Okay, first let me give kudos to all the fine jewelry photographers in the world, it is not easy!  I wasn’t planning on showing you a before + after this morning, but I was editing shop photos and thought I would see how long it would take me to edit this really poorly lit and (Pacific North West blue) color cast ring I photographed for a sample Shopkeeper’s Helper image. It took about a minute, maybe an eeensy bit more because I used some of our surgical precision level tools-jewelry sparkle, shadow darken, color mute (there were rogue colors from the room in the facets) and highlight tone. Even with the precision tools I managed to get this done super fast!

We’ve been asked what the difference will be from Shopkeeper’s Helper and our Original Foto Rx Photoshop actions set. Obviously, we will be targeting online shop specific images, it will come with the original set included (after all you need an awesome base image) and then it gets seriously Ninja on you from there. The star of course is the ability to get beautiful white backgrounds whilst still maintaining your shadows without using the dodge tool or any other exposure destructive means. I wish I had this when I first started out shooting products for my shop, it would have saved me many a photo breakdown! We also created a realistic depth of field/blur action, perfect for Iphone shots or when your camera lens doesn’t have the ability to give you that creamy blurry background you crave (this is up for best supporting action by the Academy). There are too many to list in this little post, but it’s going to be a product photo editing game changer indeed!

Michelle and I have even been toying around with the idea of doing a shop photo editing giveaway, where we would edit your photos with our Foto Rx Shopkeeper’s Helper actions, or would you prefer to try to win a set? Whenever launching a new product, it’s always a challenge trying to figure out a way to market it and get the word out in the best, most sincere way possible. We are up for suggestions for anyone out there that has any. Of course, as always we plan to share with you our process, because sharing is caring.

You can sign-up for the Foto Rx Shopkeeper’s launch here (we are launching this month!) and everyone that sign’s up gets a free mini set of actions! Let us know if you have any questions.

P.S. I used the macro close-up lens filters on my regular 50 mm lens to photograph the ring, a completely amazing tool!

P.P.S. Your original image probably won’t be as bad as mine was, so it’ll be even easier editing!

As I was packing orders this a.m. I realized I hadn’t done a sale in the shop in a very long while!  With baby, Foto Rx and my regular shipping schedule it’s easy to let these things fall by the wayside, I plan to rectify that today! I am a huge proponent of getting a custom logo stamp made for your business, it’s the easiest way to get branding readily available to a multitude of items-make your own note cards, labels, use for shipping boxes, gift tags, the list goes on and on! For the entire month of March (but yes, starting today!) ALL custom logo stamps will be 50% off.  That should give  you plenty of time to get your artwork prepped and ready to be made into your own custom logo stamp! This discount is ONLY for custom logo stamps please (and thank you!)

This is also a pre-celebratory sale, our Foto Rx Shopkeeper’s Helper is launching in March and it will be your key to editing stellar shop photos, which in turn could only mean more sales, right? And you’ll need to include thank you notes with your logo, gift tags on any freebies, you’ll want to stamp all your parcels with your logo, I mean you’ll be busy, busy and want to make sure you are prepared! The coupon discount code is LOGOSTAMP50, on each description are instructions on how files need to be set-up to make the best stamp plate possible, again this is ONLY for custom logo stamps. Enjoy!

P.S. For those new to coupon codes in Etsy, once you put item in cart, you’ll find a ‘apply coupon code’ highlighted in blue below the ‘paypal’ logo, just click, put in the code LOGOSTAMP50 and it will deduct 50% from your stamp order!

P.P.S. Yes, of course, if you just want to make a custom stamp with your own artwork you can use this code too!!!

photo by intertwyned photography

Carefully considered letters written long-hand, sealed in an envelope and sent across continents were once the only connection for distant friends and lovers. Dear Sarah is a type that evokes the emotion of those handwritten messages. Using alternates, ligatures and a complex system for randomization and natural connected characters, Dear Sarah seeks to push the boundaries of digital type.

Dear Sarah is a very interesting font indeed, it has programmed into the font algorithm (I actually just made that up, but stick with me), the ability to randomly place ink blotches, contextual ligatures and various lowercase letters that gives the font a very human and realistic hand. I think this could be the future of handwriting fonts! At the very least it’s an amazing experiment. You can check it out here.

 

 

I have been on a frenzied search for some quality free Photoshop courses for you, after all we are now purveyors of premium Photoshop actions extraordinaire so it would only behoove us to get you hooked on the product (both of them). You don’t need to know much Photoshop to use Foto Rx but there are some things that you’ll need to know to use them to the best of their capabilities like where to find your layers palette, how to use a layer mask, where to find your brushes, etc. all incredibly easy/no sweat tasks but I do understand the program can seem daunting upon first opening.  I wanted to find you a class/course and I ended up finding many! And free books too! And get this not just on Photoshop, but Photography and many other creative subjects. There’s a catch of course, (isn’t there always?)  It’s not free forever, it’s only free for 10 days, but I can attest that in 10 days you can squeeze quite a few videos and books in, which gives you plenty of time to dive in and learn some very basic skills. The company is called Creative Edge and is brought to you by publishing powerhouse Peachpit which is renown for their Photoshop and photography books. You don’t even have to put in your credit card information to get the free 10 day trial. I would suggest you join when you know you’ll have a stretch of a couple days to really dig in and explore so you don’t let your trial go to waste, but who knows you might find it’s an excellent resource and stay awhile longer (I think it’s a cancel anytime policy). And no, we aren’t affiliated with them in anyway, but I found it was one of the best goldmines of information available for the investment (free!) Have fun exploring!

P.S. These may be a little less exciting/more dry than if we taught the course but the information is still great!

//RESOURCES + COURSE LINKS//

Creative Edge-Free 10 day trial of Photoshop classes (and more).

Foto Rx |First Aid Kit-Our amazing one click (in most cases) Photoshop editing actions

Adobe Creative Cloud Photographers Bundle

Below are free with the 10 day trial!

Adobe Photoshop CC Learn by Video

Adobe Photoshop CC Quickstart Video

Using Layer Masks for Image Editing in Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop CC Classroom in a book

 

photo by bethany legg | edited by tristan b.