Beginner Tuts: Ripple & Smudge

[badgers 380]

Hey, guys, for this tutorial I'm going to show GFX beginners how to use the ripple and smudge technique. It's a rather simple technique but the more you use it, the better you can get it to look.

 

Requirements:

Adobe Photoshop

High Quality Player Cut

Time: 15-20 Minutes

 

What I used:

Adobe Photoshop CS5

Patrick Willis Cut (located here: cut)

 

Terminology:

Render: The high quality picture of the subject (Patrick Willis)

Cut: The image before I made it smaller to fit the sig

 

NOTE: Before proceeding, I used funnygunny's Pure Colors Tutorial on my render, I suggest you do the same for yours if you want the best colors (additional time: 5-10 minutes)

 

Section 1: Render placement, initial Ripple

 

1. Create a 380x140 transparent image. Paint the entire layer with color #444444.

 

2. Place your render where you see fit. The middle is a bad idea; try placing it on a side, facing towards the middle.

 

3. First duplicate the layer (CTRL + J) and desaturate the duplicate (CTRL + U). With the player render layer selected, at the top of your screen go to Filter Gallery > Ocean Ripple. Set the size to 8 and the magnitude to 4, and position it to behind and to the outside of your main render. Set the Fill of this layer to 50%.

 

4. Now, do the same thing (CTRL + J) BUT DON'T DESATURATE. Instead, set the blend mode of this layer to Color Dodge. Do the same Ripple as before, and place it to the opposite side as your B&W layer. Set the Fill of this layer to 60%.

 

Your screen should look something like this, now.

 

 

Section 2: Smudging

 

5. Create a THREE duplicates of your main render, place them behind all render layers but in front of the background (obviously), and select the Smudge tool.

 

6. Open your Brush settings (Window > Brush) and select the Maple Leaf brush (comes with default Photoshop) and set it to these settings:

 

 

7. Set the Strength to 100%, and heavily Smudge all 3 of these layers differently, then set the blend modes of each (doesn't matter which) to Darken, Color Dodge, and Soft Light (though you can experiment and find what you like best). This will add some depth into your smudged background. When you're done with all that, it should look something like this:

 

 

Section 3: Blending

 

8. You're going to want to blend your renders so that they don't just "sit there" like that and actually look well with your sig. Let's do that to the background renders (desaturated and color dodge) first. Take your Smudge Tool again, but set the size of the brush to about 15-20 px instead of 50-75 like before. This will decrease the spread. Set the Strength to 50% now. Smudge around the outside of each of these layers.

 

9. Now time for the main render. Set the Strength to 30%, now, and smudge around the outside of your render. Avoid any areas of extreme detail (i.e. Helmet, Face, logos, etc.)

 

10. Now grab the Eraser tool, set the size to about 70 and the Hardness (by right clicking the picture with eraser tool you can edit Hardness) to 0. Lightly erase, by clicking one at a time, the outside of your main render. Once again, avoid areas of extreme detail. Your sig should look something like this, now.

 

 

Section 4: Adjustment Layers

 

11. Now you've got it all blended together, but why are the colors all mis-matched? Don't worry, it will look like that. We're going to use Adjustment Layers to fix it. Click on your main render (this should be your top layer, but if it isn't, select that top layer) and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness and Contrast. Set the Brightness to about 5-10 and the Contrast to 10-15. This should make your sig a bit brighter, though if you want a dark sig, you can set the brightness down a bit. Contrast increases the disparity between light and dark colors, making each color more noticeable.

 

12. Now, do Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. Set the Opacity to 30%, and just play around with the different gradients until you get something that looks nice. Chances are you won't find something right away so keep messing with it.

 

13. This is optional but I like to do it sometimes. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter. Choose any color you want, and set the density around 40-50%.

 

14. Now that it's all set up, you may see some layers that you just don't like. Feel free to go back in and edit any layers, like I did to the smudged layers (felt they were too smudged).

 

15. Now just add text. I won't do a text tutorial (one reason being I'm not good at it) but mostly cuz that's a lot more to do for me. Here's the finished product, with text.

 

 

Post your finished sig below, and any questions.

 

Thanks!

by: gobadgers77

[Pwillie52 79]

Nice tutorial bro. I think you covered it pretty well but I do have a little tutorial cnc. When you make a tutorial you want to stick to what your subject was. I thought you could have focused more on explaining the smudging process and focused less on the sig you were making. But all in all great share :beerchug2:

[funnygunny 521]

good tut. blending is actually difficult for some and this sums it up well.

[badgers 380]

good tut. blending is actually difficult for some and this sums it up well.

 

Shouldn't be, if I'm the one making the damn tutorial for it.