Today’s advanced tutorial will teach you how to create a realistic stone text effect from scratch in Photoshop.

You’ll learn how to create a custom bump map, and how to use this technique to distort virtually any surface. Then you will combine Layer Styles to create an authentic ancient stone texture. Finally, we will explore few simple techniques for creating fast and realistic jungle vines with leaves.

Let’s get started!

Final Image

This is the final image that we’ll be creating in this tutorial.

Step 1

Open a new file (File > New) in Adobe Photoshop with the following settings. Save the file as “Stone Effect.psd”. During work remember to frequently press File > Save (Ctrl + S) to save and update the file.

Step 2

Select the Type Tool (Or press T), then type the word “King”. I’m using Trajan Pro (Bold, 250 pt), which is coming with Adobe Photoshop CS5. I typed the letters as separate type layers and then resize and arranged them the way I want. For resize use Edit > Transform > Scale after targeting the Type layer.

Step 3

Now select the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Then press Shift and drag a perfect square. Then use Edit > Free Transform to rotate and adjust the size of the square, so it will fit on top of the letter “i” of the word “King” nicely.

Step 4

Now target the black square layer, press Shift and then click on all the type layers to select them. Then Right-click and select Merge Layers. So now the square layer and all the type layers are merged into a single layer.

Step 5

Rename the merged layer to “King Text”. Now create a new blank layer (Ctrl + Shift + N) above “King Text” layer. Rename this layer to “Stone Bg” and fill with white color. We will create the stone textured background on this layer with the help of the Lighting Effects filter. But to produce effective result Lighting Effects filter needs a Bump map. In the next step we will create that bump map within an alpha channel.

Step 6

Click on the Channels panel and then create a new alpha channel by clicking on create new channel button (third button from left) below the Channel Panel. Alpha channels are used for storing transparency information.

Step 7

Bump Map is basically a grayscale image, where white depicts height and black depicts depth and 50% grey is neutral, i.e., neither height nor depth. Target the newly created alpha channel by clicking on it and from Filter > Render > Clouds. Clouds filter generate a random cloud pattern that varies between the current foreground and background color, each time you apply the filter. Apply the Clouds filter a couple more times until you get an even distribution of grey values. Rename the alpha channel to “Clouds”.

Step 8

Now we apply the Difference Clouds filter on top of this cloud pattern to enhance it more. Difference Clouds blend the current foreground and background colors with the contents of the selected layer. Then Filter > Render > Difference Clouds. This will add more depth and contrast to the existing Cloud pattern. Apply a few more times until there is an interesting pattern. Rename the alpha channel to “Stone Bump Map”. Now the bump map for our stone surface is ready.

Step 9

Now duplicate the previously created “Stone Bump Map” and rename it to “King Bump Map”.

Step 10

Go back to the Layers panel and Ctrl-click on the “King” layer to load that text as a selection.

Step 11

Come back to the Channels panel and target the “King Bump Map” alpha channel. Then Select > Modify > Feather and use 2 pixel as the Feather radius value.

Step 12

Now Select the Brush tool (Press B) and white as the color. In the Option Bar click on the Brush Preset and select a soft brush. Then change the Blend Mode to Overlay. Change the Brush opacity to 50% and start painting within the selection. Slowly build up the desired look by painting again and again. Due to the Overlay selection mode within the selection white area will become more white and black or dark area will become darker.

This process will help us to define the aged look of the stone text.

That’s the end of the preview!

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Final Image

These are the final images that we’ll be creating:

Introduction

The photographs produced by most digital cameras need some degree of sharpening, even when working with a high-end camera bearing a sophisticated sensor. So a clear understanding of sharpening process and its application within Photoshop is essential for creating that perfectly focused crisp image.

What is Digital Sharpening?

Loosely saying sharpening is a technique for defining the outlines of an object more prominently. Sharpening a digital image means making the edges of the image or edges of the objects within the image more pronounced. The process is carried out by enhancing contrast between pixels or more precisely between lighter and darker pixels. This edge contrast increment process is defined within neighboring pixels or adjacent group of pixels. Edge contrast is also known as local contrast or precisely acutance. Sharpening exaggerates the edges by increasing the contrast and creates a highly defined edge with sharp transitions between light and dark, which tells us where an object begins and ends.

Why do we need to Sharpen?

Inevitably, every photograph needs some sharpening to bring out the detail that otherwise gets lost in translation between camera, computer, and print. Sharpening works by increasing the contrast around the edges of your image to bring it more into focus, adding detail to your image. Sharpening enhances the definition of edges in an image. Whether your images come from a digital camera or a scanner, most images can benefit from sharpening.

Dark Side of Sharpening

Sharpening doesn’t compensate for bad focus. Also no amount of sharpening will make up for depth-of-field problems. The best way to get a sharp photo is to shoot a sharp photo in the first place. Nothing can take the place of an optically sharp image. Another thing is filter application is a destructive edit that alters pixels in an unchangeable way. But then, no perfectly focused image is going to “pop” without the appropriate amount of sharpening applied, either. Keep in mind that sharpening cannot correct a severely blurred image. Be careful; an over-application of sharpening creates harsh images with ragged edges and shadows. Over sharpening also tend to produce damaged pixels or “artifacts” and color fringing or “halos”.

Before you start

I have given the links to the images, if you want to follow along. My advice will be, use your own images to get a clear understanding of the principles and their applications. But remember this tutorial is more of an exploration than rather being a process or steps tutorial. So don’t concentrate on the process or steps only to achieve a specific effect. But think more about it, why are we sharpening? How can we use the same principles in some other projects? What are the advantages? Now let’s start!

