Vintage Photo Effects

Remember the good old days? I've got a box full of old Polaroid photographs that have faded and curled with time. However, this aged effect makes the photographs have even more character!

I've found a site that lets up upload your favorite photos then select from a fantastic array of special vintage photograph effects.

Here is a photograph of my sleeping kitty named Echo.
I uploaded the file and choose from several special effects including the edging. After a few mouse clicks the image looked like something right out of the 50's!
One more thing I didn't mention is that the interface is this site is FUN! You can drag a little camera around and look through the view finder as you make the changes. So, not only is the site effective, it's a lot of fun to interact with.

Enjoy!

http://pixlr.com/o-matic/

Photoshop - Create your own custom brushes

Did you know you can create your own custom brush in Photoshop? This brush could be of any shape or even a photo of something allowing you to let your creative juices flow.
How about creating a brush with your logo or signature? Then, with just a click of the mouse you could digitally sign any of your copyrighted work or even add your logo to anything you've created.
Here are the steps to do this.

1. Open a shape or image that you want to become a brush (larger images better so that your image doesn't pixelate when increasing your brush size. You can always make your brush size smaller)
2. Edit > Define Brush Set
3. Give your brush a descriptive name
4. Open your brush pallet then scroll to the bottom of the brush selections
5. Your new custom brush will be the last option available

It's that simple!
Want to see how I made an awesome brush and signature brush? Check out my video below.
Enjoy!
http://screencast.com/t/FMB6Y7U8j3b

Photoshop New Auto Save feature in CS 6

Here's another reason to love the new Photoshop CS 6.

Have you ever had your computer crash while working in Photoshop or have Photoshop lockup on you in the middle of a project?

There is a new feature in CS 6 to help save the day.

Open up the Preferences in Photoshop and take a look at "File Handling". Here you will see a new feature to automatically save and recover your work. I have mine set for every 10 minutes but you can set it for 5 minutes. I don't see a reason to have it wait to save for any longer than that.

If your computer happens to crash just reopen Photoshop. Photoshop will open a recovered file of the last saved state with the word "Recovered" in the file name. The original file doesn't get touched.
Great save Photoshop!

PS CS 6 updates

If you're a Photoshop CS6 user you'll want to make sure you have the latest updates!

Simply open Photoshop and go to Help > Updates

An explanation of these updates are explained here.
http://adobe.ly/Rt7ckr

Now you'll always have the latest and greatest version of Photoshop.
Happy Photoshopping!