Everyone loves a fun photo manipulation, it’s the best way of combining two or more of your favorite image to create an abstract work of art. Would you like to improve your skills? Here are 5 great tips for creating amazing photo manipulations in Photoshop and do try our variety of tutorials for any design level!
Pick the Right Photos
Every photo manipulation needs a good set of stocks, but sometimes it’s hard to know what to look for. In order to piece something together you need stocks that work well together. Search for pictures where you can clearly tell what’s going on because cluttered photos never work well with manipulations.
As you practice more, you’ll develop the eye for picking the right stocks, but in the mean time here are some things to look for when picking photos:
Pick stocks with solid white or black backgrounds.
Use pictures with specific themes.
Utilize textures and nature pictures for manipulations.
Pick stocks with similar lighting setups.
Choose photo sets showcasing multiple positions or angles.
Use pictures of people with recognizable emotions, expressions, and poses.
Take Your Own High Quality Images
Anytime you’re working with stock images, quality becomes a really big issue. When you resize a photo, you run the risk of making it look incredibly grainy. And any graininess will automatically make your efforts look bad. Avoid this by starting off with images that are already high quality. If you can’t find the right stock for your setup, simply take your own high quality photos for your manipulations.
Stage your model in the exact position you need. Not only will this add more drama to your manipulations but it’ll make them look ten times better too!
Study Photo Retouching First
The best way to get into photo manipulations is to first begin with photo retouching. Gather a bunch of photos and try things like removing acne, smoothing skin, or changing hair colors. This practice will help teach you how to work with photos before moving onto bigger challenges. When you’re ready to move onto manipulations, start out small. Use the lessons you learned in photo retouching to help you understand general blending and removing eyesores.
Layer Blend Modes Are Your Friend
If you haven’t discovered Layer Blend Modes yet than you’re definitely missing out! Layer Blend Modes allow you to apply cool and interesting effects that help with the realism of your scene. Use Multiply to apply shadows, Overlay to add some light, or try out a wild color effect with Pin Light or Exclusion.
Paint and Draw Onto Your Photos
Don’t forget you can always paint on your photos too! Purchase a graphics tablet to give you greater access to all the pen pressure options available in Photoshop. Then take your tablet for a test drive! Use the Brush Tool (B) to paint more realistic effects onto your photo manipulations.
Photo manipulations are a great way to unleash your creativity! Explore your imagination through this fun and exciting art. I hope you enjoyed this article, let us know some of your favorite tips and tricks in the comments below!
When You Are Feeling Confident, Try These Photo Manipulation Tutorials: