Photoshop Tip: Enhance Images with the Gradient Tool

The gradient tool is very useful in creating backgrounds and patterns and also enhancing text and images. It creates a gradual blend between multiple colors. Persons can choose from preset gradient fills or create their own. Each gradient fill contains settings that control the opacity and transparency of the fill at different locations on the gradient. A noise gradient is also available. It contains randomly distributed colors within the range of colors that a person specifies.

If you do not know how to use gradients, how to adjust the settings, or how to create custom gradients, the following videos are worthwhile watching.

How to use and adjust gradients
• "Adobe Photoshop Tips and Tricks With The Gradient Tool"
Learn how to set your own colors and add some great colors with the noise randomize button.

• "Exploring Gradients 1 - Photoshop Tutorial"
Learn about options bar, the kinds of gradients that are available, how to click and drag to get the gradient exactly where you want it, and what the checkboxes do.

• "Exploring Gradients 2 - Photoshop Tutorial"
Editing a solid gradient; find out how to change the colors and transparency, how to move the midpoints, how to pick up colors from anywhere on your desktop, and how to put the Foreground and Background colors into a gradient so it will change as you change your colors.

• "Exploring Gradients 3 - Photoshop Tutorial"
Learn all about noise gradients.

• "Exploring Gradients 4 - Photoshop Tutorial"
Examples on using gradients - making a vignette using a radial gradient on a mask and showing several center points with radial gradients.

The following videos give useful ideas on how to use gradients for text, and special effects on images using the mask tool and gradient maps.

Gradient Examples
• "Photoshop Top 40 #21 - The Gradient Tool"
Using the gradient tool you can you paint a soft transition from black to white and soften the transition from one image to another. The gradient tool fades, swipes, and more.

• "Photoshop Tools: The Gradient Tool for Graphics"
Shows a couple examples of different ways that the gradient tool creates more interesting graphics.

• "Creating Collages with Adobe Photoshop CS3"
Shows how to create collages (images on top of one another) using layers, layer masks and the gradient tool.

• "Gradient Text Photoshop Tutorial"
Shows using gradients in text.

• "Photoshop Gradient Tool Techniques"
Shows how the gradient tool can be used to create the same effect as a polarize filter on a camera has on a washed out sky.

• "Photoshop: Using the Gradient Map adjustments | lynda.com tutorial:"
Shows how to tint images with the gradient map.

• "Gradient Maps Photoshop Tutorial - HD"
Discusses how to use the gradient map and photographic toning adjustments to add tinting effects to an image.

Hint: Using the gradient tool for backgrounds is okay but to give the background some pizzazz it needs to be used with a textured or patterned layer. The background in the image (at the top of the article) was created with two gradient layers that were overlaid with a pattern. For information on creating textures, read "Photoshop Tip : Creating Textured Backgrounds with Filters." And, read "Photoshop Tutorial: Using Pattern Overlay, Pattern Stamp, & Pattern Maker to Create Backgrounds" for information on using patterns.

Your comments are welcome. Please click on the comments section (below) to write your comment.

Software Tip: Resizing Multiple Images etc. via Batch Processing

There are times an artist needs to change the file size, file format, add a signature, logo or watermark on multiple images for the following purposes:
• e-mail attachments to manufacturers for licensing consideration
• a manufacturer request for presentation to their client(s)
• low resolution standard size images for websites
• a marketing slide show for youtube.com
• iPhoto library that will be transferred to iPad
• photo/image-sharing websites like drop box
• sent to printing services
• sent to a publication for a press release or an advertisement
• auction/sale websites such as eBay and Etsy

Doing these tasks one file at a time is boring and time consuming. However, using batch processing software that allows multiple steps to be applied to many files at once is fast and easy.

Adobe Photoshop allows a person to do custom batch processing by using the Action and Batch commands to program exactly what is needed. Turnkey software (pre-built software for immediate use) performs certain tasks such as resizing images and reformatting files.

Batch Processing with Photoshop:
To learn how to resize images in Photoshop, watch the following videos.
• "How to Batch Resize Photos in Photoshop - Photoshop Samurai"
• "[Tutorial] Batch Resize Images in Photoshop CS5"
• "Photoshop Tutorial - Custom Batch Resize Action"

Note: The videos show resizing the images in pixels and not in inches. Pixels express the resolution and size of the image. In art licensing, low resolution (LoRes) files are usually 72 dots per inch (dpi) and high resolution (HiRes) 300dpi. So if an image is going to be converted to a 5 by 7 inch image, then the width equals 360 pixels at LoRes (5 times 72) and equals 1500 pixels at HiRes (5 times 300).

To learn how to apply a logo, a signature or watermark in Adobe Bridge /Photoshop watch "Adobe Bridge/Photoshop - Batch Processing Part 1 | How to Brand Your Images" and to find out more on using Photoshop batch processing for numerous tasks read "Photoshop Tips: Improve Workflow with Photoshop Actions Command."

Batch Processing with Turnkey Software:
There are many software packages that are programmed to resize images and do other tasks. Some charge a reasonable fee and others are freeware (free but ask for a donation). Read "Batch Processing: 25 Tools and Techniques for Images and Documents" for a description and links to many of them.

Note: I normally do not endorse software but I have found EasyBatchPhoto ($19.99) invaluable in resizing images for specific formats. Yes, I could program Photoshop to do the same type of batch processing but EasyBatchPhoto is faster and easy to assign the tasks. After assigning the tasks all you need to do is drop Photoshop files into the EasyBatchPhoto window and in seconds to minutes later (depending on the initial size of the files) the converted files appear in the destination folder.

