STEP ONE: Under the File menu, select New, and then choose create a new Blank File.
STEP TWO: Understand that the size you want to make your pattern will be the same size it will show up in your final product. Your resolution also needs to match the resolution of your final project in order to keep sizes exact. Typical standard resolution is 300 dpi, but for most scrapbook pages I recommend 200 dpi because you will have a lot of layers and your file sizes will get very large. When you are finished with your selections, press OK.
STEP THREE: When you create your own patterns your pattern might be as basic as a line down the middle of your new document; however for this example I want you to use the Custom Shapes tool to create a more complicated pattern. Choose the Custom Shape Tool or press "U" on the keyboard. When you click on the Shape drop down menu you will see a small triangle to the upper right of the menu. Click on the triangle and more shapes will appear. For our example I want you to choose the category "Ornaments." This category contains a lot of shapes that are easy to repeat in a pattern. Choose the shape "Ornament 6".
STEP FOUR: Set the default colors to Black and White by pressing "D" on your keyboard. Now, click in the upper left corner of your blank file and drag your shape down to the lower right corner. You want to leave a little bit of room at the edges since this particular pattern needs a little space when it is repeated to look consistent.
If you are looking for an actual canvas painting based on a photo you will need to find a reputable painter.
Depending on which dealer you choose, the paintings will be created with either with traditional paint or on a computer. However, the photo should always be manually hand painted. No computer-automated processes are used.
When using an actual painter you can have the photo painted in many different ways. You can choose between a modern and the classic look? It is up to you.
All artists have their own particular style - from Van Gogh to Andy Warhol. As you are the client the choice of style is up to you. If you want a style imitated most painters are very good to replicate the famous artists.
The normal material is oil painting if the painting is hand painted the traditional way. However, it does not have to be that way. You can also pick between charcoal, watercolor or pastel. Even pencil and acrylic are possibilities.
Obviously you should be able to approve the painting prior to purchasing it. If you are dissatisfied the artist will make the wished changes.
A canvas photo painting is the digital version of painting a photograph onto a canvas.
You have two basic ways to create a canvas photo painting: you can do it yourself or you can commission an artist to paint it.
Obviously the least expensive way is to do it yourself. In order to convert a canvas photo to an art painting you will need to use photo editing software.
The best photo editing software available is without doubt Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately the program is quite expensive. Adobe does, however, have a “light” version that you can use called Adobe Photoshop Elements. If you intend to create canvas photo art Elements works very well. You can download both programs for free for a one-month trial period.
Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Elements uses filters which allow you to create different kinds of "paintings" such as Watercolor canvas photos or Sketch Drawing canvas photos. By playing with the different available filters you can choose which painting style suits you best.
When you have chosen and applied the filter your canvas photo is ready and you can simply print it as a normal photo on canvas.
Everyone has become a victim to the curse of red eyes in our photos. More photos have been ruined with red eye than silly expressions, closed eyes, and blurred photos combined. Thankfully getting rid of red eye is a snap with Photoshop.
To fix red eye we will need to use the Layers Palette. You should be able to find the Layers Palette in the lower right hand corner of the window when you open Photoshop.
Once you have found the layers palette you need to find the adjustment layer button. This button can be found at the bottom of the window. To activate it, click on the adjustment layer button. A sub-menu should come up and you will want to select Channel Mixer. To fix the red eye you will want to set the Red slider to 0%, and the Blue and Green sliders to 50%. Once you have done this click OK.
Set the foreground color to black at the bottom of the toolbar.In the toolbar, select the brush tool. Now, depending on the size of the photos, the red eyes might be too difficult to see; return to the toolbar and select the zoom tool (magnifying glass with a +). Clicking on the eyes with your mouse will zoom in on them. Once again return to the Layers palette. Select the layer Channel Mixer 1 by clicking it once.
Now you can use the brush tool again to paint the parts of the eyes that had appeared red.
Return to the top of your screen click on the Image menu. Just like we did earlier you will need to move your mouse over Adjustments in the drop down menu. Select Invert in the sub-menu that comes up on the right. Tada … we fixed the red eye!
Take a look at this video from You Tube that shows you the red eye removal
Before you begin editing it's always a good idea to check a photo's levels. When photos are backlit, lit poorly, or overexposed, the colors tend to not look quite right. At times this is obvious, however at other times it's hard to tell, so you always want to check your photo's levels. Doing this first will help you make the colors in your photos look their best.
To change the levels in your picture click on Edit in the menu bar. Move your mouse to Adjustments > in the drop-down menu and leave the cursor there for a second. In the sub-menu that pops up, choose on Auto Levels.
