Monday, December 29, 2008

Model S Revisited!

My friend Model S came to town and we had a fun photo shoot. I haven't finished editing the pictures yet but I've worked on some. We wanted to go somewhere crazy to get cool backgrounds, but since we had only a little amount of time, we decided to just take pictures in front of a background we could wipe out. The backgrounds I ended up inserting were courtesy of Stock.XCHNG, a fabulous free stock photo site http://www.sxc.hu/.

I just erased the background (using in part the the intelligent scissors and in part various erasers) of my Model S picture and inserted the background pictures as a different layer. I also tried to give a more merged look by overlaying some black on a blank layer that I placed at the forefront of my GIMP file before saving as a jpg. They're not perfect sure, but I still thought the idea was kind of fun. :)

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Malgalin From Youtube

This guy's a genius! Okay, it shouldn't have been that hard for me to learn how to use the intelligent scissors tool in GIMP. And I should have looked it up months ago. But I'm lazy and forgetful. :) I randomly came across this video and discovered the missing key: after isolating the area you want, you have to click within the selection in order to actually select the area. I've spent hours trying to use that tool, but I never thought to click inside the area afterwards. (Go figure!) It's basic, but it was news to me. Thanks Malgalin!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Old Pics + GIMP = Fun :)

It's hard to think back to the time before I had GIMP in my life. Ha ha. But I found some old photographs on my computer the other day and realized I had never played with them using GIMP. It's amazing to me how bad photographs can become, ergh, not so bad with editing. :)


Details: Edited in our favorite program, GIMP! I repeatedly inverted the color and color values to get a fuzzy look and random coloring. Fun, fun. :)

Monday, December 1, 2008

"Photo Fun" Got an Upgrade!

I previously have discussed the joys of Photo Fun, the fun and classic way to upload photos and insert them into pre-made classics such as billboards, books, museums, and more. Photo Fun has some new and great pre-made images to choose from so I'd definitely recommend returning to the site. And my previous warning still applies: some of the pictures are offensive so avert your eyes. Without further ado: http://photofunia.com/. :)

(And you can check out my first Photo Fun post here.)


Details: I edited the original photograph in GIMP. I relied heavily on the Iwarp tool--one of the best inventions of our day! And I've also become obsessed with airbrushing, but you probably already know that. :)

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!


Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics


Or Happy November 27th if Thanksgiving isn't your style. :) The holidays remind me of the cool site Glitterfy since that's where I usually go to get fun, festive graphics to embed on my friends pages online. Glitterfy offers prepared graphics and also lets you upload photos and create your own glitterfy-ed greatness. Graphics, photos, text--Glitterfy does it all. :)

http://www.glitterfy.com/

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards


It's that time of year again: Elf Yourself is back! It's the classic and free way to upload photos and turn friends and family into dancing elves once and for all. Elf Yourself, brought to you by Office Max and powered by Jib Jab, is better than ever so enjoy! :)

http://www.elfyourself.com/

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Since We're Reminiscing Anyway... :)

I'll go ahead and post my first real attempts with Adobe Photoshop. At the time I took these photographs, I discovered that some of our campus computers had the program and I decided to play around with it. Knowing nothing about Photoshop made things kind of tricky at first. :)

Details: Who knows what I did to these photographs--it was so long ago. :) But yes, the pictures were edited in Adobe Photoshop using various tools and effects.

Oldies

I was looking through my desktop and came across some old photographs that I had previously edited. It's funny how some pictures look much cooler after not seeing them for a year and some pictures look way lamer. :)

The pictures were edited using Microsoft Office Picture Manager and Adobe Photoshop. I had yet to learn of GIMP at this point in time. :)

Friday, November 7, 2008

Jib Jab

JibJab.com is another fun, interactive site. Among other things, you can upload a photo and insert it into a prepared background.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Learning GIMP

At first when I started playing around with GIMP, I found the editing program extremely complicated. I talked with a friend of mine and she gave me some basic tips which went a long way. Once I internalized the whole concept of layers, everything went much smoother from then on. After that, trial and error is how I picked up most of what I've learned. I don't know much, but I would be happy to try to help answer any questions.

