In this Photo manipulation tutorial, you will learn how to create a dark surreal scene using few Photoshop techniques and a lot of stock images. Following this tutorial, you will learn how to add a dark unsubstantial effect to your image. We will start this tutorial with Cinema4D, and then we will use a lot of photo manipulation techniques, like blending modes, cloning and we will work with colors and filters. So let's start to learn new techniques.

Stocks Used

Final Image Preview

1.Step - Body Rendering

First I'll render a human body shape using Poser. I chose a pose from the default selection and tweaked it a little bit to que this shape.

I exported the figure to Cinema4D and simply added a light object, placed it on the upper right side of the body and added a floor object with shadows set to soft.

I rendered it at 300DPI 5000x5000pxl to get full quality on the image. (Be sure to check also the alpha channels extract it easily from the background)

2.Step - Placement

Open a new document in Photoshop: 11 inches wide x 17 inches high at 300dpi, drag the render and resize it to fit the image. Unlock the background layer and paint it black with the Paint bucket tool (G)

Tilt the body to get a more dynamic effect on the image. The floor needs to be filled up now that it doesn't cover perfectly the lower part. Create a new layer and place it under the render layer, rename it "floor fill".Grab the Rectangular Marquee tool (M) and draw the rectangle, click right and select "transform selection" to match the space that needs to be completed and fill it with white. Use a gradient layer style to match the tones on the floor. It does not have to be perfect as we are going to replace the floor with a new one.

3.Step - Color Adjustments

Create a new group and rename it "Color Adjustments" we are going to the set layers regarding all the coloring of the image in this folder. Since this is going to be a very monochromatic piece, this folder will be on top of everything we do from now on and will be changed as we progress with our illustration. Add a new gradient adjustment layer with the following colors:

From now on, all layers under this particular adjustment layer will be colored with the gradient above, so we only have to worry about the contrast and levels of the images, we'll be incorporating to the manipulation.

4.Step - Sky

Open the Sky and land stock image. Place it on your document under the "floor fill" layer, resize it to fil as much of the canvas as possible and rotate it to match the position of the ground.

Grab the Clone stamp tool (S) with a large Soft brush (hardness 0) and start cloning parts of the canvas that are missing sky. You can also clone more clouds to fit your image.

5.Step - Ground

Grab The sand stock and place it on your document above the main render. Just like you did with the sky stock, resize is to fit as much of the ground part as possible. Then rotate it to fit the inclination.

Add a Layer mask and start erasing all the parts that overlap with the sky and the render.You can use a normal Soft brush with the foreground color set to black to start erasing or help yourself using the Rectangular Marquee tool. Erase parts of the floor to blend with the render so it seems that the body is buried on the sand.

Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness and Contrast and apply the next settings:

6.Step - Lightning

Go to Layer -> New adjustment layers -> Brightness and Contrast and apply the next settings. Move the layer into the "Color adjustments" folder. This will enhance the lightning in the final image.

Create a new layer over the sky the body and the sand layers and clip mask each one of them by holding ALT and clicking between the layers. Rename them "Shadows and highlights". Your layer should look something like this:

Select the "Shadows and highlights" layer masked to the sky and grab a large Soft brush with 20% opacity. Select white as your foreground color and gently brush over the upper right side of the image. This will be our main light source for the objects on our scene.

Set your foreground color to black and brush over the other side of the sky where there would be no light. Do the same on the sand and on the body looking carefully where the light would fall on the objects as well as the shadows. This will create a more dramatic environment to our image.

7.Step - Worms/Maggots

Grab the worm stock and extract it from its background. Create a new folder and name it "worms/maggots". This will be where we put all of the little details that will make our composition interesting. Put the worm inside the carpet and transform it to fit the image. Apply the next setting to make it fit the lightning:

Just like we did on the last step, create a new layer and clip mask it. Paint with white the parts that need to be brighter to match the lightning.

Open your other worm stocks and do the same. Keep a balance and try not to overdo your composition.

Each time you place a new element, make sure you create a new layer under it and brush the ground with a Soft brush hardness 0 opacity to about 25% and create subtle shadows.

8.Step - Details

Keep adding some more elements. Here are some things I rendered in cinema4D to help fill my image. I used some rust textures set to "overlay" to help me give a rotten look to some elements. Add things like a chopstick to create a surreal feeling.

I used the same rust texture to give the body some texture

9.Step - Arms

I used poser again to render some arm poses, this was the one that fitted the image the best.

Place the arm in your document you can create a new group to manage all the things concerning the arms. Clip mask a new layer and paint some shadows and highlight just like we did before.

To make the abstract light portal, download The texture resource and grab one of the textures. Use the Polygonal Lasso tool to make a selecion around the part we wish to use.

