Author: 2gabriels2

Last week, a “cheat” technique I posted from Steve Caplin’s  How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed. showed how to make President Obama go bald.  In this next tutorial Caplin redresses the hair deficit by teaching his readers how to create a bearded Obama, as seen in the following images sequence:The first step to beard creation is fashioning a brush, which is accomplished by using a small soft brush to make a group of squiggly lines that looks somewhat like a tuft of hair.  Then, to turn the squiggles into a brush, choose Define Brush Preset from the edit menu.  When the Brush Presets Panel opens, the newly created brush will be displayed. The default brush will create a dense line.  For realistic looking hair the brush must be adjusted for Shape Dynamics and Color Dynamics. This enables the bush to make a more random, spaced pattern when used for drawing your beard.

Using my new brush, I went to work. First, I gave Obama the full-beard treatment, as shown in the middle image above. To me,  he looks more like a baseball player than a politician.  In the right panel, I used a layer mask to sculpt his beard. But, instead of using the typical soft-edged brush, which would leave an unnatural edge, I followed Caplin’s instructions to employ the very same brush used for creating the beard to create the mask. My result looks more realistic, but still not exactly presidential.

Beards and Stubble
In the next tutorial Caplin shows his readers how to create a short,  stubbly beard as seen in the following image pair:

This technique uses Gaussian Noise and Radial Blur to create the stubble effect, followed again by a layer mask.  Doesn’t the beard make him look much tougher?

Regardless, I discovered that this technique, along with the previous one, also came in handy for designing the fur for the monkey statue as seen in Friday Challenges – The Problem of Fur, and again in this week’s Friday Challenge, which will be posted at a later date.

The Aging Process
For the final tutorial of this post, let’s consider another common graphics challenge: aging. Caplin  teaches his readers how to first to turn a 40-something woman into a senior citizen and then make her look even more youthful than before:

For the elderly image, creating the hair grey was a simple matter of generating a new layer set to Color and then painting on it over the hair with either a black or a white brush. This  de-colorized the hair.  Next, facial lines and bags were developed by creating another new layer set to Hard Light. Colors from the darker parts of the face were sampled and a low opacity brush was used to build up the shadows on the cheeks, under the eyes and on the neck.  Finally, the whole image is desaturated using a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer to get rid of the youthful glow.

In the youthful panel, the process is even simpler. The Healing Brush tool was used on the original image to get rid of the mouth lines and the eye bags. Now if it were only so easy to take 20 years off of a real face!

Next: Heads and Bodies – Part 5

At the end of my last blog post I stated that Steve Caplin,  author of How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed., had an additional “cheat” for dealing with hair.  Well, your wait is over! In this post I’ll not only cover that cheat but also a third cutout technique and a Photoshop magic tutorial.

Flyaway Hair Solution
Most of the time an image from a royalty-free site will have the subject’s hair cutout just inside the hair edge, which produces a clean cutout, but also looks unnatural even on a white background as seen in the left image from the pair below:

In the real world, as we all know, hair just isn’t perfect, even on a good hair day! So, what’s needed is some flyaways. In the above image, the flyaway effect was created with the Smudge tool. First a small splatter brush was used to pull out sections of hair. Then, to pull out single strands, a small, soft, round brush was used.  Next, the image is placed in front of a complex background and, viola, “perfect” hair.

Cutting Hair with Refined Edge
As in my last post, Heads and Bodies – Part 2, for this lesson Caplin revisits using Refine Edge,  a technique he introduced all the way back in Chapter 1 – Natural Selection, where the subject was a cat’s fir. This time, its the wispy hairs from the late German actress, Barbara Rudnik as seen in the following panel:

The Rudnik cutout is a particularly tricky because her hair is close in tone to the original background. However, by using the Refine Edge dialog box, all those wispy hairs are captured.  On a white background, it’s obvious the image isn’t perfect. But, against a more complex scene, Rudnik and her hair look very natural.

The Problem of Hair Loss
The title of this tutorial sounds like a late night infomercial on hair restoration.  However, Caplin’s readers are doing just the opposite.   This technique has real-life application as   the best quality image of a subject is often an older one and the person no longer looks like the picture.  With Photoshop magic we can make an image look up-to-date as follows:

Granted, in reality Obama has gone gray, and not bald, but you get the idea.  However, Obama’s high, clear forehead makes him an ideal subject for practicing this technique.  By copying the President’s forehead, moving that copy upwards and then adding a layer mask, Obama goes from fuzzy to cue ball.

