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Matte-painting special | Work with 2D shapes | Photoshop and web design | Pen tool masterclass | Interview: Massive Black

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 Editorial
Imagine Publishing Ltd
Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ
☎ +44 (0) 1202 586200
Web: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
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Magazine team
Welcome to

di in va as
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Editor in Chief Jo Cole

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jo.cole@imagine-publishing.co.uk

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Advanced Photoshop

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Deputy Editor Julie Easton

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julie.easton@imagine-publishing.co.uk

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With the weather changing from hot

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☎ 01202 586243

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Senior Staff Writer Adam Smith

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and sunny to cold and rainy every Designer Stacey Grove

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Senior Sub Editor Colleen Johnson
minute, my digital art tastes are

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Sub Editor Sam Robson

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fluctuating too, from dark, moody Group Art Editor Lora Barnes
Head of Design Ross Andrews
paintings to bright, funky graphics. As Contributors
James Davies, Natalie Johnson, Magnus Kjäll, Radim Malinic,
such, we’ve put together a varied Roberto Marras, Kirk Nelson, Josie Reavely & Andreas Rocha
Advertising
issue, sure to appeal to everyone. Digital or printed media packs are available on request.
For a start, we have a 14-page guide to matte painting, Commercial Director Ross Webster
☎ 01202 586418
starting with an in-depth feature looking at all the rules to

ar me me he i tor n
ra rci be s n for
i
ross.webster@imagine-publishing.co.uk

rt co is ie ire ing

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be d g h nc t d liv

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creating industry-standard art, with advice from the Head of Sales James Hanslip
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people who are doing it for a living. This is followed by an

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james.hanslip@imagine-publishing.co.uk
tra nd H ith im y ill
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excellent tutorial from Andreas Rocha, breaking down

d en rk Ra ora

Advertising Manager Michaela Cotty

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☎ 01202 586441
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fre e to fter is a
the creation of a nautical-themed matte painting
g ei r h tes nte

michaela.cotty@imagine-publishing.co.uk
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using photo references.

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Account Manager Hannah Bradshaw

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☎ 01202 586436
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If painting isn’t your thing this month,

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hannah.bradshaw@imagine-publishing.co.uk
b
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then we have a bright, colourful look at Cover disc

Interactive Media Manager Lee Groombridge
decorating fashion images with heavy use of
be

Head of Digital Projects Stuart Dixon

the Pen tool. By the end of the tutorial, not only will Multimedia Editor Steve Litton
apxtrahelp@imagine-publishing.co.uk
you have a whole host of new skills under your belt,
International
you’ll also be best friends with that tricky little tool. Advanced Photoshop is available for licensing. Contact the
Photoshop is moving into the new-media age with International department to discuss partnership opportunities.
International Manager Cathy Blackman
every new incarnation, so it’s no surprise that it’s being ☎ +44 (0) 1202 586401
ct we s
e a of re
w b
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used to create stunning website interfaces. We have a licensing@imagine-publishing.co.uk

ith
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he ed in o w e e

Subscriptions
gr e ge n t h, l
w or nt in in
8. de ind r
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to dg an d i nt ita
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closer look at how this is done in our back feature this

g0 n . F ou

ap ne t he sh
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.co
de v o
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ho wle u c use mo ig
ÄL
in k o h d

Subscriptions Manager Lucy Nash

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dp o yo ng his he D
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m nd h l th man r ba

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KJ

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w L ow e . f t
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lucy.nash@imagine-publishing.co.uk
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US

three-part tutorial on the disc. This looks at building a

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uk
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oo is is

To order a subscription to Advanced Photoshop:

no gn, osh mag y ed
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website in Photoshop and exporting it to ☎ UK: 0844 848 8402

si ot r ut
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Dreamweaver for coding.

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Finally, we have the usual blend of

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and reviews to keep you busy over the Circulation
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The next issue of Advanced ISSN 1748-7277

Photoshop goes on sale 21 May 2009

4
Advanced Photoshop TORS
004_AVP_56_EdIntro.indd 4 1/4/09 15:21:14
 Cover

Cover image
“I have been fascinated by other worlds and space in
general forever. The universe gives you endless
possibilities and I really enjoy creating new worlds.
Recently, I started combining my own photos with
Imageer:
my digital elements and enjoy the possibilities. The
TOBIAS ROETSCH
cover image is a mixture of 3D, 2D, photos and
painting. I wanted a cold look combined with the
beauty of the first snow. If you look carefully, you will
notice the little guys walking on the chine.” “This image is a mixture of
/ www.gt-graphics.de
3D, 2D, photos and painting”

5
Advanced Photoshop

005_AVP_56_CoverImage.indd 5 1/4/09 15:24:57

 E
K SIT d
-LOO
NEW .advance.uk
wwwoshop.co
phot

ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP WEBSITE

www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
The Advanced Photoshop website is your portal to everything
Photoshop, making it easier than ever to upload your images to your
own gallery, read the latest Photoshop and magazine news, buy
current and back issues and play with our Photoshop Face-Off feature.

ISSUE #56

inside... 36
Fashion images with
the Pen tool
INSIGHT
News and showcases from around the globe
News
08
08
Showcase: Craig Shields 12
Showcase: Jonathan Wilkins 14
Showcase: Kode Abdo 16
Showcase: Alex Popescu 18

COMMUNITY 22
Our readers’ comments, feedback and images
from our mailbox, email, website and forum
Mailbox 22
THE COVER On the web 24
The cover image is provided by Tobias Roetsch Web challenge winners 28
(www.gt-graphics.de). Find out more about the artist
and how he creates his images in our matte-painting
feature, starting on page 44

HELP 74
Tips, techniques and problems solved
Helpdesk 74

RESOURCES 90
Vital assets to improve your Photoshop work

d va nced p at Hardware and software reviews 90

isit the A nline shoo.uk Book reviews 94
V o .c
shop ineshop oks
ot o
Ph .imag es, bo 52 78
www ack issu andise Build your own matte paintings Our pick of the best reader
THIS MONTH’S CD 98
for b d merch
from photo references submissions this month

an Superb stock art, project files and more!

CD guide 98

6
Advanced Photoshop

006-007_AVP_56_Contents.indd 6 1/4/09 15:46:20

 30
We interview
Massive Black

© Massive Black 2009

FEATURES/REGULAR TECHNIQUES
Insightful interviews and in-depth articles Essential guides to professional Photoshop skills

INTERVIEW: MASSIVE BLACK STUDIO 30 STRIKING FASHION IMAGES 36

We get up close and personal with one of the biggest studios around Master the Pen tool with our guide to creating colourful shapes

MATTE-PAINTING TECHNIQUES 44 CREATE A MATTE PAINTING 52

An in-depth look at how you can master the art of matte painting Use photo references to build a nautical scene

READERS’ GALLERY 78 MIXED-MEDIA MONTAGES 58

The very best submissions from our readers this month Build a digital collage using photos, hand-drawn vectors and more

PHOTOSHOP AND WEB DESIGN 84 THE DRAGAN EFFECT 62

Create striking website interfaces using Photoshop Add impact to your portraits with this popular technique

REVIEWS 90 MASTER LAYER MASK EFFECTS 68

We review Genuine Fractals, Stitcher, an EIZO monitor and books Create an unusual abstract composition from one flower image

7
Advanced Photoshop

006-007_AVP_56_Contents.indd 7 1/4/09 15:46:47

 GridIron Flow now available
GridIron Software has announced the beta launch of the highly
anticipated GridIron Flow workflow solution. The public beta is
available in both Windows and Mac versions, and you can
download for free from the website. The full version is available
for pre-order for a special price of $249 (approximately £175)
instead of $299 (approximately £210).
GridIron’s Workflow Map feature allows you to see all the files
in a selected project and how they’re connected to each other.
You’re also able to click on any file to see all its layers, TOTAL TIME-SAVER: With instant
compositions, thumbnails, fonts and much more associated with access to any file or version needed,
creative professionals can get a lot more
the file, without even launching it. Even related files like done in a lot less time without having to
contracts, licences and emails can just be dragged and dropped do anything differently
to your project maps.
Visual Versioning makes taking a step back so easy. Complete destined to find a home on every creative professional’s hard
The latest creative news

file history is instantly accessible, so you can easily revert to any
previous file version and make it your present version by simply
clicking on it. You can also track versions on local, network and
removable storage devices.
Time Tracking is another advanced feature, which
automatically records how much time you spend on a file, a
series of files or an entire project. This is great when having to
juggle numerous projects and designate strict time
management. This feature is built right into the Map, so it’s easy
to see as part of your project.
Professionals have been anxiously awaiting GridIron Flow
since it was first disclosed. Leading Photoshop expert Deke
McClelland is one notable example, as he reveals: “Utterly unlike
anything out there, Flow is one of those rare products that’s
drive. Routinely use multiple applications to craft your projects?
Have several projects going on at the same time? Flow won’t just
streamline your workflow, it’ll save your sanity.”
The apparent power of its administrative sciences was a big
factor for its late release. President of GridIron Software, Steve
Forde, explains: “Flow took longer to develop than we thought it
would, but we are committed to doing whatever it takes to
deliver a tool that will really make a difference in the way
creative professionals work. With Flow, users will spend less time
looking for files and have more time to focus on what they do
best, which is creating excellent work.”
So to get going with the beta of GridIron Flow, visit the link
below and get downloading. It’s a real time-saver. Look out for
our review in a future issue.

www.gridironsoftware.com/download

et
LF: Real-Time Ass
ON YOUR BEHA con nections
ly tra cks the
Tracking invisib s as changes are
between project file
the Wo rkf low Map even if
made, updating Flow is not runnin
g

TOTALLY FOOLPROOF: Foolproof Packaging

gathers all files, versions and fonts regardless of the
project being worked on

8
Advanced Photoshop

008-010_AVP_56_News.indd 8 1/4/09 15:28:07

 crowdSPRING
HEALTHY COMPETITION: crowdSPR
with the avera ge proje ct recei
ING can get competitive,
ving a whopping 68 entries

News
If you’re looking for a bit of freelance
where to start, log on to www
crowdSPRING, foun
Mike Samson, help s
ded by
creat
Ross
ives
.crow
Kimb
acro ss
but don’t know
dspr

the
ive
ing.com.
arov sky and
glob
emp
e find
loyee s.
bites
new clients or clients find new creat
for
To get in on this action, all
a post ed
you
job.
need
Crea
to do
tives
is
can
join
uplo ad
KUBOTA WORKSHOP
free then search for Kubota Image Tools is returning to
Italy for its fifth creative photography
“Join for free then workshop for professional and
advanced amateur photographers (2-
search for a posted job” 8 May). The seven-day course includes
photo excursions, classroom
can post their brief instruction, photography critiquing
and submit there and then. Clients
and then choose the and the opportunity for participants
and watch the world submit,
to apply fine-art Photoshop skills. See
best design. www.kubotaimagetools.com.
from logos to
There are all kinds of commissions,
n. Payment COAST TO
web design and everything in-betwee COAST: By
, up to $4,00 0 (that ’s
ranges from $200, around £140 helping
creat ives have full own ership of buyers reach
about £2,850). Also,
t emp loys the countless
their final desig n up until the clien
creatives
to read the
design and states otherwise – be sure across the
chos en cont est. globe,
terms and conditions of your crowdSPRING
is trying to
change the
game for the
little guy
www.crowdspring.com

NIK’S ADOBE PLUG-

IN UPDATE
Wolda awards ’09
Viveza, Nik’s
popular colour
control plug-in, is
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: With Wolda Talent, the competition now available for
is now open to students as well. The winning logos will be Adobe Photoshop
published in a dedicated section of the Wolda annual Lightroom 2.
Installing as a filter
If you love inventing logos, then Wolda – Worldwide plug-in, Viveza is accessible via
Logo Design Annual – is for you. This high-profile design Lightroom Photo>Edit>Menu with
award rewards the best logos and trademarks across the edits becoming nondestructive. This
creative globe by featuring designs in its prestigious update is free for existing owners of
annual. This has become an extremely powerful the Viveza software.
marketing tool, due to the amount of international and
national design associations endorsing it. This is the
second year that Wolda has replaced Eulda – European
KB COVERS
KB Covers provides some of the
Logo Design Annual. coolest and most practical keyboard
Get your entries in by 30 June 2009 for any logos covers. These items improve your
designed in 2008, or 31 January 2010 for anything workflow by designating keys
designed in 2009. Wolda is open to graphic designers, through their custom decoration with
studios, agencies and their clients worldwide, and you recognisable shortcuts and function
can submit as many works as you like. Professionals are icons. Visit www.kbcovers.com.
subject to a fee of €88.80 ($111 or £79). If you’re a student
looking to enter, then the Wolda Talent initiative is your
way in. Even if your logos have never been published,
the Wolda editorial team will still screen your designs,
the lucky chosen few having their work proceed to the
www.wolda.org
jury selection process. Students can enjoy special rates.
First logo entries cost €44.40 ($56 or £40).

9
Advanced Photoshop

008-010_AVP_56_News.indd 9 1/4/09 15:28:34

 insight
Canon’s first underwater compact
IN THE
NEWS:
Q&A
MAURO PERFECT SETTING: A wide range of shooting

PASTORE
We interview Wolda president and co-
modes and Special Scene modes, including
dedicated Underwater, Snow and Beach

founder Mauro Pastore, finding out
why the Wolda awards have become
such a phenomenon in the graphic
design arena
If you want a camera suited for all on-
location occasions, then the PowerShot
D10 is for you. This waterproof digital compact, a first for
Canon, delivers richly detailed images with its 12.1
megapixels and new Smart Auto mode. This uses Scene
BLUR FREE: Even the most active situations can be
photographed blur-free thanks to Canon’s built-in Motion
Detection technology

Q: HOW HAS WOLDA LEARNT
FROM THE PREVIOUS
SUCCESSES OF EULDA?
A: “Three years after Eulda, we know
we’ve done something special.
We’ve received so many enthusiastic
comments. However, we received
1,100 logos in total, which is simply
not enough when representing the
best logo design worldwide. But that’s
our goal and that is our promise. The
‘08 awards were the first edition as a
worldwide contest. Wolda still
needs to gain visibility and respect,
but our goal remains a goal.”
Q: HOW DO WOLDA’S
PARTNERSHIPS HELP
PROMOTE VISIBILITY?
A: “We have two sponsors: Sappi, the
leading global coated fine paper
company, and Fontegrafica, recent
winner of the Gold Ink Awards.
Simply, our sponsors are the best
printer of the world and the best
papers of the world. What more could
we desire to present the best logos in
the world?”
Q: WHAT CAN YOU TELL US
OF THE ANNUAL’S APPROACH?
A: “We decided to keep the design
very clear and clean, as not to disturb
the real stars of the book, the logos.
There’s a Best of the World and many
Best of Continent and Nation designs.
All are graphically treated as the
winners they are.
Find out more about the Wolda
awards at www.wolda.org
Detection technology in order to analyse the shooting
scene in detail. Checking subject brightness, contrast,
snorkelling or on safari, this camera demonstrates some
distance and overall hue, this camera selects the optimum
mode from 18 possible choices, ensuring perfect settings
extreme levels of toughness, making it a take-anywhere
piece of hardware. First of all, it’s waterproof up to ten
for your scene.
metres, can withstand the shock of a drop onto a hard
The PowerShot D10 is also great for those with an active
surface from 1.22 metres and is extremely dustproof,
lifestyle. Whether taking photos when mountaineering,
with EC/JIS IP Protection. It also functions at
temperatures as low as -10 centigrade. It also
accommodates some powerful current science, including
a 3x zoom lens and Image Stabilizer so camera shake is
www.canon.co.uk
prevented from causing unwanted blur. The PowerShot
D10 is available from end of April, priced at £379/$330.
NoiseFive from ATTIK
MAKING MORE NOISE (LEFT):
“We have NoiseFive, the latest printed colle
condensed our experimentation ction
into a book from ATTIK, is now available to buy.
and believe this lets us grow. That
’s the ultimate The
reason for creating a Noise book overall content is the main diffe
” – James rence in
Somerville, co-founder and creat
ive director this edition, which includes a
retrospective telling of ATTIK’s stor
y in
detail from the last 20 years.
James Somerville, co-founder and
creative director, attributes the
printing
process of the new book as part
of what
makes it so special: “The notion
of self-
publishing in today’s economy is
unthinkable, especially when you
add
up the number of processes (ove
r 40)
and number of paper stocks (nine
) in
NoiseFive. NoiseFour was CMYK
BACK DATED AND UPDATED throughout on one single stock,
: “Some of the content may start
feel dated, whereas at the time it to so we believe we have
was created it wasn’t. But we surpassed that
leave it in there as it’s part of our edition with this new book.”
process” – James Somerville
This tangibility makes NoiseFive
a precious resource. The
title provides a loose order of work
s and mainly these are
www.attik.com driven through shape and colour,
rather than what the
works’ theme is. All this makes for
an informative and
emotive design book.

10
Advanced Photoshop

008-010_AVP_56_News.indd 10 1/4/09 15:29:14

 insight

React: “By blurring the

foreground and background
elements, as well as leaving the
model in focus, an illusion of depth
of field is gained and a sense of
movement is created”

Iron Maide
n: “Exploring Fra
black-and-whit nk Miller’s
e world and ins
girls of Sin City. pired by the
Sexual imagery
surreal twist” with a

12
Advanced Photoshop

012-013_AVP_56_Insight1.indd 12 1/4/09 15:30:21

 Craig Shields
Website: www.surpy.co.uk
Clients: Ecobank, PSDTUTS.com, Mekanism, Razorfish

Craig Shields is a next-generation artist who has obtained a stunning digital style
through extensive practice with creative software. Going online back in 2000, he
stumbled across the online art community experience. Immersing himself in
depthCORE and deviantART, he soon realised that becoming a designer, and not
an animator, was his main objective.
He explains: “I managed to get myself a copy of Photoshop 7 from a friend and
began clicking away, trying to mimic the work that I had seen. A constant flow of
inspirational websites and artists kept me going. All these years later, here I am.
Practice really does make perfect.”
Shields considers himself a photomanipulator, incorporating photography and
textures, making his lavish designs ‘pop’ by throwing in bright, vivid accent
colours: “My work is often Photoshop-intensive, but I always try and get some
hand-drawn or handmade elements into my design. Whether it’s doodles I’ve just
scanned or some textures that I’ve made, this gives my work that personal touch,’
he explains.
Shields thinks that all great images should have a sound starting point, as he
reveals: “I spend hours and good money on looking for the perfect stock image.
After I’ve found it, I just let my imagination fly. A lot of the time I just improvise,
eventually getting great results.”
2009 is an exciting year for him project-wise, as he reveals to Advanced
Photoshop: “I’m working on a project called Vacanthree. Made up of three
illustrators – myself, Max Spencer and established by Mike Harrison (http://destill.
net/) – Vacanthree is a place where we can experiment and go crazy with
anything and everything from motion work, drawing on furniture and designing
our own clothes.” It’s in the making and a new site with new works is due to be
released this summer, so watch out for that.

Hocus Pocus: “This one

explores colour combinations and
texture to complement the model.
Depth of field gives some elements
a bit of movement”

13
Advanced Photoshop

012-013_AVP_56_Insight1.indd 13 1/4/09 15:30:51

 insight
Bang Bang Kissy Sel
lout – Junk Club
flyer: “The nightclub Jun
k commissioned this
illustration. The brief was
based on the word
‘explosion’. This gave me
the opportunity to explore
a vibrant illustrative piec
e set in outer space”

Alice and Wonderland: “A mystical

theme added a touch of the abstract here. The
colour palette is quite dark, allowing the small
‘pops’ of vibrant colour to shine through”

Jonathan Wilkins
Website: www.studioblup.com
Clients: MTV, Nike UK, Junk Club

Specialising in web and print design, Jonathan Wilkins has creativity coursing
through his veins. His mother, an accomplished artist, inspired him with her advanced
illustration techniques from an early age. He says: “When I was around 13, I watched
my cousin redesign a logo for Björk. The whole process amazed me, and I was totally
in awe of his style and technique. I got straight into Microsoft Paint at the first chance
I could, improvising and trying to imitate what he did. It looked ridiculous at the time
but you need to start somewhere.”
Advancing his skills at Southampton Solent University, Wilkins graduated and
formed Studio Blup. He has since gone on to produce works for top clients, such as
MTV and Nike UK, with Photoshop acting as his finishing tool within his projects. He
explains: “I often use Overlay and Multiply blending modes to create a contemporary
vibe. Using the Blur and Motion Blur filters, I add another dimension to my art and, if
it’s not overused, this gives me some amazing results. The key is to create something
that speaks with clarity. Anything too complicated or irrelevant really doesn’t work.”
A traditional ‘less is more’ attitude is firmly adopted by Wilkins, as he reveals: “I like
to keep my work vibrant and slightly abstract.” This is also an attitude that flows into
his influences and nothing is too intangible to inspire his designs. He explains: “I like
to look at everything around me. If I see a flyer or advert I like, I look to see who has
produced or designed it and I get straight onto their website or blog to explore.”

