10 Techniques That Are Essential for Successful Photo Manipulation

7/30/2019 10 Techniques That Are Essential for Successful Photo Manipulation

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10 TECHNIQUES THAT AREESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESSFUL PHOTO

MANIPULATION ARTWORK

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INTRODUCTION

Photo manipulation techniques are used by many designers to create extremely creativeworks of art. It is enormously popular amongst most graphic designers who choose to usePhotoshop. And the great thing is; once you understand the key focus points in photomanipulation, you can create anything you can dream of.

The wildest imagery to the simplest idea can be conveyed through Photoshop using photomanipulation. Let's review ten focus points for successful photo manipulation and reviewlinks to professional photo manipulation artists. These ten examples are in no particularorder of importance.

1. RENDERING YOUR IMAGES

We all know that photo manipulations take various images (either stock images or ones

you've photographed yourself) and merge them with others on a Photoshop canvas. Now let'ssay we are in need of a tree, and we need to cut it out and carry it to where we will use itfor a manipulation. Well if that is the case then we will need to cut it out, but a tree is notthe easiest thing to cut out, there are leaves, branches, and shadows that mess up onesrendering.

Most people who are familiar with Photoshop use the Pen tool to cut out there images, but ifthe image is incredibly hard to cut out then even the Pen tool will not help you. So youmight consider using a program calledVertus Fluid Mask. This program lets you render outimages in a matter of minutes using special masking tools that you can not find inPhotoshop.

We can't have images in our photo manipulation that have rugged edges, or parts of it withan old background, so that's why I recommend using this program. Below are some examplesof the results of rendering with the program.
http://www.vertustech.com/http://www.vertustech.com/http://www.vertustech.com/http://www.vertustech.com/


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2. SHADOWS

I will stress this more than once in this article so you can understand how important this is toa successful photo manipulation. When you're going to make one you want it to be asrealistic looking as possible; and I don't mean realistic in the way that you see flying cars ormagical dragons. I mean realistic in the way that every item has a shadow if it needs oneand every item is proportional to everything else on your canvas.

Photo manipulations are made so that you can bring out things that would never happen inthe real world. Shadows are our next focus and the second technique you should knowbefore starting a photo manipulation project.

Below is apiece of artmade for aslashTHREEart pack. It's a great example of how shadowscan add to the realism of your photo manipulation, even when it's a fantasy scene.

Look carefully at the image and notice that the airplanes have shadows under them. Thepaint brush, pencil, and the paint bucket all have shadows under them, which all add to therealism of the photo manipulation.

Now making shadows is a whole other discussion, but a simple way to make them is toduplicate your original stock that you need the shadow for. Then turn it completely black.Then add a Gaussian Blur to it. Then you can reduce it in size and put it in the correct place.

Artist:mOsk- Artwork:Afterlife
http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/556/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/556/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/556/http://www.slashthree.com/http://www.slashthree.com/http://www.slashthree.com/http://www.slashthree.com/v3/user/1337/http://www.slashthree.com/v3/user/1337/http://www.slashthree.com/v3/user/1337/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/556/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/556/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/556/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/556/http://www.slashthree.com/v3/user/1337/http://www.slashthree.com/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/556/


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3. PROPORTION

Now proportion is probably one of the most important things a person has to grasp if hewants to do photo manipulations. You can not have your dog bigger than your house or yourhorse bigger than your car. If you're going to make a design that is extremely farfetched,than you have to make it look realistic and proportion makes a huge difference in howrealistic your art looks. You have to remember where you want to place your images. Belowis an example of great proportioning. You can see that there is a castle all the way in theback of the image and note how small it is.

You have to remember that images that are supposed to be far away have to be smaller thanthe ones that are closer to you. Notice how the second castle to the right is proportioned tolook big but not too big because it is near the horses. The mountains are proportioned to bebig enough to go in front of the castle. The trees are correctly proportional to the size of thehorses. So remember that every image you use should be used in proportional harmony.

Artists:brodiandPhektion- Artwork:Equidae

4. TEXTURE USE

Now textures don't necessarily add to the realism of your art, but they do add a nice kick toblend all your images together evenly. Blending is a huge part of photo manipulation, so

textures are something you have to carefully pick out.

Textures add to the depth of your art. If you are trying to go for a photo manipulation that isdark and dirty looking you can use a rough ground surface as a background texture; or if youare looking for something smoother you can use paper, or a wall texture. There are manytextures you can consider using for your art, and a website that has links to many textures isBlue Vertigo. They have links to many sites that distribute free textures.
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Below is a photo manipulation with a grungy and dark feel to it. It uses a nice crackedsurface texture. The three dimensional elements that the artist's used are about the samecolor as the texture, so they blend beautifully. Remember if you do not have a backgroundfor your photo manipulation, you should use a texture that will match the mood you aretrying to set in your art.

