Photoshop by Ridha Hajjaji

issue 04/2010

content

Gold Lion

Laura Ferreira

In this tutorial I will show you how I took a picture of my friend Cecile, who was standing in front of some plants in a yard, and turned it into a sparkling golden portrait. The main tools that I will be using in Photoshop CS4 is Gradient Map, Curves, Selective Colour and blending images onto the portrait with the Screen mode. The catch lights in her eyes are from a single rectangular softbox used for the light setup.

creative class Unique

Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen

workshop 10

photomanipulation Before the Ball Marcia GaudĂŞncio

The Surreal Luis Afonso

Abstract

Dario van Zundert

Brand Nu

14 22 28

beauty retouch Photo Makeover Apple May

digital painting Neytiri

Lina Eriksson

Bandula Samarasekera

software review

editors choice Self Exposure

Digital Art Air Brush Portrait

AutoFX Mystical Suite Robert Coppa

Dearest Readers! I have been working on our .psd Photoshop magazine for the past few years trying to give you the best tutorials you can learn from to become even better artists. I have invited all of you from all over the world to share your passion for art and Photoshop and enjoy the fun it brings. However, nothing lasts forever. This issue is the last one I have created for you. I am leaving Photoshop magazine but do not worry you still will be receiving great tutorials as psd is still on! Therefore, keep looking for the next issue! It was my pleasure to work with you and I appreciated each minute of it, Thank you for your support and keep up the great work! Marta Kobus Editor in Chief

Gold Lion

medium | 120 min. adobe photoshop CS4

cover artist

Step 1

I open the image and take out any marks or spots on the skin with the spot healing brush tool or the patch tool, followed by selecting the general skin areas with the selection tool, and then going into Filters > Blur > and using the Surface Blur filter, Threshold: 12 , Radius: 30. Skin retouched using spot heal, patch tool, and surface blur.

02 Step 2

With the skin nice and clean I start adding texture to the image. I used a stock image of glitter (from the user bombstock on deviantArt) as well as as a bokeh image (from the user stocks_for_you , also from deviantArt). glitter image bokeh image. I drop the two texture layers onto the image and darken them using Image> Adjustments> Curves (Output:0 , Input: 140). I do this so that when the images are put in Screen mode, there is a lot less of the lighter tones coming up, so the image gets a more scattered feel with these textures. Now I select each texture layer at a time and switch them in the layers panel to Screen mode. The textures now cover the portrait layer and I use the Eraser tool to take out the areas on these textures that I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want. I erase most of the bokeh image from her face but leave a little bit of the glitter at the side of her right eye, as well as her neck.

03 Step 3

The next thing I do is add just a few more little dots to the left of the image. I make a new layer called Blurry Dots and simply take the brush tool on the default setting (with hardness all the way down) and choose any random orange tone, and make little dots around her head. This layer remains on Normal mode. I then make a new layer and name it Light. I choose a large diameter for the brush (still on the same setting from before) and make a big simple white blob in the center of the image. I then switch to the Selection tool, and move this blob into the lower left corner. This also remains on Normal mode. This has now given a little glow in the corner. Now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time for some colour-edting. I use Adjustment Layers found at the bottom of the Layers tab, but I will still put where to find these adjustments the long way. 6

.psd Photoshop

gold lion

Step 4

I start off by taking down the reds and yellows using Image> Adjustments> Hue/Saturation , and only in the Red and Yellow channels do I desaturate. Red: -36, Yellow: -42. the image is now slightly desaturated.

Step 5

Then, I focus in on her eye. I would like them to pop a bit more and show off that golden colour, so I make a Levels layer, or go to Image> Adjustments> Levels, and in the main RGB window I move my medium slider to 1.40. With the Levels layer selected, I decrease the fill to 71%. the eyes are now lighter

Step 6

Next, I brighten the image using a Curves layer, or Image> Adjustments> Curves. I make two points on the Curve, one at Output:26, Input:20 , and one at Output:188 Input:152. Image is now a lot brighter! .psd Photoshop

cover artist

Step 7

I then add my base colour. I want a golden look so I create a Gradient Map layer, or Image> Adjustments> Gradient Map. My deeper colour in my gradient is specifically a Purple (#06024a , Location: 15%), my medium tone is an an Orange (#ffa800 , Lcation: 50%) and my lighter tone is a Yellow (#ffea5c , Location 100%). I then set this layer to Overlay mode, and set the fill to 16%. itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty golden now!

08 Step 8

This is a very small change, but I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want the greens in the leaves looking quite so green. I make a Selective Colour adjustments layer (or Image> Adjustments> Selectice Colour), and in the Green channel, I bring the Cyan all the way down, and the Magenta and Yellow all the way up. Blending mode remains on Normal. if you look closely at the leaves just by her right ear, the greens have changed to a more rustic colour, but still with a hint of green. To add a bit more contrast, I create another Gradient Map layer (or Image>Adjustments>Gradient Map) and use the defauly Black and White gradient. I then switch the mode from Normal, to Luminosity in the Layers tab. With Gradient Map contrast

Step 9

To add more of a rustic feeling to the entire image, I make a Selective Colour layer (or Image>Adjustm ents>Selective Colour) . In the Red colours I make the following changes: Cyan: -1, Magenta: -2. In the Neutral colours I make the following changes, Cyan: +19 , Magenta: +12. Mode remains on Normal. After Selective Colouring for rustic tones. 8

.psd Photoshop

gold lion

10 Step 10

One of the last colour adjusting I do is adding more purples and reds to the image. I create a new Gradient Map layer (or Image>Ajustment s>Gradient Map) and put my dark tone as Blue (#0a00b2, Location 0%), medium tone as Red (#ff0000, Location 50%) and light tone as White (#ffffff Location 100%). I then set the mode to Screen and bring the Opacity down to 47%, and the Fill down to 20%. My shadows now have a nice purple tone to them. I would like to dark the edges a bit, so I create a new layer and call it “Orange Edges”. I simple take the brush tool on default setting (hardness all the way down) and choose a random medium Orange tone. I start adding some orange to the corners of this new layer to give the image a slight vignette. I then change the blending mode to Screen, and bring Fill down to 65%. My main colour editing is now done!

Step 11

I would still like to add a bit more depth here and there. I go to Image>Duplicate and make a copy of my file. I then flatten it with Layer> Flatten Image. I then start adding little highlights and low lights with the Burn and Dodge tools. I also clean up the hairline with the Clone Stamp tool on 40% opacity. When I am happy with how it looks, I simply select this image in my copied file, and drag it back onto my original for safe keeping. Colour hasn’t changed, but hairline and lowlight/highlights have been altered.

Step 12

My final colour edit is a touch of Cyan and Red. I create a Colour Balance layer (or Image> Adjustments> Colour Balance) and in the Shadow I slide Red to +4, in the Midtones I slide Cyan to -8, and in the Highlights I slide Cyan to -5. by Laura Ferreira .psd Photoshop

Unique This tutorial will show you how to incorporate 3D render with the stock photos to create an appealing watery scene. I will talk about using alpha channels, adjustment layers and how to make image to pop-up by concentrating on coloring and lightning. Used stocks from http://www.sxc.hu

medium | 25 h. adobe photoshop CS3 | maxon cinema 4D | wacom tablet

unique

Step 1

I started working on this piece by making the render and composition in Cinema 4D. This tutorial is about the process in Photoshop after that so I won’t go to details on the 3D part. Here you can see the render which I opened in Photoshop. Always remember to use Alpha Channel when rendering still images from 3D program. This way you have automatically separate alpha mask on your Channels palette for your render and you don’t need to cut the background off manually.

Step 2

Use the Alpha mask to separate the render from its background and make a new layer below the render and fill it with dark grey. If you didn’t know you can make the layer below the selected layer by holding Ctrl + pressing the new layer icon on Layers palette. I also duplicated the render (Ctrl+J) and used Clone Stamp tool (press S) to make the render go all the way to the sides. Play with the brush settings depending what you want to achieve.

