Eyes are the Windows to the Soul - Let's Clean Up The Windows

The first thing I like to do to portraits once I get them into Photoshop is to clean up the eyes. It is easy to do.
First zoom in real close to the eyes click on the eraser tool. Turn the opacity down to between 10-20.
Erase a small crescent shape in the eye. I usually do this opposite of the light source. It may look a little funny close up but it really accents the eyes and makes the photo look great.

Practice with different amounts of opacity and size.

Cheers,
Mike

Happy Mothers Day - 30% OFF

Mothers Day is fast approaching and what could be better than 30% Off your order. This offer is only good at our main site : www.digitalphotosoncanvas.com use promotional code MOTHERSDAY before Friday May 2nd.
This is the largest discount we have ever offered. Tell all your friends and family members.

The 30% off your order is for all of your order. This would include shipping, collage, gel brushstroke etc. This is only good at our main site, because our express site already has extremely low prices and who wants to have their mother stretch their own canvas.

Cheers,
Mike

Filming of Public Enemies with Johnny Depp is Done in Oshkosh

Filming is Oshkosh for the upcoming Johnny Depp movie - Public Enemies is done. Here are some pictures from during and after the shoot.

-Mike
Digital Photos on Canvas, LLC

News Feeder from Smashing Magazine

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Digital Photos on Canvas Express Pricing

We do not have a separate page on the express site for sizes and prices so I will include those here. They can also be found in the drop down menu of our place order page.

8x10 $12
10x13 $15
11x14 $17
11x16 $21
12x16 $23
14x18 $25
16x16 $25
16x19 $28
16x20 $28
20x20 $34
20x24 $39
20x30 $48
24x30 $58
24x32 $64
24x36 $76
27x36 $86
30x30 $79
30x40 $109
36x48 $149
38x48 $165
38x53 $174
38x56 $189
38x58 $199

Yeah, I know amazing prices, and shipping is only a flat $5 for any size.

Cheers,
Mike

Yeah, DPOC - X is finally released

We have officially launched our Digital Photos on Canvas Express site today. We still have some little things to finish but people are able to order there photo to canvas without it being stretched. The prices are amazing and the quality is even better. At the bottom of this web site is a link to our email. If anyone sees anything that we could improve on the site please email us. Also if you have any questions email us and we can post responses on this blog to help others.

Cheers,
Mike

Welcome Home Peter Katzfey

This is another post not related to photography at all but my good friend Peter Katzfey is coming home from Afghanistan after 15 months there. We appreciate all you have done and are glad to have you back. Well I guess I could make this somewhat photo related and include a photo of Katzfey and I before he left .

Cheers,
Mike

Artists of Interest

Through the years I have gotten to know a number of artists and have enjoyed their work. Here are some of my favorites: Leif Larson - painter, Jon Wos - painter, sculptor, Brett Schenning - fine art photographer, Don Ford - encaustic painter.
Digital Photos on Canvas is looking for artists especially painters. If you are a painter and looking to have your work reproduced contact Digital Photos on Canvas.
Also, an interesting site I found with a wide variety of art is Deviant Art.

Cheers,
Mike

Create an Animated gif with Photoshop

It is easy to make an animated gif with Adobe Photoshop.

1st Make the layers needed for your animation.

2nd Open the Animation palette which is located at Window > Animation.

3rd Make the frames in the Animation palette needed for animation and set layer visibility for each frame.

4th Set the length of time each frame will show. Use the drop down menu below each frame.

5th Preview your animation by pressing the play button.

6th Save your animation. Go to File > Save for Web and other devices. Make sure the file format is gif not jpeg.

7th Post your gif to your web site.


Cheers,
Mike

Hollywood comes to Oshkosh - Depp as Dillinger

I know this blog is reserved for all things photography, Photoshop and Corel Painter but Hollywood has come to Oshkosh. A movie about John Dillinger, starring Johnny Depp is partially being shot in Oshkosh about three blocks from my house and one block from where I work.




