redchilliworx's Blog

Watercolor Effect

Disclaimer:

None of the given Photoshop Tutorials are written by me. They are all taken from various sources on the Internet and I compiled some of them for you. Hope you understand. More are in the line.

Step 1

Open an image, I will use this image because it suit to my tricks.

Step 2

CTRL + J, duplicate the image. Now you will have a layer which labeled as “layer 1���. SHIFT + CTRL + U, desaturate the image and you will get something like this:

Step 3

CTRL + J again to duplicate layer 1 and you will get a new layer which labeled as “layer 1 copy���. CTRL + I to invert the layer and set the layer blend mode to Color Dodge. Go to filter > other > minimum > 1. Double click on layer 1 copy to bring out the blending option. ALT + left click on the triangle and set the underlying layer as below:

Step 4

CTRL + E to merge up both layers. CTRL + J, duplicate layer 1. Select layer 1 copy and go to filter > blur > Gaussian Blur > radius 6. Set the layer blend mode to linear burn. CTRL + J on layer background and put the layer background copy at the top of all layer and set the layer blend mode to color.

Step 5

Hope you are still with me. Select layer background copy and add a layer mask, fill it with black color.

Step 6

Still with the layer background copy, go to image > adjustment > curve and set as below.

Step 7

Create a new layer and put it top of all layer. Fill it with #ffecd1. Set layer blend option to linear burn.

Step 8

We are nearly there, now select layer 1 and set the opacity to 60% or whatever you think suitable. Select the background copy layer’s mask, with a 45px soft brush, opacity 65%, brush the face area. Here is it!

The difference:

Examples:

Hope you guys enjoy this! Thanks!

Fantasy Art Photopshop Tutorial – Plasma in the Lake

Disclaimer:

None of the given Photoshop Tutorials are written by me. They are all taken from various sources on the Internet and I compiled some of them for you. Hope you understand. More are in the line.

The requests for Fantasy Art tutorials are enormous, I still get emails and Pms from people asking to do more Fantasy Art tuts, so here is one more, called “Plasma” (Star, not the TV!) which I hope you’d enjoy.

1. Make a new canvas, we used 600*480 px here, but the size is of course optional.

2. Select the Gradient Tool, using two shades of blue (see below), fill your canvas, so that the darker colour will be on top.

3. Take a photo of a girl. Traditionally I am using Becca’s photo from her Deviant Art account, but you can replace her with any semi-sitting figure of your choice. Crop the figure and paste her unto your canvas. In needed, resize her so that she will fit in.

4. To get rid of the visible crappy cropping, and to give the girl more emphasis, add blueish glow to her by going to Layer >> Layer Styles >> Outer Glow and applying the following settings:

This is what you would get:

5. Make a new Layer. Make sure your primarily and secondary colours are black and white. Go to Filter >> Render >> Clouds

And, if needed apply the clouds effect a several times to achieve the desired randomly “clouded” effect.

6. Reduce the opacity of the layer to semi-visible.

7. Press Ctrl+T for free transform, and then right mouse click and “Scew”. Drag the left corner of the clouds layer, as shown on the illustration below:

Press “Enter” when you are done, then Ctrl + D to deselect the layer.

8. Duplicate the clouds layer. Select the upper layer and go to Edit >> Transform >> Flip Horizontal.

9. Select the girl’s layer from layers panel and drag it to the top, so that it would be your utmost upper layer.

Remember to remove the parts where layers turn to be on top of one another.

10. Take a photo of a lake with water circles. We used this one from Digital Free Photo, but again – this is optional.

Paste the layer unto your composition, so that the circles in the water will be “around” the girls or your main figure.

11. Using the Eraser Tool, remove the lower part of the girl’s layer, so create the illusion as if she is really sitting inside the water and the water circles are “from” her.

12. Set lake’s layer blending options to Luminosity.

13. Drag the Layers of the clouds on top of the water later and using eraser tool with soft edge (100px) remove the sharp parts, so that only the “steaming” clouds will remain, no edges.

14. Now to the hard bit – creating the plasma cycles.
Make a new layer (this is important) and place it on top of all the others.

15 Using the Elliptical Marquee tool, draw and ellipse. While the ellipse on the new layer is selected, Right-mouse-click and choose “stroke”. Apply the settlings below for the stroke effect:

16. Press Ctrl + T to free transform, and then right-mouse-click >> Prospective. Try to distort the round layer you have to it would look like the line is surrounding or flowing around the girl.

