I was experimenting with some of the more advanced features of the Layer Styles dialog box and discovered some very handy techniques that can be used when you are creating transparent effects. The sequence for this “water” effect is done entirely in a single Layer Style. So once it has been created it can be saved and applied to any layer that has hard-edged opacity against a field of transparency. This also means you can paint on the styled layer and the effect will render “live”, so it’s pretty to watch.
Recommended Font and Doc specs. The technique uses a number of pixel based filters and point based type so these specs are important to reproduce the effect. Image Specs: 1117 x 865 pixels at 266 dpi, RGB color. Font Specs: Present, Regular, 60 point.
1.Add a new layer above the layer you want to make wet and paint an initial drop shape.
Now go to Layer > New > Layer... and click OK, or click on the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. This will create Layer 1.
Press (D) for default colors so black is in the foreground color chip.
Activate the Brush tool (B) and then in the Options Bar above, set it to a 19 pixel, hard edged brush, Normal, Opacity 100%.
Now paint a bit of black on Layer 1 and wiggle your brush a bit as you paint. This will be the initial shape we will use to build the layer style on.
Activate the Zoom tool (Z) and click on your paint drop to zoom in for a closer view.
2.Build the Layer Style by reducing the Fill Opacity.
Double-click on Layer 1 thumbnail in the Layers palette to open the Layer Style dialog box.
Go down to the Advanced Blending section and change the Fill Opacity to 3%. This reduces the opacity of the fill pixels but retains the shape of the paint on the layer.
Note: This step will make the black you painted on Layer 1 almost disappear.
3.Add a small, intense, drop shadow.
Click on the Drop Shadow name (not the check box) in the list of effects on the left side of the dialog box.
In the Drop Shadow section to the right, set the Opacity to 100%, change the Distance to 1 px and the Size to 1 px.
In the Quality section, click on the small down arrow to the right of the Contour curve thumbnail and select the Gaussian curve. It’s the curve that looks like a soft, sloping (S).
4.Add a soft interior shadow.
Click on the Inner Shadow name in the list of effects on the left side of the dialog box.
In the Structure section set the Blend Mode to Color Burn, the Opacity to 43%, and the Size to 10 px.
5.Add an additional interior shadow around the edge of the shape.
Click on the Inner Glow name in the list of effects on the left side of the dialog box.
In the Structure section set the Blend Mode to Overlay, the Opacity to 30%, and the color chip to black. To change the color chip, click on it to open the Color Picker, drag the cursor to black and then click OK.
6.Add a highlight and interior glow to the shape.
Click on the Bevel and Emboss name in the list of effects on the left side of the dialog box.
In the Structure section set the Technique to Chisel Hard, the Depth to 250%, the Size to 15 px, and Soften to 10 px.
In the Shading section, set the Angle to 90, the Altitude to 30 and the Highlight Mode Opacity to 100%. Then set the Shadow Mode to Color Dodge, its color chip to white and its Opacity to 37%.
This completes the Layer Style but don’t click OK just yet.
7.Save this Layer Style for future use.
Click the New Style button on the right side of the Layer Style dialog box. This will open a dialog box where you can name it and then click OK to save.
Note: After it has been saved you can find it under Window, Show Styles, in the last thumbnail position.
Now click OK to leave the Layer Style dialog. In the Layers palette, click the arrow next to the Layer Style (f) icon to hide the style.
Note: You can paint additional drops on Layer 1. Just makes sure your brush tool is active (B) and paint where you want the drops to appear. You can also use the Eraser to edit or remove existing drops.
8.Add a text layer to the document.
Activate the Type Tool (T).
In the options bar above, click on the Palettes button to open the Character palette.
In the Character palette select your font. Set the color to black. Then click on the Paragraph tab and click on the Center Text button in the upper left section of the palette.
Now click in the center of the document and enter your “Rain Drops” text. To reposition your type move your cursor beyond the text until it turns into a move icon, then click drag.
To apply the text click the check mark in the upper right of the Options bar or press the Enter key (Mac), Control-Enter (Windows). This will render the Type layer, Rain Drops.
