Photoshop Home School: Clipping Mask & Ombre Effect

It's been a while since I've done one of these posts, so for all you newbies out there, let me preface that I am trying to get better at using photoshop simply by doing online tutorials.  So far I can do the basics.  I can erase backgrounds, I can create new layers, I can add a gradient fade and I am a big fan of finding and using all the brilliant Actions out there.  

However, in the last few weeks my confidence has been building.  I've gotten so much more comfortable with using photoshop that I figured it was time to learn another technique.  

Enter the brilliance of Katrina from Pugly Pixel.  I find that I just keep going back to her tutorials.  Not only are they very thorough and easy to follow, she also posts tutorials that just appeal to me (to everyone actually.)  She demonstrates how to do the things I see online and in print that I've always wanted to do, but had no idea where to begin.  Case in point, these two tutorials:

The Ombre Effect   &   The Clipping Mask

They go together quite nicely as the ombre tutorial shows.  But both are extremely fun and have so many possibilities!  As you can see I used both techniques on the image above, but I'm itching to experiment some more with each.  Do you ever use these effects with your images and design?  I'd love to see links!  

Photoshop Homeschool: Take Action

I know it's been a while since my last home school session, but I've just been soo busy that it's hard to find the time to sit down and really read through online tutorials.  But today's lesson is the perfect solution for people like me who tend to, shall we say, overbook themselves with too many activities.  And here's the magic word: Actions. 

Done with just the click of one Action!

Actions are photo processes that are essentially saved, so by simply clicking on a specific action, you can process a photo the same way every time, no matter how many steps are in the process.  That adds up to a whole lotta time saved and a whole bunch of awesome looking photos! 

Here's a link that explains how to create your own actions in photoshop, so you don't have to keep doing the same 15 steps over and over again.  But there are also a whole bunch of ready made actions floating all over the interwebs that you can download for free!  Some are at the bottom of the page linked above.  But here are two more links to some of my favorite free actions:

The Pioneer Woman's blog....Great blog and lovely actions!  And MCP Actions also offers an abundance of downloads for free that will help give your photos the action kick they need.  So go on, take action!

Photoshop Lesson 2: Gradient Fading

This is one of those skills that, I think, can take an image from boring to sophisticated in a quick minute.  I was so excited to finally learn how to make a gradient image fade...Here's the tutorial I used.  


Cheers!

Photoshop Homeschool- Silouetting Photos

One of the most simple and useful tutorials for one's photoshop arsenal, here is a fabuous way to silhouette images so you can place them in front of any background.  Beats the hell out of that cutting tool!  I am referring to his "1st method" in this video...I've never even made it to the 2nd one...



P.S. The first move he does is a simple right click or control click to change the picture from a background to "layer 0."

the new push- Photoshop Homeschool

Sometimes it just takes a change, an extra push from a direction you didn't expect to get you moving on a goal you always wanted to pursue, but never seemed to have the time.  Thanks to my new position at my job, I feel compelled, nay inspired, to really start learning more design skills...specifically in Photoshop and InDesign.

You see, I have the basics, but I want to be able to do more.  I can do enough to sort of get along, but when it comes to really creating I still rely on powerpoint and old simple tricks I've learned to put together graphic images.  And maybe it's just me, but I feel like you can see that in the results.

Over the next few weeks, my goal is to learn as much as I can about photoshop via tutorials I find solely online-- There are a lot out there.  Then, I will share these tutorials with you.  Maybe together we can all take our skills to the next level!  I must warn you, I am a bit of a novice, so I am starting from the very simple beginnings.  But please let me know if you have any recommended links for other techniques and how-to's!