Table of contents for No. 170 in Photoshop Creative

One of Photoshop’s central features is the Brush tool. This wildly useful tool can help you with pretty much any project. Whether you’re creating a painter-like portrait from scratch or need to use the brush to touch up a photo project, learning how to make the most of the Brush tool can be immensely useful. In addition, you’ll find your usual great variety of inspirational tutorials, including a surreal city of books, a mesmerising ice-cave landscape, and a digital illustration made with the help of Google SketchUp alongside Photoshop. Also, we have our usual great collection of product reviews, interviews with artists, and stunning galleries to draw inspiration from. We hope you enjoy the issue! Free step-by-step tutorials online photoshopcreative.co.uk Join thousands of like-minded creatives search for photoshopcreative Tweet us…

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. Jon Juarez harriorrihar.myportfolio.com During a trip to Iceland, I walked through some landscapes that seemed to be drawn, so I photographed them, but the images did not do them justice. Now that I have drawn them, I have a more faithful memory of that fictional reality. Rafael Varona www.rafael-varona.com This illustration was created in Photoshop CC following 7Up’s colour palette with different brushes, some of them made by myself. The background is a stone wall texture, which I altered with a Gradient Map. Diego Salas www.diegosalas.net…

It’s incredible what you can create on a computer these days. We should know too: we spend most our days trying to push the boundaries of that. But sometimes, there’s nothing more satisfying than evoking the past. We live in an age when everything around us is inspired by something that’s already been, whether that’s in music, fashion or art. We’re constantly inspired by things that have influenced us, and that’s the thinking behind many classic-looking digital paintings. In this tutorial, we’re going to look at how to create something that has that sense of depth to it in terms of age and style, as we explore how to take on oil paintings. From using the golden ratio to playing with textures, this can be a fun and fulfilling project…

Place linked 01 To bring in something as a linked asset, go to File> Place Linked, or hold Option/Alt as you drag something directly into an open PSD. Update linked asset 02 If you have both the original asset and containing PSD open, you can make a change in the asset document and it’ll update (upon save) in the main PSD. Watch for alert 03 If you make adjustments to the linked asset and the main PSD isn’t open anymore, you’ll be prompted via a yellow alert icon on the layer when you open the PSD. Update, relink or embed 04 To update the asset, right-click on the layer, choose Update Modified Content. To relink to another file, choose Relink to File. To embed the placed asset, choose Embed Linked.…

Displacement map Merge the layers 01 Select all the Layers. Merge them (Cmd/Ctrl+E). Ctrl/Right-click on the layer thumbnail and choose Duplicate Layer. Set Destination/Document: New and name it ‘Displacement map’. Desaturate the image 02 First, grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool and select the entire image, and go to Image> Crop. Now, create a greyscale image. Press Shift+Cmd/ Ctrl+U to desaturate it. Adjust the contrast 03 Press Cmd/Ctrl+L to open the Levels. Set the Inputs to 20, 0.40, 240 and click OK. Go to Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp Mask. Set Amount: 250%, Radius: 6px and click OK. Save as PSD 04 Use Camera Raw filter to fine-tune the contrast to the image. Press Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+A to tweak the settings. You must save your documents as a PSD file. Press Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+S.…

Star brush Load star shape 01 To add some extra stars and variety to your image, try customising an existing brush. Start by loading an appropriately shaped brush, such as Photoshop’s “Starburst- small” in the Assorted brush set. Adjust Spacing 02 Open up the Brush Panel to access the wide range of adjustable settings and characteristics. First increase the Spacing, then tick Shape Dynamics. Increase the jitters 03 Increase Size Jitter and Angle Jitter up to 100%. Increase Roundness Jitter, but only to around 35%, or set a minimum roundness to prevent the stars losing their recognisable shape. Scattered stars 04 Tick Scattering, increase Scatter and adjust the Count as desired. Now apply your stars with a light colour on a new layer set to Screen.…

