The $5.00 Photo Studio

[EvanH]

Our new tutorial is now posted. The $5.00 Photo Studio is one approach to an inexpensive photo studio/booth for taking good pictures of beads and jewelry. Simple to construct and use.. takes less than 1/2 hour to make. Stop on by and take look www.dawnandevan.com/tutorials.htm (http://www.dawnandevan.com/tutorials.htm)There are also some tips and techniques for editing and adorning your pictures as well.

I hope you enjoy -

Evan

[Blueflameart]

Nice Evan ... thnx much again!

[chrisdd]

That was great!!! I gave it 5 stars.

[Debsan]

Evan,

Absolutely wonderful!!! Ditto the 5 stars. Thank you for sharing your talents so freely. I sent you a pm asking to purchase the cd.

Thanks again,

Deb

[Suestress]

=D> Evan,
That was an outstanding tutorial! I'm such a visual person, this was perfect!

Thank You, Thank You!!!

Susan

[CraftymissKim]

Great

[FiredDesires]

Evan, thank you so much for sharing. You've done such a wonderful job.
Catharine

p.s. Lisa thanks for calling this to my attention :)

[J. Savina]

Evan, http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/clap.gif
Once again you have dazzled us all with your vast knowlege. http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/j0/clever.gifI can't tell you how much this tutorial has help me. I was thinking of going back to school to learn more about Photo Shop CS2 which we recently aquired.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/j0/book.gif I'm going to hold off for a while and try some of these great techniques that you have shared.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/j0/glasses.gif Love the bowl studio. Before I bought the light tent and tri-pod, I was using a plastic shoe box which worked rather well too. Thank you so very much. I wish there was some way that I can return the favor to you. If there is, just let me know.
J.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/diadem.gif

[EvanH]

Evan, http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/clap.gif
Once again you have dazzled us all with your vast knowlege. http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/j0/clever.gifI can't tell you how much this tutorial has help me. I was thinking of going back to school to learn more about Photo Shop CS2 which we recently aquired.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/j0/book.gif I'm going to hold off for a while and try some of these great techniques that you have shared.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/j0/glasses.gif Love the bowl studio. Before I bought the light tent and tri-pod, I was using a plastic shoe box which worked rather well too. Thank you so very much. I wish there was some way that I can return the favor to you. If there is, just let me know.
J.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/diadem.gif

Thanks so much for all the nice comments! I had looked at so many different approaches myself, but it's nice having a simple little setup that is reusable and works just great for the all the small stuff I photograph. It's a pleasure to share especially when everyone seems so appreciative as well. Feel free to drop questions on photoshop should you have any. I'll do my best to answer! (It's one of my favorite toys!).

Have a great weekend -

Evan

[Orchid40]

Fantastic! I just subcribed to your newsletter!

Char

[alissa]

I bummed a ride to Home Depot today and picked up the necessary pieces. I don't recommend buying those clip-on lamps there, since they're $6 each! However, a six pack of compact flourescents is $10, so that sort of makes up for it. Assembly did indeed take around 10 minutes, and lacking a saw I used a gigantic drill bit to cut the plastic disc out. All went well until I actually took photos... they're all yellow!!!

14598

I think this may be the result of using a salvaged bowl which has slight spaghetti sauce stains around the bottom in a ring.

GRRRR!

Moral of the story: Buy a new bowl. Don't steal a stained one from a communal dorm kitchen. : )

[bazile]

I am with everyone else, great tutorial...so much information, going to have to watch it again.

[artwhim]

When the folks at HGTV see this you might be their new star. Thanks so much!

Kathy

[J. Savina]

Hi Evan,
Since I viewed your tutorial I've been playing around in my Photoshop program. I took an old image of a focal bead out of my archives and decided to practice the techniques that you've shared. Here is one of my attempts.
It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. With this technique, maybe I can even make my wonky beads look good. http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/blow%20kisses.gif Thank you so much!

