Tutorial 5: smooth, alpha channel, effects I think very little of it, to explain procedures or tools in Photoshop alone, without any meaningful context. This partly explains the odd-looking titles of some of my tutorials. But I am convinced that you learn Photoshop fastest, just by working with it - and not by successively learn to deal with individual tools.
And I wish you well in accordance This tutorial is an example project from the start point to end, dealing with your quasi learns the way to know some nice PS functions that one would explain individually probably never: How to centered levels exactly how smooth grainy lines and how to deal with little can spice up effort writings (by shadow and gloss effects) visually!
The completed tutorial file to reproduce your place this time at the very end. But the most sense, it seems to me at this tutorial if you mimic the same steps with a custom text of your choice.
Have fun!
As you can see, I will start at very beginning: With a blank canvas! First you click on File> New.
In the dialog box you can name, width and height of your image set (in pixels, centimeters or inches) and resolution. Furthermore, you can choose the color mode (RGB for display applications, CMYK, if you edit a print project), and you can specify whether your white with a transparent or a background in, or want to work the foreground color.
used for this tutorial I 800 x 500, RGB, 72 dpi (dots per inch) resolution and a white background.
Sun Now we have so a beautiful white working document. Then we look for the first time a color. The course very arbitrary and left to personal taste. To me you should at the color choice generally do not trust, because I'm color blind, so ... looking out you might prefer a color that you like yourself! That's determined happier!
The "Color Picker" dialog is opened by double clicking on the "Foreground Color" icon.
I now work with the first color value: # 020,580th
If you have set the color, click the text tool anywhere in the empty space and writes a word of your choice. The text tool does automatically just set the foreground color and the font used last note:
Now, the most recently used font of course not always correspond to what we have for the current project in mind. So: alternate font.
your text you marked it by clicking the Text tool behind the text, hold the left mouse button pressed and drag the entire text. the text is highlighted, you can choose from your font menu to select a suitable font.
As long as the text is highlighted, you can also set size, spacing, line spacing and all that. I increase the font to 120 points ...
... and the tracking set to "-50". Therefore bring the letters closer together, which has provided the correct font, often a nice effect.
So, the whole now looks at me. But that's not really centered. And because I do not trust my eye, I show you a small, super-simple technique, such as your writings, objects and levels can be adjusted exactly.
First, click on the Marquee (M). With the marquee your marks were, the reference to which you align the text. Because I think want to have text on the horizontal center of the whole picture, I marked accordingly, the entire width of image:
Now Moves by the selection rectangle to the move tool (V). As long as you have an active selection will display the above, the Align-a menu. I click Align Horizontal Centers - and I'm happy.
This is what our project now, exactly in the middle. And for sheer joy Wirich same place yet a new level!
want on this new level I am now trying times with a manuscript. So I choose a color first, which, ideally, a nice contrast to my first color has.
power to do so again double click on the "Foreground Color" icon. I chose the color value: # FFB525 decided.
Next, click on the pencil tool.
In the upper menu you can select a "brush". By clicking on the down arrow to get an overview with all the brushes.
I choose a brush size "35".
Now you can spend yourself artistically. I am writing (very creative), by hand using a brush "King" with the text tool in my neatly created and precisely aligned heading ... but of course you can write whatever you want ... eh your probably makes
To these brutally ugly choppy edges caused it to get rid of somehow, there are a dozen tricks in Photoshop easily.
I want to show you one that can be applied whenever it comes to smooth lines, fonts or other clear geometric shapes.
First, I select my signature. This is very simple: Hold down the CTRL key and click with the left mouse button in the layer selection on the level that you want to edit your ...
Photoshop so automatically creates a selection that has the same shape as the object (the text, lines, etc.) in this plane.
The trick that we use works basically like this: How do the (angular) object to make it out of focus (and thus blur the edges) and use a gentle method to the blurred image back sharply to . make The result: The shape is almost identical - but the ugly edges are gone.
So much for theory.
changes in your practice by clicking on "channels" in the Color-channel approach and is there to a new level, an "alpha channel".
The alpha channel always has a black background. Our selection, we want to color in this channel according to White.
In Photoshop it is for almost every command, every tool and feature their own hot key - which of course is super handy if you work a lot with Photoshop, because a lot of time with click and save searches. set
The shortcut to the foreground and background color to black and white back is simply "D" to swap to the foreground and background color "X".
Suppressed so please once on the "D" and then ALT + DEL ... because with ALT + DELETE you have applied the same next Shortcut: Fill selection with foreground color!
You should now have white text on a black background.
's time to let the edges disappear ...!
As I said, we must make our text blurred to smooth the edges. Click to the top menu bar, click Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur ...
represents the radius of the blur you now by eye, namely, just as far to the edges disappeared.
I have a radius of "4.5" is selected.
And now we will start to sharpen the blurred lines again!
this I used the "Levels" function to German: Levels.
The Levels you can call in two ways: You click on the top menu bar, click Image> Adjustments> Levels ... or do you use the appropriate keyboard shortcut: "CTRL + L" (which is somewhat faster finds, not you too?).
