Jessica Randell – The Blog Pros

August 10, 2021

What Is The Ideal Zoom Room Background

With the pandemic ravaging the world all over, companies and individuals have been forced to adapt and make the best of the situation. We all realize that somehow life would need to go on, and we would need to find new and creative ways to work, carry on with our education and our social lives. One of the major ways in which organizations have evolved is by working from home and using software such as Zoom to carry out meetings and connect. While this has been quite effective and helpful in maintaining social distance, there have been plenty of mishaps such as pets showing up in front of the screen, or having kids run into the room screaming. All of these are normal life scenarios, and we have to find a way to maintain a good balance. Below, we have highlighted a couple of tips to help you with just that.

One of the easiest ways is to make your office space Zoom friendly. To do this, it is necessary that you have a good background, as it will be one of the major areas that your clients and colleagues will view through the screen. A few tips you can use include:

Pay attention to the color of your background

You want to select a space that will create contrast against your silhouette. For instance, if you have dark clothing on, then a brighter background will be good for you, and vice versa. Creating this contrast will prevent you from blending in into the background, and will instead help to define your outline.

Invest in good equipment

One of the major challenges in Zoom meetings is not being able to hear or see the other with clarity. To avoid these issues, then one of the things you can do is to invest in good Zoom Room equipment. A ring light, for instance, will greatly help to brighten up a dark room. It will also ensure that you are visible through the camera, thus making you presentable and boosting your confidence. Investing in good audio equipment is pretty helpful too since you will be able to articulate your points clearly and communicate with your colleagues with ease.

Tone down on visual distractions

While having a zoom meeting, it may be helpful to ensure that you clear away any personal items that you would not want your colleagues to see. This may include your family photos, for privacy, for instance. Furthermore, if you do not have the luxury of having a separate office space but instead have a desk in your bedroom, then you may consider background filters. These are an excellent and easy way for you to make your background conducive, without having to move around too much stuff.

With the new working from home setup, we have to embrace the new ways of working and adapt to the times. Setting up a comfortable and conducive office space is necessary, as it will help make you more productive. We do hope that these few tips will at the very least help to get you started.

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December 29, 2020

Pros and Cons of Photography and Videography in Visual Marketing

Do you remember a time when there was only text on the internet? Or when the first images popped up in their glorious blocky low resolution? It seems like a lifetime ago.

Streaming services, social media, shops… Images and videos are all around the web today. It’s no wonder we see more and more imagery used for online advertisement as well.

There are always aspects to consider to decide the best fit for your project. When choosing your advertising strategy, it’s essential to know the good and the not-so-good about photography and videography for marketing.

Advantages

Look Sharp

Pictures – or better yet, videos – show commitment. They show you take your business seriously and are willing to put effort and money into it, reassuring people, so they trust you and your business more.

Emotional Connection

Studies show our brain reacts strongly to visual stimuli, so images cause stronger emotions than text. You can use media to elicit good feelings from potential clients to perceive you as more trustworthy.

Engagement

People usually lose their focus quickly when scrolling their feeds, so it’s best to avoid long texts on social media. Replace words with images that convey your meaning at a glance, and more people will remember your ad.

Images and videos with a catchy bit of text often prompt more people to comment, which increases your visibility and reach.

Things to Consider

Price

While a fantastic tool, creating good visual content might not be cheap, depending on your project. Be sure to consider your budget when planning your marketing strategy. If you’re starting small, it might be best to wait for a bigger announcement to start advertising with images, but it’s an investment that pays off. Facetune filter editor can help in photo editing and in making photos look professional.

Platforms

Videos are still mostly watched on desktops and notebooks, and on average, smartphone and tablet users spend less time watching before scrolling down. News readers notoriously prefer text over video, but some data from the same study shows videos are sought after the most during breaking news.

Harder to Edit

Editing a text is easy. An image, a bit less so. However, an actor’s speech in a video? It’s easier to redo the whole thing, lest it could end up terrible. Carefully think about what you intend to say and make sure any information is correct before finishing up.

Photography vs. Videography

You’ve decided to add visuals to your next marketing campaign. How do you decide between pictures and video?

