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Simulation
Miguel Nogueira 4
In this tutorial, I will cover some useful and tricky techniques I
have been using for a few years, especially in Sci Fi artwork. You
will learn how to create cyborgs out of simple portraits.
Simulation
Source Files
In this tutorial, I will cover some useful and tricky techniques I have been using for a few
years, especially in Sci Fi artwork and how to create cyborgs out of simple portraits. It is a
pretty simple and quick tutorial and I cannot cover it in a step-by-step tutorial, but I will do it
by describing each of my techniques and how they work. This way, you will be learning much
more than by following an exhausting and absurdly long tutorial. I find it to be much more
helpful this way, going straight to the points. I recommend this tutorial to Photoshop users
with relevant advanced skill or at the very least, know the basics of photomanipulation,
including cropping and blending.
Step 1 Step 3
Using your stock, import it to Photoshop and start cropping out the To make the cyborg line which is dividing the blue-looking jaw from
background of your model and also a bit of the head we want to the rest of the face, trace a line over the area with the pen tool. When
open, just like it is shown in picture. this is done, pick a small, hard brush about 2-4 pixels. We can now
right click with the convert point tool and select the option Stroke
Path, hit OK! Change the Blending mode to Overlay or Multiply.
Duplicate it a few times until you are pleased with the result. It
depends on the skin tones of the model in some cases.
This is also the method that was used to trace the cyborg line over
the subject's hand that holds the flower. It is a bit boring, but patience
is necessary! Let's give it a little emphasis. There are several ways
to do this. I either use an emboss/shadow effect to our line layer or
manually paint some shadows with the burn tool on the bottom of the
line. There is not really a right or wrong way to do it, as long as you get
to a result that you are pleased with, no matter how it was done.
Step 2
After getting rid of all skin and
human parts that we do not want,
we should get something like this
the following image.
The process to remove the
eyebrows is pretty simple, using
your healing and clone tools and
just brush them away. I generally
find the healing tool to be the best
pick, since it generates skin tones
to match the missing eyebrow
spot. Almost like magic!
.psd Photoshop 5
cover artist
6 .psd Photoshop
acanthus
Acanthus
Source Files
Preliminary Considerations The other resources for the image include isolated autumn leaves and
The first step in this tutorial involves a consideration of stock photography various woodcut ornaments, which can be sourced from old books and
and graphic resources. Firstly, because we will be illustrating the model’s manuscripts, (some great resources include the Internet Archive and the
dress, we ideally want to avoid models that are wearing large amounts of Gutenberg Project), currency, and Google image search (be cautious that you
clothing, so as to avoid needing to edit out bits of clothing later on. While some do not infringe on image copyrights). Provided these are sufficiently clear
touchups of this sort may be required, it can get rather tricky and therefore it and/or high enough resolution, they can be vectorised at a touch of a button
is best to keep the amount of clothing to a minimum. Secondly, you will want in Adobe Illustrator. Another great resource is Go Media, who sell ready-made
to choose a full body shot and a pose that is artistic or that implies motion. vector packs that often contain high quality vectorised ornaments suitable for
The dress will be drawn flowing with motion and your model’s pose should this tutorial. Lastly, some ornamental brushes will be needed, and while there
ideally compliment this. Thirdly, we will want to choose a model with little or are brush sets available to download, I would encourage you to create your
no background, so that we may isolate her with ease. own, as it is quite easy.
01
Step 1
In Illustrator, create a temp-
late layer and place your
model in this layer. Scale
the image according to your
desired canvass size. Now
lock the layer, and create
another layer above the
template layer. This is where
we will be working for the rest
of our time in illustrator.
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photomanipulation
03
Step 3 Brushes
Ornamental brushes can be created by drawing with
the pen tool, and dragging your creations into the
Brushes palette, to create an art brush. You can also
create brushes by dragging your vectorised woodcuts
into the brushes palette. Specific brush settings
depend on your desired artwork, but ticking the pro-
portional option in the brush creation adds some nice
dynamic scaling effects. The brushes must be drawn
with a black stroke, and we will need a white fill behind
the black line work. This can be in the form of a simple
fill, or depending on the artwork, as a separate white
shape arranged behind your black strokes. Two tools
that you will find useful for this kind of line work is the
Blend function under the Object menu, using specified
steps under the blend options menu (see Step 3.2),
and the Transform function under the Effects menu.
The transform effect allows for fully-adjustable step-
ups and repeats of your pen strokes, allowing you free-
dom to multiply, rotate, scale and move your strokes.
10 .psd Photoshop
acanthus
04
Step 4
Now that we have created some bushes and vec-
tor woodcut elements, we can begin to layer them
on top of the model in order to create her dress.
How this is done is entirely open to your own
creativity, but as you can see from this example
(Steps 3.5 and 3.6), I created a rather intricate de-
sign using just a handful of woodcut graphics and
brush strokes. On the torso, I concentrated using
collections of small and short woodcut ornaments
from currency and other sources. For the longer
parts of the dress, I used long brush strokes and
larger woodcut elements. While we will be doing
most of the shading later in photoshop, at this
point you may like to add drop shadows to your
illustration to add a little depth while you are
working in illustrator. However, I would suggest
removing any effects before you bring everything
over to photoshop.
05
Step 5
Once we have finished creating our dress in
Illustrator, it’s time to bring everything over to
photoshop, within which we will be working for
the remainder of this tutorial. Open up Photoshop,
and create a new document according to your
desired canvass size and resolution. Once you
have created a new document, select File>Place
([Cntrl]+[D] on a PC or [Cmd]+[D] on a mac) and
place the model stock photograph as a new layer,
named model, any other name you prefer. At this
point, you will want to isolate the model from the
background, which you can do by drawing around
her form with the pen tool and applying a layer
mask, or by using any other preferred selection
method and applying a layer mask in the same
way.
06
Step 6
With both Illustrator and Photoshop open, go
to illustrator and select the dress illustration
with your selection tool. Copy this by pressing
[Cntrl]+[C] or [Cmd]+[C]. Now go back into
Photoshop, and press [Cntrl]+[V] or [Cmd]+[V] to
paste the copied dress as a vector Smart Object.
Name this layer as Dress or otherwise, and finally,
scale it to fit over the model correctly.
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photomanipulation
07
Step 7 was undesirable, giving her the appearance of very large feet, and so I cut
Now that we have successfully imported our vector artwork into photo- her feet into a new layer, and moved, rotated and scaled them into a better
shop, we can begin to make adjustments to our composition. The first form and perspective. I also applied various beauty retouching techniques,
logical step in this direction is to apply any necessary adjustments to especially blemish removal and skin tone smoothing, which fall outside of the
the models skin and form. The perspective of my chosen stock photo scope of this tutorial.
08
Step 8 under the Layer Style menu in the Layers palate, select Pattern. Here you
Once we are satisfied with our model’s form, we can move on to applying can add any desired texture. I chose to use a grassy pattern as this added
colour and detail to her dress. As it stands, the dress looks a little too clear, a simple, yet effective noise texture. This is open to experimentation and you
so we want to add some texture and imperfection. Select the dress layer, and can add any desired pattern.
12 .psd Photoshop
acanthus
09
Step 9
Now we have a little more texture in our dress and it’s time to bring it to (hold the alt key and place and click the cursor between the layers in the layer
life with colour. I chose a delightful blue-green colour scheme consisting of panel) so that it prevents your colouring from spilling over the edges of the
camouflage green, forest green, grass green, olive, teal, aquamarine and dress. With the layer mask selected, take a white brush, with 100% opacity and
stone, but you can let your creativity run free here. In the Adjustment Layer flow, and a slightly soft/feathered brush tip, and paint over those elements of
menu, select Photo Filter. There are of course different ways of applying the dress that you want to apply the particular colour to. Create another photo
colour through adjustment layers, but the photo filter feature allows for easy filter with a different colour and repeat this action until you have coloured in
access to a comprehensive HSV colour space, while also offering the option the dress fully with your chosen variety of colours. My model’s bright red hair
to preserve luminosity and to apply alpha control. It is an often neglected, clashed terribly with the greens, so I also recoloured her hair, this time by
yet powerful tool. Choose your desired colour and name the photo filter creating a new layer above the model layer, filling this with my desired colour,
accordingly. Now fill the layer mask on the photo filter with black to hide the setting the blending mode to color, and clipping this layer with a layer mask.
effect. You may also like to apply the photo filter as part of a clipping group
10
Step 10
Now our creation is really starting to take shape, but it’s looking a little flat since the Shading layer and click on the layer mask feature to add a clipping mask.
we have no background, depth and variation in lighting and shadow. Create This will restrict your shading to the girl and her dress. With a soft black brush
a new layer at the very bottom of the layer palette, call it Background and fill it with a low opacity of 5-10%, begin to add gradations of shading to the dress.
with black. We’ll come back to the background a little later, but for now this will Increase the opacity to add deeper shadows, and use a very low opacity and
give us a clearer view of the edges of our composition. Now we can add some wide brush to add subtle global shading. Adding realistic shading requires
shading to the dress. Create a new layer at the very top of the layers panel, a consideration of the direction of light sources, as referenced from the model,
call this Shading and set the blending mode to multiply. Now in the layers the path of the light and possible obstructions that cast shadow, and the basic
panel, hold down [Cntrl] (PC) or [Cmd] (mac) and click on the model layer rule that surfaces perpendicular to the light source will be brighter regions
to draw a selection. Now hold [Shift]+[Cntrl] (or CMD) and click on the dress with less shadow.
layer. This will add both the woman and the dress to your selection. Now select
.psd Photoshop 13
photomanipulation
11
Step 11
Now that we have added shading, our model is really coming to life. This step brush with a low opacity, paint around the model to create a subtle radiance.
involves adding a subtle green glow to the model, so as to soften the edges Once complete, right click on the layer and convert it to a smart object. Now
and reduce the contrast between the background and our model. Create a new got to the Filter menu>Noise>Add noise. Add 2% noise, with monochromatic
layer above the background layer and call this green glow. Using a large soft and Gaussian selected. This will break any gradient banding that may occur.
