Tips For Working With Type In Photoshop CS2

Some Photoshop Font Preview Tips
Now that Photoshop has a nice font preview feature, you can get a glimpse of what your type faces look like right in your Character Palette menu. An extra nice touch is that the size of the font previews can be changed.

To do this choose Photoshop> Preferences> Type on the MAC. In Windows you'll find Preferences in the Edit Menu.

Ok, here are the power user shortcuts: Control-K (MAC: Command-K) brings you to Photoshop Prefs. Once there Control-9 (MAC: Command-9) will jump you to Type Prefs.

From there you'll find a new Type Preferences Dialog Box, and in it you'll see the option for three preview sizes: Small, Medium and Large. A tip here is that Small and Medium only change the size of the preview, but Large changes the size of the preview and the size of the font name as well.

Once you've made your selection click OK and samples of all of your fonts will now display on the right side of the Character palette menu in whatever size you selected. Try it out.

How To Turn Off Font Preview
In the Preferences dialog box choose Type and uncheck Font Preview Size, and the font preview will be turned off.

More Good Stuff
You'll also notice that beside each font there will be one of 3 symbols. A "TT" indicates a TrueType font, an "a" indicates a Postscript Type 1 font, and an "O" indicates an OpenType font.

Now here's another tip — when you scroll through the font list, if you have a lot of fonts (and who doesn't!) and you feel like it's taking forever to scroll through them, you can just hit one of the letters on your keyboard to jump to that section of your fonts. I also use this technique to quickly jump to the middle of my font list or to go right to the end, by simply hitting "M" or "Z" on the keyboard.

If you have a lot of fonts that start with the same letter, just type more letters from the name of the font for it to become selected. For example "my" will jump you instantly to Myriad.

For more precise control when browsing your fonts, you can also scroll through the list font-by-font by using your Up and Down keyboard arrow keys.

Use The Options Bar For Font Previewing
As an experiment, the next time you have the type tool selected, instead of choosing to view your font list through the Character Palette try using the Options Bar (the top bar that floats just below the menu) to view your fonts. No Options Bar showing? Make sure you have it selected to show by going to Menu> Window> Options.

On a big screen the Options Bar Menu gives me a much longer initial list and seems to be a little more speedy than the Character Palette Menu.

Making The Bounding Box For A Type Layer Visible
If you want to see the bounding box for a block of your text, simply select the Move Tool (V), click the type layer in the Layers Palette, and check Show Transform Controls in the Options Bar. Remember, this will only work if you have the Move Tool selected.

The other thing about this is that you can now start to scale interactively. Click a corner handle and drag to scale the height or the width. To keep the proportions of your scaling you have to Shift-drag a corner handle.

Change Type Orientation From The Palette
In the Layers palette just Right-click (MAC: Control-click) a type layer name and then choose the Horizontal or Vertical option from the menu that appears. If nothing changes, you're already in that orientation. I mention this because I sometimes get my vertical and my horizontal mixed up and accuse Photoshop of being stubborn before realizing my mistake.

Rasterize From The Palette Menu
You can now Right-click (MAC: Control-click) an editable type layer and then choose Rasterize Type from the menu that appears. Time-saver!

New Fast Warp Text Options
Select one of your editable type layers and Right-click (MAC: Control-click) - then choose Warp Text. The Warp Text dialog box will appear. Pick one of the styles from the Style dropdown menu and then start doing wonderful things to your type.

Make sure the Warp Text dialog box is not covering your text, because you have a live preview here - which you'll need to reference so you can tweak the settings to make it all just so beautifully perfect.

New Smart Guides For Smart Moves
If you are working with multiple layers and want to align things, before you start to move a type layer, try turning on View> Show> Smart Guides. Smart Guides appear automatically to help you align shapes and selections.

Special lines appear when the active layer aligns with another layer in the image, and then they disappear when you're done. I love this!

Automatically Aligning Multiple Type Layers
Sometimes you'll have some type on different layers, scattered on your canvas, and find that you want to align the layers. It's now a very simple operation.

First select the layers that you want to align. Next go to the menu and choose Layer> Align and then pick from one of the sub-menu options. That's it!

Add New Text Close To Existing Text
When you add new text too close to some existing text the Type tool will sometimes react as though you want to edit the existing text, which can be extremely frustrating. To get around this hold down the Shift key while you click with the Type tool. This creates a new type layer, and will help you avoid any more mistaken assumptions from your type tool.

