Buy Paint that Matches Our Color Posts!

26 Mar written by
Pin It

One of the most common questions we receive is how do I buy paint in the colors shown in your palette? Until now we haven’t been able to help with this but Sherwin-Williams has come to the rescue with their new Chip It tool! I do ask that you read their terms of use before you begin using it.

You have the option to take the url of the blog post and paste it into the image url field OR you can drag their handy tool into your toolbar and use it right from the blog. Either method works and I am going to use the toolbar.

Once you have the tool installed in your browser it is so simple! Click on the Chip It! tool and then simply mouseover the image you want to use. In this example I am going to use the color palette from March 23.

Once you have selected the image a box will pop up with the sample palette and list the coordinating paint options.

Wallah! You can now buy these colors in paint at Sherwin-Williams!

Have a great Monday!

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Color Crush Palette, Tutorials

Alphabet Album Video Tutorial

29 Feb written by
Pin It

We are so excited by the response we have received to our brand new Mom*tog by PCB line, THANK YOU!

We have received a number of questions about how the products work and I thought a video tutorial is only fitting. In the video I cover how to add an image, change the text and edit the colors of a design. You will need Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to work with the products. Each product description details which lab the item was created for and the size of the items.

We welcome your comments, questions and suggestions and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Photographer Resources, Tutorials

Ready – Set – Organize! Free Desktop Organizer

8 Feb written by
Pin It
Do things seem a little slow around here? I promise we are busy behind the scenes working on an amazing product line! We are honored to be working with the super cool and equally fantastic Drew Bittel on a fun project for her Mom*Tog anniversary! Today we have a fun little freebie to start the birthday excitement with the big revel on Monday!

Angie’s Desktop Before

(Yes, Katie always gives me a hard time because of my black desktop… it’s one of those weird Angie-isms)

Angie’s After – Adorable and Organized!

You can download your free desktop wallpaper organizer here.

Mac Installation Directions

  • Click the apple in your upper left hand corner
  • Select “System Preferences”
  • Click desktop and screensaver
  • Select the location you saved the file in the left hand menu and click on the file name.
  • Select “fit to screen” and set the background color to white.

Here are instructions for PC. I believe you’ll also want to change it to “fit to screen” and change background to white. Make sure you come back again tomorrow for our next freebie and don’t miss out on the new, fabulous, product on Monday!

11 Comments
Filed Under: Freebies, Photographer Resources, Tutorials

Customize CD Labels in 7 Easy Steps!

20 Apr written by
Pin It

Yesterday I received an email from a a customer, she asked:

“I just purchased the Grace CD label set and I want to add my logo to the bottom. Is that possible? I don’t just want text, I want to use my logo.”

I am betting many of you have the same question so I wrote up a nifty little tutorial with lots of screen shots for you.

 

How to Add Your Logo

Begin by opening the label file in Photoshop

1. Click the eyeball on the text layers for the logo. This will hide the default logo “words” in the file.

2. Click “File” in the top menu.

3. Click “Place” and select the logo file from your computer. Make sure the logo is on transparent background.

4. You will need to resize the logo so grab the corners of the image, make sure you hold the shift key so the logo doesn’t become distorted. Once you are satisfied with the size hit enter.

5. Now move the logo to the “colored bar”. The move tool keyboard shortcut is “V”. Once you have it there you can center it by selecting all ( cmd + A mac OR ctrl + A pc). Go to the top tool bar and select “Align horizontal center”.

Now customize the colors too!

This branding set is designed for full customization. This means you have all the control and can change all of the elements including text and colors.

6. Color changes are a piece of cake! Grab your paint bucket tool, keyboard shortcut “G”.

7. Click on the color black for the layer you want to change, make sure the lock icon is deactivated. Simply flood fill the layer with the color that matches your branding!

Click here to shop all of our CD/DVD  marketing sets!

If you have any comments or questions just leave them in the comments below.

2 Comments
Filed Under: Tutorials

Free Tiling Backgrounds – How to Use Them – Teach Me Tuesday

22 Mar written by
Pin It

Yesterday I changed the Facebook freebie, if you don’t follow us there you should come check us out! The new freebie is a set of 20 tiling backgrounds, you can grab them here. The designs all coordinate nicely for spring and include polka dots, chevron stripes, vertical stripes and swiss dots. There is a wonderful variety of color and they work well with each other or alone. I had a few questions on how they can be used so I thought I would cover a few of them here. First let me say these are not for print. They are web ready, meaning they are 72 dpi optimized for web use. Don’t you worry though, these make great backgrounds for your website or blog … not to mention using them for your online marketing this spring! Imagine how cute your banner ads can be!

Getting Started

These designs are web ready, this simply means you can upload them as is to your website and they will work. If you want to use them in banner or marketing creation you will need to follow these easy steps. All of the images are click able to a larger, detailed image.

  1. Open the background image you want to use.
  2. Open or create a file you want to use the background on.
  3. Click Edit in the top menu bar.
  4. Scroll down and select Define Pattern.
  5. Name your pattern.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Go to the image you are using the pattern on. Make sure the area you want the pattern to appear on is filled with color.
  8. Right click on the appropriate layer and select Blending Options.
  9. Click the pattern you want to use in your design.
  10. Click OK.