Set the layer blending mode to "lighten" and apply the next settings:

Place the texture layer above the "arm" layer. Use the Eraser tool (E) and erase some of the edges of the texture around the hand to blend it to the scene.

Duplicate the layer and place it around the hand. Do this many times to form a circle around the hand. Erase the parts that cover too much of the arm.

Merge all the layers and clip mask a new layer to create shadows to fit the lightning. Create a new layer above the texture and set its layer mode to "screen". Grab a round Soft brush and the the opacity of the brush to 25%. Start brushing with white, little blobs of light and some highlights around the portal.

Grab the Eye stock and extract it from its background. Apply the next settings:

Place it above the arm layer on the hand. Used the Eraser tool to delete any hard edges.

To create more light effects behind the portal and blend better the stock create a new layer, place it under the texture and arm layers and fill it with black. Go to Filter -> Noise -> Add noise. Use an amount of 70% and check the monochromatic option.

Go to Filter -> Blur -> Radial Blur and apply the next settings:

Set the layer blending mode to "Linear Dodge", duplicate the layer 3 times select and merge them (CTRL+E). Set this layer mode to "lighten"and place the center of the layer where all the lines join right under the portal. Make a selection with the Polygonal lasso tool and erase the parts of the layer that you dont need.

Using the Eraser tool with a large soft round brush delete all the hard edges to create a smooth outline, then apply the next settings:

Duplicate the "arm" group and merge it. Flip the layer horizontaly and resize it. Use levels to lower its brightnes. Go to Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian blur and set the amount to 4 pixels. This will give some depth to the image.

10.Step - Final Details

Create a new layer over the "Color Adjustments" group and set the blending mode to "screen" Grab a round brush with an opacity of 50% with a blue color to paint some contrasting light details. I also used Apophysis to render some fractal blobs to give further detail, but you can use any other fractal stock. Just be sure to match the blue tone.

I also added some more shadows to improve the look of the scene.

10.Step - Closing

Save your image as a .jpeg with full quality, open that again in photoshop and duplicate the layer. Go to Filter -> Other -> Highpass and set radius to 3px. This will sharpen the image. Set the layer blending mode to "Overlay" and bring down its opacity to 60%.

Go to Image -> Image size and size it down to 900x1300 pxl. Save it again as a .jpeg to achieve maximum quality. Here is the final result:

Final Result: Dark Surreal Photo Manipulation

Download Psd file

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You are a successful designer.  Clients are queued up to get the work done from you. Hurried, you switch on your computer screen and start making a….making a….what? Lost for ideas? Crap! Empty screen, blank mind, zero innovation, what should you do? You know you have potential but you somehow are clueless how to trigger that inspiration right now. When your muse seems to have change sides, the given tricks are sure to be enough to lure her in your favor and get your creative juices flowing:

1. Unconventional Stimulation

Use of similar ideas and the usual thought process can dry your creative mind in no time. Boredom and monotony starts to rule your work. Try doing something that is totally different from what you normally do and you will break free from it all. You may start with experimenting a little with your usual daily activities and tastes. For instance, if reading is what instills new ideas in your mind, you may want to read a fantasy story this time than the ghastly novels that you normally read. Unconventional activities can get you to explore an entirely new world of ideas. Besides, it is amazing how detailed descriptions of a scene or a place in a book can get you to your new big designing idea.

2. Time To Unwind

Drain yourself in work day and night and your creative drought is bound to surface within a few days. Go on a trip, take a sound and sufficient nap, socialize, play music, dance your night to glory or simply take a walk amidst beautiful nature. Have fun! Do anything that you enjoy except designing, for the moment. Stress of piled up work, fear of failure, frustration of being less creative, keep all your work-related thoughts at bay for some time. As these negative thoughts and tiredness vanish from your psyche, you feel rejuvenated and your repressed, innovative thoughts would surface once again.

3. Doodle Without Any Rules

Sketching of concepts or ideas before starting a new project is a common undertaking for graphic designers. Doodling on a blank paper unblocks the imagination for many. Let loose your spirit and draw anything that comes to your mind. Do not get into much analysis of rules or technicality. It does not matter if it is not related to your current project. It is even fine if it is not good. Drawing often helps you get past your conformist ideas and opens your brain to fresh ideas.

4. Hold onto Your Inspirations

The best way to do this is to set everything aside and try out your new idea right away. If this is not an option, do not forget to make some notes or sketch it, to get back to that idea when you have time. It may seem that we would be able to recall the idea without any notes or help. But do not take a chance or you may end up in that dreaded blank state when you have nothing instant to your rescue.

5. Learn New Techniques

Seek guidance as you follow tutorials written by experienced designers of the field. As you learn new techniques and polish your skills further, you can implement these techniques to your current project and come out with flying colors. This is one of the best ways to add onto both your creativity and designing skills.

