will continue to stay with me as I show you what I learn and the things I discover when I go exploring for new ways to work with PhotoShop...the most incredible program ever in my humble opinion.
Thanks,
Renee L Theuer
www.rltphotoartist.com
renee@rltphotoartist.com
photorestoration4u.com
Blending modes are used for mixing multiple layers together. There are great examples in Richard Harrington's wonderful book, Understanding Photoshop CS6 on pages 137 through 144. He has wonderful examples in his fabulous book....(yes I bought it and yes I love it,)
I have another way I use this tool as a filter with my picture as I go. It may seem hard at first but once you get the hang of it, you might love using this tool as much as I do. It is fast and dependable and I use it constantly.
So let's say you have a picture that is so far off that you don't even know what to do with it first. You can see an example on my website of a picture of a farmer that was so faded out that there was very little contrast when I started.
Of course, you can start out with automatic contrast. This gives you a great place to start. As I have said in previous blogs, I always take a look at one of the automatic fixes first to get a reference point--saving copies of my various "tangents" including my starting picture. I use one of the automatic tools from the 'Image' box at the top of Photoshop...such as 'automatic color' or 'automatic contrast' or 'automatic tone' on the picture. There is usually no real affect here but it gets you to the 'Fade" tool which appears in the Edit menu under 'Fade' followed by the name of the automatic tool you just used. Click on Edit/Fade and the drop down menu appears. Don't stop there....click the little drop down menu to the right and all kinds of blending options appear.
Then, I take the drop down menu and scroll through the options. There are 27 of them. Practice with a couple...like screen or color burn. Once you drop down the options, you can choose the tool and then dial it up and back from 100%. This tool gives you a seemingly infinite amount of quick adjustments in one place that are pretty nice...I use it for pictures that have absolutely no contrast with the difference tool. You should take a moment and try each one to get an idea of how they work. But I always use this shortcut to get to the fade tool by using one of the three automatic adjustments first. (automatic color, automatic contrast, automatic tone). I especially like the screen tool.
There is probably another way to do this but I have been doing it this way for so long that I really like it. Each blending option has it's own wonderful effect. And if you decide you don't like any of the adjustments, you don't have to back out of lots of history...you just dial back, hit the 'Edit' 'Back' and you can try other
filtering tools.
Additionally, you can always add cross hatch or find edges to get different effects. I can talk about these and the way cool oil painting effects too in an upcoming blog. The purists can skip that part...but for me and my customers, there is nothing like making a picture look like an oil painting with a couple of applied filters and a brushed on finishing polymer coating that dries to look like brush strokes.
Thanks for reading my blog. I hope you will continue to stay with me as I show you what I learn and the things I discover when I go exploring for new ways to work with PhotoShop...the most incredible program ever in my humble opinion.
Thanks,
Renee L Theuer
www.rltphotoartist.com
renee@rltphotoartist.com
photorestoration4u.com
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Photo Restoration Hints Number Twenty Three...The Wonderful World of Podcasts about Photo Restoration
I love Podcasts about Photo Shop. I can open up my podcast program and see uses and methods for Photo Shop that I have never seen before. My favorite so far sends a weekly podcast to you showing some kind of magic that you just have to learn how to do to really know Photo Shop. Itunes has this podcast.
I got started on this WONDERFUL PODCAST on my iPad about probably an equally wonderful book called....Understanding Adobe Photoshop by Richard Harrington and RHED Pixel as podcaster. Harrington "covers both the specific skills and techniques you'll need for professional success" according to the Podcast Description. The description continues say that this book/podcast "teaches you the essential digital imaging techniques in Adobe Photoshop that you'll need to succeed both in the classroom and the workforce."
In fact, these wonderful podcasts come faster than I can get to them much less absorb them into my work flow. It's all good information though and I need to buy his book. In fact, I am going to Amazon.com now to do just that....it includes a cd and I know I will put this to good use having tried out so many of the quick tips on the podcast. Also, nice to note that there are others out there that agree with me about the usefulness of this resource.
I was going to recommend more podcasts like the one about one minute tips...but this will do for now. Do have lots of fun but don't let the volume of them make you think you will never be an expert if you don't memorize all of these tricks and tips. It's just another resource when you come up against something you need to learn on the fly to complete a project you promised someone you could do. The important things that this podcast can do for you:
1. It will give you ideas of techniques that you never thought of before or long ago forgot. You may or may not have a practical reason for absorbing this information at this very moment.
2. It's hit or miss whether or not you are going to remember this for the next time anyway so you have a reference you can save on your device to come back to when you need it.
3. After a while, there are so many new things to learn that you can get lost. I do, anyway...and I end up erasing the podcasts to make room for more old time radio detective stories. So, I bought the book just now.
I have talked to more new users of Photo Shop who don't try because they are so thoroughly intimidated by the program. This doesn't have to be the case. Pick and Choose the items you want to focus on at the time. Learn the things you need to know to do the jobs in front of you right now...go back and relearn the things you learned or read about a while ago. Get really friendly with the index of your Photo Shop "How To" library of books.
You can always get a book and start from beginning to end to learn lots of stuff or take a class at community college. However, as an older learner, I really have to have a practical need to learn something at this point in order for it to stick in my brain so I can use it.
I'll read the book and make my recommendations later.
Thanks for reading my blog...it means a lot to me...
Renee Theuer :-)
I got started on this WONDERFUL PODCAST on my iPad about probably an equally wonderful book called....Understanding Adobe Photoshop by Richard Harrington and RHED Pixel as podcaster. Harrington "covers both the specific skills and techniques you'll need for professional success" according to the Podcast Description. The description continues say that this book/podcast "teaches you the essential digital imaging techniques in Adobe Photoshop that you'll need to succeed both in the classroom and the workforce."
In fact, these wonderful podcasts come faster than I can get to them much less absorb them into my work flow. It's all good information though and I need to buy his book. In fact, I am going to Amazon.com now to do just that....it includes a cd and I know I will put this to good use having tried out so many of the quick tips on the podcast. Also, nice to note that there are others out there that agree with me about the usefulness of this resource.
I was going to recommend more podcasts like the one about one minute tips...but this will do for now. Do have lots of fun but don't let the volume of them make you think you will never be an expert if you don't memorize all of these tricks and tips. It's just another resource when you come up against something you need to learn on the fly to complete a project you promised someone you could do. The important things that this podcast can do for you:
1. It will give you ideas of techniques that you never thought of before or long ago forgot. You may or may not have a practical reason for absorbing this information at this very moment.
2. It's hit or miss whether or not you are going to remember this for the next time anyway so you have a reference you can save on your device to come back to when you need it.