12
Step 12
The final steps involve adding falling autumn leaves to both the foreground case 90 degrees vertical and 9px of distance. This blur feature will give
and background, and adding depth of field and motion to the latter. Starting your leaves depth of field and motion, lending great depth and movement
with the background, Create a new layer group above the green glow layer to our composition. Now add a scatter of a few more single isolated leaves,
and call this Background leaves. Inside this group, place a stock image of increasing their size proportionately as they come closer to the foreground.
isolated forest litter, and name this layer as depth_of_field. Double click this In each instance, add a little Gaussian Blur to give them a certain depth within
layer to open up the .psd. Now right click this in the layers palette and select our depth of field, decreasing this as they come closer to the foreground,
layer from background. Select the white background with the magic wand tool coming into focus with our model. Now it is unlikely that the lighting will be
or Colour range feature under the Select menu and delete this selection, leav- perfect on our leaves, so you may want to shade them a little in the same way
ing only the leaves and on a transparent background. Save and close the .psd. we shaded the dress. Create a new layer above the leaves, call this leaves_
Going back to the main photoshop file, select your depth_of_field layer and go shading and set the blending mode to multiply. Use a soft back brush and
to Filter>Blur>Motion blur. Choose your angle of motion and distance, in this a low opacity to paint in some shadows on to your background leaves.
14 .psd Photoshop
acanthus
13
Step 13 ing with these leaves, again adding a shading layer and adjusting the colours
Now for the final step, the foreground leaves. Create a new layer group at the and lighting of the specific leaves using the appropriate adjustment layers,
top of the layers panel. Now add some more isolated leaves, again increasing such as Hue and Saturation and Levels. These you can apply to the specific
the size as they come closer to the foreground, and even making those at the leaves by turning them into clipping groups (hold the alt key and place and
very front quite large. Pay particular attention to the detail in colour and light- click the cursor between the layers in the layer panel).
14
Step 14
Now your composition is complete. You have a stunning forest nymph of a Levels and Vibrance and Hue and Saturation adjustment layer at the very
animated with great motion and detail complete with depth of field. Possibly top of your layers panel.
your lighting may be a touch incorrect and as a final step you may want to do
some overall light and colour adjustments, which you can do with the addition by Ian Jamieson
.psd Photoshop 15
Astral
Projection
This is a simple tutorial that will show you techniques to improve your work. It may help
you with the details of your digital artwork, such as lighting, cropping and blending of
textures and colors, and shapes. It is a simple and quick tutorial. If you already have
basic knowledge of Photoshop and its main tools, you should not face any problems
going through it.
beginer | 1-6 h.
adobe photoshop CS
astral projection
01
Source Files
Picking your stock pictures
I generally find this step is not fun at all. For your
manipulation to turn into a great ones, instead
of just good, you will have to be patient and be
picky about the stock you choose. But, fear not!
In this tutorial, I will provide you with all the stock
resources you need.
03
.psd Photoshop 17
photomanipulation
04
05
18 .psd Photoshop
astral projection
06
Boosting details
With the Luminosity layer of your model still selected, select your Dodge Tool, backgrounds. Make sure you invert the selection ([Ctrl]+[Shift]+[I]) before
(Press [O] on your keyboard) and start painting some of the light areas over the going to the textures group and removing that background. Looking pretty good
skin as shown. (Works very well with a soft brush along with a soft opacity level so far, huh? But, we are not finished yet. Notice the lack of shading between the
over the already brighter parts of the skin.) It is time to remove that background belly and the chest? We can fix that by painting the surroundings with a soft
from the texture, to do this, simply press [Ctrl] key on your keyboard and click black brush. If you have some custom painting brushes, it will make the task
once over the mask of the model. This will give you the same selection you much easier and you can easily find many of them for free on DeviantART. When
made with the Pen tool in a previous step, now it is much easier to remove the you are finished, set your painted shadows to Multiply.
07
The Background
Finally, we will add a real background for our work, personally, since I do down behind your subject. We are almost there! It is starting to get the
not feel like spending a whole lot of time manipulating my very own spaces- mood we want and we now have to do the same with the textures, since
cape, I opted to use one that you may find in the Stock folder. Simply import before they where too small to fit the whole image size. Duplicate the layer
it to Photoshop and drag it all way down in your layers palette. Bringing it and flip it vertically.
.psd Photoshop 19
photomanipulation
08
The Tree
The tree is actually pretty simple to blend. Import the tree and resize it to any white background. You may also try to duplicate the tree layer and play
fit the area above the head as you see fit. After doing this, simply set the around with the blending modes for different effects.)
blending mode of the tree layer to Darken. (This works perfectly to remove
09
The Petals.
I could not find where I got the petals from, but I believe
it was from the www.sxc.hu site. This is actually a pretty
simple step. Just crop them around, one by one, by duplicat-
ing the petals layer and playing around with the blending
modes, until they fit the lightning. Use the friendly dodge
and burn tool to emphasis this effect. Adding movement to
the petals is also easy. Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur menu
and play with the settings until you are pleased with the
preview and click OK! Congratulations. We made it! Picture of
the final work attached to here
by Miguel Nogueira
Stock credits:
• www.sxc.hu – Additional stocks, such as tree and petals
• http://cloaks.deviantart.com/ – The textures
• http://katlovestock.deviantart.com/ – The model
• http://resurgere.deviantart.com/ – The background
20 .psd Photoshop
medium | 3 h.
adobe photoshop CS4 | cintiq wacom tablet
childhood
Remembering
Source Files
My Childhood
I wanted to create a textured piece filled with emotion and light trying to convey a time in my life
that was carefree and joyous. This piece is all about using color and textures and I urge you, if
you feel daring, to try your own colors and textures and create something really unique to you.
Create something that makes you reminisce about your own childhood. Expect this to be a little
time consuming – not too bad – but enough to practice getting tones and light just so. Try to pay
attention to texture detail – placing it in the right places, so as to add to your picture. Sometimes
this is what can make or break a picture. If you put too much, it will take away from what you
are trying to achieve. Just the right amount can make it perfect for the emotion you are trying to
convey in the picture. Have fun!
01
Step 1
Start by choosing a simple background. Play with
the settings by duplicating the layer and hiding it
(in case you mess up), then duplicate your shown
background and play with the blending modes.
I usually try Soft Light or Multiply at lower
opacities (soft light gives more depth and multiply
adds drama).
02
Step 2
Get your model ready, then apply a mask to her
layer. I usually leave a little shadow around the
base (as you will notice here), so that when
blending the final image, I can add more or take
away the excess. This also helps with the natural
shadows around her feet. Being that this is a more
texturized piece, I did not have to be as rigid in the
masking process as in some of my other pieces.
.psd Photoshop 23
photomanipulation
03
Step 3
Begin adding textures via various blend modes.
Here, I added a texture of sky and grass at full
opacity with the soft light mode. I did not mask
anything in this particular piece because it all
blended together perfectly for me. You will note
that below this layer, I have a ray of light that is
set to screen at 7% opacity just to give a slight
sense of light to the left of my model.
04
Step 4
This is where you can really begin to see the im-
age come together. Play with all kinds of textures.
Sometimes pictures you would never think could
work will work the best for you! In this picture,
I used several cloud textures and one water
texture. Remember to mask the parts you do not
want and keep balance in the image. I also paint-
ed my model’s hair to add more of the windswept
feel to the scene. Remember to keep the hair on
its own layer. Finally, make a Curves adjustment
to add depth and clarity to your image. Lower the
opacity if it's too strong.
05
Step 5
After you merge all the layers together, duplicate
them, then go to Image>Adjustments>Shadows/
Highlights and experiment with the sliders to see
what kind of depth or highlights can be brought to
your image. That's all. Remember – it is all in the
textures and blend modes.
by Claudia McKinney
24 .psd Photoshop
Heaven
Can Wait
medium | 2 h.
adobe photoshop CS4
heaven can wait
01
Source Files
Let's start+ Create a Landscape
To begin, create a new document (file>new) with
an image size of 1600 x 1600 px and 300dpi.
