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localhero · 07-19-2003, 01:59 AM

Previous thread had reached its half century so time for a new Hints'N'Tips thread.

For those wishing to catch up:
Hints'N'Tips #1 is here.
Hints'N'Tips #2 is here.

We also have an Art School here at DCG with Tutorials specific to creating comic book photomanipulations

You may also want to check out the DCG Support Network. This is a new site, but it will also include hints and tips specific to the problems experienced by DCG artists.

------------------
Cheers, Local
"Is it true what they say about guys with big feet? Yes they do need big shoes."

"So let me fill my children's hearts, With heroes tales and hope it starts, A fire in them so deeds are done, With no vain sighs for moments gone."

See what sort of mood i'm in..

[This message has been edited by localhero (edited 07-19-2003).]

localhero · 07-19-2003, 02:05 AM

"Frosty Effect"

Done using PSP8 but should be transferrable to comparable application.

This is an effect you might be able to use to frost glass.. or people, as I did to Vampire:Spider for Xmas in July. I also used it to create 'sketchy' versions of photos for one of my Hulk theme day submissions.

Starting with a completed manip or suitable base pic:

1: Make a copy of the image (I usually do this by flattening all layers then 'dragging' the single layer from the layer palette onto the PSP desktop, then undoing the layer merge on the original pic)

In the copy image..

2: Promote Background layer to Raster Layer and name it Layer1
3: Colourize Layer1 - Hue 0 Saturation 0 (to get different effects you can alter the hue and saturation levels) to make it black and white
5: Duplicate Layer1 (Name it Copy1) and then use Adjust > Negative Image on it
6: Set Copy1 Layer Blend Mode to Dodge at 100% opacity (at this point the image will look almost empty.. but bear with it)
7: Still in Copy1 Layer use Adjust > Blur > Average with an aperture setting of about 25 (the image will now reappear)
8: Merge the layers

At this point you can use this 'sketch' as a base for coloring or to add some extra drama to your original photo.

9: Drag the merged layer from the layer palette back onto your original image
10: Create a new mask layer set to show all
11: Use any of your available tools to draw mask to hide portions of the image. In the IceMan manip, I used the lasso tool to create an irregular selection following the shape of the body and then filled the mask layer with a black white (top to bottom) gradient fill. I thought this gave the effect of ice creeping up the body.
12: Experiment with all the settings and techniques

It's fun and you never know what you might turn up

------------------
Cheers, Local
"Is it true what they say about guys with big feet? Yes they do need big shoes."

"So let me fill my children's hearts, With heroes tales and hope it starts, A fire in them so deeds are done, With no vain sighs for moments gone."

See what sort of mood i'm in..

localhero · 07-20-2003, 11:41 AM

Another link for the UK artist on a budget, a sizable tablet for a reasonable price:

http://www.gadgetsinc.co.uk/cgi-bin/...U&hit s_seen=0

------------------
Cheers, Local
"Is it true what they say about guys with big feet? Yes they do need big shoes."

"So let me fill my children's hearts, With heroes tales and hope it starts, A fire in them so deeds are done, With no vain sighs for moments gone."

See what sort of mood i'm in..

dperceful · 07-20-2003, 08:39 PM

How to center an object in Photoshop

1) select the layer/object you want to be centered.

2) press Ctrl+A (select all) to select the entire layer.

3) press Ctrl+C (copy) to copy the entire selection.

4) press Ctrl+V (paste) to paste the selection into it's own layer.

5) hey look it's exactly centered.

dperceful

[This message has been edited by dperceful (edited 07-20-2003).]

dperceful · 07-22-2003, 08:48 PM

not so easy skin retouching

this one is an obscure alternative i've seen used for fixing blemishes and youthing up old skin. it doesn't work very well on up close shots and honestly other methods i use work better than this. i do have beginning students who find this method the way to go until i teach them the clone tool or other sking touch up methods.

select the lasso tool

set the feather to 5-10

on your model select an area that is fairly clean. the secret is to select a spot with a visible highlight that way you will have a light source (you will find out why in a minute)

once the are is selected ctrl+c and ctrl+v onto a new layer. to keep track we will call this layer soft skin.

if you turn off your original layer you will see that you have a soft selection of skin.

make a copy of the soft skin layer you just created.

this is where the earlier selection of a highlighted area comes into play. the body will likely have a light source shining on it, you will need to match your selecction up with that light source.

take the copied soft skin layer and position it over a portion that needs clean up. use the transform tool to size and manipulate the copied soft skin layer over the skin your are trying to fix.

you might need to erase a little here and there to match the body.

change the layer mode to overlay or screen and that will clean up the skin by brightening and smoothing out pixels.

once done, rinse and repeat for the entire image.

again, not practical, but i've seen it done.

dperceful

localhero · 07-23-2003, 01:25 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by trekkie:
<B>OK. Colorize may not be a word, but I still need some help. I've got a black and white picture of a guy I want to use in a manip, but the problem is the rest of the pic is in color and it would really suffer if it was all b&w. Is there anything I can do? I'm using PSP. Thanks

</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

ok depending how hard you want to make this for youself..