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014-015_AVP_56_Insight2.indd 14 1/4/09 15:31:49

 ino NYE
s, mono and rh ce to a
Orange room r palette of this pie
epi ng the col ou
’08: “Ke photos to
the vibrancy of the
minimum allowed of col lag e, wh ich works
le
stand out. A new sty cha nce to tak e in the
viewe r a
well and gives the party atmosphere”

Wonderla
n
Year’s Eve 20 d Junk: “This was for Ne
08, w
surreal world with the brief to create a
. Th ru
drawn, vector is is a mixed media of ha stic,
and light over nd-
lays”

014-015_AVP_56_Insight2.indd 15 1/4/09 15:32:17

 insight
Kode Abdo
Website: www.dabosslogic.com
Clients: Playaz Lane Promotions, v2lab, RoundTable s: “Relax An
d Take
Entertainment, M Bar, Official Eye Candy Take Note chilled,
Relax And woman in power. She is
e ld
Notes is for th collected, and others shou
d
she is calm an
Kode Abdo is a Syrian-born graphic designer/photographer who has lived in this”
take note of
Australia since he was one (he’s now 23), which explains the mixture of styles and
cultural influences that you can see in his work across these two pages. He runs a
freelance company, BossLogic, through which he takes on a number of commissions
for promotional flyers and posters. His first commission was a club flyer: “I got a pretty
damaged twenty-dollar bill that I still have to this date. As you can tell, I was very
proud of that first job and that’s why I kept it.”
It was through a friend that Abdo first came across Photoshop: “An old friend, who
was a great artist, showed me what the program was and showed me what
photomanipulation was, so every day from then I was Photoshopping all night and
day to do some stunning work.” Nowadays, the program is key to his work:
“Photoshop comes in from the very start of my projects, but the first thing I do before
I even touch a computer is draw it all up in my sketchbook. Then, when I’m happy
with what I have got, I incorporate the glow style that I use and try to perfect it.”
The future is bright for this young man, with plenty of work in progress: “Right now
I’m working on my new style mixed with my photography. It’s going to be three
series, all with five photo sets, but it’s all under wraps for now…”

What They Want: “What They Want is about

respect; don’t take what they give you, take what
they want and show them who’s in control”

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016-017_AVP_56_Insight3.indd 16 1/4/09 15:33:29

 Fear: “Fear is
the first of
a two-part serie
s; the
other one is Pe
ace.
Fear, it’s all abou In
t world
domination, pr
oducing a
form of respect”

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016-017_AVP_56_Insight3.indd 17 1/4/09 15:33:58

 insight Sail city: ”A per
mi
sonal realistic
dd le of the day
illustratio n set in the
a bea uti ful fut ure city. Just a
depicting ing technique”
p ma tte -pa int
Photosho

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018-019_AVP_56_Insight4.indd 18 1/4/09 15:34:48

 Steam city:
”Illustration of
inner part of a the
future city. It is
a 3D render of based on
the foreground
middleground” and
the cathedral: “One of my older
works, an impressive structure that

Alex Popescu
combines elements from several
European buildings”

Websites: www.alexpopescu.net
Clients: MediaPro Magic, Digital Dimension, The Syndicate,
Atomic Arts, MTV Movie Awards, xyBlue Design, HotShots

Alex Popescu is a matte painter for MediaPro Magic, the biggest visual effects studio
in Romania (his home country) and one of the biggest in Eastern Europe. “This
means I often get to do most of the steps of an environment (the concept art, the
matte painting, the camera mapping and even compositing the shot),” he explains.
In high school, he discovered Photoshop and 3ds Max: “The first thing I did in
Photoshop was so-called ‘space art’. I learned the basic techniques by creating
planets, star fields and nebulae. Later on I wanted to create more complex things, so
by combining my 3D skills, photographic references and blending them together by
painting, I started doing my first matte paintings.”
Popescu’s first job was a series of three illustrations for a Romanian publishing
house that were used as book covers. But things really picked up when he won the
first CGTalk Matte Painting challenge: “It led to me meeting some great people
working in VFX in Romania. So I got in this great team, one thing led to another and
now I am working in feature films.”
These films include Fire & Ice: The Dragon Chronicles (for the Sci Fi Channel), The
Escapist and Martin Scorsese’s Shine A Light. He was also the cover artist for
Advanced Photoshop: The Premium Collection Volume 2, a very relevant place for him
to be, given that Photoshop is core to his work: “Photoshop is the centre of the
equation for me. It’s my primary tool and I use it extensively. From doing the
concept to the finished matte paintings, I am very comfortable working with it.”

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018-019_AVP_56_Insight4.indd 19 1/4/09 15:35:06

 Letters
Mailbox
Do you have a question about the magazine? Email your
thoughts to advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk or
visit www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum
SAVE AND SUBSCRIBE: US readers can
subscribe online. The costs is in pounds, but you will
still save a lot each issue
SUBJECT: Find my filter!
FROM: Don Moroney
Before I go completely insane, can I ask a
beginner’s question about Photoshop? I’m
looking for a filter effect called ‘Angel eye’, which
I discovered a while ago before forgetting its
location! As usual, now I want to use it, I can’t
find it. I have trawled through lots of tutorial
sites, read the complete Photoshop For
Back in issue 53 we ran a feature called
‘Shoot your own stock’. We’d like to
apologise to Ben Goode who was featured
in the article. We wrongly printed his
website address as www.bengoode.com,
which is that of another photographer
called Ben Goode. To check out the work of
the Ben Goode that we featured in our
article, please take a look at his website,
www.kwestart.com.au for a selection of
great stock photography.
22
Advanced Photoshop
022-023_AVP_56_Letters.indd 22
Dummies, etc, and so am not bothering you
without serious effort on my behalf beforehand!
Thanks for any pointers you can offer.
Editor replies: Hi Don, thank for writing in. I have to
admit that you have me stumped too, as it’s not a
filter that I have heard of! ‘Angel eye’ is not a filter
built into Photoshop by default, and I can’t see one
coming up on a search through the internet. I
have found a few tutorials based on creating an
‘Angel eye’ effect on car headlamps, but I’m not
sure if this is what you are looking for. Can anyone
out there help Don with his query? Write in and let
us know!
SUBJECT: Counting the cost
FROM: Yvonne Campbell
I just started learning Photoshop last August,
first with PSE5 and PSE7, but was lucky enough
to inherit a laptop with PSCS2 and just bought
PSCS3 Premium Web. I have learned so much
from your magazine… it is much better than a
book, and being an older student I am a little
wary of ‘experimenting’, but am actually working
on this, as with your lessons I now can see how
to do things and am beginning to let go.
I try to get each issue from our warehouse
store (Costco) and started buying it about three
to four issues ago. My reason for contacting you
is that I pay $15.50 and was wondering what the
cost of a subscription would be. It is listed in
pounds on the website and in the magazine,
and I wondered if you know the conversion rate.
I can’t seem to find this type of magazine here
in the States; maybe I am not looking in the right
places, but I know I love your magazine and the
CD you include with the freebies, stock photos
and lessons. So if you don’t mind helping out a
Yank, I would really appreciate knowing the cost
in US dollars. I am really hoping it isn’t too high,
as I am sure you are well aware of what is going
on here in the States and I am actually adding
Photoshop and web design to my résumé to
help me find new employment.
Editor replies: Hi Yvonne, and thanks for writing in.
All our subscription prices are listed in pounds, but
it is still a lot cheaper than buying on an issue-by-
issue basis in the US. A World subscription costs
£80, which at the time of writing is equivalent to
around $114. This covers you for a whole year,
which is 13 issues, meaning that you pay around
$8.80 per issue and that includes the postage
costs. Also, your subscription copy is sent out
when it comes on sale in the UK, meaning that
you get it earlier than the stores that import it.
Bear in mind that the conversion rate may change,
and you’ll be charged at the equivalent US dollar
cost at the time of purchase.
SUBJECT: Showcase art
FROM: Ciro W Romero
I’m a frequent reader of Advanced Photoshop,
constantly referencing it for tutorials, articles
and keeping up with what’s new in the digital
art world.
Since the day I first opened up a copy of
Advanced Photoshop, I always wanted to have
my artwork featured in it but never felt I had
what it took. Today, thanks to your magazine
and others like it, I think I can finally say my work
is on par with other artists I see featured and I
would greatly appreciate it if you’d review my
portfolio. Getting published in Advanced
Photoshop would be an honour as well as look
great on my résumé! My online portfolio can be
viewed at www.ciroart.com.
READERS’ ARTWORK: Send us your gallery sites
so we can see what you’re up to, or enter our
Readers’ gallery and see your work in print
1/4/09 15:38:07
 FAKE 3D: Distort vs Perspective: INSPIRED
what’s your view? ARTWORK:
Reader Thomas
Ciccone was inspired
by the lighting
effects tutorial back
in issue 54

On the
forum
SUBJECT: Golden section and the
rule of thirds
FROM: Illustrator
How much attention do you give to the
golden section and how much do you
work out your compositions using the rule
of thirds? I’d be interested to know if it has
as much relevance on today’s
compositions as it has been held to have
in the past?

Editor replies: Hi Ciro, thanks for your kind words. I
think that your artwork is great, so why not try
your luck at entering our new ‘Reader’s gallery’
section (replacing Peer Pressure, with a great new
prize from ohfolio.com)? I personally select the
four best artists that submit to me each month to
be showcased on these pages, so email julie.
easton@imagine-publishing.co.uk to be in with a
chance. There’s also a post on our forum for
Reader’s gallery entries so you can post on there,
and I check it regularly for artists to feature in the
magazine. Good luck!
SUBJECT: Inspired effects
FROM: Thomas Ciccone
You probably get a ton of emails, but I wanted
to send this image to you hoping that it may be
included in your magazine. I got really inspired
by the workshop in issue 54 (‘Dynamic photo
effects’) because it basically outlined a
technique that I was using to build this image –
it’s a composite of tons of miniature slices of
about four or so stock images that I used to
create a complete piece. It’s incredibly layered,
“[A subscription] is
a lot cheaper than
buying on an issue-
by-issue basis”
but I was so thrilled to see that tutorial because it
was so similar to something I was working on at
the time – how cool!
Anyway, I’m attaching it for you to have a
look… maybe you’ll like it. Many thanks and I
appreciate the incredible stuff you guys are
doing in the mag.
Editor replies: Hi Tom, I like your enthusiasm! It’s so
great to see how the tutorials we publish each
month are helping out in your personal projects,
and this is a great example. While it’s fun to follow
the tutorials through from start to finish, often you
can pluck out the bits you need to apply to other
images and that’s when you can create something
truly unique, like your image, which is featured
here. I hope to see more of your work!
FROM: Belic
I use the rule of thirds in 90 per cent of my
designs. I don’t adhere to it strictly, but I
guess after years of it being drilled into me,
it’s nearly an automated response when
setting up a basic composition. I find it
exceptionally practical in advertising
design for print, especially in magazines.
However, I don’t often pay a huge
amount of attention to the golden section.
It’s in the back of my mind, and if my
composition looks a little off I’ll throw a
grid over to check it, however, I find that
the golden section occurs on somewhat of
a subconscious level. It’s a universal metric
that has occurred for thousands of years in
all forms of art, architecture and even
nature. Which leads me to believe that
subconsciously we develop and design
based loosely around this principle. That’s
not to say that there is no merit in it – Da
Vinci utilised the golden section, as did the
architects of Rome.
In my line of work (print media and
advertising), the rule of thirds is far more
important than the golden section. It’s a
design strategy that can be mapped out
on a page in front of a client and explained
in a way that’s easy to understand.
Can you help fellow readers?
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk

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 Website

On the web
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
Our website and readers’ forum is perfect for showing off Photoshop creations. We present a selection of Picture
of the Week winners here. Log on and upload to get your images on this page next issue!

DECEMBER MORNING
ARTIST: Dominic Davison
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/DOM1

“I have been a digital artist for around five years, mostly creating
landscapes and environments. I primarily use Vue and Photoshop to
create the scenes, but also take inspiration from landscapes and rural
photography. December Morning was an idea I had for a Christmas
card, and although most of the scene was built in Vue, Photoshop was
vital in painting in the snow covering the houses and ground. I also
used Photoshop to change the overall hue to a colder blue but keeping
the luminosity intact. I am currently putting together a gallery of work
that I intend to sell as prints.”

DESIGN THE DEW
ARTIST: Angel Rivera
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/
TheLRD
“I am 14 years old and I was born in
Tampa, Florida. I first discovered and
started doing graphic design three years
ago and have never looked back. In the
future, I hope to go to a university
specialising in the arts. This image was
created using the simple technique of
using soft pixel brushing. If you would like
to see more of my work, take a trip to
www.thelrd.com.”
WOMEN
ARTIST: Ariel Ratajczak
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/ariel
“I am a 23-year-old designer from Poland. On a day-to-day
basis, I am employed at a creative agency based in the city of
Poznan as a 2D artist, and I have been working in graphics
professionally for over three years now. This piece was
created using Photoshop and Illustrator, with a little help from
my graphics tablet. At first I had no defined vision for Women;
I began by inserting the photograph of the woman and then
started developing the world around her, experimenting with
various motives in order to make the final effect original and
creative. When I am designing, I try very hard to make each
piece unique and distinguishable from ones that I have
created before.”

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 Website

Web challenge
The winners T
HI
Challenge reference: AP 055
MO S
On our website, www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/competitions.php, we run a web
P NTRI H’
challenge where you are asked to create an image in Photoshop using at least one
of three images provided. These challenges are updated monthly and they are
ZE S
becoming increasingly popular, so get your entries in for a chance to win.
Check out the website for details of our latest challenge and how to enter. The
winner will collect a special prize for that month (prizes change frequently) and will
also have their design printed in the magazine, along with two runners-up.
Our prize this month is a copy of the latest
Advanced Photoshop: The Premium
Challenge start images
Collection Volume 3. This contains our
pick of the very best tutorials, interviews,
profiles and features from the last year of
Advanced Photoshop magazine.

BUBBLE GIRL
ARTIST: Pedro Manuel Costa Ferreira
WEB: http://peter-design.blogspot.com/

“This work was made in Photoshop

CS3 and uses some vector elements
made in Illustrator CS3. The concept
was simple: transform the girl’s air in
a mixing of light effects with a high-
tech touch, all of this using the light
show image. The result was a cool
and colourful night girl, like a planet
in the universe!”

STEP TO INFINITY
ARTIST: Jacek Rudowski
WEB: http://q2jacek.deviantart.com/

“I am a science fiction fan and I often like to touch upon this theme.
Composing the picture, I used two of the proposed photos. I also frequently
use photos of people in my photomanipulations, which allowed me to meet
the challenge.
Apart from the supplied photos, I used a NASA photo of a hurricane and I
scanned my coffee spoon to create the armour for the girl.
Technically, the original file contains 50 layers out of which there are five
adjustments and five textures. To the most important adjustment layer (Soft
Light), I manually added lights and shadows to achieve depth. Here, I
applied black, white and light blue colours, as well as varying the intensity
of my brush.”

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028-029_AVP_56_WebWinners.indd 28 1/4/09 15:41:09

 THE WICKED WITCH
ARTIST: Neil Bland
WEB: www.anything-but-bland.deviantart.com

“With my composition, I wanted to achieve a dark, magical,

fantasy look, so I started by painting the background to set the
feel and tone for the final image. The main focus was going to
be the witch.
Moving to the photograph of the female model, I
desaturated the skin and increased the contrast to really
make the model stand out. Using the Liquify filter, I made
alterations to the face, just raising the eyebrow to give a more
sinister look.
To finish the composition off, the light effects and added
body parts were all painted in using various brushes and the
Clone tool.”

B E R
E
W I NN
W

BLUE LIGHT
ARTIST: José Paulo Amorim Reis
WEB: www.zepaulocreation.blogspot.com

“Conceptually, the girl is introduced in outer space, represented by the deep black, and as a supernova, exploding in light blue and white.
This energy is introduced around the girl as an aura, emanating feelings like ecstasy, delight, bliss and elation, entering a state of
intensified or heightened being. In order to enhance the girl’s natural beauty, some floral vectors resembling tribal tattoos were introduced
on her skin, giving more complex details to the global composition. To achieve the light effects, the chosen Photoshop CS3 tools were
several shapes and brushes. The vectors were designed on Illustrator CS3 and, subsequently, introduced and mixed with Photoshop.”

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028-029_AVP_56_WebWinners.indd 29 1/4/09 15:41:47

 Interview

MASSIVE BLACK
STUDIO We discuss the Massive Black experience
with its president and leading industry
concept artist, Jason Manley

S
an Francisco-based concept design
studio Massive Black has spread its
creative net far and wide. Now
achieving mass global recognition in the
commercial arena, it works with premier clientele
in the entertainment industries. Sony, Nintendo,
Capcom, Microsoft and Blizzard Entertainment are
just a few that can be ticked off of its impressive
list of around 160 major corporations, including 19
of the top 20 videogame publishers. But if you
look back to Massive Black’s humble beginnings,
you’ll discover that this project was born of one
man’s bleak frustrations. And that man’s name is
Jason Manley.
His own creative account begins back in 1999.
Working out of Boston for a less-than-inspirational
games company, he went on to work at Black Isle
Studios. Producing paintings for titles such as
Icewind Dale, the Baldur’s Gate series and Fallout 3
led to him meeting Coro Kaufman (www.
coro36ink.com) and convincing Andrew Jones

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030-035_AVP_56_Interview.indd 30 1/4/09 15:51:07

 Massive Black Studio

WARHAWK3 © SONY 2006 (ABOVE): “This

example portrays what is known as a look-and-feel
illustration. We make these so game publishers know
what the worlds they are making can look like in-engine
– what the real game can feel like in terms of mood. This
was also used for marketing purposes, which is
something the crews here are very good at. This one was
created by NoXizMad”

(www.androidjones.com) to join together to

produce the www.conceptart.org online art
community: “I spent the next five years honing my
painting skills while working on projects for id
Software, Activision, Vivendi/Universal and Troika
Games, among others. My specialisation was
illustration and concept design that included
gameplay and visual narrative,” he explains.
try to reach and
Essentially, this was the spark he needed to ED:: “We always
DEAD HEAD FRrtant for learning. As soon as one ,
is
expand his creative capacity and realise the dream ry impo it up
grow. That is ve is time to switch
a certain way, it n”
of starting his own company. However, the used to working ether it be technique or stylisatio
wh

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030-035_AVP_56_Interview.indd 31 1/4/09 15:51:32

 Interview
birth of Massive Black was an indirect
occurrence. Manley reveals: “When I started
ConceptArt.org, I had been lucky to have already
become fairly well known within the small circle
of the games industry. In time I had more work
than I could possibly do, so I began farming it out
to my friends I met on ConceptArt.org. The first
project we produced together was for Microsoft.
We then did a pitch for a game company hoping
to work with Sony.
“By the time we completed this, other major art
talents asked to come on board, like Chris Hatala
(www.linkedin.com/pub/4/b57/235), who was at
Weta Digital doing animation at the time and is
now animation director at Massive Black. We used
the $6,000 we made from our first project to fund
the starting of Massive Black.” The rest is history, as
they say. Spending many more late nights and
long hours over the year that followed, Massive
Black finally became a fully functional and funded
studio. Eventually, it expanded into the
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Advanced Photoshop
030-035_AVP_56_Interview.indd 32
mainstream worldwide brand it is today, the early visual design for the videogames
TRANSIENT © spreading across continents with teams working industry was all done at the developers making
MASSIVE in Shanghai and Bangkok. the projects. Concept art was not being created
BLACK 2008: outside of the core teams who made the games,
“This is a concept
illustration Creative pioneers except in occasional circumstances. We formed
showing the main Ironically, it’s culture that has played a major part the very first art studio to offer concept art, 3D
character Bob with
one of the oracle- in shaping Massive Black, as Manley explains: “It modelling, texturing, animation, marketing kits,
like beings who was a key factor for us from the very beginning, green-light pitch development and asset
help guide his considering I had come from a games company in development to the games industry. Basically,
journey. When I
said extra- Boston that had none. I’m glad I have had even Massive Black creates every aspect of art needed
dimensional, I these poor experiences, as they led me to know for a videogame. I had been in a great learning
meant it. There are
what I wanted to build. How to do it right, so to culture at Black Isle, and building ConceptArt.org
a ton of awesome
creatures made for speak.” Manley set out to change the face of and Massive Black were, in a way, part of my
this world” concept art, which Massive Black has certainly attempt to bring learning and creative growth
achieved. He reveals: “Years ago, concept art and back into my life.”
“We are doing this all to better
ourselves, our art and our abilities to
communicate. By teaching, you learn
very quickly”
1/4/09 15:52:10

Although Massive Black invents and presents
fantasy, imagining and realising parallel and
alternative worlds never seen before, it’s a studio
firmly grounded in practicality. Education is at its
core. “We are the only videogames company with
a vibrant social network, full-production capability,
a school, training events and a downloadable
educational library on http://media.
massiveblack.com,” explains Manley. “The games
industry developers and publishers are concerned
predominantly with profit and their own products.
Massive Black was formed from within
ConceptArt.org and that business has its
foundation in education, learning, volunteering
and sharing since the day it launched. My partners
and I simply believe that creative people should
have the information on making art into a career
or even to improve their lives. We all had to work
for years to learn what we have.”
He adds: “The art schools we went to did not
offer the necessary information for us to succeed.
Every single one of us had to scrap and scrape, to
learn to apply visual grammar and technique to
030-035_AVP_56_Interview.indd 33
Massive Black Studio
GOLDEN AXE © SEGA 2007: “A pitch package
image used to help Secret Level Games get Sega to fund
its Golden Axe project. This image is funny because when
the president of Sega Japan came to Massive Black, he
had absolutely no idea we did its greenlight work. This is
also by NoXizMad”
create from life and imagination equally well. The
only solution was for ConceptArt.org to form its
own school and for Massive Black to support it.”
Most in the industry would see that as a
distraction from making money. But for Manley
and the Massive Black team, it has never been
solely about collateral: “We are doing this all to
better ourselves, our art and our abilities to
communicate,” he reveals. “By teaching, you learn
very quickly. Learning is very important here.”
Sharing too, by the looks of things.
Nurture and grow TRANSIENT © 2009 MASSIVE BLACK:
Appreciating the appeal of Massive Black’s “Transient is a world we are creating for Massive Black
designs, Manley was in turn able to fulfil another Entertainment by Coro Kaufman. It’s really a story of a
man who is forced by his own calling to seek rock bottom,
goal of his: “We were looking at doing a book for destroy his life and find the necessary truth to save the
www.massiveblack.com for a long time,” he universe. This is the cover of the graphic novel”
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Advanced Photoshop
1/4/09 15:52:48
 Interview
reveals. “We have so much work here, more
than 30,000 illustrations and pieces of concept art,
as well as thousands of 3D goodies and
animations.” Enticed by the pulling power of the
Ballistic book range, they both gladly worked
together to produce the first Massive Black
catalogue of work: “We were impressed with the
quality of Ballistic’s previous titles and felt like they
fully understood our needs. We did the entire
book in-house and then sent it to them for
printing and distribution. It turned out beautifully.”
Once again, this collaboration was not exclusively
swayed by money, as Manley adds: “We just
wanted people to see what we do. Folks don’t
know that we are responsible for many of the
coolest projects out there, on the visual side, and
this was a great way to do that.”
So what notable projects has Massive Black
contributed to? Marketing imagery for the cross-
platform videogame Iron Man, redesigning Quake
4 monsters, concept work for PC game Hellgate:
London and PlayStation 3 game Army of Two are
34
Advanced Photoshop
030-035_AVP_56_Interview.indd 34
IRON MAN © just a drop in the Massive Black creative ocean. All
SEGA 2007: have notably shaped the company’s persona.
“This is an example
of a marketing
Working on dedicated titles as well as providing
rough, which was enthusiasm and motivation sees it getting the
used for the Iron pick of the bunch, having recently worked on
Man project at
Sega. We did a anticipated games such as Killzone 2, BioShock 2
number of these and God of War 3. Manley reveals: “Personally, right
and always enjoy now I am working on building our game
working with the
guys over there” development group, as we have moved into
doing full titles as well as designing worlds for the
entire entertainment market of film, games, toys,
television and graphic novels.”
But Manley explains that creativity is all-
encompassing at Massive Black, and the team get
“On the concept side, you need to
practise your butt off. These guys draw
and paint 60 hours a week at least. You
need to be doing the same thing”
as much pleasure producing and promoting their
personal ventures: “Our own projects are the ones
I am most happy to see make progress,” he
explains, “whether that be Coro Kaufman’s
Transient, Degenesis, Impulse, MothHead, Zombie
Playground or any of the others. We are building a
library of entertainment worlds. Watching them
grow is very inspiring. As far as the work we do for
our clients, I enjoy all that work equally as well,” he
continues. “Watch for our graphic novel Transient
later this year. It’s mind-blowing.”
Unity equals prosperity
Delivering quality end results time and time again
1/4/09 15:53:24

