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Fixing a Problem Photo...

...by blurring the background, yet keeping the grain.

You can remove distracting detail from an image or focus attention on the subject by isolating the subject and keeping it in focus as you blur other parts of the picture. The Photoshop technique presented in this tip imitates the effect you get with a shortened depth of field, traditionally achieved by opening up the camera's iris (setting the f-stop low). The blurring can be limited to the background, or, as shown here, the sharp subject can be sandwiched between blurred background and blurred foreground. In either case, you'll need to make the blurred areas match the sharp ones by restoring the film grain or digital noise (the equivalent of film grain in an image captured with a digital camera) that was lost in the process of blurring.


Defining the Foreground
If you want to keep a foreground subject in focus while blurring only the background, it's a good idea to make sure the foreground subject bleeds off the bottom of the picture, even if it means cropping the image. Otherwise, if the subject is standing on the ground, it can be very tricky to make the transition from the in-focus ground at the feet of the subject to the out-of-focus background.



The Photoshop 6 Wow! Book
by Linnea Dayton and Jack Davis

REVIEW
Effective whether you're a Photoshop pro or a demanding amateur, The Photoshop 6 Wow! Book contains the widest selection of useful projects, tips, tutorials, techniques, and examples of professionally produced work you're likely to find in one place. Along with the staples - framing with masks, fixing problem photos, quick masking and blending, filters, and so on - you'll find gems like focusing attention with color, blurring backgrounds while retaining grain, hand-tinting black and white photos, applying images to textured surfaces, and painting with the art history brush.

The book focuses strongly on new Photoshop 6 features such as layer styles, vector shapes, and fill layers as well as improved text handling. Screen shots, before and after examples, and galleries of professionally produced work in full color throughout make this an easy book to dip into as well as a good foundation for a structured course.

Eco Friendly

Eco-friendly promotional products are good for the environment and good for getting your message across to your target audience.

Tradeshows

Promotional items that endorse your business are great items to give away at tradeshows. They offer endless opportunities to get your message across to new audiences.

Corporate Gifts

Show employee appreciation and build company morale. Items such as flash drives, picture frames, desk accessories and computer mice make great employee gifts.

New Products

View our newest promotional products! We are constantly adding new items to our 300,000+ inventory to give you fresh and up-to-date choices every day.

Awards

Awards and recognition gifts say thank you to employees for a job well done. We carry awards, plaques, trophies, ribbons and much more.

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Promotional Products

We carry promotional items such as eco-friendly gifts, awards, corporate gifts, new products and tradeshow items.

Business Stationery

Our business card program streamlines your order process yet gives you complete control over your content. Letterhead, envelopes and pocket cards too!

Occasion Cards

We carry holiday and occasion cards, moving announcements, thank you notes and more. Customize your cards with logo imprints and other options!

Memos & Notepads

We print company phone pads, note pads and forms in various sizes. Personalize them with your company logo, names and contact information.

Programs & Announcements

Full color announcements and programs for fundraisers, trade shows, banquets and agendas. We also foil stamp, emboss and die cut.

Brochures

We print full color single to multi-sheet newsletters, product sheets, tri-folds, rack cards, handouts and promotional literature.

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Offset Printing

We print items such as business stationary, brochures, occasion cards, memos & notepads, programs and announcements.

Tips & Tricks

Design and tech tips to make designing your job a little easier, marketing tips to assist your advertising efforts and print tips for faster, less expensive buying.

Tutorials

Check out our video on how to sign in to your account and place orders online.

Printing Terms

Look here for a glossary of the most common terms in the printing industry.

Templates

Find different templates to design your full-size banners.

FAQ's

How do I send a file? How do I save a document as a PDF? What is a CMYK color format? Answers to your most frequently asked questions.

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Tips & Tricks

Design and tech tips to make designing your job a little easier, marketing tips to assist your advertising efforts and print tips for faster, less expensive buying.

Presentations

Pitch books and investment books help you communicate your message with PowerPoint presentations, graphs, and charts. Custom binding and tabs available.

Manuals

We can print 1-5000+ copies of your training, safety and operational manuals and technical documents. Full color, B&W, binding, inserts, index tabs, even lamination.

Black and White Copies

Our high-speed, high quality B&W laser printers produce crisp, clean copies of legal documents, RFP's, variable data, digital output of files, manuals and more.

Archiving

Do you need digital scans of your important documents? Letter, legal, 11 x 17, oversize? We can PDF your documents or OCR scan your files to create searchable, editable text files.

Color Copies

Our high-quality digital color presses turn out beautiful invitations, flyers, brochures, newsletters, rack cards, coupons and more. We can also print large format prints and maps.

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Digital Printing

We print B&W and color copies of presentations, product sheets, manuals, newletters, brochures, postcards and more. We also do archival scanning.

Maps & Prints

We print oversized, digital prints of well-logs, operational flow charts and pipe line maps. Turn your maps and prints into digital files for emailing and archiving.

Banners

Full color, affordable, retractable banners make great trade shows displays, point of purchase signage, directional signage and outdoor vinyl banners.

Oversize Scans

We scan large format documents such as well-logs, engineering plans and maps to digital files. Your PDF digital scans can be easily archived to CD.

Posters

Our digitally printed posters and prints are exceptional, with crisp, vibrant colors and photographic quality. Custom stock, mounting and laminating available.

Event Signage

Catch people's attention with color signage! We produce banners stands, pop up and hanging displays, full color table covers and tabletop displays.

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Large Format Printing

We print event signage, maps, banners, well-logs, posters, prints and more. We also do oversize scanning.

Eco Friendly Tradeshows Corporate Gifts New Products Awards ? Promotional Products Promotional Products Business Stationery Occasion Cards Memos & Notepads Programs & Announcements Brochures  ? Offset Printing Offset Printing Tips & Tricks Tutorials Printing Terms Templates FAQ's  ? Tips & Tricks Tips & Tricks Presentations Manuals Black and White Copies Archiving Color Copies  ? Digital Printing Digital Printing Maps & Prints Banners Oversize Scans Posters Event Signage  ? Large Format Printing Large Format Printing Send A File Forms Factory My Jobs Place Order Request Estimate