I often get asked by friends and family for recommendations on where to print their photos and my first recommendation is always Mpix.com! Even if I wasn’t a designer for Mpix, I would happily share my love for them with anyone who asks.

Here are 5 reasons why Mpix is my favorite consumer photo lab:

Their quality

As the sister company to an established, well-respected professional photo lab, Mpix just gets print. Their quality is unlike anything I’ve seen in the consumer photo market. Top notch color, beautiful press papers, and consistent photo quality can always be expected with every order. Anyone I send to Mpix is always quick to comment on how much better their prints are compared to other photo printers they’ve used in the past.

Their customer service

Have a problem, Mpix customer service team is eager to help!

Their product line

Mpix offers a huge assortment of photo products. From simple photo prints to photo cards, canvases, collages, and more!

Their turnaround time

I’m not sure how they do it but they are incredibly fast! Place your order from the comfort of your living room and your order usually arrives on your doorstep within one to two days. They have some sort of secret magic!

They support independent artists (like me)

Mpix has always invested in independent artists and designers like myself to infuse their product line with great design. They pay a generous commission to their art licensing partners that isn’t always found at similar companies.

I encourage you to give Mpix a try the next time you’re in need of beautifully printed photo cards, prints, or any other photo goods! And if you’re looking for a great design, I certainly wouldn’t be upset if you chose one of ours!

Happy printing!

Browse our Mpix Collection

The post 5 Reasons I Recommend Mpix to Everyone appeared first on The Modern Collective.

However, if you’ve ever tried to make an arch shape on your own, you might have wondered where to even begin. Thankfully, today we have a super simple photoshop tutorial to help you add arches to any design you desire!

Let’s go!

step one – create a rectangle

The first step is to use the Rectangle Tool to create a simple rectangle filled with any color you desire.

step two – adjust appearance settings

To take the rectangle from a simple square corner to the rounded corners of an arch, we need to make some adjustments in the Properties Panel. If you don’t see the properties panel, go to the TOP MENU BAR, click on WINDOW, and make sure PROPERTIES is checked.

Inside the properties panel, you will find a section titled APPEARANCE when the rectangle you just created is the active layer. At the bottom of the appearance section are options for corner radiuses. We’ll adjust these to make our arch shape.

To make the arch, be sure the lock chain icon is selected, and enter a large value in one of the corner radius inputs. I like to use 1000px because it forces photoshop to select the maximum value needed to create the full arch shape.

step three – remove the radius from the bottom corners

After adjusting the radius in one of the corner radius values, all of the corners will become rounded because the lock chain icon was selected. To create the arch shape, click the chain lock icon again to deactivate it and set the bottom left and right corner radius values to 0px and hit return. You now have your arch shape!

you have your arch shape – put it to use!

Super simple, right! You can use your arch shape for all kinds of design elements. My favorite way to use arches is to use them for placeholders for images using a simple clipping mask.

To do this, place an image above the arch shape, go to the TOP MENU BAR, click on LAYER, and select CREATE CLIPPING MASK.

Watch this video to see it in action:

Looking for a collection of templates using arches? Our Moab Grad Card Collection is the perfect template set for you!

Find this tutorial helpful? Share it to Pinterest!

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You’re probably thinking, ‘ouch, Adam! A little harsh?’ Maybe, but these tiny design tweaks can take your photo studio’s marketing and brand designs from a little bit cringey to perfectly polished! Don’t come at me! I share these all from a place of love! (and good design)

Design class is in session, photog friends! Let’s jump in!

1. Too Much Space Between Letters When Using A Script Font

Let’s just get this one out of the way! The most cringeworthy design mistake I see photographers making is too much space between letters when using beautiful script fonts! Those fancy scripts are supposed to connect, people!

You may not know this, but Photoshop has an entire character palette dedicated to letter spacing, line spacing, and overall presentation of text. To view the character palette in Photoshop, go to the top MAIN MENU > select WINDOW > and make sure CHARACTER is checked. Within the character palette you will find an option for tracking. It looks like, this:

With script fonts, the tracking should be set to 0 so those letters are nice and connected. The result is a more realistic script font that looks natural and handwritten as you can see in the example below.

2. Leaving very little room to breathe in your design.

I see photographers doing this ALL the time. They want to fill the design with images or text or design elements and leave little to no space for the design to breathe. White space allows your eye to rest and it gives more weight to the items within the design.

Look at the two client inquiry magazine spreads below. Which do you enjoy looking at more?

Although both are designed using the exact same beautiful images, typefaces, and design elements, the one on the left feels very approachable and easy on the eyes, while the design on the right leaves you feeling a little uncomfortable and overwhelmed.

3. Not keeping things consistent.

You’ve heard the saying – just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. It applies to design, too! It’s exciting to try all of the new things you see on pinterest, and maybe even some of the things you’ve seen other photographers do too, but when you stray too far from your consistent brand elements, it can get confusing for your audience. Keep your fonts, colors, and branding elements consistent throughout each interaction with your clients and audience to maintain brand awareness.

Not sure where to start with consistent design elements? Consider investing in a collection of templates that work together to create a cohesive look. The A-List Shop has numerous done-for-you products that take your client form social media follower, to inquiry response, to session prep, and all the way to final image delivery all with a consistent brand presence. You can easily customize the templates to your brand colors and have a complete collection of designs that make you look more professional than your competition.

