This tutorial uses Adobe Photoshop and ImageReady. There are probably a million different ways to create an animated GIF, but this is the most consistent method I have found.

This is a guide - I encourage you to experiment and tweak the effects to suit your own tastes. You’ll learn more by doing that, than from any tutorial. 1. Less contrast (optional really - i think the final effect is better with less contrast but it’s not necessary and can be turned off later) 2. Creating a vignette 3. Editing the colour with Curves - editing the channels individually for more vintage colours 4. Importing old paper texture - gives the image a warmer, more tactile feel. Get some old paper textures here: bashcorpo.deviantart.com 5. Creating Light Leaks - my favourite feature of lomographic photos, this technique can look very authentic with more tweaking and experimenting with colours and blend modes.

Tips include different types of Erasers in PhotoShop, and creating “Transparent GIF’s” — or pictures with a transparent background.

Here’s how to use the magic eraser in Photoshop!

Adobe Photoshop offers various methods to remove backgrounds and elements from an image but none work as easily as the Magic Eraser tool when the element is one solid color. Targeting similar-colored pixels, the Magic Eraser quickly removes them from one area or from the entire image

1. Sharpen an image with a solid-colored element or background that you want to remove. Copy the background image and work only on the copy, keeping the original unchanged. This guarantees your original is safe should you decide you don’t like the changes.

2. Choose the Magic Eraser from Photoshop’s toolbar. Notice the Options menu at the top of your screen when the Magic Eraser tool is active.

3. Pick “Contiguous” from the Options menu when you want the Magic Eraser to remove all the solid color within specified borders.

4. Click on a portion of your image. The color magically disappears from that area, revealing the layer beneath.

5. Adjust the “Tolerance” at the top of your screen if you are erasing a mostly solid color that has some variations. Uncheck “Contiguous” to erase all of the selected color in your image despite any borders.

The high pass is one of the cleverest filters inside of Photoshop. Despite this it’s actually quite easy to use. But don’t underestimate it, it is a very powerful tool and in order to get the most out of it you should understand what is going on in the background.

The high pass filter specifically targets and manipulates pixels that are high frequency or where there are rapid transitions of luminance in a small area. In simpler terms the filter selects the edge details of the image you are working on and leaves the rest relatively untouched. It helps to think of this in practical terms, for instance if you are sharpening a portrait then you probably want to sharpen the areas of detail such as the subject’s eyes and hair. However it is usually not a good idea to sharpen the subject’s skin tones as this will exaggerate any blemishes that the subject may have, resulting in an unflattering image. The high pass filter allows you to do all this, and more.

Soften Skin with Surface Blur and comparing it to the Gaussian Blur Technique.

So here we go:

First open you photo and save it as standard layer. You do this by simply doubleclicking on the photo’s layer and transform it on standard layer through the dialogue window.

Next in order to add a border we will need more space around the photo. To do this we will increase the canvas size through Image->Canvas Size which will bring forward the canvas dialogue window. The easier way to add more space around the image is by ticking the button “Relative” and lets increase the size by 100x100. This means that 50 additional pixels will be added on either sides on vertically and horizontally of your photo.

Once you hit Enter this will add the border as described above, but in transparent mode. To fill it in with solid color create a separate layer for the border and hit Ctrl+Backspace. This will fill it in with the color preselected on your color selection area, in this case White since the default mode is black and white.

Now you are ready to start editing your frame. Hit Ctrl+click on the photo layer, this will choose the entire size of your photo. Once done create a new layer (you should have 3 layers by now all in all) .
Next click Edit->Stroke and this will bring up a new dialogue window which essentially will allow us to add a line round the photo.
On that window you can adjust 3 elements. The desired color of your framing line, its width and its position in relation to your photo.
We will go for a standard red, a width of 10pixels and Center it in relation to the margin of our photo, feel free to play around with these options.

And this is your result until now, which looks okay-ish but there is definitely room for improvement.

So will now repeat the last 2 steps. Go ahead and create a new layer and choose again your main photo layer by Click+Ctrl.
Then again Edit->Stroke but this time choose a different color we will go for black and this will add a black line frame over the existing red one.

Next add a Layer Mask on the black line frame by simply selecting the black line frame layer and clicking on the layer mask icon on the bottom of your layers window.

Now click on the Gradient Tool and by holding down Shift Click+Drag from the top of your picture to the bottom.

