Photography Troubleshooting: No More Bad Photos

Running into problems when taking photographs over, and over
again? Here’s a handy guide that will help you troubleshoot your
problems, and improve your shots all at once!

Rather than stretch this out over several articles, it
seemed like a good idea to provide  solutions to
common problems in Photography all in one
informative list. Please be sure to ask any questions
if you’re having problems not mentioned here!

Blurry Images Caused by Poor Focus

Photos that aren’t sharp are almost always caused by focus problems — either you, or the auto focus
didn’t do their job correctly. If you are using auto focus and still get blurred photos it might be because
the camera used another focusing point rather than the one thought you intended to use.  Another
reason might be the setting of the focus and then moving the camera without refocusing.

Blurry Photos Caused by Camera Shake

Camera shake is a result of unsteady hands or a too long of a exposure. To counter this you can change
the shutter speed,or make the exposure time shorter. If you don’t want to change the aperture you can
always change the ISO setting. Higher ISO will create noise, but noise is better than a blurry image
caused by too long of a exposure time.

Another option is to use a tripod or monopod.

Learn how to get those steady shots, both with the help of tripods, monopod, and additionally with your
bear hands. These tips are guaranteed to improve your stability while taking photographs!

To get good photographs you usually have to hold the camera steady. Sometimes a blurry photograph
or one in motion can be desired, but most of the time it’s unwanted. The most common equipment to
help counter this is the tripod, but I will also give you a few other tips to reduce camera shake in this
article.

Tripod

As I said, the tripod is the classic tool to make your photographs sharp and crisp. It’s by far the steadiest method and produces great result time after time, but there are a few things to think about.

Just like everything else the tripods comes in all different shapes and sizes, not to mention price classes. It’s important to sit down and think about what you want out of your tripod — is it going to be used in a studio or outdoors, what type of lenses are you planning on using and how much do they weight, do you want a ball head or a 3-way pan-tilt head?

If you’re only going to use the tripod indoors it doesn’t have to be as sturdy and rough as an outdoors tripod needs to be. The heavier the tripod the more stable it is, and I’ve learned a ‘rule’ that says “for every 100mm focal length the tripod should weigh 1kg (2.2 lbs)“. So if you are planning on using a 300mm telephoto lens the tripod should weigh about 3kg (6.6 lbs). I’m not sure how accurate this rule is, but it can work as some kind of guideline. Do keep in mind though that high-end tripods can be both very stable and light, but rather expensive.

The choice between a ball head and a 3-way pan-tilt head is simply personal preferences. With the 3-way pan-tilt head you can easily change just one axes, such as panning or tilting, without affecting the other axes. The ball head gives you more ability to move the camera around and is much faster to change, but ball heads are often more expensive.

Monopod

A monopod is a great alternative to tripods and handheld. You can’t have a shutter speed of 1 hour on a monopod like you can on a tripod, you can most likely not even have a shutter speed of 30 seconds — but that’s not the target market for monopods. They are a more mobile tool to help you stabilize your shots without having to carry around a tripod, and monopods are far more simple and quick to set up.

It can take some time getting use to a monopod, and the most effective way to use it is to have its foot placed against your back foot. Do not just have the monopod stand in front of you; this will not give enough stability to help you very much. Try finding a good posture where you can hold the camera as steady as possible.

Hand held

This is the most common way to take photographs and most of the time it will do just fine, but there are ways to take advantage of your surrounding and changing your stance to help you with stability.

Always hold the camera close to you, inhale and hold your breath for the duration of the shot. Don’t just tap the shutter release button — you want to press it down and hold down the finger a short while before lifting it again to minimize camera shake.

If you’re using a telephoto lens or other lens that is somewhat heavy or long place your left hand under the lens and grasp it — do not hold the camera body with both hands if you’re using a heavy lens.

Keeping as low profile as possible is a great way to increase your stability. If possible, lay flat on your stomach with both your elbows on the ground. Not as stable but another good stance is with one knee on the ground and the other one at a 90° angle.

Leaning against a tree or wall is another great way to take the stability of something else and help it make you more stable. If possible, place the camera against the tree/wall to maximize the stability. The same goes for rocks, logs, railings and more or less everything you can find to rest your camera on. On many occasions it can be more helpful to rest your camera on a rock than using a monopod.

One last trick I learned from a friend of mine; take your left hand and place it on your right shoulder, take your camera in your right hand and place it on your left elbow/forearm — this might take some time getting use to but the result is a very stable stance that works great with telephoto lenses.

Stop Motion Blur in Photographs

This is the result of photographing a moving object with a too long exposure… no matter how steady you are. A faster shutter speed is the only solution in this problem — some action sports require speeds as quick as 1/1000+.

Too Much Contrast

The sensor is not able to pick up the whole spectrum of light and expose it correctly in some situations. Unless you want to manipulate your photographs in post-production (such as HDR) you have two options: either select the part of the scene that is most important to expose correctly, or use a graduated ND filter to get the entire scene exposed correctly (primarily used in landscape photography).

Add More Contrast

Low contrast can be a result from photographing in bad lighting conditions, or in unique instances, environments can play a role in this problem (such as a snowy landscape). This is most often easily fixed in Photoshop by using the adjustment layer Levels to change the black and white point. The example photograph is lacking contrast due to stray light reaching the sensor, which can be countered by using a lens hood.

Back in the old days with 35mm film the photographer had his darkroom where he developed the film, in our day and age the computer has taken over the role. This article will deal with some of the adjustments you can use to develop your photographs in the digital darkroom.

The software I have used in this article is Photoshop CS3 (on a Mac) but most of these features are available in any decent photo-editing software.

Levels

Levels are one of the most important tools to use when you are working with post-production. This adjustment layer is used to correct or enhance the histogram. To learn more about what the Histogram shows and how it works, please read my article about it.

A word of advice is to work with levels in a separate layer instead of working on the actual photo layer.

There are two methods to use this adjustment layer:

SET WHITE & BLACK POINT

This method will give you an eyedropper and you will have to set one point for the darkest (black point) and one point for the lightest (white point) area. There is also the option to set the grey point (18% grey, in the middle of the tones).

This can be a bit tricky to the beginner, but it’s a very powerful tool. It’s often easy to spot the white point in the photo, often from a light source or something white and/or reflective. The black point may be a bit harder to locate, the best way is to think about where the light is the least likely to be reflected.

In the photograph below you can see that the white point is where you can spot a cloud in the sky behind the trees and the black point is inside the poor sheep’s nostril — there isn’t much light reaching in there.

What this will do is that it will stretch the histogram so that the lightest point will be to the very right edge and the darkest point will be to the left edge.

DRAG THE LEVELS YOURSELF

An example of a levels slider from Adobe Photoshop CS2. Similar Level Adjustments can be found in other software, including GIMP.

Instead of stretching out the histogram you narrow down the field by moving the dark and the light levels in this method. You can achieve the same effect as the method listed above, but you will be able to see the gradual change in the photograph better this way. What you want to do is dragging the black triangle to the right until it’s under the left edge of the graph, and drag the white triangle until it’s under he right edge of the graph. If you have a histogram like the one above you might want to move the white triangle a little more to the left than the very edge since the levels of white are very small at the edge.

Which of the two methods you like the best is up to you, try the both out and see what you like the most. (I only go through how to use the RGB level here, there will be some more info on the other levels later in this article.)

Curves

This adjustment layer is quite like the levels, but with a bit more control. You can choose to either set the black/white or you can create your own curves. Unlike the Levels layer, Curves will often times have easy to use Presets, either the standard ones that come with the software or your own custom ones.

Sharpening

This is something that has to be done on a photo layer, so you might want to duplicate your photo layer (usually the background layer).

Go to Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask

The settings here are very different depending on whether you’re photographing portraits, landscapes, urban etc. But somewhere around Amount: 85, Radius: 1, Threshold: 0 or Amount: 100, Radius: 0.5, Threshold: 0. Try and see where you find a good spot between sharp and overly sharpened — white halos will appear around some object if you sharpen the image too much, this will not look good.

There is nothing that can beat a sharp image straight out of the camera, but Unsharp Mask can at least help you get a little closer.

Color correction

Color correction is an important but difficult part of post-production. There are several different ways to deal with untrue colors. It depends on what the problem is; is it just one colors that is off, is the entire photo lacking color, is the photo tinted in a weird color? Each of these problems need a different tool, I will go through the very basics of some of the color correction tools that Photoshop have.

Selective Color — Controls several different colors and can do just about anything to a specific color. This is a great adjustment layer to use when a specific color is untrue in the photograph, such as a green shirt looking blue.

Channel Mixer — The RGB channels, can add and subtract RGB from each channel. A good tool when an entire image is experiencing a colored overcast.

Hue/Saturation — This layer have three main settings; Hue, Saturation and Lightness. Stay away from Hue and Lightness unless you know what you’re doing. Saturation is a great tool to boost or drain the colors.

Color Balance — Here you have RGB again, with different settings for Shadows, Midtones and Highlights. Can be used to correct the color in just one of those areas.

Levels & Curves — Use it like described above, but change the channel to one of the RGB ones. You will be able to control the colors with good accuracy. Works good both with highlights/shadows as well as photos with a color overtone.

Dodge & Burn

These two tools are designed to mimic the effect of the Dodge and Burn tools used in darkrooms before the digital age. These tools are used to change the exposure on selective parts of the photograph, such as giving more exposure to shadowed areas.

The Dodge tool will lighten up parts, the Burn tool will darken parts.

Use them with care, but when you’ve mastered them they can be a great asset to change your exposure on just some parts in post-production.

Prevent Lens Flares

A lens flare is created when the lens picks up stray light. The best way to block out this unwanted light is to use a lens hood. Different lenses create different lens flares — cheaper lenses usually create uglier flares than high-end lenses, but even with a high-end lens one should always use a hood to minimize the risk.

Prevent Double Lights

This is an optical effect that can occur in low light situations in combination with some (often cheaper) lenses. A UV filter can increase this effect, so if you notice these types of odd lights on your night photographs you might want to consider removing the UV filter for the duration of the shoot.

Underexposure

Not enough light reached the sensor, you need to change the exposure settings to get a correctly exposed photograph. Either a slower shutter speed, a larger aperture or higher ISO — or all of them combined.

The exposure is the combined factors of how long time the sensor is exposed to light, how much light comes through and how sensitive the sensor is to light. It’s based on three things, Aperture size, Shutter speed and ISO.

Exposure

There are 3 parts of exposure that you should understand. The following examples ought to illustrate how these 3 components of exposure interact with one another.

