013; ask the maker 6.0 tutorial.
This is the second tutorial (well, it's actually more of a guide) for the Ask the Maker activities. I was asked to explain how I pulled off my extremely close crops - I'm not sure if that's what I did, but I hope anyone who reads this will like it and find it useful. If you have any questions though, I'd be delighted to answer them.
Enjoy! :)
requested by poisonfield and afeastforme
Many tutorials have been written about all different kinds of crops, but apparently for some weird reason people actually think I'm pretty good at what I'm doing with close crops, so here's a nice little handy dandy guide for you.
GENERAL ASPECTS.
I know you have probably read this a billion times before, but let me just give you a short recap on the general aspects of cropping (I promise I'll keep it short).
1. It's all up to you! No, really! I mean, sure, there are some things you probably shouldn't do, but other than that there are basically no limits. (I know a lot of people are really stoked about the rule of three (or thirds - see, I don't even know the exact term), but I just do what I want and try out different things to see what works and what doesn't.)
2. To me, the cropping depends on the screencap you're using to a very great deal. If you have a cap that shows a lot of scenery, use it! If it shows someone up close (but not too close!), then it'll most likely work nicely for a close crop (more on that later - obviously).
3. Try out different croppings before choosing one. I read that somewhere in a tutorial once and I usually stick to this piece of advice, but sometimes when I see a screencap, I already have an idea in mind for what I want to do with it - including the crop. And I just go for it without trying out different things for God knows how long. That usually happens when I'm (re-)watching a TV show and I see a scene that makes me think 'Ooooh, this would look so good as a close crop with a strong focus on the left eye and cheek'.(Obviously, my thoughts aren't that detailed and accurate, but it's something like that that makes me choose a certain screencap.)
4. If there's a screencap that's been used about 6345823746 times, then try to come up with an original composition (and that starts out with the cropping). If you can't come up with anything new, then you might want to rethink your choice and search for a different screencap instead.
5. Crop first, color after. At least that's how it works for me. I never color before I crop unless I know I want to go for a negative space crop and decide to erase the background on the original screencap (without saving it, of course) before pasting it on a 100x100px canvas. I usually add a curves layer and drag the duplicated base to the top where I set it on screen and reduce the opacity until I like it - simply to brighten it up a little. Then I copy everything, paste the result on top and create some color fill layers right below the new base. Afterwards I simply erase the unwanted parts from the new base (i.e. colored screencap) and paste everything on the aforementioned 100x100px canvas where I start doing all the coloring and texture work.
DIFFERENT CROPPINGS.
There are, of course, many different kinds of croppings that will work on different screencaps. Here are some of the most well-known and popular ones:
Center crops
The ever-so-popular (and annoying) center crops. I love them. Sometimes when I'm lazy I use them and they're especially great for simple negative space icons.
Negative space
Negative space does not neccesarily mean that there is just some plain color in the background and that's it. No, you can get creative. Use a texture, throw in some text.
Distant crops
Like I said, when there's a lot to see in the background of a screencap, like some beautiful scenery - include it! It's way too hard to do a close crop on distant screencaps anyway.
CLOSE CROPS.
Like I said before, the screencap very often decides what kind of crop I'm going for. It's pointless to go for a close crop with a really, really distant subject on the screencap. The icon would get way too pixelated and it's too much of a hassle to work it out nicely (I'm not saying you couldn't, but I'm rather lazy by nature). Also, for close-cropped icons the image quality plays an important role. Close crops are so much easier with high quality screencaps than with images that are only 400x300px for example.
The following screencaps almost yell 'Close-crop me!', so if you can hear them, then just do as you're told. I did.
→
This screencap is probably the reason for why I love close crops so much. Or maybe it's Parker because she's amazing for close crops (and negative space).
→
(This is not the exact screencap I've used, but it's pretty close.)
→
→
Hands!
→
If the subject is doing something with their hands or if the hands are somewhere near the face, USE THAT! Hands make a very good focus, here's what I mean:
Now that I've prattled on about screencaps for quite some time, here are some of the requested DOS and DON'TS of close cropping (I am in no way claiming that any of these are the right or wrong ways to do it - like I said, play with the crop until you find something you like).
DOS.
DON'TS.
1. Use high quality screencaps.
1. Remember we don't like low-quality screencaps for close crops.
2. Obscure the subject (that makes very nice close crops).
2. Don't crop half the forehead away. It usually makes the crop look stupid (but then again, maybe you find a way to make it look nice and interesting).
3. If hands are involved, work with them! Don't cut the poor little things out.
3. Don't go for the first crop, unless it's what you really had in mind for the icon. If you had no idea, however, move the screencap around a bit and try out different things. You might be surprised at how many different close crops you can get from the same image.