Cute little banner I made with one of the backgrounds…

A few design tips. The most common banner ad sizes are 125 x 125 and 150 x 150. These are the squares you commonly see on your favorite blogs. A favorite of mine is 468 x 100, these are just big enough for a little extra info. Your Facebook logo width is 200 pixels wide, you can make these just about any height you want to. The cute little avatars seen on most forums are generally 64 x 64. These are just rough guidelines fand should in noway be considered the go to for all websites. After all each site is as unique as it’s owner.

I hope you enjoy the freebies and feel free to leave links to your designs in the comments below. I can’t wait to see what you do with them!

Happy Day,

9 Comments
Filed Under: Photographer Resources, Tutorials

Teach Me Tuesday – How to Use the Die Cut Card Frames

1 Mar written by
Pin It

EDITED 10-20-2011 These are now a freebie on our Facebook page.

Well hey there blog readers, it’s been a little slow lately hasn’t it? Things are moving and shaking here at PCB it is just in the background where you can’t see it yet! But don’t you fret, it will all be out in the open real soon. There are a lot of exciting changes coming to the website, we should start rolling some of them out later this week so be on the lookout for all the greatness that will soon follow.

So what’s the big deal about these die cut cards anyway?

Die cut cards are like chocolate… well sort of. Once you have seen them you can’t get enough!

They happen to be the hottest, trendiest new item in the photography world and WHCC has the largest selection of shapes to date… like more then 50! I had a several of requests for sample frames similar to the Millers Luxe samples I did last year. It wasn’t an easy task to complete but it is done. You can download the freebies here, WHCC Boutique Card frames.

Now to answer your question… what are these and how in the world do I use them? They have been designed so you can show your customers how the die cut cards look with very little work on your behalf.

Once you have downloaded the Boutique Card frames you want to use there are just a few steps to make them into a sample for your customers. To simplify I have even made a flatten and re-size action for you. You can download the action by clicking here.

Using the frames – step by step

  1. Design the card for your customer and open the Boutique Card frames you want to try.
  2. Use the flatten and re-size action for the appropriate size. If you aren’t using the action the sizes are as follows:
    5 x 5 – 788 x 788
    5 x 7  – 788 x 1088 (note if the design is horizontal or vertical)
  3. Move the flattened card to the Boutique Card frame. Keyboard shortcut is v, simply drag it over to the frame. Make sure you are on or above Layer 0.
  4. If you loose the clipping mask press option ⌘ alt  G (Mac) / ctrl  alt  G (PC)
  5. Simply save the image as a jpg and send them off to your client.

These frames are going to save you loads of time and increase sales. You can now show your clients the true look without spending a lot of time trying to explain it to them!

If you have any questions about how to use them please leave me a comment below.

Happy Tuesday!

2 Comments
Filed Under: New Products, Photographer Resources, Tutorials

Teach Me Tuesday – Start to Finish Card Edit

16 Feb written by
Pin It

Well I have been pretty MIA and I do apologize for that. I have been struggling with some depression and it just makes working on the business one more thing I really can’t do on some days. At any rate I did release one new set of cards and papers today and I also did a Teach Me Tuesday today (sorry it’s a day late). The tutorial covers a full edit on a card template from start to finish to give it a new look. The tutorial is done using our brand new Bloom card set and one of the papers from the matching paper pack.

I hope you guys find it helpful and as always if you have any questions please let me know viz the comments below or sending me an email.

Come get the new goodies and save 10%

The new card set and paper pack are discounted 10% until February 21, 2011 when you buy them together! No code to enter, just add them both to your cart!

Thanks for sticking it out with me!
Angie

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: New Products, Photographer Resources, Tutorials

Teach Me Tuesday – 2011 Template Changes & More

11 Jan written by
Pin It

Yeah it is the first Teach Me Tuesday of 2011, Happy New Year! Today I have posted my first video with new software, I apologize if there is anything wonky (I have to figure it out).

Today’s video is all about my plan for the new year and how this will help you. Plus I show you how to edit the newest templates by color filling the clipping masks, adding papers to them and recoloring the smart objects. Please make sure you read the blog as there is another post today about the contest over at Clickin Moms and the new freebies on Facebook!

Have a great day!

1 Comment
Filed Under: Photographer Resources, Tutorials

How to Start a WordPress Photography Blog or Move From Blogger

30 Nov written by
Pin It

It’s Teach Me Tuesday on PCB and I am sick, my voice is shot so I won’t be doing a video tut today. I thought I would step into another subject that I actually have a lot of experience in and could help many of you. For those of you who don’t know me I was a web designer and web host before Photo Card Boutique. I started 3 different web sites and sold them once they became successful, thriving businesses. Two of the sites were web hosting/e-commerce business for the work at home mom community and the third was a graphic design business.

This subject is one I really think more photographers need to consider. It always pains me to see a business using a blogger account to represent them. I realize people start with blogger well, because it is free. What is that saying to your customer? Do you value your business enough to spend a few dollars each month and make sure it is represented to it’s best ability? That’s right just a few dollars each month!