Example 1
You take a photograph with the following settings: ƒ/8, 1/250s and ISO 100
But let’s say you want to freeze the object more, which requires a faster shutter speed, you can either change the ISO or the Aperture. First of all let’s change the shutter speed 1 stop faster, 1/500s — now only half the amount of light will reach the sensor. To compensate for this and keep the exposure the same you can change the aperture size 1 f-stop larger, ƒ/5.6.

So ƒ/5.6, 1/500s and ISO 100 will give you the same exposure as ƒ/8, 1/250s and ISO 100 (but now the shutter speed is faster which allows you to freeze your object in a different way).

Example 2
You’re indoors with bad light conditions which makes your current setting too slow and are unable to hold the camera steady enough. The settings are: ƒ/5.6, 1/60s and ISO 100. Your lens’ largest aperture is ƒ/4 which is 1 f-stop larger, changing your shutter speed 1 stop faster will result in: ƒ/4, 1/125s and ISO 100. The shutter speed is still too slow and the result is blurry due to camera shake. Since you can’t change the aperture anymore you will have to change the ISO setting, 1 stop will result in ISO 200, you now have: ƒ/4, 1/250s and ISO 200 which should be enough to get a sharp photograph.

As you hopefully can see from these examples all three parts of the exposure are related to each other. If you just change one of them the result will be either an underexposed or an overexposed photograph, but if you change both you can keep the balance.

55mm, f/5.6, 1/60s, ISO 100

300mm, f/5.6, 1/800, ISO 400

50mm, f/5, 1/320, ISO 400

Overexposure

Overexposure happens when the sensor is exposed to more than enough light, resulting in white images or at least white areas in the images around the light source(s). Sometimes it’s impossible to expose the photograph correctly without getting some overexposed areas. Overexposure can be used as an effect, but most of the time it’s unwanted and avoidable.

Underexposure

Underexposure is the opposite of overexposure, and is the result of the sensor not getting enough light, the photo is dark. Underexposure can be used artistically but just like overexposure it can be unwanted and hard to avoid.

Exposure Lock

Exposure Lock is a great feature that’s available on most cameras. It’s rather easy to understand what it does, it locks the exposure so that it doesn’t re-calculate the exposure if you move your camera around. Try to find a neutrally exposed part of your object, not the light source nor the shadows but something in between, and press the exposure lock button — recompose your photograph and take the picture.

Camera modes

MANUAL MODES:

• M — Manual mode; this gives you full control over both aperture and shutter speed.
• Av or A — Aperture priority; you control the aperture and the camera calculates the shutter speed for best exposure
• Tv or S — Shutter priority; you control the shutter speed and the camera calculates the aperture
• P — Program mode; a more advanced form of an auto mode. The camera calculates both the aperture and shutter speed, but doesn’t affect settings like ISO or flash.

AUTOMATIC MODES:

• Auto — everything is on auto, including ISO, flash and image quality
• Portrait — uses a large aperture to shorten the depth of field
• Landscape — uses a small aperture to gain more depth of field
• Sport — uses higher ISO to use faster shutter speeds
• Night portrait — uses long exposures to capture the entire scene, often combined with built in flash
• Macro — uses a large aperture to great a softer background

Overexposure

Too much light reached the sensor — you need to change the exposure settings to get a correctly exposed photograph. Either a faster shutter speed, a smaller aperture or lower ISO — or all of them combined.

Dark Corners — Vignette

Vignette are dark corners in a photograph, which occur when the light is not evenly distributed on the sensor or when the flash just lights up the center of a shot.

Many lenses, even high-end, create this effect when opened wide (largest aperture). To fix this problem simply stop down the aperture a few stops and this should even out the distribution.

Lens distortion

Mostly a problem when photographing architecture with a wide-angle lens. A lens below 50mm usually creates some distortion but in most cases this is not visible. However when you are photographing straight lines (such as buildings), standing close to the object and pointing the camera upwards you will more easily see these distortions. Take a few steps backward or change to a more suitable lens.

In Photography, your lens is often your most important purchase. This photography tutorial outlines some important qualities of different lenses, and how each performs in identical situations.

Choosing a lens is often more difficult then choosing a camera when it comes to purchasing. One thing to remember is that a lens will last several times longer than digital cameras. A D-SLR has a limited lifespan of a couple of years, the prices on cameras just keeps on dropping and purchasing a new camera every 3-5 years is quite reasonable if you want good quality photographs & equipment. A lens on the other hand will (if handled correctly) last much longer then that, so a good lens will be an investment that you can use for a longer period of time.

Another thing to think about is the fact that all the light that reaches the sensor needs to pass through the lens. A low quality lens on a high quality camera will result in bad image quality, but a good lens on a low quality camera can still produce good results (and with low quality camera I mean the companies “entry level” D-SLR cameras).

It’s important to realize that different lenses distort and compress the view. A wide angle lens will distort the view and distances can seem greater than they really are, while in contrast, a telephoto lens will compress the view and make far away object seem closer than they are. To show this effect I have taken three photos with different lenses, the front object (a street sign) is kept at the same size but the background is drastically different.

Above: 18mm, Wide Angle

Above: 50mm, Normal

Above: 300mm, Telephoto

Normal lens

Normal lenses have a focal length of around 50mm; it resembles the view of the human eye and creates a natural view — unlike wide-angle that distort and telephoto that compresses the view. These lenses usually have a very low f-number, which makes them perfect for photographing in low light conditions.

Back in the days this was the standard lens everybody had, often a 50mm prime lens (more about prime lenses later in this article) with an aperture of f/1.2–f/1.8. The fact that they were so widely used might be one of the reasons why they have now been left behind for most beginners and amateurs — they are just seen as too boring.

Wide-angle lens

Lenses with a wide angle of view have become standard as kit-lenses on most low-end D-SLR cameras on the market, always as zoom lenses. These lenses are great for landscapes, architecture and indoor photography — but be aware of the distortion they create. The closer you are to your object the more distorted it will become, and the distortion is most predominant in the corners.
With such short focal length they can be useful in low-light situations, both because they take in light from a wider angle and because a little camera shake is not as visible as it is on longer focal lengths.

Telephoto lens

These lenses have a narrow view field and a long focal length. Telephoto lenses are great for wildlife and sport photography, and can be good to use for portrait when you want to isolate the model from the background. Telephoto lenses compresses the view which can be both positive and negative depending on the situation.

Telephoto lenses with their longer focal length require better light conditions or the use of a tripod. There are fast telephoto lenses, like a 400mm f/2.8, but these are often very expensive and out of reach when it comes to most amateurs — and most of these lenses are too heavy to be handheld.

The last decade most companies have started to produce these high end telephoto lenses with Image Stabilizer (different companies have different names for it, but the effect is the same) to make them more usable without tripods. Lately this feature has been implanted in more and more low-end lenses as well.

Macro lens

Macro photography is close-up photography. Macro is a word that has been severely abused lately, every photograph of an insect or flower is not macro, and many people seems to have missed the point of what macro is supposed to be. True macro photography is at the scale of 1:1 or greater — this means that the object you’re photographing should be the same size or larger on the sensor.
Most macro lenses have a focal length between 50mm and 200mm, and they usually have a large maximum aperture (low f-number) that gives them both the ability to be fast as well as totally isolate the subject. The background and shallow depth-of-field is a very important part of macro photography and can take quite a lot of time to master.

There are several ways to achieve macro or a macro-effect without a true macro lens; I will go into detail about this in a later part of this series.

Special lenses

FISHEYE LENS
Fisheye lenses are extreme wide-angle lenses, having a 180° horizontal angle of view. There are both Circular and Full-frame fisheye lenses, the circular will create a round image in the center with unexposed (black) edges and the full-frame lens will fill the entire sensor but will only have 180° horizontal and not vertical.

Fisheye lenses are widely used photographing and filming skateboarding, since the entire scene is always in focus and you can easily capture the entire trick without too much movement.

TILT-SHIFT LENS
Tilt-shift lenses are common in architectural photography to avoid the distortion a regular wide-angle lens creates while keeping the entire building in focus. Tilt-shift lenses have more features than just correcting the distortion, they also gives the photographer total control over the focus and depth of field. The lens can create rather odd looking photographs where the field of depth looks “unnatural” and the entire scene looks like it’s a photograph of a miniature.

Prime lenses vs. Zoom lenses

There are two types of lenses, prime and zoom. A prime lens is a lens that has a fixed focal length, these lenses comes in all shapes and price classes. Zoom lenses have taken over the market almost completely on the lower-end; this is mostly because zooms are more versatile. A zoom lens can be a wide-angle lens, a normal lens and a telephoto lens — all in one — where as a prime can only be what it is. High-end telephoto lenses as well as macro lenses are almost always primes.
So why choose a prime instead of a zoom lens then?

Most prime lenses are considerably sharper than the zooms in the same price class, even when you go to the very high-end lenses the primes are sharper but the difference is not as distinct. Not only are primes sharper but they often have a larger maximum aperture which makes them faster and ideal in low-light situations. However, the technology is moving forward at a great speed right now and the noise levels at high ISO isn’t as visible as it was before which makes zoom lenses able to be faster as well.

All in all I would recommend that people have at least one prime in their camera bag, preferably a normal lens, which is the perfect lens for many situations — sharp, fast and light-weight.

Some quick advice on buying a new lens

When it comes to purchasing a new lens there are a few things to consider.

• Who much are you willing to spend
• What do you need it for (sport, landscape, portraits etc)
• What lenses do you already own
• Prime or Zoom
• Image Stabilizer or not
• Filter size

The budget question is rather obvious, don’t buy lenses you can’t afford, period. What you need your lens for is another very important factor, both when it comes to focal length and speed. Previously in this article I explained what the different focal lengths were used for, but I didn’t go into the different lenses in each of the focal length categories. For instance, there are many telephoto zoom lenses on the market but many of them are not suitable for sport due to the fact that they are too slow — and with slow I mean that their largest aperture isn’t letting enough light through to freeze action. Many sport situations require a lens that has an aperture of f/2.8 or larger (consumer telephoto lenses are often f/5.6). For situations with low light, especially weddings and such, requires even faster lenses, often between f/1.2 and f/1.8.

It’s also important to consider what lenses you already have in your collection and what a new lens will add. Sometimes you purchase a new lens as an upgrade from your previous lens, sometimes it’s for a focal length that you do not already have. Don’t worry to much about small gaps in the focal length in your collection. For example it’s no problem to have a 16-35mm wide angle, a 50mm prime and a 70-200mm telephoto lens — sure you don’t have lenses that covers 36-49mm or 51-69mm, but those are not big gaps and buying extra lenses to fill such gaps is not something I advice you do.

