How to Create a Chilling Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

Preparation

Before we start download all the necessary pictures (sky, pier, body of the deamon, ice, grunge texture, head of the deamon, waves 1, waves 2, waves 3, waves 4, skull, hourglass) and brushes (birds, fog, lighting, abstract glow, water splash).

Step 1

Blending The Background

Open the pictures of the sky and the pier and drag them into the new document. Name the layer with the pier "PIER" and place it above the sky.

Now add the Layer Mask to the "PIER" (You can find the button Add Vector Mask in the Layers palette). Now grab the Brush Tool (B), select a soft round brush and pick black for the color. Make sure that the vector mask is selected (just click on it) and start painting over the areas you want to disappear.

You should use a smaller brush around the horizon to make the blending more precise. After this step your picture should be similar to that shown below.

Step 2

Adding The Demon

Open the picture of the body of the deamon, drag it into the manipulation and name it "BODY." Now open the picture with the head, grab the Marquee Tool (M) and select the area of the head. Now select the Move Tool (V) and drag the head into the photo manipulation. Name the layer "HEAD." Press Command + T. It allows you to rotate with the layer. Set the rotation so it will be the same as the rotation of the demon's neck. When you're satisfied, press Enter.

Now we have to blend the head. Add the vector mask to the "HEAD" and with a black brush paint over the areas you want to hide, which means the background of the stock image and also parts of the face which are already covered with the ice. Also, hide the eyes because we cover them with the skull shortly.

If you're not sure what to hide and what not to, then review the image below.

Open the picture of the skull and select the hole instead of the eyes (there are many ways to select something, you can use whatever you are comfortable with). Then drag them into the manipulation and place them instead of the eyes.

Create a new layer. Using the Brush Tool (B), pick a cyan color and paint two dots instead of pupils. After this step your photo manipulation should look like the image below.

Step 3

Adding Ice

In this step we will add ice above the demon's head and hand. Open the picture of ice. Now go to Select > Color Range... and set the value Fuzziness to about 170. Color Range is a useful tool if you need to make selections based on their color or tonal value.

After you set the Fuzziness, press OK and the tool makes the selection. Press Command + C to copy the selection, click on your photo manipulation and press Command + V to paste the ice. Now press Command + T and resize it to the proper size (I resized it to 25%). Change the Blending Mode to Hard Light (you can find the Blending Mode on the top of the Layers palette).

Add the vector mask to the "ice" layer. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and load the abstract glow brushes. If you don't know how to add brushes you can look at this tutorial. It's better to use shaped brushes instead of classical rounded ones because this way you get a more natural result.

Now paint with black on the vector mask over the part which you want to disappear. During the process you should change the size and opacity of the brush to get more variations.

Now we will do the same process with the head. Use Color Range to select the ice. Copy it into the manipulation, then change the blending mode to Hard Light, add the vector mask, and blend it by using a glow brush. You should end with something like the image shown below.

Step 4

Shading The Head

So far the head is flat and it doesn't look very realistic. In this step we will add some highlights and shadows to fix it.

Create a new layer and fill it with a gray color (#808080) and change the blending mode of the layer to Overlay. Now using of Dodge Tool and Burn Tool add the highlights and shadows. By adding this new "gray" layer you are working using nondestructively, which means that you can always go back and make changes. If you use dodge and burn directly on the "head" layer, then you aren't able to fix anything later.

Step 5

Adding The Hourglass

Open the picture with the hourglass and make a selection of it. Then drag it into the manipulation, change the size and rotate it (Command + T) so that it has the same direction as the hand. Add a vector mask and select a small round brush, set the opacity of the brush on at a low value of around 15%, pick a black color and start to paint over the parts of the hourglass that should be semi-transparent (mainly glass).

Now we will add the movement. Copy the "hourglass" layer and place it under the original layer. Now go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur... and set the value on 12, then press OK.

One more thing which has to be done is adding shadows. Create a new layer under the layer with movement. Fill it with #808080 color and change the blending mode on Overlay. Now select a soft, round brush, pick black for the color, lower the Opacity on 20%, and paint the shadows around the hourglass and under the hand.

After this step your image should look like that shown below.

