Make money with blogging

Make money with you little blog............

Not a Writer? Not a Problem.
You Can Make Money Blogging!




Content, content, content. Content makes the web go round.

From the moment you begin researching ways to make money online, you hear WRITING, WRITING, and MORE WRITING, over and over again. There’s a reason for that and we’re going to discuss how the written word can make you money, but YOU don’t have to be the one doing all that writing. Save your paper and your wrists!

One of the hottest ways to make money online is through the power of blogging. But, what does blogging require? What do you think? What ONE thing must you do above all else in order to blog?

If you’re like the majority of people, your answer probably included…you guessed it…WRITING! After all, that’s what a blog is all about right? On your blog you are sharing your thoughts with others in the form of blog posts that you’ve written - constant writing.

Before you run for the hills, let me let you in on a little secret.

While those blog posts are necessary in order for you to be a successful blogger, they do NOT all have to be written by you.

You need content to make your blog successful, but it does not have to be written by you. Let me explain by giving you some ways to make money and keep your blog fresh without wearing yourself out or giving yourself Carpal Tunnel Syndrome before you even get started bringing in the dough.

But, first, you need to know why content so important on the Internet and especially your blog.

Why is Content Crucial?

Here are a few reasons...

First of all, people come to the web for one thing and one thing only – information. Whether they're shopping for products to buy or looking for a natural remedy for their acne, they're hitting the web for information, advice, and help.

If your readers find quality information from you they're very likely to:

Stick Around
Sign Up for Your ezine or newsletter
Twitter about your site
Recommend your posts at places like StumbleUpon.com
Sign up for your RSS feed
Come back in the future
Refer others to your site

Second, search engines LOVE content. The more pages you have on your website or blog filled with quality content, the better. Whether you offer product reviews, funny stories, or meaty training, quality content is rewarded by Google, MSN, and Yahoo, as well as the many other smaller search engines online.

Third, adding value to the Internet begins to establish you as an expert on your topic. By writing great information, your readers will begin to look at you as THE go-to person for information. You'll begin attracting interview and JV requests as well.

As you can see content really is important if you want to build a successful blog or website on the Internet. Without it, your site is just another in the World Wide Web. How can people find you if they don’t know you exist? By establishing yourself and providing your readers with quality posts and other valuable information they need and want, you will see that you can easily become one of the big fish in the pond.

But, what if you don’t have time to write constantly? Or, what if you don’t like writing? You’re in luck, there are many ways to add quality information to your blog without having to write it all yourself.

Before we get to that, let me tell you that while you can create a blog purely made up of content that you don’t write yourself, I wouldn’t advise it. If you want to really resonate with your readers, you have to let them get to know you as well. Don’t shy away from writing some posts yourself, but instead use these content creation methods along with your own writing to create even more quality information for your visitors.

Where to Find Content for Your Blog?

Now that you know you need great content for your blog and why, it’s time to move on to the meat of this report. I promised I’d tell you how to get that content without wearing your fingers to the bone. So, here we go! Hang on it’s gonna be a fun ride!


1. Hire a Writer

There are freelance writers who make it their business to write articles, blog posts and more for website owners as well as bloggers. Most of these writers, also known as ghostwriters, charge per written piece and base their charges on the word count of the content you need. For instance, you can have a 300 word blog post written for X amount of dollars on the desired topic of your choice.

Normally, you will send the writer either a broad topic or even an actual title and they will in turn write the content for you following your specifications. Finding a ghostwriter is not hard, especially with the field growing by leaps and bounds every single day. The hard part is finding a writer you can communicate well with, afford, and who can write in a way that captures your voice.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when hiring a ghostwriter.

Finding a Writer

Ask for Recommendations - Ask around and see who comes recommended. You can easily get references from other bloggers, website owners, Internet marketers, and even on social media sites such as Twitter.

Search Engines - While this is an option, I would definitely ask people you know and trust for their suggestions for a writer first. Just because a person’s website makes it to the top of the search engine results and they “claim” to be an experienced writer, doesn’t mean they are.

Recommendation: Shelancers.com offers a variety of writers to choose from.

It Might Take More than One to Find THE One

Just as every blog is different, so are writers. Don’t get discouraged if you try one (or sometimes more) writer and he or she is not what you had in mind. Some writers can take any blog owner’s writing style and implement it in their articles and blog posts with no problem what-so-ever. Others don’t find it as easy.

If you hire a writer and find you don’t like their writing style or approach to a topic, move to another. I can tell you from experience; sometimes it takes going through a few writers to find the one that “gets it” and will whip out superb content that fits your personality as if you wrote it yourself.

Feedback is Crucial

When you hire a writer make sure you give them feedback once they’ve completed a writing project for you. If there was something you didn’t like about the article – the way they worded things wasn’t how you would have done it, etc. – let them know. A professional writer will be open to all types of feedback and offer to correct the issue with a re-write. By providing feedback, you are not only letting the writer know what you like and dislike about the content, but you are also building a relationship that will become very beneficial for both of you.

For instance, I know I can start writing something that’s in my head and when I get stuck, it’s nothing for me to whip it over to my writer and say “Help!” I have developed a relationship with her that allows me to feel comfortable throwing something her way without a second thought for improvement, additions, etc. I know that once she returns it to me I will not only be pleased, but it will read as if I’ve written it all myself because she and I have communicated and discussed my likes and dislikes so much that she could pass as me almost any day!

Review & Edit

I know I just said that I can send something to my writer and it would be like I’ve written it myself, but that doesn’t mean I can get away with not looking at the finished product. Even the best of writers have their off days, mine included.

Therefore, it is critical that any piece of writing you have someone else put together for you, should be reviewed and edited as necessary. Whether you’re making changes to put more of your own thoughts and opinions to it or simply adding monetization items, you must, must, must review each and every piece of content you have created for you.


2. Seek Guest Experts

You may have seen these on other blogs you, yourself frequent. Also commonly referred to as guest bloggers, guest experts are people who can provide relevant information to your readers in the form of guest posts. These are people who somehow tie in with your blog’s topic. For instance, if you own an Internet marketing blog you might consider approaching people from the following areas about submitting guest posts or becoming a regular guest expert on your blog.

· Social Media Experts
· Outsourcing Experts
· Web Design Experts
· Technical Experts
· Working from Home Experts
· Press Release Experts
· Affiliate Marketing Experts

The list could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.

You invite them to be a guest blogger on your blog, set them up with their own login information or have them submit their posts directly to you so you can post them yourself.
Give them something in return for their efforts because most guest bloggers are not paid for their posts. Many times a link back to the guest experts’ site and possibly allowing them to promote their own products or affiliates products within their post is all that’s needed. But, with the growth in popularity of guest bloggers, it’s getting a bit harder to find people who will commit. If they’re good at what they do, they will be blogging on other sites as well as yours. Try to sweeten the pot a little to get them to stick around and continue posting.

Of course, you can pay them to submit information if you’d like. As a matter of fact, I myself have one site where I pay for submissions. I monitor the submissions and if we decide it is site worthy, we pay the author for the article once it’s been published. I’ve found this helps when it comes to having a steady flow of content.

One more thing about guest bloggers you may find helpful. If you know people who are just starting out they are more open to jumping on as a guest blogger than established bloggers or business owners. However, if you aren’t ranking extremely high in the search engines, your traffic numbers aren’t all that great or your blog isn’t quite as popular as you’d like it to be yet, don’t worry. It takes some time to get there, but with the help of adding all this great content and a few other essentials, you’ll be there before you know.