My personal opinion is that upgrading should add more than just better image quality, for a worth upgrade you should get a faster lens, or a feature such as image stabilizing (article on Image stabilizing coming later). The choice between prime and zoom lenses was described earlier in this article and there’s no right or wrong here, just personal preferences and also depending on the situation.

Last but not least, an aspect that is overlooked most of the time, the filter size. If you don’t use filters you can skip this part. If you’re like me and use several different filters it’s more economical to have the same filter size on all your lenses as well as more convenient. Let’s say you have several lenses with a filter size of 77mm and your looking for a new lens, you can either buy a cheaper 67mm or a more expensive 77mm lens (remember, I’m talking about filter size here). It might actually be more expensive to buy the cheaper lens since you need to buy an extra set of filters. Using step-up rings are an alternative, but they often prevent you from using a lens hood.

So after decided on your next lens purchase, where to buy? The only non-Swedish photo store I can personally recommend is B&H Photo. Great service, good prices and a useful website, I recommend B&H to everyone that ask, it’s a great store. There are other stores, but be careful, there are a lot of fake/bad photography stores online.

Skewed horizon

You were either holding the camera skewed or the tripod was set up uneven. Some DSLR cameras have the ability to change the focusing screen and install one that has guidelines. This is rather easily fixed in post-production by rotating the image, but you will loose some of the edges.

Red eyes

This effect occurs when the flash is located close to the lens and is a common problem with our modern point-and-shoot-cameras due to their placement of the flash. To prevent red eyes, do not use the cameras internal flash if your camera has one. Use an external flash that you can bounce on a wall or on the ceiling.

Reduce Noise in Photographs

Most likely due to a high ISO setting, but can also be caused by long exposures. To prevent noise, use a low ISO setting. If you have photographs with much noise you can always use a software to remove it, such as Photoshop or Noise Ninja, though some detail will be lost of course.

Ever wonder what it is that actually makes a camera work? This tutorial will cover the inner workings of a camera, and introduce you into photography basics and the expansive world of taking better photographs.

To take beautiful photographs you do not need an expensive camera and a bag full of equipment. What is important is the photographer’s ability to see his/her surrounding and use knowledge and personal feel for the subject.

Being the first article in a series, this lesson is meant to only cover the basics of photography. The idea with this series is to get people more interested in photography, awaken creativity and hopefully help people enjoy this hobby even more. The community here at Tutorial9 is an important part of this series and I would love to hear your feedback and questions.

An introduction to Photography

The word “photography” is French but is based on Greek word and literarily means “drawing with light“. That’s what photography is all about, without light — no photograph. The art of photography is basically seeing and balancing the light.

The illustration to the left shows the path the light travels from the object to the sensor (or film in non-digital cameras).

First the light needs to go through the lens, which is a series of differently shaped pieces of glass. If the focus is good then the light will meet on the sensor.

The aperture is placed inside the lens and is basically an opening that controls how much light reaches the sensor.

On most modern cameras the shutter is placed inside the camera body. This piece of mechanics is what controls how long time the sensor is exposed to the light.

The sensor is a very sensitive plate where the light is absorbed and transformed into pixels. As you can see on this illustration, the image the sensor picks up is actually upside down, just like our eyes sees the world, the processor inside the camera then flips it.

Aperture

The aperture sits inside the lens and controls how much light passes through the lens and onto the sensor. A large aperture lets through very much light and vice versa. Knowing how the aperture affects the photograph is one of the most important parts of photography — it affects the amount of light, depth of field, lens speed, sharpness and vignetting among other things. I will talk more about these things in later parts of this series.

F-numbers, a mathematical number that expresses the diameter of the aperture, are an important part of understanding how the aperture and exposure work. All f-numbers have a common notation, such as ƒ/5.6 for an f-number of 5.6. There are a set numbers of f-numbers that are used in photography, there are several different scales but the “standard” full-stop f-number scale is this:

These are known as full-stop f-numbers. If you decrease the f-number with one full-stop, like ƒ/4 to ƒ/2.8, the amount of light that passes through will double. If you increase the f-number with one full-stop, like ƒ/5.6 to ƒ/8, only half the amount of light will reach the sensor.

There can be several f-numbers between the ones above — depending on what scale is being used. The most common one is a 1/3 scale, which means that every third step is a full-stop, and thus giving you two settings between every full-stop. For example between ƒ/8 and ƒ/11 you will find ƒ/9 and ƒ/10. This can be rather confusing at first, so here’s a short reminder:

Shutter

The shutter is what controls how long the sensor is exposed to the light. The longer the shutter is open the more light can be captured by the sensor. A fast shutter speed will result in “freezing” a moving object and a slow shutter speed will let you capture the motion of a moving object.

There is a scale of stops for the shutter speeds just like for the aperture, below are the full-stops.

And just as with the aperture, the shutter speed is often on a 1/3 scale, giving your two steps in between every full-stop. For example between 1/60s and 1/125s you will find 1/80s and 1/100s.

ISO

The ISO speed (the name comes from the International Organization for Standardization) is a measure of the film speed, or its sensitivity to light. With digital cameras the ISO affects the sensor instead of the film, but the principal is the same. A low ISO speed requires a longer exposure and is referred to as slow, a high ISO speed requires less time to give the same exposure and is therefore referred to as fast. One step in the ISO equals one full-stop, so the ISO is not on a 1/3 scale — film can be found with 1/3 ISO speeds, but it’s uncommon in the digital world. These are the most common ISO speeds.

On 35mm film, a film with high ISO speed had much more grain than a slower film — but the modern sensors don’t create the same grain with high ISO speeds. Instead it creates noise. The digital noise is not as favorable as the film grain and can destroy a photo if it’s too visible (the same goes with the grain, but it’s effect was more subtle and often more liked).

If light is no problem, then always use a low ISO number but if you’re indoors with bad light or other conditions when you find the combination of aperture/shutter not to be enough the ISO speed can be a great asset. New digital sensors are constantly developed and the noise levels with high ISO speeds are decreasing with every new release.

Photo is yellow/orange tinted

The camera is most likely to have miscalculated and thought the photograph was outdoors and added orange tones to compensate. The white balance is the fault here, and if you’re photographing in RAW there’s no problem since you can easily just change the white balance to a desired level. If you’re not using RAW-files then you might want to check your settings in the camera — most cameras have W/B setting for indoors and outdoors, as well as custom settings and auto. The fault could also be that you used a flash that bounced off an orange surface as well, so try to always bounce the flash at a neutral surface, such as gray.

Take a look at what a RAW file is and how it compares to an ordinary JPEG file. Which one should you choose when taking photos and why?

What is RAW?

RAW is an image format that is used in many D-SLR cameras. There is no standard file extension, every camera developer (and some software tools) have their own extension — but the backbone is the same.

The RAW format captures what the camera sees and stores it together with the metadata information in the file. In fact, every camera shoots in “RAW”, but if not set up properly (or if not capable) will compress the RAW files to JPEG’s. In this article, I’ll show you the ups and downs to using RAW in photography.

The Positive Sides of Using RAW

Unlike JPEG files that are compressed, the RAW files remain uncompressed (or uses a lossless compression in some cases) which doesn’t affect the image quality.

In post-production, the photography has the ability to set the white balance without affecting the image quality, allowing for greater accuracy — such as being able to select a specific point to set the white balance at AFTER the photo is taken, instead of settling for a default setting like “indoors”. Even if you have your camera set to “Auto W/B” you will still have full control over it if you shoot in RAW during post-production.

The RAW format also gives you the ability to set color saturation, contrast and sharpness to greater extent than you can in other formats. If you shoot in JPEG these settings will be compressed into the file when photographing and changing then later will decrease the image quality. If you shoot in RAW you can decide whether you want to use the cameras settings or select your own.

The ability to bring back shadows and change highlights is greatly increased. This is mostly due to the fact that RAW is either 12 or 14 bits, while JPEGs are only 8 bits and are severely lacking the detail in shadows/highlights.

The Negative Sides of Using RAW

Unfortunately, this powerful set of tools that are RAW does come with some negative aspects as well.
RAW files are much larger in size than JPEG, but with the low prices on both hard drives and flash cards this issue is becoming less important. RAW files takes longer for the camera to write, which will decrease the frames per seconds or need to buffer longer — this can be a problem for sport photographers that want rapid series of shots.

RAW is for photographers that intend to do some sort of post-production, if you want to print/upload your photos directly from your camera this is not the format for you.

So far there is no standard RAW format, every developer have their own format; sometimes different formats for different cameras in the same series even. This has led to some uncertainty on what’s going to happen in the future, will there be a standard format or will this “madness” continue?

Due to these several different formats most post-production software needs to be updated to support the latest format/cameras.

Final thoughts

If you find yourself rarely doing any post-production work on your photographs you should probably not use the RAW format. The same thing goes for people that just photograph snapshots or the like, when the details aren’t visible.

For post-production use there are several different software solutions. Each camera company has their own software, and in most cases I would stay away from these simply because there are better tools out there. A commonly used software is the Camera Raw in Adobe Photoshop (CS and later versions), which gives you a great set of tools, although I find it a bit bulky.

Adobe also has a dedicated workspace for photographers called Lightroom that’s a good tool with great workflow. Capture One from Phase One is yet another alternative, with both pro and consumer versions. Last but not least is Apple’s Aperture, which is a Mac only software, provides great workflow and powerful tools, but is the most hardware demanding of the ones listed here.

Photo is blue tinted

These photographs look very cold and are most likely due to a miscalculation by the camera and just like the previous problem discussed, you can fix it the same way. Another reason why a photograph can get a blue tint is because of large amounts of UV-light, to reduce this problem use a UV-filter that prevents the UV-light to reach the sensor without affecting the overall quality of the photograph. (Not a problem for most digital SLR cameras.)

Photo is half black

The flash doesn’t sync correctly with the camera (shutter). This problem was more predominant before the digital era, but old flashes can still cause problems with newer technology. Either buy a new flash or learn which shutter speeds work best — 1/125 and 1/60 are usually good.

Chromatic aberration

Chromatic Aberration (sometimes also called “purple fringing”) is an optical effect and it’s seen as purple edges around an object, sometimes green edges on the opposite side are also visible. This effect is most common in situations with strong contrast, such as sunlight against dark objects or black text on white background. The problem is more prominent on zoom lenses, the longer the range the worse the problem usually is. To prevent it you could use a smaller aperture — shooting with the lens wide open will enhance the problem.

