Out of Bounds - Dolphins

Transcription

1 Out of Bounds - Dolphins Let's start by making a copy of our original image layer - This is not essential but it's easier to rectify mistakes. From the menus, select Layer > Duplicate Layer or drag the layer thumbnail onto the new layer icon at the bottom of the palette. Give the new layer a meaningful name; in this case Dolphins Copy. You can hide the original background layer by clicking its 'eye' icon. We now need to decide which portion of the image is going to be outside of the frame. In this image, it's the two dolphins, so we need to isolate them and place them on a new layer.

2 I used the Pen Tool(P) set to path mode to create the selection but you can use the Lasso (L) or whichever you feel most comfortable with. Once you have outlined the dolphins, you can promote them to a new layer by using the menus; Layer > New > Layer via copy or by pressing Control+J. Your layers palette should now look like this.

3 We now need to decide on how to frame the image. This is quite a dynamic picture, so we need to capture and accentuate it. Click the Dolphin Copy layer and use Layer > New > Layer or control+shift+n to create a new layer in between the dolphins and the background. Select the Rectangular Marquee (M) and draw a box to the rough proportions you want your frame to be - it doesn't have to be exact at this stage, as we will be distorting it later. Click the foreground colour icon and select the color you would like your frame to be. I have chosen slightly off white #F6F6F6. Now use Edit > Fill, set the contents to foreground color and click OK. You can also add a little texture; Filter > Noise > Add Noise, set to around 1%, Monochromatic and Gaussian.

4 We now have a box but not really a frame. With the box still selected, go to Select > Modify > Contract. For this image, I have used a value of 20 but that will differ, depending on the size of image you use. Click OK, you will now have a smaller selection inside the box. Hit the delete key or Edit > Clear to remove the central part of the square. We've now got our frame but it's a little flat, our dolphins appear to be moving to the right, so we'll give the image the the illusion that they are jumping out of the picture! Deselect the frame; Select > Deselect or control+d and go to Edit > Free Transform or control+t. Hold down control+alt+shift and drag the top-right corner down, you will see

5 the frame's perspective change. Keep those keys held and grab the top-center handle, move the cursor to the left and the frame will tilt back. You will probably need to alter the size of the frame, to do this, simply drag the middle handles with no modifier keys. When you're happy with the shape, hit the return key or double click inside the bounding box to set it. So far, so good but we need to remove the unwanted background. Select the Magic Wand (W) and click somewhere outside of the frame. You will see that the whole area around it is now selected.

6 Click the Dolphin Copy layer to make it active. Now hit the delete key or Edit > Clear. Because we have the selection from the frame, everything outside of it will now be cleared. Now select the Dolphins Only layer, pick the Eraser (E) and remove the section of the tail. Clear the selection before moving on to the next step. We're almost there now. Just a few more things to tidy up. As you can see, there's still a part of the dolphin's tail over the border.we'll fix that now. Leave the current layer active and control+click the frame layer, you will see that the border is now selected. Remove the unwanted areas of the image with the eraser. Because we have made a selection, only the parts within will be affected. Create a new layer above the hidden background layer and fill it with white; Edit > Fill > Contents > White and click OK.

7 The image now needs to be centered. There are two ways you can do this, either create a new layer set (the folder icon on the palette) and place the three component layers into it or, link the layers by selecting the top layer and then clicking the empty box next to the visibility icon on the two remaining layers (a chain icon will appear). Select the Move (V) tool and drag the image into the center. Our image is almost complete. Time to add the finishing touches!

8 Select the frame layer, then control+click the Dolphins Copy layer. The whole frame should now be selected. Choose the marquee tool and nudge the outline by one pixel using the right arrow key. Invert the selection Select > Inverse or control+shift+i. Lock the layer transparency by clicking on its icon (left-most icon on the layer palette) or by pressing the / key (a little padlock will appear on the layer bar). Now select the Burn (O) tool and set range to highlights, with an exposure of around 15-20%. Follow the edge of the frame to darken it down a little - you can hide the selection with control+h to see it take effect. This gives the image more depth. Invert the selection again and create another new layer just above the backdrop. Select Edit > Fill > Contents > Black and deselect. Press control+t, then, holding the control key, distort the layer to create a shadow. Select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with a radius of around 4 pixels. Lower the layer opacity to around 40-50%.