After adjusting the levels you should see a change in the appearance of your photo. It’s okay if you don't see a noticeable difference. If there is no change it simply means that your photo looked good right from the start. After you have adjusted the levels save your work by hitting Apple + S in Mac OS X or CTRL + S in Windows.
As you work with Photoshop you will find there are keyboard shortcuts that you can use for speed up your work; the keyboard shortcut for Auto Levels is Shift + Apple + L on a Mac or CTRL + L on a PC.
One of the most important elements of a good photograph is composition. Composition is basically the placement of the subject and objects in the photograph and how these elements interact with each other.
Good composition is what distinguishes good photographers from average ones. While there are a variety of aspects when talking about good composition, framing or cropping of an image is an important part.
Photoshop makes it easy to improve the composition of a photograph through the use of the cropping tool. You can quickly remove parts of the photo that you either don’t want or that distract from the main subject. You can also make cropping as precise as you need it to be by measuring those areas to be cut.
The best part about using Photoshop’s cropping tool is that if you don’t like the result you can easily go back to where you started and try again. Essentially you can experiment with an unlimited number of possibilities.
A important element when cropping your pictures is to check the size to make sure they will print in a standard size such as 4×6. If they do not correspond to traditional sizes try cutting a little more off. Otherwise when you take them into print at the local lab the photo lab may have to crop them even more to make them print the right size.
Photoshop truly makes it so easy to crop your photos digitally that you don’t need to worry about the framing when you take the picture on your camera because you can easily fix it later on your computer. Regardless of whether you use Photoshop Elements or the more advanced version, Photoshop CS, the technical aspects of using the cropping tool are essentially the same.
The more you practice with Photoshop Elements the more you will become familiar with many of the filter tools that are available to you and you will quickly figure out that you will want to apply different tools to different parts of your image.
An easy way to do this is to choose an area of your photograph that you wish to apply a filter to and "cut it" from the main photo then copy it into a new folder. Once you have done this step you can work on each part of the image independently from the others.
Finally, once you have finished adding your filters and effects to the parts you have cut away you can easily copy them back into the original image and relocate it to the proper position. It literally "snaps" into place when you line it up with where it needs to be.
I recommend playing with all the Photoshop Elements "Effects" tools to see what they can do with your image. It is also fun, when you have created some masterpieces, to try changing them into black and white or keeping portions of your image as black and white while making others color. You should see a "painted effect" on the color portion.
Sometimes we take pictures and when we print them out we simply say, "Wow, that could almost be a painting!” Many people are not aware that there are software programs that contain techniques that you can use to alter your photos into a watercolor or pen and ink painting or charcoal drawing.
Once you have changed your photo you then can print it out onto canvas or fine art watercolor paper for that true art feel and permanence.
Photoshop Elements has several tools that only require a little bit of time and experimentation in order to figure out how to use them to enhance your photographs. Simply by adding a bit of "noise" or “Gaussian Blur" filters to your photograph can do wonders to transform your ordinary photo into a work of art.
While we all recognize that the full version of Adobe Photoshop is a powerful professional tool, the beginning user will undoubtedly be better served by the purchase of Photoshop Elements.
This scaled down version of the industry standard photo editing program is easier to use and learn, and is available for a much more reasonable price. This makes it possible to get into the world of photo editing and computer art without spending a bundle, and still allows the user to own a powerful and effective program.
When used in home or small-scale professional use, Photoshop Elements is the better choice for the beginning user.
STEP ONE: Under the File menu, select New, and then choose create a new Blank File.
If you are looking for an actual canvas painting based on a photo you will need to find a reputable painter.
A canvas photo painting is the digital version of painting a photograph onto a canvas.
Before you begin editing it's always a good idea to check a photo's levels. When photos are backlit, lit poorly, or overexposed, the colors tend to not look quite right. At times this is obvious, however at other times it's hard to tell, so you always want to check your photo's levels. Doing this first will help you make the colors in your photos look their best.
One of the most important elements of a good photograph is composition. Composition is basically the placement of the subject and objects in the photograph and how these elements interact with each other. 
The more you practice with Photoshop Elements the more you will become familiar with many of the filter tools that are available to you and you will quickly figure out that you will want to apply different tools to different parts of your image.
Sometimes we take pictures and when we print them out we simply say, "Wow, that could almost be a painting!” Many people are not aware that there are software programs that contain techniques that you can use to alter your photos into a watercolor or pen and ink painting or charcoal drawing.
While we all recognize that the full version of Adobe Photoshop is a powerful professional tool, the beginning user will undoubtedly be better served by the purchase of Photoshop Elements.
