In this tutorial I will teach you how you can bring life into a manican. Sometimes dolls or manicans may have the exact pose you need for a project, so I will show you how you can get a usable image to use.

We will start with her hair by creating a new layer, and changing the blending mode to Linear Light. Once we’re using that blending mode, let’s use the Brush tool with a brownish red color to paint her hair. Be careful not to go too far out of her scalp. I zoomed in several times to try and get things as accurate as possible. Of course, it is hair, so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Next, let’s create a new layer above our other layers. We’ll want to switch our brush color to a bit of a lighter color to add highlights. When we’re finished with that, use the Smudge tool to blend the highlights into her hair.

Now let’s create another new layer, set the blending mode to Color, and use a skin tone appropriate color to color in her skin. We’ll add 2 more layers for her lips and her eyes as well, both using the Color blending mode.

Now that we basically have her all nice and colored in, let’s merge everything into a Smart Object, rasterize that layer, and then duplicate it. On the new layer, we’ll use Filter > Artistic > Post Edges eith the Edge Thickness set to 6, the Edge Intensity set to 4, and the Posterization set to 0.

Now let’s use the Magic Wand tool to delete the background of this layer.

Using the Smudge tool, we’ll want to smooth out the dots created from our filter. Now at this point I have the layer’s Blend Mode set to Linear Burn, but in the end result, we’ll change it to Overlay. Linear Burn makes it easier to see the dots while we use the Smudge Tool.

We’ll also want to delete the filter’s effect on her shirt.

As I mentioned, we’ll switch the Blend Mode over to Overlay, which will give us our final image:

In this tutorial I will walk you through the techniques I’ve used to make this photograph appear to be an old west photograph. Before we start, let’s identify exactly what makes a photograph appear to be from that time period. First of all, it should have an orange tint, while being monotone in color. Of course, old photographs often get damaged over time, so we will probably want to add some damage to our photograph as well. Finally, to give it the look that it is indeed a photograph, we’ll probably want to throw it on a background.

Now that we know our goals, let’s start the process of reaching them.

The first thing I like to do when making photographs look older, is to reduce the color by using Image > Adjustments > Posterize, and then setting the level to around 16.

Next up, let’s turn this into a black and white photograph. Now I want to give this thing an old, almost over exposed look, so instead of using Image > Adjustments > Desaturate, I am going to use Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation instead, and decrease the saturation there to -100. I’m also going to raise the lightness by +16.

There are several ways, at least 6 or 7 that I can think of off hand, to create an orange tint to our image. I’m going to use two of them. The first technique is to make a new layer, and then use the Rectangle Tool to create an orange box over the entire photograph.

Next we’ll change the Blend Mode of that new layer to Color, and set the opacity of the layer to around 35%.

Now that we have the basics of photo manipulation done, let’s throw this thing on an appropriate background to add the convincing detail, that will really sell this picture as an old west photo. I’ve chosen a wood background, since it’s sympathetic to our cause. Next, we’ll want to add a border to our image. Simply use the Rectangle Tool to create the border and put it under the photo’s later. I’m going to merge those layers together and rasterize them. Then I’ll use the Edit > Free Transform tool to rotate and resize the image slightly.

To make the image more convincing, we’ll use the Edit > Transform > Warp tool to make the image look a bit bent and wavy. Be careful not to over do this though, as too much warp can look horrible.

Now to create the damage on our photograph, we’ll simply use the lasso tool, or the eraser (or both, it’s your choice really) to delete small parts of the border of our image. I happened to use the lasso tool to create mine.

Now I mentioned that there’s several ways to add that orange tint we’re looking for, so let’s use that second method I had talked about. Goto Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter and select Warming Filter (81) with the density set to 73% and Preserve Luminosity checked.

The last thing we’ll do is run Filter > Artistic > Film Grain with the Grain set to 2, the Highlight Area set to 18, and the Intensity set to 1.

Here’s our final result:

To start out in any project where you’re going to be working heavily with prospectives, it’s advised for you to turn the ruler on (CTRL+R) and use guides to keep track of your prospective.  So afer we create our new document, that will be the first thing we do:

We’ll want to setup guides for the outside and inside of of our pooltable.