Sensor Dust

These gray spots are usually caused by sensor dust. The best way to get rid of this problem is to keep your gear clean and dust free. The sensor is very sensitive and cleaning it will mean that you expose it to further risks. Some photographers send their cameras to be cleaned while others clean the sensor themselves. Choose which option you like best.

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Tags | camera basic, good shot, Photography, Tutorial

How to Create a Trendy Retro Type Treatment

In this Illustrator tutorial, I’ll show you how to create a trendy retro type treatment with a free font, gradients, blends, and some scatter brushes. It’s a relative easy tutorial containing techniques that can be quickly applied to many other type treatments and various graphic elements.

Final Image Preview

Below is the final type treatment image to show you what we’re working towards.

Step 1

Before we get started in Illustrator, download the Museo Font, and install it on your system.

Step 2

Create a new Letter sized document, then use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a rectangle that is the size of your document.

Step 3

Fill the rectangle with a Radial Gradient from the Gradient Panel. Change the first swatch on the Gradient slider to a violet color and change the second swatch to a dark violet color.

Step 4

With the Line Tool (\), draw a line at a 45 degree angle that stretches from the bottom left corner to the top right side. Change the stroke to 5 pt and change the color to white (so you can see it against the background, but we will be changing it soon).

Step 5

Select the line with the Selection Tool (V) while holding down Alt, and drag out a copy to the right and down so the copied line is still inside the background.

Step 6

Select both lines and and create a blend by going to Object > Blend > Make. Next, go to Object > Blend > Blend Options, to bring up the Blend Options dialog. Change the Spacing to Specified Steps from the drop-down menu and change the option to 15.

Step 7

With the blend selected, go to Object > Expand to separate the blend. With the lines still selected, expand again, to outline the stokes.

Step 8

Fill the outlined line with the same Radial Gradient that you used for the background, but change the first swatch to a lighter violet than before.

Step 9

Select the lines and the background, then use the Gradient Tool (G) to adjust the gradient. Click in the middle of the rectangle and drag to the top of the rectangle. This will match up the transitions on the gradients.

Step 10

Create a ellipse with the Ellipse Tool (L) that is 10 px by 10 px. Fill it will a violet color.

Step 11

With the ellipse selected, go to Object > Path > Offset, to bring up the Offset Path dialog. In the dialog, change the Offset to -4 px. Change the offset ellipse to a light orange.

Step 12

Select the bigger ellipse and change the opacity to 0 from the Transparency Panel. Select both ellipses and create a blend by going to Object > Blend > Make.

Step 13

Before you start making a brush in this step, save a copy of the blend for later use. Select the new blend and drag it into the Brush Panel. When the New Brush dialog opens, select New Scatter Brush from the dialog. When the Scatter Brush Options dialog opens you are going to need to change a couple of settings.

First change all the drop-down menus to Random except the Rotation. Change the first field for the Size to 20 and the second field to 100. For the Spacing, change the first to 15 and the second to 115. For the Scatter, change the first to -220 and the second to 175.

Step 14

With the Brush Tool (B), draw a wavy brush stroke in the middle of your background, creating a scatter of your blend.

Step 15

With the brush stroke selected, change the Blend Mode to Overlay from the Transparency Panel and give it an Opacity of 25.

Step 16

Draw four to five more brush strokes, then change all of them to Overlay. Change the opacity on the stroke, but vary the percentage as well as the stroke weights.

Step 17

Select the blend copy that you saved from Step 13 and scale it to 52 px by 52 px.

Step 18

Set the copied shape to Overlay and it place over your brush strokes.

Step 19

Copy (Command + C) the blend ellipse and Paste (Command + V) a couple more times. Scale the copies separately to get varying sizes, then place them in different spots over the brush strokes.

Step 20

That should do it for the background. Now let’s take a look at the text. Type out some copy and change the font to the Museo font you downloaded. Change the Tracking to -100 from the Character Panel. Outline the text by going to Type > Create Outlines.

Step 21

With the outlines selected go Object > Ungroup (Command + Shift + G).

Step 22

In this step we’re going to modify the text. If you typed something different, the basic idea of connecting the letters will be the same. With the Direct Selection Tool (A), press Shift and select the top right line on the V. Drag the line until it’s overlapping the E. You might need to modify individual anchor point as well. In the example below, I dragged the top right anchor point to the right to close up the gap.

Step 23

Continue doing this to the other horizontal elements of the outline text until all the text is connected.

Step 24

Fill the text with a Linear Gradient. Add another swatch to the Linear Gradient by clicking right below the Gradient Slider in the Gradient Panel to give you a three swatch gradient. Change the first swatch to white, the second swatch to a light blue-green color, and the last swatch to a dark blue-green color. Use the Gradient Tool to adjust the gradient so the white color is on top.

Step 25

Place the text in the middle of your document over all the other artwork.

Step 26

For this next step, we’re going to create another brush. Draw a 14 px by 14px ellipse. With the Direct Selection Tool, select the right anchor point and drag it to the right – doubling its length. With the point still selected, set the Control Panel defaults to the Anchor Options. To the left of the Control Panel, press the Corner button, converting the anchor point to a corner.

Step 27

Fill the shape with black, drag the shape into the Brush Panel, and Choose New Art Brush from the New Brush dialog. When the Art Brush dialog appears, change the Colorization Method to Tints at the bottom of the dialog.

Step 28

For this step I’m going to use the Brush Tool (B). If you’re not comfortable with the Brush Tool (B) for making paths ,then you can use the Pen Tool (P) and apply the brush to the stroke. Create a brush stroke to the bottom left of the V. It is a good idea to change the stroke color to a lighter color than black so you can see it.

Step 29

Drawn another brush stroke above the previous one.

Step 30

Expand the brush strokes by going to Object > Expand Appearance. Next, it’s a good idea to clean up the leftover paths by going to Object > Path > Clean Up.

Step 31

Fill the outlined brush stroke with a Linear Gradient. Make the first swatch a blue and the second swatch a dark blue. Select the text and bring it to the front by going to Object > Arrange > Bring to Front.

Step 32

Copy (Command + C) and Paste (Command + V) both shapes numerous times around the text. On some of the copies, change the swatches on the Linear Gradient to a pink color and a dark pink color. Adjust the gradient so the darkest part of the gradient is closet to the text. When you place the copies around the text make sure to rotate and flip the shapes. All done!

Final Image

Below is the final type treatment image again.

Tags | retro, Tutorial, tuts, vector

Mysterious Lighting Effect You Can Create in Photoshop

What We’re Making

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you a nice and easy way to use the Lighting Effects
filter in Photoshop to add a mysterious ambiance to almost any graphic. To see the effect
in action, hover over the image below:

Getting Started

This effect typically works best on graphics that are a bit less saturated and bright. You’re welcome to
use our original graphic to try this effect out on, otherwise, we suggest you do the following if you’re
working with a bright graphic with vibrant colors.

• Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation
• Decrease the brightness and saturation of your graphic until you feel like it’s more

fitting for this effect.

Once you have a graphic ready to use, continue on to the next part of the tutorial.

Render the Lighting Effect

This effect essentially centers around the lighting effects filter. If you’ve ever worked with the filter
before, you may already have a few guesses as to how to accomplish this. However, you have
nothing to worry about if you have no experience with this filter, because we’re going to go
through the process, step by step.

First, go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects.

You should be immediately greeted with a
bunch of confusing settings and a thumbnail of your image:

This is simply the default lighting effects settings. We’re not going to use them, but I’d like to
quickly explain what a few of the different settings do:

Configure the First Light

Be sure your Light Type is set to Spotlight. There are 4 handles surrounding the center of the
light: The Handle with the line extending towards the center along with the handle on the
opposite side determine the length of the light. The other two handles determine the width.
Additionally, the center of the light can be dragged to reposition the light.

From any of the 4 handles, the light can be rotated. It’s also important to know that the handle
with the line extending towards the center is the source of the light, meaning that the light will
appear to come from that direction.

With all this in mind, reposition your first light source and settings to reflect what is shown in
the diagram below:

Configure the Second Light

Add a new light into the image (as mentioned earlier, drag a new light from the lightbulb
icon into the image area), and configure it to look like this. We want it to appear as if it’s a single
ray coming in, separate from our large, first light source, so we want it to be thin, and coming in
at a slightly different angle.

Switch Between Lights

You may have noticed that as soon as a new light was created, the settings and handles
for your other light disappeared. They can STILL be editied! To switch between lights,
just click the white center of the light.

Doubling Up

Often times, you’ll need to double up lights in order to create bright streaks of light streaming
in over your graphic. To do this, simply add an additional light source that’s approximately
the same width and length, and going in about the same direction as the light you’re trying to
increase the intensity of.

When you create a light to double up with, you may want to decrease the intensity and focus by
pretty large amounts, as we’re simply trying to increase the overall intensity of the first beam.
We don’t want to give the light source an overly hard appearance.

Add More Streams of Light

Add another stream of light, coming from a different angle, in a different area of the image.
It should appear as if the streams are being separated by an object in the way, such as light
pouring through bars of a jail cell, or something of the like.

Finished!

Just Press OK to apply your lighting effects filter, and you’re all set to go. If things don’t turn
out looking great, just undo the filter, and go back to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects.
It will keep the setup previously used, so you shouldn’t have trouble making any modifications!

Tags | lighting effect, mysterious, Photoshop

Design an Epic Fantasy Scene with Photoshop

In this tutorial we are going to create a photo manipulation inspired by Valhalla, one of Mariusz Karasiewicz`s works. He is an amazing artist and his work is absolutly stunning. I want to thank him for allowing me to write this tutorial.

Note from Editor: This tutorial, while well explained, is intended for more experienced Photoshop users. If you’re new to Photoshop, please consider trying out School of Photoshop and other Photoshop Tutorials first!

Materials Needed:

• Large Gothic Doorway (Only can be used for works on DeviantArt)
• Knight
• Clouds
• Shield
• Wings
• Sword
• Light Beams and Rays Brushes
• Feather Brush Set

Step 1: Create a new document

Go to File > New (Ctrl+N) to create a new canvas. Mine is 1700px wide by 2400px high at 300dpi.

Step 2: Large Gothic Doorway

Open in Photoshop the Large Gothic Doorway image and use the Move Tool (V) to drag it into the document you are working in. Then go to Edit > Free Transform (Ctrl+T) and scale the image down to fit your canvas. Change the name of this layer to Large Gothic Doorway.

Step 3: Apply the Sharpen Filter

To apply the sharpen filter, go to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen.

