Futuristic Collage

In this Photoshop tutorial, you will learn several ways of drawing abstract elements and blending images to create an abstract and futuristic photo manipulation. These types of photo manipulations are popular in wallpapers and signatures (AKA sigs) where people combine their interests into a collage that describes themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

What you will need

Preview of final results

Step 1

Create a new document with dimensions; 1600 x 1100px. First change the foreground color to a bright reddish color, the exact color doesn't matter then hit Alt+Backspace to fill the background layer red. Paste the image with the model into your document then scale and move it until it looks like the image below.

Step 2

Now we need to mask out the girl, this is usually the most tedious part of any photo manipulation but it needs to be done so you may as well get good at it. If you really can't be bothered masking it then you can download the masked image as a PSD file here then just skip on to step 5, otherwise lets start masking. The method I use is quite complicated, first select the pen tool then look at the main toolbar and you will see three small buttons at the left, select the middle one which should say paths if you hover over it. Now start tracing round the edge of the girl, don't worry too much about being accurate as we will be putting her on a black background later. Also don't go round her hair, just draw round it without going near it. After you've got all the way round her and closed your path. Next right click somewhere in the document and select Create vector mask, this will get your image looking something like the one below.

Step 3

Now change the foreground color to black or just hit D then select the background layer and hit Alt+Backspace to fill it black. You'll notice that there will be some thin white bits around the model. So select the layer with the girl on it then click the layer mask button at the bottom of the layers panel. Now select the brush tool and choose a soft round brush about 50px diameter and 50% opacity and make sure the foreground color is still black. Now just draw over the white patches just to blend the black of her clothes into the background. After you've done this do the hair but change the brush opacity to 100% then just roughly blend the hair into the background. After fiddling with it for a while you should have a result like below.

Step 4

Now depending on what version of Photoshop you have will dictate what you do in this step, If you have CS3 or above then just right click on the girl's layer and select Convert to smart object. Any other version below CS3; then select the girls layer then create a new layer then hit Ctrl+E and when the dialog box comes up select apply. Now I scaled this layer slightly and move it a bit too then added another layer mask and used the same technique as in the last step to blend the model into the background, this is optional and only do it if you think your image needs to be blended more. If you got stuck at all then just go and download the PSD file I mentioned in step 2.

Step 5

Duplicate the girl's layer (Ctrl+J) then scale it up a bit then in the layers panel move this layer below the original layer. Now change the opacity of this new layer to about 10%.

Step 6

Create a new layer then change the foreground color to white then select the brush tool. Change to a 2px, 0% hardness, 100% opacity round brush. Now select the pen tool and draw a curvy path that kind of wraps around the girl. Then right click on the document and select Stroke path and make sure simulate pressure is unchecked.

Step 7

Now pay attention to the next two steps as we will be doing the same thing a few times from now on. First Ctrl+click on the original girl's layer then select the layer with the curvy line in it then Alt+click on the layer mask button at the bottom of the layers panel (cirircle within a rectangle button). You'll see that the line now goes behind the girl. Now hit Ctrl+D to deselect.

Step 8

Now we want the line to go over and under the girl layer. So select a a hard round white brush about 50px diameter and 100% opacity. Select the layer mask on the line layer then paint on the parts that you want to appear above the girl, I painted on the parts that I've circled in red. Next we want to fade out parts of the line, mainly the ends and the parts that we want to appear far away. So change the hardness of the brush to 0% and the opacity to about 20%, also change the foreground color to black then just brush over the parts you want to hide a few times.

Step 9

Now right click on this layer and go to blending options then add an outer glow using the settings shown below. You can repeat repeat these steps to add a few more lines, I just left it at one.

Step 10

Now we're going to put in some abstract renders so open one of the renders in the pack that you downloaded then drag the render layer into your original document, you may have to minimize the windows within photoshop. Most of these renders come with the render layer and a background layer, just put the render layer in then close the document. After you've dragged it in then scale and move it until it is placed over the girl like so.

Step 11

Now we use exactly the same masking technique we used for the line, basically do steps 7 & 8 for the render instead of the line, notice how most of the render appears behind the model but some parts appear in front of her. Remember to fade out some parts of the render too, especially since there are some sharp edges in some of the renders.