Next: Heads and Bodies – Part 4

This blog post chronicles my progress learning new Photoshop skills from the book How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed., by Steve Caplin, and my Friday Challenge submissions to the Forum linked to the book.

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As discussed in Heads and Bodies – Part 1, Chapter 8 contains a wealth of employment uses. And, the next tutorial even demonstrates a significant value of Steve Caplin’s How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed: expanding on techniques learned previously. This was a failing of my previous two courses on Photoshop. In those courses, a technique would be introduced by never used it again.  Not so with How to Cheat in Photoshop!

Slouch-Away
In Chapter 8 Caplin revisits Puppet Warp, which you’ll recall from the post Transformation and Distortion, back in Chapter 2.  This time, Puppet wrap is used to help with straightening posture as seen in the following examples:

 The key to making the slouchy teenager stand up straight placing the first set of pins on the major joints, where someone would naturally bend.  In this case, the pins were placed on her shoulders hands and midriff.  The next pin is placed on the neck and pulled upward, which makes the chin look deformed. Fortunately, moving the shoulder pins up restores the chin’s appearance. Next, a pin is placed on the model’s right clavicle and pulled up slightly to straighten the shoulders. Then, the pin on the hands is dragged to the left slightly to correct the tilting hips. Finally, a pin is placed on the sternum and pulled slightly up and to the right.  Now, if only it was as easy to fix a teenager’s attitude!

Body Banishing
Part 1 of this post discussed switching heads, but head substitution doesn’t always do the trick. Sometimes a person needs to be removed completely.  While this sort of thing has been going on almost since the beginning of photographic images, it is much easier to do in modern versions of Photoshop:

To remove Matt Damon, Caplin instructs readers to select George Clooney, plus the background and sky from where Clooney’s hair parts all the way to the right of the image. The selected features are then moved to the left until Clooney covers up Matt Damon. Next, Clooney is then scaled so that he is in proportion with Brad Pitt.  Finally, the lower half of Clooney is selected and stretched so that he now reaches the bottom of the page.

Beyond Banishing Bodies
I found the Damon-removal tutorial all well and good, but I’ve been asked in the past to swap out one person for another.  I decided to try using the techniques learned so far with this image by swapping out Damon for the Dali Lama.  Using a Google Images search, I located the original image of the Dali Lama,  below. On the right are my results:

First, I removed the microphone from the Dali Lama image.  Then I desaturated the image so it would match the Pitt/Clooney photo. Finally, I straightened the Dali Lama’s posture and gave him a sterner appearance so he now looks like he’s joking around with Pitt.  I also did a little clone stamping in the composite image to cover up the parts of  Damon that were sticking out behind the Dali Lama.

Then, I posted the composite image to the How to Cheat forum in the “Problems and Solutions” section.  Here is Caplin’s response:

Very nicely achieved! I like the way you’ve tilted the head back and removed the microphone – but especially, I like the way you’ve desaturated the new image to match the background. Very good work!

“Very nicely achieved” AND “very good work” – well, now that is progress!

A Hairy Situation
The final tutorial of this post introduces another technique for creating realistic hair cutouts, which is one the trickiest tasks in Photoshop.  In this tutorial Caplin uses the background eraser, but he cautions the technique works best if the hair is photographed against a plain, preferably white background, and even then it’s not easy as discussed regarding the image pair below:

If the original image had been cut out and then placed on a light and/or complex background, the job it would have been a much more straightforward selection.  A light, varied background will hid the light tinge at the edges of the hair caused by being photographed against a white background.

However, sometimes the hair cutout will go on a dark, plain background.  In this case, the light tinge needs to be dealt with so the cutout looks like it belongs in the new image.  Caplin suggests using the burn tool set to Highlights or the Clone Stamp tool, or even a combination of the two, to darken the light edges of the hair so the cutout looks as if it belongs in the new image.  He also suggests there is another cheat but leaves that for the next tutorial – as will I.

