pop art recommended for beginner to intermediate level photoshop users

8/3/2019 Pop Art Recommended for Beginner to Intermediate Level Photoshop Users

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Pop Art Recommended for Beginner to Intermediate LevelPhotoshop Users

If you are a fan of pop art then youre probably already well acquainted with the workRoy

Lichtenstein. Roy Lichtenstein became one of the leading pop artists of the sixties with his comic-

strip paintings.Drowning Girl1963, shown left, is one of his better known works and is a good

example of the design features in his most famous pieces. Notice the thick lines, bold colors, and

thought bubble. His work also often included boxed captions and words such as WHAAM!,commonly found in comic books.

Benday dots were Lichtensteins trademark. Benday dots are a printing process which combines two

(or more) different small, coloured dots to create a third colour. Back in the day, pulp comic books

used benday dots in primary colours to inexpensively create the secondary colours such as flesh tone.

You can create the benday dot effect by using the Colour Halftone filter found inAdobe Photoshop,

however in this tutorial Im going to show you a way to create a fantastic looking black and

white Halftone Pattern. Why?, because I like the look of it better.

Due to the vivid colors, the pop art that you will create using this tutorial will look fantastic if you get

it printed at your local print shop. If you are going to get it printed, in the beginning change the

resolution to 300dpi (Image >> Image Size) and at the end of the tutorial change the mode to CMYK

(adjust colours if necessary).There are 2 parts to this tutorial

PART 1. Creating the Half Tone Shading

PART 2. Adding Color

I suggest that you read through this tutorial first before beginning

PART 1. Creating the Half Tone Shadinga) Preparing the CanvasOpen your picture in photoshop that is going to become pop art and duplicate the

layer called Background. (Just click the layer called Backgroundand drag it to this icon at

the bottom of the layer palette to duplicate the layer.)

Rename this new layer dots. (To rename a layer right-click on the name in the Layer Palette and

select Layer Properties).

Create another new layer and fill it bright blue using the Paint Bucket tool .


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Drag this layer between the two existing layers and rename it something meaningful i.e blue. Theimage below shows what your Layer Palette should look like. This is the basic set up to begin.

Now working on the dots layer we need to clear out all the unwanted parts of the photograph. In

this case I want to isolate Scarlett and delete the rest i.e lilac background and bit of text.

To cut out Scarlett I use the Pen Tool. Now to sum up how to use Photoshops pen tool in a few

sentences isnt easyif you have never used the pen tool before, do the PEN TOOL TUTORIAL first.

Remember to make sure the pen tool is set to create a Work Path. See below.

*NOTE: You could use the eraser tool but the results wont be as professional.

Take the pen tool create a path around the person (or thing) and then make it into selection.

Invert the selection (CTRL + Shft + i) and hit delete.

Deselect (Ctrl + D)


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b) Making the DotsDesaturate the dots layer (Ctrl + Shft + U).

Next adjust Threshold to something dramatic (still working on the dots layer).

Image >> Adjustments >> Threshold

The settings I used are shown in the image below, but you will need to experiment to see what

threshold settings works for YOUR image.

Using Threshold will leave the image looking very pixelated (jagged). So applyGaussian

Blur (approximately a 2-3 pixels should do it).

Filter >> Blur >> Gaussian Blur

In your Layers Palette right-click on the dots layer and select Duplicate Layer. See image below.


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Select Newfor the Destination Document. Now you will have 2 documents open in photoshop.

Working on your new document change the Mode to Greyscale.

Image >> Mode >> Greyscale

A dialogue box appearsDiscard color information?Click OK.

Now change the Mode to Bitmap.

Image >> Mode >> Bitmap

A dialogue box appearsFlatten layers?Click OK.

Choose Halftone Screen on the Bitmap options window. Click OK. See image below.

It pretty obvious but make sure your output resolution is the same as the input. If yours design is

going to be printed then the input should be 300 pixels/inch and your output will be 300. If youre

input doesnt equal your output the youll end up with a change in size!

Next appears the Halftone Screen box. Apply the settings shown below. Note you may want to

experiment with the Frequencyas this decides the size of the dots. Click OK.

Almost there with the dots. All thats left is to transfer the dots back to the first document. (See part

C).


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Note if your dots arent looking very good you may have forgotten to apply blur or need to apply

more blur. The smoother gradient is, the better halftone pattern.

c) OrganisingChange the Mode back to Greyscale

A dialogue box will appearMake sure the size ratio is 1 and click OK.

Now change the Mode back to RGB.

In your Layers Palette right-click on the layer and select Duplicate Layer.

There should be 3 three options as the Destination Document. Choose your original psd (which

should be the top one). See image below.

Your Layers Palette should look like the one shown below. You can close the second psd that youcreated..theres no need for it now.

