+psd photoshop magazine

8/8/2019 +PSD PHOTOSHOP MAGAZINE

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Gold LionLaura Ferreira 4

In this tutorial I will show you how I took a picture of my friend

Cecile, who was standing in front of some plants in a yard, and

turned it into a sparkling golden portrait. The main tools that I will

be using in Photoshop CS4 is Gradient Map, Curves, Selective

Colour and blending images onto the portrait with the Screenmode. The catch lights in her eyes are from a single rectangular

softbox used for the light setup.

c o n t e n t

i s s u e 0

4 / 2 0 1 0

Dearest Readers!

I have been working on our .psd Photoshop

magazine for the past few years trying to give you the best tutorials you can learn

from to become even better artists. I have invited all of you from all over the world to

share your passion for ar t and Photoshop and enjoy the fun it bri ngs.

However, nothing lasts forever. This issue is the last one I have created for you. I am

leaving Photoshop magazine but do not worry you still will be receiving great tutorialsas psd is still on! Therefore, keep looking for the next issue!

It was my pleasure to work with you and I appreciated each minute of it,

Thank you for your support and keep up the great work!

Marta Kobus Editor in Chief

creative classUniqueOlli-Pekka Jauhiainen 10

photomanipulationBefore the BallMarcia Gaudêncio 14

The SurrealLuis Afonso 22

AbstractDario van Zundert 28

editors choiceSelf ExposureBrand Nu 32

beauty retouchPhoto MakeoverApple May 36

digital paintingNeytiriLina Eriksson 40

workshopDigital Art Air Brush PortraitBandula Samarasekera 46

software reviewAutoFX Mystical SuiteRobert Coppa 56



http://www.bertmonroy.com/



In this tutorial I will show you how I took a picture of my friend Cecile, who was standing in front of some plantsin a yard, and turned it into a sparkling golden portrait.The main tools that I will be using in Photoshop CS4 isGradient Map, Curves, Selective Colour and blendingimages onto the portrait with the Screen mode. Thecatch lights in her eyes are from a single rectangular softbox used for the light setup.

Gold Lion

medium | 120 min.

adobe photoshop CS4



cover artist

6 .psd Photoshop

Step 1I open the image and take out any marks or spotson the skin with the spot healing brush tool or the

patch tool, followed by selecting the general skinareas with the selection tool, and then going intoFilters > Blur > and using the Surface Blur lter,

Threshold: 12 , Radius: 30. Skin retouched usingspot heal, patch tool, and surface blur.

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Step 2With the skin nice and clean I start adding textureto the image. I used a stock image of glitter (fromthe user bombstock on deviantArt) as well as asa bokeh image (from the user stocks_for_you ,also from deviantArt). glitter image bokeh image.

I drop the two texture layers onto the image anddarken them using Image> Adjustments> Curves(Output:0 , Input: 140). I do this so that when theimages are put in Screen mode, there is a lot lessof the lighter tones coming up, so the image getsa more scattered feel with these textures. NowI select each texture layer at a time and switchthem in the layers panel to Screen mode. Thetextures now cover the portrait layer and I use theEraser tool to take out the areas on these texturesthat I don’t want. I erase most of the bokeh imagefrom her face but leave a little bit of the glitter atthe side of her right eye, as well as her neck.

Step 3The next thing I do is add just a few more little dotsto the left of the image. I make a new layer calledBlurry Dots and simply take the brush tool on thedefault setting (with hardness all the way down)and choose any random orange tone, and makelittle dots around her head. This layer remains onNormal mode. I then make a new layer and nameit Light. I choose a large diameter for the brush(still on the same setting from before) and make

a big simple white blob in the center of the image.I then switch to the Selection tool, and move thisblob into the lower left corner. This also remainson Normal mode. This has now given a little glowin the corner. Now it’s time for some colour-edting.I use Adjustment Layers found at the bottom of the Layers tab, but I will still put where to ndthese adjustments the long way.



gold lion

7.psd Photoshop

Step 4I start off by taking down the reds and yellowsusing Image> Adjustments> Hue/Saturation, and only in the Red and Yellow channels do

I desaturate. Red: -36, Yellow: -42. the image isnow slightly desaturated.

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Step 5Then, I focus in on her eye. I would like themto pop a bit more and show off that goldencolour, so I make a Levels layer, or go to Image>Adjustments> Levels, and in the main RGB windowI move my medium slider to 1.40. With the Levelslayer selected, I decrease the ll to 71%. the eyesare now lighter

Step 6Next, I brighten the image using a Curves layer, orImage> Adjustments> Curves. I make two pointson the Curve, one at Output:26, Input:20 , andone at Output:188 Input:152. Image is now a lotbrighter!



cover artist

8 .psd Photoshop

Step 7I then add my base colour. I want a golden lookso I create a Gradient Map layer, or Image>Adjustments> Gradient Map. My deeper colour inmy gradient is specically a Purple (#06024a ,Location: 15%), my medium tone is an an Orange(#ffa800 , Lcation: 50%) and my lighter tone isa Yellow (#ffea5c , Location 100%). I then set this

layer to Overlay mode, and set the ll to 16%. it’spretty golden now!

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Step 8This is a very small change, but I don’t wantthe greens in the leaves looking quite so green.

I make a Selective Colour adjustments layer(or Image> Adjustments> Selectice Colour), andin the Green channel, I bring the Cyan all the waydown, and the Magenta and Yellow all the wayup. Blending mode remains on Normal. if youlook closely at the leaves just by her right ear,the greens have changed to a more rustic colour,but still with a hint of green. To add a bit morecontrast, I create another Gradient Map layer(or Image>Adjustments>Gradient Map) anduse the defauly Black and White gradient. I thenswitch the mode from Normal, to Luminosity inthe Layers tab. With Gradient Map contrast

Step 9To add more of a rustic feeling to the entire image,I make a Selective Colour layer (or Image>Adjustments>Selective Colour) . In the Red colours I makethe following changes: Cyan: -1, Magenta: -2. In theNeutral colours I make the following changes, Cyan:+19 , Magenta: +12. Mode remains on Normal. AfterSelective Colouring for rustic tones.



gold lion

9.psd Photoshop

Step 10One of the last colour adjusting I do is addingmore purples and reds to the image. I createa new Gradient Map layer (or Image>Ajustments>Gradient Map) and put my dark tone as Blue(#0a00b2, Location 0%), medium tone as Red(#ff0000, Location 50%) and light tone as White(#ffffff Location 100%). I then set the mode to

Screen and bring the Opacity down to 47%, andthe Fill down to 20%. My shadows now have a nicepurple tone to them. I would like to dark the edgesa bit, so I create a new layer and call it “OrangeEdges”. I simple take the brush tool on defaultsetting (hardness all the way down) and choosea random medium Orange tone. I start addingsome orange to the corners of this new layer togive the image a slight vignette. I then change the

blending mode to Screen, and bring Fill down to65%. My main colour editing is now done!

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Step 11I would still like to add a bit more depth here andthere. I go to Image>Duplicate and make a copy of my le. I then atten it with Layer> Flatten Image.I then start adding little highlights and low lightswith the Burn and Dodge tools. I also clean up thehairline with the Clone Stamp tool on 40% opacity.When I am happy with how it looks, I simply selectthis image in my copied le, and drag it backonto my original for safe keeping. Colour hasn’tchanged, but hairline and lowlight/highlights havebeen altered.

Step 12My nal colour edit is a touch of Cyan and Red.I create a Colour Balance layer (or Image>

Adjustments> Colour Balance) and in the ShadowI slide Red to +4, in the Midtones I slide Cyan to -8,and in the Highlights I slide Cyan to -5.

by Laura Ferreira



This tutorial will show you how to incorporate 3D render with the stock photos to createan appealing watery scene. I will talk about using alpha channels, adjustment layers andhow to make image to pop-up by concentrating on coloring and lightning. Used stocks fromhttp://www.sxc.hu

Unique

medium | 25 h.

adobe photoshop CS3 | maxon cinema 4D | wacom tablet

http://www.sxc.hu/

http://www.sxc.hu/



unique

11.psd Photoshop

Step 1I started working on this piece by making therender and composition in Cinema 4D. This tutorialis about the process in Photoshop after that soI won’t go to details on the 3D part. Here youcan see the render which I opened in Photoshop.Always remember to use Alpha Channel whenrendering still images from 3D program. This wayyou have automatically separate alpha mask on

your Channels palette for your render and youdon’t need to cut the background off manually.

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Step 2Use the Alpha mask to separate the render fromits background and make a new layer below therender and ll it with dark grey. If you didn’t knowyou can make the layer below the selected layerby holding Ctrl + pressing the new layer iconon Layers palette. I also duplicated the render(Ctrl+J) and used Clone Stamp tool (press S) tomake the render go all the way to the sides. Playwith the brush settings depending what you wantto achieve.

