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1 CHOOSE YOUR PHOTO

Pick a portrait that offers good contrast—a photo that’s very dramatic and dark probably won’t work as well. I’ve had the best success with straight-on head and shoulder shots, but again, feel free to experiment with all types of photos. For the best results, choose a photo that has a light background (or select the background around the person and make it lighter).

©ISTOCKPHOTO/JOAN VINCENT

2 CREATE VARIOUS TEXT BRUSHES

Create a new document (File>New) in a size that’s smaller than your photo: the specifics don’t really matter. Press D to set the Foreground color to black. Use the Type tool (T) to type several different words in various fonts and sizes (in this case we used a person’s name). One at a time, draw a selection around each word with the Rectangular Marquee tool (M), and from the Edit menu, choose Define Brush Preset. Name each brush in the Brush Name dialog and click OK.

3 SELECT THE SHADOWS AND MAKE A LAYER

Switch back to the photograph. From the Select menu, choose Color Range. From the Select drop-down menu in the Color Range dialog, choose Shadows and click OK. (In our example, nothing in the background was selected. If parts of the background are selected in your photo, see the next step for removing those selected areas.)

Then, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selected pixels onto a new layer. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selected pixels onto a new layer. Click back on the Background layer in the Layers panel.

4 SELECT THE MIDTONES AND MAKE A LAYER

Go back to the Select menu and choose Color Range again. From the Select drop-down menu in the Color Range dialog, choose Midtones and click OK. If (as in this example) some of the background is selected, use the Lasso tool (L) with the Option key (PC: Alt key) held down to circle the areas you don’t want selected. Then, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selected pixels onto a new layer.

5 FILL THE LAYERS WITH BLACK AND GRAY

Click the Eye icon next to the Background layer in the Layers panel to hide that layer from view. Click on the midtones layer and from the Edit menu choose Fill. Use 50% Gray, check the Preserve Transparency box, and click OK. Then, activate the shadow layer and use the Fill command again, except this time use Black with Preserve Transparency checked. You should have a very basic portrait made from black and 50% gray.

6 FINE-TUNE THE RESULTS AND MERGE DOWN
If necessary, show the original Background (click where the Eye icon used to be) and use the Brush tool (B) to paint with black on the shadow layer, gray on the midtones layer, or use the Eraser tool (E) to completely remove areas. (Note: For gray, click on the Foreground color swatch, enter R:128, G:128, and B:128 in the Color Picker, and click OK.) In this example, we added a little more definition to the ears by painting with gray on the midtones layer. Once you’re satisfied, click on the top layer (the shadow layer) and press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to merge it with the midtones layer.

7 ADJUST BRUSH SETTINGS AND PAINT SOME TEXT

Click the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Press D to set your default colors. Press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to fill the new layer with white. Choose one of your custom brushes from the Brush Picker in the Options Bar, and in the Brushes panel (Window>Brushes), click on the words “Brush Tip Shape.” Adjust the Spacing so there’s space between each word. Under Shape Dynamics, vary the size and rotation of the brush. As you paint on the white layer, experiment with the Shape Dynamics. Repeat with your other custom brushes. For now, just get some “text paint” on the layer—we’ll continue painting in a moment.

8 COPY THE PORTRAIT
Create a new layer and drag it above the black-and-gray portrait layer. Press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to fill it with white. This will provide a white background behind our image. Hide all the layers except the black-and-gray portrait layer, and then click on that layer to make it active. Press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to Select All and then Command-C (PC: Ctrl-C) to Copy.

9 PASTE INTO A LAYER MASK
Show all layers and activate the layer with the painted words. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a layer mask. Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and click on the layer mask thumbnail (this will hide the painted text and show just the mask). Press Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) to paste the copied pixels onto the mask. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to Deselect. Press Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to Invert the mask (your mask should look like a negative of the black-and-gray pixel image that you pasted).

10 CONTINUE PAINTING, VARYING BRUSHES
Activate the painted text layer (not the mask) by clicking on the layer thumbnail, and continue painting using the different custom brushes you created. You can also continue to experiment with the brush settings for Size, Spacing, and Shape Dynamics. (Although you don’t need a pressure sensitive pen for this technique, it sure helps!)

11 ADD A LAYER WITH RANDOM TEXT
The painted text will only appear inside the white and gray areas of the mask. To add a bit more randomness to the portrait, add a new layer above the painted text layer. Then use the same text brushes to add a few words here and there outside the boundaries of the mask.

