Psdtuts+

How to Make a Steampunk Illustration – Tuts+ Premium Tutorial

Benjamin Mounsey — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:46:03 PDT

Steampunk is popular style of artwork. Artists create modern objects from materials found during an earlier time. In this Tuts+ Premium tutorial by Benjamin Mounsey, we will show you how to create a steampunk illustration of farm equipment assembled from an earlier post-apocalyptic period of war. This tutorial is available exclusively to Tuts+ Premium Members and includes both written and video content. If you are looking to take your digital illustration skills to the next level then Log in or Join Now to get started!

Speed Painting Video

View the Tutorial

Tuts+ Premium Members can login now for instant access to this tutorial. Membership to Tuts+ Premium gets you access to hundreds of exclusive premium tutorials, top selling ebooks, in-depth courses, member forums, and much more. To learn more about Tuts+ Premium, Take the Tour or Join Today.

Submit Your Art To This Month’s Movie Poster Challenge

Melody Nieves — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:33:14 PDT

You still have plenty of time to submit your movie poster for this month’s Psdtuts+ Design Challenge. Join the community on Google+ and upload your art for the chance to get featured in our monthly reviews.

This Month’s Challenge and Review

This month we asked for your help in choosing the theme and you picked, Recreate A Famous Movie Poster. For this challenge, use Photoshop combined with any additional application or technique of your choice to produce your artwork. Remember, the deadline for this challenge is Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 12:00 PM EST.

Artist James White will also be joining the Google Hangout Review for this month’s challenge. Welcome him with us and stay tuned after the challenge for the official Google Hangout link to enjoy the design review live!

Join The Psdtuts+ Community

Join The Psdtuts+ Google Community and upload your challenge submissions to the wall. Include the #psdtutsdc tag in your posts and feel free to explore past challenges, collaborate, and share feedback with fellow artists.

Examples From This Month’s Challenge

We’ve already got some incredible entries pouring in for this month. Join the Psdtuts+ Community on Google Plus to submit yours and to see more amazing work!

Reservoir Dogs by Faseeh Rehman

James Dean by Thomas Bailey

The Birds by Rob Dorn

Submit Your Artwork

10 Ways to Modify a Selection in Photoshop

Martin Perhiniak — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:15:25 PDT

Making selections is an essential skill for any Photoshop user. In this tutorial, we are going to show you 10 ways to modify a selection in Photoshop. By watching this video, you will be able to understand the connection between all the selection features Photoshop offers including; Feather, Contract, Expand, Border, Smooth, Refine Edge, Quick Mask, Color Range, Transform Selection and many more. Let’s get started!

1. Basic Modifications

The following selection options are considered basic modifications:

Add to selection (hold down Shift while using the following tools: Magic Wand, Lasso tools, Marquee tools)
Subtract from selection (hold down Alt/Option while using the following tools: Magic Wand, Lasso tools, Marquee tools)
Intersect selections (hold down Alt/Option and Shift together to intersect a new selection with a previous one)
Select All (Ctrl/Cmd + A to select the whole canvas)
Deselect (Ctrl/Cmd + D to deselect everything)
Reselect (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + D to reselect previous selection)
Invert selection (Ctrl/Cmd + I to deselect what was previously selected and select what was not selected)
Move selection (hold down Space while still drawing the selection with Marquee tools to move it around)
Perfect circle or Square (hold down Shift with Elliptical or Rectangular Marquee tools while creating them)
Draw selection from the center (hold down Alt/Option with Elliptical or Rectangular Marquee tools while creating them)

Add to selection

Subtract from selection

Intersect selections

2. Save & Load Selections

Saving your selections can be useful if you need to come back to them at a later date. Saved selections are stored as Channels. They are essentially Pixel Masks not assigned to any layer. You can find these options under the Select menu.

Save selections

Naming saved selections

3. Transform Selections

This feature is essentially the Free Transform tool, which will only transform your selection but not the content of the selected layer(s). This can be very useful when you need to create perspective distortions to shapes selected with the Marquee tools. This can be achieved by holding down Ctrl/Cmd while dragging one of the control points of the transform bounding box. You can also use Warp features to bend and reshape your selections with this feature.

Transform selections

Warp selections

4. Quick Mask

This is a very handy feature for making changes to your selections. You need to click on the icon at the bottom of the toolbar to enter Quick Mask mode or press Q. You can use the same keyboard shortcut to exit this special selection editing mode. Once in Quick Mask mode you will see your selection normally and everything else outside your selection with a red overlay. This setting can be changed by double clicking on the icon in the toolbar. In this mode you should work with the Brush tool and the Gradient tool to make fast and precise changes to your selections. Using black as your foreground color will remove areas from your selection, while using white will increase the area of your selection. Try using custom brushes to achieve special selections.

Quick mask mode

Quick mask options

5. Magic Wand, Quick Selection, Similar & Grow

The Magic Wand is a classic Photoshop tool. It creates selections based on the similarity of neighbouring pixels. This method can be achieved with two features from the Select menu. Similar will extend the selection by including similar coloured areas from around the whole images (not only adjacent pixels) and Grow will extend the selection only using adjacent pixels. The Quick Selection tool uses also the same sampling, but together with a very powerful brush method. With the Quick Selection tool you can quickly sample several areas with a simple brush stroke and you can customise the size of your brush to make precise selections.

Adding Similar pixels to selection

Using Magic Wand for selecting not only adjacent pixels

6. Feathering

This feature will soften the edges of your selection. The pixel size of Feathering will define the size of the gradual softening around the edges of your selection. You can either assign a Feather to your selection tools (Marquee and Lasso tools) or add it to any selections created from the Select menu.

