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Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written
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how they can help you take that artwork one step further
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used with express permission.
towards masterpiece status.
If you submit material to Future Publishing via post, email, social network or any
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Were also excited to bring you a plethora of tutorials, such
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although every care is taken, neither Future Publishing nor its employees, agents or
subcontractors shall be liable for the loss or damage. (p46) and using PortraitPro in conjunction with Photoshop to
2017 Future Publishing Ltd
make your portraits and headshots stand out (p66). We also
ISSN 1747-7816
have interviews with some great artists, reviews of the latest
Photoshop-related products and much, much more. We all
hope you enjoy the issue!

Erlingur Einarsson Editor

erlingur.einarsson@futurenet.com

3
Contents
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Essentials Tutorials
06 FileSilo
This issue there are over 300 free
22 Go into space using blend
modes and masks
resources for you to use Form layer blends, add efects and
create a spacey atmosphere
08 Trending gallery
Check out some of the most stunning
artworks trending this month 28 Create an ice-cream
landscape
Work on your mask skills with this
10 Readers gallery
Take a look at what your fellow fun surreal composition
readers have been making this issue YOUR FREE PHOTOSHOP
Readers challenge
12 Win a Pixnub Master Key worth a 38 Design a text poster using
guidelines RESOURCES ARE HERE!
Build a grid from scratch and ill it This issue: frame mockups, overlays,
cool $599.99! with text using Photoshops tools
textures and more
14 Feature: Create art with the Create a watery composition
42 Blend diferent images to build a Plus files to follow the tutorials
pen & brush tools
Harness the power of Photoshops dreamlike composition Free and ready for you to download today!
digital art tools

36 How I Made 46 Paint a cute animal portrait

Build a detailed, colour-illed digital
Learn the secret behind David Milans painting from an original sketch
tricks to making the painted Chasing
Highs text poster
54 Explore layer masks
Discover how to manipulate stock
52 How I Made
How Theoritacl Part turned the
photos with layer masks
mythical Fenrir into an apparel brand
90 Choose
Capture
palettes with Adobe
58 Project focus
Alisson Rochinski has made an art of
Get to know Adobe Capture with
our all-new mobile app tutorial
thinking inside the box

92 Reviews
Check out our latest hardware and 82
sotware reviews

96 Portfolio interview
Jefrey Vanhoutte has been honing
his signature skill since age 11 6
98 Reader interview
Manon Moreau uses Photoshop to
make fantastical artworks with
strong symbolism
Advanced Photoshop
60 Transform a portrait in
the style of the
Renaissance
Combine photos to build a
Renaissance-style portrait

66 Retouch a portrait using

Portrait Pro
Combine Portrait Pro with
Photoshop to take your
photo-retouching skills to the
98 next level 60

4
 14 46

CrEATE ArT wiTh ThE

PEN & BrUSh TOOLS
42

54 28 Follow
us on
Twitter
66 @pshopcreative

76

Elements creative
74 Crop with precision
Use the Crop tool to frame
82 Create a surreal
seascape
your photos Use the power of masks to
create a surreal water image
76 Design a bottle label
Learn how to make your own
customised product package
86 Create a sporty
caricature
How to design and illustrate a
80 Create duotone images
Use the power of just two
caricature based on a photo
colours to enhance your
pictures
38

5
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issue
 TRENDING IMAGES
Check out some of the most popular artwork thats been rocking the internet
over the last few weeks, and take inspiration from whats currently trending
Theres nothing more
Cartoony artwork can work equally well on the page as digitally, and
inspiring than surfing the we love Svilens distinctive style. Were not alone either: hes had
internet and seeing what work featured by Wacom and The Student Show.

other artists are creating,

and we encourage you
to do so. Here are some
of our favourite pictures
that caught our attention
recently, from some of
the worlds most exciting
artists and designers.

Svilen
Petrov
http://
dribbble.
com/spovv
The original image
was sketched out first
on paper: the tree first
on one page, and then
separately, the two
bears were drawn.
This was then drawn
out more thoroughly in
Photoshop, coloured,
and the trees in the Mitu
foreground were blurred https://www.behance.net/mituestudio
for perspective. We do the post-production of our pieces in Photoshop;
we correct colour levels, the intensity of shadows,
emphasise the overall illumination and highlight the
details of textures and materials of some elements.

Photoshop is a great companion for adding warmth to 3D renders, and

Mitus work certainly displays that. This piece was featured by Behances
Illustration gallery and has been greatly received.

8
A testament to how digital artists can wield more than just the
Pepe Delgado Navarro
Brush Tool for amazing effects, Pepes art has been viewed over https://www.inprnt.com/profile/pepednart/
50,000 times. The lighting in this piece is particularly striking, I did a quick sketch, then I painted it. I didnt
coupled with the bright pink hue.
use any textures; for example, the ground
was made separately and then adjusted
with the Free Transform tool for the perspective I
wanted. The Pen was used for sharper edges.

Toni
Infante
http://
toniinfante.
com/
What I love about
Photoshop is that you
are able to change and
modify every tool you
want. This gives you
unlimited options to
work on your artwork;
Ngoc Do in my case, to try and
https://www.behance.net/
achieve a pictorial feel.
dongocarc
I love star-trail photography. I
tried my best with this image
to recreate its spirit around this 3D render
I made of a house. Photoshop played a
vital role in establishing an overall depth
as well as tone for this artwork.

This whole image is measured,

beautifully blended and fiercely
detailed: it took us a while to
notice the rabbits in the
foreground! Ngocs been
featured by Photoshop online
and we always like seeing what
he produces.

This piece is truly epic, and the movement is what makes

it so eye-catching. With work showcased by Behance,
Tonis art is clearly popular, and its not surprising given
that its all this intensely meticulous.

A featured piece in Behances curated Advertising showcase, we love this image for its detail, colour
and blend of images. Its a good example of how a limited colour palette can still produce vibrant work.

Mullenlowe
http://www.mullenlowessp3.com/
This is a collaborative campaign
from the Mullenlowe-SSP3
studio and Carioca Studio that
conveys Colombians and their passions.
Photoshop was one of the most important
tools in creating this image.

9
 READERS IMAGES
Welcome to an inspirational round-up of great Photoshop artwork
created by none other than your fellow readers

GET IN TOUCH
Send us your images now for the
chance to appear in future galleries
Create your own gallery online
PhotoshopCreative.co.uk
Upload your images to Facebook
Search PhotoshopCreative
Tweet us your creative artwork
@PshopCreative
Alternatively, you can email:
markwhite03@futurenet.com

Murilo Francisco
https://www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/
Mumu0909
Image of the issue
The tweaking and blending of the
layers were key to the composition. I started with the
background and then added the elements to create the
seabed effect. I finished everything off with some more
blending and adjustments.

Anna Przybylska
https://www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/
zwyklaania
I used just three images for this: the grass,
the bench and the city at night. I used Blur
filters and blend modes to finish my work, and I used
Photoshop CS6 and a tablet to make it.

Nikola Miljkovic
https://www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/
user/NKML
Masking was key in placing the
nebula into the mug, as well as for
the steam coming from the liquid. The colours
were kept as muted as possible in the rest of the
picture, leaving the mug colourful.

10

Maurcio
Xavier
https://www.
photoshopcreative.
co.uk/user/MauricioX
This was a combination of 3D and
digital painting. The idea was to
create a planet that was saturated
by magic and art. It was inspired
by the game No Mans Sky.
Felipe dos Santos
https://www.photoshopcreative.
co.uk/user/Felipe
Ater reading about the discovery of
a new planet much like the Earth, I
wondered what it would be like. I created this in
Photoshop, by blending various images together
and using adjustments to inish it of.
Marcos Nogueira
https://www.
photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/
Marcos%20%20Nogueira
This image was created
for a contest for one of my friends, with
layer adjustments and light efects. The
colour palette was key in this picture for
the efect. I won third place in the contest
for it!
11
 READERS
CHALLENGE Upload your images to
photoshopcreative.co.uk

We challenged you
In Issue 156, we challenged you
to get creative with these four
images. You were allowed to
use any or all of the pictures, and
whatever other resources you
chose. Heres what you created.

1 Readers
Challenge Challeng
entries WINNERe
The best entries and
overall challenge winner
1 Pamela Woest
Particles In The Wind
This is a double exposure with
a twist. The trees form a pixel
dispersion effect, and the
particles in the phone photo
are part of the composition.

2 Adrian Chorlton
The Magic Of Colour
Ive used all four images to
produce this composite
showing the spectrum of ideas
from books. Theres a range of
blend modes, gradients and of
course, many layers. It was fun
to produce!

3 Alexandre Perez
The Sky Is A Neighborhood
I was inspired by the Foo
Fighters music video, The Sky
2
Is A Neighborhood, to create
this image. It incorporates the
images of the girl, the trees
and the phone.

4 Trevor Budd
Writers Block
I decided to create a surreal
image for the challenge using
elements from three of the
four supplied photos. This
image is all about trying to
show a visual representation
of when a person experiences
writers block.

12
The PRiZe
Pixnub Master Key
This issue, one lucky winner will receive a Pixnub
Master Key worth $599.99! The Master Key is a
lifetime serial number for all of Pixnubs Photoshop
plug-ins and is compatible with any new plug-ins
released in the future; whenever a new plug-in is
released, you can just download it from the website
and install it with your serial number!

WORTH
$599.99!

This issues
challenge
Think you can do
better? Prove it!

This issue, were not giving

you any images: just a theme:
Science-fiction. Create an image
that you think incorporates
the theme, and tell us why
in the description when you
upload it! Head to www.
photoshopcreative.co.uk and
simply hit the Challenge link.
3 Closing date: 20 November.

13
 CREATE ART WITH THE
PEN & BRUSH TOOLS

On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative

CREATE ART WITH THE

PEN & BRUSH
TOOLS
Whether youre seeking clean precision or quirky expression,
harness the power of Photoshops digital art tools

O
nce upon a time, most of us
probably started using Photoshop
to edit our photos. Its what the
software was designed for after all the
clues in the title and way back in the
1990s, the software was only really used for
snap-fixing. It took until the fifth version of
the program for a Freeform Pen to appear,
and somewhat surprisingly, the Mixer Brush
was only born as late as CS5. Yes, really.
Fast-forward to the present day, and
many of us use the Pen Tool and the Brush
Tool as daily companions for digital art in
Photoshop. Theyre not so much chalk and
cheese, as finessing and flourishing; theres
probably one you favour over the other, but
they can both become equally important to
your creative process.
And thats where we and this guide
come in. This issue, were looking at how
you can bring both the Brush and the Pen to
your workflow in perfect synergy, whether
youre someone who creates geometric
artwork, or youre a modern impressionist.
Its surprising how often the two can
complement each other.
Photoshops come a long way with its
digital art tools: lets celebrate them with a
compilation of the best tips and tricks for
how to use the Pen and Brush.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

DISCOVER THE LEARN ABOUT MASTER BRING GET MORE

BASICS HIGHLIGHTS CUSTOM DYNAMISM TO EXPRESSIVE
When should I wield the Use the Brush tool to add BRUSHES ART Learn how to combine
Pen, and when should I simple but effective Create and import The Pen and the Brush the Pen and the Brush for
go with the Brush? Learn highlights to a meticulous custom brushes, bring can be used to give bigger and brighter
the basics of the tools so Pen-drawn portrait. It them into your work, and shape and dimension to effects, and blur the lines
you know when and takes vector images to a learn how to integrate your sketches, as well as between precise and
how to use them. whole new level. them with Pen drawings. being artistic tools. expressive for great art.

14
 STROKING PATHS
Select a brush style, and
when youve created a path,
Ctrl/right-click it and choose
Stroke Path to draw it.

Bring the Brush and the

Pen to your workflow in
perfect synergy

USE THE GRID

Hit Cmd/Ctrl+U to bring up the grid;
this is great for creating precise Pen
tool work, such as the geometric
background in this piece.

BLEND MODES
Make bigger brush
strokes on new
layers and vary
the blend mode
to discover some
interesting effects in SELECTING COLOURS
your paintings. While using the Brush tool, Alt/
Opt-click to select colours ready
to brush. This is a great tip if
youre using a reference image.

15
 CREATE ART WITH THE
PEN & BRUSH TOOLS

The Pen tool

The Pen tool is ideally used for drawing
vector-based illustrations and it is easier
to use with a mouse. The Brush tool is
used for painting and it is most
appropriate for users with a pressure-
sensitive input device, like a tablet. This is
why the Pen tool is better and easier for
drawing, especially if you want to create
a vector illustration.
The Pen enables you to draw smooth
paths by a combination of clicking for
hard corners or click-dragging for smooth
curves to get a very simple or highly
controlled line. The lines in this
illustration are refined, smooth and DupLicating
controlled, factors you cannot achieve vector shapes
easily with the Brush. Save time by drawing one half of
an image and then copy, duplicate and
horizontally flip it to create a perfectly
symmetrical object, such as the
face in this illustration.

The Brush tool

While the Pen tool is great for
simplifying the drawing process,
especially for those working with
a mouse, the Brush tools
versatility trounces the Pens
limited usefulness. Although you
can apply line weights with the
Pen tool to simulate the Brushs
pen pressure, thats all it is:
simulated by the computer.
Drawing with a pressure-sensitive
brush frees you of this limitation.
If youre not concerned that your
lines be precise and uniform, you
can save yourself the time it
would take to set up and position
the Pen tools vector lines. Know
which tool you require for the job.

the aLL-
purpose brush
Texture, lighting, cross-hatching none of these
details could be applied using the Pen tool. With the
Brush Tool, you can install and load brush
presets when you need them.

16
Add brushed highlights to vectors
Pathing from sketch
With your sketch layer underneath, path out
01 shapes with the Pen tool. These vector
shapes will contain the shadings. Use a Soft Round
Brush to mask off unwanted areas to produce a
transition of hard-edge to soft-edge masking.
Shadings and highlights
Cmd/Ctrl-click the vector thumbnail to
02 select. Using a Soft Round Brush, brush
the edges to keep the soft shadings/highlights in
the shape. If you find the edges too hard, go to
Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur> 2px Radius.
Colouring
After your shadings and highlights are
03 completed, create a new group above
and set blend mode to Soft Light. Add different
colour layers using a Soft Round Brush within this
group to colour your shadings and highlights.
17
 CREATE ART WITH THE
PEN & BRUSH TOOLS

Splatter portraits Custom brushes

The great thing about Photoshop brushes is are where you can
that youre not just limited by the ones
supplied as default in the software.
let your creativity
Custom brushes are where you can
really let your creativity run wild. By
run wild
combining all kinds of brushes into the
one portrait, you can make something
truly unique, while exploring motion
in digital art.

Make Pen outlines Build up brush strokes Create the splatters

01 Grab the Pen tool and use it to trace around
your subjects outlines, such as face, hair
and clothes. Select a brush with a little texture
around the edges and then stroke the brush over
the path youve created.
02 Create new layers and brush over the
portrait between the lines. Create some
hatched layers with small brushes to add shade,
and Alt/Opt-click to eye-drop colours from the
photo as you brush.
03 On each layer you paint, hit Mask then
Invert (Cmd/Ctrl+I). With white splatter
brushes, mask in the colour. Create new layers
where you can apply more splatter effects in the
same colours you used to brush the portrait.

18
Create brushes with the Pen Tool
Use the Pen to create a more refined brush.
The Pen enables you to create vectors, so
you can resize them as many times as you
like, without losing quality. This is handy if
you want to use various brush sizes.
Use the Mixer Brush in a Pen-made selection
USE THE PEN
Use an image or a sketch to draw a
silhouette cityscape, using the Pen tool
to help you trace your image to create
a vector shape. Ensure Shape Layers is
selected in the top Options bar.
To create a brush, first draw out the
pattern you want using the Pen, ensuring
that Shape Layers is selected from the
Options. Once you are happy with your
pattern, go to Edit>Define Brush Preset.
MAKING A SELECTION
Once you have drawn your cityscape
you will notice the Shape Layer is added
to the Layers panel. To make a quick
selection around your illustration, Cmd/
Ctrl-click on the Shape Layer thumbnail.
Name your brush and then youll find it in
your Brush Presets. Ensure your image is no
bigger than 2500 x 2500px, as 2500
pixels square is the maximum size for a
brush in Photoshop.
RAINBOW PAINTING
With the selection made, create a new
layer, pick a colour and start painting in
the selection. Youll notice all colour is
kept in the selection. Keep creating new
layers and using new colours.
CREATING STARS
Use the Brush Tool to create stars of
various sizes. To do this, ensure that
Transfer is ticked in your Brush panel
and amend the following settings:
Opacity Jitter: 30% and Flow Fitter: 60%.
19
 CREATE ART WITH THE
PEN & BRUSH TOOLS
CHOOSE
CONSISTENT COLOURS
When creating an image like this, make sure
Draw dynamic shapes the colours you choose are harmonious and work
well together in the composition, otherwise it will look
messy. Use Adobe Color CC (http://color.adobe.
com/) if you want to create a palette.

Make sure the

colours you choose
work well together

Path the details
01 Sketch your image and path out shapes
using the Pen tool. With the Pen tool, Cmd/
Ctrl-click on the vector shape to edit and adjust
accordingly. The key is to ensure your shape is as
smooth as possible.
Apply shade and highlight
02 Cmd/Ctrl-click on the vector shape
thumbnail to make a selection. Create a
group and use the selection as a group mask.
Using a Soft Round Brush, brush along the dark
areas and keep your shadings within this group.
Colour the image in
03 Keep your shadings and highlight layers
grouped. Set the layer blending mode to
Soft Light. Underneath this group, use the vector
shapes and fill them individually with different
shades of red.

20
Use the Pen Tool
with brushes
Use the Pen
01 Create the outline of your subject with the
Pen Tool, and create blocks of different
shades of grey over the outline to define details,
such as the face and sections of the hair.

Use brushes
02 Make selections with the Pen Tool, Ctrl/
right-click the path and choose Make
Selection. Fill these using a brush and soft colour,
on a new layer, to counter the grey of the subject.

