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WELCOME
ISSUE 121
Welcome to the latest
issue of Advanced
Photoshop. Beauty
retouching is one of the
key reasons that
Photoshop is used so
extensively by industry
professionals.
IN THIS ISSUE:
GRAPHICS
DIGITAL PAINTING
PHOTOMANIPULATION
PHOTO EDITING
ANNALISA SAYWELL
Editor
In the competitive world of beauty photography,
you need to know how to produce finished
retouched images. This issue offers you just that a
wealth of tips and techniques from retouch
professionals and a step-by-step tutorial that will
teach you the essential processes used within the
beauty industry.
Elsewhere in the issue, take a look at our game
art feature, in which pro artists share their secrets
on how to create epic concepts. Also learn to build
striking graphics using a grid system, and create a
realistic image using seamless lighting techniques
in our cityscape composite tutorial.
If that wasnt enough, we ve even covered the
wonderful world of 3D for you. Transform a CG
render using Photoshop tools and master matte
paint techniques at the same time. All of this
amazing content should keep you busy until next
month. Enjoy!
FIND US ONLINE:
@advancedpshop /AdvancedPhotoshop
.co.uk
003
ISSUE 121 CONTENTS
COVER IMAGE
Aer working as a model,
Capitaine decided to use
her beauty expertise as a
retoucher. Since founding
One Hundred Berlin,
Capitaine has worked
with high-end editorial
clients including ELLE, GQ
and Vogue. Re-create her
cover image on page 42.
BRIVAELLE CAPITAINE
www.onehundredberlin.com
TYPOGRAPHY
NEW MEDIA
WORKSHOP:
TRANSFORM 3D
RENDERS
52
Bring your CG work to life using Photoshop
tricks and matte painting techniques
24
INDUSTRY FEATURE:
15 TIPS FOR CREATING
GAME ART
Pro artists share the secrets of creating striking
visuals, from concept through to final product
EYE ON DESIGN
Whats hot, whos in and the
latest art & design happenings
THIS ISSUES PRO PANEL
Our contributors share Photoshop secrets 06
PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
The evolution of an artist 08
14
PROJECT FOCUS
A new perspective on advertising
CONTENTS
ISSUE 121
004
58
HOW I MADE
60
SEAMLESS LIGHTING
32
FROM SHOOT TO PHOTOSHOP: RETOUCH
FOR BACK ISSUES, BOOKS
AND MERCHANDISE VISIT:
16
STUDIO INTERVIEW
SomeOne
TECHNIQUES
Professional artists reveal their high-end Photoshop skills in
our easy-to-follow workshops
15 tips for creating game art 24
INDUSTRY FEATURE
REVIEWS
We put the latest creative kit,
books and apps to the test
80
FEATURE:
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X7
84
REVIEW:
Top 10 Photoshop books
Free with issue 121 of
Advanced Photoshop
PREMIUM RESOURCES
PLUS:
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96
ON YOUR DISC
Tree Of Life 48
HOW I MADE
Professional portrait retouching 42
COVER WORKSHOP
Typography Manufacturing 58
HOW I MADE
From shoot to Photoshop: Retouch 32
INDUSTRY FEATURE
Transform 3D renders 52
WORKSHOP
SEE PAGE 22 OR 71 FOR THE LATEST OFFERS
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
60 Seamless lighting
WORKSHOP
90 Beautiful bokehs
RESOURCE PROJECT
66 Work with colour and texture
WORKSHOP
66
WORK WITH COLOUR AND TEXTURE
The Four Seasons 76
HOW I MADE
48
HOW I MADE
ISSUE 121 t0N!|N!8
Living the dream 86
READER INTERVIEW
72 Build striking graphics
WORKSHOP
006
EYE ON DESIGN THIS ISSUES PRO PANEL
THIS ISSUES PRO PANEL
BROADEN YOUR CREATIVE HORIZONS WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THIS MONTHS
CONTRIBUTORS, WHO UNVEIL THEIR EXPERT PHOTOSHOP ADVICE HERE
EYE ON DESIGN
FERDINAND D.
LADERA
www.ferdinandladera.com
Use Curves to colour your art
by adjusting the channels. This
is how I colour my landscape paintings. It will
speed up your process. Before doing this you
should paint in greyscale first just to establish the
right values and depth in your painting. And lastly,
always use perspective in your art, as this is very
useful as a landscape painter.
Check out more of Laderas work in his How
I Made tutorial on page 48
BRANDON CAWOOD
www.flash-light-productions.com
Shoot what you love. Never let anyone tell you that something isnt possible. You will never catch your dreams if stop chasing them. A vivid
imagination has far more value than a budget. Make friends, not clients.
Take a look at Cawoods photography and re-create his looks on page 66
Brandon Cawood
Ferdinand Ladera
007
Imagine Publishing Ltd 2014
ISSN 1748-7277
Magazine team
Editor Anna-lisa Saywell
anna-lisa.saywell@imagine-publishing.co.uk

01202 586243
Editor in Chief Dan Hutchinson
Sub Editor Alicea Francis
Photographer James Sheppard
Senior Art Editor Duncan Crook
Head of Publishing Aaron Asadi
Head of Design Ross Andrews
Contributors
Chris McMahon, Larissa Mori, Julie Bassett, April Madden,
One Hundred Berlin, Anton Erogov, Brandon Cawood,
Jorge Marin Gispert, Simon Skellon, Kirk Nelson, Edvin
Puzinkevich, Dan Bevan, Steve Mumby, Ben Stanley, Gregg
Whittaker, Alison Innes and Charlotte Crooks
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The magazine for Adobe

Photoshop

professionals
EDVIN PUZINKEVICH
www.edvin.lv
Sometimes when I need to comp
a CG object into a photo-based
image, I apply some additional
texture from a photo of a similar real object. Using
layer blending options like Multiply, Overlay, Darken,
Lighten and Screen with different transparency levels
is extremely helpful for applying texture to an object.
Filter>Distort>Displace is another powerful tool for
texturing using a pre-existing PSD file with texture.
Create seamless composites on page 60
ANTON EGOROV
www.behance.net/egorov
Periodically check your work using these techniques: merge all the layers on the top
(Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+E), flip it horizontal and you will see flaws that you havent noticed
before. Desaturate it and you will see troubles in the contrast. Zoom out of your work
hugely and youll be able to catch sight of weaknesses of the composition clearly.
Learn to master Photoshop post-production techniques with Egorov on page 52
Flip your image horizontal and
you will see flaws you havent
noticed before. Desaturate it and you
will see troubles in the contrast
ANTON EGOROV / WWW.BEHANCE.NET/EGOROV
Edvin Puzinkevich
Anton Egorov
040 008
EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
EMERIC TRAHAND, AKA TAKESHI, EXPLAINS THE REGENERATION
OF HIS STYLE TO BOLDER AND MORE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
THE EVOLUTION
OF AN ARTIST
www.stillontherun.com
@takeshiwan
E
meric Trahand is no stranger to the pages
of Advanced Photoshop, yet you might not
instantly recognise the work showcased on
these pages. Thats because Trahand has
consciously moved away from his previous style to
focus his energies on a new direction one that
offers a blend of stark, digital forms alongside
traditional elements. The French artist, now based in
New York City, shares the reasons behind this
evolution and how it is helping him to grow as a
digital artist.
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT
YOURSELF AND HOW YOU BECAME THE
ARTIST YOU ARE TODAY?
I am self-taught and have been pursuing a career as
a professional illustrator and art director since 2006. I
have, through the years, been involved in a large
variety of projects such as commercial print
campaigns, album art, packaging, and matte
painting and design for the motion industry.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
I believe the evolution comes from a lack of
satisfaction in the body of work I have produced so
far. Most of my past work I feel just happened. I was
truly missing a deeper understanding of why I was
doing things, and how they related to my taste and
inner vision. The process is experimental mostly,
trying to find inspiration from very unrelated things
and building slowly in a direction. It takes a lot of
mistakes, a lot of hours, trying to understand how
things work visually, especially when operating in
new fields, with flat illustration or abstract work for
example, which I didnt have much experience of
before now.
01
01
Fore: This image is an album cover for
New York rapper and producer Fores
Going Back Is Not The Same As Staying,
and is an example of Trahands more
commercial work
02
Tangerine: When creating personal
pieces of art such as this, Trahand looks
all around him for inspiration, looking at
unrelated styles and translating them in
his own way
All images Emeric Trahand 2014
Most of my past work I feel
just happened. I was truly
missing a deeper understanding
of why I was doing things
02
010
EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR OTHER ARTISTS
WHO WANT TO CHANGE THEIR PERSONAL
STYLE, AND THE BEST WAY TO APPROACH IT?
It is again a complicated question. It is a difficult
exercise to change a personal style and Im really not
sure I succeeded at it myself. There are obviously
many risks in changing style. You might confuse
your audience or clients. You might lose track of
what you are good at. How are you going to build a
consistent presence online? Especially when your
income depends on it. Are you ready to be less good
at what you do now, versus being much better at
what you used to do?
I believe any artist who feels the need to change
their style should first of all consider why they are
doing it: if it is simply a phase, a temporary lack of
satisfaction, or a deeper need to grow and free
themselves from a style they feel isnt right. My best
advice would be to follow what feels right for you as
a genuine, creative person. The risks are
considerable, but unless an artist is fulfilled I dont
believe you are able to produce your best works. It
has to be a necessity.
03
04
03
Castle: Personal work and commissioned
artwork like this piece sit alongside each
other in Trahands portfolio
04
Kuruma: A promotional piece for
Colagene.com, an illustration clinic in
the UK representing digital artists
05
Air: This is a piece of pitch work for Nike
Air, which showcases Trahands newer
style perfectly
My personal work differs a
lot from my commercial
gigs, unless Im lucky enough to
find a client with a bit of love and
trust for what I do
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR
WORKFLOW PROCESS? HOW DOES A DESIGN
GO FROM IDEA TO COMPLETION?
Im still at a very experimental stage of what Im
trying to do these days. Ideas often come from a
piece of art I might come across. By this I dont
necessarily mean the reproduction of something I
saw; I guess its more what door it opens in my mind
when Im taken into a new territory. From there,
once a visual concept is defined, I try to understand
how I could translate it with the visual language Im
trying to build, how it makes sense in the middle of
where I am with work these days. Then the
production happens, which is a succession of
mistakes and steps back before something
acceptable comes to life, and finds its own space.
DO YOU STILL FIND TIME TO WORK ON
PERSONAL PROJECTS, AND DO THEY DIFFER
FROM YOUR CLIENT PROJECTS?
I have, through the years, been quite squeezed
in-between a lot of client works. The visual industry
is a very demanding, quite frustrating industry that
very often does not leave much space for building a
personal body of work. My personal work differs a
lot from my commercial gigs, unless Im lucky
05
06
EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW
013
enough to find a client with a bit of love and trust for
what I do. I mean, this is the struggle most of the
illustrators I know are facing; there is nothing new
here. Id just be unhappy if every piece I was doing
was marketed or branded; I need to do my own stuff
in order to breathe.
WHATS YOUR FAVOURITE PROJECT THAT
YOUVE WORKED ON TO DATE, AND WHY?
I dont really have one. Im very unsatisfied with my
work generally. I believe I have a soft spot for a
couple of them, for the visibility or love they got me,
but no real favourite.
WHERE DO YOU LOOK FOR INSPIRATION FOR
YOUR ARTWORKS AND HOW DO YOU
TRANSLATE IT INTO YOUR DESIGNS?
I buy art books, I read, I listen to music and let myself
daydream a little. I usually dont look at much
illustrative work, or things that are close to what I do.
I find it more satisfying to get inspired from very
unrelated styles or techniques. Inspiration is overall a
very vague and fuzzy science.
HOW DOES PHOTOSHOP FIT INTO YOUR
WORKFLOW PROCESS?
Im an all-Photoshop guy. I literally never touch
another software and my drawing skills are pretty
limited sadly. I have probably spent a good 100,000
hours on Photoshop in my life; it just became an
extension of me really.
WHAT KIT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR STUDIO
THAT IS ESSENTIAL TO YOUR DESIGNS?
I need a clean desk, a very minimal setup. Most of
the time I use a Wacom tablet connected to my
MacBook Pro, sometimes an extra display. I have a
few sheets of paper and a pen to draw concepts, and
thats it really. Anyway, living in New York doesnt
allow you to have a big workspace or studio. The
price of life is so high, you often have to do the best
with the space you have.
TAILOR YOUR CONTENT
Dont expect art directors to always be able to imagine
what you could do with your skills if its not explicitly
visible on your portfolio. Be specific and show precise
examples of what you want to work on. If you want to
work on sport illustrations, lead your client to it, and have
a ton of sport illustrations in your portfolio.
FIND A BALANCE
Clients love passionate illustrators with a nice body of
personal work, but what they love even more is creatives
with a strong experience of commercial projects. Make
sure your professional work has a lot of space in there; it
will make clients much more confident in hiring you.
MAKE IT STRIKING
With thousands of portfolios available, clients barely
spend more than a few seconds on a page. Make sure the
very best of your work is immediately available once you
land on the homepage and forget about anything that will
delay someone from accessing the content, such as long,
animated introductions, subcategories, multiple pages,
loaders, etc.
PORTFOLIO TIPS
TRAHAND UNVEILS HIS ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR
CREATING A STANDOUT PORTFOLIO
07
07
A Circular Shape: Trahand
says that he is still
experimenting with his new
direction, making plenty of
mistakes along the way until
he is happy with the outcome
06
Paper, Cuts & Tape: Trahand
tries to make time to
complete self-initiated
projects, such as this
artwork, though he admits
that being a professional
digital artist does not leave a
great deal of time for
personal endeavours
EYE ON DESIGN A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON ADVERTISING
COFOUNDER OF MIAGUI IMAGEVERTISING CSSIO BRAGA DETAILS HOW THE
TEAM CREATED ONE OF THEIR MOST SUBMERGING CAMPAIGNS
PROJECT FOCUS
A NEW PERSPECTIVE
ON ADVERTISING
H
aving only opened its doors in 2011, Miagui
Imagevertising is a studio that is already
making a name for itself, with international
clients such as Nike, Massey Ferguson, Fox
Sports, and recently, National Geographic. In
partnership with art director Gregory Kickow from
Loducca Agency, the company was approached to
create a campaign to promote National Geographics
new television programme while creating a
significant visual impact for the audience, drawing
their attention like never before.
This was no easy feat, but the Brazilian-based
creative production studio certainly proved it was up
to the challenge. In order to create an image with so
much impact, the team used the yellow border so
characteristic of National Geographic to highlight the
simulated perspective of the observer, giving them
the impression that they were next to fall into a pool
with an alligator. Using Photoshop together with 3D
modelling, a major challenge for Miagui was to
develop an image so realistic it would sell the idea
perfectly, despite it being almost impossible to
photograph a real alligator in the right position!
HOW WAS THE CONCEPT DEVELOPED?
The visual design was developed entirely with a 3D
illustration, following the concept of the campaign.
The image itself was first modelled in ZBrush and
rendered in Mode, before Photoshop was used for
post-production. Throughout this process, the colours
were calibrated, some imperfections were corrected
and some key points of the image were enriched to
produce the final result.

DID YOU HAVE A LOT OF CREATIVE CONTROL,
OR DID NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NEED A
PARTICULAR MESSAGE TO COME ACROSS?
The message was very specific: to announce the start
of a new show on the station. We are convinced that
we do not create copyright images, but we
collaborate with the agency, which in this case was
Loducca Agency, from which the project was
developed in partnership with art director Gregory
Kickow. Throughout the project, we had the exclusive
goal of producing the image to exactly communicate
the concept created by them.
WHAT DID YOU WANT THE AUDIENCE TO TAKE
FROM THE ADVERTISEMENT?
The aims were to cause shock and create a large
visual impact for the audience, drawing their attention
to the new programme, which was the purpose of
the campaign. We had some great results for the
time we invested towards making that happen!
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR PHOTOSHOP
WORKFLOW DURING THE PROJECT?
To achieve the degree of realism in high-impact
ABOUT THE STUDIO
Brazillian-born Cssio Braga
double-majored in marketing and
creation at one of most prestigious
universities in the country, ESPM.
As an art director, Cssio Braga
worked at several agencies before
co-founding Miagui in 2011. The
image production studio is
composed of specialists in
photography, 3D illustration, 2D
illustration and image treatment.
CSSIO BRAGA
www.miagui.cc
MUNDO SELVAGEM
FOR NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
NAME OF PROJECT
040 014
National Geographic render passes
All images Miagui/National Geographic
Work in progress water
015
come across the animal, causing a strong emotional
response. The result was quite impressive right
because of that.
IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT THE FINAL AD
THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE?
Not at all. We had complete freedom to add all our
expertise and knowledge from previous projects in
this work and to develop the image in the best
possible way. This successful piece is the result of a
long relationship of trust between the art director
from Loducca Greg KicKow, and the Miagui team.
That certainly is reflected in the final outcome.
WHAT TIPS WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHERS
HOPING TO CREATE EYECATCHING GRAPHICS?
Essentially, you need more than a good image. The
campaign needs to have a good creative concept. I
always maintain that a good image simply magnifies
a good idea, and no matter what, you can never save
a bad idea. In my opinion, the merit of this campaign
was the ability to be very creative and to then to have
the creativity very well executed.
It is fundamental to be relevant, creative and well
executed. The coolest thing about this campaign is
that it is complete in all those aspects, from idea to
execution. And most important of all is that it
mobilises people to pay attention to the message that
National Geographic wants to pass on.
The Miagui team also used
Photoshop to make colour
and volume adjustments to
the image with the Curves
tool, then made saturation
adjustments to adjust the
colour, purity, and
lightness of the final image
Miagui Imagevertising initially
created the design for the image as
a 3D ZBrush piece, paying particular
attention to creating the correct
proportions, using as many
references as possible, and setting
up realistic materials and light
Work in progress alligator
Photoshop was used for
post-production, where the
colours were calibrated, some
imperfections corrected and any
points that needed to be more
aesthetically eye-catching were
enriched using the famous
Dodge and Burn tool to enhance
image, it was necessary to work various different
elements before beginning to finalise the image in
Photoshop. It was essential to create a 3D model with
the correct proportions, to always use as many
references as possible, correctly set up the realistic
materials and light, and add as much detail as
possible. With the rendering done, Photoshop then
helped to correct the colour and let us include the final
details that completed the image. The tools that I use
the most in my Photoshop workflow are masks and
Curves. With them, you can really take a picture to
another level.
WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES AND
SUCCESSES OF THIS PROJECT?
The main challenge was to produce a realistic image
using illustration. It had to look like the alligator had
actually been photographed in that environment
which would be very difficult to reproduce and that
it was created to give the viewer the impression that
any people who would go down that escalator would
G
reat design is at the heart of all good
studios, but nowhere more so than at
SomeOne. The London-based agency is
nominated for a plethora of awards in 2014
ten and counting by the end of February alone
and the reason for this is because the studio puts
design at the core of everything it does. As founder
and executive creative director Simon Manchipp is
keen to point out, the studios raison dtre affects
everything from the projects the team works on to
the studios location and layout.
SomeOne started with a simple aim: To remove
the fluff and nonsense surrounding the launch,
relaunch and management of brands. To do the best
work, and make enough money to have fun while
doing it. That focus on the best work above
everything else is the reason why the plaudits just
keep piling up, and why SomeOne is the go-to
agency for developing and redeveloping brand
identities. The studio has just completed work on
Urica (www.urica.biz), a UK government-backed
service that helps small businesses to get their
invoices paid more quickly; creating a bold, graphical
brand identity strongly influenced by placards. Other
SomeOne clients include Royal Museums
Greenwich, Eurostar, Zinc and Weve.
The studio started out in 2003, founded by Simon
Manchipp, David Law, Gary Holt and Laura Hussey,
and has been evolving ever since. We were four
people. We are now around 34 people. But weve
stayed remarkably close to our launch objectives. We
are still very lean and can rapidly work around
problems to get projects solved in very little time. We
believe that you dont build a company, you build
people. And its those people that are essential to
look after above all other aspects of the day,
Manchipp explains.
Founder Laura Hussey was the one who saw the
potential of what was, in 2003, a run-down area and
is now the centre of Londons art and design scene.
We are in the heart of the creative industries in
Shoreditch. Laura found it and stuck to her guns
when we all freaked out as we were used to the
West End and Soho, the then so-called murder mile
rather worried us but now it is unrecognisable!
Everyone walks around with an iPad or laptop under
their arm, coffee is exceptionally good (and
important) and you are simply a door or two away
from something fascinating or intoxicating (or both)
its really useful for the studio to be so connected
to an environment that is all about tomorrow.
STUDIO INTERVIEW
MEET THE UKBASED STUDIO THAT HAS BECOME A
WORLD LEADER IN BRAND IDENTITY
SOMEONE
EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW
016

