Photoshop® Action: Adding Copyright Signature to Images

Some of my readers were asking how I add my copyright signature to my images, specially went I process hundreds, some time thousands of images in a working day, the answer is; using a Photoshop® action.

A Photoshop® action is feature the application has to automate the steps you follow when you are working on an image. Photoshop® produce a script at backstage for you and then you can ask to Photoshop® execute this script again and again with just a click. In other words, Actions are simply a means to record all the commands used to generate an effect in Photoshop® for re-application later with just one click.

I will share with you my copyright signature action tool.

This action is a particular one because it was created by me to work on images of any sizes, resolution, portrait or landscape. It always will place the signature at the right bottom corner of the image leaving the same margin space all the time. If you later decide to move the signature to other place , the action allow you to do it because it create a separate text layer for you.

Instructions:

A. Downloading the files

To begin with, you need to download the copyright signature action tool

The file you will download is a zip file named “salvadoraliceasignatuureaction.zip”. This zip file contains 2 files:

1. salvadoraliceasignatuureaction.atn
2. A readme file containing these instructions.

Don’t worry about hard drive space, as these action files, with the extension .atn, aren’t very large. Usually they range from 7 to 20 kb. You may save them anywhere on your computer and load them from there, but it is best for organization purposes to create a sub directory within the Photoshop® file tree. Again, this is not vitally important, but it will help you to keep your files in an easy-to-find area. When you have several thousand of these little scripts on your system as I have, it will be a lifesaver!

Extract the file to your selected location on your hard drive.

B. Loading the action to Photoshop®

Once you have downloaded the actions, you will need to open the Actions Palette inside Photoshop®. Hit the F9 key or go to Window>Show Actions to bring the palette forward.

You have two choices to load the action to Photoshop®; drag and drop to the Photoshop window or load it using the action panel. The first one is the easier. To do this click and drag the salvadoraliceasignatuureaction.atn file to your Photoshop window. If you look in the Actions palette in Photoshop, you will see the action set appear there.

The second way is: in the upper right hand corner of the palette is a small arrow. Click this to open the Actions Menu. Scroll down until you see ‘Load Actions’, find your newly saved actions on your system and select them. Unfortunately you can only install one at a time, but you can load up the palette with numerous actions.

NOTE: Actions, or .atn files ARE CROSS PLATFORM COMPATIBLE. So both PC and Mac users can play together!

c. Setting up the action

The action you downloaded has my own copyright signature, we need to change it to your signature. In the left side of the loaded action “add copyright text” is an arrow, click on it to open the action, select the step named ‘make text layer’.

Go to the upper right hand corner arrow of the palette again, click this to open the Actions Menu. Scroll down until you see ‘Record Again’.

This will execute this step and will show up my signature text. Replace my text by your and select the color, font and size you prefer, then click ctr+enter ( mac: CMD+enter). You are done.

NOTE: You may need to do this if you want to change the color of the text.

D. Using the action

Now that you've done all that work, using the actions is really easy.

Open an image file.

In the actions panel, click to highlight the copyright signature action

Click the play button at the bottom of the action panel to run the action.

E. Final Results

Here you can see the signature action applied to this image.

To see more about my photography work please visit http://www.AliceasPhotos.com.

Painting With Natural Light: Photography

Version en español…

Last Sunday I participated with a group of photographers, who are artistes from the "Coalicón de Artistas de Puerto Rico" in a photo walk at the rain forest "El Yunque", located at Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

There, I met with Teresita González, photography educator from Ponce, Nelson Ferreras; photographer from Canovanas, Jennifer González and José G Ramírez Aponte; students of a master degree on Art, and Carlos Cruz, photographer from Guayama.

It was a wonderful day full of laughter, long walks, good company and especially great photography.

The term photography is a Greek word, meaning "writing with light". Understanding the effects of light in photography involves far more than making properly exposed pictures. As expressive travel photographers we use light to interpret and express ideas. We play with light and shadow to sculpt meaning, giving a two dimensional medium the illusion of having three dimensions.

Light creates shadow and shadow in return, enhances the appearance of the subject. Lights and shadows establish the correlation of one object to another and their place in the full scene. The position and strength of the lights and shadows also set the general mood of the subject.

