Photoshop Tutorial

In this Photoshop tutorial I was making an 'explosive colour swath' graphic.

 In the first step I filled my canvas in a gray colour. I then used the vignette on the lens correction tool to create an effect of the center being light and gradually getting darker towards the edge. This was going to be my background.

I then created a gradient and made it go horizontal across my canvas. I used the noise tool to create a gradient with lots of different colours. I then removed the colour so I had lots of different shades of grey. 

I transformed this gradient making it smaller. I then used the perspect tool to make one side significantly larger than the other. Using the scew tool I made the gradient go diagonal across the canvas. I used the warp to give a wave effect. Finally I adjusted the levels so there wasnt much contrast between the shades of grey which I had.

Using the brush tool I coloured the line in using different preset colours from the swatches tool. I then used the gaussian blur tool to blend the colours together.

Duplicating the layer and making it transparent to show the gradient underneath, I used a clipping mask so the colour would only show in the gradient. On one duplicate I made the blending mode colour so that it would highlight the colour. I then set the blending mode for the other layer soft light, this made the colours flow into each other more effectively.

Changing the shape dynamics on the brush tool, I made the size gitter smaller and I also set the scattering to 700%. This made the brush appear as scatters of spots on my production. I then made used the gaussian blur tool on the layer to make these spots blury.

Using the hue tool, i seleted the tool colourisze and made the spots 30% darker while having the saturation at 100%. Turning colourize on, I made the spots have a yellow colour. Duplicating this layer and chanign belnding mode to overlay made the dots appear to be glowing and to have energy.
Then I made my finished graphic.

By doing this tutorial I have learnt how to use the lens correction tool. I can use this to create effective backgrounds as well as use it to correct problemas which I might have on some images because of the camera lens. An advantage of this is that I can easily make backgrounds, that aren't play and make the object on the background look more professional and effective. A disadvantage is that I need to develop my skills so I can learn more about different things which this tool can do because at the moment, I am limited with its usage.

I have also learnt how to use the tools of scew and warp on the transform tool. This can be useful for tilting images and also changing the shape of them. An advantage of this is that I can change a shape in many different ways, making the image appear more specialised or having more of an effect. A disadvantage is that it is very difficult to create the exact same object again when using the warp tool. I could apapt these skills by experimenting more and also finding out more about the different tools that accompany the transform tool.

A skill I have also learnt is how to use a layer mask mask. This can be useful when colouring in something using a different tool so that I wont go outside the selected object I am coluring or making edits to. An advantage of this is that I can use different layers to colour or edit and keep the edges accurate. A disadvantage is that is that when erasing the pixels appear to be 'gone' and this means less flexibility.

Another skill in which I have learnt is how to use the gaussian blur tool. This is useful to make things evenly blury. I can use this when making background or to make something look insignificant. An advantage of this is that it can make things blur into each other and combined so the image can flow. A disadvantage is the lack of control which the gaussian blur tool gives you as you can only blur all the object and not blur it in one direction.

I have developed the use of my brush tool. I can now adapt the shape dynamics to suit my purpose. This can be useful if I want something to be stylised, or I need a specific brush shape. The strength of this is that it is much faster than putting the spots in individually  however a weakness is that it is hard to control where each spot is exactly going to go.

This skills will benefit me when it comes to doing my unit 3 practical work as I will be able to use the gaussian blur tool to create an effective background. I could also create a background by using the lens correction. It has also gave me the ability to use layer masks so I might be able to use them in my unit 3 production. I can also control the brush tool more effectively and this can help me when I come to editing or designing my production. Since I know learnt more tools used to transform images, I can edit them to create and effect and fit on my page too.