On the Right Path

Here's how easy it is (using Adobe Fireworks) to make your text follow the path you want ! You'll need a line of text and a simple path for the text to be attached to.

It's as easy as this: Select the path and the text and hit CTRL+SHIFT+Y. When you do this, you'll see the path vanish and the text will move to the position where the line was. Actually, the line (your path) is still there. It's simply no longer a visible line. You can still manipulate the vector line and you can still edit the text.

If you're the type who prefers to use the menu's to get to the functions you want, you'll find this one resides on the TEXT menu. As done before, select your text and your vector line, then click Text>Attach To Path as shown below!



I take requests, so if you're trying to figure out how to make something work, feel free to request it here!

Enjoy!

Photo Realistic Water Droplets

In this tutorial for Adobe Fireworks (all versions) I'm going to take you step by step in the process of creating very realistic looking water droplets without ever getting wet!

This tutorial relies on two vector ovals and some simple gradient fill styles to trick the eye into seeing water! First, let me point out that I've never seen a perfectly round drop of water. I'm sure they exist, but I've yet to see one!

Start by creating a new image in Adobe Fireworks with a size of about 400 x 400 pixels. Set the background color to a light blue... Then, using the Vector Oval Tool I want you to draw two circles, like the ones below. Draw a medium grey oval and a white oval inside it. Yours doesn't have to be exactly like mine, every water droplet should be different!



Next, we'll use the Subselection Tool (shown below) to adjust the shape of the two ovals you've created. Remember that we don't want perfect circles for these water droplets!



The subselection tool allows you to manipulate vector objects... giving you the ability to re-shape them! Just click the shape you want to manipulate and then grab the blue selection handles and drag them around like I've done below.



Do the same thing for the white oval (which is the highlight for the water droplet), but shape this oval to match the upper edge contour of the grey oval. Don't be afraid to play around with it, you can always UNDO (CTRL+Z) as needed until you get it right (as shown below) .



Now we need to add some depth to the water droplet. We'll do this by adding a dark grey Inner Glow to the grey oval. Click once on the grey oval then use the Live Filter Tool to perform this simple task (seen below):



This filter results in the following effect: Make note of the properties of the inner glow. The color of the inner glow is dark grey (NOT BLACK) and the distance and opacity settings should be set to something close to what is shown below!



Continuing on, we're now going to change the solid white oval shape to having a Linear Gradient fill style. This will create the illusion that light is reflecting off the water droplet. Click the white oval shape once to select it, then change the Fill Style to Gradient>Linear. See the illustration below! Please look closely at the direction the gradient fill flows. Going from WHITE at the upper left of the shape, moving to grey at the lower right of the shape. This is the direction the light is shining from.


Now we need to allow the simulated light pass through the water droplet. To do this, we'll change the fill style on the grey oval shape to a Radial Gradient. This is done the same as above, only this time, select Gradient > Radial. The center color should be white, and the edge color should be the color of the grey oval. This is done as shown below.



We are very nearly done! The next step is to add a Drop Shadow to the water droplet. Using the Live Filter > Shadow and Glow > Drop Shadow just as was done a few steps above where you added the Inner Glow. Your water droplet should look something like this:



And finally, select the entire water droplet (drag the mouse around it while holding the left button). Hit CTRL+G this groups the two shapes together into one vector layer. All you need to do now is change the shape's OPACITY so it's transparent enough to see through! Be sure you have selected the shape, then adjust the opacity value. This step is shown below, as is the final product. I've added text to the image so you can see through it.

The Eyes Have It

Let me show you how to selectively filter an image to produce a stunning black & white photo with the eye retaining it's color (as shown above). This is a beautiful effect that is very easy to accomplish in Adobe Fireworks (or photoshop)!

For this tutorial, click the image below and save it to your computer, or copy the image and paste it in a new Fireworks (or photoshop) project.




There are only a few steps required, using the Polygon Lasso Tool (show below) to select the portion of the eye you wish to work with. Begin tracing out the iris, staying as close to the edge as possible. If you need to, you can zoom in to 300% to get a better trace.





To use this tool, just click where you want to start selecting the outline of the iris (above), then move to another point, continuing until you've gone around the entire iris. When you have made the full circle, the selection will be closed and should look something like this:



The next step will be to invert the selection. As you might have guessed, the eye is to stay in-color, so we need to select everything EXCEPT the eye! To invert the selection, type CTRL+SHIFT+I. (hold down control and shift keys and press the "i" key once). The selection will now be inverted...