6. Capture Ideas

Carry a camera everywhere with you and click any visual thing that appeals to you. Keep them all in a folder, different materials, fonts, structures, colors and concepts, and go through them when your brain goes creatively numb.

7. Appreciate Different Art Forms

It may be dance, sculpture, art, photography, animation, music or any other form of art, observe things carefully. It is amazing how your mind absorbs creative influence from a wide assortment of resources and interprets it to your advantage in your designing.

8. Use Thesaurus

Searching for the main keyword of your theme in thesaurus can sometimes allow you to see the concept with an entirely different perspective or approach, which again can give you new ideas to work upon.

Armed with these tips, you always have ways to jump over the seemingly insurmountable wall of creativity block. Lubricate your weary mind with the right mood, freshness, and inspiration and your muse would gladly shower its blessings on you.

What’s Your Story?

So, what was your experience with creativity block? Did you fight your way out of it or did you doubt your creativity skills? What are the things that made you triumph over it? Share it all with us in the comments section.

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Hello, in this tutorial I’ll show you how to create an amazing colorful web blog layout using Photoshop. In this tutorial we will use only basic tools, like rectangle tool, gradient tool, layer styles, therefore this tutorial will be the good start point for web develop beginners. A result will be a professional web layout that you can convert to WordPress blog theme.

Final Image Preview

1.Step

Create new document 1200x1800px. Open file bg file , go to Edit > Define pattern and click OK. Come back to new document, go to Edit > Fill, choose ‘pattern’ and select our pattern. Now you should have document filled with excellent pattern!

2.Step

Import logo file and place it on the top. Use Rounded Rectangle Tool with Radius set to 10px and draw a rectangle. Then set to its layer style:

Gradient colors are #4e0101 and #ad1414.
Now we should have something like that:

3.Step

Holding CTRL click on layer thumbnail. Then right click on selection and choose Transform Selection. Transform it as it is presented below:

On the new layer fill new selection with white. Then add Gaussian Blur filter with radius 25-50. It depends on how light menu should be. Duplicate layer few times and try to experiment with opacity.

4.Step

With Horizontal Type Tool insert some text using font Lucida Fax. To the text layer add style:

Using Rounded Rectangle Tool create submenu. To the layer add style: (Gradient colors: #c35a0c, #ffae00)

Now we have:

5.Step

It’s very important step. In order to make our submenu more interesting we’ll add some oblique gradients. CTRL+Click on layer thumbnail and using Gradient Tool make some gradients. You can press SHIFT while drawing to make sure that gradients will parallel to each other.

You can erase gradients on the edges. Set layer opacity to 17%;

6.Step

I found some icons on the Web and added some submenu positions. You can place there anything you want. As you can see, the submenu title isn’t visible, so using Horizontal Type Tool place it. I made a search box on the right side of menu, simply because I wanted not to leave so much space, but if you have a very large menu it isn’t needed.

7.Step

With Rounded Rectangle Tool make box and set style: (Gradient colors: # 0a324c, #0088b5)

Now do as we did in 5.step, but gradients can be thicker.

8.Step

Find any image, crop it and place over the slider’s background. Add style: (Stroke color: #072231)

Now CTRL+Click on layer thumbnail and using Rectangular Marquee Tool with option Intersect with selection select a bottom part.

Create new layer, fill the selection with black and change opacity to 80-90%; Add some text.

9.Step

With Pencil Tool make some dots. Add them style: (Color: #072638)

The “selected” dot has color: #73a7bf and additional style:

10.Step

With Rounded Rectangle Tool create box. Add style: (Gradient colors: #da690e, #e3b410)

Do as in 5.step with gradients. Add title (Lucida Fax, 14pt), text layer style:

Find some photos on Google and add them the same stroke as in 8.step

11.Step

By now, our tutorial is finished. I taught you basis, but if you want to add some new modules (Login box, Gallery slider) I give you colors I used:
Log inbox: #cec0a5, #f7f6ef;
Gallery slider: #410c1e, #ec4a7c;
Twitter: #bbc9cf, #dee8ec;

Final Result: Colorful Blog Web Layout

Download Psd file

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In few words Photoshop Action is a set of commands that are applied to specific image. In one Photoshop action can be added dozens of different complex or easy activities with Photoshop tools, like layer styles, color correction, filters and others. Whereas a single action is combined many acts, they can save you time. For example, you know what color and light balance you want for your more than 100 photos. Simply create action with all parameters and apply it to all of your photos. That can save a lot of your time. Create Photoshop action is not as difficult as you might imagine. Here is tutorial from Veerle's blog that can helps you with it. However you can use many of already created action and here is one valuable list with 45 most useful Photoshop actions for effective photo enhancement.

