[Aidara's Scrapbook] It's Real For Us

[Gossamer]

. Advice Hey Jules- Just some friendly advice here since you asked for it. Keep away from the smudge tool and blur tool and just take the time to cut into an image pixel by pixel until its perfect and the way you want it to look. I kinda disagree with Talbot because whenever I see patterns or textures used, I tend to think 'Oh look, someone's covering sloppy photoshop work." And nine times out of ten thats what they are doing. There are just as many blogs on the net that display these sorts of things mockingly (think that fun cakewrecks website we always peruse) and make fun of them as there are blogs out there dedicated to the hatred of Papyrus Font. You should check them out sometime. So my advice is really keep doing what your doing but have more patience and really blow images up to get the pixel by pixel select like you want and do it the RIGHT way. You are learning the right way the way you are going now. More experience and more doing will get you everywhere. Don't band-aid your work ever. I also think you probably don't know about opacity and fill yet either and if you use a touch of them, lots of times you can merge the layers slightly and they won't look so cut out cardboard shaped. -Jen .

[Aidara]

Thanks Jen! It's mostly because of you that I've been doing so good, honestly. I actually played with the opacity tool when I made Sira's... and again, I can't believe I didn't find it sooner.. Another hard lesson learned: Don't try and do everything in one big, long stroke (......) It's better to break it up into little ones (.....) because if you slip up, you have to start back over on that whole section, instead of just going back a few steps

[Sira]

Thank you so much Jules for the new signature! I love it!

[Aidara]

^_^ You're very welcome! This is fun! Here's my first attempt for Pash's, but I don't think you like it

[Jameson Kindle]

Look at you! Growing and learning like a champ!!

[Tarot]

Disclaimer: I am entirely self-taught in Photoshop.

By and large, the Color Range tool is my best friend when it comes to these tasks. I don't like any tools that require my hand to be steady. My hands are made for typing! So that rules out any magnetic tools, which tend to perform poorly anyways. Also, the smudge and blur tools have a bad reputation for being the number one blatant Photoshopping sign. I think they should be used only when strictly necessary. Depending on the image, Color Range is a bit of a pain to setup, but I usually love the result.

This is what I did to your picture:

1) First off, I selected the inner area I wanted to keep. A broad thing with the rectangle selector and the shift key. I did this to keep the skin out of the way, since it has similar colors to the background. We want to make it simple for the algorithm. Hair is dark and goes in, everything else is out.

2) I copied this area to a new transparent layer and made sure it was aligned with the original picture. Then I selected the transparent area and went back to the original picture.

3) Select -> Color Range. I picked high fuzziness (over 120) and clicked on three points of the hair with three different shades of color. I did this after telling the tool to Add to the sample (the color picker icon with a '+' on the right side). Tell it to only operate on the current Selection.

4) I confirmed and copied the new selection. I pasted it to a new level and hid the original picture. You will notice it's not fully opaque because of fuzzy selection and there's a big opacity gap with the inner area layer. That's not a problem. You can simply paste the selection over and over again until it merges with the inner area seamlessly.

5) Merge all the layers and you're done. Clear any outside spots of color, though you probably won't even see most of them. Here's the result next to your blurred one. See how faithful it is to the original picture and how sharp? In fact, it almost looks too sharp! Hope it helps you.

[Talbot]

Personally, I just find that textures give images more character, ie. for a picture of someone strong, you could use a cracked concrete texture to give it that feel. Doesn't necessarily "cover up" anything if you set it on low opacity and change the blending mode. Usually, if you used my example, only the cracks would be prominently visible and the concrete would be transparent with only the slightly rough surface noticeable. But I guess we all have our different ideas of what looks good

Keep at it.. you're doing well!

[Aidara]

Thanks everyone, seriously, for your helpful words. I carry a lot of self doubt, and as Jen said, she "wants to kick it out of me." So these helpful tips and encouragements mean a lot! It's really motivating me to keep trying. I've always wanted to be able to photoshop things because I have ever been envious of artistic people. But since I don't have the patience to learn how to draw paint or sculpt, this is the next best thing. I love photography and when I had a camera I was always taking pictures of everything. GP- Seriously, your screen shots make me want a mac. But that's besides the point. That was a better tutorial than anything I found online, and I totally feel like I can do that now. I too hate anything that requires me to have a steady hand 'cause nothing about me is steady *Squishes everyone into a hug*

[Aidara]