J.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/sunshade.gif

[EvanH]

Hi Evan,
Since I viewed your tutorial I've been playing around in my Photoshop program. I took an old image of a focal bead out of my archives and decided to practice the techniques that you've shared. Here is one of my attempts.
It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. With this technique, maybe I can even make my wonky beads look good. http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/blow%20kisses.gif Thank you so much!

J.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/sunshade.gif

Jeanette - Glad that it was of some help to you! Please feel free to drop us a note anytime with questions or comments. I do try to respond to every email we receive.

Have a great week -

Evan

[Just Nancy]

I'm pouting. I went and tried the link, closing everything incase my version of the software was free, etc. I sat there. Evan moved once (no sound ~ figured it was my machine or my connection). So just in case it was my connection I sat there. Like a staring contest for over 5 minutes just in case. Cracked me up.

Not being critical. Just cracked me up. Obviously a problem on my end. But I think I'll know you if I see you on the street. ;)

Thanks for providing this. I'll check it out on another computer sometime.

[EvanH]

I'm pouting. I went and tried the link, closing everything incase my version of the software was free, etc. I sat there. Evan moved once (no sound ~ figured it was my machine or my connection). So just in case it was my connection I sat there. Like a staring contest for over 5 minutes just in case. Cracked me up.

Not being critical. Just cracked me up. Obviously a problem on my end. But I think I'll know you if I see you on the street. ;)

Thanks for providing this. I'll check it out on another computer sometime.

Nancy - If you can't get it to work, let me and I'll try to assist from my end as much as I can. A DVD version is in the works, should be ready in a week or so and that has the advantage of being full screen, high resolution and fully chaptered. And if that wasn't enough... no waiting for a download! At any rate check our website for availaibity of that in about a week. Otherwise let me know if I can help.

Ev

[Just Nancy]

Nancy - If you can't get it to work, let me and I'll try to assist from my end as much as I can. A DVD version is in the works, should be ready in a week or so and that has the advantage of being full screen, high resolution and fully chaptered. And if that wasn't enough... no waiting for a download! At any rate check our website for availaibity of that in about a week. Otherwise let me know if I can help.

Ev
:koolaid: Yeah. One way or the other, I'll see it. I'll let you know if I have a problem or want to order. My guess is another computer, maybe with a better connection, will do the trick.

Thanks.

[brimmy]

Okay... please don't take this any way but positive as I'm just trying to give some feedback (I'm just in a grumpy mood from crappy sales people which didn't make this process easier). I'm sorry if some of that comes across here.

Now that I have said that...

After reading the page and watching the tutorial, I went out to find the materials to make my own photo box.

Since IKEA is opposite end of the city from me, I was loathe to drive all the way over there. I figured, how hard can a translucent white bowl be to find? Apparently, very much so.
I started at Walmart because I had to stop by there anyways. Closest I found was a Rubbermaid salad bowl with thin stripes of translucent with most of the bowl being clear.
From there I went to the two dollar stores next door which had nothing close, then down to Home Outfitters. The closest they had were wooden bowls and solid white glass ones.
In the same mall, there was a Rafters and a Winners. Nadda at either of those at all.

The moral of the story. Just bite the bullet and drive across town and buy the IKEA bowls. It will save you a headache.


From there I went to Home Depot. I am on a personal boycott of Revy, so I avoided them. There, I found mostly all the pieces I needed. The clerk had no idea what a nylon wing nut was and we searched throughout the hardware section and couldn't find it. I did come up with an alternative that I think will work well.

I bought a 1/4 - 2" brass slot head bolt with a brass wing nut to match. I also bought two 1/4 rubber washers. I am going to put a rubber washer on each side of the friction lid support. This should give some padding so that the camera base does not get scratched, as well as some friction so that you don't have to tighten it insanely to keep it from sliding.


