Title: Creative Compositing Part 3
1PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Creative Compositing - Part 3
Nick Rumbelow - April 2002
2Table of Contents
3The Final Result
Fig.1 The Completed Composition
1
4Section 1
Introduction
5Introduction
Objectives
- Continuing with the Creative Compositing series,
The Escape helps you learn how PhotoShop 6.0
can be used creatively and effectively in our
work in Creative Services at Morgan Stanley. - The series takes an immersive approach,
throwing you in at the deep end, with detailed
explanations of whats happening, why its
happening, and how to deal with it. The Tools are
explained as they are being used, which allows
PhotoShop to reveal its secrets sooner, and you
can begin to enjoy discovering your creative
potential. - By guiding you through the production of creative
compositions, these tutorials aim to provide you
with enough experience to anticipate some of the
issues you may face in your work, and the
confidence to experiment and understand the
results of what you do. - But most of all, it is hoped that you will enjoy
using the software, and not be held back by
considering anything to be beyond you. Although
PhotoShop may appear daunting at first, once you
understand a few simple concepts about how
graphics are produced, it is a very easy
application to use. If you can imagine it,
theres a way of creating it in PhotoShop, just
experiment. - In this tutorial, the focus is on creating
photo-realism. It may sound obvious, but the
truth is that to be able produce convincing
results, you must first learn how to look! Dont
be held back by self-doubt - experiment,
experiment, experiment. - The pace of this tutorial is a little faster than
the others, so to help keep things clear, styles
of text in this tutorial indicate the following - Bold, black Arial Instructions
- Bold, blue Arial Menu items, options or tools
- Bold, red Arial Settings or selections
- Times New Roman Theory
- Italic Times New Roman Illustrations
2
6Introduction
Topics Covered
- Palette Well
- Custom patterns
- Define Pattern
- Seamless Patterns
- Offset Filter
- Clone Stamp Tool
- Clouds Filter
- Add Noise Filter
- Define Brush
- Hue/Saturation
- Units and Ruler Preferences
- Guides
- Actions
- Mosaic Filter
- Shear Filter
- Transform Selection
- Colour Balance
- Bevel Emboss Style
- Layer Mask
- Perspective
- Gradients
- Snapshots
- Bas Relief Filter
- Colour Channels
- Texture Channel
- Lighting Effects
- Focal Depth
- Shadows
- Pen Tools
- Alpha Channels
3
7Section 2
The Wall
8The Wall
Getting Started
1 The Plan
2 Create a New Document
- First, youre going to build the wall with bricks
- Cover it with plaster
- Hang the wallpaper
- Create the frame
- Paint the picture
- Tear away some of the wallpaper
- Hack away some of the plaster
- Distort some wallpaper as though the wall is
uneven - Bring it all together by creating some lighting
effects
- To create the image at the correct dimensions to
fit a PH1 placeholder - Open a new image using the following settings
(Fig. 2) - Width 17.42 cm
- Height 11.20 cm
- Resolution 300 dpi
- Mode RGB Colour
- Contents White
-
3 The Bricks
Fig. 2 New Image
- Leaving the Background layer blank, create a new
layer and name it Bricks - As well as filling an area with colour, you can
also fill with a pre-defined repeating tile
pattern. But first you need to define the pattern
you want to use - Open the file S\Training Department\Staff
Personal Training\PS Training - The Escape\Escape
Files\Bricks.jpg (Fig. 3)
4
9The Wall
Repeating Tile Pattern
Fig. 3 Bricks.jpg
4 Define a Custom Pattern
- Select All by pressing CtrlA
- Select Edit gt Define Pattern
- Accept the default name for the pattern and click
OK - The contents of the selection have now been
copied into a store of patterns, which will
always be available as a fill until it is
deleted. - Switch back to the composition and make sure the
Bricks layer is still selected - Select Edit gt Fill (ShiftF5)
- Set the Contents to Use Pattern (Fig. 4).