needs inspiration. It needs motivation. So where
do Manley and the Massive Black team get theirs?
How do they stay so devoted and focused in such
a competitive industry? Manley reveals: “We have
exceptional creators here. The reality is we are a
very independent group and we want to see the
worlds we have come up with make it far out into
the world. When an artist controls the rights to
their works, they often have a much more
secured independence.”
The whole working team amazes Manley on a
daily basis, and it’s this wonder for the worlds they
produce that keeps them all passionate about
design: “Andrew ‘Android’ Jones is always doing
interesting work, as is Craig Mullins, of course.
Khang Le, Daniel Dociu, Manu Malin, Jon Foster
and Anthony Francisco also. The list is long with
work I enjoy. Some of the artists featured here –
Jason Chan, Wes Burt, Coro Kaufman and
NoXizMad – are always inspiring, too.”
However, enthusiasm is one thing, but what
does it really take to be a Massive Black member?
030-035_AVP_56_Interview.indd 35
Massive Black Studio
Practice, practice and more practice seems to be
the case, as Manley explains: “On the concept side
you need to practise your butt off. These guys
draw and paint 60 hours a week at least. You need
to be doing the same thing. The easiest path is to
go to www.conceptart.org/school. We hire
almost exclusively from that programme now.” A
firm grounding in digital software is always a
must, as he adds: “Photoshop is used for all kinds
of artwork at the studio. We use it to create
original characters, creatures, vehicles and
environments for some of the biggest games and
movies out there. We do our design work as well
as illustration, matte painting and high-resolution
2D/3D work with the software in conjunction with
Wacom Intuos4 tablets. Photoshop is the most
versatile software in the studio.”
Vision, selflessness, open-mindedness,
playfulness and being capable of a full range of
emotions and styles are core principles to succeed
at Massive Black’s studios, as Manley finally
explains: “The team is like family. We have been
SECRET PROJECT © MASSIVE BLACK 2009
(TOP): “This is an image by Kemp Remillard. Kemp is
one of our tech gurus and creates some of the cleanest
production concepts I have seen in games. If we need
someone who knows how mechanical things actually
can work in real life, Kemp is one of the best”
SECRET PROJECT © MASSIVE BLACK 2009
(ABOVE): “This is an image by our senior concept
artist Richard Doble. He has been one of the guys
helping to innovate new projects for Massive Black
Entertainment, which is making its own worlds”
together a long time now. We are all of the same
blood. The people who make up the team have all
been selected one at a time over the years. We
hand-pick the top talent possible and, in turn,
have managed to build a strong culture of
learning and personal growth. We want to be the
best we can and all understand we have a long,
long way to go. The journey as an artist is lifelong.
We feel like we are just now getting started.”
www.massiveblack.com
35
Advanced Photoshop
1/4/09 15:53:47
 MASTERCLASS

Stri k in
fashion images
g
We speak to Radim Malinic about his unique style,
then the digital artist himself breaks down his
Photoshop process in a five-page tutorial
Radim Malinic (Brand Nu)
Radim has a long history with Advanced Photoshop magazine,
dating back to an Insight profile piece in issue 23 (November
2006) where we first showcased his talent. This issue, we have yet
another contemporary illustration tutorial courtesy of Brand Nu,
who is best known for his work with Fuze/Coca Cola, O2, BBC,
Heineken and Harrods. You can see more dazzling Brand Nu
trademark colours, as well as check out his latest portfolio book,
at www.brandnu.co.uk.

R
adim Malinic, aka Brand Nu, has a unique
style that has graced the cover of Advanced
Photoshop three times to date, and he’s
compiled some great tutorials in the meantime.
With a list of notable clients that includes O2, the BBC,
The National Lottery, Lynx, Smirnoff and more, he
knows what works in commercial advertising. Here, he
gives an insight into his working life, then, over the next
five pages, re-create his popular style with our step-by-
step tutorial.

Advanced Photoshop: Welcome back to the pages of

AP! For those who don’t know you, can you give us a
brief bio about yourself?
Brand Nu: Sure! Brand Nu came about in late 2005 as
a monicker for my illustration and design work. I didn’t
think too seriously about what I was doing then. There
was no plan, no agenda – I just wanted to do what I
enjoyed the most.
Everything changed when I put up my first website
with the illustration work that I was experimenting
with at that time. The reaction was pretty amazing
and served as the basis of my future career path.
Since those humble beginnings, I have had the
privilege to work with household brand names on
some incredible projects.
ECOBANK: Baker’s dozen of product
illustrations for Pan African EcoBank
© BRAND NU/BRAND COMM
illustration set turned into a mammoth project. The ad
agency thought I was the right person for the relaunch
of O2 Germany, and gave me the role of the lead artist
on the project. During the following nine months,
I created over 35 illustrations with the finished pieces
“What was supposed
to be a one-off five-
piece illustration set
Advanced Photoshop: What has been your favourite
commercial project to date?
Brand Nu: It’s difficult to have a favourite; each project
is different in its nature, directions and results. Working
last year with The Martin Agency on Coca-Cola’s Fuze
cancer campaign was pretty special. It wasn’t as
straightforward as the final images may indicate, but I
feel Jenny Liu, the art director, managed to get the
best out of my skill set.

Advanced Photoshop: What was your first big

turned into a Advanced Photoshop: Describe your style to us.

commission? How did it come about?
Brand Nu: My first household name commission came
from BBC South in 2006, however, the first huge
commission was from O2 in December 2007. What
was supposed to be a one-off five-piece
mammoth project”
being used all over the print, TV and online media.
Last May, I went to Berlin to see the results first-hand.
It was quite surreal to walk into an O2 shop where
everything was covered with my work!
Brand Nu: I like to tell stories, directly or indirectly. In
my earlier work, I was trying to layer my work to
achieve the fuller look; nonetheless, since then I have
put the emphasis on the overall feeling in a rather
simpler process. There’s no point in dropping an extra
hundred layers in your design to make up for the lack

36
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036-042_AVP_56_FashionMC.indd 36 1/4/09 16:01:38

 COCA COLA FUZE CANCER CAMPAIGN: For the
duration of two years, Brand Nu worked as lead artist
on this project for a good cause
© BRAND NU
of initial idea. In recent months, I have tended to sway
towards more ‘classical’ illustration. I’m self-taught and
that dimension brings in a whole new perspective.
Advanced Photoshop: Do you have to chase for
commercial work, or does it tend to come to you?
Brand Nu: I’m not afraid to self-promote at any
possible opportunity. My website is constantly
updated, an irregular newsletter works well, I keep in
touch with countless bloggers and I release showcase
books to get people off their screens to enjoy the
printed media. Nonetheless, I strive to produce great
work for current clients. When potential clients see a
billboard of your work first-hand, they know
something is right. It’s a great feeling when you meet a
high-end client and they have got 15 pages of A3 with
all your work, giving you compliments on your
accomplished results.
036-042_AVP_56_FashionMC.indd 37
Advanced Photoshop: We remember your My New
Book Of Colours as a visual feast. How successful was
the publication in opening new doors for you within
the industry?
Brand Nu: It is an invaluable tool, enlightening any
new ‘visitor’ to concise images of what I’m about as an
artist right now. It’s an amazing reaction going to a
client meeting with the best of my work in a neat little
package, getting their attention and seeing their
reactions. Sometimes people can easily overlook
certain aspects of my style. This way, I leave no chance
for them to miss anything.
Advanced Photoshop: Have you got anything in the
pipeline that you can reveal to us?
Brand Nu: As much as I’d like to scream from the
rooftops about the amazing projects I’m currently in
MTV: Abstrac
t
range of bran artwork for the 2009
ded products
© BRAND N
U
the middle of, my tongue is tied with confidentiality
agreements. Admittedly, I made a mistake earlier in
the year when I mentioned an ongoing project on my
blog and almost ended up with a storm of
consequences. However, let me give you a little hint.
I’m working on an ad campaign for a men’s fragrance
with BBH New York, digital cross-platform artwork for a
fibre optic business broadband network, multimedia
illustration for a gaming device, finishing off Terry
Callier’s album artwork, doing vector interface and
illustration for a family magazine network on top of
regular editorial illustration work and other bits and
pieces. I believe success lies in diversity; I guess I might
have the mix just right.
Turn the page now to
learn how Brand Nu
creates his unique style…
37
Advanced Photoshop
1/4/09 16:03:02
 MASTERCLASS

38
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036-042_AVP_56_FashionMC.indd 38 1/4/09 16:04:00

 ON THE DISC
You will need your own model image to
start working on.
OUR EXPERT Brand Nu
T
here’s more than one way to skin a cat. Well,
at least that’s how the old saying goes. In
this tutorial, we’ll explore the slightly
deviated ways of creating a fashion wonderland
image by using new methods of working. So it’s out
with the old and in with the new.
Photoshop is an endless well of options, sometimes
making it easier to run with what’s easy and
established to you, rather than pushing yourself
further. This may be due to either a lack of time or
curiosity – or both.
Over the next 21 steps, we’ll take our model and put
her into a completely different crafted setting to where
she found herself in the front of the camera. Fashion
digital illustration is always an exciting and profound
mission to embark upon, so let’s see if we can tell a
little narrative by experimenting with the Pen and
Warp tools, allowing us to end up with new and
unpredictable discoveries.
036-042_AVP_56_FashionMC.indd 39
1 Precision cutting
Open a new document set to 450 x 450mm at
300dpi in CMYK mode, then fill with a soft grey colour.
Open your model image, click P for the Pen tool and
draw around the model, being as precise as possible.
Make this path a selection (hold Ctrl/right-click on the
path and choose Make Selection), then copy and paste
the model into your canvas.
3 Basic retouching
Since our cutout has produced a few little
problems, now’s the time to retouch and fix them. Hit
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N to create a new layer and tick the Use
Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask box. The new
layer will copy the shape of the model below it, making it
much easier to clean up the edges using the Clone
Stamp tool set to Sample All Layers. Tidy up your model
as needed.
“Fashion digital
illustration is always
an exciting and
profound mission to
embark upon”
2 Find colour inspiration
As we didn’t have a set plan on the colour scheme,
we discovered nice colour tones on the left-hand shoe,
which inspired the idea of using shades of violet, teal and
warm grey. To create a small colour palette on your
canvas to work from, use the Rectangle tool to draw a
small box and sample a colour from your photo. Use
Opt/Alt+Backspace to fill the box with the sampled
colour. Continue until you have all the colours you want
to use on your canvas for reference. Position them out of
the way in the top right.
Selective Color
adjustment layer
It’s easy to overlook many of Photoshop’s
features. We were introduced to Selective Color
last year, and since then it’s been an invaluable
feature that’s called upon in most of our day-to-
day work. The complexity of the feature is
immensely practical, as you will find in this
tutorial; the whole result would look a lot
different were it not for the tool. Take some time
and experiment with its sheer scale of
possibilities. Remember the Clipping Path option
when applying to a single layer or shape, and
always hold down Opt/Alt to access the pop-up
window when adding an adjustment layer.
39
Advanced Photoshop
1/4/09 16:06:09
 MASTERCLASS
4 Shades of new colours
In order to achieve vibrant contrast in the final
image, the next step is to add a Selective Color
“Occasionally, there’s the option to borrow the
original shadow depending on what colour
adjustment layer. Open the Layers palette, select the
model layer and hold down Opt/Alt when adding a background was used during the shoot”
Selective Color adjustment layer. This will bring up the

5
New Layer dialog box so you can once again select Use
Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask. We’ve mainly Simple background
pushed the reds and yellows to bring out clearer tones in Next up is quite a simple
the face. The model now looks clearer and more positive. step, which will give the whole
composition a better sense of
perspective in the long run.
First, select your Background
layer. Reset your default colours
by pressing D and then hit X to
bring white in as the
Foreground Color. Now press
G for the Gradient tool. Ensure
your settings are set to
Foreground to Transparent and
then draw a line going
vertically up the middle of the
image, from the bottom to
about halfway.

6 Cast a shadow
Sometimes shadows can be quite tricky.
Occasionally, there’s the option to borrow the original 7 Add flowers
Get a vector mask by
shadow depending on what colour background was tracing over a flower
used during the shoot. This time, we decided to create image. (see the boxout).
our own shadows on the model layer. Select a 400px soft Create a new layer below
brush with Shape Dynamics and Smoothing ticked, with the model and paste in the
Opacity and Flow set to 10%. Having a Wacom tablet is mask. Go to the Paths
quite handy at this stage, as the shadow is created with a palette, Ctrl/right-click on
few little strokes, building up the intensity. the Work Path and hit
Make Selection. Pick a
white soft brush and paint
the selection in various
opacities. For darker
elements, set the brush’s
blending mode to
Exclusion, otherwise use
Normal. Duplicate this to
build up floral elements,
holding Opt/Alt and
dragging the shape.

8 Get drawing
On a new layer, use the Pen tool to
draw a simple leaf-like shape, then Ctrl/right- Make vector shapes
click and hit Make Selection. Colour using a
magenta tone with a soft round brush set to
from photos
Linear Dodge. Copy the layer by dragging the Here is our method for creating our flower
layer while holding the Opt/Alt key. Select shapes used in Step 7. First, open a photo of a
Free Transform (Cmd/Ctrl+T) and then the flower (this can be your own or from a stock site).
Warp option (from the pop-up menu if you Add a new blank layer and select the Pen tool.
Ctrl/right-click). Experiment with the shape by Trace around the shape of the flower, using the
dragging the corners to achieve similar results background image as a reference. When you’re
happy with the shape, Ctrl/right-click, then pick
to ours. When finished, go Cmd/Ctrl+U to
Create Vector Mask. Copy and paste this into your
change the colour to green or whatever you
model image and it will show up as a Work Path
feel works well. Keep adding shapes in the in the Paths palette.
same way.

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 10 Plant the trees

9
We’re going to create abstract tree-like
Halftone textures shapes that will encourage further perspective in the
Now the colours are piece. First up, though, similar to Step 8, we’re going layer
nicely fitting together, we’ll up trees from easy shapes. Hit U for the Rectangular tool
put in extra textures to and apply the Warp tool set to Flag, with Bend and
make the elements more Height set to 100 and Width at 0. For extra perspective,
intriguing. Select one of Free Transform again.
your shape layers next to
the model, hit Cmd/Ctrl+J
to copy the layer and go
Filter>Pixelate>
Color Halftone. Change the
default main setting to 25.
Desaturate the result with
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+U and set
the layer to Overlay.

11 Movement
Take some of the vector tree shapes and 12 Change colours
Our main model’s cast shadow, which we

rescale them to suit the movement of the central figure.
Feel free to remove and rearrange each of the shoots,
exploring the perspective options as you wish.
drew earlier, suggests the direction in which we’ll place
our trees. Each shape in each of the trees can easily be
changed in colour by sampling from our original colours
(the ones we put in the top right), then hit Opt/Alt+
Backspace to fill the shape.
13
More Pen tool work
Our bottom tree edges are a bit harsh, so let’s
see if it can be helped with a simple shape. Now we’ve
used the Pen tool countless times, this should be an easy
step! Draw a zigzag shape, like grass, along the bottom of
the trees. Fill with colour and then, on a new layer, draw
in shadows as you did before.

14 Build up the mood

On a new layer, randomly
brush in a purple colour at a low 15 More warping ways
The Warp tool offers an excellent way to
opacity from the swatches sampled experiment with various elements. Hit U for the Line tool
at the beginning of the tutorial. Click and then set Thickness to 10px. Draw a line, then we’re
the Eraser (E) tool and chip out a little going to repeat the process from Step 10, choosing to
bit to give it a ‘swoosh’ effect. Once Warp and Free Transform this shape to fit our
you’re happy with the shape, composition. This will enable you to pull the shape apart
experiment with different blending in smooth curves. You could easily do the same with the
modes and Hue/Saturation to get a Pen tool – it’s up to you.
vibrant result. Keep building up these
areas of colour. We used Linear
Dodge and Overlay for the added
colour vibrancy.

“The Warp tool offers an excellent way to

experiment with various elements… enabling
you to pull the shape apart in smooth curves”
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 MASTERCLASS
16 Introduce textures
Now you’ve got an option to introduce your
own textures in the compositions, as we’re about to
bring in some little ‘planets’. We used a simple image of a
wall and cut out a round shape with the Round Marquee
tool (try using the urban textures on the free CD with this
issue). Since our original was almost black and white, we
hit Cmd/Ctrl+U for Hue/Saturation with the Colorize
option clicked to change the colours.
17 Optional Illustrator work
The image is becoming nice and rich in
colour and elements. If you have Adobe Illustrator, create
18 Warp the trees
Take one of the abstract trees, strip it of any
extra branches and flatten it to a single layer. Warp it to a
a new document there in A4 size. Press B for Brush and different shape so that you can place the stripey shape
draw some freehand curves. Multiply them, Outline onto the model’s legs. Set to Overlay and mask out any
Stroke and paste into Photoshop as a Shape layer. Copy extra bits. You can keep pulling different shapes from all
the shapes and work them around the image to over the place and transforming as you see fit.
emphasise the depth of the piece. You can continue
using the Pen tool method in Photoshop if you prefer.

19 Extra texture
The whole concept is taking very solid shape,
but still a few areas can benefit from a little extra texture.
Take any image in your library and apply Motion Blur at
90 degrees. Transform the perspective and mask out any
unwanted parts. Sent the layer to Linear Dodge to make
it shine through.

20 More lines
to finish
The last little touch could be
done with a few lines created
in Illustrator. Again pasted in
as a Shape layer, the lines are
filled with white and set to
Overlay. Duplicate objects by
dragging aside while holding
down the Opt/Alt key. You
could still make more shapes
with the Pen tool in
Photoshop if preferred.

21 Final Levels
adjustment
Select the very top layer and Meet the
add a Levels adjustment
layer. Move the middle slider
photographer
to -91. The whole image gets Bram Timmer is an award-winning director who
a slightly more dramatic feel, specialises in innovative new media design. In
however, it does lose a bit of addition to his freelancing career under the alias
clarity. Add a layer mask, Beside (www.beside.ca), photography under the
then select a brush and use alias Aside (www.aside.ca), Bram is also creative
white to remove the effect director at SplitElement, Inc. (www.splitelement.
com) where he works on campaigns for high-
from the face and arms. After
profile clientele. The photo used in the tutorial is
that, you are done! All the
of the up-and-coming R&B/hip-hop musician
hard work that’s gone in to Sara G (www.ilovesarag.com). Make-up by
the composition will now Amelia James and styling by Roy Mckay.
seem worthwhile.

42
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036-042_AVP_56_FashionMC.indd 42 1/4/09 16:09:17

 Feature
MATTE-PAINTING
om
TECHNIQUES
Learenxpfrerts
t h e ow t o :
h m brushes
usto We explore everything that you’ll need to succeed in
• Create c rs effectively
• Use laye mosphere creating professional matte paintings, with advice
• Add at
from the industry’s leading lights
Swiss artist Thomas Crausaz has
Thomas Crausaz
immersed himself in the games
industry. Starting out back in 1995, he
has since gone on to work for top clients
such as Ubisoft, THQ and a load of
independent filmmakers.
www.tharmine.com
Cover artist matte painter Tobias
Tobias Roetsch
Roetsch is the co-founder of www.
gt-graphics.de. Still exploring his
creative potential, he stays inspired
by peers such as Dylan Cole and
Andrée Wallin.
www.gt-graphics.de
American matte painter Patrick Jensen
Patrick Jensen
has worked on many movies, including
DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar 2,
Shrek the Third and Monsters vs. Aliens. It’s
his job to help create believable spaces
for these stories and characters.
www.metavisuals.com
Milan Schere Matte painter Milan Schere is
motivated by cinema, graphic novels
and other popular culture material. His
client list includes Sony Entertainment,
Expert panel
Evolution Studios, Escape Studios and
Alchemist Pictures.
www.proconpictures.com
French freelance artist Marc Simonetti
Marc Simonetti
chose a life as a matte painter after
seeing his beloved books adapted for
the big screen. He has since worked with
on-screen projects for mainstream
clients such as Akama Studio and EA.
www.marcsimonetti.com
44
Advanced Photoshop
044-051_AVP_56_Feature.indd 44
M
atte painters have been supplying
the world of entertainment with
stunning images, bringing the big
screen to life for over 100 years. The first known
example was way back in 1907 by Norman Dawn,
who restored the crumbling California missions
for the movie Missions of California. He did this by
using an innovative technique of painting on
glass. This method stood the test of time up until
the late Nineties. Then began new innovations
with the dawn of the digital era. Matte painting
has never been the same since.
Not to be confused with concept art, matte
painting is a style that creates the illusion of a
realistic environment that otherwise may or may
not exist. Creating such spectacular and
expansive scenes has become wholly accessible
using digital software and hardware. Devices
such as Adobe Photoshop, 3D programs and
camera mapping have dramatically sped up the
application process in what are demanding and
fast-paced design and film industries. Now
images can be produced, edited and amended
far quicker.
However, with such accessibility, has the genre
lost its uniqueness? Not when you consider the
quality of the images being invented currently.
This seems to be a far more important factor, as
present artists constantly deliver high standards.
But just how do they take full advantage of digital
capabilities to create such vivid artworks? What
specific tools and devices do they apply and why?
What general rules apply throughout the
application process to get the best effects?
Advanced Photoshop questions some of the
finest matte painters around, and provides
creative insight so you know just what it takes to
create stunning masterpieces of matte painting.
1/4/09 16:14:12
 Matte-painting techniques
IMAGE
U R CE
SO

SOU
CE R
M

I
AG
E

IMAGE
R CE U
SO

Dubrovnik
A series of photographic references and source
images were used to build up this scene and to
help lend a sense of realism. It’s a personal
piece and there’s an in-progress breakdown on
Patrick Jensen’s website
© Patrick Jensen

