Love Me – Photoshop Manipulation Tutorial
Resources
- Kissing couple: http://tacostock.deviantart.com/art/Peasant-Couple-Image-4-37671434
- Background: http://sunshyn3.deviantart.com/art/Autumn-evening-premade-195329664
- Apples basket: http://twilitesmuse.deviantart.com/art/Apples-3-273789924
- Leaf 1: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=902212
- Leaf 2: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=651925
Video Walkthrough
For better image quality, view full screen in HD
Step 1
Open the premade stock image and crop the left side of it. Try to get something like I got using the image below as reference.
Step 2
Open the stock image of the kissing couple and use the Pen Tool (P) to extract them from the background by drawing a Path around them. When you get to the woman’s hair, leave some space, see image for reference. Then convert that path into a selection and delete the background. Then copy and paste the couple on your canvas. Scale them down to about 56% and place them as shown in the image.
Step 3
The woman is sitting in the grass so you have to use masking to make her look like the grass is covering part of her dress. So create a layer mask and get the default Photoshop grass brush. Open the Brushes window (F5) and deactivate Color Dynamics. Now reduce the brush size to about 100-110 pixels and paint with black along the edges of the woman’s dress.
Use the layer mask to also mask the left foot as well. Now you can also mask the part of the hair mentioned on Step 2.
Step 4
In order to add more realism you have to create some shadows under the woman’s feet. So get the Brush Tool (B) set diameter to a medium size and the Hardness to about 25%. Now start painting the inner part of the woman’s feet along the edges that touch the ground. See video walkthrough.
Step 5
I wanted to increase the contrast of the kissing couple and for that I used a Levels adjustment layer as clipping mask.
Step 6
I used a Gradient Map adjustment layer as clipping mask as well to change the colors of the couple and make the blend better with the background image. The blend mode that I used for this adjustment layer is Soft Light and the Opacity was set to 15%.
Step 7
Open the apples basket and extract it from the background using the Pen Tool. Now paste it on your canvas and resize it to about 25% of it’s original size.
Step 8
Just as you did on Step 4, use the Brush Tool and paint some shadows under the basket and under the two apples that are on the ground.
Step 9
The apples look too bright and too saturated and because of that they don’t blend too well with the background. In order to fix that I used a Gradient Map adjustment layer as clipping mask. I set the blend mode to Color and the Opacity to 40%.
Step 10
You can see some falling leafs on the background image but they are all behind the couple. I wanted to have some leafs in front of them as well so I used a couple of stock images to do that. I duplicated them, rotated them and placed them randomly. I made some Hue adjustments to make them look yellow like the leafs on the background.
Step 11
Now you can do the Dodging & Burning using the same technique I explained over and over again on all my manipulation tutorials. Create a new layer, fill it with 50% Gray and change the blend mode to Overlay and use the Dodge & Burn tools on this layer. More about this technique here: Dodge & Burning – Manipulation Secrets.
Step 12
I wanted to add more yellow to the bodies of the man and the woman and make them blend better with the surroundings. Again I used the same technique as with the apples basket. I used a Gradient Map with Soft Light blend mode at 25% Opacity and the colors shown in the image.
Step 13
Create a stamp with Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E (Shift+Command+Option+E for Mac users) and go to Filter>Render>Lighting Effects.
Step 14
I added a bit more contrast using a Black&White adjustment layer on Soft Light blend mode at 20% Opacity.
Step 15
The last adjustment I did was using Color Balance to give that final look.
Step 16
The moon is a key element of the scene, it adds more romanticism. I added a bit of glow to it using a big soft brush and the color #71603F on Screen mode.
And you’re done. Don’t forget to apply some Unsharp Mask to sharpen the image. It always looks better. You can apply 0,3-0,4 sharpen amount at 120-140% depending on the size of the image.
If you think this tutorial is worth following and you want to appreciate the time I spent writing it please tweet it or stumble it or like it 
Final Result
About The Author
PsdDude
Nice tutorial Andrei, I already liked it
Andrei
Heheh thanx the first positive comment. Cheers
CRIS
MUY BUEN TUTORIAL GRACIAS
Andrei
Gracias
Todd Wiseman
Really great stuff here, Andrei. Never thought to use a black and white adjustment layer on soft light for contrast. The dodge and burn on a grey overlay layer is a fantastic technique as well. For masks and selections, have you used the “quick select” tool? I find it less time-consuming than the pen and also yields much better results than the magic wand–especially when coupled with the “refine edge” command. That’s my bread and butter masking tool when I don’t have time to do a proper mask with the pen. However, I work in news where speed is more important than accuracy. Thanks for taking the time to make these tutorials. You are very skilled both as an artist and as a teacher. Cheers!
