Fun with Photos

We all have funny photos we want to share with others. This can be done by printing the photos out and viewing them in a photo album as has been done since the invention of photography. However, with modern technology we can do more.

There are many ways for you to have fun with your photos without needing to become a photography expert or a computer wizard.

It's surprising the amount of people who just take photos and don't use them creatively.

Below are some of the basic uses for your photos.

Fun with Photos

Have fun with photos you have taken by viewing them as a slide show on you computer. You can sit back and use your PC monitor as a giant photo frame to show off your latest set of holiday snaps!

It is possible that you have seen slide show displays like this at your local bank or travel agent as they try to interest you in their latest product. It is very visually appealing.

Click on the video below to see how easy this is.

Setting your PC Wallpaper

Your PC wallpaper is the picture that appears when you start your computer. It is sometimes called your "desktop background" or your "desktop wallpaper".

It is very nice to see a familiar face or place when you are working on your computer and it is very easy to set this up. You have probably seen this on a friends PC and wondered how he/she did it. Well, wonder no more.

Click the video below to see how to set your desktop wallpaper

Photo sharing to send pictures through email

Photo sharing to send pictures with email is an excellent way to get the most out of your recently taken pictures.

A digital photo is typically 1-3mb in size so you do not want to email too many of these at one time. If you don't know what that means there is no need to worry. When you email a photo the size of the photo dictates how fast it is sent and also how quickly it is received by the person you have emailed. 

CD Burning

CD burning allows you to create your own photo CDs for sending to loved ones. You can share a small number of photos by email but if you want to share large amounts of photos at full quality you will need to burn the photos to a blank CD. This can then be mailed through the normal postal system.

This is a simple process and windows XP and Vista have all the necessary software already on your PC.

Of course, this process of burning or writing to a CD works for all types of files: documents, photos, videos, presentations and anything that can be stored on a computer in digital form. The same process applies for creating a data DVD.

Click the video below to see the tutorial.

Facemorpher

Download Facemorpher

Download FaceMorpher and get using this program which allows you to blend two or more photos together and have them morph from one to the next. This is a fun exercise. If you use family photos it will reveal resemblances between parents or siblings which you may not have noticed!

Below is a simple example of what the morphing program can do. If this catches your eye then you will want to view the tutorials below

This tutorial will show you how to download facemorpher lite, a freeware version of the program which is yours to use indefinitely.

Facemorpher Free Download

This facemorpher free download tutorial will bring you through the process of finding the program on the internet and downloading it. The installation process is very straightforward.

Click the video below to to see the tutorial on how to get a facemorpher download, to get your own copy.

This link will bring you directly to the download page if you think you wont need the tutorial

Click here to download Facemorpher lite

FaceMorpher Download Done? Now watch the Tutorial

You have your Facemorpher download and installation complete so we move on to the FaceMorpher tutorial. Before you go using the program you should have a look through your "my pictures" folder and select the photos you plan to "morph" into each other. When you have done this you will be ready to go.

Click on the video below to view a tutorial on facemorpher 

Photo Story 3

Download Photo Story 3 and get making movies with your photos

Download Photo Story 3 and follow these  tutorials to learn about this program which allows you to create a movie from a series of related photos. This is particularly effective for topics like a holiday you have been on or an event you have attended.

It is also useful for children who want to make a movie where they act out the scenes, photograph them and then weave the pictures together using this powerful, and free, program.

Microsoft Photo Story

Free Download

This page will show you how to get your own copy of Microsoft Photo Story for use on your PC. It is a free program and is a wonderful way to arrange your photos for viewing.

Click the video below to learn how to get your own copy of Photo Story

Microsoft Photo Story 3 basics

Microsoft Photo Story 3 basics covers the importing of photos into the program and putting them into the correct order. This will form the foundation of your video/movie.

Click on the video below to get started using Photo Story 3

Add text to a project 

This  tutorial will bring you through text for projects in Photo Story 3 for Windows, the next stage of the process of building your movie. Text on your photos will bring them to life for the viewer who may not be familiar with the location or event associated with the picture.

Click on the video below to see the tutorial - text for Photo Story 3 

Add motion to your project

This tutorial for Windows  Photo Story 3 will bring you through the next stage of building your project - adding motion. This will allow you to customise the way the "camera" views your photos, zooming in or out, or simply panning across the photos.

Click on the video below to see a tutorial on adding motion for Photo Story 3 

add transitions

This free Photo Story tutorial on transitions will bring you through the next stage of your project building. Transitions are the process the program uses to change from one photo to another. Fading in and out is the usual method but there are many more.

Click on the video below to see the tutorial on adding transitions to your Photo Story free project

adding music

This Photo Story tutorial on adding music will help you finish your project and produce an impressive video made up of your own photos. The audio you add to your project can be your own voice, recorded music or any one of the many audio tracks that Photo Story offer. The style, tempo and speed of these tracks can be customised to your own taste.

Click on the video below below to see the tutorial on adding music and audio to a photo story 3 project

MS Word Poster, Calendars, Invitations and Cards

Microsoft Word Tutorials

Create a poster in MS Word

The next step of our Microsoft Word tutorials is learning how to create a poster in MS Word now that you have mastered the insertion of photos and images into an MS Word document.

The video below will give you an idea of the vast array of possibilities which MS Word offers when producing documents with images. You can make a yearbook page with all your classmates, personalised certificates and pretty much anything that involves images in a document.