03 Step 3

Find a good water stock which you think would fit. Open it in Photoshop to a new document and go to the channels palette. By putting different color channels invisible try to find the one with the most contrast between the water and the background. Now copy/paste (Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V) this channel to a new channel layer and open up the Curves (Ctrl+M) while this new layer selected. Now choose the white point eyedropper and use it to the background (the color you want to get rid of). After adjusting the curves to optimal make a selection of the layer (Ctrl+Click on layer). While having the selection on put the RGB channel back visible and make the alpha channel invisible. Choose the RGB channel, copy the selection and paste the result into your work document into its own layer. Usually when working with water splashes, Screen blending mode can give some extra effect so feel free to experiment with it. .psd Photoshop

creative class

Step 4

Now add water behind and top of the object. Duplicate the layer (Ctrl+J) and use rotate, distort and especially warp tool to make the look more dynamic (you can find them under Edit/ Transform/…). Even though you use duplicated layers try to make every splash look different. Also remember to vary the size and opacity to give some extra effect. Hint: convert the original layer to smart object before duplicating it (Right click on layer/Convert to Smart Object). This way when you distort, warp etc. the duplicates the quality won’t suffer from it that much.

Step 5

Once you’re satisfied with the splashes it’s time to concentrate on the background. It’s always good to make the basic elements and save the detail work in the end so don’t worry too much about having too less splashes at this point. Make a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) to the bottom and add the stock. Here I used starry night sky stock and played with the opacity to decrease the stars’ brightness a bit because I want to have the focus in the middle.

Step 6

Find more stocks you want to add to the scene and cut them off from their background by using the same channels technique as with the splashes or by using the pen tool (press P) to trace the outlines. I added some apples. I also used adjustment layers(Layer/New Adjustment Layer) to match the colors and dodge/burn tool (press O) on soft brush to make the lightning the way I wanted. Try to think of where you want to have the main light sources and adjust the colors according to that. 12

.psd Photoshop

unique

07 Step 7

The starry background felt bit boring so I thought add more water elements to the scene. I used couple photos of lake and trees. This is quite easy part when working on dark background because you don’t have to worry about the precise cut offs that much, you can just drop the opacity to around 10% and use layer mask to erase the unwanted parts. If you feel the color scheme is too grey or needs another color you can first make new adjustment layer on top of everything and apply Levels to play with the contrast a bit. After applying Levels I added another adjustment layer, Photo Filter with the preset Cooling Filter with the density around 15-20% to get the overall look more blueish. I also used layer mask on starry sky layer to remove unwanted stars below the render.

Step 8

At this point I wanted to make a reflection to the bottom to make the water look more real. I made a new layer on top and went Image /Apply Image to make a new layer with all the content in it. Then I flipped the layer vertically and distorted it so that it fits with the perspective and dropped the layer opacity around 15%. Once again I masked out the parts I didn’t want there. After this I applied little ripple effect via Filter/Distort/Ripple to make it look more like real water surface. You should play with the settings to get the best result for your needs.

09 Step 9

In the end it’s more about adding details and adjustment layers to fix the colors and make the image to pop out. Here I painted some water droplets and floating apple below the hands, added the moon on the background and made some highlighted areas by brushing on white soft brush on top of everything and putting the layer blending mode to Overlay or Soft Light. Adding Brightness/Contrast layer, Gradient map layer on Soft Light and another Levels layer made the image much more appealing in the end. by Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen .psd Photoshop

advanced | 240 min. photoshop CS4

before the ball

Before the Ball In this tutorial, you will learn how to cut out images and use them in another background, without having them looking fake, but more like an illustration. You will also learn how to change a color of the background of an image even with unkempt hair, without actually erasing the original background. You will be able to see the power of the clone tool and liquify tool to retouch body flaws and enhance the beauty of the model. There will be interactions between multiple mounted images and color retouching of the different images to fit in a whole picture. I will guide you through the basic artificial make up, highlights, shadows and sparkling light effects. I added some extra tips for the use of some blending modes, as well.

Step 1

For the first step, I placed the photo of the girl on the canvas and created a new background layer with a very light gray. This will be my basic background color. Since the image is too bright, I adjusted the levels and shadow/highlights. To join these two pictures, I have replaced the main color of the background of the girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s picture to the same light gray I used for my main background. I did this by going to image> adjustments>replace color and simply click on a predominant gray on the background of the girl.

Step 2

I created a mask of the girl layer and erased the top edges with the gradient tool and slowly erased the differences between the color of my picture and the light gray background layer. I then used the Liquify Tool to give more volume to the hair and raised some hair tips. I also fixed a bit of the nose and her jaw, raised her eyebrow a little and gave it a different shape. .psd Photoshop

photomanipulation

03 Step 3

Next, I cloned loads of hair, each one individually, making it so that they connected to the hair below. I selected a portion of hair that I wanted to clone, placed it into a new layer and named it portion, because I wanted to clone that hair, but using different angles. Then, I just used the clone tool, selected the hair I wanted to clone from my portion layer, and pasted them into a new layer called fakehair. Whenever I wanted to add some new hair to the image, I rotated my portion layer, and cloned it again over the fakehair layer. I created two different portion layers in different layers of the girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original layer, so I could have different hair shapes to clone. I used the Liquify Tool also so that I could shape the hair as I pleased. I did not over used the liquify, because when you use it too much, it messes up the resolution. I also painted some very tiny hairs to make it look natural.

04 Step 4

In a new Layer, I painted a circle with a brush using very low hardness, using a brighter shade of gray in front of her face, covering her hair and erased it on top of her face. I then set the blending mode to Soft Light. I did not want to erase too much of the hair tips, because that would make it look fake in the end. Afterwards, I created another layer and painted it with a light blue to a darker blue gradient and set the mode to Color Burn. This layer was softly erased on top of her eyes. I wanted them to shine and I think their natural color is really cool. I added a Lens Flare Filter, because I wanted to add some light effects in the sky.

05 Step 5

I used a new photo with a plant called Dent-deLion, with the seeds flying. I chose the best seeds of the picture and created three Layers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; each one with a different part of the original picture. I applied a lot of Gaussian Blur to one and then scaled it down. I then applied less Gaussian Blur to the second one and resized it so it was a little smaller. The last one, I left it bigger than the others and did not apply any kind of Blur. This way, it looks like the seeds are at different distances. I also placed some separate seeds floating above and on top of the model. Since the seeds are very thin, their background is very hard to erase, so I simply set the Blending Mode to Lighten. This way we only see the light colors. This is a very good way to avoid erasing the background in some cases. 16

.psd Photoshop

before the ball

Step 6

I chose three ribbon dancing pictures that I thought were nice to integrate with the girl on the piece. To remove the background, click two times on your background layer, which is your original image, to unlock it. Create a new black layer below it. Select your image again, and with the Polygonal Lasso Tool slowly select the pixels between the image you want to use, and its background, but do not select the ones that are blurred on the edge. Click only on the non-blurred edges of the picture you want to select. Always close your selection. You do this by clicking on the first point you first clicked using the Polygonal Lasso Tool. You will know that it is closed because your Polygonal Lasso Tool will have a little O when hovering the right point. When your first selection is closed, you need to use the Options Bar, which will allow you to choose to add to or subtract from a previous selection. A good tip is adding new selections, one-by-one, instead of making just one big selection. Otherwise, you can lose your main selection while in the progress of selecting and you can use your space bar to navigate through your document.

07 Step 7

Now, I have my selection, but the pixels on the edges are too rough to use on the top of my main work, so I want to make them smoother by giving them a little transparency. This way the pixels on the edge of the image will blend with the pixels of my main image. I click on Refine Edge, checked the preview box, and defined the following settings: radius 0, contrast 30, Smooth 1, feather 1.0, contract/expand -2. When extracting the background of an image, you need to play with this settings a bit, and see what works best. Now, I invert the selection [Ctrl]+[I] and delete the background.

Step 8

I placed the ribbons the way I wanted by resizing and transforming them. I wanted them to stick out of the image, but not to appear to be a collage, so I also added a bit of blur. The spots between hair were also softly erased. .psd Photoshop

photomanipulation

09 Step 9

Because I wanted the image to appear surreal and magical, I also added two hummingbirds. I erased their background, sharpened them, changed their highlights to cyan and strong green and created a motion blur in some of their wings to make them look like they are beating them really fast. Then, I blurred both, rotated them and erased their beaks to fit them under the ribbons in a physically possible manner. It is important to adjust your images and think,if this was real, how would it look? The smudge tool was used to drag some pixels out of the birds to make them look more fluffy and to resemble feathers.

Step 10

I cut some more elements, this time butterflies, changed the color of each one, and blurred some of them because they were too sharp to fit this piece. I placed them above some hair, her body and one on the ribbon. Some of them did not fit because it is a photo-manipulation and I found it hard to maintain their original color and make them part of the hair. So, later I will retouch them with some light effects and sparkling stars.

