With many possible permutations of film stock and processing technique, there is no single, identifiable, cross-processed appearance. The most common combination is C-41 as E-6, in which slide chemistry is used to process color negative film, and it’s a quick job to imitate it in Photoshop. Image contrast is usually high with blown-out highlights, while the shadows tend toward dense shades of blue. Reds tend to be magenta, lips almost purple, and highlights normally have a yellow-green color cast.

As for subject matter, try fashion or portraiture, but there’s no need to restrict your imagination. I chose an elegant outdoor portrait shot — the skin tones and red lipstick look especially striking in cross-processed images.

STEP 1
With the original image open, click the “Create new fill or new adjustment layer” icon in the Layers palette and select Curves. From the Channel drop-down box, select the Red channel and drag the top right of the curve a little to the left. Then drag a couple of points on the curve so that it forms a very gentle S — darkening the shadows and brightening the Red channel’s highlights.

TIP
To save your curve to a file on your hard drive, just click the Save button. Applying the same cross-processing adjustment to other images is a simple matter of loading it with the Load button in the Curves dialog box.

STEP 2
Select the Blue channel and drag the curve’s top-right point downward. It doesn’t need to be much — just enough to take some blue out of the highlights. Then drag the curve’s bottom-right point up a little, blocking up the Blue channel in the shadows.

STEP 3
In the Green channel, add another gentle S curve — increasing the contrast, especially in the highlights.

STEP 4
Fine-tune the channel curves to suit your image, but leave the combined RGB curve untouched. Focus on the color balance rather than the contrast, which you can fix later, in step 6.

STEP 5
Blown highlights are a common — if not always welcome — characteristic of C-41 as E-6 cross-processing. They should result from the contrast-increasing curves used in steps 1–3, but in Photoshop it’s possible to eliminate them if you wish. Try changing the Curves adjustment layer’s blending mode to Color and the image will combine the color shifts with the image’s original luminosity.

STEP 6
If you need to fine-tune the image contrast, add a Curves adjustment layer and set its blending mode to Luminosity so it doesn’t cause any further color shifts.

STEP 7
Another optional final step is to add a yellow color cast to the picture. In the Layers palette, click the “Create new fill or new adjustment layer” icon and choose Solid Color. Select a yellow-green and click OK, then reduce the new layer’s opacity — 10% is as much as you’ll need.

FINAL IMAGE
This image was digitally captured and had daylight white balance. In Photoshop you can simulate 1980s-style cross-processing and add the film rebate (border) — another typical affectation of the era.

Ref: http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/or/cross-processing.html

STEP 1
Use the Marquee tool to select one part of the image and then use Ctrl/Cmd + J to copy it into its own layer.

STEP 2
Click the Layers palette’s “Add a layer style” icon and select Inner Glow. Set the blending mode to Multiply and increase the size and reduce the opacity.

STEP 3
To give the new layer a different angle, Ctrl/Cmd + click the layer in the Layers palette to select its non-transparent pixels. Choose Edit > Free Transform and stretch the layer by dragging any of the bounding box handles. Alternatively, rotate it by moving the cursor just outside the corner and dragging when the cursor changes into a curved, two-sided arrow.

STEP 4
To skew the layer, hold down the Ctrl/Cmd key and drag a corner when the cursor changes to a solid arrow. When the layer shape looks right, double-click inside the bounding box or press the Enter key.

STEP 5
In the Layers palette, activate the original image layer again and repeat steps 1–4 until all the image areas have been abstracted into layers. Once you’ve defined your layer style, as in step 2, you can Right/Ctrl + click the layer in the Layers palette and copy the Layer Style. Paste the style to other layers as you create them.

STEP 6
Consider adding some text with the Type tool (T) or using the Custom Shape tool (U). Photoshop ships with musical notes in a set called Music. Select a shape and drag it over the image.

STEP 7
Another nice touch is to vary layer blending modes and opacity. The impression of the musical note was created by using the Multiply mode and a 10% opacity.

STEP 8
At any point you can double-click the layer in the Layers palette and change the Layer Style. Experiment with Pattern Overlay and other modes. If you want to use your chosen style on other layers, remember that from Photoshop version CS2 you can to use the Shift and Ctrl/Cmd keys to select and target multiple layers.

STEP 9
Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Check Colorize, adjust the sliders, and click OK. The layer can be positioned anywhere in the layer stack so it affects the layers below it.

STEP 10
You can add more than one Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Each has a cumulative coloring effect, but you can restrict the effect by painting a layer mask with black. Making sure it remains the active layer, hold Shift + Ctrl/Cmd and click other layers to build a selection, and then fill it with white.

FINAL IMAGE
A very ordinary photograph has been transformed into a Cubist image by slicing the original into 25 layers and applying a variety of Layer Styles.

