Photoshop Softening...

One of the things I am called on to do from time to time is a bit of Photoshop "softening." Working with photographs of people can be one of the most challenging things, especially as the model in the photograph is maturing and wanting to put their best face forward. Now when shooting the photo, there are a number of things to take into consideration, especially lighting, that will help you in the long run. Typically a more diffused, indirect light will help you to minimze shadows (wrinkles).

But, if you have done all you can, and still not happy with the image, there are a few things you can do, to subtly create a bit more flattering appearance. Now we aren't talking a full out, "make me look like Elle McPhereson" kind of a project, but say you want to minimize some wrinkles and keep the image from looking a bit too plastic. Here is my technique, which I came to on just trial, error, and a lot of practice. Unlike some techniques you will find, this is a pretty gradual change, which I feel gives you a bit more control.

 OK, start with your image:

Not too bad, but there are a few things we can do to help...

Start with duplicating the layer in Photoshop. This will allow you to have a backup copy and easily see the changes you have made. I like to work on the top layer, hide the bottom layer for now.

We will be using the Cloning tool, which you may or may not have had luck with before, but with a few tweaked settings. This is where I like to start out at:

I am using a relatively small brush, maybe twice the size of one of the deeper wrinkles. Set your mode to "lighten" becase what we want to do here is to just minimize the appearance of the wrinkles (shadows) and not be addind others from surrounding sample areas. I like to start out with an opacity of 25%, this alows you to create a soft controlled change, it might take a few more strokes of the clone tool, but we are just looking for gradual change here.

 Now, holding the option key and using the crosshairs, find a sample area from which to clone. You want to make sure that this area is close in color to the area surrounding the wrinkle and that you have a little room to move.  The area you select does not need to be completely free or wrinkles, because we are set to "lighten" only, we aren't going to pick up those darker tones. Clone just in the lines of the wrinkles you want to minimize. They will gradually lighten. Be sure to hit the crows feet on the outer edges of the eyes, just below the eyes, and the brow line. You can choose to also work around the mouth and nose to reduce laugh lines or lines from smoking. Be a bit more careful here, it is pretty easy to start to flatten out the face, and you want to keep some depth.

After a little work, this is what the finished product looks like. Notice that you can still see the skin tone, pores, variation in coloring. Very subtle changes.

Here are the images side by side:

You can continue to repeat the process, getting rid of more and more fine lines. Also, when "softening" someone, don't forget the neck and hands, they are the first dead giveaway that you have done work on the image. The same technique can be applied there as well.

Want to see how far you have come. Turn on your duplicate layer in photoshop and click the "eye" on the top layer off an on. This will give you a sense of where you have made progress and where else you can do more. Have you gone too far? Turn both layers on, and set the top layer (the one you have retouched) to lighten and dial the percentage down to a level you are happy with. Viola, natural, younger looking skin!

 Let me know if this works for you, I would love to see where you have applied it.

Sticky/Stinky content

So, it appears that Sticky content has really become king of late. But the quality of the content out there varies greatly. You have seen them....go elf yourself by Office Depot, the Rebull post that I have under Websites We love, and so many others. Little games, strange little interfaces, etc. to get people coming back to their site, spreading custom photos of yourself via e-mail, has become a strong tactic in guerilla marketing. Appearing like a peer to peer e-mail or link, you spread the site/name of the content to friends and family and those you just want to "one up" by finding something new before they did.

But, is all sticky content, like traditional content, created equally? I think not. I received an e-birthday card,  Monk-e-mail which is provided by Career Builder, I loved the little Monkey delivering my personalized birthday message. But then off of that link, you get the "Age-o-matic." On first blush, it looks pretty good, I like the drawer look, and the keyboard. Even the little numbered sections, rollovers are kind of funky but the it just kind of fell short. Three little questions, slider bars, just didn't impress me. The photo modifications seemed kind of hacked together, just kind of fell flat in my opinion. Not cool enough for me to send on to my friends.

 Am I jaded? Too hard to please? Mabye. Just remember in the rush to develop some type of sticky content, sometimes leaving no impression is better than leaving a bad one.

Creating and unusual CD holder

Have you ever been left wanting for a CD case? If you are like me, you keep a stash of those plastic jewel cases in some bottom drawer buried beneath old versions of Wired I will never read again, a pile of mustard and ketchup packets and an exquisite collection of napkins from the local fast food joints nearby. But what do you do if you need to deliver a CD unscathed? Or maybe you have made a mix CD for a friend or a party. How do you dress that up and keep it protected? Here is a little video that takes you through how you can create a package using typical office paper. You could template and print on the paper to give it a little panache.
THE BEST Of PAPER CD CASE ! Just Piece Of Paper. 2 Variants. - video powered by Metacafe