Step 4: Select the gate

Now we need to cut the floor and everything that is behind the gate. In the next steps we will put some nice clouds there. So, use the Pen Tool (P) to create a path along the gate. Then, with the Pen Tool still selected, right-click on your image, select Make Selection and click OK.

Step 5: Put the selection in a new layer

Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), right-click on your image, and select Layer via Copy. Now the selection is in a new layer. Later we will use this layer to create a clipping mask for the clouds layer.

Step 6: Add the clouds

Open in Photoshop the clouds image and move it in your document using the Move Tool (V). Change the name of this new layer to clouds.

Step 7: Create a Clipping Mask

Right-click on your clouds layer and select Create Clipping Mask. Now the clouds layer is using the layer directly beneath it (Layer 1) as a mask.

Step 8: Mask the clouds layer

We don`t want the clouds to be at the bottom of our image. To fix that, make sure that you have the clouds layer selected and go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Then select a black soft brush (B) with the diameter of 200px and mask the bottom part of the clouds layer. Take a look at the following image for reference.

Step 9: Duplicate the clouds layer

To duplicate a layer, right-click on it and select Duplicate Layer (Ctrl+J). Use the Move Tool (V) to move this layer at the top of the gate. Then add a layer mask to this layer, select a black soft brush with the diameter of 200px and mask the bottom part of this layer. Take a look at the next image for reference.

Step 10: The knight

Open in Photoshop the knight photo and use the Pen Tool (P) to cut the knight from the image. Then using the Move Tool (V), move the knight to the document you are working in. Also, change the name of this layer to knight.

Step 11: Add a mask to the knight layer

Make sure that you have your knight layer selected. Then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Select a black soft brush with the diameter of 80px and mask the horse`s legs like I did.

Step 12: Lights

Now we are going to create some lights and shadows for the knight layer. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves, make sure that the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option is checked and click OK.

Use the settings from the next image for the curves. Then fill the layer mask with black using the Paint Bucket Tool (G), select a soft white brush with the diameter of 50px and paint with this brush on the mask to create some lights on the knight.

Step 13: Shadows

Repeat the previous step to create some shadows on the knight. For the Curves layer use the settings from the next image.

Step 14: The wings

Open the wings image in Photoshop. Then copy and paste the wings that you like into your document and put them on the knight`s back. Also, change the name of this layer to wings.

Step 15: Adjustments for the wings layer

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves, make sure that the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option is checked and make a curve like I did.

Then go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast and use 24 for the brightness and 38 for the contrast. I also painted with a black soft brush on this layer`s mask because some areas of the wings were too bright.

Step 16: The shield

Open in Photoshop the Black Knight V image and use the Pen Tool (P) to cut the shield from the image. Then move it into your document using the Move Tool (V). Go to Edit > Free Transform, hold down the Shift key, scale the shield down and rotate it like I did. Change the name of this layer to shield.

Step 17: The sword

Now it`s time to give to the knight a sword. Open in Photoshop the sword image, cut the one from the middle and move it in your document. Change the name of this layer to sword and put it beneath the knight layer. The knight is almost complete now.

Step 18: Group all the knight`s layers

Hold down the Ctrl key and select all the knight`s layers. Then hit Ctrl+G to group them. Change the name of this group to knight.

Step 19: Add a mask to the knight group

Make sure that you have the knight group selected. Then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All and paint with a black soft brush with the diameter of 50px and the opacity set to 60%. Take a look at the following image for reference.

Step 20: Transform the knight group into a Smart Object

Right-click on the knight group and select Convert to Smart Object. Now the knight is in just one layer. If you want to edit the knight, double-click on the layer`s thumbnail. A new document will appear with all the knight`s layers. When you finish editing, save this new document and close it. Then the changes will be applied to the smart object. You can read more about smart objects on Veerle`s blog.

Step 21: Add a shadow to the knight

Hold down the Ctrl key and click on the knight layer`s thumbnail. This will make a selection of the knight. Now create a new layer, fill it with black and go to Select > Deselect (Ctrl+D). Then go to Edit > Free Transform, right-click on the image, select Flip Vertical, move the layer at the horse`s legs and hit the Enter key.

Now go to Edit > Transform > Distort, hold down the Shift key and distort the shadow like I did. Take a look at the next image for reference.

Next, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the Radius to 2px. Then change the opacity of this layer to 50% and its name to shadow and put it beneath the knight layer.

Step 22: Add a gradient map to the knight layer

Click on the knight layer to select it, then go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map, make sure that the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option is checked and click OK. Then use the settings from the next image. The colors which I used to create the gradient (from left to right) are #252c2e, #26353c, #aabac2 and #d1dde2.

Then set the opacity of this layer to 40%.

Step 23: Add some mist

Create a new layer, set the foreground color to #252c2e and the background color to #d1dde2 and go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Then hit Ctrl+Shift+F two or three times, to increase the contrast of the clouds.

Next, you will have to add three filters to this layer:

• Noise (Filter > Noise > Add Noise)
• Despeckle (Filter > Noise > Despeckle)
• Diffuse (Filter > Stylize > Diffuse)

Now add a mask to this layer (Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All), fill it with black using the Paint Bucket Tool (G), select a white soft brush with the diameter of 150px and the opacity 70% and paint with this brush on the mask, at the bottom of the image. Then change the name of this layer to mist.

Step 24: Add some adjustments to the mist layer

Now we are going to create three adjustment layers:

• Brightness/Contrast (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast);
• Gradient Map (Layer > New Adjustment Layer >Gradient Map) – the colors which I used are #161d1c, #322402, #6a5728, #fffbf3; also, set the opacity for this layer to 40%;
• Color Balance (Layer > New Adjustment Layer >Color Balance).

Note: Every time you add these adjustment layers, make sure that you check the ‘Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask’ option.

For each adjustment layer use the settings from the following image.

Step 25: Rays

Open in Photoshop the Light Beams and Rays Brushes. You can use the Preset Manager (Edit > Preset Manager) for this. Then create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N), select the Brush Tool (B) and use this tool to draw some white rays. You can use a mask to remove some parts of this layer, if you want. Is not a must. Change this layer`s name to rays.

Step 26: Add the feathers

Again, use the Preset Manager to open the feathers brush set which you have downloaded at the begining of this tutorial. Then use the Brush Tool (B) to draw some feathers. Put each feather in its own layer and use the Free Transform (Ctrl+T) to rotate them.

Step 27: Final Adjustments

All we have to do now is to add some adjustment layers. You can create them from the Layer > New Adjustment Layer menu.

• Curves - we will use the curves to create some rays. Use the settings from the next image. Then select a black soft brush with the diameter of 100px and the opacity 75% and paint with this brush some rays on the curves layer`s mask.

• Color Balance - set the opacity of this layer to 50%

• Brightness/Contrast - we will use the Brightness and Contrast adjustment layer to make the image darker on the edges. Use the settings from the following image. Then select a black soft brush with the diameter of 300px and the opacity 100% and mask the center of this layer.

• Photo Filter - use the color #5c6f85

• Brightness/Contrast - this time we will use the Brightness and Contrast adjustment layer to increase the brightness of our image`s center. Use the settings from the following image. Then fill this layer`s mask with black using the Paint Bucket Tool (G), select a soft white brush with the diameter of 300px and paint with this brush on the image`s center.

• Curves – we will use again the curves to make the image`s egdes darker. Use a black soft brush with the diameter of 200px to mask the center of this layer. We want the curves to affect only the edges of our image.

• Gradient Map - this is our last adjustment layer. To create the gradient use the colors #181a1b, #19262c, #3c4e57, #fffbf3. Set this layer`s opacity to 60%.

Step 28: Add a quote

This step is optional. Select the Type Tool (T) and write a quote or whatever you want at the top of the image. I have chosed a quote which belongs to James R. Cook: “Do just once what others say you can’t do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again.” I have used the Trajan font to write this.

This is the end of the tutorial. I hope you enjoyed it.

Final Result

Tags | fantasy warrior, Photoshop, Tutorial

10 Tips for Creating Compelling Web Copy

You are the most important person in the world. Wow, I got you to read the second sentence. Your interest is now piqued and you want to read more. If you do read this article, you will learn exactly how important it is to create compelling web copy. Between you and me, most readers just scan, but if you find a way to hook them in the first sentence and reel them in on the second sentence, you have a good chance that they will read the third. They may even read the entire article.
Don’t listen to those naysayers who tell you that website visitors only scan headlines and look at cute pictures. It’s a fact that visitors are more interested in what you write than every other aspect on the page. The problem is that most web writing is dreadfully boring, and oddly self-gratifying. Under the premise of helping you, the visitor, the writing is geared more towards establishing the writer as some sort of authority. Most web writing is very didactic, or teacher-student. I’m the first to admit I’m guilty of it, but not anymore. Here are some useful tips in creating words that people will want to read:

1. Be Personal

Stodgy paragraphs written in third person are no longer in fashion. The internet is extremely personal, and getting more personal by the moment. People come to the internet to explore in a relaxed nature, not to feel like they are reading from an encyclopedia. I admit, sometimes Wikipedia is too difficult for me to understand, and that’s okay because I can always find another website that can explain it in simpler terms. You want to have that website where visitors can go to explore without pressure.
Being personal also means revealing your personal side to the visitor. Besides placing your photo on the “About Me” page, your web copy needs to convey your personality. I don’t want to go to your blog or your Twitter page to get a sense of who you are, I’d like to read it directly on your site. Reach users by speaking directly to them. Do you notice how much more invested you are in this article than if I had gone into a third-person point of view?

2. Use Language Yo Mama Would Understand.
Oh, I went there. There’s nothing worst than visiting an authority website as a newbie and not understanding all the different terminology. Accommodate all visitors to your site, and try not to get so academic that you lose potential subscribers.

3. Draw on Common Metaphors or Experiences.
One way that people relate to each other is through shared experiences. For example, when I said earlier that I felt inferior to Wikipedia, I’m sure some of you agree. The point is that by me sharing a painful realization, it creates bonding. Find a way to connect with your readers so that they understand that you are them. You are engaging in a dialogue between friends, and not a lecture.
4. Use Pictures That Compliment Your Composition.
Reiterating what I said earlier, your words are the most important part of your article or blog post, but that’s not to say that pictures are unnecessary. To the contrary, pictures make a big difference in how people will connect to what you write. Think of pictures as a way of conveying a tone to your words. Because words are flat, pictures add an emotional component that’s much needed, and helps move the story along.

5. Read It Out Loud.
This can’t be stressed enough. Reading your words out loud helps you become more personal in your writing. If your writing does not sound like your natural speech, it is way too stodgy for web writing. Even if you prefer a more professional type of writing, your words should always match the rhythm of speech.