The final step for creating the dots is to create a Clipping Path between the new layer and the dots

layer.

To create a Clipping Pathhold down the ALT key and move your cursor between the 2 layers in

your Layers Palette. When the cursor turns into a double bubble (see image below) click to create

the clipping path.


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Nowlink the dots and Background copy layer. (To link layers simply click one layer then hold

down shift and click on the other layer. A little chain icon is shown on the bottom of the layer palette,

click it).

Merge Linked layers (Ctrl + E)

If you are using Photoshop CS or later versions instead of linking and then merging the linked layers,

after creating the clipping path simply click on the background copy layer in your layer palette and

then Merge Down.

Your picture should now look like the one shown below..only better because its not so small and

compressed!

Now is a good time to Save (Ctrl + S) your work.

PART 2. Adding ColourHaving achieved a great looking half tone effect, its time to add the colour.Im going to use Fill Layers to colour this picture. Fill Layers are great if you are indecisive about

your colour palette and fantastic for colour experimentation for pop art.

At the bottom of this page I will briefly show how intermediate level photoshop users can really take

their images one step further. Combining this tutorial with myTurn Photos of People into Line

Art tutorial you can really achieve stunning results.

a) Creating Fill Layers


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Duplicate the dots layer. Rename this layer white and drag it below the dots layer in your layer

palette.

Adjust the Levels on the white layer.

Image >> Adjustments >> Levels

In the output levels, click and drag the black marker all the way to the right so it is behind the white

marker (see image below)

Now the white layer is white! Your layers palette should look like the one shown below.

Note: Turn off the visibility of the dots layer (click the eye icon) first to see the adjustments on your

canvas.

Change the blend mode on the dots layer to Multiply.

Click on this icon at the bottom of your Layer Palette and select Solid Colour


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Select a colour in the Colour Picker dialogue box. Click OK. Ive gone for a red shade to colour her

lips. You dont need to be too picky here because we can change the colour easily later on.

The new fill layer created will appear in your layer window. Right-click and rename the layer e.g

lips to colour the lips.

Drag the new fill layer below the dots layer in your layer palette. See below. Your image is now

totally filled with the colour of the fill layerbut dont worry we are about to fix that.

Create a Clipping Path between the lip and white layer. This will ensure that you dont colour

over the lines ^_^

Change the foreground colour to black. Working on this new layer, take your Paint Bucket Tool (

) and fill the lips layer black. The colour disappearsthis is because the colour will only show up

where there is white on this fill layer.

Note for Photoshop CS5 Users


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To change the colour of this layer you will double click on the layer thumbnail marked with a 1 in

the image above. To change where this colour appears on your canvas, click on the layer mask

thumbnail marked with a 2 in the image above, then using white with your paint brush tool, paint

on your canvas where the colour is to appear and paint with black to erase the colour.

Error message: The fill for this layer must be rasterized before proceeding. It will no longer be

editable as a fill. Rasterize the fill? If this message appears, youve made a mistake. Select No and

click on the layer mask thumbnail in your active layer before editing this layer.

Now for the colouring. Change the foreground colour to white. Get your Paint Brush Tool ( )

and start paintingwhere you want to the colour to appear. Use a hard brush with the opacity set to

100%. Make sure that you zoom in when colouring, so that it is nice and tidy!

**Fill layers can be confusing if you havent used them before.

If you are stuck try reading THIS PAGE, its from another of my tutorials where I explain fill layers a

little more indepth.

b) More Fill LayersRepeat the above step creating a new fill layer for each colour/item in your picture. Below is mylayers palette.


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Note how I have used clipping paths on all the new fill layers.

At any time if you are unhappy with a colour that you have chosen, simplydouble click on the LayerThumbnail(as shown above) and re-select a colour. Now you have the ability to change the colour of

the hair for example, to a whole new colour in a second flat!!


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Youre pretty much finished.

You will need to add a caption, or a speech or thought bubble to make this a Lichtenstein inspired

piece. Custom shapes have a few speech and thought bubbles to choose from.

The font I used in my finished picture isANIME ACE.

Try experimenting with the colours too for something really bold.

COMBINING WITH LINE ART TUTORIALIve had a lot of people ask me how I create half tone shading on my line art pictures. CLICK

HERE to see my finished Scarlett Johansson pop art piece.

Ive written two tutorials on creating the line art.

-Turn Photos of People into Line Art

-Create Basic Line Art form Your Photos

The picture of my layer palette below pretty much explains it all.

Obviously the line art is the top layer.

Duplicate the half tone layer and place it over each colour layer with a clipping path.


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Set the mode of the half tone layer to Soft Light (or something similar).

Adjust the opacity of the half tone layer until it looks good.

If you are interested in creating the pattern I used for the background of my final Scarlett picture, the

pattern is made with a custom shape.