Step 3Find a good water stock which you think wouldt. Open it in Photoshop to a new document andgo to the channels palette. By putting differentcolor channels invisible try to nd the one withthe most contrast between the water and thebackground. Now copy/paste (Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V ) thischannel to a new channel layer and open up theCurves (Ctrl+M) while this new layer selected.Now choose the white point eyedropper and useit to the background (the color you want to getrid of). After adjusting the curves to optimal make

a selection of the layer (Ctrl+Click on layer ). Whilehaving the selection on put the RGB channel backvisible and make the alpha channel invisible.Choose the RGB channel, copy the selection andpaste the result into your work document intoits own layer. Usually when working with watersplashes, Screen blending mode can give someextra effect so feel free to experiment with it.



creative class

12 .psd Photoshop

Step 4Now add water behind and top of the object.Duplicate the layer (Ctrl+J) and use rotate,distort and especially warp tool to make the lookmore dynamic (you can nd them under Edit/

Transform/…). Even though you use duplicatedlayers try to make every splash look different.Also remember to vary the size and opacity togive some extra effect. Hint: convert the originallayer to smart object before duplicating it (Right

click on layer/Convert to Smart Object). This way

when you distort, warp etc. the duplicates thequality won’t suffer from it that much.

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Step 5Once you’re satised with the splashes it’s timeto concentrate on the background. It’s alwaysgood to make the basic elements and save thedetail work in the end so don’t worry too muchabout having too less splashes at this point. Makea new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) to the bottom and addthe stock. Here I used starry night sky stock andplayed with the opacity to decrease the stars’brightness a bit because I want to have the focusin the middle.

Step 6Find more stocks you want to add to the sceneand cut them off from their background byusing the same channels technique as with the

splashes or by using the pen tool (press P) totrace the outlines. I added some apples. I alsoused adjustment layers(Layer/New Adjustment

Layer ) to match the colors and dodge/burn tool(press O) on soft brush to make the lightning theway I wanted. Try to think of where you want tohave the main light sources and adjust the colorsaccording to that.



unique

13.psd Photoshop

Step 7The starry background felt bit boring so I thoughtadd more water elements to the scene. I usedcouple photos of lake and trees. This is quite easypart when working on dark background becauseyou don’t have to worry about the precise cutoffs that much, you can just drop the opacityto around 10% and use layer mask to erase theunwanted parts. If you feel the color scheme istoo grey or needs another color you can rst makenew adjustment layer on top of everything andapply Levels to play with the contrast a bit. Afterapplying Levels I added another adjustment layer,Photo Filter with the preset Cooling Filter withthe density around 15-20% to get the overall look

more blueish. I also used layer mask on starry skylayer to remove unwanted stars below the render.

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Step 8At this point I wanted to make a reection to thebottom to make the water look more real. I madea new layer on top and went Image /Apply Image to make a new layer with all the content in it. ThenI ipped the layer vertically and distorted it so thatit ts with the perspective and dropped the layeropacity around 15%. Once again I masked out theparts I didn’t want there. After this I applied littleripple effect via Filter/Distort/Ripple to make itlook more like real water surface. You should playwith the settings to get the best result for yourneeds.

Step 9In the end it’s more about adding details andadjustment layers to x the colors and makethe image to pop out. Here I painted some waterdroplets and oating apple below the hands,added the moon on the background and made

some highlighted areas by brushing on white softbrush on top of everything and putting the layerblending mode to Overlay or Soft Light. AddingBrightness/Contrast layer , Gradient map layeron Soft Light and another Levels layer made theimage much more appealing in the end.

by Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen



advanced | 240 min.

photoshop CS4



before the ball

15.psd Photoshop

Step 1For the rst step, I placed the photo of the girlon the canvas and created a new backgroundlayer with a very light gray. This will be my basicbackground color. Since the image is too bright,I adjusted the levels and shadow/highlights.To join these two pictures, I have replacedthe main color of the background of the girl’spicture to the same light gray I used for mymain background. I did this by going to image>adjustments>replace color and simply click ona predominant gray on the background of the girl.

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Step 2I created a mask of the girl layer and erased thetop edges with the gradient tool and slowly erasedthe differences between the color of my pictureand the light gray background layer. I then usedthe Liquify Tool to give more volume to the hairand raised some hair tips. I also xed a bit of thenose and her jaw, raised her eyebrow a little andgave it a different shape.

Before the BallIn this tutorial, you will learn how to cut out images and use them in another background,without having them looking fake, but more like an illustration. You will also learn how tochange a color of the background of an image even with unkempt hair, without actuallyerasing the original background. You will be able to see the power of the clone tool andliquify tool to retouch body aws and enhance the beauty of the model. There will beinteractions between multiple mounted images and color retouching of the different imagesto t in a whole picture. I will guide you through the basic articial make up, highlights,

shadows and sparkling light effects. I added some extra tips for the use of some blendingmodes, as well.



photomanipulation

16 .psd Photoshop

Step 4

In a new Layer, I painted a circle with a brush usingvery low hardness, using a brighter shade of grayin front of her face, covering her hair and erased iton top of her face. I then set the blending mode to

Soft Light. I did not want to erase too much of thehair tips, because that would make it look fake inthe end. Afterwards, I created another layer andpainted it with a light blue to a darker blue gradientand set the mode to Color Burn. This layer wassoftly erased on top of her eyes. I wanted them toshine and I think their natural color is really cool.I added a Lens Flare Filter , because I wanted toadd some light effects in the sky.

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05 Step 5I used a new photo with a plant called Dent-de-Lion, with the seeds ying. I chose the best seedsof the picture and created three Layers – each onewith a different part of the original picture. I ap-plied a lot of Gaussian Blur to one and then scaledit down. I then applied less Gaussian Blur to thesecond one and resized it so it was a little smaller.The last one, I left it bigger than the others and did

not apply any kind of Blur . This way, it looks likethe seeds are at different distances. I also placedsome separate seeds oating above and on topof the model. Since the seeds are very thin, theirbackground is very hard to erase, so I simply setthe Blending Mode to Lighten. This way we onlysee the light colors. This is a very good way toavoid erasing the background in some cases.

03 Step 3Next, I cloned loads of hair, each one individu-ally, making it so that they connected to the hairbelow. I selected a portion of hair that I wanted toclone, placed it into a new layer and named it por-

tion, because I wanted to clone that hair, but usingdifferent angles. Then, I just used the clone tool,selected the hair I wanted to clone from my por-tion layer, and pasted them into a new layer called

fakehair . Whenever I wanted to add some newhair to the image, I rotated my portion layer, andcloned it again over the fakehair layer. I createdtwo different portion layers in different layers of the girl’s original layer, so I could have differenthair shapes to clone. I used the Liquify Tool alsoso that I could shape the hair as I pleased. I did notover used the liquify, because when you use it too

much, it messes up the resolution. I also paintedsome very tiny hairs to make it look natural.



before the ball

17.psd Photoshop

Step 7

Now, I have my selection, but the pixels on theedges are too rough to use on the top of my mainwork, so I want to make them smoother by givingthem a little transparency. This way the pixels onthe edge of the image will blend with the pixels of my main image. I click on Rene Edge, checkedthe preview box, and dened the following set-tings: radius 0, contrast 30, Smooth 1, feather1.0, contract/expand -2. When extracting thebackground of an image, you need to play withthis settings a bit, and see what works best. Now,I invert the selection [Ctrl]+[I] and delete thebackground.

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Step 8I placed the ribbons the way I wanted by resizingand transforming them. I wanted them to stick outof the image, but not to appear to be a collage, soI also added a bit of blur. The spots between hairwere also softly erased.

06 Step 6I chose three ribbon dancing pictures that I thoughtwere nice to integrate with the girl on the piece. To re-move the background, click two times on your back-ground layer, which is your original image, to unlockit. Create a new black layer below it. Select your im-age again, and with the Polygonal Lasso Tool slowlyselect the pixels between the image you want to use,and its background, but do not select the ones thatare blurred on the edge. Click only on the non-blurrededges of the picture you want to select. Always closeyour selection. You do this by clicking on the rstpoint you rst clicked using the Polygonal Lasso

Tool. You will know that it is closed because your Po-

lygonal Lasso Tool will have a little O when hoveringthe right point. When your rst selection is closed,you need to use the Options Bar, which will allow youto choose to add to or subtract from a previous selec-tion. A good tip is adding new selections, one-by-one,instead of making just one big selection. Otherwise,you can lose your main selection while in the prog-

ress of selecting and you can use your space bar tonavigate through your document.



photomanipulation

18 .psd Photoshop

Step 10I cut some more elements, this time butteries,changed the color of each one, and blurred someof them because they were too sharp to t thispiece. I placed them above some hair, her bodyand one on the ribbon. Some of them did not tbecause it is a photo-manipulation and I foundit hard to maintain their original color and makethem part of the hair. So, later I will retouch themwith some light effects and sparkling stars.

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11 Step 11Next I chose the ftieth brush of the assortedmenu, changed the shape dynamics to Penpressure and turned everything else off (I usea Wacom Bamboo, so this way the particles will begenerated accordingly to the pressure I put on thepen). I used the maximum Scatter, Pen Pressure,Count 2, Count jitter 2%, Control Off. Checked theSmoothing and Protect Texture box. Then I painted

some stars behind the butteries and the birds.I used several layers, so I could play with thebrush behind the elements, as well as above.I also changed the blending options, added Outerglow, some with light yellow, others with cyan, forthe Gradient Overlay I used a gradient of yellowto cyan, and variants of it for the different brushlayers.

