Collage Of Warped Photos In Photoshop (Manipulation & Emotions, ) Digital Photography/Graphic Design - Ms. Mayorga Est. Time 2-3 Weeks: from 1-25-11 until DONE!
OBJECTIVES: To learn to manipulate photos using Photoshop CS5 as our main digital program. To be able to apply
emotions by selecting a theme prior to starting the project and the ability to use colors to convey a message. Learn to
apply perspective as picture will no be only on the top of background but also going in to the background objects.
Student will learn about light and shadows and elements of design as well as principles.
PHOTOGRAPHY PROCEDURES: 5-10 Warp Pictures following tutorial (below). Students need to bring their own pictures
and they can not use pictures from the internet except for the background.
Small warp picture size: 3”x5” or 4”x6” Resolution 200 DPI. Background: needs to be 8x10 Resolution 200 DPI
GRAPHIC DESIGN PROCEDURES: 5-10 Warp Pictures following tutorial (below). Students are allowed to use pictures
from the internet. Small warp picture size: 3”x5” or 4”x6” Resolution 200 DPI. Background: needs to be 8x10 Resolution
200 DPI. It is very important that background picture conveys the same emotion as the warp pictures.
Step 1: Open The First Photo You Want To Add To Your Collage
Step 2: Rename The Background Layer
With the photo newly opened inside Photoshop, if we look over in the Layers palette, we can see that we
currently have one layer, named Background, which contains our image:
We need to add a new blank layer below this Background layer, but there's a small problem. Photoshop
treats the Background layer differently from all other layers (which is why the name is written in italics). We
need to unlock layer by double clicking or press ALT key and double clicking
Step 3: Add A New Blank Layer Below "Layer 0"
Now that our Background layer is no longer named
"Background", we can add a layer below it. To do that, hold
down your Ctrl key and click on the New Layer icon at the
bottom of the Layers palette:
Clicking the "New Layer" icon adds a new blank layer, and by
default, Photoshop places new layers above the layer we
currently have selected in the Layers palette, but by holding
down "Ctrl/Command" as we click on the icon, we tell
Photoshop to place the new layer below the currently
selected layer. As we can see now in our Layers palette, the new
layer, which Photoshop has automatically named "Layer 1",
appears below "Layer 0"
Step 4: Add Additional Canvas Space Around The Image
Since we're going to be bending and warping our image, we
need to give ourselves a little extra room to work, which means
we need to add some extra canvas space around the image. To
do that, go up to the Image menu at the top of the screen and
choose Canvas Size.
In the Canvas Size dialog box. Enter an additional ½ inch
to the Width and Height. Example 4”x6” should be
4.5”x6.5”
-Make sure the Relative option is not checked, and make
sure the middle square is selected in the Anchor grid:
Photoshop Collage: The extra canvas space is now added around the image.
Step 5: Add A White Stroke To The Image
Click on "Layer 0" in the Layers palette to select the layer that
contains the original image. Let's add a white photo border
around the edge of the image. To do that, go up to the Edit
menu at the top of the screen and choose Stroke. This brings
up the Stroke dialog box. I'm going to enter a value of 20 px
(pixels) for my Width, which works well with my image here.
You may need to enter a different value depending on the size of
the image you're using. I'm using a low resolution image for this
tutorial, so if you're using a high resolution image, you'll need to
try a higher width value.
The goal here is to simply add what looks like a standard white photo border around the image, which means
we also need to select white as our stroke color, so click on the color swatch to the right of the word Color,
which brings up Photoshop's Color Picker and choose white. Finally, set the Location option in the middle of
the dialog box to Inside so the stroke appears inside the edge of the image:
Photoshop Collage: The
white border is now
added around the edge of
the image.
Step 6: Warp The Image With Photoshop's Warp Tool
Here's where we get to the fun part. We're going to bend, twist and curl the image using Photoshop's Warp
Tool. There's a couple of different ways to access the Warp Tool. One is to go up to the Edit menu at the top of
the screen, choose Transform, and then choose Warp, but here's a faster way. Press Ctrl+T (Win) /
Command+T (Mac) to bring up Photoshop's Free Transform box and handles around the image, then simply
click on the Warp icon in the Options Bar at the top of the screen:
For a quick shortcut to get to the Warp Tool, press "Ctrl+T" to bring up the Free Transform handles around
the image, then click on the "Warp" icon in the Options Bar to access the Warp Tool.
