It’s been on my mind for ages… how could a person who didn’t have Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements [PSE] possibly get the look of a overlay or texture on their photos?
The oh so simple answer woke me up in the middle of the night.
Using Picasa of course… it’s a free program from Google, very easy to use. I use it all the time to tweak my blog post photos because it’s easy and fast.
1. Download Picasa, it’s free. Once you have installed it open the program.
2. Select your image, [click on hold selected image, green lightning bolt in tray at bottom left of screen] I would suggest working from a copy, even though Picasa doesn’t change your original.
3. Select your texture image. [click on hold selected image] I scanned postcards and used them.
4. Click on Create, top left of screen. Then click on Picture Collage. You should have two images in the box.
5. Click on Settings, and choose multiple exposure. Click on Create collage.
Softening or lightening up the the texture before using it will make it less obtrusive, but you can usually go back into edit collage and make a few changes to the image, before recreating your collage. You do not have the flexibility of PSE to erase the texture, so you want to avoid a opaque finish.
I used the same photo and different textures, and color overlays, along with the vignette setting to give the same image a few different looks.
You can adjust your fill light, contrast, sharpening after you create the collage to change the look of the image.
While it’s not the same as using PSE to add textures it is possible to create a unique image.
Here’s to having fun with this, and to getting your creative on. I would love to see what you can do with Picasa.