Tutorial: Lolita: Beginner's Basics
First of all, this is just a little thing to show you what kind of tricks I use for Photoshop.
We'll be using
along the way, since we're basically going to just learn about "prepping" a picture, and learning a few of the simple things that Photoshop can do. :3
The thing that I find supa!helpful on Photoshop would be...this thing.
I call it the options drop-down doohickey just because I don't know its professional name. Well I think it's called Blending Modes. But whatever.
For the following, please note that I have the original image, and DUPLICATED the image. Then, on the duplicated layer, I changed the blending mode. Like below:
----LAYERS----
IMG #1 COPY.JPG <----that is what we'll be using our blending modes on.
IMG #1.JPG
001;;
Here's the image used with the blending mode, Overlay.
---->
See, the overall image looks a lot darker. Obviously, for all the blending modes, you can change the opacity. (Next to the blending modes drop-down menu, there's an opacity bar. Mess around with it.)
002;;
Here's the image used, again with the blending mode, Overlay. This time, on the second layer, we're going to desaturate that layer.
Like that.
Once that's done, your image should look somewhat like this:
---->
The image itself just looks darker than it did before. Not to mention, the color of the girl's legs seem less brighter compared to the regular overlay one.
003;;
Not only can you just duplicate the layer and change the blending mode, but you can also do it with different textures too. Using Overlay once again, I used
that texture and set it to Overlay.
Thus you see the texture used now blended into the layer under it. While it may not look really elegant right now, it's just a quick example.
---->
004;;
Enough dwelling on Overlay. Let's move onto some other blending modes. Overlay's usually the more extreme one, and is most often used to make an object's color look more sharp. The one we're going to be using for the next few examples is called Soft Light, once again found on your Blending Modes.
---->
See, the image doesn't look as sharp as Overlay's, but it makes the image look crisper without making it too intense.
005;;
Another way of using Soft Light would be to apply a color, or a gradient. Instead of duplicating a layer, you would make a new one. (Control + Shift + N, or Layer --> New --> New layer) Fill the new layer with a certain color that you want; I chose a dark blue. And set your new layer to Soft Light.
---->
The result is a blue-ish tinted image that gives a somewhat darker look and feel. Experiment with different colors, since they all will make different results.
006;;
Finally, another way of using the Soft Light blending mode would be to duplicate your original layer, and then using Gaussian Blur and setting that to soft light.
Try out Gaussian Blur by this:
It gives up the option of how much you want to blur it--the more you blur, the softer (and ofteh, brighter) your image will look.
---->
I set mine somewhere around 8, so it was somewhat subtle.
007;;
Next, is the Screen option, which is really handy for light textures, like
that. Light textures usually make the image look softer and brighter--depending on the opacity.
For the example below, I used that light texture and set it to Screen on the example image. The lights looked too bright, so I toned it down to 50% opacity. What turned out was this:
---->
008;;
Then there's Multiply. I hardly use this one since I love making my graphics very bright, but this comes in handy for grunge-like graphics. Multiply basically darkens the image. I tend to lower the opacity when I'm using Multiply with textures.
In the example, I made a new layer, and filled it with a tan brown before setting it to Multiply. It gives the whole image an "old" feeling to it, and makes the whole image a semi-brown.
---->
009;;
Lastly of the common blending modes I use, there's Color. Color is simple to use, and usually creates neat effects too. Basically, make a new layer, fill it with a color (I used dark red) by using the Paint Bucket/Gradient tool, and then set it to Color.
---->
That's how mine turned out!
010;;
Now we're going to move onto whatever few things I use aside from Blending Modes. Frequently, I've been using the Brightness and Contrast settings.
These are usually my settings:
I can't tell you that always sticking with these settings are good, but I find that they're the easiest numbers to use when brightening an image.
---->
011;;
Lastly, there's the Image Size option that I adore. When working with large images, I tend to use this one. The Crop tool is nonexistant for me when I'm using big images.
See, the size of that image is only 25% of its original size. Obviously, that's still too big for any kind of graphic. Sooo I'll use the Image Size option to make the image smaller without distorting it too much. I tend to make it smaller by percentages not pixels.
By percentages, I start lowering from 90%, 80%, 70%, etc, etc and so on. With such a large image though, I usually lower the image size by 50%. Then I repeat the step, only with about 70%, etc and so on.
