People may have different reasons for using image search engines. There are teenagers looking for pictures of their teen idols, iTunes users looking for an obscure cover of a 1960’s album, and bloggers looking for an image to use for their blog (in violation of all copyright regulations, of course!).

There will also be shoppers looking for pictures of cars, furniture, holiday destinations or clothing. If you are selling products or services it is the shoppers you are looking for. However, all of these persons may be potential future customers or subscribers. And they may become regular readers. You want that!

Note also that all the major search engines now include image search listings in regular web search results. If you have optimized your images correctly, you can get yourself a very attractive top 10 position by tagging your images correctly.

Help the search engine understand what the image is about. If you want your images to rank higher than others for a particular keyword phrase, you need to help the search engine understand what the picture is depicting.

You can do this by the following means:

1. Use descriptive file names

Make sure that the file name describes the image with keyword phrases searchers are likely to use.

Bad: www.yoursite.com/images/photo-356789.jpg
Good: www.yoursite.com/images/row-boat-by-lake.jpg
Good: www. yoursite/images/red-volkswagen-beetle-car.jpg

2. Use the HTML ALT tags actively

(If you do not know what that is, make sure you use the description field in your blog or content publishing software when adding an image).

Bad: <img src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/6789stp.jpg” alt=”Image”>.

Good: <img src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/young-woman-pc-reading-news.jpg” alt=”Young woman reading news on PC”>.

If you have a series of images, use variation:

“Blond woman reading news on PC”
“Black woman twittering on a Mac”
“Asian man with laptop on table”

Both photographers and webmasters are notoriously bad at using words for feelings, abstracts and the like — even if people do search for images that may be used to illustrate non-concrete topics. This is where you can gain a competitive advantage.

“Happy woman using PC to search the Web”
“Moody and cranky girl”
“Green background texture”

3. Add descriptive text close to the picture

In order to determine what the picture is depicting, the search engines will also look at the text close to the image.

Good: An increasing number of women are found to be searching the web on their PC when looking for news.

<img src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/young-woman-pc-reading-news.jpg” alt=”Young woman reading news on PC”>.

This text may also be used by the search engine as a snippet that describes the image.

4. Keep the most important images close to the top headline or title

Embedding the image close to the top headline (which should be very similar to the TITLE-field) will increase your chances of having your picture in Google News, as it helps Google match the content of the article with the image.

It is a fair guess that the same principle applies to Image Search.

5. Put the photos within articles and blog posts

The search engines have a tendency of ignoring images in sidebars and other places where they can be interpreted as ads or navigational elements.

Images in articles and blog posts have the greatest chance of success.

There are also other technical issues to keep in mind:

6. Do not add code to break out of frames

The Bing Blog recommends you to watch out for frame breaking:

“Sites that attempt to break frames make it more difficult for the image to display correctly within search. Make sure you’re testing your site against the search engines.”

If you don’t know what we are talking about, you are probably in the clear.

7. Use images that read well when thumbnailed

Use high quality pictures with high contrasts and clear, bright, colors. The search engines will generate small thumbnails to include in search engine results, and you want images that survive that reduction in file size.

If you are not a photographer yourself, you can buy royalt free high quality images from stock photo suppliers like Photos.com and Shutterstock for a reasonable price.

Google are looking for large size photos with good aspect ratios.

8. Make the photos accessible

Make sure that the directory that contains your images can be accessed by the search engine crawlers.

Check your robots.txt file or ask your IT people to do it for you.

9. Use the social photo sites

Upload some of your images to photo hosting sites like Flickr.com. Add links back to the relevant page on your site.

Flickr may generatate traffic on its own, and the search engines may also include Flickr images in their image search results.

Check how many pictures Google has indexed. To check what images Google has indexed from your site, use the following URL, replacing “yoursite.com” with your domain name: http://images.google.com/images?q=site:yoursite.com

Note that it normally takes longer for the search engines to index pictures than ordinary text content.

Source: Pandia Search Engine News

First, find a photograph of a picture that is compatible with your other chosen photographs. When you blend you must pre-visualize and feel the design.

Second, select a background then right click and select inverse to close on the subject. Background is preferably white.

Third, select the Move tool and click inside of the selection and drag it over to your desired image. Dragging will create a new layer on the new document which is a replica of the original selection.

Fourth, create a layer mask on the layer of the object you drag over. Click on Layer > add Layer Mask or click on the Add a Mask icon in the layers palette. Choose the linear gradient tool with foreground to transparent and black as the foreground color and swipe. The longer the swipes you create the smoother the blend will be. Gradient layer masking allows you to create professional blends.

