Advanced Photoshop Issue 130 - 2015 Uk - Mgzn.me

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The magazine for Adobe® Phot

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DESIGN AN INFOGRAPHIC Discover how to use typography, icons, colour and hierarchy

ACTION COMPOSITES Unify lighting to combine photos into an action scene 2FC J?RCQR #'8- KMLGRMP ML RCQR m Make your own ice textures m *C?PLÍRMÍSQCÍ$GJRCPÍ$MPECÍm

SELECTIONS PHOTOSHOP EXPERTS SHARE THEIR KILLER TIPS ON GETTING THE MOST FROM SELECTION TOOLS HOW TO CREATE

ARCHVIS FlyingArchitecture Studio on how they mix 3D and Photoshop

PRO TRICKS FOR

COMIC COVERS

ISSUE 130

How Tiago Da Silva created and evolved his graphic novel project

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ISSUE 130 CONTENTS

ISSUE 130

WELCOME

Welcome to the latest issue of Advanced Photoshop. With this issue, you’ll get a copy of Filter Forge 3.0 Standard (as sold for $249). Turn to p68 to find out how to get the most from it.

APRIL MADDEN Editor IN THIS ISSUE: ARCHVIS COMPOSITING PHOTOMANIPULATION ILLUSTRATION GRAPHIC DESIGN

COVER IMAGE ANDRE VILLANUEVA http://000-000-0000.com Photoshop expert Andre Villanueva created our selection-based cover image this issue. Check out his website for more of his creative projects or take a look at his work for our sister magazine Photoshop Creative.

Something people often ask about is how they can get the most from Photoshop’s plethora of selection tools. From marquees to masks, we take a look at the professional tips you need to select like a pro every single time. Check it out on p26. Also this issue we reveal the winner of our cover design competition. They show us how they created their winning image on p46 (No spoilers here!) but before you go straight for their tutorial, head to p36 to discover the honourable mentions that we just had to include in the magazine. You’re a very talented bunch and your work is extremely impressive! If, alas, you didn’t make it into the runners-up, then this issue packs a wealth of tutorials to help you hone and improve your Photoshop skills. Learn how lighting will help you produce perfect action composites (p56), discover how to design an infographic (p62) and get a wealth of advice tips and tricks from the industry prof Enjoy the magazine!

FIND US ONLI @advancedpshop

/AdvancedPhotoshop

.co.uk

46

WORKSHOP:

MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION Create an eye-catching image using striking mood, colour combination and well-defined detail

74 UNTITLED HOW I MADE:

PROJECT

Find out how Tiago da Silva created the cover for his upcoming graphic novel project

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FOR BACK ISSUES, BOOKS AND MERCHANDISE VISIT:

ISSUE 130

CONTENTS EYE ON DESIGN

What’s hot, who’s in and the latest art & design happenings

06 08 10 16 18

PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW A collective tale

18

PIXELFLAKES

56

CREATE A DYNAMIC COMPOSITE

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PRO PANEL Meet this issue’s experts INDUSTRY NEWS The Foundry snaps up Mischief

PROJECT FOCUS Surreal photomanipulation STUDIO INTERVIEW PixelFlakes

26

PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS

ISSUE 130 #/.4%.43

TECHNIQUES

Professional artists reveal their high-end Photoshop skills in our easy-to-follow workshops

26 36 46 52 56

FEATURE

Professional tips for selections FEATURE

Cover design competition WORKSHOP

Master architectural visualisation HOW I MADE

Shhh WORKSHOP

Create a dynamic composite

62 68 74 86 90

WORKSHOP

A guide to infographics WORKSHOP

Custom filters in Filter Forge 3 HOW I MADE

REVIEWS

We put the latest creative kit and apps to the test

80 84

FEATURE: EIZO ColorEdge CS240 FEATURE: Top ten art and design books

Untitled Project READER INTERVIEW

Communicating a hidden message RESOURCE PROJECT

Create your own frozen textures

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SEE PAGE 24 OR 61 FOR THE LATEST OFFERS

62 A GUIDE TO INFOGRAPHICS 96

RESOURCES

Free with issue 130 of Advanced Photoshop

TAILORMADE CREATIVE CONTENT

Follow along with our expert video tuition from Photoshop pro, Kirk Nelson

68

CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3 PREMIUM RESOURCES

Free software, textures, photos and much d l df

P US:

eď4UTORIALďPROJECTďFILES eď6IDEOďTUTORIALS eď"ONUSďRESOURCESď

EYE ON DESIGN PRO PANEL

PRO PANEL

MEET THE PROFESSIONALS SHARING THEIR PHOTOSHOP EXPERTISE AND TECHNIQUES IN THIS ISSUE ANDRE VILLANUEVA

© Andre Villanueva

http://000-000-0000.com Experiment! In the lulls between your usual work, have some fun and play with Photoshop features you don’t normally use. Going down untrodden paths can lead you to some unexpectedly rich outcomes. Try some new filters, apply adjustments you’ve never employed, or use a tool that everyone says is no good. Process, transform, and blend unrelated photos for surprising results. ■ See more of Andre Villanueva’s work on our cover and our feature on selection tools on p26

Going down untrodden paths can lead you to some unexpectedly rich outcomes. Try some new filters, apply adjustments you’ve never employed, or use a tool that everyone says is no good ANDRE VILLANUEVA /ĈɎɎ#/-

BRANDON CAWOOD

www.brandoncawood.com NEVER STOP LEARNING! Constantly challenge yourself to do new things. My work usually involves high-energy composites with people as my main subjects. For this image I stepped out of my comfort zone and shot these trucks. While editing this photo, I learned and developed many techniques that I now use in other images! Never put a limit on what you can do! ■ Learn how to create an action-packed composite in Brandon Cawood’s tutorial on p56

© Brandon Cawood

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The magazine for Adobe® Photoshop® professionals

ANDY HAU

www.andyhau.com A lot of my work requires quick-fire repetitive use of the same tools – Polygonal Lasso and Gradient Fill. On simple images, you can of course click on the tools from the Toolbar but for more complex images, using shortcuts (L for Lasso, G for Fill) can increase your productivity by twice as much – trust me, I’ve actually timed it! ■ Discover more about how Andy Hau can improve your productivity with his ‘How to choose a font’ infographic on p62

Imagine Publishing Ltd Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ  +44 (0) 1202 586200 Web: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk www.greatdigitalmags.com

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[email protected]  01202 586218

Editor in Chief Amy Squibb Production Editor Siobhan Maguire Designer Rebekka Hearl Photographer James Sheppard Senior Art Editor Duncan Crook Publishing Director Aaron Asadi Head of Design Ross Andrews Contributors Julie Bassett, Matt Bennett, Brandon Cawood, Flyingarchitecture Studio, Andy Hau, Larissa Mori, Kirk Nelson, Anna-Lisa Saywell, Lauren Scott, James Sheppard, Andre Villanueva and Poz Watson

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Disclaimer

© Andy Hau

The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein. Photoshop is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/ or other countries and is used with express permission. All $ prices are US Dollars unless otherwise stated. If you submit material to Imagine Publishing via post, email, social network or any other means, you automatically grant Imagine Publishing an irrevocable, perpetual, royaltyfree license to use the images across its entire portfolio, in print, online and digital, and to deliver the images to existing and future clients, including but not limited to international licensees for reproduction in international, licensed editions of Imagine products. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither Imagine Publishing nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for the loss or damage.

© Imagine Publishing Ltd 2014 ISSN 1748-7277

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EYE ON DESIGN INDUSTRY NEWS

THE FOUNDRY MAKES SOME MISCHIEF AFTER DEVELOPING SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS USED BY STUDIOS SUCH AS DREAMWORKS, PIXAR AND ILM, THE FOUNDRY HAS ACQUIRED A MASS MARKET DIGITAL PAINTING TOOL: MISCHIEF

A

lready well-known for VFX production software such as MARI, MODO and NUKE, The Foundry has surprised and delighted followers with a new foray into the mainstream market: the acquisition of the small but very powerful digital painting app called Mischief. Now, the release of new Mischief 2.0 marks the

MORE INFORMATION For more information on Made With Mischief, including how to purchase, product features, system requirements and supported platforms, visit www.madewithmischief.com.

flagship product of a whole new subsidiary called Made with Mischief. The technology behind its new acquisition is potentially game-changing for consumers and the industry. Co-developed by former Disney Research consultant Sarah Frisken, Mischief is a revolutionary piece of software. At only $25/ approx £16 and available online from the Mac App Store and the Mischief online store, a huge range of artists can now use the paint app to digitally create work using brushes, layers, different backgrounds and even a full colour panel with customisable colour swatches. However, Mischief represents much more than that for The Foundry. The acquisition will also allow the company access to the patents for technology powering Mischief itself – a way of representing a shape in either 2D or 3D known as Adaptively Sampled Distance Fields, or ADFs. Co-created by Frisken along with Mischief, ADFs allow for an infinite canvas so users have all the screen real-estate they could desire, as well as the ability to scale work with a zoom ration of 50 trillion to one without introducing any pixelation artifacts. On top of this, ADFs can also

provide high-quality stroke rendering that is extremely responsive due to the fact that they are amenable to hardware-based rendering, and create small file sizes compared to traditional vector-based stroke representations. With its clean, inspiring UI and technology that holds so much potential, it’s no surprise that The Foundry’s new Mischief 2.0 is being touted as an alternative to Photoshop itself. For the Team at The Foundry however, this is clearly not the case. “The Foundry has a proven record of taking exciting, innovative concepts and commercialising them for a broader market,” said Sarah Frisken. “By becoming a part of The Foundry, we now have the ability to grow our team, to be more responsive to our users and to further our vision”.

The Foundry has a proven record of taking exciting, innovative concepts and commercialising them for a broader market

OTHER SOFTWARE

The Free Version: To encourage new users to try Mischief on Mac or PC, The Foundry will also be offering Mischief-Free, a limited-feature edition of the new version of the painting tool free of charge. Mischief-Free includes basic brushes, colours and a full canvas experience, without extra features such as customisable colour swatches or layer functionality.

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The huge potential for Mischief’s ADF technology lies not necessarily with its ability to compete with Photoshop, but with its ability to transcend into other software from The Foundry such as MARI or MODO. If done, ADFs could be used to improve on the 3D pipeline with applications such as modelling, matte painting or sculpting.

MOLESKINE CONNECTS TO CREATIVE CLOUD MOLESKINE TAKES ITS INSPIRATION FROM THE BASICS WITH ITS LATEST OFFERING, AS THE SIMPLE PEN AND PAPER HAVE BECOME HIGHTECH Inviting users to ‘watch paper evolve’, Moleskine has now released a new Smart Notebook, which allows anyone to turn their hand-drawn sketches into digital vector files using just an iPhone. After creating a drawing on the Smart Notebook, each user can simply download the companion iOS Moleskine app from the Apple Store to begin capturing what they’ve drawn with the camera on their iPhone. Then, with the help of a grid of markers on every page to assist with the processing of images, any sketch from the new Moleskine will be optimised as a JPEG file, before being converted to an editable SVG by the app. The settings are even specifically designed to detect the orientation of the

Moleskine also recently announced its Livescribe Notebooks, which use Livescribe smartpens that allow handwriting and sketches to appear in digital form

page and correct the perspective, the lens and the alignment distortions. With a Creative Cloud membership, users can then easily sync their artwork to the cloud so it can be accessed in Adobe Illustrator CC or Photoshop CC once they’re back at a computer. To help each image appear as successfully as possible, drawing using broad strokes, preferably with black ink or markers, is most recommended. The notebook – which features a hard cover, debossed with a custom Adobe design, 160 pages, and measures at 13 x 21cm – is now available to buy for $33/approx £20 from the Moleskine website at http://shop.moleskine.com/.

The new Moleskin Smart Notebook takes full advantage of Adobe introducing the Adobe Creative SDK to allow third-party app developers to access the Creative Cloud earlier this year

ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP READER WINS DESIGN COMPETITION

ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP READER AND DESIGNER, KEN COLEMAN, HAS CREATED A WINNING PIECE FOR MUSICAL SENSATION PALOMA FAITH

Ken Coleman (Advanced Photoshop online user kenartcorp), who has been featured in Advanced Photoshop multiple times for his imaginative artwork that combines fine art training with his interest in photography; has now won the Community Choice award for creating a new piece for singer Paloma Faith. The competition, called ‘Design for Paloma Faith’, saw artists, designers and illustrators from all over the world designing their own interpretation of her Platinum-certified third album, A Perfect Contradiction, using her current artwork and persona for inspiration. Paloma and a team of judges including Rankin and Michael Stephens of Liberty London had their say in selecting the winning artist, while the public could do their part to select The Community Choice by voting on Facebook and Twitter. “This piece was created by first deconstructing

Coleman’s self portrait showcasing his unique style. Though he hadn’t previously been a big fan of Paloma Faith, after this experience Coleman aims to create more album artwork in the future, working with other artists like her

the colours and shapes from the photography of Paloma’s latest album,” said Coleman, who used 3D programs such as Poser, as well as photography and painting to create his winning piece entitled Paloma 1. He received a cash prize of $350 as an award for winning, as well as some major exposure by having his piece shared on Faith’s social media accounts, including her Twitter that has more than 500,000 followers.

Coleman’s winning Paloma 1 piece. Artists had no limitations on the medium their entry was created in, but needed to create a design that could be turned into a limited edition poster

“The abstract head pieces are based on Paloma’s distinctive hair combined with my own stock hair and texture photos,” Coleman reveals. “The eyes and most [of the] skin texture around the eyes are actually my own! When the piece was constructed, I duplicated and flattened all layers and continued to blend with some airbrushing, [the] Clone tool [and the] Smudge tool, before finishing with a slight Unsharp mask and some blurs.”

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EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW

Moe Pike Soe thebeaststudio.com @moepike

A COLLECTIVE TALE

SELFTAUGHT PROFESSIONAL, MOE PIKE SOE DISCUSSES HIS LOVE FOR COLLECTIVES AND GIVES HIS ACCOUNT OF WORKING IN THE CUTTHROAT DESIGN INDUSTRY

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igital artists often start out creating new designs in the hope of getting them published or being invited to supply work to a collective. Having contributed to a number of collectives, graphic designer, Moe Pike Soe, has provided inspiration to many new designers. By his own confession, Soe is still trying to master new techniques to surprise people. WHAT HAS BEEN THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND YOUR WORK? Everything I know about digital art and graphic design [is] self-taught. I constantly want to learn new things – I’m curious of the unknown. This gives me the determination to learn new techniques and put them to use in my work. My rebellious behaviour [has also pushed me in the industry], the very reason I started creating digital art in the first place was to protest against my art teacher in tenth grade! TELL US HOW YOU BALANCE YOUR COMMERCIAL AND PERSONAL PORTFOLIO? It’s always a dilemma when you have to decide Man on the Moon: This wallpaper is created for the

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE? I don’t think I have my own style yet. It’s mainly because I am always trying to [find] new skills, new mediums and experiment with new ways of creating. Saying that, I am currently into mirrors and reflections. It is something that I discovered when sketching one of my doodles and I decided to put them [into] my other artwork as well. It’s not quite my ‘style’ yet but I am still developing it. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE COMMERCIAL IMAGE INDUSTRY AT THE MOMENT? Globally, I think the industry is growing really fast and there are lots of new ways to create new designs – from smartphone apps to 3D printing, people are pushing the boundaries of being a creative

professional. It’s always good to expand your area of expertise and become a multi-disciplined designer, but my local area still needs a lot of improvement. There are a lot of talented people in Myanmar but they are not exposed to new ideas yet. WHO OR WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR GREATEST INFLUENCES SO FAR? My dad and my brother are hardcore photography lovers, so a love of art runs in my family. I didn’t actually start creating art until I was in tenth grade, and from then on I began to get more serious with graphic design. Apart from my family, the other greatest influence would be my curiosity of the unknown – I am interested in mysteries and conspiracies. The theories of possibility entertain me and I think some of my work reflects that. HOW HAS PHOTOSHOP BEEN INTEGRAL TO YOUR WORK? Photoshop is the most important tool for my work. From retouching [an image to] designing a website, it’s the tool that I use the most. There are endless

I love to connect with other designers. I have a lot of friends all over the world because I have joined numerous collectives

All images © Moe Pike Soe

2014 Desktopography exhibition, inspired by Kid Cudi’s song Man On The Moon. The Earth is actually a 3D model and the man standing, is me.

which project you want to work on each day. I try to put all of my commercial projects on a high priority list, but sometimes I find myself unable to focus on them. That’s when I bring out the drafts and doodles. It’s a good way to relieve the stress and keep the creativity flowing.

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I was a Desktopography fan way before I decided to become a digital artist, so it really felt great when I got to be a part of the team

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01277 243016 Or visit our website... Imitating Echo: This was my first piece experimenting with the mirrors and reflection. It was originally filled with unnecessary effects, but a lot of it was removed [in order] to portray the story of ripping off ideas.

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Paradigm Shift: This piece was created when I was trying to limit the number of stock images used in an image. It was [made] using only two stock images and they were shaped using the Liquify and Warp tool.

The Fallen Naut: This is my first wallpaper for Desktopography, where I combined about 20 images to create it. Since so many were used, it was difficult to blend them together, which made lighting an issue.

EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW

combinations and effects you can get out of Photoshop. With the new updates from CC including the improved workflow and new features, there are plenty of new techniques to learn. I do use other software to build 3D objects, but I always finalise the work in Photoshop. YOU WORK WITH A LOT OF COLLECTIVES  CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT IT’S LIKE WORKING WITH SO MANY OTHER ARTISTS? I love to connect with other designers. I have a lot of friends all over the world because I have joined numerous collectives. From [joining a] collective, you build your network and [make so many] connections with other designers, which is really amazing. I also get to learn how other artists [like to] work, and collectives are a great way to improve your [own projects, as] there are [lots of] other artists who are willing to help you out. TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR WORK FOR NIKE AND KULT MAGAZINE? It was a collaboration between Kult magazine and Nike Football. They invited 25 artists from around the world to create artworks for a special issue of the magazine titled Hypersense. From the submitted [pieces], they selected a handful of work to be showcased along with the release of the new football cleats. One of my submissions was selected to show at the exhibition, which was really exciting because I was representing my country. It’s overwhelming to see your artwork hanging alongside other great artists like Rik Oostenbroek. COULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORKFLOW? WHAT TECHNIQUES DO YOU USE THAT ALLOW YOU TO CREATE YOUR PHOTOMANIPULATIONS? When I started creating digital art, I worked really fast and finished up to three to four pieces a week. The work looked good, but they lacked [a] story and atmosphere. Nowadays, it takes me one to two months to create a personal piece – not just because I’m busy with commercial work – but it’s good to keep going back and working more on the art. Once you’ve had a break, you always come back with fresh views and when I start working on personal art, I just throw everything I want onto the canvas and let the creativity [come] out. After resting, I go back to it and remove unnecessary effects and objects. TELL US ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH THE LIGATURE COLLECTIVE? The collective itself [is made up of] amazing type creators and great typographers. The founder, Jørgen Grotdal – who I know from another collective – asked me if I was interested in joining. I’m not [primarily] a type creator, but I love typography and always [enjoy creating] type treatments, so [that’s why] I joined. It’s a really great collective with a lot of inspirational work.

Oracle: This was created with similar techniques

to the Utopia piece, but with more colours. The colours were painted in a straight line and then distorted and shaped using the Liquify tool.

Light It Up: This type treatment is a part of the new experiment I was working on. The text was rendered in CINEMA 4D and taken into Photoshop to add colour, extra lighting and effects.

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EYE ON DESIGN PORTFOLIO INTERVIEW

YOU HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN DESKTOPOGRAPHY FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS  WHAT ROLE DID YOU PLAY? I was a Desktopography fan way before I decided to become a digital artist, so it really felt great when I got to be a part of the team. The first year I participated, I had trouble coming up with a wallpaper because I was stressing out and worried that I might not finish in time. It is one of the most difficult projects, because you need [to present] your best work so that viewers can enjoy your wallpaper, but overall, it’s a really great opportunity to be a part of. CAN YOU TELL US WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING YOU HAVE HAD TO LEARN SINCE YOU STARTED IN DESIGN? Creativity or designing isn’t something you can just switch on and start working – it takes time and patience to get the best results. Timing was really difficult for me when I started working professionally. I was working with restrictions as I was trying to learn new techniques and styles, [so] it was hard to keep a balance between my personal

Globally, I think the industry is growing really fast and there are lots of new ways, to create new designs – from smartphone apps to 3D printing, people are pushing the boundaries of being a creative professional work and my commercial work. It was also [difficult] to focus on one project when you’re taking in a range of new ideas. WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU/ WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE DESIGN PLANS? I took one year off from college and I am currently working as a freelancer, so I can get the necessary experience before I start working on my own studio. For the short term, I have new projects coming up and I have been exploring new areas of design, including 3D modelling and web design. I am also planning to go back to art college to get to know the basic facts and fundamentals of designing. After that, I am going to help to transform the design industry of my home country, Myanmar [as design is not a prominent artform there].

PORTFOLIO TIPS

MOE PIKE SOE OFFERS HIS ADVICE TO THOSE LOOKING TO BUILD UP THEIR BODY OF WORK

■ KEEP IT SIMPLE Don’t confuse the audience by putting too many points in the composition. With simple direction, the audience can be more engaged in the story of the artwork. After spending time on it, take a break and come back later to take out objects and effects that aren’t necessary. ■ TRAIN YOUR EYES To be a good designer or artist you need to create a good aesthetic. Your sense of style and how you display it on the canvas determines the connection to the audience. Train your eyes by looking at inspiration and browsing other work from great designers. ■ BE HAPPY You can’t work if you’re grumpy. Take time everyday to do something that makes you happy. Whether shooting heads off in a Destiny game or watching Russell Peters clips on YouTube, keep yourself light and in a good mood.

Utopia: For this image, I was inspired by utopian

novels and I wanted to create the perfect symmetrical face. The original photo had only one side to the face, but with retouching techniques I created the full face.

The Kick: The moon and clouds were created in

CINEMA 4D and then they were taken into Photoshop for blending and to create the dynamic atmosphere.

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EYE ON DESIGN PROJECT FOCUS

For us, Photoshop is not a tool; it’s more like a visionary platform

We needed to make the cars consistent with the composition, including light reflections to blend the object in with the surroundings.

SURREAL PHOTOMANIPULATION

THE FOUNDERS OF AG’N’MG AGENCY REVEAL HOW THEY CREATED THE ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE TO THEIR FIRST PHOTOMANIPULATION PROJECT TOGETHER ABOUT THE ARTIST AGNIESZKA GRYCZ & -!'$!,%.! '!7Υ$!Founders and CEOs of ag’n’mg agency www.agnmg.com

Agnieszka Grycz & Magdalena Gawęda are the founders of high-end design agency ag’n’mg,who work on everything in full advertising campaigns from huge banners to catalogues and even small leaflets .

NAME OF PROJECT THE AG’N’MG DESIGN FOR -Ɏ4%#( #/-0!.9

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I

f there’s one thing that immediately strikes you about the founders of ag’n’mg, Agnieszka Grycz and Magdalena Gawęda (www.agnmg.com), it is their incredible passion for design. Originally from the Polish region of Silesia, both women graduated from the Silesian University of Technology and met rather unconventionally at a friend’s house party. They began spending more and more time together, getting to know each other’s workflows and then made a daring decision. Changing from their careers as architects, Grycz and Gawęda joined forces to begin their own company together which had a focus on graphic design. Today, they tell us they feel the decision has helped make them stronger artists, allowing them to take on more work as well as give each other honest feedback to improve faster professionally. A new project for M-tech, featuring everything from an abstract landscape to super-cars created using Photoshop, became the very first photomanipulation they did together as a team. WHAT MAKES PHOTOSHOP IMPORTANT TO YOU BOTH FOR YOUR WORKFLOW? First of all it’s responsive and elastic, which is exactly what we need from a program for our graphics. For

us, Photoshop is not a tool; it’s more like a visionary platform. Photoshop lets us set our creativity free. WHAT MOST INSPIRED YOU WHEN YOU WERE FIRST STARTING OUT WITH PHOTOSHOP? We both started the same way – as architects that felt more fulfilled in design than in single-family house projects. That is why we both started by making small projects for friends or charity organisations. After some time, we even forgot why we were still studying architecture. We found graphic design was just so much more satisfying. During the process of becoming graphic designers we followed the world’s best designers on websites such as Abduzeedo, Saizen Media Agency, Behance. com, and awwwards.com. We still watch with bated breath for updates from the best agencies in the industrial trade magazines. COULD YOU TAKE US THROUGH THE WORKFLOW THAT WENT BEHIND CREATING THE PROJECT FOR MTECH? [We had five days to complete the project] so we had no sleep and desperately attempted to avoid the sunshine! Though really we just wanted to get this done in high quality. We knew that our design was

The polygon rocks were hand drawn lines filled with colour by the Average filter. Colour unification and blending was also used to customise the colour of the polygons.

The light bulb was a challenge. We had to change the ovoid shape of the bulb to the shape of the crystal, insert a raging current in the middle of the bulb, sharpen the retro shadows and create an outer glow effect.

© ag’n’mg

going to decorate an international event in Frankfurt, so failing was not an option. When you know that your job is well done, going to sleep at 7am and waking up at 7pm is not a problem. WHAT WERE THE MAIN PHOTOSHOP TOOLS YOU USED? The most important tools were Gradient Maps. The techniques of lighting elements, glare, and the light and shadow gave depth and highlighted the important elements in the design. We also used Motion Blur and Radial Blur to give the composition dynamics. The only concept was automotive lighting – our imagination was the limit! The steps behind it involved sketching the composition, creating the sky and desert using starter colours, which we did by using Gradient Maps, and adding in the cars – where we added sharper

The lightbulb

shadows and a retro-style light. Then the design was too peaceful, so we decided to expose the light bulb. Unfortunately the light bulb shape is usually ovoid and it disturbed the composition. After a long brainstorm we found some inspiration in nature – the shape of crystals! From a crystal face we finally created our futuristic bulb. We then cut platforms of other elements, like rocks and sky, to unify the composition and to soften the retro style, we used cables and the road. The last stage was making space for wind turbines and planets. COULD YOU GIVE US FIVE OF YOUR TOP TIPS FOR CREATING SURREAL MANIPULATIONS WITH PHOTOSHOP? Crumple a piece of paper, throw it back and admire the composition! If you want to make a piece that is going to be in Advanced Photoshop, you should always remember: 1. Consistent composition – surrealistic style is spacious. Just don’t sail away with your imagination. 2. Compatible colours – mixing Gradient Maps. Unification will make it pleasant for the eye. 3. Natural inspirations – take some of your inspiration from characteristics in nature. It will take the whole design to a new dimension. 4. Details – remember the phrase: the devil is in the details. This is always true in design! 5. Don’t follow the rules – surrealism is all about breaking them. WERE THERE ANY PARTICULAR CHALLENGES YOU NEEDED TO OVERCOME TO BE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT? The lightbulb. It’s supposed to be just a sophisticated reference to what M-Tech is doing as a company. We wanted to make it very subtle but unusual at the

Polygon rocks

same time so we could maintain the unity of the composition. The extraction of curvature in the bulb while maintaining transparency was a challenge. WHAT NEW TOOLS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE APPEAR IN PHOTOSHOP? The Transformation tool. We would like to see a simple and fast version with a utility grid that could have more points and that does not require going to the 3D mode of Photoshop. CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT WHERE YOU AIM TO BE IN THE FUTURE? We want to mature and gain experience to do more and better designs. We would like to expand our agency for world-class by working with international clients. We are active people, so we would be happy to work with sport-related companies.

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EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW

PIXELFLAKES

BLENDING PHOTOSHOP WITH 3D AND PRODUCING WORLDCLASS TECTURAL VISUALISATIONS IS ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FOR ELLREGARDED STUDIO

hen it comes to creating world-class visuals and exceeding the expectations of clients from around the globe, PixelFlakes has it covered. Focusing on architectural-visualisation projects, the studio blends high-quality 3D with Photoshop to bring to life complex designs. The company was originally started by Matthew Reid and Marvin Nooitgedacht, who are partners in the company. “We went through education together in the UK,” explains Reid. “After which, Marvin moved back to the Netherlands and started working in multimedia, while I started a career in architectural visualisation. One day we were catching up and liked the idea of starting a firm that touched on both our specialties – so we did. We started out calling architects whose work we admired – firms like JaJa in Denmark and Aedas over in Hong Kong – and we were lucky enough to get an opportunity to collaborate and create visualisations for them. At the same time, we released some tutorials and free content online which went viral and we received a lot of great feedback from the community.” Since then, the PixelFlakes team has grown, and now includes seven full-time artists and a programmer to work on the multimedia side of things. Their portfolio has expanded too, with architectural clients including Foster and Partners, Perkins and Will, SOM, LDS and UNStudios. The studio continues to attract high-profile commissions thanks to its distinct and unique style, which makes it stand out over other agencies. “Each studio has its own style – just as you have different styles of painting, such as Impressionism or Cubism. It’s no different within visualisation,” says senior artist Pedro Botelho. “Our style sets us apart. Over the years it has [become] recognisable, which in itself is a huge honour. You could say we try and approach our imagery in an emotive and atmospheric way that is unique. We all come from varied disciplines and nationalities, which helps to vary our approach. We have Dutch, Portuguese, Greek, Belgian and English team members in the office and work with artists from Italy and Japan as well.” With its style such a selling point, it is no wonder that the team have some freedom to input ideas on the briefs that they are given, as Botelho explains: “The best images always come from the projects that allow us the greatest freedom. We have been lucky enough to build up a client base who appreciates and trusts our judgement. When a client

018

Our style sets us apart. Over the years it has grown to be recognisable, which in itself is a huge honour

ABOUT THE STUDIO PIXELFLAKES

www.pixelflakes.com @pixelflakes Matthew Reid Visualisation Director, Partner

Pedro Botelho Senior Artist

Marvin Nooitgedacht Managing Director, Partner

All images© PixelFlakes 2014

PixelFlakes is an architectura studio, that specialises in visualising the un-built. It fuses traditional artistic values together with branding and multimedia to bring projects to life.

High-profile projects: The team works on a large number of high-profile projects for architectural clients on a daily basis

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EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW

Unique style: PixelFlakes has a more painterly style than many other studios, which is one thing that attracts clients who want to see their projects visualised in this way

Photoshop: A large proportion of work done by PixelFlakes is completed in Photoshop – it is key to the signature style that they have developed

realises [that] they are commissioning a painting and not just a render, then they treat us like artists as opposed to technicians. They value and respect our opinions as professionals and in turn, use those to get the best work out of us.” Communication is key when it comes to working with its clients to ensure the best results are achieved. “We always discuss the direction of an image, from the initial steps, all the way through to completion,” says Botelho. “Discussion, team work and critique are the backbones of the work we do. During a project we always try and bounce ideas around. For example, all of our computers are connected to two TVs that are mounted on walls

020 4

either side of the office. If ever we’re working and need a second opinion, we project our screens onto them, take a team break and discuss.” Technology is also important in being able to practically bring about high-quality visualisations: “We have the tools and procedures, in both 3D and Photoshop, that allow us to maintain a uniform style and quality across each project. At the end of the day, the images we produce are going to be used in multi-million dollar bids and we have a lot of pressure on our shoulders to deliver. So from a practical sense, the tools we use and the techniques we implement within Photoshop are very important. This is something that constantly evolves as we

discover new software and bring new artists with different skillsets [to the team].” Photoshop is clearly important in the workflow for the PixelFlakes team. In fact, Botelho says that it accounts for about 80 per cent of what they do: “We receive plans or models from the client and work these up in 3D. We render as soon as possible and jump into Photoshop – it’s by far our most powerful piece of software. 3D is an excellent tool, but that technical approach doesn’t compare to an artist’s vision. ‘Photoshop is the best render engine’ is a very common saying within this industry and it’s true!” Alongside Photoshop, 3D’s Max and V-ray/Corona is used on Pixelflake’s powerful PCs to cope with the

NORD MALMØ

THIS IMAGE WAS PART OF A WINNING COMPETITION BID FOR A NEW SCIENCE MARINE CENTRE IN MALMØ, SWEDEN

01

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At this initial stage, the camera angles and lighting conditions are confirmed. Specific photographic references are sent to the client in order to convey the mood and what the intentions of the image will be.

04

02

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We start to texture and place all our foreground elements in Photoshop, keeping everything grouped individually per element. Basic lighting is applied on top of our stack and to each individual object in the image, but at this point, the focus lies on filling the image up.

REɎ2%.$%2Ĉ!.$Ĉ!$*534

We’ll re-render any new geometry updates from our clients and drop them in at the bottom of our stack. That way none of our foreground elements are affected. We then use masks and selections to refine our painted light. Our approach allows us to create atmospheric pieces for our clients without having to step back into 3D to render them.

05

03

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We’ve received back comments from our clients and are tweaking elements accordingly. On top of that, the image will naturally progress, so we’ll spend time refining our initial lighting and adding new elements to bring the image to life. These layers are again grouped in their own part of the PSD, known as the adjusts or lighting groups.

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We’ll round off the image and facilitate any minor client comments. We will then save the images at print ready. A lot of clients print our images out over multiple A0 boards, so the colours need to be calibrated correctly. We always ensure we work at 300dpi and a minimum resolution of 5k.

021

EYE ON DESIGN STUDIO INTERVIEW

volume of rendering. Wacom products are also important, including Intuos tablets, the Wacom Companion and Cintiq screens. The studio is not afraid to try new technology and processes either – which is a bonus in such a fast-moving industry. “We enjoy the work we do and the process involved. We enjoy pushing the boundaries, trying new techniques and exploring new approaches, and we take pride in the work we create and the architects [that] we work with,” says Botelho. “With this comes a relaxed, creative environment where artists are encouraged to express themselves, try new things and most of all, work as a team to produce world-class imagery.” A look at the studio website showcases some of the amazing projects that the team have worked on. It is also very transparent and helpful, with behind-the-scenes videos, tutorials and tips to encourage future architectural visualisation artists. It maintains strong links with the artistic community, via Facebook (www.facebook.com/ pixelflakes), Twitter (@pixelflakes) and Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/pixelflakes), which is something not often seen at this level. There are certainly plenty of projects that catch our eye, but what is a favourite recent commission for the team? “We worked on a high-rise tower competition in Dubai for WATG architects here in

We receive plans or models from the client and work these up in 3D. We render as soon as possible and jump into Photoshop – it’s by far our most powerful piece of software

3D and Photoshop : These striking images are created using Photoshop and 3D, with Photoshop doing the majority of the work

London,” enthuses Botelho. “The concept involved five mixed-use parks suspended vertically in-between three towers. It was an ambitious design that made for some great visuals. The architects also gave us a lot of freedom and trusted our judgment when it came to mood suggestions and camera angles. We had all the ingredients for a perfect set of images.” There are challenges, of course: “I would say a project we did right at the beginning of PixelFlakes for ARUP based in London [was a challenge]”, offers Matthew Reid. “The project was a public space/beach-front development in Australia. I suppose the biggest reason it was a challenge was because we didn’t have any 3D base and we had to montage and matte paint the full visual.” In the spirit of the studio, there is a full breakdown of this project on the website (go to http://PixelFlakes.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MARVIN NOOITGEDACHT

com/behind-the-scenes and look at BeachForeShore) where you can see the challenges for yourself, as well as the resolution, meaning that not only was it a learning experience for the PixelFlakes team, but budding designers can benefit from it too. With such an impressive portfolio, PixelFlakes is sure to attract new clients who want to have their architectural designs turned into masterful works of art, but what about designers who are looking to break into a successful team like this? Is expansion on the cards for the future? “For me, the most important thing is maintaining quality, I’m sure we will expand over the next few years and take on more artists, which will hopefully allow us the opportunity to open another studio, [preferably] somewhere sunny!”, Reid jokes. “However, quality has to remain paramount – quality over quantity. We have a great team at the moment, catering to world-class architects on well renowned projects – so what more could you ask for?”