Ref: http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/or/cubism.html

And here’s how it will look after applying our watercolor painting effect:

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer Three Times

With the image newly opened in Photoshop, if we look in our Layers palette, we can see that we currently have one layer, the Background layer, which contains our image:

We need to create three copies of the Background layer, so use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) three times to duplicate the Background layer three times. If we look again in our Layers palette, we can see that we now have four layers, with the original Background layer on the bottom and three copies above it:

Step 2: Turn Off The Top Two Layers

On the far left of each layer in the Layers palette, you’ll see a small eyeball icon. This is the Layer Visibility icon, and it determines whether or not the layer is currently visible in the Photoshop document. When the eyeball icon is visible, it means the layer itself is visible. Click on the icon for the top two layers in the Layers palette to temporarily hide them from view inside the document. When you click on the icon, it disappears, letting you know that the layer is no longer visible:

Step 3: Select “Layer 1″

With the top two layers temporarily hidden from view, click on “Layer 1″ in the Layers palette to select it. You’ll know which layer is selected because the currently selected layer is highlighted in blue:

Step 8: Change The Layer Blend Mode To “Screen”

With “Layer 1 copy” still selected, go up to the Blend Mode options once again in the top left of the Layers palette, click on the down-pointing arrow to the right of the word “Normal”, and change the blend mode for the layer to Screen:

Your image should now look something like this:

Learn Photoshop with Photo Effects Tutorials at Photoshop Essentials.com!

Step 11: Change The Blend Mode Of The Top Layer To “Soft Light”

To complete the effect, with the top layer still selected, go up to the Blend Mode options in the top left of the Layers palette, click again on the down-pointing arrow to the right of the word “Normal”, and change the layer’s blend mode to Soft Light:

Once you’ve changed the blend mode to “Soft Light”, you’re done!

Here’s my original image once again for comparison:

And here, after applying the Median filter to the top layer and changing its blend mode to “Soft Light”, is my final “watercolor painting” effect:

Ref: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/watercolor-painting/

And here’s the “oil painting” version:

It may look complicated, but as I said, once we’re done with this tutorial, you’ll be able to instantly convert any photo into an oil painting without having to redo any of the steps we’re about to go through. We do have to do them once though, so let’s begin.

Step 1: Create A New Action

Since we only want to have to go through these steps once, we’re going to record them all as an action. But before we can do that, we need to create one. Go to your Actions palette (it’s grouped in with the History palette) and click on the Create New Action button at the bottom of the palette:

This will bring up the New Action dialog box:

Name the new action “Instant Photo To Oil Painting”, or a name of your choosing, as I’ve circled in red above. To be able to quickly access this action when we’re done, I’m giving mine a keyboard shortcut of Shift+Ctrl+F12, again as I’ve circled above. That would be Shift+Command+F12 on a Mac. You can assign whichever function key you like, and if you want to include the Shift and/or Ctrl key (again, Command on a Mac), click inside the checkbox to the left of their names.

When you’re ready, click the Record button and Photoshop will begin recording our steps.

Ref: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/oil-painting/

Ref: http://loreleiwebdesign.com/2010/01/02/design-a-stunning-french-perfume-advert-poster/

And here’s what the image will look like when we’re done:

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

The first thing we need to do for this effect is duplicate our Background layer. With our image open in Photoshop, we can see in the Layers palette that we currently have just one layer, the Background layer, which contains our original image:

To quickly duplicate the layer, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac). Photoshop creates a copy of the Background layer for us, names it “Layer 1″, and places it above our Background layer in the Layers palette:

Step 2: Add A New Blank Layer Between The Two Layers

Next, we need to add a new blank layer between our Background layer and the copy of it that we just created. Currently the copy is selected in the Layers palette (we can tell the layer is selected because it’s highlighted in blue). Normally when we add a new layer, Photoshop places the new layer above the layer that’s currently selected, but we want our new layer below “Layer 1″, not above it. To tell Photoshop to place the new layer below “Layer 1″, hold down your Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key and then click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Photoshop adds a new blank layer named “Layer 2″ between “Layer 1″ and the original Background layer:

Step 3: Fill The New Layer With Black

We’re going to use black as the background for our effect, so let’s reset our Foreground and Background colors if needed by pressing D on your keyboard. This sets black as your Foreground color and white as your Background color, as we can see in the Foreground and Background color swatches near the bottom of the Tools palette:

Now with black as our Foreground color and the new blank layer selected in the Layers palette, let’s fill the new layer with black using the keyboard shortcut Alt+Backspace (Win) / Option+Delete (Mac). Nothing will appear to have happened to the image itself, and that’s because “Layer 1″, which contains a copy of our original image, is blocking “Layer 2″ from view. But if we look at Layer 2′s thumbnail in the Layers palette, we can see that we’ve filled the layer with black:

Step 4: Add A New Blank Layer

With “Layer 2″ (the layer we just filled with black) selected, click once again on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Photoshop will add a new blank layer between the black-filled layer and the copy of the original image above it:

Step 5: Drag Out A Rectangular Selection As The Inside Of Your First Polaroid

Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool either from the Tools palette or by pressing M on your keyboard:

Then, with the Rectangular Marquee Tool selected, drag out a selection inside your image which will become the inside of the first polaroid (the part which contains the photo). I’m going to drag my selection around the baby’s face. It doesn’t really matter where you make this selection since you’ll be able to move it anywhere you like later:

Step 6: Fill The Selection With Black

We need to fill the selection with black at this point. Technically, it doesn’t matter which color we fill the selection with, but to keep things simple and since black is currently our Foreground color, let’s use black. Make sure you have the new blank layer selected in the Layers palette, and then use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Backspace (Win) / Option+Delete (Mac) to fill the selection with the Foreground color, which is set to black. Again, nothing seems to have happened in the document, and that’s because the image on “Layer 1″ at the top is still blocking everything else from view, but if we look at the thumbnail for the blank layer in the Layers palette, we can see that the selected area has indeed been filled with black:

Step 7: Create A Clipping Mask From The Filled Selection

We’re going to use the selection we just filled with black to create what’s called a clipping mask for the layer above it. What this means is that the layer above it, “Layer 1″ which contains the copy of our image, is going to be “clipped” by our filled selection on the layer below it. In other words, the only part of the image on “Layer 1″ that will remain visible is the part directly above the section filled with black. The rest of the image will become hidden from view. To create our clipping mask, click on “Layer 1″ to select it in the Layers palette. Then go up to the Layer menu at the top of the screen and select Create Clipping Mask. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Ctrl+G (Win) / Option+Command+G (Mac). Either way, Photoshop “clips” the image on “Layer 1″, keeping only the area above the black-filled shape below it visible and hiding the rest of the image, revealing our black background on “Layer 2″ in its place:

If we look in the Layers palette now, we can see that “Layer 1″ is indented to the right with a small arrow pointing downward on the left. This indicates that the layer is being clipped by the layer below it:

Step 8: Add Another New Blank Layer Above “Layer 2″

We need to add another new layer, and we need it between the black-filled layer (“Layer 2″) and the layer containing our filled selection (“Layer 3″). To do that, click on “Layer 2″ to select it and then click once again on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Photoshop adds the new layer between “Layer 2″ and “Layer 3″ and names it, surprisingly enough, “Layer 4″:

Step 9: Drag Out Another Rectangular Selection As The Border Of The Polaroid

With your Rectangular Marquee Tool still selected, drag out another rectangular selection, this time around the outside of the original selection, which will become the white border of the polaroid. Keep in mind that polaroid photos have some extra space at the bottom of the border, so add some extra space at the bottom of your selection:

Step 10: Fill The Selection With White

Since the border of a polaroid is usually white, let’s fill our selection with white. Make sure that you have the new blank layer, “Layer 4″, selected in the Layers palette. Then, since white is currently our Background color, let’s use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Backspace (Win) / Command+Delete (Mac) to fill the selection with the Background color (white). Press Ctrl+D (Win) / Command+D (Mac) when you’re done to deselect the selection. We now have our first polaroid in our image:

Step 11: Add A Drop Shadow Layer Style

We have our first polaroid, and we’re going to use it to easily create as many polaroids as we want. But before we do anything else, let’s add a slight drop shadow to it. We won’t be able to see the drop shadow just yet, since we’re using a black background, but we will see it once we start piling polaroids on top of each other. To add our drop shadow, with “Layer 4″ selected, click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Select Drop Shadow from the list of layer styles:

This brings up Photoshop’s “Layer Style” dialog box set to the Drop Shadow options in the middle column. I’m going to set my shadow Angle to about 120° and then lower the Opacity value at the top all the way down to about 30% so my shadow isn’t too intense:

Step 12: Rotate The Polaroid

I’m going to rotate my polaroid to add a bit more interest to it. In order to do that, I need to select both layers in my Layers palette which make up my polaroid. I already have “Layer 4″ selected, which makes up the outside of it, but I also need “Layer 3″ selected, which makes up the inside, so with “Layer 4″ selected, I’m going to hold down my Shift key and click on “Layer 3″, which will select both layers at once (they’ll both appear highlighted in blue):

Then with both layers selected, I’m going to bring up Photoshop’s Free Transform handles around my polaroid using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac). To rotate it, all I need to do is drag my mouse cursor anywhere outside of the Free Transform handles. The mouse cursor will change to a “rotate” cursor with curved arrows on either end of it. As I drag my mouse, the polaroid will rotate:

You can also move the polaroid to a new location if you wish by clicking inside of it and dragging it around the screen with your mouse. I’m going to leave mine where it is for now and simply rotate it. As you drag, you’ll notice that the border of the polaroid moves and rotates but the image inside of it does not, and that’s because we’re not moving the actual image. It remains fixed in place. The only thing we’re moving is the polaroid itself, and this is what’s going to allow us to create our final effect, as we’ll see.

When you’re happy with the location and angle of the polaroid , press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to apply the transformation.