Landscape Color Action by OzanOzcelik

Action: Soft Honey Effect by Justmeandmyfashion

Black White Sepia PS Action by Rosalindharrison

IR Effect Look by Hanyasatu

Old Photo Effect Action by NamfloW

Lomo Effect - PS.Actions by Photoshop-stock

Special FX Enhanced by WallStorm

Vivid Blur by AlenaJay

Pencil Draw Photoshop Action by Bati1975

Cinematic Effect by Orangeycow

Photoshop Action - Bright Eyes by Itsreality

Action - Separate Line Art by Augest

Skin Glow Enhancement by iScarlett

Split Toning by Paranoidstock

Photo Improvement by Vampiri4

White and Black Ps Actions by Cat-woman-amy--stock

Teeth Whitening by Jean31

Action: Vanilla Tones by Lady-Tori

Photoshop Action: Coffee by Davidnanchin

Cool Photo Effect Action by Numizmat

Skin Smoothing by Jean31

Gradient Action by iNeedChemicalX

HDR Fantasticalizers by Forfie

InFection by Megadef

Wedding Theme Action by Ver00nika

Photoshop Dream Blur Action by Jaj43123

Alelatriller Colours Actions by AleLaTriller

Actions: "Retro-Vintage" by Rocketlaunch

Photoshop CS3 Action - High Ke by Digitalarticulation

Polaroid Generator by Rawimage

Kalifbanane - Cross Coloring by KalifBanane

Old Photo Action by Shagagraf

Action no.4-Spooky Portraits by Bellalleb-stock

Image Enhancing Ps Actions by Princess-of-Shadows

Cross-Processing ATN by Mutato-nomine

Photoshop Color Actions by AliceInUnderland

Lara Jade Actions by Larafairie

Vintage Effect - Ps Actions by Photoshop-stock

50 Photoshop Postwork Actions by Manicho

Actions Clyck by Muffim-clyck

Dazzle Effects by Dazzle-textures

GuteCharlotte Color o2 by GuteCharlotte

Burning Alive by Txay

Comics Photoshop Action by Mutato-nomine

Photographers Toolkit by WallStorm

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Hi all Photoshop lovers. We have one great news for you. For some time, we create new feature for you and now it is ready, and we are proud to announce that from today for all you like to create cool or funny effects but still haven't good skills in Photoshop (but I think most Psdeluxe readers have good skills in Photoshop), we offer new free service - Online Photo Editing Service for fun on Effect.Psdeluxe.com

You right away can go to Effect.Psdeluxe.com and experiment with our effects, but let me tell you a little about what you will find there. At first I am sure that you will love it, and you will find some effects that you will like and try to create, because in our database we have about 300 different effects.

We have 4 main categories: Photo Effects, Face in Hole, Fake Magazines and Photo Editors.

Photo Effects

On Effect.Psdeluxe.com to create a funny effect with your photo is as simple as 123.

Simply select an effect:

Upload your photo and crop it as you want

And that's it, your effect is ready.

You can download new photo to your PC or share it in the Internet. If you click to share button your effect will be instantly submitted to Imageshack.us.

I will try to experiment and create effects similar to those we created in our Photoshop tutorials, but I can't guaranty that as these effects are very difficult. For now on Effect.Psdeluxe.com you will find animated effects, lovely, romantic, funny, politic, e-cards and many others effects.

Face in Hole

This section is just for fun. Nothing serious, just laugh. With effects like these you can be easy turn into a celebrity. Simply upload your photo, make it smaller and add your face in the celebrity face hole, change colors for more realism and save it. You can transfer yourself to sexy top model, cat woman, tennis, hockey player and many other. Try it and you will see how fun it is.

Fake Magazines

If you want to hum to your friends, you can create a fake popular magazine cover with your photo and tell how famous you are now. For now we have only 20 fake magazines covers, but in near time I will add some extra more and more qualitative. So keep in touch with us.

Online Photo Editors

And last but not least, collection of online photo editors. We have 6 very useful online photo editors that will simplify your life. Then what tools exactly we have in our collection: Glitter Stamps Tool, Glitter Background Tool, Photo effect Tool, Frames Tool, Glitter text on Photo Tool and Text on Photo tool.

Here is a lot to tell about each of these tools, because with each of these tools you can create dozens of effects, so I suggest you just come to Effect.Psdeluxe.com and try each of them.

Dot worry, all our effects are free to use so you can check all of them. Furthermore I would be glad to hear any suggestions from you: what new effects you would like to see there or any other suggestions.

I always thought that the best is the practice than theory, so enough talk and I want all of you ask to visit our new section Online Effects.

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