3. Hit the Article Directories

Article directories are databases full of articles that authors have submitted in hopes that others will pick them up and publish them on their websites and blogs. You can find articles on just about every topic of the sun at these directories.

The catch is that you must include the author’s resource box, which normally contains information about the author and a link to their website, when you publish it on your own site. They are great sources of information, but read the articles very carefully to be sure you are getting the content you want for your website. You wouldn’t want to place incorrect information on your blog and mislead your readers after all.

Here are some of my most favorite article directories:
Ezine Articles
Free Affiliate Articles (get articles that you can monetize with affiliate links in the resource bio)
LadyPens.com

4. Create Video & Audio

Audio and video are growing ever popular online, especially on blogs. You can publish your own audios and videos or you can link to ones that others have created.

Here are some ideas for creating your own audios and videos that you can publish on your blog:

Interviews with experts in your field
How-to videos
Talk radio shows and podcasts
Training
And more

Don’t have audio or video creation software? No sweat – you can easily create short videos on your digital camera and upload them to sites like these:

YouTube
Flickr
Blip TV
12 Seconds TV

If you’re looking for audio help, have a glance at these sites:

AudioAcrobat
Blog Talk Radio


5. Add RSS News Feeds

As you probably already know, most blogs have what is known as an RSS feed. This is where, when set up by the blog owner, readers can subscribe to the feed and be notified of new posts to the blog via email or feed readers. If your blog doesn’t have one, I highly suggest you create one. It’s really easy with the help of a site like FeedBurner.com.

Just as blogs have feeds, so do news websites such as CNN, MSNBC, etc. You can have your blog set up to receive feeds from other blogs or websites automatically. When you do this, your blog will show the posts from the other sites. Your blog is updated automatically every time a post is added to that site.

What a great way to have constant content pertaining to your topic appear on your blog. Great for indexing in the search engines too.

6. Ask Your Readers

Another great way to get content is to ask your readers to submit questions, suggestions, etc.

Their information can be turned into content for your blog in many ways:

Q & A Posts – Ask your readers to submit their questions and then answer them right on your blog.

Create a FAQ Page – As you receive questions, add them to a frequently asked questions page on your site. Each time you update the page, let your readers know.

Product Reviews – If you sell products or provide a service, ask your customers for their opinions about these things. Sometimes, they will submit full fledged reviews and you can publish those on your blog.

Testimonials – While these may not be full posts on their own, you can combine some of them and post on your blog.

7. Newsletters & Emails to Subscribers

Do you have an email list? When you send emails to your subscribers or send out your regular newsletter, do you stop at that? Start posting the updates you send to your subscribers and your newsletters or ezines to your blog as well.

Some of your subscribers may not get a chance to read your emails before they are shuffled down their inbox screen or worse yet, they may have filters that are blocking your emails altogether. This will allow them to still receive the valuable information you have to share AND give you more quality content for your blog.

Of course, if you have a list that has sensitive information that you don’t want the whole world to see, skip on posting those specific messages. One example of this would be a membership site where you send members a download link each month so they can access their member’s only information. You wouldn’t want just anybody to have the ability to get that information.

But, if you’re adding a new product to your business for instance, go ahead and post the email you send to your past customers on your blog. You’ll get more exposure for your product and added content for your blog. It’s a win-win.

8. Load Up with Private Label Rights (PLR) Content

One of my favorite ways to add quality, topic related content to a blog is with PLR. If you don’t know what PLR is, let me fill you in on this wonderful little thing.

PLR content is created specifically for those who don’t have the time, skills or desire to create their own content on a consistent basis. You can find articles, blog posts, reports, recipes, marketing materials, and even web design PLR on the Internet. Someone else writes it and sells it. You buy it and have the ability to use as you see fit - for the most part. Most PLR sites do have rules to what you can and can’t do with the PLR once you purchase it, so be sure you review those before buying.

Recommended PLR Sites:
www.EasyPLR.com
www.YummyPLR.com
www.plr.me/easyplr (special offer on that page)
www.PLRSO.com (Internet marketing content)

Now, let’s see what some of the benefits of PLR include:

Inexpensive – PLR is normally cheaper than hiring a ghostwriter. You can normally buy a pack of PLR or sign up for a membership for very little. For instance, a ballpark average cost for a freelancer to write a 500 word article might run you around 10-15 dollars. With some PLR sites, you can buy 10-15 articles for that same price.

Variety – No matter what your topic, you can probably find PLR content for sale about it. The popularity of PLR has helped make it’s availability in a wide variety of markets bigger and broader than ever before.

Limited (some not all) availability – Although PLR is not exclusively yours like ghostwritten material, in most instances the number of times a particular package will be sold is limited. At least with a good PLR seller it is. This will limit the amount of times your content will be found on someone else’s site. (But, I’m going to tell you in a minute how to avoid that, even if the PLR you purchase isn’t limited to a certain amount of buyers.)

Time-Saving – As with the other ways to find content without writing it yourself, PLR saves you a TON of time. It’s already written for you, you just have to make it your own and it’s good to go.

Recyclable – One PLR article can be used over and over again. You can repurpose the same piece of content in numerous ways:

Post it to your blog.
Send it to your list.
Create your own products with it.
Use it in your affiliate program.
Use it in your membership program.
And so much more.

The possibilities really are endless when it comes to using PLR. The more you use it, the more valuable that one piece of content becomes to you.

One bit of advice if you’re using PLR content:

If you decide to use PLR on your blog (or anywhere else for that matter) rework it before posting it. You want to make the content your own in some way. There will be other people on the Internet that are using this same content and unfortunately some won’t see the need to make the content their own and put it up as is. You don’t want to be offering the EXACT same information as everyone else.

Make the PLR cater to your audience and target market. Add your own thoughts to it. Put a different spin on it, whatever you need to do to make it work for your needs without simply throwing it up on your blog in the same condition you received it in. This is what will set you apart from another blogger in your market. This is what will show your readers that you can be trusted and know your stuff.

I’ve now given you 8 ways to get content for your blog without having to write it all yourself. There are other ways, but these are some of my personal favorites and most popular ways. Pick one you really like or choose a combination of them.

