Clipping Mask Using Squijoo.

It seems there are some technical (possibly legal) technicalities with Squijoo at the moment, but many photographers have their templates saved and want to be able to use them.  I’m nervous about the site disappearing forever (it’s down right now) so I wanted to write a quick article about how to insert photos into the templates using the clipping mask!  You can read their article on it here, however right now all their images are down.

First, you  open the template, then using the move tool, drag and place the image directly over the picture mask layer.

PC Users: press Control+G (Photoshop CS and earlier) or Control+Alt+G (Photoshop CS2 and newer)

Mac Users: press Command+G (Photoshop CS and earlier) or Command+Option+G (Photoshop CS2 and newer).

The image will automatically clip and work perfectly in the template!

*Very important: Make sure that your photo is directly ONE layer on top of the layer named “picture mask”. The best way to do this is to first select the “picture mask” layer in your template >> then go to your photo and drag it into the template*.

-Christine
Duluth MN Portrait Photographer

Add A Person Into A Bubble – Photoshop Tutorial – Combine Two Photos Together

Adding A Person Into A Bubble – Combining Two Photos Together – Merging Two Photos – Photoshop Composite – Photoshop Tutorial

This is going to look long at a glance but it’s actually not hard to do at all.. it looks long because I took a screen shot of every move to help out beginners.. When I was trying to use Photoshop they would say “duplicate the layer”, assuming I knew how, and I didn’t.  So I prefer to be extra thorough :).

This is a tutorial on how to add two photos together.. in this one in particular, we’ll be adding a shot of me into a shot of a bubble.
This will be the final product:

These are the original images:

^That’s me BTW :).  Anyway, open both photos in Photoshop that you want to merge together.  Copy and paste the photo onto the other photo.. in this case I’m going to copy and paste the photo of me on top of the photo of the bubble.

^The photos are both from different cameras, and the bubble photo is smaller than the photo of me taking a picture (please ignore the lens cap :p I edited it out of the final edit!).  Anyway, so I need to make this file smaller.

^Back in the original file, I go to “Image” “Image size” and reduce the size of it and copy it again to bring over and paste.

^Now it is smaller but it’s too small.. this is easy to work with though…

^Select the marquee tool and click and drag it over the image

^Now it is selected..

^Right-click within the selection and select “free transform”

^Hold down the shift key which will retain the proportions of the image and click and drag the arrows to make the image bigger or smaller.

^Next, be sure that the top layer is clicked on, then click the little square towards the bottom of the layers palette (the layer mask tool) and click it.

^You now have a layer mask on your top layer!  This will allow you to add and subtract from the top layer via the paintbrush.  Select your paintbrush and be sure its color is set to black.

^Ensure your layer mask is clicked on and now you can paint on the image to make it disappear!

^The image after painting with the black paint brush.  But now I’ve removed too much of the image and need to bring some of it back..


^Turn your paintbrush white and paint wherever you’d like to bring the image back.

^Image after bringing back some of the image.. it still isn’t aligned perfectly because it’s hard to tell where the bubble is exactly.

^To gain the ability to see the bubble below it, reduce the opacity of the top layer.  The opacity determines how “see through” the top layer is.. by reducing the opacity we can see underneath it to better determine where the lines of the bubble are.

^At this point, you could be “done” if you wanted to be.. but if you want to perfect it more, there’s some additional steps.
First, reduce the opacity of your brush.. set it to around 5-15 and paint over very select spots to make it look more 3D (the paintbrush at such a low opacity will only take off a tiny bit at a time vs a lot at a time).  I chose to paint around the bubble (so there is less image on the outsides, so it’s strongest in the middle and most faded on the outside, helping it have the round appearance).  I also painted additionally off on the colorful lines of the bubble also to help show the shape of the bubble.

^Now it’s decently aligned (I ended up cleaning it up again later..).  This is a really good time to “save as .psd” so if you need to come back to it later, you can.

^Now, right click on your layer mask and select “apply layer mask”.

^Right click on your top layer and select “screen”.

^This was my final verdict on this edit.. top layer opacity 60% with a screen applied to it.  I still have a few things left to do..

^Right click on the top layer and select “flatten image”.

^Right click on your layer and select “duplicate layer”.  This will create a second layer.



^Ensure the top layer is clicked on and click the dropdown arrow and select “overlay”.  This will help blend, sharpen, and increase colors.

