Home | Product Reviews | Tips & Techniques | Tutorials | Newbie Center | Galleries | Links | New Art | My Art Studio
Interesting Ideas | Guestbook | Humorous Hues | Web Design Services | Items for Sale | Family | Email Me

Faux Photo Tinting
(Author: Tyra L. Smith)

I would like to dedicate this class to the memory of Linda Yamakido's father, Dudley, who recently passed away. The photo in all the samples is an actual photo of Dudley taken in 1946. Linda recently shared this photo with me and I was so taken with the photo that I was inspired to try to create something beautiful with it to give to Linda in memory of her father. Linda has graciously given me permission to use Dudley's photo for the class samples. So Dudley...this class is for you. I hope you will be pleased.

Materials:

--A photo to scan and print that you will "tint". You can also substitute a stamped image (on matte cardstock or watercolor paper stamped with a semi-permanent ink pad) if you prefer.
--Matte Cardstock of choice. Light colors work best, substitute watercolor paper if you like. I have used Gilbert Oxford Cover in white for the class sample, which I purchased from Marco's Paper.
--A piece of cardboard larger than the photo you will be working with.
--Masking Tape
--Scissors
--Lyra Aquacolor Water Soluable Crayons. Watercolor pencils may be substituted if you like, I used the crayons for the class sample.
--Fragile Crackle, or similair brand of crackle medium
--Metallic Rub on - Gold
--Spray sealant
--Paintbrushes
--Plastic palette. I use a piece of cardboard with a piece of transparency taped to it.
--Cold laminating sheets. (Optional)
--Cardstock of choice for the card.
--Layering papers/mulberry paper of choice for card.

Our goal is for this class, is to end up with a black and white (also called Grayscale) image to work with for the class project. Many of us have old pictures of relatives that are black and white. These work PERFECTLY for scanning and printing "as is". However, if you want...you can also choose a stamp and stamp the image you will use. Keep in mind though, we are "aging" the image to make it look and feel old...antique'ish if you like. I feel your older photos work best, because they ARE grainy in appearance...they are "worn"...and sometimes even krinkled or "stressed"...the paper of the photo itself is worn. This ads charm and "personality" to the finished project. It also means less manipulation of a scanned image.

I have also used a color photo (that I took myself recently), converted it to black and white/grayscale...then printed it off. This works too. However, you don't have the same "old" feel to it that an actual "old photography" gives you. If you have a digital camera...these work VERY well too. Use what you have. So look thru you collection of photos, or stamps...and choose one which works best for you. For this class, I'm teaching you how to scan, print and use an old photography...modify the "lessons" as necessary to fit your specific needs.

SCANNING AND PRINTING:

First off, let me say that I am by NO means a computer guru. However I do know how to do some things fairly well and this is one thing I've learned to do. I know each computer, scanner and graphics program is different. So, you will need to familiarize yourself with your computer, scanner and associated software.

Don't be intimidated, it's just a hunk of metal. If you mess up, you can try again. OK? The following is not the ONLY way to do this, it's how *I* do this.

SCANNING:

1. Scanning is very easy. Take your photo and put it on your scanner bed, close the lid. Fire up your scanner software and we will scan your picture as follows: (note here you NEED to work in the specific order I give you for this)

A. Scan the image at 300 DPI - DPI means "dots per inch", this is a term which refers to the resolution of your image. Higher resolution, higher detail.

B. Scan IN COLOR. Even if your photo is black and white, scan it in color.

C. If your scanner software has a "descrene" option, check it prior to scanning. The "descrene" option will help retain definition of your scanned image. It also slows down the scanning process a bit, but not by much. If you don't have the descrene option, just skip it.

SCAN YOUR IMAGE NOW

2. Manipulating your scanned image. This is the time you will manipulate what you have scanned to get the best print out possible.

A. Reduce your resolution to 125 DPI. In order to retain the best possible definition of your scanned image you scan at 300 DPI then save it at a lower DPI to decrease the file size of your scanned image. You should not loose any definition of the scanned image. Remember....scan at a HIGH DPI..save at a LOW DPI.