PARTNER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, MARVIN, TALKS US THROUGH HIS DAY

09:00

MORNING MEETING

Everyone arrives and we start with a morning meeting. We hold a short post-mortem on the previous weeks’ visualisations or completed projects. After this, we talk through new project information, start to allocate projects between artists and discuss our approach.

022 040

11:00

HARD AT WORK

At this point we have imported and received [the] geometry, and [also] set up some of our initial camera angles in 3D. Each artist is in charge of one image, so now we’ll bounce ideas off each other and tweak accordingly before rendering out a basic image without materials.

13:00

PHOTO REFERENCES

After lunch we’ll have received some feedback on camera angles, so will start to tweak accordingly. Each artist will also start browsing online for lighting references and pictures that we can use to convey [our intentions to our clients]. We generally send through different photos to [demonstrate the] lighting and skies.

Art and architecture: These images are primarily designed to sell a concept. However, the designs are works of art in their own right

When a client realises they are commissioning a painting and not just a render, then they treat us like artists as opposed to technicians

TOP 5 PRODUCTION TIPS

Matthew Reid unveils his top theory and tool tips

■ REFERENCES Ensure you collate as many references as possible for all aspects of your image, especially the lighting. How dark are the shadows? How reflective is aluminium in an overcast scene? References will help with initial direction. ■ COLOR DODGE LAYERS Fill a layer with black and change the blending mode to Color Dodge,. Then paint in highlights and glows on new layers applied as clipping masks throughout your images. ■ PHOTOGRAPHY Photography is one of the most useful skills a visualiser can develop. A keen eye for lighting, composition and perspective are all learnt through this medium. ■ SMART OBJECTS A lifesaver if you have to distort textures into awkward positions and update them later. Make a grid, convert it to a Smart Object and then edit. You can easily swap out new textures or patterns for old ones. Pull together: Teamwork and communication are important to the team when it comes to bringing clients’ designs to life

All images: © PixelFlakes 2014

■ HUE LAYERS Fill a hue layer with black and place it at the top of the layer stack. This will show you a greyscale image – the lighter the object the further away from the camera it should be, the darker the object the closer.

15:00

SEEING CLIENTS

Monday afternoons generally consist of meetings with clients. Being located in London allows us to quickly travel between them. As directors, Matt and I will generally handle these and coordinate with clients before handing over to Pedro, one of our team leaders.

17:00

FINAL CATCH UP

Time for an afternoon roundup. The team meets again for a quick coffee and a discussion on the images. Communication is key to a successful image, [so] meeting allows us to bounce ideas [off each other] and resolve issues.

18:00

END OF DAY

We’ll be wrapping up the day, heading home or enjoying a few beers on the building’s rooftop bar ready for a full day of work in Photoshop tomorrow!

023

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026

PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS TECHNIQUES

PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR

SELECTIONS LEARN HOW TO SELECT WITH EASE, AS OUR EXPERTS GIVE THEIR ADVICE ON THE BEST SELECTION TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO USE IN PHOTOSHOP

N

o matter what kind of Photoshop images you create, the likelihood is that you’ll need to use Selection tools, and use them well. But as Photoshop has evolved, so have its tools for choosing, cutting out and applying image elements. We’re now faced with a plethora of options for working with selections, and

although these offer much greater precision than was previously possible, the sheer number of options can lead to confusion as to which is the best tool for a particular job. To solve this dilemma, we’ve rounded up some of the industry’s leading experts across a wide range of imaging disciplines to explain how they use Photoshop’s Selection tools and share

their tips, tricks and hacks for getting the most from them. Whether you’re a digital painter, illustrator, compositor or photo editor, read on to discover how you can use Marquees, Lassos, Masks, the Magic Wand and the Pen tool to increase your precision when cutting out, speed up your workflow and enhance your images.

CONTRIBUTORS ANDY POTTS

JOHN ROSS

!.$9˶0/443#/Andy Potts is a London-based illustrator and motion designer. He has worked in illustration, design, animation and art direction since graduating in 1995.

7774(%!24/&2%4/5#().'#/John Ross founded The Art of Retouching and has been working in photography, retouching and graphic design for over 20 years.

ROLF A. JENSEN

WWW.ROLFJENSEN.NO Rolf A. Jensen is an international award-winning art director, designer and co-founder of design agency Good Morning.

MILTON MENEZES

DAVID PADILLA

777,)'(4&!2-"2!3),#/Milton Menezes is the director of creative retouching at Lightfarm Brazil. He previously worked at Lightfarm’s New Zealand studio.

$!6)$0!$),,!",/'%3 David Padilla is an artist from Spain who specialises in photo-based compositions. He primarily works in advertising.

027

TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS

Making magic: The background is a matte painting, with the wood nymph shot in the studio and added later, along with some VFX tweaks like the tail, fur and flowers in her hair

COMBINING WORLDS Blending the spectacular vision of Geirangerfjord with Norwegian folklore was a real challenge of selections for Rolf A. Jensen

Short cuts: Jensen (www.rolfjensen.no) explains that, “besides using the shortcuts between Selection tools, moving tools, the Eyedropper tool and masking,” he couldn’t live without “Cmd/Ctrl+backspace to fill a layer, and Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+[ to send layer to the bottom of the stack.”

Flexibility is key: Jensen uses a wide variety of selection tools to create the precise selections that his style of work requires to look effective

Hair dye: To solve the problem of the wood nymph, Jensen made a selection using Color Range, applied Refine Edges and then adjusted the brightness to the tips of the hair

Hair cuts: “Cutting out hair on studio models, to use them on backgrounds and matte paintings that have a totally different colour, is often a problem, and this requires parts of the hair to be repainted,” explains Jensen and part-time collaborator Mahdis Mousavi

More short cuts: It wasn’t necessary for this image, but Jensen says the other keys that are “starting to get worn out on my keyboard are Cmd/Ctrl+P and Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy and paste layer styles.”

© Rolf A. Jensen

028

to go [straight] into Quick Mask. By using a small brush, I will trace along the perimeter of the areas that I want. I can then fill in the interior with the Paint Bucket, Magic Wand and Edit>Fill, or just paint with the brush. When I exit Quick Mask, I have a manually created selection that I can apply to my adjustment layers as a Layer Mask. When we remove the creative elements using Photoshop, [it’s all about] repetition – I will use Curves and Selective Color over and over again. The difference in using each tool is being able to target specific elements by using selections. This makes the results of the repeated adjustment layers [noticeably] different each time they are applied.”

© John Ross

TARGET YOUR SELECTIONS How you make selections depends on what sort of work you are doing. John Ross (www. theartofretouching.com) often has shots with similar lighting or locations to work on, and having a standard approach to how he tackles them speeds things up. “Every image that crosses my desk uses Select>Color Range for general selecting,” he explains, “and Select>Edit in Quick Mask for refinement. I have two basic ways to make any of my selections. When I have larger areas of common colour, I will use Color Range to make selections easy, although not perfect. I can then go into Quick Mask to fine tune the areas I want to include or exclude. The other way I create manual selections is

SCANNED SELECTIONS

© Lightfarm Studios

ANDY POTTS EXPLAINS HIS METHOD &/2ď$%!,).'ď7)4(ď3#!..%$˶).ď HAND DRAWINGS

THE HOLY GRAIL OF HAIR For Milton Menezes, director of Brazil’s Lightfarm Studios, Paths are the best option for general selection requirements. “Depending on resolution, I can also use [the] Lasso tool or even [the] Magic Wand – whatever looks good for the size [that] you need. [However], let’s talk about what really matters – hair! If you know how to clear-cut flying hair out of a messy background, then you know everything about selections. For hair selection – the nightmare [for] Photoshop users – I mainly have three methods to clear-cut: Channels or Calculations for the main selection, brush strokes on a Quick Mask or a layer for tiny hair and fur, and Path strokes to get those

long hair lines that are too hard to get from brush strokes. I had issues with this mermaid image [called] Harmful Nature. As we shot underwater, the hair had motion blur and too much noise to use a simple Channel selection or blend modes. So I mixed three techniques I love to work with – there is no easy way [to do it]. Hair is hard, it takes time and patience, although there are shorter or more effective ways of doing it. You’ll need to go step by step. Think big to small. You won’t get everything at once. Get the head, main hair mass, a little brush stroking hair and path strokes with simulating pressure for precise selection with thick hair and smooth tiny endings.”

01

LEVEL THINGS UP

Illustrator Andy Potts (http:// andy-potts.com) likes to use plenty of sketching in his digital work. Once he has scanned in his image, the first step is to “use Levels to boost the contrast of the scanned in drawing so [that] the black line is strong against the white.”

02

FEEL FUZZY

© Rolf A. Jensen

“Use Select/Color Range, and set the Fuzziness to 200 to select the opposite colour to the one you need. Inverse the selection to select the black – this way you pick up more of the fine edges. Use Cmd/Ctrl+J to cut the black line selection on to a new layer above.”

DISCOVER FOCUS AREA IN CC “We mostly use selections while working with matte paintings and photo retouching,” explain Rolf A. Jensen and Mahdis Mousavi. “A new and interesting selection tool that caught our eye recently is Focus Area, a new tool in Photoshop CC (it’s a part of the 2014 Creative Cloud updates). “With Focus Area, we can now make selections based on the in-focus area of an image. In other

words, if we have an image where we need to isolate a person or subject from the background, and that person or subject happens to be in focus inside the depth of field while the background is out of focus or blurry; Photoshop can now analyse the image, figure out what’s in focus and what’s not, and make a selection of just the area that we need [to use].”

03

AS IF BY MAGIC

“Fill the scanned black line with 100% black to make it more solid. You can now fill the hand by using the Magic Wand to select outside the line and then invert that selection to have a hand-shaped space to fill with colour.”

029

TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS UPDATE YOUR WORKFLOW

© John Ross

“During college I enjoyed traditional airbrushing,” says John Ross. “[My] use of frisket masking was frequent and became second nature. My first job, and many after, was in pre-press working with film. Early on, I was being shown how to paint with a brush onto the film to stop the light, and [how to] scratch it away to let the light through when we burned the plates for the presses. The basic principal in both situations was the same. When it came to Photoshop, the defaults tried to mimic what was happening in the darkroom, but this always led to confusion in the digital medium. Somewhere between the darkroom and the computer screen, it stopped working as well

as it once did. This just took me back to simple tools like the Magic Wand and the Lasso” – tools that Ross still uses today. After all just because something is simple, doesn’t mean it’s not the best tool for the job. However, “by default,” says Ross, “Photoshop tries to match how things were done in the darkroom, [and] this often leads to confusion. By using a more updated workflow, you may find that your masks and selections greatly increase in their simplicity and accuracy.” Therefore the lesson is to think for yourself, not to use tools or methods because they’re the expected ones, but to pick the ways and means that are right for you and your work.

SELECTION IN PRACTICE In this image Milton Menezes (Lightfarm Studios) had to contend with the fact that the model had been shot underwater. This meant that there was too much movement and motion blur for a

simple Channel selection. Here you can see the work he did with brushes and the Path Selection, painstakingly teasing each strand of hair out of the water that surrounds it.

© Lightfarm Studios

On Hunger White, Menezes also had the challenge of hair. He used Path Selection to pick out the model and you can see here the work done to pick each strand out. Once the model is composited into the background – and with the addition of a mouse on her shoulder – the effect is impressive. Note the strands of hair around her face, and the light on her shoulders. © Andy Potts

In this cover illustration for BBC Focus on ‘How to Travel Faster Than Light’, Potts had to take care to “pick out subtle edged light selections from photographs to layer up.” While realism isn’t the goal, everything needs to fit and sit perfectly, and it can’t do that unless the elements are perfectly selected and cut out. Here he used Color Range again, because it’s “one of the best methods to pick out a soft edged image with accuracy and not have grainy pixillated edges.”

030

Hair is not the only thing that’s tricky to select and place effectively. Andy Potts’ brief in this image was “to create a futuristic London setting with huge number-shaped architecture dominating the horizon. This required a lot of photo

compositing of London and international architecture using the Color Range selection technique among others. The numbers selections were used to paste [into] the building facade textures before being manipulated to fit.”

FIND THE RIGHT CHANNEL using Add or Difference and then playing with the settings, you might be able to get a better selection than [if you used just] one Channel.” Depending on your image and what you want to select from it, blend modes are another good option. “Blend modes are the standard and helpful way to

easily get clear-cuts without having to actually cut anything,” explains Menezes. “Depending on the background you can use Screen or Multiply to get really fast selections with good results. By using Curves and Hue/Saturation you can balance the selection according to the background.”

© Lightfarm Studios

“Calculations are great for a more complex Channel selection,” says Milton Menezes. “Instead of getting the information you need out of one RGB channel only, you can mix or intersect the selection from two channels. Let’s say the best channels to clear-cut are green and blue for your specific selection. By mostly

QUICK FIXES OR THE PEN TOOL?

PULL IT APART Andy Potts’ style mixes a range of different elements, so being able to select and control them precisely is of paramount importance

Path creation: With the Path created, Potts will “adjust the anchor points to get more accuracy. I then Cmd/Ctrl+click the Path layer to create the selection”

High contrast: When Potts works with high-contrast images, then the Color Range option can be useful

Easy options: Like most professional Photoshop users, Potts says he uses “keyboard shortcuts where possible”

© Andy Potts

Collage crazy: Potts finds that using a variety of techniques together can speed up workflow

© Microsoft, Rolf A Jensen

Lasso: “If the Lasso tool is too crude for a particularly elaborate or very curvy shape then I will create a Path,” says Potts

To make a section with absolute precision, Jensen and Mousavi reach for the Quick Selection tool. “The Quick Selection tool was first introduced in Photoshop CS3. It quickly became a favourite, thanks to its combination of the Magic Wand and [how easy the paintbrush is to use]. This tool is unlike other selection tools, [as] it selects not just colours but also textures. However, if you really need to select an object that is merged with a detailed background, the Pen tool is still the best way to go. Combining that with Refine Edges to make the cut-out smooth is always best.” Should they need to brush out water or something soft, then they’ll often use the “Quick Mask (Q) and just paint it out quickly with [a] tablet, but it really comes down to what the landscape in the original photography looks like and how it should be handled.”

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TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW a selection out with the Pen tool, which Padilla thinks is the “most efficient” method to follow. “I would advise [using] the Refine Edge tool after the selection with the Pen tool is made, [so that you achieve an accurate finish]. Parameters like Smooth are very useful to [neaten] the final workmanship. [The] Lasso tool and Magnetic Lasso tool are helpful when [making] a quick selection, but they are not [as] precise as the [Refine Edge or Pen tools]. [I also use] the Rectangular Marquee tool for selecting part of the elements [that] I want to move.”

© John Ross

“For images that contain hair,” says David Padilla (http://davidpadillablog.es), “one easy [way] to cut is using the Refine Edge tool. Use the Quick Selection tool to select all the hair you want to cut, [it] doesn’t matter if you let part of the hair out of the selection. The next step is to use Refine Edge in order to add the parts of the hair you didn’t select, and using the Refine Radius tool and Smart Radius, you [can] paint the hair areas [that] you are interested in.” You can also use the Refine Edge tool after cutting

NATURAL SELECTIONS

© David Padilla

“As [many] of the colour or tonal changes I make are subtle,” says retoucher John Ross, “loose masks are fine using [the] Quick Mask and a soft brush – Photoshop can be very forgiving. For studio portraits shot against white or grey, I can easily replace the background with whatever [colour] I want. With Color Range and Quick Mask, I can make fast but accurate silhouettes around the subject. Sometimes I will replace with solid white, [whereas] other times it could be a standard backdrop across a group of images. [I usually face problems] during natural settings – [when] the background’s exposure is shifting the wrong way – [or when the person is extracted completely and the background is replaced]. For skin and clothing, a tight mask using a small brush with Quick Mask is the most accurate [method]. When it comes to natural selection of the hair, nothing is easy. I will do as much as I can with Quick Mask, but will often use Refine Mask to try and ease the transitions.”

QUICK MASK AND COLOR RANGE

JOHN ROSS EXPLAINS HOW HE CREATES ACCURATE MASKS AND SELECTIONS

01

CHANGE THE BASIC SETTINGS

“Double-click on the Quick Mask icon below the colours in the Tools palette. This will open up the Quick Mask preferences. Change Color Indicates to Selected Areas and the Opacity to 100%. When you click OK, you will be brought into the Quick Mask mode. Push the Quick Mask icon one more time to return to normal Photoshop.”

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02

LIMIT THE SELECTABLE AREA

“From the top menu, select Edit>Color Range and change the settings to Sampled Colors, [the] Fuzziness to 40 and select a preview of Quick Mask. When you push OK, you will have your mask turned into a selection. To further target a specific area, start by using the Lasso [tool] to make a loose selection and then Color Range to create the mask. This will limit the selectable area, allowing for more targeted final selections.”

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TACKLE IMPERFECTIONS

“After making a selection with Color Range, [select] Edit>Expand 4 and then Edit>Feather 4 [to] fill in smaller pinholes and soften the hard edges. Push the Quick Mask icon and manually edit the mask using the Paint Brush tool. Black will add to the mask and white will remove from it. Finish by pushing the Quick Mask icon once again, and you can apply your mask to [your] adjustment layer of choice.”