- The Custom Pattern option becomes active
- From the Custom Pattern drop-down list, select
the brick pattern you just created - Choose Normal for the Blending Mode, and set the
Opacity to 100 - Click OK
- The image fills with the brick pattern, but it
doesnt look natural because it is a repeating
tile and you can see the edges of the pattern
tiles where they join. The pattern is not
seamless.
Fig. 4 Fill Patterns
5
10The Wall
Offset the Edges
5 The Offset Filter
Fig. 5 The Offset Filter
- Go back to the Bricks.jpg
- To solve the problem, you will shift the top and
left edges of brick into the centre of the
pattern, and get the bottom and right edges to be
shifted out of the pattern and wrapped back to
replace the top and left edges - Select Image gt Image Size
- You need to note the pixel dimensions, in this
case 400 x 450 pixels - Click Cancel
- Now select Filter gt Other gt Offset (Fig. 5)
- You need the edges to offset half the patterns
width and height - Set the Horizontal edges to be shifted 200 pixels
to the right - Set the Vertical edges to shift 225 pixels down
- The Undefined Areas should be set to Wrap Around
- Click OK
Fig. 6 The Offset Bricks
6
11The Wall
Hide the Seams
Fig. 7 The Clone Stamp Tool
6 The Clone Stamp Tool
- So now the seams have moved away from the edges,
into the centre, where you can edit them (Fig.
6). You will subtly clone from different areas of
brick and paint over the seams - Select the Clone Stamp Tool (Fig. 7)
- Choose a 21-pixel brush set at 0 Hardness (100
feathered) - In the Clone Stamp Options at the top of the
screen, set the Mode to Normal, and the Opacity
to 50 - Select Aligned
- This means that the point you are sampling from
will follow relative to your cursor movements. If
this option was not checked, you would keep on
sampling from the same place, which can make it
look very obvious that you have been cloning - You want to sample from this layer only, so keep
Use All Layers unchecked
7
12The Wall
Seamless Tile
7 Cloning
Fig. 8 The Edited Bricks as a Seamless Tile
- To set the point from which you wish to sample
first, hold the Alt key down - Notice the cursor has changed into a stamp icon.
This indicates that the sample point can be set - With the Alt key still held down, left-click to
one side of the seam you are about to cover - Let go of the Alt key, move the cursor over the
seam, and left-click a few times - Whenever you click, the seam is replaced with the
area sampled - Sample the brickwork from the other side of the
seam, and continue to cover it - For the best, least noticeable effect, keep
changing the sample point, and just dab with
mouse, rather than painting in long strokes - Eventually all the seams will have vanished (Fig.
8) - Select All again (CtrlA), and define the pattern
once more (Edit gt Define Pattern) - Accept the default name again
- Close Bricks.jpg without saving
- Now swap back to the composition
- Press ShiftF5 to open the Fill dialog box (Edit
gt Fill) - This time, when you pull-down the Custom Pattern
menu, a second brick pattern has appeared. New
patterns are always added top to bottom, left to
right
8 Adding Deleting Custom Patterns
- Delete the old pattern (the one on the left) by
right-clicking it and selecting Delete Pattern - Select the new brick pattern, and keep the other
settings as before - Click OK
- Now the bricks are seamless, and the wall is
filled more convincingly (Fig. 9) - Save your composition
8
13The Wall
The Edited Brick Wall
Fig. 9 The Brick Wall
9
14The Wall
Plastering
9 Plaster Mixture
Fig. 10 Add Noise to the Plaster
- You can display the names of the colours in the
Swatches palette by clicking the little arrow at
the top-left of the palette to show the Swatch
Options, and then selecting Small List
- Create a new layer above the bricks, and name it
Plaster - For this, you will basically create a grey layer
with some noise in the tones. Think of graphic
noise as visual white noise, like a random
disturbance. The best starting point for getting