B. Cut/Crop your scanned image.

C. Resize your scan.

-Normally when you "resize" there is an option there to check that will say something like "Keep Aspect or Keep Ratio"..this simply means that if you adjust the width of the scanned image, it will automatically make sure the height of the image stays in ratio with the change so your image doesn't end up looking warped, stretched or out of perspective. Make sure this option is check.

-The scan of the picture is large right now because when you reduced the DPI to 125, it enlarged the image. For the card sample, my finished scanned image was 2.5 inches wide. Find your resize options, make sure it measures in inches (not pixels) and set it to 2.5 inches wide. The height will automatically adjust if you check the "keep aspect/keep ratio". Be sure you did.

3. Now..do a test print on plain paper.

A. Set your printer to print black and white/grayscale. You can go ahead and just have it print in color since it is scanned in color, but it wastes your color cartridge.

B. Make sure the printed image is the size you want. If it isn't, go back and resize it smaller by a little bit at a time. If you accidentally make it TOO small, use you "undo" option and start over.

C. The last thing you want to check on the test print is how dark it printed. The most likely thing to happen is that it will be too dark. If it's too dark, adjust the "lighting" option on your scan to make it lighter. Lighten it a little bit, test print...do it again if needed.

Once you get your test print the way you like it, you now need to print it on your cardstock. You might want to print it a few times while you are there, just in case you need it later. At this point, you should now have a scanned/printed photo to work with. Save (save as option) the file in jpg/jpeg format because jpg files are the smallest format and take up the least amount of room on your computer.

My printer's black cartridge is waterproof...though many on the market are not. If yours isn't waterproof, spray it with a workable fixative sealant before going on to the next step. If you aren't sure about how waterproof it is, spray it.

TINTING THE PHOTO:

Because we are working with watercolors, it is always best to block your cardstock prior to working with it. Cut the printed scan on your cardstock down a bit (save the scraps for test strips)...leave about 1/2 inch of "free space" around the entire picture when you cut it. Now, take a piece of cardboard that is larger than the printed scan and tape the cardstock down to the cardboard using masking tape.

1.

Now we will proceed to "tint" the image. The first thing we want to do is tint the background. I love using a "sepia" color because sepia lends itself beautifully to making something look old. (I used Dr. Ph. Martin's Liquid Watercolor/Sepia for the background and I used Lyra Acquacolor Water Soluable Crayons for everything else.)

Take the little stopper cap off the sepia liquid watercolor and gently "tap" it in a well of a plastic palette, then add a little bit of water. Don't squeeze the stopper it because then you will have TOO much color and the background will be too dark. The more water you add, the lighter the color will be.

****Remember...we just want to TINT this photo..light colors, muted contrast. ***

You can test the color by brushing a tiny bit of it on a scrap of the cardstock you trimmed off before you blocked your piece. If you don't have the liquid watercolors, you can also use a light brown watercolor crayon or watercolor pencil. I make a palette to use with my watercolor crayons by taping a piece of plastic or transparency to a piece of cardboard, then I scribble with my watercolor crayon ON the plastic, dip my brush in the water, then swish it where I scribbled on the palette to pick up the color. THEN I paint on my piece. For background work, a good tip is to work "wet into wet"...this means you would lightly spray the cardstock with water (a fine mist spray bottle is GREAT for this) then apply your background color. This makes the color/pigment go on smoothly without any lines when you have to reload your brush with paint. You do NOT need a lot of water when spraying with the fine mist bottle, just a little. If in doubt...try it out on one of those pieces of scrap cardstock.

When I tinted the background, I did not brush the color over the entire picture. I left the main image, the picture of Dudley himself, unpainted. (hair, head, and shirt) ONLY add the sepia to the background, not the main image.

OK..now we have the background painted.

2.

Now it's time to "tint" the main image. I simply wanted to add a light touch of color to the main image, I did NOT want to "Turner'ize" it...by "Turner-ize" I mean this. You know those beautiful old black and white movies? Remember when Ted Turner got his hands on a lot of them and "colorized" them? They lost that "old world charm" when he did that because he added TOO much color. Do not "Turner-ize" your picture. Just lightly tint it. All I did was use a light blue watercolor crayon and scribbled on my palette, then used a wet paintbrush, picked up the color off the palette then lightly brushed it over the shirt. I did the same thing with for the hair with a black watercolor crayon. At this point, you should now have tinted the background, hair and shirt. STOP..you are done tinting. Let it dry. You can speed up the drying process a tiny bit by hitting it with your heat gun, just be sure to hold the heat gun WAY up above the surface so you don't burn the cardstock.