45
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 Feature
First Snow
“Besides Photoshop, I use CINEMA 4D and
sometimes Terragen. In CINEMA 4D, I render planets,
asteroids, sometimes dummy ships, stations or other
technical elements. But 90 per cent of my work is
done in Photoshop,” reveals Roetsch
© Tobias Roetsch

used
Stoauywafnot cthe vieweterrs,
“If y arac
on the ch
Create a custom brush for matte painting

Patrick Jensen Patrick Jensen, focusing about how not tohind

ADVICE

think the space be er

matte-painting artist distracttinead, lead the vieirwror
for Pixar and them. Insscene and help me
DreamWorks, reveals into the e emotions of th olour
RT

how to make cloud th our c

rs with y
PE

brushes from stock charactelette and mood”

EX

photography
1: Snap the skies
Source cloud images with your own
camera, photographing fluffy clouds
overhead, or use a free site like www.sxc.hu
to find a good image.
pa Jensen
– Patrick
3: Isolate shape Get the right setup
Invert the image, hit Cmd/Ctrl+I and paint white Hardware and software complement one another
in the surrounding area to isolate the dark cloud. when it comes to digital matte painting. Each artist
will have a personal preference for what they use, but
there are some ideal types if you want to get the right
results. For starters, your choice of monitor can make
a big difference when scrutinising your design in this
results-based business.
A current talent in matte painting, Tobias
Roetsch (www.gt-graphics.de)
E S
SH thinks that best effects come in
4: Add to Presets
U

pairs. “It is essential to have the

BR

Select Edit>Define Brush Preset, opportunity to work with at

2: Exaggerated exposure
Desaturate and bump up the contrast and
brightness using Adjustment>Levels.
loading your created brush. Add least two monitors. They
your Brush Dynamic settings and should be widescreens, at
you’re ready to apply. least 21 inches in size,” he
explains. “One should be
used for the palettes or
stock images, and the other
for the image itself. This way
you make sure that no parts of
the image are hidden.”
It’s also essential that your monitors
have a good contrast ratio, which is equal to colour
reliability. Basically, the higher the ratio, the better
tonal capabilities the monitor has. With deeper blacks

46
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and brighter whites, you can really make the most of
your colours in your images. The Dell 2407WFP, Dell
1970FP and Samsung Syncmaster 2232BW are some
of the preferred choices by our artists. Cinema HD
screens are also recommended, but are a bit pricey.
French painter Marc Simonetti (www.
marcsimonetti.com), who has worked on projects for
Activision, Dark Horse Comics and EA, explains: “Dell’s
2407WFP is a big 24-inch model. It gives me a really
good rendering of colours when used with a
calibration device.” Matching your on-screen colours
is important when producing professional matte
paintings, as he says: “The calibration unit I’ve got
is an Eye-One Gretag Macbeth, which is both
effective and simple to use. That way, I know that
colour-corrected matte paintings will be easier to
produce later in the process.” The i1Display2 costs
around £125 (excluding VAT; http://shop.
colourconfidence.com) or $259 (http://store.xrite.
com). Datacolor’s Spyder3Pro priced at €125
(approximately £115 excluding VAT) or $169 (http://
spyder.datacolor.com) is a good alternative.
A drawing tablet will complete your creative
arsenal, and again style is a personal choice, as Patrick
Jensen (www.metavisuals.com), artist for Pixar and
DreamWorks, reveals: “I would recommend getting
044-051_AVP_56_Feature.indd 47
Matte-painting techniques
the largest graphics tablet you can afford. This will
allow a more accurate 1:1 ratio from your tablet to the
screen.” The 9 x 12-inch or 12 x 12-inch Wacom
Intuos4 styles are good examples. But Simonetti
differs as he reveals: “I’ve got a Wacom Cintiq 12WX. It
offers a sense of painting in the workspace, and at the
same time a painting zone small enough to allow
strength in my applied lines and strokes.”
“Reference is vital if
you want to create
something that is
truly believable”
Source your stock
Once fully equipped with the design kit, just how
does a matte painter begin to conceptualise a matte-
painted image? Photographic stock is a basic essential
when realising your visions. Whether painting from
reference or manipulating photography into your
design, having an organised reference library comes
in handy once your concept has been approved.
Many matte painters will endorse scouring the net for
the most attractive samples.
Excidium
“Colouring is very important for me. Colour is the
soul of a picture. You directly know the topic of an
image. Is it warm, cold or neutral? I also really love to
use complementary colours,” reveals Roetsch
© Tobias Roetsch
I CE
A DVBasic
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” M y n e r e a kd o e r
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Thomas Crausaz (www.tharmine.com), a Swiss
matte painter for clients such as THQ and Ubisoft,
explains: “Reference is vital if you want to create
something that is believable, so I browse the internet
and Flickr.com for hours to find all the images I need
to cover my subject.” Simonetti adds: “For references
that can’t be found by myself, there’s great sites like
www.cgtextures.com or http://3d.sk/ that truly help.”
However, matte painters should expect to source
their own resources at any given time, using their own
camera hardware. Roetsch explains: “I really try to
shoot textures and the needed elements myself
because that allows me to be the director of the light,
perspective and the overall feeling in the image. This
really saves a lot of time, which you would otherwise
need searching for pictures or for paintings.”
Roetsch uses a Canon EOS 50D, as this camera has
improved ISO capabilities, 15 megapixels (great for
large-texture photos) and a clear three-inch LCD
monitor for viewing what you capture: “I really enjoy
the speed of the camera, more than six images per
second.” A good camera will undoubtedly improve
the overall quality of your work, as the colours and
definition of your starting images are far better.
Knowledge of 3D software can also be ideal.
CINEMA 4D, Vue Infinite 7, Autodesk Maya and
47
Advanced Photoshop
1/4/09 16:15:45
 Feature
The golden rectangle is regarded as one of the
most visually satisfying geometric forms used in
the world of design. Here, we’ve displayed an
example of what this device looks like. But how
The golden rectangle
does it work? The golden rectangle is first divided
into a smaller square and rectangle. This second
rectangle can again be divided into a smaller
square and rectangle, and so on and so on, until
you achieve a vanishing point. By connecting the
corresponding corners of these similar rectangles,
you achieve a spiral effect, which creates the
illusion of depth perception and thus perspective.
3ds Max allow you to create perspective-perfect
starting points, as Crausaz explains: “As I am using 3D
a lot, I start with my basic 3D render and block the
shapes in black and white to define the light and
mood of the piece. Using a lot of 3D blocking helps
me get the right perspective, which I expand in
Photoshop using the Vanishing Point tool.”
Composition advice
Perspective is important in any design, but in matte
painting it’s necessary to define this before fleshing
out your images. “It’s almost impossible to correct a
bad perspective once you’ve started painting,”
explains Crausaz. Photoshop provides some great
tools that let you establish a viewpoint in your
images, including the Vanishing Point filter that was
previously mentioned.
Crausaz explains just how he uses this tool: “I can
create a perspective grid, placing four points to the
four angles of my reference object. I can then expand
using Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt and dragging the handles to
vertical or horizontal planes. I can render this to a
layer using the Render Grid to Photoshop option in
the settings and commands for the Vanishing Point
Build your composition
Patrick Jensen 1: Rough image
Start by making a quick painted sketch of
your composition in Photoshop, using your
preferred colour palettes.
Patrick Jensen
reveals ways
to use layers in
your matte
painting
48
Advanced Photoshop
044-051_AVP_56_Feature.indd 48
drop options.” Your results become more realistic as
the painted elements are properly oriented and
scaled when adhering to these grids.
Milan Schere (www.proconpictures.com), matte
painter for Sony Entertainment and Evolution Studios,
uses nothing more than Photoshop’s Line tool as he
explains: “With my images, I create bright parallel
lines with strong colours that stand out from one
another. I usually create these in separate groups as
well as on their own layers, establishing each
vanishing point by selecting Edit>Transform and
skewing them into perspective.”
Roetsch creates his perspective through more
traditional means, as he reveals: “I try to work with the
golden ratio or at least eye-leading concepts. I think
it’s important to lead the observer’s eye through the
image and not present chaos. You can get that with
the help of outstanding contrasts or different element
sizes. To achieve depth, it’s important to work
carefully with the size of the different objects.” But it’s
not just perspective that needs addressing when
bringing your images together.
“It is important to
lead the observer’s
eye through the
image and not
present chaos”
Uniform exposure across your stock is also crucial.
This helps apply consistent lighting and colour in your
images at later production stages. Simonetti achieves
this using Photoshop’s Adjustment options, as he
reveals: “Each photo has its own contrast and light
balance. Using Levels is useful to adjust the overall
contrast of your photographic base. Then I adjust the
shadowed and highlighted areas separately with
different Levels Adjustment layers.”
Photoshop’s Channels can also be valuable when
integrating important image elements and sections.
Jensen adds: “If there’s a blue sky with white clouds,
we’ll shoot a few photos and extract the cloud using a
colour channel, get it onto our sky gradient and then
paint on top of it to adjust any lighting or shapes.”
2: The right reference
Once pleased with your rough, copy and
paste in the photograph reference that you
want to merge with your painting.
Using digital brushes
E
AG
Rendering your projects
wouldn’t be possible IM
RT
without the use of digital
STA
brushes. Varying types
are used to simulate
lighting, form and
realistic details. With
the internet saturated
with available styles,
matte painters still
find that a hands-on
approach works best, as
Crausaz reveals: ” I do
occasionally download
brushes created by Photoshop
users when I think they can help me, but
they rarely fit my purposes entirely so I always tweak
my own.”
Matte painters take full advantage of Photoshop’s
Brush palette settings, as Simonetti explains: “One of
most important features in Photoshop is the Other
Dynamics submenu in the Brush editing menu. It
designates the pen pressure and how Opacity and
Flow interact with the applied brush. You can also try
to experiment with Scattering, Shape Dynamics and
Spacing in the Brush Shape menu.”
Jensen gets a little more specific as he reveals how
he creates a brush that replicates realistic rock detail:
“In a separate document I will create various
splotches, dots and textured circles to see which one
works the best. After defining a brush preset, I
increase the angle rotation and turn on Flip X and Y
Jitter, randomising each stroke. Then I set the Color
Dynamics Hue, Value and Saturation Jitter settings
somewhere between 2% and 8%. This puts just
enough colour variation into the stroke to add a
subtle texture. I go back to the photo, colour-pick
from the area I want to expand and start painting new
forms and structures.”
However, sometimes creative solutions are far
simpler, as Roetsch explains: “I work with the standard
soft-edged brush at different opacities and different
grades of hardness. It‘s the best of all the brushes
because you are able to draw lines, fill areas and use it
for lightening and colouring. I use it for clouds,
landscapes or to get a general form.”
3: Layer mask
Apply a layer mask to the pasted photo, using
a black brush to trim image areas, placing
them behind any foreground objects.
1/4/09 16:16:08
 Matte-painting techniques
TNC Matte painter Guillaume Le Tual
“In situations where footage has been shot, most of it needs
to be replaced by a matte-painting geometry created in reveals his detail brush secrets
Maya, aiding in the establishment of something like a set Guillaume Le Taul (www.letual.ca) is a professional
extension. The usual workflow is Boujou>Maya>
matte painter, illustrator and multimedia
Photoshop>Maya>Shake,” reveals Schere
© Milan Schere technician. He has worked on a number of high-
profile projects such as the feature film 300 and
Discovery Channel’s Race To Mars TV series. He
T ADVICE
PER uses Photoshop’s advanced brush controls to build
EX
S
”I grotu ay org
his creations. His most frequently used brush is a

able p image anise

small, hard-edged round brush to create details,

somet to quickly elements t d

like he uses here to add snow to the mountains.
h s o
can oning. Do as mhow or hid be BEFORE AFTER
merge the same uch as yoeu
po the layer
essenssible. Onlym as soon a, or
be abtl ial in separkeep whats
e to ate ’s
– Thomdo quick c layers to
as Cr h a
ausaz nges” 1: Load up the
Brush palette
Select the Brushes panel
and access the Brush

Control your brush settings

palette. Select Brush Tip
Shape and select a three-
pixel Diameter, with
Roundness set to 100% and
Spacing at 25%.

2: Pen Pressure
and Angles
Next up, activate Shape
Dynamics and set Control
Harbour to Pen Pressure. Your
“The computer allows the artist to see the end result
immediately; it is more flexible to amend and Angle Jitter and
correct, and it saves time by reusing direct stock Roundness Jitter Controls
images into the composition,” explains Crausaz should be set to Off. Now
© Thomas Crausaz select Color Dynamics.

3: Setting
Color Dynamics
In these options, set
Hue Jitter to 8% and
Saturation Jitter to 9%.
Set the Brightness
Jitter to 8% and Purity
to +1%.

4: Clipping mask
Apply layers and adjustment layers to integrate
the photo. To clip a layer to the one below it,
select the layer and press Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+G.
4: Finishing touch
5: Amalgamate Finally, activate Other Dynamics and set the
Further painting is applied on new Control to Pen Pressure for both Opacity and Flow
unclipped layers to help integrate Jitter. This kind of Color Dynamics brush allows
the photo with areas around it. you to apply convincing details for a distant
background in a matter of minutes.

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 Feature
© Tobias Roetsch
Add two planets in the distance to
transform our planet to a random location
in the universe. These are subtle yet
Add atmosphere in your images

fantastical elements, which are important Add the castle, the mount and the
to the scene’s theme tower to create an eye-catching
element, dominating the horizon.
This also changes the time period of
this piece

Trees and birds have been added to the

scene to create a middle ground and depth
within the image. The dead trees contrast
the green hills and meadow
Extend the forest and erase the suburbs in
the original image. Producing and
expanding more of the forest creates a
mystical mood in the piece
Add more grass in the foreground to
make the forest theme consistent in
your image. Leave the fence as it creates
symmetry and focus. It could even be
an old iron one
GE
MA
S O U R CE I

CE
I
i mage
DV
Distindcgt es es to
TA

e dged brush d
ER

hard-e y har
E XP

But there are certain principles when using

your brushes. Some are more suitable for specific
image elements, as Schere explains: “Chalky brushes
mostly work well for organic things, like jungle
greenery. For cityscapes, it is advisable to use a hard-
edged brush, while clouds tend to look best when
applied with a soft-edged brush or when you control
the scattering of a cloud-like shape by altering your
pen pressure.”
Working with colour
Brush application and colour used to go hand in
hand. But when working as a professional, be
prepared to be designated your broad colour palettes
by production designers or art directors. This isn’t to
say that matte painting doesn’t involve its own colour
theory, however. “Like in music, your colour scheme is
a tone that sets the mood,” explains Simonetti.
Babylonia
“I use textures in an Overlay mode. It’s important to
handle the perspective and the scale, because it can be
felt very easily if wrong. You can use photos that have
nothing to do with the subjects, such as other
illustrations in the Overlay blending mode to add some
colour variation,” explain Simonetti
© Marc Simonetti
Schere elaborates: “For a battle scene, I would
definitively start out with a warm colour palette and
try to complement it somewhat with few cool tones
here and there to balance it a little. When it comes to
a city scene, I prefer to represent most city
environments in depressing desaturated tones. In a
”I’ve goth and obtain verts. You can
sketc etween objec you have
b e
borders in reality, wheradients of
see this of beautiful gr es, but the
a lot side the shap is very
lights inr between themoft-edged
borde ve also got s inner
sharp. I’shes to create
bru shadows”
imonetti
– Marc S
winter scene, it’s a good idea to start simple, with a
blue sky and a mountain, but you can use a purple
tint or even keep it grey and suggest a snowstorm.”
With your colour schemes established, which are
the best ways to apply these? Roetsch reveals this can
be a gradual process: “I prefer to take ten per cent

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“Without the power of layers, it’s hard to imagine how I
helpful when painting over other layers. You can keep
them as clipping masks or apply adjustment layers for
EX
PE
R a career in
h o p t ooolosls I
TA
h o tos oshop t d
P ain Phot rush an
DV
“The mre the Paintbu can paint
IC
E
use a tch tool. Yo en give the
the Pa nd there, tha more
here apaint daubs look by
ealistic tures
photor existing texrts on
g a
patchinother image cphere
from p” – Milan S digital matte paintings for clients such as The
to
steps to change the darkness or brightness. For
example, I select a red set at C = 0, M = 100, Y = 100
and K = 0 in the Photoshop Color Picker palette. When
I next brighten the colour, I change the values to C =
0, M = 90, Y = 90, K = 0. This is a simple method to get
a varied spectrum.” Each grade can be saved in your
own palettes, instantly accessible in later projects.
Photoshop’s layer options, especially layer masks
and blending modes, have also become a big
advantage when working with colour and enhancing
realism in matte paintings. Jensen explains: “If an
image area feels ‘chalky’, create a new layer set to an
Overlay or Soft Light blending mode and paint a bold,
dark colour to punch it up a bit. If an area is too cool
compared to another, you could try Layer>New
Adjustment Layer>Photo Filter and adjust the whole
image towards a warmer orange. Then I would hit
Cmd/Ctrl+I to invert the mask so it’s not affecting any
of the image. Then paint white in the layer mask,
exposing areas that need warming up.”
Crausaz adds: “Layers are definitely why it is so easy
and fun to paint using Photoshop. They can save you
time by trying things without ruining your image, and
help you blend painting and textures naturally. I
usually start in black and white to block the light then
add a colour layer. Coloured textures and texture
brushes are usually applied on Overlay layers.”
Taking it further
Having a better technical understanding of matte
painting will improve your compositions and, in turn,
your chances of entertaining clients. However, a little
extra goes a long way. The matte-painting industry
demands exciting ideas and compositions on a day-
to-day basis. So how do you stay creatively
stimulated? Schere explains: “I find my inspiration in
fantasy novels, Japanese animation, comic books and
observing my surroundings while travelling the
world. I also listen to audio books while working.”
The great outdoors is a great source of inspiration,
as Simonetti reveals: “Get outside and keep a sharp
eye on the lights and colours you see. It can be
044-051_AVP_56_Feature.indd 51
Matte-painting techniques
Huegel
would get any of my work done at all. They’re so
that matter,” explains Schere
© Milan Schere
tremendously helpful to catch the train and then
paint nature and real landscapes from scratch,
either with your laptop and drawing tablet or in a
traditional way with traditional materials.“ Exploring
online is as equally beneficial, as he adds: “On many
forums, such as CGTalk.com and ConceptArt.org,
you will get objective opinions from professionals,
advanced painters and peers.”
Digital educational resources are highly
recommended by Schere, as he adds: “The Gnomon
Workshop instructional DVDs for professionals
(www.thegnomonworkshop.com) are the best
tutorials available. If you are still at high school and
want to take it seriously, go study fine arts and do a
Masters in Visual Effects. Otherwise, buy all the
Gnomon tutorials you can afford.” But whatever you
“A budding matte
painter really ought
to have a great eye
for the world
around them”
do to improve your skills in matte painting, be
aware that this is an opportunist’s market and
competition is fierce.
Industry advice
With the resources we’ve supplied, you should
have a good head start. However, sacrifices are at
times necessary, as Crausaz leaves us with this final
thought: “The only way to progress is to work. If
you are not in the industry yet, try collaborating
with others to produce matte paintings for short
movies or independent films. I have done a lot of
painting for no money, just for the pleasure of
working with other guys and to create something
fun. This applies practice and creates confidence.
Publish your work on the net and get feedback.
Just remember that all artwork is done to be seen,
so don’t be shy and get it out there.”
Founder of the
Matte Painting
UK studio, Max
Dennison shares
some essential
tips for starting
matte painting
Max Dennison’s career in matte painting spans
over 13 years, having worked on projects such as
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, The Da
Vinci Code and The Golden Compass. He’s also the
founder of the renowned studio Matte Painting UK
(www.mattepaintinguk.com), which provides
consultancy, concept design and both 2D and 3D
Sante VFX and The Mill NY.
With such vast experience in the commercial
arena, Dennison is only too happy to share his own
insights into the matte-painting industry. When
asked what it takes for an artist to go pro, he
explains: “A budding matte painter ought to have a
great eye for the world around them and be able
to paint and draw competently. At the end of the
day, Photoshop, and indeed any other paint
package, is merely a tool.”
He also explains that making it is one thing,
staying there is a completely different ball game:
“Anyone hoping to join a matte-painting team
must be able to work well under stress and be able
to work really easily alongside a lot of other
people. Like all disciplines in the VFX industry, it is
all about collaboration and there are often many
individuals working on your big shot.
“The other thing to bear in mind is that matte
painting requires a lot of dedication. The hours are
often long, the deadlines short and the clients,
well, they can be incredibly picky and sometimes
very demanding. Practice is what makes you good,
and strangely, lots and lots of criticism.”
But what does he expect when an artist
approaches him, looking to fill a vacancy at Matte
Painting UK? “What I like to see when any applicant
approaches us is real enthusiasm to be a matte
painter and a sound understanding of what matte
painting actually is,” he reveals. “Next, it’s all about
your work. You should have a showreel ideally, or if
you have never produced one before, then a
portfolio, digital stills or just good-quality
examples of your work.”
© 2008 Matte Painting UK Ltd
51
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1/4/09 16:18:00
 Step-by-step
Workshop

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052-057_AVP_56_MattePaintingWS.i52 52 1/4/09 16:23:01

 CREATE A MATTE
PAINTING
Discover how to use painting techniques and photo
references to create an old-fashioned marine scene
M
atte painting is a lengthy process;
although it makes heavy use of
photographs, don’t let that fool
you into thinking it is a quick process. A
successful collage of elements to achieve a
believable scene takes patience and discipline.
Since a matte painting should represent reality,
you have to take extra care because the human
eye is a master of pointing out flaws in
perspective, depth, texture, etc, so take your
time to reach your goal and be a constant critic
of the work already done, always asking
yourself how it can be improved.
The following tutorial will show you the
most important steps and techniques used
052-057_AVP_56_MattePaintingWS.i53 53
throughout. However, not all of the steps are
documented as this would make the tutorial
too long and tedious. Take into account that
each technique is used multiple times in
different areas of the painting.
The initial sketch phase will also be dealt
with briefly, as this is one of the key aspects to
achieve a balanced and interesting
composition. This step will also help us in the
gathering of photographs that follows to
compose our final image. We would also like to
underline that there is a lot of painting
involved, especially to avoid a cut-and-paste
look and in order to bring all the elements
together harmoniously.
53
Advanced Photoshop
1/4/09 16:23:20
 Step-by-step
Workshop
ON THE DISC
The cover disc contains the initial
sketch over which the matte
1 Initial
sketches
The initial
painting was produced. Also sketch phase is
included are all the photographs important, as it
used both for the photomontage
will serve to
and references.
establish the key
OUR EXPERT Andreas Rocha ingredients that
A freelance artist based in Portugal, Andreas has worked
will make up the
as a conceptual artist for various game software houses, final image. Make
illustrating for fantasy-related books, trading cards and four sketches on
advertising. www.andreasrocha.com
the same canvas
to explore and

2
compare all your
Introducing colour ideas. Use a
Create a new layer in the Overlay mode, middle-sized
and with a large soft brush, introduce large areas textured brush
of colour. Try to vary them over the four sketches and a large,
and be sure to keep them at low saturation. soft circular
Afterwards, create a new layer in the Color brush to establish
Dodge mode and introduce the light source values first.
using dark saturated colours.

