Table of contents for No. 155 in Photoshop Creative

We will be mixing it up this issue, as our lead feature is all about blend modes. One of Photoshop’s secret weapons, blend modes can transform images, whether you’re looking for subtle or striking blends. Delve into our multi-layered (sorry) blend modes feature (p14) and find new ways to use them, across all types of artwork. We also have our usual plethora of tutorials; these include showing how to use filters to create stunning landscape vistas (p28), how to mix up text and photos for a striking movie poster (p38), as well as how to utilise the full potential of the Pen Tool in one of our advanced tutorial (p58). In addition, you’ll find our fun Elements tutorials, in-depth interviews, readers’ challenge and galleries in their usual places. We hope…

Manon Moreau www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/manon.M Image of the issue I decided to create a strong contrast between a night environment and artificial light. I used a chart of complementary (blue and yellow) colours to accentuate the contrast between the light and the night. Everything has been done using brushes. Julie Powell www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/Julie%20 Powell This image was taken in a studio on a black background. I used the Quick Selection Tool to create a layer mask and then Refine Mask to get the fine details. I used several adjustment layers for mood. Mehdi Mostefaï www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/ mmmprod The most difficult thing was to add, blend and lighten the numerous objects in the scene. There are more than 20. I then worked hard on the cinematic grading, as I’m always doing. Mario Unger www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/mariounger There…

When applying the Gradient Map adjustment layer, do make sure the Reverse checkbox is not selected, otherwise your resulting colours could go very wrong very quickly. The general guide for tweaking the Selective Color adjustment in this image is that currently, with the Gradient Map adjustment applied, the black values such as those on the hair are too light and too reddish, so we are aiming towards achieving a darker and more purplish tone for the hair. We also want to bring out the orange and reds around the nose area. By focusing on balancing these two main colour values, the rest of the colours will fall in place. As a result, the colours orange, greenish-blue and darkish purple will form a triadic colour scheme that is harmonious for our…

On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Essentials Works with What you’ll learn How to create a battle scene where you’ll take the role of the gladiator Time taken 5 hours Expert Rodrigo Marinelli “Since I started using Photoshop I’ve always tried to take my own pictures to create art; even when I didn’t have a good camera, I just used my phone. This helped me understand how to create a scene with multiple images. “I’m an art director with 12 years’ experience at advertising agencies. I learned and am still learning to use Photoshop through following tutorials.” One of the most interesting things about Photoshop is that you can be the star of any image you want; all you have to do is think about a theme…

01 Levels adjustment Levels, contrast and blend modes are great ways of getting impressive colour. Press Cmd/Ctrl+L to bring up the Levels window. 02 Overlay Overlay is a useful and versatile blend mode. Use it to create contrast and saturation in your piece after shading is complete. 03 Screen Since Overlay has a tendency to deepen colours, make use of Screen every now and then to keep things bright. This is especially useful on dark colours, like our subject’s brown hair. 04 Merge Create as many blend mode layers as you like. Merge them before you add the final touches. Select all layers, Ctrl/right-click, select Merge.…

Price £0.99 / $0.99 US Web www.afterlight.us/ For some, Photoshop’s most-used tools are the adjustments. They can quickly transform images non-destructively, and can be used in any project. Afterlight is an app that works in a similar way to the adjustments, in that it doesn’t add anything new to your pictures, but it does get the best out of them. The basic adjustments include sharpening, cropping, highlights, shadows and adding colour to the highlights, midtones and shade, making it adept at all kinds of photo-editing tweaks. There’s a collection of high-quality filters too, which are perfect for adding a retro twist to your images. Where Afterlight truly stands out is in the light leaks it offers. There’s an array of default ones to use, with the option to buy more.…

Text Highlighter Make your text pop out with help from Text Highlighter Pro Make waves Get a great pack of displacement waves to enrich your artworks Tutorial files The assets and start photos you need to follow our tutorials On the FileSilo this issue… • Text Highlighter Pro, worth $7 • 10 Grunge paint overlays worth $5 • 50 Abstract art textures worth $20 • Displacement waves worth $5 • 350 Paint splatter textures • Plus 500 pen/pencil brushes • A total of 1,003 resources worth $37 FileSilo The home of great downloads – exclusive to your favourite magazines from Future Publishing Secure and safe online access, from anywhere Free access for every reader, print and digital Download only the files you want, when you want All your gifts, from…

We challenged you with these In Issue 153, we challenged you to get creative with these four images. You were allowed to use any or all of the pictures, and whatever other resources you chose. Here’s what you created. Challenge entries The best entries and overall challenge winner 1 Corine Spring Camera In The Grass The focus for this came from the supplied image of the camera. The grass image is used at the bottom of the picture, with blend modes and masks used to tie the image together as a whole. 2 Neil Kelly Dog Lost At Sea I used Curves, Colour Balance, fill layers, Levels and Brightness/Contrast in Photoshop. I also used the Warp Tool to put the marble on the case. 3 Lucy Wright Grass Camera The…