You can click on that icon again at any time to switch back and forth between Free Transform and the Warp
Tool. With the Warp Tool selected, you'll see a 3x3 grid appear over your image:
Photoshop Collage: A 3x3 grid appears over your image
with the Warp Tool active. If you've never used the
Warp Tool before, it may seem a little confusing at first,
but the easiest thing to do is simply play around with it
and see what it does, since nothing you do will actually
be applied to the image as long as the Warp Tool
remains active. In no time at all, you'll see just how easy
and fun the tool really is. To warp the image from any of
the corners, simply click on any of the square corner
handles and drag it around with your mouse.
Click and drag any of the corner handles to warp the
image from the corners. To create a page curl, which is
where the Warp Tool really shines, drag any of the
corner handles inward. If you drag the corner in far
enough, you'll actually see what looks like the back of
the photo appearing in the corner (it's actually a mirror
image of the photo, but it still looks pretty cool):
Easily create a page curl by clicking on any of the corner
handles and dragging it inward.
You can also warp the image by dragging the round
handles that extend out from the corners:
Warping the image by dragging the round handles that extend out from
the corners.
And yet another way to warp the image is by simply clicking anywhere
inside of the image and dragging your mouse around to warp it from
that spot:
Photoshop Collage: Click anywhere inside the image and drag
your mouse to warp the image from that location.
As you can see, Photoshop's Warp Tool gives us lots of control
and flexibility over how we bend and reshape the image, and
for this collage effect we're creating, there's no right or wrong
way to go about it. We're not trying to create any sort of
realistic effect here, although we could if we wanted. All we're
really going for is something that looks fun, so feel free to play
around with your image, warping, stretching, bending,
twisting, and curling it anyway you like. The only thing you
should try to avoid is warping anyone's face, since they may not be too happy when they see what you've done, so try to
limit your warp effects to the corners and edges of the photo as much as possible.
Unfortunately, there's no "undo" with the Warp Tool, so if
you're not happy with what you've done and want to try
again, you'll need to press your Esc key to cancel your
changes and exit out of the Warp Tool, then go back and start
over.
Here's what my image looks like, with the Warp Tool still
active, after I've reshaped the image in a way that works for
me.The image after warping it with the Warp Tool, which is
still active. When you're ready to accept your changes, press
Enter to have Photoshop apply them to the image.
Step 7: Duplicate The Layer
Now that we've warped the image, we need to duplicate it. To do that, with "Layer 0" (the layer that contains
our image) selected in the Layers palette, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer. If we look
in the Layers palette now, we can see the newly created copy of the layer, which Photoshop has named "Layer
0 copy", above the other two layers:
Step 8: Fill The Original Image On "Layer 0" With Black
Click back on "Layer 0" in the Layers palette to select it. Then, press the letter D on your keyboard if
needed to reset your Foreground and Background colors so black becomes your Foreground color (white
becomes your Background color).
You can see your current Foreground and Background colors in the color swatches near the
bottom of the Tools palette (the swatch in the top left is the Foreground color and the one in the
bottom right is the Background color):
Then, with "Layer 0" selected, use the keyboard shortcut
Shift+Alt+Backspace to fill the image on the layer with black. You
won't see anything happen in your document window and that's because the
image on "Layer 0 copy" is blocking what we've done on "Layer 0" below it
from view, but if we look at the preview thumbnail for "Layer 0" in the Layers
palette, we can see that the image has in fact been filled with black:
The thumbnail for "Layer 0" showing the image on the layer now filled with black.
Step 9: Create A Drop Shadow With The Warp Tool.
We're going to use the Warp Tool once again, this time to create a drop shadow effect for our image using the
area we just filled with black. With "Layer 0" still selected, I'm going to access the Warp Tool the same way I
did before, by pressing Ctrl+T to bring up the Free
Transform handles and then clicking on the Warp Icon in the Options Bar. I want the light to appear to
be coming from the top left, which means my shadow
needs to appear along the bottom right of the image.
So with my Warp Tool active, I'm going to bend and
reshape the black-filled area so it sticks out from under
the right and bottom of the image. Again, we're not
going for absolute realism here, so feel free to
exaggerate things a little:
Step 10: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter
We need to blur the edges of our shadow a little, so go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, choose Blur, and then choose Gaussian
Blur. When the Gaussian Blur dialog box appears, I'm going to enter a
Radius value of about 6 pixels to blur the edges of my shadow slightly.
Again, you may need to enter a higher value if you're using a high
resolution image:
Click OK to exit out of the dialog box when you're done.
Step 11: Lower The Opacity Of The Layer
We've warped our shadow into shape with the Warp Tool and blurred out
the edges, but our shadow is much too intense at this point. To fix that, go up
to the Opacity option in the top right of the Layers palette and lower the
layer's opacity to around 60%:
Photoshop Collage: Lower the opacity of "Layer 0" to reduce the
intensity of the shadow.
