Need some Photoshop help...

[Barrie]

I found these great photo frames (http://www.squidoo.com/WDWPhotos/#module1995296) on the DIS boards that I linked to my website. I think they are really cute and I want to make some myself but I'll be darned if I can figure out how to do it easily. I am hoping someone here might be able to help. Hmm... I wonder who? :confused:

I have both photoshop and photoshop elements but am just learning how to use them. If I just had a step by step guide it would be so helpful. Is there anyone that can help me or maybe direct me to a good tutorial?

Thanks so much - Barrie

[Frogman]

Barrie if you send me a base photo and a general idea of what you want I will make one for you. As I make it I will document the steps I took in photoshop. That way you can recreate them for yourself. :yes:

[MissBianca]

Wow, those are really nice! Very inspiring!

My suggestion for you to play with while Brian gets that done (he'll probably finish by the time I'm done typing this :lol:) is to play around with "layer styles" (very simple) in Elements or "styles" in Photoshop (very controllable). That is how the artist is getting the 3D looks.

I'm sure I'll learn a lot from Brian's example myself :)

[Barrie]

You're a prince! How about this one?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/363802764_1775afcd91.jpg

What I want to know is

how to put a frame around it with the inside transparent so that anyone can put their own photo in it
how to move that transparent part (centered or off to one side or the other)
how to add a custom shape, another photo and/or clipart that hangs over the transparent part
how to add textAny kind of frame you come up with that has those things would be great! I've worked with PhotoDraw, an old microsoft program, and could do this in my sleep with that program but photoshop baffles me! I will be forever indebted to you!

Miss B - after I make dinner I'll play around with syles. Thanks for the tip.

[Sheryl]

Barrie, what a beautiful picture!! Brian is a real wiz at this stuff, I am sure he'll come up with something spectacular.

[Ursulinda]

That is a GLORIOUS photo!

[MissBianca]

What I want to know is
how to put a frame around it with the inside transparent so that anyone can put their own photo in it
how to move that transparent part (centered or off to one side or the other)
how to add a custom shape, another photo and/or clipart that hangs over the transparent part
how to add text
What a beautiful photo! I love your site :D

I didn't realize you needed such basic stuff! It is hard sometimes to transition between drawing programs. Sometimes I even miss the one I used most at work--MS PowerPoint. :lol:

1. Transparency is a matter of the file's background color and the format it is saved in.
2. Everything in these programs is on its own layer. Layers are very, very very powerful and will allow you to move everything you want.
3a. There are custom shape tools in both of these programs. Shapes are made on their own layers and can be moved around. In Elements, shapes can also be used to make cutouts and moved around too--very simple. I'm sure there's something in Photoshop that does this too...I'm sure I'll figure it out one day ;)
3b. In both of these tools, you have to open the file that you want to add to your creation, select all, copy, and then paste into your main file. It will then be on its own layer and you can move it around all you like.
4. Text is easy to do; complicated to explain. I'm sure Frogman will do much better than I could. However, it is basically identical between Photoshop and Elements unless you want to do really fancy stuff.

[Moley]

I can't help you with the Photoshop experience, but I wanted to say that photo is extraordinary. Breathtaking! :yes:

[Frogman]

Barrie do you have that photo bigger? Higher resolution always helps make the final product a little fancier. :yes:

If so I can PM you my email, if not I can make that work. :D

[ChrisR]

Hey Brian,

When you are done, could you post your tutorial here as well. It will save me the cost of a plane ticket to come work on your house in exchange for lesssons. :wink:

[Frogman]

Yes I will post it here. :yes:

[Barrie]

Barrie do you have that photo bigger? Higher resolution always helps make the final product a little fancier. :yes:

If so I can PM you my email, if not I can make that work. :D

Oh yeah - send your email and I'll send it to you.

[Barrie]

Thanks everyone for the comments on the photo. I took that when I was there in December for MouseFest. And thanks Miss B - I'm glad you like my site. I just won an award for it this week - People's Choice, too cool!

I feel silly that I can't figure out this photoshop stuff though. I'm actually not that bad of a layout person. This is a poster I designed (I didn't take the photo though) in InDesign...

http://barrie.phanfare.com/show/external/68466/68466/6585107/file.jpg

But for the life of me I can't wrap my head around Photoshop. I looked all over the internet for a tutorial to do this and couldn't find one. Brian and MissB - you have no idea how much I appreciate your help. Another reason to love the Tagrel boards!

