Make Your Own Selection Using Pen Tool in Photoshop
When it comes to making selection in Photoshop, there are very few people know how to use Pen tool effectively to cut out their design. Most people put a stop to their learning when it comes to choosing this tool while others simply ignore this, thinking that this is confusing and complicated. Ultimately their works suffer as they only have to depend on Lasso Tools for selecting and cutting a particular section of an image. While Rectangular or Elliptical Marquee Tool simply cannot do this kind of selection, most of the people being unknown to Pen tool keep themselves glued to Lasso tool for this particular kind of selection. However, if you spend a little time and go through this tutorial, you would get quite familiar with Pen tool and selecting and cutting the portion of the image as you wish won’t be of any tension any more. You could easily be a Pen Master and would surely wonder how would anyone simply does not know how to use something so simple! So, let’s get started… Where to Find Pen Tool? Before we start using Pen tool, let us take a look at where this tool is located in Photoshop. You can easily find it in the Tool Palette which is grouped within the shape tools. By selecting this option, you have full control of which section of your image to be cut out and make various changes accordingly. Well, this is one of my favorite methods to isolate an element from its background and put it in some other backgrounds. Getting Started With Pen Tool Step 1: Select a picture first. In this tutorial, the following image is used. Our task is to cut out the whole maple leaf. Step 2: When the picture is open in Photoshop, we need to zoom in so we can work comfortably. Next, select Pen tool. What we need to do is to click on the outline of the image where we want to cut out as the first anchor point. Once that is done, choose the second anchor point, then hold and drag the point so that it fits the outline of the image. Next, repeat this process until the whole leaf section is selected. Step 3: When we arrive at the area where the first anchor point was placed, click on the first point to complete the path. Now, zoom out and notice that the leaf image has been surrounded in path. Convert Path into Selection Step 4: In order to convert a path to selection, you need to locate a button containing a dotted circle at the end of the path panel (If you are not sure where the path panel is located, go to the Window tab and select Paths). Selecting and pressing this button would help to turn your image into a selection. Another way to do is to drag and drop your path onto this button. Step 5: Once the selection process is over, you can copy (Ctrl+C) the portion of the image and paste (Ctrl+V) it on any background you want. When you do that, a new layer will be created and you are all done. Let me backtrack a little. After you convert the path into selection, you can choose to feather the selection to give it soft focus at the edges. To do this, go to Select >> Modify >> Feather and enter the number of pixels. Then proceed with the copy & paste process. Pen tool can be used to cut out all kinds of images. I personally feel that this is the...
Read MoreHow Infographics Have Changed Marketing Strategies
Infographics are now considered as the fastest growing type of content on the World Wide Web. For this reason, business-to-business (B2B) marketers believe that this format is the best way to influence their target audience. In fact, based on the recent surveys conducted, infographics are now used as a marketing strategy by about 20% of B2B companies. The yearly growth of this communication tool suggests that it will continue to become popular in the coming years. This trend is not really surprising because with today’s digital world, people are more attracted to colorful, eye-catching content than boring, long blog posts. It engages the company’s target audience, allowing them to spread information about their company, brand, and product. In addition, the audience can easily understand and retain information because the data are presented in a simple method using graphs, images, and short texts. Infographics And E-Commerce Infographics are the newest trend in sharing information. This communication tool gives people visual figures of information and facts on a wide variety of subjects. In the past couple of years, a number of companies have tried reaching consumers overseas. These companies used infographics to appeal to an international audience and they have enjoyed great success. Today, infographics play a critical role in overseas sales by informing consumers about the potential of the overseas market. In addition, this communication device helps companies establish their brands and inform new audience about their products and services without spending thousands of dollars. Ways To Use Infographics As A Marketing Strategy Present The “Big Picture”: In can be quite challenging to present and explain information to prospects. An infographic, with its images, graphs, and eye-catching design, is a great way to present pieces of information. For instance, you can show who does what and when; and visually present the interaction of all the contributors. Basically, you can present the “Big Picture” in a single content which prospects can understand and refer to regularly. How-To Presentation: “Internet users are always looking for help and advice; thus, presenting a step-by-step process through visual content is a very effective way of communicating information. You can turn your infographics to a step-by-step instruction guide that can help your potential consumers understand, appreciate, and accept your product and brand. This is very helpful, especially for those products that are quite complicated. Present Brand Superiority: Infographics are also excellent mediums for demonstrating how your product can be beneficial for your potential consumers, and how it is superior over other brands. Traditionally, these pieces of information are presented through lifeless and dull white paper; however, with the use of infographics, you will be able to present the same information in a more interesting and engaging way. Now that you are familiar with how you can use infographics as a marketing strategy, you must then consider why you should include it in your online content marketing. Knowing how you can use this communication device is one thing, but having the motivation to use infographics as a marketing strategy is another thing entirely. Infographics Are Attractive: With the amount of information available online, you have to make your content eye-catching and engaging or else, your target audience won’t even look at your content. Using infographics will help you catch your audience’s attention through images, graphs, and compelling designs. Capacity To Go Viral: The main objective of using this communication tool for marketing is for it to go viral. This means that the infographics is shared and read across various social media and blogging communities. If the infographics go viral, you will be able to reach more prospects....
Read MoreVector Mask
Vector Mask features vibrant abstract imagery in the footer and header, complete with “clip art” style computer monitors and cameras. This makes it the perfect option for technology sites, including those related to photography or tech reviews. It’s also a playful mask, with bright, eye catching colors and soft rounded shapes. If you need to liven up a boring theme, Vector Mask is an excellent choice. Vector Mask on Premium WordPress Themes Chameleon ElegantThemes View all Chameleon Theme Masks Simplepress ElegantThemes View all Simplepress Theme Masks Executive Studiopress View all Executive Theme Masks Lifestyle Studiopress View all Lifestyle Theme Masks Meeta WPzoom View all Meeta Theme Masks The Station Woothemes View all The Station Theme...