17. Using the Eraser tool with big soft edge, remove the “farther” part of the round, behind her head, like this:

18. While this layer is selected, go to Layer >> Layer styles >> Outter glow and apply the following glow settlings:

19. Duplicate the layer a several times and each time transform the round using the prospective settlings, so that the circles chaotically surround the main figure’s body.

20. Remember to leave the “front” part of the circle visible and erase the “back” part of it. This is more or less what you should have by now:

21. Flatten the Layer.
22. Go to Image >> Adjustments >> Levels and apply the following settlings to give the image an overall bluish hue:

23. Duplicate the layer.
24. While the upper layer is selected (and your background colour in the palette is set to white), go to Filter >> Distort >> Diffuse Glow and apply these glow settings.

25. Reduce the opacity of the “glowing layer” to 20% (or less, depends on your image).
26. Flatten the layer again to merge both layers into one.

27. Using some star brushes (download free on deviant Art resources page), apply the stars chaotically around and allover the glowing cycles.

28. Select the background layer (the artwork, not the stars) and to to Renters >> Lightening effect, apply the following spot light effect twice.

29. Get back to Stars layer, and go to Layer >> Layer Styles >> Outer Glow, and add the following glow using white #ffffff colour.

30. Duplicate the stars layer.
31. Go to Filter >> Blur >> Radial Blur and apply these settings.

You may choose to reduce the opacity of this layer if you feel the rounded blurred effect is too strong. That’s it, your artwork is ready:

Add Dynamic Lighting to a Flat Photograph

Author: Giackop

In this tutorial, he will show you how to spice up a fairly dull and flat photograph. It's very easy and fast! Go from flat photo to a uniquely lit style.

Source Photos

For this tutorial, we'll need two photos that I took. You can download them to follow along. These are my photos: castle photo and clouds photo.

What We're Making

Here's the composite we're making. Click to see a larger version:

Step 1

First of all, my apologies for this step. I waited for a good 20 minutes but that car didn't move, so I had to take the photo with it!

Anyway, just use the Patch Tool (J) to remove the car and the Clone Stamp Tool (S) to recreate the pattern of the bricks where it used to be.

If you've never used the Patch Tool, there are a couple of ways to use it. First, make a selection as you would if you were using the Lasso Tool, then click inside the area and drag with your mouse. Depending on whether you are using Source or Destination as your checked option you will either move the image inside the selection, or move the whole selection around. The Patch Tool will blend-in the area you've chosen when you let go. You can also use patterns and transparency. All in all, it's a great tool.

Step 2

Once the van has been removed, apply Filter > Render > Lighting Effects to make the light come from the top right.

Step 3

With the tool that you prefer, create a selection of the part that you want to hide. For example, I used the Pen Tool (P) to select the sky and the buildings around the castle. With the selection active, add a Layer Mask.

Step 4

Duplicate the background layer, desaturate it with Ctrl+Shift+U, apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with 4-pixel Radius, and set the Blending Mode for the layer to Overlay.

Step 5

Now we need a photo with clouds and the rays of the sun coming from the right. I used this photo of mine that was perfect for this situation.

Send it to the back of the other layers.

Then duplicate it and set the copy layer Blending Mode to Lighter Color.

Step 6

Duplicate again the original background photo (Layer 1) and put the this new layer below the Layer 1 copy.

Set the Blending Mode to Multiply.

Step 7

Now turn off the visibility of the two castle layers, go to the Layer 1 copy, and merge the visible layers into a new layer with Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E.

Then desaturate it with Ctrl+Shift+U, set the Blending Mode to Overlay, and the Opacity to 50%.

Step 8

Make a new layer on the top of the other.

With a large, white, soft brush that matches the size of the light of the sun, just make a round spot.

Then apply the Luce filter that you can download free or use the previous tutorial about Lighting Through Clouds here on PSDTUTS, to make this light coming through the clouds. Set the Blending Mode to Overlay.

This is an example with black background to demonstrate the effect.

Step 9

Just Burn the dark side of the castle and Dodge the light part of it with a large, soft brush. By doing this, we make it seem as if the light is coming from the clouds and hitting the right side of the castle, leaving the other side in darkness.

At this point we're almost done, but the image is overall quite dark and our blur earlier has left it slightly too blurry, so we'll fix that next.

Step 10

To finish the image, create a new layer above the rest and go to Image > Apply Image, use the settings "Merged", "RGB" and "Normal" for blending. This will create a new layer above the rest holding a copy of the image. Set this layer to Screen and about 70% Opacity. Then go through each layer and apply Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and use the settings Amount: 250% and Radius .2px (Use a larger radius for larger images). This should sharpen the image back up to give us a good final result.