01 Motion Blur Duplicate the car layer and apply Motion Blur (Filter>Blur>Motion Blur), Angle: 6, Distance: 65px. Make a mask to erase the unnecessary parts. 02 Set the tone Set the Foreground colour to black, the background to white and apply the Cloud filter. Change the blend mode to Screen with 30% opacity. 03 Another Lens Flare Create another Lens Flare effect (step 23), set the light to the top of the car and change the blend mode to Soft Light with 50% opacity. 04 Use masks Select the Colour Balance adjustment layer, set the foreground colour to black, pick the Brush Tool and erase around the top of the scene.…

The artist Pierre Kleinhouse I’m an award-winning illustrator, painter and designer based in Tel Aviv. I work as an illustrator for Makomagazine, and also work as a freelancer on different www.the projects ixelp o such ite . as om making @thepixelprosites gig posters, artwork for animation, branding, advertising, package design and more. I also make artwork for exhibitions and run my own studio shop, selling prints and T-shirts. You can find more of my work at www.pierrekleinhouse.com/ Essentials Time taken 10 hours Whenever I make artwork for exhibitions, I try to explore new concepts and techniques and take my time with the process,” says Pierre Kleinhouse, a Tel Aviv-based artist with a wealth of vibrant digital paintings in his back catalogue, and clients ranging from the BBC to Stella Artois.…

About the artist Dexter Maurer dextermaurer.tumblr.com/ Dexter Maurer is an illustrator from Delémont, Switzerland. His father, an art teacher, is who Dexter cites as teaching him the technical basics of art and fuelling his passion for his profession. When he finished school, he went to Wallis, EPAC (Professional School of Contemporary Art) to take art lessons. Name of the project Brand Knight Dexter Maurer used to draw cartoon characters when he was a child, but it was a project about medieval knights that put him back in touch with that side of his creativity. For his personal project, Dexter re-imagined toy figurines of knights, with each of them having the theme of a recognisable brand. This was a huge departure from the kind of work that Dexter was used to…

WHAT GOES INTO THE STREET ART GENRE, AND HOW CAN IT BE CREATED IN PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS? Street art is a genre popularised in the 1990s by the likes of Banksy, but these once-ephemeral pieces have now been immortalised thanks to the internet. You can create street art in Elements yourself: they’re often simple, mural-like pieces that send out a funny or even political message. Start by opening a wall image and add a picture to ‘stencil’ onto the wall. Duplicate and with one of the layers, apply Threshold from the Fill Layer icon. Alt/Opt-click to clip the layer. With the second of these layers, go to Filter>Filter Gallery>Cutout and experiment with how your image looks with block colours. Once happy, apply and mask both these layers until you just have…

Price £549 / $749 US Web lomography.com The Petzval Bokeh control lens is the ideal choice for photographers looking to add a little creativity to photography. The lens itself comes in a stylish black finish or a striking brass look. Annoyingly though, the brass shows every fingerprint and scuff so it loses its pristine shine pretty quickly, especially if you change lenses frequently. We also found the lens cap quite infuriating as it fell off extremely easily in our camera bag. However, once we got past our slight annoyances, we discovered a really impressive bit of kit. It is the perfect lens for portrait and street photographers because of the stunning bokeh you can create. However, it will also add a bit extra to landscapes. The lens itself has a…

Martí Serra is an artist who claims that he has an unorthodox method of using Photoshop. But whatever method he uses, it hasn’t stopped him receiving acclaim for his work from a number of sources. The Barcelona-based designer has had thousands of views online, and created a number of album covers. We caught up with him to find out his artistic secrets. Can you give us idea of how a project begins for you, Martí? First of all, I come up with a basic concept, I investigate the subject, and then I like to experiment with different techniques. I think of what I would like to achieve or what would work for that piece and then I make some sketches on paper or directly in Photoshop with a graphics tablet.…

There’s nothing more inspiring than surfing the internet and seeing what other artists are creating, and we encourage you to do so. Here are some of our favourite pictures that caught our attention recently, from some of the world’s most exciting artists and designers. Jenny Yu jennyyu.squarespace.com/ Starting with a very quick sketch, I selected shapes with the Lasso Tool and filled in some rough blocks of colour and lighting. Then I painted the details, using Colour Dodge to highlight the lighting. NicoSantos www.artstation.com/artist/ nicolassantos I created the 3D render, then used Photoshop to create the UV textures for the character and other elements of the scene. I use Photoshop for post-production, for better control and blending in the background to give more depth. Novans Morello www.behance.net/ Novanshocker This work…

LIGHTEN MODES The Screen and Lighten modes add pixels to your work while ignoring the darker pixels. They’re great for objects like clouds. COLOUR MODES The Colour modes – the ones beneath the water – are good for applying different shades across images. DARKEN MODES Use Darken and Multiply to add the pixels of one layer to the pixels of the layers below; in this case, the divers. CONTRAST MODES The Contrast modes – Overlay, Soft Light etc – are good for blending light and shade in ambitious compositions. Blend modes are perhaps the most underrated feature Photoshop offers. They save you time, transform your work in subtle or dramatic ways, and they provide shortcuts to help you blend your work perfectly. They’re central to everything we do in Photoshop:…

