Tabla de contenidos para No. 138 en Photoshop Creative

If you’ve been using Photoshop since before layers were introduced, you’ll appreciate just how incredible they are. Some might say life changing! In this issue’s feature we’re going to show you how they’re capable of completely transforming your photos, paintings, illustrations, typography and more. Turn to p.16 and get ready to unleash your artwork! This issue is also packed full of practical tutorials from designing a poster to enhancing sports shots, and from making a mixed-media masterpiece to adding depth to illustrations. There is also professional advice from industry experts on retouching photos, as well as beginner guides to essential Elements tools. If that wasn’t enough, there are more than $200 worth of free resources on this issue’s FileSilo, so make sure you download them today and start creating. photoshopcreative…

01 Crack the chest This piece uses stock images downloaded from www.fotolia.com. Duplicate the figure layer, then hide the original. With the Pen, make a cut shape and use a Shape Vector Mask layer. Select the duplicated layer of the figure, Delete and you should see a cut through the chest. Open blending options. Tick Inner Shadow, Angle: 120, Distance: 21px, Choke: 0px, Size: 21px. Use Color Overlay and choose a dark colour to place under the figure. 2 Cut lip Make a crescent shape with the Pen tool then open Blending Options. Tick Inner Shadow, Angle: 120, Distance: 21px, Choke: 0px, Size: 21px. Tick Bevel and Emboss, Depth: 100%, Size: 21px, Soften: 0px, Angle: 120, Altitude: 30. Go to Gradient Overlay and choose a dark grey on one side…

Creating a photomanipulation is not a straightforward task – it requires patience and lots of organisation. That’s why having each element or image on its own layer is hugely important. This way you can go back to any layer and edit its preferences, positioning, transparency and blending mode, and duplicate your layers as well as resize them. In other words, layers help you to have more control over your .psd file. It’s also important to name and group your layers, so you can easily go back to them. This image had 51 layers arranged in 10 groups. LARGER EYES One eye was selected and the layer duplicated. It was enlarged by pressing Alt/Option+Shift. A layer mask was added, and the edges cleaned with a soft Eraser. This was repeated for…

This effect relies on using layers to divide the colour area from the black-and-white area. Making use of selection techniques such as Color Range (or the Magic Wand if you are using Elements) and layer masks is vital when creating a selective-colour effect. Use a Black & White adjustment layer to instantly remove all the colour from the image. Adjustments like this also come with layer masks, which lets us brush over subjects to reveal their original colours, or use selection tools to pick out an area of colour. SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS Go to Select>Color Range and pick the colour you want to keep from the Select drop-down menu, for example Yellows. Add a new Black & White adjustment layer, invert the layer mask (Cmd/ Ctrl+I) and tweak the adjustment layer’s…

01 Open Adobe Fuse Open Adobe Fuse (CC users only). Choose your characters from the presets and then customise your model by adding textures, clothes and props. Save to your CC Library. 02 Open in Photoshop Go to Windows>Library. Double-click to open your model and then go to Window>3D. Double-click over the _Skeleton feature and choose a pose from hundreds of animated presets. 03 Find new poses After you apply the pose, go to Window>Timeline. Scrub the frames in the timeline to find new poses. Rotate the image if necessary and adjust the lighting. 04 Render and save Go to 3D>Render 3D layer. Render your 3D model and save it. You can apply adjustment layers and mask just as you would with any other layers and incorporate it in your…

Essentials Works with What you’ll learn How to use the Pen and Brush tools, paint digitally and create texture Time taken 5hours Expert Rebekka Hearl “Photoshop is my chosen program for poster design, due to its excellent Brush and Pen tools and the coveted Undo command. “Comics and cartoons are my favourite things to draw, my favourite Photoshop tool is definitely the Brush tool, and I illustrate stories in my spare time. I’m a designer, illustrator and animator, and have been using Photoshop since I was young.” The vintage style has received a resurgence in popularity over the past few years, in fashion, design and even digital art. We’ll be taking heavy inspiration from vintage landmark artwork for this tutorial, where we will be applying vectors, digital-painting techniques, and our…