Step 13: Group All Three Layers Which Make Up The Polaroid

We have our first polaroid created and rotated into place. Now we’re going to use it to create as many polaroids as we want. Before we can do that though, we need to group all three layers which make up the polaroid , which are the top three layers in the Layers palette. “Layer 1″ contains the image itself, “Layer 3″ contains the inside of the polaroid , and “Layer 4″ contains the outside of it. In order to group them, we need them all selected. We already have “Layer 3″ and “Layer 4″ selected, so once again hold down your Shift key and click on “Layer 1″ to add it, so all three layers are selected and highlighted in blue:

Then, with all three layer selected, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+G (Win) / Command+G (Mac) to group them. You’ll see all three layers disappear from the Layers palette and be replaced by a layer named “Group 1″, which contains a folder icon to indicate that it’s a Layer Group. If you click on the right-pointing triangle to the left of the folder icon, the group will open and you’ll see your three layers inside of it:

Step 14: Duplicate The Layer Group

We’re going to use this Layer Group to create our second polaroid , and we’re going to do that by duplicating the group. First, click once again on the triangle to the left of the folder in the Layers palette to close the group so your Layers palette doesn’t get too cluttered. Then simply click on the group and drag it down onto the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

When you release your mouse button, you’ll see the copy of the Layer Group appear above the original:

Step 15: Move And Rotate The Second Polaroid With The Free Transform Command

Just as we did with the original, we’re going to move and rotate this second polaroid using Free Transform (I didn’t actually move my first one, but you may have, so let’s pretend I did as well). First, twirl open the newly created copy of our Layer Group by clicking on the triangle to the left of its folder icon. Just as before, you’ll see all three layers inside of it which make up the polaroid . We need to select the bottom two layers which make up the inside and outside of it, so click on one, then hold down Shift and click on the other to select them both:

Then with both layers selected, press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to bring up the Free Transform handles around the polaroid . At the moment, it looks like there’s only the one polaroid in the image, and that’s because both of them are directly on top of each other. Click inside the polaroid and drag it to move it to a new location, and you’ll see that you do in fact have two. Drag this second one to wherever you like in your document, and then rotate it just as before, by moving your mouse anywhere outside of the Free Transform handles and dragging your mouse to rotate it left or right. You’ll see that once again, we’re only moving the polaroid itself. The image inside of it remains fixed in place, and now that we’ve added a second polaroid , we’re displaying more of the full size image:

You’ll also notice that with the second polaroid overlapping the original, we can now see the drop shadow, which gives the image a bit of depth. When you’re happy with the location and angle of your second polaroid , press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to apply the transformation. We now have two polaroids completed:

Step 16: Add, Move And Rotate More Polaroids As Needed

At this point, we just repeat the exact same process over and over until we’ve added enough polaroids to reveal enough of the original image. First, drag the top-most Layer Group down onto the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. This will create a copy of the last polaroid you made. Then twirl the new Layer Group open by clicking on the arrow to the left of its folder icon and select the two bottom layers which make up the inside and outside of the polaroid. Press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to bring up the Free Transform handles, click inside them and drag the image into a new location to reveal more of the overall image, then move your mouse outside of the handles and drag to rotate the new polaroid. Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to accept the transformation, then repeat the process again until you’ve added enough polaroids that you’re happy with the results. There’s no “right or wrong” placement of the polaroids , so don’t be afraid to play around with it, and you can always go back and move or rotate any of the polaroids at any time by selecting its Layer Group, twirling it open, selecting the two bottom layers, then using Free Transform to move and/or rotate it again.

I’m going to add, move and rotate more polaroids here with my image, and after creating about 16 polaroids, moving and rotating each with the Free Transform command, here is my final result:

Ref: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/polaroids/

And here’s what our image is going to look like after adding the water reflection :

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

With our image newly opened inside Photoshop, we can see in the Layers palette that we currently have one layer, the Background layer, which contains our image:

We need to duplicate the Background layer, and we can do that using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac). Now when I look in my Layers palette now, I can see that I now have two layers – my original Background layer on the bottom and a new layer, “Layer 1″, above it which is my duplicate:

Step 2: Add More Canvas Space To The Bottom Of The Document

We’re going to add our water reflection below the image, so let’s add some canvas space to the bottom of our document to make room for our reflection. To do that, go up to the Image menu at the top of the screen and choose Canvas Size. This will bring up Photoshop’s “Canvas Size” dialog box. The easiest thing to do here is to add twice as much canvas space as what we currently have, but we only want it to appear at the bottom of the document, not above it or on either side, so we need to tell Photoshop exactly where we want this extra canvas space to go.

First, enter 100 for the Height and set the measurement to percent, as circled in red below. Leave the Width option set to 0. Then make sure the Relative option is checked, which tells Photoshop to give us 100% more canvas space than what we already have. Below the “Relative” option is a 3×3 grid of squares. This is where we tell Photoshop where we want to place our additional canvas space. Click inside the square in the middle of the top row (again as circled below). This tells Photoshop not to place any of the extra canvas space above the document and instead to place all of it at the bottom:

Click OK to exit out of the dialog box, and Photoshop will add the extra canvas space to the bottom of the image:

Step 3: Flip The Top Layer Vertically

In order to create our reflection, we need to flip our image upside down, so let’s do that.