6. Don’t Edit Until The End.

A common mistake many writers make is to edit as they go along. Editing before finishing is like cutting hair without looking at the entire head. Only until you see the whole picture should you start removing undesired elements from it. Cut from the whole. By stopping to edit, you potentially sever your tie to creativity.

7. Remember That Sarcasm is Hard to Pull Off.
I know you’re funny, but it’s hard to read sarcasm or humor into web copy. At best, people will think that you’re not funny (which is probably what you’re thinking about me). At worst, people will think that English is not your first language. Only infuse humor when it’s unmistakable. You can still be personal without it.

8. Tidy Up Your Speech.

I know that the internet is free of all sorts of traditional boundaries, and that tip #1 told you to be personal, but there is such a thing as “getting carried away.” Getting too colloquial, or using foul language, only hurts your brand. There is a portion of your visitors who will, without a doubt, be offended at your use of distasteful words.

9. SEO is King.
Keywords are a stupid little brother, but they are a necessary evil. If you want to draw a crowd, you need to enrich your writing with keywords that will draw the right web surfers to your site. Keywords are not difficult. It goes back to being personal. If you were trying to find your site or an article on your site, what words would you use to search online? Perfect, those are the words you need to cram into your article.

10. Be Scannable.
Humans love headings in bold black. We love short bursts of text and a balance of white space. Your web copy should be all of these things so that if a reader is in a pinch, they can scan your information easily. Hopefully, they will encounter a headline that makes them stop and read and maybe double back. To add to the scannability of your text, be sure to bold important points in your article. It is another “stop sign” and compels users to read it.

Dear all Visitors and Commentors… Grapikom is glad that you like the articles being post in this blog and having great information for free, to EXTEND your gratitude may we request please to follow us on our tweets (by clicking Grapikom/Twitter be a follower) or be a fan of Grapikom (by clicking Grapikom Fan Page and LIKE it). Thank you very much and more great articles soon!

Tags | post, tips, tutotrial, web copy, writng

30 Awesome Photoshop Text Effects Tutorials

Last year, I compiled a very popular list of 80 Photoshop Text effects. Since then, a lot of new and spectacular text effects tutorials have been created. Not much more to add to this statement. Just take a look at this new roundup of 30 Awesome Photoshop Text Effects Tutorials.

Flowery Text Effect

Papercraft Text Effect

Colorful Glowing Text Effect

Smoke Text Effect

Ironman Text Effect

Flaming Meteor Text Effect

Star Wars Text Effect

Layered Glowing Text Effect

6 Quick Text Effects From Scratch

Spectacular 3D Text Effect

3D Grass Text Effect

Dramatic Fire Text Effect

Soft Stylized 3D Type

Candy Coated Text Effect

Realistic Chrome and Glossy Plastic Text Effect

Shaded text effect

Stylish Retro Text Effect

Dream Design 3D Text Effect

Suspended Text Effect

Text Inside Text Effect

Neon Text Effect

Super Cool Frilly Bits Text Effect

Text in Stitches

Wood Inlay Text Effect

License Plate Text Effect

Hell Text Effects

Watercolor Text Effect

Patches Text Effect

Cracky Text Effect

Starcraft 2 Text Effect

Tags | Photoshop, text effect, Tutorial, Tutorials

The Ultimate Collection of Maya 3D Book Tutorial

Ever wonder how animated films like Ice Age are made? Maya is the answer. Maya (or Autodesk Maya, having recently been acquired by Autodesk) is powerful 3D modeling, animation, texturing, rendering and visual effects software.

Maya was developed for the film industry and is now being used for design, visual effects, games, film, animation, visualization and simulation. The most significant thing that sets it apart from other 3D packages — and the reason it is used so widely in these major industries — is that it is highly customizable. Big studios can write custom code to suit their productions using the software’s development kit. This makes Maya highly adaptable to any workflow.

Below, we feature tutorials that address most Maya-related topics for beginners and advanced users. These tutorials cover almost everything Maya has to offer, from modeling to the final rendering process.

For Beginners

Poly Head Modeling

Box Modeling a Male
Brief tutorial on the box-modeling technique.

Low Poly Character
In this tutorial, you will see how to create a low poly character in 3D.

Real-Time Character Modeling
Modeling a real-time character.

Subdivision Surfaces
Use subdivision surfaces to model a character in Maya.

Face
This video tutorial teaches you how to model a face in Maya using polygons.

Texture Map NURBS Dragon
This tutorial teaches you how to paint 3D texture maps onto a NURBS dragon model.

Layered Texture
In this tutorial, you learn how to use the alpha channel of your projected image to “stencil” your image over or under other images in your geometry using a layered shader.

Fur
Basic tutorial on Maya fur.

Tree
Create a realistic tree in Maya.

Grass
Creating simple grass in Maya.

CG Nature
This tutorial shows you how to make terrain, trees and grass using Maya.

Realistic Ear
This tutorial shows you how to model a realistic human ear.

Human Anatomy UV Coordinates Setup for Texturing
Learn how to create your UV texture maps correctly so that they don’t blur or stretch.

Coin
This tutorial shows you how to create a very realistic coin using Maya.

Keroro Gunso
In this Maya tutorial, you learn how to model Keroro Gunso.

Coffee cup
This tutorial shows you how to create a coffee cup in Maya.

Screwdriver
This is a basic modeling tutorial that teaches you how to create a screw-driver and then use Final Gather to render global illumination, HDRI and depth of field.

Onion
Create a realistic-looking onion in Maya.

Mud Effect
Tutorial on creating a dynamic mud effect in Maya using soft body.

Wine Glass
This video tutorial teaches you how to model a wine glass in Maya.

LCD Monitor
In this tutorial, you learn the basic modeling of an LCD monitor in Maya.

Toilet
Tutorial on modeling a simple toilet in Maya.

Cigarette Box
In this tutorial, you learn basic modeling and UV mapping for a cigarette box.

Tea Cup
In this tutorial, you learn how to model and texture a tea cup.

Space Ship
Learn how to model a space ship.

Airplane
Video tutorial shows you how to model an airplane in Maya.

Tarantula
Tutorial shows you how to model a tarantula in Maya.

Paint Geometry Tool
The Paint Geometry Tool can be very useful when adding anything that needs to be duplicated and randomized across a given surface. In this tutorial, you learn all the basics of Maya`s Geometry Tool.

Using Bump Map to Sculpt Details

Rendering Wireframe
This tutorial shows you how to render wireframes on top of 3D models.

Subsurface Scattering
Simulating subsurface scattering with Mental Ray.

3D Cloud Shader
Create a realistic cloud in Maya using fluids.

Light Lamp
Creating a realistic lamp light using Maya.

Mental Ray Studio Lighting
This tutorial teaches you how to achieve a basic studio lighting setup with Maya and Mental Ray, using a single HDR image and Final Gather.

Maya Optics
A brief explanation of how lighting works in Maya and how it is different from physical real-world lighting.

Getting Started With Mental Ray`s Final Gather
Basic guide teaches you how to use Mental Ray’s Final Gather to render a model.

Light
A detailed tutorial on lighting in Maya.

Studio Lighting in Autodesk Maya 2009
Tutorial gives brief explanation on studio lighting in Maya 2009.

Image-Based Lighting
In this video tutorial, you learn how to create shadows under an object with a photorealistic image in the background.

HDRI in Mental Ray
This tutorial demonstrates how to use HDRI to achieve photorealistic rendering in Maya.

Realistic Lighting with LDRI Images

Chrome Car Rims
This tutorial guides you through the process of creating realistic-looking chrome car rims.

MapCreation in Maya 2009
Video examines how, using Maya 2009’s new render pass features, we can easily export a normal map from high poly geometry.

Realistic Glass
This tutorial explains three methods of creating realistic glass in Maya.

Tennis Ball Fur

Tire Cover
This tutorial shows how to model difficult rotating objects.

Cable
In this tutorial, you learn how to make a simple NURBS cylinder behave like a real cable, affected by gravity, elasticity and other real-life physical forces.

Hair styles with Maya fur
In this tutorial, you learn how to create various hairstyles with the Maya fur plug-in.

Hair Dynamics

Dynamic Telephone Cord
This tutorial shows you how to create a dynamic telephone cord using Maya Hair.

Crowd
Create a simple crowd in Maya with the help of the CrowdMaker Rendering Engine.

Cobblestone
This tutorial guides you through creating a 3D mesh in Maya that will be used for repeating material. It also includes instructions on how to create the model and then obtain a color map and normal map from the model.

Gear
This tutorial teaches you how to model and render a gear in Maya.

Sport Car Nissan 350-Z
Tutorial explains how to create 350Z’s body using polygonal modeling with blueprints in Maya.

Bee
This basic tutorial covers topics such as modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, rendering and particles.

Using Sun and Sky in Mental Ray with Maya
This tutorial demonstrates Sun and Sky system options in the Mental Ray Maya rendering engine.

Tire
In this tutorial, you see how to create realistic-looking sports car tire in Maya.

Candle Flame
Create a realistic candle flame in Maya.

Eye
Model and apply shaders to get realistic eyes.

UV mapping Techniques
This tutorial shows most of the UV mapping techniques and tricks of Maya software.

Water from Particle
Learn how to create realistic water, with effects, from Particle in Maya.

Pillow with ncloth
Maya ncloth provides excellent ways for CG artists to create realistic clothing. It simulates real-life factors such as forces acting, friction, rigidity, glue strength, pressure, tearing surfaces, etc. This video tutorial teaches you how to use ncloth to create a pillow.

Controlling Fog Density
Create and control a fog effect in Maya.

Optimized Caustics in Maya Mental Ray
In this tutorial, you learn how to make fast and optimized caustics effect with Maya and Mental Ray.

Coca-Cola Bottle
Modeling a Coca-Cola bottle in Maya.

Shelves And Mel scripts
Mel is a scripting language for Maya that is similar to C. Using Maya’s Mel scripts, you can link objects, loop an action, simulate real-world dynamics and do many other things. This tutorial teaches you how to make shelves and create Mel scripts to speed up repetitive tasks.

Tank
This tutorial focuses on making tank treads using Mel scripts.

Making eyelid rig with driven keys and expressions
This tutorial teaches you how to create an eyelid rig with driven keys and expressions.

Growing Flowers
In this tutorial, you see how to create a growing flower animation.

Stormy Ocean
This animation tutorial teaches you how to create a realistic ocean storm.

Clock Animation
Create a clock animation using Maya Expression.

Lava Effect
This tutorial explains how to make a shader for lava effects using Maya’s material editor, called Hypershade.