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Step 9Because I wanted the image to appear surreal andmagical, I also added two hummingbirds. I erasedtheir background, sharpened them, changed theirhighlights to cyan and strong green and createda motion blur in some of their wings to make themlook like they are beating them really fast. Then,I blurred both, rotated them and erased theirbeaks to t them under the ribbons in a physicallypossible manner. It is important to adjust yourimages and think,if this was real, how would it

look? The smudge tool was used to drag some

pixels out of the birds to make them look moreuffy and to resemble feathers.



before the ball

19.psd Photoshop

Step 13The girl was too pale, so I decided to give her somemake up. I used the eyedropper tool and picked asoft red color off her lips. I created a new layer androughly painted her lips with a brush with soft-ened edges. Changed the blending mode to SoftLight, lowered the Fill to 64%, and softly erasedthe edges of the layer, until the new layer wasblended with the original face.

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Step 14Now it is time to paint some eye shadows on her.

I created two layers. With a soft edged brush,with a diameter of 100, very low opacity, painteda soft yellow on her eyelids. Then, I changed theblending mode to Overlay. Created another layer,and with the same brush and I painted above theeyelid with a light blue. The blending mode for thislayer was set to Hue. Note that you need to bevery sensitive while doing this to work, becauseshe needs to look natural, but with makeup.

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Step 12I used the Gradient Tool, blue to transparent andused it on the edges of the whole image in differentnew layers, with different blending modes.

Screen, Dodge and Overlay, lowered opacity onsome of them, because they were overpoweringthe image. In this part, on top of all of the layers,I created a new layer, painted it with blue, set itto Soft Light, with 30% of Fill. This layer will blendeverything together. It will fade colors of the layersbelow and if it fades too much, l can softly erase

here and there, leaving the layer below showing,instead of the destructive blue layer.



photomanipulation

20 .psd Photoshop

Step 16Her hair looked too dark, so I used the Hue andbrightened the yellows. Next, I used the Dodge

and Burn tool to create highlights and shadowson her hair and make it shine more. I also did thisto fake shadows for the ribbons, butteries andbirds. For this to work I needed to think where thesource of light was for my whole picture. When thelight shone on any element, I painted highlights

and shadows on the opposite side. Some of themare just casted shadows from an element onanother element. This is the basic light theory of drawing. When I had my images nished, I liketo adjust some details and do an overview of thenal piece. A good way to achieve this is to simplyget away from the computer for a while, go for awalk and get some rest and the next time you seeyour work with a refreshed mind, some detailsand errors will pop out and you can x them andcomplete your work.

by Marcia Gaudêncio

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Step 15I wanted her to look like she had some lip-gloss,so I added a shine by choosing white color, softbrush with low opacity. I slowly painted the shineand I was careful while doing it so it would notseem fake. I also painted white above her eyesand changed the blending mode to Soft Light.Then I created a new layer, chose a color from her

hair, darker than her eyebrows, and softly paintedabove it. I just wanted to make it look darker.

Stocks• Ribbon Dancing pics – vampbabe-stock from Deviantart• 2_1_Ribbon_Dancing – http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-01-Ribbon-Dancing-17903136

• 2_6_Ribbon_Dancing – http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-06-Ribbon-Dancing-17903618

• 2_7_Ribbon_D ancing – http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-07-Ribbon-Dancing-17903630

• Girl: akai-hinoiri from Deviantart• http://akai-hinoiri.deviantart.com/art/dancing-hair-stock-107371912

• Butteryes: Shooy-Stock from deviantart• Buttery Stock 06 – http://shooy-stock.deviantart.com/art/Buttery-Stock-06-91994266

• butterystock 4 – http://shooy-stock.deviantart.com/art/Buttery-Stock-4-36155021

• Shooy-Stock – http://shooy-stock.deviantart.com/art/Buttery-Stock-Sideview-54054409

• Birds and Flower from www.photoxpress.com

http://vampbabe-stock.deviantart.com/art/2-01-Ribbon-Dancing-17903136






http://akai-hinoiri.deviantart.com/art/dancing-hair-stock-107371912

http://shoofly-stock.deviantart.com/art/Butterfly-Stock-06-91994266


http://shoofly-stock.deviantart.com/art/Butterfly-Stock-Sideview-54054409





http://akai-hinoiri.deviantart.com/art/dancing-hair-stock-107371912






http://www.tony-deslandes.mobi/



The SurrealIn this tutorial, I’ll show you how I created a surreal photo manipulation calledThe Surreal. During this tutorial, you will learn how to blend different imagesto make a dark atmospheric background, blend different objects in thebackground, adjust lights and colors of your image, and much more. We willbe using several tools such as the brush tool, levels/curves, different blendingmodes, and more. Let's get started!

advanced | 3-4 h.

adobe photoshop CS4



the surreal

23.psd Photoshop

Beginning/Creating the Canvas

It’s time to begin working. Create a new canvas.I usually work with big documents, so for thispiece, my document wil l be 2755x3570px (but youcan work with different document sizes).However,for this one, the canvas should have a verticalaspect. In other words, the canvas should be tallerthan it is wide. Also be sure the resolution is 300DPI (or more). Note that you will have to resizesome of the stocks and, depending on the sizeof the document you choose, the dimensions willbe different. All the steps have images showingwhat has been done, so it won’t be very difcult tomeasure how to resize the stock.

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Create the Floor Let’s start by opening the checker oor and frozen

antelope island pictures and dragging them intothe new document.Next, use the Pen Tool (or otherselection tool you like) to remove the black part

of the rst stock image, leaving only the checkeroor. Do the same thing with the second stockimage, removing the mountain and sky. Now,position the second image on top of the checkeroor. Change the blending mode of the secondimage to Multiply and the Opacity to 90%. Finally,use a Black and White Gradient Map in Overlaymode with the Opacity set at 30-45% in order todarken the oor.

• Checker Floor: http://urbannature-stock.deviantart.com/art/Checker-Floor-58790299 ; Author:UrbanNature-Stock• Frozen Antelope Island: https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0525/5b077b5c01c12/5b077b6e060d0.jpg; Author:Julia Starr• Sky7_2259/Sky7_2249: http://resurgere.deviantart.com/art/Package-Sky-Scape-7-57062396; Author:resurgere• Storm 1: http://mysticmorning.deviantart.com/art/Storm-Brewing-stock-114644923; Author:mysticmorning• Storm 2: http://night-fate-stock.deviantart.com/art/storm-5-101190537; Author:Julia Starr

• Storm 3: http://tash-stock.deviantart.com/art/Stormy-Sky-06-62311728; Author:tash-stock• Rain: http://sheisprettystock.deviantart.com/art/Storm-73213991; Author:heisprettystock• Bubble2_0009/ Bubble2_0010/ Bubble2_0011: http://resurgere.deviantart.com/art/Package-Bubble-2-76102456; Author:resurgere• Door: http://daviania.deviantart.com/art/Paradisio-sept-09-27-136807337; Author Daviania• Clouds: http://two-ladies-stocks.deviantart.com/art/Beyond-the-clouds-II-102467866 ; Author:two-ladies-stocks• Lamp:http://empty-paper-stock.deviantart.com/art/Hanging-Lamp-63341285 ; Author:empty-paper-stock• Hand 1: http://lindowyn-stock.deviantart.com/art/Hand-Stock-1-71285466; Author: lindowyn-stock• Splash 1: http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-II-129176733; Author: Best Stock• Splash 2: http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-I-129176688 ; Author: Best Stock• Splash 3: http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-V-129177036; Author: Best Stock• Hand 2 (DSC03 352) : http://nykolai.deviantart.com/art/Hand-References-Pack-Seven-28768906 ; Author:Nykolai Aleksander• Man Head: http://ahrum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Face-Neck-and-Nugget-23-27503344; Author: Ahrum-Stock• Whirlpool: https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0525/5b077b5c01c12/5b077b6e931e1.jpg; Author:Tentenhead• Zentai: http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Zentai-Y-1-104158697; Author:Marcus J. Ranum• Cracked Mud: http://falln-stock.deviantart.com/art/NC-Cracked-Mud-11-50934627; Author:falln-stock

• Abstrac t Experimental: https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0525/5b077b5c01c12/5b077b6f155d6.jpg; Author: resurgere

