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I was always baffled by the fact that Photoshop’s Picture Package command did not offer an option for three 4×6’s on a page. Little did I know, it’s extremely easy to customize these layouts and create your own just by editing a plain text file. These instructions also work for Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Album.

1. Important: Mac OS X users much first apply an update to Photoshop before attempting to customize the Picture Package layouts. Information and and a download link can be found at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/
2. Copy the next five lines and paste them into a text editor, like NotePad or SimpleText:

# I 8 10
Letter (3) 4×6
0 0 6 4
0 4 4 6
4 4 4 6

1. Name this file FourBySixes.txt
2. Copy the file to your Adobe\Photoshop X.0\Presets\Layouts folder where X represents your version of Photoshop.
3. Open Photoshop and try it!

Tips:

1. The ReadMe.txt file in the Layouts folder explains how to make your own custom picture package layouts.
2. If you’ve never used the automated Picture Package function in Photoshop 6 and up, it can be found under the File > Automate submenu.
3. Adobe Photoshop Album and Adobe Photoshop Elements use the same format for Picture Packager layouts, so this tip will also work in those programs.

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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If you primarily use Adobe Photoshop for creating Web images, there are a few program changes you should make. These few tweaks will result in better Web graphics.

1. Go to File > Preferences > Saving Files

2. Set Image Previews to Never Save.

3. Go to File > Preferences > Units and Rulers

4. Set the Unit of measure to pixels.

5. Click one of the color swatches on the toolbar and check the box for Only Web-Safe Colors.

Image previews have been known to cause problems for AOL users viewing JPEG images through AOL’s default browser.

It also adds several bytes to the file size.

Pixels are the standard unit of measure for Web images.

72 pixels equal approximately one inch on a standard monitor.

Restricting the color palette to web-safe colors will ensure that colors will not shift or dither when your images are viewed on another computer.

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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If you are looking for stock images then I have posted here the best free stock image sites around. If I have left any out post a comment to let me know and it will be added to the list with credit link for you and your site.

Largest resource for free stock photos. Just be sure to check the license info as some photos need permission before being used. Sxc.hu

(at the moment the site is down but should be back up soon) All free and can be used in commercial projects without permission or credit. (has nothing to do with death) MorgueFile.com

You can download and use any image or texture from this site and use it in your own work, either personal or commercial. ImageAfter.com

Free photo resource with a decent catalog. Really free, no permission or credit needed. FreePhotosBank.com

The Open Photo Project is a moderated photo community with the goal of uniting image consumers and producers through Creative Commons licensing. OpenPhoto.net

The images may be used for commercial or personal use in print, film, TV, Internet or other media. Credit for the images is not necessary. FreeMediaGoo.com

This collection of photos is for anyone to use in just about any way they’d like. Nice Imagery! UnProfound.com

Nice collection of hi quality photos with a very simple terms of use. ImageBase

Nice site, with great stock… you need to sign up for a free membership before downloading photos. FreeRangeStock.com

More Free Stock Photo Sites

Below are sites which offer free photos, but have difficult/confusing licensing terms, smaller galleries, lower quality imagery or are a bit of a pain to navigate through:

gl.microsoft.com – Tons of free photos and clipart to use with your MS Office software.

Geek Philosopher – Lots of free photos, but check the licensing page for information on how they can be used.

Pixel Perfect Digital – Over 40 images in a variety of categories.

Pdphoto.org – Many photos in the public domain, but some are not — be sure to read the licensing info for each photo.

FreeStockMagic.com - Small but nice collection of free photos.

FreeImages – Free imagery but use of photos requires a link back to the site.

FreeFoto.com – Some decent photos available for non-commercial use.

Aarin Free Photo - About 950 free photos, but require credit / backlinks for use.

Free-StockPhotos.com – Free photos, ok selection…a little bit of a pain to navigate.

Notes:

Always remember to read a site’s Terms and Conditions / Licensing info before using a free photo.

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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Check these sites out to fuel your obsession!