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Founded in 2003 by Simon
Manchipp, David Law, Gary Holt and
Laura Hussey, with the aim of
putting all aspects of the business in
the hands of the designers,
SomeOne focuses on every area of
brand identity.
SOMEONE
ABOUT THE STUDIO
www.someoneinlondon.com
@SomeOnes_Tweet
Karl Randal,
Design Director
Simon Manchipp,
Founder and
Executive Creative
Director
Location, location, location - The
studios placement in edgy and creative
Shoreditch reflects its own brand
040 018
EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW
That location is a key part of the SomeOne brand,
which pitches itself with masterful delicacy as
on-trend, all-encompassing, future-focused and
endlessly adaptable. Their studio reflects that brand
identity perfectly: We have a three-floor space with a
loft boardroom, ground-floor cinema and flexible
meeting space; we have all the usual stuff like free
beer and wine, bike racks and Nespresso coffee, but
also more quirky elements like a library and bowler
hat lighting. Everything about SomeOnes working
space showcases who they are and what they do.
Its designed to make the most of chance.
Everything is open plan; everyone can see everyone
and the spaces are connected so the chances of
conversation are increased. People work more
effectively as they are more likely to share ideas.
Everything is open plan;
everyone can see
everyone People work more
effectively as they are more
likely to share ideas
Ideas are our business, so weve made the most of
the space to make the most of the people.
This is vitally important in an agency thats
becoming increasingly well known for its sometimes
off-the-wall, but always successful, approach. We
work in all sectors, all countries, all of the time. We
invent brands with clients. Or re-invent them ready
for new business challenges, Manchipp explains.
Ideas excite us, they shape the future, add value and
signal change. We help organisations, products and
services profit from change. Thats why we
concentrate on creating big ideas first, then go about
making them beautifully. We create monopolies for
brands by employing supercharged creativity to
connect business strategy with memorable and
adaptive executions.
SomeOne specialises in the whole package, from
logos, graphics and type to film, sound and
animation. Collaborative and creativity-focused, it
has grown from its founding in 2003 to become one
of the UKs most highly respected design and
branding agencies. A key part of SomeOnes
approach is to embrace change. To be consistent is
to be predictable. Yet its what many brand owners
Consistent type - The use of typography
became a key signifier of the Royal
Museums brand identity
Studio space - Everything in the studio
is designed to maximise the chances
of chance.
Complete branding solution - SomeOne produced Weves logo
and then extended this to cover the mobile commerce platforms
entire identity, including company stationery and business cards
Royal Museums Greenwich
SomeOne
Weve
019 019
WORLDPAY ZINC
MONEY IS EMOTIONAL STUFF, BUT THE
BRANDS THAT SURROUND IT ARE DULL AND
PREDICTABLE. SOMEONE CHANGED THIS
WorldPay Zinc is a new way for small
businesses to take card payments. Its a
pin pad that connects to your mobile
phone. We worked with WorldPay from
the birth of the idea through to the
launch based on a credentials-only pitch.
Since launch, the client has been
delighted with the outcome and its been
discussed and recognised at the Brand
Impact, EuroBest and Transform
Awards as an outstanding example of
brand work within the financial sector.
01
KEEP IT PAINTERLY
When relying on paths and masks, the
image can feel a little clinical. By taking a freehand
approach and painting in and erasing back, areas
can be blended, softened and highlighted in a more
subtle way. Photoshop can be used in a way thats
similar to painting, albeit in a very technical context.
03
OPACITY
Its always easy to get lost in the layer you
are working on and then to take it a step further
than you had intended. Knocking back the opacity
of that layer once you have finished playing around
with it often helps to blend it back enough to feel
right again.
02
ADJUSTMENT LAYERS
A designer in my first ever job said
adjustment layers would change my life. Im not
sure they made me a better person, but [being
able] to adjust your layer and then brush back
areas you dont want to appear is very useful in
creating small changes that make a big difference.
04
RETAIN REALITY
Often retouching goes too far and the sense that the subject matter
existed in real space is lost. It might seem obvious, but a photograph is made
up of light and shadow and this gives it its depth, but I find that with heavy
retouching, unexpected highlights and shadows are taken out. These give life
to the image and in the end make it feel more like reality.
05
PERFECT DOESNT EXIST
When making an image composite, Im conscious not to try and
make everything perfect. Sometimes a slightly awkward composition or an
element that sits slightly askew can add character, resulting in a more
interesting image. Arguably perfection doesnt exist in nature, so therefore it
doesnt need to exist in the created image.
WorldPay
040 020
EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF KARL RANDALL
NO TWO DAYS ARE EVER ALIKE FOR SOMEONES DESIGN DIRECTOR
10:30
DEEP IN WORK
In full flow, a typical day at SomeOne could
consist of idea creation, strategy and naming, client-side
meetings or getting deep into the meat of design. At SomeOne,
designers are involved in all aspects of the branding process, not
just the behind-the-scenes work. This makes the whole
business run that much more smoothly.
12:30
BEASTS
APPROACH
THE WATERING HOLE
Lunch, usually taken in the
basement, is a big social event
here, or at your desk if you are
stacked with tight deadlines.
13:00
LUNCH
FUSSBALL
Fast, frantic and competitive,
getting ten-balled by the
opposing team in a game of
table football entails a naked
lap of the studio.
ask for. But if they truly get it, the approach kills
brands, or at the very least stifles them. If you are a
control freak, you are not going to like the future.
Brand control is an illusion. We dont own it, or
control it, the audience does. So we like to create a
platform for things to adapt and change on rather
than traditional brand guidelines that are essentially
a bible of no.
Photoshop is an essential part of that. [Digital
design has] empowered the individual to get exactly
what they want. Collaboration is the way forward, but
with collaboration you never really get exactly what
you intended (if you do it right). With the tools at your
fingertips you can get precisely what you hope for
Its on everyones computer [] and actually they all
really seem to take it for granted. I think its such an
important part of the landscape its become a kind of
autopilot. I dont think many people realise how
useful it is. Perhaps we should take it away for a day
and then people would really see how valuable it is!
Manchipp adds with a flash of typical SomeOne
out-of-the-box thinking.
Photoshop is an essential for a studio that works
across all aspects of branding, as a quick look at the
kind of package SomeOne produces for a client
proves. Manchipp gives an example: Zinc was
exciting. We worked with WorldPay on creating a
new brand to launch a new way for small businesses
to take card payments. We worked on everything
from the name to the mark to the photography to the
end production, even what the point-of-sale would
look like in John Lewis sites around the country. It
was a totally integrated project and we were
delighted with the outcome.
With that kind of all-encompassing project
typifying SomeOnes client work, the studios
designers have to be open to all challenges, creative
and corporate. We all do everything. There are no
divides. If you are a designer you are expected to be
able to do pretty much anything, Manchipp says. 95
per cent of the people in SomeOne are designers.
Three per cent are project-management focused.
Two per cent sort the money bit out. We have a very
high ratio of designers and thats very deliberate.
We only hire very capable people. So while many
traditional design companies keep designers away
from the realities of running a project, our designers
relish the chance to meet the client and get involved.
It makes for a far better end result.
Great design is at the heart of SomeOne, but the
studio also sees its philosophies, and collaborative
digital workflow, as key to the great design of the
future. Theres never been a more exciting time to
be a designer, particularly in branding it kind of
means you can do anything now. Its amazing. One
day you can be doing sculpture, the next illustration,
then typography. It appears the landscape is simply
evolving to involve more and more platforms, more
and more people and more and more ideas. All of
which is a real thrill for those involved.
While many companies
keep designers away from
the realities of running a project,
ours relish the chance to meet
the client and get involved
09:30
STUDIO
AWAKENS
All the SomeOne employees
arrive at work and settle into a
new day, news is discussed,
hangovers are dismissed and
studio banter begins.
Branding in a digital age The SomeOne service extends to
developing a look and feel for client websites
Weve
021 021
14:00
BACK TO
BUSINESS
Mail, project managers and
catch-ups in the attic
boardroom all try their hardest
to break an afternoons
workflow progression.
15:30
SOME
ANIMALS
Animals are a popular theme
around the studio, whether
theyre pinned to clothing, on
top of monitors or hanging
from our oversized lamp.
16:00
BIRTHDAY
FUN
A common occurrence at
SomeOne around this time of
year is birthdays. Songs will be
sung, cards will be written and
cake will be eaten.
17:03
SEXY
LIGHTING
To start and wind down the day
we instate a studio-wide ban on
any bright lighting, switching to
our much cosier desk
lamps instead.
18:15
BEER
OCLOCK
Before the day closes, the beer
fridge is busted out and beers
at desks becomes a common
sight among those with an
evenings work ahead of them.
TOP 5
PRODUCTION TIPS
BE ORGANISED
Create a system within your project folder that allows you to
easily organise your work. It doesnt just help you find items
within a project, it also helps other designers.
A SIMPLE SYSTEM
A system can come in the form of numbered, categorised
folders like 00 Assets, 01 Design, 02 Comps, 04 Presentation,
which gives you a simple system to help manage your files.
GET IT ALL OUT
When you first get on a project, youve probably got loads of
ideas. Get them down on a piece of paper so theyre out of your
mind. A clear mind will allow you to focus on the project in hand.
GET ON WITH IT
Youll find us working hard early in the week, maybe even late
nights on a Monday, but getting on with it at the beginning allows
us to get the job done and grab a beer at the end of the week.
DONT THINK TOO HARD
Coming up with something new every day can be strenuous
and stressing about it never results in good. So when it gets to
that stage, get down the pub and start throwing ideas around.
3D brand sculpture - Its important to
SomeOne that a rebrand isnt just a logo
change, and they think outside of the box
when it comes to producing branding
icons, like this huge 3D sculpture of
Eurostars ident
Food for thought - In the SomeOne lexicon, informality breeds
inspiration, and so the studio team regularly eat and travel together
to strengthen their bonds and expand their creative horizons
SomeOne
Eurostar
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REA
DERS
TURN
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PAGE 71
*
TYLER WEST FOR WEST STUDIO
www.weststudio.com
Tyler West, an experienced concept artist, founded West
Studio, which has worked with notable clients throughout
the videogames world. This concept environment is an early
visual exploration piece that West Studio created for Playdek for its game
Unsung Story, a tactical RPG. For West, it is important that concept art not only
looks great, but that it also does its job and helps further the rest of the
production line: The philosophy that I have always used as a designer and
illustrator is to create designs that not only inspire but also inform production.
What makes a concept artist good at his or her job is their ability to create
designs. They need to not only excite those working on the project, but also
inform artists who rely on those images (modellers, lighters, animators, etc).
Concept art is not just about expression; it is also about fabrication.
01. CREATE CONCEPTS THAT AID PRODUCTION
GAME ART
15 TIPS FOR CREATING
PROFESSIONAL GAME ARTISTS SHARE THE SECRETS OF CREATING STRIKING
VISUALS FROM CONCEPT RIGHT THROUGH TO THE FINAL PRODUCT

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15 TIPS FOR CREATING GAME ART TECHNIQUES
026
TECHNIQUES 15 TIPS FOR CREATING GAME ART
2013 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. The trademarks, copyrights and
design rights in and associated with Lamborghini vehicles are used under licence from
Lamborghini ArtiMarca S.p.A., Italy. General Motors Trademarks used under license to
Ubisoft Entertainment. Ford Oval, Lincoln Star and nameplates are registered
trademarks owned and licensed by Ford Motor Company. 3400k emblem and RUF body
styling equipment are trademarks and/or intellectual property of RUF Vertriebs GmbH
XAVIER THOMAS FOR TWO DOTS
www.thetwodots.com
This striking visual was created for Ubisoft title The Crew by Two Dots
creative studio. It is part of the final key art for the game (http://
thecrew-game.ubi.com/portal/en-gb/home), which is an action driving
adventure game for next-gen consoles. Xavier Thomas, creative director at Two Dots, explains
how he creates concept art that excites: My objective when Im creating game art is to do
something that is going to emotionally and visually affect people somehow. Therefore, I like to
have time during concept phase to assimilate the project, understand which feelings the team
wants to give to the gamers and explore various creative paths. If needed, I challenge the brief
and clients expectations to not over-limit myself; the idea is to take into account a maximum
of constraints and play around them. Finally, I make sure I have fun before anything else; a
good tip is to be a gamer, who fundamentally enjoys being part of this industry.
02. DESIGN POWERFUL CONCEPTS
TOP RESOURCES FOR CREATING GAME ART
03. VISIT CONCEPTART
WORLD.COM
This website acts as both a blog and a
directory for artists working in the
entertainment industry. It profiles and
showcases artwork from the latest
releases and is frequently updated.
04. CATCH UP ON YOUR
READING LIST
Videogame designer Sam R.
Kennedy presents How To Become A
Video Game Artist (14.99/$21.99),
which features interviews with pros
and step-by-step tutorials.
05. TAKE A COMPUTER
GAMES ART DEGREE
This course at Teeside University, UK
looks at 3D character modelling,
environment modelling, vehicular
modelling, basic real-time animation
and 3D effects over its three years.
06. SIGN UP TO DIGITAL
TUTORS.COM
Online digital art training courses
look at the basic principles of
designing a videogame character in
Photoshop, including sketching,
design, rendering and more.
027
HUGO CENEVIVA FOR ELEVENDY
www.elevendy.com
Senior visual artist at Elevendy, Hugo Ceneviva,
explains how he uses Photoshops tools to get this
distinctive videogame look for key art, as shown in
this example for Tom Clancys Splinter Cell: Blacklist for Ubisoft.
07. MASTER PHOTOSHOP EFFECTS