[MissBianca]

Excellent poster; I knew you were good at layout, I've seen your photographs and you have a great eye. I don't know InDesign, so maybe we can trade tips?

[Barrie]

Excellent poster; I knew you were good at layout, I've seen your photographs and you have a great eye. I don't know InDesign, so maybe we can trade tips?

Aw shucks! :oops: I'd be happy to trade tips. I'm no expert at it but I can figure most stuff out. It's a pretty cool program. In fact, I could probably make the frames in it but it doesn't save in gif format so I don't think the transparencies would work. For fine tuned layout though, it's tops.

[Frogman]

The photo arrived. It is even nicer full size. I will probably work on the tutorial this weekend. :yes:

[Collette]

I'm just in awe of all of you!!! Barrie, MissB, Brian. I marvel at your creative gifts. Thanks for sharing this with all of us!

The castle photo is so perfect. And I'm glad the "decorations" are gone. For me there is so much beauty in simplicity.

Collette

[FLSharon]

Thanks everyone for the comments on the photo. I took that when I was there in December for MouseFest. And thanks Miss B - I'm glad you like my site. I just won an award for it this week - People's Choice, too cool!

I feel silly that I can't figure out this photoshop stuff though. I'm actually not that bad of a layout person. This is a poster I designed (I didn't take the photo though) in InDesign...

http://barrie.phanfare.com/show/external/68466/68466/6585107/file.jpg

But for the life of me I can't wrap my head around Photoshop. I looked all over the internet for a tutorial to do this and couldn't find one. Brian and MissB - you have no idea how much I appreciate your help. Another reason to love the Tagrel boards!

Wow, great poster.. I like the layout AND the content.

[Daddio]

Hi Barrie,

Do you have the frames available in a higher res, or would they be available in the original .psd format?

David

[Barrie]

Thanks Collette and Sharon!

Hi Daddio - how've you been? I will make the ones that I create available in high res so they can be printed. That's kind of why I want to learn to do it. The ones that are posted on the site now are only available low res - good for the computer screen but not so good when printed.

[Barrie]

Oh - if anyone wants a full size copy of that poster they are free for the asking. Just send an email to ocdd@ocdd.org or call 503-945-9941. Schools love them.

[Frogman]

Barrie the Tutorial is ready! :yahoo:

First off thanks for sending the large photograph to me. It was so much easier to work with a large file, not to mention a picture with such nice contrast. Tools pick up on color changes and so forth much easier with nice pictures. This isn't supposed to be super fancy, I just put something together for the tutorial. I am sure you will come up with something more inspired. I am not sure what you know and don't know with photoshop. If I gave too little information somewhere just let me know. Oh and by the way, this is only the second thing I have ever done in Photoshop so I was learning too. Yep that's right, I offered to do a tutorial for a program I had only used once. Hey that counts as having experience right? :lol:

The first step was loading the picture you sent into Photoshop.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g67/Frogman1983/Startphoto.jpg

The photograph was about 94% perfect so I just worked on basic touch ups. I removed what little of Tink's wire we could see by copying some black sky and pasting it on top of the wire. Then I noticed the top of the castle was cut off. I simply used the lasso tool to copy another part of the castle. I then pasted it in place and corrected the size. Now the castle is perfect!

The next step was to create more "dead" space. It is perfect the way it is for a photo but I needed to make more blank areas for text and the transparent area for the inserted photograph. I did this by using the rectangle marquee tool and copying a section of sky. Then I just grabbed the arrow tool and pulled the squares on the corners until I had as much sky as I wanted. It wouldn't be so easy in some photographs but this sky is jet black and you can't see stretch marks.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g67/Frogman1983/tutorial1.jpg

This photograph was so nice that I wanted to make it as much of a focus point as the photo that is to be inserted. I did this by keeping the castle large and having it over hang the transparent area. Also you asked how to overhang something and this would allow me to show you. I wasn't about to chop off some of that gorgeous castle! :lol:

I copied only the section of the castle that would overhang the opening and pasted it on another layer. This was done with the lasso tool and CTRL + C and CTRL + V. Next I grabbed the magic wand tool and selected the sky. You might have to change the tolerance (found on the top of the screen) to grab the right section of sky. After it was selected I hit delete. Now you have two pieces of the castle that look exactly the same (but one doesn't have sky). On the smaller piece of castle I used a drop shadow to create a 3D effect. You access this feature (and so many others I use) by hitting the f that is second from the left on the bottom in this picture.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g67/Frogman1983/tutorial2.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g67/Frogman1983/tutorial3-1.jpg

I selected drop shadow and changed the shadow to point up and left (default is down and right). Now the castle appears to float on top of whatever picture you insert because of the shadow. :yes:

It is time to cut out a hole in the sky to make a transparent area for the photo now. Just select the layer with the sky and then with the rectangle selection tool copy whatever area you want to remove. After it is selected you will have a hole in the sky. The whole is automatically transparent. It will stay that way if saved in any of the transparent accepting formats.