3 Sketch detailing
We’re going to go for the sketch in the lower right, but use the
colour palette of the sketch in the lower left. Before developing the
sketch further, separate the main elements of ‘Pier+Ship’, ‘Ships’,
‘Land+Sea’ and ‘Sky’. This early separation will make it easier to develop
the concept before starting the actual matte painting.
4 Photo hunting
Print the sketch and find your photo
material. For this example, a trip to the Marine
Museum in Lisbon proved very useful to gather
ship photos and references. Near the museum
there were also photo opportunities of the
Tower of Belem and the Tagus River, as well as
some palm trees.

“The initial sketch

phase serves to
establish the key
ingredients that
will make up the
final image”

5 Preparation
After resizing the image to the final

6
resolution of 5,492 x 3,567 pixels, develop the
forms of the structures in the back with a hard- Introduce the ship
edged brush. The sea is also softened with soft- on the right
edged brushstrokes to soften its texture, which Use the Pen tool to make a
will later be developed with photographs. selection of the ship from
‘DSC04315.jpg’ included on the
CD. Load the selection, then copy
and paste this into the main
painting. Reduce the contrast
with Brightness/Contrast (in
legacy mode) and colourise it
with Hue/Saturation (check
Colorize) to achieve a seamless
integration. The light on the sails
is painted on a layer above with
an Overlay blending mode.

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 7 Define the silhouettes
The silhouettes of the structure and
landmasses in the back are achieved by cutting
the forms from the photographs. Select the sky
from the photos using the Magic Wand tool,
invert the selection then copy and paste above
the mid-ground layer. Check Preserve
Transparency and fill with the colours from the
sketch before merging down.
9
Pier detailing
Picking the tabletop
wood photo, copy and
paste a selection over the
pier layer. Using Free
Transform, adjust the size
and perspective to match
the planks from the
previous step, then
desaturate and increase
the contrast. Next, choose
Create Clipping Mask from
the Layer menu, change
the blending mode to
Overlay, reduce the
Opacity and merge down.
“It is a wise idea to always keep large
adjustments like darkening areas or to
create atmospheric hazes on separate
layers when possible”
11 Atmospheric effects
For added realism, create haze layers
that will mimic the interaction of light with the
atmosphere. Create a new layer over the ship layer
(on the right) and create a clipping mask. Use a
large, soft brush at a low opacity and colour-pick a
colour near the sun to paint in the haze. Do the
same for the haze over the fortress in the back.
052-057_AVP_56_MattePaintingWS.i55 55
8 Pier base layer
Next, use the Polygonal Lasso tool to
make selections representing wooden boards
Quick tip
for the pier. Be sure to follow the perspective When working away in Photoshop and
and vary the colour and value of each plank. We deep in concentration, it is an extremely
won’t be too careful here because the wise idea to always keep large
irregularity will benefit realism, but use colours adjustments like darkening areas or to
from the original sketch. create atmospheric hazes on separate
layers when and where possible. Since
these effects usually have an affect upon
large areas of the composition, ideally
we want to keep them separate so that
we don’t regret having merged them
down later on in the unfortunate event if
we realise too late that the effect was
overly exaggerated.
10 Texture the sea
For the sea, make a large feathered
selection with the Lasso tool from the river
photos, copy/paste the selection on top of the
mid-ground layer and match the scale of the
waves with Free Transform. Using Brightness/
Contrast (in legacy mode) and Hue/Saturation
(Colorize option), match the colour and value as
close as you can to the sketch. Reduce the
Opacity slightly and then merge down. Repeat
this procedure several times.
12 Barrels
Create the barrels on the pier by creating a flat barrel-shaped
form on a new layer. The top is defined using the Elliptical Marquee tool
to paint the lid and the rim, painting inside and outside the selection
and inverting it. As before, use the wood photo to add texture. After
copying it three times, create a layer below to paint in the shadows.
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 Step-by-step
Workshop
“Try to keep layers 13 Main ship
The painting

organised with of the main ship is

laborious as it has to be
groups; try to keep created from scratch.
Use the photo of the
their numbers model ships as a

down for the sake reference to construct

the ship, separating all
of organisation and elements by layers.

memory efficiency” Luckily, these are almost

completely in shadow
with some minimal
lighting. Use the Line

Use your layers tool with the Fill Pixels

options extensively to
paint all the ropes.
Layers are a must when developing matte

14 15
paintings. Learn everything you can
about them. Try to keep them organised Main ship (sails) Darken the side
with groups; try to keep their numbers Paint a shape for the sail with a hard-edged brush, then Darken the left side of the image
down for the sake of both organisation create a new layer over it followed by a clipping mask. With a soft- using the Gradient tool on a new layer. Pick
and memory efficiency. When using edged brush at a low opacity, paint in the light hitting the sails from black as the Foreground Color and use the
overall adjustment layers, try to keep
below to give it volume. The sail is then copied above and transformed second preset in the Gradient menu. You can
them in a group above all other layers,
to fit the correct perspective. adjust the effect controlling the layer’s opacity.
and turn this group off when painting in
the layers below. Avoid painting over this Then use the same technique to darken the sea
layer as it will complicate things later on. near the pier.
Use the Lock Transparent Pixels option
often and make the Create Clipping Mask
option your new best friend (shortcut:
clicking with Cmd+Opt on a Mac or
Ctrl+Alt on a PC between layers).

16 Add small fishing boats

Using the photos of the smaller
fishing boats, make selections using the Pen
17 Duplicate the mast
Duplicate the layer group that makes
up the mast. Move it behind the front mast.
tool. After adjusting values and colours (as in Some elements that were not visible in the front
Step 6), add a new layer below and paint a soft mast have to be painted in to avoid gaps. The
area to simulate the ship’s reflection. Erase ship in the back also receives missing ropes but
some areas with a smaller brush to simulate the amount of detail is reduced.
the waves breaking the reflection. Copy both
boat and reflection, scale it down, brighten it
and move it nearer the horizon.

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 19 Final adjustments
Now that we’re on the final step and

18
the composition looks complete, it’s time to
Introduce lights leave the image alone for a day so we can come
The presence of small back to it with fresh eyes. As well as seeing that
lights in the dark part of the ship to the clouds need some softening, the white
the left was planned from the reflection near the ship on the left and the
beginning. To achieve believability, yellow lights in the back were distracting so
be sure to place the lights between they were removed.
the correct layers inside the ship or
erase selections like the ropes.
Furthermore, create a layer over the
pier layer and paint large, soft areas
of yellow reflection. Afterwards,
erase small portions to simulate the
irregularity of the boards.

“Leave the image alone for a day and

come back to it with fresh eyes. The
clouds need some softening, while the
yellow lights in the back were removed”

Overlapping: Although the

overlapping of elements is a simple
technique, it is quite efficient to
achieve depth. Try to use whenever it
doesn’t disrupt composition
Warm lights in a cool scene: The viewer is naturally
drawn to light, and making it a warm one in a cool,
dark environment further underlines this attraction,
pulling the viewer into the painting

Atmospheric depth: The more

layers of atmosphere the layer has
to travel, the more pronounced
the effect of atmospheric depth
will be. It’s a great way to achieve
depth and mood

Silhouettes: Silhouettes can tell a

lot about an object and can be
quite effective in describing it
without filling the image with
detail. Let the viewer complete the
detail in their mind

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 Step-by-step
Workshop

58
Advanced Photoshop

058-061_AVP_56_MixedMediaWS.indd58 58 1/4/09 16:27:21

 WORK WITH
2D SHAPES
We explain how to come up with a mixed-media digital
collage with a whole host of handy techniques
B
uilding a collage involves cutting out
various items in different materials
and sticking them together to form a
piece of art. It’s no different in the digital world.
Digital mixed-media techniques use tools like the
Pen tool, the selection tools and copy-and-paste
actions to build the collage effect without the
messy glue!
In this tutorial, we will be taking a look at
how you can make your own collage creation
using a blend of stock photos, custom brushes,
two-dimensional shapes and various textures.
By cutting out the bits you need and
combining them into a pretty simple
1 Plan the composition
Instead of sketching out the composition,
we’ve used a photograph of a beach as our
starting point. You can find it on the CD – it’s
called ‘Mangobay1.jpg’. It has the same three-
segment composition we want for our image, so
we’ve slightly rotated and positioned it so that it
divides our workspace into three roughly equal
horizontal segments.
3
Pocketing
To make it easier for us mixing in
mountains, trees and other things later on, we’ve
traced, copied and pasted back some areas of
the jungle. We’ve used the Magnetic Lasso this
time to get a quick but irregular selection, then
added layer masks to the copies and erased any
major inconsistencies.
058-061_AVP_56_MixedMediaWS.indd59 59
composition, you can create a striking piece
of artwork that looks much more complex ON THE DISC
than it really is. All the stock photos used in this
A lot of this is repeating what you have tutorial are available on the CD, as
well as all the 2D elements that we
already learned, so use your own photos and have used (‘Extras.psd’). They’re
textures instead and copy the techniques free to use for all your
noncommercial endeavours.
here to come up with your own personal
works. The tutorial files are on the disc, Magnus Kjäll
OUR EXPERT
though, if you want to try your hand at re-
Magnus is a Swedish illustrator based in Stockholm. His
creating this image first. work blends lots of different photographic, vector and
Collect all the images that you want to use custom brush stock to create unique mixed-media
creations. Find out more about him and his work on
together into one folder so that it is easy to
deviantART at http://moodswing08.deviantart.com/.
find them as you go along. Once you’ve done
that, let’s get started!
2 Clone your problems away
Pick up the Clone Stamp tool (S) and select a soft brush. Opt/Alt-
click allows you to pick a reference area, and the size and shape of the
Shooting textures
brush then determines how much of that area will be cloned. We’ve When shooting textures with your
camera, there are a few important things
fixed the sun reflection in the middle and cloned over the tree branch
to bear in mind.
sticking in from the right side.
Zoom in all the way
Zoom in up close to avoid rounded
corners caused by the lens.
Perspective
Shoot with the intention of maintaining a
straight 90-degree angle from the surface
that you are capturing.
Light
If you have a separate flash, you should
turn it off. Textures are best shot when lit
well, preferably in daylight on a cloudy
day. But if you’re shooting inside with the
flash turned off, you should use a tripod
or rig the camera somehow in order to
keep it steady.
ISO
If you can adjust the ISO levels on your
camera, which you should be able to with
most cameras above and including basic
entry-level compacts, it should be set low
to avoid noise, at around 100.
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 Step-by-step
Workshop
4 Rocky parts
Bring up the rocks and mountain stocks from the CD. Trace and cut
out the parts using either the Pen tool, Polygon Lasso tool or the Extract
filter. We realise stocks aren’t always perfect for your composition, so we’re
going to make them fit using different parts of the rocks and mixing
them together.
5 Start building
Bring in your mountain parts and start
fitting them in under the jungle cutouts you’ve
made. Working with layer masks and the Eraser
tool set to a soft brush, you can mix different
parts of mountains together, making them fit
the image better. Try to keep a light source in
mind, too.
6 Treat yourself to some colour
Just to get some idea of how things will
look with our colour adjustments in the end,
we’ve added a couple of Solid Color Fill layers at
the very front. The first layer is a pale yellow
(‘#e0d775’) at 49% Opacity set to Multiply. The
second one is a dark grey/blue (‘#262529’) also at
49% Opacity but set to Lighten.

7 A couple of textures
We’ve used the cardboard texture to cover
up the beach, which was stealing too much
8 Patchwork
Open ‘Mangobay2.jpg’ and copy the
jungle part into your image. We can use this part
“Working with
layer masks and
attention. No blending modes are changed, but
we’ve adjusted the Hue/Saturation and Levels
to patch up the jungle or to top off the
mountains. Use a layer mask and the Eraser tool
the Eraser tool set
into a dark, lush green tone to accompany our to integrate it with, or patch it over, the to a soft brush,
jungle. A cement-like texture is added over the
whole image and placed just under the colour
transitions between mountain and jungle to
make them smoother.
you can mix
layers, set to Soft Light with 30% Opacity. different parts of
mountains
together, making
them fit the image
better. Try to keep
a light source in
mind, too”

Vector masks 9 Lazy cutting

Unlike regular layer masks, the vector
mask is definite; they either reveal a part
of the layer or they don’t. A vector mask in
Photoshop is usually accompanied with a
Solid Color Fill layer. When you create a
shape layer, for example, this is what you
create. They have the same principle as a
regular layer mask, but you use vector
paths instead of brushes and gradients to
hide or reveal the layer. When creating 2D
shapes you get more options with a shape
layer; it can be rotated and resized
indefinitely without losing edge quality,
for example.
Palm trees are particularly a pain to cut
out, and in our case spending half an hour on
a perfect outline won’t be very rewarding
since we’ll size them down and blend them
into our image anyway. So select the Magic
Wand tool (W), set Tolerance to 50 pixels,
Untick Contiguous, click in the blue sky and
hit Delete. If there’s too much blue sky left
integrated in the leaves, you can try to adjust
the separate colour and make it look like it’s
part of the tree instead of trying removing it.
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+U and select Cyans from the
drop-down menu. Move the colour markers
on the bottom so that they span over both
cyans and blues, then make your
adjustments towards green and yellow.

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 10 Structures
We have used a couple of
recognisable structures in this image that are
available on the disc, but you are more than
welcome to use your own. The same principle
applies here as with the mountains: trace out
and copy them into the image and fit them in
the layered jungle.
13 Colourful rings and circles
Grab a grungy brush if you have one
(there are plenty of free ones out there). Set the
Size to about 50px and the Spacing to 2%. Draw
five fairly straight horizontal lines in different
colours on top of each other as shown, then
make a square selection over your lines. Now go
to Filters>Distort>Polar Coordinates>
Rectangular to Polar. The more irregular and
grungy your brushed lines are, the more
irregular the circles will be.
15 Make a grungy
shape layer
Import a photo of an irregular
object or shape. We’ve used this
awesome pancake. Make a
selection in the middle with the
Magic Wand tool, Tolerance set
to about 30, and from the
selection make a Work Path with
0.8 pixels tolerance. Now create
a Solid Color Fill layer and
replace its layer mask with a
vector mask (Layer>Vector
Mask>Reveal All). Copy and
paste the path you’ve created
into the vector mask.
058-061_AVP_56_MixedMediaWS.indd61 61
11 Overgrowth
Cut out some shrubs and place on
top of the building, then change the blending
mode to Lighten. Create a new layer between
the shrubs and the building, and with this layer
selected, carefully start drawing some dark grey
strokes with a soft brush. Merge the layers and
add some contrast with the Dodge/Burn tools.
14 General shape layers
Create a circle with the Shape tool and switch to the Line
tool, set the Thickness to 4px and hit ‘-‘. The cursor should switch to a
cross with a minus sign. Make a horizontal line a little wider than and
over the top of the circle extracting from the vector mask. Hit A for the
Path Selection tool (the black one) and click on the line, then copy and
paste it. Move the new line down a few pixels using the arrow key.
Keep doing this until you’ve covered the whole circle, then select all
the paths including the circles and click on the Combine button in the
Tool Options panel.
12 2D shapes and
Halftone patterns
We’ve used pretty basic 2D shapes and patterns
to enrich our image here (see ‘Extras.psd’ on the
disc). Open a new document in the same size as
the current workspace. Create a new layer and
make a selection. With the Gradient tool (G),
create a dark-to-light-grey gradient in your
selection. Now go to Filters>Pixelate>Color
Halftone. Type in 45 in all four channels and 20
as the Radius size, then hit OK. Use the Magic
Wand at 40px to select and delete the whites
and change the blacks to a nice green with the
Hue/Saturation adjustment.
16
Blending it in
Drag-and-drop the two-dimensional
elements you’ve made into your image and
start placing them behind or in-between the
buildings and jungle. We’ve placed halftone
patterns in some of the darker parts of the
jungle with a low opacity to blend in a little bit.
You can also use gradients and brushstrokes to
make the transitions smoother. For this, pick
nearby colours.
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 Step-by-step
Workshop

igitael.
n from D
ga zin
torial takpher magrapher.
e
Tu togra lphoto
Pho .digita .uk
www co

62
Advanced Photoshop

062-065_AVP_56_DraganWS.indd 62 1/4/09 16:31:06

 THE DRAGAN EFFECT
Become a master of post-production using Photoshop’s myriad
of functions to mimic the Polish photographer

U
nderstanding Andrzej Dragan’s
technique is the key to getting it
right. Try to break down the key
elements to what makes a Dragan image and
you’ll begin to understand its craft. His work, at
first glance, could be likened to HDRI. But it’s
Dragan’s much more personal approach to
through some techniques and tricks using
ON THE DISC
Photoshop’s standard features to re-create
Dragan’s style. There are various third-party On the disc this issue you will find
plug-ins and filters out there that do the same the start image for this tutorial,
however the technique can be
things, some to better effect, some not. applied to any portrait
However, we are confident that the Dragan photograph, so that you can give it
effect can be re-created without these. the personal touch.

image editing that compels the viewer and
makes his work resonate so deeply. This is
achieved through careful application of shadows
and highlights around the areas of the face that
possess the most character. Indeed, his work has
many characteristics of HDR imaging, but it’s the
way he engages with the subject that involves
his audience to great effect.
Load up Dragan’s website (find details on
page 65) and take Sailor, for example. This
work, a portrait from the personal section of
his online portfolio, is a straightforward portrait
shot. The Dragan effect lies within the wrinkles,
the pores, every hair that is distinct and vies for
our attention. The eyes, although benevolent
in expression, seem so piercing, almost cruel
by treatment. The care taken to perfectly
realise each surface imperfection is what
separates his work from other artists.
This can be achieved, in part, using
Photoshop. Of course, though, you need a
fairly decent starting point to get anywhere
close to Dragan’s work. We’ll guide you
Through use of colour treatments and
working with tonal variations, you’ll create a
solid foundation on which to apply more
intricate work. Sharpening details can be
achieved through Photoshop’s basic filters
alongside some more involving tricks, such as
Dodge and Burn as well as using masks. There
are some finishing touches that are key to
adding the atmosphere and tone that makes
the images so engaging. The masterstrokes
are applied through care, patience and
understanding the use of the Burn and Dodge
tools. You will need to spend time with an
image to make it perfect.
This tutorial serves as a starting point for
this technique. You ought to appreciate that
the pixel information differs vastly dependent
on so many variables, both inside the camera
and out. Therefore, once you have mastered
and understood the tutorial using the
supplied source image, you will then be able
to adapt and tweak the finer settings to suit
your own images.
OUR EXPERT James Davies
James is an experienced designer and Photoshop users
with years of experience under his belt. His tutorials have
featured in Photoshop Creative and Digital Photographer.
Dodge and Burn
Creating harshly contrasting edges using
the Burn tool is something that requires
a lot of practice. Similarly, mastery of the
Dodge tool is important; experiment
with brush sizes, range and exposures.
Building up the Burns and Dodges on
separate layers is the best way of doing
it. It allows you greater control over
smaller portions of an image, masking
off areas that you want to expose. This
way you can overdo it and simply reduce
the layer Opacity, but it comes at a cost
of being a lot more time-consuming.
Masking gives you much more control
over Dodge and Burn. Although not
covered here, you can apply this to your

1 Humble beginnings
Open ‘portrait.jpg’ from the CD, go to
Layer>Duplicate Layer and name it Editable Layer.
It’s best to keep the background as an untainted
original in case you need to access it. Go to
Layer>New>Layer and name the layer ‘Shadows’.
2 Levelling up
Select the layer called Editable Layer on the Layers palette and go
to Layers>New Adjustment Layer>Levels and click OK. Enter the input
levels as 0, 0.61, 180 and click OK. This will look too harsh so bring the
layer Opacity down to 50%.
finished image to enhance it further.
Simply use the Path tool to mask an area
that requires a harsh edge gradating out
to a soft edge (the cheek, for example).
Draw a path, turn it into a selection and
then use the Burn tool against the edge
of the selection out into the cheek.

