Before Taubman gets to use the photos she works on improving them (cropping, enhancing brightness, etc.) with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 (now available in version 3).
"A great trick with faded photographs is to adjust the levels (CTRL-L) in PSE and pull the black and white arrows back towards the centre of the histogram," explains Taubman. Click here for an example of fixing faded photos.
For layouts, and collages, Jane has discovered FotoFusion and raves about how fast it is. The journaling is an integral part of her layouts. Her tip for those starting out in family histories: "First ask the oldest living relative about his or her life, don't push them if they say they don't remember, just discuss what you have found out from your record office research and let them talk about what they want."
Finally, the backgrounds and embellishments came from a kit from Digital Scrapbook Place The photo corners came from the Scraps of Style-Heritage Kit. The lettering, background and ribbon are all from "A Time For Everyone" aka Grungy Diamonds, which is in the Freebies section of the site. But to download you need to sign up (which is free).
Jane Taubman's ultimate goal is to produce a 16 X 12” book along with a few mini versions (8 X 6”) which will be printed by My Publisher. She is well on her way to her publishing goal. Thanks for sharing.
