In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a fantasy landscape using some simple and easy techniques. Everyone with basic Photoshop skills can succeed to recreate this simple image using the most important thing in this kind of photo manipulation - the right stock. So let's go!
Final Image Preview
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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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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Jezol August 24th
nice
( )Carlos August 24th
This is really amazing. Just goes to show how the right placement of elements can lead to the creation of something truly magnificent.
Will try some of the techniques shown here. Thanks
( )seantpl August 24th
interesting. thanks for sharing.
( )kitsune August 24th
Splendid process,really creative,i Expect for your next tutto
( )emmanuel August 24th
you have got to be kidding me another manipulation
( )tut
Dave August 24th
I know, right?
( )dhype August 24th
Disappointed, the tutorial are good but, to much tutorials like these.
Blueice August 26th
have you guys thought of writing your own, would be good to see some alternatives to this kind of thing all the time
The Cucu Bau August 26th
yeah, seems like a joke
Dave August 26th
@blueice: I would, but apparently my stuff isn’t Sean’s taste
Ashley Jensen August 24th
very nice! Love the details!
( )VertigoSFX August 24th
This is a great tut, I’m ready for some other tuts as emmanuel mentioned, let’s see some more design tuts, icon design, site design, graphic design…vector stuff in Photoshop…things like that
Great tut though, well explained and awesome outcome, I love all the images used to make that piece, really neat.
( )Sean Hodge August 24th
@VertigoSFX – I’m working on it, but it does take time. I’m contacting new potential authors every day for icon, web design, and interface design – so we can get more of those types of tutorials on the site.
( )G August 24th
Thanks Sean, your efforts are appreciated, as those other types of tuts are what made me keep coming back to the site in the first place. I still swing by daily to check out the tuts because what is on the site is great… but these manipulations aren’t a patch on the Fire text tutorial or the Grass text of a few months ago.
keep up the good work.
Sean Hodge August 24th
We will continue to publish photo manipulation tutorials though, but we’ll have more of a mix of topics for tutorials in the future. Thx.
( )Brett August 24th
Thanks for the reply Sean. I’m sure I speak for everyone that we appreciate all the hard work you guys put into the site. I wish you guys luck in finding more of those tutorial writers! If I was as good as the guys that post on here, i would write a few, but I’m not at that point yet
And yes please do keep on with the photo manips too, I love them, just am anxious for others as well.
begs August 25th
Yes! Please continue those photo manipulation tuts. Much visitors really do like it!
Thanks for evrything.
gar August 24th
lol@emmanuel
( )Simon August 24th
I’m not too sure about this one. The waterfall and cliffs – in the end result – do look pretty glued together.
Also, some of your steps are too detailed (use these exact values) as opposed to play around a bit until it looks good. This make the learner interact with your tutorial, make their own choices, instead of just creating a carbon copy of what you’re making.
( )Sean Hodge August 24th
Simon, I think readers should now to apply these techniques their own way, but knowing how exactly something was done can be critical to learning, especially for practice work. For portfolio or client work you may be applying just bits and pieces of what you learn here. Thx.
( )James August 25th
I have to agree on Sean here. I love the tutorial! Please let them keep coming! Icon and grapic deisgn for web is not that difficult. Getting to manipulate photo`s here, is harder to learn, since there are so many techniques and options to be learned.
In web design/ icon design, it`s pretty straight forward. No offense, but they are way easier to make. And besides, the tut and end result look absolutely beatifull! Trust me when i say: very well explained. Loredana, well done!
Simon August 25th
I guess you’re right. It’s good to know how certain results are reached. And after all, practice makes perfect!
adam August 24th
just to let you know, if you click web.appstorm or air.appstorm it sends you to mac.appstorm…………..
( )adam August 27th
lol, it’s still sending you to mac.appstorm, even when web.appstorm has been launched……
( )lawrence77 August 24th
The second female author i think…
Welcome to psdtuts..
I like the final outcome..