Next: Heads and Bodies – Part 3

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Welcome back! This chapter, number eight, in How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed, by Steve Caplin has a wealth of employment uses.  Companies frequently take pictures of their staff to use in promotional materials. But what to do when one of those staff members leaves and the company now needs a new person in the photo?  With Photoshop, it’s possible to swap out heads in a believable way, or even remove one person and add another.  This chapter has tutorials covering these workaday techniques.

Making the Head Fit
The subject of this tutorial is simple swapping of one head for another, in this case the tennis player Nicole Vaidisova with Anna Kournikova.  In the following image panel, note how the end bit of Kournikova’s pigtail is peaking out behind Vaidisova’s back in the Combined image, which is subtle but key to creating a realistic affect:

It’s easiest to swap heads that have been photographed from similar angles.  Here, the smooth transition is created by using a layer mask and then painting out the highlight under Kournikova’s chin.

Complex Head Attachment
In the previous example the skin tones were similar between the two images.  Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case.  Mostly the skin tones don’t match, faces are obscured by objects, the lighting is different, image sizes are dissimilar and/or the grain of the images may be different. In this tutorial Caplin teaches how to address all these concerns.

Besides scaling Gates head to fit, his skin tones needed to be adjusted using a Curves layer mask.  Then, I copied the microphone and placed it on a new layer above the Gates head layer so it would be in front of his face, as in the Eric Clapton original image. Finally, the lighting effects and the grain of the original image needed to be added to the Gates head layer.  Now Gates looks like a rockin’ dude!

Combining Body Parts
Sometimes Various body parts need to be combined to achieve the proper look.  Here’s how it’s done in the following humorous tutorial:

Note the differences in skin tones between the three components.  Again, I matched these using Curves adjustment layers.  In addition, the woman’s torso was subtly rotated and all three parts were blended together where they joined using layer masks. While the subject matter makes the result an obvious composite, it’s easy to see how these techniques can be useful for shuffling employees – or even refreshing an executive who is sporting a modernized hairdo.

Next: Heads and Bodies  – Part 2

In this, the last of the posts on Chapter 7 of Steve Caplin’s fantastic book How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed., I’m going to cover 3 “special effects” tutorials.

Explosive Effects
In this tutorial Caplin shows how to make a fireball by starting with a white shape.

First, the rays are pulled out of the shape using the Smudge tool. The he blotchy colored effect is created using the clouds filter and setting the layer mode to Linear Light.  When the resulting shape is placed on an appropriate background, it really comes to life.

Neon Lights
In this tutorial Caplin shows how ordinary block text can be turned into a stunning neon sign.  It’s the technique I used to create the flashing neon banner for this blog.

First the text’s corners are rounded using the Refine Edge Dialog box. Then the neon tubes are created by selecting the text, making a new layer and creating a stroke by using Edit/Stroke (NOT Layer Effects). Once the Stroke is created, the original text layer is hidden and all the rest of the work happens on the Stroke layer.  Small portions are erased, to mimic the look of the tubes on a real neon sign. Then the inner glow is created by using Select/Modify/Contract and adding a white fill. The outer glow is produced by making a new layer behind the Stroke layer. The Stroke’s pixels are loaded by control-clicking on the layer’s thumbnail.  The new layer is used to feather the selection and then filled with the same color as the Stroke. Finally, a background is added and the effect is complete.

Day Into Night
In the final Chapter 7 tutorial Caplin shows how a daylight scene can be turned into a nighttime one, as seen in the following image pair.  This is the same  technique I used to create my submission for the Friday Challenge: The Rear Window.

First, the original sky was removed.  As you can probably guess, Curves Adjustment Layer Masks feature prominently in this exercise – not only to darken the whole scene, but also to create the lit windows and the street glow.  Learning how to use Curves Adjustment Layer Masks is one of the most useful tools I picked up from Caplin’s book.  (See Throwing Some Curves with Image Adjustments – Part 1)

Next: Friday Challenge 4 – A Procession, A Woodworking Shop and A Beach Hut

A special effect is the highlight of this section in Chapter 7 of How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed. But, first, author Steve Caplin teaches three different shading techniques for skin tones, all of which are now staples in my repertoire.

Dodge and Burn
Although my CS3 course had a tutorial on using the Dodge and Burn tools, they were only for restoring old black & white photographs.  Using the tools on skin tones is trickier, but can have very satisfactory results.  Just one critical note: these tools permanently change an image.  Once done, and the image file closed, the changes cannot be undone.  So, definitely  work on a duplicate of the original layer, just in case someone decides they don’t like the outcome.

