Please note that we can only pay you for photoshopping the set if the set is accepted and goes up on the front page as the Set of the Day.

If you aren't that familiar with photoshop, you should just send us the set as it came off the camera - we have staff photoshoppers that know exactly what we are looking for and can prep the set to our specifications.

All the photoshopping instructions, templates, graphics and fonts can be downloaded in one .zip file by clicking HERE.

The package includes the SG logos and copyrights, templates for all the graphics, a text document with all the specifications, and all the fonts you will need. Please use ONLY the fonts included in this package!

You should talk to the model while you are shooting about what kinds of things she would prefer to be photoshopped out - for instance, some models prefer to have scars or imperfections photoshopped out, while some choose to leave them in the set. Regardless, we want the girls to look real, so try to avoid overly smoothing skin and going over the top with crazy effects. The end result should just be a better looking version of your raw image, not a totally different picture.

The first thing you should do when you open an image you are prepping for the site is go to VIEW > PROOF SETUP > Monitor RGB - this will show you how the picture will look when displayed for web, which is where they will be viewed! If you forget and prep the images and then save for web, the images will end up looking desaturated, so make sure you are viewing them how you will see the finished product! Also make sure you are using adjustment layers, it is much easier to change something that way!

Usually you can check the color by looking at the whites of the eyes or teeth to make sure they are free of color - these are supposed to be white, or at least a varying shade of it.

To start, duplicate the background layer. Directly above your layers, you'll see a menu for adjusting the layer - it will be set automatically to Normal at 100% opacity. With the duplicate layer selected, use the drop down menu and change it to Soft Light, and the adjust the opacity to between 20-30%. This will saturate the image, but be careful not to do it too much.

We recommend when adjusting the lighting or color balance, ALWAYS work with adjustment layers so you can later go back and edit them! This is also the best way to get the best picture quality.

Use a combination of LEVELS and CURVES to return the picture to a properly lit state. Most photos can use a bit of color correction by using COLOR BALANCE as well, but make sure the model is not ending up with strangely colored shadows across her body!

Not everyone's skin will be perfect all the time, and most girls would prefer to have a few things removed, like skin blemishes, razor burn, a spot of cellulite, etc.This is what photoshop is for! Our wonderful staff photographer Cherry posted a really helpful tutorial on fixing skin while preserving texture and we're sharing it with you here. Cherry has been photoshopping sets for SG for close to 10 years now and absolutely knows the best, most efficent way to get the best results without compromising skin texture. Her tutorial:

HOW TO REMOVE BLEMISHES

Not everyone has perfect skin! Most close up face photos will need a quick touch up with the heal brush. You can also use this to remove under eye bags, weird impressions left by clothing, stretch marks, scars, small bruises, cellulite, etc, while still preserving skin texture. You will want to use the HEAL tool to do this.

*Select the HEAL brush. The heal brush is the one that looks like a bandaid in your tools. Click and hold on the Spot healing tool to select it for the first time if you are using CS2 onwards. To change the shape or size, go to the OPTIONS bar at the top of photoshop and click and hold on where it says brush. Change the heal brush size to a size that is just a bit bigger than the blemish or the width of the scar/mark.

*Hold down alt and click on a smooth, clear section of skin - make sure you are selecting a section of skin that is similar to the color you are wanting the blemish to be for the best results. The icon will turn into a target as you do it.

*To heal a blemish or mark or something else, you should zoom in to 50 or 100% to get the best accuracy and not make any mistakes. Some photos may look grainy and not so great at this close. Don't worry, as long as they are okay resized for SG.

*Click on top of the blemish or sweep over it (or the scar or mark) while clicking. Magic! It's gone. Don't get too close to any lines or other colors else it'll leave a funny mark. If you make a mistake just go back in the history and undo it.

*You can remove dark lines under the eyes with the heal tool, the same as scars or stretch marks. Just select a clear section of skin holding down alt. MAKE SURE it is in the same shadows as the under-eye. This will help enormously. Drag over the under eye bag.

REMOVING UNDER EYE CIRCLES & OFF COLOR SKIN

You will most often find that a girl's skin color will differ when her foundation is the wrong color or she has a patch from rubbing clothing or some other undisclosed thing. You will want to use the CLONE tool for this.

*Select the CLONE tool. This underneath the heal tool and looks like a stamp. Change the mode to "color" and the opacity to 15%.

*****

The following photos are some great examples of preserving skin and texture:







Try to avoid removing skin texture completely. It is weird and unnatural! Here are some examples of too much photoshopping.

Most importantly, the picture needs to be in focus!! The eyes are usually the giveaway if a picture is not in focus.