Stock Images: (By order of use in the tutorial)

http://urbannature-stock.deviantart.com/art/Checker-Floor-58790299


http://i45.tinypic.com/16hkgfs.jpg



http://resurgere.deviantart.com/art/Package-Sky-Scape-7-57062396



http://mysticmorning.deviantart.com/art/Storm-Brewing-stock-114644923


http://night-fate-stock.deviantart.com/art/storm-5-101190537

http://tash-stock.deviantart.com/art/Stormy-Sky-06-62311728


http://sheisprettystock.deviantart.com/art/Storm-73213991



http://resurgere.deviantart.com/art/Package-Bubble-2-76102456



http://daviania.deviantart.com/art/Paradisio-sept-09-27-136807337


http://two-ladies-stocks.deviantart.com/art/Beyond-the-clouds-II-102467866


http://empty-paper-stock.deviantart.com/art/Hanging-Lamp-63341285


http://lindowyn-stock.deviantart.com/art/Hand-Stock-1-71285466


http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-II-129176733


http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-I-129176688


http://beststock.deviantart.com/art/Splash-V-129177036


http://nykolai.deviantart.com/art/Hand-References-Pack-Seven-28768906


http://ahrum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Face-Neck-and-Nugget-23-27503344


http://i49.tinypic.com/2mxk7d.jpg


http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Zentai-Y-1-104158697



http://falln-stock.deviantart.com/art/NC-Cracked-Mud-11-50934627



http://i48.tinypic.com/35aq0qd.jpg


















http://night-fate-stock.deviantart.com/art/storm-5-101190537







photomanipulation

24 .psd Photoshop

Finish the BackgroundTo nish the background, we’re going to add a fewmore details. Open the Storm 2 stock and place itabove all your other layers. Change the BlendingMode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 80%. Finally,open the three bubble images (Bubble2_0009,Bubble2_0010, Bubble2_0011). Change theBlending Mode to Soft Light and adjust the Opacityto 85-100%. Move the stock images around the topof the document. Using Vector Masks, paint overthe areas you want to disappear. We are nownished with the background.

04

05

The Door Open the Door picture. Next, select only thedoor. You can use either the Pen Tool or theMagnetic Lasso Tool for this task. After that, go toSelectInverse and press the Delete key to removethe background. When you’re nished with that,drag the door to the middle of the document (seeimage). Place it above the Background Group.

Apply the Sharpen Filter (FilterSharpenSharpen).Duplicate the door layer and add a Clipping Mask toit by pressing Alt+Ctrl+G. Next, press Shift+Ctrl+Uto desaturate the duplicated layer, then changethe Blending Mode to Soft Light. Create a newBlack and White Gradient Map and add anotherClipping Mask to it, then change the BlendingMode to Darken and the Opacity to 50%.

03 Create the SkyFirst, open the sky stocks from resurge: Sky7_

2259 and Sky7_2249. Drag them onto the canvasbeneath the oor layers. Duplicate the two imagesonce. Move the stocks around until they ll therest of the image. In order to create a uniform/ blended sky, we have to erase some of the stockimages, so here’s a little trick: Instead of usingthe Eraser Tool, we’re going to use Vector Masks.The good thing about Vector Masks is that all thesteps you do are reversible. If you use the EraserTool instead, it's very hard to get the erased partsback. If you use Vector Masks, you can always goback and paint with a white color instead of theblack and the hidden parts will appear again. AddVector Masks to all the sky/cloud stock images,press B to open the Brush Tool, choose a softround brush, and pick a black color, then start topaint over the areas you want to disappear. Openthe Storm 1, Storm 2 and Rain pictures. Changethe blending Mode to Soft Light, adjust the Opacity

to 75-85%, and using Vector Masks, paint over theareas you want to remove.

For better organization, I normallyuse groups. I selected all the layerswe have so far and pressed Ctrl+G(Windows), then named the groupBackground.

Note



the surreal

25.psd Photoshop

The LampsIt’ss time to add the lamps. Open the Lamp stock image. Next, select onlythe lamp and remove the background. You can use either the Pen Tool orthe Magnetic Lasso Tool for this task. After that, go to SelectInverse andpress the Delete key to remove the background. Drag it to our document

and move it near the top side (right or left) of the door, then select thelayer and press Ctrl+G. Now the layer is inside a new group. Name thatgroup Lamps. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay, add a Vector Mask,and paint over the top of the chain that’s holding the lamp so that thelamp’s chain seems to disappear in the storm. Duplicate this layer,change the Blending Mode to Normal, and add a Vector Mask. Reducethe Brush Opacity to 30% and paint over the lamp a couple of times. Let’sadd some light now. Create a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N), press B to openthe Brush tool, choose a small round brush (200px), and change theforeground color to a dark yellow (#c5a636). Click twice over the centerof the lamp. Change the Blending Mode to Linear Dodge and the Opacityto 88%. Duplicate this layer; the blending mode should be the same andthe opacity should be reduced to 55%. To make the second lamp on theother side, just repeat the process.

07

08 Adding Surreal Elements – Part 1Looking pretty good so far, but the work still looksa little empty, especially the oor. I decided touse the black squares of the oor to create a cooleffect. Open the Hand 1 stock, select the hand, andremove the background. Fix some imperfectionsand drag the hand to the document. Place it ontoone of the black squares of the checker oor.Now, using Brightness/Contrast, Black and WhiteGradient Map, and Levels, I’ve darkened the hand.You should create a clipping mask for each of theseadjustments so that they’re just applied to thehand. You can nd all these adjustments by goingto LayerNew Adjustment Layer. Open the Splash 1 stock image and place it beneath the hand layer.

Move the splash to the same square as the hand.Desaturate (Shift+Ctrl+U) the splash layer, changethe Blend Mode to Overlay, adjust the Opacity to70-80%, and use Vector Masks to paint over theareas we want to remove. I tried to create aneffect where the hand comes out of the splash.I’ve duplicated the splash layer one or two times inorder to complete the effect. Please see the effectin more detail in this step’s accompanying images.

06

CloudsIn order to create a surreal fantasy and mysteriousatmosphere, I decided to add some clouds aroundthe oor. Open the stock titled Clouds, drag it tothe document, and duplicate it. Hide the duplicatelayer by clicking the small eye near the layer.Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light. UsingVector Masks, paint over the areas you want toremove.Turn on the visibility of the duplicate layerof Clouds. Using Vector Masks, paint over the areasyou want to get rid of.In this case, don’t paint oversome areas around the oor. I suggest reducinga bit the brush’s opacity for better results. Pleasesee the image of this step to achieve a betterunderstanding. Create a new Gradient Map (Blackand White) and change the Blending Mode to

Darken, then add a Clipping Mask. The Opacityshould be 90-100%.



photomanipulation

26 .psd Photoshop

Final Adjustments – Part 1Now that the composition is almost done, we’re going adjust the color,light, and some other details that will make this work a lot better. Startby opening the Rain stock again. Place it on top of allthe other layers andchange the Blending Mode to Overlay, with the Opacity set somewhere

around 50%. Next, create a new gradient map (black and white) andchange the blending mode to darken and the Opacity to 15-25%. Createa new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N) and go to ImageApply Image, keep thedefault denitions, and press okay. It’s time to apply some lters! Go toFilterBrush StrokesSumi-e. You’re free to use other values, but theseare the ones I used: Stroke With=10; Stroke Pressure=2; Contrast=16Create another new layer and go to ImageApply Image. Next, go toFilterDistortLens Correction. We are going to apply the “vignette effect”(if you don’t know the effect, please do a quick search on Google), whichis pretty simple to do in Photoshop. In the Lens Correction Filter options(FilterDistortLens Correction), there’s should be a Vignette option withtwo sliders. Change the Amount setting to -60 and the Midpoint settingto +33. Reduce the opacity of this layer to 60-70%.

10

11Final Adjustments – Part 2Open the stock image Abstract Experimental and press Ctrl+U. A pop-up called Hue/Saturationshould appear in Photoshop. Increase theLightness to values between +30 to +45.Drag the stock to the document. Change theBlending Mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to30-40%. Use a Vector Mask to paint over someareas that don’t look good. Create a new “Black& White” adjustment layer. All we have to do ispress the Auto button to get the result we want.

Change the Blend Mode to Darken and set theOpacity to 20-30%. Finally, create a new Curvesadjustment layer and use the Auto button as wedid previously. That’s it. I hope you have enjoyedthe tutorial and learned some useful techniquesfor your future work.

by Luis Afonso

09 Adding Surreal Elements – Part 2Apart from the rst hand, I added three moreelements: a man head, a zentai suit, and a secondhand. I won’t describe the process again sinceit’s the same process outlined in Step 8. Instead,I’ll just give you some tips. For the head element,I’ve used the Man Head and Splash 2 stockimages. Next, I used the same techniques fromStep 8: Desaturation, Levels, Gradient Map, andBrightness/Contrast. In addition, you can alsouse Curves or Hue/Saturation. Just remember thatthese adjustments are to darken the “element.”Don’t forget to create a clipping mask to all youradjustments so that they’ll only be applied toa specic element. For the zentai suit, I’ve usedthe Zentai stock image, as well as Splash 1 and

Splash 3. For the second hand, I’ve used Hand

2 and Whirlpool. I also added the stock imageCracked Mud to every element. Drag the stock tothe document, place it above one of the elements(for example, Man Head), create a Clipping Mask,desaturate the stock, and change the Blending

Mode to Overlay, with the Opacity set at 85-95%.Do the same thing to the other elements.



http://www.autofx.com/



In this tutorial I am going to show you how you can combine real life stock with some

abstract renders that are being made in any 3D program like Autocad 3Ds Max and Maxon'sCinema4D. I will try to make each step as details as possible. Of course the way I work is pretty old fashioned but with todays Photoshop you have layer mask options to blend and fade things. In this tutorial I will work old school way with the eraser tool...why you mayask...for the simple reason that I am used to this way and takes less time and I got morecontrol over the area's I want to blend in or erase.

