Photo Editing Update

Posted by on May 11, 2016

Good afternoon! If you read my recent blog post {about my computer crash of 2016}, I have an update for you! I’ve blogged before about photo editing and which programs I use – search PHOTO EDITING on my blog.

Photoscape – I use this for adjusting photos, cropping, lightening, combining pics, adding watermark, resizing, etc. = pretty much everything. It’s FREE!

Before the *CRASH*, I also used Photoshop Elements 10 to remove the background of my design photos for the website. I was unable to get PE10 back after the crash because a) I couldn’t figure out how to download it again for the life of me because I have zero record of my serial number and b) I now have Windows 10 and PE10 is an older version and unfortunately not compatible with Windows 10. I DID download a trial version of PE14, and I played around quite a bit with removing the background. I watched lots of YouTube videos. I am just not that photo savvy folks! By the way, PE10 had a handy dandy Magic Extractor tool that made it super easy to remove your background (I did a blog post on this too). Around the time they came out with PE12 I think, they decided to leave that handy dandy tool off, so PE12 and after (or maybe 11 or somewhere around then) you have to remove your background using some other very difficult {to me at least} methods.

SO………………. I finally had sense enough to google “removing backgrounds from photos” and discovered Clipping Magic! It’s essentially the Magic Extractor from PE10 but has a lot more features and is MUCH easier to use. The only downside is that you pay a monthly fee, but it is totally worth it to me! $3.99/mo gets you 15 projects/month and credits carry over. $7.99/mo gets you 100 projects, and $14.99/mo gets you 500 projects/mo. I went with the cheapest version since I only really need this for new designs and we MIGHT do 15 in a good month!

It is SO EASY! You just click on the parts you want to keep with GREEN, and parts you want left off (the background) in RED. As you do this, it forms a border around the parts you want to keep – see the yellow line. You can also adjust this easily! Here are a couple of examples…

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Here is my before and after! Check out their website too to see other features and neat things Clipping Magic will do! I use it for design photos, but you might see some other use!

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The Gulledges are in SURVIVAL MODE around here. It’s May, which means we have 28 events on our calendar and school is wrapping up. Sunday was Jeff’s birthday AND Mother’s Day (plus we had our last soccer tournament all weekend in Decatur, AL). My triplet nieces and nephew turned 16 yesterday (and all 3 passed their driving test!). My middle child “G” turned 10 today. Jeff and I celebrate 15 years of marriage Thursday (Whoop!) and Browder will turn 13 (GASP) on the 25th. And school gets out May 20th for my oldest and May 27 for my youngest 2. Then it’s SUMMER!

Applique Cafe NEWS: All of our DESIGNS are on sale through May 17th, and you can see what’s new below! Lots of cute stuff for SUMMER!

may sale

beach toys 2 300-tile

Until next time…..

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Product Photography

Posted by on July 8, 2015

Hey friends! I hope you are all having a fabulous summer even though it is half over! I’m trying to savor every minute, hour, day and week we have left of no-backpacks, uniforms, yucky snack bags and homework. I may be sleeping until 9:00 too. Anywho… I have found yet another fabulous (yes I used the word fabulous again) Craftsy video to share with you! This one is less embroidery related, but sort of embroidery related in that it’s on PHOTOGRAPHY. More specifically, PRODUCT photography. This is something I struggle with so I couldn’t wait to watch this one. It took me a couple of days to watch all the lessons and soak it all in, but it was well worth it! There are a couple of lessons I need to re-watch as well.

Here are some of the highlights:

*Learn how to use natural light (window light for example)

*Good product photography = selling more in your online shop (our #1 goal, right?)

*Learn exactly what Aperture, White Balance, Shutter Speed and those other camera settings mean and how to use them to your benefit when taking product photos (this is the part that always confuses me!)

*A tripod is your friend (I need to get ours out and knock the dust off)

*The best time to take indoor photos using natural light

*How to tell the story of your product (adding props to really have your product tell it’s story)

*Different types of lighting, shadows and how to take outdoor photos

*Photo editing how-to (she used Photoshop, but I think some of the same features she used can be found in Photoshop Elements or other photo editing software out there)

This class is 1/2 off through next Wednesday, July 15th for my Applique Cafe Blog readers when you click on the link/photo below! As a reminder, when you purchase a video class from Craftsy, it is yours to keep. You can watch it over the course of 2 days if you want to (like I did). You can watch it 8 times if you want to (I will be watching the part about your camera 4 more times probably). You can pause to take notes, answer the phone, let the dog out or make a run to Starbucks if you want to. You can also ask questions if you need to!

Product Photography At Home

Jessica is very calm and easy to understand and shows great examples of how to “style” your product for photos. She uses examples such as soap, jewelry and clothing, but I think her tips would be helpful with any product. With online sales, your photo is ALL YOU HAVE to sell your product! Make it look good! Click on the photo for the discounted class!

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Instagram Magic Part II

Posted by on June 27, 2015

As a followup to a previous post a week or two ago (Instagram Magic), I am happy to report that I received my first batch of CHATBOOKS Instagram books in the mail this past week!! As I told you before, all of my IG photos divided by 60 photos/book totaled 13 books. I chose to receive 5 at a time, so I got my first 5 and should receive my next 5 next month (July), then the last 3 (plus I may be ready for #14 by then) probably in August. Although after receiving the first 5, I kind of want to go ahead and get them all!!

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Above are 4 of the 5 and each book measures 6″ x 6″. I was SO HAPPY looking through all of these IG photos (MEMORIES) going back to 2011! Jeff and the kids enjoyed looking through them too (and pointing out all of the clothes from 2011 that Jeff STILL WEARS!) We live in the age of cell phones photos. I can’t even say we live in the age of digital cameras anymore. We do, but I have taken mine on 2 beach trips this summer and have yet to take a picture with it. I only use my digital camera for AC design photos! Everything is on my phone.

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Each book is labeled. You chose the name of the books and I went with The Gulledges. Original, I know. I love that each book is organized by date and broken down in to volumes. I guess I joined IG in 2011? You also get to go through ALL of your IG photos and exclude any that you don’t want printed in the book. Like the picture of the rain or that rabbit you saw in the yard.

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Each photos is also labeled with the date (YAY!) and some of them have the location. I guess it depends if your location services was turned on? Each pic also has captions underneath and some of mine were blank. I guess before I “got” Instagram and understood how to use it? The Emojis also show up as little characters. NOT Emoji friendly I guess but they are cute!

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Anyway, I love this *HAPPY* and wanted to share!! If you are an avid IG lover like I am, then try it out! You can get your first book free with my code!

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In Applique Cafe news, we’ve started our 4th of July SALE!

sale3-a copy

I also added 3 new designs last week and all of them are the quick vintage/redwork stitch designs that are so easy and popular right now. I used medium cutaway stabilizer on these shirts, plus water soluble on top. You could also use a lighter cutaway. You just want to be sure to avoid any puckering! All of these are featured on our home page in case you are working on FALL. football helmet 3 500-horz

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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