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Contrast
Work with Brightness and
Contrast levels to create a
dramatic effect on your character
Textures
Use a variety of textures to add
realism, blend with different
modes and use High Pass to
increase detail moderately
Colour
Use colour layers (on
Overlay) to make the
lighting effects more
realistic and believable
Lighting
Play with highlights and shadows
to make the action or storyline of
the game come to life
www.thomasbrissot.com
Thomas Brissot is a concept artist and
illustrator who has worked for a number of
game clients. Here he shares three essential
tips for creating striking game art designs
THOMAS BRISSOT
Inspiration is your fuel. You should recognise when
you have enough to get your engine started, but
also notice when your tank is empty. When we
struggle to draw or paint, often it is less because of
a lack of technique than a lack of inspiration.
08. MANAGE YOUR INSPIRATION
If your reference is an awful photograph, you will
probably incorporate this into your artwork. That is
why movie snaps, fashion photos and well-lit
product photos are often popular among pros; they
have a quality that you can add to your artwork.
09. CHOOSE GOOD REFERENCES
If you try to apply a process that you see on the web, you will
get frustrated because it relies on another persons way of
thinking and understanding things. If it makes sense for you to
start with flat colours or lines or scribbles, then go ahead. At
each stage, choose the way to work that seems logical to you.
10. UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN PROCESS
Editions Faton 2013
028
029
CALEB PARRISH
www.artofcalebparrish.com
Caleb Parrish is lead artist at Fun Bomb Studios, and has nine years of experience in game art and 15 years in CG. Whether a game is large or
small, Parrish says that a good workflow and the ability to turn images around quickly are just as important. One of the keys to this is having a
workflow that allows you to get feedback and approvals at an early stage, but is still flexible enough to turn into a more polished piece. Keeping
your parts modular while designing is a pretty powerful way to do this, especially when you need to add and remove parts on the fly. Here he shows us how he built
up this image, a concept from a mobile game called Enchant Match.
11. HAVE AN EFFECTIVE WORKFLOW
15 TIPS FOR CREATING GAME ART TECHNIQUES
01
START WITH SHAPES
I began by creating basic shapes that I
thought reflected the characters personality. I chose
sharp and hard shapes to help reinforce that he is an
enemy in spite of a colourful palette. I then collaged
those into a silhouette to build from.
04
FINISHING TOUCHES
To finish the image, I added some finer
details, as well as upped the overall contrast using a
Curves adjustment layer. For the glowing bits, I
added a Glow layer effect to some simple lines with
the colour set to the same orange as the
lines themselves.
02
WORK WITH GRADIENTS
Once the appropriate silhouette was
decided upon, I jumped straight into blocking out the
shapes with colour using gradients. I like to utilise a
selection made from the collapsed layers. It was
then just a matter of adding the details.
03
DEFINE FURTHER DETAIL
It can be useful to ground the character; in
this case, using colours found in the shadows of the
image and a couple of radial gradients. This stage is
also about defining forms and separating
overlapping parts with colour and highlights.
All images Caleb Parrish
030
Alien Apple Studios
All rights reserved Titus Lunter
Lisa Liao
12. MASTER SPEED
PAINTING
LISA LIAO
www.lisaliao.com
Lisa Liaos responsibility as an
environmental artist for
videogames is to create art from concept to production
3D scenes. Before I start, I create some speed paintings
or thumbnails. Often, I need to paint different angles for
the same environment. To control the colour and lighting
more effectively, I usually draw two to four speed
paintings at the same time on the same canvas, each
sharing the same swatches. I also put similar elements
into the same layer for different printings. For example:
warm colours across all paintings are consolidated on
one layer, and the paintings cool colours on another.
13 USE CRITICISM
CONSTRUCTIVELY
TITUS LUNTER
www.tituslunter.com
Titus Lunter is a concept
artist for Ubisoft Massive, so
he is well placed to tell us a thing or two about
the importance of concept art in the videogame
industry. Concept art in the media and concept
art that happens behind the scenes are two
completely different things. Most of the images
the public gets to see are marketing approved
and much more like illustrations. The prime goal
of a concept artist is to make sure the rest of the
team understands an idea clearly. Getting to this
idea requires a lot of exploration so an idea can
grow, from line sketches to colour block-outs and
collages. Getting comfortable with reiterating
your ideas is one of the most important things to
do; you have to have a bit of a thick skin when it
comes to dealing with feedback. Its our job to fail
and get all the crazy ideas out of the way, and
really push the production into the right channel.
TIPS FOR CREATING GAME ART TECHNIQUES
031
Concept artist Stuart Jennett created this artwork for an
unannounced sci-fi project, in which the player took the role of a
futuristic combat soldier who is dropped into a number of tense
combat scenarios against an invading alien species. In order to achieve the graphic
look showcased here, Jennett relied on one of Photoshops key tools: If youd like to
bring a more graphic element to your work, make sure you use the Lasso tool to help
define and fill areas of your canvas. By adding texture and filter effects on layers over
these areas, you can create some really interesting contrasting techniques. I really like
to combine these approaches with my more traditional painterly style to help create
more layers of interest to the viewer. You can always mask areas as well and apply
the same approach if you wish; it is nice, though, to have a juxtaposition of finishes
within the same piece if possible.
STUART JENNETT FOR ALIEN APPLE STUDIOS
www.alienapplestudios.com
15. USE THE LASSO TOOL FOR GRAPHICS
STUART ELLIS FOR ATOMHAWK
www.atomhawk.com
Senior artist Stuart Ellis created this piece
of concept art for Atomhawks work on
Killzone: Mercenary, a first-person shooter game for Playstation
Vita, developed by Guerrilla Cambridge Studio and published by
Sony in September 2013. Atomhawk worked with Guerilla and
Sony to create character, environment, props and vehicle
concepts for the game. Ellis shares his top advice on how to
break into the incredibly competitive world of entertainment
concept art: It sounds like such a clich, but what you need to
do is practise constantly.
A lot of aspiring artists see what professionals are producing
and think, Yeah, I can do that, and when they cant do it straight
away, they become disheartened. Persistence is key. Keep
going at it and youll find you get better pretty quickly. There are
so many resources, forums and professionals online that
learning has never been easier. Take a sketchbook out in your
bag and whenever you have a couple of minutes spare you can
scribble out a couple of doodles. Surf the net and learn from
those already established in the industry. Its a very difficult
industry to break into, but once you have achieved it, the
rewards are great.
14. BE PERSISTENT AND
PRACTISE REGULARLY

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MAklhA 0LAh-|kAh0l8
WWW.MDFRETOUCHING.COM
Dean-Francis
is a high-end
Photoshop
retoucher,
working on
projects in the
commercial
and advertising
industries.
JULIE MARIE GENE GOBELIN
WWW.JULIEMARIEGENE.COM
Gobelin is a
French
freelance
photographer
based in Lyon,
specialising in
portraits and
fashion
photography.
IVO DE KOK
WWW.IVODEKOK.COM
De Kok studied
at the renowned
Fotoacademie
in Amsterdam
and now works
for various
clients and
magazines in
Europe.
]0AhhA 08JkA
WWW.JOANNAKUSTRA.COM
Kustra is a
Polish fashion
and beauty
photographer
and retoucher
based in Costa
del Sol, working
in the UK, Spain
and Poland.
DAVID BENOLIEL
WWW.DAVIDBENOLIELPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
Benoliel is a
French fashion
and beauty
photographer.
He has been
living in the US
between New
York and Miami
for four years.
CONTRIBUTORS
1. Original shot - This is the original shot
before any retouching has taken place
2. Cleaning and dodge and burn - Using a
Healing Brush at almost 200%, Benoliel
cleaned the skin and small imperfections
3. Shape - Benoliel shaped the face and
body with the Push Left tool on in the
Liquify panel and applied sharpening
FROM SHOOT TO PHOTOSHOP RETOUCH TECHNIQUES
033
FROM SHOOT TO PHOTOSHOP
BEAUTY RETOUCHING IS A METICULOUS AND DIFFICULT ART, ONE THAT MUST BE
APPROACHED WITH DELICACY. DISCOVER HOW TO FOLLOW IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS
MIKHAIL MALYUGIN
WWW.MIKHAILMALYUGIN.COM
Malyugin is an
internationally
published
photographer
and high-end
retoucher, and
specialises in
beauty, fashion,
and CG art.
JULIA KUZMENKO MCKIM
WWW.JULIAKUZMENKO.COM
Kuzmenko is a
Russian,
LA-based
beauty, fashion
and portrait
photographer,
digital artist,
retoucher and
educator.
STEFKA PAVLOVA
HTTP://STEFKAPAVLOVA.COM
Pavlova works
as a professional
retouching artist
in beauty and
fashion
post-production.
She has a
masters degree
in fine arts.
VICTOR WAGNER
WWW.VICTORWAGNER.COM
Victor Wagner is
a 25-year-old
professional
retoucher based
in Brazil,
specialising in
beauty, fashion
and commercial
images.
FERHAT YURDAM
WWW.FERHATYURDAM.COM
After university,
Yurdam
worked in a
fashion
photography
studio. There
he discovered
the magic of
Photoshop.
I
n many ways, the art of beauty
retouching could be considered as one
of the most difficult Photoshop
techniques that there is. Were so used
to seeing other humans faces that our
subconscious minds are attuned to the
smallest details if something is off, we
know it instantly.
As such, beauty retouching is no easy
task. It requires a delicate balance of
natural and digitally enhanced beauty,
with pixels used to subtly soften pores,
remove blemishes, and present a portrait
that could not have existed otherwise.
From the photographers to the
make-up artists to the retouchers
themselves we all create beautiful, even
impossible things that fill the eyes and
tickle the imagination, says beauty and
fashion retoucher Stefka Pavlova. As a
retoucher, the main task is to detract that
viewer from wondering where and how an
image has been enhanced, and to leave
them to just enjoy the beauty, while
maintaining the details and features that
are present in the original shot.
Read on to learn how our panel of
professional Photoshop retouchers
approach the discipline of beauty
enhancement, and discover how they
make the final shot rather than the
process used to achieve it the focus of
the piece.
Mikhail Malyugin, Model:
Kseniya Balakhnina, Make-up:
Anna Nerezova www.nerezova.com

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RETOUCH
Human retouching requires a great degree of skill
with Photoshops tools, with incredibly fine settings
and careful use required to augment another
persons beauty without shifting too far into the
realms of complete fantasy.
The tools and panels I use for beauty retouching
are very basic, begins beauty photographer and
retoucher Julia Kuzmenko McKim. I mainly work
with the Healing Brush, Clone Stamp tool and the
simple Brush tool, and some layer masks, a handful
of adjustment layers, a few blending modes, and
some custom Actions that I created to speed up my
workflow thats basically all I need. I also use some
Photoshop filters such as Gaussian Blur and High
Pass as part of the Frequency Separation technique,
which allows me to work on skin texture and skin
colours and tones independently. I also use the
Liquify filter thats one of the tools that requires very
accurate handling. All these basic tools are very
powerful if you know what they are capable of alone
and in combination with one another.
Three tools are used generally across all the
artists we spoke to the Brush tool, the Clone Stamp
and the Healing Brush a simple yet practical
combination that can be incredibly powerful when
used with care and skill. The Liquify tool is also used
for making body parts proportional or slimmer, while
Dodge and Burn, as always, come in useful when
working on lighting.
I also use Curves adjustment layers to dodge and
burn any patches on the skin, which are often just
pixels of the same colour as the surrounding skin but
different colour values, continues Kuzmenko. By
slightly brightening and darkening those patches, I
can even out the skin surface further without
affecting its texture. The trick here is to not over-do it,
otherwise the skin may end up looking plastic.
However, knowing the tools is one thing, but the
process doesnt start and end with Photoshop. Im a
strong believer that retouching itself cant really
ensure that the image will end up being outstanding,
Retouching cant ensure an
outstanding image. Its the
combination of the quality of the
source material, the artists vision
and his or her technical skills
Julia Kuzmenko McKim, www.juliakuzmenko.com
THE RETOUCHING TOOLKIT
continues Kuzmenko. Its a combination of the
quality of the source material not only its technical
quality, but also the scene and/or emotions it
captured the artists vision and his or her technical
skills. I create my images from start to finish. To
ensure that the final image stands out from the
crowd, I have to shoot it with good lighting and get
interesting emotions, facial expressions and poses
from my subject.
TECHNIQUES FROM SHOOT TO PHOTOSHOP RETOUCH
Before I start an image I make sure I have a goal in mind, says
Stefka Pavlova. Once the concept is clear, the task is easy.
I always use a mix of the Patch tool and Healing Brush for removing
small skin imperfections, states Joanna Kustra