Stop stealing my car as it is incredibly rude. So, everyone has morals right? Ethics and stuff? Except for those select few that disregard those morals they should have and have no concept of personal property, everyone knows it's wrong to steal a car, or anything else for that matter. I think we all learned that little life lesson in Kindergarden, or the time when you stole that candy bar that your mom made you bring back inside, return and apologize. Stealing is bad, people. Bad. In fact, you can go to jail for it. Idea: A Mizahar Jail. "Fool me once, Shame on you. Fool me twice, and you're a bitch." -Jen And honestly, I couldn't agree more. Anyone that has talked to me in the past twenty-four hours knows how increadibly pissed I am, as I have had something very dear to me stolen. I've spent over a year working on this, and it has caused me a lot of metaphorical blood, sweat, and even some real tears. It is one of my prized possessions. The problem being that it isn't a substantial thing, like a car, which is blaringly obvious when stolen. This, I can only point too on a computer screen and proudly say "That is mine." I can't hug or touch or lick it. Enough beating around the bush. Aidara's concept was stolen, raped and reposted as someone elses own idea, with a few words changed here and there, most likely to throw anyone off from noticing the difference *snorts*. How can you HONESTLY think that I would not notice something that I have worked on, toiled over and bragged about for OVER A YEAR. Do you really think you would get away with this?! Do you not realize that what you did is one of the most insulting things you can do to a WRITER, not to mention in the midst of a large population of WRITERS, founded by WRITERS, all of who are possessive of their WRITING. See a pattern? I am just going out on a limb here, but this genius might be the type to copy and paste wikipedia into their papers for school and hope the teacher doesn't notice. That, or they really just can't think for themselves, have no concept or reality or any ability to be their own person. But that's just a stab in the dark. When Jen first told me about this, I was in the grocery store. I stopped dead and laughed a little at the thought of someone stealing Addy's CONCEPT. When I got home, and saw that my character was, aside from the fact that this new PC didn't have a twin named Sairque, 100% copied.... I was livid. I was beyond livid. But luckily, I was not the only one that was angry. Others were also angry at the injustice that wasn't even done to them. Luckily, I have some really bad ass support and backup. *Highfives her defense squad* Laugh, if you want, but if you have any investment in this site... just sit, and think about how you would feel if someone took your character and wanted to play it as their own. Don't even feed me shit about imitation being the highest form of flattery. This wasn't even "imitation". This was plagiarism. If you think it makes any difference whether you plagiarize Shakespeare or you plagiarize me, you're sorely mistaken. You're not going to get away with either. Flattery is when someone tells you that you look awesome in that dress, or your hair looks really nice today or WOW you're an awesome person! Imitation is when your littler brother or sister follows you around and copies everything you say and do. Everyone has had that happen to them. Tell me, are you flattered by it? Now, yes, I know the issue has been dealt with, or is in the process of being dealt with, but the issue still burns. I guess I am someone that when I feel I have been very deeply wronged, I hold a grudge and hold onto that anger for longer than necessary. It's going to take a while for me to get over this. It's difficult, because like I said, it isn't like you stole my car. You stole my ideas, and shame on you. But what can you really do, other than confronting the person and slapping them on the hand, taking away their privileged and hoping they don't find a way to do it again? Plagiarism happens all the time. All the time! Photos are taken and the copyright is cut off, ideas are not quoted to their original author, concepts are stolen with no regard to those who spent the time thinking them up. So maybe, just think twice before you try and take something that someone else has worked hard on. It could come back to bite you later. Or maybe I'll come back and bite you. And not in a hot sexual way either. That is saved for people I actually like. *edited to add more anger and passion*

[Aidara]

A Momentary LOL The Good I enjoy Ghost Hunters. They are from my town, they are awesome guys, and the show is awesomely enjoyable. So what if I believe in ghosts and think that some of the stuff they find is real? So what if I don't care if their methods are unorthadox? They're amusing, and for the people that DO think their places are haunted that they go to investigate, they manage to give those people a reason to feel comfortable in their houses. The Bad However, "Ghost Adventures" might be the dumbest thing I have ever seen...ever. I'm watching it right now and literally laughing out loud. It is probably the most horrible show that I have seen in a long time. I don't know any of their names, but the main investigator is the biggest douchebag that has been on TV in a long time. He thinks that he is the absolute shit. If any of you have seen it, then you'll appreciate these. If you haven't seen it... Just watch it for a laugh.