Rocket
Model a rocket with a particle trail in Maya.

Particle Emission When Objects Collide
Emit particles at the exact location of the collision of objects.

Destroying A Wall
Destroy a wall using rigid bodies and particles in Maya.

Rigid Body Collision Detection

Spaceship Fleet
This animation tutorial shows you how to use the particle instancer to create a fleet of spaceships flying across a plain.

Bend Deformer
This Maya tutorial covers the use of the Bend Deformer, which links one attribute to another, and the use of math in expressions to create animation.

Rotating Wheels
Learn how to create an animation of a wheel that rotates in sync with the speed of the car. The final animation is more accurate and realistic.

Falling Leaves
Create a falling leaves animation in Maya using nCloth and Paint Effects.

Yoyo Animation
Tutorial on animating a yo-yo, with the string wrapping around the fingers of a deforming hand.

Muscle Rigging
Maya tutorial on creating muscles that contract and expand a few frames before the limb moves.

Instancing Animated Geometry To Particles
Particle Instancing saves time when animating many identical objects in a scene.

Mechanical Stairs
This tutorial teaches you how to create a set of mechanical stairs.

BlendShapes
This Maya tutorial explains the process of using BlendShapes for facial animation.

Domino Effect
This tutorial teaches you how to set up the geometry of a domino effect and apply a passive-to-active key switch.

Jellyfish
This tutorial shows you how to create and animate jellyfish. It covers many topics such as modeling, texturing, animation and paint effects.

Walk
This complex tutorial uses Maya Expression to add repeating actions to a model.

Motion Blur
Add motion blur to your 3D animation in post-production by creating 2-D motion vectors in Maya.

Maya Live
Maya Live is a set of motion-tracking tools for matching CG to clean plate footage. This basic tutorial teaches you how to use Maya Live.

Hotbox
Hotbox is a great feature of Maya that will increase your speed and productivity. It allows artists to access every tool in Maya with the keyboard space bar, without having to waste time searching for tools and menu items all over the large Maya interface.

Irradiance Particles in Mental Ray
Learn how to use the powerful irradiance particle system in Mental Ray to lower your rendering times while balancing the rendering quality of your image using custom techniques and settings.

For Advanced Users

The tutorials featured below come from skilled professionals who work in the CG industry and are intended for advanced users of Maya software. You can use these techniques in other 3D software packages as well. Some of the tutorials use other packages like ZBrush, Mudbox and Photoshop in combination with Maya for best results. Before you begin any of these tutorials, make sure you have enough processing power: most of these tutorials are resource hungry. If you perfect the basic techniques covered above, try to use your skills to work on some of the high-quality projects featured below. Practice is the key to success.

Modeling a Character
In this tutorial, you see how Carsten Lind creates a character model in Maya.

American Alligator
See how Massimo Righi creates a sunbathing American alligator.

Next-Gen Environment Textures
A tutorial by Daniel Vijoi on creating next-gen environment textures in Maya. This tutorial focuses more on texturing.

Sohrab
Making Sohrab, by Farzad Dalvand.

Male Green Frog
Tutorial teaches you how to create a photorealistic render and 3D model that can be used for animation.

Steam MasterNext
Making Steam Master: next-gen game head by Sorin Lupu.

Spitfire War Plane
In this tutorial, you see how to model a Spitfire war plane.

Swimsuit Babe
Make an attractive woman, by Jimmy Chow.

Fruit Tarts
Make lovely fruit tarts, by Hau Ming.

Last ELF
Make the Last Elf in Maya. The author, Piotr Fox Wysocki, has done everything in detail to give it a real-life look.

Skullhead Mobster
Making Skullhead Mobster, by Harsh Borah.

Prince
Making Prince, by Robert Vari.

Tiger Zoo
Making Tiger Zoo, by Massimo Righi.

Prehistoric Animals
A demonstration of how this artist renders realistic-looking prehistoric animals.

Ingrid Bergman
Making Ingrid Bergman, by Max Edwin Wahyudi.

Morgane
Modeling Morgane in Maya, by Cousigne Adrien.

Breaking Subsurface Scattering into Render Layers in Maya
This tutorial is about the process of breaking the subsurface into rendering layers and compositing them in post.

Portrait of a Troll
Jonas Persson creates this Portrait of a Troll.

Cheese Platter
Detailed tutorial on making a cheese platter, by Hau Ming.

Quiet Room
Making a quiet room, by Yan Chan.

Gladiator
Making a gladiator, by Christopher ADAJAR.

Joker
Making the Joker, by Mohammadtaghi Aibaghi Esfehani. The detailing is done with ZBrush, texturing and matte painting and shave and haircut with Adobe Photoshop, and the finaly rendering with Mental Ray.

Varga
Making Varga in Maya.

Old Farm
Creating an old farm, by Daniel VIJOI.

Trapped
Making Trapped, by Massimo Righi.

Fatjon’s Performance
Making of Fatjon’s Performance, by Qu Yu Cheng.

High Polygon Realistic Character Creation
Creating a realistic high polygon character in Maya.

Gordon Ramsay`s Caricature
Making Gordon Ramsay, caricature by Jason Edwards

Turtle
Maya tutorial on creating a realistic-looking turtle. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Street Cop
Creating a street cop, by Mashru Mishu.

Dr Julian
Maya texturing tutorial by Julian Jeremy Johnson-Mortimer.

Character Walk Through
Maya tutorial on creating a stunning character.

Meet You
Making of Meet You by Zhang Sheng.

Facial Animation Rig for Delgo
This tutorial from Warren Grubb shows how he created a facial animation rig for this character, which is more powerful and flexible than standard multi-targeted blendshape rigs.

Character hair
This tutorial shows how to create low poly hair for game characters using lots of images and some printscreens directly from the application used ( Maya, Photoshop, etc.)

Next-Gen Game Car
Model a game car without blueprints. This tutorial covers modeling, UV mapping and texturing.

Mini Cooper
This Maya tutorial focuses on shading and texturing.

Classical Girl
Making a Classical Girl by Wang Shiyong.

Foot
Modeling a foot in Maya, by Steven Stahlberg.

Dear all Visitors and Commentors… Grapikom is glad that you like the articles being post in this blog and having great information for free, to EXTEND your gratitude may we request please to follow us on our tweets (by clicking Grapikom/Twitter be a follower) or be a fan of Grapikom (by clicking Grapikom Fan Page and LIKE it). Thank you very much and more great articles soon!

Tags | 3d, book, Tutorial

25+ Photoshop Tutorials for Poster Design

For Photoshop users who are interested in experimenting and learning something new, poster design is an excellent way to practice. With a large canvas area and unlimited possibilities, there is plenty of room for creativity. Last year I published a collection of tutorials for designing posters in Photoshop. Since other outstanding tutorials have been published since then, today we’ll feature another 28 tutorials.

Create a Furious Pink Panther Poster

Create and Then Shatter a Grid, While Making a Typographic Poster

Designing a Typographic Concept Poster

Designing a Portable Gaming Device Poster

Make a 3D Colour Explosion

Creating a Retro Grunge Poster

How to Draw an Electronic Angel Working Up an Image of a Girl

How to Design a Rockin’ 80’s Party Poster

Giving a Mafia Look to a Business Photo

Create a Mock-Retro Poster Concept

Poster from the Words

Make a Turn of the Century Vaudeville Poster

Awesome Snowboard Poster

Make an Inspiring Artistic Poster with Drawn Elements

Create an Impactful Child Welfare Poster

Design a High Impact Gig Poster Suitable for Screen Printing

Retro Movie Poster Art

Create Sci-Fi Poster Art in Photoshop

How to Create an Ice-Cold Poster with 3D Text

Creating a Grunge Rock Poster

Never Forget

Create a Poster Illustration with Floating Floral Elements

Sweet Radio Station Advert Design

Orange – Design Your Life

Make a Cut and Paste Rock Club Flyer

Create an Awesome Music Poster

Making an Anti-Terrorism Poster

Gig Poster Art in Photoshop

Dear all Visitors and Commentors… Grapikom is glad that you like the articles being post in this blog and having great information for free, to EXTEND your gratitude may we request please to follow us on our tweets (by clicking Grapikom/Twitter be a follower) or be a fan of Grapikom (by clicking Grapikom Fan Page and LIKE it). Thank you very much and more great articles soon!

Tags | design, Photoshop, poster, Tutorial, Tutorials

15 Photoshop Tutorials for Creating Product Advertisements

Design a Professional Laptop Advert – PSDFAN

PSDFAN is a new tutorial blog, but there’s already some high-quality work there, including this one.

Create an Energy Drink Ad Design – PSDTUTS

Of course a few from PSDTUTS have to be on any Photoshop tutorial list.

Sleek Phone Advertisement Flyer – Tutzor

This tutorial shows you how to create an attractive and creative advertisement.

Add a Fresh Splash to Your Design (for a beverage ad) – Tutorial9

Tutorial9 also has it’s own tutorial for creating a drink ad.

Design an Awesome Cell Phone Ad – Tutorial9

They also have a different style of cell phone ad.

Designing a Stylish Fashion Advert – PhotoshopStar

This tutorial from Photoship start will show you how to easily create an attractive advertisement, and how you can easily change the color.

Video Tutorial: Create an iPod Ad – YouTube

This is a nice video tutorial thrown into the mix.

Create a Mobile Phone Ad Design – PSDTUTS

Cell phone ads must be popular. The third one on our list takes a much different approach than the first two.

Make an Apple Coldplay Style Ad in Photoshop – PSDTUTS

A dark and sparkly ad tutorial from Fabio Sasso.

Stunning Print Advertisement for Cell Phone – Tutorial Notebook

This tutorial focuses solely on design for a printed publication.

MP3 Download Advertisement – Imgry.com

There are many MP3 sites and services out there. Here is an ad that can be used for one of them.

Create a Vibrant Drink Ad – PSDFAN

Another nice tutorial from PSDFAN.

Water Drops – PS Hero

This tutorial focuses on creating the water drops you see in the ad below, but the author combined it with a previous tutorial to get this end result.

Make a Perfume Ad – PS Wish

A different style than many of the ads on this list.

Designing a 3D Software Box – Tutorial9

Software boxes are not completely product ads, but they are used as a part of many ads for software.

Create a Software Box – Tutorial Blog

Another helpful tutorial for a software box.

Dear all Visitors and Commentors… Grapikom is glad that you like the articles being post in this blog and having great information for free, to EXTEND your gratitude may we request please to follow us on our tweets (by clicking Grapikom/Twitter be a follower) or be a fan of Grapikom (by clicking Grapikom Fan Page and LIKE it). Thank you very much and more great articles soon!

