Heal Thyself

Introduction

Hello readers! Welcome back to another blog post for my COM 1113 class! For this week, I will be continuing my meme editing process, with a focus on utilizing the healing, cloning, and patch tools! We’ve already taken a behind the scenes look into how I crafted my concept and executed a rough draft of my idea, and now it’s time to refine some of those skills using Adobe Photoshop. In this post, I will display both a before and after image of my meme draft, while also explaining some of the trials & tribulations, balanced with some of my thoughts and experiences during this vital part of the meme-making process. I hope my learning experience can be useful to any of my fellow Photoshop learners!

Planning & Execution

Coming into this part of the editing process, I struggled with finding additional images/inspirations of what to add to my meme to both demonstrate my editing skills and contribute to the overall vibe of the meme. However, there were a few things I knew I wanted to make better first. To begin, my letters and words, that are undeniably quintessential to the meme itself, need to stand out and pop off the image more. To do that, I clicked on the layer that had the text on it, and went back into the “stroke” edit I had made on that layer. From there, I moved the sizing of the black drop shadow from 1.5 to 3 pixels. I might go back and readjust this later, but I think this edit was both necessary and proved to be effective.  

Additionally, I wanted to remove the watermark of the artist who created the background of my meme, as since I do not plan on selling or sharing this image beyond this class and this blog, copyright and lawsuits should not be an issue (hopefully: Spongebob please don't sue me). Removing this signature is for educational and experimental purposes only. Now that my future lawsuit is settled, I would like to elaborate on how I removed this signature. To do this, I used a collaboration of both the cloning stamp tool and the healing brush tool. When using the clone stamp tool, the first thing I had to do was make sure the sample was on “all layers,” given that this edit is something I wanted to occur on my multi-layered meme. I then held down the alt/option key to select the area I wish to clone in order to “load my paintbrush” so that Adobe knows what it is I am trying to clone. (Kabili, 2017) I then moved the cursor over the designated area, getting rid of the signature and resetting my sample area to produce the best results. I then used the healing tool as a touch up for any discolored areas that seemed out of place. 

Moving forward, I then decided, with the assistance of my professor, to add some money bags into the sky to help centralize my theme. In doing this, I consequently decided to remove the flower shapes in the sky so the sky did not look too busy with both in the background. After all, the background isn’t meant to be more distracting than the foreground. I first cleared out the flowers by using the healing brush tool. Similar to the cloning method, Photoshop used the sampled space chosen to “blend the copied content to the area selected in the sample.” (Kabili, 2017) Doing this helps maintain the realistic integrity of the image, and keeps it from looking artificially cut, or for lack of better words, photoshopped. While doing this, I had to make sure that this background copy I was healing on (because healing on the original background is DESTRUCTIVE!) was located under the rainbow and Nick, so that it wouldn’t lay over those two images. I also toggled the rainbow off to be able to see my work better. Then, I made the money bag image to remove the background, and then converted the image to a smart image. I repeated this step a couple times to add many different money bags in all different sizes. I did my best to place them randomly throughout the sky, also altering the opacity to help keep it seemingly in the background. 

Final Thoughts

When concluding with my thoughts, it is also important to note that all of these edits I made were created in different layers, and stored in appropriate folders. Maintaining a clean workspace definitely helps keep me less stressed, and I know will help me with the efficiency of my work in the long run. I did not face many issues in this healing process: the only complaint I would probably have is my difficulty in removing the sky flowers that were overlaid/overlapping with the purple rocks. These took up most of my time, as I struggled with using/deciphering between the efficacy of the clone tool or the select healing tool. Ultimately, I think it turned out as expected, and I’m happier with my project now than I was last week, even when I was stumped on what to add. In fact, I am considering for the final project maybe adding some wings to the money bags for the exaggerated comedic effect, and/or getting rid of a few of the money bags and putting a money/cash explosion protruding from behind Nick. As for the work I have done this week on my meme project, I am very proud of the progress I have made, and I can’t wait to see how this will turn out in the end. I hope you took away something useful today, and I hope, in case you forgot, Nick Miller's questionable view on the trustworthiness of banks is something that should keep us all up at night! 

Before Healing

After Healing