PEN TOOL POINTERS “Selections are vital for any composition made using different images,” says David Padilla. In the example of Interstellar, the background was added to the shot of the spaceman and his ship. “It’s very important to make good use of the Crop tools in order to perform outstanding workmanship. I use different kinds of tools depending on what I need to cut. On [the] one hand, the Pen tool is the most efficient tool to make a good selection, because its anchor points allow you to draw curves, so the cut is much more precise. On the other hand I use the Polygonal Lasso for smaller areas. The Magic Wand tool is [also] useful, but the finished cut is not that accurate. The selection process I use tends to be very slow because the work is composed [from] different images and each one needs to be cut in a different way. In every project, the cuts must be made as accurately as possible in order to improve its integration with all the other elements. [Projects where the elements are too small to cut easily are the most difficult], like the hair or other small details of the image. For that reason, it’s advisable to use the correct zoom and try to cut in an accurate way.” It might take a long time, but ultimately, cutting out everything by hand can give great results, as Interstellar demonstrates.

Limit the selectable area: “From the top menu, select Edit>Color Range and change the settings to Sampled Colors, [the] Fuzziness to 40, and a preview of Quick Mask. When you push OK, [your mask will be] a selection. To further target a specific area, start by using the Lasso to make a loose selection and then Color Range to create the mask. This will limit the selectable area, allowing for more targeted final selections.”

Change the basic settings: “Double-click on the Quick Mask icon below the colours in the Tools palette. This will open up the Quick Mask preferences. Change [the] Color Indicates to Selected Areas and the Opacity to 100%. When you click OK, you will be brought into the Quick Mask mode. Push the Quick Mask icon to return to normal Photoshop.”

Tackle imperfections: “After making a selection with Color Range, using Edit>Expand 4 and then Edit>Feather 4, will fill in smaller pinholes and soften the hard edges. Push the Quick Mask icon and manually edit the mask using the Paint Brush tool. Black will add to the mask and white will remove from it. Finish by pushing the Quick Mask icon again, and [then you will be able to] apply your mask to the adjustment layer of choice.”

© John Ross

© Andy Potts

BACK TO THE LASSO “Selections are essential to the creative process in Photoshop,” says Andy Potts. “My style relies on collaging from various photographs, so I need to be able to select what I need quickly and effectively. My first port of call is usually the Lasso tool. I use a mouse rather than a Wacom to select shapes using the Opt/Alt+click method, [which I find the] easiest way. I also use Paths to create smoother lines where lots of curves are involved. Another method I employ regularly is Color Range, to select a particular colour or tone from a monochrome image. The Magic Wand is [also] perfect for selecting larger areas of block colour. I’ll [often] use a combination of techniques to speed up [my] workflow. If the Magic Wand can wipe out a lot of background quickly, then I’ll use that before going in to [more detail] with the Lasso tool.”

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© Andy Potts

TECHNIQUES PROFESSIONAL TIPS FOR SELECTIONS

©Disney/Watson. Rolf A. Jensen

© Andy Potts

REUSE YOUR SELECTIONS Most Photoshop pros stress the benefits of the Pen tool above all others. It is hard to get to grips with using, but you can create beautiful curves, you have complete control, and it’s totally editable. However, surely the best bit is that you can save your selections as Paths, even in flattened files. A little like Mac versus PC, the anti-Pen tool tribe are utterly mystified by the devotion of Pen tool fans. They would claim that using a vector tool in a raster file has decided disadvantages and that you end with hazing and lack of control around the edges. Of course, the pro-Pen tool group would say you can simply clean that up if you need to and that being able

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to save selections – even in a flattened file – trumps everything. It means that designs can be shared in compact JPEGS – which is helpful in something like product design, where lots of people need to work on similar images. It also means that if you create a Path in a low-res version of an image (perhaps for the web) and later have to make the same selection in a high-res version, then the work is already done for you. You can simply scale up your selection, make any edits that you need to and your job is done – vector to the rescue. So if there is a chance that you might need to re-use your selections, then the Pen tool to Path option is probably for you.

CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON Like most Photoshop experts, Andy Potts uses the full range of selection options, and knowing which tool to reach for in any given circumstance is something that comes with experience. This image, American Werewolf in London, was Andy Potts’ entry for last year’s Serco Prize for Illustration. The theme was London Stories, so he decided to work up a piece inspired by one of his favourite films, An American Werewolf in London. “This was a combination of drawn and photo-sourced imagery which used all of my selection tricks,” says Potts, who used the Magic Wand tool to select the iconic red London bus. The Magic Wand used to be the tool that marked you out as a amateur, but recent improvements – most notably Refine Edges – have given it much more power. Potts says, “To select dominant colours in a photo, such as the red in the London bus, I’ll sometimes use the Magic Wand for speed and then Modify/Grow the selection to pick out any extra pixels.”

PREP THE SCENE An illustration of the London skyline for RIBA gave Andy Potts a lot of fine selection work to tackle. His experience has taught him that choosing the right tools and lots of keyboard shortcuts is the best way to make a selection. He explains: “The image is a digital collage put together from photographs of iconic London architecture. To select the buildings I would make the photograph black and white and boost the Levels to get a high contrast image with clearer selectable areas. I then use Select/Color Range to select the black or the white in the image (with the Fuzziness set to 200), [before cutting] that selection to a new layer to begin editing it into the collage. If the building needed to be cut out of a busy scene rather than against a cleaner sky backdrop, then I would use the Lasso tool to Opt/ Alt+click around the various edges.”

COLOUR ME SIMPLE

© Lightfarm Studios

“Sometimes there is a colour in multiple areas at the same time, like green trees and grass,” explains John Ross. “If I only want one of them, I will use the Lasso Tool to make a very loose selection around the area [that] I want to keep. Then I can use Color Range to refine the target selection. Basically, the Lasso limits the Color Range’s selectable areas. After using Color Range, the edges can be a bit jagged, [may] not reach the edges completely, or it may even leave little pinholes. [So] to get around these problems, I created a simple Action that applies Select>Modify>Expand of 4 pixels and then Select>Modify>Feather of 4 pixels, which I then attached to an F-key. This will make the selection a little bigger and a little softer. It [is] not usually noticeable, but [it] corrects minor imperfections that Color Range often leaves behind.”

© John Ross

INVENT YOUR OWN If your selection needs are mounting and you want to make more edits in less time, then it’s no good relying on the existing tools and the shortcuts that Photoshop already contains. Instead, you’ll need to start coming up with more personalised ways of approaching things, especially for those jobs you’re going to find yourself doing again and again. Milton Menezes explains that “Cmd/Ctrl+Enter is useful to get a selection out of a path and Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/ Alt+Key is great when you want to apply the same adjustment to a layer. For example, press Cmd/ Ctrl+Opt/Alt+M to use the same curves again on a different layer, or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+F to fade adjustments. I also like to set shortcuts for contrast,

add expand and feather to selections which helps to speed up workflow, and I always use Cmd/Ctrl+S – Photoshop is not 100% reliable.” However, he is determined to go further than just personalising Photoshop and has been working to find his own approach to selection that will give him both accuracy and speed. “Searching for a way to clear cut with [great] precision,” Menezes says he’s started using Path Selection in a more detailed way, “by using brush settings and simulating pressure out of the stroke path. It’s not as slow as brush stroke selection would lead you to believe and it’s 100 percent editable and [as] precise as you would expect.”

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COVER DESIGN COMPETITION 2014 A LOOK AT THE BEST ENTRIES FROM THIS S COVER DESIGN COMPETITION

e have had a fantastic response to this year’s cover design competition. Back in issue 127 we challenged you to come up with a design for the cover of Advanced Photoshop, with the victor winning a paid commission to talk us through their artwork in an Advanced Photoshop tutorial. The quality of your work didn’t disappoint us, and after picking through hundreds of entries, we’ve finally whittled down these amazing designs to choose a winner.

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CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP COMPETITION

A really energetic image that’s full of joy and fun

You Can’t Stop the Music: The image was built using a combination of Maya, Mental Ray and Photoshop, to effectively create a stunning composite of photos and 3D

Rebekka Hearl, Designer

YOU CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC!

MAHMOUD EL ZAHAR WWW.MELZAHAR.COM CGI AND DIGITAL ARTIST

It took ten hours, over the course of a week, for Mahmoud El Zahar to create this image. Combining Maya, Mental Ray and Photoshop CC for matte painting, retouching and rendering, he built up the image as a composite. It started fairly simply: “I was asked to create an artwork with the stock image of the model. “The first thing that came into my head was music – inspired by her movement. Then I started imagining the environment around her,” he explains. Building up the image required a lot of compositing trickery, which El Zahar thinks is essential to creating a great image in Photoshop. Having been using Photoshop for six years and working primarily in digital art and photomanipulation, for him, the most important things that everyone should learn in order to create better images are: “Accurate masking with the Pen tool or using Channels, and warping, liquefying and Puppet Warping for compositing.”

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COMPETITION CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP

This denotes something highly traditional, but gives it edge – literally! The intriguing composition makes it interesting to look at Siobhan Maguire, Production Editor

Race Horse Low Poly: Low-poly vectors, the Pen tool and the Color Picker were used for this image

RACE HORSE LOWPOLY

STEVE BERRINGTON QUANTITY SURVEYOR !.$ď0!24˶4)-%ď FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Low-poly’s a popular trend at the moment (Advanced Photoshop did a tutorial on it in issue 127) and this example from Steven Berrington took him about 11 hours to complete. Having been using Photoshop for seven years, Berrington is very familiar with the program and the amount of art styles that can be created with it – which is something he embraces. When asked what his favourite style to work in is, he replies, “Anything really, I like to challenge myself in different areas of art and styles.” For this image he worked across Illustrator CC and Photoshop CC, using “low-poly vectors, the Pen tool [and the] Color Picker” to create this low-poly racehorse. “I had tried a few low-poly images but wanted to push a bit further and add more details,” Berrington explains. His advice for other Photoshop artists is simple: “Practice, practice and practice. Follow all the tutorials you can.”

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A fantastic sci-fi themed project with a great sense of depth and tones. Each individual element in the composition works well together to create an epic scene. The little details haven’t been forgotten about, and the lighting effects really draw your attention to the main focus of the image Amy Squibb, Editor in Chief

We Are Not Alone: Xerri used basic techniques and tools for this image including the Brush tool, and masking and blending modes

WE ARE NOT ALONE

JOSEPH XERRI WWW.BEHANCE.NET/ JOSEPHXERRI GRAPHIC DESIGNER AT BETSAFE.COM With 19 hours of work put into it, We Are Not Alone was a pretty mammoth project for graphic designer Joseph Xerri. However, part of the reason this digitally painted photomanipulation took so long, is because Xerri abandoned some of Photoshop’s more advanced functions, to concentrate on the fundamentals. “I mainly used basic techniques and tools, including the Brush tool, masking and blending modes,” he explains. “I love creating non-realistic and epic photomanipulations [with a] composition that makes the viewer think that they are real.” This particular style is relatively new in Xerri’s repertoire: “I have been exploring new techniques and tools in Photoshop for around four years now, but creating photomanipulations for the last nine months,” he says. So what’s his advice for other artists? “I recommend Photoshop users to always keep their work organised and make use of adjustment layers such as Selective Color and Curves,” he says.

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COMPETITION CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP

A great demonstration of what a bit of clever photography and Photoshop work can achieve April Madden, Editor

Checking My Brain: This image took just 25 minutes to create in Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 4

CHECKING MY BRAIN

ACHRAF BAZNANI WWW.BAZNANI.COM ARTIST/PHOTOGRAPHER Self-taught artist, Achraf Baznani, began using Photoshop 5.0 in 1998. This image, which he based on self-portraits and that he photographed himself, took him just 25 minutes to complete in Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 4. “The important thing [to me] is to make a picture almost perfect in record time,” he explains. Baznani’s favourite style to work in is surreal, “because we need a break from reality. Surrealism takes us from the real world into a dreaming one. We can recreate and share our dreams or surrealist ideas in real life through photography.” So what’s his advice for other artists? “It’s never easy to succeed and sustain going professional and freelance in the beginning. [Remember] that the knowledge and skills you have will not be taken away from you by anyone. It is a treasure that you will [have forever]. I never give up, no matter how hard it is. If you love something, just don’t stop trying.”

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Great use of colour and creativity. I really like the ‘in-production’ feel of the artwork and the overall tones Duncan Crook, Senior Art Editor

The Pioneers: The image was created using a selection of brushes controlled by a Wacom Intuos 5, and the Pen tool

THE PIONEERS

ILIAS CONSTANTINE PATLIS HTTP://ILIASPATLIS.COM GAME ARTIST FOR CANDY CRUSH SAGA AND KING.COM Ilias Patlis has been using Photoshop since 2004 and in those ten years he has learnt a few tricks. “Flip your Canvas horizontally every now and then to avoid everything looking all crazy and wonky further down the road. There’s nothing more fun then having to re-draw that face you liked because the eyes aren’t level. Discover it early on and fix it!” In fact, Patlis had a moment somewhat like this when we contacted him about publishing The Pioneers in Advanced Photoshop: “I actually lost the original file when my hard drive crashed, so unfortunately, I had to paint it twice. So now I would say [it took] about 20 hours in total,” he explains. Painted with a selection of brushes controlled with a Wacom Intuos 5, plus “the Pen tool for the abstract stuff”, the inspiration behind this image was “my daughter. She loves ruining/improving my art! She made me remember why I started drawing in the first place – for fun. No deadlines, no rules.”

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COMPETITION CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP

A very cinematic image that looks like a scene from a videogame. I wish it was, I’d like to explore this odd little steampunk outpost in the middle of nowhere April Madden, Editor

Post Office On The Distant Land: A simple model became a matte painting using custom brushes

POST OFFICE ON THE DISTANT LAND

MAX MITENKOV, AKA VIMARK WWW.BEHANCE.NET/VIMARK FREELANCER

“I took a few photos of the swampy areas in Belarus. Almost immediately, I came up with the idea of the post,” says Max Mitenkov (also known as vimark) about the inspiration behind this piece. “In such places it is hard to deliver mail.” Basing the backdrop to this image on his photos, “I used a simple model in SketchUp and then matte painting [techniques] with custom brushes” to build up the scene. It took quite a bit of time – “to create this image, I spent five days [working on it] for two-three hours a day,” he explains. Mitenkov’s preferred genre to work in is surrealism, while his favourite techniques all tend to come under the matte painting umbrella. An image like this allows him to combine both interests.

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Nice futuristic feel, bright and complex. The use of a limited colour palette helps focus the artwork Duncan Crook, Senior Art Editor

Neon: All of the lines were created using the Pen tool in Illustrator, and then given a glow using Color Dodge in Photoshop

NEON

JAMES GODDEN JAMESGODDENDESIGN.COM GRAPHIC DESIGNER AT WHITEHYPE STUDIO “I don’t really have a favourite kind of image to create. As long as the end result looks cool then I’m happy,” says graphic designer James Godden, who has been using Photoshop for “about ten years”. For this image, titled Neon, “the initial inspiration came from a set of sports fashion graphics, pioneered by Whitehype director Chris Whitehorn (www. whitehype.co.uk), where sports-people were defined using neon lines. “I thought that it would be cool to integrate this line work with photographic elements,” he explains. “I created all of the lines using the Pen tool in Illustrator. I then exported the file as a PSD to Photoshop, and used Color Dodge groups to add glows to the lines. The distressing of the model was done using layer masks and cloning. The blue nebula effect was achieved by adding stock images on a Screen blend mode.” The whole process took Godden around five hours to complete. “Always strive to learn new techniques and practices,” he advises.

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COMPETITION CREATE THE COVER OF ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP

Rebirth: This image was created using Photoshop CC combined with a Wacom Cintiq Companion

I was immediately drawn to this image – the use of colour and light is enchanting. It has a fantastical, fairy-tale feel to it Siobhan Maguire, Production Editor

REBIRTH

PAUL OWEN WWW.BEHANCE.NET/ PAULDOWEN IT PROFESSIONAL “I have been a lifelong science-fiction fan and that represents the majority of my inspiration,” says Paul Owen, who has been using Photoshop for four years to create sci-fi and fantasy imagery. As a long-term fan of Frank Herbert, Philip K Dick and Marvel Comics, Owen’s explains that his career has also inspired him: “my background in IT and as a chemist also adds a dimension to my preference to create abstract and science fiction or fantasy images.” For this image, he used Photoshop CC with a Wacom Cintiq Companion, and the whole process took around four hours to complete. Owen’s idea came from “watching the ESA comet landing, [which] inspired me because the scientist in me was intrigued. We could all be made of the same material as the stars, and the comet is all about looking for the very building blocks of life. As a former chemist, I have always loved considering these kinds of questions. This piece illustrates how I feel [that] we as human beings are made of the same intrinsic materials as the universe.”

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We Are Nature: This image was first drawn in graphite before being shaded in line by line with a Wacom Bamboo tablet

Superb draughtsmanship and a great mixed media technique that combines traditional pencil drawing and Photoshop Rebekka Hearl, Designer

WE ARE NATURE

DAVID MEDRANO ARTISTRX.COM FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER AND ILLUSTRATOR

“I didn’t really keep track of time while creating this piece. However, if I had to guess, I would say [it took] at least seven hours,” says David Medrano. He’s been using Photoshop for nine years to create “iconic, striking imagery. My work is often a melting pot of symbolism, strong characters, and [presents] an ultimate statement.” However, Photoshop isn’t the only tool in Medrano’s workflow: “This image was first drawn traditionally with graphite. Once scanned, I used a Wacom Bamboo tablet to shade it in line-by-line, in a woodcut fashion. This piece is a commentary about the old ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’ idiom. The title and overall image makes a statement about how we are born from, live with, and eventually return to nature as our body is buried in earth. Therefore, in the grand scheme of things, we are nature,” he explains of his inspiration behind the piece. You can find out about how We Are Nature was created by watching Medrano’s process video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMQxpwG13Nc.

