In this photo manipulation tutorial we are going to create a paranormal scene where a girl awakes from her bed with a candle in her hand and finds to her surprise a ghost in front of her. In the course of creating this scene we will be covering topics like:

• Creating a night scene
• Creating candle light effect in the room
• and much more interesting stuff related to photo manipulation

Final Result Preview:

Credit to these people for resources:

• Girl Pieceofmestock
• Room: sxc.hu
• Table: quiet-stock
• Ghost: Mizzd-stock
• Photo-Frame: Ro-stock
• Photo: Mizzd-stock
• Curtains: linzee777
• Creepy Font: urbanfonts.com
• Smoke Brushes: falln-stock

Let’s Get the Tutorial Started

Step1: Create a new canvas in Photoshop with the dimensions Width=2098px and Height=2264px.

Step2: 1) Now select a mask around the woman with candle, and make a rough mask around the hair part.

2) Now using the Lasso Tool (L) create a rough mask around the inner part of the hair as shown. Then go to Select>Refine Edge and grace the complex edges of the hair using the Refine Radius Tool. Once you are done with it press OK to get the detailed cut of the complex hair edges.

Step3: Now import the image of the haunted room onto the canvas and place it behind the woman to illustrate that the woman is in the haunted room.

Step4: As we know a room cannot be completed without the properties like table a flask or cup on it etc. Hence we are going to add a table with a cup and a tea pot on it.

- Cut the image of the table and the groceries on it using the Pen Tool (P) and separate it into a new layer and import it on to the working canvas and place it as shown in the scene.

Step5: Since we are creating a night scene, we need the room to be dark. Hence we are going to create some dark shadows in the corners of the room.

- Using the Soft Round Brush Paint black shadows in the room as shown.

Step6: In this step we are going to color correct the woman to blend her with the environment of the scene we are creating.

1) With the woman layer selected go to Image>Adjustments>Exposure and set the Exposure= -0.46, Offset=0.0102 and Gamma Correction=0.72.

2) Then by using the Curves set the RGB curves as shown to get the following effect.

Step7: In this step we are going to darken the table as it is very bright for our scene.

1) With the Table layer selected go to Image >Adjustments>Exposure and set the Exposure=-1.28, Offset=+0.0061 and Gamma Correction=0.68.

2) Now by using the Brightness/Contrast reduce the Brightness=-28 and set the contrast=77.

3) Now create dark shadows covering the table as shown using the Soft Round Brush.

Step8: In this step we are going to create the candle glow using the Blending Options. We can observe that the glow of the candle starts from white and slowly diminishes with orange color.

1) Using the Brush Tool paint the diminishing orange color around the candle flame as shown. Then set the Blending Mode of the layer to Multiply and lower the Opacity of the layer to 85%.

2) Now paint a brighter glow around the flame as shown.

Step9: In this step we are going to create a blue shade on the woman to illustrate the moonlight from behind window, which is not shown in the scene.

1) Using the Brush Tool paint the blue color as shown on the woman and on the table.

2) Then set the Blending Mode of the layer to Multiply to get the following effect.

3) Then similarly create the blue shade on the window in the scene as shown.

Step10: In this step we are going to color correct the whole scene evenly using the Adjustments layer.

- Create a Curves Adjustments layer and set the curves as shown to darken the shadows and to increase the contrast of the colors in the scene.

Step11: Since candle is the only source of light in the scene it’s light shade will be casted on the teapot. Hence we are going to create the candle light shade on the teapot in this step.

- Using the Brush Tool (B) paint the orange color on the edges of the teapot as shown.

Step12: In this step we are going to paint shadow under the sleeves of the arm holding the candle.

-Create a new layer above the woman layer and paint the shadow under the right hand sleeve as shown.

Step13: In this step we are going to reduce the brightness from the window. Using the Brush Tool paint the windows with the color #384653 then set the Blending Mode of the layer to Multiply to get the following effect.

Step14: In this step we are going to create the ghost in the scene.

1) Import the image of the pirate woman onto the working canvas and place it in front of the woman with candle as shown.

2) Usually ghosts look pale in color, as they don’t have blood in them. Well that is how ghosts were portrayed in movies since our childhood. Hence with the pirate woman layer selected go to Image>Hue/Saturation and reduce the Saturation to -49.

3) Now using the curves set the curves as shown to make the pirate woman look pale in color.

Step15: Ghosts don’t have a physical body and they don’t have a fine skin texture, they seem to look smooth and glowing with the aura power. Hence we are going to create the same effect here.

1) With the pirate woman layer selected go to Filter>Distort>Diffuse Glow and add a Glow Amount=8 and Clear Amount=15.

2) Then by using the Eraser Tool (E) erase some part of the pirate woman as shown and lower the Opacity of the layer to 78%.

Step16: Ghosts haunt only in those places that belong to them. Hence we are going to create a photo frame of the pirate woman on the wall to show that the room once belonged to her. In this step we are going to create a frame on the wall.

1) Cut the image of the frame using the Magic Wand Tool (W) and import it onto the working canvas and transform it to fit the prospective using the Move Tool (V).

2) Now color correct the frame using the Curves and Hue/Saturation to blend with the lighting of the scene.

Step17: Now import another image of the pirate woman into Photoshop. Then import it onto the working canvas and place it in the frame as shown and erase the excess part of the image coming out of the frame.

Step18: Using the grunge brushes paint some grunge on the photo frame to make the frame look worn out.

Step19: Since the old images are shot in black and white we need to convert the photo in the frame to gray scale. With the photo layer selected go to Hue/Saturation and reduce the Saturation=-100 and Lightness=-10.

Step20: In this step we are going to create a shadow to the frame to create a natural depth.

1) Duplicate the frame layer and convert it into silhouette using the Levels.

2) Then place it behind the main frame and add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 2.5px.

Step21: In this step we will be creating curtains in the scene.

1) Import the image of the curtains on to the working canvas and place them on the top as shown.

2) To create the moon light on the curtains paint the blue color on them and set the Blending Mode to Multiply and reduce the Opacity to 13%.

3) To create a spooky effect cut the edges of the curtain as shown using the Lasso Tool (L) to create a torn effect to the curtains.

Step22: In this step we are going to create a ghostly title to match the theme of the scene.

1) Using the spooky font type in the title ‘GHOST’. Then by using smoke brush paint the smoke along the shape of the font.

Below image shows the procedural approach to create the title.

Final Image of Paranormal Photo Manipulation Tutorial:

Intro: Photo manipulation is always a fun to work on and also has the scope to explore more interesting techniques to get and interesting and unique output. In this tutorial we are going to cover important topics like:

• Creating advanced and realistic shadow effect.
• Digital painting.
• Discussing Depth of Field (DOF), how to add and create objects in the scene matching the DOF of the original image.

And many more interesting techniques of photo manipulation.

Preview of Final Result:

Resources:

• Widow – xn3ctz
• Red Rose – sxc.hu
• Planets - kuschelirmel-stock
• Dead Tree – Wicasa Stock
• Apple – sxc.hu
• Black Bird – Fairiegoodmother
• Canvas Texture – powerpuffjazz
• Wall Texture – Texturepack
• Frame – chop-stock
• Cracks Brush – Funeralsong
• Grunge Brush – KeReN-R
• Metal Texture – Tigg-Stock
• Water Brushes – redhead stock

Step 1: Import Image of the Widow into Photoshop

Let the dimensions of the canvas remain same as the dimensions of the image.

Step 2: Create Objects Behind Woman

In this image we will be creating few objects behind the woman, hence we need to separate the widow into a new layer.

- Now select a mask around the woman as shown and separate the selection into a new layer.

Step 3: Add Magic Ball to Scene

It is said that our surroundings also play a major role in shaping our character. So we are going to create a magic ball closer to the scene that constantly oozes out black venom onto a red rose to depict this saying.

1)   Create a black spherical sphere as shown.

2)   Now to match the lighting of the scene, create a white shade on the black ball on the left side as shown.

3)   Import the image of the Red Rose onto the canvas and place it in the bottom left corner as shown under the magic sphere.

4)   Now by using the Brush Tool (B) paint some venom falling from the magic sphere onto the rose.

5)   Select the water splash brush and paint the splash using black color on the rose to show the intensity of the venom falling on the rose.

Step 4: Maintain Image Depth of Field

We can observe that the focus in that main image is completely focused on the woman, so in order to maintain Depth Of Field we need to add a Gaussian Blur to the Magic sphere and the rose.

- Merge all the layers of Magic sphere, Dripping Venom and the Red Rose and name the layer as ‘poisoned rose’. Then with the ‘poisoned rose’ layer selected go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 22.3px.

Step 5: Make Magic Sphere Look Solid

In this step we are going to add a planet texture to the magic sphere to make it look solid.