On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Essentials Works with What you’ll learn Use filters, blend modes and adjustments to transform a photo Time taken 1-3 hours Expert BÜRO UFHO “Masking your image to create a see-through effect behind big bold type can result in a visually interesting movie poster. “Being both an artist under the moniker kittozutto, and graphic design studio BÜRO UFHO, we have been using Photoshop for over ten years. In 2015, we had the privilege to be invited by Adobe to celebrate its 25th Anniversary of Photoshop.” In today’s digital age, when we’re constantly bombarded with movie posters that are essentially the same kind of photographic collage, we find ourselves attracted to clean, bold, illustrated movie posters that exude confidence. Do an online search…

On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Essentials Works with What you’ll learn How to use default brushes, blend modes, and apply filters for paint effects Time taken 5 hours Expert Rebekka Hearl “As a graduate of two art-related courses, I am very familiar with life drawing and portraiture. I’ve been using the Adobe Creative Suite since my teens, and it is still a vital part of my workflow to this day. “I don’t know how I survived so many years without my Cintiq 13HD, and my favourite Photoshop tool is without doubt the Brush.” Portraiture is one of the staples of art study. Drawing from life is one of the best ways to practise and further your drawing and painting skills. If you thought pursuing digital art…

01 Perfect orthogonal lines To create straight horizontal, vertical and 45° diagonal lines, hold down the Shift button as you left-click on the mouse to create the path. 02 Curves For curves, hold down the left mouse button and pull the handle. Remember to bear in mind that you have to create two curves before you can go back to a straight line. 03 Solid fills and gradients To change the fill type of the shape, click the Fill box and select the Solid Color icon for solid colours and the Gradient icon for gradients. 04 Editing To edit a shape, select the Pen Tool, hold down Cmd/Ctrl until a white arrow shows up, and move the anchors as you wish.…

01 Free Transform Open the Free Transform Tool (Cmd/Ctrl+T). Hold Cmd/Ctrl and drag the corner handles to adjust the perspective or Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt to skew. 02 Gradient mask In step 16, press D to set the default Foreground/Background to black and white. Open the Gradient Editor, choose Foreground/Background preset and drag it over the mask. 03 Create the headlights Create a new layer and fill with black. Go to Filter>Render>Lens Flare. Choose 105mm Prime, Brightness: 100 and click OK. Change the blending mode for the layer to Screen. 04 Level adjustment Open Free Transform, hold Shift and resize. Open Levels (Cmd/ Ctrl+L) and tweak to regulate the intensity. Duplicate (Cmd/Ctrl+J) and put in place.…

Photoshop Elements is a program with some incredibly sophisticated tools for editing photos. So sometimes, it’s nice to use an adjustment that only has one slider. Although the Threshold option might be easy to use, don’t get the impression that it’s not powerful. It instantly turns your picture into just black and white, with the one, solitary slider helping you to find the balance between the light and dark in your image. It’s perfect for converting your pictures for a novelty effect, or using it to create a basic block image to build on with illustrative or drawn effects. In fact, although the Threshold is a basic adjustment, you have full creative reign when it comes to editing it. For example, once you’ve grouped each adjustment with the layer you…

LAYER MASKS Add a layer mask. Paint inside the mask and vary the brush opacity setting for a transparent effect. CLIPPING MASKS Clip the layer to avoid the images or the adjustment layer affecting other layers. On the FileSilo Download your free resources at www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative You can achieve amazing effects in Photoshop Elements; you just need to learn the right technique. To begin, you need to understand how a layer mask works. Layer masks basically show or hide areas of an image, but also control the level of transparency of a layer. For example, when you apply a black-and-white gradient over a mask, the greys create a gradual transition along the mask; these greyscale tones determine the level of transparency of the layer. In this tutorial, you’ll apply this technique…

“I’ve been working with Photoshop for a long time now,” says Emad Helail, a 29-year-old Egyptian designer who works in advertising. “I love Photoshop because you can reach all kinds of audiences with just one piece of software.” We spoke to Emad about compositions, tips for beginners and how he’s developed his own style. What do you think makes a good Photoshop composition? I personally find that when you’re playing in Photoshop, it’s important to create a memorable story. When you’re mastering skills with any kind of technology, it can be frustrating when you don’t get the results you want straight away. You just need to have fun, and this will show through in your work. What tips do you think are useful for Photoshop beginners? Learn how to use…

Create the heart Start with a blank background and create a new layer. Go to the Custom Shape Tool and select a heart shape. Drag it onto the canvas and place it in the middle, with space all around it for other elements. Add some leaves Place leaves into the image and position them around the outside of the heart. Make sure that there are different sizes and shapes of leaves to vary them and keep them to the edges of the shape. Build up the elements Add more leaves to the image to completely cover the heart, and when you’re happy, hide the black shape from before. Add some wings to the image and place them either side. Add a bird, too. Adjust Place a sky background at the…