There are LOTS of ways to make a picture of an embroidery design or set of designs...
1) You can do a "screen capture" using a program like "SnagIt" or "JasCap"
2) You can stitch out the design and scan it with a desktop scanner
3) You can stitch out the design and photograph it with a camera
OR
4) You can make a project with the design and photograph the project.
And #4 is what we've been doing here for the last few days. We're working on making the covers for the cases on our new signature series of designs being released in March at your local dealer. Maybe not ALL local dealers - but a good number of them - possibly as many as 1,000 dealers around the world! If your dealer isn't carrying our designs in March - ask them to get the "ME And Thee Embroidery Designs" available through RNK Distributing.
Here's the photo setup we're using to get the pictures...
That's the "starting point" for the photo. The backdrop is some fabric with a 2" hem stitched along one edge to make a backdrop curtain. It's suspended from a frame made for holding backdrops, then softly lit up with photo lights.
The REAL MAGIC happens when I take the 8-mega-pixel photo into my software and...
when I take the 8-mega-pixel photo into my software and zoom in, crop it, smooth out the background colors, bring up the light levels, and enhance the sharpness.
Once the photo has been cleaned up and stripped we get something like this one...
Here's a picture of the front side too...
Finally - these two photos are combined to make the front cover shot for the new design collection and I'll have a picture of the case in another article here as soon as I'm done with that step of the work.
For those wondering about the vest... the designs are from "Tuscan Dreams" that were pre-released only to members of NitasThreadNest in November 2007. They were digitized by Nita O'Keefe. The vest was made by Linda Canfield, and I'll tell you more about Linda in another article coming later this winter.
Comments (6)
Hi. I am a big fan of you and Holly and wow my admiration just went up a whole bunch. I was so impressed by this. I was wondering how to photograph things I made. Guess it's not as simple as I thought it was. Thanks for the instruction. I appreciate it.
Hugs.
Maria Fortunato (mfunfourmom@yahoo.com)
Member since 2004
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Hi Maria -
First - thanks for being a member 4 years now. Your support makes it possible for us to do this and we appreciate it very much.
Taking a photo CAN be as simple as "click" and we're done. But when you see a really great photo of a project, chances are it wasn't just a "click"/"done" type of thing. It was probably planned, set up, and photographed several times then edited a bit to make it everything it could be.
I was talking with a photographer for The National Geographic one day. This was back in the days when we used film instead of memory cards. He specializes in underwater photography and some of his photos were just spectacular. He said "I shoot 1,000 pictures for every 1 that comes out great. An amateur probably shoots 2,000 for every 1."
With studio photography, your odds of getting great shot go up quite a bit because you CAN control the lighting, background, focus, etc.
-- Larry
Posted by Maria Fortunato | January 11, 2008 1:15 PM
Posted on January 11, 2008 13:15
First the vest is just beautiful! It's amazing what you were able to do with the picture. I was wondering what software you have for doing this to your photos?
Thanks
Krys
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Hi Krys -
This was done with PaintShop-Pro version 6. Another member asked the same sort of question. I'll make a video to show how I did this and either post it as an article on ATW, or if the video is too big for a download then I'll include it on one of my new DVD's coming out in the next few weeks.
-- Larry
Posted by Chris Chap AKA Krysiabear | January 11, 2008 2:02 PM
Posted on January 11, 2008 14:02
Hi Larry
You are worried about the cost of paper, ink,folders ect. But wouldn't the cost of thread,material,hangers,boxes to store these samples in cost a lot more money?
If someone wants to have a specific design I would like to be able to find it.If organized on computer that would work as long as it's backed up.
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Hi Merry -
You're right about this vest costing a good amount of money. But the sample wasn't made as a way to catalog our designs. It's made as a display item for a traveling road show and to use as the centerpiece on a product cover for retail stores. I sure wouldn't recommend stitching out something like this as a way to see what designs a person has on their hard drive.
-- Larry
Posted by Mjp | January 11, 2008 4:23 PM
Posted on January 11, 2008 16:23
Thank you for your consistency in find new items for us~~!!
Posted by Mizz Lizz | January 11, 2008 5:50 PM
Posted on January 11, 2008 17:50
What software are you using to edit the photos? I need to clean up the background like you removed the gathers in your backdrop.
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Hi Ann -
I used PaintShop-Pro version 6 on this photo. It's the program I use most of the time. I switch to PhotoShop Elements for making the covers for DVD cases but I use PaintShop-Pro for almost everything else.
I'll make a video of exactly how I do this and post it as an article on ATW if it's not too big to fit there. If it's too big of a video file, then I'll include that in one of my next DVD's coming out.
-- Larry
Posted by Ann vonBehrens | January 11, 2008 6:56 PM
Posted on January 11, 2008 18:56
I am able to print my design - singles or sets - using my PE Design 6.0. I go into the Design Database, scroll & click to the desired design(s) & then go to file - print. It not only prints the pictures but the design info as well.
Posted by Terry Leffler | January 11, 2008 7:55 PM
Posted on January 11, 2008 19:55