As for the technique, Caplin suggests making  using low opacity brushes along with a combination of both the Dodge and Burn tools, set once to highlights and once to midtones.   In the image pair below I used Caplin’s technique to create a more striking appearance:

The image on the left was photographed with neutral lighting.  As Caplin instructed, I added  subtle shading and highlights for a more visual interest.

Adding Some Drama With Light Modes
In this tutorial Caplin shows how three light modes  – Hard Light, Soft Light, and Overlay – can produce a Hollywood-style lighting effect.  Much as theatrical lighting creates drama by using colors, Caplin suggests using various color and light mode combinations to do the same for still images.  In the pair, below, I used his techniques to create the image on the right from the neutrally lighted figure on the left.

Using a dark blue shade for the shadows, a purple one for the midtones and an amber shade for the highlights, Caplin shows how each combination looks with the three different light modes.  The image I created on the right uses Soft Light mode for a muted effect. However, by using Hard light for one or more of the layers, a more dramatic effect can be attained.

Reversing Shading With Curves
The next technique is one I’ve use over and over again in Friday Challenges.  When combining different images to create a new composite, more often than not the images will have different light sources.  A sure sign that an image has been produced by combining two, or more, separate images is having lighting that appears to come from different directions. Such inconsistent lighting is a common error. So common that Caplin frequently dings people for it in his critique of their Friday Challenge submissions.

However, correcting lighting issues has many real-work applications.  For example, creating a balanced image of an individual such as U. S. President Barack Obama:

Using curves layers, I created to both the neutral in the center and the right lit image of Obama, on the right, from an image that was originally lit from the left. By using Curves as an adjustment layer mask, instead of working directly on the image, the shading can easily be adjusted if you need to go back and do so.

Smoke Without Fire
Now, for the special effect I told you about. In this tutorial, Caplin teaches readers how to realistically add smoke.  Again, using layers in different light modes and the Clouds filter to add texture, Caplin created an image with a lot of smoke billowing from all the stacks in the version he used in How to Cheat in Photshop.  It’s my experience that refineries, at least around here, tend not to  produce copious amounts of smoke during daylight hours so as not to enrage the public.  Thus, my image is more subdued:

Next: Light and Shade – Part 4: Explosions, Neon and Day Into Night.

If Steve Caplin had stopped at creating relatively simple shadows in How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed., it would have been far more than most people learn from most Photoshop books.  Luckily, he continues with the art lessons, giving readers increasingly  complex shadow skills. As the great Renaissance painters taught us centuries ago, it’s correct shadows that ensure images look realistic.

Stacking the Deck
Making a stack of cards could require as many layers as cards, but Caplin teaches otherwise as seen in this example:

The original card looks flat and unrealistic.  Note how adding a shadow under each card makes the stack look three-dimensional.   It would be a clever trick, as is. However, Caplin goes further by explaining how to create the whole stack on one layer, thereby making a much smaller file. He also teaches readers how to use QuickMask mode along with the Levels control dialog box to get rid of unwanted shadow areas.

What’s more, Caplin doesn’t just use this technique once and never come back to it.  Nope. In Chapter 10 How to Cheat in Photoshop readers use this technique to create realistic shadows for a stack of bills being cut by a meat cleaver.  But, more on that when we get to Chapter 10.

A Basket of Shadows
When objects are grouped together they will cast shadows on each other.  In the following tutorial Caplin shows how to use Hard Light layers  and the Burn tool to create editable shadows, while making the image  look as if it its a photo of basket filled with toys rather than a photo that’s been altered to include a bunch of images of toys:

First the ball, book and blocks layers are selected. A new layer is created in Hard Light mode and filled with 50% grey.  However, since grey is invisible in Hard Light mode, the Burn tool is used on it’s layer, instead of the actual objects, to create the shadows.  Note how realistic the basket on the right looks compared with the original.

Lighting Effects
When trying to convey a lamp lighting a dark room, the light must be hyper-realistic.  A lit lamp just doesn’t look like the example on the left, below:

The original image was created using three layers.  Caplin demonstrates how, using QuickMask mode, to selectively blur the light and paint on the shadows. On the right, the image now looks as if the light had been turned on in a dark room.