some natural variations in the tone is to
generate some clouds - Choose 15 Grey as the Foreground colour from the
Swatches palette by left-clicking the colour - Hovering the cursor over the colour swatch will
reveal its name - Set the Background colour to 40 Grey by holding
Alt while you left-click the colour - Select Filter gt Render gt Clouds
- Repeat the filter (CtrlF) until you are happy
with the balance of tones - Add some grain to the texture, by selecting
Filter gt Noise gt Add Noise - Use the settings as in Fig. 10
- Finally, blur the effect by selecting Filter gt
Blur gt Gaussian Blur, using a Radius of 4 Pixels - The texture should now look like Fig. 11
- You will come back to these two layers later, but
for now, hide them so that they do not interfere
with the next stage - Save your composition
10
15The Wall
The Plaster Texture
Fig. 11 The Plaster Texture
11
16Section 3
Decorating
17Decorating
Design the Wallpaper
10 The Plan
Fig. 12 Draw the Flowers
- As were too poor to buy our wallpaper, youre
going to design and make it yourself - You will draw a flower (or any other shape)
- Repeat and transform it
- Define it as a brush
- Paint more flowers
- Define the flowers as a pattern
- Fill the wall
11 Create a New Layer
- Create a new layer above the Plaster layer. Dont
worry about naming it, as it will be merged later - Set Black as the Foreground colour
- Draw the flowers leaves using a small feathered
Paintbrush, then use a slightly larger brush to
draw the petals (Fig. 12) - You dont have to draw flowers, you can create
whatever shape you like, even just a couple of
squiggles
12
18Decorating
Design the Wallpaper (contd)
Fig. 13 The Finished Flowers
12 Scale and Arrange
- Scale the flowers down to about a quarter of
their size, then move them out of the way so that
you can draw the next flower - Create another new layer and draw the other
flower in the same way - Scale this flower so that it is the same size as
the others - Arrange them all offset from each other as in
Fig. 13
13
19Decorating
Design the Wallpaper (contd)
Fig. 14 Scale Options
Reference Point Location
Use RelativePositioning
Horizontal Scale
Vertical Scale
Horizontal Skew
Horizontal PositionReference Point
Vertical PositionReference Point
Maintain Aspect Ratio
Set Rotation
Vertical Skew
13 Merge the Flower Layers
14 Define a New Brush
- Link the flower layers together, then merge them
into one and name it Wallpaper (Layer gt Merge
Linked) - Select Edit gt Transform gt Scale
- In the Transform Options at the top of the
screen, click the Maintain Aspect Ratio chain
icon to constrain the proportions (Fig. 14), then
set the Width Scale to 1cm and press Enter twice
- Now the flowers are ready to become a brush
- Zoom-in by drawing around the flowers using the
Magnifying Glass Tool - Use the Rectangle Marquee Select Tool to draw a
square selection over the flowers (Fig. 15) - If you begin to select, then hold the Shift key,
the selection will be constrained to a square - Select Edit gt Define Brush, and name the new
brush Flowers (Fig 16) - Deselect
14
20Decorating
Design the Wallpaper (contd)
15 Create the Wallpaper Pattern
Fig. 15 Preparing the Flower Brush
- You are now ready to use the new brush to create
a pattern - Create a new RGB Colour image, measuring 250 x
250 pixels at 300dpi, with the contents set to
White - Select the Paintbrush Tool
- From the Paintbrush Options at the top of the
screen, click the Brushes drop-down menu, and
select the Flowers brush from the bottom of the
list - Notice the brush is about a quarter the size of
the canvas - Choose four similar colours from the Swatches
palette as the Foreground colour, and stamp the
four flowers as in Fig. 17 - Select All by pressing CtrlA
- Select Edit gt Define Pattern, and also name the
new pattern Flowers - Close the new image without saving
Fig. 16 Defining the Brush
15
21Decorating
Create the Wallpaper
17 Adjust the Appearance
Fig. 17 The Flower Pattern
