We’ve received a lot of feedback over quite a few weeks about the need to introduce upload limits on RedBubble and the importance of qual…
We’ve received a lot of feedback over quite a few weeks about the need to introduce upload limits on RedBubble and the importance of quality. So here’s an idea that we’ve been bouncing around for a while that I’d like to open up for feedback and discussion. When people first join RedBubble they are allocated a ‘gallery’ of a certain size (say 10 works). Works in the gallery would appear in the art | clothing | writing sections of RedBubble. As a person’s work is recognized by the community with comments and favourites the person is allocated a larger gallery (20, 50 and then 100 works). In conjunction with this idea we’d look to implement a ‘studio’. A studio is an area where people could upload as many works as they liked, but these works wouldn’t appear in the art | clothing | writing sections of the site. The studio would be part of a person’s mybubble space – and people would still be able to purchase works from the studio. We’re also looking to update the upload process to provide more guidance on what sort of work is appropriate for RedBubble. That is, RedBubble is a site for your best work – but it’s not an elite only site. Your thoughts are welcome.
Ok, ok first of all, everyone breath. Cool. Now let’s check. Melbourne experiencing four seasons in one day? Check. Shane War…
Ok, ok first of all, everyone breath. Cool. Now let’s check. Melbourne experiencing four seasons in one day? Check. Shane Warne caught out again? Check. Running my own business continuing to be challenging? Check. Darren Stones steering the good ship RB around icebergs with a confident if not somewhat alcohol induced flourish? Check. Some people on some distant journal thread arguing about freedom of speech as if RB is the most vital instrument for world peace on earth. Whilst slandering, vilifying and taunting each other with racial, overworked cliches from behind psuedo names? Check. So nothing new or unusual about today then? Un check. What the… Check this… Today in seperate orders people have bought… 1 canvas print of shoe woman plus 20 cards of shoe woman 150 cards of mother & child 25 cards of Possibility II 25 cards of the congo skipping kids & a further 26 of these 20 cards of this beauty 5 cards of these guys 5 cards of these little ones 2 cards of this chap 2 cards of this dude 2 cards of this princess 5 cards of this piece of possibility and 2 cards of this beautiful, precious boy I don’t know anything much about freedom of speech, flags, philosophy or anything like the stuff that’s been going on here this week. But I’ll tell you all ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING. These purchases will save lives. These people live on less than a dollar a day. They live in slums, gutters and sheds made of flattened alluminium cans. The love, they laugh, they dream – they dodge bullets, they run as fast as they can from rapists usually unsuccessfully, they starve and they cry. Every cent of revenue goes to them and the brave souls who live in a war zone to help them. They couldn’t give a rats about flags, and virtual slanging matches. They live on the real edge. I didn’t cry once in Africa. Right now I am sitting here drowning in tears. Maybe change is possible? Even the tiniest bit?? Thanks RB – thanks whoever. EDIT: SEEMS LIKE A GOOD TIME TO DEBUT THIS FELLA. Oh and thinking of turning some of these into Chrissy cards if anyone’s interested.
I have had a couple of requests asking me how I do my portraits. / I may not do this the right or the most effective way, but this is what…
I have had a couple of requests asking me how I do my portraits. / I may not do this the right or the most effective way, but this is what I have learnt from playing around so far, only just a newby to all of this. FOR STARTERS, BACK DROP AND LIGHTING / Sheet on the good ol’ hills clothes line for the backdrop, and the sunshine for my lighting. I havent used reflectors before, but would like to get some eventually. Other than that, I cant really say what I do, I just shoot. PHOTOSHOP / Using one of my shots ‘Blue’ as an example, using 4 steps to achieve, the eyes, the skin tone, converting to mono, and selective colour. The way I bring out the eyes is something I do for all my portraits. TO BRING OUT THE EYES / To start with, use the lasso tool, and select the eyes and mouth, then apply the unsharp mask. / To help bring out the eyes even more, use the dodge tool, set for midtones at about 7% using a small brush. *I never sharpen the entire image in portraits, just the eyes, and mouth, sometimes the hair. SKIN TONE / I use a program called ‘Neat Image’, a noise reduction program, which helps smooth out skin tones. This is the only shot i have used on a childs portrait, as I dont really think its necessary, and it can also effect the eye and mouth area, so careful not to overdo it. CONVERTING TO MONO / Layer – New Fill colour – Solid colour – set mode to color. In color picker set all values in RGB to 28. / This is the way I convert most of my images to mono, much more effective way than desaturating image. SELECTIVE COLOUR / Select the second layer and using a small soft brush eraser tool, delete the parts you want in colour. / For the edges change the opacity to about 20% to avoid a harsh line and to blend between mono and color. / Then going back to the first layer, I play around with the levels / and colour adjustment until you get the effect you want. I think thats about it. Hopefully this helps, and if anyone has any other tips, corrections, or better ways to do this, would love to learn.