Step 6

Adding Water Splash

In this step we will add the water around the demon. We'll use Color Range as we did it in the previous steps.

Found some stock photos with waves. I used these - waves 1, waves 2, waves 3, waves 4 from sxc.hu and also these water splash brushes.

Open the photo with waves, go to Select > Color Range and set Fuzziness on the value you're comfortable with. It's the same as selecting ice in Step 3. Just remember that the white parts will be selected and the black will not, gray will be semi-transparent. You should place some waves in front of the demon and also some behind, so it will look realistic. For inspiration on how to place waves look at the animation below.

Step 7

Adding The Wizard

Download a stock photo of a magician. The one I used is not publicly available, but it is no problem to find something similar. Cut out the background and using the Move Tool drag the selection into your document. Press Command + T and resize the picture to proper size.

Create a new layer above the layer with the wizard. Select the glow brush (it can be the one we used during blending the ice or you can download some you like more), pick a cyan color and paint the spell. Quite easy isn't it?

I also added lighting between his hands, but it's really up to you and how do you imagine the spell. You can use of course different colors Let your imagination play.

Step 8

Adding The Lighting

The main things are done. In the next steps we'll add some details and then change the color and lights with shadows. Let's start with the lighting.

Select the Brush Tool and add the lighting brushes you downloaded. Pick a white color, create a new layer and click on the place where you want to have lighting.

If you look at some photos of storms with lighting you'll notice that clouds around the lighting are very light. And that is exactly what we'll do now. Create a new layer again, fill it with gray and change the Blending Mode to Overlay. Now pick a soft round brush with a white color, set the Opacity on 10% and paint over the sky around the lighting to make it brighter.

I also paint some birds to fill the empty space under the demon's left and upper-right hand. But it's absolutely up to you if you do it too, or if you add some more details.

Step 9

Local Adjustments

Some parts of the demon's face should be lighter and the hourglass should have more contrast. We'll fix it in this step.

Click on the layer with the demon's face (not with the ice) and add an adjustment layer of Levels (the Create a new fill or adjustment layer button can be found in the bottom part of the Layers palette).

Set the Input Levels on 0; 1,64;255 and press OK. Now right-click on the adjustment layer and select the option Create Clipping Mask. This way the adjustment affects only the layer which is below it (in our case the face).

Now click on the layer with the hourglass and also add a Levels adjustment layer. Now set the Input Levels on 26; 1,34; 215. Press OK and create a clipping mask too.

Step 10

Adding Mist

To create bit more fantasy atmosphere we'll add some mist in this step. Create a new layer on the top of your layers. Grab the Gradient Tool (G). Now press Alt and pick a bright color from the picture. Choose the type of the semi-transparent gradient you see in the picture below and paint it from the bottom up to the wizard. Better to look at the picture to understand clearly. I made the gradient red so you can see better what to do.

Step 11

Setting The Global Lighting

Now we'll add some more dramatic lighting. Add a new layer on the top of your layers and fill it with a solid mid gray (#808080). Change the Blending Mode on Overlay. Now go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects... and set the menu as you can see below, then press OK.

The demon's head and right hand should be little lighter. To fix it use the Brush Tool (B), select a soft round brush, pick a white color and lower the Opacity of the brush to 10%. Now paint over the parts which should be lighter (on the same layer where you added the omni light). If you think some parts should be darker, pick a black color and paint over them.

On this picture below you can see my "setting lights" layer with normal blending mode set.

As you can notice I darkened wizard little bit. The result of this step is seen in the next picture.

Step 12

Adding Texture

This is a simple step. Open the picture with the grunge texture you downloaded and drag it into the manipulation on the top of all layers. Now experiment with opacity and blending modes to get the result you will like. I used the blending mode Soft Light and set the Opacity on 37%.

Step 13

Global Adjustment

In this step we'll set the global color adjustment of the picture. At first we will desaturate it a little. Add a new adjustment layer Hue/Saturation on the top of your layers and set the Saturation on -50. Now add an adjustment layer of Color Balance and set it as shown in the picture below.

Now we'll change brightness and contrast. Add an adjustment layer of Brightness/Contrast and set both values at +10. And for the last adjustment, add a Photo Filter and set the Filter to Cyan to give a nice cyan tinge to the photo manipulation.