Click on the image below to see a larger version:

Creating Energy Spheres in Photoshop

Disclaimer:

None of the given Photoshop Tutorials are written by me. They are all taken from various sources on the Internet and I compiled some of them for you. Hope you understand. More are in the line.

For this tutorial you’ll want to find a photo of someone doing something that looks a bit larger than life. I used this photo that I found at the stock photo website Stock Exchange. For this tutorial you’ll need a photo that you want to manipulate and some special brush sets which I downloaded from here.

This will be the final result.

Crack and Peel

Disclaimer:

None of the given Photoshop Tutorials are written by me. They are all taken from various sources on the Internet and I compiled some of them for you. Hope you understand. More are in the line.

Create a Cool Halftone Effect

Disclaimer:

None of the given Photoshop Tutorials are written by me. They are all taken from various sources on the Internet and I compiled some of them for you. Hope you understand. More are in the line.

In this tutorial, we're going to go a bit retro. You'll learn how to create halftone patterns and creatively cut up an image of a model holding a boombox. You'll then use those cut elements to make your design. We use some layer styles to get everything to come together cohesively. The effects are fun, and you can apply these methods to other designs as well.

Step 1

Start out by downloading/purchasing our image from iStockPhoto: Boombox Image. Alternatively, you could apply these techniques to an image of your choosing and still follow along (or as in the download PSD you could just use the 'comp' that iStock lets you download).

I downloaded the largest image available for this photo. There is some reason behind this madness: we'll be using cut images from the large photo to place into our design. Using the large image will allow us to have larger speaker elements.

Make a copy of this large photo. Open up the copy and resize it to 500px wide and make sure Constrain Proportions is checked so the height changes proportionally. Save this file as .psd and name it boombox_final. This will be our canvas for this tutorial. Also, open up our original large image we downloaded as we will be cutting some images from it starting in Step 3.

Step 2

Let's prepare our boombox_final.psd document. First cut out the boombox image. Also cut out the top half of our model. Below is an image of the top half of the model cut out. You can see the boombox cutout in the preview of the layers palette as well as the layer order. We need to cut out these pieces so that we can place elements behind them as we build our design.

Step 3

Let's jump over to our large image. Grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Draw a selection that covers the right speaker. Then Command/Ctrl-Click and select Refine Edge. Use the settings in the image below.

Step 4

Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the settings below.

Step 5

Let's go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). Copy this selection.

Step 6

Now paste this cut out image of the speaker into the boombox_final design. And move it to the bottom left corner.

Step 7

Now we are going to follow the same steps to place some texture over the speaker. First make a small selection in our large stock photo. Then type Cmd/Ctrl-Click and select Refine Edge. The only difference in this setting is that we set our Feather to 15px. The rest is the same. Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the same settings as we did before only this time change the Max Radius to 10 Pixels. Then go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). Copy the selection, then paste it into our design and move it to the bottom left corner over the speaker.

Step 8

We're going to jump over to our large stock image again. Grab the Brush Tool. Give it a Master Diameter of 900px and a Hardness of 0 percent. Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Click in the center of the image. Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the settings in the image below.

Step 9

Let's go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). It should look like the selection below. Invert the selection by going to Select > Inverse. Copy this selection.

Step 10

Paste the selection into our boombox_final document. Give it a layer style of Lighten. You can see the white dots emerge in the bottom of our document. Place it so that it matches the image below. Then copy the speaker we placed before and move it behind our model, but in front of the large dots.

Step 11

Create a new layer in our boombox_final.psd design document. Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Grab the Brush Tool. Make sure it's set to Master Diameter of 300px with a Hardness of 0 percent. Draw across the bottom of the image. Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the settings below.

Step 12

Let's go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). Create a pink gradient and draw it from the left and angle down to the right to get a result similar to the image below. Reposition this layer in the Layers Palette just above the speaker behind the boom box. Set the layer style to Screen.

Step 13

Copy the gradient. Use the Free Transform Tool to reduce the size and reposition in the bottom right-hand corner over the larger pink gradient. Keep the setting to Screen. Then make another copy of this and free transform it by reducing and rotating it to fit in the top left hand corner. Do that one more time for the top right-hand corner.

