Creating a test image with Fotofix

Since my last post I have been using the free photo editing website I mentioned last time called Fotofix.(http://www.fotofix.com/free-photo-editing-fotofix-yourself/). Although this editor is marketed to be used to edit pictures of people, I wanted to see what else could be produced. So I found two images one of a street in Central London and another of a beach in South Africa and used Fotofix to combine them:

This image was created using four layers. three of which can be seen on the layers panel in the above image. My background layer, which is not shown, was a the sunset sky (without the plane), I then I added the picture of London to the background as another layer. This is done using the Layers menu from the panel. I then used the magic wand tool to get rid of most of the background that was behind the building, then used the magic wand tool and the eraser to neaten the image without effecting my sky background.

Photoshop definitely has more options and styles of selection tool, which would have left me with a sharper finish; I found it more difficult to get a good finish with the tools on Fotofix, but as it is free it is expected. I have found that using this website for trials and mock ups has been very useful. I have also used this website to create some test versions of the layout of my portfolio, which I will upload later.

After adding the London scene layer, I then added the beach layer and did the same as I did with the London Layer. When using Photoshop in lectures I have always used the masking tool on the layers panel to erase back to the background however, the masking tool for this software seems to have a different kind of function, so the eraser was used instead. I also created my own brush for the eraser when removing the old background from the beach layer, as there were some specks of the background that were not removed in the palm trees and a more spikey brush was needed. Once this was complete I then added an image of a plane and used the same method again, it also originally has a white logo on the tail,  to remove it I used the clone tool to make the tail of the plane solid red red.

The quality and finish of this picture is not as high as it would be if it was done using Photoshop, but for a free and easy to use editor it is something I have come to use a lot to create pictures which will help me plan the layout of my portfolio. To create my print and web outcome for my portfolio I will be using a combination of Photoshop, InDesign and Illutrator to create my images; I am also looking into free alternatives for the others as well. I have come across 'Inkscape' which uses vectors in the same way as Illustrator, so this is something I will definitely be experimenting with at a later date.

Although I have not been able to have much practice actually using Photoshop, etc. I have been watching free online tutorials on 'Lynda' an the Adobe website. I also did a free Photoshop CS6 ALISON course online a little while back but forgot to post. It was really helpful and I got some good notes from the videos and managed to get 100% in the final assessment! This particular course was based on CS6 but there are also ones for older versions, so I must find out whether they are worth doing, in terms of how similar they are to the one I use.

Creations from lectures

Leaflet from week seven

Given the idea above, I created this leaflet, it was made up using Photoshop. The background layer was the sky, and in another layer there was another image of the building with a lighter sky in the background, I preferred the palette of the sky I chose, therefore using the quick selection tool, I selected the outline of the building and then cut in and pasted it onto my background layer, |I then used the masking tool to clean up any rough edges, although the top of this building needs to be adjusted. Unfortunately I did not complete my picture as the banner 'Coflor' is missing and I was having trouble inserting the logo for some unknown reason. The dummy text was also simply placed into the layer as it was a saved source from my computer. Photoshop can be used to create various types of documents and images, although this image is still very basic, the more practise I get will sharpen my skills. I am also looking into Photoshop courses, as I think it would be beneficial even after this module is complete.

There are examples of 'Photoshopped' images everywhere you look, and since beginning this year it has become more apparent. There are also other versions similar and many more basic compared to Photoshop such as Splashup.

As you can see, this editor also includes a layers panel, although the tool bar is very basic, and there is no top bar, although some elements included in the top bar on Photoshop such as the sizing and colour have been panelled on the right hand side. This editor however does not include any kind of quick selection tool, the ones provided here must be used free hand which is not accurate enough in most cases. Another free editor I have found is called Fotofix

Fotofix has more useful tools compared to Splashup, and more similar tools to Photoshop. For example this software includes a magic wand tool, as does Photoshop, which makes it easier to select the outline of an image without using free hand, although using the magic want tool can also be inaccurate due to changes in lighting and texture of the part of the image you are trying to select. Like Photoshop, Fotofix has a pinch and bloat tool, similar to Photoshop's 'pucker' and 'bloat' tools, which are useful for changing the amount of volume in a certain part of an image. Fotofix also has a spot healing tool and smudge tool as does Photoshop.  These tools are useful for removing any rough edges or blemishes. As you can see on the layers panel of the Fotofix screenshot, there is also a masking tool, which is a helpful tool when blending layers into a background. These tools have been specified as I have come to notice that on free software these tools are not as easy to find. Features such as the fill tool, the eyedroper and some others can be found on most software, even Microsoft Paint.