3. After a while, there are so many new things to learn that you can get lost. I do, anyway...and I end up erasing the podcasts to make room for more old time radio detective stories. So, I bought the book just now.
I have talked to more new users of Photo Shop who don't try because they are so thoroughly intimidated by the program. This doesn't have to be the case. Pick and Choose the items you want to focus on at the time. Learn the things you need to know to do the jobs in front of you right now...go back and relearn the things you learned or read about a while ago. Get really friendly with the index of your Photo Shop "How To" library of books.
You can always get a book and start from beginning to end to learn lots of stuff or take a class at community college. However, as an older learner, I really have to have a practical need to learn something at this point in order for it to stick in my brain so I can use it.
I'll read the book and make my recommendations later.
Thanks for reading my blog...it means a lot to me...
Renee Theuer :-)
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Photo Restoration Hints Number 22...YouTube is GREAT for showing the world your mad skills!
Hi Again,
There you are again, still reading my blog...and it looks like we have a few new folks that came in today. Thanks for being with me. I feel like the clown looking through the looking glass on that children's show of yesteryear. Wow, I am really showing my age. Those of you who don't know what I am talking about, please forgive me.
I want to say a few things about how easy it is to use YouTube to not only get information about how to use Photo Shop better, but to actually show off your work. If you go here.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uixwUwWI-Q (cut and past this into your browser by highlighting the whole weird website address... with control,c and then pasting into your browser at the top with a control,v.).
Take some time to get to know YouTube. It has really expanded over the years to a become a place that even offers you your own Channel. I just have one video that I use for my websites and as the signature on my emails and it works great. Upload 10 or so of your own before and after pictures and use their music to make a slide show that can be put on your website, facebook page or anywhere else your little heart desires. This is one more way to spread yourself around the internet (no SEO comments will follow, I promise, maybe).
At this writing, my friend Jim Barta has over 190 views with 300 minutes of attention on his show. People looked at it for a while. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofrXZCshkYw Just let the individuals that created the music get credit when they ask you on YouTube. Also, YouTube has a bunch of music you can choose as well. You don't need to know how to make a slide show or how to convert the slideshow into their format, it is done for you. How about that? Most people would still rather watch Fail Videos on Russian Car Crashes or Drag Racing on city streets....At least yours is pointed to everytime you send an email if you make it part of your "signature". Each html based email program has a setting to allow you to input a "signature" that goes out on each email. My Peggie and Bob Restoration file has a life of its own.
The URL (website address) looks very strange in YouTube, but you have all seen these weird, long website addresses on your emails about the cute cat that rides the vacuum cleaner in the shark outfit or the skateboarding dog. All good stuff, for sure. If you have something you have worked really hard on, YouTube can help you let your friends know what you are up to in photo restoration. If none of this makes sense to you, play the video and then cut and paste the address in your browser into wherever you want and it will pop up showing your photo restoration magic...very cool.
Now, go look at those Russian Car Crash videos...they all have video cameras inside of their cars and I don't see any defensive driving going on .... a lot of turning left from the far right lane and turning right from the far left lane, though. See you next week.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Photo Restoration Hints Number 21 Airbrushing...We jump the shark on SEO one last time.
Welcome Back,
Thanks to those of you who think I jumped the shark on my recent SEO quest and have stayed with me for more actual Photo Restoration Hints. More will follow after I jump the shark one more time...
Good news, my rating went way up (check your own site on freegrader.com). This little gem of a website shows you how you rate on the internet from 1-100 for all the things that Google's little algorithms look for and then tells you what you need to do to fix it. I started with a 6 and got it to 68. I think I have to sell my literal soul at this point to get it higher because I have tried everything to get it higher without result. It has been an interesting ride learning about claiming your business name on directories out there and how to avoid paying for listings (yp.com has a really nice introductory listing service). The biggest thing out there seemed to be getting a "landing page" with a free offer or a survey to get you to interact on your site. The closest think I have to that is a "ready to go" button. It is really an all consuming task if you are like me. I jumped into it and now I am exhausted. At this point, I must set the keyboard down and get back to photo restorations.
It's just as well because the summer is usually a slow time for photo restorations anyway.
Let's talk more about airbrushing photos. This is just another way for going to the first soft brush in the upper left hand corner (it is round with soft edges that fade out) and picking up a little color using the eyedropper tool. Think of an actual airbrush...you load paint into it and it sprays out of the "pen" making a nice way to smooth out things using sprays of paint. In Photo Shop you need to be aware of how this artist's tool works.
Be sure you are using the eye dropper on every part of the item you are airbrushing. If you notice the color box on the left hand side of the screen, you will see that there are different colors all over the picture based upon shadows and highlights. It is easier to see when you run the eyedropper brush over different parts of the picture. You have selected a brush and size, but you still need to look at hardness, opacity and flow.
Hardness is right under the brush when you use the drop down arrow. This along with the opacity and flow are infinite choices you get to make. Don't skimp here. Take the time and look at the difference with these along with size of the brush you selected. I am always trying out different settings until I get the look I want.
One of your best friends in Photo Shop is the History Panel....(window/history) Using this will allow you to go back. But, make sure you are saving your work along the way in different versions. Sometimes the history panel doesn't go back every single step you took and you are back to the beginning. Oh, Snap.
Long story short, the airbrush is a beautiful tool and allows you to make the softest makeup adjustments. (Don't be afraid here, my manly men friends.) Of course, the clone tool and the two healing brush tools are marvelous too. But, sometimes you just need that little bit of softness that only comes with a light application of "paint" using a soft air brush that Photo Shop provides. Like I have said before, it is easy to overdo. Be very aware of what the subject looked like before and after the restoration and make sure that their mother would still recognize them. This will keep you from having your friends call your restorations "scary". People should not be shocked when they see their restoration. They should be happy and not really know why or how you did it. That is retouching done right.
Thanks for reading my blog.
See you next week ...
Renee :-)
Thanks to those of you who think I jumped the shark on my recent SEO quest and have stayed with me for more actual Photo Restoration Hints. More will follow after I jump the shark one more time...
Good news, my rating went way up (check your own site on freegrader.com). This little gem of a website shows you how you rate on the internet from 1-100 for all the things that Google's little algorithms look for and then tells you what you need to do to fix it. I started with a 6 and got it to 68. I think I have to sell my literal soul at this point to get it higher because I have tried everything to get it higher without result. It has been an interesting ride learning about claiming your business name on directories out there and how to avoid paying for listings (yp.com has a really nice introductory listing service). The biggest thing out there seemed to be getting a "landing page" with a free offer or a survey to get you to interact on your site. The closest think I have to that is a "ready to go" button. It is really an all consuming task if you are like me. I jumped into it and now I am exhausted. At this point, I must set the keyboard down and get back to photo restorations.