Shortcuts For Aligning Type
After you highlight your type you can use the following keyboard shortcuts to apply flush left, centered, and flush right:
Align Left: Shift-Control-L (MAC: Shift-Command-L)
Align Center: Shift-Control-C (MAC: Shift-Command-C)
Align Right: Shift-Control-R (MAC: Shift-Command-R)

Photoshop Type "A" Personality
Yes, I've been tested by experts and I have a Photoshop type "A" personality, which means I have an unnatural desire to learn everything about Photoshop, which also means I'll be updating this page as I discover new tips and tricks. So please come back every once in a while!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Space Sig

Friday, March 13, 2009

Create a Glowing Light Painting Effect

Step 1

Create a new document and place the photo, you can download the one I used at: Photo 1.

Step 2

Here I placed a second image. I will use it to create the light effects. Here is the link for the next image: Photo 2.

Step 3

With the Pen Tool(P), create a path for one of the figures.

Step 4

Select the Brush Tool(B) and go to Window>Brushes or F5 to create our brush. Use 8px for the diameter and select Dual Brush and Other Dynamics. Follow the image below for reference.

Step 5

Go to the Layer Palette, create a new folder, and rename it to lights. After that create a new layer inside this folder, name it "dude", and select it.

Step 6

Go to the Path Palette and select the first path. Then with the Path Selection Tool(A), select the path and right-click. Choose Stroke Path. A dialog box will open; select the brush and use Simulate Pressure.

After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, use 1.6px for the amount.

Step 7

Duplicate the "dude" layer three times.

Step 8

Select the Rectangle Tool (U) and create a rectangle. Then duplicate the rectangle several times. After that align and distribute them horizontally.

Step 9

Create a new layer inside the lights folder. Rename it to "xing". Repeat Step 6 and Stroke the paths. After that select the "xing" layer and go to Edit>Transform>Distort. Now just move the vertices until the perspective is good—just follow the street lines.

Conclusion

That's probably the easiest way to create this type of light effect; however, it depends on the color of the background. If the background is too dark, the blend mode won't work. You'll probably have to use another one with an Outer Glow.

You can make the lights brighter by just duplicating the layers. You can even use the Eraser Tool(E) to make some adjustments. The original concept image can be viewed at Light Graffiti In Photoshop. The final tutorial image is below.

Create a Magic Crystal Ball

Step 1

Create a new document, I used 1900px by 1200px. Fill the background layer with black. Then with the Ellipse Tool (U) create a circle. You can fill it with a dark gray, but the color won't matter because we will apply a Layer Style to this object shortly.

Step 2

To add the Layer Style, go to Layer > Layer Style. First, select Inner Glow and use: white for the color, Color Dodge for the Blend Mode, and 70% for the opacity.

The second Layer Style will be Gradient Overlay, use Linear for the Style, and keep Normal for the Blend Mode. Now the colors will be #12232c and #313444. The last Layer Style will be Stroke, which should be set: 2px for the Size, 60% for the Opacity, and for the color use #a395cf. Feel free to change the colors and test new variations.

Step 3

Create another circle using the Ellipse Tool (U). The best thing is to create a Path with the ellipse tool. Adjust the shape the way you want. Then create a selection from the Path Palette. This circle will be the top reflection on the ball.

Step 4

Create a new layer and rename it to "reflection top." Then select the Gradient Tool (G). Use white for the color on both ends. Change the opacity though, one will be 100%, while the other will be 50%. Select Radial for the Style. Then create a radial gradient, as in the image below. For the Opacity use 70%Tip: Make sure that the 100% is the center of the gradient.

Step 5

Lets create a reflection at the bottom of the sphere. To do that, create a selection from the circle layer, which is the first one we already created. Create a new layer, and rename it to "Bottom reflection."

Select the Gradient Tool (G), and use the same settings as in the previous step. This time lets set the Opacity to 100% and 0%. Now create the gradient. Also, change the Layer's Opacity to 50%. Use the image below for reference. Tip: You can resize this layer to make it slightly smaller so you can move it 1 pixel up.

Step 6

Create a new layer, and rename it to "lights 1." Make sure you have black and white for the background and foreground colors. Then go to Filter > Render > Clouds. After, go to Filter > Sketch > Chrome. Use 3 for the Detail and 10 for the smoothness. Then rescale the layer, make it much smaller so the details will be smaller too.

Step 7

Create a marquee selection from the "ball layer," and go to Filter > Distort > Spherize. Use 100% for the Amount and Normal for the Mode. Then go to Filter > Brush Strokes > Sprayed Strokes. Use a Stroke length of 17 and Spray Radius of 7.

