LVS Online Registration for the March 2009 session is open. Hurry on over there as spaces are limited for these popular instructor-led and self-study online courses. There is an online class for everyone and they certainly will equip you with new skills and might even change your life!

Instructor led classes are only $25 per six week course and our returning students get a 20% discount - we look forward to seeing you in class…

Photoshop and Photoshop Elements

LVS offers several Photoshop classes for different versions and levels from the beginner to more advanced. Come join us in whichever level you’ll be comfortable with.

3 WAYS TO BE ENTERED INTO THE CONTEST DRAWING!

1. Create an item for download from the LVS Library http://students.lvsonline.com/ - examples: PSP Picture Tube, PSP Picture Frame, PSP Brush, Photoshop Brush, Photoshop Preset. Submit as many you’d like to contest@lvsonline.com

Images submitted remain the property of the owner. Any Copyright violations remain the sole responsibility of the person who submitted the image(s).

When submitting images, please include your First and Last name. Submission of an item signifies your permission for LVS to offer it for download on the Student Library site: http://students.lvsonline.com/. If you wish, at any point to have your image(s) removed, it is up to you to e-mail us with that request. Please allow sufficient time for the removal of the requested image.

LVS will remove any image where claims of Copyright violation have been made by another party.

2. If you have a website or blog, create a link back to LVS Online. You may use one of the images here: http://www.lvsonline.com/logos.shtml or create your own image or a text link. You must email us with the URL of the web page that contains the link back. (one page per web site only please) Submit link to contest@lvsonline.com

3. Write a review about LVS on our Google Local Business page. Just follow this URL http://tinyurl.com/5tdeo2 and click on the Review link. NOTE: If you don’t have a Google account, you will need to create one to sign in.

For each graphic, link back, and review you submit you will be entered into a drawing.

Final prizes will be announced Dec. 10 but they will include:
Corel KPT
Corel Knockout 2
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2
LVS Hosting Starter Account (includes domain name)
Free LVS Class

If you would like to view other students experiences at LVS Online Classes, visit the main LVS Blog and click the Blogroll links.

Classrooms will open on October 27, 2008
The first lesson will be posted November 1, 2008

To check out the courses you would like to take, a complete list is given at LVS Course Schedule.

Photosohp CS4 and Photoshop Elements 7 are due out soon. As soon as our copies arrive, we’ll be checking the lessons to see if new lessons need to be written or if the current CS3/PSE6 lessons can simply be added to.

Course descriptions for Adobe courses can be found HERE

Instructor-led classes begin November 1, 2008 so head on over to the registration area to enroll now!

14 NEW Classes, over 100 Classes in All!

With 14 new classes being offered this session, LVS has over 100 instructor led courses on its roster. From instructor led to self-study, LVS covers a wide range of subjects. And don’t forget the FREE Windows and Vista classes!

New Courses for Sept session:
» Acrylic Floral Painting
» Acrylic Trompe L’Oeil Painting
» ASP.NET Intermediate
» Astrological Card Reading
» The Law of Copyright
» CorelDRAW X4 Intro Part 1
» Corel Painter X Level I - Begin the Journey
» Digital Photography With a DSLR
» Discovering the Poet Inside You
» JavaScript: Unobtrusive Programming
» PhotoImpact X3 Intro
» Pixel Art
» Remote Perception Introduction
» Vue 6 Advanced

To check out the courses you would like to take, a complete list is given at LVS Course Schedule.

Intructor-led Classes in a Virtual Setting

If your busy life style limits time spent learning new skills or simply exploring your creative side, then LVS Online is for you!

Each instructor-led course has its own virtual classroom for enrolled students with a dedicated message board used to post assignments, ask questions, and interact with the instructor as well as the other students who signed up for that class. Instructors maintain a friendly, fun, and energetic setting in which to learn.

Course descriptions for Photoshop courses can be found HERE

Instructor-led classes begin August 30th so head on over to the registration area to enroll now.

Here is poor Bullet caught on the couch.

Oh! He looks pretty evil doesn’t he? If you would like to use this image to work along, you can download the full sized one HERE. Save it to a safe place on your hard drive.

1. Open your photo in Photoshop Elements 6. Duplicate the photo and close the original. (Never work on the original of any photo.)

