Speed Up Your Workflow with Retouchup.com

What are some of the things you wish you could delegate to someone else? Cleaning your office? Doing laundry? Yardwork? Grocery shopping?

Sometimes we simply have great intention of getting things done but they get put on the back burner because life gets in the way. Having someone else to

The same is true in our businesses. There are parts of it that everyone loves to do; shooting, sales, delivering a final order. Yet, the bottleneck occurs on some of the in-between stages, such as file preparation, retouching, braces removal, clipping masks and more.

That's where outsourcing your workflow can save you time and money. Yes, I said "save you money." After all, what is your time worth? Are you more productive in the camera room or retouching an image? Where do you make your money; in the sales room or behind the computer?

I've used Retouchup.com for a number of years. From retouching projects to clipping masks for compositing images, it's as simple as uploading the image and giving instructions. Turnaround is usually 24 hours (less, in some instances!)

Here's your chance to see it if works for you. Go to www.retouchup.com and open your account for free.

Get your life back and be more profitable.

- David

Resolve to Be Better to Your Clients in 2012

If you're one of the many professionals who are tired of seeing overworked images that make portrait look artificial, then you'll enjoy this video by Jesse Rosten. While it's a total spoof on the professional tool we all know and love, it makes a strong statement about how we view beauty in today's society.

More importantly, it should cause every professional photographer (and "faux-tographer", as well) to pause a minute and think about the amount of "editing" and post-production work we do on our images. Are we enhancing the beauty of our clients, or hiding it behind a myriad of actions and effects?


Make 2012 the year to be true to both your clients and your art.



Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

More Free Photoshop Actions (No, Really!)

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the benefits of using a few "Free Actions" that would save you time editing and help you make more money in the sales room. Your wide variety of responses made me smile; at least I know there are people out there who actually read this! In case you missed it, you can find the complete post here:
http://campdavidphoto.blogspot.com/2011/02/free-action-set-makes-editing-easier.html

Ok, so I admit that while these "actions" will work in the method described, they were not the cute little Photoshop plugins you may have been expecting. Nevertheless, they are effective if you use them as stated!

However, if it's Photoshop shortcuts and tricks you want, here are a few options for places to go online where you can download free actions and/or purchase others!

The first link is from Jodi Friedman of MCP Actions. These are designed specifically for photographers and will definitely save you time in creating images for your clients. There's also a free action to help in resizing Facebook and blog images, plus video tutorials and other helpful info. Definitely worth the time!

http://www.mcpactions.com/actions/keyword/free-actions.html#

Action Central  offers well over 200 Photoshop actions that range from image enhancement, BW conversions, artistic effects, frames and borders, and more. Some of my favorites on this site are Chip Springer's actions for red-eye removal and Dave Jaseck's Midnight Action Collection.

http://www.atncentral.com/download.htm

And finally, searching the internet for "Free Photoshop Actions" also reveals links to such sites as Visual Blast Magazine. This article reveals over 124 different Photoshop actions that can be downloaded for free.

http://www.visual-blast.com/photoshop/124-free-photoshop-actions/

Of course, the only way to decide which actions work best for you and your style is to download, install and run on a few different images. Some you may keep, some you may toss, while others may be the perfect accent when run in tandem with another action. While it's still a bit slower in the studio, now is the time to get set for the upcoming "busy season!"

- David Grupa

A Camp David Minute with Beth Forester of photoDuds!

Last week during ImagingUSA in San Antonio, I had a minute to catch up with Beth Forester of photoDuds.

If you're not familiar with the product, photoDuds is a great way to take your sales to another level by creating products that your clients will love. From collages to greeting cards, photoDuds offers you some awesome options!

Best of all, even if you missed ImagingUSA you can still take advantage of a 20% discount on all photoDuds products if you order by January 31, 2011! www.photoduds.com 

Check out my interview with Beth right here: