Tutorials

Adding Texture To A Picture

By: CindyLew

From: CindyLew’s Studio ●http://CindyLewsStudio.Blogspot.Com

Adding Textures to your photos in Photoshop is like creating a Collage in Mix Media work. When you add layers to your collage you add them with Gel Medium, Texture Paste, or whatever your choice of adhesive is to layer one thing on top of the other to create your Collage. With Textures in Photoshop, you use the mouse and various Textures added on top of each other, along with changing the Blending Mode to make the desired effects. You can also use different Filters, Photoshop Brushes, Shapes and various other tools within Photoshop to change the dynamics of your photo (more tutorials coming). You can add Photos on top of Photos and create a Montage; the possibilities are endless and all you have to do is have the basic idea of how the program works and you will be off and creating in no time. Just think of it as using your mouse and features in Photoshop as your canvas and brushes and you will learn to create photos that you never dreamed possible.

To acquire your own textures you can scan or photograph your own, or check out sources like Flickr: http://www.flickr.com  or Deviant Art: http://www.deviantart.com for literally thousands of free textures that you can use in your work. The textures that I am using today are from Deviant Art. You can just type in Textures in the search box and download them to your computer. I would make a folder named “Textures” and save all the textures in one place, that way you will always know where they are. I am going for a vintage/grungy look, so I will use the “Vintage Textures” that I downloaded from - http://www.smashapps.org/2009/07/42-free-photoshop-textures.html

A couple of things about how I do step by step directions:

When you see the “quotes around something”, you will know that is a step that you need to take. I usually try and number them also, so you can keep track. I will also do screen shots of how to do it, but remember; your screen may look a little different than mine.

In the future I hope to do videos, but I am waiting for the software to arrive that I ordered and then of course the learning curve to figure out how to use it and edit the videos. But hope it will be soon.

Adding Texture To A Picture

Open Photoshop or Photoshop Elements… I will just use PS from here on out for ease. I am using Photoshop CS5 so if it looks a little different then what you have that is ok, it will still work the same way.

Downloading the Texture:

Download the pictures/textures to your computer so you can use the same pictures I am using and get the same results. After completion of the tutorial go back in and change the blending modes to see how each blending mode changes the image. To download the pictures/textures you will need to right click on the “texture 3.jpg, texture 5.jpg and the sunflower.jpg picture” (right side of mouse) &; “Save Picture as”: You do not need to rename them but I would save it on your desktop so you can easily find it. Flip your dropdown menu at the top of the screen and select “Desktop”&; Click: Save”.


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Sunflower

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Texture 5

Directions:
Open the pictures:

1.     “File>;Open, (browse out to the desktop or wherever you saved the pictures) “Click&>;Open. Open all three pictures: Sunflower, Texture 3 &; Texture 5. Make sure all three pictures are open before you begin.

2.     When I bring in a photo from the Internet I usually take off the background lock and make it a layer of its own. To do this, you can double click on the word “Background” in the “Layers Palette”. A box will come up asking you if you want to make this picture a “New Layer” &; Click>OK”. That will take the lock off and allow you to make any change you want to the picture. Click on the “Sunflower.jpg” picture. Double click on the “background” lock: “Click OK” when the box comes up. You can name it if you would like. I typed in “Sunflower”, which names the layer.

3.     Click on the “Move Tool” in the “Tool Bar” (the first tool). Select “Texture 1.jpg” Click anywhere in the middle of the “Texture 1” picture. Hold the mouse down and drag it into and on top of the “Sunflower” picture and release the mouse. Move the “Texture” around until you see parts of the texture that you would like to show in the picture. You can do this by moving the “Texture” around with your mouse; make sure the “Move Tool” is still selected. When you do this you will only see the texture. If you see the Sunflower, look in the “Layers Palette” and make sure you can see both of the “Icons” and drag the texture to the top layer. To do that, just click on it and hold down with the mouse and drag it to the top.