Method A: Colorize

Press Shift+L to get up the Colorize dialog. The first box let's you select a hue (0 = red, approx 70=green, 150=blue, 200=purple, 255=red(again) think of it as a big color circle), the second box lets you select saturation (0=no color, 255=brightest/deepest color) Mess with the settings till you find a tone you like.

Method B: Multiply & overlay layers
Use either of these color charts to choose your tones here or here

On a new layer set to multiply over your pic, use the brush (or filled selections) to start building up blocks of colors. Use the base pic's shades of grey as a guide to where the dark and light skintones should be. once you are happy with the general feel, use the soften brush to blend the colors together a little. On another layer set to overlay, draw in where the major highlights on the base pic would be using a couple of the lightest tones. Just experiment till you get a look you like. Doing it this way means you can also tweak the lighting to match the rest of you pic.

Once you are happy with either method,merge all your layers and cut out the pieces you want and transfer them to your other pic.

------------------
Cheers, Local
"Is it true what they say about guys with big feet? Yes they do need big shoes."

"So let me fill my children's hearts, With heroes tales and hope it starts, A fire in them so deeds are done, With no vain sighs for moments gone."

See what sort of mood i'm in..

dperceful · 07-23-2003, 07:58 PM

this is for trekkie. i'm not a PSP guy so i just looked up some tutorials real quick. they seem along the same lines as local's advice for the most part.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~willshak/photocolor/
http://www.jasc.com/tutorials/nieuwe...colorizing.asp
http://www.hypergurl.com/colorizingphotos.html

dperceful

dperceful · 08-13-2003, 01:20 PM

great stars and planets tutorials, some of the best i've ever seen. take a look, great work.

makes me want to do a pic with galactus or silver surfer.
http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/

dperceful

dperceful · 08-19-2003, 12:03 AM

i'm going to bump this, somebody has to check out those stars and planets tutorials i linked, they are just plain awesome.

dperceful

dperceful · 08-20-2003, 08:21 PM

told strangefish i would post some painter tutorials. these aren't the ones i was looking for but they are a start.
http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials/14033
http://www.3dluvr.com/content/section/9
http://www.brianbolland.com/gk29/gk29-intro.html

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07-19-2003, 01:59 AM	#1
localhero Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 640	Previous thread had reached its half century so time for a new Hints'N'Tips thread. For those wishing to catch up: Hints'N'Tips #1 is here. Hints'N'Tips #2 is here. We also have an Art School here at DCG with Tutorials specific to creating comic book photomanipulations You may also want to check out the DCG Support Network. This is a new site, but it will also include hints and tips specific to the problems experienced by DCG artists. ------------------ Cheers, Local "Is it true what they say about guys with big feet? Yes they do need big shoes." "So let me fill my children's hearts, With heroes tales and hope it starts, A fire in them so deeds are done, With no vain sighs for moments gone." See what sort of mood i'm in.. [This message has been edited by localhero (edited 07-19-2003).]

07-19-2003, 02:05 AM	#2
localhero Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 640	"Frosty Effect" Done using PSP8 but should be transferrable to comparable application. This is an effect you might be able to use to frost glass.. or people, as I did to Vampire:Spider for Xmas in July. I also used it to create 'sketchy' versions of photos for one of my Hulk theme day submissions. Starting with a completed manip or suitable base pic: 1: Make a copy of the image (I usually do this by flattening all layers then 'dragging' the single layer from the layer palette onto the PSP desktop, then undoing the layer merge on the original pic) In the copy image.. 2: Promote Background layer to Raster Layer and name it Layer1 3: Colourize Layer1 - Hue 0 Saturation 0 (to get different effects you can alter the hue and saturation levels) to make it black and white 5: Duplicate Layer1 (Name it Copy1) and then use Adjust > Negative Image on it 6: Set Copy1 Layer Blend Mode to Dodge at 100% opacity (at this point the image will look almost empty.. but bear with it) 7: Still in Copy1 Layer use Adjust > Blur > Average with an aperture setting of about 25 (the image will now reappear) 8: Merge the layers At this point you can use this 'sketch' as a base for coloring or to add some extra drama to your original photo. 9: Drag the merged layer from the layer palette back onto your original image 10: Create a new mask layer set to show all 11: Use any of your available tools to draw mask to hide portions of the image. In the IceMan manip, I used the lasso tool to create an irregular selection following the shape of the body and then filled the mask layer with a black white (top to bottom) gradient fill. I thought this gave the effect of ice creeping up the body. 12: Experiment with all the settings and techniques It's fun and you never know what you might turn up ------------------ Cheers, Local "Is it true what they say about guys with big feet? Yes they do need big shoes." "So let me fill my children's hearts, With heroes tales and hope it starts, A fire in them so deeds are done, With no vain sighs for moments gone." See what sort of mood i'm in..