To add more character to the final image, you can create a gradient fill layer on the adjustment/fill layer icon on the bottom of the layers palette. Choose the settings in the dialog box. To see scale the possible output, change the blending modes and opacity. After those easy steps, you can now have a glimpse of your blended masterpiece!

To be properly guided, you can view rubylith by toggling the “|” key or going on the channels palette onto the layer mask channel. Click the eye on and off. For the beginners, the rubylith will teach you the right thing to do. To bring back your original pixels on the layer mask, select white but you can use any level of grey in between.

To practice with blending images, what you are advised to do, is take a picture of a subject and drag it over to different backgrounds like sunset, beach or other significant backgrounds. Make a good layer mask to cover the rough edges and put the blending mode on screen, lighten or overlay. You can use layer masking if you did not make selections beforehand. You can also use the star gradient tool to create starburst effect. Open your mind to other possibilities and enjoy the blending power of Photoshop!

Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop tutorials with the 2 Hour Easy To Use Adobe Photoshop tutorials for beginners.

You can download this free report called “Make Money with Digital Photography.” If you’re still undecided, this might change your mind. Here are 18 reasons why digital photography makes a great home career:

1. Minimum equipment required

To make money with digital photography, all you need are: a digital camera, a computer, and Internet access. In fact, you may already have all three.

2. No need for special training

Anybody who can take decent pictures can make money by selling digital photos. You don’t have to have formal training, or so many years of experience. You can be young or old, male or female.

3. Low start-up costs

Aside from the equipment required, you don’t need to make any other investments. This means you can get started immediately.

4. No need to leave home

If you like, you can do sell digital photographs completely from home. Yes, that includes taking photographs.

5. Money in your hard drive

You may already have pictures in your computer that you can sell right away. In fact, you should begin with those.

6. Make money when traveling

If you like to travel, you can make your trip pay for itself by taking pictures on your trip and selling them online.

7. Location independent business

You can have sell your digital photographs from anywhere, as long as you have your equipment (see number 1). This means you could be a nomad and still make a living.

8. Flexible hours

Work when you want, as much as you want. Do it full time or part time. It’s up to you!

9. No need to build websites

Although you’ll be selling digital photographs online, you absolutely don’t have to build a website – unlike other online marketers.

10. Stock photo sites do the marketing for you

You don’t have to do any marketing, either, because stock photo sites do it all for you. All you have to do is take high-quality photographs. (More on that in “Make Money with Digital Photography.”

11. No fees to sell online

You don’t have to pay any fees to sell in stock photo sites. It’s completely free to become a member and start selling your photos.

12. No need to set up a shopping cart

Again, stock photo sites take care of processing payments for your photographs. You will have to be able to accept payments from stock photo sites. A PayPal account should be enough.

13. Enhanced creativity

This business forces you to become more creative, such as in the way you choose the subjects of your pictures, to how you edit them.

14. Sharper photography skills

You have to improve your photography skills if you want to succeed in this business. The longer you keep at it, the better you’ll become.

15. Build your portfolio and expertise

Selling digital photos online helps build your reputation as a photographer. You can easily build a portfolio based on your best-selling pictures.

16. Profit from passion

You can easily combine this home business with a hobby or special interest you have. Because of the wide range of subjects that are in high demand, you don’t have to take pictures that you don’t care about.

17. Steady demand

As more and more stock photos are sold and bought, the demand for fresh photos increases. Marketers always want unique pictures for their materials, which further increases the demand for more digital photos.

18. It’s profitable

Because of low overhead costs, it’s easy to earn a full-time income from selling digital photography. University students are doing it, stay at home Moms are doing it, and you can do it too.

However, you have to know some insider secrets. Which types of photographs sell easily online? How do you avoid legal problems? How do you work with stock photo sites? How can you sell more photos?

You’ll find the answers in “Make Money with Digital Photography.” It’s completely free, so go and grab it now.

Using Save for Web

When your image is ready to be put onto your web page, select “Save for Web”… from the File menu. The “Save for Web” dialog appears:

This dialog box allows you to tell Photoshop how you’d like to optimize your graphic for the internet. You have the ability to select the file format to produce (GIF, JPEG or PNG), what size palette you’d like to use, how to cut down the colors to fit the chosen palette size, how much to dither the optimized image (if at all) and how much image quality to sacrifice in order to produce a smaller file size.

Image views

You will see four tabs above the image view pane on the left side of the screen. These options allow you to view the original image, the optimized version (this is the default), the original and optimized versions side-by-side (“2-Up”) and the original, optimized and two variations on the optimization all together (“4-Up”).

