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ISSUE 20
Create pixel art masterpieces | Photoshop relay | Masters of advertising | Vault49 interview

E TH
E

AT
CR VE
E R
CSIO E
AG
X-PCIAL
E U E
SPHIS ISS
T

CREATE PIXEL ART

Read our step-by-step guide to pixel perfection
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk

ISSUE 20
ISSN 1748-7277 £5.99
20

9 771748 727009

LEARN TO LOGO HOW TO… high-res stock

How smart design Master comic images on this
20
UE

can take you to the top book effects issue’s CD

ISS

001_APM20_coverPIXEL.indd 1 27/6/06 15:28:29

 Cover

Cover image Imageer:

Having grown up in a generation obsessed with sprite- GARY LUCKEN
filled videogames, Gary Lucken’s colourful, vivid pixel
worlds make sense. Creator of the renowned Army Of
Trolls – Gary’s one-man army – he spends his days
creating characters to include within his larger art
works, or to put up for adoption to other sites. This
issue Gary’s joining the AP team to show you how to THE PIXEL IS
create your very own pixel masterpiece. From the basic
building blocks of isometric drawing to creating a ENJOYING A
whole townscape, you’ll be squaring up in no time.
/ For Gary’s tutorial, turn to page 64 RENAISSANCE AS
A NEW FORM OF
ILLUSTRATION
3
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 nds
mme
Reco

PERFECT PIXELS 7 64
Gary J Lucken from Army Of Trolls reveals how to
recreate this month’s cover image with a detailed
guide to creating isometric pixel art

ISSUE #20

inside... LETTERS
Our readers’ comments and feedback
7 8

INSIGHT
News and showcases from around the globe
7 10
All the latest events, exhibitions and awards 10
A stunning portfolio from Raul Allen 18
‘Beep Beep ‘ out of the way for Neil Jeffery 20
Gill Button’s quirky style is showcased 22

HELPDESK 7 78
Your technical traumas shared with fellow readers
and answered by our expert
THE COVER

7 85
Gary J Lucken from Army Of Trolls
pushed those pixels to create this
colourful town scene. Find out how RESOURCES
he did it by turning to page 64
Vital assets to improve your Photoshop work
86
30 Mac and Adobe: The relationship
Art galleries 90
Use your own images to
create an action-packed
comic strip
Books 92
Plug-ins 94

...
E
B 6 THIS MONTH’S CD 7 96
C RI ge 7 f Superb stock art, the project files to go with this
B p s S a of month’s issue and more!
SU rn toave £price
Tu d s ver
an e co
th 48 56
The Photoshop Relay Creating interplanetary
gets under way Photoshop effects

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 24
The unique style of Vault49

TECHNIQUES
Hone your skills to perfection with our expert guides

FEATURES COMIC CREATIONS 7 30

7 24
Inspired by A Scanner Darkly, we look at comic art
INTERVIEW: VAULT49
The digital gurus share their secrets and techniques SCANNED ART 7 42
7 36
Master imagery with scanned elements
MASTERS OF ADVERTISING
The background of corporate branding CREATE SPACE!
A tutorial that’s out of this world…
7 56
PHOTOSHOP RELAY 7 48 INSIDER INFO
7 62
We’re halfway round the track with our tag-team design
EXPOSURE ADJUSTMENT
PEER PRESSURE 7 72 How to get the most out of colours

Inspiring images from your Photoshop peers

PIXEL ART 7 64
ROUND UP: GRAPHICS TABLETS 7 80
Recreate this month’s cover

INSIDER INFO
7
All the offerings from Wacom
BRIDGE EXTENSIONS 70
MAC AND ADOBE 7 86 Get more out of this app support
The perfect partnership

5
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004-005_APM20_contents.indd 5 27/6/06 16:18:34

 Letters

Mailbox
Got a gripe with the magazine or do you love
the tutorials and want more? Let us know by
emailing the team at advancedpshop@
imagine-publishing.co.uk
SUBJECT: The CD side imagery yourselves. After all, who wants to create the
FROM: Michael and Noelle same art as thousands of other people when you can
I have just purchased issue 17 of Advanced create something uniquely your own?
Photoshop for the outrageous price of €10.66! Now, I
know you have no control over the tax and duty SUBJECT: Under pressure
applied to magazines here in Ireland, but when I FROM: Simon Rudd
went looking for the project images on the CD, that Just wanted to say thank you for featuring my work in
was when I really felt ripped off! On page six it clearly issue 18’s Peer Pressure section as well as giving me
states ALL the project files to go with this month’s the Best In Show award and scanner. I look forward to

“YOU CANNOT BE
issue are on the disc. Not true. The layer effects project the next issue.
[ice maiden] directed me to www.istockphoto.com

SERIOUS, AS THE
to buy the images needed for this project! You cannot Editor replies:
be serious, as the great McEnroe once yelled. To see who won this issue’s top Peer Pressure prize,

GREAT MCENROE
With Create Console Art I can buy images turn to page 75 and check out their work.
“relatively cheaply” at www.fotolia.com. Why not
just dispense with the CD altogether and drop the
price of your publication? Maybe then I could actually
afford do some of your projects?
ONCE YELLED”
Editor replies: my talents, become a part of this magazine, and look
We’ve had similar cries for help from a number of forward to the day I frame my contribution.
other readers and are doing our best to rectify the In closing, I love your publication and forum in
problem. All our contributors are urged to use source which I will be a major part of from this day forward.
images that can be supplied on the disc or can be Photoshop is my passion.
easily recreated so that you can take the source WE’RE LIVE!: For any queries regarding the
magazine including back issues and subscriptions, Editor replies:
please visit the website
For those of you who have yet to find our forum,
M[
V QY]
KP

please log on to www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk

<M

Shock horror
NAME: Simon Rudd
WEB: www.pompeysworst.co.uk BE
SUBJECT: Hopelessly devoted and follow the link .
EMAIL: simonrudd@pompeysworst.co.uk IN ST
FROM: David Perry
SOURCE: Original images from http://resurgere.deviantart.com, SH
-8;7 OW
<RVXW
www.imageafter.com and www.sxc.hu R\ WX` ]
QN Y[X
6>
=QR\ V ^M X`
Simon first became interested in image manipulation after [
NW]Q^\ XMNU R\ ]Q WN[ XO
JW
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JWM RJ\]\ JW N RMNJU \L
;a[\ ONJ]^[N\ .9M JM_JWLN

SUBJECT: Torn between tablets

he started visiting websites such as www.b3ta.com and MZ JWWN[

I found your magazine in Barnes & Noble (in the US)

=X ª WM MUKWUJ <87¦\ ^W M JVJ]N^ RVJPN
OX[
www.tattyworld.org. “Most of my early efforts are best left
forgotten, but as I started to learn more I started to mix my \MTMX X^] VX[N JKQVML_Q\P RZ^N ,] [ YQX]
IT XP[
interest with horror and fantasy. My early horror art
WZ^Q PWVM X^] ]QN ? ,1/1<)4MV[ JYQN[\
[Q\_   41+-
involved its fair share of very basic textures such as dry __
MX[W !  
VKW]

riverbeds or cracks blended over unmanipulated faces.
Thankfully, I’ve come on a bit since then.”
Simon is a self-employed photographic artist and
manipulator and has been experimenting with Photoshop
for around three years. “So far I haven’t worked on any big
seven months back. It was truly the best Photoshop FROM: Kitalomun
S
Most of my work is a mix of blending modes, masking and
textures. I spend a lot of time looking through stock
images trying to find the right picture to work with. Luckily,

mag available; I fell in love. I have a subscription and I I want to buy a graphic tablet that helps me to write,
projects, but I’m hopeful that this will happen soon and I there is a huge community of stock artists who provide
can begin to earn a living from something I love doing. great images for us to work from.”

FACTORY BIO: “I was asked to create an album cover,

with the brief being a biomechanical zombie. I found an old

will keep it until the day I die, or until they are no draw and colour in Photoshop. I’ve looked them up in
factory picture from Stock.xchng, while the zombie was a
source pic given to me by the guy who wanted the picture. I
removed his mouth using the Clone Stamp Tool and the
arm using Masking. I added the light beams coming in
through the windows using the Lasso Tool, filling them
with white and then using Gaussian Blur.”

longer offered (which I hope is never). I check the mail eBay and to be honest there are quite a lot of brands
with great anticipation each time I know a new with different specifications. Which one should I
Advanced Photoshop issue is due. choose? And the smaller it is, the cheaper it gets, so is
BLOODY HELL: “This was an
attempt to make a skeletal rotting
corpse that still had some flesh on it.
I made this by placing a skull picture
underneath the face and used a soft
edge brush to mask part of the face.

One day I hope to be featured or even included in a larger one better?

When I was happy with the effect I
added a number of skin and meat
textures from http://resurgere.
deviantart.com. Finally, the image
THIN SKIN: “Here I removed half was darkened using a Brightness/
of her face using a layer mask and Contrast adjustment layer.”

the Peer Pressure section, it’s a goal that I am

placed a picture of a skull into the
hole. Using the Free Transform Tool
to manoeuvre it into the right place,
I then used the Burn tool on a low
exposure to blend the skin and skull
together. I finally added some meat

dedicated to. This has made me driven to produce Editor replies:

over the skull to look like flesh.”

more creative work, I am so driven that I’m A lot of people are experiencing the same thing as you
determined to make it happen even though my time right now. However, just because tablets are popular
WHITE ROOM: “I found a brilliant white room on Stock.xchng, I felt
this would look really good if it were made to look as if it had been left in
a post-murder state, with blood on the floor and the wall. I added blood
using a soft-edged brush and the Smudge Tool set on a low strength.
When this was complete, it felt too empty so I included the girl with the
gun and scrawled on the wall. I added a red and white cloud filter to the

is limited. I know I’m on the ground floor of does not mean they’re right for your style of work.
top layer and set the blending mode to Overlay.”

75
)L^IVKML8PW\W[PWX
something special. Some people simply prefer to use a mouse and find
HORROR SHOW: Simon Rudd’s work was
I post this not as a sappy attempt to win that the hundreds of pounds spent on a tablet is a
072-075_APM18_peerp.indd 75 2/5/06 10:45:33

spotted on our forum, www.advancedphotoshop.

co.uk. Post your creations and you could be next! favouritism, but to show my affection. I will, through waste of money. We’d recommend you either try a

8
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friend’s or turn to page 80 and take a look at our full
round up of tablets before you buy. You could save
yourself a lot of problems.
SUBJECT: Fantasy photos
FROM: E Goulder
I have just purchased issue 18 of Advanced
Photoshop and really like the ideas in there. The only
problem I am having is that I would like to try the
fantasy lights but I don’t have a photo of a field of
poppies nor do I have a field anywhere near me, so I
would be grateful if you could please help me find
somewhere to get a free poppy photo?
Editor replies:
For some fantastic free images of poppy fields, check
out stock.xchng (www.sxu.hu), where budding
photographers and artists upload their images for
the public to use, free of charge. Please check the site’s
terms and conditions for more detail on how you can
use the images.
FAB FREEBIES: For amazing free images, check
out sites like stock.xchng or freeimages.co.uk
“ONE DAY I HOPE TO BE FEATURED
OR EVEN INCLUDED IN THE PEER
PRESSURE SECTION”
008-009_APM20.indd 9
WORLDS APART:
From opposite sides of
the earth Hi-Liter and
Revjessecuster, two
forum users, took up
the Goddess challenge
SUBJECT: Good goddess!
FROM: Chris Willis
Just wanted to drop you all a line to say what a
fantastic idea the Photoshop Challenge was in issue
18. It’s amazing that one word can mean such
different things to two creative people. Here’s hoping
you do another challenge soon!
Editor replies:
Thanks for your thoughts, Chris. This issue we’re
kicking off our Photoshop Relay and if you check out
our forum, there are loads of head-to-heads going on
– Doorway, Impact and Goddess are just three we’ve
been watching progress.
SUBJECT: Ordering back issues
FROM: Brian Huang
Do you still have issues 16 and 17 of Advanced
Photoshop for sale? I would like to order each one of
them, so please let me know how to place my order.
Editor replies:
For all back issue and subscription enquiries please
visit the website, www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk,
or call 0870 428 3068.
Straight to
the point
Show time!
Subject: Capital events
From: Mark Joth
It seems like there’s a certain time of year when
there are more shows than days. Whether
they’re degree shows, exhibitions about the
humble football or solo artist events, there’s
always something to see.
However, why are so many centred in
London? What about those of us who live
outside the city? Please can you suggest more
events to attend outside of the capital?
Subject: Football season
From: Dan Eley
After reading about it in your magazine, I
decided to tear myself away from the big-screen
TV and wander past the Design Tank to see the
Football Fever exhibition. Although I wouldn’t
have missed a game for it (it wasn’t that good!),
if you’re in the area it’s well worth a peek.
Subject: Over the pond
From: Greg Twinn
A quick request. Although I know your
magazine hits the stands in the America some
time after it is released in the UK, I’d love to see
some more US-based events listed in your news
pages. Is this possible?
Editor replies:
Glad you’re all out and about enjoying the
summer’s wealth of design shows and events.
Although we try to list events from all around
the country and, indeed, other countries, this
isn’t always possible. We will, however,
endeavour to grant your request. If you know of
any shows you think we should tell everyone
about, why not drop us a line?
9
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26/6/06 10:21:55
 Keeping an eye on the latest trends in contemporary photography, art
and design, Insight sets out to snapshot innovation in the making

Doing the splits

With rumours abounding about the imminent arrival of
CS3, Adobe Live! was always going to be surrounded by
speculation. Would Banana Split (as it’s rumoured to be
nicknamed) unify the look of all of Adobe’s applications
so that they resemble Photoshop?
As usual, the software giant is keeping
tight-lipped about the 2007 arrival of its
newest family member but rumours were
rife on other Adobe apps. The reported
proclamation of a Adobe Systems France
spokesman that Adobe would halt the
development of Freehand and GoLive,
concentrating efforts instead on Illustrator
and Dreamweaver, was one such story. It’s yet to be GO CREATE: Ad
obe’s marketin
customers Eric g manager for
confirmed by Adobe, but with its recent acquisition of McCashey was
pleas
creative
“We’ve seen the
Macromedia reports have been widespread that slashes event go from str ed with Adobe Live!:
the first time, for ength to strengt
mer Macromedia h. For
will be made to its massive app line-up. showcased alo technologies
ngside Adobe pr were
The rest of Adobe Live! – which was three years old this oducts”
year – was dominated by the suggestion of the future of
the Internet as an applications platform.
www.adobe.com/uk
For the latest news on Adobe products, events and
seminars, check out www.adobe.com/uk.

INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS:
McCashey was enthusiastic about Adobe Live!
GOING LIVE: “The
the global appeal: “London was
in the Rev olu tio n’ marketing
‘Jo
the second of seven events across well in driving
campaign worked
Europe as Adobe Live! went truly
er of the att endees. From
the numb
international! With the final event
am ic we bsi te through to
the dyn
in Utrecht at the end of June, we
the ma terial at the show, it
confidently expect that more than all of tely
really was a comple
15,000 people will have joined in
egr ate d exp erie nce for our
int
the Adobe Live! experience” ses McCashey
customers,” enthu

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 08.06
HYBRID: “Logos, the holy crests of
consumer culture, spread and mutate
the world over, constantly breeding and
reproducing. The imagery within our
show uses the world of insects with
their own bite and sting as the visual
translation of this idea. Crawling across
canvases and prints or presented in
statuesque display cases, the insect
appears and reappears in varied forms”

An appetite for design

If you’re in need of a bit of creative
inspiration and want to check out one
of the country’s plethora of up-and-
coming design studios, pop down to
Appetite For Domination at the
Trelick-Eight Studios, West London.
Launching on 26 July for one week,
the exhibition presents the work of
newly formed graphic design studio
Bite and Sting. Exploring the
crossover between graphic design,
contemporary art and youth culture,
the event showcases art forms from
jewellery to graffiti and music,
architecture and fashion. Founded by
Cyril Moumen and Alex Cook in 2005,
Bite and Sting’s Appetite For
Domination exhibition refers to the
globalisation of branding, marketing
and corporate domination.
Although still just a nipper in the
eyes of the design world, the website
packs a punch with some jaw-
dropping and visually striking
manipulations and illustrations.
For more information visit www.
biteandsting.com or catch the show.
www.biteandsting.com I LOVE KIDS T-SHIRT DESIGN: Fine art references can be found in some of the poster art on
display or in the screen printing that reveals both artistic obsession and ability. The show is
essentially an exercise in innovative and intriguing graphic awareness

MODERSOHN-BE
e
Rebel without a caus
1907): Self Portrait, CKER, PAULA (18
76-
1906. This German
was a forerunner of painter
Expressionism and
most important wo the
come
vision we’ve all be man artist of her da
tured creative is a © Kunstsammlugen y.
The image of the tor
Böttcherstrasse/Pa
that we asp ire to. Modersohn-Becker ula
for some of us one Museum, Bremen
familiar with, and ate st artists ever, laid ba
re
of the gre
The minds of some mo st ce leb rated
ms up some of the
across a canvas, su
e.
paintings of all tim tured souls is Rebe
ls
n of creatives as tor
Exploring the notio the Nin ete en th
age of the Artist in
and Martyrs: The Im na l Ga llery from 28 June
until
sp layed at the Na tio
ry. Di ing
Centu to visit this stunn
still plenty of time
28 August there’s ed pa intings that forged
the
illiant, twist
exhibition full of br of us.
ve mind for many
image of the creati gh thr ough his drinking
of Van Go
Looking at the likes so me what of a
, the exhibit is
and self-mutilation gre at sh ow case.
as well as a
psychology lesson

):
CENT, (1853-1890
VAN GOGH, VIN rk
x, 1889. Religious wo
Pieta, after Delacroi gh.
rare topic for Van Go
such as this was a gh
m (Vincent Van Go
© Van Gogh Museu
rdam
Foundation), Amste

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 insight
PABLO PICASSO:
Figure (Femme Assise),
1930. An oil portrait
from the Fondation
Beyeler, Switzerland.
© Succession Picasso,
DACS 2006
Going undercover
Running until the end of July at the Hayward Gallery is Undercover
Surrealism: Picasso, Miró, Masson and the vision of Georges Bataille.
Looking at the darker side to this mischievous art form, the exhibition
will be looking at works from some of the genre’s greatest artists.
Showcasing more than just paintings – film, music and ritual objects will
also be explored – the exhibition attempts to change the idea of
surrealism as a movement about gentle humour.
Focusing on the likes of Picasso, Dali, Masson and Bataille
through the 1920s, the show will feature a spectacular
collection of disturbing and sexual surrealist art.
And if looking around the exhibition isn’t enough for you,
The Hayward is also offering a number of talks supporting
the event. One, run by British artist Jake Chapman, looks at
Bataille’s impact on contemporary artists like himself.
Visit the site at www.hayward.org.uk for information.

www.hayward.org.uk

N CHIEN
L FROM U
FILM STIL 8: Directed by Luis
, 192 d
ANDALOU ay by Luis Buñuel an
enpl itute
Buñuel, scre í. © British Film Inst
al
Salvador D

PABLO PICASSO:
The Three Dancers (La
Danse), 1925. One of his
most celebrated Surrealist
works. Tate, London.
© Succession Picasso,
DACS 2006

JACQUES-ANDRÉ BOIFFARD:
Beneath the Mask, Pierre Prévert
1930. A photograph by this leading
surrealist. Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Musée National d’art moderne –
Centre de création industrielle.
Purchased from Mme Densie
Boiffard in 1984. Photo: CNAC/ JACQUES-AN
DR
MNAM Dist. RMN. Centre Pompido É BOIFFARD: Renée Jacobi,
u, Paris. Musée 19
© Philippe Migeat Centre de créat National d’art mo 30.
ion de
Densie Boiffard industrielle. Purchased from Mm rne –
in 1984. Photo: e
CNAC/MNAM Di
st. RMN

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 08.06 TWO’S COMPANY: Check out the website for
examples of the artists’ work and for more
information on the books and exhibitions

FRUIT DISPLAY: The late Patrick

Caulfield, CBE RA, created this work,
entitled Fruit Display, in 1996.
Collection Waddington Galleries.
© Prudence Cuming Associates &
Estate of Patrick Caulfield
HAPPY HOUR: Patrick
Caulfield, CBE RA, also created
Happy Hour in 1996.
Collection Waddington Galleries.
© Prudence Cuming Associates &
Estate of Patrick Caulfield
Face off
If you want to see the best of the best
in creative talent go head to head,
check out Wear It With Pride’s Two
Faced exhibition.
Pairing up creative individuals from
photographers to toy makers, art
directors to illustrators, each duo has
been tasked with creating a portrait of
their team mate. Pairings include Eboy
and Johnny Hardstaff, Kid Acne and
Spencer Wilson, and Paul Willoughby
and Ben Frost.
The final pieces – which will range
from sculptures and toys to hand
drawn or digital composed pieces –

Making summer will be displayed in a book and

through exhibitions to be run all over
beautiful the world. For more details and to see
the full list of participating artists,
Since its conception in 1768, the Royal check out the website at www.
Academy Summer Exhibition has grown to wearitwithpride.com/twofaced.
be the largest regular open contemporary
exhibition in the world. Held every year, the
event is now an impressive 238 years old!
Showcasing the work of a uniquely
diverse range of artists due to the way
pieces are selected, the Summer Exhibition
is on show from 12 June until 20 August at
Burlington House, London.
Any artist is allowed to submit work for
the show and a selection panel then chooses
work by painters, sculptors, printmakers and
the like to feature in the event. Around 1,000 EBOY: To see more of the work of contributor
eBoy check out its pixel-art based website
works are included, and following long hello.eboy.com/eboy
Academy tradition, an annually rotating
committee whose members are all
practicing artists curates the exhibition.
And it’s not just about the prestige of
being featured. Prizes at the event total a
massive £70,000 and are assigned
throughout various categories.
For your chance to see the show, this year
sporting the theme ‘From Life’, then visit the
website (www.royalacademy.org.uk),
where you’ll find everything you need to
know about the world’s finest annual art
exhibition. Enjoy the show!

www.royalacademy.org.uk
TROUT: Trout IV
(319) by Don Nice,
2001. Monoprint
published by Pace
Editions, Inc

010-015_APM20_insight.indd 13 28/6/06 11:53:36

 insight
A room with a Vista!
With 2007 comes the expected arrival not only of Adobe’s CS3 SEARCH MENU: With the
Beta 2 in trial at the moment,
but Vista, the first major overhaul of Windows in five years. all bugs should be exorcised
Planned to coincide with the launch of the Office 2007 and by the 2007 launch date
‘Longhorn’, the Windows Server system,
Vista is already making waves. The
successor to Windows XP, Vista looks set
to offer better security, translucent
windows for easier scrolling as well as the
ability to record and play high-def TV.
Already a year late for its estimated
arrival in 2005, the release has now been
pushed back twice with a fear it’ll be
delayed again. The company is staying
positive, insisting it is confident of
meeting its 2007 deadline.
With the second major test version of
Vista currently under way, Microsoft now
ga
needs to prepare the public for the ’re thinking of buyin
GET READY: If you ta rea dy or che ck
it is Vis
system’s arrival with its ‘Get Ready’ new PC, make sure be compatible
ou t the website to see if it’ll
website. Found at www.windowsvista.
com/getready, the site provides a variety
of information and tools customers can use
to prepare for Vista’s entrance.
This includes information on Vista-ready
computers, upgrade advice and some
background on the new package. It’s well
worth a browse if you think you’ll be
affected by the release.