Step 8

Now lets add some color to the crystal ball. With the "lights 1" layer selected, go to Layer > Layer Style. Then change the Fill Opacity to 60%. After, select the Gradient Overlay, use the Violet, Green, and Orange preset for the colors. For the Gradient Style use Radial. Align the radial to the ball, so the orange will be the center of the gradient, and then go to the Violet.

Step 9

To create the lighting effects inside the ball we will use the Difference Clouds Filter. So create a new layer, and rename it to "rays." Then go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Then go to Filter > Render > Difference Clouds.

Next we rescale the layer to the same height as the ball. You may notice that with the difference clouds filter we have created the lightning, but they are black. Also, you can define the thickness of the lightning when you scale the layer.

Step 10

To change the color of the lightning from black to white is simple, go to Image > Adjustments > Invert. However, to get the effect right you will have to change the levels as well. So go to Image > Adjustments > Levels. Use for the Input Levels 0, 1.00, and 70. Then change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge.

There are 2 more things to do here. First, we create a Layer Mask, so the lights will be only inside the ball. Then with the Eraser Tool (E), select a medium brush, a regular one, but with a hardness of 0% and 10% opacity. Then erase some parts of edges 1-4. Also, you can change the opacity of "Reflection Top" and "Reflection Bottom," so they will be more visible.

Step 11

To create more Rays, you can either duplicate the layer or repeat steps Steps 9 and 10. I duplicated it, but the best thing to do is to repeat the previous steps. Also, you can apply the Spherize Filter. Tip: Change the Opacity of the layers to give more depth to the effect.

Step 12

Here, we will create a layer to adjust the colors. We need to make the ball a bit darker. So just add a new layer, and create a marquee selection of the original ball. After, fill it with Black.

Add a Layer Style. Change the Fill Opacity to 0% and select Gradient Overlay. Use Multiply for the Blend Mode, 90% Opacity, and set it to Linear. For the colors use Black and a dark gray. Tip: This layer will be beneath the other light layers.

Step 13

Lets create a nice texture in the ball. Create a new layer on top of the others, but beneath the "Reflection Bottom and Top layers." Rename it to "texture."

Now go Filter > Render > Clouds. Then resize the layer, and make it a bit bigger than the ball. Finally, go to Filter > Distort >Wave. For the Number of Generators use 5, the Wavelength use Min. 10 Max 320, Amplitude Min 5 Max 35, and the rest keep the same.

Step 14

Go to Filter > Brush Strokes > Spatter. Use a Spray Radius 15 and Smoothness 2. Next we create a marquee selection from the "ball" layer, and go to Filter > Distort > Spherize again. Use 100% for the amount.

Step 15

Let's adjust the layer next. Change the Blend Mode to Screen, the opacity to 50%, and the fill opacity to 50% as well. If you don't want to show the texture that much, just reduce the opacity.

Step 16

Select the Ellipse Tool (U). Then click on Shape Layers. This will create a layer in the shape of the foreground color. Now create an ellipse, as in the image below. After, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Then use 90 pixels for the Radius. This layer will be the spot of light for the ball.

Tip: This layer has to be beneath all the other layers, even the "ball" layer.

Step 17

Now lets create another ellipse, as we did in the previous step. This time let's use black. Also, instead of creating a light spot, let's create a shadow.

Step 18

Next we add a glow light at the top of the ball. Again, repeat step 16, but for the Gaussian Blur use Radius of 70 pixels. Notice that this layer will be on top of the others.

Step 19

Let's adjust the colors. Create a Gradient Fill layer. To do that, go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Gradient. For the colors use #223158 and #b8641c. For the style use Radial, and set the angle 115º. After, change the Blend Mode to Overlay.

Tip: You can position the gradient by clicking and holding the mouse button. Also, move the mouse while the Gradient Fill dialog box window is open.

Step 20

Create a new layer on top of the others. Then fill it with black, and go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare. Use 60% Brightness and 50-300mm Zoom.

Adjust the levels of this layer. Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels. Then change the Input Levels to 7, 1, and 210. Now change the Blend Mode to Screen, and rescale the layer, use the image below as a reference.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we learned a light effect that is created by using the clouds and difference clouds filter. You can add more layers to create different effects inside the ball, or duplicate some layers to create more reflections, like the Caustic effect I created on the final image.

You could use the Spherize filter. Also, you can change the Gradient Overlay colors in one layer only, and change the other colors separately, thereby creating a totally new effect. It's all about playing now; Have fun!

Reflective Bubbles

For my most recent work I wanted to create bubbles that would reflect my subject in a believable yet magical way. To do this I started by duplicating the main photo Layer >> Duplicate Layer.