It's just as well because the summer is usually a slow time for photo restorations anyway.
Let's talk more about airbrushing photos. This is just another way for going to the first soft brush in the upper left hand corner (it is round with soft edges that fade out) and picking up a little color using the eyedropper tool. Think of an actual airbrush...you load paint into it and it sprays out of the "pen" making a nice way to smooth out things using sprays of paint. In Photo Shop you need to be aware of how this artist's tool works.
Be sure you are using the eye dropper on every part of the item you are airbrushing. If you notice the color box on the left hand side of the screen, you will see that there are different colors all over the picture based upon shadows and highlights. It is easier to see when you run the eyedropper brush over different parts of the picture. You have selected a brush and size, but you still need to look at hardness, opacity and flow.
Hardness is right under the brush when you use the drop down arrow. This along with the opacity and flow are infinite choices you get to make. Don't skimp here. Take the time and look at the difference with these along with size of the brush you selected. I am always trying out different settings until I get the look I want.
One of your best friends in Photo Shop is the History Panel....(window/history) Using this will allow you to go back. But, make sure you are saving your work along the way in different versions. Sometimes the history panel doesn't go back every single step you took and you are back to the beginning. Oh, Snap.
Long story short, the airbrush is a beautiful tool and allows you to make the softest makeup adjustments. (Don't be afraid here, my manly men friends.) Of course, the clone tool and the two healing brush tools are marvelous too. But, sometimes you just need that little bit of softness that only comes with a light application of "paint" using a soft air brush that Photo Shop provides. Like I have said before, it is easy to overdo. Be very aware of what the subject looked like before and after the restoration and make sure that their mother would still recognize them. This will keep you from having your friends call your restorations "scary". People should not be shocked when they see their restoration. They should be happy and not really know why or how you did it. That is retouching done right.
Thanks for reading my blog.
See you next week ...
Renee :-)
Friday, July 25, 2014
ASCII...Just a little more nerdiness for any of you who are interested in it...
This is an extra post...don't worry, I am not going to go too much nerdier than this on my blog. Regular Blog for PhotoShop Restoration Hints posts this weekend. Thanks...
Well, well, well, I am going to show what an old hack I am here...but I thought some of you might like to know about ASCII...pronounced "asskee" from the American Standard Code for Information Interchange....
It's just a little history that you might enjoy knowing if you don't know already.
Well, well, well, I am going to show what an old hack I am here...but I thought some of you might like to know about ASCII...pronounced "asskee" from the American Standard Code for Information Interchange....
It's just a little history that you might enjoy knowing if you don't know already.
ASCII - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has most of the historical information on it on this link.
So, the Wikipedia Link above goes into a lot of information about why it was needed back in the day. BUT, the two things I find it helpful for still is with the accent mark on my name on an email or a copyright sign on my website.
© Hold down the alt key and type in 0169 at the same time and you get this © copyright character.
é Hold down the alt key and type 0233 at the same time and you get the accent mark over the e.
There are tons of these...you need to know this less and less as the internet becomes more WYSIWYG....what you see is what you get....pronounced "wizzy wig"
See if there is a cool character that you need for your name or something else and have fun here...
http://ascii.cl/htmlcodes.htm
This blog is brought to you by a nerd who just doesn't want the world to forget the simple beginnings of HTML...(hypertext markup language)...and what the geniuses who have come along have added to it and tweaked it to keep it evolving as the way we talk to each other on the world wide web. The internet is soooo coool.
Thanks for reading my little extra snippet blog today. More on Sunday with my regular blog of Restoration Tips.
Renée L. Theuer
www.rltphotoartist.com
www.photorestoration4u.com
renée@rltphotoartist.com
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Riverside The City of Arts and Innovation. Are You New in Town?
Riverside The City of Arts and Innovation
Hi,
Just wanted to talk about my new website and especially my page dedicated to all of those of you who are looking for how to connect in the arts community in Riverside. The Arts Walk is such a great place to start and I have included helpful links for recreation, a great coffee bistro, museums, famous landmarks in Riverside, and how to enter your art into various shows in the city. There are lots more things to add but I started here just to whet your appetite.
If you are new in Riverside and need city services, call 311. If you need social services of any kind including the suicide hotline and other types of social services help, call 211 in Riverside and you will be right at Connect Riverside--your source for lots of help in Riverside. They have helped me too! I recommend them. Tell you friends and anyone you think might need their help. Their website is also on my links.
A special shout out to Martin Tobias, one of Riverside's Favorite Artists! His website is www.tobiasstudios.com and he has some great stuff. As always, I am a big fan of Jim Barta and his links are on my City of Arts and Innovation page as well.
Need a haircut in a friendly place? Go see the people at Shear Antics. Need shoes or a purse or a belt cut to a new size, go see Carlos at Tom's Shoe Repair in the Brockton Arcade. Carlos can fix anything!
So that's it for now. I can't tell you how many people came into my store and asked me about the happenings in Riverside. I always gave them these links to help them feel more connected. Many of the people were long time residents who had no idea of the resources we have in our little city.
Please take a look at my fresh new redesigned website at www.photorestoration4u
Thanks again for reading my blog...and for those of you who do not live here, thanks for bearing with me while I boast about our wonderful arts community here.
Have a happy week!
Renee :-)
Hi,
Just wanted to talk about my new website and especially my page dedicated to all of those of you who are looking for how to connect in the arts community in Riverside. The Arts Walk is such a great place to start and I have included helpful links for recreation, a great coffee bistro, museums, famous landmarks in Riverside, and how to enter your art into various shows in the city. There are lots more things to add but I started here just to whet your appetite.
If you are new in Riverside and need city services, call 311. If you need social services of any kind including the suicide hotline and other types of social services help, call 211 in Riverside and you will be right at Connect Riverside--your source for lots of help in Riverside. They have helped me too! I recommend them. Tell you friends and anyone you think might need their help. Their website is also on my links.
A special shout out to Martin Tobias, one of Riverside's Favorite Artists! His website is www.tobiasstudios.com and he has some great stuff. As always, I am a big fan of Jim Barta and his links are on my City of Arts and Innovation page as well.
Need a haircut in a friendly place? Go see the people at Shear Antics. Need shoes or a purse or a belt cut to a new size, go see Carlos at Tom's Shoe Repair in the Brockton Arcade. Carlos can fix anything!
So that's it for now. I can't tell you how many people came into my store and asked me about the happenings in Riverside. I always gave them these links to help them feel more connected. Many of the people were long time residents who had no idea of the resources we have in our little city.
Please take a look at my fresh new redesigned website at www.photorestoration4u
Thanks again for reading my blog...and for those of you who do not live here, thanks for bearing with me while I boast about our wonderful arts community here.