Name it heaven can wait and click OK. To create
the landscape open the file sky.jpg and drag-
and-drop it with the Move Tool [v] in to your new
document. Do the same with ground.jpg. To keep
everything straight, it is useful to rename the lay-
ers by double clicking on the name in the layers
panel and changing it to something useful.
02
Dynamic
To get a more dynamic sky you have to distort
the clouds (edit>transform>distort). You will see
a frame with eight markers around the layer. To
distort the image you can drag the corner markers
and stretch them. To apply the transformation, hit
Enter.
03
Perspective
In the same way you add perspective to the
ground (edit>transform>perspective), activate
the ground-layer and drag the corner markers to
correct the perspective (see figure). This will mo-
mentarily render the image very muddy, but after
applying the transformation it will become clear.
.psd Photoshop 27
photomanipulation
04
More depth
The next step is to create a layer for the haze. Click
on the new layer button in the layers palette and
rename it. Take a white brush with 0% hardness
and an opacity <10% and paint along the horizon.
05
• 600px – 80%
• 1000px – 60%
• 1500px – 40%
• 2500px – 10%
06
28 .psd Photoshop
heaven can wait
07
08
Frame
To build the canvas’s frame duplicate the easel-
layer and move [v] the duplicated layer to the
right edge of the canvas (see figure). Create
a black layer mask by holding down the [Alt]-key
while clicking on the Add Layer Mask icon. All
pixels in this layer are hidden now. Using a white
brush, you can paint the parts you want to keep
in your image. Make sure that the layer mask
is activated. In the same way you can build the
frame on the top of the canvas.
09
Canvas-look+Connection
To get a typical canvas-look, go to Filter>Texture
>Texturizer and choose Canvas, Scaling 91 and
Relief 1. Create a Clipping Mask above the canvas
(layer>new, activiate clipping mask) and use the
Brush Tool to paint a shadow around it. Use a dark
gray brush with a 40% opacity. In this step you
will build a connection between the two images
and let the clouds fly off the canvas. Duplicate the
canvas-layer, and put it on the top of the layers
palette. Then, move the clouds towards their cor-
rect position (reduce opacity for a better view). As
in step 10, you create a black layer mask and use
a brush to paint the clouds into your image.
.psd Photoshop 29
photomanipulation
10
11
12
Shadow
To get a more realistic look, add a shadow on the
ground. Create a new layer below the easel-layer
and use a dark gray brush with 0% hardness and
60% opacity to paint the shadow. Set the blending
mode to Multiply and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian
blur, amount 20px. You can also reduce the layer’s
opacity to adjust the shadow.
30 .psd Photoshop
heaven can wait
13
Easel’s fine-tuning
Create a new Curves Adjustment Layer by clicking
the marked symbol to adjust the contrast of the
easel. Use [Strg]+[Alt]+[g] to get a Clipping Mask.
The easel also needs shadows. As in step 11, you
create a new layer as a Clipping Mask and paint
the shadows with a small brush with 15% opacity.
Finally set the blending mode to Multiply.
14
Texture
Now it is time for the texture. Open the file and
drag-and-drop it with the Move Tool [v] into your
image. Transform it with [Strg]+[t] and set the
blending mode to soft light.
15
More impact
To give the image more contrast add a new Levels
Adjustment Layer (as in step 16) and adjust the
midtones (see figure). Because of the texture,
the edges are too dark now. You can correct it by
painting in the layer mask as you see in the fig-
ure. Another way to get more contrast is to create
a Black and White layer in the Soft Light blending
mode, with 50% opacity.
.psd Photoshop 31
photomanipulation
16
The End
The last Adjustment Layer will add the Hue.
Choose Solid Color (db8a17), set the blending
mode to Soft Light and reduce the opacity. Finally,
use [Strg]+[Shift]+[Alt]+[e] to copy the layers
once again and go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp
Mask with the settings 50 – 20 – 0. Set the
opacity to 50% and reduce the sharpness of the
ground by painting in the mask. That is it! I hope
you enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any sugges-
tions or questions, please feel free to send me an
e-mail: frauschnette@gmail.com
by Jeannette Woitzik
32 .psd Photoshop
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.psd Photoshop 33
beginer | 3 h.
adobe photoshop CS3
dancer
Dancer
Source Files
01
Step 1
Lets create a new document with 4000x3163px
dimension and fill the first layer with black.
Create a folder named BG and open a picture
skyscrapers.jpg in a new layer fitting it proportion-
ally to the width of the document. Next move up
whole layer like it is depicted in the picture above.
02
Step 2
Now we take care of making the sky in right and
left corner uniform. Thus, using the rectangular
marquee tool we select a 1500x750px area in
a top left corner we copy [Ctrl]+[C] and paste
it [Ctrl]+[V] into a new layer, flipping it horizon-
tally (Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal). Next we
move this layer to the top right corner, change
the blending mode (Darken) and mask out the
redundant parts.
.psd Photoshop 35
creative class
03
Step 3
Using (Selective Color) and (Curves) we choose
the appropriate colors for the city.
04
Step 4
Create new layer by choosing (Image>Apply im-
age) and click OK. Use filter (Filter>Blur>Radial
blur) with the following settings: Amount: 100,
Blur method: Zoom, Quality: Best. Change the layer
blending mode to (Color Dodge) and set the opac-
ity to 75%. Mask edges of the layer in a way, that
the light is focused in the central part of the city.
05
Step 5
Create another new layer choosing (Image>Apply
image). Blend a whole (Filter>Blur>Gaussian blur)
Radius: 8px, masking this time a central part of
the layer. This way, we obtain a depth of field.
36 .psd Photoshop
dancer
06
Step 6
Add new folder named Dancer. Open a picture
and cut everything except the floor and a dancer.
Below the layer with dancer we place a floor
floor.png, which I have prepared by copying parts
of the original picture with (Clone stamp) tool. Now
we mask the layer with a dancer (Layer>Layer
mask>Reveal all) with a soft brush: Master diame-
ter 300px, Hardness 12px, Opacity 55% in a way to
make the layers match each other. Next we select
both layers and merge them together [Ctrl]+[E].
Then we duplicate the layer [Ctrl]+[J], change its
mode to (Overlay) and opacity to 45%.
07
Step 7
Now load a texture.png file and scale it to 42% of
a whole picture size. Then we push [Ctrl]+[T] and
adjust the height of the texture to the height of the
floor. Having the transformation active [Ctrl]+[T],
we choose (Edit>Transform>Perspective) and
having a (Shift) key pushed, we move one of the
top corners of the picture to the center.
08
Step 8
Mask the texture edges with a soft brush and
remove it parts in a place where the dancers’
hands and a head appear. Set the blending mode
to (Soft light) and change a texture color with
(Image>Adjustment>Hue/Saturation).
.psd Photoshop 37
creative class
09
Step 9
Create a new folder Stones in a Dancer folder. We
cut the part with a broken floor out of the layer
and move it into a Stones folder. We duplicate it,
and set the blending mode of the stone in the un-
derlying layer to (Multiply). Now we return to the
stone in the above layer and rotate it about -15%
and move it to achieve the look that it is falling off.
Repeat this step for all the stones, remembering
about setting the appropriate degrees of tilt for
stones placed in the upper layers.
10
Step 10
Create another folder named Dust. In this step we
will focus on masking and appropriate placement
of elements. Lets open dust1.jpg, reduce its size
and change the blending mode to (Screen). We
move the layer into a suitable place and mask
it this way to make the dust appear above the
dancer. Next, using (Image>Adjustments >Hue/
Saturation) we give it a color matching the rest of
illustration. Repeat this work using also the sec-
ond picture dust2.jpg. To obtain a better result it
is worth to differentiate a dust masking in a such
way, so it would appear in front of a dancer.
11
Step 11
Create a new layer in a folder. Using a (Pen tool)
set to (Path) we draw a path on which the lace will
stretch. We change the brush parameters: Master
diameter 15px, Hardness 100%, Opacity: 100%,
Flow: 100% and go to the (Path) tab. Click the layer
containing a path with right button and select
(Stroke path). In a new window select (Simulate
pressure) and click OK.
38 .psd Photoshop
dancer
12
Step 12
Now we go to the layer properties and set (Bevel
and Emboss) and (Gradient overlay). In the same
way we create another shoelace. We add layers’
masks and using a brush we hide the shoelaces
in parts where they should appear behind build-
ings and dancer.
13
Step 13
Restore default color settings [D] and choose
(Layer>New fill layer>Gradient). Pick the fol-
lowing settings: Style: Radial, Scale: 150% and
set the (Reverse) option. Now flatter the layer
(Layer>Rasterize>Layer) and change its blending
mode to (Soft light). In case, when the illustration
became too dark, you should mask a its central
part with a soft brush or just change the opacity.
14
Step 14
At the end, the only thing we are left to do, is
to create a folder SET containing the setting for
a whole illustration. We do this using (Curves)
and (Selective color). Additively, on a new layer
having blending mode set to (Screen), we create
a light effect using brush with #d73015 color
and following settings: Master diameter: 1600px,
Hardness: 0px, Opacity: 100%, Flow: 100%.
by Dariusz Palarczyk
.psd Photoshop 39
medium | 2 h.
adobe photoshop
birdo
Birdo
Source Files
This tutorial will show you how to color a sketch using masks and blending
modes. There are a few tricks along the way and some useful shortcuts
for completing illustrations quickly. This tutorial will take approximately
two hours,but it depends on how quick you are at sketching and coloring.