Next I scaled the duplicate to 25% of it's original size. Edit >> Transform >> Scale. We also need to distort the duplicate. First I flipped it Edit >> Transform >> Flip Horizontal or Vertical, then I distorted it further by adjusting the perspective. Edit >> Transform >> PerspectiveStill doesn't look like a bubble does it? Here comes the fun part. Select the elliptical tool (M) and draw out an area that's a perfect sphere (by holding shift). We want to get rid of everything outside of the bubble, now. So go to the to menu and choose "Select" then "Inverse" (Select >> Inverse) then press delete. You've now deleted everything on the layer that will not be in the bubble.Press Command + D to deselect everything then Command click on the layer of the bubble. You should now have only the sphere selected.Now, the most important part of the process, distorting your image to be a sphere by using the "Spherize" option. select Filter >> Distort >> Spherize. Use a setting of 100%.Now, click on your color window. You want to change your foreground color to a lighter color that is close to white on the color scale. You can use a darker color if you want but to give the illusion of transparency I chose a lighter color, and accented it with darker ones in the steps that follow.Now we're going to turn the "Sphere" layer into a more believable bubble. We do this by adjusting the "Layer Style" (Layer >> Layer Style). Select "Gradiant Overlay" from the list and activate it. Click on the Gradient window and select "Foreground to Transparent" set the opacity to "Soft Light". Reduce Opacity by 7% down to 93%. Directly to the right of that window select "Reverse" and then change the Style to "Radial". Adjust the scale to your liking.Next go up to "Blend Options". Change the type to "Color Dodge" (or whatever looks best for your picture). At this point I also adjust the overall "Fill" of the layer to 65%.Now select "Inner Shadow". This step helps us define the 'spheriness' (I know it's not a word, shut up) of the bubble. In the "Structure" area set the "Blend Mode" to 'Soft Light'. I used the following settings Distance >> 22px, Choke >> 54% and Size >> 45px but experiment and find what works best for you.For my particular image I needed to create a magical aura around the bubbles. I did this by adjusting my Outer Glow and Inner Glow settings. I also duplicated my bubble several times to create more bubbles. These settings are not relevant to creating a believable bubble so I won't go over them here but the best way to figure out how to get an image like the one below is to experiment.So there you have it, a finished bubble with a the reflection of your background image!

Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Best Of

When it comes to graphic design, Adobe Photoshop is usually the first option to consider. However, the software itself is a quite tough nut to crack — and definitely extremely hard to master. For instance, the concepts are not always intuitive and it’s not always clear when to use what tool and how to use it effectively. In fact, in Photoshop it usually takes pretty much time to achieve something you have never done before.

However, you don’t need to muddle through numerous Photoshop features and extensions for every design problem. You can use professional suggestions instead, e.g. professional step-by-step tutorials which provide excellent results and thus can save you a lot of time.

One year ago we’ve presented a hand-picked collection of Photoshop tutorials. Now it’s time for a fresh portion of healthy Photoshop learning material. This article provides professional Adobe Photoshop tutorials which can enrich your design skills and improve the quality of your works. Although the authors of the tutorials rarely provide the information about the used version, we tried to pick only those tutorials that can be used with both CS 3 and older versions of Adobe Photoshop.