Common Workflow

We will always start working by duplicating the background layer. This way we will ensure a non-destructive workflow. Later if things are not looking the way they should be, then we can always delete the layer and start afresh. After the sharpen procedure we can further control the effect of the sharpen layer by adding a layer mask to it, which is visible in the below screenshot. It is also possible to adjust the sharpen effect by using the layer opacity or layer blend mode settings.

Let’s explore this process:

Sharpening Using Smart Filters

Without duplicating the background layer directly apply the Smart filter. Select the layer and choose Filter > Convert For Smart Filters, and click OK. Photoshop will automatically convert the layer to Smart layer and apply the Smart filter to it. Smart Objects preserve an image’s source content with all its original characteristics, enabling you to perform nondestructive editing to the layer. To expand or collapse the view of Smart Filters, click the triangle next to the Smart Filter icon, displayed to the right of the Smart Object layer. There you will find a mask is already attached with it, known as filter mask. Use filter masks to selectively mask Smart Filter effects by painting with a black paint brush within it. The advantage of smart filters are you don’t have to use a separate layer mask to control the sharpen effect later.
For this tutorial though we will take the traditional approach for the sake of maximum users’ familiarity, which is duplicating the background layer and then apply the filter on it. But feel free to follow the Smart object and then Smart filter process.

Photoshop’s Arsenal of Sharpening

Let’s take a look at some of the sharpening tools available to us in Photoshop.

The Sharpen Tool

Under the regular tools menu there is the ‘sharpen’ tool.

Sharpen Filters:

Under the filter menu there are several sharpen filters available to you. They are – Sharpen, Sharpen Edges, Sharpen More, Smart Sharpen and Unsharp Mask.

Another powerful filter, which we use for sharpening but is not known for its sharpening capabilities is the High Pass filter, hiding within the obscure “Others” filters group.

The Sharpen Tool

The Sharpen tool increases contrast along edges to increase apparent sharpness. The more you paint over an area with the tool, the more sharpening increases. The main advantage is you can use this tool locally like the Brush Tool.

Using the Sharpen Tool

Open the face.jpg image in Photoshop. Right click on the background layer and select Duplicate layer. Rename the layer as “Sharpen”. Select the Sharpen tool from the Tool Box. In the options bar choose a soft brush tip and set Luminosity as blending mode. Select Protect Detail to enhance details and minimize pixelated artifacts. Now click and drag over the part of the image you want to sharpen.

Though for this image we are using the Sharpen tool at 100% opacity, but ideally use low opacity and slowly build up the sharpen effect. As Sharpen tool tend to produce “halos” or color fringing around the edges, Luminosity blend mode is used to avoid that. Luminosity blend mode will only utilize the luminance data from the color blend but omit the color information. Below screenshot represents visible fringing in Normal Blend mode, which appears reduced after changing of Blend mode to Luminosity.

Sharpen Group of Filters

The Sharpen filters focus blurred images by increasing the contrast of adjacent pixels. Let’s explore them one by one.

Preparation before applying the filters

Never apply the filters directly on the image itself. Always duplicate the image by duplicating the background layer and then apply the filter on the newly created duplicate layer. The advantage is later on we can experiment with various blend modes and also apply a mask on that duplicate layer to control the effect.

Using the Sharpen and Sharpen More Filters

The Sharpen filter focuses a selection and improves its clarity. The Sharpen More filter applies a stronger sharpening effect than does the Sharpen filter. Both of them are basic filters with one shot operation. No option box available for further controlling the effect.

Appling Sharpen and Sharpen More Filters

Target the layer, then Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen or Sharpen More. To increase the effects apply the filters again with Ctrl + F.

Sharpen Edges

This filter finds the areas in the image where significant color changes occur and sharpen them. The Sharpen Edges filter sharpens only edges while preserving the overall smoothness of the image. There is the same disadvantage as with the previous two filters in that we don’t have any control over the amount, because there is no option box/ dialogue box.

Using the Sharpen Edges Filter

Target the layer, then Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen Edges.

Smart Sharpen

The Smart Sharpen filter uses the same algorithm as the Unsharp Mask filter. The Smart Sharpen filter also allows you to remove previously applied Gaussian, Lens, and Motion Blur filters. You can set the sharpening algorithm or control the amount of sharpening that occurs in shadow and highlight areas.

Using Smart Sharpen in Your Work

Open Fish.jpg image in Photoshop. Duplicate the background layer. Then Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. Select the Basic option if it’s not selected and change the amount to 300. Change the Radius to 3. Then click the Remove drop down list and select Lens blur to remove any camera lens blur. Gaussian Blur will produce results similar to Unsharp Mask. But Lens Blur will produce better quality for images with detail. Select the More Accurate check box for a slower but more accurate sharpening effect. Actually without the More Accurate option checked Smart Sharpen will perform more or less like the Unsharp Mask filter.

Understanding Smart Sharpen options

In advance settings you can adjust sharpening of dark and light areas separately using the Shadow and Highlight tabs. But first select the advanced option from above below the preview checkbox. Shadow and Highlight have three common parameters. They are Fade Amount, Tonal Width and Radius.

Fade Amount

Fade Amount will reduce the amount of sharpening separately in shadows / highlights. Higher amount of sharpening tend to reduce the amount of finer detail in the highlights / shadows, which we can protect with the use of ‘Fade Amount’ option.