Hopefully, at the end of this tutorial I will have made you a lot faster
01
Accompanying image
I start with a basic pen and paper sketch scanned
into Photoshop. This is my basic sketch, inked
using fine writer pens. You should try a sketch with
a lot of detail to get the most out of this technique.
02
Accompanying image
Use the Magic Wand tool to make an outline selection of the bird. Select
Layer via Copy ([Ctrl]+[J]) to have an isolated copy of the bird on a new
layer. Now erase the content of the background layer and fill it with a rich
red color. I used #972608, but any red color will do just fine. Finally set
the bird sketch layer to Multiply. If you look at the completed.psd file,
you will have seen that I have my bird and lettering in different layers.
I created this file like this so that you can try adding your own text. To
get the nice autumn green's, brown's and red's in the finished image
you are going to have to use some magic later on. For the moment, the
colors we want to use are the most luminous and day-glow 80's as
possible. Think pink, turquoise, electric blue and so on. You might want
to create your own swatch at this point of bright colors. Use the magic
wand to create another outline selection of the sketch layer and click on
the red background layer. Press [Ctrl]+[J] to make a new layer from this
selection. You should now have a red silhouette on a layer between the
background and the sketch. This layer will act as the mask for our colors,
highlights and shadows. Pick a suitable hard round brush and create
a new layer above the red silhouette. Right click the layer in the layers
palette and choose Create clipping mask. Now we can begin to add some
color to our bird.
.psd Photoshop 41
creative class
03
Accompanying image
Apply a block color to each section of the bird. Do
not worry about shadows or highlights at this
point. Color every feather and if everything is go-
ing according to plan, you should have a vividly,
bright picture of the bird. If the colors seem dull
make sure to liven them up a bit more. Try to use
white sparingly, maybe the whites of its eyes,
the odd feather and any teeth. Once you have the
block colors finished you can start thinking about
shadows. Create a new layer above the block color
and set it as a clipping mask. For shadows I like to
select a medium light gray and simply paint over
the places they are needed. If you set the blend
mode of the shadow layer to Multiply, it should
start to give definition to all of the feathers.
04
Accompanying image
After the shadows are finished, create a new layer above to add
highlights. The highlights allow us to make certain parts of the image
pop out a little more. Use a small, solid white brush set to about 40%
opacity. We just want to give the larger areas some shine, so do not go
overboard with this step. For the next step we want a good grainy tex-
ture. Something like a card without too many creases in it. For textures
I like to raid my recycling bin, since it is usually full of empty packaging,
cereal boxes and brown paper bags. Scan in a texture to a new canvas
and do a quick select all and copy. Switch back to the bird canvas and
make a selection of the sketch layer with the magic wand. Now press
[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[V] to paste the texture into this selection. If your draw-
ing has any areas that you do not want to texture (like teeth or the
whites of eyes), use the eraser to get rid of those parts. Once you have
your texture in place, change the blend mode of this layer to Multiply.
Repeat this process again, but this time set your blend mode to Overlay
and drop the opacity to about 50%.
05
Accompanying image
Now that we have the bird near completion we are going to take a look at the background.
Paste the full texture we created before above the red background layer that we created at
the start of the tutorial. Set the blend mode of the layer to Multiply. Now the next step is
something that I use quite a lot when creating single character illustrations and is a quick
method for creating detailed backgrounds. Make a duplicate of the sketch layer and place
it between the texture and background layers. If you have duplicated the sketch layer
remember, to change its blend mode from Multiply back to normal. Using the arrow tool (V)
hold down Alt key and drag the sketch around to create duplicates around the screen. Try to
make sure that you make this duplication placement as random as possible. Once you have
a nice back repetition merge, all of these sketch layers into one layer. Invert this layer using
]Ctrl]+[I] and set the blend mode of this layer to Overlay. Add a vector mask to this layer.
If you have not done this before, with the inverted layer selected look for a small icon at
the bottom of the layers palette with a white circle inside a grey square. Click this icon and
a linked mask should appear above. The mask is white at first showing the entire inverted
sketch. We want to get rid of the outer edge of this layer, so select a soft edged brush and
simply paint black onto the canvas. If you still have the mask selected, the inverted sketch
should start to be erased. Duplicate the texture layer above the inverted sketch. Select the
bottom most of the two texture layers and erase the center using a large soft brush. Aim for
a shape similar in dimensions to the inverted sketch layer.
42 .psd Photoshop
birdo
06
Accompanying image
Create a new layer and open the splats.abr brush
file. These brushes were created by my wife a few
years back using Indian ink, a pipette and a thin
card. Choose one of the larger splats and open the
brush options. Change the angle jitter to full and
paint a rough white 'bleed' around the bird. Create
a new layer above this and, using the same brush,
paint a slightly smaller bleed in yellow. Now set
both of the blend modes on these layers to Over-
lay. Once you have done this move back to the
bird to add some outlines.
07
Accompanying image
Duplicate the base color layer of the bird twice by
selecting the layer and pressing [Ctrl]+[J]. On the
lower copy open the layer styles by double click-
ing on the layer in the layers palette. Click stroke
and add a thick black stroke about 25 pixels thick.
On the copy above repeat this stroke, but make it
slightly thinner and dark green.
08
Accompanying image
The last thing to do is add the magic layer that ties
all the colors together. Create a new layer above
all the other layers and fill it with a beige skin tone
color. Finally, set the blend mode to Hue and the
opacity to 75% and we are done. The Hue mode is
perfect for giving an unexpected touch to these
kinds of drawings since it gives fantastic results
and is easily editable.
by Neil Hanvey
.psd Photoshop 43
Why
Serious
So
In this tutorial you will learn how to play with gradient colors
textures.
medium | 2-3 h.
adobe photoshop CS2
why so serious
01
Source Files
Step 1
Draw any object & you can use references if you
want, using (Polygonal Lasso Tool) because we
want some sharp ending. Here I draw a woman
so I start to draw her body first, and note that you
don't have to draw details.
02
Step 2
Color your art, for me I used ([#fad5a6] for skin,
[#efc590] for the shadow on the skin, & [#fb-
dbb3] for the light). Always in my work I use three
colors to color the object, the main color, a darker
color for shadows & a lighter color for lights.
03
Step 3
Add a new layer and draw the hair and color it with
[#ffffff] , then go to layer>layer style>Gradient
Overlay, & choose these sittings:
.psd Photoshop 45
creative class
04
Step 4
Merge all the layers together by [ctrl] and select
all the layers then click [ctrl]+[E] then Go to
layer>layer style>stroke, and choose
05
Step 5
Draw the lips in another layer using the same tool
& color it with [#ff998e], then draw the eyebrows
coloring them with [#826c46] the same color we
used for stroke before.
06
Step 6
Draw the sun glasses shape and after coloring it
with white color change the opacity for the layer
to 50%.
46 .psd Photoshop
why so serious
07
Step 7
Draw the glasses and fill it with black strips pat-
tern and change the opacity to 25%.
08
Step 8
Color the background with (Gradient tool) using
these tow colors [#ed53ff] and [#6ef9e4].
09
Step 9
Use (BDBrick) font to write (Why So Serious),
using these sizes (why=163pt, so=163pt,
serious=72pt) note that we are trying to cover
most of the body area not the whole body, then
changed the fill to 0%, then go to layer>layer
style>Gradient Overlay and coose the tow colors
[#eed115] & [#fd1e55], then add white stroke
size [9px] At the end go to Edit>transform>rotate:
-20.5.
.psd Photoshop 47
creative class
10
Step 10
Select all the layers and click [Ctrl]+[E] to merge
them.
11
Step 11
Add an old yellow paper in another layer and
change its mode to Multiply.
12
Step 12
Add a big splatters brush in a new layer using dark
gray color I used [#3f412d] and change its mode
to Soft light.
48 .psd Photoshop
why so serious
13
Step 13
Add some dots and circles around the object &
stroke them with size [3 px] using [#4f3e15]
color.
14
Step 14
For the frame, draw a light yellow frame using
(Rectangular Marquee tool).
15
Step 15
On another layer use splatter brush on the edges
of the frame & merge these layer with the frame
layer.
.psd Photoshop 49
creative class
16
Step 16
Go to layer>layer style>Pattern Overlay and
choose any dots patterns you have, then add
a new layer then select the new layer and the
pattern layer then click [Ctrl]+[E] to merge them.
17
Step 17
17th: Go to layer>layer style>Gradient Overlay
use these three colors ([#ff331e], [#ffb57a],
[#fff8cc]).
18
Step 18
After you finish add some artistic touch, I added
a TATU stars & some texture to the frame.