12 PAINT ON THE MASK IF NECESSARY
If there are areas where you’d like text to appear in the portrait—or there’s text showing where you don’t want it to show—click on the layer mask and paint with a round, soft-edged brush: use black to hide the text, white to show the text, and shades of gray to make the text somewhat visible.

13 VARIATION: ADD A GRAIDENT OVERLAY
Here’s a simple variation: Add a Gradient Overlay layer style to the painted words layer. Just click on the Add a Layer Style icon (fx) at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Gradient Overlay. In this case we clicked on the Gradient thumbnail, and selected the Blue, Red, Yellow gradient in the Gradient Editor. Click OK to close the Gradient Editor, then select Screen for the Blend Mode and click OK. Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and drag the word “Effects” in the Layers panel on top of the “extra words” layer to copy the same layer style to that layer.

14 VARIATION: USE TEXT BLOCKS WITH THE MASK
Use the Type tool to click-and-drag a text box around the entire image. Get a large amount of random text (we used www.blindtextgenerator.com) and paste the text into the text block. Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and drag the layer mask from the painted text layer onto this new type layer to copy the mask. Then, either hide the painted text layer, or use both the painted layer and the new type layer—the possibilities are endless!

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1 PREPARE THE PHOTOGRAPH
First we need to choose and prepare the photograph onto which we’ll add our logo. We chose an image of a blank T-shirt from iStockphoto.com, deliberately picking one that contained noticeable folds. If the folds are a little too subtle, use the Burn tool to darken the shadows a little and the Dodge tool to slightly lighten the highlights.

2 PREPARE THE DISPLACEMENT MAP
The Displace filter uses a grayscale map to distort the imported object, so we need to create a map for our project. First duplicate (Image>Duplicate) the T-shirt photo and then convert it to grayscale. Although it’s not an ideal day-to-day way to make a beautiful grayscale photo, we’ll use Image>Mode>Grayscale to convert the photo (which works just fine for a displacement map). We don’t want too much texture detail in the map, so use Filter>Noise>Despeckle to soften the texture without losing too much overall detail. Save the map as a PSD file.

3 BRING IN THE ILLUSTRATOR LOGO
In Illustrator, keep the logo as editable and possible, then go to Select>All and Edit>Copy. Switch to the original color document in Photoshop and select Edit>Paste. From the four Paste As choices in the Paste dialog, choose Smart Object, and click OK.

4 POSITION AND SCALE THE LOGO
When the smart object appears, use the handles to scale and rotate the graphic. You can also click-and-drag to position it. Once you’re happy, press Return (PC: Enter). (Note: Since the resulting layer is a vector smart object, that means you can always make further adjustments to the size and position of the logo without losing any quality.)

5 CHANGE THE BLEND MODE OF THE LOGO LAYER
To help make the logo look more printed on the shirt, change the blend mode of the logo layer from Normal to Multiply in the Layers panel. Depending on the colors in your design, you may also want to slightly lower the Opacity.

6 RUN THE DISPLACE FILTER
With the logo layer (Vector Smart Object) active in the Layers panel, use Filter>Distort>Displace. In the Displace dialog, enter a value between 5 and 10 as a starting point for both Horizontal Scale and Vertical Scale. Since this layer is a vector smart object, the filter will appear in the Layers panel as a smart filter, which means you can always edit the filter settings (see next step). After clicking OK, you’ll be asked to choose the displacement map, so navigate to the location of the PSD file you saved in Step 2. The logo will be distorted to follow the folds of the shirt.

7 EDIT THE SETTINGS OF THE SMART FILTER
If the logo looks too distorted (or not distorted enough), double-click on the word “Displace” under Smart Filters in the Layers panel. The Displace dialog will appear, allowing you to enter different settings. Once again, after you click OK, you’ll be asked to choose the displacement map.

8 EDIT THE ORIGINAL GRAPHIC
One of the benefits of bringing in Illustrator graphics as a smart object is the option to edit the contents, even after the Displace filter has been applied. Double-click on the Vector Smart Object thumbnail in the Layers panel to jump back to Illustrator. A copy of your logo will open in Illustrator, where you can make changes to the design. Here we changed the color of the background shape and added a second yellow background shape. After saving the Illustrator file, the logo automatically updates in Photoshop, reflecting whatever changes we made in Illustrator.