Abstract

medium | 120 min.

adobe photoshop CS4



abstract

29.psd Photoshop

Finding base background layer.For this piece I used a nature stock with rocksand an opening in the middle. What I am tryingto work to is that my abstract render that youwill see in the follow step pops out of the holetrying to escape or nd his way out his prison.The stock was a bit to small for the size I wantedto work with. So I duplicated my stock two timesand lled the empty spaces. After I set thingsup I took the eraser tool and started to erase theoutline of the top image. I do this till everythingblends in. In the picture you see that I didn'tblend in a part but thats not a problem since

my render will cover this area. Background:http://eris-stock.deviantart.com/

02

03

Adding Abstract Render I put in the abstract render and take the eraser

tool again to get rid of the unwanted parts andto make it look like the render fades into hole.As you can see the aws of blending the baselayers is now covered. But at this moment itdoesn't give you the feeling the render popsout of the hole. To add some depth to the renderI take the blur tool and apply it to the end of therender. And slowly work on my focal point. For thispiece the focal point is the hole and the part of the render that is exiting the whole. The more therender gets closer to the border the more I blur therender. Render: http://jdluxe.deviantart.com/art/

C4D-RenderPack-2-106235396

Adding Shadow to the render Like I already said in the step 2 this picturedoesn't give you the feeling of reality. The renderlooks pretty articial at this moment. So weare going to add some shadow to it. The optionDrop Shadow doesn't give me the desired effectthat I want. One reason is drop shadow can'tgive me perspective. As you know when youhold something like a pencil against the surfaceslightly tilted the shadow will go from the tip andfades out to the end. This is also the shadow wewant to create in this piece. Hold CRTL and clickwith the cursor on the layer of the abstract render.

Doing so will select the render outline. Add a newlayer while you keep the selection active. Once thenew layer is added ll it with with black using thePaint Bucket Tool. Put the layer that you just lledunderneath the render and rotate it a bit till youhave something like you see in the image. I tooka soft brush size 150 to soften the outline of theshadow.

http://eris-stock.deviantart.com/

http://jdluxe.deviantart.com/art/

http://jdluxe.deviantart.com/art/

http://eris-stock.deviantart.com/



photomanipulation

30 .psd Photoshop

Adding Nature's ElementsNow for this step I want to add something extra to thescene since its pretty empty at this point. I thoughtadding some leafs underneath the render on the edge of the hole inside the rocks would be nice. Since I gatheredsome usefull stocks over the years I found a stock thatts my piece and which gives me the freedom to workwith different angles. Since in stock pictures you alwayshave unwanted parts we are going to cut out the partI need. There are several ways to extract certain sectionsof a picture. This can be done with the polygonal lassotool, Magic Wand Tool downside of these tools are notenough control over the lines you set and or you selectpieces you don't want to be selected. Best way to cut outdetails in a picture is to use the pentool. Since you cancontrol the anchor points to the precise contours of theobject we are going to use this tool to extract the leafsfrom the overal picture. Once done you can place themto your likings. In the picture matching this step you willsee how I placed them. I added a drop shadow to the leafsby double clicking on the layer containing the leafs andselect drop shadow. Settings I have used are: Opacity

56%, Angle: 120, Distance: 5%, Spread: 0%, Size: 4%. Leafs:http://evza11.deviantart.com/

04

05

06

Adding more elementsSince the image still doesn't have much goingon in it I am going to add some extra's. Often innature we see butteries and beetles. So it would

be nice to add those aswell. Just like the leafsI searched for a buttery and a beetle to cut outand add to the scene. Again for cutting out theseinsects I use the pentool to trace the outline of these insects. To avoid that things get to chaoticI just add a buttery next to the render anda small beetle on top of the render. Since I blurredthe render at the place I put the beetle I add someGaussian Blur to the beetle. (Filter --> Blur -->

Gaussian Blur ) I used gaussian blur to a minimumand applied it each time with 0.1 to 0.2%. Moth:http://hatestock.deviantart.com/

Beetle: http://alekdust-stock.deviantart.com/

Environment & Burn Tool

On top of all the layers I add a new layer and llit with black using the paint bucket tool. Take theeraser and select a soft brush on 300 px. Set theopacity of the brush on 75%. Now erase the centerof the black layer so you see clearly the layersunderneath it. Put this layer on Soft Light Takethe Burn Tool and darken the area around the holea bit and on the inside.

http://evza11.deviantart.com/

http://hatestock.deviantart.com/

http://alekdust-stock.deviantart.com/

http://alekdust-stock.deviantart.com/

http://hatestock.deviantart.com/

http://evza11.deviantart.com/



abstract

31.psd Photoshop

Pentool & RefectionNow we are going to add some pentool swirls.Nothing fancy just some simple effects to makeit a bit more appealing. What I did is I addedsome pentooling like you see in the image anderased certain parts to make it look like its goingunderneath certain parts of the render. This canbe done with a soft brush and just erase a tinybit more so it looks more faded on the ends. Thisdetail make it look like shadow is dropping downon the pentool swirl from the render. Since therender looks pretty shiny due to the materialused we can add some reection to it from thepentool swirls. To make this happen its prettyeasy. Duplicate the layer with the pentool effectand move it away a bit from the original pentoollayer. Take your eraser tool and erase the partsthat go outside the outline of the render. Lowerthe opacity of the copied layer with the pentooling.As you can see I added a few more star brushes to

make it look like the sun is reecting on the mostbrightest parts of the render.

07

08

09

Adding Contract & Brightness Adjustment Layer Go to Layer --> New Adjustment Layer -->

Brightness/Contrast. Put Brightness on -123and Contrast on 97. Place the base layer with thestones and the buttery underneath it. The rest of the layers needs to be on top to keep avoid othereffects getting too dark or too contrasted. Thiscontrast/brightness layer also helps to brightenup the pentool effects.

Finishing TouchesAs nishing touches I like to add some old school styletech brushes. Thanks to certain people I always been intoabstract 3d designs. Looking at other designers work.Since the abstract render looks futuristic and the restdoesn't it would be cool to make some tech interface tomake it look like were are monitoring some biomechanicalcreature. In my credits at the end you will see the linksof the resources I used and credit to the people providingthem. But lets get back to the design. As you can see theleft side is pretty empty. It gives us the room to place somesort of interface. Also adding some simple text between theinterface with the name and when you post your work onsites like Deviantart or Artician you can add your link insidethe design aswell with the link of your personal site if you

have one. Its possible you need to lower the opacity of thetech interface brushes. As you can see in the nal image thetechy brushes on the side are lower opacity then the brushunderneath the render. I have done this since the middle of the design is brighter then the rest. Tech Interface Brushes:http://z-design.deviantart.com/

by Dario van Zundert

http://z-design.deviantart.com/

http://z-design.deviantart.com/



.psd Photoshop

E d i t o r

’ s C

h o i c

e

B r a n d N

u



33.psd Photoshop



34 .psd Photoshop

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35.psd Photoshop



beauty retouch

36 .psd Photoshop

2.Editing discolorationUsing a soft round brush, sample a general surface area (pressing [ Alt] + [Left click]).For portraits, be sure to sample a clean area of the skin. Using this color with a 10%opacity brush and on a new layer, lightly adjust any skin discoloration by paintingover few areas needing it. This step is meant to be subtle, do not heavily paint overany surface area. The detail below the layer should still show through.

When complete, the image with editing areas may appear at. To add some real-istic skin noise, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Settings may vary depending on yourimage size. For the example shown, the settings used were 2.5% for the amount, withUniform checked. Leave Monochromatic unchecked for the most realistic look. Add

just enough noise to add some rough pixels to your freshly painted layer.

3.Softening the skinTo add a soften effect to the skin, select the entire canvas ([Ctrl] + [ A]) and copy mergedvia [Ctrl] + [ Shift] + [C] or under the edit tab > copy merged. Paste your new copy on topof all of your layers. Add a soft blur by Filter > Gaussian Blur and adjust the settings to anice soft blur with out losing too much detail in the edges. For the example images, the set-tings used were a radius of 3.2 pixels. Adjust the layer from the normal setting to Screen and turn down the layer opacity to 50%. Make a copy of this layer then change the newlayer from Screen to Darken. Bring the opacity to 100%. Group your two layers then add agroup layer mask by selection the group folder then clicking on the option at the bottom of your layers tab that says Add layer mask. Fill your mask with black to hide the layers in thegroup. Using the erase tool with a soft round brush and 10% opacity, gently erase the areasthat need to be smooth. To reveal areas make sure your foreground color is white. To hideyour foreground they need to be black.