Up next I’ll give you some ideas for making money with all this content!
Monetizing Your Content for Passive Blogging Profits
Once you start compiling your content and adding it to your blog, it’s time to start thinking about how you can make money with your new found information. I’ve got a few ideas to help you get started, so let’s get to it – I know this is what you were waiting on wasn’t it?
1. Promote Affiliate Programs
Finding products you can promote within your content is a great way to make money with your blog. One way to do this is to sign up for an affiliate program for the items you would like to promote. Once you’ve found them and signed up you’ll receive a link (your affiliate link) that you can use to send your blog readers to the product. When they make a purchase using your link, you’ll be rewarded with commissions.
When posting your content, think of items that will compliment the content and search for affiliate programs for those types of products. For instance, if you’re posting an article that discusses using video online, you could promote the software you use to create your own videos. Do you have a product or service you love and couldn’t live without? Put together a product review and use your affiliate link to send your reader to the company’s website. A word of caution with reviews – a reader can tell if you’re just pushing a product to make a sale so be honest. If there is something you don’t like about it, tell them.
You can find affiliate programs in many places, but here are a few I recommend:
The Company’s Website – More and more business owners are realizing just how much creating an affiliate program for their products and services can increase business. Check right on the company’s website for information on how to sign up for their affiliate program.
Affiliate Networks – You can find tons of products in every market you could dream of here. Just sign up for a free publisher account, locate products you’d like to promote. That’s all there is to it. www.ClickBank.com
Free Affiliate Articles – If you're looking for content that is ready for affiliate links visit www.FreeAffiliateArticles.com and you'll find a bunch.
Mom Affiliate Network – If you cater to the mom market, I highly recommend checking this site out for family friendly products. You’ll also find programs to help Internet marketers and those who want to work from home here. www.MomAffiliateNetwork.com
Search Engines – Many times you can put the type of product you’re looking to promote plus the words “affiliate program” into your browser’s search feature and you’ll find lots of options.
2. Adsense
Do you see those blocks of ads on blogs and websites throughout the web that “Ads by Google” at the bottom? Those are ads published via Google’s Adsense program.
Google sends targeted ads based on the content that appears on your blog. You can sign up for an account with Google’s Adsense program for free. Once you sign up you’ll be able to set up the type of ads you’d like fed to your blog (text ads, block ads, banner ads, and more). As the content on your blog changes, Google changes the ads and you’re paid whenever someone clicks on the ads.
When done correctly, you can make very good money with Adsense, but it does take a bit of testing and tweaking to find the combination of ads that will work best for your individual blog. People are used to seeing these ads and although many people do ignore them, there are many more who will click the links and you’ll be compensated when they do.
3. Resale Rights Content

Resale rights content is content you purchase similar to PLR with one exception. You usually don’t have the right to alter the content in anyway. You purchase the content for your use and are given the rights to resell it, which allows you to then turn around sell the product yourself.

Normally, you’ll receive not only the product, but also the sales page and other web copy to add to your own website. You simply change the payment link to have it paid to you and whenever someone buys the product you get all the profits.

Master Resale Rights Content

If resale rights content isn’t good enough, there is also content you can purchase that comes with what’s known as Master Resale Rights. The difference between master resale rights and regular resale rights is:

Resale Rights – You can sell the product but you can NOT pass those same rights on to your customers.

Master Resale Rights – You can not only sell the product and keep the profits, but you also have the ability to pass resale rights onto your customers. They can in turn sell the product as their own.

Each product has specific rules on how you can and cannot use the content no matter which type you are given. Due to this make certain you take the time to read the rules before just throwing the product up for sale or offering rights to others.

Here are some examples of products that offer resale rights you might want to try for your blog:

· Small Reports Zone - Jimmy D. Brown
· Beginner Coach - Another Jimmy D. Brown product (this one has Master Resale Rights)
· Sweetie Reports - Alice Seba’s Monthly Report Club where members receive a new report each month and each one comes with Resale Rights
· FullTimeWahm - Comes with Resale Rights, although it isn't mentioned on the sales page.
4. Create & Sell Your Own Info Products
Ok, I know you’re probably shaking your head after reading number 4. You’re probably wondering how in the world you have the time to write your own information products when you’re trying to save time and energy by NOT writing all your own blog posts. Hear me out, I promise it’ll be worth it. J
Just like your blog posts, you can create information products that you can sell to your readers without writing all of the content yourself. The absolute best (and easiest) way to do this is by purchasing PLR content that centers around the topic of the info product you’d like to create and rework it a bit and compile it to create an eBook or guide you can then put up for sale. Here’s an example of what I mean:
Let’s say you have a blog about Green Living. One thing your readers would love to know is how to live a greener life without paying tons of money on things like solar panels, costly home additions, etc. You’ve decided you’d like to create an eBook to help them go green by making small changes to their everyday lifestyles without breaking the bank. You’d also like to show them ways they can not only live a greener life, but even save money in the process. We’ll call the product: “Go Green without Breaking the Bank: Small Changes You Can Make to Live an Eco-Friendly Life while Saving Money.”
The first thing you’d do is start searching for private label rights content that fits your subject. Next, you’ll want to compile all the PLR you’ve purchased into a logical, valuable document. Now, it’s time to add your own advice, tips, knowledge, etc. on the subject and form your finished product.
You’ve now created an entire eBook without having to write the majority of it yourself. Save your brain power for marketing your newly created product. Just remember, make any PLR you purchase your own by reworking it to fit your needs and add to or take away information as necessary.
Go to EasyPLR.com/bestplr.htm for the best PLR on a huge variety of topics.
Bonus Tip: To add value to your information product, record an audio version of your eBook and package it with the written version. You can also interview others in your field and add that too.

5. ECourses & Newsletters
Another great way to monetize your blog content is by adding free eCourses to your arsenal. You can put together eCourses that will give your readers further information about the topic of your blog.
For instance, if you run a blog about Labrador Retrievers, why not create a short 5 day eCourse that tells owners of Lab puppies the best tips and tricks for house training the newest member of their family. Or, create an eCourse that gives important information on raising Labs specifically.
You can use PLR content or take content you’ve previously posted on your blog to create your eCourses.
Grab pre-written PLR eCourses on Internet marketing topics at MostlySanePLR.com
Simply load the eCourse into your email management system (I use Aweber) and sprinkle promotions for affiliate products throughout the course. Once you have the course set up, copy and paste the HTML or JavaScript for the sign up box into your blog. Then market the course via your blog posts, on Twitter, and other places.
This brings me to the next step in making money with your blog – bringing in visitors.


6. Ad networks.
Ad networks are programs that serve ads onto your blog. Normally they pay per thousand impressions. (Usually described as CPM.) So, an ad network that pays $3 CPM would pay $3 for every 1000 times the ad was viewed.

There are many sites like this online and you can find them by searching google.

