Photoshop Duotone the Easy Way

By jeremiah | Published: September 25, 2011

Duotone in Photohop, the Super Easy Way

Creating a Duotone effect is very popular amongst digital photographers right now. You can create a duotone the the hard way, which I may write a tutorial on later, or you can use this quick guide to do it the easy way. Keep in mind, we’re kind of cheating the system here. Your photo will still be in RBG format, but it should look quite duotone if you follow this guide.

Open the color photo you want to convert to duotone. Usually the hardest part of using this method to create a duotone photo is choosing which color you’re going to use for the duotone effect. You can use the color swatch to try to pick out a color, or you can go to istock.com and find a duotone picture with the color you want. Just copy that picture to an open photoshop document, and use the eyedropper tool to pick out the color you want to use.

Now that you have your color picked out, create a new layer in the layers palette above your original color picture. Make sure your new color is selected as your foreground color swatch and press alt-backspace to fill your new layer with your chosen color. Change the blend mode of the filled layer to color, and BAMMO! Super easy duotone photograph… even though it’s technically still color.

Duotone Before and After Edit

Before and After

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Crop Photo Using Photoshop

By jeremiah | Published: November 18, 2009

Crop Photo Using Photoshop

Introduction:

Today you’re going to learn how to crop photo’s using Photoshop. There’s more than one way to go about cropping in Photoshop, so I’ll cover the two most popular and easy methods. We’ll be using a stock photo from everystockphoto.com which is royalty free. You can use the same photo as me while you follow along, or practice on one of your own.

Method One, Use Photoshop’s Crop Tool:

Photoshop Crop Tool In UseOpen your image in Photoshop and Press C to select the Crop Tool. Now just click somewhere in the photo and drag out a rectangle or square. You’ll notice the part you’ve selected is still bright, whereas everything else is shaded. The shaded area will be cropped.
You can change the size and shape of the area to be cropped by dragging the corners and sides. Notice the little squares on each corner and all four sides? Those squares are where you drag from. You can also rotate the cropped area by moving your cursor to any of the four corners and then moving it slightly away from the edge of the corner. When your cursor changes to a little curved arrow shape, just left click and rotate the image by dragging left, right, up, or down.
Press enter when you’re happy with your selection, to finish cropping. If you decide you don’t want to crop,  just press escape to cancel. Here’s my finished image below.
asian-girl-cropped

Method 2, Use Photoshop’s Marquee Tool:

This method of cropping photos using Photoshop is very similar to method 1, although it doesn’t give you quite as much control.

Open your image in Photoshop and press M to select the Marquee Tool, make sure it’s the square Marquee and not the round one. If you have the round Marquee Tool selected, hold shift and press M again to switch it.

Now, drag a selection around the area you wish to crop. Once you’ve selected an area you’re happy with, click Image from the top menu and then click “crop” from the drop down. It’s that simple!

Hopefully you’re happy with your results.

Posted in Resizing and Cropping | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

EOS Canon Rebel XT

By jeremiah | Published: July 1, 2009

EOS Canon Rebel XT Intro

eos canon rebel xtFor a camera which is very easy to use, affordibly priced, and some great features, get the  EOS Canon Rebel XT. This camera is 8.0 Megapixels, and has Canon’s DIGIC II Image Processor. You can use over 50 different Canon EF lenses with it. This is a great Digital SLR that offers something for both the pro, and the serious amateur. Choose EOS Canon Rebel XT for an all around great camera.

What Makes The EOS Canon Rebel XT So Great?

The EOS Canon Rebel XT delivers 3,456 x 2,304-pixel images for images of 13×19 inches and larger. The ISO speed is adjustable from 100 to 1600. The optical view finder has some great features such as depth of field preview. The camera comes equiped with a 1.8″ backlit screen for viewing photos and settings. You can zoom in on your images with up to 10x magnification.

Although you can add as many Canon lenses as you’d like to this camera, it comes with a standard 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. You will find that the lens is coated to reduce lens flare.

You can shoot at three frames per second to capture action scenes. The EOS Canon Rebel XT shutter speeds are 1/4,000 all the way up to 30 seoconds and it has a bulb shutter mode too.

Even though the EOS Canon Rebel XT has loads of features it’s very easy to use and you won’t get lost in it’s menu or options.

EOS Canon Rebel XT Shooting Modes and Features

EOS Canon Rebel XT has full automatic shooting as well as landscape, portrait, close up, sports, night, portrait, and flash off. It also has full manual mode for those situations when you need absolute control over the look of your photograph. There’s also a built in red-eye reduction if you choose to use the built-in speed light.

You can connect the camera directly to a PC or a Mac Via USB 2.0 to view your pictures, and upload them to your hardrive.

EOS Canon Rebel XT Technical Details

* 8.0-megapixel CMOS sensor captures enough detail on the EOS Canon Rebel XT for photo-quality 16 x 22-inch prints
* Includes Canon’s EF-S 18-55mm, f3.5-5.6 zoom lens
* DIGIC II Image Processor provides fast, accurate image processing; captures images at a rate of up to 3 frames per second
* Fast start-up time–.2 seconds
* Powered by rechargeable Lithium-ion battery (included, with charger)

EOS Canon Rebel XT Price and Availability

The EOS Canon Rebel XT Retails for $699.99. You cn get a EOS Canon Rebel XT at Amazon.com for as little as $440.00 new and $349.00 used. If you’re going to use the EOS Canon Rebel XT for professional photography, then be sure to get a new one. You wouldn’t want to discover something wrong with your camera in the middle of a shoot. Click the link below to grab a EOS Canon Rebel XT from amazon.com. Amazon is trustworthy and reliable. They are by far the best place to get your new EOS Canon Rebel XT.

Posted in Camera Reviews, Product Reviews | 5 Comments