4.     Click on the drop down menu in the “Layers Palette” to change the “Blending Mode to Multiply”. The “Texture” is larger than the “Sunflower” picture, so just move it around until you like the texture that is showing.

5.     Click on the “Opacity” drop down arrow and slide it to around “60%”. This will lighten up the “Texture” and give the image a vintage look.

6.     Do the same thing with “Texture 2.jpg”.  Click on the “Move Tool” in the “Tool Bar” (the first tool). Select “Texture 2.jpg” Click anywhere in the middle of the “Texture 2” picture. Hold the mouse down and drag it into and on top of the “Texture 1” & “Sunflower” picture and release the mouse. Move the “Texture” around until you see parts of the texture that you would like to show in the picture. I used the top left hand portion of the “Texture 2” picture as shown because I liked the grunginess in the corner of the picture.

7.     Click on the drop down menu in the “Layers Palette” to change the “Blending Mode to “Overlay”.  The Overlay feature lightens the image. Try different Blending Modes to see how they interact with each other. You can move the layers to different effects.

8.     Click on the “Opacity” drop down arrow and slide it to around “75%”. The will lighten up the “Texture” and make the “Texture” more transparent.

9.     I renamed the layers by double clicking on layer in the “Layer Palette” and renaming them and saved the project as a “PSD” file: “Click File>Save As>“Sunflower.psd”, which is the format for Photoshop. You always want to save the file as a “PSD” when you are done so you can get back to the original and make changes if you want too later.  If you only save it as a “JPG” (photo format) you cannot get back to the layers and therefore you cannot make changes to the picture. Trust me……….. I have done this, which means if you want to make changes you will have to recreate the whole thing over again.

10.    Once you are happy with the way the photo looks you can save it as a “JPG”: “Click File>Save As> (flip the drop down and click on the “jpg” format) Sunflower.jpg”.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial and you learned something. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Love, Light, & Harmony ~ CindyLew

Photo Merge Tutorial

Merging Two Photos Together Using the Gradient Tool

This will just be a quick and easy way to merge two photos together using the Gradient Tool.

BY: CINDYLEW

FROM: CINDYLEW’S STUDIO ●HTTP://CINDYLEWSSTUDIO.BLOGSPOT.COM

I have had several requests to show how to make a collage using various pictures. This process can be used for many reasons; pretty much anytime you would like to combine pictures together this process can be used. I think out of all the tutorials I have come up with; creating a Collage has to be the one my high school students like the most, so I hope you enjoy it also.

I picked a set of pictures that are easy to find, however, I will provide the pictures for you to complete the tutorial. Please note that these pictures were taken off of the Internet and they are not mine, but the tutorial is created by Me (Cindy Lew’s Studios); so please do not reproduce or distribute the tutorial. After completion use pictures of your own so there will be no copyright issues to worry about on your blog or website.

 A COUPLE OF THINGS ABOUT HOW I DO STEP BY STEP DIRECTIONS:

When you see the “quotes around something”, you will know that is a step that you need to take. I usually try and number them also, so you can keep track. I will also do screen shots of how to do it, but remember; your screen may look a little different than mine.

Downloading the Pictures:

Save the pictures to your computer so you can use the same pictures I am using for this project.  You may want to make a folder on your desktop to save the work in; that way you will know where everything is. You can just right click on the desktop and go to “New”>Folder: Name the folder and start saving:-). To download the pictures you will need to click on the picture first so it comes up in a window of by itself; right click on “PICTURE 1 AND PICTURE  2,” (right side of mouse) > “Save Picture as”:  Save the pictures in the folder or on your desktop.

Picture 1

Picture 2

1.      Open Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, if you are using Elements use it in full edit mode… I will just use PS from here on out for ease. I am using Photoshop CS5 so if it looks a little different then what you have that is ok, it should work the same way.

