Photoshop Tips, Tricks, Reviews, and more!

Photoshop - Tattoo anyone?

2008-05-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

have you ever wanted to have a tattoo but ended up not wanting one because you fear that the design might not be what you really want or learn that it's in the wrong place and regret later?
why not try it in Adobe Photoshop first? to see if a tattoo looks good on you before having one, here's what you can do:
1. open any picture with an exposed body part in photoshop and a tattoo design

2. it's easier to select the dragon by selecting the white area around it first(magic wand tool) then right click and select inverse.

4. with the move tool, drag the dragon to (your) picture. to transform it, press and hod Ctrl then T. with the dragon still selected, right click and warp. adjust the nodes so that the dragon falls nicely on the skin.

5. on the layers window, change the mode to soft light or multiply (this part depends on what looks better to you). adjust opacity and blur a little.

6. you might want to delete some parts of the tattoo just like what i did with this image to give it a more realistic look.

other samples:

(if you have suggestions or better ideas, feel free to drop me some comments. thanks:)

Photoshop - how to change hair color

2008-05-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

this effect works better on blonde hair.
1. open any picture in Photoshop

2. select a soft brush (try 24px) and press Q to enter qick mask mode.

3. outline hair with brush, then cover the entire hair area. don't worry if you paint in the wrong places because you can always edit it using the eraser tool:).

4. press Q again to exit quick mask mode. the area around the hair will be selected. this is not want we want. to select the hair, right click on the selected area and select inverse.

5. dye the hair by going to layer > new fill layer > solid color. change the mode to soft light. then select the desired hair color with the color picker.

6. save save save.

some other colors:

Photoshop - Angel / Goddess Effect

2008-05-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

hi everyone! this photoshop trick i call "the angel effect". it makes the subject in the picture glow as if light emanates from it. learned the basics in working on layers and adjustments in my webdesign class about two years ago... i have been a bit into photo enhancements since then...

here is how the angel effect is done:

1. open any picture you'd like to put the effect on

2. duplicate the picture by going to layer > duplicate, and then change the blending mode to soft light (just right click the duplicate layer). apply gaussian blur to the duplicate layer by clicking on filter > blur > gaussian blur, then set the radius to 30 (radius may vary depending on the photo).

3. adjust the foreground and background color on the tools palette to the default black and white, make sure that the foreground is black. click on the foreground color and adjust the settings: H and S 50, and B - 30. ok.

4. create a gradient map layer by going to layer > new adjustment layer > gradient map, then set the mode to lighten.

5. with all the effects that have been applied above, i'm pretty sure the picture looks washed out. let's put the necessary colors back by using the brush tool. make sure that the foreground color is set to black, and then select a soft, round brush to touch up parts of the picture that you want to saturate a bit. (make sure brush opacity is set to 20-30%). i used the brush to touch up the hair, eyebrows, eyes, and lips)

6. to prevent the picture from looking too faded out, select layer > new adjusment layer > levels from the menu. do the necessary adjustments: the amount of black, gray, and white.

7. flatten the image by clicking on the little triangle on the upper right corner of the layers window. save baby.

there you have it! angel angel effect :)

(if you have better ideas please feel free to drop me some comments... thanks:)

My Sassy Girl Remake

2008-05-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

The other day my mother and I went to Gaisano South to shop and as we passed by the grocery, I saw an overhead poster of My Sassy Girl. And so I stopped to take a look at it. I told myself, really? They made an American version of My Sassy Girl which happens to be one of my all time favorites – oh no, I mean the only Korean film I’ve seen that I actually liked. Looks like the Westerners have also picked interest in Korean Movies (I remember they also made a remake of Lake House which was starred by Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, was it two years ago?)

The remake stars Jesse Bradford as the male lead and Elisha Cuthbert as Jordan Roark.

Can’t wait to see it. I just hope that it will be as funny, witty, and romantic as the Korean version….or better

(p.s. the girl in the original My Sassy Girl was exceptional!)

Photoshop - How to make Clothes Invisible

2008-05-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

The other day I got really bored and started taking pictures. Then out of the blue I remembered Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak or something like that. You see, I’m also into video editing and wanted to try it on one of my videos but I thought that it would be too ambitious to do and I don’t have the appropriate software anyway. Then I thought, why not try it on pictures?
As a young kid, I’ve always been puzzled on how photo editors create special effects on pictures just like making clothes appear invisible. I thought of googling it and try to learn it somewhere in cyberspace. But even before I turned my pc on, I had an idea on how to do it…

Here’s what I did:

I took two pictures.. the second one with the kid on it:

and then I opened the pictures in Photoshop and dragged the second picture on top of the first. Just like this:

then I selected the jacket using the magnetic lasso tool.

After the jacket has been selected, I right clicked inside the selection and set the feathering to 1.

i clicked on the image tab >desaturate.

then I clicked on the filter tab>artistic>plastic wrap to give the jacket luster and a watery look.

clicked on the eraser tool and adjusted the brush size so that it covered the whole jacket.

Then click on it, making sure that the jacket does not totally disappear(set opacity to 50%). Part of the first layer was then revealed (the picture without the kid).

I deselected and flattened the 2 images by clicking on the little triangle on the upper right corner of the layers window.

I did the necessary adjustments (levels, brightness and contrast, etc.). Saved.

Now you can also have the invisibility shirt effect on your pictures. Hope this helps. :)

(p.s. feel free to comment if you have better ideas or if you want to add anything. tnx.)

How to Pasaload to your SMART Buddies

2008-05-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

How to pasaload to your Smart Buddies

SMART TELECOMMUNICATIONS allows you to pass on load to your friends and loved ones for as low as P2 from your SMART Buddy load.

Here is how it’s done:

key in friend’s mobile number amount
send to 808
you and your friend will receive text notification

What are the denominations?

You can send load to your SMART Buddies for as low as P2 to P60 (P5, P10, P15, P20, P30)

That’s how easy it is!