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Realistic Clips
Tonya DoughtyEditorial Deck Crewmember
This tutorial will show you how to make realistically "placed" clips. In this example I am using alpha clips, similar to those available to paper scrappers. If you would like to download the file containing these clips, click here. However, you can use this same technique for any type of digital clip. This tutorial is written for Adobe Photoshop, but should be adaptable to recent versions of other raster-based software.
1. If the clips are all included together on one file, open the file and draw a marquee around the letter you want to use. If they are individually saved, open the clip file.
2. Import/Copy/Paste (depending on your software) into your layout and position where as desired. Make sure the clip is on its own layer and at a higher level than the paper layer. Repeat with any other letters/numbers you wish, although all the clips can be on the same layer with each other, if you wish to manipulate them all together. If they will be at varying levels on your layout, keep them to their own layer.
3. Load the selection for the clip(s) (In Photoshop: ctrl+click the clip's layer).
4. To deselect the part of the clip that would be under the paper, in Photoshop hold down the ctrl+shift+alt keys and click on the layer that contains the "paper" that the clip(s) will be attached to. This will remove the part of the selection that doesn't overlap the paper.
5. While holding down the alt key, use the lasso or marquee tool to remove the selection (the centers) that is the letter or number portion (not the clip part) by drawing between it's part of the selection and the clip part of the selection.
6. With the clip layer active, hit delete to remove this portion of the clip(s). Don't worry about the shadow; we'll deal with it later.
7. While this area is still selected, feather the selection about 2-4 pixels. Make the paper layer active and using a white brush with opacity between 15-30% paint in the selection. This gives the impression the bottom clip part is behind the paper pushing it forward - use the higher opacity setting for more transparent paper, like vellums, and the lower settings for more opaque paper.
8. Deselect all. Make the clip layer active, choose the eraser and lower the opacity to 50%. Erase the shadowing that pasted in when you brought in the clip (if you are using clips that already have shadowing applied, like a .PNG file may), but only the outside edge of the clip. Leave the inner part of the shadow. In real life this section would be shadowed because the letter was pushing it down.
9. Add other shadowing as desired and appropriate with a soft black brush set to about 20% opacity. Don't use the automatic drop shadow layer effect because the shadow from the top of the clip will overlap onto the paper and this is not true-to-life. Instead paint in your shadows on the correct layers as you see fit to mimic real-life.
This theory behind this tutorial can be applied to most any clip or other item that has parts both on top and behind a layer. The trick to creating digital realism is first to really look at what you're trying to recreate. Notice where shadows fall and highlights occur. These are the details that convey realism. Capture those and you create the ability to replicate almost anything! Please feel free to email me with any suggestions or requests on what you would like me to cover. I'll try to oblige! Get scrappin'!
Tonya Doughty
tonyadoughty@ssreflections.com
Editorial Deck Crewmember
S.S. Reflections, Inc.
See more ideas, techniques and product reviews at our sister site Scramping Central