11 Step 11

Next I chose the fiftieth brush of the assorted menu, changed the shape dynamics to Pen pressure and turned everything else off (I use a Wacom Bamboo, so this way the particles will be generated accordingly to the pressure I put on the pen). I used the maximum Scatter, Pen Pressure, Count 2, Count jitter 2%, Control Off. Checked the Smoothing and Protect Texture box. Then I painted some stars behind the butterflies and the birds. I used several layers, so I could play with the brush behind the elements, as well as above. I also changed the blending options, added Outer glow, some with light yellow, others with cyan, for the Gradient Overlay I used a gradient of yellow to cyan, and variants of it for the different brush layers. 18

.psd Photoshop

before the ball

Step 12

I used the Gradient Tool, blue to transparent and used it on the edges of the whole image in different new layers, with different blending modes. Screen, Dodge and Overlay, lowered opacity on some of them, because they were overpowering the image. In this part, on top of all of the layers, I created a new layer, painted it with blue, set it to Soft Light, with 30% of Fill. This layer will blend everything together. It will fade colors of the layers below and if it fades too much, l can softly erase here and there, leaving the layer below showing, instead of the destructive blue layer.

Step 13

The girl was too pale, so I decided to give her some make up. I used the eyedropper tool and picked a soft red color off her lips. I created a new layer and roughly painted her lips with a brush with softened edges. Changed the blending mode to Soft Light, lowered the Fill to 64%, and softly erased the edges of the layer, until the new layer was blended with the original face.

Step 14

Now it is time to paint some eye shadows on her. I created two layers. With a soft edged brush, with a diameter of 100, very low opacity, painted a soft yellow on her eyelids. Then, I changed the blending mode to Overlay. Created another layer, and with the same brush and I painted above the eyelid with a light blue. The blending mode for this layer was set to Hue. Note that you need to be very sensitive while doing this to work, because she needs to look natural, but with makeup. .psd Photoshop

photomanipulation

Step 15

I wanted her to look like she had some lip-gloss, so I added a shine by choosing white color, soft brush with low opacity. I slowly painted the shine and I was careful while doing it so it would not seem fake. I also painted white above her eyes and changed the blending mode to Soft Light. Then I created a new layer, chose a color from her hair, darker than her eyebrows, and softly painted above it. I just wanted to make it look darker.

Step 16

Her hair looked too dark, so I used the Hue and brightened the yellows. Next, I used the Dodge and Burn tool to create highlights and shadows on her hair and make it shine more. I also did this to fake shadows for the ribbons, butterflies and birds. For this to work I needed to think where the source of light was for my whole picture. When the light shone on any element, I painted highlights and shadows on the opposite side. Some of them are just casted shadows from an element on another element. This is the basic light theory of drawing. When I had my images finished, I like to adjust some details and do an overview of the final piece. A good way to achieve this is to simply get away from the computer for a while, go for a walk and get some rest and the next time you see your work with a refreshed mind, some details and errors will pop out and you can fix them and complete your work. by Marcia Gaudêncio

Stocks • • • • • • • • • • •

Ribbon Dancing pics – vampbabe-stock from Deviantart 2_1_Ribbon_Dancing – http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-01-Ribbon-Dancing-17903136 2_6_Ribbon_Dancing – http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-06-Ribbon-Dancing-17903618 2_7_Ribbon_Dancing – http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-07-Ribbon-Dancing-17903630 Girl: akai-hinoiri from Deviantart http://akai-hinoiri.deviantart.com/art/dancing-hair-stock-107371912 Butterflyes: Shoofly-Stock from deviantart Butterfly Stock 06 – http://shoofly-stock.deviantart.com/art/Butterfly-Stock-06-91994266 butterflystock 4 – http://shoofly-stock.deviantart.com/art/Butterfly-Stock-4-36155021 Shoofly-Stock – http://shoofly-stock.deviantart.com/art/Butterfly-Stock-Sideview-54054409 Birds and Flower from www.photoxpress.com

.psd Photoshop

Now Available!!

FORwww.SMART PHONES tony deslandes.mobi

The Surreal In this tutorial, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll show you how I created a surreal photo manipulation called The Surreal. During this tutorial, you will learn how to blend different images to make a dark atmospheric background, blend different objects in the background, adjust lights and colors of your image, and much more. We will be using several tools such as the brush tool, levels/curves, different blending modes, and more. Let's get started!

advanced | 3-4 h. adobe photoshop CS4

the surreal Stock Images: (By order of use in the tutorial) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Checker Floor: http://urbannature-stock.deviantart.com/art/Checker-Floor-58790299; Author:UrbanNature-Stock Frozen Antelope Island: http://i45.tinypic.com/16hkgfs.jpg; Author:Julia Starr Sky7_2259/Sky7_2249: http://resurgere.deviantart.com/art/Package-Sky-Scape-7-57062396; Author:resurgere Storm 1: http://mysticmorning.deviantart.com/art/Storm-Brewing-stock-114644923; Author:mysticmorning Storm 2: http://night-fate-stock.deviantart.com/art/storm-5-101190537 ; Author:Julia Starr Storm 3: http://tash-stock.deviantart.com/art/Stormy-Sky-06-62311728; Author:tash-stock Rain: http://sheisprettystock.deviantart.com/art/Storm-73213991; Author:heisprettystock Bubble2_0009/ Bubble2_0010/ Bubble2_0011: http://resurgere.deviantart.com/art/Package-Bubble-2-76102456; Author:resurgere Door: http://daviania.deviantart.com/art/Paradisio-sept-09-27-136807337; Author Daviania Clouds: http://two-ladies-stocks.deviantart.com/art/Beyond-the-clouds-II-102467866; Author:two-ladies-stocks Lamp:http://empty-paper-stock.deviantart.com/art/Hanging-Lamp-63341285; Author:empty-paper-stock Hand 1:http://lindowyn-stock.deviantart.com/art/Hand-Stock-1-71285466; Author: lindowyn-stock Splash 1: http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-II-129176733; Author: Best Stock Splash 2: http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-I-129176688; Author: Best Stock Splash 3: http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-V-129177036; Author: Best Stock Hand 2 (DSC03352) : http://nykolai.deviantart.com/art/Hand-References-Pack-Seven-28768906; Author:Nykolai Aleksander Man Head: http://ahrum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Face-Neck-and-Nugget-23-27503344; Author: Ahrum-Stock Whirlpool: http://i49.tinypic.com/2mxk7d.jpg; Author:Tentenhead Zentai: http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Zentai-Y-1-104158697; Author:Marcus J. Ranum Cracked Mud: http://falln-stock.deviantart.com/art/NC-Cracked-Mud-11-50934627; Author:falln-stock Abstract Experimental: http://i48.tinypic.com/35aq0qd.jpg; Author: resurgere

01 Beginning/Creating the Canvas

It’s time to begin working. Create a new canvas. I usually work with big documents, so for this piece, my document will be 2755x3570px (but you can work with different document sizes).However, for this one, the canvas should have a vertical aspect. In other words, the canvas should be taller than it is wide. Also be sure the resolution is 300 DPI (or more). Note that you will have to resize some of the stocks and, depending on the size of the document you choose, the dimensions will be different. All the steps have images showing what has been done, so it won’t be very difficult to measure how to resize the stock.

02 Create the Floor

Let’s start by opening the checker floor and frozen antelope island pictures and dragging them into the new document.Next, use the Pen Tool (or other selection tool you like) to remove the black part of the first stock image, leaving only the checker floor. Do the same thing with the second stock image, removing the mountain and sky. Now, position the second image on top of the checker floor. Change the blending mode of the second image to Multiply and the Opacity to 90%. Finally, use a Black and White Gradient Map in Overlay mode with the Opacity set at 30-45% in order to darken the floor. .psd Photoshop

photomanipulation

Create the Sky

First, open the sky stocks from resurge: Sky7_ 2259 and Sky7_2249. Drag them onto the canvas beneath the floor layers. Duplicate the two images once. Move the stocks around until they fill the rest of the image. In order to create a uniform/ blended sky, we have to erase some of the stock images, so here’s a little trick: Instead of using the Eraser Tool, we’re going to use Vector Masks. The good thing about Vector Masks is that all the steps you do are reversible. If you use the Eraser Tool instead, it's very hard to get the erased parts back. If you use Vector Masks, you can always go back and paint with a white color instead of the black and the hidden parts will appear again. Add Vector Masks to all the sky/cloud stock images, press B to open the Brush Tool, choose a soft round brush, and pick a black color, then start to paint over the areas you want to disappear. Open the Storm 1, Storm 2 and Rain pictures. Change the blending Mode to Soft Light, adjust the Opacity to 75-85%, and using Vector Masks, paint over the areas you want to remove.