When I got everything home, I quickly ran into a problem. DO NOT buy the Stanley brand of friction lid supports (the only brand that Home Depot carries). The centre slot is too narrow to allow the 1/4 bolt through. I brought it back to Home Depot and the sales clerk's suggestion was for me to grind down the steel to make it fit. Instead, I called around and found that Totem Building supplies carries the National Hardware brand. More driving around (again, across the city) and I finally have all the pieces.

I have to say though, this is not a $5.00 photo box, though still very reasonable. These prices are in Canadian dollars.
IKEA Bowls ~ $4.00
HOME DEPOT Hardware bits ~ $2.50
TOTEM Friction Lid Support ~ $4.50

Total ~ $11.00

Also, here are the prices of the other bits.
HOME DEPOT Daylight Bulbs (3) ~ $15.00
HOME DEPOT Clip on Lamp ~ $10.00

In all, with all my bits and lighting, not including about six hours of my time and gas money, I spent about $50 on this photo box.



When I am finished catching up on emails, I will attempt to put it all together.

[EvanH]

Okay... please don't take this any way but positive as I'm just trying to give some feedback (I'm just in a grumpy mood from crappy sales people which didn't make this process easier). I'm sorry if some of that comes across here.

Now that I have said that...

After reading the page and watching the tutorial, I went out to find the materials to make my own photo box.

Since IKEA is opposite end of the city from me, I was loathe to drive all the way over there. I figured, how hard can a translucent white bowl be to find? Apparently, very much so.
I started at Walmart because I had to stop by there anyways. Closest I found was a Rubbermaid salad bowl with thin stripes of translucent with most of the bowl being clear.
From there I went to the two dollar stores next door which had nothing close, then down to Home Outfitters. The closest they had were wooden bowls and solid white glass ones.
In the same mall, there was a Rafters and a Winners. Nadda at either of those at all.

The moral of the story. Just bite the bullet and drive across town and buy the IKEA bowls. It will save you a headache.


From there I went to Home Depot. I am on a personal boycott of Revy, so I avoided them. There, I found mostly all the pieces I needed. The clerk had no idea what a nylon wing nut was and we searched throughout the hardware section and couldn't find it. I did come up with an alternative that I think will work well.

I bought a 1/4 - 2" brass slot head bolt with a brass wing nut to match. I also bought two 1/4 rubber washers. I am going to put a rubber washer on each side of the friction lid support. This should give some padding so that the camera base does not get scratched, as well as some friction so that you don't have to tighten it insanely to keep it from sliding.


When I got everything home, I quickly ran into a problem. DO NOT buy the Stanley brand of friction lid supports (the only brand that Home Depot carries). The centre slot is too narrow to allow the 1/4 bolt through. I brought it back to Home Depot and the sales clerk's suggestion was for me to grind down the steel to make it fit. Instead, I called around and found that Totem Building supplies carries the National Hardware brand. More driving around (again, across the city) and I finally have all the pieces.

I have to say though, this is not a $5.00 photo box, though still very reasonable. These prices are in Canadian dollars.
IKEA Bowls ~ $4.00
HOME DEPOT Hardware bits ~ $2.50
TOTEM Friction Lid Support ~ $4.50

Total ~ $11.00

Also, here are the prices of the other bits.
HOME DEPOT Daylight Bulbs (3) ~ $15.00
HOME DEPOT Clip on Lamp ~ $10.00

In all, with all my bits and lighting, not including about six hours of my time and gas money, I spent about $50 on this photo box.



When I am finished catching up on emails, I will attempt to put it all together.


I'm sorry that you had so many difficulties in getting all the materials together! I did specify the National friction lid support (and there is a link to a store in the instructions above the video on our web page to an online hardware store that has them for $1.75) Perhaps I just got luck with that one since I saw it first in a True Value hardware store here and it just seemed to fit.