Formal reading has never been my forte, but those of you so inclined can find GIMP Tutorials online at http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/. They might be really helpful for all I know. :) And just a reminder: GIMP--the free, public domain version of Adobe Photoshop--can be downloaded at http://www.gimp.org/.

I'd love to hear everyone's own experiences too. Happy GIMP-ing! :)

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!

Or whatever you're celebrating this time of year. :)

Details: The photograph was edited in GIMP using various recoloring tools.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Opacity

In building on the last post, which talks about the wonders of having separate layers in a photo workbook, I thought I'd also mention the fact that GIMP lets you change the opacity of each layer. This makes for some fun effects if you want a slight overlay of the same image or even an entirely different image.


Details: For the first picture, I added an overlay of an enlarged version of the same picture (of the Provo, Utah, LDS Temple) and an additional overlay of a picture of wood (which is what added the various specks throughout the sky.) On each of the second two pictures, I added an overlay of a picture of grass (which is what added the subtle blurred, antique look.) With the overlay layers, I just changed the opacity levels in GIMP until I liked the results.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Layers

To me, one of the coolest aspects of GIMP is the ability to maintain separate layers in the document while editing. I love duplicating the layer I'm working on, recoloring the new layer, and then erasing parts of the new layer in an effort to join both versions of the photograph I'm editing. But then again, I'm just weird like that. :)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Space Odyssey :)

I was on vacation in Provo, Utah, this last month and couldn't resist visiting the recent addition to the building I spent most of my college education in. While we were there, we thought we might as well do a photo shoot. The pictures were highly edited and the results reminiscent of those 70's space movies. :)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Links Recap

In some previous posts, I have mentioned some of my favorite online resources for photo editing and digital craziness. Instead of having to skim through all of the past posts, I thought I'd try to compile some helpful links together in one post for your one-stop-shopping pleasure. :)

Here are my favorites:

Google's Picasa: http://picasa.com/
Face of the Future Transformer: http://morph.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk//Transformer/


And here's a new one I just found. I've never tried the perfume, but I liked the pictures. :)



Details: Before using the software provided online in the above perfume link, I edited the photo in Microsoft Office Picture Manager and in GIMP.

I Was Just Curious :)



Details: My hats off to GIMP!

Digital Cosmetic Surgery

I'm really not that discontented by the way I look in real life. :) But I do love transforming pictures drastically.


Details: In GIMP I restructured, well, pretty much everything. I changed the jaw line, the nose, the lips, and the width of the face. Then I airbrushed the skin and touched up the hair. I wonder how much it would cost in real life to get all of those changes. :)

Eyelashes!!!

The last post reminded me that GIMP's paint brush tools let you give yourself some incredible eyelashes. :)


Details: These pictures underwent a lot of digital editing, but the eyelashes are what of particular note for this post. GIMP has so many capabilities when it comes to its paint tools. There are so many settings to choose from--it's just amazing! I could go into more details, if there are any questions on how to use the paint tools. But you might find it fun to just play around yourself. :)

And Then I Became Obsessed...

with trying to be blonde. :)


Details: The picture editing primarily took place in GIMP. I used color inverting tools while taking advantage of GIMP's ability to work in separate layers and change only one layer at a time.

Inverting Colors

I was playing around with inverting the colors of certain sections of the documents I was working on one day. It started out with simply making some simple borders. And then it progressed to full on craziness. So while I was already at it . . . :)


Details: I used Microsoft Office Picture Manager for some initial lighting changes and GIMP for the remainder of the project. GIMP gives you the option of inverting colors and inverting color values. It was really fun to play around with both of these effects.

IWarp Part II

When I first discovered IWarp, around a month ago, I couldn't figure out how to adjust faces without just making them look freaky. :) I realized the key--aka the easy way around not actually knowing what I'm doing-- is to only use IWarp tool on the face when the picture itself is strictly a face shot. That way, the face is big enough to handle shrinking distortions without totally looking ridiculous--in my experience, anyhow.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The IWarp Tool in GIMP

I suppose proper diet and exercise could achieve the same results, and for health reasons I see those as better alternatives. But for reasons of simple vanity, GIMP's IWarp tool (or Adobe Photoshop's Liquify tool) is simply amazing!!! :)

My family thinks I have a problem, as I've now become obsessed with trying to shrink fat and minimize body area. But don't worry, I'm too lazy to be interested in cosmetic surgery so my problems will only motivate me enough to digitally correct and enhance. He he, okay, so I do have a problem. Here's your warning: the IWarp is quite addictive.