50 .psd Photoshop
advanced | 180 min.
adobe photoshop CS3
the art of typography
Only with the evolution of new technologies the work became more democratic. We are a lucky generation. Nowadays, any amateur is able to create
The computer – particularly the advent of software – enhanced all the working a good piece. The flexibility of computer has helped graphic design to
instruments developed by men, making them more dinamic, pratical and become multipurpose, fast and highly effective. Within this new avant-
accessible. Mankind contemplated a huge turn of events in the modus operandi garde, typography protested with all of its strength, renewed by a voracious
of every single profession, giving to the technical-scientific knowlegde the hard generation of young designers who are creating a new paradigm of artistic
task of managing an almost endless array of tools to develop a wide variety of expression. Playing with type has now become the fashion. The goal of
projects. Some radical specialists like to classify this technological effervescence this tutorial is to help you creating a consistent piece entirely based on
as the Third Industrial Revolution. Other, less enthusiastic, afirm that these typography. Learn some basic techniques to get harmonious layouts and
events are nothing but a natural consequence of the wave of innovation that improve your composition skills.
characterized the 20th century. Whatever the verdict is, both sides agree on one
point: revolution is a term that fits perfectly to the field of graphic design.
01
Choose a theme
Before developing any piece, you got to have
a theme in your mind. What do you want to
communicate? What ideas you want to expose?
Which sensations you want to transmit? Having
these goals defined, creativity occurs more
easily, speeding up the entire workflow. A picture
is worth a thousand words. A good idea is worth
a thousand awful pieces. The goal of Typography
was to show a composition study without telling
anything by words. That's why the whole piece is
messy and purposely meaningless.
03
Color palette
This step deserves a special attention. A good first
impression only happens when you choose your
palette carefully. The way you spread it though
the artwork is what will define its beauty (or its
ugliness). There are certainly hundreds of beau-
tiful acromathic artworks, but for our study, we
are assuming the use of color as a tool to make
your piece more attractive. To get a nice palette,
try to use a color wheel. There are many ways
of extracting good combinations from it. Paralell
colors express a certain mood, inverse colors are
complementary and so forth.
04
05
Text column
In the example, I wrote random words and stacked them in column. And then I grouped them in a folder (by selecting them all and pressing [ctrl]+[g]/
[cmd]+[g]), merged it ([ctrl]+[e]/[cmd]+[e]) and inverted the whole set in order to purposely disturb readability.
54 .psd Photoshop
the art of typography
06
Retro type
The stylized [P] was made from strokes with equal thickness and disposed in parallel, each using a color from the palette selected previously. To make
it in Photoshop, open a new window ([ctrl]+[n]/[cmd]+[n]) and activate the grid by pressing [ctrl]+[']/[cmd]+[']. Press ctrl+r/cmd+r to activate the
ruler. If you wish to make more accurate guide lines, click on the ruler, hold the button and drag the line to where you want. Repeat the process until
you get a custom grid. Select the shape tool, hold the shift button and make a simetric circle. Duplicate the layer for that circle, change its color and
reduce its size to two modules of the grid. Make this step once again, again changing its color. The overlapping layers give the impression of symmetrical
strokes. Repeat the task until you have five different of those (the last circle should be white). Now go to the layer window, select them all and group
([ctrl]+[g]/[cmd]+[g]). Duplicate the group (right-click on it>duplicate group) and merge it ([ctrl]+[e]/[cmd]+[e]). Hide the preview of the assembly
folder by clicking in the eye icon. Keep it hidden. If you make a mistake, you can go back to it. From now on, we will work with the merged layer only.
Select the marquee tool and draw a horizontal rectangle in a very narrow section of the circle. Press [ctrl]+[j]/[cmd]+[j] to create a new layer from this
selection. Press [ctrl]+[t]/[cmd]+[t] to resize this new shape and increase it's lenght. After that, go to the layer window and select the layer below (the
one from the circle). Select the marquee tool and dash rectangle in the lower left quadrant. Activate the grid ([ctrl]+[']/[cmd]+[']) to use it as guide.
Delete the part you selected. Once again, select a small section of the strokes, duplicate it, and increase its lenght until it touches the other side.
07
Sources
The art was largely made by cutting and pasting. Gather the biggest amount of journals, articles, newspapers as possible. Scan them, cut out parts of
their sections and fill in the gaps in ways you find interesting.
.psd Photoshop 55
typography
08
Texture
For the texture, I scanned an old piece of paper em
600 dpi. With some curves and level adjustments,
I improved the contrast and saturation. Then, I cre-
ated a radial lightening spot though the lightening
effects filter (filter>render>lightening effects)
to make it more elegant. Finally, I applied it over
the whole artwork and set the blending mode to
multiply.
09
Reminder!
Professional typography is very different from
typography as an artistic expression. The empty
spaces must be valued, the writing process is
strictly based on grids and the choice of typefaces
are carefully made. And that's how it should be.
Because the goal of typography is not to create
artworks, but to make information clear, concise
and beautiful.
10
Final considerations
Now you are ready to launch your artwork. Ask
friends their opinion, post it in your blog. The goal
now is showing the world your talent. Good luck!
Ian Jamieson
Jeff Treves
Ian Jamieson is an illustrator and graphic designer based in
He is an illustration, animation and design artist in both digital
Cape Town, South Africa. He has lectured design and designed
and traditional fields. He graduated in 2004 from Savannah
for a wide range of industries both in South Africa and abroad,
College of Art and Design. He is into non-mainstream
and is currently involved in design work for the multinational
character art and stories. Currently, he is living in NYC and
publishing house, Global Africa Network. info@ijdesign.co.za,
pushing himself to become an independent filmmaker.
www.ijdesign.co.za
www.jefftreves.com
Jeannette Woitzik
Andreea Alexandra Cernestean
Jeannette Woitzik lives in Berlin, Germany. Most of her work
I am Romanian and I go by the artist alias of FrozenStar.
contains a surrealistic atmosphere and sometimes this
I have been creating digital art ever since 2006 and I
served to express her feelings.
specialise in photomanipulation, though I have been trying
http://schnettepics.de/
to add more and more painted details to my creations.
http://schnettepics.blogspot.com/
http://frozenstarro.deviantart.com/
Editor in Chief: Executive Ad Consultant: The editors use automatic DTP system
Marta Kobus marta.kobus@psdmag.org Ewa Samulska ewa.samulska@psdmag.org Editorial contributions should be sent to:
Executive Editor: Production Director: editors@psdmag.org
Ewa Samulska ewa.samulska@psdmag.org Andrzej Kuca andrzej.kuca@psdmag.org
Copy Editors: Postal addres: Customer Service +1 917 338 3631
Ed Werzyn, Bonnie Lynn Wagner Publisher: Software Press Sp.z.o.o SK
Art Director: Agnieszka Marchocka 02-682 Warszawa, ul. Bokserska 1 The Software Press Sp.z.o.o SK works individually from
DTP: Ireneusz Pogroszewski, Przemysław Banasiewicz worldwide publishing Adobe. The psd Photoshop team reserves the right not to be
Art Executive Manager: Ireneusz Pogroszewski www.psdmag.org responsible for the topicality, correctness, completeness or
Senior Consultant/Publisher/President: quality of the information provided by contributors.
Paweł Marciniak All trade marks presented in the magazine were used only for
57 Software Press CEO:02/2009
Ewa Łozowicka informative purposes. All rights to trade marks presented in
02/2008 57
Marketing Director: the magazine are reserved by the companies which own them.
Marta Kobus marta.kobus@psdmag.org Mathematical formulas created by Design Science MathType™.
medium | 1-2h.
adobe photoshop CS3
beauty retouch
Beauty
Source Files
Retouch
In this tutorial we explore different ways to add a nice colorful touch to your
photos, whether they are yours or stock images. Also we learn a basic way to
add some lighting effects on images. This tut also teaches how to use layer
masks and using adjustment layers. Adding textures, working with channels
and dodging and burning is learned in this tutorial. Hope you enjoy this, once
learned mix what you have learned to your own images and your upcoming
projects.
01 Source files
fashion_portrait_03_by_cybaBABEfashion_
portrait_03_by_cybaBABEThe stock image
used here was from cybabe from DeviantArt,
check her gallery at
www.cybababe.deviantart.com.
The other images in the tutorial is from
ISOstock on DeviantArt. There is a ton of
resources in the gallery at
www.isostock.deviantart.com.
Step 1
Open the image fashion_portrait_03_by_cybaBABE.jpg.
Then press [Cmnd/Cntrl]+[J] to duplicate the layer.
Now change the blending mode to screen, and adjust
the opacity to 50%. Name this layer Screen.
02
Step 2
Now go to your channels panel (Window>Channels)
and click on the red channel. Drag it to the bottom
of the panel into the new channel icon.
.psd Photoshop 59
photo retouch
03
Step 3
Press [Cmnd/Cntrl]+[L] to bring up the leveld
dialog box. Drag the black triangle (under the his-
togram) to the right until it says 35 and click ok.
Press [Cmnd/Cntrl]+[A] to select all, then press
[Cmnd/Cntrl]+[C].
04
Step 4
Click back on the RGB channel, and go back
to your layers panel (Window>Layers). Press
[Cmnd/Cntrl]+[V] to paste the red channel. Name
the layer Red Channel. Drag it beneath the Screen
layer.