Step 12

We want to go for a reddish pink color scheme so if the render you used isn't the right color then go Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation then change the hue slider until it looks right, I had to do it with the first render I used, so look at the difference.

Step 13

Now we have to do exactly the same with a few more renders. I used three in total. It is important that the renders look like they go in front and behind the girl to add depth. This is what mine looked like after I added two more renders.

Step 14

This step I guess is optional, if you want to add some more stock images into your piece then now is the time to do it. The process consists of pasting in an image, masking it like we did with the girl then scaling and positioning it in the image. Some ideas are flowers and plants, small airplanes or balloons etc. I added a couple of flowers but you can put in more or none at all.

Step 15

Next we're going to put some clouds into our picture, start by selecting the eyedropper tool then pick a color from part of your render, you should now have a bright pinky color as your foreground color. Create a new layer, now select the brush tool then go into your clouds brush pack and choose a cloud brush. Now place your cloud somewhere over the girl then use the same masking technique we used for the line and for the renders but for this we want most of the cloud in front of her. Below I've shown what it should look like after you've added one cloud and masked it.

Step 16

Now repeat the last step twice more, using a different brush and picking a different color. Remember to put it in a new layer and to mask it in the same way.

Step 17

Now we're going to add a kind of glassy effect that we've been seeing a lot recently in this type of art. First create a new layer then select the polygonal lasso tool then draw a four sided shape similar to the one below.

Step 18

Next select the brush tool and choose a 400px round brush, 0% hardness, 100% opacity then change the foreground color to white. Now just brush along, just outside the edge of the box to get this effect, you may need to try a few times to get it right. Now hit Ctrl+D to deselect then you can move or rotate this layer.

Step 19

Now do these two steps twice again, but make the rectangle selection at a different angle or size, so you have three of these glassy things like in the image below.

Step 20

Now alter the opacities of these three layer to something between about 20% and 35%, just until they look right and don't do them all the same opacity, make them different and it will add some depth.

Step 21

In this step we're going to put in some random wee lines, this is quite subtle but it still adds to the overall image. First select a 1px round brush then choose a bright color, either yellow, orange or pink then brush some randowm lines in then do the same with a different color. Take a look at stage number one. Next add a layer mask by clicking the layer mask button at the bottom of the layers panel and use the second part of masking technique that I mentioned, where you blend the ends of the lines. don't worry about making these lines go behind the girl. You can see this in stage 2. Then just change the blend mode of this layer to color dodge, You can see what mine looked like in the bottom image, stage 3.

Step 22

The next thing I did was to add some small dots, they aren't really visible in the image below but they do add to the image. Create a new layer then select the brush tool and choose a 1px soft round brush with full opacity. Make sure the foreground color is white then just put some dots on the page, try also doing some with a 2px brush as well.

Step 23

That's us pretty much finished this tutorial but I did add a few finishing touches to the image and there is still a lot you could do to it. I added a very faint lens flare on a black layer then set it to screen then masked it a lot and lowered the opacity of it. I also put some white lines in to the right of the model and in a new layer then moved the layer to the bottom of the layer stack then masked it out a bit to blend it in. I then did some color adjustments to bring out the reds and some highlights, I used a mixture of Brightness/Contrast, Curves and Color Balance adjustment layers. Just experiment with some adjustment layers until it looks good. Have fun with it.

source: photoshoptutorials.ws

Design a Contemporary Poster

Create this simple poster created with layers of photos and shapes. In this Photoshop tutorial, you will learn how to use a combination of Photoshop brushes, images, and custom shapes to create this contemporary poster.

Preview of Final Result

What you will need

Architectural ornaments brush set A few splatter brushes

Design a Contemporary Poster Photoshop Tutorial

Step 1

Create a new document with dimensions; 1500 x 2000px. Now change the foreground color to a light grey, I used #e5e5e5. Go Edit>Fill and select foreground color. This will fill the background layer with a light grey.

Step 2

Now go here and copy the image into your document then scale it down until it looks like the image below. Select the magic wand tool and change the tolerance to 40. Now click outside the skull then hit Delete to get rid of the white background from the skull image, do the same for the other white bits like inside the eyes and the mouth. The last thing to do is to make sure the layer is selected then hit Shift+Ctrl+U, this will desaturate the layer.