To remove the color from the selected image, you'll want to use the Hue/Saturation Filter found on the Filters Menu as shown below:



This brings up the Hue/Saturation dialog box (as seen below). Make sure the Colorize check box is checked and slide the Saturation slider all the way to the left, or just type a zero in the box:

Click OK and you're done! The image is now black & white, except for the iris, which remains in color! This effect looks great for all eye colors! The final image:

The pixels of this digital photo were captured on a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi, also known as the Canon 400D. Settings were ISO 200 with an F5 aperture and a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second. I was using a Canon "Nifty-Fifty" lens with a Canon EF II 12mm Extension Tube bringing this image close to 1:4 macro.

Pixel Capture using the Canon 400D

The very first time I took the Canon Digital Rebel XTi 400D out for a spin, I had the kit lens attached. The kit lens is a 18-55 EF-S mount lens that came with the camera body. It's a decent lens with a nice bit of versatility.

This shot was almost an afterthought really. I've hardly given these pixels a second look since that day. Every now and then, I look through my library of images, looking for something to tweak, alter or otherwise play with in Adobe Photoshop or Fireworks. For about a week now, this shot has been drawing my attention, but I don't know why. There was a hint of shake to the photo, so I didn't like it all that much. I guess it has grown on me. It may be that the colors are just popping out against the mild bokeh of the background...

Wait, what?! What is bokeh? Bokeh is a Japanese word which simply enough means "blur". This effect is desirable when taking certain types of pictures. We'll go into detail about bokeh sometime soon!

Crepe Myrtle Pixels (formerly mis-labeled as dogwood)

I was wandering around looking for pixels to store on my 4 gigabyte compact flash memory card when I came across these trees. I framed several shots, and this one jumped out when I was reviewing them. Actually, I know this is not a dogwood, but I can't identify this tree (or shrub).

Portrait Pose

Baby bird (Tweetie) decided it was time to sit still for a portrait. It was bright outside and dark inside, but the flash wasn't used. Taken with my Canon 400D and a nifty-fifty lens. ISO 200, F5, if memory serves me. Not as sharp as I would have liked, but eventually I'll get a better shot. Click the image to see a larger version... this tiny blog image doesn't do it justice.

Macro Photographer

A rare glimpse of the elusive macro photographer in his natural environment. I call this one Roy. Notice how his keen sense of balance helps prevent him from toppling camera first into the pond. The Canon 30D SLR, with a Canon EF 100mm F2.8 macro lens attached would be an unbearable loss if he had fallen. A macro photographer stalks his subject ever so slowly. His timed and controlled movements are subtle by design. Often seeking to move within inches of his subject before releasing his shutter, any sudden movements could result in blurred pixels, or worse, a missed shot. Fortunately, this one remained still long enough for me to bring my Canon 400D Digital Rebel XTi into focus. I heard the telltale sound of continuous drive shutter releases before he moved on. As he walked away, it was clear to me that he was smiling as he reviewed his shots. This particular macro photographer left with an ample supply of pixels on his compact flash memory card. His images can be seen at The Motley Pixel.

Blurred Understanding

(Click the image to see a larger version)
One of these images is a fabrication of the truth. On one of the two images above, I selected the subject's surroundings, and applied a motion blur filter, creating the illusion that the subject was in motion.

Here's how I did it. Using the polygon lasso tool in Adobe Fireworks, I traced out the subject of the image. The edges of the selected area were then feathered (blended with the outlying region) at 2 pixels. Because the intention is to blur the background, and not the subject, you must invert the selection. To invert the selected region, hit CTRL+SHIFT+i. The background is now selected, and you can use the Filters menu to activate the Motion Blur Filter. Select Filters>Blur>Motion Blur...



The motion blur dialog box appears, and it's sole purpose in life is to ask you to give the direction the motion blur should move, and the distance to shift the blur. Obviously, the larger the distance, the more pronounced the blur will appear.

But how about the true motion blur... this happened because the f-number was at 5 when the image was taken, and I was actually tracking Devin as he moved by. We'll discuss f-number (f-stop, aperture) in another post.

