Looking for a gift that's easy to create and would be something treasured by the new buyers?
I'm so excited about this feature within Picnik, that I just had to share. FYI - I've been using Picnik free service for months now and decided to join their premium package for $24.95 a year.
Real Estate Agents could use this as a gift for the buyer, Home Stagers could use this, when framed, as part of the accessories used in staging and leave it as a gift.
Here's what I created:
FYI - This is an exterior picture of a home I staged.
Here are the directions:
Go to Picnik
To create the pencil sketch, you first must join their premium package. Again, it's $24.95 for a year.
Next: Go to the photos tab. From there, you'll have a variety of ways to obtain the photo (from your computer, from a web site, Yahoo Search, etc...). I'll use the "get from the computer" in my explanation. Next hit "Get Photo."
Once the photo has been loaded, you'll be in the edit tab. From there, you can do a variety of things. To create the pencil sketch, hit the Create tab and then select Effects; scroll down and you'll see pencil sketch. From there, you'll be able to change the radius, strength and fade of the sketch itself.
Next hit save and share.
Note: For the picture above, I added a drop shadow and changed the color of the shadow to a dark grey.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to drop me an email as I'd be glad to assist.
Kathy
Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392
RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011
Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.
With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.
Home Staging Website: Home Staging Atlanta
Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:
Email: Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com
Blog: Atlanta Home Staging
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- Short on Space? Keep it Simple
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- Atlanta Home Staging Consultations - Check out what the homeowner did
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Kathy, What a beautiful picture you've created!
Thanks so much for sharing this with us....I'm bookmarking your post and plan on incorporating this into my marketing in the new year,
Jo
I'm so glad this blog has been useful. Thanks for bookmarking.
Jo-Anne - I too will be incorporating these into my marketing.
You're right, Karen - these do make a special gift for family and friends. We were invited to a friends Holiday party on the 22nd of Dec. and I created several of these of the children and framed them. They were all so impressed.
Kathy
A great personal gift. I will definitely be checking this out. I need to add some new marketing ideas to my business. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice idea, Kathy. You can create a similar effect using Photoshop as well. If you already own Photoshop, then it is free.
This is a very thoughtful gift that will be remembered for years to come.
Thanks, everyone.
Michelle - I still haven't made the investment in photoshop yet. I need to so perhaps one of these days, real soon, I'll go out and get it. Good to know that it's free!
Tracy - What a perfect gift!
Kathy
This is beautiful, Kathy! Another bookmark from me....
Happy New Year!
Kathy
Thanks, everyone.
Mike - According to one of the blogs within their forum, the best they can do is scale the image to 320x240. However, given that you'll end up saving the pencil sketch onto your computer or to a site (or wherever you save your pics to) you should be able to resize using different software that's out there.
Kathy
Mike - It's Kathy again - I don't believe the above is accurate. If you go out to Picnik, I believe you'll see that you'll have the option of making it much larger than 320x240. Sorry for the confusion.
Kathy
Thanks, Maureen. I am truly honored!
Kathy
Kathy - I so wish I'd known about this for the holidays, it would have been a no-brainer for me - as it is though I have a few great ideas and I'm looking forward to utilizing this wonderful tool. Thank you, thank you for sharing it!
Jackie
Nice idea. Thanks for the post.
I'm so glad you all find this useful!
Jackie - You can always use this for next year or for birthday presents/anniversary, etc... (smile).
Kathy
Thanks for a great idea. I think it is very creative and new home buyers will love it. Thanks again - Sharon
www.sharonintheoc.com
Newport Beach Real Estate
Hey Kathy This is a nice idea. Sellers sometimes are so attached to their home but have to move for various reasons. I am sure they will treasure that. The cost for the year seems quite cheap. Do you have to pay for each indiividual pic?
Phyllis Pafumi
Hi, Phyllis. The premium package fee of $24.95 covers you for the entire year. In other words, you can do as many pictures, using the premium services, as often as you'd like. So... no cost per photo.
I love the idea of giving it to the home seller when selling their home. That's a great suggestion!
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
You're right, picnik is a splendid site - especially for those of us who don't have Photo-Shop. (and even if i did I couldn't' work it!!) I just finished a Memory Book for our retiring pastor and the most popular photo was one that was "cinema-scoped" via picnik. Try it - it's awesome!!!
Your use of the pencil sketch is a really good one. I hadn't quite got a handle on that one until your blog. Thanks.
Juliet - I haven't tried the cinema-scoped option yet. Off to see what that looks like. As for Photoshop, I'm sure I'd need a class or hours of tutorials to learn how to use it.
Jo - I too love finding new tools. I'll have to find this post on AR that had a laundry list of tools I'd never heard of. I think it was Brad Andersohn but... I'll look today and post it here if I find it.
Kathy