Advanced Photoshop Issue 052

34MINS OF
VIDEO
TUITION
ISSUE
ISSUE
5249
47
Professional blending techniques | Content-Aware Scaling | Displacement maps | Master graphical art | Interview: Derek Lea
MASTER 25 T
28 BERXTURES
GRAPHICAL ART 20 STUSHES
IM OCK
Experts reveal the rules of
colour and composition in
ON TAGES
this popular style HE CD
NEW IN
CS4
CONTENT-AWARE SCALING
Make any image the right proportions for your
projects with this intelligent resizing tool
4-PAGE WORKSHOP
DISPLACEMENT MAPS
Design a striking underwater photomontage
PROFESSIONAL HOW TO...

• Create depth with highlights and shadows
• Build Photoshop panels with Configurator
• Choose between CS4 and CS4 Extended
• Keep perspective with Vanishing Point
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
• Match lighting and contrast between different elements • Clean up cutouts with
the Eraser tool • Control luminosity using Curves • Blend photos with the Blur filter
GET ON OUR COVER! COPYRIGHT CONCERNS DEREK LEA ISSUE ISSN

52 1748-7277 £5.99
52
Upload to our website for a Why you need to protect your We interview the
chance to see your image here work online and how to do it Photoshop instructor 9 771748 727009
001_AVP_52_Coverwk3.indd 2 5/12/08 09:40:43

Cover
Cover image
“This is Pepper, a fictional character designed by Imageer:
Stanley Lau, a girl who always shows up with her MARIO WIBISONO
classy headphone and red outfit. This piece is
original Pepper fan art, submitted specially for The Pepper character:
Pepper Project. It took about 70 hours in Photoshop, STANLEY LAU
painted with a mouse. I gathered quite a lot of
references from Google images, mostly of Japanese
teen idols. This piece is greatly inspired by my all- IT TOOK ABOUT 70
time favourite Japanese idol, Yuko Ogura.”
/ http://raynkazuya.cgsociety.org HOURS IN PHOTOSHOP,
PAINTED WITH A MOUSE
3
Advanced Photoshop
003_AVP_52_CoverImage.indd 3 9/12/08 10:08:33

Editorial
Welcome to
k. t es ts or r
.u tac d en s f ne
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co n ce d te ig
vi n is
e. Co n stu wri des
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m n a nd
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Contributors
uc ng th a d os
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t
d et ine ake He r
or rp - a
an y, g e l e t ur you
Pete Harrison, Alex Jefferies, Natalie Johnson, Kirk Nelson, Nick
uc ok are er e
se ing s fo cu rom
ha fo cm ly
ou a B lan
ex TV
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on
od bo y th fac
ea
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s t ork Ma nt
Spence and Tim Wise

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The tutorials this month will teach you new skills or
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Advertising
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something that I hope you will find helpful outside of the Interactive Media Manager Lee Groombridge
Head of Digital Projects Stuart Dixon
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apxtrahelp@imagine-publishing.co.uk
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to his n. T t, g
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ISSN 1748-7277
The next issue of Advanced

Photoshop goes on sale 2 February 2009
4
Advanced Photoshop TORS
004_AVP_52_EdIntro.indd 4 9/12/08 10:44:47
E
K SIT d
-LOO
NEW .advance.uk
wwwoshop.co
phot
ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP WEBSITE

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 #52
34MINS OF
VIDEO
TUITION
36
inside...
Learn how to work with
a limited colour palette
INSIGHT 7 08
News and showcases from around the globe
08
ISSUE
News
ISSUE
5249
47
12
Professional blending techniques | Content-Aware Scaling | Displacement maps | Master graphical art | Interview: Derek Lea
5);<-:
Showcase: Jonas Eriksson
25 TE
/:)801+)4):< 28 BRXTURES
20 STUSHES
IMAGOCK
Experts reveal the rules of
colour and composition in
ON TH ES
14
this popular style E CD
Showcase: Dan Whetton

NEW IN
CS4
Showcase: MichaelO 16
+76<-6<)?):-;+)416/
Make any image the right proportions for your
projects with this intelligent resizing tool
,1;84)+-5-6<5)8;
4-PAGE WORKSHOP
Showcase: Phil McDarby 18
Design a striking underwater photomontage
PROFESSIONAL 07?<7
• Create depth with highlights and shadows
• Build Photoshop panels with Configurator
• Choose between CS4 and CS4 Extended
• Keep perspective with Vanishing Point
COMMUNITY 7 20
Our readers’ comments, feedback and images
from our mailbox, email, website and forum
• Match lighting and contrast between different elements • Clean up cutouts with
20
the Eraser tool • Control luminosity using Curves • Blend photos with the Blur filter
GET ON OUR COVER! COPYRIGHT CONCERNS DEREK LEA ISSUE ISSN

52 1748-7277 £5.99
On the web
22
52
Upload to our website for a Why you need to protect your We interview the
chance to see your image here work online and how to do it Photoshop instructor
Mailbox
9 771748 727009
001_AVP_52_Coverwk3.indd 2 5/12/08 09:40:43
THE COVER Peer Pressure 74

The fantastic image on this month’s cover
7 70
is the work of talented Photoshop painter,
Mario Wibisono, whose work you can see at
http://raynkazuya.cgsociety.org HELP
Tips, techniques and problems solved
Helpdesk 70
Insider Info: Content-Aware Scaling 72
RESOURCES 7 86
Vital assets to improve your Photoshop work
86
nced p at
Book reviews
d va 88
the A nline shoo.uk
Hardware and software reviews
Visit o .c
shop ineshop oks
ot o
Ph .imag es, bo 64 74 THIS MONTH’S CD 7 96
www ack issu andise Discover the techniques Our pick of the best reader Superb stock art, project files and more!
for b d merch
behind this image submissions this month
CD guide 96
an Brush index 98
6
Advanced Photoshop
006-007_AVP_52_Contents.indd 6 9/12/08 10:24:26

30
We interview
Derek Lea
© Derek Lea
TECHNIQUES
FEATURES/REGULAR
FEATURE: CS4 INTRO – PART 3 7 26
Essential guides to professional Photoshop skills
We review and rate the new features in CS4 Extended

MONOCHROME MASTERPIECE 7
Create excellent Photoshop art with limited colours
36
INTERVIEW: DEREK LEA 7 30 ADD DEPTH TO ILLUSTRATIONS 7 50
The Photoshop instructor and author speaks to AP Start with a flat drawing and build up highlights and shadows
MASTER GRAPHICAL ART 7 42 DISPLACEMENT MAPS 7

Use the handy Displace filter in an underwater scene
56
Why less is more and how you can create an impact
COPYRIGHT CONCERNS 7 80 BUILD PHOTOSHOP PANELS 7

Use Adobe Configurator to design your own panels for CS4
60
Make sure that your images are well protected from misuse
READER’S WORKSHOP
REVIEWS 7 86 SPICE UP YOUR PORTRAITS 7 64
The latest books, Autodesk Mudbox and the Spyder3Elite Get a great look with just blending modes and filters
7
Advanced Photoshop
006-007_AVP_52_Contents.indd 7 9/12/08 10:27:30

Keeping an eye on the latest trends in contemporary photography, art
and design, Insight sets out to snapshot innovation in the making
ENSEMBLE: Created by interactive developer

Dofl Y. H. Yun, interaction designer Hyeyoung
Eun and web designer Sunghee Ma
SIGNS OF LIFE:
ADAA POSTER: Entries for the 2009 Adobe Design Achievement Freddie Yauner’s Signs of Life is
Awards are being accepted now until 5 June, so get your work in a reactive sign, looking into the
soon to be in with a chance of winning lives of overworked pictograms
Let the games begin!

Adobe has begun the call for entries for its 2009 Design communication.” The Interactive Media includes browser
Achievement Awards. This year’s premiere gala marks the ninth and non-browser-based design, application
anniversary of the brand’s student awards, recognising the best development, installation design and mobile design. The
graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital Motion Media concerns animation, live action and motion
filmmakers, developers and computers artists. Now in graphics; whereas the Traditional Media category is open
partnership with the International Council of Graphic Design to students studying illustration, packaging, photography
Associations (Icograda), the awards recognise students from and print communications.
accredited institutions of higher education in around 40 To submit an entry, students are invited to visit the
countries worldwide. Adobe Design Achievement Awards website at www.
Adobe has also announced that the awards ceremony will be adaaentry.com. Here, competitors can access ADAA Live!,
held during the Icograda World Design Congress in Beijing, an interactive website that lets visitors see participants
China in October, bringing together over 2,500 delegates in the submitting projects in real-time. “I was honoured to be a
heart of Beijing’s Olympic Green. “Adobe is always inspired by finalist in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards
the tremendous creativity that we see in Adobe Design animation category in 2007,” says Johnny Kelley, who
Achievement Awards submissions,” explains Ann Lewnes, senior recently completed a two-year MA in Animation at The
vice president of corporate marketing at Adobe. “Our Royal College of Art. “My achievement in this awards
partnership with Icograda will help us showcase breakthrough competition will continue to benefit me professionally as I
talent on a global stage and preview the bright future of look forward to a long career creating compelling
interactive design.” animations with Adobe solutions.”
The competition has been championed as offering deserving Submissions for this year’s fixture are accepted online
and talented students a way of breaking into the highly until 5 June. For the final phase of judging, semifinalists
competitive creative career arena. The fixture segregates will be alerted and asked to send their source files and a
entrants into three media categories: Interactive Media, Motion physical aspect of their entry as it is meant to be viewed.
Media and Traditional Media. “Communication designers play a Following this period of review, Adobe insiders have
critical role in developing messages that influence social and reported that finalists will be invited to Beijing and
commercial perceptions,” says Professor Don Ryun Chang, awarded software and cash prizes.
president of Icograda. “We are excited to partner with Adobe for
the prestigious Adobe Design Achievement Awards ceremony,
which recognises design innovation and encourages unrelenting www.adaaentry.com
progress in the field of graphic design and visual
8
Advanced Photoshop
008-010_AVP_52_News.indd 8 9/12/08 12:33:05

Creativity in-camera
Olympus has taken a giant leap forward in the pursuit
01.09
What’s
of creativity with its latest DSLR launch: the E-30.
hot?
Joining the firm’s well-established family of Micro Four
Thirds cameras, the E-30 incorporates a range of art
filters and styles, bringing further creativity into the
HOT
camera. The filters are designed to help the
photographer create a mood or style that would have
otherwise had to have been incorporated during the
processing and digital editing stage. Currently, the
device offers a choice of six effects: Pop Art, Soft Focus,
Pale and Light Colour, Light Tone, Grainy Film and Pin
Hole. Other artistic subtleties can be attained via the POLAROID POGO
Multi Exposure mode, which allows several captures to From £90
be superimposed onto an image previously taken in www.polaroid.com/pogo
RAW directly in the camera. The DSLR is expected to go Polaroid’s PoGo is an instant mobile
on sale from mid-January. printer that lets users print images
ADDING GRAIN: direct from cameras or mobiles.
One of the filters provided on the E-30
is the Grainy Film filter, enabling
photographers to turn mundane shots
into exciting retro ones
POP ART:
Photographers can
infuse their shots
with vivacious
colour using the Pop
Art filter on the
Olympus E-30 ZPEN
£99
www.danedigital.com
A receiver and pen lets users write
E-30: The E-30 offers a choice of six notes or draw doodles by hand and
exciting filters, including Pop Art, Soft uploads the results onto your PC.
Focus, Pale and Light Colour, Light
Tone, Grainy Film and Pin Hole
www.olympus.co.uk
VUPOINT FS-C1-VP
NEGATIVE AND
FILM SCANNER
£65
Adobe Configurator available now

CONFIGURATOR:
The Adobe Configurator allows www.vupointsolutions.com
users to custom-build the A must for those clinging on to old film
interface of Photoshop
for download, allowing negatives or mounted slides. Use this
Adobe Configurator is now available desktop scanner to digitalise both
users to custom-build panels in CS4. monochrome and colour images.
to drag-and-drop
The open source utility makes it easy
actio ns and othe r artefacts into a
tools, menu items, scripts,
panel design, whic h can then be expo rted for use inside PANTONE PLASTIC
Photoshop. What is more, these pane
ls lever age the support
tic
SELECTOR CHIPS
mak ing it a realis £5.35 each
for Adobe Flash built into the app,
audi o, vide o, imag es and even www.pantone.com
possibility to drag-and-drop
other SWF files into a pane l desig n. Take the guesswork out of colour
at authors, trainers matching with Pantone Plastics Color
The plug-in is being pitched mainly
appl ication’s interface System. 1,740 transparent and opaque
and other experts eager to tailor their
time learn ing the colour references are available.
without having to waste
, Flex or
complexities of programs like Flash
ActionScr ipt. GO MEDIA HOODIE
The program requires CS4 but is free
k out our
for
own
TEMPLATE PACK
anyone to use. Be sure to chec TBC
on page 60 for an in-de pth
exciting tutorial :
www.gomedia.us
this new facet . DRAG AND DROP Go Media’s T-shirt template packs have
guide to the
Free to download,
- always been worth a look, helping you
app uses drag-and
drop technology to mock up your designs for clothing. The
http://labs.adobe.com/ build the palettes hoodie pack goes one step further,
technologies/configurator
including Photoshop pattern sets.
9
Advanced Photoshop
008-010_AVP_52_News.indd 9 9/12/08 12:33:28

insight
Notebook PC for creatives
IN THE HP has launched the HP TouchSmart tx2 Notebook PC,
being billed as the world’s first “multitouch-enabled
The device features a built-in webcam with two microphones
for video conferencing and VoIP. The 12.1-inch BrightView display
NEWS:
customer notebook”. is encapsulated in a titanium high-gloss finish and a circular,
Merging the brand’s intuitive TouchSmart technology cloud-like inlaid pattern. Expected to retail at £799, the HP
and MediaSmart software, designers have spawned a TouchSmart tx2 is scheduled to go on sale from the beginning of
notebook they claim will revolutionise the way computer this year.
Q&A
users operate. “No more scrambling to use the keys and
touchpad for simple tasks like navigating your music files, or
even for complicated tasks like editing photos – it’s all there
for them on the screen,” says a proud Dave Brabham,
category manager, consumer products, Personal Systems
Group, HP UK&I.
DEKE The premise of its operation is that a simple stroke on the

TouchSmart tx2 will allow users more seamless interaction
McCLELLAND
Inducted into the National Association
with their laptop, thus making file access, trawling through
music, photos and movies a more immersive experience.
The science behind it suggests the product features
of Photoshop’s Photoshop Hall of Fame
in 2002 and having scribed over 80 capacitive touch, enabling more accurate input, and
books with more than four million distinguishes between a finger and a palm on the display to
copies in print, Deke McClelland (www. intelligently disregard accidental brushes or swipes.
deke.com) is a bit of a computer Additionally, the new asset means simultaneous input is
graphics and digital know-it-all. We catered for so users can use both hands to crop and move
caught up with him to get his expert images, or a digital pen can also be incorporated for more
opinion on Photoshop past, present creative and accurate demands. Alternatively, users can take
and future. charge via a remote control as the gadget hosts an
integrated infrared receiver.
Q: WHICH VERSION OF t
PHOTOSHOP WERE YOU MOST the TouchSmar
ED: As well as
FEATURE PACK the unit hosts a webcam, tw
o
HAPPY WITH AT THE TIME? tx2 touchpad, IR receiver and
12.1-inch
A: Hands down, Photoshop 5. That’s microphones, BrightView dis
play
when we got layer effects, which we
take for granted these days. We could
finally edit text on independent HP LAPTOP:
layers. The current cross-suite colour HP’s latest lap
due to revolut top is
www.hp.com ionise the way
management engine began in version creatives work
5, as well as Photoshop’s most
nondestructive feature, the History
palette and accompanying History
brush. I couldn’t imagine Photoshop
without those. Bokeh lens simulation for Photoshop
Alien Skin Software has announced
the availability of a
Q: THE MOST DISAPPOINTED? Bokeh Lens Simulation plug-in for Phot
A: With the exception of the Healing oshop.
Bokeh offers users several tools desig
brush, I recall being bored by ned for realistic
blurring and altering the mood of a BOKEH: The product
Photoshop 7. It was all flat, static scene. The technology carries a price tag of
allows photographers to manipulate
modifications at a time I was craving the focus and depth $199, which is
of field after the shot has been capt approximately £129
nondestructive filters, which were ured, either in
three versions away. In its defence, Photoshop or Photoshop Elements
. The technology also
though, we got the File Browser, enables users to place a radial swee
t spot for gradually
which turned into the Bridge. softening a scene everywhere exce
pt on the subject, an
effect traditionally achievable with
tilt-shift lenses.
Bokeh’s producers claimed the prod
Q: COULD PHOTOSHOP EVER uct is the first to be photographers with the creative freed
based on mathematics sophisticated om to manipulate
REACH A LEVEL WHERE IT IS enough to produce a the aesthetic quality of bokeh, inclu
natural blur and creamy highlights. ding the ability to
DEEMED FOOLPROOF? “Bokeh is the Japanese create heart and star-shaped bokeh
A: No. The first Photoshop borrowed word for ‘blur’, and is a photographic highlights.” By
term that refers to decreasing the depth of field, users
so much from MacPaint that it was the visually distinctive appearance can divert attention
of the out-of-focus away from distraction ‘clutter’ in the
almost straightforward. But functions areas in a photograph,” says Terence image, which is
Tay, the lead particularly useful for those users with
like Levels, Unsharp Mask and even developer of Bokeh. “Alien Skin’s Boke out full-frame
h plug-in provides sensor cameras.
the Magic Wand were serving up the
technicalities of things like Pixel The plug-in is compatible with Adob
e Photoshop CS3 or
Radius and the 8-bit/channel space www.alienskin.com/bokeh/ later, Fireworks CS4, Elements 4.0.1
or later (Mac) or version
from the off. There’s no other way to index.aspx 6 or later (Windows). Look out for a
review in Advanced
grow the program than up and out. Photoshop shortly.
10
Advanced Photoshop
008-010_AVP_52_News.indd 10 9/12/08 12:34:06

insight
s: “I like
us & Rose
Glamoro ta ge s based on
omon
realistic phot raphs and stock
og
my own phot sults and
I get better re
images. I feel my images while
l in
more contro
otoshop”
working in Ph
12
Advanced Photoshop
012-013_AVP_52_Insight1.indd 12 9/12/08 10:31:53

Jonas Eriksson
Jonas Eriksson is an emerging creative creature with a promising future in the commercial
01.09
jungle. With images full of energy and compass in both style and narrative, it wasn’t long
before he began realising where his own story was taking him.
He explains: “After high school I went to the Masters of Media School in Sweden, where I
made good business connections. Once I graduated, I started out on my own where I
worked on print design, illustrations and web design projects. Then I got bored of working
alone, so I got hired at a company, Mubito, where I still work on high-quality web design
for bigger and more important artists and labels.”
He found his first commissions with ad agency Hedetoft. This was a great learning curve
as well as an entertaining experience for Eriksson, one that still echoes in his contemporary
application and attentive composition. Likewise, his dedication to digital software bore
fruit within his evolving methods, as he reveals: “I almost completely work in Photoshop
now. Lately, I have been experimenting with Cinema 4D to create some nice 3D samples of
my favourite fonts, but I import these into Photoshop to play around with. I like to
experiment with stock images, textures and 3D to get a realistic look in my images. My
Photoshop documents usually have more than 500 layers and a minimum of 1GB hard
drive space, just because I pay attention to a lot of detail and also light and shadows.”
Nature also bears a heavy influence in his design work, as he finds strange and exotic
ways to include it in his compositions. “I guess I find them more interesting than humans.
When I get an idea of a new work, it’s mostly something to do with animals, something
powerful.” This has no doubt led to the inspiration in his latest project, as he discloses to
Advanced Photoshop magazine: “I will start a charity project soon, which will be an
advanced Flash site with nice photomontages of a jungle with extinct animals. The goal is
to make people aware of the status of these animals and draw traffic to sites like WWF”.
City by the sea:

www.imjonas.com Batman poster and
“Influenced by the
Dark Knight
The Day After Tom
wanted to create a orrow movie, I
powerful image wit
big waves and expl h disasters, like
osions, and a drama
result was good an tic skyline. The
d it looks good on
the wall” Gorilla manipulation: “One studio I have been
looking closely at lately is Ars Thanea. Its work with high-
quality Flash websites and illustrations is incredible and just
to my taste. I love every single piece it has made”
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insight
Dan Whetton
Dan ‘Frenzy’ Whetton is currently a 3D artist and designer based in the UK, who
describes himself as “a biker, artist and natural-born worrier”. He is incredibly passionate
about art and for him it is the biggest part of his life: “The art has always been there and
passion is my weakness, because I find it hard sometimes to deal with the reality of the
everyday grind.”
His background is less conventional, falling into a job making furniture and designing
‘on the fly’, which led to him discovering CAD (computer-aided design). His first art
commission was an album cover design for a rock group, who “I’ve never heard of since I
did it. Such is life”. From art at school, Whetton went on to do a Graphic Design diploma,
where he learnt the basic skills for becoming the digital artist he wanted to be.
In his early days, Whetton was immersed in design theories and CAD, working on art
tools as well as behind drawing boards. These days, he uses 3D packages and Photoshop
to create his comic-style artwork. At the moment, though, he’s so busy doing 3D
modelling work for engineering companies that he’s lucky to get some art in at the
weekends, but this doesn’t stop him working towards tipping that balance: “My ultimate
goal is to be my own hub of creation, working with other artists of various styles to
produce concepts for videogames, movies and multimedia of all types.” He has some work
on the back burner, such as a project for Custom Cruisers (a custom biker store), which
combines his passions of art and biking, involving flyers, banners and clothing for shows
throughout the year.
His inspiration comes from many places, and when asked about the artists that he
admires, he says: “A diverse and truly different bunch of artists helped, and continue to both
help and shape my creativity in many different ways and for many different reasons. Ashley
Wood and Brom are my number ones. Anthony Robinson, James Ryman, Boris Vallejo, Don
Figueroa, Todd MacFarlane, Greg Capullo and especially Ryan Church. He’s an inspiration and
then some, just for his visual speed and realism.”
ich
d Toyz range, wh
second of my Ba t ten different art
www.frenzy-world.co.uk Bad Bot: “The be ab ou
pposed to d!”
originally was su picting children’s toys gone ba
pieces de
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014-015_AVP_52_Insight2.indd 14 9/12/08 10:46:30