BIG SCREEN: The Wacom stylus looks and

feels like a pen yet contains no batteries or
magnets. Instead it takes advantage of electro-
magnetic resonance technology developed by g a new PC, make sure it
GET READY: If you’re thinking of buyin
Wacom in which radio waves are sent to the to see if it’ll be compatible
stylus and returned for position analysis is Vista-ready or check out the website

Cintiq the best

Proving once again that it really is the only company when it
comes to the tremendous tablet, Wacom has won a coveted red
dot design award for its Cintiq 21UX.
The Cintiq combines the use of a 21.3-inch TFT display directly
with the innovative Intuos3 technology. Drawing straight onto
the ‘screen’ allows the Cintiq 21UX to be used as a monitor or
more like a sketchbook. And that’s not the only reason for its
award success. With an accurate ICC profile for colour
management, a specially coated, glare-free LCD and a display
stand that allows 180º rotation, the Cintiq is as natural-feeling a
tool as you could find.
Competing against 4,000 other entries from 40 countries, the
red dot awards are one of the largest design competitions
worldwide, and a considerable accolade.
To find out more about the red dot awards visit the site at
www.red-dot.de, and for more information on Wacom and its
products, check out our tablet round up on page 80.

www.wacom-europe.com

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 08.06
DIARY
DATES
PITTENWEEM ARTS
ONE THAT MADE IT: The show
also looks at those that made it
FESTIVAL
Pittenweem, Scotland
further than just the blueprints
5-13 August

WHEN PHILIP
Futurama, today DESIGNED BY DA
MET ISABELLA
NI
How often do you walk down the Well worth a look, even if it’s Projection Psycho-Cy EL LIBESKIND: Cranbrook Art Museum, Michigan
bernetics of Berlin,
Urban Conception 1988,
street and spot a block of flats, a just to be thankful that most and
Collection FRAC Cen Detail of Structure,
Until 27 August
tre, Orléans, France
supermarket or office that, in your of the projects never saw Photographer: Oli
vier Martin Gambier
.
opinion, is simply hideous? Looking the light of day. THE EUROPEAN
at some the far-out, and some just
plain ugly designs, that didn’t make
DESIGN SHOW
Millennium Galleries, Sheffield
it off the blue prints is a new
Until 28 August
exhibition, Future City: Experiment
and Utopia in Architecture.
Showing at The Barbican, itself BBC WALKING WITH
quite a building to behold, the BEASTS EXHIBITION
exhibition will run from mid-June to New Walk Museum, Leicester
17 September. Until 3 September
Presenting a history of
architectural projects too idiotic to
ever build the event includes plans
D&AD XCHANGE
London
for hairy houses and floating cities,
alongside architectural in-jokes like
4-5 September
a one-metre house.
Featuring a Who’s Who of ARTISTS SHOW
architecture, the exhibition includes 2006
70 visionary projects by influential Leeds City Art Gallery
and groundbreaking architects who Until 17 September
have challenged convention to OCEAN NORTH: World Centre for Human Concerns,
radically shape and influence the
way we live, and what we live in.
2001-06, courtesy of Ocean North
BP PORTRAIT
AWARD
The great battle
National Portrait Gallery
anies
gest software comp Until 17 September
r, esp ec ially if yo u’re two of the big
r in love and wa
As they say, all’s fai
e competitor I LONDON DESIGN
in the world . tted to Reuters, “Th
ce Ch izen recently admi
Af ter Adobe chief
ex ec uti ve Bru
is Microsoft,” the ba
ttle looks set to he
at up further.
ed to use Adobe
FESTIVAL
wo rry ab ou t mo st
e do wn ov er Mi crosoft being allow Various locations in London
nts br ok t suit.
Af ter talks betwee
n the two gia r to file an antitrus
fic e is ex pe cting Photoshop’s creato Po rta ble 15-30 September
ker of Of e’s
technology, the ma er the use of Adob
we re rep or ted ly in discussions ov it is be lieve d Ad obe
The two companies Of fice su ite of applications. While ks willing
un
ALL SMILES: (PDF) within the fee, Microsoft loo
n Document Format tur e an d off er it for a separate
Adobe’s Bruce Chize remove the fea
is warming up for wants Microsoft to ll remove the featur
e.
played out
the ch arg e but have said it wi estion that will be
the battle with to oblige wi th
rk as on e loo ks like a qu
Microsoft over o giants can ever wo ed of the latest ev
ents.
Whether these tw re to keep you inform
distributing PDF t, bu t we ’ll be su
technology for a long time ye
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 insight

YEAH, I KILLED BILL: “This

was an all-digital piece, which I
originally started in Painter but
quickly decided to move back to
Photoshop. The image was
created with a lot of scanned
images collaged over the sketch.
I then added some line work on
top to unify everything”

e Gradient Tool
SERIES OF LIGHT II: “Th ities; here I used
sibil
allows a wide range of pos
on the background
several lineal graduations
er the bushes with a
to soften the tree and cov
left the city
menacing darkness. This NOT SO LITTLE: “For this revision of
us space. The
background in an ambiguo Charles Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood
al gradients to
figures have very subtle radi I wanted to go over the top, mixing paper
”
add life to their pale skin texture with watercolour washes and
acrylic ink spots. I also included digital
photographs of my grandma’s robe and
the glasses I used to wear as a kid
(really!). I pieced everything together in
Photoshop and tied it up with a red line
that directed the eye around the image”

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 08.06
GARDEN OF WORDS: “The
figures stand on a scanned papyrus
paper cut directly in Photoshop to get
the rough edge. The grass over that is
made by cutting and pasting some
scanned leaves with some saturation
tweaks, while the figures are a mixture
of digital collage and painting”

GA ME OVER: “For this pin-up

image I used pen and ink
for the
line work and then added
colour
with selections. Details wer
e
included with brushstroke
s, and
masked areas out to diffe
rentiate
the figure from the backgro
und
with another textured pap
er.”

Raul Allen
Take a look at Raul’s luscious artwork and you’d be forgiven
for thinking that his images were created by hand, with
watercolours. “I do some traditional art pieces but when
working digitally I mix several different techniques to
achieve a warm and distinct look without hiding the fact that
the illustrations are digital.” Classically trained in Salamanca,
Spain, and later the Art Institute of Boston, Raul grounded his
artistic roots in drawing and painting but was encouraged to
start experimenting with as many techniques and approaches
as possible. His first commission came from a response to a
post that a management group left at his college while he was
still studying. “They wanted a simple sketch from a building to
print onto umbrellas as a company gift. They didn’t pay much
but it was a fairly easy job. After that, I started illustrating for
books and magazines.”
For each of his images, Raul starts with a loose sketch in
pencil or pen, which he scans in to adjust proportions and
composition. “I print the sketch at the size I’m going to work
to, mainly to keep the proportions as planned. I always aim to
do the drawing quickly and energetically. I might add some
slight tones with washes, then I scan this in and Photoshop
becomes my best friend. The scanned line drawing lies on top
and I tint this line to integrate the overall picture. I use lots of
selections and masks to fill parts of the illustration with colour
and texture. The textures are taken from my large, scanned
resources I have stored in my computer.” Although Photoshop
has many textures and patterns, Raul prefers to use his own
custom library. “To finish up, I usually add more details to the
main element in the illustration with some brushstrokes or
soft spot graduations.”
Raul has plenty of projects on the go. As well as designing a
picture book for a publisher in California, he’s creating an
adaptation of the novel Senseless by Stona Fitch to turn it into
a graphic novel. He’s also working on some short story comics
for a book featuring different Spanish authors, which will be
released in December.
/ www.rrallen.com

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 insight
Neil Jeffery
Working under the company title Beep Beep Illustration, Neil
Jeffery’s work has a distinctive fresh, vibrant feel about it. With a
background in fine art and specialising in drawing, painting and
printmaking, Neil’s career wasn’t originally digitally based.
“I got started in digital illustration by just fiddling around with
some drawing programs and found that I really enjoyed creating
images with them. I began by doing some freelance design and
illustration on the side while I had a full-time job running a
printing press. I later decided to pursue freelance work on a
full-time basis in 2003 and managed to gain a bit of exposure
from an online portfolio.”
Neil found a natural flair for drawing art after studying Fine Art
at Fanshawe College, Ontario. All of his images start out as vector
art and he quickly sketches out a quick little thumbnail.
“I don’t usually scan anything into the computer. I use a
drawing tablet a bit, but most of the time the work is done with a
good old mouse. I build the image up in much the same way as
you would an oil painting, adding layers of detail. I use Photoshop
to add some final detail, such as highlights and filter effects.
Sometimes it’s nice to add some blending to reduce the flat, CAR PARTS: This illustration uses
many layers with varying degrees of
chunky look of vector-based images.” opacity. The image is most translucent in the
Neil’s past projects have seen him create work in collaboration centre to allow for easier viewing of the different
with Tooth & Nail design, produce an ABC billboard in Time parts, with less opacity towards the edges of the vehicle
Square and join forces with Harper Collins as well as designing
storyboards and illustrations for a Barbie commercial. He is
currently working on a technical illustration of cars with parts. BLUE WATER: “I started out with a simple vector
illustration and separated it into different layers. Then
“This is quite a bit different than the work I normally do, but it’s a I used the Liquify command to warp some elements,
fun challenge.” such as the guitar and the guitarist’s feet. Some
You can purchase Neil’s glorious ‘Art Boxes’ by logging onto blurring effects were also used”
http://artboxproject.net, or why not spruce up your mobile
with his vibrant designs by ordering his illustrations as
wallpaper at www.startmobile.net?
/ www.beep-beep.ca

dramatic, so I
hting to be more ers. I
“I wanted the lig
SLOW DANCE: eff ec ts on dif ferent lay
ot on their
of the lighting d centred the sp
used quite a few ec t on the couple an th more
otl igh t eff t, bu t wi
applied a sp ilar treatmen
ball received a sim herical shape. The background
faces. The disco est a sp us.
s flare to sugg peared out of foc
contrast and len ll we re blurred so they ap the illustration”
dis co ba n
dancers and of space withi
hance the sense
This helped to en

20
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 SUPERBOY: This ima

Superboy’s site (www.

djsuperboy.com

look so I selected par

Brush set to Dissolve,

ts
the illustration and use of
ge
was created for DJ

m). “He
wanted a spray-painte
d

d the
with
varying degrees of flow
”
08.06

create a
: “I wanted to POOLSIDE: “I started
WINDY DAY ing patterns and with some simple vector
e us
sense of spac artists like
e tradition of CLUB GIRL: “T
shapes and used a few of
textures in th or Gustav Klimt, while he vector imag the Ripple Filters to warp. I
d e was
Pierre Bonnar the ‘flat’ look of the separated into
two layers, the played around with the
ning and character. back
still maintai ents were For the backgrou ground
tion. The elem rs nd I added
highlights by selecting
vector illustra different layers and filte some highlights
to areas with the Magic
to
separated in give them the patterns character I softe the disco ball and for the
ned some featu Wand and using Dodge
d to res such as
were applie ster Edges the eyeshadow
by using some
. I used the Po well as the of the Brush and Burn. Finally, I applied
and textures ’s fa ce as tools. I created
the rays by draw a blur to the tiles so they
woman ing them
filter on the ediate back
ground to onto a new lay
er and reducing appeared out-of-focus”
in th e im m varying degree the opacity by
trees ou tli ne ” s”
black
give them a

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 insight GO WITH A BANG: “I completed this
alphabetical series for British Airways’ in-
flight magazine. It was a sideways look at
business terminology”

W11: ““Tatler
magazine wanted a HARE AND TORTOISE: “This was created for a piece in The Times on
map to show some how women, unlike men, don’t take their workplace status for granted”
of the aristocrats
and celebrities that
live in W11. So
many layers!”

DIRECT MAIL: “I
was commissioned by
a PR company to
create an image for
its website – this is a
simple play on
words. I made heavy
use of levels to
perfect the gritty
texture in the
background”

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 Gill Button
For as long as Gill can remember she’s had the passion to draw: “I
08.06
was always a very traditional draftsperson and was always
compulsively drawing what I saw around me.” The early stages of
her career were as far removed from her present digital creations,
as you can imagine. “The idea of turning digital always seemed to
me to fly in the face of true creativity or real art and so I avoided
computers like the plague. I couldn’t have been more wrong! I
started to use a Mac to scan artwork but soon began to see that
using Photoshop was merely another tool and that it felt just as
natural as using a paintbrush.” She hasn’t looked back since.
Button’s first venture into the professional world came as a
result of a degree show. “This proved to be a one-off and it took
a lot of trudging around London with my portfolio to get my
career off the ground. I didn’t find this easy, but I now have a
good batch of regular clients that include The Times, Tatler and
British Airways.”
.” She hasn’t forgotten her artist base altogether
and still draws lines on cartridge paper with a 4B pencil, scans
this in and then builds up the artwork in Photoshop.
To create her distinctive style of artwork Gill tends to use the
same trusty techniques. “To create colour I often select the
white area in an image and use the command Image>
Adjustments>Selective Colour. This way, I can keep the
texture of the cartridge paper rather than Paint Bucketing
with totally flat colour. I usually incorporate photographic
elements that I scan in, or shoot digitally and then mess with
levels, colours changes and transformations.”
Gill now looks forward to the future and any interesting
forthcoming projects that come her way. “You never quite
know who will call, or email you next. I try to find time, when
I can, to create some personal work, as I think this helps a
fluid progression.”
/ www.gillbutton.com

LITERAL THINKING: “This was created

signed this
OPTIMIST: “I de ekly column in
for a self-promotional series called ‘Literal
ion for a we Thinking’. Here I’ve applied a gradient – a
illustrat ent. I
ation Supplem tool I turn to very occasionally”
The Times’ Educ ing and
on de ve lop
focused
e colours”
boosting up th

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 Inter
view
LIVING
THE
DREAM
Born in the UK, the Vault49 boys
moved to the Big Apple to pursue
creative dreams. Just two years on,
they’re at the top of their game

J
onathan Kenyon and John Glasgow.
You might not recognise their names,
but odds are you’ve heard of Vault49
(www.vault49.com). The faces behind the
hugely successful design studio, they’ve
produced artwork for MTV, Nike, Levi’s, EMI,
Greenpeace, Orange, VH1, Wrangler,
Microsoft and Nintendo, to name but a few.
“Our artwork has been applied across a
tremendously wide range of mediums,” Jonathan
enthuses. “Carpets for a Las Vegas casino,
adorning The Guardian’s tent at Glastonbury, and
hanging as a huge banner in Times Square.”
Currently riding high after a hugely successful
London-based exhibition aptly entitled The
Greatest Show On Earth, the Vault49 two didn’t
start their creative lives knowing that they were
destined for such success. “When we were
younger we never really conceived that we could
achieve what we have. We expected to be regular
graphic designers, creating annual reports and GHOST TRAIN (TOP): “This SCOTT LANGTON
editorial layouts. I remember getting into design
is a great example of what can be (ABOVE): “Our recent exhibition CHARMER
achieved through collaboration, was entitled The Greatest Show On
because I was inspired by a Waitrose wine and working to the strengths of Earth, and framed and unframed (OPPOSITE): “This image
everyone involved with a project.” prints are for sale through our was created by around 30
brochure that a friend of mine made.” individually hand-drawn
Photography by Michael Creagh, website. A limited selection of
design collaboration between prints are also available online elements, then put together in
Building an empire Vault49 and Si Scott through www.coshuk.com” Photoshop.” Photography by
Rinze van Brug, design by
For this creative duo the story begins at the Vault49 with Daryl Waller
London College of Printing where the pair

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 Vault49

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 Inter
view

HOOCHIE COOCHIE (ABOVE): “We really started to push

photographic and illustrations combinations in 2003, and it now forms a
large part of the work we are commissioned for.” Photography by Stephan
Langmanis, design by Vault49 with Daryl Waller

STAND AND DELIVER (ABOVE):

“One of our favourites from the London
show, and a best-seller.” Photography by
Michael Creagh

first met: “We both graduated from the Graphic

Design BA in 2002.”
Jonathan went on to start a Masters at the
Royal College of Art before quitting after two
terms, partly because of the boredom of a
lacklustre course, but predominantly because of
the increasing commercial success of the
fledgling Vault49 design brand.
Meanwhile, John had a brief stint working for
another design company before the pair realised
that they had sufficient work to keep them busy:
“The briefs we were getting were much more
interesting and exciting to us than further
education or working for somebody else.”
Not content with just giving up their day jobs,
Vault49 then made the life-changing decision to
make New York their home.
“We decided to move to New York early in
2004 for a change of scenery and life, and to
explore a new country and another part of the
world. We first came here to attend a party
thrown by one of our US clients in 2003, and it
was such a buzz to be in New York with a
THIN WHITE DUKE: “This image purpose. It only took us a week after returning to
was part of our recent exhibition in
London.” Photography by Michael London to commit to moving to New York.” Now
Creagh and Rinze van Brug both 28, the busy pairing has little time to reflect

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on their career so far. “We didn’t move here
primarily to advance Vault49 as a company,
instead we came to New York for a life experience
and it has proved to be everything that we
hoped for. Vault49 as a business is doing
fantastically well over here and we are currently
expanding to meet demand. We’ve been really
well received.”
In fact, the design team has been so successful
that it has been able to depart from the purely
print-based design, “As well as working on two
very hush-hush global ad campaigns, Artful
Dodger womenswear is just around the corner,
which keeps us very busy. We’re also beginning a
personal collaboration project with Chuck
Anderson of NoPattern, and Nigel Dennis of
Electric Heat, which is a creative dream for us all.”
Working in tandem
With a client list sounding more like a page from
Who’s Who and more work than they could have
hoped for, the Vault49 guys have developed a
very unique and individualistic style.
Combining hand-drawn, photographic and
vector artwork, which is then assembled through
layering with hand-drawn textures in Photoshop,
Vault49 is one of the most recognisable brands in
the industry.
“Most of our work involves multiple image and
concept combinations, which we bring together
under a unified theme,” Jonathan explains. “We
024-029_APM20.indd 27
Vault49
conduct the majority of our photographic shoots DEDICATE
in-house by means of the extended Vault49 (ABOVE): “One of
our earlier images in
group of contributors. We have our own this style, and still one
production team including photographers, of our favourites. This
stylists, make-up and production and, we thrive image continues to
attract a lot of clients
on briefs that give us this greater element of to us.” Photography by
control. Vault49 art direction is becoming a Katya Mayer
mainstay of our business, and we are very proud
and happy with this progression to a larger team
because we now get to realise our vision in ways
that were not possible as the design duo we
started out as.” But with all the commissions and
exhibitions that the team is currently involved in,
developing new ideas must sometimes seem like
the real hard work. Not so, apparently.
“Brainstorming is a fundamental part of ROLL UP, ROLL UP
planning our designs, and it is often the case that (RIGHT): “There are,
more can be achieved in five minutes of idea of course, many times
generation than can be in a week of working
when we have to
produce rough concepts
without inspiration. We generally avoid rough for clients, but our work is
so intricate and detailed
drawings because we don’t really see the benefit that rough drawings can
of them to us. John and I share such a keen never really express the
understanding of how each other’s mind energy captured in our
final work”
works that words are enough for us to
LET EXPERIMENTATION BE THE
IGNITION FOR IDEAS. LOOK OUT FOR
CREATIVE ACCIDENTS
27
Advanced Photoshop
26/6/06 09:58:44
 Inter
view
picture the same design structure as each other.
We find that planning a design too far in advance
can inhibit the natural development of our work,
and can remove the opportunity for creative
‘accidents’, which our work is, in a large part, built
upon. In the past we’ve referred to our work as
‘visual sampling’. We draw reference from
anything and everything, and have huge
collections of scrapbooks containing cool bits of
design, found ephemera, and doodles and
28
Advanced Photoshop
024-029_APM20.indd 28
LOUNGE ROOF drawings of our own which we often bring
(ABOVE): “This is together within our designs.”
about as exciting as
commissions get.
Behold, The The science bit
Guardian’s music tent With both members having graduated just four
at Glastonbury 2004.
Every now and then years ago, Vault49’s history is steeped in
we get a brief which Photoshop. “We’re part of the techie generation
reminds us what a
who have almost grown up using it in some way
great job we have”
or another. We began by crudely defacing friend’s
appearances during sixth form, and we’re now a
lot better at defacing.”
So, when asked why they stick with the Adobe
app, they both consider the question a strange
one. “It’s like asking us why we like our legs or
arms. Photoshop is a part of our everyday routine.
It adds polish and sparkle to our printed work that
we can’t otherwise achieve. We use it because
there is no other viable alternative, and we don’t
really see the need for one with the work we
create. It’s a tool in the creation of our designs,
nothing more, nothing less.
The transparency features of the Brush Tool are
V49 (LEFT): “We great for us. They are becoming a lot more useful
use many iterations of to us with our Hed Kandi work.”
this logo for our However, they’re not short of a scathing word
company identity.
This particular version or two when it comes to the Pen Tool. “It’s
is a collaboration rubbish. We don’t know why it can’t imitate the
between Vault49 and
functionality of the Pen Tool in Illustrator.”
Daryl Waller”
Working between two Macs and two PCs in their
IT’S A REALLY SATISFYING
FEELING TO KNOW THAT WE ARE
BEHIND OUR OWN SUCCESS
PARANOIA (ABOVE): “This was produced for
E4’s Long Dark Summer campaign in 2004, and was
designed within Photoshop and Illustrator using a
variety of bitmap textures and vector graphics”
offices, some might be surprised they still rely on
a mouse for their intricate artwork rather than a
tablet. But what won’t come as a surprise are their
sources of inspiration, which range from anything
to anywhere!
“Nothing is excluded as a source for drawing
inspiration from, and we don’t really look in any
one place for reference. We try not to pay too
much attention to the work of others, and are
happy to just follow our own wandering path. We
do recognise, however, that we are part of a
contemporary design and pop culture in our
design methods and approach. When we first
started out, we researched in depth the work of
Michael English, Julie Verhoeven, Alastair,
Alphonse Mucha, and Sixties psychedelia, but our
references have become so diluted now that it’s
hard even for us to pick out our influences.
Our viewpoint is mostly insular, and we’re
more wrapped up in where Vault49 is going. With
that in mind, all we try to see are the creative
briefs that are out there, and the many
opportunities around to make a difference. We
are, of course, heavily influenced by the talented
26/6/06 09:59:11