^I felt there were a few additional edits to be done so I took the final edit and layered it with the original, used the eraser tool to erase away some of the edges to give it more of a 3D look.  I used the burn tool around the diameter of the bubble and I also used Coffeshop Blog’s Perfect Portrait Action on this.. I used “Urban Grit” @ around 20% and “Eye Define” at around 50%.  If you do not know how to use layer masks with actions, I have a blog post explaining How To Run An Action With Layer Masks here.  I believe there is also a tutorial on Coffeshop Blog’s page.

^This is my final edit.  Not perfect & I think it’d look cooler if the photo I merged in were in color but oh well.. and hopefully this blog post gave you enough information to be able to do what you’re wanting to do!

If you have any additional tips or resources, leave them in the comments below :).

-Christine Ann
Duluth MN Photographer

How To Add Color To A Black & White Image With A Layer Mask/Photoshop Layers Explained

A Beginner’s Tutorial On How To Use Photoshop Layers, Layer Masks, And Bring Back Color To A Black And White Image (All-In-One!) With Image/Screenshot Examples
*Note:  This article might look long/hard but it’s because it’s written assuming you know nothing about how to use Photoshop so it’s just very thorough.. this is VERY easy and fast to do!

Many years ago my husband got Photoshop for me.  I was super excited.. I opened it up and was so overwhelmed I didn’t open it up again for another year!!!!  WHen I did open it up a year later, it was because I had seen an image on Facebook and someone noted on it “Edited with auto color in Photoshop”.  “Auto edit????  I can do that!”.  And I excitedly opened it back up.  Once it was re-opened I started playing around with it more and learning new things about it.  I was still very confused about how you could add color to a black and white image and my husband explained it like this: Imagine you have 2 photographs.. a color photograph, and a black and white version of the exact same photograph.  Imagine you put the black and white photograph on top of the color photograph and then take an eraser and erase away parts of the black and white image to reveal the color beneath it.  ta-da!  Like magic, I now understood the concept of Photoshop layering! The very first thing I learned how to do with layers was add a pop of color to a black and white image.  You can do it as I stated above (layer a bw image on top of a color image and use the eraser tool to erase away the bw image to reveal color) but the issue with doing it that way is.. what if you make a mistake?  What if you erase away too much?  You cannot go back to add the black and white back.  For that reason I want to teach everyone how to use a layer mask.  With a layer mask (VERY easy to do!!!!) you can remove parts of the top layer AND bring them back again!  And you can use it for endless different projects beyond a selective coloring/color pop image! I’m a very visual learner so that’s how I like to explain things as well.

^STEP ONE:  Open The Image
We’ll start with what your image looks like when you open it in Photoshop:

^STEP 2:  Duplicate Layer
This is the step where you layer 2 images on top of one another.. do do this by going to the layers palette, right click on your layer, and select “duplicate layer”.  You can also simply go to your menu on top of the screen and click “Layer>New>Layer From Background”.

^STEP 3:  Turn The Top Layer Black And White
Make sure your top layer is highlighted in the layers palette and then turn your image black and white :).  You now have a black and white image on top, and a color image on bottom.

^STEP 4:  Add A Layer Mask
This is where you add the layer mask I was mentioning earlier.. this mask will allow you to remove parts of the black and white image as well as bring back parts of the black and white image.

^STEP 5:  Select A Black Paintbrush
Your layers palette should now look like this.. the white box next to your bw image is the layer mask.  You will use the black paintbrush to remove the black and white image, and the white paintbrush to bring back the black and white image.

^STEP 6:  Verify Your Layer Mask Is Selected
If you have anything other than the layer mask selected, this will not work and the paintbrush will work normally (adding a white or black streak on the image).

^STEP 7:  Paint Anywhere You’d Like To Add Color Take your paintbrush and paint anywhere you’d like to add color!  It’s that easy!  If you run over the lines, it’s okay.. you can turn it back to black and white which we address in the next step.

STEP 8:  Select The White Paintbrush To Bring Back The Black And White Image
Change the color of your paintbrush to white and paint over anywhere you did not want to bring the color back.  It helps to scroll in very close to the image, use a brush that isn’t 100% soft, and make the edges as clean as possible.  It looks very sloppy when the color runs outside the lines.

^The image after cleaning it up with the white paintbrush (again verify that your layer mask is clicked on!).