Price

Pictures will be considerably cheaper than videos in general. Ideal for smaller businesses, they aren’t forgotten on bigger brands. Pictures are essential and favored in some social sites over other types of media. Again, considering the platform and your audience plays an important role in your ad campaign’s success (or not).

Engagement

Videos will usually be more engaging than pictures. They allow you to delve deeper into storytelling and convey more information in a shorter amount of time, being perfect for today’s ever-shorter-focused people.

Platforms

Besides mobile or desktop, you should consider where on the internet you’ll be advertising. Facebook users engage a lot more with videos, while Twitter users prefer images over all other media. Plus, videos require more bandwidth, so mobile users might avoid them more often than pictures.

Summing Up

Using visual media can be a great wait to boost visibility and engagement. Planning is essential for crafting a perfect advertisement campaign. If you have doubts or don’t feel confident heading on alone, try to reach out to a friend who works with online marketing or ask for recommendations to find professionals who can help you.

Study your audience and listen to your potential clients’ feedback to figure out what works and what doesn’t and adapt to your target group. There’s no magic formula.

The post Pros and Cons of Photography and Videography in Visual Marketing appeared first on Photoshop Lady.

September 17, 2020

Great Homes with Mid Century Modern Furniture

A beautiful house is never complete without comfortable furniture that coordinates with the style of the home. Furniture transforms a block of stones into a beautiful space that you can then call home. While there are a variety of furniture makers and designers out there, none of them can match up to the style and elegance of mid-century modern furniture. Your home will never look the same again if you just get your furniture from mid-century. Here is why they are that popular.

Vintage Appeal

If you want a vintage look in your house, then mid-century got you. You will love the gorgeous looks of the different furniture available for selection. Whether you are looking for a dining set or some sofa sets to keep your living room cozy, there are a variety of these from the cool selection at mid-century that you can get to suit your desire.

Super Quality

Most mid-century furniture is made of wood veneers and a variety of others from particle boards. The furniture is of very high quality since they are made from quality wood. Mid-century has maintained consistency of design and the material used is never compromised.

Eco-friendly Furniture

Eco-friendly is a common term nowadays. Every other person is focussed on keeping their homes eco-friendly by minimizing their carbon footprint as much as possible. If you are looking to go green in your home, then mid-century furniture is the way to go. You will be protecting your environment and making your home beautiful at the same time.

Exude a Sense of Charisma

The unique design of mid-century furniture brings out a sense of charisma in your living space. You can choose a variety of pieces that have a beautiful design and mash-up your space to your preference. The pieces from mid-century will help you bring out your character in your home thanks to their outstanding designs.

Colour and Materials

The mid-century has transformed the use of color in their pieces. They have a mixed array of colors that go beyond the traditional dull furniture colors that are all so common. You will find colors ranging from neutral to bold and some beautiful mixtures of black and white. In terms of materials used, mid-century has gone a notch higher to experiment with other materials other than the traditional wood. They have adopted the use of glass, plastic, metal, vinyl, and Lucite among others. The good thing is that they do not just adapt these materials to suit their wooden design, but create a whole new range of designs from the independent materials. You are bound to find unique plastic designs that are distinctly different from those made of metal.

Distinct Features

You will enjoy the distinct features and style of mid-century furniture. While they have not compromised on functionality, they have surpassed in form and sleek lines that bring out unique geometric forms. They have achieved this through the use of both traditional and modern materials and sometimes juxtaposing contrasting elements to bring out some unique forms.

The post Great Homes with Mid Century Modern Furniture appeared first on Photoshop Lady.

September 1, 2020

How to Make Your Personalized PhotoBook Easily

Photographs are an incredible tool for preserving memories in tangible forms. Not only it captures your most treasured moments but also keeps the sentiment intact no matter when you look at it. PhotoBooks are where we maintain and keep our photographic collection. There are many reasons to make photo book in today’s technologically advancing world. They allow your loved ones and family to reminisce your special moments for years to come. When you create a PhotoBook you make sure your memorable moments stand the test of time. Since photo albums capture and preserve life’s moments, they make fantastic gifting options. They offer a unique window to your special moments (wedding, birthday party, etc.) to your friends and family. You can customize and tailor the album to the recipient’s personality and style. Spice it up with fun backgrounds, photo borders and stickers. The best custom photo books offer extraordinary design options.