05
Step 5
Now go to the bottom of the layers panel and click
on the black and white button (Adjustment Layer)
and select solid color, and color dialog box will pop
up. Type in the # box: 2658ea, and click ok. Set the
blending mode to soft light at 50%. You will keep
this layer above ALL layers at ALL times.
60 .psd Photoshop
beauty retouch
06
Step 6
Now click back on the Screen layer, and create
another color adjustment layer, this time choose
black. Change the blending mode to Soft light and
70% opacity. Now go to Layer>New>Layer, name
the layer Top Gradient and click ok.
07
Step 7
Select your gradient tool [G], if you don't see it,
click and hold the paint bucket tool. Make sure it
is set to foreground to transparent, and Linear,
also make sure that reversed is not checked.
Now select your eyedropper tool. Many people
could not find it directly and click on some blue
somewhere on the image, then select the gradient
tool again.
08
Step 8
With the Top Gradient layer and the gradient tool
selected, click and drag (while holding shift) from
the top to the near middle . If you are not happy
with it, try it again, or take the move tool [V] and
move the gradient upward.
.psd Photoshop 61
photo retouch
09
Step 9
Now with the top gradient layer selected, turn
off the blue color fill layer. Then press [Shift]+
[Opt.]+[Cmnd.]+[E]. This merges all the layers
into one, on a seperate layer, name this layer High
Pass,now turn your color fill layer back on.
10
Step 10
Now with the High Pass layer selected go to
Filter>Other>High Pass, and set the radius to 8.0.
Change the blending mode to Soft Light, at 70%
opacity.
11
Step 11
Go to Layer>New>Layer, and name it Dodge and
Burn. For the Mode, select soft light and check the
box at the bottom. Press D to reset your colors to
black and white. Select a soft nice sized brush and
change the opacity to about 30%. Paint with black
to darken different areas of the face( i.e. cheeks,
neck, forehead,eyebrows). Paint with white to
lighten other areas (i.e. Eyes).
62 .psd Photoshop
beauty retouch
12
Step 12
Ok create a new layer and name it cheek light.
Press [D] to reset your colors .Take your eye-
dropper tool and sample some blue, now you have
blue and white as foreground and background
colors. Take a large, soft brush (about 500px)
and click in the center with blue. Now press [X] to
switch to white and click in the same spot.
13
Step 13
Now press [Cmnd/Cntrl]+[T] to get in Free Trans-
form mode, drag it to the left cheek, now go to
Edit>Transform>Warp and try to wrap it around
her cheek. When you are satisfied, press enter.
Now press [Cmnd/Cntrl]+[J] to duplicate the
layer. Go to Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal, press
enter, and have it on her right cheek.
14
Step 14
Ok, now go to the bottom of the layers panel and
click the new adjustment layer icon, and select
Exposure. Bring the exposure to 2.00, Press
[Cmnd/Cntrl]+[I], it inverts the mask to hide the
exposure. Now take a white, soft brush(set the
brush opacity to 100%), about the size of her
eyes, and click on them, see what happens? You
can turn down the opacity if you want to.
.psd Photoshop 63
photo retouch
15
Step 15
Create a new layer and name it Full Gradient.
Now take your gradient tool, set to foreground to
transparent, and choose radial gradient option,
and have reversed checked. Click and drag from
the center to the top left corner. Now you can play
with the opacity if you want to.
16
Step 16
Create a new layer, name it The light Above, and
select the polygonal lasso tool. Click at the top
and create a triangle shape.
17
Step 17
Take your gradient tool, set it to foreground to
trasparent, linear option, and make sure reverse
is unchecked, and white is the foreground color.
Now click and drag from the top to the bottom of
of the triangle. You should now have a nice light
source, press [Cmnd/Cntrl]+[D] to deselect. You
may have to move it up a bit with the move tool.
Now go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, and set it to
65 or to your liking.
64 .psd Photoshop
beauty retouch
18
Step 18
Ok now for some bokeh texture... I used some
I found on DeviantArt, they have some real good
textures. I used the bokeh texture found here at
this link: http://isostock.deviantart.com/gallery/#Bokeh.
I used Bokeh 007. Now when you have some
bokeh, open it and drag it into the document you
are working on. Drag the layer to the very top, but
keep it below the blue color fill layer. Change the
blending mode to Soft light (or whatever blending
mode suits you) at 80%. You may want to make
the texture bigger, so go to Edit>Free Transform,
grab the edges to enlarge, and press enter when
satisfied.
19
Step 19
MORE BOKEH!!! Now the other bokeh effect I did
was created using custom brushes.I used a tech-
nique I learned a while back. The tutorial can be
found at Abduzeedo.com, the link to the tutorial
is: http://abduzeedo.com/awesome-digital-bokeh-
effect-photoshop. The effect is very simple. When
you create the bokeh and paint it, make sure to
use white as the color. I paint each bokeh on a
seperate layer, and grouped them, then dragged
them beneath the blue color fill layer, and beneath
the bokeh texture. Also add some slight blur to
some of the bokeh, to give the image some depth.
20
Step 20
FINAL COLORING: Now for the different colors I
used a really simple method. Remember how we
did the solid color adjustment layer, same method
I used for the final coloring. To better explain: Go
to the new adjustment layer icon and select solid
color, select your color and click ok. Play with the
blending modes until you're happy. Now press
[Cmnd/Cntrl]+[I] to invert the mask (just like how
we did for the exposure in step 14). Now paint
with white on the mask, use different brush opac-
ity settings too. I used different colors and blend
modes to get a different look. Also to brighten dif-
ferent areas I used the exposure adjustment layer
and did the same thing in step 14.
by Bryce Chapman
.psd Photoshop 65
Professional
looking portrait
This is a basic retouching tutorial that can turn a somewhat bland image into
a professional-looking portrait. You do not need a fancy camera to achieve
this. All you need are the right tools to modify the image. This tutorial will
show you how to fix skin imperfections, apply digital make-up, enhance colors
and contrasts and make the image look clean and crisp.
beginer | 30 min.
adobe photoshop CS3
portrait
01
Source Files
Step 1
For this tutorial I used a stock portrait from:
http://devil-stock.deviantart.com. When looking
for a portrait shot, it should have well defined
focus on the face and good lighting.
02
Step 2
The first step in retouching is to fix any large,
visible blemishes on the skin. As you can see,
there is one on the cheek and a few more on the
chin. For this step I will use the clone stamp tool
with a 45px soft round brush. The size of the
brush depends on your file's resolution and size
of the area that needs fixing. I will simply clone
from a clean area of the cheek and put it above
the blemish area.
03
Step 3
The next step is editing a few of the wrinkles. Good
clean portraits never show wrinkles, so I will use
the same method as above, clone stamp, to re-
move them. I will remove the wrinkles around the
eye and corner of the mouth. You can already see
that the image looks more professional and clean.
.psd Photoshop 67
photo retouch
04
Step 4
Next I am gonna duplicate the layer and adjust it
to darker tones. I adjust the Levels to add more
shadow. Simply use [CTRL]+[L] to do this and
choose the tones suitable for your image.
05
Step 5
Now I am going to add a layer mask to it. Clear
your active swatch, set it to default and make
black the front color. Use a round soft brush.
I set it at 50% opacity and 30% flow. Brush over
the areas that should be more highlighted. Nose,
checks, eyebrows arches, eyes, etc. The result
is that your image has better defined lights and
shadows and this works better than to simply
adjust the contrast.
06
Step 6
Next, I will use the eyedropper tool and select
a lighter tone from the skin. I will softly airbrush
the face with a low opacity brush. I chose a soft
round brush with 30% opacity and 25% flow.
Repeat this with a darker tone where you will
brush over the darker areas. The result is the skin
which looks cleaner and smooth.
68 .psd Photoshop
portrait
07
Step 7
The next step is going back to the base layer and
using dodge and burn to define the light and
shadow even more. The settings I used for the
burn tool are, Midtones 45% exposure and for the
dodge tool highlights 10% exposure. I used the
burn tool around the eyes and to define the shape
of the pupil and the eyebrows. The dodge tool
I used for the iris and cheeks, nose, chin and lips.
08
Step 8
The image looks pretty good so far, but I would
like to enhance the make-up. I switched back to
the brush tool and changed the opacity and flow
to 100%. Pick a tone from your swatches and start
brushing around the eyes. Brush away then set
your layer to soft light. Do the same for the lips.
I chose an earthy, pastel tones for a more natural
look.
09
Step 9
Almost done. Save the .psd file just in case, then
merge your layers together. Adjust the bright-
ness and contrast (Image>Adjustments>Brig
htness/contrast) or colors with color balance
(Image>Adjustments>Color balance). Now you
are done.
.psd Photoshop 69
medium | 60 min.
adobe photoshop
old photo restoration
Old Photo
Source Files
Restoration
This is a short tutorial about restoring heavily damaged or very old photos. This tutorial
will show you how to do simple things such as removing scratch marks, cloning, and
blending missing parts of the damaged photo, and will also cover the entire process of
the restoration of old photography. Some time ago, I was approached by my family to
restore an old photograph of my deceased grandfather. It was small picture from an
old passport and was extremely damaged: Parts of the face and head were missing.
