by Chad Neuman

This technique can be useful when creating brochure, web site, or poster designs. Creating duplicated layers from selections and then applying layer styles to them is a simple yet effective technique. Let’s get started.

Step 1
Open an image in Adobe Photoshop.

Step 2
Press Cmd-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the Background layer so we’re working on a copy.

Step 3
Select the Marquee Selection tool and click-and-drag a square (Hold Shift to create a square rather than a rectangle).

Step 4
We need to save the exact square shape for all three layers we will make, so go to Select>Save Selection and name and save it.

Step 5
Next, press Cmd-J (Ctrl-J) to duplicate just what was selected. I click the Eye icon on Layer 1 and the Background layer to show the new layer, Layer 2.

Step 6
Click Layer 1 in the Layers palette to make sure it is selected, and go to Select>Load Selection.

Step 7
Now we need to move the selection to the right. With the Marquee Selection tool selected, hover the mouse inside the edge of the selection and it should turn into an arrow. Holding Shift to maintain a straight line, click-and-drag the selection to the right until it is a few picas over. You may want to use the Rulers (View>Rulers) to make sure you’ve dragged the selection over enough so it does not overlap where the original selection was. Then click Cmd-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate another area to a new layer. I clicked the Eye icon on Layer 1 and the Background layer again to show these two new layers.

Step 8
Next, repeat steps 6 and 7 but move the selection over even more an even amount so we can duplicate a third layer. Try toggling Layer 1 on and off with the Eye icon to make sure we duplicate the area at about an even interval. It doesn’t have to be exact unless your design calls for it; I am mostly worried about avoiding overlapping.

Step 9
Now let’s add some layer styles. With Layer 2 selected, apply a layer style by going to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Try the settings shown here.

Step 10
Now instead of having to add a layer style to each again with those steps, we can press Option (PC: Alt) and click-and-drag the Drop Shadow from Layer 2 to Layer 3 and Layer 4 in the Layers palette.

Step 11
There we go!

Try different layer styles by clicking-and-dragging the styles to the trash icon on the Layers palette and then applying new ones.

This one has a Stroke and Inner Shadow applied.

This one has an Outer Glow, Inner Glow, and Drop Shadow

by Chad Neuman

Here’s another way to create a Holga effect. Some Holga photos have varying hues or vignettes, and the one shown here. But others have a faded out focus on parts of the photo and a faded look. Here’s how to achieve that in Photoshop.

Step 1
Open Adobe Photoshop and open an image you’d like to use.

I chose this photo by Joey Nelson at iStockPhoto.

Step 2
Press Cmd-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the Background layer.

Step 3
Next, let’s add a blur to the copied layer. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. The amount of blur depends on the size of the photo. This photo I am working with is very large, so I set the blur to 15 pixels. You may try 3 or 4 pixels or so if hte photos is much smaller.

Step 4
We need to add a mask to the Layer 1 to mask out parts of the blurred layer. Click the Add Layer Mask on the bottom of the Layers palette. This will create a white box on Layer 1.

Step 5
Choose a large, soft-edged brush, and set the Foreground color to black and click once in the photo to mask out part of the blurred layer.

Step 6
Next, click the Create a New Layer icon on the bottom of the Layers palette. Choose an orange Foreground color (I chose #ffc000) and press Option-Delete (Mac: Alt-Backspace) to fill the layer with this color. Change the Layer Blending Mode of this layer to Multiply.

Step 7
Change the Opacity of this layer to 50% and go to Filter>Distort>Lens Correction. Drag the Vignette slider to the left to create a dark border. I chose -100. Multiply blending mode is subtle, but try Color Burn and the look even looks more like a Holga.

Step 8
There we go! This is another way to create a Holga look.

by Chad Neuman

Holga cameras were created in China decades ago in order to create an affordable camera for the masses. Now hipsters and artists alike have discovered the Holga, taking photos that often turn out very suprising. Waiting for the photos to develop results in often desaturated photos, vignettes, and extra saturated areas on the photos. Here’s one way to add a Holga look to a normal photo by using Photoshop.
Step 1
Open holga.jpg, a photo of my friend Roxanne, in Adobe Photoshop.

