10 photo art blends manual
By Linda Sattgast
Photo Art Blends | Lesson 10 Lesson 10: Combining Products Now that you’ve learned how to use all of the products in the class kit (Photo Art Blends, textures, frames, and word art), it’s time to combine them all to create stunning one-of-a-kind art! We’ll walk you through two tutorials that show how to create multi-layered fine art pieces: one using a frame, the other starting with a Photo Art Blend. Because you’ve already learned the basics for every product used, we won’t go in-depth for every step. If you get lost, re-visit the lesson that explains the specific technique.
Using a Frame • • • • • •
• • •
Open Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop. Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select the Frame of your choice. Select File > Open and select a photo from your system to place in the frame. Click and drag the photo onto the frame using the move tool. In the Layers Panel, drag the photo below the frame. Size and position the photo as needed so it fills the space in the frame. Click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button (half black/half white circle) located at the bottom (or top depending on version) of the Layers Panel. Select Gradient. Click on the gradient color picker. If you haven’t already loaded the gradients from the class kit, click the Load button, then browse your system for the class kit where they are located in the Word Art folder and click Load. If you have other gradients previously loaded, then the class gradients will be the last 12 shown in the gradient editor window. You may need to scroll down to see them in the window. Choose one of those gradients from the gradient editor window. Click OK. Set the blend mode of the Gradient adjustment layer to “Screen.” Now, double click on the Gradient layer thumbnail and adjust the angle and scale until you are satisfied with the gradient’s placement. Select Layer > Duplicate Layer, click OK when the dialog box appears. Then set the blend mode of the copy to “Pin Light”, lower the opacity to somewhere between 10 and 20%. Adjust the opacity of the first gradient layer if desired.
Photo Art Blends © 2013 CottageArts.net, LLC, all rights reserved.
• Optional: For this example, we flipped the frame horizontally by selecting Image > Rotate > Flip Horizontal. • Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select a Texture. Choose a texture that has a similar ratio to the frame you are working with (most likely 8x10 or 12x12). • Click and drag the texture onto the photo using the move tool. In the Layers Panel, drag the texture directly below the frame. Size and position the texture as needed, making sure it fills the space in the frame. • Set the blend mode of the texture to any blend mode you choose. (Look at our Blend Mode Basics lesson to learn more about blending). Experiment to find the perfect blended look for your photo. Here we went with one layer of “Soft Light” at 75% opacity and a duplicated layer set to “Multiply” at 25% opacity. • Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select the Word Art of your choice. • Click and drag the word art onto the photo using the move tool. Size and position as needed. • In this example, we followed Steps 7a and 7b of Lesson 10 - Using Word Art. We set the word art to “Overlay” blend mode, then duplicated it and decreased the copy’s opacity to 50%. Here is a screen shot of the document’s full Layer’s Panel and the final result. • As you can see, I’ve placed my signature at the bottom, which is a great add-on for making your art look even more professional. You can either scan in your own hand drawn signature and convert it into a transparent .png file or use a handwriting font.
Here are a few of Michelle’s favorite handwriting fonts: • Before the Rain • Dear Joe • Dear Joe four • Don Quixote • Fountain Pen Frenzy • Fultoon HMK • Jellyka – Estrya’s Handwriting • Jellyka Gare de Chambord • Jellyka Saint Andrew’s Queen • Judy • Save in .psd format to retain layers and allow for future editing. • Save as high quality .jpg to upload to preferred print vendor for printing. See Printing Tips for print vendor suggestions and other printing advice. Page 2
Photo Art Blends © 2013 CottageArts.net, LLC, all rights reserved.
