Photoshop Help thread

[[MJH]]

So I've been talking about starting this for a while and I'm finally doing it.

This thread is intended to help newcomers and to get help on unfinished figs. This thread is NOT intended for newb bashing!

Tip
- when selecting go to select>modify>smooth to make selections less jagged.
- if your fig looks bad don't give up just try again.
- remember little details like head size, tones, logo resolution can make or break a figure.
- heads aren't the most important part of the figure so don't worry if they don't look like G1's.
- Start simple, if you try above your capacity you wont learn. Do what all the old newbs (including me) used to do stick with simple stuff until you perfect them then try slightly more complicated stuff.


Tutorials
Beginner's Tutorial
Recolour Tutorial
Head Tutorial





Thanks for reading, I'll add some old tuts and new tuts to this thread soon and some other goodies also if anyone else wants to contribute with their own tuts feel free.

[haz]

This is pretty cool and helps alot of people.

Hope you add more.

[sycho1warrior]

How do i get it so the tones match like perfectly?

[brethitmanhart]

Spend alot of time playing with the level bars until they look fine.

[Tim Tebow™]

How do I erase the color on the skin without erasing the skin?

I use Gimp 2 BTW.

[Stewart]

What Do YOu Mean Erase The Color On The Skin With Erasing The Skin. DO You Mean Like Make It Whiter
?

[Tim Tebow™]

mixmastamic said:

What Do YOu Mean Erase The Color On The Skin With Erasing The Skin. DO You Mean Like Make It Whiter
?

Well, like what MJH did. He had blue on Pac's skin, then erased it. When I try it erases everything.

[[MJH]]

Beginner's Tutorial
OK if you've never made a fig before the best thing to start off with is a recolour and head swap, so here's some tips on the basic tools to use.

To begin with open your figure, preferably use the protos off FI at 1200 x 1200 pixels.

OK we'll start off by removing the logos, there's two main methods to do this the first id the clone tool. Select the clone tool then hold alt to and left click to find select your source, then let go of alt and go over the logo, keep repeating this until the logo is removed.

Alternatively there is the paint brush method which is similar but doesn't require you to have a source just the right color, usually this method need to be blended in by smudging afterwards.

I did a quick job of removing the rest so it looks a bit messy, the best thing to do now is smudge or blur it to blend in.

As you can see it's not as messy after blurring/smudging.

Now remove the other logos the same way.

Now for the recolour, select the legs using the polygonal lasso tool.

Now open Hue/Saturation to change the colour. Hue/Sat. can be found under image>adjustments.

Now for the top half, this will be harder as it's not so easy to select so we'll use a layer method. So make a rough selection around the singlet and right click in the selection and choose layer via copy.

Now recolour it, you got the right singlet outline but unfortunately the skin is messed up, luckily the layer underneath is fine so select the eraser tool.

Make sure the brush isn't soft edged and just erase the blue skin areas.

Ok so now you've done that it's time for the head.

Ok so I use a psd which is fairly easy to cut just make a nice selection, then minimize the window like I've done in the second pic then drag the head over to the window with your figure in using the arrow tool.

Now Right click whilst having the marquee tool selected and click free transform or alternatively just press ctrl + t, now hold shift and drag the corners inwards to resize.

Now there's too simple thing to do to the head one is smart blur (found in filter>blur) pictured left the second is simply smudging the skin which is pictured right

now match the skintone, first I made the head a little redder as it looked too yellow then I lightened it with the levels tool the match the lighting.

For more advanced head effects see other tutorials.

here's a very quick edit i did using some more advanced effects

[Tim Tebow™]

Oh, thanks. I posted a fig on the main board, doing the logo removal and I added another one. Tried to do a new head technique. I think it's good.

[ultimatethey]

Thank you for the tutorial I will take advantage of this for the next time I make a figure .

[Kody]

Awesome stuff MJH. Nice idea.

[[MJH]]

Dielawn's Tips

1st tip.

How to recolor something using Hue/Saturation.

First you select your figure of choosing. I'm going with a DA Kenny.


Then select the part of the figure you want to recolor. I used the tights. Now go ahead and copy and paste that to make a new layer.


Then at the top, click Image - Adjustments - Hue Saturation.


I wanted to change the tights to make them light blue so I moved the Hue bar over to get the color I wanted for the tights.


Then, simply zoom in, grab the eraser tool and erase the part you don't want colored, in this case, the skin portion of the figure.


Then you have a simple recolor that still shows detail.

---

2nd Tip.

Giving a black object color.

Alright. I took a figure that is wearing a black attire. In this case, it is a DA Tommy Dreamer.


You're going to Copy and Paste the whole thing this time. So hold the Ctrl key down and hit A. That will select the whole layer. Then hold Ctrl and hit C then V. Which will Copy and Paste the layer. Then at the top Select Image - Adjustments - Levels.


Then move the middle bar over to the left until the image gets white, but not so white that you can't see any detail.


Then at the top select Image- Adjustments- Color Balance. I went and moved the bottom bar all the way to blue.


Then I went again and did that again to make it more blue.


Then I selected the erased tool and erased the parts that I didn't want colored, such as the arms, head and feet.


You can also just go ahead and skip the levels step. But I find it easier to work with lighter colors. You can always go and darken them later.

Here is what it looks like skipping the "Level" step.

[[MJH]]

pic changes every 10 seconds.


1
select the smudge tool, notice settings
2
set it to a decent size
3
smudge the skin
4
select dodge tool, notice settings
5
set it to a decent size
6
add dodge where necessary
7
add extra dodge for shine
8
take a colour from the skin
9
select the brush tool, notice the settings
10
brush over the skin
11
select the dodge tool
12
set it to a decent size
13
lighten the eyes
14
sharpen the eyes
15
add dodge to the beard
16
brush over the beard, notice the settings
17
select the hair
18
go to select>modify>feather and feather by about 2
19
desaturate the hair
20
edit curves under, image>adjustments>curves
21
brush over hair, notice settings
22
fix the brightness and saturation
23
lighten the teeth with dodge tool
24
smart sharpen, notice settings