Click here to view some of them: http://www.easyplr.com/sell-ads.htm
Then, Drive Traffic!
I’ll be straight and to the point - without readers your blog will never make money. You need new readers and faithful ones that will keep coming back and spread the word. How do you get people to come to your blog in the first place? And, once you get them there how do you keep them?
Getting Traffic to Your Blog
Search Engine Traffic – Pay attention to keywords and phrases when you publish your blog posts and other pages. These will help your blog rank higher in the search engines and bring targeted visitors (those really interested in what you have to say) to you.
Word of Mouth – Give some incentive for your readers to tell others about your blog. You can offer contests and giveaways where the winner has to link to the contest or post a Tweet on Twitter about the contest, etc. We’ll talk more about these things in a bit.
Comment on Other Blogs - Find blogs that fit with yours and visit them, read what the author posts and make comments on their posts. When you make comments on other blogs you are normally given the opportunity to link to your site – use it!
Article Marketing – We talked about article directories earlier, but this time you’ll be the one submitting the articles for others to pick up and post on their websites and blogs. Be sure you link to your blog in the resource box so people who read the article can visit your site to learn more.
Learn how to implement article marketing in a way that effectively drives tons of targeted visitors to your blog with this – Easy Article Marketing
Hold Contests & Giveaway Freebies – Contests and free items are hot! Everybody loves a good freebie and the chance to win something. There are tons of things you can giveaway on your blog – from reports to physical products. Some people have found success with using a weekly freebie (Freebie Friday) post. Don’t be afraid to create your own free content and give your readers the opportunity to pass those things on to others. Just don’t forget to include a link to your blog within the content so they’ll know where to find more of your great information.
Here's a free report about holding a contest on your blog:
http://www.webtrafficbasics.com/BoostTrafficwithaBlogContest.pdf
Add a Product Review Section – Create a section on your blog just for recommending products that your readers would be interested in. For instance, if your blog is for those wanting to work from home, include reviews of work at home job sites, products that help make the work at home office more efficient and things of that nature.
Everybody looks to others before making a purchase to get advice and opinions. They don’t want to spend their hard earned money on something they’ll never use or that doesn’t give them what they were hoping for. Be the one to share your opinions about products and services (don’t forget to add your affiliate links within the reviews) with your readers.
Add a Recipe Section – If it fits your market another item that is hot on the Internet is recipes. Add a recipe section to your blog and watch your visitor numbers rise. Recipes are a cinch to add to your blog and you don’t have to write them yourself. Check out YummyPLR.com to get your hands on PLR recipes you can add to your website each and every month.
WebTrafficBasics.com – Sign up for this free course where
you’ll learn how to drive traffic to your blog.
Keeping Your Visitors Around
The best way to keep your readers coming back is to offer them quality, valuable content on a consistent basis. That’s what they come for so give them what they want.
Another great way to keep your visitors coming back is to give them the opportunity to sign up to receive reminders about your blog. You can do this with an RSS feed and a newsletter or ezine. Keeping in touch with them on a regular basis, whether weekly, twice a month or monthly, will keep your blog and you fresh in their minds.
The Time is Now!
You are now equipped with more than enough information to create your own blog, or take your current blog to the next level, without typing the letters of your keyboard or spending hours of your precious time at the computer. The only thing left to do now is apply what you’ve learned.
You’ll find a list of resources I personally recommend below. You can check out the ones you think will help you and leave the ones you don’t need. Whatever you do, never, from this point on think you have to spend the rest of your life writing your own blog content. Heck no, life is too short for that, right? ;)
Best of Luck! I hope to see your blog making you profits and hitting the top of the best blogs lists soon!
Recommended Resources
www.Shelancers.com - Find Writers who can make you look and sound even better than you already are!
www.OutsourceWeekly.com - Learn how to automate & outsource every area of your business that is keeping you from making the kind of money that you'd like to with your blog.
www.ReliableWebs.com – You’ll need a host for your blog, if you don’t already have one set up. Find affordable hosting, whether you’re a mom or not, with excellent customer support here.
www.WordPress.org - This is where it’s at when it comes to blogging platforms. WordPress makes setting up a blog and managing all your content super-easy.
www.EasyPLR.com/bestplr.htm - Affordable, quality PLR article packs, special reports & more on lots of topics.
www.WebTrafficBasics.com – Get targeted traffic to your website with this free course.

AudioAcrobat - record audio for your blog. Turn it into a podcast with this tool.
www.BrandableStuff.com – Videos, reports, and audios that you can post on your blog (all with affiliate programs that you can join to monetize the posts).
http://www.easyplr.com/dc/free-plr.htm - Free product reviews.

Photoshop Secret and tutorial

Photoshop Secret and tutorial


Photoshop Secrets
How To Get Great At Photoshop




Introduction

Photoshop is one of the premier graphic software packages used by a lot of people. Here you will find an introduction on what the Adobe graphic software is about and how you can use it for your projects. You will be able to learn the secrets that can help you master this software so that your projects will appeal to others.

Photoshop is not one of those software programs where you can easily start on your own. You may want to take your time while using it because you don’t want to go too fast while learning the ropes. You will learn how to add images, and other tips that you need to know in order to become a professional in graphics.

There are so many things to do with this graphic software, but it’s important to know the basics first before you start diving into more advanced features and functions. When you learn to do one thing, you can move on to other tasks.

In order to get started, you must open the Photoshop software. You will see the Photoshop desktop. Within the desktop, you will find the following categories: title bar, menu bar, options bar, status bar, toolbox, image window and palettes.

Within the title bar, you will see the name of the software, along with the most recent name of the file (if there is one). Each time a file is created, the extension will end with “.psd”.

The menu bar will have different commands to use for your file, such as edit, image, layer, select, view). There are other commands, but the commands mentioned are some of the ones that are used most often. You will find the options bar above the menus.

The toolbox bar has tools that are used for images that are in the graphics software. You can only use one tool at a time. In order to activate it, you must click on the corresponding icon. These tools are used for many of the Photoshop projects. Here are some brief details on the ones that most people use:

Hand – Dragged in order to move an image around.

Move – To move a certain area, you must click and drag.

Zoom – Zoom in and out by clicking or dragging.

Crop – To do this, you must click and drag that certain area; to execute the crop, press Enter; to cancel the crop, use the Escape key.







Marquee – The selected images will be clicked and drug

Type – Using the type tool, click the image where you want to include type.

Brush – Used for painting brush strokes.

Eraser – Gets rids of areas that have solid colors.

Dodge – This tool is used for to lighten any picture wherever you select it.

Burn – This tool is used to make certain areas on your image darker.

Wand – This tool is used for colored areas. You can use it to select, erase, color or adjust.

At one point or another, you will use these tools from the toolbox bar. They can help you when you’re creating images, designs or other drawings. The more you use them, the easier it will be for you to utilize them when the time comes. They can help to enhance the beauty of your work.


Palettes
You can use palettes to do different things with Photoshop. You can show or hide certain ones by going to the window menu and selecting a palette name. Palettes are placed into different groups.

For instance, one group would consist of layers, channels and paths. If you need to move a palette group, you can do so by dragging the blue bar that is located at the top of the group. If you want to shrink a palette group, click on the blue bar twice. Using the close box (“X”), you can hide a palette group if you wish.

The palettes have tabs and they can be moved around by dragging them. If you don’t want to do that, then the palettes can be mixed into other groups. Or if you want to place them in a default setting, you can do that also.

This graphics software also has rulers that you can use to see the measurements of your image. You will be able to tell whether it’s too big or too small. If you want to change the size, click on the ruler twice, or you can use the “Preferences” command. You can change the measurement from pixels to inches.

Using the status bar, you will have information regarding the current file that you’re working on. You will be able to view and use one of the tools. The status bar shows which tool that you have chosen to work with.



Using Images


How To Get Images Into Photoshop

You will need to have an image in order to create a file. There are several ways that this can be done.

If there is a file that already has an image, then click File, Open or File and then Browse. Most files that have images will open in Photoshop.

Create a new file. Click File and then New. Choose a name for the new file and go to the Preset menu and enter the information requested.

Scan an image from a computer into Photoshop by clicking File and then Import.


How To Move An Image Around

You can move an image around in Photoshop when you are in the editing stage. In fact, you will be able to multi-task as you zoom in and go around it. As you’re editing, you can zoom in and out to see what you need to do as far as adjustments are concerned. In order to do this, you should use the zoom and hand tools, and also the palette that is used for navigating.

Click or drag the image using the zoom tool. The more your zoom in, the more the image size will increase and get larger. You will be able to see how much the image has increased by looking at the status bar. If you want to see it in its entirety, click on the zoom icon twice. Use the ALT key to get out of the zoom function.

The hand tool is used to go around the image while you are still zoomed in. You can drag the hand in order to do this. If you want to move the image using the Navigation function, click Window and Show Navigator.

If you want to see more than one window of an image, click Window, Arrange and New Window. This setup will help you to get in close up to an image, or at least part of it. You will also be able to see another window while you are looking at the first image.