With the top layer selected in the Layers palette, go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen, choose Transform, and then choose Flip Vertical.

Photoshop will flip the image upside down in the document:

Step 4: Drag The Flipped Image To The Bottom Of The Document

We need the flipped image to be at the bottom of the document, so grab your Move Tool from the Tools palette, or press V on your keyboard for the shortcut:

Then, with the Move Tool selected, click inside the document and drag the flipped image down to the bottom until the top of it is lined up with the bottom of the original image above it. Hold down Shift as you drag to make sure you drag down in a straight line:

Step 5: Add A New Blank Layer

Now that we have our flipped image in place, we can begin to create our water ripple effect. First, we need to add a new blank layer at the top of the Layers palette, so with “Layer 1″ still selected, click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Step 6: Fill The New Layer With White

We’re going to fill our new blank layer with white. If white is not currently your Background color, press D on your keyboard, which will reset Photoshop’s Foreground and Background colors, making black your Foreground color and white your Background color. Then use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Backspace (Win) / Command+Delete (Mac) to fill the new layer with the Background color (white). Your document will be filled with solid white.

Step 7: Apply The “Halftone Pattern” Filter To Create Black And White Horizontal Lines

Go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, choose Sketch, and then choose Halftone Pattern. This brings up Photoshop’s Filter Gallery (in Photoshop CS and higher) set to the “Halftone Pattern” filter options on the right, with a large preview of the effect on the left. We’re going to use this filter to add a series of black and white horizontal lines to the image. These lines are going to become our water ripples . The more lines we have, the more ripples we’ll have. First, we want to make sure we’re creating lines and not dots or circles, so set the Pattern Type option to Lines. We control the number of lines by adjusting the Size option. Lower values give us more lines, since we’re lowering the size of each line, and higher values give us fewer but thicker lines. I’m going to set my Size value to 7, which I think works best for my image. You may want to experiment with this value on your own. The Contrast option below it determines how sharp the edges of the lines are. Lower values give you softer lines, white higher values give you hard edge lines. Set this value all the way to 50 to give your lines sharp edges. We’re going to soften them ourselves with the Gaussian Blur filter in a moment:

Click OK when you’re done to exit out of the dialog box, and Photoshop will fill the image from top to bottom with your black and white lines:

Step 8: Apply The “Gaussian Blur” Filter To The Lines

Before we can use our black and white lines as water ripples , we need to smooth them out and create nice, smooth transitions between them. To do that, go up to the Filter menu once again, choose Blur, and then choose Gaussian Blur, which brings up the “Gaussian Blur” dialog box. Keep an eye on your image and drag the slider at the bottom of the dialog box to increase the Radius value until the lines have a very soft edge to them. I’m using a small image for this tutorial, so for me, a Radius value of about 4 pixels works well. If you’re using a larger, high resolution image, you’ll need to set yours to a higher value:

Click OK to exit out of the dialog box and apply the blur to the lines.

Step 9: Duplicate The Lines Layer As A New Document

We’re going to create a brand new document out of our lines layer, which we’ll then use as our displacement map for our water ripples . With the lines layer selected, go up to the Layer menu at the top of the screen and select Duplicate Layer, which brings up the “Duplicate Layer” dialog box. In the “Destination” options, click on the down-pointing arrow to the right of the Document option and set it to New, which will create a new Photoshop document out of our layer:

Click OK to exit out of the dialog box, and your layer will open up in a new document on the screen.

Step 10: Save The New Document And Close Out Of It

This new document that we’ve created is going to become our displacement map, but before we can use it, we need to save it. We’re also going to close out of it after we’ve saved it, since we won’t need it open anymore, and the easiest way to accomplish both of those tasks is to simply close out of the document. When you try to close out of it, Photoshop will as you if you want to save the document before closing it. Click Yes:

Photoshop will bring up the Save As dialog box. You can name your new document anything you like. I’m going to name mine “water-ripples”. Make sure you save it as a Photoshop .PSD file, since those are the only files that Photoshop can use as a displacement map. You’ll probably want to save the document to your Desktop, since we’ll need to find it again in a moment.

Step 11: Delete The Lines Layer

Now that we’ve used our black and white lines to create the file we’ll be using as our displacement map, we can get rid of it. To do that, simply click on it and drag it down onto the Trash Bin icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Step 12: Merge The Two Layers Onto A New Layer

Before we can add use our displacement map, we need to merge our two image layers onto a new layer above them. To do that, with “Layer 1″ selected, use the keyboard shortcut Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E (Win) / Shift+Command+Option+E (Mac). Nothing will appear to have happened in the document, but if we look in the Layers palette, we can see that both layers have been merged onto a new layer at the top:

Step 13: Use The “Displace” Filter To Create The Water Ripples

We’re ready to create our water ripples using the displacement map we just created. With the new merged layer selected in the Layers palette, go back up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, choose Distort and then choose Displace .