2. Zoom in really close (I’m zoomed in at 800% in the screen capture here) and use the Lasso Tool to select one of the eyes.

3. Set the Lasso Tool mode to Add to selection and select the second eye.

4. Now we’ll feather the selection a bit so that it isn’t too "stark" when we’re done. Go Select > Feather (or press Alt+Ctrl+D) to bring up the Feather Selection dialog box. Enter 2 for the Feather Radius. If you’re using your own image and it is much larger or smaller than this example image, you may need to adjust that number.

5. We’re going to need this selection more than once, so rather than redo it later we’ll save it. Go Select > Save Selection. When the Save Selection dialog box opens, ensure that New Selection is checked and enter a name for your selection. Click the OK button to save it.

6. On the Layers palette, click the Create adjustment layer icon and choose Hue/Saturation from the drop down menu.

7. Push the Saturation slider all the way to the left to get rid of the color and click the OK button. The eyes will turn gray. The rest of the picture is untouched because only what is selected will be affected by our changes.

8. Select the Background by clicking on its label in the Layers palette and go Select > Load Selection. Choose the eyes selection and click the OK button.

9. With the Background still active, click the Create adjustment layer again. This time choose Levels from the list.

10. Push the black slider over to the right to darken the eye. For my image, I pushed it almost all the way over. If you are using a different image, you may need to adjust that.

11. (Optional) I felt that the eyes were still too light; not natural looking, so I went back to the Background, loaded the selection again and added another Levels adjustment layer to darken them up some more.

That is all there is to it! Not so hard eh? Here is sweet Bullet looking quite himself again:

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. To learn lots of fun things, come join us in the Photoshop Elements 6 Basics class here at LVS in the Fall.

For more information, go to http://www.lvsonline.com/update.shtml

For a complete list of all available classes at LVS Online go to
http://www.lvsonline.com/schedule.shtml

Instructor-led classes begin May 10 so head on over to LVS Online Classes to enroll now!
http://www.lvsassociates.com/register/

1. Open the image you want to put the see through text on. If you’d like to use the same image I’m using here, you can download the zip file HERE Extract the image and open it in Photoshop. Duplicate the image by right clicking on the title bar and choosing “Duplicate” from the drop down menu

Now you can close the original and save for use another day.

2. Activate the Type tool and choose a fairly fat font (I’m using Broadway). Set the size to about 72 (you can adjust this depending on the size of the image you’re using). Color doesn’t matter, but I’m using white.

Type your text and click the checkmark to apply it.

3. Use the Move tool to position your text on the image if desired.

4. Change the Fill value of the Text Layer to 0%. Your text will disappear. Don’t panic. We’ll see it again in a moment.

5. Double click on a blank space on the Text layer (not on the text, and not on the icons) to open the Layer Style dialogue box.

6. Choose Bevel and Emboss. Use the settings below to start with. You can always adjust to suit your specific taste.

7. Optional: You can also give it a little drop shadow to set it off a bit more. With the Layer Styles palette still open, click on Drop Shadow. The settings I used are below:

Click OK when you’re happy with it.

Here is my final result:

That’s it! You’re done. Easy eh?

If you want to add more text, just follow the steps again.

Use Edit > Save for Web to save your image as a jpg to send to your friends or post on your website.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Until next time, take care…

Come join us in the Photoshop classes here at LVS to learn lots more good stuff!

If you are serious about graphics and photography then you should be serious about Photoshop CS3 and its exciting new features. This course was written using Photoshop CS3 but we have adapted the material to accommodate CS2 users as well. Notes throughout the lessons are clearly marked if the method differs from that of Photoshop CS3. On occasion, there will be exercises that are directed strictly towards the CS3 user but CS2 users are welcome to read along and experiment with alternate methods to achieve a similar effect. Whether your passion is for computer graphics, art, or technology in general, you will find that learning about various imaging techniques form the basis for Photoshop’s many capabilities! You don’t have to be an ace photographer or a Photoshop expert to create eye-catching effects. These lessons are designed to show you how to use Photoshop to enhance your images and make the most out of Photoshop’s easy to master tools!

For more information and to register, follow this link: http://www.lvsassociates.com/register/product_info.php?products_id=250