advanced photoshop issue 130 - 2015 uk - mgzn.me
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photoshop magazineTRANSCRIPT
130
FREE EXCLUSIVE GIFT
PRO TRICKS FOR
COMIC COVERSHow Tiago Da Silva created and
evolved his graphic novel project
HOW TO CREATE
ARCH�VISFlyingArchitecture Studio on how they mix 3D and Photoshop
PHOTOSHOP EXPERTS SHARE THEIR KILLER TIPS ON GETTING THE MOST FROM SELECTION TOOLS
SELECTIONS
FREEThe magazine for Adobe® Phot ssionals
ACTIONCOMPOSITESUnify lighting to combinephotos into an action scene
ORGE 3.0WORTH OVERSOFTWARE$249
Make your own ice textures
DESIGN ANINFOGRAPHICDiscover how to use typography, icons, colour and hierarchy
+
ISSUE 130
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AlphaPlugins Engraver III gives you the power to create complex and beautiful engravings that look hand-drawn with just a few clicks
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You are in control, just like the old masters, but you can create a stylish engraving in only minutes instead of days! Experiment with a wide variety of geometric patterns and line modifications, use multiple layers to create complex effects, change ink colours, or add noise and randomness to make your engraving look like it was made by hand. Finish your composition by choosing paper colours and textures. Even add embossing effects to simulate the look of an old printing press.
AlphaPlugins Engraver III comes with a group of factory presets to let you dive right in and experiment with the plugin’s power. Once you find the perfect parameters for your composition, Engraver III lets you save your settings for the next masterpiece.
What’s New:
Faster processing
Multilayer support
New patterns
Randomization features
Intuitive user interface
Powerful presets
WELCOMEISSUE 130
Welcome to the latest issue of Advanced Photoshop. With this issue, you’ll get a copy of Filter Forge 3.0 Standard (as sold for $249). Turn to p68 to find out how to get the most from it.
INTHIS ISSUE:
PHOTOMANIPULATIONILLUSTRATION
ARCH�VISCOMPOSITING
APRIL MADDENEditor
Something people often ask about is how they
can get the most from Photoshop’s plethora of
selection tools. From marquees to masks, we take
a look at the professional tips you need to select like
a pro every single time. Check it out on p26. Also
this issue we reveal the winner of our cover design
competition. They show us how they created their
winning image on p46 (No spoilers here!) but before
you go straight for their tutorial, head to p36 to
discover the honourable mentions that we just had
to include in the magazine. You’re a very talented
bunch and your work is extremely impressive!
If, alas, you didn’t make it into the runners-up,
then this issue packs a wealth of tutorials to help
you hone and improve your Photoshop skills. Learn
how lighting will help you produce perfect action
composites (p56), discover how to design an
infographic (p62) and get a wealth of advice tips and
tricks from the industry prof
Enjoy the magazine!
FINDUSONLI@advancedpshop /AdvancedPhotoshop
.co.uk
003
ISSUE 130 CONTENTS
COVER IMAGE
Photoshop expert AndreVillanueva created ourselection-based cover
image this issue. Check out his website for more
of his creative projects or take a look at his work for
our sister magazine Photoshop Creative.
ANDRE VILLANUEVAhttp://000-000-0000.com
GRAPHIC DESIGN
HOW I MADE:
UNTITLEDPROJECT
74Find out how Tiago da Silva created the cover for his upcoming graphic novel project
46WORKSHOP:
MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATIONCreate an eye-catching image using striking mood, colour combination and well-defined detail
18 PIXELFLAKES
EYE ON DESIGNWhat’s hot, who’s in and the latest art & design happenings
CONTENTSISSUE 130
26 PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS
FOR BACK ISSUES, BOOKS AND MERCHANDISEVISIT:
PRO PANELMeet this issue’s experts06INDUSTRY NEWSThe Foundry snaps up Mischief 08
10 PORTFOLIO INTERVIEWA collective tale
16 PROJECT FOCUSSurreal photomanipulation
18 STUDIO INTERVIEWPixelFlakes
004
56 CREATE A DYNAMIC COMPOSITE
TECHNIQUESProfessional artists reveal their high-end Photoshop skills in our easy-to-follow workshops
Professional tips for selections26 FEATURE
REVIEWSWe put the latest creative kitand apps to the test
80 FEATURE:EIZO ColorEdge CS240
Free with issue 130 ofAdvanced Photoshop
PREMIUM RESOURCES
P US:
Free software, textures, photos and much d l d f
TAILOR�MADE CREATIVE CONTENTFollow along with our expert video tuition from Photoshop pro, Kirk Nelson
96 RESOURCES
Shhh52 HOW I MADE
Master architectural visualisation46 WORKSHOP
Cover design competition36 FEATURE
Create a dynamic composite56 WORKSHOP
SEE PAGE 24 OR 61 FOR THE LATEST OFFERSSUBSCRIBE TODAY!
68 Custom filters in Filter Forge 3WORKSHOP
68 CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3
62 A GUIDE TO INFOGRAPHICS
ISSUE 130
Untitled Project74 HOW I MADE
Communicating a hidden message86 READER INTERVIEW
62 A guide to infographicsWORKSHOP
Create your own frozen textures 90 RESOURCE PROJECT
84 FEATURE:Top ten art and design books
006
EYE ON DESIGN PRO PANEL
PRO PANELMEET THE PROFESSIONALS SHARING THEIR PHOTOSHOP EXPERTISE AND TECHNIQUES IN THIS ISSUE
BRANDON CAWOODwww.brandoncawood.com
NEVER STOP LEARNING!
Constantly challenge yourself to
do new things. My work usually
involves high-energy composites
with people as my main subjects. For this image I
stepped out of my comfort zone and shot these
trucks. While editing this photo, I learned and
developed many techniques that I now use in other
images! Never put a limit on what you can do!
■ Learn how to create an action-packed
composite in Brandon Cawood’s tutorial on p56
ANDRE VILLANUEVA http://000-000-0000.comExperiment! In the lulls between your usual work, have some fun and play with Photoshop features you don’t normally use. Going down untrodden
paths can lead you to some unexpectedly rich outcomes. Try some new filters, apply adjustments you’ve never employed, or use a tool that
everyone says is no good. Process, transform, and blend unrelated photos for surprising results.
■ See more of Andre Villanueva’s work on our cover and our feature on selection tools on p26
© A
ndre
Vill
anue
va
Going down untrodden paths can lead you to some unexpectedly rich
outcomes. Try some new filters, apply adjustments you’ve never employed, or use a tool that everyone says is no good
ANDRE VILLANUEVA /
© Brandon Cawood
007
ANDY HAUwww.andyhau.com
A lot of my work requires quick-fire repetitive use of the same tools – Polygonal Lasso
and Gradient Fill. On simple images, you can of course click on the tools from the Toolbar
but for more complex images, using shortcuts (L for Lasso, G for Fill) can increase your
productivity by twice as much – trust me, I’ve actually timed it!
■ Discover more about how Andy Hau can improve your productivity with his ‘How to choose a font’
infographic on p62
© Andy Hau
© Imagine Publishing Ltd 2014ISSN 1748-7277
Magazine teamEditor April Madden [email protected]
01202 586218
Editor in Chief Amy Squibb Production Editor Siobhan MaguireDesigner Rebekka HearlPhotographer James SheppardSenior Art Editor Duncan CrookPublishing Director Aaron AsadiHead of Design Ross AndrewsContributorsJulie Bassett, Matt Bennett, Brandon Cawood, Flyingarchitecture Studio, Andy Hau, Larissa Mori, Kirk Nelson, Anna-Lisa Saywell, Lauren Scott, James Sheppard, Andre Villanueva and Poz Watson
AdvertisingDigital or printed media packs are available on request.Head of Sales Hang Deretz
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DisclaimerThe publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.Photoshop is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries and is used with express permission. All $ prices are US Dollars unless otherwise stated.
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The magazine for Adobe® Photoshop® professionals
008
EYE ON DESIGN INDUSTRY NEWS
THE FOUNDRY MAKES SOME MISCHIEFAFTER DEVELOPING SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS USED BY STUDIOS SUCH AS DREAMWORKS, PIXAR AND ILM, THE FOUNDRY HAS ACQUIRED A MASS MARKET DIGITAL PAINTING TOOL: MISCHIEFA lready well-known for VFX production
software such as MARI, MODO and NUKE,
The Foundry has surprised and delighted
followers with a new foray into the
mainstream market: the acquisition of the small but
very powerful digital painting app called Mischief.
Now, the release of new Mischief 2.0 marks the
The huge potential for Mischief’s ADF technology
lies not necessarily with its ability to compete
with Photoshop, but with its ability to transcend
into other software from The Foundry such as
MARI or MODO. If done, ADFs could be used to
improve on the 3D pipeline with applications
such as modelling, matte painting or sculpting.
OTHER SOFTWARE
flagship product of a whole new subsidiary called
Made with Mischief. The technology behind its new
acquisition is potentially game-changing for
consumers and the industry.
Co-developed by former Disney Research
consultant Sarah Frisken, Mischief is a revolutionary
piece of software. At only $25/ approx £16 and
available online from the Mac App Store and the
Mischief online store, a huge range of artists can
now use the paint app to digitally create work using
brushes, layers, different backgrounds and even a
full colour panel with customisable colour swatches.
However, Mischief represents much more than that
for The Foundry.
The acquisition will also allow the company
access to the patents for technology powering
Mischief itself – a way of representing a shape in
either 2D or 3D known as Adaptively Sampled
Distance Fields, or ADFs. Co-created by Frisken
along with Mischief, ADFs allow for an infinite canvas
so users have all the screen real-estate they could
desire, as well as the ability to scale work with a
zoom ration of 50 trillion to one without introducing
any pixelation artifacts. On top of this, ADFs can also
provide high-quality stroke rendering that is
extremely responsive due to the fact that they are
amenable to hardware-based rendering, and create
small file sizes compared to traditional vector-based
stroke representations.
With its clean, inspiring UI and technology that
holds so much potential, it’s no surprise that The
Foundry’s new Mischief 2.0 is being touted as an
alternative to Photoshop itself. For the Team at The
Foundry however, this is clearly not the case. “The
Foundry has a proven record of taking exciting,
innovative concepts and commercialising them for a
broader market,” said Sarah Frisken. “By becoming a
part of The Foundry, we now have the ability to grow
our team, to be more responsive to our users and to
further our vision”.
The Foundry has a proven record of taking exciting,
innovative concepts and commercialising them for a broader market
MORE INFORMATION For more information on Made With Mischief,
including how to purchase, product features,
system requirements and supported platforms,
visit www.madewithmischief.com.
The Free Version: To encourage new users to try Mischief on Mac or PC, The Foundry will also
be offering Mischief-Free, a limited-feature edition of the new version of the painting tool
free of charge. Mischief-Free includes basic brushes, colours and a full canvas experience,
without extra features such as customisable colour swatches or layer functionality.
009
MOLESKINE CONNECTS TO CREATIVE CLOUD
MOLESKINE TAKES ITS INSPIRATION FROM THE BASICS WITH ITS LATEST OFFERING, AS THE SIMPLE PEN AND PAPER HAVE BECOME HIGH�TECH
Inviting users to ‘watch paper evolve’, Moleskine has
now released a new Smart Notebook, which allows
anyone to turn their hand-drawn sketches into digital
vector files using just an iPhone.
After creating a drawing on the Smart Notebook,
each user can simply download the companion iOS
Moleskine app from the Apple Store to begin
capturing what they’ve drawn with the camera on
their iPhone. Then, with the help of a grid of markers
on every page to assist with the processing of
images, any sketch from the new Moleskine will be
optimised as a JPEG file, before being converted to an
editable SVG by the app. The settings are even
specifically designed to detect the orientation of the
page and correct the perspective, the lens and the
alignment distortions.
With a Creative Cloud membership, users can then
easily sync their artwork to the cloud so it can be
accessed in Adobe Illustrator CC or Photoshop CC
once they’re back at a computer. To help each image
appear as successfully as possible, drawing using
broad strokes, preferably with black ink or markers,
is most recommended.
The notebook – which features a hard cover,
debossed with a custom Adobe design, 160 pages,
and measures at 13 x 21cm – is now available to buy
for $33/approx £20 from the Moleskine website at
http://shop.moleskine.com/.
ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP READERWINS DESIGN COMPETITION
ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP READER AND DESIGNER, KEN COLEMAN, HASCREATED A WINNING PIECE FOR MUSICAL SENSATION PALOMA FAITH
Ken Coleman (Advanced Photoshop online user
kenartcorp), who has been featured in Advanced
Photoshop multiple times for his imaginative
artwork that combines fine art training with his
interest in photography; has now won the
Community Choice award for creating a new
piece for singer Paloma Faith.
The competition, called ‘Design for Paloma
Faith’, saw artists, designers and illustrators from
all over the world designing their own
interpretation of her Platinum-certified third album,
A Perfect Contradiction, using her current artwork
and persona for inspiration. Paloma and a team of
judges including Rankin and Michael Stephens of
Liberty London had their say in selecting the
winning artist, while the public could do their part
to select The Community Choice by voting on
Facebook and Twitter.
“This piece was created by first deconstructing
the colours and shapes from the photography of
Paloma’s latest album,” said Coleman, who used 3D
programs such as Poser, as well as photography
and painting to create his winning piece entitled
Paloma 1. He received a cash prize of $350 as an
award for winning, as well as some major exposure
by having his piece shared on Faith’s social media
accounts, including her Twitter that has more than
500,000 followers.
“The abstract head pieces are based on Paloma’s
distinctive hair combined with my own stock hair
and texture photos,” Coleman reveals. “The eyes and
most [of the] skin texture around the eyes are
actually my own! When the piece was constructed, I
duplicated and flattened all layers and continued to
blend with some airbrushing, [the] Clone tool [and
the] Smudge tool, before finishing with a slight
Unsharp mask and some blurs.”
Moleskine also recently announced its Livescribe Notebooks, which use Livescribe smartpens that allow handwriting and sketches to appear in digital form
The new Moleskin Smart Notebook takes full advantage of Adobe introducing the Adobe Creative SDK to allow third-party app developers to access the Creative Cloud earlier this year
Coleman’s winning Paloma 1 piece. Artists had no limitations on the medium their entry was created in, but needed to create a design that could be turned into a limited edition poster
Coleman’s self portrait showcasing his unique style. Though he hadn’t previously been a big fan of Paloma Faith, after this experience Coleman aims to create more album artwork in the future, working with other artists like her
EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
SELF�TAUGHT PROFESSIONAL, MOE PIKE SOE DISCUSSES HIS LOVE FOR COLLECTIVES AND GIVES HIS ACCOUNT OF WORKING IN THE CUT�THROAT DESIGN INDUSTRY
A COLLECTIVE TALE
Moe Pike Soe thebeaststudio.com
@moepike
Digital artists often start out creating new
designs in the hope of getting them
published or being invited to supply
work to a collective. Having contributed
to a number of collectives, graphic designer, Moe
Pike Soe, has provided inspiration to many new
designers. By his own confession, Soe is still trying
to master new techniques to surprise people.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND
YOUR WORK?
Everything I know about digital art and graphic design
[is] self-taught. I constantly want to learn new things
– I’m curious of the unknown. This gives me the
determination to learn new techniques and put them
to use in my work. My rebellious behaviour [has also
pushed me in the industry], the very reason I started
creating digital art in the first place was to protest
against my art teacher in tenth grade!
TELL US HOW YOU BALANCE YOUR
COMMERCIAL AND PERSONAL PORTFOLIO?
It’s always a dilemma when you have to decide
I love to connect withother designers. I have
a lot of friends all over theworld because I have joinednumerous collectives
010
which project you want to work on each day. I try to
put all of my commercial projects on a high priority
list, but sometimes I find myself unable to focus on
them. That’s when I bring out the drafts and doodles.
It’s a good way to relieve the stress and keep the
creativity flowing.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
I don’t think I have my own style yet. It’s mainly
because I am always trying to [find] new skills, new
mediums and experiment with new ways of creating.
Saying that, I am currently into mirrors and
reflections. It is something that I discovered when
sketching one of my doodles and I decided to put
them [into] my other artwork as well. It’s not quite
my ‘style’ yet but I am still developing it.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE COMMERCIAL
IMAGE INDUSTRY AT THE MOMENT?
Globally, I think the industry is growing really fast and
there are lots of new ways to create new designs –
from smartphone apps to 3D printing, people are
pushing the boundaries of being a creative
professional. It’s always good to expand your area of
expertise and become a multi-disciplined designer,
but my local area still needs a lot of improvement.
There are a lot of talented people in Myanmar but
they are not exposed to new ideas yet.
WHO OR WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR GREATEST
INFLUENCES SO FAR?
My dad and my brother are hardcore photography
lovers, so a love of art runs in my family. I didn’t
actually start creating art until I was in tenth grade,
and from then on I began to get more serious with
graphic design. Apart from my family, the other
greatest influence would be my curiosity of the
unknown – I am interested in mysteries and
conspiracies. The theories of possibility entertain me
and I think some of my work reflects that.
HOW HAS PHOTOSHOP BEEN INTEGRAL TO
YOUR WORK?
Photoshop is the most important tool for my work.
From retouching [an image to] designing a website,
it’s the tool that I use the most. There are endless
Man on the Moon: This wallpaper is created for the 2014 Desktopography exhibition, inspired by Kid Cudi’s song Man On The Moon. The Earth is actually a 3D model and the man standing, is me.
All i
mag
es ©
Moe
Pik
e So
e
I was a Desktopography fan way before I decided to become a
digital artist, so it really felt great when I got to be a part of the team
Imitating Echo: This was my first piece experimenting with the mirrors and reflection. It was originally filled with unnecessary effects, but a lot
of it was removed [in order] to portray the story of ripping off ideas.
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The Fallen Naut: This is my first wallpaper for Desktopography, where I combined about 20 images to create it. Since so many were used, it was difficult to blend them together, which made lighting an issue.
Paradigm Shift: This piece was created when I was trying to limit the number of stock images used in an image. It was [made] using only two stock images and they were shaped using the Liquify and Warp tool.
combinations and effects you can get out of
Photoshop. With the new updates from CC including
the improved workflow and new features, there are
plenty of new techniques to learn. I do use other
software to build 3D objects, but I always finalise the
work in Photoshop.
YOU WORK WITH A LOT OF COLLECTIVES �
CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT IT’S LIKE WORKING
WITH SO MANY OTHER ARTISTS?
I love to connect with other designers. I have a lot of
friends all over the world because I have joined
numerous collectives. From [joining a] collective, you
build your network and [make so many] connections
with other designers, which is really amazing. I also
get to learn how other artists [like to] work, and
collectives are a great way to improve your [own
projects, as] there are [lots of] other artists who are
willing to help you out.
TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR WORK FOR NIKE
AND KULT MAGAZINE?
