Advanced' Photo Effects Tutorials

Before I begin, it is important to note that this is how *I* do it. It is not the only way, and probably not the best way, but it works for me. As with any graphics software, there are at least 5 different ways to arrive at the same end result. If there is something in this lesson that is different from how you may do it, that's fine, perhaps you can find some other valuable advice in this. Nothing is etched in stone. Use what you are comfortable with.

I am going to assume that you already have an idea of what you wanna
do. To me, there is nothing more frustrating than searching for an
image in the hopes it will spark an idea. It doesn't work for me.

So you have an idea...first stop, google images. Now it is very
important to start with a high resolution image. To do this, go
straight to Google Advanced Image Search and search out an image that is not copyrighted, or get the owner's permission. Remember that just because an image doesn't have the copyright symbol on it, doesn't mean that it's not copyrighted. Most famous classic art works are in the public domain.

http://images.google.com/advanced_image_search?hl=en

Where it says "Size" set the "Return images that are..." to VERY LARGE.

Key in your search, in this case "Drew Barrymore" and go! Now, an
important tidbit...when Googling for images, don't settle for the first
half-decent image you find! Typically, I like to collect at least 3 and
as many as 10 images I could possibly use for my image. Different
angles, different lighting, etc.

Here is the image I used...



Next stop...Bouguereau.

Ok, now we need some fine art images. 2 excellent sources...

http://sunsite.dk/cgfa/index.html

http://www.artrenewal.org/ ">http://www.artrenewal.org/


Here is a trick...keep an image of your celebrity (your best
candidate) open in one window while you browse thru the fine art. Look
for matching head angles first and foremost. Color can be adjusted,
angles are a bit tougher to adjust. Don't sweat it if the angle is in
the opposite direction, you can mirror the image later. Find a few fine
art images and save them.

The image I used...

Open your fine art image in Photoshop. Also, open up the preferred
face image that will match your fine art image. Using the rectangular
marquee tool, Place a rectangle around the celebrity's face. Don't
worry about being precise at this point, just make sure you have more
than you need in the rectangle.

Now, using the move command, drag the image over onto the fine art
image. Just get the image close to it's final destination.

Examine your layers window. You should have 2 - Background (the fine
art image) and Layer 1 (the face)

At this point, save your image in the .psd format. This will preserve
the layer structure. It is a good habit to save your work on a regular basis.
Machine lockup, Power failure or any other disturbance could cause
you to lose a bunch of work. Some people like to save the image under
different filenames each time so they can revert back to a specific period
in the development of the final image.

Look at the layers window. To manipulate a layer, you must first
hilite that layer by tagging it with your cursor. Now hilite Layer 1.

At the top of the layer window is the opacity control. It should read
100%. Hit the arrow to the right and move the slider that appears.
Watch the image as you do this. You should begin to see the image fade
away into the background. Choose a percentage that allows you to see
both the face and the background together.

Now we will align the images. With Layer 1 still hilited, select
EDIT>FREE TRANSFORM. A rectangle with circles in the corners and one in
the center will appear. You can move the layer by hitting inside the
rectangle and dragging it into place. You can rotate the layer by
hitting outside the rectangle, and spinning it. Notice it spins
about the circle in the middle of the rectangle. You can move the point
of rotation with your cursor. The next one is important... You can
scale the layer by hitting one of the corner circles and dragging it in
or out. NOTE: It is important to hold the shift key when you do this,
in order to keep the image proportionally correct.

Using the EDIT>FREE TRANSFORM command, align the face with the
background. I usually use the jawline and eyes as a guide.



After you have the images aligned as best as possible, slide the layer
opacity level back to 100%.

Next to the Layers feature, masking is the most wonderful feature in
Photoshop. It separates the men from the boys, and the veterans from
the newbies. We currently have a celebrity face aligned with a
fine art background. But there are a lot of extra pixels that must be
removed from the face image. Use the eraser, right?

NO!

Erasing is permanent. Masking is not. Suppose you are cleaning up the
edges of the face, and you remove a little too much cheek. But you do
not notice it right away. This happens. With erasing, it's quite
possible that you may not be able to get that cheek back easily, but
with masking, it's never gone, just hidden. Pixels can be hidden and
exposed easily, at any time.



Hilite Layer 1 on the layers window. Notice at the bottom of the
window, there is a button containing a rectangle with a circle in it.
This is the Add Layer Mask button. Hit it and watch what happens. Did
you see it? 3 things happened...

1) A white rectangle appeared to the right of the thumbnail for Layer
1 in the Layers window.
2) The little brush was replaced with a rectangle and circle to the
left of the thumbnail for Layer 1 in the Layers window.
3) The colors at the bottom of the main Tools palette changed to
black and white.



Select the brush command. With your foreground color set to black,
begin brushing the edges of the face image. Notice how the pixels
disappear. They are not being deleted, just hidden.

Now select the eraser command. Take the eraser over the area you just
edited. Notice how the pixels reappear.

Now, switch the foreground and background colors using the little
semicircle with the arrowheads on it.



With the foreground color now set to white, use the eraser on the
face image. Notice how the pixels disappear. Switch to the brush. Brush
the same area. The pixels reappear.

NOTE: When masking, a black brush hides pixels, a white brush
restores pixels. A black eraser restores pixels and a white eraser
hides them.

Now, using as large a brush as possible, clean up the area around the
face.

Some tips...

A feathered brush makes for a softer blend.

Brush opacity (not layer opacity) also helps to create a softer
blend, and prevents the dreaded appearance of a bad "cut and paste" job.

It may be easier at first to turn off the background so you can see
all of the pixels you want to remove. Do this by hitting the little eye
on the left side of the Background layer on the Layers window.

Also...avoid brushing the pixels with one long continuous brush stroke,
instead, use several small strokes, that way, an undo will not destroy too
much of the brushing that still may be good.

Here is how my Layer 1 looks when i am done...

This is the most difficult step for me to describe. Why? Because for
me it's all trial and error. The trick is to know what commands are
available, and what they do. It takes a lot of patience to get this
step right, and some people just don't have an eye for it. Unfortunately,
the color will make or break an image real quick.

The commands I use most (located under IMAGE>ADJUST):

Levels - Adjusts hilites and shadows.
Color Balance - Adjusts the mixture of colors in a color image.
Brightness/Contrast - Adjusts the tonal range of the image.
Hue/Saturation - Adjusts the hue, saturation, and lightness of
individual color components in an image.

What I recommend is to try each command and get a feel for how it
works, and what it does, and just wing it.

I highly recommend saving your image before you do this, in the event
you really mess up the color.

NOTE: Make sure you are not in mask mode when you do color matching.
To do this, hit the little thumbnail of the image in the Layers window.
This is how you switch from mask mode. Hit the mask thumbnail to return
to mask mode.

After you have finished masking and color matching, and are happy
with the results. Save the .psd file. DO NOT FLATTEN THE IMAGE OR MERGE
THE LAYERS! Also, save a copy in the .jpg format. This is the format
used to upload to the website.

But before you do that, a word of advice. Walk away from the image
for a while. Come back later and look it over. Sometimes a long session
of photoshopping can cause you to overlook obvious mistakes. Better
yet, have someone else review the image for you. There are plenty
of people around here that are happy to critique an image in a
constructive way. The chat room is full of them.

Then you can upload your image and watch it rocket to the top of the standings.

...unless I have an entry.


arsidubu@worth1000.com