DP’s & Mage Box Lid: “The cover
artwork to a board game that brings new
01.09
characters to life”
h time
Vortex: “I take as muc
I do the
thinking of the names as
cool name
artwork. If it hasn’t got a
represen ts the piece, it might as
that
well not exist”
Max Damag
e: “What can
say? This guy I
ob
very bad hair viously has some
days!”
Bad Toyz: “Seriously, how do you

get better than a teddy bear with a
laser gun?”
15
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insight
MichaelO
MichaelO is the artist responsible for Advanced Photoshop 48’s stunning cover, so we had to get him in
to find out more about his inspirations and techniques.
MichaelO is an American freelance artist who describes art as his life, a passion that is instilled in
every part of his being: “I see art everywhere, in everything, and I have a constant need to capture it and
put it down on paper – or in my case, onto a computer screen.” He says that he has always been an
artist, studying a mix of traditional art at a young age: “I believe that skill in art is something I was born
with. A God-given talent. With that talent comes the responsibility to use it to the best of my ability,
with reverence and humility so that my work, which will last beyond my years, will leave a legacy that
mirrors my respect for the gift I was given.”
He later made the transition to creating art digitally, drawing on the skills he developed as a
traditional artist. Nowadays, he describes his art as a merge between digital painting and
photomanipulation, and all the work displayed over these two pages use photography as a base: “I
paint over the image with a variety of effects, including many Photoshop tricks and techniques. All of
my work is created in Photoshop, although I occasionally integrate work from other programs, such as
ArtRage, 3ds Max and Poser.”
He does take on freelance commissions, but he prefers his personal work: “I feel that my best work is
the imagery that I have created on my own without compensation, simply for the love of it. That is
where I can express myself without worrying if the client will like it or if I can meet the deadline. This
work has its own reward, worth more to me than money.
In 2009, MichaelO will be spending time completing his book, a portfolio of work created over the
last three years, as well as biographical information, his views on digital art and an insight into his
techniques. This is sure to help inspire future artists, something that is important to MichaelO. “I try to
create imagery that will inspire others. To hear someone say that my work has inspired them in some
way is a great feeling, and over time that has become my number one goal.”
www.bymichaelo.com
’s
ty: All of MichaelO
Timeless Beau
ag ery use s ph oto graphy at its core,
im d
inting techniques use
with a variety of pa nes
to integrate the sce
Crocodile
Tears: Stock
photography by
katanaz-stock.
deviantart.com
She Ann : “Slowly, my

shell falls to pieces. Only the
soul lasts forever”
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Skin Deep: “A
beautiful outsi
de can
01.09
sometimes hid
e an
ugly inside”
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insight
e
agon and th
The Wood Dr d a lot of my spare time
rd : “I sp en
Lady bi g photos, and
in forests takin
rolling around ed a ma cro lens. I was
rchas
had recently pu ic fee l yo u ca n achieve
e ep
fascinated by th tiny th ing s, like insects
phing
when photogra is image, I was trying to
th
and plants. With of microcosmic detail. The
nse
capture that se ed out in
form was block
Wood Dragon’s an at om y bu ilt up limb by
his
Photoshop and re of painting and my own
xtu
limb using a mi
tures”
photographic tex
The Moss Dragon an

d the Butterfly: “On
Dragon led to another! I’ve e Wood
been busy creating different
of dragon – this one is a ‘species’
Moss Dragon and has evo
in to a different kind of fore lved to blend
st environment. Again, I
capture a tentative meeting wanted to
of forest creatures, a sens
fascination at discovering e of
something new and diffe
rent”
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01.09
T h e Wo o
d
Spider’s Dragon and th
Lair: “Thi e
in much th s image was
e sa cr
time with a me way as the origin eated
m al
background ore tentative pose. Th – this
is e
reference. Th a mixture of paintin
e spider is al g an
about this
crea most cavalie d
the tiny web ture entering his do r
bi main –
Dragon’s sn ng stuck to the Woo
out says, ‘Y d
ou don’t sc
are me!’”
Exile’s Return: “This image travelled through just

about every program I use – Maya for the trees,
ZBrush for the pods, Bryce for a water/reflection
render, tons of Photoshop painting and texturing, plus
the use of a few reference photos to paint from (the
monk and boat are separate shots, merged and
heavily painted). I was looking to capture a sense of
scale, a feeling of homecoming and warmth, and a
sense of the ‘alien’”
Phil McDarby
Phil McDarby is a creative director from Ireland, whose wonderful dragon creations and
mystical woodland scenes really caught our eyes.
McDarby’s been working in graphic, 3D and videogame design for about ten years, but
around four and a half years ago he set up a games company along with some colleagues,
called Vyro Games. ”It’s been quite a journey getting that off the ground!” explains
McDarby. In his free time, he also takes on a multitude of freelance projects: “Everything
from graphic design, concept art and music for advertisements and short films.”
McDarby’s first commission was for a technology website, where he was asked to design
a splash screen by the client, Dave Eberly, a project that has taught him a lot: “It was the first
time I worked to a brief. He was a great client in the sense that he gave me a lot of freedom
to explore ideas.”
Surprisingly, given the level of expertise shown in the artworks over these two pages,
McDarby is completely self-taught – “I’m from the old ‘I wonder what this button does’
school of design!” – but is proficient in a number of applications: “I started with Bryce 3,
moving gradually through Maya, Max and ZBrush over the years, and now use a whole raft
of tools, primarily Photoshop, to bring everything together.”
Indeed, Photoshop is key to his artwork: “Photoshop sits above everything I do – it is
where I bring everything together. Beginning there with concept images painted using a
small, hard brush, importing renders, cloning out elements of photography for textures and
completing the imagery through digital painting/lighting with my beloved Wacom tablet.
Photoshop informs everything I do from start to finish and has done for ten years.”
www.philmcdarby.com
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Website
On the web
Our website and readers’ forum is perfect for
showing off Photoshop creations. We present
the best images on the site this month. Log on
and upload to get your images here next issue!
THE EYES OF PINK
THE DRAGON ARTIST: Firnadi Iqbal
ARTIST: Darek Kocurek EMAIL: firnadi@yahoo.com
EMAIL: darek-k@o2.pl WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/firnadi
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/ “I am Nadi, a 30-year-old amateur photographer and
user/darekkocurek graphic designer. I have a small photo studio (Washang
Darek lives in Poland, and this is the Photographic) in my little town of Pontianak, West
second image of his that has been Kalimantan, Indonesia. I have been addicted to
awarded Pic of the Week. He explains to photomanipulation since I first got to know about
us how he created this image: “I am self- Photoshop 7.0. The first time that I knew about Advanced
taught in the field of computer graphics. Photoshop magazine was from the used-book shop in my
Nowadays, I work mostly in Photoshop to wife’s town. That was the beginning and now I am
create my digital art. interested in learning many Photoshop techniques from
“Usually, I try to connect photomontages the magazine.
with 2D graphics. Many of my pictures “The concept for this artwork is simple, using warm
are inspired by music or books. This tones. I used old stock pictures and images from the
image, The Eyes Of The Dragon, is Advanced Photoshop CD. It’s not a hard technique and I
inspired by a Stephen King story. It is a am sure the readers of this awesome magazine can do
photomanipulation from about 12 of my better than me! My motto is to just try and keep
images. Some elements like snow, lights, uploading and making friends from there.”
rope and details of buildings are drawn.”
FATA MORGANA
ARTIST: Archan Nair
EMAIL: archannair@gmail.
com
WEB: www.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk/
user/archannair
Archan Nair is a 25-year-
old, self-developed artist,
multidisciplinary
designer and illustrator,
based in New Delhi,
India. Of this image, he
says: “It was completely
produced in Photoshop
and inspired by some
sweet and sour times of
an individual’s life. I started by sketching
the concept in my sketchbook. After that, I began collecting the stock resources
from various royalty-free stock sites. The artwork is a blend of painting and
photomanipulation. The background sky has been painted in Photoshop and the
desert is a stock image touched with tools like the Paintbrush. The other elements,
such as the female model, the cycle, etc, are all stocks blended and composed into
the entire environment. The small pond is again painted.”
20
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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
SUBJECT: Cogs and gears
FROM: Charli Neal
My name is Charli and I am a graphic designer
by trade. I worked in industry for three years,
but I have been teaching secondary school Art
now for six years. I love using Photoshop with
the kids and they love it, too. I recently bought
Advanced Photoshop 48 and was inspired by
pages 54-58, where Amy Marie Neal had
montaged mechanical imagery into a female
form. I would like to do something similar with
a class that’s mainly all boys by studying
surrealism and the work of Giger. I intend to
take photos of the kids and show them how to GEAR STOCK: You can find some great images of
montage in mechanical objects and cogs, etc, cogs and gears on a free stock site, like www.sxc.hu
to turn themselves into a cyborg. www.sxc.hu is invaluable for getting free
The problem I am having is sourcing cog- disc, which does happen from time to time due images of almost anything that you can use in
like imagery and the imagery used in this to copyright issues. My first suggestion is to go these sorts of projects. I did a quick search on
particular article isn’t on the CD. Can you help to Amy Neal’s fantastic gallery site (http:// there and found a number of gears and cogs
in any way? starfantazy.deviantart.com) and go to this that would be suitable for your project. Hope
particular image, as she has listed all the stocks that helps!
Editor replies: Hi Charli, thanks for your that she has used in the piece here. Most are
comments. I think that’s going to make a great from deviantART and are offered free for non- SUBJECT: Photomontage challenge
project! With that tutorial in particular, we were commercial uses (but check the stock providers’ FROM: Linton Rogers
unable to provide the source images on the terms and conditions). Otherwise, a site like For this photomontage (right), I used a range of
skills as shown in the magazine tutorial on
Colourful Photomontages (Advanced
Photoshop 49), such as the Hard Light
adjustments layer. I also experimented with
blending modes with the overlayering of
objects using Color Burn and Overlay. I found
this really enjoyable!
Editor replies: Hi Linton. Thanks so much for

sending in your go at our tutorial – it’s really
great. I’d love to see more of these from readers’
hometowns in future issues! I might have to
have a go at one of ‘sunny’ Bournemouth…
BEXHILL-ON- SUBJECT: Painting debate goes on

SEA: One of FROM: Josh Campion
our readers has
created this
Hi AP. Just a quick response to Bruce Sykes’s
fantastic image email in Advanced Photoshop 49. I am a
based on the digital painting enthusiast and find the digital
tutorial we ran in AP
49, from digital painting tutorials extremely helpful and very
artist Radim Malinic inspiring. Overall, I think your magazine has a
22
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022-023_AVP_52_Letters.indd 22 8/12/08 11:58:53

Survey’s up: Get your voice heard by filling the covers that had been created. I only
in our online readers’ survey on the Advanced
Photoshop website
hope that one day my own artwork is
good enough to grace a cover like that.
great balance of all the aspects of Then when I read the issue, it got even
Photoshop and I have learned a lot from better! I enjoyed every feature and
it. Keep up the good work! tutorial from front to back, and as for
Richard Tilbury’s matte painting –
Editor replies: Hi Josh, thanks for your email. wow! Thanks for a great issue and keep
It’s really great to get this kind of feedback, them coming!
as it helps us to shape the future of the
magazine and make sure that we’re giving Editor replies: Hi Ben, thanks for your
you a balance of everything that’s good email and your praise! It’s always good to
about Photoshop – and everything that’s hear when we’ve got things right!
possible in it! Don’t forget to complete our
readers’ survey on our website (www. SUBJECT: Whoops!
advancedphotoshop.co.uk) so you can FROM: The Advanced
help build the magazine you want Photoshop team
Advanced Photoshop to be! We received some great comments
about our 50th issue – it seems that
SUBJECT: Issue 50 you’ve been very pleased with the
FROM: Ben Richardson content and the tutorials and tips that
Hi Advanced Photoshop. I had to write in we offered. However, always happy to
to share my thoughts on issue 50. I’ve admit our mistakes, we have a couple of
been a reader of the magazine since issue corrections to make to our 50 Killer
27 and I have enjoyed watching it Photoshop Tips feature. First, George
develop into the magazine that it is today. Smith’s web address should be listed as
I have a subscription and when issue 50 www.endeffect.com so that you can
plopped onto my doormat, I was check out his amazing Photoshop
pleasantly surprised. Sure, it’s not your artwork. Also, Kirk Nelson’s listed
usual style of cover for the magazine, but I website is incorrect. Sorry for any
couldn’t stop looking at it and taking in all confusion caused by these errors.
“Get your voice

heard by filling in
our online survey
on the Advanced
Photoshop website”
022-023_AVP_52_Letters.indd 23 8/12/08 11:55:27

Feature
Photoshop CS4
Analysis tools Here is where you
access the Ruler and Count tools,
plus the Measurement Logs where
you can store collected data and
export to a simple text file
3D tools There are

tools for 3D
manipulation, both in
the main toolbar down
the side and at the top
of the main window
3D menu The home of all your

3D options, this drop-down
menu includes options to
create a 3D postcard or 3D
object from a 2D layer
26
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026-029_AVP_52_Feature.indd 26 9/12/08 11:52:10

Photoshop CS4 Extended
Part
S4 Extended Last month, we gave our
th ree
verdict on the standard
version of Photoshop CS4.
This time, we see how the
Extended version fares and
3D shapes There are a
number of shapes built
whether it’s worth the
into the program that extra cash
you can wrap 2D images
around, as well as the 3D Layers If you choose to
P
postcard effect which is convert a 2D layer into a
3D one, then the Layers hotoshop CS3 was the first version of the
shown here
palette will retain the image-editing software to come in two
original layer in case you versions: standard and Extended. The latter
need to go back at a later was aimed to introduce more multimedia features than
date to continue
the standard version, such as working with 3D models
working on it
and motion footage, and analysing images with
measurement and counting tools. CS4 Extended
continues the trend, and with the rise of motion
graphics, the use of Photoshop for scientific or medical
purposes and the increased availability of affordable 3D
packages, it is likely to be of interest to a greater number
of Photoshop professionals.
It is a lot more expensive than the standard version
(£890/$1,000 compared to £570/$700), but if you need to
3D panel Here, you create multimedia projects then it is an essential
can control the scene, purchase. It is the version that comes in most of the
materials, mesh and Creative Suite 4 packages, as it has its uses in the web
lighting by scrolling design and production industries, as well as many more.
through the options in
this panel. You can Of course, you still get all the enhancements of the
access these different standard CS4, including OpenGL support, which really
functions by selecting comes into its own when you’re trying to wrap photos
from the icons at the around a 3D model, for example, which is a resource-
top of the palette. Each
has a layer structure hungry process.
where you can select Over the next couple of pages, we’ll take a look at the
the different parts of the added extras that you get in the Extended package,
image and there are what you can do with it and whether it’s worth the extra
various Presets that you money.
can use to set up your
3D scenes
3D in Photoshop
Photoshop CS3 Extended made some great steps
into the world of 3D editing through the introduction
of 3D layers and the ability to import models.
However, CS4 Extended goes a lot further in its
handling of 3D application, and it’s really the main
selling point of CS4 Extended. It’s not going to
27
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Feature
CS4 EXTENDED:
Expect to pay
£890/$1,000 for the
full version of
Adobe Photoshop
CS4 Extended
3D OPTIONS: The
3D menu is where
you control your 3D
layers and create
shapes and objects
from 2D images
Volume rendering
Volume rendering as a term has been linked
to Photoshop CS4 Extended, and it is a
technique used to show a 2D projection of a
3D data set. These are used commonly in the replace your 3D modelling software – but then that’s basis, it is so simple to use and get started, even
medical industry. A CT or MRI scanner will not the point. Photoshop usually comes into use without learning a whole dictionary of new terms,
create a 3D data set, which is made up of 2D during the average 3D user’s workflow, and what that the novice can have a lot of fun playing with the
images (or slices) taken in a regular pattern. Adobe has done is take that into account, making it new features. And if you use Photoshop alongside a
There’s a lot of technology behind the easier than ever to import models, texture them and 3D application, regardless of what the purpose is,
technique of volume rendering, but these 3D bring them into your digital projects. While it does then it’s surely worth the extra money over the
data sets can be rendered into a volume (ie all have basic modelling capabilities – simple shapes standard edition.
the individual 2D slices are merged into one that can be textured – it works best alongside other
image) so that you can rotate through all 3D applications, or you can download 3D models
angles and depths to view the projection. In from various places on the internet for free (including
terms of Photoshop usage, volume rendering 3DS, OBJ, U3D, DAE and KMZ files), and it has no
is used to convert text, shape and pixel layers capabilities for manipulating these shapes.
into these volumes using the same process, As we mentioned in the introduction, there are
with both creative and scientific applications. bonuses to using CS4 Extended on an OpenGL-
enabled system, as you’ll get the fantastic 3D widget,
which works a lot like the Rotate View tool but in 3D
(as you might expect), and is used to rotate, scale and
move your 3D objects.
There are some real benefits in this version over
CS3; most notably, there’s the ability to paint directly
onto 3D models using the normal paintbrush options.
On top of this, you can convert 2D images and
gradient maps into 3D objects, and convert layers into
volumes (more on volume rendering in the boxout).
You can wrap a 2D object onto a 3D object, merge 3D
layers and turn video layers into textures. Everything
PROJECTIONS: Find out more about 2D to 3D is controlled through the 3D panels, making it easy to
projections by viewing the video tutorial at access and change settings.
http://tv.adobe.com The thing that really stands out about this upgrade
is the fact that while the features are aimed at WRAPPING IMAGES: You can easily wrap a 2D image
professionals who work with 3D modelling on a daily onto a 3D object in the Extended version of CS4
Your views: Let us know what you think about the new features in P
28
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Photoshop CS4 Extended
Education editions
Adobe has now announced the arrival of its
educational and student editions of the full
Creative Suite 4 range, including Photoshop
CS4 Extended and collections. These are
available to students in full- or part-time
higher education, full- or part-time faculty or
staff employed at accredited education
establishments and students enrolled at an
accredited primary or secondary school
providing full-time education. The packages
work exactly the same as the normal version,
but are available at greatly reduced prices.
The products are only available to use after
valid identification of qualification for the
packages has been verified via email or fax.
The savings make it a much more achievable
purchase for students, with CS4 Extended
weighing in at just £159/$199.
Motion and video 3D TOOLS: There are dedicated tools for
Back in issue 51, we mentioned that a big growth area rotating, scaling and moving 3D objects in
for Photoshop users over the next year would be in the main toolbar
motion graphics – the ability to create still graphics
and then add animation to them. This was possible in Measurement and analysis
CS3 Extended and, like 3D before it, the features have It is easy to forget when playing around with all these
been greatly enhanced for CS4’s outing. Almost every great new features that there are more serious
designer who works with motion graphics works with applications for Photoshop CS4 Extended. The 3D
Photoshop, which is why Adobe has enhanced the functions that we’ve touched on, as well as volume
possibilities this time around. rendering, have great possibilities for use in the
For a start, there’s an enhanced preview of non- medical and scientific arenas.
square-pixel images, opening up more flexibility in However, there are other tools that can also be of
the way you work. Something as simple as keyboard use in these industries. For example, the Count tool
shortcuts can make a big difference to your workflow, has been enhanced. This tool, introduced in STUDENT SAVINGS: The Education Store
and there are new key combinations for the Photoshop CS3 Extended, counts the number of helps students by giving them great discounts
Animation panel for editing frames and Keyframes so objects in a given image, which is especially useful for on Adobe products
you ca control these functions quickly. counting in scientific images, such as those of cell
Again touching on the 3D capabilities, you can samples. Now, though, you can make multiple counts
animate a 3D object and its camera position, render in the same image, colour-coding them to make it
settings and cross-sections, which is sure to result in easier to see the individual counts. This data can be in scientific and medical industries, but for the rest of
some stunning motion graphics cropping up soon. collected in the Measurement Log panel for us, it’s worth weighing up whether you’ll use the extra
For those who work across cross-platforms, and comparison, and the data can also be exported as a features before making the jump.
aimed specifically at film and television professionals, text file for use outside of Photoshop.
After Effects can import 3D layers from Photoshop. The thing with CS4 Extended is that while there are Summary: If you will actually use the 3D functions,
Video in Photoshop has also been improved, with undeniably some really great new features here, it’s the analysis tools or the animation and video
functions, then the improvements over CS3 make it
the biggest significant difference being that it only really worth it if you’re going to use them. There
more than worth upgrading. In a dream world we
supports sound with videos rather than just silent are plenty of possibilities with Extended that just can’t
would all get CS4 Extended, as it’s so much fun to
files, as per CS3 Extended. Like we said about 3D, it’s be achieved using the standard version, especially in play with, but with such a big price hike, think hard
not meant to replace dedicated video applications, motion graphics and 3D application, which is sure to about whether the standard version will do.
but to improve and enhance your workflow on mixed- get even bigger next year. It’ll be snapped up by Rating: 4/5
media projects. artists, animators, film/television producers and those
Photoshop CS4 and CS4 Extended at www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum
29
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Inter
view
MEDUSA: “This is the great unveiling
of the cover illustration for the second
edition of Creative Photoshop, seen
here for the first time. I can’t tell you how
I did it because it is going to be the
subject of a competition sponsored by
Focal Press”
DEREK LEA
We interview the relentless and outspoken, not so commercial after all, artist
Derek Lea as he hits us with a few creative revelations
D
erek Lea is an enigma wrapped in a being a part-time professor at Centennial College I am simply an unhappy person. I tell my students
mystery, in both his artistic attitude in Toronto. There, he teaches the Graphic Design that it is the curse of being creative. There is a void
and approach. Lea stands for the Media program, including, but not limited to, in the life of a creative person that can only be
opposite of what many creatives are made to illustration and the design process. However, Lea filled by constantly pushing yourself.”
believe, that a steady style is the success to leaves us under no illusion about just how he
commerciality and being commercial is the road approaches his own students’ learning: “Art fulfils Breaking the rules
to success and happiness. Yet he operates as part me in some way that I cannot describe. If I am not Lea is a creative individual who lives his life by the
of the establishment that encourages this attitude, creating work that I am interested in or excited by, rules of pleasure, not leisure. Where his vocation
30
Advanced Photoshop
030-035_AVP_52_Interview.indd 30 9/12/08 12:17:41