I was recently asked by Kenart, how did I create the link on my front …
I was recently asked by Kenart, how did I create the link on my front page that displayed the most popular viewed images that I have in my portfolio. I thought I would share how I created this just incase anyone else would like to know…. Here are the steps: 1. I have used the ‘tag’ system which are attached to each image that is loaded into RB. I made up a special tag, in this case ‘tp5’ (can be any name but must be unique and not used anywhere else on your site) 2. Now go through all your images, any image that has over ‘100 views’ click on the ‘edit’ link and add ‘tp5’ into the tag field. (you can use any number 50, 300, etc just what you feel is a lot of views to justify the image as being popular….) 3. Click the ‘Save Changes’ button (bottom of page) 4. Now go into your ‘view your public profile’ mode (mybubble >> overview >> view your public profile – from the list of links at the top right hand-side of the page) 5. Next, click on the ‘Art’ tab. 6. You notice on the left hand side of the page a list of ‘Related tags:’ The ‘tp5’ tag may or may not be shown here…. (not a problem if it is not) 7. Click on the ‘tp5’ or any any of the tags. 8. When the new page is displayed… go to the ‘Address’ field at the very top of the page, click in the field and highlight the whole address and copy it. It will look like this: (your username will be where ‘gerrymac’ is ) http://www.redbubble.com/people/gerrymac/art/everything/tags/tp5 9. Next go back to ‘MyBubble’ 10. Click on ‘edit my profile’ 11. Scroll down to where the ‘about you’ box is put your cursor in front of the very first word and press ‘enter/return’ a couple of times. 12. Now type in the following: Short-cut to the following:- “Most popular viewed” :http://www.redbubble.com/people/gerrymac/art/everything/tags/tp5 / Note: remove the space between viewed and the colon – if you don’t have the tag ‘tp5’ shown at the end of the line change it now to ‘tp5’ 13. Next click the ‘Save Changes’ button. 14. Now goto your ‘View Public Profile’ page and click on the link…. 15. So all you have to do now is monitor your images from time to time and when an image has reached your defined number of views i.e 100 use the ‘edit’ link and just add the ‘tp5’ tag – ‘save changes’ and your image will automatically be added to your most popular viewed! Note: I have noticed that not all of my tags are displayed in the ‘Related Tags’ list when I am viewing my images in the ‘Art’ area. If I want to create a link for a tag that is not shown…. Use the URL above and just substitute the last word with the name of your tag. (obviously make sure it also is your username and not gerrymac!) Sorry if this sounds a bit long winded but once you have done a couple you will see that it is quite straight forward and you can easily put your tag works right on the front page of your site….. Good Luck!
Keep your portfolio short and sweet. Show only y…
Keep your portfolio short and sweet. Show only your absolute best work and ensure your portfolio can be flicked through in under a minute. People have really short attention spans Use tags. But only use relevant tags which describe key features of the work. Use your journal to give buyers a glimpse into your motivations, inspirations and learning. Don’t put anything negative in it (people can see it!) Remove negative or critiquing comments from under artworks- potential buyers can read them and you don’t want them to be put off Personalise your work by adding meaningful descriptions that tell your audience about how the work was created, what it was inspired by or the story behind it Think about and make a deliberate decision on how much to charge for your art
Greetings! It’s the start of a new month and I’ve just spent a few minutes looking at all the stats from last month and thought you migh…
Greetings! It’s the start of a new month and I’ve just spent a few minutes looking at all the stats from last month and thought you might be interested in a quick snapshot. We’re a chatty bunch – last month there were 627933 comments on the site. We continue to receive feedback that the positive and supportive environment at RedBubble (often expressed via comments) is one of the most valuable aspects of the site. Here’s a graph of comments since launch: To put this into context there were 144690 works added to the site in February. Groups have steadily been building momentum: We have grand plans for the groups (after we get through our current roadmap) but it pleasing to see more activity happening in the groups. The sales on the site have well and truly picked up after the post Christmas lull. RedBubble is much more than a place to sell your work – in fact we think the most important thing we think we do is facilitate the evolution of a supportive, safe and encouraging environment where your talents can be shared and you can be encouraged and inspired to delve more deeply into your creative side … but I digress (for those who want to know more about what drives us try here or here). Here’s a graph of the number of unique works sold each day on RB: . In February we sent out 2204 sales notifications. If we consider a seller as someone who was sold something before on RedBubble (there’s some folks on RB who are just interested in sharing their work) then the average sales are at $150 per year (per seller). There’s no one yet making a full time living on RB but there are quire a few folks making 1/3 to 1/2 a living – and it’s not always the people you would expect. Some of the most prolific sellers have quite a low profile on RB – and they do a lot of work off site marketing themselves. As a general note – we’re a very entrepreneurial company – if you’ve ever got a business idea that you think we can help with drop us a line. In the last week we’ve had about half a dozen companies approach us wanting to distribute some of the t-shirts on the site (for example). That’s probably enough for today … in the next couple of days I’ll be calling for volunteers to help us road test a few new products we’ve got in the pipe line. So if you’re interested please keep checking out these RB journal entries. Ciao, Peter
I’ve been reading a couple of journal entries over the last couple of days about comments and I thought it might be useful to share RedBu…
I’ve been reading a couple of journal entries over the last couple of days about comments and I thought it might be useful to share RedBubble’s perspective (well actually my perspective) on the topic. I think there are two principal benefits to comments on RedBubble: 1. It can provide the creator (photographer, writer, painter etc) with encouragement and affirmation … and we see this encouragement and affirmation as one of the central elements of the site. With positive reinforcement and encouragement we build up each other’s confidence to express our creative talents … and by extension we’re encouraged to expand and explore our creative expression. We’re big believers in the power of positive reinforcement – and we want to help bring creative expression back into the mainstream of our lives (and society more generally). 2. It can help us all appreciate and understand what we are looking at / reading. I often find my appreciation of a work deepens / changes when I read how other people have interpreted it. One of the misconceptions with comments is that they help drive up sales or ‘popularity’. When we looked at the relationship between sales and comments in September last year (see graph below) we found there was no relationship between the number of comments a person makes and the number of sales they make. I’ll try to run the numbers again over the next few weeks – but anecdotally I thinks still holds true. / (The graph shows total sales on the x-axis and to total comments made on the y-axis as at 26 Sep 07 for a selection of some of RB’s top sellers) One of the directions we’d prefer to avoid with commenting is for it to become some sort of competitive sport. In my mind I’d like the RedBubble experience to be about meaningful interactions. For example, when I’m giving comments I try to provide more than just a couple of words – I like to comment on how the work has impacted on me. I might spend five to ten minutes looking at a work before I comment. When someone comments on one of my works I don’t feel the need or requirement to go and comment on one of their works – but I often do them the courtesy of dropping by their work to check it out – and when I feel so moved I make a comment. I think at the end of the day it’s all about enjoying the site … if it ever becomes a burden (e.g. when you feel the need to respond to every single comment) something is not going right. My view is that if it’s not fun – folks will burn out. Anyway … they’re just my thoughts. I’d be interested on your responses / reflections. - Peter