I scanned the image using the highest possible resolution I could on my desktop
scanner and proceeded to fix the image and restore it to its former glory.
01
Original image
After you open your image in Photoshop, duplicate
the background layer and name it something like
Working Layer This ensures that the original im-
age is always there as a reference and will remain
intact. This is one of the most basic things to learn
in Photoshop when working with photos. Always
work on a separate layer and keep the original
image intact.
02
Desaturate
Okay, the next step is to desaturate this new layer.
Hit [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[U] on your keyboard to remove
the color from your photo. There are several ways
to do this, but I found that for this photo, the de-
saturate option produced the best results.
.psd Photoshop 71
photo restoring
Tip
Use the Healing Brush with long strokes when
03
you have a lot of similar surrounding texture,
but use dotted strokes when approaching
edges or trying to blend texture seamlessly.
Crop
The next thing I did was crop the parts of the
photo I didn’t need. Depending on the photo you
are trying to restore, you may need even more
steps than the ones I’ve detailed or you won’t
need some of them at all, so it will require some
understanding of the given subject on your part.
04
06
Copy hair
The next step is to restore the missing hair part,
and the easiest way to do it (at least in this
example) is to copy the hair from the part of the
photo where it already exists. I used the Polygonal
Lasso Tool to select the hair, then I hit [Ctrl]+[C]
to copy and [Ctrl]+[V] to paste the copied hair to
a new layer.
07
Copy hair 1
Next, I hit [Ctrl]+[T] to enter Free Transform Mode
and moved the Hair Layer to an adequate position,
then transform it until it fits.
08
Copy hair 2
Since I also copied some skin in the process,
I used the Eraser Tool to erase the unecessary
parts. I used a standard round soft brush in order
to blend the hair to look seamless. Now that I
have the entire head finished, I can move on to
restoring the background.
.psd Photoshop 73
photo restoring
09
Background fix
You can either use the original background
like I did, or change the background entirely. It
all depends on what the personal preference
or request is. I decided to keep the original
background since I feel it fits nicely with the rest
of the photo.
10
Fix leftovers
Next, I took a short break to look over the entire
photo. I usually zoom out and flip the photo hori-
zontally and vertically. This is a trick people use
to get a fresh look at their work since our eyes
get adjusted to what we’re look at and flipping
the canvas can give us a fresh perspective of the
image. I noticed that Grandpa has a different eye
color and there was a spot on his cheek thatwas
strangely lighter than the rest of hisskin so I de-
cided to fix these small details.
11
Unsharpen mask
I left one thing for the end: Remember that when
it comes to any digital retouching of photos,
always leave Sharpening for the end. Here,
I used an Unsharpen Mask Filter with the following
settings: Amount = 120, Radius = 3, Threshold = 2
Depending on the photo, different settings can be
used as well as different sharpening techniques,
but I found this one was enough for my photo.
74 .psd Photoshop
old photo restoration
12
13
14
by Radošević Alen
.psd Photoshop 75
medium | 20 h.
adobe photoshop | wacom tablet
jane doe
Jane Doe
I have to say... I am a huge comic books fan. I started working on this image after
watching the latest Batman – the Dark Knight movie once too many times. Like
a lot of viewers, I love the Joker, but I did not want to do a simple portrait of the film's
character. I decided early on I would try to put my own spin on the subject. Since this
image was made just for fun, I gave myself the liberty of blending the Dark Knight's
Joker catch phrase: Why so serious? to a character from another of my favorite
DC stories (the Jane Doe character from Arkham Asylum: Living Hell). I started
wondering what would happen if Jane Doe wanted to mimic the Joker? I am sure
that story would end badly, but it gave me a starting point for the image which I felt Tip
comfortable with!! When in a hurry, I often
revisit old sketchbooks
02
Tip
I made a simple easy brush using
a standard round sharp edge
brush and added pressure
sensitivity to it for transparency
and size. Be sure that the Composition
airbrush button is set to off and Once the sketch was clean and in Photoshop,
flow set to 100%. If not, it will I removed the blue rough layer, lowered the opacity
dampen the tool and make it of my sketch layers a little and started working
difficult to control. I find that when on creating an interesting composition. I played
you use it at an opacity level around with character placement for a while and
between 75 to 90%, it reacts a lot settled for a lower right corner position, with
like pencil on paper. It produces part of the character off frame. I also angled the
nice dark grayish tones and, drawing to make it more dynamic. Once this was
because of the transparency, you done, I used a heavily textured brush to establish
can build up values with it... just my background wall, graffiti and light setup. The
like a pencil. Most of my sketch character would be resting against a simple wall
work on computer is done using lit from the top as if she was in a dark, gloomy
this brush. asylum basement or cell. I am not looking for clear
details at this point, just overall masses.
.psd Photoshop 77
digital painting
03
Mood
Once I was satisfied with the overall composition,
I started introducing mood into the image. After
a couple of tries, I settled for a greenish tone to
parallel the color scheme of numerous modern
day horror flicks.
04
Tip
Throughout the whole
Flat colors
Once I was happy with the
image painting process, overall mood using the lasso
I also used this layer as tool, I decided to apply a flat
a quick mask selection layer of colors to establish
/ puzzle matte the layer how I would approach the
in order to rapidly be character. I picked the color
able to isolate certain scheme based on some
areas of the image. It Joker references I got from
speeds up the work, DC books lying around my
since I can just magic office. I tried to stay true
wand a color and paint to the original DC character
within the selected using purples, oranges
area. and greens, with the white
painted face and red lips.
05 Tip
Once I have a relatively
good base, I will pick
most of my other colors
Volume from the image itself
I added a layer over and the color variations
my work area and the opacity settings
start painting in more have created for me.
information on the This way I am sure
character. For this that the palette will
I use a sharp edge stay pretty consistent
standard round brush throughout the painting
with an opacity of process. Another good
around 50%. I have way to keep the palette
a tendency to pick one consistency throughout
of the background or a more complex image
environment color as a is to make yourself color
base for my shadows swatches on a separate
and start building the layer in your image
volumes by letting to reference the pure
the color add on top colors that populate
of itself. your work.
78 .psd Photoshop
jane doe
06
Tip
Using a colored ramp
is useful as it washes
07
the whole image with
different values of a
single color... instantly
harmonizing the entire
color palette.
Color balance
After a few hours on the character, I stopped and
took some time to analyze the image and noticed
the color palette was kind of neutral and cold. It also
lacked uniformity and richness. The lighting was also
a bit flat. In order to bring the image back on track,
I created a new lighting and color layer with the ramp
tool based on a bright orange color and added it over
my painting (using the overlay layer setting) and
played around with this layer's opacity until I found
the intensity of light and color balance I wanted. This
brought back warmer tones to the light, as well as
emphasized the contrast between the light and dark
areas of the image.
08
Smoothing Tip
I then went back to
painting the character Using a fairly high
and upping the quality of pressure value with the
my paint strokes. Up until smudge tool is a good
now, the strokes were way to fake strokes
quite visible and rough. done with traditional
I used a textured smudge paint and brush. It is
tool with a pressure of 40- also a good way to
60% to even out and blend erase leftover line work
the colors on and around from the original sketch.
the character. At the same Playing around with the
time, I also alternate and smudge pattern and
use a simple brush and brush can even imitate
continue to add detail to brush bristles in the
the overall character. paint.
.psd Photoshop 79
digital painting
09
Background
After spending many hours on the character, it was
time to set it aside and get the rest of this image on
its way as well. In order to obtain fast results, I decided
to use a couple of matte painting tricks. I quickly built
a patchwork decrepit wall from photo elements in
my image bank. I then distorted it to fit the image's
perspective. Since the background was fairly neutral,
killing the saturation of that wall layer and applying
it as an overlay layer instantly gave richness to the
wall. All that was left was for me to add was painted
highlights and little drop shadows to make the wall fit
with the scene lighting.The ground was another story...
I started off with a dirty concrete texture, but found it
lacked character. Looking at other reference images
of old abandoned factories and laboratories, I noticed
a lot of tile work. Based on this idea I decided to give it
a try. I created my tile texture using a textured brush
with a wide spacing to make sure the pattern would
not overlap. Once I had a nice pattern filled layer, I used
Photoshop's supplied bevel layer effect to give my
tiles thickness. I froze that layer and distorted it into
position to obtain the tiled floor. The floor needed some
highlight and shadow paint work to fit with the set.
Tip 10
I try to work in a non-destructive
fashion as much as possible.
I always use layer masks to
control overlaid textures and not
the eraser... much easier to correct
mistakes this way if you have to
make unforeseen changes. I also
keep alternate version of textures,
so I can quickly refer to them or
give the client options of the same
image.
Lighting fix
I used a dark ramp layer, applied as Hard light, to
emphasize the dark area at the bottom of the im-
age as if the light source was a constrained spot
with a very limited cone of influence. This helped
focusing the image on the character's face and
not her entire body.
