Easy Line Drawings using Photoshop

One of the great things that came out of the Photoshop Evangelist Contest, is that I made a lot of new friends and learned some new tricks through the process.  Eric R. (a.k.a. @tipsquirrel) was my toughest competitor, but one of these people.  I must admit he made a fantastic, easy to follow tutorial. I know, because I used it!  This is what I came up with.  Fun for "kids of all ages" I'm sure anyone interested in learning Photoshop would enjoy learning too.

As many of you may already know, this week has been very intense for me.  I've pretty much put my life on hold until Monday night is over.  The good news is, one of my latest Photoshop tutorials has been chosen as a finalist in the Photoshop Evangelist Contest.  That's great!  I'm proud, and I loved making my video.  But now is the hard part, because I have to campaign so I can get it to win. Persuading as many people I know to take a minute out of their day each day to vote for it is a lot harder, and a lot less fun.  So why am I doing this? Of course I have been asking myself this too, so I remembered another video I'd made and noticed that it was 2 months and 3 months ago that I posted it.  Watching it again, I can see improvements I could make, but I still like it very much because I think it explains me and my motives very well.
See below.



 But after watching it, I'm struck with the irony of the situation.  This is not the first time I've done a campaign like this, nor is it the second. Those who have known me know that although I have had some successes, I've tried and failed many times before. It's not a good feeling. But I pick myself up and keep going.  I carry on because I love the challenge and I love learning. I hope to lead by example so my students and my own children can learn from this.  I still hold on to this idealistic view that I'm making a difference in the world as I do my best to inspire others.

For those of you who can appreciate my goals and my work, I hope that you will vote and continue to vote for my video today and tomorrow.  Best wishes to all, and may the best video win.  No matter what happens, I really appreciate the wonderful support and encouragement I have gotten from so many of you.

Be sure to use a computer (no phone or tablet) and here's the link to vote.

Thanks!
Nicole

Hidden Gems: Rotoscoping in Photoshop CS5 Extended

Here's an easy fast paced tutorial on how to do rotoscoping, or frame by frame animation on a video clip using Photoshop.
 

Hidden Gem: Make Stop-Motion Videos in Photoshop

Extended versions of Photoshop not only let you work with video, but they also work well with image sequences.  Here's a quick tutorial to show you how to make a stop-motion video using Photoshop, and it also shows you how you can mask around the object to give it a transparent background.


For more information, check out this other tutorial of mine.  It's slower paced, and somewhat similar.

Hidden Gems: Make "Cinemagraphs" using Photoshop CS5 Extended

Want to learn how to make something like this?  Here's my fast-paced screencast tutorial using Photoshop CS5 Extended.  It can be done in any "extended" version of Photoshop, CS3 Extended or higher.    

iPhoneography - "Masking" Tutorial

Most of you know that I love editing photos in a creative way, and when I am not at home in front of my computer using Photoshop, I'm busy taking pics. and editing them all on my iPhone.  This new found art, and my current obsession is called iPhoneography, and with all the incredibly cool apps. that are out there, you can do some pretty amazing things without even touching your computer.  Now I've spent plenty of time exploring many of the free apps. that are out there, and that's a great way to get started, but for about $1-$2 a piece, you can do a lot more with just a couple of paid apps.  Considering the low price, (if you already have an iPhone) it seems well worth the investment if this is something that interests you.  And of course, as an advocate of integrating at least a little bit of creativity exercise into your life every single day, I think this is a perfectly easy way to do it!

Two of my favorite apps. are Camera+ and Photowizard.  Not sure how to use them?  Here's a tutorial on how to use some masking techniques.  Enjoy!  And if you like it, you might also want to visit me @magrelacanela on Instagram, my favorite free app. and iPhoneography social network.

Photoshop for Kids: Cinemagraphs Made Easy

New tutorial just posted on the Adobe Education Exchange.  Here it is.  It was made using Photoshop CS5Extended, but any full-version (extended) version of Photoshop will do.  It's the beginning level tutorial for making "cinemagraphs" or animated .gifs.  This one teaches simple frame by frame techniques, but there's lots of room for creativity!  Consider doodles on your pictures, making them into moving digital paintings, or rotoscoping frames of video.  These ones are pretty basic, but for more advanced techniques to create really stunning cinemagraphs, see my earlier post on cinemagraphs.  Enjoy, and stay tuned for my next cinemagraph tutorial on how to create time-lapse cinemagraphs with Photoshop.