( )THanks for sharing…
massafakka August 24th
mhh nice i love your pic
( )Nardyello August 24th
Excellent. The final result looks really nice.
As with the people complaining, I find it that most people who have followed Psd Tuts+ for a while have become very familiar with most of the manipulation techniques presented here. Which is why I believe they are looking for more diversity.
But on the other hand, new people who are interested in design stop by here every single day and a lot of them have no idea how to perform such actions to get great manipulation results.
So we have to keep in mind that not all tutorials are going to be made so that everybody will benefit, because some of us are experts, while others are new to this.
What might be an option is to have labels on each tutorial – Beginner, Intermediate, Hard – or just difficulty level – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. That way people will know for who the design is catered to. Other than that, you might be able to have a “Beginner” section where you will have the basic tutorials and after that have an “Advanced” section where you won’t have to explain all the basic steps (these, of course, will have higher grade tutorials).
Anyways, thank you for sharing. =]
( )hejz August 24th
Im sorry to say it, but the result really sucked.
sorry man!
( )I love your other workd and tuts. But this one wasn’t that great.
It’s a great idea, but the waterfalls and the cliffs dont and the castle just looks so, and dont know
george August 24th
superb tutorial
( )BogDinamita August 24th
i’m sick of photo manips but I actually like this one haha
buna treaba. succes pe viitor
( )g3niuz August 24th
great stuff
looks fresh..
( )Rafael Guerra August 24th
That´s beautiful…
( )Ninja August 24th
this is AWESOME!!! keep ‘em coming….
great final result….. i’m halfway through tutorial now….
( )Melody August 24th
The thing with some photo manipulations is that they’re beginning to make it seem like all you do is collage and blur a bunch of images together to create a new image. Then you add some fog to cover up the fact that it’s not real and darken certain areas to further the “manipulation..”
The things about GREAT photo manipulations is that the scene seems real, whether fantasy or whatnot, and that you are literally seeing a scene unfolding before your eyes..
Difficult techniques don’t necessarily mean the best art, or best result, there IS genius in simplicity, it’s just that I guess everyone thinks that this particular dark, grungy, fantasy style of photomanips is getting tired and redundant..
( )Sibby August 26th
Agreed.
But methinks the same applies to other styles of art too – seriously, how many ad “designs” you’ve seen that involve shiny lines of light? What about icons? Interfaces? Menus? Web designs?
I’d love to see more hardcore manips – those you mention, who seem simply real rather than “dreamy” or fantasy-y.
And less sepia. Please, no more sepia-ish colors.
( )Roberto Blake August 27th
I’ve been thinking on this lately and I myself am guilty of photo-manipulations that are more visual effects than manipulations per-se. Stronger or more advanced photo-manipulations or rather better examples of them consist of the “alchemy principle” taking something apart and putting it together as something new. When picking the Photo manipulations for my blog post a few weeks backs when I featured them I tried to keep this in mind.
There are still a lot of really clever and creative photo manipulations going on out there! Rob Shields does some excellent work for example!
( )ricardofx August 24th
wow
what a beatiful girl,she´s so pretty…
also the tutorial is very good…
a hug pretty lorena.
lol
rfx
( )Daz August 24th
not bad but not special. good techniques but th efinal outcome looks pretty average.
( )Dave August 24th
i don’t like it… two of the waterfalls are way too blacked out, the castle doesn’t match/blend into the environment (lighting), and the fog just makes everything fuzzy. like others, i too, am getting tired of the same type of photo manipulations (fantasy) over and over again. I would be okay with them, if they would be something new and interesting, but they are all the same to one degree or another. lets get some new stuff up here
( )snnaqvi August 24th
Again a fantasy but good result
( )marclapatate August 25th
i urely send a very like that tuts on a dvd i got do u copie from there?
( )ripon August 25th
pls help me…
( )Proof August 25th
not so difficult, I love the manipulation, but the final clour is poisonous
( )jeprie August 25th
awesome
( )Jamie Allsop August 25th
This is a really good tutorial and the final image looks great.