Step 14

Sharpening

Sharpening is the last step we'll do before this photo manipulation is finished. Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and select the whole image. Now go to Edit > Copy Merged or just press Shift + Command + C. Then press Command + V to paste the merged image.

Now go to Filter > Other > Highpass and set the Radius on 4px, then press OK. The last thing you have to do is to change the Blending Mode of this layer to Overlay. The final image is shown below!

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've just learnt how to create a photo manipulation called "You Can Not Frost The Time." I hope that this tutorial was useful for you and you have learnt something new or just found some inspiration for your next project.

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Blend a Planet Transparently into a Photo Manipulation

Preparation

Before we start download all the necessary pictures (girl, background, earth, tree, apples and moon) and brushes (glitters and clouds).

Step 1 - Background Preparation

Open the photo with the girl. Right-click on the "background" layer and select Layer From The Background, which unlocks the layer. Name the layer "GIRL."

Now open the picture of the background and drag it into the picture with the girl and name it "BACKGROUND." As you can see the background is smaller than the photo of the girl. To make it bigger click on the layer "BACKGROUND," preset Command + T, and while holding Shift make it bigger. If you hold Shift, proportions of the picture stay the same.

Place the "BACKGROUND" under the "GIRL" and make the "GIRL" layer invisible. Before blending these two images together we will work on the background a little bit.

If you look at the "BACKGROUND," you can see that the quality of the image is quite bad because of resizing. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the Radius to about 1px. It will be a little blurry, but it really doesn't matter. Press OK.

Now make the background darker - add Adjustment Layer Levels. The button Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer can be found on the bottom part of the Layers palette. If you don't see the Layers palette, then press F7 and it appears. In the dialogue window Levels set the Input Levels on 34; 0,82; 255 and press OK.

As you can see in the preview image the background isn't reddish but blue. To change your background add a new layer above the "BACKGROUND" layer and adjustment layer Levels and name it "BLUE TONES." Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick this color #1f79a3 and fill the layer with it. Now change the Blending Mode of the layer to Color and set the Opacity to 80%.

Step 2 - Blending he Hair

Blending flying hair is always difficult because there is no easy or quick way to do it. But in case that you have a stock photo with a light background and want to blend it with a dark background, there is one trick you can do really quickly only by changing blending modes.

Duplicate the "GIRL" layer, name it "FLYING HAIR" and place it under the "GIRL" (which should still stay invisible). Now change the Blending Mode to Multiply (you can also use Blending Mode Darken if Multiply looks too dark). Add a vector mask to this layer and with a black brush paint over all the parts of the layer except the hair to make them invisible.

Step 3 - Cut Out the Background of The Girl

Make the "GIRL" layer visible. You need to cut out the background of the layer. There is many ways how you can do it. Use the technique that you're most comfortable with. But remember to cut everything very carefully. I know it can be boring to do it, but if you make it sloppily the result will never look realistic. You don't have to care about the hair much because we've prepared that in the previous step.

After cutting out your picture it should look like the image below.

Step 4 - Retouching The Girl

The girl has ugly shadows under her eyes, cheeks and nose, from the lighting cast during the shooting of this photo. In this step we'll remove these shadows. Add a new layer above the "GIRL" and name it "RETOUCH." Right-click on the layer and select Create Clipping Mask.

Now grab the Stamp Tool (S), select a soft, round brush and set the Opacity on 20%. Press Alt and click on a lighter area of her face to set the place from where the skin will be duplicated. Then paint over the areas with shadows (areas which are circled in the picture below). Change the source of the cloning from time to time to get a more natural result.

In the picture below you can see how the face looks before and after using the Stamp Tool.

http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/351_Transform_Planet/09.jpg

Step 5 - Color Adjustment of The Girl

It's obvious that the girl doesn't fit the background. We'll fix that during this step by using several adjustment layers.

At first we will remove the yellow light from the light bulb. Add a new Adjustment Layer Hue/Saturation and make a clipping mask from it. Set Edit on Yellows and lower the Saturation to -54.

Now we'll make the girl bluer. Add a Color Balance Adjustment Layer, make a clipping mask from it and set it as you see in the pictures below.

