- Stretched-pixel Backgrounds
- Electric Type
- Ripped Edge Technique
- Multicolor Glow
- Metallic Glass Effect
- Credit Card from a Photo
- Colorizing Line Art
- Painting Using a Photo as Your Guide
- Giant Plasma Screen
- Photo to Line Art Morph
- Wire Frame Effect
- 3D Cubes
- Blending a Logo into a Photo
- Instant Star Field
- Water Drops
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Giant Plasma Screen
Just because only multi-millionaires can afford huge flat-panel plasma screens, doesn't mean you can't use digital versions of them at will in your own advertising and self-promotion projects by slapping a giant plasma screen on any flat surface that you see fit. Feel the power!
Quick Tip: Too much Liquid? Undo it!
If you're used to the Photoshop 6 version of Liquify, you're used to the "one undo" limitation that makes you really stay on your toes when working in Liquify. Well, you'll be happy to know that in Photoshop 7 you can now "mess up" all you want, because Adobe added multiple undos.
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Open the image where you want to add a giant plasma screen. (In this case, we're going to add it to the side of a building. This is what I mean by "giant" plasma screen.) Press Shift-L to get the Polygonal Lasso tool and select the area where you want your giant plasma screen to appear (as shown). Press "d" to make your Foreground color black .
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Create a new blank layer, then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Control) to fill your selection with black. Go under the Select menu and choose Contract. Enter 8 and click OK to shrink your selection by 8 pixels. Now, hold the Option key (PC: Alt key), switch to the Polygonal Lasso tool, and trim off another 1/4" off the bottom of your selection (as shown).
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Open the image you want in your plasma screen. To add scan lines, create a new layer, press "x" to set your Foreground color to white, and fill by pressing Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace). Go under the Filter menu, under Sketch, and choose Halftone Pattern. Set the Size to 1, Contrast to 5, Pattern Type to Line, and click OK to add black/white lines.
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Change the Layer Blend mode to Overlay, then press Command-E (PC: Control-E) to merge the two layers into one. Press Command-A (PC: Control-A) to Select All, then press Command-C (PC: Control-C) to copy the image. Switch back to your building image. Go under the Edit menu and choose Paste Into. Your image will appear on its own layer.
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It's important that your image have the same perspective as your building, so press Command-T (PC: Control-T) to bring up the Free Transform function. Hold the Command key (PC: Control key), grab one of the corner points, and drag it to fit the side of the building. You'll have to adjust all four sides, lining up each side with the angle of the building. When the image's angle looks right, press Return (PC: Enter).
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Last, add a made-up plasma manufacturer's name below the image in white. (Note: It's very important to match the overall contrast of the pasted image with the contrast of the building photo you're pasting into. If the image looks too dark or too light, press Command-L [PC: Control-L] to bring up Levels, and use the Left and Right bottom Output Levels sliders to lighten or darken as needed.)
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Quick Tip: Spell Checking très magnifique
You probably know by now that there's a spell checker in Photoshop 7 (Thank God!), but what you may not realize is how powerful that spell checker really is. It not only checks English, but comes with spell-checking dictionaries for French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Canadian French, and a bunch more. The trick is to find where you choose which language you want. You do it from a pop-up menu that's been added to the bottom of the Character palette. Ah, très magnifique.