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Posted on 02/03/10 5:31:05 PM |
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MissDonnaLee
* Posts: 12 Reply |
How to do effect on front of the book?
I want to take a photo of a group of people and have them pose like they are throwing a ninja throwing star. Of course I can't really have them throw the blades because they might kill me. So, I want to superimpose a 3d object onto the photo in photoshop extended cs4 like the man throwing dice on the cover of Steve's book. "How to Cheat in Photoshop". I have a jpeg of the ninja star I want to use. I want to make it look like a real object in the photo...be able to turn it around in any direction, resize it, etc. I removed the background and saved the jpeg as a gif and a tif. While it will open up in the 3d program in cs4, the background comes back. I just don't know how to pull this off...can anyone help? Thanks, Donna |
Posted on 02/03/10 8:41:19 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 4060 Reply  |
How to do effect on front of the book?
Hi Donna, There are a few ways to do this. First thing to do is select the item and then put it on its own layer. Use Ctrl-J on a PC or Cmd-J on a MAC to do this. You should now have a layered file with the background image on one layer and the star on a separate layer by itself. Save this as a .psd file. Now open up the image with your friends. Go back to the star file and drag the star layer onto your ‘friends’ image where it will appear as a separate layer which you can now re-size and rotate as you wish. Hope this helps. Gordon _________________ Why is there only one word for ‘Thesaurus’? |
Posted on 03/03/10 11:57:32 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7072 Reply  |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
Maybe you should post the image, and we can have a go? |
Posted on 09/03/10 8:51:01 PM |
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MissDonnaLee
* Posts: 12 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
the photoshoot was done this Saturday. the lighting in the rehearsal hall was ghastly but I finally do have a photo I can post here. Thank goodness I shot images in raw. anyway, I will post this evening when I get home. Thanks, Steve and Gordon... |
Posted on 13/03/10 01:52:04 AM |
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MissDonnaLee
* Posts: 12 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
Here's an Image I can work with...not such great photography but this is similar to what I want to do...with the subjects throwing the ninja star. I will post the star as well.  |
Posted on 13/03/10 01:53:59 AM |
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MissDonnaLee
* Posts: 12 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
the star (you're help is much appreciated...trying to have this star thrown at the viewer by the various subjects) 
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Posted on 13/03/10 01:55:44 AM |
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MissDonnaLee
* Posts: 12 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
P.S. I thought I was a good photographer but I actually am discouraged at my talent (or lack thereof). Oh, and I pretty much suck at Photoshop so I need step by step instructions...I am trying though and I am determined. Mostly, I love taking photos and editing with the computer so failure is not an option. (Steve I love your book, btw). |
Posted on 13/03/10 07:45:30 AM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply  |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
Hi Donna Your image was very small but is this the kind of effect you're looking for? Nick  |
Posted on 13/03/10 3:11:33 PM |
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MissDonnaLee
* Posts: 12 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
Yes, that's the kind of effect I'm looking for. Nick. Thanks so much.. I'd like to have a star for each subject. How do I do this? |
Posted on 13/03/10 7:27:02 PM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
I think a good starting image of the group is essential to make this work properly and the figures should look like they are actually throwing the stars. Open the star image and copy the star onto a new layer. Turn off the background layer. Apply a radial blur making sure the centre of rotation is in the very centre of the star. Reduce the opacity of the layer until you have the effect you want and then copy that layer. You may have to try a couple of settings until you achieve the effect you're after. Rotate the copy blurred star around the centre point to increase the spinning effect. When you have the look you want merge the layers onto a new layer (shift / Ctrl / Alt / E) and turn off the layers which made up the composite. With the composite layer selected, Ctrl A to select all and then Ctrl C to copy. Paste the spinning star into your figure image and it will appear on a new layer. Copy the layer and turn off the original. That way you will always have an undistorted star to go back to. Transform the copy, i.e. resize to suit and add perspective. You can then make duplicates, which can be resized and rotated to suit the figure throwing it. Hope this helps Nick |
Posted on 14/03/10 03:38:18 AM |
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MissDonnaLee
* Posts: 12 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
Awesome, Nick. Thank you. I will give it a shot. May take me a while but I will post my results. Thanks agai for your help. |
Posted on 24/03/10 03:55:41 AM |
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MissDonnaLee
* Posts: 12 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
Hi everyone...here is my final edit> Thanks everyone for all your help. I followed your step by step instructions, Nick. Let me know what you think.  |
Posted on 24/03/10 08:24:55 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7072 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
Yes - very convincing. I like the fact that you have them at different angles, which certainly helps the sense of realism. Good work! |
Posted on 24/03/10 09:37:45 AM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply |
Re: How to do effect on front of the book?
Hi Donna That's very effective and I'm glad we were able to help. Nick |