The streets were closed off on 4/10/08 and filming should start on 4/13/08 and continue till the end of April.


The downtown has been transformed with classic awnings and vintage signs.


Cobblestone is being placed over the street in preparation for filming





This is a before and after from a art gallery I have showed at numerous times.






I will try to put a couple more photos up this week.

Cheers,
Mike

Enlarge Your Background - After the Shoot

Often people use the clone tool in Photoshop if they didn't have a large enough background. A fast way to add more background is to use the marque tool and make a selection around the area you want to fix. Choose Edit, Free transform and simply drag the right or left side of the image until it covers the missing background.

Cheers,
Mike

Ripping Out Someone's Eyes Doesn't Have to Hurt.

Sometimes you take the perfect photo but the eyes aren't so perfect. Here is a way to replace eyes in Photoshop.
I just look for another image with a similar expression. Open both images in Photoshop. With the lasso, select around the good eyes. With the move tool drag the eyes to the other image. Lower the opacity of this layer to make it easy to position the eyes. Raise the opacity back to 100 percent. Holding the Alt key add a layer mask. Note that the eyes disappear. With the brush tool and white in the foreground color box select a soft edge brush and brush back the eyes.

Cheers,
Mike

Layer Blending Mode in Photoshop

You can use the Layer Blending Mode to put tone back in a blown out highlight. First duplicate the layer and change the layer mode to Multiple. Next bring up the layer blending options dialog box. Then slide the "this layer" under the blend if dialog box to achieve the desired level of tone in the highlights. Hold the Option Key (Mac) or Alt Key (Win) to separate the arrow into two arrows for further refinement.

Cheers,
Mike

I Don't Let My Over Exposure Show

Sometimes you take an amazing photo except it is slightly over exposed. This is how I fix it with Photoshop.
With the file open, duplicate the image by going under l layers and click on duplicate. On this layer change the mode from Normal to Multiply. Multiply looks at the color information in each channel and multiplies the base color by the blend color. The result color is always a darker color. Therefore multiplying a color with black makes black and multiplying a color with white leaves the color unchanged.
Keep duplicating this layer until you get the density that you like. After your finished you can do two things the first being use the eraser tool on the multiplied layer and erase the parts of the image that are to dark. Make sure to lower the opacity on the eraser tool and have it set to a softer setting. There is a good possibility that there will be a color cast on the areas that are still dark. Some photos this doesn't look bad others it looks horrible. To fix this refer to our advanced article on Layer Blending Mode.
Second option would be is to flatten the layers and convert the image to Black and White. I find by simply converting the image.

Cheers,
Mike

Corel Painter Forum

Another great resource for all of you digital painters out there is the official Corel Painter Forum.
It is a good place to find answers besides this blog.

Amy

Corel Painter 001

Visit my Gallery on Corel Painter.

Amy

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Tips 002 - B&W with Selective Color

A cool effect that has gotten so much easier with Photoshop. There are many ways to start with a color photo that you turn Black and White with leaving some things still in color.








1st Start with your digital color image.

2nd duplicate the layer.

3rd Use the eraser tool on the Black and White layer to erase the B&W image in the area where you want the color to show through.

4th Flatten the layers and that is as easy as it is.

Cheers,
Mike
Digital Photos on Canvas, LLC

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Tips 001 - Turn B&W or Sepia

Photoshop has always been easy to make a photo Black and White, but with the new version you have much more control. In the past I would always Desaturate the image. In Photoshop go under Image - then adjustments - desaturate. It is also very easy to make a image Sepia. Go under image, then adjustments, black and white then check the box that says Tint.

Cheers,
Mike
Digital Photos on Canvas, LLC
Digital Photos on Canvas Express

Photography Tip 001

Sometimes it is a good idea to use your flash when taking a portrait photo outside when the sun is out. This is called a fill flash. It evens out the light so that when the image is printed the persons face is not to dark or the sky to light.

Amy
Digital Photos on Canvas, LLC
Digital Photos on Canvas Express