Final Image Preview

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Tutorial Details

• Program : Photoshop CS and Higher
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: Around 3 hours

Step 1 – Preparation for Taking the Photos

Usually tutorials start with a list of stock photos you should download. But today we’ll make it differently. The only one thing you have to do is to take your camera outside and shoot your own images! Don’t worry, it doesn’t take much of your time and you don’t have to be an awesome photographer.

If you want to take stock photos it’s good to do it when it is cloudy outside because in this case you will have no strong directional light from the sun but nice diffuse light, which will be easy to change in your graphic program to fit with the global light of your photo manipulation.

When you’re taking stock photos it’s always a good to take it from different angles and directions because you never know what you will find useful for your photo. And it would be bad if you would have a perfect photo, but you would need it just rotated a little different.

Step 2 – Taking Photos for the Background

As I said before, take your camera outside and take the picture which will suit for the background. For this manipulation we need an easy background with not so much details on it. This absence of details helps the mood which we’ll try be creating of a hopeless situation or feeling of loneliness or emptiness.

As you can see in the picture below, I used a simple photo of the concrete behind my house. A photo of some empty parking place,field or road would be great too. You can see the angle from which I took the photo.

Step 3 – Taking Photos of The Sky

This is very easy. Just wait for some cloudy weather (there will be a lot of cloudy days during autumn), open a window and shoot a few pictures of sky. Shaped clouds are the best because the sky will not be boring. It should be dramatical and this type of clouds is best for it.

On the picture below you can see what kind of sky I mean.

And below is an example of the sky which doesn’t look as good.

Step 4 – Taking the Photo Texture for the Monument

It’s very easy again. For the monument we’ll use texture of some beaten wall – so just stand in front of some wall and shoot it It’s good to stand directly in front of the wall because this way there will be no perspective distortion in the photo.

If you want to use exactly this texture (shown above) you can download the texture pack from my deviantArt page, but I recommend you shoot your own.

Step 5 – Taking Photos of People

This is the last step before we start to do the photo manipulation. Take your camera to a train station or another similar place where there is a big concentration of people. Be a little like a paparazzi, and shoot some of them. Don’t worry if you’re shy, you can shoot them from a distance (depends on the zoom of your camera).

It would be enough to have five or six types of people for what we’ll be creating.

Step 6 – Preparing the Background

After you downloaded all necessary photos from your camera to the computer open Photoshop and drag the picture of the ground and of the sky into one document. Name the layer’s appropriately as: “GROUND” and “SKY.” Make sure that “SKY” is above the “GROUND.” It’s always good to name all the layers. This way you can orientate everything better in your PSD file.

Add a vector mask to the “SKY.” You can find the button Add Vector Mask at the bottom part of the Layers palette. If you don’t see the Layers just press F7 and it will appear.

It is better to use a vector mask instead of the Eraser Tool because this way all the steps you do are non destructive, and you can change them anytime. If you paint with a black color over the vector mask, then the picture disappears. If you want to have it visible again, the only thing you have to do is paint white over it.

After you have vector mask added to the “SKY,” grab the Brush Tool (B), select a soft round brush, pick black for the color, and paint over the areas which should be hidden. Change to a smaller size of brush for more precise blending. You can also change the opacity of the brush to get a better result.

After this step, my manipulation looks like the image below. Yours should be similar, but it depends on your stock pictures used.

If your background doesn’t look realistic you can try one of two tricks. At first you can use the Spherize Filter, which will help you to add more space into the manipulation. To use it go to Filter > Distort > Spherize… and set the Amount to a negative value.

The next thing you can do is transform the perspective. To do it go to Edit > Transform > Perspective and transform your “GROUND” layer as you need.

What I did in my manipulation is that I added texture to the ground to add more details. If you want to try it too, you can use the texture you took for the monument. Open the picture with texture, drag it into the manipulation, place it above the “GROUND” (you can also create a Clipping Mask from it), and name it “TEXTURE FOR GROUND.” Now change the Opacity of the layer and also the Blending Mode. I just changed Blending Mode to Overlay.

As you can see the ground should have more cyan tones than it has now. To fix that add a new adjustment layer of Color Balance above the “GROUND” layer. If you don’t know how to add an adjustment layer, then look at the image below.

Click on the button which is circled and select Color Balance. The button is on the same palette (Layers) as the Add Vector Mask button which we used a few steps back.

Set the Color Levels to: -6, 0, and +12 in Midtones and press OK.

I think it would be better if the whole background would be a little darker. To do that add an adjustment layer of Levels above the “GROUND” and “SKY.” Set Input Levels to: 31; 0,85; 255 and press OK.

Step 7 – Creating the Monument

In this step we will create the monument. Open the picture of texture you took and drag it into your photo manipulation. Name the layer “MONUMENT.” Resize it to proper proportions. To do that press Command + T, and hold Shift to make the picture smaller. If you hold Shift, then the width and height will have the same proportion as they had before.

Press Command + T again and make the picture a little slimmer. Then go to Edit > Transform > Perspective and change the perspective so the monument will be slimmer on the top and wider on the bottom.

Add a Vector Mask to the monument. Now use a soft, round brush to make the bottom part of the monument softer.

At this point, my photo manipulation looks like the one below. You should have something similar, but again – it depends on your stock photos used.

Step 8 – Color Adjustment of the Monument

Now change the colors and contrast of the monument so it fits in with the rest of the picture. This step depends on what stock photos you took. For inspiration I will show you what I did.

The monument should be a bit darker and have more contrast for this look. Add a new adjustment layer of Levels above the “MONUMENT” and set Input Levels on 31; 0,79;255. Just for your information, the first value makes dark tones (shadows, etc.) darker. The second changes midtones. If you increase this value, then the midtones are darker. If you decrease it, then the midtones are lighter. The third value changes highlights.

Step 9 – Creating the Light Ray

In this step we will create a light ray on the top of the monument. Create a new layer above the “MONUMENT” and name it “LIGHT RAY.” Now grab the Brush Tool (B), select a soft, round brush and choose a proper size (depends on size of your photo manipulation). Pick a very light color. It can be pure white or something a little more yellowish.

Paint one dot on the top of the monument and then one dot on the place where you want the ray to end. During the painting of the second dot hold Shift. It will paint you a nice line. Instead of this method you can also use the Line Tool.

Once you have the line you can press the button Add a Layer Style, which can be found in the bottom part of the Layers palette, and add an Outer Glow to the ray to make it look more realistic. In my case, it wasn’t necessary.

Add a Vector Mask to the “LIGHT RAY.” Now with a black, soft, round brush and low opacity, paint over the top of the light ray. It will look more realistic, as if the light is less intensive and it is far from the monument.

In the picture below you can see the manipulation with the light ray.

There should be some diffuse light around the top of the monument. To add it go ahead and create a new layer above the “MONUMENT” and name it “DIFUSE LIGHT.” Grab the Brush Tool (B), select the same color as for the light ray, lower the opacity of the brush and make it bigger. Now paint a little over the top of the monument. In the picture below you can see what I mean.

Step 10 – Adding People

In this step we will add the people you shot with your camera. But before we do that let me say a few words about perspective. To add depth to the manipulation it’s important to keep the rules of the perspective in mind. It’s very simple – objects which are closer are bigger than those which are farther away.

The next important thing you should know when you’re creating a photo manipulation is that objects which are closer are darker and more saturated. If you want to make this rule even stronger you can make closer object also sharper and with more details.

Open your stock photos of people, cut them out and drag them into the manipulation. Change the size of them, duplicate them a few times and start arranging them. You can flip (Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal) them to have more variation. Arrange them as you below.

As you can see I added no people in the distance. It’s because we will use a special brush which we’ll create in the next step.

Step 11 – Creating the Brush

Creating your own brushes is very simple and can also be very useful. Open a new document and drag one layer with a man into it. Command-click on the thumbnail of this layer. It activates the mask of the layer.

Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick a solid black color and fill the mask with black. Now use the Crop Tool (C) to crop the picture. You should have something like that shown below.

Now go to Edit > Define Brush Preset… Press OK in the window which will open and you’re done. You have your own brush!

Go to your photo manipulation, Grab the Brush Tool (B) and select the brush you’ve just created. Pick a dark gray and paint people in the distance. Don’t forget to make people smaller and lighter when they are further away.

You can create more types of brushes to have more variation.

Step 12 – Adding Shadows

There should be shadows under the monument and from people. To fix that add a new layer above all the layers and name it “SHADOWS.” Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick the color #808080, and fill the layer with it. Now change the Blending Mode of the layer to Overlay.

You have two options on how to make shadows. At first you can paint them with a black brush or use the Burn Tool. In the picture below you can see how the “SHADOWS” layer should look.

Step 13 – Adding Mist

Download some mist brushes (I used these) and install them into Photoshop. If you don’t know how to install brushes, then look at this tutorial. Add a new layer under the “MONUMENT,” name it “MIST,” and paint a nice fog with a white color.

Step 14 – Applying Texture

If you want your manipulation to have a grungy look you can add some grunge texture, which you will download or (like me) you can use the same texture which you used for creating the monument.

Open the document with the texture and drag it into the photo manipulation on the top of your layers. Name it “TEXTURE.” Then change the Blending Mode of the layer and also the opacity. I used an Overlay blending mode and Opacity of 30%, but you can experiment with different modes and opacities to get some interesting results.

Step 15 – Final Adjustment

This step depends on the photos you used again. For inspiration I will show you what I did.

I want the picture to be a little darker. To fix it, add a new adjustment layer of Levels on the top of the layers and set the Input Levels on: 0; 0,84; 255.

You can also add a vignette. Add one more Levels adjustment layer and now set the Input Levels on: 0; 0,55; 255. Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick a solid black color, and fill the Layer Mask with it.

Now pick a white color, Grab the Brush Tool (B), and paint over the edges of the layer mask. It makes them darker.

Conclusion

Congrats! You’re finished. I hope that you’ve learned something new in this tutorial. Experiment with taking your own stock photos, which you can use in your photo manipulations!

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.

Tutorial details:

• Programs: Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Modo
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Estimated Completion Time: 5-7 h

Step 1 – Preparing the canvas

Before we begin there are a few things worth mentioning. All the photos in this tutorial belong to the author, Pirosca Marcel. They were not gathered from stock sites around the net. The main character was shot in my photo studio.

First off I opened the original image resulted from the shooting with the main purpose being isolating the character and the shadows on the floor. First thing I noticed was that his face was not expressive enough for what I had in mind.

Before we begin cutting out the character I needed to replace his head with one from another picture where he looked more optimistic. I always shoot a lot of pictures every session, so when situations like this arise I have plenty of other images to choose from. The most important thing is that the light sources must be in the same place so it integrates seamlessly and believably. The light needs to come from the same directions. I have found the image below to be a good match for what I needed.

Using the Polygonal Lasso Tool create a selection around his head. The background contains only a flat color, so the selection should be very easy to make. I selected his head just as in the image below, then copy/pasted it into the original image, on a new layer.

I scaled and rotated it so that it matched the old head.

As you can see some integration is needed to be done for the head to blend perfectly. First off, cut out the background head so we can work on our new one. Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool to select and delete it. We should now have something similar to what we see below.

Notice that the most important region to work on is his neck. In order to obtain a nice transition from one to the other we need a transparency mask on the new head, then with a relatively soft (50%) Eraser Brush start deleting some of the harsh edges on the neck until you reach a good result. This part is open to a lot of trial and error, so using a mask will help us recover some of the parts we may have accidentally deleted. Finally, you should obtain something similar to the next image.

As we can see we need to work on some of the details. We need to fix the shirt and neck lighting in order for him to be believable. For the neck I used a combination of Dodge/Sponge tool as illustrated below.

In order to fix the shirt I copy/pasted a part of his shirt and then I blended it (using curves and transparency mask).

We are now ready to isolate our guy and the shadows on the floor. As he is a hard edged surface against a flat background it should be fairly easy to select him using the Polygonal Lasso Tool. I personally prefer this tool over the paths approach to selection because I don’t have to adjust any control points and tangents, even though it means a lot more clicks. Copy/paste him into a new layer.

Next thing we want is having the shadow on a different layer. As you can see the background of the photo studio was kind of dirty, so in order to remove the stains I applied some Surface Blur. I found that this type of blur is best for this operation as it removes noise while preserving some detail.

Once we got to this stage we can select the shadow using Color Range and the following settings.

Of course there will be some unwanted regions in the selection. Hit OK, and after the selection was made enter Quick Mask mode. Proceed to erase the unnecessary parts, as depicted in the image below.

Now in order to have the exact shadow we need to subtract the contour of our guy from the remaining selection. While in Quick Mask mode Control-click the thumbnail of the main character layer in the layers palette. This will load the selection for that layer. Press Delete to erase the quick mask inside the selection.

Exit Quick Mask mode and we have the selection of the shadow. Just copy/paste it onto a new layer.

We now have the character and his shadow isolated and on separate layers. We are ready to begin the final image.

Step 2 – Composition

This was a HUGE piece of work, size related. In order to achieve the final image we need to create an image 3613 by 5000 pixels. To get an idea of what I actually wanted, first I took the main character and moved it around the canvas; finally deciding to place him on the lower half of the image following the flow of his body. Being on a separate layer meant I could add all sorts of details behind him. The first thing that needed to be done was to further differentiate him from the gray background.