Benefits of Photo Album Making Software To Various Industries

The ever increasing popularity of social media platforms which are more image centric has added to the need of photobook making software for variegated industries such as food, fashion, travel and retail industry to name a few. Needless to mention that these industries along with several others heavily rely on networks such as Pinterest and Instagram to connect with their target customers.

PhotoBook design software with customization capabilities enable businesses to enhance brand building and boost sales in an astonishing way. Using professional looking photos not only makes business stand out but also add to their credibility and allow them to create a robust social media strategy that works.

PhotoBook maker software

So how can you design your own personalized photo album book? Well, thanks to the convenience and popularity of web to print now you can customize and design almost everything that can be. There are numerous options for online photo book design tools. And they offer you following features and functions in case of personalization/customization

Editable Templates

Editable templates enable the authors to be flexible and create any template the way they want. It also acts the centre from where you can manage every feature of the template (layout, structure, initial content) and every component on the template. It’s more customizable as it gives you the control to what the author can see and use on the page. This includes finding if the components are editable, what are the design properties of the page/components, you can choose how the content is displayed on the screens of different devices. You can even choose to hide it on small screen.

Photo Upload and Editing

Helps you get the best out of your photograph collection. You can upload photographs from social media, such as instagram, etc. It also gives you advanced photo editing tools such as cropping, resizing, rotation, photographic effects. It also helps maintain printing resolution with its image resolution alert if the uploaded image is below required resolution for printing.

Page Layouts

This feature allows you to design pages with the help of editable text and photo boxes. You can either use a pre-designed layout or design your own to suit your expression. Customers can personalize their album using any type of layout.

You are also in control of how much safe margin you can put in your album. You can also customize front and back cover settings in addition to bleed, cut and margins

Backgrounds

It offers an incredible collection of background images/themes to help consumer express every sentiment they seek to via there custom photo book. The vast collection allows the customer to fill the pages with their own story as vividly as it can be.

Live Pricing Display

You can get the estimated pricing of your order in real time, with this feature as you design your card, depending on your card design, material used in the card, size of the order, type of finish. You can even request for an advance quote without designing the card itself by just stating the material to be used, type of finish and size of the order.

Here’s a video of this software that will allow you to design:

Summary

All these custom software for album design give you the freedom to create a photo album/book that best suits your vision. You can choose from a host of pre-available templates for design and layout and should they not hit the mark for you can create a design from scratch. With rising demand in web to print commerce (estimated to grow to $1.3 billion by the year 2022) it has become far more accessible to create a customized product (here for instance, a photo album) than it was a decade ago. And the stats speak for themselves, this is not a passing trend but a new ground in the field of customization and print commerce.

The post How to Make Your Personalized PhotoBook Easily appeared first on Photoshop Lady.

July 15, 2020

6 Way to Upgrade the Look of Your WordPress

Your website can be two things: an asset, or just there. The difference between the two can be very subtle, but have an online asset can drive business like you’ve never imagined. So, how do you turn your website from a random property into an asset for your business? By focusing on two major factors: style and performance.

Get a New Theme

One of the easiest ways to upgrade the look and feel of your WordPress website is by picking a new theme. There are tons of themes out there to choose from, so you just have to find the one that speaks to you. You can find tons of themes for your WordPress on sites like Envato ThemeForest, and they come packed with reviews and documentation as well. Take your time when you are finding a theme, and pay extra close attention to the reviews. You want to find a theme that is easy to use and fast. If the reviews talk about those two things, you are in a better place. Also, when you find a theme you like on Envato, make sure you check out the actual website for the theme as well. If the author hasn’t taken the time to secure the site they sell it from, it’s probably going to be a pain to secure it on your own. The websites for the themes will give you a more in-depth look at the theme’s look and potential, and you will get to see it in action.