Derek Lea
PSYCHOSURGERY (ABOVE): “This commission was a

direct result of an art director noticing Catharsis in an awards
annual. The story was about the resurgence of lobotomy
operations today. In the article, a patient described the
procedure as a relief on par with releasing black butterflies from
her mind. That was my cue”
provides finance, his freelance provides liberty, as strange time to be entering the business, as the
he explains: “I have a client base that is mainly switch to desktop computers was just
editorial work from magazines published around beginning. I designed magazines, worked as an
the globe. I avoid advertising. Although there is art director in an evil advertising agency, even
money to be made in advertising, the entire illustrated T-shirts for a while, until I eventually
business disgusts me so I just don’t do it. I enjoy landed a job as a professional retoucher at a
editorial commissions, as there is room to explore photography studio. I had been messing around
and do some interesting things. I do the odd book with Photoshop obsessively on my own until
cover as well, but not too many.” An illustrator who then, but it was my job at that studio that was
“wears many hats,” Lea is also a contributing instrumental to me finding my medium. I got
author, having written dozens of magazine articles very good at retouching and then eventually got
that discuss creative ways to use different software bored. I knew that Photoshop was an amazing
packages. Include his educational capacity and he tool, but I wasn’t doing anything creative with it.
becomes one eclectic character. However, this I was restless.”
multiplicity goes some way to explaining his
creative approach. Artistically assertive
(RIGHT):
Lea was artistically introduced to an evolving Since then, Lea has gone on to create a dynamic ARCHITECTURA image was an exercise in
s
digital climate, where exotic changes were being and successful portfolio of work that has graced “I’d like to say that thi it was quicker to simply
lity
symmetry, but in rea face is a
made and design attitudes were shifting. He the editorial world, producing bestselling titles then flip it over. The
create one side and mo del shot and around
gle
explains: “I studied Advertising and Graphic along the way, including Creative Photoshop: combination of a sin from
architectural details
Design in college, graduating in 1990. It was a Digital Illustration and Art Techniques. Not that 70 photographs of
historic buildings”
31
Advanced Photoshop

Inter
view
I HAVE A
NEED TO
CREATE. I
HAVE
‘CREATIVITY’
TATTOOED ON
MY SPINE IN
KANJI AS A
CONSTANT
REMINDER OF
WHAT IS
IMPORTANT
see an image that I like, generally I’ll visually
dissect the bits that I like and figure out a way to
do that with my own work in Photoshop. I can’t sit
still, there’s always something else I’m itching to
try.” However, be it two-dimensional or three-
dimensional work, Photoshop is one of the only
mainstays in his creative method. This isn’t
surprising, as the software is almost an extension
of Lea’s creative curiosity, providing him with all
the possibilities he needs. “I work with digital tools
alongside natural media at times. Photoshop really
does tend to be the cornerstone to everything I
do. It always ends up there for one reason or
another. I hadn’t found my medium as an artist
until I really sunk my teeth into Photoshop.” He
adds: “I still draw a lot, use 3D applications and
illustrate with vectors. But Photoshop is always the
comfortable ending to each project, and
sometimes it is the beginning, too. A faculty
A SECOND EARTH: “This is essentially a collage member at The Ontario College of Art and Design
of numerous 3D models and some illustrated
background elements. The atmosphere on the planet asked me recently how I became so masterful of
was created in Photoshop, as was the broken-up Photoshop. The answer is that I am masterful of
effect of the planet below” nothing really. Simply put, Photoshop is my thing.
I can relate to it in a way that I can relate to no
he’d ever let the thought of success settle in. “Oh cannot run away from it. It is not my choice; it’s other creative tool. I never had to work at it, it just
yes, I hate everything I do,” he explains. “I am never who I am. I have the word ‘creativity’ tattooed on made sense to me.”
satisfied with my own work and I think that my spine in kanji as a constant reminder of what is However, there are certain things that Lea
everyone else out there is infinitely more talented important. I had it done at a time when I was cannot understand nor abide. He feels passionate
than I am. Sounds negative, I know. But over the cranking out a lot of boring illustrations of globes about the certainty of traditional application as
years, I noticed a lot of my favourite artists saying and laptops and dollar signs just for the cash. I much as the spontaneity of its digital counterpart,
the same thing when I read about them. I now made a lot of money, but it had a lasting effect on seeing the two now as an inseparable whole. He
believe that this insecurity is an important me. The tattoo is there to remind me what art is all reveals: “It annoys me the way that some people
component in what it is that drives me creatively.” about, and that certainly isn’t money. Being feel the need to differentiate between tactile and
As if to stand still is to fade away, Lea is brutally creative, like getting tattooed, is for life.” digital art. This has bothered me to the point
honest in his creative convictions, as he reveals: “As Lea lives his life for experimentation: “If you where I have made it my personal mission to blur
an artistic person, I have a need to create and I check out my website, you’ll see what I mean. If I the boundaries between the two. This is a primary
32
Advanced Photoshop

Derek Lea
objective of the books and magazine articles I Birth of an Idea (above): “Inspired by the
write. I always tell my students that what is work of Seldon Hunt, I really wanted to try my hand at
using historical ink drawings as a resource. However, I
important is the content and execution, not the couldn’t sit still at the end of it all and had to create
tools. Digital artists have had to take too much flak some interesting shape layer objects to finish the
composition off”
for too many years for being digital, like it is not a
noble medium. I am passionate about art, and
there are a lot of good artists out there who
constantly blow my mind, digital or not. Check Premonition (top right): “This is one of the
out Jeff Soto, Stephen Kasner, Seldon Hunt, Chet first personal pieces I have created for many years. It was
lots of fun to work with ancient drawings, watercolour
Zar, Alex Grey, Sam Weber and, of course, the paintings and vector-based objects”
almighty Dave McKean. I have no time for trendy
bandwagon artists or whatever design studio is
hot at the moment.”
Nanotechnology (RIGHT): “This was a fun
Time for a change one. My idea of what a nanotech robot might look like
inside the system. All of the 3D textures were custom-
You may think that Lea’s flippant remarks are born made as an exhaustive series of image and texture
out of years of creaming at the top of the maps in Photoshop”
33
Advanced Photoshop

Inter
view
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cartharsis:
“This is the image that started it all for
me. I can barely stand to look at it any
more. However, it was a landmark
achievement for me at the time, and I
think it still holds up after ten years”
34
Advanced Photoshop

Derek Lea
NEUTRINOS: “This was a two-page spread

illustration for New Scientist. It was lots of fun creating
the endlessly flowing neutrinos. This image has
everything: art created solely in Photoshop, 3D models,
wire-mesh renderings, scans of ancient Copernican
sketches, you name it”
commercial ladder, however, this just isn’t true. INTERVIEW (RIGHT): “The figures are Poser models,
This is just the way Lea is. Honest, forthright, a however, I never like the look of 3D clothing, so I
photographed human models under the same lighting
creative man on a mission, he recalls how in 1996 conditions and blended the different elements together
he entered an annual digital art contest to in Photoshop”
illustrate a magazine cover he disagreed with. An
entry again born out of frustration, at this time in his present stance. He explains: “I am at a stage
with his daily retouching work, he reveals: “I won in my career where it is time for a change. I really
second prize. The editor rang me up and said that like writing and exploring new techniques that
many people thought my work was the best but combine digital and tactile tools, so I’ll continue to
because it had a skull in the image, they weren’t write and do that. However, I am extremely bored
comfortable with it being the winner. Fine. with the 3D style and photographic illustration
Whatever. Not winning the prize was fine with me, that I have been doing since 1998 and have
because the commissioning editor started hiring decided to simply stop. Don’t get me wrong, it is
me to do the weekly front-page illustration.” lucrative, but at the end of the day I’m just an
The exposure was great for Lea, yet he still had artist, and when I create work that bores me I
a point to prove. “The following year, I entered the become miserable. I don’t care who you are, if
same digital art contest and said ‘Sod it. If they you’re selling your talent for money and getting
don’t like skulls, then watch this.’ I created an no satisfaction out of it, you’re a whore. I’m tired of
image of a man peeling out of his skin. The idea feeling like a whore and am no longer going to
was to show rebirth through art. It was ominous market myself as an illustrator per se until I do a bit
and I expected no one to notice. However, to my of reinvention.”
surprise I got a phone call from the editor telling Lea now finds himself at a crossroads, which
me that I had won the contest and $28,000 most would find challenging. However, he
worth of equipment. That allowed me to establish welcomes it with open arms. “I can’t wait to get
a studio in my home, quit my day job and out of my comfort zone. My comfort zone has digital art and illustration tool as well as studying a
illustrate full time. Many more and many bigger become dreadfully boring. Sure, it is safe and degree in Fine Art at a local university. He explains:
clients began to call, and that has been going on lucrative, but I am desperate for something new, “I think an entirely tactile medium will force me to
for ten years now. That same image won really new.” So much so that he’s open to the break away from familiarity, safety and my comfort
numerous awards.” possibility of a life outside of the design arena. zone. It will be very interesting to see what comes
A poignant composition indeed and one that Presently, Lea is venturing into busily finishing up of this. I have no idea how long it will take, but I’ll
fundamentally symbolises Lea’s creative attitude the second edition of his recent book, Creative resurface with a vengeance when I’m satisfied.”
throughout his own creative history, culminating Photoshop, discusses how to use Photoshop as a We’ll take that as a promise.
35
Advanced Photoshop

MASTERCLASS
36
Advanced Photoshop
036-040_AVP_52_BlackWhiteMC.indd36 36 9/12/08 12:12:42

Monochrome masterpiece
Use photomanipulation and lighting effects to create a ON THE DISC
dynamic artwork in black and white On the CD you will find the links to the
stock images that we used – some are
B
iStock, some are free from sxc.hu. We have
also provided a paint effect and some
lack-and-white images are in a different class from colour graphics. They have a timeless quality that can alternative images that you can use in
make certain artwork really stand out, which sometimes colour artwork simply cannot match. The main place of the stock images.
difference between greyscale and colour images is not the lack of colour, but the difference in contrasts. A Pete Harrison
OUR EXPERT
greyscale image consists of black, white and greys that form a range that’s dark to light – the luminosity or brightness Aeiko is the online creative identity of UK designer Pete
level are the terms of contrast. Colour images do have a luminosity contrast, but they also have two other types of Harrison. After graduating from university, he quickly became
contrast – saturation and hue – so it is more difficult to create a rich image. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use one of the UK’s top up-and-coming designers. Since then, he
has worked in agencies in London and freelanced in mainly
photomanipulation when working in black and white. We will create a dynamic scene that does not look flat. Also, you graphic design, typography and web design for a variety of
will learn to create some interesting light effects that you can use to add to your images. Cutting out and isolating high-profile clients. He currently resides in South Devon,
designing and developing his clothing labels Funkrush (www.
elements, blending and merging them into a scene is important, and you will learn to do this, too. Photoshop is the
funkrush.com) and SuperCombo (www.supercombo.co.uk).
best program to do this as the tools it provides allow you to do photomanipulation and the lighting effectively.
1 Let’s begin
Download the landscape image from iStock, or
use ‘Stellenbosch landscape.jpg’ from the CD. Click on
2 Use the Pen tool
Download the statue image from iStock and cut it
out with the Pen tool. Right-click on the path, click Make Channel
‘Create a new fill or adjustment layer’ in the Layers palette
and select Hue/Saturation. Drag the Saturation slider to -
Selection and set the Feather Radius to 0. Click on the
background layer and copy (Cmd/Ctrl+C) and paste into mixing
100 and click OK. the main canvas, then size correctly.
The Channel Mixer is the most effective way
to turn images and resources into greyscale
from RGB. It allows you to mix the channels to
provide the optimum luminosity and
contrast. You can do it in an adjustment layer
on top of the resource, or alter it directly by
going to Image>Adjustments>Channel
Mixer. Play with the sliders to see how it
works and don’t forget to click the
Monochrome option – it does depend on the
subject matter, though! As you are working
with it, keep an eye on the original to make
sure you are altering it effectively.
3 Matching the lighting and contrast

Each element we add into the composition will
have different lighting and contrast, so we need to
4 Blending in the statue
We need to blend it into the main image now, so
select a soft, round brush as the Eraser tool and set Flow
match them together. This is easier in mono than colour. to 10%. Erase parts of the edges of the statue to blend it
On the statue layer, click Cmd/Ctrl+U and make the in subtly into the grass, and clean up any areas of the
Contrast = 10 and Brightness = 5, then click OK. cutout with the Pen tool you may have missed, eg, the
darker areas around the statue’s body.
“THE CHANNEL
MIXER IS AN
EFFECTIVE WAY
TO TURN IMAGES
INTO GREYSCALE
FROM RGB”
37
Advanced Photoshop

MASTERCLASS
5 Add some grass into the foreground
Find an image of grass (there are as couple on the
disc) and go to Select>Color Range. Click on the green
6 Add some
more assets
Download the stag,
and make the Fuzziness 100, then copy and paste into eagle and model
the main canvas. Lower the Brightness to match the rest images (see the links
of the foreground and apply a Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur> on the disc). Place
Gaussian Blur) with a Radius of two pixels. Place into the them into the
canvas in the foreground, then duplicate the layer and composition and
scale it to make smaller versions in the foreground. remember to alter the
Brightness and
Contrast levels to help
the photos blend into
the scene. Using
Curves (Cmd/Ctrl+M)
is good for altering
the luminosity and
making the new
layers blend with the
right lighting.
7 Add some background elements

Import the castle and church photos (see the links)
and repeat Step 2 again. They are in the distance so it
8 Add some vignette
Add a photo of planets into the image, set the
blending mode to Screen and place into position. Select Creating
might be a good idea to lower the contrast and apply a
Gaussian Blur at one pixel. Erase some areas with a soft
the Gradient tool with Black>Transparent Gradient. Drag
from each corner into a small part of the canvas to give it depth
brush at 8% Flow to blend them into the main photo. more depth. Also, make a new layer and drag from the
top to about a third of the way down, and set the We can use different shades of grey to create
blending mode to Overlay. depth. In this tutorial, there are several cases
of this, as you can see with the birds. If you
lower the opacity or create a light shade of
grey, they look like they are further away.
You can also scale them smaller to enhance
this perspective.
Another idea could be to blur the objects
or background to give the foreground
elements more focus, or the other way round,
blurring elements in the foreground to focus
on the background graphics.
9 Add some
abstraction
Import ‘paint splash.jpg’ into
10 Adding some lighting
Let’s add some lighting to the scene. Go to
your Brushes panel and choose a soft, round brush,
Photoshop. Go to making the size about half of the canvas. Choose white
Select>Color Range and click as the colour and click on the canvas. Use Cmd/Ctrl+T to
on the black, with Fuzziness scale it smaller and arrange on the scene.
set at 140. Click OK, then hit
Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I to inverse
the selection and copy this
selection into your main
canvas. Arrange this
somewhere in the
composition, duplicating the
layer if you want, too.
“BLUR THE BACKGROUND OR

OBJECTS TO GIVE THE FOREGROUND
ELEMENTS MORE FOCUS”
38
Advanced Photoshop

11 Let there be light
Repeat Step 10 and use Opt/Alt-drag to
duplicate the white light layer. Make some smaller and
12 Adding some more magic
Select the white colour again and create a
new layer at the top of the layers. Open the Brush
13 Make some bursts
Repeat the previous step, but this time collect
a few of these layers together and merge them with
find good places to arrange these around the canvas, window and change the Spacing to 100%. Click on Cmd/Ctrl+E. Go to Edit>Transform>Perspective to focus
perhaps on areas that already had white, or the edges of Shape Dynamics and make the Size Jitter 80%. Under the light spots on one point. Place this into the canvas to
things. It might be an idea to put these in a layer folder. Scattering, make that 440%. Start brushing areas on the give it perspective and repeat if you want.
canvas, alternating the brush diameter. Give some layers
Outer Glows and use the [ and ] keys to alter the softness
of the brush.
14 Blur and blend

Blur some of the merged layers and put some “Vary the
in front of the grass. Make some smaller and place over
areas of the background, for example, in front of the
15 Add some more atmosphere brush diameter
castle and mountains to look like mist, and blend some
of the old assets into the scene better.
Download the smoke image and place into
the canvas. Set the blending mode to Lighten and on some of the
arrange into a nice position. Do this a few times. Go to
Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Use a soft, black brush set strokes, making
to around 20% Flow to mask certain areas of the smoke
to make it fit into the composition. them look like
they are in
perspective, as
if coming from
the mountains”
16 Add more light effects
Use a combination of the Line tool and Brush
tool to make some straight lines. Do each one in a
17 Lighting on paths
Now we are going to start creating some
paths, so grab the Pen tool and start drawing a smooth
18 Repeat and perspective
Repeat Step 12 with new path layers. Erase
parts of the lines so they look like they are fading out in
different layer. Blur some of these using Motion Blur and curve around the model. Click the ‘Add a new layer’ places. Add some Outer Glows in the Layer Styles menu,
Gaussian Blur, then merge some of the layers. Duplicate a button, then open up the Brushes menu, change the using the same colour palette you picked. Also, vary the
merged layer and rotate (Cmd/Ctrl+T) so it crosses the Spacing to around 10% and drop the diameter down brush diameter on some of the strokes, making them
original. Change the opacity of some of the layers and to create a thin line. Click on the Paths tab and then on look like they are in perspective, as if coming from the
maybe erase some parts, too. the work path layer you just created, click the Stroke mountains into the foreground.
Path button.
39
Advanced Photoshop

MASTERCLASS
19 Add interesting things in the sky
To add a bit more interest to the picture, find
some pictures of birds online. It doesn’t matter if they are
20 Repeat with more birds
Repeat the previous step, but with other birds
in different positions. Lower the opacity of some and Printing in
stock or not because we will be tracing them. Open one
in Photoshop and trace around it with the Pen tool. Close
make them smaller in the distance to create some depth.
Perhaps group some together to form small flocks. black and white
the path and use black as a colour fill. Drag this layer into
the scene and then use Transform (Cmd/Ctrl+T) to scale It is probably more effective to keep your
it smaller. files in CMYK or RGB instead of converting to
greyscale or printing in greyscale, as it will
get better results this way. This is because
only the black in the printer is triggered if you
print greyscale, and you will only get 256
different tones. If you print it in RGB, all of the
different tones will print and you will find
that it is richer. If you are sending it off to a
printer, make sure you attach the Gamma 2.2
profile if you are saving as greyscale and the
sRGB in colour.
21 Adding some sparkle

With the soft brush we have been using, set
the Spacing to 14%, hold Shift on a new layer and drag
22 Adding more sky assets
Open ‘red arrows.jpg’ from the disc into
Photoshop. Duplicate the background layer and delete
the brush down to create a straight line. Apply a the original. Use a soft, round brush to erase around the
Gaussian Blur by 50px, and use the Eraser tool to erase jets. You can then drag this into your scene and place
some of the ends of the line. Click Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+T and where you see fit. We placed it on the left so the jet
rotate by 45 degrees. Opt/Alt-click the layer and Flip stream bleeds off the scene.
Horizontal to make an X shape with the lines. Merge the
two selected layers (Cmd/Ctrl+E) and use the Transform
command to make it smaller. Place this shape on the
canvas near a light burst, and with Opt/Alt-drag,
transform a few smaller ones, placing these around the
composition, too.
23 Adding more elements and details

We have added a few more things to the
scene using the techniques described in this tutorial. We
24 Finishing touches
Okay, now step back and look at the scene.
This is the time to add any finishing touches. We moved
have included hot-air balloons, a few doves and some some assets around into better positions and added
graffiti on the statue. Try and add more little things and some smaller lighting effects over the top of the new
give the scene some more detail, things that the viewer assets we added.
would only see once they look deeper into the image.
25 Luminosity and saving

Our image is finished, but now we need to fix
the contrast and luminosity to refine a few of the tones.
Click on Add a new adjustment layer (in the Layers
toolbar) and then Channel Mixer. Select Monochrome
and nudge the sliders to bring out some more contrast
in each colour, then click OK.
“ADD LITTLE THINGS TO GIVE THE

SCENE MORE DETAIL, THINGS THAT
THE VIEWER WOULD ONLY SEE ONCE
THEY LOOK DEEPER INTO THE IMAGE”
40
Advanced Photoshop

Feature
MASTER
GRAPHICA L
Som
ART
etim es less
up with seeming
rea
ly simple elemen
ts
take a look at graphical art built
lly is more, as we to create eye-catching designs
42
Advanced Photoshop
042-048_AVP_52_Feature.indd 42 9/12/08 12:27:54