Use a white, soft brush with 20% Opacity to create a glow behind the guy.

Next it’s time to determine how the lines in the image would flow. For this I used my tablet with the size controlled by the pen pressure and Opacity set to about 30%. I proceeded in drawing the lines on which our man was surfing by holding Shift (so that the brush draws a straight line) and pressing harder on the tablet (for the line to be thicker) at his feet and then pressing less as the lines faded away.

This gave the lines the feeling of perspective and also helped me to give a sense of depth. I have to add that this is a process prone to a lot of trial and error, so it might take a while until you are satisfied with the results.

Now it gets interesting. In order to be able to replicate all of the planes fading away and also maintain proper perspective I used the Vanishing Point Filter to eyeball the plane our man is surfing on. There is an entire discussion here, because you can’t define that plane exactly how it is in reality since you have no reference. After several attempts I settled for the one below, thinking it works. To do this go to Filter > Vanishing Point.

The deal with Vanishing Point is that these planes can be extended at 90 degrees or arbitrarily. Using this method I further constructed additional planes to help me keep track of perspective, while trying to match my sketch lines as close as I could.

With this setup in position I was now able to add elements that will be flowing along these planes. But first I had a point to settle.

Somewhere along the line I experimented with color variations since the gray seemed a little dull. I love color and decided to use its power to give it a little punch.

Step 3 – Color Scheme

In order to obtain the proper colors for this piece I used three adjustment layers and placed them on top of the image. Two of them affecting only the skin (using masks), and a third one to set the general mood. For the skin, a Levels and a Color Balance to add subtle color enhancement.

And then a Color Balance affecting the whole image to give an overall greenish mood. The settings are shown below.

We are now ready to add in the details.

Step 4 – Digital Volume

Open Illustrator and by copy/pasting and then scaling vertical rectangles you can obtain something similar to the first digital volume in the image below. Make a copy and move it below.

By adding horizontal rectangles and subtracting them, it’s easy to obtain the second one. Just create one rectangle, move it vertically (by holding down the Alt key to create a copy) and press Command + D repeatedly to multiply it.

Copy the second volume graphic and go to Photoshop.

Now paste it into the Vanishing Point filter. For some reason Photoshop doesn’t allow directly pasting paths from Illustrator there. So we must paste it on a new layer as pixels first. Rotate it and scale it vertically just as in the image below in order to have as much resolution as we can.

Then Command-click the layer thumbnail in the layers palette. This will bring up the selection of that layer. Press Command + C to copy it into the cache, then delete the layer. We can now move to the Vanishing Point filter.

Go to Filter > Vanishing Point and paste. You should have something like that shown below.

Now if you drag that selection onto the floor plane, Photoshop will automatically calculate the right perspective for you.

Do it again to extend the volume further back.

Go to blending options and add the styles shown below.

You should now have something looking like this.

In order to to have some of the squares transparent, like in the final image, create a Transparency Mask for this layer, and then use a 50% gray (#7a7a7a) to paint over the squares that you want transparent. This can be a tedious process and it is up to you to decide which ones you leave opaque and which not. I will illustrate.

Now to give it a little punch, duplicate that layer, set its Opacity to 68%, and apply the following Curves (Command + M) to its transparency mask and you get this. The gray in the mask should have turned to black so this layer affects only the opaque squares.

It should look something like this.

We have reached a delicate part which takes a lot of tweaking to get right, but the main idea is to use a copy of the volume, move it into place and then use the Warp Tool to simulate the curvature. The tricky part is that some of the lines may get curved the wrong way and I had to personally correct them. Fairly time consuming I must say, but no other idea to create that corner came to mind.

Using the same technique as before, create a transparency mask and block out some transparent squares using a 50% gray.

Again, use the Vanishing Point Filter, Warp and a Transparency Mask to create the next section. It will take some work, but I already illustrated the necessary techniques.

We proceed to add the rest of the sections until they vanish.

Back to Illustrator. Using the Pen Tool to create a path along the sketch lines. Then round the corners. The easiest way for rounding vertices is to use a script called Round Any Corner found in this archive. Read more here.

Fill the final path with white, remove the stroke, and copy/paste it into Photoshop underneath the “volume” layer.

In order to enhance the look I decided to add another volume, this time white, underneath the one we created. Use the Vanishing Point filter once again, copy the first volume created in Illustrator, and extend it into perspective, as shown below.

As we can see, the trail is overlapping the white volume, so we need a mask to hide part of it. Leave only the top-left section visible.

We just need to add the shadow underneath our guy and we’re done with this section. We isolated it earlier in another document so just copy/paste in a new layer and align it. Set it to Color Burn with 50% Opacity. Now he looks like he’s actually there.

Step 5 – Background and Foreground Images

There are multiple ways to create the flying images, but I found that the quickest and easiest was the 3D approach. Basically, I took the planes generated by Vanishing Point and tried to recreate them in 3D. Considering that they were flying on a vertical plane on the surfer’s sides meant I had to create only one plane. I could extend everything else from there. Hang on, you’ll see what I mean.

The application of choice was Modo, but this can be done just as easily in others too. Again, I did this in 3D because it was much faster, I could move the planes into perspective much easier, which means more experimenting hence better results. Arguably I could have done this with Vanishing Point too, but it would have been time consuming.

Besides on my computer, Photoshop kept crashing if I worked more than 30 seconds with Vanishing Point, which happened about 100 times when doing work on the music volume. After that, I knew 3D was the only choice. Besides you’ll learn a new technique.

First and foremost we need to prepare a backplate for the 3D environment with the plane we need to match. I used the following image. Save it as a separate JPG.

In Modo create a new scene.

Go to Item > Create Backdrop. This creates a plane which we can add the image above as reference.

On the right you will see the following menu. From the Items list choose the backdrop item you just created, then in Properties, go to Image > Load Image.

Choose the “backplate” we saved earlier.

As you can see, the backdrop rotates as we rotate the view. We don’t want that, we want it to remain still and only move the geometry. In order to do that go to Projection Type > Camera. This will make the “backdrop” invisible for the current perspective view, but it will act as a background for the camera.

Press Command + Space. This will bring up a pop-up menu where you can choose what your viewport will display. Select Camera of course.

Now if we rotate the viewport the background image will remain still. To make sure the rendering will have the same dimensions as our piece, on the right side go to Shader Tree > Render and set the width/height of the scene to 3613/5000.

We are ready now to match some geometry.

Make sure that Trackball Rotation is active in your camera Advanced OpenGL menu. This will ensure that the camera will be able to rotate on all axis not only on XZ.

Now the tricky part. By rotating the camera slowly try to match our 3D plane with the one in the reference. Also scale the plane and make it longer.

One thing is obvious, the camera perspective is not dramatic enough to match the two planes. When I say dramatic I mean that the parallel lines do not converge fast enough. So we need to increase it.

The perspective of a camera depends on how wide the entering cone of light is. The wider the cone, the greater the perspective. The narrower the cone, the lower. That’s why wide camera lenses tend to distort images and emphasize perspective. That cone angle is directly controlled by the focal length. Fortunately Modo’s camera model is very similar to the real world one, so we can edit that parameter.

I have found by trial and error that 10mm focal length is close to what we need.

Of course the objects are now smaller, because the wide angle covers more space. No worries there. We just have to close in with the camera, and rotate it. Suddenly, the plane fits much better.

Not the perfect match but with a little bit of tweaking the camera we are there.

This can be a tedious process because the first time you create the plane, you have to rotate the camera and change the focal length at the same time to get a good match. Which can be tricky and time consuming. But once you have the focal length determined, everything else is a piece of cake. Below are the camera settings to get the exact match.

Once we have that plane into place, we can duplicate, scale and move it to create different copies. You can move them parallel to each other to give the feeling of depth.

Observe the wide angle of the camera and the final geometry.

Press F9 to render the Camera view. It shouldn’t take long because it is a simple scene. This is what you get. Switch to Alpha Output and save a JPEG.

Back to Photoshop. Let’s see what we got so far.

Open the Alpha Image we saved from Modo in Photoshop. Copy it, then switch to our surfer, in the Channels tab create a new one and paste the alpha inside.

Now if you Command-click the channel thumbnail you get a selection.

Create a new layer and fill it with orange (#ff8f00).

Cut and paste the images that are supposed to be behind him on a new layer and move it underneath the “digital surfer” layer in the Layers Palette. This way they will seem to be behind him in space.

There are too many of them flying right now, they overcrowd the scene so proceed to erase some of them in order to maintain balance. Most are from the lower-left corner.

Now we will round off the corners of the images, so they look a little less pointy. To do that load the layer selection by Command-clicking on its thumbnail in the Layers Palette. We will first round off the small rectangles, as they need a smaller radius, and then progressively do the others. Subtract parts of the selection to obtain the one below.

Go to Select > Modify > Smooth and set the radius to 10 pixels. Then press Command + Shift + I to inverse the selection and delete. There you go. You now have rounded corners.

We need to apply the same technique to the larger images. This time with a radius of 20 pixels since they are closer to the camera. Do this for the next selection.

You will get this result.

And now the final step of this process is to round the corners of the foreground images. Repeat the above steps with using the radius in the image.

Proceed to apply the following style to the image layers. We need to give it a little depth.

The difference is very subtle around the edges but its still there.

Now we will assign different opacities to various images depending on how far they are from the camera. I need you to copy and paste the following onto a new layer and assign it 25% Opacity.

Copy and paste into a new layer the following selection and assign it a 65% Opacity.

Copy and paste the following selection into a new layer and assign it a 44% Opacity.

Copy and paste the following selection into a new layer and assign it a 75% Opacity.

After all these steps you should be looking at something like this.

The next thing to add are some highlights over the flying rectangles. Select all of them, then with a 20% Opacity, soft brush, paint some highlights on them. Take a look at the second picture below to get an idea.

The only thing left to do now is add some textures on top of them. I will demonstrate the technique used for one of the images, then by repeating it a lot all the other rectangles can be filled too. We’ll use one of my photos to do this. You can find the rest of the images used images here: xn3ctz.deviantart.com/gallery/. This is my portfolio of stock photography. Feel free to use them.

Anyway, copy and paste this image into a new layer in Photoshop.

Using the Transform tool Command-drag the corners to fit one of the rectangles we want to texture.

Then set the layer to Overlay blending mode and use a mask to round off the corners. The opacity can depend on the distance to the camera, meaning that the images in the background can be a little transparent to give the feeling of depth.

After you do this with all the other images you should end up with something pretty nice. Anyway, it is time consuming so I’ll jump straight to the end result.

Step 6 – Translucent Interface

I started by creating these fairly simple shapes in Illustrator. They will act as textures for the interface pieces.

Copy the bottom left shape into Photoshop and place it into position.

Set it to Multiply with 35% Opacity and apply the following layer styles.

Use the same settings and the Illustrator paths we first created to add the next shapes.

Add some texture using the other shapes. They should be white set to Soft Light blending mode at 100% Opacity. Place them using the Transform Tool (Command + T) and fit them to the interface pieces.

And now FINALLY the last step. Create a new layer, load the interface selection, and with a 20% Opacity, soft, white brush paint some highlights just as we did with the rectangles.

THAT’S IT! Just zoom-out turn on the visibility of all layers and enjoy!

Conclusion

With this tutorial we have explored various ways to create the feeling of depth and space while maintaining perspective. All starting from a simple photo, adding layers and layers of details all working together in a seamless piece.

I hope you liked it and learned some new techniques from this tutorial. See you online. Cheers!

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or a larger version here.

Video Tutorial

I created these videos to compliment this text + image tutorial.

Step 1

The first thing you need to do is download this photo of a tiger. Paste it in a new blank document (1575px by 1055px at 300 dpi). Rotate it and place it as shown in the image below. Also, while having the background layer selected press Command + I to invert it to black.

Step 2

Now it’s time to separate the tiger from the background. We also want to fade the image out gradually, so the most efficient way is to do both of these tasks at the same time. By changing the background color to black, all we have to do now is erase portions of the tiger.

To avoid any damage to the photo though, we’ll do that through a Layer Mask. With the tiger’s layer active, go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. From now on, anything you paint within the Layer Mask with black will disappear. If you feel you’ve erased too much, paint with white to bring back parts of the image.

It’s important that you do this with a tablet and at very low levels of Opacity. The idea is for the transitions to be very subtle, so sometimes when painting over dark regions with white, 1-5% Opacity is best to work with. For this step, begin to darken the background of the image to black. Use something around 10% Opacity.

Step 3

Eliminate as much as you can with the background, but don’t go over the tiger itself.

Step 4

Reduce the brush size and go right up to the outline of the tiger. Try not to completely erase the whiskers. They’ll be difficult to bring back if you’re not sure where they are.

Step 5

Now use a large brush and cover the left side of its face and the top of the body. Add a little black on the lower part too.

Step 6

Now change the forward color to white and bring back the ear by painting over it with 100% Opacity.

Step 7

Change to black again, lower the Opacity considerably and darken the center of the ear.

