Photoshop Tutorials: Create a Poster Inspired by the Movie “The Bourne Legacy” plus 1 more

Create a Poster Inspired by the Movie “The Bourne Legacy”

Posted: 18 Aug 2012 03:00 AM PDT

Preview of Final Results

The Bourne Legacy Movie Poster Photoshop Tutorial

Tutorial Resources

Professional killer on the street – Depositphotos.com

Step 1

Start by opening the photo into Photoshop. To open an image, go to File > Open. If you'll be using the same image we used, we recommend downloading the highest resolution image because we will be cropping it in the middle of the tutorial.

Step 2

Right-click on the layer then click Convert to Smart Object. This will convert the layer into a Smart Object which lets us manipulate the image non-destructively.

Step 3

Before we start, we're going to add a black layer below the photo layer. To do this, go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color. Select black as the color then click OK.

Step 4

In the Layers palette (Window > Layers), drag the Color Fill layer to the bottom. Rename the top layer to Photo and bottom layer to Background. To rename a layer, double-click on the text of the layer you want to rename.

Step 5

To begin, we'll add a gritty photo effect with adjustment layers and filters. Start by adding a Black & White adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White) then change the blending mode of this layer to Overlay. Feel free to play around with the settings in the Properties panel (Window > Properties). This is an easy way of adding a grungy lighting effect and you can try it with your other photos.

Step 6

Next, add a Vibrance adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Vibrance). Reduce vibrance setting until it just has a hint of color.

Here's what our image looks like after reducing the vibrance setting.

Step 7

The adjustment layers gave it a grungy lighting effect but it also hides the detail and makes the background even darker. We don't want to the photo to be too dark because it can blend in with the black background and make the stripes not very visible. To fix this, we're going to apply a Shadows/Highlights adjustment. In the Layers panel, select the Photo layer then go to Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights. Set the shadows to around 35% and highlights to around 15% then click OK.

If you look in the Layers palette, you can see that the adjustment was applied as a Smart Filter. This is because in Step 2, we changed the layer into a Smart Object. The benefit of using Smart Filters is that you can change the settings at any time without undoing a bunch of steps.

Step 8

Next, we're going to add some grain to the photo using the Add Noise filter – which will be applied as a Smart Filter just like the previous step. Make sure you have the Photo layer selected then go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Checkmark the Monochromatic option then adjust the settings so that you get an effect like shown in the image below. Click OK to add the noise.

Step 9

Next, we're going to crop and rotate the image. Select the Crop tool (C) then in the options bar, disable the "Delete Cropped Pixel" option. This will let us uncrop or make adjustments to the crop at any time.

Crop the image like shown in the image below. We also rotated the image so that the eyes are more horizontally aligned. This is important because when we add the stripes, we want to ensure that the eyes are visible and don't tilt off the top or bottom edge of the stripes.

Step 10

Now we're going to add some text to the image. We're doing this first so that we know where to place the stripes later. In the Layers palette, select the top layer so that when you add the text, they all appear above the top layer. Select the Text tool then add some text around the image with each line of text in their own layer. The font used below is Arial.

Step 11

Select all the text layers (hold CTRL to select multiple layers) then add them to a group (Layer > Group Layers or Ctrl+G). Rename the group to Text.

How to Create an Emotional Photo Manipulation of an Angel

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 11:42 PM PDT

Preview of Final Result

Emotional Photo Manipulation of an Angel Photoshop Tutorial

Tutorial Resources

· Model: Maria Amanda.deviantart.com
· Background: kuschelirmel-stock.deviantart.com
· Wings: jtotheotothee.deviantart.com
· Feathers: falln-stock.deviantart.com
· Crown: ybsilon-stock.deviantart.com

Step 1

Place a part of your background image as shown below.

Step 2

Go to Filter>Blur>gaussian blur and choose the desired value.

Step 3

Add the adjustment layers below:

Hue/Saturation 0 -38 0
Color balance 0 -20 0

Step 4

Now working with the model.

Place your model’s image where you want or as shown here.
Choose your pen tool and cut around the model’s body. You can use any other tool you’re familiar with, but make sure to always have a mask on the original image.
Sometimes, using my graphics tablet, I find it better to mask the model’s image and use the eraser to isolate her from the background.

Step 5

Add layer masks to the model’s layer as shown below.

Tip: You can add those masks by pressing Ctrl+Alt+G or simply press Alt between each 2 layers on the layers palette.

Make sure they are with the same order (Curves, Color balance, Hue/saturation).

Step 6

This will be the result.

Step 7

Select the model’s layer and go to layer>layer style>Inner shadow and apply the values shown below.

Step 8

This is how it should look like. You can also try inner glow. Those two ways will soften the hard edges of the model.

Step 9

Convert the model’s layer into a smart object by right clicking on the layer of the model and selecting convert to smart object.
Don’t panic, you can always go back to the original layer mask and layer style by double clicking on that layer.
Now select Filter>Blur>Surface blur with Radius: 10 and Threshold: 30
Select your smart filter mask (the white box) and fill it with black (9a).

Tip1: If white was your background color and black was your foreground color select Alt+backspace.
If it was the opposite, select Ctrl+backspace.
Tip2: To choose default colors (Black and white) press D.
To switch between foreground and background colors press Shift+X

Select the brush tool and paint with white the hands and parts of the face.
This will apply the effect of the surface blur therefore the skin will become softer. (9b)
Be careful not to blur the mouth, nose edges and eyes because this will make you lose details.

Step 10

This is how it should look like.

Step 11

Using a Graphics tablet I painted with white some edges on her arms and shoulder.
Also paint with light pink color on her cheeks and decrease the fill and/or opacity depending on your desire.