As far as bowls go, I've made a couple of these now in different sizes for specialty use. I like the little Ikea ones (they are cheap!) and small, just right for beads. But I also made one from a cake platter storage unit. This is nice because it has a snap on bottom so you can store your backgrounds and styrofoam, etc... inside the unit when your not using it (found this little gem at the container store.)

Also I would be concerned you may destabilize the camera and put more stress on it by spacing it further away from bracket with a washer. A better alternative if you're concerned might be to cover the bracket with something like contact paper and cut the slot out with an xacto knife.

I hope your photo studio turns out well and you don't loose any fingers! Drop a picture here of your finished product! I'd love to see how you make out.

Evan

[alissa]

Oh, I had that same problem with the Stanley friction lid thing - I grabbed a blue bit with pretty big grit on it from the stash of flex shaft bits in our metals studio, and it took about 5 seconds to make the screw fit perfectly. It's not far off, like less than a millimeter.

[brimmy]

EvanH : I wanted to get the National Hardware brand, but in researching was lead to believe that in Canada, only Walmart carried it, and Walmart doesn't carry that particular product. Which is why I went for the Stanley one, not realizing there was a difference. On your website, you do indeed state exactly which one you used, but it doesn't indicate that other brands might not work. That's all I was saying.

For the bowls, I looked for anything vaguely bowl shaped in the white. The problem was the plastic. As it is winter here, it seems no one is carrying the picnic standard plastic ware of any kind. I'm sure it would have been much easier to find in the summer.


alissa : I talked to the guys at Home Depot and they kept telling me how incredibly hard it would be to grind down the Stanley lid support. I was going to ignore them as they tend to do the whole "oh, poor female isn't capable of 'manly' pursuits" attitude. Glad to hear it worked for you!



Off to make my photo box...

[alissa]

alissa : I talked to the guys at Home Depot and they kept telling me how incredibly hard it would be to grind down the Stanley lid support. I was going to ignore them as they tend to do the whole "oh, poor female isn't capable of 'manly' pursuits" attitude. Glad to hear it worked for you!

For me it was a function of having the right kind of drill bit avilable - There's a photo on this page (http://shorinternational.com/WheelStoneSmall.htm) of the kind I used (the blue bullet). It might be really tedious if you had to manually file it or something.

Good luck with construction!

[EvanH]

I'm glad that everyone seems to be enjoying this one! For those that mentioned to me that the Photoshop portion of this tutorial was 'cutoff' on the screen, I re-encoded it last night and reposted it very early this morning (around 6:00 a.m. chicago time) so you can now see the full photoshop screen. I hope that helps!

Evan

[sislonski]

Evan, thank you so much for the tutorial, I enjoyed watching it and learned a great deal.

I already had a Cacoon (same idea as the bowl but larger) that I purchased from the Photography store quite some time ago. It came with the lamps on tripods as well. Plus I bought the bulbs $15 a peice (blue bulbs) In all I think I spent over $200 on the kit. Ouch!!

Also I've been working with ADobe for some time but still watching your video gave me some great tips and ideas and tools that I hadn't used before: Such as the signature tool. LOVE IT!

I tried the masking thing, got it to work once and then couldn't get it to work again after that. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, so I'll have to go rewatch the video again.

Anyhow, I just wanted to say, that from watching your video I did make some changes, such as the gradient paper and I did switch one of my blue (photography bulbs) to a florescent white light. It seems to make a difference I think.

I'm attaching my most recent photo that i took after making all the new changes. I love it. Now I'm going ot redo all my photos.

Oh and for the person that has the yellow photo? You should change the lighting setting on your camera. That will make a difference.

shari

[EvanH]

Shari -

I'm so glad that you enjoyed the tutorial. Your attached photo is absolutely beautiful. Love your work! If you have trouble geting the masking to work, drop me a note directly and I'll do what I can to help walk you through it.

Have a great weekend -

Evan


Evan, thank you so much for the tutorial, I enjoyed watching it and learned a great deal.