Step 8

Darken the neck by focusing on the stripes. Leave the white portions somewhat visible.

Step 9

By now, only the tiger’s head should be visible, and portions of the neck.

Step 10

With 1-5% Opacity, bring back some of the white parts of the chest area. Fading out the body shouldn’t be abrupt and uniform. Since its fur is not flat, you’ll still be able to see some of the white parts of the neck.

Step 11

And that should be it for separating the image from the background. Because the background color is solid black, it looks a bit odd now, but it will look just right with a few Adjustment Layers at the end.

Step 12

Now it’s time to add highlights and shadows. In this before and after photo you can see the basic principle of everything we’re about to do from now on.

On a separate layer, use white as the foreground color to paint linear highlights. To add contrast, switch to black and darken in the same way. You’ll have to judge where you think all these will apply, so it’s not an exact science at all. A more reflective surface like the fangs will have thinner and brighter outlines, while the tongue will require a more spread out reflection.

Step 13

Paint a white stroke along the margin of the tongue. Also, add a touch of white over the center, but don’t just use a large brush size. Use a 2px brush on low Opacity and paint according to the texture of the tongue.

Step 14

For the fangs, paint along the edges and a bit near the center.

Step 15

The reflection of the nose is different from the white lines we’ve created so far. Instead of painting straight lines over the center of the nose, lower the Opacity even more and paint with a circular motion of the hand.

Step 16

Don’t forget to add highlights on the lips and on the inner side of the cheek.

Step 17

Give the nose a well defined outline too.

Step 18

Now change the brush size to 1px and give those highlights a sharp feel.

Step 19

Don’t forget the top of the head too.

Step 20

With the same 1px brush size, paint shadows this time

Step 21

Darken the left side of each fang. The boosted contrast will make them look more impressive.

Step 22

Add similar shadows to the entire mouth. To add sharpness to these effects, paint dark areas along side white ones.

Step 23

It’s time to switch our attention to the entire head. Change the brush size to around 80 and add shadows to the white parts of the head.

Step 24

It’s time to draw some digital hair on the darker portions. Grab a 1px brush on a very low Opacity (1-5%) and paint thin, curly lines that resemble the fur. You may need to do this over several parts of the image. Below is a close-up.

Step 25

Draw a thin, jagged line across the top of the head and edge of the ear.

Step 26

And that’s it for the enhancements! Your image should now look something like this:

Step 27

Finish the image, we’ll add a few Adjustment Layers. The first one’s a Selective Color effect. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Selective Color. Double-click on the layer’s icon to bring up the settings. From the drop-down menu, find Blacks. Change it as shown here below.

Step 28

Now find the Yellows and change the settings as follows, then Press OK when you’re done.

Step 29

Add one final Adjustment Layer: Gradient Map. Bring up the settings by clicking on the layer’s icon and click on the Color Gradient bar. When a second window opens, click on the first gradient from the bottom row. Change the first color (Violet) to a dark blue: #121929. Press OK and change the layer’s Opacity to 10%.

Final Image

All done! Here is the final version below.

Conclusion

The true potential of this technique lies in its versatility. You can use a tablet to enhance just about any photo. Below is a before and after example of how I enhanced a portrait image of a man.

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Photoshop CS and higher
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Estimated Completion Time: About 4 hrs

Preparation

Before we start download all the necessary pictures (sky, pier, body of the deamon, ice, grunge texture, head of the deamon, waves 1, waves 2, waves 3, waves 4, skull, hourglass) and brushes (birds, fog, lighting, abstract glow, water splash).

Step 1 – Blending The Background

Open the pictures of the sky and the pier and drag them into the new document. Name the layer with the pier "PIER" and place it above the sky.

Now add the Layer Mask to the “PIER” (You can find the button Add Vector Mask in the Layers palette). Now grab the Brush Tool (B), select a soft round brush and pick black for the color. Make sure that the vector mask is selected (just click on it) and start painting over the areas you want to disappear.

You should use a smaller brush around the horizon to make the blending more precise. After this step your picture should be similar to that shown below.

Step 2 – Adding The Demon

Open the picture of the body of the deamon, drag it into the manipulation and name it "BODY." Now open the picture with the head, grab the Marquee Tool (M) and select the area of the head. Now select the Move Tool (V) and drag the head into the photo manipulation. Name the layer "HEAD." Press Command + T. It allows you to rotate with the layer. Set the rotation so it will be the same as the rotation of the demon’s neck. When you’re satisfied, press Enter.

Now we have to blend the head. Add the vector mask to the “HEAD” and with a black brush paint over the areas you want to hide, which means the background of the stock image and also parts of the face which are already covered with the ice. Also, hide the eyes because we cover them with the skull shortly.

If you’re not sure what to hide and what not to, then review the image below.

Open the picture of the skull and select the hole instead of the eyes (there are many ways to select something, you can use whatever you are comfortable with). Then drag them into the manipulation and place them instead of the eyes.

Create a new layer. Using the Brush Tool (B), pick a cyan color and paint two dots instead of pupils. After this step your photo manipulation should look like the image below.

Step 3 – Adding Ice

In this step we will add ice above the demon’s head and hand. Open the picture of ice. Now go to Select > Color Range… and set the value Fuzziness to about 170. Color Range is a useful tool if you need to make selections based on their color or tonal value.

After you set the Fuzziness, press OK and the tool makes the selection. Press Command + C to copy the selection, click on your photo manipulation and press Command + V to paste the ice. Now press Command + T and resize it to the proper size (I resized it to 25%). Change the Blending Mode to Hard Light (you can find the Blending Mode on the top of the Layers palette).

Add the vector mask to the “ice” layer. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and load the abstract glow brushes. If you don’t know how to add brushes you can look at this tutorial. It’s better to use shaped brushes instead of classical rounded ones because this way you get a more natural result.

Now paint with black on the vector mask over the part which you want to disappear. During the process you should change the size and opacity of the brush to get more variations.

Now we will do the same process with the head. Use Color Range to select the ice. Copy it into the manipulation, then change the blending mode to Hard Light, add the vector mask, and blend it by using a glow brush. You should end with something like the image shown below.

Step 4 – Shading The Head

So far the head is flat and it doesn’t look very realistic. In this step we will add some highlights and shadows to fix it.

Create a new layer and fill it with a gray color (#808080) and change the blending mode of the layer to Overlay. Now using of Dodge Tool and Burn Tool add the highlights and shadows. By adding this new “gray” layer you are working using nondestructively, which means that you can always go back and make changes. If you use dodge and burn directly on the “head” layer, then you aren’t able to fix anything later.

Step 5 – Adding The Hourglass

Open the picture with the hourglass and make a selection of it. Then drag it into the manipulation, change the size and rotate it (Command + T) so that it has the same direction as the hand. Add a vector mask and select a small round brush, set the opacity of the brush on at a low value of around 15%, pick a black color and start to paint over the parts of the hourglass that should be semi-transparent (mainly glass).

Now we will add the movement. Copy the “hourglass” layer and place it under the original layer. Now go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur… and set the value on 12, then press OK.

One more thing which has to be done is adding shadows. Create a new layer under the layer with movement. Fill it with #808080 color and change the blending mode on Overlay. Now select a soft, round brush, pick black for the color, lower the Opacity on 20%, and paint the shadows around the hourglass and under the hand.

After this step your image should look like that shown below.

Step 6 – Adding Water Splash

In this step we will add the water around the demon. We’ll use Color Range as we did it in the previous steps.

Found some stock photos with waves. I used these – waves 1, waves 2, waves 3, waves 4 from sxc.hu and also these water splash brushes.

Open the photo with waves, go to Select > Color Range and set Fuzziness on the value you’re comfortable with. It’s the same as selecting ice in Step 3. Just remember that the white parts will be selected and the black will not, gray will be semi-transparent. You should place some waves in front of the demon and also some behind, so it will look realistic. For inspiration on how to place waves look at the animation below.

Step 7 – Adding The Wizard

Download a stock photo of a magician. The one I used is not publicly available, but it is no problem to find something similar. Cut out the background and using the Move Tool drag the selection into your document. Press Command + T and resize the picture to proper size.

Create a new layer above the layer with the wizard. Select the glow brush (it can be the one we used during blending the ice or you can download some you like more), pick a cyan color and paint the spell. Quite easy isn’t it?

I also added lighting between his hands, but it’s really up to you and how do you imagine the spell. You can use of course different colors Let your imagination play.

Step 8 – Adding The Lighting

The main things are done. In the next steps we’ll add some details and then change the color and lights with shadows. Let’s start with the lighting.

Select the Brush Tool and add the lighting brushes you downloaded. Pick a white color, create a new layer and click on the place where you want to have lighting.

If you look at some photos of storms with lighting you’ll notice that clouds around the lighting are very light. And that is exactly what we’ll do now. Create a new layer again, fill it with gray and change the Blending Mode to Overlay. Now pick a soft round brush with a white color, set the Opacity on 10% and paint over the sky around the lighting to make it brighter.

I also paint some birds to fill the empty space under the demon’s left and upper-right hand. But it’s absolutely up to you if you do it too, or if you add some more details.

Step 9 – Local Adjustments

Some parts of the demon’s face should be lighter and the hourglass should have more contrast. We’ll fix it in this step.

Click on the layer with the demon’s face (not with the ice) and add an adjustment layer of Levels (the Create a new fill or adjustment layer button can be found in the bottom part of the Layers palette).

Set the Input Levels on 0; 1,64;255 and press OK. Now right-click on the adjustment layer and select the option Create Clipping Mask. This way the adjustment affects only the layer which is below it (in our case the face).

Now click on the layer with the hourglass and also add a Levels adjustment layer. Now set the Input Levels on 26; 1,34; 215. Press OK and create a clipping mask too.

Step 10 – Adding Mist

To create bit more fantasy atmosphere we’ll add some mist in this step. Create a new layer on the top of your layers. Grab the Gradient Tool (G). Now press Alt and pick a bright color from the picture. Choose the type of the semi-transparent gradient you see in the picture below and paint it from the bottom up to the wizard. Better to look at the picture to understand clearly. I made the gradient red so you can see better what to do.

Step 11 – Setting The Global Lighting

Now we’ll add some more dramatic lighting. Add a new layer on the top of your layers and fill it with a solid mid gray (#808080). Change the Blending Mode on Overlay. Now go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects… and set the menu as you can see below, then press OK.

The demon’s head and right hand should be little lighter. To fix it use the Brush Tool (B), select a soft round brush, pick a white color and lower the Opacity of the brush to 10%. Now paint over the parts which should be lighter (on the same layer where you added the omni light). If you think some parts should be darker, pick a black color and paint over them.

On this picture below you can see my "setting lights" layer with normal blending mode set.

As you can notice I darkened wizard little bit. The result of this step is seen in the next picture.

Step 12 – Adding Texture

This is a simple step. Open the picture with the grunge texture you downloaded and drag it into the manipulation on the top of all layers. Now experiment with opacity and blending modes to get the result you will like. I used the blending mode Soft Light and set the Opacity on 37%.

Step 13 – Global Adjustment

In this step we’ll set the global color adjustment of the picture. At first we will desaturate it a little. Add a new adjustment layer Hue/Saturation on the top of your layers and set the Saturation on -50. Now add an adjustment layer of Color Balance and set it as shown in the picture below.

Now we’ll change brightness and contrast. Add an adjustment layer of Brightness/Contrast and set both values at +10. And for the last adjustment, add a Photo Filter and set the Filter to Cyan to give a nice cyan tinge to the photo manipulation.

Step 14 – Sharpening

Sharpening is the last step we’ll do before this photo manipulation is finished. Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and select the whole image. Now go to Edit > Copy Merged or just press Shift + Command + C. Then press Command + V to paste the merged image.

Now go to Filter > Other > Highpass and set the Radius on 4px, then press OK. The last thing you have to do is to change the Blending Mode of this layer to Overlay. The final image is shown below!

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve just learnt how to create a photo manipulation called "You Can Not Frost The Time." I hope that this tutorial was useful for you and you have learnt something new or just found some inspiration for your next project.

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This method involves placing an Illustrator file (the tattoo source image) as a Smart Object, using the Free Transform/Warp Tool, adding a Gaussian Blur (to adjust the ‘Focus’) and then finishing it all off with a lighting effect created from a Channel Pull. Ready to begin?

Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below.

Video Tutorial

Our video editor Gavin Steele has created this video tutorial to compliment this text + image tutorial.

Introduction

The image we’re going to begin with is part of a series of images photographer Richard Radstone created featuring models representing various mythical creatures. The creature being represented here was a Celtic war goddess, Aerten.

In addition to the more exotic makeup we thought she needed a little something extra so we added a tattoo to finish off the look. She does make a beautiful warrior, doesn’t she? Now let’s get started.

Step 1

Open the file we’re going to add the tattoo to. The image below is the one we’ll be using for this tutorial. Psd Plus members will find it located in the “final.psd” file located in the “source file.” Also, you’re welcome to use an image of your choice.

The basic retouching and clean-up has already been done on the image so it’s all ready for our tattoo.