Tonal Width

This option determines which tonal value will be affected by the ‘Fade Amount’. Smaller value will affect only the lightest highlights, whereas larger value of Tonal Width will affect a wider range of the highlights.

Radius

Radius option specifies the size of shadows/ highlights. Basically it determines the amount of the sample data, which will be used in the determination of the ‘Tonal Width’.

Sharpen without Shadow adjustment. Sharpen related grain is visible in the dark areas.

Sharpen with Shadow adjustment. Adjusting the Fade Amount removed grain from the dark areas.

Sharpen without highlight adjustment. Notice sharpen related grain is visible in the highlight areas.

Sharpen with highlight adjustment. Grain removed from the highlight areas by adjusting the Fade Amount.

USM or Unsharp Mask Filter

The Unsharp Mask filter, which is an advanced method of sharpening, is different than the basic sharpening methods. Unsharp Mask filter finds pixels that are different from the surrounding pixels, and then increases the contrast in the surrounding pixels. Basically this is done by finding areas of high contrast between pixels and then increasing that contrast.

Using Unsharp Mask Filter in Your Work

Open the face.jpg image in Photoshop. Then choose Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. Use 500 for the amount and 1.0 for the radius.

Radius

Use the radius to determine the number of pixels surrounding the edge pixels that affect the sharpening. A low radius means that the sharpening will be applied right next to the edge only. A larger radius applies the sharpening further out from the edge. For high-resolution images, a Radius value from 1 to 3 is usually recommended. A lower value sharpens only the edge pixels, whereas a higher value sharpens a wider band of pixels.

Amount

Amount determines how much to increase the contrast of pixels. For high-resolution printed images, an amount between 150% and 200% is usually recommended.

Threshold

Determines how different the sharpened pixels must be from the surrounding area before they are considered edge pixels. For instance, a threshold of 2 affects all pixels that have tonal values that differ by a value of 2. For example, pixels with tonal value difference 10 and 12 will be affected but not 10 and 11. The default Threshold value (0) sharpens all pixels in the image. In addition, you specify the radius of the region to which each pixel is compared. The greater the radius, the larger the edge effects. In other words, if a pixel is darker than the surrounding neighborhood, then the neighborhood is lightened even more.

In addition, you specify the radius of the region to which each pixel is compared. The greater the radius, the larger the edge effects. In other words, if a pixel is darker than the surrounding neighborhood, then the neighborhood is lightened even more. Use Threshold on grainy images to avoid sharpening grain in flat areas.

Consider the End Usage

Over sharpening an image produces a halo effect (color fringing or color halos) around the edges. The effects of the Unsharp Mask filter are more pronounced on-screen than in high-resolution output. If the final destination is print, experiment to determine what settings work best for your image.

Controlling the Sharpness

1. Sharpen your image on a separate layer so that you can resharpen it later if needed.
2. If you need to reduce image noise, do so before sharpening.
3. Sharpen your image multiple times in small amounts.
4. The amount of sharpening needed varies among output media.
5. Use a Layer mask to control the sharpen.

Practical Example 1: Sharpen an image with a Luminosity mask

This process involves by selecting a channel from the channels panel that displays good contrast than the others. As each channel contains only grayscale information, thus omitting unwanted appearance of color fringing or the ‘halo-effect’.

Step 1

Open the Banana.jpg file. Then in the Channels panel examine the channels for a channel with good contrast. Finding a channel with good contrast is essential for good luminosity mask. Here the red channel is showing good contrast between the banana and the background.

Step 2

Duplicate the red channel by dragging it over the ‘create new channel’ icon below the Channel Panel. You can also right click on the red channel and select duplicate channel. Ctrl click on the Red channel to load that channel as a selection.

Step 3

Then go to Layers panel and duplicate the background layer and rename it to “Sharpen”. Selection still loaded choose Select > Inverse or press Ctrl + Shift + I to inverse the selection. Then “Sharpen” layer targeted click on the Add Layer Mask icon below the Layer panel to create a layer mask based on that selection.

Step 4

Now make sure that Layer mask is not selected by clicking on the layer beside the layer mask thumbnail. Then Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and match the settings from the below screenshot. If needed it is possible to use Level command on that red copy channel to increase the contrast. We can also paint with a soft black brush within the Layer mask to hide unwanted area.

Practical Example 2: High Pass Sharpening

First let’s take a look at what High Pass filter does. This filter removes low-frequency detail in an image, retaining the edges and smoothing the other areas into a medium gray color. Then we will use a blend mode like Linear Light to use only the contrast data. One can describe this process as a non-destructive sharpen method also. Combined with a Layer Mask for controlling the sharpen effect, probably this technique is the most versatile.

Step 1

Open the face.jpg file in Photoshop. Duplicate the background layer by right click and select duplicate layer. Rename the background copy layer to “Sharpen”. Then change the Blend mode to Linear Light. Linear Light blend mode darkens or lightens the colors by decreasing or increasing the brightness, depending on the darkness or lightness of the blend color. Purpose of this blend mode is to enhance the image edges by making them more pronounced.

Step 2

Choose Filter > Other > High Pass. Play with the radius for a suitable sharpness effect. Low radius value will sharpen the edges only.

Step 3

Adjust the opacity of the layer if effect is too strong. You can also duplicate the layer to make the effect more prominent. For controlling the sharpen effect create a mask on the duplicate layer (by clicking on the Add Layer Mask from below the layer panel) and paint with a black color Soft Brush within the mask to selectively apply the sharpen effect.

Variation Using Smart Filters

For those, using Smart Filter procedure for High Pass, there will be slight variation than the previous Smart Filter operations.