Adding Feathering from Select menu

Refine Edge Feathering with live preview

7. Refine Edge

This one is a very powerful set of tools to modify your selections. Here you can use advanced selection modifications like Smart Radius, Decontaminate Colors and many more. This option is the best to improve your selections of complicated subjects like hair or fur.

Refine Edge dialog box

8. Contract & Expand

These options are under Select > Modify and they do exactly what their name says. Contract will remove and Expand will add a set amount of pixels to the edges of your selection.

Contract and Expand selections

9. Border

This one probably one of the least used modifications in Photoshop but nonetheless useful. This will create a selection ring with a specified size around your previous selection.

Border

10. Color Range

Another favourite Photoshop selection feature, which can be used on an already created selection too to enhance it. You can find this feature in the Select menu. The way it works is similar to the Magic Wand but in this case you have better control over the Tolerance, which is called Fuzziness in this case and you also get better Preview options.

Adding Color Range

Color Range dialog box

Create a Soil Cake for Pie Charts and Infographics

Anton Egorov — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:10:44 PDT

Infographics are an efficient and fun way to present data. You may notice, however, that infographics are often flat vector illustrations. What if you wanted to create something a bit more photo realistic? In this tutorial, we will show you how to create a soil cake using photographic elements for use in pie charts. Let’s get started!

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial. Please download them before you begin.

1. Draw a Sketch

Step 1

Create a new document (Command/Ctrl + N) sized 600 x 700 pixels. Draw a simple b/w sketch any way you prefer (shapes, scan, etc.). In this case it has been drawn with a pen tablet. It’s needed for understanding a general lay-out and a perspective.

Step 2

Group your sketch. Then create new groups for different kinds of materials and surfaces below the sketch group. Draw vector masks for the groups with the Pen Tool and create Solid Color Fills in them. You don’t have to be very accurate.

If your sketch has any fills or it’s scanned you can turn its Blend Mode to "Multiply" to make it transparent.

You can use another method for mask drawing, but you should make masked groups. It would be really helpful later.

Step 3

Create shapes of soil layers with the Pen Tool in the soil groups.

You don’t need the sketch anymore so you can hide it.

2. Texturing

Step 1

Drag the textures or good parts of them into the file as smart objects and scale them proportionally to each other and the cow. Don’t worry about the color or perspective. In this step you should make sure that they fit your illustration.

For the soil layers use them as clipping masks (Alt + Command/Ctrl + G or Layer > Create Clipping Mask or Alt + Click between layers). Then place the textures into other parts of the soil.

Since the piece has two surfaces create and mask a group for the side surface into the "Piece" group and copy soil layers into it.

Step 2

Now you need to lay the textures which have noticeable horizontal stripes on their surfaces. Distort them using Warp (Edit > Transform > Warp) and Distort (Edit > Transform > Distort) for the side surface.

Don’t use the Warp for the middle layer as you distort the stones. You should use the Perspective a bit (Edit > Transform > Perspective).

Make sure again that the textures are proportional to each other. Move the textures a little to find some interesting similarities between different layers and surfaces. It will be very helpful later.

As you can notice the distorted smart objects look terrible especially on the side of the piece. There is one trick to refine them. The reason for this effect is that Photoshop scales smart objects before distorting them. Just enlarge the distorted textures threefold, rasterize (Right click on a layer > Rasterize Layer) them and then reduce them to needed size.

Step 3

Very soon the cake will look much better so let’s begin color correction! Start from the "Middle" layer. It will be the main soil color. Create two adjustment layers: Levels and Hue/Saturation (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > ) and make the "Middle" their Mask.

Then select the "Bottom" layer. The texture has really nice looking color difference. Increase it with a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer first.

After that add a Brightness/Contrast layer and a Solid Color Fill Layer (Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color) in "Soft Light" mode (Color: #514740).

Next one is the top level. Create a Levels layer and drag the left slider to the nearest peak. It’s needed to accentuate dark details of the texture. Then add a Brightness/Contrast layer and make the texture much darker.

After all just copy created adjustment layers to the same textures in other groups. Of course it looks too easy in the tutorial but I spend a lot of time tuning adjustments and trying different variants.

Step 4

Now you can continue with the vegetation. And here is some good news! You don’t have to do anything with the grass the reason being the source photo is gorgeous! But the wheat looks a little pale. So just saturate it.

3. Lighting

Step 1

Let’s begin from the top. Hide the cow temporarily. The grass looks good but it would be better to add a bit of perspective on it. Make a new layer in the "Grass" group and create a vertical gradient.

Then use its layer effects to overlay it with a light yellow color (#fffae1) and set 30% opacity.

Step 2

It’s really helpful to create a lighting guide in order to remember where your sun is. Create a circle shape and draw shadow and light with black and white brush.

Step 3

Make a "Shadow" group in the "Cake front" group and create a Brightness/Contrast layer. Then make the soil as dark as darken part of the lighting guide.

Select the mask of the layer and erase the shadow with large soft black brush where you don’t need it.

Create a new layer and turn it in "Overlay" mode. Add light and shadow details with black and white brushes.

Make lighting for the other soil group the same way. For the "Cake back" group also add some air perspective. Now it looks good but it definitely needs drop shadows.

Step 4

Start from a base shadow. Create a new "Shadow" group below others. Copy paths of the soil masks and make a new black shape from them. Move the top points to make something like a bottom of the cake. Pay attention only to the side lines and don’t worry about distant points.

Make a copy of the shape and rasterize it. Then blur it with the Gaussian Blur (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur / Radius: 2.0).

In order to make it thicker copy and merge the layers (Command/Ctrl + J, Command/Ctrl + E).

