Sunday, August 16, 2009

Easy diy desktop backgrounds.

It's been a while since I've posted any tutorials, and I've never done one like this before, so I thought it would be a fun thing to show you guys. It's a photoshop tutorial for a pretty easy little trick I've learned. If you don't have photoshop, don't leave just yet! There will still be lots of pretty photos to look at, and I'm not sure but you may be able to perform similar tricks with other photo editing programs.

I like to have bright, beautiful photos for my desktop background on my computer. I also enjoy changing it up fairly often, and I got sick of constantly searching the internet for pretty photos to use because I usually didn't come up with what I was looking for anyway. So I decided to start making my own! It's very easy, so those who are unfamiliar with photoshop should be able to do this too.

I start out with a photo, usually involving nature, that would look good with an altered color scheme. And then I adjust the colors until I end up with something that is a little more interesting to look at. Something strange happens to your eyes when you gaze at a photo of pink skies or blue leaves, but I like it. Here are a few examples of the backgrounds I've made in the past, all using my own original photos.

















Are you intrigued yet? Do you want to know how to do this to your own photos? Well come on then, I'll show you! First, you will need to find a picture you'd like to use. Open it in photoshop.



On the toolbar, click "Image" and hover your mouse down to the word "Adjustments". A new menu will come up alongside the "Image" menu, where you will see an option for "Hue/Saturation".



Click on "Hue/Saturation", and a box like this should pop up.



Using the little arrows along the bottom of the colored bars, tamper with the hue, saturation, and lightness until you come up with something you like. Click "Ok" when you are finished.



Behold your new, crazy-colored photo. I told you it was easy!



This is also really fun to do with pictures of people. You can turn yourself purple! If any of you decide to try this out, I would love to see what you come up with. Feel free to post links to your own creations in your comments. If you would like to use any of the ones I have made, just leave a comment with your email address and which one(s) you would like and I will happily send you a larger copy of the photo to use on your desktop (the full-size versions look much better than what you see here). Do any of you enjoy experimenting with photo editing? I have so much fun with things like this.

And on a completely unrelated topic, my blog now has over 100 followers! I was overflowing with excitement when I saw, so I had to share it with you. I want to thank every single one of my readers for taking an interest in my blog. You guys rock my socks off!!

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooooooh...so pretty!

Wasted Wishes said...

I don't have photoshop, but I saved a couple of those photos and put them in my 'inspiration' folder. The purple trees are my favorite! :)

Amy said...

Omg, those photos are amazing! What a great post. I don't have photoshop here at home, but I do at work..hmmmm....I need to try this out!

alexkeller said...

so cool! one of these days i'll have to get photoshop!

apparentlyjessy said...

Love the tutorial Holly! Congrats on 100 followers, it is a great feeling hey?!

lollywood said...

I love the results for your photos! I love bright pinks and purples and blues! :)

For anyone who doesn't have photoshop and wants something similar that is free-- they can download GIMP at gimp.org. It's got a lot of the same features as photoshop and there are lots of tutorials around to tell how to use it for photo-editing!

Anonymous said...

Fun!! I use this, but always just to make photos a little clearer or better...never tried making them GREAT...Thanks.

Warm Wishes,
Karen Eileen

Tuppence said...

I seriously love the pink sky and turquoise(ish) grass one. I would frame that and stick it on my wall. (which is saying alot because I rarely put anything on my wall!).

Patsy said...

How neat!!

Anonymous said...

very cool tutorial. I want photo shop. It is an awesome tool.

Audrey said...

That is so cool!! I would love larger versions of 2, 3,5,6!! Thanks so much.

audreyscountrycrafts at gmail.com

Brigid said...

I LOVE the fourth one down. You are so creative, girl!

Robin said...

Wow, these are amazing girl! Thanks for the lesson.

Briana Shepley said...

Sooooooooo pretty! I love how you love color! It makes me happy :) Photoshop is SO much fun to play around on and I certainly don't do it enough!!!

Ink Obsession Designs said...

Very cool! Love these! :)

cabin + cub said...

reminds me so much of photos taken with infrared film.. they always have those great colors and tones. you must have a hard time deciding on what desktop to use. they are all so pretty! ;)

Lolo Sinclair said...

Love your post! Great tutorial. The pictures are awesome.

Thank you so much for sharing...

Lolo :-)

Diary of a Madd Weekly Painter said...

Hi Holly, You are a good photographer. Can you tell me how you got the screen shots. Maybe others would like to know and now you have another tutorial to post. Remember I'm computer challenged and I need DETAILS!. Thanks for your sweet comments on myblog.

Christine Burgess said...

OMG, you should be selling these! They are fantastic. What a great idea and thanks for sharing how to do it.

velvetwoods said...

Such wild and pretty colours...thanks holly you rock !

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, that's so cool! I don't have photoshop, but I can change the hue and such on the program I have, so yay!

Now I'm going to have to find something cool to play with!
:D

Tara said...

Oh I need me some photoshop! thanks for sharing!

kiddomerriweather said...

beautimus :)

Aik said...

Those photos are great! I'm having a giveaway on my blog right now!

http://aik-friendsnfamily.blogspot.com

KnockKnocking said...

Oh wowsa! How fabulous, very color saturated and artsy and fun.
xoxo
Agnes

Heather said...

Mmmmm....i love fun with photoshop! I love playing on picnik.com too. so many things to do to photos! these photos are all gorgeous, great job!~

Anonymous said...

So cool! Thanks for sharing how you did it!

If you get a chance stop by and say hi! I just put up a NEW POST!
Have a great night,
Aimee

Rheea said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rheea said...

Woohoo~ Congrats on the followers! Your postings are ALWAYS so fun and uplifting to read (I'm really beginning to wonder where on earth did you get so many interesting ideas to write about). Nonetheless, two thumbs (and toes) up for your blog!

PS: I will die without photoshop!!

Love as always,
Rheea

Rose said...

Oh wow, they look great! I wish I had photoshop, maybe I can try and download it :)

Rose