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Instant Photo Collage Action – Friday Freebie

It’s a case of two for the price of one with this Friday freebie Photoshop action as I’ve recorded a version for portrait (upright) and landscape (wide) format images. This action is an extension of the four part split action I made a few weeks back and generates a collage of small scattered prints from one single photo. There’s also the option at slightly alter the exposure of each print which really adds to the effect.

You can download the action here: photo-collage-gavtrain

To use the action, start with the photo you wish to use already open in Photoshop and then play the landscape or portrait version of the action as appropriate. The first thing it does is make a copy of your photo so the original will be untouched and safe. There’s a lot of things for Photoshop to do with this action so it may take a minute or two to run through. DO NOT switch to another image whilst running the action.

Towards the end of the action you’ll be given the option to automatically adjust the exposure of each print, it’s a subtle effect but well worth doing. After the action is run you’ll notice plenty of layers which I’ve left so you can move, alter and tweak to vary the effect to your taste.

As with most actions, the size of your image will effect the final effect small images (less pixels) will get a bigger border and wider shadow although these settings can always be adjusted after the action has completed.

The action will work with Photoshop CC, CS6, CS4, CS4, CS3 and should work with Photoshop Elements 11 and beyond too.

Usage rules
The action is copyright Gavin Hoey 2014. Use is limited to any personal, non-commercial purposes. Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original action without my permission.

Download instructions
The direct link to download the actions is https://www.gavtrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/photo-collage-gavtrain.zip

You must UNZIP the action before installing it in Photoshop / PS Elements

No support is provided with the Friday Freebies. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer 🙂

Cut Corners Action

You know how some ideas sound easy until you try and make them happen, well this Friday Freebie Photoshop action really ticks that box. All I wanted to do was make a photo look like it was slotted into the corners of a vintage photo album page. My first test worked really well but recreating a similar result within the confines of a Photoshop action took a lot of working out and many, many hours of trial and error (mostly error). However I think you’ll agree that the end result was worth the effort!

You can download the action here: Cut Corners – Gavtrain

To use the action, start with the photo you wish to use already open in Photoshop and then play the action. The first thing it does is make a copy of your photo so the original will be untouched and safe. There’s a lot of things for Photoshop to do with this action so it may take a minute or two to run through. As with most actions, the size of your image will effect the final effect and I’d suggest starting with a photo 3000 pixels (longest edge) or bigger.

The action will work with Photoshop CC, CS6, CS4, CS4 and CS3 but because it uses “Warp Transform” it WILL NOT work with any version of Elements, sorry.

Download instructions
The direct link to download the actions is https://www.gavtrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Cut-Corners-Gavtrain.zip

No support is provided with the Friday Freebies. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer 🙂

Four Parts Action

The idea with this Friday Freebie is really simple, take one photo, cut it into four equal parts and give each bit a twist or two. Well that was my plan when I started making this action but I just had to go one step further. So not only do the four parts get a twist but I also added a slight bow and simple shadow to create a feeling of depth. The best part is, all this happens with just one click of the mouse.

You can download the action here: four-parts-gavtrain.zip

To use the action, start with the photo you wish to chop up already open in Photoshop and then play the action. The first thing it does is make a copy of your photo so the original will be untouched and safe. There’s a lot of things for Photoshop to do with this action so it may take a minute or two to run through. As with most actions, the size of your image will effect the final effect. The photo above was 3000 pixels on the long edge but you can go bigger or smaller if you wish. The main difference will be the border size, so I’ve left the layer styles open and you can alter the border (Stroke) thickness at the end if you wish.

The action will work with Photoshop CC, CS6, CS4, CS4 and CS3 but WILL NOT work with any version of Elements, sorry.

Download instructions
The direct link to download the actions is https://www.gavtrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/four-parts-gavtrain.zip

No support is provided with the Friday Freebies. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer 🙂

Christmas PSD Template

With Christmas rapidly approaching this weeks Friday Freebie couldn’t come at a better time. It’s perfect if you need to make a last minute Christmas card or simply want to show off one of your festive photos.

Full download instructions are below but you can also
Click Here To Christmas PSD template

If you were one of the lucky few who were in the right place at the right time, then you will recognise this template as the one I photographed whilst testing the new live broadcast facilities in my studio. If you missed it never fear, details of my live streaming events in 2014 are coming soon.

