Retouching Images in Photoshop® is My Life

A professional photographer I am not, but a tech savvy whiz kid, that I most definitely am. I thrive on learning new computer programs and understanding the symbiotic relationships between technology and the programs we create. While yes, some programs are a bit unnecessary, in general, understanding the technology you have is one thing, but being able to understand the programs that go along with said technology, bring you to a whole new level.

Along with the general population in America today, I have a digital camera. It has changed my life. Suddenly, the world is my canvas, and no picture is too insignificant. Needless to say, I am retouching images in Photoshop on my down time. I find something therapeutic in isolating and manipulating pixels or changing lighting and generally editing images. Retouching images in Photoshop is my second life. And because I have learned so much about the program itself, my friends pay me to help them with their pictures. I can look at a picture and instantly know what needs editing. When it comes to retouching images in Photoshop, I am a master.

Now, I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but sometimes if you are good at something, you should acknowledge it! I mean, why not? Lots of people struggle with Photoshop, it is a difficult program! So what if I want to declare that retouching images in Photoshop is a walk in the park for me? I feel confident to call it from the highest peak, and hey, it might even get me some more business!

A lot of people ask me what my secret is, how do I know so much about the program and how did I learn it so quickly? The answer is, I don’t know. For the same reason a person can listen to a song and play it on an instrument, I learn computer programs without blinking or breaking a sweat. I haven’t really used this skill to my advantage truthfully speaking, I don’t work with computers, I only write with them.

This weekend I am going on a road trip. We are driving down to New Mexico for the weekend. My good friend is a photographer who is creating a portfolio of desert cacti. We convinced him to go to New Mexico because they have some amazing hot springs down there, and the sunsets are unreal. Upon our return, I have already signed a contract with him to help him with retouching his images in Photoshop. Once we finish retouching his images in Photoshop, he is submitting them to his publicist who is helping him with a book deal. And you know what, it still tickles my fancy knowing that this one skill I have acquired over the years and actually taking me somewhere! Technology, thank you for opening up my horizons, and what’s more, I can now identify 15 different types of flowering cacti. Guess I killed two birds with one stone.

Develop Digital Photos at Home

I love digital photos. Do not get me wrong, but there is one thing about them that has always struck me as funny. It hit me the other day when I was sitting in my parents’ living room. I looked up on the bookshelves, and there were stacks upon stacks of photo albums. Ah yes, I realized that with digital photos, we lose some of the warmth and memories of photo albums, and looking through photo albums with those we love. Sure, I have millions of digital photo albums, but I can’t curl up on the couch with them. So how do I remedy my problem? I learn how to develop digital photos.

In today’s world, you can develop digital photos so easily. There is equipment you can buy for your house that will literally develop digital photos for you. You can actually have a print of your photos to put right into an album or a frame without every leaving your house. Amazing, isn’t it. So don’t get stuck only looking at digital photos on your monitor. Add some personality to your prints by taking them off the screen. Here are two recommended printers that will develop digital photos for you with ease.

Epson PictureMate Deluxe Viewer Edition Photo Printer

This versatile and inexpensive photo printer produces beautiful 4×6″ prints at 29 cents each that even outlast photo labs with a 200-year photo album lifespan. The large color photo viewer and memory card reader allows computer-free printing without guesswork. You can also print proof sheets, wallets, mini-wallets and add Disney borders. Here is a review of the Epson PictureMate Deluxe photo printer.

The Canon i960

This photo bubble jet printer is said to be amazing at developing digital photos in customer reviews. Here is what one customer had to say about this printer.

“First off, The guys at canon finally figured it out to seperate all the colors instead of having blue, red and yellow all in one ink cartridge. This means if you run out of blue, you need only to buy a “blue” cartridge, which is about $10-12, rather then around $40 for a stupid multi-color cartridge.

I thought I was getting a good deal from Lexmark when I bought my Dell computer and got a printer for free, but when I replaced the cartridges twice, I already spent about $160. I decided to get this printer, and there are so many better things about it!

I can plug my digital camera directly into the printer and select which pictures I want to print out and the print quality of them (as long as you have a good camera) are phenomenal!”