9 CONTINUE TO EXPERIMENT
Thanks to the vector smart object and smart filter combination, you can continue to experiment with the size, position, and content of the logo. If you reposition or scale the graphic, double-click on the Displace smart filter to reapply it. To change the contents of the logo, double-click on the Vector Smart Object thumbnail to return to Illustrator to edit the file. Or, start all over again with a completely different photographic object….

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1 MAKE NEW DOCUMENT; ADD GRADIENT
Create a new document in the size you need and fill the Background layer with a color or a gradient. In this case, we used the Gradient tool (G) with two shades of blue. To create a custom gradient, click on the gradient preview thumbnail in the Options Bar to open the Gradient Editor. Double-click on the color stops below the gradient bar to change their colors and click OK. With the Gradient tool, click-and-drag from the left edge of the document to the right edge.

2 ADD STRIPES; FLATTEN LAYERS
We need to add a series of slightly darker stripes. Click the Create a New Layer icon, choose the Rectangular Marquee tool (M), drag out a selection across your background, and fill it with a darker color. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) around 10 times (depending on the size of your document), then using the Move tool (V), Shift-drag each of the darker stripes to a new location, leaving space between. Do this until your document is filled with the alternating pattern. Select all of the stripe layers, then click the Distribute Top Edges icon in the Options Bar. Choose Layer>Merge Down, and change the blend mode to Overlay.

3 DRAW CIRCULAR SELECTIONS
Go to Layer>Flatten Image to merge all of your elements into the Background layer. Click on the Create a New Layer icon in the Layers panel. On the new layer, draw a few circular marquee selections using the Elliptical Marquee tool. To draw multiple selections, hold down the Shift key. (Tip: To reposition a selection while you’re drawing it, press-and-hold the Spacebar make sure you’re still pressing the mouse button, move the selection to the desired location, release the Spacebar, and then finish drawing your selection.)

4 USE LAYER STYLES TO ADD DIMENSION
Fill the selections with any color and then in the Layers panel, lower the Fill opacity to 0%. Click the Add a Layer Style icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Bevel and Emboss. Experiment with the Depth, Size, and Soften settings to create a soft edge. (We used Style: Inner Bevel; Technique: Smooth; Depth: 61; Direction: Up; Size: 24; and Soften: 14.) Change the Shadow Mode to Soft Light and click its color swatch and change it to white. (Optional: Change the Gloss Contour to add to the effect: here we used Rounded Steps.) Click OK.

5 CREATE A “DROPLET BRUSH”
Click on the Brush tool (B) and then use the Brushes panel (Window>Brushes) to edit the brush settings. Start with a 35-pixel hard-edged brush, click on Brush Tip Shape, and change the Spacing to 95%. Then in Shape Dynamics, change the Size Jitter to 50%, Minimum Diameter to 10%, Angle Jitter to 25%, and Roundness Jitter to 50%. In Scattering, use a high value for the Scatter (we used 650%), a Count of 2, and a Count Jitter of around 40%. Of course these are just guidelines: take advantage of the preview at the bottom of the panel to tweak your results.

6 PAINT IN SOME DROPLETS
On the layer where you originally created the ovals, press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to select the shapes and then press Delete (PC: Backspace) to delete them. Now you can paint with your new droplet brush. (Since the Bevel and Emboss style is active on this layer, your brush shapes will automatically have the look we want.) (Note: Make sure that the blend mode of the brush is set to Normal in the Options Bar and that the Opacity and Flow are both set to 100%.)

7 ADD TEXT
Use the Type tool (T) to add some text using a handwriting- or grungy-style of typeface (we used A Bite, available from www.dafont.com). Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and click-and-hold on the word “Effects” under the droplet layer in the Layers panel and drag it onto the type layer (to copy the Bevel and Emboss layer style). Lower the Fill opacity of the type layer to 0%. If necessary, double-click on the Bevel and Emboss effect to adjust the settings for the type layer. In this example, we lowered the Size and Soften settings and set the Contour setting back to Linear.

8 MASK PORTIONS OF THE TYPE LAYER
If you used a smooth-style typeface as shown in this example, you’ll want to beat up the text a little to add to the water effect. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a layer mask to the type layer. With your Foreground color set to black and a small round brush (not the droplet brush), paint over several areas of the type to create gaps in the text.