Step 2

Now we’re going to use Photoshop’s Place command to place the Illustrator file of the tattoo in the image. Go to File > Place and choose “Tattoo1.eps” (which for Psd Plus members is located in the source folder) and hit Enter. You will then see the tattoo appear in your image as another layer named “Tattoo 1.” By default Photoshop CS4 makes this layer a “Smart Object.”

Photoshop’s Smart Objects are really files within files, which gives you a lot of advantages. Since the original file for the tattoo is embedded within the Smart Object any work done using the Free Transform Tool while it’s a Smart Object will refer to the original file and re-render every time you make a new adjustment using Free Transform. This means you can play with the placement and sizing of the tattoo without worrying about losing any quality as you decide where to place it.

Step 3

Now click on the “Tattoo1″ layer and bring up the Free Transform Tool by going to Edit > Free Transform and rough it into place on her neck, as shown below.

t

Step 4

With the tattoo roughly placed we can see that it needs some work to get it to follow the contours of her neck. The muscles of her neck make the surface a little uneven, it’s not quite a smooth round cylinder shape. This means not only will we need to rotate it, but we’ll need to add some Perspective (it should get slightly smaller as it recedes around the neck) and we’ll need to give it a little Warping to get it to really follow the shape just right.

Since our layer is a “Smart Object” we’ll need to render it as a normal layer. Photoshop still doesn’t offer the ability to do as much to Smart Objects as I’d like. To render the Smart Object into a regular layer make sure you’ve chosen that layer in the Layers Palette and then make a copy of the layer by dragging it down to the Create a New Layer button (so we have the original to go back to just in case).

This will give you a layer named “Tattoo 1 copy.” This is the layer we’re going to work with next. Since we made a copy of a Smart Layer the copy will be a Smart Layer too. Changing this to a regular layer is as simple as going to the Layer Menu and choosing Rasterize > Smart Object.

Step 5

By taking advantage of the Transform Tool’s flexibility we can rotate and warp the tattoo so that it looks like it’s really following the contours of her neck all in one operation.

Select the “Tattoo 1 copy” layer we just made and bring up the Free Transform Tool by going to Edit > Free Transform (Command + T). Now rotate the tattoo by moving the cursor near one of the corners, (you’ll see the cursor change to a bent arrow), and then drag it in a clockwise motion.

When it looks about right (don’t hit Enter yet!) switch to the Warp Tool by holding down Control and clicking outside the Transform window. This will bring up a submenu listing all the available options for the Transform Tool. Choosing Warp will bring up the handles and control lines for the Warp tool. Continuing with this tool drag the corners and handles around until you are satisfied the tattoo is now following the contours of the neck.

You can hide the Transform Tool to get a better preview by invoking Photoshop’s Hide command, press Command + H on your Keyboard.

Below is a screen grab of how it looked on my version.

Note that I pulled the upper-left corner up and to the left a little, then I pulled the lower-left corner down and to the left a little. Next I pulled the upper-right corner down a little and moved the lower-right corner up and to the left a bit to make it look like the tattoo was following the curve of the muscle on her neck. Finally I grabbed some of the points inside the tool’s window and moved them around slightly to give more of a slightly wavy look to the tattoo.

Step 6

We’re almost there! Now the tattoo should look something like the image below.

Looking at the image above we can see that the part of the neck the tattoo is on is a bit soft or blurry. To make it look like the tattoo is really there it needs to match the softness of that section of the neck. Luckily we can do this easily by adding a small amount of Gaussian Blur to the tattoo layer.

Just to make sure we can easily go back and change things if necessary, let’s first make a copy of the tattoo layer by going to the Layers palette, selecting the layer “Tattoo 1 copy” and dragging it down to the Make New Layer icon as we did before in Step 4. This new layer should now be named “Tattoo 1 copy 2.”

Making sure this layer is selected in the Layers palette now go bring up the Gaussian Blur filter by going to the Filter Menu and choosing Blur > Gaussian Blur. With the Gaussian Blur dialogue open be sure to click the Preview option so you can judge how much blur is needed to match the softness of the neck where the tattoo is placed.

Since the Gaussian Blur filter’s strength is rated by pixels the amount of blur needed will depend on the actual resolution of the image you’re working on. When you’re happy with the amount hit Enter to apply the blur.

You should have something that looks pretty close to the image below now.

Step 7

With the tattoo warped and softened up to match the model’s neck it’s looking pretty close now, just two more things to think about before we’re done.

So far we’ve worked on getting the tattoo to look like it’s following the surface of the neck, and we’ve worked on getting it to match the focus of the image, but it still looks like it’s just sitting there. Looking closely we can see that our tattoo lacks the highlights and shadows that define the shape of her neck.

Since the tattoo is a very dark color we really just need to add some matching highlights. To do that we’re going to use a technique many retouchers call a “Channel Pull,” that is we’re going to copy one of the channels from the background image and use that to create the highlights we need.

So turn off the “Tattoo” group and then go to the Channels palette to look at the individual “Red,” “Green,” and “Blue” channels to see which one has the best potential for giving us the highlights.

The image below shows the individual channels side by side.

We’re looking for a channel that shows the best contrast between the highlights and shadows on her neck, and from the channels we see here the Blue channel looks like the one we’re after.

After deciding to use the “Blue” channel as the basis for our lighting effect, make a copy of the Blue channel by going to the Channels palette and clicking on the “Blue” channel. Then with that highlighted drag it down to the New Channel icon in the Layers palette as shown.

This will give us a new channel named “Blue copy.” Below is what our copy of the “Blue” channel looks like.

Let’s take a closer look at the area where our tattoo is.

An extra benefit we’ll get from using this channel comes from the fact that the “Blue” channel almost always tends to be the noisiest channel of the image. In this case the noise will help us out by giving our tattoo some nice skin like texture when we use it to add the lighting.

Step 8

To boost the effect of the lighting we’ll create a little more contrast in our “Blue copy” channel by using Curves to push the black values up a bit. Since we want to use the noisy texture in our lighting effect we’re only going to work on the Black point part of the Curves. Pushing the White point value around, or using the mid-tone areas will tend to make our noise texture block up.

Bring up the Curves dialogue by using the Command + M keyboard shortcut. Now click on the Black Point of the curve and pull it over to the right just a little as shown.

Note how the black area on the right grows a bit, this will restrict our lighting effect to the lit part of her neck and keep it out of the shadows. If you look closely you can also see this move emphasizes the noise in the channel a little as well, which will help give a textured look to our lighting effect.

Step 9

Now load the “Blue copy” channel as a selection by going to the Channels palette and Command-clicking on the icon of the channel we just manipulated. Next go to the Layers palette and make sure you’ve highlighted the warped and blurred tattoo layer “Tattoo 1 copy 2.” Then add a new layer holding down Alt while clicking on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Name this layer “Highlight” and make sure to choose the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Path option. This will make sure our highlight only affects the tattoo.

Now make sure you have White chosen as your foreground color and fill the selection with White using the Alt + Delete keyboard shortcut. The image should now look like the image shown below.

The tattoo now reflects the same lighting pattern as the neck and looks more like something that was in the original shot. Plus if you look very closely you’ll see that the lit part of the tattoo now shows the same texture as the skin around it. This is very important if we’re going to make
our illusion believable. Below is a close-up of the tattoo showing what I mean.

Step 10

The last step left to complete our image is to adjust the color of the tattoo. While tattoos can be almost any color most of the single color ones I’ve seen have a little bit of a greenish tinge to them so we’ll add a Curves Adjustment layer to the tattoo layer to push the color in the right direction.

To make the Curves Adjustment layer go to the Layers palette hold down the Alt key click on the icon at the bottom of the palette that looks like a half-white/half-black circle. This opens up the Pop-up menu where you can choose what kind of Adjustment layer you want to add. For this step we’re going to choose Curves.

Holding down the Alt key also brings up the dialogue box where you can name your layer and choose the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Path option, which as we’ve seen previously will make sure that this layer only affects our tattoo.

With the Curves layer created you’ll now want to adjust the Curves (as shown below) to give the tattoo the desired color.

From this screen grab you can see that I moved the Black Point of the Master curve over to the right a little, this darkened the tattoo. Then I moved the middle of the Red curve up some, added a little Green as well and finally took some Blue out by pulling down on the Blue curve.

Below is a wider shot showing the Curves dialogue and the adjusted image as well.

Finally with the tattoo in place, rotated and warped to follow the contours of the model’s neck, and with the lighting and color adjustments made, your image should now be complete, as shown below.

Conclusion

So in the process of adding this tattoo to our Celtic Warrior model we brought in an Illustrator file as a Smart Object, then used the Free Transform and Warp tools to work it into place, added some Gaussian Blur to make it match the softness of her neck and then added some lighting and texture by using a copy of the “Blue” channel and lastly adjusted the color of the tattoo with a Curves Adjustment layer. Not bad for a day’s work, eh?

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Introduction

Learn how to harness Photoshops automated processing power. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Photoshop CS4
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Estimated Completion Time: 20 minutes

Step 1

OK, fire up Photoshop (get a coffee if your computer is slow as) and open up any old picture file (Command + O) that you have or one you just shot on a camera. I chose this one right here: Tree.

Step 2

As you may have guessed, the levels in this photo are average at best. What we need to do is to fix this with one click. First, create a new adjustment layer for levels (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels). If you are using CS4 then you will have the adjustment parameters in a box above the layers, if not, double-click on the levels icon in the adjustment layer to bring up the properties box.

Step 3

Now we know that we move the sliders to clip to the end of the blacks and the end of the whites. If we want to batch process these though, this would not really be a solution. Click on the Options box under Auto box to bring up the Auto Color Corrections Options. In CS4 for an adjustment layer, they are found if you click on the tiny options box, as shown below.

Step 4

Now that the box is open, we want to change two settings. Change the Algorithm to Enhance Monochromatic Contrast and change the clipping levels to 0%. This changes the contrast but not the color balance unlike the standard settings that bring the Black and White level points to the end the range. We don’t want to change the color in the levels.

Note: Try both ways and see the difference, we to leave that as a separate step so we have complete control over what we do. Also check the save as defaults button.

Step 5

Right, now that’s the default, every time you hit Auto, the Levels will be fixed and you don’t have to worry about losing data and as it’s on an adjustment layer, its completely reversible (You: 1, Photoshop: 0).

Step 6

This next step is much cooler than level adjustments, as most cameras now are good at taking pictures and get the levels fairly good. Contrast can add amazing definition to your photos in a second. Most people including myself use the standard S curve. That’s fine, but it also affects the colors of the picture which we don’t want.

Keep working on a picture of a tree…or open up this Leopard image – smile because there is probably someone still working on that tree. Select the Background Layer. Go to the Channels and Command-click on the layer RGB. You should now have a selection on your image.

Step 7

Go back to the layers tab. Make a new adjustment layer for the curves (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves). Rename the layer Highlights. You should now have a curves adjustment layer with a mask on it. This mask makes it so that we only adjust the highlights and leave the shadows as they are.

Step 8

OK, this is where the changes start to happen. Go to your curves adjustment box and go to Curves Display Options. Where it says Show Amount Of, change it to Pigment/ink%. Stay with me here you and will see why in a minute (yes I know that’s for print work). CS4 users you will have to click on that little box and scroll down to Curves display options.

Step 9

Click in the middle of the curve. Its not critical to get this dead accurate but I personally prefer it because of what we are about to do. Oh and I changed it to Pigment as if you notice the boxes Output and Input now read 50, 50. You can leave the display on Light and it will read 128, 128.

Now click inside the Output box. Now press the Down Arrow key. The number should go to 49. Keep pressing down until you get to 45. I usually move in increments of 5. If you hold Shift + Down Arrow key, then you move in increments of 10. Or you can type 45 which is easy.

If you look at your photo now, you have successfully increased the highlights and left the shadows alone thanks to the mask. Note: The leopard photo may need numbers like 40—35 to notice a worthwhile difference.

Naturally you have probably grabbed the point and yanked it all the way down to 0 (if light 256), which is good as you can see how this effects the photo. I usually move in increments of 5 for reasons you will see later. Its also easier to work out of a range of 100 than 256 as for simpler math. Hence I use Ink% display. You can work in light though, just remember to increase the number to 150 or so. This is how I work, if you like to just rip the curve around and don’t care about numbers that is fine.

Step 10

Now we will modify the Shadows. First, Duplicate the layer Highlights, Command + J. Rename this layer to “Shadows.” Click on the layer mask to select it and then press Command + I to invert it or go to Image > Adjustments > Invert. Now click on the curves point at 45 and move it to 55. Now we are affecting the shadows only.

Rule of thumb is to go with what looks good by eye. I find that if I adjust the highlights by 10, the shadows need to be adjusted by 5. Depends on your camera, and it depends on your photo conditions. Tr what works for you or move the curve until it looks good.

Depending on your picture, sometimes you may want to tighten the masks on the Curve Adjustment layers up. Click on a mask and open the levels (Command + L). Now click on options. I use about 5% so the mask is better. It doesn’t matter if you lose a bit of detail here, as its only as mask. If you want to automate all this, keep reading.

Step 11

If you want, group the two (three if you did a levels layer) layers together by selection them all (Command click each one) then Command + G. And be sure to name the group.

So far this process demonstrated takes way too long. You may be thinking: “how can I batch process this?”