So don’t get stuck in a digital-only rut. Develop digital photos and turn your favorite pictures into hard copies.

Do You Need a Photoshop® Seminar? Me Too

Sometimes I like to mess around on Photoshop, and I have actually done a few projects with the program, but when it really comes down to it, I have very little idea what I’m doing. The average Photoshop user could run circles around me, and I’m not really capable of making anything that looks adequate, let alone professional. I would probably be to my benefit to attend some kind of Photoshop seminar. There are a few basic strategies that I am capable of using, but I won’t really be capable of creating anything remotely impressive without some help from a knowledgeable Photoshop authority.

The truth is that I don’t really want to do anything amazing with the program, but I probably still need a Photoshop seminar. I want to create really dumb, immature pictures that I can use for bribing people or embarrassing my friends. My mind never really evolved past my teenage years, and there will probably always be a part of my brain that wants to play childish pranks. You may think that is sad, but I don’t care. There are basically three schools of Photoshop users: professional photographers or designers who use the program at their job(dorks), semi-comatose house-wives who spent too much money on a program they use to take the red-eye out of pictures of their dogs and brighten the contrast on pictures of their kids, and people like me who just want to make funny pictures. The latter two groups probably need to take a Photoshop seminar from the former group. Back to my goal with Photoshop, here is a list of immature things I want to do with Photoshop.

To make good old-fashioned embarrassing pictures of my friends – This is the main goal of most non-nerds who use Photoshop. I want a Photoshop seminar that can help show me how to make a picture where it looks like my friend is vacuuming the house in a pink skirt. I want to make a picture of my brother with a creepy mustache and a mullet while wearing a stained tank top and then use that picture to create a profile for him on the sketchiest dating web site I can find.

I have plenty of other borderline sad ideas about what to do once I attend the right Photoshop seminar, but they all just fall into the dumb yet funny category.

Take the Steps to Learn at Home

For many, the idea of being able to learn at home is somewhat of a dream come true. Between our jobs, our personal lives and everything in between, it’s hard to come up with the free time to take a class. With Video Professor, you can learn at home, on your own time. Whether you are interested in learning a new computer program or a new technology like wireless networking or an iPod, Video Professor can help you learn what you want to learn, at home.

Video Professor’s lessons will take you step-by-step through the program or technology you want to learn. When you learn at home with Video Professor, you will be taken from being a beginner Internet user to having an advanced understanding and knowledge of the program you are interested in, in as little as three hours! These tutorials can be paused, rewound, fast-forwarded and stopped as needed. And you can always pick back up where you left off, that’s the freedom you get when you learn at home!

Video Professor uses a “What-You-See-Is-What-You-Do” method of learning. It is unique to these tutorials. When you learn at home with Video Professor, it’s nearly impossible to make a mistake because the tutorial plays on top of the program you are learning!

“It went above my expectations as far as how easy it was to follow, how easy it was to learn, and how fast I could do it or how slow I wanted to do it, so, it definitely exceeded my expectations in that aspect,” says Monique Banks, a customer of Video Professor. For those people who want to learn at home, Video Professor is the answer. Simple, straightforward learning, you can trust Video Professor for all your computer learning needs. 

For those you learning at home with Video Professor, they not only get a great learning tool, but they also get to be in control of how and when they learn. Video Professor has helped over eight million people learn at home, and the number is growing.

John Milton, a Video Professor customer says, “Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, the programs are really good at taking you through step by step, especially if you’re a beginner. But if you’re an expert, there’s still plenty for you to learn. It’ll still show you some things that you haven’t seen before.”

Beginners and experts alike will find that they have something to learn from Video Professor’s tutorials. You can learn at home, and it doesn’t have to be a painstaking process. With Video Professor, you can learn at home without sacrificing your free time. People often equate computer programs with difficulty. With Video Professor, the programs are broken down in an easy to digest way. Anyone on any level can learn the computer program of their choice when they choose to learn at home with Video Professor.

Don’t Go the Long Way, Take a Keyboard Shortcut

In my line of business as a writer and editor, and a former newspaper designer, keyboard shortcuts are my life. I rarely touch toolbars. When your profession revolves around speed and convenience, the least I can do is memorize some keyboard shortcuts and make my precious time as constructive as possible. So I decided to make a list of Windows® keyboard shortcuts for anyone who is interested in making themselves more efficient at whatever they need to get done on their PC.

