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Scrapbook-style photos
PixTrix3Here are six easy waysto add depth and realismto your digital photos.
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Make scrapbook-style photosHere are six easy ways to add depth and realism to flat digital photos.
Dexter and Leilani are making a Web site for their upcoming wedding and have
10 years worth of photos to share with family and friends. They want their images to
convey the warm, lived-with quality that youd find in a scrapbook or photo album. Yet
digital photos are by nature cold, flat and hard-edged, so theyll need a little help. Here
are six techniques to add borders, shadows, fasteners, the illusion of a curl and so on
to turn those computerized pix into ones that you can almost touch.
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Open your photo and increase the
Canvas Size enough to accommodate a
border and a shadow.
Apply a white stroke to the outside
of the photo. Its pixel width will depend
on your resolution.
Add a shadow. Click the layer, and add a
very thin drop shadow to make the photo
appear to be on the page, not floating above it.
Add a border
The easiest thing to do is simply add a white border, which will make your photo look like a
traditional print. Widths vary; older photos generally had wider borders. In Photoshop . . .
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Look for points of interest. Your upper photos will crop
the lower ones by covering some parts. Look for artistic parts.
Its obvious with portraits that you want the people to
be visible (above), but other images will have
different possibilities. Also, skew your photos
only slightlybetween two and four degrees.
Much more than that and theyll look strewn,
not stacked (right).
Save file size. One photo can look
like a dozen! Save file size by substi-
tuting a solid color for the underlying
images (right) and flattening the file.
Stack em up
A stack of photos slightly askew looks naturally casual; two or three in a stack is usually plenty.
Technically, upper photos would have softer shadows, but in practice this usually isnt necessary.
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Clip it! Photo of a binder clip is cut from its background
(left), shadowed and simply set atop the photos.
(iStockphoto.com image: Binder clip | Push pin | Paper clip)
Use a decorative element An object that youd find in
the scene makes a lifelike ornament. A cast shadow (not a
drop shadow) makes the pine cone appear to be sitting on
a tabletop. (iStockphoto.com image: Pine cone)
Select
Shadow
Cut
Add an object
Clips, pushpins and other photographic objects add realismand theyre fun. When looking for an
object photo, pay attention to its lighting, which must match your shadows (or vice-versa).
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Draw corner tabs What saysphoto album more than
those little corner tabs? Just draw, fill and apply a very thin
shadow. Make all the tabs in your album the same size.
ShadowFillDraw a triangle. Reduce its opacity
and apply shadow.
Fill with white.Draw a shape. Note
serrated ends.
Draw your own fasteners
Triangle scrapbook corners and translucent tape are easy to draw and look great.
Draw translucent tape In real life youd rarely tape your
photos like this, but hey; it looks good, and you can use a lot
of varietywhite tape, beige, thin, wide, long, short and so on.
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Curved shadow creates the illusion of the photo curling
without distorting the image. Drawing a freehand shadow is
about as effective as any mechanical technique and yields
shadows that are slightlyand naturallyirregular.
Draw a shape with
corners like these.
Fill, then blur
the edges.
Place the image. Lighten the shadow.
Add some curl
Paper photos are rarely perfectly flat. Create the illusion of a slight curl by drawing a curved shadow.
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Lift three corners by enlarging the
shadow and offsetting it horizontally.
Lift the top by shortening the
shadow as shown.
Lift more. The larger and softer a
shadow is, the farther above the surface
it appears to be. To modify an existing
shadow, enlarge it more, then in Photo-
shop select the eraser tool, a soft brush,
and start erasing (above). A slight tilt
(left) makes it more dynamic.
Try different curls
Modifying the shadow slightly lifts the photo higher off the page. Note in all cases that
only the shadow is altered; the photo remains untouched.
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No old photo collection would be complete without a Polaroid-looking print that has that
characteristically wide bottom margin. Image-to-frame proportions vary; just get close.
Great America ,98
The classic snapshot No photo looks more
informal than an old-fashioned, self-developing
Polaroid print. Just draw a white field and lay the
photo atop it; the wide margin leaves room to
add a scrapbooky note. Below, apply styles from
the previous pages.
31/2
41/4
Image: 3 x 31/8
Stacked Tacked Taped Curled
Make your own Polaroid
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Select one style and repeat it.
Create a Photoshop Action
Actions save time by recording
repeated steps. In the Actions pal-
ette, click on the Create new action
button (above). Specify a name (and,
optionally, a shortcut Function Key),
and click Record. Stylize your image,
and click Stop when youre finished.
