Ever happen to you? Photoshop 101

[coop]

Have you ever experienced a round coin that looks flattened? If the angle of the ramp is too steep your coin can look like an oblong rather than round. Can this be fixed without taking another shot and save your photo set up? I found an interesting feature on Photoshop that can solve your problem.When you open the image size screen, you will notice two boxes on the lower part of this screen. Notice that both boxes have checks in them. If you crop the image of the coin you wish to fix so the marquee is just on the outside edge of the coin, try this. Check to see what image size the coin is before un-locking the restrain box. Okay, let say your image is 300 Pixels by 255 pixels. Try making the two side even, let's say 300 X 300, then see what happens. If the coin image is not round try adding to the lower dimension or subtracting if the image is too tall. Get the happy medium and you have your image round again. Nice little trick to straighten an image the way if should look. Oh don't for get to click the restrain button back to normal check in box or your next image will be adjusted that way you don't want it.

[pennyhound]

Another nice (tid-bit) pointer ... good to know.

I need to get away from looking at these Denver pennies and play in my PhotoShop.

Thanks again ... COOP'.

[coop]

Reading the forum and listening to everyones comments helped to create something unique and complex, but if you have some time and Photoshop, it can be done. So rather than show the image that is complete, I thought I would show the steps (Not all as I would fill my limit on my Photo host probably on this one image.) So rather than making several images and show each completion including errors. Showing all states of forming, and maybe you will pick up something new. Each time I use Photoshop I can usually find something new to add to my collective thoughts. So here we go. (By the way that message on storing coins that can hurt them was recently menioned.)[PVC Damage]

On image # 1 you see what the raw image looked like. Nothing special as this one is a token from an arcade North of here. But I thought the obverse was very nice cause I like the classic LIBERTY look better than the dead Presidents collection going on now. After a few steps, always create a duplicate image so you can go back if you don't like what you have already just done. You can go back a few steps in History, but a duplicate saves you when the history scrolls off. So click on "IMAGE" then the third line says : "Duplicate." Always do this every 10-20 steps before the history scrolls off and you have to start all over. Kind of like a Game, save often, but in this case you just make a duplicate or copy.

Image 2 shows a addition of color on the outside edge of the image. Note on your screen (if your open to Photoshop) the two boxes on the left, the two with one higher than the other. The lower one controls your canvas color. If you have it set with white in the upper box and black in the lower box, click on the lower box and see what happens? From this screen you can edit the color of the next canvas size. So I adjusted the color from black to a 45 degree angle upwards to a lighter black or dark gray. Note this flows to a yellow so you can work your way to the upper right corner to control the colors. But I just went at a 45 degree angle to make the colors flow from one into the next. Next I adjusted the canvas size. Hit the "image" horizontal tool bar and click on "Canvas Size" or just hit S on your keyboard. This opens an inside window and you see the dimentions that you may want to enlarge the image to. Click on the right column to get the different mesurements. The screen opens to inches, but I change them to pixels and add 10 pixels to each line. You have to click on each screen to get the settings for pixels add 10 to each number and click OK. Did you note the box on the lower part of the menu? This allows you to add canvas in different directions. When you click on the outside ones they point the direction you wish to add canvas. Leave the box as is and it adds more canvas to the outside edge of your image. After doing this many times you see how the color gets lighter and the canvas size get larger. You can use different measurements, but this adds a flow of color to the canvas.

On image # 3 I thought, lets distort the canvas a little. To do this you need to use the tool from the "Filter" selection on the horizontal tool bar. You have to click on filter, Choose "Distort" then the next box choose "Twirl" If this isn't enough you can use the same set up or after you have used it once the shortcut would be to hit CTRL + F to instanly make this work. If you see it is too much, hit CTRL + SHIFT + F and this will give you a box to reduce your last step. This works on all "Filter" Items or you can go back to the filter bar and adjust from there. If you look closely between image 2 & 3 you will note a change of color. I edited this by using the Adjust color setting. This is found on the upper bar under "Image" then Click on "Adjust" then you will see the choice of "Color Balance." You will note on that screen to open the color balance there is a short cut marked CTRL + B. To save time, but you just need to remember how to get there. Didn't make it the first time, on history you can go back or use CTRL + Z and it will undo what you didn't want to happen. This only goes back one step, history can go back several, but remember to save a duplicate so as not to loose your ability to go back to where you want to be. So make a duplicate and store them on the lower line by clicking the reduce button on the upper right side of your image frame. It puts them in order of duplication that way and you can re-call or you could choose NOT to do this and start over from scratch. You will note that when you use twirl the image in the center becomes a different shape. If you go back to your prievious copy, then you and slide the coin in normal position over the previous twirled image. This sounds hard, but simple. Use the marquee tool, hold down on button and the circle image is one of your choices, click and place that over the distorted image. You can make a box or circle exactly square or round by holding down the SHIFT key. So after making the circle around the coin, drag this image over the distorted one and there you have your distorted background with a normal image in the center.

Image 4 Shows an adjustment again to the color. The token is brass colored and I wanted the coin to appear more like a copper coin; hay, this is coppercoins. So I adjusted again with the CTRL + B tool (Color Balance). Added a lot more yellow, magenta and red to the image. Its your image so adjust it the way you like it to look. Don't like that step, CTRL + Z will undo it or go back several steps in history to where you liked your image better. NOW happy with that image? Save it by making a duplicate. They will be marked as copy number and you can reduce them and they will sit on the lower edge of your screen. You may want to do this several times, so you can go back to where you were happy with your image.

Image 5 I decided that the twirl was not enough, so I added it again. (I was creating an illusion that you will see on the last image) Again go back to #3 where I explained how to move a copy image of the Coin into the box. You might need to adjust the image size to get the image to fit into the darkened area inside the image or enlarge the image of # 5 and place coin into the center. Sometimes while doing this you can see a small portion of the old image. Two things you can do. (1) You can use the eyedropper to get the inside color and paint over the twirled coin or (2) you can color over the edges that show. You choice, but option 1 is a better choice as painting up to the edges can get a little tricky.

Image 6 I used the Blur tool to make the colors blend into each other. Re-added the Center image as I wanted it to look clear with the resto of the image distorted. It was then I realized that I had gone to far, So I went back to image (Copy 3)
and added lettering. The first set I added I used too many colors and because I had a copy to go back to, I used black letters instead. I put the type in place on the top and then I put the type in place on the bottom. Realizing I had to put the lower line in first and then the first line above it. To make the effect of movement I used another feature that was nice. It is called Wind. You can find it on your "Filter" title bar running horizontally. But to keep the center image undisturbed I had to put the marquee very close to the borders of the upper and lower letters. By enclosing them you can affect just what is inside the marquee area. So I set the marqee very close as I didn't want to disturb the flow of the lines and click on "Filter" then "Stylize" then select "Wind". From that screen you get one for wind that allows for direction or what type of wind, such as wind, blast or stagger. You need to use each type to see which one is for you. So click on them and f you don't like it, hit CTRL + Z to go back or you can go back more in history.

In the last image is the completed image. You sometimes you get it right the first time, others you go back to another copy you save when you were last happy. I think I had saved about 8 copies, but showed just 6. There are a lot of steps I may have missed an explination of on this thread. Another time I will mention how to make an image of combined images. I would go into on this one, but I'm not real happy with the setup. I want it to be right the first before I go there.

Keep on snapping images and editing using this great tool.