Tyra L. Smith  cloud9@netnet.net
I wanted to share with you an idea I came up with for a digital lightbox. I'm sure its not a new trick, but the concept leads people to look at a function in PhotoShop (PS) or PhotoShop Elements (PSE) a little differently.

I had some photos of flowers that I wanted to trace so I could transfer it to watercolor paper and paint it. Believe it or not, I don't have a lightbox and I wasn't looking forward to trying to tape it to a window and trace like that. So I figured out how to PSE as lightbox. It sure does make short work of tracing and sizing sketches!

I opened my photo in PSE (3.0). Then I added a layer by clicking on the "Create a New Layer" icon in the layers palette. Make sure this new layer is the active layer.

Next I got out my graphics tablet. I'm sure you could probably do simple tracings using a mouse, but the graphics tablet is SO much better for this. I chose my "Pencil" feature.....(mode=normal, opacity=100%), set the size to whatever works best for you. Now....simply start tracing the outlines over the photo. I used the black color, but you could alter the color to whatever works best. Trace until you are finished. If you mess up a line or two, no sweat - just "erase it" and start over. <grin> (if using a graphics tablet, just turn the pen over to the eraser end and erase) You can zoom in and out, which helps with smaller, tricky areas to trace, you can also alter the size of the pencil to accommodate your tracing needs.

Activiate your background layer (which is the actual photo).....then "delete" it. This leaves you with your sketch! You can save it as you like, then go back and use it whenver you want. I tend to save photos at 300 dpi, so my sketches are also at 300 dpi - which is great because it gives you a lot of versatility when you need to resize the sketch for later use. I save my finished sketch as the master copy.....then when I need it for a project, I open the master copy in PSE and "save as" and retitle it. The new copy is my working copy.

It works great for sketches for watercolor. I just print my sketch, then lay a piece of graphite paper on my watercolor paper (graphite side next to the watercolor paper), lay the sketch on top of the graphite paper (with the sketch facing you)...and trace away onto the watercolor paper (use a pen or pencil to trace over the lines on the printed sketch). You can also use it to create a transfer for any number of things. If you add text, be sure to "flip it horizontally" before printing. If you print it using a laser printer, you can "iron" the print onto fabric (or other surface) and it will transfer nicely.

I kept thinking I really should go out and buy a lightbox. All the ones I looked at and liked were quite expensive. But after I figured out how to make PSE work like a lightbox, I no longer have a need to buy a lightbox!

While I was I talking with Jessica Wesolek about this, she mentioned a few tips for the digital lightbox idea:

1. Control-J to copy your photograph to a new Layer and choose Screen from the mode menu on the Layers Palette.

2. Then make your tracing Layer on top of that. That will give you a much lighter version of the photo to trace over - you will be able to see your lines better.