It was a collaboration between Kult magazine and
Nike Football. They invited 25 artists from around the
world to create artworks for a special issue of the
magazine titled Hypersense. From the submitted
[pieces], they selected a handful of work to be
showcased along with the release of the new football
cleats. One of my submissions was selected to show
at the exhibition, which was really exciting because I
was representing my country. It’s overwhelming to
see your artwork hanging alongside other great
artists like Rik Oostenbroek.
COULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORKFLOW?
WHAT TECHNIQUES DO YOU USE THAT ALLOW
YOU TO CREATE YOUR PHOTOMANIPULATIONS?
When I started creating digital art, I worked really fast
and finished up to three to four pieces a week. The
work looked good, but they lacked [a] story and
atmosphere. Nowadays, it takes me one to two
months to create a personal piece – not just because
I’m busy with commercial work – but it’s good to
keep going back and working more on the art. Once
you’ve had a break, you always come back with fresh
views and when I start working on personal art, I just
throw everything I want onto the canvas and let the
creativity [come] out. After resting, I go back to it and
remove unnecessary effects and objects.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH THE
LIGATURE COLLECTIVE?
The collective itself [is made up of] amazing type
creators and great typographers. The founder,
Jørgen Grotdal – who I know from another collective
– asked me if I was interested in joining. I’m not
[primarily] a type creator, but I love typography and
always [enjoy creating] type treatments, so [that’s
why] I joined. It’s a really great collective with a lot of
inspirational work.
013
EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
Oracle: This was created with similar techniques to the Utopia piece, but with more colours. The colours were painted in a straight line and then
distorted and shaped using the Liquify tool.
Light It Up: This type treatment is a part of the new experiment I was working on. The text was
rendered in CINEMA 4D and taken into Photoshop to add colour, extra lighting and effects.
■ KEEP IT SIMPLEDon’t confuse the audience by putting too many points in thecomposition. With simple direction, the audience can bemore engaged in the story of the artwork. After spendingtime on it, take a break and come back later to take outobjects and effects that aren’t necessary.
■ TRAIN YOUR EYESTo be a good designer or artist you need to create a goodaesthetic. Your sense of style and how you display it on thecanvas determines the connection to the audience. Trainyour eyes by looking at inspiration and browsing other workfrom great designers.
■ BE HAPPYYou can’t work if you’re grumpy. Take time everyday to dosomething that makes you happy. Whether shooting headsoff in a Destiny game or watching Russell Peters clips onYouTube, keep yourself light and in a good mood.
PORTFOLIO TIPSMOE PIKE SOE OFFERS HIS ADVICE TO THOSELOOKING TO BUILD UP THEIR BODY OF WORK
EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
YOU HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN
DESKTOPOGRAPHY FOR THE PAST TWO
YEARS � WHAT ROLE DID YOU PLAY?
I was a Desktopography fan way before I decided
to become a digital artist, so it really felt great
when I got to be a part of the team. The first year I
participated, I had trouble coming up with a
wallpaper because I was stressing out and worried
that I might not finish in time. It is one of the most
difficult projects, because you need [to present]
your best work so that viewers can enjoy your
wallpaper, but overall, it’s a really great opportunity
to be a part of.
CAN YOU TELL US WHAT IS THE HARDEST
THING YOU HAVE HAD TO LEARN SINCE YOU
STARTED IN DESIGN?
Creativity or designing isn’t something you can just
switch on and start working – it takes time and
patience to get the best results. Timing was really
difficult for me when I started working
professionally. I was working with restrictions as I
was trying to learn new techniques and styles, [so] it
was hard to keep a balance between my personal
work and my commercial work. It was also
[difficult] to focus on one project when you’re taking
in a range of new ideas.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU/ WHAT ARE YOUR
FUTURE DESIGN PLANS?
I took one year off from college and I am currently
working as a freelancer, so I can get the necessary
experience before I start working on my own studio.
For the short term, I have new projects coming up
and I have been exploring new areas of design,
including 3D modelling and web design. I am also
planning to go back to art college to get to know the
basic facts and fundamentals of designing. After
that, I am going to help to transform the design
industry of my home country, Myanmar [as design
is not a prominent artform there].
014
Globally, I think the industry is growing really fast and there are lots of new ways, to create new designs – from smartphone
apps to 3D printing, people are pushing the boundaries of being a creative professional
Utopia: For this image, I was inspired by utopian novels and I wanted to create the perfect symmetrical face. The original photo had only one side to the face, but with retouching techniques I created the full face.
The Kick: The moon and clouds were created in CINEMA 4D and then they were taken into Photoshop for blending and to create the dynamic atmosphere.
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EYE ON DESIGN PROJECT FOCUS
I f there’s one thing that immediately strikes you
about the founders of ag’n’mg, Agnieszka Grycz
andMagdalena Gawęda (www.agnmg.com), it is
their incredible passion for design. Originally from
the Polish region of Silesia, both women graduated
from the Silesian University of Technology andmet
rather unconventionally at a friend’s house party.
They began spendingmore andmore time together,
getting to know each other’s workflows and then
made a daring decision. Changing from their careers
as architects, Grycz and Gawęda joined forces to
begin their own company together which had a focus
on graphic design.
Today, they tell us they feel the decision has
helped make them stronger artists, allowing them
to take on more work as well as give each other
honest feedback to improve faster professionally. A
new project for M-tech, featuring everything from an
abstract landscape to super-cars created using
Photoshop, became the very first photomanipulation
they did together as a team.
WHAT MAKES PHOTOSHOP IMPORTANT TO YOU
BOTH FOR YOURWORKFLOW?
First of all it’s responsive and elastic, which is exactly
what we need from a program for our graphics. For
us, Photoshop is not a tool; it’s more like a visionary
platform. Photoshop lets us set our creativity free.
WHAT MOST INSPIRED YOUWHEN YOUWERE
FIRST STARTING OUT WITH PHOTOSHOP?
We both started the sameway – as architects that felt
more fulfilled in design than in single-family house
projects. That is why we both started bymaking small
projects for friends or charity organisations. After
some time, we even forgot why wewere still studying
architecture. We found graphic design was just so
muchmore satisfying.
During the process of becoming graphic designers
we followed the world’s best designers on websites
such as Abduzeedo, Saizen Media Agency,Behance.
com, and awwwards.com. We still watch with bated
breath for updates from the best agencies in the
industrial trademagazines.
COULD YOU TAKE US THROUGH THE
WORKFLOW THATWENT BEHIND CREATING
THE PROJECT FOR M�TECH?
[We had five days to complete the project] so we had
no sleep and desperately attempted to avoid the
sunshine! Though really we just wanted to get this
done in high quality. We knew that our design was
ABOUT THEARTIST
Agnieszka Grycz &MagdalenaGawęda are the founders of
high-end design agencyag’n’mg,whowork on everything
in full advertising campaignsfromhuge banners to catalogues
and even small leaflets .
AGNIESZKA GRYCZ &
www.agnmg.com
THE AG’N’MG DESIGN FORNAMEOF PROJECT
THE FOUNDERS OF AG’N’MG AGENCY REVEAL HOW THEY CREATED THE ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE TO THEIR FIRST PHOTOMANIPULATION PROJECT TOGETHER
SURREAL PHOTOMANIPULATION
Founders and CEOs of ag’n’mg agency
016
For us, Photoshop is not a tool; it’s more like a visionary platform
We needed to make the cars consistent with the composition, including light reflections to blend the object in with the surroundings.
shadows and a retro-style light. Then the design was
too peaceful, so we decided to expose the light bulb.
Unfortunately the light bulb shape is usually ovoid
and it disturbed the composition.
After a long brainstorm we found some
inspiration in nature – the shape of crystals! From a
crystal face we finally created our futuristic bulb. We
then cut platforms of other elements, like rocks and
sky, to unify the composition and to soften the retro
style, we used cables and the road. The last stage
was making space for wind turbines and planets.
COULD YOU GIVE US FIVE OF YOUR TOP TIPS
FOR CREATING SURREAL MANIPULATIONS
WITH PHOTOSHOP?
Crumple a piece of paper, throw it back and admire
the composition! If you want to make a piece that is
going to be in Advanced Photoshop, you should
always remember:
1. Consistent composition – surrealistic style is
spacious. Just don’t sail away with your imagination.
2. Compatible colours – mixing Gradient Maps.
Unification will make it pleasant for the eye.
3. Natural inspirations – take some of your
inspiration from characteristics in nature. It will take
the whole design to a new dimension.
4. Details – remember the phrase: the devil is in
the details. This is always true in design!
5. Don’t follow the rules – surrealism is all about
breaking them.
WERE THERE ANY PARTICULAR CHALLENGES
YOU NEEDED TO OVERCOME TO BE ABLE TO
COMPLETE THE PROJECT?
The lightbulb. It’s supposed to be just a sophisticated
reference to what M-Tech is doing as a company. We
wanted to make it very subtle but unusual at the
going to decorate an international event in Frankfurt,
so failing was not an option. When you know that
your job is well done, going to sleep at 7am and
waking up at 7pm is not a problem.
WHAT WERE THE MAIN PHOTOSHOP TOOLS
YOU USED?
The most important tools were Gradient Maps. The
techniques of lighting elements, glare, and the light
and shadow gave depth and highlighted the important
elements in the design. We also used Motion Blur and
Radial Blur to give the composition dynamics. The
only concept was automotive lighting – our
imagination was the limit!
The steps behind it involved sketching the
composition, creating the sky and desert using starter
colours, which we did by using Gradient Maps, and
adding in the cars – where we added sharper
same time so we could maintain the unity of the
composition. The extraction of curvature in the bulb
while maintaining transparency was a challenge.
WHAT NEW TOOLS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE
APPEAR IN PHOTOSHOP?
The Transformation tool. We would like to see a
simple and fast version with a utility grid that could
have more points and that does not require going to
the 3D mode of Photoshop.
CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT WHERE YOU
AIM TO BE IN THE FUTURE?
We want to mature and gain experience to do more
and better designs. We would like to expand our
agency for world-class by working with international
clients. We are active people, so we would be happy
to work with sport-related companies.
017
The lightbulb
The light bulb was a challenge. We had to change the ovoid shape of the bulb to the shape of the crystal, insert a raging current in the middle of the bulb, sharpen the retro shadows and create an outer glow effect.
The polygon rocks were hand drawn lines filled with colour by the Average filter. Colour unification and blending was also used to customise the colour of the polygons.
Polygon rocks
© ag’n’mg
BLENDING PHOTOSHOP WITH 3D AND PRODUCING WORLD�CLASS TECTURAL VISUALISATIONS IS ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FORELL�REGARDED STUDIO
PIXELFLAKES
EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW
018
hen it comes to creating world-class
visuals and exceeding the expectations
of clients from around the globe,
PixelFlakes has it covered. Focusing on
architectural-visualisation projects, the studio blends
high-quality 3D with Photoshop to bring to life
complex designs.
The company was originally started by Matthew
Reid and Marvin Nooitgedacht, who are partners in
the company. “We went through education together
in the UK,” explains Reid. “After which, Marvin moved
back to the Netherlands and started working in
multimedia, while I started a career in architectural
visualisation. One day we were catching up and liked
the idea of starting a firm that touched on both our
specialties – so we did. We started out calling
architects whose work we admired – firms like JaJa
in Denmark and Aedas over in Hong Kong – and we
were lucky enough to get an opportunity to
collaborate and create visualisations for them. At the
same time, we released some tutorials and free
content online which went viral and we received a lot
of great feedback from the community.”
Since then, the PixelFlakes team has grown, and
now includes seven full-time artists and a
programmer to work on the multimedia side of
things. Their portfolio has expanded too, with
architectural clients including Foster and Partners,
Perkins and Will, SOM, LDS and UNStudios.
The studio continues to attract high-profile
commissions thanks to its distinct and unique style,
which makes it stand out over other agencies. “Each
studio has its own style – just as you have different
styles of painting, such as Impressionism or Cubism.
It’s no different within visualisation,” says senior
artist Pedro Botelho. “Our style sets us apart. Over
the years it has [become] recognisable, which in itself
is a huge honour. You could say we try and approach
our imagery in an emotive and atmospheric way that
is unique. We all come from varied disciplines and
nationalities, which helps to vary our approach. We
have Dutch, Portuguese, Greek, Belgian and English
team members in the office and work with artists
from Italy and Japan as well.”
With its style such a selling point, it is no wonder
that the team have some freedom to input ideas on
the briefs that they are given, as Botelho explains:
“The best images always come from the projects
that allow us the greatest freedom. We have been
lucky enough to build up a client base who
appreciates and trusts our judgement. When a client
Our style sets us apart. Over the years it has grown to be recognisable, which
in itself is a huge honour
019
PixelFlakes is an architecturastudio, that specialises in visualising theun-built. It fuses traditional artistic values together with branding and multimedia to bring projects to life.
PIXELFLAKES
ABOUT THE STUDIO
www.pixelflakes.com@pixelflakes
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High-profile projects: The team works on a large number of high-profile projects for
architectural clients on a daily basis
Matthew ReidVisualisation Director, Partner
Pedro BotelhoSenior Artist
Marvin NooitgedachtManaging Director, Partner
4020
EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW
realises [that] they are commissioning a painting and
not just a render, then they treat us like artists as
opposed to technicians. They value and respect our
opinions as professionals and in turn, use those to
get the best work out of us.”
Communication is key when it comes to working
with its clients to ensure the best results are
achieved. “We always discuss the direction of an
image, from the initial steps, all the way through to
completion,” says Botelho. “Discussion, team work
and critique are the backbones of the work we do.
During a project we always try and bounce ideas
around. For example, all of our computers are
connected to two TVs that are mounted on walls
either side of the office. If ever we’re working and
need a second opinion, we project our screens onto
them, take a team break and discuss.”
Technology is also important in being able to
practically bring about high-quality visualisations:
“We have the tools and procedures, in both 3D and
Photoshop, that allow us to maintain a uniform style
and quality across each project. At the end of the day,
the images we produce are going to be used in
multi-million dollar bids and we have a lot of
pressure on our shoulders to deliver. So from a
practical sense, the tools we use and the techniques
we implement within Photoshop are very important.
This is something that constantly evolves as we
discover new software and bring new artists with
different skillsets [to the team].”
Photoshop is clearly important in the workflow for
the PixelFlakes team. In fact, Botelho says that it
accounts for about 80 per cent of what they do: “We
receive plans or models from the client and work
these up in 3D. We render as soon as possible and
jump into Photoshop – it’s by far our most powerful
piece of software. 3D is an excellent tool, but that
technical approach doesn’t compare to an artist’s
vision. ‘Photoshop is the best render engine’ is a very
common saying within this industry and it’s true!”
Alongside Photoshop, 3D’s Max and V-ray/Corona
is used on Pixelflake’s powerful PCs to cope with the
Photoshop: A large proportion of work done by PixelFlakes is completed in Photoshop – it is key to the signature style that they have developed
Unique style: PixelFlakes has a more painterly style than many other studios, which is one thing that attracts clients who want to see their projects visualised in this way
021021
04 REWe’ll re-render any new geometry updates from our clients and drop
them in at the bottom of our stack. That way none of our foreground elements
are affected. We then use masks and selections to refine our painted light. Our
approach allows us to create atmospheric pieces for our clients without having
to step back into 3D to render them.
03 REWe’ve received back comments from our
clients and are tweaking elements accordingly. On
top of that, the image will naturally progress, so
we’ll spend time refining our initial lighting and
adding new elements to bring the image to life.
These layers are again grouped in their own part of
the PSD, known as the adjusts or lighting groups.
05 PRWe’ll round off the image and facilitate any minor client comments.
We will then save the images at print ready. A lot of clients print our images
out over multiple A0 boards, so the colours need to be calibrated correctly. We
always ensure we work at 300dpi and a minimum resolution of 5k.
02 We start to texture and place all our
foreground elements in Photoshop, keeping
everything grouped individually per element. Basic
lighting is applied on top of our stack and to each
individual object in the image, but at this point, the
focus lies on filling the image up.
NORD MALMØTHIS IMAGE WAS PART OF A WINNING COMPETITION BID FOR A NEW SCIENCE MARINE CENTRE IN MALMØ, SWEDEN
01 At this initial stage, the camera angles
and lighting conditions are confirmed. Specific
photographic references are sent to the client in
order to convey the mood and what the intentions
of the image will be.
040022
EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW
A DAY IN THE LIFE OFMARVIN NOOITGEDACHTPARTNER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, MARVIN, TALKS US THROUGH HIS DAY
volume of rendering. Wacom products are also
important, including Intuos tablets, the Wacom
Companion and Cintiq screens. The studio is not
afraid to try new technology and processes either –
which is a bonus in such a fast-moving industry. “We
enjoy the work we do and the process involved. We
enjoy pushing the boundaries, trying new techniques
and exploring new approaches, and we take pride in
the work we create and the architects [that] we work
with,” says Botelho. “With this comes a relaxed,
creative environment where artists are encouraged
to express themselves, try new things and most of
all, work as a team to produce world-class imagery.”
A look at the studio website showcases some of
the amazing projects that the team have worked
on. It is also very transparent and helpful, with
behind-the-scenes videos, tutorials and tips to
encourage future architectural visualisation artists.
It maintains strong links with the artistic
community, via Facebook (www.facebook.com/
pixelflakes), Twitter (@pixelflakes) and Vimeo
(http://vimeo.com/pixelflakes), which is
something not often seen at this level. There are
certainly plenty of projects that catch our eye, but
what is a favourite recent commission for the
team? “We worked on a high-rise tower
competition in Dubai for WATG architects here in
09:00 MORNING MEETING Everyone arrives and we start
with a morning meeting. We hold a short
post-mortem on the previous weeks’ visualisations
or completed projects. After this, we talk through
new project information, start to allocate projects
between artists and discuss our approach.
11:00 HARD AT WORKAt this point we have imported and
received [the] geometry, and [also] set up some of
our initial camera angles in 3D. Each artist is in
charge of one image, so now we’ll bounce ideas off
each other and tweak accordingly before rendering
out a basic image without materials.
13:00 PHOTO REFERENCESAfter lunch we’ll have received
some feedback on camera angles, so will start to
tweak accordingly. Each artist will also start
browsing online for lighting references and pictures
that we can use to convey [our intentions to our
clients]. We generally send through different photos
to [demonstrate the] lighting and skies.
London,” enthuses Botelho. “The concept involved
five mixed-use parks suspended vertically
in-between three towers. It was an ambitious
design that made for some great visuals. The
architects also gave us a lot of freedom and trusted
our judgment when it came to mood suggestions
and camera angles. We had all the ingredients for
a perfect set of images.”