Size of Image, Resolution and Print Size

You will probably want to know more about sizes of images, resolution and print size. You can do that by using the dialog box for Image Sixing. In Photoshop, you need to open an image. Select Image, Image Size and you’ll see the dialog box.

Pixels or picture elements make up digital images. There is only one color in each pixel. The number of pixels in an image has to do with width and height. This also correlates with how large or how small you can see the display on the computer screen. In the “Document Size” function, using width and height allude to how large or small the image will be when you print it.



Printing Images

When you want to print an image in a larger size, you should decrease the resolution. If you need to change the size of an image before you print, make sure that the “Resampling Image” box is not checked. While increasing the size, the resolution will decrease if you increase the width and height. If you do the opposite of this, then the result will be the opposite.

If you’re printing an image for leisure use, using a resolution of 72 ppi can work. However, if it is more on the line of newspapers and newsletters, you will need increased resolutions starting at 150 to 200 ppi. For magazines, the resolutions would be higher, from 250 ppi on up.


Scanning Images In Photoshop

The image should be in the scanner, face down on the glass. Photoshop will need to be opened. Select “Import”, then Twain Acquire.” Photoshop has scanning software that will open up to be used.

Choose the resolution for your image. There is a certain dpi (dots per image) you will need. Here are some suggestions for how you should set the dpi:

If you are enlarging prints, you should use dpi starting at 300 or more.

With general 1 to 1 printing, you should use dpi at 300.

For projects that use PowerPoint or the internet, you should use dpi at 72.

Select preview and wait for the scanner to get to the scan in preview format. Choose the selection tool to look at an area to scan in the preview. You will probably need to adjust settings afterwards. Select the tool icon and choose either photo or drawing. This will help your image to look clearer and have a better contrast.

If you have other changes, such as color, balance, brightness, etc., do them only once the image has been scanned and imported to Photoshop. You have more flexibility to make changes and other adjustments in Photoshop than you would with the software used for scanning.

In order to do this, choose the scan function and you will see “untitled document” in the image. Using Photoshop, you can change the size of it. Choose the edit menu and select “Image Size”. If the graphics take up a lot of space, they can take quite of bit of time to load on a dial up modem.

So if this is your predicament, you would want to have a thumbnail size of the image. This size would be much smaller than the image you’re trying to resize, and would take up less space. When you create the first image in Photoshop, you will need to save it. Then create the thumbnail size. You would create these images from the scan.

When it’s time to save the file, there are several suffix formats you can use. If the image is a photo and being used for the internet, use the .jpg suffix. If the image is not a photo and being used for the internet, use the .gif suffix.

If the images come from the printer and they are of high quality, you can use .tiff or .jpg. There is more information involved when you save an image using .tiff. However, it comes without additional layers like .psd images have. You would only save the image to .psd if it contained layers.

Save the file where you can easily locate it later on. It may be helpful to create a folder and save it for images only.

Editing Images
You can do quite a bit with images when you use Photoshop. The graphics software has plenty of components and tools that can help with editing images. Here are some basic things that you should know when you are doing that:
Make sure that you have two images when you’re creating them. The initial image should be used as a backup and have another copy that you can work on. This is good to do in the event you don’t like the way the image looks or you messed up. At least you will be able to start over. You can also choose to use the file prior to when you made changes. You can do this by selecting File and Revert. Or you can choose the History palette.
If you do make some changes to images, only the part that is being changed is affected. Usually, the changes would include the image pixels.
When making changes to an image and there is more than one layer, the changes usually only affect the newest layer.


Rotating Images

This is when you want to turn an image any way that you want when you’re using Photoshop. In the graphics software, open the image that you wish to rotate. Then click the rotate command located in the Image menu. Select how much you want to turn the image by using the degrees of rotation.

If you have a certain number, choose Free and put in the number, then choose Ok.

When you save the file, use a different name.

Check the image and if you don’t like it, you can change it. Go to the Edit menu and choose undo to reverse what you did.



Saving A Photoshop Image

You can be irritated trying to look for a saved file, only finding out that it’s not where you thought it was. That’s nothing compared to what you would feel if you created a Photoshop file only to save it in the wrong format. There are certain things that you can do in order to make sure that your Photoshop files are saved the correct way.

Here is the way you can save an image file in Photoshop:

Select File, Save; or you can use the Ctrl and the S key together.

Create a name for the file in the file name area.

Using the dropdown menu, get a file location. You can use a drive or a folder to do this. Select the file format that you will save it in. You should flatten the files prior to saving them. The saving process will work better that way. Or if your image file has layers, you can use the PDF format in Photoshop.

Any additional options that you want you can include in the Save portion. Go ahead and proceed to save the file.


Layers

Layers are used in Photoshop images. The background layer is usually the only layer that each image has. You can use layers during the image editing process. They can also be used for special effects.

If you make a copy of a layer and then decide to change it, you will have the first layer as a backup. You would make changes or adjustments to the copy of the layer. Another thing that you can do with layers is put images together by using different content.

With the exception of adjustment layers, for the most part, layers are required to have quite a bit of memory. The larger files from Photoshop usually contain a lot of layers. To use the layers, go to the Layers palette from the Window menu.

In the first column of the palette, you will see some layers on the computer screen. You will be able to identify them by the eye icon. Even though you will be able to see the layer, it may not be totally transparent.

This means that you will be able to see any layers that are under the initial one. You will notice the transparency when you see a checkerboard pattern. There may be times when you will have to or want to change the visibility of a layer.

If you decide to edit the layer, whatever you change will also affect the newest layer. If you want to use another name for the layer, click on the layer’s name twice and type the new name. If you want another layer to be the new layer, choose that layer in the palette.

If you want to create a new layer, use the icon for creating a new layer in the Layer palette. Or you can create a new layer by moving the previous layer to the icon for the new layer.

If you want to get rid of a layer, use the trash icon. Or you can move the layer to the trash icon.

If you don’t want to make changes or adjustments to a layer, use one of the Lock boxes. These are located at the top of the Layers palette. In the Lock boxes area, you have commands and components such as lock pixels, lock layer position, lock transparent areas and lock all.



Styles

You have different styles to choose from when you have images with layers. There are different special effects you can use to enhance your image in Photoshop. You would choose the layer in the palette, then choose the Effects button. You will see a layer style dialog box. This is where you will be able to create the special effects for the layer that is open.

When you want to save the effects, you will select “New Style”. You can use some of the same effect later for other layers. To do that, choose the style in the palette and you will have the same ones to use for that layer. To use the Styles palette, select Window, then Show Styles.

Parts of layers that you can see through will have edges. You can also use effects here. If there are not transparent portion, there’s a chance you may not see any changes after the layer effects are applied.

Layers can also be used to put images together. Open two images and with the move tool, move one image on top of the other. The initial image will look like a new layer in the next image. You can also put images together by copying and pasting one image to another image. This can also create a new layer.

If you need to edit your images, you can use adjustable layers to do that. These layers are not only adjustable and editable, they can be used with Levels, Photo Filters, Hue/Saturation and other commands as need.

An adjustment layer is created by using the Layer function. Select New Adjustment Layer and then select one of the menu components. You can choose from Color Balance, Curves, Levels, etc.) Or you can choose the adjustment layer button and get the same menu of components.