Have a happy week!
Renee :-)
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Adobe Photo Shop and other Photo Restoration Programs- Photo Restoration Hints Twenty
Hi,
I wanted to spend a little time talking about Adobe Photo Shop Software today and other software programs that you can get for free on the internet.
There are a LOT of similarities out there between programs. Many of the free programs that you can get with an Google search work great. I advise that you try a few of them before investing a LOT of money in the Photo Shop Suite of Programs. Yes, they have broken it down to make more money. And they have gone to a monthly subscription fee which seems horrible at first. (More later on subscriptions to Adobe)
The thing that I always tell people who sit with me for a while to learn the basic navigation of a photo restoration on Photo Shop is to pay attention only to the tabs at the top of the software. As you compare different software out there, you will start to see the similarities between programs. Concentrate on that and you will be less frustrated by the different interfaces. I have never been a "picture" or graphic user interface admirer. I like my instructions written out. You may be different. However, as I switch from program to program to help others out of a situation, I have seen several things common to all users of all photo enhancement programs.
1. Where are my pictures? OK...this sounds weird, I know but many people do not know where the program stores their pictures. How to get around this? Well, the first way to find out is to "file", "save as" and see where they are actually going. You could use the search function on your computer as well to see the directory and file they are in but if I have already lost you, this will not help. Or, you could pay really close attention to where the program says it is putting them when you install the program to your computer.
I am an old Microsoft Hack so I use the "this pc" folder to go into my directories. (Microsoft keeps taking away the ability to know how files and directories work in computers. (It is my opinion that Apple seems to not want you to worry about much of anything that goes on in the background so you will be happy, happy, happy and tell everyone how easy it is to use your computer. I know it is a Mac.)
But, all kidding aside, you really need to figure out for your own self how to navigate the folders that contain your pictures. Even if you have to use a CD or a flash drive. Just know where they are and how to save your work to the file YOU want them saved to. This is THE most common frustration I see when I help people--the photo restoration part is a piece of cake after this!
2. This is too hard...I will never learn how to do this! Well, actually, it just takes time. You have to be ready to spend a lot of fun time working on this very satisfying hobby. Also, you have to begin to see that your pictures could look better if you learned this. OK...to the purists out there....Great...I am delighted that you want to do this all the "natural" way without any enhancements. I am seriously impressed with your photographic skills and abilities to be able to do that with management of manual settings on your camera. Very cool. But most of the people I work with just want to know how to do a few things and start to see improvement right away. They don't want to spend hours learning new tricks and tips when they can barely navigate the software...(including knowing where their pictures went when they downloaded them.) Sticking to the top navigation bar and learning what the AUTOMATIC fixes are for your picture is a great way to start. It is ok to use the recommended settings....you don't have to be smarter than the software until you have to be for an adjustment that ONLY makes sense to you for artistic expression. So, try a few things and realize that there is usually a button on top or an arrow pointing backwards to allow you to go back to where you were. Worst case scenario, "file" usually has the "exit" button. Close the computer without saving the accidental mess you made of Aunt Wilma's picture. It's how you learn this.
3. I already have Adobe Photoshop. Take a look at what you have. If you got it free with your computer or bought it for around $100.00 at Costco, it is not the Suite. If you like using it, you don't need the Suite. If you get really good using it (usually has high version numbers like 10, 11, 12...etc.) then go for it until you find the need for more. If you spent the rest of your life using it and being comfortable with the results, you would be doing just great! Don't let your friends make you feel bad if you are not using the full expensive version of Photo Shop's Big Version Suite or subscribing to Adobe.com for the full version in order to keep up the best and latest. I like the subscription program now, although I did NOT when it first came out. I think they are eventually converting all of their products to this. I am such a techno geek that I just can't be happy unless I can discover the "new" thing that makes the older version look like last year's purse styles. I just lost the male readers...sorry.
In the meantime, Go and search google for 'free photo restoration programs' and have a ball. Remember points one and two and have a ball. Once you get past steps 1 and 2, you are on your way!!!!
Thanks again for reading my blog...
I wanted to spend a little time talking about Adobe Photo Shop Software today and other software programs that you can get for free on the internet.
There are a LOT of similarities out there between programs. Many of the free programs that you can get with an Google search work great. I advise that you try a few of them before investing a LOT of money in the Photo Shop Suite of Programs. Yes, they have broken it down to make more money. And they have gone to a monthly subscription fee which seems horrible at first. (More later on subscriptions to Adobe)
The thing that I always tell people who sit with me for a while to learn the basic navigation of a photo restoration on Photo Shop is to pay attention only to the tabs at the top of the software. As you compare different software out there, you will start to see the similarities between programs. Concentrate on that and you will be less frustrated by the different interfaces. I have never been a "picture" or graphic user interface admirer. I like my instructions written out. You may be different. However, as I switch from program to program to help others out of a situation, I have seen several things common to all users of all photo enhancement programs.
1. Where are my pictures? OK...this sounds weird, I know but many people do not know where the program stores their pictures. How to get around this? Well, the first way to find out is to "file", "save as" and see where they are actually going. You could use the search function on your computer as well to see the directory and file they are in but if I have already lost you, this will not help. Or, you could pay really close attention to where the program says it is putting them when you install the program to your computer.
I am an old Microsoft Hack so I use the "this pc" folder to go into my directories. (Microsoft keeps taking away the ability to know how files and directories work in computers. (It is my opinion that Apple seems to not want you to worry about much of anything that goes on in the background so you will be happy, happy, happy and tell everyone how easy it is to use your computer. I know it is a Mac.)
But, all kidding aside, you really need to figure out for your own self how to navigate the folders that contain your pictures. Even if you have to use a CD or a flash drive. Just know where they are and how to save your work to the file YOU want them saved to. This is THE most common frustration I see when I help people--the photo restoration part is a piece of cake after this!
2. This is too hard...I will never learn how to do this! Well, actually, it just takes time. You have to be ready to spend a lot of fun time working on this very satisfying hobby. Also, you have to begin to see that your pictures could look better if you learned this. OK...to the purists out there....Great...I am delighted that you want to do this all the "natural" way without any enhancements. I am seriously impressed with your photographic skills and abilities to be able to do that with management of manual settings on your camera. Very cool. But most of the people I work with just want to know how to do a few things and start to see improvement right away. They don't want to spend hours learning new tricks and tips when they can barely navigate the software...(including knowing where their pictures went when they downloaded them.) Sticking to the top navigation bar and learning what the AUTOMATIC fixes are for your picture is a great way to start. It is ok to use the recommended settings....you don't have to be smarter than the software until you have to be for an adjustment that ONLY makes sense to you for artistic expression. So, try a few things and realize that there is usually a button on top or an arrow pointing backwards to allow you to go back to where you were. Worst case scenario, "file" usually has the "exit" button. Close the computer without saving the accidental mess you made of Aunt Wilma's picture. It's how you learn this.