Here's my image after lowering the opacity of the shadow:
Photoshop Collage: The shadow now appears much less noticeable after lowering its
opacity.
Step 12: Add A New Blank Layer Above The Other Layers
We're almost done, but let's finish things off by adding some subtle
highlights and shadows to our photo to enhance the illusion that it's really
bending and twisting in 3D space. To do that, we first need to add a new
layer above the other layers, so click on the top layer ("Layer 0 copy") to
select it, then click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers
palette to have Photoshop add a new blank layer at the top, which it
automatically names "Layer 2":
Step 13: Change The Blend Mode Of The New Layer To "Hard Light"
We need to change the blend mode of our new layer. To do that, go
up to the Blend Mode options in the top left corner of the Layers palette.
By default, the layer is set to the "Normal" blend mode. Click on the down-
pointing arrow to the right of the word "Normal" and select Hard Light
from the list:
Photoshop Collage: Change the blend mode of "Layer 2" from "Normal" to "Hard Light".
Step 14: Lower The Opacity Of The Layer
We're going to use this layer to paint in some highlights and shadows
with Photoshop's Brush Tool, but before we do, we need to lower the
opacity of this layer quite a bit. We want very subtle highlights and
shadows, so go over to the Opacity option in the top right of the
Layers palette and lower the opacity all the way down to about 20%
to start with. You may need to raise or lower it slightly when you're
done:
Step 15: Load A Selection Around The Image
Before we begin painting, let's make sure we paint "inside the lines"
so-to-speak, so we're not painting over any of the transparent areas
around the image. To do that, hold down your Ctrl key and click directly on the preview thumbnail for "Layer 0 copy" (the layer that contains our image) in the Layers palette:
Photoshop Collage: A selection is loaded around the image.
Step 16: Select The Brush Tool
Select Photoshop's Brush Tool from the Tools palette, or simply press B on your keyboard to
select it with the shortcut:
Step 17: Paint With Black To Add Shadows To The Image
With the Brush Tool selected and black as your Foreground color, paint over a few areas in the image to add
subtle shadows, giving the image a bit more of a 3D look to it. Resize your brush as needed by pressing the left
bracket key on your keyboard to make the brush smaller or the right bracket
key to make it larger. To control the hardness of the brush edges, hold down
your Shift key and press the left bracket key a few times to soften the
edges, or hold down Shift and press the right bracket key a few times to
make the brush edges harder.
You can also Right-click anywhere inside the document to bring up the
Brush Tool dialog box where you can adjust the brush diameter and hardness
with slider controls at the top:
Photoshop Collage: With the Brush Tool selected, "Right-click" anywhere inside the document to access
the Brush Tool dialog box where you can adjust the brush size and edge hardness.
Then simply paint over parts of the image to add some shadows. Thanks to the selection we've loaded around
the image, we don't have to worry about accidentally painting in the area outside of the photo. The only area
we can paint over is the area inside the selection.
If you make a mistake or you're just not happy with how you
painted over an area, either press Ctrl+Z to undo your last
brush stroke, or press E on your keyboard to switch to
Photoshop's Eraser Tool, erase over the mistake, then
press B to switch back to your Brush Tool and continue
painting. Here's my image after painting in some shadows in
the top left and right corners, as well as over the page curl in
the bottom right corner.
Step 18: Paint With White To Add Highlights To The Image
Once you're done painting in some shadows, press the
letter X on your keyboard to swap your Foreground and
Background colors so white becomes your Foreground color.
Then just as you did for the shadows, simply paint over a few
areas to add some highlights, changing your brush size and
edge hardness as needed.
Here, I'm painting a very subtle white highlight area in the
bottom left corner of the image:
The highlights aren't as noticeable in my image since I'm painting over an area that is already fairly bright.
They may be more noticeable in your image, but even a very subtle highlight still adds to the effect and keeps
the image from looking flat. When you're done painting your shadows and highlights, press Ctrl+D to
deselect the selection around the image.
Step 19: Adjust The Layer Opacity If Needed
If you find that your shadows and highlights are a bit too subtle in your image,
go back to the Opacity option in the top right corner of the Layers palette
and increase the layer opacity until you're happy with how they look. Or if you
think your shadows and highlights are too strong, lower the opacity slightly.
Either way, you shouldn't need to adjust the opacity amount by much, since
even small adjustments have a big impact with the layer set to the Hard Light
blend mode. I'm going to fine-tune my shadows and highlights by increasing
my layer opacity to 22%:
Photoshop Collage: The image after adding the highlights and shadows.