Now we need to create a beveled edge so that the cut out looks 3D. Simply select the layer you just cut a hole in, go to the same tool box you made a drop shadow with (its on the layer box), and hit bevel. Now play with the bevel sliders until you find a style you like. Normally you will see a bevel of some sort on all 4 edges. Because this is black and shadows can't appear you only notice on two. This will cause the castle edges to bevel as well but we already created a second castle to drop shadow so it will be hidden under that one.

I was tempted to slap a tinkerbell on the frame at this point but I thought that would be a little cheesy and cliché, and besides that her dress doesn't match your photo. :lol: I decided to dress up the frame instead with simple text.

Now hit the T on the tool bar to activate Text.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g67/Frogman1983/tutorial3.jpg http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g67/Frogman1983/text.jpg

Just click anywhere on the screen and type what you want it to say. The options to change the text size and font are now on the top of the screen. There is also Text toolbox floating around. Here you can change text to be bold, italic, or another color. I chose blue to match the castle as I thought red would overpower the photo. I then used that f button on the layer box to add a bevel, outline, and drop shadow. That is what makes it appear 3D. I just love those effects.

I kept adding text, including one of Walt's quotes, until I was happy that it was balanced. I was pretty much done but I decided to learn something new while I was at it (as I had done all this before). I googled sparkle brush and found this site:

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/tutorials/ps_sparkletrail.shtml

I used it to create some "magic" behind the quote. Here is a zoomed in version to show the detail. I made sure to add a black outline to the quote so that it remained easy to read. You can also see my faked castle tower.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g67/Frogman1983/finished.jpg

Now you just put in whatever photo you want as the back layer and viola a frame! Just let me know if you have any questions. This only took me about 45 minutes but I was taking pictures for the tutorial at the same time and watching TV. And I have dialup so it is slow to upload. :lol: I bet you could do one of these in 10 minutes with practice.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g67/Frogman1983/fp.jpg

Barrie if you want the actual photoshop file let me know. :yes:

[Moley]

Wow, Frogman, that is beautifully done. It is interesting to see the various steps, too. Thank you!

[MissBianca]

Good stuff Brian.

I did an example, too, just because I could. :lol: Of course, being the cheesy and cliché person that I am, I put Tinker Bell in it. :razz:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b78/snowleopard55/TagrelStuff/mvmcpframe.jpg

Just one comment on your Tutorial:

It is time to cut out a hole in the sky to make a transparent area for the photo now. Just select the layer with the sky and then with the rectangle selection tool copy whatever area you want to remove. After it is selected you will have a hole in the sky. The whole is automatically transparent. It will stay that way if saved in any of the transparent accepting formats.
Sometimes you need to promote the Background to a Layer to have the hole be transparent (this is true if there is a default background color rather than transparency). To do this, right click on the Background Layer in the Layers palette.

[Moley]

Hey, I like that picture, too! I'm in it! :lol:

[Barrie]

Oh my gosh - That is so beautiful Brian! I thought you were going to put a frame around the photo that I sent. I did not even imagine it as the frame and I love it! I'm so thrilled - it's way better than I had hoped for.

And I can't believe you haven't used the program before. Of course that is the best way to learn something - by teaching it to someone else.

Yes please, I would love the photoshop file. And you should definately make yourself a print, it's such a nice photo of you and Margaret. I can't wait to go through the steps and try one of my own.

How smart it was to copy the tip of the castle from one of the other sections. I hated that it was cut off.

MissB - I love the cheesy addition of Tink too. Can you tell how you did that and how you added the drop shadow to her? (nevermind - just read it in Brian's notes)

OK - now I'm off to try my hand at it. Thank you both again - I hope you had fun doing it. Especially since it must have taken up a bit of your weekend!

[Frogman]

Glad you liked it Barrie. I guess I got confused when I saw the link in the first post about what you wanted. Adding a frame around it would be so much easier! :lol:

I liked that photo for a frame, who doesn't have a MK shot to use in there? I also love how the castle just seems to pop right out in 3D. Great photo!