This brings up Photoshop’s “Displace” filter dialog box. This is where we determine the strength of our ripple effect, and we do that with the Horizontal Scale option at the top. I’m going to set mine to a value of 4, which will give me a realistic ripple effect. You may want to experiment with this value with your own image. Setting it too high though will create too much of a horizontal distortion and you’ll lose the realism.

We don’t need any vertical distortion to create our effect, so set the Vertical Scale option to 0. Also, make sure that Stretch To Fit and Repeat Edge Pixels are selected:

Click OK in the top right corner of the dialog box, and Photoshop will ask you which file you want to use as your displacement map. Choose the file that you just saved a moment ago, which I saved to my Desktop as “water-ripples.PSD”, and then click Open. Photoshop will then apply the displacement map to the entire image, creating our water ripples :

Step 14: Hide The Ripples On Top With A Layer Mask

Of course, we have a slight problem at the moment. We’ve added our water ripple effect to the entire image, and we only wanted it in the bottom half. We can fix that easily though using a layer mask. First, Ctrl-click (Win) / Command-click (Mac) directly on the thumbnail for “Layer 1″ in the Layers palette to place a selection around the flipped image at the bottom of the document:

You’ll see a selection appear around the bottom half of the image in your document. Now, with the merged layer still selected, click on the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Photoshop will add a layer mask to the merged layer, and because we had a selection around the bottom half of our document when we added the layer mask, only the bottom half of the merged layer remains visible. The top half becomes hidden from view, removing the unwanted water ripples from that part of the image:

Step 15: Apply The “Gaussian Blur” Filter To The Layer Mask

Before we add our finishing touch by colorizing the water , let’s soften the edge of the layer mask a little so there isn’t such a harsh dividing line between the image on top and the water below. We’ll use the Gaussian Blur filter for that, and since we want to apply it to the layer mask, we’ll need to first select the mask. We can do that by clicking on the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers palette:

You can tell that the layer mask is now selected by the white highlight box around its thumbnail. We’re going to apply the Gaussian Blur filter to the mask, so go back up to the Filter menu, select Blur once again, and then select Gaussian Blur. When the dialog box appears, simply click OK to apply the same Radius value we used previously.

Step 16: Colorize The Water With A Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer

Let’s finish things off now by adding just a hint of blue to our water, and we’ll use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer for that. We want the adjustment layer to only affect the bottom half of the image where the water ripples are, so hold down your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key, click on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette, then select Hue/Saturation from the list of adjustment layers:

By holding down “Alt/Option”, this tells Photoshop to bring up the New Layer dialog box before adding the adjustment layer. Select the Use Previous Layer To Create Clipping Mask option by clicking inside the checkbox to the left of it:

This option tells Photoshop that we want the adjustment layer to affect only the layer directly below it in the Layers palette, and since the layer below it is the layer containing our water ripples , only the water ripples will be colorized, which is what we want. Click OK to exit out of the dialog box.

This will bring up the Hue/Saturation dialog box. We want to colorize our water, so the first thing we want to do here is select the Colorize option in the bottom right corner. Then select the color you want your water to be by dragging the Hue slider at the top. I’m going to drag my slider to the right to a value of about 218, which I think is a good color for my water :

Click OK to exit out of the dialog box , and you’ll see that your water on the bottom has now been colorized, but the color is much too strong at the moment.

Step 17: Lower The Opacity Of The Hue/Saturation Layer

To reduce the intensity of the color we just added to the water , all we need to do is go up to the Opacity option in the top right corner of the Layers palette and lower the opacity value. I’m going to lower mine all the way down to about 25%, which adds a much more realistic amount of color to the water :

Once you’ve lowered the opacity of the adjustment layer to reduce the color intensity of the water , you’re done!

Here once again is my original image for comparison:

And here is my final “water reflection” result:

Ref: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/water-reflection/

3D Stereo is a hot topic nowadays but few people know any practical applications aside from the entertainment value. Few people also know how 3D Stereo works and how easy it is to use with any Photoshop project. To learn more about the powers of 3D Stereo and how to use Stereoscopic 3D to your Photoshop advantage, we invite you to view some quick illustrations.

Take note that the below 3D Stereo image employs a traditional Anaglyph (Red/Cyan) format, but we are also able to create 3D Stereo printouts in any other format if needed.

Photoshop is known to help designers create high-quality printouts inside a layer-based editing environment that turns ideas into stunning images, but how can we turn Photoshop projects into real 3D Stereo printouts?

In this tutorial, we will use and combine the magic of Photoshop with the powerful 3D production tools of iClone. We will create a final image with exceptional high quality but done in a lot less time, since we intend to use real 3D objects in real 3D space.

At the end of this tutorial, you will be able to transform your Photoshop projects into eye-catching 3D stereo printouts done with the one-click 3D Stereo feature inside iClone. Download iClone trial version here.

Prepare Image Assets in Photoshop.