01 Get the drawn look When adding a stroke to a Pen path, standard lines may look very uniform. To get help, Photoshop has a Simulate Pressure option to taper the edges as if drawn. 02 Activate pressure settings First you must give Photoshop a pressure control. Go to the Brush panel (F5) and then Shape Dynamics. Change the Control drop-down from Off to Pen Pressure. 03 Simulate pressure Now, after you have drawn your path, right-click and select Stroke Path. Select Brush from the drop-down and tick the option that says Simulate Pen Pressure. Hit OK. 04 Get a faded effect If you only want one end to taper, switch the Brush Control to Fade. Set the value quite high, for example 200+, and Stroke>Simulate Pressure for a different…

Retouching is a key skill for any Photoshop user. Most digital images will need some kind of retouching, whether it’s to boost contrast, hide blemishes, adjust lighting or sharpen details. There are certain tools that are essential for retouching and these are used across all genres of photography. For contrast, professional retouchers will rely on the use of Curves, usually applied as adjustment layers, so that they can be selectively painted in for precision, much like the dodging and burning techniques of old in the darkroom. For removing unwanted objects, spots or blemishes, the Spot Healing Brush tool is accurate and very easy to control, while the Clone tool is handy for areas of uniform colour or texture. Throughout this feature we will be looking at key genres where retouching…

01 Enhance his cap Use the photo from www.shutr.bz/1p2vSoKand cut out one line. To make it look like it belongs, use the Brush tool with 30% Opacity and make a mask to gently erase the edges. 02 Create a bevel effect To have more control over the shadows, use the Pen tool to create a bevel effect. Draw in the shadow with blue (#c1c4cf) and soften the edges by applying the Gaussian Blur filter set to 5px. 03 Add muscle light To enhance the muscles, use the Pen tool to draw a shadow on the chest and paint it black. Once done, apply a 30px Gaussian Blur and change the blend mode to Soft Light. 04 Add shoulder light To add highlights to the shoulders, use the Pen tool to…

Creating banners, images and icons can be a fun project, and one that tests how cohesive and consistent you can be in designing all kinds of web elements. So if you’ve got a website or you’re looking to create one, this is the perfect project to start with. Layers help you manage your projects and enable non-destructive editing, which means your web banner can be adapted for Facebook, Twitter or any other site that you need; simply change the text and crop to the right size. Remember to vary the elements of this tutorial to suit your own needs. If you’re designing a personal website, you might want to use a picture of yourself, instead of our supplied subject. If it’s a website of a brand, you can vary the…

CAN I REVERSE THE EFFECTS OF A LIQUIFY? The Liquify tool (Filter>Distort>Liquify) is one of Photoshop and Elements’ most famous features, and it’s fantastic fun to bend reality with the tool. But there is such a thing as taking the Liquify tool too far, so it’s important to remember how to tone back the effect if need be. Before you begin using Liquify, duplicate the layer of the object you wish to use the effect on. This means that should parts of your image not look right once you’ve applied the filter, you can mask the original object back in. Within the Liquify tool itself though, use the Reconstruct tool (E) to bring back the original shape of your object, by brushing over wherever you wish to tone back the…

WINDOWS 10 The handy Snap feature, Cortana’s upgraded functionality and DirectX 12 support are just some of the key features of the definitive Microsoft Windows experience. INTEL XEON E3-1505M For professional-level design work, you’re better off with a professional-level brain for your system. Mobile Intel Xeons make working with high-res scenes a dream. NVIDIA QUADRO M1000M Why settle for only one display? Professional GPUs are more than capable of getting you up and running with multiple screens – perfect for any creative. ADOBE CC All this power means that your favourite apps will be up and running in seconds. On a workstation, Photoshop will run faster and more efficiently than you ever thought was possible. TIME SAVED More power and a more optimised operating system in Windows 10 make for…

Flora Borsi has been featured in over a dozen exhibitions, won awards and even been featured on Photoshop’s opening splash screen. But despite this incredible success, she’s hungry for more and wants to “inspire my age to create instead of being lazy.” We asked Flora about her work. Have you always been artistic? I used to draw as a kid, and one day I saw my sister using Photoshop. I was totally amazed by its power. From that moment, I became addicted to the software. I spent years developing myself and learning techniques. It didn’t feel like working because I love it! What kind of art inspires you? Music, paintings, photography, digital art and nature. I love to listen to electronic music and classical. The emotion that I hear in…

