Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

Lots of consignment and resale shopkeepers would love to touch up their merchandise photos before they post them on social media, but don’t because they’re busy and it seems overwhelming to work with photo-editing software.

So I did an example or two while chowing down on a curry chicken wrap (yum). Got this entire process done before half the sandwich was eaten.

Note: You don’t have to be eating to do this.

I started out with this photo of a dining room set from a resale shop. Nice photo, but all that stuff in the background is distracting:

Here’s the background, softened up a bit.

I just saved the photo, then blurred it again, to show another effect.

How did I do this so easily and quickly? Thanks to this Youtube video and Laura Buzzell! First, I used Picmonkey‘s Effects tool to soften the entire photo, then painted over the furniture to, in effect, remove the softening as needed. It’s a subtle effect, so even though I was guiding my mouse and munching at the same time, it turned out perfectly acceptable for a short-term photo, don’t you think?

To answer a question a shop posed on a closed discussion group about making her already-white background crisper and, well, whiter, I found this user’s trick to lighten up a background.  My example is much busier, of course, than a imperfectly-white background, but it shows how much difference you can make.

Original photo:

“Blush-boosted” result. Not perfect, but my sandwich was down to the last bite.:

(Wondering why I chose that specific 1975 fashion photo? ‘Cause soon, the consignment shop I founded in 1975 will be having its 40th anniversary! Those were the types of styles I was looking for, back then 🙂 )

(Many thanks to the shop whose dining room set photo I used to illustrate this post. I’m sorry, I neglected to note your shop when I saved it. If it’s you, please let us know in the comments!)

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