Apply the Cutout filter

03 Duplicate the original picture of the girl
you used, and go to Filter> Filter Gallery>
Cutout. Experiment with a look, then Desaturate
(Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+U), before setting to Overlay. This
will add in a touch more detail.

GRADIENT
MAPS
If you wish to colour the black-and-
white image ater youve created it, insert
a Gradient Map adjustment over the original
monochrome layer. This will inject a little
more saturation into your image, and
might look nice with the brighter
brush strokes you add in.

Daniel Hardman, 2017

21
 Tutorial Go into space using blend modes and masks

On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative Go into
Essentials
Works with
space using
Elements CS

What youll learn

CC

Make spacey edits using

blend modes, layer masks
and adjustments
Expert
Time taken
2 hours
Andre
Villanueva
Blend modes and masks
are extremely helpful both
in the nascent stages of
composition and also when it
comes to the endgame.
I discovered Photoshop
while studying web design.
Ater graduating, I taught in
media arts. Im now an art
director for a tech company,
soothing my inner instructor
by sharing my techniques
with readers.
blend modes
and masks
Use blend modes and masks to form layer blends, add effects with
filters and create atmosphere with colour fills
L
ooking to introduce sci-fi splendour to your
portraits? Need wondrous effects as final
touches to your promo visuals? Youve come
to the right place.
Adding a sci-fi feel and imagery can lend a
futuristic and progressive vibe and boost the
excitement factor of your compositions. Here youll
start with a model, and then use blend modes and
masks to work in layer after layer of images and
adjustments to create a piece fit for the stars.
Youll have an assortment of fractals and
abstract light at your command. Merge these with
galactic images to create a backdrop full of arcing
thrusts and rich clashes, with the aim of evoking
speedy thrills in exotic space.
Continuing with the idea of stirring up speed and
excitement, youll plot an array of streaks with the
Custom Shape tool, elongate and angle them with
the Free Transform options, then set them aglow
with the Outer Glow layer style.
Further ornament with abstract shapes and
radial surges of light. Paint a spattering of stars
with a custom brush to push the spacey feel.
Finalise by sharpening with High Pass, adding
cloudiness with the Clouds filter and processing
with multiple adjustments.

Refine the selection edge Clean up the mask

Use the Quick Selection tool
01 Open model.psd. Use the Quick
Selection tool to make a base
selection of the model. Resize brush with
[ and ]. To remove from the selection, hold
Option/Alt while using the tool.
02 Go to Select> Select and Mask
[non-CC: Refine Edge]. Paint with the
Refine Edge Brush [non-CC: Refine Radius]
along the edges of the hair to fine-tune.
Resize brush with [ and ]. When done, set
Output to Layer Mask. Click OK.
03 Using the Brush tool, paint black to
hide and white to restore areas
[Elements: click mask]. Use the Zoom tool to
get up close. Adjust brush size/opacity as
needed. Decrease/increase brush hardness
with { and }.

22
23
 Tutorial Go into space using blend modes and masks

Create cutouts
In Photoshop/CC, use the Pen tool
04 (set to Path in options) to plot
cutouts. After creating a path, convert to
selection (Cmd/Ctrl+Return/Enter). With
black as the foreground colour, fill with
foreground (Option/Alt+Delete/Backspace)
[Elements: carefully use the Lasso tool
instead to create selections and fill with
black]. When done, save and close.
Place model
Open main.psd. Go to File> Place
05 [CC: Place Linked], and grab the
model you just edited. Scale down a bit and
position centrally before committing the
place. Then duplicate the model by pressing
Cmd/Ctrl+J.
Adjust model
06 Select the lower model layer. Free
Transform (Cmd/Ctrl+T) to rotate
and offset to add slight thickness to cutout
areas. Apply Levels (Cmd/Ctrl+L) and bump
up midtones by sliding the middle slider
rightward. Option/Alt-click the Add Layer
Mask button in the Layers panel. Paint white
(80-100% brush opacity) to add needed areas.

Clipping mask
Create a new layer at the top. Set the
07 Foreground colour to purple #b146a6. Select
the Custom Shape Tool (set to Shape in options). With
the Custom Shape picker, choose Blob 1 under Shapes. Duplicate the mask
Create shape above model. Duplicate upper model Select the shape and add a slight, soft drop shadow via the fx button
(Cmd/Ctrl+J), move above shape. Option/Alt-click
between duplicate model and shape to create a
08 [Elements: Styles] below layers. Move the shape to position (Free
Transform if needed). Shift-click the clipped model layer to select both layers.
clipping mask. Duplicate (Cmd/Ctrl+J). Select the duplicate shape and move/transform.

Intersperse light Distort with Shear filter

Select the top layer. Place/scale/position radial.jpg [CC: Use
09 Place Embedded from here on out]. Set blend mode to Linear
Dodge (Add). Click the Add Layer Mask button in the Layers panel. Paint
black with a soft-edged brush (60-100% opacity) to fade parts. Duplicate/
move around and between model layers. Mask shape layers if needed.
Select the Space layer. Place flare.jpg. Scale up/position
10 to cover most of upper canvas before committing. Set
blend mode to Linear Dodge (Add). Go to Filter> Distort> Shear.
Click to add points, click/drag points to distort. Click OK. Add a
layer mask, paint black (60-100% brush opacity) to fade.

24
 If Overlay is too overpowering try Soft Light

Blend the backdrop Create colour haze

Place fractal.jpg. Scale up and position to cover canvas before
11 committing. Set blend mode to Overlay. Click the Add Layer Mask
button. Paint black (30-50% brush opacity) to reduce top edges. Place and
blend fractal2.jpg (Difference), fractal3.jpg (Screen) and space2.jpg (Soft
Light). Free Transform, mask and duplicate as you see fit.
Select the layer directly below the model layers. Click the
12 Create new fill or adjustment button, choose Solid Colour.
Pick #6c2424. Drop the opacity to 60%. Click the adjustment
layers mask, paint black at 30-60% brush opacity to reduce the
colour in key areas.

Add line shape Some spheres

Create new layer. Set the Foreground
13 colour to white [Elements: Plot strips
with the Rectangle tool. Shift-click to select
the shape layers, merge with Cmd/Ctrl+E,
skip to next step]. Select the Custom Shape
Tool. Choose Artistic 1 preset under Artistic
Textures. Drag out and elongate. Free
Transform to stretch further if needed.
Rotate and set aglow
14 Rotate diagonally with Free
Transform. Situate in bottom left.
15
Drop opacity to 40-50%. To make it glow, add
an Outer Glow layer style via the fx button
[Elements: Styles] below layers. Duplicate,
move to top right. If needed, add layer masks
and paint black to fade areas.
Place and mix in colourful-sphere.
png, crazy-sphere.png and tech-
sphere.png. Vary the size of these, and place
between and around model layers. Mask
where needed. Adjust colour by applying
Hue/Saturation (Cmd/Ctrl+U) and twiddling
the sliders. You also have fractal4.jpg to
throw in and blend as well.

Bring in some stars

Blur sphere Create a new top layer. Select the Brush Tool. In options, click Brush

16 Re-place or duplicate a sphere. Enlarge and position off

to the side [Elements: Right-click on the layer, choose
17 Preset Picker. From the panel menu, choose Load Brushes. Grab
stars.abr. Select the Stars brush. Set foreground/background colours to
Simplify Layer]. Go to Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur. Set to around white. Paint stars (60-100% brush opacity) across multiple layers. Vary
18px. Click OK. Adjust with Hue/Saturation if desired. size/opacity. When done, switch back to a soft-edged brush.

25
 Tutorial Go into space using blend modes and masks

Expert edit
Finalise in CC

Sharpen things up Merge and blur

Apply Camera Raw
Merge layers, convert to Smart
01 Object. Go to Filter> Camera Raw
Filter. Under Basic, increase Shadows and
Blacks. Increase Clarity to boost midtones.
Select the top layer. Press Cmd/
18 Ctrl+Option/Alt+Shift+E [Photoshop/
CC: Right-click on the layer, choose Convert
to Smart Object]. Set the blend mode to Soft
Light. Go to Filter> Other> High Pass. Set to
6px. Click OK. If needed, add a layer mask
and paint black to reduce in areas.
Merge layers again [Photoshop/CC:
19 Convert to Smart Object]. Go to Filter>
Blur> Gaussian Blur. Set to 1-2px. Click OK
[Elements: Add a layer mask. Paint black at
40-90% brush opacity to reduce blurring.
Skip to next step]. Paint black (40-90% brush
opacity) in the filter mask to reduce blurring.

Add light
Click the
20 Create new fill
or adjustment button,
choose Solid Color. Pick
aqua #35d8ce. Set
Reduce noise blend mode to Screen.
Under Detail, leave sharpening
02 alone since you sharpened with
High Pass. Do play with Luminance to
Click the mask, invert
(Cmd/Ctrl+I). Paint/dab
smooth out some of the noise. white (20-40% brush
Opacity). Create more
glows using different
colours, like blue-green
#18beb0, bright blue
#0cb2f0 and wine
#751553. You can
reduce the effect by
lowering the Opacity.

Adjust Effects settings

Under Effects, you can try
03 increasing Dehaze slightly by
sliding a tiny bit rightward. Slide Post Crop
Vignettings Amount slider leftward to
darken the edges. Click OK when done.

Apply Lens Flare filter
04 Go to Filter> Render> Lens
Flare. Click in the mini-image to
position. Adjust Brightness, choose a Lens
Type. Click OK. Add one or two more. Paint
black in the filter mask to reduce effects.
Paint on clouds
Create a new layer. Press D for default
21 colours. Go to Filter> Render> Clouds.
Set the blend mode to Screen and drop
opacity to 30%. Option/Alt-click the Add Layer
Mask button. Paint/dab white (20-40% brush
opacity) to add clouds.
Make adjustments
Finalise with adjustment layers up
22 top. Try Levels, Curves (Photoshop/
CC), Brightness/Contrast for contrast and
tone. For colour, play with Hue/Saturation,
Vibrance (Photoshop/CC), Color Balance
(Photoshop/CC), Photo Filter, Color Lookup
(CS6/CC). Limit adjustments with their
masks. When done, save your work.

26
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 Tutorial Create an ice-cream landscape

On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative

Essentials
Works with
Create an
Elements CS

What youll learn

How to transform an
CC

icy landscape scene to look

like ice cream in a bowl
ice-cream
Expert
Time taken
5 hours
landscape
Time to improve your mask skills, as we put them to work in
Rodrigo concocting this surreal composition
Marinelli

Its always fun using
Photoshop to create a scene
that mixes two completely
different situations together.
This is an excellent exercise
because it makes you think
about a new scene where
anything is possible.
Im an art director and have
12 years experience working
at advertising agencies. I
learned and am still learning
to use Photoshop through
following tutorials.
I
n every new artwork you are about to start, its
very important to keep in mind that you can
always use it to enhance your skills, so
sometimes it can be great to try something
completely new, and get out of your comfort zone.
Thats exactly what we are going to do here, as we
manipulate a frozen landscape to make it look like
it is ice cream in a bowl.
To create this image, youre essentially tackling
three different stages. The first is editing the glass
bowl so that it works inside the scene. The second
is to build up the landscape and the third is to bring
the two together.
To help us make this scene, well use masks. This
fantastic tool will help to blend different photos into
the same scene with just a few clicks. But masks
wont be used in isolation well be using them
along with the Pen tool to create layer groups that
have a mask in the shape of anything we need.
This technique makes it possible to place different
images into any shape, for our example here this is
inside the ice-cream bowl.
While masks work wonders when blending
images, they cant do all of the work on their own.
So well also use the adjustment layers, the filter
gallery and blend modes to make the final image.

Use Gaussian Blur Make a gradient effect

01 Create a new document (Cmd/Ctrl+N) at 460x310mm and paint it
(Alt+Del) with blue (#cdeaea). Then, to give more depth to the
background, duplicate the layer (Cmd/Ctrl+J), change the blend mode to
Multiply, place it on the top of the scene and apply Gaussian Blur (Filter>
Blur> Gaussian Blur) set to 105px.
02 Create a new layer, (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N), set the
foreground colour to white, select the Brush Tool (B), go
to the Brush Preset Picker and choose Soft Round Brush, with a
Size of 2800px and 70% opacity. Click in the middle of the scene
to give a gradient effect.

28
Show us your creative edits Tweet us @pshopcreative

29
 Tutorial Create an ice-cream landscape

Make a gradient mask

Link the adjustment layers Add the Shadow layer folder from bowl.psd and place it

03 Add the Bowl layer from bowl.psd and place it as above. Then go
to the adjustment layers, choose Color Balance, hold Cmd/Ctrl+Alt,
click on the bowl layer and set it to 0, 0, +60. Repeat the procedure, only this
time link a Brightness/Contrast layer set to 13, 12.
04 below the bowl. Click on the Add Layer Mask button, set
the Foreground colour to black, use the Gradient tool (G), go to the
Gradient Picker, choose Foreground to Transparent with 20%
opacity, and smoothly erase the shadow.

Create layer group with mask Use masks

Enhance the details Create a new layer (Cmd/ Add city.jpg inside the layer group.

05 To enhance the details from the

glass, duplicate the bowl layer (Cmd/
Ctrl+J) and place it above the original layer.
Then apply the High Pass filter (Filter> Other>
High Pass) set to 3px and change the blend
mode to Soft Light.
06 Ctrl+Shift+N) and place above the
bowl layer. Use the Pen tool (P) to select the
bowls top. Then activate it (Cmd/Ctrl+Enter),
create a layer group (Cmd/Ctrl+G) and select
Add Layer Mask. Finally, add the Base layer
from trees_base.psd to the group.
07 Select Add Layer Mask, set the
foreground colour to black, use the Brush tool
(B) with 40% opacity, Size: 200px, and
smoothly erase the unnecessary parts.
Finally duplicate it (Cmd/Ctrl+J) and place it to
the side, as shown above.

Apply the Feather command

Add mountain_01.jpg and place it above the bowl layer
08 group. Repeat the previous step and make a mask to
erase the unnecessary parts. Activate the layer selection
Adjust the shape
Add mountain_06.jpg and place it in front of the mountain_01
(Alt-click on the layer thumbnail), apply the Feather command
(Shift+F6) set to 2px, invert the selection (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I), and
09 layer. Make a mask (step 7) and erase the unnecessary parts to
blend it with the scene. Finally, use the Warp Tool (Edit> Transform> Warp)
press Delete three times. and adjust the mountains shape, as shown above.

30
 Show us your creative edits Tweet us @pshopcreative

Compose the landscape

Lets continue to compose the icy landscape. Add the layer
10 mountain_02 from mountain_02_03.psd and place it in
front of all the mountains. Apply the Feather (step 8) at 2px and
finally link a Color Balance adjustment layer (step 3) set to +24, 0,
-24 and a Brightness/Contrast one set to 19, 0.
More elements
11 Add the Trees layer from trees_base.psd and place it in front of the
mountains. Link a Brightness/Contrast layer set to 55, 0 and a Curves
layer with the curve like the image above. Finally use the Warp tool (step 9)
to adjust the shape of the trees.

Give more depth

To give more depth to the icy landscape scene,
12 add the layer mountain_03 from
mountain_02_03.psd and place it on the right-hand
side of the bowl. Then, link a Color Balance layer set to
-85, 0, +16 and a Brightness/Contrast layer set to 19, 0.
Flip it
13 Now, add mountain_04.jpg and place it on the left-hand side of the bowl. Use
the mask (step 7) to delete the unnecessary parts. Flip it horizontally (Edit>
Transform> Flip Horizontal), place it on the right side and with the mask, erase the
unnecessary parts until it looks just like the above image.

Customise the shape
14 Add front.psd and place it in the front
of the landscape scene. Then, to make
the shape of the image follow the bowls edge,
use the Warp tool (step 9), go to the Custom
menu, choose the option Arc Lower and
adjust the shape.
Extra details
Add mountain_05.jpg, place it just
15 like the above image and make a
mask (step 7) to erase the unnecessary
parts. Then link (step 3) Hue/Saturation (0, -6,
0), Levels (0, 1.00, 211), Curves (adjust to look
like the curve in the above image) and
Brightness/Contrast (44, 0) layers.
Add a spoon
16 Add spoon.jpg and place it as shown.
Make a mask (step 7) to erase the
unnecessary parts, giving the impression
that part of the spoon is inside the icy
landscape, just like an ice-cream. Finally,
apply the Feather (step 8) set to 2px.

31
 Tutorial Create an ice-cream landscape

Expert edit
Set the details

Create highlights
01 Use the Pen tool (P) to draw the
shape of the highlight, activate
the selection (Alt+Enter), paint it white
(Alt+Del), disable the selection (Cmd/
Ctrl+D) and apply Gaussian Blur: 30px.
Create shadows
Select the spoon layer, activate the
17 selection (Cmd/Ctrl-click on the layer
thumbnail), create a new layer (Cmd/
Ctrl+Shift+N), set the foreground colour to
#456e75 and paint it (Alt+Del). Place it below
the spoon layer, use the Free Transform tool
(Cmd/Ctrl+T), hold Cmd/Ctrl and click on the
small squares to adjust the perspective.
Add highlights
18 Link a Hue/Saturation (0, -81/0) and a
Brightness/Contrast layer (26, 38)
(step 3). Create a layer group with a mask
(step 6) in the shape of the spoon. Set the
Foreground colour to white, change the blend
mode to Soft Light, use the Brush (B) and
create highlights around the spoon.

Set the shadow

After you set the shadows
02 perspective, change the blend
mode to Multiply and make a gradient
mask (step 4) with 20% opacity to blend it.

Use the blend modes

Lets add more movement to the scene. Add snow.psd, place it in front of the spoon,
19 and link a Levels (108, 1.00, 255) and a Color Balance (0, 0, +71) adjustment layer. Then
to make the dark part of the photo disappear, change the blend mode to Screen.

Use the Smart Filter

After you merge the layers, go to
03 the Filter menu and select Convert
for Smart Filters. That way you can apply
any filter without losing the original photo.

