Thank you for joining me for this brief tutorial. Today we're learning about blending image composites, also known as "making collages look good."
Let's get started and see what Photoshop User Magazine writer, Colin Smith, says about the topic.
Let's get started and see what Photoshop User Magazine writer, Colin Smith, says about the topic.
"Whenever you create a collage of images from different sources, they can sometimes look a little fake because of slight variations in color and tone. Maybe you're combining photos taken under varying lighting conditions and at different times of day, as well as adding 3D objects and illustrations--these can all look a little bit different. A trick I use to pull everything together is to create a Solid Color adjustment layer at the top of the layers stack in the Layers panel. I then change that layer's blend mode to Color and reduce its Opacity. All of this results in a more matched-looking color to the entire composition. It also adds a bit of mood."
Article by: Colin Smith
Photoshop User Magazine -- Photoshop Tips -- Pg. 111
May/June 2013
Composite by: Brian Sheets
23/May/2013
23/May/2013
To start out, of course, I read through the text to get a feel for what I could expect of it. Colin's example was a composite of a cloudy sky, two airplanes, and a farm. Not wanting to be a copycat, I chose to composite a car and a model. My inspiration? My son was watching Disney's "Cars" this evening, and what better to decorate a car with than an attractive model?
Knowing I was going to be displaying my work, I chose a model with a difficult background just to show off my skills a bit more. One of these days I'll do one of these tutorials on Selections for you.
So I had the car and the model chosen. Some of the things I had to take into consideration, on top of Colin's mention of color, tone, and lighting, were varying file sizes, pre-existing crops, and angles.
Before beginning to follow the instructions in Colin's tutorial, I made the following adjustments:
• Gradient Mask above and below the car
• Circular gradient from the center of the
• Magic Wand selection of the model
• Resize of the model
• Puppet Warp to get the model's position to better match the shape of the car
From there, I proceeded to apply the Solid Color adjustment layer, changed the blend mode, and reduced its opacity. Then, to finish it off, I cropped the image and saved it as a JPEG.
Thanks, again, for taking the time to learn and play with Photoshop.
If there's a topic you'd like us walk you through, please leave a comment. You can also follow the "Contact Us" link at the top of the page to send me a private request.
Knowing I was going to be displaying my work, I chose a model with a difficult background just to show off my skills a bit more. One of these days I'll do one of these tutorials on Selections for you.
So I had the car and the model chosen. Some of the things I had to take into consideration, on top of Colin's mention of color, tone, and lighting, were varying file sizes, pre-existing crops, and angles.
Before beginning to follow the instructions in Colin's tutorial, I made the following adjustments:
• Gradient Mask above and below the car
• Circular gradient from the center of the
• Magic Wand selection of the model
• Resize of the model
• Puppet Warp to get the model's position to better match the shape of the car
From there, I proceeded to apply the Solid Color adjustment layer, changed the blend mode, and reduced its opacity. Then, to finish it off, I cropped the image and saved it as a JPEG.
Thanks, again, for taking the time to learn and play with Photoshop.
If there's a topic you'd like us walk you through, please leave a comment. You can also follow the "Contact Us" link at the top of the page to send me a private request.
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