I have organised my pictures into Category pages linked from the Profile page by hyperlinks. If you want to know how to do it, follow the…
I have organised my pictures into Category pages linked from the Profile page by hyperlinks. If you want to know how to do it, follow the instructions below. It is a little complicated, but like all things, with a bit of practice, it will become easier. First, let’s look at the example. This gives me another opportunity to shamelessly showcase my own work. I’m always happy to take any opportunity to stick my work under your noses. (While you are looking, just think: MUST BUY TOM’S WORK, MUST BUY TOM’S WORK, MUST BUY TOM’S WORK). First, I want you to go visit my Profile Page to see the example. Details are below, but before you go there, read on: Once you reach my Profile Page, just scroll down a little and you will see that I have a list of underlined words; Rome, Florence, Pisa, etc. These are the hyperlinks to my Category Pages. Just click on any link, for example, click on Santorini, and you will be taken to a Category Page containing small versions of my Santorini pictures. On this page, you just need to click on any of the small pictures to be taken to the real page for that picture. Just click on the following link to go to my Profile Page: Tom’s Profile Page and test out my hyperlinks. OK, if you would like to do something similar then here we go: The method is as follows: / It is best to create your links in the Notepad application on your PC. I need to explain it, because if I type it here exactly as you need to do, RedBubble will convert the link into a real hyperlink in my Journal Page. CAUTION: / If you are using a text editor to creat your links, DO NOT USE A RICH TEXT EDITOR like MSWord as the double quotes will not work in redbubble. MSWord will produce curly double quotes (like this: “ ”). You MUST have straight double-quotes (like this: ” “). Look closely, there is a difference. Category Pages make use of the Tags that you add to your pictures when you upload them. In my Santorini example, I wrote the word santorini in the Tags entry area on the Edit page when I added the artwork to RedBubble. If you have not done this already, then you can add an appropriate tag via the Edit page for each of your pictures and save the edit. Once you have the Tags in place, you can now construct the Category Page hyperlinks. Type a double-quote (“) Then the name that you want to use in the hyperlink (make sure you have no spaces). Type another double-quote (“) Then a full-colon (:) Then http://www.redbubble.com/people/ Then your name – this is the name that you are called in RedBubble (in my case, it is tomg) Then /art/everything/tags/ Then the tag you want to point to – in my example, this would be santorini It should look something like this: / ” Santorini ” : http://www.redbubble.com/people/tomg/art/everything/tags/santorini / But without the spaces. You can then repeat this for each hyperlink you want to construct. Remember to change the tag at the end (change santorini for another tag). If you want the hyperlinks to be on separate lines, then just type them that way (with a carriage return between each entry). If you want the hyperlinks to appear on the same line, then you could insert a space between each hyperlink or some other character or characters to separate the hyperlinks. I use .. To make this spacer, or something similar: After your hyperlink, insert a space Type an asterisk Type the character(s) you want to use – in my case .. Type an asterisk – the asterisks at either end just make it appear bold on the page Insert a space before the next hyperlink. Be careful about how many hyperlinks you put on one line. There is not a lot of room to work with and your hyperlinks will wrap over lines if you make the line to long. Once you have typed it all into Notepad, highlight all of the text and copy it to your mouse buffer. Go to the Edit Your Profile page and scroll down to the About you entry area. Think about where you want the hyperlinks to appear in your Profile Page and paste the copied text into this window at that point. When you are finished, scroll to the bottom of the Edit Your Profile page and press the Save Changes button. That should be it. Now you can go to your Profile page and check that it all worked. Let me know if you find this useful or indeed if you have any problems. Cheers, / Tom You can find all my How To Tutorials by clicking here.
I was very pleased that RedBubble was selected by Always On as a top 250 global company. As part o…
I was very pleased that RedBubble was selected by Always On as a top 250 global company. As part of this I got to go to Stanford in the US to talk about what we are doing. The audience was the press, venture capitalists and folks generally interested in emerging companies. I will be honest it was great fun to be back in Silicon Valley talking about what you are doing. And here is what I had to say. You will notice that we, unapologetically, will tell people about sales on RedBubble. We can do this because we only make money, when the artists on RedBubble make money. So when we celebrate our success we’re also celebrating your success. It is a core plank in our standing for artists. This is very different from sites that have advertising or subscription driven models. In this regard one of the most important things folks can do is to find ways to work together. “Sharing the Love” is a great project like this. The premise is simple a a chain of interviews designed to share the love by asking people about their creativity. Let’s see one another through new eyes and discover the source of creativity and inspiration. What makes you creative? How does your art impact your life? Who inspires you? Thanks to Lisa Weber from the US, for letting me use her story (I think I got it largely right). Thanks also to the follow people for giving us permission to use their images:Melanie McQuoid, from the UK, Micmac from Canada and Mel Brackstone from Australia. Martin (aka Pilgrim) P.S. – There was a little mini release this morning – you’ll notice a new activity event in mybubble new topics in my groups. This ‘feed’ will show new forum topics in your groups – making it a little easier for you to stay in touch with what’s happening in your groups. It’s part of a longer term strategy to make it easier for you to find activity and work on the site that’s relevant and interesting to you. You can add this feed to your ‘favourite feeds’ and it will be included in the default list you see each time you land on mybubble. There’ll be lots of new feeds popping up in the next few weeks …
Hello! Today we have released the functionality for “site-wide” challenges and we’ve opened challenges to all groups. You can see a s…
Hello! Today we have released the functionality for “site-wide” challenges and we’ve opened challenges to all groups. You can see a summary of all challenges on this page and it’s great to see such a diversity of challenges popping up. The thinking with site wide challenges is that this will allow us to create challenges outside of a group which anyone can enter. Initially we are going to be using this functionality to create the next RedBubble publication “The City”. Unlike the previous publications, In the Moment, Gaia and Compassion (the last of which is due for release relatively shortly), “The City” will be on a more streamlined process. Entries will be open for two weeks then one weeks voting and straight to publication. We will have a process to incorporate writing into the publication (to be explained over the coming week). The idea behind this streamlined process is to increase the frequency and accessibility of the publications. We will also make them available at a significantly lower price than the previous publications – to maximise the potential distribution. The purpose behind the publications is to showcase the art and writing on RedBubble. We’ll operate them on a cost recovery basis and use them to market the artists on RedBubble. Obviously for the artists and writers that are published they are a great validation of the quality of their work (and its relevance to the topic). We hope by increasing the frequency of publication to be able to showcase more of the work on RedBubble and to cover more themes. So get your work ready for “The City” – which we aiming to kick off next Thursday. Ciao for this week, Peter PS – The other odds and ends we released this week include more tweeks to the BubbleSite (including the ability to select a cover image for sets) and a whole bunch of technical stuff to keep the website up and going – we’ve had 30% growth over the last month which has strained our resources somewhat.