Now that the tutorial is complete I must say that I checked out your website and noticed that you said the DIS is the nicest board around. I am sure that was a typo or a vote that was miscounted due to hanging chads. Surely there is SOMEPLACE nicer or at least just as nice. ;)

I can't wait to see what you come up with. You have such nice photos and a great eye.

I will send the file from work tomorrow where I have DSL. My version is 22 MB but my email only lets me send 10 MB files. I will have to shrink it. :(

[Barrie]

Now that the tutorial is complete I must say that I checked out your website and noticed that you said the DIS is the nicest board around. I am sure that was a typo or a vote that was miscounted due to hanging chads. Surely there is SOMEPLACE nicer or at least just as nice. ;)

You know, I remember writing that but it was way before I found Tagrel. And let me just say, my recent experience is a bit different than my past experience with folks on the DIS boards (with a few definate exceptions, for sure). Enough said.

For the life of me though I cannot find where I made that statement. I'd like to update it a bit but I can't find it - can you point me in the right direction?

The folks here on Tagrel definately earn the title of "most friendly forum". I love hanging out here. Even though I don't post much I check in many times a day to keep up on what everyone else has to say.

I got the file you sent. Have had a busy day with no time to play but I'll post a frame here soon. Thanks again for all your help. Barrie

[ChrisR]

Thank you so much, Brian. I have photoshop elements, but I was able to adapt all of your directions save one. Changing the default on the drop shadow. After much searching, I am guessing that feature is not in elements. Never mind, it still comes out quite well. The photo of the castle is no where near as nice as Barrie's, but it will now inspire me to take a LOT more photos of the castle, lol.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l69/chrisr_01/castlefram1.jpg

[Frogman]

ChrisR that turned out great! You had it even harder because the sky isn't as forgiving as Barrie's photograph. Such an interesting angle of the castle in that photograph. I like how you turned a photograph with grey skies into something much more cheerful. The blue sky in the inserted photo really catchest the eye. I can't wait to see what you do next.

I am still amazed the tutorial worked that well. We should try something else. :lol:

[MissBianca]

Chris, you CAN change the default size of a drop shadow in Elements. Double click on the teen tiny symbol that shows you have applied a style to the layer. That will show what you can change (which isn't much, lol).

[Barrie]

Nice Chris! That looks terrific. Glad to hear it was easy too.

[ChrisR]

Thanks for the tip, Miss B! I was able to change the drop shadow.

[FLSharon]

Manoman, I've got my photoshop book ordered.. wish it'd get here...;) These are really cool..

[crsndsny]

Well, I was going to pipe in here (I teach Photoshop on the college level) and offer to help, but I see Frogman did an excellent job!

I will send the file from work tomorrow where I have DSL. My version is 22 MB but my email only lets me send 10 MB files. I will have to shrink it. :(
Is it 22MB flattened?

[Frogman]

crsndsny, no that wasn't flattened. Good advise though. I wanted to make it so that she could look at each peice if she wanted to see what effects were applied (and at what level).

Now that we know you are a pro I expect some tips. ;)

[crsndsny]

:p Whatever I could do to help! You really did do a great job with your instructional.

[Barrie]

:yahoo: I did it! I did it! I can hardly contain my excitement!!!

OK - This was my very first attempt so it's not that great but I'm posting it anyway because I'm thrilled. The Pluto photo is from the parade at Animal Kingdom. The flower background is the sod roof form Norway in Epcot. These were just the first 2 photos I grabbed - no planning - so the scale is off but oh well.

http://barrie.phanfare.com/show/external/209358/274267/12911420/file.jpg

Brian - or anyone - could you test it for me? Try inserting a photo and make sure I did everything right?

Go here to download the low res gif file: http://www.barrie.phanfare.com/album/209358/274267/12911420
Go here to download high res png file: http://www.barrie.phanfare.com/album/209358/274267/12911425

[MissBianca]

Woohoo, Barrie, it's GREAT!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

The scale doesn't look off to me at all. :confused:

[ChrisR]

Looks good to me, Barrie. Great job!:clap2:

[ChrisR]

I was at Michael's on thursday and saw a tinkerbell sticker that inspired me. Here is a tinkerbell photoframe. If anyone wishes to "steal"/use it, feel free.


http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l69/chrisr_01/tinkerbellframe.jpg

[MissBianca]

I should really scan some of my Disney stickers. It is really hard to find good clip art on the web. Particularly since our secret source wised up and the back door to the images without watermarks is gone.

Barrie, I looked a both versions of your card and they are perfect! On with the show!