Step 2
Double-click on the Background layer and click OK to make it a normal layer. Go to Filter>Distort>Lens Correction. Change the Vignette amount to -100 and the Vignette Midpoint to +40.

Step 3
Next, press Cmd-J (Ctrl-J) to duplicate the layer. Now let’s desaturate the top layer somewhat. Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and set the Saturation to -22. This effect is very subtle so far, and you can click the Eye icon to see the difference.

Step 4
Click the Eye icon on the top layer to make the top layer transparent for now. Click the bottom layer to edit it.

Step 5
Next, go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Change the Saturation to +100.

Step 6
Click the Eye icon on the top layer to turn off its transparency. Click the top layer to edit it, and the click the Add layer mask icon on the bottom of the Layers palette.

Step 7
Next, be sure to click the white mask box on the top layer in the Layers palette. Then, choose a soft brush, 300 pixels. Set the Foreground color to black. Click once in various areas and along the edges to simulate the Holga look seen in some photos.

Step 8
Finally, go to Filter>Distort>Lens Correction and set a Vignette to darken at -75 since we need more of a black edging for that vignette look that is often seen in photos taken with a Holga.

by Chad Neuman

We can use Adobe Photoshop not just for editing photos but for creating artistic design and effects as well. Here’s one way to create an interesting and aesthetically-pleasing look.

Step 1
Open Adobe Photoshop and go to File>New and set the Width and Height to 1000 pixels. Click OK.

Step 2
Set the Foreground color to a dark color such as dark blue, black, red, etc., by clicking the Foreground Color Picker on the bottom of the Tools palette. I set it to #09005e. Click OK.

Step 3
Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the Background layer with this dark color.

Step 4
Next, press the Create a New Layer icon on the bottom of the Layers palette. Choose the Brush tool and set the Foreground color to white. Set the brush size to 700 pixels, soft-edged.

Step 5
Click the brush once just along the side of the canvas.

Step 6
Click the Move tool and make sure Show Transform Controls is selected up on the Options palette. Click-and-drag the side of this layer to make it about this size and press Return (PC: Enter) to apply the changes.

Step 7
Next, click Cmd-J (PC: Cntrl-J) four times to duplicate this layer so we have five layers with the brush pixels we just created.

Step 8
With the top layer selected (Layer 1 copy 4), go to Filter>Distort>Twirl and set the twirl to -100 and click OK. With the Move tool, move this layer slightly to the right and we can see the effect.

Step 9
Repeat step 8 but for the four other layers with the brush pixels on them: Layer 1 copy 3, Layer 1 copy 2, Layer 1 copy, and Layer 1. But instead of -100, set the Twirl to -50, 50, 100, and 150. Using the Move tool to move the layers around, we can see the various shapes.

Step 10
Next, rotate the various layers with the wavy shapes by hovering the mouse cursor near the corner of the transform controls and click-and-drag. Try various angles, my example looks like this.

Step 11
Click the Create a New Layer icon on the Layers palette, and click once with the Brush tool in various areas of the canvas with various colors. Change the Layer Blending Mode to Soft Light. Now we have a nice piece of art for a design.

by Chad Neuman

Here are a few techniques to create an “electrifying” design. Using soft white brushes is a popular technique in creating a hip layout, but we’ll use a few other techniques as well to create this design, including threshold, hue/saturation adjustments, and layer blending modes.

Step 1
Download the support files and open telephone pole.jpg in Adobe Photoshop.

Step 2
Go to Image>Threshold and change the Threshold Level to 179.

Step 3
Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and change the levels to the numbers shown here.

Step 4
Open “telephone pole2.jpg” and go to Image>Adjustments>Threshold and change the Threshold Level to 64.

Step 5
Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and change the levels to those shown here.