Turn the Lamp On
The next example was an earlier Friday Challenge that Caplin incorporated into the 6th edition.  The challenge was to make a table lamp in a room lit by daylight look as if night had fallen and the lamp had been turned on.

Again,  I am thankful I did not have to work on this challenge without the instructions! Since everything was originally on one layer, it turns out that all of the elements must be copied to separate layers before the light can be added to create the desired effect. On the right is my nighttime lamp with the light “turned on.”

Next: Light and Shadow – Part 3

Two of the most important, and often overlooked, elements in a good photomontage are the shadows and the light source.  Here, again, my CS3 coursework failed me.  The CS3 textbook used only had one sentence on shadows in a three-paragraph section on how to make combined images look more realistic.  And, the course didn’t talk at all about light sources  at all.

Steve Caplin,  on the other hand, wrote 15 tutorials on the subject in his book, How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed. Again, because I learned so much in this tutorial, I am splitting it up into several parts. 

Basic Shadowdry
The simplest shadows to create are along the ground and up walls.  In the first tutorial of Chapter 7 Caplin discusses fast and easy ways to create this effect. In the image below a simple shadow is added to the floor to make the two element image look more realistic.

Note how in the image on the left the boy looks like he was photoshoped into the room because he appears to be floating just above the floor.  On the right, just the addition of the shadow places the boy firmly on the floor and in the room. Following Cpalin’s instructions I created the shadow  simply by duplicating the boy, filling that copied image with black, reducing the opacity, transforming the image and then adding a slight gradient so that the shadow would appear to fade as it got further away from the boy.  A bit of black shading was also added with a soft brush at a low opacity underneath his shoes.

The foregoing technique works fine if there is a large section of ground space.  However, subjects have an awful habit of appearing closer to the wall.  Caplin demonstrated how to do this in the second half of this tutorial as seen in the image pair below:

Once again, on the left the boy appears to float in the room, he’s just closer to the wall this time.  To remedy the situation, Caplin instructs his readers to use the Rectangular Marquee tool to select the top half of the shadow, where it meets the wall, and then transform the selection so that it has the proper vertical. Note how much more realistic this looks in the image on the right.

 Tricky Ground Shadows
Images don’t always allow for shadows to be created using the previous technique.  Sometimes due to the light source, or light levels, the shadow needs to be made only from part of the image.  The following image pair demonstrates:

In the right image, the shadow was created by making a selection of just the bottom part of the toaster. To complete the shadow, the same process of creating a new layer, and filling it with black at a reduced opacity, was used.

Sometimes a shadow has to be created from scratch, as it were, by painting it in. This is seen in the following image pair:In the image on the right, first a shadow was painted directly beneath the clock and then one was painted behind the clock.

 Complex Shadows
The next tutorial came from a previous Friday Challenge and, judging by the 26 images from submissions, no one got it completely right.  I’m glad I wasn’t part of the forum at that time!  This would have been very tricky to figure out:

In order to create the shadow in the right image, Caplin instructs to first select the lenses, make a copy, fill them with black, and then reduce the opacity by using the Fade dialog box.  Next, he instructs adding to the selection the sunglasses frame and filling it with black.  Now comes the trick. Instead of trying to transform the sunglasses shadow as a whole, Caplin instructs his readers to separate the glasses into  three pieces: the frame with lenses, the far bow and the near bow.  Then, transform the pieces separately.  However, he also says to discard the near bow shadow and make a duplicate of the far bow. This is because the light source is from the side and it would be easier to get the correct shape using a duplicate of the far bow.  As I said before, I am thankful I wasn’t a forum member for this challenge.

Light From Windows
Instead of shadows, light is the focus of the last tutorial from Caplin’s book I’m going to discuss in this blog post, using the following images:

The image on the left is perfectly respectable and looks like something out of an interior design magazine. On the right, the added light as if coming from out doors that throws window pain shadows makes the room look as if something dramatic is about to happen. Will Philippa receive Alistaire’s letter in time to prevent her from marrying Harold? Will Reginald’s love for Fiona ever be returned? And, what about Naomi?

Next:  Light and Shade – Part 2

Finally, we have come to the end of Chapter 6 in How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed., by Steve Caplin.  Next week I promise more Friday Challenges.   However, there’s still more perspective to learn so let’s get to it.