Using a Photo Art Blend • • • • •
Open Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop. Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select the Photo Art Blend of your choice. Select File > Open and select a photo from your system to place on the blend. Click and drag the photo onto the blend using the move tool. Size and position the photo as needed. Set the blend mode of the photo to either “Lighten” or “Screen.” In this example the blend mode used was “Lighten.” Select Layer > Duplicate Layer, click OK when the dialog box appears, and set the copy to “Soft Light,” “Color Burn,” “Overlay,” or “Vivid Light.” In this example, the blend mode used was “Soft Light.” Adjust the opacity as needed. • Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select a Texture. Choose a texture that has a similar ratio to the Photo Art Blend you are working with (most likely 8x10 or 12x12). Click and drag the texture onto the photo using the move tool. Size and position the texture as needed. • Set the blend mode of the texture to any blend mode you choose. (Look at our Blend Mode Basics lesson to learn more about blending). Experiment to find the perfect blended look for your photo. Here we went with “Hard Light” at 45% opacity and a duplicated layer set to “Multiply” at 20% opacity. • Click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button (half black/half white circle) located at the bottom of the Layers Panel. Select Gradient. Click on the gradient color picker (the color bar to the right of Gradient:). If you haven’t already loaded the gradients from the class kit, click the Load button, then browse your system for the class kit where they are located in the Word Art folder and click Load. If you have other gradients previously loaded, then the class gradients will be the last 12 shown in the gradient editor window. You may need to scroll down to see them in the window. Choose one of those gradients from the gradient editor window. Click OK. • Adjust the angle and scale until you are satisfied with the gradient’s placement. • For this sample, instead of changing the blend mode of the gradient, we simply decreased the opacity to around 45%. As another option, set the blend mode on the gradient layer to “Screen,” like we did in the Light Leaks lesson. See what you like best! • Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select the Word Art of your choice. Click and drag the word art onto the photo using the move tool. Size and position as needed. In this example, we followed Steps 7a of Lesson 10 - Using Word Art. We set the word art to “Overlay” blend mode. Here is a screen shot of the document’s full Layer’s Panel and the final product.
Page 3
Photo Art Blends © 2013 CottageArts.net, LLC, all rights reserved.
• Save in .psd format to retain layers and allow for future editing. • Save as high quality .jpg to upload to preferred print vendor for printing. See Printing Tips for print vendor suggestions and other printing advice. Here I blended Photo Art Blends into large 12x18 textures for an art gallery look (with a lot of white space). These make great wall art.
You are now versed in using all of the products and techniques in this class. Congratulations! As you can see, the variations are plentiful when combining photo editing effects, frames, textures, gradients, word art, and Photo Art Blends. Keep playing! See the Samples page for more ideas and don’t forget to share your creations in our inspirational Class Gallery. We all benefit by seeing each other’s work and by the encouraging words of others.
Page 4
Photo Art Blends © 2013 CottageArts.net, LLC, all rights reserved.
Photo Art Blends | Lesson 10 Lesson 10: Combining Products Now that you’ve learned how to use all of the products in the class kit (Photo Art Blends, textures, frames, and word art), it’s time to combine them all to create stunning one-of-a-kind art! We’ll walk you through two tutorials that show how to create multi-layered fine art pieces: one using a frame, the other starting with a Photo Art Blend. Because you’ve already learned the basics for every product used, we won’t go in-depth for every step. If you get lost, re-visit the lesson that explains the specific technique.
Using a Frame • • • • • •
• • •
Open Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop. Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select the Frame of your choice. Select File > Open and select a photo from your system to place in the frame. Click and drag the photo onto the frame using the move tool. In the Layers Panel, drag the photo below the frame. Size and position the photo as needed so it fills the space in the frame. Click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button (half black/half white circle) located at the bottom (or top depending on version) of the Layers Panel. Select Gradient. Click on the gradient color picker. If you haven’t already loaded the gradients from the class kit, click the Load button, then browse your system for the class kit where they are located in the Word Art folder and click Load. If you have other gradients previously loaded, then the class gradients will be the last 12 shown in the gradient editor window. You may need to scroll down to see them in the window. Choose one of those gradients from the gradient editor window. Click OK. Set the blend mode of the Gradient adjustment layer to “Screen.” Now, double click on the Gradient layer thumbnail and adjust the angle and scale until you are satisfied with the gradient’s placement. Select Layer > Duplicate Layer, click OK when the dialog box appears. Then set the blend mode of the copy to “Pin Light”, lower the opacity to somewhere between 10 and 20%. Adjust the opacity of the first gradient layer if desired.
Photo Art Blends © 2013 CottageArts.net, LLC, all rights reserved.