Step 6
Click the Move tool (the tool at the top of the Toolbar) and click-and-drag “telephone pole2.jpg” onto “telephone pole.jpg.”

Step 7
Make sure Show Tranform Controls is selected on the Options palette, and click-and-drag a corner with the Move tool and enlargen the top layer so it covers the Background layer.

Step 8
Change the Layer Blending mode on the Layers palette to Color Burn.

Step 9
Open kelly.psd and click-and-drag the layer with the Move tool onto the other image. Click-and-drag a corner with the Move tool to resize the image a bit. Hold Shift to maintain proportion.

Step 10
Go to File>Place and place “scan5.jpg” and make sure Show Tranform Controls is selected on the Options palette. Rotate it using the Move tool and make it larger by clicking-and-dragging on a corner.

Step 11
Click-and-drag the scan5 layer below Layer 2. Change the Layer Blending mode of scan5 to Multiply.

Step 12
Select Layer 2, the layer with my friend Kelly on it. Go to Layer>Layer Style>Stroke. Change the stroke color to White and the Size to 6.

Step 13
Click the New Layer icon on the bottom of the Layers palette and choose to Brush tool. Change the brush to the soft brush, 27.

Step 14
Click on various areas of the art, changing the size of the brush by pressing the left and right brackets.

 Now we have a nice design which adds interest to the overall photo look.

by Chad Neuman

Photo mosaics are photos comprised of many other photos. Photos are places in square or rectangle areas of the image, almost like pixels. Each photo has a certain hue that matches what the part of the master photo should be. Here’s a quicker way than trying to find photos that match specific parts of a photo.

Instead of having the hue in each photo represent that area of the master photo, we’ll have the color of the master photo show through to the tiled photos. And instead of having to find dozens or hundreds of photos, we’ll just need a few. This technique can be used for advertisements, personal photos, promotional brochures, annual reports, and other creative designs.

Step 1
Open up a photo of what you want to be the master photo. You may try having a few people’s faces make up another person’s face, or photos of nature making up another photo of nature. For my example, I am going to have different coastal nature photos to comprise a photo of a woman’s face. Be sure to use the Crop tool to crop closely along the face.

Step 2
Next, get four photos you’d like to use as the texture of the master photo. We could use two photos and checkerboard them, but let’s use four for this example. As you can see, these photos are quite large and need to be made much smaller to be the tiles.

Step 3
Select the Crop tool and up on the Options palette, set the Height and Width to 25 px, 50 px, or 75, depending on how big you want the tiles to be. Also change the resolution preset to what the resolution of the master photo is. For my example, it’s 72 pixels per inch. Note: Be sure to set the Width and Height to pixels, otherwise it may enter inches by default and the image will be too large.

Step 4
Next, click-and-drag to crop all four photos to the preset size. Either press Return (PC: Enter) or double-click inside the crop area after drawing the crop. Then multiply whatever width and height you set it to by two, and then create a new file with this for width and height. Since I set mine to 75 pixels each, my new file will be 150 pixels by 150 pixels. Make sure the resolution is the same as what the preset was set to. Name it tile.

Step 5
Next, select the Move tool and click-and-drag the four photos onto the new file to make a checkboard pattern. After moving, try the keyboard arrows to fine-tune the placement. Each new placed photo will be on its own layer.

Step 6
Desaturate the image by going to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate for each layer, or merge the layers first by pressing Cmd-E (Ctrl-E) and then desaturate. Go to Edit>Define Pattern and name it something appropriate, such as “beach photos” or “tile.”

Step 7
Make sure there are not a lot of blank pixels, or too bright pixels, in the tile. This can cause the final result to look funny. I noticed the upper right hand photo had too much brightness on the top so I replaced it with another beach photo.

Step 8
Next, open the original master photo. Click the Create New Layer icon on the Layers palette. Go to Edit>Fill and select Pattern. Change the Custom Pattern to the pattern we just created. Make sure Mode is Normal and Opacity is 100%.

