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Photo Lesson for Small Business Advertisement Artwork
I use Xara Xtreme when designing full color advertising for the web or printed material including flyers or trifold brochures. Xara software is especially useful for photo edits. This tutorial illustrates before and after photographs of a Jeep that was to be a featured special of the month for a used car dealer. The second graphic shows how I created a very favorable first impression.
Whether in print or online, the first impression should create a mental picture for the viewer so they imagine enjoying the benefits of a product. Photo edits in Xara Xtreme can certainly help, and they're easy to do. The techniques here may be used to edit photos for print or online for your small business, too.
Before and After Versions of Photographs
Examine the photo as taken (left) and then the photo for the advertisement (right). Allowing the viewer to visualize their Jeep on a bluff overlooking the beach is much more enticing than the actual photo that I took in the used car lot. The client agreed. The finished photo certainly has more appeal.
Did you notice the antenna with the gaudy green streamers is gone in the final version for the ad? Next, let's examine how I achieved the effect using Xara Xtreme. Their vector graphics software is very versatile and easy to use for beginners, and you can duplicate the results of more costly software for less than $100. Follow my affiliate link to their website to download a trial copy of Xara Xtreme for evaluation.
Photo Composition Technique in Xara Xtreme
The first photograph (left) shows a beach scene selected with just the right angle. Using the photo taken in the used car lot I traced the vehicle precisely with Xara Xtreme and then clipped it from the photograph (top right) using the shortcut CTRL+3. The magnification tool in Xara allows you to zoom 25000 times actual size, so eagle vision is not required.
Next, I traced inside the Jeep photo to remove background that still showed around the roof rack near the back. After tracing the unwanted portion, it was removed using the shortcut CTRL+2. The dark form at the bottom simulates the shadow beneath the Jeep which I drew in black and then added transparency so grass would show through. View the finished photo above to see the realistic shadow effect under the Jeep.
The most difficult part is tracing precisely to remove the background. This is done with the pen tool in Xara Xtreme, and my best advice is practice with the zoom tool. After years of using Xara products, I do edits like these in less than 30 minutes. One advantage using vector graphics software is each piece may be placed or moved around just like a cutout until you get the ideal composition.
More Advice for Creating Advertising Artwork
Visit my blog for more Xara Xtreme artwork tutorials. Do you need royalty free photographs for your next project? Visit my directory with more than 200,000 royalty free images available online.