 Windows System Keyboard Shortcuts

F1: Help

CTRL+ESC: Open Start Menu

ALT+TAB: Switch between open programs

ALT+F4: Quit Program

SHIFT+DELETE: Delete item permanently

 Windows Program Keyboard Shortcuts

CTRL+C: Copy

CTRL+X: Cut

CTRL+V: Paste

CTRL+Z: Undo

CTRL+B: Bold

CTRL+U: Underline

CTRL+C

 General Keyboard-only Keyboard Shortcut Commands

F1: Starts Windows Help

F10: Activates menu bar options

SHIFT+F10: Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object

CTRL+ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)

CTRL+ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)

ALT+DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box

SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature

ALT+SPACE: Displays the main window’s System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)

ALT+F4: Closes the current window

 Microsoft Natural Keyboard Shortcut Keys

Windows Logo: Start menu

Windows Logo+R: Run dialog box

SHIFT+Windows Logo+M: Undo minimize all

Windows Logo+F1: Help

Windows Logo+E: Windows Explorer

Windows Logo+F: Find files or folders

Windows Logo+D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop

CTRL+Windows Logo+F: Find computer

CTRL+Windows Logo+TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)

Windows Logo+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons

Windows Logo+Break: System Properties dialog box

I understand that all these keyboard shortcuts may seem a little daunting and too difficult to memorize, but I assure you that it is not as bad as it seems. There is a method to the madness of keyboard shortcuts, and once you get started learning and understanding them, the reward will be great. Not only will you get your work done faster, you will be proud that you are a more advanced Windows user.

Laptop Help for Theft Prevention

Everyone knows that taking a few extra cautionary steps can avoid theft. So, it only makes sense that if your laptop is easier to hack than the guy sitting next to you, yours is more in danger.

There are a couple steps that you can take to help prevent theft of your laptop, help is on the way. This is a condensed version of a chapter in Laptops for Dummies.

1)      Mark your laptop

This helps with the recovery of a stolen (or lost) laptop. Either engrave your information onto your laptop or use a tamper-resistant asset tag. The best proof that something is yours is your name right there on it. Laptop help in this area could end up with recovery of your stolen laptop.

2)  Don’t use an obvious laptop carrying case

Using a laptop case with an emblazoned Dell logo (or IBM logo, or what ever you have) isn’t just a proud buyer appreciation/marketing gimmick. The custom laptop case tells the casual thief that something valuable lurks inside. A non-descript, soft laptop case doesn’t draw undo attention to your computer. Backpacks also make good places to store laptops.

3) Register the laptop and its software

Be sure to send in your laptop’s registration card, as well as the registration for any software that you use. If someone steals the laptop, alert the manufacturer and software vendors. Hopefully, they care enough so that if someone using your stolen laptop ever tries to get the system fixed or upgraded, your registration information helps you locate the stolen laptop. Help safeguard your possessions and make sure you register the laptop.

4) Keep your laptop’s information

Be sure to keep a copy of the laptop’s serial number and other vital statistics with you, specifically in a place other than the laptop’s carrying case. That way, you know which number to report to the police, as well as the manufacturer. Laptop help and support can come from the manufacturer too, so it is important to keep this information at home!

5) Be mindful of your environment

When you’re out and about with your laptop, stay aware of where your computer is and who may have access to it. Watch your laptop! Help can come from simple advice. For example, when dining out, put the laptop in its case beneath the table. If you need to leave the table, either take the laptop with you or ask your friends to keep an eye on it for you.

6) Universal Security Slot (or USS)

Your laptop probably comes with a hole or slot into which you can connect a security cable. That hole has an official name – the Universal Security Slot (or USS).

The USS is designed to be part of the laptop’s case. A thief can’t remove from the laptop any cable or security device that you thread through the USS; he or she can only cut (or unlock) the cable itself to free the laptop. Getting laptop help about security could help keep your laptop with you rather than in the hands of a stranger.

