Tutorial: Cookie-Cutting in Photoshop

Hi guys! I'm back with a new tutorial!! The last time I posted one was... last August 2012? Wow. That long huh? And to think that some people are following me because of it. Wah. Love your readers, Rainy.

So today's tutorial is all about *dundundun* I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU CALL IT. WTF. WTF. I mean I do know but... I forgot. Looooool. I mean I forgot what you call this simple process of... cookie-cutting in Photoshop.

This tutorial was suggested by Addie on Twitter!

@sixthsicksheep how to make photos into weird shapes like teardrop and stuff
— adithi (@acciomatic) February 18, 2013

Like the ones in the graphic below!! If you've been visiting me for quite a while now, you might have noticed how often I do something like that. So if you don't know how to do it, this tutorial is for you.

But if you're like, "DAFUQ THIS IS SO SIMPLE I KNOW HOW TO DO THIS" or "RAINY PLEASE YOU CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT IT'S CALLED" then please scram away. Seriously. I hate it when I post tutorials and some are like "bleeh damn easy". I mean, just shut up. I'm doing it for my friends who need to know how. Not you you you.

Also, you can click on the screencaps for the full-size view.

STEP 1 (aka the hardest step):

Open an image in Photoshop!! Wtf.

STEP 2 (now this is where you listen, or read closely):

You can go ahead and edit your image however you like (like maybe change the curves and add some filters), and when you're satisfied with the effect, press Q. It's the shortcut for the Quick Mask mode. Don't press anything yet.

Then, click the Custom Shape Tool from your toolbox, which is usually found on the left side of your workspace. Alternatively, you can just press U. Then choose whichever shape you want. You can also use a brush if you want to. I used the heart one because I'm in love. Haha.

STEP 3 (you know how to use a Shape tool right?):

Click and drag! Oh my, how do I explain this step...

Well, you just click anywhere on the photo and drag the mouse to adjust the shape size. It should have that red mask thingy. And make sure to select the parts of the image that you want to appear on your shape.

STEP 4 (the ant festival):

After covering the areas on the image that you want to appear in your shape, press Q again to exit Quick Mask mode. You should see some dancing ants across your photo.

I'm sorry but I forgot to include a tip if you prefer having a transparent background. If you're using an image in JPEG format, you should convert it first. To do this, double click on the layer called Background and just press enter. Just like in the screencap.

STEP 5 (more marching ants):

Do you see marching ants on the corners of your image? If not, press ALT + CTRL + I (or Select Inverse).

If you see the "ants" surround your photo then there's no need for you to press.

STEP 6 (another hard part wtf):

Almost done! Now all you have to do is remove the unwanted parts. To do so, just press Delete on your keyboard! Tadaaaaaaah!

Now you can drag your newly-shaped image around and use it to make your own blog header, icons, et cetera.

Yes, I know. I can't help it. Even my tutorials sound so Rainy.

I did everything to make it comprehensive though. Just follow the steps and disregard some of my annoying fillers and you'll do fine.

Enjoy!

And if you have any questions you can always ask me on Twitter or Ask.fm.

Tutorial: Double Exposure

Hi! As you can see, I have a new layout. Do you like it? No? HNGGGGGG.

In this very easy tutorial, I will teach you the basics of creating double exposure shots digitally using Adobe Photoshop. I know a lot of people know how to do this, but oh well.

According to Wikipedia, "a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be identical to each other."

Doing it on film is a lot of fun and full of surprises, but you can do it anytime on your computer too!

I will use these images. Too lazy to look for better photos among my files.

Step 1 (and the most obvious step): open the two documents in photoshop.

Step 2: Drag one image on top of another, it doesn't matter which is on top.

Final step: Change the top image's blending mode to Multiply (in some cases you can use Overlay or Darken). Adjust the opacity to your heart's content and then you're done!

The final result...

LOOOOL THE PHOTOS THAT I USED DON'T MATCH AT ALL.

Oh well. At least you get the idea.

Another example is this... my current photo on the 'about' area. You can view my sidebar for another one.

I suggest you use bokeh or light streak images that you took yourself. Alternatively, you can download textures from various resource sites!

Have fun!

Tutorial: Simple Photoblend

Ever wondered how I do my collages/photoblends? Now here's a tutorial for all of you! I'm going to teach you guys how I made the very simple graphic above using Adobe Photoshop.

This tutorial will feature simple methods and tricks for the completely clueless, as I once was.

The thing is, you need not do the exact things I'm going to do here, but just to give you an idea. Practice with this first and get creating next time!

1.) Open a new Photoshop document (CTRL + N) and set the image size to 600x400. Or you can choose how big or small you want it to be. I only put 600px because that's my blog's standard image size.

2.) Open an image you want to include in your blend. In this case I used a photo of the pink-haired blogger Audrey Kitching. I got the image from her blog a long time ago, but I can send it to you. Just ask. You can use your own image if you like.

3.) Using the Pen Tool (just press P), click around the edges of the image until you get everything covered. Once you closed the anchor point, right click and choose Make Selection. Of course you can use the Lasso tools but in my opinion, Pen gives less pain in the ass. Lol.