There are challenges, of course: “I would say a
project we did right at the beginning of PixelFlakes
for ARUP based in London [was a challenge]”,
offers Matthew Reid. “The project was a public
space/beach-front development in Australia. I
suppose the biggest reason it was a challenge was
because we didn’t have any 3D base and we had to
montage and matte paint the full visual.” In the
spirit of the studio, there is a full breakdown of this
project on the website (go to http://PixelFlakes.
com/behind-the-scenes and look at
BeachForeShore) where you can see the
challenges for yourself, as well as the resolution,
meaning that not only was it a learning experience
for the PixelFlakes team, but budding designers
can benefit from it too.
With such an impressive portfolio, PixelFlakes is
sure to attract new clients who want to have their
architectural designs turned into masterful works of
art, but what about designers who are looking to
break into a successful team like this? Is expansion
on the cards for the future? “For me, the most
important thing is maintaining quality, I’m sure we
will expand over the next few years and take on
more artists, which will hopefully allow us the
opportunity to open another studio, [preferably]
somewhere sunny!”, Reid jokes. “However, quality
has to remain paramount – quality over quantity. We
have a great team at the moment, catering to
world-class architects on well renowned projects
– so what more could you ask for?”
We receive plans or models from the client and work
these up in 3D. We render as soon as possible and jump into Photoshop – it’s by far our most powerful piece of software
3D and Photoshop : These striking images are created
using Photoshop and 3D, with Photoshop doing the majority
of the work
023023
TOP 5 PRODUCTION TIPSMatthewReid unveils his top theoryand tool tips
15:00 SEEING CLIENTS Monday afternoons generally
consist of meetings with clients. Being located in
London allows us to quickly travel between them. As
directors, Matt and I will generally handle these and
coordinate with clients before handing over to Pedro,
one of our team leaders.
17:00 FINAL CATCH UPTime for an afternoon roundup. The
team meets again for a quick coffee and a discussion
on the images. Communication is key to a successful
image, [so] meeting allows us to bounce ideas [off
each other] and resolve issues.
18:00 END OF DAYWe’ll be wrapping up the day,
heading home or enjoying a few beers on the
building’s rooftop bar ready for a full day of work in
Photoshop tomorrow!
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■ REFERENCESEnsure you collate asmany references aspossible for all aspects ofyour image, especially the lighting. Howdark are the shadows?Howreflective is aluminium in anovercast scene?Referenceswill helpwith initial direction.
■ COLORDODGELAYERSFill a layerwith black and change the blendingmode toColorDodge,.Thenpaint in highlights andglowsonnew layers applied as clippingmasks throughout your images.
■ PHOTOGRAPHYPhotography is oneof themost useful skills a visualiser candevelop. A keeneye for lighting, composition andperspective are alllearnt through thismedium.
■SMARTOBJECTSA lifesaver if youhave to distort textures into awkwardpositions andupdate them later.Makeagrid, convert it to aSmart Object and thenedit. You caneasily swapout new textures or patterns for old ones.
■HUELAYERSFill a hue layerwith black and place it at the top of the layer stack.Thiswill show you a greyscale image – the lighter the object thefurther away from the camera it should be, the darker the objectthe closer.
Art and architecture: These images are primarily designed to sell a concept. However, the designs are works of art in their own right
Pull together: Teamwork and communication are important to the team when it comes to bringing clients’ designs to life
When a client realises they are commissioning a
painting and not just a render, then they treat us like artists as opposed to technicians
I i ws and advice
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026
PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS TECHNIQUES
CONTRIBUTORS
PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR
LEARN HOW TO SELECT WITH EASE, AS OUR EXPERTS GIVE THEIR ADVICE ON THE BEST SELECTION TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO USE IN PHOTOSHOP
SELECTIONSN
o matter what kind of Photoshop
images you create, the likelihood is
that you’ll need to use Selection
tools, and use them well. But as
Photoshop has evolved, so have its tools for
choosing, cutting out and applying image
elements. We’re now faced with a plethora of
options for working with selections, and
ROLF A. JENSENWWW.ROLFJENSEN.NO
Rolf A. Jensenis aninternationalaward-winningart director,designer andco-founder ofdesign agencyGood Morning.
ANDY POTTS
Andy Potts is a London-based illustrator and motion designer. He has worked in illustration, design, animation and art direction since graduating in 1995.
JOHN ROSS
John Rossfounded The Artof Retouchingand has beenworking inphotography,retouching andgraphic designfor over 20 years.
MILTON MENEZES
Milton Menezesis the director ofcreativeretouching atLightfarm Brazil.He previouslyworked atLightfarm’s NewZealand studio.
DAVID PADILLA
David Padilla is an artist from Spain who specialises in photo-based compositions. He primarily works in advertising.
027
although these offer much greater precision than
was previously possible, the sheer number of
options can lead to confusion as to which is the
best tool for a particular job.
To solve this dilemma, we’ve rounded up
some of the industry’s leading experts across a
wide range of imaging disciplines to explain how
they use Photoshop’s Selection tools and share
their tips, tricks and hacks for getting the
most from them. Whether you’re a digital
painter, illustrator, compositor or photo editor,
read on to discover how you can use
Marquees, Lassos, Masks, the Magic Wand
and the Pen tool to increase your precision
when cutting out, speed up your workflow and
enhance your images.
028
TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS
COMBINING WORLDSBlending the spectacular vision of Geirangerfjord with Norwegian
folklore was a real challenge of selections for Rolf A. Jensen
TARGET YOUR SELECTIONSHow you make selections depends on what sort of
work you are doing. John Ross (www.
theartofretouching.com) often has shots with
similar lighting or locations to work on, and having a
standard approach to how he tackles them speeds
things up. “Every image that crosses my desk uses
Select>Color Range for general selecting,” he
explains, “and Select>Edit in Quick Mask for
refinement. I have two basic ways to make any of my
selections. When I have larger areas of common
colour, I will use Color Range to make selections
easy, although not perfect. I can then go into Quick
Mask to fine tune the areas I want to include or
exclude. The other way I create manual selections is
Hair cuts: “Cutting out hair on studio models,to use them on backgrounds and mattepaintings that have a totally different colour, isoften a problem, and this requires parts of thehair to be repainted,” explains Jensen andpart-time collaborator Mahdis Mousavi
Making magic: The background is a matte painting, with the wood nymph shot in the studio and added later, along with some VFX tweaks like the tail, fur and flowers in her hair
Hair dye: To solve the problem of the wood nymph, Jensen made a selection using Color Range, appliedRefine Edges and then adjusted the brightness to the tips of the hair
More short cuts: It wasn’t necessary for this image, but Jensen says the other keys that are “starting to get worn out on my keyboard are Cmd/Ctrl+P and Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy and paste layer styles.”
Short cuts: Jensen (www.rolfjensen.no) explains that, “besides using the shortcuts between Selection tools, moving tools, the Eyedropper tool and masking,” he couldn’t live without “Cmd/Ctrl+backspace to fill a layer, and Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+[ to send layer to the bottom of the stack.”
Flexibility is key: Jensen uses a wide variety of selection tools to create the precise selections that his style of work requires to look effective
© Rolf A. Jensen©
John
Ros
s
to go [straight] into Quick Mask. By using a small
brush, I will trace along the perimeter of the areas
that I want. I can then fill in the interior with the Paint
Bucket, Magic Wand and Edit>Fill, or just paint with
the brush. When I exit Quick Mask, I have a manually
created selection that I can apply to my adjustment
layers as a Layer Mask. When we remove the
creative elements using Photoshop, [it’s all about]
repetition – I will use Curves and Selective Color over
and over again. The difference in using each tool is
being able to target specific elements by using
selections. This makes the results of the repeated
adjustment layers [noticeably] different each time
they are applied.”
029
THE HOLY GRAIL OF HAIRFor Milton Menezes, director of Brazil’s Lightfarm
Studios, Paths are the best option for general
selection requirements. “Depending on resolution, I
can also use [the] Lasso tool or even [the] Magic
Wand – whatever looks good for the size [that] you
need. [However], let’s talk about what really matters
– hair! If you know how to clear-cut flying hair out of a
messy background, then you know everything about
selections. For hair selection – the nightmare [for]
Photoshop users – I mainly have three methods to
clear-cut: Channels or Calculations for the main
selection, brush strokes on a Quick Mask or a layer
for tiny hair and fur, and Path strokes to get those
ANDY POTTS EXPLAINS HIS METHOD
HAND DRAWINGS
SCANNED SELECTIONS
01 LEVEL THINGS UPIllustrator Andy Potts (http://
andy-potts.com) likes to use plenty of sketching
in his digital work. Once he has scanned in his
image, the first step is to “use Levels to boost
the contrast of the scanned in drawing so [that]
the black line is strong against the white.”
02 FEEL FUZZY“Use Select/Color Range, and set the
Fuzziness to 200 to select the opposite colour to
the one you need. Inverse the selection to select
the black – this way you pick up more of the fine
edges. Use Cmd/Ctrl+J to cut the black line
selection on to a new layer above.”
03 AS IF BY MAGIC“Fill the scanned black line with 100%
black to make it more solid. You can now fill the
hand by using the Magic Wand to select outside
the line and then invert that selection to have a
hand-shaped space to fill with colour.”
DISCOVER FOCUS AREA IN CC“We mostly use selections while working with matte
paintings and photo retouching,” explain Rolf A.
Jensen and Mahdis Mousavi. “A new and interesting
selection tool that caught our eye recently is Focus
Area, a new tool in Photoshop CC (it’s a part of the
2014 Creative Cloud updates).
“With Focus Area, we can now make selections
based on the in-focus area of an image. In other
long hair lines that are too hard to get from brush
strokes. I had issues with this mermaid image [called]
Harmful Nature. As we shot underwater, the hair had
motion blur and too much noise to use a simple
Channel selection or blend modes. So I mixed three
techniques I love to work with – there is no easy way
[to do it]. Hair is hard, it takes time and patience,
although there are shorter or more effective ways of
doing it. You’ll need to go step by step. Think big to
small. You won’t get everything at once. Get the head,
main hair mass, a little brush stroking hair and path
strokes with simulating pressure for precise selection
with thick hair and smooth tiny endings.”
words, if we have an image where we need to
isolate a person or subject from the background,
and that person or subject happens to be in focus
inside the depth of field while the background is
out of focus or blurry; Photoshop can now analyse
the image, figure out what’s in focus and what’s
not, and make a selection of just the area that we
need [to use].”
© L
ight
farm
Stu
dios
© R
olf A
. Jen
sen
TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS
030
SELECTION IN PRACTICEIn this image Milton Menezes (Lightfarm Studios)
had to contend with the fact that the model had
been shot underwater. This meant that there was
too much movement and motion blur for a
On Hunger White, Menezes also had the challenge
of hair. He used Path Selection to pick out the
model and you can see here the work done to pick
each strand out. Once the model is composited
into the background – and with the addition of a
mouse on her shoulder – the effect is impressive.
Note the strands of hair around her face, and the
light on her shoulders.
Hair is not the only thing that’s tricky to select and
place effectively. Andy Potts’ brief in this image
was “to create a futuristic London setting with
huge number-shaped architecture dominating
the horizon. This required a lot of photo
In this cover illustration for BBC Focus on ‘How to
Travel Faster Than Light’, Potts had to take care to
“pick out subtle edged light selections from
photographs to layer up.” While realism isn’t the
goal, everything needs to fit and sit perfectly, and it
can’t do that unless the elements are perfectly
selected and cut out. Here he used Color Range
again, because it’s “one of the best methods to
pick out a soft edged image with accuracy and not
have grainy pixillated edges.”
UPDATE YOURWORKFLOW“During college I enjoyed traditional airbrushing,”
says John Ross. “[My] use of frisket masking was
frequent and became second nature. My first job, and
many after, was in pre-press working with film. Early
on, I was being shown how to paint with a brush onto
the film to stop the light, and [how to] scratch it away
to let the light through when we burned the plates
for the presses. The basic principal in both situations
was the same. When it came to Photoshop, the
defaults tried to mimic what was happening in the
darkroom, but this always led to confusion in the
digital medium. Somewhere between the darkroom
and the computer screen, it stopped working as well
as it once did. This just took me back to simple tools
like the Magic Wand and the Lasso” – tools that Ross
still uses today. After all just because something is
simple, doesn’t mean it’s not the best tool for the job.
However, “by default,” says Ross, “Photoshop tries
to match how things were done in the darkroom,
[and] this often leads to confusion. By using a more
updated workflow, you may find that your masks and
selections greatly increase in their simplicity and
accuracy.” Therefore the lesson is to think for
yourself, not to use tools or methods because they’re
the expected ones, but to pick the ways and means
that are right for you and your work.© Jo
hn R
oss
© Lightfarm Studios
© Andy Pottscompositing of London and international
architecture using the Color Range selection
technique among others. The numbers selections
were used to paste [into] the building facade
textures before being manipulated to fit.”
simple Channel selection. Here you can see the
work he did with brushes and the Path Selection,
painstakingly teasing each strand of hair out of the
water that surrounds it.
031
PULL IT APARTAndy Potts’ style mixes a range of different elements, so being able to
select and control them precisely is of paramount importance
Lasso: “If the Lasso tool is toocrude for a particularly elaborate orvery curvy shape then I will create aPath,” says Potts Path creation: With the Path
created, Potts will “adjust theanchor points to get more accuracy.I then Cmd/Ctrl+click the Path layerto create the selection”
Collage crazy: Pottsfinds that using a varietyof techniques togethercan speed up workflow
High contrast: When Pottsworks with high-contrastimages, then the Color Rangeoption can be useful
Easy options: Like mostprofessional Photoshop users,Potts says he uses “keyboardshortcuts where possible”
FIND THE RIGHT CHANNEL“Calculations are great for a more complex Channel
selection,” says Milton Menezes. “Instead of getting
the information you need out of one RGB channel
only, you can mix or intersect the selection from two
channels. Let’s say the best channels to clear-cut are
green and blue for your specific selection. By mostly
QUICK FIXES ORTHE PEN TOOL?To make a section with absolute precision,
Jensen and Mousavi reach for the Quick
Selection tool. “The Quick Selection tool was first
introduced in Photoshop CS3. It quickly became a
favourite, thanks to its combination of the Magic
Wand and [how easy the paintbrush is to use].
This tool is unlike other selection tools, [as] it
selects not just colours but also textures.
However, if you really need to select an object
that is merged with a detailed background, the
Pen tool is still the best way to go. Combining
that with Refine Edges to make the cut-out
smooth is always best.” Should they need to
brush out water or something soft, then they’ll
often use the “Quick Mask (Q) and just paint it out
quickly with [a] tablet, but it really comes down to
what the landscape in the original photography
looks like and how it should be handled.”
© A
ndy
Pott
s
© L
ight
farm
Stu
dios
© M
icro
soft
, Rol
f A Je
nsen
using Add or Difference and then playing with the
settings, you might be able to get a better selection
than [if you used just] one Channel.”
Depending on your image and what you want to
select from it, blend modes are another good option.
“Blend modes are the standard and helpful way to
easily get clear-cuts without having to actually cut
anything,” explains Menezes. “Depending on the
background you can use Screen or Multiply to get
really fast selections with good results. By using
Curves and Hue/Saturation you can balance the
selection according to the background.”
032
TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS
HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW“For images that contain hair,” says David Padilla
(http://davidpadillablog.es), “one easy [way] to cut
is using the Refine Edge tool. Use the Quick
Selection tool to select all the hair you want to cut,
[it] doesn’t matter if you let part of the hair out of the
selection. The next step is to use Refine Edge in
order to add the parts of the hair you didn’t select,
and using the Refine Radius tool and Smart Radius,
you [can] paint the hair areas [that] you are
interested in.”
You can also use the Refine Edge tool after cutting
NATURAL SELECTIONS“As [many] of the colour or tonal changes I make
are subtle,” says retoucher John Ross, “loose
masks are fine using [the] Quick Mask and a soft
brush – Photoshop can be very forgiving. For
studio portraits shot against white or grey, I can
easily replace the background with whatever
[colour] I want. With Color Range and Quick Mask, I
can make fast but accurate silhouettes around the
subject. Sometimes I will replace with solid white,
[whereas] other times it could be a standard
backdrop across a group of images. [I usually face
problems] during natural settings – [when] the
background’s exposure is shifting the wrong way
– [or when the person is extracted completely and
the background is replaced]. For skin and clothing,
a tight mask using a small brush with Quick Mask
is the most accurate [method]. When it comes to
natural selection of the hair, nothing is easy. I will
do as much as I can with Quick Mask, but will often
use Refine Mask to try and ease the transitions.”
JOHN ROSS EXPLAINS HOW HE CREATES ACCURATE MASKS AND SELECTIONSQUICK MASK AND COLOR RANGE
01 CHANGE THE BASIC SETTINGS “Double-click on the Quick Mask icon
below the colours in the Tools palette. This will
open up the Quick Mask preferences. Change
Color Indicates to Selected Areas and the
Opacity to 100%. When you click OK, you will be
brought into the Quick Mask mode. Push the
Quick Mask icon one more time to return to
normal Photoshop.”
02 LIMIT THE SELECTABLE AREA “From the top menu, select Edit>Color
Range and change the settings to Sampled Colors,
[the] Fuzziness to 40 and select a preview of Quick
Mask. When you push OK, you will have your
mask turned into a selection. To further target a
specific area, start by using the Lasso [tool] to
make a loose selection and then Color Range to
create the mask. This will limit the selectable area,
allowing for more targeted final selections.”
03 TACKLE IMPERFECTIONS “After making a selection with Color
Range, [select] Edit>Expand 4 and then
Edit>Feather 4 [to] fill in smaller pinholes and
soften the hard edges. Push the Quick Mask icon
and manually edit the mask using the Paint Brush
tool. Black will add to the mask and white will
remove from it. Finish by pushing the Quick Mask
icon once again, and you can apply your mask to
[your] adjustment layer of choice.”
© Jo
hn R
oss
© D
avid
Pad
illa
a selection out with the Pen tool, which Padilla thinks
is the “most efficient” method to follow. “I would
advise [using] the Refine Edge tool after the selection
with the Pen tool is made, [so that you achieve an
accurate finish]. Parameters like Smooth are very
useful to [neaten] the final workmanship. [The] Lasso
tool and Magnetic Lasso tool are helpful when
[making] a quick selection, but they are not [as]
precise as the [Refine Edge or Pen tools]. [I also use]
the Rectangular Marquee tool for selecting part of the
elements [that] I want to move.”
033
PEN TOOL POINTERS“Selections are vital for any composition made
using different images,” says David Padilla. In the
example of Interstellar, the background was
added to the shot of the spaceman and his ship.