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Joanna Kustra, Model: Abigail Gotts
SETTING UP A SHOOT
BEAUTY MAKEOVER
DAVID BENOLIEL AND JULIA KUZMENKO MCKIM OFFER ADVICE FOR SHOOTING WITH RETOUCHING IN MIND
STEFKA PAVLOVA DELVES INTO SKIN RETOUCHING
AND COLOUR CORRECTION
035
David Benoliel: If I decide to shoot a black and white series with a model with strong features, I will
use really hard light, even if the skin will not look as good. This is because I want my shadows to be
dark and the photo to have a lot of contrast. I know it means more editing, but thats okay. Another
thing to do is to work closely with your make-up artist to place your highlights, by adding shimmer
on the cheekbones and nose, for example. This will help contour the face, and not only will it help to
better place the lights on your set, but also during the editing process, where the shadow/highlights
will only need to be accentuated rather than created from scratch.
Julia Kuzmenko McKim: In beauty retouching, like in most retouching types, the source materials
and their quality are of high importance. You should always keep an eye on the things that can be
easily fixed during the shoot, and will take a lot of time and effort to doctor in post-production if you
dont. Im talking about frizzy hair, smudged make-up, flyaway hairs that are crossing the face, or
accessories that got tangled. If you have an experienced team of creative professionals on set, allow
them to stay right outside the frame and watch your models make-up and hair during the shoot.
They should be able to jump in to make corrections when needed.
03
FINAL COLOUR CORRECTION
This is the fun part the final colouring of
the image. You can experiment with different colour
adjustments and blending modes for hours. To
create this cold yet warm look, I used several
adjustment layers with specific settings for shadows,
midtones, highlights, blacks and whites.
02
RESHAPING AND CLEANING YOUR
PHOTOGRAPH
You can now move into Photoshop to start the
retouching process. Here a few things are done:
subtle reshaping of the face, teeth replacement,
cleaning of all the skin, overall and detailed dodge
and burn and some extra local colour fixes.
01
CROPPING AND COLOUR CORRECTION
The first task is to get to know the source
file: dimensions, colour space, quality, details and so
on. You can then rotate and crop the image according
to your own needs. This is a beauty shot, so the crop
area should cover the face and part of the neck only.
At this stage I usually do a basic colour correction.
Julia Kuzmenko McKim, Concept, Make-up & Hair: www.sherrijessee.com/Sherri_Jessee/SHERRI_JESSEE.
html, Model: www.modelmayhem.com/773686 Jamillette Gaxiola, Las Vegas, NV, Photo & post: www.facebook.
com/JuliaKuzmenkoPhotography - Julia Kuzmenko McKim
Joanna Kustra
TECHNIQUES FROM SHOOT TO PHOTOSHOP RETOUCH
036
Kuzmenko has a theory that its usually the signs of
ageing in the human face that need to be toned down
or completely removed from a retouched image. If I
am working on a 45-year-old clients portrait, and
she is a regular woman, I will soften her fine lines,
nasolabial folds, any deeper wrinkles around the
eyes and lips, but I wont completely remove them,
she says. If I am working on a beauty shot for a
magazine, and the models skin looks tired, patchy
and dehydrated, I will gently remove all that, trying to
not destroy her skin texture. However, no matter
what type of beauty image I am working on, the
main goal is always to preserve skin texture, while
removing blotchiness and temporary imperfections
such as acne, make-up mistakes and smudges.
Retoucher Ivo de Kok agrees that the skin cant be
overworked, as perfection is a dead giveaway of a
retouched image. Nobody is perfect, and humans
know that, so its important to leave some flaws in
say some lines under the eyes or a freckle. When
approaching lighting, shadows and dark circles, de
Kok uses the Split Frequency Separation for evening
out transitions between light and dark. I use the
High Frequency layer to clean up the image and I use
the Low Frequency to smooth out the tones and
transitions, he explains. For dark circles I often use
the Patch tool to select a dark area and pull it to a
lighter area of the skin. I then fix the texture by using
the Healing Brush tool.
Retoucher Ferhat Yurdam considers the cheeks to
be a particular area of attention when preserving
skin pores. When smoothing out skin pores I use
the Healing Brush to clean the skin, then I generally
use a Soft Light layer at 50% Gray to lighten the
wrinkles and pores, he tells us. A Black & White
layer under the Soft Light layer helps to see the
wrinkles better, but be sure to work on the Soft Light
layer. If I dont have enough time for a solid few days
of work, I use the Clone Stamp tool with low Opacity
(10-30%) and cloning from around the problematic
areas. An example of this process can be seen at
tinyurl.com/APFerhatYurdam.
If you feel more pores are needed, then there are
processes that can help you add them back into an
image, as Joanna Kustra reveals. I try to copy them
from the original picture or one with the same model
and a similar lighting setup. However, if I need to
re-create texture, this technique works best for me:
on top of my picture I go to Edit>Fill and create a 50%
Gray layer. I convert my new layer to a Smart Object,
which allows me to be flexible with the opacity of my
next Smart Filters. I change its blending mode to Soft
Light and go to Filters>Noise>Add Noise. I then add
two Smart Filters as following: Blur>Gaussian Blur
and Stylize>Emboss. At this stage my skin texture
should already be visible, and because I am working
on a Smart Object, I can adjust the blur and emboss
depending on the strength I want to achieve.
AFTER BEFORE
TECHNIQUES
Joanna Kustra
Mikhail Malyugin
Model: Kseniya Balakhnina
Make-up: Anna Nerezova,
www.nerezova.com
Spend a lot of time on skin texture, says Mikhail Malyugin.
Keep the skin texture, radiance and natural colours
Its important to enhance the objective of the photo, whether
thats the lipstick, eyelashes, hair or nails, says Victor Wagner
Renan Prando
004 PLAY WITH COLOUR
Apply colour grading locally.
Create a Selective Color
adjustment layer separately for
the hair, face, eyes, lips, cheeks
and backdrop, masking these
areas with a soft brush. Adjust
colours, moving the slider until
you are happy with the outcome.
Play with the black tones, adding
a magenta and cyan tint. Push the
white tones brighter, especially on
the face and hair, adding a bit of
yellow to them.
003 0L088Y J000-0
Add a new layer, set Mode to
Overlay and tick the box Fill with
Overlay neutral colour. On a
new 50% Gray layer, paint over
the area you want to affect. Use a
soft white and black brush at
around 5% Opacity I have
separate layers for highlights and
shadows. I edit my picture as if it
were in 3D closer parts are
brighter, further away are darker.
001 MAKE FRECKLES POP
Add a Selective Color adjustment
layer, darken the reds and yellows
and brighten the whites. Then
change the layers blending mode
to Darken and with a soft brush
on the layer mask, bring out
freckles you want to be darker.
002 ADD HAIR VOLUME
Copy hair from another picture
from the shoot where it looks
bigger and transform it around
the existing hair with the Free
Transform and Warp tool.
Remove unwanted areas and
adjust it with the Liquify tool.
JOANNA KUSTRA REVEALS HOW TO
APPLY CREATIVE COLOUR GRADING
TO ENHANCE NATURAL FEATURES
ADDING A
ROMANTIC
TOUCH
Joanna Kustra
037
038
FROM SHOOT TO PHOTOSHOP RETOUCH TECHNIQUES
039
We sat down with professional retoucher Marina Dean-Francis to
learn about her techniques, tools and processes
Can you please tell us a little about the techniques you used
to create this image?
To create natural-looking skin I used the Healing Brush to remove
blemishes and imperfections while maintaining the natural skin
texture. Next I used Dodge and Burn to make the skin look
smoother and more polished. I never remove natural lines and
bone structure of the forehead or the face unless its distracting or
requested by the client. To get rid of stray hairs I used the Clone
tool in Darken mode on an empty layer, also in Darken mode. It
makes it quite easy to remove the visible strays and make the
surface of the hair cleaner. Next I copied the best parts of the
spare pictures from the shoot and composited them to create the
perfect flow of the hair. I blended it together using either the
Eraser or by simply painting the missing parts, although I always
try to avoid painting the hair as it can look cartoonish sometimes.
I prefer to borrow some good parts from the spare images. To
add shine I simply used the Lasso tool and Curves and put in
highlights and lowlights where I felt they were needed.
How did you make the most important areas stand out?
I paid most attention to the hair. Luckily, as this was my own
shoot and I was both the photographer and retoucher for the
project, I had a lot of control during the shoot, and paid a lot of
attention to ensuring the hair was as perfect as possible on the
day. That helped me to create natural-looking, beautiful hair in the
final images.
What was your approach to the hair?
The art of creating great hair images is firstly to have good-quality
original images. Then you need a few spare images with some
good hair parts to lift additional hair from if needed. Clear your
schedule for the day, dont try to rush and accept the fact that hair
retouching takes ages to do. You only need to use basic tools to
create fantastic-looking hair. You just need to use them in the
correct way. I can do all my hair retouching using just the Clone in
Darken mode, Dodge and Burn on layers, the Eraser for blending
and compositing, then the Lasso and Curves for enhancing
highlight areas. Sometimes if there are loads of stray hairs I use
Frequency Separation to remove and smooth it. Try to avoid
over-sharpening the hair. Keep a few strays in the image along
with some gaps to make the hair look more natural. Dont make
the edges of the hair too sharp and perfect. Using Frequency
Separation can be a good trick for removing stubborn stray hairs.
Can you please tell us how Wacom technology was beneficial
to the process of creating these images?
When it comes to retouching I only use Wacom input devices
because they offer great-quality creative tablets, which makes
your work easier and more enjoyable. I program the buttons on
the side of the tablet to use as shortcuts to Photoshop functions,
which saves me time. The tablets are very sensitive so its like
using a real pen or brush. Even if you are drawing hair you can
make it more realistic than when using a mouse or track pad. I
wouldnt use any other tool simply because my work would not
be the same quality without it.
RETOUCHING HAIR
Marina Dean-Francis
TECHNIQUES FROM SHOOT TO PHOTOSHOP RETOUCH
040
A LAYERED APPROACH
OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS DISCUSS THE AMOUNT OF LAYERS USED IN THEIR WORK AND
HOW THEY APPROACH THEM
Starting out in the beauty retouching industry can be
challenging, and unfortunately there are no magic
workarounds to attain a professional level of quality.
Practice, practice, practice! exclaims Julie Marie
Gene Gobelin. I dont think there is really any secret
for good work. Its the same in every field; you have
to practise a lot to learn, be better and to be faster!
Mikhail Malyugin is quick to agree. Practise, do
more research and then practise again, he says.
Dont be lazy the hours of practice and patience
will be worthwhile. You might spend 4-7 hours on a
photo at first, but the more you practise, the faster
you will become. Your retouching skills and the use
of the advanced techniques should become your
second nature.
Its important, however, to remain observant of
others work, and not get too caught up in your own.
Look at the top photographers and retouchers
work a lot, continues Malyugin. Observe and work
on developing your own sense of style and vision.
Watch the industry trends and innovations and
constantly work on your own skills.
Ivo de Kok suggests learning as many different
processes and approaches as possible will help
when it comes to working to deadlines. Read as
many books, watch as many tutorials, and follow as
many workshops as you can even those about
selections, masks, brushes and so on. It will speed
up your workflow if you know a range of different
techniques that can be used to reach the same goal.
For complete beginners, Kuzmenko emphasises
the importance of pacing yourself, and learning
commercial retouching techniques from the ground
up. I always recommend learning the software first:
all the basic tools, panels, layer masks, filters,
blending modes and adjustment layers. Practise very
simple retouching with them to know how they
work. Read as much as you can on colour theory and
colour management. Learn the visual arts basics,
such as composition, visual weight, rendering of light
and shadows, human anatomy and start paying
more attention to the current global or local beauty
trends (make-up, fashion, colours). When you are
familiar with the fundamentals and current beauty
trends, you have a lot more chances to succeed at
learning more advanced retouching techniques and
not get discouraged.
However, as with all things based in art, its
passion that matters most. Anyone who has found
their satisfaction in being a retoucher, who is willing
to jump in with both feet into a boundless field full of
beauty, will succeed, says Stefka Pavlova. Just be
extremely patient and prepare for very hard work.
Your skills will evolve with experience!
Joanna Kustra: I rarely flatten layers while working on a PSD file, so I can always
come back to a certain stage and adjust again if needed. My average PSD file
contains from 30 up to 50 layers. I keep my layers in a few named folders usually
they are grouped by a few stages of my retouching: overall touch-up, skin and hair
retouch, local and overall colour adjustments, highlights and shadows.
Mikhail Malyugin: On average about 20-30 layers. It all depends on the photo and
assignment. Sometimes I use more than 100 layers. I always name my groups
Healing, Colour, Hair, D&B, Hands, Background and so on. Sometimes in each group
there are several groups.
Stefka Pavlova: I try to keep my workflow as simple as possible. My average file
contains around 6-20 layers, and most of them are for colour adjustments only. I
like to keep everything under control so I work on all layers simultaneously.
Julia Kuzmenko McKim: Over the years Ive worked out a routine that suits my
retouching workflow perfectly I create new or duplicate layers while working on
each segment of a photo, then merge them, duplicate the merged layer, and start
working on the next part. This way, if at any point I want to take something back, I
can simply retrieve it from one of the merged layers in my stack.
STARTING OUT
I dont think there is really
any secret for good work.
Its the same in every field; you
have to practise a lot to learn, be
better and to be faster!
Julie Marie Gene Gobelin, www.juliemariegene.com
Fernando Tomaz
Hugo Toni
It can be really hard, but here is always someone looking for
young, new retouchers in the industry! says Victor Wagner
Julia Kuzmenko McKim, For LA Fashion magazine, December 2013 issue, Los Angeles, CA
Creative Director: Matthew Mitchell, Hair: William Williams, Make-up: Gabriel Valdez, Model:
Amanda of PhotogenicsLA, Photo & Post: Julia Kuzmenko McKim
041
03
FREQUENCY
SEPARATION
I then do a round of the Frequency
Separation technique and some
dodging and burning to finalise
the skin. If you are not familiar
with the concept of the Frequency
Separation technique and the
settings, google Frequency
Separation, and my Fstoppers
article will be at the top of the
search list.
01
CREATE VIRTUAL
COPIES AS LAYERS
Once I have chosen a strong
photo for retouching, I normally
create a few virtual copies with
different exposure and colour
settings, then take them into
Photoshop as layers in one PSD.
To do that I select all the virtual
copies Ive created, Ctrl/right-click
on them and then go to Edit
In>Open As Layers In Photoshop.
04
FINAL TOUCHES
My final touches are
usually colour grading and a
round of global Dodge and Burn
where I enhance some shadows
and highlights, which I could have
flattened a bit while retouching
the skin. When its a client shot I
double-check with the client what
format, colour space, colour
mode and resolution they would
like the final file in.
02
START RETOUCHING
After my final image is
composed out of different parts, I
merge all the layers in the stack
this will be the background layer
in my master file. I normally start
with a round of the Spot Healing
brush, targeting spots, blemishes,
fine lines and stray hairs on the
skin. I work with a very small
brush and jump to the Healing
Brush tool or the Clone Stamp.
THE PERFECT RETOUCH
JULIA KUZMENKO MCKIM ON HER APPROACH TO BEAUTY RETOUCHING
Julia Kuzmenko McKim, Model: Carolina of Aston Models, Make-up &
Hair: Germaine Nichols, Photo & Post-production: Julia Kuzmenko McKim
042
START IMAGE
PROFESSIONAL
PORTRAIT RETOUCHING
043
PROFESSIONAL PORTRAIT RETOUCHING TECHNIQUES
STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN NATURE AND PERFECTION
WITH EXPERT TECHNIQUES AND LIGHTING ADJUSTMENTS
P
ortrait retouching is a delicate skill, one that
demands a balance between enhancing
beauty digitally and ensuring that the
portrait stays believable. But this tutorial will
show you how to master it like the pros. I personally
prefer it when the retouch is not too obvious and the
identity of the photographed person is maintained,
so here you will learn how to enhance the natural
beauty of the model rather than fake it.
The first step of a good retouch is a good
development. You will find the RAW file on the disc,
which you will need to open with Capture One,
Lightroom or Camera Raw. I recommend using
Capture One, as I find this software very easy to use.
When you open the file, you will immediately see
that the right side of the models face appears darker
than the rest. The idea will be to develop the image
twice: one normal development with nice details and
skin colour, and another development for the dark
part of her face.
So grab your start image, fire up Photoshop, and
get ready to transform the portrait from a natural
beauty to a flawless piece of art that could grace the
cover of any high-end fashion magazine.
GETTING STARTED
DEVELOP YOUR RAW FILE BEFORE MOVING INTO PHOTOSHOP
03
STAMP, STAMP, STAMP
To clean up the skin, use
the Clone Stamp. The secret is
that the brush size should be a
little bit bigger than the things you
retouch (hairs and spots), the
Opacity should be on 85-100%
and the Hardness close to 0%.
The idea is not to remove all the
imperfections, but more to
replace imperfections with
natural pores, and keep as much
texture as possible.
01
GET THE BEST OUT OF RAW
Open your image in Capture One and adjust
the Kelvin and Tint, then adjust the Clarity,
Accentuation and Shadow to bring out details. Copy
those presets, create a new variant and add the
presets to it, then change the exposure until you see
all the details in the shadow areas. Develop the two
versions and open them in Photoshop.
02
MERGE THE IMAGES
Select the Move tool, Shift+Opt/Alt-click the
brighter image and bring it over to the normal one.
Select the shadow area on the brighter image and
create a mask, Ctrl/right-click on it and select Refine
Mask. Paint around the masked area with a black
brush at 30% Opacity to fuse the bright and dark
areas together. Merge the layers and duplicate.
PHOTO EDITING
FROM RAW DEVELOPMENT
TO THE FINAL LOOK
WORK IN
PROGRESS
Progress 1: Develop RAW file
Progress 2: Smooth skin
Progress 3: Layer adjustments
BRIVAELLE CAPITAINE
www.onehundredberlin.com
OUR EXPERT
After five years working as a model,
Capitaine decided to use her beauty
expertise as a retoucher. She
graduated with a masters in digital
art and later founded her own
agency: One Hundred Berlin.
SOURCE FILES
On the disc you will find the RAW file
of the model (Untitled Catalog4130.
nef) so you can follow this tutorial
step by step.
044
TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL PORTRAIT RETOUCHING
06
HAIRS AROUND THE CHIN
For a more natural result, select the area
around the chin again, copy it onto another layer
(Cmd/Ctrl+C, Cmd/Ctrl+V) and use a Gaussian Blur
on this little part. Then create a grey layer and add
some grain to it. Attach the grey layer with the grain
to the little part of the chin that you blurred, then
adjust the grains opacity to fuse it to the skin.
05
REMOVE HAIR
Duplicate the image layer so that you can
revert back to the original if something goes wrong.
Zoom out of the image so that you can see from afar
any areas of facial and head hair that need to be
removed. Then create a new empty layer and mark
these problem areas in red. To remove the hairs
around the chin, create a new path and select the
area around the chin. Then create a new selection
and clone stamp all the little hairs within it.
04
SOFTEN THE SKIN
In this step you will soften the skin in a very
natural way that doesnt change the natural structure
of the skin. Create a new Hue/Saturation layer (H: 0,
S: 0, L: 50), delete the mask, change the blend mode
to Soft Light and pixelise the layer. I use this layer to
brighten the dark parts of the skin and darken the
parts that appear too bright. To help see the
difference more clearly, create a new Curves
adjustment layer and darken the entire image.
08
REDUCE FLYAWAY HAIRS
For flyaway hairs, its often better to rein
them in using Liquify tool rather than remove them
all. To do this, open the image in the Liquify tool and
push inside the little hairs. On this image layer, create
a mask and invert it so it appears black. Then use the
brush in white and on 50-100% Opacity and paint
over the messy hairs to cover them. If there are still
any marks in the background, simply use the Clone
Stamp to soften those differences (on 35% Opacity
and 45% Flow).
07
CLEAN THE BACKGROUND
You will then need to clean up all the marks in the background with the Clone Stamp tool, set at
80-100% Opacity. You can also use the Dust & Scratches filter. To do this, duplicate the image layer and use
the Dust & Scratches filter to make a mask that covers the models face. To soften lines in the background,
use the Clone Stamp tool set to 35% Opacity and 45% Flow.
045
13
HAIR HIGHLIGHTS
The hair must be adjusted too, so select the
hair area to bring in some highlights, contrast and
colour. Create a Levels layer and refine the mask.
Add some highlights by moving the white slider to
the left and the black cursor to the right. You can also
adjust the colours with a selection of a different part
of the hair (top and left) and create a Levels layer,
then adjust the red and yellow tones. The left part of
the models hair appears darker, so select this area
and adjust the levels, and as usual, refine the mask.
12
ADD TONE TO THE SKIN
To add colour and brightness to the skin,
simply select it, add a Curves adjustment to bring in
some light, refine the mask and add a Selective Color
layer that you can clip to the Curves layer (in the grey,
add more yellow, magenta and eventually red.) On
the right side of the face, it is possible to soften the
shadow by selecting the shadow area, creating a
new Selective Color layer, and in the grey tone,
remove some black and add colour instead.
11
BRIGHTEN THE EYES
The light in the eyes is not the same; use a
Levels adjustment layer to balance this area, and
bring in highlights in the whites of the eyes also
using the Levels command. You can then create a
new layer and simply draw a bit of white on the pupil
(with the brush at 50% Opacity) in the eyes, then set
the layer to Overlay or Soft Light mode and add a soft
Gaussian Blur.
09
CREATE SYMMETRY
Create guidelines to help see what needs to be transformed. Place these under the eyes and in the
middle of the nose, then Transform the image (Cmd/Ctrl+T) to straighten it. Open the layer in Liquify to
change the shape of the nose, eyes and lips. The Pressure of the brush should be close to 100%.
10
LIGHT AND COLOURS
To soften the dark circles under the eyes,
select the area and brighten it using Levels. Then
create a Selective Color layer and attach the Levels
layer as a clipping mask to correct the grey tone (add
colour in the grey to match the skin tones), then
refine the mask. To reduce the highlights on the face,
select the area, create a Levels adjustment and
reduce the Midtones. Then refine the mask. On this
image the nose appears slightly magenta. Select the
area on the nose and balance the colour to the green.
001 Eyes
Move the outside corner of the eyes up
slightly and increase the size if necessary
002 Nose
Bring in the sides of the nose to make it
slimmer, as well as the tip
003 Lips
Bring up the left side of her lips to
make them more symmetrical
001
002
003
RETOUCH THE FEATURES
CHANGE THE SHAPE OF THE NOSE, EYES AND LIPS AND ADD TONE TO SKIN AND HAIR
046
COLOUR AND LIGHT
CREATE A COLOURED BACKGROUND AND ADD DIMENSION WITH ADJUSTMENT LAYERS AND CHANNELS
14
COLOUR BACKGROUND
For the background, create a mask of the
model and add a colour. First you will need to convert
the image to 16 bits. This will improve the quality of
the gradient. I generally use a Curves adjustment
layer to make this mask, because the Refine Mask is
very easy to use on a desaturated layer but doesnt
work on a colour layer. Select the model, create a
Curves layer and refine the mask. Clip a colour layer
to this. To make it look more natural, its a good idea
to reduce the Opacity of this layer when possible.
Here it is set to 67%.
15
ADD DIMENSION
Neutralise the colour of the original image
with a Desaturate layer. Place it under the colour
layer, so it doesnt affect it. You can also brighten the
light behind the models head. Do this by creating a
new layer, clip it to the colour mask (attached to the
Desaturate and Curves layer) and simply make a
white circle gradient behind her head. Create a Black
& White adjustment layer set to Soft Light mode only
on the model (30% Opacity) to bring some dimension
to the image.
16
LEVELS ADJUSTMENT
To create even more relief within the image,
use Channels. Go to the Channels panel and choose
a channel, generally blue or green. Duplicate this
channel and go to Image>Adjustments>Levels.
Select the white pipette and click on a highlight point
(like on the nose, for example), then select the black
pipette and click on a dark part (for example the
shadow under the ear). Click OK and activate the
selection by Cmd/Ctrl-clicking. Go back to the Layers
panel and create a new Levels layer.
18
OPTIONAL: ADD EYELASHES
Select both the eyes and copy this selection
on a new layer. Sharpen this selection and add a
mask to soften around it. Create a new layer and
select the brush at 100% Opacity, in black, with 0%
Hardness. Then simply draw some new eyelashes
with your brush, generally at 1px Size. Create a mask
on the layer and mask the extremities of the new
eyelashes with a brush set to 50% Opacity. Duplicate
the layer for more intensity and mask any areas
where it is too visible.
17
CURVES ADJUSTMENT
Next, create a Curves layer under the Levels
layers you just added (with the channel masking).
Invert the mask so it is completely black, then take a
soft brush (30-50% Opacity) and paint in white on the
Curves mask where you want to bring in highlights.
It is also possible to activate the channel another
time (Green copy), create a new Levels layer, invert
the mask, and move the black slider to the right. This
will also bring more dimension to the image.
SKIN SOFTENING WITH THE CLONE STAMP
Softening the skin with the Clone Stamp is a nice
thing to do, but I always try to maintain as much
texture as possible. To do this, I copy my image
twice, and on the top layer I add a High Pass filter
in Soft Light mode to keep the texture of the skin.
On the layer beneath, I use the Stamp on a very
soft setting (20% and 20%) everywhere the skin
needs to be softened.
TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL PORTRAIT RETOUCHING
The Refine Mask is very easy to use on a desaturated layer but
doesnt work on a colour layer
048
HOW I MADE
TREE OF LIFE
FERDINAND D. LADERA
T
ree Of Life is a personal piece by Ferdinand D. Ladera
(www.ferdinandladera.com), who is a senior
concept artist with seven years of experience in the
games industry. Specialising in fantasy and sci-fi
illustration, and with a background in fine art, photography
and graphic design, Ladera is certainly a versatile artist.
This image was created solely in Photoshop CS5 using
digital painting techniques and was inspired by scenes from
the movie Avatar. I chose this concept because I really enjoy
doing landscapes and trees, says Ladera. The concept was
first created in greyscale to establish the right values and
contrast. Ladera then painted over it with photos to make
building up the environment easier and quicker. This also
helped to make some of the elements look more realistic. He
made the most of custom brushes to further speed up the
painting process.

F
e
r
d
i
n
a
n
d

D
.