In the world of natural light, high contrast can mean high drama in your photographs. With the right scene and the right approach, the striking interplay of bright and darks can create some of the greatest, most dynamic show stoppers in outdoor photography.

As example see the included images, where we were located at rain forest , a huge and amassing green environment with lack of light and contrast. As photographers, we can use the light and shadows to produce sound contrast between the main subject and its background, producing a dynamic relation that clearly communicate to the observer the purpose and meaning of the image.

Conclusion:

Using contrast in your photos will undoubtedly produce stunning results. Contrast is an attention-grabbing method which can turn an okay photo into a dazzling masterpiece. The light-shadow relationship gives you that.

The compositional technique of creating contrast to enhance an image is certainly not a new approach. In fact, Leonardo da Vinci is attributed as having said “Of different colors equally perfect, that will appear most excellent which is seen near its direct contrary blue near yellow, green near red: because each color is more distinctly seen when opposed to its contrary than to any other similar to it.”

There are two forms of contrast: tonal contrast and colour contrast. With both of its forms, high contrast will create a vibrant, solid and loud image that will steal the attention of the viewer.

I invite you to share with me and my readers your own experiences with this technique or any other information related to it.

See more images from the Yunque, Puerto Rico …

Versión en español;

El pasado domingo participé junto a un grupo de artistas fotógrafos integrantes de la “Coalicón de Artistas de Puerto Rico” en un foto safari en el bosque tropical el Yunque, en la ciudad de Rió Grande, Puerto Rico.

Allí compartí con Teresita González profesora de Fotografía de la Universidad Católica de Ponce, con el fotógrafo de la ciudad de Canovanas, Nelson Ferreras, Jennifer González y José G Ramírez Aponte, estudiantes de maestría en Arte, Pintura y Dibujo, y Carlos Cruz fotógrafo de Guayama, Puerto Rico.

Fue un estupendo día lleno de risas, largas caminatas, excelente compañia y sobre todo mucha fotografía.

El término fotografía es una palabra griega, que significa "escribiendo con luz". Entender el efecto de la luz en la fotografía es más que hacer una exposición correcta de la imagen. Como fotógrafos paisajistas o fotógrafos en general usamos la luz para interpretar y expresar ideas y formas. Jugamos con la luz y sombras para esculpir significado, dándole a un medio bi-dimensional la ilusión de tener tres dimensiones.

La luz crea sombras y las sombras a su vez devuelven a la luz una apariencia que mejora el sujeto iluminado. Luz y sombras establecen la forma, la correlación de un objeto con otros y su posición en la escena con relación a otros objetos en la misma.

La posición e intensidad de la luz y sombras también establecen el ánimo general del sujeto principal de ésta.

En el mundo de luz natural, altos contrastes producen dramatismo en la fotografía paisajista. Con la escena correcta y el enfoque adecuado, se alcanza la iteración entre brillos y oscuros que crea uno de los mayores y más dinámico de los impactos que se pueda producir a quien observa una fotografía.

Como ejemplo podemos ver las imágenes aqui incluidas, donde estamos en un bosque tropical, un lugar amplio y maravilloso de gran verdor que carece de luz y contraste. Como fotógrafos, nosotros podemos usar la luz y sombras para producir fuertes contrastes entre el sujeto principal y su fondo, produciendo una relación dinámica que claramente comunica al observador el propósito y significado de la imagen.

Conclusión:

El uso del contraste en sus fotografías, sin duda, producirá resultados impresionantes. El contraste es un método para atraer la atención lo cual convierte una foto buena en una deslumbrante obra maestra. La relación entre la luz y sombra le ofrece ese tipo de contraste.
La técnica de composición usando contraste mejorar una imagen no es ciertamente un enfoque nuevo. De hecho, Leonardo da Vinci a quien se le atribuye haber dicho "de diferentes colores igualmente perfectos, parecerán a la vista mejor si son vistos cerca de su contrario directo, azul cerca del amarillo, verde cerca de rojo: ya que cada color es visto más claramente cuando se opone a su contrario que a cualquier otro color similar a él. "
Hay dos formas de contraste: el contraste de tonos y el contraste de colores. En ambas de sus formas, el alto contraste creará una dinámica, sólida y fuerte imagen que se robará la atención del espectador.

Te invito a que compartas conmigo y nuestros lectores tus experiencias sobre la técnica aquí discutida o cualquier otra aportación sobre el tema.