Yesterday, RedBubble (or more accurately RedBubble artists) got a really good feature spot on Australian TV. We had not solicited this in…
Yesterday, RedBubble (or more accurately RedBubble artists) got a really good feature spot on Australian TV. We had not solicited this in anyway but we were the presenter’s, Brent Chandler, favorite shopping site. You can see the full video by following this link here. Given copyright I have not attempted to cut and paste the video but if you want to go straight to the RedBubble section we are at the 5.30 minute mark. What I like about this spot is how well it showcases all of your work. It highlights the fact that all the work we put into “honouring the art” is not wasted (this of course starts with having no ads but extends through everything we try to do). Your works look just great. The other thing I like is that Brent Chandler sees the community aspect of the site as supporting the shopping. I know the shopping/community tension causes bursts of anxiety in the community (not to mention among staff) but when we balance these things well both are improved. Martin (aka Pilgrim)
RedBubble is an awesome community of people from around the world. The collective goodwill that I see every day on RedBubble fills me wi…
RedBubble is an awesome community of people from around the world. The collective goodwill that I see every day on RedBubble fills me with hope for humanity. And I think it’s important that we strive to recognize those folks who really make this community the supportive and fun place it is. To this end Jo is running an awards event over here to help identify the most helpful bubbler. So I encourage you to check out the nominees (below) and cast your vote. Speaking of awards, RedBubble is proud to have received two “Cool Company” awards last night. The Cool Company awards are run by Anthill Magazine / to ‘celebrate organisations that are doing things differently or defying convention to bring about positive change’. We love the guys at Anthill and what they stand for (supporting innovation, entrepreneurship and people having a go) so it was a great honour to receive an ‘X-factor’ and ‘Internet’ award last night – on behalf of the 84,515 members of RedBubble. We’ll post some photos shortly … Ciao, - Peter PS – Here’s a description of the awards: X-Factor Award: Some businesses just have something that no one can describe but almost everyone can sense. The X-Factor Award will be awarded to the company that demonstrates extraordinary levels of innovative, entrepreneurial and creative flair. The winner of this particularly subjective award will be assessed against the vision, strategy and execution of its exceptionally cool business product and/or service. Judges will apply their own beliefs and attitudes toward the concept of ‘cool’ when evaluating the X-Factor. Online Business Award: The internet has forced modern companies to re-think established business functions, from marketing and distribution to human resources and project management. This award was developed to recognise Australian businesses that are harnessing online models to achieve positive commercial outcomes. Judges will consider the novelty and/or innovative nature of the business model in the Australian marketplace.
_I recommend printing these instructions so that you have them handy for reference. It is easier than switching back and forth to this s…
I recommend printing these instructions so that you have them handy for reference. It is easier than switching back and forth to this screen. Sometimes the examples of framed photos can take up quite a bit of room on our profile pages. Here’s how you can make them smaller to take up less room. SHORT VERSION: Save the framed image to your computer and re-size it in a photo editing program. Then upload the smaller version back to RB using the “hide” feature. Once uploaded then you can right-click on the image to get the URL address in order to post the smaller version on your profile page. That was a quick-and-easy version for the more computer saavy. STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS: Below are more detailed instructions that explain how to add smaller examples (card, laminated, matted, etc.) to your profile. You can view my profile to see an example of the size I used. Click on “my bubble”. Click on “art” (on the 2nd row of links – not the top one). You should see “My Art” page – this is the page where you can edit your pics. Choose your photo and click on “Show Public View”. Click “Buy/Preview”. (Note: You won’t actually be buying, only previewing) Choose the frame of your choice, mat, color, etc. When the image of your framed photo appears on the screen, right click on the photo. A pop-up box will appear. Click on “Save Photo As”. Be sure to save as a jpeg (.jpg) file. A dialog box will appear. Choose a folder or location on your computer to save the framed pic. Remember where you save it. You are done with RedBubble for now. You can close your browser window or leave it open for later. Resize the Photo: You now will need to open the saved, framed image on your computer using a program such as Photoshop or Irfanview. You can use any software that will allow you to resize the image. For this example, I will use Irfanview. You can download this free software by going to www.irfanview.com If you are using another program, you will need to use the resize/resample feature. Open Irfanview. Open the framed image that you saved to your computer. Go to “Image” (top menu bar) – in the drop-down menu, choose “Resize/Resample” In the dialog box, you will need to change to a new size. For my own profile page, I chose approximately 175×141 pixels so that I could fit two images side-by-side. See my “profile page”: http://www.redbubble.com/people/patmonty/ for an example. These numbers are not set in stone. You may need to tweak the numbers to suit your own needs. Save your resized image in Irfanview, but be sure to remember where you have saved it. Close Irfanview and open RedBubble in your browser window. Add Smaller Image to Redbubble: Now you are going to upload the resized pic to RedBubble. IMPORTANT: Be sure to “Hide this work from others” When you upload, the resized image will be private and only can be viewed by you. Once uploaded, then right click on the private, resized image. A pop-up box will appear. Right click on the photo. In the pop-up box, click on “properties” (at the bottom of the list). The “Properties” box will pop up – highlight the address (URL) . {Click & drag will highlight the entire address} IMPORTANT: Be sure to highlight the entire address – only two lines will be visible, but if a third line of the address hidden, be sure you drag down to highlight all lines of the address. Next copy the URL address. Press Ctrl-C (press the control key and the “C” key at the same time). You won’t see anything happen on the screen, but that is fine. Click OK to close the “Properties” box. Go to “edit your profile”. Press Ctrl-V (press control key and the “V” key at the same time). You should see the URL address. Put an exclamation point ( ! ) in front of the URL address and another one at the end of the URL address. It should be similar to this example, but without the spaces: ! http://images-0.redbubble.com/img/art/cropped/size:xsmall/view:main/993259-1-yellowstone-in-winter.jpg ! Remember, NO SPACES before or after the exclamation point (!) – the beginning of the URL should look like this: !http:// The end of the URL address should look like this: winter.jpg! Now check the public view of your profile to see if the smaller-sized image appears. Now you can add the html code for your next image. Keep the html code for each image separated by one space. If you have problems or questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Have a blessed day, / Patricia CLICK HERE FOR ALL TUTORIALS BY PATRICIA