Step 5

If you want to make a good shadow you have to use some geometry. Create a simple outline like this any way you like. It’s the cake from the top.

Combine it with the top of the cake using the Transform and the Perspective (Edit > Transform >). Extend vertical lines to get their vanishing point. It might be outside the canvas don’t worry. It won’t have to be ideal. Then copy the outline and combine it with the bottom. Be guided by the perspective lines.

Create an ellipse at the bottom. Copy the path and move to left and up (don’t forget about your lighting guide and perspective lines). Connect them with another path. Cut out a part beneath the piece. The result should look like this:

Make another shape for the piece. Rasterize the layers and create a Quick Mask using the Gradient Tool.

You can hide a selection using Command/Ctrl + H.

Select the shadow of the cake and blur it with the Gaussian Blur (Radius: 15). For simple faking of perspective use the Motion Blur.

Erase the edges of the shadows a bit using a mask and a black soft brush.

Then make the shadows a little brown with the Color Overlay (#0e0700) and set the Opacity to 85%.

Now add dark shadows in corners with a soft black brush on a new layer.

4. Transitions

Step 1

The grass has roots, so let’s add them. Make a group below the "Shadows" group in the "Cake front." Drag the source texture of dead grass (GrassDead0042_11_S) into it. Move it to see the soil beside.

Then tune it with adjustment layers Brightness/Contrast and Hue/Saturation.

Nice! Looks like roots! Move it to cover the soil and create a mask. Now you can draw your roots with a soft white brush! The Mask should look like that:

Not bad, but the roots look too blurry. You can just sharpen them (Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask / Amount: 40%, Radius: 1), but I recommend you another way. Copy the root layer and turn its mode to "Overlay". Then apply the High Pass Filter (Filter > Other > High Pass / Radius: 0.5). It’s better because you can tune sharpness with the Brightness/Contrast and use a mask for selective sharpness.

Now repeat for the other parts of the soil.

Step 2

Let’s draw blades on the edge of the grass. Unhide the cow (you shouldn’t do unnecessary work). Rasterize the mask of the "Grass" group. And just draw blades with a 1px hard brush. You’d better use a pen tablet but be sure with a mouse it’s also possible.

Choose noticeable blades on the photo and just extend them with the brush. Also use a black brush on the top to thin out the grass.

One small thing more. Create a bevel on the edge. Add a new layer in the "Grass" group. Turn it to "Overlay" mode and draw the bevel with white and black brushes.

Step 3

Now do the same for the wheat. One thing don’t forget the wheat is taller than the grass and in this case use a black brush on the bottom also.

Don’t forget about a bevel!

Extra thing. Add some blades drawn by hand on a new layer.

Step 4

O.K. Now transitions between the soil layers. Rasterize the "Top" shape in the "Cake front" group. Using the Brush and the Eraser Tools make the border more natural. Pay attention to details of the texture. Just follow them and your transition will gorgeous!

Looks nice but the middle layer is too flat. Copy the layer of the top texture, move down and desaturate it (Shift + Command/Ctrl + U).

Turn the blending mode of the layer to "Overlay". Tune it with a Brightness/Contrast layer for a neutral look.

Add another Brightness/Contrast layer and slide the Contrast to 100. Use a mask for remove the creases from the rock.

Use the same technique for the transition between the middle and the bottom layers. Make it for other soil layers.

Step 5

Rasterize the masks of the soil groups. Crumple their edges with a small hard brush. Don’t forget about the edge between sides of the piece. After that you need to return to the "Base" shadow of the cake. Show the dents on the bottom using the Finger Tool.

As there is a shadow on the background you should also add a reflection from the cake on it. Copy the "Base" shadow layer. Move it down and blur with the Gaussian Blur and then the Motion Blur. Apply the Color Overlay (Color: #675039) and set 70% of the Opacity.

Step 6

This is the time to return to the crumbs! Copy the texture and adjustment layers from the middle layer of the soil to the top of the "Soil" group.

Merge them (Command/Ctrl + E). Select with the Lasso Tool stones you like and copy them to new layers (Command/Ctrl + J).

O.K. Delete the merged texture. Move the extracted stones to places near to the crumbs on the sketch.

You can use the Layer Effects for lighting of simple objects. Firstly the Bevel.

The Drop Shadow.

The crumbs are definitely too bright and smooth. So sharpen them with the High Pass filter and darken with a Brightness/Contrast layer.

5. The Cow

Step 1

Drag the photo of the cow into the file. Mask the cow and roughly extract it with a brush. Move it and transform to fit the sketch.

Create an accurate vector mask with the Pen Tool.

Step 2

The photo has different color balance so you need to tune it. For a better result hide the vector mask (Shift + Click) this way you can see the original grass and tune it near to the environment. Return to the vector mask.

Step 3

Next step you should improve the lighting of the cow. Unhide the "Lighting Guide" group. Create a new layer in "Overlay" mode and draw shadows and lights with b/w brushes.

But the shadows are dark not enough. Create a "Levels" adjustment layer and darken it strongly. Make a black mask and draw deep shadows with a white brush.

Let’s add some shadows in "Normal" mode.

Step 4

Now a drop shadow is needed! At first make simple shadow guides.

Create a new "Shadow" group and make rough shapes for the head and the legs of the cow.

Lay them with the Transform Tool to the ground.

Move the shadow parts to their initial points.

Now you can draw a body depending on the parts.

Merge the shapes (Command/Ctrl + E), make selection (Command/Ctrl + Click) and create a mask with the selection for the "Shadow" group. Move the group into the "Grass" group. Create two adjustment layers: Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast.

