Photoshop Friday! 2007 #11 - Faded Photos

Hi There!

Happy Photoshop Friday! We had a fun chat last night, and I think people had some good success with this technique. It’s one of my favorites for adding depth and dimension to a digi page in a way that paper simply can’t match.

So here we go. :)

Fading a Photo into the Background

This technique works best with a medium-colored solid paper as your background. This means kraft, a medium blue, medium yellow, pink, that kind of thing. Texture is great, but no patterns.

To complete a layout, you’ll need at least two photos, with one you’ve chosen as the main and one you’ve chosen as an accent.

Here again is my example layout:

 

Supplies (All from DesignerDigitals):

• Brown paper: You & Me Mini kit by Mindy Terasawa
• Blue paper: Thelma kit by Jackie Eckles
• Stripe paper, round accents: A Boy kit by Jackie Eckles
• Flourish brush (white): A La Mode brush set by Mary Ann Wise
• Flourish brushes (blue): On the Edge Flourishes No. 2 brush set by Katie Pertiet (this is probably my favorite new product to come out in the past month. I am using these ALL the time)
• Title: 2nd Hand Titles brush set by Katie Pertiet
• And my always favorite sanded Grunge Overlay by Katie Pertiet

Let’s get started.

1. Open a new blank layout, 12x12, 300 dpi, RGB color, white background.

2. Open and drag a digital patterned paper onto your layout. I used a nice brown from Mindy Terasawa’s You & Me Mini Kit. 

3. Open your accent photo and drag that onto your layout as well. I positioned mine in the bottom left corner.

Click for Larger 4. With your photo layer targeted, at the top of the Layers palette, drop down the blending mode selector (it says “Normal”, and set it to EITHER “Overlay” or “Soft Light”. Both of these work for this technique - and either one might look better depending on your paper/photo combination. So try them both, and stick with what looks best to you. :)

Click for Larger 

5.  Select your Rectangular Marquee tool. In the Options Bar at the top of your screen, type something like 100 in the Feather box (120 if you’re feeling saucy). Click and drag a rectangle around your photo. With feathering on, your selection will look very rounded. I moved my selection so that the left and bottom edges were actually off of the edge of my layout. That way my photo extends all the way to the corners of the paper, rather than feathering out in all directions. This is your choice, though. :)

Click for Larger 6. Go to Select > Inverse to switch your selection to everything BUT your original selection.

Click for Larger
7. Hit Delete. And if this isn’t quite enough feathering, you can hit Delete again with that same selection still active to erase a bit more of the photo. Here’s how mine came out:

Click for Larger 

CS/CS2 Trick

 

I know a lot of people are using CS/CS2/CS3 these days. So I’m going to include the PSE/Everyone way, and then some extra tips for CS/CS2 users.

The way I would accomplish this same task in CS/CS2, is with a layer mask.

Follow steps 1-5 above. So you’ll be starting here, with your feathered rectangular selection over your photo:

Click for Larger
You’ve got just one step now. In your Layers palette (Window > Layers), target your photo layer and click the Add Vector Mask button at the bottom of the Layers palette (it looks like a rectangle with a circle in the middle of it.

You get the exact same effect as the Invert > Delete technique above, but you create a layer mask which simply masks out a portion of the photo, rather than deleting it. This is called non-destructive editing, and is a really important concept among professional graphic designers and photographers. By deleting, you are basically throwing data away, and if you’ve done much to your photo (say you did some color correction, some curves, sharpened, etc., then deleted part of your photo and then changed your mind, you’d have no way (past the 20-steps back in the History) to go back and re-do. With a layer mask, you can simply throw the mask away and start over, or better yet, edit the mask that you have with your brush tools. That’s right, even graphical brushes can be used on masked photos. I’d love to see some stuff using that combo.

Can’t wait to see what you make with our Photo-fade technique! I love the depth this gives, not only visually, but in telling the story as well - accent photos always deepen the story on your page, and this is a great way to add one (or more!)

Have a wonderful weekend!

psst. I didn’t send an email out to The List for this week. That will go out today, so if you’re worried that I kicked you off or my email is going into (*gasp*) your spam box or something, neither of those is probably true. Definitely not the first one :). Look for a great coupon code from DesignerDigitals in this week’s email! Because Katie and the team there love ya, and so do I. :D

-J 

Comments

[Kathleen]

Well here is my take on your technique. I got a little carried away and started doing more, you know how it goes. Anyway if you would like to see it here is the link.

http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showphoto.php?photo=24577&ppuser=1626

By the way I am always trying your different techniques & have a lot of fun with them.You explain things so well. Have a great weekend

[Vicki]

Thanks for the great tutorial. I was following the chat last night but got a little lost since I'm a chat virgin!
Here's my take, I'll be playing around with some better pics again for sure.
http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?gallery=1&cmd=display&layout_id=1111684
Vicki :)

[Deli (dlaratonae)]

Love this tutorial. I have always wondered how to do this. Thank you soo much.

[Cler]

Love this one too, so many things you can do with the techniques in this tutorial!!! Thanks for sharing and for your time!
Cler.