2.    Open the pictures: “File>Open: Go out to where you saved the pictures. Open both pictures”.

3.   Create a new document: “File>New: Make the document 1100 pixels X 1100 pixels, 72 Resolution and Background Content as White”. “Click OK, when you have made all the selections”.

4.    Use the “Drag and Drop” method to get the pictures into the blank document. “Click on the move Tool” “Click and hold down the mouse and drag” each picture into the “Blank Document”. “Arrange them in the blank document as shown below”.

5.    When you make your own picture make sure to check the size of the pictures. They should be close in size so that when you merge them there are no issues with the border. You will always need to do some cropping after you are done. But checking the size up front may save you time later.

6.    You can check the size by either right clicking on the top bar of the photo as shown, or go to “Image>Image Size” that will bring up a box showing you the size of the picture.

7.     Make sure the “Ocean-Picture 1” is overlapping the “Drift Wood-Picture 2” as shown, about half way down. Otherwise the white from the Ocean Picture will make the Gradient come out looking funny. If you don’t get it right the first time, just pull the “Gradient Box” from the Layers Palette to the trash can and make a new “Gradient” and start over again.

8.    Once you have both photos set up in the “Blank Document”. Click on the top layer (ocean) to make it active. Click on the “Layer Mask Icon” at the bottom of the Layers Palette; a white box will show up next to the picture.

9.    Click on the “Gradient Tool” on the Tool Bar. It might be under the “Paint Bucket”. If so, just click and hold the mouse down until the pop-out screen comes up and select the “Gradient Tool”. After clicking the “Gradient Tool” the “Click to edit the Gradient” box will show in the “Options Bar”. Make sure that the “Linier Gradient” is selected. Click the “Edit Box” and the “Gradient Editor Box” will come up with different Gradient Options.

10. Click on the third one over “Black to White” and Click “OK”

11.    Make sure you are clicked on the “Layer Mask” (white box) and then click on the Gradient Tool and click and hold down the mouse as shown in the picture. Do this 3 times as shown in about the same area as the arrows. If you have problems with it, either you can undo the by clicking “Edit>Undo” or “Ctrl  Z”.

12.   Click and drag from the bottom up as shown by the arrows. That will make the pictures blend into each other.

13.   After that you are done. Hope you enjoyed the Tutorial. I have another more detailed Collage Tutorial that I am working on, so that will be up soon.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial and you learned something. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Love, Light, & Harmony ~ CindyLew

Creating a Collage/Montage

BY: CINDYLEW

FROM: CINDYLEW’S STUDIO ●HTTP://CINDYLEWSSTUDIO.BLOGSPOT.COM

I have had several requests to show how to make a collage using various pictures. This process can be used for many reasons; pretty much anytime you would like to combine pictures together this process can be used. I think out of all the tutorials I have come up with; creating a Collage has to be the one my high school students like the most, so I hope you enjoy it also.

I picked a set of pictures that are easy to find, however, I will provide the pictures for you to complete the tutorial. Please note that these pictures were taken off of the Internet and they are not mine, but the tutorial is created by Me (Cindy Lew’s Studios); so please do not reproduce or distribute the tutorial. After completion use pictures of your own so there will be no copyright issues to worry about on your blog or website.

The following is a list of techniques you will
learn while completing this Tutorial:

·       Saving In .PSD and .JPG

·       Creating A Blank Document

·       Using The Move Tool To Drag & Drop Images

·       Rearranging Layers In The Layer Palette

·       Excepting Changes By Clicking the Check Mark (Tick)

·       Creating Layer Masks

·       Making Changes To The Layer Mask

·       Using The Brush Tool

·       Using The Free Transform Tool or (Ctrl + T)

·       Adjustments To Color Using the Hue & Saturation

·       Changing The Settings In The Layers Palette

·       Renaming Layers In The Layers Palette

·       Learning To Use Textures and The Blending Mode

·       Changing The Opacity On Images

·       Adding Font/Text To The Project

 A COUPLE OF THINGS ABOUT HOW I DO STEP BY STEP DIRECTIONS:

When you see the “quotes around something”, you will know that is a step that you need to take. I usually try and number them also, so you can keep track. I will also do screen shots of how to do it, but remember; your screen may look a little different than mine.