To begin, we will first open Photoshop in order to import our image assets. We will then prepare these images with their own alpha channels (mask) to later save them and use inside iClone. For tutorial purposes we will only prepare one image, but you may use the same procedure to prepare as many images as needed.

To start off, we import the first picture in order to separate the wanted area (mask) from the rest.

We then go to the Filter Tab and select ‘Extract’. (Filter>Extract)

Inside, we adjust the ‘Brush Size’ and paint on the edge of the target object. Remember that the smaller the size of the brush, the more edge details you will cover.

Now we click on the ‘Fill Tool’ to fill up the wanted area.

If needed, you may press the ‘Preview’ button to review.

After previewing, we use the ‘Clean Up’ tool to remove any excess area inside or around the edge mask.

The unnecessary area.

Paint to remove the area.

Now we use the ‘Edge Touch Up’ tool to retrieve the lost area near the edge.

Remember to draw from the inside out.

Fine-tune image with sharp edges.

Later, we click ‘OK’ to crop out the target object. This step is very important since it is here where we create the image’s alpha channel (mask).

Then we use the ‘Crop Tool’ to crop out the canvas.
We crop out the canvas in order to make the file size smaller, since we do not need the other area.

Now, we are ready to use this new image asset inside a real 3D environment. We save the image into PNG format and continue preparing the other images. We will repeat this step until we prepare and save all the images we intend to work with.

Drag and Drop Image Assets in iClone.

We continuing saving all the original elements of our Photoshop project by turning them into individual PNG files for further editing in iClone.

Now we will open iClone since it is here where we will align all our images in real 3D Space. iClone is an easy-to-use 3D animation tool that allows us to quickly drag images, and props, with fast drag & drop mechanics.

To start, we first drag all our Photoshopped images (PNG files) into iClone with the right mouse button. Inside you will then be prompted with a menu, asking what kind of object you want the asset to be converted to.

Select the ‘Plane’ option.

The files will then turn into image planes inside the iClone working area. The alpha channel of each PNG image file will automatically mask the outline of the image.

Repeat the above step until all your items are loaded into iClone’s 3D environment.

Inside iClone you may easily use, and animate ready-made 3D objects (props) and characters (avatars) instead of going through several complicated steps in Photoshop. Remember, that our goal here is to create high-quality 3D images in half the time. We may either drag images from any previous Photoshop projects or use any of the free props inside the iClone content library.

Map each Layer into its own Z-depth.

Once all our assets (image planes and props) are loaded into iClone, then we proceed to adjust the position of each. For this, you may use the move tool to correctly relocate each object into the layer position you have in mind.

Select the ‘Move’ tool. (Press ‘W’ Key)

Move the image planes and the 3D props around, and order them into the layers you need. If you do this inside Photoshop the distance between each layer is actually 0 (zero), but inside iClone you actually have a Z-depth allocated to each object. This provides the great benefit of increasing and directly controlling the 3D sensation inside a 3D Stereo scene.

Rotate the camera view with the Pan Tool (Press ‘X’ Key) in order to check the Z-depth of all the objects in the scene. This method will allow you to have full control over all positioning and depth.

Now you need to turn on the Movement Gizmo in order to bring up the X, Y and Z axis controls for the selected item. To activate the movement gizmo, just press CTRL + Q. (Make sure you first select the item and also have the Pan tool activated) Then drag the green arrow (Z-Axis) of the gizmo to change the Z-depth of each selected item. (Note: Red arrow is X-axis and Blue arrow is Y-axis)

Transform Objects inside iClone.

Sometimes objects in iClone may need to be further adjusted for size and orientation.

To do this first select the object that is in need of resizing and switch to the ‘Scale’ tool (Press ‘R’ Key). Then, drag inside the working area so that the object is scaled to the desired size.

Original size.

Repeat this step until all objects are re-scaled.

Now we will do the same with the rotate tool (Press ‘E’ Key) by activating the tool and rotating the necessary objects. Remember to select the object first.

We will select the object, activate the rotate tool and drag in the working area to rotate.

You will notice how easily and quickly you can rotate objects in iClone as its native 3D environment provides a lot more control than Photoshop.

Apply Materials to 3D Objects.

Usually simple props do not have the correct material or texture that we need. Here, we will learn how to apply different materials onto different objects.

Drag and drop a prepared image with the right mouse button. You may drag it from your Windows Explorer folder and drop it directly onto your 3D target’s surface.

Then choose the last option at the bottom of the pop-up menu and pick the ‘Diffuse Map’ in the sub menu.

The image will then be mapped onto the diffuse channel of the selected 3D object.

You may use the same method to apply images to different mapping channels in order to create different effects. The section below shows the result when an image is applied to the “Bump Map” channel.

Select another 3D object and in the ‘Modify’ panel at the right, click the ‘Load Material’ button.

You may then select any material template, from the free iClone material library, to apply to the selected 3D object. You may also bring in your own materials and just drop them in.

Light, Shadows and Image layers.

Now we will add light and shadow effects to add realism to the Photoshop project. If you want to have text on your final printout, then you may use the image layer feature inside iClone.