Blur the mask with the Blur Tool and erase it a little with a black brush, especially the distant parts.

Take a small hard brush and draw grass blades on the edge like you did it for the grass. Cool! You’ve done with the drop shadow!

Step 5

Return to the cow. Delete the rough bitmap mask and create a new. Make similar blades for it. You might have to erase a bit the shadow below the legs.

The cow is a bit out-of-place. The reason is its color. Add some reflections to it. Create a new layer in "Soft Light" mode. Use a green brush for the bottom and a yellow f brush or the top.

Sharpen the cow with a High Pass filter and remove any defects on the cow with a brush on a new layer.

6. Final Touches

Step 1

You’re almost finished. Merge all the layers as a copy (Alt + Command/Ctrl + Shift + E) and flip it horizontally (Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal). This will help you see any defects in the illustration that you may have missed.

Now you may be able to see that the wheat is too small, the perspective of the cake is wrong, the lighting shadows are too faint, the drop shadows are too dark, and the cow is absolutely out-of-place. Don’t panic! You can improve it.

Step 2

Now perform the following steps.

Make the drop shadows lighter.
Draw extra lighting shadows for the soil on new layers in "Normal" mode.
Add some shadows for the cow in "Normal" mode and add a light in "Overlay".

The most time-consuming task will be fixing the wheat. But it’s really easy! Just select the top of its mask with the Lasso Tool and move it up. You can also enlarge the texture a bit.

Fill the gap in the mask and draw some new blades on the "Wheat drawing" layer.

The wheat is taller now so you need make its shadows thicker but "Overlay" makes it too vivid so use "Normal" mode on a new layer.

Step 3

Let’s add some more nice details. Create a new Brightness/Contrast layer for the "Middle" layer of the soil. Mask it and select on the mask stones you like. Then give more both sliders.

Do the flip trick again. You should darken the cow’s shadow and erase the base shadow a bit.

Also add some more blades on the grass especially near the cow’s head. Copy the Brightness/Contrast layer of the stones to the crumbs and make part of them white. The top layer of the soil is too smooth. You should sharpen it.

Do the flip trick again. The cow is out-of-place yet the reason being its perspective doesn’t fit completely to the cake’s one. Unfortunately you can’t rotate it like 3D model. The most glaring defect is its legs. It stands like a dancer on one line. And you can improve it! Just erase the distant legs a bit and fix the shadow. Also add some more shadows in "Normal" mode to the left side of the cow and some light to the right one. Then you should improve the drop shadow of the cake. Just erase its distant edge a bit and make it thicker.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to use photo manipulation techniques to help you create graphic elements for an infographic. You have learned how to sketch out your idea, draw it in Photoshop, add texture and lighting, and finally, how to add the finishing touches. Hopefully, this will help you come up with ideas to create your own stunning infographics.

Our Complete Walkthrough of What’s New in Photoshop CC

Martin Perhiniak — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:30:41 PDT

The new version of Photoshop is finally here! Adobe Photoshop CC (Creative Cloud) is now available for download for Creative Cloud Subscribers. The new version includes several new features including Camera Shake Reduction, Camera RAW improvements, Image Upsampling, Properties Panel Improvements, Behance Integration, Sync Settings, and many more useful features. In this article, Martin Perhiniak will explain these new features in a series of video tutorials. Let’s take a look!

Subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud

1. Camera Shake Reduction

Save shots you thought were lost due to camera motion. Whether your blur was caused by slow shutter speed or a long focal length, Camera Shake Reduction analyzes its trajectory and helps restore sharpness.

Camera Shake Reduction filter

2. Camera RAW Retouching Improvements

Apply Camera Raw edits as a filter to any layer or file inside Photoshop. With new Adobe Camera Raw 8, you get more precise ways to heal images. Now you can use the Spot Removal tool as a brush and paint over the unwanted areas of you photos. You can also find the spots caused by dust in your lens or sensor much easier by using the new Visualize Spots feature.

Spot Removal used as a brush to retouch photo

3. Camera RAW Radial Filter

With new Adobe Camera Raw 8, you can create Radial Filters on your photos. These can be used for several effects and just like all Camera RAW adjustments they are completely non-destructive.

Radial filter – Before

Radial filter – After (people in the photo are highlighted)

4. Camera RAW Automatic Upright

With new Adobe Camera Raw 8, you can fix perspective distortions easily with Automatic Upright. You have lots of control over how you want to fix the perspective of your photos.

1. Before

1. After – Automatic Upright for perspective distortion correction

5. Preserve Details Resampling Method

Enlarge a low-res image so it looks great in print, or start with a larger image and blow it up to poster or billboard size. New upsampling preserves detail and sharpness without introducing noise.

6. Smart Sharpen Improvements

Rich textures, crisp edges, and distinct details. Smart Sharpen is the most advanced sharpening technology available today. It analyzes images to maximize clarity and minimize noise and halos, and it lets you fine-tune for high-quality, natural-looking results.

7. Properties Panel Improvements for Shapes

One of your most requested features is here. Now you can resize shapes, edit them, and re-edit them — before or after they’re created. Even edit individual corner radiuses in rounded rectangles. Get more done in fewer clicks by selecting multiple paths, shapes, and vector masks at once. Even in multilayered documents with lots of paths, you can easily target the path you want right on canvas using a new filter mode.

Properties panel improvements for Shapes

8. Isolate Layers

A fantastic new way to simplify your work is to Isolate layers in a complicated layer structure. This feature allows to concentrate on a specific layer or set of layers and don’t get confused by all the other layers.