- If youre not happy with the over-all appearance
of your wallpaper, you can shift the colours - Later on, you will be applying Lighting Effects
to the wall, and much of the pattern might fade
into the shadows, so add definition to the
pattern by using Auto Contrast (Image gt Adjust gt
Auto Contrast) - Select Image gt Adjust gt Hue/Saturation (CtrlU)
- Adjust the Hue and Saturation sliders until you
are happy with the tones - Save the composition
16 Fill the Wall With Flowers
- In the developing composition, zoom-out again,
make sure the Wallpaper layer is active, then
select Edit gt Fill (ShiftF5) - From the Contents drop-down, choose Pattern, and
then select the Flowers from the Custom Pattern
menu - Make sure Blending is set to Normal, the Opacity
is set to 100, and Preserve Transparency is not
selected - Click OK
- The layer fills with the pattern, replacing the
original contents (Fig. 18)
16
22Decorating
The Finished Wallpaper
Fig. 18 The Wallpaper
17
23Section 4
The Frame
24The Frame
Setting-Up
Fig. 19 The Guides in Place
18 The Rulers and Guides
- With the wall built, now you can make the frame
- Create a new layer at the top of the palette
- Dont worry about the name yet, as it will be
merged with others later - The frame is going to measure 7.5 x 7.5cm, it
will be 0.5cm thick, and you will use guides to
set it up - If the Ruler is not visible along the left and
top edges of the screen, select View gt Show Ruler
(CrtlR) - Select Edit gt Preferences gt Units Ruler, and
make sure the Ruler Units are set to centimetres
before clicking OK - Zoom-in so that you can see half-centimetre marks
on the rulers - Select View gt Snap To and make sure Guides is
ticked - Select the Move Tool and drag a guide from the
vertical ruler, and set it at 5.5cm - Drag another guide from the vertical ruler, and
set it at 6cm - Drag two more guides, and set them at 12.5 and
13cm - Now drag four guides from the horizontal ruler
and set them at 2, 2.5, 9 and 9.5cm (Fig.20)
18
25The Frame
Build the Frame
19 Select the First Piece of the Frame
20 Actions
- Select the Rectangular Marquee Select Tool, and
from the Select Options at the top of the screen,
make sure Feather is set to 0px and the Style is
set to Normal - Select the rectangle that forms the bottom piece
of the frame (Fig. 20) - From the Swatches palette, select a Pale Brown
for the Foreground colour, and a Dark Brown for
the Background colour
- To create the wood effect on each piece, you will
need to perform the same actions four times.
Similar to using Macros in Microsoft Word, you
can record a series of actions to be repeated at
the click of a button by creating a new Action - If the Actions palette is not visible, select
Window gt Show Actions - From the bottom of the Actions palette, click the
Create New Action button, or click the Actions
Options arrow and select New Action (Fig. 21) - Name the new Action Wood, leave the other
settings as their defaults, and if it is not
already activated, click Record - Notice the Record button has turned red
- Select Filter gt Render gt Clouds
- Select Filter gt Noise gt Add Noise, using the
following settings - Amount 20
- Distribution Uniform
- Monochromatic On
- Select Filter gt Pixelate gt Mosaic, using a Cell
Size of 4 Square
Fig. 20 First Frame Selection
19
26The Frame
Build the Frame (contd)
Fig. 21 Actions Palette
21 Shear the Wood Texture
- Select Filter gt Distort gt Shear using the
settings as in Fig. 25 using the following
method - Position the bottom handle first (Fig. 22)
- Create a new handle by left-clicking on the line
where it is intersected by the first gridline.
Drag this handle to near the left edge of the box
(Fig. 23) - Click the line where it is intersected by the top
gridline to create another handle, and drag it
into position as in Fig. 24 - For the final handle, click the middle of the
line and drag upwards (Fig. 25) - Set the Undefined Areas to Wrap Around
- Click OK
- The speckled effect is now warped into a wood
grain pattern.
