May 12, 2008
Using Adobe Photoshop Elements 6
again, here is how you can automatically adjust the skin tone of a person in a photo. This photo is of me taken with flash after a 40 degree day and after finally getting into the air conditioned Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open tennis at a night session. Obviously I’m not looking my best.
By the way I have used the TNT screen capture to take that screen shot. I think it’s worth buying.
Anyway, my face is pale.
So I can go to Enhance> Adjust Color> Adjust Color for Skin Tone and do that automatically, or use the sliders to do it manually.
You can now see the difference in skin tone. Hey I don’t think I’m a purist anymore about photos, but I’m sorry to have to inflict that awful photo as a demonstration on you.
Posted in personal, photography, software, tutorials, web graphics 
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May 10, 2008
I have had a stain on a wool rug for ages now and it was getting me down. I had used chemicals and rubbed them in and it had all got worse. I searched the internet for something that I would have at home anyway to clean it. Yes! Bi Carb Soda. I used this and it got a bit better, but my vacuum cleaner wasn’t strong enough to get all the Bi Carb Soda off.
Really this rug has had its day, but while was doing it I thought I should learn all the ways one can use green agents to clean my house. I mean it’s cheaper and it’s eco friendly.
I must acknowledge my source here and this is what the article said.
7 Agents to Keep You Home Naturally Clean
1. Lemons or Lemon Juice
What Can it Clean?
Lemon juice is an all around natural cleaning wonder. With it, you can remove lime scale, make windows and mirrors shine, polish copper or brass, clean kitchen and bathroom surfaces, and remove sweat stains.
Why Does it Work?
Lemon Juice is one of the strongest food acids, marked by its sour taste. Because the pH is so low, lemon juice can kill most household bacteria, while also leaving your home smelling fresh.
2. Baking Soda
What Can it Clean?
Baking soda is unrivaled in its wide variety of uses. It not only cleans, it also polishes, deodorizes and softens water.
For these reasons you can use baking soda as an agent when cleaning multiple surfaces, jewelry, carpet, ink stains, fish tanks, windows, and window screens. Baking soda also works well as an air freshener, and in your personal care routine.
Why Does it Work?
Baking soda is a naturally occurring, but often artificially produced, substance that is slightly alkaline.
Because of its basic nature, baking soda works well as a water softener and can easily break down proteins. Baking soda also works well as a deodorizer because as a basic compound, it easily neutralizes acidic scent molecules.
3. Castile Soap
What Can it Clean?
Castile soap might sound fancy, but it’s really not. Liquid, powder, or bars of soap that are unscented are biodegradable and can clean just about anything.
Castile soap, however, can be made with just oils, lye, and water, so you can be sure it will get your home clean without leaving any buildup.
Why Does it Work?
Any surface you want to clean probably has a build up of both dirt and oils. Dirt can simply be wiped away with plain water, but oil is another story. Thanks to some basic chemistry, soap is what makes these oils stick to your damp cloth so they can be easily wiped away.
4. Borax or Boric Acid
What Does it Clean?
Borax is best known as an alternative to bleach. However, this natural cleaning product also cleans, deodorizes, disinfects, softens water, and effectively renews painted and wallpapered walls.
Note: While borax has a wide array of uses, and is naturally occurring, it can irritate the skin, and is toxic if ingested. Please keep borax out of reach of children and pets, and make sure to rinse clothes and surfaces before use.
Why Does it Work?
Borax has many defining properties that make it an excellent cleaning agent. When mixed with water, borax reacts to make a hydrogen peroxide / water solution. It also can act as a chemical buffer when cleaning, so the pH is what it needs to be to make something effectively clean.
5. White Vinegar
What Does it Clean?
While you actually have the option of using typical yellow vinegar as well, white vinegar cleans without the possibility of staining. White vinegar’s is best used to cut grease, clean wood floors and multiple other surfaces, remove mildew, deodorize, and clean certain stains and wax build-up.
Why Does it Work?
Vinegar is actually weakly acidic, making it a powerful cleaning agent. The acid in vinegar cuts through grease and germs found on counter tops while also inhibiting bacteria and mold.
6. Washing Soda
What Does it Clean?
Washing soda is scientifically known as sodium carbonate decahydrate, a naturally occurring mineral. Washing soda cuts grease, removes stains, softens water, cleans walls, tiles, sinks and tubs.
How Does it Clean?
When it comes to chemical properties, washing soda is a close relative to baking soda, with a slightly lower pH level. As a stronger base, washing soda easily breaks down proteins and neutralizes odors.
7. Cornstarch
What Does it Clean?
Cornstarch is one of the lesser known natural cleaning agents though it is a very effective ingredient in home solutions. Cornstarch can be used to clean windows, polish furniture, be used when ironing, and shampoo carpets and rugs.
However, one of it’s most amazing cleaning qualities is its ability to remove grease stains. Not many products can claim to do that!
How Does it Clean?
Corn starch is actually derived from corn and is known its fine, silky texture. Since it is a great deodorizer and can get into very small spaces, corn starch is great for cleaning carpets and shining smooth surfaces. Also, as a starch it can be added to water to make a liquid starch solution perfect for ironing.
If you are wondering why I’m suddenly writing about this, I’m a woman. I have to clean.
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May 10, 2008
I downloaded a 30 day trial of the TNT screen capture utility. It is great! Much better than anything else out there for free.
Here’s what it can do
· Capture anything and everything
· Editing tools and graphical object
· XP screenshots with rounded corners
· Smooth resizing - no jaggy edges
· Capture mouse pointer with shadow
· Drop shadows, transparency and more
· Screenshots with irregular shapes
· Just click for default Windows colors
· Thumbnail function
· E-mail your screenshots
· Simple and intuitive user interface
So useful for tutorials!
Posted in blogging, computers, photography, software, tutorials, web graphics No Comments »
May 8, 2008
If you only want to edit photos, Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 is probably your best bet. It is much cheaper than Photoshop and has almost as many features, if not a few more to do with photos, albums, printing, collages etc.
I bought a magazine the other day called ” Photoshop Elements Essentials” and it had a 30 day trial of Photoshop Elements 6. Included were a number of tutorials which you may also be able to get at Lynda.com
I just checked this and you cannot access the free tutorials. But you can get them from Learning Photoshop Elements
.
Today, I tried the Extractor tool. I’d been trying this on Photoshop without much luck.
Choose a photo which would look even better if only one feature was highlighted onto a white background instead of the background you currently have, like sport shot.
This is a shot from an Australian Open Tennis championship which I took.
Now to extract just an image of Sam,
1. Select Image> Magic Extractor
2. It took a while to do this and I didn’t get a perfect result, but you use the Foreground Brush to select Sam and the Background Brush to select the background. Cover as much of both areas as you can. Then go to Preview. Photoshop Elements will extract the image for you.
3. If you are not happy with the results you can use the Point Eraser Tool.
Result
Posted in photography, software, tutorials, web graphics 2 Comments »
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