The Professional Photoshop Book - Volume 7 2015

MAKE IT POP

NOW SHARPEN UP YOUR TYPE AND ADD SOME FINAL DETAILS TO FINISH IT OFF

QUICK TIP: SPEED IS POWER!

This technique can end up with a lot of layers,

so if you have a choice of machines go with

the best spec possible for Photoshop – the

most RAM and fastest drives. The example

NEIL’S TOP TIP

Quite often when you are halfway through a

piece you look at it and think, ‘why am I doing

this, it’s simply not working’ This is often the

case with Photoshop and the end result can be

down to the last 10 per cent of your work in

some cases. So experiment. Try new things and

find combinations of compositions and

techniques that work together

perfectly. Remember the important thing is to

have fun, as this will show clearly in your work.

14

HAVE A BREAK

Have a break from your design for a hour or

two and go for a run or walk just to get it out of your

mind as you’ve been staring at it for a while and it

will have become precious to you. Come back and

look at the piece with fresh eyes and decide if

anything needs changing before you go to the final

steps, does anything need cleaning or does the

colour need tweaking. If so, do it now!

15

MAKE IT POP

Duplicate all type based elements and place

them in a folder, now go to your Layer Options with

the group selected and Select>Merge Group on the

Layer palette menu. Then go to Filter>Sharpen and

choose from Sharpen or Sharpen More. This will

make the layer detail pop. If you go too far, reduce

the opacity of this layer to find a good balance.

16

WORK ON THE FOUNDATIONS

Again duplicate all the text based elements

as above and combine them in the same way. Now

place this layer above the background and set the

mode to Multiply and reduce your Opacity. Now

using the Edit>Transform>Perspective and Scale

tools shape this to look like it is sitting on the floor.

You can make this matte by removing the colour or

if your surface is reflective just keep the colour. If its

looking a little too stuck on add a Gaussian Blur

from the Filters menu.

17

ADD MORE DETAIL

Add a little colour to the rear wall, this

could be shapes that follow the perspective or

splats. These are simply enhancements and you

don’t want them taking the limelight away from the

typography you have created. You can use various

modes of layer effects here from multiplying the

layers down to colour. Experiment to get a unique

look and fits with your subject matter.

piece created for this tutorial only touches the

surface of this technique. If this was

a commercial piece it would have over ten

times the layers and level of detail!

18

DO SOME FINISHING TOUCHES

Flatten image and finish. You’re all

finished. So save your working copy and

then save a flat version too. It’s a simple

system to build this type of text and can be

used for different textures too like hair or

anything that flows randomly.

Graphics & new media

166 The Professional Photoshop Book

162-167 Paint Type Tutorial.indd 166 06/10/2015 15:24