Obviously, the USS works best when you have the laptop in a stationery place. Like a bicycle lock, you have to park the laptop by something big and stable, then thread the cable through that big thing and the USS for the lock to work.

The best place to find a security cable for your laptop is in a computer or office supply store.

Some cables come with alarms. You can find alarms that sound when someone cuts the cable, plus alarms that sound when anyone moves the laptop.

Get on Course with a Beginner Computer Course

Technology is intimidating. It doesn’t matter if you have never worked on a computer or if you have to learn a new computer program. Everyone at some point needs a beginner computer course. And you can have all the beginner computer courses you ever wanted without any stress with one amazing service. This service is Video Professor.

John W. Scherer, CEO and founder of Video Professor, created these beginner computer courses more than 20 years ago for everyone who was interested. He ensured that these lessons could be used by anyone with a computer. These beginner computer courses utilize a “What-You-See-Is-What-You-Do” method, which allows the students to work in the program they are learning while they are being taught. The tutorial screen literally runs atop of the screen you are working in. To make things even better, these beginner computer courses can be rewound, stopped, paused and fast-forwarded so the lesson is controlled by you. Feel free at any time to rewind when you need to hear something more than once or twice, or fast-forward if you are already familiar with the information being covered. These beginner computer courses can technically be completed in as little as three hours. You will not even believe all the beginner computer courses you can master in as few as three hours each.

The icing on the cake, these lessons can be done anytime at your home or office. Take control of your learning. A big deterrent to taking a beginner computer course normally is the thought of having to enroll in an expensive class that definitely does not revolve around your schedule. Many beginner computer classes come with the expense of enrollment fees and bulky and confusing manuals. Also, these beginner computer classes are not personalized. The teacher is required to keep a class full of students on the same page and up to speed. With Video Professor, you essentially have a private tutor whose attention is focused solely on you!

Also, keep in mind that while these lessons start off as a beginner computer course, they will leave you an advanced user of what ever program you selected to learn. The lessons are divided into 3-discs. The first one is a beginner disc, the second an intermediate disc and the third an advanced disc. So you may begin as a beginner but you finish up as an advanced user!

Understanding Scanners is Easier Than You Think

Everything is going digital, especially in the world of photography. The problem is that you still have boxes and boxes of old pictures. Whether they are in print or negative form, there is a way that you can scan them into your computer. The advantages of storing pictures on your computer are far greater than any method of storing prints, and understanding scanners is the first step towards gaining those advantages. Losing a print and not having a replacement can be very devastating, especially if it is a valued picture. Storing your pictures on your computer assures that you will always have a copy of your pictures, and you will be able to print as many as you need. Once you begin understanding scanners, you can save your picture files on your computer and even save them to several portable devices for extra security. Don’t worry about losing once in a lifetime pictures anymore when you can catalogue them on your computer and always keep them safe. Once you start understanding scanners, you will gain a whole other level of comfort.

One of the first things to know about scanners is that the best way to know if you like a certain model is to try it out. Understanding scanners is all about trying them out. The price tag or the brand name is far less important than whether you like the results or not. Try scanning some of your pictures in and see if the color looks right to you. You can spend plenty of time researching and understanding scanners, but unless you really understand all the technical terms associated with scanners, you would be better off just scanning some prints and seeing what results you like.

One of the biggest things to know when understanding scanners, especially flatbed scanners, is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money. Most of the cheapest flatbed scanners will provide you with more than what you need. In terms of resolution, a lot of flatbed scanners have far more than what you need for everyday use. Unless you have a professional need for impeccable resolution, there is no need to shell out hundreds of dollars. You can probably find a flatbed scanner that more than meets your needs for under $100.

A lot of flatbed scanners will come with an adapter for scanning film, but most of these scanners will give you really poor color quality, and you are better off scanning your prints. Flatbeds with adapters are decent for black and white film, but if you are working with color, you need to get a real film scanner dedicated to scanning negatives only. These start at around $300 and will give you the performance that allows you to print your own pictures at the quality you might be used to. When understanding scanners, it is important to know the difference between these two types of scanners.