Master graphical art
A
s all us creative types are aware, art can be an colour. The aesthetic appeal of each composition
extremely subjective topic, causing debate comes down to the skill of the artist who created it.
among artists. Despite an artist’s own opinions Within and on the fringes of the commercial sector,
about a particular style, there are certain rules that are there are a number of international artists carrying
always adhered to when creating striking artwork, out such a stylish, minimal approach. A creative blend
such as composition, complementary colour palettes of graphic approach and digital application, fleshed
and use of space. But there is one factor within the out with significant photographic, illustrative and
art world that still seems to confound some artists, video elements, this artwork has promoted an all-
and this is that busy design is not necessarily together fresh style, which is becoming more and
better design. more in demand in industries such as music and
What we mean by this is that regardless of whether advertising. From the latest launch of MTV and E4
it takes you an hour or a week or even a month, television ad campaigns to the distinct album artwork
attractive design to a professional standard can be from musician Beck, including The Information, Sea
obtained with a bit of know-how. Just because you Change and Guero, this style is beginning to sell.
have used a mass of layers, applied complex digital But why is such a minimalist style so prevalent?
painting and retouching techniques and an What does it lend to its commercial uprising, and how
abundance of Filter effects, it doesn’t mean that this can you discover its secrets and replicate it? This is
particular design is better equipped to charm than a exactly what we asked a group of international artists
deliberate juxtaposition of simplified shapes and operating within the boundaries of this style.
“COLOUR CAN BECOME MORE AND

MORE POWERFUL THE SIMPLER THE
DESIGN BECOMES”
A lot of artists will tell you that this simplistic style just “fundamentals” that Carl speaks of? Space, colour and
works for them. However, ‘simplistic style’ refers more shape seem to be the most obvious.
to the end product than to how difficult the
production was. If you were to say to them that
minimal design elements limit the opportunity for Implications of space
expression, then they would respond very much like In no other artwork is the use of space so essential
Nazario Graziano, international freelance graphic when creating dynamic visuals, with the absence of
designer. He argues: “Sometimes even a single shape in fact helping mould the composition.
element in a blank page, if well placed and well Confusing? Perhaps not, as international freelance
balanced, can have a great visual impact and can be designer Julien Vallée explains with good authority,
very communicative. I must stress that the word having produced eclectic installation and digital
‘minimal’ does not mean hasty or easy.” works for clients such as MTV One and The New York
Eric Carl, Hollywood-based freelance and Times Magazine. “Negative spaces can be used to
professional artist, concurs: “If anything, working with create an interaction between two elements and to
less forces you to be more creative. You have to be really settle down the environment where these
because the fewer elements you have, the more shapes exist,” reveals Vallée. “I think that it is all a
important they become. Working with less is also a matter of composition and that if the negative spaces
great exercise for mastering the fundamentals. I are not well used, it really affects the quality.”
believe an easier-to-comprehend design is a more What Vallée means here is echoed by Carl when he
effectively expressive design.” So what are these says: “Both negative and positive space are
TANGIBLE
(LEFT): Cover art
for Tangible book
by Julien Vallée
© GESTALTEN
2009
MTV ONE
(FAR LEFT AND
MAIN): Artwork
for MTV One
© JULIEN
VALLÉE
43
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042-048_AVP_52_Feature.indd 43 9/12/08 15:04:33

Feature
BUILDING SIMPLE GRAPHICS Eric Carl demonstrates the effective use of space in an image
1. “Each piece starts with a rough idea and is 2. “Here, I’ve moved to flesh out the visual 3. “In the final images, I’ve fully fleshed out the
then mocked up in Photoshop. This image was elements.” As you can see, Carl has grouped his design and refined my visual values. Much care
sparked when I came across an old Goodyear ad image elements into large light and dark areas. was taken with the typography and its extremely
in a magazine, which displayed two beautifully This creates contrast and thus visual interest tight kerning. Because the top of the graphic is
illustrated motorcycle tyres.” Carl then imagined within the composition. He does so likewise by so heavy, I made sure to carefully size the lower
these being used in formation to represent a sci- applying layer masks, painting away to create proportions accordingly to produce balance.”
fi skull mask motif. The symmetry of these organic edges. “I’ve made the tyres significantly The use of spherical and triangular shapes is
shapes are used to ground his design and as a larger,” as they are the anchor of the image that essential here in producing visual interest and a
focal point to build out from. “I added an other elements correspond to. The tyres may line of sight. The triangle prompts you to lead up
ambiguous headline to create narrative. I seem symmetrical through the ratio of rescaling, from the text, providing the image with a
decided to keep the concept apprehension but display visual nuances that create harmony pinnacle. The sphere essentially contains and
through its bleak nature.” and interest all at once. confines your focus.
equally important, as they are directly related to each Endorsing this opinion, that negative space is used
other.” Vallée adds further insight, saying, “I would in tandem with complex visual elements to create
define empty space as a place where you can breed in dynamic graphics and interest, is Vallée, as he says: “I
between the filled space”, meaning that empty space think that’s what makes a strong minimalist image,
is essential so your eyes can take a break in-between when you can understand the message with a simple
the different elements in the composition. In turn, this composition and still enjoy small details by looking
lends clarity and visual power to all design elements. closely at it.”
Mario Hugo, international freelancer and art
director, paints a bigger picture: “I think negative
space can be very tense and dramatic. It can make or Emotive colour
break a piece. If you take, for example, a single small Eric Carl agrees with this attitude when adding: “While
illustration and place it on a huge spread of negative I wouldn’t consider a lot of my work minimalist, it’s
space, your eye will take to the single existing because I pay attention to creating a pleasing
illustration. If you place two drawings a proper composition that it can appear minimal. For example,
distance from one another, the space in-between is while some of my work may have a large amount of
WORSHIP charged; the focus is on the correlation and distance different elements in use, I condense them into whole
POSTER: “If used to as opposed to the drawing alone.” elements that are easier to digest. At a glance, the
communicate
So it seems that modern-day artists are utilising the viewer easily comprehends the image as a whole, but
ineffectively, or used
in an unrestrained emptiness that space creates to exaggerate the visual with closer inspection they begin to see how large
manner resulting in quality of their works and to accommodate a masses break down into more detailed parts.” This is
simply a horrendous heightened aesthetic impact. Basically, this absence very much the case in his body of artwork, including
colour palette, means that artists are taking maximum advantage to White Shrine and Worship (left) .
colour would
certainly have a produce more complex and substantial design Colour is also mentioned as a considerable
negative effect” elements, ones that are far more fleshed out than contributing factor when taking into account the
© ERIC CARL those previously. delivery of individual elements and a composition
44
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042-048_AVP_52_Feature.indd 44 9/12/08 12:29:22

DESIGN EMPHASIS:
“Unfortunately, there are some
examples in our graphical
world of designers that
overplay their role in terms of
their communicative task. The
client is often forgotten and the
designer will put emphasise on
design and aesthetics rather
than message and strategy”
© OH YEAH STUDIO
VARIOUS WORKS BY THE OH

YEAH STUDIO: “The negative
space is very important in making
a picture. Space can emphasise
objects and elements, and it leads
the eye to the most important
elements in the image”
© OH YEAH STUDIO
45
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042-048_AVP_52_Feature.indd 45 9/12/08 12:29:57

Feature
ALL IS FULL: “A lot of good minimal
design does not use colour and this is
in spite of a strong visual impact. As I
say this, I’m thinking of work by Peter
Saville, such as the cover of Unknown
Pleasures by Joy Division”
© NAZARIO GRAZIANO
99 CENT DREAMS (BELOW): “When you

finish the project, just lay back, try to imagine
seeing it for the first time and see if the
desired message is well transmitted or not”
© JULIEN VALLÉE
CYCLE (RIGHT): “Usually, I try to

balance everything, starting from the
centre, the first elements and the
background. As it develops, I add all the
other elements”
© NAZARIO GRAZIANO
46
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042-048_AVP_52_Feature.indd 46 9/12/08 12:30:30

as a whole. As this style is presented through a
focused approach, the inclusion of colour, or in some
instances its absence, can be essential to the
GRAPHICAL ART DECONSTRUCTED Image breakdown
character of your design, and thus its commercial
success and general appeal. 2. The use of horizontal and diagonal lines are
Graziano explains: “I do not think that colour there not only to create visual dynamics,
should necessarily become the primary aesthetic contrasting with the circular shapes, but also to
element. Much of minimalist design often uses cold draw a line of sight into the main body of visual
tones or grey scales. If you decide to use colours, the elements that are the focal point of this image.
important thing is to always do so accurately and
above all in line with the project to which you are
working.” Graziano applies a mix of cool and warm
colours in his composition to obtain a contemporary
nostalgia of sorts. This retro style appeals to his 1. The difference in scale between
clientele. However, perhaps the use of colour can be visual elements allows not only viewers
broken down even further within this contemporary to establish the most important image
style, applicable in a surprisingly traditional sense. elements, but it also creates visual
What’s become apparent is that this style needs to diversity and thus appeal.
create an immediate visual interest, but likewise it
needs to connect instantly with the intended
audience. Here, colour can essentially help do this,
engaging on a basic emotive level. Our previous
explanation of cool and warm colours is described in
“WHEN WORKING
WITH A DESIGN
THAT LACKS
COLOUR, ADDING
A VERY SMALL 3. The colour scheme throughout this
AMOUNT CAN composition creates a sense of unity as
all are saturated, but it also presents a
CAUSE THAT nostalgic atmosphere, coinciding with

retro photos used. 4. The neutral, cool grey
COLOUR TO background colour allows the visual
elements to ‘breath’ through its own
BECOME barren nature. The use of a gradient

serves to encompass the visual
IMMENSELY elements, drawing in the viewer.
POWERFUL”
terms of temperature. A former theory implies that primary vessel to send a message, yes, it can certainly because the colour has to be in a certain harmony
such colours can be used to engage an emotional become the primary aesthetic. When working with a with the elements in the picture. If there aren’t any
response, with cooler colours, such as blue and green, design that lacks colour, adding a very small amount elements in the image, the colour still has to have a
being calming, and reds and yellows stimulating. can cause that colour to become immensely shape to be visible.” Mario Hugo also muses with
This attitude may seem all a bit formal, if not overly powerful. If you only include one or two solid colours certain significance: “I confess I don’t understand
psychological, but it seems more significant within against what is otherwise a black-and-white image, colour very well. I’m actually quite colour-blind, hence
this style than others when taking factors into the lack of competing colours can help the few on the aversion. I think in structure and tone. Colour is a
account. Vallée explains: “I think there are some display really have impact.” mood for me and rarely a device.”
colours that propose more or less instantly some Here, Hugo presents us with another
preformatted feeling or unconscious reaction. I think “fundamental”. The matter of structure is certainly
that choosing a good colour palette is as important as Arranging your elements worth addressing. How do these artists approach the
being able to create a good composition. The absence However, this ‘fundamental’ seems subjective, as structure of their layout and likewise their visual
of colour can also be positive.” Christina Magnussen, one half of the Oh Yeah Studio elements? Of course, we have entertained the idea
Carl agrees, saying: “Colour can become more and freelance graphics team, adds: “In all images, the that space is as essential as colour, but specifically,
more powerful the simpler the design becomes. shapes and colours will be equally important. I how do all visual elements coincide to present their
When it’s decided that colour is to be used as the believe that colours can’t be the primary aesthetic intended effect? We thought the answers to this
47
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042-048_AVP_52_Feature.indd 47 9/12/08 12:30:59

Feature
FLAUNT: “I think creatives ought to respond to

briefs appropriately. We’re entrusted with
solving problems, not complicating them. This DYMPHNA: “I
th
isn’t to say simplicity is always better. Some largely universa ink shapes and primitives are
l. We should all
solutions require complexity” understand
© MARIO HUGO language within their
design”
© MARIO HUGO
question would be far more deliberate. However, we was at risk of seeming very flat, but triangles that that commercial sectors are mostly following the
were left quite surprised with our artists’ responses. serve as foreground, background and holes or trend that designers and artists create. They prefer to
The similarities between this approach and openings where humanist references are escaping, look at underground scenes moving for a while, and
graphics are there. However, more and more it seems create the illusion of some depth in the composition.” when there’s a clearly new trend, they want the same
that this style is far more interested in expression and This image demonstrates exactly how structured thing.” While Oh Yeah Studios believes: “It’s as simple
invention than deliberation and delineation, as Vallée as time changing, and so do stylistic expressions. It’s a
“I BELIEVE AN
explains: “At some point, I think that changing the natural evolution in art and design.”
way I work for each project helps me try new things, Both opinions, of course, hold weight here.
recycle myself and prevents being stuck in a sphere of
comfort. Getting rid of habits and being unstable EASIER-TO- However, considering this is a style that delivers
extremely digestible visual values, with a strong sense
helps to shape creativity. If everything is planned
from the beginning to the end, then it is only COMPREHEND of expression and many compositional possibilities,
this may also help explain its commercial appeal. It’s
production.” What Vallée describes here is a creative
chaos of sorts. Perhaps one accommodated by DESIGN IS A MORE not an approach restricted by archetypes like so many
others, as works amalgamate shape, image and colour
modern digital software.
You’d think after comprehending all other factors EFFECTIVELY and yet let them still obtain their own identities, all in
a single composition. Surely it is this that makes this
that there would be more habit to the structure of
these designs. That’s not to say that it is completely EXPRESSIVE style such an ideal vessel to sell a brand’s message to
the masses?
absent, but from what we can gather it seems far
more liberal than first thought, and digital software DESIGN” All the above are valid opinions and tell us much
about this existing and excelling style. But one thing
such as Photoshop may be accountable. With the that all our artists agree on is that less can certainly be
ability to edit and transform time and again in a visual elements should work together, in this instance more. “Even the most basic of elements can interact
nondestructive way, perhaps the need for creating diverse and expressive perspective and emotionally. They complement, create harmony,
deliberation has been replaced by creative added visual appeal through the placement of the battle, engulf and overwhelm each other. So space is
opportunity and therefore this style has transformed individual elements as well as them all as a whole. incredibly important and one of the most powerful
artistic arrangement into something far more tools in a composition,” comments Eric Carl, as he
instinctive than distinctive. leaves us with these wise words: “What’s unfortunate
However, subjectivity raises its head again here Viability of your visuals is that many people who are in decision-making
when Hugo explains: “’I make a lot of deliberate So taking into consideration all that has been positions and not entirely in tune with the nuances of
choices about the nature of objects in my design. Are revealed, understanding the application of this style, effective design easily mistake more design for more
objects touching? Crossing? Contained? The cover for are we any closer to understanding its commercial success, and it simply isn’t the case. The best you can
Flaunt (above) has a very rigid structure and the piece pull? What do our artists think? Vallée answers: “I think do is to know your stuff and try to educate them.”
48
Advanced Photoshop
042-048_AVP_52_Feature.indd 48 9/12/08 12:31:33

MASTERCLASS
50
Advanced Photoshop
050-054_AVP_52_2D/3DMC.indd 50 9/12/08 12:36:49

Create depth in
your illustrations
Learn how to create the illusion of depth in a 2D image ON THE DISC
with highlights and shadows You’ll find the lines for this tutorial on the
CD and, as always, we’ve thrown in some
custom brushes for you, because we’re just
B
that nice!
eing shallow isn’t always a bad thing (it beats being pretentious!), but with your images a little depth David and Sarah Cousens aka
OUR EXPERTS Cool Surface
can go a long way. We’re going for a different feel with this tutorial; as opposed to giving you every last
technical detail, we’re going to tell you exactly why we’re doing something. You’re all intelligent, attractive, David and Sarah run Cool Surface from the Southwest of
England. They are currently illustrating a series of books for
charismatic people (probably!) who already know you press G to select the Gradient tool, but not all of you will know Macmillan Publishing and producing work for a BBC TV series
how to get the most out of your composition. We’re going to show you how to use a few design rules that apply to all out next year. Visit www.coolsurface.com for more.
images – not just character illustrations – to help make your 2D illustrations look more 3D.
We’ve coloured each element on a separate layer (eg, skin, hair, etc) and have used clipping masks attached to each
layer for the shading to make it nice and simple (just tick the box when making a new layer). To colour the lines, you’ll
need to use Mack’s Remove White filter (www.photoshop-filters.com/html/macks.htm). When you’re done with this
tutorial, feel free to post your results on the AP forums and we’ll stop by to see how you did and offer feedback.
Compose 1 A warm front

First, lay down the flat colours for each section of
yourself the image on their respective layers. To help add depth

in a colour scheme, use warm colours (eg, reds,
oranges, yellows) because they advance to the front of
Without good composition, even a superbly the image, whereas cool colours (eg, blues, violets,
rendered image will lose impact. The main purples) always appear to recede.
focal point here is the face. Eye contact is
normally the first thing people are drawn to,
but your composition should help lead people
to your focal points. Any element that’s
leading away from your focal point should be
2 Contrasting views
To take advantage of this, we’ve chosen dark blue
for the background and an orange hue for the
3 Environmental concerns
Start to add some flat shading, but don’t just
select a darker version of the base colour. Take into
either altered or removed. In early screenshots,
character’s skin. This really brings her to the forefront of account the environmental factors, such as the time of
the girl’s scarf leads off the page, taking the
viewer’s attention with it. We quickly fixed this the image. Blue and orange are complementary colours day and light sources. Shadows appear bluer at night,
by changing the scarf. Control the viewer’s eye so they contrast very well. Your eye always goes to the so increase the amount of blue in your colour selection
by using objects to point them in the right place of the greatest contrast, so this should be the (eg, pick a red/maroon for the skin, not a dark orange; it
direction. Everything in the image leads back focus of your image. appears almost purple against the orange).
to the woman, from the gaze of the skulls (can
skulls gaze without eyes?) and the rat to the
railings that are quite literally arrows pointing
up towards her.
51
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050-054_AVP_52_2D/3DMC.indd 51 9/12/08 12:37:11

MASTERCLASS
4 Less contrast = further away
When shading the elements in the background, 5 It’s darker in the (con)cave…
Use the Spot Gradient tool at 25% to add more
make the contrast between the base colour and the subtle colour variations. Think of everything in the
Get a good look with
shadow colour less extreme. The human eye can detect
contrast more easily on objects that are closest, while it
image in 3D and add lighter gradients to convex
shapes, such as her elbow, shoulder and forehead. reference materials
becomes less noticeable the further away the item Similarly, use darker Spot Gradients on the more
appears. Applying this theory makes the background concave areas, such as her armpit and her eye sockets. People often get squeamish about using
seem further in the distance. references for the fear of copyright
infringement, but they often forget that there
is reference all around them. It’s always best to
ask someone to pose for you or use a mirror
because there are so many subtle things that
you won’t get from a photograph. However,
that’s not to knock photography, as there are
numerous great resources online offering
royalty-free imagery for free. Try Posemaniacs
(www.posemaniacs.com) for interactive Flash
models. Photographer Marcus Ranum
generously offers royalty-free stock
photography at http://mjranum-stock.
deviantart.com/gallery/; just beware that
there are lots of naked people in his photos
(although we’re quick to point out none of it is
pornographic!), but as long as you’re not easily
offended, it’s a brilliant resource.
6 Small gradients
Also, add some faint red gradients to the nose,
cheeks and fingers as there is increased blood flow in
7 Lock your layers
Black lines very rarely occur in nature, so use an
old animation trick and colour your lines by locking the
8 Rim lighting
In any natural environment, there are always
multiple light sources. Light emanating from behind an
these areas, especially in the cold. Add some faint Transparency of the lines layer (click the chessboard object creates an outline effect (known as rim lighting).
yellow gradients in the snow and slightly heavier ones icon in the Layers palette). Use colours darker than your When rim lighting is combined with a primary light
on the small pillar to show the light emanating from shading, eg, a red colour would have a dark red outline. source, it helps the human eye understand the relative
the candle. space and 3D shape of an object.
9 Candlelight
As the candle is behind our character, it would be
casting rim lighting on her, so we have coloured the
10 On reflection
Light reflects
differently off different textures,
lines a very light yellow for her skin and trousers. This so add finer details with that in
helps to establish the position of these two objects in mind. The T-shirt only requires
relation to each other. The lighting on the left of the simple shading as it is quite
pillar is a light purple, so its source would be moonlight uniform, whereas her eyes and
reflecting off the snow. lips have more variation and
require more detail. A little extra
time on the facial details will
add a great amount of impact.
Likewise, thin detailed strokes
on the hair suggest its mass,
volume and how it’s made up
of lots of separate strands.
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050-054_AVP_52_2D/3DMC.indd 52 9/12/08 15:05:59

11 Smoke rules
Although the smoke is stylised, it should still
obey some of the rules that natural smoke follows. Use a
13 Look to the stars
Open ‘big stars.jpg’ from the CD and drop it
above your Background layer. To duplicate the depth of
Gaussian Blur on the smoke lines to soften them, as hard field that the human eye experiences, where things in
edges read as solid surfaces while blurred edges have the distance become blurry and out of focus, set the
the opposite effect. layer Opacity to 25% and use the Gaussian Blur filter to
make the stars recede into the distance.
12 Light bloom effects

On a layer above the smoke itself, use a light
Spot Gradient to make a ‘light bloom’ effect. This is where
bright light naturally scatters into the surrounding area,
even over cast shadows. Then add some small dust
particles to the glowing smoke around the skull to show
where light is hitting individual particles.
14 More stars than the Oscars

If the stars were too sharp and bright, they
would start to look like part of the foreground and
15 Depth-of-field theme
Continuing on the depth-of-field theme, lasso
the tree and gravestones and blur them on the lines
16 Flame on!
Above the flame’s layer, use a Spot Gradient
again but this time with a pale yellow and the
shatter the illusion of distance. Create another layer layer as edges appear more blurred in the distance. To gradient’s mode set to Screen. Use this repeatedly until
above and use the Star brush (created by Mathias render the candle’s glow, use a Spot Gradient with a the centre of the flame is white. Remember not to drag
Verhasselt) to add another slightly brighter and sharper pale/low-saturated orange underneath the layer that you the gradient out too far, as candlelight doesn’t spread
layer of stars, then blur these as well to give more depth painted the flame on. very far. Afterwards, use a very small Airbrush to render
to the stars. a few particles in the glow.
18 Using refs
An important part of any illustration is
correctly depicting form. Upon closer scrutiny, we’ve
realised that the girl’s top isn’t rendered convincingly,
so we got our lovely assistant Sarah to pose so we
17
could see how the top should look. The shading was
Off the rails different than we’d expected. Don’t be afraid to get
Click Select>Color somebody to pose for you or use a reference to make
Range and click on the black sure your image looks right.
railings in front of the woman,
then set Fuzziness to 0. Use
the Lasso tool while holding
Opt/Alt to deselect any
unnecessary lines. While on
the lines layer, hit Cmd/Ctrl+X
to cut the railings and Cmd/
Ctrl+V to paste them into a
new layer. Add some orange
highlights with a soft
Airbrush, then apply a
Gaussian Blur of 5.2 pixels.
53
Advanced Photoshop
050-054_AVP_52_2D/3DMC.indd 53 9/12/08 12:37:56

MASTERCLASS
Quick
19 Make your own path
On a new layer, draw a purple path coming
down from the tree and apply a Gaussian Blur. Angle it
20 Add depth to the hills
Draw a darker hill in front of the existing hill,
using the same colour as the gravestones to help tie
tip towards the woman to help direct our eyes to her. Draw
another path, this time with light brown as this is a
them together on a single plane. Objects further away
are less saturated in colour, so use a purple Spot Gradient
warmer, redder colour and will therefore appear to be on a new layer beneath our new hill and drag it upwards
Primary image elements should have the
greatest contrast, while secondary elements closer. Use the Lasso tool to select this new path and from the base of the furthest hill, so that it appears closer
should have much less contrast. Frame your apply a slightly lighter Gaussian Blur. at the base and gradually recedes back.
images with objects in the foreground, leaving
the details low and blurred. Leave areas of
blank space so the viewer’s eyes can rest.
21 Custom brushwork
Use the ‘Dave C’s dotted soil texture’ brush
from the brush set on the CD to add some grain to the
snow. Use the brush to add some variation of pigment in
the girl’s skin. Pick a mixture of reds, browns and light
yellows to add moles and blemishes, remembering to
use more red in the areas where there would be more
22 23
blood flow, eg, the nose, cheeks and fingers.
Fine fur Render the rat!
Use the ‘DC fine fur’ brush to help render the Still using the fine fur brush that we loaded
small fibres on the scarf, giving the scarf a much more in the last step, render the rat’s fur, remembering to use
natural softer edge without losing detail. Use lighter local colours (although the rat’s fur is white, it looks
colours to indicate the more convex areas of the scarf. purple in the night-time). Using the ‘DC colouring
Also use this brush to modify the shadows cast on her opacity’ brush, add the rim light details and specular light
skin by the scarf. on his eye.
24 Let’s rock!
Select the skull (Cmd/Ctrl-click on its layer,
26
and lasso out any other areas on that layer) and paste in
any picture of a rock or concrete surface, setting the layer Final touches
mode to Overlay to give the skull a realistic texture. If the Add any small touches you feel necessary,
rock texture affects the colour of the skull too much, such as speaks of dirt on the girl’s T-shirt, snow on her
press Cmd/Ctrl+U and slide the Saturation bar to the left trousers, etc. Press Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+~ to make a
to desaturate it. selection of the image’s luminosity. Copy the selected
areas and paste onto a new layer above all other layers.
Set this layer to Soft Light at 64% Opacity and apply a
Gaussian Blur (about five pixels, but judge by eye) to
simulate light scattering.
25 Is someone washing their car?