Step 12

Now we get into the realm of Action scripts. These are great for saving time by automating simple tasks, or if you invent a cool process that you may want to reuse.

Open the Actions window, Window > Actions, or Alt + F9. You should get a box like that shown below.

This is where we are going to make an Action Script so that when we press a button, all that work in steps 8—12 are done instantly.

Click the Create New Set button and name it. Then select that folder and click the Create New Action Script button. Name it “5% Highlights.”

Now Press Record. Here is the fun part. Go and do Step 9 again and set the Curve output at 45. If you want to clip the mask, Press Command + L on the mask and go to Options. Where it says Clipping change that to 5 in Black and 5 in White. These numbers I find work, but experiment. Don’t check save as a default though! Photoshop will record what you do and save it as a sort of list. When you’re finished, press Stop.

You should now see a list of actions. If you want to see if your script works, delete the layers on your image and press the Play button (next to record) with the background selected. You should now have an adjustment layer with 5% boost on the highlights.

Make a New Action Script. Name it “10% Highlight.” Repeat Step 12, but instead make the Curves Output 40. Remember to clip the mask if you want to be consistent with your looks. Go thought this process, each time starting from scratch and increasing the Output amount until you get to something like 40% Highlights. I’d say it would be rare to go above that, but its up to you.

Do the same with the shadows and remember to invert the mask and clip it as you did for the highlights. Make an Action Script for Auto Levels as well.

Soon you should have a folder that is full of scripts that add adjustment layers to adjust the contrast by a certain amount, and fix the levels. If you accidently made a mistake in one step in your script, then go to the action you messed up and click on the trash can icon (located next to the Create New Action Script button). You can press Play and Record from any point in the script.

Now you never have to do that again and can just press Play or click on a button to add contrast and fix the levels. If you want to see the difference in your image, hide the layer group and turn it back on again. Also, make a new Curves Adjustment Layer, then make the standard “S Curve.” Turn the layer on and off to see how the two methods compare.

Step 13

Now is the batch process part. Make an action script that includes the Auto Levels adjustment, Highlights at 10% ,and Shadows at 5% all in one script. You can change these to whatever you’re happy with or you can make multiple scripts for different situations.

While you are building your Batch Processing Action Script, keep recording once you’ve finished and save it as either a PSD or a JPEG or whatever you want to save your processed files as. With PSD, changes are easy and non-destructive, it just takes more space on your hard drive. Finally, Save you actions where you choose.

To make a droplet simply go to File > Automate > Create Droplet. The dialogue below will come up.

Name your droplet, Then choose which folder the action will be found in. Then move down and select the action you want to make a droplet for.

Select a folder you want to save your files in and then select the naming scheme you want. Check the Override Save As box unless you want photoshop to pause on every photo with the Save As dialogue box. Then save it somewhere that you will use it. I chose the desktop.

Drag and drop your file or folder onto the .EXE droplet and then run out of the room as Photoshop should open each file and run the action script on it and then save it to wherever you specified. Test if before batching a large number of images. This makes your computer look smart doing work without anyone touching it.

Conclusion

Great, that’s it. Now you should know a better way to add contrast to photos, as you don’t effect the color and can control the highlights without affecting the shadows and visa versa.

The Auto button is now useful on levels and you can make an action script that can batch process files. Bare in mind that this method is not designed to create the final look of a high quality photo, but it’s a start. While the method demonstrated in this tutorial takes time to set up, once it’s Action Scripted it becomes really fast to use.

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Final Image Preview

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Tutorial Details

• Program – Photoshop CS3
• Difficulty level – intermediate
• Time to complete – 1 hour

Video Tutorial

Our video editor Gavin Steele has created this video tutorial to compliment this text + image tutorial.

Step 1

We will be using two different stock items for this project – first, the arm from cobweb-stock (use “Arm08.jpg” from the zip file) and a lump of meat from stock xchng. Please remember to follow these artists rules and credit them where appropriate.

We start by opening the arm picture in Photoshop and duplicating the
“Background” Layer by clicking Command + J. We want to preserve the background
layer for later on. Hold the Alt key + double-click the duplicate layer, then rename it “Arm.”

Choose the Pen Tool (set to Shape Layer) to cut out the arm from its background. Its important to have a clean cut, so first zoom into the picture using the Magnifying Glass and carefully trace around the edge cutting across the top of the arm, as in the picture below. If you set the Fill in the Layer Palette to a 0% you will be able to see the arm, but still manipulate the path.

Step 2

Once you have completed your path and you are happy with it, click the Eye
Icon in the Layer Palette next to the Shape Layer to hide it. Follow this by
holding Command + Clicking the Shape Layer. This puts a Selection around the “Arm” Layer, now press Command + J on the keyboard to create a copy of the arm onto a new Layer, rename this Layer “Arm Prime” and hide it by clicking the Eye Icon.

Step 3

We are now going to remove the arm and shadow from the “Arm” Layer. Choose the Heal Tool from the Toolbox with mode set to normal in the options bar. Sample some of the sheet around the arm by Holding Alt + Clicking the sheet. Luckily the sheet is quite creased so making it look convincing will be easy.

Start painting over the arm and resample different parts of the sheet to keep the texture from repeating. Activate “Arm Prime” from time to time to make sure you don’t go to far up the arm. Eventually the arm and shadow will be removed leaving you with a stump and a clean sheet as in the picture below.

Step 4

Reactivate the “Arm Prime” layer by pressing the Eye Icon next to it in the
Layer Palette. Next we want to add a Layer Mask (Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All) to this Layer so we can mask out some of the arm. Choose a Hard Edged brush from the Brush Picker setting the size to 80 pixels, Opacity of 100% and Flow of 100%. Next set your Foreground color to black (#000000) and on the Layer Mask draw four cutting lines as in the picture below.

Step 5

Save your progress and open the meat texture file that we downloaded earlier. Once again cut it out from its background. You don’t need to be as careful with this as we want to rough it up a bit soon anyway. Use your Pen Tool as before to trace around the edge – be careful not to select the shadow.

As in Step 2 copy this to a new Layer by pressing Command + J, and rename this layer "Meat." We now want to copy it to the working document, we do this by holding the Alt key and dragging the “Meat” layer to the "Create a New Layer" Icon within the Layer Palette . This will open a dialog asking you what document you want to copy it too. Choose “Arm08″ (which is our working document) from the list, and Click OK. Finally, go back to the “Arm08″ document.

Step 6

Move the “Meat” layer to the top of the Layer Stack. Use the Healing Brush to remove some of the larger white patches of fat on top of the meat with other sampled texture. If you don’t have the Healing Brush then feel free to use the Clone Stamp. Position the Meat Layer so it totally covers the arm and hand, move the Meat Layer below the “Arm Prime” Layer.

Step 7

We are now going to draw the flesh back onto the arm stumps, we begin by
adding a Hide All Layer Mask to the “Meat Layer” (Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All). Next we want to choose a Soft Edge Brush from the Brush Picker with a size of around 10-20 pixels, Opacity 100% and Flow 100%, the settings then need to be adjusted.

Press F5 or go to Window > Brushes to open the Brush dialog window. If you are using a pressure sensitive tablet then, your first stop is the Shape Dynamics, under Size Jitter locate the Command Drop Down List and select Pen Pressure.

We then want to change the Texture of the Brush to give it a nice rough look, choose Clouds from the provided list of textures, with Scale 100% also tick Texture Each Tip.

Step 8

We are now ready to paint the meat back on, Select the Meat Layer’s Mask and with the Brush’s Foreground Color set to White (#FFFFFF) gradually build up the arm as in the picture below. Repeat this for each section of arm.

Step 9

The shadow of the arm is used to ground the image and make it look less fake. We use the shadow from the original photo we preserved as the background
layer. Locate the “Arm” Layer and Add as Reveal all Layer Mask (Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all).

We will now mask out some of the “Arm” layer revealing the shadow below, try and follow the shape of the arm. Once again we will be using a Soft edge brush, or you can continue to use the textured brush we created in the last step if you wish. This will add a rough edge to your shadow especially around the stumps.

Step 10

The project is almost complete. The final steps are to draw some veins and strings of flesh onto the stumps and make some shadows. We shall reuse the “Meat” layer for this step.

First we need to copy this layer, either press Command + J or drag it to the new Layer Icon within the Layer Palette. The new layer will be called “Meat Copy.” Drag this above the “Arm Prime” layer and delete its Layer Mask by right-clicking on the Mask and selecting Delete Layer Mask. Once again the whole slab of meat should be visible.

The meat needs to be a little darker for the strings – so we adjust it with
Levels (Image > Adjustments > Levels) setting the Input Levels to 0, 0.64, and 255. We are then going to add another Hide All Layer Mask to this Layer (Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All>).

Choose the Brush Tool again, the textured brush should still be active. If not, then set it again as in Step 7, adjust the size so it is very small around 4 or 5 pixels. On the Layer Mask draw some strings of flesh joining the stumps together. Draw it from flesh to flesh – not skin to flesh.

Step 11

The strings of flesh will cast shadows down onto the cloth beneath, we can
easily fake this by choosing the “Meat Copy” layer Mask and holding Command
while Clicking it. This will put a selection around the strings.

Next we make a new Layer called “Shadow” and fill the selection with black (Edit > Fill > Black). Using the Move Tool adjust the shadow slightly so it is away from the strings. The black will be too dark so we reduce the Opacity to around 50%. You can also add a 2 pixel Gaussian Blur if you feel it is still too sharp. Finally, drag it below the “Meat” layer.

Step 12

Choose the Burn Tool from the Toolbox and set the Range to Midtones. Next set the Exposure to 20% and click the Airbrush option. Select the “Meat” layer and add some dark edges where the meat is exposed. Select “Arm Prime” and change the range to shadows, then burn the flesh where the arm has been severed.

Conclusion

The final and probably the easiest step is to create a Black And White
Adjustment Layer at the top of the layer stack and change the Blending Mode to
Soft Light. This makes the picture darker and more washed out. If you don’t have the Black and White Adjustment Layer option, then create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and reduce the Saturation to -100.

Have fun cutting up your own meaty images. The final image is below.

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below.

Step 1 – Setting Up the Document

Let’s start by creating a new document (1200px by 960px at 300 pixels/inch). Later on we will be creating the orb in the center of the image so create new guides at the vertical and horizontal center.

The background color is not important, we will be adding our background to a new layer. Our background will come from an actual photograph of a concrete texture (found here from Mayang’s Free Textures). The image is a lot bigger than our canvas but that is OK. Right-click and copy it from your browser. Paste the image into your canvas.

In order to resize the image use Command + T to free-transform the image, then Command + 0 to re-zoom our work area to show the entire transform border. Click on the bottom-right drag handle and hold Shift to resize the concrete texture until it is just slightly larger than our canvas. Double-click the Zoom Tool to zoom into 100%.

Step 2 – Touching Up the Raw Background

As a touch-up to the raw background, select the Clone Stamp Tool, choose a 200 pixel brush with 0% Hardness. Click Alt and notice the cursor changes to a cross hair, this is the sample point for selection with the Stamp Tool.

We want to get rid of the non-concrete texture (for example, areas with sharp angles). So while holding Alt down, click on an area with a clean concrete texture. Releasing the Alt key will return us to the stamp brush. Paint over the unwanted textures. Repeat this touch-up until you are satisfied with the resulting texture. The touch-up areas are highlighted in yellow below.

Step 3 – Reconsidering the Background

Sometimes I will just sit and stare at the screen for awhile, not touching the mouse, but just looking at what is on the screen. I decided that I wasn’t entirely pleased with the background. This being the case, I will blend one more texture in with the existing texture for more depth and contrast. The second texture comes from here.

Copy the texture and paste it on top of the existing texture, then resize it using the same method as in Step 1. Set the new texture’s blending mode to Multiply. As a final adjustment, lets slightly blur our new texture. With the layer selected in the layers panel, go to Filter > Noise > Median, and use 3px. We may need to adjust it later, but for now we will leave it as is.

Step 4 – Background Color and Lighting

Let’s deal with coloring our background and making final adjustments to it. First desaturate the backgrounds by applying a hue/saturation adjustment layer on top of all layers. At the bottom of the layers panel click on the contrast circle (if you hover over the buttons for a few seconds a tool tip will pop-up telling you what the button does).

Take the saturation down to 0%. Since we used an adjustment layer, we can always change the saturation in the future (to do this just double-click the hue icon in the adjustment layer).

To color the background add a new Solid Color Fill Layer by clicking the contrast circle at the bottom of the layers panel. Choose Solid Color from the menu that pops up. The color I chose is #5d5941, but since we used a fill layer we can easily adjust this color in the future by double-clicking the color thumbnail for this new layer. Set the color adjustment layer’s blending mode to Soft Light.

Our source of lighting will be from the upper-left, so it’s about time we start creating shadows and highlights that will give the perception of a light coming from that direction. Create a new layer on top of the greenish fill layer. Fill that layer with solid white. Press D and then Command + Backspace to quickly set white as the background color.

My favorite way to create easy lighting on a background is to use the Gradient Tool in conjunction with layer blending modes. Using the Gradient Tool, reproduce the gradients in the figure below. Set the blending mode to Overlay and the Opacity to 65% (second figure below).