I cannot stress this enough!!!!! When working on a project that is this complex you want to make sure you save as you go along. I cannot tell you how many times I have lost everything I have worked on for hours just because I did not save as I was working. So from the beginning, Go To: File>Save As> and save the project with whatever name you choose. But ALWAYS save it as a .PSD file first and as you are working. So it will look something like “Project.psd”. Once you have done the “File>Save As: the first time you can always just use the “Short Cut” keys to save, which is “Ctrl  S”. That way you are saving as you go and you will not lose any of your work. You will always need to save in the .PSD format so you can get back to your “Layers” to make changes. Otherwise, as a .JPG, you can only see the picture, not the Layers.

Creating a Collage/Montage

Downloading the Pictures:

Save the pictures & texture to your computer so you can use the same pictures I am using for this project.  You may want to make a folder on your desktop to save the work in; that way you will know where everything is. You can just right click on the desktop and go to “New”>Folder: Name the folder and start saving:-). To download the pictures/texture you will need to click on the picture first so it comes up in a window of by itself; right click on “PICTURE 1, PICTURE 2, BOOKS, FLOWER, BACKGROUND, and TEXTURE” (right side of mouse) > “Save Picture as”:  Save all the pictures and texture in the folder or on your desktop.

1.      Open Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, if you are using Elements use it in full edit mode… I will just use “PS” from here on out for ease. I am using Photoshop CS5 so if it looks a little different then what you have that is ok, it should work the same way.

2.   Create a new document: “File>New: Make the document 900 pixels X 600 pixels, 72 Resolution and Background Content as Transparent”. “Click OK, when you have made all the selections”.

3.    Open the pictures: “File>Open: Go out to where you saved the pictures. Open all of the pictures and the texture”.  So you should have 7 images open and the blank document that you created.

4.    Use the “Drag and Drop” method to get all of the pictures into the blank document. “Click on the move Tool”  on the Tool Bar” .  Click and hold down the mouse and drag each picture into the blank document individually. “Arrange them in the blank document as shown”. Don’t drag the “Texture or the Flower” over yet, just the pictures, books, and the background. You can minimize the Texture and the Flower for now, so it is not in your way, or close it until you need it.

5.    I rotated “PICTURE 1.jpg” to face in the other direction. It just makes all of the pictures fit together better with it facing the other direction, so it is up to you if you want to rotate it or not.  To Rotate: “Click on PIC 1.jpg” to make it active. From the “Menu Bar” at the top, Go To: “Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal”. You will also need to resize it to fit the screen as shown. While PIC 1.jpg is still active; Go To: “Edit>Free Transform”. A bounding box will come up around the picture. Hold the “Shift Key” down and with your mouse drag the top right corner of the picture in and down. Once you have it the size you want it you will have to hit the “Enter” key otherwise you will not be able to do anything else until you have accepted the change.

6.    Whenever using the “Free Transform” or (Ctrl  T) for the shortcut, you will always have to hit enter to except it or click the “Check Mark” at the top of the screen in the “Options Palette”.

7.     Before you start blending the pictures, make sure they are in the order as shown in the “Screen Shot”. The top layer is the picture in the front of all the other pictures, as the bottom is behind all the pictures. To change which layer they are on, just “Click” and hold down the mouse and “Drag” the picture to the top or whatever layer you want it to show up on. (I hope this makes sense to you) Because sometimes “Layers” can be confusing, but it is one of the most important aspects of using Photoshop correctly. If in doubt, always make another layer (another tutorial).