Add some clouds with an Airbrush. Start with
a dark colour as a base for the clouds to outline their
shape, and then add lighter colours on top to add detail.
Try to make the clouds point toward the girl, and add a
Gaussian Blur to keep them looking soft.
54
Advanced Photoshop
050-054_AVP_52_2D/3DMC.indd 54 9/12/08 15:07:06

Step-by-step
Workshop
56
Advanced Photoshop
056-059_AVP_52_DisplaceWS.indd 56 9/12/08 12:39:19

USING PHOTOSHOP’S
DISPLACEMENT MAPS
Add texture effects to surfaces by using this ON THE DISC
The start image we used was from
powerful but often overlooked Photoshop filter iStock (see the link on the disc), but
you could use any model image.
Other stock images are free from
P
www.sxc.hu (again, the links are on
the disc). We’ve also supplied the
utting aside the recent innovations create a convincing soap bubble, the Displace displacement map we used, but
that allow Photoshop to deal with 3D filter in Photoshop will help you quickly and you can create your own.
objects, essentially the software is a convincingly create an imitation three- OUR EXPERT Sam Hampton-Smith
2D application. There is a sleight of hand or two dimensional composite. Using Displace
Sam is an illustrator and graphic designer from Scotland. He
that we can apply as Photoshop users to suggest doesn’t add or change the tones of your regularly writes for magazines, teaches students in higher
the third dimension: drop shadows, embosses artwork, so it’s only half the job in most cases, education and is available for freelance design and
illustration. Contact Sam via www.ohwrite.co.uk.
and glows, but none of these effects help but once you understand the possibilities
describe the surface texture of your artwork. then you will see new ways to enhance and
The Displace filter (found by following develop your images.
Filter>Distort>Displace) is a commonly As well as mapping artwork onto textured What is a
misunderstood but very powerful tool that
every Photoshop artist has at his or her
backgrounds, you can also use Displace to
help add realism to digital paintings, and in
displacement map?
disposal. Using this effect, you can quickly this tutorial we’re going to examine using the
wrap images around and across textured effect in just this way, in order to create a A displacement map is akin to a set of
surfaces. If you need to paste a poster onto a faked view of the sea’s surface in an contours. The brightness of the pixels in
brick wall, simulate a screenprint on a T-shirt or underwater composition. your map will push your artwork in
different directions. Maps support two
channels: one for the X axis and one for Y.
1 2
We’re using single channel maps here,
Open source image Extract or mask out
which is effectively like having two
Open your model image or download the background
identical channels. If you want to get
the same one as us from iStock (image number The model is currently situated on a very static more creative, understand that the first
‘6462699’). This image will work nicely for our background. You can deal with this in a number channel pushes pixels horizontally, the
final composition as the model already looks like of ways, for instance extracting the background, second vertically. Bright tones apply a
she might be underwater with her hair floating blurring and transforming it, or selectively negative displacement and dark tones
up in the water currents. Increase the canvas size masking it out. We opted for the latter for this apply positive displacement. Mid-grey has
to 200 x 280mm. tutorial, adding a soft layer mask around the no effect, black moves pixels down and
model to allow for a quick, smooth blend to a right and white pushes up and left. With a
new background. single channel map, black moves both
down and right, while white pushes up
and left.
3 Add new background

Now that our model is partially isolated,
we need a new background for her to sit within.
You can use any approach you like here. We
sampled colours from the original background
and created a gradient, then used the Clone
Stamp tool to add seabed details.
57
Advanced Photoshop

Step-by-step
Workshop
4 Create a surface layer
Create an empty layer. Choose two nice blues for your
foreground and background colours, then make a selection over the
5 Create texture
Choose File>New and create a blank
document that’s 1,000px squared. Fill with a
6 Add perspective
Repeat for the green channel, then choose
Edit>Transform>Perspective. Drag the top edge
top third of the image where you would like the water surface to be mid-grey tone, then choose Filter>Noise>Add out dramatically; ten times the width of the
and choose Filter>Render>Clouds. Add perspective using the Noise. Select the maximum amount possible, document is a good starting place. This will give
Transform tools so that the top edge appears to be closer than the Monochromatic and Gaussian. Add a four-pixel the impression that the texture is retreating into
bottom edge. Create another layer and repeat this exercise with a Gaussian Blur, then select the red channel and the background.
black-and-white cloud render. Set the top cloud’s layer to Overlay. choose Filter>Stylize>Emboss.
8 Use displacement map

Return to your main composition.
7
Make sure your top cloud’s layer is
Save the map targeted, then choose Filter>Distort>
Add a Curves adjustment layer and ramp Displace. The percentage amounts are an
up the contrast a bit, then choose a grey-to- indication of how much displacement will
transparent gradient and draw a gradient over occur. Choose values around 100 on the X
the bottom half of the texture so that the texture axis and 10 on the Y, selecting ‘Stretch to
melts into grey. Then save your file as fit’ and ‘Wrap edge pixels’ before clicking
‘displacement map.psd’. OK. Photoshop will then ask you for your
displacement map, so choose the file you
saved previously in Step 7. If necessary,
merge your surface layers and run the
displacement again.
10 Bring in a coral reef

Download the file ‘1106518’ and
place it into your image. Use the Eraser to
11 Add fish
Now download file ‘1107503’ and cut
out the background or use a Curves adjustment
remove the background from this layer, leaving to make the background black. Place multiple
only the coral in the bottom left corner. Use the copies of the fish in your work, locating each on a
Burn tool to darken the edges, and set the new layer set to a blending mode of Hard Light.
blending mode to Hard Light and the Opacity to Vary the size and opacity of each fish to create a
9
60% to complete the effect. small shoal in the bottom left of the image.
Add bubbles
Download ‘1014308’ from www.sxc.hu and
choose Image>Mode>Grayscale. Use the Levels
or Curves adjustments to make the background
black and the bubbles white. Merge this down,
then copy and paste the bubbles into your
image. Set to Screen and duplicate the layer
several times, altering the position and scale.
“PHOTOS OF TEXTURES CAN

BE EASILY MADE INTO GREAT
DISPLACEMENT MAPS”
58
Advanced Photoshop

12 Craft a reflection
Duplicate the model layer and 13 Add light beams
Create a new layer and fill it with a very pale yellow. Add a Creating displacement
transform it using Reflect, Perspective and Distort
to align it to the plane of the water surface. Run
layer mask and use a black-to-white Radial Gradient to create a soft
yellow ball that fills the canvas. Reduce the Opacity and set the
maps from photos
the Displace filter once again with the same blending mode to Screen. Draw wedge shapes onto the layer mask,
settings as before, then reduce the Opacity of the filled with black to leave small shafts of light.
Photos of textures, such as brick walls,
layer and change the blending mode to Screen.
sandstone, carpet or liquids, can be
made into great displacement maps
relatively easily. Download image
‘1004012’ from www.sxc.hu and open
the Channels panel. Browse the
channels and select one with a nice
range of tones and contrast; we’d
suggest blue works best in this case.
Right-click on the channel and select
Duplicate and then in the pop-up
dialog box choose New (document).
This will create a new monochrome file
for you based on the blue channel. For
a smooth final map, add a small
14 Create some
light swirls
We’ll add some swirls of light
amount of Gaussian Blur. Save your
file, and it’s now a ready-to-use
displacement map.
around our model to suggest
she’s in command of the
ocean. You could use a tablet
and pressure-sensitive pen
to do this, but we’ll use the “SWIRLS OF
Pen tool, so select it now.
Draw a single curved path LIGHT
wrapping around the model
in a downward spiral. AROUND OUR
MODEL HINT
15 Stroke, blend…
Choose a bright aqua blue colour as 16 … and glow. Repeat as necessary
Add an Outer Glow to the layer and change the blending THAT SHE’S IN
your foreground. With the Brush tool, set the size
to four pixels with 50% Hardness. Create a new
mode to Screen. Repeat this to create a complete set of light swirls. If
you’d like to make one streak stronger, duplicate that layer for an instant COMMAND OF
layer then go to the Paths panel. Right-click on
the path and hit Stroke Path from the pop-up
menu. Choose Brush and tick Simulate Pressure.
magnification effect. Create balls of light by filling a feathered circular
selection with white, then apply the same blending and glow options. THE OCEAN”
18 Add noise
As with any composite image, we can
help blend the different elements together by
adding noise. Create another composite, then
choose Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Select
Monochrome and Gaussian as the type. This
effect is an aesthetic decision; choose an amount
to suit your taste.
17 Sharpen
Fix any alignment issues, for example,
if the surface does not meet the background,
then create a composite layer by holding down
Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift while clicking on the
context menu from the Layers panel and
choosing Merge Visible. On this composite layer,
run Filter>Other>High Pass. Choose a value of
around 6 and then set the layer to Overlay for
instant sharpening.
59
Advanced Photoshop

Step-by-step
Workshop
GAIA: Image created by Archan Nair
(www.archann.net) and Anthony
Giacomino (www.agiacoport.com)
BUILD PHOTOSHOP PANELS

WITH CONFIGURATOR
Thanks to Photoshop CS4 coming with Adobe AIR, the ability to build your
own panels to run on the platform is now a possibility – and it’s easy, too!
W
ON THE DISC hen Photoshop CS4 launched, them. They are not backwards-compatible with
There are no files for this on the CD. one of the things that really got CS3 or earlier, as you need to have the Adobe
All you need is Photoshop CS4
(which you can try for free for 30
us excited was that there would AIR platform that comes with CS4.
days from the Adobe site) and be the ability to build your own panels to be You can add any Photoshop function to a
Adobe Configurator (free from used in the program. This became possible panel, such as tools, commands, actions,
Adobe Labs).
through Adobe Labs (http://labs.adobe.com/ scripts, text, video clips, images, etc. It’s easy
OUR EXPERT Julie Easton technologies/configurator/) in October 2008 enough to use, but make sure that you check
Julie has been deputy editor of Advanced Photoshop with the launch of Configurator 1.0, which is a out the Adobe Labs site for a free user guide,
magazine for the past year, and has been working with
free application that uses drag-and-drop as well as a list of the current known issues
Photoshop CS4 daily since its launch. Keep up to date with
the latest features and additions at www. technology to build panels exactly how you with the program.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk. want them, and enables you to export them for Over the next couple of pages, we’ll walk
use in CS4. you through the process of building, saving,
While anyone can download Configurator exporting and using your own panels in
and build panels, you must have CS4 to run Photoshop CS4 and Adobe Configurator.
60
Advanced Photoshop
060-062_AVP_52_ConfigWS.indd 60 9/12/08 15:12:01

1 Launch Configurator
Locate your Adobe Configurator installation
(from the Programs menu in Windows or the
2 Getting around
This is the Configurator interface. Down
the right is the Inspector, where you change the
3 Name that panel
Along down the right-hand side of your
new panel is where you can enter a name for it.
Applications folder on a Mac) and click to open it properties of your panel’s elements, and to the This is what will show up in the Extensions
up. You’ll be presented with this welcome screen left is the Object palette, which contains menu in Photoshop, so make sure that it’s
as standard. To get started, hit the Create New everything that you can add to your panel. The obvious. You can also set the size of your panel
Panel button or select the same option from the Panel Editor in the middle is where you build here, although you can also adjust this as you
File menu. your panel, and above this is the toolbar with go along.
alignment and spacing options.
“TO START ADDING TOOLS 4 Tool options

To start adding tools to your new panel,
TO YOUR NEW PANEL, simply click the arrow next to the Tools option
in the Object palette. This will display every
SIMPLY CLICK THE ARROW available Photoshop tool, which you can click
on and then drag to your panel in the Panel
NEXT TO THE TOOLS OPTION Editor. You can add as many tools as you like.
IN THE OBJECT PALETTE”

5 Line it up
Chances are that if you’re anything like us,
you’ll have dragged the tools all over the place,
but there are alignment options built into
Configurator. The best one to start with is Auto
Layout, the button furthest to the right on the
toolbar, which automatically lines everything up
with equal spacing. You can also move the
elements individually.
Get panels online
6 Add a command or two

Just as you did with the tools, you can add
any Photoshop command to your panel. The
7 Neaten up again!
As you add more commands, you will
need to neaten up your panel. Automatically,
Since the launch of Configurator, there
have been plenty of panels doing the
commands are presented in a standard tree view, each command is added one under another, rounds on the internet that you can
and you can hit a + sign to expand each option. but Auto Layout will move them into the best download for free. They are easy to
As you add a command, its details will show up available space depending on the size of your install through Extension Manager CS4.
in the Inspector so you can change its name or panel. The other alignment and spacing options For example, at The Russell Brown
Tool Tip, as well as the size of its button. let you align everything on one side or specify Show (www.russellbrown.com), you
the spacing between each. can get a great panel with a tutorial for
creating a 3D
lenticular image.
This shows how
far you can go
with these custom
panels and how
they can really
enhance the way
that you work
in Photoshop.
61
Advanced Photoshop

Step-by-step
Workshop
Quick tip 8 Resize as you go
It is likely that the size you set for your
panel in the first instance is going to be
9 Add an action
You’re not just limited to tools and
commands here. You can also add actions, scripts
unsuitable now that you’ve started adding your and script files from the Action/Scripts set. We
Each key task in Configurator has a tools and commands. You can change it at any have chosen to add an action. Drag it in the usual
shortcut, and they are the common time by dragging the corners out with your manner, then list the action’s name in the
ones you would expect, such as Cmd/ mouse to any size that you like. Inspector and set, just as it is titled in Photoshop,
Ctrl+Z (Undo), Cmd/Ctrl+A (Select All), so that it links to it.
Cmd/Ctrl+S (Save), Cmd/Ctrl+N (start a
new panel), Cmd/Ctrl+K (access the
Preferences) and Cmd/Ctrl+E (Export).
10 Widgets
The final option in the Objects
palette is the Widgets section. Here, you can
add simple text (say, if you want to remind
yourself of something or put a handy URL on
11 12
the panel), but you can also add video files. We
have chosen Movie Player. Click the URL folder Video files Save it out
icon on the right to locate a FLV file. Your FLV will automatically load into You can save your panels at any
the panel. Again, you can change the size of point so that you can go back in and edit them
your video window to suit and you can play in the future. Select the option from the File
the video through in the Panel Editor to check menu and it will save as the title of your panel
it over. You can rename it as we have done followed by .gpc, the file extension for the
before in the Inspector. panels. If you see an asterisk by the title in the
Panel Editor, then the panel hasn’t been saved
or has been amended since saving.
13 Export the panel

14 Open it in Photoshop
15
In order to use your panel in If Photoshop was open when you were working on your
Photoshop CS4, you will need to export it. This is panel, then you will need to restart it. You will be able to find your new Play with your panel
also accessed through the File menu. It will panel from the Windows>Extension menu. Click on it and it will open And there it is… our finished panel in
automatically export and save in the right as any other panel in the Photoshop interface. Photoshop CS4. You can play the FLV video, run
format in CS4’s Extensions folder in the program the action and use all the tools and commands
files. If you make any changes in the future, you directly from the panel that you created. You
will need to export it again. can create unlimited panels for each of your
common tasks or art styles.
“YOU CAN CREATE UNLIMITED PANELS FOR EACH

OF YOUR COMMON TASKS OR ART STYLES”
62
Advanced Photoshop

Step-by-step
Workshop
d e r’sp
Rea k s h
rages fromanced
oartists
wGreo the
at imn the Adv website
o op
osh tail
de
Phot lained in
exp
64
Advanced Photoshop
064-067_AVP_52_ReadersWS.indd 64 9/12/08 12:52:48

SPICE UP YOUR PORTRAITS
We all have portraits in our toolbox of photographs and now it’s time to do something with them!
I
f you thought those old pictures best texture images for this style can be ON THE DISC
collecting virtual dust were a waste of found within nature in the form of simple This tutorial starts with stock
images found on past Imagine
time, think again. This tutorial will explain a organic patterns.
Publishing CDs. All other image
rather simple style that most Photoshop artists By the end of this process, the artist should files are original creations of the
already know, yet tend to overlook due to its have a greater understanding of texturing, artist and free for use in
non-commercial artwork.
simplicity. When performing this tutorial, the custom brushes and using once-forgotten
artist will hopefully gain a better understanding images for new artistic review. Adobe OUR EXPERT Timothy L Wise Jr
of the use of random images for texture, and that Photoshop CS2 was used for this tutorial, Timothy is a full-time soldier for the US Military, living in
a little open space on the canvas doesn’t always however, those attempting this style could Wiesbaden, Germany, and working in the IT field. As an
artist, he has done freelance design that includes creating
require filling. use most versions as long as it is Photoshop. for the web. www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/user/twise.
The powerful textures that add a sense of Also, be aware that files can become pretty
creativity to the overall composition are large in a hurry, so make sure that you have
accomplished by any image that may or may plenty of both memory and drive space
not be dazzling in itself. However, some of the available to you. Custom brush
1 Fresh beginnings
WI’ll start the tutorial by creating a new
file in the scale of 2,400 x 3,600 pixels at 300dpi
2 Choosing your portrait
Starting off with a portrait that
encompasses a sense of emotion and energy is
As seen by the picture, any image can
become a possible texture brush if you
allow yourself to work through it. This
(do this by following File>New). It will be essential to pulling off this style. We’ll use a wave went through a fairly simple
entirely up to you if you want this format to be stock photograph for the needs of this tutorial, transformation by process of
RGB or CMYK. The 300dpi will save your images which was kindly provided by the folks at desaturation, inverting and Levels
suffering from pixellation when you need to Imagine Publishing. Since we’ll be using the adjustments in order to make it into a
custom brush. With that said, if you
make scale increases in moderation further Desaturate feature, it’s also imperative to either
find yourself working through this
down the road. find or adjust an image with proper shadowing.
tutorial scratching your head
wondering where you went wrong, the
forum is a great place to find assistance
from other artists. As an avid reader
and participant on the Advanced
Photoshop site/forum, I’m always
available for questions or concerns.
3 Preparing the portrait

Now that your portrait is opened, you’ll
need to pull the model out of the background.
4 Removal
Using the Polygonal Lasso tool, remove
the background, keeping focus on the model’s
Start by duplicating your background image. face and shoulders. While you may be tempted
You can do this by dragging the image to the to use the Magic Wand tool, it is discouraged
‘Create a new layer’ icon. Now we’re going to since we want smooth edges here. If you don’t
remove the model. own a Wacom tablet, this step can be tough, so
we’ve included the PSD for this step on the CD. “A PORTRAIT THAT
ENCOMPASSES A
SENSE OF EMOTION
AND ENERGY IS
ESSENTIAL TO
THIS STYLE”
65
Advanced Photoshop

