HOW TO ››› ›photoshop user› february 2017048
Step Nine: Now it’s time to start hav-
ing some fun with the ParticleShop
plug-in! First, create a merged layer by
pressing-and-holding the Option (PC:
Alt) key and going to Layer>Merge
Visible. Then open the Particle-
Shop extension panel. (Tip: If it isn’t
open, you’ll have to enable it in the
Window>Extensions menu.) Choose
the Use Active Layer option and click
the Launch ParticleShop button.Step 10: Let’s start with painting on
the background. The background
should be aesthetic, neutral, and
not distracting. Those buildings
should be hardly recognizable, yet
still retain a sense of structure. In
the Expressive brush pack, choose
the Wet Bristle brush and begin
tracing along the major structure
lines of the background building.
(Note: For the low-res practice file,
you’ll need to decrease the size of
the brush using the slider near the
top left of the preview area.) Don’t
worry if you paint over the contours
of the model and balloons, we’ll pull
those back later on.Step 11: Click the Save button, then
choose the Save Only Brushstrokes
option, and click OK. ParticleShop
returns to Photoshop, and the previ-
ously merged layer now contains
only the background brushstrokes.
Double-click on the layer’s name
and rename the layer “Painted Back-
ground,” and then click on the Eye
icon to its left to toggle its visibility
off for now. Repeating this process
will be the general technique for
each painted element—create a
merged layer, use the ParticleShop
plug-in to paint an element, then re-
turn those brushstrokes to their own
layer in Photoshop.