Tags | advertisement, photoshop design, produvt

Learn How To Use Tweetdeck Effectively And Save Time

TweetDeck is the most useful application for managing Twitter that I’ve found ever. It is fully customizable – you have full control of every column, user, related tweet – this application is really time saver if you use it on regular basis. In this article I am trying to show real power of Tweetdeck, which seems to be hidden on the first moment, it is an Adobe Air-based application that runs on any platform (it requires Adobe Air 1.5 to be installed first) – at first I would suggest You also to play with settings, rollover buttons, they are often self explaining also revealing many hidden features.

Organize Your Screen and Columns

I will start explaining the most important features

1. Tweet

This is the most basic button, You probably use very often – here You can write status update as well as insert and shorten URL.

Also note there are also buttons where You can add picture, translate message, automatically shrink message (shorten words as possible) and automatically hash tag with most relevant and popular tags. Keep playing with buttons – you’ll get used to it pretty fast.

2. All Friends

Open Friend tweet section column, usually it is open on default.

3. Replies

Open Reply column (lists all replies to your messages), usually this one is opened too. All messages with @yourtwittername included will be there.

4. Direct Messages

Open direct messages column (DM), opened on default.

5. Favorites

Opens Favorite message column.

6. Groups

Start new group, choose group members and manage them. This can be very handy to create specific column following just your selected friends, you want to take off the crowd. For example you can create one column – just where You talk with You work buddies and then maybe one more column where you select just your school friends. Read more about group creation here.

7. Twitter Search

Use advanced search to search all relevant tweets into a new column – great way yo start conversation that You really take interest in. Very powerful tool, read more about it here.

8. TwitScoop

Adds new column showing You hot trends, most often and popular topics – see what people are buzzing about.

9. 12Seconds

12seconds is the best place online for video status updates. It’s a super easy way to share what you’re doing with your friends and family using short video clips. You can use your web cam or mobile phone. Show your friends where you are, share your thoughts, or tell them how you’re doing. We are building a video status platform that will help you keep up to date with your friends 12 seconds at a time.

Tweetdeck just add interaction with this project and service.

10. StockTwits

StockTwits is an open, community-powered idea and information service for investments. Users can eavesdrop on traders and investors, or contribute to the conversation and build their reputation as savvy market wizards. The service takes financial related data – using Twitter as the content production platform – and structures it by stock, user, reputation, etc.

Log into the site with your Twitter details and you will be presented with a user interface filled with comments and stats showing the top ticker buzz, the top StockTwit talkers, and the top gainers and losers.

Tweetdeck just add interaction with this great service.

11. Facebook Status Update

Same here, adds Facebook interaction with Tweetdeck.

Okay, now we are a little more familiar with main navigation section. Continuing article, I’ll explain many short tips, which will help you navigate and use TweetDeck more effectively saving Your time in big amounts, of course, if you want it to spend at all on Twitter.

Reply, Retweet, Direct Message

Just rollover on profile icon to get many options as reply, retweet, DM, follow,unfollow, add to group, favorite, search. With those buttons you can do anything you could need from another person in very handy way.

Organize Your columns

You can get 5 columns on Your TweetDeck if You choose Narrow columns. Also note if You click on the new buttons to open new columns, you should close some of already opened ones in order to see new ones or just scroll from left to right.

How to delete column

Filter by keyword

Now this one is extremely useful because for example, if you are searching for links to retweet you can type “http” and all messages with URL’s will be listed.

Also “RT @” is useful, because you filter messages, which your friends seemed to be worthy for retweeting.

One more – if you’re looking for questions to answer and help somebody just type question mark – “?” or “please” and you’ll get all questions or requests from your friends.

You can also filter by username – select dropdown list and write Your friend’s username and get only his tweets in one column. You can even select time frame and source – it gives you complete control to Your columns.

Twitter API Limit

This is really good feature – Twitter API Limit Tracker. The API Tracker allows you to see how much of your Twitter API limit you’ve used and at what time your API limit will reset to 100%. You can see this limit on top right of Tweetdeck. On TweetDeck settings you can choose how you use this limit selecting how often Your columns updates, this is nice feature also if you have got a lot of followers. By limiting updates, you have enough time to read all interesting tweets in time.

TweetDeck Color Settings

As for me it’s pretty tiresome to read on dark background light letters and you know what – you can easily change it if you want! I just reversed colors and played some little more and got light, personalized TweetDeck profile. If you want, you can also share your Tweet color settings with friends or reset colors if you messed up something.

Okay, this ir pretty rough list explaining just the most important Tweetdeck features, if you want to dig really deep I listed several more resources, you can continue reading:

All your TweetDeck Questions Answered – 31 basic questions answered here, consider reading if You’re new to Tweetdeck.

TwitterHowTo

Here You can find a lot of Tweetdeck tips explained with screenshots really detailed, site is dedicated to help You with Twitter, but Tweetdeck related articles explaining new features are pretty often there. Just keep searching, what You need.

TweetDeck’s posterous

-All things about TweetDeck and Twitter.

It seems obvious, but if you’re interested what’s happening with Tweetdeck, read their own blog. That’s all for short!

Dear all Visitors and Commentors… Grapikom is glad that you like the articles being post in this blog and having great information for free, to EXTEND your gratitude may we request please to follow us on our tweets (by clicking Grapikom/Twitter be a follower) or be a fan of Grapikom (by clicking Grapikom Fan Page and LIKE it). Thank you very much and more great articles soon!

Tags | effective twitting, lesson on tweeting, tweetdeck, tweets, twitter

30 Photo Effect Photoshop Tutorials Every Designer Will Love

Few days ago I created this article 105 People Photo Manipulation Works You Will Really Marvel with amazing photo manipulation works. This time I went step further and actually tried to find tutorials teaching you how to achieve such effects! Of course, I didn’t find the same effects there, but if you look closer and really study these tutorials I showcased here, you will understand you’ll have all the skills to create such artworks! More or less techniques are the same and with little creativity you can create your own masterpiece even today!

I wish you good luck, while exploring and learning so you could spice up your own photos, impress friends and evolve your design skills! This list is a little bit shorter than other ones, but I thought I better focus on quality than quantity, because we already have many, many useless list tutorial articles around here repeating same stuff over and over again.

1. Water effect photo montage tutorial

Outstanding tutorial, you really must try this one and understand how to use this effect, giving you unlimited opportunities to express yourself.

2. How to Create a Sparkling Fantasy Photo Manipulation

In this tutorial, we’re going to create a photo manipulation using different techniques. We’ll be adjusting each layer and element to make a compact final image. We’ll be using multiple photos and a handful of effects to create this work. Let’s get started!

3. Dance Photo Manipulation Part 1, Part2

I love this one, you can really learn several advanced techniques from this two part tutorial, amazing advanced level tutorial!

4. Create dynamic distortion effects

Extend feel of dynamics and create work, you cannot take eyes of! Really advanced techniques!

5. How to Create Super-Malleable Effects with Colorful Lines

Very trendy tutorial, teaching you how to create beautiful artwork out of almost nothing!

6. Create a Sleek Illustration that Fades from Line Art to Color

Combine reality with line art in beautiful poster and learn advanced techniques from this high quality tutorial!

7. How to Turn Humdrum Photos into Cinematic Portraits

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to transform usual photo into regular, humdrum portrait, even faking HDR effects a little bit.

8. The RoboHorse Turn Ordinary Animal to a Robot

In this tutorial I will show you with an example of horse how to turn an ordinary animal to a robot.

9. Design a Colorful Illustration Using Patterns and Shapes

This is really beautiful tutorial using patterns,coloring and 3D shapes to gain outstanding effect! Tutorial is easy to create and modify, so you should really enjoy it!

10. Awesome Snowboard Poster Tutorial

Simple tutorial, showing how to gain great effects using just few brushes and basic Photoshop skills.

11. Create a Funky Perspective of a Model Riding Digital Volume

Learn how to create photo manipulation using perspective achieving depth and motion in artwork. Easy to follow up – enjoy!

12. How to Create a Steampunk Style Illustration in Photoshop

Learn through simple steps how to montage many different elements in one picture and make it look really good with lightning, shadows and image grading.

13. Make your image look awesome with a few light effects

For every beginner – advance effects!

14. How To Create A Vibrant Image Using Photoshop

Explore how to add dynamics, energy to photo turning it into great artwork! Excellent learning piece!

15. Beautiful Lady Effect Photoshop Tutorial

Colorize and extend this great photo to look it even more beautiful and artistic!

16. Electrifying Energy Beam Photoshop Tutorial

Great and very easy to archieve effect I really love to use in many works I create as well!

17. Tutorial: Use lighting effects to make photos sparkle

Add some simple brushes,lightning and color to make your photo stand out!

18. Dazzling Dance Photo Manipulation Tutorial

Detailed and really well explained Photoshop tutorial, which will learn how to combine several photos, add special effects and get outstanding results!

19. Create A Glowing Extreme Wallpaper in Photoshop

In this tutorial, you’ll create a complex glowing wallpaper using Photoshop, which is really easy to follow up.

20. Stylish Light Effect in Photoshop

Yet one more stylish image effect achieved playing with blending modes and adjustment layers.

21. Super Fast – Speed Lighting Effect Tutorial

Add speed of light in your works!

22. How to Create an Abstract Photo Manipulation

Nasty photo manipulation, which can be used in really various ways. Lots of useful techniques included in this tutorial!

23. Fashion Shot Photo Manipulation Tutorial

Enhance your photos with simple effects and get unbelievable effects!

24. Make Photos More Suggestive Tutorial

Subtle effects, great outcome, easy to follow up steps! Enjoy!

25. Add Another Dimension Photo Effects Tutorial

Use brushes and colors to spice up your photos to really stand out!

26. The Making of Mystic Tutorial

In this tutorial Nik Ainley walks us through the process of making a spectacular image. Completely outstanding!

27. Expressive lighting effects tutorial

Learn how to combine several lightning techniques to achieve stunning outcome!

28. Displacement effects tutorial

You’ll learn here how to use several filters and techniques to show you the way how to experiment, use lightning effects and recreate those effects in your own style.

29. Seriously Cool Photoshop Explosion Effect Tutorial

Very cool explosion effect tutorial, teaching how to break apart a body, add lightning and glow!

30. Create a Powerful Mental Wave Explosion Effect

Crazy and very powerful work. This tutorial will teach you how to combine photos and filters to produce wave explosion effect.

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Tags | designer, lesson on design, photoshop effect