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 Step-by-step
Workshop
3 Colour range
Select the Shadows layer and go to Select>
Color Range. Enter the value 90 into the Fuzziness
box and select the Eyedropper without the + or -
symbol. Use it to select the darkest part of the
pupil – zoom in if necessary. Click OK now.
6 Desaturate
Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer
between the Levels and Curves layers created
earlier, set Saturation to -60 and click OK. Set the
layer Opacity to 50% and set the Curves layer
Opacity to 60%.
9 Burn
Duplicate Editable Layer and select the Burn tool from the Tools
palette. Select a soft-edged brush at five pixels and set the range to
Midtones with an exposure of between 15-25%. Zoom in and carefully
apply Burn to every wrinkle. Go over each one a few times.
64
Advanced Photoshop
062-065_AVP_56_DraganWS.indd 64
4 Fill shadows
You need an active selection of the image’s darkest areas. Go to
the Color Picker, enter C = 65, M = 60, Y = 80, K = 75 and click OK. Go to
Edit>Fill and fill the selection with the foreground colour. Set the
Shadows layer’s blending mode to Multiply.
“The Dragan effect lies within the
wrinkles, the pores, every hair that is
distinct and vies for our attention”
7 Smart Sharpen
Select Editable Layer on the Layers palette
and go to Filter>Sharpen>Smart Sharpen. Select
Lens Blur from the Remove drop-down menu,
then apply a two-pixel radius and set the
Sharpen Amount to 125%.
10 Burning deeper
Select a soft-edged brush with a
160-pixel diameter. Change the range to
Shadows and Exposure to 10%. Burn detail
over anywhere with shadow. Give each area
one hit, but two for face edges and ears. Avoid
the eyes at this stage.
5 Masking off
Keeping the Shadows layer selected, go to
Layers>New Layer Mask>Reveal All. Click the
layer mask icon and paint black over the eyes.
Add a Curves adjustment layer under the Levels
one and add nodes at input 44/output 33 and
input 196/output 197.
8 Variations on a theme
Still on the Editable Layer, go to Image>
Adjustments>Variations and click the Original
thumbnail. Select Midtones and click the More
Yellow and Darker thumbnails. Hit Highlights and
click the Darker thumbnail, then click OK.
11 Dodge
We’re repeating the process using
the Dodge tool. Set to Highlights with an
exposure of 15%. Zoom in and apply Dodge to
the brightest parts of the image. Select a much
bigger brush with a lower exposure (10%) and
apply Dodge over the entire image.
1/4/09 16:31:43
 12 Laser correction
Zoom into the eyes and select a 30-
pixel, soft-edged brush. Set the range to
Midtones with an exposure of 15% and draw a
ring around each pupil twice. Set to Highlights
next, and apply Dodge to the iris until happy.
15 Desaturate and invert
Go to Layer>Flatten Image and then
duplicate the Background layer. Then go to
Image>Adjustments>Desaturate. Press Cmd/
Ctrl+I to invert the image and go to Filter>Blur>
Gaussian Blur and apply at 35 pixels.
Further inspiration:
Andrzej Dragan
We strongly recommend that you look at
Dragan’s own website thoroughly to fully
familiarise yourself with his work and
style. A passing glance won’t do; really
scrutinise and engage with each of his
works. The advertising section of his site
showcases his ability in Photoshop, while
the Personal section is interesting to read
from a photographic perspective. It can
be found at http://andrzejdragan.com/.
062-065_AVP_56_DraganWS.indd 65
13 Bright eyes
Next, apply Dodge to the whites of
the eyes – try to create a gradient from light to
14 Sharpen details
Select the Sharpen tool from the Tools palette and set the
mode to Normal with a strength of 40. Use a soft-edged brush (about
dark rather than a flat white. Burn the edges of 100 pixels) and go over the main details of the face. Only pull once over
the iris and where the whites meet the upper any area, as it can be damaging.
and lower eyelids. If you overdo the whole
Dodge and Burn process, you can reduce the
layer Opacity accordingly.
16 Special effects
Set the layer blending mode to
Overlay and then reduce the layer Opacity to
17 Soften the eyes
Select the Blur tool on the Tools
palette and set the strength to 25%. Select a
75%. Flatten the image and go to Layer>New small, soft-edged brush and zoom right into the
Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation. Set it to +5 eyes. Select the Background layer and start
hue and -30 saturation, then click OK. blurring the iris. Avoid the pupil and the whites.
18 Eye colour
Turn the Hue/Saturation layer
visibility off and select the Eyedropper tool
19 Final exposure
Set the blending mode of your eye
colour layer to Color. Turn the Hue/Saturation
from the Tools palette. Sample a colour from layer visibility back on and flatten the image. Go
the iris. Create a new layer above the Hue/ to Image>Adjustments>Exposure and set an
Saturation layer and draw over the iris. exposure of +0.47 with Gamma set at 1.14.
“Look at Dragan’s own website thoroughly to fully
familiarise yourself with his work and style”
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Advanced Photoshop
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 Step-by-step
Workshop

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MASTER LAYER
MASK EFFECTS
Learn how to emulate the futurist masters in the digital age with
heavy use of layer masks, the Transform tools and one photo

ON THE DISC
You will find the original photo
that was used to create this
abstract artwork, which was taken
by Roberto. Or you can try the
tutorial on any flower photo of
your own.
OUR EXPERT Roberto Marras
Roberto Marras is an artist/designer living in London. After
working for a few years as an art director for some top
advertising agencies, he is now freelancing, splitting his
time between exhibitions and his commercial work.
Check out his images at www.robertomarras.com.
I
t is amazing what you can do with just a
single image, whether it’s one of your
own or one chosen from a stock site.
Throughout this tutorial, we will be showing
you how to design your own abstract creation
using just a single photo of a flower. The idea for
the tutorial’s artwork is a tribute to this year’s
100th anniversary for Marinetti’s The Futurist
Manifesto. Therefore, inspired by a 1913 bronze
statue by Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of
Continuity in Space, we wanted to re-create the
artwork using the most contemporary tool we
have today – Photoshop – as well as a single
photo of a lily. For this, we will not use filters but
we will use a brush as well as making the most of
masks. We will use the flower as our ‘paint’ and
with this we will create a sense of speed.
To better understand what we will create, you
might be interested to learn more about the
futurist movement: http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Futurism_(art). You can also take a closer
look at the inspirational artwork behind the
tutorial at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Umberto_Boccioni. It is always good to read
about other artists and to be aware of the various
art movements – history is our best teacher.

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 1 Cut it out
Create a new
document to your chosen
artwork size (ours is 235mm
wide x 154mm high) with a
white background, then
unlock the Background
layer by double-clicking on
the layer thumbnail. Open
the photo supplied on the
disc, then copy and paste it
into your blank document.
Using the Pen tool,
carefully cut out the flower
from the rest of the photo
and hit Backspace to delete
the background.
3 Scale down the image
Next, hide the original cutout layer. Now
we have to scale our image down, thinking
about the proportions in respect to our canvas.
Transform it by hitting Cmd/Ctrl+T and resize
the flower as shown in the screenshot below,
using the Shift button on the keyboard to
constrain the proportions.
5 Completed background
Repeat as many times as needed in order
to fill the canvas with a series of flower shapes
in various positions and angles. After
duplicating, rotating and moving around our
layers, we should then have a completely filled
canvas. Thanks to the shades and shapes of our
flower, there is now a sense of movement in
our background.
068-070_AVP_56_ConceptWS.indd 69
2 Mask and duplicate
Duplicate this layer by pressing Cmd/
Ctrl+J. Add a layer mask to the duplicate layer
and, using a soft-edged black brush with the size
set to around 569, tidy up your selection so that
you’re left with just the main head of the flower
and a nice soft blur around the edges.
4 Create the background
We want to create some depth on the
background, still using just the one flower
“Use the layer mask to
blend the joins and to tone
image. Duplicate the flower and use the
Transform controls to offset it from the original
down the brighter areas of
flower, then use the layer mask to blend the the flower”
joins and to tone down the brighter areas of
the flower.
Flatten layers
To flatten the image layers used to create
the background, select all the layers you
want to merge and go to Layers>Merge
Layers. It’s always a good idea to keep a
copy of your original layer before merging.
By no means is it unheard of to merge
layers, change your mind afterwards but
for it to be too late as you’ve lost the
original because you haven’t kept a copy
of it! So be very careful when deciding to
6 Desaturate the background
With the background in place, the image is starting to take
shape now. Next of all, select all the layers that have made up your
merge layers.
background, except for the hidden cutout layer, and merge them into
one (see the boxout to the right for more information). We want to
create a grey background so that when we create the main element
we have more depth, using the blacks for the shadows. Now
desaturate your background by following Image>Adjustments>
Desaturate from the toolbar.
69
Advanced Photoshop
1/4/09 16:36:23
 Step-by-step
Workshop
7 Delete surplus layers
While creating our background, we kept
the original Background layer automatically
created by Photoshop. It’s always good to
delete unnecessary layers, as the file size could
get very big and we want to save memory. So
let’s select our layer and press the Backspace key
on our keyboard.
10 Duplicate and shape
Now that we have created our basic
element, we can start duplicating this layer with
Cmd/Ctrl+J as before, so that we will have more
elements for our artwork. Keep repeating and
transforming until you are happy with the shape
that you have built up.
12 Almost finished
After a bit of work, you will finally see
our figure emerging. At this point you may think
it is finished, but if you’re anything like us you
will have some hidden layers that you have
decided not to use along the way. Now is the
time to tidy things up and delete these.
70
Advanced Photoshop
068-070_AVP_56_ConceptWS.indd 70
8 Bring back the flower
Now that we finally have our background,
we can bring back our previously hidden layer
so that we can begin drawing. Bring this layer
to the top of the Layers stack, then desaturate it
as before in order to emphasise the highlights
and shadows.
11 Shaping
At this stage we should remember where we have had the
inspiration from, and not by copying but reinterpreting the form and
shape of Boccioni’s bronze, we can start using our layers to form our
figure, rotating with the Transform controls.
9 Masking as painting
We’re going to be making the most of our
layer mask technique and start to create abstract
shapes with our flower. Mask out the parts of the
flower that you don’t want to create your main
shape with, leaving you with a twisted shape
that barely resembles the flower you started with.
You can rotate the image if you like to find the
right shape.
Quick tip
For inspiration, we really like Giacomo
Balla’s paintings and generally we still
believe that futurism is still valid for our
times – and we like it! Go read about it and
we are sure that you will also be inspired
by it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Giacomo_Balla.
“Delete any
unnecessary
layers, as the file
size could get
very big”
13 Finished
Now our artwork is
generally finished. You may
wish to merge all the layers
(except the background that
you created earlier) as we did
before, and use a layer mask to
smooth away any rough edges.
1/4/09 16:36:44
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071_AVP_56_DigitalBookHouseAd.in1 1 1/4/09 16:37:57

 Q&A
Helpdesk
This month our Helpdesk expert digs up some hidden gems among brushes, filters
and layer styles. Come and see what he’s uncovered!
Put off your stroke: Customising styles is the
closest thing you are going to find to being able to change
the default stroke colour
No stroke without fire
Q
Can somebody please tell me how to change
the default stroke colour in the Layer Style
dialog? Why is it assumed I always want it to
be red? I need a red stroke around one time out of every
20, and the rest of the time I need it to be black. Can’t I
just tell Photoshop to make the stroke black every time?
Can’t it just be that simple?
Richard Carmichael
A
Richard, the simple answer to your question
would be to upgrade to Photoshop CS4. You
probably haven’t heard that Adobe rejected
the proposed tag line of ‘Now, with default black stroke!’
but there’s a group of users that rallied for that! Yes, CS4
now has black as the default stroke colour. And that’s
great if you always want the stroke black. But if you want
to change the default to something else? Well, then it’s
time to join forces with our ‘red stroke’ brethren and
demand a user-defined default colour.
Quick tip
But if you feel that upgrading is a ridiculous
solution to a problem that really should just be
a preference, then the next best thing you can You can re
do is set up a custom style. To do that, open Style sett
your Layer Style dialog box, adjust the stroke
to be the way you like it and press the New
Style button to save the settings in a custom
style. Then, to find it again, you can either use the
Styles palette or go to the Styles section of the Layer
Style dialog box (it’s at the very top left). Your custom style
will be found at the bottom of the list.
Send your emails to us at advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk or post a message on our forum board at www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum.
74
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074-077_AVP_56_Helpdesk.indd 74
Show Adobe who’s the [em]boss
Q Dear Advanced Photoshop Helpdesk, I
looked all over for an answer to this, but can’t
seem to find one. I’d really like to have two
Bevel and Emboss styles on my text. One that’s nice and
tight to form a thin rim, and the other that’s much larger
to give the text a feeling of depth. I know I could rasterise
the text with the first style and then add the second one,
but then I can’t edit the text or adjust the style settings.
There’s got to be a better way.
Elizabeth Roerschetter
A
Elizabeth, thanks for writing in; you can stop
searching, as we’ve got the answer for you!
The key to achieving this effect is in using the
Fill setting. That’s the option found just under the Opacity
setting in the Layers palette, which is inputted as a
percentage, just like the Opacity setting.
The Fill setting reduces the visibility of the layer without
impacting the layer styles. So first set up your text with the
one Bevel and Emboss layer style applied as needed.
Duplicate the layer, set the Fill to 0% on the duplicate and
change the layer style to the second Bevel and Emboss.
There you go, a double Bevel and Emboss effect, all
without rasterising! This can give you some quick and easy
results without the hassle.
yer
set the La
y h olding
in gs b
ey
Opt/Alt k
down the l b u tton
a n ce
and the C e to
will chang
t b u tton
a Rese
Our expert Kirk Nelson
Kirk has been a graphic artist for over 11 years
in the Washington DC Metro area. He writes
tutorials for our sister publication Photoshop
Creative, and opens letters, checks emails and
hangs around the AP forum online, all for the
good of our Helpdesk. If you’re having
quibbles with Photoshop, Kirk’s your man with
the plan!
Screenshots, anyone?
Q Hey guys, first let me tell you how much I
appreciate the magazine. I pick it up every
month and read it cover to cover. I especially
enjoy the interviews! They are always both insightful
and inspiring.
So, on to my question! Does Photoshop have a feature
that will create a screen capture? I frequently find the
need to show somebody, through email, how to use a
particular application interface. Being able to capture the
screen would be immensely helpful.
Alias Delacroix
A
Alias, you are absolutely one hundred per cent
correct. Being able to send screenshots instead
of vague directions by email is very beneficial.
Especially when you are dealing with instructions for a
specific interface.
Photoshop doesn’t have a screen-capture feature per
se, but it does support your system’s inherit ability to
generate one. If you look near your number pad on your
keyboard, you’ll find three very neglected keyboard
buttons: Print Screen, Scroll Lock and Pause/Break.
Two styles are better than one: Don’t feel
limited to a single layer style setting
1/4/09 16:42:28

The first one may also say something to the effect of
System Required. It’s lying, ignore that. You don’t need any
more system than is required to accept input from any
key on your keyboard.
If you press that Print Screen button, you will see
absolutely nothing happen. This fools many people into
thinking that the key does just that, absolutely nothing.
Top tip: The forgotten fill
The Fill setting in the Layers palette is found just
below the Opacity setting, and frequently people
mistake it for doing the same thing. While it is
similar in function, there is one major difference
that makes this setting tremendously useful. It
does not reduce the visibility of the layer styles.
That means that you can create easy circles by
having an invisible oval with a visible stroke
around it. Or try this trick: create an empty layer
over your object, set up a Bevel and Emboss layer
style on that empty layer. Now reduce the Fill to
0%. Grab a paintbrush and start painting on that
layer with any paint colour. You are actually
painting the Bevel and Emboss effect onto your
object! The paint areas are fully transparent, but
the style effects are completely visible. This is a
great technique for adding a custom aged effect
to wall plaster.
VISIBILITY CLOAK: Paint
layer effects on by using the
zero Fill setting
Remember to specify whether you’re using a PC or Mac and the version of Photoshop you have.
074-077_AVP_56_Helpdesk.indd 75
SIZE MATTERS: Photoshop sets the new file size to
whatever is in the clipboard, making screenshots a snap
But what it does is covertly copy a shot of your screen to
the clipboard, so it is then available to paste into
somewhere else.
After pressing the Print Screen button, go into
Photoshop and to File>New. Photoshop automatically
provides the pixel dimensions for the screen capture and
helpfully inserts them as the values for the new
document, as long as the Preset is set to Clipboard. So
click OK to generate the new blank canvas and then
Edit>Paste (alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut of
Cmd/Ctrl+V).
After many, many screenshots (like you would do, for
example, if you were writing a Helpdesk column for a
fantastic Photoshop magazine…), this entire process will
become very routine. In fact, I’ve found that a quick flurry
of keystrokes can get the job done in less than two
seconds flat! Hit Print Screen, then hold down Cmd/Ctrl
and push N, then Enter then V.
Of course, if you’re on a Mac, this is all made a lot easier
by the built-in screen-capture function. Hit Cmd+Shift+3
to automatically take a picture of your whole screen, or
choose Cmd+Shift+4 to bring up a crosshair where you
can select any part of your screen. This will save as a PNG
file to your Desktop by default.
“The Fill setting in
the Layers palette is
found just below the
Opacity setting, and
frequently people
mistake it for doing
the same thing”
Footprints in the sand
Q Hello Helpdesk! I’m really glad you
guys are there. I’m trying to create a
convincing ‘footprints in the sand’
effect. My first attempt was a Bevel and
Emboss layer style, but it looked way too
smooth and plastic-like, so I’ve tried using the
Displace filter, and it’s not working too well for
me either. Do you have any other ideas of how
to accomplish this?
Louis Matthison
A
Louis, you were right to give both those
methods a shot. They are both pretty close
to what you are trying to accomplish, but
sometimes they are just not quite close enough.
There’s one other effect I’d like you to try. I’m warning
you, it’s a bit obscure, but that’s what makes it fun!
1 Start with the Footprint shape
Start with the footprint shape, which is under
the Custom Shape tool (if you don’t see it in the list,
pick the All group from the fly-out menu). Once you
have the footprint in position, Cmd/Ctrl-click the
shape thumbnail to create a selection and go to
Selection>Save Selection.
2
Work the channel
In the Channels palette, click on the footprint
channel you just created. Use a combination of the
Spatter filter (Filter>Brush Strokes>Spatter), Gaussian
Blur and the Smudge brush to break up the perfect
lines of the footprint shape.
3
The lighting effect
Go to Filter>Render>Lighting Effects. Near the
bottom of the dialog box is a drop-down menu for
Texture Channel. Set this to the footprint channel
you’ve been working with, then adjust the default
spotlight as needed to get the lighting to match
what you see in the rest of the image.
75
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1/4/09 16:42:48
 Q&A
Top tip: Fractal patterns
CAPTIVATING COLOURS: Create fractal-like
patterns using Actions in Photoshop
Certain critics have long condemned Photoshop
for its lack of ability to create fractal patterns.
Certain artists have answered those critics by
creatively devising a method to easily create
fractal-like patterns in our favourite image-editing
program. The core to this technique lies with the
oft-overlooked Actions.
The idea is to take an interesting section from a
photograph and turn it into a layer, then create an
action that makes a small change to a copy of that
layer by transformation, recolouring or both. Next
up, run that action repeatedly, creating an array of
changing layers. Now merge all those layers
together and repeat the action on the merged
layer, creating an even more intricate array.
Continue this technique, mixing in other
transformations or copies of the layers until you
have a pattern that any fractal generator would be
envious of!
Fake a backlight
Q Hi Helpdesk! I have several outdoor shots of
relatives that I’d like to make more dramatic.
I really like the backlit effect I’ve seen on
other pictures. I’m hoping you can show me how to
take a regularly lit, outdoor photo and transform it into
a cool backlit portrait.
Anne Roberts-Mack
A
Hi right back at you, Anne! What a splendid
idea you have there! Taking old
photographs and turning them into
something special is an activity I’m sure we could all
happily spend some time doing. This particular
technique is pretty versatile, but the settings will
change depending on the photograph. But no worries,
because once you do it a few times, you’ll get the hang
of it swiftly!
Send your emails to us at advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk or post a message on our forum board at www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum.
76
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074-077_AVP_56_Helpdesk.indd 76
QheckuyiocurkPhottoishpop
C
rating by
efficiency
the small
changing
ack line at the
feedb en to
f the scre
bottom o icie cy
n
display Eff
MANUAL WORK: So no Auto-Centre command?
Centre on canvas?
Q
I just don’t get it! I see the fun little alignment
icons at the top of the screen when I’m using
the Move tool, but I don’t see any option to
centre my layer on my canvas. I can centre several items
horizontally or vertically to each other, but not to the
canvas. It seems like such a simple thing, so why can’t I do
that? Please explain!
Mark Harding
A
Mark, if I’ve ever learned anything about
Photoshop, it’s that simple things are
sometimes hidden for what appears to be no
other reason than just to be aggravating. You are correct
in that there should be an option to align or distribute
selected objects in relation to the canvas, not just to each
other. Is it really that unusual to want something in the
very centre of your canvas? Well, the answer to this is
making Photoshop see your canvas as something within
1 Two copies: one light, one dark
Start off by making two copies of the image layer.
On the bottom copy, go to Image>Adjustment>
Exposure. Adjust the Exposure slider down until the
image is very dark (around -8). On the top copy, adjust
the exposure up until the image has blown-out
highlights (around +2).
MAKE SPACE FOR CS4: Getting the best performance
from the latest version of Photoshop
that group of items to align. How do you do that? Just
press Cmd/Ctrl+A for Select All and then hit the Align
Horizontally and Align Vertically options. That should do it
for you. Not the most intuitive method, but very effective.
Performance hit in CS4
Q
Hello AP Helpdesk, I’ve learned so much from
your magazine! I pick it up whenever I see a
new issue out at the book store. We do seem
to be a few months behind in my corner of the world, but
I enjoy it nonetheless.
I’ve recently upgraded to Photoshop CS4, in part due
to the great many tutorials I’ve seen in your magazine
that do such amazing things with it. But after installing it,
I’ve been pretty disappointed in the performance. It’s
very sluggish, almost like it’s trying to keep up with my
mouse commands. Painting can be excruciating! I can
actually watch the paint trail behind my brush’s tip by
several seconds. Ugh! What should I do?
Ethan Crowe
A
Well, Ethan, CS4 is not a lightweight application
by any standard. You need to make sure your
machine is up to snuff and can handle it first.
There are several routine things to check off your
2 Load luminosity
On the lightened layer, go to Layer>Layer
Mask>Hide All to add a fully black mask. Turn off the
visibility of the dark layer and load the luminosity of the
source image layer (Cmd/Ctrl-click on the composite
channel in the Channels palette), then reveal the
darkened layer again.
1/4/09 16:43:12

LONG ROAD TO NOWHERE: The
power of the Perspective tool
TOOLS IN HARMONY: How to get gradients and paths
to play nice
performance hit list. First, do you have enough RAM? 2GB
is considered minimum for reliable performance in CS4.
We would recommend around 4GB to have things
actually usable. Second, how’s your video card? If you are
running a standard manufacturer card, you should
consider upgrading to a stronger, graphics-oriented video
card. And if your card is up to the task but you are still
having problems, check the manufacturer’s website for
the latest drivers. If all that fails, then open up Photoshop
and go to Edit>Preferences>Performance and make sure
you’ve allotted plenty of RAM to Photoshop to use. As a
last resort, you can disable the OpenGL drawing under
the GPU Settings. This will disable several of the fun new
features in CS4, but you should see a performance boost.
3
Gradient mask
Click on the mask of the lightened layer and use
a white-to-transparent linear gradient across the
selection to reveal the bright highlights just along one
side of the model’s face. Use a white brush on the
mask to reveal the gleam of the eyes and the teeth.
Create a stamped layer on top (Cmd+Opt+Shift+E or
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E) and set the mode to Linear Dodge.
Remember to specify whether you’re using a PC or Mac and the version of Photoshop you have.
074-077_AVP_56_Helpdesk.indd 77
“2GB is considered
minimum RAM for
reliable performance
in CS4. We
recommend 4GB to
have things usable”
Gradient on a path?
Q Hi there. I’m trying to get a two-colour
gradient to follow the shape of a path and
change gradually from the first colour to the
second. The Linear Gradient tool won’t work if the path
doubles back on itself, and the Gradient Overlay style
doesn’t do any better. I’ve tried using the Warp tool on a
gradient layer but that’s a nightmare! Any bright ideas?
Victor Munoz
A
Hey Victor. Since the Gradient tool only has a
handful of ‘shape’ options, it’s best to look at
some of the other tools in our bag of tricks.
The best way to accomplish this is actually to use a
brush and a path. First, create your path with the Pen tool.
Then select a brush and paint colour. Be sure you are on a
new layer and go to the Paths palette, and from the fly-
out menu select Stroke Path. This is your first colour for
your gradient. Next, create a new layer, change your paint
colour and open your Brushes palette. In the section
named Other Dynamics, set the brush’s Opacity to Fade.
The number to the right of this setting determines how
fast the opacity will fade. Bear in mind that this will
probably take a few attempts to get right. Now stroke the
path again with this new brush setting and behold your
path-based gradient!
CS4
spotlight
Improved canvas handling
One of the most exciting new features in CS4 is
how OpenGL allows you to handle the canvas in
a much more tangible way than ever before.
Anybody who has ever used a graphics tablet
extensively in Photoshop will have run into the
problem of trying to paint in an awkward
direction that the construction of your wrist
simply won’t allow. Attempts to turn the tablet
in search of a more comfortable angle just result
in both confusion and frustration. CS4 now
features a Rotate View tool that allows the entire
file to spin freely on your screen! No more sore
‘tablet wrists!’
Past versions of Photoshop have also featured
the strange ability to show an image slightly
different depending on what view percentage
you were at. 100% always looked good, but try
77% and things looked either more blurred or
more pixelated than they really were. You had to
view your work at 100%, 50% or 25% to get a
true representation. CS4 has put an end to that
nonsense! Now any zoom percentage is sharp
and crisp.
Another small but great time-saving feature is
the new Bird’s Eye View. If you are zoomed in
tight on an image and you wish to see another
area, no longer do you have to throw your
mouse across your desk in a panning frenzy.
Press the H key and hold down the mouse
button, and your view zooms out and gives you
a very navigator-like rectangle to move around
your image. When you release the mouse
button, your view zooms back in to the new
location. Impressive!
ROTATE: Spin your work
round and round with the
new Rotate View tool
ADMIRE: The views stay
crisp and sharp even at
odd percentages
NEW AND
IMPROVED: The new
Bird’s Eye View feature
makes the old Navigator
palette obsolete
77
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1/4/09 16:43:54
 Readers’ gallery
We showcase the very best of your artwork
Our Readers’ Gallery is your chance to see your work printed in Advanced Photoshop magazine. Each month we
showcase the best of the entries that are submitted to us, offering a variety of impressive styles, skills and approaches.
Here, you can find out more about each featured artist and how they create their artwork, as well as their website
details so you can find out more about them or see more of their artwork.
Anyone can submit images to Advanced Photoshop to be featured on these pages, so what are you waiting for?
Get your images in to us today and win a fantastic prize.