There you have it, friends. See I wasn’t that brutal, right? Have a question? Leave it in a comment below or contact me!

Love what you learned? Pin this pin to pinterest or share this post with your photographer friends on social media!

The post 3 Design Mistakes I Wish Every Photographer Would Stop Making (and how to fix them) appeared first on The Modern Collective.

Meet your new friend, ADOBE FONTS!

Did you know that with your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription you also get access to a massive collection of well-built, high-quality, commercial use fonts for free? Yep, it’s true! And possibly my favorite part of it all is that they are incredibly easy to install into Photoshop or any other Adobe program you have installed. (Illustrator, InDesign, etc) Like big red easy-button, easy!

Before I share more on that, here are my 8 favorite Adobe Fonts I’m loving right now. If you love them too I may just share more!

How to install Adobe Fonts

Remember me saying that my favorite part is how easy Adobe Fonts are to install? They really are! All you have to do is log-in to your adobe account, click on the links for the fonts above, and toggle the ‘activate font’ button in the top right of any font page. It automatically adds the activated font into your installed Adobe programs, instantly! Adobe… my downloads folder thanks you!

So tell me, which of these fonts is your favorite?

The post 8 Fonts I’m Loving Right Now! (and they’re free) appeared first on The Modern Collective.

The holidays are filled with many traditions that we look forward to each year — decorating the tree, spending time with family and friends, drinking cheery cocktails while wearing ugly festive sweaters adorned with tinsel and blinking lights! Although all of those are great, there’s one thing I look forward to the most during the holiday season – opening the mailbox to see it filled with holiday cards from friends and family! 

As a stationery designer, I spend much of the year designing holiday cards. Spring, summer, and into fall, those holiday cards grace my desk and computer screens as we prepare them for their delivery to mailboxes all across the world. One of the biggest design projects is for our partnership with Mpix. I’m so excited to share our 2022 Mpix Holiday Collection with you today!

This year’s Christmas card collection has a design for everyone! Whether you love clean and simple sentiments or you have a fondness for illustrated greetings of joy and merriment, you’ll find the perfect photo card to spread good cheer to all of your loved ones.  

Not familiar with Mpix? Well, take it from us… you’ll love them!

Here’s why we suggest Mpix to everyone we know:

• As professional photographers we have a high standard when it comes to quality photo products. Mpix offers top-notch professional cards. Only the best of the best here, folks!
• They have THE BEST customer service. Have problems? They have peeps to help! 
• Their elves are just as fast as Santa’s! Order your cards from the comfort of your home and have them delivered to your door in just a few days (honestly, probably overnight because they have some kind of Christmas magic)
• Still not convinced? Watch this video. They’re awesome people, creating great things, and supporting independent artist like myself! 

It’s been an honor designing Holiday Cards for Mpix for the past eight years, but the real thrill comes when seeing our cards being used by our friends, family, and strangers on the internet. From this tiny little design studio to tens of thousands of mailboxes this holiday season, it brings us great joy knowing that our designs are putting smiles on faces one card at a time.

Browse our collection with the links below or keep on scrolling to see a few of our favorite cards from this year’s Christmas Card lineup!

Wishing you good cheer,

Adam

Looking for photo cards for other life occasions? Browse our other Mpix Card Collections.

The post Our 2022 Holiday Collection for Mpix.com appeared first on The Modern Collective.

Let me tell you, there’s a better way! Needless to say their mind was blown when I introduced them to the great and almighty Image Processor tool within Photoshop! Today, I thought I’d share ins and outs of the Image Processor tool with you just in case you too have never heard of it!

Follow the steps below to quickly convert JPGs to PSDs in Photoshop!

Step One

Start by making sure all of your layered PSD files are in a single folder. You will be selecting this folder in a later step, so make note of its location on your computer. 

Step Two

Open Photoshop and navigate to File > Scripts > Image Processor

Step Three

Once open, the image processor will look like the image below. There are a few options that need to be filled in before you can put it to work. We’ve listed them below.

SELECT SOURCE FOLDER // this is the folder which contains your PSD files.

SELECT DESTINATION FOLDER // this is the folder where you want your final JPEGs to save. Keep in mind, Photoshop will create a folder in this location titled JPEG and will save all the flattened files in this folder. If you want Photoshop to just create the JPEG folder in your source folder, just check the ‘Save in Same Location’ option.

SELECT FILE TYPE // Make sure you check the ‘Save as JPEG’ box and choose your desired quality. We usually do 10. We also like to check the “Convert Profile to sRGB” box so these files will display with the richest colors when uploaded to the web. 

OPTIONAL // There are a few additional options within the Image Processor Menu. The Resize to Fit option can be used to resize your files for web. Just enter the desired max width and height in the boxed provided. You can also choose to run an action before the files are saved. This is great for web sharpening or to use an action that watermarks your images. 

Step Four

Click Run! Sit back and watch your computer do all the work for you! Photoshop will open each PSD from the source folder and save the flattened JPEG file in the destination folder. We guarentee it will do it faster than you can do it manually! 

Step Five

Check your work. All of your PSDs should have been saved as JPEGs in the destination folder. If they aren’t there, go back and double check your settings. 

Are you an Adobe Bridge User?

Image Processor can also be run thru Bridge by selecting your desired files and navigating to Tools > Photoshop > Image Processor. The selected images will be used as the source. Set all other settings above as you would do in Photoshop.

Find this tutorial useful? Pin it to Pinterest:

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