20
27The Frame
Shearing the Wood Texture
Fig. 22 First Shear Handle
Fig. 23 Second Shear Handle
Fig. 24 Third Shear Handle
Fig. 25 Fourth Shear Handle
21
28The Frame
Create the Other Pieces
Fig. 26 The Four Pieces of the Frame
22 Use the Wood Action
- Rather than just duplicating the layer, each
piece will be unique - Create another new layer
- With the Rectangular Marquee Select Tool still
selected, click inside the selection and the drag
it up so that it is above the piece you just
created (the wood pattern does not move, just the
selection) - To constrain the movement to a straight line,
start moving the selection first, then press and
hold Shift - Now the process will be repeated, so end the Wood
Action recording by clicking the Stop button
(Fig. 22) - To apply the Wood Action, click the Name in the
Actions palette to activate it, and then click
the Play button - Repeat this another two times, to make the four
pieces of the frame (Fig. 27) - Delete the last empty layer created by the Action
and Deselect
22
29The Frame
Create the Other Pieces (contd)
Fig. 27 The Pieces in Place
23 Reposition the Pieces
- Now to put the pieces together
- Select the layer containing the top piece, and
select Edit gt Transform gt Flip Horizontal - The grain now flows in the correct direction
- Select the Move Tool, and move the piece into
position at the top of the guides - Activate the next layer down, and select Edit gt
Transform gt Rotate 90o CW - Move this into position as the left piece
- For the next layer down, select Edit gt Transform
gt Rotate 90o CCW, and position it as the piece on
the right - The frame should now look like Fig. 27
23
30The Frame
Create the Other Pieces (contd)
Fig. 28 Cut the Mitre Joint With a 450 Selection
24 Mitre Joints
- Join the pieces by cutting them into mitre
joints - Select the layer containing the bottom of the
frame - Make this the only layer visible by holding Alt
while clicking the layers eye icon in the Layers
palette - Use the Rectangular Marquee Select Tool to make a
small square selection anywhere (hold the Shift
key) - This selection will become a cutting tool
- Choose Select gt Transform Selection, then holding
the Shift key, rotate the selection 45o, then
press Enter - With the Rectangular Marquee Select Tool still
active, move the selection into place as in Fig.
28(a), and press Delete - Move the selection to the other end of the frame
piece, and press Delete again as in Fig. 28(b) - Now for the next piece
- Activate the next layer above
- It becomes visible
- Hide the previous layer by clicking its eye icon
- Move the selection into place, and cut the corner
away by pressing Delete - Move the selection to the other end and cut that
corner too - Repeat this process for the remaining frame
pieces
(a)
(b)
24
31The Frame
Join the Pieces Together
25 Merge the Frame Layers
27 Bevel the Frame
- With all the pieces in place, you can now join
them together in one layer - Reveal all the layers (including the brick and
plaster) - If there are any gaps, just scale the piece so
that the piece fits the guides by snapping to
them - Link all the frame layers together
- Merge the linked layers by selecting Layer gt
Merge Linked (CtrlE) - Rename the layer Frame
- Hide the guides, they will not be required again
till later (CtrlH)
- Finally, bevel the frame by selecting Layer gt
Layer Style gt Bevel and Emboss - Use the following settings (Fig. 29)
- Style Inner Bevel
- Technique Smooth
- Depth 500
- Direction Up
- Size 10 px
- Soften 0 px
- Angle 120o
- Use Global Light On
- Altitude 30o
- Gloss Contour Linear
- Anti-aliased On
- Highlight Mode Screen (White)
- Highlight Opacity 75
- Shadow Mode Multiply (Black)
- Highlight Opacity 75
26 Adjust the Colour Balance
- Use the Auto Contrast function (CrtlAltShiftL)
to enhance the grain - What kind of wood would you like this to be?
- Select Image gt Adjust gt Colour Balance (CtrlB)
- By default, the Midtones are selected, and
Preserve Luminosity is on - Adjust the sliders to change the balance of
colours in the Midtones to however you want, then
do the same to the Shadows and Highlights - By adjusting the colour balance, you can make the
frame look like mahogany, rosewood, teak, oak or
pine, etc, you can even stain the wood your
favourite colour.