What you can win…

TH
Each month, one of the featured artists is selected

9
as Best in Show. This artist will win a fantastic
R
WO
9
prize, courtesy of ohfolio.com. The lucky winner

£
will receive a year’s subscription to the website
service, a fully designed Flash website template,
and a free domain name.

• A unique Flash website template

and CMS hosting service
• Create and edit your own website
content, using the easy-to-
understand tools
• Templates designed by artists
• Host up to 2,000 images

Submit your images

To be considered for inclusion in the Readers’ Gallery
pages, please send an email with a selection of
low-resolution images to advancedpshop@imagine-
publishing.co.uk. Your email should include the titles and
captions for the images provided, as well as a 150-word
bio about yourself. We will get back to you for higher-
resolution images if you are chosen to appear on these
pages. Please ensure that images are available at 300dpi,
uncompressed TIFFs or PSDs, and 15 x 15cm minimum
if requested. You can also send your images on a CD
with the information required to Advanced Photoshop,
Imagine Publishing, Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill,
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ, United Kingdom.
Examples of past websites by ohfolio:
Terms and conditions
By submitting images to Advanced Photoshop’s Readers’ Gallery,
you hereby grant Imagine Publishing and, if relevant, clients to whom the
relevant work has been provided, an irrevocable, perpetual,
royalty-free licence to use such intellectual property in relation to
work similar or equivalent to the work. This includes the right to showcase
work on multimedia formats. By submitting work, you also confirm that your
images do not infringe any copyright regulations should they be published.

78
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078-082_AVP_56_ReadersGallery.in78 78 1/4/09 16:45:22

 Alex Lataille
WEB: http://fatherofgod.deviantart.com/ AD: “I use Photoshop for my post-production
work, especially in animations”

“I am 19-years old and attending a business school

for Finance in New England. I create digital art as a
hobby and continue to improve because of art groups.
The two groups I belong to are Intrinsic Nature (http://
intrinsicnature.org/in/home/commune/) and SlashThree
(www.slashthree.com/v3). These groups provide lots
of feedback and someone to talk to about each other’s
artwork, and excel artists in ways that most graphic w
design schools cannot and end up producing mostly
generic/basic artists.
My art consists of conceptual photomanipulation
scenes mostly; I’m always trying to come up with original
concept scenes that others have not. I enjoy manipulation
because, if executed well, you can create a scene that
is photorealistic but nearly impossible to capture with
a photo. It’s impossible to make pure realism by digital
painting or drawing or even matte paintings.”

END OF THE
W
man alive on Ea ORLD: “The last
rth is stranded
on the planet is as life
coming to an en
has lost his lov d. He
ed ones and is
for a miracle” praying

the
mewhat inspired by
UNPAID DEBT: “Sod to create a piece that
nte
movie Sin City, I wa y text)
a poster (without an
looks like it could be y crim e sce ne”
fia/cit
for a night-time Ma

79
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078-082_AVP_56_ReadersGallery.in79 79 1/4/09 16:45:59

 Readers’ gallery
BEST
IN SHOW

is personal to me. It
ZEBRA: “This piece stant struggle, not
s the ide a of a con
implie display
sur e of wh at to do. The stripes help
being alities, and the
wit h un iqu e qu
a person the
simply fading with
dissolving shows him ng mainly layer effects,
It wa s cre ate d usi
wind. shop.
Liquify filter in Photo
the Pen tool and the
im ag es cam e fro m deviantART”
Stock

LIFE: “This was designed to give that punk

edge and keep it grungy. I think of my
teenage years I spent skateboarding and the
lifestyle I had then with a variety of friends”

Parker Gibson
WEB: www.behance.net/pgizzle618

“I’m 23-years old and currently residing in Edwardsville,

Illinois. I have been using Photoshop for a year and a half,
and it has been the craziest and best experience for me
as an artist. I started out not understanding anything about
the program, but over time I read a lot, saw a lot and taught
myself the majority of what I know and use today. I use
Photoshop the most out of any programs, but I also use
Illustrator, which is extremely helpful to add to my pieces.
I started out drawing graffiti in my mid-teenage years
and continued throughout high school and college. I have
taken many different art and drawing courses at the local
community college where I found Photoshop CS2 in the
autumn of 2007. This program introduced me to more than
just art, but also to new internet friendships with artists
everywhere and helped me progress with my artwork. I’m
looking to keep adjusting to new styles of designing all the
time and collaborating with artists to keep improving myself.”

80
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078-082_AVP_56_ReadersGallery.in80 80 1/4/09 17:56:41

 THE ARC: “The arc is a por
tal.
The portal is a path. The
way is a
path. This, for me, is abo
ut the soul.
The only way through the
portal is
to have wings. Wings sign
ify
freedom. You can only get
wings
through the arc. Rinse and
repeat”

“I wanted to
THE ORACLE:ormation flows,
w fas t inf
show ho
g sight can
like a river. Havin of a hindrance
es be mo re
sometim
en we need to
than a help wh
thing, so close
understand some flow”
an d let it
your eyes

Tracye Shearin
WEB: http://tsheva.deviantart.com/

“I am a self-taught photomanipulator and reside

in New York City. I began working in Photoshop
5.0 while taking a web design course and
have found it to be a great outlet for my artistic
expression. I use stock, textures and brushes.
Most of my art revolves around angels and I
hope that the viewer goes deeper beyond what
they see because, for me, the wings are about
being light, unfettered and about freedom. It’s
not always about what angels represent, as that
would be too easy. I am a lover of textures and
I use them whenever I can. Even though this
started out as a hobby for me, I would love to see
my art as book or CD covers. Hopefully, when
you see my art, you want to touch it.”

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 Readers’ gallery

Robb Castaneda
WEB: http://neda.carbonmade.com/

“I am a digital artist and photographer living in Bristol, Rhode Island. I

first got my hands on Photoshop 5.0 for my Mac and since then I have
never looked back. The endless possibilities of working digitally really
struck a chord with me in terms of what I could do artistically. I am self-
taught and at first it was exciting at how I could correct and enhance my
pictures. Though, when I got into working with layers and manipulations,
it opened a whole new area of art for me to express myself.
At this point I am doing a lot of surreal photomanipulations,
sometimes working many hours combining layers upon layers of my
own and stock photos. I tend to like to blend and colour layers by hand REPAIRS ON 02: “I wanted to create a cool
female android. I wanted it to have almost a sci-fi
with my Wacom pen and tablet rather than use filters, etc. Sometimes I fashion look to it. Brushes, both regular and
just see an object in real life or I am inspired by a stock landscape, for custom, were used a lot to get this look. Much trial
example, and from there the process of putting together the final image and error went into achieving the background I
starts. A lot of times my digital images feel like a puzzle, trying to get wanted” Stock: Katanaz-stock (deviantART); brush:
PaulW (deviantART)
that right piece that fits just perfectly into the final image. Often, much
trial and error goes into getting the image just right, whether it be trying
to find the perfect object that fits or just getting that right colour tone.”

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 Feature

PHOTOSHOP
WEB DESIGN
Photoshop is fast becomin
g the weapon of choice fo
r
web designers. Advanced Photoshop talks to
the experts in the know to find out why…

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P
hotoshop is an application
used by a kaleidoscope of
creative customers, whether
it’s for basic editing in
photographs or generating
entirely hand-penned
masterpieces – the application’s
appeal is as far reaching as its vast
and generous feature set.
One area of the creative domain
where Photoshop has seen a
dramatic increase in usability is web
designing. While Photoshop is
certainly not restricted to design for
the web, it has become a far more
feasible option today, as Curt
Cuscino, creative director of House
of Tears Design (www.
houseoftearsdesign.com), explains:
“Now with the ability to perform
“Digital artists are being favoured to
create web designs because of their
ability to break the mould of dull grid
layouts and HTML tables” – Jorden Hayley
084-088_AVP_56_WebDesignFeature.85 85
Photoshop and web design
interface slicing and pasting of Smart
Objects in from Illustrator, we can get
complex vector work in very easily
and edit it later. It has become a
standard go-to in our process nine
times out of ten.”
Web designers cite Photoshop as a
main weapon of choice for a
multitude of reasons, such as the
application’s push toward
nondestructive operations like layer
styles and smart filters, which acts as
a boon for those seeking flexibility,
or how the guides feature enables
consistently spaced and padded
design. Whatever the reason, the fact
is more Photoshop users are
exploring this avenue for creative
progression, and in this feature we
find out how you can too.
Despite the current economic uncertainty,
web designers claim the market is still proving
lucrative for Photoshop veterans and fresh
faces alike. It seems that as long as you have
talent, originality and gumption in your
toolbox, your services will be required. “Digital
artists are being favoured to create web
designs right now because of their ability
to think outside the box, break the mould
of dull grid layouts featuring strict HTML
tables and generate beautifully
atmospheric and environmental concepts,
creating a more enjoyable experience for the
user,” informs design expert Jorden Haley
(www.karbine.com).
Rising costs
However, with costs on the increase for
everything from licensed software and
creative suites, top-of-the-range computers
and peripherals to electricity, paper and inks,
digital artists are starting to feel the pinch.
“You can make a great deal of money in this
industry, but you end up reinvesting a good-
sized portion of it right back into your
equipment, so if art is something you love,
then by all means go for it. If you have
ambitious dreams of becoming a millionaire,
this probably isn’t the job for you. You’ll
probably never get filthy rich, hence the term
‘starving artist’,” says Peter McClean (www.
petermcclean.com), who has decades of web
design experience, working for brand giants
such as Ford and Paramount Pictures.
SELL YOUR
PHOTOSHOP DESIGNS
Until designers have created a
sturdy reputation built on the
back of experience and a tangible
portfolio as proof, design agencies aren’t
likely to come knocking on the door. A
great way to get your foot in the door is
to create and upload template web
designs on sites such as ThemeForest
(http://themeforest.net/) or Graphic
River (http://graphicriver.net/), which
can be an effortless way to make a quick
buck, accommodating clients with a
tight budget. ThemeForest lets you buy
and sell templates in three forms:
Photoshop designs, HTML templates and
CMS themes. Artists are actually selling a
licence to use the design, which means
they can repeat the sale to as many
clients as they wish – effectively making
money from old rope. Simply upload
your design and the site runners take
care of payments, refunds, marketing
and hosting. The designer can pocket
between 40 and 70 per cent of the sale
depending on performance and whether
it is being sold exclusively on
ThemeForest or not.
Another revenue stream are websites
such as crowdSPRING, which invites
businesses to upload details of web
projects to which designers then
compete to entice the prospective client
with their version of the completed brief.
It’s a good way to get started, discover
what’s already out there and how to
differentiate – forcing designers to be
original. The opportunity can provide
lucrative rewards as well as an
opportunity to begin marketing your
design reputation.
TIP
Resolution
Be aware that
everyone’s
monitor and pixel
ratio is probably
set differently
than yours. Most
are designed to fit
a 1,024 x 768
resolution, but
some use
background
images in order to
increase interest
for those with
higher resolutions
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1/4/09 17:02:05
 Feature
CASE STUDY: Almira Pizovic (http://picaholic.com/):
Picaholic offers Flash-driven templated
DEREK PROSPERO websites, such as this one for photographer
Mike Rosenthal (www.mikerosenthal.net)

After decades of bending

Photoshop to his will, we know
Pixel-Ninja founder Derek Prospero
has a trick or two to share
Q. Why do you use Photoshop to create

your website designs?
A. I don’t think there’s another program in
its class, and the suite integration gets
better and better.
Q. What should the first lesson in ‘Web
Design for Photoshop Artists 101’ be?
A. Content is king! The biggest mistake I see
new designers make is trying too hard to
show off their Photoshop skills with design
elements that distract from the content.
Ask yourself: does this complement or
distract from the content?
Q. Is web design a lucrative career?
A. It is becoming very profitable for two
main reasons. One, it’s finally recognised as
a service industry and not just a hobby that
any young kid can do, so businesses are
more willing to pay to have it done right.
Second of all, in this day, every business
needs a website, and most websites need
constant maintenance and
improvement. Salaries vary with the region,
but an organised and disciplined freelance
designer can make as much as any doctor
or lawyer.
TIP
“Over the next few years, I can see the
field becoming diluted with an overflow of
vendors willing to work for next to nothing,
Cross-platform providing free spec work, and that is definitely
Ensure your starting to hurt the industry.” Instead, McClean
website is cross- says fees should be calculated according to
platform and current and fair market values, and
multi-browser determined by such factors as whether the
compatible, client is an individual or independent, a start-
especially with all up company or an established business, the
of the open source complexity of the project, the envisaged
operating systems amount of time and revisions expected, as
and internet well as the desired usage of the finished piece
browsers that or product. “Never begin work on any project
some small to without a legally binding contract that entitles
mid-sized you to monetary compensation for your
businesses prefer efforts, and never begin work without a
deposit,” advises the pro, suggesting you
request 50 per cent of the total balance to
retain your services. “I will publish finished
work to a subdirectory of my website so that
clients may view it and see that it works
before they pay me the remainder of the
balance due. I insist that clients pay me before
I will release their final working files to them. I
have found that this quite simply saves me a
lot of heartache.”
It is also recommended that all artists
should join a union or guild to aid any legal
issues that may arise. “I joined the Graphic
Artists Guild (www.gag.org). It is a fantastic
nonprofit organisation with a legal team that
fights to uphold artists’ legal rights. It also

Q. What trends have you noticed forming

within the industry?
A. With bandwidth and software where
they are, web design is embracing a lot
more video and multimedia integration.
Also, content-management tools are really
starting to become popular as they get
easier to use. Flexible turnkey solutions like
WordPress let designers add that custom
touch, while allowing the client to do their
own updates.

Q. Is it essential for Photoshop artists to

know how to code?
A. Creating good designs in Photoshop is
heavily dependant on the designer’s
knowledge of how the site will be built in
HTML. Therefore, learn good mark-up
practices. Learn to hand-code HTML and
CSS, and learn as many tricks as you can.
Knowing in advance how the cutting-up
process works will assist greatly when you
begin with a blank Photoshop canvas.

Find out more about Prospero at www. Jorden Haley (www.

derekprospero.com or contact him via karbine.com): Haley
derekprospero@gmail.com. designed this site for
John Reardon Tattoos

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 Photoshop and web design
TIP
publishes what I consider to be the designer’s and easily accessible. In cases where the common juggling act web designers are
bible: The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook Of content is thick, this can be incredibly forced to wrestle with. “Always keep a design
Pricing & Ethical Guidelines, the most current difficult. Secondary are the aesthetics that, lower than 1,024 pixels wide just to make sure
release of which is the 12th edition. This book depending on the subject matter, could be Target audience that older monitors can fit your site,” insists
covers everything from sample contracts to very intricate and time-consuming. Know who your designer Brian Lovin (http://elitebydesign.
estimates, licensing to copyright law, and Throughout the entire process, a web target audience com/). “But don’t forget to be creative!
everything in-between,” says McClean. designer has to be familiar with and are and design Experiment with element sizes and positions
conscious of the capabilities and limitations with them in until you reach the desired effect. Don’t ever
The way of the Pixel-Ninja of mark-up code, screen resolutions, browser mind. Create do the same design twice – spice things up
So how do you begin and what workflow compatibilities and bandwidth speeds. It’s a content that is with new positions, elements, sizes, colours,
should you follow? There is no hard and fast lot to juggle on top of the creative process.” relevant, styles, etc. A good designer is never a
prescribed routine, but generally designers Keeping a creative focus as well as interesting and stagnant designer.”
divide the process into the following strategy: compromising with the limitations in increases curiosity, Web design trends evolve and meander
brainstorm ideas of the creator’s and the technology the end user may have is a in turn ensuring like every creative discipline. In the past
client’s vision (if applicable), sketch designs repeat visits
out on paper, flesh out wireframe mock-ups “Spice things up
and then after the nod has been given by the
commissioning body, the Photoshop artistry with new positions,
can begin. Sounds easy, but Pixel-Ninja
founder Derek Prospero confirms otherwise:
elements, sizes,
“Designing a good website is a challenge from colours, styles, etc.
multiple angles. First and most importantly,
the information needs to be conveyed clearly A good designer is
never a stagnant Liliana Sanches (princess-of-shadows.
WEB DESIGN: designer” – Brian Lovin deviantart.com): A conceptual website deign
using a variety of stock resources
DECONSTRUCTED
SPACE: Remember that while designing you need MENU: Unless your web design consists of one page, you’ll need to consider the
to define spaces for the header, logo, buttons, navigation menu. It should match the overall tone of the design and be simple in
pictures, content area and copyright information operation – overcomplicated versions will ruin the harmony of the entire layout
and distract the user’s attention
FONT: Choose a font
that can be seen
clearly, read easily
and exudes the
general ambience of
the site and its
purpose. It could be
worthwhile
endeavouring to pen
your own font – this
will offer the client
something original
and, in turn, equip
your personal
resource bank with
another typeface

CODING: If you can’t

or won’t code, don’t
be afraid to ask for
help. References
such as www.
totaltraining.com
help to learn where
you are going wrong

COLOUR: Creating a complementary colour scheme will either entice or repel your
Liliana Sanches (princess-of-shadows. visitors, so consider this in your brainstorming stage. Additional concerns over
deviantart.com): A demo website using artwork colour blindness and visitors with poor sight should also enter the equation. Use
by Erica Leighton (sheispretty.deviantart.com) the Color palette to discover which colours complement your design

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 Feature
Almira Pizovic (http://picaholic.com):
Another site powered by Picaholic is Rocca
Deluca’s (www.roccodeluca.com)
users witnessed a fashion for clean and
minimalist designs, whereas a growth in the use
of textures and realistic scenarios as well as
dynamic deep-linking Flash navigation has
taken focus. But as intricate and embellished as
these websites become, designers should
remember that their work should be seen as
seamless with most popular browsers for the
result to be effective. “There is a fine line
between genius and disaster. It’s all about
making it functional and keeping in mind the
visual rules and knowing how our brain absorbs
all the visual information,” warns Liliana Sanches
(www.princess-of-shadows.deviantart.com), a
Photoshop artist with a penchant for darker and
surreal imagery. “The most important thing to
keep in mind is that creating a web design isn’t
the same as making an illustration. They say
rules are meant to be broken, but in design
Chevonne Woodard (www.chewoodesign.com): A
clean, crisp design showing off current popular
colours such as yellow and orange
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084-088_AVP_56_WebDesignFeature.88 88
“It’s about making
it functional and
knowing how our
brain absorbs all
the visual
information”
– Liliana Sanches
there are certain rules that must be obeyed.
Otherwise the user will be lost in endless
visual information trying to find the menu,
or extremely confused by all the visual
elements spread around.”
Art director Chevonne Woodard (www.
chewoodesign.com) shares her own
observations with what’s in vogue:
“Magenta, yellows, greens and oranges are
the colours of now – all the colours they told
me to stay away from in design school! But
Apple has bust a hole in that concept with
the iPod campaign.”
After the design work is chiselled to
perfection and approved by the client,
designers begin carving it in pieces, image-
by-image, element-by-element and
optimising for the web. This ensures the
website will be lighter, faster and easier to
open without frustrating the end user,
waiting for it to download frame by frame.
Chris Detmer and Sean Brant (UI developer
and front-end developer respectively) from
crowdSPRING (www.crowdspring.com)
offer more: “When designing for web, if
WEB
DESIGNER
Web Designer magazine is our
creatively focused sister title
and offers enthusiasts a one-stop learning
resource for creating better web designs,
coding know-how, technique knowledge
and toolkit must-haves. What is more, this
issue on Advanced Photoshop’s free CD,
you’ll find a PDF version of how to design
an interface in Photoshop, how to prepare
it for coding and finally how to code it in
Dreamweaver, taken from Web Designer
magazine. www.webdesignermag.co.uk.
E
derekprospero@gmail.com
FRE BONU
S
D ES IGN
B
WE TORIAL C
TU HE DIS
ON T
you’re going to slice out sections of the design
as separate images, keep in mind that some
areas may be built with cascading style sheets,
so only export what you need. This helps keep
the files sizes down for faster loading pages.”
The ability to multitask in the creative
TIP
sector is an exciting prospect for clients, as
not only will this save them paying an extra
salary, but by learning how to code a website
Resolution with mark-up languages like HTML and CSS,
There is a vast and designers can develop an appreciation for
suffocating sea of what will and won’t work in the final product,
design templates saving precious time and heartache. However,
out there available there’s no reason to take it beyond that unless
for little money. If the ambition is to become a fully-fledged web
you want to developer, especially as most high-profile
custom-build your corporations prefer to seek out top-experts in
own web their respective fields, as Derek Prospero
creations, then confirms: “Website construction is still pretty
they will need to divided between those who do front-end
be as unique and work (concept and HTML) and back-end
highly memorable (database integration and functionality). If you
as possible in can do both, great, but I personally think it’s
order to stand out better to truly excel at one area than to be
from the crowd marginally good at both.”
1/4/09 17:05:36
resources

onOne Genuine Fractals 6

Touted as the industry standard for image enlargement, but does it stand
up to close scrutiny?