You can use the Zoom tool to zoom in and out of the image; the Hand tool to move the view around; and the Eyedropper tool to select a color from the image which can be used by various color options on the right of the dialog.

Presets

There are many options in the Save for Web dialog, and the choices here can be quite bewildering! Fortunately, there are lists of presets you can choose from to make it easier. Select the Settings: drop-down list, which is located just below the Cancel button, to bring up the list of presets

Three basic image formats exists in the presets – GIF, JPEG and PNG. The rule of thumb is to use JPEG’s for photos and GIF’s for all else. For a full guide on choosing the right image format.

Optimizing GIFs

If you’re creating a GIF you will want to start off with a preset such as GIF 32 Dithered, which works well for most GIFs. From there you can fine-tune the optimization to suit your needs.

Colours

This is where you choose the size of your GIF palette. A palette of 32 colors is often sufficient for web images, but if your image has loads of detail and looks too fuzzy/blurry/banded with 32, up it to 64, 128 or 256. If your image has very few colors in to start with, or doesn’t look too bad with fewer colors, select 16, 8, 4 or even 2! This will make the GIF file size smaller.

Optimizing JPEGs

If you’re creating a JPEG you will want to start off with a preset such as JPEG Medium, which typically works well for most JPEGs. From there you can fine-tune the optimization to suit your needs. Some of the important optimization options are as follows:

Quality

Two ways to alter the compression quality include the Low/Medium/High/Maximum list (for quick access) and the Quality slider (for fine control). The lower the quality setting, the more blurry and bitty the JPEG will appear, but the resulting file size will be smaller.

Progressive

A progressive JPEG is similar to an interlaced GIF. The image loads gradually on the Web page – a low res image first and then the full, high-resolution image. Again, this is great for keeping your viewers on slow modems from getting bored, but it does mean a slightly larger file size. Please note that older browsers don’t support progressive JPEGs.

Matte

If your Photoshop image has transparent areas, you can fill them with a specified matte color with this drop-down box.

Optimizing PNGs

Your options for optimizing a PNG-24 are much the same as those for optimizing a JPEG. Similarly, the options for optimizing a PNG-8 are very similar to those for optimizing a GIF. See the GIF and JPEG sections above for details.

And, if you really can’t be bothered…
…you can always allow Photoshop to optimize the image for you! Select the little arrow just to the right of the Settings… box and select Optimize to File Size.

In the dialog that pops up, choose Auto Select GIF/JPEG then enter your desired file size. Click on OK and Photoshop will do the rest for you! If you’re not pleased with the results you can tweak the settings as described in the sections above, or just choose a slightly larger file size and try again.

Saving the image

Once you’re happy with your optimized image, click OK to save it to disk. The file saved will be a copy of your original image, unless you specifically overwrite the original with the optimized file.

Both are excellent software for manipulating digital photographs and images. In this article, I’ll discuss some of the ways the two software are different. Hopefully, after reading this, you can make an informed decision.

Keep in mind Adobe’s intentions when you consider each one. In their website, Adobe says that Photoshop CS4 (the latest version) is ideal for “professional photographers, serious amateur photographers, graphic designers, web designers.”

Unfortunately, Adobe doesn’t tell us whom Photoshop Elements is ideal for. It does say you can “get creative,” “enhance your photos,” “share and protect all your memories” with Elements. This hints at a more consumer-level (rather than professional) user who manages images for personal use.

With this in mind, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements differ in three main areas: price, ease of use, and features. Let’s go over each one.

1. Price

Adobe Photoshop costs a whopping $699, while Photoshop Elements is $99.

For many, the price will dictate their choice. Keep in mind, some professionals use Elements even for their work. They use workarounds such as add-ons and other tools to get Elements to do what they need to accomplish. But more on that later.

2. Ease of Use

With Photoshop geared towards professional image users, you can expect it to be more difficult to use. Elements has a more intuitive, more user-friendly interface.

However, if you’re already familiar with photo editing software, such as earlier versions of Photoshop, then this won’t be much of an issue.

3. Features

As you might have guessed, the differences in price and ease of use stem from differences in features. Photoshop has functionalities which Elements doesn’t have, and vice versa.

For example, Photoshop has more robust features for manipulating the finer details of a digital image. Here are just some features in Photoshop, which aren’t in Elements:

- CMYK and LAB colour modes
- ability to work with 16-bit and 32-bit images
- Layer masks and layer comps
- Adjustment layers for colour balance, curves and selective colour
- Advanced text formatting, including putting text on a path

But don’t ditch Elements yet. It also has features you won’t find in Photoshop, such as:

- Automatic red-eye removal
- Cookie cutter tool, background templates and artwork
- Photo Organizer, which lets you tag photos and later find them quickly through tags. Photo Organizer also lets you share your photos by creating online galleries, slideshows, photo books and more.