SERVE CHILLED (ABOVE): ““Vault49 took
over all the Hed Kandi artwork in September 2005,
and this remains one of our most challenging and
exciting briefs. We look forward to helping keep this
brand at the forefront of design”
collaborators we work with, and the work we
create together often drives our own personal
work forward.”
Forward thinking
And it’s not just their inspirations that drive
Vault49 upwards, “We’re highly motivated, not
least because we are making a living for ourselves
by using our own hands. It’s a really satisfying
feeling to know that we are behind our own
success – and failure – and that the path we
choose to follow is of our own making.
Our work for the Artful Dodger clothing label
is a very exciting project for us, and challenging,
too, in the best possible way. Vault49 and our
many collaborators are an intrinsic part of this
brand, and we feel very passionate about driving
the success of the label. Nothing gives us more
pleasure than seeing our designs on somebody
024-029_APM20.indd 29
Vault49
on the street, because that person has
parted with their hard-earned cash to own
something that we’ve created. Somehow,
that’s a greater affirmation of our design
than being chosen for a corporate
advertising campaign (much as we
welcome them!).”
By holding onto such a definitive style
many design companies would begin to
feel run-of-the-mill, however you get the
feeling this will never be the case for the
Vault49 duo.
“We’re our own best competition, and
we’re always trying to out-do ourselves.
We’re kept as busy as we want to be, and
we’re grateful that we haven’t had to try and
out-do anyone to stay this way. We have a lot
of faith in our own ability to adapt to changing VENUS footsteps. However, when you’re as confident in
environments, and so far so good! (ABOVE): “A great your abilities as these guys, that’s no problem.
“There is a lot of hackneyed and unimaginative beauty shot, put “Let hands-on experimentation be the ignition
together in Illustrator
design work around which never fails to and Photoshop.” for ideas and development, and be on the look-
disappoint, and our clients often see the Photography by out for creative accidents. Vault49 began as a
difference we provide in detail and sophistication. Michael Creagh and design duo specialising in screen-printing, and
Rinze van Brug
Importantly, when we come across another our in-house approach is largely derived from the
company’s work who we respect, we try and limitations and processes required through
work with them, rather than against them. Our screen-printing, even though we no longer have
primary goal is to produce the best design a printing studio in New York. Our love of limited
around, and if that is achieved through working colours, texture, and attention to detail have
with others then that’s all the more fun. Perhaps emerged in no small part because of our hands-
that is what keeps us from falling behind, for we on approach to creating our design work.”
are always willing to acknowledge areas where As for the future? “We see Vault49 as a brand
we might be weak, and we seek to work with rather than specifically a design company, and we
others who complement us.” see unbridled potential for the development of
With just a few years in the business under branded products and services. We have a long
their belts, the temptation might be to not dole way to develop before directing our first film, but
out advice for those following in their we would never exclude it!” 5
29
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26/6/06 09:59:38
 MASTERCLASS

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030-034_APM20_masterclass.indd 30 28/6/06 16:02:06

 Create comic A Scanner
Darkly
Richard Linklater’s

book art
new film, A Scanner
Darkly, based on the
book by Philip K Dick,
utilises the same
technique he used for
his 2001 movie,
Waking Life. The
actors were shot

Looking at three different ways to create fantastic digitally, rotoscoped

(trimmed from the

comic book art, this tutorial will transform even your background) and then animated using a custom
piece of software called Rotoshop. Bob Sabiston

most mundane images into works of art created the software specifically to create lifelike
hand-drawn animations that looked just like
comic books that had sprung into life.
BY JASON ARBER

ON THE DISC
Although Jason’s images were all from
www.istockphoto.com, it’d be much more
fun to use the same techniques on any of
your own images of family and friends.
Alternatively, why not check out www.sxc.
hu for some amazing free photos?
OUR EXPERT Jason Arber
As creative director of design collective Children of Finland, Jason
is well placed to instruct you on how best to position your pixels.
He also contributes to that online creative powerhouse,
www.pixelsurgeon.com and is a regular AP writer.
U
sing your digital camera to take realistic
photographs is so passé. Say hello to the
latest thing: creating comic strips with your
images. Inspired by Richard Linklater’s latest film A
Scanner Darkly, it’s possible to quickly and easily
convert images into cartoons using a free Photoshop
action called Comix.
Comix is a great set of three actions that attempt to
recreate the look and feel of printed comics, including
the rough halftone feel of cheap paper. But unless you’re
inclined to dig through the steps in the Actions palette,
the effects are pre-baked and relatively inflexible. This
tutorial shows you not only how to get the best out
of the Comix actions, but to also create your own
comic-book style – and the techniques shown here are
only the starting point for further experimentation.
Photoshop is an incredible tool, able to transform
snaps into the stuff you find in graphic novels. It also
takes the pain out of repeating the technique for
multiple images by allowing you to save custom steps
as an action that can then be saved, reused and
exported for others to use.

Get the strip style

1 Get downloading
Download the free Comix Photoshop Actions by
Andrew Purviance from Adobe Studio Exchange (share.
2 Comix book action
The decompressed Comix
Action.atn file can be stored
3 Size matters
Open up a photograph that you wish to convert to a comic art look.
Andrew Purviance, Comix’s creator, recommends using large images because
studio.adobe.com) and navigating to Photoshop> anywhere on your computer as it is of the resolution of the effect, choosing images that are 1,000 to 2,000 pixels
Actions>Image Effects>Comix. Its tiny 8.18K size means a script not a plug-in and so across for the best results. It also helps if the image is on a plain background
that it’ll download very quickly. needn’t reside in the plug-ins and has plenty of contrast.
folder, as long as you keep it
somewhere that’s easy to
remember and reference so you’ll
have it to hand when you need it.
Best of all, it’s immediately available
without restarting Photoshop.

“THIS TUTORIAL SHOWS YOU

HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN
COMIC BOOK STYLE”
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 MASTERCLASS
4 Action hero
From the Actions palette (Window>Actions) you
need to load the new Comix actions. Click the arrow at
the top of the palette and choose Load Actions from the
fly-out menu. Navigate to your actions and click Load.
The actions should then be appended to your list of
actions in the palette.
5 The basic look
Comix loads three actions into your palette:
Comix, Comix Hue and Comix Halftone. Applying each
is as simple as clicking the button and letting Photoshop
do the rest. The default Comix action turns your photo
into a stark black-and-white image with an additional
grey tone to add a bit of detail.
6 Introduce some colour
Looking at the Layers palette (Window>Layers)
you can see that the action has created several new
layers. One of these layers is called ‘color here or hide’,
and it’s here that you can introduce a bit of colour back
into the altered image by adjusting the opacity or
transparency mode.

7 Hue’s that girl?

Open another image and this time give Comix
Hue a whirl. It’s applied exactly like the previous action:
just click on the Comix Hue button and Photoshop will
step through the action, applying the effects. Comix
Hue allows the original colour to show through in a
pleasing fashion.
8 Halftone heaven
Comix Halftone, as the name suggests, attempts
to mimic the look of cheap newsprint by introducing a
coarse halftone screen for some of the midtone values.
It also desaturates the image to create a more dramatic,
less photographic effect.

“PHOTOSHOP IS
AN INCREDIBLE
TOOL, ABLE TO
TRANSFORM
SNAPS INTO
THE STUFF YOU
FIND IN GRAPHIC
NOVELS” 9 One-click wonders
As with all these one-click effects, any changes 10 Trial and error
By boosting the Saturation to +100 and
you want to make have to be done in post, so you can subsequently adjusting the Hue, you can create odd
play around with the layers to experiment with different colour schemes and strange lighting effects. After
looks. One non-destructive trick you can try is to create clicking OK you can go back and edit the effect at any
a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (Layers>New time or even remove it completely by dragging the

“XX
Text
TIME TO BE Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation) above the base
image to play with the colour.
adjustment layer to the Layer palette’s trash icon.

CONFIDENT,
effects
BE
BOLD, AND TURN
UP THE
Once you’ve created your comic-style artwork,

SATURATION
you’ll want to furnish it with speech balloons
and hand-drawn lettering for that graphic novel
look. The best resource for this is the www.

LEVELS”
blambot.com site, created by talented lettering
artist Nate Piekos. There you’ll find advice,
inspiration, links, free fonts and EPS downloads
of speech balloons and sound effects, such as
KOOM! SPLORK! and TWUNK!

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 Do it yourself!
11 Create your own
The Comix Actions are a fantastic shortcut,
but they lack flexibility. It’s best to create your own
effects, which you could turn into an action (see
boxout). Open an image, use the Magic Wand to select
the background and Select>Inverse to isolate the figure.
13 FX factory
Make a copy of the figure by dragging the
layer onto the New Layer icon, and with the duplicate
selected choose Filter>Filter Gallery. This opens up an
effects factory. Choose Cutout and adjust the Number
of Levels and Edge Simplicity sliders until you’re happy.
“COMIX HUE ALLOWS THE ORIGINAL
COLOUR TO SHOW THROUGH”
16 Hand-drawn finish
Ensuring the Stamp layer is above the Cutout
layer, change the layer’s transparency mode to Multiply
using the drop menu at the top of the Layers palette.
Anything white will become transparent, leaving
opaque black. Combined with the flat posterised
colours, the effect is like a hand-inked illustration.
030-034_APM20_masterclass.indd 33
12 Add some drama
Select Layer>New>Layer via Cut to place the
figure on its own layer. Fill the background with the
foreground colour using Alt+Backspace (Windows) or
Option+Backspace (Mac). Use the Custom Shape tool in
Fill Pixels Mode (chosen from the Options bar at the top
of the screen) and draw a dramatic shape behind the
figure’s head as in our image below. Kapow!
14 Get definition
On another duplicate layer, boost the
contrast with the Levels dialog (Image>Adjustments>
Levels). Drag the black and white triangles closer
together to bleach out unwanted detail while clearly
defining areas such as the mouth and eyes.
17 Background treatment
Time to do something interesting with the
background image. Select the white shape and choose
Filter>Blur>Radial Blur. For the Blur Method choose
Zoom and for the quality select Draft (the rougher the
effect the better). The zoom amount is dependent on
your resolution – it might take a bit of trial and error to
get it right as there is no meaningful preview.
Jump into
action
If you’ve stumbled across a technique that you
like, turning it into an action you can use on any
image is simple. Bring up the Actions palette
(Windows>Actions), turn off Button Mode using
the fly-out menu at the top of the palette if it’s
on, click New Actions give your action a name,
and start recording. When you’re done, click
Stop and your action is ready to be used, or even
exported so that someone else can use it!
15 Stamp it!
With the new contrasting layer, return to the
filter and chose Sketch>Stamp. This will reduce the
image to black and white with no grey, but emphasise
transitions such as the jaw line. Adjust the Light/Dark
Balance and Smoothness to get the effect you want.
18 Visit the gallery
Matte the shape onto the background layer
(if it’s not already) and select the background. Pay
another trip to the Filter Gallery to choose our old friend
Cutout from the Artistic section. When you’re happy
with the results click OK.
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 MASTERCLASS
Creating printing-press effects
19 Get started
With this final
comic-book image, the aim is
20 Now clip
Duplicate
the layer by dragging it
to recreate the coarse halftone onto the New Layer icon
screen of the four-colour at the bottom of the
printing press in a more realistic Layers palette. With the
way than the Comix action. To copied layer selected,
start, open up a dramatic add a new Levels
photograph in Photoshop. Adjustment Layer
(Layer>New Adjustment
Layer>Levels), ensuring
that Use Previous Layer
to Create Clipping Mask
is selected.

21 Boost the contrast

As with the previous image, boost the
contrast to create dense black areas and bleached out
highlights. Maximise the edges of the image such as the
eyes, mouth, nose and other features. Click OK to apply
the effect.
22 Join the line
Shift-click to select both the duplicate layer
and the Adjustment Layer and combine them into a
single layer (Layer>Merge Layers). Apply the Find Edges
filter (Filter>Stylise>Find Edges), which turns the image
into a multicoloured series of lines.
23 Beef it up
Desaturate the image to black and white
(Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation) by dragging the
Saturation slider to the left. Get rid of the wispy pale
grey lines and beef up the thicker lines by increasing the
contrast with the Levels (Image>Adjustments>Levels).

24 Abstract thinking
With the Find Edges layer remaining on top,
change the Transparency mode to Multiply. Duplicate
another base layer and apply the Median filter
(Filter>Noise>Median). The bigger the radius value, the
more abstract the image becomes, so a value between
5 and 15 (depending on the resolution of your image)
should suffice.
25 Homemade touches
Using a brush, paint in
some keylines in black or white (or a
26 Default settings
The default angle values are fine, but you may want to adjust
the Max. Radius value. The result will vary with your image’s resolution,
combination). This will give your image but a starting point of five pixels should be fine. Click OK to apply. 5
a hand-drawn, cartoonish look. With the
saturated background layer copy
selected, choose the Color Halftone
filter (Filter>Pixelate>Color Halftone).

“DON’T BE AFRAID TO BOOST

SATURATION; THIS IS A COMIC
ILLUSTRATION, AFTER ALL”
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 Masters of
Advertising
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 MASTERS OF ADVERTISING
It might be the simplest thing you ever create, but a successful logo needs
to convey a world of information in just one glance. Advanced Photoshop
looks at some of the highs and lows in the life of the logo
I
BY JASON ARBER
f you step into an Apple Store to buy an iPod or an
iMac, you enter a chapel dedicated to one of the
most recognisable brands on the planet.
Everywhere you look – on the walls, on the packaging,
on the computers themselves – you’ll find the logo: a
simple silhouette of an Apple with a bite taken out.
The Zen-like simplicity of the logo has undergone many
revisions in its time, reducing any extraneous complexity to
arrive at a modern icon. It originated with a fussy woodcut-
style logo for Apple Computer designed by Steve Jobs and
Ronald Wayne which depicted Sir Isaac Newton sat beneath
an apple tree, clearly waiting for inspiration to strike his
noggin. This was quickly replaced by the classic rainbow-
striped Apple logo created by designer Rob Janoff in 1976.
The rainbow logo remained the symbol for Apple until
Steve Jobs returned to Apple as CEO in 1997 and in 1998
presented a new version of the logo: a glossy, silvery-grey
apple. Over recent years this has been refined further
(together with the change of corporate typeface from Apple
Garamond to Myriad) to become a simple outline usually
expressed in white, black or grey, depending on the context.
036-041_APM20_Ads.indd 37
The history of Apple’s logo is a microcosm for the
evolution of all logos and the journey towards
simplification. Reducing a logo to its essentials leads to
faster recognition and differentiation in a market saturated
with companies vying for attention and retention. The
same process can be seen with the rebrands for FedEx,
Intel, IBM and many others.
The word logo is a shortened version of the word
logotype, which originates from the 19th century and is a
compound of the Greek logos, meaning ‘word’, and the
English word type. The 1800s were a time of industrial
expansion, and businesses increasingly became national or
even international institutions rather than local ones. This
increased competition led to a drive to create the first
corporate identities.
Although early logos and identifiers had been used for
centuries, such as printer’s marks, which were simplified line
drawing equivalents of more complex trademark devices
such as shields, fleur-de-lis and calligraphic characters, the
19th century was the birth of the logo in the modern
sense of building brand awareness and loyalty.
Illustration by Chintu Shah
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 Feature
CREATING A LOGO
When creating a logo, there are several common
sense guidelines you should consider. In addition
to ensuring that the design is appropriate for the
individual or company concerned, design the
logo using a vector-based illustration application
such as Adobe Illustrator. The logo may need to
be scaled to large sizes and designing something
with a fixed resolution in a raster application may
not be a good idea. Import your vector design
into Photoshop if you need a bitmap version of it.
Ensure that your logo works well in black and
white and at very small sizes, because you never
know under what conditions your logo will be
viewed and printed. Avoid gimmicks, such as
filter effects, because they can date very quickly
and a successful logo should last for years.
In most cases, a logo
BRAND AWARE consists of a symbol and
the name of the
company or organisation – there are only a handful
of logos in existence that are easily recognisable
without any text, which include Apple and Nike –
and in many instances the logo includes a tagline or
slogan, such as Nokia’s “Connecting People”.
The creation of successful corporate identities,
including the design of striking and memorable
logotypes, is a dark art. A successful logo needs to
convey more than uniqueness and individuality, but
should also express the qualities and services of the
company, group or individual. A good example
would be the 1994 redesign of the Federal Express
logo by Lindon Leader when he was senior design
director at Landor Associates in San Francisco.
Federal Express decided to contract the company’s
name to FedEx, and Leader immediately saw the
opportunity to create a logo that contained a
hidden right-pointing arrow, something most
people miss when giving the logo a cursory glance.
Leader explained its creation in an interview with
The Sneeze. “The power of the hidden arrow is
simply that it is a ‘hidden bonus’. It is a positive-
reverse optical kind of thing: either you see it or you
don’t. Importantly, not ‘getting the punch line’ by
not seeing the arrow, does not reduce the impact of
the logo’s essential communication.” He added,
“Punch lines that need to be explained are neither
funny nor memorable.”
It’s curious to compare and contrast two similar
logos for competitive products as they diverge
over time. Coca-Cola, the carbonated beverage
based on coca leaves and Kola nuts, was
invented by John Stith Pemberton in the late
1880s, while its popular alternative, Pepsi-Cola,
was created by pharmacist Caleb Bradham in
1898 and trademarked in 1903. Coca-Cola’s
distinctive logo has been attributed to
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036-041_APM20_Ads.indd 38
A LOGO NEEDS
TO CONVEY MORE
THAN UNIQUENESS
AND INDIVIDUALITY
– IT SHOULD ALSO
EXPRESS THE
QUALITIES AND
SERVICES OF THE
COMPANY
Pemberton’s business partner Frank Mason
Robinson, who not only came up with the name but
also the cursive script used for the lettering.
Pepsi-Cola’s original logo also used a similar,
florid handwriting style, which was refined on a
regular basis until 1962 when the company dropped
the script in favour of an expanded sans-serif face. In
1943 the company incorporated what it called the
“bottle cap” look into its logo by including a circle
with a red top half and a dark blue bottom half,
divided by a broad, wavy white line. This symbol has
become a shorthand for the Pepsi brand, although
it’s rare to see it unsupported by the word Pepsi. In
1991, Pepsi adopted the current typeface, a custom
techno font, creating a modern look suiting its
“Choice of a New Generation” slogan.
Always Coca-Cola
By contrast, Coca-Cola’s current logo has changed
very little over the years, and is almost
indistinguishable from the version seen on the first
“Contour” bottles of 1916. Coca-Cola does have a
simplified sub-brand, consisting of the word Coke –
the abbreviated term for the product – and is used
for products such as Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke.
In many foreign territories, such as China, custom
typefaces have been created using local alphabets
and translations.
Although in most parts of the world Coke outsells
Pepsi, Pepsi has consistently gone for a youthful
demographic by reinventing its logo to stay
fashionably current. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola has
always stood for traditional values (such as
promoting its brand with the friendly, jolly figure of
Santa Claus during Christmas campaigns).
But such is the strength of the Coca-Cola brand
that it has come to symbolise not only the most
popular carbonated drink in the world but also The
United States of America, in the same way that
Disney’s Mickey Mouse has. Such ubiquity has a
27/6/06 16:12:12
 Masters of advertising

ILOGO: Apple’s logo has

been reduced to its most
basic form for a modern
DOWN IN ONE: Does iconic impact
Coca-Cola’s worldwide
dominance come from the
power of a memorable logo?

down side, and Coca-Cola is seen as part of America’s

perceived cultural imperialism, paving the way for
local alternatives such as the UK’s Qibla Cola, France’s
Mecca-Cola and Iran’s Zam Zam Cola.
The creation of Nike’s Swoosh logo is an interesting
GROWING PAINS: Can you imagine your MacBook X MARKS THE SPOT: Spot the hidden arrow in the
story. In 1971 Nike founder Phil Knight met Carolyn sporting the original Apple logo on the left? 1994 redesign of the FedEx logo
Davidson, a graphic design student, in a hallway at
Portland State University and offered her a few dollars
an hour to do some work for him. “Representatives
from Japan were coming for a presentation and Phil
wanted some charts and graphs to show them,” recalls
Davidson. “I did some design work for him, and then
one day he asked me if I wanted to work on a shoe
stripe. He said he needed more inventory control.”
Needing a logo that suggested movement,
Davidson began scribbling down some ideas. But SODA SO GOOD: Coca-Cola’s classic logo typeface, NEW GENERATION: Pepsi targeted a younger
which has endured over 90 years market with its Nineties design revamp
Knight had a deadline so he grabbed one of her first
solutions, telling Davidson, “I don’t love it, but it will
grow on me.” Davidson was paid $35 for creating one ‘I DON’T LOVE IT, BUT IT WILL GROW
of the most memorable logos of all time.
But what most tales concerning this shockingly ON ME.’ NIKE FOUNDER PHIL KNIGHT ON
small fee don’t recount is that Knight presented
Davidson with a gold Swoosh ring and Nike stock in
1983. As Davidson admits, “The stock has split three
THE SWOOSH
times since I received it, so I can definitely say that I
have been well compensated for my design.” Another
urban myth is that the Swoosh was inspired by wings JUST DOING IT
on the famous statue of Nike, the winged goddess of From its inception the Nike logo is a perfect
victory, but when Davidson did her original design, the example of one that has gone on to mean as much
company was still called Blue Ribbon Sports. as the company it represents.
Whether the Swoosh logo ever grew on Knight is Starting life in 1971 with the word Nike printed
unknown, but it has remained at the core of the Nike across a checkmark shaped design, the logo
brand for 35 years. In recent years Nike has lost the has evolved as the motif became so recognisable
the company name was made redundant within
company’s name that used to reside in the bowl of the
the logo.
Swoosh, and the Solo Swoosh is now recognisable on
Originally designed by graphic design student
its own. Critics of the company, angry at the poor Carolyn Davidson for the fee of $35, the logo
conditions in the foreign sweatshops that produce now appears across Nike’s
Nike goods, have dubbed the logo “swooshtika”. entire portfolio and is one of
In fact, the swastika is one of the world’s most the most recognisable brands
misunderstood logos. For most people the in the world.

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 Feature

LOS LOGOS THE SWASTIKA

Can the proliferation of corporate IS ONE OF THE
logos wipe out the cultural heritage
and individuality of our world? WORLD’S MOST
Los Logos, the Society for the
Conservation of Urban Visual Heritage,
MISUNDERSTOOD
created by Swiss designers büro
destruct, wants to “protect, or at least
LOGOS
conserve, the graphic appearance of cross with arms bent at right angles is a symbol of
the world’s cities.” Opposed to the Nazism, and is indelibly associated with right-wing
globalisation of large, international fascist ideology and the murder of millions of Jews.
From Los Logos copyright Die Gestalten Verlag 2006

VIVA LOS LOGOS: To find out more companies and their omnipresent brands,
about the organisation and to take a Los Logos is attempting to save unique local
tour of Logos City, an archive of local branding, logos and typography.
logos and branding, visit
Los Logos has also produced a series of
www.loglogos.org
books collecting modern logos and branding
published by Die Gestalten.
Such negative connotations are at odds with the
cross’ origins as a holy symbol in Hinduism, Jainism
and Buddhism.
The Nazi party co-opted the swastika or
Hakenkreuz (hooked cross) in 1920 as symbol of
racial purity, believing that the Indian caste system
had arisen as a method of preventing ethnic mixing.
Following the Second World War, the German
criminal code made public displays of the swastika
illegal, but that didn’t stop neo-nazi groups
continuing to use it.
The swastika has become a taboo logo in most
Western cultures, although it continues to crop up
in unusual contexts. For example, bizarre religious
UFO cult the Raëlian Movement, founded in the
1970s, controversially used a star of David and a
swastika interleaved into a single symbol. Bowing to
public pressure, the Raëlian logo was redesigned in
1991 to remove the swastika.

MODERN LIFE: The Los Logos books explore
our relationship with logos and give examples
of branding that has impact and style
Logo ‘shoppers
As soon as a logo becomes popular, it throws itself
open to the possibility of parody or culture-
jamming. Canadian political activist magazine
Adbusters, founded by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz,
often criticises large corporations and
lampoons their logos.

CASE STUDY PENGUIN

In 1935, Penguin Books founder Allen Lane was looking for a “dignified but
flippant” name for his new venture and his secretary Joan Coles suggested
Penguin. He then sent his office junior, Edward Young, out to
London Zoo to draw a penguin for the logo. The simple
logo, when paired with the typeface Gill Sans and the
three-band design for the book covers, created a modern classic.
Jan Tschichold, the modernist German typographer and
designer, took charge of Penguin’s production between 1947-1949, unifying
the grid structure and creating a standardised set of compositional rules. He
refined the Penguin logo, creating the definitive version, until Pentagram
updated it in 2003.

