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How to take photos:
Adding a signature |
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This assumes you've already
looked through (and even read some of) the
'How to use your SLR'
articles. If you like this, bookmark this page in your browser, or with
 del.icio.us
(look below for others).
Also, go to our forums to
discuss and ask questions. |
Basic gear you need:
 | A felt marker, scanner,
PhotoShop, and a photo |
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The
Aim:
| To personalise a photo
in your own handwritten-style (see right) |
| Make it difficult for
others to copy and illegally use your photo |
| Also, to make
birthday, Christmas and Easter Cards, New Year cards, posters,
anything |
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How: Click on each
picture to see the details, and press 'back' in your browser to come
back here.
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1. Make sure
that the new file settings are set for a 'Transparent Background',
otherwise you'll have difficulties later. |
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2. Use a
pure white, clean piece of paper, and a large, dark, soft, round, tipped
marker. |
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3. For
e-mailing size (500 pixels for the longest dimension) this size if fine.
For printing your photos at full size, you'll need to double or triple
this size. |
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4. Do some
variations and see which you like the best. |
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5. Place it
on a clean scanner, and close the lid |
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6. In
PhotoShop, go to 'File', 'Import', and your scanner |
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7. A
dialogue box should appear; yours will look different to this. But you
should be able to set it to greyscale, and to at least 150dpi (dots per
inch) for a good resolution |
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8. Use the
'Crop Tool' to cut it out |
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9. We need
to increase the contrast to make 'selecting' it easier. Go to 'Image',
'Adjust', and 'Brightness / Contrast'. Move the Contrast slider to make
the blacks really black, and white really white. |
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10. Yours
should now appear really contrasty like this. There may be some black
specks of dust, erase those, or paint white over them, now. |
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11. To
'Select' it, use the 'Magic Wand Tool', and click on the white areas.
You'll see the areas selected by where the marching ants are. Make sure
there aren't any gaps in the selection, and select inside of the o's,
a's, p's, 0's etc. Then, press 'Delete' on your keyboard. > See
'Tips' for some help > |
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12. If you
did have a transparent background, then it should appear with a
grey-white checkered pattern background. Now, go to 'Image', 'Adjust',
and 'Invert' to flip the colours from black to white. > See
'Tips' for some help > |
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13. Remember
to save your work, and give it a memorable, and easy to find file name,
but as a PhotoShop Document (.psd). |
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14. Now, it
appears a little flat, and so I like to have it stand out a bit. So,
let's put a little shadow behind it. Go to the bottom right corner of
PhotoShop. Click on 'Add layer style' to bring up this menu. Click on
'Drop Shadow' |
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15. If
you're happy with the direction of light, as shown by the line in the
circle, then click 'OK' |
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16. So, this
is how it looks now, but on a transparent background. |
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17. Use the
'Move Tool' to pick up and drop your signature into an open photo. |
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18. It looks
too big. Go to 'Edit', 'Transform', and 'Scale' to rescale it. |
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19. You'll
see little boxes around it. Hold the left mouse button down on one
corner and move it in closer to the opposite corner. You'll notice that
you can skew it. I always hold 'Shift' on my keyboard, to keep the
dimensions natural. You can press the 'X' to cancel the scaling, and try
again. |
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20. Out of
habit, I click on the 'Move Tool' once I'm finished, then 'Apply'.
Whilst the 'Move Tool' is selected, I use it to adjust the positioning
just a bit more. I could even use the arrows on the keyboard for finer
positioning. |
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21. And here
it is, done. I've also added a text layer using the text tool, and again
a Drop Shadow. |
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The full
final product. |
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Examples: Click on
these to view them at a larger size
Also see
this gallery
for more examples |
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