As mentioned earlier, many Elements users find they can do with Elements a lot of the things Photoshop can do. Some of the functionalities are there but need to be “unlocked.”

Add-ons and tools for Photoshop Elements are developed by users of both software. Some are free, while others you need to pay for. These will enhance Elements to be able to do more of the things Photoshop can do.

Whichever software you choose, you have to know how to use it in order to achieve the images you want.

If you decide that Photoshop is for you, check out this link. Its video tutorials is like looking over the shoulder of a seasoned Photoshop user.

Should you go with Elements, Learn Elements Now will help you master the software in a short time.

Photoshop or Photoshop Elements? Both are powerful software for perfecting your digital images. Choose the one that best meets your needs within the resources you have.

If you want a step-by-step guide to monetizing your digital photos through stock photo sites and other ways, check out ‘Turn Your Photos into Cash’.  Meantime, you can get started right now. But do make sure you don’t make these 10 mistakes when you submit photos in stock photo sites:

1. Submitting low-quality photos. Don’t waste your time and energy. Nobody wants blurred, under-exposed and other types of low-quality photos.

2. Not doing keyword research. The right keyword list can make or break the profitability of your photos.

3. Submitting photos that you don’t own. You can get into real big trouble for doing this.

4. Submitting photos of people without a “model waiver.” Know when you need a model waiver and always get one when necessary.

5. Submitting photos of objects owned by other people without a “property waiver.” This is another legal requirement you should be aware of to avoid future headaches.

6. Submitting photos that don’t meet the stock photo site’s standards. You may think your photo is perfect but each site has its own standards, including minimum size, etc. Double check before submitting.

7. Submitting photos that have unwanted elements. Some items are simply unacceptable in photos. Find out which ones they are and either edit them out or avoid them altogether.

8. Submitting photos to stock photo sites which require exclusive contracts. Don’t submit to these sites.

9. Submitting photos of mundane objects. Why bother when demand is low and they’re all over the web already?

10. Submitting over-edited photos. Over-editing can drastically reduce the quality of your photos, causing them to be rejected.

Aside from making money on stock photo sites, this fact-filled e-book teaches a number of other ways you to turn digital photography from a hobby to a home business – a profitable one at that.

The following are just a few of the special effects you can do in Photoshop.

a) Black and White

Everyone loves black and white photography. In the past you had to use separate film if you wanted black and white images. In digital photography all images are typically photographed in color and the converted to black and white on the computer. This means that you can experiment by turning your photos to black and white.

b) Sepia Tone

Transform your photos into works of art using sepia colouring.

c) Color/Black and White Mix

Mixing black and white with color has become a popular effect among wedding and artistic photographers. Typically, most of the image will be black and white while only certain objects in the image are in color. This can create a striking effect. You can easily learn this technique in Photoshop and amaze your family and friends with your photo creations.

d) Drop Shadows

This is an excellent effect to use on text, logos, and graphic art.

e) Watermark

It is easy with Photoshop to create a custom watermark on your photos.

f) Soft Focus

Soft focus is a popular effect used by professional photographers for years to enhance portraiture.

g) Blur the Background

Pictures of people and other objects will really stand out when the background is blurry. Photoshop allows you to only blur certain areas of the image while leaving other areas in perfect focus.

h) Frame

There are unlimited ways you can put frames around your photos in Photoshop.

i) Vignette

Vignette is a popular effect that involves a soft fade, usually in oval shape, where the photograph is light in center and fades gradually into the background where it gets darker.

j) Vibrant Colour

By adjusting the saturation you can turn an otherwise dull photograph into a masterpiece of vibrant colour. You can even work with particular color channels while leaving others alone.

As you learn Photoshop and start experimenting with adding special effects to your photos you will learn many more techniques as well as different ways to achieve the same effects.

Happy Photoshopping! To get more free tips, click here.

Open a new file then go over to the Horizontal Type Tool or vertical Type Tool and click on the icon. Next just type whatever text you want using the type tool.

Open up a photo that you wish to place inside the text and the go to Select > Select All (alternately hit ctrl+A on the keyboard).

Once you’ve selected the whole image or photo, just go over to Edit > Copy (ctrl+ C on the keyboard).

Next head over to image where you created the text and hit ctrl + V on the keyboard or go to Edit > Paste. Now you have pasted the whole photo onto the text but how do you place it into the text? Take a look at your layer palette; notice that the image layer (layer 1) is right above the text layer? Yes? Cool, because in the next step you will discover how to insert the image layer into the text layer via the layer palette.