9.Add a new, white layer below the Type layer and then merge the Type layer.
With the Rain Drops text layer active, create a new layer under it by holding down Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) and then clicking the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. This will create Layer 2.
Fill Layer 2 with white by pressing the (D) key to load default colors. Then go to Edit, Fill, Background Color or press Command-Delete on the (Mac) or Control-Backspace (Windows) to fill with the Background color.
Click on the Rain Drops layer to activate it.
Go to Layer, Merge Down or press Command-E (Mac) or Control-E (Windows). This will remove the Rain Drops Layer as it merges down onto Layer 2.
10.Roughen the edge of the merged layer with a filter.
With Layer 2 active go to Filter, Pixelate, Crystallize.
Set the Cell Size to 10 and click OK.
11.Blur the roughened text/image.
With Layer 2 active go to Filter, Blur, Gaussian Blur.
In the dialog, set the Radius to 5.0 pixels and click OK.
12.Take the softened text image and harden the edge by adding contrast.
With Layer 2 active choose Image > Adjust > Levels. In the Levels dialog set the Input Levels to 160, 1.00, 190 and click OK.
13.Load a selection from the text/image and delete the white areas.
To load a selection from Layer 2 press Command-Option-~ (Mac) or Control-Alt-~ (Windows). This can also be done by clicking the Channels tab, then Click the Load Channel as Selection icon at the bottom of the palette.
The selection loads with the white areas selected. Press Delete (Mac) or Backspace (Windows) to remove the white areas around the black text. Now deselect by Select > Deselect.
14.Apply our saved Layer Style to the black text layer.
With Layer 2 active go to Window, Show Styles to bring up the Styles palette.
Locate your saved Rain Drops Style at the end of the list of thumbnails and click it to apply the Style to Layer 2.
Looking Through a Glass
Here is a technique for digitally adding a glass object in front of a scene and making it look like it was part of the original scene. The trick is to carefully photograph the glass, paying attention to the shine and shadows. Then, make the glass transparent and distort the scene that you see through the glass. The result is convincing, if not optically correct.
1.Photograph the glass object.
Photograph the glass in front a medium gray background—not white.Use lighting that gives the glass a three-dimensional, shiny appearance. You want the surface of the glass to be brighter than the flat areas that you’ll eventually see the background through.
2.Create a mask.
Use any tool you like to make a selection of the object. I worked with the brush in the Quick Mask to refine the selection. Save your selection to a new channel by choosing Select > Save Selection.
3.Create a distortion texture.
Duplicate the document by going to Image > Duplicate and convert it to the grayscale mode (Image > Mode > Grayscale). Load the selection of the glass object (Select > Load Selection), invert it by choosing to Select > Inverse and fill with 50 percent gray. Deselect the glass (Ctrl+D on Win, Cmd+D on Mac), and then apply the Gaussian Blur filter (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) with a small radius to make the image softer. Save it as a .psd file—you’ll use the file later as a glass distortion texture.
4.Prepare your background image.
Open an image you’d like to use for the background. To enhance the illusion of depth, blur the background image a little. Choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and then set the Radius slider for the amount of blur you want. To allow a correct perspective for the object, I added a wooden plane under it.
5.Assemble the composition.
Keep your background image open. Then, in your original glass image, load the mask as a selection (Select > Load Selection). Choose Edit > Copy, then in your background image, choose Edit > Paste to paste the glass in front of the background scene.
6.Set the glass layer blending mode to Hard Light.
In the Layers palette, select the layer with the glass on it and choose Hard Light from the blending mode menu. Usually, you’ll get a good result just by setting the glass layer to Hard Light, but you can refine the result using the Blending options. In the Layers palette, double-click the thumbnail in the glass layer to open the Layer Style dialog box. At the bottom of the Layer Style dialog box, you can move the value sliders to make refinements. Press the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Mac) to split the sliders set the range of values that are blended.
7.Give the glass a green tint.