I finished the template using the new Perfect Photo Suite 8 from Onone. The colour and texture were added in one click using the “Nicely Toasted” preset.

With several layers and lots of fine textured detail, this weeks Friday Freebie PSD template comes in at around 76mb. If you’re not on a fast internet connection if might take a few minutes to download.

As always, if you create a photo using the Friday Freebie then let me (and everyone else) know by leaving the link in the comments below.

Usage rules
The image is copyright Gavin Hoey 2013. Use is limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes. Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original image without my permission.

Download instructions
Click the link http://adobe.ly/1koSnxj

1. Click the Download button

2. The download should start automatically

3. Save the template to your hard drive

4. Open in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements

5. Paste your photo above the “Your Photo Here” layer

6. Use Free Transform (CTRL+T) to adjust the size of your photo

8 bit, 16 bit or 32 bit?

When it comes to the technology that surrounds digital photography I’m really not interested in how things work. All I want to know what things work and which is best for me. So if you’re looking for an article about how 8 bit is technically different to 16 bit then this isn’t it. However it you want to know how much better looking 16 bit images can be compared to 8 bit then read on.

Why does bit depth matter?
In a nutshell the bigger the bit depth the more data is in the image and the more adjustment you can make to that images shadows and highlights. Not only that, the adjustments will be less damaging to the image too.

In order to see how bit depth affects the image I’ve taken this test photo which I have in both 8, 16 and 32 bit and pushed them to the max in Adobe Camera RAW. That means I’ve pulled out all the highlight and shadow detail that I can, way beyond what would be considered acceptable. Click the small image to see the unprocessed original.

8 Bit
Do you shoot jpg images? Are your images destined only for the internet? Is the size of the file important to you? If the answer to any of the questions is yes 8 bit images are for you. 8 bit has enough information to show colour images with smooth tones and even has a little bit of wiggle room to tweak exposure a little bit. It’s possible to pull detail out of a photos shadows but the results become noisy very quickly. Highlight recover is much less effective and as a result many people who shoot JPG choose to slightly under expose or darken the image.

8 bit images are great if the image you shoot needs little or no exposure adjustment in post processing.

16 Bit
Although technically not a true 16 bit image I’m basically talking about the RAW files from your digital camera. 16 bit files are packed with a lot more information then your standard 8 bit JPG and that means a lot more space to make adjustments to the exposure.

Shadow areas of an image can be made slightly lighter without adding noise to the image but heavy adjustment (as seen in the sample image) will still look terrible. As with the 8 bit image recovering highlight detail is less effective then shadow but once again the extra data can yield more detail.

Saving your 16 bit images as JPG’s isn’t possible, so TIFF or PSD are your top options to save as. It’s also worth noting that not all of Photoshop is compatible with 16 bit images, for example some of the older filters will be greyed out.

32 Bit
The new kid on the block is 32 bit. To date no consumer cameras can capture 32 bit images, at least not in one click. However by blending 3 or more differing exposure inside of Photoshop you can create a 32 bit image that contains a vast amount of image data.
Adobe Camera RAW in Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 4 (or newer) can open and edit 32 bit files. Best of all you can choose to have the highlight detail from the dark exposure and shadow detail from the light exposure. Now if that sounds a little bit like HDR (HighDynamicRange) you’re not wrong.

Because 32 bit is so new don’t expect much to work with it. Photoshop can open the files but almost everything will be greyed out. It’s also worth noting that your 32 bit TIFF files will be enormous, they can easily be 10 times bigger in memory size then RAW files but they’re worth it!

7 Questions About Soft Light

In the studio there’s two types of light that photographers use to define their subject, hard light and soft light. Both have their place but usually in the studio I use soft light when shooting portraits. Getting the light from your studio flash or speedlite can be done in several ways. You can use one light or multiple lights, a softbox or umbrella and in this video I look at them all.

In total I cover seven questions you should know about soft light and how it’s different to hard light.

The final images you see here have had a little bit of Photoshop applied. How much Photoshop? Surprisingly little and I show you exactly how it’s done towards the end of the video too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfBmNfMb7WA&feature=c4-overview&list=UU8Pksdbj37CdE00kmE7Z1dw[/youtube]
Can’t see the video? Click here http://youtu.be/MfBmNfMb7WA

Gear used in the video (links to the Adorama store)
Canon EOS 60D Digital SLR Camera
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Lastolite Collapsible Background (Washington/Dakota)
Lastolite Hot Shoe Ezy-box Softbox 24×24″
Flashpoint Triple Shoe Mount Bracket
Adorama 33″ Translucent Umbrella

Heavy Painted Border

Here’s another amazing border from my recent painting session. This time I’ve gone for a border that surrounds your photo with a wide painted edge.