8.    Now that you have all the pictures in place you will need to start blending them together. For this, we will use a “Layer Mask” on each layer. Before you begin make sure you can see your entire screen, if you need to zoom out a little so the whole screen is visible. That way you will be able to see how each layer should be blended into the next one.

a.    You will notice that when you click on the layer mask the colors in the color picker turn to black and white. The secret of Layer masks: Depending on what the settings are, the color”WHITE”  shows or reveals the image AND the color “BLACK”  hides or masks the image (We’re talking about the image on which the layer mask is applied, not the layer below it).

b.    You can use the “ Left & Right Bracket Keys” above the enter key to make the brush smaller or larger. It will make it much easier to switch from one size to another rather than going up and changing the size from brush palette.

9.    Make sure you are clicked on “Pic 1”, the main picture. Click on the “Layer Mask” Icon at the bottom of the “Layers Palette”. A white box will show up next to the picture icon. When you click on the Layer Mask Icon it will automatically change the color palette for the “Foreground and Background” to “Black on White” Black being the Foreground color and White the Background color. That is what makes the process work.

10.  Click on the “Paint Brush” on the “Tool Bar”. Select a “Soft Round Brush” (kind of looks like it has a halo around it). Make the size of the brush anywhere from “80 to 100 pxls and the “Hardness to 0%”. Make sure the “Layer Mask” is selected (click on white box) and start painting around the outer edge of the picture (hold the mouse down and go around the edges). The edges will start to disappear. Do not paint too much at one time, or take too much away at one time. If you do, you can always do one of the following: Use “Ctrl   Z” to undo it, or use your “History Palette” and click up until you get some of the picture back. Or……… You can switch the color palette from “Black on White to White on Black” and paint over the parts that you want to show up.  Remember “White” reveals and “Black” hides. Go around the picture until all the edges are gone: As shown.  I went around the edges with a size “10 pxl Brush” so I could get the detail of the flowers and other parts of the picture.  Don’t worry that you can see so much of the background, when you add the texture some of that will go away and make everything blend better. You do not have to make the mask perfect because in the end a lot of it will blend in.

11.     For now, turn off the picture of the “books” so you can see the whole picture of the flowers and the can that they are in. “Click the Eye Icon” to turn off the picture. Click on “Pic 2”, the yellow flowers. Click on the “Layer Mask” Icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette. Click on the “Paint Brush” on the “Tool Bar” and start painting. All the settings should have stayed the same, but if you see “Black” strokes instead of the picture disappearing, just undo (Ctrl  Z) and click on the “Layer Mask Box- “White Box)” and start painting to remove unwanted borders again.

12.   I already made the “Books”  Transparent so you do not have to use the Layer Mask on them. You can just resize them by using the “Free Transform Tool” or “Ctrl  T” to make them fit as shown.

13.   Click on the “Flower.png” picture. Drag the flower into the main document. Use “Ctrl  T” to transform the flower and make it smaller to fit in-between the two main pictures. When using the “Free Transform Tool” hold down the “Shift Key”, that will keep the picture in proportion as you are resizing it.

14.   I placed two of the same flowers in the main document by dragging the picture of the flower in twice. When you do this it makes a layer of its own, so you do not have to worry about creating a layer to put them on.

15.   I changed the color of one of the flowers by using the “Adjustments”. If you want to change one of them also: From the Menu Bar - Go To: “Image>Adjustment>Hue & Saturation” and put in the numbers as shown on the “Screen Shot”, “Click OK” when you have made the changes. I turned the flower yellow, but you can change it to whatever color you want buy moving the “Hue” slider.

16.   Check your screen to make sure you have all the Layers in the correct order; if they are not, click on the Layer and drag it to the correct position (click on the layer and hold down the mouse and drag up or down). I labeled most of the Layers so it would make it easier for you to see which Layer is which. You can do that by “Double Clicking” on the word “Layer” next to the picture and typing in the name when the little box comes up. It is a good idea to do this because if you have a lot of Layers it will help you keep track of them. I also have my layers on the “Large Setting” so it is easier for you to see the picture that we are working on. You can change the size of the “Icon Settings” by “Right Clicking on the actual “Picture Icon” as shown and choosing the setting that is best for you.

