Category: Creativity
Creating a Polaroid using an Action in Photoshop
Although the technology is now obsolete, many enjoy the look of a polaroid photo. You can cheat and create this easily in InDesign – simply crete a white box and place it behind your photo so that it lines up similarly to how a Polaroid looks. However, it’s hard to replicate the exact look in this way.
Instead, one of our FutureBook Reps, Kevin, found an Action online that you can download here http://rawimage.deviantart.com/art/Polaroid-GENERATOR-V1-42651542
While it’s a free download created by an amateur artist, you have the opportunity to pay for the download via donation.
Using Photoshop Actions can make your job easier and help you edit your photos more quickly. Actions are nothing more than a series of normal Photoshop operations recorded so that you can run them in sequence quickly, without having to remember just what steps to do, and in what order.
Open up your photo(s) in InDesign.
Go to Window>Actions
Using the fly-out menu, chose Load Actions and locate your file.
Open the set of Actions so that you can see all the various steps.
Click on the first listing (T600 Wide Format), hold down your shift key and select the rest of the listing, to (Finish INDOOR)
Click on the play button (right arrow) listed at the bottom of the Actions window.
Sit back and watch the operations go through! At one point you may be prompted to click ‘continue.’
Are there Actions you like to use? Have you created your own action?
Your theme or concept; have you chosen one that is powerful and all-encompassing?
Wow, where has this first month gone? The hustle and bustle of a new year is underway, and it’s almost the end of September already. I know that you’ve been busy getting organized, juggling classes and activities, and simply settling in.
It has been an exciting month at FutureBook Yearbooks as well. It is always fun for us at this time of the year. We get to meet new yearbook advisors and students, hearing their fresh and creative ideas. We catch up with returning advisors and students, hearing about their summer months, learning about their thoughts on the upcoming year, and devising action plans. In particular, we have a great time hearing about thoughts and expectations for the yearbook. I’ve run across some interesting themes so far… A 2012 ‘End of the World’ perspective, Pop Art, Contrast vs. Colour, Monopoly, and more.
Many yearbook groups are still brainstorming themes and concepts of a book. For that reason, I’ve included a document here with many ideas. Feel free to download and print it off for your own use. Yearbook Themes
Keep in mind a theme for your yearbook is not necessary. You can also chose a ‘look,’ or a concept that will run throughout your book and tie it all together. What is the difference? The approaches are blurred, and often run into each other, but here is a basic idea:
- A theme is a unifying concept that focuses on a particular entity. Whether a word, a concept or object, elements of this are evident in all aspects of the book. The expectation is that the chosen theme already comes with it’s own set of colours, styles, popular sayings, graphics and overall connotations. In essence, the theme has a literal translation. The theme is carried out trough the text, photos, and layout designs on every page of the yearbook, as well as the cover, dust jacket, endsheets and dividers to create unity.
- Modeling a yearbook on a concept is similar in that it is evident in all aspects of the book. The difference is that there is less of an established formula associated with it. Folios, headlines, backgrounds, image frames, graphics and text styles should all play nicely with each other. But the concept is devised by the group, rather than on a set rule, even if modeled after similar uses of the look in other places.
The overall concept or themes should be specific to one year at one school; even if the theme itself is somewhat generic, it should be used in a way that is unique. Once you have chosen the theme, you will need to brainstorm ways to incorporate it throughout the book, both verbally and visually. It’s important that the main idea is strong and that the impact is clear to the readers. Remember that it is the development of the overall look of the book that wields the most power and impact.