To make it even bluer add a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer. Don't forget to create a clipping mask from it. For dark tones select a dark blue color (I used #072519) and for light tones use white. Press OK and lower the Opacity to 30%.

And one last thing for now - we will increase contrast. Add a Levels Adjustment Layer, create a clipping mask from it and set the Input Levels to: 33, 0,73, and 238. Press OK.

After this step your picture should look like this:

Step 6 - Brighten Eyes

This is just a quick step, let's brighten the eyes. Add a new layer above the "GIRL" and all clipping masks and name it "BRIGHTEN EYES". Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick #808080 as the color and fill the layer. Then change the Blending Mode to Overlay. Select a soft, round brush at a size that is similar to the size of the irises, pick a white color and paint over the irises. It makes them brighter.

Step 7 - Adding The Planet

Open the picture of earth and drag it into the manipulation. Name the layer "PLANET." As you can see the planet is too big. To make it smaller press Command + T and resize it. Hold Shift to constrain proportions while resizing. Cut out the background of the planet.

Let's add two layer styles: Inner Shadow and Outer Glow. The Add Layer Style button is located at the bottom part of the Layers palette.

Set the layers styles as you can see below:

Add an Adjustment layer of Hue/Saturation above the layer "PLANET" and set the value of the Hue to +90 and Saturation to -20. Press OK and make a Clipping Mask from this layer.

Change the Blending Mode of the "PLANET" to Hard Light. It makes it semi-transparent.

Step 8 - Adding The Tree

In this step we will add the tree. Open the picture of it. Go to Select > Color Range. Then click on the white background which will select it.

Press Command + Shift + I. It makes inverse selection. Drag this selection into the photo manipulation above the "PLANET." Name the layer "TREE." Press Command + T and resize the tree on the proper size. Don't forget to hold Shift during the process so proportions stay the same.

As you probably see the selection should be better. It's again not hard to fix it. Command click on the thumbnail of the tree. It activates the mask of the layer. Now go to Select > Modify > Contract and set it to 2 px. Press OK. Now press Command + Shift + I (inverts the mask) and then Delete which will remove the unwanted parts.

Add a Levels adjustment layer above the "TREE" layer and set the Input Levels on 21; 1,12; 232. Press OK and create a clipping mask from this layer. Then add a Color Balance adjustment layer and set it as you can see below.

After this step your photo manipulation should be similar to this one:

Step 9 - Changing the Global Light

In this step we will make the place around the planet brighter to catch the viewer's attention on this place. Add a new layer under the "PLANET" and name it "GLOBAL LIGHT." Grab the Gradient Tool (G) pick #808080 color and fill the layer. Now go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects and set the dialogue window as shown.

Notice that I place the brightest spot from the center to the place where the planet is. Now change the Blending Mode to Overlay. It changes the light of the manipulation.

I also used this layer to make the eyes even brighter. Grab the Brush Tool (B), select a soft, round brush with a Diameter similar to the size of the pupils, pick white for the color and paint on this layer over the girl's pupils. It makes them brighter as shown.

Step 10 - Adding Clouds

In this step we will add clouds. Install the clouds brush you downloaded. If you don't know how to do that look at this tutorial. Add a new layer on the top of the layers and name it "CLOUDS." Pick white for the color and paint some clouds around the planets. You can paint them around the tree and girl's hand as well. It's completely up to you and your taste.

Once you're finished duplicate "CLOUDS" and change the Blending mode of this layer to Screen. This step makes the clouds nicely white, not grey.

One more thing which must be done is adding shadows. It's really easy. Duplicate the "CLOUDS" once again and place this layer under the "CLOUDS." Command-click on the thumbnail of this new layer. It activates the mask of the layer. Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick a black color and fill the selection. Now move the layer a little bit to the right and lower the Opacity to 25%, which gives it a more realistic result.

Step 11 - Adding the Moon

Open the picture of the moon, cut out the background, and drag it into your manipulation. Place the layer on the top of your other layers and name it "MOON." Change the Blending Mode to Screen.

Now we'll add an aura around the moon. Add a new layer under the "MOON" and name it "AURA AROUND THE MOON." Grab the Brush Tool (B), select a soft, round brush and pick a bright blue color. Lower the Opacity of the brush to about 15% and paint around the moon to make a nice aura.