25
32The Frame
Bevel and Emboss Layer Style
Fig. 29 Bevel the Frame
26
33The Frame
Align the Frame to the Wallpaper
29 Save
28 Align the Frame
- When layers are aligned, the linked layers will
move to alignment with the active layer
- Your composition should now look like Fig. 31
- Save your work
- With the frame complete, all that remains is to
align it to the centre of the wall - Activate the Wallpaper layer
- Link it to the Frame layer, but keep the
Wallpaper layer active. When layers are aligned,
the linked layers will move to alignment with the
active layer - Select the Move Tool
- Use the buttons in the Move Tool Options at the
top of the screen to align the frame to the
centre of the wallpaper (Fig. 30) - Unlink the layers
-
Fig. 30 Layer Alignment Options
Align Vertical Centres
Align Left Edges
Align Right Edges
Distribute Vertical Centres
Distribute Left Edges
Distribute Right Edges
Distribute Horizontal Centres
Align Top Edges
Align BottomEdges
Align HorizontalCentres
Distribute Top Edges
Distribute Bottom Edges
27
34The Frame
Complete the Frame
Fig. 31 The Completed Frame
28
35Section 5
The Sunset
36The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Setting the Sun
29
37The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Setting the Sun (contd)
Start Opacity Stop
End Opacity Stop
Start Colour Stop
End Colour Stop
Middle Colour Stop
Midpoint Controller
Stop Settings
30
38The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Setting the Sun (contd)
31
39The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Layer Masks
Layer Mask Selected Indicator
Layer Mask
32
40The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Snapshot vs. History
- It is strongly advised to take regular snapshots,
as the History palette is limited
Snapshot
Create New DocumentFrom Current State
Create New Snapshot
33
41The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Hide All vs. Reveal All
34
42- The Sea texture was discovered by experimenting
with all the filters
35
43The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Creating Distance
Delete These Areas
36
44The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Create the Sun
- Lens flares are discussed in detail in Creative
Compositing Part 2 - The Forest
37
45The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Create the Sun (contd)
38
46The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Colour Channels vs. Alpha Channels
- Alpha Channels are greyscale representations of
saved selections
Colour Channels
Load Channel As Selection
Alpha Channel
39
47The Sunset
Separated Colour Channels
Fig. 42 Red, Green Blue Channels Together
Fig. 43 Red Channel
Fig. 44 Green Channel
Fig. 45 Blue Channel
40
48The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Lighting Through a Texture Channel
- Texture Channels emboss Lighting Effects through
Colour or Alpha Channels
41
49The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Lighting Effects
Light Colour Swatch
Light Position/ Direction
Ambience Colour Swatch
Texture Channel
42
50The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Create Focal Depth
43
51The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Different Types of Shadows
44
52The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Casting a Perspective Shadow
45
53The Sunset
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Casting a Perspective Shadow (contd)
46
54PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Section 6
Finishing Touches
55Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Creating Paths
47
56Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Creating Paths (contd)
48
57Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Vandalism
Load Path as Selection
49
58Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Torn Wallpaper
50
59Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Attention to Detail
Smudge Tool
51
60Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Attention to Detail (contd)
52
61Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Unify With Lighting
53
62Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Unify With Lighting (contd)
54
63Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Save for Web
55
64Finishing Touches
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
The Final Result
56
65PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Section 7
Summary
66Summary
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Summary
- Section 2 The Wall
- Plan for the end at the beginning
- You can define a selection to become the pattern
to fill an area by choosing Edit gt Define Pattern - To fill an area with a defined pattern choose
Pattern as the Contents in the Fill dialog box,
then select your custom pattern - To create a seamless tile for a custom pattern,
use the Offset filter to bring the edges of the
pattern into the centre, then use the Clone Stamp
Tool to cover the seam by sampling from nearby
areas - When using an Aligned Clone Stamp Tool, the point
you are sampling from will follow relative to
your cursor movements - An Un-aligned Clone Stamp Tool will sample from
the same point each time the left mouse button is