Note

For better organization, I normally use groups. I selected all the layers we have so far and pressed Ctrl+G (Windows), then named the group Background.

Finish the Background

To finish the background, we’re going to add a few more details. Open the Storm 2 stock and place it above all your other layers. Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 80%. Finally, open the three bubble images (Bubble2_0009, Bubble2_0010, Bubble2_0011). Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light and adjust the Opacity to 85-100%. Move the stock images around the top of the document. Using Vector Masks, paint over the areas you want to disappear. We are now finished with the background.

05 The Door

Open the Door picture. Next, select only the door. You can use either the Pen Tool or the Magnetic Lasso Tool for this task. After that, go to SelectInverse and press the Delete key to remove the background. When you’re finished with that, drag the door to the middle of the document (see image). Place it above the Background Group. Apply the Sharpen Filter (FilterSharpenSharpen). Duplicate the door layer and add a Clipping Mask to it by pressing Alt+Ctrl+G. Next, press Shift+Ctrl+U to desaturate the duplicated layer, then change the Blending Mode to Soft Light. Create a new Black and White Gradient Map and add another Clipping Mask to it, then change the Blending Mode to Darken and the Opacity to 50%. 24

.psd Photoshop

the surreal

06 Clouds

In order to create a surreal fantasy and mysterious atmosphere, I decided to add some clouds around the floor. Open the stock titled Clouds, drag it to the document, and duplicate it. Hide the duplicate layer by clicking the small eye near the layer. Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light. Using Vector Masks, paint over the areas you want to remove.Turn on the visibility of the duplicate layer of Clouds. Using Vector Masks, paint over the areas you want to get rid of.In this case, don’t paint over some areas around the floor. I suggest reducing a bit the brush’s opacity for better results. Please see the image of this step to achieve a better understanding. Create a new Gradient Map (Black and White) and change the Blending Mode to Darken, then add a Clipping Mask. The Opacity should be 90-100%.

07 The Lamps

It’ss time to add the lamps. Open the Lamp stock image. Next, select only the lamp and remove the background. You can use either the Pen Tool or the Magnetic Lasso Tool for this task. After that, go to SelectInverse and press the Delete key to remove the background. Drag it to our document and move it near the top side (right or left) of the door, then select the layer and press Ctrl+G. Now the layer is inside a new group. Name that group Lamps. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay, add a Vector Mask, and paint over the top of the chain that’s holding the lamp so that the lamp’s chain seems to disappear in the storm. Duplicate this layer, change the Blending Mode to Normal, and add a Vector Mask. Reduce the Brush Opacity to 30% and paint over the lamp a couple of times. Let’s add some light now. Create a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N), press B to open the Brush tool, choose a small round brush (200px), and change the foreground color to a dark yellow (#c5a636). Click twice over the center of the lamp. Change the Blending Mode to Linear Dodge and the Opacity to 88%. Duplicate this layer; the blending mode should be the same and the opacity should be reduced to 55%. To make the second lamp on the other side, just repeat the process.

Adding Surreal Elements – Part 1

Looking pretty good so far, but the work still looks a little empty, especially the floor. I decided to use the black squares of the floor to create a cool effect. Open the Hand 1 stock, select the hand, and remove the background. Fix some imperfections and drag the hand to the document. Place it onto one of the black squares of the checker floor. Now, using Brightness/Contrast, Black and White Gradient Map, and Levels, I’ve darkened the hand. You should create a clipping mask for each of these adjustments so that they’re just applied to the hand. You can find all these adjustments by going to LayerNew Adjustment Layer. Open the Splash 1 stock image and place it beneath the hand layer. Move the splash to the same square as the hand. Desaturate (Shift+Ctrl+U) the splash layer, change the Blend Mode to Overlay, adjust the Opacity to 70-80%, and use Vector Masks to paint over the areas we want to remove. I tried to create an effect where the hand comes out of the splash. I’ve duplicated the splash layer one or two times in order to complete the effect. Please see the effect in more detail in this step’s accompanying images. .psd Photoshop

photomanipulation

Adding Surreal Elements – Part 2

Apart from the first hand, I added three more elements: a man head, a zentai suit, and a second hand. I won’t describe the process again since it’s the same process outlined in Step 8. Instead, I’ll just give you some tips. For the head element, I’ve used the Man Head and Splash 2 stock images. Next, I used the same techniques from Step 8: Desaturation, Levels, Gradient Map, and Brightness/Contrast. In addition, you can also use Curves or Hue/Saturation. Just remember that these adjustments are to darken the “element.” Don’t forget to create a clipping mask to all your adjustments so that they’ll only be applied to a specific element. For the zentai suit, I’ve used the Zentai stock image, as well as Splash 1 and Splash 3. For the second hand, I’ve used Hand 2 and Whirlpool. I also added the stock image Cracked Mud to every element. Drag the stock to the document, place it above one of the elements (for example, Man Head), create a Clipping Mask, desaturate the stock, and change the Blending Mode to Overlay, with the Opacity set at 85-95%. Do the same thing to the other elements.

10 Final Adjustments – Part 1

Now that the composition is almost done, we’re going adjust the color, light, and some other details that will make this work a lot better. Start by opening the Rain stock again. Place it on top of allthe other layers and change the Blending Mode to Overlay, with the Opacity set somewhere around 50%. Next, create a new gradient map (black and white) and change the blending mode to darken and the Opacity to 15-25%. Create a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N) and go to ImageApply Image, keep the default definitions, and press okay. It’s time to apply some filters! Go to FilterBrush StrokesSumi-e. You’re free to use other values, but these are the ones I used: Stroke With=10; Stroke Pressure=2; Contrast=16 Create another new layer and go to ImageApply Image. Next, go to FilterDistortLens Correction. We are going to apply the “vignette effect” (if you don’t know the effect, please do a quick search on Google), which is pretty simple to do in Photoshop. In the Lens Correction Filter options (FilterDistortLens Correction), there’s should be a Vignette option with two sliders. Change the Amount setting to -60 and the Midpoint setting to +33. Reduce the opacity of this layer to 60-70%.

11 Final Adjustments – Part 2

Open the stock image Abstract Experimental and press Ctrl+U. A pop-up called Hue/Saturation should appear in Photoshop. Increase the Lightness to values between +30 to +45. Drag the stock to the document. Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 30-40%. Use a Vector Mask to paint over some areas that don’t look good. Create a new “Black & White” adjustment layer. All we have to do is press the Auto button to get the result we want. Change the Blend Mode to Darken and set the Opacity to 20-30%. Finally, create a new Curves adjustment layer and use the Auto button as we did previously. That’s it. I hope you have enjoyed the tutorial and learned some useful techniques for your future work. by Luis Afonso 26

.psd Photoshop

Abstract In this tutorial I am going to show you how you can combine real life stock with some abstract renders that are being made in any 3D program like Autocad 3Ds Max and Maxon's Cinema4D. I will try to make each step as details as possible. Of course the way I work is pretty old fashioned but with todays Photoshop you have layer mask options to blend and fade things. In this tutorial I will work old school way with the eraser tool...why you may ask...for the simple reason that I am used to this way and takes less time and I got more control over the area's I want to blend in or erase.

medium | 120 min. adobe photoshop CS4

abstract

Finding base background layer.

