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This effect looks best on images that have a main focal
point. |
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In this tutorial, you'll transform this image...
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Into this....
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Use either your own image or the raccoons at the top. Just right click on
the image and either copy it or save it to your hard drive. |
1. Right click on the background layer and choose "New Adjustment Layer ->
Threshold". Use the default settings. If you're not sure your
settings are at the default, click the "reset to default" icon
 in upper right corner.Change blend
mode to color. Your layer's palette should now look like this.
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2. While still in the layer's palette, with the threshold layer
active, click the "Edit Selection" icon
 . This is one of the powerful new
features in PSP8. It allows you to edit any selection you already have on
your image, or start a new selection. When you click this button,
you can use your paint brush, airbrush, flood fill or even tubes to
"paint" a selection on your image. You do this with the
foreground/background materials palette. If your foreground is white, you
are painting a solid selection. Setting your background to black and then
"right clicking" over an area that has already been selected will "erase"
(unselect) that portion of the selection. Think of the
possibilities. This would allow you to place holes in your
selected area, select areas of certain shapes or sizes, etc.For this
image, we don't want to paint with pure white. Change your palette so that
the background layer is black, but make the foreground layer a shade of
grey. This will let you "paint" on a selection that isn't completely
solid. This is the shade I chose for my foreground.
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3. Select your paintbrush tool and set it to default.
Depending on the size of the image you may need to adjust the size down
or up. I left my brush at the default, but I reduced the size when I
worked on the feet.
"Paint" the two raccoons (or whatever your main figure is). You
don't have to worry about exactly covering the figure or staying within
the figure outlines as we'll be blending this figure into the background
so starkly ending lines aren't a good idea anyway. As you paint, you'll
notice the area turning a shade of red. This is the selected area. If you
accidentally paint more than you want to, right click and go back over the
extra part. The black setting for the background image will erase any
stray markings. This is what mine looks like now.
(Note: If you had painted with pure white, the selection would be a
much darker red. The closer you get to black the lighter red (or orange
depending on your monitor settings) the mask becomes). |
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4. Once you've finished painting the parts of the image you want, click
the "Edit Selection" icon in the layers palette again. This will turn it off. You now have the familiar
"marching ants" around your image.
Make
sure you are still on the threshold layer, and delete the selection by
hitting the DELETE key on your keyboard. You may
need to hit delete a few times. I deleted 3 times for this image. The idea
is to get some of the color of the raccoons coming through but not all of
it.
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5. Save a copy of your selection to an alpha channel by choosing Selection
-> Load/Save selection -> Save selection to Alpha Channel. (Make sure
there is no checkmark in "move to upper left of canvas.")
On your image, select none.
(Ctrl-D) |
Click here to
continue.
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