Make a layer via copy

Lens Flare
Create a new layer, set the
04 foreground colour to black and
paint (Alt+Del). Apply Filter> Render> Lens
Flare), change blend mode to Screen and
place it close to the mountain.
Make a layer group with a mask in
20 the shape of the bowls base.
Activate it (Cmd/Ctrl-click on the mask shape
thumbnail), go to the bowl layer, use the
Polygonal Lasso tool (L), Ctrl/right-click,
choose Layer via Copy, place inside the
bowls base folder and change the blend
mode to Screen.
Enhance the shadow
21 Link a Levels (138, 1.00, 255) and a
Brightness/Contrast (45, 20) layer to
the bowls base layer. Create a new layer
(Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N), set the foreground colour
to #656b70, use the Brush tool (B) with 70%
opacity, change the blend mode to Multiply
and enhance the base shadow.

32
 Show us your creative edits Tweet us @pshopcreative

Expert tip
Edit with
Quick Mask
When you work with many
photos and have to place
them into the same scene,
its necessary to make colour
corrections. You can use the
adjustment layers, but you
also can use the Quick Mask. In
the spoon layer, for example,
to set up a Quick Mask all you
Make a glass effect have to do is press Q, use the
Blend the layers Duplicate the layers from the

22 Add mountain_04.jpg and place it in the

bottom of the bowl. Duplicate it (Cmd/Ctrl+J)
23 previous step (Cmd/Ctrl+J), merge
them (Cmd/Ctrl+E), go to the Filter Gallery
Brush tool (B), paint the part
you want to correct, press
Q again, invert the selection
(Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I) and apply
and place it on the top of the bowls base. Finally, add (Filter> Filter Gallery) and use the Glass Filter the adjustment tool you want,
bowl_base_02.psd and place it in the middle. To blend (Distort> Glass) with the settings Distortion: for example Brightness/
these images, use a mask (step 7) to erase the 10, Smoothness: 12, Texture: Frosted and Contrast set to 26, 38.
unnecessary parts. Scaling: 100%.

Add more elements

Add ski.jpg, place it as in the image and make a mask
24 (step 7) to erase the unnecessary parts. Add plane.psd,
cableway.jpg, and place in the left-hand side of the scene. Finally,
add birds.jpg and place on the right-hand side.
Set the tone
25 Lets set the tone of the icy landscape. To do that, add smoke.psd,
change the blend mode to Screen and make a mask to erase the
edges of the photo. Duplicate it (Cmd/Ctrl+J) until it fills the whole scene.

Adjustment layer with mask

Create a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer, go to the bowls
26 layer, activate the selection (Cmd/Ctrl-click on the layer
thumbnail), invert it (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I), go back to the Brightness/Contrast
The final adjustments
Lets make the scene look more vibrant. Go to the
layer, set the foreground colour to white, the Background to white, click on
the mask thumbnail and press Alt+Del. Finally set it with 18, 0.
27 Adjustment menu and use Hue/Saturation set to 0,
+28/0, Brightness/Contrast at -6, 18 and Levels at 7, 1.00, 255.

33
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 How I Made Slow Animals #1

The artist
David
Milan
Essentials I am a graphic
designer who
has worked with the likes of
Time taken Sony Music, MTV and Ferrero
6 hours Rocher. Based in Madrid,
Spain, Im a lettering artist
and calligrapher primarily,
www.thepixelprositess.com
who gets to use Photoshop
@thepixelprosites
every day for my own works

Chasing Highs
and for different projects. Its
my daily program of choice.
Find my work at
http://www.davidmilan.com

The secrets behind David Milans hands-on approach to painted text posters

I
think Photoshop is awesome! says Madrid-based David Milan,
whose work combines his love for paint, calligraphy and other
forms of graphic design. I can create different kinds of textures,
strokes and shapes on my lettering works, thanks to Photoshop. It also
enables me to add a variety of special effects using just a few tools,
such as filters.
This particular piece in focus here was one that started life on paper
in the form of acrylic paint, before being translated into Photoshop.
David then used photography of his own work to create the painted
swirls in the image, and combined it with his trademark calligraphy to
finish off.
I like to manipulate and retouch my works with the Liquify, Warp
and Smudge tools, David says. Theyre my favourite tools! This is
certainly clear in this picture; David actually cut all the paint out before
editing it with the Distort tools to form the swirls.
The finished effect is really striking; its both a feat of digital and
natural painting. As David says himself, Photoshop can convert your
simple sketch into an awesome artwork.

36
 Show us your compositions Search for photoshopcreative

Making the brush textures

The rough sketch I worked with acrylic paints of various textures and

01 I just made a rough sketch of what I had on my mind. The page

was split into the rule of thirds and the text was drawn out clearly,
02 created a series of different strokes on paper, before
taking photos of them all. Each paint stroke had to look different
with a hazier focus on the paint because that hadnt been shot at that point. to the next to vary the feel of them.

Use the Pen

I used the Pen tool to cut the images
03 from their backgrounds in
Photoshop because its easier to modify
them without the background. This stage can
take a while, and using Select and Mask to
refine the edges of the shapes can help
perfect them.
Editing the paint
04 I love to make different effects in my
work using Liquify, Warp and
Smudge. Without these tools, its hard to
make something unique: thats why I love
them! I like to change the colour of the
strokes at this stage, too.
Add the text
05 Now comes the part where the text
comes in. This calligraphy-inspired
type forms the centrepiece of the picture, and
has the same brushed nature as the paint
strokes. By creating it on a very dark grey,
you can set the whole layer to Screen.

Details and shadows Finishing touches

Shadows were brushed into the piece and paint splatter With the piece all but finished, this is the point to iron out any
06 effects were added to the top and bottom of the image
to add a little more detail. Clipping masks are useful for applying
07 creases in the image as a whole. This includes adding
adjustments to harmonise the colour tone, sharpening the piece and
shadows to just the text. touching up the brush strokes.

37
 Tutorial Create a text poster using guidelines

38
 Stop guide layers from moving: lock them with the Padlock icon

On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative

Essentials
Works with
Create a text
poster using
Elements CS CC

What youll learn

How to create a vibrant
text poster with perspective
and shape

guidelines
Time taken
4 hours

Expert
Mark Build a grid from scratch and fill it with text using selections, the Pen
White tool and layers
Theres something satisfying

about minimal work, and text
posters tend to be as minimal
as you can get: this project is
just about the letters and the
colours. Despite this, you can
still really have a lot of fun
getting creative with the text
in this image.
As senior staff writer on
Photoshop Creative, Ive
learned all kinds of quick tips
to help with even the most
impressive-looking pictures.
C
reating a piece of artwork without any
kind of guidelines is a little like building a
house without any kind of blueprints or
plans: you might be able to do it, but not
unless youre incredibly talented.
Most of us, though, have to make do with
planning out our work before we embark on it, and
this project is no different. The text in this image
has a cylindrical feel to it, which takes a lot of
planning out, from the original circle, to the oval
shapes that we create panning down the picture.
By working exactly to guides, the precision of the
piece is already done for us; theres no need to
agonise over the angles and perspective of a
picture when youre using a grid youve already
measured out. Its a little like when artists draw the
outline of a head and place a cross in the middle to
act as a guide for the facial features before they get
more in-depth.
This is a great tutorial for getting to know the
selection tools and by working to guides, you can
get even more accurate with your work. And if you
are incredibly talented in Photoshop, it just makes
for a more amazing end product!

Start the grid

Decide on colours and text
01 Grab the Type tool and enter the text
that youd like to add to the image.
Pick five or so colours that youd like to use
and add them as swatches. The colours we
used are available as a Swatch file on the
FileSilo. Hide these layers.
02 Create a perfect circle in the centre
of your document with the Elliptical
Marquee; Ctrl/right-click and choose Stroke,
5px. On a new layer add a dot to the top;
select all (Cmd/Ctrl+A), then rotate by 12
degrees. Repeat this until you fill the circle, as
you can see above.
Complete the grid
03 Using the Stroke technique from the
previous step on new layers, create
vertical lines through all the dots on the circle
guide. Create an oval around these lines and
duplicate it through the image, like you can
see in the screenshot. Group these layers.

39
 Tutorial Create a text poster using guidelines

Split the text

Select one of the ovals from the grid you
Warp the text
Add each word of your text with the Type tool; we used Bebas Neue font,
05 created, by finding the layer and Cmd/
Ctrl-clicking the layer preview. With this selected,
04 which can be downloaded at www.dafont.com/bebas-neue.font. Rasterize
each word, then Transform (Cmd/Ctrl+T). Warp so the text is in line with the grid; use
nudge down using the Down arrow key, and delete
through the letters as shown. This will give the
the Transform guidelines to help judge, too. Merge these layers and name Text. impression that the text is made of white strips.

Draw new sections Place sections behind

Shift the layers Grab the Pen tool. On a new layer, Select #808080 in your swatches

06 Grab the Polygonal Lasso. With

each of the strips that form the
letters, shift them either left or right to create
the illusion that the text isnt fully aligned. You
may need to warp these sections so that they
fit into the grid.
07 create new strips around the grid,
either extending from the letters that you
created, or as separate strips floating parallel
to the letters. Keep them varied in length.
Merge this layer with the Text layer and name
it Strips.
08 and select your grid layers. Flip
vertically using Transform (Cmd/Ctrl+T). Now,
create some strips below the white text
layers, to give the impression that there are
strips around the whole grid. Name this layer
Background Strips.

Colour the text

Create new layers and clip to the
09 Strips and Background Strips layers
(Alt/Opt-click). Use the swatches you made/
imported earlier to fill these clipping mask
layers. Use a big, black, soft brush on a layer
between the foreground and background
strips to add shadow between the two.
Give it some shape
10 Create another clipping mask above
the Strips layer and set to Soft Light.
Grab the Gradient tool (G), select black and
white, and choose the Reflected Gradient
option. Drag over the layer to add depth to
the text.
Apply a layer style
11 Ctrl/right-click on the Strips layer and
click on Outer Glow. Apply a white
Outer Glow set to Screen, with an opacity of
16%. This will make your text look more like
its glowing, though you may wish to turn the
opacity down further for a sharper finish.

40
 Stop guide layers from moving: lock them with the Padlock icon

Adjust the piece

Now correct the tone with some
12 adjustments; add a Curves layer as
pictured, a Brightness/Contrast layer
(Brightness: +32, Contrast: +40), and a Hue/
Saturation layer (Saturation: +15, Lightness:
-5). This will accentuate the pink and green,
while bringing a little blue into the
background for contrast.
Blur the text
13 Merge everything into one layer at the
top of the stack (Cmd/Ctrl+Alt/
Opt+Shift+E). Go to Filter> Blur> Field Blur and
choose Blur: 100px, Light Bokeh: 32% and
Bokeh Colour: 65%. Set to Screen and reduce
opacity to 60%; mask so it only shows over
some letters. CS users can use Gaussian Blur.
Sharpen up
14 Again, merge everything into a layer
at the top of the stack. Go to Filter>
Other> High Pass and choose 5px. Set to
Linear Light and hit Mask. Invert (Cmd/Ctrl+I),
then with a soft, white brush, mask in the
sharpness over key areas in the composition,
such as the corners of letters.

Bring the noise Make it glow

Select black and white in your
15 swatches (D). Create a new layer, go to
Filter> Noise> Add Noise and hit OK. Set to
Soft Light, 20% opacity. Duplicate the layer
(Cmd/Ctrl+J) and go to Filter> Blur> Motion
Blur; choose 90 degrees, Distance: 300px,
then hit OK.
Merge everything into one more layer
16 at the top of the stack. Go to Filter>
Filter Gallery> Glowing Edges and choose
Finish with a flare
Finally, add the supplied lens flare into
Edge Width: 3, Edge Brightness: 9,
Smoothness: 12. Hit OK, then set to Screen,
17 the image. Grab a soft black brush
and brush over the edges of the placed
20% opacity. Desaturate if you want to image to soften the edges. Set this layer to
remove excess colour (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+U). Screen, 25% opacity.

What you can do with it Create a poster EXPERIMENT

WITH COLOUR
You could produce
Images based around text make diferent versions
for great posters, especially if of your poster in
the text spells out something diferent colours, just
worth printing! by using the Gradient
There are a few things to Map adjustment ater
remember when printing your youve inished.
work, though; the first being to
create your artwork at the
highest resolution possible so CONVERT TO
you can scale down and not lose CMYK
any quality. Secondly, converting Go to Image> Mode>
to CMYK can preserve the exact CMYK Colour to
colours you use in your work. convert to CMYK
Lastly, remember to leave before you print;
enough bleed around the this will make
outside of the image, so that any the colours more
accurate when they
cropping wont have any affect
print on the page.
on the final image.

41
 Tutorial Create a watery composition On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative

Essentials
Works with

Elements CS CC

What youll learn

Work with layer masks,
filter effects, layer styles and
how to make adjustments
Time taken
2 hours
Create a watery
Expert
Daniel
Sinoca
composition
Blend different images to create a dreamlike composition using
Masks give me the ability to masks, filters, styles and adjustments
blend layers and effects in

creative ways. That is why I
put them among my favourite
features in Photoshop.
I started to get involved
in the digital world over 15
years ago and have been
working as a freelance artist
ever since, creating all kinds
of multimedia projects and
tutorial guides.
A
mong the most powerful features in
Photoshop are the masks. They primarily
serve to hide or show elements in a layer,
but theyre more than that. The masks enable you
to control the level of transparency in a layer using
black and white. Everything painted in black will
disappear, while the areas painted in white will be
visible, but using shades of grey will create
transparent areas, giving you much more control
over what to show or hide. Try experimenting with
the brush opacity or pressure to create the effect
you want. Whats more, when we work with Smart
Objects, we can apply masks to an adjustment or
filter, making it possible to target specific areas for
the effect to take place.
In this tutorial, youll be using masks in almost all
the layers and at the end of it, we hope youll have
a good understanding of how to work with masks.
You can find the images and brushes on the
FileSilo. So lets roll up our sleeves and get going.

42
 Check out the latest blog www.photoshopcreative.co.uk

Set the stage Place the sky

Create a new document, go to File> New or Go to File> Place Embedded pix-2042824_sky.jpg. Resize the image and
01 press Cmd/Ctrl+N. Name your project Watery
Scene. Set the Width to 230mm, Height to 180mm and
02 click Return/Enter. Now go to Filter> Camera Raw Filter. In the Tool tab,
grab the Gradient Filter (G). Place the cursor over the horizon line, hold Shift and
Resolution to 300ppi, then click Create. drag up. Set Clarity to +100, Dehaze to -50 and then click OK.

Create the waves Mix the spumes

Go to File> Place Embedded fo_
03 spume1.jpg. Drag it down and press
Return/Enter. Now, add a layer mask (Layer>
Layer Mask> Reveal All). Grab the
Rectangular Marquee tool (M). Make a
selection over the sky, just above the wave,
and then fill it with black.
Place fo_spume2.jpg image. Add a
04 layer mask (Layer> Layer Mask>
Reveal All). Grab the Quick Selection tool (W)
Bring in more images
Now place fo_spume3.jpg. Add a
and select the ocean. Go to Select> Inverse
(Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+I) and fill it with black. Now,
05 layer mask and repeat step 4. Press
Cmd/Ctrl+T to open the Free Transform tool,
grab a soft Brush (B) and paint over the mask then resize and move the image so it fits into
to blend the spumes. the composition.

Blend If command
Colour layer Now lets hide the greenish colour over the spumes

06 Create a new layer (Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+N). Name it Colour Layer,

change Mode to Overlay and click OK. Grab a soft Brush (B). Now,
07 using the Blend If command. Go to Layer> Layer Style>
Blending Options. Change the Blend If to Green. Hold Opt/Alt and
hold Opt/Alt and sample a greenish colour from the image. Paint over the click on the Underlying Layer right slider, then drag it to the left.
water to apply the colour evenly across the surface. Set the opacity to 80% and click OK.

43
 Tutorial Create a watery composition

Expert edit
Create custom brushes

Place the waves Add a mask

Desaturate the image
Open pix_2554944_wave.jpg.
01 Press Cmd/Ctrl+J to duplicate, then
press Shift+Cmd/Ctrl to desaturate. Open
the Level (Cmd/Ctrl+L) and adjust the
inputs to create a high-contrast image.
Go to File> Place Embedded
08 pix_2193828_wave1.jpg. Grab the
corner handles and tweak the size and angle.
In Options, switch to Warp Mode and start
creating some distortions to adjust the
perspective even further.
Grab the Lasso tool (L) and select
09 the wave. Now, create a layer mask
(Layer> Layer Mask> Reveal All). Use a soft
Brush (B), vary its opacity and start painting
around the edges to blend the wave with the
layer underneath.

Use Dodge/Burn tool

Use the Dodge/Burn tool to
02 enhance shadows and highlights.
Grab the Burn tool (O). In Options, set
Range: Shadows, Exposure: 100% and
start painting the dark areas.
Duplicate the layer Custom brushes
Press Cmd/Ctrl+J to duplicate the Go to Edit> Presets> Preset Manager.
10 layer, then go to Edit> Transform>
Flip Horizontal. Drag it to the left, press Cmd/
11 Click Load and then find fo_wave_
brushes_158.abr, press Load and then Done.
Ctrl+T, switch to Warp Mode and then tweak Set the foreground colour to white. Now,
the image a bit (check the Expert Tip for create a new layer (Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+N). Name
some extra advice). it Custom Brushes and click OK.

Brush tool
Grab the Dodge tool, tweak the
03 Range and Exposure and paint
the highlights. Use the Brush tool, set the
foreground colour to black and paint over
the unwanted areas.

Paint the wave crest Subtle shadows

Grab the Brush Tool (B). Press F5 and Create a new layer. Name it Shadows,

Save the brush

To save the custom brush, press
04 Cmd/Ctrl+I to invert the image.
Then go to Edit> Define Brush Preset.
Name your new brush and click OK.
12 choose one of the custom brushes.
Resize it and paint on top of the waves. Go to
Edit> Transform> Warp and drag the handles
to adjust the brush. Create new layers and
repeat this process a few times to complete
the wave.
13 check Create Clipping Mask and
change the Mode to Multiply. Drag it under
the Custom Brushes layer. Grab a soft Brush
(B). Set the foreground colour to dark green
and paint the shadow near the top of the
wave. Reduce the opacity a bit.