Selecting & Extracting Hair - Masking Tutorial - Extraction Tips

One of the most challenging montage or masking jobs in the profession of post-production editing is the hair lift. When the model has long flowing hair and the subject needs to change location many post-production artists call in sick. Get it wrong and, just like a bad wig, it shows. Extract filters, Magic Erasers and Tragic Extractors don’t even get us close. Portrait image by Dan Stainsby The first secret step must be completed before you even press the shutter on the camera. Your number one essential step for success is to first shoot your model against a white backdrop, sufficiently illuminated so that it is captured as white rather than gray. This important aspect of the initial image capture ensures that the resulting hair transplant is seamless and undetectable. The post-production is the easy bit - simply apply the correct sequence of editing steps and the magic is all yours. This is not brain surgery but follow these simple steps and you will join the elite ranks of Photoshop gurus around the world. Celebrity status is just a few clicks away. Step 1 The initial steps of this tutorial are concerned with creating a mask that can be used in the final montage. Start by dragging the background layer to the New Layer icon to duplicate it. Choose ‘Remove Color’ from the Adjust Color submenu found in the Enhance menu (Enhance > Adjust Color > Remove Color). Drag this desaturated/monochrome layer to the New Layer icon in the Layers palette to duplicate it. Set the blend mode of this new layer (now on top of the layers stack) to ‘Overlay’ mode. Step 2 From the Layer menu choose ‘Merge Down’ to create a single high-contrast monochrome layer. Select ‘Black’ as the foreground color and the ‘Brush tool’ from the Tools palette. Choose a large hard edged brush and 100% opacity from the Options bar and set the mode to ‘Overlay’ (also in the Options bar). Painting in Overlay mode will preserve the white background and darken the rest of the pixels. Accuracy whilst painting in Overlay mode is not a concern when the background is white or is significantly lighter than the subject. Avoid going anywhere near the tips of the hair at this stage. Step 3 Even the bright tones of the white shirt can be rendered black by repeatedly clicking the mouse whilst using a large brush in Overlay mode. Again it is important to avoid going anywhere near the hair. Step 4Darken the body of the hair near the scalp but avoid the locks of hair that have white background showing through. Painting these individual strands of hair will thicken the hair and may lead to subsequent halos appearing later in the montage process. Performance Tip Switch the blend mode of the brush in the Options bar to ‘Normal’ mode when painting away from the edge of the subject. This will ensure a speedy conclusion to the mask making process. The mask is now ready to use in the montage. Note > If any of the background has been darkened in the process of creating a black and white mask switch the foreground color to ‘White’ and choose ‘Overlay’ in the Options bar. Paint to render any areas of gray background white. It is again important to avoid painting near the edges containing delicate hair detail. Step 5With the Remove Color layer selected add a Levels adjustment layer. Without making any adjustment simply select OK. This Levels adjustment layer has a layer mask that we can use to house the mask that we have created in the previous step. Step 6The next step relocates the mask you have just created into the layer mask of the adjustment layer. From the Select menu choose ‘All’ and from the Edit menu choose ‘Copy Merged’. Hold down the Alt key and click on the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers palette. The image window will momentarily appear white as you view the empty contents of the layer mask. From the Edit menu choose ‘Paste’ to transfer the contents of the clipboard to this layer mask. Click on the layer below to select it and then click on the Visibility icon of this layer to switch it off. This mask layer serves no purpose now that it has been successfully transferred to the adjustment layer mask. Step 7The new background is placed on its own layer above the figure and mask layers. Drag the thumbnail of this new file into the image window of your project file from either the Photo Bin or the layer thumbnail in the Layers palette. Group this new background layer with the adjustment layer beneath (Layer > Group with Previous). Alternatively you can hold down the Alt key and click on the dividing line between the two layers to group them. Step 8Grouping the new background with the adjustment layer will mask the background in the region of the figure but the quality will not yet be acceptable. Setting the blend mode of the adjustment layer to ‘Multiply’ will bring back all of the fine detail in the hair. The background will be not darkened by applying the ‘Multiply’ blend mode as white is a neutral color. The subtle detail in the fine strands of hair will however be preserved in all their glory. Step 9The accuracy and quality of the edge of the mask will usually require some attention in order for the subject to achieve a seamless quality with the new background. Make a selection of all of the edges that do not include any hair detail using the Lasso tool with a small amount of feather set in the Options bar. With the adjustment layer mask selected choose the ‘Gaussian Blur filter’ (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) and apply a 1- to 2-pixel Radius Blur to the mask. Click OK and then from the Enhance menu choose a Levels adjustment from the Adjust lighting submenu. Move the central Gamma slider underneath the histogram to realign the edge of the mask with the subject edge (no dark or light halo should be visible). Performance Tip If the mask is too soft the edges can be sharpened by moving the black and white sliders in towards the central Gamma slider a little. Select OK when perfect alignment has been achieved. Zoom in to 100% Actual pixels whilst working to accurately assess the quality of your mask. Step 10In most instances the hair is already looking pretty fabulous but to modify and perfect the hair even further you will need to inverse the selection (Select > Inverse). Choose ‘Levels’ once again and move the central Gamma slider to the left to increase the density of the hair and eliminate any white halos that may be present. Moving the White slider to the left a little may help the process of achieving a perfect blend between subject and background. Select OK and choose ‘Deselect’ from the Select menu. Performance Tip Any localized refinement of the mask can be achieved manually by painting with a small soft edged brush directly into the layer mask. Paint with white at a reduced opacity (10-20%) to remove any fine halos present in localized areas. Several brush strokes will slowly erase the halo from the image. Step 11The true test of an accurate mask for a subject that was photographed against a white background is when you place the subject against a very dark background. Grouping a Levels adjustment layer with the new background layer can darken the background image used in this project. Hold down the Alt key when you select a Levels adjustment layer from the Layers palette. Click on the Group with Previous box in the New Layer dialog box and then select OK to open the Levels dialog box. Move the Gamma slider to the right in order to preview your subject against a darker background in the image window.