This is my first post after finding out about this blog at Allison and Jeff Rodgers seminar at Imaging. I am searching for an answer to a question that is a result of that seminar. The virtual comp idea......is there some place I can get an explanation of how to do that? I have a pediatric office that I am decorating with my portraits and I need to do this so we can see the scale of how our cluster of canvas's is going to fit on the wall. Please help asap! Thanks.
To create a virtual comp, it helps to have basic knowledge of Photoshop. To be exact in this process requires time. But if you have measurements and a photo of the wall space, you can place the prints and still get a good idea of what they will look like.
1 - Open your image of the wall. Know how much space you have to work with. Set vertical and horizontal guides to these marks.
2 - Grab your crop tool from the toolbar. Make sure all the fields are empty. Now crop the image according to these guides.
3 - Click IMAGE > IMAGE SIZE. Make sure the ONLY box in the bottom left that's checked is "Constrain Proportions". Now ONLY type in the width. Look at the what "Resolution" the image is it. Write it down. Click OK. Now your image should only be the usable wall space and it should be set to the correct dimensions.
4 - If you have the images laid out as they will appear on the wall in a PSD file already, open it. If not, you should create the layout. (The photos MUST be on a separate layer from the background or you'll have a white block when you place the images.)
5 - With the collage selected, go to IMAGE > IMAGE SIZE. This time make sure "Constrain Proportions" AND "Resample Image" are checked. Change the "Resolution" to the same number you wrote down in step 3. Click OK.
6 - Now with only the images in the collage selected, drag them to the wall image. Check the measurements with the rulers on the top and bottom of the window to make sure they're right. If not, make sure you didn't miss any steps.
7 - With your WALL IMAGE still selected look at your History window. If your History window isn't open, go to WINDOW > HISTORY and open it. At the very top is the file name. Clicking this will take you back to what the file looked like when you first opened it. Click the file name.
8 - Now that it's reverted back to the original, drag the images from your collage window over to it. They should still be to scale. Position them as desired. If the measurements seem off, make sure you didn't miss a step.
I'm sure there are some complex algorithms that could get you more precise results, but these steps have worked for me just fine.
Karla,
An easy way to do it would be to use software like ProSelect - It is an awesome selling tool. (Jeff and Allison got me hooked on it). You can import a photo of the clients room, calibrate it to scale and then change the image size in front of the client. There is a free trial if you want try before you before. www.timeexposure.com I think it is worth the investment though. If not, Nick's suggestion would be a great solution :)
Haha...look at me giving all these Photoshop steps. I completely forgot about ProSelect. If you're not familiar with Photoshop then ProSelect may be better. But honestly, I have those above steps down. So it takes me less than a minute to place a wall now. There are many roads that lead to virtual comps. Just figure out which one suits you best :)
Karla,
Not sure if you are using Simply Canvas clusters or not, but there are ProSelect templates for Simply Canvas clusters. Details here http://tinyurl.com/yfm448x
Hey!
Proselect is great and we do use it for our Ordering Appointments. I know you can put home images in it with groupings, but the ability to move those groupings around and change their sizes I'm not sure about. PS is just easier for us but templates for ProSelect are great. Keep in mind if you're selling these groupings you still need to consider how your clients will hang these.
We use WHCC for all of our wraps!
A:)