( )Tuto August 25th
Awesome tutorial, the final render looks pretty well.
( )pony August 25th
good job
( )DaveK August 25th
I really like it, some simple but well executed effects, good for us beginners,
( )will defiantly be having a crack at this. I dont honestly care that a lot of these tuts are fantasy based as far as I am concerned too many people are focusing on the finished picture, they could look at it in a more positive light and realize that they are being shown different techniques that can be applied to many different genres of image manipulation.
123 August 25th
Great tut, piss off haters
( )If u don’t like it sod off with your dirty tongue
Andre Oliveira August 25th
Awesome tut!
( )Oliver Web August 25th
Another amazing and easy to follow tutorial. The end result looks really good and I’m going to have to give this a go when I have some spare time. Thanks for sharing.
( )Diego SA August 25th
Awesome Papp! Good manipulation! So much better than others I’ve seen lately. Congratualtions!
( )Drew August 25th
If it’s on display – then it should be objectively critiqued: rather than just hated like 123 said… haha.
I took a look at the finished image and probably spent 5 seconds inspecting it. After looking at all the steps to put it together there are now issues i have with the final piece. Mind you I am being picky as it’s a good photo manipulation. The unsuspecting eye would think it’s real.
The perspective on the added waterfalls is skewed. If it didn’t have water on the cliff then obviously it wouldn’t be a problem. The one on the right; furthest most tip [as in further away.] of the edge should be lowered more
The waterfall under the castle is too blurry in contrast to the the two foreground waterfalls – yet the castle itself is quite crisp. I also don’t understand how the water is flowing from the castle itself…
To make the photo more balanced Ii would move the castle to the right more so that the water can then extend into the distance, plus, it puts the castle in line with the rule of thirds. This gives it greater perspective and also a focal point.
I also feel that because the contrast on the waterfalls is so different they become a focal point for the image and not the castle itself – therefore your eyes are left wandering the image. The water also moves your eyes to the pool but then doesn’t direct your eyes back up again.
In my initial 5 second look i didn’t even notice the statue down the bottom.
Being really picky now – given the amount of light, angle of the sun plus the the diffused light from the clouds i find it hard to believe that the castle can have such hard shadow lines. If you take that on board and then look at the statue it doesn’t tie together. To much incontinence with foreground/background focal points…
BUT – i still think it’s a good image.
( )BW August 25th
I disagree that anyone would believe this isn’t a collage at first glance. It has an uncanny valley feel to it. There’s something unnatural about it that makes you question it’s origin. It’s a nice painting but a horrible photograph.
( )Marcel August 25th
Thanks, and big thanks to the psd tut team who present us with these great tutorials and articles every time.
( )David Moreen August 25th
Very nice. It reminds me of a movie, I can’t remember the name but I’ve seen something similar before.
( )jack August 26th
I have seen this “create fantasyland” tutorial at least 4 times on psd tuts.
why?
( )Jasmin Halkić August 26th
Really nice… Thanks Loredana.
( )Blueice August 26th
Hmm key word for all Photo manipulation ‘PHOTOSHOP’ thats what it was designed for… yes it can do so much more.. however 60 – 80% of my work is PM. end of
( )Melody August 26th
Well that’s your work, so you can only speak for yourself, the majority of my work in Photoshop has now become digital paintings…
The use of the tool changes depending on the artist..
( )Roberto Blake August 27th
That is all too true, and the Photo and Photoshop is taking too literally sometimes, its really is all about how you use a tool, I’ve seen some pretty inventive uses for the pencil and paper other than writing and drawing.
mike August 26th
Not to impressed…just mixing some pics and ending with a dark scene that has nothing to say…
( )And what’s with the myspace avatar?
Phoenix August 26th
Nice tutorial
My picture : http://www.noelshack.com/up/aaa/watterfall-ac52050534.jpg
Thanks a lot
( )Dave August 26th
I like yours better than the original. softer edges on the castle (both light and, the fact that it is in the clouds a bit — good thing) and you get to see more of the landscape with the house off to the side a bit. I still think the waterfalls are too dark, and therefore, draw unwanted attention because they look unnatural.