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THE AT&T TEAM: AT&T’s new lower-case logo didn’t stir the design world like its Saul Bass predecessor
A particularly famous example is its Brand America
flag, which incorporates the logos of IBM, MTV,
Playboy, Apple, Nike, Warner Bros and others instead
of the traditional state stars.
When singer George Michael was upset with Sony,
his record label, he used a pair of headphones with
the word Fony written on them in the style of Sony’s
logo in the video for his 1996 single ‘Fast Love’
(Michael ironically ending up slinking back to Sony for
later albums). More recently, Google’s logo has been
parodied as Goolag (“exporting censorship, one
search at a time”) by hacktivists protesting at Google’s
censorship of its Chinese search engine.
Being parodied is not the worst thing that can
happen to a logo, however. Software maker Quark
was embarrassed to discover that its new corporate
identity, designed by SicolaMartin, a division of Y&R
Brands, was the same as The Scottish Arts Council’s
(and also Alcone’s, Artworkers’ and The Designers
Network’s). In the press release to herald Quark’s new
look, Susan Friedman, senior vice president of
strategic relations, ironically claimed that the new
logo “is one of the most articulate symbols of the new
Quark, and I feel proud to have led the team that
THE CREATION
OF SUCCESSFUL
CORPORATE
IDENTITIES IS A
DARK ART
036-041_APM20_Ads.indd 41
Masters of advertising
BUST A MOVE: Adbusters’ take on the American
flag gave a political spin on the role of the logo.
Join the “new social activist movement of the
information age” at www.adbusters.org
worked on it.” Within six months, in March 2006,
Quark quietly announced another new logo.
Asked about the logo mishap, a Quark
spokesman said, “At the end of the day, the logo is a HACKED OFF: After its involvement with
‘q’ – and there’s a limited number of possible logo censorship, hacktivists parodied the Google brand
designs you can achieve with a single character. [We
carried out] extensive checks to discover any similar
existing logos… we evidently didn’t find them all.”
When AT&T said goodbye to its classic Saul Bass-
designed logo in favour of a new version designed
by Interbrand, very few people were impressed.
Even fewer still found the accompanying
explanation of the new logo contained in the official
press release free of straw-clutching marketing STAR SIGN: This combination was always going to
speak: “The new logo reinvigorates the AT&T globe raise eyebrows, as the Raëlian Movement discovered
– one of the most recognized corporate symbols in
the world. The new globe is three-dimensional,
representing the expanding breadth and depth of
services that the new AT&T family of companies
provides to customers, as well as its global
presence... Transparency was added to the globe to
represent clarity and vision.” Sadly, such lame
6justifications are all too common among advertising
agencies pitching corporate identities. EXPRESS CHANGE: Great logo, shame it’s taken.
But perhaps the worst fate that can befall a Quark had to do a quick branding turnaround
logo is that it unintentionally resembles male
genitalia or a lewd act. Viral website B3TA
recently launched its Phallic Logo Awards (www.
b3ta.com/features/phalliclogoawards) leaving
visitors scratching their heads wondering if
the designers had taken leave of their senses
before designing their dodgy logos. There are
valuable lessons to be learned there for all budding
logo designers. 5 FOUL BALL: Love it or hate it? The new ‘beachball’
AT&T logo has divided the design critics
41
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 MASTERCLASS

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 Applying scanned
artwork Capturing your
Never underestimate the power of your scanner. source
Get back to the drawing board and add intricate picture
elements to your images BY EMMA CAKE The key to any good
design is a cracking
source picture. We

T
ake a look at our interview with Vault49 on
page 24 and you’ll see something very special
indeed. The technique of combining fashion-
style photography with elaborate, overlaid elements
is a really hot trick to master at the moment.
There are many different ways you can approach this
ON THE DISC
You’ll find all the elements you need to
create this tutorial – ‘buttercup’, ‘curves’,
‘daisy’ and ‘model’ – on this month’s
Advanced Photoshop CD. However, we
suggest that you create your own elements
for a truly unique piece of art.
OUR EXPERT Emma Cake
Emma is pretty nifty with her camera and very good at Pictionary,
which is odd as she has the drawing capability of a four-year old.
Armed with some French Curve stencils, a few weeds, and a gullible
colleague, she’ll prove that anyone can make creative Photoshop art.
style of work; some artists favour drawing vector
elements in Illustrator and integrating them into the
image later in Photoshop, while others are just so damn
clever they can whip up some masterpieces using only
the airbrush and an extra layer, like a Rolf Harris for the
digital generation.
Well, we’re a pretty creative bunch at Advanced
Photoshop and know how to use Photoshop to wangle
most concepts together. However, the majority of us
can’t draw for toffee and even getting a straight line out
of us is a bit of a mission. With the help of your scanner
and a bit of artistic licence, even the most drawing-inept
of you folk can use your own sketches in your Photoshop
work. Over the next few pages we’re going to take a look
to see how you can tweak some very basic scans and
integrate them into your designs using a few core
layering techniques. Honestly, it’s a doddle.
took this very simple
but effective image
ourselves so that it
would fit in with the
design we had in
mind. You can easily
recreate an image
like this with your own digital camera. Lighting is
the trickiest technique to master, but it’s
possible to create an image using natural
outdoor lighting with a few makeshift reflectors
(you can use cardboard and tin foil for a cheap
but effective substitute).
Remember, you can always tweak exposure
and colour using the Curves command in
Photoshop. Alternatively, if the thought of
getting behind the camera scares you, try to
track down a suitable image from a stock site
such as www.istockphoto.com or www.sxc.hu.

Perfecting your source images

1 She’s got curves
Start by opening up the main source image,
‘model’, on this month’s CD. The dimensions are perfect
for starting our piece of art, but it could do with a little
tweak using the Curves command. Press Apple/Cmd+M
to open up the Curves dialog and alter the Input to 71
and the Output to 76 to increase the contrast a little.
Alternatively, you can use your own photograph.
2 Old-school art
Now get a plain piece of A4 paper and start
doodling. Anything goes really, just make sure there’s
lots going on. If you’re not confident with your drawing
then invest in some stencils. We found French Curves to
be really handy with this design, and they were very
cheap and easy to use too. Adding rough, sketchier
elements to your design such as stars or hand-drawn
flowers will make your image look earthier later on.
3 Scanner skills
It’s time to get scanning. Place your drawing on
the scanner surface and alter your scanning settings so
it imports your sketch to the best effect. Set the colour
mode to Greyscale so you don’t end up with a nasty
chromatic aberration effect, and boost the resolution
right up to 600dpi. Once this has imported into
Photoshop alter the Input Levels to 0, 0.59, 255, then
alter the colour mode to RGB.

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 MASTERCLASS
4 Flip and flatten
Select the corner of your curve design and copy
and paste it, placing each version in each corner of the
canvas. Make sure that none of the corners are
symmetrical so your design doesn’t look too rigid. Alter
your curve designs using the shortcut keys Apple/
Cmd+T and dragging the corners and by making flips
using the menu Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal. When
you’re happy with the look, flatten the layers.
7 Colouring in
Add another layer and call it ‘colour curves’. Colour
in your selection using various colours chosen in the
Foreground Swatch using a Soft Round Airbrush. Try to
keep these colours pale and within the same colour
range. Here we’ve chosen white and a small selection of
pale greens.
“THE KEY TO
ANY GOOD
DESIGN IS A
CRACKING
SOURCE
PICTURE”
44
Advanced Photoshop
042-047_APM20_masterclass.indd 44
5 Curves on top
Select the entire canvas and copy and paste this
onto a new layer on top of your model image and call it
6 A touch of magic
Select every part of the curves design by
shift-clicking with the Magic Wand Tool. Then, create a
‘curves original’. Reposition it so that it fits nicely on the Layer Mask to get rid of the white background. It’s
canvas, as below. You’ll find this easier if you lower the possible to save this selection as a working path to help
opacity of the layer. Allow the curve design to interfere you to avoid having to select these areas again.
with the photograph if you like, with tendrils of foliage
curling around the model’s hair.
8 Blur it
Click out of the selection area to get rid of the
marching ants and then toggle off the visibility of the
9 Double up
Duplicate the ‘colour curves’ layer and then drag
this copy slightly to the right. Hit Apple/Cmd+T to make
original curves layer. We want to get rid of any harsh the bounding box appear and rotate this slightly
outlines, so select ‘colour curves’ and apply a Gaussian counter-clockwise. Experiment with the position of this
Blur filter (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur) of 1.6 pixels. layer until you’re happy with the appearance. Lower the
opacity of this layer to 66%.
10 Multiply
Add another
duplicated layer but this time
alter the blending mode to
Multiply. Then adjust the
Opacity to 90% and the Fill to
60%. Expand the bounding
box so that the dimensions of
the curves are different and
move it around the canvas.
Remember, you can also flip
this selection vertically.
27/6/06 11:16:59
 11 Dodgy colour
12 Green sweep

“COMBINING
Add the final duplicated layer of ‘colour Add another layer and call it ‘airbrush’. Then
curves’ and then alter the blending mode to Color with a Soft Round Airbrush draw a curved line over your

FASHION
Dodge. Take the Fill of this down to around 50% to avoid image. Start with a dark green and then add more and
your image being spoilt by an unsightly yellow. more lines, using a lighter colour each time. Don’t worry
Decrease the size of this bounding box so it matches the
size of the original canvas.
about overlapping your photograph, we’ll sort that out
soon enough, but make sure there are no white gaps.
PHOTOGRAPHY
WITH
ELABORATE
ELEMENTS IS A
REALLY HOT
TRICK TO
MASTER”
13 Go over the rainbow
With the ‘airbrush’ layer still selected, apply a
Gaussian Blur by clicking on Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.
Adjust the Radius to 169.6 pixels, so that all the individual
lines of the rainbow blend into one another. If you want
to retain brighter tones then use a lower Radius.

14 Layer masking
Add a layer mask to this layer and select a Charcoal Brush, which can be found underneath the Natural Brush
selection in the Brush Palette. This should make the area around the hair a little easier to mask. Adjust the size
accordingly to suit your needs.

15 The eyes have it

Zoom into the eyes
and add another layer. Choose a
shade of green and paint over
the irises. Lower the Opacity and
Easy
drawing
Fill of this layer to 80% so you
can see the detail
underneath and the colour
blends in well. Then add
another layer and paint the To draw out the curves ready to scan, we used a
pupils with a deep black. selection of French Curve stencils. These are very
easy to use, but will take a bit of practice. You
will be able to pick up these stencils at any good
drawing suppliers at a very reasonable price. We
bought ours from the high street retailer Ryman
the stationer. Call its customer service line on
0800 389 2147 to order your own stencils.

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 MASTERCLASS
17 Star light, star bright
Add another layer and alter the colour to a
leafy green. Use the Starburst brush to place bursts of
light along the airbrushed rainbow. Then, when you’re
happy with the placing, add another layer and alter the

16
Starburst to white. Overlap the green as best as you can
Bright eyes in one attempt with the white brush (notice how the
Open up the green bursts underneath give it a 3D effect).
Brush Palette and locate the
Starburst – Small brush.
Alter the foreground colour
to white and apply some
small bursts to the areas in
the eye that have reflected
the flash during the photo
shoot. This is a very subtle
effect but will brighten the
eyes considerably.

18 Build up buttercup
Open up the ‘buttercup’ file found on this
month’s CD and copy this into another layer on your
artpiece. Create a new path called ‘buttercup’ in the
Paths palette and then create an outline selection using
the Pen Tool. Once you’re done with this, click on the
‘buttercup’ layer in the Layers Palette, press the Layer
Mask button and the white area surrounding the
buttercup will miraculously disappear.
19 Adding flowers
Press the shortcut keys Ctrl+T to display the
bounding box and then reduce the scale of the
buttercup to around 9%. Then drag and rotate the
flower so it lies along the hair. Duplicate this layer three
times and position each version of the buttercup on a
different section of the hair. Remember, you can flip
them horizontally so they don’t all look the same.

Scanner
settings
The most important part in getting your own
piece of scanned art to look great will depend

on the settings you use to scan in your objects.
We had to use two different settings in this
tutorial. For the drawn curves it was important
to use a Grayscale input in order to capture
strong outlines and be able to give the image
high contrast and make the blacks black and
the whites white. The flowers were captured in
RGB mode. We used a high-res Epson
Expression 1680 Pro scanner set to 600dpi as
this created an adequate enough file size to use
on our digital image.
20
Blending in
Select the Eraser
Tool and lower the opacity in
the upper toolbar. Select each
individual buttercup layer and
carefully erase the stems of the
flowers so they blend into the
hair. Try to keep some areas of
green so they don’t look as if
they’ve just been plonked on.

“IF THE THOUGHT OF

GETTING BEHIND THE
CAMERA SCARES YOU,
TRACK DOWN A SUITABLE
IMAGE FROM A STOCK SITE”
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 21 Daisy, daisy
Open up the ‘daisy’ file on the CD and use
the same technique to apply some daisies to the hair.
22 Flower arranging
We don’t want the flowers to all look the
same. Applying a Warp effect to each daisy individually
Go careful with your pen selection before masking, will give you the opportunity to alter the flowers so they
making particularly sure that you are careful around the merge nicely into the hair. You can access this by clicking
bottom right-hand side. You may find that you have to Edit>Transform>Warp.
Adjusting
Curves
get rid of more of the stem for the flower to integrate
into the hair successfully.

To perfect your image’s exposure the most

useful feature you can use is the Curves
command. This takes a bit of getting used to, but
once you find out how your image will react
according to your curves peaks and troughs it
will be far more accurate than adjusting Levels.
The top right-hand section of the curves allows
you to adjust highlights, the middle section
alters midtones whereas the bottom left part
manipulates shadows. Alternatively you can use
the three separate pipette icons to set black,
grey and white points.

23 Colour
Balance
With all green in the
image, it’s made it look as

“IF YOU’RE NOT

if the main model image
is suffering from a slight
cyan colour. Get rid of this
by clicking on the
CONFIDENT
‘Background’ layer and
bringing up the Color WITH YOUR
Balance command
(Apple/Cmd+B). DRAWING THEN
Counteract the cyan with
some yellow, but add a INVEST IN SOME
small amount of red to
the Shadows, Midtones
and Highlights.
STENCILS”
24 Curve contrast
The image can do with a bit of improvement
to the contrast. Open up the Curves dialog and alter the
Input to 26 and the Output to 31. Then, select the
Magenta layer (make sure you’re in CMYK color mode)
and alter the Input to 63 and the Output to 58.

25 Green screen
The last thing we want is the green to cast the hair. So zoom in and make
sure you’ve completely applied a mask to the hair strands on the right. You can also
use this step to reduce the rainbow if it’s looking a little right-heavy. 5

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 Feature

WE’VE SPICED
THINGS UP BY ADDING
PLAYERS AND TAKING
AWAY SOME RULES
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 Photoshop Relay

Relay
challeng
e rs
James Dav
ie
Debbi Alle s vs
n
Emma Cak vs
e

Photoshop
Relay What do you get when you let six
artists loose on one image? The AP
team gives Photoshop Relay a go

W
e know you’ve all been awaiting its
start as much as the World Cup,
Wimbledon or the Olympics, but wait
no more, the AP Photoshop Relay has begun.
Giving six top competitors the chance to go head
to head against one another’s creative talents,
Photoshop Relay is the ultimate sport for the
digitally obsessed this summer!
Based on Photoshop Tennis, invented by Jim Coudal,
the founder of a Chicago advertising and design
agency, this Internet sport has taken off in massive way.
Involving two players, Photoshop Tennis sends one
image back and forth between the players, who add a
layer each turn.
Not enough of a challenge for us here at Imagine,
we decided to spice things up by adding more players
and taking away some of the rules. Although all of our
contestants must do their work in Photoshop, they can
bring in elements they created in other apps or scan in
textures, images or hand-drawn objects. And they’re
not restricted to one layer – players can add as many as
they like, but there’s no guarantee that extra layers
mean extra chances to win!
Taking place over two issues, we have three
competitors this issue and three in issue 21. And
kicking off the event is James Davies, Digital
Photographer’s art editor and AP contributor…
ON THE DISC
For those of you who missed issue 19 and the Shutterstock starting
image, we’re providing it once again this month. You’ll also find the
files, scans and useful bits from our contributors on this month’s
disc to help you along your way.

Shutterstock
www.shutterstock.com
The AP Photoshop Relay starting image is one of
Shutterstock’s thousands of images. The largest
subscription-based stock photo agency in the
world, Shutterstock was founded in 2003 and is
now one of the fastest growing suppliers of
royalty-free stock photography in the industry. Its
outstanding collection of premium images
combined with a user-friendly interface has made
Shutterstock a trusted resource for an expanding
global customer base. Shutterstock currently has
nearly 800,000 images available to its subscribers,
and that number increases every day.

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 Feature
James Davies Art editor, Digital Photographer 1 Getting started
To start my leg, and the whole relay, I decided to
take a different route to the expected and use the
starting image as inspiration only for now, aiming to add
“A message to my it in later. Start by opening a new document and lay a
Imagine homies gradient across the background. I chose a warm
regarding the summery yellow hue.
Photoshizzle relizzle. I
have started her up,
now it’s up to each of
you to apply your
‘knowledge’ and ‘mad skillz’ to
make this more interesting. Word.”

Star t

3 Give it sunshine
The sun was the next element added. First create a
simple sun shape, and then use the layer styles to apply
an Outer Glow. Duplicate the sun four or five times and
colour each one using Ctrl+U (Hue/Saturation). Play
around so each is a varying shade of yellow and orange.
Blur each layer using Gaussian Blur between 30-60 pixels.
Finally adjust the blending mode to Color Burn, Screen
and Overlay, alternating between the three until you
have the desired glowing effect.

5 Bring in the bird

Open the Shutterstock image and, using a loose
cutting style, cut out. Next, scan in a piece of folded
paper (this is included on the CD), cut to fit and add to
the stomach area of the bird, cutting off excess feathers
and adding a shadow. This gives the impression that the
whole bird has been cut out of paper.

Pa s s
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 Photoshop Relay
2 Adding texture
Next, in order to add some texture to the image, Debbi
Allen
scan in a piece of wood and use the Pen Tool to create a Star t
layer mask. In this instance we’re using a layer mask to
reveal the wood texture underneath. By using curves you Editor
can optimise the tonal range. Complement this by
adding other colour elements with similar layer masks
scattered through the middle of the image. Add a drop “As editor of this
shadow to elements in the foreground for depth.
fine magazine
surely I hold
some sway over
who wins? So
cakes, flowers,
chocolates and
diamond bribes welcomed –
even though it’ll ultimately be
me who triumphs!”

4 Creating clouds
To create the clouds, make a circle marquee. Apply
a radial gradient from light blue grey to darker blue and
using the Selection Tool, hold down Alt to create copies.
Resize and place as many as you need to create your
chosen cloud shape. Blur using a Gaussian Blur of around
12 then flatten the cloud layer and set Opacity to 70-80%.
1 Add a character
I began by drawing a rough character to add
more texture to the image and scanned this in.
Select the Pen Tool, making sure Shape Layers is
selected, and trace all the individual elements. If you
set Fill to 0% while tracing, make sure you turn it
back to 100% before you flatten and rasterize the
layers. Resize and place within your image
underneath the layer masks created earlier.
2 Custom shape
Next add these cartoon-ish clouds. I created
the outline of a cloud shape in Illustrator, then
imported it into Photoshop and turned it into a
Custom Shape. You can of course do this in
Photoshop. Select the Custom Shape Tool (U) and
find your cloud. Go Layer>Rasterise>Layer, select
white fill and apply.

6 Make it fly!
Scan in and add a piece of string. Use the Burn Tool
with a soft-feathered edge brush, set the range to mid-
tones and the Exposure to 12 on the string. Now for the
bird’s shadow. Create a new layer, hit Ctrl and click on the
bird layer. With the Eyedropper select a dark brown fill
from the wood. Deselect the marquee, add Gaussian Blur
of 30 pixels, set blending mode to Multiply and Opacity
to 55%. Delete any shadow on the gradient background.
3 Get some action!
To add detail to the cloud, on a new layer
make a small circle and fill black. Create a new Action
and begin recording. Using the Select Tool (V), hold
down Alt+Shift and drag to the side, producing a
copy along the horizontal plane. Stop recording. Play
the action until the dots span the cloud. Select the
dots layer and flatten. Repeat the process, this time
dragging the row of dots downwards at 45 degrees.
4 Remove the extra
Using the Pen with Paths selected, draw inside
the cloud where you want the dots to be deleted,
leaving white space, I used the outside line of the
cloud as a guide. From the paths palette, Ctrl-click to
turn it into a selection and hit delete. Then select the
cloud layer and inverse the selection. Select the dots
layer and hit delete to remove the dots on the
outside of the cloud shape.

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 Feature
5 Perfect the shadow
We want the bird shadow to hit the new cloud 6 Wooden birds
Finally, using the Pen Tool, draw a path around
Emma
Cake
like it is closer than the background, so select the the bird and copy the wood texture from before
bird shadow layer, drag a copy and move it left. ensuring the bird path sits over the wood texture.
Select the cloud layer icon so that a path appears Next, go to the Paths palette and, holding Ctrl, select
around it, then select the original bird shadow layer the path icon and click Add Layer Mask. Make a copy Deputy editor
and hit delete. With the new bird shadow layer in a and position on either side of the image to balance
position you’re happy with, select the cloud layer, up the composition.
inverse and delete all shadow outside of the cloud.
“My aim is to make
this task as difficult as
possible for the
remaining candidates.
James and Debbi
haven’t really given
me much to work
with, but I’m sure I can work some
magic and add some sparkle.”

1 Red balloon
First I created a new group called Balloon. Then, on
my first layer for the Relay race, I used the Pen Tool to

Star t draw a hot air balloon shape in the top-right corner,

changing the style swatch to Red Gel.

2 Basket case
Now for some detail. Add a new layer, and using a
hard round airbrush set at a four-point size, sketch out a
basic basket shape for the hot air balloon – I also added
some people in at this stage.

Pa s s

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 Photoshop Relay
3 It’s on fire!
Add another new layer, this time drawing the
burner and flames using a selection of different fire-like
colours from the swatch palette as below. Apply a
Gaussian Blur of 1.0 pixels.

4 Stamp your mark

In a new layer select the Pattern Stamp Tool from
the Tools palette. Select Colour paper option from the
Styles drop-down menu and choose Gold Paper. Colour
in the basket, then alter the Layer style to Luminosity.

Relay
passed on
next month
to
Ross Andre
w
Claire vs M s vs
ark
Kendrick

5 Clouding over
Select the cartoon cloud created earlier in the
Layers palette and drag it so that it lies in front of the
balloon using the Move Tool.
6 Rainbow rays
Add a new layer underneath the balloon and use a
soft round airbrush with various different colours to draw
out a rainbow. Soften this more by applying another
Gaussian Blur with a radius of 3.9 pixels.
7 Shine on
Add some sparkle to your rainbow using the Stars
brush found within the assorted brushes palette. Make
them blend into the rainbow by altering the Layer style
to Overlay.