There are many reasons for using tags 1. Creating links to make it easier for your visitors to find what they want / 2. K…
There are many reasons for using tags 1. Creating links to make it easier for your visitors to find what they want / 2. Knowing what images are in what group / 3. Help your visitors find what they want faster. NOTE: It may take 20-30 minutes before you will be able to use your new tags in the search boxes. / For keeping track of what images are in what group, I’ve found that the easiest way to do this is by Tagging the image with the group name. Then making a bookmark for easy access to Group lists, This method will also show new images as long as you add the tag when you enter the image to a group. / To add tags to images Click your “art” button or Here , Then next to the image click “edit”, The tag box is below the Description box. / Tag Example: All images that I’ve submitted to the Group “Animal Kingdom” , I’ve added the following tag “animal kingdom” remember to separate the tags with a comma ( , ) / Search Example:The following will work for all users as long as you put your username, and tag in the places indicated in bold below / http://www.redbubble.com/people/yourusername/art/everything/tags/tagname / Once you get the results Bookmark it, Now the next time you try to remember what images you have in a group or have I reached the group limit you can click the bookmark and see what images are in that group and how many. / Bonus: Using the links from above to organize your images for visitors, Link an Image or text with the Links you created above. / You can see some of your links using tags by clicking your username in the top right hand side of any redbubble page (this takes you to your public profile page) / then click Art, Calendar, or T-Shirts then on the next page on the left there are text links with the tags that you have added to your work. / ( if your not sure how to do this See this post Creating Links Etc…on redbubble ) EXAMPLES: / Linked text "Birds":http://www.redbubble.com/people/yourusername/art/everything/tags/tagname / Birds / Linked image / !www.imageishere.jpg!:http://www.redbubble.com/people/yourusername/art/everything/tags/tagname / You can click the link below, It will open in redbubble it won’t give you any results but then you can then change the username in the address bar click “go” or just hit enter bookmark the result or add it to your “favorites” for future tag making . / http://www.redbubble.com/people/yourusername/art/everything/tags/tagname BONUS TIP: / Searching your tags using the search box on the 2009 Gift Guide (see image below) will result in a page of Framed Prints, T- Shirts, Calendars or Canvas Print previews of just your images…..but you will need to tag the works you want to appear with your username. / Then you will be able to customize the results a little better to show only your works…. / / Examples: from my profile…Place your mouse pointer over the link but do not click it to see what tags I used to create these links notice that my username(envelope150) is in all of them. / all my images in the framed product version / Just my Flower images in the framed product version / Only my owl images are here / To use these images on your profile or in your descriptions check out this TUTORIAL:Using Small Product Preview II How to tag your journals / writings The above method does not work for my journls or writings / Example:I have a few How-to’s in the How to Redbubble group and I’ve tagged them with”htrb” So if i create a tag like above it would be / http://www.redbubble.com/people/envelope150/art/everything/tags/htrb / unfortunately the results give me a blank page (click the link above if you don’t believe me) / Here is how we can get the results we need (want). / See Here http://www.redbubble.com/search/envelope150%20htrb/journals / If you have a lot of writings it might be a good idea to tag these for many reasons. 1. Keeping track of what groups they are in / 2. Easy reference for other bubble members / 3. sorting by topic / 4. and many more…. I will try and explain the easiest way to do this and hopefully make it as painless as possible. / I will explain how I created the above results for my How to journals / Fist and most important tag all your work with your username / Step 1. Tag the journal I’m using “htrb” / Step2. Make a link to the list of journals with this tag / To do this we will need to use the search box / Enter your username and tag “click Search” I’m going to enter envelope150 htrb / Step 4. When you get to the results page copy the address from the address bar or bookmark it. / If your tags are fresh give it a little time for redbubble servers to catch up(up to 10-min) / Now you can use the address to make links to your journals for easy reference or group tracking. / I high lighted my username and tag below in bold, When copying the results you will have the %20 where the space is suppose to be. http://www.redbubble.com/search/envelope150%20htrb/ Click Here to see the results if you like Using the method above to create links for your images adds the ability to use more than one tag / Example: If I want to make a link to my osprey(bird) images I would use the search box and enter envelope150 bird osprey click “search” and I get this / http://www.redbubble.com/search/envelope150%20birds%20osprey only my images that include the 3 tags will show up / This method would be good for the Flower Lovers to separate their Flowers images not only by type of flower but color as well. Using tags like username flowers roses red and then searching those tags to make a link to their “My Red Roses Collection”. / Hope this tutorial helps in getting you started in fully customizing or just organizing your bubble profile. Bonus Tip To make a text box appear when someone hovers over a link add text in (these) like below "Landscapes(View my Landscape Collection)":http://www.redbubble.com/people/yourusername/art/everything/tags/tagname / See how it works below just place your mouse pointer on the link but do not click it / Landscapes / Happy Bubbling / Dan / Get the Firefox and Internet Explorer Tool bar for Redbubble Here / See more info See all my How-to’s Here Includes “Framed image on Bubblesite home page”, “Adding Calendars to your bubblesite”, “feedjit Live Traffic Feed”, “Using tags on Redbubble”, “Add a visitor counter to your bubblesite or profile page” and More © D R Moore This written work cannot be reproduced or posted on the web without my written permission