Step 14

Let's copy some elements. I copied the texture in the bottom left corner and placed it behind the bottom right of the boombox. I also placed a copy in the top right. I made multiple copies of the speakers. Then I used the Free Transform tool to scale them. The image below shows where these copies were placed.

Step 15

Create a new layer. Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Grab the Brush Tool. Make sure it's set to Master Diameter of 50px with a Hardness of 0 percent. We make our line follow the edges of some of the elements in our design. Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the settings in the image below.

Step 16

Let's go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). Then fill our selection with a pink gradient.

Step 17

Set this layer to Vivid Light to achieve the effect below.

Step 18

Next we are going to make our text. Grab the Text Tool and write the word boombox in all lowercase. I used a font called Silom with -70 character tracking and 120pt type. I'll show the Layer Styles used to create the font effect in the screenshots following the image of the text effect below.

Step 19

Now we're just going to have some fun and copy some elements around the design until it looks cool. I copied the x and played with its Gradient Overlay colors. I placed a handful of them by the boombox and also up top. The gradients have different variations from pink to purple. I also used Free Transform to change the size and rotate the letters. I added a couple more speakers at the top left behind the large x. Then I copied the brush tool pattern we made a couple times and placed that over some elements top right and then top left. The final image is below.

Conclusion

Halftone patterns are a lot of fun, and like anything in Photoshop, they can be combined with layer styles to create some cool effects. Finding interesting areas of an image to copy and overlay your design. In this case we used a speaker. Try cutting out other parts of your next design to mix and match with various effects. Thanks.

Create a Cool Halftone Effect

Disclaimer:

None of the given Photoshop Tutorials are written by me. They are all taken from various sources on the Internet and I compiled some of them for you. Hope you understand. More are in the line.

In this tutorial, we're going to go a bit retro. You'll learn how to create halftone patterns and creatively cut up an image of a model holding a boombox. You'll then use those cut elements to make your design. We use some layer styles to get everything to come together cohesively. The effects are fun, and you can apply these methods to other designs as well.

Step 1

Start out by downloading/purchasing our image from iStockPhoto: Boombox Image. Alternatively, you could apply these techniques to an image of your choosing and still follow along (or as in the download PSD you could just use the 'comp' that iStock lets you download).

I downloaded the largest image available for this photo. There is some reason behind this madness: we'll be using cut images from the large photo to place into our design. Using the large image will allow us to have larger speaker elements.

Make a copy of this large photo. Open up the copy and resize it to 500px wide and make sure Constrain Proportions is checked so the height changes proportionally. Save this file as .psd and name it boombox_final. This will be our canvas for this tutorial. Also, open up our original large image we downloaded as we will be cutting some images from it starting in Step 3.

Step 2

Let's prepare our boombox_final.psd document. First cut out the boombox image. Also cut out the top half of our model. Below is an image of the top half of the model cut out. You can see the boombox cutout in the preview of the layers palette as well as the layer order. We need to cut out these pieces so that we can place elements behind them as we build our design.

Step 3

Let's jump over to our large image. Grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Draw a selection that covers the right speaker. Then Command/Ctrl-Click and select Refine Edge. Use the settings in the image below.

Step 4

Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the settings below.

Step 5

Let's go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). Copy this selection.

Step 6

Now paste this cut out image of the speaker into the boombox_final design. And move it to the bottom left corner.

Step 7

Now we are going to follow the same steps to place some texture over the speaker. First make a small selection in our large stock photo. Then type Cmd/Ctrl-Click and select Refine Edge. The only difference in this setting is that we set our Feather to 15px. The rest is the same. Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the same settings as we did before only this time change the Max Radius to 10 Pixels. Then go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). Copy the selection, then paste it into our design and move it to the bottom left corner over the speaker.

Step 8

We're going to jump over to our large stock image again. Grab the Brush Tool. Give it a Master Diameter of 900px and a Hardness of 0 percent. Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Click in the center of the image. Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the settings in the image below.

Step 9

Let's go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). It should look like the selection below. Invert the selection by going to Select > Inverse. Copy this selection.

Step 10

Paste the selection into our boombox_final document. Give it a layer style of Lighten. You can see the white dots emerge in the bottom of our document. Place it so that it matches the image below. Then copy the speaker we placed before and move it behind our model, but in front of the large dots.

Step 11

Create a new layer in our boombox_final.psd design document. Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Grab the Brush Tool. Make sure it's set to Master Diameter of 300px with a Hardness of 0 percent. Draw across the bottom of the image. Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the settings below.