Step 20: Group The Three Layers That Make Up The Image
We've completed our work on our first photo! All we need to do now is add it to our main collage document
(which we'll open in a moment). Right now, our image is made up of three separate layers - the main image on
"Layer 0 copy", the main shadow below it on "Layer 0", and the highlights and shadows on "Layer 2" at the
top. Rather than dragging three separate layers into the main collage document, let's make things easier by
grouping the layers so all three of them will be placed inside a "folder" in the Layers palette. That way,
we can simply drag the folder over to the collage document instead of
dragging three separate layers. This will also make it easier to keep our main
collage document organized when we start adding additional photos to it.
To create the layer group, hold down Shift and click on the top 3
layers.
Photoshop Collage: Select all three layers that make up the image.
With all three layer selected, either go up to the Layer menu at the top of
the screen and select Group Layers or simply use the keyboard shortcut
Ctrl+G. Whichever way you choose, Photoshop adds all three layers into a
new group. If you look in your Layers palette, you'll see that the three layers
seem to have disappeared, replaced by a folder icon with the name "Group
1" beside it. Double-click directly on the words "Group 1" and rename the
group something more descriptive like "Photo 1":
If you look closely, you'll see a small, right-pointing triangle to the left of the folder icon. Click on it to twirl the
folder open, and you'll see your three layers appear inside of it:
Photoshop Collage: Open the layer group by clicking on the small right-
pointing arrow to the left of the folder icon.
Click on the triangle once again to close group, leaving only the folder visible.
Step 21: Open The Image To Use As Your Collage Background
The work on our first photo is done and we've organized the three layers that make up the image into a layer
group. All we need to do now is drag the layer group over to our main collage document, so go ahead and
open the image you want to use as your
background.
Here's the image I'll be using:
Open the image you want to use as the
background for your collage.
Step 22: Drag The Layer Group Into The Main Collage Image
With both images open in their own
separate document windows on your
screen, click anywhere inside the
document containing the photo we
just finished working on so that its
document window is selected. Then,
simply click on the layer group in the
Layers palette and drag the group
into your background image
document:
Photoshop Collage: Drag the layer group from the photo document into
the main background document.
You'll see your photo appear in front of your background image in the
new document, and if you look in the new document's Layers palette,
you'll see that the layer group has been copied over to the new document
and is now sitting above the Background layer:
Step 23: Resize And Reposition The Photo With Free Transform
Now that our first photo is in front of the background inside the document we'll be using for our collage, we
can move and resize it as needed. To do that, press Ctrl+T to once again bring up the Free Transform box
and handles around this image. To move the photo with Free Transform, simply click anywhere inside the
photo (except for on the small target icon in the center) and drag the image into position with your mouse. To
resize the image, hold down Shift and drag any of the corner handles. Holding down Shift as you drag
constrains the the width and height proportions of the image, maintaining its original shape. To resize the
image from its center, hold down Alt as you drag (you can hold Shift as well to constrain the proportions and
resize from the center at the same time). You can also rotate the image if you want by moving your mouse
cursor just outside the Free Transform box and
then clicking and dragging your mouse.
Here, I've moved my photo into the center of the
document and I'm resizing it by dragging the
bottom corner handle inward:
Move and resize the image as needed with Photoshop's
Free Transform command.
Press Enter to accept your changes when you're done.
Step 24: Repeat The Same Steps To Add Additional Photos Into The Collage
And with that, our first photo has successfully been warped into shape and added into our collage! To add
more photos (it wouldn't be much of a collage if we didn't add more photos), simply repeat the steps we've
just worked through for each additional photo, warping each one differently for variety. When you get to the
part where you add the layers into a layer group, name your new groups with successive numbers ("Photo 2",
"Photo 3", "Photo 4", etc.), then simply drag them into the main collage
document, move them into place and resize them as needed with Free
Transform.
I've added two more photos to my collage, and if I look in my Layers
palette, I can see that I now have three layer groups, named "Photo 1",
"Photo 2" and "Photo 3", above my Background layer which contains my
background image:
Photoshop Collage: Photoshop's Layers palette showing the three layer groups that I've
dragged into the document, as well as the main Background layer.
If you want to move one photo on top of another in your collage, simply click on its layer group in the Layers
palette and drag it above the other photo's group to change the "stacking order". Layers and layer groups that
are higher in the Layers palette appear in front of layers and groups below them.
Photoshop Collage: The final result.
STATE STANDARDS: Photography: VA.A.1.3.2, VA.A.1.3.1, VA.B.1.3.3 Demonstrate photographic processing skills using digital procedures. Graphic Design: VA.A.1.4.2, VA.A.1.4.1, VA.B.1.4.1, VA.B.1.4.3, VA.D.1.4.1 Demonstrate photographic processing skills using digital procedures.