PSDFan Extra

Photo Manipulate an Ominous Poster Design

In this tutorial we will be creating an old poster stuck to a street wall.

This tutorial covers topics like:

-Crisp extraction of hair from the original image, without loosing any details.
-Creating an old destroyed building.
-Effective use of Textures and Blending Modes.
-Creating a 3D font using Blending Mode Properties.
and more interesting methods to create fine details.

Evil Poster

As always, this is the final image that we’ll be creating:

Step 1

1) Create a new canvas in Photoshop with dimensions, width=2610px and Height=4000px. Then import the image of the House onto the canvas and place it as shown.

2) Select the Lasso Tool (L) and cut the rooftop of the house as shown.

Step 2

Now by using the Stamp Tool (S) erase the people on the left side of the scene.

Step 3

Since we are creating a night scene, we are going to color correct the House using few Adjustment layers to fit with the environment we are creating.

1) Create an Adjustment layer of Curves to the House layer and set the RGB curves as shown.

2) Now create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer and set the Saturation level to -52.

3) Now by using the Exposure Adjustment layer darken the house by setting the Gamma Correction level to 0.46.

Step 4

Import the image of the night sky with full moon on to the working canvas and place it under the house layer.

Step 5

In this step we are going to digitally paint the supports of the broken roof.

1) Using the Square brush paint the supports of the roof top as shown with black color.

2) Now by using the color #bddcf1 paint the edges of the supports as shown.

3) To match the ‘support’ with the house and make it look real, add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 0.9px.

4) Since it is a broken roof we don’t expect the roof support to have sharp edges, hence by using the Lasso Tool (L) create broken edges to the supports as shown.

Step 6

In this step we are going to add gravel ground in the scene.

1) Cut the image of the Gravel Ground from the original image and place it on the working canvas as shown. Then by using the Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer set the Saturation level to -94.

2) Now create an Exposure Adjustment layer to the gravel ground and set the Exposure=-0.66, Offset=-0.0164 and Gamma Correction=0.43.

3) By using the Curves Adjustment layer set the Blue Curve as shown.

Step 7

In this step we are going to add a tomb stone in the scene.

1) Cut the image of the tomb stone from the original image and import it into the scene and place it as shown.

2) Now create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to the tombstone and set the Saturation level to -88.

3) Now by using Exposure Adjustment layer set the Gamma Correction to 0.64.

4) By using the Soft Round brush paint dark shadow on the tomb stone as shown.

Step 8

In this step we are going to add the main character in the scene.

1) Cut the image of the evil magician from its original image using the Magic Wand Tool (W). Before cutting the image into a new layer, make sure you select a rough mask around the hair.

2) Now select a rough mask around the character and open the Refine Edge option. Then set Smooth level to 1 and contrast to 2. By using the Refine Radius Tool grace around the borders of the hair line to detect the fine details of the hair. Then press OK to get the finely cut image in a new layer.

3) Now import the character on to the canvas and place it as shown.

Step 9

In this step we are going to color correct the character to blend with the environment we are creating in the scene.

1) Create an Exposure adjustment layer to the character layer and set the Exposure level to -0.38 and Gamma Correction to 0.61.

2) Now paint shadow of the character on the ground as shown using a soft round brush.

Step 10

Usually we find the evil magicians having creepy hands in cartoons and in fantasy movies. So lets create the same creepy hands to our character too.

1) Using the Pen Tool (P) select a mask around the hands and separate the selection into two separate layers. One for right hand and other for left.

2) With the left hand layer selected go to Filter>Liquefy and shrink the arrow pointed areas using the Pucker Tool and then by using the Bloat Tool (B) bulge the knuckle and finger joints to get the creepy look to the hand.

3) Now create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to the hands folder and set the Saturation level to -56.

4) By using the Exposure adjustment layer to the hand folder set the Gamma correction level to 0.89.

Step 11

In this step we are going to place a hat on the head of our evil magician.

1) Import the image of the hat on to the canvas and place it on the head of the character.

2) Now paint the dark shadows on the left side of the hat and also under the hat as shown.