Vanishing Point Filter, Part 1
This filter is something unique in computer software. It allows for a two-dimensional image to be moved, copied, and cloned in three-dimensional perspective.

While I can’t say my CS3 course didn’t mention this nifty filter, I can say it didn’t get much coverage.  In fact, the only mention was a call-out box saying there was a filter that could be used for correcting the perspective of an object with multiple planes, such as adding a duplicated window to a building:The original image in the upper left has lots of planes but none of them are square on.  In the Chapter 6 tutorial, Caplin shows his readers how to clone the upstairs window in perspective.

First, the perspective grid is set up, using the Vanishing Point Filter, as seen in the upper right image.  Next, the marquee tool is used to  select the window, as seen in the bottom left image.  Then, pressing the shift and Alt keys enables a copy of the window to be dragged to the left in perfect perspective.

Vanishing Point Filter, Part 2
Even more amazing, is that the perspective grid can be dragged to the side of the building.  This enables the window copied, in perspective, to the side of the building too:

As seen on the left, the perspective grid is dragged around the corner. Then the window is duplicated using the same technique as before and dragged to the side of the building. On the right, Caplin has instructed the reader to insert an image file of graffiti, however this same technique could be used to add a logo or other image to a building.

Cropping in Perspective
Sometimes, instead of creating or manipulating perspective, you simply want to get rid of an existing perspective. It turns out the crop tool has a perspective check box. It turns an image that is in perspective at an angle to be cropped so that the angle is removed as seen below:

Originally, the picture was photographed at an angle to keep the flash from creating glare on the glass.  The right image shows the perspective angle is removed after checking the perspective box on the crop tool and adjusting the crop boundaries accordingly.

A Piece of Cake
In the final tutorial of Chapter 6, Caplin once again uses a past Friday Challenge image.  The Challenge was titled “A Piece of Cake” because Adobe had sent Caplin a cake on the 20th anniversary of Photoshop.    Below is the original image and how I completed it:

The Challenge then, and in the tutorial, was to cut into the cake and show it with a piece missing.  While Caplin did not supply the interior of the cake slice for the tutorial ( I searched for a suitable one online) he did supply the directions. This was far more assistance than the forum members originally received for this exercise, proving its sometimes wise to wait for the second slice.

Next: More Friday Challenge Fun

Last time I discussed how to determine simple and complex perspectives for images built “from scratch” as demonstrated in Chapter 6 of the book, How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed. To recap, the chapter teaches artistic lessons, not just software functionality. In this post, we’ll take things several steps further.

Correcting Perspective
Below, How to Cheat author Steve Caplin demonstrates correction of a two-element street scene consisting of a truck and its background:

At the top left, the original image looks “photoshopped” because the truck is not in the same perspective as the rest of the image. To create a realistic image, first  the perspective lines for both the background(red) and the truck (yellow) are applied. Additionally, there is a green the horizon line.  Note how the vanishing points (where the two red lines and the two yellow lines intersect) are very different for the truck and the background.

On the bottom left, the truck’s perspective lines are brought into alignment with the background’s lines using Free Transform.  Unfortunately, there is still a big problem with this image.  While the front of the truck is in perfect perspective with the background, the back of the truck looks completely distorted.  To remedy this, just the back end of the truck was selected and Free Transform applied, with a shadow added underneath the truck.  In the finished image on the bottom right, the truck looks like it belongs on the street.

Fixing Wide Angle Objects
Sometimes an element would be fine if it were in the front of a composition, but looks unnatural when in the back. Here, Caplin uses a car to demonstrate:

By using Free Transform and Image Warp the car can now be placed farther back in the image.

Using Existing Perspective
In the previous post I discussed the importance of the horizon. However, most of the time an image doesn’t have a clear horizon.  When that is the case, look for hints in the image to figure out the perspective.  For this tutorial Caplin used an image drawn from an early Friday Challenge entitled “Open the Door:”

In the top right image, the door is removed and the perspective inferred by Caplin using the bookcase on right wall (red lines) and the table, picture frame and skirting boards on the left wall (green lines).

On the bottom left, I added a hallway image I found online, transforming to fit the perspective lines Caplin provided in the book.  Then, I worked on the door. I cutout the door panels, added frosted glass, the narrow side and the hardware. Finally, I added a shadow behind the door.