Anyway! After opening GIMP, the IWarp tool can be found by clicking the tab on the top tool bar entitled "Filters," following the drop-down box to "Distorts" and following that drop-down display to "IWarp." You can adjust the deform settings based on what you're trying to accomplish. For shrinking fat, I recommend using a combination of the deform modes "Move" and "Shrink" with an enlarged deform radius and an enlarged deform amount. But play around with them and find out what's just right for you.

Details: Just playing around with IWarp in GIMP. I realize you don't know how skinny I am to begin with, so you don't know for sure how well the IWarp worked. I considered throwing in before pictures, but it's just not gonna happen! :) You can take my word for it: the IWarp tool is wonderful! Again, for health reasons, it shouldn't entirely replace proper health, nutrition, and exercise. Blah, blah. :) I threw in this photo to remind you, but mostly just myself, you can go too far with IWarping.

Picture Manager Follow-up

A few posts ago I raved about Microsoft Office Picture Manager and showed some pictures I edited only in that program. I got a follow-up question about if I did some effects to the makeup in Picture Manager as well. For those particular pictures, I only used the digital applications of brightness-contrast and color enhancements (which --of course--changes the makeup but only in a way that transforms the entire image as well). The makeup visible in the pictures were from me breaking down and putting on lots of makeup in real life. I know it's hard to believe I opted for real-life makeup over digital, but what can I say, I must not have been thinking. :)

Anyway, I wanted to clarify for everyone the limitations of Picture Manager. For isolated effects, i.e. wanting to add makeup to eyelashes, Picture Manager wouldn't be my weapon of choice. Picture Manager, unlike GIMP for example, doesn't offer paint brushes and other tools to select effects for particular portions of the image. For the most part, Picture Manager is an all or nothing kind of a guy. :) It's great for changing colors and brightness and tones for the entire image, but if you need specific touch ups on select areas--choose a program like GIMP. Or, mix and match like I do.
For a recent picture I worked on, the initial editing was all done in Microsoft Office Picture Manager, but I still wanted to make just the lips darker. So I simply flipped over to GIMP, selected my lips and changed the coloring and levels.

Picasa

Picasa is a photo editing program, offered as a free download by Google. For more details, picasa.com and picasa.google.com will both get you to the same place. :) Picasa is just a really basic program, but it's free, easy to work in, and somewhere to start if you're looking into photo editing for the first time. Besides offering basics such as cropping, brightness-contrast, and recoloring capabilities, Picasa lets you create an image housing thumbnails of all of the images in a given file on your computer. To me, this is by-and-large its most remarkable feature.

Details: I condensed this file, but as offered by Picasa, the image is actually large enough to clearly see each thumbnail. Cheers to Google for Picasa! :)

"Photo Fun"

One of the funniest photo websites I've found is http://photofunia.com/. The site's technology is remarkable in that you can upload a personal image and have it inserted into one of their 70 pre-made images. Some of their pre-made images included billboards, newspapers, galleries, and so on. Mind you, not all of the pre-made images are appropriate and I would advise adverting your eyes where applicable. (It's just the conservative in me giving a warning.) :)



Details: The photos I uploaded were edited in my usual programs such as GIMP and Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Microsoft Office Picture Manager

For some pictures, all you really need is Microsoft Office Picture Manager. It's such a small program when running that it doesn't overload my computer like some other editing programs. If I just have a small job to do, Picture Manager is definitely my preferred choice. For simple tasks concerning brightness-contrast, cropping, color enhancement, and saturation--go for Picture Manager. I mean, only if you want. :)

Details: Just some lighting and recoloring performed in, you guessed it, Microsoft Office Picture Manager. :)

Mirror

This photograph cracks me up. It's a reflection on a very disgustingly dirty mirror. Now, if I didn't know that tidbit, looking at the picture I don't know if I'd think it was just some sort of added overlay/effect. You tell me. :)

Details: I don't remember: I may have slightly adjusted the lighting in Microsoft Office Picture Manager. But besides that, and cropping, this photograph is unedited.

