Really Long Obnoxious Tutorial. Be Warned.

I am amazed... I had such a positive response yesterday to my edit which I truly didn't expect. It really made my day... possibly even my week. It might actually make up for the lack of sleep I'm experiencing the last several days, and that's a big thing because for me? Sleep is a drug I just can't get enough of ... and seem to have developed a strange aversion to it, so I'm very cranky at myself right now. And you people made me forget about it for a while. So... yay YOU! (Feel free to give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back.)

What I'm about to do here on my blog I've never done before. So I think it needs a few warnings so that if you feel you need to avert your eyes, you may do so before any lasting damage to your psyche occurs. ***Warning!*** Very long post coming right up. It could take whole minutes to look at everything I have here, so be warned and move on if you get bored. I won't take it personally. (I do the same myself when I'm busy.) ***Warning!*** Photo editing tutorial. No, I'm not a know-it-all... I just act like one. Some comments seemed genuinely curious as to how I managed to pull this off. And I want to share it with you because I feel like it. Here's the secret: Luck. If it hadn't worked out something else would have taken it's place. Trust me on this. But I'll take you through the steps anyways. And that about covers it for the warnings.

So... to take it from a shot of some kids playing at preschool

to a magazine ad.

Step 1: Open your photo in Photoshop Elements 6 on your Macbook. (I'm just telling you exactly how I did it. Feel free to improvise with your own tools and technology.)

Resize it to 4x6 at 300 - 450 resolution. (This is how I always start my regular work flow. Nothing like being regular...)

Open up a second photo for the background and resize it to match the first. Put it aside for a bit.

Step 2: Start with my favorite and most-often used tool: The Quick Selection tool. I swear it's like one of those weird rachety things they hawk on infomercials: it really does do everything. (Now you know my secret shame.) Grab the kids with it, and any part of the foreground you want to keep in. Take your time, and zoom in if necessary to get smooth edges.

Step 3: Invert your selection and use the eraser tool to remove everything you don't want. Feel free to hit command-Z over and over to redo it until you get it right. Trust me, I do this.

Step 4: Go to the scenery photo and drag a layer to the original photo, and drop it carefully into place. It won't break, but it can still mess up a bit. Use your judgement.

Step 5: With the foreground (kids, in my case) still selected with the Quick Selection Tool while working on the scenery layer (very important you're on the right layer, or it's command-Z all over again), inverse the photo again and erase the kids from the scenery. And voila. You have it.

Step 6: Merge down. This is something I rarely do because I'm a tweaker; I like to see my layers and continue to adjust for the years to come. But in this case, I need these two photos to become one (awwww!!!) to make them easier to work with. Plus, it's a bit romantic that they are together never to be parted. Which is why I had to start over a new example of this photo to take screenshots for this illustration. Which, if you look closely (please don't), you'll see it doesn't look quite right. Because I can never do the same thing exactly the same way twice. It's a gift that I don't question.

And now my pretties, if you want to know more about how I achieved the effects, here are some more steps. Also, if you want to do it exactly like me, go get yourself a brownie... or two... for breakfast. And stay in your pajamas. Comfort is everything.

Ready to continue? Good. Let's move on.

Step 7: Make another layer and do the High Pass Filter. I swear to all that's holy, I never heard about it before Ashley's tutorial. It is the niftiest trick I've seen yet with Elements, aside from the Quick Selection Tool. I very well might have to name my next child cat after her, it's that cool. Put it in Soft Light mode.

Step 8: I wasn't prepared mentally for how warm the photo looked, so I made an Cool Filter Adjustment Layer in Soft Light and put that in. Then I erased the sky from it with my handy-dandy Eraser tool.

Step 9: A Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer in normal. Tweak it to suit you.

Step 10: A Levels Adjustment Layer in normal. I pulled in both ends of the histogram a titch, and moved the middle a bit until I liked what I saw.

Step 11: Use the Quick Selection Tool to grab the kids and the ground again -- carefully -- and Invert it. Open up a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and lighten the background a bit.

Step 12: Put in your name or watermark and call it your own. You're done. Go have another brownie.

But, wait...

I just can't leave well enough alone. I'm tweaking this morning. I added stuff and drama. Now it looks more like a Gap Kids ad than a margarine ad. Check it out.

Step 13: Add a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer. Set the opacity to about 26% (and salt to taste).

Step 14: Add a New Fill Layer in Gradient. This gives a nifty moody vignettey look. I like it subtle, so this is what I do.

Set the Gradient Fill to about 44% on Multiply.

Make sure your picture looks like this: gradient black/white; Radial style; 150% size; Reverse; 90 degree Angle. You're welcome.

Now, for the trick of the day: use the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Grab the center of your photo, a little smaller than you want the vignette to be.

Go to Select > Refine Margins. This is crucial for a smooth well-graduated edge.

Make your doohickey refine edge box look like mine: Smooth > 21; Feather > 186 px; Contract/Expand > +14%. Hit OK.

You'll go back to this page. Grab your Eraser tool and make it Really Big.

Erase in a broad circular motion over the entire photo. Make it smooth and only do it once. Use command-Z as needed to fix it and do it over until you're satisfied. Eat another brownie.

You're done.

Kids frolicking in the snow. What could be better? Other than wasting your morning reading this of course.