autocol
01-22-2004, 05:13 AM
And so we begin autocol’s SIMPLE photoshop tutorials, part two! (part one (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=279657&Forum=U BB1&Words=autocol&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage =0&Limit=25&Old=1week&Main=277536&Search=true#Post 279657))...
This time I’ll show you how to work with layers, a TINY bit, and how to use the transform command. The mission will be to give the EH Holden I used in my last tutorial a slightly bigger set of wheels.
In the first image, I’ve used the lasso tool to “cut out” the wheel, as shown in my last tutorial. Once it’s selected, I use copy and then paste (in the edit menu) to put the selection on a new layer.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen1.jpg
The tool we use to resize the wheel is called “Free Transform”, and you access it through the edit menu (or CTRL+T if you’re keen on shortcuts). Make sure you’ve got the right layer selected before you start the command, or you’re in a bit of trouble. If ever you do get stuck, ESCAPE is the key you want to press to get out of it before you make any bad alterations.
Here’s what you’ll be looking at once you’e started the free transform:
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen2.jpg
If you grab any of the handles like the one with the red arrow pointing at it, the image will stretch in that direction. If you go outside the box (where the blue arrow is) you can rotate the image. If you move the little pointer circled in yellow, the rotation will be around that point. As you can see, I’ve stretched it using the handle with the red arrow, and it’s not really what I want, so I press ESC and start the command again.
This time, I hold down the SHIFT key when I pull on the handle. This makes the image CONSTRAIN its PROPORTIONS. OR, in english, stay the same shape.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen3.jpg
That’s more like it! Once you’re happy with the size, double click in the box and it will finish the transform command.
I now have three layers. The one of the car from the first tutorial (which was hidden in the preceding shots), and now my rear wheel layer. As you can see, if the layers are in the wrong order, everything looks shithouse! The layer at the top of the browser is the layer on top of the image. Imagine each layer is a clear sheet of plastic, with a cutout of a piece of your image stuck to it. You can sort the order of layers to make sure you see the correct final result. In the next image, the layer with my wheel on it is above the layer with my lowered car on it, and therefore, we can see it. I need to move the car layer up (or the wheel layer down), by clicking and dragging (ie, click and HOLD, and drag upwards) as indicated by the red arrow.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen4.jpg
I think you’d agree this is better:
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen5.jpg
Next I repeated the process for the front wheel, which I won’t bother showing you as it’s exactly the same. Notice I now have four layers, one for each wheel, one for the lowered car, and one for the original image. Incidentally, I’ve just been using the standard layer names (Layer 1, Layer 2, etc...) but you can name your own layers by right clicking on the layer and selecting “Layer Properties” in the context menu that appears.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen6.jpg
Now that I’m happy with the size and position of my wheels, I want to merge the modified layers together so that I don’t end up with thousands of layers in my file. To do this we use the “Merge Down” command which is is the Layer menu (or CTRL+E). This command will merge the currently selected layer with whatever layer is below it. You can use it over and over again.
Compare the layer browser below with the one in the previous image. To do this, I selected the top layer (having made sure my layer order was correct, ie, the wheels were under the car), and used Merge Down twice. Remember though, that it is harder to modify something once the layers are merged together.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen7.jpg
A couple of final notes before I keep looking at other peoples posts:
Photoshop only allows one “undo”. This sucks pretty hard I reckon. The CAD system I use all day lets me do between 30 and 50! Anyway, it’s not the end of the world, because PShop keeps a “history” of the actions you’ve performed. I’ve deliberately left the history visible in the last image. The last three things I did were Move a layer, and Merge Down twice. If you need to undo more than once, you can select an action in the history and press the little rubbish bin icon in the bottom right hand corner of that box.
Personally, I prefer being able to press CTRL+Z over and over, but you get what you get...
Until next time... (which will probably be the clone tool....)
This time I’ll show you how to work with layers, a TINY bit, and how to use the transform command. The mission will be to give the EH Holden I used in my last tutorial a slightly bigger set of wheels.
In the first image, I’ve used the lasso tool to “cut out” the wheel, as shown in my last tutorial. Once it’s selected, I use copy and then paste (in the edit menu) to put the selection on a new layer.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen1.jpg
The tool we use to resize the wheel is called “Free Transform”, and you access it through the edit menu (or CTRL+T if you’re keen on shortcuts). Make sure you’ve got the right layer selected before you start the command, or you’re in a bit of trouble. If ever you do get stuck, ESCAPE is the key you want to press to get out of it before you make any bad alterations.
Here’s what you’ll be looking at once you’e started the free transform:
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen2.jpg
If you grab any of the handles like the one with the red arrow pointing at it, the image will stretch in that direction. If you go outside the box (where the blue arrow is) you can rotate the image. If you move the little pointer circled in yellow, the rotation will be around that point. As you can see, I’ve stretched it using the handle with the red arrow, and it’s not really what I want, so I press ESC and start the command again.
This time, I hold down the SHIFT key when I pull on the handle. This makes the image CONSTRAIN its PROPORTIONS. OR, in english, stay the same shape.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen3.jpg
That’s more like it! Once you’re happy with the size, double click in the box and it will finish the transform command.
I now have three layers. The one of the car from the first tutorial (which was hidden in the preceding shots), and now my rear wheel layer. As you can see, if the layers are in the wrong order, everything looks shithouse! The layer at the top of the browser is the layer on top of the image. Imagine each layer is a clear sheet of plastic, with a cutout of a piece of your image stuck to it. You can sort the order of layers to make sure you see the correct final result. In the next image, the layer with my wheel on it is above the layer with my lowered car on it, and therefore, we can see it. I need to move the car layer up (or the wheel layer down), by clicking and dragging (ie, click and HOLD, and drag upwards) as indicated by the red arrow.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen4.jpg
I think you’d agree this is better:
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen5.jpg
Next I repeated the process for the front wheel, which I won’t bother showing you as it’s exactly the same. Notice I now have four layers, one for each wheel, one for the lowered car, and one for the original image. Incidentally, I’ve just been using the standard layer names (Layer 1, Layer 2, etc...) but you can name your own layers by right clicking on the layer and selecting “Layer Properties” in the context menu that appears.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen6.jpg
Now that I’m happy with the size and position of my wheels, I want to merge the modified layers together so that I don’t end up with thousands of layers in my file. To do this we use the “Merge Down” command which is is the Layer menu (or CTRL+E). This command will merge the currently selected layer with whatever layer is below it. You can use it over and over again.
Compare the layer browser below with the one in the previous image. To do this, I selected the top layer (having made sure my layer order was correct, ie, the wheels were under the car), and used Merge Down twice. Remember though, that it is harder to modify something once the layers are merged together.
http://www.ltdesign.org/uncletoff/HAMB/ascreen7.jpg
A couple of final notes before I keep looking at other peoples posts:
Photoshop only allows one “undo”. This sucks pretty hard I reckon. The CAD system I use all day lets me do between 30 and 50! Anyway, it’s not the end of the world, because PShop keeps a “history” of the actions you’ve performed. I’ve deliberately left the history visible in the last image. The last three things I did were Move a layer, and Merge Down twice. If you need to undo more than once, you can select an action in the history and press the little rubbish bin icon in the bottom right hand corner of that box.
Personally, I prefer being able to press CTRL+Z over and over, but you get what you get...
Until next time... (which will probably be the clone tool....)