For this piece I used a nature stock with rocks and an opening in the middle. What I am trying to work to is that my abstract render that you will see in the follow step pops out of the hole trying to escape or find his way out his prison. The stock was a bit to small for the size I wanted to work with. So I duplicated my stock two times and filled the empty spaces. After I set things up I took the eraser tool and started to erase the outline of the top image. I do this till everything blends in. In the picture you see that I didn't blend in a part but thats not a problem since my render will cover this area. Background: http://eris-stock.deviantart.com/

02 Adding Abstract Render

I put in the abstract render and take the eraser tool again to get rid of the unwanted parts and to make it look like the render fades into hole. As you can see the flaws of blending the base layers is now covered. But at this moment it doesn't give you the feeling the render pops out of the hole. To add some depth to the render I take the blur tool and apply it to the end of the render. And slowly work on my focal point. For this piece the focal point is the hole and the part of the render that is exiting the whole. The more the render gets closer to the border the more I blur the render. Render: http://jdluxe.deviantart.com/art/ C4D-RenderPack-2-106235396

Adding Shadow to the render

Like I already said in the step 2 this picture doesn't give you the feeling of reality. The render looks pretty artificial at this moment. So we are going to add some shadow to it. The option Drop Shadow doesn't give me the desired effect that I want. One reason is drop shadow can't give me perspective. As you know when you hold something like a pencil against the surface slightly tilted the shadow will go from the tip and fades out to the end. This is also the shadow we want to create in this piece. Hold CRTL and click with the cursor on the layer of the abstract render. Doing so will select the render outline. Add a new layer while you keep the selection active. Once the new layer is added fill it with with black using the Paint Bucket Tool. Put the layer that you just filled underneath the render and rotate it a bit till you have something like you see in the image. I took a soft brush size 150 to soften the outline of the shadow. .psd Photoshop

photomanipulation

Adding Nature's Elements

Now for this step I want to add something extra to the scene since its pretty empty at this point. I thought adding some leafs underneath the render on the edge of the hole inside the rocks would be nice. Since I gathered some usefull stocks over the years I found a stock that fits my piece and which gives me the freedom to work with different angles. Since in stock pictures you always have unwanted parts we are going to cut out the part I need. There are several ways to extract certain sections of a picture. This can be done with the polygonal lasso tool, Magic Wand Tool downside of these tools are not enough control over the lines you set and or you select pieces you don't want to be selected. Best way to cut out details in a picture is to use the pentool. Since you can control the anchor points to the precise contours of the object we are going to use this tool to extract the leafs from the overal picture. Once done you can place them to your likings. In the picture matching this step you will see how I placed them. I added a drop shadow to the leafs by double clicking on the layer containing the leafs and select drop shadow. Settings I have used are: Opacity 56%, Angle: 120, Distance: 5%, Spread: 0%, Size: 4%. Leafs: http://evza11.deviantart.com/

05 Adding more elements

Since the image still doesn't have much going on in it I am going to add some extra's. Often in nature we see butterflies and beetles. So it would be nice to add those aswell. Just like the leafs I searched for a butterfly and a beetle to cut out and add to the scene. Again for cutting out these insects I use the pentool to trace the outline of these insects. To avoid that things get to chaotic I just add a butterfly next to the render and a small beetle on top of the render. Since I blurred the render at the place I put the beetle I add some Gaussian Blur to the beetle. (Filter --> Blur --> Gaussian Blur) I used gaussian blur to a minimum and applied it each time with 0.1 to 0.2%. Moth: http://hatestock.deviantart.com/ Beetle: http://alekdust-stock.deviantart.com/

Environment & Burn Tool

On top of all the layers I add a new layer and fill it with black using the paint bucket tool. Take the eraser and select a soft brush on 300 px. Set the opacity of the brush on 75%. Now erase the center of the black layer so you see clearly the layers underneath it. Put this layer on Soft Light Take the Burn Tool and darken the area around the hole a bit and on the inside. 30

.psd Photoshop

abstract

Pentool & Reflection

Now we are going to add some pentool swirls. Nothing fancy just some simple effects to make it a bit more appealing. What I did is I added some pentooling like you see in the image and erased certain parts to make it look like its going underneath certain parts of the render. This can be done with a soft brush and just erase a tiny bit more so it looks more faded on the ends. This detail make it look like shadow is dropping down on the pentool swirl from the render. Since the render looks pretty shiny due to the material used we can add some reflection to it from the pentool swirls. To make this happen its pretty easy. Duplicate the layer with the pentool effect and move it away a bit from the original pentool layer. Take your eraser tool and erase the parts that go outside the outline of the render. Lower the opacity of the copied layer with the pentooling. As you can see I added a few more star brushes to make it look like the sun is reflecting on the most brightest parts of the render.

Adding Contract & Brightness Adjustment Layer

Go to Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Brightness/Contrast. Put Brightness on -123 and Contrast on 97. Place the base layer with the stones and the butterfly underneath it. The rest of the layers needs to be on top to keep avoid other effects getting too dark or too contrasted. This contrast/brightness layer also helps to brighten up the pentool effects.

Finishing Touches

As finishing touches I like to add some old school style tech brushes. Thanks to certain people I always been into abstract 3d designs. Looking at other designers work. Since the abstract render looks futuristic and the rest doesn't it would be cool to make some tech interface to make it look like were are monitoring some biomechanical creature. In my credits at the end you will see the links of the resources I used and credit to the people providing them. But lets get back to the design. As you can see the left side is pretty empty. It gives us the room to place some sort of interface. Also adding some simple text between the interface with the name and when you post your work on sites like Deviantart or Artician you can add your link inside the design aswell with the link of your personal site if you have one. Its possible you need to lower the opacity of the tech interface brushes. As you can see in the final image the techy brushes on the side are lower opacity then the brush underneath the render. I have done this since the middle of the design is brighter then the rest. Tech Interface Brushes: http://z-design.deviantart.com/ by Dario van Zundert .psd Photoshop

.psd Photoshop

Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choice Brand Nu

.psd Photoshop

Radim Malinic is an award winning art director, illustrator and graphic designer based in London, England. Under the name of Brand Nu he works with leading household brands as well as upcoming business, playing a crucial part in the formation of brand language, product advertising, print illustrations and web solutions. Radim Malinic has firmly established himself over the last few years as one of the most successful and prolific commercial illustrators working today. His award winning work is renowned worldwide for its innovation, passion and attention to intricate detail. When buying Brand Nu newest book please use â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;PSD Magâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; code and get a chance to win set of 4 posters (worth L100 for each set)

.psd Photoshop

beauty retouch

Photo Make Over 1.Fixing the blemishes

To start on the project, make a copy of the background. The copy will provide an extra layer to begin correcting blemishes using the patch tool. Using the blemish tool, select around a small area with a blemish then drag the selected area to a near by 'clean' sample. To soften up the areas around the patch tool as well as hide some extra hairs, create a new layer, then begin using the stamp tool at opacity of 10-25% with a soft round brush. Be sure to check the box that says â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sample:â&#x20AC;? and adjust it to Current & Below. This way, you will be sampling from the layers below without drawing on the layers themselves. Layers are your friends! Use the stamp tool, sampling from outside of the image, to correct any fly away hairs. Again, do this on its own layer for any future adjusting needed. For the purpose of organization, you can group all of your blemish editing layers into a group by pressing Ctrl+Left clicking on each layer then, holding Shift, click on the folder at the bottom of your layers tab and Create a new group.

2.Editing discoloration

Using a soft round brush, sample a general surface area (pressing [Alt] + [Left click]). For portraits, be sure to sample a clean area of the skin. Using this color with a 10% opacity brush and on a new layer, lightly adjust any skin discoloration by painting over few areas needing it. This step is meant to be subtle, do not heavily paint over any surface area. The detail below the layer should still show through. When complete, the image with editing areas may appear flat. To add some realistic skin noise, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Settings may vary depending on your image size. For the example shown, the settings used were 2.5% for the amount, with Uniform checked. Leave Monochromatic unchecked for the most realistic look. Add just enough noise to add some rough pixels to your freshly painted layer.

3.Softening the skin

To add a soften effect to the skin, select the entire canvas ([Ctrl] + [A]) and copy merged via [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [C] or under the edit tab > copy merged. Paste your new copy on top of all of your layers. Add a soft blur by Filter > Gaussian Blur and adjust the settings to a nice soft blur with out losing too much detail in the edges. For the example images, the settings used were a radius of 3.2 pixels. Adjust the layer from the normal setting to Screen and turn down the layer opacity to 50%. Make a copy of this layer then change the new layer from Screen to Darken. Bring the opacity to 100%. Group your two layers then add a group layer mask by selection the group folder then clicking on the option at the bottom of your layers tab that says Add layer mask. Fill your mask with black to hide the layers in the group. Using the erase tool with a soft round brush and 10% opacity, gently erase the areas that need to be smooth. To reveal areas make sure your foreground color is white. To hide your foreground they need to be black.