3. I already have Adobe Photoshop. Take a look at what you have. If you got it free with your computer or bought it for around $100.00 at Costco, it is not the Suite. If you like using it, you don't need the Suite. If you get really good using it (usually has high version numbers like 10, 11, 12...etc.) then go for it until you find the need for more. If you spent the rest of your life using it and being comfortable with the results, you would be doing just great! Don't let your friends make you feel bad if you are not using the full expensive version of Photo Shop's Big Version Suite or subscribing to Adobe.com for the full version in order to keep up the best and latest. I like the subscription program now, although I did NOT when it first came out. I think they are eventually converting all of their products to this. I am such a techno geek that I just can't be happy unless I can discover the "new" thing that makes the older version look like last year's purse styles. I just lost the male readers...sorry.
In the meantime, Go and search google for 'free photo restoration programs' and have a ball. Remember points one and two and have a ball. Once you get past steps 1 and 2, you are on your way!!!!
Thanks again for reading my blog...
Monday, July 7, 2014
Photo Restoration Hints Nineteen Basic Understanding of how Website Hosting Works
Hi...glad to have you back...
So I talked about SEO and went into a lot of crazy detail about directories and social media and lots of other things a few posts ago. All that was very helpful, I hope. I am still working on getting my site to show up on a natural search ahead of two businesses that are no longer around. I have been learning more and more about how smart Google's algorithms are in searching the internet. Also, found out that if you don't have your page up for a year, Google quits looking for it and so does every other search engine and directory.
Now, I am looking at how to get the page found again without spending any money because the client has NO BUDGET. That makes it tough. Go to Google Webmaster Tools and they will give you a bit of help and cross your fingers. My customer was on the internet for many years before this one year lapse (because he could not get into the Yahoo Business technical web hosting customer service line. I DO NOT recommend Yahoo Business because of their terrible wait times for technical service. Their techs are GREAT but if you have a life, you will not want to wait the hours it takes to get through.
Some advice follows:
There are 2 things you need to know before you get your own www.coolname.com
1. Purchase a domain name with a reputable web hosting service. I recommend GoDaddy.com You are renting that name for a specified period of time and it is registered to you so that all the servers in the world of the internet know how to find your site and match it up with the proper address when the name is typed into the browser.
2. Make sure that you also buy 'hosting' for that same period of time that you are renting your domain name. Hosting is important because that is where the server that "hosts" your specific site (written in HTML code) on their server in a specific public folder for the world to see. You then upload your website which consists of an index and index files to the space that they "rent" you on their server using an FTP (file transfer protocol) program like CuteFTP. The browser translates the code and puts everything together so that the code turns into a page with writing and pictures. Yipee...Magic.
Why do you need to know this? Well, if you decide to move your page and go to someone else to host it, make sure you have both the domain name and the hosting part covered. You have to transfer your domain name and it's a bit of a hassle depending upon who you work with. If you go and buy new hosting space with another company and forget to follow through with the transfer of your domain name, you could very easily have two hosting arrangements. This is a very expensive mistake to make. There are hosting companies out there that will let you do just that...pay them for hosting without having a domain name attached (another big hosting service) and they will tell you it is not their fault because you were supposed to follow through with them or the previous company (I have heard both) to get it transferred to the hosting server company.
It is very confusing to talk to some of the tech people out there because they assume you understand the basic workings of a website. If you can get this down, you will just have to figure out a few things like how long you want to "rent" the domain name and how long you want to"rent" the space on their server for you to upload your code to. Easy Peasy. Be aware that you can purchase "privacy" that keeps your personal address from showing up when someone searches "whois.com" More fun.
Also, I recommend that you look into their Search Engine Optimization tools and maybe their website software. Many of them have "website management consoles" that help you upload your page very easily without worrying about all the geek talk I bored you with earlier. All of this together can be your ticket to getting a site up quickly that has the possibility to be seen by the world.
I recommend GoDaddy.com because the technical people are knowledgeable and helpful. I hope that this information keeps you from making the mistake I just cleaned up for a customer that got taken big time.
Thanks for reading my blog. I am honored to have an audience for my ramblings. Best Regards,
Renee :-)
PS...Does anyone really believe that emails can be lost?
So I talked about SEO and went into a lot of crazy detail about directories and social media and lots of other things a few posts ago. All that was very helpful, I hope. I am still working on getting my site to show up on a natural search ahead of two businesses that are no longer around. I have been learning more and more about how smart Google's algorithms are in searching the internet. Also, found out that if you don't have your page up for a year, Google quits looking for it and so does every other search engine and directory.
Now, I am looking at how to get the page found again without spending any money because the client has NO BUDGET. That makes it tough. Go to Google Webmaster Tools and they will give you a bit of help and cross your fingers. My customer was on the internet for many years before this one year lapse (because he could not get into the Yahoo Business technical web hosting customer service line. I DO NOT recommend Yahoo Business because of their terrible wait times for technical service. Their techs are GREAT but if you have a life, you will not want to wait the hours it takes to get through.
Some advice follows:
There are 2 things you need to know before you get your own www.coolname.com
1. Purchase a domain name with a reputable web hosting service. I recommend GoDaddy.com You are renting that name for a specified period of time and it is registered to you so that all the servers in the world of the internet know how to find your site and match it up with the proper address when the name is typed into the browser.
2. Make sure that you also buy 'hosting' for that same period of time that you are renting your domain name. Hosting is important because that is where the server that "hosts" your specific site (written in HTML code) on their server in a specific public folder for the world to see. You then upload your website which consists of an index and index files to the space that they "rent" you on their server using an FTP (file transfer protocol) program like CuteFTP. The browser translates the code and puts everything together so that the code turns into a page with writing and pictures. Yipee...Magic.
Why do you need to know this? Well, if you decide to move your page and go to someone else to host it, make sure you have both the domain name and the hosting part covered. You have to transfer your domain name and it's a bit of a hassle depending upon who you work with. If you go and buy new hosting space with another company and forget to follow through with the transfer of your domain name, you could very easily have two hosting arrangements. This is a very expensive mistake to make. There are hosting companies out there that will let you do just that...pay them for hosting without having a domain name attached (another big hosting service) and they will tell you it is not their fault because you were supposed to follow through with them or the previous company (I have heard both) to get it transferred to the hosting server company.