Step 5 – Starting the Orb

Create a new layer and name it “orb bg.” Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool and hold Shift + Alt then click in the middle of the document where the guides intersect each other. This will constrain the selection and create an exact circle that emanates from the middle towards the edges. Usually the starting point is the upper-left of the circle. This method makes it so we can click the center. Once you’ve made a circular selection with a diameter of almost 700px, fill the selection with white.

At this point we need some sort of idea of what the orb should look like. Do an internet search for "marble sphere." I wanted the sphere to have an ancient, stone appearance so I’ll use an image with a lot of cracking and texture contrast. I like this image, so I will use it as a starting point, but I will probably add more contrast and texture.

Our first marble texture comes from here. Copy it, paste it, and resize it to just bigger than our white sphere using the same technique as in Step 1.

Make a selection of the sphere by holding Command and clicking the layer thumbnail for our white orb. We want our marble pattern to be the exact shape and size of the sphere.

Now with the selection ants still marching, hit Command + Shift + I, which will invert the selection. Now we can delete all the marble texture outside of the sphere by clicking on the marble texture in the layers panel and hitting Backspace.

Step 6 – Contouring the Marble Texture

Right now the marble texture looks incredibly unbelievable. It doesn’t follow the shape of a real sphere. Looking back at the reference sphere we can see how the real marble is warped and flows in a circular motion around the sphere, our texture is linear and has no contouring.

To add some quick contouring let’s use the Spherize distortion filter. First Command-click the marble layer thumbnail to select the marble’s shape. Now in the menu go to Filter > Distort > Spherize. In the window that pops up, set the Amount to 100%, you can reduce the preview to 25% to get a better idea of how the effect will look.

Click OK and now the marble has a more believable contour. But I still want it to be slightly more contoured. Repeat the spherize filter, but this time use a 50% amount.

Set the marble texture layer’s blending mode to Multiply and reduce the Opacity to 70%.

Step 7 – Coloring the Sphere

Our sphere is white, and that just doesn’t have the pop that I am looking for because we may want to change the sphere’s color later. Let’s add a Color Overlay Layer Style. Double-click the “orb bg” layer and the Layer Style window will pop open. On the left check the box next to color overlay, it’s red by default, just Double-click the red thumbnail and enter in this color: #5db8cf. You should see the sphere change to a teal color. Now we have a good marble sphere as our base, but it is still a bit boring. We need some more inspiration. The sphere needs some gloss!

Step 8 – Adding Gloss to Our Orb

There are tons of tutorials on creating glossy spheres, but what we are after is a somewhat realistic shine and shadows on our orb. Most tutorials are fine for creative website buttons or a slightly impressive glass ball that wouldn’t really fit into any artistic context.

What we need to do is do an internet search for glossy spheres to find real images of highly reflective marbles or spheres that have a shine that is resultant from a real light source. The first thing I noticed when examining a real image was how many subtle highlights and shadows a glossy sphere has.

I used this image as a reference, which comes from The Dimensions of Color. I will not try and copy the reflections, but I will use them as a spring board. I’ll outline some of my approach here, but I encourage you to put your own interpretation on the lighting effects on the sphere.

There may be a temptation here to use the gradient tool for lighting effects, I’m going to stick with the pen tool, burn tool, gradient masks, and maybe some elliptical marquee tool as well.

Step 8a – Shadows

Create a new layer called “shadow 1,” with our new shadow layer selected in the layers panel. Command-click the “orb bg” layer to get a circle selection. I don’t want the shadow to go right to the edge so I will contract the selection. Go to Select > Modify > Contract and enter 20 pixels.

We want a crescent shaped selection so grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Move the cursor to the upper-left and hold down the Alt key (notice the cursor has a little ‘-’ on it now, it will now subtract from the selection). This may take a couple of tries, but look below to see the shape I was happy with.

I don’t want a crisp shadow so we need to blur it. With our “shadow” layer selected Command-click the “sphere” layer again to get a circular selection. This will limit the blur to the edges of our orb. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use 25px or whatever suits your taste. Once you have blurred the image, drop the layer’s Opacity down to 70%.

Now I want to smooth out the shadow so select the Burn Tool. I set the exposure to 100% and then chose to burn the highlights. Make these edits on the “marble texture” layer. You can see the results below.

I still don’t like the shadow so I let’s make one last edit to this region. Change the blending mode of the “shadow 1″ layer to Soft Light, but notice how the shadow is lessened. Press Command + J to duplicate the “shadow 1″ layer. Let’s go ahead and make one more copy of our “shadow 1″ layer. Hold Command + J to duplicate again.

Note: As my layers panel starts to pile up, I like to organize them into folders. An easy way to do this is to first select all the layers you want in the group (Hold Command and click each layer in the panel). If you then press Command + G it will create a group that will put all the selected files into that group. Double-click the group’s name and then rename it.

Step 8b – Mid-Shadows

Referencing our source image again, notice how the sphere has darker shadows that are between the highlights and the darkest shadows. I think it is these intermediate shadows that give the gloss it’s real character. Create a new group for our mid-shadows. At the bottom of the layers panel there is a small file icon, click that and then rename the group to “mid shadows.”

Now this next part assumes you have some grasp on the pen/shape tools. I won’t explain how to use them, but I will show the shapes I created. Select the Ellipse Tool. There is one setting I will point out. With the pen tool or any shape tool selected you have a choice of creating Shape Layer, Paths, or Fill Pixels. I am going to choose the Paths setting (it’s located under the main program menu). With this setting our tool will create a new layer in the Paths tab of our Layers Panel.

Now that we have a path created we can use it to create a selection. Click on the Paths tab in the layers panel, then Command-click the path layer. We now have a selection that we call use to fill in a new layer.

Create a new layer in our “mid shadows” group, name that layer “midshadow 1.” Fill the selection with #24231b (you can double-click the background color thumbnail in the tool panel, then use Command + Backspace. Command + D will deselect the selection. Set the blending mode of this layer to Overlay and drop the Opacity to 50%. I don’t like the positioning of this layer so I am going to move it down and to the right.

Let’s lessen the sharp edges by adding a Layer Mask so we can hide parts of the layer in a non-destructive way. To add a layer mask, click on the third thumbnail at the bottom of the layer’s panel.

Click the layer mask thumbnail, then select the Gradient Tool. We want a black fading gradient. Use the image below as a guide for creating the gradients. I applied the gradients in two steps, but combined them into one image.

Next choose the brush, size 200px and 0% Hardness. Select black as the foreground color and paint where the faded red paint marks are shown below. I clicked the paint brush about 7-8 times in each position. It may be hard to see the change so hide and show the layer to see the change.

Now we will create the second mid-shadow. Create a new layer and name it “midshadow 2.” Create a new shape with the Pen Tool. Use the same process as we did with the first midshadow: create a path, make a selection, fill the “midshadow 2″ layer, then create a Layer Mask.

I used this color to fill the layer: #28271. Change the layer blending mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 50%. On the layer mask I chose the 200px brush with 0% Hardness, then faded both sides of the 2nd midshadow. Be creative with the layer mask, as shown below.

Step 8c – Highlights

Now onto the highlights. When we create highlights we will also be defining the edges of our midshadows (you will see what I mean shortly). Create a new group, call it “highlights” and create a new layer inside this group called “highlight source.”

If you look back at our reference image you’ll notice that the highlights have different degrees of sharpness and different distances of highlighting. When we create these new highlight layers their different opacities will interact and the interactions will create their own unique highlights.

Start with the most noticeable highlight, the light source reflection. This can take on many shapes depending on the shape of the light source. In other words we can just completely make this up. I will be using the pen tool for this step and following the same procedure as I did with the midshadows (with one or two different steps that I will point out). You can reproduce this shape or create your own, it won’t make a big difference.

Whatever shape you choose though, make sure it follows the contour of the sphere or it will look fake. Also make sure the reflections adhere to the position of our light source coming from the upper left.

With our new path make a selection and choose the “highlight source” layer, fill the selection with white (#ffffff).

With that layer still selected, change the Opacity to 80% and blur it slightly by going to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Use a setting of 0.5px.

Create a second layer in the “highlights” group and name it "large highlight.” You might as well create a Layer Mask on this layer as well. This is going to be our over-all highlight. Make a circular selection and move it to the upper-left of our orb. We want the selection to be a smaller diameter than the actual sphere. Fill this selection in our “large highlight” layer with white. Change the blending mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 90%.

Choose the brush but this time choose a size of 500 pixels with 0% Hardness. You can see below where I painted on the layer mask (I just used a red brush to show the location – use pure black for your artwork though). I clicked the brush around 16 times.

Create a new layer and name it “oval highlight.” Apply a layer mask to it. I will be creating this shape with the Ellipse Tool. Just recreate the shape in the images below. Since the path is not at the correct angle, we need to rotate it until it is aligned with the other highlights as shown.

Make a selection from the path and fill it with white in our new layer. Change the blending mode to Overlay and the Opacity to 20%. Go ahead and mask the upper-left edges of this “oval highlight” layer by painting into the layer mask with black. You can choose whatever brush size you want for this.

Our third highlight layer will be similar to the first highlight layer only it will just be a curve. You could accomplish this in multiple ways, but I’ll do it using the Elliptical Marquee Tool.

First create a new layer called “second shine.” We wont need a layer mask. Make a circular selection, then make a crescent selection. To do this, hold the Alt key down to subtract a smaller circle from our current selection. Click the bottom-right of the canvas and drag towards the upper-left. In our new layer, fill this crescent selection with white.

The new highlight is too sharp, so lets blur it by going to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. I used a pixel setting of about 2.5. Also, drop the Opacity of the layer to 50%.

Now for our last highlight. Create a new layer in our “highlights” folder and call it “abstract highlight.” Give it a layer mask.

Our reference image has fairly uniform and predictable highlights and shadows. But if you browse enough images of glossy spheres on the internet you will notice some spheres have some weird reflections and highlights. Sometimes these come from imperfections of the sphere, other times it could be an add object that is out of the shot, but that is still reflected on the surface of the sphere. This reflection/highlight could be from anything, but it adds a nice asymmetrical feel to the highlights.

Once again I will use the pen tool for this highlight. Below is the shape I will be using to make my selection. Remember that the shape should follow the contour of the sphere as closely as possible, otherwise we lose the realistic feel of the highlight.

Use the shape to make a selection, then in our new “abstract highlight” layer fill the selection with white. Change the blending mode to Overlay and drop the Opacity to 35%. Now paint into the layer mask to blend this highlight in. With a 200px brush at 0% hardness I painted in the areas marked in red.

The result is shown below.

Step 9 – Analyzing the Composition

It’s time to sit back and just look at the piece and be honest about what I don’t like. I rarely ever work on something where each step is the right choice and the final result is a clearly defined linear set of steps. Below is a list of things I don’t like so far. Let’s fix them before moving on.

1. The marble texture seems a little washed out. The teal doesn’t seam crisp and there isn’t enough contrast to the texture.
2. The highlights seems a little cartoonish and separate from the sphere they should be a part of.
3. The sphere itself needs some separation from the background. Something other than the color contrast.

These three things should be enough to enhance the overall look before we move onto the key and its parts.

Step 10 – Enhancing the Marble Texture

Lets go back to our marble layer in our layers panel. Click the layer in the layer panel so that it is the active layer. Duplicate the marble texture by pressing Command + J. Our new marble texture layer has a blending mode of Multiply, which yields an unwanted effect. Change the blending mode to Overlay and the Opacity to 40%.

We need to put a layer mask on this new layer and hide the upper-left part of the layer. Highlights on the sphere should wash out the texture they are above so we need to simulate the washing out. Since our bottom marble texture layer is already somewhat washed out, when we hide the top marble layer the bottom one will show through.

Choose a black foreground layer. In the layer mask on our second marble use the gradient tool to fade the top-left of the layer.

Step 11 – Enhancing the Highlights

Now that we have changed the marble texture the highlights don’t look nearly as bad, but we may need to adjust the opacity and/or blending modes. In our “highlights” folder click on the “large highlight,” change its blending mode to Overlay and the Opacity to 70%.

Select the “second shine” highlight layer and change the Opacity to 71%.

Our “oval highlight” layer is almost invisible so select that layer and change its Opacity to 37%.

Select the “abstract shine” layer and change its Opacity to 50%.

Step 12 – Separating Our Sphere from the Background

Let’s venture back to our initial “orb bg” layer. Double-click the “orb bg” layer in the layer panel to bring up the Layer Style window. Start by adding a Drop Shadow.

Use the settings:

• Blend Mode: Multiply (color: black #000000)
• Opacity: 99%
• Angle: 135 degrees (use global lighting)
• Distance: 53px
• Spread: 2%
• Size: 87px

For the last part of emphasizing the orb, I imagined creating some sort of ripple in the background or a crater. It’s like the orb put off some sort of power that distorted the ground it was hovering over.

Create a new layer behind the “orb bg” layer and call it “crater.” Next, Command-click the “orb bg” layer to make a circular selection. We want the selection to be about 50px – 75px larger than the orb. In the menu go to Select > Modify > Expand and choose a setting of 55px. Select a background color of white, then press Command + Backspace to fill our new layer with white.