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Advanced Photoshop

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 Step-by-step Workshops

CREATE SPACE! 7 56
It’s a whole new world out there, and this issue we show you how to

7 72
create planets, stars and incredible outer-space effects with a few key
PEER PRESSURE Photoshop tools. Are you ready for blast-off?
Check out this month’s readers’ gallery to find out what your fellow
Advanced Photoshop readers have been getting up to. If you’re stuck for PIXEL ART
7 64
ideas then take a glance through these images for inspiration, learn some
new techniques and check out what you’re up against in the big bad
world of design. If you think you’re up to the challenge then get your You can’t be anything
designs to us by emailing advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk or but impressed at the
posting them on our forum at www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk. sight of a retro-style pixel
art image. Despite the
nostalgic feel and blocky
appearance, a piece of
Insider
es

pixel art is probably the

iqu

Info
n
ch

most complex digital

Te

style you could ever

master. With Gary J
Lucken from Army of
Trolls as your teacher,
however, you’re in safe
hands. Turn the page
to find out how to
design your own
isometric pixel art.

INSIDER INFO 1 INSIDER INFO 2

7 78
EXPOSURE BRIDGE
ADJUSTMENT 62 EXTENSIONS 70 HELPDESK
Perfect your 32-bpc photos on Expand and manipulate Bridge to Is your Photoshop work making you break out
screen with the new High suit your needs with a host of in a cold sweat? Do you need a little helping
Dynamic Range functions in new tools and features to suit the hand? Our resident expert is here to help with
Photoshop CS2 creative professional a few top tips on controlling your errant app

55
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 Step-by-step
Workshop

CREATE SPACE!
Begun these Clone Tool wars have. Discover
how to make stars, worlds and more without
ever having to leave Photoshop
BY ROSS ANDREWS

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 es
n iqu
ch
Te
6
OUR EXPERT Ross Andrews
As group art editor Ross works on a range of creative titles Cloudy sky
here at Imagine Publishing, and he’s also a Photoshop
With the Bigger Stars and background
supremo who can point your pixels in the right direction
PART ONE: STARS AND PLANETS when it comes to inventive image creation. layers visible, and the Bigger Stars layer active, click

T
Add Layer Mask. Click on the Layer Mask
his was possibly the most fun we’ve had in Photoshop for years. Not because we’ve been thumbnail that appears and with black and white
getting bored of Adobe’s master app, you understand, but just because creating as the foreground and background, choose
convincing cosmic artwork is something the Advanced Photoshop team has been dying to Filter>Render>Clouds. This will produce a mask
get its teeth into for ages. that hides some of your stars.
Inspired by the work of Greg Martin (www.artofgregmartin.com), we’re looking at bringing stellar
beauty straight to your screen without having to resort to 3D applications to render worlds or star
fields. The plan was to make use of Photoshop’s filters, shortcuts and tricks wherever possible. For the
most part the techniques in this tutorial are not only deceptively simple, they are also flexible. Once
you’ve followed the individual parts and understand how they work, try to revisit steps and experiment
– after all, you’re trying to create, not re-create worlds, and with these techniques anyone can play god.
But creating worlds takes a long time, and many of the results shown here get better the more you
play with them. With that in mind we’ve split the tutorial up into two – this issue concentrates on the
planets and star field, and next issue we’ll reveal how to create the fiery nebula.

1 Creating space
Your first step is to create a star field for the
background. Unsurprisingly, this will start as a
solid black document. Make the canvas larger
than you need, and at a higher resolution – this
allows you greater detail in the next few steps.
Create a new layer called ‘Tiny Stars’ and fill it with
black as well.
4 It’s all white
Invert the Bigger Stars layer by choosing
Image>Adjustments>Invert. This will make it 7 Detail by hand
The Clouds mask leaves a pattern. Disrupt
white with black dots; enhance this effect by this by choosing a large, soft black brush, set to a
Choosing Image>Adjustments>Levels and typing 30% Opacity, and remove more of the stars by
230, 1.00, 250 into the three Input levels boxes. Hit painting black areas onto the Layer Mask. Repeat
OK and then invert the layer again to revert it the process on the Tiny Stars layer, but begin
back to white dots on a black background. painting directly onto the layer mask. Build up
interesting star clusters and shapes.
The masked
hero of
space
This tutorial makes
heavy use of layer
masks, and you

2
may be wondering
Get noisy why they’re used
Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Tick the when the Eraser
Tool might very
Gaussian and Monochromatic settings and select well do. The answer
a setting of around 10%. The effect will be subtle is that layer masks
allow far more

5
so punch it up a little, and add variety to the flexibility. Should
point size by using Image>Adjustments> Gonna be a big star you change you
Brightness/Contrast to decrease the Brightness to Choose Edit>Free Transform and scale the mind about
something you’ve
-40 but boost the Contrast by 75. Bigger Stars layer back to around the same size as deleted you can go

8
the canvas. Hold the cursor outside the back to the mask
transformation box and click and drag to rotate and use a white Stargazing
brush to paint the
the layer by 180 degrees. Set the layer mode to element back in. Switch to the Biggest Stars layer and repeat
Screen. Duplicate this layer and rename it Biggest You can also use the cloudless layer mask technique, but this time
filters on them for
Stars, set the layer mode to Screen and use Free creative results
add fewer but very bright stars in small tight
Transform to rotate it 30 degrees and scale it up (see step six). clusters. The trick is to imagine you’re adding in
to about 150%. the constellations, star by star. The final result is the

3
basis of your star field, so commit to it by
Twinkle little star flattening the image.
Duplicate the Tiny Stars layer and rename it
‘Bigger Stars’. Repeat the Brightness/Contrast
command but take the Brightness down to -100.
Boost the Contrast by about 60. This will bring
out stronger, but fewer,
points of light. Use the
Scale Tool to increase the
size of the layer to
between two and three
times bigger than the
document canvas size.

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 Step-by-step
Workshop
Make more planets
Once you have the general planet layer structure built up you
can easily experiment with more textures by preparing them in
the same way you did in steps 12 and 13 and then dragging the
texture into the layer stack. You can even combine layers from
more than one texture for interesting effects.
9 Attack of the clone
Add some texture by switching to a large,
soft Clone Tool, set to Screen mode and clone in
more stars. Try and build up interesting, dusty
sprays of stars. To add an ethereal glow, duplicate
your layer, and set the copy to Linear Dodge.
Choose Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and run it at
about ten pixels. Colour your glow layer using
Image>Adjustments>Color Balance.
10 Tiny flares
Create a new layer and fill it with black. Choose
Filter>Render>Lens Flare and apply a 50% 105mm Prime flare. Set your
flare layer’s mode to Screen and then use the Free Transform Tool to scale
the flare down. Use the Eraser Tool to edit out any of the starburst effects if
they bug you. Duplicate this starburst a few times over the image, each
time scaling it and adjusting its opacity so it doesn’t appear too uniform.
58
Advanced Photoshop
056-060_APM20_space.indd 58
11 Punch it up
Finally, to give your star field even
more punch, flatten all the layers and then
duplicate the background. Set the copy’s layer
mode to Linear Dodge and adjust the Opacity to
taste. You may also want to give the blacks a little
more depth by using Image>Adjustments>Levels
and pulling the black arrow to the right a little.
12
Genesis
The world was created in seven steps –
maybe more if we get carried away. Find yourself
a stony texture (Mayang’s free textures at www.
mayang.com/textures is a great free resource to
take a look at), open in a new document and
resize it to a planet size. Convert the background
into a layer, and double your canvas size. Using a
large, soft clone brush, click with the brush
instead of the usual brush strokes.
“MANY OF
THE RESULTS
GET BETTER
THE MORE
YOU PLAY
WITH THEM”
13 That’s no moon
Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool and
hold down the Shift key to create a circular
selection. Copy this to a new layer. With the circular
selection active go to Filter>Distort>
Spherize. Use a setting of 100%, and then repeat
for good measure! Use Image>Image Size to resize
your image back to its original dimensions.
14 Stratus quo
Fill the background layer with black,
and then create three layers above your texture.
Apple+click (Mac users) or Ctrl+click (PC users)
the texture layer in the Layer palette to load it as a
selection and then use that selection to create a
dark blue disc on the first blank layer with two
black discs above it. Name them ‘Colour’,
‘Shading’ and the top one ‘Atmosphere’.
15
Let there be light
Now you’re ready to bring your planet
to life. Select the Atmosphere layer and choose
Layer>Layer Style>Inner Shadow. Set the mode
to Screen, the colour to a light cyan and the
Global Light angle to -10. Drag the Distance and
Size sliders right up – depending on the size of
your image – but don’t hit OK just yet…
27/6/06 15:44:45
 es
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16 World a-glow
19 Forest moon
Noisy
zooming “WE’RE
Add an Outer Glow using the same
cyan and a Screen blending mode. Drag the Size
Set the layer mode of the Texture layer
to Screen and your planet will really start to come
If you apply the
Add Noise filter in LOOKING AT
BRINGING
slider up to create a halo, then add an Inner Glow, to life. You may want to decrease the saturation step two and it
seems to produce
again to a cyan screen. Increase the size of the using Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation to no result outside of
glow. Hit OK and create a new layer below the
Atmosphere. Switch back to the Atmosphere
bring some of the blue colour back. Reduce the
opacity of this layer to 33% and then duplicate it
the filter’s preview,
try changing the
STELLAR
BEAUTY
zoom level on the
layer and use Layer>Merge Down. twice (set both of these copies to Screen as well). document outside
the Add Noise
dialog. At some
zoom levels the
noise interferes STRAIGHT TO
with the display
pixels and
YOUR
SCREEN”
disappears –
change the
magnification and
it pops right back.

22 Cloud cover
Rename this layer ‘Clouds’ and the
original texture layer ‘Land’. Decrease the Opacity

17
of your Shading layer to 95 so that more of the

Eclipse
Switch to the Shading layer and move
it above the Atmosphere layer. Drag the disc up
and to the right so that it masks the top-right
third of the atmosphere glow. Go to Filter>Blur>
Gaussian Blur and apply a 95-pixel blur to the
circle. With the shading layer active, load the
texture shape selection again (as in step 14),
choose Select>Inverse and then hit Delete to
remove the surplus parts of the shading shape.
20
textures show through. Duplicate the Land layer
Terra-former and apply Filter>Stylize>Emboss with a Angle of
Use the Free Transform Tool to rotate -15, Height of 1 and the Amount right up to 500%.
each of these duplicate layers; the amount will Duplicate this embossed layer and call one ‘Land
depend on your texture, keep experimenting to Highlights’ and the other ‘Land Shadow’.
find details you like the look of. When you’re
happy, merge the layers back together; keeping
the result applied as Screen. You may then want
to boost the contrast of the texture using Levels
or Brightness/Contrast.

23 Leveller of worlds
With the Land Highlights layer active, open Levels. Type 145,

18
1.00 and 210 into the Input Levels fields and hit OK. Switch to the Land
Mask the atmosphere Shadow layer and do the same, but using the numbers 87, 1.00 and 116.
Add a layer mask to the Atmosphere Set the Highlights layer to Linear Dodge at 50% Opacity and the Shadow

layer and use a soft black brush at a low opacity
to gently remove most of the remaining glow on
the top-right side of the planet. When you’re
done, Control- (Mac) or right- (PC) click the Layer
Mask thumbnail and choose Apply Layer Mask.
Drag the Texture layer above the Colour layer.
21
layer to Multiply at 70%. Boost the brightness of the Clouds layer slightly.
Weather man
Duplicate your texture layer again and
set it to Screen. Select Image>Adjustments>
Levels and pull both the black and white triangles
toward the centre (in this case the Input Levels
were 57, 0.91, 150; this will create a hard clouds
effect). Use the Free Transform Tool again to
rotate this layer until it gives the best effect.

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 Step-by-step
Workshop
Perfect circles “EXPERIMENT
TO FIND
When you’re creating your circular selection in step 24 there’s a
trick to getting it just right. Instead of selecting from the top-
DETAILS YOU
right corner and dragging down, use the twirl shape to help
you select. Look at the spiral and you’ll easily be able to spot
LIKE THE
LOOK OF”
the centre. Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool and position your
cursor at that point. Hold down Shift and Option and drag
outwards (PC users select Alt+drag here), and the selection will
grow from the centre.

24 Spin the ring

No real planet is complete without
rings, so make some. Create a new document,
slightly bigger than your planet, and fill it with
black. Create a new layer, and with black and
white as your colours choose Filter>Render>
Clouds. Open Filter>Distort>Twirl and apply it 999
degrees to give a spinning effect.
27 Get perspective
Using the Move Tool, drag the planet
onto the star field document; move it into
position and scale it if necessary. Drag the rings
into the document as well and switch to the Free
Transform Tool. Hold down the Option key (Mac)
or Alt key (PC) and you can apply extreme
distortions to each corner handle in turn. Here
we’ve flipped it over, pushed the top corners in

29
and down and pulled the bottom corner out and
down to give some extreme perspective. Finish it off
Colourise your rings using Hue/
Saturation and then duplicate the layer. Set both
ring layers to Screen. Make the lower copy active
and head to Filter>Blur>Gaussian blur to apply a
reasonably strong blur and give the rings a soft
glow. And that’s it; your image is done for now. Next
issue we show how to build the nebula and add
final colouring to the planet to make it red. 5

25 Ring of fire
Add a Layer mask to the layer and

make a circular selection. With the Layer mask
active choose Select>Inverse and fill the outer
area with black. Make a smaller circular selection
inside the twirl and fill it with black as well. Apply
the layer mask from the contextual menu.
28
Mask the rings
Add a layer mask to the rings layer and
load the planet selection into it. Fill this with black.
Draw a marquee around the areas of the rings
that should be visible and fill it with white to bring
them back. Click the chain symbols between the
layer mask and layer thumbnails. This will allow
you to reposition your rings later on.

Next month: the nebula

Tip top
twirling
If your twirl in step
24 doesn’t seem
quite, erm, ‘twirly’
enough, just repeat
the filter until you

26
get the result you
Noisy ring are looking for.
To give the rings some grain go to Many filters can
benefit from repeat
Filter>Noise>Add Noise and apply a 20% Gaussian runnings, such as
Monochromatic setting. Finally you can delete the the Spherize filter
you used earlier
background black layer. You’re now ready to and the Difference Be sure to check back with us next issue as we reveal how to create a swirling, whirling
combine your images together so open up your Clouds filter you’ll
be using to make
nebula to finish off the celestial sky. We’ll explore more of the effects of the Cloud filter and
planet file and the background star field you different blending modes. Next issue goes on sale 17 August.
the nebula.
made earlier.

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 Insider INSIDER
Info INFO
Decent Exposure
To complement the new high dynamic range capabilities in Photoshop CS2, Adobe has added the
Exposure command, which allows you to better visualise your 32 bit-per-channel photos on screen

S
imply stated, the term ‘dynamic range’ refers to the range of brightness
values from the darkest black above featureless black, to the brightest
white below featureless white. In the visible world, this range far exceeds
the limits of human vision, but our eyes have the ability to adapt to very different
brightness levels. Conversely, the majority of cameras and monitors can only
capture and display a fixed dynamic range.
One option for achieving greater perceived dynamic range is with the new
Merge to HDR command, which allows photographers to combine a series of
bracketed exposures into a single high dynamic range (HDR) image. HDR images
store luminance values using 32-bpc (bits per channel) floating-point math to
represent the entire dynamic range of the visible world.

OUR EXPERT Trevor Morris Exposure adjustments

Trevor Morris is an official Photoshop beta tester
and amateur digital photographer with more than a
dozen years’ design experience. He works as a senior
graphic designer for a Canadian web design
company and also maintains the Photoshop-centric
website GFX™ (http://user.fundy.net/morris).
How many colours
is 32-bpc?
A single 32-bpc (bits per channel)
RGB image has:
● 7.9 x 10 28 colours
● 79, 228, 162, 514, 264, 337, 593,
543, 950, 336 colours
● 79 octillion colours
Now that’s a big box of crayons!
Given that the number of colours in an
HDR image is far beyond the capabilities
of any display device, Photoshop
provides you with a few tools to make
the visualisation of this data more
meaningful. One of these tools is the
Exposure command (Image>Adjustment
s>Exposure), a sort of 32-bit equivalent
of the standard Brightness/Contrast
adjustment command: however, unlike
Brightness/Contrast, changes made with
Exposure are largely reversible for 32-bit
images. (Note that although the
Exposure command can be used with 8-
and 16-bpc images, it was specifically
designed for making exposure
adjustments to 32-bpc HDR images.)
The Exposure dialog offers the
following controls:
DIALOG OPTIONS: The Exposure dialog allows you to better visualize your 32-bit
images by adjusting Exposure, Offset and Gamma. Here, the eyedroppers were
used to identify the highlights, shadows and midtones, then Gamma was adjusted.
● Exposure (highlights): Adjusts the ● The Exposure dialog also has a set
brightness/darkness of the image, with of eyedroppers, but instead of affecting
minimal effect in the extreme shadows. all colour channels as they do in the
Move the slider left to darken the image, Levels and Curves dialogs, they only
and right to brighten the image. Values adjust the image’s luminance values.
are in increments equivalent to f-stops ● Set Black Point: Sets the Offset
(from -20 to +20). So, for example, an (shadows), shifting the pixel that you
adjustment of +1.50 or -1.50 would be click to zero.
analogous to widening (opening) or ● Set White Point: Sets the Exposure
reducing (closing) the aperture by 11/2 (highlights), shifting the point you click
stops, respectively. to white (1.0 for HDR images).

Adjusting HDR previews ● Offset (shadows): Darkens the

shadows and midtones (from -0.5 to
● Set Gray Point (Midtone): Sets the
Exposure (highlights), making the value
+0.5) with minimal affect on the you click middle grey.
To adjust the preview of a 32-bit image, choose View>32-Bit Preview Options.
highlights in the image. ● The Save and Load buttons allow
This Options dialog offers two preview methods: Exposure And Gamma, which
● Gamma (midtones): Adjusts the you to save your exposure adjustment
adjusts the brightness and contrast, and Highlight Compression, which
compresses the highlight. Preview settings are stored with the HDR image; image gamma (from 0.1 to 9.99), using a settings (as an .eap file) and apply them
however, all the HDR image information remains intact. simple power function, with negative to other HDR images.
You can also adjust the preview of an HDR image by clicking the right-facing values mirrored around zero (ie, values ● As with most Photoshop dialogs,
triangle in the status bar of the document window and choosing Show>32-bit remain negative but are adjusted as if holding down Opt/Alt will change the
Exposure from the menu. Drag the slider to set the white point for viewing the they were positive). Cancel button into a Reset button.
HDR image; double-click the slider to reset it to the default (middle) position.

“OUR EYES HAVE THE

ABILITY TO ADAPT TO
VERY DIFFERENT
BRIGHTNESS LEVELS”
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 Step-by-step
Workshop

BUILD A 1 Setting up
Create a new Photoshop document,
making sure the resolution is set to 72dpi and not
300dpi. Then, select the Pencil Tool and choose

PIXEL TOWN
the smallest brush size, making sure anti-aliasing
is turned off (pixel art does not use anti-aliasing
unless it is done by hand). All pixel art is created at
72dpi – this is why I tend to use ImageReady to
create my work, because it is a perfectly suited
environment for creating pixel-based artwork.

Learn the theory and techniques behind

isometric pixel art then use this to create your
own pixel town… BY GARY J LUCKEN

P
ixel art is cute, compact, colourful
and beautiful to look at. It’s also very
time-consuming to create and
adheres to a strict set of rules, which requires
a large amount of dedication and patience.
Pioneered by the videogame artists of the last
20 years, pixel art has grown into a valid
illustration medium. It’s a modern art form but it
my own Army of Trolls, the pixel is enjoying a
renaissance as a new form of illustration.
Isometric pixel art can create wonderfully busy
scenes that you can stare at for ages and still not
notice all the finer details, and of course it can be
used to make sprite-based videogames and
animated GIFs. It’s also perfect for website design
as its low colour count makes for cool-looking

also has a nostalgic feel that few recent art styles
can lay claim to, bringing back memories of late
nights in front of the Super Nintendo for a whole
legion of 20- to 30-somethings. The pixel is
currently relegated to the handheld and mobile
gaming market while 3D games wow the crowds
on the next-generation of videogame consoles.
However, with the success of artists like Eboy and
OUR EXPERT Gary J Lucken
Gary J Lucken is a videogame-obsessed
North London-based artist who
specialises in pixel art. He’s influenced by
the golden age of sprite-based gaming
and is the creator of pixel wonderland
www.armyoftrolls.co.uk.
2
images with small file sizes.
In this tutorial I will explain some of the theory A new view
and rules behind isometric pixel art and then take When you create pixel art you will work
you through the stages to create your own with a zoomed-in view most of the time, but it
buildings. Hopefully you will be able to take this does help to also see what your creation will look
knowledge and create your own detailed pixel like at 100%. To do this in Photoshop go to
art cities. Pushing pixels can be very time- Window>Arrange>New Window For – this will
consuming and requires a great deal of patience, make a duplicate view of your image. Leave this
but it can also be one of the most rewarding and sitting to the side at as you work.
addictive art forms there is. If you can scale the
steep learning curve you’ll be creating your own
striking pixel art in no time.
Although I work in ImageReady, you can follow
the tutorial in Photoshop too – just ensure your
resolution is set to 72dpi, not 300dpi.

“IT’S SOMETIMES JUST AS

IMPORTANT WHERE YOU DO
NOT PLACE A PIXEL AS 3 Colours!

WHERE YOU DO PLACE ONE” Some people find it helpful to create a

palette of colours next to their image, which can
aid colour choices making it quick and easy to

Pixel art programs switch between hues. All you need to do is place
a block of colour next to your image as you use
each new shade – this helps to keep track
Personally, I used Adobe ImageReady to create all my of the hues you’re using when working on
artwork. It has all the functionality of Photoshop but colour-restricted videogame pixel art.
restricts you to a 72dpi workspace that is perfect for pixel
art. That’s not to say it’s the only program to create your
pixel art in – even MSPaint that comes with Photoshop is
perfectly adequate to create pixel artwork. Some other
programs that are perfect for pixel art are:
Promotion: http://cosmigo.com/promotion/index.php
Graphicsgale: www.humanbalance.net/gale/us
Paint Shop Pro: www.corel.co.uk

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 65
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 Step-by-step
Workshop
8
Make it
your own Join the corners
There’s nothing that You should now have a top and bottom to
you can’t replicate in your cube, but we still need to join up the edges.
pixel art form – if you
don’t quite fancy the
With the Pen Tool, join each bottom corner to its
challenge of an corresponding top corner. Once you have a
entire town, start by completed cube, link the layers and flatten them
creating a few small
sprites like the little using Merge Layers.
penguin on the left
and build up to a
metropolis that way.
You can duplicate
and re-use elements
too (check out the
balloon seller in the
main image), making
the process far less
time-consuming.
Although pixel art
by its nature is quite
linear, that doesn’t
mean you can’t
develop a trademark
style. Incorporate
your own sprites into
every pixel world

9
you create as a type
of signature, or work Adding colour
on your own ways of

4 6
Get closer
Zoom in close to your pixel art – this way
you can concentrate on the close-up details.
Remember, you also have the 100% view to one
side so can see if your art is heading the way you
expected at any time. Pixel art differs from
conventional art because you are massively
restricted to a limited number of squares and
colours with which to create your images. It’s
sometimes just as important where you do not
place a pixel as where you do place one.
reflecting light or Now we need to add some colour to our
An isometric cube representing faces – cube. Select a light green colour and fill in the top
First we need to lay down the foundations it is these small section of the cube with the Fill Tool, then tidy up
details that will make
of our pixel city. Take the Pencil Tool and create a your work stand out any leftover black pixels. Now choose a darker
square by drawing two pixels along, moving one as unique and catch green and fill the right-hand side, then fill the left-
a commissioner’s
pixel up and then two along. Once you have a eye. As ever, let
hand side with an even darker green.
line that is about 30 steps long you can duplicate the Advanced
it then flip it to make the other sides of your Photoshop team
know how you get
square. This saves time and means that you do on with pixelling!
not have to hand-draw every last pixel.

