Cheers,

Linda

We are also working on a site upgrade that will be specifically aimed at the checkout process. Our data shows that we loose too many customers in the last few steps of the checkout. The new layout will be a lot easier to navigate. We will live up to our promise to be the easiest online stock agency once again!

Jan

The good news is that you don’t actually need a tilt-shift lens to get the effect. The same principle can be added in Photoshop/GIMP. In Photoshop do the following:

• Use the quick mask mode and select gradient tool
• Select “reflected gradient”
• Draw a vertical line from where you want the focus to the top of the image
• Go back to “standard mask mode”
• Use the filter gaussian blur (or lens blur if you don’t have PS 7)
• Experiment with the radius and the amount of blur
• Saturate the image to get more colours

Or, if you want a quick and easy way to create tilt-shift, go to http://tiltshiftmaker.com/. The results you get there are actually quite good, though it is easier to get a more precise focus using Photoshop/GIMP.

Example:

Original image by iofoto

Tilt-shifted image

We also have some tilt-shift images from our photographers. Both leaf and shalamov have a couple of tilt-shifted images.

The same technique can also be used for videos. Check out Keith Loutits website, he’s a man that pushes tilt-shift videos to the limit.

Happy tilt-shifting!

Jan

The «Keep It Simple Stupid» phrase is from the design world.It basically mean, don’t do things unless you don’t have to.It is a very powerful rule in presentations also.

Do yourself a favor, go through your presentations and look at every slide and every detail. Ask your self; is this necessary? Does it contribute to my story?

Be hard on yourself and remove everything that doesn’t really need to be there. Be as clear and precise as you possibly can. Maybe you have a cool chart or graph that you really wanted to show, but unless it contributes to your story, take a deep breath, sigh, and delete it.

We’ve finally added a blogroll to YAYblog! We know that many of our photographers, visitors and customers got their own blogs, and we’d love to be updated on what you’re writing about.

So if you think your blog could be of interest for us at YAY, please send us an e-mail. We’ll take a look, and if it’s a good match we’ll add it to our blogroll! Interesting themes would be anything related to photography, illustrations, design, photoshop, web design, media in general, microstock and the stock photo industry, etc.

You can e-mail us at: post@yaymicro.com

Linda, Jan & Bjorn

Ever created a presentation by opening powerpoint and started filling in the bullet-points that are there? Out of respect for your audience; NEVER do this again. We do this mostly because the software (mis)leads us to do so. It’s considered a «standard». But do a google search for «death by bullet points» and you will see how many people are trying to tell the world to stop this nasty habit.

Bullet-points include too much text, and the human brain is not made to read and listen at the same time. As soon as you start reading the text that is on the slide, you loose focus on what the presenter is saying. The other problem is that it’s really hard to remember bullet points. There is nothing for your brain to link the bullet points to. This is why experts have created the «rule of 7» which states that any one slide should never include more than 7 words. Use this as a rule of thumb, and ignore it when it feels just.

So what do we do instead? Lets look at an short example. In Norway we have our famous 9 rules for travelling in mountains. Lets create a powerpoint to explain these rules for you – first the wrong way, and then the right way.
The wrong way: First, we open powerpoint, and we create our list of 9 bullets. That’s how 95% of us would do it. It would look something like this.

Now, is this intriguing? How many of these rules would you remember? Is this remarkable? Or would this pretty much put you to sleep? If you are like most of us, the answer is the latter. Now the alternative approach. Do a search for «mountain backpack» (to illustrate point 5)

Find a suitable background, create a slide for each point instead of cramming it all in one slide and maybe you’ll end up with something like the image below.

This might not be what you are «used to» or what your colleagues do, but ask yourself this question; a week from now, which point on the list will I remember? I think you already know the answer!

Click here to read Powerpoint Presentation Tips (1/6)

The first one is the first feature of our model/people search. You can now specify how many people you would like to have in your image, by minimum and maximum. If you put 0 in maximum you’ll get images without people in them.
Try the search at our search page!

The second feature is our category page. We now have 16 main categories, all of them with detailed sub-categories. Categories makes it easier to search and browse images, get inspiration and ideas for image use.  Did we miss a category? Leave us a comment, and we’ll try to add it asap!
You can take a look at the new category page here.

Cheers, Linda

Image by Yuri Arcurs Search: Min. people 12, keyword: happy

Twitter offers 20 background images you can choose from. All of these have pleasing colors, and nice clean design. They are, however, quite generic. Instead of using any of these, you can upload an image that better fits your Twitter page and/or personality.

How To Change the Twitter Background Image
Go to Settings -> Design , then either choose a theme or click change background image. Don’t be afraid to goof around; your profile won’t change until you press save.

Finding the Right Image
There are several pages offering free Twitter backgrounds. Thousands of Twits (easier to say than Twitterers) use these images, so if you want a personal, unique profile you should try to find other images. Think about an object/idea/concept/thought that you feel can represent you. You might find a photo you’ve taken yourself, or you could try a search at images agencies such as YAY. We have hundreds of thousands of images, illustrations and vector files at a small cost ($1.5 for a small image).

Click here to try a search for images at YAY

How Large Should a Twitter Background Image Be?
Twitter accepts images in GIF, JPG and PNG formats. The file can’t be larger than 800 Kb, but the smaller the better. The resolution should be quite high, but still be visible for users with lower resolution. Twitter supports screen resolutions down to 800×600 pixels. Most users today have screen resolution 1024×768 pixels or higher.

You should aim for an image that works for users having large screens with high resolution. Therefore the image you choose should be at least 1600×1200 pixels, and it is even better to have 2048×1600. An Twitter background image of 2048×1600 will fill the screen of 98 % of all Twitter users.

Adding a Bio
The 160 character biography Twitter limits you to, can be a bit too short. Instead you can add a short biography, logo or other additional information in an information box on one or both sides of the main Twitter window. You have to remember that if you want your bio to be visible in 1024×768, it should not be wider than 120 pixels.

Take a look at our Twitter-backgrounds:
YAY Micro
Jan
Linda
Bjorn

This image from leaf shows a grown-up Norwegian skiing

Photo from chikkart