Saturday, September 01, 2007

Photoshop

I bought myself a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements as a birthday present. I've been trying to figure out how to use it. The whole "layers" thing has me completely mystified. I think I'm going to have to go out and get one of those "For Dummies" books. I know there's probably all sorts of help available on the web, but I'm kinda old-school. I want to have a book in front of me while I try out what it's telling me to do. I don't want to bounce from window to window on my laptop, and I don't want to work from a print-out if I don't have to. I tend to lose print-outs, anyway.

Through trial and error I have managed to learn a little bit. That band-aid tool is great (Adobe calls it a Spot Healing Brush)--takes out blemishes on people's faces, scratch marks from old scanned-in pictures, probably all sorts of other things I haven't figured out yet. I'm also really partial to the filters, especially the watercolor one. Look what it did to a washed-out, bluish picture of my parents' dog:

Blue Pippin watercolor

Here's the original:

Blue Pippin

Cool, no? I think I may have to get that printed out (on fancy-schmancy paper, as if it were an actual watercolor) and present it to my Mom and Dad, framed. I suppose there is somewhere that I could do that. Kinkos, maybe?

I realize all this stuff isn't news to anyone who already uses this product, but I'm a newbie and I'm all agog.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you haven't already, check Pioneer Woman's site for her Photoshop tutorials.

She just updated her site, and it's supposed to have a search feature. I haven't tried it yet. I know she Photoshops just about everything she posts.

Amy B.

--V said...

Yeah, I know she does. That was part of what made me decide to go out and get myself a copy, seeing all the stuff she did with her pictures.

Anonymous said...

That layers thing has me completely baffled, too.

Reckless Sarcasm said...

Hello! How cute Pippin looks. :)
Uh oh... there goes the neighborhood.... I have a blog now too! :)

I'm Reckless Sarcasm...
fits, eh?

Talk to you soon!

~Dudannah