Let’s start out and create the main body of the pool table using the Rounded Rectangle tool as seen above.

Next we’ll use the Edit > Transform > Prospective tool and use our guides to determine the prospective.

We’ll repeat this process with the inside of the pool table, the only difference being that this time around when we use the prospective tool, we’ll be making the bottom larger instead.

I’ve added a bevel emboss on the main table, as well as a brown color overlay which is set to 90% opacity.  The inside of the pool table has the same settings except set to green and an inside shadow.

For the pockets I’ve used the Ellipse tool with a black fill.  In a moment I’ll use the prospective tool to position them correctly.  Once I do that, I’m going to use a tan 3px stroke, set to 50% opacity to round out the pockets.  I’ll rasterize the layer and delete the stroke the sticks out.

Next up, I’m going to use the custom shape tool and select the filled triangle.

Next I cut out the center of the triangle and used the Ellipse tool to create the 15 pool balls inside the rack:

I used this gradient to quickly simulate the striped balls:

and then I simply copied the layer style onto all the striped balls, and simply changed the gradient’s color for each one.  The solid balls received a light gradient as well.

Once everything was set in the rack, I converted them all into a single smart object, rasterized the layer, and used the Edit > Transform > Distort tool to add the correct prospective.

For the cue ball, I used a slight drop shadow, and slight default inner glow, and a white cover overlay.  The only non-default settings I used was the Bevel and Emboss.

Now that we have out pool table, I decided to give it some legs using the rectangle tool.  Then last but not least I created a flow pattern and used the prospective tool to position it underneath the table, completing our image.

In this tutorial, we’re going to step you through the process of creating a realistic looking CD from scratch. This is an image I’ve been making for years, and is surprisingly simple to make. 0

To start out, let’s create a new document and make a circle using the Ellipse Tool (make sure to hold down shift and left click to create the circle, which will create a perfect circle instead of an oval.)

The fill color of the circle doesn’t particularly matter, because we’re going to be covering this entire circle in a gradient. Let’s right click on the circle’s layer, choose Blending Options, and then check off the Gradient check box. Now we’ll need to edit the gradient a bit, and to start of, let’s change the gradient Style to Angle. Next, let’s choose the rainbox gradient preset to give us a good starting point. If you’ve followed along correctly so far, this should give you something like this:

Our next step is to edit this preset so that it looks more like a CD, instead of a rainbow. To do that, click on the Gradient image, which will bring up the Gradient Editor. Towards the bottom of the Gradient Editor you’ll see some small boxes filled with the colors that make up the gradient. We’re going to want to reduce the brightness of the colors that are already in our preset, and introduce a lot more gray. Double click on the small boxes to bring up the color pallet, and then change each color until they are similar to this picture:

Now that we have the basic premise down, let’s wrap this up by creating the center of the disc. We’ll do that by creating a smaller circle and positioning it in the center. In the Blending Options for this layer, let’s reduce the Opacity to around 90% and add a 4px gray stoke.

Last but not least, let’s create the final inside circle. This circle will be a bit smaller, and we’ll want to give it a white fill. In the blending options, let’s give it a 3px gray stroke, and also an Inside Shadow, to give a three dimensional look. Here’s our final result:

Now to start out we’ll need two images.  One will be our concrete sheet, and the other, the rust that lies behind.

Now what I’ve done is duplicated the concrete image onto the rust image, so now the rust image is completely hidden from me.  The goal here will be to make the cracks and the holes look natural in the concrete sheet, which will reveal the underlying rust image.  To that end, I’ll use the eraser tool and choose a brush with a rough edge to gradual erase small areas of the concrete layer.  You’ll notice that in my example, I’ve followed the natural cracks that are already present in the concrete.  I’m also going to extend the area deleted across the whole width of our wallpaper, in order to give the rust a prevalent part of our piece.

When we are finished erasing our concrete, let’s right click on the layer and choose blending options.  We’ll first want to add a drop shadow, to give the image a three dimensional look  The stock settings for the drop shadow should work fine unless you’ve got additional light sources you need to match.  In our case, you’ll notice that the buttons/heads of the bolts in the concrete have their shadows facing the same direction as the default drop shadow, so it should work perfectly for us.