Isolate Layers

9. Sync Settings

With all-new Adobe® Photoshop® CC, you always have the latest version, because access to every future release is built right in. Bring your settings to multiple computers with cloud-enabled Sync Settings.

Sync Settings between computers

10. Share on Behance

Adobe Creative Cloud™ is now integrated with Behance® for real-time inspiration and a seamless way to share your work. Create more, share more, never stop learning. That’s Creative Cloud.

Behance Prosite available for free for Creative Cloud members

Sharing in the process

Share your WIP (Work in Progress) on Behance

Subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud

Tuts+ Jobs is now free!

Joel Bankhead — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 08:11:34 PDT

Our awesome new job board is now free and full of enticing opportunities!

Tuts+ Jobs is a job board for full time, part time and casual employment opportunities for web and creative professionals. A brand new site to go alongside the Tuts+ Educational Network and the Envato Marketplaces, all run by Envato.

There’s no need to sign up to apply for jobs, and it’s now free to post a job – try it now!

Earn and Learn

Envato is committed to helping people earn and learn online. We provide a wealth of educational material through Tuts+ and Tuts+ Premium, alongside the Envato Marketplaces to help you benefit from the creative skills you learn.

Tuts+ Jobs furthers this vision perfectly. With Tuts+ you can learn the skills you need to become a creative professional, and with Tuts+ Jobs you can find an amazing job that uses those skills. Our goal here is to take the hassle out of finding a job, so we’ve made the process as simple as can be!

Finding a Job

With Tuts+ Jobs we’re committed to making every step of the job-finding process more intuitive, simpler and more efficient. We don’t want to stand between you and a great opportunity.

It’s totally free to sign up and start applying for jobs, and if nothing matches your initial search you can receive notifications when jobs come up that match your criteria. We will have full time, part time and casual listings from all around the world. Check the listing to find out where the job is based, as some jobs may offer remote opportunities.

Posting a Job

Posting a job is now free!

If you have a position that you need to fill, or a great part/full-time opportunity, then Tuts+ Jobs is the best way to find a talented and creative individual to do that job. Each 30-day listing is completely free, regardless of the type of job you’re posting.

Your job listing will be promoted across the entire Tuts+ network. With exposure to our ten million visitors over the course of 30 days, it’s a brilliant way to reach exactly the type of audience you’re looking for.

Sign Up, Explore, and Subscribe

There are lots of great opportunities already on Tuts+ Jobs, and we’ll be posting even more exciting job positions over the next few weeks, so now is the best time to head over to the site and subscribe to a job search that interests you. That way you’ll be the first to know when any new listings show up that match your skill set and requirements.

Check out Tuts+ Jobs

Peter Tarka’s Amazing 3D Typography

Grant Friedman — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:30:35 PDT

Peter Tarka is a talented Polish illustrator that has worked as a graphic designer since 2008. Tarka has made a name for himself by producing some truly fantastic 3D typography. In this article, we will take a look at some of our favorite works from his portfolio.

April

Typography 10

Typography 9

Update 2013

Cubes

We Love Design

Typography 8

Typography 2

December

Goverdose 2.0 – #02 I Kill You

How to Integrate Lightroom Into Your Photoshop Workflow

Martin Perhiniak — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:19:18 PDT

Adobe Photoshop is a fantastic tool for editing photos but unfortunately, it lacks the options that photographers need to manage and edit large numbers of photographs. In this tutorial, we will show you how to use Photoshop and Lightroom to seamlessly edit your photos. We will begin by making some adjustments to a RAW photo in Lightroom. Then, we will show you how to export that photo to Photoshop to make additional changes. Finally, we will then explain how those edits will be made available to you in Lightroom automatically. Let’s get started!

20 Awesome Artists to Follow on Twitter

Grant Friedman — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:30:20 PDT

Twitter is an important communication tool for artists, designers, and photographers to exchange ideas, receive feedback, and to learn from others. Unfortunately, finding new and interesting people to follow can be quite a challenging and time-consuming task. In this article, I have listed 20 of some of my favorite photographers, retouchers, photo manipulators, digital illustrators, and typographers on Twitter, with examples of their work, to make it a bit easier for you to find new people to follow. Let’s take a look!

Photographers and Retouchers

Photo Manipulators

Erik Johansson (@tackochgodnatt)

Go Your Own Road.

Mario S. Nevado (@aegis_strife)

Betrayal.

Stephen G. Petrany (@spetrany)

Coffee Cake.

Wojciech Pijecki (@wojciechpijecki)

Rapture.

Jeff Huang (@thefifthorder)

The 54th Grammys.

Digital Illustrators

Kei Acedera (@keiacedera)

The Jellies.

Jason Seiler (@jasonseiler)

The Union: Elton John and Leon Russell

Sheridan Johns (@sheridan_johns)

Please Say Hello to Me.

Feng Zhu Design (@FengZhuDesign)

Untitled.

James White (@Signalnoise)

Tron Legacy.

Typographers

João Oliveira (@On_Repeat)

Kult Magazine.

David McLeod (@david_mcleod)

Building Success.

Marcelo Schultz (@schultzdzn)

Just Do It.

Peter Tarka (@PiotrTarka)

Typography 10.

Chris Labrooy (@ChrisLabrooy)

Adict.

Conclusion

We hope that you have found this list useful. If you like these types of posts, let us know and maybe we can do some more at a later date. In the meantime, you can also Follow us on Twitter, as well.