ColorBlender.com

Colour Selector

COLOURlovers

COLOURlovers allows anyone visiting the site access to thousands of pallets registered “lovers” create. They also let you display your “love” for color with a small piece of javascript that embeds a 5 color pallet onto any website or blog. Take a look it’s worth it believe me!

Suggested by a reader of this blog:

Kuler from Adobe Labs

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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• 5 Texture Tips
• – learn the key ingredients to great textures Rain Effect Tutorial a nice animated Rain Effect sent in by Colossus
• Making Black/White in Photoshop for converting color images to good black and white images by Richard Schneider
• Match color from another photo – Before combining two photos, how to get them to match color values
• Getting the Ansel Adams Look – Is it a color photo? You’ll need the channel mixer or levels
• Cloning Tool Stopped Working – I am having problems with the cloning tool on photoshop 7
• Scaling to match another image size – Scaling to an exact target size is tricky… and should never enlarge!
• Resetting Dialogs in Photoshop – if Photoshop seems to be misbehaving
• PS 7 rejects Scanner – hello? where did my scanner go???
• Color Photo from Black and White – to and from black and white tips and tricks
• Help removing white backgrounds – How do I get rid of the White background in my forum sig?
• How to pick up an exact color… – How do you select an exact color to match?
• How to fix a corrupted file – Crashing during a “SAVE” is not a pretty picture
• Hot spots too bright – Flash flare and hot spots can cause problems. Here’s one way to solve the problem…
• Photoshop picks only black or white – When I go to pick my color, it will only be Black-white
• Replacing Body Parts – How do you match the color in photos before swapping faces…
• Multiple Scan Assembly – How do you assemble multiple parts of an oversized scan?
• Photoshop Elements for Sepiatone – Give a photo the “old fashioned” look with sepia toning
• Lost scanner contact – Photoshop can’t find my scanner!
• How to restrict the file to just TWO colors? – Trying to build a 2-color ad
• Clone Stamp Problems in CS – Here the Clone Stamp Tool seems to have a life of its own, and doesn’t catch new samples…
• How do you create an artistic border? – Creating artistic borders
• How to achieve Black/White with Color Detail – How to achieve Black/White with Color Detail
• How to select Hair – The 1,000th person has asked how to select hair
• How do you merge pictures and text? – trying to merge 2 pictures and text
• Photoshop Text Runarounds? – How do I create text runarounds in Photoshop CS
• Sizing Images for Print in Elements – This reader wants help sizing images to gang print onto single photo paper sheets…
• Copying Saving from Disk to Disk – Problems cutting and editing images from disk to disk
• How to fix a corrupted file – Crashing during a “SAVE” is not a pretty picture
• Optimizing graphics for the Web – Can you direct me to a tutorial on how to optimize photos I wish to publish on my website?
• Fading Photos – Use Feathering or Layer Masks
• Grid Patterns over Photos – Multi colored, grid over art – painstaking process
• Pen Tool in Photoshop CS – Why can’t you draw an “Open” path
• Photoshop and Error 39 – NOT Photoshop!
• Automating the Healing Brush – lots and lots of dust spots
• Burned Holes in Photoshop
• Help recall Filter Settings… Reapplying filter effects
• PS Bevels by hand
• PS helps Faded Photo two scans?
• Making round corner rectangles in Photoshop
• Hot spots in photo (Flash Burn)
• Adding Fill Flash in Photoshop
• Removing Date Stamps from Photos
• Mismatched resolution causes problems
• Making round corner rectangles in Photoshop
• Get Rid of White Backgrounds? Classic question!
• Aging Photos: What would they look like today?
• Custom Gradients? break out of the defaults
• Annoying Gray Boxes? Careful what you click
• Selecting Wrong Colors? Eyedropper Spread Trick

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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The Best sites to share your digital art.