Step 1

Open the face.jpg file in Photoshop. Then target the layer and choose Filter > Convert For Smart Filters, and click OK. Photoshop will automatically convert the layer to Smart layer and apply the Smart filter to it. Now Filter > Other > High Pass.

Step 2

But we need to apply Linear Light blend mode and there is no duplicate layer here. Expand Layer 0 to reveal the High Pass smart filter entry by clicking on the arrow at the right side. Besides the High Pass text there is a small slider like icon which upon double click will open the Blending Option (High Pass).

Dialog box. Change the Blend mode to Linear Light. If needed double clicking on the High Pass text will reopen the High Pass dialog box, where one can further adjust the High Pass value. For controlling the High Pass filter effect paint with a black paint brush directly within the Filter Mask.

Conclusion

From the above discussions of various sharpen techniques I hope that a clear understanding has been established. As well as the appearance of a fundamental question, i.e. which is the best technique? Unfortunately there is no best technique. The best technique depends on the complexity of the project, the level of the user and the amount of time one is willing to spend. But the most common method will be invariably the Unsharp Mask and Luminosity blend mode combination, which offer more flexibility and ease of use probably.

If you are just starting out with Photoshop and commands like Apply Image make you confused then this tutorial is for you. Besides Apply Image it will give you an understanding of how Channels work and also some advanced application of Blend modes.

Final Image

These are the final images that we’ll be creating:

Introduction to Apply Image

There are a few tools in Photoshop that are often overlooked or misunderstood, either because they’re hidden away or because their use isn’t immediately apparent. Yet these tools provide smart and useful ways to perform various tasks in Photoshop. The Apply Image command is one of them, which doesn’t get used very often, even by users who have been using Photoshop for years.

In this tutorial we will explore Apply Image and its many time saving applications.

Before you start

I have given the links to the images, if you want to follow along. My advice will be, use your own images to get a clear understanding of the principles and their applications. But remember this tutorial is more of an exploration than rather being a process or steps tutorial. So don’t concentrate on the process or steps only to achieve a specific effect, which may be possible to achieve by some other techniques also. But think more about it, why are we using Apply Image? How can we use the same principles in some other projects? What are the advantages? Now let’s start!

Apply Image at a glance

On the surface, Apply Image is useful for blending images, for working with layer masks, and for image editing. But then if you dig deeper you will find that the real power of Apply Image is its capability of blending, enhancing and modifying Channel data.
Following is a list of various applications of Apply Image:

Now let’s take a look at the advantages of using Apply Image:

Never use Apply Image command directly on the layer itself. Always duplicate the target layer and then apply the Apply Image on the newly created duplicate layer. The advantage is later we can reject this layer and go back to the original layer. Moreover we can also apply a mask on that duplicate layer to control the effect.

Exploring the Apply Image Feature

The Apply Image command can blend two images together. Before starting to work with it, you need to understand these important rules about using this tool:

Case Study 1: Channel Data modification

You download an image from a stock photo site for your project. You like the image, but the problem is the photographer lightens the image too much. You check the channels and find that the red channel is almost white. You don’t have the time for a new image search. You try the usual procedures like level or curve adjustment and playing with the blend modes. Although the image is getting dark but the detail is not coming back. Another example is in the channels palette, you noticed one channel’s data is corrupted. You thought that if I could anyhow replace the channel data with data from another good channel, then this image would be fine. One more example is you are working with a small size or low resolution image without any choice. You are thinking if there is any process through which you can improve the quality of the image. So let’s try our first exploration with Apply Image.

Step 1

Open the “Female Rep” image in Photoshop. Click the channels palette and check individual channels. The red channel is almost white or blown up. Green channel a little better than the Red channel though there is scope for improvement. Blue channel is better than Green based on the contrast factor, but with some sign of data corruption. The corrupted areas are patchy looking.

Step 2

Click the Layer palette tab and Duplicate the background layer. Rename it “Red data”. Go back to the Channels palette and target Red channel by left clicking on it.

Step 3

Then from Image menu, Image> Apply Image and use the settings from the below screenshot. What we are doing here is blending the green channel data with the Red channel in Multiply mode. As Multiply blend mode darken the image, the resulting Red channel is dark with the good data from the Green channel. Now the Red channel is showing good amount of contrast, which is the sign of a good channel.

Step 4

In the Layers Palette change the blend mode of the “Red data” layer in to Luminosity. In Luminosity blend mode “Red data” layer is taking only the luminance (or Contrast) data from the top layer, but omitting the color shift data due to the previous channel blend. As a result the detail of “Red data” layer is increased. Now duplicate the “Red data” layer and rename it “Green data”. Let’s use the Apply Image on the Green channel associated with the “Green data” layer to increase the detail of the contrast data more.

Step 5

Go back to the Channels palette and target the Green channel. Then again apply Image> Apply Image and match the below settings. Now we are blending the Green channel data with the Green channel itself in Multiply mode. The Green channel is showing now much better contrast due the Multiply blend mode. This process is also known as Self-blending.

Step 6

Go back to the Layer palette and check the image again. As we duplicate the “Red data” and create the “Green data” layer without changing the Luminosity blend mode, the detail of “Red data” is more increased.

Step 7

The resultant “Red data” layer is looking a little dark though. So change the opacity of the “Red Data” and “Green data” to 20% and 60% respectively. Now the image is looking perfect. You can control further by adding separate masks to the “red data” and “green data” layers to hide selective areas. This way you can perfectly control that how much data your final output image is taking from them.