Create Epic “Man Of Steel” Fan Art in Photoshop

Sheridan Johns — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:30:06 PDT

Your initial sketch is one of the most important elements of a digital illustration or painting. Your initial sketch will set the tone of the rest of your artwork so it is important to get it right. Every artist has their own method of producing a sketch. Some artists sketch from memory, some sketch from a reference. In this tutorial, we will show you how to use a grid to help you sketch from a reference image. We will then show you how to turn that sketch into a realistic-looking "Man of Steel" inspired digital painting that conveys the same feel and intensity as the official promotional material of the movie with the addition of some strong lighting and motion effects. Let’s get started!

Speed Painting Video

See how this painting came together in this amazing speed painting video.

Tutorial Assets

To complete the tutorial you will need the following assets:

1. Reference and Grid

In this painting, I referenced a promotional image from the “Man of Steel” movie. I used a grid to help me match up the proportions of the reference image to help me produce an accurate sketch to start with. Once the sketch was done, I began to paint it to bring it to life.

2. Background

Step 1

Once you are happy with the refined sketch, create a New Layer underneath your sketch and title it "Background Rough"

Step 2

Rough in the background with the Hard Round brush on a medium Opacity (around 50%). Don’t be too fussy with the details at this point as the background will be very minimal at this stage to keep the main focus on the figure.

Note where the Horizon Line is as you rough in the mountains and scenery.

Step 3

Create a New layer and title it "Background detail 1".

Step 4

Add more rough detail into the background, switching now and then to the Textured Round Brush from Rahll’s Brush pack to capture some of that rough snow around his feet and around behind him.

Step 5

Command/Ctrl + Click all layers in the Layers Window regarding the background, and Group them all together (Command/Ctrl + G). Name the Group "Background“.

Keeping them organized makes it simpler to find them again when you need to go back later!

3.Base Color

Step 1

Create another New Group in the Layers Window, this time titled: “FACE“. All layers regarding his face and head will go in here.

Step 2

On a New Layer, paint in the base tone for face with a fairly neutral skin color.

I’ve used #e5c7bc.

Step 3

Make a New Layer over the Face layer, and title it “Hair“. Block in the Hair base with a dark color, but try to avoid using solid black (#000000)

Instead, I have used #181212.

Step 4

Create a New Group underneath the “FACE” group, and title it “BODY“.

Step 5

On a New layer, titled “Base“- paint in the entire body, cape and all with a dull blue tone: #142f4d.

Step 6

Now Command/Ctrl + Click the “base” layer to Select All.

Step 7

From here, make separate Layers that will cover the red portions of his suit, such as his Boots, Cape and Symbol. Fill them with a Red.

I’ve used #852028.

4.Basic Toning

Step 1

Go back up to the FACE folder. Command/Ctrl + Click on “Face” layer to Select all.

Step 2

Begin toning the mid-tones on a New Layer with a Hard Round Airbrush.

Step 3

Create a New Layer for the eyes, and title it “eyes“.

Step 4

With the Ellipse Tool (U), hold down the shift key as you drag the shape, making a perfect circle.

Fill with color #47493e.

Step 5

Duplicate that Eye Layer (Command/Ctrl + J), and drag it over to other eye (by holding Command/Ctrl) to get matching sized eyes. Then erase away where they sit over the eyelid with the Eraser Tool (E)

Step 6

Move down to the "base" layer in the BODY folder, and Command/Ctrl + Click it to Select All.

Step 7

Create a New Layer, and begin painting in the dark shades for that area with a very dark blue: #070c12. Again, try to avoid using solid black. Focus on the form and around the edges.

Step 8

On a New Layer above the "Cape" layer, paint in the dark shadows around that area.

Step 9

Add a New Layer over "boot" and add tones. Also add in some highlights where the light catches on the foot of the boot as well..

Step 10

Create a New Layer for the hand, and also paint in some shadows to that.

Step 11

For the ‘S’ Symbol on his chest, paint in the dark indents on their own separate layer.

Step 12

Paint in the blue outer edges of the Symbol on another layer. Then clean up edges of whole symbol with the Eraser Tool (E).

5. Skin Texture

Step 1

Move back onto the face, and create a New Layer for the Texturing, and further blending of the shadows. Start with the (15) Texture Brush from the "David Nagal Skin Texture Brush Pack" to put down the initial layer of texture first.

Step 2

Switch to the softer texture brush from the "Rahll Brush pack" (Speckeled Brush) to make finer/smoother skin texture; detailing more around the eyes and the ears.

Step 3

For the eyes, paint in the dark pupils, then add some shadows around the outside, and finally highlights.

Step 4

Use the Blur Tool to soften the edges and blend them into the whites a little more!

6. Hair

Step 1

Move up to the “Hair” Layer. I use the Round Blunt Medium Stiff Brush (a default Photoshop CS5 Bristle Brush) for more even streaks at this stage. Start painting in with the darkest shadows, making sure your brush strokes are angling outward from where the roots are growing from.

Step 2

Create a New layer, and name it “Hair highlights“. At this point, there doesn’t need to be too much detail. His hair is already pretty solid looking except for a few highlights here and there. Use the Textured Round brush set from Rahll’s Brush Pack at size 3-4px, and an off-white color: #b9aca1

Step 3

On the same Layer, jump down to quickly paint in some eyelashes too.

Step 4

At this stage I am happy with the progress of the face and hair, so it is time to move on to the next section!

7.Suit Detailing

Step 1

Returning back to “cape” Layer, begin refining the edges and folds more with a Hard Edged paint brush, and begin working on blending the shadows further. Darkening some areas even more, and adding highlights along the sharper creases. Try to avoid using pure white at this stage, and work with a more reddish-white, such as: #ffe2e5.

Step 2

Once you are happy with the amount of shading on the cape so far, it is time to open our first Texture file, (‘NoiseTexture.jpg’)

Step 3

Drag and Drop the image onto your painting. Make sure it is sitting just above all of the layers regarding the Cape!

