Change Your Car Color

Let’s paint your car, without the cost and pain of dealing with your local Maaco. I started with this photo of my Ferrari. Ok, so it’s not my Ferrari. I actually got it from www.maximum-cars.com .
The first and hardest part is going to be creating a mask for all the painted areas of the car. Now, don’t get mad, but I’m not going to tell you a super-easy way to mask, or select the painted areas, simply because there really isn’t one. I will link you to a tutorial on masking though.
Here’s a mask of my selection:

What you’re going to want to do is start with all the colored areas you want changed selected. Then create a new Solid Color Adjustment Layer and pick the color you want the car changed to.



This is also a good time to find and correct the areas you might have missed.
Now, we have a few different options for changing the color, depending on what color you started with, and what color you want. There’s basically three or four Layer Modes we’re going to experiment with to see which one produces the best results for our color.

The first Layer Mode is we’ll try is Color Burn.

Mode: Color Burn
Not bad. Let’s try another one. Let’s try Overlay.

Mode: Overlay
Kind of cool, but not the color I was looking for. Now, let’s try Vivid Light.

Mode: Vivid Light
Now that’s a little intense. Not what I was looking for either. For the last one, let’s try Colo.

Mode: Color
Well, that’s pretty, but still wrong.
It seems like, for this project, the easiest change would be to use the Color Burn Mode.
Now, what if I want to make the car white? Let’s take the painter’s approach. Change the color on your Adjustment Layer to Black, then set the color mode to Color. This will desaturate the image, almost like a painter uses primer.

Mode: Color
In this specific case, my car ends up looking pretty white. But, yours might not look the same and I can make it whiter. So I’ll duplicate the Adjustment Layer [Ctrl-J], set the color to white, and change the Mode to Soft Light.

And now I own a beautiful, rare, white Ferrari… err… at least a picture of one.

Pixelated Mosaic Edges

This tutorial will show you a way to easily create a pixelated mosaic-type effect for use on edges or borders or whatever you want.
I first noticed this effect with the (animated) launch of the new Iconfactory website. I was later browsing through my normal list of bookmarked sites and noticed that SimpleBits has been doing the same thing for a while now. It’s a pretty neat effect that can be recreated with a few filters and adjustment layers.
Create a new document, whatever size you want, by pressing [Ctrl + N].
Select the Square Marquee tool [M] and draw your square through half of the document.

Press [D] to set your default colors, and then press [Alt + Backspace] to fill with black. Deselect with [Ctrl + D].

Next, run the Wave Filter by going [Filter > Distort > Wave]. Play around with the settings, but you’ll probably want something a little less extreme. I used the following settings:

- Generators : 2
- Wavelength: 10,48
- Amplitude: 5,6
- Sine

Back to the Filter menu, run the Ocean Ripple filter [Filter > Distort > Ocean Ripple]. This distortion will give you an idea of how far your pixel edges will go.

- Size: 5
- Magnitude: 12

Next step is to pixelate our image. Run [Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic]. Choose a [Cell Size] around 5-6 pixels.

Create a new Curves Adjustment layer by going [Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves...] or by using the button at the bottom of the Layers palette.
Adjust your curves to something crazy… like a rollercoaster. You’ll start to see the edges separate a little bit. Just play around with them and watch your image until you see something that might work for you. You can always adjust it again later, thanks to the magic of Adjustment layers.


Create a new Levels Adjustment layer by going [Layer >New Adjustment Layer > Levels...] or, again, by using the shortcut button on the Layers palette. Play with the sliders, moving them closer together until you get the effect you want. This is a personal preference, so do what you think looks good.
Here’s mine:


We’re going to use this as our mask so we can apply some colors.
Go to [Select > Color Range] and click on the black side. Set the Fuzziness to 200.

With your selection, create a new Solid Color Fill layer by going [Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color...]. Choose any color you like.

Create another Solid Color Fill layer and drag it below the Color layer you just made in the Layers Palette [F7]. Fill it with any color you like. I chose something a little complementary.


Keeping with the Iconfactory fashion, I’ll create a new Solid Color Fill layer and fill it with white.

Then add a little shadow by going [Layer > Layer Style > Outer Glow] and adjusting the color to black and the Mode to Normal.

And here’s my finished product:

This effect has a lot of variables so it will almost never come out the same. Play around with it and have fun!