“It’s very important to make good use of the Crop
tools in order to perform outstanding
workmanship. I use different kinds of tools
depending on what I need to cut. On [the] one
hand, the Pen tool is the most efficient tool to
make a good selection, because its anchor points
allow you to draw curves, so the cut is much
more precise. On the other hand I use the
Polygonal Lasso for smaller areas. The Magic
Wand tool is [also] useful, but the finished cut is
not that accurate. The selection process I use
tends to be very slow because the work is
composed [from] different images and each one
needs to be cut in a different way. In every
project, the cuts must be made as accurately as
possible in order to improve its integration with
all the other elements. [Projects where the
elements are too small to cut easily are the most
difficult], like the hair or other small details of the
image. For that reason, it’s advisable to use the
correct zoom and try to cut in an accurate way.” It
might take a long time, but ultimately, cutting out
everything by hand can give great results, as
Interstellar demonstrates.
BACK TO THE LASSO“Selections are essential to the creative process in
Photoshop,” says Andy Potts. “My style relies on
collaging from various photographs, so I need to
be able to select what I need quickly and
effectively. My first port of call is usually the Lasso
tool. I use a mouse rather than a Wacom to select
shapes using the Opt/Alt+click method, [which I
find the] easiest way. I also use Paths to create
smoother lines where lots of curves are involved.
Another method I employ regularly is Color Range,
to select a particular colour or tone from a
monochrome image. The Magic Wand is [also]
perfect for selecting larger areas of block colour. I’ll
[often] use a combination of techniques to speed
up [my] workflow. If the Magic Wand can wipe out
a lot of background quickly, then I’ll use that before
going in to [more detail] with the Lasso tool.”
Change the basic settings: “Double-click on the Quick Mask icon below the colours in the Tools palette. This will open up the Quick Mask preferences. Change [the] Color Indicates to Selected Areas and the Opacity to 100%. When you click OK, you will be brought into the Quick Mask mode. Push the Quick Mask icon to return to normal Photoshop.”
Limit the selectable area: “From the top menu, select Edit>Color Range and change the settings to Sampled Colors, [the] Fuzziness to 40, and a preview of Quick Mask. When you push OK, [your mask will be] a selection. To further target a specific area, start by using the Lasso to make a loose selection and then Color Range to create the mask. This will limit the selectable area, allowing for more targeted final selections.”
© John Ross
© A
ndy
Pott
s
Tackle imperfections: “After making a selection with Color Range, using Edit>Expand 4 and then Edit>Feather 4, will fill in smaller pinholes and soften the hard edges. Push the Quick Mask icon and manually edit the mask using the Paint Brush tool. Black will add to the mask and white will remove from it. Finish by pushing the Quick Mask icon again, and [then you will be able to] apply your mask to the adjustment layer of choice.”
034
TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS
RE�USE YOUR SELECTIONSMost Photoshop pros stress the benefits of the Pen
tool above all others. It is hard to get to grips with
using, but you can create beautiful curves, you have
complete control, and it’s totally editable. However,
surely the best bit is that you can save your
selections as Paths, even in flattened files.
A little like Mac versus PC, the anti-Pen tool tribe
are utterly mystified by the devotion of Pen tool fans.
They would claim that using a vector tool in a raster
file has decided disadvantages and that you end with
hazing and lack of control around the edges. Of
course, the pro-Pen tool group would say you can
simply clean that up if you need to and that being able
CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONLike most Photoshop experts, Andy Potts uses the full
range of selection options, and knowing which tool to
reach for in any given circumstance is something that
comes with experience. This image, American
Werewolf in London, was Andy Potts’ entry for last
year’s Serco Prize for Illustration. The theme was
London Stories, so he decided to work up a piece
inspired by one of his favourite films, An American
Werewolf in London. “This was a combination of drawn
and photo-sourced imagery which used all of my
selection tricks,” says Potts, who used the Magic Wand
tool to select the iconic red London bus. The Magic
Wand used to be the tool that marked you out as a
amateur, but recent improvements – most notably
Refine Edges – have given it much more power. Potts
says, “To select dominant colours in a photo, such as
the red in the London bus, I’ll sometimes use the
Magic Wand for speed and then Modify/Grow the
selection to pick out any extra pixels.”
© A
ndy
Pott
s
©Di
sney
/Wat
son.
Rol
f A. J
ense
n
© Andy Potts
to save selections – even in a flattened file – trumps
everything. It means that designs can be shared in
compact JPEGS – which is helpful in something like
product design, where lots of people need to work on
similar images. It also means that if you create a Path
in a low-res version of an image (perhaps for the
web) and later have to make the same selection in a
high-res version, then the work is already done for
you. You can simply scale up your selection, make
any edits that you need to and your job is done –
vector to the rescue. So if there is a chance that you
might need to re-use your selections, then the Pen
tool to Path option is probably for you.
035
PREP THE SCENEAn illustration of the London skyline for RIBA
gave Andy Potts a lot of fine selection work to
tackle. His experience has taught him that
choosing the right tools and lots of keyboard
shortcuts is the best way to make a selection. He
explains: “The image is a digital collage put
together from photographs of iconic London
architecture. To select the buildings I would make
the photograph black and white and boost the
Levels to get a high contrast image with clearer
selectable areas. I then use Select/Color Range to
select the black or the white in the image (with
the Fuzziness set to 200), [before cutting] that
selection to a new layer to begin editing it into the
collage. If the building needed to be cut out of a
busy scene rather than against a cleaner sky
backdrop, then I would use the Lasso tool to Opt/
Alt+click around the various edges.”
INVENT YOUR OWNIf your selection needs are mounting and you want
to make more edits in less time, then it’s no good
relying on the existing tools and the shortcuts that
Photoshop already contains. Instead, you’ll need to
start coming up with more personalised ways of
approaching things, especially for those jobs you’re
going to find yourself doing again and again. Milton
Menezes explains that “Cmd/Ctrl+Enter is useful to
get a selection out of a path and Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/
Alt+Key is great when you want to apply the same
adjustment to a layer. For example, press Cmd/
Ctrl+Opt/Alt+M to use the same curves again on a
different layer, or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+F to fade
adjustments. I also like to set shortcuts for contrast,
COLOUR ME SIMPLE“Sometimes there is a colour in multiple areas at the
same time, like green trees and grass,” explains John
Ross. “If I only want one of them, I will use the Lasso
Tool to make a very loose selection around the area
[that] I want to keep. Then I can use Color Range to
refine the target selection. Basically, the Lasso limits
the Color Range’s selectable areas. After using Color
Range, the edges can be a bit jagged, [may] not reach
the edges completely, or it may even leave little
pinholes. [So] to get around these problems, I created
a simple Action that applies Select>Modify>Expand of
4 pixels and then Select>Modify>Feather of 4 pixels,
which I then attached to an F-key. This will make the
selection a little bigger and a little softer. It [is] not
usually noticeable, but [it] corrects minor
imperfections that Color Range often leaves behind.”
© Jo
hn R
oss
© L
ight
farm
Stu
dios
add expand and feather to selections which helps to
speed up workflow, and I always use Cmd/Ctrl+S
– Photoshop is not 100% reliable.”
However, he is determined to go further than
just personalising Photoshop and has been
working to find his own approach to selection that
will give him both accuracy and speed. “Searching
for a way to clear cut with [great] precision,”
Menezes says he’s started using Path Selection in
a more detailed way, “by using brush settings and
simulating pressure out of the stroke path. It’s not
as slow as brush stroke selection would lead you
to believe and it’s 100 percent editable and [as]
precise as you would expect.”
COVER DESIGNCOMPETITION 2014
A LOOK AT THE BEST ENTRIES FROM THIS S COVER DESIGN COMPETITION e have had a fantastic response to this
year’s cover design competition. Back
in issue 127 we challenged you to
come up with a design for the cover of
Advanced Photoshop, with the victor winning a paid
commission to talk us through their artwork in an
Advanced Photoshop tutorial. The quality of your
work didn’t disappoint us, and after picking through
hundreds of entries, we’ve finally whittled down
these amazing designs to choose a winner.
036
037
It took ten hours, over the course of a week, for
Mahmoud El Zahar to create this image. Combining
Maya, Mental Ray and Photoshop CC for matte
painting, retouching and rendering, he built up the
image as a composite. It started fairly simply: “I was
asked to create an artwork with the stock image of
the model.
“The first thing that came into my head was music
– inspired by her movement. Then I started
imagining the environment around her,” he explains.
Building up the image required a lot of compositing
trickery, which El Zahar thinks is essential to creating
a great image in Photoshop. Having been using
Photoshop for six years and working primarily in
digital art and photomanipulation, for him, the most
important things that everyone should learn in order
to create better images are: “Accurate masking with
the Pen tool or using Channels, and warping,
liquefying and Puppet Warping for compositing.”
MAHMOUD EL ZAHARWWW.MELZAHAR.COMCGI AND DIGITAL ARTIST
YOU CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC!
A really energetic imagethat’s full of joy and fun
Rebekka Hearl, Designer
CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP COMPETITION
You Can’t Stop the Music: The image was built using a combination of
Maya, Mental Ray and Photoshop, to effectively create a stunning composite of photos and 3D
038
COMPETITION CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP
Low-poly’s a popular trend at the moment
(Advanced Photoshop did a tutorial on it in issue 127)
and this example from Steven Berrington took him
about 11 hours to complete. Having been using
Photoshop for seven years, Berrington is very
familiar with the program and the amount of art
styles that can be created with it – which is
something he embraces. When asked what his
favourite style to work in is, he replies, “Anything
really, I like to challenge myself in different areas of
art and styles.” For this image he worked across
Illustrator CC and Photoshop CC, using “low-poly
vectors, the Pen tool [and the] Color Picker” to create
this low-poly racehorse. “I had tried a few low-poly
images but wanted to push a bit further and add
more details,” Berrington explains. His advice for
other Photoshop artists is simple: “Practice, practice
and practice. Follow all the tutorials you can.”
STEVE BERRINGTON QUANTITY SURVEYOR
FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER
RACE HORSE LOW�POLY
This denotes something highly traditional, but
gives it edge – literally! The intriguing composition makes it interesting to look at Siobhan Maguire, Production Editor
Race Horse Low Poly: Low-poly vectors, the Pen tool and the Color Picker were used for this image
039
With 19 hours of work put into it, We Are Not
Alone was a pretty mammoth project for graphic
designer Joseph Xerri. However, part of the reason
this digitally painted photomanipulation took so long,
is because Xerri abandoned some of Photoshop’s
more advanced functions, to concentrate on the
fundamentals. “I mainly used basic techniques and
tools, including the Brush tool, masking and blending
modes,” he explains. “I love creating non-realistic and
epic photomanipulations [with a] composition that
makes the viewer think that they are real.” This
particular style is relatively new in Xerri’s repertoire:
“I have been exploring new techniques and tools in
Photoshop for around four years now, but creating
photomanipulations for the last nine months,” he
says. So what’s his advice for other artists? “I
recommend Photoshop users to always keep their
work organised and make use of adjustment layers
such as Selective Color and Curves,” he says.
JOSEPH XERRIWWW.BEHANCE.NET/JOSEPHXERRI
GRAPHIC DESIGNER AT BETSAFE.COM
WE ARE NOT ALONE
A fantastic sci-fi themed project with a great sense
of depth and tones. Each individual element in the composition works well together to create an epic scene. The little details haven’t been forgotten about, and the lighting effects really draw your attention to the main focus of the image Amy Squibb, Editor in Chief
We Are Not Alone: Xerri used basic techniques and tools for this image including the Brush tool, and
masking and blending modes
040
COMPETITION CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP
Self-taught artist, Achraf Baznani, began using
Photoshop 5.0 in 1998. This image, which he based
on self-portraits and that he photographed himself,
took him just 25 minutes to complete in Photoshop
CS6 and Lightroom 4. “The important thing [to me] is
to make a picture almost perfect in record time,” he
explains. Baznani’s favourite style to work in is
surreal, “because we need a break from reality.
Surrealism takes us from the real world into a
dreaming one. We can recreate and share our
dreams or surrealist ideas in real life through
photography.” So what’s his advice for other artists?
“It’s never easy to succeed and sustain going
professional and freelance in the beginning.
[Remember] that the knowledge and skills you have
will not be taken away from you by anyone. It is a
treasure that you will [have forever]. I never give up,
no matter how hard it is. If you love something, just
don’t stop trying.”
ACHRAF BAZNANI WWW.BAZNANI.COM ARTIST/PHOTOGRAPHER
CHECKING MY BRAIN
A great demonstration of what a bit of clever
photography and Photoshop work can achieve April Madden, Editor
Checking My Brain: This image took just 25 minutes to create in Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 4
041
ILIAS CONSTANTINE PATLISHTTP://ILIASPATLIS.COMGAME ARTIST FOR CANDYCRUSH SAGA ANDKING.COM
THE PIONEERS
Great use of colour and creativity. I really like the
‘in-production’ feel of the artwork and the overall tones Duncan Crook, Senior Art Editor
Ilias Patlis has been using Photoshop since 2004
and in those ten years he has learnt a few tricks. “Flip
your Canvas horizontally every now and then to
avoid everything looking all crazy and wonky further
down the road. There’s nothing more fun then having
to re-draw that face you liked because the eyes
aren’t level. Discover it early on and fix it!” In fact,
Patlis had a moment somewhat like this when we
contacted him about publishing The Pioneers in
Advanced Photoshop: “I actually lost the original file
when my hard drive crashed, so unfortunately, I had
to paint it twice. So now I would say [it took] about 20
hours in total,” he explains. Painted with a selection
of brushes controlled with a Wacom Intuos 5, plus
“the Pen tool for the abstract stuff”, the inspiration
behind this image was “my daughter. She loves
ruining/improving my art! She made me remember
why I started drawing in the first place – for fun. No
deadlines, no rules.”
The Pioneers: The image was created using a selection of brushes controlled by a WacomIntuos 5, and the Pen tool
042
COMPETITION CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP
“I took a few photos of the swampy areas in
Belarus. Almost immediately, I came up with the
idea of the post,” says Max Mitenkov (also known as
vimark) about the inspiration behind this piece. “In
such places it is hard to deliver mail.” Basing the
backdrop to this image on his photos, “I used a
simple model in SketchUp and then matte painting
[techniques] with custom brushes” to build up the
scene. It took quite a bit of time – “to create this
image, I spent five days [working on it] for two-three
hours a day,” he explains. Mitenkov’s preferred genre
to work in is surrealism, while his favourite
techniques all tend to come under the matte painting
umbrella. An image like this allows him to combine
both interests.
MAX MITENKOV, AKA VIMARK
WWW.BEHANCE.NET/VIMARK FREELANCER
POST OFFICE ON THE DISTANT LAND
A very cinematic image that looks like a scene
from a videogame. I wish it was, I’d like to explore this odd little steampunk outpost in the middle of nowhere April Madden, Editor
Post Office On The Distant Land: A simple model became a matte painting using custom brushes
043
“I don’t really have a favourite kind of image to
create. As long as the end result looks cool then I’m
happy,” says graphic designer James Godden, who
has been using Photoshop for “about ten years”. For
this image, titled Neon, “the initial inspiration came
from a set of sports fashion graphics, pioneered by
Whitehype director Chris Whitehorn (www.
whitehype.co.uk), where sports-people were defined
using neon lines. “I thought that it would be cool to
integrate this line work with photographic elements,”
he explains. “I created all of the lines using the Pen
tool in Illustrator. I then exported the file as a PSD to
Photoshop, and used Color Dodge groups to add
glows to the lines. The distressing of the model was
done using layer masks and cloning. The blue nebula
effect was achieved by adding stock images on a
Screen blend mode.” The whole process took Godden
around five hours to complete. “Always strive to learn
new techniques and practices,” he advises.
JAMES GODDEN JAMESGODDENDESIGN.COM GRAPHIC DESIGNER AT WHITEHYPE STUDIO
NEON
Nice futuristic feel, bright and complex. The use of a
limited colour palette helps focus the artwork Duncan Crook, Senior Art Editor
Neon: All of the lines were created using the Pen tool in Illustrator, and then given a glow using Color Dodge in Photoshop
044
COMPETITION CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP
“I have been a lifelong science-fiction fan and that
represents the majority of my inspiration,” says Paul
Owen, who has been using Photoshop for four years
to create sci-fi and fantasy imagery. As a long-term
fan of Frank Herbert, Philip K Dick and Marvel
Comics, Owen’s explains that his career has also
inspired him: “my background in IT and as a chemist
also adds a dimension to my preference to create
abstract and science fiction or fantasy images.” For
this image, he used Photoshop CC with a Wacom
Cintiq Companion, and the whole process took
around four hours to complete. Owen’s idea came
from “watching the ESA comet landing, [which]
inspired me because the scientist in me was
intrigued. We could all be made of the same material
as the stars, and the comet is all about looking for
the very building blocks of life. As a former chemist, I
have always loved considering these kinds of
questions. This piece illustrates how I feel [that] we
as human beings are made of the same intrinsic
materials as the universe.”
PAUL OWEN WWW.BEHANCE.NET/PAULDOWEN IT PROFESSIONAL
REBIRTH
I was immediately drawn to this image – the use of colour
and light is enchanting. It has a fantastical, fairy-tale feel to it Siobhan Maguire, Production Editor
Rebirth: This image was created using Photoshop CC combined with
a Wacom Cintiq Companion
045
“I didn’t really keep track of time while creating this
piece. However, if I had to guess, I would say [it took]
at least seven hours,” says David Medrano. He’s been
using Photoshop for nine years to create “iconic,
striking imagery. My work is often a melting pot of
symbolism, strong characters, and [presents] an
ultimate statement.” However, Photoshop isn’t the
only tool in Medrano’s workflow: “This image was
first drawn traditionally with graphite. Once scanned, I
used a Wacom Bamboo tablet to shade it in
line-by-line, in a woodcut fashion. This piece is a
commentary about the old ‘ashes to ashes, dust to
dust’ idiom. The title and overall image makes a
statement about how we are born from, live with, and
eventually return to nature as our body is buried in
earth. Therefore, in the grand scheme of things, we
are nature,” he explains of his inspiration behind the
piece. You can find out about how We Are Nature was
created by watching Medrano’s process video at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMQxpwG13Nc.
DAVID MEDRANOARTISTRX.COMFREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER AND ILLUSTRATOR
WE ARE NATURE
Superb draughtsmanship and a great mixed media technique
that combines traditional pencil drawing and Photoshop Rebekka Hearl, Designer
We Are Nature: This image was first drawn in graphite before being shaded in line by line with a Wacom Bamboo tablet
WINNER!COMPETITION
047
MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION TECHNIQUES
CREATE AN EYE�CATCHING IMAGE USING STRIKING MOOD,COLOUR COMBINATION AND WELL�DEFINED DETAIL
MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION
A t FlyingArchitecture, our job is to create
images of different projects, while trying to
recognise our client’s ideas and give our
expert guidance and knowledge to achieve
the best result possible. For this project we worked
with Xuberance (www.xuberance.org), the design
team behind the eVolo skyscraper competition.
