Natalia Blend/Collage Tutorial

[_bitter_endings]

Finally had time to post the whole tutorial on here.
We're going to be making the following collage;



The following tutorial was written with Adobe Photoshop CS 3. It should be translatable to all programs. No selective coloring has been used, only brightness/contrast. Please do not ask me for the PSD because I will not provide it.

1. Open a new canvas and make it 700x500 pixels.
2. Take this texture from passioninsanity and put it on your canvas. This will be the background that we'll be using. I've already resized the texture to fit the size that I need. I think I found it in one of her/his blend PSD that she/he offers.
3. Make a new layer by either going to Layer > New > Layer or by hitting the little icon
   at the bottom of your Layers Palette; it's on the left of the Trash Icon. If your Layer's palette is not visible go to Window > Layers and it will appear.
4. In that new layer that you just made, fill it with the color #e5e5e5 using the Color Bucket tool, located in the Tools Bar. Set this layer on Multiply 100%. Result.
5. Now we're going to make a rectangle using the Rectangle Tool or you can just hit U on your keyboard and it will select the tool for you. Fill the shape with #eaeaea. Result.
6. I used floral brushes and applied them in a light grey color. I can't find the brushes or who made them so if you know who made them, let me know. But here they are in PNG format if you want to use them. I put them over the rectangle shape I just made. Result.
7. Delete the white portion of this pencil from GettyImages and place towards the top left of the rectangle shape. If you don't know how to use the Wand Tool, learn how to in the next step. Result.
8. Sharpen this stock from GettyImages by going to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen. Then hit the letter W on your keyboard to have the Wand Tool selected on your tools bar. Make sure that you have Tolerance 20, Anti-Alias and Contiguous selected. Select the area outside, basically the white part, and hit BACKSPACE or delete on your keyboard. You'll get something like this. It would help if you layered the scroll stock the way mine is layered. Please don't blur the stock though or make it soft looking. This is a grungy, layered collage so it needs to be sharp looking- don't over sharpen though.
9. I found the following notebook stock somewhere from this page, can't remember from who though. Let me know if you know. Anyways, I resized, sharpened and layered the stock. Result.
10. Now we're going to make the ever so popular-but-looks-confusing-to-make SWIRL. Fun huh? Just follow directions and you'll be able to make your own perfect swirl or you can just skip to the end of the steps and take mine, your choice.
    1. Make a new layer.
    2. Select black (#000000) as your color in your Color Box/palette.
    3. Hit the letter P on your keyboard. The Pen Tool will be selected for you. Make sure that you're using the Pen tool, NOT the Freeform Pen Tool. Also, pay attention to the settings I have highlighted in the screen shot.
    4. Now make a pathway using the Pen Tool by clicking and making a point. These points, collectively, will form the curves within the swirl. If you mess up just hit CTRL + ALT + Z on your keyboard ( Edit > Step Backward) and it will erase your previous space.
    5. If you make 3 points, for example, and got back to point number 1 or 2, and click on it with your mouse you'll notice that if you drag your mouse around (while holding it down), it will make a perfect curve for you. Like so. Try using this method to achieve a flawless curve. It's OKAY if your swirl doesn't end up looking exactly like mine.
    6. So now that you made your path, don't click anywhere or on anything just yet. Leave your path the way it is after you made and keep the pen tool.
    7. Hit the letter B on your keyboard to get the Brush Tool. Go to your Brushes menu and select a Drop Shadow Brush. Drop Shadow brushes are a preset in Adobe Photoshop. If you haven't already loaded them, just go to your Brushes palette, Windows > Brushes. Check the Shape Dynamics box and apply these settings. Notice that this Brushes palette or box will be completely greyed out and you would not be able to select anything if the Brush tool is not selected.
    8. Also select Smoothing, or check the box so that you'll get a nice smooth curve. Make sure that the Diameter is set on 2px. Exit the Brushes box that we've just used.
    9. Using your mouse or by hitting the letter P on your keyboard, select the Pen Tool again. Right click anywhere and click on Stroke Path.
    10. You'll get this box. Select Brush from the Drop Down menu, if it's not already selected for you. Also, check the Pressure box. Click Ok.
    11. Now you've actually made your swirl but, as you might notice, it's being covered by that steel, grey, uglly looking line (looks like the edge of a knife, doesn't it? eek). Hit BACKSPACE on your keyboard and the path will be deleted. I made a couple of swirls before I ended up with the one I like. I made this one and this one but I like the second one so I'm going to use that.
    
