Instagram Size Limit

Insta is ideal for square, or close to square, photos.  Horizontal orientation (called landscape) does not have clear limits though; however, vertical orientation (called portrait) has certain size limits, not sure why!  Keep in mind 0.8 wide by 1.0 tall; anything taller than this aspect ratio (slimmer) will be cropped by dear, stupid Insta!  This is not the case with Facebook, thank God!

See the beautiful portrait below for example.  It's 2466x3600 pixels; the aspect ratio thus 0.69x1.00.  

Try to post it to Insta and it will crop the long side to reach the 0.8x1.0 limit.  So you'll have one of these two (either or).  And none is what you want, right?

So, what's the remedy?  The easiest way is to add two strips at two longitudinal sides, at a total width of 414 pixels to make the overall size 2880x3600; thus the aspect ratio of 0.8x1.0.  Something like this:

The strips may be white or black or any colour you wish.  I have selected black to be clearly visible.

If you're good in Photoshop, the second method is adding the two strips as before, but copy-paste portions of the photo edge to the strips.  

And finally, a better way as an alternative to the first method is making a nice and wide frame, like this one:

If you have hired a photographer and you're posting the professional photos, please, please keep in mind that chopping feet is a big composition sin, the first basic rule in photography.  The cropped photo may be embarrassing for the poor photographer.  If in doubt, please consult your photographer; ask her/him to fix the size for Insta and s/he will gladly do it.

P.S. To find out the size (pixel count) of your photo, keep the mouse (cursor) on the photo in your file browser, and you'll see the size.

P.S. (2) The exact number is 0.78x1.00.  I have rounded it to 0.8 for the sake of easier calculations.  I often keep the long side of my photo made in Lightroom at 3600 pixels, so by experience, 2800 pixels is safe for the width.

Stradivarius Violins

Watermark in Photoshop

Making watermarks is easy in both Lightroom and Photoshop.  However, in Lightroom, you cannot change the location, size, or colour; while in Photoshop, it’s totally flexible to all these changes.

 Follow these easy steps to make your watermark in Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements):

 1.     Go to File tab at top left: File à New à Blank File

2.     Select a name for your watermark, then width of 1000 pixels, height of 500 pixels, and make sure the Background Contents is set to Transparent

 

3.     Pick the writing tool, select a font, and a font style (such as Bold).  Do not worry about the colour and size for now as it can be changed later.  However, it would be advisable to choose a dark colour and a large size to make the final result clear (good quality)

 

4.     Crop to a few pixels at each side

 

5.     It is a good practice to save your first watermark at this stage so you can do changes later.  Make a folder for your watermarks and save this as TIFF

 

6.     Now you need to make a new brush.  Go to Edit tab at top left: Edit à Define Brush.  Select a name and then OK

 

7.     Now you have made a brush of your watermark.  The rest is easy.  Open your photo if not already transferred from Lightroom.  Pick the brush tool

 

8.     Select the brush type at bottom or top, depending on your Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements) version.  Your exclusive watermark brush is added to the end of your brush type list, so scroll down to the end and find it

9.     Select the colour, the size, and even the opacity you wish

10.  Put it where you want using your mouse or pen

11.  You can even change the angle of the watermark in Brush Settings

 

You are done.  You can make as many watermark brushes as you wish with other fonts and types.  It is also possible to insert a photo such as your hand made signature, a camera, anything, at Step 3.  Enjoy the easy watermarking! 

Corona Virus Era

To remember these tough days of Corona Virus pandemic around the world.  All non-food stores are closed.  Many of them have covered the windows with wood boards, and some have painted the boards.  Here are samples.

Shortcuts 101

IOS 12 was unveiled a month ago and the greatest change was the newly added app, Shortcuts.  It's somehow a high-level programming language like Basic86 or--later--QBasic, for those who remember those old good days about forty years ago!  What Shortcuts does is combining some activities into one, so performing related chain activities with one tap.

You can start from very basic shortcuts for simple jobs to more complicated ones including if/then/else conditions just like old fashion programming languages.

I have noticed most friends have not started using this wonderful app yet and many friends have no idea where to start and how it works.  So I tried to put a step by step recipe together for you.  In this basic example, the shortcut turns your flash light on with only one Siri command or one tap on the icon you create on your home screen.  So let's start without any further due!

First of all, please note that although Shortcuts is a new IOS 12 app, for some (stupid) reason it's not included and you have to install it!

Step 1. Open your Apple Store and search for "Shortcuts".  Install it (free).

Step 2. Tap on the icon to open the app.

Step 3. If you are new to Shortcuts, you only see the white window "Create Shortcut".  Tap on it.

Step 4. You will see a new window like below snap shot.  You can do many things in this very page already, but we leave it for more advanced shortcuts.  For now, just type in the search tab "set flashlight"

Step 5. Typing only "set f" will bring up "Set flashlight" at the first line.  Tap on it.

Step 6. The new window like the shot below opens.  I have created two separate shortcuts, one to turn the flash on, and another one to turn it off.  If you want to do the same, tap on "On" for the first one for now.  If you choose "Toggle" every time you run the shortcut, it turns the flash on/off.  After deciding to highlight "On" or "Off" or "Toggle", tap on the icon below "Done" at top right.

Step 7. You're almost done.  Stay with me...it's now time to customize your shortcut in the window below.  To start, tap on "Name".

Step 8. Type whatever name you want, such as "Flash" or "Flash On".

Step 9. Then tap on "Icon".  Select a colour for the icon of your shortcut.

Step 10. Now select a glyph for your icon...choose from tens of glyphs provided.

Step 11. Add your shortcut to Siri. This is the best part of Shortcuts.  Use it.  Some people say they are not much into using Siri...why not?  She's a free assistant.  Use her as much as possible!  Just tap on the red record button and say loudly and clearly "Flash" or "Flash On" or whatever you wish.  Save it.

Step 12. Finally add your shortcut icon to the home button.  Tap on the square with up arrow at the bottom bar. 

Step 13. Tap on "Add to Home Screen".

You are done.  Now you can simply say "Hey Siri Flash" (all together non-stop).  Your flashlight will turn on in a moment.  Enjoy!