Working with Backgrounds and Patterns in Muzy Effects

wall by 1918underwood. Click to view.

The Effects app can have some striking results with backgrounds and patterns. Because it plays with color and texture, Effects lends itself to abstractions as much as to photos of people or pets. Here’s an example of what I did with a pretty static brick-wall background that I made in Collage a while ago. My goal was to take something that had a very regular pattern, without a lot of texture, and create something with a lot more variation and mood.

Here’s the plain brick wall that I started with. Read the rest of this entry »

Colorizing a Black and White Image in Muzy Effects

Black-and-White to Color

Muzy’s Effects app is a great way to pump up (or completely change) the color on any photograph, drawing, or collage. You don’t need to start with a bright or colorful image to get bright and colorful results. One of the fun things I found you can do is take a black and white picture and make it brightly colored. The image that you see to the left of a young and sinister Tony Perkins was created in Effects from a black and white drawing.

Let’s take a look. Here’s the black and white picture that I started with: Read the rest of this entry »

Color Photo Effects

Meno takes a rusty, gray grunge wall and uses the Effects app to create this vivid burst of color in "Riff's Rust, colorized." Click to view.

The Muzy Effects app can be used for a lot of, well, effects. One of the effects I like best is color shifting. In the image on the left, Meno has taken one of Riff’s photo… a great piece of grunge in and of itself, of a rust-ridden dusty gray metal wall… and turned it into a vibrant, charged blue-and-orange background that I just couldn’t resist using. Very Muzy, isn’t it?

So let’s explore a little bit and see what the Muzy color shift effects are in the Effects editor and how to use them. First, let’s start with a tour. Read the rest of this entry »

Making Simple Shapes: Star, Cloud, and Sun

Cloud, Star, Sun

Here are some more simple shapes that you can make on Muzy.

Star

What did your teacher stick on your paper when you got an A? A gold star, of course. Muzy is a gold-star kind of place. So let’s look at how to make a simple star. Read the rest of this entry »

Making & Using Frames in Muzy Collage

TV - Bad Reception Filter by Cooperweb. Click to view.

Frames are fun and useful items on Muzy. This clever “TV – Bad Reception Filter” by Cooperweb makes it easy to put any image on Muzy on television… with a little bit of fuzzy “television snow” over the image. Frames can be simple picture frames to fit around any image, or they can be complex backgrounds with a cut-out area to place an image behind.

Frames can be used as a large element on the canvas, literally framing the image. Or frames can become a part of a larger collage, an element that contains another element within it. Read the rest of this entry »

Light Source and Cast Shadows

When the sun shines on an object, it usually creates a shadow on the opposite side of the object. This little gumdrop, for example. Look at where the light from Mike’s sunshine hits it’s surface and then check on the opposite side of the gumdrop – there will be a shadow.

Read the rest of this entry »

Creatively Using Objects in Muzy Collage

Ladybug by smws. Click to view.

Muzy collage does a lot more than just place one item next to another. There is a lot of creativity involved in deciding on a direction or idea for your collage, choosing items, and combining them together using both the drawing/erasing tools and the resizing/stretching/repositioning tools. When I first was introduced to Muzy, I didn’t realize how creative Muzy collage could be. Now, collaging is one of my favorite activities at Muzy.

This ladybug collage by smws is one of my favorite examples of the creative use of objects in a collage. The ladybug isn’t drawn; it’s composed of a mass of objects created separately for different uses, combined in an intriguing way. The end result is surprising and compelling, and even humorous as well as lovely. (Isn’t that a space invader as the ladybug’s head?)

So, let’s talk a little bit about creative collaging. Read the rest of this entry »

Remixing and Making Kits

Muzy has a new capability: remixing other people’s work.

Font Proof Sheet by smws. Click to view.

What is the difference between using a collage and remixing it? When you use a collage, it’s “flattened” into one item (a.k.a. layer) in your new collage. You’ll want to use a collage, instead of remixing it, when you want the collage to stay as a whole. When you remix a collage, you’ll find that all the items are still separate… you can select them and move them independently from one another. Basically, you have all the control that the creator had while working in the collage editor. Read the rest of this entry »

How to Tag Your Items

Tagging! It’s how you find things in Muzy search, and it’s how your stuff gets found and used by other people on Muzy.  Tags appear at the bottom of the “browse” screen to lead you to other, similar items you might be interested in, and the Muzy search function searches through tags to find items that fit your needs.

The better items are tagged in Muzy, the easier they are to find when you need them. That means, if your items are tagged well, other people are more likely to find them when they need them, and so other people are more likely to use your items.

If you’re looking to gain more karma or if you want to be helpful and add to the community, tagging your items well is a good place to start. So, here’s a step-by-step introduction to tagging. Read the rest of this entry »

Adding Hats to Dolls (or, Putting Yourself Together in Muzy Collage)

One of the fun things to do in Muzy collage is to make customized characters and scenes from pieces and parts. This tutorial goes over some ways to put items together in Muzy collage.

You’ll find a lot of bases and templates in Muzy, and you’ll also find a lot of hats, clothes, eyes, ears, jewelry, and other accouterments to make your own personalized being. As an example of how to combine items, I’m going to show you how to add a hat to a doll, using this Sitting Doll Base by Luthien.

Sitting Doll Base, by Luthien. Click to view.

The doll is your blank canvas. Let’s dress it up by adding a hat. Read the rest of this entry »