^STEP 9:  (Optional Step):  Reduce The Opacity/Strength Of The Colors
I always feel that bringing back the full strength of color in an image is just too intense/harsh.  For this reason I like to make it sort of a blend of half black and white/half color.. this tones down the coloring a lot and makes it look much more gentle and blends better.  (This is just my opinion and what you like may be different!  I compare a full strength color pop image to a partial strength color pop image here if you’d like to compare for yourself).

^This is the image with the coloring reduced by 50%.. it blends much better.

I’d like to make a quite note that the above images are not ones that I would choose to do.. They are only edited this way for the purposes of this article.  If I brought back color to anything I would choose the boots but for the purposes of this article I wanted to choose something that was easy to see and overall I just prefer this photo in color :).

I really hope this helps you all learn some more about how to use layers in Photoshop and how to add color to a black and white image!

-Christine Ann

Duluth MN Photographer

Digital Backdrops

What is one great way to ruin a photo?  A wrinkled backdrop!  I recently did a session.. I had planned to use a non-wrinkled white backdrop but had to swap at the last minute.. it looked okay at a glance but when I pulled up my photos I quickly realized how wrinkled it really was.
When you have a wrinkled backdrop there are only a few things you can do: You can keep it wrinkled You can edit the wrinkles out (what most people do) You can use a digital backdrop I haven’t had much luck with digital backdrops in the past.  I feel they often times look very fake and cheesy.  However if you search long enough you can find ones that look more natural.  So much faster than editing the wrinkles out!  I will post a sample of my before and after photo using the straight out of camera image (I did edit a flyaway hair but everything else is unedited) and then the edited version with a digital backdrop, starting with the unedited.

^This is the original, unedited version.. notice the no good, wrinkley backdrop and how distracting it is.
^This is the edited version, used with a digital backdrop.  I could edit wrinkles out by hand but this method saved me a lot of time! If you would like to use a different, digital backdrop but don’t know how to do it I have a tutorial for changing backgrounds/doing face swaps here.

-Christine Ann Duluth Photographer {Website} {Facebook}

Instantly Improve Your Editing With Layer Masks

There are about 5 million different things you can do to edit a photo in Photoshop.  Some of the things you learn will be totally pointless and some will be invaluable.  I am going to brush up on one of the most valuable editing techniques (in my opinion):  how to add a layer mask to your layers and why they are important.  This will benefit you in so many ways!  And it is SO EASY! Learning new things in Photoshop is always intimidating but this is literally something you can do in a couple clicks.  (To summarize:  you layer 2 photos on top of each other, click the layer mask button, select a black or white paintbrush to hide/reveal the bottom image and that’s it!). Directions for adding a layer mask: Open up a photo in Photoshop.  Pick another photo to layer on top of it (you can just copy and paste it on top).  Click on the top layer so it is highlighted and then click the square with a circle inside it at the bottom of the layer palette (The layer palette is where you see all your layers towards the right side of Photoshop).  The icon I am referencing, if you hover your mouse over the top of it it will say “add layer mask”.  It looks like this: Click on the white box that appears next to your top layer. That’s it! You are done, you’ve applied a layer mask! Now how do you use it?  Also very easy.  Select the paintbrush icon and make the color that it paints white.  (Image below shows where to select the paintbrush and where to change the color of it at). Paint wherever you’d like to reveal the image below and you will reveal the image beneath it!  If you make a mistake simply change the “white” color of the brush to black and it brings back the original image. ^ Example Photos: Color photo on bottom, black and white photo on top, layer mask selected (you select it by just clicking on it), select the paintbrush and make it black and just start painting.. it will reveal the photo beneath it.  If you make a mistake and want to bring the black and white image back, simply turn it white, like in the second photo.  :). Boom.  Done :). This method is perfect for head swaps (place the new face underneath the one you want to change and reveal the photo below it).  It is also perfect for doing selective coloring (adding color to black and white images).  You can change the background of your photo by adding a nice background behind the image and masking the original background off.  You can edit things out like power lines by moving the bottom image a few centimeters to the right and masking  them out.  There are so many possibilities! TIPS: 1.  You can change the opacity of your brush.. so if you only want to kind of reveal the background but not entirely, just set the opacity of your brush 50% (vs 100% and it will only bring 50% of the background in and leave 50% of the original intact.  You can also build on it by changing it to 10% and doing another round, bringing it to 60% revealed).  It looks much  more natural if you build up in that way vs just doing it at 100%! 2.  If you right click on the “background” (the bottom) layer and select “layer from background” you “unlock” the layer and can now move it around.  You need to be sure to highlight (click on) this layer when you want to apply changes to it (such as moving it.  You can move it using the move tool).. and then when you want to apply the layer mask with the white and black brush, be sure to click the white box next to the top photo :).  Any changes you make will occur on whatever is highlighted in the layer’s palette. 3.  There is a learning curve to using layer masks in a realistic way.. such as when you get to the edges you need to make the brush smaller and that it really  helps to lower the opacity of the brush to blend it better.  But after a few rounds of practicing you’ll start learning how to do it better and better. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! -Christine Ann [website] Duluth Photographer Christine Ann Photography Facebook Maternity, newborn, senior, wedding, family, children, portrait photography.