Step 3

Next go and copy another image from here, this time of a sword. Place it into the document, first desaturate it in the same way that we did with the skull then scale and rotate the sword. Now get rid of the white background using the magic wand tool, this time with a tolerance of 10. Now duplicate this layer (Ctrl+J) then go Edit>Transform>Flip-Horizontal. Then move this layer so the swords form an X shape.

Step 4

In the layers panel select both the sword layers using Ctrl then hit Ctrl+E to merge these layers. Now we want the swords behind the skull, so just drag this layer down below the skull layer in the layers panel. I also increased the brightness of the layer by going Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast and increasing the brightness a bit.

Step 5

Create a new layer between the skull layer and the swords layer then select the brush tool then in the main toolbar click the arrow next to the word brush then click the other arrow within the box that pops up and choose the architectural ornaments brush set. Change the foreground color to black then add a few of these into your image, I ended up only putting one in as you can see in the image below.

Step 6

Now change the opacity of this layer to about 60% just to tone it down a bit.

Step 7

Create a new layer below the swords layer then select the brush tool and choose the splatter brush set in the same way we did in step 5. Make sure the foreground color is black then add a big splatter just below the skull. Now change the opacity of this layer to 75%. You'll notice i also added some drips to the horns, this was just with a small round brush and is optional.

Step 8

Select the type tool then choose a grungy font if you have one, also change the color to the same color as the background. Now just type your text and position it over the splatter and resize it if necessary.

Step 9

Now that we've done the foreground, we'll move onto the background. So we don't get our layers mixed up, it is a good idea to create a new layer group, do this by clicking the button at the bottom of the layers panel that looks like a folder. Drag the folder so it is directly above the background layer. Now we need an image of smoke, the one I used can be found here so paste it into your document and desaturate it in the same way we did with the skull. Scale and position it as shown in the image below.

Step 10

Change the blend mode of this layer to multiply, now you'll notice that this smoke image has some sharp edges at the top, we need to get rid of these. We can either use the eraser tool or the layer mask tool, I recommend using a layer mask, but if that’s too complicated for you then just use the eraser tool. Click the layer mask button at the bottom of the layers panel (circle inside a rectangle) then change the foreground color to black then select the brush tool. Choose a soft round brush with a diameter of about 400px and an opacity of about 40% then just brush over the parts of the smoke that you want to hide and you'll get something like in the image below

Step 11

Next I added a few more splatter brushes behind the skull, I did this in a new layer above the smoke layer, I think I used three different brushes then I changed the opacity of the layer to about 70%.

Step 12

Now we're going to add a bit of color to the skull, so create a new layer at the very top of the layer stack then fill it with black (go Edit>Fill). Now go Filter>Render>Lens-Flare, hit ok then change the opacity of this layer to 75% then move it so the centre of the lens flare is on the skulls eye.

Step 13

Now change the blend mode of this layer to screen then if you think the centre of the lens flare is too bright then you can remove it a bit with the eraser tool.

Step 14

I left the foreground almost totally grayscale so that I could add some bright colors to the background to give a contrast. Create a new layer below the background layer group then change the foreground color to a bright color. Select the line shape tool and change the weight to 20px then holding Shift, make a line at 45°. Repeat this step until you have a few more lines of different colors.

Conclusion

That’s as far as we'll go in this tutorial but there is still a lot more you could do to your image. For example I added some white vector wings in, and a few wee gradients here and there but I'd encourage you to keep on experimenting with it an I hope you learned something new.

source: photoshoptutorials.ws

Twister in the City

This tutorial will explain how to create an effect involving gigantic twisters (as seen in the film, "The Day After Tomorrow"), and a dissolve effect that goes along with it. You will learn to take a normal city on a nice day and turn it into a havoc and wreaked scene with terrible storms and destroyed buildings.

Twister in the City Photoshop Tutorial

This tutorial is very customizable, and you can end up with totally different results from what you see here. This tutorial is to show you how to achieve the effect, and perhaps to give you an idea of how it can look, but you should think of the final image that I will create as more of an inspiration than a rule. In other words, learn the concepts, but experiment and try to make it your own as well. Secondly, because this is my first tutorial ever written, it may be a bit different from what you are used to. The steps for example, are quite thorough (sometimes multiple tasks per step) so they are kind of like chapters. Also, this tutorial might be geared more towards intermediate/advanced photoshoppers, but even if you are brand new to the software, you should be able to follow along (I have tried to be as detailed as possible in the procedure. For example: mapping out how to create a new layer).

