If you are wondering why we have gone m.i.a. on you it’s because we are deep, deep in the midst of launching our Foto Rx actions (we do plan to go into detail in the future about launching a product). We have been writing the pdf/”prescription pad”, so that all it’s future owners will be able to have an easy visual reference. When I first started buying Photoshop actions (oh, so long ago) no one and I mean no one was providing instructions, you just bought them and then ‘see ya’.  Now action purveyors are a bit more sensitive to the cause and we wanted to make sure that we too made the journey into photo goodness as seamless as possible for our clients.  Another thing that most actions don’t usually consider is the fact that you may just have had a bum photo shoot day and we understand that, it’s real life and we know you are better than that, so we are here for you!  I wanted to give you a sneak peek here behind the scenes, we currently aren’t sure if anything will stay this way, but for now this is what we have, we reference the ‘symptoms’  (why is the photo in a bad way?) and then provide our expert ‘prescription’. These photos have not been altered in any other way than what is noted to ensure if you have a similar photo you will have similar results. We are hoping that we will have this wrapped up and ready to launch for you in the next week or so, ambitious indeed with a toddler that has currently decided to never nap ever again, but with Michelle by my side helping me hold my eyelids open and being both the voice of reason and wit (yes, she is responsible for 99.9% of the witty + smart  repertoire going on in our pdf,, and I am responsible for all the grammatical errors), we shall make this happen.

To continue our research we asked you to send in your photos that you thought could use some Foto Rx, we have some in and we will be previewing the results this week so you can get a better idea of how the actions may work on photos that aren’t ours. We will be opening up an email list for launch (hopefully, fingers crossed), but let me get some shut eye first…

If you have any questions for us now please do ask away!

//RESOURCES USED//

Foto Rx-Coming soon!

Photoshop CC 2014-We are using the photography bundle it’s a really good deal and I always enjoy a good Photoshop upgrade!

Google Docs pdf editor-This is a great free tool for multiple individuals to collaborate on a document for free! It has a lot of formatting options and is fairly easy to use. There are options that I would like to have available that aren’t (like text tracking and being able to access my own fonts), so although we are using this now we may change in the near future.

I have approximately 80,000+ photos on my hard drive of photos like this, it would have taken me a hefty amount of time to recover it from the abyss, but you guessed it a couple second clicks with our Foto Rx actions and viola! We have a masterpiece! These were used at full strength so no fiddling required-

Magic Pill 100%-our one click ‘cure’, this is usually all you need if you were in a rush

Slight Light 100%-This is an overall exposure/brighten fix

20/20 on the spot-This allows you to ‘paint’ on a sharper focus

We are almost ready to release them in the wild, a very exciting prospect indeed! Do you have some photos you want/need to save from the abyss?  I was thinking maybe of taking some of your photos and doing a little run through, what do you think? If you are interested leave a comment and lets see if we can get this party started!

It’s been awhile since we did a ‘Tools of the trade’ post where we introduced you to some of the more unique tools in our creative arsenal. I have been doing a lot a of lettering per one of 365 projects, I have also just finished watching a slew of lettering videos Bryn at Paperfinger recently launched a 3 part series, Molly Jacques has one I highly recommend (she has an easy/breezy teaching style), and Melissa Esplin was one of the pioneers in the class movement and I would be remiss  if I didn’t give her a mention! One of the tools that kept coming up for the lettering artists was the light box for seeing guidelines under your cardstocks. A lightbox could come in handy for a a myriad of creative projects (if you needed to re-trace anything) so I think if it makes sense for the kind of projects you work on then it should be added the arsenal.  I have one that is a lot older and compared to the newer versions is just a bulky mess. The new ones are sleek, super light, portable and relatively affordable (it seems my monstrosity was a fortune). Are you using a lightbox in any of your projects now? If so do you think it’s a valuable investment? I really want to add the Daylight Wafer Light Box to my studio. If you have a unique tool you use in your creative endeavors send us an email so we can feature it future installments, we love being introduced to new tools!

daylight wafer light box | artograph LED light lightpad series

P.S. I have been asked about supplies I use for lettering via Instagram, for convenience I thought I would just add this little post script with the link to some of my favorite supplies for beginners-here they are!