The Levels governs your black and white border an image can, adjust the brightness distribution and reduce the Tonwertraum. (This is also helpful for photos to control contrast and brightness.)
What we do in the current case?
Strictly speaking, "make out of focus" by our handwriting is a gradient from white to gray to black emerged: While your image at the beginning there was only black and white, the edges are blurred to gray. By limiting the Tonwertraum now from the top (white) and bottom (black), we reduce the number of gray levels - "sharpen" and so the image again ... and that so far, until the edges look sharp to the eye.
The course
sounds mighty complicated. But you simply based on how I did it and trust in your eyes!
The result, as you will see is a much smoother edge than before, with which one can really be satisfied.
But: We are still in the alpha-channel ... and we want the nice, smooth edges finally in our image!
is very important at this point that we recognize the "new edge", namely the edges of the alpha channel now to continue working.
Before You must therefore get rid of your old selection - "Ctrl + D". To select
the "new range" (the alpha channel), hold down the CTRL key and click on the Alpha channel.
Well done!
time in the layer view to switch back!
Click on the "levels" and create a new level, "Level 2", ... Your new selection and fill with the foreground color, "CTRL + DELETE"!
(Of course you should your old level ("1") is now hidden. Please click on the eye icon!)
looks like the whole now? - Sun:
... wonderfully smooth edges. Everything fine. Only not quite in the middle. So: In the center we have above already learned. So here again in fast forward: selection rectangle over the whole width, ...
... Move tool, "Align horizontal centers.
Wonderful. Actually, we were ready now. But where we have come ever so far, we also do a little fine-tuning!
Our manuscript is to seem a bit plastic. And just that there are some really tasty Photoshop effects!
Right click on your Layer> Blending Options ...
... you gain the following menu:
The Layer Style menu!
By the Layer Styles you can let off steam you really are. And to be perfectly honest, this has again a lot to do with trying things out and romping around with until you have found since, according to his personal taste, the most beautiful effects.
What do we do: We will give our manuscript a super soft edge (or curvature) and a shadow.
To your left click on the "Bevel and Emboss and set the color depth to" 50% ", the Blur value to" 12px "- or to your taste.
And your next sets up the shadows.
left click on "Drop Shadow ... and just let the values as they are!
The font has now been quite a bit "rounder", by rounding and shadows. A bit more texture gets all the more, if your "faults" adds.
click on Filters> FAULT FILTER> Add Noise ...
... and see me, how much disturbance tolerate your image (by eye). For me it as you see, "2.30" were.
And the grand finale, I will miss both levels (the text of the manuscript) is still a little sparkle!
Sets a new level of ...
... for gloss, gradients, effects to make the best ever on a separate layer - so you have more control over the effect - and that means you, the original zerschießt not if it will "not so pretty" place.
... and makes sure that white is your foreground color.
the gloss effect to your using the Gradient tool (G). From the menu at the top of the course you choose Foreground to Transparent "...
... ensures that the "Radial Gradient is enabled ...
href = "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQbTBjuBJv7hwLSBTTnv9EWAR0GX7vv-nRQfyXISkGSwJrQPqG_pRU7IYKOEJ2bqdgfNOjHvr2TS6iOjMsEIVgOzCoLm7CbfYEqeBCOrF95RiguNiLIeGVfyJZLcTiHCWd1fs43Pmrlc/s1600-h/bild33.jpg> 
... and even a course on cross your manuscript with me: the "i" to point "G".
With thick, large letters, it gives a nice effect when the luster layer is a bit narrower than the font itself with CTRL and left click on the signature of your level gets you a choice ... and zoom out is now ... Selections> Modify> REDUCE ...
... by 2 pixels. That does not sound much, is not much, but should be even a very subtle effect!
Because we only want to delete the shine out of our letter, we have to invert the selection. This is either Selections> Invert - or the appropriate keyboard shortcut: CTRL + SHIFT + I.
Now everything is marked down to the section of our letter where we want to see the glossy effect. So we delete - press the DEL key.
So out of seeing what we have crafted.
The gloss is a little strong, so ...
... we set down the opacity of the gloss level (example: on "35%").
Now we dedicate ourselves nor a gloss for the text above and then we're done!
The upper writing is supposed to look like she was lit from below so easy.
you chose to use the elliptical selection tool and draw a selection across the script ... like this:
By the way, I can tell you the same show a second way to create soft course: instead of the gradient tool, the rationale is also blurred by a solid. Fill your
First selection with white, by CTRL + DELETE (or ALT + DEL). Then click on Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur ... and is just so long around with the values until you like it.
Here the gloss is supposed to lie only on the Scriptures. That is why we produce ourselves with CTRL + click on the text layer a selection of Scripture, invert the selection (CTRL + SHIFT + I) and delete everything around it away (by DEL).
And believe it or not: Now you shall have the opacity down a bit so that the gloss not so dominant (40% maybe) ...
And now are you ready! - Yippee!
What may happen now, is pure beauty craze: If your notes to a project: "Oops, my desktop is actually larger than they would have to be," You can work surface with the "exemption tool" Crop (C).
busywork, so to speak:
Thus, our result looks like:
Here you can find the PSD file for this tutorial: Tutorial 5
Have fun practicing!