clicked - For the most natural cloning, paint by dabbing
with the brush at different opacities, rather
than with long strokes - You can display the names of the colours in the
Swatches palette by clicking the little arrow at
the top-left of the palette to show the Swatch
Options, and then selecting Small List - Hovering the cursor over an individual colour
swatch will also display its name - Section 3 Decorating
- Linked layers can be merged by selecting Layer gt
Merge Linked - Selecting Maintain Aspect Ratio in the Transform
Options will constrain the proportions when
scaling - To make a square selection, begin the selection
using the Rectangular Marquee Select Tool, then
hold the Shift key - To create a custom brush, make a square
selection, then choose Edit gt Define Brush. The
new brush now appears in the Brushes menu
57
67Summary
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Summary (contd)
- Section 4 The Frame
- To display the Rulers, select View gt Show Ruler
(CtrlR) - New Guides can be dragged from the Ruler
- To set the Ruler units, select Edit gt Preferences
gt Units Ruler - To snap selections to Guides, select View gt Snap
To and make sure Guides is ticked - A series of actions to be repeated, such as
filling selections and applying filters, can be
recorded using the Actions palette - Colour can be adjusted by selecting Image gt
Adjust gt Colour Balance (CtrlB) - When layers are aligned, the linked layers will
move to alignment with the active layer - Section 5 The Sunset
- Related layers can be grouped into Layer Sets
- When a Layer Mask is attached to a layer, the
layer remains untouched while the Mask hides or
reveals areas of it - Reveal All means the layer will remain visible,
while areas covered by the Layer Mask will be
hidden - Hide All would hide the layer, revealing only the
areas covered by the Mask - A Layer Mask appears in the Layers palette as an
extra thumbnail joined to the Layer to which it
is attached by a chain icon - Take regular Snapshots
- The Bas Relief filter creates an embossed effect
by raising white areas of a pattern, and
depressing dark areas and applying the Foreground
colour to them - Perspective can be applied to a layer or
selection by choosing Edit gt Transform gt
Perspective
58
68Summary
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Summary (contd)
- Create Lens Flares in their own layers
- Alpha Channels are greyscale representations of
saved selections - An RGB image contains three greyscale versions of
itself these are the Colour Channels. Each one
represents the distribution of one colour in the
image - A Channel is a Mask, or rather Masks are Channels
- The areas of a Channels colour are represented
by white, while the areas that do not contain
that Channels colour are represented by black. - Shades of grey represent a percentage of colour
present in that area - Selections can be saved by choosing Select gt Save
Selection. They are then stored as Alpha Channels
in the Channels palette - Selections can be loaded by either choosing
Select gt Load Selection, or by dragging the saved
selections Alpha Channel onto the Load Channel
As Selection icon in the Channels palette - Texture Channels emboss Lighting Effects through
Colour or Alpha Channels - Section 6 Finishing Touches
- The Pen Tools create versatile editable Paths
which can be converted into selections - To help achieve photo-realism make good use of
the focal tools, such as the Blur and Smudge
Tools, and the exposure tools such as Dodge, Burn
and Saturate - Lighting Effect help to unify the whole
composition
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69PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Section 8
Where to Go From Here?
70Where to Go From Here?
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Next
For further study, the following websites offer
PhotoShop tutorials, covering a wide range of
skills and special effects http//www.lynda.com
http//www.adobe.com/products/tips/photoshop.html
http//www.designsbymark.com/pstips/index.shtml
http//hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/design/graphi
cs/ http//www.art.uiuc.edu/workshop/photoshop/pho
to_tutor.html http//www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom
/photoshop.htm http//seurat.art.udel.edu/Site/Inf
oDocs/GIFToot/PhotoTut.html http//www.fur.com/al
mackey/tutorial http//www.magicpixel.com.au/html/
workwel.html http//phototrix.hypermart.net http/
/artlinks.home.att.net/tutlist.htm http//www.even
ing.demon.co.uk/articles.html
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71Where to Go From Here?
PhotoShop 6.0 - The Escape
Feedback(1)
- To help improve future tutorials, please use the
feedback form included in the same directory as
this tutorial to let me know what you think - Did you find this tutorial easy?
- Did it work?
- Are the instructions clear, are there areas which
are not explained well? - Is the theory clear, did you understand what you
were doing? - Was any information missing?
- What topics would you like to see included in
future tutorials?
- Note
- Samples of the authors PhotoShop work can be
viewed at www.implicateform./co.uk
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