9 LIQUIFY THE BACKGROUND
To add to the look, we’ll liquify the areas under the droplets. First, hold down Command (PC: Ctrl) and click on the thumbnail of the droplets layer to load these shapes as selections. Then hold down Shift-Command (PC: Shift-Ctrl) and click on the type layer thumbnail to add the text to the selection. With the Background layer active, choose Filter>Liquify. Liquify will open with a mask based on your selection. Use the Forward Warp and Bloat tools to paint over the droplets to distort the stripes.

10 ADD OTHER ELEMENTS TO COMPLETE LOOK
In our final example, we added additional text and an image to create an ad for bottled water. I encourage you to experiment with this technique on objects, as well. Just use the Marquee tool to select any object, such as a person or can of soda, and then drag-and-drop the selection onto your striped background. After creating a layer and filling the selection with a color, lower the Fill Opacity to 0% and copy the droplet layer style onto this layer. Then added a few more drops with your droplet brush as needed.

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If you’d like to download the Illustrator file used in this tutorial to practice these techniques, visit www.layersmagazine.com and navigate to the Magazine section. All files are for personal use only.

1 CREATE THE BASIC CALENDAR IN ILLUSTRATOR
We used basic Illustrator commands, particularly Transform Again, to create our calendar. If you’d like to see a video of how we created the calendar, visit www.layersmagazine.com and navigate to the Illustrator section. We’ve also already created the calendar file for you, so navigate to the Magazine section and download the Illustrator document if you’d like to follow along.

2 COPY-AND-PASTE INTO PHOTOSHOP
In Illustrator, select all the objects (Command-A PC: Ctrl-A) and then choose Edit>Copy. Now, switch to Photoshop and create a new document (File>New), choose the size and resolution you need, then Edit>Paste. In the dialog that appears, choose Paste As: Smart Object.

3 SCALE THE CALENDAR
Holding down the Shift and Option (PC: Alt) keys, drag outward on a corner handle to scale up the graphic to fill the document (because it’s a smart object, you won’t lose any quality by scaling up). Press Return (PC: Enter) when the calendar (object) is the correct size and the new layer will display as a Vector Smart Object in the Layers panel.

4 USE THE “SECRET” TRICK TO WARP
If you go under the Edit menu and choose Transform, you’ll notice that Warp is grayed out (along with Distort and Perspective), because it’s not possible to distort a vector smart object. As odd as it sounds, the solution is to change the vector smart object into a smart object. Here’s how: Control-click (PC: Right-click) on the Vector Smart Object layer and choose Convert to Smart Object and now we’re all set to warp the object in the next step. (Note
: The layer thumbnail and name do not change to show that you’ve converted it to a smart object.)

5 WARP THE SMART OBJECT
Use the Zoom controls to zoom out and from the Edit menu, choose Transform>Warp. Pull the corners out to create the effect you want, either curved edges or straight. Note: To create a straight-edged warp you’ll have to also use the warp handles (circled). Just drag them until they line up with the edges of the warp boundary box.

6 SCALE THE OBJECT EVEN LARGER
Press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) for Free Transform and then holding Shift and Option (PC: Alt), drag a corner outward to make the object even larger. Press Return (PC: Enter) when you’re done scaling and, if necessary, use the Move tool (V) to position the artwork where you want.

7 ADD GAUSSIAN BLUR
From the Filter menu choose Blur>Gaussian Blur, apply a slight blur of 2–4 pixels (we used 2.2 pixels), and click OK.

8 APPLY GRADIENT TO MASK
Because the layer is a smart object, the Gaussian Blur was applied as a smart filter that we can edit or mask. For this example, we’ll add a Black, White gradient to the smart filter mask. So, click on the Smart Filter mask thumbnail in the Layers panel and select the Gradient tool (G) from the Toolbox. Up in the Options Bar, click on the down-facing arrow to the right of the gradient thumbnail to open the Gradient Picker, and choose the Black, White gradient. Now drag your mouse from right to left on the calendar to gradually show the blurry effect and simulate photographic depth of field.

9 EDIT THE ORIGINAL ARTWORK
To edit a smart object, you double-click on the layer thumbnail, but in this case, it’s a little trickier. Remember that we converted the vector smart object to a smart object, which means when you double-click on the Smart Object thumbnail, a second Photoshop document will open, which contains the vector smart object. Now double-click on that layer thumbnail to open the Illustrator artwork. In Illustrator, we added a red box around one date and saved the document.

10 CLOSE AND SAVE TO UPDATE
Now, return to Photoshop and the first document will update. Close and Save that document and the second (warped) document will also update. (It’s really not as tricky as it sounds.)

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