1)   Import the image of the blue planet onto the working canvas and re-size it to the exact size of the black magic sphere.

2)   Now in-order to maintain the depth of field in the scene add a Gaussian blur of radius 22.3px.

Step 6: Two More Balls with Gaussian Blur

Now similarly create two more magic spheres around the woman. Place the second magic sphere behind the woman layer that we separated in the step 2. Since the focus is on the woman and the magic spheres are flying around her by some distance, we need to add a Gaussian Blur to both magic spheres assuming the distance of the spheres from the woman.

Step 7: Texture of Magic Spheres

Similar to the step 5 add the planet texture to the two magic spheres we created in the previous step. Then to match the planet texture to brightness of the scene go to Image>Adjustments> Brightness/Contrast and increase the Brightness=103 and set the Contrast level to 25.

Step 8: Add Spooky Dry Tree into the Scene

In this step we are going to create a dry spooky tree in the scene. To create the tree we are going to cut different branches from a dry tree image and join them together to form the shape we require.

1)   Import the image of the dead tree into Photoshop and cut the branches we require into different layers.

2)   Now import a branch layer onto the working canvas and place it on the right side as shown.

3)   Then arrange the different branch layers as shown to form a complete tree.

Step 9: Apple Hanging from the Tree

In this step we are going to create an apple hanging from the dead tree. This concept is inspired from the Adam and Eve story.

1)   Import the image of the apple on to the working canvas and place it as shown above the head of the woman.

2)   Since the light source is from the left side we need to create a shadow on the right side of the apple.

3)   Then similarly create another apple on the right side just beside the woman.

Step 10: Evil Black Bird on Her Shoulder

In this step we are going to create a black bird representing the evil resting on the shoulder of the woman.

1)   Import the image of the bird onto the working canvas and place it on the shoulder of the woman as shown.

2)   Now create a shadow of the bird on the shoulder of the woman using the soft round brush.

3)   Using the soft round brush paint the shadows in the highlighted areas on the bird.

Step 11: Create Title Text ‘VENOM’ to Background

Here we are going to create the title ‘VENOM’ in the background.

1)   Type the title VENOM using the default Times New Roman font and place the layer behind the beneath the tree and woman layer.

2)   Then add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 28px to match with the depth of field of the scene.

3)   Then reduce the opacity of the title layer to 68% because we don’t require the title to be very dark.

Step 12: Make it Look Like Canvas Painting

In this step we are going to add a canvas texture on the image to make it look as if it was printed on a canvas.

Before we can proceed with this step we need to merge all the layers that we created till now. Then name the layer as venom.

-       Import the image of the canvas onto the working area and reduce it’s opacity to 69%, then set the Blending mode of the layer to Overlay.

Step 13:

1) With the venom layer selected go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and set the Saturation level to -43.

2) Now create a Curves Adjustments layer above all the layers and set the curves as shown to get the following output.

Step 14: Frame Around the Image

In this step we are going to create a frame around the image we created. Before proceeding to the step we need to resize the canvas to Width=3234px and Height=4701px.

2) Cut one corner of the frame and place it as shown on the image.

3)  Then duplicate the frame multiple times to complete the whole frame.

Step 15: Desaturate Frame Colors

Since we are creating a moody scene we don’t want the frame to be bright in color.

1) Desaturate the colors of the frame using the Curves.

2) Then by using the Exposure set the Offset value to -0.0551 and Gamma Correction to 0.82.

Step 16: Frame Shadows

In this step we will be creating the shadow to the frame.

1) Duplicate the image of the frame and turn the frame image into sehlloete using the Levels.

2) Now place the shadow layer under the main frame layer and move it slightly towards the bottom right corner as shown.

3)  As we know that the shadows don’t have sharp edges, we need to add a Gaussian Bur of Radius 25.1px.

4) Then similarly create a shadow in the inner frame to create a natural depth comparing to the lighting of the scene.

Step 17: Make it Look Old with Torn Canvas Effect

In this step we are going to create the canvas torn effect to make it look old and worn out.

1)   With the Eraser Tool(E) selected go to the brushes pallet and select the cracks brush and erase the venom layer as shown.

2)   Follow step 16 to create the shadow under the torn edges of the canvas.

3)   Now by using the grunge brushes paint the grunge around the torn edges as shown with the black color.

Step 18: Dark Wall Behind Portrait

The wall area behind the portrait has to be dark since it receives less light.

1) With the wall layer selected created a mask in the size of the frame using the Mask Tool (M).

2) Then by using the Brightness/Contrast reduce the Brightness to -106 and increase the Brightness to 31.

Step 19: Nameplate Under Frame

In this step we will be creating a nameplate under the portrait frame.

1)   Import the image of the antique metal and mask out a portion of the metal required for the nameplate.

2)   Then by using the Times New Roman font type in Mrs.VENOM on the nameplate and then with the nameplate layer selected, select the mask in shape of the font and separate the selection into new layer and the using the same mask erase the selection on the nameplate.

3)    To show the depth of the name impression on the plate we need to darken the separated metal layer.

-       Now by using the Brightness/Contrast reduce the brightness of the separated metal layer to -79 and set the contrast to 20.

-       The by using the Exposure set the Exposure level to -0.57 and Gamma Correction to 0.94.

Step 20: Shadow Inside Edges

Follow the step 16 to create the shadow to the inside edges of the name impression we are creating.

Step 21: Water Flowing from Frame

In this step we are going to create water flowing from the frame.

1)   Select the water fall brush and paint as shown using the black color.

2)   Then by using the same brush paint with white color exactly on the black color we painted previously.

Step 22: Bird Flying from Frame

In this step we will be creating bird flying away from the frame.

1)   Import the image of the bird onto the working canvas and place it as shown.

2)   The by using Exposure set the Offset to -0.0061 and Gamma Correction to 0.82.

3)   Since the bird is in motion we need to add Motion Blur to the edges of the wings and tail to create a natural depth. With the bird layer selected mask the edges of the wings and tail as shown using the Lasso Tool (L).

4)   Then go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur and change the Angle to 10 and set the Distance to 44px.

5)   Then with the bird layer selected add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 1.0px.

Final Result of Surreal Fantasy Photomanipulation:

Description: Creating a fantasy photo-manipulation is always a fun to work on. We put all our crazy and inventory thoughts in it. In this tutorial we are going to create a fantasy scene where a Priestess will be standing on a rock during the night holding a lantern in one hand and a golden lotus in other hand which creates a smoke ball, and there will be bunch of small rocks flying around the Priestess. The scene will be covered slightly with with fog, and few temple shrines  stand tall above the fog in the background among the small hills.

With this fantasy photomanipulation tutorial we will be covering few important techniques of matte painting, using Adjustment Layers and Understanding the nature of elements in the scene to apply appropriate element effects to make the scene more natural.

Preview of Final Result:

Details of this Fantasy Photomanipulation Tutorial

Program: Adobe Photoshop CS5

Difficulty: Beginners, Intermediate.

Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour

Resources:

• Priestess
• Rock
• Night Sky
• Temple
• Distant Landscape
• Bell
• Ribbon
• Asteroid field
• Smoke Brush
• Fog Brush
• Hair Brush
• Snow Texture
• Lantern
• Rusty Chain

Step 1 – Mask-out the Model

Open the image of the Model in Photoshop and separate then mask-out the model from its background into a new layer using the Magic Wand Tool(W).

Step 2 – Create a Gradient

Now create a Gradient with Black and Grey combination which serves as primary reference in further step for color correction purpose.

Step 3 – Create a Rock Base for Priestess

In this step we will be creating a Rock base to illustrate that the Priestess is standing on it.

3.1) Import the image of the rock into Photoshop and create a mask around the rock using the Pen Tool (P) and separate it into a new layer.

3.2) Now import the rock on to the working canvas and place it under the priestess as shown. Since we are creating a night scene, we need to color correct the rock in-order to blend with the scene.

-With the rock layer selected go to Image>Adjustments>Curves and set the curves as shown.

3.3) Now De-saturate the rock using Hue/Saturation, Set the Saturation=-22 and Lightness=-40.

3.4) Darken the rock using the Exposure (Image>Adjustments>Exposure). Set Exposure=-0.57 and Gamma Correction=0.66.

Step 4 – Paint Shadows at Her Feet

Using the Soft Brush (B) paint a shadow at the feet of the priestess as shown.

Step 5 – Color Correct the Priestess

Now color correct the priestess as shown using the Curves and Hue/Saturation.

Step 6 – Dark Clouds to Background

Now create dark clouds behind the priestess as shown using the clouds stock provided.

Step 7 – Color Correct Her Skin Tone

In this step we will be color correcting the skin tone using Adjustment Layers.

7.1) Mask the part of the skin as shown using the Pen Tool(P) and select the Brightness/Contrast Adjustment layer from the bottom of the layers pallet. Then set the Brightness=-35 and Contrast=21.