44
 Check out the latest blog www.photoshopcreative.co.uk

Add more images
Place the image fo_image1.jpg on
14 top of the layer stack. Resize it and
then add a layer mask. Grab a soft Brush (B),
vary its size and opacity and carefully paint
around the edges to blend the layers. Now,
place fo_image2.jpg and repeat the process
to combine the images.
Expert tip
Combine
images
In step 10, after you duplicate
and flip the wave, you can add
another image on top of that
to add more details, creating
a different picture. To do that,
you need to clip the layers and
use a layer mask. Place the
Marine life image pix_2193838_wave1.
jpg on top of the original
Place the image pix_553666_shark.png. Now
15 tweak the colours. Press Cmd/Ctrl+U, check
Colorize, set Hue to 175, Saturation: 50, Lightness: -60
wave. Press Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/
Alt+G to clip the layers. Now,
resize the image and use the
and click OK. Apply the Wave filter to mimic the Warp Tool to make it fit. Add
a layer mask and use a soft
undulations. Go to Filter> Distort> Wave. Set Number Brush to paint on the layer,
of Generators to 1, Wavelength: 10 and 100, and click carefully blending the images.
OK. Reduce the opacity to 60%.

Control the opacity

Place the dolphin To make the dolphins body look underwater, first you

16 Place the image pix_906182_dolphin.png. Adjust the colour and

apply the filter as in step 15 (tweak the Wavelength a bit). Grab the
Lasso tool (L) and select the area that will be out of the water. In the Smart
Filter mask, fill it with black. Repeat these steps to add more images.
17 need to add a layer mask. Now hold Opt/Alt and click on
the Smart Filter mask to activate the selection, then grab a soft
Brush (B), reduce its opacity to 40% and then paint over the
dolphins mask.

The surfer
Place the image pix_601564_surfer.png. Create a
18 reflection on the water by going to Edit> Transform> Flip
Vertical and drag underneath the surfer. Use the Warp tool (Cmd/
Ctrl+T) to adjust the image. Apply the Wave filter to create the
undulations. Reduce the layers opacity and add a layer mask to
hide the unwanted areas.
Create a shadow
19 Click on the surfer layer and then go to Layer> Layer Style> Drop
Shadow. Keep the default settings and click OK. Go to Layer> Layer
Style> Create Layer. Now, click on the Drop Shadow layer. Press Cmd/
Ctrl+T and adjust the perspective. Reduce the opacity to 40%. Bring in
more images to complete the composition.

45
 Tutorial Create a cute animal painting

Essentials

Create a cute
Works with

Elements CS CC

What youll learn

How to create a digital
painting and master the
colours and tones
Time taken
2 hours
animal
Expert
Guilherme
Asthma
painting
Build a digital painting from the sketch to the final flicks and learn
I like pictures with
personality. I usually make
an organic sketch, with
about the importance of colour and flourishes

expressiveness. For me,
colours are important to
create the climate, blend
the sensations, and I believe
that everything you do in
Photoshop contributes
to tell a good story, or
communicate whatever
it wants. Im a freelance
character artist from So
Paulo, and Photoshop is my
main tool for creating and
developing ideas.
T
hough we tend to think of layers as being a
feature most often used for
photomanipulations, they are extremely
handy when it comes to digital painting. The ability
to structure a painting as individual levels of colour,
and then play with the blend modes and opacity
setting, means its easy to tone down, enhance or
even take whole layers away if theyre not working.
This is one tutorial in which youll need to create a
layer with every step: if thats not something you
do already, its a good habit to get into because it
means you are essentially editing non-destructively.
Ultimately though, the layers are just there for
organisational reasons. The real beauty in this
piece comes from the tone and colour. The best
thing about painting digitally is getting to express
yourself with different shades and tones, and this is
certainly a project that lets you do that.
The subject for our painting is a cute panda. The
general rule for ensuring cuteness is to make the
eyes big (think Disney characters), but theres a
fine line between drawing a cute animal and
drawing something that looks borderline alien!
Well help you walk that line.

Find some inspiration

01 Start off by having a look at different
animals online to see which ones
you like and which have facial features that
you can take on and draw. Pandas are
particularly cute, and stock number
25279474 on Shutterstock.com is going to
provide the reference image for this tutorial.
Make a preliminary sketch
02 Grab any old brush from your palette
and create a basic sketch of the
pandas face. Pay attention to making the
eyes big and round, give your panda a hint of
a smile, and keep the facial features all in line
with the eyes and face.
Block in the colour
03 Adding block colour to your image is
the best way to fill out the
composition and set you up for drawing in
the details later. Fill your panda using a deep
indigo (#232230), a creamy white (#fef4ea)
and a teal (#0d5f6b) for the background.

46
47
 Tutorial Create a cute animal painting

Fill out the ears

Add in some shadows Blend in the shadows On a new layer, draw in some pink

04 With a slightly darker shade

(#7a766a), add some soft shadows
over the nose, under the chin and around the
eyes of the panda to give it a little more depth.
This is where we can really see the brush
marks come out a little more.
05 There are two ways to mix the
shadows into the piece. Either you
select a lower-opacity brush and brush over
the shadows, or you can use the Mixer Brush.
Both are good techniques for creating a more
natural-looking portrait.
06 over the ears (#e47e8b and
#903d47), and add some purple to the nose
(#6862a0 and #402455). Use a lower opacity
brush to blend in the colours on the face, but
keep with the rough edge that you started
with earlier.

More colour
Now were really
08 getting into the
portrait, add a touch of
gold in the ears (#fee487),
some purple on top of the
ears (#8c6ec8) and add in
Erase a little some green around the
Select a soft eraser. On the layer with the ears, face of the panda
07 gently rub out some of the colour around the
ears. This will give even more of a blended feel to the
(#a2c2c1) to fill him out a
little more. Blend this all
picture, without looking too rough around the edges. as before.

Shadow the eyes Perfect the eyes

With a darker, soft but low-opacity brush, add a little shadow to
09 the top of the eyes. This will add depth to the composition and will
improve the look of the eyes, as it will contrast against the shine we will
add later.
Next, add a pupil to each of the eyes of the panda. The
10 pupil can be as big or small as you like, but remember
that the bigger the iris, the more space you have to illustrate
bright colour.

48

Choose an eye colour
With a royal blue selected, brush over
11 the bottom half of each of the eyes, to
contrast against the dark shade you drew at
the top of the eyes earlier. This will give a
basis to start painting the irises.
Add low-opacity shine
Shine is key in the eyes and building it
13 up is a great way to suggest bright,
shiny eyes in your subject. Grab a 10% opacity,
80% Hard, white brush, and make subtle
touches below the pupil in each of the
pandas eyes.
Work up the background
Lets move to the background to make the panda stand
16 out a little more. Create a new layer above the
background layer. Grab a bright cyan (#63f6fe) and brush in
some vibrant flourishes to give it a bit more colour.
Change brush size by using the [ and ] keys
Expert tip
Saving
swatches
When creating a digital
painting, you may wish to use
a number of the same colours
throughout, to keep the
painting a little more cohesive:
this is easy to do with the
Swatches feature. Simply click
on the Foreground swatch
once youve selected a colour
and then hit Add to Swatches
Work on the irises to save it for later. You can
Select a sky-blue colour: we went with #0896d6. save them to your CC Library if
12 Make a tiny touch around the pupil and then
with a big brush, touch around the iris to create a blue
need be, and the Swatches tab
is in the top-right if you wish
to find a specifically-saved
shine. Make sure the Brush Pressure icon is enabled to colour from earlier.
get this faded effect.
More shine Purple shade
Layering shine in Photoshop relies on With a darker, purple brush set to 50%
14 lots of different opacity layers, and
this next one were going to use is at 100%
15 opacity, start to touch over a little
more to add some more shade around the
opacity. Make a few little touches around the pandas face, particularly the mouth, chin and
eye, below the pandas irises for an even top of the head. This adds colour but also
shinier eye. gives more depth to the composition.
Brighten the
image
This portrait needs
17 a little more colour
to bring a touch more
excitement to the panda,
so were going to add
some gold (#ffb94a), blue
(#0d5dfa) and pink
(#e73566) around the
edges to brighten it
further. Vary brushes and
leave faded edges to the
ends of the strokes.
49
 Tutorial Create a cute animal painting

More flourishes
Next, were going
19 to add some more
colour all over; this
includes some pink
above the nose, a dot of
blue in each eye and
general blue and purple
smudges and squiggles
Warmer tones over the composition. Let
With the pink youve just used to brighten up the panda, your artistic flair run free
18 select a big, soft, 20% opacity brush and add to the nose.
This will give a warmer tone against the cold background.
on this step and have fun
adding the strokes.

Extra warmth Add red and blue Gradient map

Create a new layer, set to Overlay
20 and then with a low-opacity, soft
pink brush, touch over the muzzle again to
give the portrait an even warmer feel. With a
hard, white brush, add a gleam of shine on
the nose.
Add another Overlay layer, and with
21 pink (#f52056) and blue (#00bbff), add
even more colour to the panda, around the
face and left ear. This will make the other
colours pop, not to mention the cold and
warm tones theyll bring to the piece.
Finally, add a Gradient Map
22 adjustment layer to finish; pick the
orange to blue gradient and set to Overlay.
Reduce the opacity to around 20%, and this
will enhance the colour tones as well as
improve the contrast.

What youll learn Master colour on layers EARS

By adding a colder
tone over one of
the ears, it gives
the impression that
EYES different shades have
The bigger the eyes, the cuter the portrait, been used to paint in
but also, the more fun you can have the ears.
playing with the colour and detail within
the iris.

FOREGROUND
FLOURISHES
The subtle flicks
of gold, blue and
NOSE AND MOUTH pink help to add a
Though the nose and mouth doesnt have little interest to the
much detail, the shading around the face portrait, as well as
helps to accentuate the features. frame it against the
cooler background.

50
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 How I Made Slow Animals #1

The artists
Theoretical
Part
Theoretical Part
is the creative
union of two illustrators,
Boris and Daria Sokolovsky.
We specialise in ink drawings
and illustrations for books,
apparel and musical albums.
www.thepixelprositess.com
The main themes we work
@thepixelprosites
with are mythology and
occultism, fantasy, folklore
and history. Originally almost
all of our works are drawn by
hand and then edited and/or
coloured in Photoshop. You
can find more works at our
website:
www.theoreticalpart.com

Essentials
Time taken
5 hours

52
 Show us your compositions Search for photoshopcreative
Fenrir How Fenrir, the monstrous wolf of Norse mythology, was
turned into an apparel brand
I
nitially we planned to depict the whole wolf figure, but in order
not to make the details too small, we settled on a variant with a
large sun and a large muzzle, say Theoretical Part, who were
commissioned by an apparel company to create this evocative piece.
We wanted to emphasise that this is not an ordinary wolf, so we
weaved the ornament into the fur and the skin of Fenrir.
The piece is extremely atmospheric, with the pair claiming that the
apocalyptic feel is intended to mirror Ragnark, from the myth. The
broken chains of Gleipnir feature, and the team of the dead who went
into the last battle also appear. The original ink work was drawn by
hand on an A3 sheet using fineliners, then it was scanned, cleaned and
coloured in Photoshop, reveal Theoretical Part. We used hatching for
Scanning and cleaning
01 After scanning the original ink drawing we adjusted the
contrast and then we cleared the noise and all the
irregularities. The analog drawing includes elements such as paper
relief, traces from the pencil and uneven distribution of ink. All of this
requires correction.
Main colour layer
03 Then we chose the main colour dark grey. We created a
new layer and filled it with the selected colour. Using a
clipping mask, we left the fill only on the opaque areas of the white
layer. So, we repainted the entire picture.
shades and solid fills for the darkest areas. Also, we had to study
different Norse ornaments in order to make the textures more vibrant
and diverse.
Despite starting on paper, the easiest part for the team was actually
in Photoshop. The most painstaking part of this work was the
sketching and inking the Photoshop tools provided comfort for the
digital part, they claim. We used a standard round brush and the pen
tablet for digital drawing, the main colour was dark grey, the light grey
used for highlights and the yellow for sun, fire and the backlight. This
colour scheme was chosen to reflect the cold north burning in the fire
of Ragnark. As usual, we used clipping masks and an alpha channel to
make an orderly source file with separated colour layers.
Filling the background
02 We needed to prepare an illustration for printing on black
fabric. Therefore, we filled the background with a solid black
colour. Then we created a separate white layer. Using the alpha
channel, we isolated the black, so only the white part of the illustration
remained on a transparent background.
Colour details
04 Finally, we painted highlights with light grey, and we filled all
the light sources with yellow. It was important to use
reflections of flames on different surfaces. We also used hatching to
depict shades on a black layer, with individual strokes of colour to
make a smooth transition between different tones.
53
 Tutorial Explore layer masks

Start image

54
 Apply a Bevel & Emboss layer style to the paint for added realism

On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative

Essentials
Works with

Elements CS

What youll learn

Control layer masks,
CC

use the Liquify filter, and

create precise selections
Expert
Time taken
3 hours
Simon
Skellon
I love putting the Liquify filter
through its paces, and this
technique is a great way to
use it. Adding masks to the
filter is enjoyable and gives
lots of creative possibilities.
Ive been working with
Photoshop for as long as
I can remember, but my
techniques are constantly
changing as I learn new tools
and try out new effects.
Explore
layer masks
Jump into layer masks and discover how to manipulate stock
photos to create an inspiring portrait effect
L
ayer masks are at the heart of every
composition, great or small. They are what
makes Photoshop so creatively versatile.
Alongside masks, we also have the powerful
Liquify filter at our side to give us the chance to
reshape not only layers but masks, too. This means
were able to work cleverly while reshaping stock
photos, such as paint and skin, to create a dynamic
and interesting portrait effect. And thats is exactly
what we have done in this tutorial!
The trick to achieving realism in an image like
this is to make the paint appear smooth and
layered, so utilising layers and layer styles, for
example the Color Overlay, is vital. On paper, this
effect is quite easy to achieve, but the execution
and layer management is a balancing act that can
take some practice. A good initial selection around
the subject with the Pen tool will help get you off to
the best possible start, and then its just a matter
of applying masks to the right layers. From there,
its down to blending colour and shape to produce
something quite extraordinary.
So if youve never tried the Liquify filter before,
theres no time like the present!

Start your path

01 Load up the start image from the
supplied resources into Photoshop
and select the Pen tool (in Elements, use
Quick Selection and skip to step 3). Zoom in
close and begin by placing a dot anywhere
02
along the edge of the model. Draw a path by
clicking and holding to bend the line around
the contours of the body.
Mask away the background
Using the Pen Tool
03 Once youve drawn around the entire
After each new point along the path,
Opt/Alt-click on it to continue
extending the path around the entire outside
model, close the path by joining the
first and last points. Ctrl/right-click over the
image and pick Make Selection from the list
edge of the model. Use the Cmd/Ctrl button of options. Add a new layer mask to the
to move and bend each line in the path to fit image to apply the selection and also hide
accurately over the edge. the background.

55
 Tutorial Explore layer masks

A smarter object
On a blank layer underneath the images layer, go to
04 Edit> Fill and choose 50% Grey to give the image a plain
background. Click on the models layer, and inside the Filter
Plastic skin effect
Go back into the Filter menu and Artistic> Plastic Wrap. Inside the
menu head to Convert to Smart Filters (in Elements, duplicate
the layer instead, and Ctrl/right-click over the mask and pick
05 filter, set Highlight Strength to 15, Detail to 12 and Smoothness to
15 and hit OK. The entire person should look shiny and plastic. This will give
Apply Mask). us a base to work from for the paint splats.

New style Place the paint Mask over arm

Double-click on the layer to open
06 the Layer Style menu (in Elements,
go to Layer> New Fill Layer> Solid Colour).
Choose the Color Overlay option and set its
blend mode to Hard Light. Change the colour
to a light skin tone (#e7d7c6), keep opacity set
to 100% and hit OK to apply the layer style.
Open up pix_2174688_paint1.png
07 from the resources for this tutorial
by going to File> Place Embedded. Resize the
paint file over the extended arm and hit Enter
to apply. Go to Layer> Rasterize> Smart
Object (in Elements, use Layer> Simplify
Layer) to complete the placement.
Cmd/Ctrl-click on the thumbnail of
08 the paint splat layer to activate it as
a selection. With the selection active, click on
the layer containing the model and go to the
Layer menu and to Layer Mask> Hide
Selection. Hide the paint splat layer to see
that holes have been created in the arm.

Reverse the paint Add blending options

Now Cmd/Ctrl-click on the thumbnail of the model to Double-click on the paint layer in the Layers palette to
09 activate it as a selection, and then click on the paint
layer and go to Layer> Layer Mask> Hide Selection. There
10 load the Layer Style menu and add the Color Overlay
option set to Normal and 100% opacity (in Elements, go to
should now be paint extending over the background and holes Layer> New Fill Layer> Solid Color). Set the colour to a light skin
over the arm of the model. tone to match the colour of the layer beneath.

56
 Apply a Bevel & Emboss layer style to the paint for added realism

Create skin layer

Duplicate the layer containing the model by pressing Cmd/
11 Ctrl+J. Delete the layer mask from this duplicate by Ctrl/
right-clicking over the mask and selecting Delete Layer Mask. Reveal the skin underneath
Then Ctrl/right-click over the Smart Filter and select Clear Smart Cmd/Ctrl-click on the paint layers thumbnail to activate it as a
Filters. Also remove the layer style from this duplicate, leaving
just the original layer.
12 selection and on the duplicate layer just made, add a layer mask to
leave just the skin showing on the arm.

Load more stock

Commence Liquify! Apply the Liquify filter to view the Liquify some more
13 Click on the mask of the paint splat 14 results. Go to File> Place Embedded
and go to Filter> Liquify (Elements: Go and select the remainder of the paint stock 15 Transfer the layer mask from the first
paint splat to the other layers of paint,
to Filter> Distort> Liquify). Zoom in close to from the resources. Position them over the and then begin Liquifying each layer mask
the arm and begin using the Forward Warp model and press Enter to apply. Apply the separately. The goal is to make it look like the
Tool set to Size: 90 and Pressure: 100 to push Color Overlay layer style (in Elements, Layer> paint is falling off the models skin. Changing
and pull the area masking the paint. Because New Fill Layer> Solid Color), but this time the size of the Forward Warp tool will help
were working on a mask, its non-destructive. use a darker shade of skin tone. vary the look of the effect.