Step-by-step
Workshop
5 Levels
This will be our last step before starting on the main image. We
want to repeat Step 3 and duplicate our newly cut-out image and
6 Drag and drop
Now we’ll go ahead and grab our
prepared image in the Layers palette and then
7 Transformations
Size the portrait to give the correct weight
and feel to the image by going to Edit>
desaturate for effect (Image>Adjustments>Desaturate). Once this is drop it in the blank canvas that was prepared in Transform>Scale. At the top of your screen, you’ll
completed, we’ll adjust the Levels (Image>Adjustments>Levels) to Step 1. Once this is completed, go ahead and see adjustable windows for percentages and
reflect as 22, 1.32, 134. This will wash out the image a bit and allow for flip the portrait horizontally (Edit>Transform> rotation. Enter 220% for both the Width and
future textures to lay smoothly over the print. Flip Horizontal) so we can prepare the image Height and 17 for the Rotation. Now hit Enter to
for placement. commit to the changes.
8 Flip into fun

This is where we really start having fun with
our design. Open the image ‘b2landscapes006.
9 Duplications
Now that we have our sunset flipped over,
we want to set the blending mode for this layer
10 Adding final texture
You’ll notice that the texturing at this
point is still rather weak, but don’t fret – the
jpg’ and drag it into your screen. Rotate this image to Screen. This will lay a very subtle effect over more shadowed surfaces you place under the
clockwise and increase the scale to fit your our portrait that will require a bit more building, texture, the more it will pop off the screen. For
workspace. A percentage increase of 260 x 290 so let’s duplicate this sunset layer and flip it. After this step, we will be adding yet another image
per cent should do the trick. Now hit Enter and committing to this, drag your sunset copy to the for texture. Open the image ‘spider.jpg’ from the
commit to this increase, making sure the sunset is left to about half the screen. CD and drag it onto our canvas, as you did with
on top of the portrait layer. the sunset image.
11 Continued texturing
Our spider image will need to be 12 Tweaking
Tweaking the colours will effectively change the overall “THE MORE
rotated 90 degrees clockwise (Edit>Transform>
Rotate 90° CW) and then scaled to fit our
look of our image so let’s go to Image>Adjust>Hue and Saturation.
Once here, we’ll modify the windows to reflect a Hue level of -77 and SHADOWED
canvas, as in Step 8. Now modify the
percentages to reflect 220 x 250 per cent, which
the Saturation at 8, then click OK. Set the blending mode of this layer
to Overlay and drag this layer under your sunset layers. SURFACES
should adequately cover our canvas.
YOU PLACE
UNDER THE
TEXTURE,
THE MORE IT
WILL POP OFF
THE SCREEN”
66
Advanced Photoshop

13 Flowers
Our image is a little bare and needs 14 Softening the lines
As seen in Step 13, we have a “HARSH LINES NEED
some flavour, so let’s open up the PSD file
labelled ‘Flowers’ and get to work. Go ahead and
couple of harsh lines that need to be dealt with
to help expose the underlying flower images TO BE DEALT WITH
drag all three flowers into your image, and place
them behind your portrait layer. Once there, go
and soften the overall look. Select your Eraser
tool (E) and set your brush size to 333px in TO HELP EXPOSE
ahead and shift these files around to either
reflect the final image or as you see fit. These
diameter, with your Hardness set to 10%.
Slowly start softening the lower edges around THE UNDERLYING
flower images have been prepared in the exact
same way as the portrait image, so feel free to
the base of the portrait until you’re happy with
the results. Be sure you’re working on your FLOWER IMAGES
use other elements in your design in much the
same way.
portrait layer.
AND SOFTEN THE
OVERALL LOOK”
15 Organics
Start as you did in Step 13,
this time opening up the PSD file named
‘Organics’ and drag the four layers onto
our canvas behind the portrait layer. The
placement of these elements is once
16
again subject to your own interpretation
of how the final image should lay out for Circles and spikes
the best effect. The scribbles were Like the previous steps, you’ll need to
created with a simple solid brush on the open the last supporting file called ‘Circles and
tablet while the spray was accomplished Spikes’. Drag those six elements onto your
by converting an old image of sea spray canvas and arrange accordingly. These elements
into a custom brush. This shows that no are custom brushes that anyone can make with
image is a total loss when you have the simple circles and actions, but that’s an entirely
will to create. different tutorial.
17 Layer positioning
As you can see, the image looks a bit
out of sync and requires some layer
18 The final stretch
After a little layer management and
softening of the hairline, it’s time to add some
19 The end
Now that your composition is near
completion, we’ll need to add one final tweak to
management to adjust the overall feel and simple vertical lines for effect. This can either the overall image. We’ll accomplish this through
weight of the image. So let’s start dragging be done with the Line tool with a heavy weight the use of a new adjustment layer (Layer>New
those elements behind the flowers and try or with the Rectangular Marquee tool (M). We’ll Adjustment Layer>Levels). Once you have your
some fine-tuning. This will also require a bit create a new layer just above the white new Levels adjustment layer, you’ll want to
more brushwork with the Eraser tool around the background layer and add two black lines to modify the Input levels to reflect as 41, 1.00, 255.
hairline to soften the look. the right of the portrait. Be sure to place this layer at the top of the list
and you’ll be finished.
67
Advanced Photoshop

Helpdesk
It’s Helpdesk time again! Bring your Photoshop troubles, woes, problems and dilemmas.
Our resident expert will share his insight and give advice for all your concerns BY KIRK NELSON
vanishing point. Then go back into your canvas and set

the second point wherever you need it. Once you have a
path drawn like this, you can always move that local point
around while keeping your vanishing point static. This
way, you can find the proper perspective line for any area
on your canvas.
HOW TO DRAW A CROWD

Hey there Helpdesk guy! Nice job last month
with that cool technique to use the Smart
Object’s Stack mode to remove the pesky
pedestrians from the street image. But I was
wondering if you knew how accomplish the
reverse and combine all the pedestrian
images together to form a very crowded
street image?
Brian Stadther
Okay, just so we’re clear, Brian would like to add MORE

foot traffic to a street. It’s clear Brian doesn’t live in any
densely populated area or he’d realise just how insane this
VANISHING POINT: Create proper perspective lines with request is. I don’t even like to imagine more people on the
using the Transform Again command, or by creating a fill
the Vanishing Point filter
pattern. In either case, you want to end up with a large
pavement for fear that I won’t make it to my train on time!
grid that you can drag over onto your canvas and drop it
Well, Brian buddy, this one’s for you, but if I miss that train
KEEPING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE into its own layer. From there, use the Transformation
tomorrow, can I get a ride?
Dear Advanced Photoshop. I’ve found your tools, such as Distort, Scale and Perspective, to create a
Begin by stacking all the images as layers into a single
magazine to be immensely helpful and perspective plane to guide your drawing. file. Use the Edit>Auto-Align Layers feature so all the
inspirational. You see, I’m an old-school Second is the Vanishing Point operation, found in the
backgrounds should match up. Now, if you happen to
architecture student and I’ve always loved Filter menu. It’s not really a filter, but apparently Adobe
drafting. Can you tell me the best way to drop didn’t know where else to put it. Anyway, Vanishing Point
in perspective lines so I can make sure my allows you to define four points and it creates a
drawings are always lining up properly? perspective grid within them. The grid can then be HELPDESK
Mr Chris Matthenson scaled in perspective, which makes it ideal for
creating a guide for your scene. Now, to get these
CALL FOR QUESTIONS
What the readers at home can’t see is that Mr Matthenson grid planes back into Photoshop proper, you Want help with Photoshop?
truly is old-school. The man actually typed his question need to go to the Options menu and select
Send your emails to us at:
with a typewriter and mailed it in. Business envelope, Render Grids to Photoshop before hitting OK. If
stamp, the whole deal. Mr Matthenson, I salute you, good you are using Photoshop CS2 or older, there’s advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk
sir, for reminding me of simpler times! And to show my no option for that, but holding down Opt/Alt or post a message on our forum board at
appreciation, I have an answer for you, too. As with most when you hit OK will do the same thing. www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum.
things in Photoshop, there are a number of ways to And finally, in honour of Mr Matthenson, I
Remember to specify whether you’re using
accomplish a task. Let us deal with three effective will present a very old-school method. Begin
methods here. by zooming way out so you can see the a PC or Mac and the version number of
First is the hand-drawn grid technique. Start by creating pasteboard well beyond your canvas. Use the your edition of Photoshop.
a grid in a separate file, either by drawing the lines and Pen tool in Path mode and first designate your
70
Advanced Photoshop
070-071_AVP_52_Helpdesk.indd 70 9/12/08 12:56:29

es
n iqu
ch
Te
SHATTERED MOSAIC
How do you create the effect seen in the
background of the 3deep (www.3deep.com.
au) site? I’m guessing there’s a filter or add-
on to achieve this effect?
gatorage, on the forum
There’s no plug-in required for that effect. A great

STREET CROWD: Use Auto-Align and layer
masks to draw a crowd application of the technique is to take a small photo and
have it cover a large area without having to resample it
up. It’s not difficult, but is repetitive. If you’re comfortable
FORUM (RIGHT): Get help quick by
visiting the Advanced Photoshop forum with making actions, now’s the time to do so!
have CS4, you can try using the Auto-Blend Layers

function and choose the Stack Images method.
Photoshop will attempt to blend all the layers together by
and ask your questions there. It’s filled with a friendly lot of
folks willing to lend immediate advice. I even check in on
a regular basis myself and offer assistance where I can.
1 Create the tiles
Create a square (50 x 50px) as a placeholder on
its own layer, placing it in the bottom-right corner.
using masks. This might work, or it might make a mess of Make a selection from this and copy that background
things and you’ll have to do it by hand anyway. If you area into a new layer. Move the placeholder by 5px to
don’t have CS4, you’ll need to do things manually. Start SHARPENED STROKES the left and repeat until you get all the way across.
with the top layer and add a layer mask. Fill the mask with Greetings Mr Helpdesk. Whenever I add a
black to hide that entire layer and then use a white stroke to a shape, the corners end up
paintbrush on the mask to reveal the pedestrians from rounded, even if the shape itself has sharp
that layer. Work your way down the stack carefully corners. How can I get the stroke corners to
painting in the crowd. be pointy?
Be warned, there are some ‘gotchas’ to this. Shadows Trevor Sky
can be tricky if they need to fall onto an object that wasn’t
in the picture to begin with. Also, be sure you don’t have Salutations Trevor, I’m going to be honest right upfront.
two people occupying the same space at the same time You’ve just stumbled onto a very frustrating aspect of
2
– because that might rip a hole in the space-time Photoshop. The lack of mitre controls on a stroke has led
continuum and we really don’t want that! many a designer to do this type of work in Illustrator Form the first row
instead. But here at Advanced Photoshop’s Helpdesk, I’m Multiply the number of new layers by 50.
committed to giving the honest answer, good or bad. Increase the canvas width to match that number.
GET ANSWERS FASTER Photoshop can do a lot of things well, and even more Place the corner tiles, then select all the new tiles and
Hi there. I wanted to let you know just how things amazingly awesome, but a sharpened stroke isn’t use Horizontal Centres to autoposition the rest of the
much I enjoy your magazine. It’s one of the one of those things, unfortunately. tiles. Merge the tiles into a single layer for the first row.
few I make sure I purchase every single Let’s take a look at your options. Add a Stroke layer style
month. Keep up the good work! Especially the and look at the options available for it, especially the drop-
Helpdesk; I’ve learned much just from reading down menu for Positioning. By default, this is set to
those couple of pages every issue. I do have a Outside, which puts the stroke around the outer edge of
question about it, though. It occurs to me that the shape and generates rounded corners. If you change
most of the world seems to run an issue or this to Inside, the stroke then moves to the inner edge of
two behind due to shipping. Also, I imagine
3
the shape. The outside edges are nice and sharp, but look
the turnaround time for producing the what happened to those corners that point inwards – Rinse and repeat
magazine must be lengthy. So if I send in a now they are rounded. The third option, Centre, places Move your placeholder up 5px and repeat the
question to the Helpdesk, it could be months the stroke directly on the edge and all the corners process for the second row. Create rows until the top
before I see an answer. Is there a faster way? become uniform. But now they are neither sharp nor of the image, then expand the canvas height to 50
Venus Trexler round, but rather dull instead. times the number of rows you created. Then vertically
If one of these options align (Layer>Distribute>Vertical Centres) the rows.
Hi Venus (cool name by the way), your concern is works for you, then great!
appropriate. I realise that many readers are working on But if not, the best resort
deadlines and don’t have the luxury of waiting weeks is to either use the closest
or months for the chance that their question might be one then draw the sharp
answered in the mag. As a solution, I’ve begun work on a corners by hand, or just do it
prototype: Psychically Powered Hive-Mind Transmitter™, in Illustrator.
but an unfortunate incident with the Cerebral Generator
has been inducing nightmares. Trust me, it’s not pretty.
But while I work out the kinks, the magazine has
offered a much more reliable solution, albeit that bit
less amazing. There’s a forum on the website (www. CORNERS: The merits and
flaws of Adobe Photoshop’s
advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum), so feel free to register stroke positions
71
Advanced Photoshop
070-071_AVP_52_Helpdesk.indd 71 9/12/08 12:56:47

Insider
Info
INSIDER
v INFO
Content-Aware Scaling
This amazing algorithm has been incorporated into Photoshop CS4, but what is it and
where did it come from? We show you how to use it and what it can do for your images
W
ith the release of Photoshop CS4, one of the big buzz phrases that
surrounded it was ‘Content-Aware Scaling’, an algorithm licensed by
Adobe to use in CS4.
The idea behind it is that you might not always have the exact images that you
want to incorporate into a project. For example, the proportions could be all wrong,
but the content of the image is just right. Rather than just giving up and looking for
another image, Content-Aware Scaling enables you to protect the content that you
want to keep in the image and scale the image without affecting these areas. For
example, you might want to turn a standard image into a panoramic without
sacrificing the main subjects, be it a background or people. And it takes almost no
time to do, which means that it saves you hours of searching for a new image or trying BEFORE (ABOVE): We wanted to reduce the
to painstakingly rework an existing image by hand. image size here without losing any scale in the
penguin itself, so we created a selection of it first
the image while you are resizing it. If no
OUR EXPERT Julie Easton
area has been specified, then it will
As deputy editor of this title, Julie has spent plenty of
intelligently keep the most visually AFTER – CONTENT-AWARE SCALING
time immersed in the new features of Photoshop CS4, (ABOVE): The difference between using this
and has been scaling her photos up and down with this interesting areas. It can intelligently
and cropping is that the penguin has been
great new addition. recognise skin tones, so that people are preserved, but Photoshop has also recognised
automatically preserved when resizing. other elements (like the bits on the ground) and
kept them, too
Shortcut solutions However, if you want to select an area for
yourself that you want protecting, it’s as AFTER – FREE TRANSFORM (LEFT): If
simple as making and saving a selection. we were just to Free Transform the image to the
scale that we wanted, this is what would happen
As with everything in Photoshop, it
pays to know your shortcuts in order Application
to save time when editing. To access
Content-Aware Scaling via your
There are two ways of using Content-
Aware Scaling, depending on whether
Seam carving
keyboard, use Cmd+Opt+Shift+C you want to define an area yourself or selection first, using any of your
(Mac) or Ctrl+ Alt+Shift+C (PC). If you want to find out more about
let Photoshop analyse the image for the preferred selection tools. Save your
most important areas. selection when you have made it the technology behind Content-
Background If you want Photoshop to make the (Select>Save Selection) and the saved Aware Scaling within Photoshop
This hasn’t come out of nowhere, decisions, then all you need to do is selections for any image will then CS4, then take a visit to www.
seamcarving.com, which is about
however. The seam-carving algorithm select any unlocked layer in a document appear in the Protect drop-down menu
the creation of the algorithm and
was developed by Shai Avidan and select Edit>Content-Aware Scale. in the top toolbar when using Content-
how it works. You can also download
(Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs) and You will then get corner handles come Aware Scaling. a PDF full of information.
Ariel Shamir (The Interdisciplinary Center up the same as if you were using Free However, you do need to bear in
and MERL) for content-aware image Transform or the Crop tool. Drag it into mind that this isn’t a foolproof solution,
resizing, but it has only been since its your new scale and Photoshop will and there are going to be times when
integration into Photoshop CS4 that it protect the areas of the image that it it’s just not going to be possible to
has come to the public’s attention. The thinks are important. massively rescale your image without
feature is designed to let you rescale and This isn’t always going to work as you affecting the composition. The other
recompose at the same time, analysing expected, though, so it pays to make a thing to bear in mind is that there is a
lot going on in the background with
this technology, so it isn’t quite as
instantaneous as you might expect. On
our iMac, there was noticeable lag
when we were making adjustments,
which can be frustrating when you’re
trying to make tiny adjustments again
and again.
Still, it does a generally good job that SEAM CARVING: At www.seamcarving.
will save you plenty of time on complex com, you can download more information
CHOOSE YOUR SELECTION: If you have STAY IN SCALE: As we have selected to about Content-Aware Scaling from the
created a selection, you can choose to preserve it protect the boat, all the other information is lost resizing projects and is certainly worth creators of the technology
from the Protect drop-down menu first, preserving the scale of the boat a play with.
72
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072_AVP_52_InsiderInfo.indd 72 9/12/08 12:57:42

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073_AVP_52_PCHouseAd.indd 88 9/12/08 12:58:42
Our pick of the best reader submissions
sent to us this month
P
eer Pressure has once again been inundated with great artwork. The
chosen entries this month offer an array of insights into the creative mind,
sharing and revealing individual approaches and skills. We always include
your email and web address so that interested parties can get in touch.
All you have to do is send us high-quality TIFFs or JPEGs (RGB or CMYK) at 300dpi,
which can be printed at a minimum size of 15 x 15cm. Send us low-res versions to
advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk – we’ll get back to you for work with a
higher resolution if needed. Alternatively, log on to our forum at www.
advancedphotoshop.co.uk/forum. We cannot provide individual image assessment.
Each issue we select one image to be Best In Show, and that lucky person will win
a fantastic prize, courtesy of The Illustration Source (www.illustration-source.com),
which is a great way to get your work seen. So, what are you waiting for?
Fashionable forms
NAME: Robert Shields
EMAIL: robert.r82@gmail.com
WEB: www.robshields.net
Rob Shields is a 26-year-old freelance graphic designer, currently

located in Philadelphia. He works mainly for the fashion and
music industries, but is also involved in a number of side projects.
The selected works seen here are from his personal portfolio,
which is always expanding into the realm of digital fine art.
Aesthetically, his work is very much collage-based, bringing
together a number of disparate elements into a new cohesive
whole. “In a way, it’s a kind of controlled abstraction, usually
involving a centralised figure that acts as a focal point for the
otherwise chaotic nature of each piece,” he says. Rob uses the
words ‘mixed media’ as a kind of umbrella term that allows him to
incorporate many mediums, ranging from 3D renders to bits of
pencil work: “Conceptually, the work is usually emotionally driven
and tends to hint at a certain emptiness, pointing toward
something ineffable, something outside the image itself.”
Prints of these and other works are available through his
website, as well as through the artist community
of deviantART.
QUIT YOUR DAY JOB (ABOVE):

“This piece was made using Photoshop
and Illustrator, as well as Poser Pro for
the few 3D renders seen in the piece.
Stock from sxc.hu was used”
g
d mainly usin tion
e was create
S: “This piec d hand illustra BETTER THAN HEAVEN
BEAUTY DIE otoshop. Illustrator an touches to the
layer effects
in Ph
w of the finish
ing
ed” (LEFT): “This image was made
ed to add a fe Shutterstock were also us using layer effects and the Liquify
were also us sxc.h u an d
fro m
piece. Stock tool in Photoshop. Main image
courtesy of Shutterstock”
74
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074-077_AVP_52_PeerPressure.indd74 74 9/12/08 14:02:11

Stylised GIRL AND
GOLDFISH
illustrations David’s inte
rp
: Part of
present pain retations of past and
tings, inject BEST
IN SHOW
style into th ing his own
NAME: David Ho ew
interpretatio orks. See both the
EMAIL: ho@davidho.com ns and the
that inspire pa
d them on hi intings
WEB: www.davidho.com s website
David Ho is a 39-year-old digital illustrator

and artist from the Bay Area in California,
and has been working in the industry for
14 years. He uses a combination of
Photoshop, Poser and Bryce, but the
artwork shown here represent a break in
style from his previous works, as David
explains: “For the past few years, I have
felt that 3D programs have been getting
more and more realistic, so I decided to
take the opposite route and create works
that are flatter and more stylised in
nature. With these, I think 20 per cent of
my time is spent in Poser while 80 per
cent of my time I spend in Photoshop,
where all the elements are integrated and
a lot of touching up is involved.”
David has a set method that works for
him when creating his artwork: “I already
have a pretty good routine or formula,
where each artwork first involves creating
it in black and white (to ensure good light
and shadowing, composition, etc, without
the need to focus on colouring just yet).
Then, when I am happy with the
illustration, many layers are merged down
and then colourised.”
of
THE WEDDING: Another
David’s interpretations of past
one
and present paintings, this
is his idea of Jan Van Eyck ’s
i
famous Portrait of Giovann
Arnolfini and his Wife
CANDICE UNLEASHES
HER DEMONS (RIGHT):
“One day in the winter of
2005, a story popped into my
head about a girl who dies
and becomes a ghost. Her
desire to become human
makes her look upon the
human race with jealousy
and rage. Ultimately,
through Eastern philosophy,
she learns to attain inner
peace and help mankind”
75
Advanced Photoshop