If you want to tint the glass, duplicate its layer by choosing Layer > Duplicate Layer. In the Layers palette, select the Lock transparent pixels icon, then fill the object with the color you like. Set the layer blending mode to Overlay and reduce the opacity until it looks realistic.
8.Distort the glass.
In the Layers palette, select the background layer, and choose Filter > Distort > Glass. Under Texture select Load Texture, and open the texture you prepared in step 3. Do not start with a selection! Scaling must be 100 percent; try distortion and smoothness until you like the result. Also see if Invert might do better. Additionally you can load the object as a selection on the background layer and experiment with the Displace-filter.
9.Remove unwanted distortion.
The Glass filter often produces artifacts at the borders. Eliminate them by loading the object as a selection on the background layer, invert it, mark a position in the history palette before the use of the filter and fill the selection with the history state.
10.Finished glass.
This is the resulting image. Though the distorted background does not really look like it would through this glass, most observers will not recognize this. It’s good enough to produce a convincing composition.
how to creat Smoke with adobe photoshope
It’s used in sacred ceremonies. It’s used to cleanse. It’s linked to the spirit world. It makes breath visible. It’s a sign of danger. Fire precedes it. It’s pollution. It stops breath. Smoke is a powerful symbol.
Compositionally, smoke is extraordinarily flexible. It can be thick or thin, heavy or diffuse, contained or scattered, simple or complex. You can draw a line in any direction, linking two objects or creating a new focus of attention. You can literally draw the eye to any point in an image along any path.
The complexity and variety found in smoke effects gives you an extraordinary degree of artistic license without compromising realism. That said, if you plan to incorporate the effect into your work, it pays to closely study the appearance smoke in the real world. There’s a logic to the way smoke unfurls. It’s tighter and more energetic closer to the source, more diffuse and calmer when it’s further away. It billows, curls, and twists in undulating arcs, rarely making a sharp turn. While it can drift quickly or slowly, it rarely descends; it usually ascends. It’s amazing to me that something so complex can be so easily rendered by hand, using Photoshop.
1.Draw and distort a line.
Starting with a Background layer filled with black, use the Paintbrush to paint a white line on a new layer in a Layer Set entitled Smoke. Then, distort the line. Use the Smudge Tool to pull through, push out of, wiggle, or twirl portions of the white line until a desired effect is achieved. The more you distort the line the more blurred it becomes. Use the History Brush to selectively undo distorted areas as desired.
2.Refine the effect.
Use Liquify (Filter > Liquify) to create further distortions. Unlike the Smudge Tool, Liquify will not introduce blurring with distortion. Use Liquify’s Reconstruct Tool to undo distortions selectively. Unlike using the History Brush, the Reconstruct Tool allows you to pick a transitional state between undistorted and fully distorted.
3.Build up a more complex effect.
Repeat as many times as desired keeping separate elements on separate layers.
4.Reposition the elements.
Use the Move Tool to reposition select elements. Use Free Transform (Edit > Free Transform) to scale or distort select elements.
5.Create a halo.
Turn off the Background Layer. Create a new layer and place it at the bottom of the Smoke Layer Set. Hold the Alt and Ctrl keys (Windows) or Option and Command keys (Mac OS) and select Merge Visible. This copies all the visible information from multiple layers onto the one layer you have targeted, without flattening your image. Use the filter Gaussian Blur to blur this layer. Lower its opacity as desired. Repeat if necessary.
6.Optionally, add noise.
At the top of the Smoke Layer Set, create a new layer filled with 50% gray, set to Overlay mode, and filter it with either Noise or Grain. Reduce Opacity and Saturation as desired.
7.Import the effect into a new destination.
Drag and drop the Smoke Layer Set into a new destination. Modify position and opacity as desired. Further distortion may be desired. Elements within a single Layer Set can be shuffled and recombined to create multiple effects that have varied appearances.
8.Conclusion.