7.2) Similarly repeat the previous step in color correcting the skin tone of hands.

Step 8 – Temple into the Background

In this step we are going to create a temple in the background.

8.1) Mask-out the temple from the original image and place it as shown.

8.2) Put your creative skill to test in color correcting the temple to match the environment.

8.3) Now select the mask in shape of the temple and fill in the selection with the color #363b48. Then change the Blending Mode of the layer to ‘Overlay’ and reduce the Opacity=64%.

8.4) Merge all the layers related to temple into a single layer and reduce the Saturation=-51 and Lightness=-11 using Hue/Saturation (Mac=Command+U , Windows=Ctrl+U).

Step 9 – Adding Background Landscape

In this step we will be creating the background landscape in the scene.

9.1) Separate the landscape from its original image and import it onto the working canvas and place it as shown.

9.2) Now color correct the landscape to blend with the scene perfectly.

Step 10 – Distant Temples to Background

In this step we will create some distantly located temples.

10.1) Follow the step 8 in creating a new temple. Then by using the Move Tool(V) re-size the temple as shown to make it look far.

10.2) Again we will be following the step8 here in coloring the temple. Fill the color #363b48 in a new layer with the mask selected in the shape of the second temple. But since this temple is located at a distance we want it to look dull hence we wont be using Layer Blending Mode. With the temple color layer selected reduce the Opacity=70%.

10.3) Similarly create another temple located in-between the first temple and the second temple as shown.

Step 11 – Create the Smoke Ball

In this step we will be creating the smoke ball formed from the smoke coming out of the golden lotus in the right hand of the priestess.

11.1) Create a round mask as shown using the Mask Tool(M) and set its edge Feather Radius=25px and then paint the inner diameter of the mask with smoke using the Smoke Brush with white color.

11.2) Again by using the smoke brush paint some smoke as shown to illustrate that the smoke is releasing from the Golden lotus.

11.3) As we know that the smoke travels in a random directions, paint some smoke around the smoke ball we previously created to get the following effect.

Step 12 – Makeup Treatment

In this step we will be giving some makeup retouches to the priestess.

12.1) Using the hair brush paint some hair near the left cheek of the priestess as shown using the black color.

12.2) Now by using the soft brush paint the eye lashes and darken the mole on the upper lip as shown using the black color.

Step 13 – Make it Foggy

Now paint some fog as shown using the fog brushes with the white color selected.

Step 14 – Maintain Depth of Field by Blurring

As we know the objects far from the focused area appears blurred with the increase in the distance. Since the second and third temples are located by some distance they must blurred to maintain the Depth Of Field (DOF).

14.1) With the second temple layer selected go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and add a Gaussian Blur of Radius=0.8px.

14.2) Similarly add a Gaussian Blur of Radius=0.5px to the third temple.

Step 15 – Snow is Flying

In this step we will be creating snow flying around in the scene.

15.1) Import the snow texture onto the working canvas and place it on the right side bottom corner of the scene as shown.

15.2) Now change the Blending mode of the Snow Texture to Lighten.

15.3) Now by using the Hue/Saturation change the color of the texture to blend with the environment we are creating. Set the Hue=210 and Saturation-10 to get the desired output.

15.4) To illustrate that the light particles are moving by some speed we need to add Motion Blur to them. With the texture layer selected go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur and set the Angle=-28 and Distance=29px.

Step 16 – Dazzling Light Particles

Similarly add few more magical light particles in the scene.

Step 17 – She Will Carry a Lantern

From this step we will be creating a lantern hanging from the left hand of the priestess.

17.1) Import the image of the lantern onto the working canvas and place it as shown.

17.2) Using the Soft Brush paint shadow on the lantern as shown with black color.

Step 18 – Light Up the Lantern

In this step we will be creating the light illuminating from inside the lantern.

18.1) Select the mask of the lantern by holding “Command and clicking on Lantern Layer Thumbnail” (Mac), Hold “Ctrl and click on Layer Thumbnail” (Windows). With the mask selected create a new layer under the lantern layer and paint the color #fca000 as shown.

18.2) Now reduce the size of the brush and paint white color at the center.

18.3) Create a glow effect to the edges of the lantern’s designer frame as shown to represent the intensity of light illuminating from the lantern.

18.4) Since the main light source is at the middle of the lantern the upper end and the lower end of the lantern receives only partial light. Hence paint some partial light in the top and bottom ends as shown using the previous technique.

Step 19 – Lantern is Glowing

In-order to create the glow effect around the lantern, paint #fca000 color around the lantern as shown and reduce its Opacity to 15%.

Step 20 – Chains for Lantern

Now we are going to create the chains by which the lantern is hanging from.

20.1) Import the image of the chain onto the canvas and place it in all three corners as shown.

20.2) Duplicate the chain and then warp it using the Move Tool(V) in such a way that it is in the grip of the hands.

Step 21 – Shadows for Chain

Since the hand is covering some part of the chain we need to create a shadow to the chain as shown near the hand.

21.1) Create a black shadow on the chains as shown.

21.2) Using the previous steps create the fourth chain for the fourth corner of the lantern.

Step 22

Now by using the Gradient Tool(G) paint the gradient in a new layer with a combination of Black and #8492a7 colors. Then change the Blending Mode of the Gradient layer to Multiply and reduce its Opacity to 43%.

Step 23 – Add a Bell

In this step we will be creating a Bell close to the scene flying with the wind.

23.1) Mask-out the image of the bell from its original image using the Magic Wand Tool(W).

23.2) Import the image of the bell onto the working canvas and place it as shown. Then by using the Curves [Ctrl+M (Windows), Command+M (Mac)] color correct the bell to blend with the environment.

23.3) Since during the night the colors appear desaturated, we need to create the same effect to the bell. With the bell layer selected go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and set the Saturation=-75.

23.4) As we already said that the bell is closer to the scene, it must appear blurred since it is out of focus as the main focus is on the priestess. Hence add a Gaussian Blur of Radius=6.6px to the bell.

23.5) Now create the light shade on the bell caused by the light from the lantern. Set the Opacity of the layer to 20% after painting the light shade.

23.6) Paint a black shade on the left side of the bell as shown, since the light is focused from the right side.

Step 24 – Red Ribbon to Bell

In this step we will create a red ribbon to the bell. To achieve a quality cut of the ribbon from its background we are going to use an advanced cutting technique.

24.1) Import the image of the ribbon into Photoshop and select the Blue layer from the Channels Pallet.

24.2) Then go to Image>Calculations and select Blue from the Channels drop-down list.

24.3) With the Alpha 1 layer selected make sure that the ribbon is made completely black and the background into white.

Note: If the black and white contrast is not achieved by Levels, then use the Brush Tool to achieve the prefect silhouette.

24.4) Now go to Select>Load Selection and select Alpha 1 from the Channel drop down list to generate the mask around the ribbon. Then separate the selection into a new layer.

24.5) Import the ribbon onto the working canvas and place it as shown near the bell. Then De-saturate the ribbon to -61 using Hue/Saturation.

24.6) Since the ribbon is placed out of focus and moving with the wind we need to add some blur to it. Hence select the ribbon and add a Gaussian Blur of Radius=7.4px.

Step 25 – Light Shades on Her Dress

Since the lantern is very close to the priestess we need to create the light shade on the dress of the priestess.

Using the Brush Tool paint the light shade on the dress of the priestess as shown with the color #fca000.

Step 26 – Rocks Flying Around

In this step we will be creating rocks flying around in the scene.

26.1) Import the image of the rocks onto the working canvas and place it as shown using the Move Tool(V).

26.2) Now duplicate the rocks layer multiple times and place them as shown in such a way as if they are flying due some kind of cosmic power from the priestess.

26.3) Since the rocks are moving by some speed we need to add some Motion Blur to create a natural depth. But before adding the Motion Blur we must also consider DOF, since we already said that we are focusing the scene on the priestess, the rocks in focus near the priestess will appear clear and get blurred as they move away from the focus.

Merge all the rock layers and create a mask as shown and add a Feather of Radius 35px, then add a Motion Blur of Distance 27px with the Angle set to 10.

Step 27 – Light Shade on Rocks

As we previously said that the rocks are flying near the priestess we need to create the light shade on the rocks flying near the lantern.
Using the color #fca000 paint the light shade on the rocks as shown to create a natural depth.

Final Result of the Fantasy Photo Manipulation

Intro

In this Photoshop tutorial I am going to show you how to combine different photos to create an Urban Wasteland composition. We will do some background removal by masking images and then composite them together into our scene. We will use adjustment layers to manipulate the colors and hues of our image to achieve the dark and grungy final result. These techniques are essential for photo effects and photo manipulation when using Adobe Photoshop.

Final Result

Tutorial Details

Program: Adobe Photoshop CS5

Difficulty: Beginners, Intermediate.

Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour

Resources

• Apocalyptic Sky by MattTheSamurai
• Coquina Fort, 16th Century by PaintressEye
• Autumn Road 6 by F3rd4
• Cityscape Stock by VampyricCadenceStock
• Marysville Ghost Town 2 by Falln-Stock

Download the PSD

Step 1

Create a new document. I chose 1000 x 707 px for this design. First download Autumn Road 6 and bring it into your newly created document. Re-size and position it.

Step 2

On this photo, the sky is ok, however I prefer Apocalyptic Sky. So let’s change it. First we want to mask out the sky. Choose the Autumn Road layer, click layer mask and start painting out the unwanted parts with black. The key to successful masking is to first use a large brush with 100% hardness to erase large areas, then use a smaller brush with zero hardness to erase the detailed parts. Here is the final result after masking.

Step 3

We are ready to add our new sky. Download Apocalyptic Sky, bring it out to Photoshop in a new layer placed under our road photo layer. Re-size and position our new sky.

Step 4

I prefer to adjust the colors and lighting after laying out the composition. Download Cityscape Stock, bring it to our composition and place it between the road layer and sky layer. As usual re-size and position it. Finally mask out the unwanted parts using a layer mask.

Step 5

Next we have our wrecked car. Download Marysville Ghost Town 2, and bring it into our Photoshop file. Place it on top of the layer stack, position and re-size it as usual. Finally, mask out unwanted parts.

Step 6

Now we are going to bring in the bunker. Download Coquina Fort and import it into our Photoshop composition on top of the layer stack. Re-size and position the bunker, then mask out the unwanted parts.

Our composition elements are now in place, and your image should look like this:

Step 7

First of all congratulations! There will be no masking (I know sometimes it gets really boring) after step 6. We will start adjusting the colors, lighting, shadows etc. to give our image a dark and grungy look. First add a levels adjustment layer to road layer with the following settings, making sure to clip it to the road layer):

Step 8

Now let’s add a curves adjustment layer to our road, and again clip it to the road layer. Here are the settings:

Step 9

Now it’s time to play with the sky. First let’s change the color balance. Add a color balance adjustment layer to sky and apply these settings.

And here is the final result after adjustment:

Step 10

Next let’s differentiate the color balance. Select the layer mask of the Color Balance adjustment layer. Choose Filter –> Render –> Difference Clouds. This will ease the effect of color balance adjustment layer. Here is what I get after applying filter:

Step 11

Our last step for the sky is to apply a curves adjustment layer and clip it to the sky layer. Here are the settings:

Step 12

Now it’s time to make adjustments to the Cityscape layer. First of all it’s too bright. To change it, apply levels adjustment layer to this layer with the following settings (clip this to the Cityscape layer):

Step 13

Now apply a curves adjustment layer to the Cityscape with the following settings (clip this to the Cityscape layer):

Step 14

Now we will make some adjustments to the bunker. Start with adding a curves adjustment layer (clip to bunker layer). Here are the settings:

Step 15

Now apply a levels adjustment layer (clip to bunker layer) with the following settings:

Step 16

Now it’s time to play with our rusty car. It’s way too bright for our composition. Therefore we will start by adding a brightness/contrast adjustment layer to it (clip this to the car layer). Here are the settings:

Step 17

Next apply a levels adjustment layer and clip it to our beloved car layer:

Step 18

Lastly add a curves adjustment layer and clip it to our car layer, here are the settings;

Conclusion

And we are done. I generally add a gradient map or a warming filters to my manipulations, however for this one i like it better as-is. You can try and achieve different results by experimenting with the adjustment layer settings.

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and would love to hear your feedback on the techniques and outcome. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.

Preview:

Tutorial Details:

Program: Adobe Photoshop CS5

Difficulty: Beginners, Intermediate.

Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour

Resources:

• City: City
• Model: Spy
• Texture: Texture 1 , Texture 2 , Wooden Wall , Old Paper
• Brushes: Rough Edges , plaster , grunge brush

Step 1:

Create a new canvas in Photoshop with resolution of Width=3840, Height=2160px.

Step 2:

1) Now import the image of the city which we will be working on.

2) For this image we need to draw a two point prospective to match the prospective of the ‘city                                           image’

-First take a building as reference on both sides and locate the vanishing points. Then complete the drawing of the prospective frame as shown using the Line Tool(U).

Step 3:

To create the flying effect for buildings, cut the buildings in the center as shown using the prospective lines as reference to get the perfect cut.

Step 4:

To create the base to the building select mask following the prospective and fill the selection with the colour #434142.

Step 5:

1)Now by using the Clone Stamp Tool(S) clone the sky to represent the sky behind the building which is being visible through the gap created in the building.

2) Similarly follow the steps 3,4,5 for the other buildings in the image as shown.

Step 6:

Now by using the prospective lines outline the boxes as shown to represent the flying geometrical blocks.

Step 7:

In this step we will be coloring the boxes matching the lighting in the image.

1)To make the job easy use the Eyedropper Tool(I) and select the colours on three sides of the first flying building to paint three sides of the box. i.e Paint the light source side with the colour #dbd4cc , side with #60686b and the bottom with colour #434142.

2)Similarly follow the above step to complete the coloring of the other blocks.

Step 8:

In this step we will create the shadow casting by the blocks on the buildings.

1)Naturally the shadow get smaller as the opaque surface move away from the casting surface, hence we need to draw two lines from the block as shown following the prospective to determine the height of the shadow ,then complete the mask for the shadow using the prospective lines and fill the selection with black colour.

2)Shadows have low opacity and blurred edges due to slight interference of light into the shadow.

-With the shadow layer selected reduce its Opacity  to 56%. Then add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 6.3px from Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

3)Similarly create shadows for other blocks as shown.

Step 9:

In this step we will create the depth of field.

1)Usually the objects that are far from the focus from the lens appear blurred. Since the flying triangular pyramid is assumed to be far from the current scene hence we need to add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 2.2px to maintain the depth of field in the image.

2)Similarly add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 0.9 to the flying block 2.

Step 10:

Using the previous steps create a block very close to the scene as shown.

Step 11:

Now since the city layout is completed ,we now proceed to complete the poster.

-Open a new canvas with Width=2169 and Height=2412px. And import the image we previously created onto the canvas and place it as shown.

Step 12:

Now create a Black and white Adjustment layer on top of all the layers to turn the image into black and white.

Step 13:

In this step we will be adding the character to the poster.

1)Cut the image of the spy from it’s background and place it on the poster as shown.

2)Now hide all the layers and save only the spy in .PNG format.

Step 14:

During the late 70’s and 80’s the movie poster used to be designed in vector format. Hence in this step we will be using Adobe Illustrator for turning the spy into vector.

1)Import the image spy.PNG into Illustrator and select ‘Detailed Illustration’ from ‘Live Trace’ drop down list.

2)After selecting the Detailed Illustration option set its Threshold=74 and Min Area=4px to get the following effect.

3)Then save the spy vector in .EPS format.

Step 15:

1)Now import the spy.EPS into photoshop and place it exactly on the spy image as shown.

2)Now select the mask in shape of the spy by holding the Ctrl key and clicking on the thumbnail of the original spy layer. After the mask is selected create a new layer under the vector spy layer and fill the mask with white colour to get the following effect.

Step 16:

In this step we will be creating a tie for the spy which is being blowed backwards.

1)Using the Brush Tool(B) draw a rough sketch of the tie as shown.

2)Now by using the Pen Tool(P) select the mask in shape of the tie and fill the selection with red coloour.

3)Now create some shadows on the tie in a new layer as shown to generate the fold effect.

4)With the red tie layer selected goto Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and set the Saturation Level=-30.

We had to do this because we are trying to create an old movie poster, so we need the colours to be desaturated.

Step 17:

In this step we are going to create an old and aged look to the poster.

1)Import the texture onto the poster we are creating and set its Blending Mode of the layer to Multiply and reduce the Opacity to 54%.

2) Similarly import another texture onto the poster and set its Blending Mode to Multiply and Opacity to 49%. Then using the Brightness/Contrast (Image>Adjustments>Brightness) increase the Brightness=77 and Contrast=29.

Step 18:

Using the Type Tool(T) with the Cortesia Font selected type the title ‘CITY SPY’ and arrange it as shown.

Step 19:

1) To create a retro look to the poster add a gradient with yellow and blue colours to the poster.

2)Now set the Blending Mode of the Gradient layer to Soft Light and reduce the Opacity to 33%.

Step 20:

Import the image of the wooden wall onto the canvas to represent the wall on which the poster is stuck.

Step 21:

1)Resize the poster using the Move Tool (V) to reveal some part of the wooden wall.

2)Create a slight shadow under the poster as shown to create the depth that the poster is really on the wall.