Pattern Overlay blends Create shape 01 Use the Ellipse tool (set to Shape in Options bar) to create an ellipse covering the area you want to dress with the pattern overlay. Apply Pattern Overlay 02 Click the layer palette’s fx button, choose Pattern Overlay. Set Blend Mode to Overlay. Pick the Tie Dye preset (or something else). Max out Opacity and Scale. Click OK. Adjust opacity/fill 03 Drop the shape layer’s fill to 0% (above Layers), leaving the layer style to stand on its own. To reduce, drop layer opacity (here set to 50%). Add more colour 04 Use Free Transform (Cmd/ Ctrl+T) to reshape the colouring. Duplicate and transform to add more colouring. Try other patterns or even put Gradient Overlay to use.…

Set the details Use the Warp 01 Let’s bring together the two parts of our lake here. Activate the Warp tool (Edit> Transform> Warp) click on the small squares and adjust the shape, just like the image. Enhance the colours 02 Let’s enhance the colours from the white flower. To do that, follow the step 03, link a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer and set it to 50/0. Add the shadow 03 Duplicate the tree layer, place it under, activate the selection, paint it black and flip it vertically. Use the Perspective tool (Edit> Transform> Perspective) to set the shape and change the blend mode to Soft Light. Add some movement 04 Add ‘movement_edges.psd’ and change the blend mode to Screen. Finally, add the folders movement and movement_02 from ‘movement.psd’, place it…

Adding extra details Place the box layers in a folder and paste ‘pex_242236_paper-texture. jpg’ from FileSilo. Select the Multiple blend mode and create a clipping mask on the folder. Hide the background layers and create a new merged layer. Make it a Smart Object and go Filter> Noise> Add Noise and set Amount: 7%. Finally, create a reflection, with the background still hidden, and create another merged layer. Then, cut out the bottom part of the box into two separate layers. Go Edit> Transform> Vertical Flip and Screw the layers to place. Place them both into a folder and add a mask. Brush away the reflection’s bottom part.…

Blending In Flat colours first 01 A tip for making your character’s colours suit the background. Start by colouring them in with their normal palette as if they were in white light. Apply the overlay 02 Create a new Clipping Mask layer set to Overlay and fill it with a colour that is prevalent in the background. In this case, we’ll use a dark blue. Cast shadows 03 Using another Clipping Mask layer set to Multiply, use a large airbrush of the same colour to add broad shadows. Erase with an airbrush in lighter areas. Highlights 04 Create a final layer set to Colour Dodge. In the areas you erased, select a colour from the background and airbrush over your character.…

It’s fun to create a beautiful composition using your holiday photos or any other images you have in hand. In the following steps, you’ll learn how to use filters, masks, adjustments and other editing techniques to tweak the photos and get to grips with Photoshop Elements in Expert mode. First, you’ll start creating the background using basic selection tools and masks. Next, you will learn how to apply filters to create a realist snow texture. Then, you’ll work with layers styles to add subtle effects. Finally, you’ll use a preset to create the snow falling from the sky. These techniques are essential for all those who want to get serious about digital art and Elements has some fantastic tools and filters to help you create a perfect photo composition and…

Price Free Web cyberlink.com SLIDER Control anything in your picture using the sliders. The settings are simple to use and can create pinpoint results easily. Cyberlink’s Photodirector app is one of the more powerful photo editors available for your phone. You could see it as an extra Photoshop add-on to use on the move: yes, it’s an extender. It contains all the basic photo-editing abilities that most apps have, such as saturation and tonal tweaking tools, but it has features far more polished than the average phone app. You can remove objects from photos with content-aware technology and there’s an intuitive skin retoucher too; the Android version contains a Curves-like tool just like Photoshop itself, and there are HDR effects that can make your images pop with colour and texture.…

God is in the detail when it comes to Photoshop work, but Gary Nicholls has really taken that to a whole new level. The photographer has spent 40 hours a week on his Imaginariumproject – a fine-art photo book – for the last six years. We asked him about how he creates his work, his tips for fellow Photoshop users and what he’s up to next. How long have you been a Photoshop user? I started using Photoshop properly in 2007, after buying my first entry-level Canon DSLR. I now own a Canon 5D Mk IV as I need the resolution to create my art. I use Photoshop on average for 40 hours a week. Photoshop enables my imagination to come to life and I never use stock images. All…