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When you are busy piling up the layers, it’s easy to get carried away. But in the realms of photo editing it’s always a good idea to keep everything as simple as possible. When we mask and apply adjustments, we want to be doing that using layers; when we retouch with some clever brushwork, or dodge and burn details in, we want to be doing all that with layers so we are not destroying the original pixels. The best way to fully appreciate layers is by doing the opposite. Try applying all your edits to just one layer. This may sound like the worst idea ever, but it’s a great way to see just how layers make a difference. It’s possible to achieve great effects with only a few layers,…

01 Prepare the paper and surface Scrunch up a piece of A4 paper as tight as possible, until the paper is soft. Be careful not to tear it! Place it on a tea towel on a clear, flat surface. 02 Pour the coffee Prepare a strong cup of coffee (hold the milk), and spread it across the paper with a spoon. Sprinkle extra grains on top for detail; make sure they melt into the coffee – but just a little! 03 Dry the coffee Once the paper is covered, use a hairdryer (on low strength and heat) to dry the coffee. Try placing a mug on top of the wet paper and dry around it to create a coffee mug stain. 04 Take it into Photoshop Leave to dry for…

Essentials Time taken 12-18 hours Expert BÜRO UFHO “We love the texture of paper and the way ink reacts to it. It’s something the digital process alone has a hard time emulating. We bring some of that quality back, by introducing ink textures into our artwork. With a combination of textures, brushes and shadows, we bring more depth into our black-and-white line work. “We are both artists under the moniker kittozutto, have a graphic design studio, BÜRO UFHO, and have been using Photoshop for more than 10 years. In 2015, we had the privilege to be invited by Adobe, together with 70 other artists, to celebrate its 25th anniversary of Photoshop, which was an honour.” For more of BÜRO UFHO’s impressive work, head to www.ufho.com. Adult colouring books are all…

When you’re creating, pay a lot of attention to the size and resolution of the art. Remember that once you define the measurements, it will not be possible to make it bigger without losing resolution. Make it large enough for any eventuality. For example, it’s important to promote your work without spending much money, so make a site where you can sell your art. In this case, try a framed poster or a t-shirt. FRAMED POSTER This art would be very cool on the walls, so print the image, put it in a frame, take some pictures to promote and sell on your site. ON A SHIRT There is nothing better than seeing your work literally walking on the streets, so make some t-shirts and promote your work outside.…

BE SELECTIVE Choose an image with sufficient highlights and shadows so the filter creates an excellent representation of the original image. DUPLICATE THE LAYER Duplicate the layer so you always have an original image available for reference; go to Layer>Duplicate Layer. SMART ART Converting the Smart Object to an image layer enables any filters or effects to be applied to the image. IN THE DETAIL Ensure you keep the details sharp with crisp and varying line strengths. This enhances the finer areas, such as hair. ZOOMING Use the Cmd/Ctrl and +/–buttons to zoom in and out to see finer details. CONTRAST Add contrast to the filter settings to develop dark areas around the eyes and nose. ENOUGH NOW Know when to stop adding different elements to your image; you want…

Price £35 (approx) / $49.99 US Web www.jixipix.com The specs Company JixiPix Additional specs Windows Vista and above Mac OS X 10.6 and above Photoshop CS3 and above Elements 10 and above LAYERS Add multiple layers of different artistic styles, or erase everything to just reveal a canvas. LAYERS PALETTE Control everything from layer order to opacity using the Photoshop-style layers palette in the top-right of the program. SLIDERS Alter aspects of an effect in any layer with the in-depth sliders, and create something unique every time. If you’re not an expert in digital painting – or any kind of painting, come to that – filters can be a big help. They can magically turn your picture into a series of brushstrokes with just a few clicks; the only downside…