How do I start?

You are going to need a few things to start a photography website/blog. I promise I will make this as painless as possible. Even me, with my pea size brain, can do this! There are four things you will need, each is listed below and a detailed explanation follows below.

  1. Domain Name
  2. Web Hosting
  3. WordPress
  4. WordPress Theme

Where to start – The Domain Name

Score Some Savings! $7.49.com from GoDaddy.comOne of the main disadvantages to a Blogger website is the fact you don’t have your own domain name. Your website/blog at blogger will look something like this: myblog.blogspot.com Did you know for $12 or less each year you can own a url that represents you!

The first thing you must do is purchase a domain name. I am going to go all the way to the brass tacks here as there may be a few people who don’t know what a domain name is. The domain name is your web address. Mine for example is www.PhotoCardBoutique.com. Your domain name should represent your business and help people find you. If your business is Joe’s Photography your domain should probably be www.joesphotography.com.

Where do you get a domain name? One of the most widely used sites is www.GoDaddy.com. Domains are advertised on their site for $11.99 but if you do a little google search for coupon codes you can normally get them for the $7-$9 range.

On to the hosting

Web hosting is the next thing you will need. Web hosting is a place which holds the contents of your website and presents it to the world. This also can be purchased for as little as a few dollars a month.

I have used Host Gator for years. I have trusted them with everything from shared hosting accounts (that’s the kind you will need) to dedicated servers with hundreds of my own customers on them. They have never let me down and trust me I have been let down. There were times in my hosting days when I would have my entire business plus all of my clients go down with other hosting companies. It is one of the worst feelings in the world. I am not saying I haven’t had any down time at Host Gator but it has been minimal and resolved very quickly, not hours and days as experienced with other companies.

A shared hosting plan at Host Gator will run you $6.95 a year. If you purchase multiple years it can be as affordable as $4.95.

Oh the wonderful world of WordPress

Have you heard of the WordPress? It probably is the most well known blogging platform aside from the free blogger mentioned above. What you may not known about WordPress is it’s ability to serve other purposes besides a blog. You can easily add pages for information, display your galleries, contact forms and much more. Really the options are almost endless with WordPress and it can meet almost any photographers needs.

Installing WordPress is painless. If you host with Host Gator it is just a few clicks of the mouse and it will be installed for you. No code mumbo jumbo for the faint of heart here!

Please note I do not recommend it for an e-commerce site. If you have one or two products to sell it works great however if you are running a true business and selling real goods you need to represent yourself with a real store front and supplement content with a blog.

Your Look – Great, Affordable Templates

There are oodles of themes available for WordPress blogs. Many can be customized with little or no html coding experience, others well you may have to dig into the style sheet a little to really get the look you are going for. I have a lot of fun looking at products at ThemeForest. They have just about everything under the sun and they are really nice themes and best of all they are affordable!

One of my favorite designers at ThemeForest is Pexeto. Most of their themes include a highly intuitive admin where you can customize them to fit your brand without knowing how to code html. They also included features like slideshows, gallery pages, contact forms and more. These are great themes for the beginner or even the advanced user and allow you to really acquire the lookyou want to represent your business with.

Another easy one many photogs use is Tofurious and my favorite among those designs is the one column design found here.

Moving From Blogger

Now your WordPress site is all set up, congratulations! Did you know you can import ALL of your posts from your blogger account? Yep, you read that right, you can pull all of your old posts over into your new site. The import tool is found in your WordPress admin under the tools menu. Just set the import up, let WordPress do all the work and then do any clean up to your categories, tags etc.

Client Proofing

I had to edit this post to include information about client proofing. I know many of you want to host your own proofing and allow for onsite ordering. There is a really great product called Proof Buddy that allows you to do that. The lite version is a free download you simply upload and configure. It allows the client to view their photos in a password protected gallery, order the items they want and you simply place the order with the lab.

I hope this was helpful, if you have any comments, questions or suggestions please leave a comment.

Have a great week!

4 Comments
Filed Under: Photographer Resources, Tutorials

Add a Photo Using Place Method

23 Nov written by
Pin It

Last week on Teach Me Tuesday I showed you how to copy and paste an image to one of my templates. This method works well for some people but I wanted to show you an extra method this week called the place method. One of the advantages to the place method is Photoshop will scale the image to fit on the card. You will only have to re-size it to fit the image into the actual photo frame.

Have a great day!

2 Comments
Filed Under: Tutorials

Video Tutorial – How to add a photo to your card Template

16 Nov written by
Pin It

I am starting a new feature here on Tuesday at PCB. It probably won’t be a weekly event, maybe once or twice each month. Tonight I am posting a video on adding your image to a card and how to change the background color. The card featured is a new design I will be adding in the new year.

In the tutorial I use the copy and paste method to add a photo to your template. I also have a tutorial showing you how to use the place method here. I have found the place method does work better but I wanted to show you both options as people are creatures of habit and may prefer one method over the other.

I appreciate your feedback and thank everyone who participates on the blog and Facebook fan page!

1 Comment
Filed Under: Tutorials