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photolesa.com
The creative tutorial home of image wrangler, Lesa Snider.

Step by step tutorials

Welcome to the home of the step by step creative online tutorial. Here you will find detailed, easy-to-understand steps accompanied by screen shots. These tutorials are liable to be about anything from my current project to something that drove me nuts trying to figure out. It is my hope that the things I can convey here will save you time and frustration.

If there's something that you'd like to see written up, please feel free to let me know

Swirls of Summer

Cookie Cutter tool + Custom Shapes = fun photo frames

I'm continually amazed at the functionality and goodies buried within Photoshop Elements. Take the Cookie Cutter tool for example. It's sole purpose in life is to place your photo inside a shape, just as if you'd taken a real-life cookie cutter and firmly pressed it onto your photo: you get a "cut-out" photo with that shape (scrapbooking, anyone?).

Now, at first glance the built-in Cookie Cutter shapes (which are really Custom Shapes) probably won't light your fire. There's a heart, a butterfly, a snowflake and 27 other non-exciting choices:

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Gradient Map Your Way to a Beautiful Sunrise Enhancing the Sunrise Picking the Perfect Palette
Crop City! The magic of iris enhancement Eyes of the Otherworld
Shallow depth of field Shallow depth of field How to add vector art to photos Easy Embellishments
Quick Creative Collage Combining Images Digital Camera Belly Ring The Making of a Digital Camera Belly Ring
How to add a page curl using Free Transform in Warp Mode Creative Curls Custom Twitter Background in Photoshop Build a Custom Twitter Background in Photoshop
The Beginner's Guide to Image Editing, Part 2 How to sharpen individual channels Get Sharp!
How to create sparkles in Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Super Sparkles Fabulous Feathers
Say hello to advanced red-eye and retouching tools Managing Photos with Bridge CS4, Part 1
How to Fix Animal White-Eye, Part 2 How to design business cards in Photoshop
Scanning Secrets Removing antennas and power lines Spot Healing Brush to the Rescue!
Combine Images Creatively in Photoshop Combine Images Creatively in Photoshop Banishing bags 'n blemishes The Basics of Retouching People, Part 2
Mastering Multiply A Stroll Down Blend Mode Lane, Pt. 2 Retaining a photo's aspect ratio while cropping Zoom Crop
Two-step pro portrait studio effect Fast Photo Spotlight Let Your Graphics Do the Talking
The magic of the Background Eraser Tough Selections, Part 1 Using blend modes and masking to lighten shadows Lighten Up!
Playful Panoramas The secret to losing 5 pounds--digitally! The Basics of Retouching People, Part 1
Pinching Flabby Chins Photoshopping People How to create a blurry background Post Selective Focus
Tips for Better Text, Pt. 2 The magic of selective blurring Softening Freckles
Tips for creating small web graphics Wrangling Web Graphics, Pt. 1 How to smash a photo into pieces Break it up!
Fall Leaf Photo Frame QuickTip: preparing t-shirt artwork in Illustrator
Lines of All Kinds Creating a watermark action Protecting Your Photos Online, Pt. 2
Pixel Super Sleuthing How to fix an out-of-focus photo Filters To the Rescue!
Secret Layer Masks How to create black teeth, red eyes, and green skin Halloween Fun with Elements
Color Shifting Made Easy Color Shifting Made Easy Posterizing your way to creativity Creating Cartoon Art
Sensational Serigraphs, Pt. 1 How to Create Your Very Own Warp Trail
Rotating individual letters and intersecting text Type Tricks Burn baby burn!

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