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N O I T I T E P COM

! R E N WIN

MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION TECHNIQUES

MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION

CREATE AN EYECATCHING IMAGE USING STRIKING MOOD, COLOUR COMBINATION AND WELLDEFINED DETAIL

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t FlyingArchitecture, our job is to create images of different projects, while trying to recognise our client’s ideas and give our expert guidance and knowledge to achieve the best result possible. For this project we worked with Xuberance (www.xuberance.org), the design team behind the eVolo skyscraper competition. We usually start with a general vision of what the image should represent. It’s important to not limit your imagination and try to experiment with different ideas. More options gives you more flexibility. You can find inspiration everywhere (books, paintings, photographs or music for example), and don’t forget, that it’s a creative process initially. After some research and discussion, we can start working on the

image. To do this, you’ll need to master basic rules for composition, colours and how to add more depth and detail using 2D assets. Creating complex images like this is always a bit challenging. Try to break it up into smaller parts like background, foreground, foliage and people. This way you have better control over every part of the image. Be careful though, as it’s important to preserve the connection between all of the aspects, so that it works as one coherent piece. Prepare all your reference pictures and assets so that you are ready. Don’t try to adjust them when they’re not fitting properly – save your energy. Photoshop is a powerful tool, but spend 15 more minutes finding better photos with the proper lighting and angles, and you will achieve better results. Let’s get started!

FROM 3D TO PHOTOSHOP

OUR EXPERT ŠTEFAN TURCOVSKÝ

flyingarchitecture.com @flying_archi

I’m a 25-year-old CGI artist from Slovakia. I am currently working at FlyingArchitecture Studio, where we offer professional 2D and 3D assets and tutorials for Rhinoceros, V-ray and Photoshop.

SOURCE FILES Organise your workflow with the supplied layer structure PSD and you’ll find it easier to manage hundreds of layers without losing track of your edits.

WORK IN PROGRESS

FROM RAW RENDER TO FINAL PIECE

PREPARE YOUR PSD FILE BEFORE YOU START WORKING ON POST PRODUCTION

01

RENDER THE OUTPUT FORMAT

We start by importing our V-Ray render channels into Photoshop. Always remember to save up the highest possible quality of render channels. These are not JPGs or PNGs. We are talking about their bit depth: 32-bit HDR floating format. To import these files into Photoshop, go to File>Scripts>Load files into stack. Then click Browse, locate all the render channels you saved and click Open. Back in the small pop-up window, click OK. Their quality won’t suffer from using multiple adjustment layers in Photoshop.

02

ORGANISE YOUR PSD FILE

You can’t fully utilise the variety of adjustments in 32-bit mode. After importing all render channels, go to Image>Mode>16 Bits/ Channel. Now you should organise your PSD layer structure. Sometimes, there are hundreds of layers and it can be uncomfortable to work on. We have to give credit to Adam Hotovy (CGI artist, Corona Renderer development team) who inspired us with this organised layer system a few years ago.

Progress 1: The raw render

Progress 2: Adjusting the

mood of the image

Progress 3: Adding assets

and final changes

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TECHNIQUES MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION

03

RENDER THE ALPHA MASK

First of all, apply your Alpha mask to the render image. To do that, click on the Alpha channel, press Cmd/Ctrl+A and then Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy the layer to the buffer. Then, create a layer mask for the render layer. Holding the left Alt button, click inside the layer mask that you created in the previous step and press Cmd/Ctrl+V.

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ADJUST THE EXPOSURE

To restore the contrast that you achieved in the original rendering, use the Exposure adjustment. Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Exposure, and use 0.45-0.50 as a value for Gamma Correction to achieve the desired effect. This is the universal approach which should be done after each import of HDR files into Photoshop (but only if you use this linear workflow). Always use clipping masks so that you can work on separate elements. This way, an adjustment has an effect only on the render layer and nothing else. Ctrl/right-click on the adjustment layer and select Create Clipping Mask.

05

ADD THE SKY

The sky is one of the most important aspects of the image because it defines the general mood. Always try to find the right balance between the complexity of the background/foreground and main subject. You don’t want to overwhelm the viewer. Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves and adjust the contrast of the sky. Do the same with Selective Color, Color Balance and Vibrance adjustments. Some areas of the sky need more attention to make them more appropriate (like the over-saturated lower part or darker top-right corner).

CITY IN THE BACKGROUND

Now you can start adding more depth and detail in the form of buildings in the background of the image. Always use layer masks (not the Eraser tool) to add or remove areas that you don’t want to see (remember, white is visible and black is invisible). This way, you’re not destroying the original image or adjustment layers. Now you can use the Brightness to make both buildings a bit lighter, Selective Color to add more yellow and black colour, and Vibrance to achieve more natural saturation.

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04

QUICK TIP Don’t be afraid to try more assets or reference pictures, because you never know what can inspire you to create a different mood or story. Usually we have an exact idea about the image, but spontaneous inspiration is great when experimenting. There are no rules, just use what is working best for you.

07

CHANGE THE TONES

The main building is a little bit flat. Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness and make the left side of the building darker. Invert the Brightness layer mask using Cmd/Ctrl+I and paint darker areas inside it with the soft brush using white. The left side should be more bluish because of the shadow. Use Color Balance and Selective Color to achieve the best effect. The last step is to add a warm highlight on the top of the right building using the same method as you did before.

08

MAKE SPECIFIC CHANGES

Some areas around the main building need more editing. Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness/Contrast to make the whole skyscraper brighter. Also, add more contrast with Curves to make it more defined. The colours on the right building are too warm, so use Selective Color and play with the neutrals to make it colder. The last step is to darken the bottom part under the bridge and main entrance on the edge of the coast using Curves, in the same way you did before.

ADDING MORE ELEMENTS

START REFINING YOUR IMAGE WITH ASSETS AND EFFECTS

09

CREATE THE WATER SURFACE

To create the water surface you can use different techniques. We recommend using ‘Flood’ by Flaming Pear (download this plugin from www.flamingpear.com/flood). Merge all layers on top of everything (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E). Press Cmd/Ctrl+A, then Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+C to copy the layer to the buffer, and then select Cmd/Ctrl+V. Go to Filter>Flaming Pear>Flood. Adjust the Curves, Brightness and Selective Color to make it more realistic.

001 002

Prepare all your rendered channels, reference pictures, assets and notes to create the best image possible without any problems.

11

002 WHO’S THE HERO?

Choose the right background elements to achieve the desired mood and make sure there’s enough space to make your main subject shine.

ADJUST THE RIGHT BUILDING FACADE

Create a new layer and change the blending mode from Normal to Multiply. Use a red colour and start painting over the top and middle horizontal facade frame parts with a sharp brush (you can use your Material ID channel if needed). After that, use Brightness, Selective Color and Hue/Saturation adjustments to make the red colour more natural. The left facade should be darker and less saturated because of the shadow. Also, add random building textures to the glass facade as reflections from the environment to create realistic detail.

SHADE THE CONCRETE WALL

We need to make the left part of the wall brighter. As you did before, use Brightness to achieve the desired effect. The right side has to be darker because of the shadow from the bridge. Also, play with the Curves to add more definition. Use dirt textures and add some leaks to achieve a more realistic effect (you can download a lot of textures in JPG or PNG format from www.cgtextures.com). Experiment with different blending modes, but for this kind of stuff you should use Multiply, Darken, Color or Soft Light mode.

It’s important to not limit your imagination and try to experiment with different ideas. More options give you more flexibility

003

001 BE READY

10

12

003 GOD IS IN THE DETAIL Spend more time finding the proper textures and assets to add realistic details to the image. Putting this time aside will give you the best results.

BUILD THE COASTWALK ALLEY

There are four separate layers with trees. You can download a lot of tree cut-outs for free, from websites like www.gobotree.com or www. cgtextures.com. Make sure that the left part is really dark, as it adds nice depth to the bottom. To add shadows you can use Levels or Brightness adjustment layers. Also, make all the trees less saturated using Vibrance and Selective Color to add more warm colours. On the other hand, the left side should be really bright because of the sun.

13

ADD SOME PEOPLE

Sometimes it’s really hard to find the right people for the image. In this case it was easier because of the size. They are not as important as other parts, but they do add necessary detail to the big picture. Use Brightness and Selective Color to adjust each one of them. If needed, use a Hue/ Saturation adjustment to make them fit in properly. You can lower the layer Opacity to 95-90% to make them less bold.

049

TECHNIQUES MASTER ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION

FINAL EDITING

IMPORTANT READJUSTMENTS AND FINISHING TOUCHES

14

INCLUDE MORE FOLIAGE

Arrange foliage on the bottom and upper levels of the building, but be careful not to overpower the main design. Placing the foliage is similar to the positioning of the trees. Always check your colour and black/white balance to make sure everything is working together as one. To add more light on the sunny side, create a new layer, clip it to the foliage layer, change the blending mode from Normal to Soft Light, set the Opacity to 40-50%, and start painting some highlights. Create some shadows on the left side, and perhaps place some birds on the top left side to counterweight the right building.

15

CHECK THE BALANCE

To easily check the black and white balance, create a new layer on top of everything and by pressing G (Paint Bucket tool), fill this layer with black. Change the blending mode from Normal to Color. Don’t be afraid to adjust some assets or areas again and again. Your image is constantly evolving and you should work with this layer as much as possible to balance the image in the right way.

17

FINISHING TOUCHES

This is the last phase of post-production. Add a flare effect to the right side. You can download a lot of different flare assets from different websites. Change the blending mode from Normal to Screen and adjust the Opacity to 80-90%. Adjust the Color Balance and Curves to make it more warm and bold, and add more Saturation to the middle part of the image. Darken the bottom part of the image and make it more cold using a Selective Color adjustment.

HOW TO WORK WITH ASSETS When searching for different assets, it can be challenging to find the right ones. To find royalty-free textures, you can go to www. cgtextures.com for textures, www.gobotree. com for cut-outs or www.prostaffage.com, where you can find high-res photo resources, textures and reference photos. It’s important to download the biggest resolution possible because you can always reduce the size and not lose the quality. As a first step, you should adjust the general lighting of the asset. Use Levels or Curves adjustments to achieve the desired effect. Then play with colours, using Color Balance or Selective Color adjustments to fit it in properly. The last step is to paint some shadows and highlights to add dimension and make it realistic.

050

16

ADD LIGHT EFFECTS

First of all, create a dark gradient on the bottom. It naturally leads your eyes to the middle part of the image. Use a Brightness adjustment layer to add more light to the sunny side of the right building. Do the same for the background skyscrapers and the top part of the main structure. Paint some highlights as you did with the foliage using the Soft Light method. Then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur to make them a bit blurry and play with the opacity of the white glows in the Screen blending mode.

18

THE FINAL IMAGE

The last step is to add more Contrast and Chromatic Abberation (it’s not necessary, but you can experiment with this effect). It’s a type of camera distortion where the lens fails to focus all of the colours to the same convergence point, which makes the image look more realistic. Merge all layers on top of everything with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Opt/ Alt+E. Then, go to Filter>Lens Corrections and experiment with different values for the Distortion and Fringe, and this is your final image!

QUICK TIP In general, if you are just getting started with Photoshop post-production, start with 2500px renders. Then, as you gain more experience, switch to 3500px. When you are confident enough, try using 5000px. Anything above 5000px can be done for personal projects or to suit the requirements of a client.

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© Gary Bedell

I started with a small, traditional pencil sketch, added a dash of nightmares and fleshed the rest of it out in Photoshop

052

TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE

SHHH

GARY BEDELL SELFTAUGHT ILLUSTRATOR GARY BEDELL REVEALS HOW HE WAS INSPIRED BY THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FEAR

“I

’ve always known what I wanted to do and I havn’t stopped since,” begins illustrator Gary Bedell (http://garytheartguybedell.wix.com/ garybedellportfolio). As an artist, he’s also always been in love with a very tricky subject – the psychology of fear. “When it comes to horror, I often draw inspiration from my own nightmares,” he explains. “I started with a small, traditional pencil sketch, added a dash of nightmares and fleshed the rest of it out in Photoshop.” The process came with its own particular challenges, however. “I found conveying the

02

SKETCHING OVER THE THUMBNAIL

After scanning my thumbnail at 300dpi and scaling it slightly to 5 x 8 inches, I drop the Opacity and sketch on a new layer above.

emotion felt by the child very difficult, as his face isn’t visible,” he reveals, explaining that the perfect body language was then needed to tell the story instead. Ultimately, it was a huge success, as the image shows. “Not only does this illustration address a common phobia we have all suffered as children, of monsters living in our closets, it goes one step further, suggesting that perhaps they really do,” Bedell concludes. “It reinforces the fear that grown-ups won’t believe what they are unable to see. Even as an adult, that sends a shiver up my spine.”

01

THUMBNAIL

All my ideas start with a thumbnail. This one is 2.5 x 4.5 inches. Here, I can get the right energy and composition that I’m looking for.

03

BASIC LIGHTING

Under my sketch layer, I make a new layer set to Multiply so I can add the shadows. I then make a second layer set to Normal for light.

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TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE

04

PAINT OVER THE LARGE THUMBNAIL

On a new layer, I begin refining the lighting and adding details, with my brush Opacity set to 65%.

07

05

EXPANDING IMAGE AND ADDING VALUES

By up-scaling the image to 11x17 inches at 300dpi, I am able to add more details on a new layer. Then I can add and adjust a Multiply layer for even more shadows.

PAINT ACROSS THE TOP

On top of a new layer, I use the same dark blue to bring out the coolness in colour. This also helps push the composition.

06

ADDING COLOURS

To set the mood, I use solid dark blue behind the illustration that is set to Multiply. Once my palette is chosen, I complete base colours for all the objects.

ILLUSTRATING HORROR

08

BEDELL REVEALS HOW HE BEGINS DESIGNING THE MAKINGS OF A UNIVERSALLY TERRIFYING HORROR SCENE

FINISHING UP

This is where I add the final details and adjust the brightness to my liking.

“When I am working on a horror illustration, I like tapping into the triggers that dwell within the human psyche – the ones that elicit the most fear and anxiety,” Bedell explains. “It’s almost like I am recreating the moment. I believe I was successful in conveying the complex emotional exchange between the subjects here.”

The use of colour – along with the strong contrast between the child and the monsters – was integral to the completion of the piece.

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OUR EXPERT BRANDON CAWOOD

www.brandoncawood.com @Brandon_Cawood Brandon Cawood is a commercial and advertising photographer from Dalton, GA, USA. He specialises in high-energy composites and does his own retouching and Photoshop work. See his work at www. brandoncawood.com.

CREATE A DYN COMPOSITE

LEARN A RANGE OF TECHNIQUES TO HELP YOU ADD INTEREST AND STYLE TO OUTDOOR IMAGES AND COMPOSITES

C

reate a composite that lets you take a simple outdoor image and step it up a notch with this tutorial! It outlines the basic techniques to reach the desired outcome, but it will take a good deal of experimentation and trial and error to get it just right. Those with a solid foundation and understanding of adjustment layers, blending

056

modes and masking techniques will benefit from this tutorial. The idea here is to take what could be a simple outdoor image, in this case a hunting image, and turn it into a work of art. For this particular image, we will be using Photoshop to replace the background, add some background elements and give it a cinematic colour grade. Paying attention to the depth of field and lighting are key in producing

the final result. Use these techniques as a guide to producing your own images in this style. The idea is being able to take any situation or environment and turn it into something visually inspiring! Hopefully this will inspire you to look at the world around you with a new vision and inspiration. Take these tips and make them your own, to create something amazing.

CREATE A DYNAMIC COMPOSITE TECHNIQUES

057

TECHNIQUES CREATE A DYNAMIC COMPOSITE

WORK IN PROGRESS

FROM BACKGROUND TO FINISHED COMPOSITE

Progress 1: Study the

background image

Progress 2: Create seamless

and clean masking

Progress 3: Add lighting effects

to finish

01

When trying to pull off any composite or photomanipulation, proper planning is essential. Planning gives you a starting point. Look at your background image, and plan your photo shoot around it. Think about the angle, the perspective, where the light is coming from, and any other details that will affect your composite. A simple sketch always helps keep your vision consistent – it doesn’t have to be a work of art. Making sure all these things match will make your composite more believable.

02

ADJUST THE DEPTH OF FIELD

For a composite to be believable, the depth of field needs to match. If something in your foreground is going out of focus but your background is tack-sharp, it is going to look off. If the foreground is starting to go out of focus at all, then the background should do the same. You can blur the background image by pressing Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Adjust the Radius until the blur matches the depth of field in the foreground image. The further away the background is supposed to be, the more blur it will have.

058

MAKE A CLEAN EXTRACTION

To achieve a great composite you need very clean masks. Always add a layer mask so you can use black to remove and white to add back. A pen tablet comes in handy to do this, and ensure you take your time. Zoom in to 500%, and with a black hard brush set at 8 px, follow the outline of what you want to extract. If you make a mistake, just switch your brush to white and paint it back. To make sure you are masking out everything that needs to be transparent, press the \ key and your mask will turn red. Press it again to turn it off.

Think about the angle, the perspective, where the light is coming from, and any other details that will affect your composite

04 03

ALWAYS PLAN AHEAD

COLOUR MATCH THE BACKGROUND AND THE FOREGROUND

Use an individual Curves adjustment layer on the background layer. Make sure it is clipped only to the background layer by selecting Layer>Create Clipping Mask. Use the RGB channel to adjust the exposure so that it matches the foreground. Next, use colour channels to match the temperature of the models. After you have the colours and exposure matching, 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.

QUICK TIP Always save periodically throughout your workflow. There is nothing worse than spending hours on a project, to have Photoshop crash and lose your work. When you have multiple ideas on the direction you want to go in, save your PSD under different names. Then you will have a variety of copies and options!

05

ADD SOME DETAIL

Choose a layer and make two copies (press Cmd/Ctrl+J twice). Invert the top copy (Cmd/Ctrl+I) and change the blending mode to Vivid Light. With this layer selected, go to Filter>Blur>Surface Blur. A good starting point is with the Radius set to 30 px and the Threshold to 40 Levels. Go to Layer>Merge Down to merge the top copy and middle copy. Press Cmd/Ctrl+U and de-saturate the layer. Change the blend mode to Overlay. You can adjust the opacity on this layer to control how much detail is added. Repeat this step on any layer you want to add detail to.