See more images from the Yunque, Puerto Rico …

Painting With Natural Light: Photography

I have been using several social media (SocMed) as Facebook, LinkedIn and now Twitter as marketing tool to increase the leads of my business www.AliceasPhotos.com .

For the record, I am not a social media expert, nor would ever claim to be. I’m a experienced photographer with computer science knowledge who latched onto the concept early. Actually I have accounts on every major social network out there. My goal is to give you my perception on what has worked and what hasn’t in the past to help you and save you time and trouble of making mistakes that I and other have already made. So the purpose of this article is to give you an overview of, and insight into, some of the popular SocMed out there, but specially focus to my efforts on Facebook and Twitter.

If you’re not on Twitter yet, then you may think it’s just a place for people to talk about they are doing or have. Although there’s plenty of that going around on there, Twitter and Facebook can also be a great tool for marketing and networking with other; potential clients and photographers.

For example, I’m a landscape and commercial photographer from Puerto Rico, I love the nature photography, so I chose to follow anyone else who love nature or photography. I've built a conversation of people who love the same themes, sharing useful links, photographs, great stories and opinions.

So, here are the ways Twitter can make you a better photographer:

1. Signup for an account at www.twitter.com or www.Facebook.com
   • Define your Focus network – First thing’s first: If you are considering Twitter as a way to promote your business and skills, before you even start, ask yourself; ”What is my objective? To whom I’m looking for?”. This include the username selection. This is how people will come to know you from now on. Are you going to use your business name or you real name?
     You need to make yourself “follow worthy” if you try to engage building a network. You should give them something to received from them. I get few follow request ( people that follow my updates in Facebook and Twitter) and I go through every single one and check them out. I follow them back if the are active and interested designer, magazine editors, photographer or Photoshop users who follow me to keep the communication open between us.
   • Create a avatar – Leaving the default Twitter or Facebook avatar up tells the world that you either have no idea what you’re doing or you are spam. The should looks well and clear at 48 pixel square.
   • Create a background or at least change the default background colors. If the avatar is important, as a photographer the background is twice important. The Twitter background is your personal billboard, so take advantage of it.
   • Fill in the Bio Section of your profile – The more the people know about you, the better.
   • Make your profile public – Twitter and Facebook allow people to keep their profile private, however, if you intend to use Twitter or Facebook as marketing tools, i strongly suggest that you make your profile public.
2. Build you network
   • Upload you email address book – Start building your network by using the one you already have, your know people.
   • Meet Other Photographers – Twitter is all about networking with other people. Look for photographer to follow (or to became friend of them in Facebook). here some of them to start: @salvadoralicea ( my account), @artwolfe, @ricksammon, @strobist, @noelphoto.
   • Stay up to date with photography news – Twitter and Facebook are real time social network, and as a result it quickly cover news stories.
   • Build Slowly but Smart – Create balance. I suggest a ratio of 2:1 between following to followers. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when building a serious network is to follow hundreds or thousand of people at once. It make you look as a spammer.
   • Fill up your timeline or status wall (facebook)
     • Request feedback of your photos - One of the best ways to improve your photography is to continually seek honest feedback on your photos. Other sites are great for this, but Twitter is even better because you get instant results. Just post a link to one of your photos on Twitter, and ask your followers what they think.
     • Ask Questions, and get answers -Although there are plenty of great photography forums out there where you can ask your questions, Twitter helps you get instant answers (if you have enough followers). This usually works best with short questions that also have short answers.
     • Be concise – You have only 140 characters or less to deploy your message.
     • Use “@” reply. - Don’t be afraid of replies. If someone asks aquestion or tweets something that interests you, answer them.
3. Connect Twitter with Facebook – You may connect them together, when you add an update in one is publish at the same time in the other.
4. Other reference to help you take advantage of the social network as facebook and Twitter;
   • List yourself in www.Twellow.com or http://Wefollow.com . From here people can find you and you can find them.
   • Check you followers and following on www.lessfriends.com

My best Advice

Social Network as Twitter and Facebook are just tools for communicating. It’s only what you make of it, and the opportunity does exist for you to make something of it. My best advice is to just jump in and try it. Twitter offers an excellent opportunity to create one-to-one connections if you’re willing to make the commitment.

Regard, Salvador Alicea