If you need to adjust any settings with this, use the dialog box. With the adjustment layer, you can edit any part of it. On the other hand, a regular Levels adjustment is not allowed to be totally edited.

The dialog box will be in the adjustment layer and you can adjust any settings that you need to. You don’t need a lot of lot of memory and the file’s size does not get larger.


Using Selection Techniques

When you use selection techniques, essentially you are setting apart a portion of an image so that you can make changes to it. Or you may want to include that portion with other images. That portion is considered a selection.

With the selection, you can still utilize the tools used to edit images and other commands. The selection portion is protected and is considered a “mask”. This part of the image is protected in Photoshop. You will see an outline of the selection on the screen.

Using a selection tool icon, you can make a selection. Whatever tool you will be using will be in the Options bar. Use Windows and Options if you don’t see t hem. You will not see all of the tools right away. You may have to click on some tools in order to see the ones that are hidden.

Use the Ctrl-H function to show and hide the selection outline. Using Select, then Inverse will make the selection inverted. If you wish to reverse the selection, choose Select>None. To save a selection, choose Select, then Save Selection.

If you need to include more on a current selection, use the Shift key. To remove from a current selection, use the Alt key. If you need to add more to a current selection because of color, choose Select, then Similar.

If you need to move a selection or part of it, use the move tool and drag it to where you want it.

If you want to feather a selection, use the Feather checkbox. Using this will allow your selection to look softer.



How To Make Your Photos Look Better

Use an image that has a .jpg or .png suffix format. Place the images on your computer. Using Photoshop, open the photo. Make a copy of the background layer. Using the copy, you will need to use “Overlay” or “Soft Light”.

Go to the Filters section and select Other and High Pass. This will get you to the High Pass Filter. Choose an edge and adjust the radius to a different sharpness. The usual sharpness is between 1.0 and 3.5.

Go to Layers, New Adjustment Layer and Levels. Select Options where you will see three buttons. Test all three buttons to find which one will provide you with the best colors for your image.

Go to Layers, New Adjustment Layer and Curves to set the image’s contrast. To form the shape of the letter S, click about ¼ of the line upward and pull the image down just slightly. Then go about ¾ up the line and pull up slightly.

Make new layers on top of everything shown. Use the Overlay command and the brush tool. Change the colors back to black and white. The flow should be around 30%. Set the hardness at 0% in the brushes palette. Paint the selected areas that you want to draw attention to in white and black.



Colors

Using different colors in Photoshop is part of the creation process. When using colors you are considered to be in color mode. Photoshop does have a default where there are certain colors that most if not all people use. The color scheme is called RGB or Red, Green, Blue. In fact, this is the main legend that is used in Photoshop.

The color modes are used to use the colors that are included in each color image pixel. If you need to adjust the color modes, then click Image and Mode.

Each set of modes consists of channels with a grayscale image. These images can have as many as 256 shades that include white and black colors. You can look at the channels by clicking Window and then ‘Channels. The channels can be edited and adjusted if need be. Doing this can help to improve the way some of the images look.

There are some color modes that are used more than others. Here are some of the ones that are used the most:

RGB Mode – Red, Green and Blue; used to edit and adjust images in color.

Grayscale Mode – A gray color setting that has 256 shades and only uses one channel.

Indexed Mode – Only uses one channel for color and can hold up to 256 color values; it is also used for photos that have the .gif extension.

Bitmap Mode – Used for black and white colors only.

CMYK Mode – Four colors, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black; this method is used for professional publications. They should be kept and saved in this mode.



Adding Colors in Photoshop

With the variety of colors that Photoshop has, there is no excuse as to why your project won’t come out looking nice. It is not difficult to add colors in Photoshop. In fact, adding color to a strictly black and white photo will not only make it look different, but it will also bring the quality of the photo up a notch or two.

Use a black and white image that is already in the graphic software. You can drag the picture file on your desktop and place it on the Photoshop icon. After releasing the left mouse button, the software will open and show the picture where the file was. Or you can open the software and allow the program to come up. Once Photoshop is opened, click the File command. Then click open and look for the file that you need to open.


In the toolbox section, choose the Polygonal Lasso tool on the left side of the Photoshop menu. Click on it to change the mouse arrow to the lasso tool. The lasso tool should be pointed on a top corner of the picture. Choose the black and white picture using the lasso tool by holding down the left side at the top of the mouse. You will drag the selection lines until they are wrapped around the picture. When the picture is surrounded by the lines, you can edit it the way you want it.

Go to the Adjustments command by selecting it from the Image drop down list. Choose hue/saturation by clicking on it. This is what you will need to use in order to add color to the picture. Use the scrollbar until you get it the way you want it. As you are making changes, you will be able to see them in the preview area.



Color Correction

If you need to correct the colors on your images in Photoshop, you can use the Auto Color and Photo Filters. Both of these are simple to implement and can make your images look better than they did previously.

When using Auto Color in Photoshop, you are correcting images with color by checking the shadows, midtones and highlights. In order to do this, select Image, Adjustments and Auto Color. Test it to see how your image comes out. You can also get to the Auto Color command by going to the Levels dialog box and choosing Options. When you do it this way, you can use different options, which gives you an advantage.

If you see that the highlights are too much, select the Highlights Clip option to tone them down.

Using Photo Filters is another way to change colors on your images in Photoshop. Select Image, Adjustments and Photo Filters. You will see photo filter settings inside your image. There is also a preview box and you will be able to see how the settings help your image. If you need to photo filter to have more effect on your image, use the density setting.

You can also use Hue/Saturation to change the color of your image. To get there, you would select Image, Adjustments and Hue/Saturation. With Hue/Saturation, you can change all of the hues at once. You would do that by using the color wheel and changing their positions. In addition to that, you can use Hue/Saturation to change whether or not you want deep colors or lighter colors as far as saturation is concerned.

If you wish to sharpen your image, select Filter, Sharpen and Unsharp Mask. You will want to keep the preview box available. This way you will be able to see different views of the effects. You should sharpen your image no less than 50% and no more than 150% for normal images.

It is not mandatory that you use these guidelines to sharpen your image. They are suggestions. All of them may not work for everyone. So the best thing for you to do is experiment and find something that you will like. The thing with this is to make sure you it is magnified at 100% and keep the Preview box while you’re looking at it.



Painting In Photoshop


Techniques Used In Painting
You can also create or change images in Photoshop with paint brushes and colors. The brushes can also be used as a healing brush and to erase things that you don’t want or need.
Select Edit, Preferences, and Displays & Cursors in order to adjust the display. This will allow you to see the various painting tool sizes while you use them for your image. Choose the brush size you need for your image.
Select an area that you wish to paint and mark it. You have to do this because it prevents the part that is not selected from being painted. However, if you decide to paint the whole thing, then nothing should be selected.
Black is the default color for the foreground and white is the default color for the background. When you use the paint brushes in Photoshop, they will use the current foreground color. To change foreground and background colors, you can type the letter X or select the double sided arrow. If you want the black and white colors, type the letter D. You can also choose a new color by selecting the foreground color from the tool box.
Another way to choose colors is by using the swatches palette or the color bar. You can also choose the Eyedropper tool. Any of these can be use to change the colors to what you want for your image.