Windows 10 is a significant step towards your operating system integrating seamlessly into your busy creative schedule. Sporting everything you could ever need to keep yourself organised and working at maximum efficiency, it’s an operating system with your personal needs at heart. By taking advantage of exciting new features like the Snap feature, which allows you to snap up to four different apps into the four corners of the screen, you’ll discover new ways to streamline your workflow. Approaching deadline? Snap your emails to the corner of the screen and remain client-facing, while still getting the job done in Photoshop. Illustrating from reference? Snap your web browser and illustrate away without the need for switching between windows. As creatives, we’re always looking for ways to improve our workflow – features…

Get caught up 09:00 I start off the day seeing what projects are on our cloud collaborating system and see who was working on what. Once I’ve read the notes from the other team members, I write down my goals for the day for what I need to achieve. Take action 10:00 Once written down, I take action by doing mostly web development work. If there are any issues I ask Jae, our creative director, for a possible solution to the situation. Research and implementation 11:30 If I am working on a website I would follow the mock-ups Jae has given for that particular client and do a lot of research to implement certain functionalities on websites. Time to check in 13:00 By lunch time I check my emails and…

MANIPULATE YOUR IMAGES Discover how layers can be used to organise your images when compositing artwork. MAKE FUN PHOTO EDITS Learn how to add a tilt-shift effect and selectively colour your favourite images. MIX PHOTOS & REAL MEDIA Master essential techniques for creating stunning mixed-media pieces of art. CREATE COOL TYPOGRAPHY Find out how to design 2D and 3D typography, and even add a scene inside your text. PAINT AND ILLUSTRATE See how layers are fundamental to digital art, such as paintings and illustrations.…

Layers are a fundamental tool for digital illustrating and work like invisible stacks of paper that give you the power to keep sections of your work separate, so you can easily change, rearrange and experiment before committing to a final draft. Creating a new layer for important areas gives you the space to change colours, import textures, erase and add outlines, add text, change visibility and add gradients, as well as using opacity options to blend and obscure imagery in isolated areas. You can also use the Layers panel to turn the visibility on and off using the eye icon and drag and drop the individual layers to rearrange the stacking order. LIGHTEN UP Click on the individual layers and go to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast and use the levels to make the…

Essentials Works with What you’ll learn Lighting techniques and how to composite a person into a fire scenario Time taken 4hours Expert Rodrigo Marinelli “I love comic books and superhero movies, so try to mix fantasy and reality in my images, using lighting and photorealism techniques. This tutorial is an excellent exercise for creativity, as you can learn and also have fun. “I’m an art director and have more than 11 years of experience in advertising agencies. I learned and am still learning to use Photoshop through following tutorials.” To create stunning portraits in Photoshop, you need discipline, you must practise lots, and you should always be aware of new art styles that are trending. One of the most popular techniques at the moment is to mix fantasy with realism;…

Essentials Works with What you’ll learn How to create fonts and use them in bright, exciting projects Time taken 4hours Expert Mark White “I love working with typefaces, whether it’s existing ones or creating my own. You can really have fun in this tutorial; projecting your own handwriting onto each character, and if you’ve never created a font, this is a good way to start. “As senior staff writer on Photoshop Creative, I’ve learned all kinds of quick tips to help with even the most impressive-looking pictures.” Fonts are so much more important than you might think, especially if you have a clear message worth sharing. An exciting text effect can help to capture the viewer’s attention, and conjure art out of a simple sentence. No one really wants to…

Essentials Works with What you’ll learn How to combine photos and illustrations using brush techniques Time taken 1hour Expert Jenni Sanders “Using blend modes is a great way to achieve a realistic traditional painting effect in Photoshop; colours get darker and lighter, and tones change. And if you use custom brushes, you have a really creative environment! “From the moment I saw my dad manipulate photos as a child, I was hooked and have since worked entirely within the industry of photography and Photoshop.” If you want to paint but don’t want the mess, Photoshop can come to the rescue! This tutorial explains how to use blend modes to mix colours and tones together, as if they were real paints mixing with each other on a canvas. The image starts…

About the artist Vlad Korzinin www.playingarts.com @playingarts Vlad Korzinin is a web and graphic designer who joined Barcelona-based Digital Abstracts (an online art blog that posts daily inspiration) in 2006. He is originally from Latvia, and among other things, has redesigned the website of Beyoncé. Digital Abstracts is a collaboration with Andreas Shabelnikov, Dmitry Melkov and other contributors. Name of the project Playing Arts Vlad Korzinin humbly describes himself as “just a designer who loves art.” A co-owner on the Digital Abstracts online blog since 2006, Vlad began the Playing Arts project just two years ago. The idea behind it was simple but ambitious: assemble a team of designers from around the world, give them complete freedom and assign each one a playing card to build a unique and wildly…