I already had a Cacoon (same idea as the bowl but larger) that I purchased from the Photography store quite some time ago. It came with the lamps on tripods as well. Plus I bought the bulbs $15 a peice (blue bulbs) In all I think I spent over $200 on the kit. Ouch!!

Also I've been working with ADobe for some time but still watching your video gave me some great tips and ideas and tools that I hadn't used before: Such as the signature tool. LOVE IT!

I tried the masking thing, got it to work once and then couldn't get it to work again after that. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, so I'll have to go rewatch the video again.





Anyhow, I just wanted to say, that from watching your video I did make some changes, such as the gradient paper and I did switch one of my blue (photography bulbs) to a florescent white light. It seems to make a difference I think.

I'm attaching my most recent photo that i took after making all the new changes. I love it. Now I'm going ot redo all my photos.

Oh and for the person that has the yellow photo? You should change the lighting setting on your camera. That will make a difference.

shari

[alissa]

Oh and for the person that has the yellow photo? You should change the lighting setting on your camera. That will make a difference.

shari

thank you! and i thought it was the spaghetti stains...:rolleyes:

[Marie]

This is another great and generous effort by you, Evan. Thank you!

I had the bowl idea awhile back as well but as usual haven't acted on it yet. :oops: My original plan was to go to the Dollar Store and find one, but after reading Brimmy's sad saga about her hunt for the elusive bowl, I started to think about what else I could use. We don't have an IKEA around. So here's my solution.... an ice cream pail! I know everyone must have one of those around! :badgrin: What do you think?

[sislonski]

This is another great and generous effort by you, Evan. Thank you!

I had the bowl idea awhile back as well but as usual haven't acted on it yet. :oops: My original plan was to go to the Dollar Store and find one, but after reading Brimmy's sad saga about her hunt for the elusive bowl, I started to think about what else I could use. We don't have an IKEA around. So here's my solution.... an ice cream pail! I know everyone must have one of those around! :badgrin: What do you think?

As long as it isn't a solid color ice cream pail, more of a foggy look, would also work. Another option is to use a square or rectangular container. I've seen that done before.

shari

[EvanH]

As long as it isn't a solid color ice cream pail, more of a foggy look, would also work. Another option is to use a square or rectangular container. I've seen that done before.

shari

I also made a larger unit from a 'cake storage' platter. Not sure if that is the right name for it... But it is about 12" or so in diameter, somewhat taller and has a base that can be clipped on. This is really nice for storage of small parts (styrofoam, mounting pins, wax, gradient sheets, etc..). Just food for thought. Check out places like your local grocery for a translucent salad bowl or the container store occasionally has some nice containers that fit the bill. As you walk through the isles all of a sudden you see photo studios everywhere!

Evan

[alissa]

I have a $8 lamp I got from Walmart long ago, and the shade for it is a translucent plastic bowl... with hole already cut in it. That would work well also.

Oh, and I downloaded my camera manual and learned how to adjust white balance! I took this photo earlier - I had to adjust levels a bit in Photoshop, but it's a heck of a lot better than it was. My lights also need different placement, but I'm on the right track.

15620

Thanks so much, Evan, for posting this wonderful tutorial, and Shari, for clueing me in on camera usage!! : )

[Marie]

As you walk through the isles all of a sudden you see photo studios everywhere!

Evan

Isn't this the truth!! What a creative bunch we are:smile:

[*Sally*]

Thanks for the tutorial Evan.
I'm still working on it but your levels info has helped a lot. :-D

Sally

[cmhorvath]

Evan, I watched this video at work today (hope my boss doesn't read this forum! :-D ) and I couldn't scribble my notes down fast enough on the Photoshop part of the tutorial! I pretty much have my own light box that works okay, but the photoshop editing was always a challenge for me.

Thank you again! Going straight home to play around with this.