Step 4

We don’t want to stretch or enlarge the image to cover the cape otherwise the "noise" effect will blur and pixelate too much. So instead we will be tiling it over the cape. Hit Command/Ctrl + J to Duplicate the layer.

Step 5

Drag the copied layer to the right (hold Shift to keep it level) and place it beside the original tile.

Step 6

Repeat, and drag the tile down this time. Keep duplicating the tiles until there is a large enough square of texture to cover the surface area of the Cape layer.

You can see how the texture is covering all the Cape are with no enlarging required!

Step 7

Merge all the texture layers together (Command/Ctrl + E), and set it to Overlay, and drop opacity to 25-30%.

Step 8

Command/Ctrl + Click on the base “Cape” layer to Select All, then Invert the selection by pressing Shift + Command/Ctrl + I. Press Backspace to erase all the excess texture sitting outside cape layer.

Step 9

Move back onto the suit. Like the cape, soften and define the tones further.

Step 10

On a New Layer titled “Cuff“, block in the color and shade the cuff of his sleeve.

Step 11

Move onto the “Boot” and paint in some more tones and details, especially around his toe (where the sole of the shoe begins to turn upward). Also on a separate layer, add edges on the top of the boot.

Step 12

Define some more shadows and highlights on the “Symbol” layer, paying attention to where the light catches on the corners and especially along the edges.

Step 13

Create another New Layer titled "Suit Edges" and place it just above the rest of the Suit layers. Paint in the neat edges of the suit along the neck/cape line.

Step 14

When toning it, begin by painting in the darker tones first.

Step 15

Then add in highlights to give more dimension to the strips.

Step 16

Move onto the hand and continue painting in more detail and texture.

8. Suit Pattern

Step 1

Now it is time to add a Texture pattern overlay on the suit! But first we will need to create the mesh-like texture ourselves! Create New Document (File > New…) and use the following settings:

Step 2

With the round Elliptical Tool (U) make a single, small circle in the center of the document.
Stroke with a 6px Hard Edged brush.

Step 3

Duplicate the little circle you just created (Command/Ctrl + J) and put a little upwards and to the right of first circle. Then With the Crop Tool (C), crop the document right to the edges.

Step 4

Then select (File > Edit> Define Pattern…). Name your newly created pattern "Suit Mesh".

Step 5

Now with the Fill Bucket (G) set to Pattern, select the newly created pattern, and Fill a new, Blank Document with a Transparent Background with the pattern.

Step 6

Drag your newly created mesh pattern onto the Man Of Steel painting above the body "base" layer.

Step 7

With the Free Transform tool, warp the mesh around by the corner points to curve closer to the contours of his arm and shoulder.

Curving the pattern around gives it a much more authentic look as opposed to leaving it flat!

Step 8

When you are happy with the way the pattern looks, adjust the Opacity down to 87%, then double click on the Layer to open the Layer Style Window. Use these Bevel and Emboss settings:

Step 9

Repeat steps 57 – 59, working in the Mesh texture in sections until all the blue suit is covered. Group all the Mesh pattern layers together with Command/Ctrl + G.

Step 10

Here is our total progress so far! You can see now how the mesh we just layered in has reduced that shiny "plastic" look the suit was starting to show, and is now starting to represent more closley the new Man Of Steel costume design!.

9. Highlights

Step 1

Now all we need to do is finalize some more highlights throughout his suit! Create a New Layer over the body base (but underneath suit patterns) and title it "Suit Shine". This will be the new highlight layer.

Step 2

Paint in some soft highlights and shine on the blue part of his suit with the Speckled Brush.

Step 3

Do the same with the Boot on a New Layer called "boot detail" and refine some more highlights around it.

Step 4

Create a New Layer over everything else, including the Body and Face folders, and name it "Final Highlights".

Step 5

Begin by painting in the smaller highlights starting with an off-white blue: #e3fbff. Then begin to work in a bit of pure white: #ffffff along some of the outer edges of his left arm (our right) and shoulder.

10. Background Texturing

Step 1

Open the Texture titled "Icetexture.jpg".

Step 2

Select a portion of the texture with the rectangular Marquee Tool (M)
.

Step 3

While holding Command/Ctrl, drag and drop that selected portion over the top of your Background Layer.

Step 4

Right Click and select Free Transform.

Step 5

Move the texture down to the bottom half of the image, and stretch and warp it to sit on the ground plane just above his feet. Hold Command/Ctrl to individually move each corner. Hit Enter when it is done to finalize the object warp.

Step 6

Press Command/Ctrl + L to bring up the Levels Window. Drop the shadows down slightly and bring the highlights up a little for some more contrast to the ice texture.

Step 7

Also adjust the Hue/Saturation (Command/Ctrl + U) accordingly to bring out some more color.

You can already see the difference by adding in some color to the ice!

Step 8

Create a New Layer, and set the blending mode to Multiply.

Step 9

With a soft brush on a low Opacity (25%), paint in some shadows underneath the figure with a dark blue, Focusing a lot of the shadow underneath his body, and a little under his hand.

I have used #0f1b33

11. Reflection

Step 1

Now hold Command/Ctrl and click to Select All the layers regarding the figure (leave the Background layers). Click the Group icon in the Layers Window (or press Command/Ctrl + G) to put them all into one group folder. Name the group "Figure".

Step 2

Duplicate that Group (File > Layer > Duplicate Group…), and press Command/Ctrl + E to merge the copied Group into one single layer. Move the layer underneath the Figure folder, just above the Background Folder.