3) Create an Exposure adjustment layer to the hat layer and set the Exposure level to -0.55.

Step 12

In this step we are going to create a dead tree and also add few dead branches in the scene.

1) Create a new layer for the dead tree and place the layer under the ground layer and then by using the dead tree brush paint the tree on the canvas as shown behind the tomb stone.

2) Import the image of the dead branches on to the canvas and place them on the left side of the scene as shown. Make sure to place this layer on the top of all the layers.

3) Now create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to the dead branches layer and set the Saturation level to -55.

4) Using the Exposure adjustment layer set the Exposure level to -1.49 and Gamma Correction to 0.75.

5) Since the dead branches are assumed to be closer to the scene they should be blurred in-order to maintain the Depth Of Field (DOF) of the scene.

Step 13

In this step we are going to create a magical smoke ball in-between the hands of the magician.

1) Using a Soft Round brush paint a small white ball in-between the hands of the magician as shown in a new layer and set the Opacity of the layer to 49%.

2) Now by using the smoke brush pain the smoke as shown in a new layer above the previously created white ball layer.

3) Select another smoke brush and paint some fine detailed smoke around the smoke ball as shown.

4) Now create a new layer and paint some smoke joining the hands and the smoke ball as shown, just to get the illusion that the smoke is coming from the hands of the magician.

Step 14

In this step we are going to create fog in the scene.

1) Create a new layer under the ground layer and paint the fog as shown using the fog brushes.

2) Now create a new layer above all the layers and paint the fog as shown and reduce the Opacity of the layer to 75%.

Step 15

In this step we are going to create a fence in the scene.

1) Import the image of the fence on to the working canvas and place the fence layer beneath the fog layer. The by using the Puppet Warp option (Edit>Puppet Warp) and twist the fence zigzag as shown to make it look old and damaged.

2) Now move the fence to the right side of the scene as shown.

3) Create an Exposure adjustment layer to the fence layer and set the Gamma Correction level 0.47.

4) Now add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 4.4px to the fence to maintain the DOF of the scene.

Step 16

In this step we are going to create a custom brush using other leaf brushes just to meet our requirements of the scene.

1) Create a new canvas for the leaves and paint the leaves as shown using the leaf brushes.

2) Now go to Edit>Define Brush Preset and give a name to the brush and save it.

Step 17

In this step we are going to work with the brush properties.

1) With the Previously created brush selected go to brush properties and check the X & Y Flip Options check in the “Brush Tip Shape” and also set the Scaling level to 157% and Size to 5000px.

2) Now go to Shape Dynamics and set Minimum Diameter to 100%, Angle Jitter=7%, Roundness Jitter=3%, Minimum Roundness=99%. Also check X &Y Flip boxes and Brush Projection.

3) Now go to Scattering option and check “Both Axes” box set Scatter percentage to 43%, count=1 and Count Jitter=40%.

4) Now create a new layer and paint the leaves as shown with the black color.

5) Since the leaves are supposed to be flying in the scene add Motion Blur with Distance=16px and with Angle 25 to the leaves to make them look natural.

Step 18

In this step we are going to create the main title font.

1) Using a Gothic font type the letter E which stands for Evil. Then place the layer beneath the Dead Branches layer.

2) Now import the image of the texture and cut it in the shape of the font.

3) Using Hue/Saturation set the Saturation level of the texture layer to -83.

4) In the Blending Options of the texture layer go to Bevel & Emboss and set the Size to 68, Angle 58 and Altitude=42 and leave the rest as default.

5) Now go to Contour and set the Depth=1000%, Size=68px, Angle=58 and Altitude=42.

6) Now got to Satin and set the Opacity=19%, Angle=67, Distance=11px, Size=14px.

Step 19

In this step we are going to create cracks on the title font.

1) Import the image of the Crack on to the canvas and place it on the title font as shown, then set the Blending Mode of the Layer to Multiply.

2) Similarly add few more cracks on the title font

3) Now by using the Grunge Brushes paint some grunge on the title font as shown.

