Photographers who like the look of painterly portraits, but don't have the time to learn how to do them -- help has arrived!

Karen Sperling is pleased to present the Artistry Backdrops for Photographs CDs.

Just open an Artistry backdrop in Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter or any other image editing software, drop in the figure and voilá -- you have a painterly portrait faster than you can say Rembrandt!

Designed by Laurence Gartel and Karen Sperling, two digital imaging veterans, the Artistry Backdrops for Photographs provide photographers with something new and different to offer to their clients.

Included on the Artistry Backdrops for Photographs CDs are step-by-step instructions for combining photos with the backdrops in either Photoshop or Painter. You don't have to own Painter to use the backdrops on the Artistry CDs. The tutorials include step-by-step instructions and illustrations for selecting the figure to be combined with the backdrop; changing the backdrop colors to suit the photos or a color scheme; masking hair using brushes; and adding drop shadows.

The four volumes of Artistry Backdrops for Photographs CDs contain 24 digital backdrops each. The backdrops are 8" x 10" 300 dpi .tif files that are easily resized to fit any portrait--as large as 30" x 40" and above.

The Artistry Backdrops for Photographs, Volumes 1 and 2, are abstract designs that are perfect for seniors or for adding pizazz to any portrait. They are designed by Laurence Gartel, who has been a pioneer of digital imaging for over a quarter of a century. His works have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Norton Museum of Art, Joan Whitney Payson Museum of Art, Long Beach Museum of Art, and in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. His Absolut Gartel ad for Absolut Vodka appeared in numerous publications. Laurence's most recent retrospective was exhibited at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre and at Galerie Posteria in Italy.

The Artistry Backdrops for Photographs, Volumes 3 and 4, are textures and landscapes, and are perfect for a more traditional painterly approach to portraiture. They are designed by original Painter expert, artist, photographer and author Karen Sperling, who wrote the original manuals for the first several versions of Painter and several published Painter books. Her commissioned portraits and her paintings are held in private collections internationally.

The Artistry Backdrops for Photographs are available through the Artistry web site. For more information and ordering visit http://www.artistrymag.com/docs/backdrops.html.