For a full body shot, you can flatten the image and go FILTER > SHARPEN and this will sharpen the entire photo enough for web.

For a portrait, you can just sharpen the eyes and it will really make the picture pop - sharpening the whole photo can make the skin on her face look blemished even when it is not. To do this, use the LASSO tool to circle the models eyes, mouth, and any facial piercings. Then go to SELECT > FEATHER > 10px, and then FILTER > SHARPEN.

If the picture needs a little more help, you can use the UNSHARP MASK, but again try not to go overboard - if the model doesn't have goose bumps to begin with, it's not going to look natural if you sharpen it so she does!

If you have a really busy background (like a textured wall or couch), try using the lasso tool to select just the models body, since that's what the focus of the set should be anyway.

Check the background for distractions in each picture - things like outlets, cords, or splotchy paint job are easy to remove and can change the composition of the picture from "great" to "Awesome!" If you are removing things like electrical outlets and unwanted cords, a combination of the CLONE and HEAL tool should work well.

You should always make sure your camera is set to shoot appropriately for the type of light you are using, but let's face it, we all make mistakes. If your pictures come out looking way too blue or way too orangey, they can still be saved! Try going to LAYER > NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER > PHOTO FILTER... - if the photo is too orange, try adding a cooling filter. If it is too blue, you can try a warming filter. Please note that this won't make your image perfect and you'll still have to use curves, levels and color balance to correct it, but this will give you a better starting point.

All the pictures in the set should be consistent from one image to the next. If one image is orange, the next is too blown out, and the other has way too much magenta in it go back and find a happy medium that will flow well throughout the entire set.

Adjustment layers should be your best friend. Do NOT make adjustments to the raw photo. Using the adjustment layers allows you to go back and make changes if needed. If you decide you destaurated the image too much, simply edit that one layer and your problem is solved. Editing the photo as is (using image/adjustments) leaves you pretty much stuck.

The images should be 2400 pixels on the longest side.

You are welcome to include composite pictures where there are two or three photos in one, but please try to limit these to only one or two composite images per set. These kinds of pictures work best if you are trying to convey motion, for instance if the girl is jumping or dancing. Too many can overload the set though, so just try to stick with one or two per set.

After the image is photoshopped how you want it, open up sg2011-logo.psd and drag over the logo and copyright and put it in one of the lower corners. Do not add any kind of shadow or outer glow to the logo!

Pick a corner where the logo isn't interfering with the rest of the photo (obviously don't put the logo on her face or covering up an important detail of the picture). Place the logo ONLY in one of the lower corners, never place it at the top of the photo (the flat, lower edge of the text looks best against the border of the image).

See the sample image in the photographer package (sample.jpg) for an example of how the logo should be placed on the final image.

The final images in the set should be 2400 pixels on the longest side (see sample_image.jpg) and no larger than 1mb, so you will need to use the Save for Web option to get the smallest file size with the largest quality.

Once the image is properly resized with the logo in the corner, you will need to go to FILE > SAVE FOR WEB.

You will see the estimated size of the file underneath the picture on the right, and in the side column you will see a box that says "Quality". Use the slider to adjust the quality so that the estimated file size is at or under 1mb.

size: 2400 pixels on the longest side
name: 01.jpg, 02.jpg, etc
how many: Your finished set should be 40-60 pictures.

These are the large images in the set, they should be 2400 pixels on the longest side and have the logo and copyright in one of the corners. After you resize the images in photoshop and add the logo, you should save the photos for web, no larger than 1mb. Adjust the quality depending on the picture - make them as high quality as you can while keeping them at or under 1mb.

size: 55 x 75
name: 01t.jpg, 02t.jpg, 03t.jpg, etc
how many: one for each picture in the set - if you have 40 pictures in a set, you will have 40 thumbnails. 01t.jpg will be the thumbnail for 01.jpg, and so forth.

These are the thumbnails of the set that will show up on the girls page and in both the html and flash galleries. All thumbnails must be VERTICAL regardless of the cropping of the picture!

The easiest way to make thumbnails is to open all the large pictures, set the CROP tool to 55px x 75px, crop each picture and save them in a separate folder named THUMBS.

DO NOT RESIZE THE PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!! This will make them 50x75 which is INCORRECT - you need to CROP EACH PHOTO to be 55px x 75px!! If you are just resizing every photo you will be asked to make the thumbnails again - this makes them very small and pixelated and keeps the logo on them, so do NOT simply resize!!!

size: 408 x 251
name: setpreview_large1.jpg, setpreview_large2.jpg, etc
how many: 6

This is used by the flash player on the front page. We will select one of these to be the preview picture for the set - make sure you send 6 large previews, no more, no less. Try to pick the sexiest pictures from the set to use for the different pictures. Skin is great, but remember that since these will be on the front page and you can see them without a membership, there should be no nudity in the large previews.