Pixel Splash

Aperture Priority Mode on the Canon Digital Rebel XTi pulled these soaked pixels from the air with an exposure time of 1/50th of a second. ISO 200 and the flash didn't fire since it was turned off. Three kids hit the pool, and all three came up for air. This is one of those accidental/incidental images that turned out to be interesting because of the mistakes I made, rather than the intentions I had when I asked the kids to jump on three.

Red and Green

Un-retouched pixels in vivid strawberry and sour lime. We spent the morning and afternoon at Huntsville State Park. Many of the photo's taken today were less than what I had hoped for. The kids did their part, but I didn't manage well with the light changing so frequently. I came home with a FULL 4 gigabyte compact flash card and less than 30% of the images were worth looking at. This one was ISO 200 through a nifty-fifty lens. I don't recall the f-stop, but I can tell you, that strawberry snow-cone was great! My daughter shared a bite or two...

Big Air at 3 FPS

His friends called him "Danga", but he didn't look to be in any as he launched into some big air above the pool at Bear Branch Park. My Digital Rebel Xti caught these pixels in motion. No editing today, other than to combine two of the 5 shots into one image.



Johnny ollied off a short but sharp transition near the pool. I cropped out the excess and combined 3 frames that were shot in about a second.


More acrobatics in the air (above). Below is Casey, skating vert at the edge of the coping.

Absece of Saturation

Drastically over exposed, and about to be deleted from my hard drive, these pixels deserved a second chance. I used the polygon lasso tool in Adobe Fireworks and carefully selected the background, leaving the blossom un-selected. I selected Filters>Adjust Color>Hue/Saturation and dropped the color saturation to -100. The background color was now grey, and the blossom stood out. But I wasn't done yet. Still over-exposed, the flower remained washed out. A quick LEVELS adjustment really made the colors in the flower come to life. Against the monochromatic background, the contrast was brilliant, and the pixels were saved from oblivion's call.

Sepia Tone

I was trying to get a picture of Syndi, and after getting several great shots of the palm of her hand, I surreptitiously selected the 2 second timer on my Canon Digital Rebel XTi and lowered the camera body to hang by the strap around my neck. Timing is everything, and for this one, I was very lucky. I knew right away when I saw the image in the LCD screen that this picture would be a great addition to my personal favorites collection... and I knew it would be a sepia tone (or perhaps a black and white). For sepia tone alterations, I usually use the hue and saturation filter in Adobe Fireworks. This is instead of the pre-set sepia tone filter provided by Fireworks. Why? Because it allows me to test and correct the hue and saturation, of course! Ok, so technically, the Sepia Tone Filter does utilize the hue/saturation filter to do it's work... It's preset value is Hue: 27, Saturation: 20, Lightness: 0. It's a good starting point. Adjust your saturation up or down SLIGHTLY and examine your results. When you've got it where you like it, get up and go in the kitchen for at least 30 seconds. Return and view the image again. Still like the Sepia Tone you chose?

Save the pixels

In the United States, Billions of Trillions of pixels are being ignored, unappreciated and undervalued. It's a sad fact that almost no one sees a pixel for what it is. We go through our days blindly seeing the big picture, and overlook each tiny pixel. The tree's are lost in the forest, and unless something is done, pixels will go on being undervalued. Stand up for pixels everywhere. Look closely at your printouts, your monitors, your televisions and know that these precious little picture elements are working diligently to bring the news, the reruns, the games and even the photographs into your mind through the windows of your eyes.

Fireworks Pen Tool Magic

The pen tool is useful for much more than mere drawing! Today I used the pen tool to trace out the background from a photo of my kids. This tool is much easier to use than the lasso tool (IMHO) because the pen is less obtrusive, at least visually. Using this tool, I can better see what I'm doing, and therefor be more precise in my work.

After tracing out the background, the area is filled in with whatever color is currently selected. By changing the blend mode to ERASE, the background magically vanishes. Technically, it's still there... it's simply covered up, yet blending into an invisible image. To make the change permanent (once the knock-out is perfected), you need only flatten the image!

The image sample shown also includes a bit of a drop shadow, to help the picture stand out a bit more.

Pixel Kick Start

I have so many things I want to discuss, talk about, show, ask and otherwise make public that it's hard to know where to start. But this is the Kick Start of the PixelKick blog! PixelKick.com might not even be ready yet, but the blog is where I wanted to begin.

You'll endure images of bugs, plants, kids, my bird and my sweetheart (if she says it's OK!), and I'll be highlighting or giving links to things I find interesting... all with an open invitation for your comments!