L
a
d
e
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a
THIS TALENTED CONCEPT ARTIST SHARES WITH US THE
SKILLS BEHIND HIS ATMOSPHERIC DIGITAL PAINTINGS
049
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
02
FINAL IDEA
This is the concept that I chose to go with for this
painting. On the right-hand side of this image are the
brushes that I used in the creation of the landscape.
03
ADDING KEY VISUALS
I have already incorporated the tree in this
concept. I also added waterfalls around the tree. The
waterfalls are coming from an underground river beneath
the tree, which comes from the mountains.
01
INITIAL SKETCHES
I usually do different studies of landscapes
before I pick the one that stands out. Here are all of the
sketches that were done for this particular painting.
050
The main tip that I can give to the artists who are interested in using this
process is that all you need is patience and perseverance, because
landscape illustrations are kind of difficult to do. You should have a wide
understanding of values and atmospheric perspective. And you should
also have plenty of references to base work on. Of course, nothing beats
having your own unique idea. It will really make your painting stand out.
LADERA SHARES HIS TOP TIPS FOR ATMOSPHERIC DIGITAL PAINTINGS
CREATE STUNNING LANDSCAPES
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
06
FINAL GREYSCALE COMPOSITION
And here it is, the final painting in
greyscale. Im happy with the results and I like
the composition of the entire painting. So, next
up is colouring.
04
CUSTOM TREE BRUSHES
This image shows all of the custom brushes that I used for branches
and leaves to speed up the process of putting the tree together. As you can see,
there are quite a few of them!
05
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
This is the complete concept on a bigger canvas. The images at the
bottom are the inspirational sketches that I used as reference as I painted. The
right-hand image shows the custom brushes used.
07
CURVES FOR COLOURING
I started colouring by using the Curves settings. I
played around with the Red, Blue and Green channels until I
saw the result I wanted. Next, I used Color Balance, Levels,
etc, until I got the right colours.
08
FINAL TOUCHES
Here, I added more
details like the trees that you
can see on the left side, and I
also made some tweaks to
the contrast and the colour.
TUTORIALS INTERVIEWS EXPERT GUIDES BEGINNER ADVICE
CREATE THE ART OF THE FUTURE
ON SALE NOW:
> Photoreal 3D > Arch-vis > Visual efects > Animation > 3D printing
www. 3dar ti stonl i ne. com
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052
CLIENT: DEFENDING RUSSIA, AGENCY: DESIGN MEDIA
053
TRANSFORM 3D RENDERS TECHNIQUES
FROM IDEA TO FINISHED
ARTWORK
WORK IN
PROGRESS
Progress 2: Composite scene
Progress 3: Final effects
ANTON EGOROV
www.behance.net/egorov
OUR EXPERT
Egorov is a self-taught CG artist
living in Saint Petersburg who mixes
Photoshop with 3D applications to
create stunning infographics and
illustrations. He is currently working
worldwide as a freelancer.
TAKE OFF
CREATE YOUR SCENE USING MATTE PAINTING TECHNIQUES
02
ROUGH SKETCH
Open the supplied draft-render.png file and
place it into the scene so that it looks great in both
size frames. Hide the Sizes group. Now your task is
to create the backgrouonund of the artwork. Paint a
scene using any kind of rough brush, photos and
whatever else you want.
01
CREATE WORKSPACE
Create a new document
at 3600 x 3600px. A square
format is handy when creating
multipurpose images. Make a
grey background layer and a
group. Name the group Sizes.
Create two layers at 16:9 and A4,
fill them with dark grey and set
their Opacities at 70%. Make
rectangular holes in them sized
3600 x 2025px and 2776 x 3567px.
03
DRAFT LANDSCAPE
You now need a pile of misty photos. Go to
a photo stock site and collect as many as you can.
Replace the sketch with preview photos. Place them
using rough masks and colour corrections. We used
25817889, 25817914, 25014376, 25013547 and
2640502 from www.istockphoto.com.
PHOTOMANIPULATION
Progress 1: Create a sketch
BRING YOUR 3D RENDER TO LIFE USING PHOTOSHOP TRICKS
AND MATTE PAINTING TECHNIQUES
TRANSFORM 3D RENDERS
N
owadays its hard to be a Photoshop artist
and not use 3D at all, just as it is to be a
3D artist and not use Photoshop. The
most modern techniques overlap different
branches of computer graphics, creating images
like never seen before. Over the following pages,
you will see that 3D post-production isnt harder
than the usual compositing techniques that you are
used to. It isnt a strict cookbook only teaching you
how to create aeroplanes, as you can apply these
methods to any type of 3D render. On the way youll
pick up some Photoshop tricks that will be helpful
in many different cases.
At the beginning of the tutorial youll learn how to
create a landscape background from scratch, from
sketch to photo compositing and colour correction,
using matte painting techniques. You will then
polish a 3D render using a lot of adjustments and
differently blended layers, and will discover which
passes of a 3D render can be very helpful for
post-production. You will then learn how to
composite photos again to create a photoreal
cockpit. By the end of the tutorial, you will have
learnt how to easily add some special effects like a
burning rocket trail and scattered particles. So dont
delay, lets go!
SOURCE FILES
On the disc, you can find the basic 3D
render files. The photos for
compositing and special effects can
be found at www.cgtextures.com
and www.istockphoto.com.
054
TECHNIQUES TRANSFORM 3D RENDERS
06
COLOUR CORRECTION
You now need to reconcile the different
photos with each other. Create a new Solid Color
layer in Color mode and choose a blue-grey colour.
Set the Opacity at 40%. In order to diversify the
colours, create a new Curves layer. Vary the channels
individually: for Red, move the bottom marker up,
and for Blue, move the centre of the line down. To
make the colours more natural, create a new layer in
Soft Light mode. Paint with broad strokes using
large soft brushes in different colours.
05
FOREGROUND
Choose a tree photo or download
24864654 from iStock. Replace the preview with it
and improve the mask with artistic brushes, like the
Rough Round Bristle brush. Create a subtle speed
effect with the Motion Blur filter. Set the Angle at -6
and the Distance at 31px. Create a new clipped layer
and another one beneath the photo. Use a soft brush
with low opacity to brighten pieces of the landscape
where its needed, settling the pines into the scene.
04
LA0L l0-kL8 0J08
When you are happy, replace the previews
with high-res images and refine the masks using
brushes. Some photos will need colour correction,
like 25817889. Deepen its shadows using a Levels
adjustment. Clip it to the photo and move the left
slider to 37. Desaturate the photo using a new Hue/
Saturation layer. Set the Hue at +3 and the Saturation
at -55. Then create a Solid Color layer in Soft Light
mode and choose a tan colour.
08
MORE FOG!
Go to www.cgtextures.com and find the
Smoke0403 set, then download the first photo.
Create a group and place the file into it. Remove the
sky, the chimney and excess smoke using a layer
mask and brushes. Reduce the opacity. Create a
Levels adjustment, clip it to the group and move the
centre slider to 1.51 and the right to 138. Add a Solid
Color layer filled with grey-blue in Soft Light mode.
07
ALklAL Lk8L0JlvL
In order to make the scene deeper, use aerial perspective. This means that the distant objects,
especially on the horizon, are less contrasted and lighter than the foreground ones. reate a new Brightness/
Contrast layer. Set the Brightness at 28 and the Contrast at -29. Clean the foreground using a large soft black
brush on the mask of the layer. Create a new Levels layer and move the centre slider to the left to 1.65. Make
a similar mask for it. Refine the result with other adjustment layers if its needed.
QUICK TIP
When you place a new photo into a scene, convert it to a Smart Object. This way you have the possibility to
re-transform it without any losses, and you can even change the Filter settings! This trick is very useful in
real-life work when you always have to go back and adjust things youve already finished.
055
13
ADD CONTRAST
In order to put the fighter in the foreground,
you should hugely enhance its contrast on the
nearest details. Create a new Brightness/Contrast
adjustment layer clipped to the 3D render. Reduce
the Brightness and lift the Contrast up to get a really
contrasted plane. Then make a fully black mask for
it. Grab the Brush tool and paint contrast areas using
a soft white brush on the mask.
11
COLOUR TONES AND REFLECTIONS
Colour reflections are one of the most
important things to settle a stock image into a scene.
Tone the fighter a bit using a clipped Solid Color layer
in Soft Light mode filled with blue. Set its Opacity at
10%, then add matte colour reflections. Create a
layer in Soft Light mode. Grab the Brush tool and
choose a green colour. Paint the lower wing and the
lower side of the cockpit with broad strokes using a
large soft brush with low opacity. Pick a blue colour
and paint the higher parts of the fighter.
10
AERIAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE FIGHTER
The first helpful pass is ZDepth. Its a
greyscale image that shows the distance from the
camera. The closest objects are white and the
furthest ones are black. Place render-ZDepth.png
into the scene. Align it with the fighter and fill the
empty space with black. Invert and cut the layer.
Create a Brightness/Contrast layer clipped to the
fighter and paste into its mask. Brighten the furthest
part and reduce their contrast. Use the same mask
for a blue Solid Color layer in Soft Light mode.
09
IMPORT THE RENDER
You can import your 3D render or use the
supplied production-render.png. The attached
fighter is a stock 3D model. It was rendered using
V-Ray. The landscape created before was used as a
HDRI environment map for reflections. The surface
of the fighter is quite matte, but this trick can be very
helpful in other cases. Once you have placed the
render, make a group called Guides and place it
above the others. Draw some perspective lines. You
will be able to check against them to avoid mistakes.
PLACE 3D RENDER
IMPORT 3D PASSES AND SETTLE THEM DOWN INTO THE SCENE
12
ADDITIONAL LIGHTING
A common problem of 3D renders is their lack of imperfections, especially in lighting. So lets make
the lighting of the plane more natural. Create a new clipped layer in Overlay mode. Select the Brush tool and
paint shadows and highlights with a soft black and white brush. Feel free to work instinctively.
001 Highlights
With a small brush, paint intense
highlights on the places where the light
of the bright clouds should be reflected
002 Shine
Enhance the reflections of the glass
parts of the cockpit. A broad brush will
increase the shine effect
003 Shadows
Make the shadows deeper using a soft
black brush. It will give the illustration
more depth
001
003
002
Colour reflections are one of
the most important things
that will help to settle a stock
image into a scene
056
14
TEXTURE
The fighter is still too clean, so lets add dirt!
Go to www.cgtextures.com, search and download
ConcreteLeaking0118 or another dirty texture, then
place it into the scene. Convert it to a Smart Object
and set the layer mode to Overlay. Unhide the Guides
group and hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to activate the Transform
tool on the texture. Rotate and move the points using
Cmd/Ctrl to lay the texture onto the plane. Reduce
the opacity twice. Duplicate the layer and cover all of
the fighter.
17
PILOT
Go to a photo stock site and collect as many
pilots, thumbs-up hands and seats as you can. Place
previews into the scene. Choose ones that you like
(or just download 35116366, 33404702, 35321320
and 32214514 from iStock). Use adjustment layers
to settle the parts into the environment as you did
with the plane. Feel free to reuse parts of the body
making the pose. The original helmet of the pilot
looks a bit strange so you can replace it with the
other one. Paint shadows using a soft black brush.
15
COCKPIT
The cockpit is located in the centre of the
illustration, and truth be told its deadly dull and
clumsy. The best solution is to make it again from
scratch. Create a new group and name it Cockpit.
Choose the Pen tool and outline the glass with a path
(by the way the top separator of the cockpit
shouldnt be there, so its a chance to remove it).
Create a vector mask for the group using the path.
Place the supplied file named cockpit-base.png and
align it with the fighter.
18
GLASS
Paint the needless cockpit parts behind the
pilot with a dark grey brush. Get images render-
Reflection.png and render-Specular.png and align
them with the fighter, then set their modes to Screen.
The first one is a pass that only shows reflections.
Enhance its contrast to get a nice result. The second
one is a pass that shows highlights. Use a Levels
layer to add more white (set the right slider at 170).
Create a new layer and mask it to show only the top
glass. Add some highlights using a white brush.
16
GAUGE PANEL
Dont concentrate on minute details only
the most noticeable ones. The next task is to
re-create the screen on the gauge panel. Create a
new group for it. Grab the Pen tool and outline the
frame of the screen. Fill it with a grey colour picked
from a nearby area. Add a new clipped layer and
paint highlights with a white brush, then draw a
shape for the glass of the screen. Fill it with a blue
colour and add some reflections with white strokes.
USE PHOTO PATCHES
Often 3D models arent perfect and some parts of
them look awful in high resolution, especially if
you use a low-poly model. In other cases, far too
much time has been spent making them, so they
are unnatural-looking. For both problems there is
a good solution photo patches. Photos are the
best way to amend clumsy parts of a 3D render
and bring a touch of realism into it. These can be
textures, screens and gauges or even whole
parts of an object like headlights. When you place
a photo into a 3D render, use it as a guide for
lighting and contrast correction.
TECHNIQUES TRANSFORM 3D RENDERS
BRING IT TO LIFE!
MIX PHOTOS WITH THE 3D RENDER TO ADD REALISM
QUICK TIP
Aerial perspective is a truly powerful tool for achieving realism. It isnt so noticeable in real life but it can
greatly improve your work. It isnt obligatory to have a ZDepth pass. You can make a similar mask yourself
using black and white brushes.
QUICK TIP
For special effects like fire, smoke or splashes, using a stock photo is the fastest way to achieve a great
result. Dont hesitate to experiment and try various photos and blending modes. At least you dont need to
wait for a lengthy 3D rendering to be performed.
057
21
MISSILE TRAIL
The missile also needs a trail. In this case
you need a photo. Go to a stock website and find
some photos of launching rockets, shuttles and so
on. Choose one or just get image 18769121 from
iStock. Create a new group for it and place the file
into the scene. Rotate and transform the image,
checking it against the guides. Then remove the sky
from the photo using a mask and the Quick Selection
tool. Apply some adjustment layers to reconcile the
image with the scene.
24
FINAL TOUCHES
Congratulations! Your action scene is now
complete. But there is one thing that you can
improve. The fighter is currently slightly too merged
with the landscape, but you can pull it out using
lighting. Create a new layer in Overlay mode beneath
the fighter and brighten the space in front of the
plane with a large soft white brush. Then darken the
space behind it with a black brush. At the end,
darken the corners of the scene with broad strokes.
Now its finished!
20
FIGHTER TRAIL
Lets add a motion effect on the illustration.
Unhide the guides and create a group beneath the
fighter. Name it Fighter trail. Create a new layer in
Normal mode and just draw trails using a soft black
brush. Check the direction against the guides! Then
create another layer and draw some trails using a
white brush. Change the mode of the group to
Overlay. Its too intense, so set the Opacity of the
group at 30%. Create a mask and hide some parts of
the trail using a black brush.
23
PARTICLES
In order to make the illustration more
dramatic, add some particles flying into the camera.
Go to CGTextures and download the first image from
Fireworks0008. Open it and remove the background
using the Magic Wand tool. Place it into the scene.
Rotate and move it to the left-bottom corner using
the Transform tool. Create a Brightness/Contrast
layer and greatly reduce both the sliders with Use
Legacy checked. Use a Hue/Saturation layer to
desaturate them twice and change the colour.
19
FOG
The fighter is flying through the mist, so lets
add some fog on the wings to demonstrate this.
Create a group above the fighter and drag in the
same Smoke0403 image that you used for the
landscape. You even can use the same adjustment
layers. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T and place the fog on the right
wing. Duplicate it and place the copy on the other
wing. Then create a new layer and draw some small
pieces of fog on the shoulders of the plane using any
rough white brush.
22
LIGHT EFFECTS
Lets start with missile trail reflections. You
can use the same image but its quite pale, so go to
CGTextures and find image Flames0002_M. Lay it
on the top-right side of the cockpit scene in Screen
mode. Do the same for the helmet of the pilot. Also
add some yellow tones on the nose of the fighter.
Now lets add a bright flare on the missile. Get the
supplied file light-effect.png and place it into the
scene in Screen mode. Feel free to experiment with
it using adjustment layers.
058
Omar Aquil
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
OMAR AQIL REVEALS HIS TECHNIQUES FOR ENHANCING
3D TYPOGRAPHY USING PHOTOSHOP EFFECTS
HOW I MADE
TYPOGRAPHY
MANUFACTURING
OMAR AQIL
A
fter over six years of working in the
advertising industry, freelance designer
Omar Aqil considers typography to be his
favourite genre to create. To realise this
mechanical design, he experimented using 3D
techniques in CINEMA 4D combined with typography
and Photoshop to form something abstract that
would also have a hyper-realistic feel. The difficult
part about creating this image was to build up the
composition as a whole and produce the soft colours
I wanted, and I knew that Photoshop was the only
software that could fulfill my needs, he says. In
todays modern world, we are surrounded by
machines, buildings and a lot of other variations in
materials. I feel I am attracted to metals and
mechanical tools and tend to use them in my
concepts and designs, but I aim to give them a
softness and an elegance too.
059
03
08lh0 Ll0J Ah0 |lhAL L00-lh8
Next, I added a dramatic feel to the image
by using Image>Adjustment>Hue/Saturation and
increased the Lightness for a smooth feel. I also
used Photoshop plug-in Magic Bullet to add more of
a soft effect.
02
BALANCING COLOURS
I then added a Color Balance adjustment,
where I usually adjust the colour temperature
according to the feel of the image. In this piece I just
added some blues for coolness and softness.
01
PREPARING THE IMAGE
I initially rendered this image in CINEMA 4D,
then opened it in Photoshop for final treatment.
I wanted it to have soft colours and a smooth feel. I
used the Unsharp Mask to increase the crispness.
060
PHOTOMANIPULATION
COMPOSITE A REALISTIC CITYSCAPE SCENE OF WORLDFAMOUS LANDMARKS
USING COLOUR GRADING AND ADJUSTMENTS
SEAMLESS LIGHTING
T
he idea for this image came from Firas O.
Tirhi, managing and creative director of
Icon Advertising LLC (UAE, Dubai, www.
behance.net/icon-ad). He asked Edvin
Puzinkevich if he could build a realistic-looking
scene for an ad campaign that would combine
different landmarks. Puzinkevich certainly rose to
the challenge, seamlessly building a surreal city that
makes you look twice at its composition.
The difficulty when creating this type of image is
maintaining the realism of the original plate during
the compositing of images with different contrast,
lighting and colour balance. The next few pages will
cover the Photoshop techniques that will allow you
to do this. Youll learn the main principles, tips and
tricks that will help you build up a believable scene,
including lighting, contrast and colour grading using
Curves, Selective Color and Color Balance
adjustments. Youll also discover easy ways to cut
out objects from their backgrounds and how to save
the depth of field of the original plate. The last steps
of the tutorial will show how to get a polished,
cinematic look by adding lens flares and a vignette
to the image. But before you start, make sure you
download the stock imagery from Shutterstock
(www.shutterstock.com).
01
SELECT BACKGROUND
The goal of the sketching
stage is to find the best solution for
achieving the best look and
composition. Its also a good time to
make a decision about the light and
colour of the final image. The
selected background will define the
whole images light direction and the
mood of the composition. Using the
Polygonal Lasso tools, roughly
separate the landmarks from their
backgrounds and place them on the
chosen background just to get an
idea of the position you want them in.
The image can stay low-res during
this step.
BUILD THE SCENE
CUT OUT THE LANDMARKS AND ARRANGE THEM IN THE COMPOSITION
061
SEAMLESS LIGHTING TECHNIQUES
FROM IDEA TO REALITY
WORK IN
PROGRESS
Progress 2: Contrast balance
Progress 3: Add some flares
EDVIN PUZINKEVICH
www.edvin.lv
OUR EXPERT
Edvin Puzinkevich is a digital artist
based in New York. He focuses on
the magic of creative retouching and
the CG world. He is currently a senior
retoucher at Vault49 Studio (www.
vault49.com).
Progress 1: Scene setup
TO COMPLETE THIS
TUTORIAL IN FULL,
DOWNLOAD THESE IMAGES
FROM SHUTTERSTOCK.COM:
35276251, 60026929, 95471923,
117587290,118963108, 126049961,
127408904, 133653437, 139886302,
144121687, 144121720, 154449206,
168427115, 175308839, 112137230
123996982, 52000468, 133653437
129812237, 125333915, 43163083
062
TECHNIQUES SEAMLESS LIGHTING
04
SEPARATE LANDMARKS FROM
BACKGROUNDS
First of all, put every landmark into its own group.
There is a small trick to separating objects from their
backgrounds and placing them on the scene: use the
Polygonal Lasso tool to select each landmark but
use a different Feather option. If the object is located
closer to the horizon, its contour will be a little out of
focus, so in this case the Feather for the Polygonal
Lasso tool will be 0.5-0.7px. The closer the object to
the foreground, the sharper the contour will be. For
buildings in the foreground, use a Feather option of
0.1-0.2px. Add a layer mask to isolate the object.
06
ADJUST CONTRAST
Add a new layer, fill it black and change the
mode to Color. This will convert the image to black
and white, making it easier to unify the contrast. In
each landmarks group, create a Curves adjustment
and match the contrast to the surrounding
environment. For a distant object, adjust the curve to
make the dark areas of the object lighter (as a result
of aerial perspective, far objects have less contrast).
05
PLACE AND TRANSFORM
Use the Transform tool to scale down each landmark. Its very important in terms of realism to keep
each object the right scale according to the whole scene. Use a tallest buildings comparison chart to find the
right proportions. Some landmarks (like Big Ben) could be exaggerated in size to make them more prominent
and to improve the overall composition, adding more interesting details. Mask out the part of the object that is
overlapped by existing buildings on the background image, using the same approach as in step 4.
02
EXPLORE COMPOSITION
Create a new document and set it to
International Paper with A3 size, 300 dpi, Adobe RGB
(1998) colour profile and a white background. Rotate
the image 90 degrees to make your workspace
landscape. Place the background on a new layer in
the centre of the workspace. Use the Brush tool to
paint the shapes of buildings into the composition.
This will give you an idea of the type, size, angle of
view and lighting of buildings you want to find later.
03
EXTEND BACKGROUND
Because the ratio of the background image
is different to the A3 landscape format, you will need
to extend the image to the left and right. Separate
the sky from the rest of the image and use the
Transform tool to scale it up horizontally. Use the
Clone Stamp tool to fix holes in the sky that will
appear after transformation. You cannot do the same
with the cityscape, as in this case the buildings will
lose their natural proportions. To extend the city,
simply duplicate part of the existing cityscape by
using the Polygonal Lasso tool and copy and paste
the left and right parts of the skyline.
When masking out images,
use different Feather
options with the Selection tools
to imitate depth of field
063
10
MAKE LIGHT AND SHADOW TWEAKS
Some of the new buildings have neutral
lighting in their own environment. To blend the object
more into the new scene, select part of the building
that should be lighter and apply a Brightness/
Contrast adjustment layer, making it brighter. Then
select the part of the object that should be darkest in
the new environment and apply a Brightness/
Contrast adjustment layer, but reduce the Brightness
value. Use the Polygonal Lasso tool to select
different parts of the building with different Feather
options depending on the depth of field. Stay
consistent with the rest of the image and do not
allow the object to pop up out of its environment. The
same kind of treatment could be done with a Curves
or Levels adjustment layer too.
08
ADJUST MAIN TONE
When you have adjusted the contrast of all the landmarks, delete the top black layer. Now its time to