Mask away dress

Show some skin Apply the same brush, but set to 40% opacity, to the

16 Cmd/Ctrl-click on the thumbnail of one of the paint layers to load it

as a selection. On the layer mask of the model, use the Brush tool
set to white to reveal the skin. By loading the selection first, we can
restrain the amount of skin revealed to just the area of the paint.
17 models face to reveal some of her features. With the
brush set to 100% opacity, reveal her dress, working on the
same layer mask as before. Change the Color Overlay/Solid
Color layer to match the dress and to complete the effect.

57
 Project focus Thinking inside of the box
Thinking inside of
the box
How Alisson Rochinski created a beautiful and futuristic piece of art, based on and
inspired by the interface that he works in every day
About the artist
Alisson
Rochinski
https://www.
behance.net/
rochinski
@allrochinski
Alisson Rochinski is 21 years
old, lives in Umuarama, Paran,
Brazil, studies advertising at the
Paranaense University (Unipar)
and has worked as a graphic
designer at the marketing
agency Beagle Ship since he
began to work in a photographic
studio. Since then, hes become
even more passionate about
graphic design and realised that
this is the perfect career path
for him.
Name of the project
Adobe Photoshop Redesign
Concept
58
P
hotoshop is usually a place that
combines all of your artistic inspirations.
But for Alisson Rochinski, Photoshop was
the inspiration for his futuristic redesign of the
programs layout.
The interface captured the imagination of
over 10,000 people who saw it, many of
whom asked if they could actually download
it. Inspired by the futuristic minimalism of
sci-fi, particularly the movie Tron, Alisson set
about reinterpreting various screens, tools and
features with a modern aesthetic.
We asked him about the project, his history
using the software itself and learned more
about his creative process.
Whats your background in art
and design, Alisson?
My career in graphic design started early.
When I was 12 years old I first used
Photoshop, and having my uncle as a mentor, I
gradually improved my abilities as my passion
for digital art grew. At the age of 17 I joined
the advertising course at Unipar, when I
started to understand how design can work as
a means of communication and also as a tool
for artistic expression. Now, in the last year of
the course, I understand the designers role in
an advertising agency.
This project focuses heavily on
Photoshop: have you always been
a fan of the software?
Well, my uncle was a graphic designer and I
was very young at that time, but I had just
entered elementary school when my uncle
bought a computer with Photoshop installed.
Ive always been curious, so I used to be that
kind of kid that keeps standing behind while
others are working on the computer, just to
learn. And most of the time, while my uncle
was working, I was on his side trying to
absorb as much as I could. I remember that I
used to mix animals in futuristic environments,
and later those works were used as
wallpapers on the computer.
Where did the idea for this project
come from?
My last few projects were focused on
interface design, and most of them are
conceived to offer a better experience for the
user. Ive used Photoshop since its 7.0 version
(which was the first one I had contact with),
and Ive seen huge developments in its
interface since then. But my idea was to
create a special version with an interface that
offers freedom and inspiration for designers at
the same time that it maximises their abilities.

ILLUSTRATED ICONS
The 10% of the project not
created in Photoshop, was
done in Illustrator. In some
cases I used Adobe Illustrator
to create small icons that
werent possible to create using
only Photoshop, says Alisson.
And did you only use Photoshop
to create this project?
This is one of the facts that I like the most
about the project, because even though
Adobe Illustrator was necessary to create
some icons, the work was 90% developed in
Photoshop. The funny thing is that in the
middle of the process I confused the tools a
lot, for example, instead of clicking in the
Photoshop Actions box, I ended up clicking
the fake ones I was building in my window!
Do you have any favourite tools
that you enjoy using in
Photoshop?
Choosing only one favourite tool isnt an easy
task, and day by day I find out different ways
of using the same tool, and it makes me even
more excited about it. But if I had to choose
FUTURE PROJECTS
Alisson isnt ruling out a
sequel to this project. I think
a lot about redesigning some
other Adobe sotware, like
Illustrator, and use this same
futuristic concept, he says.
among three favourite tools, I would probably
choose the Text tool, Bzier and Brush tool,
while the Text tool would be the most used by
far. And I have to share with you this too: Ive
been part of the group of designers that puts
Helvetica in every possible project.
Helvetica certainly adds to the
futuristic feel...
Futurism and immersive design were definitely
my biggest influences to create the project.
Since its beginning, I knew that I didnt want
to work on an interface for 2017, I wanted
people looking at its interface and feeling like
they were in a sci-fi movie. As inspiration to
develop some parts of the interface, I used
some of the elements and colours from the
movie Tron. Also, I wanted a project that
people could focus on and participate deeply
NEUTRAL TOOL
COLOURS
People asked why I
eliminated the neutrality
of colours in the tool,
reveals Alisson. The idea
is that the tool should
adapt itself according to
the project.
All images Alisson Rochinski
in an immersive experience, while creating
something beautiful.
Whats the feedback on this
project been like?
I was extremely surprised about the reception
of the project. People really loved it and they
asked me a lot where they could buy it. It took
me some time to explain that the project, at
least for now, is only a concept for the
software. The feedback about the interface
was very positive, which is very rewarding.
Some of the people asked why I decided to
eliminate the neutrality of colours in the tool,
and my argument was always that the idea of
the tool is to adapt itself according to the
project, so the user can be free to personalise
as he or she wants. After all, this is the
freedom that I wanted to offer in this version.
59
 Advanced Transform a portrait in the style of the Renaissance

60
 Show us your creative edits Tweet us @pshopcreative

On the FileSilo
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resources at www.filesilo.
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Essentials
Time taken
1-2 hours
portrait in the
Expert
Vicki-Lea
style of the
Renaissance
Boulter
I love giving traditional styles
a modern twist, which is
what Ive done here using a
Renaissance style.
I am a creative portrait
photographer. I make
images of women, children Combine photos to build up a Renaissance scene and make
and animals, which reflect
their personalities through
adjustments to achieve a painterly effect
creative storytelling. In all

R
enaissance art is regarded as the creative
my images I use Photoshop bridge between the 14th and 17th century,
to layer my art, photographs
and other mediums, fusing when creative styles crossed over from
several ideas in order to the middle ages to modern history. A style
create one concept. combining realism, with the beauty of nature the
Renaissance style is a great way to create an image
combining a timeless muse with atmospheric,
earthy backgrounds.
For this tutorial, we will be manipulating photos
to fit the Renaissance style, adjusting the colours
and textures, building a background and adding
other details for a stunning result.

Creating the background

01 Create a new canvas approximately 230mm x 310mm for the
purposes of this tutorial please note we will use a slightly larger
page to allow for print bleed. Once this has been done, add the Clouds
image to your canvas. Resize to fill the entire length.
Add colour to clouds
02 Create a new layer and fill with R:42, G:34, B:11. Change
your blending mode to Hard Light to allow the textures
of your clouds to show through the colour.

61
 Advanced Transform a portrait in the style of the Renaissance

Remove background from model

Using the Background Eraser tool set at Tolerance: 24%, carefully

Add the subject

Add RS86884_IP 01 Mixed light portrait to your image.
03 Resize to fit your frame, leaving at least 2cm space from
the edges all round.
04 go around the edges of the hair removing unwanted background.
There are a lot of ways to remove backgrounds from hair, but as we will be
painting over a lot of the hair later, this is a very quick method to use right
now. Make a masking layer on the subject and continue to remove the rest
of the background, until just the model is remaining.

Change skin tones
Go to Filter> Camera Raw and make
06
05 adjustments until you have warm
skin tones. Having a higher contrast and
reducing the brightness will create depth, and
also create highlights that can be enhanced
further using the Dodge tool if required.
Glowing skin
To make the skin glow and look
glossy, go to Filter> Filter Gallery>
Distort> Diffuse Glow and move the sliders to
create a shiny effect on the skin. Photoshop
will automatically select the background
colour you currently have selected, so to get
a slightly warmer glow, avoid cold colours
and white.
Create a new sky layer
07 Holding down the clouds and the
colour clouds layer, duplicate and
merge together to create a new sky layer.
Place this layer above the model layer so that
it is no longer visible.

Mask the sky layer

Add a layer mask to the sky layer. Then using a fairly large soft
08 brush, and with your foreground colour as black, gently paint
through some of the model, paying particular attention to the highlighted
areas of her skin. By just revealing parts of the model, we are creating the
illusion that she is lying on the clouds.
Background glow
09 Select the colour cloud layer underneath the model
layer. Using a 2600px large soft brush, and a pale yellow
foreground colour, make a mark around the area of the left
shoulder, to create a glow behind our model.

62
 Show us your creative edits Tweet us @pshopcreative

Create an old-fashioned skirt
Open the Cage image. Drag the
10 picture on to your canvas and change
the blend mode to Subtract. Adjust the
position of the cage so that it fits to the waist
of the model, then add a layer mask. Using a
soft brush, take away the right-hand side of
the cage and any unwanted areas to create
the illusion of a skirt.
Create a plant
Open the Plant image and place over
12 the bottom half of your canvas, and
change the blend mode to Soft Light. Add a
layer mask. Use a brush to take away some
of the branches, to soften the edges of the
image and to make some branches more
opaque than others.
Expert tip
Making
adjustments
to the face
A really good technique for
editing the models face is
the Frequency Separation
method. This basically means
separating the textures from
the colours, which enables
Head dress
11 Open the Fire image, place on top of the
models head and resize/reposition until the
you to work on either area
independently, without
affecting the other.
A very quick and easy way
brighter areas of the flames flow with the brighter to do this is to make copy
areas of her hair. Change the blend mode to Screen. layers of your image. Place the
Add a layer mask. Use a brush to delete any of the first layer on top of your image
flames going over the models face, and areas where and call it Colours. Place the
second layer on top of Colours
you wish for more of the background to show through. and call it Textures. Now blur
the Colours layer using the
Gaussian Blur filter so that you
can just make out the face.
Now, with the Textures layer
selected, go to Image> Apply
Image, and set the Layer to
Colour, change the blending
mode to Subtract, change the
Scale to 2, and then offset the
image to 128. (This method is
for images working in 16 bit.)
Your textures and colours
are now separated. Go to the
blending modes drop-down
Rear of the hair menu and change your
Textures layer from Normal to
Using brush hair.abr, create a layer called Hair
13 Back and varying the size and opacity of the
brush, create hair which looks as though it is falling
Linear Light. Now everything
is set up so that you are free
to work on your colours
from the back of the models head. Use a mask to and textures, smoothing
remove any unwanted overlap over the models and adjusting completely
independent of one another.
shoulder. The colour should be a mid to dark colour, as
the underside of hair tends to be darker.

The midtones
Hair shadows Repeat step 15 using a lighter colour

14 Using brush hair.abr, create a layer

called Hair Shadows. Use the brush,
varying the size and opacity, to create some
denser broad shadow marks. The underside
of hair is always darker, and as they only
serve as a background colour you dont have
to worry too much about how natural these
marks look at this stage. Make marks that
start to flow out to the left.
Add lowlights
Repeat step 14 with varying shades of
15 a darker hair colour to build up the
darker underlayer of hair. Use a mask to take
out any wanted marks and the Blending tool
to smooth any areas you feel are too harsh,
as at this point some of the marks will show
through as hair. Vary brush sizes and use fine
brushes to make smaller strands.
16 as hair gets lighter as it gets nearer
the surface. The hair strands should get
narrower as they get lighter, and vary the
Opacity setting. Keep the flow of the hair
colours moving in the same direction to
create a blowing in the wind effect and start
introducing a few strands from the other side
of the models head, again flowing in the
same direction.

63
 Advanced Transform a portrait in the style of the Renaissance

Highlight flyaway hair Add hair glow

Highlights are on the upper surface of the hair, and as such should
17 be lighter, so make sure the opacity setting on the hair brush isnt
too low. The strands should be finer and appear more like hair, and the
density of the lighter strands should be more dense on the part of the
models hair where the light would be falling on her.
Use a fairly large flat soft brush with the opacity turned
18 down to create a glow on the areas of the hair where the
light is bouncing off the models head. This will also soften the
strands of hair where they lie flattest on the head, making our
head of hair look more natural.

Bird arm rest

Open the
20 BIRD image
and add to your
canvas. Change the
blending mode to
Overlay, and resize to
look as though it is
tucked under the
models hand. Use an
Group hair layers adjustment mask to
Highlight all the hair layers, right-click remove any
19 and select Group Layers. Call this
group Hair. Make an adjustment mask on the
unwanted
background, paying
Hair group, and use a soft opaque brush to particular attention to
gently soften or remove any unwanted hair the area where the
markings. Taper out the edges, allowing the bird overlaps the
hair strands to look finer at the ends. models hand.

Create movement with leaves Final adjustments

Adjustment layers
Duplicate your layers and merge to
21 make a flattened layer for the final
adjustments. On the flattened layer, create
Exposure and Color Balance adjustment
layers. Adjust the Exposure to +0.0075, and
the Color Balance to: C: -4, M: +4, Y: +17 this
will give the feel of a Renaissance painting.
The flowing hair gives the
22 impression of wind, but we can also
add a few leaves. Photoshop has a leaf brush
you can use go to the Brush panel and
increase the Angle and Roundness jitters so
that all the leaves dont look the same. Use
the Blending tool to blur a few of the leaves at
the back, in the same flow pattern as the hair
to create the impression of movement.
Make a few tweaks to finish the
23 image. In Camera Raw, decrease the
luminance of the skin tones to make the
model look more bronzed. Other suggestions
might be to use the frequency separation
method to even out the skin tones or
shadows see the tip for how. Or perhaps
youd like a vignette, to draw the edges of
your image in slightly, framing the subject.

64
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 Advanced Enhance beauty shots with PortraitPro

On the FileSilo
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resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative Enhance
Essentials
Time taken
1 hour beauty Start image

Expert
John
Ross
In this straightforward and
shots with
PortraitPro
easy-to-follow PortraitPro
tutorial, youll learn how to
ix skin blemishes, retouch
spots, smooth out wrinkles
and get rid of shine with the
Clear Skin technology, all the
while keeping the portraits
natural texture. You can
subtly alter facial aspects,
Learn simple techniques on how to retouch portraits subtly and
utilise makeup controls, realistically with PortraitPro
and even take control of the
lighting in a photo ater the

B
shoot in real time.
With 20 years of
professional experience
in the ield, I educate
photographers and
retouchers by expanding
their knowledge through
my website www.
TheArtofRetouching.com.
You can also catch my
comprehensive live classes
in New Haven, Connecticut.
eauty retouching is often an extremely
overwhelming and daunting task for
beginners. While augmenting the beauty of a
subject should come easy to the seasoned
retoucher, the amateur might end up doing too
much and create an image that looks fake, flat, and
lacks realistic authenticity.
In contrast to the typical photo-editing software
out there, PortraitPro boasts specialised tools for
beauty retouching. With its main priority being the
enhancement of the human face, the program is
very welcoming to even the most unskilled user or
retoucher. Dramatic effects can instantly be
accomplished in a matter of seconds with just a
mere press of a button. The before and after
feature lets you see how your image should look
with its default settings, and by moving the intuitive
sliders around, you can get the results you want
without even breaking a sweat.
After this tutorial, you will be able to retouch
portraits with the utmost ease so that you can
move on to the next project and keep building your
portfolio. Go ahead grab your studio shots and
get experimenting!

Standard, Studio
or Studio Max
02 PortraitPro
comes in
Standard, Studio or Studio
Max versions. Each has
Start in Lightroom or Photoshop more features than the

01 Its important to start off right, and do some

basic adjustments inside Lightroom or
Photoshop before going into the PortraitPro software.
last, but its Studio that
can work with RAW files.
It can also work as an
Each program has its strengths. PortraitPro will never integrated plug-in for both
have the tight colour and tonal control that is found in Lightroom and
Adobes software. Photoshop, as well.

66
Check out the latest blog www.photoshopcreative.co.uk

67
 Advanced Enhance beauty shots with PortraitPro

Expert tip
Experiment
and learn
There are many sub-items
in all of the various panel
controls, so feel free to
experiment and see what
works best. The only way you
will fully get the hang of the
sotware is to keep trying and
keep making mistakes. Each
sub-item will use diferent
settings, but as always, be
careful not to go overboard
with your efects. Finally, as PortraitPro versions Face scanning
with anything, you should However you need to get your image into Once you have booted up your
always be prepared for
crashes, which is why saving 03 PortraitPro, please do so. For simplicity, when
you open the program you can find a simple Open
04 PortraitPro software, it will scan
your opened image for faces. Afterward, you
your work and saving it oten
is a crucial habit to get in to. Image button on the right side. Push it, then select your get to decide what type of face it is, and if it is
image to get started. Male, Female, a Girl or a Boy.

Before and after Preset options

When its ready, you are presented with a Before and
05 After image. Hovering the mouse over the Before side
lets you better match the image shape by moving the various
points around. The will enable the programs algorithm to know
where the different parts are located.
All your options are presented on the far-right side. You can easily
06 get started with a list of quick presets, and each one that you
choose will add to the previous setting. This means that changing the eye
colour and then adjusting the skin, for example, wont overwrite previous
adjustments made.

Going beyond
presets
Keep in mind that
07 the presets are
simply there to give you a
quick start point for your
retouching, which you
can later adjust. Relying
on them too much will Portrait Improving sliders
create an image that The real power of PortraitPro lies in the bottomless pit
might look fake and
poorly retouched, as
08 of options in the Portrait Improving sliders. By default, it
chooses some default settings for you, seen in the After window.
most of the effects can But if you find yourself with too many preset options, simply click
sometimes be too strong. Reset to Original Image to start over.

