Gotwald Creation treats images and text as equally important. We help maximize every image chosen by our clients. We help them find and adapt quality clip art. Sometimes we even create illustrations.
RETOUCHING
Before Photoshop, retouching involved sharpening lead to needle-like tapers and filling in grays on negatives or scraping away black to reduce glass glare.
That was one of Judith Gotwald’s first jobs—50¢ a negative.
Today she fixes photos with the magic of Photoshop. Unfortunately, we can’t show before and after photos of portraits without clients’ permission.
Suffice to say that one prominent Philadelphia figure rarely appeared in The Inquirer without undergoing CREATION’s “knife.”
Here’s a favorite challenge:
We’ve protected the identities a bit.
The client loved the photo for its lively diversity. There was one problem. The boy in the forefront looked glum, almost disagreeable, which made the playful boy in the background appear a little too playful.
CREATION literally turned the boy’s frown upside down and redrew the lips to lighten his expression a bit.
Another notable challenge involved a standard awards photo. Four teenage boys were honored. All wore shirts and ties except one, who was in a ratty t-shirt. We were able to make him presentable, finding an appropriate photo of a boy in a similar pose wearing a shirt and tie. Copied, pasted and colored! Any mother would be proud!
- We’ve cropped out signs, wires, and distracting pipes and wall fixtures.
- We’ve corrected the spelling on signs.
- We’ve added fresh sparkling water to mildewed swimming pools.
- We’ve removed the “ex” from the family photo.
- We’ve lightened the “5 o’clock shadow.”
Sometimes, for poor photos, we go the artsy route, applying a filter.
Here is an example.
The original image is a snapshot taken in my garden. The house is in the background. I replaced that with blue. Then I played with filters until I achieved an effect that reminded me of the illustrations in my first storybook. I still have the book even though the cover fell off long ago.
Notice, the same image appears in the header of this website with yet another treatment.
CUSTOMIZING STOCK ART
This was derived from the stock image below.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Water color paintings accompany a 32-page children’s book.