Select one light from the ‘Scene Manager’ (bottom left) and change it to ‘Spotlight’ in the ‘Modify’ panel on the right.

Right click in the working area, and select the Motion Menu>Look at item – option. Click on the dog. Now, no matter how you move or rotate the light, the spotlight will always cast on the dog.

Adjust the spotlight to the desired position.

Now, in the ‘Shadow Setting’ section of the ‘Modify’ panel, select the ‘Self-cast Shadow’ from the drop-down list. Then adjust the ‘Opacity’ of the shadow.

This will cast a realistic light and shadow effect on the entire scene.

Drag (with right mouse button) an image file containing text and alpha channel information from a Windows Explorer folder, and drop it straight into the iClone working area. Then select the ‘Image Layer’ item in the pop-up menu so that the text turns into an image layer.

Export as a Regular Printout.

You may now turn the whole scene into an image file for printing as a flyer, brochure or full-screen billboard since you can control the resolution and output size. You may also go back to quickly modify or tweak the entire project if needed.

Go to the Export tab and choose to export as an ‘Image’. Then, select the format type.

Adjust the Output Export size and choose the Final Render option below. Then click the ‘Export’ button.

Create 3D Stereo Printouts.

The best part about using iClone for graphic design is that you can always export your scenes as a 3D stereo image or video. This works magic on any audience you intend to impress and cannot be quickly done via Photoshop alone.

To export as a 3D Stereo image you first need to check the ‘Enable Stereo Vision Output’ box. Then adjust the ‘Convergence Distance’ value. This value defines the distance between the view camera and the zero parallax plane, also known as the convergence point. The zero parallax plan is where the Z-order equals 0 (zero). Any object in front of the plane will pop out, while any object behind the plane will fall behind the scene. Anything standing close to the zero parallax plane will appear neutral without a 3D Stereo effect.

In this tutorial, the grey photo frame is set to the convergence point. The convergence distance value can be measured by counting the grids between the camera and the photo frame.

Finally, we select the ‘Anaglyph (Red/Cyan)’ option button and export the whole scene as a 3D stereo image. (To view the final image below you will need a pair of Red/Cyan Glasses)

Note: Anaglyph is a traditional and low-cost 3D Stereo format but you can also export in any other high-quality 3D Stereo format you need.

Click on the image to see a full size version

Ref: http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-blog/2010/09/16/create-a-stunning-3d-stereo-poster-using-photoshop-and-iclone/

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to match the colors of different images using the Match Color command, but first there are a few things you should now about this command.

The Match Color command is useful for matching color between multiple images, multiple layers or multiple selections. It works only in RGB mode.

This command matches colors in one image, which is called the source image, with colors in another image, called the target image.

It’s a very useful command but bear in mind it won’t always give the results you expected, as this depends on the colors of both images. That said, let’s begin!

Matching the color of a high-contrast HDR image

Let’s start working with our first image. We are going to use an HDR image as the source of the color effect we want to achieve. Then we are going to apply that color scheme to our target image. Download and open both source and target images.

Once you have the files opened, select the 2-Up view from the Arrange Documents icon on the Application bar (if you’re using PC this will be on the right of the menus and if you’re using Mac it’ll below the menus) so we can see both images at the same time.

Go to HDR_car.jpg and press Ctrl+0 or go to View > Fit on screen. Then go to car.jpg and do the same. Then go to Image > Adjustments > Match Color.

The Match Color window is poorly organized, you actually have to start from the bottom and work your way up. First go to Source and select HDR_car.jpg. Don’t click OK yet.

Go to Color Intensity and move the slider to the right until you reach 160 (or you can type the value) and then go to Luminosity and move the slider to the left until you reach a value of 70.

Click on the image below to see it in full size

Ref: http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-blog/2010/10/19/creative-color-effects-in-photoshop/

HDR (High Dinamic Range) images are created using multiple photographs, each captured at a different exposure. It may happen you didn’t have the chance of shooting more than one image.. don’t worry, even if you haven’t got what’s needed to create a real HDR image, you can fake it.

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to enhance your images faking an HDR effect using the new HDR Toning command in Photoshop CS5. We’ll apply this effect to different images so you can see how this would work with different type of landscape shots.

Download and open the first image from Stock.xchng (requires free subscription to download). The image is quite big, you may leave it that way or simply reduce the size to something more easy to handle.

Go to Image > Adjustments > HDR Toning.

Start with a Default Preset and make sure Method is set to Local Adaptation.

On the HDR Toning window enter the following values:

Edge Glow: set Radius to 12 px and Strength to 1.40

Tone and Detail: set Gamma to 1.10 and Detail to +97%

Color: set Vibrance to +30% and Saturation to +20%

Click OK and that’s it. An extremely fast and easy way to enhance your images with a subtle HDR look.

Click on the image below to view it at full size.

Ref: http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-blog/2010/10/14/easily-enhance-your-photos-with-hdr-toning-in-photoshop-cs5/