Here's a Question for Heather!

[dewstream]

I was just wondering...

When you put litters of yours up for adoption, they all are in the SAME EXACT POSE. I was wondering how you do it! And they all look so dreamy and unreal. How do you do that, too?

...Dewy

[{~*LauraFrog*~}]

Well I can do exactly the same thing, so I might as well tell you! Take the pet out on its own, away from all toyz and distractions. Pick it up and face it to the side so its legs line up and you can only see the ones on the side that is visible. This takes practice, you'll know when you have it right. When the pet is lined up and standing, pat it to make it calm. Then start taking pictures. Sometimes they pose right away, but most take some work. Some bury their head in their arms. Some run around the screen, if yours do just pick them up and move them. They may even go into a grotesque position with their ears blown out and their chest too far puffed up, and some of the joints in their back legs facing the wrong way. It looks awful, but it doesnt' mean the pet isn't able to pose. When you get a good pose, save pic. A hint: If the pet has unusual markings, try to pose it on the side that the markings are most visible from. Sometimes it's best to give up a good pose so people can see its markings, too.
As for the dreamy look: It's graphic editing. If you can't do that, stop reading now.
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Still with me? Righto. To make the petz look dreamy, open the pic in Paint. Zoom in on the face. Use the select colour tool (it looks like an eyedropper) to select the colour of the eyelid, then CAREFULLY use the pencil to make the eyelids look dreamy. 'Sad' eyelids make the pet look dreamy when this is finished. They should start on the outside at about halfway down, and finish at the other side near the top. Make sure they are solid colour. Don't change their colour, that's cheating. LOL. Now save the pic. If you have Paint Shop Pro, open it and use the Retouch tool. Select a light point, such as right above the head, and imagine a light bulb shining right there. THink about what areas of the pet would have highlights (lighter coloured), and which would be in shadow, if it were solid and three dimensional. Use Lighten RGB and Darken RGB to make this so. Now it looks 'unreal'. You can only do this if you have a steady hand on a mouse and know what you're doing with Paint Shop Pro. I have PSP 5 and I think the disk was accidentally damaged by the poor cave man who tried to eat it for dinner once. It's really outdated, so maybe Heather does something else to the pic as well. I don't know, because I haven't had access to a friend's computer, an unedited picture of a tamsin, and Paint Shop Pro 8 at all so I havent' experiminted with new controls.

[Heather@Amnezia]

Oooh Laura took the words right out of my mouth! It can get frustrating... I had one pup take nearly an hour just to pose!

As for making them look dreamy, try some of the PSP tutorials that I posted up in the PSP part of this forum.

Sorry I didn't answer sooner, work is keeping me too busy!

[dewstream]

Thanks guys! That helps! I must go try!