Have you ever wondered how people add samples of stuff like this? !http://images-3.redbubble.net/img/art/border:blackwithdetail/produc…
Have you ever wondered how people add samples of stuff like this? Want to do the same? Good! How well you present your work is a measure of the pride it holds for you and is a key driver of sales and the appreciation and interest of others. Due to popular demand, the aim of this Guide is to show how easy it is to insert artwork into a Comment, a Description, and even a Journal. Anywhere on RB you can write stuff, basically, you can include a pretty pitcha. I have written this guide in plain language, not IT guru nerds language. If you already know how to do this, please leave now. First, some key points: You can only show samples of artwork which have been already uploaded onto RB. You do not have to publicly show any artwork just to get a sample of it. You can remove an artwork from RB and this will not affect any sample of it you have already posted on RB elsewhere. When I say below do not leave a space between typed characters I really do mean do not leave a space. This is because you will be typing an instruction to the computer to go and grab the image and insert it in a specific spot and the computer can’t read spaces like we can. Ever noticed those Group Bubblemails with all that funny writing, like http: and .jpg! ? Those are examples of attempts to show samples done wrong. Usually it’s because they left a space! The point is: always check before you click Save or Reply and especially afterwards! (Memo to self: remember to check this posting!) Finally, this guide may seem long, but as Morgan Freeman said in Deep Impact, “It only seems that way.” Once you get the hang of it, creating samples will take mere seconds. Righto, here we go … mouses at the ready? Step One Upload the image you want to show a sample of, if you have not already done so. If the image you want to make a sample of is already on RB, go to Step Two but make sure the image is available for sale. If it isn’t, go into Edit and follow this step. When you upload the image (or Edit the upload), make sure you select Make this work available for purchase as a … and tick all the boxes. It doesn’t really matter if the image is too small for a poster. Just tick ‘em all and find out. As long as the image is at least big enough for a card, you can create a sample of the artwork in a card form. If the image is too small even for a card you cannot create a sample and you will have to go back and increase the size of the image and try again (hmmm, could be another tutorial there). Note: If you are uploading an image for the sole purpose of showing a sample of it, do not bother writing a Description or ticking any of the Group boxes, and make sure you tick Hide this work from others. Step Two Go to the Public view page for the artwork you wish to create a sample of. Pretend you are buying the artwork. Click the buy/preview icon to the right of the image because you will be creating your sample from one of the displayed examples of each purchase option. Step Three Decide which of the product options you want to use as a sample. Try a few different ones to see which is the one which really shows off the work. If the image size only allows for Small of anything, your best option usually is to choose a laminated print over a framed print because the actual visual size of the artwork in the framed print is generally too small. Step Four Once you’ve decided upon the type and specifications for the sample, Right Click once while holding the mouse over the image. A list of options should have appeared. At the very bottom of this list is the word Properties. Move the mouse over Properties and Left Click once. A new window should have opened. Halfway down the list of properties you will see Address: with the acronym URL immediately under it. This is the place on the RB big computer (server) where the pitcha of your sample product is stored – it’s address. (OK, all you tech heads are now cringing at my howler, but it’s ok, okaay :)) You need to copy the address and paste it (Step Five) in the exact place you want it to be shown. To copy the URL, hold the mouse over the start of the address, just to the left of the term http. When I say “just to the left” I mean right up against the “h” of http. The mouse needs to change from an arrow to a symbol which looks like a capital i in traditional font (Times New Roman). When that happens and with the mouse still right on that “h”, press and hold the Left mouse button and then, while still holding down the left mouse button, move the mouse straight down vertically. The address should now be highlighted. Keep moving down until the end of the address is within the highlighted area. The end of the address is always .jpg and you will always need to scroll down one line before you reach it. Now let go of the left mouse button, leaving the address highlighted. Keeping the mouse over the highlighted area, Right click once. Two options will appear. Select Copy (left mouse button). Now click on the Cancel icon at the bottom of the Properties window. This is just to close it. Step Five – Wallah! Now go back to where you want to show the sample. Let’s assume you are making a comment on a brilliant piece of artwork and you wanted to show a sample of it framed or laminated as part of your comment (the artist will love you for it!) All you need to do is Paste the address of the sample where in your comment you want the sample to appear, eg at the end. To do this, firstly Left click on that space so that the cursor is blinking. Now Right click once and select Paste. The address you copied in Step Four should now appear as part of your comment. (But it isn’t really). It must start with http and it must end with .jpg. If it doesn’t you need to delete what you just pasted and go back and re-copy the address and re-paste it. You are allowed to swear while doing so. Step Six – Really Important Before you hit the Reply button, you need to add the symbol that tells the computer to go get the pitcha. You must type this symbol once at the start of the address and once at the end of the address without leaving a space between the typed characters. The symbol is the exclamation mark. So, make sure the start of the address looks like this – !http – and the end of the address looks like this – .jpg! Now you can hit the Reply button. Step Seven – Really Really Important Check to make sure the linking worked. The address should have been replaced by the pitcha. But wait…there’s more You can create a sample of an image in its own Description in exactly the same way as I have described above. I normally do this by uploading the artwork, making it available to purchase as … whatever, but hiding it from public view. Then I simply go into the buy/preview page, grab the address of the sample, then paste it into the Description while still in Edit mode, then click on *Allow anyone to view this work before saving. Hope this guide answers a few questions for you! If so, you might like to also check out my guides to creating clickable images and creating links Any problems feel free to either bmail me or email me at peter_h111@msn.com. If you already know how to do all the above, please don’t feel the need to leave a comment, thanks. :)
