By Karen Glass

One of the guidelines for evaluating the composition of a photograph is known as the Rule of Thirds. Simply put, this “rule” proposes that you divide a photograph into nine equal parts by drawing (or imagining) two vertical lines and two horizontal lines equally spaced over the image. Think of a tic-tac-toe board or the Brady Bunch family’s layout in the show’s opening credits.

The Rule of Thirds suggests that important elements of a photograph should cross these grid lines or the intersections of these lines. This creates a more balanced photograph that allows the viewer to interact with it more organically. And studies have shown that most people’s eyes go to one of the intersection points naturally rather than the center of the shot. You’ll notice that most professional photographers apply this guideline when setting up their shot composition to create more compelling images with greater visual tension and energy.

This image of a deer in a field (from Shutterstock contributor Todd Klassy) is a perfect example of the Rule of Thirds in action.

That’s all well and good for photographers. But what does it mean for designers and other creative professionals who download images from Shutterstock?
Continue reading ‘The Rule of Thirds: A Photography Tip for Designers’ »

By Michael Vincent Manalo

Use Photoshop to create a surreal “living” room with blue-sky walls, a turbulent sea floor, and an antique clock sun.

You can follow this tutorial using Shutterstock Images and Photoshop Creative Suite (any version). This is an intermediate-level tutorial, so you should have some familiarity with Photoshop functions such as Transform and Layer Opacity. Let’s get started! Continue reading ‘Photoshop Tutorial: How To Create A Digital Diorama “Living Room”’ »

A tutorial by Art Director and founder of Pureworks, Victoria Jordan

This tutorial will be useful to anyone who works with both Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator and occasionally needs to share images between the two programs. Continue reading ‘Photoshop Tip: Let Vectors Blossom In Your Workflow’ »

Visualizing an idea has never been easier than with Shutterstock lightboxes. They allow you to explore the massive Shutterstock library and hang onto images you might want to download later.

Click to see an example of a lightbox.

All you need is a Shutterstock login and you’re ready to browse and build a lightbox. Here’s how to get started:

1. Search for images: Enter the search term(s) that describe(s) the image or concept you’re looking for.
2. Add an image to a lightbox: Click  located at the bottom left of the image (from the search results page or the detail page).
3. Choose “new lightbox” from the drop-down menu (or choose an existing one)
4. Name your lightbox: Enter a name that describes the images you’re saving.
5. Continue searching for more images and add them to the lightbox you’ve created.

It’s that simple! And to really enhance your lightbox, here are a few extra tips:

• Focus on a theme or topic – sidetracking is great, just add those images to separate lightboxes!
• Expand your search terms as you browse, utilizing keywords and similar images listed on the detail pages of images you find.
• Be picky about which images you add — make sure they properly illustrate your topic.
• Share your lightbox: you can click “send” at the top of the lightbox to email it to yourself or a friend, or by clicking “share” and typing in another Shutterstock user’s name. You can also email yourself your lightbox link and share it publicly via Facebook or Twitter.
• If you are using Shutterstock for iPad, you can also share your lightbox via Email, Facebook or Twitter by clicking the “connect” button on the top right of an image detail page or from your lightbox landing page.

Have fun exploring and, if you have any questions about lightboxes, or anything else on Shutterstock, feel free to reach out to support@shutterstock.com. And, if you’d like to share a lightbox that you’re particularly proud of, tweet it to @Shutterstock and we might just share it with the community!

By Art Director and founder of Pure Works Studio, Victoria Jordan

When you have a great stock photo, you want to make sure that the quality remains high no matter where it appears. In this tutorial, we’ll go through the requirements for both print and web formats using this wonderful photo from Shutterstock contributor Mayer George Vladimirovich.

Continue reading ‘Photoshop Tutorial: Preparing an Image for Web vs. Print’ »

By Shutterstock Contributor Karl Rosencrants

Let’s take a look at how to make any photograph look like a relic of the past using digital tools available to us in Adobe Photoshop. This demo uses functions found in all recent versions of Photoshop, and should be appropriate to a beginner or intermediate-level user.

Let’s start with this photo, Shutterstock image 75811891, by Konrad Bak. Continue reading ‘Travel Through Time: How to Age a Picture in Photoshop’ »

Mystified by the mask tool? Our quick tutorial shows how to use it to make a cool cutout type effect.

First, the basics: A mask is a grayscale, pixel image that’s attached to a layer in Photoshop. The mask tells Photoshop how much of the layer to display. White pixels on a mask will display at 100%, black pixels at 0%, and grayscale pixels at a transparency.

To show how it works, we’re going to start with Shutterstock image 77850535, by AISPIX. Suppose we want to apply a screen of type between this laughing man and the wall behind him, with the type fading away as it rises toward the top of the image.
Continue reading ‘Photoshop Tip: Using Masks To Create a Cutout Effect’ »

By Shutterstock Contributor Karl Rosencrants

When creating new illustrations, brainstorming often happens by sketching using paper and pencil. Sometimes it can be hard to transfer those sketch ideas into vector art. Here I will outline two different ways to turn your sketches into vector art.

Continue reading ‘Adobe Illustrator Tip: Turning Your Sketches into Vector Art’ »

By Shutterstock contributor Karl Rosencrants

Photoshop is known for its pixel editing capabilities, but that isn’t all it can do. It also has the ability to create and work with vector art. Working with vectors has advantages: It can help you create crisp graphics with great precision. Photoshop’s main vector tool is the Pen Tool.

Some beginners are intimidated by the Pen Tool because they don’t understand how it works. It is an incredibly powerful tool once you understand the basics. The Pen Tool works exactly the same in Illustrator as it does in Photoshop, so once you learn it in one program, you’ll be proficient in the other!

The Pen Tool works by using a series of Anchor Points, Paths and Direction Points to create complex paths in Photoshop. In this tutorial, we will use the Shape Layer option so that we can easily see the shape we are creating.
Continue reading ‘Mastering the Pen tool in Photoshop’ »

By Shutterstock contributor Karl Rosencrants

One of the biggest time-savers in Adobe Photoshop is the Actions Palette. If you invest a few minutes figuring it out, it will pay you back every time you use it to speed up a repetitive task. This basic-level tutorial will help you understand the Actions Palette.

Continue reading ‘Photoshop Tip: The Actions Palette Explained’ »