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Create stylish two tone text with Photofiltre!

In this tutorial I will show how to create 2 styles of two tone text using the free version of Photofiltre.

 

Step 1.

Open up a new blank page on Photofiltre, 800 x 600, white background.

Use the pipette tool to select a suitable colour. In this example I’ve selected #567B9B, which is an attractive blue/grey. Note that when you select the pipette tool, a dialogue box appears at the bottom so that you can type the colour number directly in.

 Step 2.

Use the Rectangle Tool to draw an arbitrary box and fill it using the Paint Tool from the colour selected above using the pipette. In this example I will only use one colour for simplicity.

 Step 3.

Drag the top line of the selection and move it up… and then drag the bottom line of the selection up as well but just slightly below the top of the solid blue colour as shown.

 Step 4.

Select the Gradient Tool from the lower tool bar.

From the gradient dialogue box, select:

• Monochromatic Style
• Direction: Top to bottom
• Color(the same one using the pipette)
• Opacity 100%.

Click OK.

 

 

Step 5.

Select the Text Tool. In the this example I’ve used the Garamond font, bold at size 100.

Type in your text and select Transform to Selection.

Step 6.

The outline of the text will appear…position the text transformation outline over the two tones mid way, the solid part on the bottom and the gradient towards the top.

Right click the mouse, and select Copy.

Right click and select Paste, either on spare white section or in a new window. Done.

Step 7. Adding extra effects.

Once the basic two tone text has been created further enhancements can be made to make it look more interesting using Photofiltre’s various filters and adjustments.

Select the Text tool again, and click on Transform to Selection again. Position the Transform outline over the two tone text so that the selection sits perfectly over it.

From here, you can choose many effects such as progressive contour, Scan Lines and various texture effects. Use these in combination with the sharpen, reinforce, soften, gamma, color controls to further enhance the effects.

Examples:

Progressive contour +  Paint fill on outside.

Texture > Sandstone + sharpen

 

Part 2. Two tone text with curved horizon.

The principle is the same as before, but instead of creating the two tone in a straight line, the idea is to have a stylish curve on the inside.

Step 1.

Open a 800 x 600, white background page.

Use the Ellipse Tool and draw a large arbitrary flattened oval shape.

Step 2. Fill in the ellipse.

This time instead of using the paint tool to fill the ellipse, I’ve used the Gradient Tool to fill it. However, a solid colour could have also been used

Step 3. Draw the second ellipse.

With the first ellipse still selected, drag the top of the ellipse and then the bottom part to a higher position forming the outline of the second ellipse as shown.

Step 4. Fill second ellipse.

Now fill the second ellipse with the Gradient Tool as well.

 Step 5.

 Use the the Text Tool to create the required text and then press Transform to Selection.

Step 6.

Position the the transformed selection over the two tone gradient. I’ve offset it a little towards the right so the curve not centred. When it’s in the right position, right click the mouse and select Copy.

Step 7. Paste.

Right click the mouse and select paste to paste the two tone text to either a new page or on the same page in a blank area.

The basic two tone text with curved horizon:

Further enhancements.

As before, you can add further effects to the two tone text by using the Transform to Selection in the Text Tool then selecting various filters and other adjustments.

Examples:

Extra colour and sharpen

 

Two tone with pointillize, sharpen and colour revive

White scanlines, colour+, sharpen

Fissure and sharpen

 Enjoy! 

Tags: gradient, Photofiltre, text, two tone

After you have finished post processing operations such as cropping and resizing with your photos, then next thing to look at, if required, is brightening and sharpening. If your photos were well taken and look good (lighting, contrast is good and not blurred), then very little extra work is required. However, not all photos may turn out as you intended and will require extra work to bring them up to an acceptable standard.

Fortunately, it is possible to improve poorly taken photos quite easily with Photofiltre. Often, amateur photographers using compact style digital cameras end up with photos that are either too dark, out of focus or have poor contrast.

 

Before and after examples using Photofiltre to correct bad photos: 

 

 

The first and last pictures have suffered badly due to the position of the sun and reflective surfaces. This has caused problems with the cameras automatic light metering system resulting in parts of the photos which are very bright and other parts that are too dark. Possibly, some of the extreme bright parts could have been cropped out leaving a more consistent photo to work on.

Where to start.

Start with the Gamma Correct controls located in the lower tool bar. Gamma[+] lightens up the image whilst Gamma[-] darkens it.

Begin with a few clicks of on Gamma[+] to lighten the picture, but don’t over do it too much or else the photo will become washed out and too bright.

You can also alter Gamma Correction from the Adjust menu and use the slider to adjust the Gamma for more precise control.

Contrast Controls

The contrast controls are also located on the second tool bar. Try experimenting with adjusting the contrast controls for further improvement.

Take care when using the contrast controls, as over contrast can lead to loss of fine detail. Increasing the contrast makes the lighter areas brighter and the darker areas darker, so use carefully.

Example of too much contrast leading to loss of fine detail.

Colour Controls

After adjusting gamma and contrast, you may choose take the opportunity to adjust the colour saturation.

Use the saturation controls in moderation, as too much colour tends to look unnatural and strange, however one or two clicks may enhance an otherwise ordinary photo.

Sharpening

The next step is to sharpen the photo. This often makes the photo look a little more crisp and attractive. Usually one click or two clicks on the sharpen button will all be that’s required. Too much sharpening can result in a halo effect around objects.

The sharpen tool is located on the second tool bar.

Final step- Save As

When your satisfied with the final result save the picture using File >Save as.

 

 All Done.

Tags: brighten, color, contrast, Photofiltre, photos, post processing, sharpen

Here is another quick, tutorial showing how to crop a picture or photo using Photofiltre. I’ve made a summary below

 

 
Summary

Cropping a picture is the process of simply trimming out unwanted parts of a picture rather like using sissors or gullotine on a real photo. To use the crop function with Photofiltre, start by selecting an area, then use the the Crop tool found under the Image menu, all material outside the selected area will be removed.

Use the crop tool to trim unwanted parts of background which can detract from the main object in the photo and with clever cropping, you can make a otherwise ordinary photo into something more interesting. In addition, you can offset the subject from the centre, which goes along with time honoured photography rule of shooting objects offcentre(rule of thirds).

Also, another reason to crop a photo is to make it suit a particular photo frame size, such as 5×7 inch, 8×10 inch or 11×14 inch without distorting the original proportions of the photo.

Happy cropping.

Tags: cropping, Photofiltre, photos, pictures, youtube