Painting Tools
Paintbrush – Select the paintbrush picture from the toolbox. If you need to, use the other options to change the size of the paintbrush. Use the drag method for the image or part of the image that will be painted. If you want to create straight lines, as you’re dragging, hold down the Shift key.
Eraser – The eraser gets rid of the background color if the process is done on the background layer. There are several types of erasers to use from the Eraser tool. You can choose pencil, airbrush, paintbrush or block. When you need to erase, use the dragging method on the image. It’s a good idea to have a copy of your work in the event you accidentally erase something you shouldn’t have.
Paint Bucket – The Paint Bucket is used to fill in areas that are close to where you have selected pixels. If you don’t want to have transparent spots filled, make sure that “Preserve Transparency” is checked. Select the Paint Bucket tool and in the Options bar, choose a tolerance value. Select the part of the image that will be filled with the Paint Bucket.


Photoshop Brushes

When using brushes in Photoshop, you can paint and draw on images. This is one of the main parts of graphic design with this software. When you are learning how to use brushes, the skill is not something that you can catch on to overnight. It will take some work and some practice to get it the way it’s supposed to be. Once you get the hang of it, using the brushes will become a piece of cake.

Using a photo in Photoshop, select Layer from the menu and choose New Layer. When you are implementing different elements to each photo, you should always use a new layer. Doing this can make it easier for you as far as editing is concerned.

In the main tool menu, select the Brush icon and choose Brush Tool. Select the paintbrush icon and choose one of three components (Airbrush, Paintbrush or Spray Paint). Depending on what effect you want, choose Airbrush for a light brush effect, choose Paintbrush for a solid brush effect and Spray Paint for a spray paint brush effect.

Choose the brush size you need by selecting Brush Size in the pull down menu. You will also need to choose the type of stroke that you will use. Choose the style that you want by selecting the Mode menu. A good suggestion is to use “Normal” because that is what most people use. Photoshop provides plenty of brushes for you to use. However, if you need more, there are plenty of websites that offer them.

In order to determine how dark you want your brushstrokes to be, you will need to use the “Opacity” arrow. You will use the sliding control to choose between 0 to 100%. There is also a sliding control to determine how much flow in regard to using your brushstrokes for color.

In order to use the eyedropper, select the Color Box. You can use the color scale until you get the color that you want. To use the color with your brush, use the left click on your mouse. When you need to add another element, you will need to add a new layer. See how it looks and if you don’t like it, you can always delete the layer.


Pictures In Photoshop

Picture Layout – How To Use It

Implementing the picture layout is simple and doesn’t take a lot of time. You can put images together or change the way the picture looks. Make sure that your layout is already in place if you are putting pictures together. Here are some steps to take in order to make your picture layout look professional.

Open two photo files in Photoshop.

Select the Marquee tool and choose the part of the picture that will be copied. Using the paste function, place the first picture on top of the other one.

Select the Edit function in the Copy menu. You will copy the area.

Use the Paste function and choose the second photo. Part of the first photo should be placed on top of the second photo.

Using the Magnifier, zoom into the portion of the photo that is pasted.

In order to move the images around, use the hand tool. During this time, your file is still in the zoom phase.

If you need to make adjustments to the photo that is pasted, select the move tool.


Cropping Pictures In Photoshop

When you are cropping part of a picture, that usually signals that you don’t want that part to be there. It may be a portion of something that should not be there, or something that you just don’t care to see. So, you will attempt to crop or cut it off. When you do that, what is left is what you want on the picture. Here are some steps you can take to get rid of portions that you don’t want.

After you’ve opened the graphics software, find the image that you want to change.

Choose the crop tool which is located in the Photoshop toolbox.

Go to one of the corners to where you want to crop off the image and start there.

Drag the image down until you have what you want to crop.

Using the resizing handles, adjust the area that is to be cropped. You can also do this by clicking and dragging the selection. Whatever is outside of the square will be cropped, while the remaining part of the image will stay.

Select the green check mark that is located at the top of the screen in the toolbar. This will signal that you are giving permission for that area to be cropped. After the action has taken place, you will only have the portion that you opted to keep.



Using Picture Effects

If you want to make your pictures come alive, using picture effects in Photoshop can help you do just that. Using this component of Photoshop is simple to do. The only thing that is required of you other than following the directions is that you should have some type of imagination.

Photoshop has plenty of picture effects that you can use and these instructions will show you how to apply a double image and make that image into something that you may never have thought of.
Open a picture from Photoshop. You will see a layer called “Background”. Using the right-click button on your mouse, open it and choose the command “Duplicate Layer”.
The actual duplicate layer should be named something else. After you have saved the new file, you should see two layers in your layer palette. If for some reason the layers palette does not open in Photoshop, select “Window” and choose “Layers”. Or you can try using the F7 key at the top of your keyboard.
Using the Move tool, you will find a spot and click on the newly created duplicate layer. Drag the picture in whatever direction you choose. Keep dragging it and under the duplicate one, you will see the first picture.
Select the “Free Transform” command from the Edit menu. If you need to change the second picture into different shapes and sizes, this is what you would use to do that. Doing that would also require using the Move tool in order to get the picture to where you want it.



Other Features And Special Effects


Adding Text In Photoshop

You can add text to an image or a blank document. The Type tool is what you would use to do that. This tool also works to choose an image size, a font and allows you to make additional changes in regard to text. Everytime you make changes in regard to text, the image or document will look different. Here’s how you would go about adding text:

Use an old file from Photoshop or you can create a new one. You will use the Type tool.

Using the first button on the type tool bar, you will be able to change back and forth from horizontal to vertical text and vice versa.

Choose a text size, font and style. You can do this from the Type tool options bar.

There are different ways that you can have your text set up. You have a choice of choosing from the following styles: Smooth, Strong, Crisp, Sharp or None. Each one looks different, so you may want to look at them all to see which one looks the best for your creation. When you’re aligning your text, you can choose to do it from the left, center or right.

To use the color picker box, select the color square. You can select the color for your text.

You can click the selection anywhere in your document. You will start typing your text and it will show with whatever selections you have chosen. If you need to make changes use the Type tool to highlight the text already there and change what needs to be changed.



Creating 3-D Effects

3-D or three dimensional effects is something that is unique to create for your graphic projects. Using this technique will allow you to see your graphics differently.

Using Photoshop is a great way to create 3-D effects and other related images. You can start with something as simple as a cube. You want the cube to been seen from three different angles, top, left and right. You would then include different effects on the cube to make it stand out. Using Photoshop for this technique allows you to use your imagination and creativity.

Using the 3D Transform is used to create 3-D effects in Photoshop. You can also use it to create different images into a 3D shape. If you’re just looking for a basic image, then you can choose Select and Direct Select. You can move objects with the Select function, while you can change the images by dragging with the Direct Select function.

To create shapes in 3-D, you will have to create a new layer. Then you can use color to fill in the white space. To step it up a bit, you may want to add darker colors or shadows. Using fillers can help you to better see the 3-D effects in Photoshop.

You can also create text using 3-D effects in Photoshop. With the Alt key, and E/F, and the Ctrl key (hold down), you can use the dragging method to do what you wish.

With the text layer, you will need to convert your image to make it look presentable for people to see on the monitor prior to you including filters or layers. The text will be changed to where you can edit it as needed. Prior to completing the conversion, create an extra copy. After the conversion, you are not allowed to edit any text.

To get different image creations, it is probably a good idea to test out some image effects. Create some where you can do 3-D images with shapes, text and other effects.