Case Study 2: Mask creation workflow

Creating masks for complex objects like hair or fur is always a dilemma to Photoshop users. We are always looking for the next fastest or simplest method. Apply Image works as a great mask making tool also. With this tool it is possible to rapidly generate a base mask, which you can refine later with other tools. So let’s take a look at the mask making capability of Apply Image. First we take a look at how to create a mask by combining data from two existing channels. Then we will create a mask directly in the layers palette with the Apply Image.

Example 1: Step 1

Open the “Girl Dancing” image in Photoshop. First duplicate the background layer and rename it “Hair mask”. Click on the Channels tab and check individual channels. Here Red channel is showing the best contrast between the dress and background, where as the Blue channel is displaying good contrast between the girl’s hair and background. So we will use data from both these two channels to create the final combined mask.

Step 2

Click on the Layers tab and create a new layer below the “Hair mask” layer and fill it with black, which we will use later for the mask quality check. Now click on the Channels tab and target the Red channel. Right click on the Red Channel and select Duplicate Channel. Target the Red copy channel and from Image > Apply Image and use the settings from below. Here we are blending the Blue Channel information with the Red Channel copy. After selecting the Subtract blend mode the Red copy channel will become almost black. Only the skin and hair (Light areas) area will become light to medium grey. As the Subtract blend mode darkens the output, so the result is predictable. Check the invert option. Now the background area is again white and light areas (skin and hair area) looking much darker. So now the target is to make the hair and skin area black. Then the figure will be a black silhouette. Let’s change the Offset value into -175, but keep the Scale value as 1. This will darken the girl figure into a complete black silhouette and the background will also become medium grey. Now the target is to use another blend mode which will make the black more strong as well as change the grey into white. The Overlay blend mode is capable of all these. Overlay Blend mode lightens or darkens depending on the base color. So light-grey and dark-grey will become white and black respectively. But for that Overlay Blend mode has to be used more than once.

Step 3

Again use Apply Image on the same Red copy channel. But this time uncheck invert and change the blend mode to Overlay Blend mode. Use the screenshot below as a reference.

Step 4

Repeat this process two more times. So after using the Overlay blend mode for 3 times the background is fully white. Though there are a few areas like the upper part of the hand which require further work. Though the objective of this example is to create a quick base mask, but still explore a little more. Select a hard brush and change the blend mode of the brush from the Option Bar into Overlay. Fix those areas by painting over them either with black or white. Overlay Blend mode will ensure that only light-grey and dark-grey will change into white and black. Change the Overlay Blend mode into Normal Blend mode and to fill some white (shiny part of headphone etc.) area within the black figure.

Step 5

Invert the Red Copy channel from Image > Adjustments > Invert to change the figure to white silhouette. Still Red Copy channel targeted, click on the Load channel as selection button (leftmost button), below the Channel Palette.

Step 6

Selection still active, click on the Layers tab and target the “Hair mask” layer and click on the Add Layer Mask button (3rd from left) below the Layers Palette.

Step 7

You can still tweak the mask by using Select > Refine Mask command. Check Smart Radius option and experiment with Radius, Smooth and Shift Edge options.

Example 2: Step 1

In this example we will directly create the mask on the layer itself with Apply Image. Thus omitting the Channel based mask creation process. Open “Kitty” image in Photoshop. Click the channels palette and check individual channels. Blue channel is showing the best contrast between fur and background.

Step 2

In the Layer palette duplicate the Background layer and rename it as “kitty mask”. Press D key to change the foreground and background colors to black and white. Then create a new layer below the “kitty mask” layer and fill with black. We will use this layer to check the quality of the mask. Now click the Add layer mask button below the Layers palette to apply a white or Reveal All type mask to the layer. You can also use Layer> Layer Mask> Reveal All to apply the same white mask.

Step 3

Target the mask thumbnail on “Background copy” layer by clicking on it and then, Image> Apply Image. Self-blend the “Mask channel” (blue channel copy) with the Blue channel and select Exclusion as the blend mode. Exclusion blend mode will make the background black and kitty in light grey. Actually Exclusion Blend mode subtracts either the blend color from the base color or the base color from the blend color, depending on which has the greater brightness value. As a result the white background is now black with the kitty rather dark. But if you check the mask thumbnail you will see that this step creates a grayscale mask in the thumbnail. All we have to do is to increase the brightness of the mask so there is only pure black and white and nothing else.

Step 4

Choose a soft brush and color black. Then start to paint in Overlay mode to change the white shadow area below the kitty’s paws into black. Do not rub; try to paint with even, individual and separate strokes. Otherwise the white fur edge will look very “pixel-sharp” and rugged because of the overlay mode.

Step 5

Again use Apply Image on the “Kitty mask” layer, but blend mode will be Linear Dodge (Add). Apply the same Linear Dodge blend twice more.

Step 6

Press Alt key and click on the Mask Thumbnail to check the mask only. Take a brush with white color and fill all the areas within the Kitty figure where some black is still left. You can still fine tune the mask if you want by using Select> Refine Mask. After finishing painting the mask, Alt-click again on the Mask thumbnail to go back to the masked image display mode.

Step 7

The image is ready for the final phase, which is color and contrast tweak and finally sharpen filter to sharpen the image.

Case Study 3: Creating Luminance Mask

Luminance mask is a kind of mask where we create the mask from the image itself by utilizing the luminance data of the image. Typically, we look for the brightest channel and use that channel data as a mask. It’s good for the selective application of filters like sharpen or blur. First example is quick glow creation process where we will use the Apply Image command to create the Luminance mask to control the glow amount. In the second example we take the Sharpen data and use the Apply Image command to blend that data with the same layer, where Sharpen filter has been applied.