4.) After making a selection, press SHIFT+CTRL+I (or Select Inverse). Then clear out the clutter behind by pressing Delete. Your image now has a transparent background!

5.) Open a texture you desire and drag it onto the first new document you did. I got my texture from here.

6.) Drag your main image to the new document. (Loool this is so obvious IDK why I even included this)

7.) After you positioned and resized your main image, do some light editing by adjust the levels, contrast or curves. I just changed the curves settings here. (CTRL+M for the curves)

8.) Open your second texture and drag it onto the document you're working on. Position it behind your main image. You can get the same texture here.

9.) After positioning your second texture, change the blending option to Overlay.

10.) It will now look like this (see below). As you can see, the second texture has some geometric edges that doesn't look good. So we're gonna remove the pink edge on the right by using a soft-edged eraser. Just erase the rightmost part of the second texture.

11.) It will now look like this...

12.) We're almost done! Make a new layer, and position that layer below the layer that contains our main image (see the blue part on the image). Then, using the brush tool, put some decorations. Ok I honestly don't know how to put it, just...

I used the brush set from 99mockingbirds.

You can download brushes from the sites I had included on my FAQ section. And if you don't know how to install brushes on Photoshop, just google it.

13.) Put some text! You can put anything you like. I suggest a curly font for a graphic like this. (See my FAQ for sites that offer free fonts)

14.) Change the text layer's fill to 60% and you're done!!

Easy-peasy right? Errr, if you wanna see the final result, GO BACK TO THE TOP OF THIS POST. Lol.

This is really simple and I hope I gave you a hint on how we do those graphics. Be creative and resourceful, try designing in your own terms and see how it goes!

And if you've done something with the help of this tutorial, you can show it to me! I'd really love to know how much I helped. I'm still getting the hang of this writing-a-tutorial thingy.

If you're annoyed at the difficulty of the work done here, don't worry, I'm going to do a more complex tutorial next time! As you can see, I've been banned from using the laptop (the one with Photoshop) and I currently don't have my own (IT FUCKING BROKE!).

You can ask questions on my tagboard, I'm not one of those bloggers who doesn't allow inquiries on their tagboards because there's Formspring. But I don't check my Formspring so yeah, go do it on my tagboard. 

Tutorial: Vintage Effect

First, I posted a new Patterns batch on Fairyfloss! Do check it out! And remember to follow for latest updates. We're trying to be active.

One of my online pals asked me how I edit my photos, and since it was tricky trying explain everything through Whatsapp, I decided to create a real tutorial.

Please do note that different photos have various elements and properties, so you can't expect to get the exact results I got. But this technique is very common, and it works for most photos. That's why I decided to do this as my first ever tutorial.

The original image. I hope you don't get sick of this kawaii plushie because I love it so much and we've been together through sick and sin!

I used Photoshop CS4, but there won't be any problem with other versions.

Step 1: Open an image then duplicate that layer.
(If you don't know how to duplicate, right click on the layer containing the image and click Duplicate Layer Hello Rainy Martini Lol Lol)

Why duplicate? You don't wanna ruin the original image, do you? Just in case.

Step 2: Create a new layer, then fill it using the paint bucket with a pale yellow color. As I have said earlier, different photos have different elements, the shade of yellow may vary depending on what properties the photo you're editing is in. In this case, I used #feff73. I think it's safe to use that, too. You could try something darker or lighter.

Set the blending options to Multiply and adjust the Opacity to 60-70%.

Step 3: Repeat step 2, but this time, fill the new layer with a dark blue color using the paint bucket. I used #1a1a6f.

Set the blending options to Exclusion, then adjust the opacity. Something between 50-70%.

You're almost done! But the photo needs some boosting, so here goes.

Step 4: On the Adjustments* panel, choose Levels, then you will see a dropdown menu with RGB written on it, select Red and move the dial to the right a little. Just a little budge or until you're satisfied with the redness of your now vintage-looking image. Adjust the Curves, too. There's no specific pattern because as I said (again), different photos have... you know what. So, just play with it, drag that damn little dot across the graph like a killer dragging a dead body, add more dots then slide em again until your heart melts with satisfaction.

*If you're using Adobe Photoshop CS3 or lower, you can find it via Layer > New Adjustment Layer. 

Step 5: Click Color Balance (also found on the Adjustment panel) and choose Shadows, adjust the Cyan-Red dial to the right a litte, about 10 will do. Next, choose Highlights, and adjust the redness, too. In this case I added +13.

Step 6: Adjust the contrast, 20-25 will do.

You can add another Curves layer if you wish but it is not necessary. I only did it to enhance the image more.

AND YOU'RE DONE!

(Or in this case I am)

Go on and try it! I'll be really pleased if I had managed to share this little knowledge to my readers who are beginning to befriend Photoshop. It was a pain to printscreen every single thing I do but I guess I'll get used to it in time. Tell me what you think via comments, too.

It would be better to alter and add various adjustments to suit your liking! Have fun and don't be afraid to experiment!

My next tutorial will be about collages and blending so stay tuned! Also, the next ones will be posted on our graphic and resource site Fairyfloss, do check it out!