Full download instructions are below but you can also
Click Here To Download the Heavy Painted Border

I’ve designed this border so it can be used in two ways and it all depends on if you add your photo above or below the border.

Once you’ve downloaded it you’ll find I’ve removed the centre of the border image but left it transparent. S0 to make the image / border combo you see here all you do is drag your photo below the border layer in Photoshop. The centre area has a short fade so it blends in nicely with the photo.

The second option is to place your photo above the border layer. Doing that will give you a hard edge and you can decide how much of the border is seen.

You’ll need to resize your image or the border with Free Transform (CTRL+T). Use the corner handles to drag the image to the size you want and when done press Enter. The border will work with any photo although it’s especially good with black and white images.

If you create a photo using the Friday Freebie then let me (and everyone else) know by leaving the link in the comments below.

Download instructions

Click the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Mmmm3K1utNa19JQmtESDNVZjQ/view?usp=sharing
1. Click the Download button

2. The download should start automatically

Shooting a slide show

What do you do with all the 1000’s or may be 10,000’s of photos you take every year? There’s only so many pictures you can put on Facebook and tweeting to many photos, to often, is a sure fire way to loose followers.

Of course there’s no shortage of photo sharing sites like Flickr and the excellent 500px and uploading the best of your photos to these sites is a great idea.

In this video I have another way to show off lots of your photos in an amazing way, by making a slide show. It’s a great way to show off the photos you’ve already taken but you can also take photos specifically for use in a slide show. That’s exactly what I do in this video and I get to pass on some shooting tips along the way.

Once you’ve chosen which photos you’d like to use in your slide show, you’re ready to start putting the show together. I used Photoshop Elements to do the job but there are plenty of alternatives out there (such as Lightroom) which is good news if you’re on a Mac as frustratingly the slide show part of Elements is a Windows only feature.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmXh9poFRhI&feature=c4-overview&list=UU8Pksdbj37CdE00kmE7Z1dw[/youtube]

Need royalty free music? YouTube has you covered with thier brand new audio library, which is where I downloaded the mp3 file used in this video.

Here’s the final slide show
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onUsQsKHALw[/youtube]

Vintage Border and Texture

This week’s Friday Freebie is a vintage border and texture combined into one. It’s a warm tone texture that combines staining and aging with a custom made distressed black edged border. The texture is actually the inside leaf of a very old and rather battered book that Sam picked up at a boot sale. All the blank pages have this amazing textured appearance and I’ll be sharing more of them as Friday freebies soon.

Full download instructions are below but you can also
Click Here To Download the vintage border & texture

As with all textures it works best with photos that have large areas of bright tones such as this one which has loads of bright sky. All you need to do is paste the texture above your photo and set the blending mode. There are loads of different layer blending modes and they’ll all give a different look but I’d suggest Multiply as the best mode to try first.

This is a fairly dark texture and the Multiply blending mode will also make the image less bright. Once you’ve added the texture I’d suggest adding a Levels adjustment layer to either your photo or at the top of the layer stack and moving the middle levels slider to adjust the overall brightness… if required.

If you create a photo using the Friday Freebie then let me (and everyone else) know by leaving the link in the comments below.

Usage rules
The image is copyright Gavin Hoey 2013. Use is limited to any personal, non-commercial purposes. Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original image without my permission.

Download instructions
Click the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Mmmm3K1utNaTlfSUdvSjB1b0U/view?usp=sharing

1. Click the Download button

2. The download should start automatically

This weeks Friday Freebie is a a high resolution image that adds a light flare to any image. I’ve also added some lens internal artefacts to the
template for that added touch of interest. Best of all it’s unbelievably easy to use and works with any image.

Click Here To download the Light flare template

Once downloaded, the light flare template will need to be unzipped. To apply it to your photo open an image in either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and then open the lens flare template. Copy and paste the template over the image and change the layer blending mode to Screen. Finally use Free Transform to resize, rotate and reposition the lens flare to suite the image below.

If you create a photo using the Friday Freebie then let me (and everyone else) know by leaving the link in the comments below.