Peeling Sticker Effect

As a child, there are few things more fun than sticking stickers on things. Everything(s). Here’s how to easily create a peeled sticker effect. I got this idea from the Sticker System Icon pack from Iconfactory.
First, you want to start with your object on it’s own layer. If you need help getting your object on it’s own layer check out this quick tutorial on masking.

Add a background layer by holding [Ctrl] + [Alt] and clicking on the New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers Palette [F7]. Press [D] to select the default colors and press [Ctrl + Backspace] to fill with white.

Double-click on your object’s layer in the area to the right of the name. This will bring up the Layer Style dialog box. Click on [Stroke] at the bottom of the list.

Set the Stroke size to something thick for your object, in this case I’m using 6-pixels. Click on the Color box and change the Stroke Color to white.

Click on the [Outer Glow] Style in the Layer Styles list. Change the Blend Mode to [Normal]. Change the color to black.
Adjust the Size and Spread until you get a nice, soft outline. In this case, I’m using a Size of [9-px] and Spread of [35%].


Move on to the [Drop Shadow] Style in the Layer Styles list. Adjust the Angle to [90°] and increase the Distance slightly [6-px].


Press [Ctrl + T] to bring up your Transform bounding box. Before you do ANYTHING, right-click in the box and choose [Warp].

Now click-and-drag the box from the lower-right corner up slightly.

Press the [Return] (number-pad Enter) to apply the transformation.

Create a New Layer [Ctrl + Shift + N] above your object’s layer. Then press [Ctrl + Alt + G] to create a create a new Clipping Mask.
Set the Layer Mode to [Screen] and the Layer Opacity to around [50%].

Choose the Gradient Tool [G] and click on the Gradient in the Option Bar (up top) to bring up the Gradient Editor. Edit your Gradient to look something like this:

Click-and-drag your Gradient in a very small area where you thing the “bend” of your sticker should be.

It may take a few tries to get it right.
Right-click on the “f” icon in the right-side of your object Layer in the Layers Palette. When the menu appears, choose [Create Layers].

You will now have a bunch of various Layers underneath your object Layer. Find the one labeled “Drop Shadow.”
Press [Ctrl + T] to bring up th Transform Bouncing box again. Right-click and choose [Warp] again.
Click-and-drag the right corner towards the right to bring the shadow “back out.”

Reduce the “Fill” on the “Drop Shadow” layer to make it a little less harsh.

And… that’s it! Feel free to change the stroke and background colors as you wish. Play around with it. Have some fun.
Master Download
You can download my original Master .PSD for this tutorial here.

Digital Painting with Light

Like dodge and burn on steroids, this approach to image manipulation is the foundation of many advanced techniques. This is the first of two parts.

This tutorial is split into two parts to cover both basic concepts and advanced techniques and discussion. In this primer, we will look at the ideas behind creatively reinterpreting the light in an image. We do this to change the focus or dramatic impact of the image, usually because the available lighting wasn’t what we needed, or because our intent for the image might have changed. The techniques can be useful for product photography, portraits, fine art, or whatever strikes our fancy.

Vincent Versace recently published a book called Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Photography With Photoshop. In it, he describes much of what goes on here, and since it’s a book, he can go into much greater detail. I am not attempting to summarize Mr. Versace’s work, though there are a lot of similarities. Instead, the techniques presented here are the result of individual experimentation, and a lot of interaction with the members of PhotoshopTechniques.com.

But since this is a tutorial, we should get started!

I presume the reader has an understanding of the following:

• Basic painting skills.
• Layers, including visibility, opacity and blend modes.
• Masks.
• Adjustment layers and curves.
• Black and white conversion.

I have made the source image available here:

However, you can use whatever image you like. Here’s the basic idea of where we are going:

• Start with a good, clean image.
• Duplicate layers as needed to allow for light, dark, and neutral adjustments.
• Push individual layers to extremes using adjustment layers, looking for desirable details.
• Paint on the adjustment layer masks to select only what you want.
• Add finishing touches – tints, borders, etc.

First, we need to choose our candidate image. Anything that has relatively flat lighting will work, but at this stage it helps to have a strong subject which can be isolated from its surroundings. In part 2, we’ll talk about more detailed choices, and how to modify the technique for a broader approach. Right now, just get something similar to the source image we are using here.