68
 Check out the latest blog www.photoshopcreative.co.uk
Face Sculpt Controls
Inside Face Sculpt Controls, you have
09 the power to control facial features
such as the eyes, nose, mouth, and lips
individually. For instance, moving the Nose
slider to the right can make your models nose
smaller, and sliding the Jaw to the right can
extend the jawline.
Correcting skin areas
If you find that you have any strange skin issues, at the top of the Skin Smoothing
11 Controls panel is View/Edit Skin Area. In there, you can modify where the skin starts
and stops. This also affects the Skin Smoothing Controls section, so modify as needed.
More smoothing
Once you have adjusted the mask, you
12 can simply move the sliders around
for a variety of effects. The settings at the
bottom Texture and Skin Texture Type are
directly linked to the next step. There you are
modifying specific areas, as well as adjusting
the texture opacity.
Skin Smoothing Controls
The Skin Smoothing Controls panel
10 has several options, but first you
must ensure the mask defining the areas
that you want to modify is accurate. To take
advantage of this tool to help you smooth out
uneven skin and get rid of pesky blemishes,
see the next step.
Touching up
13 Click the Touch Up button at the top of
the window. You can adjust the Size
and Strength of the brush youre using. As an
example, you can paint on the cheek with a
low Strength of 20 or 30, and keep doing so
until the effect builds up.
Expert edit
Pro skin retouching
Paint sparingly
01 Its easy to go too far with the Touch
Up tool and end up with fake and
overworked skin. Only brush in skin-
damaged areas.
Skin texture
The Texture and Skin Texture Type
02 options inside Skin Smoothing
Controls are global settings. You can
change the actual skin pattern with the
pull-down menu.
Create skin varieties
The default Img0087 is
03 satisfactory, but there are a
variety of skin types in real life, so having
only one texture to choose from for all of
your skin is problematic.
Retouch with control
Avoid flat skin texture by using
04 Touch Up only on the specific
parts of your image that need fixing, and
by reducing the brush Strength setting.
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 Advanced Enhance beauty shots with PortraitPro

Expert tip
Practising
discretion
Tempting as it is to use
every single tool at your
disposal in any retouching
sotware, the danger here
is that when too many tools
are used on a portrait it
simply ends up looking like
a complete disaster. One of
the greatest skills of a true
and professional retoucher
is knowing when to apply Skin Lighting Controls Adjusting the light source
changes and knowing when Skin Lighting Controls is a fairly enjoyable Unfortunately, there doesnt seem to be
to hold back. Over time, you
should be able to develop a
14 tool that enables you to move the lighting
angle around, letting you effectively correct or
15 any way to adjust the amount of light
actually being placed on the subject. You can,
good eye for which tools to
use and which ones to go enhance the existing lighting from the photo shoot. however, adjust the size of the light source by
easy on. While this is no replacement for good lighting, it dragging on the Contrast, Modeling and Fix
can certainly fix mediocre lighting. Lighting sliders.

Makeup Controls
Subtle contrast You should try to steer clear of the Makeup Controls

16 For this example, bring up the Contrast to 50. Afterward, adjust the
Sculpt Nose to 54. Just be careful not to go trigger happy with the
rest to prevent any overkill remember that subtle is always best!
17 presets. Alternatively, you can set Upper Eyeshadow to 25
with a Brightness of 25, Mascara to 50, Light Application,
Softness to 100, and Texture to 100.

Eye Controls Mouth and Nose Controls

Enhance makeup The Eye Controls are a tough area to Sometimes, being a good retoucher

18 This is the area where PortraitPro

excels. There are more options than
you will know what to do with buried in here.
However, just because there is a slider,
doesnt mean you need to move it. Just keep
it simple, and keep it real!
19 navigate precisely, because there are
many sub-options. In our example here, we
simply set Master Fade to 4, Brighten Iris to
14, and Contact Lens Opacity to 12. You do
have the ability to split settings per eye if that
is something you need.
20 means knowing when you shouldnt
touch a single thing. As with Mouth and Nose
Controls, in this case, leave them be you
can adjust your portrait better with other,
more controlled techniques. Or crank them
up to 100. That may work, too!

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 Check out the latest blog www.photoshopcreative.co.uk

Recolour the hair

Hair Controls Click Hair Recolour and choose the colour you want. You can add

21 For Hair Controls, you will need to adjust the mask. To do

this, simply click on the View/Adjust Hair Area and edit
22 to the intensity with Hair Recolour Amount, Shine, and Vibrance.
Note, however, that it will not change the colour of the eyebrows, unless
the masking area accordingly with your brush. you added them to the mask in the previous step.

Skin Colouring and

Tidying options
With Go to Hair Tidying Mode, you
23 can actually clean up the hair with
Fill Hair Shadows and Smooth Hair. Be wary
of applying the effect too much and
mistakenly giving the image an illustrative
look. Adjust it just enough to stop the thin
hairs from going in every direction.
Control values
24 You can play with the other hair
settings like Shine, Lighten, Redden
and Vibrance. Just like Hair Recolor, the
wrong settings can easily make the image
look very strange. This panel is not one of the
programs strongest areas.
Picture Controls
With Skin Colouring and Picture
25 Controls, you can make image-wide
colour and tonal changes easily. These will
enable you to set the basic overall look of the
image that you are going for. Note that the
Tint slider is backward from Lightroom and
Photoshops Tint sliders.

Flexible changes
One of the
27 strengths of this
program is the ability to
jump around, making
changes as you go. Still,
you wont be able to do
everything yourself. Save
Finishing touches and open in Photoshop.
For every major change that you make to your There, you can complete
26 image, remember to save your whole session.
Go to File> Save Session to save all of the slider options
the image by removing
the flyaway hairs and
for your current image. It will even reload the original other blemishes you
image you were working on when re-opened. might have missed.

71
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 Ele
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Elements
en
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Essential
techniques
Follow our
step-by-step
16 pages of practical guides tutorials

Surreal project On the FileSilo

learn how to Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.

CREATE A SURREAL co.uk/photoshopcreative

SEASCAPE Follow our world-bending

Elements guide on p82

Create more in Elements

Crop with precision..........................................74
Design a bottle label.......................................76
Create duotone images...............................80
Create a sporty caricature........................86
 nts
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CROP ACROSS LAYERS

If you crop a layered document
in Elements, your crop will apply
across the whole of the image.

What
does it mean?
RESOLUTION This refers to the
quality of an image; it determines
how many pixels per inch/centimetre
are displayed in the image. The
higher the number, the better the
quality. The most common
resolution online is 72, but if
you increase this to 300,
you have much better
quality pictures.
On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative
Tool focus

Crop with precision

Use the Crop tool in Elements to frame your photos
People think that cropping is the most basic of any Elements tool,
and a feature reserved for the last step in your creative process.
But cropping is so much more than that; its a tool for framing your
pictures, and its far more powerful than you think.
Your eye is always drawn to something in a picture, so the focus
of a photo is extremely important. This is where the Crop tool
comes in; a well-cropped photo will draw your eye to something
interesting in the shot, whereas a badly cropped picture wont. Its
not just photography that cropping is essential in, either; painters
have to frame their images as well, and a lot of digital art needs to
be cropped as finely as a photo. Try using the default Rule of Thirds
cropping grid; by cropping with various objects on the intersections
of the grid, the photo will look far more harmonious.
So while cropping is sometimes overlooked, its important. But
thats not to say its difficult. The Crop tool is user-friendly, and
cropping your images is a good habit to get in to whether youre a
photographer or you like creating photomanipulations as its
something you will probably need at some point.
Lets dive into how to get a precise crop and look at how the
various options within the tool can help achieve this. It might be the
most basic tool you ever learn to use in Elements, but its also one
of the most important!

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Cut to perfection Reframe your photos with all the available options Shortcut
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+C
to activate the
Crop Tool

Use the suggestions Choose a speciic size

01 Open the photo you want to crop and go to the Crop icon on
the left-hand side of your window. There you will see that
Elements offers four common suggestions for your photo. If any of
02 If you wish to be a little more precise with your photo, you can
use the two boxes on the left marked L and H to choose a
speciic length and height for your picture. Click the two arrows
them look like a preset youd like to apply, simply double-click. between the boxes to switch orientation.

Rotate the photo Resize the image

03 Grab around one of the corners of the photo and turn it to
rotate the photo on its axis. This will bring up the tiled grid;
use this grid to judge whether the straight lines in the photo are
04 Once youve inished cropping, go to Image> Resize> Image
Size (Cmd/Ctrl+Alt/Opt+I), and check that youre happy with
the size and resolution of the photo. Here, you can increase the
parallel, so that you can create a cleaner crop. resolution of the photo without actually changing the size.

Other Modify tools The other features on offer in the Modify section of the menu

Content-Aware Move Cookie Cutter Straighten

The Content-Aware Move tool is great for moving The Cookie Cutter tool works in a similar way The Straighten tool is one of the simpler features
objects in your pictures to other places, without to the Crop Tool, in that it cuts your image to Elements has, offering the option to straighten
having to tidy up ater youve moved them. Simply make it smaller; the only difference is that the your pictures based on a line that you can
make a selection of something in your image, and Cookie Cutter, as the name may suggest, cuts drag across the image. From there, you can
drag it to somewhere else in the picture; the tool your image into a specific shape of your choice. choose whether the image fills in the space
will then replace the pixels let with other pixels Simply choose a shape in the bottom bar and automatically with Content-Aware, doesnt fill it,
from elsewhere in the photo. drag to create. or shrinks to the new size of the image.

75
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What
does it mean?
BLEED This indicates the area
around the edges which may be at
risk from being trimmed or cropped
during printing. Any important details
or aspects of your design should be
kept away from this area to make
sure they will be safely
preserved during the printing
and cutting out of your
labels.

Start image
Creative project

Design a bottle label

Learn how to make a fun and customised package
Packaging design is all about reflecting the identity of your product.
Here, we are taking a drink which weve named Creative Juice and
using that as inspiration to design an appropriately themed label. In
this tutorial we will show you how to create this bold and vibrant
bottle label, with some great colour and layout techniques for
making the design stand out and convey the sense of fun and
energy of the product. Youll learn about using guides to create a
bleed, how to warp fonts to generate a simple logo from your
product name, and we will also be transforming and rotating design
elements, then applying layer masks generated from selections to
create a dynamic splash border.
Picking a colour scheme is absolutely key with any product
packaging design; this bottle label design uses complementary and
contrasting colours in order to make the design really stand out.
Applying a gradient map to any pasted-in objects keeps the entire
design within the chosen colour scheme. But if purple and orange
arent your thing, you can easily try out different colour
combinations. Check out a colour wheel for inspiration on which
colours work well together and give maximum impact. To keep your
final design looking authentic, dont forget the little details; putting
information such as the volume and quantity on the label makes it
look like the real deal.

76
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On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
sTAge 1 co.uk/photoshopcreative

Build the background

Bold colours, gradient and lines form the backdrop
Begin by creating your file and adding a bleed. The file size you need
will depend upon your chosen bottle size as well as the label sizes
offered by your printing company. To follow along with this tutorial,
create a new file at 3.25in wide by 4.5in high, and a resolution of File set up
300ppi; this will produce a label suitable for a standard-sized bottle.
A gradient layer will help to make a simple but attractive backdrop
for the design, while bold lines in contrasting colours add a splash
01 Create a quarter-inch bleed by adding four guides (go to View>
New Guide) at 0.25in Vertical, 3in Vertical, 0.25in Horizontal
and 4.25in Horizontal. Select the Paint Bucket Tool (press K) and ill
of variety and interest. the background with a colour of R:100, G:0, B:119.

Apply a gradient
02 Change the foreground colour back to black, then click the
Create new ill or adjustment layer icon at the top of the
Layers palette and choose Gradient. Set the gradient to Foreground to
Transparent, with Style: Relected, Scale: 150% and tick the Reverse
box. Click OK.
Add the lines
03 Select the Line Tool (press U) and choose a weight of 20px
and colour of R:239, G:146, B:0. Hold Shift and click and drag
to add horizontal lines near the top and bottom of the canvas. Add two
more lines with a 10px weight and colour of R:239, G:197, B:0.

Shortcut COLOUR CHOICE

Holding shift when
adding lines Complementary colours,
ensures they are such as purple and orange,
straight work well together while
also helping your design to
really stand out.
MAKING
SET THE ADJUSTMENTS
WEIGHT Double-click
Enter the width an adjustment
manually for your layer, such as this
line here, or click gradient, to access
and drag let and its settings and edit
right to make it it at any time.
thinner or thicker.

PICK A COLOUR
The small colour wheel icon gives
you access to the Colour Picker
when setting the colour for a line.

77
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sTAge 2
Create the logo
Its time to build the main focal
point of the label
The font you use is also important for
creating the impression you want the label
to give of your product. Choose something
that fits appropriately; this may be a font
which is chunky and bold, or something a
little more whimsical. Theres a huge array Add the product name
Circular marquee
of both free and paid-for fonts available
online, via websites like FontSquirrel.com or
01 Select the Type Tool (T), choose your
font with a colour of R:239, G:146,
B:0, type out your product name in the middle 02 Select the Elliptical Marquee (M) and
hold Shift while clicking and dragging
CreativeMarket.com. As well as working with of the canvas. Highlight the text, click the to create a circular selection. Right-click and
fonts, well be pasting in a design element, Create Warped Text icon in Tool Options, and choose Transform Selection. Resize and
duplicating and rotating it, and masking it to choose Style: Bulge, with +36% Bend and position the circle so it intersects some of
build the splash border. -20% Vertical Distortion. the text as shown.

Paste in the splash

03 Create a new layer at the top of the
layer stack, name it Circle. Go to
Edit> Stroke (Outline) Selection, apply a black
stroke of 5px to the outside. Press Cmd/
Ctrl+D to deselect. Open pix_42357_splash.
png, and copy (Cmd/Ctrl+C) and paste (Cmd/
Ctrl+V) it into your artwork, naming the
resulting layer Splash.
Duplicate and reposition
04 Press Cmd/Ctrl+T, resize and position
so it its along the bottom-left quarter
of the circle. Duplicate it three times (press
Cmd/Ctrl+J). On the irst duplicate, press
Cmd/Ctrl+T, right-click and choose Rotate 90
degrees right. Position it along the top-left
quarter of the circle.
Complete the splash circle
05 Repeat with the other two splashes,
rotating 180 degrees and 90 degrees
left and placing them over the right top and
bottom of the circle. Hold Shift and click each
splash layer in the Layers palette to select
them all, right-click and then choose Group
From Layers.

GOING FULL
CIRCLE
By rotating four
copies at angles
of 90 degrees,
the splashes
completely
encircle the
product name to
Add a layer mask create a frame.

06 Go to the circle layer, use the Magic

Wand Tool (press A) with Sample All
Layers un-ticked to select outside the circle.
Add a layer mask to the Splashes group.
Delete the circle layer. Move the text layer to
the top of the layer stack.

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sTAge 3 INSIDE THE LINES

All key design elements have
been kept within the bleed, so
DONT
DISTRACT
theyll be safe during printing Use a simple font

Final touches and cutting. for the ml and %

information, which
ensures they wont
Make some colour edits, and draw attention
complete the layout away from the
main design.
Were now in the final stages of our
label design. The splash border
needs a gradient map applied to
bring its colour scheme into line
with the rest of the design. Once
the last few edits and changes
have been made, you can then
spend some time moving elements
around, playing with the layout and
making any amendments you like.
Your new bespoke bottle label will
then be ready for printing! GROUP UP
Keeping related layers in groups makes
them much more manageable, and they
can be moved or masked as a whole. Shortcut
Press Cmd/Ctrl+g
to group a set of
selected layers

Apply a gradient map

01 Add a Gradient Map adjustment layer above the Splashes
group, right-click it and select Create Clipping Mask. Choose
Foreground to Background, click the colour bar, click the far-left colour
stop, then the Color box and enter R:239, G:197, B:0. Set the right
colour stop to white.
Border the text
02 Right-click the thumbnail of the text layer to select its contents.
Go to Select> Modify> Expand, enter 15px and click OK. Go to
the Splashes group layer mask and ill the selection with black. Press
Cmd/Ctrl+D to deselect.

Add the inal text

Radial gradient background
03 Add a new layer beneath the Splashes group, select the
Gradient Tool with a Radial gradient, Foreground to Transparent
04 Add the tagline in a small font size, using the Arc option in
Create Warped Text to make it it the curve of your splash
circle. Add the 330ml and 4.5% vol text in a plain font, placing them
and black. Click and drag outward from the centre of the text. at the bottom of your label.

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GREEN BLUE
Choose a bright, exciting colour for Go with a complementary colour
your background, such as this bold for the other half of the duotone; the
green, to really fill the boring white blue segues really nicely into the
with vibrance. green here.

What
does it mean?
MULTIPLY AND SCREEN These
blend modes are polar opposites.
The Screen mode applies its pixels
to the darkest pixels below, while
Multiply applies its pixels only to
the lightest pixels below. Together
they can be used to alter all the
pixels in a document to the
two colours you choose On the FileSilo
for each layer.
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative

Start
Photo edit image

Create
duotone images
Use the power of just two colours to enhance your pictures
Sometimes simplicity is the most striking thing about a picture.
When it comes to duotone pictures, splitting a photo into two
distinctive colours can be not just striking, but transformative.
Thats great to hear, right? Not just for your creative side, but also
for your workflow; if creating something that looks great takes ten
minutes rather than ten hours, even better! Some would say that
the goal with art is to create something that the viewer spends
longer looking at, than the artist took to actually make. Luckily, this
is a project that will take no time at all, and look fantastic: the holy
grail of photo editing. A duotone picture can be great for web or for
print, and its something that you can have lots of fun with when it
comes to experimenting with colour combinations. Theres no
correct answer, after all.
Just because a project doesnt take very long to complete, it
doesnt mean that its not beautiful, and thats certainly the lesson
to take home from duotone artwork. Lets dive into how to create
this simple but striking photo effect using a few fill layers and some
adjustment layers to tweak the final image.

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Splitting the tone Separate your light and dark tones into two separate colours Shortcut
Scroll through
blend modes by
hitting Shift and
+ or -

Add the Multiply colour Add the Screen colour

01 Open your image. Go to the Fill Layer icon and ill with a bright
colour; we went with #00ff9c. Set this layer to Multiply, and it
will ill all the lightest colours in the photo with the bright green that you
02 Duplicate the irst ill layer do this by either Alt/Opt-dragging
or hitting Cmd/Ctrl+J and set to Screen. Change the colour
of this layer to #2d0f8f. This will then ill the darker colours in the
have selected. photo with blue.