Andrei
Thanx for the great feedback. Yes I occasionally use the quick select tool, it’s definitely much better than the Magic Wand. The new Refine edge in CS5 is also superb, I really use that a lot.
As you said, since your in the news, speed is very important. In my case I guess I just got used to the Pen Tool and I use it almost all the time. I don’t mind spending a few more minutes tracing a path.
gain, thanx for your comment.
STAR
GREAT, NICE, COOL TUTORIAL…
belgutei
hi my name is belgutei i live in mongolia your tutorial is so cool and easy
please could your tutorial in cs4
Tim (NL)
Thank you,
Result:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75892669@N02/6816757335/in/photostream
Tim (NL)
PS, i was working on a very high contrast level which i did not see before i restarted my mac ;(
Jim.A
Your are the first teacher i see who explain everything so clear !!
I really want to appreciate you!
Greatings from greece!
A fan of u from now!
Andrei
Ooooh that’s great. Thank you so much for your comment
Sidra
Loved it, both the outcome and your way of explaining everything ….thanx a lot for sharing.
JC
Once again, another magnificent tutorial!
thanks for taking the time to put this all together.
Andrei
You welcome. Appreciate your comment.
jonathan bartholf
awesome !! i LOVE YOUR TUTORIALS SO FAR!
I DO HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS THOUGH that i hope u will answer
First question
ok … i am just a beginner at photoshop … i know this may sound stupid but …
lets say i have a background open … and i open another image , unlock the image , then do a cut out of the couple to put on the background … then you say right click and MAKE SELECTION … when i do this … i do not have that choice! i have the choices of make work path , save selection , and others … but nothing that says ” make selection … i believe this is making it difficult to proceed … could u please elaborate on what im doing wrong?
second … once i get the image into the other image … lets say its the apples on the LOVE ME tut …. WHAT am i doing wrong ? i can NOT seem to just do a gradient on the apples itself .. when i do a gradient … it is on the whole image and not just on the apples … ( i believe its with the step above but not sure )
THREE … completely different subject …. NEXT time u do a manipulation … would u consider one with a child? and a boy ? id love to see more tuts with kids … and not ones wearing dresses!!!! there are so few of those!
jonathan
ps .. do u ever do private lessons through skype and some computer app that allows me and u to see what we both are doing?
thanks
Andrei Oprinca
Hi Jonathan. Thank you for your question. Here I go.
Answer to the first question
Most likely you used a wrong tool (a selection tool I would say). In order to have the “Make selection option” you must draw a path using the <Pen Tool. See image below.
After you draw the path with the Pen Tool still selected, you can right click and turn that path into a selection. This is maybe a bit advanced for a beginner. If the Polygonal Lasso tool works well for you use that one instead. I will make a video showing the various methods of extracting subjects from the background.
Meanwhile you can watch this tutorial from minute 4 (link below) were you can see this technique in action along with how to use clipping masks which is your second question.
http://www.psdbox.com/tutorials/making-your-first-photoshop-manipulation/
Answer to the second question
The gradient affects the whole image because you must create it as a clipping mask. You can do that by simply right clicking on the layer on the layers panel and choose “Create clipping mask” or if you hold the Alt Key and place the mouse between the layers (you will see the cursor changing and when it does, click to create the clipping mask.) Shown at minute 9 on the above mentioned tutorial.
Regarding your third question, I don’t really do that kind of artworks.
As for the private lessons, I don’t have time for that. I can barely have time to record these videos and write these articles.
Try the section Photoshop for beginners, it has videos starting from the very beginning so it’s intended for people that open Photoshop for the first time.
imperrio88
M a mandresc cu faptul ca sunt roman ca si tine si cand vad ca un roman de al meu face niste lucruri admirabile….lucruri de la care strainii vor si au ce invata……esti de admirat..felicitarile mele
Andrei
Multumesc mult.
BestDesignTheme
ooh great tutorial!!
Thanks!