17.  Now you can either leave the picture the way it is or make a few more changes to it to make it look more “Vintage Looking”.

18.  Now for the “Texture”. I used the same Texture twice on this project. If you do not have the “Texture.jpg” open, go ahead and open it now. Drag it into the Collage: Select the “Move Tool” and hold down the “Shift Key” while dragging it into the main document, it will place the picture in the correct position so you do not have to move it around. If you don’t use the “Shift Key” you will just have to move it around and make it fit the screen. That is just a little trick, no need to use it if you do not what to. Click and drag the “Texture Layer” to the “Top Layer” in the “Layers Palette”, so it is at the very top of all the pictures. Click on the “Blending Mode” dropdown and select “Soft Light”. Take the “Opacity” down to around “40%” or whatever looks good to you.

19.  Click and drag another copy of the “Texture.jpg” into the main document again. This time drag it to the bottom of the screen, just above the “Background Layer”.  Click on the “Blending Mode” dropdown and select “Soft Light”. Take the “Opacity” down to around “70%” or whatever looks good to you. You can try different “Blending Modes” out and see how they look. The “Soft Light” gives it a softer more blurry look, while the “Overlay” gives it a brighter look. Really the possibilities are endless in what you can do with “Textures” and Blending Modes” together.

20.            Now is when you can go back and tweak the pictures a little. If you want to move them around a little, or if you need to remove more of the picture, make sure you click on the “Layer Mask” (White Box). Check to make sure the “Background/Foreground colors are “Black on White” and click on the “Paint Brush” and remove or add too. To add too, switch the “Background/Foreground” colors to “White on Black”.

21.  I made the following changes to the “Collage”.……Click on each Layer and make the changes to the “Opacity” on each picture individually.  Picture 1: “Opacity”= “95”, Picture 2: “Opacity”=“95” also, The Books: Opacity=”85”, The “Yellow Flower” or “Flower 1”: “Opacity=”84”, and The “Pink Flower” or “Flower 2”: “Opacity=”80”.

22.             You are done, so if you have not saved yet, do so now. First save as “Collage.psd” and then go back and do “File>Save As: “Flip the dropdown to .JPG and save as”: “Collage.jpg”. The “.JPG file” is the file you will upload to your “Blog or Website”. Never upload a “.PSD”, the file size is way too large. You save your file to work on in a “.PSD Format” and you save your file as either a “.JPG, .GIF, or a .PNG File Format for your site. GIF and PNG gives the pictures transparency, which means you can see through the picture. Like the “Flowers”.

23.             I almost forgot that I put “Text” in. I will do another Tutorial on Text and how you can make changes to the way it looks, but for now. “Click on the “Text Tool” in the Tool Bar. “Click” one time in the document and start typing. It does not matter what “Font” it is at first, just “Type In” what you want and you can back and change the “Font Style” and “Size” when you are done. Click the “tick” to select it. You can move the Text around with your mouse by clicking on the “Move Tool” and just moving the text to desired location on screen. When making a Logo for you Blog or Website you would probably make the dimensions more like “900 pxls X 300 pxls”. It is really up to what size you have your blog set to that is the deciding factor on the width.

24.             Make sure you save as a .PSD file when you are finished with the tutorial. After saving as a .PSD go back and do save again as either a .JPG, PNG, or GIF file..  I will do a tutorial on the different file formats available to you for picture and the difference for the web and for printing in the future.

25.              I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. I know there is a lot to learn in this so take your time and enjoy the outcome. The possibilities are truly endless once you have learned these steps. You can always go back and repeat the tutorial again so it becomes a little easier to understand the process.