We usually start with a general vision of what the
image should represent. It’s important to not limit
your imagination and try to experiment with different
ideas. More options gives you more flexibility. You
can find inspiration everywhere (books, paintings,
photographs or music for example), and don’t forget,
that it’s a creative process initially. After some
research and discussion, we can start working on the
FROM 3D TO PHOTOSHOPPREPARE YOUR PSD FILE BEFORE YOU START WORKING ON POST PRODUCTION
image. To do this, you’ll need to master basic rules for
composition, colours and how to add more depth and
detail using 2D assets. Creating complex images like
this is always a bit challenging. Try to break it up into
smaller parts like background, foreground, foliage and
people. This way you have better control over every
part of the image. Be careful though, as it’s important
to preserve the connection between all of the aspects,
so that it works as one coherent piece. Prepare all
your reference pictures and assets so that you are
ready. Don’t try to adjust them when they’re not fitting
properly – save your energy. Photoshop is a powerful
tool, but spend 15 more minutes finding better photos
with the proper lighting and angles, and you will
achieve better results. Let’s get started!
01 RENDER THE OUTPUT FORMATWe start by importing our V-Ray render
channels into Photoshop. Always remember to
save up the highest possible quality of render
channels. These are not JPGs or PNGs. We are
talking about their bit depth: 32-bit HDR floating
format. To import these files into Photoshop, go
to File>Scripts>Load files into stack. Then click
Browse, locate all the render channels you saved
and click Open. Back in the small pop-up
window, click OK. Their quality won’t suffer from
using multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop.
02 ORGANISE YOUR PSD FILEYou can’t fully utilise the variety of
adjustments in 32-bit mode. After importing all
render channels, go to Image>Mode>16 Bits/
Channel. Now you should organise your PSD layer
structure. Sometimes, there are hundreds of layers
and it can be uncomfortable to work on. We have to
give credit to Adam Hotovy (CGI artist, Corona
Renderer development team) who inspired us with
this organised layer system a few years ago.
FROM RAW RENDER TOFINAL PIECE
WORK IN PROGRESS
Progress 1: The raw render
Progress 2: Adjusting the mood of the image
Progress 3: Adding assets and final changes
ŠTEFAN TURCOVSKÝflyingarchitecture.com@flying_archi
OUR EXPERT
I’m a 25-year-old CGI artist from Slovakia. I am currently working at FlyingArchitecture Studio, where we offer professional 2D and 3D assets and tutorials for Rhinoceros, V-ray and Photoshop.
SOURCE FILESOrganise your workflow with the supplied layer structure PSD and you’ll find it easier to manage hundreds of layers without losing track of your edits.
048
TECHNIQUES MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION
QUICK TIP
Don’t be afraid to try more assets or reference pictures, because you never know what can inspire you to
create a different mood or story. Usually we have an exact idea about the image, but spontaneous
inspiration is great when experimenting. There are no rules, just use what is working best for you.
04 ADJUST THE EXPOSURETo restore the contrast that you achieved in
the original rendering, use the Exposure adjustment.
Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Exposure, and
use 0.45-0.50 as a value for Gamma Correction to
achieve the desired effect. This is the universal
approach which should be done after each import of
HDR files into Photoshop (but only if you use this
linear workflow). Always use clipping masks so that
you can work on separate elements. This way, an
adjustment has an effect only on the render layer and
nothing else. Ctrl/right-click on the adjustment layer
and select Create Clipping Mask.
05 ADD THE SKYThe sky is one of the most important aspects
of the image because it defines the general mood.
Always try to find the right balance between the
complexity of the background/foreground and main
subject. You don’t want to overwhelm the viewer. Go to
Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves and adjust the
contrast of the sky. Do the same with Selective Color,
Color Balance and Vibrance adjustments. Some areas
of the sky need more attention to make them more
appropriate (like the over-saturated lower part or
darker top-right corner).
06 CITY IN THE BACKGROUNDNow you can start adding more depth and
detail in the form of buildings in the background of
the image. Always use layer masks (not the Eraser
tool) to add or remove areas that you don’t want to
see (remember, white is visible and black is
invisible). This way, you’re not destroying the original
image or adjustment layers. Now you can use the
Brightness to make both buildings a bit lighter,
Selective Color to add more yellow and black colour,
and Vibrance to achieve more natural saturation. 07 CHANGE THE TONESThe main building is a little bit flat. Go to
Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness and make
the left side of the building darker. Invert the
Brightness layer mask using Cmd/Ctrl+I and paint
darker areas inside it with the soft brush using white.
The left side should be more bluish because of the
shadow. Use Color Balance and Selective Color to
achieve the best effect. The last step is to add a
warm highlight on the top of the right building using
the same method as you did before.
08 MAKE SPECIFIC CHANGESSome areas around the main building need
more editing. Go to Layer>New Adjustment
Layer>Brightness/Contrast to make the whole
skyscraper brighter. Also, add more contrast with
Curves to make it more defined. The colours on the
right building are too warm, so use Selective Color
and play with the neutrals to make it colder. The last
step is to darken the bottom part under the bridge
and main entrance on the edge of the coast using
Curves, in the same way you did before.
03 RENDER THE ALPHA MASKFirst of all, apply your Alpha mask to the
render image. To do that, click on the Alpha channel,
press Cmd/Ctrl+A and then Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy the
layer to the buffer. Then, create a layer mask for the
render layer. Holding the left Alt button, click inside
the layer mask that you created in the previous step
and press Cmd/Ctrl+V.
049
12 BUILD THE COASTWALK ALLEYThere are four separate layers with trees.
You can download a lot of tree cut-outs for free, from
websites like www.gobotree.com or www.
cgtextures.com. Make sure that the left part is really
dark, as it adds nice depth to the bottom. To add
shadows you can use Levels or Brightness
adjustment layers. Also, make all the trees less
saturated using Vibrance and Selective Color to add
more warm colours. On the other hand, the left side
should be really bright because of the sun.
11 ADJUST THE RIGHT BUILDING FACADE Create a new layer and change the blending
mode from Normal to Multiply. Use a red colour and
start painting over the top and middle horizontal
facade frame parts with a sharp brush (you can use
your Material ID channel if needed). After that, use
Brightness, Selective Color and Hue/Saturation
adjustments to make the red colour more natural.
The left facade should be darker and less saturated
because of the shadow. Also, add random building
textures to the glass facade as reflections from the
environment to create realistic detail.
13 ADD SOME PEOPLESometimes it’s really hard to find the right
people for the image. In this case it was easier
because of the size. They are not as important as
other parts, but they do add necessary detail to the
big picture. Use Brightness and Selective Color to
adjust each one of them. If needed, use a Hue/
Saturation adjustment to make them fit in properly.
You can lower the layer Opacity to 95-90% to make
them less bold.
10 SHADE THE CONCRETE WALLWe need to make the left part of the wall
brighter. As you did before, use Brightness to achieve
the desired effect. The right side has to be darker
because of the shadow from the bridge. Also, play
with the Curves to add more definition. Use dirt
textures and add some leaks to achieve a more
realistic effect (you can download a lot of textures in
JPG or PNG format from www.cgtextures.com).
Experiment with different blending modes, but for
this kind of stuff you should use Multiply, Darken,
Color or Soft Light mode.
09 CREATE THE WATER SURFACETo create the water surface you can use different techniques. We recommend using ‘Flood’ by
Flaming Pear (download this plugin from www.flamingpear.com/flood). Merge all layers on top of
everything (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E). Press Cmd/Ctrl+A, then Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+C to copy the layer to the buffer,
and then select Cmd/Ctrl+V. Go to Filter>Flaming Pear>Flood. Adjust the Curves, Brightness and Selective
Color to make it more realistic.
ADDING MORE ELEMENTSSTART REFINING YOUR IMAGE WITH ASSETS AND EFFECTS
001 BE READYPrepare all your rendered channels, reference pictures, assets and notes to create the best image possible without any problems.
002 WHO’S THE HERO?Choose the right background elements to achieve the desired mood and make sure there’s enough space to make your main subject shine.
003 GOD IS IN THE DETAILSpend more time finding the proper textures and assets to add realistic details to the image. Putting this time aside will give you the best results.
001
003
002
It’s important to not limit your imagination and try
to experiment with different ideas. More options give you more flexibility
050
FINAL EDITINGIMPORTANT READJUSTMENTS AND FINISHING TOUCHES
TECHNIQUES MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION
QUICK TIP
In general, if you are just getting started with Photoshop post-production, start with 2500px renders. Then,
as you gain more experience, switch to 3500px. When you are confident enough, try using 5000px.
Anything above 5000px can be done for personal projects or to suit the requirements of a client.
HOW TO WORK WITH ASSETS
When searching for different assets, it can be
challenging to find the right ones. To find
royalty-free textures, you can go to www.
cgtextures.com for textures, www.gobotree.
com for cut-outs or www.prostaffage.com,
where you can find high-res photo resources,
textures and reference photos. It’s important to
download the biggest resolution possible
because you can always reduce the size and not
lose the quality. As a first step, you should adjust
the general lighting of the asset. Use Levels or
Curves adjustments to achieve the desired effect.
Then play with colours, using Color Balance or
Selective Color adjustments to fit it in properly.
The last step is to paint some shadows and
highlights to add dimension and make it realistic.
14 INCLUDE MORE FOLIAGEArrange foliage on the bottom and upper
levels of the building, but be careful not to overpower
the main design. Placing the foliage is similar to the
positioning of the trees. Always check your colour
and black/white balance to make sure everything is
working together as one. To add more light on the
sunny side, create a new layer, clip it to the foliage
layer, change the blending mode from Normal to
Soft Light, set the Opacity to 40-50%, and start
painting some highlights. Create some shadows on
the left side, and perhaps place some birds on the
top left side to counterweight the right building.
15 CHECK THE BALANCETo easily check the black and white balance,
create a new layer on top of everything and by
pressing G (Paint Bucket tool), fill this layer with
black. Change the blending mode from Normal to
Color. Don’t be afraid to adjust some assets or areas
again and again. Your image is constantly evolving
and you should work with this layer as much as
possible to balance the image in the right way.
16 ADD LIGHT EFFECTSFirst of all, create a dark gradient on the
bottom. It naturally leads your eyes to the middle part
of the image. Use a Brightness adjustment layer to add
more light to the sunny side of the right building. Do the
same for the background skyscrapers and the top part
of the main structure. Paint some highlights as you did
with the foliage using the Soft Light method. Then go to
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur to make them a bit blurry
and play with the opacity of the white glows in the
Screen blending mode.
17 FINISHING TOUCHESThis is the last phase of post-production.
Add a flare effect to the right side. You can
download a lot of different flare assets from
different websites. Change the blending mode
from Normal to Screen and adjust the Opacity to
80-90%. Adjust the Color Balance and Curves to
make it more warm and bold, and add more
Saturation to the middle part of the image. Darken
the bottom part of the image and make it more
cold using a Selective Color adjustment.
18 THE FINAL IMAGEThe last step is to add more Contrast and
Chromatic Abberation (it’s not necessary, but you can
experiment with this effect). It’s a type of camera
distortion where the lens fails to focus all of the
colours to the same convergence point, which
makes the image look more realistic. Merge all
layers on top of everything with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Opt/
Alt+E. Then, go to Filter>Lens Corrections and
experiment with different values for the Distortion
and Fringe, and this is your final image!
Free Deliveryon all print using this code:
(Expires 1/3/15)
FDM-5MQ48
You do the design, we do the printwww.instantprint.co.uk
© G
ary
Bede
ll
I started with a small, traditional pencil sketch,
added a dash of nightmares and fleshed the rest of it out in Photoshop
052
SELF�TAUGHT ILLUSTRATOR GARY BEDELL REVEALSHOW HE WAS INSPIRED BY THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FEAR
SHHHGARY BEDELL
I’ve always known what I wanted to do and I
havn’t stopped since,” begins illustrator Gary
Bedell (http://garytheartguybedell.wix.com/
garybedellportfolio).
As an artist, he’s also always been in love with
a very tricky subject – the psychology of fear.
“When it comes to horror, I often draw
inspiration from my own nightmares,” he
explains. “I started with a small, traditional
pencil sketch, added a dash of nightmares and
fleshed the rest of it out in Photoshop.”
The process came with its own particular
challenges, however. “I found conveying the
emotion felt by the child very difficult, as his face
isn’t visible,” he reveals, explaining that the
perfect body language was then needed to tell
the story instead.
Ultimately, it was a huge success, as the
image shows. “Not only does this illustration
address a common phobia we have all suffered
as children, of monsters living in our closets, it
goes one step further, suggesting that perhaps
they really do,” Bedell concludes. “It reinforces
the fear that grown-ups won’t believe what they
are unable to see. Even as an adult, that sends a
shiver up my spine.”
01 THUMBNAILAll my ideas start with a thumbnail. This
one is 2.5 x 4.5 inches. Here, I can get the right
energy and composition that I’m looking for.
02 SKETCHING OVER THE THUMBNAILAfter scanning my thumbnail at 300dpi and
scaling it slightly to 5 x 8 inches, I drop the Opacity
and sketch on a new layer above.
03 BASIC LIGHTINGUnder my sketch layer, I make a new layer
set to Multiply so I can add the shadows. I then make
a second layer set to Normal for light.
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
“
053
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
06 ADDING COLOURS To set the mood, I use solid dark blue
behind the illustration that is set to Multiply. Once
my palette is chosen, I complete base colours for
all the objects.
04 PAINT OVER THE LARGE THUMBNAIL On a new layer, I begin refining the
lighting and adding details, with my brush Opacity
set to 65%.
05 EXPANDING IMAGE AND ADDING VALUES By up-scaling the image to 11x17 inches at
300dpi, I am able to add more details on a new layer.
Then I can add and adjust a Multiply layer for even
more shadows.
07 PAINT ACROSS THE TOP On top of a new layer, I use the same dark
blue to bring out the coolness in colour. This also
helps push the composition.
08 FINISHING UPThis is where I add the final details and
adjust the brightness to my liking.
“When I am working on a horror illustration, I
like tapping into the triggers that dwell within the
human psyche – the ones that elicit the most
fear and anxiety,” Bedell explains. “It’s almost
like I am recreating the moment. I believe I was
successful in conveying the complex emotional
exchange between the subjects here.”
BEDELL REVEALS HOW HE BEGINSDESIGNING THE MAKINGS OF AUNIVERSALLY TERRIFYING HORROR SCENE
ILLUSTRATING HORROR
The use of colour – along with the strong contrast between the child and the monsters – was integral to the completion of the piece.
054
LANDSCAPE TIPS SHOOTING ADVICE CAMERA REVIEWSPORTRAIT GUIDES
Availablefrom all good
newsagents andsupermarkets
WILDLIFE PHOTOS
Learn to inspirewww.dphotographer.com
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CREATE A DYNCOMPOSITE
LEARN A RANGE OF TECHNIQUES TO HELP YOU ADD INTEREST AND STYLE TO OUTDOOR IMAGES AND COMPOSITESC reate a composite that lets you take a
simple outdoor image and step it up a
notch with this tutorial! It outlines the
basic techniques to reach the desired
outcome, but it will take a good deal of
experimentation and trial and error to get it just
right. Those with a solid foundation and
understanding of adjustment layers, blending
modes and masking techniques will benefit from
this tutorial. The idea here is to take what could be a
simple outdoor image, in this case a hunting image,
and turn it into a work of art. For this particular
image, we will be using Photoshop to replace the
background, add some background elements and
give it a cinematic colour grade. Paying attention to
the depth of field and lighting are key in producing
BRANDON CAWOODwww.brandoncawood.com@Brandon_Cawood
OUR EXPERT
Brandon Cawood is a commercial and advertising photographer from Dalton, GA, USA. He specialises in high-energy composites and does his own retouching and Photoshop work. See his work at www.brandoncawood.com.
056
the final result. Use these techniques as a guide
to producing your own images in this style. The
idea is being able to take any situation or
environment and turn it into something visually
inspiring! Hopefully this will inspire you to look at
the world around you with a new vision and
inspiration. Take these tips and make them your
own, to create something amazing.
CREATE A DYNAMIC COMPOSITE TECHNIQUES
057
03 ADJUST THE DEPTH OF FIELDFor a composite to be believable, the depth of field needs to match. If something in your foreground
is going out of focus but your background is tack-sharp, it is going to look off. If the foreground is starting to
go out of focus at all, then the background should do the same. You can blur the background image by
pressing Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Adjust the Radius until the blur matches the depth of field in the
foreground image. The further away the background is supposed to be, the more blur it will have.
04 COLOUR MATCH THE BACKGROUND AND THE FOREGROUND
Use an individual Curves adjustment layer on the
background layer. Make sure it is clipped only to the
background layer by selecting Layer>Create Clipping
Mask. Use the RGB channel to adjust the exposure
so that it matches the foreground. Next, use colour
channels to match the temperature of the models.
After you have the colours and exposure matching,
add another adjustment layer over the whole image.
To warm the image up, select the blue curve and
drag the middle of the line down slightly.
058
TECHNIQUES CREATE A DYNAMIC COMPOSITE
02 MAKE A CLEAN EXTRACTIONTo achieve a great composite you need
very clean masks. Always add a layer mask so you
can use black to remove and white to add back. A
pen tablet comes in handy to do this, and ensure you
take your time. Zoom in to 500%, and with a black
hard brush set at 8 px, follow the outline of what you
want to extract. If you make a mistake, just switch
your brush to white and paint it back. To make sure
you are masking out everything that needs to be
transparent, press the \ key and your mask will turn
red. Press it again to turn it off.
01 ALWAYS PLAN AHEADWhen trying to pull off any composite or
photomanipulation, proper planning is essential.
Planning gives you a starting point. Look at your
background image, and plan your photo shoot
around it. Think about the angle, the perspective,
where the light is coming from, and any other details
that will affect your composite. A simple sketch
always helps keep your vision consistent – it doesn’t
have to be a work of art. Making sure all these things
match will make your composite more believable.
FROM BACKGROUND TOFINISHED COMPOSITE
WORK IN PROGRESS
Progress 2: Create seamlessand clean masking
Progress 3: Add lighting effects to finish
Progress 1: Study the background image
Think about the angle, the perspective, where
the light is coming from, and any other details that will affect your composite
059
07 MAKE THE EYES POPCreate a Curves adjustment layer on top of
the other layers – it will have a mask filled with
white. Fill the mask with black and grab a white
brush. Paint over the pupils and iris. Now make an S
curve on your Curve layers. On your graph, add a
point a fourth of the way up, one in the middle and
one three-quarters of the way up. Leave the one in
the middle and bring the top one up slightly and the
bottom one down. You can now adjust the opacity of
this layer if the effect is too much.
06 CLEAN UP BLEMISHES Added detail will make blemishes stand out.
Sometimes this works for images featuring a male
because it adds a rugged look, but when creating an
image of a female you will want to remove these. For
small simple blemishes use the Healing Brush tool.
