Until recently, if someone said the word “sharpening” to us, we’d whimper and hide under the table.

We mean, what the #$% is a threshold anyway?

Well, we finally got fed up with it, so we did some research. And you know what? Sharpening’s actually not that bad, and it makes a HUGE difference on digital images.*

Here’s our no-nonsense, jargon-free guide to sharpening your photos using Unsharp Mask. It’ll change your life. We promise.

*If you’re printing directly from film, feel free to be smug at this time. You don’t need to sharpen a darn thing.

Photojojo’s No-Nonsense, Jargon-Free Guide to Sharpening with Unsharp Mask

p.s. Hey San Francisco! Wanna help us out with the Photojojo Book? We need people to photograph and places to photograph them in. Check out our wishlist! We’ll make ya book-famous, baby!

We’ve seen our fair share of Photoshop tutorials, but when we came across this series of videos titled “You Suck at Photoshop”, we knew we were in for something different.

Join Donnie as he clone stamps self-deprecating snark while his wife airbrushes away his self-esteem. This spoof is worthy of SNL.

And be warned, though the intent is to amuse, you’re likely to pick up a Photoshop tip or two along the way.

(A real) ** Warning ** Some parts of Donnie’s tutorials may offend those with more refined sensibilities. If that could include you, please, don’t click through.

UPDATE: Now includes Donnie’s 11th episode!

Whether art form, social statement, or empty vessel, our favorite dress-down, the good-ole t-shirt, has got something for everyone.

So what does this have to do with photography?

Well, our pal and t-shirt wunderkind Josh Keay (who you might remember from the 5 minute photo fix) happens to be a Photoshop pro, and a fan of fakin’ it.

He’s put together a great video tutorial that shows you how to easily and realistically put any message you like on the t-shirts in your photos.

So watch the video, grab a photo, and get going!

Bee-tee-dub — Post your results here — we’ve 10 fun t-shirts to give away to our favorite entries. (Learn more)

psst.. Got an idea for a great photo project or tutorial? Write us!

Boy, are we excited. We’ve spent every waking moment these last months cooped up in the Photojojo Labs, working tirelessly on what can only be our greatest experiment ever. We’ve finally done it. We’ve found the key to…

Time Travel.

Well, time-lapse photography. Which is basically the same thing.

So go ahead, read our guide on the ins and outs of time-lapse and start churning out your very own time-lapse videos from your photos.

Then, take up your mantle in the halls of history, beside legends such as Bernard, Hoagie and Laverne, Dr. Who, Bill & Ted, and Doctor Emmett Brown. We’ll see you there!

p.s. Help us out, Digg this guide!

We’ve always wanted to live in a fish tank. There – we said it!

So we have odd ambitions. At least with the DIY Fisheye Lens, we’re (kinda) there. With it, we can give our photos that wonderfully distorted “fisheye” perspective – the one we’d like to think fish see everything from.

Best of all, we’re making the DIY Fisheye Lens with nothing more than some tape and a lens from a pair of old eyeglasses.

So join us in our blissful underwater world, by making your own!

(Put your fins together for Melissa Lawson, the wonderful creator of the DIY Fisheye Lens, who’s sharing it with us today!)

p.s. Something new we’ve been working on: CommandShift3.com.

Extra photos for bloggers: 1, 2, 3

Boy, if we only knew what dogs went through.

Our canine compadres always seem to get the short end of the bone in life, so that’s why we’re inventing a Photojojo first: The Doggie-Cam.

By sticking a camera on our four-legged friend Molly, we’ll finally see the world as she sees it, and maybe then we’ll be able to sympathize. No more doggie disrespect!

Who knows, after this we might just start lobbying for dogs’ rights. Dogs deserve to vote, we think. And where’s all the doggie mayors? Well, we’ll change that. The 2008 presidential elections? We’re talkin’ third-party dog candidate, baby. Before you know it, dogs will be in positions of power everywhere — dogs could rule the world!

Whoa, Nelly. So we might not go that far. But sometimes, we think it’s worth it to look at life from the underdog’s point-of-view, and with the Doggie-Cam, now we can.

p.s. Help us out, Digg this tutorial!

(Thanks to reader Wayne Pyle for pointing us to what we should admit is the first doggie cam, and hooking us on this idea.)

Tall glasses of lemonade, your legs sticking to the seat of your car, the days stretching languorously into the evening. What’s not to love about summer?

Oh, right. The stifling heat.

But that just brings us to another of summer’s joys: The cool comfort of the cinema.

In honor of some of our favorite summer blockbusters (Harry Potter and Transformers), we bring you our 10 11 most-favorite movie-effect tutorials. From Scarface to Sin City to Pirates of the Carribean to 300, we’ve got 11 great ways to go Hollywood on your photos. Read on!

p.s. Help us out, Digg this tutorial!

From the forum… Submit your fave food photo, How to print a photo on soft acrylic, the always-popular What am I Wednesdays (WAIW) #5, Ben asks Do you carry a camera around with you? (and so much more…)

So we were walking around Toys R Us the other day, something we do pretty frequently, and we discovered Crayola Color Wonder. It’s this new coloring book-like thing with markers that only work on special Crayola paper… paper that doesn’t let you color outside the lines.

That made us a little sad, especially coming from Crayola.

Coloring books are one of the great joys of childhood, and we think every child should have the opportunity to scribble outside the lines, on the lines, or even on the walls (just once.)

Luckily, you can still buy regular old-fashioned coloring books. Heck, you can even make your own! In fact, Photojojo friend Karina Benson has a great tutorial that shows you how to do just that in three simple steps!

Coloring Pages from Your Photos [via Lifehacker & Parenthacks]

p.s. Check more by Karina on Photojojo: Photo Toys and Photo Gifts for Dad.

A lenticular is an image that appears differently depending on how you look at it. If you’ve ever seen a postcard or movie poster that changes when you look at it from the left vs. the right, you’ve seen a lenticular.

Lenticulars usually require a special plastic sheet consisting of many tiny convex lenses, but you can make a super simple one with just two photos and some paper.

They make great, unique gifts, and it’s a cool way to show off more than one photo (especially related ones) in a single frame.

And it’s as simple as slicing, printing, folding and enjoying! Read our tutorial to learn how to do it!

p.s. Help spread the word: Digg this tutorial!

Back in March, we told you about George Lange’s 2006 photo flipbook. Ever since, you’ve been emailing, calling, and using messenger pigeons with little notes attached to their tiny little ankles to ask us how you can create your own Lange-style flipbook.

Ok, already. We’re gonna show you how.

To keep things simple, we’ll use a free and easy web application called JumpCut that works on any computer. Before you know it, you’ll be stringing together photos and music to make a beautiful photo slideshow of your very own.

Read our tutorial to learn how!

p.s. Today’s the last day to order photo goodies for you mama in time for Mother’s Day. There, we said it.