I’m addicted to Lo-Fi!

If you didn’t already know it, I’m a photo freak!  I love photos!  And if that wasn’t enough, I found the world of actions.  I love playing with my photos and adding actions to them.  Actions are simply a number of steps applied to a photo that alters the outcome of the look of that photo.  There are many actions available.  Some add vignetting (darkening around the edge of the photo), some add a sunlight flare effect, some add different coloring options…..the world of actions is unlimited.  To run an action, though, you have to have photo editing software such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.  And then there’s the learning of how to install actions so that you can use them in your photo editing software, then add on learning how to use the actions themselves!  Whew!  It can get overwhelming if that’s not your thing!

Well its not really all that hard, and I did learn how to do all of that, but wait until you hear what I found that will save you from all of that work!

That my friends, is called LO-FI

I learned of this awesome little program from a blogging friend and co-design teammate of mine, Katrina Hunt.  I can’t tell you how wonderful this baby is!  It gives you all the wonderful looks of actions with none of the hassle of downloading or installing!  Yay!

Now, let me expand a bit on Lo-Fi!  It is a simple download process that will place the little blue and yellow camera icon shown above on your desktop.  When you open the program, you will see the large black camera as shown.  Simply press the (+) button at the top and you can navigate to the file where your pictures are shown.  Select the photos and they will be pulled into the camera as shown.  Then the three boxes are the right are your options.  You have film selections, mood selections and frame selections.  The options are limitless when you play around and mix up those three.  It basically does the exact same thing as applying an action, only without the need for photo editing software or the time consuming task of installing actions.  Then saving the edited files is just as easy!  Lo-Fi is easy, peasy to use! 

Best part, you can download a trial and try it out for 7 days to make sure you like before you buy!  When my trial was up, I immediately purchased because I couldn’t be without it!  I had become hooked that quick!  To purchase is $29.00 which I thought was a great deal considering the amount of money you can get tied up in purchasing actions.

Now I just wanted to share a few before and afters….

                    

The photo on the left is the original, the photo on the right is with the film selection at Velvet, the mood selection is Crisp, and the frame option is Vignette.  This is one of my favorite settings.  Let me share another one with you.

       

Again, the same setting.  I love how it just makes the colors so much more vibrant, and that vignette really makes the center of your photo pop!

There are so many other options that I can’t possibly begin to share them all.  I know that you must think I get a profit from this or some kind of perk, but I absolutely do not!  I am simply sharing something with you that I have found to be a help and enjoyable for me!

Give it a try with the trial version….you’ve got nothing to lose!  Check out Lo-Fi here!

AND, there is still time to get in on The Twinery and The Stamps of Life giveaway!  Leave a comment on the post below….

The prize winners will be announced on
The {Stamps}of Life and The Twinery Blogs on Tuesday May 3rd.

Have a great weekend!