Photo manipulation is an application that allows your creativity to run free. In this tutorial, you will learn how to apply different type of techniques that will make your artistic image stand out even more. The techniques include blending one image with another, adding in different color adjustment layers and… nope, not gonna ruin the whole thing for you. Go ahead and get started on the tutorial.
The software used in this tutorial is Adobe Photoshop CS5 and is for intermediate users.
Before we begin, please prepare the following images :-
Step 1
a) Let’s begin the tutorial by creating a new file on Adobe Photoshop according to these settings – Width: 1680 pixels, Height: 1050 pixels, Resolution: 300 pixels/inch.
b) Open the image entitled ‘Beautiful Young Hippie Woman’ (code: 10727518) and edge the girl out from the image.
c) Once you’re done, move the girl to your working document and name the layer as ‘Girl’.
Step 2
a) Next, we will add extra hair on the first image that we opened in Step 1b. Open the image entitled ‘Beauty Female Face With Long Blond Straight Hair’ (code: 7337523). Select the hair portion on the image and use the ‘Extract Filter’ (Filter > Extract) to edge out the hair. Please refer to the screen shot below.
b) Now, use the ‘Edge Highlighter Tool’ (B) to brush the portion of the hair that you want to use.
c) With the ‘Force Foreground’ option selected, use the ‘Eyedropper Tool’ (I) to sample a color from the hair. This will also select other parts of the hair that contain tones of the same color.
d) When you’re done with that step, clicking the ‘Preview’ button will show you the result of your selection. Then, click OK.
Step 3
a) Now, take the extracted hair portion and place it on the girl’s (from first image) hair.
b) Use a layer mask to brush out portions of the hair that you would like to maintain.
c) Then, change the blending mode of the hair layer to ‘Linear Light’.
Step 4
a) Open the ‘Way In Deep Forest’ image. (code: 10725235), use the ‘Hue/Saturation’ (Ctrl / Cmd + U) function to change the image color and give it an autumn mood.
b) Move the forest image under the ‘Girl’ layer and duplicate it. On the duplicated forest layer, go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur and apply the following settings – Amount: 12, Blur Method: Zoom, Quality: Good. After that, click OK.
c) Set the ‘Hue/Saturation’ (Ctrl / Cmd + U) to -40, with a 55% Opacity.
Step 5
a) Let’s open another image with the title ‘Pink Gerbera Flower’ (code: 8801682). Egde out the image, move it to your montage and rename the layer as ‘Flower’.
b) Put it under the ‘Girl’ layer.
c) Then, select the ‘Hue/Saturation’ (Ctrl / Cmd + U) function and apply these settings ->Hue: +55%, Saturation: +15%.
d) Next, apply the ‘Vivid Light’ blending mode effect to this layer, with a 70% Opacity.
e) Replicate the ‘Flower’ layer and place them at different areas of the montage according to your preference. For a clearer example, you can refer to the screen shot below.
Step 6
a) Now, open the image entitled ‘Single Dry Rose On White Background’ (code: 9571702) and edge out the image of only the flower, without its stalk and leaves. Then, rename it as‘Flower On Face’.
b) Place the edged out rose on the girl’s face, beside her right eye.
d) After that, duplicate another layer and apply a ‘Multiply’ blending mode on both layers. Then, select an Opacity of 80% for the duplicated rose layer (Flower On Face 1).
Step 7
a) On a new layer under ‘Girl’, fill it with the Orange Yellow Color Gradient (G) and name the layer ‘Gradient’. Change the blending mode to ‘Saturation’, with a setting of 45% Opacity.
b) Create another new layer above ‘Gradient’. Paint on the layer with white to simulate a glowing effect behind the girl. Replicate the layer twice. Set the blending mode to ‘Multiply’on all of the 3 layers.
Step 8
a) Again, create a new layer. Use the ‘Elliptical Marquee Tool’ (M) to select a specific part on the image, as shown below, and fill that part with pink.
b) Next, apply a Gaussian Blur effect on the pink section. To do so, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur > 100% > OK.
c) You can also add more colors on different parts of the image. Here, Step 8a is repeated twice with the colors blue and green. Move the layers around and place them anywhere on the image that you find suitable.
These layer settings were applied for each color – Green: 75% Opacity, Blue: 90% Opacity and Pink: 80% Opacity. When that is done, apply the ‘Lighten’ blending mode on all 3 layers. Do refer to the screen shot for clarification.
Step 9
a) In this step, we will open another image entitled ‘Firework – New Year’s Day Celebration’ (code: 12238300). Move it to the top layer of your montage and name it‘Firework’.
b) Apply the ‘Screen’ blending mode to the layer, then mask away parts of the firework that you don’t need. Then, go ahead and replicate, resize, and reposition the firework layer onto other parts of the girl’s hair.
Step 10
a) Create a curves adjustment layer (Image > Adjustments > Curves) above the ‘Girl’ layer, and increase the midtones with reference to the screen shot. Then, fill the layer mask with black.
b) Right click the Curves Adjustment Layer and create a Clipping Mask for the ‘Girl’ layer. Brush out the parts that need more brightness and highlights.
c) Next, create another Curve Adjustment Layer but this time, increase the midtones and brightness even more. Fill the layer mask with black.
d) Then, repeat step 10b to brush the parts that needs an increase in brightness and highlights.
Step 11
a) Now, let’s enhance the image by manipulating the colors with the ‘Selective Color’adjustment layer (Image > Adjustment > Selective Color). You can apply these settings to each of the colors – Cyan: -20%, Magenta: -12%, Yellow: +2% and Black: 0%.
Step 12
a) Next, we will add some glowing effects. As displayed in the screen shot, create a new layer and fill it with white. Apply a layer mask, fill it with black and brush out the areas where you want your glows to be.
b) The result of Step 12a is shown in this example below.
Step 13
a) Then, add a gradient effect to the background. Create a new Curve Adjustment Layer, lower the midtones and fill the layer mask with black.
b) Next, with the curve adjustment layer selected, apply a black and white gradient to the layer.
c) Once you have applied the gradient, the result will be like this, as shown in the screen shots below.
d) Once again, we will use a Curves Adjustment Layer to increase the brightness at the top part of the image. This time, increase the midtones and fill the layer mask with black.
e) Then, apply the Gradient effect, as shown on these screen shots.
Step 14
a) Let’s open the image entitled ‘Star On Space’ (code: 9163765), place it at the top layer of your montage and rotate it vertically.
b) Bring up the ‘Hue/Saturation’ tool (Ctrl / Cmd + U) and key in the following settings –Hue: +130, Saturation: +40.
d) Next, set the layer blending mode to ‘Screen’.
e) To further enhance the image, a few more color layers were added with respective layer blending options applied to them. You may refer to this screen shot for a better understanding.
f) Next, add on another new layer. Fill the layer with black and apply a layer mask to it, also filled with black.
g) Then, brush out the portion on the image that you want and apply a ‘Soft Light’ blending mode to the layer.
Lastly, here you you go… the final outcome of the photo manipulation.
Check out the before and after image.
These tutorial steps are guidelines for you to follow so feel free to apply the settings according to your preference. We hope you enjoyed following the tutorial!
Till next time!
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