Step 9
This will fill the second layer with the pattern. In the Layers palette, change the Layer Blending Mode of the top layer to Overlay. There we have it, a photo mosaic!

Bonus Step
Let’s say you want to create a photo mosaic that actually uses the original hues from the tiled photos to make up a larger photo, instead of having the hues overlay onto the tiled photos like in this technique. You’ll need many more photos with varying hues and patterns and a computer program to do that, unless you have a lot of time on your hands. PC users go to http://www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/ and MAC users go to http://homepage.mac.com/knarf/MacOSaiX/Download.html and download the program to do this. There are some pretty neat examples, including Van Gogh’s starry night consisting of many different photos.

by Chad Neuman

Adding color to a photograph can be a useful technique in Adobe Photoshop. Whether it is adding color to an old family photography or colorizing a photo you took in sepia or black and white, this technique adds a different look to those grayscale images. There are actually a few different ways to accomplish this with different variations and looks, and I cover a few of them here. Let’s get started.

Step 1
Open a black and white, sepia, or similiar photo in Photoshop. I got this one from the weekly free photo at iStockPhoto: http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=9494535

(C) MICHAEL FERNAHL/ISTOCKPHOTO

Step 2
One way to add color to an area is to make a selection and adjust the hue. First, press Cmd-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the Background layer in the Layers palette. This will add a duplicated layer titled “Layer 1.” This way we will work on a duplicated layer, so if we mess up with the adjustments we can delete the layer and duplicate again (or of course undo or use the History palette).

Step 3
Next, make a selection with a selection tool of an area to adjust the hue. I selected the grassy area using the Polygonal Lasso tool. Tip: Press the spacebar when using the tool to turn the cursor into the Hand tool to move around the canvas (so we can keep the selection tool selected but still move around the canvas). Also, press Cmd and the plus or minus sign (PC: Ctrl and the plus or minus sign) to zoom in or out even while using a selection tool.

Step 4
In this example, the grass blade near the bottom are not in the selection. That is okay, since we’ll be using another technique to colorize those. Round out the selection so the entire area that we’d like to colorize a certain hue is selected.

Step 5
Next, we need to adjust the hue within the selection. Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Click the Colorize checkbox to check it. I adjusted the Hue to 115 to make the grass green, the Saturation to 25, and I did not adjust the Lightness. I adjusted the Hue for a more subtle green here. Tip: Adjust the edges of the selections by going to Select>Modify>Feather to have a slightly softer edge. For my example I kept the edges unmodified.

Step 6
The selection and hue adjustment is one way to colorize areas of a photo, but here’s another technique. Do not de-select the area just yet. First, click the New Layer icon on the bottom of the Layers palette. This will create a new layer called “Layer 2.”

Step 7
Next, go to Select>Invese to select the inverted area of the photo. Make sure Layer 2 is highlighted in the Layers palette, and then choose the Brush tool in the Tools palette. Click the Foreground color on the bottom of the Tools palette and select a color to paint onto the photo. I chose #663a0c, a brown hue to paint the wooded background in this photo. Click-and-drag to paint the area. Don’t worry about losing the texture; we will fix that soon. Notice that having the selection prevents us from painting over the previously-selected area, in this case, the grass. Tip: Press the left or right bracket to adjust the side of the brush during brushing.

Step 8
The next step is the important one to avoid losing the texture of the underlying layer. Change the Layer Blending Mode of the Layer 2 to something like Multiply, Overlay, or other mode which will have the texture of the underlying show through but the hue of the brush layer be visible as well. For this example, Darken works best for a unique, vintage look.

Step 9
Click the Create New Layer icon on the Layers palette and paint another color onto another area to adjust the hue. Repeate this for the various areas, so each new area that needs a different hue is a different layer with an adjusted layer blending mode. For the flesh color, I changed that layer to Overlay blending mode and the Opacity to 35% and the Fill to 50% to be more subtle. If you’re using this photo as an example, remember to paint a new layer for the grass blades we missed earlier. For the lips, I chose Soft Light layer blending mode with an Opacity set to 50%.

by Chad Neuman

Sometimes a print or online project needs an outline-type silhouette instead of an actual photo, in order to illustrate a project. By using the Threshold tool and the Gradient tool, we can make a few unique effects to complement a print of online design.