5 Along and up
A traditional hand-drawn isometric
viewpoint is based on a 30-degree angle, but due
to the nature of the computer screen it cannot
display a line of this angle smoothly without

10
anti-aliasing, which we don’t want. Isometric pixel
art is created at an angle of 25.565 degrees, so the Highlighting edges
easiest way to draw a line at this angle is to draw You can get a nice effect on your cube
two pixels along, move one pixel upwards then by highlighting the edges. To do this choose a

7
draw two more pixels across and so on until you lighter green than the colour you filled the top of
have a slanted line. Square dealing the cube with and colour each pixel along the
Now you have your pixel square, duplicate front edge in this lighter colour (also colour the
it into a new layer and then you can place this front corner of your cube). This technique is used
wherever you want. The higher you place it, the often in isometric pixel art, as it softens the
deeper the cube will be. colours and creates a nice edge effect.

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“YOU CAN 13
GET A NICE
EFFECT ON
YOUR PIXEL
CUBE BY
HIGHLIGHTING
THE EDGES”
11
Down and dirty
As this green cube will form the base
of our city’s foundation I have coloured the
bottom section brown. To do this, select a nice
earthy brown and pixel along the centre of the
front of your cube (remembering the two along,
one up rule). I have added a few more tones to
give it an earthier look.
12 Joining the tiles
Duplicate the foundation and place
the cubes next to each other to make a larger
ground area. For the purpose of this tutorial I have
kept things simple with just four cubes, but you
can keep creating new ground tiles until you are
happy with the size of your foundation.
064-069_APM20_workshop.indd 67
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Road trip Internet ideas
Create a new layer, choose a grey
colour and draw a line using the two along, one
up method until you have what looks like a thick
grey line. This is our road tile. Notice I have also
created a kerb and placed road markings on the
road. Experiment with the techniques you have
learned to make your own road system.
There are lots of great pixel art sites
online, all with their own unique style. It’s
great fun and can be very inspiring to click
through these colourful websites:
● www.armyoftrolls.co.uk (my site)
● www.kennethfejer.dk
● www.eboy.com/eboy
● www.adamtierney.com
● www.spriteart.com/main.html
● http://finalredemption.com
The pixelopolis forums are full of very
talented and helpful artists, just stick to
the rules of the forum address below and
14
you’ll get all the help you need.
Building block
● www.pixel-arts.org/pixelopolis/
Now let’s create a building. First draw a index.php
square as we did in the first stages of the tile
tutorial and then duplicate and raise the second
16
square to the desired height of your building.
Remember to join the edges as before. Adding the roof terrace
Our building isn’t very interesting as a
plain rectangle, so let’s add a more interesting
roof. The roof section is created from lots of
different-sized squares, which are just thinner/
wider versions of the original buildings. Create
any details like this in new layers, move them
around until you are happy with the results, then
merge all the layers.
15
Basic colour
Join the edges with vertical lines,
Merge layers, and fill in the building with your
chosen colour. Remember that many of the
objects in isometric pixel art can be created by
joining lots of smaller squares together.
“IF YOU CAN SCALE
THE STEEP LEARNING
CURVE, YOU’LL BE
CREATING YOUR OWN
STRIKING PIXEL ART
IN NO TIME”
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26/6/06 10:26:38
 Step-by-step
Workshop
Bitmap fonts Study the
masters
One great way to
20 Bricking it
Using a darker shade I have created
brickwork on the top of the building – with a little
When dealing with type in pixel art, it helps to learn pixel art
have a selection of bitmap fonts. A bitmap font is techniques is to practise you can add all sorts of textures to your
study the masters, pixel art. A good tip is to draw a small square of
a font specifically created to be viewed on screen. there are a large
It is made from pixels with no anti-aliasing as amount of websites your texture and then map this to your building
opposed to a true type font, which is made up of specialising in sprite by copying and pasting it using layers.
lines and curves and is typically used in print. rips: videogame
artwork ripped
Many people refer to bitmap or pixel fonts as straight out of 2D
‘screen fonts’, and if you want to use type in your pixel-based games.
pixel art illustrations then a bitmap font is a must. You can learn a great
You’ll find all the bitmap fonts you will ever need deal about pixel art
from downloading
here: www.dafont.com/bitmap.php. these sprites
opening them up in
Photoshop and

17 19
studying them. I
Windows and doors Shady dealings recommend you
check out this
Every building needs windows, so let’s See the big happy sun? Well that’s our website as it collects
create some. Study the pictures below and try to light source for the building. Taking this as the together some
amazing game
recreate the windows and doors. There’s no need source of the light, re-colour the surfaces of the
artwork from

21
to stick to the exact size, as a little variation can be building. The left side will catch the light, while Nintendo, Capcom,
a good thing. Again, create them on a separate the right side needs to be much darker. Square and Sega. Put it all together
Remember, though:
layer and then duplicate the windows until you passing off edits of Now that we have the basics of our
have as many as you want. these sprites as your building we can place it on the foundations we
own work is frowned made earlier on – simply open the layer that
upon in the pixel
community. It’s okay contains your foundations and then drag or copy
to learn from them it into the building document and place it where
but not okay to steal.
you think it looks best.
http://sprites.
fireball20xl.com/
NSA/HTML/Poke

18 Define and outline

Using a similar method as we explored in the first part of the tutorial, I have highlighted the
inside edges of the building, those within the black outside outline. Also notice how I colour the black
outline a darker shade of the main colour. This really helps to give your pixel art a unique look, as
sometimes the black outlines can be very harsh on the eye. 22 Adding detail
This is just an example of what you
can achieve with pixel art; below you’ll see that I
have spruced up my building with some signs, a
police car and a few characters standing outside.
After a while you will start to have a large amount
of elements you can use for future images, so
remember to build your pixel library by saving the
individual elements in separate files.

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 es
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23 Creating Mr Pixel
“ONE GREAT WAY
To create the Mr Pixel character portrait, I first did a quick pencil drawing and scanned it in.
Try to draw your character as close to actual size as possible as this will make it easier to pixel over – TO LEARN PIXEL
there’s no need to worry about too much detail either, as it will just confuse things.
ART TECHNIQUES IS
TO STUDY THE
MASTERS”
27 Highlighting Mr Pixel
Once you have shaded your character
you can start to add highlights, but notice how I
haven’t gone over the top with the highlights.
Using them sparingly can produce a much better
effect than getting too carried away.

24 Create the outline

26 Give him some shade

Create another layer above the
original scan and pixel over the top, picking out
the outlines and finer details. Try to keep things
neat and tidy, but don’t worry too much as you
can always neaten things up later. If you want to
you can copy and paste elements to keep things
symmetrical (as you can see both eyes are the
same just copied and flipped).
Now let’s get some shading on Mr
Pixel. Choose a light source and darken the side of
the face opposite to where the light will hit. I
always try to avoid using greys or variations of
colours with more black in them – as you can see
from the picture below I used a blue to shade the
darker areas of the white shirt, this helps me to
get a bright colourful effect.
28
Finishing touches
Now that we’ve shaded and
highlighted our character, it’s time to finish him
off. Try to remove any remaining black pixels that
fall inside the main outline, and notice how
instead of the black outline of the eyes and nose I
have used a darker skin tone or a similar shade.
Now Mr Pixel is ready for action. 5

25 Colouring him in
Once you have your basic outline,
start to fill large areas with your chosen colours.
For this you can use the Fill Tool, just make sure
that anti-aliasing is unchecked and that tolerance
is set to 0. Then fill away, colouring in large
sections with your chosen tones.
Pixel art for print
All pixel art is done at a screen resolution of
72dpi, but artwork for print is normally
supplied at 200-300dpi. If you produce
pixel-based artwork for print the printers
may ask for your file to be at a high
resolution. There is really no need to up the
resolution of pixel art but you can do this in
Photoshop by going to Image>Image Size
then select Nearest Neighbor from the
resample image drop-down menu. It’s safer
to up the res by multiples of 72dpi, for
example 144dpi, 288dpi and so on.

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 Insider
Info
INSIDER
INFO
Building a better Bridge
Adobe Bridge has a modest interface and a generous complement of tools and features, but by
leveraging Bridge’s powerful scripting API you can extend the app to suit your needs

A
OUR EXPERT Trevor Morris dobe Bridge is a first-
Trevor Morris is an official Photoshop beta tester generation application,
and amateur digital photographer with more than a written from the ground up to
dozen years’ design experience. He works as a senior
replace the now defunct Photoshop
graphic designer for a Canadian web design
company and also maintains the Photoshop-centric File Browser. Yet, in spite of its infancy,
website GFX™ (http://user.fundy.net/morris). Bridge is highly configurable and
extensible, thanks to its support for
ExtendScript (Adobe’s extended
implementation of JavaScript).
Among other things, ExtendScript
allows you to create custom commands
and user interface components using
your preferred text editor (or
ExtendScript Toolkit, a simple scripting
interface that installs with Bridge).
BROWSEBAR: This script, which you can get hold of for free at the Adobe Studio
A real-world example Exchange website, allows you to browse images through typing a navigational path
Consider this example. Occasionally, I
post my photographs online, and when Metadata, a dialog appears with the
I do I like to include some associated following text (for example): “This photo
camera metadata (eg, make, model, was captured with a Nikon D70 (1/125s @
exposure, ISO speed, etc). However, f/4.5, ISO 200, FL 70 mm).” And because
since Bridge doesn’t currently have any it’s a script, I can include whichever
commands for exporting metadata, I’d pieces of metadata I like and format the
have to type the metadata by hand – a output any way I choose.
METADATA SCRIPT: I created a script
rather tedious and error-prone exercise You can also write workflow that allows me to include a list of details
that I’d just as soon avoid. automation scripts that interact with one about how the photos were taken
So, I wrote a script to display the or more or all of the applications in the
desired metadata as part of a formatted Creative Suite. In fact, many of the take a lot of time and patience to master.
FILENAME TO TITLE: Another free string, which I can then copy and paste workflow automation commands that Fortunately, there are a lot of really
script, this adds a command to the Tools into another application. Now when I ship with the Creative Suite applications useful scripts already available on the
menu that writes the title of selected
files to their IPTC Title fields select a photo shot with my Nikon D70, are themselves scripts, including Bridge’s Internet, most of which are free (and
and choose Edit>Copy Camera own Script Manager, Bridge Center, and those that aren’t tend to be very
the Adobe Stock Photo service. The reasonably priced).
possibilities are virtually limitless. Copy Camera Metadata is the script
Bridge-building resources Plenty of options
mentioned above, which displays a
formatted string of camera metadata
Here are several resources where you can learn more about Bridge scripts: Admittedly, not everyone is cut out for that may be copied to the clipboard
● Adobe Bridge Scripting Reference – a must-have reference for anyone scripting. We ‘creative types’ tend to be (including camera make, model,
who plans to write their own Bridge scripts: www.adobe.com/products/ predominately right-brained, and exposure, bias/compensation, ISO
creativesuite/pdfs/bridge_javascript_ref.pdf scripting is a left-brain activity that can speed, and focal length). The script adds
● Adobe Studio Exchange – example scripts for Bridge:
http://share.studio.adobe.com/axBrowseSubmit.asp?c=222
● PS-Scripts – unofficial Photoshop and Bridge scripting community forum: “IN SPITE OF ITS
www.ps-scripts.com/bb/
Official Adobe Bridge Forums: INFANCY, BRIDGE IS
● Adobe Bridge Forum (Mac): http://tinyurl.com/bskku
● Adobe Bridge Forum (Windows): http://tinyurl.com/d6cvf HIGHLY CONFIGURABLE
● Adobe Bridge Scripting Forum: http://tinyurl.com/8uw34
AND EXTENSIBLE”
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a Copy Camera Metadata command to
the Edit menu, and works for one or more
selected files, or all files if none are
selected. The script is available for free
from the following address: http://user.
fundy.net/morris/downloads/scripts/
CopyCameraMetadata_BR.jsx
BrowseBar is a must-have script that
adds a location bar to Bridge, allowing
you to navigate by typing or pasting a
path. BrowseBar also provides a New
Window button that opens the current
inserted path in a new Bridge window.
It’s available for free from the Adobe
Studio Exchange website (provided you
accept the standard licence agreement):
http://share.studio.adobe.com/
axBrowseSubmit.asp?c=222
View Navigator adds a menu
command to the bottom of the Window
menu for each new Bridge window,
allowing you to quickly switch/navigate
between them. The script is available for
free from the Adobe Studio Exchange site
(provided you accept the licence
agreement): http://share.studio.adobe.
com/axBrowseSubmit.asp?c=222
Filename to Title adds a ‘Write
Filename to IPTC Title Field’ command to
the Tools menu, which writes the title of
the selected files to their respective IPTC
Title fields. The script operates on one or
more selected files, or all files if no files
are selected. You may download this
script for free from the following address:
http://damuseful.com/pages/
PimpMyBridge.html
Import from Camera is a Bridge full-
featured automation script that greatly
simplifies the process of importing
images from your camera (or any other
removable media). Its powerful batch
renaming options allow you to rename
070-71_APM20_Insider.indd 71
DR BROWN’S 1-2-3 JPEG (LEFT),
IMPORT FROM CAMERA (ABOVE):
Yet more free scripts to enhance your
working life, these are available from
Dr Brown’s site and the Adobe Studio
Exchange respectively and are quick
and very easy to install
imported files using customisable
templates, while optionally preserving
the original filename in metadata.
Import from Camera also allows you to
apply (append or replace) metadata
templates, create duplicate/backup
copies of each photo, and render the
associated Bridge thumbnails and
previews. Once installed, the Import
from Camera dialog is accessed via
Bridge’s Tools menu.
Import from Camera is available as a
ZIP archive, which includes the main
script, several supporting script libraries,
and user manual. The script is available
for free from the Adobe Studio Exchange
website (provided you accept the licence
agreement): http://share.studio.adobe.
com/axBrowseSubmit.asp?c=222
Dr. Browns’ Services 1.4 is a set of
timesaving scripts for Adobe Photoshop
CS2 (currently available in English only)
that may be invoked from Bridge.
Services include:
● Merge-A-Matic: Combines multiple
images into a single, layered document
inside Photoshop (ideal for animations).
● Place-A-Matic: Places the selected
images (including Camera Raw files) as
Smart Objects into a single, layered
document inside Photoshop (ideal for
tone-mapped composites).
● Caption Maker: Adds customisable
metadata captions to your images, and
includes resizing/sharpening controls.
● 1-2-3 JPEG: Processes three
variations of JPEG images, and optionally
applies the designated action.
● Auto Correct: automatically corrects
all selected colour images by applying
Auto Color and Auto Levels.
● Manual Correct: Corrects all
selected colour images based on manual
“SCRIPTING IS A
LEFT-BRAIN ACTIVITY
THAT CAN TAKE A LOT
OF TIME AND PATIENCE
TO MASTER”
The advantages of ExtendScript
ExtendScript files may be identified
by their .jsx extension. ExtendScript
offers all of the standard JavaScript
features, in additional to the
following features:
● Platform-independent file and
folder representation (meaning that
scripts written on an Apple Mac will
work on a Windows-based machine
without modification).
Levels and Hue/Saturation adjustments
made to the first selected image.
● Black-n-White: Converts all selected
colour images to black-and-white based
on the manual Hue/Saturation
adjustment made to the first image.
All of Dr Browns’ Services are provided
in a single ‘easy installer’ (available for
Mac and PC), making the installation
quick and painless. The installer is also
designed to update any previous
installation of Dr Brown’s Services. The
installer, as well as several instruction
QuickTime videos are available for free
download from Dr Brown’s site a www.
russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html.
Installation is easy
Installing scripts is a straightforward
process, involving little more than
placing them into the StartupScripts
folder and restarting the application.
For a default install of Bridge, the
StartupScripts folder is located here:
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/
Adobe/StartupScripts/
PC: C:\Program Files\Common Files\
Adobe\StartupScripts
You can also access the StartupScripts
folder by opening Bridge Preferences
(Cmd/Ctrl+K), and clicking Reveal
(located near the bottom of the General
panel). Once you’ve placed the scripts
into the StartupScripts folder and
restarted Bridge, your scripts should be
available. How they’re accessed and
where they’re located depends on the
scripts themselves.
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● Tools for creating extensible
script-based user interfaces.
Bridge also installs with
ExtendScript Toolkit, an interactive
development and debugging
environment with basic text-editing
features and syntax highlighting.
ExtendScript Toolkit makes it easy to
create and debug scripts for any of
the Creative Suite applications.
VIEW NAVIGATOR: This script makes
working with Bridge faster, adding a
menu option for each Bridge window
Bridge updates
If you haven’t already, make sure that
you get the Bridge 1.0.4 update from
Adobe’s website.
● PC: www.adobe.com/support/
downloads/product.jsp?product
=108&platform=Windows
● Mac: www.adobe.com/support/
downloads/product.jsp?produ
ct=108&platform=Macintosh
This patch greatly improves the
stability and speed of Adobe Bridge,
plus adds a few enhancements.
Language barrier
● Note that although Photoshop and
other Creative Suite applications
support AppleScript (on MacOS),
VisualBasic Script (on Windows) and
JavaScript (on both MacOS and
Windows), Bridge scripts can only be
written in JavaScript (ExtendScript).
71
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27/6/06 11:03:48
 Eye-catching imagery that
inspires and challenges

T
he Advanced Photoshop team isn’t going to be swayed by the
nearby glistening sands and the prospect of a 99 with Flake during
these summer months. Needless to say we’re as enthusiastic about
our Photoshop work as ever before, which is a good job as our readers have
done us proud with their latest creations. We’ve been busy browsing
through your submissions to find the best examples of your digital work.
Sending your images in to us for inclusion in Peer Pressure is an ideal way to
get your name out there. You never know who’s browsing through the magazine
looking for new, fresh talent! There’s also the opportunity to kick-start your career
and see your image on the front cover.
If you’d like to see your own work on these pages, please send us low-res
versions to advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk and we’ll get back to
you for more information and higher resolution copies if we want to print them.
Alternatively, please log on to our forum website at www.advancedphotoshop.
co.uk and scroll down to Peer Pressure in the Creative Projects section to post a
link to your image samples.

You’ll stand a better chance of seeing your work in print if you adhere to the
following criteria: make sure that your images are high-quality TIFFs or JPEGs (RGB
or CMYK), 300dpi minimum, and can be printed at 15cm x 15cm minimum. Don’t
forget to include a short text file detailing how you created your work, too.

Edward Scissorhands Bobblehead

NAME: Meowza Katz
By submitting images to EMAIL: meowza@gmail.com
Advanced Photoshop’s SOURCES: www.sxc.hu
Peer Pressure, or posting
links on the forum you
hereby grant Imagine
Meowza Katz wanted to create an image that was full of fantasy, yet had a sense of reality in it. “For an
and, if relevant, clients to image with this style and many painted elements, the Smudge Tool becomes my greatest ally.” Meowza
whom the relevant work brought in rough source images to form the basic composition and then used the Smudge Tool set at
has been provided, an varying pressure levels to give everything a painted look.
irrevocable, perpetual,
royalty-free licence to use
“I carried out the facial areas by roughing in certain areas of colour using the Brush Tool and then
intellectual property in used the Smudge Tool set at a pressure of 40-50% to smooth and form the painting to my liking. For the
relation to work similar or body, parts of various action figures were used to assemble the character,” Meowza tells us.
equivalent to the work. “Creating an image like this was a great lesson in freestyle Photoshop painting, where a lot of the
This includes the right to
showcase work on
elements need to be hand-drawn. A little background in general drawing never hurts either!”
multimedia formats.

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 es
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City Skyline
NAME: Sageeporn Hannarong
EMAIL: sageepornh@yahoo.com
WEB: www.shannarong.com

Sageeporn is a recent graduate in MA Computer

Imaging in Architecture from the University of
Westminster. “I created this image last Christmas
when I was working on my online portfolio, so I was in
a big festive mood.” This image was created by filling
the background with solid grey and creating a new
layer with a transparent yellow gradient. Sageeporn
then built another layer and created the wallpapered
background on the image using a Fill>Custom Pattern.
“I created the branches by overlapping a photograph
and tweaking the brightness and contrast until it
became black and white. The blend option of the
branch layer was set to Darken, while the skyscrapers
were set to Difference.”

Doorway
NAME: Jamie Beer
EMAIL: beer_jamie@hotmail.com

Jamie Beer created this image as part of a head-to-head challenge on

Advanced Photoshop’s forum. The theme of the project was ‘Doorway’.
“I began by taking photographs of doorways at different angles, trying to find
interesting perspectives. I didn’t end up using these photographs in the
image but used them to find the right composition.” Once Jamie had decided
on the composition he marked out the shape of the doorway with the
Polygonal Lasso Tool and filled this area with black and grey. “I needed to
add another aspect to the image so I chose a photo of my hand that I cut out
using the Pen Tool before duplicating and transforming to form a second
hand. I used a black and grey gradient map to change the colour and tone as
well as adding in white shapes to make them slightly more abstract.” The
wallpaper was created by making a brush out of the hand shape. Finally, a
beam of light was created from the door to the floor.

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 Discover the thinking behind the art

Body chops
NAME: Patrik Blomqvist
EMAIL: patrik@patrikland.com
WEB: www.patrikland.se

“The obvious secret behind my ‘body chops’ is a tripod,” Patrik Blomqvist from
Sweden tells us. “The possibilities are endless with a tripod and an infrared
remote control.” For his ‘Ikea’ shot Patrik took about 20 images, including an
empty scene, and simply removed all the necessary parts. “This kind of image
requires a bit of planning and it’s quite hard work. I try to give shadows extra
attention, but they are easily missed.” Patrik used precision selections when
getting rid of the unwanted ‘parts’ using the Pen Tool. His second image is a
tribute to Salvador Dali. Heads and legs were moulded in Photoshop using the
Liquify filter and some heavy cutting and pasting. “The scene is built from
scratch using a perspective warped texture for the floor and a simple texture
for the back wall. Reflections were added to create realism in this unreal
image. These were duplicates of the ‘legs’ rotated vertically and faded. The
blending mode was set to Overlay and the opacity to 40%. The shadows were
painted with solid black in a separate layer and then blurred with Gaussian
blur with the opacity set to around 30%.”

Jammin’
NAME: Greg Tappella
EMAIL: grtap314@yahoo.com

Greg Tappella created this image from source files on www.shutterstock.com. “I wanted
to try to create a ‘dirtier’, more distressed version of this popular style. I copied the main
images many times, posterized them and changed the threshold to retain some of the
main details. On another layer I used both a Find Edges filter and High Pass. I continued
to blend all of these layers together until I can up with something that I was happy with. I
then copied the layer and used the Fibers filter along with the Mezzotint filter to give it
the textured look I had hoped for.”

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 es
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BE
IN ST
SH
OW

Vibrant illustrations
NAME: Demitri Nezis
EMAIL: nezisone@yahoo.co.uk
WEB: www.theaoi.com/artist/demitrinezis/index.html

Demitri Nezis is a practising freelance illustrator who is now based in

London after graduating from the University of Portsmouth, where he
studied illustration. Demitri developed his design skills after a stint as
a street artist and graffiti writer in Athens, where he was brought up.
This style has a strong influence in his digital creations. “Street art is
free for everyone. I see the urban landscape as a gallery, it’s the best
way of getting everyday people closer to art.” Demitri’s past projects
have involved working with the Hellenic Air Force in Athens and taking
part in an art project at Japan’s Design Fiesta Gallery in Tokyo.