PhotoMake Over

1.Fixing the blemishesTo start on the project, make a copy of the background.The copy will provide an extra layer to begin correctingblemishes using the patch tool. Using the blemish tool,select around a small area with a blemish then dragthe selected area to a near by 'clean' sample. To softenup the areas around the patch tool as well as hidesome extra hairs, create a new layer, then begin usingthe stamp tool at opacity of 10-25% with a soft roundbrush. Be sure to check the box that says “Sample:”and adjust it to Current & Below. This way, you will besampling from the layers below without drawing on the

layers themselves. Layers are your friends!Use the stamp tool, sampling from outside of the image, to correct any y away hairs. Again, dothis on its own layer for any future adjusting needed.For the purpose of organization, you can group all of your blemish editing layers into a group by pressingCtrl+Left clicking on each layer then, holding Shift,click on the folder at the bottom of your layers taband Create a new group.



photo make over

37.psd Photoshop

4.Creating the Make up

Eyeshadow Make another selection of your canvas and copy merged. Paste your new layers abovethe others and under lters go to Other > High Pass. This will sharpen the edges of your image, for the example image, the settings used were a radius of 2.8 pixels. Use acolor balance adjustment layer to adjust the color of your eyeshadow or desired makeup. Edit the brightness/darkness of the color by using the adjustment layer Levels.Again, group your new adjustment layers and high pass layer. Add a group mask andll with black. Using the eraser with a soft round brush and the opacity of 10%, with theforeground color white, begin coloring in the eyeshadow.

LipstickAdd a simple intensity to the lips by creating a new layer and lling it with a sample of the color from the skin. Adjust the layer from normal to “Multiply” and adjust the opac-ity to 75%. Use the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to adjust the color to your liking.Again, group your new adjustments and create a layer mask then ll with black. Erasein the area to colorize the lips.

Eyeliner/shadowingAdd a bit of eyeliner by simply using a brightness adjustment layer. Fill with black anderase the areas that need more eyeliner or a bit more shadowing.

5.Eye IntensityAdd a touch of a dramatic effect to the eye colorby adding a few adjustment layers. First, using thelevels adjustments, drag the white arrow to the left.The effect will brighten the image. Add just enoughbrightness to make the eye stand out. Fill withblack then erase to reveal the brightness to color of the eye only. Use the brightness adjustment layerto create a shadow around the eye color. Adjust theeye color using the color balance adjustment layer.

6.The Buttery EffectThe buttery was a bit desaturated and dull. Spiceup dull spots of your image using the Hue/Satura-

tion adjustment layer . Darken the the butteryand add contrast by using the Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer. Group the two adjustment layers,add a layer mask, ll with black and erase the areasthat need to be adjusted. In this case, erase thearea of the buttery.



beauty retouch

38 .psd Photoshop

7.LiquifySelect your entire document again and copy mergedand paste on top of your editing groups. Go to Filter > Liquify. This will open up a new window with dif-ferent tools that will allow you to edit and x anyimperfections. Use the forward warp tool (works likea push tool), pucker, and bloat for your edits. In theexample photo, the tip of her nose was shortenedand her lips were plumped. Slight adjustments tothe eyes to give a more sultry look.

8.LightingTo enhance the image add various lighting tech-niques. Using the levels adjustment layers to eitherdarken or brighten the image and adding masksto hide/reveal specic areas. Create a new Levelsadjustment layer for shadows and a separate Levelsadjustment layer for highlights. For shadows, con-centrate on where shadows naturally appear, underthe chin, in creases etc. Use the highlights layer to

show more detail in the hair and enhance naturallighting in the face.

9.ColorizeCreate a new layer and ll it with a slightly dark maroon color. Set the layer from normal toexclusion, then change the Fill opacity to 51%. Create a new Curvesadjustment layer. The de-fault setting is the RGB line. Click and drag the middle of the graph line slight upward. Switchfrom RGB to Red and again drag the line slightly upward the same way you did with the RGBline. Change from Red to Blue then click and drag the center of the line slightly downward.

Go back to your adjustment layers and create a Selective Color adjustment layer.Change the color settings as follows:

• Cyan: -100; Yellow: -57• Magenta: +7; Black: -23

And check the option Relative.



photo make over

39.psd Photoshop

10.The Rainbow Create a solid color ll with a soft blue color.Set the layer from normal to Soft Light withan opacity of 75%. Create another solid colorll with a orange color and set the layer fromnormal to Soft Light with an opacity of 75%and a ll opacity of 35%

Finally, create a Gradient ll layer. Thestyle should be Linear and be sure to adjustthe angle to 30.29, which will tilt the angleof the gradient. Click on the Gradient ll toopen the Gradient Editor . Here is where youcan choose your preset rainbow effect or if your are feeling creative adjust the colorsto your liking. For the example photo, theYellow, Violet, Orange, Blue gradient wasused. Adjust your gradient ll later fromnormal to Screen with an opacity of 75%.

11.Optional Finishing TouchAs a nishing touch to give the image some depth, use the gradi-ent tool with a black color, 50% opacity, and drag from the outsideof your photo slightly inward on a new layer above all the others.Drag inward just enough to create a slightly darken edge aroundthe image. Hold shift as you drag to assist you in creating a straight

gradient. Repeat this step until you have covered all four sides andyour photo is complete!

by Apple May



In this tutorial we will paint Neytiri using a simple technique of airbrushes and a lot of layers for ultimate control. I use the digital airbrush in Corel painter and differ my opacity accordingto what I'm doing. Increase the brush opacity when working on hair and details and soften itwhen shading and highlighting. This is a fast way to paint in stead of using liquid brushes intwo steps!

Neytiri

medium| 2-3 h.

corel painter | wacoom tablet



neytiri

41.psd Photoshop

Step 1Start with two layers, one with a backgroundcolour of your choice and then another layer withyour sketch on it. I add a base using a blue colour.It's better to use a light tint of blue than a darker

one since we're going to shade with darker blueslater on.

02

03

Step 2I start with the eyes since they're so much funand I've never gotten the thing with saving thebest for last... I add a base colour and then startadding different shades while watching myreference photo.

Step 3I add darker and darker tints and some highlights,they make the eye look more alive. Don't be afraidto use colour in the highlights. I used a lightorange and a light blue.



digital painting

42 .psd Photoshop

Step 4Add the eyelashes. I used black and I increasemy opacity value on my brush. I know add some

colour to the lips. There is a lot of lighting in thispicture so there are many different colours.

04

05

06

Step 5Go into the ner details I've used a darker colour toadd some creases on her lips. If you want darkertints you can use the multiply tool on your layerand start shading.

Step 6Add a yellow/orange colour for the lighting on herface. It does not need to be perfect or even, just sowe an see where the different colours go.



neytiri

43.psd Photoshop

Step 7If you are pleased with your features you can startshading! Create another layer beneath the layersyou used for the eyes and lips and use a darkerblue for some basic shades. I've also painted

the facial markings. I add turquoise to createa beautiful tint of blue on her face.

07

08

09

Step 8Keep working with darker and darker tints. I useA LOT of layers for this so I can have full controlif I want to change something. Paint your shadesusing the multiply tool on each layer and softenthe opacity if you think it gets too dark.

Step 9Use a light blue or turquoise to create shinyhighlights. remember to start big and ten move into the details.



digital painting

44 .psd Photoshop

Step 10Apply the same technique and paint her neckwhen you start feeling nished with her face.I often create new layers underneath the ones

I already have for this. (but always above the lightblue base colour of her face of course)

10

11

12

Step 11The same goes for the ears. Ten apply the littlesparklers on her face. Use a light blue or maybewhite. Soften the opacity of the layer if they feeltoo protruding. Here I've worked more on the earsand consider them done.

Step 12Add a black as the base for the hair. Increase yourbrush opacity and you'll have cleaner strokeswhen doing the little strands of hair.



neytiri

45.psd Photoshop

Step 13Work with different colours that match your

reference photo to create the strands of hairwhere the lighting is.

13

14

15

Step 14On your grey layer (or whichever colour you choseto have as your base) you start creating thebackground. Work with a soft brush opacity anda big circumference on your brush.

Step 15Turn off your layer with the sketch on it when youfeel you don't need it anymore. You can work moreon your background but I like to have it a bit softerand out of focus. And now we're done!

by Lina Eriksson



medium | 3 h.

adobe photoshop 7.0 | adobe CS4



digital art

47.psd Photoshop

STEP 1I recreated the individual features of the face

using the path tool. Each feature was put on

a separate layer. I do this because it’s easy to

select the individual part that I want to work on.

For example if I’m working on the mouth, I don’t

have to worry about an eyebrow being selected.

Basically working on individual layers give me

better control.

01

02

STEP 2In a new layer, I lay down the skin tones, using

a soft airbrush. Starting with a light colour, built

up colour intensity, adding a rosy colour to the

overall skin tone. I was always conscious of where

the highlights would be as they are a dominant

part of the nished image.