Go over to the layer palette and hold the Alt key on your keyboard. Then move the cursor right between the layer that contains your photo and the text layer. Once you do this, you should be able to see that the cursor has changed shape.

Left click on the mouse and bingo! You have successfully placed a photo into text. Of course you can still make some adjustments like moving or resizing the photo inside the text or even the text itself, so that the whole effect looks just right. Simply use the Move Tool (V) to move the image around or go to Edit > Free Transform (ctrl+ T) to resize the photo.

That is how you do a photo into text trick in Photoshop. It’s so simple, isn’t it? You can also spice up the whole thing by adding a few layer effects like bevel and emboss and what not. So, get creative with Photoshop!

The first thing that you need to do is to open the image whose background you would like to remove. Then select the Magic Wand Tool from the Tools box. The Magic Wand Tool is a great tool to get the image you are trying to select roughed out. This tool will select a section of an image based on the color of the image. Do not worry about getting everything exactly right using this tool, but you want get a rough selection of the image you are trying to extract from the background. You want to click on the image to make the first selection, and then hold down the shift key while clicking to continue adding selections, until you have the entire image that you would like to remove selected. Right now you will probably notice that not the entire image has been selected, or that the selection is not very clean looking. To fix this, Photoshop has a very handy built-in tool to help clean up your selection.

Right below the color selection area in the Tools box is two small icons that look like cameras. The one on the right is Edit in Quick Mask Mode, click on this one and everything you have not selected will turn red. Then you can use the eraser tool to add to your selection, and the paint brush tool to remove from your selection. After using these tools to clean up your selection, click on the Edit in Standard Mode button to see your finished selection. Then you can click on Edit, Copy and then click on File, New to open a new image. Photoshop will look at the image that you have copied on the clipboard, and size the new image to the same size as the image copied. Then paste your copied image to the new image, and you will have your extracted image with a transparent background.

Simple? Then learn other aspects of Photoshop now. What are you waiting for?

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Discover How You Can Easily Earn Money By Selling Your Digital Photographs in the Right Places at the Right Prices. Download all three FREE reports below:

Turn Your Photos into Cash Vol 1 – A 10-page report which discusses the 12 reasons why selling digital photography is the best home-based Internet business. Also includes the secrets to making money with digital photographs and tips for selling digital photographs profitably.

Turn Your Photos into Cash Vol 2 – This 14-page report goes into more detail about making money online through digital photos. You’ll learn where to sell digital photos online, which photos sell best, how to sell more digital photos, and how to turn “backyard pictures” into commercial assets.

Turn Your Photos into Cash Vol 3 – In this 15-page report, you’ll discover the business-side of making money with digital photographs. This report provides general tips, as well as strategies for selling your photographs online, and even business ideas for offline opportunities.

Having the ‘Eye’ in photography means simply to be able to see things from a different perspective, a different way. It is not an obvious point of view, but rather, a personal and visually striking point of view of the talented photographer.

Everyone can take a photograph, but 80% of the time, what they will aim at are the very obvious angles, at things around us, scenery, people, pets, cars, wedding couple, couples in love and so on. Of course this is not wrong, but to be a true photographer, you have to see things differently from them, injecting into your photographs a streak of creativity that will wow your audience.

How then do you get the ‘eye’? Firstly, look further than the obvious angle when you see your subject. Examine the various other angles possible, from the top, bottom, left, right, etc. Drop all your pre-conceived ideas about how your subjects should look like in photographs, and start looking at things through a different person’s eyes. For instance, imagine looking at a subject through the eyes of a child that is one-year old, a caterpillar on a leaf, a butterfly on a flower, or a pilot in a helicopter. Take photographs from every angle that you can imagine, try chopping off part of 2/3 of your subject, turn your camera upside down, and ask yourself, how does THAT look?

Try use light creatively, to bring out your subject’s texture, colours, patterns, shapes, etc. Add mood, silhouetted your subjects, etc. Change lens if you have them, if not, that is perfectly alright. Take photographs at different times of the day, and see the effects. Place your camera below your waist, lie down in the vast grassland, hold the camera with one hand, and start snapping away.

And, you know what, break the rules! The rule of the right composition, rule of one-third, and what have you, and see how many different unique photographs you can come up with. Feel the emotions, and decide how you want to convey that feeling to your audience.

Lastly, enjoy yourself, and your photographs will show. Have lots of fun!

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Do you want to know the secrets for creating fantastic digital photos? This FREE email course will teach you, even if you know nothing about your digital camera or photography.