It is very confusing to talk to some of the tech people out there because they assume you understand the basic workings of a website. If you can get this down, you will just have to figure out a few things like how long you want to "rent" the domain name and how long you want to"rent" the space on their server for you to upload your code to. Easy Peasy. Be aware that you can purchase "privacy" that keeps your personal address from showing up when someone searches "whois.com" More fun.
Also, I recommend that you look into their Search Engine Optimization tools and maybe their website software. Many of them have "website management consoles" that help you upload your page very easily without worrying about all the geek talk I bored you with earlier. All of this together can be your ticket to getting a site up quickly that has the possibility to be seen by the world.
I recommend GoDaddy.com because the technical people are knowledgeable and helpful. I hope that this information keeps you from making the mistake I just cleaned up for a customer that got taken big time.
Thanks for reading my blog. I am honored to have an audience for my ramblings. Best Regards,
Renee :-)
PS...Does anyone really believe that emails can be lost?
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Riverside The City of Arts and Innovation
Riverside The City of Arts and Innovation
I just added a page to my website for some of my favorite people, places and events in Riverside.
Check it out. You will see a great place to have your hair done, have a cup of coffee, have gorgeous
pictures of your children made, see a live show...and the list goes on.
Thank you for reading my blog today and enjoy my page full of great links for my home town.
Best Wishes,
Renee
I just added a page to my website for some of my favorite people, places and events in Riverside.
Check it out. You will see a great place to have your hair done, have a cup of coffee, have gorgeous
pictures of your children made, see a live show...and the list goes on.
Thank you for reading my blog today and enjoy my page full of great links for my home town.
Best Wishes,
Renee
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Let's Go!
Let's Go!
Here's my new page to help you get your picture to me. Naturally, the easiest way is if you have a picture on your computer already. You can just make it an email attachment to your email to me at renee@rltphotoartist.com.
If you have a neighbor that could scan it for you or a techie friend, that can work well too. They can email the picture to me as an attachment as well.
If you want to take it to Kinko's or Staples, they can scan it for you at 300 or 600 dpi (dots per inch) so I will have enough information to do a really good job for you.
If you want me to meet you at Kinko's or Staples and help you get it scanned and pick up the digital file (cd) from you right there, that is cool too. I can start as soon as I get home to my studio.
If you just want to mail it in the good old US mail, you can do that. Send it to P.O. Box 21119, Riverside CA 92516.
It's not hard...call me if you need me to pick it up from you in person or if you need to discuss any other ideas or needs.
Thanks for reading my blog and for visiting my page at www.photorestoration4u.com or rltphotoartist.com.
Have a wonderful internet day!
Here's my new page to help you get your picture to me. Naturally, the easiest way is if you have a picture on your computer already. You can just make it an email attachment to your email to me at renee@rltphotoartist.com.
If you have a neighbor that could scan it for you or a techie friend, that can work well too. They can email the picture to me as an attachment as well.
If you want to take it to Kinko's or Staples, they can scan it for you at 300 or 600 dpi (dots per inch) so I will have enough information to do a really good job for you.
If you want me to meet you at Kinko's or Staples and help you get it scanned and pick up the digital file (cd) from you right there, that is cool too. I can start as soon as I get home to my studio.
If you just want to mail it in the good old US mail, you can do that. Send it to P.O. Box 21119, Riverside CA 92516.
It's not hard...call me if you need me to pick it up from you in person or if you need to discuss any other ideas or needs.
Thanks for reading my blog and for visiting my page at www.photorestoration4u.com or rltphotoartist.com.
Have a wonderful internet day!
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Photo Restoration Hints Eighteen - What is your work worth ?
I just got a great question from a blog reader who asked me what is the difference between photo restoration work that CVS or Walmart does for $30.00 and what I can do to restore the same picture for $35.00. Here was my answer to her great question:
"Go and have something restored of yours by Walmart or CVS or Costco.
"Go and have something restored of yours by Walmart or CVS or Costco.
Examine it for yourself and take note of the printing resolution, color, paper used and quality with your own eyes.
Then do the same restoration yourself and print it using a quality photo printer and quality photo paper on the highest settings.
Make an honest comparison of the two results with a magnifying glass."
Then I added..."Experience will help you gain confidence in your own abilities.
I compete against myself and I am my toughest critic. "
I stopped there in the interest of brevity. No one really likes too much advice even if they ask for it. I couldn't let it go without adding more about printing.
There are hundreds, maybe thousands of people restoring photos...all over the world. It takes a lot of confidence to stand up and say that you are an excellent photo restorer when you spend a little time on the internet. I believe that you have to understand the importance of giving the customer an excellent restoration print as well. I believe I have an edge over many restorers because I have spent many years getting the printing part right using the best Epson printers, Epson ink and Epson paper and canvas. There really is a difference and unless you know that, you will never know how good your restoration will look or how long it will last!
I have a wonderful Epson 9890 professional printer that can print 8x10 or 44 x 96...
Using the best printer with matching ink and paper is the best way to go. Epson has printer settings for their paper and quality settings. Take time to see the results from different papers until you have a good idea of what is out there. Epson sells sample packs on Atlex.com and that is a great start. I have used other brands but I personally prefer Epson. You may not...just make sure you use all the matching inks and papers for your printer. I also know when to use textured papers and luster based on the subject matter or maybe even the complexion or other artifacts in the print. The more you experiment with paper, the better your results will be.
I truly believe that this knowledge through experimentation will cost you some ink and paper to get the expertise you need. Then, I really believe you will have much more confidence that you are giving the customer the best photo restoration you can possibly can. And if you believe the promises that Epson and others make...you will be giving them a photo that will last 50 plus years until it is restored again by a robot or nano bots...who knows? Maybe this will turn into the latest thing?
Coming soon....a review of a couple of programs that do most of the work for you on improving your photos. I think the nanobots are here now that I think about it. Digital Progress is FANTASTIC!
Coming soon....a review of a couple of programs that do most of the work for you on improving your photos. I think the nanobots are here now that I think about it. Digital Progress is FANTASTIC!
Thanks for reading my blog.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Google Ad Sense...Does it make sense? Photo Restoration Hints Seventeen
Ok...I had to know...is Google AdSense the way for me to increase my visibility on the internet?
So, I decided to go all the way and sign up with Google AdSense. You start with an analyst who helps you to put together an ad that will get attention based upon search terms (ad words) and then you decide on a budget. The budget has to be enough to compete with others who are bidding with you for that little piece of real estate to the right of the natural search results for the search term that gets entered. They have all kinds of information available and they help you craft the best ad. I have to say that they spend time trying to get to know what you do...including going to your website and taking a look. I agreed to a 10.00 a day budget or 300.00 a month. They give you a chance to bail out anytime with a pause button that you control.
