Bring out the story of a rainy day more fully by sharpening your rain and puddle images for your scrapbook layouts.

It Never Rains in Southern California by Lisa VanderVeen, as seen in the January 2011 issue, p. 64.

Before photo editing

After photo editing

Notice how much more brightly the whites stand out in the second photo, bringing the puddles and rain to life.

Enhance the look of puddles and rain in Photoshop Elements 7 using the following steps:

1.  Open photo.

2.  Click Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels to open Levels histogram.

3.  Slide the white slider toward the middle to brighten the white in the puddles.

4.  Slide the black slider (left side) a bit toward the middle to darken the dark highlights in the photo. 

5.  Click Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Hue/Saturation to open Hue/Saturation sliders

6.  Slide the saturation slider to the right to bring out the color. 

Hint: Lisa usually saturates between 2 and 15, depending on desired effect.

7. Click Enhance > Adjust Sharpness to sharpen photo slightly. Adjust the Amount and Radius as desired.

Hint: Lisa generally sharpens the Amount to 85% and Radius to 1.0.

Learn how to make the fun cloud accents on this layout by reading "Handmade Rain and Cloud Accents for Your Scrapbook."

To see scrapbook layouts that showcase different climates and lifestyles in January, check out the January 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Related Link:

Day In Your Life Photos

Appeared in:

January 2011