Step 22:

Using the Sticky Tape Brush add four tapes as shown to show that the tapes are holding the poster stuck on the wall.

Step 23:

Usually old and aged papers or posters doesn’t have good borders, hence we need to create rough and slightly torn edges to the poster.

1)Import the image of the Old paper with bad edges and place it on the poster as shown.

2)Then select the mask in the shape of the texture and cut the edges of the poster to get the required effect.

Final Output:

Inspiration For This Tutorial

Note From MyInkBlog: It’s been brought to my attention that this tutorial was largely inspired by Sabbath (THE COMMANDMENTS) by loswl. Thanks to loswl and Grapixia for pointing this out. Credit should always be given to the original designer.

Intro

In this photo manipulation tutorial we are going to digitally create a dream land using Photoshop. Along the way we will analyze lighting, incorporate a shattering effect, and use some brush tool properties.

Resources

This is a collage of images, so not surprisingly we’ll need to gather a lot of elements to make it work. If you are following along, you’ll want to grab the following.

Step 1

Import Cloud Images 1 into your canvas, and name the layer ‘clouds 1′. Pay close attention to the light source. In this image the sun light is coming from the right side, which is depicted in the image by arrows. We will consider this the primary light source throughout the tutorial.

Step 2

Import Cloud Images 2, and name it ‘clouds 2′. Then, select the Soft Eraser Tool (E), and erase the edges of the ‘clouds 2′ layer.

Step 3

Having the ‘clouds 2′ layer selected, go to Image -> Adjustments -> Curves, and slightly adjust the curves as shown.

Step 4

Now import Cloud Image 3, and name it ‘cloud 3′. Just like the last step, erase the edges of the layer with the Eraser Tool (E).

Step 5

With the ‘cloud 3′ layer still selected adjust the curves as shown.

Step 6

Now open up Hammock 1, and extract it. To do so, draw a shape around the guy and the hammock image using the Pen Tool (P). Once the shape is finished, right click on it, and select ‘Make Selection’. Then, hold ‘Ctrl’ + click ‘J’ (Ctrl+J) to make the selection a new layer.

Step 7

Import the previously made layer into your Dream Land document, and name it ‘Hammock 1′. Then resize the image to fit the composition, using the Move Tool (V). Continue by going to Image -> Adjustments -> Exposure, and change the settings to: Exposure +1.06, Offset -0.0020, Gamma Correction 1.12.

Step 8

In the same way as the first hammock, extract Hammock 2 and place it in the work space. Then, move the image to the position as shown. Afterwards, go to Image -> Adjustments -> Exposure, and change the settings to Exposure +0.63, Offset 0, Gamma Correction 1.14.

Step 9

Now, select the ‘hammock 1′ layer, and extract the rope using the Lasso Tool (L) and pressing Ctrl+J to turn the selection into a new layer. Place the rope on the ‘hammock 2′ layer. Duplicate the rope layer, and drag it upwards using the Move Tool (V). Erase the knot in the duplicated layer, then merge both of the ropes layers, and name it ‘rope 1′. Now, duplicate the ‘rope 1′ layer, and place it on the other side of the hammock as shown.

Step 10

Having the ‘cloud 3′ layer selected, extract part of the cloud, and make it a new layer named ‘c3-1′. Now place the ‘c3-1′ layer above the ‘hammock 2′ layer.

Step 11

Using the Pen Tool (P) extract the Bruj Khalifa Building (which, by the way is the world’s tallest tower at this time). As mentioned in the first step, the light factor should be taken into consideration. The direction of light in the ‘Bruj Khalifa’ layer is from the left side, so flip it horizontally by selecting the layer with the Move Tool (V), then right click and select ‘Flip Horizontal’.

Step 12

Now import Bird 1, and place it on the left shoe of the man resting on the hammock 1, and flip it horizontally to match the light.

Step 13

At this point you can let your creative juices flow by adding additional elements throughout the composition. To give you an idea, I used elements such as hot air balloons, the Taj Mahal, pigeon, butterfly, and another bird near the hammock 2. Make sure that all these elements match the light.

Step 14

Use the pen tool to make a selection of the book like what is pictured below. Then make the selection a new layer, and name it ’shatter’. Transform the ‘shatter’ layer by choosing the Move Tool (V), then right click and choose ‘Wrap’.

Step 15

Mask the ‘shatter’ layer using the Magic Wand Tool (W), and add a layer mask. Now fill the layer mask with black. Paint the layer mask white with a grunge brush to get the shatter effect.

Step16

Now use the Moon Brushes 1 and Moon Brushes 2 to add some stars and moons throughout the composition. Be wary not to go overboard with this effect.

Step 17

Select a soft white brush sized at 3px, and go to Window -> Brushes (F5). Select the Scattering option, set it to 100%. Now brush on some white magic particles coming from the bird.

Step 18

Use the Bubbles Brushes, to subtley add a few bubbles where you desire. If the effect looks to intense, drop the opacity a bit.

Step 19

To complete the effect, I used a soft white brush along the edges of the composition. I also added the text ‘Dream Land’ and dropped it below the ‘cloud 3′ layer in the layers pallet. This is my finished artwork.

That’s A Wrap

That’s if for this tutorial. I’d love to hear what you think, drop me a comment using the below.

Introduction

The premise for this photo manipulation and poster design was inspired by stories such as The Borrowers and Tom Thumb. The concepts used are not new, but I don’t think they’ve been explored nearly enough, especially digitally.

There’s a broad range of techniques to use and ideas to employ. Following this tutorial should enhance your skills with paths, layer styles, smart objects, filters and of course lighting.

Images Used

Following along? You’ll need these.

• Walkman Player
• Motherboard Circuit
• VHS Cogs
• VHS Circuit
• Image of a Tape
• Woman Cleaning Thanks to Ingorrr
• The workman on the dustbin
• Man Cleaning a Bus Thanks to Elsie esq.

Thanks to the artists who provided these, please remember to follow their rules and credit them where appropriate.

Preview

As always, here’s a quick preview of the design we’ll be creating.

Step 1

To start off, fire up Photoshop and place this walkman player image into a new document.

Step 2

We need to change the contrast, so we’ll add an adjustment layer and go to the half black and white circle at the bottom of the layers palette and click it to bring up the Adjustment Layers tab. Adjust the settings to: Output 21, Input 33.

Step 3

Create a new layer and grab a soft brush, set the flow to 15%, and the color to a light blue. Brush over some of the walkman like the image referenced below. These areas are going to act as guides so we know where to add cut-away sections. This step is very helpful, but optional, we’ll end up turning this layer off later in the tutorial.

Step 4

Now, we’ll use the areas that we brushed in the previous step. Draw a shape like in the following image, using the pen tool. It’s important to make sure the pen is set to paths, not shape layers. You can use the freeform pen tool to draw paths; this is especially good when you have a pen tablet. I spent some extra time making sure these had nice curves with no jagged points.

Step 5

In the paths palette, double click the path to save it (otherwise you can lose it if you create a new path) and and rename it something memorable.

Step 6

Using the Pen Tool, draw another shape on the right side of the Walkman. Again use the blue brushed area as a guide, save the path by double clicking it in the layers palette.

Step 7

To select the two paths at the same time Ctrl click one, then holding Ctrl + Shift click the other. The little pointer has a square in it and this should have a cross when you press shift. You can also press alt to get a minus and take away a selection.

Step 8

With this selection still active, create a new layer. Press ‘D’ on the keyboard to set the foreground and background colours to black and white. Then press ‘X’ to swap them around. With white as your foreground colour fill these shapes. Hit Ctrl + D to deselect them. Then, just below the opacity bar you’ll find the fill, reduce it to zero for the previous layer. We do this so that we can add a layer style (you can’t add a layer style to a selection). Now double click to the right of the layer to bring up the layer styles window and add a 1 pixel white stroke.

Step 9

Place this image of a motherboard circuit into the document below the stroke outline we just created. Look at this image for reference, we want the circuit on the left outline positioned so the edges of the circuit’s are at the same angle as the walkman. Lower the layer opacity so you can do this accurately.

Step 10

Ctrl click the first cut out shape to select it. Now with the area we want selected, we can add a layer mask to reveal the background. To do this, click the circle in a square at the bottom of the layer’s palette. The reason we use layers masks is because they are non-destructive, they can be edited again and again as opposed to deleting parts of the image.

After deselecting you should end up with the following image.

Step 11

Now duplicate this layer and set the original blend mode to Multiply and the copied layer to Colour Dodge. You should have an image like below. This gives the X-Ray cutaway a much more interesting effect, and leaves the shine on the edge of the walkman.

