300dpi- A Graphics Community BE Designs Sanctae Immortal Kiss
Tutorials | Blends | Butterflies Everywhere
We're going from
user posted image to user posted image
Selective Coloring is optional, it's just something I threw on and it doesn't happen until the last step so other programs (besides PS) can follow the tutorial.
  1. Open a new photoshop canvas and make it 600x500 pixels.
  2. Take this image (credit) and scale it down to 299x378 pixels. It doesn't have to be exactly that size but it should be proportional to the size of your canvas. Set this image on Darken. Depending on your background, you may or may not be able to set your image on Darken.
    EXTREMLY IMPORTANT
    I really have to say this because a lot of people make this mistake. Do not use the Darken too as an easy way out of blending! Really, the darken tool only works when your images background is the same shade or lighter than that of your canvas background color. If you look at the comparison below you'll see why it'll work in the image I chose above.
    With that said, please use the Drop Shadow brushes or any other brushes that you like to use to blend. Put your image in the middle of the canvas. Mine.
  3. I'm going to add a second image to my canvas. Sharpen the images if they need to be sharpened. I usually like my images to be a little crisp so I sharpened both images. I put the second image I just added to the canvas on Darken as well because it had a light background. However, I did have to erase some parts of Tyra's arm and a little bit of her hair in the middle because it was starting to overlap on the skin of the first image. So make sure you pay close attention to your blending technique.
  4. Depending on how light or dark your image is, you might want to lighten your image a little bit. I went ahead and added a Brightness/Contrast layer on top of two images. Mine.Brightness/Contrast - Located under Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast.
  5. Merge the 2 images and the Brightness/Contrast layer together. To merge layers, all you have to do is select them all and hit CTRL + E or go to Layer > Merge Down. Please do notice that when you do do that, your image will show up with a white background like this.So this is when the Darken mode ceases to work: because I can no longer be able to add things behind those two images, I have to erase the white background using a soft brush (or drop shadow brush in photoshop). So while the Darken mode did work for the first couple of steps, in the long run it's not that great.
  6. I'm going to do some light retouching to my picture. Usually when I retouch at this point, I do so because I want the skin on the face to be softer since I've already sharpened all the images in the beginning. To soften the face, I use the Blur tool located in the tool box. Go over the face, the arms and her neck. Make sure to avoid the eyes, the tip of the nose and the lips. You really want those areas to stay sharp otherwise they'll look distorted if you blur them.You can also, use the burn tool (below the blur tool) to go over the eyes and lips to make them look darker and more intense. I did that a little bit with Tyra's face. Mine so far.
  7. Take this flower and turn it into a brush. To turn an image into a brush, you open the image I gave you into photoshop then go to Edit > Define Brush and that will turn it into a brush for you. Make a transparent layer behind your two images and put the brush there. this is what mine looks like. I made my brush, a little bit darker than the background of my canvas. You can do whatever color you want as long as it will retain the balance of the blend. The flower brush has been taken from the brush set found here.
  8. I also used
    this and this brush to put in the blend. If you need to erase some parts of the brushes to have them fit and look all clean and tidy, then go ahead and do that. I did that with the 2nd and 3rd brushes I added.These two flower brushes have been taken from the brush set found here.
  9. Take this stock (from SXC) and set it on Lighten. Erase any residue that is covering the skin or doesn't seem appropriate. Mine.
  10. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation. Put these values. You don't have to add this layer but you could if you wanted. Set this H/S layer on Soft Light.
  11. Now we're going to add a Color Balance layer. These values. Mine.
  12. Take the font Bodoni SvtyTwo OSICT TT-BookIt and write whatever you want. If you don't have the font, then click here to download it. You probably have the font, it's a preset.
  13. That's it. If you'd like to add more coloring, then go ahead and do as you please. As for myself, I decided to add a selective coloring layer. Mine If you want the PSD for my selective coloring, download here.