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 Helpdesk
We’re awash with hardware queries this issue, so our technical expert reveals
the best kit to complement your creativity BY JULIE EASTON

BIG IT UP
I have recently started looking at getting a
large-format printer and I was wondering if
you have any suggestions on what models to
look at? Ideally I would like a maximum of 22
inches. Hope you can help.
James Tucker, via email

Epson does a wide range of large-format printers, which all

offer superb printing quality. If price is a consideration then
the Epson Pro 4000 is the lowest-priced model, available for
around £1,500 online. However, this only supports up to 17
inches and may not be enough to suit your requirements.
The best of the range, balancing printing size and price, is
probably the Epson 7800. This retails for around £2,400, but
it does allow you to print up to 24 inches and images look so
crisp and clear that it’s worth every penny. Inks are expensive,
IN THE RAW: RawShooter Premium is a good standalone
but they have good life and you can print onto any media conversion option, but you could upgrade to CS2 instead
you want, including canvas.

BEE ME UP: Good macro shots are harder to achieve than

they look, but they can be used in a variety of ways
GET CLOSER
I really want to get some good macro shots
of flowers with an abstract twist in order to
use them in digital illustrations. I have tried
many times to get the perfect shot, but I
find that my shots lack texture, which is
what I really need for this to work. I use a
Nikon D50 with the 18-55mm kit lens.
Sarah Hamworthy, via email
It is easy to think that capturing something like a flower
close-up is relatively simple, but in actual fact it is a real skill.
First of all you need patience to find the right flower for your
needs. Don’t think you can just see one and start snapping!
Lighting is key here, and as tempting as it might be to get out
in the sunshine, try to avoid shooting in bright weather. In
order for you to make the most of a flower’s texture you will
find it easier to capture detail on overcast days.
Using a flash is usually a big no-no, but occasionally a fill-
in flash used from a distance can help counteract shadows.
The biggest thing to bear in mind, though, is the composition.
If you’re using the image in digital artwork then you want to
keep the shot as clean as possible and free from background
distractions so that cutting out is a much simpler task.
You might want to have a look on eBay if you fancy this
model but not the cost. When we looked there were a few
7800s going for just under £2,000, and some even better
prices on inks.
PRO MODEL: The Epson 7800 is the
pro choice for large-format printing
RAW DEALING
I have recently upgraded my film SLR to a
digital model and I want to shoot in RAW to
maintain more image detail. I have
Photoshop CS and I wondered if it was worth
upgrading to get the additional camera
support in Camera RAW in CS2, or whether
I am better off buying another RAW-editing
program and sticking with CS.
John Logan, via email
More and more photographers are realising the benefits of
shooting in RAW and as such there are dozens of programs
out there offering conversion capabilities. The bonus of
shooting in RAW is being able to select important camera
settings in post-production rather than at the time, which
is great if you need your image perfectly exposed and sharp
to boot. All cameras that can shoot in RAW have their own
conversion packages included. Some of these, such as Nikon
Capture, are pretty good, but they don’t stand up to the
dedicated options. The best standalone option is probably
Pixmantic’s RawShooter Premium, the pay-for version of
RawShooter Essentials. This is a complete workflow solution
and it’s super-fast at processing your pictures. However, your
best bet is to upgrade to Photoshop CS2, as the built-in
Camera RAW does the job admirably, plus you’ll reap the
benefits of the other new additions to the software.

78
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NICE BOD: Spend money on lenses and a good body rather
than more megapixels when it comes to buying your first DSLR
WHICH SLR?
I have only just started to explore the
possibilities of Photoshop, having been an
illustrator for many years. I’m learning a lot
about photography and want to get a new
camera, but I have no idea what model to go
for. I want a good SLR, but I don’t know if
there is much difference between six
megapixels and ten megapixels, or whether
the money is better spent on lenses and a
better zoom.
Jane Doran, via email
It really depends what you are going to be using the camera
for. If you are going to be taking shots for printing at no larger
than A4, or using images within other forms of digital art,
then there is not really much point spending out on massive
megapixels. Once you get over six there’s really not a great
deal of difference in quality at that size.
If you are printing in larger formats, then your megapixel
count will matter. If you fall into the former category then
you would do better to invest in a good strong body and
a selection of quality zoom lenses. The best way to start is
to look for a camera that comes with a lens kit, as this will
enable you to get a feel for the model and you’ll soon find out
the limitations of the included lenses and know what you
need to invest in. The Olympus E-500 DSLR is a good starting
camera and you can get it from www.digital-cameras.com
for around £640 with two lenses.
COME A CROPPER
In order for my digital photos to print to a standard 7x5 borderless format, I have to slightly
crop each one to a specific size (I am currently using an Olympus E500 with a 4/5 format). Is
there a way in which I can preset a ‘cropping mask’ in Photoshop of the required specific size
that can then be applied to each image for cropping? At the moment I have to crop each
image, check the image size and then
recrop as often as is necessary until I get it
right! I am using Photoshop CS2.
078-079_APM20_Helpd.indd 79
PHOTOSHOP SHORTCUTS
I have always worked with Photoshop
Elements and have only recently made the
trade up to Photoshop CS2. I work with layers
every day and in Elements I could hold
down Alt and click with the mouse on a layer
thumbnail in order to select everything on
that layer. I can’t seem to do this in
Photoshop. Is there a way to get around this? I
am having trouble learning all the shortcuts!
Steven Mills, via email
The way shortcuts work do vary from Photoshop Elements to
Photoshop CS2. The one that you’re looking for is to right-click
on the layer thumbnail and select Layer Transparency, which
will neatly select everything on that layer. If you are working
on a Mac and don’t have a Mighty Mouse with right-click
functionality then you will need to Ctrl+click to get the same
menu up. You can certainly improve your speed and workflow
by learning the shortcuts in Photoshop, and you can view
a full list of available shortcuts at http://user.fundy.net/
morris/?photoshop01.shtml, where you can also download
a copy for future reference.
CLICK TRICK: Right-click or Ctrl+click on a layer thumbnail
to select everything on that layer
Graham, via email
The easiest way to make sure that your images are
cropped at 7x5 is to use the options bar at the top of the
screen when the Crop Tool is selected. Here you can enter
a specific height and width and your crop box will be
restricted to this aspect ratio, meaning that you always
get a perfect-sized image.
DOWNSIZING: Use the Crop Tool’s options to
fix the cropping box size for perfect proportions
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FLAT OUT: The CanoScan
LiDE 500F offers compact and
stylish film scanning
WORKING FLAT OUT
I have been using an old Epson scanner that
came with my computer when I bought it two
years ago, and I really need to upgrade. I
want to be able to scan a variety of objects
and import them into Photoshop, some of
which don’t even fit into my scanner. I also
want to be able to scan transparencies and
film negatives.
Simon Costa, via email
There are some great scanners around at the moment that
will suit your requirements. If you would like to stick with the
Epson range, then why not take a look at the Perfection V700
Photo? You can scan almost anything, including 35mm,
medium-format and large-format films. It’s also one of the
first scanners to offer 6400x9600dpi scanning for under £500.
If you’d rather move away from Epson, however, then there
are some other good options over in the Canon camp. The
Canon CanoScan LiDE 500F, for example, is super-sleek and
ultra-slim, yet offers a film adaptor and dedicated
technologies to help you get the best from your scans.
HELPDESK
CALL FOR QUESTIONS
Want help with your Photoshop problems?
Then let our team of experts sort you out.
Send your emails to us at:
advancedpshop@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Remember to specify whether you are
using a PC or Mac and the version number
of your edition of Photoshop.
79
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26/6/06 09:50:36
 tab
lets

GRAPHICS
TABLETS
Here’s some serious medication to ease the pain of any suffering Photoshopper

F
or any Photoshop user who takes

The Graphire4 Series

their digital art seriously, a
gadget that makes work easier or
more natural to use is welcomed.
Creating designs laboriously with a mouse
The Graphire4 series is the first port of call
that has a mind of its own and only allows you
to draw awkward, inaccurate lines isn’t very
for those who want to test out the benefits
of a graphics tablet without exhausting their
Graphire4
inspiring. Without access to the brush
dynamics and accuracy, you’re only playing
budget. Although it’s aimed more towards
the consumer market rather than the
Classic
with half of Photoshop’s power. Dimensions : 208 x 203.8 x 17.8mm
professional, you can enjoy all the essential
In our opinion, getting a graphics tablet is Active area: 127.6 x 92.8mm (A6)
features such as pressure sensitivity and
more important than splashing out on a fancy Weight: 500g
high-resolution accuracy. The Graphire4
monitor, and the great news is that it doesn’t have Resolution: 2,000 dpi
series is available in five different versions: Pressure levels: 512
to be an expensive venture. There’s very little
Graphire4 Classic, Graphire4 Classic XL, Accuracy: +/- 0.5mm
competition when it comes to the production of
Graphire4 Studio, Graphire4 Studio XL and SRP: £63.82
graphics tablets, with Wacom leading the way.
Graphire Bluetooth. New features have been
However, the company does such a grand job
added since previous Graphire models –
that we’re not complaining at all. Over the next
ExpressKeys to which you can assign
few pages we’re going to take a look at the
preferred shortcuts or macros, a scroll wheel
different models available from Wacom. We’ll be
that will help you to navigate a window up
catering for everyone from those with tight
and down (just like the scroll wheel on a
budgets to professional artists who need a
mouse) and a photo frame to secure images
serious piece of kit. For each model we will be
in the tablet ready to trace. Although the
exploring their features and benefits. If you’ve
Graphire4 is Wacom’s budget range, the
never had the chance to experiment with a ducts log on
tablets feel incredibly professional and give ation on Wacom pro
graphics tablet then we’ll take you through the For further inform op e.com or
you the chance to create and manipulate www.waco m- eur
artistic possibilities and show you how to to the website at
artwork with impressive accuracy. 744 08 31
telephone 0207
customise your tablet to achieve the best effects.
Once you’ve taken the first dip into the wonderful
world of Wacom, you’ll never want to look back.

GETTING A GRAPHICS
TABLET IS MORE
IMPORTANT THAN
SPLASHING OUT ON A
FANCY MONITOR
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 Hardware
ROUND UP
ALTHOUGH THE
GRAPHIRE4 IS WACOM’S
BUDGET RANGE, THE
TABLETS FEEL INCREDIBLY
PROFESSIONAL

TECH HELP
Setting up your
Wacom tablet
Installing
You can simply plug and play your Wacom tablet into your
computer, but you will find that you don’t have access to
any of the special features or be able to use the customised
settings. Luckily,
setting up your
tablet is simple.
Inside the box
contents you will
find an installation
CD. All you need to
The Graphire4 Series

do is insert the
CD-ROM into the
drive and follow
the instructions.

Setting up
Once your tablet has been installed, open up System
Preferences or locate your tablet in your Control Panel. You
need to make sure that Photoshop CS2 has been added as
one of your

Graphire4 Graphire4 applications. You

can then work
Classic XL Studio through the Pen,
Eraser and
Dimensions: 278 x 263.8 x 18mm Dimensions: 208 x 203.8 x 17.8mm Mapping options
Active area: 208 x 150.8mm (A5) Active area: 127.6 x 92.8mm (A6) to make sure that
Weight: 860g Weight: 500g your tablet is set
Resolution: 2,000 dpi Resolution: 2,000 dpi up to suit your
Pressure levels: 512 Pressure levels: 512 needs and your
Accuracy: +/- 0.5mm Accuracy: +/-0.5mm display settings.
SRP: £127.65 SRP: £93.61
Brush preferences
You won’t be able to make the most of your tablet settings
unless you explore your brush preferences. There’s no right

Graphire4 Graphire or wrong way to set up your tool, as it all depends on the
brush you have

Studio XL Bluetooth selected. Open up

Window>Brush,
Dimensions: 278 x 263.8 x 18mm Dimensions: 257 x 24.3 x 280mm and click on any of
Active area: 208.8 x 150.8mm (A5) Active area: 208.8 x 150.8mm (A5) the options on the
Weight: 860g Weight: 860g left-hand side of
Resolution: 2,000 dpi Resolution: 2,000 dpi the palette then
Pressure levels: 512 Pressure levels: 512 adjust the drop-
Accuracy: +/-0.5mm Accuracy: +/-0.5mm down menus to
SRP: £153.18 SRP: £161.69 alter the behaviour
of your pen.

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 tab
lets
The Intuos3 series
The Intuos3 series

The Intuos3 series is the third generation of

graphics tablet tailored to digital professionals. The
Intuos3 series is available in six different sizes;
Intuos3 A3 Wide, Intuos3 A4 Oversize, Intuos3 A4,
Intuos3 A5 Wide, Intuos A5 and Intuos3 A6. The
variable-sized active area of the tablets is designed
to simulate a paper feel, while the ExpressKeys and
Touch Strips enable the design to use the tablet as
the primary tool on the desk. You can really get
creative, with a range of input devices comprising
Grip Pen, Mouse, Airbrush, Art Marker, Classic Pen,
InkPen and Lens Cursor. Each input source allows Intuos3 A5
you to approach your work with a new creative
slant and gives as much freedom as you would
Intuos3 A6 Intuos3 A5 Wide
Dimensions: 23.9 x 21.7 x 1.3cm Dimensions: 34.5 x 26.2 x 1.3cm Dimensions: 41.8 x 26.2 x 1.4cm
have working on a canvas. The Intuos3 range will fit Active area: 12.7 x 10.1cm (A6) Active area: 20.3 x 15.2cm (A5) Active area: 27.1 x 15.9cm
nicely into any modern setup with its sleek and Weight: 600g Weight: 1,000g Weight: 1,000g
sophisticated design. However, think carefully Touch Strip controller: One, at left Touch Strip controller: Two, at left Touch Strip controller: Two, at left
about the size of tablet you require as the larger side of tablet and right side of tablet and right side of tablet
versions (from A5 up) take up quite a bit of room Number of ExpressKeys: 4, at the left Number of ExpressKeys: 8, 4 on each Number of ExpressKeys: 8, 4 on each
side of tablet side of tablet side of tablet
and you will need plenty of desk space if you also
Pressure levels: 1,024 Pressure levels: 1,024 Pressure levels: 1, 024
need access to your keyboard.
Accuracy: +/-0.25mm Accuracy: +/-0.25mm Accuracy: +/-0.25mm

THE INTUOS3
SRP: £129.99 SRP: £199.99 SRP: £255.31

RANGE WILL FIT Intuos3 A4 Intuos3 A3 Intuos3 A4

NICELY INTO ANY Dimensions: 44.0 x 34.0 x 1.4cm Wide Oversize
MODERN SETUP
Active area: 30.5 x 23cm (A4)
Weight 1,800g Dimensions: 62.2 x 42.9 x 3.6cm Dimensions: 42.9 x 44.0 x 3.6cm
Active area: 48.8 x 30.5cm Active area: 30.5 x 30.5cm

WITH ITS
Touch strip controller: 2, at left and
right side of tablet Weight: 3,000g Weight: 2,100g
Number of ExpressKeys: Eight, four Touch Strip controller: Two, at left Touch Strip controller: Two, at left

SOPHISTICATED on each side of tablet

Pressure levels: 1,024
and right side of tablet
Number of ExpressKeys: 8, 4 on each
and right side of tablet
Number of ExpressKeys: Eight, four

DESIGN Accuracy +/-0.25mm

SRP: £309.99
side of tablet
Pressure levels: 1,024
Accuracy: +/-0.25mm
on each side of tablet
Pressure levels: 1,024
Accuracy: +/-0.25mm
SRP: £509.99 SRP: £379.99

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Cintiq 21UX
Cintiq 21UX
The revolutionary Cintiq 21UX
Interactive Pen display is the rather
glamorous sister of the graphics tablet.
To work the Interactive Pen Display you
‘draw’ on the actual 21.3-inch flat-
screen display itself, just as you would
do with a pen on paper. There’s the
chance to experiment with different
input devices using the Cintiq Grip Pen
with replaceable nibs, as well as the
Cintiq Airbrush, or you can cut costs by
using the same pens as you use on
Intuos3’s system. As with the Intuos3
range of graphics tablets, you can
increase your efficiency and ditch your
keyboard with the integrated
ExpressKeys and Touch Strips.
LCD Screen: TFT active matrix LCD
Screen Size: 54.2cm
Display Area: 432 x 324mm
Resolution: 1,600 x 1,200 pixels
Colour Depth: 16.7 million colours (24 bit)
Pressure Levels: 1,024
Weight (including stand): 10.2kg
Weight (excluding stand): 8.5kg
Driver software: Windows 2000/XP, Mac
OS X 10.2.6 or higher
SRP: £1,899
Trust tablets
As we’ve already mentioned, there’s very little competition when it
comes to graphics tablets. The only other main manufacturer is
Trust, although its products only support Windows systems and
not Mac. Each tablet offers 512 levels of pressure sensitivity and
function buttons. For more information visit www.trust.com.
080-083_APM20_tablets.indd 83
Hardware
ROUND UP
Customised settings
Different effects created with customised
settings and various input devices
Pen Pressure Scatter Rotation
ACCESSORIES
Making the
most of tools
There’s a wealth of accessories you can use to really
get creative with your graphics tablets. Take a look at
the Input devices by logging on to www.wacom-
europe.com. There are three specific devices that will
europe.com
work wonders for your Photoshop designs. These are;
Intuos3 Grip Pen
The standard pen for the Intuos3 tablet system,
THE
equipped with a waisted rubberised grip area to reduce
strain. The pen has 1,024 different pressure levels as well
REVOLUTIONARY as tilt sensitivity of up to 60 degrees. The nibs of the
pen can be altered through the standard nib to a stroke
CINTIQ 21UX IS and felt nib. The tip of the pen also doubles up as
THE GLAMOROUS
an eraser and you can customise this to be just as
pressure-sensitive as the pen tip.
SISTER OF THE
Intuos3 Airbrush
GRAPHICS
The Airbrush offers a realistic simulation of ink
application with spray distance and tilt giving it the
TABLET
performance of a real life spray can. The stylus wheel
gives 1,024 different levels of fine graduations. The brush
also recognises the tilt angle of 60 degrees. Again, the tip
of the brush acts as a customisable eraser.
Intuos3 Art Marker
The Art Marker is modelled on the traditional felt marker
and has an angled tip that enables the designer to draw
variable strokes. The pen’s tip is either made or plastic or
real felt, depending on the nib you choose and you can
change the width of your stroke by turning the pen’s
barrel along its 180-degree longitudinal axis.
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27/6/06 11:02:28
 Giving you the creative edge
Whatever your Photoshop desire, we have the
resources to make it happen

technology 86
How does Apple’s new Intel infatuation
affect our favourite app?

art galleries 90
Expand your inspirational sphere with
these fantastic day trips

books 92
Reviewing the latest and greatest
publications in design

mends
Recom
plug-ins 94
Expand Photoshop’s capabilities with
Army of Trolls

these handy downloads

PIXEL PERFECTION:
Think inside the box on PAGE 92

E very issue we take a look at sources of inspiration for your Photoshop art.
Whether you head to the bookshelves or to the Internet, as creatives we’re
always searching for new images to excite us.
This issue we thought we’d give you something new. Looking to art galleries for a
source of creativity, leaf through our collection of the best museums and galleries to
visit countrywide and we’ll give you our honest opinion. If you’d rather stick to a book
then you’re catered for too. Whether you need a publication to help you master the
basics of Photoshop or you’re after something with a bit more creative flair, there’s
something for all.
Finally, we all love a great plug-in, especially if it’s free, so we’ve tracked down a
huge selection of downloads that you can try out. Just turn the page to find all the
resources you need to start creating.

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 86
IN
b T
ta asic EL
b ke t IN
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086-089_APM20_Mac.indd 86
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b e d g si E
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27/6/06 15:48:18
 Mac & Adobe

Mac & Adobe

When Apple announced it was to use Intel chips in its Macs the computer industry
was delighted, but for the creative industry it was a different story BY NATALIE JOHNSON

A
pple’s announcement brought an end to
its decade-long relationship with IBM. The
idea of using Intel chips in Macs was raised
by Apple as long ago as 1985, shortly after Jobs
was forced out of his own company. In 1991 Apple
and IBM began discussing the feasibility of
swapping hardware and software technologies.
Eventually PowerPC was created, but while Apple
took it up the PC market stuck with Intel chips.
“Our goal is to provide our customers with the best
personal computers in the world, and looking ahead
Intel has the strongest processor roadmap by far,” said
Steve Jobs at the 2005 WWDC. “It’s been ten years
since our transition to the PowerPC, and we think
Intel’s technology will help us create the best personal
computers for the next ten years.”
The reasons stated for the change were vague, but
industry insiders have suggested motives, ranging
from the reputed dangerously high temperatures the
G5-class PowerPC chips generated to IBM’s supply
problems. Also, it was implied that the future
PowerPC roadmap wouldn’t fulfil Apple’s needs in
terms of computing power.
Steve Jobs exclaimed to his eager audience of Mac
devotees that the transition would begin in June 2006
(a year after the WWDC announcement) and would be
complete by the end of 2007. In fact, Apple launched WILL CS3
its first Intel based model on 10 January 2006 with the
release of the MacBook Pro, and a revised versions of BETTER HANDLE
the iMac. A month later, on 28 February, the Intel-
based Mac Mini was introduced to the world. THE PACE AND
Apple’s latest addition was the 13-inch MacBook
released on May 16th, completing the line of Intel- POWER CREATIVE
based laptops. According to reports, Jobs has
indicated that the changeover could be completed as
PROS DEMAND IF
early as the end of this year.
THEY CONTINUE
Along came Adobe TO USE AN INTEL-
BASED MAC?
At the time executives at Adobe were pleased with
Apple’s plans to switch. “We think this is a really smart
move on Apple’s part and plan to create future
versions of our Creative Suite for Macintosh that

11 JANUARY 2005:
Apple introduces the Mac
Mini to the world. The
company enhanced the
memory and released it with
double the memory. Eleven
months after the first version,
Apple delivers the Mac Mini
with Intel Core Duo