Essentials Time taken 5hours Expert Rodrigo Marinelli “The inspiration for this image came from Greek mythology. Poseidon is the god of the seas, so I had the idea to make a powerful swimmer. I’ve been a keen swimmer since the age of four, and participated in competitions as a teenager. I now wake up almost every day at 7am to swim, so you can see that swimming has always been part of my life. I had the help of my friend, Raphael Peaga (www.peaga.com.br), from the conception of this image, right through to the final work. “I’m an art director and have more than 11 years of experience in advertising. I learned to use Photoshop by following tutorials.” For more of Rodrigo’s work, visit http://rodrigo_marinelli.prosite.com. If you want to composite…

FINISH WITH ADJUSTMENTS Merge your layers and add adjustments such as Photo Filters and Gradient Maps to unify the colours. When people think of Photoshop, they often think of bad compositing edits where the subjects don’t look as if they’re actually in the place they’re supposed to be. This is often down to the edge of the subject, as it’s extremely hard to get perfect hair and blurring between your subject and the background. The Refine Edge tool is perfect for making a realistic selection; situated in the Selection tools of Elements towards the bottom of your screen. It’s a vital tool in so many tutorials, as it makes it easy to soften and smooth an outline. But with different sliders, icons and viewing modes, it’s sometimes hard working out…

Price Approx £60 / $89.99 US Web www.escapemotions.com The specs Company Escape Motions Additional specs CS5 and above Windows Mac OTHER TOOLS Use the Pen, Eraser or even Fill tools to assist with your brushwork. These can help you craft a composition as you build your layers. LAYERS Build your effects with the Layers palette. Alter the opacity of each effect and change blend modes to work subtly and precisely. COLOURS AND GRADIENT Change the colour of your brushes by altering the hue or selecting a gradient, in the top right-hand corner of the program. PRESET BRUSHES Choose a preset brush before altering the dynamics of it. You can also add or remove preset brushes from the window. Brushes can be one of the most exciting tools in Photoshop. They…

“Thanks to the hybridisation of laptops and tablets, I’m finding that workstations are giving creatives the best of both. I found that the Dell Precision 15 5000 Series workstation was powerful enough to tear through processes in Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 like the Content-Aware Fill without flinching, and Windows 10 brings productivity advantages like the Snap feature, which lets you snap up to four apps to corners of the screen. It’s brilliant for multi-tasking. I painted digitally, looked at references online and kept an eye on my emails and Twitter all on one screen. If you don’t have access to a second screen it avoids the distraction of switching between apps. “Cortana stores and learns from your feedback to try to pre-empt your needs the more often you use it,…

“At the dawn of the internet, in a magical time dominated by Tamagotchis and butterfly hairclips, there was only one type of computer that you were going to be loading your AOL free internet trial CD-Rom from: a Windows one. “Having not used a Windows product since I was 16 (so, a good few weeks!), the thing that struck me when I turned on the Dell Precision 15 5000 notebook was how familiar it was, despite an updated interface. The dedication to laser-pointed efficiency and goal-orientated working that made Windows so popular in the first place, is demonstrated by the ability to snap four things onto your screen at once – gone are the days of trying to find a specific window when you’ve got a thousand internet tabs open…

Eight years ago, 19-year-old Shivam started teaching himself how to use Photoshop, and now he creates work for other people. “I’ve started doing vector arts and implementing skills and techniques I’ve learned from websites,” he says. But where does Shivam’s inspiration come from? We caught up with him to find out. help make it look as though I’ve created the picture on paper. That’s a great tip! What other techniques would you suggest to Photoshop beginners? I’d say that observation is your biggest strength. Try observing everything around you. Try taking inspiration from websites and everything you come across. Try to ask yourself: “Why and how is this artwork so good? Is it colour, contrast or saturation?” Try improvising, as well. Do you try and give messages to your pictures?…