Sylvia van der Velden Image of the issue This work was made with texture layers and layer masks. I changed the blend modes and added some curves and lighting effects. For the model I used only dark and midtone colours and made some layers for these. Bob Parsi I focused on the lion’s face and masked out the rest. Then I used gradients and brushes to colourise the face and outer areas. At the final stage I used various adjustment layers to make the colours more vibrant. Lakshmikanta Patra This is a self-portrait that I created in Photoshop. I used many solid colour layers, some adjustment layers and replicated my body parts with the Pen tool. It was kept simple for a vector style. Caroline Julia Moore I created this…

Since a young age, I’ve always had a special taste for the dark, gothic and dramatic aesthetics of art,” says Ana Cruz, a Portuguese designer and artist. “My biggest inspirations are secret realms and my passion for themes such as death, macabre beauty and deeply romantic emotions.” Ana is an artist drawn to the darkness in art, but for this picture, Ana chose to mix darkness with a light of light, bright colours and natural effects such as foliage. The finished result is something that feels very much rooted in this fantasy genre, but it has a mysterious undertone to it. “In my personal art, I always aim to achieve a mixture of dark fantasy and dramatic romance, occasionally with a surreal twist,” Ana says. “I always aim to portray…

Light effect After placing the people, you can add a lighting effect to enhance the composition. Create a new layer on top of the Layer Stack and fill with black. Change the blending mode for the Layer to Screen. Set the Foreground colour to a light bluish colour. Grab a large soft brush, and paint the effect on the canvas. Press Cmd/ Ctrl+T and resize the image if necessary and move over the highlight area under the T-rex. Reduce the layer’s opacity to 20% or 40%. Duplicate it if you want to place more light.…

Know your hotkeys To improve your workflow, it’s a good idea to find out the relevant hotkeys for your most commonly used tools, and the Brush Tool is probably one of these. The most ideal hotkey when using the Brush is the square brackets [ and ] to alter brush size up and down. You can adjust the brush opacity using the number keys, 0 to 9. Another ace shortcut is X to switch between the foreground and background colour, which is useful when working on a layer mask to switch between black and white.…

Brush Settings Here, you saw how to add a fog into a scene. But you also can do that by exploring the brush settings panel. So, create a new layer (Cmd+Shift+N), set the foreground color to white and click on the Brush Settings panel icon. This panel will give you options to customize the brush your way. To create a fog brush, enable the options Shape Dynamics, Texture, Transfer (set the Flow Jitter to 61%), change the blend mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 50%. Keep exploring this tool to discover new possibilities.…

When pitching a design to a client, presentation is always crucial. Showing a clean and polished design at any stage of the process is a given, but there are other ways to help it outshine the competition. Making a 3D mock-up to display a packaging design is a great technique that can give any designer an extra edge on their competitors. When done right, mock-ups can enhance a design and help show clients what the design would look like if it was implemented in the real world. 3D packaging mock-ups are not the final product that you’re selling to a client; they should be used as a visual tool to display your work. In this tutorial you will discover all the handy tip and tricks in mastering the art of…

Fireworks Everyone loves a firework display (except perhaps, your pets). Create amazing firework effects without the big bangs by dropping in stock photos of fireworks against black backgrounds on your pictures. Clip Hue/ Saturation layers and up the saturation to give them even more kick. Moon Adding a moon or planet to a dark sky can be a great way to add intrigue or realism; you can create an amazing planetary scene or even just resize the moon – like we have here – for a surreal effect. Add your moon, set to Screen and adjust the Levels (Cmd/Ctrl+L) to complete the effect. Nebula A nebula can look pretty, and really brighten up a dark sky. Set it to Screen and place over your image, then select the rest of…