Discover the thinking behind the art
The darker
side of art MOURNING ART: “Exp
ressing sadness
and inner pain by art”
NAME: Shwe Thiri Khit
EMAIL: info@shwethirikhit.com
WEB: www.shwethirikhit.com
Shwe Thiri Khit was born in Yangon, the capital

of Myanmar, and stayed and lived there up until
2007. A born artist, drawing and sketching on
any available surface got her into occasional
trouble ever since she could hold a pen! “Since
a relatively young age, I have found happiness
and fascination in canvas sheets and crayons,”
she explains.
At high school, she dedicated all her energy
into traditional art, where she was producing
many works of both watercolours and oil
paintings. At college, she expanded her
activities into applications such as Adobe
Photoshop and tools in multimedia production.
“I have become a lot more passionate about
digital art,” she says, “because the thing I like
most is that I can create the artwork as soon as
the idea is conceptualised without taking much
time, whereas it could have taken a lot more time
with traditional art. When I started using
Photoshop, I used many of its photomanipulation
tools and got the feeling that Photoshop was such
a magic tool.
With regards to her favourite works so far, she
admits that Dead Amethyst is her favourite: “I have
a particular attraction towards a dark style,
because I believe all human beings have a dark
side inside us, and my art represents that. Nearly
all of my artwork involves female characters, which
is a representation of my feminist views on life.”
SAD BUT TEARLESS (RIGHT): “Some

people may be so sad inside, but outsiders
may never find out”
THE NEEDLE & FEMININITY (LEFT):

“Represents that it’s nearly always the females
who will get pain in the union of two sexes, with
the metaphor of the flower and the needle
where the flower will get damaged if the needle
falls on it, or vice versa”
76
Advanced Photoshop

AVATARS OF WOE: “This piece is a repres
entation of my feelings towards pover
most disturbing issue in the world. My ty, which I believe to be the
inspiration came from a movie about
afford schools and turned to gangland children who were too poor to
violence, as well as a trip to India where
that people with no homes had to use I saw the places and conditions
to sleep. It is a personal print and was
constructed in LAB color”
show
Sponsored by…
Not only is David Ho this
month’s Best in Show, they have
also won a year’s full Option 3
membership to The Illustration
Source, worth £150, and Featured
Artist slot for January. The
Illustration Source Ltd is the newest
source of original art, freelance
illustrators, photographers, artists
and designers on the net. Visit
www.illustration-source.com for
more information. If you’d like to
stand a chance of winning an
Illustration Source portfolio, send
your images to advancedpshop@
imagine-publishing.co.uk.
INFERNO: “I created this piece through the Evoke
collective for Oxfam Australia for its campaign on global
warming. To construct the piece, I used Photoshop, my
Image requirements
You’ll stand a better chance of
Wacom, Poser and CINEMA 4D. I wanted to portray the
‘inferno’ of the world, and created the piece with many seeing your work in print if you
open concepts that would challenge the viewer’s adhere to the following criteria:
interpretation” make sure that your images are
high-quality TIFFs or JPEGs (RGB or
CMYK), 300dpi, and can be printed
3D integration at 15 x 15cm minimum. Don’t forget
to include a small text file detailing
NAME: Saad Ali Moosajee
how you created your work as well.
EMAIL: saad.moosajee@gmail.com
WEB: http://saadart.com Terms and conditions
By submitting images to Advanced
Saad Moosajee is 15 years old and was Photoshop’s Peer Pressure, you
born in London, England, although he’s hereby grant Imagine Publishing
ethnically South Asian and currently and, if relevant, clients to whom the
resides in the US. Even as a child he loved relevant work has been provided,
an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-
art and design, although he wasn’t aware of
free licence to use such intellectual
it for a while. “After many years of randomly
property in relation to work similar
staring at billboards or album covers came or equivalent to the work. This
the realisation that I both had an eye and a love includes the right to showcase work
for aesthetics. I started illustrating from an on multimedia formats. By
early age, although computer design only took submitting work, you also confirm
off when I got my first Photoshop program as that your images do not infringe
an 11th birthday present.” any copyright regulations should
He says that initially it was too complicated they be published.
for him, although he has now gained semi-
mastery of it, as well as a fairly rudimentary
knowledge of 3D programs Poser Pro and
CINEMA 4D, which are used to produce all his
works, along with a Wacom tablet.
“My artwork is the result of the visions and WANDERER: “This
messages that come to me portrayed on a canvas,” piece was created for the slashTHREE collective’s
he explains. “I draw inspiration from Magritte and ‘30th Century’ exhibition. The background photography is by Nicholas
Giger, and I often like to portray world issues or Creevy (www.nicholascreevy.co.uk), and the piece itself is based around THE PRIZE: Check out The Illustration
the concept of a lone 3D robot wandering through a Thirtieth Century Source’s website to see the portfolios of
situations. I would call my style a mix of parking lot. I produced the robot by constructing and stitching 3D parts previous winners of Best in Show
photomanipulation, matte painting and 3D.” together with Poser, CINEMA 4D and Photoshop”
77
Advanced Photoshop

web
Discover the thinking behind the art
chall
enge THIS
MONTH’S
PRIZE
Our prize this month is Adobe
Photoshop CS4 One-On-One by Deke
McClelland (O’Reilly), which shows you
Peer Pressure WEB everything you need to know about
the latest version of Photoshop,
CHALLENGE – THE WINNERS including a DVD-ROM with over four
Challenge reference: AP 051 hours of video.
On our website, www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/

competitions.php, we run a web challenge where you Runner-up
are asked to create an image in Photoshop using at NAME: Tom Ciccone
least one of three images provided. These challenges EMAIL: tciccone@
are updated monthly and they are becoming pixlmix.com
increasingly popular, so get your entries in for a WEB: www.pixlmix.com
chance to win.
Check out the website for details of our latest MOTHER SHIP: “I chopped
the coolest architecture from
challenge and how to enter. The winner will collect a the sculpture image for the
special prize for that month (prizes change frequently) mother ship’s portal and
and will also have their design printed in the warped the brake image for the
magazine, along with two runners-up. actual body of the ship itself”
Runner-up
NAME: Firnadi Iqbal
R
EB E
EMAIL: firnadi@yahoo.com
W I NN
WEB: www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/
user/firnadi
W MIGHTY CENTAUR: “I created this
picture starting with a friend’s photo. I
thought, ‘What am I going to use the brake
plate for?’ so I put it into his hand, like a
shield. I had an idea of the statue being like a
pyramid and then used blending layers to
create a lightning effect. The Airbrush and
Smudge tools came in handy for that”
NAME: Oliver Rankin

EMAIL: oliver2k1@hotmail.com
WEB: www.oliverrankin.com
MORTUS: “I wanted to create a dark, futuristic
cyborg-style concept, but setting myself the task of
using imagery from car or engine parts. I began by
cutting/warping all the parts to make them look like
one unit. Once the mask was fitted into the face, I
began to paint the skin and give it texture to give it
a more decayed look. Hue/Saturation and Level
adjustment layers were then used to give the image
a ‘darker’ colour balance, leaving enough
moonlight to reflect off the shiny objects. Mortus
was created with around 35 layers and five or six
stock images”
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk/competitions.php
78
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078_AVP_52_PeerPressureWeb.indd 78 9/12/08 14:07:07

Feature
PROTECT YOUR
ART ONLINE
Image theft may pale in comparison to robbing a bank, but to those who find
©
their work stolen, the results can be traumatic. Nick Spence investigates ways to
protect your work online
T
he internet has many positives: the chance to learn, share, T
BESSAN
participate and collaborate, offering the possibility to © M A RC
explore the world beyond your horizon. As a tool to
showcase you and your work, it offers great potential, a chance to be
seen by a global audience and attract clients and commissions
regardless of your location. Yet for every positive, a few negatives lurk
on the dark side of the internet. From dodgy downloads and scams to
nasty viruses and dubious pills and potions, the internet is not a place
for the reckless. Being prepared and aware of the potential dangers
online should help protect you. The same caution should apply when
putting your work online. Creating your own website, placing your
work on a blog or forum, selling your designs on an online shop, these
are all good, but you don’t want to find your hard work has been
hijacked by those looking for quality images for free.
The simple way to ensure your work isn’t stolen or plagiarised is to
stay offline altogether, although this will severely restrict potential
©
interest in you and your work. Much better is to limit the damage that
can be done by using a range of measures, including copyrighting
© ANDY POTTS
80
Advanced Photoshop
©
080-085_AVP_52_Feature.indd 80 9/12/08 15:26:31
Protect your art online ©
Case study
Andy Potts
Award-winning London-based illustrator Andy
Potts (www.andy-potts.com) couldn’t believe
his eyes when he came across the work of a
Dutch artist. A selection of his paintings, which
he sells and exhibits internationally, bore an
uncanny resemblance to his own work, created
for a selection of prestigious clients and
displayed on his website. Such was the similarity
between Potts’ illustrations and these paintings
that it raised serious concerns. What isn’t clear
is whether the artist managed to copy them
from relatively small JPEG files found on
Potts’ homepage. “I’m pretty sure this guy was
able to blow up some very small web images
and paint on them large scale quite successfully,”
explains Potts.
Potts’ US representative, Anna Goodson
Management, and the Association of Illustrators
EUROPA COVER: A striking cover design for French here in the UK were both equally amazed at the
magazine Europa by Andy Potts about the rise of non- artist’s sheer nerve, and felt rightly that Potts
governmental organisations
had a excellent case for copyright theft. Potts
© ANDY POTTS
quickly informed the artist that he faced legal
action if the paintings were not removed, and an
images, using digital watermarks, reducing images agreement was signed that none of Potts’
down to a size that’s difficult to reproduce effectively copyrighted work would be used again in future.
and creating a password-protected area of your Since many of the original paintings were
website for high-res examples that’s only for clients. sold, Potts asked for financial compensation. All
Each has its pros and cons. Digital spoilers, such as well and good, except Potts discovered that to
visible watermarks for instance, will prevent images actually sue someone for clear copyright
from being printed and sold but won’t prevent infringement, even in another EU country, would
anyone from simply borrowing or copying your image be a long and costly venture.
or design. No amount of protection will be effective if “I have been royally ripped off this year by this
someone wants to mimic your style. Having your artist and there’s not much I’ve been able to do
name stamped in big letters on everything can also about it unless I commit to a very expensive,
be annoying to the viewer and allow you to be stressful and probably unsuccessful lawsuit,”
perceived as a misguided amateur; after all, few large adds Potts.
studios and illustration representatives see fit to use
watermark images. Getting the balance right should
ensure you look a professional outfit without FACEFULL (TOP): Personal work from illustrator Andy
seemingly being overly precious about your work.
Potts, one of the most creative illustrators in the UK, who
has been recognised within the industry by a BAFTA 16.3 PER CENT
OF IMAGES USED
nomination and a prestigious AOI award
© ANDY POTTS
Watermark images
Third-party sites where you can buy a simple but
effective website off the peg should offer some image
GETTING TO KNOW YOU (ABOVE): Book cover
design by Andy Potts for the collected short stories of sci- ON OUR GALLERY
protection tools as standard, which you can choose to
activate or not. “Just over 40 per cent of Clikpic
fi writer David Marusek
© ANDY POTTS PAGES ARE
customers, based on a sample of 100, have opted to
watermark their images within the Clikpic system,
service Mr Site (www.mrsite.co.uk), suggests that
while fewer users watermark images, the numbers are WATERMARKED;
which can be done literally at the click of a button, so
it is clearly an important issue for artists”, explains
still significant. “Around 16.3 per cent of all images
used on our gallery pages are watermarked, meaning THE REMAINDER
Tim Hunt, a director at Clikpic (www.clikpic.com),
which offers a website-to-go service. “It reminds a
that the remainder are open to potential theft,” says
Spice. “Watermarking offers you the best protection in ARE LEFT OPEN
potential thief, who can often be a casual observer
who is completely unaware of copyright issues, that
they need to think before copying.” Stuart Spice,
my opinion, as it acts as a ‘spoiler’ for the image
without detracting from the impact of the image.”
More primitive methods, such as disabling right-
TO THEFT
technical officer at professional website builder click (or Ctrl-click on Macs), fail to take into – STUART SPICE, MR SITE
81
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080-085_AVP_52_Feature.indd 81 9/12/08 14:10:20

Feature
account something available to all PC and Mac users, and Bevel and Emboss effects to ensure the text
warns Spice. “One method people often discuss is the doesn’t overpower the image. The Digimarc (www.
disabling of the right-click on the mouse to prevent digimarc.com) plug-in, which comes as standard with
people from clicking Save As when hovering over an Photoshop, allows you to embed copyright
on-screen image. This may offer a small degree of information into your images. Copying an image with
protection, but is no match for the ardent copyright an embedded watermark also copies the watermark
thief. In fact, one of the most basic functions of and any information associated with it. You can also
Microsoft Windows that has been around since the create a metadata template in Photoshop, and in the
old days of Windows 3.1 is the Print Screen function.” File Info interface or the Metadata panel in Bridge,
Mac users can use a similar method to capture images you can edit your document’s copyright info.
and professional screen capture utilities are available For those looking for a little more variation, many
for both platforms. “The techies often talk about free and payable watermark and image-protection
placing invisible ‘layers’ over the top of your image to applications are available, found by searching
prevent the right-click or any interaction with the websites such as Download.com (www.download.
image. This works to a degree, but again falls foul of com), Softpedia (www.softpedia.com), Tucows
the Print Screen button,” says Spice. (www.tucows.com) and MacUpdate (www.
macupdate.com). TinEye (http://tineye.com) is an
image search engine, currently in beta, that lets you
Tags and metadata search for your images online. Copyscape (www.
Digital watermarking is another possible solution. copyscape.com), meanwhile, offers some free or
Having your details on an image can identify you minimal cost searches along with a premium service,
should a third party require legitimate copies or wish Copysentry, which for around $5 a month aims to
to compliment you on your design. “It also tags your protect your site against content theft by monitoring
images with your details,” says Tim Hunt. “So if some the web for copies of your content and emailing you Portishead: Marc Bessant produced artwork for cult
of your images from, say, a wedding are being as soon as they appear. YouTube (http://uk.youtube. band Portishead and their album Third, recently voted
Album Of The Year by Uncut magazine
emailed around, anyone wanting to buy one will see com/watch?v=xem8KSnuhJI) has useful tutorials
© Marc Bessant
your details on the watermark and can visit your site showing you how to watermark for the web, including
and buy them, so digital watermarks can be a good using Actions to batch-process your images. cases. “An image thief is limited in what they can do
marketing tool.” with a web image other than use it online. This is
You can create both digital and visible watermarks because the resolution is simply too low for the image
in Photoshop, and there are several ways to do this, Small solutions to be reproduced effectively elsewhere, especially
like adding text with the Text tool on an additional If watermarks aren’t your thing, keeping images small thumbnail-sized images,” explains Tim Hunt of Clikpic.
layer. Experiment with different typefaces, opacity and low-res will limit how they can be used in most Although there are software solutions, including
Visible watermark Get a watermark in Photoshop in several ways, like

In places I’ve
step-by-step
creating a new layer and using the Text tool to add
the © sign, your logo, site or contact details
seen
1. Create a new layer 2. Adjust your watermark watermarks,
Open the image you want to add a visible
watermark to and create a new layer. Select this
Use Opacity and Fill in order to adjust your
watermark. The lower the opacity setting, the less they have
layer and use the Type tool to add your copyright
text, for example, ‘© Danny Hughes http://danny21.
likely the watermark is to distract from your
image. Additionally, experiment with typefaces, always looked
deviantart.com’. Use a large watermark that fills
most of the image. This will make it difficult to
as some are significantly more pleasing on the
eye then others. Finally, flatten the layers and pretty awful. I
remove the watermark using the Clone Stamp or
Healing Brush tool.
remember to Save As to avoid writing over your
original file. think the best
thing is just an
overall
disclaimer
somewhere tidy
on the front
– Marc Bessant
82
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080-085_AVP_52_Feature.indd 82 9/12/08 14:10:41

Orphan Works
2008
As we went to press, the US Orphan Works 2008
was still slowly progressing through the
legislative system with Congress going into a
lame-duck session as a new President prepares
to take office. During this time, it was thought
the bill might still be passed despite numerous
artists, photographers, illustrators and
individuals attacking the plans as ‘grossly unfair’.
The Orphan Works Act defines an ‘orphan work’
as any copyrighted work whose author
someone who wishes to use the artwork is
unable to locate, as long as they have
performed a ‘reasonably diligent search’.
In a radical departure from existing copyright
law and business practice, the US Copyright
Office has proposed that Congress grant such
‘infringers freedom to ignore the rights of the
author and use the work for any purpose,
including commercial usage’, reports the
Illustrators’ Partnership (http://ipaorphanworks.
TINY DANCERS: A three-colour gig poster advertising MALAKAI: Promotional poster for Malakai, a two-piece blogspot.com). In the case of visual art, the
an appearance by the band Tiny Dancers. Marc Bessant band from Bristol, by designer Marc Bessant, who is word ‘author’ means ‘artist’, and in theory, work
recently launched a new website showcasing his vast responsible for numerous music-related CD covers, that you have placed on the internet could be
and varied illustration and design work packaging and posters
© MARC BESSANT © MARC BESSANT used by anyone. “It’s very easy for images,
especially on the net, to lose their creator’s
name and therefore be open to exploitation by
anyone,” warns Derek Brazell of The Association
of Illustrators (www.theaoi.com). “However, the
EU and the United Kingdom are looking at
orphaned works and it appears there will be
more rigorous checks on who can do what with
an orphaned work in these territories.”
The Illustrators’ Partnership maintains a blog with

new updates and ways you can help prevent the US
Orphan Works 2008 from becoming law
ENCHANTMENT: Marc Bessant provided album art

and design for The Enchantment by Chick Corea and
Bela Fleck. Bessant is head of design at Peter Gabriel’s
Real World Studios
© MARC BESSANT
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Feature
Case study
Share and
share alike
Although you need to be concerned about how
and where you put your images online, many
seek to actively share their work. If you’re stuck
for suitable inspiration or reference material,
there are numerous free and legal resources
available online. Stock.XCHNG (www.sxc.hu),
Freerange Stock (www.freerangestock.com),
Fontplay (www.fontplay.com/freephotos),
morgueFile (www.morguefile.com), Photo.net
(http://photo.net) and Woophy (www.woophy.
com) all offer free stock. Images may have
restrictions on use, but many are offered under
Creative Commons licensing or the Copyleft
licensing scheme. This allows for some but not
all copyright restrictions, giving the user the
ability to modify an image, for example, as long
as the resulting image is bound by the same
Copyleft licensing scheme. Good karma dictates
you always read the small print, but few
restrictions should apply.
deviantART (www.deviantart.com) actively
encourages the use of other people’s images.
Some of the more impressive Photoshop
photomanipulations found on the site take
elements on stock images freely offered by the Charles Darwin: 12 February 2009 marks the 200th anniversary
community. “The resource and stock art of the birth of Charles Darwin and Nature magazine commissioned
this striking portrait by illustrator Jonathan Williams
providers go out of their way to offer a wide © Jonathan Williams
variety of high-quality material that comes from
artists that span the globe,” enthuses Kari
Campbell, assistant director of artist relations at third-party Photoshop plug-ins, to increase the size Copyright and wrongs
deviantART. Browsing the Stock Photography of images, results are mixed at best. “Place only very Placing a copyright message on your website won’t
gallery enables artists to locate suitable stock for highly compressed JPEG images at small dimensions protect you from theft, but it may deter some from
their various projects. “deviantART provides a on your site. That way, if the image is stolen, it is of simply downloading without thinking. Marc Bessant
forum for stock art and resource providers. Here, such a small size and low quality that an attempt to (www.marcbessant.com) is a well-respected designer
deviants are able to ask questions about tips, resize or reuse the image in any way will produce a and illustrator with numerous CD and DVD covers,
share information on what they find in terms of very degraded version of the image,” suggests Mr books, logos and posters under his belt, who has
creating the best resources possible,” insists Site’s Stuart Spice. There are positives and negatives in never been a fan of visible watermarks: “In places I’ve
Campbell. “This open platform is a great way to doing this, not least reducing your work down to a seen watermarks, they have always looked pretty
communicate with the Gallery directors resolution and size that won’t do you justice. “There is awful. I think the best thing is just an overall
regarding any questions they might have one main detractor, which is that the image may lose disclaimer somewhere tidy on the front end of the
concerning this valuable genre. Artists can also impact so it won’t be shown in its best light, crucial if site. I’ve seen my work printed in magazines blatantly
post threads if they are looking for something in you plan on selling your pieces,” adds Spice. Play from a low-res source from the net. Obviously, I’m
particular for a piece that they are working on.” around with the Save For Web function in Photoshop thrilled someone is interested, and in the most part all
to see how your work will look at different sizes while exposure is good exposure, but I wish the effort had
aiming to keep the resolution, 72dpi, the same. been made to get better-quality examples.” Much of
I like Creative Commons

licensing because it allows
The spirit of collaboration and sharing is central to collaboration and shared
online communities such as deviantART
ownership – Jonathan Williams
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Digital watermark You can add copyright information to Photoshop images and notify users that an image is copyright-
step-by-step
protected via a digital watermark that uses Digimarc technology. Digimarc software is included as standard
in Photoshop and a Digimarc ImageReader is also available
1. Embed a watermark into 2. Digimarc

your image Professional Edition
3. Read a Digimarc
watermark in Photoshop
To begin, from the Photoshop menu, head to For those serious about protecting their images, In order to read a Digimarc watermark, choose
Filter>Digimarc>Embed Watermark. Next, decide Digimarc offers a series of subscriptions, starting at Filter>Digimarc>Read Watermark. If the filter finds
upon your image attributes, then enter your around $79 and rising to $499. Coinciding with the a watermark, then a dialog box will display the
copyright year and set the strength of the digital release of Adobe Creative Suite 4 (CS4), Digimarc creator ID, copyright year (if this is present) and
watermark, too. Click the Personalize… button to introduced a new version featuring improved image attributes. Select OK, or if you want to find
enter your own Digimarc ID and PIN. If you don’t robustness for image format transformations, resizing out more information then click Web Lookup. The
already have one, never fear, because you can and compression, as well as improved Search Service Digimarc website will be displayed in your web
purchase one from the Digimarc website at www. with expanded website coverage and monthly browser, where contact details appear for the given
digimarc.com. reports of where customer images are located online. creator ID.
what Bessant does is already in the public domain, in Creative Commons

shops and online stores, so he sees little point in Like Marc Bessant, Jonathan Williams (www.
protecting images that could be easily copied jonathanwilliams.co.uk) is popular and in demand.
elsewhere. Any designer who respects what they do As an illustrator with a distinctive style and work
wouldn’t dream of wholesale copying another showcased across the internet, on websites including
designer’s image. That said, ideas are hard to AOI Portfolios, Altpick, Behance Network, Creative
copyright, and that’s a grey area for Bessant and many Shake, theispot.com and the TAXI Design Network, it’s
others: “If people are going to copy, then they are not hard to find suitably impressive examples of his
going to copy regardless of scale. It must make it a work. Again, Williams has yet to see his work copied,
little harder to do the smaller you go, but the idea but increasingly clients are calling for work freely
itself is unprotected at any size.” available online to be protected: “I haven’t been
Plagiarism in art, design, music, literature, fashion ripped off (yet) so I’ve never felt a need to watermark
and many other creative areas is clearly a problem, online images. Recently, a handful of clients have
difficult to define and ultimately, hard to prove, asked me to protect images they have commissioned
especially in a court of law. “Possibly, we are all from being downloaded. As the potential for online
influenced by the things we see and the web is the digital promotion grows, it seems that clients, more
biggest crystal ball ever,” says Bessant. “Anything that than ever, want to control and restrict the use of
goes into your head potentially might end up part of commissioned work.”
what you do. I’m talking more about ideas and Recently, Creative Commons (http://
concepts really, though, rather than straight line-for- creativecommons.org) licences, which provide a
line plagiarism.” While the designer has, to his flexible range of protections and freedom for authors,
knowledge, never been plagiarised, he’s seen some artists and educators, have begun to appeal. For
sorry and shoddy reproductions of his work. “If I have Williams, it has the potential to offer the best of both
been ripped off then I haven’t seen it online, although worlds: “I see artists borrowing ideas and techniques
sadly I’ve seen plenty of bootleg band T-shirts laid out from each other all the time, and can’t help
on pavements outside venues over the years that I wondering if ‘intellectual property’ is, in fact, far more
had nothing to do with that have my design all over fluid and communal than traditional copyright SCOUTING FOR GIRLS: Since graduating from the
them and, of course, the pirate CD market is rife. All admits. I like Creative Commons licensing because it Edinburgh College of Art in 1993, Jonathan Williams has
worked as both illustrator and art director. His images
the elements for dodgy replication are up there allows collaboration and shared ownership, while also have appeared in major publications, books and retail
online, but hopefully the savvy consumer will spot recognising the professional artist’s right to receive outlets across Europe, America and Australia
the rubbish.” payment for original artwork.” © JONATHAN WILLIAMS
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resources
d’artiste: Matte Painting 2

