{Photoshop for Digiscrappers} Digital Facelift

{Photoshop for Digiscrappers} Digital Facelift

I've been posting every now and then some tips and tricks over at the ScrapArtist blog. I'm reposting some of them here. I am in no way a Photoshop expert. It's all self-study. All of the tips and tricks I've shared are all related to help us digiscrappers.

(original post date: 19 December 2009)
Hi everyone! Hope you’ve had a good weekend. My quick tip for you today is a way to soften and smooth out skin in pictures. It’s a way to get a facelift without the pain of surgery or Botox. ;)

Here is a picture I like of me and my husband, except that I’m not too thrilled about the condition of our skin. So, photoshop to the rescue!


1. Open your image and duplicate the layer (Ctrl/Cmd+J)

2. Working on the duplicate layer, go to Filter>Blur>Surface Blur
3. For the Threshold value, use something between 11-15; Radius: 15-20. You will get a sort of painterly effect.

4. Reduce the opacity of the layer to your liking. I reduced mine to 50%. I wanted the effect to be subtle and have the picture still look realistic.
5. Flatten the image (CTRL/Cmd+E). You can stop here if you’re happy with your image.

6. For my picture, I wanted to cover up some of the darkness under the eyes so I’m using the Healing Brush Tool. Choose a brush size to suit the areas you will be working on.

7. Pick a sampling point by positioning your pointer on a part of your image that has about the same qualities as the area you want to cover up, then ALT+click/Option+click. (I used a point in our foreheads) Brush away the bags under the eyes and other imperfections you want to correct. If you find that it’s not matching the surrounding areas, just choose another sampling point.

8. Here’s my before and after image for comparison.


Hope you enjoyed our little trick for a virtual facelift today. Have a fabulous day!

Photoshop for Digiscrappers - Clone to Blend

Photoshop for Digiscrappers - Clone to Blend

I've been posting every now and then some tips and tricks over at the ScrapArtist blog. I'm reposting some of them here. I am in no way a Photoshop expert. It's all self-study. All of the tips and tricks I've shared are all related to help us digiscrappers.

(originl post date: 9 Jan 2010)
Hope you’re all having a beautiful weekend. I have a quick and easy trick for blending a picture to a background paper using the Clone Stamp Tool.

1. Click on the clone stamp tool and choose a brush.

The key to this trick is finding the right brush to use. You want a brush that has some texture instead of a solid, hard one. For today, I am using a chalk brush from Nancie’s Digital Distressing Kit.

2. On your photo, position your brush on the part you want to blend into your paper. Press ALT and click. You should have seen the brush change to a target.

3. Create a new layer on your paper and click. Your photo should now appear.

Hope you enjoyed today’s little trick.

Have a good day!

Photoshop Tips & Tricks for Digital Scrapbooking

Photoshop Tips & Tricks for Digital Scrapbooking

I've been posting every now and then some tips and tricks over at the ScrapArtist blog. I'm reposting some of them here. I am in no way a Photoshop expert. It's all self-study. All of the tips and tricks I've shared are all related to help us digiscrappers.

(original post date: 6 Feb 2010)
I don’t know about you but when I scrap, I usually end up with a lot of layers. And I’m not very diligent in renaming them at all. So, most of the time I end up with Layer 1, Layer 2 all the way up to Layer 27, plus if I duplicate some elements I’ve got Layer 27 copy, Layer 27 copy 2 and so on and so forth. This can be very confusing, let alone frustrating when I want to move something but I don’t remember what layer number it is!

I used to have to go to the Layers palette and look for the layer I want to make active there. I just found out that there is an easier way!

Make sure you’re on the Move tool (type V to get there quickly). Ctrl-click (Win) or Command-click (Mac) on the element you want to get to. Photoshop will find the top-most layer that contains the information where your cursor is and makes it active. If you want to activate a lower layer, right-click (Win) or ctrl-click(Mac) and you will see a list of all the layers below where your cursor is.

I hope you find this little tip as useful as I have.

Have a great day!