Step 12

Select all the layers you have so far and press Ctrl+ G to put them in a group, being organized helps us to find things when we need to. Now for the right hand outline at the front we’ll repeat steps 10 and 11, using the same image motherboard circuit. Arrange the image under the stroke where you think it works best, like the following image. Then Ctrl click the stroke layer and add a layer mask, duplicate the layer, change the original layer’s blend mode to multiply and the copy’s to colour to dodge. This is what you should have.

Step 13

Now we’re going to draw the 3 main cut-away outlines where the tape goes. We’ll call this the ‘tape area’ and these the ‘tape outlines’. Draw the paths with the pen tool or freeform pen tool. If it helps, turn off the visibility of the first group. You should end up with 3 shapes like the images below that will make up the tape area.

Step 14

Go through each path on the tape area and stroke it like we did earlier in this tutorial. Create a new layer for each new stroke and fill. If it looks different than how you expected it to go, delete the layer, back to the path and edit it, then stroke it again.

Step 15

To begin the tape area we’ll start on the left, the far left and middle areas will be covered with the same image. Place this image ‘VHS cogs‘ into a new document in Photoshop. As you’˜ll notice if you hit Ctrl + Alt + I it’s fairly large which is perfect for the detail we need in our image. Now cut out a similar area with the Marquee Tool and copy it to a new layer (Ctrl + J). Then deselect and drag it (holding shift) into the X-Ray document.

Step 16

Add a Curves Adjustment Layer to this new circuit layer with an Output 44 and Input 188. This is just to take the shine off the flash I used when I took the picture.

Step 17

Now we’ll move the circuit into place. To do so press Ctlr + t to bring up the Free Transform Tool. Now, rotate the image counter clockwise. A useful tip is to press the arrow key (or enter) every time you’ve moved the image into a difficult position. This way you won’t have to go back over things. Next bring up the free transform tool again, then right click and hit distort and move it into position. I like to think in terms or 3D. If you just think the circuit image is a 3D plane with a texture on it (which it is), you simply have to lower the back end to place the image into the correct perspective. Remember the images were taken from directly above so quite a bit of manipulation is required.

Step 18

Once it’s in a position you’re happy with Ctrl + click the stroke outline (or path) like we did before. Hold down Ctlr + Shift to get the cross on the finger curser and select both the tape outlines on the left. Add a Layer Mask to those 2 selections.

Step 19

Duplicate this layer, like we did before and set the original layer to Multiply and the copy to Overlay. Now we need to add a layer with white, beneath the strokes and circuits in the tape area. Ctrl + click the 3 shapes we’ve drawn on the tape area and fill them with white. This helps bring a light to the circuits we are going to add, this can be seen clearly if you turn this layer off once the circuits are in place.

Step 20

Group this left side of the tape area and label it something applicable, this makes it easier to toggle the visibility on and off without forgetting which layers we are using. Now we’ll do what we did earlier, open up this image of the ‘VHS circuit‘ in a new document, make a cut-out similar to the image referenced below. Use the marquee tool and Ctlr + J to copy it into a new layer. Then deselect it and drag it (while holding down shift) into the X-Ray document.

Step 21

Once in the X-Ray document, add a curves adjustment layer with Output 43 and Input 59.

Step 22

Position the circuit similar to how we did it in step 17, using the image below as a reference. Use the Free Transform Tool (Ctrl+ T) and distort it (right click) into position. Also resize the image, but remember if you make it smaller than you’d like and you have to enlarge it later you’ll lose quality.

Step 23

Now Ctrl + click the right tape outlines and add a layer mask. Duplicate the layer and set both the layers to multiply.

Step 24

Place this image of a tape into the document right below the strokes for the outlines, but above the circuits. Resize and position it using free transform and distort. Make the edges line up, for the tape and tape area. Lower the opacity so you can see clearly where to put it.

Step 25

Now cut out the outside of the tape using the pen tool, aim to be accurate however we’ll refine the edge later on. Double click the path to save it, and then Ctrl click it to bring up the selection.

Step 26

With the selection active add a layer mask. Click Select->Refine Edge, at the bottom you can scroll through how you want the preview to be. Use the values shown here, however if you need to remove more increase the feather value. Then press Ctrl + Shift + I to inverse the selection and erase away the extra.

Step 27

With the layer mask selected, Ctlr + click the tape outline strokes (or paths). Fill this selection with black to reveal the layer below. Then deselect using Ctrl + D and you should have the following result.

Step 28

Again, to create a pseudo X-Ray effect we’ll duplicate this tape layer & put the original blend mode on Colour Dodge and the copy on Lighten. Then reduce the copied layer’s Opacity down to around 24%.

Step 29

Bring in this image of a woman cleaning into a new document. First off we’ll extract her out using the pen tool. It shouldn’t matter too much if you make mistakes as we’ll be reducing the size quite a bit. Now, use the Lasso Tool (holding alt) to isolate the end of the mop. With the end selected change the colour from blue to white. Then click Image->Adjustments->Hue/Saturation and input the values shown below.

Step 30

Next bring the mop figure into our working document. Put it into a group and place it above all the other layers. Add a layer above the mop woman and clip it to this layer. This will be the shading that blends the figure in. Use a linear gradient set from black to transparent and draw a gradient from the top left hand corner of the figure to the lower right hand corner then lower this layer’s Opacity to around 35%.

Step 31

On the figure layer add a Satin Layer style and use the settings below. Also change the Contour to Half Round. This makes the areas in the light glow and the areas in the shadow darker. This adds to the realism of the figure. If the effect is overbearing, lower the style’s opacity.

Step 32

Open up this image of a man standing near a fence. Extract him out using the pen tool. As you can see the fence overlaps his legs, so isolate this area and add a light grey/blue fill in a new layer. Use the eye dropper to sample from the trouser area. Change the blend mode to until the colour merges into the trousers and the fence disappears. Then merge the layers with Ctrl + E. Use the Refine Edge Tool to soften the edges, try to get as much light away from the edges as you can. Place the figure into the X-Ray document, resize it and position it so that he is looking at the controls. Then add a Satin Layer Style so the lighting fits in with the overall scene. Put in these values and set the Contour to Half Round again.

Step 33

Now we’ll create the shadow for the figure. Create a new layer below the figures layer; you can Ctrl + click the new layer icon to do this. Make a selection of the figure by Ctrl + clicking it and fill the selection with black. Lower this layer’s Opacity to 31%.

Step 34

Add a Layer Mask to the shadow layer, choose a linear gradient that goes from black to white and drag it across the shadow. It should be faded, try to copy the shadow on the walkman as closely as you can.

Step 35

Right click the Layer and choose Apply Layer Mask. This merges the Layer Mask with the shadow layer itself. Then right click again and choose convert to smart object. Now go to Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur and enter 1.6. The great thing about converting the layer to a smart object is now the filter’s are smart, so we can go back and edit them very easily. To do so, you can double click on the filter below the layer.

Step 36

Next download this image of a man cleaning a bus . Then it’s more of the same, extract him with the pen tool, refine the edge and place him into the X-Ray document. Resize him so he is in proportion with the other 2 figures. Now add a Satin Layer Style with the following settings.

Step 37

Now, repeat steps 33 and 35 to add a shadow to this figure.

Step 38

Carefully cut out the walkman using the pen tool. Inverse the selection and copy this to a new layer. Now we have the background table on a new layer. Desaturate this layer (Ctrl + shift + U) and change the blend mode to Multiply. Lower the opacity to 38%. Make sure this layer is beneath all of the small people and circuit layers. Now add a Gradient Fill Adjustment Layer on top of all the layers. Begin with #006e2e and end with #006e05. Ctrl + click the 5 outlines we drew earlier, inverse the selection and fill those selections with black so that the green only covers the cut out areas. Change the blend mode to Hue and drop the Opacity to 70%.

Step 39

Add an Exposure Adjustment Layer with the following settings. This is just to reduce the glare and shine in the image.

Step 40

Add an Adjustment Photo Filter (cooling filter LBB) lower the Opacity to 33%. Then crop the image so that the large dark bar at the top is removed. Also cut away the right side so the image so it’s more proportional. Here is my final result.

Conclusion:

Thank you for reading this tut. I hope you enjoyed it and learned something from the techniques used. With some more effort you could take this idea in many different directions. I had an inclination to change the background – perhaps to a giant hand to make the image even more surreal.

Matte painting plays a major role in today’s films. The first known matte painting shot was made in 1907 by Norman Dawn (ASC), you can see how the traditional matte painting evolved from “The Wizard Of Oz” to the ground breaking “Avatar”. In this tutorial I’m going to show you some techniques in matte painting to create a distressed surreal cityscape.

Notes

• This tutorial is for Photoshop users with intermediate to advanced skills
• All the keyboard shortcuts are mentioned within ( )

Resources

If you are following along, you’ll need to grab the following resources.

• Buildings
• Distressed Buildings
• Destroyed Building 1
• Destroyed Building 2
• Destroyed Building 3
• Destroyed Building 4
• Clouds
• Fog Brushes
• More Fog Brush Options

Preview

Before we begin, check out a quick preview of what we will be creating.