Another aspect of understanding scanners is knowing what you want to do with your pictures. If you are just focused on scanning your pictures onto your computer for e-mailing or posting on a web site, then you don’t need to worry about getting a scanner with great resolution because having a smaller file size will likely be your main goal. If you are going to be making a lot of prints, especially large ones, you might want to look into scanners with better resolutions or a scanner for film only. You don’t need to rack your brain when understanding scanners, just know what you want from them.

Get into Digital Photo Sharing

I admit it. I am a self-proclaimed MySpace.com junkie. Why? Well, besides that it is a wonderful place to keep in touch with friends, it is the most amazing place for digital photo sharing. Like with many social networking sites, digital photo sharing is one of the primary reasons for their surge in popularity. When I first became a member of this site about three years ago, the capacity for digital photo sharing was limited. Each page could only hold 16 photos. That has changed dramatically.

Now a member can upload as many photos as he/she wants to. And they can be arranged into as many or as few albums as the user wants. Each photo can also have a caption beneath it, and the album can be named as well. Other users can comment on the photo too. To take it to an even more advanced digital photo sharing experience, the member can “tag” people in the photograph. This means they can draw a box around other people in the picture and when the cursor runs over that person in the image, it can be clicked on, and the web site will take you over to that person’s page. Pretty amazing.

Digital photo sharing in general has come such a long way. As of now, the MySpace method of digital photo sharing has basically taken it to a social apex, but it has not always been that way. I remember when it took ages to upload one photograph onto the computer and just as long to attach it to an e-mail. And an e-mail only had the capacity to hold one photo. Nowadays, we have many options with our digital photo sharing. We can share by attaching multiple photographs to an e-mail and by sending it to the recipients of your choice. Or you can join a web site that allows you to upload and arrange photos into albums. Then all you have to do to share them is to send the link to people of your choosing. With some of these sites, your friends and family may have to join the site, but most of the time, this is an easy task and is free of cost.

So do not be shy or intimidated when it comes to digital photo sharing. It really is easy, and there is the right option for you out there. Whether you just want to share your photos or you want it to be an interactive experience, you will not be disappointed. Keep in touch; share digital photos.

Take a Photoshop® Class for Your Own Good

There are too many features to learn in the Photoshop program to ever try and learn it on your own. Aside from that, there is really no reason to learn it on your own with all the resources available to help you learn. There is a Photoshop class for everyone and every different Photoshop program. You will frustrate yourself to no end if you try and learn all the features through a trial-and-error method. You might know what it is you want to do, but there is little chance that you know how to make it happen and even less of a chance that you will be able to learn without some kind of a Photoshop class.

There are plenty of different methods for achieving the results you want, so the key is to know the fastest way. There may even be a faster way to achieve a better result than you had imagined. The point of using a Photoshop class, like the tutorial created by Video Professor, is that you will learn everything that Photoshop has to offer. By knowing all the tools, what they do, and which ones to use in each situation, you will save yourself a lot of time in the future. Photoshop is all about being creative, but you have to know how to channel your creativity, and that is where a Photoshop class comes in to show you all the tools.

A Photoshop class shows you the proper steps to take so you get the color you want from your photographs. Use color balance to create a more realistic picture or to get the color you really want from the photo. Master color samplers, hue and saturation, and adjustment layers to make easy adjustments to your pictures that make a huge difference in their appearance.

You can learn how to enhance your photographs by adding titles, shapes and graphics. A Photoshop class can show you the simple steps towards creating your first web page, Christmas card or personalized photo album. In the more advanced Photoshop class you will learn complex features like image profiles and bit depth. Learn how to work with color specifically for web sites and continue to master working with different layers.

Whether you are working with the Internet, your home printer or your camera, you will learn how to produce the best possible photos. Learn how to use the actions palette so your frequently used tools will be available much more quickly. Tap into the automating functions and cut even more time off of your work. Soon, what used to be hours of work can be cut down to a few keystrokes or clicks after a Photoshop class shows you how to fully take advantage of the program.

There are over 100 filters to create eye-popping effects for your pictures. You can now create versions of your photos you didn’t know were possible. Filters are easy to apply so you can try many different effects while maintaining the original picture. These filters can create just a slight alteration or balancing effect, and they can change your pictures drastically. Learn all the options with a Photoshop class.