Latest Feature: Application of cross processing
Moulin Rouge after cross processing
Moulin Rouge before cross processing
The original photo is dull and has a heavy blue tinge and feel. It has the cold allure of an old postcard from the 60s and none of the vibrancy associated with Paris and the Moulin Rouge.
The Curves tool was used to reduce the impact of the blue channel. Then a S curve was used on the Red channel to boost and enhance the picure and give it some warmth.
Finally the Levels tool was used to restore the overall colour strength and balance.
Web Directory: (links not yet added)
Arts
Music, Television, Films, Writing, Books ...
Computers
Internet, Software, Hardware...
Shopping
Food, Electronics, Gifts...
Feature: African sculpture image
African head - Finished Image
African head - Original photo
The original photo was taken in a museum but lacks any real impact.
The top processed image was produced by 'cutting out' the head from the original background using mainly quickmask and a hard edged brush. A new background has beed inserted to be representative of the sky. An Outer Glow has been added to the head. And because of the nature of the head sculpture and the orginal photo its features were not very clear; the Curves tool was used to adjust the RGB channel of the 'head cutout' layer to provide more definition and a better contrast.
Top Tips and Articles:
Creating Desktop Shortcuts
Rather than selecting programs via the 'Start' button and 'All Programs' it is often easier to use a 'Shortcut' from the Desktop.
Backup Outlook Contacts
The most valuable folder in your Outlook program is the Contacts list. It will contain hundreds or even thousands of entries; names,telephone numbers so create a Backup.
Keyboard Shortcuts
After creating Desktop shortcuts to reduce the number of clicks and mouse actions required to launch a program, use keyboard shortcuts to save even more time. They are easy to remember and easy to use.
Error 0x800700052
When copying data (as a backup) from ‘My Documents’ to a USB memory stick, an alert popped up with Error 0X80070052, and “the directory or file can not be created”. Two solutions.
Open Source Related Items:
LibreOffice
LibreOffice (formerly OpenOffice) is a popular and functionally rich Open Source office suite with word processing, spreadsheet, presentation graphics etc. The user interface is intuative, installation is easy, and because the software is open source there is no software licence to buy. It can also read and write files in MSOffice formats. And the latest version; 3.4.4 will also read MS Office 2007 files (ie files with the extensions; docx, pptx, xlsx etc) Download at LibreOffice.org
GIMP
To enhance your word processed documents pictures can be added; 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. GIMP is graphic and image processing software and has many of the features contained in commercial programs such as PhotoShop. The main advantage of GIMP is that, like OpenOffice, it is open source software and so it can be downloaded as used without having to purchase a licence. Download at GIMP.org
Ubuntu 11.10
The latest verson of desktop Linux is now available and can be downloaded. There is also a choice of user interfaces with the two of the most popular being; GNOME (the default desktop) and KDE. Download at Ubuntu
French Police adopt Ubuntu
An interesting paper outlining a multi-stage move to open source applications and operating systems. Read the paper.