Okay, this "I am…" thing is really hard…

I know you want to just shoot and edit whatever you'd like but now you have a real job with a real client.  If you ARE having trouble with the assignment, this is the post for you.  Here are some specifics that might help.  If all else fails, ask for help and we can edit your images together.  I'm going to use an example from last year to walk you through what you need to do and think about when shooting your own "I am" images.

1.  You must set up the shot and have great lighting…your image will live or die with the settings you choose so think about time of day, using lights and/or reflectors, what is the background you've chosen - does it make sense?

This is the final image…

This is what we started with…

2.  Shoot wider than you normally would.  You will be cropping after the shoot and you need to leave PLENTY of space around your image.  Your final image MUST be 31 x 37".  Your LIVE area (what the viewer will see on the front of the canvas) will be 22.5 x 28.5".  Your final resolution must be 300.

3. Open your image in Photoshop.  The image size needs to be not smaller than 31 x 37 - your image will more than likely be larger one direction or the other.  If you make the width 31, the height might end up being 45.  You will crop later.

Select the rectangle tool

Drag the rectangle to the approximate size you want - it will appear as a new layer

Command T will select the rectangle so you can make the size 22.5 x 28.5"
…measure the edge against the ruler  to double check.

Now that you know you have enough space for the final crop and text, you can make the image correct for the canvas to be printed.

4.  Create a new file to the final size of 31 x 37" at a resolution of 300.

5.  Drag your image to the new file and position it where you like - 

6.  Create another rectangle to make sure the text fits correctly.  Your 22.5 x 28.5 rectangle MUST be centered.  You CANNOT move it around to make the crop work - that should be done when you sized the original image.

 7.  Create a new layer and select the Horizontal Text Tool.  You will be using Museo 500 - the font size I used for this image was 150 pt but yours might be larger.  You can find this font on the school computers - you probably don't have it on your personal laptop.

8.  Type in your "I am…" making certain it is within the rectangle you created earlier.  You can create a guide line to help you center it.  You have a few color options.  NDB blue, yellow/gold, or white.

Done!  Save the file as a psd in case you need to make changes, but you will be sending me the file as a jpeg.

Nicely done!