I typed all this out for Ben, who asked for some help, since he doesn’t live near any beach, and didn’t want to waste his time when he fi…
I typed all this out for Ben, who asked for some help, since he doesn’t live near any beach, and didn’t want to waste his time when he finally made the long trek. Thought others might appreciate the info. I use my Canon 5D with Lee ND grads, mostly the darkest ones, for sunrise. I’ve never tried to shoot the ocean much after an hour or so after sunrise, and not been all that successful, unless it’s a cloudy day. You’ll need a tripod and cable release. The tripod just needs to be stable, and the cable release working. Then I set my camera on AV and start shooting with aperture at around f/8 or so while it’s dark, and closing it down as the light gets stronger, with ISO mostly 50….. There’s no formula I use, other than using AEB, to see if I can snag one that gets the sky right, then I look for the one with the right wave patterns. Sometimes I combine the two, sometimes I run them through photomatix. Sometimes they’re perfect. I use my 16-35mm nearly ALL the time when shooting seascapes, very rarely I’ve used the 70-200, and that’s only if there’s a detail that’s worth getting, like the shipwreck or some waterfalls over rocks from the surf…. Here the light is generally best till around 20mins after the sun goes down, or 30 mins before the sun comes up. If you have clouds, wait longer after sunset….you’ll probably get better colours. If you have clouds in the morning, you might be able to shoot longer after the sun comes up too, especially if the light breaks through…. The IR filter can come in handy once the light is stronger….here in Qld we have strong light for 12 hours a day or more, even in winter….IR is a blessing! I’ve never used a yellow filter….and wide angle with polarisers just don’t give good results, imho. Just keep checking your screen and moving around for different viewpoints. Everything will depend on how much water movement you prefer. This is a case of personal taste, and with practise you will work that out. Setting your camera on AV and using AEB will give you the three different exposures to see which works best, then you just adjust your aperture to slow it down, or speed it up….or add more filters…the darker it is, the longer the exposure…. Be careful of getting too close to the waves, and watch out for slippery rocks, they can be extremely dangerous! Here the tide surges more dangerously an hour before high tide. Make sure of tide times before you go, and be certain you have a way to escape from the beach if the tide is coming up….Rogue waves can, and do cause problems….try to go with someone who has local knowledge…. Wash your tripod off when you leave the beach, and again when you get home. Other than that, have fun!
Ragman has put together some journals covering some basics of doing it right when it comes to ar…
Ragman has put together some journals covering some basics of doing it right when it comes to art/photography. Here are some of the excerpts from his up-coming book. Very worthwhile reading, for everyone, IMHO! I’ll add this to my list of handy tips and tricks, so it’s easy to find from my profile page. Concept / Context / Content / Constructs / Composition / Capture / Chance / Canvas / Camera and Computer / Creative Connection
A few people have asked so I thought what the heck…I’ll make a tutorial about it. Lemme know what you think… Did I just write t…
A few people have asked so I thought what the heck…I’ll make a tutorial about it. Lemme know what you think… Did I just write the word heck??
Depth of field (DOF) refers to that part of a photograph that appears to be in focus. It exists within a plane perpendicular to the ax…
Depth of field (DOF) refers to that part of a photograph that appears to be in focus. It exists within a plane perpendicular to the axis of the cameras viewpoint. The photographer chooses which affect of depth of field to choose. Narrow DOF tends to separate the subject from an out of focus background, in this image notice how a line of sharpness moves through this photograph of a tray of sewing bobbins. / / While greater DOF incorporates the background as an essential element in the photo. Increasing the light allowes for a stopped down aperture and a greater depth of field. / / A photographer has three tools to manage the DOF, choice of lens, aperture and focal point. The focal length of a lens affects one element of the DOF available from that lens. Generally speaking the shorter the focal length of the lens, the greater the DOF. When set at the same aperture and focal point a longer lens will always have a shallower DOF then a wide angle lens will. A focus point 2 feet from the camera will have less DOF than a focus point of 10 or 100 feet. Aperture selection is the third tool. When a lens is stopped down to, let’s say f22 it will always have greater DOF then if shot wide open at f2.8. / An example of a depth of field chart illustrates the concepts of managing DOF. The cells give two distances the first is the closest distance to the camera that the subject will be in acceptable focus. The later number is the furthest distance from the camera that the subject will be in acceptable focus. / / Hyperfocal distance is a focus point that will give the greatest range of DOF keeping acceptable focus only to infinity but not beyond. / Example / 24mm lens aperture of f11, focused to 9’ gives a DOF of 4’4”/infinity / 200mm lens aperture of f11, focused to 550’ gives a depth of field of 282’6”/infinity / So as the chart points out if you were shooting with a 200mm lens at f11 and the main subject is 290’ from the camera focusing on infinity would put the prime subject out of focus. But focusing to 550’ moves your DOF forward so the subject and background will be sharply focused. / So have fun and happy shooting-Larry “Revisiting On Depth of Field” was featured in TUTORIALS 11/05/09
Here are instructions for the T-Shirt. **Update / You need a transparent background – use these programs to make the transparent ba…