Step 1

Just like every construction needs a blue print, so do matte paintings. Here’s a little sketch I created to map out my project. The numbered sections shown here will be used as a reference throughout this tutorial.

Step 2

I found this pic which is a perfect fit for the blue print. Open it in photoshop, and remove the clouds using the Magic Wand (W) tool, or whichever pixel cutting technique you are most familiar with.

Step 3

In this painting we could do without any green foliage, so turn the plants in the foreground into pigmentless plants. Select the Lasso Tool (L) and roughly draw around the bushes as shown, and set the Feather Radius to 60. Then alter the curves to approximately what is referenced below.

Step 4

This step requires some decision making on your part. Choose which portion of the building you’d like to destroy. Then use the Lasso Tool (L) to roughly make your selections. Lastly, erase the edges using the Eraser (E) tool.

Step 5

Next, darken the building by using the Burn Tool (O) with a rust brush. It’s the perfect tool to distress the buildings like what is shown below.

Step 6

Now lets add some rubble and gutted patches to the buildings. Start in the sequence that was layed out in the blue print. I found this pic suitable for the section marked as ‘B1′. Cut out the portion required, and name it (B1 Grid).

Step 7

Now paste that piece back into your original canvas and blend it with the prespective of the building. Select the Free Transform tool (Cmd + T), then with the Move Tool (V) selected while holding (Ctrl) move the edges to match the prospective.

Step 8

Once you are settled on the prospective, duplicate the layer untill the gap is filled. Then merge all those (B1 Grid) layers and erase some parts of the grid to show it’s broken.

Step 9

Now adjust the curves to the following output. Red 150, green 122, and blue 95.

Step 10

Next, apply similar destroy and burn techniques that you used in steps 4 and 5. We will come back to this layer for more details later in this tutorial.

Step 11

Lets start to work on the B2 section. Choose the best pic for B2′s destruction, I used this image. Now, repeat the same steps you followed in step 7 while aligning the B1 Grid layer. Be sure to take your time with any of these perspective steps, getting them wrong will be detrimental to the entire effect.

Step 12

Change the Exposure values to the following: Exposure: -0.63, Offset: +0.0061, Gamma Correction: 0.94.

Step 13

Grab this photo to be used for the middle of ‘B2′ and name the layer ‘Broken Floors’. The floors in the middle of B2 need some attention. We should concentrate on the perspective. First, draw some lines matching the perspective using the Pen Tool. Then use the Free Transform tool to adjust the floor lines with the building lines.

Step 14

Change the exposure values to: Exposure: -1.22, Offset: 0, and Gamma Correction: 1.00. Then select the Burn Tool (O) and use your creativity to make it look old and destroyed.

Step 15

Now it’s time to let your creative juices flow. In much the same way as the previous steps begin filling in the gaps with distressed buildings. Remember this is a surreal destroyed cityscape, so you can’t go too wrong, as long as you’re creative and maintain consistent color, perspective and shadows. The steps I used are referenced in the sample pics below.

Step 16

Now lets add some details to the ‘B1 Grid” layer. Add a new layer, then select the Lasso Tool (L) and outline some hanging grass. Fill your selections with the colour #5d6e5e. Again select the Lasso Tool (L) and add shades to the grass with colour #3a413a.

Step 17

Every abandoned building needs some broken windows, so lets add a few. Select the Brush Tool (B) and choose the colour #0c0d11, now start painting some random boxes which represent the broken windows. When it comes to painting details, your creativity is what makes the difference between a beginner and a professional.

Step 18

Now add some clouds to the backdrop which suits the environment we created. Drop them into our cityscape behind all the building layers.

Step 19

Grab some fog brushes and make the scene more realistic by brushing some fog where it’s needed. Be wary not to go overboard with this step.

That’s A Wrap

That wraps up this tutorial on matte painting. Let us know what you think, drop a comment using the form below.

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Surreal, Ancient Fantasy Scene in Photoshop. We will take several real world objects and seamlessly blend them together to form this artwork. We will also use a number of Photoshop brushes to spice up the effect. Together we will explore the power of Photoshop image adjustment options, filter effects and layer blending modes. Have a try!

The Files

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Stock Images:

• Moutain in the Mist by ~ Momotte2stocks
• Sunset by ~ night-fate-stock
• Fantasy Castle by ~nixie04
• Mysterious Gate by ~rensstocknstuff
• Stormbringer 14 by *Iardacil-stock

Photoshop Brushes

• Cloud Brushes by ~JavierZhX
• 11 Photoshop Bird Brushes by ~ahoberer78-stock
• Fractal Brush Pack 02 by ~above-and-beyond
• Winter Breeze Brushes by =Axeraider70

Step 1

Create a new document sized at 1400px by 800px (in fact size doesn’t really matter here, I chose this size because it fits my screen the best).  Load the Moutain in the Mist by ~ Momotte2stocks in Photoshop, copy and paste the entire image onto your document, use free-tranform (ctrl + t) to fit it to the canvas size.

Name this layer “misty moutain”. Duplicate it twice, resize and position each duplicated layer as shown below.

Add a layer mask to each of the duplicated layers. On the mask, use a big, soft and round brush to gently erase the edges so those three mountain layers seamlessly join together, as shown below.

Step 2

Now, let’s add some lighting contrast to the mountain. To do this, duplicate the original mountain layer once and drag it to the top, apply the following Gaussian Blur settings to the duplicated layer.

Secondly, add a layer mask to this layer like the one shown below.

Change the blending mode of this blurred layer to “Color Dodge” and reduce its opacity to around 75%, you should have the following effect.

Step 3

Now, let’s add some lighting dynamics and alter the colour of the image a bit to make it look more surreal. To do so, add the following adjustment layers on top of all the previous layers you made. (Please make sure you set the blending mode and opacity according to the screenshot for each adjustment layer)

Curves - Blending Mode: Normal, Opacity – 65%

Layer Mask

Color Balance 1 – Blending Mode: Soft Light, Opacity: 35%

Layer Mask

Color Balance 2 - Blending Mode: Multiply, Opacity: 65%

Layer Mask

Vibrance - Blending Mode: Normal, Opacity: 90%

Brightness and Contrast - Blending Mode: Soft Light, Opacity: 100%

And here is the effect so far.

Step 4

Now, we can add some more texture to the centre portion of the scene to give it a bit more motion. So load the Sunset by ~ night-fate-stock image into Photoshop, and use the rectangular marquee tool to cut out a bright portion of the sky, as shown below.

Copy and paste it onto your document and name it as “centre highlight”, position it in the centre (a bit lower right) of the canvas, use a soft brush to erase the edges and add the following Motion Blur to it.

Hit Ctrl + F a few times to re-apply the motion blur filter, then change the layer’s blending mode to “Soft Light”, with 100% opacity. You should have the following effect.

Step 5

Now load the Fantasy Castle by ~nixie04 into Photoshop, use whichever selection tool you perfer to cut out the castle. (Hint: don’t worry if the selection is not perfect the first time, you can use the Refine Edge tool (Ctrl + Alt + R) to adjust it, try out different options within the tool to get the best results). Copy and paste the selection onto the canvas, name this layer “Castle” and position it as shown below:

(Make sure you use a big soft brush to erase the edges so it blends with the surroundings)

Change the layer blending option of this layer to “Soft Light”. You can see the building blends itself into the surrounding lighting environment, which is exactly what we want for this work.

Duplicate this “Castle” layer twice, drag the duplicated layers to the positions shown below: (use the free transform tool to adjust their size a bit)

Keep their blending mode as “Soft Light”, and make sure you take care of the edges so they blend into the mountain background as well.

Step 6

Now, add some nice cloud texture onto your work. Create a new layer called “cloud”, use the Cloud Brushes by ~JavierZhX brushset to paint some cloud on the upper portion of the canvas. (Hint: adjust the flow and opacity of the cloud brush to add depth to the cloud.)

Let’s also add some flying birds to the scene to make it look a bit more fantasy and surreal. Create a new layer called “Birds” and use the 11 Photoshop Bird Brushes by ~ahoberer78-stock to paint some birds on top of the castle (set the brush opacity to a relatively low level so the birds are not too visible)

Step 7

Now let’s add an ancient gate to our artwork. Load the Mysterious Gate by ~rensstocknstuff into Photoshop, cut out the gate and copy and paste it onto your document, name this layer “gate” and set its blendng mode to “Hard Light”, opacity to 50%. Make sure you erase the edges of the gate with a soft brush. You should have the following effect.

Add the following Black and White adjustment layer to it, as a clipping mask:

Duplicate the “Gate” layer and drag it to the top, set its blending mode to “overlay”, opacity 100%. You should have the following effect.