A sharp edged crater would look ridiculous so let’s blur the edges. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and choose a setting of 25px.

Now we need to make a doughnut shape on our “crater” layer, so Command-click the layer thumbnail to make a selection. To contract the selection go to Select > Modify > Contract and choose a setting of 20px. Before we delete the contracted selection we need to feather the selection edge. Go to Select > Refine Edge.

Use the settings:

• Radius: 1px
• Contrast: 0
• Smooth: 3
• Feather: 3px
• Contrast: 0%

After clicking OK, hit Backspace to delete the selection. We need to divide this new fuzzy doughnut in half so we can create a highlight and shadow. Choose the Polygon Lasso Tool and select the bottom section of the “crater” layer.

We need this selection in a new layer so hit Command + X to cut the selection, then Command + V to paste it. We need it to be black because it is a shadow. Hit Shift + I to invert the color from white to black. Rename this new layer to “crater 2.” Apply layer masks to both “Crater” and “Crater 2,” then set their blending modes to Soft Light. Fade the edges of both layers by using the gradient tool on the layer masks as I did in the image below.

Step 13 – Creating a Split in the Orb

We need to create the split in the orb that emanates from the key hole we will be creating later.

Above the “highlights” folder create a new folder and name it “key hole.” Create a new layer inside this layer and name it “split.” Use the Elliptical Marquee Tool to create a selection and fill it with black.

Make sure this new layer is selected, if not Command-click the layer “split.” We need to contract the selection, so once again go to Select > Modify > Contract and use a setting of 5px. Once you click OK, press Backspace to delete.

Create a layer mask on the layer “split.” I want to delete the right half of the shape and then fade the top and bottom of the split. The areas I have masked off are highlighted in red.

Note: If you ever want your layer mask highlighted, click on the mask thumbnail and press the Backslash key it will toggle the layer mask highlighting.

I want to put a little glow on the edges of the split so double-click the split layer. When the Layer Style window first opens we need to make a selection in the Advanced Blending section. Select the Layer Mask Hides Effects option. This will allow the layer mask to also hide any Layer Styles we apply.

Now apply an Outer Glow style and use the settings below:

• Blend Mode: Overlay
• Opacity: 81%
• Noise: 0
• Color: White (#ffffff)
• Technique: Softer
• Spread: 2%
• Size: 10px

Step 14 – Creating the Key Hole

I want to create the key hole using the pen tool. Create a new layer in our “key hole” group and call the layer “key hole.” We will use the same process of creating a shape, then making a selection with the shape and filling the selection in our new layer.

Move the key hole on top of the split. The key hole’s shape is wrong and doesn’t follow the contour of the orb so we need to warp transform the key hole. With the “key hole” layer selected go to Edit > Transform > Warp. My warp adjustments are shown below.

I want to add some highlights to the keyhole to give it a little bit of dimension. Double-click the “key hole” layer to bring up the Layer Style window. Select the Drop Shadow option and use the settings below (make sure you have the Use Global Lighting” option turned off, it’s next to the angle slider). Use these settings:

• Blend Mode: Overlay
• Opacity: 100%
• Angle: -90 degrees (uncheck “Use Global Light”)
• Distance: 5px
• Spread: 6%
• Size: 10px

Step 15 – Adding the Basic Key Shape

I decided to make the key from scratch rather than use a stock photo. This way we are in control of the way it looks. I still did an image search online for “old key” to get some reference images. I did all the work by hand, but I constantly looked at the real thing to compare. My main reference photo was this one from the site worldofstock.com.

First use the Pen Tool to set down a basic key shape, then add details to it and give it a realistic shape.

…and some refinement to the shape

Now create a new layer in our “key hole” group and call it “key base.” Create a selection using our path (remember to use the process from Step 8b). Fill the selection with the color: #5b4a16.

Old keys were made out of metals like iron and they had imperfections and a lot more variants in texture than today’s keys, so we need a good texture to use for our key. I used this one.

Paste the texture into a new layer on top of the “key base” layer. If you hold down the Alt key as you hover on the lines between the two layers, then the cursor changes. If you click the layer on top of the cursor, then it becomes bound to the shape of the layer below.

Change the metal texture’s layer blending mode to Soft Light, and we are ready to start working on giving the key some dimension and lighting realism.

Step 16 – Giving the Key Dimension

Two main cues to dimension come from lighting effects and distortion of features based on shape. My first techniques for adding depth were the Drop Shadow and Bevel/Emboss effects, which for just clicking a box and tweaking some numbers can be alright… at first. For this key though I think I want to use a combination of the dodge and burn tool, the liquify filter, and the normal brush tool (to add some high contrast depth).

I’ll start first by adding the distortions so we have a better idea of where our lighting will appear. Make a selection of each area we want to distort. This will restrict our edits to localized areas and prevent us from affecting past and future edit sites.

Step 16a – First Selection/Distortion

Using the Elliptical Marquee Tool, make a selection of the first bulge in the key. I wanted flat sides, so I then selected the Rectangular Marquee Tool and held down the Alt key to subtract from the selection. The selection is slightly off so I needed to rotate it counter-clockwise by going to Select > Transform Selection, rotate it, then press Enter.

With our selection made, go to Filter > Liquify. Use the settings I have below, but make sure you have Show Backdrop selected in the bottom right so you can see the context of what you’re editing. I also made the magnification 400% to better see what I was editing. I just painted in the middle of the selection until I was happy (maybe 4 or 5 clicks).

Step 16b – Second Selection/Distortion

Using the same techniques as in Step 16a, I will edit our second Bulge on the key.

Step 16c – Third Selection/Distortion

Once again use the same technique on the last area of distortion. On this area I don’t think the key is as thick so our distortion doesn’t have to be as drastic.

Step 17 – Creating the Shadows on the Key

This step requires more accuracy because we will be using the Burn Tool directly on our texture layer. This is usually referred to as destructive editing because we are making edits directly to the layer, and we will be at the mercy of the number of History Steps if we need to undo our edits. In other words, we could edit to the point where we could no longer undo some of the edits.

This step would probably be easier with some sort of computer tablet. I’ll make do with a mouse though. Select the Burn Tool. We will probably need to do this in 2 or 3 sub-steps using different brush sizes. I will start out with a brush size of 17 pixels, 0% Hardness, with the Range set to Midtones and the Exposure set to 30%. I usually like a lower exposure because it allows me to burn the areas at a slower rate so I can be more gradual with my darkening of the layer.

Since the burn tool is additive, meaning it will make an area increasingly dark as the brush moves over the same spot, I will start with the lightest shadow first, then add in darker areas after.

Step 17a – Adding the Lightest Shadows

The hardest part of the lighting on the key will be anticipating where the lighting will affect the key. Our reference image has a lighting source that comes from multiple angles – direct lighting in addition to reflective lighting sources. Our lighting is a direct source from the upper-left, so we are dealing with a novel light source and we’ll have to edit accordingly.

Try to anticipate areas where the light will hit first – usually edges, then use the opposite side of the key to add the shadows. Remember though, that the orb itself is reflecting light which would probably cause all the edges of the key to have some degrees of highlights, so our shadows will be primarily on the inside parts of the key.

Use the image below to see where I started adding our lightest shadows. Shown below are the areas I edited along with the motion I used when painting with the Burn Tool.

Step 17b – Adding our Mid-level Shadows

Our next section of shadows will overlap a lot of our previous shadow edits, so just keep in mind that these edits will also darken our existing shadow edits.

Use the same settings for the Burn Tool, but change the brush size to 9 pixels. Once again, notice the areas that I edited and the direction of the brush strokes.

Step 17c – Our Darkest Shadows

For our last step of the shadows, we’ll add the darkest parts of our shadows. They will also be the thinnest and have the highest contrast so we will be using a brush size of 4 pixels and change the Range to Shadows for stronger darkening.

Below are the areas I edited for this last shadow step. Don’t be afraid to use different levels of magnification because this step requires a higher level of detail. For me it’s easier to edit smaller areas when I am magnified in on the key at 300% or more.

Step 17d – One Last Layer of Shadow

OK, I lied. We need one last step for the darkest and sharpest shadows. Choose the normal brush with a 2 pixel diameter and 0% Hardness. Use black as the foreground color.

I will only be using this step to add to some of the sharper horizontal sections on the key. Create a new layer in the top of our “highlights” folder and call it “darkest shadows.” Paint in vertical motions. After you have done this, you can smooth out the top edges of this layer by whatever means you like best. I just deleted some of the top of the lines, and then used the Smudge Tool to fade it out a little.

Step 18 – Highlights and the Key is Done

Our highlights are going to follow a similar thought process and technique as the shadow steps, only we will use the dodge tool. If you are ever unsure of what a tool is or how it works, just do an internet search for that tool, or refer to Photoshop’s help. Many times I will do this in the middle of a tutorial so that I can better understand how a tool works or why I am using it.

Step 18a – Making Our Weak Highlights Strong

As I have said before, sometimes I will just stare at a design or leave it then come back. Usually this will counter my initial joy at what I have created and allow me to be more honest with what needs fixing. In this case, it needs more highlights. The key could stay like this, but it has a worn-out and dull look. I think adding some even more drastic highlights will give the key some luster.

Create a new layer and use a combination of brush strokes and blending modes. The Dodge Tool is going to lose its effectiveness if we use it anymore. Below is an image with just the white painted onto the key. After you paint the white, use the Smudge Tool to smooth and taper the edges of the new highlights. Create a new layer at the top of our “highlights” group and call it “highlights,” then Command-click our “key base” layer so that we only paint inside our key shape.

Set the “highlights” layer to a blending mode of “Overlay.” Press “Command + J” to duplicate our highlights layer. Then change the copied layer to a blending mode of Color Dodge and an Opacity of 18%.

Step 19 – Grouping the Key and Fading its Shaft

Our key ends at this abrupt jagged edge. To fix this we need to select these layers: “highlights copy,” “highlights,” “darkest shadow,” “metal texture,” and “key base.” Make sure all these layers are selected at the same time, then press Command + G to put them all into a group. Name the group “key.”

Add a layer mask to the group. This way we can mask all the layers inside the group at the same time using one mask. Then using a black gradient on the mask, fade the part of the key that is just above the key hole.

Step 20 – Key Shadow

The last step in making the key realistic is adding a shadow. A lot of tutorials will show shadows as being simple reflections that have been faded. Apple made this sort of shadow/reflection popular, but it only works if our light source is directly above the object and our object is sitting on a perfectly flat base. Our key is part of an orb, so the shadow will have to bend around the curvature of the orb, which will distort its shape.

Create a new layer on top of our “key” group and call it “key shadow.” Inside our “key” group, Command-click our “key base” layer so that we have a selection in the shape of our key. Now in our new “key shadow” layer, fill the selection with black. Deselect the layer using Command + D and then go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal.

Now we need to press Command + T to transform and rotate our key. The shadow will be pointed down towards the bottom-right corner since our light is from the upper-left. We also need to squash the key a little, so drag the transform handle to the top of the key and bring it in a little.

Now distort the key to the contour of the orb by going to Edit > Transform > Warp. Try to mimic the transformation shown below.

Change the blending mode of this layer to Soft Light, and then change the opacity to 80%. We need to fade the far edge of the shadow, so add a layer mask and use a black gradient to fade the edge. Finally, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and use a setting of 1.8 pixels to slightly blur the shadow’s edges.

Step 21 – Final Adjustment to the Background Shadow

Once again I took a few minutes to sit back and examine the piece as a whole. I feel that the background needs a slightly darker shadow in the bottom-right.

In our layer panel go to the “bg lighting” layer and click on it. It should be the sixth layer. Create a new layer above that and call it “bg lighting 2.” Change the foreground color to #10100c, and choose the gradient tool. Use the direction and length of the gradient tool that I show below.

Finally, change the blending mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 70%.

Conclusion

Below is our final image. I hope you learned some useful techniques. With any tutorial remember that the value isn’t in the usefulness of the final image, but in the learning of new techniques, tools, and approaches to creating art. Thanks for your time!

Remember that your third layer was used to change the saturation of the background, and you can always go back to it and double-click the saturation thumbnail to increase saturation. In the image below, I increased the Saturation to 68%.

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or a larger version here.

Video Tutorial

Our video editor Gavin Steele has created this video tutorial to compliment this text + image tutorial.

Organizing the Assets

As I’ve said before the most important thing in a landscape photo manipulation is the right stock, so pick it carefully. I’ve chosen the following stock:

• Waterfall 1: by jesuino
• Waterfall 2: by brbankston
• Waterfall 3: by dracoart-stock
• Cliff 1: by polinife-stock
• Hills: by cat-in-the-stock
• Sky 1: by resurgere
• Cliff 2: by bloodydawn
• Sky 2: by resurgere
• Castle: by hislightrq
• Cliff 3: by gracies-stock
• Statue: by almudena-stock

Step 1

Open the Waterfall 1 picture and place it as shown below.

Step 2

Open the Waterfall 2 picture and go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Crete a layer mask, then use a basic brush with smooth edges (black color) to erase some of the parts you don’t need.

Step 3

Open the Waterfall 3 picture. Place it at the bottom of the picture, then create a mask and erase some of the edges with a brush just like you did in the previous step.