Here are instructions for the T-Shirt. **Update / You need a transparent background – use these programs to make the transparent background. / _________ / You can use any graphics software that supports PNG files. We recommend Adobe Photoshop (which costs a bit of cash) or http://www.gimp.org/ / (which is free!) Other popular graphics programs which support the PNG format include Photoshop Elements, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Photo-Paint, Inkscape (another free one), Paint Shop Pro, Pixel image editor, Paint.NET and Xara. / _________ / I USE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENT 7 (aka-PSE-7) To make the transparent background. 1- open the image you want to make transparent. 2- by default, Elements creates a single layer for an image called Background layer. In layers palette, double-click the background layer, and change its name in the Name field to something like “Regular Layer”, then click OK. 3-Using any combination of selection tools (I used the QUICK SELECTION tool) you choose, select the part of the image that you want to be transparent. 4-Choose Edit-Delete to remove those selected parts of the image. A checkered-board pattern fills those areas, indicating they’re now transparent. 5-Choose File-Save for Web to open the Save for Web dialog. 6-Select any one of the GIF formats from the preset drop-down menu. 7-If it’s not already selected, click to select the Transparency check box. / The image in the optimized preview area will be displayed against a transparency grid pattern. There are other steps after this, but they are about putting in a color to replace what you removed. You don’t want that for your transparent background. NOW get the RB template and load you picture. / _________ 1-Go to your T-shirt section and download the RB’ template on your computer. 2-Open the template and CTRL + ALT + DEL to delete all the text on the template. 3-File and import your picture and place it on the template. Remember not to put it too high as otherwise the picture will be stuck on top of the tee. 4-Save as PNG (it should already be a PNG file). (I make mine a PNG before I start and also I make the size 2400×3200 for the template requirements) 5-Upload it on RB and you’re all set. You can click on “file” and choose “import” your image on the template. The template has the right size, but your iimage can be adjusted to the size you want. Bear in mind that it’s only vertical. / _________ / I use photoshop to put my picture in the template. / I use edit image size in photoshop and set it at the 2400×3200px, then save as PNG. / I then pull up the template, make sure it is clear and then bring up my picture. I copy and paste it to template. Sometimes you will need to use the size tool and squeeze the picture to fit in the template. Once there, size it to template space. / Save and your done, make sure it is a PNG
The Art/T-Shirt Club! Want your art sold? We all feel your pain but in these harder times w…
The Art/T-Shirt Club! Want your art sold? We all feel your pain but in these harder times we have to come together! So this is the best way we can do just that… / To join us in getting your art sold … You simply need to make a purchase, whether it’s a Card, T-Shirt or Wall-Art from anyone on Redbubble but after the first artist makes a purchase then all the following artists need to buy something from one of the artists who have made a purchase below! / You can also join by listing what you’ve bought in the past but for those / who haven’t bought anything please consider when you have the money to buy something from someone who has posted or buy something that they post. This way everyone will / get something sold! This is how I see it… / We shop in stores like Wal-Mart and the mall which are all run by millionaires and raise prices while under paying most of their workers. / So why always give your money to them when you can spend with the truly / creative people like on RB? You can post a comment to this but to join post something that you purchased from anyone on Redbubble but if someone’s posted already shop in their gallery and join our movement! Thanks to everyone who makes RB a great website to display and sell / on! Currently there are no purchases of someone who posted here, why not be the first? When you leave this message without favoriting it….Let the force be with you…because you’re on your own baby! :)
Because if you do, let me know in this journal…
Because if you do, let me know in this journal, as I’d love to promote you around the web on such sites as twitter, tumblr, del.icio.us and stumble. If you don’t have one and you’d like one, then go here to get yours. If you’d like to promote other artists on social networking sites, you might want to consider joining the Promote Each Other Group. :)
A few weeks ago a lady from a designer-compagny asked me if she could design a book for me on Blurb. / I asked her to make a few changes a…
A few weeks ago a lady from a designer-compagny asked me if she could design a book for me on Blurb. / I asked her to make a few changes and now my book is ready! / Here is the link, I hope you will let me know what you think! / The Rat Pack I was very happy with it myself; / Thanks for viewing, Ellen. I wanted to thank Kimberly Palmer for her help with the link. / I am not so technical, and she is always willing to help me :)
We have some excellent and exciting news. And it’s about photobooks. “What’s that? Are you finally doing photobooks? Have our pleas been heard?” I only wish I could sit here typing such epic news, but due to reality never quite matching the dreams we have in our heads, we still consider photobooks to be a product a little further in our future. It will happen one day, but that day is not today. And probably not tomorrow. But we know you want them, and we don’t want to let you down. So, with Christmas on the horizon (is it me or is it always on the horizon?) we set out to find the bestest and friendliest photobook company we could in order to bring you this excellent offer. Blurb admirably reached our high product standards and agreed to work with us to bring you free shipping on any of their products until midnight 24 November (New York time). To receive the free shipping offer use the following codes during the Blurb checkout process: / - For AUD: RedBubble-09 / - For EUR: RedBubble-094 / - For GBP: RedBubble-093 / - For USD: RedBubble-092 You can take it from us, the books are of the highest quality, whether you whip up a fine photographic hardback with a dustwrapper or just a simple perfect bound collection of your short stories, you won’t be disappointed at their attention to detail. To become a Blurbarian, is much like becoming a Bubbler, you sign up for free and then can either download their BookSmart software to create your photobook, or use any editing software you already have to upload a PDF. They really couldn’t have made it much simpler or more efficient. Who doesn’t want to call themselves a Blurbarian Bubbler eh? / Are you looking for smallprint? Well it’s here: The Free Shipping offer only applies to standard economy shipping, not their private jet ‘get it before you’ve made it’ service, which is probably fair enough. And the free shipping code can be used once per customer – so make the order count!
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