Predastator
Sep 19 2006, 11:38am
1. Never use drop shadow layer style. Make a cutout of the object, copy it, paste it, fill it with black. Then use gaussian blur to fade it. Yes you can use hard edged shadows this way as well.
2. ALL vehicles have a shadow underneath the car even in the dark. If there is light, then there's a shadow somewhere. It may be hidden by black area but its there none the less.
3. Save in steps. Save in steps. Save in steps. Save in steps.
4. If its muddy looking then you will not win a contest unless all entries just suck ass.
5. Using the Lighting filter will make the car look more real in an added background.
6. (applys to bright edges) If the edges of your vehicle stick out sorely use the soft eraser ever so gently and ease away the area without taking away the body lines. Some manipulation maybe needed as well.
7. A side view of a vehicle is always easier, same with rear and front. 3/4th view is moderate. The hardest is extreme angles such as a fisheye.
8. If there are reflections of trees and such in the paint and you make it seem like its doing 2000000mph then you look like a fool. Keep still reflections with a still car. Logic Sense 101.
9. Someone is always better than you.
10. PS uses no talent but uses skill. The more you use it the better you become. No one is born talented at computer programs.
11. You will always suck at PS. See tip #9.
12. To truly have a hand drawn look use Macromedia Freehand. PS can do this but it is not as clear/clean. When I have more time I will use both programs and show you the differance.
13. Never bash/shame/flame/hate on PS work. See tip#10.
14. All tools can be used differant ways.
15. Photoshop CS Bible is your best friend.
16. If you skower through a photography technique book and have a PS bible you can duplicate what the photographer used to take the shot, just about EVERY shot.
17. Photo retouching will learn you some good stuff about the tools (very in depth) but using technique tutorials is better to start as they're easier to follow. Retouching is more advanced work than manipulation. You have to know the "guts" of the tools before doing retouching.
18. Use/work with the biggest possible size of a photo you can. You can always downsize it for the web or whatever later. The bigger the pixel count, the more you can manipulate them.
19. Use "Save for Web" option when posting on websites. GIF is you friend.
20. After flattening an image go to "Image Settings" and change pixels to 72ppi if GIF results suck.
21. For a black color change using Desaturate will yeild a richer black on the area you need. This is covered in the tutorial thread on a tutorial but most people ignore this simple step.
22. Cutting out an image can be done with each of these techniques which I will rate based on my usage;
1- pen, 2- straight lasso, 3- mask, 4- eraser.
*warning* using the trace pen will slow down your machine if it isnt up to par in memory. The Pen tool is hard to learn and use but yeilds faster and better results when mastered.
23. NEVER use the free form lasso unless you need to delete something quickly in a certain spot. It is worthless to use when cutting out an image.
24. From dakotahq: if u want a good way to get tire size right...make the tire the same size as stock, lets say 29 inches in this case. Then take the size you want, 33, and divide it by original size, 29, and get the percent of difference. 113.7%, so then u go and transform the tire and scale it up 113.7% and it'll be 33 inches tall.
If you have any tips, by all means continue. PS is a great program and everyone can use the help.
2. ALL vehicles have a shadow underneath the car even in the dark. If there is light, then there's a shadow somewhere. It may be hidden by black area but its there none the less.
3. Save in steps. Save in steps. Save in steps. Save in steps.
4. If its muddy looking then you will not win a contest unless all entries just suck ass.
5. Using the Lighting filter will make the car look more real in an added background.
6. (applys to bright edges) If the edges of your vehicle stick out sorely use the soft eraser ever so gently and ease away the area without taking away the body lines. Some manipulation maybe needed as well.
7. A side view of a vehicle is always easier, same with rear and front. 3/4th view is moderate. The hardest is extreme angles such as a fisheye.
8. If there are reflections of trees and such in the paint and you make it seem like its doing 2000000mph then you look like a fool. Keep still reflections with a still car. Logic Sense 101.
9. Someone is always better than you.
10. PS uses no talent but uses skill. The more you use it the better you become. No one is born talented at computer programs.
11. You will always suck at PS. See tip #9.
12. To truly have a hand drawn look use Macromedia Freehand. PS can do this but it is not as clear/clean. When I have more time I will use both programs and show you the differance.
13. Never bash/shame/flame/hate on PS work. See tip#10.
14. All tools can be used differant ways.
15. Photoshop CS Bible is your best friend.
16. If you skower through a photography technique book and have a PS bible you can duplicate what the photographer used to take the shot, just about EVERY shot.
17. Photo retouching will learn you some good stuff about the tools (very in depth) but using technique tutorials is better to start as they're easier to follow. Retouching is more advanced work than manipulation. You have to know the "guts" of the tools before doing retouching.
18. Use/work with the biggest possible size of a photo you can. You can always downsize it for the web or whatever later. The bigger the pixel count, the more you can manipulate them.
19. Use "Save for Web" option when posting on websites. GIF is you friend.
20. After flattening an image go to "Image Settings" and change pixels to 72ppi if GIF results suck.
21. For a black color change using Desaturate will yeild a richer black on the area you need. This is covered in the tutorial thread on a tutorial but most people ignore this simple step.
22. Cutting out an image can be done with each of these techniques which I will rate based on my usage;
1- pen, 2- straight lasso, 3- mask, 4- eraser.
*warning* using the trace pen will slow down your machine if it isnt up to par in memory. The Pen tool is hard to learn and use but yeilds faster and better results when mastered.
23. NEVER use the free form lasso unless you need to delete something quickly in a certain spot. It is worthless to use when cutting out an image.
24. From dakotahq: if u want a good way to get tire size right...make the tire the same size as stock, lets say 29 inches in this case. Then take the size you want, 33, and divide it by original size, 29, and get the percent of difference. 113.7%, so then u go and transform the tire and scale it up 113.7% and it'll be 33 inches tall.
If you have any tips, by all means continue. PS is a great program and everyone can use the help.