The bottom right shows the completed image, without the perspective lines.

Boxing Clever: Doubling Up
For the next lesson Caplin uses a cash box to demonstrate how to increase the height by making a copy and placing it in perspective on top of the original. The technique can be used to increase the size of any rectangular object, such as an office building:

From the original image at the top left, the box is duplicated and the copy dragged directly above the original.  The sides and top of the box are then cut apart and put on separate layers, as seen in the middle image screenshot. Next, as seen in the bottom left image, the box components are individually adjusted to fit the perspective of the bottom box by using Free Transform.  The bottom right image shows the completed, double-height box.

While it’s clear Chapter 6 has much to offer, there’s still more perspective to be gained.

Next: Getting Into Perspective – Part 3

Although my earlier CS3 course covered the mechanics of creating images, in Chapter 6 of How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed.,  author Steve Caplin gives readers important fundamentals in art. These lessons make the difference for creating truly realistic images.

Like chapter 5, Caplin begins chapter 6 with an instructional tutorial, rather than a hands on lesson. But, a very important lesson in perspective it is.  Incorrect perspective is high up on the list of errors for Friday Challenge submissions.   Caplin’s Golden Rule is:

“The horizon is always at the same height as the eyeline of the viewer.”

While I had certainly heard of perspective, it was previously only a vague theory to me. Thus, I found this chapter highly instructional.

Introducing Vanishing Points
Before Caplin’s book if I heard the term “Vanishing Point” I thought of a 1997 movie starring Viggo Mortensen.  I knew the term had something to do with perspective but didn’t know what it meant. Caplin gives a very good lesson in both how to determine the vanishing point and the use of repeat transformation as seen in the following series of images:

In the top left image, the tops and bottoms of the store fronts make natural perspective lines.  In the top right image the perspective lines (red) have been added and the horizon line (green) has been calculated by drawing a horizontal line (hold down the shift key and drag horizontally) from the point were the perspective lines cross back to the left side of the image.  Note how the people’s heads in the background are intersected just as in Caplin’s rule.

The bottom left image shows the added elements (security guard and first row of the shutter). They are duplicated in perspective by using Free Transform repeatedly.  The bottom right shows the completed image.  Caplin did provide the shutter element in the exercise, but the technique he used to create it isn’t explained until Chapter 12.

Two Point Perspective
When I was in grade school I used to spend time in class doodling boxes.  I didn’t know how to create them in perspective and sometimes they came out looking more like crushed boxes.  In this tutorial Caplin shows how to box up a cow realistically and create a Damien Hirst-style image.

In the original image, besides the cow and one side of the box, Caplin also provides a nice clear horizon to help his readers create the perspective lines.  In the top right image, the perspective lines have been drawn and turned into a selection and filled. This is because copies of the side of the box will need to be distorted along the perspective lines using Free Transform and paths must be turned into objects or they will distort too. This is an important fact to remember because the final Chapter 9 tutorial requires making another Hirst knock-off. However, in the later tutorial the reader not only must draw the perspective lines, but the sides of the box must also be drawn as well.  The bottom image shows the cow neatly boxed up.

Three Point Perspective

If I had heard the term “three point perspective” before this tutorial, I would’ve thought it had something to do with an op-ed piece in a newspaper.  Not so. When an image you need to create isn’t at “street level,” that’s when you need to use the three point perspective technique.The left image demonstrates the type of perspective lines that need to be drawn.  Since the angle is now off the actual horizon, the verticals in the image will no longer be straight up and down.  An additional vanishing point is needed either above the object (if it is being viewed from below) or below it (if it is being viewed from above).  The right image shows the completed box as if it were being viewed from one of it’s top corners looking down.

That’s enough for now. As this chapter was so full of new concepts for me, I’m splitting it into three posts. Nest time I’ll cover correcting the perspectives when combining elements into one image. Stay tuned!

Next: Getting Into Perspective – Part 2

As discussed in the previous post, Chapter 5 of How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed., is more about learning than doing – at least compared to the chapters that come before. The first three tutorials provide valuable information about working with figures (the human kind, not numbers).