Well, I agonized for ten days... Including the Memorial Day Holiday weekend ending it on Tuesday morning.
I had checked it constantly and never saw my ad once when I googled 'photo restoration'. My meager little $10.00 a day (300 per month billing cycle) didn't even look like it was enough to register an impression on the photo restoration searches that I did. Evidently, Costco and everybody else is spending waaaaay more than me...including lots of people from out of town and out of state.
So, does Google Adsense make sense for me as a very small business?
I have to admit that I had really high expectations based upon all the advertising that they do and the big pitch they give you on the phone when you call for information. I thought it was interesting that less than 50 people saw my ad in about 10 days AND not one person clicked on it. You don't get charged until they click...and you don't get a chance until they do. It was a really good learning experience for me...the disappointing and sad kind of experience. But that's information that you need to find out for yourself. This isn't for me.
Post Card Mailings or door handle hangers are looking pretty good to me about now.
Thanks for reading my blog....
Renee
So, I decided to go all the way and sign up with Google AdSense. You start with an analyst who helps you to put together an ad that will get attention based upon search terms (ad words) and then you decide on a budget. The budget has to be enough to compete with others who are bidding with you for that little piece of real estate to the right of the natural search results for the search term that gets entered. They have all kinds of information available and they help you craft the best ad. I have to say that they spend time trying to get to know what you do...including going to your website and taking a look. I agreed to a 10.00 a day budget or 300.00 a month. They give you a chance to bail out anytime with a pause button that you control.
Well, I agonized for ten days... Including the Memorial Day Holiday weekend ending it on Tuesday morning.
I had checked it constantly and never saw my ad once when I googled 'photo restoration'. My meager little $10.00 a day (300 per month billing cycle) didn't even look like it was enough to register an impression on the photo restoration searches that I did. Evidently, Costco and everybody else is spending waaaaay more than me...including lots of people from out of town and out of state.
So, does Google Adsense make sense for me as a very small business?
I have to admit that I had really high expectations based upon all the advertising that they do and the big pitch they give you on the phone when you call for information. I thought it was interesting that less than 50 people saw my ad in about 10 days AND not one person clicked on it. You don't get charged until they click...and you don't get a chance until they do. It was a really good learning experience for me...the disappointing and sad kind of experience. But that's information that you need to find out for yourself. This isn't for me.
Post Card Mailings or door handle hangers are looking pretty good to me about now.
Thanks for reading my blog....
Renee
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Seach Engine Optimization Photo Restoration Hints Part Sixteen
SEO--It's a fancy acronym for getting Google and other search engines to "see" your website. Optimizing used to be about linking up with as many other businesses as possible, do a blog, make sure your website is full of relative content for the web spiders to crawl over and join a few sites like Merchant Circle or Facebook. So, I decided to go really public on social media after reading a couple of dummies books on optimizing and social media.
But, I think I may have gone too far this weekend.
I hooked up with twitter, linkedIn (I quit ignoring it, that is) Facebook Fan Page, Google Plus, and Thumbtack, for heavens sake. So far, I have followers on Twitter and I don't know what I am supposed to do to keep them with me or how I can get thousands more to follow me anywhere....hahaha. I signed up with more helpful promotional sites but I forget now as I was clicking on anything that blinked late last night.
As you begin to click on the ads to "help", you can download "free" stuff and start getting lots of emails about how spending 49-100-to ? per month will help you optimize like nobody's been optimized before. I have been on the internet a long time and have a good "name" if you search me by name. But my name needs to come up higher in the natural search results under a photo restoration search. Not to mention the fact that a couple of businesses that do not exist any longer are still showing up in the photo restoration search before my own results do under photo restoration.
But, what I really learned is that if you look to the second or third pages of your search, you will see more search sites that you can individually add your own website to. And...for about 35.00 a year, Godaddy will put you into a bunch of sites automatically including Yellow Pages! I like the way Godaddy does this. Their website for their web hosting customers is much simpler to use now. In case you have not been there lately, they have redesigned their landing page from the complete hot mess it used to be with confusing products all screaming for your attention to a real workable format that explains your options and allows you to manage without human help. It's a good thing, too because their wait times have increased a lot and the rep I spoke to today gave me the impression that I was ignorant when I asked if they offered any free services with my new website order. I logged in and found some nice extras included. Imagine that!
Thanks for reading my blog....
But, what I really learned is that if you look to the second or third pages of your search, you will see more search sites that you can individually add your own website to. And...for about 35.00 a year, Godaddy will put you into a bunch of sites automatically including Yellow Pages! I like the way Godaddy does this. Their website for their web hosting customers is much simpler to use now. In case you have not been there lately, they have redesigned their landing page from the complete hot mess it used to be with confusing products all screaming for your attention to a real workable format that explains your options and allows you to manage without human help. It's a good thing, too because their wait times have increased a lot and the rep I spoke to today gave me the impression that I was ignorant when I asked if they offered any free services with my new website order. I logged in and found some nice extras included. Imagine that!
Thanks for reading my blog....
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Sometimes you have to walk away...Photo Restoration Hints Fifteen
I have a really hard time calling it quits. But sometimes it has to be done.
Night before last I realized that I had gotten myself into an impossible situation. There have only been a few times I have dug myself into this particular hole. But...it sneaks up on you softly and before you realize it, you have done it.
It started out easy enough...the customer gives you a photocopy of a badly damaged photo. You see the folds across their faces and hear that it is the only picture of her mom and dad on their wedding day. It needs to be colorized and you are just confident enough to promise that miracle that they need.
So, you get a little deposit...she doesn't have half so you take half of what you normally would and you get started right away. Fire engine red hair, she says again and again. Blue eyes on mom...brown on dad...and a few other hints...so you put about 4 hours into it and it looks great...
But it isn't great. It isn't fire engine red...she meant auburn...but not dark auburn like the black hair in the black and white photo but less red and...now you have entered the no win zone. Try as you might, it just isn't the right shade....just not close enough. You make three more tries and finally it hits you...you have waaaay too much time in this one and it is never going to be right. It hit me when I saw 10 versions of the picture in the working file. Oooops...you did it again and now you gotta call it quits or you will spend more time losing the confidence of the customer and stuck in the lack of perfection that is a colorized photo restoration. What to do?
I have a funny thing about Karma. At this point I make the customer the best 8 x 10 photo that I can and give them their money back. Oh yes I do. I am the one that got their hopes up...I took their time and promised something that I was not able to deliver. In my mind, it is not the customer's fault. It is my fault that I did not set up the right expectations from the beginning.
Here is what I should have said..