Digital Art Air Brush

PortraitBlurb: This is a tutorial on how to create a digitally airbrushed portraitin Photoshop. The step-by-step description will help you create lifelike photorealistic portraits no matter who the subject is. I have used an L’Orealmodel as reference because I enjoy the challenge of creating real looking hair and skin tones, but what sold me on this were the modelsmesmerizing eyes.



workshop

48 .psd Photoshop

STEP 4 – HAIR – LIGHTSBeing on individual layers gives me absolute control on the lling of each strand of hair. I closely followed the highlights visible in individual strands of hair. The

highlights were simply a lighter version of the blue-black background. I also used the smudge tool to get softer details for the hair around the ears, always using

the smudge tool in a circular movement away from the face. The blur tool was also used to soften the edges of the hairline.

04

03

STEP 3 – A FULL HEAD OF HAIRUsing a blue-black patch as a bottom layer, I created individual paths for individual strands of hair. Some strands were copied, displaced and pasted while

others were slightly more random. Too much uniformity would have given a robotic look, while too little uniformity would have detracted from the eyes of the

image. I used a lot of layers, many times having just a strand or two of hair on a single layer.



digital art

49.psd Photoshop

06

STEP 6 – EYE CONTACT The iris and pupil were simple circular lls with highlights of white dropped in. Moving around the individual layers put the eye in perspective, as did the

shading of the eyelids. The smudge and blur tools were very useful here as they allowed me to create a realistic depth and softened the otherwise harsh

lines that would have ruined the eye.

05

STEP 5 – EYE MAGIC Working down from the bone ridge above the eyes, I created eyelashes using the patch tool. Again using the path tool I created the eyebrow and

slightly above the ridge. I used differe



workshop

50 .psd Photoshop

STEP 7 – NOSE FOR EXCELLENCE The nose was a pretty simple airbrush job. A couple of tips would be to keep in mind your light source and blend in the darker shades with the light. I made

extensive use of the burn and smudge tools here to tweak the nose so that the shadow and light areas were as close to the original as I could make them.

07

08

STEP 8 – EAR EARAfter selecting the ear layer, I airbrushed in the skin tones. Using the burn and blur tools I got the depth of the ear spending time on the ridges of the ear.

I also used the blur tool to seamlessly marry the ear onto the face, at the highlighted areas creating a smooth, edge free transition point.



digital art

51.psd Photoshop

STEP 10 – UP TO HER NECK The neck was a pretty straightforward airbrush job with special attention given to the highlights. Here I worked on one half of the neck and after

completion, reecting it on the other side, since humans are asymmetrical creatures, I distorted the reected layer very slightly.

10

09

STEP 9 – LOTUS LIPS

To create realistic lips with an airbrush is impossible. Real lips have the soft texture of a lotus petal. After laying down the Air brushed background forthe lips, I created multiple paths coloring each path individually to achieve the realism that I was after.



workshop

52 .psd Photoshop

STEP 11 – THE COMPLETED PORTRAIT I am never satised with my work in the sense that I could go on touching it up forever. Using the blur and dodge, burn and smudge tools, I went over every

part of the image darkening some areas, lightening others and generally smoothing everything out. While the changes I make were subtle, I think that they

contribute to the overall quality of the image.

by Bandula Samarasekera

11



5302/2008

contributing writers

Lina Eriksson

I’m a 22 year old from Sweden who loves to paint, especially

when I started doing it on the computer. Messing with sticky oil

colours has never been my thing. I’ve been painting more or less

since I was 17 but it wasn’t until 3 years ago when I started to

use the comp and corel painter to draw that I was hooked. So I

am still quite a noob and learn new things everyday!

When I’m not painting I study Digital Media Design at a university

and I hope I can use my interest in a future occupation.

Editor in Chief:

Marta Kobus [email protected]

Executive Editor:

Ewa Samulska [email protected]

Copy Editor: Ed Werzyn, Robert Coppa

Art Director: Agnieszka Marchocka

DTP: Ireneusz Pogroszewski, Przemysław Banasiewicz

Art Executive Manager: Ireneusz Pwogroszewski

Senior Consultant/Publisher/President:

Paweł MarciniakManaging Director:

Ewa Łozowicka

Marketing Director:

Marta Kobus [email protected]

Executive Ad Consultant:

Ewa Samulska [email protected]

Production Director:

Andrzej Kuca [email protected]

Postal address:

Publisher: Software Pr ess Sp.z.o.o SK

02-682 Warszawa, ul. Bokserska 1

worldwide publishing

www.psdmag.org/en

All trade marks presented in the magazine were used only for

informative purposes. All rights to trade marks presented in the

magazine are reserved by the companies which own them.

Mathematical formulas created by Design Science MathType™.

The editors use automatic DTP system Editorial contributions should be sent to:

[email protected]

Customer Ser vice +1 917 338 3631

The Software Press Sp.z.o.o SK works individually from Adobe. The

psd Photoshop team reserves the right not to be responsible for the

topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of the information

provided by contributors.

Laura Ferreira

I am 25 years old and live in Trinidad and Tobago. I have been

working as a freelance photographer and digital artist for

the past three years. My style tends to be a bit of surrealism

and fantasy. I love building concepts and ideas and seeing

them come to life. I have worked with various musicians, lm

companies and fashion brands.

c o v e r a r t i s t

Luis Afonso

Luis Afonso is self-taught digital artist. He’s 17 and he’s basedon Ovar, Portugal. He doesn’t have a preferred style yet. Helikes to do a bit of everything. This whole world of digital artis still recent to him, so he’s still evolving, learning techniquesand experiment a lot. You can check more of his work at:http://shadowtuga.deviantart.com

http://cargocollective.com/shadowtuga

Márcia Gaudêncio

Márcia Gaudêncio, born in 1987 in Lisbon, Portugal, is aGraphic Designer, Illustrator, Toy Maker and overall, anenthusiast towards almost every kind of arts. After studyingGraphic Arts in Coimbra, the city where she lived most of herlife, she moved back to Lisbon where she worked for 3 yearsas a Freelance Graphic Designer. Recently, she moved backto Coimbra where she is taking now a Degree in MultimediaDesign and is developing her personal project, Kriture. Moreinfo available at www.kriture.com

Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen

I’m 27 year old self-taught graphic designer and illustratorfrom Finland. I’ve always loved drawing and creating imagesfor myself and others to view. About 5 years ago I found outhow amazing tool Photoshop is and started playing with it.After couple years I suddenly realized my digital hobby had

turned into my profession. I worked almost 2 years as a full-time freelancer doing client jobs internationally but nowadaysI’m working from my home ofce in Helsinki, Finland in aGermany based multimedia agency Powerasher GmbH(www.powerfasher.com) as a graphic designer.www.ouwenz.com

Dario van Zundert

Started working with photoshop and cinema4d about littleover 10 years ago. Started out as a hobbie after seeyingsomebody making the coolest things. After searching theinternet for communities who could help me guring outphotoshop i came across some people on 2 communities whohelped me out. Tutorials were always bad quality so startedto teach myself everything. After some time friends aroundme asked me to make yers forum tags businesscards andthat slowly evolved to making websites for small businessesand doing fun things on the side like making such piecesas you see in this tutorial. Always exploring to nd newtechniques and effects because it doesn’t matter how longyou work with the programs you will always nd something

new. http://www.shiver09.com

Special thanks to Apple May

Bandula Samarasekera

I was born in Sri Lanka, having spent almost two decadesworking as an illustrator, digital airbrush artist, re-toucherand character designer with well known Internationaladvertising Agencies, design agencies in Asia and MiddleEast. Currently I’m working for Intermarkets Bahrain.www.bcomart.com

http://shadowtuga.deviantart.com/


http://www.shiver09.com/

http://www.shiver09.com/


http://shadowtuga.deviantart.com/



book review

54 .psd Photoshop

Creativity, Colours

and Cut through book #THREE by Brand Nu

An eclectic collection of commercial and experimental work,

Book #THREE is a visual tour of the use of creative re-touching,

vector illustration and art direction inspires and transforms

everything from leading world brands to inanimate objects.

Highlights include the distinctive re-brand of the London Film

Museum, Blossom Hill at Wimbledon, trend setting ad illustrations

for ACER’s 3D laptop range as well as a striking summer campaign

for the prestigious QV, Melbourne Australia.

Every page of the book tells a different story in vibrant colours

and cleverly laid out compositions. It’s obvious this artist is on

a mission to keep step ahead from his contemporaries by thinking

out new concepts, new ways how to use Adobe Photoshop and

overall bringing to your attention new ways how to use the world

The latest publication of work by Radim Malinic, London based creativerenowned worldwide under the label Brand Nu.



creativity, colours and cut through

55.psd Photoshop

renowned software.It is also refreshing to read how each piece

was made and even to learn the idea behind each project. Brand Nu

serves oversized portion of creative nesse which has earned him

forefront position within the creative eld today.

The main intention for Book #THREE to give inspiration to

all, from household names to niche businesses and upcomingdesigners alike, work is demonstrated across a range of media

including outdoor posters, to magazine covers and online.