Preview of Final Results

Stock Photos

Here is the stock photo used for this tutorial. You can download the image through Dreamstime by clicking on the image below. We used the highest resolution (unscaled) images available to write this tutorial. If you would like to follow this tutorial using the same settings we used, download the highest resolution (unscaled) images available.

When working with any image in Photoshop, always play things on the cautious side and make new layers for everything. This way, if you make a mistake, you won't have to start all over, but you might just have to re-do one layer, possibly saving you hours of work. Everything in this tutorial should be done on separate layers.

Step 1 – Open the image of the city

Lets get started! Load the image of the model into Photoshop. To do this, choose File > Open, browse for the file, then click OK. For this tutorial, I just decided that I wanted to leave out some of the city, because it was a really big image. So, in the picture below, you can see that I selected a portion of the city to use in the rest of the tutorial using the marquee tool.

Step 2 - Scale the image selection that you chose in step 1

Alright, so with that selected, copy it (control/command + C) and paste it into a new document (File > New). The default settings will be fine, and click OK. At this point, you will want to resize the document to a smaller scale (or keep it huge, but the tutorial will work with smaller units, so you will have to adjust everything if you keep the image really big). I rescaled the image to a width of 1200 px (Image > Image Size...) put 1200 in for the width, and the height will scale appropriately, automatically. Before you go any further, name this layer "city".

Step 3 - Select the sky

The next thing to do is to select the sky. There are lots of ways to do this, but for this tutorial, I wanted to be quick, so I just grabbed the quick selection (or magic wand) tool "w", and painted the sky until I had it selected. The pen tool will give you more exact results, but you probably won't notice small mistakes further on because of the clouds that we will add later. Just try to get a good selection.

Step 4 - Isolate your buildings

Now you get to choose which buildings you want to apply the effect to. First, you are going to want to select the city instead of the sky, so go to Select > Inverse, and then take the marquee tool "m" and choose the buildings that you want. Hold down option when you click and drag (this will get rid of the selected city on either side of your buildings. You should arrive at something that looks like the following image.

Step 5 - Prepping for a new sky

With these buildings selected, copy them (control/command + c) and paste them into a new layer, right where they were before (nothing should look different, you've only moved the buildings to a different layer). Name this layer "buildings".
Now, in the layers palette, select the layer "buildings" (control/command + click on the layer "buildings"), and then turn of the visibility of the "buildings" layer, so you can see what you're doing.
Now go back to the "city" layer (which now is without the buildings that you moved). Then, fill the selection with the color of the sky (use the eye dropper tool "i" to select a blue color somewhere in the sky, and then, fill the selection with the paint bucket/fill tool "g"). You should come up with something like this.
Note: If you cannot seem to select the layer by clicking on it, you are probably clicking the wrong thing. To the left of the layer name, there is a small icon of the layer. You should control/command + click on that image, not the text itself.

Step 6 - Add a new sky (part 1)

Now, select all the blue like you did before with the wand/quick select "w" tool. With this new selection, create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer) and fill it "g" with a brown (I used #5e5139). You should now see something like this.

Step 7 - Add a new sky (part 2)

Now we are going to add clouds. In a new layer, using a brown foreground and a black background, go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Once you've done that, hit control/command + T, and drag out the sides of the box so that the clouds get a little flatter, and stretched out looking. At this point, you should only see clouds. Take the eraser (using a brush size of about 300px, hardness of 0) and start erasing the bottom of the clouds layer, so that you can begin to see your city again. Customize this as much as you'd like. You probably want to see most of the buildings though. This is what my result looked like.
Don't worry if your colors are a little off, we will fix that in the last step.

Step 8 - Bring your selected buildings to the top

This is a simple step. Locate your buildings that you isolated a while back in step 4, turn on the layer visibility and move the layer to the top of the stack. You should now see something like this.

Step 9 - Dissolve Effect (Setup)

Another easy step. Just follow along with the following images, and set up your eraser tool "e" to mimic these effects. In order to see this brush palette, go to Window > Brushes.