Example 1: Step 1

Open the previous “Female Rep” image in Photoshop again. Go to the Channels palette and notice that blue is the darkest channel. Now go back to the Layers palette and duplicate the background layer. Rename it as “Glow” and change the Blend mode to Screen.

Step 2

From Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur with an amount of 6 pixels.

Step 3

Now target the “Glow” layer and click on the Add Layer Mask button from below Layers Palette. Then click on mask thumbnail and from Image > Apply Image. We will use the Blue Channel in the Normal mode to create the mask image, which will act as the Luminance Mask. Alt-click on the mask thumbnail and check the grayscale mask image to notice that only the bright areas are showing the glow.

Step 4

Let’s further control the glow amount by applying the Apply Image command once again. But use Multiply as the Blend type to darken the grayscale mask image more. This is the final look.

Example 2: Step 1

We will use the same “Female Rep” once more. Open the file and duplicate the background layer and rename it as “Sharpen”. Apply Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp Mask. Use very high values like, Amount 500 and radius 1. Now if you look at the edges carefully, you will see a “halo-effect” around them. This is a common problem of high value Unsharp Mask. One solution is to apply Luminocity Blend mode. But let’s explore another method with Apply Image command.

Step 2

Target the “Sharpen” layer and click on the Add Layer Mask button from below the Layers Palette. Click on the layer mask thumbnail and then Image > Apply Image. Select Green in the Channel field and check invert option. We will blend the green channel in Multiply mode. But we also want to protect the edge and remove that common “halo-effect” associated with Unsharp Mask. Invert and Multiply mode will take care of these two issues. Now the “halo-effect” is gone and then replace by dark color, which is making the edges more prominent.

Step 3

To make the effect much stronger let’s duplicate the “Sharpen” layer. Below is the final image.

Case Study 4: Image Effects

We will explore two creative applications where Apply Image could be used effectively. First example is creating a complex blend between two images. In the second example we will see, how we can use an image as a mask for another image with Apply Image.

Example 1: Step 1

Open “Paint texture” and “Woman” image in Photoshop. We will blend the “Paint texture” with the “Woman” image to create a textured look. Click the “Woman” file tab to make it active. Now to use Apply Image both images must be of same size. Target the “Paint texture” file and Image> Image Size. Then keep the Image size dialogue box open and go to Menu> Window. You will see that at the bottom of the menus both the open files are listed and the active (or focused) file with a check mark before that as an indication.

Step 2

Now click the unchecked file name (i.e. woman.jpg) and notice that in the open Image Size dialogue box width and height values are automatically changed to match the exact size of “Woman” file. This is a handy trick to make two file equal in sizes quickly. Click ok in the Image Size dialogue box to accept the change.

Step 3

Then duplicate the background layer of “Woman” file and rename it as “Texture”. Target the “Texture layer” and Image> Apply Image and match the settings from the screenshot. We are blending the “Paint texture” file by using the Screen blend mode with the “Woman” file. The advantage of this Apply Image based process is that we are not creating a new layer.

Step 4

Now duplicate the “Texture” layer. We will further blend this “Texture copy” layer with the “Texture” layer. Change the Blend mode of “Texture copy” layer to Hue to create the final image.

Example 2: Step 1

Open the same “Woman” file. Now create a new blank file with transparent background, but with same settings matching the “Woman” file. Select Brush form the Tool box and open the brush type pop-up panel by clicking on the brush sample thumbnail to the right side of Tool Preset thumbnail. Then click the panel option arrow at the right side of the pop-up panel and load Wet Media Brushes from the list. Then select the 24 pixel Heavy Scatter Flow brush.

Step 2

Select black as the color and paint in the middle of the transparent layer to create an abstract shape like the screenshot below. Avoid painting at the edges to keep them transparent. Keep this file open for now.

Step 3

Target the “Woman” file and duplicate the background layer. Rename the layer as mask. Now create another layer between these two layers and fill it with white.

Step 4

Target the “Mask” layer and click on the Add Layer Mask button below the Layers Panel. Click on the layer mask thumbnail to target and then from Image> Apply Image. In the Apply Image dialogue box use the newly created Brush paint image itself as a mask. Select the Merged in the Layer field. Select transparency in Channel field. Keep the Blending field as normal, because we want to apply the blending through a mask. Select Mask and choose the image and layer containing the mask. Select the Woman.jpg in the Image field and “Mask” layer in the Layer field. In the Channel field select Blue. Select Invert to reverse the masked and unmasked areas of the channel.

Step 5

Observe that, the painted black area is acting as the mask now. As a result the white filled layer below that is the background now because of the Mask layer’s (the brush painted file) edge transparency. Below is the final image.

Conclusion

I hope that now you have gained a considerable amount of knowledge regarding Apply Image command and its various applications. Looking forward to see your own creative applications of Apply Image command.

Learn a fast and professional technique to create an Advanced Reflective Clear Style in Photoshop from scratch. Layer Effects and Styles are very versatile in nature because of their flexibility and editable nature. Another advantage is they are reusable. After creating a complex style you can save it and use it later on other projects. Moreover if we combine multiple Layer Styles then it is possible to create some really complex looking layer effects, but still maintaining each components editable nature. So if you are new to Photoshop or maybe using it for some times but still wondering about Layer Styles and how to control them effectively then this is for you.