Alter the Levels Tweak the colours

03 Go to the Fill Layer icon again and apply a Levels adjustment
layer. Drag this between your two colour layers and alter the
stoppers on the histogram to improve the contrast of the image. This
04 Go to the Fill Layer icon once more and insert a Hue/
Saturation adjustment layer. Improve the colours in your image
by boosting the Saturation to +10, dropping the Lightness to -4 and
will primarily improve the blue in the image. tweaking the Hue to +3.

Take it further Other colour effects Get similar effects with different tools

Cross Process Gradient Map Split Tone

01 If you apply the Cross Process ilter
to black-and-white pictures, you
can create cool split-tone effects. Insert a
desaturated Hue/Saturation adjustment in
Expert mode, then go to Quick Mode. Apply
Cross Process from the options available.
02 The Gradient Map adjustment layer
is the easiest way to add colour
across your image. Choose two colour
stoppers to relay the colour across. Keep
this as it is for a duotone effect, or switch
blend modes for more of a ilter inish.
03 Similar to the Cross Process ilter,
Split Tone is in the Quick Mode
menu and applies colour to the light and
dark tones. Its a subtler alternative to the
Cross Process effect, but it can still create
cool duotone images.

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Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative

TRY OTHER ANGLES

Rotate your water to alter
the angle and create all
kinds of fun effects.

Start
image

What
Surreal art does it mean?
CONTENT-AWARE Once youve

Create a surreal made a selection, this option ills it

in by using the pixels around it. In
this project, we wanted to delete the
subject from the sky image, and
Content-Aware replaced it with

seascape
other pixels from the sky. It
isnt perfect all the time, but
usually gives good
results.

Use the power of masks to create a surreal water image

Water has mystified mankind since the dawn of time: no wonder
its such a huge feature of artwork. Its become easier than ever to
incorporate water into dramatic, surreal or just cool scenes of
watery wonder, and this is one project thats simple to master.
Despite this simplicity, though, it still looks pretty powerful as a
composition, mainly because your mind tricks you that the water is
dropping off the edge of the world. It is in fact just the work of the
Transform tool, coupled with a few adjustments to blend the scene.
Adjustments are great tools to get the hang of because theyre
used in nearly everything you do. Whether youre working on aquatic
photomanipulations or editing a photo, its all about the blend, and
this is certainly an image that you can really get stuck in to when it
comes to Brightness/Contrast, Levels and Gradient Maps. The one
rule is to ask yourself: does it look realistic yet? If not, add an
adjustment to help make it look a little more natural.
Photomanipulations are designed to just be fun, but theres so
much you can learn from blending a few pictures together to create
a bigger scene. Water compositions look far more intriguing than
they are difficult to put together, too. What can you create with a few
stock photos, a little imagination and some blending tools?

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Mask the water Create the effect with selections and blend it together
Shortcut
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to
duplicate your layer

Add the land mass Place the water

01 Start off with a new document. Add the land mass and cut it
out using the Quick Selection Tool (A). Select the Reine Edge
tool and tidy up the edges of your selection to smooth them out,
02 Insert the image of the water into the piece and press Cmd/
Ctrl+Shift+U to desaturate the layer. Use the Polygonal Lasso
to select the water with a diagonal cut through it, and hit Mask.
before hitting the Mask icon. Position this layer below the land mass layer.

Copy and rotate

03 Alt/Opt-drag the water layer to duplicate it and delete the Mask.
Transform the layer (Cmd/Ctrl+T) and rotate by 90 degrees.
Place this over the edge of the irst water layer. Move both these layers
so that they line up with the edge of the composition, or crop if you
ind that easier.
Dodge and burn
04 Create a new layer and set to Overlay blend mode. Select black
and white in your swatches (D) and a soft, 20% opacity brush
(B). Make subtle touches over the surface of the water to improve the
overall tone of the image.

Insert the sky Position the sky

05 Now were going to add in the sky to form the backdrop of the
composition. Drag it into Elements, and select the Lasso tool.
Make a selection around the subject in the image, then Ctrl/right-click
06 Move the sky layer behind the water and the landmass, and
position it so that youre happy with where it sits in relation to
the composition. Make any tweaks that you wish to at this stage, such
and choose Fill> Content-Aware. as Levels (Cmd/Ctrl+L) and Hue/Saturation (Cmd/Ctrl+U).

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Recolour the water
Group your water layers (Cmd/Ctrl+G). Create a new layer, set to Soft Light and clip it to the water
07 layers (Alt/Opt-click). Select a big, soft brush (B). Alt/Opt-click to select colours from the sky and
start brushing the water. Do the same with blue (#74cde6) for a more watery colour.
Brush over the land
08 Just as you brushed the colours of
the sky on a clipped layer over the
water, clip a Soft Light layer to the landmass
layer and colour over that, too. Reduce the
opacity if need be, as the land mass isnt
supposed to be as pink as the water.
Create water deinition
Insert a new layer and set to Soft
11 Light. Make a selection over the water
as seen in the screenshot, using the
Polygonal Lasso Tool. Grab the Gradient Tool,
choose the black to white option and then
drag it over the selection to alter the tone of
the water.
84
Render some clouds
With black and white selected in your
09 swatches once again, create a new
layer, set it to Screen and go to Filter>
Render> Clouds. Hit Mask, and then invert
(Cmd/Ctrl+I); select a big, soft, white 30%
opacity brush and brush in the clouds in the
far distance.
Insert the windsurfer
12 Place the windsurfer. Using a
combination of tools, were going to
blend him in; use the Polygonal Lasso for the
outline, a soft brush to mask the water and
Quick Selection to grab the transparent
section of the sail, so you can brush in low
opacity for translucency.
Expert tip
Displacing
shadows
Displacing helps to apply your
shadow to the surface of the
water. Before trying to apply
a shadow, hide the shadow
layer and save your work
as a PSD. Make the shadow
layer visible again and go
to Filter> Distort> Displace.
Choose 5px for each of the
values and check the Wrap
Around box, before hitting OK.
Select your document as the
displacement map.
This will apply your shadow
over the surface of the water,
ready for you to reduce the
opacity and alter the blend
mode. Repeat the effect for a
more exaggerated effect.
Repeat the clouds
10 Repeat this cloud effect over the tops
of the hills to suggest that theyre
high up and that its foggy up there.
Transform the image of the clouds to reduce
it in size before you mask in the clouds over
the hills, as they should be smaller.
Tweak the tone
Grab the Brush tool again and Alt/
13 Opt-click colours from the sky. Using
a 10% opacity brush, touch over the
windsurfer to apply a very subtle colour tone
to him, just to blend him into the image.
 Ele
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Place some sharks

Clip an adjustment
Check on overall tone
15 Create a Brightness/Contrast 16 Drag the supplied shark ile into
Elements. Add into your composition,

14 With much of the composition now

complete, just take a second to blend
everything into the image as a whole, from
the water to the landmass, and use
adjustment layers as applicable.
adjustment and clip it to the
windsurfer. Adjust this so that the sail looks
bright from being close to the light of the
horizon. Make any other adjustments that you
need to your subject.
hit Mask and use a soft, black brush to mask
around the water of the shark so that its only
showing a little. Duplicate this layer and
Transform the second shark so that it doesnt
look identical.

Apply shadows
17 Duplicate the windsurfer. Cmd/
Ctrl-click the layer preview window to
18
select all the pixels on that layer and ill with
black. Transform the layer so it emanates
away from the windsurfer as a shadow.
Reduce in opacity and mask out the end of it
on the water.
Sharpen up
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+Alt/Opt+Shift+E to
create a merged layer of everything Final adjustments
that youve done so far. Go to Filter> Other>
High Pass and select a Radius of 3. Hit OK
and set to Overlay. Create another merged
19 Create any other inal adjustments
that the picture may need such as
Levels, Gradient Maps, Photo Filters or Hue/
layer and choose Filter> Noise> Saturation. Reduce the opacity setting as
Reduce Noise. Choose Strength: 10 and set needed. All these adjustments can be found
other values as 0. under the Fill Layer icon.

Using adjustments Shortcut

wisely Hit Alt/Opt+Shift+F
to set a layer as
Tweaking layers is what helps to blend Soft Light

a composition
When creating any kind of composition, the key
to it looking natural is in making all the individual
elements look like they belong in the one
image. This usually involves clipping masks and
adjustment layers, as these help apply tonal or
colour tweaks to individual objects within the scene.
The adjustment layers you apply as finishing
touches are also important. By adding a Gradient
Map, you can align the same tones throughout the
image, and the Hue/Saturation adjustment, for
example, is great for adding a little more vibrance to
the image. Experiment to discover what looks best
in your image.

85
 nts
e
m
Ele

PUSHING
When a cartoonist says
push the pose, they
mean exaggerate it;
take it to an extreme you
wouldnt see in real life.

On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative

Digital art

Create a sporty
caricature
How to design and illustrate a caricature based on a photograph
Reference image

While idly scrolling through your Facebook feed, you may have
stumbled upon a viral post about an artist who made caricatures
of peoples Instagram profile pictures. And if youve ever been to
Leicester Square, then you most assuredly will have seen
caricature artists demonstrating their work in public view. Ever
thought of trying caricaturing for yourself?
This tutorial will show you how. Well be covering all of the tools,
brushes, textures and filters youll need to capture the look of the
main image, as well as some general techniques to help you
create a convincing caricature.
Caricature art famously takes its subjects features to extremes,
particularly the facial features. Since this would require covering
some rather advanced illustration techniques, well keep our
exaggerations rather moderate for simplicitys sake.
Weve used a sporty picture here but you can apply these
techniques to any image. Consider asking a friend or family
member if you could caricature a photo of them this would make
an excellent gift! If you dont have a photo of someone else, you
could always use a photo of your own face. In fact, using your own
face is good practise before you try someone elses.

86
 Ele
m
en
ts
Exaggerate features Sketch up an exaggerated caricature of your chosen subject

Pick a photo Study their features Sketch

01 Reference material will be integral to
this piece! Get your photo ready. Be
sure to adjust the subjects features using
Image> Brightness/Contrast to accentuate the
subjects features. This will help you choose
what features to exaggerate.
02 Before you dive into the sketch, take
some time to study your subjects
features. Create a new layer and draw using a
medium-sized brush at 10px. Try pushing their
features: their cheeks, their eyes, their nose.
See what works and what doesnt.
03 Now youre ready to get started!
Create a new canvas at A4 size.
Using a round hard brush at 10px+, sketch
your subject. Dont stop experimenting; if you
have any new ideas for how to exaggerate
this caricature, try it out and see what works.

Complete the lines Quick lats

04 Once youre satisied with the sketch, reduce the opacity of
the layer to 30% or under. Create a new layer above this,
select a hard brush set to black, and draw the inal pass of the
caricatures lines. Try to avoid stiffness in your lines, especially if the
subject is moving, as in this case.
05 Once your lines are complete, create a new layer beneath it
and use the Paint Bucket tool to ill it with a lesh colour.
Select the Magic Wand tool (W), go to your lines layer, and select all
the areas outside the character. Go back to your colour layer and
press Delete.

What
Shortcut SPEED LINES does it mean?
Use Flip Horizontal Dashed lines are typically used BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST This is
to check your in comics and cartooning to one of the most common colour
image for represent motion blur and to grading tools. Even the slightest
mistakes give an object movement. adjustment can help to improve your
images colours signiicantly. This
tool can be employed at any point
you like during the creative
VARIED LINE process, but be sure to use
WIDTHS it in the inishing
Use a large brush (15px+) stages.
for the outside of an
object, and a thinner
brush (9px) for fine
details, like the hair.

87
 nts
e
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Ele
Fill in colours
On your lats layer, click the Preserve
06 Transparency button on the top of the
Layers panel (its the icon that looks like a
checker board). Use a hard brush to colour in
your subjects palette. With Preserve
Transparency in place, you wont accidentally
colour outside the lats area.
Finish shading
Repeat this process until the
08 character is complete. Switch back to
your original colour and draw over your
shadows to taper their shapes. If you prefer
to keep your shading on a separate layer,
create one, right-click, and select Create
Clipping Mask.
REMEMBER VOLUME
Erase any shading you
added to the bottom of her
arms. This will make them
appear rounder.
CLOTHES CREASES
A good way to create
convincing clothes creases
is to draw them in diamond
or triangle shapes.
88
Expert tip
Which features
to exaggerate?
When working on your sketch,
keep your reference image to
hand at all times. Drag it out
from the window frame until
it hovers over your work area
so you can look at both your
canvas and the reference at
the same time.
What facial features really
stand out on your subject?
The eyes? The nose? For
this picture we chose the
teeth: that snarl shows her
Begin shading
With Preserve Transparency still on, use the Eye
determination to compete,
and we wanted to bring that to
07 Dropper tool to select the hair colour. Press X
to switch to your other colour, click the hair again, then
the forefront. Try thinking in
a similar way. What features
or expression do you want to
open up the Color Picker. Drag the slider down until the draw attention to?
colour is darker and warmer. Shade using this colour.
Fun with details Add some highlights
09 Create a new layer above the line art
layer. Using a small hard brush (5px) 10 Go back to your lats layer, use the
Eye Dropper tool to select the skin,
with a very light yellow selected, draw some then open the Color Picker and adjust it to a
stray strands of hair escaping from the tennis very light lesh tone. Use this to add some
players ponytail. Use a white to ill in the light highlights to the skin. Do the same on
shines on the eyes. the tennis racket.
LESS IS MORE
Youll notice a section of the
racket is missing, and there
are no strings. Well ill this
in on a separate layer later.
LIGHT DIRECTION
This character has been
shaded with a light source
in mind: the sun is in the top
right, so the shadows are
heavier in the bottom let.
 Ele
m
en
ts

Blurry shading Apply the Photo Filter Fill in tennis racket

Select a darker shade of green to
11 shade the tennis ball with, but instead
of a hard brush, select an airbrush at 20px+.
This will automatically make the object seem
like its moving. Reduce the airbrush to 7px to
draw in the line on the tennis ball.
12 Now were nearing the end of the
process, lets make sure the colours
are cohesive. Click on your top layer, go to
Filter> Adjustments> Photo Filter, and press
OK. This will create a soft orange overlay on
the whole image.
13 Dont worry, we didnt forget about
the tennis racket! Create a new layer
beneath the lats, set a hard brush to 3px,
and draw cross-hatch shapes to create the
strings. Use the Blur tool to blur the edge of
the strings and the racket body.

Colour the lines

Go back to the colour layer. Click Preserve Transparency, select
14 a dark brown, and use the Fill Bucket tool to colour the layer.
Set it to Multiply. With a 10px hard brush, apply some detail colouring
to the lines to match the colour beneath them, eg colour the tennis
ball lines green.
Gradient map
15 Finally, put all your layers into folder and press Cmd/Ctrl+E to
combine them all. Drag the layer to the New Layer icon to
quickly duplicate it. Select a purple and a light yellow. Go to Layer>
Adjustments> Gradient Map. Set the layer to Overlay.

Adding a Shortcut
background Hit Cmd/
Ctrl+Shift+L to
Give your caricature a setting auto-adjust
Levels
The character should stand out on their own,
but it would be a shame to leave them on an
empty, uninteresting white background. If the
original photo you used is suitable, drag it on
to your canvas, move it to the very bottom of
the layers list, and navigate to Filter> Blur>
Gaussian Blur. Make sure the setting is very
high; 50 at the very least.
For this image, a separate photo of a tennis
court was used. This better matched the
lighting used to shade the character, while
still in-keeping with her sporty theme. Dont
be afraid to experiment in your own work.
Have fun!

89
 App tutorial Choose palettes with Adobe Capture On the FileSilo
Download your free
resources at www.filesilo.
co.uk/photoshopcreative

Start image

Essentials
Works with

Elements CS

What youll learn

CC

How to capture a set of

colour swatches in the
Choose palettes
with Adobe
Adobe Capture app
Time taken
1 hour

Expert
Mark
White
Turning a daytime shot of
Capture
Use your phone to pick colours for your work
this girl into what looks like

a bright, UV party is really
easy. By using the Capture
app, I can take the vibe from
anywhere I go, and save it in
my pocket!
As Senior Staff Writer on
Photoshop Creative, Ive
learned all kinds of quick tips
to help with even the most
impressive-looking pictures.
I
ts strange to imagine, in 2017, that there was
a time before we had the power of a
smartphone. If you wanted to message
someone, you had to post a letter; if you wanted to
listen to a song, you had to go to a shop to buy the
CD. Most importantly for designers and artists, you
had to carry a camera around at all times if you
wanted to capture the most perfect image.
Thats all changed now, thanks in part to
Adobes Capture app, which is capable of helping
you savour the moment, even if you just like a
colour palette youve seen. Capture has options for
patterns and brushes, but its the Colours option
thats most useful on the go. If you want to create
an image with the exact mood of a particular place
youve been, or a particular picture youve seen, this
is the tool for you.
Its not just the camera on your phone thats
useful: thanks to Adobe Capture, you need never
miss the opportunity to capture a mood ever again.

90
 Create just from the Color Wheel by hitting the icon in Capture

Select a photo
The next thing to
02 do is decide
which of your photos
youre going to eyedrop
the colours from. You can
Choose what youre capturing take a photo especially for
Start off by downloading the Adobe Capture app, this purpose, find one
01 available on both Android and iOS, and log into your
Creative Cloud account. If you dont have one, start one here; you
saved in your phone as
we have or even search
dont need CC to create swatches. Adobe Stock.

Pick the colours Edit each shade

With your photo Next, edit the
03 selected, use
your finger to select five
04 colours by using
the sliders available. You can
colours that youd like to decide whether you want to
pick out from the image work in CMYK or RGB. From
to use as swatches. The here, CS and Elements
circles will zoom in so users can manually save the
that you can get a more hex codes of the swatches to
accurate view. work from.