Step 20

In this step we are going to color correct the whole scene.

1) Create an Exposure Adjustment layer and set the Exposure level to -0.17 and Gamma Correction to 1.10.

2) Now create a Hue/Saturation layer and set the saturation level to -40.

Step 21

In this step we are going to create a wall on which our poster will be stuck.

1) Create a new canvas with dimensions width==2910px and Height=4000px. Then import the image of the Wall texture and place it in the scene.

2) Now by using the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer set the Saturation level of the wall to -52.

3) Now create an Exposure adjustment layer and set the Exposure level to -0.33 and Gamma Correction=0.50.

Step 22

In this step we are going to paint graffiti to make the wall look like a street wall.

1) Create a new layer above the wall layer and paint graffiti as shown using graffiti brushes.

2) Then set the Blending Mode of the graffiti layer to Soft Light.

Step 23

In this step we are going to create an old paper effect to the poster.

1) Import the image of the old torn paper on to the canvas and cut the bottom of the paper as shown using the Lasso Tool (L).

2) Now import the poster we created and trim it in the shape of the old paper we previously created.

3) Now place the poster under the paper layer and set the Blending mode of the paper layer to Multiply and reduce the Opacity to 65%.

Step 24

In this step we are going to create shadow to the poster.

1) Create a new layer and fill in with black color in the shape of the poster.

2) Now place the shadow layer beneath the poster layer and move it slightly toward the left and add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 4.3px.

3) Group all the layers related to the poster into a single folder then add a Curves adjustment layer to the poster folder and set to the curves as shown.

Step 25

In this step we are going to create worn-out edges to the poster.

1) Import the image of the paper with worn-out edges and place it on the poster and set the Blending Mode of the layer to Screen.

2) Similarly add the worn-out edges to the bottom of the poster as shown.

Step 26

In this step we are going to place a Barrel in the scene to create a sense that the particular area is not been used for some time and the things are left un-cleaned.

1) Import the image of the barrel on to the canvas and place it on the right side bottom corner as shown.

2) Now paint some dark shadow on the left side of the barrel as shown.

Step 27

In this step we will be color correcting the barrel to blend in perfectly with the scene.

1) Create a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer to the barrel layer and set the Contrast level to 51.

2) Now create an Exposure adjustment layer and set the Exposure=+0.33 and Gamma Correction=0.91.

3) By using the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer reduce the Saturation level of the barrel to -51.

4) Now by using the Curves adjustment layer color correct the barrel as shown.

Step 28

In this step we will be placing a couple of empty paint cans on the barrel.

1) Cut the image of the paint cans and place them on the barrel as shown.

2) Using the Curves color correct the paint cans as shown.

3) Now by using the Exposure adjustment layer set the Exposure level to -0.72 and Gamma Correction to 0.86.

4) Now reduce the Saturation level of the paint cans to -53 using the Hue/Saturation.

5) Create a new layer above the cans layer and paint the dark shadow on the left side of the cans as shown.

Step 29

In this step we are going to place the nails to the poster by which our poster is stuck to the wall.

1) Import the image of the nail on to the canvas and place it on the left side top corner of the poster.

2) Now reduce the Saturation level of the nail to ’0′.

3) Similarly add another nail to the poster on the right side as shown.

Step 30

In this step we will be creating another torn poster beside the main poster.

1) Import the image of the WANTED poster on to the canvas and place it on the right side of the poster as shown.

2) Now by using the Lasso Tool (L) select a mask around the corners of the WANTED poster and separate the selection into a new layer and erase the remaining part of the poster

3) To make the torn edges look much older, tone the edges using the Burn Tool (O).

4) Add an Exposure adjustment layer to the second poster layer and set the Exposure=-0.33 and Gamma Correction=0.70.

5) Create a new layer above the second poster layer and fill in with black color in the shape of the torn edges of the second poster.

6) Now place the shadow layer beneath the second poster layer and add a Gaussian Blur of Radius 19.6px.

And We’re Done!

You can view the final outcome below. I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and would love to hear your feedback on the techniques and outcome.

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