make the first rough move into colour adjustment. Apply a Solid Color adjustment layer to the object, and in
the opened window, pick up the colour of the building located next to the landmark you have placed using the
Eyedropper. Dont pick up a colour from the lightest or darkest places. Then change the blending mode of the
Solid Color adjustment layer to Color. This makes the building colour closer to the environment it is in.
09
COLOUR TUNING
In real life the colour is not monotone. To make the picture more believable, you need to perform
some colour grading for the highlights and shadows to bring in some variation in colour. Depending on the
situation, there are different tools that can do this, including Color Balance, Selective Color and Curves
adjustments. To add more variation, mask different parts of the buildings and apply different colour
adjustments to them. In the Properties of the Color Balance adjustment layer, add some yellow tone into the
Highlights, red in the Shadows and magenta in the Midtones.
07
DEPTH OF FIELD
To blend new objects with the scene, you
need to adjust the depth of field of every landmark.
The distant objects must have fewer details than the
foreground buildings. The best solution is to compare
the placed landmark with the environment and find
out if the new object looks sharper or blurrier
compared with the buildings from the original plate
located next to it. If a new object is sharper, apply
Gaussian Blur. If its blurrier, apply Unsharp Mask.
QUICK TIP
The Selective Color adjustment layer is one of the most powerful colour adjustment tools. Begin the
adjustment with the Midtones, Shadows and Highlights, then make precise tweaks in any of the four
colour channels.
064
11
ADD DROP SHADOW
To create a drop shadow of the Golden Gate
Bridge, make a selection of it, Cmd/Ctrl-click on the
layer mask, create a new layer under the bridge layer
and paint it black. Flip the layer vertically, apply
Gaussian Blur with a value of 8.0, change the layer
blend mode to Multiply and set the Opacity to 23%.
Using a soft brush at 400px Size and 25% Opacity,
paint with black over the shadows layer mask to
make the lowest part more transparent.
14
ADD A VIGNETTE
Add a Curves adjustment layer on top of all
the layers and invert the mask to black. Make it
darker in the middle values. Select a soft brush and
adjust its Size to 1100px, 0% Hardness and 25%
Opacity and paint with white over the mask in the
bottom-left and upper-right corners to make it
slightly darker. To avoid banding that can appear in
the sky as a result of using a soft brush, add Uniform
Noise with a value of 4% to the mask.
12
OVERALL COLOUR CORRECTION
The foreground looks too yellow. To fix it,
create a Gradient Map adjustment on top of all the
layers. Create a dark blue to orange gradient. Select
the adjustment layers mask and change it to black.
Change this layers blending mode to Color and set
Opacity to 39%. Select a soft brush, change the Size
to 1100px and Hardness to 0%, and paint with a
white colour over the Gradient Map adjustment layer
mask. Try to cover the bottom third of the image.
13
HIGHLIGHTS
Select the Brush tool and set the Size to
50%, the Opacity to 30% and the Hardness to 0%. On
a new layer, paint a soft circle with one click, reduce
the size of the brush to 35px and click on the same
place once again. Then reduce the brush size to 10px
and click again. As a result you will get a soft circle
with a high density in the centre and soft edges. Now
duplicate this layer, transform it and change the
opacity so that you can apply it to different buildings.
15
FLARES
To finalise the visual and make it more cinematic, add two lens flares from stock images 95471923
and 144121720. Place these images in new layers on top of all the layers. Place and rotate image
144121720 over the sun and change its blend mode to Screen. Place the second image 95471923 to the
right of the bridge and rotate it to match the direction towards the sun, change Opacity to 67% and set the
layer blending option to Screen.
TECHNIQUES SEAMLESS LIGHTING
QUICK TIP
There is no need to cut out light effects (flares, light beams, sparkles, etc) from a dark background. Instead,
push the contrast of the image and try to make everything except the light effect as dark as possible but
dont lose details, then change the blend mode of the layer to Screen.
LANDSCAPE TIPS SHOOTING ADVICE CAMERA REVIEWS PORTRAIT GUIDES
Available
from all good
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supermarkets
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GIVE YOUR COMPOSITES THE VIDEOGAME LOOK USING LIGHTING EFFECTS,
LAYERS, TEXTURES AND ADJUSTMENTS, ADDING INTENSITY AND DRAMA
WORK WITH COLOUR
AND TEXTURE
PHOTOMANIPULATION
I
f you are wanting to take your action shots to the
next level, then this tutorial is for you. In it, you
will learn how to turn a regular photo of a SWAT
team into an action movie poster-style image.
The steps have been written with the assumption
that readers following along have a moderate grasp
and understanding of Photoshop. Knowledge of
layers, blending modes and masking skills will be to
your advantage, and many of the techniques
involve using multiple layers so that you are
working non-destructively.
You will want to pay close attention to detail.
Believable composites take time and patience. It is
important to work in layers, and save your
progress often. Some of the steps may seem
complicated to begin with, but with practice and
066
perseverance you will harness these skills, and
soon be on your way to creating images like you
are used to seeing on the covers of your favourite
first-person shooter games! Once your learn the
principles behind these techniques, you will be able
to adjust them to fit the needs of other composite
projects. Learning these steps is just the tip of the
iceberg on your epic image journey!
LAYOUT ELEMENTS
ORGANISE YOUR LAYOUT, CREATING THE BASIC CONTENT SHAPES
067
WORK WITH COLOUR AND TEXTURE TECHNIQUES
01
CLEAN MASK
The key to any great composite is having a very clean
mask. There are many ways to mask an object or person. Always
add a layer mask so you can use black to remove and white to
add back. A pen tablet comes in handy. Take your time. You want
to make sure you dont have a black edge around your mask. You
want your edges to blend into the background just as they would
if it werent a composite. If you make a mistake, just switch your
brush to white and paint it back in.
FROM PRACTICAL TO
TACTICAL
WORK IN
PROGRESS
Progress 1: Prepare elements
Progress 2: Position layers
Progress 3: Add wow factor
BRANDON CAWOOD
ash-light-productions.com
OUR EXPERT
Brandon Cawood is a commercial
photographer who is addicted to
superheroes and action movie
posters. He is the owner of Flash
Light Productions, a photography/
videography company specialising in
environmental portraiture.
SOURCE FILES
All the necessary textures needed to
re-create this look can be found in
the PRO Texture 5 Pack, available
from www.phlearn.com/
pro-textures.
068
TECHNIQUES WORK WITH COLOUR AND TEXTURE
04
ALIGNING LAYERS
When placing models on a background,
matching perspective is imperative to making a
composite believable. Its always better to adjust
your perspective on your background rather than
your models. As long as the perspective is close, you
should be able to tweak it by selecting Edit>
Transform>Perspective. By dragging the top corners
in or out it will make the perspective higher or lower.
If you drag a corner up or down it will cause that side
to move closer or further away. Adjust the
perspective until it matches the angle and
perspective of your foreground models.
03
ADDING DETAIL
Choose a layer and make two copies by
pressing Cmd/Ctrl+J twice. Next, invert the top copy
by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+I. Change the blending mode
to Vivid Light. With this layer still selected go to
Filter>Blur>Surface Blur. A good starting point is
Radius 30px and Threshold 40 levels. Go to Layer>
Merge Down to merge the top copy to the middle
copy. Press Cmd/Ctrl+U and desaturate the layer.
Next change the blend mode to Overlay. You can
adjust the Opacity on this layer to adjust how much
detail is added. Repeat this step to any layer you
would like to add detail to.
02
PHOTOGRAPHY TIP
If you are shooting your own images, it is
always good to think about post-production while at
the photo shoot. Shooting a clear mask while using
strobes can sometimes cause unwanted reflections
that can add extra time to the editing process. By
simply grabbing a shot of the face without the mask,
you can place it on top of the mask in a separate
layer. Simply bringing down the Opacity of the face
layer will allow you to add some details back into the
face and eyes while still giving the appearance they
are behind the mask. Make sure that the eyes line up
and the scale matches the underlying layer. You can
Transform and Warp if needed.
06
MATCHING COLOURS
Use a Curves adjustment layer on the
background. Make sure it is only clipped to the
background layer by selecting Layer>Create Clipping
Mask. Use the RBG channel to adjust the exposure
so that it matches the models. Next, use colour
channels to match the temperature of the models.
Add another adjustment layer over the whole image.
To warm the image up, select the Blue curve and
drag the middle of the line down slightly.
05
ADDING TEXTURES
Paste the fog textures between layers. Because it is on a black background, select the Screen
blending mode and all the black will become transparent. If your fog or texture has colour in it, choose Cmd/
Ctrl+U and pull the Saturation down. To bring down the fog, press Cmd/Ctrl+L and move the left slider to the
right. Do this for any added texture. Select the texture layer and add a mask. Use a soft, black brush with the
Opacity set to 25% and paint out the part of the texture you dont want.
BLENDING MODES
One of the greatest things you can do is learn how to use blending modes. Knowing how and when to use
your blending modes can take your images to the next level. As a photographer, you can shoot and plan
composites more efficiently knowing how you can blend your images together in the final build to create
desired effects. Shooting something on a black background and then using the Screen blending mode will
make all the black transparent. This is a great way to add things like dust, rocks, smoke, fog, water,
bubbles, or anything you can think of to your composites!
069
11
ADJUSTING SHADOWS ONLY
To adjust the shadows separately from
the highlights, follow step 10 and add your Curves
adjustment layer, then select Layer>Layer Style>
Blending Options. Again, at the bottom of the
window you will see two sliders under Underlying
Layer. Hold down Opt/Alt and this time click and
drag the left corner of the white slider all the way to
the left. This will cause the curve to only affect the
shadows in the image.
10
ADJUSTING HIGHLIGHTS ONLY
If you feel that your highlights are too bright
or not bright enough, you can adjust them without
affecting your shadows. Add a new Curves
adjustment layer above all other layers. Adjust the
RBG channel accordingly. This is just like step 8 but
you are using the RBG channel instead of the Blue
channel. With your Curves adjustment layer selected,
go to Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options. At the
bottom of the window you will see two sliders under
Underlying Layer. Hold down Opt/Alt and click and
drag the right corner of the black slider all the way to
the right.
09
FLASH LIGHT BEAMS
Create a new layer on top of the others.
Select the Polygonal Lasso Tool. Make a selection
along the path the light from the flashlight would
travel. Add a Curves adjustment layer. This will
automatically create a mask and only the part you
selected will be affected. In the RGB channel, click in
the middle of the line and move it up slightly. This
will give you a hard, bright light where your selection
was. Double-click your mask and you will see a
Feather slider to adjust. Move the slider to the right
to soften the edges. Repeat this process again but
with a narrower beam this time.
07
ADDING LIGHT FLARES
You can create light flares with a plug-in or within Photoshop. Select Filter>Render>Lens Flare, then
choose your flare and the brightness. Now go to Edit>Undo. Create a new black layer on top of all your other
layers. Change the blending mode to Screen. Next, select Filter and you will notice at the very top it will say
Light Flare. You will now notice you can move the flare. If you want to change the colour of the flare, simply
hold down Cmd/Ctrl+U. Check the Colorize box and move your Hue slider to the colour you want.
08
MATCHING HIGHLIGHT COLOURS ONLY
Your highlights should match your light
source. In this image the highlights need a little
more yellow/orange in them. Create a Curves
adjustment layer below your flare/lighting layers. Go
to the Blue channel and pull it down slightly in the
middle. This will add some warmth to the image like
you did before. The adjustment will affect the entire
image, but you only want it to affect the highlights. To
do this, select Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options.
Hold down Opt/Alt and click and drag the right
corner of the black slider all the way to the right. This
will cause the curve to only affect the highlights in
the image.
070
14
ADDING GRAIN
Lastly, add grain. Create a new layer above
your sharpened image. Hold down Shift and click
Delete. Choose Fill With 50% Gray. Change the
blending mode of this layer to Soft Light. Next, select
Filter>Noise>Add Noise. The size of your image will
determine the amount you use. Choose Uniform and
leave Monochromatic unselected. Once you have
applied it, hold down Cmd/Ctrl+U. Then pull down
the Saturation to -85%. Leaving a little colour in the
grain will make it look more natural. Be sure to
perform this step at 100% zoom. You can adjust the
Opacity if it feels like its too much. Once this is done,
save your PSD.
15
SAVING
You can save the image in several different
ways depending on its use. If you are going to use a
good-quality printing lab, you can leave the image in
Adobe RBG and select File>Save As. Save the file as
a JPEG or TIFF. If you are planning on using a
low-end printer or saving for online use, you want to
convert to SRGB. Select Edit>Convert to Profile.
Choose Working RBG. Save it the same as before.
For online use its good to scale it down before
saving. Select File>Automate>Fit Image. Do a Width
of 2048px and a Height of 204px. Save it as a JPEG,
and put it in a separate folder so you know its for
online use.
STAMP VISIBLE LAYER
If at any time in your composite you want to
create a flattened image without flattening the
entire document, just add a new empty layer
on top of all your layers. Select this layer and
hold down Cmd+Shift+Opt+E (Mac) or
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E (Windows). This will give you a
stamped visible layer and allow you to test out
different ideas without affecting the layers of
your composite.
TECHNIQUES WORK WITH COLOUR AND TEXTURE
13
SHARPENING
Save your Photoshop document. Once you
have saved it, select Layer>Flatten Image. Make a
duplicate copy of the flattened image by pressing
Cmd/Ctrl+J. Select your top layer. Next, select Filter>
Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. Adjust the sliders as
needed based on the file size. While still on the top
layer, select Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. You can
then use a soft brush set to black to remove the
sharpening from any areas you dont want it. You can
also use the Opacity to pull down the sharpening
over the entire image.
12
FINAL COLOUR GRADING
First, add a Channel Mixer adjustment layer. Choose the Black and White With Green preset. You will
notice this turns your image black and white. You want to use this adjustment for some desaturation, so bring
the Opacity down to 15%. Next, add a Color Balance adjustment layer. The Color Balance adjustments will
vary from image to image, so play around with them to get the look you want. For this image the Shadows
and Midtones were pushed towards the cyan and green tones, while the Highlights were pushed towards the
red and yellow tones.
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072
073
BUILD STRIKING GRAPHICS TECHNIQUES
01
LAYOUT CREATION
Use the Pen tool to create an adapted
version of the golden ratio in order to provide new
spatial references that you will see applied in the
final design. Then apply a grid or squared pattern
that will help you when you are placing the different
graphical elements, including the shapes and text, in
a balanced way.
02
DETERMINE THE BALANCE
In order to generate natural proportions
between the different elements, their weights will be
dictated by the grid. You will determine the final
balance and direction that you want for the overall
design. In this case, the direction of your shape will
be set with an inclination of 55-60 degrees.
FROM GRID TO FINISHED
ARTWORK
WORK IN
PROGRESS
Progress 1: Create grid
Progress 2: Design graphic
Progress 3: Text and lighting
USE A GRID TO GENERATE A UNIQUE GRAPHIC
COMPOSED OF GEOMETRIC FORMS
GRAPHICS
BUILD STRIKING
GRAPHICS
L
earn to create a complex graphic shape
from simple patterns using cloning
techniques. You will use a grid to determine
the location and dimensions of all the
graphical elements that give rise to the visual
metaphor that suggests the concept of the poster.
Many steps in this tutorial can be achieved
through alternative methods and therefore are
subject to personal creativity. Even using the same
techniques can result in very different graphic
expressions, and therefore support a wide variety of
concepts. Adobe Photoshop allows us to intuitively
illuminate the scene, and also allows us to texture
the image properly. Blending modes are the best
way to get a quick final result and increase the
possibility of getting multiple effects while creating
minimal graphic expressions.
Youll discover how to get the best balance in
design, exploring each element weight according to
its colour, position and angle for greater
understanding. Youll use a grid to get a good reading
of the poster but with the ultimate aim of generating
an asymmetric graphic that metaphorically
represents an error of measurement.
JORGE GISPERT
www.metric72.com
OUR EXPERT
Gispert is a graphic designer who
allied himself with geometry, using
the universe as inspiration for his
personal artworks. These support
concepts related to all kinds of data
that he considers outstanding,
constructive or innovative.
SOURCE FILES
You will find a selection of basic
Smart Objects created in Illustrator
and a couple of the vector groups
applied in this tutorial at http://blog.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk/
tutorial-files. Please remember
that these assets are to be used in
non-commercial projects only.
GENERATING LAYOUT SPATIAL REFERENCES
CREATE SPECIFIC SPACES FOR THE DIFFERENT DESIGN ELEMENTS
03
CREATING VECTOR PATTERNS
Start creating the vector patterns that will
form the more subtle parts of the graph with the Pen
tool. You will see the design of the next pieces can be
worked using Photoshop, but in this case use Adobe
Illustrator due to the vectorial nature of the graphical
elements. Draw the first lines and parallelograms.
074
TECHNIQUES BUILD STRIKING GRAPHICS
06
GRAPHICAL STRUCTURE CREATION
Once you have incorporated the first big
shapes, expand them to achieve the final graphical
structure. In order to force the general perspective of
the graph, set the gradients direction in a correct
way, simulating the existence of soft lights using the
darker colour of the gradient as a shadow. Apply a
Multiply blending mode to show up the first graphic
elements and obtain new colour attributes in the
design patterns. For a more solid shape, add a thin,
grey stroke (0.5mm) that clearly defines the contour.
05
SOLID SHAPE DESIGN
Now you will start creating solid shapes to
give the design a new dimension, movement and
contrast. To do this, select the Pen tool to connect
some spatial points, creating a fill colour
parallelogram onto which you will apply a gradient
that you can add to Swatches (from C=3, M=75, Y=70,
K=0 to C=3, M=97, Y=100, K=0, to C=0, to M=97,
Y=100, K=26 with 100% Opacity). After, apply a new
Gradient Map adjustment layer and select the
previous one from Swatches.
04
CLONING AND PLACING GRAPHICS
Now you can begin to clone the pieces to
start defining the volume that will occupy the graph.
To obtain the effect that is seen in the graph, you
will have to apply a Multiply blending mode to each
of the caps that contain the imported vector
elements. The clone will have to be chaotic and you
should not look for any type of logical order.
However, you will follow the initial inclination and
will clone a group of vectors (Cmd/Ctrl+G) and flip it
horizontally to get symmetric values.
08
PLACING TEXT
Make an initial placement study for the text.
Create white squares that represent text boxes
within the shape, using the grid as a reference. The
hierarchy established by your initial grid determines
the position of text, but this will also be determined
by what they are (headers, body etc), so you must
know the message you want to communicate, the
amount of information to show and the relevance of
every word or sentence in advance.
07
AXES OF SYMMETRY
To establish the basic axes of symmetry on which you will place new graphic patterns and all textual
content, create a basic division of the canvas. That way you will centre the area of attention on the point where
the axes cross, and will create the balance necessary to more easily interpret where the next elements should
be placed and the weight of their colours. Making the axes of coordinates visible gives the graph a certain
solidity and forces the graphical elements to merge with the background.
PHOTOSHOP CLONING METHOD
Before you start cloning the graphic elements as lines or parallelograms, order and group them to create
small groups of similar vector layers that once joined (Cmd/Ctrl+E) or grouped (Cmd/Ctrl+G) allow you to
exercise a greater and faster control over your complex graphics.
075
12
EXPORT ARTWORK
Its time to export the whole design into PSD
format. Choose CMYK colour model and High
resolution. The content must remain editable to
allow possible changes and improvements. You can
also import the graphic elements separately using
the Paste action as a Smart Object, due to its editable
capacity and vector properties. Using this technique
will give you the ability to rescale graphics without
losing quality. Generate a template from the design
and place it as a background on the PSD file to
properly co-locate each group of graphic elements.
13
COLOUR, LEVELS AND FRAME
Once you have chosen the shape and
placement of graphics, text and secondary graphic
elements, select the entire workspace (Cmd/Ctrl+A),
copy the resulting image (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+C) and
paste (Cmd/Ctrl+V) it into a new top layer. With the
entire design in a single image, modify the graphic
settings using the Levels adjustment. Before finally
placing a white border as a frame, place a gradient
(G) covering the entire workspace in a new top layer
with a diagonal direction and the following colour
values : C=1,M=87,Y=58,K=0 to C=67,M=19,Y=2,K=0.
Select the Lighten blending mode for this layer with
54% Opacity.
09
TEXT STYLES AND ATTRIBUTES
Once you have placed the main text over
the white masks with a standard weight, you will
have to define the styles an exercise that will
probably force you to place the text boxes in a
different form. In this case you will use the grid to
establish a new balance between the text boxes and
the space that you have previously reserved in the
design. When you have applied the styles to the text
and modified their position, you can modify the
colours. We chose very contrasted colours (white or
red) for the header and lighter greys for the smaller
text. This game of contrasts will be defined by the
reading that you wish the design to possess.
10
DATA AND GRAPHIC DETAILS
In the following step you will incorporate
some type of related but not relevant information
into the graph to increase the complexity and also to
define the design space. Choose very light grey tones
for this text in order to keep them secondary and not
overload the background too much. You can also put
this body text in lowercase to preserve some
editorial criteria. Even this information is intended to
form part of the graphic aspect of the poster. After,
feel free to create some graphic details to enrich the
final design.
11
SECONDARY GRAPHIC ELEMENTS
Apply some thin lines with soft colour
strokes and align them to the biggest design
elements. Place them along the vertical and
horizontal axes of symmetry to counteract the
inclination of the red main graphics that you have
obtained. To merge the graph with the environment,
apply a set of increasing circles with a similar stroke
to the previous lines. This step will give the graphics
a virtual ground that keeps them balanced and
aligned. This will also indirectly define the distribution
of the graphical environment.
GRADIENTS
When you define the gradient in the large, red
parallelograms, you need to extend it in a
direction that gives the impression of lighting in
the design. The softer tone functions as a soft
light and the darker tone as a soft shadow. Using
Illustrator, you can change the direction and
distribution of the gradient by its two parent
nodes. In the case of Photoshop, you can apply
the gradient using layer effects applied to a
vector path, or by selecting the polygonal shape
and filling it with a gradient using the Gradient
tool (G), extending it for your graphical purposes.
DOWN TO DETAILS
BACKGROUND AND SECONDARY GRAPHIC ELEMENTS
076