Urban Farming
In the fourth tutorial of Chapter 5, Caplin finally provides an exercise to work on. In this case, he explains that just placing a figure in a background is rarely convincing.   To make figures look like they actually belongs in an image, it’s usually necessary to have the figures interact with the background in some way. Take this image:On the left, the farmer looks artificially inserted. On the right, notice how the farmer looks much more convincing. Not only is the farmer behind the fence, his feet are in the grass (instead of on the grass) and the pitchfork he’s holding is now on the other side of the fence.  In addition, the background is blurred, using a gradient, to give the image more depth.

Making it Work
When you’re trying to get a message across in an image, you’d think the best way to do so is by making it the most prominent item. However, that in-your-face approach is about as subtle as a slap, and frequently less effective.  Instead, adding other elements can draw the viewer’s attention to the right spot: On the left, the sign with the message is in perspective with the rest of the image and it’s the most prominent feature. But, due to the perspective, it appears to be pointing towards the statue in the background.  Very distracting.  On the right, the background is moved and blurred and a figure added (which, according to the book, is a picture Caplin himself). Now the focus of the image is clear.

In the Driver’s Seat
The final tutorial in Chapter 5 involved placing a figure in a car.  It seems like this ought to be an easy enough. But,  there’s the windshield and the interior of the car to deal with.  Caplin shows how, in nine steps, to take car from empty to occupied (and appearing to be driving down the street, too):The first few steps cover removing all of the glass, including the sides and rear windows.  Next, a new interior, driver and steering wheel with a hand are added.  The car and new driver are then placed in another background that matches the perspective of the car.  The windshield and other windows were added by painting diagonally, in white, with a soft-edged brush set to a low opacity. Finally, the car was recolored by filling a new layer with blue, using the car as a clipping mask and then erasing the parts that didn’t need to be colored and a shadow added underneath. I could have also fixed the dent in the hood, but if someone makes it a habit of speaking on his mobile phone while driving, he probably has a few dings on his car.

Of course this exercise is drawn from an older project of Caplin’s. In a modern photo, the man would be texting. But, that project will have to wait for another day…

By the way, for the American audience, the driver seems to be on the wrong side of the car.  Keep in mind that Caplin is from the UK.

To summarize these last two posts: the Chapter 5 tutorials offer far more lessons on the art of photo montage than all of the content in both of the books used by the curriculum in my previous graphics courses.  So, don’t skip the first three just because there aren’t any exercises to work “on.”

Next: Getting Into Perspective

In How to Cheat in Photoshop, 6th ed., Steve Caplin doesn’t just provide tutorials on how to use the software. He also spends considerable time explaining the art of creating a good photomontage.

For example, of the six tutorials in Chapter 5, the first three don’t present any exercises.  Instead, each tutorial contains valuable information about positioning figures in a scene, combining figures and varying the positions of the figures in association with one another to create relationships between them. In addition, the discussion includes the subtle effect of eye contact – or lack thereof – and how it can alter the entire meaning of an image.

Ascending the Mountain
Below is an illustration of the importance of placement. On the left, the climber has his goal in sight.  On the right, there is still a daunting challenge in front of him:

It’s All Relatives
Next up, combining figures for good storytelling:

On the left, the two individuals are not relating to each other at all.  For all we know, they could be two people at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change.

In the center, with both individuals flipped horizontally and the addition of the man’s hand on the woman’s shoulder, we now have a picture of a proud, but perhaps protective, father and his affectionate, albeit somewhat stroppy, daughter.  (For you Americans in the crowd, the British term “stroppy” roughly translates as ill-tempered. Caplin, is after all, British.)

The image on the right tells a completely different story.  Although it’s still a father/daughter story, the daughter is separating herself from her father as all children eventually will. For his part, Dad is showing concern, possibly due to his daughter’s growing independence.

The Eyes Have It
In the next three images, the only thing different is the placement of the eyes. But what stories they tell!

On the left, the gentleman is clearly happy about winning the trophy he’s holding, but the woman is non-committal.  In the center, the man looks as if he can’t believe the trophy is his, while she looks totally bored.  On the right, he’s looking to see whether winning the trophy might win her as well. Her expression, on the other hand, reveals he hasn’t got a shot.

Even though there wasn’t an image to work on in any of the above examples, skipping them would have meant losing out on some valuable lessons on image composition.

Next: Composing the Scene – Part 2