11 Tip
If the sandy color pushes the skin tone too much to-
wards orange, changing the saturation helps keeping
only the sand's random grain and will not over-correct
the skin color.
The hair was a little more straight forward to work
on. I added more paint using a custom dots brush and
a combination of smudge tool to blend the colors and
sharpen tool to add sharpness to individual strands.
12
Final touches
As I got closer to the final image, I did an overall
pass to add all the final little details and tweaks
that I thought the image needs. First, I started by
adding a quick pattern to some fabric elements to
simulate different fabric types. For this step I used
the same brush I did the floor with. This layer was
dimmed in transparency and used as an overlay
to make sure it felt as part of the fabric and not
a superimposed texture. I then moved on to the
hair. The hair was brighten on the top of the head
with golden highlights to reflect the yellow light
source somewhere on the ceiling. It was done
with a simple airbrush painted layer using the
color dodge layer setting. I then played with the
layer's opacity until I got the highlight intensity
I wanted.
13
Final color balance
Just before saving the image in its final format,
I added one final color correction. I dropped the
saturation a little, because I found it a bit too
aggressive, and I then used a color balance layer
to add greens back into my mid-tones in order
to even the image more. I took a step back, and
realized I was not satisfied with the graffiti in the
background... it lacked punch and felt way too
painted and sketchy. I selected the layer, copied
it on itself, inverted the result before putting the
find edges filter on it. This gave me a gritty version
of my previous layer with very pronounced edges.
I overlaid this result on the original text layer and
it brought out details in the text just like if it had
been painted on the wall with a cheap brush.
by Benoit Ladouceur
Tip
I find color dodge works really well for highlights.
It pops out colors well, while retaining values of the
color below and adding values from the highlight
colors.
I moved from there to finishing the brass
buttons, buckles, lips highlights and golden sheen
on the purple cloth. All these details where done with
the same trick... on a color dodge layer. As you think
of it, most of the details I am talking about are in fact
light reflection on surfaces, so this technique works
very well on all present cases. The last thing I did
was to paint in better shadows to help the character
integrate with the environment. I used a dark blueish-
gray on a hard light layer to keep my background
information and not burn it to black.
.psd Photoshop 81
sleepyheads
Sleepyheads
Source Files
Unlike in my previous digital illustrations, I wanted to use heavily textured
brush strokes with a loose attitude; while trying to capture the sense of realism
as much as I could. This illustration is firmly based on a photograph; however,
it is painted from scratch on a white canvas and not on the photograph itself.
Feel free to check out more of my illustration and animation work at
http://www.trevesstudios.com and http://www.jefftreves.com.
01
Step 1
Before I start to work on an illustration, I have to
ask myself this question and use the answer as
a guide till the end. In my introduction I already
explained some of it. Our beautiful model in this
project is Saduman Kizildere and the great photo
was taken by photographer Damla Salor. My
goal was to paint a non-mainstream cat woman
figure sleeping, since our model is a cat loving
sleepyhead.
02
Step 2
The first thing I do is to pick up contours on a new
layer. I could just look at the photograph and draw
them myself, but this time I’m going for a realistic
painting rather than an expressionist one. I also
pick about 10 different colors/tones from the
photo on another layer because it is very easy
to lose track of tones when painting in digital.
From then on, I will be looking at the photo from a
different monitor during painting.
.psd Photoshop 83
digital painting
03
Step 3
I delete the layer with the photo and create
a green background layer with crude textures.
Working very loosely requires great concentration
for me because I tend to keep polishing things.
Photoshop brushes have great attributes to play
with and I initially go with graphical ones such as
flowers, leaves, etc…. Creating strong textures as
a base coat will give me lots of flexibility to play
with later on.
04
Step 4
I start painting the figure, one eye is always on
the reference. I want to use the light information
in the photograph as much as I can. Because
I think the lighting is what gives the spirit to an
image like this and there is a great light captured
in this photo.
05
Step 5
I sketch the cats on a different layer. This cat
woman will not be a transformed human being
in black leather. Instead, it will be an entity that
is one with all cats, just as we all are one with
nature while being a part of it. This first sketches
are from imagination, later on I will be using some
references for the cats as well.
84 .psd Photoshop
sleepyheads
06
Step 6
I start painting the cats. I want them to be
different kinds of cats, so I play with theirs colors,
patterns and physical structures. As I progress,
some of them will change their poses and angles.
I want to capture what is best for this illustration,
thus I am not scared to experiment and redo
things.
07
Step 7
Carving out the details carefully. I started looking
at some cat references from a book I have and
from stock photo sites. I cannot find exact poses
or lighting in references; though, I use what is
closest and try to image the rest. I also apply
some tonal and color correction to my scene using
tools such as levels, curves, hue/saturation, etc….
08
Step 8
After heavily working on the details and shadows,
I get an image fairly close to the end effect. I work
on the background as much as I work on the
figures because if I do not develop each part of
the illustration at the same time, they would look
disconnected from each other.
.psd Photoshop 85
digital painting
09
Step 9
Even though I am loyal to the photograph, I give
myself the freedom of expression with my forms.
I add a stone to the right and a frog on a branch
looking down on sleepyheads. I add some light
rays to enhance the mood. The frog represents me
in the picture, in love with the beauty below.
10
Step 10
As much as I wanted to decorate the image
further, I decided that some late additions did not
make it richer. On the contrary, they took away
from the focus. I take out the frog and light rays.
I do my final touches and finish the illustration.
Next, I will use it to impress the lady I like and
promote my illustration. Happy painting!
by Jeff Treves
86
red river paper
.psd Photoshop 87
tips&tricks
Painting
with Photoshop
I am always amazed when people ask me “you paint with
Photoshop?” The concept of using Photoshop as a painting
tool should be an easy one to grasp. For one thing Photoshop
comes equipped with a plethora of paintbrushes. Another hint
is the fact that the workspace is called a canvas. The fact is
Photoshop is the most powerful tool out there for creating
elements of an image or the entire image from scratch.
Figure 1. Figure 2.
88 .psd Photoshop
Figure 3.
Figure 9.
Figure 4.
Figure 10.
Figure 5.
Figure 11.
Figure 6.
along the right edge of the sign shape. This new duplicate was then
reduced in size to match the smaller, far edge of the sign. Both rows
of circles were selected and blended together using the Blend feature
in Illustrator (Object > Blend > Make). In the Blend Options dialog box
(Object > Blend > Blend Options) the number for the specific number of
steps needed was set.
This generated all the additional circles in-between the gradually
reduced in size as they went back in three-dimensional space
(Figure 7). This multitude of circles was imported into the Photoshop
document as Paths (Figure 8).
Figure 7.
where it faced the backdrop of tiny lights. In Figure 11 you can see the
tones running along the rear of the left side of the frames.
Many different techniques went into the creation of this sign.
Study each for its own value. Understand Clipping Groups, Layer Styles
and all the other wonderful features of these powerful applications and
your always be able to create whatever your imagination come up with.
by Bert Monroy
.psd Photoshop 89
tips&tricks
Figure 1. Figure 2.
Figure 3. Figure 4.
90 .psd Photoshop
tips&tricks
Figure 9.
horizontal panoramas to capture more top-to-bottom height if
needed. Remember, you can always make it as wide as you want
by taking more photos from left to right. Each image needs to
have about a one-third overlap of the scene with the next image.
Overlapping too much or too little makes it harder to get seamless
Figure 10.
stitching. When shooting, try to keep the camera as level as
possible. Aligning the horizon of the scene with the centerline of
the camera viewfinder will help keep the scene level. Do a practice
run, looking through the camera and viewing the scene, stopping
at each area to shoot. This will help you determine what's in the
scene that will help as a guide to line up against. Using a tripod will
give you cleaner overlapping images. The more level and even the
Figure 11.
photographs, the better the stitching. The proper exposure should
be a balance of the brightest and darkest areas in the full subject
area. For example, if the area on the far left of the scene is showing
a proper exposure reading of 1/125 at f:8, and the exposure on
the right side is reading 1/125 at f:11, set the camera on manual
exposure at 1/125 at f:8-1/2.If you're shooting several attempts of
the same subject, shoot a blank image at the beginning and end of
each run. This will make it easier to determine where to start and
stop the process in Photoshop. Photomerge is not as sophisticated
Figure 12.
images in a folder and view them in the Adobe Bridge. Holding the
Shift key, click on the first and then the last file in the sequence to
select all of them. If they need to be rotated, do it now by clicking the
appropriate rotate icon at the top right of the Bridge. This will make
the stitching process easier to manage. From the Bridge menu bar,
choose Tools>Photoshop>Photomerge. The images will open in the
Photomerge dialog. If the images are shot correctly, Photomerge
will automatically arrange them for stitching. Sometimes, even
though they were shot correctly, Photoshop may not be able to
stitch them. When this happens, you can click on each image with
the Select Image tool [A] in the Photomerge dialog and adjust them
Figure 6.
you're out taking photos, try a few practice shots to get the feel of
creating stitched panoramas, and then you'll be ready when that
special scene suddenly appears.
by Jim Divitale
92 .psd Photoshop