[Sarah]

Cool technique. Thanks, once again, for helping out with the Photoshop skills. It's my favorite way to waste, I mean, employ my time.

http://georgeeliotclub.typepad.com/sarahbjones/2007/03/check_out_the_f.html

[Dedra]

Thank You again for another wonderful technique. I appreciate all the time it takes for you to do them...and the great coupons too!!

[Kris]

Thanks for the wonderful chat. And as always your great tutorials. I love this site and have learned so many things. Thanks for all you do.
http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showphoto.php?photo=24615&ppuser=1222

[leslie]

Very, very cool tutorial. I was bummed that I missed the chat last night, but so happy to have a chance to play tonight! I'm working on my LO now and will post the link when I'm done. I've learned so much from you and I'm so grateful. Thanks!

[Gail]

Thank you so much for the fabulous tutorial - LOVE it! And I love your gorgeous layout!

[Kim]

Hi Jessica, I love, love, love PSF!! I am very new to Photoshop and I am loving all your tutorials!! I know sometimes you go through and answer questions and I was wondering if you would share how you size photos in your layouts? For example the photo that goes the entire width of the 12 x 12 page? Thanks for all your great ideas!!! Kim

[Tiffany]

This has always been my absolute favorite technique of all time since I learned Photoshop years ago! So glad to see you feature it AND in Elements even! Dude, huge wow!

[Linda Schaaf]

I 've been lurking around your site for a couple of weeks so I thaught I should introduce myself and tell you how cool I think you are. Your an amazing scraper and teacher. I'm new to digi and have only had PSE for a few mounths, but have admired digital pages for years. I have learned so much from you and tell everyone who will listen about your site. I am also still learning my way around the web, so much to learn. I made a layout using this weeks technique but I don't know how to link to your site. If you want to see it I have a gallery at Scrapbook.com and my user name is saskscrap. Thank you again for being you.
Sincerly,
Linda

[MN Carol]

"Amazing" is the right word for Ele's eyes! LOVED the LO! I'm glad you have found you true calling in life - TEACHER! heheh luv u

[Chris]

Here is mine.
Chrishttp://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showphoto.php?photo=24685&ppuser=2868

[Barb]

I have used this in the past, but kind of forgotten to use the technique recently. I love your layout so much that I pretty much copied it with only a little variation. Thanks for your tremendous inspiration. Jessica, I signed up for your class at CKU- Anaheim and can't wait! Still crossing my fingers that you are successful in your plans for an online class. Good luck. Here is my link:
http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/gallery/details.ihtml?idx=42375

[grambie]

Glad to see that the nl came through. Also thanks for the tutorial which gives another take on this technnique. I am also hoping that the online class can come to fruition for all of us. A newbie to your site and a little over a yr for pse.

[Michele Stevenson]

Thanks so much for this cool technique. I've had PSE for a while, but up until now have only edited photos with it. You inspired me to try a digi layout ( using your free CK kit). It was so cool to be able to follow your great instructions and see the layout come together. It's simple, but it's my first
http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?gallery=1&cmd=display&layout_id=1113149
Thanks for the continued inspiration here and in Creating Keepsakes.

Michele

[mcabz]

thanks jessica. yet another great tutorial. you are so awesome to take the time for this! i look forward to it all week.

[Laura]

Hi Jessica! First, I wanted to thank you for your awesome tutorials. Seriously, you rock! I adore your work and I love coming to your blog to see your latest and get great tips. I'm counting the days till your special issue is out!
I was wondering, how do you always make your color photos pop so? I love how bright they always seem. I tried going through some of your posts and looking for instructions, but I couldn't find any. My apologies if I missed it!

[Cathy Pascual]

loved the tutorial!!
here's mine my attempt:
http://www.jenwilsondesigns.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=2856

thanks again!

[Carol]

Jessica,
I can't thank you enough for your site. Too many people get the knowledge and then horde it or sell it. I can't believe the help and clear instructions you give to all of us - and for FREE. As a beginner, you have taken me by the hand and walked me through so many "first steps". Thank you!

[Monique]

Here's mine:
http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showphoto.php?photo=34417&limit=recent

[Catherine]

I came across your site recently and am awed by your help and practical suggestions. I had a stroke and have taken up digital scrapbooking as therapy. I love your style of teaching as it really helps me follow the directions. Thank you

[Kelleigh]

I did it!! This is my very first totally digital layout and I learned SO much while putting it together. Thank you for your practical tips!

Check it out! Look familiar?

http://ratzlafffamily.blogspot.com/2007/08/first-totally-digital-layout.html

[grambie]

I have had problems with my system, and periodically files are moved around or lost.Sony says nothing is wrong. I just found out that your folder was also affected. The files are either lost or moved. Thanks for leaving your many tutorials available. I had planned to use your technique for my layout and decided to check here on your site. YEAH!!!Now, I can use it for my layout. You are a darling.

[Brenda]

This is so cool! And I even figured out a non-destructive way to do this in PSE. (of course, this article is old, so maybe it's been mentioned before).

After doing the selecting-with-feather, create a new layer below the photo layer. Fill the selection with black. Group the photo with this new layer. Done! :)