To apply the Action to another image,simply open that image, and either
click the Play button or your speci-
fied shortcut Function Key. (Note:
You will need to create separate
actions for your portrait and land-
scape images.
If you have many photos from different years, you can bring them together beautifully by using just
one style. To minimize making repetitive steps, this is a good time to use Photoshops Action feature.
Fill the page
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Before & After magazine
Before & After has been sharing its practical approach
to graphic design since 1990. Because our modern world
has made designers of us all (ready or not), Before &
After is dedicated to making graphic design understand-
able, useful and even fun for everyone.
John McWade Publisher and creative director
Gaye McWade Associate publisher
Vincent Pascual Staff designerDexter Mark Abellera Staff designer
Before & After magazine
323 Lincoln Street, Roseville, CA 95678
Telephone 916-784-3880
Fax 916-784-3995
E-mail [email protected]
www http://www.bamagazine.com
Copyright 2007 Before & After magazine
ISSN 1049-0035. All rights reserved
You may pass along a free copy of this article to others
by clicking here. You may not alter this article, and you
may not charge for it. You may quote brief sections
for review; please credit Before & After magazine, and
let us know. To link Before & After magazine to your
Web site, use this URL: http://www.bamagazine.com.
For all other permissions, please contact us.
Subscribe to Before & After
Subscribe to Before & After, and become a
more capable, confident designer for pennies
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Back | Paper-saver format
For paper-saver formatPrint: (Specify pages 1318)
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Before & After articles are intended for permanent reference. All are titled and numbered.
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PixTrix3:Scrapbook-style
photos0654
0654PixTrix3:Scrapbook-stylephotos
DexterandLeilaniaremakin
gaWebsitefortheirupcomin
gweddin
gandhave
10yearsworthof
photostosharewithfamily
andfriends.Theywant
theirimagesto
conveythewarm,lived-with
qualitythatyoudfindinascrapbookor
photoalbum.Yet
digitalphotosarebynaturecold,flatandhar
d-edged,sotheyllneed
alittlehelp.Here
aresixtechniquesto
addborders,shadows,fasteners,theillusionofacurlandsoon
toturnthosecom
puterizedpixintoonesthatyoucanalmosttouch.
Sc
rapboo
k-style
photo
s
Pix
Trix
3
Herearesixeasyways
toadddep
thandrealism
toyourdigitalphotos.
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Openyourphotoandincr
easethe
CanvasSizeenoughtoacco
mmodatea
borderandashadow.
Applyawhitestroketotheoutside
ofthephoto.Itspixelwidthwilldepend
onyourresolution
.
Addas
hadow.Clickthelayer,andadda
verythin
dropshadowtomakethephoto
appeartobeonthepage,notfloatingaboveit.
Addaborder
Theeasiestthin
gtodo
issimplyaddawhiteborde
r,whichwillmakeyour
pho
tolooklikea
traditionalprint.Widthsvary;older
photosgenera
llyhadwiderborders.InPhotoshop...
Lookforpointsofinterest.Yourupperphotoswillcrop
theloweronesbycoveringsomeparts.Lookforartisticparts.
Itsobviouswithportraitsthatyouwantthepeopleto
bevisible(above),butotherimageswillhave
differentpossibilities.Als
o,skewyourphotos
onlyslightlybetweentw
oandfourdegrees.
Muchmorethanthatandtheylllookstrewn,
notstacked(right).
Savefilesize.Onephotocanlook
likeadozen!Save
filesizebysubsti-
tutingasolidcolorfortheunderlying
images(right)and
flatteningthefile.
Stackemup
Astackof
photossligh
tlyaskewlooksnaturallycasual;twoorthreeinastackisusually
plenty.
Technically,u
pper
pho
toswouldhavesoftershadows,butin
practicethisusuallyisntnecessary.
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Clipit!Photoofabinderclipiscutfromitsbackground
(left),shadowedandsimplysetatopthephotos.
(iStockphoto.comimage:Bin
derclip|Pushpin|Paperclip)
Useadecorativeelemen
tAnobjectthatyoudfindin
thescenemakesalifelikeornament.Acastshadow(nota
dropshadow)makesthepin
econeappeartobesittingon
atabletop.(iStockphoto.com
image:Pinecone)
Select
Shadow
Cut
Addanobject
Clips,pushpinsandother
photogra
phicobjectsad
drealismandtheyrefun.Whenlookin
gforan
objectphoto,payattentiontoitslighting,whichm
ustmatchyourshadows(orvice-versa).