Under sample, select Current and Below. Hold down
the Opt/Alt key to select a clean portion of skin close to
the blemish. Next brush over the blemish you wish to
remove. Repeat this for each blemish. If this doesn’t
work, more advanced retouching techniques such as
Frequency Separation may be needed.
05 ADD SOME DETAILChoose a layer and make two copies (press
Cmd/Ctrl+J twice). Invert the top copy (Cmd/Ctrl+I)
and change the blending mode to Vivid Light. With
this layer selected, go to Filter>Blur>Surface Blur. A
good starting point is with the Radius set to 30 px
and the Threshold to 40 Levels. Go to Layer>Merge
Down to merge the top copy and middle copy. Press
Cmd/Ctrl+U and de-saturate the layer. Change the
blend mode to Overlay. You can adjust the opacity on
this layer to control how much detail is added. Repeat
this step on any layer you want to add detail to.
QUICK TIP
Always save periodically throughout your workflow. There is nothing worse than spending hours on a
project, to have Photoshop crash and lose your work. When you have multiple ideas on the direction you
want to go in, save your PSD under different names. Then you will have a variety of copies and options!
08 ADD THE BIRDSIt is important to add interest to the background without making
it distracting. In this image, we used birds flying in the distance. The
photo of birds was taken with a bright sky. By desaturating the image
and boosting the contrast you can make a photo where the birds are
black and the sky is white. Now change the blending mode to Multiply
and all the white becomes transparent. You can add more birds using the
Clone Stamp. Make sure not to put the clone too close to the original.
09 PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILSBefore moving onto the final colour grading, you should go back over everything
you’ve done. Investigate your document one layer at a time and make sure that everything
is done to a high standard. Ensure your masks are clean and that you didn’t leave anything
unwanted. Check your highlights, your shadows and anything else that may need
adjusting. Click your layers on and off to see all the before and after images. Go ahead and
delete any layers you aren’t using and make sure you save your PSD.
060
TECHNIQUES CREATE A DYNAMIC COMPOSITE
QUICK TIP
Look at the proof of your final image on multiple computer screens, tablets, phones, and have your
image printed on different mediums. If anything stands out, open the PSD back up and try to address the
issue. Sometimes it helps to create different versions depending on the medium it will be viewed on.
13 SHARPENING YOUR IMAGESave your PSD. Once you have saved it,
select Layer>Flatten Image. Make a duplicate copy
of the flattened image by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+J.
Select your top layer, then Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp
Mask. Adjust the sliders as needed based on the
file size. While still on the top layer, select
Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. You can then use a
soft brush set to black to remove the sharpening
from any areas where you don’t want it. You can
also use varying opacities to pull down the
sharpening over the entire image.
10 ADD THE SUN FLAREYou can create a sun flare in Photoshop or
with a plug-in. Select Filter>Render>Lens Flare,
choose your flare and the brightness. Now go to
Edit>Undo. Create a new black layer on top of your
other layers and change the blending mode to
Screen. Next select the Filter and you will notice at
the top it will say Lens Flare (if you haven’t used any
other filters since). You can also press Cmd/Ctrl+F
and it will automatically apply the last filter you used.
You will now be able to move the flare.
14 ADD GRAINTo finish, add grain. Create a new layer
above your sharpened image. Hold down Shift and
click Delete. Choose Fill with 50% grey. Change the
blending mode of this layer to Soft Light. Next select
Filter>Noise>Add Noise. The size of your image will
determine the amount you use. Choose Uniform and
leave Monochromatic unselected. Once you apply,
hold down Cmd/Ctrl+U. Reduce the Saturation to
-85% – leaving some colour in the grain will give a
more natural look. Do this step at 100% zoom. You
can adjust the opacity if it feels too intense.
11 ADJUST THE SUN FLARE COLOUROnce you have your sun flare where you
want it, the colour may not seem quite right. So you
will need to add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer
directly above the flare layer. You only want this to
affect the flare layer so in the Layers palette, Ctrl/
right-click on the Hue/Saturation layer and select
Create Clipping Mask. Next on the Hue/Saturation
layer, check the Colorize box and move the slider at
the top until the flare is the colour that you want. You
may also need to adjust the Saturation slider.
15 SAVE YOUR IMAGEYou can save the image in different ways
depending on its use. To use a good quality printing
lab, leave the image in Adobe RBG and save it as a
JPEG or TIFF. If you want to use a basic printer or are
saving for online use, convert it to SRGB. Select
Edit>Convert To Profile>Choose Working RGB and
save as before. For online use, scale it down before
saving. Select File>Automate>Fit Image. Set a width
of 2048 px and a height of 2048 px. Save it as a JPEG
and place in a separate folder for online use.
12 FINAL COLOUR GRADINGFirst add a Channel Mixer adjustment layer.
Choose the Black and White With Green pre-set – this
will turn your image black and white. You want to use
this adjustment for some desaturation, so bring the
Opacity down to 15%. Next add a Color Balance
adjustment layer. The Color Balance adjustments will
vary from image to image so experiment with them
to get the look you want. For this image the shadows
and midtones were pushed towards the cyan and
green tones, while the highlights were pushed
towards the red and yellow tones.
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062
A GUIDE TOINFOGRAPHICS
LEARN HOW TO DESIGN AN INFOGRAPHICAND MAINTAIN A SENSE OF HUMOURY ou can’t log into Twitter nowadays without
being bombarded by links to articles written
by self-proclaimed experts about all the
things you’re doing wrong: how you’re living
your life incorrectly, how you’re running your
business incorrectly, how you’re reading your Tweets
incorrectly. Who are these ‘experts’ and where has
this expertise come from? After all, being an expert
is a bit like being a gentleman: if you have to say you
are, then you probably aren’t. There was once a time
when you had to have achieved something to be able
to be labelled an expert. Nowadays, if you’ve got an
opinion and a Wordpress, you’re a leading thinker in
the industry.
So how does a British designer such as myself
cope with such a tragic state of affairs? By writing an
ANDY HAUwww.andyhau.com@andykwhau
OUR EXPERT
I’m a London-based architect and designer and the owner of A.H.A Design. For me, design is an escape from the futility of modern life, not an endorsement of it.
angry letter to the professional bodies and stating
my grievances? No, of course not – by mocking it
relentlessly! In this tutorial, we are going to create a
satirical ‘expert’s guide’ to choosing fonts. Much like
these other so-called guides, this infographic is
going to be littered with an array of sound instruction,
clichés, and just plain silly advice. Take this
infographic seriously at your own peril!
063
03 PLACE MORE BLOCKS As we move further away from the primary questions, we can space the blocks out more. This
creates a tunnel vision effect that will help to guide the reader and make the infographic more visually
exciting. We also need to block out areas for images to make the infographic more pleasurable to follow.
However, restrict the amount of images so that they don’t become distracting. Placing images at the beginning
and end of each path will help to draw the eye to these areas.
04 SETTING UP THE COLOUR PALETTEChoose a colour palette made up of five to
six colours. This will help to maintain a sense of
order in the infographic, as well as tie the
composition together – you may want to keep the
colour palette within the same colour range to give a
sense of unity. However, you could choose a clashing
colour palette to promote excitement instead, which
is what I have done here. I am using the colours grey
(#5b6062), turquoise (#20f1bd), shocking pink
(#fa334f), off-white (#ffeac3), maroon (37001c) and
mustard (#ffba15).
064
TECHNIQUES A GUIDE TO INFOGRAPHICS
02 LAY OUT THE FIRST BLOCKSOnce we’ve completed the list of all
decisions and terminal points in your infographic,
start to block out a rough guide of where the text
will go by using the Rectangular Marquee tool (M)
and filling it with a colour using the Paint Bucket tool
(G). Determine where the critical mass is going to be
(where you want the viewer to focus first) and place
the largest blocks in that location. Cluster these
initial decisions slightly closer together to naturally
draw the eye to this area.
01 MAKE A PLANStart by making a plan of what you are going to cover in the
infographic. Since this infographic will take the form of a flow diagram,
begin by writing out the initial starting question. From there, list out the
different decisions, options and terminal points. Start with sensible
questions to lure the viewer into a false sense of security and then once
you’ve convinced them that this is just another beautifully designed
infographic, throw in some humorous and witty remarks to bewilder
your audience.
CHEEK INFOGRAPHIC
WORK IN PROGRESS
Progress 2: Establish a visual hierarchy before entering text
Progress 3: Focus on the details
Progress 1: Ensure you plan out your infographic
Start with sensible questions to lure the viewer into a false sense of security
065
07 BEGIN CONSTRUCTING THE DIAGRAMUsing the block-out diagram created in
steps 2 and 3, start creating coloured blocks for the
decision boxes. You can add interest by turning the
blocks into banners or by simply adding a coloured
outline. You can create these blocks in Photoshop
using the Marquee tool (M) or for a more organic
feel, you could draw them by hand, scan them in and
manipulate them in Photoshop. Alternatively you can
create them in Illustrator, drag them into a
Photoshop canvas and arrange them as necessary.
06 CREATE A HIERARCHYYou need to establish some hierarchy or rules
for the text in the infographic to keep the information
consistent and easy to understand. Primary
information, such as the first question and terminal
points, should be in a larger font size to draw more
attention. Secondary information, such as decision
boxes, options and remarks, should be kept in a
regular format and at a smaller size to help them blend
into the background. Commit to these rules across the
entire infographic.
05 CHOOSING YOUR FONTSAlthough this infographic is about choosing
fonts, don’t be tempted to plaster the entire image in
different ones. This can confuse and overwhelm the
viewer. Instead, restrict the use of different fonts to
the terminal boxes only. For decision and option
boxes, keep the font choice fairly neutral by using
fonts such as Proxima Nova, Helvetica or Verdana,
so that they don’t compete with each other. The
dullness of these fonts will also help to counterpoint
and disguise some of the sillier remarks in the
infographic.
QUICK TIP
Keep the flow simple. If the flow diagram is too
complicated, people will get confused and give
up trying to read it. If your infographic spans over
two pages, make sure that the crossover
happens on a flow line and not a decision box to
help legibility.
08 TRACKING YOUR TEXTFollowing the rules that you established in step 6 and using the
information that you put together in step 1, place the text within the
decision boxes using the Type tool (T). You can also adjust the spacing in
between the letters to make sure that the text is formatted to fill the
boxes comfortably. Simply open up the Character panel (Window>
Character) and change the figure in the Tracking option. This will help
with the way that the text reads, as well as creating a more attractive
layout.
09 OPTION BOXESTraditionally, different shapes in flow diagrams represent different actions, for
example, a decision point is normally represented as a diamond shape. These shapes can
make a diagram more comprehensible, however, it is hard to create something
aesthetically interesting if you follow these rules too strictly. Options like ‘yes’ or ‘no’ are
not usually placed inside any boxes, but you are going to place your options inside circular
shapes, as the tension created between round and straight edged objects looks effective.
066
TECHNIQUES A GUIDE TO INFOGRAPHICS
QUICK TIP
Preparation is key when it comes to creating infographics. Even the world’s most impatient person can
gather all the information together before opening up a new canvas. Do not be tempted to skip this
stage – you’ll only regret it later!
13 IMAGESMuch like the final line described in step 12,
the small images at the terminal point will make the
viewer feel that the journey was worth it. Use the
Pen tool (P) to create the icons, manipulating the
handles where necessary by holding down the Cmd/
Ctrl keys and clicking on the handles. To create
curves, hold down the left-click and drag the pointer
to determine the shape of the curve. Keep the
graphics simple so that they create an impact but do
not detract away from the text.
10 INCLUDE THE ARROWSTo link the decision boxes together and to
indicate the direction of flow for the infographic, we
need to provide a series of arrows. Depending on the
complexity of your infographic, these can range from
stock arrows made in Illustrator, to bespoke hand
drawn arrows. I used a mixture of arrows in this
infographic but again, like the text, there is a
hierarchy for which type of arrow gets used where
– bespoke arrows near the primary questions, stock
arrows for secondary information and dotted arrows
for terminal points.
14 ADD FINISHING TOUCHESIn the words of Mies van der Rohe, “God is in
the details”. To bring out some of the boxes, draw
thinly dotted lines slightly offset from the edge of the
terminal boxes. To create a dotted line, open the
Brushes palette (Window>Brush), choose a round
brush and modify the spacing and roundness options
by clicking on the ‘Toggle the Brush Panel’ button. To
draw attention to the initial question banner, add
some decorative dotted lines to the ends of it.
11 ADD SOME REMARKSAt points, interrupt some of the arrow lines
with boxes that contain a remark. These remarks
serve no other purpose than to surprise, amuse and
disrupt, but you can use the same visual language as
the secondary information boxes so they don’t
distract the reader. It’s important to keep these
remarks pithy and sharp so that the viewer moves
onto the next decision box without losing their train
of thought.
15 ZOOM OUTZoom-out of the image using Cmd/Ctrl+0
so that the entire image fits onto the screen. Make
sure that the composition appears balanced and that
your eye is naturally drawn to the starting point of
the infographic, before naturally veering away to
explore other parts of the image. Also be sure to
check that the areas of colour are balanced and
evenly distributed. The colours in the image should
help with the flow of the composition.
12 CREATE TERMINAL POINTSThe terminal points in the infographic reveal
the final answer to the initial question. For this
infographic, place the name of the font in these
boxes, using the font choice that has been
suggested. For the more self-explanatory and
sensible path choices, simply naming the font is
sufficient. However, for the more abstract and
humorous path choices, a short explanation is
required. Like a punch line to a joke, this explanation
is the final line that satisfactorily concludes the
viewer’s journey.
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068
069
CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3 TECHNIQUES
DISCOVER HOW THIS POWERFUL PLUG�IN ENABLES YOUTO DESIGN AND BUILD BESPOKE EFFECTS FILTERS
CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3
T here is a plethora of plug-ins on the market
for Photoshop, each of which claims to offer
a unique function – something that can’t
easily be achieved in Photoshop itself, if at
all. Filter Forge has made an even stronger claim in
this respect, as it enables you to create your very
own filter effect. Photoshop can perform a vast range
of imaging tasks, but building filter effects from
scratch, which can be saved as editable presets, is
not among them – and this is where Filter Forge
truly excels.
It installs as a plug-in and a standalone
application and it can be accessed from within
Photoshop or directly from your desktop. The
BEGIN BUILDING YOUR FILTERTHE RESULT DIRECT FROM FILTER FORGE
former is probably preferable for the majority of
situations, as it enables you to bring your effects
straight into Photoshop, where further
adjustments can be made using the vast range of
tools that are on offer.
In this tutorial you will discover how the filter
editor in Filter Forge works and be introduced to the
collection of components that form the foundations
of filter creation. As with Photoshop itself, Filter
Forge is a vast program and its surface can only be
scratched within the confines of a tutorial such as
this. However, this should form a solid grounding
upon which you can start to build your skills and
explore Filter Forge yourself.
01 SET IMAGE DIMENSIONSThe standard version of Filter Forge
requires that you work with images that are no
larger than 3000px x 3000px. If this size limit is
not adhered to, Filter Forge will return an error
message. You can check the precise dimensions
of your image using Image>Image Size. Any
dimensions are permissible provided each side
is no greater than 3000px.
02 DUPLICATE THE LAYER AND LAUNCH FILTER FORGE
Filter Forge won’t return the result of your
endeavours on a separate layer, so it’s wise to create
one before you launch the plug-in. It is also a good
idea to make any required corrective adjustments to
the image beforehand. Filter Forge can be found in
the Filters menu.
03 ENTER THE FILTER EDITOROnce Filter Forge has launched, you will
need to head to the top right-hand side of the
interface and select the Filter Editor. You’ll be asked
to either create a new filter or edit an existing one.
For now, opt to create a new filter. Next, drag the
Image component to the stage as shown.
PHOTOSHOP TO FILTERFORGE TO PHOTOSHOP
WORK IN PROGRESS
Progress 1: The original, unedited photo
Progress 2: After contrast has been added in Filter Forge
Progress 3: The result direct from Filter Forge
MATT BENNETTOUR EXPERT
Matt Bennett is features editor of Advanced Photoshop’s sister title, Digital Photographer. A former professional photographer, he is used to editing, retouching and adding effects to portrait images.
SOURCE FILESGet Filter Forge 3.0 Standard Edition (as sold for $249) completely free on FileSilo. You can also get a discount on Filter Forge 4.0 too!
070
TECHNIQUES CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3
QUICK TIP
Whenever you team some components
together and produce an effect that interests
you, save this as a filter so that you can come
back to it – even if you haven’t finalised a
complete filter effect yet. You can then call
upon these creative combinations for use in
future filter building projects.
04 SELECT CONTRAST CONTROLFrom the list of components, drag a Tone Curve to the stage and
connect the Image component from the previous step to the Source. Tone
Curves need a separate Curves component in order to function. So, from
the Curves components menu, drag the Gain component to the stage and
connect this to the Tone Curve. Finally, go to the Controls menu and drag
a Slider Control onto the stage. Connect it to the Gain component in order
to make the Gain adjustable.
05 ADD A GRADIENTIf you head to the Gradients components menu, you’ll find a range of Gradient
types that you can add to your filter. The Free Gradient is one of the most flexible and is
excellent for lighting effects. Drag this component onto the stage. For this effect,
Radial, Mirror and Image Bounds have each been selected. There are presets for the
Profile built into the Free Gradient, but this can be better controlled using the Curves
components, which you’ll add in another step.
06 INSERT GRADIENT CONTROLSFrom the Controls components menu, add
Slider Controls to both Start X and Start Y to define
the position of the Gradient. Add a Color Control
component to dictate Color 1 of the Gradient. A new
feature in Filter Forge 3 is the ability to select Allow
Images on the left of the interface, before loading an
image into each Color Control slider, such as a
texture file or separate photo. However, you can use
the Color Picker for this. For Color 2, ensure that the
A slider at the bottom of the dialog is set to 0.
07 ADD A PROFILEAs mentioned earlier, the Free Gradient can
be more effectively profiled by using one of the
Curves components. Each of these produces a very
different effect, so it’s always worthwhile
experimenting with how each performs whenever
you are building a filter in Filter Forge. Here, the Step
component has been chosen. Add a Slider Control
for the Threshold and a Checkbox Control for the
Linear setting. Your settings for the Free Gradient
should look something like this.
08 CREATE SOME FLARELike the Free Gradient component, the Free
Polygon offers similar potential for applying colour
effects to your images. It can be found in the Patterns
components menu. There are a lot of variables to the
Free Polygon component, which is why it’s so
powerful. However, it also means that you need to
spend some time making it as editable as possible, as
you will need to adapt its functionality depending on the
image that you are applying your filter to.