If you are using Photoshop 7, CS or later then you will have it already in your custom shapes (thearrow, marked 2, is pointing to it in the above image). You will need to select Show All to see it (see

the image above, click on the area, marked with the 1 arrow to reveal custom shape options -Show

All). If you are using an earlier version of Photoshop then you need to make it. Check out myDigital

Candy Tutorial (just do the first part).

Thats it!

I hope you found this Photoshop tutorial helpful. Feel free to contact me via my contact page if you

have any questions.


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vGritty HDRBy Denny Tang Apr 05, 2011

Photoshop Tutorials - Photo Effects

Page 1 of 2

Give yourphotos a grunge look with this popular Photoshop

effect. Although this Photoshop effect is commonly referred as HDR photo effect, it is it can be done

with regular, non-HDR photos.

Note: This photo effect is titled Gritty HDR due to the common use of the name and is not intended

to be an accurate description of the effect. HDR means high dynamic range but this photo effect

does not require the use of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos. This effect is better described as a

grungy tone mapping effect that can be done without the use of HDR images.

Preview of Final Results


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Gritty HDR Photoshop Tutorial


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Step 1: Open a photo into Photoshop

Start by opening an image into Photoshop. To do this, run Photoshop and choose File> Open.

Browse and select the photo you would like to edit then click OK.

Photoshop CS2 or Older:

Select the layer and press Ctrl+J or go to Layer> Duplicate Layer to create a duplicate of the layer.

Do not do any editing on the Backgroundlayer. Instead, work on the Background copylayer. This

will ensure you always have a copy of the original unedited image in case you require it for further

post processing.

Photoshop CS3

If you are using Adobe Photoshop CS3, right mouse click on the layer an select "Convert to Smart

Object". This will allow you to apply Smart Filters which can be edited at anytime and will keep the

file size smaller.


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Step 2: Make details more visible with the Shadow/Highlights tool

First, we'll mimic the tone mapping effect by using the Shadow/Highlights tool. Choose Image>

Adjustments> Shadow/Highlights. In the Shadow/Highlights tool, adjust the settings so that all details

are easy to see without making the photo look fake.


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Step 3: Add a halo effect with the Unsharp Mask filter

Choose Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp Mask. We will not be using this filter

to sharpen the image. Instead, we'll use this filter to add a high-contrast

halo effect to the image. In the Unsharp Mask filter, set the Radius to 250

pixels and adjust the amount to get an effect that you desire.


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Step 4: Add a Black and White adjustment layer


Select Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue/Saturation. Set the Saturation to -100 and click OK.

Photoshop CS3

Select Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Black and White. A window with the settings will appear. For

now, just click OK without touching any of the settings and change the blending mode of the Black

and White adjustment layer to Overlay.


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Step 5: Adjust the Black and White adjustment layer settings (For Photoshop CS3 only)


Skip this step

Photoshop CS3

In the previous step, we skipped the settings to change the layer blending mode. Now, we'll go back

and edit the settings that we previously skipped. The reason for this is so that we can see the live

preview effect of the Black and White adjustment layer with Overlay blending mode instead of the

Normal blending mode.

Double-click on the Black and White adjustment layer and a Black and White window will appear. In

this window, adjust the settings to get the results you desire. Start by scrolling through the Presets

and find the one that closely matches your


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Step 6: Create a new layer named "Grain"Choose Layer> New Layer orpress Ctrl+Shift+N. Type in "Grain" (without the quotations) as the

layer name and select Overlay as the blending mode. We will use this layer to add noise to the

image.


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Step 7: Add a 50% gray fillSelect the Grain layer that we created in the previous step. Then, press Ctrl+Backspace to access

the Fill tool. In the Fill tool, select 50% Gray in the Use drop down menu and click OK. This will fill

the layer with 50% gray.


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The reason we're using 50% gray is because it will not be visible on many layer blending modes

including Overlay. This means that the gray will not be visible on our Grain layer because it's using

Overlay as the blending mode. So why did we do this if it does nothing?

Some filters including the Add Noise filter we'll be using in the next step won't work on an empty

layer. In order to use it, we had to fill the layer with 50% gray and change the blending mode to one

of the blending modes that won't show the 50% gray.

Step 8: Add NoiseChoose Filter> Noise> Add Noise. In the Add Noise tool, checkmark Monochromatic and click OK.


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Step 9: Blur the noiseChoose Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur and enter 0.3 in the Radius setting then click OK.


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Step 10: Increase the contrast of the layer with Auto LevelsChoose Image> Adjustments> Auto Levels. This will increase the contrast of the layer making the

noise extremely visible. Reduce the opacity of the layer until you get the noise level you desire.


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Final Results


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Original Image

Gritty HDR


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pop art recommended for beginner to intermediate level photoshop users

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