Colorizing really old black and white photos is not an exact science yet, although some day it probably will be. I should have told her that I would do my best to capture the essence of colors,with pastels that mimic how photo artists did their job with colored inks many years ago. Some photo restorers today take the colors all the way up to look like the photo is modern, like it was taken yesterday. But I prefer to mimic the old colorization techniques along with less color saturation when the picture calls for that to look like it is really old. I don't want to take away from the picture by having people marvel at the technique rather than admiring the person in the photo fitting in with the time and place.
Be gracious and let some other professional take a crack at it. There are many photo restorers out there....see previous blogs :-). Then, write a blog about the subject so that others who want to restore photos have an idea of this and can avoid getting themselves into this situation.
Thank you for reading my blog. See you next week.
-------Follow Up to my previous blog!------
A couple of days after I called it quits, I got a note from the customer (after she cashed my refund check to her) begging me to give her 2 more free copies of the very first proof....she said she will try to pay me some day. No, I can't make this stuff up.
Night before last I realized that I had gotten myself into an impossible situation. There have only been a few times I have dug myself into this particular hole. But...it sneaks up on you softly and before you realize it, you have done it.
It started out easy enough...the customer gives you a photocopy of a badly damaged photo. You see the folds across their faces and hear that it is the only picture of her mom and dad on their wedding day. It needs to be colorized and you are just confident enough to promise that miracle that they need.
So, you get a little deposit...she doesn't have half so you take half of what you normally would and you get started right away. Fire engine red hair, she says again and again. Blue eyes on mom...brown on dad...and a few other hints...so you put about 4 hours into it and it looks great...
But it isn't great. It isn't fire engine red...she meant auburn...but not dark auburn like the black hair in the black and white photo but less red and...now you have entered the no win zone. Try as you might, it just isn't the right shade....just not close enough. You make three more tries and finally it hits you...you have waaaay too much time in this one and it is never going to be right. It hit me when I saw 10 versions of the picture in the working file. Oooops...you did it again and now you gotta call it quits or you will spend more time losing the confidence of the customer and stuck in the lack of perfection that is a colorized photo restoration. What to do?
I have a funny thing about Karma. At this point I make the customer the best 8 x 10 photo that I can and give them their money back. Oh yes I do. I am the one that got their hopes up...I took their time and promised something that I was not able to deliver. In my mind, it is not the customer's fault. It is my fault that I did not set up the right expectations from the beginning.
Here is what I should have said..
Colorizing really old black and white photos is not an exact science yet, although some day it probably will be. I should have told her that I would do my best to capture the essence of colors,with pastels that mimic how photo artists did their job with colored inks many years ago. Some photo restorers today take the colors all the way up to look like the photo is modern, like it was taken yesterday. But I prefer to mimic the old colorization techniques along with less color saturation when the picture calls for that to look like it is really old. I don't want to take away from the picture by having people marvel at the technique rather than admiring the person in the photo fitting in with the time and place.
Be gracious and let some other professional take a crack at it. There are many photo restorers out there....see previous blogs :-). Then, write a blog about the subject so that others who want to restore photos have an idea of this and can avoid getting themselves into this situation.
Thank you for reading my blog. See you next week.
-------Follow Up to my previous blog!------
A couple of days after I called it quits, I got a note from the customer (after she cashed my refund check to her) begging me to give her 2 more free copies of the very first proof....she said she will try to pay me some day. No, I can't make this stuff up.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Scotch Tape Baby! ... Photo Restoration Hints Fourteen
I LOVE RESTORING TAPED PHOTOS!!!!
For the life of me, I can't tell if the bear rug covered this baby's arm or if he was born with a hoof...just kidding, I met the man once and he had two nice hands.
My sweet customer actually just said copy it and cut it just below the fingers of the right hand to make an 8x10 out of it. I begged her to let me put the other arm on. (See previous Hints 2 blog from March 2, 2014 about cutting out the good eye and reversing it and making it different by lengthening or shortening it before placing the picture.)
Then "rasterize" the picture and begin erasing the parts of the layer that you don't need. Use the clone tool to get it to look right. Paint in color using a very thin layer of color (adjustments to flow and size of brush) and there you go. I am using Photoshop CS6 that I purchase monthly online to make sure I always have the most current copy.
The ones that I get to take out scotch tape are my favorite ones. But add to it the fact that he also needed a new arm and you've really got a fun, fun project. Hope that this inspires you to try doing this yourself. Remember to clone out the tape using light layers and cloning from all areas of the baby. You don't want history repeating itself in clone patterns all over the baby. Use the air brush with a thin layer of paint and change the color of the paint by pointing to different areas of the baby for best results.
Don't forget, you can always use the dodge and burn tool. The burn tool can be dialed in to make the lines like those that the original artist painted. Yes...these old color pictures were ALL painted using the skills of photo artists with paints and brushes to make the color. These were all black and white that mellowed into a lovely sepia brown over time. Take a close look with a magnifying glass next time you get one and share with the customer.
And, for all you mask users, go for it. I really don't like masks because I have not mastered them. Maybe I will in time, but so far, I am happy with cloning, painting and fussing with the pixels by greatly increasing the size of the picture.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Renee :-)
For the life of me, I can't tell if the bear rug covered this baby's arm or if he was born with a hoof...just kidding, I met the man once and he had two nice hands.
My sweet customer actually just said copy it and cut it just below the fingers of the right hand to make an 8x10 out of it. I begged her to let me put the other arm on. (See previous Hints 2 blog from March 2, 2014 about cutting out the good eye and reversing it and making it different by lengthening or shortening it before placing the picture.)
Then "rasterize" the picture and begin erasing the parts of the layer that you don't need. Use the clone tool to get it to look right. Paint in color using a very thin layer of color (adjustments to flow and size of brush) and there you go. I am using Photoshop CS6 that I purchase monthly online to make sure I always have the most current copy.
The ones that I get to take out scotch tape are my favorite ones. But add to it the fact that he also needed a new arm and you've really got a fun, fun project. Hope that this inspires you to try doing this yourself. Remember to clone out the tape using light layers and cloning from all areas of the baby. You don't want history repeating itself in clone patterns all over the baby. Use the air brush with a thin layer of paint and change the color of the paint by pointing to different areas of the baby for best results.
Don't forget, you can always use the dodge and burn tool. The burn tool can be dialed in to make the lines like those that the original artist painted. Yes...these old color pictures were ALL painted using the skills of photo artists with paints and brushes to make the color. These were all black and white that mellowed into a lovely sepia brown over time. Take a close look with a magnifying glass next time you get one and share with the customer.
And, for all you mask users, go for it. I really don't like masks because I have not mastered them. Maybe I will in time, but so far, I am happy with cloning, painting and fussing with the pixels by greatly increasing the size of the picture.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Renee :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)