This will make your line frame progressively from red to black creating a nice effect round your photo.

We are not yet done though, to make our frame more punchy we can add a layer style on the red part of the line frame. So ensuring you have selected the red line frame layer click on Layer Style button and add a Drop Shadow effect.

On the dialogue window choose the direction of your shadow, we will go for a 140 degrees and lower the opacity (round 30 should be ok) so its a soft shadow.

Hit ok and now you have a classy and yet simple looking frame round your photo.

Experiment with different colors and shadows and make your photos really stand out!
For more easy and quick photo effects you can check our tutorials on Lomo Effects and Andy Warhol Effect .

This is an introduction to creating a pop-art effect with Photoshop. Something like an album cover or early 80’s poster.

Here we have a nature themed photo, where the shadows on the inside of the branch are not that easy on the eye.

Click Image> Adjustments > Shadow/Highlight which will bring up the following dialogue box.

You will notice that unless you have messed with the Shadows setting before, the default setting is on 50% which may make certain photos look bleached, especially if there is already too much light involved.
We slide the Shadow setting to 35-40% and the entire picture brightens up making the shadow less destructive.

You can play around with the highlights as well, but be careful as this may take the focus off the subject of the picture and to the background as the highlights setting tends to emphasize the entire colors spectrum rather grossly. If you feel there is the need for a quick highlighting try anything below 10-15% .

First decide on the main theme of your flyer and pic a picture that will do the trick. It can be a beach if its a summer party, a swimming pool, a snowed-up mountain, well you get the idea. We will use a city picture for an urban themed flyer.

Start a new project File->New , and set the frame of your flyer to the standard paper size for flyers. Thats 8.5inches in width and 11 inches in height.

Next grab your Paint Bucket Tool and choose black color as background for your new project and create a new layer.

Open your main theme picture if you dont have it open already and by using the Move Tool drug the image into your black flyer.

You will probably notice that the picture does not precisely fit in the flyer’s canvas. To solve this we will resize the image to fit exactly into the canvas. Hit CTRL+T (Command on Mac) or Edit->Free Transform to dynamically resize the image by good ol’ clicking and dragging.

Next rearrange your layers by pulling Layer 1 over Layer 2 on your Layers window.
Now we will blend the two layers by using the Gradient Tool.

First click on the Rectangular Marquee Tool and select the area around the image. Once done choose the Gradient Tool and make sure the colors sequence is from black to white. Hold down Shift and Click and Drag a line from the centre of your canvas half way up creating a straight line.

Once you are happy with the result, go to your layers window and click on the Layer Blending Mode and from the drop down menu choose Multiply and once done merge the two layers (the image and the canvas) into one by hitting Ctrl+E , alternatively link the two layers by clicking on the tick box next to the eye icon of your layers this will bring up a chain do this on both layer and finally click on Layers menu and Merge. This will create a beautiful smooth effect between the two layers.

And you are almost done. What is left is the message of the flyer for which we will use the Type Tool.

The possibilities here are truly endless you may want to use a standard Fonts Format or go for something more extravagant in which case you can consult one of our other tutorials on, 3D typography, Fire text or Burning Neon Effect. The idea is to use the black area of your canvas for your message! So go on be creative and have a great party!

Our model in this case doesnt really need a liposuction but we will operate on her anyway for the shake of this tutorial.

Once you open your image on photoshop reach for your Liquify filter. You will find this under the Filter menu->Liquify.

Pick the Forward Warp Tool, thats the little hand tool on the top left.

Next we identify the area we want to reshape and gently click and push inwards. In the image below we are re-shaping the waste. This process requires stable hand and a bit of artistic touch. If you overdo it and the figure looks fake just hit ctrl+z and retry.

Repeat on the other side of the waste so it looks symmetric.

Next we will augment the model’s buttocks. We will use again the Warp Tool but a different technique. Instead of pushing from outside the body inwards we will click and drag from inside the body outwards. Its a really handy tool and it contributes hugely to this being a quick edit.

Click and drag, click and drag, slow moves till your get the desired result, dont be afraid to experiment.

Next we will augment the model’s breasts. Reach for the Bloat tool.

With gentle strokes, click and drag around the breast area, do this from the centre to get a more natural result.

Repeat on the other breast and you are done. Hope you have fun trying this tut.