Step 10 - Dissolve Effect (Erasing)

Now for the fun part -- the dissolve effect! Using either a pen tablet, or your mouse, start erasing the top(s) of your building(s) with your newly customized eraser tool "e". This step is very customizable, so results may very significantly. This is what I got.

Step 11 - Dissolve Effect (Debris)

This is probably the most fun you're going to have in this tutorial, because now you get to draw the debris! First configure your brush tool "b" to look exactly like your eraser by just following the images in step 9 in case you forgot the settings. In a new layer, starting with the color black, begin to put debris into the scene. Keep in mind that a twister will be sucking it up into the sky, so make it go upward, and off to an angle to add realism. It might look a bit unnatural right now, but it will be fixed later when we add the twister. I said to start with black as your foreground color, but as you go on, start option + clicking around the area you're working on to pick up new colors from the background like browns, reds, and grays. Your debris shouldn't just be one color, but a combination of colors taken from the surrounding environment instead. Play around with it until it looks right to you. Once again, this step is very customizable (like most of this tutorial in fact... so your results can very dramatically.)

Step 12 - Twister Effect (part 1)

You may have been wondering when this part was going to show up, but fret not, you've made it this far, and you're here now (hopefully, ha). Okay now, exactly like we did in step 7, we are going to add clouds once again (in a new layer of course). Same colors as before will work (black and #5e5139). Once again, click control/command + T and stretch out the sides. Now you have to shape your twister, so take your eraser "e" and (using a size of 300px, hardness of 0) erase the sides of your clouds layer, so that what you are left with looks like a twister. You can also erase some of the inside of the twister so that you can see your buildings of focus more clearly (especially towards the top, where all the action with the debris is happening). When you've done all this, adjust the brightness (Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and set the brightness to -75).

Step 13 - Twister Effect (part 2)

Now we are going to break up the twister into two parts, a top half and a bottom half. To do this, select your marquee tool "m" set a feather of 100px (we want this to be blurry so that there isn't a harsh line where we've halved the twister). Now, select the bottom half with the marquee tool, and cut and paste this into a new layer (and if necessary, move it back into the position where it was before we cut and pasted it). In the layers palette, set the opacity of the bottom half to 95%. I know it isn't much, but it is just enough to let you see the buildings a bit more clearly.

Step 14 - Twister Effect (part 3)

We are going to make this twister look more menacing by applying some layer styles. In the layers palette, double click the layer with the top half of the twister to add layer styles. Follow along the following pictures, and apply the layer styles.

After applying these layer styles, you should arrive at something like this:

Step 15 - Letterbox Effect

This is something that I like to do to my images to give them sort of an epic/cinematic feel to them. It is extremely simple, and in my opinion, makes a great difference. To do this effect, in a new layer, you take the marquee tool (feather should be set to 0, in case it was still on 100px), and select as much as you want to eliminate on either the top or the bottom. But only do one. As soon as you do one bar, copy the layer (control/command + J) and move it to either the top or the bottom (whichever is missing the bar) until it snaps in place. Then click control/command + E to merge both bars onto one layer. The whole reason that I say to only do one bar, and then copy it is to ensure that both bars are the same size/height as one another.

Step 16 - Final Coloring

In order to change the coloring of the entire image, we have to flatten it first. In order to do this, to Layer > Flatten Image. After you've done this, you'll notice that everything has been merged into one layer, and that way, any changes we make to that layer will effect the whole image rather than just parts. Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. Apply the settings in the following image. You can change the hue according to the mood that you want to set in your image, but I suggest that you keep the saturation low like this (from 10 to 25), because in movies, they always take most of the color out of the film. And make sure that you have colorized checked at the bottom.

The End - Congratulations

Congratulations, you've reached the end of the tutorial! I hope you understood what was going on, and enjoyed learning about this effect as much as I did teaching it. You have just learned how to take a daytime, clear-weathered, intact city, and turn it into a dark, stormy, destroyed city under attack. Looking back at your original image, you should be able to see quite a difference, and you did it all without premade brushes and photos. If your image doesn't look exactly like mine does, don't freak out. Rather, see this is as a good thing, because you have changed it to make it your own. Keep playing around with it, practice the techniques, and try to improve on areas here and there that you think could use improvement. It is all up to you as the artist -- good luck!

Here’s an alternative outcome using a different image:

Download the PSD

source: photoshoptutorials.ws