071
12 ADD FINAL IMAGE EFFECTS Before you do the final Blend that’s going to
complete the filter and draw together the image and
the lighting effects, it’s a good idea to see if there are
any other components you wish to add. For example,
here you might want to take a Hue/Saturation
component to the stage to counteract the effects of
the contrast boost that were added earlier via Gain.
This can be found in the Adjustments menu over on
the right of the interface.
11 ADJUST THE OPACITY AND MODE You’ll notice that along with the Foreground
and Background connectors, the Blend component
also features an Opacity option and a Mode option.
Both of these need to be adjustable later so that
users can customise the filter’s effect. Attach a
Slider Control to the Opacity connection and an
IntSlider Control to the Mode. Filter Forge will
always warn you if you add an unsuitable control
component at any stage, which is helpful for anyone
new to the program.
13 CREATE A SATURATION CONTROLThe Hue/Saturation component that we
have just added is there simply to control the colour
saturation. It enables you to dial down the intensity of
the colour, or boost it if you want. In order to make
this manageable, it is necessary to add a Slider
Control. There is no need to add similar controls for
the Hue or Lightness variables, because these do not
require adjustment at all for the effect that is being
produced here.
10 ADD A BLENDThe Blend component is a vital facet of
Filter Forge, as it enables you to draw together
effects and adjustments that you’ve created and then
merge them together. Go into the Processing
components menu to find the Blend component.
Connect the Free Gradient to the Background and the
Free Polygon to the Foreground. Many Filter Forge
filters involve several Blend components to be added
to the stage along the way.
09 SET POLYGON PARAMETERSAs the Free Polygon component has so many different settings, you’ll want to add various controls
to the most important ones among them. The first of these is the Color. You should set a Color Control
variable from the Controls components menu, so that you can match the colour of the Polygon against that of
the Gradient later.
FINESSE THE LIGHTING EFFECTADD THE EXTRA TOUCHES TO THE FILTER TO MAKE IT MORE CREATIVE
001 ADJUST THE RADIUSThe Radius controls the overall size of the shape that you’re creating, so add a Slider Control to this.
002 CONTROL THE POSITIONAdd a Slider Control for each of the OriginX and Y values so the positon of the shape can be changed later.
003 BEVEL, STAR AND SIDESEach of these helps the customisation ofyour shape you’ve created. The Sides will require an IntSlider control, rather than a regular Slider.
001
003
002
The Blend component is a vital facet of Filter Forge, as
it enables you to draw together effects and adjustments
072
ADD THE FINISHING TOUCHESDRAW THE COMPONENTS THAT YOU’VE BEEN CREATING TOGETHER TO FORM A FILTER
TECHNIQUES CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3
QUICK TIP
Filter Forge can appear daunting at first, as it’s a detailed application with a lot to learn and get to grips
with. However, you can find inspiration by selecting an existing preset – and there are many of these
available for free download – opening up the Filter Editor and looking at how the filter has been
constructed, component by component.
QUICK TIP
Although components such as Perlin Noise in
Filter Forge 3 are excellent for adding textures to
your filters or creating arty frames and border
effects, you can also bring in external files using
the Color Control component, as discussed in Step
6. These could be photos that you’ve taken
yourself of surfaces that you think will make for
interesting effects in Filter Forge, or textures
you’ve downloaded from websites such as www.
texturepalace.com. If you are going to hunt
online for textures, be aware of any usage and
copyright restrictions that may have been
imposed by the original author.
14 CREATE THE FINAL BLENDHead back to the Processing menu, which
is among the Components on the right-hand side
of the interface. Drag another Blend component
onto the stage. Connect the output of the previous
Blend component – which was used to merge the
Free Gradient and the Free Polygon in a previous
step – to the Foreground connector step. Then
connect the Hue/Saturation output to the
Background connector.
15 MAKE THE FINAL CONNECTIONSAs with the previous Blend component that
we created, it is necessary to add Slider Controls to
the Opacity and Mode slots for this final Blend
component. Remember to make the Mode control
an IntSlider Control. Once you’ve done this, the final
stage in joining the dots is to connect the output of
this Blend component to the Result component
– which has been waiting patiently in the stage all
this time. This will complete the custom filter.
16 NAME YOUR ADJUSTMENT SLIDERSBefore exiting the Filter Editor, it’s a good idea
to go back through the Slider Controls that have been
added along the way and ensure that you have named
each of them individually. There’s a good reason for
this. These controls form the basis of the settings that
Filter Forge users can adjust later on, and this is
something that is far easier to do if they can see what it
is that they are adjusting.
17 CHANGE THE SETTINGSSave your filter, if you haven’t already done
so (it’s probably best to save your work as you go
along) and you’ll be returned to the main Filter Forge
interface. Any filters you’ve created yourself in the
Filter Editor are listed in the My Filters presets menu
at the top left. You’ll notice that presets have a
Settings menu, in which the variables that you built
into your filter, such as colours and slider controls,
can be adjusted.
18 RETURN TO PHOTOSHOPClick the Apply button at the bottom right of
Filter Forge and you’ll be taken back to Photoshop,
assuming you’re using the program as a plug-in. The
filter effect will be returned on whatever layer you
were last working on in Photoshop, where further
effects can be added. Here, a Layer Mask has been
added to the Filter Forge Layer and the effect has
been refined using the Brush tool set to black and
the Opacity set to 48%, in order to reduce the effect
around the subject’s face.
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074
I really wanted to have a fully detailed, painted artwork for
the main character
UNTITLED PROJECTTIAGO DA SILVA
D igital artist Tiago da Silva (www.
tiagodasilva.com) has worked for projects
ranging from advertisements to
videogames – but his early inspiration
came from the comic books that he read frequently
as a child.
Therefore, it makes sense for him to return to
them today with a new personal project – his own
graphic novel. “I have the story mostly written and
I’m already producing the pages,” da Silva reveals.
“[However], while I have all these concepts for my
075
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
03 FROM BACKGROUND TO FOREGROUNDUsually I paint from background to
foreground, especially for complex compositions. I
painted simple shapes for the buildings on the back.
There was no need for detail, as the background
would later be blurred to create the depth of field
focus effect.
DIGITAL ARTIST TIAGO DA SILVA REVEALS THE PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUES BEHIND HIS GRAPHIC NOVEL PROJECT
01 START WITH A SKETCHI created the sketch digitally in Photoshop; with the colour mode in Grayscale and in a large resolution,
before later reducing the file to a normal, A4 size. Sketching in a big resolution allows me to achieve more detail,
and any imperfections in the stroke will not show up when the file is reduced.
02 BASE COLOURSI began by separating the main elements
into mask channels. This allows more control when
painting the different areas, and also makes it easier
to change specific parts. With the masks created, I
filled the different elements of the painting with the
base colours in midtones, and painted the rest with
the brush set to 100% Opacity.
characters, I really wanted to have a fully detailed,
painted artwork for the main character. That’s why I
created this piece.”
Having already had experience creating
illustrations for a number of book covers, da Silva
began by imagining how the cover of his graphic
novel could represent the characters of his story
without revealing too much about the narrative
inside. Using Photoshop layer modes, masks, depth
of field effects, and digital painting techniques, he
created a piece showcasing exactly what he wanted.
076
“My focus was on the composition and the
relationship between the girl and her scenario, “
says da Silva. “This was the first time I was using a
full colour scheme for the girl’s clothes, so it was
important to create a good colour palette.” You can
see the first page of da Silva’s graphic novel on his
deviantART page at http://grafik.deviantart.com
SILVA EXPLAINS WHY COMPOSITION WAS CRUCIAL FOR HIS COVER, AND WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE GRAPHIC NOVEL’S FIRST PAGE
THE FIRST PAGE
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
06 MAKING EVERYTHING CLEARERAt this point I started painting all in one
layer. I needed to make everything clearer, choosing
dark colours to paint the shadows and lighter ones
for the lights. I was now working with smaller
brushes, changing the opacity, hardness and stroke
for different materials.
04 ADDING SHADOW For the shadows, I created a new layer in
Multiply mode and painted over the background
layer, using the masks to paint each of the different
elements separately. I’ve used dark tones, a large
brush with low opacity and different hardness
settings to paint the different materials, like the skin,
wall and metal.
05 WORKING WITH LIGHT I then created a new layer in Overlay mode.
Using light colours and a large brush with low
opacity, I would change the hardness and brush
stroke to make the different material textures.
07 DETAILING AND COLOUR FIXESAt this stage, I merged the lines with the
painting – this is where I blend everything together and
fix any errors. I duplicated the painting layer to paint the
details, blurred the background and duplicated another
layer for the colour changes. Then I worked with the
masks to fix the colour tones with the Hue/Saturation
and Color Balance.
08 FINISHING THE PIECE I made more colour adjustments, painted
the final details and added the particles – they’re
related to the character’s powers, and it also gives a
sense of action to what was a static scenario. I’ve
done a couple of extra effects, some more blur and
added the lens reflections for this night scene.
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DISCOVER HOW TO ENHANCE YOUR IMAGES USING THELATEST VERSION OF DXO’S FLAGSHIP SOFTWARE
IMAGE ENHANCEMENTS IN DXO OPTICS PRO 10
T he preservation of colour tone, texture and
detail is something that we all strive for
when editing images that may have
conflicting qualities – like textured surfaces
shot in low-lit conditions or a model shot with
multiple light sources for example. To edit these
without compromising your image’s overall appeal
will yield great results. By utilising DxO Optics Pro
10’s incredible set of tools, you will have an arsenal,
capable of bringing detail and tone back from even
the lowest of low-lit images, at your disposal.
DxO set the benchmark for image fine-tuning
when it brought out the Optics Pro series. The range
is a free-standing editing suite, that features
BRING BACK COLOUR AND DETAILENHANCE YOUR SHOTS WITH SUBTLE YET POWERFUL ADJUSTMENTS
fantastic retouching options, such as camera and lens
optics modules, that are designed to read the
metadata from your image and automatically
enhance your shot by using algorithms, which work
directly with your lens or camera combination. Also
included are some powerful noise reduction tools and
the DxO Smart Lighting feature – which will help you
bring back hidden details from shadows and low
lighting. There are a number of impressive tricks that
this software can unleash on your images.
In this tutorial, we will be enhancing an image by
using a combination of the latest features from Optics
Pro 10, such as ClearView, as well as some old
favourites, such as the Smart Lighting.
01 GET STARTEDWith Optics Pro 10, the interface is basically the same as past incarnations, if a little sleeker. So, find
your image by using the Organize button on the top left. Once you find it, you will notice that Optics Pro will
auto-enhance your image when you hit the Customize button (situated at the top left of the panel). This is a
helpful aid, but we want to learn, so click off all adjustments by Ctrl/right-clicking your image and selecting
Apply Preset>No Correction, and this will take your image to its base RAW setting.
SOURCE FILESGive DxO Optics Pro 10 a whirl withthe trial version on FileSilo. You canuse it for 30 days with no limitations,and if you like it there’s an exclusivediscount code!
JAMES SHEPPARD@ jimmilazers
OUR EXPERT
As Imagine Publishing’s in-house photographer, I have over a decade’s experience in commercial, editorial and portrait photography, as well as 20 years’ experience with Photoshop. I love comics, check shirts and my dog.
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IMAGE ENHANCEMENTS IN DXO OPTICS PRO 10 TECHNIQUES
02 CLEAR VISIONWith nothing selected in the applied
adjustment tabs, select the DxO ClearView tab. Here
you will be able to kill two birds with one adjustment
by bringing back and enhancing the detail as well as
adding contrast into the colour tones. This is a very
subtle tool to use so lift it to just 76, rather than its
maximum capacity. To view the dramatic difference
that a small touch of ClearView makes, hit the
Compare button.
03 SMART LIGHTAs the image we are using has a variety of
textures and colours battling for your attention, why
not use the Smart Lighting tab to even things out?
The Smart Lighting tab will auto-correct once
selected, but here you can start to affect the image
how you like. By lightening the tone of the image
slightly and exposing more of the detail while not
directly affecting the lighter elements of the image,
select the Smart Lighting tab, alter the mode to
Custom and set the Intensity to 15.
SUBTLE FIXES FORMAXIMUM IMPACT
WORK IN PROGRESS
Progress 1: Use the ClearView tool to make immediate enhancements
Progress 2: Use Smart Lighting to bring back detail that would be otherwise hidden
Progress 3: Reduce noise with the Noise control tab
04 EXPOSURE AND SELECTIVE TONENext we will adjust the Exposure tab on to
the image and reduce it to -20. Now select the
Selective Tone mixer and here you will be able to
make the difference between your image being a
subtly toned shot with well-considered
adjustments, or a heavy handed HDR knock-off.
Click on Selective Tone and set the Highlights to
-25, the Midtones to -15, the Shadows to 5, and the
Blacks to 4. Again, click the compare button and
see what you have done.
05 NOISE CONTROLThe image we are working on is a dark
image, shot in low light. Shooting in low light means
the sensor in your camera is pushed to its limits, so
you will see noise in your image. Click on the Noise
Reduction tab and select the Prime setting. You will
have to be zoomed in to 100% to see the results at
their best, so find a section that is grainy and click on
it to get a preview. Set the Luminance to 40, the
Chrominance to 82, the Low freq to 69 and set the
Dead pixels to 24.
06 LENS SOFTENINGWith all of the alterations in the image
affecting either tone, noise or colour, sometimes it’s
not unheard of for software to soften colours in order
to remove noise. By using the Lens Softening tab,
you can start to add a bit more edge definition to your
image. Raise the Global to 98, adjust the Details to 75
and the Bokeh to 70 – this will add a subtle
sharpening to the image.
07 PURPLE FRINGING AND UNSHARP MASKSThe last step involves two adjustments: one
to the chromatic aberrations of the image, such as
the purple fringing around edge detail, and then the
Unsharp mask, allowing us to once again add a
touch more sharpness to the image. To get started,
click the Chromatic Aberration tab, and the Lateral
Chromatic Aberration and Purple Fringing tick boxes.
Then select the Unsharp mask tab and set the
Intensity to 195, the Radius to 0.96, the Threshold to
18, and the Edge Offset to -92. Now compare and
process your image.
DNG UPDATE
Originally DxO was unable to support DNG files, but now that’s changed. Allowing DNG support means
that you will be able to generate DNGs from your RAW files to avoid losing XMP edit data. Any edit from CS
or CC will be transferable to DxO.
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REVIEWS EIZO COLOREDGE CS240
EIZO COLOREDGE CS240
www.eizoglobal.com
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F or the digital artist looking for their next
monitor, there are a huge number of options
on the market, at an equally varied number
of price points. EIZO are arguably one of the
most prominent professional monitor
manufacturers. They produce a range of models to
cater for hobbyists, as well as design creatives who
demand a more flexible and wide range of options.
The ColorEdge CS240 sits in EIZO’s Colour
Management range and is marketed as an
entry-level graphics monitor with all the necessary
essentials. The model has a maximum resolution
of 1,920 x 1,200, which sounds somewhat ordinary
with so many 4k models being released recently.
However, its IPS panel is lit with a wide-gamut
GB-R LED backlight, something of a rarity at this
price, and which in real terms, means that it can
cover a claimed 99 percent of the Adobe RGB
colour space. This is a monitor that has been
designed for creatives from enthusiast level
WE TEST EIZO’S GRAPHICS MONITOR TO SEE IF ITS PERFORMANCE JUSTIFIES ITS PRICE. IS THIS MODEL A WORTHY CONTENDER FOR DIGITAL ARTISTS WHO WANT A HIGH�QUALITY SCREEN TO VIEW AND EDIT THEIR WORK?
upwards, and it is one of the more modestly
priced in the range, but does this mean that we
miss out on specs? The colour calibration
software included should appeal to digital artists
who aspire to achieve colour accuracy, and for
simplicity, preset adjustment targets are provided
for photography, web design and printing. What’s
more, advanced users can set their own values
for gamma levels, Hue, and Saturation, giving
great scope for creating custom profiles.
Chunky profile: Compared to other displays, such as the Apple Thunderbolt, this display looks a bit dull, and its profile is fairly deep
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REVIEWS EIZO COLOREDGE CS240
We found the overall setup simple and speedy
from the minute it left the box, with the added
bonus that the monitor comes bundled with Eizo’s
own ColorNavigator 6 calibration software. This
offers several advanced functions, such as
measuring the white of the paper to be used for
printing, which gives more accurate screen-to-print
matching. It’s worth noting, however, that you’ll also
need a third-party colourimeter to carry out the
calibration, such as the X-Rite i1 Display Pro, which
will cost you around £160/$250. You don’t need to
worry about buying this straight away though, as
when we tested the ColorEdge with the factory-
calibrated Adobe RGB mode, the results were still
very impressive.
The contrast ratio of 1000:1 is about the same as
similarly priced professional monitors, and the
colours look even and solid across every inch of
the display. Added to this, the manufacturer claims
that the LED backlight utilises brightness
modulation technology, which will give a
flicker-free image display, as well as helping to
prevent eye fatigue when working on time-
consuming projects.
Digital artists will enjoy connecting via the
DisplayPort input, which can display more than
one billion colours simultaneously. In real terms,
when we viewed and edited several types of
high-colour artwork, the model handled colour
gradations very well. We linked the CS240 to an
external computer and laptop, and it jumped
across connected devices without any delay, with
just a single press of the signal button on the front,
which again impressed us with its ease of use.
APPLE 27 INCHTHUNDERBOLT DISPLAYwww.apple.com£899/$999 – With this pricier offering, you pay for a larger screen and extras such as a FaceTime HD camera, high-quality speaker system and Thunderbolt port. It’s been optimised for use with a Mac system, but also houses three USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port and a Gigabit Ethernet port.
EIZO FLEXSCAN EV2736Wwww.eizoglobal.com£594/$959 – With a thinner bezel design than the ColorEdge, this larger 27-inch screen will still save space on the desktop. Although there’s no direct HDMI connection, the 178° viewing angle should exhibit minimal change in Contrast and Hue when viewed from off centre, making it ideal for use in a
NEC MULTISYNC P242Wwww.nec-display-solutions.com£687/$1,079 – This device has lower specs than the ColorSure covering only 75 percent of the Adobe RGB colour space, which makes it seem quite expensive for what you get. The monitor chassis isn’t slim at 84 mm thick, but it’s capably supported by an adjustable stand that also allows height adjustment.
CHECK OUT THEALTERNATIVESIf you’re looking for a cheaper option oran expanded feature set, then these monitors are worth taking a look at
Get connected: With DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI inputs, it is easy to connect the CS240 to a variety of devices, and it comes with DVI-D and Mini DisplayPort cables in the box
Easy setup: It is incredibly easy to get the CS240 up and running straight from the box. We plugged it in to a mini display port adaptor and it started immediately with ease
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When we compare this model to others in the
EIZO range, this product offers immaculate image
quality, and all the specs we’d expect for a fraction of
the cost of the company’s flagship ColorEdge CG277.
