Creating Pastel Images and other effects in Photoshop Martin Addison 2015 Creating pastel images Page 1 Martin Addison FRPS
Using White Layers in Photoshop 1. Create a new empty Layer 2. Edit> Fill 3. Select White from the drop down 'Contents' menu 4. Change the Layer Blend mode to Soft Light 5. Adjust the Opacity 6. If required, duplicate the layer to increase the effect (Drag the layer to the new layer icon) Painting Selectively 1. Create a new empty Layer 2. Change the Layer Blend mode to Soft Light 3. Select the Brush tool 4. Make the Foreground Color White 5. Paint into the image where you want the area to be lighter 6. Adjust the opacity Bringing back the contrast 1. Create a new layer 2. Edit> Fill 3. Select White from the drop down 'Contents' menu 4. Change the Layer Blend mode to Soft Light 5. Select Black as the Foreground Color 6. Paint into the image Creating pastel images Page 2 Martin Addison FRPS
Using Blur Layers in Photoshop 1. Copy the Background by dragging to the New Layer icon (or Ctrl + J) 2. Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur 3. Set the Amount so it looks very out of focus 4. Change the Layer Blend mode to Multiply (this will make it very dark) 5. Create a new Adjustment Layer (use the icon in the Layers panel) 6. Select Levels (or Curves if you are used to them) 7. Move the centre marker to the left to brighten all the image 8. Move the right marker to the left to brighten the highlights 9. Move the left marker to the right if you need more blacks 10. Add a White layer if desired Creating pastel images Page 3 Martin Addison FRPS
Using a Warm up Layer in Photoshop 1. Create a new Adjustment Layer 2. Select Solid Color 3. Pick a color in the Color Picker 4. Click OK 5. Change the Layer Blend mode to Color 6. Adjust the color by double clicking the layer icon, select a new color 7. Adjust the layer opacity Using a Monochrome Layer in Photoshop 1. Create a new Adjustment Layer 2. Select Hue & Saturation 3. Move the Saturation slider fully to the left 4. Adjust the layer opacity Adding Film Grain 1. Make a copy of the Background 2. Filter> Artistic> Film Grain 3. Adjust the sliders to get the required effect Creating pastel images Page 4 Martin Addison FRPS
Polar Coordinates 1. Crop the image to square 2. Make a copy of the Background 3. Filters> Distort> Polar Coordinates 4. Select Rectangular to Polar 5. Adjust the zoom level to see the whole image 6. Rotate the image 180 degrees before applying the filter to have the building in the centre with the sky around the edge 7. To repeat the effect with the same settings use the shortcut Ctrl + F Airbrushing 1. Make new empty layer 2. Change the Layer Blend mode to Soft Light 3. Select a Soft Brush - large size, say 1000 pixels 4. Click the Airbrush icon on the Toolbar 5. Select a color from the image by holding down the Alt key and clicking in the image area 6. Paint in the image 7. Repeat the process using multiple layers and differing colors and density 8. Use a layer mask to bring back areas or the original image 9. Vary the layer blend mode, try Soft Light, Overlay, Screen, Lighten, Hard Light and others. 10. Scroll through the layer blend modes by changing the blend mode, then use the up and down arrow keys to cycle through the modes Creating pastel images Page 5 Martin Addison FRPS
Creating pastel images Page 6 Martin Addison FRPS
Flipping a landscape 1. Select the Rectangular Selection tool 2. Make a selection of about half of the image 3. Ctrl + J - will copy the selection and paste it onto a new layer 4. Edit> Transform> Flip Horizontal 5. Use the Move tool to move it into position 6. You may need to extend the canvas if your selected area was larger than half of the image 7. If so, go to Image> Canvas Size 8. Change the dimensions to Percent 9. Make the Width 150% 10. Decide where the extra canvas is going to be added 11. The result is likely to be too much space on the right, so use the Crop tool to trim off the unwanted area Creating pastel images Page 7 Martin Addison FRPS
Using Motion Blur to blur the foreground 1. Copy the Background to a new layer (Ctrl + J) 2. Select the Rectangular Selection tool 3. Drag selection to include all the sea (or other foreground) 4. Filters> Blur> Motion Blur 5. Keep the Angle at 0 6. Adjust the Distance to get the blur you require 7. Use a layer mask to bring back any details you need sharp Creating pastel images Page 8 Martin Addison FRPS