Create a new layer called “abstract effect”, use the Fractal Brush Pack 02 by ~above-and-beyond and Winter Breeze Brushes by =Axeraider70 to add some abstract effects around the gate, as well as the castle. Also make sure you vary the flow and opacity of the brush a bit, for more depth.

And this is the overall effect so far.

Step 8

Now let’s load the Stormbringer 14 by *Iardacil-stock into Photoshop, cut out the lady and copy it onto our document, name this layer “lady” and resize it into the position as shown below. (Set the opacity to around 80%)

Like the previous step, use those abstract brushsets to paint around the lady’s body, make sure you cover the her feet.

Step 9

Ok we’re pretty much done here. Add some final adjustment layers to the artwork for some fine-tuning.

Curves - Blending Mode: Normal, Opacity 75%

Mask

Colour Balance - Blending Mode: Color, Opacity 90%

Mask

Levels - Blending Mode: Normal, Opacity 100%

Mask

Vibrance - Blending Mode: Normal, Opacity 100%

Here is the effect so far.

Step 10

Before we finish up, I think it would be a good idea to tidy up the image a bit by reducing some noise. So save your current work as a different file, flatten the image, and apply the following Reduce Noise filter to the image.

Optionally you can add a glowing effect to the image. To do so, simply duplicate the background layer and apply the following Gaussian Blur settings to the duplicated layer.

I also adjusted the colour balance and saturation a bit, here is the final effect I have for this tutorial.

Final Thoughts

I find from personal experience that it sometimes helps if you simply walk away from your work for a few mintues, play some games or have a cup of tea, then return. Ok that’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoyed and found it useful!

Introduction

3D text effects are a growing and awesome design trend. They can add angles, lighting and interest that many 2D text effects can’t bring. Here is an awesome Showcase of 3D Typography that was put together a little while back by Angie Bowen. I’ve also been seen and been inspired by tutorials like 3D Text on Fire and this Fresh Text Effect.

After some experimenting with what can be accomplished using Illustrator’s 3D capabilities and Photoshop’s texturing I came up with the design for this tutorial. In the steps that follow you will learn some pretty helpful techniques and tricks all while designing your own slick 3D ice text effect. Let’s get started.

The Preview & PSD

• Preview the final result
• Grab the PSD file to follow along

Step 1

Fire up Illustrator and type in your word(s) at the size you are designing for. I used Diavlo bold for my font of choice. Be sure to change the font color to a mid-tone gray. It’s not important to choose a specific color yet, but we do need something that will have a strong enough contrast to stand out when we transform the text into 3D.

Step 2

Now it’s time to utilize Illustrator’s simple, but awesome 3D capabilities. With your text selected choose Effect->3D->Extrude & Bevel. Make sure to tick on the preview option so that you can view your results as you go along (be warned this 3D effect with preview turned on is a huge memory hog — slower computers beware). Then manipulate the text into the angle that you desire. Bear in mind, perspective is the trickiest and most important part of a 3D text effect, so take your time here. The cube in the top left is a great visual tool. Simply click and drag on different parts to manipulate the x, y and z axis. Or if you prefer the cliff notes, just alter the settings to what is referenced below.

Step 3

Now it’s time to move our project over to Photoshop. Open up a new document in Photoshop, then click back to Illustrator and put the two documents side by side. Grab the move tool in Illustrator and drag the 3D text from Illustrator into the Photoshop document. Then in Photoshop select the background layer and fill it with black.

Step 4

Filters offer a huge range of possibilities, but they can lead to some pretty horrific results when they are overdone or used inproperly. In our case, we are going to add a couple of minor tweaks, to start the illusion of highlights and shadows on raised ice.

The Filter Gallery is a very handy interface that you can use to add and combine various filters. To get started click Filter->Filter Gallery. First, add ‘Accented Edges’. Play around with the settings until you have some simple, but not blown out highlights on the edges of your 3D text. Below are the settings that I used. Now, click to add a second filter (using the small ‘Add Filter’ button in the bottom right), choose ‘Plastic Wrap’ and select settings similar to what is referenced below. Then click ok.

Step 5

Our filters gave us some nice highlights on the edges of the 3D text, but I think we could do a little better yet. Let’s take advantage of some of the things layer styles have to offer. Double click on the 3D text layer to bring up the layer styles box. Add a bevel and emboss, and a drop shadow to our text. The drop shadow will be rather unnoticeable against our black background, but it will look good when we set up the ice background. Use settings that are similar to those shown below.

Step 6

That’s starting to look cool, but we could definitely use some more contrast. To add some, click Image->Adjustments->Shadows/Highlights. There are a ton of sliders to play around with in here, and quite honestly moving them around and experimenting is the best way to learn what they do. It’s also good to note, that since we brought over this text from Illustrator it should be a smart object. Which means that these filters are non-destructive and can be easily tweaked at a later point.

Step 7

In this step we are going to start working on the background ice. We need an interesting ice texture with some bright colors (even though we’ll be altering them later). I found this really cool ice texture on Flickr. Download that one or something similar and place it on a layer below the text layer and above the black background. Add a layer mask to your new layer by clicking Layer->Vector Mask->Reveal All. We want to gradually fade our design out to the black background, so add a radial gradient to that layer mask that goes from black on the outside to white on the inside. Touch up some of the mask with a soft brush with low opacity if necessary. Lastly, drop the opacity of this layer to about 90%.

Step 8

The background is starting to look interesting, but the texture could definitely be simplified and smoothed out a bit. I personally like to make those kinds of changes on a smart object so that I can adjust them later if I change my mind. So, right click on the layer and choose ‘Covert to Smart Object’. Then click Filter->Blur->Surface Blur. Use this blur to soften the texture and contrast some. Then add a bit of simple noise back in by clicking Filter->Noise->Add Noise. The settings I used are shown below as a reference.

Step 9

Let’s add some of this same texture to the text to help with realism and consistency. Duplicate the ice background layer and place it at the top of the layers palette. Add a layer mask to this layer just like you did before. Fill the layer mask with all black. Then select the shape of the ice text by ‘cmd + click’ on the thumbnail in the layers palette as circled below. Fill the shape that you just selected on the layer mask with white. This will reveal the texture only on the ice text. Now, change the layer mode to Overlay and the opacity to about 85%. Lastly, you can unlink the mask and the layer to move the texture independent of the mask. This give you great flexibility to change the texture on the text to something you find visually striking.

Step 10

In the next two steps I want to work on the coloring. Add a new layer to the top of your layers palette. Then grab the gradient tool and make a colorful gradient that begins and ends with the same color and goes to two other colors toward the middle. This gives our illustration a nice smooth base color to work from. Drag out a linear gradient horizontally across your canvas. Change the blend mode for this layer to overlay.

Step 11

Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the layers palette (referenced below). Adjust the sliders until you have a nice cool colored gradient.

Step 12

Since our subject is ice and we have some cool lighting effects going on we definitely need to add a nice reflection. This can be a tad tricky with 3D objects, as the extra dimension can play tricks on your eyes. Because the refection on the ice is really only 2D I found the best and simplest way to add that is to create a new flat text layer that mimics the size and perspective of the 3D text. Make a new text layer and retype ‘ice’ or whatever the word you choose to use was in the same font. Then click ‘cmd + t’ to bring up the free transform tool. Click and drag downward from the top middle anchor to reflect the text. Next rotate it by hovering over a corner point to get the rotate cursor. Then adjust the corners while holding down ‘cmd’ to skew the text. Get it to the point that it fits pretty well over the 3D text, like the image below, bear in mind that it doesn’t need to be perfect.

Step 13

Now drag the refection into place and move the reflection layer below the 3D text layer. Change the blend mode to overlay and the opacity to 45%. Rasterize the layer by right clicking and choosing ‘Rasterize Layer. Then click Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur and blur the shadow a bit. Lastly, add a layer mask and fade it out toward the bottom of the reflection.

Step 14

We’re almost done here, but a lot of times it’s the finishing touches that can take a design from good to great. I went on the look out for some cool brushes and found this awesome set. Go ahead and download them or something similar. Add a new layer and use the same masking technique that you used in step 9, so that the brush you use will only show on the 3D text. Then grab a star brush, use white for your color and dab on some interesting texture. Change your blend mode to overlay and drop your opacity to about half.

Step 15

Lastly add a couple more layers and utilize a couple of the star brushes to make some sparkle highlights. Be careful not to overdo this step. It’s also a good idea to put each one on a different layer, so that you can experiment with where the sparkle looks best and vary the brightness by lowering the opacity a bit.

Final Thoughts

There are so many creative directions you can take these techniques. The main thing I wanted to get across was the simplicity of 3D text in Illustrator and the power of combining Illustrator and Photoshop.

What do you think of this effect? If you come up with a cool variation, please showcase it at MyInkBlog Flickr group.