Save the swatches Use as swatches

Name your swatches on the next
05 page and choose the CC Library that
you want to save them to. Decide on whether
you want to leave these swatches as private
or published on color.adobe.com and then hit
the tick in the top-right corner.
Work with it in Photoshop
06 Once youve saved your swatches
on your phone, they should show up
in your Libraries tab. Here, you can start
playing around with them in projects, using
them in gradient maps or even as the base
for digital paintings.
To create a selectively coloured
07 image based on the swatches that
youve made in Capture, create a dark-to-
light gradient map and another brighter one,
both based on your colours. Use masks and
brushes to apply them in different places in
the image.

91
 REVIEWS AurorA HDr 2018

SOFTWARE Price 80 (pre-order) / $89 US Web www.aurorahdr.com

Aurora HDR 2018

Achieve stunning HDR results with Aurora HDR 2018

BEFORE AND ADJUSTMENT AND EDITING TOOLS

AFTER SLIDER Here you have the power of colour tone, contrast
use either the slider or and a whole host of additional controls to really
the Click To See button enhance your HDr result.
to reveal the before and
ater results of your work.

The specs
Company
Aurora
Feature
PREVIEW YOUR EDIT Mac: macOS Sierra, El
using the presets in a Capitan, Yosemite
ilmstrip means you can Windows: 7, 8, 10
see at a glance the intended 4GB RAM or more
result, and you can fade the
amount of the overall result, 2GB storage (SSD for
as well as edit the preset. best performance)

Create a bracketed HDR image Export beautiful HDR imagery in no time

Select your images
01 Select your bracketed images three
is a good starting point. Have one
under, one over and one exposed just right.
Aurora will knit the three together to create a
workable HDR, however in this instance,
several images will be used.
Align and set EV
02 Choose the base EV of your HDR
image by selecting the image that is
correctly exposing the highlights. In our
03
example, we pick the image where you can
see the outside lights and the skyline with no
noise or movement.
Create and add a preset
After you hit the Create button, you
will be offered a selection of presets
at the bottom of the screen. In this instance
we have chosen the Fix Deep Shadows preset,
which will lighten the shadows and add a little
punch to the colours.

92

igh Dynamic Range is becoming more
H and more commonplace within the
digital imaging arena. With titans of
imaging such as Adobe and Phase One
utilising preset recipes within the software or
multilayering techniques to achieve an HDR
result, its nice to see a dedicated piece of
software, such as Aurora HDR 2018, come
along and enable speedy and professional
result in moments.
Designed with professional and hobbiest
photographers in mind, the creator, Macphun,
has taken the software as it was in previous
incarnations and for want of a better term,
redeveloped the suite for the better.
Building into it more powerful tone-mapping
algorithms, giving more realistic (as well as
faster) results, in addition to a vast palette of
additional editing tools to make use of, this
latest build certainly has a lot of heft for its
price mark of under 100.
For example, the ability to import DNG files
as well as standard JPEG and RAW goes a
Fade and enhance
Using the fade controls on the preset,
04 reduce the overall effect down to 61.
Adjust the exposure, highlights and contrast
to see an instant result, and then apply HDR
Enhance. This will add more texture to see
how much, click the before and after button.
long way, as well as bracketed
images to align and create an HDR merge
from. You would expect an HDR-specific
editing program to be able to import a file or a
batch to run preset or custom HDR edits on,
but what is clear with Aurora is that on top of
the obvious, it is a suite that contains a lot
more than just a colour curve with editable
RGB channels. Lens correction is present,
enabling control over barrel or pin distortion,
as well as vertical and horizontal control via
the Transform tool.
Also present are image-radiance
adjustments for getting the most out of your
shadows and highlights. You also have a
histogram to help you check, at a glance, your
exposure hotspots, plus colour controls for
selective colour work and editing the
temperature. You can also utilise its ability to
run as a plug-in for Photoshop or simply have
it run as a standalone program.
For the Photoshop fans and makers of
creative artwork, you may want to pay
attention to the fact that you can add masks
Export to Facebook
Once you have made all of your
05 image adjustments and are happy
with the end result, use the export options
that work best for you. Upload to Facebook,
Twitter as well as others, or simply export a
high-res .jpg.
to layers, so you can paint on your image
non-destructively and add more to the image
than is possible with a simple preset.
Along with the creative use of layers and
masks, you can also dodge and burn in
Aurora, which might seem, at first sight, a
strange choice of tool, until of course you take
into account how effective it can be for
defining edges, enhancing shadows and
controlling highlights. Also, being able to edit
the Feather and Size settings of the brush
gives it even more power.
You can simply apply a preset as it is, but
with Aurora, you also have the option to go
deeper into what the preset is doing, and
tweak its overall result manually if you like.
With the recent inclusion of a history state,
you can also revert back to any moment in
your editing and simply click back a stage or
ten if you feel you need to.
As well as these powerful presets and tools,
one new tool that really heralds how far you
can adjust a simple image and generate a
stunning HDR shot comes in the form of the
HDR Enhancer. This tool automatically
enhances your image in a realistic manner
without creating nasty halos around edges,
something the High Pass filter technique in
Photoshop is well known for creating.
Combining this with the HDR Structure tool as
well, will enable you to create the traditional
edgy details, or go in the opposite direction
and soften detail for a more dream-like look
and feel.
The verdict
A strong suite with a lot of guts,
8
able to pull detail out of JPEGs
as if they were RAW, merge
multiple images, as well as offer
layer and masking control.
Standout feature
Layer masking
It is always best to edit non-destructively, and
a perfect way to achieve this is using brushes
and masks. This is possible in HDR 2018, giving
you the opportunity to expand past the realms
of slider-based adjustments and presets and
really get stuck in.
93
 REVIEWS ESCAPE MOTIONS INSPIRIT | SHUTTERSTOCK ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CC PLUGIN

PLUG-IN Price Free Web https://www.shutterstock.com/

APP
Price 0.99 / $0.99 US
Web https://www.escapemotions.com/ Shutterstock Adobe
The specs
Company Escape Motions Photoshop CC Plugin
Find stock images from Shutterstock without ever having to
Additional specs
iOS 8.0 + actually leave your CC apps

W
hen Adobe announced the Stock, but it matches Stock with its ability to
Escape Motions takeover of Fotolia and subsequent
launch of Adobe Stock, it changed
drag images into your project and edit them,
before you buy a licence. The images are
Inspirit the game for stock photo sites everywhere.
Just a couple of years on, and Shutterstock
superb quality and the previews are excellent.
The plug-in consists of a search function, in
Create kaleidoscopic art with this has joined the party, with its own CC plug-in. addition to a Collections feature, for you to
mesmerising app Like Adobe Stock, its integrated as a part of organise images into, and an Account button

F
or many, art is something to do to Photoshop and all the CC apps and with so that you can view Licence History. While
relax and unwind, and not have to over 150 million royalty-free stock images, it this may look like a condensed version of
think about too much. presents a wider breadth of choice when it Shutterstock, it still has everything you may
Relaxation is the thinking behind comes to choosing pictures. require from the site, and its nice and
Escape Motions Inspirit app. The team The plug-in runs smoothly and is really organised. This is a handy add-on if youre a
have previously produced creative digital user-friendly. It may not be as straightforward Shutterstock subscriber, and a plug-in to help
art apps such as Rebelle and Flame to save to your Creative Cloud library as you consider becoming one if youre not.
Painter, and this is the irst foray that
theyve made into mobile technology.
Inspirit combines simple colour, brush DRAG IN
and pattern tools to construct ASSETS
kaleidoscope-style artwork. If you want to see
The app is easy to use and there are how an image
plenty of options for building designs looks or youre
thinking of editing
from scratch. Whether it in Photoshop
youre an artist before you buy,
looking to create a simply drag it into
psychedelic your Photoshop
window to view.
pattern, or you
just want to
experiment and
have fun, Inspirit
is an enjoyable
and calming app
with scope to
create anything.
Although it is MILLIONS OF ASSETS
largely just a Search from the extensive database that
novelty app, you Shutterstock offers, and try entering
can still create specific codes to find specific assets to
use in your work.
pretty artworks.

The verdict The specs The verdict

8
Inspirit is full of options
Company Shutterstock

for exciting artwork.
These creations can be
great for importing into
Photoshop, too.
8
Great for Shutterstock fans
and a good gateway for
Additional specs those looking to explore
Windows 7 or later Mac OS X v10.9 or stock assets, this plug-in is
later Photoshop CC 2015 + easy to use.

94
 AKVIS ARTSUITE REVIEWS

PLUG-IN Price 36 (approx) / $49 US Web http://akvis.com/

PRESETS
The specs
NAVIGATION
See your image Choose from a vast Company
no matter how range of ready- AKVIS
zoomed in you made options with
are using the red every frame, by Additional specs
rectangle in the top using the presets
Windows XP and above
right of the window drop-down menu.
in ArtSuite. Mac 10.12 and above
Photoshop CS3 and above
Photoshop Elements 6 and above

The verdict
SLIDERS

7
By no means the most vital
Control everything about plug-in youll ever come across,
your frame, from the texture ArtSuite makes up for it by
and colour to the width and providing tons of options, great
brightness, using the sliders. sliders and lots of fun.

AKVIS ArtSuite
Frame your photos literally
using this new preset-heavy plug-
in from AKVIS

T
he idea of framing your work is either
something youre familiar with, or more
likely, something you would never think
to do. Either way, its usually pretty rare that
Photoshop users actually buy frames to display
their work around the house.
That didnt stop AKVIS from creating
ArtSuite, a simple plug-in that can add a variety
of frames to your work, whatever that may be.
Its in much the same vein as AKVISs other
apps, with a big preview window and the
sliders located on the right-hand side. While
many of its digital art plug-ins thrive because
they have fantastic presets, these presets form
the backbone of ArtSuite. Pick a frame, then
choose the dimensions, variables and colours
from there.
ArtSuite isnt AKVISs most user-friendly
program, but thats not necessarily a bad thing:
theres simply so much on offer that its easy to
miss much of it. Despite this, its great fun
experimenting with various frames to ind
something unique, and theres plenty that can
help jazz up your pictures. The frames range in
terms of quality; some look reined, while
others are on the tackier side, but depending
on what youre adding a frame to, there are
plenty of good options.
As with many AKVIS plug-ins, the sliders
are good quality and simple to use. The
program may be a little slow when it comes to
actually applying the effects but its easy to
vary the size and consistency of a frame, for
example, just using the sliders. Like so many of
AKVISs apps, its well made, logical to navigate
through, and its fun to waste hours exploring
all the potential options.
While you may actually wonder what the
point is in ArtSuite as mentioned, few
Photoshop users actually use frames but
maybe that is the point. ArtSuite is a bit of fun
that can help you add simple frames to your
pictures, whether youre printing or displaying
online. Its worth trying out on the trial, and
theres so much to discover once you do.

ArtSuite options Different frames to finish off an image

Artistic Crop Artistic frame Pattern Frost Ragged frame

01 This option is
great for adding
onto photos; its elegant
and classy, and you can
choose your own colour
overlay when you add it.
02 Another classy
option for photos,
the artistic frames are
subtle and stylish, making
them great for adding to
pictures on social media.
03 Not the most
subtle on offer in
ArtSuite, but its an option
if youre creating a holiday
card or you just want to
outline your image.
04 A frosted frame
doesnt just have
to be used in a snowy
05 This can really
focus your photo
without looking too
image. The pattern works over-the-top. You can
for any photo and produces change the colour, or
a lovely speckled effect. choose a preset.

95
 Portfolio interview
A retouch of class
How Jeffrey Vanhoutte was inspired by photography aged 11, and still
gets by with a little help from his collaborators
http://www.
jeffreyvanhoutte.be/
f Jeffrey Vanhouttes work looks natural
I to you, thats the point.
The Belgium-based photographer
works with a conveyor belt of experts
when it comes to producing his images,
but the key is always in the natural feel.
We caught up with him to discover what
it takes to retouch photos so smoothly.
Have you always been into
photography, Jeffrey?
By the age of 11, I already knew I wanted
to be a photographer. Photography was
my fathers hobby, and I was able to
borrow his camera during a school trip.
My father made an enlargement of one of
the photos, and hung it in his room. From
then I knew it was what I wanted to do
when I grew up. When I was 21, I began
my professional life as a photographer,
and started immediately as a freelance
photographer in my own studio called
Studio Photon.
When did you go digital?
In the beginning I worked with analog
cameras; retouching was done by a
specialist. This was very expensive and
there were only a few specialists. I found
it frustrating not to be able to work on my
own images, so in 1996 I bought my first
Macintosh, Photoshop 4.0 and a scanner.
It was like entering a new world.
Did your style begin to develop
from experimenting with all of this
new technology?
I always experimented with combining
different images. Earlier I used double
exposure on analog film, but later on I
used Photoshop for this purpose. It has
always been a challenge to realise this in
the best possible way. Today anything is
possible with retouching, there are few
limits left. But you need good techniques
to make a combination of different images
and to establish a good final image. I have
always had a preference for simple
images, stripped of all unnecessary
96
details. Nowadays however, I try to give and magazines are an inexhaustible
my images a very natural appearance.
Is that how you would describe
source of inspiration, as well as websites
of other artists.
your style? What tips would you give to
Nowadays everyone is able to photograph Photoshop beginners looking to
and to do some easy retouching. An achieve results as good as yours?
image is always an interpretation, you can When you want to retouch images, you
go as far as you like in retouching an need to know what photorealistic is.
image. But the art is in feeling when an Studying a lot of images is important, and
image is perfect knowing when to stop I paid a lot of attention to shadows, light,
or to go on. I would describe my style as textures, skin and hair. These features are
pure, there is always a certain simplicity. very complex but very important; I would
For me it is very important that despite advise Photoshop beginners to study this
the retouching, the image still retains a thoroughly. If these features are okay, the
natural feel. image is already better. I also advise
working with a Wacom tablet, as it gives
How does a single piece of work you a lot of control.
evolve from conception to I use a variety of tools and features as
finishing it up? well: a few of my favourites are brushes,
When I have an idea I start with a sketch. History Brush, paths, Clone Stamp, layer
Then I make a moodboard, so I do a lot of masks, Smart Objects, adjustment layers,
research on the internet. It takes a lot of transform, Color Range, warp, blurring,
preparation before the actual shooting can sharpening the list goes on!
take place. Depending on the assignment,
the other people I work with are chosen:
stylists, make-up artists, models, location
hunters, food stylists, animal handlers,
assistants, model makers, etc. I try to do a
lot of retouching myself but sometimes I
also work with external people.
Teamwork seems like its a really
important part of your work
Yes, it takes a lot of organisation and
co-operation to complete an assignment!
How have you been influenced by
the people you collaborate with?
Working with other professionals is
inspiring. It is really refreshing to
exchange ideas and visions with other
All images Jeffrey Vanhoutte
professionals such as art directors and
stylists. As far as other influences go, I
have a special interest for how light is
used in architecture, film or painting. How
architects as Le Corbusier and Calatrava Standaard Boekhandel An image produced for the
played with the light in their architectural Standaard Boekhandel campaign, this one was shot and
retouched with a beach theme.
designs, for example. Of course, books
 Standaard Boekhandel This image was taken and retouched as part of a
campaign for Standaard Boekhandel, a Belgian retail store that sells books.

Huh? This was an image for an advertisement, publicising the dangers that
slugs and snails carrying lungworm can have on household pets. The client
was Bayer, and the RCA Group Belgium was the agency for the project.

Motilium This image was one of several shot of a frog,

for a campaign for Motilium indigestion tablets. Other
images in the series included a few of the frog on his
back, and one of four frogs all perched on a branch.

Vlam / Bio 2017 This was one of the 2017 series of retouched images with Vlam / Bio This was one of many images taken and retouched for the original Vlam / Bio project,
people interacting with giant items of food. Other items in this series which combined giant items of food with regular-sized people. A lot of the project was shot with
included a giant baguette and a gym-goer with an oversized energy bar. giant props that were later replaced in post-production with images separately taken of the food.

97
 Moon Dream

Reader interview
Alone

Utopia

The Making of Abyssal

How Manon Moreau created her atmospheric
deep-sea artwork

Working in
Wisp grey
I began by creating
a grid (rule of thirds)
and arranged
my elements
for harmonious
proportions. I kept
to using shades of
grey so that I could
stay focused on
the layout.

Beginning the
painting
Once the elements
were well arranged,
I began to paint
in shades of grey,
with a square and
textured brush, in

Manon order to give more

texture and material
to my illustration.

Moreau
We caught up with Manon Moreau to learn how Photoshop
Abyssal

Colouring the
can enhance the symbolism in your work piece
When I was satisfied

I
am passionate about the creation of forward. They also speak a lot about the fact that with my painting,
dreamlike, poetic or fantastical I believe we can learn from everything that I added a Gradient
universes, says Manon Moreau, who happens to us. Sometimes though, I prefer Map to colour my
picture. I remove or
taught herself Photoshop. I am also very people to interpret what they see, rather than me add colours to the
interested in everything related to the legends give immediately clear and precise messages. gradient until I like
and the symbolism of things. the global colours.
Since Manon irst started using Photoshop in What tips do you have for
2012, shes discovered a growing passion for Photoshop beginners?
illustration. We asked her about symbolism, her I would say it is important to properly prepare
favourite tools, and the meanings in her work. your picture, to choose its colours, the light
sources, or the composition. Once this solid work
Why is symbolism important? base is created, you can only begin to put more of
Each colour or animal, in its symbolism, oten you and your own feelings into the picture. Working on
carries a particular message. Depending on the
details
I finished my
message I want to give, some insects or colours Whats your favourite tool? illustration by
mean diferent things; orange colourings for light, One tool I love is the Gradient Map. This enables working on the
or dark blues for animals, butterlies, etc. me to
Wha e Wasa colourful atmosphere quite quickly
create
t Onc details. I added light
without using too many colours. I oten use this particles and edges
to the elements.
Do you include any messages in your tool to start from a clear and precise colour chart. I also used the
art and design? Curves command to
Each picture reveals something about my See more of Manons work at www. give more intensity
emotions. They speak of hope and the desire to go photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/manon.M to the colours.

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