Step 4

Open the cliff image. Cut it out with the Pen Tool and place it as shown so it will cover the left part of the waterfall that didn’t look good.

Step 5

Go to the first waterfall layer. Pick the Lasso Tool and select the waterfall’s bottom part like in the picture below. Then press Command + J. Go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal and place it like you see in the image below. Now create a mask and with a basic brush and erase some of the edges.

Step 6

Open the Hills image. Press Command + T and transform it so it will fit the image. Create a mask and erase some of the edges.

Step 7

Drag the Sky 1 picture into the working document. Create a mask and erase the bottom edges so it will fit next to the hills.

Step 8

Go to the second waterfall layer and with the Lasso Tool select a part of the water, then place it as shown below so the first waterfall will look bigger. Create a mask and erase some of the parts. Set the layer’s Opacity to about 75%.

Step 9

Go to Adjustment Layers > Gradient Map and apply it as shown.

Step 10

On the Gradient Map’s mask erase everything but the water.

Step 11

Create a new layer. Pick the Clone Stamp Tool and make some minor fixes to the right waterfall so it will blend in. Pick some grass to cover the waterfall as well.

Step 12

Create a new layer. Select the Blur Tool and sample all layers. Use it on the water.

Step 13

Create a new layer. Pick the basic brush with smooth edges (white color) and draw some lines on the water. Start with some thin lines and then draw them thicker and thicker. Next go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur, then set the radius to about 25 pixels.

Step 14

Drag in the Cliff 1 picture. Set the Opacity to about 50% so you will see where it fits. When you’ve placed it in the right place you can increase the Opacity back to 100%. Create a mask and leave just some parts that fit with the rest of the landscape.

Step 15

Open the Sky 2 image and place it at the top of the Photoshop working document. Create a mask and erase some parts of the clouds so it will look foggy. We will use the same clouds picture in another step later in the tutorial as well.

Step 16

Cut out the Castle and place it in the middle of the composition. You don’t need to cut it out perfectly, just create a mask and cover the parts you don’t like. Don’t erase them with the Eraser Tool, as you never know when you need to get something back.

Step 17

Go to Adjustment Layers > Hue/Saturation. Set it to: Hue of +7, Saturation of -65, and Lightness of 0. Clip the layer to the “castle” layer by holding the Alt key and pressing the right mouse button between the two layers.

Step 18

Go to the Adjustment Layers > Levels. Make the settings as in the image below. Create a clipping mask as explained in Step 17.

Step 19

Go to Adjustment Layers > Hue/Saturation. Set the Hue to +13, Saturation top +11, and Lightness to -9.

Step 20

Go to Adjustment Layers > Levels. Make the settings as shown below.

Step 21

Open the Cliff 3 picture and place it in the working document. I did this because I wasn’t satisfied with how those rocks looked, but this isn’t a mandatory step. Create a mask and erase the parts that don’t fit.

Step 22

Cut out the Statue and place it on the cliff. Create a mask and hide the right part so it will blend in.

Step 23

Go to the “cliffs” layer and duplicate it twice by pressing Command + J two times, then clip them to the “statues” layer. Set the blending mode of the first layer to Overlay and the second one to Multiply (Opacity set to 50%).

Step 24

Go to Adjustment Layers > Levels and make the settings as shown below. Clip this layer to the “statue” layer.

Step 25

Create a new layer. Pick the Clone Stamp Tool (select all layers) and apply some grass from the cliffs to the darker parts of the statue.

Step 26

Open the white clouds again, decrease it’s size, and place it on the statue. Create a mask and cover the parts you don’t need. Set the Opacity to about 90%.

Step 27

Go to Adjustment Layers > Gradient Map and use the settings shown below.

Step 28

Go to the Adjustment Layers > Photo Filter and use the settings shown below.

Step 29

Merge all the layers by pressing Command + Alt + Shift + E. Go to Filters > Gaussian Blur (Radius 5,0).

Step 30

Set the blending mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 50 %.

Step 31

Select a custom made brush with a cloud. I made this brush myself but you can find many cloud brushes on the internet. Apply this brush at the bottom of the picture so it will look a bit foggy. Set the opacity to about 20-30%.

Step 32

Open the white clouds stock picture again and erase everything but the top part of the clouds.

Step 33

Go to the Adjustment Layers > Hue/Saturation, and use the settings: Hue at 0, Saturation at +28, and Lightness at 0. Erase some of the parts on the mask as shown.

Step 34

Go to Adjustment Layers > Photo Filter. Erase the top part of the mask as shown.

Step 35

Go to Adjustment Layers > Gradient Map and apply it like you see in the image below.

Step 36

Go to Adjustment Layers > Levels, and apply the settings shown below.

Step 37

Finally for the last step. Go to the Adjustment Layers > Curves, and apply an Output of 178 and Input of 188.

Conclusion

Sit back and take a look at your photo manipulation, as we’re finished!

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Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below.

Video Tutorial

Our video editor Gavin Steele has created this video tutorial to compliment this text + image tutorial.

Image Assets

• Smoker – from my personal collection
• Skull – thanks to Martin Land for that
• Smoke 1, Smoke 2, Smoke 3, and Smoke 4

Step 1

Open up Smoker image. It should look like this. That’s me in the photo so please keep the abuse down to a minimum. I’ll refer to this as the working document from this point on.

Step 2

Open the Skull image and draw a path around it using the Pen Tool (set to Paths not Shape Layers). Roughly clone out unwanted elements such as the nuts and bolts using the Clone Stamp Tool (with a soft edged brush).

Make a selection from your Path (Command-click the Path icon on the Paths palette) and copy and paste it into the working document. Flip it horizontally (Edit >Transform > Flip Horizontal) and then use the Free Transform Tool (Command + T) to rotate and resize it. You can flip it during this stage instead by entering -100% into the horizontal scale and then using the corner points to resize.

Step 3

Open the Smoke 1 image, then clone out the cigarette using the Clone Stamp Tool (with a soft edged brush). Then use the Polygonal Lasso tool to loosely draw a selection around the smoke, taking in some of the background as well. Copy and paste it into the working document and call the layer “CIG_SMOKE.”

Step 4

Change the “CIG_SMOKE” Layer Blending Mode to Screen. You may now see some hard edges around the smoke, this is caused by the background not being true black, so select the Burn tool and burn. Then adjust the levels and finally Resize and rotate using the Free Transform Tool. See screenshots for the settings if you need them.

Step 5

Next we’re going to treat the skull. Adjust the Levels (Image > Adjustments > Levels) as shown. Then select the Clone Stamp Tool (with a soft edged brush) and clone out the area of shadow in the eye-socket to the right-hand side.

Don’t worry about being too accurate, it should take you a minute. Then desaturate the Skull (Image > Adjustments > Desaturate) and apply a Glowing Edges filter (Filter > Stylize > Glowing Edges) as shown.

Step 6

Select “CIG_SMOKE” and use the Burn tool (set to Midtones at an exposure of 37%) to soften the edge that meets the skull. I find it’s best to stamp the tool rather than drag it around when affecting areas that you don’t want to treat too brutally.

Step 7

Open the Smoke 2 image. Invert the image (Image > Adjustments > Invert) so the smoke is white and the background is black. Then copy and paste it into the working document, and name the layer “SMOKE.”

Select the Dodge Tool (set it to highlights with an exposure of 18%) and run it up the right-hand side a few times. Change the layer blending mode to Screen. Finally copy the Layer (Layer > Duplicate layer).

Step 8

Use the Free Transform Tool to resize, but don’t commit the changes. Instead go to Edit > Transform > Warp and adjust the Warp grid as shown below. You need to do it this way so that the Warp grid fits your graphic as you’ve resized and rotated it. You can manipulate the handles, the grid points and drag anywhere within each grid square. Now Burn to blend any hard-edges of the smoke.

We want to enhance the features of the skull so, still using the Burn Tool, use a soft edged brush to stamp on the eye area, but then ramp the brush hardness up to around 70%. Duplicate the “SMOKE copy,” then use the Free Transform Tool to resize and rotate it to fit the jaw of the skull. Before you commit the Transform, go to Edit > Transform > Warp to bring up the warp grid, then manipulate as shown below.

Step 9

Continue layering up duplicates of the “SMOKE” layer to fit the contours of the skull. Blend out hard edges using the Burn Tool. Mix up the exposure using Shadows, Midtones and Highlights accordingly. This is trial and error so don’t be afraid to use your History palette (Window > History) to jump back to an earlier point. Place some smoke over where “CIG_SMOKE” (the first smoke layer you created) meets the “SKULL” layer to create a more natural blend.

Step 10

Continue building up layers of smoke using copies of the original “SMOKE” layer. You can be fairly loose with the smoke outline, it will look more natural if it isn’t perfect.

Use duplicates of layers that you’ve already warped and blended to fill in areas of similar detail, such as the eye sockets, or any curves around the skull. Turn the “SKULL” layer visibility off by clicking the eye icon next to the layer on the layers palette. This will allow you to see the build-up of you smoke layers.

Step 11

Now that the skull is beginning to take shape, we can add other patterns of smoke to it. Get the Smoke 3 image and open it. Desaturate, copy and paste it into your working document. Call the new layer “NEW_SMOKE.”

Change the layer blending mode to Screen and then use the Free Transform Tool to rotate and resize so it fits at the left-hand side of the skull. Don’t apply the changes, but go to Edit > Transform > Warp as before, and manipulate the grid to create a funnel-like shape from the smoke. The smoke would begin to disperse as it floats up so try and recreate this by breaking the outline of the skull. Again, blend any hard-edges out by using the Burn Tool.

Step 12

Now the skull is ready for some lighter, wispier areas of smoke, which should add realism to it. Download the Smoke 4 image and open it up. Have your working document window open to the side and identify which parts of the image can be used and where.

Select a portion of the smoke with the Polygonal Lasso Tool, then copy and paste it into the working document. Call this new layer “WISPY_SMOKE.” Remember to desaturate the layer and change it’s blending mode to Screen. Then Free transform, Warp and Burn as you did before.

Step 13

Keep building the skull shape using duplicates of the same smoke assets we’ve been using up until now. Don’t forget to use all the tools we’ve been using along the way: Burn any hard edges or any patches of detail you wish to get rid of. Flip, rotate and resize areas of smoke. Use the layer opacity to create thinner smoke as it disperses. It should be looking roughly like the image below by this point.

Step 14

To make the next couple of steps easier it’s best to flatten all your smoke layers (select them all in the layers palette and go to Layer > Merge Layers). Once that’s done, you’ll need to change the layer blend mode back to Screen. Use the Burn Tool to burn out areas in which the skull has features.

Switch the Burn Tool’s exposure between Shadows, Midtones and Highlights as needed. Try not to over burn any area, as this will damage the pixels. I find the best way to avoid this is to stamp the tool down, rather than dragging the cursor. Turn the “SKULL” layer on for reference if needed.

Step 15

Hide all your smoke layers and select the “SKULL” layer. You should have a white keyline around the skull, which is a by-product of running the Glowing Edges Filter. Use the Eraser Tool to remove this. A fairly small brush with a 0% Hardness and 100% Opacity and flow would be best.

Turn any smoke layers visibility back on, select the “SKULL” layer and apply Levels (Image > Adjustments > Levels) as shown. This should add detail to the features of the skull.

Step 16

Now we need to better blend in the features. Using the same smoke assets (I used Smoke 2 and Smoke 3) and the same techniques, position smaller bits of smoke over key areas of detail. See how the smoke seems to come off of the teeth and nose, this will really fuse the details with the smoke.

Step 17

Select the “Background” layer (should be the smoker), then go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and set up as shown. Select the Adjustment Layers Layer Mask then go to Select > All and fill it with black. Select the Paintbrush Tool and set it up as shown, then start painting white onto the layer mask to reveal parts of the Curves Adjustment Layer effects.

Use a smaller brush to get smaller areas of detail such as the eyes and any highlights on the skin. Keep painting over areas until you improve the lighting and contrast. If you paint too much then scale back the Layers Opacity.

Step 18

Create a Levels Adjustment Layer above the Curves one and set up as shown.

Step 19

Select the uppermost layer on your layers palette (should be the merged “SMOKE” layers) and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient map (this is optional, add whichever color scheme you see fit, or leave it natural). Edit the gradient so you have color #003949 (if you click the colored rectangle marked Color within the gradient editor window then the color options will appear.

The number field is where you input the values affecting the dark pixels and color #fdfea3 affecting the lighter pixels. Change the Layer Blending mode to Color. Finally, set up a paintbrush as shown and paint on the Layer Mask to reveal some of the natural skin tones underneath. A couple of passes should do it.

Conclusion

Et Voila! I’ve added a bit of post to the final image, a vignette, High Pass filter and some other tricks I usually do to finish an image (PLUS users check “SMOKE_LAYERED_POST.PSD”).

It’s worth mentioning that I duplicated the “SKULL” layer and deleted all but the teeth area, as I didn’t think it was strong enough. I also tweaked the Adjustment Layers Opacities until completely satisfied in attempt to soften the noisy source photograph, which I must apologize for. You may want to take your own photos anyway.

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