Step 12 - Adding Apples

Open the picture of the apples. Select the apple in the front and drag it into the photo manipulation. Press Command + T, and while holding Shift make it smaller. Duplicate the apple several times and place it in different places of the tree. You can flip them and rotate them to get more variety.

Once you're finished merge all layers with the apples into one and name it "APPLES." Now we have to blend them and add the shadow underneath. To blend them add a vector mask (the button Add Vector Mask is located at the bottom of the Layers palette in the same place as the Add Layer Style button, which we used a few steps back) to the layer. Now with a black brush, paint over some areas to make them disappear.

Now add a Drop Shadow Layer style. Set it as shown below.

After this step your picture should by similar to this:

Step 13 - Changing Lights And Shadows

Now we will change the lights and shadows so they fit better to the scene.

Add a new layer on top of all the layer and name it "LIGHTS & SHADOWS." Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick #808080 color and fill the layer with it. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay. Now grab the Brush Tool (B), pick white for the color and paint over the areas you think should be lighter. Use a lower opacity to make the light not so strong and a higher opacity to make it stronger. Lighten the pupils of the girl once again.

Now pick a black color and paint over the area where shadows should be. Play with the opacity again to get more realistic results.

Step 14 - Adding Glitter

Install the glitter brush you've downloaded before. Add a new layer on top of your layers. Name it "GLITTERS" and paint with the brush around the girl's hand a little.

Step 15 - Adding Aura Around The Girl

To separate the girl from the background a little we will add aura around her. Add a new layer under the "GIRL" and name it "AURA AROUND THE GIRL." Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick #808080 color and fill the background. Change the Blending Mode to Overlay. Now grab the Brush Tool (B), select a soft, round brush, pick white for the color and paint around the girl. You can see what I mean below.

Step 16 - Global Adjustment

We've already placed all elements so now we have to adjust the picture. At first add a new Gradient Map Adjustment Layer on the top of your layers and set it as you see below.

Now add a Levels Adjustment Layer and set it like this:

Decrease the saturation of the picture. You can use an Adjustment Layer of Hue/Saturation or (like me) use the Gradient Tool. Set the Opacity of this layer to 60%.

After this step your picture should look like this one:

Step 17 - Increasing The Saturation of the Eyes

As you can see in the preview picture, the eyes are more saturated than the rest of the picture. We'll make it in this step.

At first click on the vector mask of the adjustment layer with gradient and lower the opacity. Grab the Brush Tool (B), pick a black color and choose the same size of brush as the pupils are. Now paint over them. This step will remove the desaturation effect on the eyes.

Now add a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and set the value of Saturation to +100. Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick a black color and fill the vector mask of this adjustment layer. Then grab the Brush Tool (B), pick white for the color and paint over the pupils. It makes them even more saturated.

Step 18 - Sharpening

Grab the Marquee Tool (M) and select the whole manipulation. Now go to Edit > Copy Merged and then press Command + V to paste the merged image. Place the layer on the top of all the layers.

Go to Filter > Other > High Pass... and set the value Radius on about 5 px. Change the Blending mode of the layer to Overlay.

The whole picture is sharper. But according to me the sharp background doesn't look nice and it should be without the High Pass effect. Grab the Eraser Tool (E) and erase this layer on the places where the background is, as shown below.

Step 19 - Changing Lights And Shadows Once More

This is the last time we change the lights and shadows. Paste the merged picture once again on top of all layers. Now press Shift + Command + U to desaturate the image and Command + I to invert colors. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the value radius on about 15 px. Press OK. Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Overlay and lower the Opacity to 30%.

Step 20 - Final Touch

You are almost done. There are two easy things to fix. At first I think that the image should be little bit darker. To fix that add a new Levels Adjustment Layer and set the Input Values on 0; 1,1;255. Press OK.

Now add a Color Balance Adjustment Layer and set the Color Levels on -6; 0; +4 and press OK. That's all.

Conclusion

Congratulation! You've just finished this photo manipulation. Hope that you've learned something new in this tutorial or found inspiration for your next photo manipulation. Have a great day and thanks for reading!

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