( )Bobby August 27th
quite good actually.one thing though, you cliff is jutting out of the bottom of picture but apart from that great work.
( )James August 26th
Great manipulation technique!
( )Roberto Blake August 27th
Amazing tutorial, very clear, great approach and great results, can’t wait to get this one finished got something interesting I want to try with it. Tanks again for a great post!
( )Noman Elahi August 27th
Very intresting tutorial i like it keep it up
( )rumaitha August 27th
Wonderful Tutorial…. Thanks Very Much … I was looking for some thing like that
( )rumaitha August 28th
great tutorial, short yet effective, this effect seems to give an old fashioned effect
thanks
( )Tarique August 28th
this tut is gud but the blending of the castle into landscape especially at the waterfall is a bit of and noticeable maybe a soft brush and some foliage layers would fix this otherwise sweet tut
( )Morty August 29th
FIRST LOOK: nice, interesting idea a castle in the middle of waterfalls
SECOND LOOK: but wait, what is doing a huge statue there? Where are some vawes in the water down there, it should be boiling…? Where is all the water coming from, is the perspective even correct? And what about the shadows on the walls of the castle? Where is the bright sun?
CONCLUSION: Good idea, but poor execution. Author should better think about what photographs to pick and how to compose them.
( )TheAL August 30th
Reminds me a lot of work by night-fate on devART. She has some good tutorials for doing this kind of stuff.
( )NBK August 30th
Nice work here. Love photo manipulation. And it’s surprising how choosing the right stock is the hardest part.
( )end23 September 1st
Love Love Thankyou for tutorial
( )Finbarr September 1st
I just found this site today and have been blown away by the tutorials I’ve seen, I found this one amazing.
Thank you so much for taking the time to put this up there is so much to be learned from it.
( )xea September 5th
Thanks very much for the relevant information!
( )Steve September 10th
At first glance this photo manipulation looks freakin awesome, but if you take the time to look at the details it seems odd. Some of the cliffs are off and look glued. Still it’s a nice tut for a begginer.
( )Blackie Ray September 10th
Rarely do I watch tutorials, but I watched Gavin’s all the way through. What struck me was how difficult it is to get the right feel to all the parts. Of course I am a neophyte so perhaps I’m easily impressed, but I noticed it takes a bit of finesse to get the right masking and filtering to make it all work.
( )zombie September 11th
I’m sorry to be harsh but this is just not a good work. Depth of field is wrong in most areas, some of the images still look like it was erased and everything just looks fake.
The waterfall in the middle, below the castle is not right. I don’t understand where it’s coming from. For some of us, it looks obvious that you covered some areas with clouds to hide some parts. Correct me if I’m wrong though.
Also the huge triangular rock on the right doesn’t look proportionate.
With an image like this, DOF is so important. In my opinion copy, paste, masking and color adjustments here and there are not enough if you don’t know how DOF works.
I suggest get some photo references, take pictures of landscapes like this and observe how further and closer objects appear on the point of view.
( )E-One Sacrefixx September 12th
Nice tutorial…… good idea to put all that pics, wanna try it soon
( )Webdesigner September 17th
@zombie: I agree to your message that DOF is extremly important to get a believable artwork down, because I know that from my 3d-Work…
Anyway, I think this tutorial is a good starting point for learning how to compose images in photoshop allthough the final work is not perfect as you mentioned.
( )ghost digital September 29th
Very beginner and amaturer.
Having said that, I’m sure the novice user will learn from this and I think this is they key. Not all tutorials need to cater for the advanced user, some MUST cater for the less experienced user also.
However, for me, I see far too many flaws to take it seriously.
( )Jose Lopez October 23rd
Nice tutorial…this my version of it: http://picasaweb.google.com/jlopezpublicista/RETOQUEFOTOGRAFICO#5395836601793691650
( )ajir October 24th
cool
( )Nadun November 1st
Wondefull
( )