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HOW I MADE
THE FOUR
SEASONS
CLEBERSON FAUSTINO
C
urrently working in the advertising industry, retouch artist and photomanipulator Cleberson Faustino
created this quadruple-sided montage for a local car dealership. The Four Seasons was a challenge
that Faustino tackled head on, and he eventually discovered one particular tool that helped bring the
composition together: This project gave me the opportunity to experiment with the Rotate tool. This
tool was an essential component in the making of a complex project like this.
Being able to call upon his experiences with Photoshop was crucial. Having seen Photoshop progress and
acquire new features, Faustino is able to reflect constructively: I have been using Photoshop since version 7
and ever since then I have been amazed with the advances.
Faustinos imagination doesnt stop here. To see more of his work, head to www.behance.net/cfaustino.
077
02
IMAGE CHOICE
I used mainly images from stock photos, so
it was very important to do a preview of them to see
how they could fit in the project. After choosing the
right images, I started cleaning and cutting them.
01
ROUGH COMPOSITE
The first step to creating this complex image was to create a rough comp to get a complete vision of
the project. In this case, I used the Brush tool and the images of the cars.
03
COMPOSITION
With all the images cut the way I needed, I
started the assembling step of the project, working
on the background of the scene and always looking
back at the rough comp to guide me.
The Rotate tool was an
essential component in
the making of a complex
project like this
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
078
04
SCENERY PART I
This was the most important step of the
project, where I had to integrate each car into its
respective environment. For this, I used brushes,
masks, paths and other images.
05
SCENERY PART II
The second part was defining the right
lighting for each environment to integrate the whole
image. And to achieve this, I used adjustments such
as Black & White and Gradient Map.
06
SHADOW AND LIGHT
In this part of the project I worked on the
contrast and exposure to obtain more realism in the
image. Some of the tools I used were Dodge, Burn
and Curves adjustment layers.
08
HDR TONING
Since I worked with stock images, I
recovered the textures at the end of the process. The
method I used was HDR Toning with a duplicated
image. After that, I created a layer with Soft Light.
07
LENS FLARE
One of the things I most like to do is add a
Lens Flare over a black layer on Screen blend mode
to give the image a special effect. I use this filter
every time I need to give more realism to the image.
The main challenge of this print advertisement
was to present four different vehicles of a local
Ford dealership in their appropriate
environments. And to achieve the desired
result, the image was constructed using tools
such as the fluid rotate options with the
powerful Mercury Graphics Engine.
FAUSTINO REVEALS THE WINNING TOOL THAT
HELPED MAKE THIS AD SO INTRIGUING
FACING CHALLENGES
HEAD ON
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
One of the things I most like to do is add a Lens Flare over a
black layer on Screen blend mode. I use this filter every time I
need to give more realism to the image
Combining style with the right message is never an easy task,
but Faustino has it down to a fine art Cleberson Faustino
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080
CORELDRAW GRAPHICS SUITE X7 REVIEWS
CORELS FLAGSHIP EDITING SUITE UPDATES TO INCLUDE SOME CREATIVE NEW
FEATURES WE GET THE LOWDOWN
CORELDRAW
GRAPHICS SUITE X7
OPERATING SYSTEM:
- wndows 7 or later
- 26 PAH
399 EXCLUDING VAT
APPROX $667
www.corel.com
081
F
resh off the conveyor belt comes the
Graphics Suite X7 by Corel, a set of
applications for photo editing, graphics
creation, media management and layout
design. This new iteration of the suite has been built
to be more efficient, with the added bonus of being
able to share content with other artists more easily.
X7 lets you get started on your next project, be it
either a simple book cover or a big promotional
campaign, with the help of supporting software and
greater workflow coherency. This new version gives
a lot more room to be creative from scratch, and will
provide extra tools on top of whats in Photoshop
perhaps ideal if you dont have access to the
Creative Cloud.
When looking at anything for the first time,
appearance usually takes precedent. With a very grey
interface that doesnt promise any sign of visual
inspiration, the new X7 scores low on presentation;
theres a strong sense of the old-hat Windows-based
interface design. Of course we approach something
like Corels new suite with fierce scepticism, with
Photoshop not far behind.
As part of the new Graphics Suite X7, there are
now three primary applications DRAW, PHOTO-
PAINT and CONNECT and a couple of handy
Object creation: Creating and controlling objects and vector designs in DRAW X7 is easy using a combination of Object Properties and Align and Distribute panels
supporting apps, including a screen capture module
and a font management suite. The latter is ideal if
you find yourself working with typographical
projects. Font Navigator will search your entire PC
and present your installed fonts for easier picking.
This is where we also had the opportunity to group
our preferred fonts together, looking up new ones
online. Accessing content online is something that
becomes a bigger part of working with the suite.
After registering the software, we could have access
to more design content such as images, templates,
patterns fills, updates and more. Opting for a
premium membership for just under an annual fee
of 180 (approx $297) opens a gateway to even more
exclusive content, as well as free upgrades to future
versions. Content Exchange is a marketplace for
artists to share their own graphics and design assets
to broaden their creative reach.
082
REVIEWS CORELDRAW GRAPHICS SUITE X7
It all starts with CONNECT X7, your personal
content browser to keep photos, graphics and
downloads in one handy place. From the Libraries
panel you have direct access to Flickr, Fotolia,
iStockphoto, SkyDrive and Corels Content Exchange.
Entering a keyword will call up search results from
any of the selected websites, and you can either
jump straight to a chosen stock image online, or load
a low-resolution version into one of the applications
for composing into your project. Just like any other
content browser, you can catalogue images for
easier reach, and highlight the best files before
moving into one of the applications or Photoshop.
Corels PHOTO-PAINT X7 is a dual-purpose
application for tweaking exposure, retouching
images, applying camera effects, as well as the odd
painterly filter or brush stroke. Much like Photoshop,
there is host of tools for selecting and masking parts
of a composition, and applying vector graphics or
pixel-based objects to separate layers. Using what
are named dockers, much like Photoshops panels,
the Content Docker can stay open to present your
images and design assets stored on your PC. Corels
vector-based application, DRAW X7, is not too
dissimilar to Adobes Illustrator, containing freehand
line-drawing tools and an arrangement of other
easy-to-handle ones, and theres a wide range of
brush and pen tips in the Artistic Media, too. As well
having a good selection of brushes, exploring
DRAWs preset shapes such as banners and flow
charts opens the doors to more graphical layouts for
those seeking to create infographics or promotional
material. To top it all off, the new Smooth tool lets
you iron out creases in jagged edges and control
smoothing effects with the pressure sensitivity of a
stylus pen.
The improved Color Styles docker makes it easier
to keep an eye on colour styles used throughout
DRAW, with a new View Options panel offering quick
go-to commands.
Connect to stock providers: The new CONNECT X7 will sync with stock providers such as Fotolia and iStockphoto, so you can browse
through royalty-free images quickly for your next project
As part of the customisable workspaces in the suite, Corel gives
the option to switch to a Photoshop-style interface, helping to
make the whole application feel more like familiar territory
Managing fonts: The Font Navigator in Corels Graphics Suite X7
reveals the entirety of your installed fonts and any groups that
youve created of favourite typefaces for future reference
There have been a handful of new features
added to version 7 of the suite, with a
redesigned welcome screen being one. This
offers you access to additional pre-made
resources and document layouts, popping up
whenever an application in X7 is loaded up. This
can now remain permanently open in a
separate tab in the interface. More default
workspaces have been added to X7, with
options such as Lite that make it easier for
newcomers to work their way around the
softwares many menus and tools. There are
also added custom workspaces for kicking off
an illustration or page layout. Much like
Photoshop, the Graphics Suite features tabbed
documents, ideal for flicking between content
being worked on. On top of this, if you design
under a dual monitor workspace then
documents can be dragged and placed on your
supporting monitor for one application.
Other helpful new features include the new
Font Playground panel, which meant we could
preview a font before incorporating it onto the
page, and a reworked Object Properties docker
introduces more fluid controls over
transforming and previewing effects.
Featured in the new iteration of DRAW X7 is
the Dynamic Guides panel that gives quicker
access to things such as alignment choices.
Other improvements have been made to help
arrange and edit colour styles, and with the
addition of the new harmony rules and preview
options, its easier to form complementary
colour schemes and combinations.
PHOTO-PAINT X7 has new tools for retouching,
for example the Liquid tools and Unsharp Mask
Lens. The Planar Mask tool enables a method of
masking a reflected gradient across an image,
with controls over transitions and overall size.
NEW TO X7
WE RUN DOWN THE UPDATES TO THE LATEST
VERSION OF CORELS GRAPHICS SUITE
083
CORELDRAW GRAPHICS SUITE X7 REVIEWS
Features: 8/10
Ease of use: 8/10
Value for money: 7/10
Quality of results: 7/10
VERDICT
FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10
Making it easier to design are the interactive
placeholder frames. Moving content over PowerClip
frames, we were able to quickly replace or add
content within them. In addition to these workflow-
enhancing features, theres also PowerTRACE that
will convert bitmap objects to vector-based ones,
with an automatic colour palette that is generated
from the original.
Perhaps Corels X7 is not the most friendliest of
applications to learn from the ground up, and would
certainly be a test for Photoshop users having to
relearn a set of new interfaces. But its not that Corel
has ignored Photoshop completely. As part of the
customisable workspaces in the Suite, Corel gives
the option to switch to a Photoshop-style interface
(in PHOTO-PAINT), and an Illustrator workspace (in
CorelDRAW X7), helping to make the whole
application feel more like familiar territory.
Corels Graphics Suite X7 will appeal to those
artists who are looking to design advertising flyers,
newsletters, business cards, corporate graphics, or
perhaps a quick calendar. Of course these are just
some of the examples, but with a wide range of
ready-made content and pre-designed templates
available too, theres plenty to help you along the way
and inspire new concepts.
Once we became familiar with the entire suite we
grew to like it. Although this doesnt have the same
finesse or likeability as Photoshop does, underneath
its plain exterior lies a powerful creation tool that just
got even better in version 7. If youre not signed up to
Adobes Creative Cloud and are looking for
applications to work alongside Photoshop in
generating designs for a range of purposes, Corels
Graphics Suite X7 will provide a supporting role in
your Photoshop production line. On top of this, if you
dont currently have access to additional applications
then this should slot in neatly.
Object Manager: The Object Manager panel
inside DRAW X7 presents each page of your
layout and their contents with key symbols to
help locate a certain type of layer
084
TOP 10
PHOTOSHOP BOOKS
WE TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT TEN OF THE MOST POPULAR AND
USEFUL BOOKS ON PHOTOSHOP TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
T
he Photoshop CC Bible, written by Lisa
DaNae Dayley and Brad Dayley, is exactly
what youd expect from a book bearing
that title. Its a full, comprehensive guide of
everything you need to know about Photoshop.
Some would even argue that the content for the
Photoshop Bible is what should appear when a
user clicks on the programs Help menu!
The book is exhaustive in its approach to cover
every nook and cranny of the software, and every
REVIEWS TOP 10 PHOTOSHOP BOOKS
34/$50
www.wiley.com
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
CC BIBLE: THE
COMPREHENSIVE
TUTORIAL
RESOURCE
39/$60
www.adobepress.com
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
CC CLASSROOM IN
A BOOK
001
002
The Digital Classroom
series is publisher Wileys
answer to the Adobe Press
Classroom In A Book series.
While the Digital Classroom
offers a similar approach to
presenting the content
through hands-on projects, this publication puts
added focus on the digital content, which
includes video tutorials and source files.
PHOTOSHOP CC
DIGITAL CLASSROOM
www.wiley.com 34/$50
feature is covered plainly and reliably. This is an
excellent resource for new users and experienced
pros alike. The book is written in a way that makes
it easy to look up a specific feature and quickly
grasp how to use it. Its a hefty tome, weighing in at
1152 pages and printed in black and white, but with
an abundance of screen shots and illustrations to
make the feature descriptions as clear as possible.
If you could only ever buy one Photoshop book, buy
this one!
This books tagline
encapsulates its intent: The
book that should have been
in the box. Author Lesa
Snider provides the type of
insight and knowledge of
the application that really
does feel like it should have been packaged with
it. This full colour, beautifully illustrated book is a
must for anybody trying to learn Photoshop.
PHOTOSHOP CC: THE
MISSING MANUAL
www.oreilly.com Approx 30/$50
003
004
This lesson only begins to
explore the vast
possibilities and the flexibility
you gain when you master the
art of using Photoshop layers.
Youll get more experience and
try out different techniques for
layers in almost every chapter
as you move forward
Excerpted from Adobe Photoshop CC Classroom in a Book.
Copyright 2013 Adobe Systems Incorporated. Used with
permission of Pearson Education and Adobe Press.
T
he Classroom In A Book series holds the
notable distinction of being produced by
the same company that produces the
software itself, Adobe. The material is
arranged into the format of real-life, hands-on
projects. That way the information isnt simply a
reference, its practice too!
085
I
magine Publishings Photoshop bookazines are
perfect for learning the ins and outs of the
program through in-depth features and
tutorials for users of all levels. The Photoshop
CC Book Volume 1 takes a look at how Photoshop
fits within the Creative Cloud, and what you can do
with it. From simple photo edits to more
adventurous digital artwork, this book will have you
creating some of your best work to date. It also
comes with a free disc that is packed with images,
textures, brushes, and gradients, so you can follow
along with the tutorials or even use them in your
own creative endeavours. If thats not enough, take
a look at the discs exclusive video content from
Digital-tutors to get some top advice from the pros.
This best-selling series has been a frequent choice
for university classrooms for a good reason. It
presents the instruction by logical groupings of
features, and structures the content in a way that
builds on itself. Previous lessons are applied during
the instruction of the later lessons. This is essential
for getting users up and running with their
Photoshop competency.
This full-colour, vibrant guide to image editing
contains a huge range of creative, useful and
inspiring ideas, each presented with a step-by-step
tutorial including screen shots to carefully guide
readers through the maze of editing options. Learn
the techniques here, then apply them to your own
work! It also includes a fantastic free disc packed
full of tutorial files, video tuition and resources.
TOP 10 PHOTOSHOP BOOKS REVIEWS
13/$22
www.imagineshop.co.uk
THE PHOTOSHOP CC
BOOK VOLUME 1
008
Layers are an integral part
of any Photoshop workflow.
Author Matt Kloskowski
does an amazing job of
presenting this foundational
feature in a way that is
colourful, entertaining and
highly informative. There are basic bare-bones
explanations for beginners, as well as obscure
tricks for experienced users.
THE COMPLETE
GUIDE TO
PHOTOSHOPS MOST
POWERFUL FEATURE
2ND EDITION
www.peachpit.com 28/$45
005
Photoshop is usually
associated with
photography. But in this
book, acclaimed designer
Corey Barker shows why
Photoshop is also the
go-to tool for graphics
designers and illustrators alike.
PHOTOSHOP DOWN &
DIRTY TRICKS FOR
DESIGNERS,
VOLUME 2
www.peachpit.com Approx 30/$50
006
If you are a photographer
and you use (or want to
use) Photoshop to correct
or enhance your shots,
this book is an essential
resource. Award-winning
author Scott Kelby
presents Photoshop techniques in a very
entertaining, down-to-earth style, so instead of
spending countless hours with your nose in a
massive manual, spend them with your eye
behind a viewfinder!
THE ADOBE
PHOTOSHOP BOOK
FOR DIGITAL
PHOTOGRAPHERS
www.peachpit.com 35/$55
007
PHOTOSHOP CC:
VISUAL QUICKSTART
GUIDE
www.peachpit.com Approx 19/$32
PHOTOSHOP IMAGE
EDITING GENIUS
GUIDE, VOLUME 2
www.imagineshop.co.uk 13/$22
009 010
SENIOR CHARACTER ARTIST AT BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT MARC BRUNET
TELLS US HOW HE USES PHOTOSHOP TO CREATE HIS GAME CHARACTERS
READER INTERVIEW
LIVING THE DREAM
READER INTERVIEW LIVING THE DREAM
MARC BRUNET
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/
user/Bluefley
@bluefley
OUR READER
086
First Flight: With this painting, Brunet wanted to create an image that made people smile.
Everything in this image is about to go very wrong, even the pilot knows it, he explains
Test Subject: I started using Photoshop CS6 back when I was in high school, Brunet remembers. I quickly realised
how powerful the tool was and at the same time was getting into web design, so it seemed like the perfect match
A
fter having been passionate about art for as
long as he can remember, Marc Brunet was
first introduced to Photoshop in high school.
Today, after years of practice refining his
skills as a character artist, he is living the dream
working as a senior character artist for Blizzard
Entertainment in California. Here he lets us in on the
secrets to making it in this competitive industry
WHAT TECHNIQUES WOULD YOU SAY YOU FIND
PHOTOSHOP TO BE MOST USEFUL FOR WHEN
CREATING YOUR AMAZING CHARACTERS?
In my case, I do absolutely everything in Photoshop
when it comes to creating characters. I start with a
blank canvas, then generally have one layer for my
sketch, then another for the colons and a final
polish layer where I add in all the smaller details.
I dont think I could work without the History panel or
the Liquify tool either those two Photoshop features
save my life way too often.
DO YOU FEEL YOUR PERSONAL STYLE HAS
CHANGED A LOT SINCE YOU FIRST BEGAN TO
USE PHOTOSHOP?
I definitely feel my style has evolved over the years. At
the beginning when I was learning, I took a lot of tips
from other artists, so my work was probably heavily
influenced by theirs. As the years went by it started to
form into what my style is now, which I guess I would
describe as very painterly westernised manga.
I try to merge the Western and Japanese style of
drawings and render it with a more traditional style of
painting. I did a lot of watercolour paintings when I was
younger, so there are definitely traces of that in my art.
All article images Mark Brunet
Clockwise from
top;
Zero The Grappler:
This image was
done as a demo on
Brunets YouTube
channel, explaining
the process of
going from 3D to 2D
to create
illustrations. He
spent 45 minutes in
ZBrush to get a
base model to work
with, before then
spending another
90 minutes
painting over it in
Photoshop