Well, that's not a very extensive list of dos and don'ts, but I hope the explanations above will be helpful nonetheless. If you happen to have any questions, though, or if there's anything I haven't covered, please don't hesitate to ask. I'd be happy to answer all of your questions. Also, if you see anything else you'd like to have a tutorial on, just head over to my thread at Ask the Maker.
ask the maker 6.0 - my thread
Enjoy! :)
requested by poisonfield and afeastforme
Many tutorials have been written about all different kinds of crops, but apparently for some weird reason people actually think I'm pretty good at what I'm doing with close crops, so here's a nice little handy dandy guide for you.
GENERAL ASPECTS.
I know you have probably read this a billion times before, but let me just give you a short recap on the general aspects of cropping (I promise I'll keep it short).
1. It's all up to you! No, really! I mean, sure, there are some things you probably shouldn't do, but other than that there are basically no limits. (I know a lot of people are really stoked about the rule of three (or thirds - see, I don't even know the exact term), but I just do what I want and try out different things to see what works and what doesn't.)
2. To me, the cropping depends on the screencap you're using to a very great deal. If you have a cap that shows a lot of scenery, use it! If it shows someone up close (but not too close!), then it'll most likely work nicely for a close crop (more on that later - obviously).
3. Try out different croppings before choosing one. I read that somewhere in a tutorial once and I usually stick to this piece of advice, but sometimes when I see a screencap, I already have an idea in mind for what I want to do with it - including the crop. And I just go for it without trying out different things for God knows how long. That usually happens when I'm (re-)watching a TV show and I see a scene that makes me think 'Ooooh, this would look so good as a close crop with a strong focus on the left eye and cheek'.(Obviously, my thoughts aren't that detailed and accurate, but it's something like that that makes me choose a certain screencap.)
4. If there's a screencap that's been used about 6345823746 times, then try to come up with an original composition (and that starts out with the cropping). If you can't come up with anything new, then you might want to rethink your choice and search for a different screencap instead.
5. Crop first, color after. At least that's how it works for me. I never color before I crop unless I know I want to go for a negative space crop and decide to erase the background on the original screencap (without saving it, of course) before pasting it on a 100x100px canvas. I usually add a curves layer and drag the duplicated base to the top where I set it on screen and reduce the opacity until I like it - simply to brighten it up a little. Then I copy everything, paste the result on top and create some color fill layers right below the new base. Afterwards I simply erase the unwanted parts from the new base (i.e. colored screencap) and paste everything on the aforementioned 100x100px canvas where I start doing all the coloring and texture work.
DIFFERENT CROPPINGS.
There are, of course, many different kinds of croppings that will work on different screencaps. Here are some of the most well-known and popular ones:
Center crops
The ever-so-popular (and annoying) center crops. I love them. Sometimes when I'm lazy I use them and they're especially great for simple negative space icons.
Negative space
Negative space does not neccesarily mean that there is just some plain color in the background and that's it. No, you can get creative. Use a texture, throw in some text.
Distant crops
Like I said, when there's a lot to see in the background of a screencap, like some beautiful scenery - include it! It's way too hard to do a close crop on distant screencaps anyway.
CLOSE CROPS.
Like I said before, the screencap very often decides what kind of crop I'm going for. It's pointless to go for a close crop with a really, really distant subject on the screencap. The icon would get way too pixelated and it's too much of a hassle to work it out nicely (I'm not saying you couldn't, but I'm rather lazy by nature). Also, for close-cropped icons the image quality plays an important role. Close crops are so much easier with high quality screencaps than with images that are only 400x300px for example.
The following screencaps almost yell 'Close-crop me!', so if you can hear them, then just do as you're told. I did.
→
This screencap is probably the reason for why I love close crops so much. Or maybe it's Parker because she's amazing for close crops (and negative space).
→
(This is not the exact screencap I've used, but it's pretty close.)
→
→
Hands!
→
If the subject is doing something with their hands or if the hands are somewhere near the face, USE THAT! Hands make a very good focus, here's what I mean:
Now that I've prattled on about screencaps for quite some time, here are some of the requested DOS and DON'TS of close cropping (I am in no way claiming that any of these are the right or wrong ways to do it - like I said, play with the crop until you find something you like).
DOS.
DON'TS.
1. Use high quality screencaps.
1. Remember we don't like low-quality screencaps for close crops.
2. Obscure the subject (that makes very nice close crops).
2. Don't crop half the forehead away. It usually makes the crop look stupid (but then again, maybe you find a way to make it look nice and interesting).
3. If hands are involved, work with them! Don't cut the poor little things out.
3. Don't go for the first crop, unless it's what you really had in mind for the icon. If you had no idea, however, move the screencap around a bit and try out different things. You might be surprised at how many different close crops you can get from the same image.
Well, that's not a very extensive list of dos and don'ts, but I hope the explanations above will be helpful nonetheless. If you happen to have any questions, though, or if there's anything I haven't covered, please don't hesitate to ask. I'd be happy to answer all of your questions. Also, if you see anything else you'd like to have a tutorial on, just head over to my thread at Ask the Maker.
ask the maker 6.0 - my thread