DO NOT PUT ANY TEXT ON THE LARGE PREVIEW IMAGE.

Use setpreview_large1.psd to create this image. Use the guide to figure out what the flash player will crop out and make sure the girl's face isn't behind anything, but make sure you turn the guide off before you save!

This is no bueno:

size: 169 x 104
name: setpreview_medium1.jpg, setpreview_medium2.jpg, etc
how many: 6

These are the scaled down versions of the large previews and are used on the girl's profile page. You should send 6 total medium previews - they should also match up with the large previews you send in. For instance, setpreview_large1.jpg should be the same picture as setpreview_medium1.jpg, and so forth.

Use setpreview_medium1.psd. The fonts on the medium preview pics are Downcome size 24 for the girls name and Selfish, all lowercase, size 23 for the set name. You can use any color you want for the girls name, just make sure it is readable and compliments the preview picture. ONLY use black or white for the set name, and make sure it is all lowercase letters!

If the set name or girl's name is difficult to read, you may add a drop shadow, HOWEVER, please make SURE you set the "distance" to 1px. Do NOT use the outer glow, no matter what color!!!





YOUR MEDIUM PREVIEWS MUST LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE EXAMPLES ABOVE. IF IT LOOKS DIFFERENT, YOU WILL BE ASKED TO REMAKE THEM. PLEASE USE THE TEMPLATE TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS CORRECT.

size: 150 x 54
format: PNG (save for web, PNG-24)
name: setpreview_label.png
how many: 1

This file is used by the flash player on the front page, it displays the girls name and the set name. Make sure you save it as a PNG with transparency! Check the example if you're confused.

Use setpreview_label.psd. Use the guide to see how it will look, but make sure to turn off the guide before you save. The fonts are Selfish for the girl's name and Misproject for the set name. THE FONTS MUST BE BLACK FOR THE GIRLS NAME AND PINK FOR THE SET NAME, PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THESE! If you are using the guide provided in the photoshopper package, all you will need to do is put in the girl's name and set name, choose "save for web" and save it as a .png.

size: 235 x 175
name: girlprofile1.jpg, girlprofile2.jpg, etc
how many: 5

All new girls will need five profile pictures for us to choose from when we set up her profile. This is the profile picture that will be used on the girl's page and when she posts around the site, and we will only need them for girls who are not already SuicideGirls.

You should send in five total profile pictures for new girls. These should be sexy head and shoulders pictures, please no nudity!! Try to pick the most flattering pictures, and be careful not to crop too close up or too far away.

If you are photoshopping a set of a girl who is already a SuicideGirl and she would like to use a profile picture from that set, you can send her the profile images directly and she can choose one and upload it to her page.

It helps if you have a program that will let you rename multiple files at once. If you don't already have one, you can go to download.com and download a free program for your operating system. This isn't necessary, but it helps speed up the process if you are photoshopping sets on a regular basis.

Please seperate the images and thumbnails (put the thumbnails in a separate folder labeled "Thumbs" - the larger .jpg files can be loose in the final folder).

They must be named exactly correctly and they all must be there. Any missing will mean disaster and it will be all your fault. You don't want that, do you? Any JPEGS must be saved as non-progressive. If you don't save it non-progressive we won't be able to display it.

You should save everything into a folder and zip it to upload it. It is preferred that you have a folder for the thumbnails and a folder with all the graphics (set previews, girl pics, etc), but as long as all the photos, thumbnails and graphics are all there and named correctly, the file will go through when you or the model uploads it.

Please make sure you are uploading only the images and graphics from the final set and that there is nothing else in the .zip folder - no extra .zip files, no photography release forms, no model ids, no other paperwork! The only thing that should be in the .zip file that you send us should be the images and set graphics exactly like it should appear on the site.

Double click on the file, then click the "INSTALL FONT" button at the bottom of the preview.

OR

Put the files into /Library/Fonts.

You may need to re-open photoshop to see the fonts on your drop down list.

Windows Vista : Select the font files, then right-click INSTALL.

Any other version of Windows: Place the font files into the Fonts folder, usually C:\Windows\Fonts or C:\WINNT\Fonts (can be reached as well by the Start Menu > Control Panel > Appearance and Themes > Fonts).

You may need to re-open photoshop to see the fonts on your drop down list.

If black and white or special effects are crucial to your set theme, please email photographycoordinator@suicidegirls.com before you shoot so we can let you know if we would be interested in seeing a set with that particular theme.