• deviantART – Where Art meets application!
• Carbonmade – A super simple tool to build and show off your creative portfolio.
• GFXartist – The web’s finest art at your fingertips.
• CGsociety – Society of Digital Artists
• Caedes.net – Desktop Wallpaper and Artist Community
• Elfwood – Elfwood is the largest science fiction and fantasy art site in the world. Over 400,00 pieces from artists all over the world.
• Image Making Discussions For Webmasters – Discussed are Web 2.0 applications (web based software) that help you create customized funny (even personalized promotional pictures) images for your own blogs. Great collection of many tools for those of us who cannot afford to hire a web designer or purchase Photoshop!
• Hiero – Russian photo-art-community.
• ConceptArt – Let some of the most imaginitive artists on the internet inspire you with their unique visions. Travel through their minds eye and learn along with them.
• Eatpoo 2.0 – Welcome Ladies!

We’ll be using a bunch of techniques that involve making a new brush. Okay, technically, it’s called defining a brush preset, but many people refer to it as making a brush since it also can involve tweaking the settings in the Brushes palette. You start with a photo or paint a shape, make a selection, and then choose Edit>Define Brush Preset. Here I made a small selection in a photo (shown in Quick Mask mode, just so it’s easier to see). After choosing Edit>Define Brush Preset, I named my brush and then clicked OK. In order to make the new brush more interesting, I used the Brushes palette (docked in the Palette Well by default) to change some settings. I used the Brush Tip Shape options to rotate the brush slightly and increase the spacing. In the Shape Dynamics options, I changed the Size Jitter to 3% and increased the Angle Jitter to 29%.

I created a new blank document and, using the Brush tool with my new brush shape, I clicked once on one side of the new document. Then while pressing-and-holding the Shift key, I clicked on the other side of the document. This painted a straight line but as you can see, the brush rotated and changed size slightly based on my settings in the Brushes palette.

Another way to make a brush shape is to start with a blank document and create a painted shape. Here I used a standard brush to paint a few lines in black, applied several filters (Motion Blur, Glass, and Dry Brush), and then finished it off with Threshold and a little Gauss-ian Blur. (I’m deliberately not giving you step-by-step instructions here because I want you to start experimenting and making brushes.) Once you’ve created a shape you like, again use Edit>Define Brush Preset to create the brush shape, and then if you like, tweak the settings in the Brushes palette.

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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This is the image we will be working with for this example and removing the background from using channels!:

Step 1:

The first step is to ensure that the image you’re working with is on a new layer, as shown in the following image:

Step 2:

Click on the “Channels” tab in your Layers Palette and determine which color channel best represents the area we want to capture. Shown in the image here from top to bottom, you can see the red, blue, and green channels for this image. It’s obvious that the red channel contains the most information for capturing the flame – click that layer, and the image you’re working with will change to show the channels values:

Step 3:

Once you have found the correct channel to work with for your image, click and drag it down onto the “New Layer” icon as shown in the example here:

Step 4:

It will create a duplicate of that layer, but it is now used as an “Alpha Channel” selection layer (this will make more sense soon). Re-name the layer to “ALPHA”:

Step 5:

-This is a MAJOR STEP, PAY ATTENTION-
Everything that is BLACK on this ALPHA layer will be deleted, keep this in mind! If there is anything in the image that you want gone, make sure to take out the paintbrush and paint black over the top of it (MAKE SURE that you’re doing this with the ALPHA layer selected still). In my example here, i am painting over the top of a smaller flame:

Step 6:

Once that is done, go up to the menu and open the “Select” menu, then go down to the bottom and choose “Load Selection” – you will get the following window. Drop down the “Channel” list and choose ALPHA, then make sure to tick the box underneath it saying “Invert” (This will make sure you’re not deleting the FLAME, but everything else except that object.) Press OK:

Step 7:

Your image will now look like this, with the ‘Marching Ants’ selection showing that all the black is selected:

Step 8:

Now simply hit the delete key and it will delete all of the selected area, leaving you with just the flame on its own layer, and the background layer underneath it:

Step 9:

To test out that it worked okay, insert an image UNDERNEATH the layer that the flame is on – it should work like this:

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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