08

06

CLEAN UP BLEMISHES

Added detail will make blemishes stand out. Sometimes this works for images featuring a male because it adds a rugged look, but when creating an image of a female you will want to remove these. For small simple blemishes use the Healing Brush tool. Under sample, select Current and Below. Hold down the Opt/Alt key to select a clean portion of skin close to the blemish. Next brush over the blemish you wish to remove. Repeat this for each blemish. If this doesn’t work, more advanced retouching techniques such as Frequency Separation may be needed.

ADD THE BIRDS

It is important to add interest to the background without making it distracting. In this image, we used birds flying in the distance. The photo of birds was taken with a bright sky. By desaturating the image and boosting the contrast you can make a photo where the birds are black and the sky is white. Now change the blending mode to Multiply and all the white becomes transparent. You can add more birds using the Clone Stamp. Make sure not to put the clone too close to the original.

09

07

MAKE THE EYES POP

Create a Curves adjustment layer on top of the other layers – it will have a mask filled with white. Fill the mask with black and grab a white brush. Paint over the pupils and iris. Now make an S curve on your Curve layers. On your graph, add a point a fourth of the way up, one in the middle and one three-quarters of the way up. Leave the one in the middle and bring the top one up slightly and the bottom one down. You can now adjust the opacity of this layer if the effect is too much.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS

Before moving onto the final colour grading, you should go back over everything you’ve done. Investigate your document one layer at a time and make sure that everything is done to a high standard. Ensure your masks are clean and that you didn’t leave anything unwanted. Check your highlights, your shadows and anything else that may need adjusting. Click your layers on and off to see all the before and after images. Go ahead and delete any layers you aren’t using and make sure you save your PSD.

059

TECHNIQUES CREATE A DYNAMIC COMPOSITE

10

ADD THE SUN FLARE

You can create a sun flare in Photoshop or with a plug-in. Select Filter>Render>Lens Flare, choose your flare and the brightness. Now go to Edit>Undo. Create a new black layer on top of your other layers and change the blending mode to Screen. Next select the Filter and you will notice at the top it will say Lens Flare (if you haven’t used any other filters since). You can also press Cmd/Ctrl+F and it will automatically apply the last filter you used. You will now be able to move the flare.

11

ADJUST THE SUN FLARE COLOUR

Once you have your sun flare where you want it, the colour may not seem quite right. So you will need to add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer directly above the flare layer. You only want this to affect the flare layer so in the Layers palette, Ctrl/ right-click on the Hue/Saturation layer and select Create Clipping Mask. Next on the Hue/Saturation layer, check the Colorize box and move the slider at the top until the flare is the colour that you want. You may also need to adjust the Saturation slider.

12

FINAL COLOUR GRADING

First add a Channel Mixer adjustment layer. Choose the Black and White With Green pre-set – this will turn 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 experiment 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.

QUICK TIP Look at the proof of your final image on multiple computer screens, tablets, phones, and have your image printed on different mediums. If anything stands out, open the PSD back up and try to address the issue. Sometimes it helps to create different versions depending on the medium it will be viewed on.

13

SHARPENING YOUR IMAGE

Save your PSD. 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, then 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 where you don’t want it. You can also use varying opacities to pull down the sharpening over the entire image.

060

14

ADD GRAIN

To finish, add grain. Create a new layer above your sharpened image. Hold down Shift and click Delete. Choose Fill with 50% grey. 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 apply, hold down Cmd/Ctrl+U. Reduce the Saturation to -85% – leaving some colour in the grain will give a more natural look. Do this step at 100% zoom. You can adjust the opacity if it feels too intense.

15

SAVE YOUR IMAGE

You can save the image in different ways depending on its use. To use a good quality printing lab, leave the image in Adobe RBG and save it as a JPEG or TIFF. If you want to use a basic printer or are saving for online use, convert it to SRGB. Select Edit>Convert To Profile>Choose Working RGB and save as before. For online use, scale it down before saving. Select File>Automate>Fit Image. Set a width of 2048 px and a height of 2048 px. Save it as a JPEG and place in a separate folder for online use.

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062

OUR EXPERT ANDY HAU

www.andyhau.com @andykwhau I’m a London-based architect and designer and the owner of A.H.A Design. For me, design is an escape from the futility of modern life, not an endorsement of it.

A GUIDE TO INFOGRAPHICS LEARN HOW TO DESIGN AN INFOGRAPHIC AND MAINTAIN A SENSE OF HUMOUR

Y

ou can’t log into Twitter nowadays without being bombarded by links to articles written by self-proclaimed experts about all the things you’re doing wrong: how you’re living your life incorrectly, how you’re running your business incorrectly, how you’re reading your Tweets incorrectly. Who are these ‘experts’ and where has this expertise come from? After all, being an expert

is a bit like being a gentleman: if you have to say you are, then you probably aren’t. There was once a time when you had to have achieved something to be able to be labelled an expert. Nowadays, if you’ve got an opinion and a Wordpress, you’re a leading thinker in the industry. So how does a British designer such as myself cope with such a tragic state of affairs? By writing an

angry letter to the professional bodies and stating my grievances? No, of course not – by mocking it relentlessly! In this tutorial, we are going to create a satirical ‘expert’s guide’ to choosing fonts. Much like these other so-called guides, this infographic is going to be littered with an array of sound instruction, clichés, and just plain silly advice. Take this infographic seriously at your own peril!

063

TECHNIQUES A GUIDE TO INFOGRAPHICS

WORK IN PROGRESS

#2%!4% ! 4/.'5%˶).˶ CHEEK INFOGRAPHIC

Progress 1: Ensure you plan

out your infographic

Progress 2: Establish a visual

hierarchy before entering text

Progress 3: Focus on the details

01

MAKE A PLAN

Start by making a plan of what you are going to cover in the infographic. Since this infographic will take the form of a flow diagram, begin by writing out the initial starting question. From there, list out the different decisions, options and terminal points. Start with sensible questions to lure the viewer into a false sense of security and then once you’ve convinced them that this is just another beautifully designed infographic, throw in some humorous and witty remarks to bewilder your audience.

02

Once we’ve completed the list of all decisions and terminal points in your infographic, start to block out a rough guide of where the text will go by using the Rectangular Marquee tool (M) and filling it with a colour using the Paint Bucket tool (G). Determine where the critical mass is going to be (where you want the viewer to focus first) and place the largest blocks in that location. Cluster these initial decisions slightly closer together to naturally draw the eye to this area.

Start with sensible questions to lure the viewer into a false sense of security

04 03

PLACE MORE BLOCKS

As we move further away from the primary questions, we can space the blocks out more. This creates a tunnel vision effect that will help to guide the reader and make the infographic more visually exciting. We also need to block out areas for images to make the infographic more pleasurable to follow. However, restrict the amount of images so that they don’t become distracting. Placing images at the beginning and end of each path will help to draw the eye to these areas.

064

LAY OUT THE FIRST BLOCKS

SETTING UP THE COLOUR PALETTE

Choose a colour palette made up of five to six colours. This will help to maintain a sense of order in the infographic, as well as tie the composition together – you may want to keep the colour palette within the same colour range to give a sense of unity. However, you could choose a clashing colour palette to promote excitement instead, which is what I have done here. I am using the colours grey (#5b6062), turquoise (#20f1bd), shocking pink (#fa334f), off-white (#ffeac3), maroon (37001c) and mustard (#ffba15).

QUICK TIP Keep the flow simple. If the flow diagram is too complicated, people will get confused and give up trying to read it. If your infographic spans over two pages, make sure that the crossover happens on a flow line and not a decision box to help legibility.

05

CHOOSING YOUR FONTS

Although this infographic is about choosing fonts, don’t be tempted to plaster the entire image in different ones. This can confuse and overwhelm the viewer. Instead, restrict the use of different fonts to the terminal boxes only. For decision and option boxes, keep the font choice fairly neutral by using fonts such as Proxima Nova, Helvetica or Verdana, so that they don’t compete with each other. The dullness of these fonts will also help to counterpoint and disguise some of the sillier remarks in the infographic.

08

06

CREATE A HIERARCHY

You need to establish some hierarchy or rules for the text in the infographic to keep the information consistent and easy to understand. Primary information, such as the first question and terminal points, should be in a larger font size to draw more attention. Secondary information, such as decision boxes, options and remarks, should be kept in a regular format and at a smaller size to help them blend into the background. Commit to these rules across the entire infographic.

07

BEGIN CONSTRUCTING THE DIAGRAM

Using the block-out diagram created in steps 2 and 3, start creating coloured blocks for the decision boxes. You can add interest by turning the blocks into banners or by simply adding a coloured outline. You can create these blocks in Photoshop using the Marquee tool (M) or for a more organic feel, you could draw them by hand, scan them in and manipulate them in Photoshop. Alternatively you can create them in Illustrator, drag them into a Photoshop canvas and arrange them as necessary.

TRACKING YOUR TEXT

Following the rules that you established in step 6 and using the information that you put together in step 1, place the text within the decision boxes using the Type tool (T). You can also adjust the spacing in between the letters to make sure that the text is formatted to fill the boxes comfortably. Simply open up the Character panel (Window> Character) and change the figure in the Tracking option. This will help with the way that the text reads, as well as creating a more attractive layout.

09

OPTION BOXES

Traditionally, different shapes in flow diagrams represent different actions, for example, a decision point is normally represented as a diamond shape. These shapes can make a diagram more comprehensible, however, it is hard to create something aesthetically interesting if you follow these rules too strictly. Options like ‘yes’ or ‘no’ are not usually placed inside any boxes, but you are going to place your options inside circular shapes, as the tension created between round and straight edged objects looks effective.

065

TECHNIQUES A GUIDE TO INFOGRAPHICS

10

12 INCLUDE THE ARROWS

To link the decision boxes together and to indicate the direction of flow for the infographic, we need to provide a series of arrows. Depending on the complexity of your infographic, these can range from stock arrows made in Illustrator, to bespoke hand drawn arrows. I used a mixture of arrows in this infographic but again, like the text, there is a hierarchy for which type of arrow gets used where – bespoke arrows near the primary questions, stock arrows for secondary information and dotted arrows for terminal points.

11

ADD SOME REMARKS

At points, interrupt some of the arrow lines with boxes that contain a remark. These remarks serve no other purpose than to surprise, amuse and disrupt, but you can use the same visual language as the secondary information boxes so they don’t distract the reader. It’s important to keep these remarks pithy and sharp so that the viewer moves onto the next decision box without losing their train of thought.

CREATE TERMINAL POINTS

The terminal points in the infographic reveal the final answer to the initial question. For this infographic, place the name of the font in these boxes, using the font choice that has been suggested. For the more self-explanatory and sensible path choices, simply naming the font is sufficient. However, for the more abstract and humorous path choices, a short explanation is required. Like a punch line to a joke, this explanation is the final line that satisfactorily concludes the viewer’s journey.

QUICK TIP Preparation is key when it comes to creating infographics. Even the world’s most impatient person can gather all the information together before opening up a new canvas. Do not be tempted to skip this stage – you’ll only regret it later!

13

IMAGES

Much like the final line described in step 12, the small images at the terminal point will make the viewer feel that the journey was worth it. Use the Pen tool (P) to create the icons, manipulating the handles where necessary by holding down the Cmd/ Ctrl keys and clicking on the handles. To create curves, hold down the left-click and drag the pointer to determine the shape of the curve. Keep the graphics simple so that they create an impact but do not detract away from the text.

066

14

ADD FINISHING TOUCHES

In the words of Mies van der Rohe, “God is in the details”. To bring out some of the boxes, draw thinly dotted lines slightly offset from the edge of the terminal boxes. To create a dotted line, open the Brushes palette (Window>Brush), choose a round brush and modify the spacing and roundness options by clicking on the ‘Toggle the Brush Panel’ button. To draw attention to the initial question banner, add some decorative dotted lines to the ends of it.

15

ZOOM OUT

Zoom-out of the image using Cmd/Ctrl+0 so that the entire image fits onto the screen. Make sure that the composition appears balanced and that your eye is naturally drawn to the starting point of the infographic, before naturally veering away to explore other parts of the image. Also be sure to check that the areas of colour are balanced and evenly distributed. The colours in the image should help with the flow of the composition.

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CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3 TECHNIQUES

CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3 DISCOVER HOW THIS POWERFUL PLUGIN ENABLES YOU TO DESIGN AND BUILD BESPOKE EFFECTS FILTERS

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here is a plethora of plug-ins on the market for Photoshop, each of which claims to offer a unique function – something that can’t easily be achieved in Photoshop itself, if at all. Filter Forge has made an even stronger claim in this respect, as it enables you to create your very own filter effect. Photoshop can perform a vast range of imaging tasks, but building filter effects from scratch, which can be saved as editable presets, is not among them – and this is where Filter Forge truly excels. It installs as a plug-in and a standalone application and it can be accessed from within Photoshop or directly from your desktop. The

former is probably preferable for the majority of situations, as it enables you to bring your effects straight into Photoshop, where further adjustments can be made using the vast range of tools that are on offer. In this tutorial you will discover how the filter editor in Filter Forge works and be introduced to the collection of components that form the foundations of filter creation. As with Photoshop itself, Filter Forge is a vast program and its surface can only be scratched within the confines of a tutorial such as this. However, this should form a solid grounding upon which you can start to build your skills and explore Filter Forge yourself.

BEGIN BUILDING YOUR FILTER

THE RESULT DIRECT FROM FILTER FORGE

01

SET IMAGE DIMENSIONS

The standard version of Filter Forge requires that you work with images that are no larger than 3000px x 3000px. If this size limit is not adhered to, Filter Forge will return an error message. You can check the precise dimensions of your image using Image>Image Size. Any dimensions are permissible provided each side is no greater than 3000px.

02

DUPLICATE THE LAYER AND LAUNCH FILTER FORGE

OUR EXPERT MATT BENNETT Matt Bennett is features editor of Advanced Photoshop’s sister title, Digital Photographer. A former professional photographer, he is used to editing, retouching and adding effects to portrait images.

SOURCE FILES Get Filter Forge 3.0 Standard Edition (as sold for $249) completely free on FileSilo. You can also get a discount on Filter Forge 4.0 too!

WORK IN PROGRESS

PHOTOSHOP TO FILTER FORGE TO PHOTOSHOP

Filter Forge won’t return the result of your endeavours on a separate layer, so it’s wise to create one before you launch the plug-in. It is also a good idea to make any required corrective adjustments to the image beforehand. Filter Forge can be found in the Filters menu. Progress 1: The original,

unedited photo

Progress 2: After contrast has

been added in Filter Forge

03

ENTER THE FILTER EDITOR

Once Filter Forge has launched, you will need to head to the top right-hand side of the interface and select the Filter Editor. You’ll be asked to either create a new filter or edit an existing one. For now, opt to create a new filter. Next, drag the Image component to the stage as shown.

Progress 3: The result

direct from Filter Forge

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TECHNIQUES CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3

04

SELECT CONTRAST CONTROL

From the list of components, drag a Tone Curve to the stage and connect the Image component from the previous step to the Source. Tone Curves need a separate Curves component in order to function. So, from the Curves components menu, drag the Gain component to the stage and connect this to the Tone Curve. Finally, go to the Controls menu and drag a Slider Control onto the stage. Connect it to the Gain component in order to make the Gain adjustable.

06

05

ADD A GRADIENT

If you head to the Gradients components menu, you’ll find a range of Gradient types that you can add to your filter. The Free Gradient is one of the most flexible and is excellent for lighting effects. Drag this component onto the stage. For this effect, Radial, Mirror and Image Bounds have each been selected. There are presets for the Profile built into the Free Gradient, but this can be better controlled using the Curves components, which you’ll add in another step.

INSERT GRADIENT CONTROLS

From the Controls components menu, add Slider Controls to both Start X and Start Y to define the position of the Gradient. Add a Color Control component to dictate Color 1 of the Gradient. A new feature in Filter Forge 3 is the ability to select Allow Images on the left of the interface, before loading an image into each Color Control slider, such as a texture file or separate photo. However, you can use the Color Picker for this. For Color 2, ensure that the A slider at the bottom of the dialog is set to 0.

07

ADD A PROFILE

As mentioned earlier, the Free Gradient can be more effectively profiled by using one of the Curves components. Each of these produces a very different effect, so it’s always worthwhile experimenting with how each performs whenever you are building a filter in Filter Forge. Here, the Step component has been chosen. Add a Slider Control for the Threshold and a Checkbox Control for the Linear setting. Your settings for the Free Gradient should look something like this.

08

CREATE SOME FLARE

Like the Free Gradient component, the Free Polygon offers similar potential for applying colour effects to your images. It can be found in the Patterns components menu. There are a lot of variables to the Free Polygon component, which is why it’s so powerful. However, it also means that you need to spend some time making it as editable as possible, as you will need to adapt its functionality depending on the image that you are applying your filter to. QUICK TIP Whenever you team some components together and produce an effect that interests you, save this as a filter so that you can come back to it – even if you haven’t finalised a complete filter effect yet. You can then call upon these creative combinations for use in future filter building projects.

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FINESSE THE LIGHTING EFFECT

ADD THE EXTRA TOUCHES TO THE FILTER TO MAKE IT MORE CREATIVE

09

SET POLYGON PARAMETERS

As the Free Polygon component has so many different settings, you’ll want to add various controls to the most important ones among them. The first of these is the Color. You should set a Color Control variable from the Controls components menu, so that you can match the colour of the Polygon against that of the Gradient later.

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10 002

The Radius controls the overall size of the shape that you’re creating, so add a Slider Control to this.

11

002 CONTROL THE POSITION Add a Slider Control for each of the Origin X and Y values so the positon of the shape can be changed later.

ADJUST THE OPACITY AND MODE

You’ll notice that along with the Foreground and Background connectors, the Blend component also features an Opacity option and a Mode option. Both of these need to be adjustable later so that users can customise the filter’s effect. Attach a Slider Control to the Opacity connection and an IntSlider Control to the Mode. Filter Forge will always warn you if you add an unsuitable control component at any stage, which is helpful for anyone new to the program.