Cheryl

[EvanH]

Evan, I watched this video at work today (hope my boss doesn't read this forum! :-D ) and I couldn't scribble my notes down fast enough on the Photoshop part of the tutorial! I pretty much have my own light box that works okay, but the photoshop editing was always a challenge for me.

Thank you again! Going straight home to play around with this.

Cheryl

Chery - (About your boss - I won't tell if you don't!:-o ) Glad you enjoyed it! Let me know how the tips on Photoshop worked out for you.

Ev

[cmhorvath]

Chery - (About your boss - I won't tell if you don't!:-o ) Glad you enjoyed it! Let me know how the tips on Photoshop worked out for you.

Ev

Well, as luck would have it, boss went home sick today so I took an opportunity to go shopping at lunch time for some of the clamp-on lights that you used in your tutorial. (FYI for anyone wondering - Home Depot has them for $5.95/each.)

I tried doing the photoshop routine last night, however my pictures are all on white backgrounds and unfortuantely I was unable to get pictures without shadows, so the 2nd layer of bluring didn't quite turn out right. I'm going to build the bowl setup tonight and give it another try. Any tips for doing this on white backgrounds? I prefer that over the gray gradients.

Thanks,
Cheryl

[EvanH]

Well, as luck would have it, boss went home sick today so I took an opportunity to go shopping at lunch time for some of the clamp-on lights that you used in your tutorial. (FYI for anyone wondering - Home Depot has them for $5.95/each.)

I tried doing the photoshop routine last night, however my pictures are all on white backgrounds and unfortuantely I was unable to get pictures without shadows, so the 2nd layer of bluring didn't quite turn out right. I'm going to build the bowl setup tonight and give it another try. Any tips for doing this on white backgrounds? I prefer that over the gray gradients.

Thanks,
Cheryl

Cheryl -

Use a 2 or 3 inch piece of an old 1/16 mandrel or a hat pin and make a 'flat' loop on the top. Put your bowl photo studio on a piece of styrofoam or an old pillow and push the pin through your backdrop into the styrofam. Either balance your bead on the loop or use a little bit of wax to hold it there. The seperation between the background and your bead will probably be enough to get it to stand out really well if you take the photo in macro mode and are close to the bead. Try that and let me know how it works.

Ev

[cmhorvath]

I thought about that, but the problem is I usually photograph a strand of beads, not just one. That would be a tricky balancing act for 6-7 beads. I wonder if I strung the beads on a stiff wire, as opposed to something that would bend - then I could balance each end of the strand on two pins to get it off the floor of the background. What do you think?

[EvanH]

I thought about that, but the problem is I usually photograph a strand of beads, not just one. That would be a tricky balancing act for 6-7 beads. I wonder if I strung the beads on a stiff wire, as opposed to something that would bend - then I could balance each end of the strand on two pins to get it off the floor of the background. What do you think?

Definately worth a try. Another possiblity would be to get a small clear plexiglass platform and lift it off the surface with your background underneath. If the lighting is even you should get much in the way of surface reflection.

Let me know how it goes ...

Evan

[cmhorvath]

Well, I think I might have nailed it! The only thing that didn't work for me was the slidy thing that holds the camera on. My camera was too heavy for it...but I improvised and got it to work. Here's a before and after. What do you think?

16120
16121

[Bacchae]

Well, I think I might have nailed it! The only thing that didn't work for me was the slidy thing that holds the camera on. My camera was too heavy for it...but I improvised and got it to work. Here's a before and after. What do you think?



Before and after what? The Photoshopping?

I really hope it is after the Photoshopping because I get images like the first one and haven't used my expensive-gift-from-husband light cube since.

Evan, thanks for the tutorial. Anyone know what the going price is for Photoshop these days?


- Sandy

[cmhorvath]

Yes, the "after" is a result of what Evan said to do in Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop is pretty expensive. I think it's around $600 or so. My husband has it becuase he needs it for work, so I lucked out and didn't have to buy it myself.

