英语博客：Designing a special photo for the app.

（单词翻译）

　　I love to use my laptop, to play around with different programs, to surf the web, and to edit photos. Today I have been doing that for hours. Now that my app has come out in iTunes, I have been trying to design a really good photo for it. The existing photo of a red cup with flags on it is fine, but I wanted something a little more elegant. So, I have been playing around with a little tea set that I inherited from my grandmother on my father's side. It is a 'tea for two' set which is extra small. It is what we call 'fine bone china', and hand painted. It has a lot of sentimental¹ value for me, as it is my only connection to a grandmother who died when I was just a baby. The idea of a cup of tea is a theme for my work for several reasons. First, I come from a tea drinking nation, England. Secondly², I love the stuff, and even though I try to avoid the stereotype³ of drinking tea in the afternoon, it is exactly what I do! Thirdly, I love the idea of filling up a cup with knowledge until it overflows⁴. So, the tea cup image will always be in my work. To make just the right photo, I bought a large sheet of red paper, placed the cup and saucer on it, arranged some extra lighting⁵, and held the tea pot over the cup. It would have been perfect if I had had an extra hand, but I just about managed with two. After taking the photo, I then had to edit it. I started by sharpening the picture. That means that I selected a button which adds strength to the edges in a picture. There is a feature in the program that I use which allows you to add text (or writing). What I hadn't realised before is that after writing the words, you can turn them to point in different directions. Perfect! I wrote and arranged lots of words on the photo. The 'look' that I was after was that of English pouring out of the tea pot into the cup. It took me ages to finish. I couldn't bend the words, so I had to reposition the words part by part. When I finished, I was relieved. It had taken a long time. You must check out the new photo and tell me what you think. It should replace the old one on the app in a couple of weeks.
Grammar notes.
Practicing the past participle with related verbs: to edit, to design, to arrange, to select.
1. The photographer edited the wedding photos and made everybody look much younger.
2. The architect designed a beautiful park for the center of the city.
3. The florist⁶ arranged the flowers carefully in the vase.
4. Select the undo⁷ button in the program if you want to erase⁸ what you just did.