• Optional: For this example, we flipped the frame horizontally by selecting Image > Rotate > Flip Horizontal. • Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select a Texture. Choose a texture that has a similar ratio to the frame you are working with (most likely 8x10 or 12x12). • Click and drag the texture onto the photo using the move tool. In the Layers Panel, drag the texture directly below the frame. Size and position the texture as needed, making sure it fills the space in the frame. • Set the blend mode of the texture to any blend mode you choose. (Look at our Blend Mode Basics lesson to learn more about blending). Experiment to find the perfect blended look for your photo. Here we went with one layer of “Soft Light” at 75% opacity and a duplicated layer set to “Multiply” at 25% opacity. • Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select the Word Art of your choice. • Click and drag the word art onto the photo using the move tool. Size and position as needed. • In this example, we followed Steps 7a and 7b of Lesson 10 - Using Word Art. We set the word art to “Overlay” blend mode, then duplicated it and decreased the copy’s opacity to 50%. Here is a screen shot of the document’s full Layer’s Panel and the final result. • As you can see, I’ve placed my signature at the bottom, which is a great add-on for making your art look even more professional. You can either scan in your own hand drawn signature and convert it into a transparent .png file or use a handwriting font.
Here are a few of Michelle’s favorite handwriting fonts: • Before the Rain • Dear Joe • Dear Joe four • Don Quixote • Fountain Pen Frenzy • Fultoon HMK • Jellyka – Estrya’s Handwriting • Jellyka Gare de Chambord • Jellyka Saint Andrew’s Queen • Judy • Save in .psd format to retain layers and allow for future editing. • Save as high quality .jpg to upload to preferred print vendor for printing. See Printing Tips for print vendor suggestions and other printing advice. Page 2
Photo Art Blends © 2013 CottageArts.net, LLC, all rights reserved.
Using a Photo Art Blend • • • • •
Open Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop. Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select the Photo Art Blend of your choice. Select File > Open and select a photo from your system to place on the blend. Click and drag the photo onto the blend using the move tool. Size and position the photo as needed. Set the blend mode of the photo to either “Lighten” or “Screen.” In this example the blend mode used was “Lighten.” Select Layer > Duplicate Layer, click OK when the dialog box appears, and set the copy to “Soft Light,” “Color Burn,” “Overlay,” or “Vivid Light.” In this example, the blend mode used was “Soft Light.” Adjust the opacity as needed. • Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select a Texture. Choose a texture that has a similar ratio to the Photo Art Blend you are working with (most likely 8x10 or 12x12). Click and drag the texture onto the photo using the move tool. Size and position the texture as needed. • Set the blend mode of the texture to any blend mode you choose. (Look at our Blend Mode Basics lesson to learn more about blending). Experiment to find the perfect blended look for your photo. Here we went with “Hard Light” at 45% opacity and a duplicated layer set to “Multiply” at 20% opacity. • Click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button (half black/half white circle) located at the bottom of the Layers Panel. Select Gradient. Click on the gradient color picker (the color bar to the right of Gradient:). If you haven’t already loaded the gradients from the class kit, click the Load button, then browse your system for the class kit where they are located in the Word Art folder and click Load. If you have other gradients previously loaded, then the class gradients will be the last 12 shown in the gradient editor window. You may need to scroll down to see them in the window. Choose one of those gradients from the gradient editor window. Click OK. • Adjust the angle and scale until you are satisfied with the gradient’s placement. • For this sample, instead of changing the blend mode of the gradient, we simply decreased the opacity to around 45%. As another option, set the blend mode on the gradient layer to “Screen,” like we did in the Light Leaks lesson. See what you like best! • Select File > Open. Browse your system for the class kit and select the Word Art of your choice. Click and drag the word art onto the photo using the move tool. Size and position as needed. In this example, we followed Steps 7a of Lesson 10 - Using Word Art. We set the word art to “Overlay” blend mode. Here is a screen shot of the document’s full Layer’s Panel and the final product.
Page 3
Photo Art Blends © 2013 CottageArts.net, LLC, all rights reserved.
• Save in .psd format to retain layers and allow for future editing. • Save as high quality .jpg to upload to preferred print vendor for printing. See Printing Tips for print vendor suggestions and other printing advice. Here I blended Photo Art Blends into large 12x18 textures for an art gallery look (with a lot of white space). These make great wall art.
You are now versed in using all of the products and techniques in this class. Congratulations! As you can see, the variations are plentiful when combining photo editing effects, frames, textures, gradients, word art, and Photo Art Blends. Keep playing! See the Samples page for more ideas and don’t forget to share your creations in our inspirational Class Gallery. We all benefit by seeing each other’s work and by the encouraging words of others.
Page 4
Photo Art Blends © 2013 CottageArts.net, LLC, all rights reserved.