EasyBatchPhoto can:
1. resize by fixed width, or height, or fit rectangle, or crop etc. in pixels (see the above note about pixels),
2. adjust scaling quality,
3. sharpen images,
4. format as jpeg, or tiff, or png,
5. assign dpi,
6. add text at beginning or end of file name,
7. save the options for future use,
8. assign files to destination folder,
9. add watermark, signature, logo if desired,
10. add background,
11. rotated images, etc.

Your comments are welcome. Please click on the comments section (below) to write your comment.

Art Licensing: Strategy on Creating Art for Products

Because licensing art is a commercial venture, art for products need to be popular with a large number of consumers.  If artists create art with themes they like but may not be popular with consumers, the likely hood in licensing the art is slim.  The problem is that they first created the art and then try to figure out what product it should go on. That is backwards thinking!

A better strategy is to first think about the product and then figure out what theme (image) sells best for that product before creating the art. All themes are not popular for all products. Flowers, birds and butterflies seem to be a fit for most products. But, elephants, grizzly bears, and other wildlife have a more limited appeal. And, snakes have almost no appeal with the exception of a few products in small niche markets.

You should choose one or two industries to first start licensing your art to. You need to study that industry and determine what art themes, colors, and art styles are being licensed. And then, create the appropriate art for the products. For instance, many artists start licensing their art to the greeting card industry. It is huge, has many manufacturers, and uses a large variety of art styles and themes so it is easier to get licensing deals than other industries. The number one category for cards is birthdays. Visit retail chain and gift stores and search manufacturer websites to see what images are used for birthdays. Read designer Kate Harper articles "Greeting Card Business: 101" for information on designing cards and check out the side bar on her blog for links to other useful greeting card articles.

Note: What industry you choose depends on your art style and may not be for greeting cards. If you are a surface designer and create patterns, of course you should first choose the fabric industry.

Below is a list of articles about different industries that license art. The articles discuss what kind of art manufactures expect from artists and includes links to some websites.

• "Licensing Art to the Calendar Industry"
• "Licensing Art for Cloth Products"
• "Licensing Art for Coffee Mugs"
• "Licensing Art to the Greeting Card Industry"
• "Licensing Art to the Flag Industry"
• "Licensing Art to the Jigsaw Puzzle Industry"
• "Licensing Designs to the Melamine / Acrylic Tabletop Industry"
• "Licensing Designs to the Quilt & Craft Fabric Industries"
• "Licensing Art to the Paper Partyware Industry"
• "Licensing Art to Print Manufacturers"
• "Licensing Designs to the Scrapbooking Industry"

Your comments are welcome. Please click on the comments section (below) to write your comment.

Licensing Art to Print Manufacturers

The art print industry may be a big business but it is not necessarily a lucrative one for artists and can be full of pitfalls. Some manufacturers pre-sell art by doing presentations to retail chain stores. Other manufacturers show thousands of art in their catalogs or on their websites. Much of the art may never be printed because these manufacturers are usually print-on-demand companies. In other words, it is printed only when a retailer or consumer orders the art. Thus, the revenue from the art may be non-existent or very little. And of course, the art is tied-up and not available for licensing to other print manufacturers for several years.

According to the research I have done and networking with other artists there seems to be many unscrupulous print manufacturers that are out to make a quick buck and their licensing contracts are not in the artists best interest. Sometimes the artist loses all rights to her/his work. Some manufacturers ignore the contract terms such as sub-licensing the art to other manufactures and the artist gets nothing. Also some do not pay artists the revenue due to them. They may even lie to the artist that their art is not selling when in reality the art is being displayed in stores. SCARY ISN'T IT! But happily NOT all print manufacturers are dishonest. To find out how to protect your art, read art licensing agent Lance Klass article "How an Artist can Avoid Disaster in Today's Print Market." Make sure to read the comments to this article.  Lance has an update to the print industry since he originally wrote his article.

Artists that are savvy in licensing their work and try to avoid unscrupulous manufacturers network with other artists by questioning them about their experiences with the manufacturers. Some artists avoid print-on-demand manufacturers and instead get deals by going direct-to-retail or direct-to-consumer where they have a chance in making higher revenue. According to a review by Creatives a Work blog about art marketing consultant Barney Davey's book "How to Profit from the Art Print Market", Barney recommends that artists should sell their art to art collectors (direct-to-consumer) as a better way to secure their future.

Most print manufacturers are looking for art for the home / business décor market. Thus, they usually want art:
1. that has popular themes for consumer homes, office and business walls. Coffee, wine, coastal and inspirational words are a few that are popular. Search print manufacturer websites to see others.
2. that have colors that blend with furnishings. Unsaturated colors (NOT bright but more grayed) have been popular for years but these colors seem to be changing.  Also black -on-white or white-on-black seems to be popular.  Search print manufacturer websites to view recent color trends.
3. with two or more images that can be grouped on a wall.
4. that is formatted as vertical, square and horizontal.

Below is a list of some art print and poster manufacturers.
Caution: I do not endorse any of these manufacturers because I have no knowledge of their business practices. I recommend that you contact artists that license their work to these manufacturers for information.

• Art In Motion (division of ICA Home Decor)

• Fine Art America

• Gango Editions***

• Greg Young Publishing Inc.

• Montage Fine Art Licensing & Publishing

• Northern Promotions, Inc

• Penny Lane Fine Art & Licensing

• Roaring Brook Art

• Sagebrush Fine Art

• The Land of Nod (children products including wall art)

• Wild Apple

*** This manufacturer has been endorsed by an artist.  See the comment to this article.

Your comments are welcome. Please click on the comments section (below) to write your comment.