Step 12

Let's go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). Create a pink gradient and draw it from the left and angle down to the right to get a result similar to the image below. Reposition this layer in the Layers Palette just above the speaker behind the boom box. Set the layer style to Screen.

Step 13

Copy the gradient. Use the Free Transform Tool to reduce the size and reposition in the bottom right-hand corner over the larger pink gradient. Keep the setting to Screen. Then make another copy of this and free transform it by reducing and rotating it to fit in the top left hand corner. Do that one more time for the top right-hand corner.

Step 14

Let's copy some elements. I copied the texture in the bottom left corner and placed it behind the bottom right of the boombox. I also placed a copy in the top right. I made multiple copies of the speakers. Then I used the Free Transform tool to scale them. The image below shows where these copies were placed.

Step 15

Create a new layer. Turn on Edit in Quick Mask Mode (Q). Grab the Brush Tool. Make sure it's set to Master Diameter of 50px with a Hardness of 0 percent. We make our line follow the edges of some of the elements in our design. Then go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone. Use the settings in the image below.

Step 16

Let's go back to Edit in Standard Mode (Q). Then fill our selection with a pink gradient.

Step 17

Set this layer to Vivid Light to achieve the effect below.

Step 18

Next we are going to make our text. Grab the Text Tool and write the word boombox in all lowercase. I used a font called Silom with -70 character tracking and 120pt type. I'll show the Layer Styles used to create the font effect in the screenshots following the image of the text effect below.

Step 19

Now we're just going to have some fun and copy some elements around the design until it looks cool. I copied the x and played with its Gradient Overlay colors. I placed a handful of them by the boombox and also up top. The gradients have different variations from pink to purple. I also used Free Transform to change the size and rotate the letters. I added a couple more speakers at the top left behind the large x. Then I copied the brush tool pattern we made a couple times and placed that over some elements top right and then top left. The final image is below.

Conclusion

Halftone patterns are a lot of fun, and like anything in Photoshop, they can be combined with layer styles to create some cool effects. Finding interesting areas of an image to copy and overlay your design. In this case we used a speaker. Try cutting out other parts of your next design to mix and match with various effects. Thanks.

Retouching skin

There's a facinating discussion about the right and wrong way to retouch skin going on over on the Tutorial Blog. If you've ever grappled with this in Photoshop you might pick up a tip or two from reading the tutorial and the comments.As ever, it enforces the fact that there are several ways to approach almost every photo restoration and retouching task in Photoshop. It's no wonder confusion develops!
"The broader questions are: when retouching skin, should you eliminate blemishes with the clone stamp tool, and should you blur out all detail in the pores. The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT on both counts. It’s bad advice; following it will limit your Photoshop proficiency rather than developing it.For skin and many other surfaces, the clone stamp tool has been almost completely superseded by the Patch tool and the Healing Brush tool. These tools are easier to use, faster, and give better results. Yes, you can simulate their effects with careful, laborious use fo the clone stamp, but you are better off just using the right tool.As others have noted, skin has pores. You can’t just turn them into mush and expect to get a believable image back. The target appearance is not a featureless, blurry surface but the appearance of fine, shallow, barely-noticeable pores. "

Is Photoshop PS3 worth the upgrade for photo restoration?

Photoshop CS3 is here at last and has some exciting new features, but is there enough to upgrade for if you use Photoshop for photo restoration?The workflow features have been improved through the streamlining of palettes and self-sdjusting docks, but the workflow and interface in CS2 wasn't exactly clunky or intrusive to begin with.Adobe Bridge has been improved too ... big deal. Most people I know don't use it anyway. I find it useful, but not essential. Adobe say it is now faster, and yeah, it was kind of sluggish, but the improvements don't sound exactly mind blowing!One new feature that is really worth a closer look, and should have made it into Photoshop a long time ago in my opinion, is non-destructive smart filters. Up until now you could only apply image adjustments (eg. levels, brightness/contrast, invert, etc.) non-destructively. With CS3 you can now apply filters, say a gaussian blur, to an image or a layer with the option of coming back later and adjusting the blur settings or removing it completely. Whether this feature will be limited to certain colour modes or a limited number of the available filters remains to be seem.I am delighted to see a feature I have desired for ages, and that is rotated/scaled cloning. I've lost track of the number of times I've cursed it's absence. Wait and see, give it a year and you won't be able to live without it!The Healing Brush tools have been improved too, which is more good news for photo restorers. Changes to the Channel Mixer and extended options for creating black & white images from colour will have obvious uses too.I reserve judgement on whether it's worth the upgrade.