The second edition of this essential guide, taking the title a step forward
Author/Publisher: Ballistic Publishing over 30 Hollywood blockbuster movies, so the
Web: www.ballisticpublishing.com techniques related are up to date and will
Price: $69 (approx £45) Standard Case; $170 (approx definitely enhance your application and
£112) Limited Edition. Both editions plus shipping matte painting skills.
About: Partnered with Daniel Dociu, Mélanie Delon, The representation of the tutorials in the
Don Seegmiller and Marta Dahling first edition is similar within Matte Painting 2, with the artists’
208 full-colour attractive pages insights providing initial concepts, right through to painting
12 detailed tutorials techniques and revealing a few tricks to complete stunning
Extra inspiration in Invited Artist gallery compositions. However, this title has also taken a progressive
200 Limited Editions available step forward by including software interfaces, applied
toolsets and Layer palette structures in the tutorial
W hen we get a Ballistic book into the office, we go,

well, ballistic for the exquisite art that these titles
present. The d’artiste titles, including this latest release Matte
thumbnails. This bridges the gap from it being a mere fan-
based title to something far more educational. Such changes
are small due to the already outstanding nature of Ballistic
BONUS PRINTS: A set of four are yours free
when you purchase d’artiste: Matte Painting 2
Limited Edition. Featuring Yusei Uesugi, Max
Dennison and Chris Thunig, as well as the cover
Painting 2, offer an eclectic mix of popular culture and innovative books, yet are nevertheless beneficial.
artist, Frederic St-Arnaud
imagery that get the imagination soaring. But what sets this title Each artist within the title showcases a gallery of
range apart is how you are allowed to feed your imagination like commercial and personal works, as well as designated
Summary: As the saying goes, ‘if it ain’t
most books, but then put it onto the digital canvas using the sections presenting works of invited artists, those heralded as
broke, don’t fix it’. Of course, this title
inclusive tutorial resources. some of the most talented digital artists in the world isn’t radical in any way, yet it is diligent
The quality of the work within this title has matched the presently. You’ll also find case studies regarding works on Star enough in evolving visual capacity
previous standard of Matte Painting’s first edition, perhaps Wars: Episode III, Lord Of The Rings, Assassin’s Creed, Kingdom Of and understanding.
even excelled it. Master artists include Yusei Uesugi, Max Heaven and much more. And so, the inspirational element of Rating: 4/5
Dennison and Chris Thunig, and these guys have worked in this title is not lost.
Vormator – The Elements of Design

A two-year project culminates in this fantastic design-led book
Author/Publisher: BIS Publishers
even in restricted circumstances, creativity would
Web: www.vormator.com
flourish. The project succeeded and provided readers
Price: £32 (approximately $48)
with this lush, vivid artistic resource.
About: 90 contributing designers
The creative value of the examples within this title is
192 pages
unparalleled in diversity. Each delivers a lavish variant
Full-colour hard cover
in approach, application, composition and subsequent
Conception through to finished artwork
design. Character design, complex collage, portrait art
Insightful narration of every project
and decorative graphic design are but a few of the
styles to digest in its 192, full-colour pages. The artist
Z eptonn has once again produced an enjoyable visual

delicacy, this time by teaming up with Booreiland to
deliver its own creative initiative, Vormator.
or design studios, relating their thoughts, feelings and
influences, narrate each case study. This becomes an
intriguing insight into the minds as well as the methods of
Essentially, this title, as well as the subsequent brief that some of your favourite artists, and you’ll no doubt find quite a
initiated its production, is brilliant in its simplicity and really few of them gracing these pages. Included are Carlos Andrés
has developed huge entertainment value. Presenting a simple Serrano, DGPH, MAKI and Timo Böse.
LAVISH: Over 80 designers’ works are presented
set of eight vector shapes, in this instance called Elements, Once again, it’s not the strictest title in terms of education, within this title to form a catalogue of fresh, fun
artists were challenged to create designs with these over a however, there is enough conception and finished artwork, and vivid pieces of art for your viewing pleasure
period of two years. The fundamental idea was to prove that with progressive step-by-step image creation, to inspire and
Summary: It’s such a simple concept –
get your creative minds ticking over time, which is a great
Disc resources: To coincide with the launch of this title, just eight elements to create a design
feature at all times. If we are perfectly honest, from the point
creators Zeptonn and Booreiland have teamed up with from – but it’s amazing to see what can
of laying eyes on its wonderfully aesthetic pages, we fell in be done. More inspirational than
Advanced Photoshop, providing the Vormator vector
love with this title. Vormator: The Elements of Design is a real educational, but worth every penny.
elements set that inspired the Vormator project. You can
extravaganza of shape, colour and creativity, and a must-have Rating: 5/5
find these on our resource CD free in this issue.
item for your own personal collection.
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resources
Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-On-One
Just one of many expected Photoshop CS4 titles to launch, but does feature-packed
tome make a good start?
name and hosts the instructional video that ships from Adobe
Author/Publisher: Deke McClelland/O’Reilly
with Photoshop CS4.
Web: www.oreilly.com
However familiar it is in aesthetics to previous titles, even
Price: £30/$49.99
using some of the same images and projects, Adobe
About: 12 self-paced tutorials
Photoshop CS4 One-On-One undoubtedly makes up for this
Over four hours of video tutorials
with the plethora of new topics it unearths. All of this is
Nearly 1,000 full-colour artworks, diagrams
presented in an easy-to-understand fashion and it comes with
and screenshots
a bonus DVD of content as well.
Multiple-choice quizzes
From the word go, you are instructed why and how to
install a handful of files, including QuickTime videos, exercise
W ith the launch of Adobe Creative Suite 4 and the

subsequent advances in Photoshop’s latest
incarnation, many of us will be scratching our heads at how
files and a custom collection of keyboard shortcuts, so you
get the best from the teachings within its pages. These
teachings include everything from Bridge CS4’s face-lift, to
to master some of the new options and tool additions that navigating the new CS4 interface – and much more.
THE REAL DEAL: This book allows you to learn
are included. Editorial how-to titles will no doubt be springing In order to keep you interested, this isn’t a book that through real-world projects, where you’ll try out
up all over the place, and Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-On-One is a trundles through the inner workings of CS4. Instead it gives practical Photoshop techniques
good starting point. you practical advice that you can apply to projects as you
Summary: A title that will make you feel
This practical and considerate title leaves little to chance, learn. It promotes this through some nice extras that include
comfortable and motivated about
dissecting important features and functions into meticulous, the tried-and-trusted book CD. On here, you can find over learning to use the latest Photoshop
bite-sized resources for readers to follow at their own pace. four hours’ worth of tutorials with coinciding image and upgrade, and one that will ultimately
Essentially, this title will become an integrated training device resource files. Scattered throughout this title are also multiple- improve your understanding and skills.
to accompany your new software, with teachings from choice questions to really keep you on your toes and test your Rating: 4/5
Photoshop expert Deke McClelland. He has 80 titles to his expanding knowledge of Photoshop CS4.
Exotique 4
A title that will blow you away with its stunning examples of
the very best digital character creations
Author/Publisher: Ballistic Publishing
(from around 45 countries –
Web: www.ballisticpublishing.com
a record in this series),
Price: $52 (approx £34) Soft Cover; $115 (approx £75)
Exotique 4 delivers above
Limited Edition. Both editions plus shipping
and beyond the expected aesthetic value.
About: 215 artists from over 45 countries
This title looks to be the benchmark for CG character art
322 pieces of inspiring work
books. Its included 208 full-colour glossy pages packed with
Exclusive works from the world’s leading
digital design never let up. This edition’s examples seem even
CG artists
more tangible and lavish than last time round, covering a
Thumbnail, single-and double-page images
plethora of genres, such as sci-fi, fantasy, modelling and
Extensive artist contact index
nostalgia. Exclusive artworks from some of the world’s finest
talents are also on display, including Bobby Chiu, Jonas
T his book seriously has the ‘wow’ factor. Discreetly posted

to us at the office in a formal brown cardboard package,
when opened our jaws just dropped. From its extravagantly
Thornqvist and Kuang Hong.
With this Ballistic title, Photoshop artists won’t strictly learn
anything in particular, but you will be truly inspired to. Each
LIMITED EDITION: As with most Ballistic
Publishing titles, a Limited Edition is available,
coloured cover, bursting with electric blue and jazzy orange (the example represents the best ways to present colour, form and which comes with four bonus prints
softcover edition), with a modish urban artworked model energy in a composition, hinting at the application required
striking a pose oozing with cool, we just knew we were in for an through the standard of style. You’ll discover imaginative and Summary: Exotique 4 has set a
art resource full of innovative attractive designs. professional ways to apply software, including Adobe precedent in delivering the world’s
leading lights in one innovative title.
Once pulling ourselves away from the initial creative Photoshop and Illustrator, SketchBook Pro, 3ds Max, Poser,
Jam-packed with contemporary styles
onslaught of the cover, we dared to open its pages. We were mental ray and more.
and applications, it can’t fail to inspire
surprised. You’d think that for all the promise, this book would But if there’s anything you need to know, then Exotique 4 and excite each and every consumer.
have some wonderful designs, but it didn’t. They were even provides an extensive artist index in the back pages, including
Rating: 5/5
better than that. Demonstrating artists from across the globe point-of-contact emails and websites.
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resources
Mudbox 2009
Digital sculpting that aims to bridge the gap between polygon and pixel,
Autodesk’s latest modelling software release is put under the spotlight
T he ability to create massively detailed

objects, combined with extremely rapid
results, has resulted in digital sculpting
software becoming a staple of 3D content
creation in the film, visual effects and
gaming industries.
Mudbox positions itself as an asset rather
than a fully fledged 3D application, fitting into
your current workflow. While it has a powerful
and comprehensive set of sculpting (and now
texturing) features, it is clear that Autodesk
intends it to complement the larger 3D
applications rather than replace them. It ships
with a standard set of default 3D primitives to
work with: a human head, full figure, box,
sphere, etc.
All of these are functional starting points, but
most artists will need to move beyond their
limitations when creating assets for production.
Any custom geometry therefore must be
created in a separate application and imported
into Mudbox. While this is a relationship that
“Perhaps the most works fairly well, it’s unfortunate to note that Real-time effects: Along with real-time
shadowing, Mudbox 2009 can also use image-
prominent addition Mudbox does not support Autodesk’s own FBX

file format at present.
based lighting to give an accurate preview of
how the final product will appear in situ
to Mudbox 2009 is At its core are a series of sculpting brushes,

each affecting the shape and surface of the workflow, allowing the artist to make drastic
the ability to paint object in numerous ways. A number of the

brushes have changed since the previous
changes to a model without committing to it.
Like Photoshop, layers can be merged,
texture directly version in both name and function, although flattened, turned on or off and even controlled
onto a model”
exploration and implementation show that by a mask. Another nice touch is that Mudbox
these changes are a genuine improvement. allows the opacity of each layer to become
Even for those with no previous experience of negative, so details that were pressed into a
the software, the brushes behave in a natural character’s body can be pushed outward and
and intuitive way. Use the Knife brush and a vice versa.
clean groove is carved into the surface; switch Perhaps the most prominent addition to
to the Scrape brush and it’s possible to carve Mudbox 2009 is the ability to paint texture
away sharp corners. On top of this, the effects directly onto a model. Often touted as a major
of each brush can be controlled with a ‘stamp’, selling point of its rivals, it’s clear that this was
a template image that alters the shape much an area the development team have spent a lot
like Photoshop’s own brushes. A welcome of time addressing. Painting itself is a
addition is the Steady Stroke option, which deceptively simple affair. Mudbox offers a
results in the brush dragging behind the seemingly limited set of tools: a Paintbrush,
cursor, naturally smoothing out the wobble of Airbrush, Pencil, Eraser, Color Picker and
your hand and helping to keep the surface of Projection brush. However, combining these
the model clean and smooth. Use Mudbox tools with one another, along with the use of
with a graphics tablet and its sculpting stamps and stencils, allows for a surprising
brushes come into their own. The entire amount of variation. The Projection brush is
process not only feels extremely organic, but especially powerful, allowing any external
the tools themselves feel geared toward fast, image to be laid over the screen and then
effective feedback. ‘rubbed’ onto the surface from any angle.
Traditional into digital: Combining a stamp,
it’s possible to vary the texture of the sculpting strokes, The ability to store the sculpting information Another benefit of Mudbox’s painting is that
mimicking the effect of real-life tools in layers offers an invaluable, nondestructive the resolution of a texture isn’t dependant on
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resources
Stencil painting
Paint in Mudbox with photos
1 Loading the image

Load your image in as a stamp for
controlling the brush shape, or as a stencil.
2 Placing the stencil

In the 3D view, position and scale the
texture over the object’s surface. Rotate
around and the stencil will remain in place.
MAKING LIGHT WORK: Mudbox can handle
extremely complex geometry. It’s not uncommon for
single objects to reach multiple millions of polygons
EXTRACT AND EXPORT: Final assets can be

exported at varying levels of quality. Fine details can be
extracted as textures for real-time assets, such as in-
game characters/props
the density of the mesh, so it’s possible to paint

highly detailed texture maps directly onto a
3
low-polygon object, such as an in-game asset
or background element. Painting onto the object
Texturing isn’t limited to colour either. ambient occlusion, can give a more accurate Using the Projection brush, rub the
Mudbox has multiple channels, meaning that preview of the finished article and most information from the photograph onto the
it’s possible to paint bump maps for fine detail importantly, bypass the need to export to surface of the geometry.
or specular maps, and see their effect on the another application to do so. The 2009 release
model’s surface in real-time. As with sculpting, is a giant step for Mudbox, as the inclusion of
textures are stored in layers that can be faded texture painting, 64-bit support and general
over one another or turned on/off completely. performance enhancements make it an
However, it is only possible to alter a layer’s important asset to any 3D pipeline. 5
opacity at present; there are no Photoshop
blending modes, nor is it currently possible to Manufacturer: Autodesk
rearrange their order. Along with its limited Web: www.autodesk.com
ability to manipulate images, Mudbox is really Price: £450/$745
another tool in the texturing process as Spec: 32-bit: XP Pro SP2 or Vista
4
opposed to an all-in-one solution. This is what Business SP1; 64-bit: XP Pro x64
the developers are aware of, and while it is SP2 or Vista Business SP1 Sculpting more detail
possible to edit a texture in Mudbox and 32-bit: Intel Pentium 4 (or You can then use the stencil as a
Photoshop simultaneously, Mudbox does not equivalent); 64-bit: Intel EM64T, guideline or even as a mask to sculpt more
support the PSD file format, which makes the AMD Athlon 64 or Opteron detail into the object’s surface.
process of sharing data between the two 1GB RAM (2GB recommended)
applications unnecessarily cumbersome. 650MB HD (2GB recommended)
The other major addition is the strong Hardware OpenGL graphics card
emphasis on presentation. Users can create
Summary: Mudbox 2009 offers a superb and
and store multiple lighting setups and camera
powerful toolset for both creating and
views to display the model in the most
texturing 3D assets. However, it does require
appropriate way.
a powerful system to implement all of its
Image-based lighting, real-time shadows
features effectively.
and the new Viewport Filters, which offer
Rating: 4/5
effects such as real-time depth of field and
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resources
Spyder3Elite
Is this the most innovative Datacolor calibration system to date?
Manufacturer: Datacolor
Web: www.datacolor.com
Price: €175 (approximately £145)/$249
About: StudioMatch Assistant
Increases light sensitivity by 400 per cent
Seven detector colour engine
LCD, CRT, projector as well as notebook
displays recognised
New SpyderProof function
B rought to you by Datacolor, the latest edition in this

product range promises users a next-generation
solution in colour calibration. Competing in an ever-
expanding market as artists and designers realise the
importance of colour control, just how does the Spyder3Elite
compare? We examined the product to find out.
The first thing you notice about the Spyder3Elite, as with its
siblings in the Datacolor range, is its unique design. In a
creative-related market, aesthetics at times can be just as
important as functionality, and this product certainly has sex
appeal. Its chrome black or reflective silver finish, ambient
light sensor and LED indicator certainly provide the Controls, means that users can design settings to suit a variety LEVELS OF PRECISION: Spyder3
appearance you’d associate with a state-of-the-art product. of specific workstations. automatically measures the ambient light
within a room for a new level of precision
With its smaller footprint and practical device cradle, it’s Calibration times are accurate, consistent and time efficient calibration. This is all down to its embedded
certainly a sleek, discreet addition to your workspace. The with the Spyder3Elite. The device’s ReCAL science really does next-generation, high-precision sensor
only potential pitfall to the design is its inclusion of a suction reduce full calibration times, as we discovered, to significantly
cup, which we find can be a nuisance in securing and under three minutes. This option also allows you to instance Profile. Not only does this allow
detaching, as well as dirtying the screen. However, there is an recalibrate far more frequently to adjust for different you to set and save specific modified
included counterweight that resolves any issues that you photoshoots or postproduction in your design products. calibrations, but it also allows you to make
might have. Coinciding with the device’s automated functions is the profiles of uncalibrated screens by clicking
However, beyond the futuristic façade, the Spyder3Elite StudioMatch command, which can be found in the Actions Calibration Off before selecting Profile.
delivers technology that undoubtedly excels the drop-down menu. This option essentially makes sure that the The Validation option will measure,
workstation’s colour capabilities. This device provides dual- brightness, tone response and black-and-white luminance confirm and compare calibration to target
mode software, which directs users through an easy-to- corresponds across one or more connected machines, which values. The closer the final readings, the
follow walkthrough console that ultimately gives you full is a great function for studio environments. better the calibration result. Selecting
control over colour and calibration settings. Sophisticated You may think that Spyder3Elite is an intuitive product – Expert Console, all values are then
recognition of display type, various control configurations, and you’d be right. However, it also supplies advanced presented at once in the Options dialog
including Brightness, Contrast and Backlight as well as Color editable options, again available in the Actions set, for box. This option set is particularly useful
for those familiar with advanced settings
and operations of calibrations.
A useful option is the SpyderProof
screen. Presented at the end of your
calibration process, this screen provides
carefully selected images when launched.
Users are able to see how calibrations have
acclimatised and enhanced shadow,
highlights, colour detail and tonal
response in these image scenarios.
Summary: Undoubtedly a sophisticated

product suitable for sophisticated
photographers that will evolve colour
calibration. The StudioMatch Assistant
INNOVATIONS: This product has the industry’s only seven-detector CONTINUOUS ACTIVITY: Unlimited user-defined choices for white and other automated options help
colour engine and largest light aperture. These make for an optimal point, gamma, white luminance and black luminance give you full make it a useful solution for enthusiasts,
efficient performance control of your digital colour workflow price permitted.
Rating: 4/5
90
Advanced Photoshop
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Advanced Photoshop Issue 052

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34MINS OF

PROFESSIONAL HOW TO...

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which is why I wanted to make sure Designer Stacey Grove

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THE COVER Peer Pressure 74

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We review and rate the new features in CS4 Extended

MASTER GRAPHICAL ART 7 42 DISPLACEMENT MAPS 7

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ENSEMBLE: Created by interactive developer

Let the games begin!

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Adobe Configurator available now

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DEKE The premise of its operation is that a simple stroke on the