Step 1
Open up an image that has a clearly-defined outline that differentiates elements within the photo. Download one of these two support files to follow along with these examples, which are in the public domain because they were taken by the government.

Download Support Files
CSA-2006-10-10-112726

CSA-2006-10-31-094952

Step 2
Go to Image>Adjustments>Threshold.

Step 3
Drag the arrow so that the subjects in the photo and other areas we want to be visible are black. For the helicopter photo, place the arrow between the two areas of pixels. For this example, I set it to 90. Press OK.

Step 4
We need to make the Background layer a normal layer in order to remove the white pixels. Double-click the Background layer and click OK to name it its default name, Layer 0.

Step 5
There are many ways to select the white pixels, but let’s just use the simple Magic Wand tool.

Step 6
Set the Tolerance to 0 and make sure Contiguous is unchecked. This will ensure that the white pixels that are not adjacent to, or contiguous to, the white area of pixels that we click will still be selected.

Step 7
Click somewhere in the white pixels and press Backspace to delete them

Step 8
Next, click on the New Layer icon on the bottom of the Layers palette to create a new layer. Click-and-drag this layer so it’s below Layer 0.

Step 9
With the Marquee Selection tool, click somewhere on the image to de-select the pixels, if they are still selected. Select the Gradient tool.

Step 10
With Layer 1 selected in the Layers palette, and the Gradient tool selected, double-click on the Foreground Color selector near the bottom of the toolbar. Set it to White. Double-click the Background Color selector and set it to an orange hue. I set mine to #ffa800. This sets the color of each side of the gradient.

Step 11
Click-and-drag from the top of the image to about a fourth from the bottom. Press Shift to maintain a straight vertical line.

Step 12
It should look something like this.

Step 13
For another example, repeat steps 1-11 but with the photo of the soldiers. But before going to step 11, set the gradient type to Radial.

Step 14
Switch the orange and white by clicking double-sided arrow near the bottom of the toolbar. Click-and-drag from behind the second soldier to simulate an area of sunshine. Crop out the extra black pixels we don’t need.

Now we can use this technique to create illustration-like outlines and silhouettes for print and online designs.

by Chad Neuman

Combining two photos to create a new look is a fun way to learn various techniques. We’ll learn how to use the Circular Marquee tool from the center, adjusting the opacity of a layer, creating a path from a selection and adding text along it in the process. Let’s get started.

Step 1
Open the support file in Adobe Photoshop, an image from NASA in the public domain.

 Step 2
Open an image of a person holding a circular object, such as a ball. This one is by Ronald Bloom and available through iStockPhoto.

Step 3
Now in the earth photo, click-and-drag a ruler guide from the top and bottom, halfway across so it’s in the middle. In the earth photo, subtract the entire length by 2 to get where the cursor needs to be exactly. Note: if rulers aren’t showing, press Command-R (PC: Control-R).

 After drawing the ruler guides, hover the cursor over the center of the photo, where the two guides cross. Hold Option (PC: Alt) and click-and-drag the mouse. Hold Shift to maintain proportion. Once the Elliptical Marquee tool is around the earth, release the mouse button then the keys.

 
Step 4
It should look like this.

Step 5
With the Move tool, click-and-drag the earth photo selection onto the other photo.

 
Step 6
Click-and-drag a corner of the earth layer. If there’s no transform controls on the corners, make sure Show Transform Controls is checked in the Control palette. Lower the opacity of the earth layer in the Layers palette to be able to make it the correct size.

Step 7
The earth needs to be a little bit bigger than the red ball here, since the ball isn’t completely round.

Step 8
Raise the opacity of the layer back to 100% in the Layers palette.

Step 9
Click and Eye icon next to Layer 1, the earth layer to turn its visibility off for now. Use the Quick Selection tool and select the area that overlaps the earth and where we’ll need to bring in front of the earth.