1 Tip Which Will Improve Your Color Pop/Selective Color Images

I frequent many photography forums and one topic that comes up often is “color selection” or “color pop” edits.  This is when you have a black and white images and you bring back color on just a couple select spots.  These images are not often well received by lot of pros.  I am amongst this group 🙂 but they do have their place :).
I think the worst part about color selection is just how harsh the color is in the image.  It doesn’t flow well.  This is when I created my own way of doing color selection photos, where you just bring back about half of the color instead of all the color.  It makes a huge difference!  And I definitely much prefer the subtle color to the sharp, vivid color.

How do you accomplish this?  If you are layering a color image over a black and white image and erasing, then erase away at around 30-40% opacity.
If you are using a layer mask, set your paintbrush to around 30-40% opacity.  tada!  Very simple indeed.  This will make a huge difference in how the photo looks after you edit it.

One other tip I have is to pick just one focal point to selective color..a lot of people go a little crazy with their brush and bring back half the image so it’s half color and half black and white.  This looks a bit odd and unnatural and also there is no real concept behind it.  Usually you want to color pop something with meaning or symbolism or a concept (not always but like usually just an item vs a shirt).  In the sample image I am posting here I decided to have 2 color pops so they would balance each other out more but notice the items I picked were small so it doesn’t overwhelm the photo.  I believe my opacity for this image was around 30%.. to do it again I  might bump it up a bit higher, but you get the idea.

This is the image at 100% opacity.. this is the full color image brought back to the black and white image, and this is what most photographers who do color pop do:

^ Color brought back at full strength.

And the photo shown below is the same image with the color brought back around 30% opacity.  It might even be more like 20%. It is a little bit dull but it looks so much less distracting and more natural.. I much prefer it to the full color photo.

^Color brought back around 20-30% strength.

For one more example I’ll show one brought back around 50% opacity.

^Color brought back around 50% strength. This is my favorite edit of the three (I might tone it down a notch but overall the color isn’t too overbearing and “sharp” and it blends much better than at full strength – in my opinion anyway!).

As with all things in photography, which is better is subjective.  Surely there are people who prefer the first to the second.  If you do like the first you could even play around with bringing back the color around 70%-80% so it’s just not so vivid and contrasting.  While I’m not a huge fan of color pop photos, I do find myself much more receptive to them when done in a more subtle manner, just thought/style I would share with everyone :).

-Christine Ann
Duluth Minnesota Photographer
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Logo Success!

I successfully made a logo! However as it turns out, I didn’t even end up using it for anything. I wanted a logo for my web site but once I traded the words “Christine Ann Photography” for the logo, I thought it looked nicer with just the words. So that my hard work doesn’t go to waste I shall blog my creation. The fun part about this photo is that the background it is on originally has a girl on a trike in it taking up the middle of the screen. Thankfully I use Photoshop CS5 which has content aware. Content aware very very EASILY removes things (all you do is use a magnetic lasso to select what you want to remove, then right click on the selection “select inverse” then Edit, Fill, Content Aware and tada). Of course it doesn’t work perfectly so you have to clean up with a clone stamp afterwards.. but it is much easier than if you had to do the entire thing by hand! Photoshop ftw! Hopefully they eventually come out with a technology that works without having to clean up afterwards 🙂 . There have been times content aware just wouldn’t work well enough to use. Anyway I’ve been away from the blog because I’ve been slaving away over a new web page and getting a custom domain and all that fun stuff. One piece of advice I can offer about logo creation is to save it as a png, psd, and jpeg. The png will preserve the transparent background and you can use it for web sites, the psd will make it easy to edit in photoshop later if you need to, and the jpeg is just a good reference to know what it looks like and just to have. Give the files the same name so you know they are all the same file.Christine Ann
http://www.christineannphotos.com
www.facebook.com/christineannphotos