Step 3

Use Free Transform on the layer, and select Flip Vertical. Move your flipped Figure layer down and mirror it underneath the current figure like so:

Step 4

Use the Lasso Tool (L) to select some parts closer to where he is touching the surface, such as his Hand, Knee, Cape and Foot, and individually cut them out and drag them up so they are meeting.

Step 5

Drop the Opacity of the mirrored Layer down to 48%, and softly Erase away where the reflection begins to fade out with a soft brush eraser.

12. Ice Detail

Step 1

Now it is time to add a little oomph to the ground around his feet. Open up the Cracked Glass stock image (‘Glass Cracked.jpg’)

Step 2

Open up the Levels Window (Command/Ctrl + L) and adjust the levels as such to turn the grey into a more solid black.

Step 3

Make a rectangular selection with the Marquee Tool (M), and cut out and drag that selection onto the Background (underneath the "Shadow" layer).

Step 4

Use Free Transform and stretch/enlarge the Cracked Glass so it sits underneath him.

Step 5

Set the layer to Screen.

Step 6

Now duplicate the Layer (Command/Ctrl + J)

Step 7

Select Free Transform again.

Step 8

This time enlarge the layer even more, and stretch it downwards further.

Step 9

With a soft edged eraser, erase away a bit of the center so it is just the outer edges showing.

Step 10

Duplicate (Command/Ctrl + J) the Layer once more, and shrink to sit underneath hand this time! Now we have an awesome cracked ice effect to break up the solid ground underneath him and add a bit more drama to the painting!

13. Environment Effects

Step 1

Now we just need to detail the background layer a little more to sit better with the texture layers we just placed. Create a New Layer over everything but the "shadow" layer in the "Background "folder. Title it "Background detail 2" .

Step 2

Paint in some more snow and ice around the edges of the ground with the Textured Round Brush.

Step 3

Crete a New Layer above everything else in the Layers Window, and title it "Ice Spray 1"

Step 4

Now with the Hard Round Airbrush with the Opacity set around 90%, paint in some little streaks around the "impact zone" (where his hand and foot are essentially hitting the ground).

Step 5

Now select the left side where you just painted in the "spray" with the Lasso tool (L).

Step 6

Now give the selection a Motion Blur! (Filter > Blur > Motion Blur…) Angle the direction slightly to the left.

Step 7

Repeat steps 95 and 96 for the other side, shifting the blur direction to the right this time.

Step 8

Now open the Fire Works image (‘Fireworks.jpg‘).

Step 9

Press Command/Ctrl + Shift + U to Desaturate all the color and turn it Greyscale. With the Lasso Tool, make a selection in the top right hand corner where the sparks are beginning to break away.

Step 10

Drag and drop the cut-out over your painting, and scale and stretch it to cover a large portion of the bottom half.

Don’t worry about the pixilation or quality loss of enlarging the portion to this extent.

Step 11

Set the Layer to Screen.

Step 12

Add a Motion Blur (Filter > Blur > Motion Blur…)to that Layer!

Step 13

Drop the Opacity down to around 85%, and Erase away with a soft brush some areas where the effect is too heavy or obscuring too much of the figure, such as around his face and cape.

Step 14

Now open the Lens Flare image (‘LensFlare.jpg’)

Step 15

Finally, drag and drop the Lens Flare image over your painting and scale accordingly.
.

Step 16

Set the Lens Flare Layer to Screen and position the flare near his shoulder to give the entire image that authentic "Man Of Steel" poster look!

Congratulations! You’re Done.

In this tutorial, I have shown you all the little tricks and techniques I use to create a rather intrinsic and accurate painting such as this! As you may have gathered, organized Layers and Layer Groups are quite beneficial for building up a piece that has many levels of tones, textures and effects! I hope you can take away this vital information and apply it to your own projects or just follow along for practice! Good luck!

Psdtuts+

How to Make a Steampunk Illustration – Tuts+ Premium Tutorial

Speed Painting Video

Submit Your Art To This Month’s Movie Poster Challenge

This Month’s Challenge and Review

Join The Psdtuts+ Community

Examples From This Month’s Challenge

10 Ways to Modify a Selection in Photoshop

1. Basic Modifications

2. Save & Load Selections

3. Transform Selections

4. Quick Mask

5. Magic Wand, Quick Selection, Similar & Grow

6. Feathering

7. Refine Edge

8. Contract & Expand

9. Border

10. Color Range

Create a Soil Cake for Pie Charts and Infographics

Tutorial Assets

1. Draw a Sketch

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

2. Texturing

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

3. Lighting

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

4. Transitions

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

5. The Cow

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

6. Final Touches

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Conclusion

Our Complete Walkthrough of What’s New in Photoshop CC

1. Camera Shake Reduction

2. Camera RAW Retouching Improvements

3. Camera RAW Radial Filter

4. Camera RAW Automatic Upright

5. Preserve Details Resampling Method

6. Smart Sharpen Improvements

7. Properties Panel Improvements for Shapes

8. Isolate Layers

9. Sync Settings

10. Share on Behance

Tuts+ Jobs is now free!

Earn and Learn

Finding a Job

Posting a Job

Sign Up, Explore, and Subscribe

Peter Tarka’s Amazing 3D Typography

How to Integrate Lightroom Into Your Photoshop Workflow

20 Awesome Artists to Follow on Twitter

Photographers and Retouchers

Dean Bradshaw (@deanbradshaw)

Lara Jade (@LaraJade_)

Sarah Silver (@Sarah_Silver)

Lindsay Adler (@lindsayadler)

Cristian Girotto (@cg_retouch)

Photo Manipulators

Erik Johansson (@tackochgodnatt)