The Blend component is a vital facet of Filter Forge, as it enables you to draw together effects and adjustments that you’ve created and then merge them together. Go into the Processing components menu to find the Blend component. Connect the Free Gradient to the Background and the Free Polygon to the Foreground. Many Filter Forge filters involve several Blend components to be added to the stage along the way.

The Blend component is a vital facet of Filter Forge, as it enables you to draw together effects and adjustments

003

001 ADJUST THE RADIUS

ADD A BLEND

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003 BEVEL, STAR AND SIDES Each of these helps the customisation of your shape you’ve created. The Sides will require an IntSlider control, rather than a regular Slider.

ADD FINAL IMAGE EFFECTS

Before you do the final Blend that’s going to complete the filter and draw together the image and the lighting effects, it’s a good idea to see if there are any other components you wish to add. For example, here you might want to take a Hue/Saturation component to the stage to counteract the effects of the contrast boost that were added earlier via Gain. This can be found in the Adjustments menu over on the right of the interface.

13

CREATE A SATURATION CONTROL

The Hue/Saturation component that we have just added is there simply to control the colour saturation. It enables you to dial down the intensity of the colour, or boost it if you want. In order to make this manageable, it is necessary to add a Slider Control. There is no need to add similar controls for the Hue or Lightness variables, because these do not require adjustment at all for the effect that is being produced here.

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TECHNIQUES CUSTOM FILTERS IN FILTER FORGE 3

ADD THE FINISHING TOUCHES

DRAW THE COMPONENTS THAT YOU’VE BEEN CREATING TOGETHER TO FORM A FILTER

14

CREATE THE FINAL BLEND

Head back to the Processing menu, which is among the Components on the right-hand side of the interface. Drag another Blend component onto the stage. Connect the output of the previous Blend component – which was used to merge the Free Gradient and the Free Polygon in a previous step – to the Foreground connector step. Then connect the Hue/Saturation output to the Background connector.

15

MAKE THE FINAL CONNECTIONS

As with the previous Blend component that we created, it is necessary to add Slider Controls to the Opacity and Mode slots for this final Blend component. Remember to make the Mode control an IntSlider Control. Once you’ve done this, the final stage in joining the dots is to connect the output of this Blend component to the Result component – which has been waiting patiently in the stage all this time. This will complete the custom filter.

16

NAME YOUR ADJUSTMENT SLIDERS

Before exiting the Filter Editor, it’s a good idea to go back through the Slider Controls that have been added along the way and ensure that you have named each of them individually. There’s a good reason for this. These controls form the basis of the settings that Filter Forge users can adjust later on, and this is something that is far easier to do if they can see what it is that they are adjusting.

QUICK TIP Filter Forge can appear daunting at first, as it’s a detailed application with a lot to learn and get to grips with. However, you can find inspiration by selecting an existing preset – and there are many of these available for free download – opening up the Filter Editor and looking at how the filter has been constructed, component by component.

QUICK TIP Although components such as Perlin Noise in Filter Forge 3 are excellent for adding textures to your filters or creating arty frames and border effects, you can also bring in external files using the Color Control component, as discussed in Step 6. These could be photos that you’ve taken yourself of surfaces that you think will make for interesting effects in Filter Forge, or textures you’ve downloaded from websites such as www. texturepalace.com. If you are going to hunt online for textures, be aware of any usage and copyright restrictions that may have been imposed by the original author.

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17

CHANGE THE SETTINGS

Save your filter, if you haven’t already done so (it’s probably best to save your work as you go along) and you’ll be returned to the main Filter Forge interface. Any filters you’ve created yourself in the Filter Editor are listed in the My Filters presets menu at the top left. You’ll notice that presets have a Settings menu, in which the variables that you built into your filter, such as colours and slider controls, can be adjusted.

18

RETURN TO PHOTOSHOP

Click the Apply button at the bottom right of Filter Forge and you’ll be taken back to Photoshop, assuming you’re using the program as a plug-in. The filter effect will be returned on whatever layer you were last working on in Photoshop, where further effects can be added. Here, a Layer Mask has been added to the Filter Forge Layer and the effect has been refined using the Brush tool set to black and the Opacity set to 48%, in order to reduce the effect around the subject’s face.

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I really wanted to have a fully detailed, painted artwork for the main character

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TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE

UNTITLED PROJECT

TIAGO DA SILVA

DIGITAL ARTIST TIAGO DA SILVA REVEALS THE PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUES BEHIND HIS GRAPHIC NOVEL PROJECT

D

igital artist Tiago da Silva (www. tiagodasilva.com) has worked for projects ranging from advertisements to videogames – but his early inspiration came from the comic books that he read frequently as a child. Therefore, it makes sense for him to return to them today with a new personal project – his own graphic novel. “I have the story mostly written and I’m already producing the pages,” da Silva reveals. “[However], while I have all these concepts for my

characters, I really wanted to have a fully detailed, painted artwork for the main character. That’s why I created this piece.” Having already had experience creating illustrations for a number of book covers, da Silva began by imagining how the cover of his graphic novel could represent the characters of his story without revealing too much about the narrative inside. Using Photoshop layer modes, masks, depth of field effects, and digital painting techniques, he created a piece showcasing exactly what he wanted.

02

BASE COLOURS

I began by separating the main elements into mask channels. This allows more control when painting the different areas, and also makes it easier to change specific parts. With the masks created, I filled the different elements of the painting with the base colours in midtones, and painted the rest with the brush set to 100% Opacity.

01

03 START WITH A SKETCH

I created the sketch digitally in Photoshop; with the colour mode in Grayscale and in a large resolution, before later reducing the file to a normal, A4 size. Sketching in a big resolution allows me to achieve more detail, and any imperfections in the stroke will not show up when the file is reduced.

FROM BACKGROUND TO FOREGROUND

Usually I paint from background to foreground, especially for complex compositions. I painted simple shapes for the buildings on the back. There was no need for detail, as the background would later be blurred to create the depth of field focus effect.

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TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE

04

ADDING SHADOW

For the shadows, I created a new layer in Multiply mode and painted over the background layer, using the masks to paint each of the different elements separately. I’ve used dark tones, a large brush with low opacity and different hardness settings to paint the different materials, like the skin, wall and metal.

05

I then created a new layer in Overlay mode. Using light colours and a large brush with low opacity, I would change the hardness and brush stroke to make the different material textures.

07 THE FIRST PAGE

SILVA EXPLAINS WHY COMPOSITION WAS CRUCIAL FOR HIS COVER, AND WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE GRAPHIC NOVEL’S FIRST PAGE “My focus was on the composition and the relationship between the girl and her scenario, “ says da Silva. “This was the first time I was using a full colour scheme for the girl’s clothes, so it was important to create a good colour palette.” You can see the first page of da Silva’s graphic novel on his deviantART page at http://grafik.deviantart.com

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WORKING WITH LIGHT

DETAILING AND COLOUR FIXES

At this stage, I merged the lines with the painting – this is where I blend everything together and fix any errors. I duplicated the painting layer to paint the details, blurred the background and duplicated another layer for the colour changes. Then I worked with the masks to fix the colour tones with the Hue/Saturation and Color Balance.

06

MAKING EVERYTHING CLEARER

At this point I started painting all in one layer. I needed to make everything clearer, choosing dark colours to paint the shadows and lighter ones for the lights. I was now working with smaller brushes, changing the opacity, hardness and stroke for different materials.

08

FINISHING THE PIECE

I made more colour adjustments, painted the final details and added the particles – they’re related to the character’s powers, and it also gives a sense of action to what was a static scenario. I’ve done a couple of extra effects, some more blur and added the lens reflections for this night scene.

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IMAGE ENHANCEMENTS IN DXO OPTICS PRO 10 DISCOVER HOW TO ENHANCE YOUR IMAGES USING THE LATEST VERSION OF DXO’S FLAGSHIP SOFTWARE

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he preservation of colour tone, texture and detail is something that we all strive for when editing images that may have conflicting qualities – like textured surfaces shot in low-lit conditions or a model shot with multiple light sources for example. To edit these without compromising your image’s overall appeal will yield great results. By utilising DxO Optics Pro 10’s incredible set of tools, you will have an arsenal, capable of bringing detail and tone back from even the lowest of low-lit images, at your disposal. DxO set the benchmark for image fine-tuning when it brought out the Optics Pro series. The range is a free-standing editing suite, that features

fantastic retouching options, such as camera and lens optics modules, that are designed to read the metadata from your image and automatically enhance your shot by using algorithms, which work directly with your lens or camera combination. Also included are some powerful noise reduction tools and the DxO Smart Lighting feature – which will help you bring back hidden details from shadows and low lighting. There are a number of impressive tricks that this software can unleash on your images. In this tutorial, we will be enhancing an image by using a combination of the latest features from Optics Pro 10, such as ClearView, as well as some old favourites, such as the Smart Lighting.

OUR EXPERT JAMES SHEPPARD @ jimmilazers

As Imagine Publishing’s in-house photographer, I have over a decade’s experience in commercial, editorial and portrait photography, as well as 20 years’ experience with Photoshop. I love comics, check shirts and my dog.

BRING BACK COLOUR AND DETAIL

ENHANCE YOUR SHOTS WITH SUBTLE YET POWERFUL ADJUSTMENTS

SOURCE FILES Give DxO Optics Pro 10 a whirl with the trial version on FileSilo. You can use it for 30 days with no limitations, and if you like it there’s an exclusive discount code!

01

GET STARTED

With Optics Pro 10, the interface is basically the same as past incarnations, if a little sleeker. So, find your image by using the Organize button on the top left. Once you find it, you will notice that Optics Pro will auto-enhance your image when you hit the Customize button (situated at the top left of the panel). This is a helpful aid, but we want to learn, so click off all adjustments by Ctrl/right-clicking your image and selecting Apply Preset>No Correction, and this will take your image to its base RAW setting.

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IMAGE ENHANCEMENTS IN DXO OPTICS PRO 10 TECHNIQUES

02

03

CLEAR VISION

With nothing selected in the applied adjustment tabs, select the DxO ClearView tab. Here you will be able to kill two birds with one adjustment by bringing back and enhancing the detail as well as adding contrast into the colour tones. This is a very subtle tool to use so lift it to just 76, rather than its maximum capacity. To view the dramatic difference that a small touch of ClearView makes, hit the Compare button.

SUBTLE FIXES FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT

Progress 1: Use the ClearView tool to make immediate enhancements

SMART LIGHT

As the image we are using has a variety of textures and colours battling for your attention, why not use the Smart Lighting tab to even things out? The Smart Lighting tab will auto-correct once selected, but here you can start to affect the image how you like. By lightening the tone of the image slightly and exposing more of the detail while not directly affecting the lighter elements of the image, select the Smart Lighting tab, alter the mode to Custom and set the Intensity to 15.

04

WORK IN PROGRESS

Progress 2: Use Smart Lighting

to bring back detail that would be otherwise hidden

EXPOSURE AND SELECTIVE TONE

Next we will adjust the Exposure tab on to the image and reduce it to -20. Now select the Selective Tone mixer and here you will be able to make the difference between your image being a subtly toned shot with well-considered adjustments, or a heavy handed HDR knock-off. Click on Selective Tone and set the Highlights to -25, the Midtones to -15, the Shadows to 5, and the Blacks to 4. Again, click the compare button and see what you have done.

Progress 3: Reduce noise with

the Noise control tab

DNG UPDATE Originally DxO was unable to support DNG files, but now that’s changed. Allowing DNG support means that you will be able to generate DNGs from your RAW files to avoid losing XMP edit data. Any edit from CS or CC will be transferable to DxO.

05

07

NOISE CONTROL

The image we are working on is a dark image, shot in low light. Shooting in low light means the sensor in your camera is pushed to its limits, so you will see noise in your image. Click on the Noise Reduction tab and select the Prime setting. You will have to be zoomed in to 100% to see the results at their best, so find a section that is grainy and click on it to get a preview. Set the Luminance to 40, the Chrominance to 82, the Low freq to 69 and set the Dead pixels to 24.

06

LENS SOFTENING

With all of the alterations in the image affecting either tone, noise or colour, sometimes it’s not unheard of for software to soften colours in order to remove noise. By using the Lens Softening tab, you can start to add a bit more edge definition to your image. Raise the Global to 98, adjust the Details to 75 and the Bokeh to 70 – this will add a subtle sharpening to the image.

PURPLE FRINGING AND UNSHARP MASKS

The last step involves two adjustments: one to the chromatic aberrations of the image, such as the purple fringing around edge detail, and then the Unsharp mask, allowing us to once again add a touch more sharpness to the image. To get started, click the Chromatic Aberration tab, and the Lateral Chromatic Aberration and Purple Fringing tick boxes. Then select the Unsharp mask tab and set the Intensity to 195, the Radius to 0.96, the Threshold to 18, and the Edge Offset to -92. Now compare and process your image.

079

REVIEWS EIZO COLOREDGE CS240

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EIZO COLOREDGE CS240

WE TEST EIZO’S GRAPHICS MONITOR TO SEE IF ITS PERFORMANCE JUSTIFIES ITS PRICE. IS THIS MODEL A WORTHY CONTENDER FOR DIGITAL ARTISTS WHO WANT A HIGHQUALITY SCREEN TO VIEW AND EDIT THEIR WORK?

www.eizoglobal.com

F

or the digital artist looking for their next monitor, there are a huge number of options on the market, at an equally varied number of price points. EIZO are arguably one of the most prominent professional monitor manufacturers. They produce a range of models to cater for hobbyists, as well as design creatives who demand a more flexible and wide range of options. The ColorEdge CS240 sits in EIZO’s Colour Management range and is marketed as an

m k CV T?R  m +?A 5GLBMUQ ?LB *GLSV entry-level graphics monitor with all the necessary essentials. The model has a maximum resolution of 1,920 x 1,200, which sounds somewhat ordinary with so many 4k models being released recently. However, its IPS panel is lit with a wide-gamut GB-R LED backlight, something of a rarity at this price, and which in real terms, means that it can cover a claimed 99 percent of the Adobe RGB colour space. This is a monitor that has been designed for creatives from enthusiast level

upwards, and it is one of the more modestly priced in the range, but does this mean that we miss out on specs? The colour calibration software included should appeal to digital artists who aspire to achieve colour accuracy, and for simplicity, preset adjustment targets are provided for photography, web design and printing. What’s more, advanced users can set their own values for gamma levels, Hue, and Saturation, giving great scope for creating custom profiles.

Chunky profile: Compared to other displays, such as the Apple Thunderbolt, this display looks a bit dull, and its profile is fairly deep

081

REVIEWS EIZO COLOREDGE CS240

CHECK OUT THE ALTERNATIVES

If you’re looking for a cheaper option or an expanded feature set, then these monitors are worth taking a look at

Easy setup: It is incredibly easy to get the CS240 up and running straight from the box. We plugged it in to a mini display port adaptor and it started immediately with ease Get connected: With DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI inputs, it is easy to connect the CS240 to a variety of devices, and it comes with DVI-D and Mini DisplayPort cables in the box

APPLE 27 INCH THUNDERBOLT DISPLAY

www.apple.com

£899/$999 – With this pricier offering, you pay for a larger screen and extras such as a FaceTime HD camera, high-quality speaker system and Thunderbolt port. It’s been optimised for use with a Mac system, but also houses three USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port and a Gigabit Ethernet port.

EIZO FLEXSCAN EV2736W

www.eizoglobal.com

£594/$959 – With a thinner bezel design than the ColorEdge, this larger 27-inch screen will still save space on the desktop. Although there’s no direct HDMI connection, the 178° viewing angle should exhibit minimal change in Contrast and Hue when viewed from off centre, making it ideal for use in a

We found the overall setup simple and speedy from the minute it left the box, with the added bonus that the monitor comes bundled with Eizo’s own ColorNavigator 6 calibration software. This offers several advanced functions, such as measuring the white of the paper to be used for printing, which gives more accurate screen-to-print matching. It’s worth noting, however, that you’ll also need a third-party colourimeter to carry out the calibration, such as the X-Rite i1 Display Pro, which will cost you around £160/$250. You don’t need to worry about buying this straight away though, as when we tested the ColorEdge with the factorycalibrated Adobe RGB mode, the results were still very impressive. The contrast ratio of 1000:1 is about the same as similarly priced professional monitors, and the

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colours look even and solid across every inch of the display. Added to this, the manufacturer claims that the LED backlight utilises brightness modulation technology, which will give a flicker-free image display, as well as helping to prevent eye fatigue when working on timeconsuming projects. Digital artists will enjoy connecting via the DisplayPort input, which can display more than one billion colours simultaneously. In real terms, when we viewed and edited several types of high-colour artwork, the model handled colour gradations very well. We linked the CS240 to an external computer and laptop, and it jumped across connected devices without any delay, with just a single press of the signal button on the front, which again impressed us with its ease of use.

NEC MULTISYNC P242W

www.nec-display-solutions.com £687/$1,079 – This device has lower specs than the ColorSure covering only 75 percent of the Adobe RGB colour space, which makes it seem quite expensive for what you get. The monitor chassis isn’t slim at 84 mm thick, but it’s capably supported by an adjustable stand that also allows height adjustment.