Step 12

Most artists use dodging and burning for the model’s face, body and clothes, but I use a normal brush to make shadows and highlights.
Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) and name it shadows/highlights.
Select your brush tool (or press B). Hardness should be 0% and sizes depend on the area you’re working on with opacity 30% and Flow 20%.

Tip: To be faster play with the brush size with “[" and "]” and the hardness with “shift+[" and "shift+]“

We will be using black to make the shadows and white for the highlights. Set the layer blending mode to soft light.
To make some areas pop-out more (like the cheeks, hair, etc…) make another blank layer, use a white brush and set the blending mode of the layer to overlay.
You can always play with opacity and fill to get your desired result.

Photoshop Tutorials: Create an Artistic Photo Manipulation of a Girl in a Red Field

Create an Artistic Photo Manipulation of a Girl in a Red Field

Posted: 13 Aug 2012 12:47 PM PDT

Preview of Final Results

Girl in the Field Photoshop Tutorial

Tutorial Resources

Step 1

Open file “Field” and using the Quick Selection Tool (W) make a selection of the ground. Press Ctrl + J to make a new layer from selection and add a Curves Adjustment layer to tone it down a little.

step-001

Step 2

Open file “Sky” and using the Quick Selection Tool (W) make a rough selection of the ski. Press Ctrl + C to copy then paste it with Ctrl + V in our scene. Move this layer below the “Ground” layer. Press Ctrl + T to free transform this clouds layer like shown in the image below and apply a Color Balance adjustment layer to lower the intensity of the blue color.

step-002

Step 3

Open file “Girl” and Ctrl + click on the “Layer 0″ to select the opaque pixels. Copy (Ctrl + C) then paste (Ctrl + V) into our scene. Use Free Transform (Ctrl + T) to size and position the girl like shown below. The girl will be our point of interest in this scene. Notice that I didn’t place her in the middle but to the left side of the image, at about one third from the left and two thirds from the right. Placing your key elements or points of interest like this makes your scene more dynamic and interesting. This is called “the rule of thirds” and if you are serious about composition you should search for thorough information about it.

step-003

Step 4

Our girl is a bit dark for the scene so let’s adjust this by adding a Curves Adjustment Layer and dragging the curve upwards. Alt + click in between the Curves layer and the “Girl” layer to clip the Curves layer to the “Girl” layer (by doing this we apply the Curves Adjustment Layer only to the “Girl” layer, without affecting other layers).

Because I am writing this tutorial after I finished my scene I know that a beam of light will hit the right side of the girl. A blue beam of light. So to make the scene look more convincing we should modify the colors and the right side of the girl’s body accordingly.

Make a new layer (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + N) and clip it to the girl layer (or in this case to the Curves Adjustment Layer, which is already clipping the girl layer) and using a light blue color (#aeccff) paint with a round soft brush at 10% opacity the right side of the girl. Change the layer’s blend mode to Color Dodge and lower the opacity to 80%. Select a light red color (#df1314) and repeat the procedure above, but this time on the left side.

Notice that I group my layers to keep them nice and tidy. I will not tell you at every step to group the layers but it is a good practice and can make future modification much easier.

step-004

Step 5

Adding direction lights it’s easy. First select the Pen tool and make a polygon like below. Press Ctrl + Enter to transform the path into selection and fill this selection with white (Shift + F5 and choose white from the drop-down menu). Press Ctrl + D to deselect and apply a 50-60px Gaussian Blur. Lower the opacity to 50%. Now to give our light a blue color make a new layer (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + N) and select the same color as in the step 4 (remember the color we applied to the right side of the girl? -#aeccff). Now with a round soft brush at 10-20% opacity brush once or twice over the beam of light. Alt + click in between the color layer and the light layer to limit the blue color only to the beam of light. Make yet another new layer and using a soft round white brush at 10-20% opacity dab once or twice where the source of the light should be. All you have to do now is to group these light related layers and free transform the group as a whole to arrange the lights. For our scene I added a second beam of light.

If the after repeated Free Transforms you get hard edges of light, simply paint them away in the layer mask using a round, black soft brush.

Clipping layers is a very important concept to know if you want to do anything decent in Photoshop so go ahead and study the help file or search for addition information on the Web because I will not be covering this in the present tutorial.

step-005

Step 6

In this step we will make the red fire at the bottom of our scene.

Import the “Fire” brushes with the Preset Manager and make a new layer (Ctrl + Shift + Alt + N).Place this layer on top of all other layers and select a light red color (#fc1221) as a foreground color and black as background color. I will be naming this layers from 1 to 9 to make it easier for you to follow. Your results will probably be different than mine and it is perfectly normal. Don’t forget to vary the size of the brush at each layer and to select from different brushes to avoid uniform results. If the brushes in the resources are not enough than you can search for addition fire brushes on deviant art or in other places on the web.

Paint with red an black on layer 1. Paint with red and black on layer 2 and change the blend mode to Multiply. Paint with red on layer 3 and change the blend mode to Overlay. Paint with red on layer 4 and change the blend mode to Color Dodge. Paint with black on layer 5. Paint with more black on layer 6. Paint with black on layer 7 and change the blend mode to Vivid Light. Add a layer mask and using a black fire brush mask away the region below our girl.

To make the flames even more interesting let’s add some texture to it. Open file “Texture” and press Ctrl + A to select all and Ctrl + C to copy. Paste it into our document (Ctrl + V) and change the blend mode to Vivid Light. Lower the Opacity to 61% and the Fill to 28% and add a layer mask. Mask away all but the fire area.

step-006

Sunday, August 19, 2012