“Genuine Fractals
analyses nearby
pixels individually,
as well as looking
for repeating
patterns and
sampling blocks
of pixels of
various sizes”
Depending on the degree of enlargement
and the resampling method you choose, you
may find that you end up with haloes, JPEG
artefacts or ‘jaggies’ and a loss of sharpness in
your overall image. Genuine Fractals uses an
entirely different system from bicubic
INTERFACE: The user interface is attractive and interpolation methods, analysing nearby pixels
intuitive to use, with a familiar layout that echoes individually, as well as looking for repeating
Photoshop’s own palette system down the right-hand
side of the screen
patterns and sampling blocks of pixels of various
sizes, before patching them all together to create
a far more accurate, larger version of the original,
with fewer distortions. The manufacturer

T here was a time when we all had to make

do with our image-editing software’s
resolution-boosting capabilities to create
In order to upsample an image, you
effectively need to add pixels that aren’t there.
There are different methods available for adding
promises that this system produces sharper,
smoother results with better-preserved fine
detail and texture – claims which were definitely
large-format prints from our images, but these pixels, some of which are faster and/or fulfilled during each of our tests.
now, with a plethora of specialised image- more accurate than others. Photoshop CS4 offers The software operates as a plug-in for
enlargement programs available, it seems several interpolation options, the two most Photoshop. It’s quick to install, and sports its own
we’re spoilt for choice. Depending on your accurate of which are Bicubic and Bicubic simple interface that new users should get to
needs, there’s a whole host of both free and Smoother, and both work by analysing grips with in no time. The black-and-charcoal
professional solutions available, and Genuine surrounding pixels and applying some very interface looks attractive and echoes the familiar
Fractals 6 falls into the latter category. complex arithmetic to produce more accurate, Photoshop layout, with a set of palettes down
If you like to shoot your own source material sharper results than other methods, although it the right-hand side, the Navigator in the top
for your artistic creations in Photoshop, but your takes a while to do this. right-hand corner and your image in the main
camera’s sensor boasts a modest resolution that
doesn’t produce images quite on the scale that
you need for your artwork, or if you’re keen to
submit your work to image libraries – some of
which call for incredibly large file sizes – then a
plug-in like Genuine Fractals is precisely what
you need.
Enlarging your images using Photoshop’s
resizing options may be adequate for most
purposes, but – having sampled the results you
get with Genuine Fractals – there can be quite a ORIGINAL RESAMPLED
difference between the amount of detail,
sharpness and destructive artefacts you get with DETAIL: Genuine Fractals does an excellent job of retaining detail. Compare these images (the original image and
each, when comparing the results side by side. the same image resampled to three time its original size) and you’ll notice no difference between the two

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 resources
Competitors
VIBRANCY: Notice
how Genuine
Fractals retains the
vibrancy of the
colours in this shot,
as well as the
integrity of the
Blow Up 2
straight edges This plug-in is
making up the pier designed to work
specifically with
Photoshop and
Photoshop Elements,
and claims to deliver
sharper results than
any other software. A
streamlined interface
promises incredibly easy image resizing
with over 100 factory presets, multiple
RESIZED IN PHOTOSHOP (300%) RESIZED IN GENUINE FRACTALS (300%) cropping tools and built-in batch
processing.
window filling the rest of the screen. The menus Genuine Fractals are vast. Not only can you get Manufacturer: Alien Skin Software
along the top of the screen allow access to great results from relatively low-res digital Web: www.alienskin.com
further options, and you can add further palettes images, but it also works really well with Price: $249 (approximately £177)
if you wish, so you can customise the interface scanned images, film negatives, transparencies Spec: Compatible with
according to the tasks you wish to carry out. and slides. Image enlargement using Photoshop CS2 9.0.2 or later,
For those of you who already own a previous Photoshop’s in-built capabilities produces good Photoshop Elements 4.0.1
or later (Mac), Photoshop
version of the software, Genuine Fractals 6 offers results, but close inspection of images that have
Elements 5 or later (Windows)
some great new features that might entice you been resampled using Genuine Fractals 6 reveals
PC: Windows XP or later,
to upgrade. The handy Tiling feature makes it comparatively improved colour accuracy, and Intel Pentium 4 processor
possible to produce large-format prints using you can’t beat it for retaining the integrity and (or compatible)
your ordinary desktop printer. It automatically sharpness of edges in an image. 5 Mac: OS X 10.4.11 or later,
divides up your enlargements into individual PowerPC G5 processor or
portions, which you print and assemble, jigsaw- Intel processor
Manufacturer: onOne
style, to create your final masterpiece.
In an effort to streamline your workflow, the
Web: www.ononesoftware.com 8/10
Price: £160 (approximately $226)
latest incarnation of the software offers an Spec: Windows XP SP2 or Vista,
improved processing engine that was originally Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework
developed by onOne for its PhotoTools or higher, 32-bit operating Enlarger PRO
Professional Edition software, with a Batch Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later An easy-to-use economical alternative to
Processing option that lets you resize a whole Universal Binary – supports fulfil your image-enlargement needs. The
folder of images at a time, controlling the size, Intel processors manufacturer promises smooth, clean
resolution, file format and colour space, as well Photoshop CS2, CS3, CS4 32-bit and sharp enlargements that compare
as offering the option to add a watermark – a or Photoshop Elements 4 or later favourably to the competition.
time-saving feature that will be of huge benefit 512MB RAM, 25MB disk space Manufacturer: Bearded Frog
to users who need to upsample their images on Adobe Flash Player 9 Web: www.beardedfrog.com
a regular basis. Internet connection for update Price: $39 (approximately £28)
Another useful new feature is the Texture checking and tutorial movies Spec: PC: Windows 2000/XP,
Presets palette, which includes a range of presets Foreign language version of Pentium class or greater
designed to help novice users achieve Photoshop are not supported processor
professional-quality texture control without the Mac: Mac OS 10.2 or higher,
need for expert knowledge. If you regularly print G3 class or greater
SUMMARY: If you enlarge your images
processor
on canvas for sale or display, there’s also a Canvas for final output on a regular basis and
Minimum 256MB RAM
Wrap feature that means you no longer have to demand superior image quality, then
4MB free disk space
sacrifice the edges of your image to fold over the Genuine Fractals represents an extremely
8-bit colour depth display
canvas frame. worthwhile investment.
With the option of upsampling images by up
to 1,000 per cent, the possibilities offered by 10/10 8/10

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resources

Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited 2009

The easy way to create panoramas and virtual tours in just a few clicks

Manufacturer: Autodesk EQUALISE: The

Equalize tool does a
Web: www.autodesk.co.uk pretty decent job of
Price: £300 (approximately $429) evening out the
Spec: Windows XP Pro (SP2) 32-bit, Vista exposure between
separate shots, but
Business (SP1) 32-bit don’t expect miracles
Mac OS X 10.4.10 and 10.5.2 (Intel if your images are
processor version only) wildly different

Apple QuickTime 7
Intel Pentium 4 (or equivalent)
processor, 1 GHz or faster
512 MB RAM (XP)/1GB RAM (Vista)
(2GB recommended)
200MB free hard drive space

F or those of you that find the photo-

stitching capabilities of Photoshop
enough for your needs, this product probably
isn’t for you. For those of you who are hankering
over a more specialised, professional package,
however, Stitcher Unlimited 2009 – the latest
powerful panorama-stitching software from
Autodesk – might be just the thing.
It’s not exactly cheap, so you’d have to be
pretty serious about panorama stitching to
want to pay out for this software, but if you’re
after a program that can effortlessly create
spherical, cylindrical and cubic panoramas,
supports fisheye lenses, HDR image import and
processing and QuickTime VR files, among
other things, then it’s worth the cash.
The software utilises a five-step workflow –
Import, Stitch Shots, Align, Clean Up, Render
Panorama – and supports a range of file
formats, including up to 16-bit TIFF, JPEG, PNG,
PSD and BMP images. The user interface is
incredibly minimalist: when you first start up
the program, you’re presented with an empty
grey screen with just a handful of icons in the
top left-hand corner.
Hover over each of these icons in turn, and
the alternate text explains that these are each of
your five-stage processing tools. You start by
FINAL PRODUCT: Render your panorama as is –
rough edges and all – or select a crop to process the
final image
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Advanced Photoshop
importing images to stitch together or you
have the option of loading an existing project,
panorama or QTVR file. Once you’ve selected
the images you want to stitch, they’re
imported in a matter of seconds. Thumbnails
appear along the bottom, and you can select
which ones you want to use (or all of them)
before clicking Auto Stitch or electing to
perform a manual stitch. Other options here
include Unstitch (disassembles the stitched
project), Adjust Camera (analyses the camera
parameters and improves the quality of the
stitch) and Close Panorama, which closes the
ends of a row in a cylindrical panorama.
Another few seconds pass and a dialog box
appears, requiring your attention. The software
scans your image’s EXIF data and determines
the camera and lens used to take the originals
– you simply have to decide whether or not to
keep these detected settings for the most
accurate output. Next, your stitched panorama
appears on the screen, ready for tweaking.
Happily, if you find the program hasn’t quite
aligned things as you’d like it to, you can select
each of the images within the panorama and
fine-tune this accordingly, until you’re happy
with the result.
Next, you have the option to equalise your
images. Stitcher does a pretty good job of
evening out the exposure or your individual
shots to create a smoother final image, but be
aware that it won’t cover up larger variations,
SIMPLE INTERFACE: The software’s user interface
couldn’t be much simpler, although watch out for some
odd keyboard commands that might take some
getting used to
so it’s important to try and get this right in-
camera in the first place for the best results.
Finally, click Render to save your final
panorama. You also have the option to select
one area of the image and just save that –
leaving out any ragged edges, for example.
And that’s it! The program is simple to use,
offers some manual functions if you want to
exercise more control over your projects and is
capable of producing top results in a short
space of time. Make sure to check for the latest
updates to fix the odd bug too. 5
SUMMARY: This is an easy-to-use,
professional-grade program with a slick
interface. Stitcher Unlimited 2009 integrates
beautifully with Photoshop and produces
top-quality results.
8/10

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 resources
EIZO ColorEdge CG222W LCD
monitor
Can EIZO’s latest 22-inch LCD monitor delivers on its
colourful promises? We find out
Manufacturer: EIZO
Web: www.eizo.co.uk
Price: £861.35 from http://nativedigital.
co.uk/shop/
Spec: 1,680 x 1,050 native resolution
800:1 contrast ratio
Fine Contrast (Custom, sRGB,
Calibration, Emulation) display
mode options
Monitor hood with sliding top
cover and screen-cleaner kit
Five-year warranty

T he EIZO ColorEdge CG222W costs

slightly over £860 (that’s around $1,190),
making it a bit more expensive than the
average monitor. But considering all of the
‘expert’ additions included within this machine,
those extra few hundred pounds end up as a
worthy investment.
Its aspect ratio of 16:10 and native resolution
of 1,680 x 1,050 are two reasons why it delivers
professional results. These mean that this 22-inch
monitor can perform with widescreen accuracy,
so designers and photographers can put all
kinds of design under the highest amount of
scrutiny. Being able to pick out the sharpest and
smoothest edges and detailed textures within
your images, you’ll undoubtedly notice
imperfections as well as accomplished effects.
The CG222W lets you achieve the best results for
a creative market where precision is essential.
Couple these factors with the monitor’s wide-
gamut LCD screen, which produces 92 per cent
of the Adobe RGB colour space, and prime
colours and exposures are likewise optimised.
EIZO has reinforced its colour capabilities by
introducing the latest ASIC (that’s Application
PERFECT GAMMA: EIZO carefully measures and sets
AUTOMATED ACTIONS: A drift-correction sensor quickly
stabilises the brightness level after start-up. This monitor also
detects and automatically compensates for brightness
changes caused by surrounding temperatures and the
passage of time
Specific Integrated Circuit) technology. This
selects the most appropriate 256 colours from a
palette of 4,081, for each R, G and B colour value.
The CG222W comes inclusive with its own EIZO
ColorNavigator calibration software. This allows
you to use a set of professional-standard presets
or personally specified settings to control
brightness, white point and gamma values. You
will, however, need to invest in third-party
calibration hardware to access these options. The
CG222W is compatible with the latest types,
including the Eye-One series, ColorMunki and
Spyder 2 and 3. This may seem a cost too far,
considering the CG222W’s price tag. But
calibration hardware is priceless when it comes
to achieving colour accuracy at all times. You
should really have this with any monitor that you
are currently using.
If you’re working mainly with print design, the
CG222W offers Paper White Measurement
settings. With this, you can colour-match
printout and on-screen results by measuring the
brightness and white point accordingly. This
option’s accessibility is again dependent on the
appropriate calibration device, such as the Eye-
One series.
The CG222W offers calibration direct to the
monitor, not the computer’s graphics board,
ensuring no tones are lost in translation and
creating more precise results. However, even
before you specify your calibration settings, EIZO
has given you a head start in producing great
imagery. It calibrates each monitor in its Japanese
factory, measuring every tone from 0 to 255,
producing a preferable gamma curve of 2.2 so
you can concentrate on design straight away. 5
SUMMARY: With built-in 12-bit and 16-bit
colour technology and calibration options
to uniform on-screen colour and detail,
EIZO’s ColorEdge CG222W LCD monitor
presents a wide-gamut machine that will
complement and cope with the most lavish

10/10
every shade of R, G and B from 0 to 255 on the
design projects.
production line with the monitor’s 12-bit Look-Up white of your paper. ColorNavigator
Table to produce a monitor gamma value of 2.2 automatically sets the target values for

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resources
Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks:
Adobe Photoshop CS4
A visual learning system to help you improve
the way that you work with Photoshop
Author/Publisher: Lynette Kent/Visual
(an imprint of Wiley)
Web: www.wiley.com
Price: £16.99/$24.99
About: Features a Visual Learning System with large
pictures and little text
Colourful pages make it easy to find what
you’re looking for
A complete workflow in CS4 is covered
14 bonus tips looking at popular plug-ins
for Photoshop
Difficulty Levels applied to each tip
for reference
T his book, featuring the 5-Star Visual Learning System
incorporated into all the titles in this series, is aimed at
those who already know the Photoshop basics and want to
go beyond that, learning all those little tips and tricks that
help you to work better, faster and more efficiently.
There aren’t actually, as the title suggests, 100 tips in the
book; there are 114, as there are now 14 bonus tips, all of which
are looking at various plug-ins that can be used with Photoshop.
Photoshop For Right-Brainers
This book looks at the art of photomanipulation and comes with a free CD
Author/Publisher: Al Ward/Sybex
(an imprint of Wiley)
Web: www.sybex.com
Price: £26.99/$39.99
About: Free CD with all the source files you need
Informal, conversational learning guide to
photomanipulation effects
Master the key Photoshop tools used in
photo-based projects
Progressive chapters build on your new skills
Looks at why you might want to create an
effect, not just how
A
n intriguing title means that this book certainly
catches the eye, but it also raises questions over how
useful it’s actually going to be as the title doesn’t really
explain the content. The introduction to the book explains
the concept of right- and left-brain activities; the right brain is
responsible for ‘visual imagination and creativity’. The author, Al
Ward, has taken this to create a book, now in its third edition,
which looks at the concepts behind certain creative effects
rather than just the step-by-step processes for achieving it –
which is an intriguing idea.
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094_AVP_56_Books.indd 94
The tips are split over ten main categories, covering everything
from Customizing Photoshop For Your Projects through to
Creating Digital Artwork From Photographs. The order of
chapters is logical too, meaning that you can progress your
learning as you go.
Each colourful chapter opens with a double-page spread
intro page, which explains what the chapter is about, what you
will learn and a list of the tips. Beside each tip’s title is a handy
bar that denotes its Difficulty Level, which is a great at-a-glance
way of seeing what is most relevant to your skill level.
The tips themselves are spread out over two pages each, with
Visual aid: This book is designed to be used by
huge screenshots and step-by-step text showing you how to those who prefer visual learning, as there is little
achieve the given tip topic. There are loads of additional tip text to read through
boxes throughout, which give you added options, things to try
and customisation options.
Not a book you would read from cover to cover, this is a
title that you would dip in and out of when you need to learn
Summary: A great book for those
who want to learn more about
Photoshop but learn best when
a specific skill. All in all, it depends on how you learn best. If shown and not told. Some will find it
you are a visual learner, then this is definitely a great way to take still too basic, even though it’s not aimed
in a lot of information quickly. However, many of the tips just at beginners.
aren’t that in-depth or complex, which is due to the limitations
of the format. 5
8/10
The book is arranged in a ‘progressive format’, according to
the author, which means that later chapters build on the
techniques learned in the earlier chapters, so it pays to read the
book through logically rather than attempting to jump straight
into the most exciting parts.
At the start of each chapter, the author talks about the skills
that you will be learning and the specific tools that you will
become familiar with over the course of reading through. Rather
than being a traditional step-by-step to show you how to get
from A to B, Ward speaks in running text, instructing you gently
through each task and guiding you to all the tools in an informal
and conversational manner.
This method makes it a great book for those looking to learn
Freebies: The book is a little pricier than
– it’s like having a course lecturer right there on the page, so it’s
similar titles, but this is accounted for in the free
great for students or those new to Photoshop, but many of you CD that comes with it, giving you access to
will be familiar with the techniques covered. tutorial source files
The book also comes with a free CD, helping to justify
the slightly high price, which includes the source files for the Summary: An interesting book that has
tasks in each of the chapters. This is a nice touch, as it means some really nice tasks to complete. The
that you really can follow along. Not all of the tasks are that included CD adds extra value and it’s a
exciting but you will learn a lot of interesting skills, so it is great learning resource.
worth sticking with it so you can apply the techniques to your
own images. 5
7/10
1/4/09 17:37:25

The Complete Graphic Designer
A guide to understanding graphics and visual communication
Author/Publisher: Ryan Hembree/Rockport
Web: www.rockpub.com
Price: £17.99/$25.00
About: Six key chapters looking at every aspect of
graphic design
A Common Design Jobs section breaks down
the industry
In-depth glossary explains common terms
Instructional and informative advice
Visual examples of exemplary graphic design
T his tome is a ‘concise overview of commercial graphic
design’, covering everything from layout and
typography to communication theory. It’s not, therefore, the
lightest of reads, but it is essential for those hoping to enter the
arena of commercial graphic design, and that’s where this book
is aimed: at students or recent graduates. As such, it’s not going
to appeal as much to those who create graphics as a hobby, but
there is some really solid advice and design examples, so it
could still prove of interest.
The book is split into six key chapters. It starts with Design For
Communications, which looks at how graphic design is a key to
visual communication and how it distinguishes itself from art. It
then moves into more practical advice, such as Page Layout &
Design, The Design Process and Corporate Identity.
Photoshop CS4:
The Missing Manual
Another in the popular Missing Manual series covers everything you should
know about CS4
Author/Publisher: Lesa Snider King/O’Reilly
Web: http://missingmanuals.com/
Price: £38.50/$49.99
About: Logical progression of chapters through a
typical workflow
Appendixes look at key extras in more detail
Screenshots show you exactly what you are
looking for in Photoshop
Nearly 800 pages of essential
Photoshop advice
Written by an expert in using CS4
T he Missing Manual series was devised by David Pogue,
The New York Times’ technology columnist
and bestselling author, and now spans every possible
software application around. They’re designed to be both
entertaining and informative, taking over the job of the manual
that came with said software. In this case, this is what Pogue
suggests should have come with CS4. The author is Lesa
Snider King, who’s a stock photographer, evangelist for
095_AVP_56_Books.indd 95
resources
The best chapter for us, however, is the Common Design Jobs
section. When starting out in graphic design as a career, it can
be hard to make an informed choice about the opportunities
available to you. This detailed look might help you to decide on
a speciality, or open your mind to possibilities that you had not
yet considered.
There are other gems hidden within, too, such as the in-
depth glossary, explaining common terms like kerning,
counterform and CMYK, which many other similar titles assume
that we all know when maybe sometimes we don’t. These are
the little extras that make this book such a complete guide,
meaning that it’s sure to become a well-thumbed reference.
And that’s really what is so great about this title: it does sound
educated and knowledgeable, but it doesn’t presume you know
everything already. It’s easy to read once you get stuck in, but
COMPLETE VISUAL GUIDE: Great visual
the real meat of the book is in the visual examples given, with examples show you the best design from all walks
handy captions explaining why they work. of graphic design life
There are also some great boxes spread throughout,
which enhance your learning and are great for getting across SUMMARY: If you’re hoping to start a
essential quick tips, presented in a bullet-point format. The career in graphic design, then this book
author, Ryan Hembree, is an instructor of graphic design, so he is a simply essential read, with advice
knows what he’s talking about and that really shows here. We tailored toward those wanting to make it
would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to start
10/10
in the industry.
or enhance their career in graphic design, especially for such a
reasonable price. 5
iStockphoto.com and founder of creative tutorial site
GraphicReported.com. So she’s well placed to take on this
Photoshop guide. And a mammoth guide it is, with six weighty
chapters covering every single tool and feature of CS4. The
chapters are logically arranged, working through a normal
workflow, from a guided tour of the interface, opening, viewing
and saving files, working on images, then saving, printing and
exporting. The final chapters look at actions and plug-ins,
essential to going that extra step with Photoshop.
The book itself is pretty text-heavy, so there’s a lot of
WEIGHTY TOME: A mammoth book that looks
information to take in. Imagery is more or less limited to at all the new and popular features on the new
screenshots, so it’s not very visually appealing, as well as being CS4 software
hard going.
The actual information is really good, and you could learn so
much from this title if you put the time aside to get stuck in.
SUMMARY: A must-have if you need to
know everything there is to know about
However, many people will get lost among all the words (if this Photoshop, but it’s going to take a long
is the case, maybe try a visual learning book instead, like the first time to consume all the information over
title here). The appendices at the back are just as useful as the nearly 800 pages of text!
rest of the book, so it is worth making it to the end just to read
through those. 5
6/10
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