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Lights, Camera, Action!
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Signs & Banners
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PERFect Postcards
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Sell the sizzle, not the steak
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Idea of the Week |
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Creating Photoshop "Actions"
So, you’ve used Photoshop for awhile now and are fairly adept at cropping, working with layers, changing colored photos to black-and-white and the like.
Have you ever had this happen? You tinkered around with a picture for awhile using Photoshop, and ended up with an image that was creative and different. The only problem is, you can’t remember how you arrived at that final look.
Actions
What you need to learn now is something called “Actions.” In Photoshop, an “Action” is a digitally written record of the steps you’ve taken to enhance or alter a photograph or image.
Some advantages to using Actions are:
- you’ll save time and money
- you can customize actions to fit certain workloads
- you can share actions with others
- you can make a hard copy of an Action you’ve developed, which can become a tutorial for you to use anytime
There is so much that can be done with Actions, it’s actually beyond the scope of what can be presented here. We’ll just touch on the basics.
To create an action, use the Actions palette. The Actions palette is accessed one of two ways:
Use the menu command: select Windows > Actions or
Use the keyboard command: type Alt+F9 (Windows) or Opt+F9 (Mac)
This will open your Actions palette. The palette then becomes your best friend as you create a series of steps to alter a photo, make a record of those steps, save that record and then re-play those steps in the future to achieve the exact same effect with another photo.
Applying Actions to batches of photos
Not only can you alter an individual photo using Actions – you can alter large numbers of photos with Actions. And the beauty of it is, you don’t even have to be at your computer while this is happening.
To process a batch of images, first be sure that the action you want to use is loaded into the Actions palette. Then go to the Batch dialog box (File > Automate > Batch).
The Batch dialogue box contains four main areas:- Play. Choose the action you want to assign to the Batch command.
- Source. Select the images or folders of images you want to alter.
- Destination. Determine the destination for the images you’ll be processing.
- Errors. Photoshop logs any errors that might occur during processing.
Some Action tips
Author Al Ward, Photoshop expert and self-proclaimed addict, suggests a few things to keep in mind as you set up your own actions.
- Use as few displayed dialog boxes and stop messages as possible.
- Establish color codes for your actions.
- Keep the names of your actions as short and descriptive as possible.
- Use keyboard shortcuts.
- Save your actions frequently.
- If you include a Save As command in an action that saves a file as a JPEG, be sure that the Save As Copy check box is checked in the Save As dialog box.
See more great ideas like this!
Click here to visit the Omega Graphics Ideas Collection.
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Uncommon Product |
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Tear Away Postcards
Tear away postcards are a great way to get more bang for your buck when mailing a promotion. Instead of throwing away the postcard when the recipient is done reading it, they tear off the perforated card and save it for future use. Tear away postcards can introduce a new business, provide special discounts to valued customers, promote seasonal specials, etc.
Here are a few creative ways to utilize the tear away portion of your postcard:
- Discount card/coupon – recipients can detach and present at future purchases
- Punch card – for example, purchase 5 pizzas and receive your 6th pizza free
- Business card – include your contact information for future use
- Business reply card – request collateral, submit orders, generate leads, etc.
- Reminder card – send as a convenient reminder for an upcoming appointment
- Membership card – send a card with a link to sign up or join
- Sweepstakes contest card – a detachable component to turn in for promotions
- Tickets or invitation – create excitement for special invitations to grand openings, open houses, trade shows, parties, etc.
If you’d like help creating the perfect tear away postcard, or need other ideas on creative printed products, give us a call today! We’ll help you develop a great promotion in a snap!
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Marketing Tip |
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Tips for Writing Effective Ad Copy
When writing ad copy, it's important to think about your products and services from a prospect's point of view. Here are a few tips on how to write effective sales copy:
- Sell the sizzle, not the steak. Remember that customers buy benefits, not features. Don't assume a customer will understand that a 3Ghz computer offers blazing fast speed and efficiency.
- Put your copy to the test and view from a customer's perspective by saying "So what?" or "Why is this important?"
- Provide a compelling reason or unique selling proposition for customers to do business with you. Do you offer the best guarantee? The lowest prices? The fastest delivery?
- Include proof of results in your copy, such as credible testimonials.
- Avoid abbreviations, acronyms, and trade terms that your prospects may not understand. You don't want them to be confused or feel inept when reading your sales copy.
- Attract attention with a strong headline. Many readers will skim headlines to determine if they want to read the rest of your copy.
- Make the text easy to read. Break text into short paragraphs, use bullets or numbered lists, add sub-headers, and most importantly, don't waste words. Limit the amount of text and make sure each word you use conveys meaning.
- Include special offers, such as "Mention this ad and receive a 20% discount" or "Buy one, get one half-price before August 15."
- Include a call to action, which clearly states what you'd like the prospect to do next: go to your web site, call your business, complete the order form, etc.
For ad inspiration, flip thru a magazine or click around online. You'll likely notice that the effective ads are often deceptively simple. If you'd like help writing or designing your next ad, stop by today. Our team of creative experts can help you create an ad that sells itself!
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Tech Tips |
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Tips for Burning CDs
Have you ever had bad luck burning a CD or DVD and created an incompatible, unusable, or defective disc (aka "coaster")? Here are a few tips on how to make your next burn run smoothly:
- Defragment your hard drive before a burn. While defragging is a good idea for computer performance in general, it is very important before a burn. If your computer hasn't been defragged lately, the data for each track will be scattered around your hard drive and slow down the process as the computer attempts to locate all the data.
- Handle discs properly by stretching your hand across the topside, touching only the outer edges of the disc, or placing one finger in the center hole and your thumb on the outer edge. Fingerprints or dirt on the bottom of the disc can cause distortion of the writing or reading laser.
- Keep discs dust-free. Store them in cases, or keep the spindle of blank discs covered. Before you burn, take a look at the underside surface of the disc. If you see any dust, blow it off with a gentle shot of clean, filtered compressed dry air (not by blowing on it with your mouth).
- Use a felt-tip marker to write on discs. Never use a ball-point or roller ball pen, which could damage the recording layer, which is just beneath the printed top layer.
- Avoid overburning, which means placing more data on a CD than the disc is rated for. This will decrease the quality of your CD.
- Turn off screen savers and other programs before you burn. If a screen saver pops up during the CD burning process, it could interrupt the data flow, resulting in a buffer underrun error and a bad disc.
- Slow it down. Even if your CD burner is capable of writing CDs at 48X speed, you don't have to go that fast. Audio CDs sound better, last longer, and skip less if you burn them slower, preferably at 8X. You can adjust the writing speed as part of the recording process.
- When copying CDs, first copy it to your hard drive. It will take some extra time, but is a more reliable way to copy CDs.
- Remember to finalize audio CDs. If you want to add additional tracks to a CD later on, don't finalize it. However, the disc will probably not play in your CD player until it's finalized.
- Not all CDs are created equal. CDs range in quality, with the inexpensive versions generally of lower quality than higher priced CDs. As with most purchases, you get what you pay for.
When purchasing discs, remember there are different types to choose from. CD-R (compact disk recordable) disks can be written on once. They can't be changed after they are written, although you can write on them many times until they are full. CD-RW (compact disk rewritable) disks can be written and rewritten numerous times. You can use them to backup files on your computer or as removable storage for sets of files that you want to update regularly.
Burning CDs is an easy and fast way to copy important files, images, music, and other data. If you have questions on how to burn CDs or are looking for other tips on how to save important data files, give us a call. Our team of experts is available to answer all of your burning questions!
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