Read MoreMobile Web Development: Understanding Responsive Design
Androids, iPhones and tablets, oh my! The good old days of 2006 when designers only had to worry about the devices with 1024px x 768px and 800px x 600px that accounted for over 75% of the market are gone. In today’s mobile world, that same market share is split amount eight different screen sizes, and none of them dominate the market by more than 20%. Additionally, that doesn’t even count the difference in viewport sizes on devices that can be used in landscape or portrait mode. Solving that problem is where responsive design comes into play. What is Responsive Design? Responsive design is simply creating a website that looks good on a wide variety of devices. That is the simple answer. The more complex answer lies in making it work. Web designers and developers have to plan their designs carefully and test them using either software that simulates different devices or on the actual devices. Just as designers have to test their sites in various web browsers to check for compatibility issues, they also have to test using different mobile operating systems such as Android and Apple’s iOS. Does My Website Have to Be Responsive? Well, technically, no. You can have a website that only works well on standard personal computers, as long as you are willing to ignore 25% or more of the potential visitors your website could receive. The market for smartphones and tablets has grown every year since 2007 and there are no signs it will slow down anytime soon. As a matter of fact, most analysts predict the number of mobile web surfers will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Therefore, if you don’t have a responsive website, you are alienating more potential visitors every year. How Do I Make My Website Mobile-Friendly? The answer to this is different for everyone. For example, if you have an existing older website, trying to convert it to a mobile website is typically more expensive and more trouble than simply having the website redesigned. If you are building a new website, then your best option is to start from the ground-up with a responsive design. For a new project, you should find a designer who includes responsive design as part of the project. If you are building your website on WordPress, we highly recommend you to try ElegantThemes as a lot of their themes are responsive. Some of their responsive themes are even built using ThemeMask’s concept that offers design in various topic. Responsive design is more than just a buzzword in the web development industry. For today’s businesses, blogs and other websites, it is a necessity. Responsive design isn’t a trend that will eventually go away. Now that Pandora’s box has been opened, you can be assured that the need for websites that are viewable on a wide variety of devices is only going to become more important as time goes on. If you don’t want your website to get outpaced by your competition, then having a responsive website design is absolutely critical. About the Author Chris Scarborough loves to build ecommerce sites that are targeted to mobile customers. He incorporates responsive design with Bigcommerce checkout platforms and aims to create a stellar user...
Read MoreDoes ElegantThemes Deserve to be the Best Theme Developer?
ElegantThemes has become one of the most popular WordPress theme marketplaces. The company currently sells over 80 unique and exclusive premium themes. The themes are also packed with additional features, including shortcodes, a variety of theme options and page templates. This functionality is why ElegantThemes is so well matched with ThemeMask. About ElegantThemes There are many theme marketplaces for WordPress, so it can be difficult to know which to trust. Here are a few reasons why ElegantThemes products are rated so highly. Powerful ePanels Theme Options ElegantThemes products all come with a variety of settings that can be edited without touching a line of code. If you don’t understand PHP, HTML and CSS, or just want to edit settings quickly, the Elegant Themes control panel makes customizing your site much easier. Whether you want to change a color scheme, edit the navigation panel, alter the layout of your site or manage SEO options, many settings can be customized with the ElegantThemes ePanel. Even if you’re a professional web designer, being able to edit settings quickly is always welcome. Drag and Drop Page Builder Page Builder is another bonus of using an ElegantThemes product. By using Page Builder, you can edit the layout and design of your posts without knowing HTML. Complex layouts, which are usually difficult to create in WordPress posts, are easy to achieve in the drag-and-drop way. Predefined Page Templates With most themes, if you want to add a gallery or sitemap page you need to install an additional plugin. Standard themes often don’t support multiple page templates. Elegant Themes products do support this feature, and you can switch between them simply by selecting from a list. Layouts for each page can also be set individually. Examples of page templates include image galleries, contact forms, member login pages and full width pages. Page templates provide a much greater control over how your content is displayed. Large Shortcodes Collection ElegantThemes products include shortcodes for buttons, boxes, toggled and tabbed content, slideshows and image sliders. You can also create columns with shortcodes and add author info to a post. Variety of Layouts ElegantThemes understand that WordPress is far more than just a blogging platform. Many of the company’s themes aren’t designed for basic blogs. Magazine themes, for example, are perfect for large content sites that display a variety of media. Portfolio themes are far less cluttered, and are designed to show off recent projects with a simple and crisp design. Whether you’re using WordPress for a blog, multimedia portal or personal site, there’s sure to be an ElegantThemes product that fits your requirements. Cheapest Price Scheme Unlike most theme companies, ElegantThemes is priced on a yearly subscription basis. Instead of paying $80-100 for just one theme, a $39 per year subscription to ElegantThemes provides access to all 80+ themes in the directory. That means you are just paying less than $0.5 per theme. Excellent Support It doesn’t matter how secure and reliable a theme’s code is – there’s always a chance of problems during installation or usage. ElegantThemes provides excellent and fast support, along with regular updates. If you have a problem, the support staff will help you to overcome it as quickly as possible. Unlike other theme providers, which often let their themes become outdated when WordPress is updated, ElegantThemes believes in longevity. While you’re a member, you have access to the latest versions of each theme. All themes are updated if they become incompatible with WordPress, so you’ll never be forced to run old or unsecure versions. ThemeMask on ElegantThemes Several years ago WordPress sites were mainly...
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