Final Image

This is the final image that we’ll be creating in this tutorial:

Step 1

Open a new file in Photoshop with the following settings. Save the file as Adv Reflective Clear Style.psd. During work remember to frequently press Ctrl + S to save and update the file, which will help you in the long run.

Step 2

Double click on the Background layer to open the New Layer dialogue box. Change the name field to ‘Gradient bg’ and click ok. Now the layer is ready for Layer Style as it is not possible to apply Layer Style on a locked background layer. Double click on the ‘Gradient bg’ layer to open the Layer Style dialogue box and then click on the Gradient Overlay at the left side, below the Styles pane. In the Gradient Overlay area (Right pane) create a Radial Gradient with the following settings.

Step 3

Click on the Pattern Overlay at the left side and click on pattern pop-up panel (right side) to open the Pattern pop-up list. Then click the pop-up panel option at the right side and load Artist Surfaces. Use the ‘Stone’ pattern from Artist Surfaces Group. Now reduce the opacity to 10% because we need a faint trace of it. Again click on the Gradient Overlay category and change the Blend Mode to Multiply. This will create a blend with the 10% Pattern Overlay below. Next we’ll add an Inner Glow to make it look more interesting.

Step 4

Inner Glow add glows that radiate from the inside edges. We’ll use this to make the edges of the gradient more dark. Now click on the Inner Glow category at the left side and match the settings from the screenshot below.

Step 5

To create that distorted dot pattern in the background, first we have to create a custom shape and save it as a pattern. Then we’ll use that shape to generate the dot pattern. First create a new file with following settings:

Step 6

Create a new blank layer (Ctrl + Shift + N). Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool and in the Option Bar click the Style drop down menu and select Fixed Size. Then in Width and Height field type 45px. Click on the upper left corner of the layer to create a circular marquee selection. Press D key to change the foreground and background colors as black and white. Then fill the selection (Alt + Backspace) with black and deselect by pressing Ctrl + D. Shift click on the background layer to select both the layers. Then in the Option bar click on the Vertical Centers and Horizontal Centers buttons to center align the circle layer. Now delete the background layer as we don’t need it anymore. Then Edit > Define Pattern to define this circle as a pattern with the name “circle_45px”. This pattern will be saved as a new pattern in the pattern drop down list. You can close the file now without saving as there is no relation between the newly created pattern and this file.

Step 7

Now create a new blank layer in the ‘Reflective Clear Style’ file and fill with white. Double click on the layer to open the Layer Style option box. From the styles at the left click on the Pattern Overlay Style and match the settings from the below screenshot. Click on the Pattern Pop-Up Panel to open the Pattern List. The “circle_45px”pattern will be at the end of the Pattern Pop-Up List. Click and drag on the layer directly with the Move Tool to position it the way you want. The difference between Edit > Fill and Pattern Overlay of Layer Style is you can change pattern position in case of Pattern Overlay as it is ‘live’ or editable in nature. But the problem is Layer Styles will never work on blank layer. A filled layer is essential for layer styles. Our goal is to blend this pattern layer with the layer below (Gradient bg). As we applied the pattern as a layer style it is not going to blend properly with the layer below. So to blend it we must ‘fix’ the layer style.

Step 8

Create a new blank layer below the pattern layer and from the layer panel option choose Merge Down. This will ‘fix’ the layer style into normal layer. So the layer style is not ‘live’ or editable anymore. Rename the merge layer into “Circle pattern distort”. Now we’ll apply a distort filter on this layer. We want to create a 3d looking bulge in the middle of this layer which will gradually diminish or blend towards the edge. It’s a simple process. All we need is a circular marquee selection and then apply the Spherize filter. But there is no falloff setting in the Spherize filter dialogue box. You can only adjust the Mode and the Amount. The solution is to apply Feather on the Elliptical Marquee selection. Feathering blurs the edges of the selection to create a softer transition, which we’ll use as a fall-off here. So first create a large perfectly circular selection with Elliptical Marquee Tool. Press Shift + Alt for a perfect circle originating from the center of dragging. You can also press the Spacebar simultaneously to reposition the circle while you are still dragging. Use the screenshot below as a guide.

Step 9

Selection still active choose Select > Modify > Feather with amount 50 pixels. Then Filter > Distort > Spherize with amount 100% and mode normal. Now you can see a bulge in the middle which is smoothly blends towards the edges. Change the “Circle pattern distort” layer blend mode to Overlay and reduce the layer opacity to 20%. For a more interesting effect invert the layer from Edit > Adjustments > Invert. The background is now complete.

Step 10

Select Custom Shape Tool (U) and in the Option Bar click on Open Custom Shape Picker and it’ll open the Custom Shape pop-up panel. Click the arrow (panel option) at the right side of the pop-up panel and load Ornaments. Then from the Custom Shape List at the left side select Hedera 2. Click and drag to create a new shape layer with the hedera shape. Change the tool into Move Tool (V). Then in the Layer palette left click on “Hedera 2” layer to target that layer. Now press shift key and left click on the “Circle pattern distort” shape layer. Alignment buttons will be active in the Option bar when more than one layer is selected. Then click on the Vertical Centers and Horizontal Centers buttons to center align the “Hedera 2” layer.

Step 11

Ctrl click on the “Hedera 2” layer to load the shape as a selection. Turn off the visibility of the layer by clicking on the eye icon (Visibility toggle button) at the left side of the layer. Now create a new layer on top of it by clicking on the Create a new layer button (second from right) below the Layers panel (Or press Ctrl + Shift + N) and fill it with 50% gray color. Rename this layer into “Plastic style”. Double click on it to open the Layer Style dialogue box. Let’s start building the main Plastic Layer Style. First in the Blending Option section, reduce the Fill Opacity to 0%. This will make the Plastic Style transparent or clear like glass.

