How to create a photographic montage in a non-destructive manner.
Handy Tips
When creating a filename for
your Photoshop or image files, be sure to use a dash or hyphen rather then a
space. This is because when using a space the computer may add question marks
and/or other symbols to replace the “empty space” therefore making the file
difficult to find again.
Mac Shortcuts:
Press X = To switch between
the foreground and background colour.
Hold down CMD while pressing
G = To group all selected layers.
General Use Notes
When creating a new Photoshop
or Illustrator file for example you need to take into careful consideration the
following guides:
It is important with any of
the sizing options to check that you are using the right measurements.
What’s the deal with RGB and CYMK?
When a piece is set to be
printed out you should always set the Colour mode to CYMK (unless it is a
photograph taken from a digital camera of which you want a basic sample as oppose
to a hard proof), as these are the process colours which printers use. If you
aim to use your outcome on screen-based mediums such as a laptop or tablet then
you need to set the colour mode to RGB, this is because the background light
emitted from the screen brightens up the colours as oppose to CYMK which has
reflective lighting.
Digital photography uses RGB
Resolution:
For print this needs to be set at
300 Pixels per Inch while for web and screen it needs to be set at 72 Pixels
per Inch.
Bit Depth: When choosing your colour bit depth settings this is
generally only needed at 8, especially as some filters used within photo
manipulating software such as Photoshop only work up to 8 bit. However in some
cases you may want the bit depth set higher for HD images.
Colour Profile: Each profile has a different colour “Gamut” this is
the range of hue’s and saturation the profile has accessibility to. Depending
on the needs of the client and the proposed outcome’s medium defines which
profile will be most appropriate. In general terms Adobe Working RGB (for
screen- based work) is usually fine, though it may be of advantage to select
Adobe’s RGB (1998) setting as this has a larger Gamut to that of its
predecessor.
Pixel Aspect ratio:
If you are going to be
working with an image for TV then select or input the appropriate ratio. For
example, by selecting “Film and Video” from the preset drop down menu and then
choosing “HDTV 1080p/29.97” from the size options this would be ready to view
upon a high definition TV.
In regards to the majority of
imagery they are set as “Square Pixels” that is unless you were planning to
display the image stretched across a widescreen TV, in which case one of the
widescreen options would be more suitable.
Process
To begin with have the images
you want to use within the piece ready, preferably within a folder that you can
easily access. Next open Photoshop and create a new file and proceed as guided
above. We can now open the separate source images into Photoshop and drag these
across onto the new canvas.
I was given a selection of
images to work with at the start of the lesson to which we would be able to
follow the process as shown.
We began by separating the
images of the bulb and the tree into different folder as to differentiate
between the elements later in the process. While working on the piece only have
the elements you need to alter in each step visible as you need them.
Cleaning the Image:
The first technique we were
shown involved using the mask tool –
You select the required area
with the magic wand tool before pressing the “add vector mask” button. When you
double click on the mask layer a properties box will appear, using this select
“Define mask” and then alter the shift edge, smooth and feather bars
accordingly. For smaller thin objects the feather tool may be unneeded.
The second technique was
based around the clone stamp –
Firstly create a new layer as
to preserve the original image, and then select the clone stamp tool from the
toolbar. Make sure the settings for the tool are set at Mode – Normal and
Sample: All Layers, it may be of advantage to lower the opacity of the tool as
to create a more natural looking transition. This works by removing the subject
from the image while still retaining a certain amount of background
colour. Now while holding down “Alt” on
the keyboard select the area of the image from which you want to copy and then
after letting go of alt start to go over the area you wish to remove. It is
important to note that the software will always use the first initial distance
from the source area and where you first click to paste as a measured guide to
follow, this means you need to be careful as you remove different areas of the
image as the source will move accordingly. You can check where the source is by
looking at the crosshair, which appears when you begin to use the tool.
The third technique involved
using the Patch tool –
Create a new layer and use
the Patch tool to remove the light element from the bulb. While using the patch
tool you will need the following options selected: Content-Aware and Sample all
layers.
Fading In:
I now started on merging the
image of the tree into that of the bulb. The tree branches have a square white
background; so in order to dissolve this easily we need to go into the layer’s
properties. Once in properties, under “Blend If: Gray” we move the white slider
towards the black area on “This Layer”. In order to achieve greater control we
can hold alt down while clicking the slider to separate it into two, this
allows us to refine the range in more detail.
Remove/Blend with Mask:
To remove areas of the image
which are unwanted without affecting the image permanently, create a mask and
then use the brush tool to remove areas with the black colour and to undo any
mistakes simply use the white colour to add these back in. Make sure that the
colours are what they same by checking their values, white’s values should be
255 across all RGB tables, whereas black needs to be set at 0 across all of
CYMK’s tables.
Hue:
To alter the colour of the
image simply select the layer in question and go to
Layer>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and then alter as required.
Reflections:
Create two copies of the Tree Leaves layer and then
turn one upside down before naming them appropriately. Now go to free transform on one of the copies
and right-click on the image and select “Warp”, alter the image as wished and
press enter to apply the effect.
In order to smooth out the image and blend into the
corners of the bulb accordingly use the “Remove/Blend With Mask” technique.
Flatten, Sharpen and Save:
Now we need to select all the
layers used and copy and flatten these as to preserve the process within the
Photoshop file while still having the final outcome. In order to do this press
on the following keys: Shift, Alt Cmd and E or you can do this manually.
If you feel it needs
sharpening to bring the colour and details out further, one way you can do so
is by creating an adjustment layer. Select the flattened image, go to
Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Black &White and this creates a new layer
of your flattened image but with the black and white mode applied to it, you
now need to lower the opacity of the layer. Using the properties bar you can
now refine which of the colours show through greatest which enables you to
determine which areas of the image are more defined, giving your image depth.
Before saving your file you need to change the layer blend mode to soft light
as this brings back in all those important reflections and colours.
Finally you need to make sure
you save your PSD file and then just have visible your flattened image and your
black and white image before going to file>save as and selecting Jpg. We
have selected Jpeg here as the image is being intended for web use therefore we
don’t need to save any extra data, otherwise the alternative saving options
would be more suitable.
Outcome:
I am pleased with the outcome
though feel the reflection on the bottom of the bulb is slightly off in
position. I found this lesson very helpful and useful for future projects
within Photoshop as the techniques can be used for a whole host of different
purposes.