07-20-2003, 11:41 AM	#3
localhero Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 640	Another link for the UK artist on a budget, a sizable tablet for a reasonable price: http://www.gadgetsinc.co.uk/cgi-bin/...U&hit s_seen=0 ------------------ Cheers, Local "Is it true what they say about guys with big feet? Yes they do need big shoes." "So let me fill my children's hearts, With heroes tales and hope it starts, A fire in them so deeds are done, With no vain sighs for moments gone." See what sort of mood i'm in..

07-20-2003, 08:39 PM	#4
dperceful Have a sip of my "special" cocktail. Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,760	How to center an object in Photoshop 1) select the layer/object you want to be centered. 2) press Ctrl+A (select all) to select the entire layer. 3) press Ctrl+C (copy) to copy the entire selection. 4) press Ctrl+V (paste) to paste the selection into it's own layer. 5) hey look it's exactly centered. dperceful [This message has been edited by dperceful (edited 07-20-2003).]

07-22-2003, 08:48 PM	#5
dperceful Have a sip of my "special" cocktail. Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,760	not so easy skin retouching this one is an obscure alternative i've seen used for fixing blemishes and youthing up old skin. it doesn't work very well on up close shots and honestly other methods i use work better than this. i do have beginning students who find this method the way to go until i teach them the clone tool or other sking touch up methods. select the lasso tool set the feather to 5-10 on your model select an area that is fairly clean. the secret is to select a spot with a visible highlight that way you will have a light source (you will find out why in a minute) once the are is selected ctrl+c and ctrl+v onto a new layer. to keep track we will call this layer soft skin. if you turn off your original layer you will see that you have a soft selection of skin. make a copy of the soft skin layer you just created. this is where the earlier selection of a highlighted area comes into play. the body will likely have a light source shining on it, you will need to match your selecction up with that light source. take the copied soft skin layer and position it over a portion that needs clean up. use the transform tool to size and manipulate the copied soft skin layer over the skin your are trying to fix. you might need to erase a little here and there to match the body. change the layer mode to overlay or screen and that will clean up the skin by brightening and smoothing out pixels. once done, rinse and repeat for the entire image. again, not practical, but i've seen it done. dperceful

07-23-2003, 01:25 AM	#6
localhero Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 640	<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by trekkie: <B>OK. Colorize may not be a word, but I still need some help. I've got a black and white picture of a guy I want to use in a manip, but the problem is the rest of the pic is in color and it would really suffer if it was all b&w. Is there anything I can do? I'm using PSP. Thanks </B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE> ok depending how hard you want to make this for youself.. Method A: Colorize Press Shift+L to get up the Colorize dialog. The first box let's you select a hue (0 = red, approx 70=green, 150=blue, 200=purple, 255=red(again) think of it as a big color circle), the second box lets you select saturation (0=no color, 255=brightest/deepest color) Mess with the settings till you find a tone you like. Method B: Multiply & overlay layers Use either of these color charts to choose your tones here or here On a new layer set to multiply over your pic, use the brush (or filled selections) to start building up blocks of colors. Use the base pic's shades of grey as a guide to where the dark and light skintones should be. once you are happy with the general feel, use the soften brush to blend the colors together a little. On another layer set to overlay, draw in where the major highlights on the base pic would be using a couple of the lightest tones. Just experiment till you get a look you like. Doing it this way means you can also tweak the lighting to match the rest of you pic. Once you are happy with either method,merge all your layers and cut out the pieces you want and transfer them to your other pic. ------------------ Cheers, Local "Is it true what they say about guys with big feet? Yes they do need big shoes." "So let me fill my children's hearts, With heroes tales and hope it starts, A fire in them so deeds are done, With no vain sighs for moments gone." See what sort of mood i'm in..

07-23-2003, 07:58 PM	#7
dperceful Have a sip of my "special" cocktail. Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,760	this is for trekkie. i'm not a PSP guy so i just looked up some tutorials real quick. they seem along the same lines as local's advice for the most part. http://www.frontiernet.net/~willshak/photocolor/ http://www.jasc.com/tutorials/nieuwe...colorizing.asp http://www.hypergurl.com/colorizingphotos.html dperceful

08-13-2003, 01:20 PM	#8
dperceful Have a sip of my "special" cocktail. Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,760	great stars and planets tutorials, some of the best i've ever seen. take a look, great work. makes me want to do a pic with galactus or silver surfer. http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/ dperceful

08-19-2003, 12:03 AM	#9
dperceful Have a sip of my "special" cocktail. Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,760	i'm going to bump this, somebody has to check out those stars and planets tutorials i linked, they are just plain awesome. dperceful

08-20-2003, 08:21 PM	#10
dperceful Have a sip of my "special" cocktail. Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,760	told strangefish i would post some painter tutorials. these aren't the ones i was looking for but they are a start. http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials/14033 http://www.3dluvr.com/content/section/9 http://www.brianbolland.com/gk29/gk29-intro.html