3.

When the cardstock gets wet, it will buckle up a bit. But as it dries, it will lay back down flat again. THIS is why you blocked it. It will dry flat, not curled or warped. Once it is dry, spray it with a sealant.

FINISHING:

You now have a pretty little picture which has been lightly tinted with watercolors and sprayed with a sealant. You can stop now if you want, and make a card or whatever with it. However, I needed to add a few more touches before *I* felt my piece was finished. Because we are working so hard to make it look and feel "old", I wanted to "crack" it a bit...make the paper appear as though it's been stressed with age, wear and tear. Linda told me her father had carried this photo in his wallet for many years. I wanted it to LOOK like it had been carried in a wallet...touched and seen by many over the years. So I decided to use Fragile Crackle on it, to give that "cracked/stressed surface" look. Here's how I did it. First make sure your piece is dry. It should be laying somewhat flat by now if it's dry. Also make sure you have sprayed it with a sealant and that the sealant is dry. YES...your piece should still be blocked.

I used Anita's Fragile crackle medium...follow the directions on the package of whatever brand you use, apply the crackle medium right on top of your painted image. Let dry. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE PACKAGE OF FRAGILE CRACKLE. In order to bring out the cracks, I used a gold metallic rub on, just smeared it over the top with my finger, working it into the cracks. (you could also use Pearl Ex/Powdered Pearls/Faeirie Dust for this)

Now you need to remove the blocking, or "unblock" the piece. Remove the tape one piece at at time. When you are pulling the tape off, sort of pull the tape so that it pulls outwards. DO NOT pull it straight up and down because you might pull off some of the paper into the finished image and make a huge mess. By pulling it so that the tape is pulled outwards from the piece, if you pull up a piece of the paper with the tape, it won't "tear into" the finished piece. Take each piece of tape of slowly and gently, pulling outwards.

4.

Once I was finished, I sealed it all up by laminating both sides (front and back) with a cold laminating sheets. Then I trimmed the sides so they are flush with the photo itself and used a corner rounder punch on the corners. This particular piece was used to create a card.

OPTIONAL PROJECT IDEAS:

You can use this same process to make other items, not just cards. The same piece we made a card with looks extremely nice as a bookmark or magnet.

Card:    Magnet: 

If you do not laminate them, they can also be used as lovely collage pieces which can add a very personal touch to any project you would create. You can also use other types of things to "tint" the printed photo. I preferred to used watercolors because of their translucent nature. I did not want a strong application of color, only a light tint. However, you can achieve similiar results using pastel pencils, colored pencils, or whatever you have on hand. The Fragile Crackle medium also is not NECESSARY. You can take that piece and "wad it up"...like you were throwing it away...really stress that paper...then "unwad" it...and smooth it out a bit. If you wanted to bring out the creases in the paper, you could apply some metallic rub ons with your finger VERY lightly. Or, try wadding it up BEFORE you block and paint it. That would give you a unique look as well.

I think there are also stamps available on the market that can add that "cracked/stressed" look and feel. I can think of two right off the top of my head that would work. Stampin' Up makes a cracked background stamp (Thanks EB!!), and Stampscapes has a "water pattern" (Thanks Feathers!!) stamp that works well as woodgrain or crackled look. To use these stamps, finish painting your picture...then ink up the stamp with a very LIGHT brown dye ink and and stamp right ON TOP of the piece. If you don't have a very light brown ink pad, use a standard brown ink pad, ink up your stamp...stamp it once on scrap paper and then on your piece without re-inking the stamp. A gray ink pad might work well too. Remember, if you don't have that color of an ink pad....look thru your markers. You can also ink up a stamp with a brush marker.

I know some of you are probably thinking..."have you tried Radiant Pearls?" Yes I did try it. I didn't like it as well because this product made it "look" to "new" to me. Plus, Radiant Pearls don't work very well under the Fragile Crackle medium.

---