Click the video to start learning. It's in two parts. When the first video ends, click the one below to continue the tutorial.

Microsoft Word help with photo  resizing to fit a frame

You need to be accurate when printing a photo to fit a photo frame. Can Microsoft Word help? Of course, it can. If you are using expensive photo paper you cannot afford to have a number of failed printouts before you get it right.

The video below will bring you through the process so that your first printout is perfect and ready for the picture frame

Creating a photo calendar

A personalised photo calendar is a visually stunning item. When you create your own calendar with holiday photos, pictures of your children or any other digital images which would personalise the calendar for you.

Click on the video below to see a tutorial on how to create your own picture calendar.

Advanced photo calendars

To create advanced photo calendars we have to be a little more careful about the shape of the digital photos so that they fit better in the space available. The difference between the amateur version and what you can produce with a little more care will be worth the extra effort.

Click the video below to see a tutorial on how to create excellent calendars with your own digital images

Photo Invitations

Basic photo invitations are easy to produce and are visually very pleasing. Your own imagination is the only limit to what you can produce.

Click the video below to see a tutorial

Photo Wedding Invitations

Make your own photo wedding invitations rather than ordering from a small selection of template options. Be in full control of the process from start to finish.

Click the video to start learning

The finished product!

The greeting inside

Experiment with different colour paper

The cover will print out like this and you must feed it back into the printer as below to get the reverse side printed.

Feed the cover page in as shown below for printing on the reverse side.

Photo Christmas Cards

Being able to create your own personalised photo Christmas cards is a very enjoyable skill. Those expensive cards that are sent at Christmastime are usually thrown out when the season is over. However, your home made cards will be kept as they are unique.

The photos below show the finished product and what the A4 page print out should look like. Click on the video to see a the tutorial on how to make your own photo Christmas cards. You'll never buy another box of cards again and you'll get asked countless times "How did you do that?"

Lets get started!

This is what the printout should look like before you fold it.

When folded and on display

The greeting inside

MS Word 2003 Tutorials

Microsoft Word 2003 Tutorials

Learning to work with images in word is very useful these Microsoft Word free tutorials are based on a program in almost universal use. It is an excellent desktop publishing package and can produce excellent results when working with digital images.

Microsoft Word templates with the correct toolbars

Make your own Microsoft Word templates with the correct toolbars. You need to set up your toolbars in word before you insert images into documents. This will mean you have all the tools ready to hand for working with images in word.

Click on the tutorial video to learn how to set up your toolbars

Insert an image in Word, just like using Microsoft Word clipart

Most people can use Microsoft Word clipart. Now learn how to insert your own photos and images in word by clicking the video below.

Microsoft Word tutorial - Wordwrap images

This Microsoft Word tutorial will show you how to get you images to stay where you put them! Click below to learn how to wordwrap your images in MS Word.

  

Microsoft Word Borders

Click below to learn how to work Microsoft Word  borders and greyscale 

Finding images on the Net

Search Engine Images Sourcing

You can use the search engine images sourcing to find millions of images on the internet. From time to time you will want to find photos of specific items or people.

You may want a photo of your favourite film star to have as your desktop background. Or maybe you will be doing a project on cats and you want to find a variety of images for inclusion in your project. You don't need to buy a poster of your sporting or movie heroes, make one yourself instead!

There is an immense wealth of images on the internet just waiting for you. View the tutorials on the links below and open up a whole new world of images!

Use a Search Engine for Images

Using a search engine for images sourcing is a basic skill in putting projects together. Internet digital images searches are very common today. No matter what kind of project you are doing you will want to spruce it up with relevant images and photos.

Here I show you how to source digital pictures on the internet using a search engine. You will also want to filter through the images based on their size in kilobytes (kb) so that you get the best quality for printing or inserting into a presentation.

Click the video below for a demonstration of how to find internet digital images.

The Images Search Engine offer -search mistakes to avoid

Don't accept the first images search engine offer. There are some common image search mistakes to avoid when sourcing photos or digital images on the internet.

It is very common for people who are searching for images on the net to try and save the thumbnail version of the photo. There are many versions of the same photos available on the internet. Make sure you get the best quality picture when you are downloading.

Click on the video below to see a demonstration of the errors to avoid when searching for images on the net

Photo errors to avoid

Digital Photography Course -

common photo errors to avoid

Follow this digital photography course to spot basic photo errors. Here are examples of the common photo errors to avoid when taking a digital picture.

While the modern digital camera is designed to be simple to use and generally is just "point and shoot", the photographer is still responsible for the lighting and arrangement of the subject.

A common mistake in amateur photography is to put the subject of the picture in front of the light source. This causes the camera to focus on the bright light thus darkening the actual subject of the photo

The following two photos, taken one after the other, highlight how a strong light source behind the subject can ruin the light for the photo

By retaking the photo with a flash, you can see how the results differ

This beautiful sunset is a lovely photo on its own

But when you introduce a subject in front of it the light behind darkens the foreground

Many example, all to show the same rule: don't have a strong light source behind your subject.

Here is a newspaper photo showing the upcoming horseracing event in Galway. Two pretty models pose for the picture.

The angle of the photo suggests the "1st" is actually part of the models hat!

Here are the same models from a different angle. The effect is clear.

Try to avoid having background items appear to "grow" out of the heads or body of your subjects

Instead, arrange the subject so that such background is not directly behind your subject.