.psd Photoshop

photo make over 4.Creating the Make up

5.Eye Intensity

Eyeshadow

Make another selection of your canvas and copy merged. Paste your new layers above the others and under filters go to Other > High Pass. This will sharpen the edges of your image, for the example image, the settings used were a radius of 2.8 pixels. Use a color balance adjustment layer to adjust the color of your eyeshadow or desired make up. Edit the brightness/darkness of the color by using the adjustment layer Levels. Again, group your new adjustment layers and high pass layer. Add a group mask and fill with black. Using the eraser with a soft round brush and the opacity of 10%, with the foreground color white, begin coloring in the eyeshadow.

Add a touch of a dramatic effect to the eye color by adding a few adjustment layers. First, using the levels adjustments, drag the white arrow to the left. The effect will brighten the image. Add just enough brightness to make the eye stand out. Fill with black then erase to reveal the brightness to color of the eye only. Use the brightness adjustment layer to create a shadow around the eye color. Adjust the eye color using the color balance adjustment layer.

6.The Butterfly Effect

The butterfly was a bit desaturated and dull. Spice up dull spots of your image using the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Darken the the butterfly and add contrast by using the Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer. Group the two adjustment layers, add a layer mask, fill with black and erase the areas that need to be adjusted. In this case, erase the area of the butterfly.

Lipstick

Add a simple intensity to the lips by creating a new layer and filling it with a sample of the color from the skin. Adjust the layer from normal to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Multiplyâ&#x20AC;? and adjust the opacity to 75%. Use the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to adjust the color to your liking. Again, group your new adjustments and create a layer mask then fill with black. Erase in the area to colorize the lips.

Eyeliner/shadowing

Add a bit of eyeliner by simply using a brightness adjustment layer. Fill with black and erase the areas that need more eyeliner or a bit more shadowing.

.psd Photoshop

beauty retouch

7.Liquify

Select your entire document again and copy merged and paste on top of your editing groups. Go to Filter > Liquify. This will open up a new window with different tools that will allow you to edit and fix any imperfections. Use the forward warp tool (works like a push tool), pucker, and bloat for your edits. In the example photo, the tip of her nose was shortened and her lips were plumped. Slight adjustments to the eyes to give a more sultry look.

9.Colorize

Create a new layer and fill it with a slightly dark maroon color. Set the layer from normal to exclusion, then change the Fill opacity to 51%. Create a new Curves adjustment layer. The default setting is the RGB line. Click and drag the middle of the graph line slight upward. Switch from RGB to Red and again drag the line slightly upward the same way you did with the RGB line. Change from Red to Blue then click and drag the center of the line slightly downward. Go back to your adjustment layers and create a Selective Color adjustment layer. Change the color settings as follows: â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘

Cyan: -100; Yellow: -57 Magenta: +7; Black: -23

And check the option Relative.

8.Lighting

To enhance the image add various lighting techniques. Using the levels adjustment layers to either darken or brighten the image and adding masks to hide/reveal specific areas. Create a new Levels adjustment layer for shadows and a separate Levels adjustment layer for highlights. For shadows, concentrate on where shadows naturally appear, under the chin, in creases etc. Use the highlights layer to show more detail in the hair and enhance natural lighting in the face.

.psd Photoshop

photo make over 10.The Rainbow

Create a solid color fill with a soft blue color. Set the layer from normal to Soft Light with an opacity of 75%. Create another solid color fill with a orange color and set the layer from normal to Soft Light with an opacity of 75% and a fill opacity of 35% Finally, create a Gradient fill layer. The style should be Linear and be sure to adjust the angle to 30.29, which will tilt the angle of the gradient. Click on the Gradient fill to open the Gradient Editor. Here is where you can choose your preset rainbow effect or if your are feeling creative adjust the colors to your liking. For the example photo, the Yellow, Violet, Orange, Blue gradient was used. Adjust your gradient fill later from normal to Screen with an opacity of 75%.

11.Optional Finishing Touch

As a finishing touch to give the image some depth, use the gradient tool with a black color, 50% opacity, and drag from the outside of your photo slightly inward on a new layer above all the others. Drag inward just enough to create a slightly darken edge around the image. Hold shift as you drag to assist you in creating a straight

gradient. Repeat this step until you have covered all four sides and your photo is complete!

.psd Photoshop

by Apple May

Neytiri In this tutorial we will paint Neytiri using a simple technique of airbrushes and a lot of layers for ultimate control. I use the digital airbrush in Corel painter and differ my opacity according to what I'm doing. Increase the brush opacity when working on hair and details and soften it when shading and highlighting. This is a fast way to paint in stead of using liquid brushes in two steps!

medium| 2-3 h. corel painter | wacoom tablet

neytiri

Step 1

Start with two layers, one with a background colour of your choice and then another layer with your sketch on it. I add a base using a blue colour. It's better to use a light tint of blue than a darker one since we're going to shade with darker blues later on.

Step 2

I start with the eyes since they're so much fun and I've never gotten the thing with saving the best for last... I add a base colour and then start adding different shades while watching my reference photo.

Step 3

I add darker and darker tints and some highlights, they make the eye look more alive. Don't be afraid to use colour in the highlights. I used a light orange and a light blue. .psd Photoshop

digital painting

Step 4

Add the eyelashes. I used black and I increase my opacity value on my brush. I know add some colour to the lips. There is a lot of lighting in this picture so there are many different colours.

Step 5

Go into the finer details I've used a darker colour to add some creases on her lips. If you want darker tints you can use the multiply tool on your layer and start shading.

Step 6

Add a yellow/orange colour for the lighting on her face. It does not need to be perfect or even, just so we an see where the different colours go. 42

.psd Photoshop

neytiri

Step 7

If you are pleased with your features you can start shading! Create another layer beneath the layers you used for the eyes and lips and use a darker blue for some basic shades. I've also painted the facial markings. I add turquoise to create a beautiful tint of blue on her face.

Step 8

Keep working with darker and darker tints. I use A LOT of layers for this so I can have full control if I want to change something. Paint your shades using the multiply tool on each layer and soften the opacity if you think it gets too dark.

Step 9

Use a light blue or turquoise to create shiny highlights. remember to start big and ten move in to the details. .psd Photoshop

digital painting

Step 10

Apply the same technique and paint her neck when you start feeling finished with her face. I often create new layers underneath the ones I already have for this. (but always above the light blue base colour of her face of course)

Step 11

The same goes for the ears. Ten apply the little sparklers on her face. Use a light blue or maybe white. Soften the opacity of the layer if they feel too protruding. Here I've worked more on the ears and consider them done.

Step 12

Add a black as the base for the hair. Increase your brush opacity and you'll have cleaner strokes when doing the little strands of hair. 44

.psd Photoshop

neytiri

Step 13

Work with different colours that match your reference photo to create the strands of hair where the lighting is.

Step 14

On your grey layer (or whichever colour you chose to have as your base) you start creating the background. Work with a soft brush opacity and a big circumference on your brush.

Step 15

Turn off your layer with the sketch on it when you feel you don't need it anymore. You can work more on your background but I like to have it a bit softer and out of focus. And now we're done! by Lina Eriksson .psd Photoshop

medium | 3 h. adobe photoshop 7.0 | adobe CS4

digital art

Digital Art Air Brush

Portrait

Blurb: This is a tutorial on how to create a digitally airbrushed portrait in Photoshop. The step-by-step description will help you create lifelike photorealistic portraits no matter who the subject is. I have used an L’Oreal model as reference because I enjoy the challenge of creating real looking hair and skin tones, but what sold me on this were the models mesmerizing eyes.

STEP 1

I recreated the individual features of the face using the path tool. Each feature was put on a separate layer. I do this because it’s easy to select the individual part that I want to work on. For example if I’m working on the mouth, I don’t have to worry about an eyebrow being selected. Basically working on individual layers give me better control.

STEP 2

In a new layer, I lay down the skin tones, using a soft airbrush. Starting with a light colour, built up colour intensity, adding a rosy colour to the overall skin tone. I was always conscious of where the highlights would be as they are a dominant part of the finished image. .psd Photoshop

workshop

STEP 3 – A FULL HEAD OF HAIR

Using a blue-black patch as a bottom layer, I created individual paths for individual strands of hair. Some strands were copied, displaced and pasted while others were slightly more random. Too much uniformity would have given a robotic look, while too little uniformity would have detracted from the eyes of the image. I used a lot of layers, many times having just a strand or two of hair on a single layer.

