Photoshop

[Elfo]

I've decided I would like to attempt to put together a theme for myself. The problem is, I know very little about Photoshop. Unfortunately, all the "tutorials" I've found via Google, give rather amateurish results. Could anyone point me in a direction for stuff that really works?

Specifically, I'm looking for a way to make thin liquid metal/chrome type accents, like the old Nologic logos. Everything I've seen on the web is about chrome text, and looks like ass.

I'm also looking for how to clean characters out of their backgrounds, mostly white. Magic wand sucks, even when partnered with a basic blur. Do I have any options? It gets harder when there's actual background stuff I want to keep, but blend it into a different image

Thanks~

[Brian Hoffman]

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=281

[bkenobi]

NICE TUTORIALS!!!

[headkaze]

He was using Photoshop styles to create the metal effect. I've attached them to the thread. Copy them into your Photoshop's Presets\Styles folder.

The only way to cut things out in Photoshop without them looking crap is to do it manually with the Polygon lasso tool. It's very time consuming and requires a steady hand but gives the best results. I recommend that while you are drawing around the image use the space bar to help you move around the image your cutting out.

Another tool you might like to look out for is the Filter->Extract tool. Again I don't think it is as good as doing it manually with the polygon lasso, but it might suit some scenarios. With this tool you draw over the edge of the image with a pen then fill in the middle.

CSP_New_Metal_Styles.zip

[Elfo]

Thank you very much, this has been helpful. Maybe I can put off stuff I need to get done in favor of playing in photoshop now

[billpa]

Actually the best way to cut out images is mastering the pen tool. The polygon lasso tool is okay but it only draws in straight lines. So its very hard or time consuming to get a good curve from it. You can create bezier curves with the pen tool and you can transform each handle independently (by holding down ALT when you grab a handle). You can also go back and edit your points with the direct selection tool (the white cursor).

The pen tool creates a path (make sure you select path button in options tool bar...the other option is shape which would fill the path with color which makes it impossible to trace) with points. That is why you can edit it directly. However, you need to convert your final path to a selection so you can cut out the image (selection is the area defined by the animated dashed line). So after you complete the path and you are happy with it, you need to select the direct selection cursor and mouse over any part of the path. Right click on the path and an options dialog will come up. Select Make Selection and it will convert the path to a selection.

Hope this helps.

billpa