I have just signed up for SmugMug and my plan is to incorporate a signature on my photos in the file and then send purchasers a certificate of authenticity for the photo after the sale. I have heard there is a way using my Ipad and stylus to create an image with just my signature and no background that I can bring into Photoshop. Anyone know how to do this and what app I need on the IPad?
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Hi Alison: To clarify, are you simply creating a sig on the web-based photo, or are you planning on creating a digital signature on the photo that the buyer receives?
I'm planning to create a digital signature on the photo that the buyer receives.
I posted this on artshowforums.com, but here it is anyway:
Any app on the iPad will do, as long as you can export or email the file. Penultimate is a nice all-purpose sketching/writing/note-taking app, fairly barebones. Sketchbook Pro is very nice, and has a LOT of features, but costs a bit more. Both work well with a stylus.
You can either export the file, or email it to yourself. With Penultimate, you can vary the stroke weight in three sizes, and write with black ink on white. Just make a sig file on white that you like, then send it to yourself as an email. You'll get it as a .png file. Sketchbook Pro offers a lot more options, including the style and size of the pen tip, and options for exporting, including sending it to Dropbox.
On your studio machine, open the file in Photoshop. Rotate and crop it as necessary. Just leave a little white space around it. It doesn't have to be the same size as your image. Change the background layer to a normal layer.
Open your target image in Photoshop. Copy your signature image into a separate layer over the image. Scale and rotate it, if necessary. Then, in the layers palette, select "Darken" in the Blend Modes Dropdown menu. The white background will drop out, leaving just the black signature.
If the stroke of the signature seems a little weak at first, you can strengthen it by adding a Levels layer to the signature file. Create a Level Adjustment in a layer just above the the signature layer. Hold the Option key (Mac) and click on the line in the layers palette between the Level Adjustment and the Signature Layer. You should see a little symbol, three overlapping circles -- this will cause the adjustment layer to apply to just the Signature, not the entire layer stack below. You can use the upper black level slider to thicken the stroke slightly, by moving it towards the white level slider. Make this adjustment with the Channel Selector set to RGB.
You can also use the Levels layer to change the color of the signature. Select one or more of the channels, using the Channel Selector, and slide the black Output Level slider to the right. Using the Red Channel will make the sig redder as you slide the black Output Level slider to the right, the Blue Channel will make it bluer, and so forth.
It's not necessary in most cases to actually make a mask around the signature. The Blending modes can do the trick if the signature is black and the background is pure white. Using the iPad to create the signature actually makes this task easier than using a Sharpie and scanning it.
It sounds a lot more complicated than it is. The Blend modes are your friend.
HTH
Jim
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parkerparker :: design | photography
http://www.parkerparker.info
Facebook: parkerparkerphoto
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Thanks Jim, that's exactly what I need.
I would imagine that any drawing or painting app that allows you to export files would work. I have SketchBook Pro for the iPad and I am pretty sure I could export a signature to Photoshop. The exported file probably wouldn't have a blank background, but that is easily accomplished in Photoshop (I've done it). I got my "signature" by taking a photo of it and then using Photoshop to clean up the edges and import onto a blank background.