The 24.1-inch screen size should fit the needs and
budgets of most digital artists, while offering many
of the other ColorEdge monitors’ advanced features,
such as a wide colour gamut and hardware
calibration. However, unlike other cost-performance
monitors, it includes dedicated calibration software
that works smoothly and efficiently.
We tested out both the HDMI and DVI
connections, which were a breeze to switch
between, and enjoyed having a workspace free
from untidy cables thanks to the included cable
holder. Arguably the biggest drawback is the
aesthetic of the product. Though the appearance of
a professional monitor isn’t necessarily a priority,
attractive design is still desirable when the monitor
is going to be at the centre of your workspace. The
body itself is a dull grey, with a fairly chunky
profile, though it does feel well built and sturdy. If
you’re not put off by the functional look, then you’ll
definitely enjoy welcoming this high-performing
model into your studio environment, especially
when you consider its affordable price tag. It isn’t
the cheapest on the market, but its simple
operation, extremely customisable colour profiles
and high-resolution panel are sure to cope with
your creative demands. If you’re after a
professional-class monitor for a little less money,
then this is definitely a step in the right direction.
Features: 7/10Ease of use: 7/10Quality of results: 8/10Value for money: 7/10
VERDICT
FINAL SCORE: 7/10
Colour calibration: It is incredibly useful to have the ability to change between screen colour settings, simply by pressing the mode button on the front
WHAT THE MANUFACTURER SAYS Victor Aberdeen Sales Manager – Graphic Displays
HOW DOES THE COLOREDGE CS240 FIT THE DIFFERENT NEEDS OF ALL LEVELS OF DESIGN PROFESSIONALS AND DIGITAL ARTISTS?‘No surprises.’ This simple
rule is why professional artists across many
industries use EIZO ColorEdge monitors and the
new EIZO ColorEdge CS240 is no different. The
photographer prints, the VFX artist views in the
theatre and the designer checks the rip of their
package design. True to their art, the output
holds ‘no surprises’ for the professional artist
who chooses the best tools like the ColorEdge
CS240 monitor.
HOW EASY IS IT FOR USERS TO SET AND CREATE THEIR OWN TARGET PROFILES?The CS240 includes ColorNavigator 6, which has
a simple wizard for the user to follow and can
easily “Create a New Target.” The step-by-step
process allows the user to set all the required
values for the desired colour space, and there
are already three targets included.
HOW SHOULD THE WIDE COLOUR GAMUT COVERAGE BENEFIT DIGITAL PHOTOSHOP ARTISTS?It’s all about the art, as the choice of a colour is
not a trivial decision, and to all artists it is
important that they can see the colour being
picked. With the EIZO ColorEdge CS240 the
artist will be able to view the colour as they
decided in their work, not just how they created
it but also how it will look when printed in a
book or viewed on television. Put simply, users
can view their art as it is, unfiltered and
unchanged, unlike the way it can look with a
poor quality screen.
Moveable type: The monitor can be adjusted to a wide range of heights and angles for the perfect view when you’re working
084
TOP10…ART AND DESIGN BOOKS
FROM DIGITAL PAINTING TO MAGAZINE DESIGN, WE TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THE BEST BOOKS FOR ARTISTS
V olume 6 in this well-respected series
packs in a wealth of information for those
looking to master digital painting. Many of
the more conceptual techniques like
compositional advice, for example, can be
transferred to any traditional media or software, like
Painter or Mischief. However, there is plenty of
Photoshop-specific content too, like how to create
custom brushes for a wide range of different uses.
This is an ideal resource for concept artists – not
REVIEWS TOP 10 PHOTOSHOP BOOKS
£29/$49www.3dtotalpublishing.com
DIGITAL PAINTINGTECHNIQUESVOLUME 6
£20/$31www.ilex-press.com
CHARACTER DESIGNFROM THE GROUND UP
001
002
Master the skills you need
to become a print or digital
magazine designer, art
editor and art director, with
this excellent book by Cath
Caldwell and Yolanda
Zappaterra. It examines
everything you need to know about good
magazine design, including the basics of
readability, the assorted formats print and digital
magazines take and the essentials of cover
design. It also rounds up the technical and
practical skills you need to create great
magazines and explains how text, headlines and
gether to create a unified and
EDITORIAL DESIGN: DIGITAL AND PRINTwww.laurenceking.com £20/$31
only does it kick off with a chapter on concept art,
but it also covers speed painting in depth, before
looking at how to express mood, and how to paint
some of the most popular scenes in a concept
artist’s repertoire, like battles and fantasy or sci-fi
worlds. A great range of artists, designers and
illustrators have contributed their tips, techniques
and tutorials to this book, making it an absolute
must-have for anyone who wants to get into the
concept art and VFX industries.
Would you like to know how
to make your advertising
designs grab attention and
sell products thanks to
some secret psychological
tricks? This book will teach
you exactly that. Subtitled
33 Psychological Influence Techniques in
Advertising, it is packed with advice for
increasing the impact of your commercial
designs. It’s available for €34.00 from the Bis
Publishers website.
HIDDEN PERSUASIONwww.bispublishers.nl Approx£26/$42
003
004
L earn everything you need to know about
character design with expert author, Kevin
Crossley. Having worked on some of the
world’s biggest comics and videogames
franchises, including Judge Dredd and Tomb
Raider, Crossley’s authoritative advice is essentia
reading for budding character designers, and m
advanced artists who want to improve their wo
085
aschen’s Illustration Now! series is a
perennial joy, and the latest in the series is
no exception. For art directors and
commissioning editors, this book is a
ust-have, as it showcases some of the world’s
est illustrators, both established and upcoming.
he artwork is the star of the show, but all the
essential info you need – websites, client lists,
agency representation – is included. A visual coffee
table treat for some, but an essential resource for
those who regularly commission illustration.
This intriguing book looks at how developments in
materials and technology have transformed art
through the ages. It starts with ancient media like
cave and rock art, and progresses through carving,
paper, glass, books and more until it gets to digital
art and the internet. Like Art in Time, it takes a
global view, making it an interesting long read or a
fascinating book to dip in and out of.
The companion to Phaidon’s iconic The Art Book,
this tome concentrates on 21st Century artists,
rounding up some of the best art made since the
year 2000 until now. It concentrates primarily on
fine art – installations and performance art are
heavily represented. Whereas digital art – perhaps
the 21st Century’s most predominant art form – is
in short supply.
TOP 10 PHOTOSHOP BOOKS REVIEWS
£25/$39www.taschen.com
ILLUSTRATION NOW! 5
008If you’ve ever wondered
why red ochre is the most
ubiquitous paint colour on
Earth or how the Egyptians
made blue faience, then
this is definitely the book for
you. It goes further than
simply exploring colour theory, and explains
how the dyes and pigments used in art were
invented, created and applied to pieces. The
scientific and archaeological background to
colours we take for granted is fascinating.
THE BRILLIANT HISTORY OF COLOR IN ART
www.getty.edu/publications Approx £16/$25
005
Most art history books
concentrate on Western
art, but this one views the
history of art as a whole. It
considers the Eastern
canon too, and works
backwards through
stylistic movements, from now to the 5th
Century BC.
ART IN TIME: A WORLD HISTORY OSTYLES AND MOVEMENTSwww.phaidon.com Approx £4
006
This book takes a look at
what is arguably one of
illustration’s golden ages,
starting in the Sixties with
Milton Glaser and going all
the way up to the 2010s.
There are plenty of big
names featured across children’s books, album
art and editorial illustration, including Raymond
Briggs, Roger Dean, Gary Baseman and Rob
Ryan. It also highlights the importance of digital
art and how it has affected the way that
illustration is produced.
FIFTY YEARS OF ILLUSTRATION
www.laurenceking.com £30/$47
007
100 IDEAS THAT CHANGED ART www.laurenceking.com Approx £20/$31
THE 21ST CENTURY ART BOOKwww.phaidon.com Approx £25/$39
009 010
WE SPEAK TO ANDREW DOBELL ABOUT HIS LOVE FOR DIGITAL ART ANDHOW HIS SKILLS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME
COMMUNICATING A HIDDEN MESSAGE
READER INTERVIEW COMMUNICATING A HIDDEN MESSAGE
OUR READERANDREW DOBELLwww.creativeedgestudios.co.uk
@CreativeEdgeLtd
W orks of art often tell stories. Artists can
present narratives in many ways and
people frequently communicate
hidden messages through images. For
digital artist Andrew Dobell, it was these stories that
originally enticed him into the world of digital art. As
a full-time photographer, his passion lies in
compositing images that portray a deeper message:
“I love when an image suggests that there’s more of
a story there, or when they illustrate an event.”
TELL US HOW YOU STARTED OUT IN THE
ILLUSTRATION INDUSTRY?
I have always loved drawing, and from a very young age
I always knew I wanted to do something art-based.
When I was at school I wanted to be a comic-book
artist, but as I grew up that idea changed and I ended up
as an illustrator doing fantasy and horror work. Then
when I got into photography, it was a natural transition
to want to work on the photos in Photoshop and
therefore create digital art.
WHAT ABOUT YOUR STUDIO � WHAT DO YOU
DO ON A DAILY BASIS?
My day-to-day work is actually wedding photography
and illustration, both of which I love, but my passion is
creative digital art. I would love to do more photographic
compositing, more book covers and movie posters. So
these days I’m either out shooting a wedding or event,
or sat in my office editing and working.
Shell City: I have always loved cyberpunk and I want to domore of it. The challenge for me in this image was the
street scene and adding the lights in the buildings.Learning that technique was a real lightbulb moment.
When I was at school I wanted to be a comic-bookartist, but as I grew up that idea changed and I ended
up as an illustrator doing fantasy and horror work
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All images © Andrew Dobell
Brush use: I used the Brushtool to add form to the wall byhighlighting the edges.
Custom brush: This smoke is acustom brush. It is great - oneclick and I have my smoke.
Dodge and Burn: I usedthe Brush tool, this timeon an adjustment layer,to add the highlightsand the shadows.
Bullet holes: The bullet holes were created using more custom brush work. Then I used traditional brushes to enhance each one.
087
Immortal Sorrow: I find the vampire legend to be fascinating and it is a great area of inspiration for
me. This was fun to do and the glow of the fire was an interesting challenge.
The Awakening: This was done for a CD cover as part of a wider photo and video shoot. Only the figures and tree branches are photos, everything else was painted in by hand.
088
Photoshop Creative Cloud is a great program and I could not
do what I do without it. I just love its versatility and how powerful it is
Gynoid: Turning people into robots is a popular theme for compositors and it was something I was keen to try. The robotic parts beneath the skin were all hand painted.
TALK US THROUGH YOUR WORKFLOW FOR
ONE OF YOUR TYPICAL IMAGES?
It all starts with the shoot. In many ways this is the
most critical part of the process, so I always try to
plan what I want to do and what the final image will
look like beforehand. After the images have been
shot, it’s onto the PC where I start by gathering
together all my ideas and shoot stock. I then jump
into Photoshop and begin cutting all the images out
and placing them around my canvas. I then blend
COMMUNICATING A HIDDEN MESSAGE READER INTERVIEW
089
One of the biggest changes to the way I work now as opposed to in the beginning, is in relation to cutting
out images – I now use the Quick Selection tool which saves me endless amounts of time. Overall, I
think I have improved my general Photoshop skills, which means my images are more complex and
there’s often more to them as you can see from the images below.
THEN AND NOW
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR GENERAL
IMAGE STYLE?
I would say my work is fairly cinematic and dramatic.
When I create images, I like to tell a story wherever
possible. I love when an image illustrates an event and
shows something about the character it depicts.
WHICH IMAGE IS YOUR FAVOURITE AND WHY?
I have a few favourites. It’s difficult to narrow it down to
just one and it’s also something that’s always changing
and evolving. One of my recent images, Wasteland
Duel, is one I’m very happy with. It is hard to say why,
other than that it just came out right – I captured what
was in my head, which I don’t always manage to do.
Shell City is another favourite, I love cyberpunk and
Blade Runner, so that’s probably why I like that one.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT USING
PHOTOSHOP CC?
Photoshop Creative Cloud is a great program and I
could not do what I do without it. I just love its versatility
and how powerful it is. There is literally no limit to what
you can do with 2D art in Photoshop, and the 3D side is
growing all the time and getting better and better too.
WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR INSPIRATION?
ARE THERE ANY ARTISTS YOU LOVE?
I follow a lot of artists and photographers, but to name
a few who really inspire me, I have to start with Adam
Hughes. He is an amazing comic-book artist with a
great sense of humour. His work is always inspiring.
Other artists are Sergey Ivanov for his creative wedding
photography, Glyn Dewis for his open nature and
willingness to share. Steve Thewis, or Digi-Steve is also
very inspiring.
them together using the Brush tool and Dodge and
Burn for example, to make the whole image fit
together as much as possible.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE
YEARS’ TIME?
Rich with my own private island somewhere tropical!
Well, seriously, I’d love to be doing much more
compositing and digital artwork. Maybe doing some
more teaching and tutoring too.
DOBELL DISCUSSES HOW HE BELIEVES HIS WORK HAS CHANGED SINCE HIS FIRST COMMISSION
The Kiss: One of my first ever composite images. As you can see, there is less detail in this image – it was more trial and error.
Soul Eater: A very recent composite. This image has far more detail, lighting and generally tells a story.
Crimson Snow: This image had been in my head for a long time and
it was a relief to finally shoot and edit it. The snow was created by one of my own custom brushes.
Release: This image was all about mood, the idea being that the character had lived his entire life underground and this was his first view of the world.
CREATE YOUR OWN FROZEN TEXTURES
especially considering how easy it can be to create
naturally. Adding a few simple ice effects can give
a simple photo a chilling twist. Ice textures are
relatively easy to capture if you can work quickly
enough to photograph them before your ice melts
into a puddle. They require very few materials,
usually just water and a freezer. It does take a bit
LEARN EASY TIPS AND TRICKS FOR CRAFTING ICY TEXTURES TO USE IN YOUR DIGITAL PROJECTS During these cold winter months, it’s easy
to feel your projects wandering into
winter wonderlands and sugar plums.
Ice is one of the most beautiful and
captivating materials found in nature. Creating
believable, synthetic icy textures is frequently
more difficult than the final textures are worth –
of practice, but having a few good ice textures is
extremely useful. In this tutorial, you will learn
how to photograph ice in many forms so that it’s
applicable to a variety of projects. After trying
your hand at creating your very own icy textures,
be sure to follow along with our video tutorial on
turning them into a digital ice sculpture.
091
CREATE YOUR OWN FROZEN TEXTURES ON FILESILO
BASIC ICE PHOTOGRAPHYHOW TO PHOTOGRAPH ICE FOR STANDARD ICE TEXTURES
03 START TO PHOTOGRAPHQuickly slide the ice onto a solid black
backdrop. Make sure to light it evenly and be careful
to avoid glare. Then quickly snap as many shots as
you can from directly above.
02 FREEZE YOUR WATERFreeze the water for a few hours. If you
want an interesting edge, tip the pan slightly so the
water pools on one side. This will also give you
variation of depth to add interest.
01 PREPARE THE ICEGet a pan, one that’s fairly large so you can
make enough ice to photograph. Pour in a thin layer
of water – if the layer is too thick, the ice will be hard
to work with.
HOW TO CREATE COLOURED ICECREATE COLOURED ICE TEXTURES SIMPLY
02 FREEZE AND CAPTUREOnce it’s frozen, place it on a solid white
background and photograph it with as even lighting
as possible. Make sure you’re photographing it from
above to get a better effect.
01 CREATE COLOURED WATERDrop a couple of drops of India ink into a
pan of water. If you want to use these ice cubes after
photographing, use food colouring, but you may
need to increase the amount.
03 ADD DETAILAfter photographing the coloured ice, go to
Camera Raw and slide the Clarity slider up until you
see as much detail as you want. Adjust your other
settings so there’s enough contrast to see the texture.
MAKE YOUR OWN ICE LETTERS
Making frozen letters is an easy
task with the right trays. It is
much easier to freeze water in
the shape you want, rather than
shaping it once it’s frozen.
The letter-shaped ice trays are
easy to use, cost effective and
readily available online. Simply
fill with water and then put in
the freezer for a few hours.
Remember that this is actual
ice. It will melt and return to its
natural liquid state fairly
quickly and bright lighting will
speed that process along.
The resulting letter-shaped ice
blocks are perfectly shaped,
and easy to work with. They
do tend to be rather small, so
expect that limitation when
planning to use them.
Be prepared for the setting to get
wet. If you plan on shooting the
ice blocks on a cloth or paper, be
sure to have plenty of it to
replace the waterlogged pieces.
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CREATE YOUR OWN FROZEN TEXTURES ON FILESILO
Once your ice has been formed, photographed,
and processed, it’s time to work it into a digital
creation. One application is to use the textures on
a digital ice sculpture. The most effective way of
doing this is to use one of the 3D models freely
available with the program. Go to 3D>Get More
DIGITAL ICE SCULPTURESTAY WARM AND CREATE AN ICY CREATION IN PHOTOSHOP
Content for links to download free models. The ice
textures can be used in several of the available
attributes for the 3D material. Diffuse is the most
obvious selection, but also consider the Opacity and
bump maps too. First, be sure to create a seamless
and smooth tile from the ice textures by using the
Filter>Other>Offset filter to reveal the seams of the
tiled texture. Then remove those seams with
Content Aware Fill.
For a more detailed explanation of how to craft
this digital icy masterpiece, check out the
corresponding video tutorial on FileSilo.
Save time by using our frozen letterforms to
create your own icy text. These have been
carefully photographed against a dark
background, so you can just set the blending
mode to Screen and use the textures!
ICE BLOCK LETTERSFROZEN LETTERS
ON FILESILO CREATE YOUR OWN FROZEN TEXTURES
094
WORKING WITH CRUSHED ICEHOW TO PHOTOGRAPH CRUSHED ICE AS A TEXTURE
02 WORKING WITH SHAVED ICESet up your camera on a tripod. Then with a
knife, shave the ice cube over a black backdrop – you
should only need a couple of scrapes and the shards
should fall in a general area. Try for different types of
pieces too.
03 TAKE YOUR PHOTOSOnce you have a pile of shavings, quickly photograph them before they melt. Then wipe your
backdrop and start again. You should get three or four photos from each ice cube if you work quickly enough.
01 GATHER THE ICE CUBESYou will only need one ice cube at a
time for this type of crushed ice photography. If
you have an ice-maker you can use that too, but
you won’t need too much at one time.
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photorealism“MODO was the perfect solution for this project. With its realtime preview, I was able to instantly see my lighting and material setups, which was key to blending the CGI with the photography. Plus, its super fast render speeds helped me meet my very tight deadline!”
Mike Campau Creative Director / Digital ArtistWINNER PHOTOSHOP WORLD GURU AWARD 2014 - COMMERCIAL
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