Draw
cornertabsWhats
aysphotoalbummorethan
thoselittlecornertabs?Justdraw,fillandapplyaverythin
shadow.Makeallthetabsin
youralbumthesamesize.
Shadow
Fill
Drawatriangle.
Reduceitsopacity
andapplyshado
w.
Fillw
ithwhite.
Draw
ashape.Note
serratedends.
Drawyourown
fasteners
Trianglescrapbookcor
nersandtranslucenttapeareeasytodrawandlookgreat.
Draw
translucenttapeInreallifeyoudrarelytapeyour
photoslikethis,buthey;it
looksgood,andyoucanusealot
ofvarietywhitetape,beig
e,thin,wide,long,shortandsoon.
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Curvedshadow
createstheillusionofthephotocurling
withoutdistortingtheimage.Drawingafreehandsha
dowis
aboutaseffective
asanymechanicaltechniqueandyields
shadowsthatareslightlyandnaturallyirregular.
Drawashapewith
cornerslikethese.
Fill,thenblur
theedges.
Placetheimage.
Lightentheshadow.
Addsomecurl
Paper
photosarerarely
perfectlyflat.Createtheillusionofaslightcurlb
ydraw
ingacurvedshadow.
L
iftthreecornersbyenlargingth
e
shadowandoffsettingithorizontally.
Liftthetopbyshorteningthe
shadowasshown.
Liftmore.Thelargerandsoftera
sh
adowis,thefartherabovethesurface
it
appearstobe.Tomodifyanexistin
g
shadow,enlargeitmore,theninPhoto-
shopselecttheerasertool,asoftbrush,
a
ndstarterasing(above).Aslighttilt
(left)makesitmoredynamic.
Trydifferentcu
rls
Modifyin
gtheshadow
slightlyliftsthephotohigheroffthepage.Noteinallcasesthat
onlytheshadowisalte
red;thephotoremainsunto
uched.
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book-stylephotos
Noold
photocollectionwouldbecom
pletewithou
taPolaroid-lookin
gprintthathasthat
characteristicallywide
bottommargin.Image-to-framepro
portionsvary;justgetclose.
GreatAmerica,9
8
Theclass
icsnapshotNophotolooksmore
informalthananold-fashioned,self-developing
Polaroidp
rint.Justdrawawhitefieldandlaythe
photoatopit;thewidemarginleavesroomto
addascra
pbookynote.Below,applystylesfrom
theprevio
uspages.
31/2
41/4
Imag
e:3x31/8
Stacked
Tacked
Taped
Curled
Makeyourown
Polaroid
Selectones
tyleandrepeatit.
CreateaPhotoshopActio
n
Actionssavetimebyrecording
repeatedsteps.IntheAction
spal-
ette,clickontheCreatenew
action
button(above).Specifyanam
e(and,
optionally,ashortcutFunctio
nKey),
andclickRecord.Stylizeyourimage,
andclickStopwhenyourefi
nished.
ToapplytheActiontoanothe
rimage,
simplyopenthatimage,and
either
clickthePlaybuttonoryour
speci-
fiedshortcutFunctionKey.(N
ote:
Youwillneedtocreateseparate
actionsforyourportraitand
land-
scapeimages.
Ifyouhaveman
yphotosfromdifferentyears,youcanbrin
gthemtogetherbeautifullybyusingjust
onestyle.Tominimize
makin
grepetitivesteps,thisisa
goodtimetousePhoto
shopsActionfeature.
Fillthepage
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book-stylephotos
Before&Aftermag
azine
Before&Afterhasbeensharingitspracticalapproach
tographicdesignsince1990.Becauseourmodernworld
hasmadedesignersofusall(readyornot),Before&
Afterisdedicatedtom
akinggraphicdesignunderstand
-
able,usefulandevenfunforeveryone.
JohnMcWadePublis
herandcreativedirector
GayeMcWadeAssociatepublisher
VincentPascualSta
ffdesigner
DexterMarkAbelle
raStaffdesigner
DesignadvisorGwen
Amos
Before&Aftermag
azine
323LincolnStreet,Roseville,CA95678
Telephone916-784-3880
Fax916-784-3995
E-mailmailbox@bama
gazine.com
wwwhttp://www.bam
agazine.com
Copyright2006Be
fore&Aftermagazine
ISSN1049-0035.All
rightsreserved.
Youmaypassalonga
freecopyofthisarticletoothers
byclickinghere.Youm
aynotalterthisarticle,andyou
maynotchargeforit.
Youmayquotebriefsections
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