A collection of work created over the last 18 months, Book

#THREE is an exciting portrait of the mature artist Brand Nu has

become - able to transform any image, product or campaign, with

uid beauty, raw edge and vibrant colour.

The book also contains several self-initiated experiments,

unpublished elsewhere, which show the passion and excitement

that Brand Nu applies to seeking new techniques to add to his ever

expanding creative arsenal.A limited edition of 1,000 copies, #Book THREE is now available

frombrandnu.co.uk for £11.99

by .psd Photoshop Team



software review

56 .psd Photoshop

1. It offers 14 Lighting effects, 5 Shading effects and 8 Ambiencemodiers for a total of 27 effects that may be combined and blendedto provide some spectacular results. Add to these over 120 presetsand you have a recipe for hours of play time.

Two of my favourite effects are Light Beams and Light in theDark. They provide a high degree of control over light projections

and if offers over 40 different Beam styles within Light Beams alone.Most of the Lighting effects provide a control to dene the colour of the light either in solid form or as a gradient. Users can dene andsave their own colour palettes and load them for use on similarimages. Each light beam parameter includes spread, fade out andsoftness. These sliders provide accurate tuning of the beam and theT-Path control allows the user to dene not only beam directionalitybut also position, width and intensity. Each T-Path has its own set of parameters and atmospheric controls.

A useful control employed by the directional light effects isthe Light Blocker control. It is dened by dragging a line across thescreen. It is 1 dimensional but can provide a very effective meansof light obscuration. Combined with its opacity slider users cansimulate light blocking on a at image.

To round off the parameter controls there are 22 atmospheric

effects to choose from. Users can select a preset and then modify tosuit the particular application for the image.Another favourite of mine is the Ethereal Effects in the Ambience

group. The effect can be applied either as a Soft Cast or a Light Cast.I prefer the Light Cast. Using this option I am able to dene directionand therefore have more control over the look and feel of the image.Using the Brush on/off controls I can simulate rudimentary masks.

AutoFX

Common InterfaceAs stated previously, the plugin instantiation of the applicationdisplays a consistent interface that can also be used in thestandalone version. It is, thankfully, compact, clean and concise.There is a left sidebar where users can dene parameters for theselected effect. The effects are selected from the dropdown boxusing yout menus. One feature I would have appreciated is theability to set my own color for the sidebar, palettes and pictureviewing area, and the ability to change the font style to a non boldvalue would denitely get two thumbs up from me. The Layersand Brush palettes are easy to use and understand, they are non-dockable but can easily be moved out of the way; the application

remembers the last position so there is no need to move them fromsession to session.A helpful feature is the memory dots dial. It Lets users take

snapshots of work in progress. These serve as save points thatthey can return to without losing the work previously done. If a useris uncertain of what a particular control will do, the applicationoffers two level of help on all controls ( brush on/off, lasso etc ) andeffects. When the mouse hovers over the control for 2 secs a shortdescription is displayed, holding it still for another 2 sec will displayan extended explanation of the tool.

Mystical FocusThe Mystical Focus application/plugin provides a total of 9 FocalEffects, 6 Atmospheric Effects and a masking layer capability.That is a lot of blurring options that users can select from. In

addition to these start-from-scratch effects, users can selectfrom 45 Focal Effects Presets and 22 Atmospheric EffectsPresets. The Preset dialog provide a large size sample of eachpreset and when the user hovers the mouse over a specificpreset it shows the original picture, providing an effectiveBefore-After facility.

It is worth mentioning that the Preset dialog is shared by theother applications, again providing a consistent look and feel to theproduct.

The Focal effects provide good overall blurring and realistsimulations of bokeh and DOF ( Depth of Field ). The applicationprovides for an easy means to quickly create blurring effects andby using the default brush, planer and lasso tools novice users canquickly produce dramatic results.

The addition of Atmospheric effects within this application/

plugin can further improve the nal look of the image. It addsstylized air quickly and easily. My personal favourites are theHighlight Smear and Specular Highlights effects.

Mystical Lighting and Ambience 2This new version of Mystical Lighting and Ambience looks and feelvery solid and is, in my opinion, a marked improvement from version

AutoFX’s Mystical Suite is a collection of three applications/plugins thatshare a common interface and allow interoperability between MysticalFocus, Mystical Lighting and Ambiance 2.0 and Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0. The applications can run standalone or within Photoshop as a plugin. As a photographer well versed with Photoshop I opted to explore the plugininstance rst. The plugin is invoked from the lter’s menu in Photoshop andcan be applied to any non-empty layer.



autofx

57.psd Photoshop

Although the two Flares Effects provide over 50 presets combined

I was expecting the ability to create effective obscuration masks, thiswould enable me to simulate a Flare behind a building scene, whereonly part of the are is visible. I was unable to do this effectivelywith the Brush on/off controls. This point aside Mystical Lighting andAmbience provide a wealth of effects and presets that will allow users,both novice and savvy, to quickly create fabulous images.

Mystical Tint Tone and Color If users were impressed with the abundance of effects and presetsoffered by the previous two applications/plugins, they will be to betotally blown away by what Mystical Tint Tone and Color offers - 60effects with 300 presets – incredible value !

Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 includes a variety of valuablePortrait Filters that can improve skin color, minimize skin blemishesand wrinkles, enhance eyes, lips and hair and the ability to reshape

facial features. As with the Liquify control in Photoshop, a userneeds to exercise control and only make believable changes, asthere are no real constraining parameters. On the ip side however,it can generate interesting caricatures. Try it yourself ...

The application features easy to use Color, Tinting and Tonaleffects which require minimal tweaking to provide dramatic andbeautiful results very quickly. The new lens effects can effectivelysimulate graduated lters and polarizers. I found these to beparticularly useful in some of the photographs that I used in myevaluation. They are quick to apply and provide the desired effect

with minimal tweaking. The Sharpening lters provide good image

detail and clarity; on par with more traditional lters available inPhotoshop.

DocumentationDocumentation is available from AutoFX website either online viahtml or as a downloadable PDF le. This documentation is sparse atonly 26 pages for all three applications. The documentation relatesmore to workow and high level concepts. Effects and presets arenot discussed in detail. However, AutoFX has done an excellent jobof proving embedded help within the application. Every effect andevery parameter tweakable under that effect has associated help.This help can be reached by hovering the mouse over the control, asexplained earlier.

Shortcomings

As with all software there are limitations. The new Mystical Suiteof application currently only operates in the RGB color space. Thismay be an issue for those photographers/graphic artists that preferworking solely in other professional color spaces ( eg. CMYK, LabColor,etc ).

ConclusionAutoFX has delivered a comprehensive and feature rich suite of applications/plugin in Mystical Suite. It boast over 100 effects with inexcess of 400 presets. If its effects are used judiciously and userstake advantage of its blending and masking facilities, Mystical Suitecan yield magnicent images. Mystical Suite will provide the noviceand more savvy users hours of exploration time and a completearsenal of tools that can dramatically enhance images.

A nal word of caution however, to achieve great results one

must start with the best possible image. Don’t except to feedMystical Suite a terribly focused photograph and expect it tosharpen it perfectly. And remember, as always is the case in photo-retouching, less is more and a light hand will go a long way.

by Robert Coppa

www.je-photo.com

www.facebook.com/robert.coppa

www.twitter.com/robertxc



review

58 .psd Photoshop

Aluminum Metal Case for HTC HD2 Leo T8585 - Open Screen Design(Silver)

Luxury Silicone RangeThe most recent addition to their signature cases, the luxury silicone

line, is engineered to give better protection by providing a thicker

layer of silicone; its signature imprint will also hold the cases’ shape

better, keeping it lint and dust free.

Luxury Silicone Case for HTC Google Nexus One (Black) by PDair

Luxury Silicone Case for HTC HD2 Leo T8585 (Red) by PDair

About PDair PDair has been a well established mobile phone accessories provider

since 2002, specializing on luxury leather cases and aluminum

cases for mobile phones and mobile devices. Through years of

innovating designs and continuous improvements to their signature

cases, PDair has managed to keep up the pace with the growth of

the smartphone market, providing a wide range of stylish protection

for mobile phones, reaching the biggest range of users all over the

world.PDair aims to provide the highest quality mobile protections not

only at a fair price, but also reaching every corner of the world with

no extra shipping charges. The work force of 300+ is fully dedicated

to ensure the highest of quality reaches every happy shopper.

Every step is carefully monitored from material sourcing, design

and manufacturing, ensuring only the best qualied products are

shipped from the warehouse.

PDair has recently released a series of qualitycases for the latest range of smartphones.Leather cases are carefully designed and hand-

made with the nest genuine cowhide leather to give maximum style, protection and usability.

Leather RangeLeather Case for Nokia N900 - Book Type (Black)

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Leather Case for Motorola Milestone A855 - Book Type (Black/ Crocodile Pattern)

Aluminum RangeThe aluminum range is carefully catered for those who are looking

for the most stylish, yet the strongest protection to their newly

acquired smartphone.

Aluminum Metal Case for Motorola Droid - Open Screen Design(Black)



http://www.pdair.com/



http://www.apc.com/

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