Winter Night: This
painting is one of
the first in which
Brunet began to
incorporate 3D to
help focus on
design more. He
initially did a quick
30-minute sculpt in
the 3D sculpting
software ZBrush,
after which he
spent an extra hour
painting over it in
Photoshop
REfuel: Quick
speed painting in
Photoshop
detailing a Cyborg
face that had
initially been
created using
ZBrush and
rendered in
KeyShot, taking
one hour and 35
minutes in total
COULD YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR DAILY
LIFE AT BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT? WHAT
WOULD BE A TYPICAL DAY?
When I was a kid, thats where I wished I could work
later in life, so it was indeed pretty special when I
started working there. We have a huge campus here in
Irvine, California, with a cafeteria and a gym, so a
normal days goes like this:
I get to work at around 10am, grab some breakfast
at the cafe and then get to my desk where Ill usually
pick up something I was working on the previous day.
Then at noon we usually go eat lunch outside in the
sun, work a few more hours and probably have a
meeting or two, then head to the gym to end the day.
Every day is always a lot of fun.
088
Grounding characters: To help ground
the character in an outside scene, paint
in some of the colours of the sky on
surfaces facing it the shoulders and
collar in this case
Using 3D: Dont be afraid to use 3D in
your paintings, especially if it helps the
final result. The legs were posed in Maya
to help with the difficult perspective
WHAT WERE THE SKILLS THAT YOU FEEL HAVE
GOT YOU TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY? WHAT
WERE THE MAIN CHALLENGES?
I think the main thing that helped me get a job was the
fact I always worked towards a particular goal. I knew
that I wanted to do game art and I realised pretty early
that whatever is in the games art books is what I should
be working towards. I thought, If one day I could match
that level, technically I could replace the guy who drew
it. I never wasted time drawing things that wouldnt
get me closer to that goal.
The main challenge really was when I had to learn to
work for someone else, and suddenly put my ego in the
trash and try to be as creative at work as I am at home.
That definitely took a while to sink in.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE TOOLS TO USE IN
PHOTOSHOP WHEN CREATING?
Since I draw a lot of sci-fi characters, and use tons of
decals, the Warp tool takes my number one spot. It
allows me to deform anything to fit any surface as if it
was painted right on it. The Brush panel is a close
second creating custom brushes to answer any
specific situation while I paint is extremely useful, as
well as a massive timesaver.
WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE NEW ARTISTS
LOOKING TO IMPROVE THEIR QUALITY OF WORK
TO BREAK INTO THE INDUSTRY TODAY?
Generally, what I tell people is that for videogames
studios, you need to be a specialist. As a concept artist,
Custom brushes: Custom brushes are
always a timesaver when used right.
This particular brush paints a flock of
birds in one single brush stroke!
LIVING THE DREAM READER INTERVIEW
Decals: For decals, I do everything flat
and use the Transform and Warp tools to
match the perspective of the target
surface to which it is applied
089
This image (right) was one of my first using
Photoshop for colouring, and was made back
when I was still using a mouse to paint. I got a
tablet a bit later and, as you can imagine, it helped
quite a lot! The smudgy and desaturated colours
were a result of using a mouse to blend my
colours I think. It was pretty hard to get nice
gradients between different shades. Then theres
the terrible framing, composition, poses, flat and
unfinished background at least it feels good to
notice an improvement in those ten years
separating these two pieces.
The latest one (above) was done, as you can
imagine, with a Wacom tablet, and as opposed to
the early one, done also using custom brushes.
Ive tried to improve in all aspects, but I think my
composition is what seems to have improved the
most. It guides the eye much better I feel.
THEN AND NOW
for example, there are generally two or three
categories: character concepts and weapons
(sometimes separate), and environment concepts
which is everything else. One way to look at it is the
bigger the studio, the more specialised you need to be
to be able to compete in one of those fields. I would say
its only beneficial to be a jack of all trades if the goal is
to work for a smaller studio that employs fewer artists.
Most of the time concept artists are required to use
Photoshop, while the list is a bit longer for 3D artists.
You would have to add a sculpting software like
Mudbox or ZBrush as well as a modelling software
such as Maya or 3ds Max.
RegenPOD: I had this image in my head for a long time, and painting it was the only way to get it out! I was practising bottom-up light sources
and harder perspective for the face, two things I dont feel comfortable with. Im pretty satisfied with the result I got after spending four and a
half hours in Photoshop, says Brunet
I thought, If one day I
could match that level,
technically I could replace
the guy who drew it
090
HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN BLURRED BACKGROUND LIGHTS
BEAUTIFUL BOKEHS
C
reating beautifully blurred backgrounds is
one of the finer joys of photography. Theres
something special about opening up the
aperture to create a shallow focus range.
Add a series of small, bright light sources to the
background and you can create more magic light
bokeh. Thats the way the lens renders points of light
that are out of focus. This frequently means a soft,
round glow is created in-camera. While there may be
widespread disagreement over how to pronounce
bokeh, almost everybody agrees that the effect
usually improves the shot!
In this resource project, we will take a look at a
few different techniques for creating a stock library of
your own light bokehs. The process is fairly simple
and straightforward, but will often require several
attempts at dialling in the camera settings to
produce the right result. But working through the
steps and exploring how certain changes produce
different results is half the fun!
ON THE DISC
RESOURCE FILES
RESOURCE PROJECT
091
BEAUTIFUL BOKEHS ON THE DISC
091
BASIC BOKEH
HOW TO CREATE THOSE BEAUTIFUL BLURS
04
FOCUS
Once you have an arrangement of lights,
hold an object close to your lens and focus on it. The
lights will grow and blur behind it.
05
CAPTURE THE BACKGROUND
Once youve focused on the object, while
still keeping your focus, move the object and snap
the picture. Youll get a nice, blurry bokeh shot.
03
ARRANGE
Using the clips, arrange the lights on the
background. If you use too many, the bokeh will be
too dense and bright and no longer look magical.
02
HANG THE LIGHTS
Using plastic clips on the back of a black
background, clip through the fabric in between the
lights to discretely attach them. Use as many as you
like, but make sure you have enough loose to plug
them in.
01
LET THERE BE LIGHTS
When you think bokeh, you probably think fairy lights elegantly blurred into an atmospheric
background. So the lights youll need should be any fairy lights, either coloured or white its up to you.
BOKEH BRUSHES
USE OUR STOCK IMAGES TO CREATE YOUR OWN CUSTOM BOKEH BRUSHES
Beautiful, realistic
bokehs are just a
brush stroke
away! Dont forget
to add significant
blur to the image
first
Once the brush is
defined, use the
Brush panel to find
the new brush tip
and add Scattering
and Angle Jitter
For the brush to
work, the stock
image will need to
be desaturated and
inverted. This can be
accomplished with
adjustment layers
Our stock photos
can easily be
turned into custom
bokeh brushes.
First, paint out any
bokeh spots that
touch the edges
040 092 092
HOW TO USE THE
BOKEH STOCK
TRANSFORM MUNDANE BACKGROUNDS
INTO SOMETHING MAGICAL WITH OUR
BOKEH STOCK
The stock images on the disc are
perfect for creating magical flare in
the background of a portrait. It just
takes a few simple compositing
tricks to add them in.
When changing backgrounds of
a portrait, a good selection is
critical. If certain areas are
troublesome, use multiple
layers with masks. Dont think
you need to get everything in a
single mask
Place and transform the light
bokeh layers. Use the Screen
blending mode to isolate the
lights and layer masks in order
to hide any bokeh spots that
dont fit properly
The background blur is also
critical for the realism of the
effect. Use the Iris Blur and
adjust the location so the
ground that is closer to the
camera isnt as blurred as the
objects further away
Even the most basic
backgrounds can be used, but
they need to match the same
lighting and perspective as the
model shot. Curves and Photo
Filters are great tools for
lighting adjustment
093
BEAUTIFUL BOKEHS ON THE DISC
INCAMERA LENS FLARE
STOP USING THE TIRED PHOTOSHOP FILTER AND CREATE YOUR OWN!
If you want your bokeh shots to be a bit more interesting, theres a simple process to give your bokeh
some shape. For starters, youre going to need a black sheet of paper, the lens you want to use, a white
pencil, scissors and a craft knife. Start by measuring the length of your lens it has to fit over the top to
stay in place. Next, cut a strip of paper the length you want. Measure the circumference of the lens and
cut it out as well. Draw out the design, placing it as close to the centre of the circle as possible and cut it
out with the craft knife. Then roll the strip around the lens and tape it so its snug but can still slide off.
Finally, attach the circle to one end of the tube and tape it so there are no gaps. Simply slide it over the
front of your lens and your bokehs will appear in the shape of your cut-out.
INDUSTRY EXAMPLE: SHAPED BOKEH
ADD SHAPE AND DEPTH TO THE BACKGROUND BLURS
01
MATERIALS
For this project youll need a torch. Try a
torch app as your phone will be easier to secure.
Youll also need a black backdrop and large clips.
02
SECURE THE TORCH
Take two clips and attach the phone or
torch to the backdrop. Try to keep away wrinkles so
you cant see any random patches of fabric.
03
INTO THE LIGHT
Turn on the light and shoot straight into it to
create a nice flare. Play with the exposure
compensation to make it brighter or dimmer.
USING BOKEH
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02
TAKE TWO
Once you have an arrangement that
satisfies you, adjust your camera position to change
the size of the bokeh blooms. Compose the shot to
leave space for the subject. Use an aperture of f1.7
for the smoothest blur.
03
INSERT SUBJECT
Now that your background looks how you
want it to, position your subject at least three to four
feet away from the background. Again, this depends
on how big you want your bokeh to be.
01
FIND YOUR FRAME
Before you even introduce your subject, arrange your lights and your distance from them with your
subject in mind. Check the arrangement through your viewfinder first and adjust the arrangement as needed.
Create your own light effects, or feel free to use our stock of flares and bokehs in various colours, shapes and arrangements
Weve included a slew of beautiful bokeh and flare stock for you to use in your own personal projects.
O
N

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H
E

D
I
S
C
LIGHT LENS EFFECTS
21 PHOTOS OF BOKEH TEXTURES AND LENS FLARE EFFECTS
ON THE DISC BEAUTIFUL BOKEHS
094
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