For added realism you may combine these effects along with photographs of smoke. Any file of smoke photographed on a black background can quickly generate yet one more element (albeit an element with a great deal of complexity) for your final effect. Starting with the photograph, load any channel of the photograph as a selection (click the selection icon in the Channels palette), using any selection tool drag and drop the resulting selection into a desired destination, create a new layer, Add a Layer Mask, and fill the layer with white. Scale, distort, reduce opacity of this layer mask—in short, modify as desired.
Experimentation is not only required here, it’s highly enjoyable.
You will quickly find yourself enchanted by smoke. While captivated by that enchantment, you may find that new source of power and poetry will enter your images.
Lightblast!
Lightblast!
Looking for a way to give some extra “life” to a logo or type treatment? The two most common techniques to help a logo standout are a glowing edge or a drop shadow. This is based on the principle of type on pattern, which says that a contrasting edge makes it far easier to see something when it is positioned over a busy or moving background. But why be ordinary? By backlighting an image, we can dramatically offset it from its background. This technique works with almost any logo or type treatment.
1.Position the logo.
Position the logo where you want it on screen. Be sure to use a safe title area document if you are working in video. Use alignment tools to center the logo if needed.
Note: You can open a new document with title safe and action safe guides showing. Choose File > New, and then choose a preset video document that matches the standard used by your video editing system.
2.Duplicate the logo layer.
Make a copy of the logo by duplicating the layer: choose Layer > Duplicate Layer. Name the duplicate layer Light 1. Place the copy above the original logo.
3.Blast it!
Apply the Radial Blur on the duplicate layer (Filter > Blur > Radial Blur). Set the amount to 100, the Blur Method to Zoom, and the Quality to Good. Click OK.
4.Fill it.
Load the default colors by pressing D. Load the layer named Light 1 by Cmd + clicking (Mac OS) or Ctrl + clicking (Windows) its thumbnail in the layers palette. Fill the selection by pressing Option + Delete (Mac OS) or Alt + Delete (Windows). Deselect the layer by choosing Select > Deselect.
5.Extend it.
Repeat the blur/load/fill cycle until your rays are the desired length. You can run the last filter again choosing Filter > Radial Blur (the top menu item), this applies the last filter with its last previously used values. In the example (which is for a video) I repeated the cycle three times to achieve my look. Depending on the resolution of your composition you may need to run the combination more or less times.
6.Color it.
On the blurred layer named Light 1, apply the Color Overlay layer style by choosing Layer > Layer Style > Color Overlay. Select the desired color and adjust opacity to taste. You should get a real-time preview of your work if the Preview box is checked. Click OK.
7.Build it.
Move the glow layer, light1, behind the logo by dragging it below the logo layer in the Layers palette—so the beams shoot past. You may choose to place a background image behind the logo. Optionally, you may also choose to place an additional copy of the beam layer on top. Adjust the opacity to make the color look like it has wrapped around the logo.
8.Composite it (optional).
If you want to key the image in a video application you will need to create an alpha channel to store the transparency of the glow:
Turn off the visibility icon for all layers that you don’t want included in the alpha channel. Then make a new (empty) layer and make sure it is selected.
Choose Merge Visible from the Layer’s palette submenu while holding down Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows). The resulting layer contains all of the merged elements while leaving the originals behind. Cmd + click (Mac OS) or Ctrl + click (Windows) this new layer’s thumbnail to load the selection, and then turn this layer’s visibility icon off.
Switch to the channel’s palette and click on the Save Selection as Channel icon at the bottom of the palette. Once the alpha channel is created, you can release the selection by choosing Select > Deselect.
In the Layers palette, turn the background layer on and fill it with the same color as your glow. This will ensure that you have clean edges in your alpha channel by avoiding any stray color data in the glowing areas.
Be sure that you have only one alpha channel in your document. Then choose File > Save As and save a copy of the file in a format your NLE system recognizes such as PICT or TARGA. Make certain that the Save Alpha Channels box is checked so the alpha channel will be embedded.
9.Conclusion.
This is one of several techniques for enhancing logos and type for video that can be found in the book entitled Photoshop for Nonlinear Editors by Richard Harrington.
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