Colour calibration: It is incredibly useful to have the ability to change between screen colour settings, simply by pressing the mode button on the front

WHAT THE MANUFACTURER SAYS

Victor Aberdeen Sales Manager – Graphic Displays

HOW DOES THE COLOREDGE CS240 FIT THE DIFFERENT NEEDS OF ALL LEVELS OF DESIGN PROFESSIONALS AND DIGITAL ARTISTS? ‘No surprises.’ This simple rule is why professional artists across many industries use EIZO ColorEdge monitors and the new EIZO ColorEdge CS240 is no different. The photographer prints, the VFX artist views in the theatre and the designer checks the rip of their package design. True to their art, the output holds ‘no surprises’ for the professional artist who chooses the best tools like the ColorEdge CS240 monitor. Moveable type: The monitor can be adjusted to a wide range of heights and angles for the perfect view when you’re working

HOW EASY IS IT FOR USERS TO SET AND CREATE THEIR OWN TARGET PROFILES? The CS240 includes ColorNavigator 6, which has a simple wizard for the user to follow and can easily “Create a New Target.” The step-by-step process allows the user to set all the required values for the desired colour space, and there are already three targets included. HOW SHOULD THE WIDE COLOUR GAMUT COVERAGE BENEFIT DIGITAL PHOTOSHOP ARTISTS? It’s all about the art, as the choice of a colour is not a trivial decision, and to all artists it is important that they can see the colour being picked. With the EIZO ColorEdge CS240 the artist will be able to view the colour as they decided in their work, not just how they created it but also how it will look when printed in a book or viewed on television. Put simply, users can view their art as it is, unfiltered and unchanged, unlike the way it can look with a poor quality screen.

When we compare this model to others in the EIZO range, this product offers immaculate image quality, and all the specs we’d expect for a fraction of the cost of the company’s flagship ColorEdge CG277. The 24.1-inch screen size should fit the needs and budgets of most digital artists, while offering many of the other ColorEdge monitors’ advanced features, such as a wide colour gamut and hardware calibration. However, unlike other cost-performance monitors, it includes dedicated calibration software that works smoothly and efficiently. We tested out both the HDMI and DVI connections, which were a breeze to switch between, and enjoyed having a workspace free from untidy cables thanks to the included cable holder. Arguably the biggest drawback is the

aesthetic of the product. Though the appearance of a professional monitor isn’t necessarily a priority, attractive design is still desirable when the monitor is going to be at the centre of your workspace. The body itself is a dull grey, with a fairly chunky profile, though it does feel well built and sturdy. If you’re not put off by the functional look, then you’ll definitely enjoy welcoming this high-performing model into your studio environment, especially when you consider its affordable price tag. It isn’t the cheapest on the market, but its simple operation, extremely customisable colour profiles and high-resolution panel are sure to cope with your creative demands. If you’re after a professional-class monitor for a little less money, then this is definitely a step in the right direction.

VERDICT Features: 7/10 Ease of use: 7/10 Quality of results: 8/10 Value for money: 7/10

FINAL SCORE:

7/10 083

REVIEWS TOP 10 PHOTOSHOP BOOKS

TOP10… ART AND DESIGN BOOKS FROM DIGITAL PAINTING TO MAGAZINE DESIGN, WE TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THE BEST BOOKS FOR ARTISTS

003 HIDDEN PERSUASION

001

DIGITAL PAINTING TECHNIQUES VOLUME 6

www.3dtotalpublishing.com

£29/$49

V

olume 6 in this well-respected series packs in a wealth of information for those looking to master digital painting. Many of the more conceptual techniques like compositional advice, for example, can be transferred to any traditional media or software, like Painter or Mischief. However, there is plenty of Photoshop-specific content too, like how to create custom brushes for a wide range of different uses. This is an ideal resource for concept artists – not

only does it kick off with a chapter on concept art, but it also covers speed painting in depth, before looking at how to express mood, and how to paint some of the most popular scenes in a concept artist’s repertoire, like battles and fantasy or sci-fi worlds. A great range of artists, designers and illustrators have contributed their tips, techniques and tutorials to this book, making it an absolute must-have for anyone who wants to get into the concept art and VFX industries.

002

CHARACTER DESIGN FROM THE GROUND UP

www.ilex-press.com

£20/$31

L

earn everything you need to know about character design with expert author, Kevin Crossley. Having worked on some of the world’s biggest comics and videogames franchises, including Judge Dredd and Tomb Raider, Crossley’s authoritative advice is essentia reading for budding character designers, and m advanced artists who want to improve their wo

084

www.bispublishers.nl Approx£26/$42 Would you like to know how to make your advertising designs grab attention and sell products thanks to some secret psychological tricks? This book will teach you exactly that. Subtitled 33 Psychological Influence Techniques in Advertising, it is packed with advice for increasing the impact of your commercial designs. It’s available for €34.00 from the Bis Publishers website.

004 EDITORIAL DESIGN:

DIGITAL AND PRINT

www.laurenceking.com £20/$31 Master the skills you need to become a print or digital magazine designer, art editor and art director, with this excellent book by Cath Caldwell and Yolanda Zappaterra. It examines everything you need to know about good magazine design, including the basics of readability, the assorted formats print and digital magazines take and the essentials of cover design. It also rounds up the technical and practical skills you need to create great magazines and explains how text, headlines and gether to create a unified and

TOP 10 PHOTOSHOP BOOKS REVIEWS

005 THE BRILLIANT HISTORY OF COLOR IN ART

008

www.getty.edu/publications Approx £16/$25 If you’ve ever wondered why red ochre is the most ubiquitous paint colour on Earth or how the Egyptians made blue faience, then this is definitely the book for you. It goes further than simply exploring colour theory, and explains how the dyes and pigments used in art were invented, created and applied to pieces. The scientific and archaeological background to colours we take for granted is fascinating.

ILLUSTRATION NOW! 5

www.taschen.com

£25/$39 aschen’s Illustration Now! series is a perennial joy, and the latest in the series is no exception. For art directors and commissioning editors, this book is a ust-have, as it showcases some of the world’s est illustrators, both established and upcoming. he artwork is the star of the show, but all the essential info you need – websites, client lists, agency representation – is included. A visual coffee table treat for some, but an essential resource for those who regularly commission illustration.

006 ART IN TIME: A

WORLD HISTORY O STYLES AND MOVEMENTS

www.phaidon.com Approx £4 Most art history books concentrate on Western art, but this one views the history of art as a whole. It considers the Eastern canon too, and works backwards through stylistic movements, from now to the 5th Century BC.

007

FIFTY YEARS OF ILLUSTRATION

www.laurenceking.com £30/$47 This book takes a look at what is arguably one of illustration’s golden ages, starting in the Sixties with Milton Glaser and going all the way up to the 2010s. There are plenty of big names featured across children’s books, album art and editorial illustration, including Raymond Briggs, Roger Dean, Gary Baseman and Rob Ryan. It also highlights the importance of digital art and how it has affected the way that illustration is produced.

009

100 IDEAS THAT CHANGED ART www.laurenceking.com Approx £20/$31

This intriguing book looks at how developments in materials and technology have transformed art through the ages. It starts with ancient media like cave and rock art, and progresses through carving, paper, glass, books and more until it gets to digital art and the internet. Like Art in Time, it takes a global view, making it an interesting long read or a fascinating book to dip in and out of.

010

THE 21ST CENTURY ART BOOK

www.phaidon.com Approx £25/$39 The companion to Phaidon’s iconic The Art Book, this tome concentrates on 21st Century artists, rounding up some of the best art made since the year 2000 until now. It concentrates primarily on fine art – installations and performance art are heavily represented. Whereas digital art – perhaps the 21st Century’s most predominant art form – is in short supply.

085

READER INTERVIEW COMMUNICATING A HIDDEN MESSAGE

COMMUNICATING A HIDDEN MESSAGE

WE SPEAK TO ANDREW DOBELL ABOUT HIS LOVE FOR DIGITAL ART AND HOW HIS SKILLS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME

W

When I was at school I wanted to be a comic-book artist, but as I grew up that idea changed and I ended up as an illustrator doing fantasy and horror work. Then when I got into photography, it was a natural transition to want to work on the photos in Photoshop and therefore create digital art.

TELL US HOW YOU STARTED OUT IN THE ILLUSTRATION INDUSTRY? I have always loved drawing, and from a very young age I always knew I wanted to do something art-based.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR STUDIO  WHAT DO YOU DO ON A DAILY BASIS? My day-to-day work is actually wedding photography and illustration, both of which I love, but my passion is creative digital art. I would love to do more photographic compositing, more book covers and movie posters. So these days I’m either out shooting a wedding or event, or sat in my office editing and working.

orks of art often tell stories. Artists can present narratives in many ways and people frequently communicate hidden messages through images. For digital artist Andrew Dobell, it was these stories that originally enticed him into the world of digital art. As a full-time photographer, his passion lies in compositing images that portray a deeper message: “I love when an image suggests that there’s more of a story there, or when they illustrate an event.”

OUR READER ANDREW DOBELL www.creativeedgestudios.co.uk @CreativeEdgeLtd

All images © Andrew Dobell

Shell City: I have always loved cyberpunk and I want to do more of it. The challenge for me in this image was the street scene and adding the lights in the buildings. Learning that technique was a real lightbulb moment.

When I was at school I wanted to be a comic-book artist, but as I grew up that idea changed and I ended up as an illustrator doing fantasy and horror work 086

Immortal Sorrow: I find the vampire legend to be fascinating and it is a great area of inspiration for me. This was fun to do and the glow of the fire was an interesting challenge.

The Awakening: This was done for a CD cover as part of a wider photo and video shoot. Only the figures and tree branches are photos, everything else was painted in by hand.

Brush use: I used the Brush tool to add form to the wall by highlighting the edges.

Dodge and Burn: I used the Brush tool, this time on an adjustment layer, to add the highlights and the shadows.

Custom brush: This smoke is a custom brush. It is great - one click and I have my smoke.

Bullet holes: The bullet holes were created using more custom brush work. Then I used traditional brushes to enhance each one.

087

Gynoid: Turning people into robots is a popular theme for compositors and it was something I was keen to try. The robotic parts beneath the skin were all hand painted.

Photoshop Creative Cloud is a great program and I could not do what I do without it. I just love its versatility and how powerful it is

088

COMMUNICATING A HIDDEN MESSAGE READER INTERVIEW

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR GENERAL IMAGE STYLE? I would say my work is fairly cinematic and dramatic. When I create images, I like to tell a story wherever possible. I love when an image illustrates an event and shows something about the character it depicts. WHICH IMAGE IS YOUR FAVOURITE AND WHY? I have a few favourites. It’s difficult to narrow it down to just one and it’s also something that’s always changing and evolving. One of my recent images, Wasteland Duel, is one I’m very happy with. It is hard to say why, other than that it just came out right – I captured what was in my head, which I don’t always manage to do. Shell City is another favourite, I love cyberpunk and Blade Runner, so that’s probably why I like that one. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT USING PHOTOSHOP CC? Photoshop Creative Cloud is a great program and I could not do what I do without it. I just love its versatility and how powerful it is. There is literally no limit to what you can do with 2D art in Photoshop, and the 3D side is growing all the time and getting better and better too. WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR INSPIRATION? ARE THERE ANY ARTISTS YOU LOVE? I follow a lot of artists and photographers, but to name a few who really inspire me, I have to start with Adam Hughes. He is an amazing comic-book artist with a great sense of humour. His work is always inspiring. Other artists are Sergey Ivanov for his creative wedding photography, Glyn Dewis for his open nature and willingness to share. Steve Thewis, or Digi-Steve is also very inspiring.

Crimson Snow: This image had been in my head for a long time and it was a relief to finally shoot and edit it. The snow was created by one of my own custom brushes.

TALK US THROUGH YOUR WORKFLOW FOR ONE OF YOUR TYPICAL IMAGES? It all starts with the shoot. In many ways this is the most critical part of the process, so I always try to plan what I want to do and what the final image will look like beforehand. After the images have been shot, it’s onto the PC where I start by gathering together all my ideas and shoot stock. I then jump into Photoshop and begin cutting all the images out and placing them around my canvas. I then blend

THEN AND NOW

DOBELL DISCUSSES HOW HE BELIEVES HIS WORK HAS CHANGED SINCE HIS FIRST COMMISSION

them together using the Brush tool and Dodge and Burn for example, to make the whole image fit together as much as possible. WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME? Rich with my own private island somewhere tropical! Well, seriously, I’d love to be doing much more compositing and digital artwork. Maybe doing some more teaching and tutoring too. Release: This image was all about mood, the idea being that the character had lived his entire life underground and this was his first view of the world.

One of the biggest changes to the way I work now as opposed to in the beginning, is in relation to cutting out images – I now use the Quick Selection tool which saves me endless amounts of time. Overall, I think I have improved my general Photoshop skills, which means my images are more complex and there’s often more to them as you can see from the images below.

The Kiss: One of my first ever composite images. As you can see, there is less detail in this image – it was more trial and error.

Soul Eater: A very recent composite. This image has far more detail, lighting and generally tells a story.

089

CREATE YOUR OWN FROZEN TEXTURES LEARN EASY TIPS AND TRICKS FOR CRAFTING ICY TEXTURES TO USE IN YOUR DIGITAL PROJECTS

D

uring these cold winter months, it’s easy to feel your projects wandering into winter wonderlands and sugar plums. Ice is one of the most beautiful and captivating materials found in nature. Creating believable, synthetic icy textures is frequently more difficult than the final textures are worth –

especially considering how easy it can be to create naturally. Adding a few simple ice effects can give a simple photo a chilling twist. Ice textures are relatively easy to capture if you can work quickly enough to photograph them before your ice melts into a puddle. They require very few materials, usually just water and a freezer. It does take a bit

of practice, but having a few good ice textures is extremely useful. In this tutorial, you will learn how to photograph ice in many forms so that it’s applicable to a variety of projects. After trying your hand at creating your very own icy textures, be sure to follow along with our video tutorial on turning them into a digital ice sculpture.

CREATE YOUR OWN FROZEN TEXTURES ON FILESILO

BASIC ICE PHOTOGRAPHY

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH ICE FOR STANDARD ICE TEXTURES

01

PREPARE THE ICE

Get a pan, one that’s fairly large so you can make enough ice to photograph. Pour in a thin layer of water – if the layer is too thick, the ice will be hard to work with.

02

FREEZE YOUR WATER

Freeze the water for a few hours. If you want an interesting edge, tip the pan slightly so the water pools on one side. This will also give you variation of depth to add interest.

03

START TO PHOTOGRAPH

Quickly slide the ice onto a solid black backdrop. Make sure to light it evenly and be careful to avoid glare. Then quickly snap as many shots as you can from directly above.

HOW TO CREATE COLOURED ICE

CREATE COLOURED ICE TEXTURES SIMPLY

01

CREATE COLOURED WATER

Drop a couple of drops of India ink into a pan of water. If you want to use these ice cubes after photographing, use food colouring, but you may need to increase the amount.

02

FREEZE AND CAPTURE

Once it’s frozen, place it on a solid white background and photograph it with as even lighting as possible. Make sure you’re photographing it from above to get a better effect.

03

ADD DETAIL

After photographing the coloured ice, go to Camera Raw and slide the Clarity slider up until you see as much detail as you want. Adjust your other settings so there’s enough contrast to see the texture.

091

MAKE YOUR OWN ICE LETTERS #534/-ď)#%ď#5"%ď42!93ď#!.ď-!+%ď#(),,).'ď,%44%2˶&/2-3

Making frozen letters is an easy task with the right trays. It is much easier to freeze water in the shape you want, rather than shaping it once it’s frozen.

The resulting letter-shaped ice blocks are perfectly shaped, and easy to work with. They do tend to be rather small, so expect that limitation when planning to use them.

The letter-shaped ice trays are easy to use, cost effective and readily available online. Simply fill with water and then put in the freezer for a few hours.

Remember that this is actual ice. It will melt and return to its natural liquid state fairly quickly and bright lighting will speed that process along.

Be prepared for the setting to get wet. If you plan on shooting the ice blocks on a cloth or paper, be sure to have plenty of it to replace the waterlogged pieces.

CREATE YOUR OWN FROZEN TEXTURES ON FILESILO

DIGITAL ICE SCULPTURE

STAY WARM AND CREATE AN ICY CREATION IN PHOTOSHOP Once your ice has been formed, photographed, and processed, it’s time to work it into a digital creation. One application is to use the textures on a digital ice sculpture. The most effective way of doing this is to use one of the 3D models freely available with the program. Go to 3D>Get More

Content for links to download free models. The ice textures can be used in several of the available attributes for the 3D material. Diffuse is the most obvious selection, but also consider the Opacity and bump maps too. First, be sure to create a seamless and smooth tile from the ice textures by using the

Filter>Other>Offset filter to reveal the seams of the tiled texture. Then remove those seams with Content Aware Fill. For a more detailed explanation of how to craft this digital icy masterpiece, check out the corresponding video tutorial on FileSilo.

093

ON FILESILO CREATE YOUR OWN FROZEN TEXTURES

WORKING WITH CRUSHED ICE

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH CRUSHED ICE AS A TEXTURE

ICE BLOCK LETTERS

FROZEN LETTERS

01

GATHER THE ICE CUBES

You will only need one ice cube at a time for this type of crushed ice photography. If you have an ice-maker you can use that too, but you won’t need too much at one time.

03

02

Save time by using our frozen letterforms to create your own icy text. These have been carefully photographed against a dark background, so you can just set the blending mode to Screen and use the textures!

WORKING WITH SHAVED ICE

Set up your camera on a tripod. Then with a knife, shave the ice cube over a black backdrop – you should only need a couple of scrapes and the shards should fall in a general area. Try for different types of pieces too.

TAKE YOUR PHOTOS

Once you have a pile of shavings, quickly photograph them before they melt. Then wipe your backdrop and start again. You should get three or four photos from each ice cube if you work quickly enough.

094

Learn in style

The TM

Series Discover more with the Book series’ expert, accessible tutorials for photography, 3D art, Photoshop, web design and more

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is on sale 22 Jan 2015 from GreatDigitalMags.com

photorealism

Mike Campau Creative Director / Digital Artist WINNER PHOTOSHOP WORLD GURU AWARD 2014 - COMMERCIAL

Client: Lifeproof - www.lifeproof.com

CGI/Digital Art: Mike Campau - www.mikecampau.com

Photography: Tim Tadder - www.timtadder.com

“MODO was the perfect solution for this project. With its realtime preview, I was able to instantly see my lighting and material setups, which was key to blending the CGI with the photography. Plus, its super fast render speeds helped me meet my very tight deadline!”