3-D Cubes

Lunapic.com is one of my favorite online photo editors. It has a wide array of editing capabilities, one of which is turning images into cubes. And, thereby, turning cubes into cubes. :)






Details: Before being transformed in LunaPic, the abstract images were pieced together using various edited photographs including Microsoft Office Picture Manager, PowerPoint, and GIMP.

"I Love to See the Temple"

Details: The Provo, Utah, LDS Temple. Obviously, a lot changed from the original photograph. :) I edited the picture using GIMP.

"Face of the Future"

http://morph.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk//Transformer/ has a "Face of the Future" transforming program that lets you upload photos and choose various effects, simulating changes of gender, race, age, etc. Some of my results were really scary and unusable, but some turned out interesting nonetheless. :) My favorite transformations were the choices to change the artistic style of the pictures.


Details: The original photograph underwent some preliminary Microsoft Office Picture Manager and GIMP editing before undergoing the subsequent "Face of the Future" transformation.


"Be Funky"

http://www.befunky.com/. Amazing! :)


Details: BeFunky lets you cartoon pictures, add random graphics, build uvatars, etc. Check it out.

Some GIMP Designs

Like I've said before, GIMP is a public domain version of Adobe Photoshop. Go to http://gimp.org/ for full details on how to download perfection for free. :)




Details: Simply made from GIMP's paint tools.

stock.xchng

Stock.xchng is an amazingly free, user-added stock photography website. http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml


Details: The background images came from stock.xchng while the fonts came from 1001Fonts.com and Microsoft PowerPoint. The layouts were also done in PowerPoint.

Lettering

Details: In true fashion of what I love to do, the patterns within both images came from a photograph my friend took and I distorted in GIMP. The shape of the lettering came from a font I found off of 1001Fonts.com. Cheers to the font designer who made this all come together! :)

"Mag My Pic"

Magmypic.com is a fun website where you can upload your pictures and have them put on various fake magazine covers. I just love doing weird and pointless stuff like that. :)



Details: The photograph was edited using Microsoft Office Picture Manager. It amazes me what just changing the brightness and contrast will do.

Leaf Tool

GIMP has a Leaf Tool that I was trying out. Although the leaf tool only marks in green, using the leaf tool on a separate layer of the workbook makes recoloring the green simple without having your other layers changed. My picture turned out to weird to show, but you get the idea. :)

Just Playing Around



Details: The photocopy effect in GIMP has become one of my favorites to play around with. In the second and third pictures, I also used various lighting effects to edit what was formerly a photograph.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Three's Company




Details: These kind of just happened. I don't know. :) Random effects, one after the other, mostly in GIMP.

The Wonders of a Fan :)

I did a photo shoot with a fan on and blowing the hair. It added such a different dimension to the pictures. I highly recommend it. Hehe.

Do I Look Dead?

My sister seems to think so. :)

Details: The editing was started in Microsoft Office Picture Manager (with the lighting and contrast adjusted) and finished in GIMP (with some touch-ups performed). I've decided with GIMP being free and all, digital makeup is really the way to go! Ha ha.

Sometimes I Feel Like This

Whatever "this" is, that's the way I feel. :)

Details: Airbrushing, recoloring, and some serious distortion effects, courtesy of my beloved GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program. :)

The Software

I've spent the last 15 years or so playing around with various photo editing software programs. I started out with Paint. Because it was my first program, it will always hold a special place in my heart. But my how the programs have come along over time! I currently dabble in GIMP (the poor man's Adobe Photoshop), Inkscape (again, the GNU version of Adobe--but this time Illustrator), Microsoft Office Picture Manager, PowerPoint, and other random programs with photo editing capabilities along with some websites offering free services like Picasa, LunaPic, and BeFunky. I've decided life's too short to tie myself down to just one program.

I hope to, in future posts, share some of the pros and cons to each program that I've picked up over the years. And even better, hopefully you'll share with me some of your tips too. I love learning new tricks! Thanks, in advance. :)

Introductions--Blah, Blah, Blah :)

I have an unwarranted interest in editing photographs and creating new images. I’m easily amused, what more can I say. :)

I plan on periodically posting some of my latest and favorite projects. If you have anything related that you’d like some help with, let me know. I’d be happy to see what we can come up with. Take care!