Now just to highlight the area around the cracks a bit more, I’m going to use an outer and inner glow, with the blending mode set to normal, and the color set to a dark grey.  All the other settings will be left at their default values.  This helps the cracks stand out a bit and also hides some of the rough aspects of this technique.

Well there we have it.  A very simple technique that can be applied to many other things, not just wallpapers.  The end result takes just moments, and looks aesthetically appealing.

Realistically, there are a lot of different ways someone could approach this.  In this tutorial, I’ll outline the way I would approach this technique.

The first thing I would do is duplicate the layer, so that I’d have two copies of the image.  One the 2nd copy (the highest layer in order) I would goto Filter > Render > Lighting Effects, and then use these settings: Light Type: Spot Light, Negative: 60, Focus: 50.  I would also set the light source as the center of the window, and the area effected as the entire image.

The end result will look a bit to bright and doesn’t convey the sense that the sunlight is coming directly through the window.  This is where our underlying layer comes into play.  Using the Polygonal Lasso Tool on our top layer, select the area you would like to have the sun shine through.  Once selected, goto Select > Inverse, and then hit the Delete key.

Now we’re left with a very bad looking image.  Ha ha.  We’ll fix that by using the Filter > Blur > Motion Blur filter on the top most layer (make sure you’ve unselected everything first)  Change the angle to -43 degrees and the pixels to 98.

Next, we’re going to change some of the blending options on this layer.  We’ll reduce the Opacity to 28%, and add a white Outer Glow.

This gives our final image:

There have been several times when I’ve needed to combine a photo taken at one angle, with a photograph taken from a slightly different angle.  The complexity of coming up with an acceptable end result increases with the differences between the angles of both pictures, as well as the lighting (and the resulting shadow incompatibilities.)  In this example, we’re going to take a stained glass window from a cathedral’s interior, and integrate it into the exterior of a different cathedral.

The first step will be to copy our target window onto the canvas of our destination cathedral.  I’m going to reduce the opacity of this layer for awhile as I work with it, to aid me properly placing and transforming it (right click on the layer, chose Blending Options, and then reduce the Opacity slider.)

The first tool I am going to use is the Edit > Transform > Scale tool, in order to get it close to the correct size.  I’m going to err on the side of keeping it larger, because when I resize this layer, I can’t increase it’s size without reducing it’s quality.

Next, I am going to use the Edit > Transform > Prospective tool in order to fix the angle incompatibilities between these pictures.

Now I’ve got to get rid of all the black that surrounds the window.  I used the Quick Selection Tool (this is a new tool in CS3.  If you’re using CS2 or below, the Magic Wand should work fine for you) to select the black and delete it.  I’ll also delete everything below the ledge.

The next issue to confront is the top of the arch, which is quite different than the shape of our window.  I’ll use the Edit > Transform > Warp tool to drag the top of our window up to to simulate this shape.

To wrap things up, I’m going to delete parts of our window where the underlying image should appear to be above it.  To add a 3 dimensional look, I’m going to add an Inner Shadow to our window.  Also, we need to make the window black and white to match our target image.  We can quickly accomplish that by hitting Shift+Control+U

This gives us our final image, and to the untrained eye they will have no idea that the window they’re looking at belongs in a cathedral thousands of miles away.

Now add some Clouds.

Now add some Noise.


We can now do a Motion Blur, which will give us the polished aluminum effect.


If you did the following correct it should look similar to mine.

Ok, lets add the text now.

Remember to pick a bolder, bigger font because if it’s too small it won’t show the effect very good.

Now place where you like the effect the most. I picked this spot.

Ok, holding Ctrl click on the text layer, and this should happen to the text.

Now click on the brushed aluminum layer then right click on the text and click on Select Inverse then hit delete.

You can just delete the text layer now, as we don’t need it.

If this was done correctly it should look similar to this.

Now right click on your layer and choose Blending Options.

Now add the following.

Inner Shadow

Outer Glow

Bevel and Emboss

Gradient Overlay

And you are finished.

Here is my final result.