Next, let’s set up the Photoshop document. Here is the layer order I will be using:

Color Fill (optional)
Border (optional)
Light Beam
Overlay w/ Gradient
B&W Copy
Black Fill (optional)
Background

1) Image Prep & Clean up

Open your image in Photoshop, and duplicate the Background layer. Call the duplicate ‘B&W Copy’. On the B&W Copy layer, make any adjustments to the core image you like; sharpening, color correction, dust removal, etc. You want to end up with a technically good exposure, but not a final image.

2) Black and White Conversion

After you are done with the B&W Copy cleanup, it’s time to convert to black and white. I used to prefer using the Channel Mixer method, but you can also use the new B&W Filter in Photoshop CS3. However you get there, make sure you leave detail in both the blacks and whites.

3) Duplicate the B&W Layer
Make a new copy of the B&W Copy and call it Overlay w/ Gradient. Add a layer mask.

4) Make an overlay mask

Here’s the first tricky part – creating your overlay mask. In most situations, you can simply add a layer mask to isolate parts of an image. In this case, however, we will be setting the blend mode to Overlay, so anything that is masked won’t be affected. What we need to do is actually blacken parts of the layer that we don’t want highlighted. To do this, we need to use a temporary layer filled with black *underneath* the Overlay w/ Gradient layer.

4a) Create a black fill layer
Just below the Overlay w/ Gradient layer, create a new layer filled with black.

4b) Paint the overlay mask
On the Overlay w/ Gradient layer mask, begin painting with a soft, black brush on low opacity. Slowly take away the parts that will be darkened or hidden layer.

4c) Merge the result
Once you are happy with the mask, select both the Overlay w/ Gradient layer and the black filled layer below it and merge [Layer > Merge Layers or Ctrl/Cmd + E]. This should leave you with a single layer and no mask.

5) Set Overlay Mask to Overlay Mode

That’s pretty straightforward… change the blend mode of Overlay w/ Gradient to well… Overlay. The image should look a little more interesting right now. There should be much more dynamic range, and some nice, deep shadows. In the next step, we’ll create a little more drama with some additional lighting effects.

6) Create a Light Beam layer

Create a new, blank layer above the Overlay w/ Gradient layer, and call it Light Beam. Using whatever method you like, create some soft, white light beams. For this example image, I used the Polygon Lasso tool with about 20px of feathering to draw a triangle. I then filled with white, and blurred this a couple of times. Next, I rotated the triangle slightly, and then duplicated it to a new layer, which was flipped about the vertical axis. Finally, I merged the two together. However, you may find it much easier to simply paint your light beams, and then use a transform warp. Whatever works for you! Set the Light Beam layer blend mode to Overlay, and lower the opacity to taste. I used 46%.

7) Survey the results!
At this point, it’s important to look at what you have so far. For my example, the top flower is centered and highlighted, with other elements lower down the stem fading to darkness.

Summary
We are now done with the basics of the technique. “But wait,” you say. “Where’s the painting?” Well, remember when we did the masking and the light beams? That’s the very beginning of where you can go. We just created the beams to a general shape, but you could have painted them for specific highlights. In part two, we’ll cover some actual painting on the masks to draw out very specific highlights, flatten the lighting, and completely remake an image just by manipulating the lighting.

For now, it’s important to see the concepts at work. The blend modes are added to push the dynamics, and we added a light layer to focus and enhance the effect even more. With a little playing around, you can develop your own approaches, such as building light layers from other images, or adding filters to get special effects. In this image, I added a 1-pixel border, and an additional color layer at the very top to give an aged feel.

To get a nicely toned monochrome image, simply add a blank layer at the top of everything else, and fill with a color of your choosing. Set the blend mode of that layer to Color, and reduce the opacity or fill to suit your tastes. For my version, I used a kind of light tobacco color, and set the opacity at 50%. Finally, I added an oval vignette layer mask to my B&W Copy layer, just to give it that old portrait feeling (this also requires a black filled layer underneath so the original doesn’t show through).

Keep using this technique, and you’ll find all kinds of variations. Use any combination of the steps you like. Leave some out, duplicate others, and substitute your own. The key is to experiment. In part two, I’ll show you some ways you can quickly try many different things and still keep the process flexible. It’s a good way to look for candidate images that you want to develop further. I’ll also discuss in more detail what to look for, and how to shoot images that lend themselves to this technique.

Happy ‘Shopping!