Category Archives: Effects

Learn to Unlock the Full Potential of SPE – Part 1 & Part 2 – Video Tutorials

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As a result of creating my recent Calendar Templates, I thought it was time to UNLOCK some of the deeper potential of SPE. I saw that it was possible to go in directions not necessarily explored before through the use of the Fantastic SPE features, such as the Composite Feature. As I explored the possibilities I was AMAZED to realize that, with the aid of a ‘HELPING’ hand, SPE users could take much more control of outcomes and stamp their own personality on their own artwork results. The ideas that are  behind my approach are probably best suited to users who have a good working knowledge of Smart Photo Editor.

The ‘Helping Hand’ comes in the form of a resource pack of over 500 MB of graphic images, backgrounds, overlays, and so on.

To LAUNCH my new approach, I’ve created two Advanced Tutorial Videos (with more to follow) and made available a large amount of resource material under the title ‘Creative Kit One’ (more packs to follow in the future).

The tutorial videos (Part 1 & 2) are aimed at experienced users of Smart Photo Editor – therefore only the KEY elements of processes are shown. It is assumed that the gaps can be filled through the viewer’s pre-knowledge, experience & understanding. It is an ADVANCED tutorial

The videos aim to UNLOCK some of the deeper potential of SPE and are supported by over 500 MB of graphic resources created by me from scratch in a variety of drawing & paint programs. Especially in the ‘Backgrounds’ folders, further processing took place using existing SPE Effects from a variety of contributors including me – to these contributors, I would like to offer my thanks.

The resources referred to in the video can be downloaded here:

CREATIVE KIT ONE zip file

Gary and Adelaida from Anthropics have kindly set up another approach to downloading the resources that will give you more choice – thanks to both Gary and Adelaida! The new ‘Gallery Style’ link is shown below:

CREATIVE KIT ONE – GALLERY STYLE

NOTE

You may use these resources freely for personal or commercial use. No need to link to my Blog, nor acknowledge use of my work. Adapt them to suit your own needs.

After downloading the resources it might be wise to create a folder called, ‘Creative Kit One’ and organize it similar to mine containing 14 resource folders:

* 7 x 5 Frames
* A4 Backgrounds
* Colored Satin Overlays
* Colored Textured Overlays
* Distressed Colored Overlays
* Film Border Colored
* Gradients
* Graphics
* Multi-Colored Overlays
* Paint Marks
* People Silhouettes
* Solid Colors
* Square Backgrounds
* Watercolor Overlays

Learn to Unlock the Full Potential of SPE – Part One

Learn to Unlock the Full Potential of SPE – Part Two

To get the BEST from this video it is important to view Part 1 – ‘Learn to Unlock the Full Potential of SPE – Part 1′. Part 1 is the KEY tutorial that UNLOCKS a fuller appreciation of the POWER of Smart Photo Editor.

Presentation – New Effects by Andrew Buchanan

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This video introduces my latest series of effects called ‘More effects from me’ numbered 001-100.

It is a presentation video not a tutorial video – it merely shows each effect in the series applied to the same BASE image which is an original photograph of mine that has been processed in Smart Photo Editor to simplify it slightly and limit color variation. The effect used is one that I often use to create base images and it is Penningtons7’s ‘Watercolor’ effect. You should note that the effects are ARTISTIC ones and are offered to use creatively to produce artworks rather than to simply enhance photographs. There are unlimited ways in which these effects can be used and I look forward to see how they are used by others.

Although I applied each effect at a click without any adjustments whatsoever, the effects have a host of parameters that can be altered using sliders including hue, saturation, exposure, contrast, brightness, vibrance, gamma and so on…and many of them have merge sliders to adjust how the different textures within each effect interact with each other. Experimentation should reap boundless rewards. I look forward to using them myself.

The core structure of each effect was created by me and involves multi-textured blends with textures mainly created digitally by me. Occasionally, I used existing SPE effects (including my own) to add to the core structure and from about 071 to 100 I made good use of existing effects to polish off mine. I acknowledge the use of other contributors effects as elements of some of my new effects – I did not record which effects I used, but it will be apparent that I have used a number of border effects towards the end of the series. So thanks to all the contributors in general and more specifically to the contributors whose effects I have used.

I made a PDF document to support this video and to help make the effect series more useful to users. Click on the link below to download:

Effects’ Catalogue

Kind regards,

Andrew

Using the Composite Feature to Take Control of Effects

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This video tutorial is aimed at experienced users who want a bit more CONTROL over effect parameters.

The idea is to apply effects to a BASE image (which could be your original image or a processed original) and save each result for later processing.

You can save singly applied or combined effect variations as required.

Once you have created a few variations you can load the BASE image and apply the image base image variations as layers using Smart Photo Editor’s Composite Feature. This will allow users more scope in changing Blending Modes and Opacity. You can use one layer and one variation at a time or combine variations by using multiple layers.

Prior knowledge is assumed and therefore not all aspects are covered in depth. The presentation speeds through a number of options without prompts towards the end of the video letting the viewer simply OBSERVE the process.

Once you have achieved a particular outcome using the Composite feature you can continue as normal, if desired, to use the effects gallery and apply further effects to your latest result. You can SAVE a result at any time and perhaps use that as a new BASE image. Likewise you can use MASKING techniques to further expand the possibilities. You still have all the other SPE tools available to you after using the Composite feature.

This approach is one of the ways in which I achieve personalised outcomes. Many worry about applying Gallery Effects as it seems to them to be cheating. This approach allows users to put their own stamp on the resultant artwork as they play a major role in the creative process.

It is an exciting approach that reveals many happy surprises as you use this technique to create UNIQUE works of ART!

Enjoy!

Kind regards,

Andrew

 

 

Do you want to add ‘Speech Bubbles’ to your photographs or images?

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Here is a new Smart Photo Editor Tutorial Video that introduces my new speech bubble effects. The effect series is called ‘Speech bubble shapes’ 001-166.

There is a corresponding PDF document which shows each speech bubble shape and its individual name below. Feel free to download as reference.

Speech Bubble Shapes 001-166

Speech Bubble Shapes PDF Document

 

 

Hope you enjoy the video and find the effects useful.

Kind regards, Andrew