TUTORIAL

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TUTORIAL

PHOTOSHOP CS

ADD ANOTHER
DIMENSION

Its relatively easy to spice up your photos in Photoshop. But how about taking it one step further? The key to
success is to x your colours and enhance them. That way youll be sure to achieve eye-catching results
ON THE CD
You will nd all the
les you need to
complete this tutorial
in the folder named
Tutorial\Photoshop

TIME LENGTH

1.5-2 hours
INFO
Chuck
Anderson,
who works
under the
name NoPattern, is a
freelance artist from
Chicago. He has
worked with dozens
of magazines and a
huge range of clients,
including Sony and
McDonalds. See
more of his work at
www.nopattern.com

Okay, so youve grasped the

techniques, but you need more than
that if youre to produce a range of original
eye-catching work. Dont underestimate
the power of composition or the
importance of balance.
This tutorial will teach you to create
stunning effects using glows, loads of
Colour Dodge, and lots and lots of neon
hot pinks and lemon yellows are prominent
here. Youll also learn how to utilise white
in all the right places, so that white areas
look less like negative space and more like
the result of added energy and light.
The finer details are very important, too.
The small glowing dots used throughout
this image may be small, but they add so
much. Always pay attention to detail in
anything you create simplicity is good
but there are always details that, when
added, make all the difference.
This tutorial stresses the importance of
strong colour. The background of this
piece contains a faint floral pattern, which
is key, but very subtle. It does not call your
attention or stand out on its own. Rather, it
serves its purpose as a background
correctly. In addition, another dimension is
added using flowers and scanned imagery,
giving the image a truly organic feel. So
keep in mind the importance of strong
colours and solid composition in all your
work and youll see instant results.

Open Model1.tif from the cover CD. Adjust

the Brightness/Contrast to -50 and +30,
respectively. Now go to Filter>Sharpen>
Sharpen to ensure that the whole image
appears as crisp as possible.

Create a new layer named Colour Fades.

Set the Blending style to Colour Burn.
Select the Path you made in step two and
click on Load Path as a Selection.

Using the Pen tool, draw an outline

around the girls body. Do not worry
about the ner details around the hair, but
do make sure that you outline inside the area
where her arms bend upwards. Save this
Path and label it Outline.

Now select a default circle-shaped

Brush with soft edges and make the
size roughly 550. Using bright pinks, yellows,
greens and blues, brush lightly on the girls
skin using single clicks to add subtle colour
to the shadows already present.

Photography by Paul&Paul
www.paulandpaul.co.uk
Illustration by Chuck Anderson
www.nopattern.com

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TUTORIAL

PHOTOSHOP CS

Make a new layer and label it Colour

Fades Background. Again, click on
Load Path as a Selection before choosing
Select>Inverse. Repeat step four, but add
the soft colour to the background, mostly
around the girls body.

11

12

Next, make a new layer and label it

Diagonal Lines. Using the Polygonal
selection tool, create diagonal lines going
from the middle of the left edge to the
middle of the top edge. Then, with the Brush
tool, paint inside using the same technique
as you did on the girl, using pink and yellow.

Using the same brush, make long

strokes across the girls body, working
from the bottom left to the top right to create
the wires/lines. Repeat this process until you
have dozens. You could change the size of the
brush to produce a thicker wire.

FOLDER IT
If you use the Pen tool
to outline a subject
within a photo, you can
add elements in front
of and behind the
subject to make your
design/illustration
appear as though its
part of the photo.
Outline the subject
with the Pen tool, then
choose Load Path as a
Selection in the Paths
palette and choose
Select>Inverse.
Create a new layer and
draw/paste into the
selected area. Your
design will then go on
to the background only.

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ART100.tutphoto 52

Open BackgroundDesign.tif from the

cover CD, Select All and Copy. Go back
to the main image, click on Load Path as a
Selection and then choose Select>Inverse
and then Edit>PasteInto. Rename this
layer Background Design.

Create a new layer and label it Stars,

Wires. Next, choose Layer>LayerStyle
>OuterGlow. Set the Blend mode to Colour
Dodge, the Opacity to 100 per cent, noise to
0 per cent, and use a solid pink colour
(#F19AC2). Ensure that Technique is set to
Softer, Spread to 0, and Size to 18.

Create a new layer named Wires

Behind. Select the Outline path,
click Load Path as a Selection and then
Select>Inverse. Use the technique used in
step 11 to make the wires again, only this
time you should make them behind the
subject. This adds dimension to the image.

Duplicate and move the Background

Design layer until you have enough to
ll the background. Then merge all of these
duplicated layers into one and again label
it Background Design. Finally, set the
Opacity to about 15-20 per cent whatever
looks good to you.

13
10

Choose a default soft edge circle

Brush with the Airbrush turned on at
or around size 12. Click randomly all over the
background to create a galaxy of stars. Try
clicking and holding to utilise the Airbrush
feature and create a larger star.

Open Design.tif from the cover CD,

Select All and then Copy. Paste this
into the main image and rotate it to t
accurately into the curve of her arm. Move
to her chest, and set the Layer to Screen.

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TUTORIAL

LAYER STYLE

14

Duplicate this Layer before choosing

Edit>Transform>FlipHorizontal.
Move the Layer to her left-hand side so that
it aligns correctly with the rst and, nally,
set this layer to Screen.

15

When you create a

new layer, you can
immediately set its
style. Take Outer
Glow, for example
everything done in that
Layer will obtain the
Outer Glow settings
you choose from the
start. When on a dark
or black background,
setting the Blending
mode in the Layer
style to Color Dodge
will provide you with a
vibrant, neon glow
the same style used
to give the glow effects
to the stars and wires
in this tutorial.

17

Open Fireworks.tif from the cover CD

and Copy and Paste it into the main
image. Set the Blending mode to Lighten,
the Brightness to -30 and the Contrast to
+30. Position the reworks near her ear.

20

Go back to the Stars, Wires layer,

right-click on it and select Copy Layer
Style. Create a new layer named Beauty.
Right-click this new Layer and choose Paste
Layer Style. Now, using the default soft-edge
Brush tool at size 10, write the word Beauty.

Open Flowers1.tif from the cover CD

and then Copy and Paste it into the
main image. Set the Blending mode to
Screen and place it on the left-hand side,
near her right arm, as shown.

18

Now open Flowers2.tif and again,

Copy and Paste into the main image.
Set the Blending mode to Screen. Move
these owers to the bottom-middle area
near the girls hip so that the stems follow
the curve of her body.

21

16

19

22

Duplicate that Layer. Next, choose

Edit>Transform>FlipHorizontal and
then Edit>Transform>Scale and make it a
little smaller, ensuring that you keep it in
proportion. Place this alongside her other arm.

Duplicate this Layer. Choose Edit>

Transform>Flip Horizontal and then
Edit>Transform>Scale and make the new
layer about one-third the size of the rst. To
balance the composition, place this on the
left-hand side, next to her other hip.

On the main Layer, the original photo,

use the Burn tool on the Shadows at
100 per cent and go over the girls face once
with a size 100 soft-edge Brush. This adds
great shadow and denition to her face.

Finally, atten the image so that you

have just one Layer and go to Image>
Adjustments>ColorBalance. Set Cyan to -50
to remove the hot colours and give it a crisper
feel. You can now adjust any of the other
colours until you reach your desired hues.

NEXT
ISSUE

UNDERWATER
A new technique
using water and
a colour printer

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