 
Step 10
Click the Eye icon next to Layer 1 again to make it visible. Go to Select>Inverse.

 
Step 11
Now we need to mask out the area of the earth photo where the arm is. We mask out the area instead of erasing so that if we mess up, the pixels can be brought back instead of removing them. With Layer 1 selected, click the Add Layer Mask icon on the Layers palette.

Step 12
The mask automatically masked out where we had a selection.

Step 13
Now for a few touch-ups. The levels seem off on the photo of the girl, so go to Image>Adjustments>Levels. Drag the black arrow to 34 as shown here.

 
Step 14
Now the color levels are a bit richer and better adjusted.

Step 15
Now let’s add a text on a path to the photo. Command-click (PC: Control-click) the thumbnail preview of the Layer 1 on the Layers palette. This will create a circular selection around the pixels in the earth layer.

Step 16
Click the Paths palette tab and click the Make Work Path from Selection icon on the bottom of the Paths palette.

 
Step 17
With the Text tool, click on the left top side of the path we just made.

 
Step 18
Type in some text that matches the photo.

Step 19
With the Move tool, click-and-drag a corner of the text area and expand it so there’s some room between the earth and the text. Now we have a combined photo with some text.

by Chad Neuman

Using the Threshold command in Adobe Photoshop can create a neat one-color effect. A full-color photo can be turned into a black outline. This technique involves creating a different shade of color to four different layers, all increasing levels of threshold. The result is a “layered threshold” look.

Step 1
Open up a photo you’d like to use in Photoshop. If you would like to use this photo, just click on it, save it to your computer, and then open it up in Photoshop.

Step 2
With a simple background like the one in this image, use the Magic Wand tool to select just the background. In the Options Bar, turn on the Contiguous option and adjust the Tolerance level as needed. Shift-click to add additional areas to the selection. Once the background is selected, choose Select>Inverse to select the subject. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selection to a new layer. Remove the visibility of the Background layer by clicking its Eye icon in the Layers panel.

Step 3
Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) four times to create four copies of the subject’s layer.

Step 4
In the Layers palette, click on the top layer. Go to Image>Adjustments>Threshold. In the Threshold dialog, drag the slider under the histogram to a Threshold Level of about 30, and click OK.

Step 5
Remove the visibility of the top layer by clicking its Eye icon in the Layers panel. Select the second-to-top layer, and go to Image>Adjustments>Threshold again. Move the slider to a higher amount than you used in the previous step (about 60 in this example).

Step 6
Repeat this process for the third layer from the top and move the slider to an even higher Threshold Level (90 in this example).

Step 7
Repeat this process one last time for the fourth layer from the top and move the slider even higher (195 in this example).

Step 8
Next, we’ll change the color of the black in each layer: The higher layers will have darker shades of the same color that we’re using. But first, we’ll need to remove the white from each layer. Make the top layer the only visible layer and make it active. Select the Magic Wand tool, change its Tolerance to 0, and turn off the Contiguous option. Click on a white area in the image to select all the white, then press Delete (PC: Backspace) to remove the white. Repeat this for each layer.

Step 9
Make the top layer visible and active. Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the top layer’s thumbnail in the Layers panel to select all the pixels in the layer. Change the Background color by clicking on its swatch in the Toolbox and selecting a dark orange in the Color Picker. Press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to fill the layer with the new Background color.

Step 10
Repeat the same process for the next layer, but with a slightly lighter orange color. Remove the visibility of the other layers except for the two layers already changed to see the effect so far.

Step 11
Use this technique for the last two layers so that the four layers are each a varying shade of orange. The darker the color, the higher up the layer in the Layer palette’s stacking order.

The effect should result in the darker colors showing the details and the background layers being lighter. This image looks like vector art but it’s still technically a raster image.

We can, of course, place it into Adobe Illustrator if we like and trace it. You can also merge all the colored layers and apply a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to change the colors.