Dawn Mikulich » For Photographers

Children’s Photographer Templates for Moo MiniCards

Old Dawn — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:55:00 +0000

Moo! I love Moo MiniCards. I created these cards to send to out as a fun little thank yous or gifts. I’m feeling extra generous so I’m sharing the template for the name card and a few other cute minicard templates with you. Use them liberally, but cautiously. I’ve heard around that creating them can be a bit addictive.

The templates use clipping masks and there is no accompanying action (I find it easier and more customizable without one). There’s a brief explanation on how to use clipping masks in the template but if you still don’t get it try a google search.

Download Moo Minicard Templates

A link back to dawnm.com, specifically this page, is appreciated and encouraged if you find this complimentary template useful. I’d love it if you show me what you do with these templates. Inspire me. Either email me or add a link to your image in the comments.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

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Copyright © 2008 Dawn Mikulich (dawnm.com). All rights reserved.
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Photoshop Shortcut Helpers for Photographers

Old Dawn — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:05:00 +0000

Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop are my favorite tools for the digital darkroom. I’ve been using Photoshop for over ten years but only in the last few years I have I started to make good use of keyboard shortcuts. There are so many to learn, but once you have them down keyboard shortcuts really do speed up workflow.

Looking to speed up your post process workflow? Start by downloading these PDF files created by Trevor Morris. Each PDF File lists keyboard shortcuts available for a variety of Photoshop versions. I printed out a copy and laminated it. I leave it on my desktop in case I ever run across something I want to do in PS and I don’t already know the shortcut.

The latest addition to my Photoshop keyboard shortcut learning arsenal is this keyboard skin from Photojojo. It arrived today and I already love it. Now when I don’t remember a shortcut I simply look down on my keyboard and voilà there it is!

Like the site says it fits your keyboard like a glove. Literally! Even I didn’t expect it to be such a perfect fit. Different versions are available for different keyboards. And, when you no longer want it on your keyboard just pull it off with no fuss.

I plan to keep mine on all the time since Photoshop is constantly open on my Mac. It took about a minute of use to get comfortable to the slightly different feel it gives the keyboard.

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Copyright © 2008 Dawn Mikulich (dawnm.com). All rights reserved.
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A lovely way for Family Photographers to tell a Story

Old Dawn — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:10:00 +0000

This one is for my fellow photoshop users. A template for creating a family storyboard/collage like this one:

This makes a gorgeous 30X30″ storyboard, but can be used in so many other ways. Keep it small and use it as a family photography book template or go extra large for jaw dropping photo display. The template is sized at 10X10″ to keep the file size down. It can be easily upsized or downsized using the “Image Size” command within Photoshop.

The template uses clipping masks and there is no accompanying action (I find it easier and more customizable without one). There’s a brief explanation on how to use clipping masks in the template but if you still don’t get it try a google search.

Download Photoshop Template

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Certainly not required, but I’d love it if you link to your final pieces in the comments. It would be fun to see how others showcase the families they photograph.

Photoshop Action: Color & Contrast Enhancer

Old Dawn — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:00:00 +0000

Ok. This one is for photographers. I’ve amassed quite a collection of photoshop actions, but I tend to use the ones I’ve created myself the most. Why not share’m? There’s nothing crazy impressive going here, just a simple color and contrast boost.

This action creates two layers one to increase contrast (without affecting color) and the other that boosts overall image color. I often use it on my color images to add a bit of pop. The default setting with the opacity of both layers set to 50% adds a nice subtle contrast and color enhancement. In my humble opinion, that’s really all a well exposed image needs. Looking for a little more pop? Simply increase the opacity of either layer.

Download the Action

If you like this action, please say it out loud by either leaving a comment or noting as such when you use it. This will help me decide if these “shares” are worthy of being shared!

Here are a few samples with the action applied, color set to 75% opacity (maybe a bit too much, but I wanted to show the effect). Mouseover to see the image straight out of camera.

This action was created using Adobe Photoshop CS3. I think it will work with most modern versions of Photoshop, but I’m not sure. Remember this action is complimentary and consequently I won’t be providing any support for it. That means if you don’t know how to install actions or use them, please don’t email me for help. Try a google search instead. Google is your friend.