Creating A Lighting Effect

Including special effects such as lights to provide some pizzazz to a photo can be interesting. You can turn regular lights into some unique lighting effects. A lot of people that have substantial experience using Photoshop use these effects for their projects. It’s a pretty easy task to learn. Here is how you can learn it and create your masterpiece:

Select File, New and then click OK.

Choose the “Gradient” tool and click on the left button of your mouse, holding it down. Choose the “Paint Bucket” tool and choose the color Black.

Click the screen once. The background should turn black. Select the Filter component and choose “Render”, then choose Lightning Effects.

Select “Circle of Lights” and choose OK. You will see something called objects that look like spheres (orbs).

Choose “Render” from the Filter menu and choose “Lens Flare”. This is how you will make changes to your photo. In order to get the light where you need it to be, you will have to move the cross in the center of the screen. Using the “Brightness” bar, slide it to the middle. Use the “50 to 300 mm zoom” selection for the lens and select Ok. You will see a lot of lighted halo shapes.

Staying in the Filter menu, choose the “Stylize” command. Choose “Glowing Edges”. This is used to decrease thickness of the halos. The rings will stand out on the screen. Using the “Image” menu, choose Adjustments and then Auto Levels. You will see the halos in the special effects on your computer screen.


Creating Backgrounds

You can create different backgrounds for your images. You will have to use more than one filter to do this. Using the filters can help to create a background that is different than what you may have seen before. You can create custom backgrounds that are unique and stand out from other creations.

To do this, you would have to select the File menu and choose New for a brand new dialog box.

In order to create a canvas, you would have to select the Width and Height components. If you have anything you would like to change, change them in the settings section. You can change the colors and resolutions if you wish.

Close the New dialog box and present the canvas on the computer screen. You should see the word “Background” in the layer of the Layers palette.

In the “Filter” menu, select “Artistic” and choose on the options for the Filter dialog box. You have a choice of filters that you can use for your document. There is Artistic, Brush Strokes, Distort, Sketch, Stylize or Texture. They are all located in the drop down box where the Filters category is.

Select a filter from the category you have chosen. You will be able to see a preview of this filter to the left side of the "Filter" dialog box.

Go to the right side of the dialog box if you need to adjust the setting. Confirm the filter that you want to use by choosing OK. If you need to include additional filters you can do so. This will help you to have additional custom backgrounds.



Importing And Exporting

Learning about importing and exporting images from Photoshop can boost your credibility in creating images from this graphics software. Once you learn this, you will be able to do just about anything using Photoshop.

If you are going to use an image in a Photoshop file that was already created, you can import it and use it as a layer. People that look to have several images to put together implement this step. With the original image in the background, the other image will be a separate document.

The new image can be transferred to a layer where it can be adjusted or edited. Move the new image over the original document. The new image will stay the same, but there will be an additional layer with the first image.

If you have an image to import as a layer, you can use the Place command to do that. Look in the File menu for this command. The image would be placed in a Photoshop document. If you have to make adjustments you can save the image to the first file. So, if you make changes to the Photoshop file image, the same thing will be done to the image file.

If you have movie frames that you want to import, you can use the video frames to layer command to do that. You will have several choices that you can use to import certain parts of the movie. You can also import frames in a certain succession. This means that not every single frame has to be imported.

Use the shift key and place the slider on the movie clip to get certain portions of the movie. The “Limit to frames” component allows you to choose frames that you want. You can choose every second, third or fourth frame if you wish. It depends on how you want it set up. If you don’t choose anything, every frame will be imported.


Zooming Techniques

Using the zoom tool in Photoshop is a good way to get a close-up look at your photo or image. It can also be used when you need to correct details. You can also look at your photo or image as a larger or smaller view.

Use the zoom tool to start. You will see a magnifying glass with a plus sign in it.

Deactivate the Resize Windows to Fit button. When you do this, the image window won’t change sizes as you adjust the size of the view.

Activate the Ignore Palettes command. When you do this, the size of the window will increase to the screen’s edge.

Position where you want to enlarge the image and select it. Any clicks after that will help to enlarge it.

Choose and drag a marquee to the part of the image that will be enlarged. Press the Alt key in order to decrease the size of the view. Hold the key down and continue to click with your mouse until the size of the image has decreased to the size that you want it.


Strokes

People that create images in Photoshop, in particular Photoshop CS3, will use strokes. They also use them with text and shapes. Photoshop provides different variations of what strokes you can add to your image.

Using Photoshop CS3, select a file that you wish to use to implement a stroke with. Choose the layer in which you want to use to apply the stroke. You will find this in the Layers palette. When it is chosen, the layer will be highlighted.

Using the right click button from your mouse, select “Blending Options”. You will see the Layer Style dialog box. In the same box, you will find the “Stroke” component in the Styles listing. You will see it on the right side of the box.

If you want different stroke settings, you can make changes as follows:

Changing the size – move the slider to the right for a larger size; move it to the left for a smaller size.

Changing position – You have three choices, inside, center or outside.

Changing fill type – You can choose from color, gradient or pattern.

You can either choose to change the stroke’s opacity (cloudiness or dullness) or implement blend mode. After you’ve selected what you wanted, save your settings and close the dialog box. You will see the changes in the chosen layer of your image or photo.


Creating A Watermark In Photoshop

You can create your own watermark to your image in a matter of minutes by using your mouse.

Select File, New and create the width and height using 250X125 px. You will also need to have a background that is transparent.

Select the “Horizontal Type Tool”, set you color to your choosing and type in what you want your watermark image to read.

Using the Ctrl button, also press the letter “T” keys on the text and choose the rotate command. With your mouse, go over the image and rotate it to what you want.

Select Edit, Define Pattern and give it a sample name since it is a sample and not the real thing; you’re testing this technique first to make sure it works.

If you have other images or photos that you want to do this with, open the file that you want to watermark. Apply a new layer by pressing the Ctrl and the letter “J” keys. Select the Edit and Fill commands. Choose a pattern from the Custom Pattern selection box. You can set the layer’ opacity to what you want it to be. Save the new image with the watermark.


Creating A Shadow Effect

Create a new image in Photoshop. As a sample, use 200 pixels and 72 pixels as the resolution. This is for the width and the height. After you’ve created the effect, then you can do more using different settings. You want to make sure it comes out right, hence the reason for using 200 pixels and 72 pixels as the resolution.

Using the Horizontal Type Tool, create a text box. The image that you are using should be blank. This can be done by using your cursor at the upper left corner, clicking it and using the dragging method to bring it to the lower right corner.

Use 48 point font for the text and center it. Choose a simple color and put it in the text box several times using the return key. The word “shadow” should be typed in the text box. Place the word in the center of the image. Make sure it is showing up large inside of the box. You should eventually notice a shadow behind the word.

Using the “Styles and Effects” menu, look for two drop-down menus. The one on the left should be “layer styles” and the one on the right should be “drop shadows”. Select one of the options for the drop shadow. Select the “low” shadow and you will see the shadow behind the text.

You should test the shadow effect options in Photoshop using different styles. Eventually, you will find one that suits you the best. Also, you need to make sure that it blends in with whatever images you will be using.

The most important thing about using Photoshop overall is to make sure that you save whatever you create. At least you’ll have examples that you can go back to later.
Resources

Adobe software: http://www.adobe.com
About information website: http://www.about.com
Wikihow: http://www.wikihow.com
Ehow: http://www.ehow.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com (plenty of Photoshop tutorial videos)