STEP 4 – HAIR – LIGHTS

Being on individual layers gives me absolute control on the filling of each strand of hair. I closely followed the highlights visible in individual strands of hair. The highlights were simply a lighter version of the blue-black background. I also used the smudge tool to get softer details for the hair around the ears, always using the smudge tool in a circular movement away from the face. The blur tool was also used to soften the edges of the hairline. 48

.psd Photoshop

digital art

STEP 5 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; EYE MAGIC

Working down from the bone ridge above the eyes, I created eyelashes using the patch tool. Again using the path tool I created the eyebrow and slightly above the ridge. I used differe

STEP 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; EYE CONTACT

The iris and pupil were simple circular fills with highlights of white dropped in. Moving around the individual layers put the eye in perspective, as did the shading of the eyelids. The smudge and blur tools were very useful here as they allowed me to create a realistic depth and softened the otherwise harsh lines that would have ruined the eye. .psd Photoshop

workshop

STEP 7 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NOSE FOR EXCELLENCE

The nose was a pretty simple airbrush job. A couple of tips would be to keep in mind your light source and blend in the darker shades with the light. I made extensive use of the burn and smudge tools here to tweak the nose so that the shadow and light areas were as close to the original as I could make them.

STEP 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; EAR EAR

After selecting the ear layer, I airbrushed in the skin tones. Using the burn and blur tools I got the depth of the ear spending time on the ridges of the ear. I also used the blur tool to seamlessly marry the ear onto the face, at the highlighted areas creating a smooth, edge free transition point. 50

.psd Photoshop

digital art

STEP 9 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; LOTUS LIPS

To create realistic lips with an airbrush is impossible. Real lips have the soft texture of a lotus petal. After laying down the Air brushed background for the lips, I created multiple paths coloring each path individually to achieve the realism that I was after.

STEP 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; UP TO HER NECK

The neck was a pretty straightforward airbrush job with special attention given to the highlights. Here I worked on one half of the neck and after completion, reflecting it on the other side, since humans are asymmetrical creatures, I distorted the reflected layer very slightly. .psd Photoshop

workshop

STEP 11 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; THE COMPLETED PORTRAIT

I am never satisfied with my work in the sense that I could go on touching it up forever. Using the blur and dodge, burn and smudge tools, I went over every part of the image darkening some areas, lightening others and generally smoothing everything out. While the changes I make were subtle, I think that they contribute to the overall quality of the image. by Bandula Samarasekera

.psd Photoshop

contributing writers

Laura Ferreira

cover artist

I am 25 years old and live in Trinidad and Tobago. I have been working as a freelance photographer and digital artist for the past three years. My style tends to be a bit of surrealism and fantasy. I love building concepts and ideas and seeing them come to life. I have worked with various musicians, film companies and fashion brands.

Lina Eriksson I’m a 22 year old from Sweden who loves to paint, especially when I started doing it on the computer. Messing with sticky oil colours has never been my thing. I’ve been painting more or less since I was 17 but it wasn’t until 3 years ago when I started to use the comp and corel painter to draw that I was hooked. So I am still quite a noob and learn new things everyday! When I’m not painting I study Digital Media Design at a university and I hope I can use my interest in a future occupation.

Luis Afonso Luis Afonso is self-taught digital artist. He’s 17 and he’s based on Ovar, Portugal. He doesn’t have a preferred style yet. He likes to do a bit of everything. This whole world of digital art is still recent to him, so he’s still evolving, learning techniques and experiment a lot. You can check more of his work at: http://shadowtuga.deviantart.com http://cargocollective.com/shadowtuga

Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen I’m 27 year old self-taught graphic designer and illustrator from Finland. I’ve always loved drawing and creating images for myself and others to view. About 5 years ago I found out how amazing tool Photoshop is and started playing with it. After couple years I suddenly realized my digital hobby had turned into my profession. I worked almost 2 years as a fulltime freelancer doing client jobs internationally but nowadays I’m working from my home office in Helsinki, Finland in a Germany based multimedia agency Powerflasher GmbH (www.powerflasher.com) as a graphic designer. www.ouwenz.com

Bandula Samarasekera I was born in Sri Lanka, having spent almost two decades working as an illustrator, digital airbrush artist, re-toucher and character designer with well known International advertising Agencies, design agencies in Asia and Middle East. Currently I’m working for Intermarkets Bahrain. www.bcomart.com

Dario van Zundert Started working with photoshop and cinema4d about little over 10 years ago. Started out as a hobbie after seeying somebody making the coolest things. After searching the internet for communities who could help me figuring out photoshop i came across some people on 2 communities who helped me out. Tutorials were always bad quality so started to teach myself everything. After some time friends around me asked me to make flyers forum tags businesscards and that slowly evolved to making websites for small businesses and doing fun things on the side like making such pieces as you see in this tutorial. Always exploring to find new techniques and effects because it doesn’t matter how long you work with the programs you will always find something new. http://www.shiver09.com

Márcia Gaudêncio Márcia Gaudêncio, born in 1987 in Lisbon, Portugal, is a Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Toy Maker and overall, an enthusiast towards almost every kind of arts. After studying Graphic Arts in Coimbra, the city where she lived most of her life, she moved back to Lisbon where she worked for 3 years as a Freelance Graphic Designer. Recently, she moved back to Coimbra where she is taking now a Degree in Multimedia Design and is developing her personal project, Kriture. More info available at www.kriture.com

Special thanks to Apple May Editor in Chief: Marta Kobus marta.kobus@psdmag.org Executive Editor: Ewa Samulska ewa.samulska@psdmag.org Copy Editor: Ed Werzyn, Robert Coppa Art Director: Agnieszka Marchocka DTP: Ireneusz Pogroszewski, Przemysław Banasiewicz Art Executive Manager: Ireneusz Pwogroszewski Senior Consultant/Publisher/President: Paweł Marciniak Managing Director: Ewa Łozowicka Marketing Director: Marta Kobus marta.kobus@psdmag.org Executive Ad Consultant: Ewa Samulska ewa.samulska@psdmag.org Production Director: Andrzej Kuca andrzej.kuca@psdmag.org

Postal address: Publisher: Software Press Sp.z.o.o SK 02-682 Warszawa, ul. Bokserska 1 worldwide publishing www.psdmag.org/en All trade marks presented in the magazine were used only for informative purposes. All rights to trade marks presented in the magazine are reserved by the companies which own them. Mathematical formulas created by Design Science MathType™. The editors use automatic DTP system Editorial contributions should be sent to: editors@psdmag.org Customer Service +1 917 338 3631 The Software Press Sp.z.o.o SK works individually from Adobe. The psd Photoshop team reserves the right not to be responsible for the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of the information 02/2008 provided by contributors.

book review

Creativity, Colours and Cut through book #THREE by Brand Nu

The latest publication of work by Radim Malinic, London based creative renowned worldwide under the label Brand Nu.

n eclectic collection of commercial and experimental work, Book #THREE is a visual tour of the use of creative re-touching, vector illustration and art direction inspires and transforms everything from leading world brands to inanimate objects. Highlights include the distinctive re-brand of the London Film Museum, Blossom Hill at Wimbledon, trend setting ad illustrations for ACERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 3D laptop range as well as a striking summer campaign for the prestigious QV, Melbourne Australia. Every page of the book tells a different story in vibrant colours and cleverly laid out compositions. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s obvious this artist is on a mission to keep step ahead from his contemporaries by thinking out new concepts, new ways how to use Adobe Photoshop and overall bringing to your attention new ways how to use the world

.psd Photoshop

creativity, colours and cut through

renowned software.It is also refreshing to read how each piece was made and even to learn the idea behind each project. Brand Nu serves oversized portion of creative finesse which has earned him forefront position within the creative field today. The main intention for Book #THREE to give inspiration to all, from household names to niche businesses and upcoming designers alike, work is demonstrated across a range of media including outdoor posters, to magazine covers and online. A collection of work created over the last 18 months, Book #THREE is an exciting portrait of the mature artist Brand Nu has

become - able to transform any image, product or campaign, with fluid beauty, raw edge and vibrant colour. The book also contains several self-initiated experiments, unpublished elsewhere, which show the passion and excitement that Brand Nu applies to seeking new techniques to add to his ever expanding creative arsenal. A limited edition of 1,000 copies, #Book THREE is now available frombrandnu.co.uk for ÂŁ11.99

.psd Photoshop

by .psd Photoshop Team

software review

AutoFX AutoFXâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mystical Suite is a collection of three applications/plugins that share a common interface and allow interoperability between Mystical Focus, Mystical Lighting and Ambiance 2.0 and Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0. The applications can run standalone or within Photoshop as a plugin. As a photographer well versed with Photoshop I opted to explore the plugin instance first. The plugin is invoked from the filterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s menu in Photoshop and can be applied to any non-empty layer.

