Perk Up Marketing Pieces With Photo Enhancements
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by Kammy Thurman - AnchorCreative.com
copywriter/designer/creative consultant
The ease of desktop publishing and image editing tools has encouraged more and more businesses to include photos in their marketing materials. These tools can make a world of difference for less-than-perfect photography — and turn a corporate mug shot into a creative portrait.
Today, I’ll discuss how to use enhancement tools in MS Word, MS Publisher, PageMaker, WordPerfect, Quark Xpress, and image-editing programs, such as Photoshop, Photo Paint, and ImageReady to improve photos.
I can’t give exact steps for producing these techniques because every program works a little differently, but I can give you some general guidelines and an idea of the results they offer. Check your program’s Help Menu or its Web site for information on specific techniques.
Cropping: Most word processing and page layout programs let you cut unimportant elements from photos. You can also use cropping to re-shape the photo to fit your layout. For instance, changing from a rectangle to a square.
Shapes: You don’t have to settle for plain-Jane square or rectangular photos anymore. You can set them in geometric shapes, such as triangles, octagons, and circles for an interesting, contemporary look. Some programs also offer custom shapes.
Combine photos with clipart: This technique adds interest and helps match a photo to the tone of an article. Humorous clipart gives the photo a light-hearted tone. Clipart with a serious tone adds weight to the photo and the article it represents.
Insets: An inset is a small photo set into a larger one. It can be created with either word processing or layout programs. It’s just a matter of resizing.
Montages or photo essays: Instead of using one photo with an article, why not use a group of them to tell the whole story? Just keep in mind that they require more than pasting a bunch of photos on a page. Readers should immediately recognize the story behind the photos.
Outlining: Some layout programs and most photo-editing programs offer tools that let you outline the subject of a photo, remove it from the background and place it into your marketing piece. This technique really makes the photo pop off the page.
Screened back: Screening lightens the tint of a photo so you can set it behind text without creating a distraction. MS Publisher and photo-editing software offer tools for this enhancement, but PageMaker and word processors do not.
Duotones: Since this technique alters colors in a photo, you’ll need photo-editing software for it. This tool removes the color from a photo and allows you to substitute colors of your choice. It lets you change photos from four-color to two-color, making them much cheaper to print, but still bringing a lot of color to the page.
Vignettes: These make the soft edges around photos that give them that dreamy look. In photo-editing software it’s referred to as feathering. It’s an excellent tool for removing distracting backgrounds and drawing readers’ eyes to the center of the photo.
Special effects/art techniques: Programs like Photoshop and Photo paint allow you to add an array of special effects such as watercolor, chalk, pencil drawing, blurs, and hundreds of different textures. They literally make a photo look like art.
The sophisticated programs available today can truly transform mediocre photography into fascinating images. But be careful not to get carried away with too many enhancements. A few will go a long way toward helping you turn out an interesting, unique publication.
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