Open your image 01 Click Open and Navigate to the correct file, or use the File menu in the top left of the screen. Add Motion Arrows 02 Click on what you want to animate and drag in the direction of movement. Add more arrows for greater motion. Add anchor points 03 Select the Anchor point tool and add points around objects you’d like the movement to flow around. Create precise masks 04 Choose Mask and paint over areas that require sharper transition between animated and unanimated. Crop, adjust and output 05 If your image is unedited, try applying the auto adjust feature, for better exposure and colour.…

Compositor 01 Add stock photos and other elements into your image with the Compositor section of StudioMagic II. This includes rainbows and birds, and can be a cool way to finish off a photo you’ve edited with other sections of plug-in. Hyperzap 02 Add filters to your image using these effects. This is a good final step if you need one after adding compositing elements. Increase the intensity of the effect in order to customise the filter depending on the image. Lighting Effex 03 Similarly to Photoshop’s own Photo Filter adjustment, this part of StudioMagic II is particularly good to use with the weather effects just to give an overall warming or cooling effect to your image. You can choose your own colour to use, too. Reflections 04 Creating reflections…

My name is Mauricio Xavier and I live in the Brazilian city of São Paulo. I am passionate about digital art. I always like to learn and share any new techniques I discover – it has become one of my favourite hobbies! My passion for digital art began when I first used Photoshop, I was just amazed by the massive amount of tools and the myriad creations that can be made with this program. NEW DAY This is a concept piece that I created, inspired by the game The Last Of Us. The story takes place in 2030, in a world in which humans were almost extinct, wiped out by an unknown epidemic. MAGIC PLANET This was a 3D piece with digital painting. The idea was to create a planet…

We challenged you... In Issue 168, we challenged you to get creative with the set theme of Adventure. You were allowed to create whatever you wanted, so long as it incorporated the theme somehow. Marc Dhaeyer Jumping from God’s Window This is an image that uses layers, masks and a lot of blending. Adjustments were key in tying everything together to make it feel surreal, yet rooted in nature. Honourable mentions See some honourable mentions from this issue’s challenge at facebook.com/photoshopcreative…

Non-CC alternatives Not everyone has CC, so here are some workarounds for older versions. There’s no fill property for layers in Elements, so lower the Opacity and adjust layer styles. The ability to link assets is CC-only, so place the independent PSDs and other files, and re-place them as needed. Instead of Camera Raw Filter, use Shadows/Highlights and your favourite sharpen filter. In place of the Blacklight Poster lookup, try working with your preferred method of boosting contrast. Stay nondestructive When working with imagery that may be moved around on various screens and surfaces, keep things as non-destructive as possible. Resist rasterising smart objects and filters to save disk space. When using the Shape tools, ensure you set to Shape in the options bar to produce shape layers versus pixel-based…

Fancy creating an intricate mix of colour and blended detail but lack a ton of hours to commit? Inspired by new-age mysticism and forged with key Photoshop features, this tutorial image will illuminate a method of rapidly self-blending fractal imagery in the quest to create a dazzling backdrop or even a stand-alone design that will draw viewers into its entrancing embrace. Here you’ll compose a vibrant representation of a meditative inner-journey. The power generated is so intense that the essence is forcefully projected outward from the fellow at the centre of it all. To form the colourful blends and undulating lines of energy, you’ll take some fractal images and apply a quick flip-’n’-blend to produce a series of symmetrical panes. Blend these together to form an increasingly complex metaphysical mélange.…

Moe Hezwani I needed to find a quick and easy way to create 3D-packaging CADs for my clients to three-dimensionally visualise my designs. Photoshop is usually my go-to platform, and I discovered how easy it was to create realistic packaging using the most basic of tools. I was happy with the results and so were my clients. I’m a professional graphic designer/illustrator, and Photoshop is my usual platform for my designs. I enjoy playing around with Photoshop to mix the composition between photography and illustration to build up a piece of artwork.…

Character Proportions The convenient thing about using SketchUp is you are then free to position your subjects. I repositioned the character sketches for this piece multiple times; you too should experiment with ways of creating interest and framing the piece. You’ll have noticed that your SketchUp file contains a flat caricature of a woman. You can move this and use it as a size reference. Take screenshots containing this caricature and you can use it as a perspective reference while drawing.…