Step 12

Let’s use the Bevel and Emboss to add various combinations of highlights and shadows. For Bevel and Emboss use settings from the screenshot below. In the Shading section, for Highlight Mode select Linear Dodge for a much stronger highlight than Screen blending mode. Also for the Shadow Mode use Color Dodge to simulate at the edge of the shape that light is passing through a translucent object. Below the Bevel and Emboss is the Contour of Bevel and Emboss, which will basically define the edge or shoulder of the Bevel. Click on the Contour Pop-Up panel and select Gaussian type from the contour list.

Step 13

Now click on the Inner Glow and use the settings from the screenshot below. Notice the use of Darken as the Blend Mode to produce a darker color blend.

Step 14

Outer Glow creates glow that spreads from the outside. We use this to create a darker outside area to make the clear style more prominent. Match the settings from the screenshot below. Blend Mode is Darker Color to produce a partial darker color blend. So there will be brightness variation in the outer glow region.

Step 15

Inner Shadow adds a shadow that falls just inside the edge. It’ll add volume around the edge of the shape. Use the settings from the screenshot below. Here Blend Mode is Multiply to produce a very dark outer edge.

Step 16

Drop Shadow adds a shadow that falls behind the shape. But here Drop Shadow is not creating shadow. The purpose of the Drop Shadow here is to create that bright light is passing from the edge of a translucent object look.

Step 17

Satin creates interior shading variation that produces a glossy finish. We use this to define the reflective glossy nature of the surface. Color Dodge as the Blend Mode is helping to do that by creating bright surface reflections. In the contour use Ring – Double for lots of light reflections but for subtlety reduce the Opacity below the Blend Mode to 15%.

Step 18

The base style is now complete. We’ll create two more duplicates of this style and combine them to produce a more complex effect. Now open the Styles Panel (Window > Styles) and click on the Panel Option at the upper right corner. Select New Style and type a name in the next New Style dialogue box. Click ok to save the style for future use. Below is the screenshot after finishing the basic Plastic style. For saving style check the second screenshot.

Step 19

Right click on the “Plastic style” layer and choose Duplicate Layer. Rename the duplicate layer as “Plastic highlight”. Double click on the layer to open Layer Style dialogue box and uncheck everything besides Bevel and Emboss and Satin. For Bevel and Emboss match below settings. Keep the Contour (Below Bevel and Emboss) as it is.

Step 20

Now click on the Satin Style and use settings from below. Contour is Ring – Double, but this time with much higher opacity.

Step 21

This is after finishing “Plastic highlight” layer.

Step 22

Duplicate the “Plastic highlight” layer and rename into “Plastic sheen”. Double click on the layer to open the Layer Style dialogue box. In The Bevel and Emboss match the settings from below.

Step 23

Below are the Drop Shadow settings. The purpose of this Drop Shadow is to boost the light passing from the edge look more.

Step 24

This is after finishing the “Plastic sheen” layer.

Step 25

The Plastic style is complete now. But let’s tweak it little more. Target the “Plastic sheen” layer and press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E to create a copy merged layer on top of it. This process is known as Copy merged, which makes a merged copy of all the visible layers in a new layer. Rename it to “Upper reflection”. Duplicate the layer and rename it to “Floor reflection”. Drag or reposition the “Floor reflection” layer below the “Plastic style”. Reduce the opacity of the “Floor reflection” layer to 40% and blend mode to Multiply. Now target the “Upper reflection” layer. Lower the opacity to 50% and change the blend mode to Overlay. Below is the result.

Step 26

Let’s create the glow now. We can create a blank layer on top of the “Upper reflection” layer and use a soft brush to paint the glow spots. But let’s explore another precise technique which will produce a much better output. First turn off the visibility of the “Circle pattern distort”, “Upper reflection” and “Floor reflection” layers by clicking on the eye icons (Visibility toggle button). Then target the “Plastic Sheen” layer by left click on it. Now press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E to create a merged layer of all the visible layers on top of it. Rename the Copy merged layer into “glow sharp” and drag it above “Upper reflection” layer. Then Image Adjustments > Desaturate to change the layer into grayscale or rather remove all color information. Then Image Adjustments > Levels and match the settings from below. Basically we are trying to separate the brightness information only and turning everything else into black.

Step 27

Change the layer blend mode to Linear Dodge (Add). Check the very precise and sharp crisp shaped glow on top of the highlight areas. Linear Dodge (Add) removed the dark colors keeping only white glow areas visible. Then duplicate the “Glow sharp” layer by right clicking on it and choose Duplicate layer. Rename the duplicate layer into “Glow blur” and drag it down below the “Glow sharp” layer. Then Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur with radius 5 pixels to produced a soft and blurred version of “Glow sharp” layer.

Step 28

Ctrl + click on the shape thumbnail of “Hedera 2” shape layer to load the hedera shape as a selection. Create a new blank layer on top of “Circle pattern distort” layer and rename as “Shadow”. Fill the layer with black and double click to open the Layer Style dialogue box. Apply a Drop Shadow style with the settings from below screenshot. Reduce the layer opacity to 50%.

Step 29

Congratulations, Advanced Reflective Clear Style is now complete. Below is the final image. Also check the final screenshot of the Layer Panel after that.