[Jippo]

Great tutorial!

One question: what kind of bulbs do use in your lamps, I mean what watt? :confused:

[EvanH]

Great tutorial!

One question: what kind of bulbs do use in your lamps, I mean what watt? :confused:

Hi - I am using 100 watt equivalent daylight flourescent bulbls in the the fixtures in my setup. They don't nearly as hot as conventional incadescent bulbs get and have pretty long life as well. Their actual wattage is much lower than their equivalent (I don't have them nearby right now, but it's somewhere around 20 watts per bulb).

Also I know that I've seen Photoshop discounted for around $390.00 if you look around. Yes it's still expensive, but in my case it's a rare day that I don't use it, so while not cheap, it get's a workout.

Hope that helps some!

Ev

[Jippo]

Thanks for your reply. As I don't live in the US but in The Netherlands I have to check out what those bulbs (flourescent) are called here.

[EvanH]

Thanks for your reply. As I don't live in the US but in The Netherlands I have to check out what those bulbs (flourescent) are called here.

Here these are marketed as replacement's for conventional bulbs. They simply screw into existing fixtures. The bulbs are slightly more expensive, but last longer and don't generate the heat that conventional bulbs do.

Ev

[Tina]

I have watched this tutorial a couple of times now...FANTASTIC....I have photoshop but don't really know how to use it and don't have a manual to help me out. So a tutorial like this is brilliant. Thanks:razz:

[pittypat]

Thanks so much, Evan, for this tutorial.....I have watched the video three times now. I watched once even before my torch came in, then again to go and find the stuff I needed, and again today to make sure I did everything right...I don't have Photoshop(lost in a crash), but I do have a program that is ok....so off I go!! Thanks again.....

[wmssihaya]

Yes, the "after" is a result of what Evan said to do in Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop is pretty expensive. I think it's around $600 or so. My husband has it becuase he needs it for work, so I lucked out and didn't have to buy it myself.


A less expensive version is Adobe Photoshop Elements. You can do the levels and stuff in it, and it works pretty much the same as Photoshop so far as how to do things. It just doesn't do them the same. I got my copy for $40 used, and new ones go for about $100.

I didn't get to see all of the tut, as for some reason it stopped in the middle of the mask sequence. I don't know if it is my computer acting up (serious need of upgrading) or something wrong on Evan's end.

Tracy

[EvanH]

A less expensive version is Adobe Photoshop Elements. You can do the levels and stuff in it, and it works pretty much the same as Photoshop so far as how to do things. It just doesn't do them the same. I got my copy for $40 used, and new ones go for about $100.

I didn't get to see all of the tut, as for some reason it stopped in the middle of the mask sequence. I don't know if it is my computer acting up (serious need of upgrading) or something wrong on Evan's end.

Tracy

Tracy -

Hi! With regards to the tutorial, try viewing it again. There are so many reasons why network congestion could have caused it to stop ... I just checked with our hosting company to be sure and all diags on the server look ok!

You might try increasing the buffer size for flash video on your end. Right click on the video in your browser and a menu will pop up. Select settings and move the slider bar all the way to the right. Once you do that your computer will buffer more data and it might play more smoothly for you. Hope that helps! -

Evan

[EvanH]

Just in case anyone goes looking for this tutorial - It got moved slightly now that I've put them in an online libray index on our website. The index page is located at www.dawnandevan.com/tutorials.htm

Hope you all enjoy -

[myrdlebp]

on a roll..................bump!

[SELSEY]

I am so glad I found this thread. I am making one of these and having fun collecting all the pieces...a real challenge for someone who doesn't know what a "friction lid bracket" is! Just in case any of you are having trouble finding this piece, I was finally able to find them at Grainger.

Great tutorial!!

[woodywood143]

Just found this and wanted to say Thank you, the tutorials are great, and you have impacted and advanced my skills and the way I do things.

Pete