Common Interface

As stated previously, the plugin instantiation of the application displays a consistent interface that can also be used in the standalone version. It is, thankfully, compact, clean and concise. There is a left sidebar where users can define parameters for the selected effect. The effects are selected from the dropdown box using flyout menus. One feature I would have appreciated is the ability to set my own color for the sidebar, palettes and picture viewing area, and the ability to change the font style to a non bold value would definitely get two thumbs up from me. The Layers and Brush palettes are easy to use and understand, they are nondockable but can easily be moved out of the way; the application remembers the last position so there is no need to move them from session to session. A helpful feature is the memory dots dial. It Lets users take snapshots of work in progress. These serve as save points that they can return to without losing the work previously done. If a user is uncertain of what a particular control will do, the application offers two level of help on all controls ( brush on/off, lasso etc ) and effects. When the mouse hovers over the control for 2 secs a short description is displayed, holding it still for another 2 sec will display an extended explanation of the tool.

Mystical Focus

The Mystical Focus application/plugin provides a total of 9 Focal Effects, 6 Atmospheric Effects and a masking layer capability. That is a lot of blurring options that users can select from. In addition to these start-from-scratch effects, users can select from 45 Focal Effects Presets and 22 Atmospheric Effects Presets. The Preset dialog provide a large size sample of each preset and when the user hovers the mouse over a specific preset it shows the original picture, providing an effective Before-After facility. It is worth mentioning that the Preset dialog is shared by the other applications, again providing a consistent look and feel to the product. The Focal effects provide good overall blurring and realist simulations of bokeh and DOF ( Depth of Field ). The application provides for an easy means to quickly create blurring effects and by using the default brush, planer and lasso tools novice users can quickly produce dramatic results. The addition of Atmospheric effects within this application/ plugin can further improve the final look of the image. It adds stylized flair quickly and easily. My personal favourites are the Highlight Smear and Specular Highlights effects.

Mystical Lighting and Ambience 2

This new version of Mystical Lighting and Ambience looks and feel very solid and is, in my opinion, a marked improvement from version

1. It offers 14 Lighting effects, 5 Shading effects and 8 Ambience modifiers for a total of 27 effects that may be combined and blended to provide some spectacular results. Add to these over 120 presets and you have a recipe for hours of play time. Two of my favourite effects are Light Beams and Light in the Dark. They provide a high degree of control over light projections and if offers over 40 different Beam styles within Light Beams alone. Most of the Lighting effects provide a control to define the colour of the light either in solid form or as a gradient. Users can define and save their own colour palettes and load them for use on similar images. Each light beam parameter includes spread, fade out and softness. These sliders provide accurate tuning of the beam and the T-Path control allows the user to define not only beam directionality but also position, width and intensity. Each T-Path has its own set of parameters and atmospheric controls. A useful control employed by the directional light effects is the Light Blocker control. It is defined by dragging a line across the screen. It is 1 dimensional but can provide a very effective means of light obscuration. Combined with its opacity slider users can simulate light blocking on a flat image. To round off the parameter controls there are 22 atmospheric effects to choose from. Users can select a preset and then modify to suit the particular application for the image. Another favourite of mine is the Ethereal Effects in the Ambience group. The effect can be applied either as a Soft Cast or a Light Cast. I prefer the Light Cast. Using this option I am able to define direction and therefore have more control over the look and feel of the image. Using the Brush on/off controls I can simulate rudimentary masks.

.psd Photoshop

autofx

Although the two Flares Effects provide over 50 presets combined I was expecting the ability to create effective obscuration masks, this would enable me to simulate a Flare behind a building scene, where only part of the flare is visible. I was unable to do this effectively with the Brush on/off controls. This point aside Mystical Lighting and Ambience provide a wealth of effects and presets that will allow users, both novice and savvy, to quickly create fabulous images.

Mystical Tint Tone and Color

If users were impressed with the abundance of effects and presets offered by the previous two applications/plugins, they will be to be totally blown away by what Mystical Tint Tone and Color offers - 60 effects with 300 presets â&#x20AC;&#x201C; incredible value ! Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 includes a variety of valuable Portrait Filters that can improve skin color, minimize skin blemishes and wrinkles, enhance eyes, lips and hair and the ability to reshape facial features. As with the Liquify control in Photoshop, a user needs to exercise control and only make believable changes, as there are no real constraining parameters. On the flip side however, it can generate interesting caricatures. Try it yourself ... The application features easy to use Color, Tinting and Tonal effects which require minimal tweaking to provide dramatic and beautiful results very quickly. The new lens effects can effectively simulate graduated filters and polarizers. I found these to be particularly useful in some of the photographs that I used in my evaluation. They are quick to apply and provide the desired effect

with minimal tweaking. The Sharpening filters provide good image detail and clarity; on par with more traditional filters available in Photoshop.

Documentation

Documentation is available from AutoFX website either online via html or as a downloadable PDF file. This documentation is sparse at only 26 pages for all three applications. The documentation relates more to workflow and high level concepts. Effects and presets are not discussed in detail. However, AutoFX has done an excellent job of proving embedded help within the application. Every effect and every parameter tweakable under that effect has associated help. This help can be reached by hovering the mouse over the control, as explained earlier.

Shortcomings

As with all software there are limitations. The new Mystical Suite of application currently only operates in the RGB color space. This may be an issue for those photographers/graphic artists that prefer working solely in other professional color spaces ( eg. CMYK, Lab Color,etc ).

Conclusion

AutoFX has delivered a comprehensive and feature rich suite of applications/plugin in Mystical Suite. It boast over 100 effects with in excess of 400 presets. If its effects are used judiciously and users take advantage of its blending and masking facilities, Mystical Suite can yield magnificent images. Mystical Suite will provide the novice and more savvy users hours of exploration time and a complete arsenal of tools that can dramatically enhance images. A final word of caution however, to achieve great results one must start with the best possible image. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t except to feed Mystical Suite a terribly focused photograph and expect it to sharpen it perfectly. And remember, as always is the case in photoretouching, less is more and a light hand will go a long way. by Robert Coppa www.je-photo.com www.facebook.com/robert.coppa www.twitter.com/robertxc

.psd Photoshop

review

PDair has recently released a series of quality cases for the latest range of smartphones. Leather cases are carefully designed and handmade with the finest genuine cowhide leather to give maximum style, protection and usability. Leather Range

Aluminum Metal Case for HTC HD2 Leo T8585 - Open Screen Design (Silver)

Leather Case for Nokia N900 - Book Type (Black)

Luxury Silicone Range

The most recent addition to their signature cases, the luxury silicone line, is engineered to give better protection by providing a thicker layer of silicone; its signature imprint will also hold the casesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; shape better, keeping it lint and dust free. Luxury Silicone Case for HTC Google Nexus One (Black) by PDair

Leather Case for HTC HD2 Leo T8585 - Flip Type (Red)

Leather Case for Motorola Milestone A855 - Book Type (Black/ Crocodile Pattern)

Luxury Silicone Case for HTC HD2 Leo T8585 (Red) by PDair

Aluminum Range

About PDair

The aluminum range is carefully catered for those who are looking for the most stylish, yet the strongest protection to their newly acquired smartphone. Aluminum Metal Case for Motorola Droid - Open Screen Design (Black)

.psd Photoshop

PDair has been a well established mobile phone accessories provider since 2002, specializing on luxury leather cases and aluminum cases for mobile phones and mobile devices. Through years of innovating designs and continuous improvements to their signature cases, PDair has managed to keep up the pace with the growth of the smartphone market, providing a wide range of stylish protection for mobile phones, reaching the biggest range of users all over the world. PDair aims to provide the highest quality mobile protections not only at a fair price, but also reaching every corner of the world with no extra shipping charges. The work force of 300+ is fully dedicated to ensure the highest of quality reaches every happy shopper. Every step is carefully monitored from material sourcing, design and manufacturing, ensuring only the best qualified products are shipped from the warehouse.