Artists:nemuisandDestiny952- Artwork:Wake

5. PICKING STOCK IMAGES

Selecting stock images is the first thing you should do after you already have your idea. Youhave to remember that you can not always cut out every stock you have perfectly, as some

stock images are sometimes just taken at bad angles, or have slight blurriness, so you wontbe able to use them. Lets look at several examples of stock images that should be used inyour manipulations. Let's also look at examples of those that should be used. First off a greatplace to find good free stock images isStock.xchng.

So look below and see image 1, which should not be used because it is too blurry for ourpurposes. It is a fine photo for other purposes, but not photo manipulation. This imagewould be difficult to work with on top of a colored background or overlaying a texture.

Now if you are looking for a nice junkyard car image, number 2 would be perfect to usebecause it is very large and you can clearly see every angle and shape of the car. Plus this

image would go perfect with a nice grungy texture background. Next, look at image 3. Thisimage would be difficult to use. It would be a hassle rendering this blurry image, and even ifyou do, the cars are not seen that well. It's difficult to work with a blurry image in photomanipulations and it's better to pick sharp images.

Finally let's look at image 4. This is a clean image we can easily render and use for any kindof manipulation.
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6. COLOR BLENDINGNot every image you use is going to match your background, your texture, or even your otherimages. So that is where color blending comes in. Things like Photo Filters and GradientMaps are used in Photoshop to either add or take away color in your images. This eithergives a certain image that little boost of color, or takes away that extra color. This helps theimages blend with one another and most importantly form a nice coherent work of art.

An excellent example of color blending is shown below. We see many types of differentflowers throughout the whole piece. Even with a large amount, they still blend very nicely toform a whole.

Colors like pink, white, yellow, and orange blend together easily. So that is what you shouldlook for at first; colors that already blend. Then use Photoshop's Photo Filters or GradientMaps to manipulate the colors of the images to blend well.

Artist:Fiorinox- Artwork:Spring
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7. EMPHASIS ON DETAIL

When creating a piece of art set one area as the main focus. You want to draw viewers eyesinstantly to that spot. There are multiple techniques to do that. One way is to work onfocusing attention on the most vibrant, colorful, or sharp area in the design.

A great example of emphasis on a certain part of a design is in the artwork below. The fire isthe first thing that catches your eye. The fire is the most vibrant and brightest part of theimage, so it instantly stands out. And that is exactly what you want; you want something tosuddenly stand out when someone looks at your piece of art.

Artists:timicandeigeni- Artwork:Leave In Style

8. COMBINING MULTIPLE IMAGES

Images are like missing puzzle pieces, without them you can never fully complete the

puzzle. So choose them carefully. You may need to look at multiple stock images beforechoosing the right ones for your composition.

You need to plan your composition. Before opening Photoshop, take out a piece of paper anda pencil. Then sketch your design. If you're only doing a rough sketch, it takes about twominutes at the most. Consider where the stock images will go as you sketch. Decide thekinds of images you'll need to find.
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An example of great use of stock images is below. I love this piece because you can seethere are a variety of images used. Notice everything in the composition. Look at thebackground scenery, the flower, and cassette tapes for example.

There is a plethora of images in this artwork, but the composition maintains its coherency.

In your design you can use a multitude of images, but they all have to flow properly, and beused to your advantage.

Artist:ishbu- Artwork:Dancers Odyssey

9. C4D USES

Not everyone who uses Photoshop knows what C4D files are. So let me give a quickintroduction to them. C4D's are 4D images made from a program namedCinema 4D.

They are often these abstract works. They can be used to enhance the feel of your work,and give it an even nicer look. Let's look at how C4D meets an image and blends beautifully.

The example below shows two ships on the verge of sinking. We have a deep and longbackground filled with an endless shot of sky and water. The C4D blends great with theboats and gives off a nice effect by making it look like it's coming from the ocean.

The use of C4D art or 3D renders can improve your photo manipulation. In this case, it gaveit a nice futuristic and abstract effect that is difficult to achieve using normal stock images.
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Artist: Exile - Artwork:At Worlds End

10. ENHANCING A STOCK IMAGE

Now our last technique shows how to enhance a stock image to your advantage. Stockimages are often plain. It is your job to turn them into something more attractive to theeye. This is where stock enhancement comes into play.

The example below shows how a simple bonsai tree can be turned into a towering oak. Thefinal composition has more branches and level and interest. The stock has been transformed.

The designer took an image of a normal bonsai tree and duplicated it, changed sizes,manipulated its sides, and added more tree stocks. This made it look impressive. Notice theoriginal stock shown below the cropped image of the composition - a dramatic difference.
http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/112/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/112/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/112/http://www.slashthree.com/artpacks/view/112/


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Artist:pkw- Artwork:Eternal Inferno

CONCLUSION

Remember these ten techniques. Go over them a couple of times then trying to makeanother your next photo manipulation, as they are excellent points to consider. Do this and Iguarantee that a great piece of art will come out this time. Focus on these points and you'llexcel in photo manipulation art.

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10 Techniques That Are Essential for Successful Photo Manipulation

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