Will edit later. I know it's horrid. xD
Originally posted at twilight_flower @ 30 March 2007|10:21 PM.
We'll be using
along the way, since we're basically going to just learn about "prepping" a picture, and learning a few of the simple things that Photoshop can do. :3
The thing that I find supa!helpful on Photoshop would be...this thing.
I call it the options drop-down doohickey just because I don't know its professional name. Well I think it's called Blending Modes. But whatever.
For the following, please note that I have the original image, and DUPLICATED the image. Then, on the duplicated layer, I changed the blending mode. Like below:
----LAYERS----
IMG #1 COPY.JPG <----that is what we'll be using our blending modes on.
IMG #1.JPG
001;;
Here's the image used with the blending mode, Overlay.
---->
See, the overall image looks a lot darker. Obviously, for all the blending modes, you can change the opacity. (Next to the blending modes drop-down menu, there's an opacity bar. Mess around with it.)
002;;
Here's the image used, again with the blending mode, Overlay. This time, on the second layer, we're going to desaturate that layer.
Like that.
Once that's done, your image should look somewhat like this:
---->
The image itself just looks darker than it did before. Not to mention, the color of the girl's legs seem less brighter compared to the regular overlay one.
003;;
Not only can you just duplicate the layer and change the blending mode, but you can also do it with different textures too. Using Overlay once again, I used
that texture and set it to Overlay.
Thus you see the texture used now blended into the layer under it. While it may not look really elegant right now, it's just a quick example.
---->
004;;
Enough dwelling on Overlay. Let's move onto some other blending modes. Overlay's usually the more extreme one, and is most often used to make an object's color look more sharp. The one we're going to be using for the next few examples is called Soft Light, once again found on your Blending Modes.
---->
See, the image doesn't look as sharp as Overlay's, but it makes the image look crisper without making it too intense.
005;;
Another way of using Soft Light would be to apply a color, or a gradient. Instead of duplicating a layer, you would make a new one. (Control + Shift + N, or Layer --> New --> New layer) Fill the new layer with a certain color that you want; I chose a dark blue. And set your new layer to Soft Light.
---->
The result is a blue-ish tinted image that gives a somewhat darker look and feel. Experiment with different colors, since they all will make different results.
006;;
Finally, another way of using the Soft Light blending mode would be to duplicate your original layer, and then using Gaussian Blur and setting that to soft light.
Try out Gaussian Blur by this:
It gives up the option of how much you want to blur it--the more you blur, the softer (and ofteh, brighter) your image will look.
---->
I set mine somewhere around 8, so it was somewhat subtle.
007;;
Next, is the Screen option, which is really handy for light textures, like
that. Light textures usually make the image look softer and brighter--depending on the opacity.
For the example below, I used that light texture and set it to Screen on the example image. The lights looked too bright, so I toned it down to 50% opacity. What turned out was this:
---->
008;;
Then there's Multiply. I hardly use this one since I love making my graphics very bright, but this comes in handy for grunge-like graphics. Multiply basically darkens the image. I tend to lower the opacity when I'm using Multiply with textures.
In the example, I made a new layer, and filled it with a tan brown before setting it to Multiply. It gives the whole image an "old" feeling to it, and makes the whole image a semi-brown.
---->
009;;
Lastly of the common blending modes I use, there's Color. Color is simple to use, and usually creates neat effects too. Basically, make a new layer, fill it with a color (I used dark red) by using the Paint Bucket/Gradient tool, and then set it to Color.
---->
That's how mine turned out!
010;;
Now we're going to move onto whatever few things I use aside from Blending Modes. Frequently, I've been using the Brightness and Contrast settings.
These are usually my settings:
I can't tell you that always sticking with these settings are good, but I find that they're the easiest numbers to use when brightening an image.
---->
011;;
Lastly, there's the Image Size option that I adore. When working with large images, I tend to use this one. The Crop tool is nonexistant for me when I'm using big images.
See, the size of that image is only 25% of its original size. Obviously, that's still too big for any kind of graphic. Sooo I'll use the Image Size option to make the image smaller without distorting it too much. I tend to make it smaller by percentages not pixels.
By percentages, I start lowering from 90%, 80%, 70%, etc, etc and so on. With such a large image though, I usually lower the image size by 50%. Then I repeat the step, only with about 70%, etc and so on.
Will edit later. I know it's horrid. xD
Originally posted at twilight_flower @ 30 March 2007|10:21 PM.