    
11. Alright so now put the swirl somewhere toward the right corner of your canvas. Result.
12. Set this stock (from GettyImages) on Color Burn 100%. Then select the Eraser Tool (hit E on your keyboard) as well as a Drop Shadow Brush (any diameter, 0% hardness) and erase around the image towards the left size. You might want to set the image on Normal when you erase so that you can see what you're doing. However, do revert back to the Color Burn setting to see how well it has been blending with its intended effect. Mine with Normal and Color Burn. Don't forget to achieve a balanced positioning for the stock.
13. Take this stock (from GettyImages) and apply the same method as the previous step. Resize the stock if necessary. Set it on Color Burn. Result.
14. Place this eye stock (from GettyImages) on your canvas. Erase around the eyeball using the same Drop Shadow brush and Eraser method as above. Hit CTRL + SHIFT + U on your keyboard. This will turn the layer in a black and white image. Set this stock on Multiply 100%. Result.
15. Place this text (from passioninsanity) box towards the top left. Result.
16. With the Wand Tool select the white areas of this flower stock (from GettyImages). Don't obssess over getting each and every white spot. Just get the most noticeable ones. We'll be resizing the flower to a really small size however, we're editing it right now becase it's easier to do with a larger image than trying to do it when it's super small. This is what mine looks like. Hit BACKSPACE on your keyboard and it'll delete the selected areas for you. Use the Drop Shadow brush to erase the Getty Images watermark.
17. Click on the Show Transform Tools check box. A Dotted cropping border will appear around the stock as shown in the previous image. Click on one of the box corners. The border will change from a ....dotted one to a straight line_______. Also, the menu where the Show Transform Tools used to be located will change and cropping options will appear. Click on the Maintain Aspect Ratio
    . Then click on either the 100% for W or 100% or H. Doesn't really matter which, as long as you click on either, it will work. Once you click on one, you type 31% and hit ENTER on your keyboard. Place the flower on top of the text stock and you should get something like this.
18. I've searched and high and low for this stock so you'll just have to use what I've already editted, if you want to. Set it on Color Burn and place it towards the bottom left corner. Result. Here are some alternative lockets for you to use if you'd like.
19. Place this stock (from passioninsanity) on your canvas as well. Set on Multiply 100%. Result.
20. Using black as a color, apply this brush (from evionn). Set on Normal. Result.
21. Set this on Multiply 100%. It's originally a brush but I can't seem to find the brush set or the person who made it. So let me know if you know whos it is. Place it ontop of the latest notebook stock. Result.
22. Place this towards the top right, like so. Set the opacity on 100% and Normal. Make sure that you save the texture and then open it in Photoshop to get the transparent texture. Otherwise, you'll just get a white and black image if you copy and paste the texture in your canvas. If you do end up copying and pasting, just set it on Multiply and you'll be able to get rid of the white background.
23. We're going to use this image of Natalia Vodianova (source). Place it on your canvas. Hit the letter L on your keyboard and you'll get the lasso tool. Make a scissor like cut that is uneven on the right side. Like so. Hit BACKSPACE after creating the path.
24. Make two copies of Natalia's image. You can do this by selecting the layer of the image in the Layer's Palette, Right click and select Duplicate Layer. After doing this two times, you'll have a total of three images that are the same. They should all be set on Normal, 100%.
25. Now, make sure the first copy is selected in your Layers Palette because we're going to be adding a some filters to it. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use a Radius of 2.7 pixels. Result. I'm applying a Gaussian Blur to this copy because I want to create a nice, soft border for the next image.
26. Set the second copy of Natalia on Normal 100%. Now we're going to add an Brightness/Contrast Layer. You can do that by either clicking on
    which is located at the bottom of the Layers Palette or by going to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness Contrast. Set the Brightness on +18, leave the Contrast at 0. Hit 'OK.' Select the Brightness/Contrast layer that you've just created in your Layers Palette and hit CTRL + E on your keyboard to merge it down with second copy of Natalia's image. If we don't merge it down, as you might have noticed, all the layers below the Brightness/Contrast layer will be brightned and that's not what we want. So now you'll get This.
27. Set the third copy of Natalia's image on Color Burn Opacity 48%. Result.
28. Select all three copies of Natalia in your Layers Pallette. You can do this by clicking on the the first copy, hit SHIFT on your keyboard and click on the third copy. All three will turn from Grey background to Blue. Hit CTRL + E to merge them all together.
29. Using the same resizing method as in Step #17, resize the image of Natalia down to 48% and set it somewhat on the center of the canvas. Result. You can Sharpen if you'd like, especially if your image appears more blurry than normal. Don't overdo it. Because the background texture that we're using is very sharpened, over sharpening any of the images and stocks will appear over done.
30. Set this texture (by me, has been resized from original version) on Lighten 100% and on top of the eye texture. Do the same with this texture but put this one by her feet. Result.
31. Set texture (from here) on Lighten. Hit CTRL + SHIFT + U to turn the texture black and white. Result.
32. Set this one on Lighten as well, don't make it black and white though.
33. Make this black and white and set it on Lighten. I also resized and erased a lot of the sparkles around the meteor. Result.
34. Set this texture (from here) on Lighten. Result.
35. With the font Georgia, Bold Italic, Size 36px, and color #b01311, write 'heartbreaker.'
36. Click on the fx located at the bottom of the Layers Palette. Click on Stroke and add a border of size 3px, outside and color #e5ebeb. Result.
37. Make a new layer, place it beneath the text layer. Merge down the text layer with this new layer that you've made.
38. Hit the letter L on your keyboard. We're going to make a noteable cut in the middle of the 'heartbreaker' text. Right click anywhere on the canvas. Make sure that you still have the Lasso tool selected, otherwise you won't get this menu. Click on Layer via Cut. Skew the two pieces so that they appear to be cut but close enough so that it can be read. Result.
39. I wrote the 'X' with Georgia, Bold Italic, 38.4px, color #9e950d.
40. 'Cold as Winter' was written in with Georgia, Bold Italic, 11.2px, color #429da1, letter spacing -10px.
41. "How could you be heartless..." was written with Georgia, Bold Italic, 9px, color #000000.
42. Go to Layer > Flatten Image. Hit CTRL + A, CTRL + C, CTRL + N, and CTRL + P- basically, select all, copy, make new canvas that is 710px x 510 px and then paste the blend in the new canvas.
43. Since we opened a new canvas, we're going to have a background (mine is white) that is locked. So right click and select Duplicate. Delete the locked background layer by hitting BACKSPACE on your keyboard.
44. Make sure that the background color that you have your collage on is white. Result.
45. Click on the fx on the bottom of Layers Palette and click on Stroke. Add a stroke of 1px, inside, color #e9e9e9. Select OK. And you're done! Result
46. Give yourself a pad on the back! You deserve it :)