Build Your Own Pages

Another great way to create stylish pages quickly is by using a page builder. Page builders like Elementor let you use any theme you want and allows you to build custom pages within the theme. These page builders are normally very fast, and the style you can create using them is endless. If the builder you pick doesn’t have enough style for your liking, you might want to look into builder extensions like Ultimate Addons or JET plugins can add advanced modules into your page builder. These add-on packages help you get all of the crazy functionality you see on your competitors’ sites.

Hire a Professional Photographer

The pictures on your site tell a story, so you want to make sure the pictures you use directly relate to what you can offer. Instead of using simple stock photos to get your site up and running, you should work with professional photographers and graphic designers to create the perfect images for your website. This is the best way to make sure that your website is truly unique from top to bottom, and it will stop you from spending hours sifting through free stock photos on Google to find what you are looking for. A picture is worth a thousand words, so make sure those words directly relate to what you offer on your website.

Change Site Colors to Meet Contrast Requirements

Have you ever been to a website and had a hard time reading the text on the page? Most of the time this comes down to not meeting contrast requirements. When you are picking your colors for your site, you want to make sure that the background colors and foreground text colors are high enough contrast to read. If you don’t have a high enough contrast between the text and background colors, your text will start to blur on the page. If you have never checked to see if your colors have high enough contrast, you should use that link above to check it. You want to make sure that your contrast level passes all of the tests, so your text doesn’t blur on any devices. As a bonus, doing this will boost your accessibility score on your website.

Clean Up Your Code

Finally, you really want to make sure your code is caching and compiling correctly. You can use tools the Google Schema Tool to check your base code on the site and make sure you don’t have any small errors penalizing your site. If you are using href-lang on your site, this is extremely important to check. The smallest issues with href-lang can result in international visitors not getting the version of your page they need to understand what you are offering.

The post 6 Way to Upgrade the Look of Your WordPress appeared first on Photoshop Lady.

July 15, 2020

5 Things You Should Keep in Mind Before Starting a Website

Starting a website can be a fun journey for some of the tech wizards out there, and a relative nightmare for the rest of us. So before you take a leap of faith and jump-start this project, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

1. The aim matters

This is where it all begins, your vision. What is your website about? What is it that you would like for your website to showcase? What is the call-to-action you hope your website’s visitors to make? As you answer the above questions, you will be able to utilize every aspect of your website to serve your aim. Not only that, but it will provide you with a detailed action plan that sets the tone for your website and guides you towards what you need to do next.

2. Domain made easy

There are tons of domain hosts out there waiting for you to take a step, but it all boils down to selecting the domain name. How do you want to be remembered and linked to your audience? It is always advisable to select an easy name. If not your brand, then go for something relevant to your business. And choose wisely because changing it later can be a real hassle. Opt for simple and direct words that can cross language barriers, especially if you’re aiming for international engagement.

3. Design and Navigation

At this stage, you probably have visited many websites of similar businesses and have a clearer idea of what you want and what you don’t want. But sometimes you can have the aim clearly set and the domain name settled, but you end up baffled when it comes to designing the layout and creating a convenient site map. Rodney Warner, owner of Creative Web Design (https://connectivewebdesign.com/) says that creating a website might sound easy, but it takes a village working in six interchangeable phases to get a website ready to launch. Your website’s design is absolutely crucial in representing your brand, and it’s the most accurate expression of your business.

4. Easy to find and load

A website that loads within fleeting seconds makes it easier for visitors to access. Having an efficiently reliable host can provide that for you in addition to optimizing the media included on your website. But you need to keep in mind that the CSS code should initially be built to facilitate the scaling of your website to every screen your visitors might access from. This can easily be attained through a free of charge website.

5. Content

Content will follow smoothly as your vision starts to clear. But you can still be creative with it. If your website is about selling products, creating content that describes the different uses is important. But don’t just stick to written words, use demonstrations, and provide testimonials. If you’re going for blog posts, think of the categories and writing style and tone; do you want it sophisticated, easy tips and tricks, short or long blog posts? All of this can be determined as you surf the internet and evaluate what would attract your visitors the most.

A website is important to any business as it shapes the first impression, so it can make or break your brand reputation. Having a clear vision of your aim, desired layout, and a few tricks here and there to facilitate the access would mean more visitors within a short amount of time.

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