30th October

This is a simple picture I created this picture in today's lecture using Photoshop, in this case I had a background of a city scene, I then placed an image of an eye on top of the background, using a both of the Quick Selection Tool and the Magnetic Lasso Tool, I removed the eye from the image allowing the background to be seen, and finally used a special brush to create the lashes.

Working at the head office for a women's clothing company I have seen how Photoshop is used to create the images that go on our website and in our catalogue. For example most images on our homepage http://www.wall-london.com/ would use a similar method to mine, finding a background in this case plain grey (may be different now) and placing an image of the model on top and using the same selection tools mentioned previously and the inverse tool, the old background is removed and the grey background is revealed.

In another lecture I have this semester Artist PR and Publicity we are learning about press packs usually a 'Pack Shot' of the artist(s) will be included which is an official image of the artist(s) themselves or a logo that represents them, either way it will have been created on Photoshop or Illustrator.

This is a pack shot for 'The Saturdays' the girls would have been seated on a bench of some sort in their poses, then the image of a beam in the sky would be used as a background, removing the bench from the image, the long trains of the dresses were most likely added on later along with the text.


Using this software, I have recognised just how much can be done with it and how much it is used.

Continued...

Today's lecture was focusing on Photoshop, Michael first showed us an image he had created using layers, he had created several layers containing various images and text which came out like one big poster. The layering technique reminded me of projectors and the clear sheets. You use images on each sheet and when they are all piled in top of each other and in the correct position it gives you your final image.

We watched a demonstration of how this image was created, using tools such as masking, which can be used with a paintbrush tool to hide parts of an image. We were also taught about the selection tools such as the magnetic lasso, which is a tool that recognises edges and colour differences to help you select what you need, although depending on the colours and lights in the picture it may need to be altered, this can be done by using the 'shift' and 'alt' keys to either remove or delete selected parts.

Once we had been shown what to do we were asked to use high resolution images and create a poster like Michael's, I took images from the web and at first they were coming out really pixelated and blurry and then I was told to change the format of the page to 'Web' which switches the resolution of the bitmap. Once I did this my images were coming up much clearer. I had used an ocean image for my background and found an image of a white tiger, so using the magnetic lasso I was able to remove the tiger from the jungle and put him by the sea! I then used the masking tool to neaten up the edges around the tiger, as the lasso had left a few jagged parts. I also used the clone tool to spread the background of my image.

 I now need to dedicate some spare time to making a few images and testing out what I know so far. It's a shame Photoshop is so pricey! Would be great to have it at home, as well as Illustrator and the Apple Mac. Maybe once I win the lottery.

Getting to know the software

Finally my blog is up and running! I have had some technical issues setting up my blog, even though its supposed to be a very simple process.

The main purpose of this blog is to talk about what I've taken from my lectures on Advanced Digital Interaction and Communication with Michael Garaway.

In my first lecture Michael gave us introduction to the software we will be using for the module; Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Illustrator, I am not very familiar with either of these and I'm also not familiar with the Apple Mac's we use! But I know I'm naturally quite good with computers so I'll pick it up. Both Photoshop and Illustrator are very similar in terms of the interface and the tools etc. But the main difference between the two is the way they create an image, Photoshop uses pixels on a bitmap, which are basically millions of tiny squares used to create an image. Whereas Illustrator uses vectors and uses anchor points to create mathematical expressions that make up an image.

I spent some time clicking around with them both, creating images and seeing what else I could manage. I familiarised myself with the tool bars, although there are A LOT of tools and effects it gets a bit daunting, but hopefully if I practice at it I'll be a pro by the end of the module!