How can I make the background of my pictures whiter?

Sometimes when you take a picture on a white surface, the "white" background doesn't quite look the way you want, either because of lighting or the settings you have in the camera.

This is a simple and quick fix tutorial for Photoshop.

This is the before and after. This shows what the tutorial will do to help.

Part 1 - Levels

First of all, open your picture with Photoshop. This is the picture I will use. This was taken with natural light from a window, and the pendant was on top of a glossy white furniture. As you can see, the background is gray and it doesn't look that good.

Picture before adjusting Levels

One simple fix is to type "Ctrl + L" (or go to Image - Adjustments - Levels, in the top toolbar)
This will open a small window over your picture like in the image below:

Now click and hold over the white arrow and slide it towards the first large black "spike". When you are dragging the arrow, you will be able to see exactly what will happen to your picture in terms of light. I usually draw the white arrow just until it touches the black spike as shown on the next picture:

The picture is looking better already! Don't over do the slider because you can drastically alter how the picture looks. once you have found the balance you like, click "Ok" and the dialog box will close and you will keep the changes.

Picture after adjusting the Levels

Part 2 - Replace Color

Sometimes, adjusting levels would be enough. But if you want to give it a fine tune, or if for example, you get a blue hue on your picture, you can do another simple fix.

Go to Image - Adjustments - Replace color. This will also open a small window. Usually what I do, is just hover with my mouse over my picture and click on the background color. You can click around and see how the selection changes. I just choose a tone not too bright and not too dark (from the background color only, not from the shadows of my object or my object itself.

Once you have selected the color, go the the lowest slider "Lightness" and slide it slowly to the right. You can see how the picture changes and once you are happy, just click "Ok".

I either look at the Sample square, or look at how my picture changes while I slide it. Normally I stop the slider when I get to a white color.

Part 3 - Your finished picture:

Picture after "Levels" and "Replace color" adjustments.

How easy was that? Now you have great pictures to show with very quick and easy changes. No need to retake the picture a million times until you get the white color right.

I hope this helps!

How do I buy something from Etsy?

If you are like me, probably you want to read everything you can about something before doing it. *I* personally hate it when you have to sign up in order to be able to purchase something online. I've had surprise presents spoiled because "someone" glanced at my open email page and saw a welcome email from a particular shop. So when I actually consider signing up, it is because I know what I'm getting myself into.

  About ETSY: 

 Etsy is a webpage where you can browse awesome art and handmade items that are truly unique. Of course, like everywhere, you will also find mass produced items being sold, but mostly crafting supplies. You can navigate to just the Handmade section and be wondered and fascinated with beautiful things. you can enjoy this page by just being inspired by it, or you can also find that special something you would like to gift to someone, or why not? to yourself.

 Well, as I see it, joining Etsy has been a great experience for me. They don't swarm me with unwanted emails, which is one of the main reasons I hate signing up to pages. (just go to Your Account -> Settings -> Emails, and disable everything you Don't want to receive.)

  Signing up: 

 To sign up, go to http://www.etsy.com/ and click on the big gray button on the top left of the page that says "Register". (right next to the orange big Etsy button). Now fill in the form and in a few moments you will become part of not only a "marketplace" but also a community of local artists from all over the world that are trying to show what they love to do.

  The actual purchase: 

 Now, to the fun part: Browse around the thousands of items available. Also take a look at the shops that hold them, sometimes you might find something you like even more after you browse the shop! And the artists will be trilled to see someone browsed around their things.

 Click on the small pictures to go to that specific "listing" page (Listing just means the items that are available for purchase). In this page, you will be able to read a bit more about the particular item. The seller might tell you some fun facts about how they made it, or just some description about it.

 ***EXAMPLE***
This is how a listing page looks like:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/124171108/dark-mystery-pendant-dark-purple-glass

 Once you have found what you want, click on the big green button on the right that says: "Add to cart" This will take you to another page that will show you the items you have chosen and the total amount to pay. Remember there are two prices you need to pay for something: The Item itself, and the shipping.

 You can browse around and add more things to your cart. Your cart will be divided into a cart for each shop where you are buying from. So you can pay individually to each shop owner.

 When you are ready to pay, click on the green button "Check out with Paypal" and follow the instructions to pay. You can use your credit cards to pay as well, and some particular shops offer some other payment methods.

  After buying: 

 I don't know about you, but I *Love* waiting for the post, specially when I ordered something pretty. When you do get your purchase, don't forget to go back to Etsy and rate the item you bought. Sellers really love to hear back from their customers, and Etsy facilitates this with a feedback option.

Please do this, Your seller will love you for it :)

  A few extra thoughts: 

 *Just remember that most of the items being sold are made by "normal people" and not by corporations with a lot of money invested in marketing. So not everyone has the great skills needed to be eloquent and describe beautifully their works of art. And also, some of us might make mistakes with our English language. (Sorry!)

Blogging! just for fun!

So i decided to make a blog. I've had a couple of random-themed before, but now I want a space to collect my thoughts and ideas. And to answer some of the fundamental questions i randomly get in my head. And well, also to show around some pictures and things i've been doing lately.

On a HUGE NOTE***

I am no writer and I don't pretend to be. I know what I write might not make sense sometimes but that's because my ideas are coming too fast for my hands to type. I know there's suposed to be a way to writing things, but I'll go with the flow. Its not like a lot of people are going to read this anyways.

:D

Have a nice day!