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 Feature
UNOFFICIAL PHOTOSHOP BENCHMARK TRIALS
In an unofficial benchmark trial carried out by the MacWorld website in May, the new 13-inch MacBook surpassed the iBook
G4 in all tests except the Photoshop one, which was run on Apple’s Rosetta emulation technology. The same was true of the
new MacBook Pro and its predecessor the 15-inch PowerBook G4. The following results show the time it took each Mac to
perform a set of 14 tasks using a 50MB file, with the memory set to 70 per cent and History reduced to minimum.
CHIP ‘SHOP: In the unofficial
test there was a marked MacBook 1.83GHz
difference between the Intel Core Duo
handling of Photoshop work 2.53
support both PowerPC and Intel processors,” urged
Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe, who participated in the
keynote address.
So when Apple launched its first Intel-packed
product six months early, Adobe was left to play
catch-up. Industry pundits argue that Adobe went
along with Apple’s originally proposed time-frame
and was developing the eagerly awaited CS3 as the
Intel-compatible package. So when the eager beavers
at Apple moved the goal posts by half a year, the
software producer was forced to provide CS2 owners
with a plug-in allowing them to use the applications
on their newly purchased Intel-based Macs, rather
than re-release CS2 as a Universal application that
would run on both Intel and PowerPC based systems.
Adobe simply made minor adjustments to the suite
enabling it to run within Apple’s Rosetta environment
on Intel-based Mac computers. Rosetta is an
emulation layer that runs on top of the Tiger
operating system and converts key commands
written for PowerPC chips into ones that the Intel
chips can interpret. This process has been criticized
by creative pros; the extra layer restricts some of the
performance of the new hardware as the chips are
not running a native application. “Adobe’s creative
applications have not been extensively tested under
Rosetta, so customers may run into compatibility and
THE NEW
13-INCH MACBOOK
SURPASSED THE
IBOOK G4 IN ALL
TESTS EXCEPT
THE PHOTOSHOP
ONE
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086-089_APM20_Mac.indd 88
MacBook 2GHz 14” iBook 17” MacBook Pro
Intel Core Duo 1.42GHz G4 2.16GHz Intel Core
2.38 1.49 Duo 2.26
other issues running these applications,” explained
Nick Peart, UK and Ireland PR manager at Adobe.
“Adobe Creative Suite does have one known issue:
one component, Version Cue Workspace (server),
does not run under Rosetta. We will continue to track
and communicate any known issues through our
technical Support Knowledgebase at www.adobe.
com/support/main.html. Adobe and Apple have
been partners for many years and we work as closely
as possible to create the best possible products for
our shared customers.” Currently, the only Adobe
product to run natively on the machines is Lightroom
(a beta is available from labs.adobe.com) the
company’s own answer to Aperture.
The latest launch
The latest Intel-based Mac, the 13-inch MacBook, runs
its native applications up to fives times faster than its
PowerPC-based predecessor the iBook G4, but
independent reports claim that it runs Photoshop
twice as slow.
No official comparative performance results have
been released for running Photoshop on the old and
new Macs from either company, and as such many
independent trials have been carried out. The
majority of tests show that the app on average runs
around twice as fast on the older Mac siblings,
although the reliability of these tests is questionable.
According to a benchmark test carried out by staff at
the MacWorld website the 13-inch MacBook out
powered the fastest iBook G4 in all but one of their
tests – the Photoshop test (see the boxout above for
the results of this test).
As these tests were carried out under unofficial
conditions it is recommended not to take them as
evidence but comment. For many the subjectivity of
expert creatives is proof enough. “Using Photoshop
CS2 on my new Intel Mac was one of the most painful
experiences I have had and that includes trying to use
Quark through Classic.” Says Mat McCartan, senior
designer on the Mac magazine iCreate. “Rosetta is one
15” PowerBook 20” iMac 2GHz
1.67GHz G4 Intel Core Duo
1.34 2.31
of the most pointless programmes Apple has ever
given us. It moves slower than Classic and its redraw
rate is pathetic. All I can say is wait for CS3 or – sin of all
sins – load up Bootcamp and get a Windows version.”
Future speculation
Intel Corp, the world’s largest microchip manufacturer,
has recently released plans for its next-generation of
Intel chip, ‘Merom’ notebook processor. Reports
suggest the company will unleash two waves of
updates including the replacement of the ‘Yonah’ chip
found in Apple’s current line of Intel Macs. The first
wave of Merom chips is due to start making their way
into the MacBook Pro notebooks this autumn as part
of a seasonal refresh prior to the Christmas shopping
period. If this happens Adobe may have to revise
again how the hardware will run its Creative Suite.
So what then for the future for Apple and Adobe
and the Photoshop using population? Will CS3 better
handle the pace and power creative pros demand if
they continue to use an Intel-based Mac? Adobe has
publicly stated that they plan to support PowerPC,
Intel Macs and Windows based computers with the
next version of Creative Suite, and if the company’s
track record of delivering new creative products every
18-24 months is anything to go by, creatives may not
get the update until the second quarter of 2007.
Is it a case of the hare and the tortoise? Has Apple
really got that far ahead by launching Intel-based
products before application leaders like Adobe heard
the starting gun? If market share is anything to go by,
perhaps not. Gartner, an independent analyst group,
reported the Californian Mac producer still isn’t as
successful as its PC rivals, with its share of the
worldwide market tumbling from 2.2 to 2.0 per cent.
Furthermore the figures show the company’s share in
its native country made for concerned reading, 3.6 per
cent down from 3.8 per cent last year. Or maybe it’s
Adobe who should pull its creative socks up and move
the launch of CS3 forward to please its baying herd of
followers. Only time will tell. 5
27/6/06 15:50:14
 B
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am A
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086-089_APM20_Mac.indd 89
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argument and upset. They may

Advanced Photoshop
89

27/6/06 15:52:33
resources
art galleries With the summer in full swing, get out and about
for some inspiration from your local art gallery
The Barbican
Address: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS
Web: www.barbican.org.uk
Phone: 0207 6384141
T he Barbican is a rare treat for the artist. Housing a
diverse range of world-class art – from dance and
music to painting and film – under one roof, The Barbican
is unique experience.
Since opening its doors to the public in 1982, almost 27
million people have visited the seven-acre site. Split into two
areas, The Barbican Art Gallery and The Curve house the
museum’s collection of visual arts. The Curve is home to a series
of new commissions created especially for the gallery by
contemporary artists while the Art Gallery showcases work of
more renowned artists, with a dynamic mix of art,
photography, architecture and design.
Hosting a range of exhibitions, as well as organising
touring exhibitions that travel the world, every visit to The
Barbican is a new experience. Currently, a visit to the Art
Gallery will see you taking a walk through futuristic cities,
while in The Curve up-and-coming artist Tomas Saraceno will
present his vision of the future.
Although some of the exhibitions and events at The Barbican
are free, you’ll find a small (around £6) fee applicable to some of
the occasions. For more information on any of the aspects of
The Barbican or to see what’s on, check out the website. A
fantastically easy to navigate and informative online portal, it’ll
Tate Liverpool
Address: Albert Dock, Liverpool, L3 4BB
Web: www.tate.org.uk/liverpool
Phone: 0151 702740
O
ne of the family of four Tate museums, Tate Liverpool
is situated in the heart of the Liverpool Docks. With
the fame of its two London-based siblings the Tate
Liverpool is often overlooked, yet after opening nearly
two decades ago in 1988 it’s now as well-established and
well-loved as the other galleries.
Situated in a converted warehouse, the museum has brought
some of the UK’s best-loved art to the north west and has
played a part in the regeneration of the run-down docks area.
As well as housing an impressive range of 20th and 21st-century
artwork, the Tate Liverpool has a fantastic range of temporary
exhibitions of contemporary art. Showcasing the work of
modern artists like Bruce Nauman, whose work has inspired
artists since the Seventies, the museum’s exhibition programme
is international in scope.
Future events to look out for include Liverpool Biennial:
International 06, where Tate Liverpool will be collaborating with
the Biennia’s exhibition team to realise new commissions by
many of the most interesting artists from around the world,
some showing for the first time in the UK.
Although the museum may have fewer exhibitions than
some based in the country’s capital, Tate Liverpool does a
90
Advanced Photoshop
090-094_APM_20_resources.indd 90
mends
Recom
whet your appetite for the real thing. Upcoming
exhibitions listed include Future City: Experiment
and Utopia in Architecture, which runs until mid-September
(check out this issue’s Bulletin for more), and coverage of
inventive sculptor Richard Wilson’s work later in the year. You’d
be mad to miss it! 5
Rating: 5/5
fantastic job of bringing a wide-ranging, diverse selection of
artworks to Liverpool. And from a city that has been voted the
European Capital of Culture for 2008, we’d expect no less. Set to
become stratospherically cool. 5
Rating: 4/5
Day tripping
Modern Art Oxford
Address: 30 Pembroke Street, Oxford,
OX1 1BP
Web: www.modernartoxford.org.uk
Phone: 01865 722733
Proving that to be great, you don’t have to
be based in London is Modern Art Oxford.
The largest gallery devoted to modern and
contemporary art in the south east, it has a
constantly changing programme of art
events that maintain its reputation for
high-quality exhibitions.
Currently presenting Out Of Beirut, a
comprehensive exhibition of the work of
artists, performers and writers emerging
from the formerly war-torn city, it’s a
thought-provoking view.
To keep you up to date on what’s on at the
Modern Art Oxford, check out the Stay In
Touch section of the website, where you can
sign up for regular email updates. 5
Rating: 3/5
The Saatchi Gallery
Address: Currently moving venue
Web: www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk
Phone: TBA
The past home of exhibitions from
Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Boris
Mikhailov, The Saatchi Gallery has always
aimed to present the work of young artists
or those not often showcased in the UK.
Now reaching an audience of around
600,000 a year, The Saatchi Gallery has had
to find itself a new home.
Moving to Chelsea, the gallery will open
again in early 2007 in the Duke of York’s HQ,
Sloane Square. Occupying the entire 50,000-
square-foot building, The Saatchi Gallery will
encompass a bookshop, educational facilities
and a café. For a virtual tour of the new gallery,
visit the website at www.saatchi-gallery.co.
uk. Let’s hope the real thing is a good as the
virtual museum. 5
Rating: 3/5
The Animation Art Gallery
Address: 13-14 Great Castle Street,
London, W1W 8LS
Web: www.theanimationartgallery.com
Phone: 0207 2551456
From the best original animation
cels, sketches and concept art
to gallery exclusive
commissioned pop art Recom
mends
canvasses, this art gallery is a
joy to look at or buy from.
Hosting a range of events that see
the voices of Bart and Lisa Simpson come to
London, or a Hat Party in celebration of new
Dr Seuss artwork, The Animation Art Gallery
provides probably the most fun you can have
at an art gallery. Situated off of London’s
Regent Street or at the new Glasgow gallery in
Debenhams on Argyle Street, you can pick up
a reasonably priced piece of art that could
really mean something to you. 5
Rating: 5/5
27/6/06 15:56:31

Day tripping
Victoria and Albert
Address: Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL
Web: www.vam.ac.uk
Phone: 0207 9422000
If you want a diverse range of exhibitions,
events and collections, look no further than
the V&A. From Modernism: Designing a
New World to Leonardo da Vinci:
Experience, Experiment and Design, there’s
something for everyone at one of the
country’s best-looking museums.
Situated just a stone’s throw from the
Science Museum and the National History
Museum, these three free attractions can make
for the perfect day of inspiration. Whether you
want to draw the world’s largest mammal or be
inspired by a costume collection, there’s plenty
to look at. For the museum’s full listing of events,
visit its user-friendly site. 5
Rating: 5/5
Design Museum
Address: Shad Thames, London SE1 2YD
Web: www.designmuseum.org
Phone: 0870 8339955
The host of the Designer Of
The Year exhibition earlier Recom
mends
this year, the Design Museum
is one of the world’s leading
museums of modern and
contemporary design.
With a website that attracts over one and a
half million visitors a year, The Design Museum
has one of the world’s most popular design
sites. Providing a huge and accessible online
research archive, the website has won
numerous awards in its own right.
The museum is no second-class institution
either. Celebrating design in every form –
fashion, architecture, graphics, multimedia –
over 200,000 people visited last year alone and
the museum has recently taken on the role as
the UK’s largest museum provider of design
educational resources. 5
Rating: 5/5
The Photographers’ Gallery
Address: 5 & 8 Great Newport Street,
London WC2H 7HY
Web: www.photonet.org.uk
Phone: 0207 8311772
The Photographers’ Gallery, the first
independent gallery in Britain devoted to
photography, was founded in 1971.
Developing a reputation as the UK’s primary
venue for contemporary photography, one of
the gallery’s major achievements has been to
establish photography within a wide viewing
public, making it popular and accessible. The
gallery was the first in the country to show key
names such as André Kertész, Jacques-Henri
Lartigue and Irving Penn, and has an integrated
programme of exhibitions to present the most
innovative developments in photography as
well as nurturing new talent. Currently
expanding to envelop a new space on Ramillies
Street, London, this gallery is on the up. 5
Rating: 4/5
090-094_APM_20_resources.indd 91
resources
Gallery of Modern Art
Address: Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow, G1 3AH
Web: www.glasgowmuseums.com
Phone: 0141 2291996
B
eing the second most visited contemporary art gallery
outside of London, the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA)
is a must-visit if you’re in the Glasgow area. Offering a
unique programme of temporary exhibitions and
workshops, the gallery has something for everyone – no
matter what your medium of interest.
Displaying work by local and international artists as well as
running events like the Annual Art Competition for Young
People sets the GoMA apart from the rest.
Opened a decade ago in 1996, the Gallery of Modern Art is
housed in an elegant, neo-classical building at the heart of the
vibrant city. Refurbished to house the city’s contemporary art
collection, the building is an appealing combination of old and
new architecture, incorporating a number of artists’
commissions, and plays host to numerous exhibitions.
Enthralling millions of visitors over its seven years, the Gallery
continues to evolve and is attracting new audiences every day. work by Claire Barclay, Lucy Skaer and Douglas Gordon. For
And Material World, one of its current exhibitions, can take more information on current events, or to subscribe to Preview,
some credit for this. The sculpture-based event features work the magazine of Glasgow museums, log on to the website,
from the likes of Damien Hirst, Claire Barclay and Richard where you’ll also find links to all of Glasgow’s other major
Deacon among others, and ends on 25 September. Later in the galleries including The Burrell Collection, which includes
year you can enjoy November’s Contemporary Collection, sculpture by Rodin and works of art by Degas and Cézanne. 5
which features work bought by Glasgow Museums’
Contemporary Art Purchasing Panel. This exhibition includes Rating: 4/5
Red Rag Gallery
Address: 5-7 Church Street, Stow-on-the-Wold,
Gloucestershire, GL54 1BB
Web: www.redraggallery.co.uk
Phone: 01451 832563
T here are some galleries that everyone has heard of:
The Tate, Tate Modern, National Portrait Gallery, the
list goes on. To find inspiration from lesser-known artists
and less popular genres you generally need to scout out
smaller galleries.
Red Rag Modern British Art Gallery specialises in fine
contemporary art, sculpture and contemporary paintings from
present day British and Scottish artists. Although not ideal if
you’re looking for inspiration purely in the digital art or
photography field, the gallery is an ideal place to find up-and-
coming artists before their prices shoot through the roof, and
let’s face it, whether it is sketched, painted or moulded, the use
of colour, form, perspective and the like is always a useful study.
Based in some historic Cotswold buildings that were once
studios to artists John Blockley and Moira Huntly, the Red Rag
gallery has one of the largest displays of British art in the UK. galleries around. For more information about exhibitions in that
Couple the historic surroundings with the regular exhibitions of area, or any other, check out Red Rag’s gallery map, available on
solo artists’ work and you end up with a fabulously inspiring the website. It’s a really handy tool for finding exactly the artist
gallery that’s also a great day out. or type of work you’re after. 5
Although its lack of city centre location could put some
visitors off, if you’re in the locale there are plenty of other Rating: 4/5
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Advanced Photoshop
27/6/06 15:56:43
 books
resources
Whether you want some technical tips or some
imaging inspiration, there’s a book to suit
Further reading
Photoshop CS2 Visual Encyclopedia Photoshop Elements 4: The
Art Of Digital Photography
Author: Stephen Romaniello Author: Mikkel Aaland
Publisher: Wiley Publisher: Sybex
Price: £19.99
Price: £25.99 ISBN: 0782144462
Web: eu.wiley.com
ISBN: 0764598600
Web: eu.wiley.com Although as digital artists we’re aware of
the techniques and tricks needed to create

W
illustrations and artworks using Photoshop,
e all know it can take a while to become completely tweaking your photographs can be a useful
comfortable with new software, and when that skill we often overlook.
software is as all-encompassing as Creative Suite 2, you From importing and managing files to
can really be in trouble. correcting colour, sharpening and adding a
copyright watermark, this book covers all you
Photoshop CS2 Visual Encyclopedia does exactly what it says in
need to get started. If if you already know the
the title. It gives you a complete A-Z run-through of all the CS2 basics, then the chapters of perfecting your
features, explaining what they do and how to use them, outside shots, interiors, products and faces may
accompanied by images to illustrate each point. prove to be important tools. The section
covering handling panoramics with
Although this might sound a little basic for the advanced
photomerge is particularly useful.
Photoshop user, there are some tricks and tips in here that The images give this book a real lift in what
might just prove invaluable to your imaging. Whether you want could be a dull and tired read. There are some
a more in-depth knowledge of clipping groups or you simply useful pages, but on the whole there are better
read the Tips, Warnings or Try This at the end of each chapter, Encyclopedia is packed full of essential explanations and books out there. 5
your work can only get better with the help of this guide. step-by-steps to help the visual artist. Rating: 2/5
Written by Stephen Romaniello, the author of Mastering A must-read for all up-and-coming artists and those new to
Photoshop 6, Photoshop 7 Savvy, Photoshop CS Savvy, and CS2, although it might cover old ground to those of you who Manga Clip Art
Photoshop CS2 Savvy, the book covers tools first then takes a have had some more experience. 5 Author: Hayden Scott-Baron
Publisher: Ilex
look at the techniques behind the tools. Written in an Price: £14.99
authoritative and informative yet easy-to-follow manner, CS2 Rating: 3/5 ISBN: 1904705839
Web: www.ilex-press.com
Alongside comic pop art, manga has
developed into one of the most popular art

Character Design For Mobile Devices forms in the world. Providing you with all
the elements you need to create your own,
professional looking manga illustrations is
Manga Clip Art.
Author: NFGMan RE
OF ADER
Supplied with a CD packed full of high-res
Publisher: RotoVision clip art, the book allows even those without
Price: £30 Adva FE
nce R any experience of the art form to create a
ISBN: 2940361126 Char d Photoshop rea ready-to-print image.
M a ct But don’t think it’s all done for you. With the
foroboile Deevr Desig an buy
Web: www.rotovision.com ders
c guidance provided within this hardback you’ll
nl ice n For soon develop your own unique style, as well as

I To ta free post y £27 s

with
f you’ve read our Create Your learning the basics of how to create, colour and
Own Pixel Art tutorial, you hotli adva age and .99
ke render original manga creations. A book for
re ne on ntage pack
fe 01 of agi lovers of the genre. 5
might already be itching to make 20 Jurence num476 54 this offer,ng (UK only
ly to 10 c 4/5
something for your phone, PDA or the eber JF01 80 and all the ). Rating:
nd of 4. Of quote
Octob fer v
home computer screen. For those of er 20 alid frthe
you in need of a bit more persuasion of
06 om
The Digital Canvas
the brilliance of this art form, look no Author: Jonathan Raimes, Malcolm Garrett
Publisher: Ilex
further than this volume. Price: £19.95
Looking at the unique challenges faced by the creatives ISBN: 1904705766
Web: www.ilex-press.com
behind designing icons for mobile devices, this is chock-full of
Recom Although most of us believe that Photoshop
vibrant art and colourful characters. mends is Adobe’s finest app, it’s not its only one.
A constantly changing process due to technological The Digital Canvas looks at how easy it is to
advancements and new creative blood, designing for this handheld console and features pages of colour create fantastic artwork using the range of
medium can be an extremely restrictive process, and not just character images together with their own history and the Photoshop, Illustrator and Painter features.
Aimed at both beginners and advanced
through space constraints. inspirations behind them.
users, this books features a massive 350 images
Looking at the mobile characters that have gone on to Whether you want to design for your PSP, the DS or your new inside its 192 pages – a pretty good ratio!
become icons, as well as looking at the profiles of the best in the Motorola phone, there’s inspiration galore here for you and Looking at everything from the manipulation
business and giving you some simple examples to get your own although this might be out of your usual book budget, it’s well of basic lines, shapes and colours to the
artwork started, this book is a delight to read and simply great to worth a splurge. 5 experimental art of John Maeda, this book is
the ideal companion next to your tablet. 5
look at. Exploring the development of mobile game characters,
this read provides a detailed narrative of the history of the Rating: 5/5 Rating: 4/5

92
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090-094_APM_20_resources.indd 92 27/6/06 16:02:35

 plug-ins
resources
Enhance Photoshop’s potential with these
fantastic plug-ins available for download

Exposure Special effects

Developer: Alien Skin Software
Price: US$99/£54 (upgrade) AlgoShop
Web: www.alienskin.com Developer: Algolith
Price: US$89.95/£49

I
Web: www.algolith.com
t hasn’t been so long since the country’s photographers
switched en masse to digital. Now, through Photoshop Designed specifically for Photoshop CS
and CS2, this is a simple plug-in providing
and apps like it, we strive to get that feel of real film back.
improved image quality. Tidying up some
Exposure from Alien Skin Software helps bring the look and of the regular problems found within
feel of film to digital photographs. Effects that can be achieved digital photography, AlgoShop focuses on
include realistic film grain, simulating the characteristics of the blotchy irregular patches known as
Mosquito noise as well as the noise created
dozens of film stocks.
at the time of image capture (ISO noise).
If you miss the distinctive look of film photography then With a simple and user-friendly interface
check out the Exposure examples page, where you can see the which allows you easy access to a before-and-
effects you’re buying before you shell out your cash. Useful, but after preview, AlgoShop is certainly self-
you can achieve similar effects without the £54 outlay. 5 explanatory to use. It’s a useful tool for anyone
who spends a lot of time cleaning up new
digital or archived images, and the results can
Rating: 3/5
be quite impressive. 5
Rating: 4/5

LunarCell EtchTone v1.21

Developer: Andromeda
Price: US$98/£53 (full)
Developer: Flaming Pear Web: www.andromeda.com
Price: US$40/£21 (as part of a bundle) EtchTone is a rather niche creative plug-in
Web: www.flamingpear.com that allows you to simulate the look of a
steel etching starting with just a black-and-

I f your regularly create space scenes within Photoshop

you’ll know that plenty of texture and great sky shots
are an essential. LunarCell is a plug-in that’s dedicated to
white photograph.
Depending upon the end effect desired,
the plug-in will either Overlay the etch or Blend
the etch to give a classic old printing look.
accurately recreating planets, and even allows you to
You can also buy this as part of a larger
download live cloud pictures from weather satellites. bundle (Artistic Screening Tools, US$225/£121),
Download the free demo version to get to grips with the which includes Cutline and Screens.
plug-in, or for just £21 you can buy the full plug-in alongside Making results you can already achieve with
two others – SolarCell (for fantasy-style suns) and Glitterato Photoshop a lot easier, unless you’re having a
lot of trouble mastering the Adobe techniques,
(realistic star bursts and nebulas). these really aren’t worth the money. 5
This is an inexpensive bundle, but unless you have a specific
Rating: 2/5
use for lots of space images it might be best left on the shelf. 5

Rating: 3/5 Three-D Luxe v3

Developer: Andromeda
Price: US$109/£59 (full)
Web: www.andromeda.com

PhotoFreebies
If you want to get your head around 3D
without the expense of some of the
high-end 3D packages, then this plug-in
might just be what you’re after.
Developer: The Plugin Site
With an even easier-to-use new interface,
Price: Free this is superior to its predecessor in more than
Web: www.thepluginsite.com one way. Now able to wrap textures and

I
combine images from within Photoshop,
f you’re looking for a plug-in, you can’t go far wrong
Three-D can help you create high-quality
looking on a resource called The Plugin Site. From plug- rendered 3D objects from your own images
ins to organise your other plug-ins to frame and photo and stock photography.
effects, there’s something for every need and every pocket. Also providing you a selection of textures
and surfaces within the plug-in, new features
PhotoFreebies is a collection of free plug-ins designed to
include Stressed, Rivoted, Aged and Alien
perform an array of photo manips and effects. Whether you sculpted surfaces, offering the full gamut of
want black and white, sepia or to remove transparency, this interesting creative options. Upgrade from
plug-in has it all. previous versions for just US$19.95/£11. 5
This won’t work with Photoshop versions lower than 7 on a Rating: 4/5
Mac 3 on Windows, but all compatibility can be checked via the
site before you download. 5

Rating: 3/5

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