Construction of the Album

Kimberly Liwag

Firstly, I created a new Photoshop file and adjusted the height and width of my stage to 1530 X 2161 pixels as this was the size of a DVD case and this was the size I wanted for my Album.

I then selected the taupe/beige colour for my background and colouring this in using the paint bucket tool.

After, I duplicated the layer and selected “overlay” to achieve a more orange-y background.

I then downloaded a picture from Google Images. I want back to Photoshop and using File > Place, I imported the downloaded image of the cherry blossom.

I then played around with the layer option and soon decided the “multiply” was the best option for my album. I then rasterized the layer and then erased the background using the “magic eraser tool”. Also using the “background eraser tool” and my graphic tablet I erased the smaller pieces that the magic eraser didn’t.

Again using an image from Google, File > place and imported an oval frame which suited the theme of my album. I then used the same erase technique just like the cherry blossom. Then I went into the layer style and selected the “Drop Shadow” to create a 3-D effect for the frame. I then adjusted the blending mode to “Multiply” to darken the black even more.

Then, I imported the image I desired of my artist onto the stage and again erased the background, increased the brightness to adjust to the lighting of the album and used the “spot healing tool” to get rid of any unwanted blemishes. After I went into Image > Photo Filter to add a filter on the image. I added a cool blue tint to make her contrast the orange-y background.

I then made a new layer to add a white oval for the background of the image in the frame. Rasterizing the layer I then used the eraser tool to touch up any areas where the white was showing.

As I didn’t like the fonts in CS4 Photoshop I used PicMonkey.com to get the font I desired. File > Place and selecting the font I want I imported it onto the stage and then erasing the background. Then going into the Layer Style I selected the “Drop Shadow” to match the frame and also “Bevel and Emboss” to increase the effect of the 3-D.

By using the same skills, I also created the back cover and spine the exact same way.