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    + #01 - Softer Images


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For this tutorial, I will be using version 7.0 of Adobe Photoshop. In this tutorial, you will learn how to give your image a "softer" effect.

Alright, so it's time to give this a shot. Open up some image that you'd like to use. I'll be using this image:

Right now, in your layers pallette, you've only got one layer, and it's titled Background, right? Well, right click on the layer titled background. A little menu should pop up. Click the option Duplicate Layer.... It should look something like this:

After you click on Duplicate Layer..., a little box should pop up in the center of your screen. Click OK. You should now Have two layers. Make sure that the layer that you just created is selected (the topmost layer).

Now go to Filter >> Blur >> Guassian Blur.

Set the radius to 3.0 pixels and then click OK. Yup...your image should be all blurry. But we're gonna fix that! On your layers pallette, there should be a little drop down menu. Right now, it says "Normal", but since we want the image to look soft, we don't want it to say "Normal" anymore. Click on the little down arrow next to normal, and select Overlay.

And now you're finished! I like calling this the "Overlaying Effect", but people don't know what I mean when I call it that...so...that's why this tutorial isn't named that (babble...). Anyways, add some brushes, patterns, text, whatever! to make it look good. Here's my final result:

Also...as just a bit of a side note, the "Overlaying Effect" can be used on many different things besides images. *Hint hint* Play around with things, and you might get some neat combinations!