COVERING OUR TRACKS MAY 2002
by John
Mantzefield
copyright 2002
This
project began when I was watching a series of video
tutorials from KW Computer Training
(photoshopvideos.com) - on these tapes the Photoshop
expert Scott Kelby shows you how to do amazing things
with this program’s toolset.
INTERNET BIRTHDAYS
While I was experimenting with the features of Photoshop’s (ver.6.0) Layer Style dialog box I realized that it would be easy to have the Paintbrush settings adjusted so that it would allow me to paint in a cake-frosting-look with my Wacom (USB drawing tablet) pen. After a bit of experimentation and coming up with a basic idea for this months cover I called the downtown Library to see what kind of books they have on birthday cake decoration. The librarian said they had several that would be just what I was looking for, but she asked if I had considered taping the voluminous resources of the internet to fulfill this need? I thanked her for the great suggestion and clicked through to www.google.com/mac where I selected the “Image” tab.... a pleasant surprise was soon to come my way!
After about forty-five minutes of entering search terms like “cake”, “birthday cake” and “cake decoration”, and then opening the links that I found it was just a matter of “saving to disk” a couple dozen of the best reference photos. The only thing I found a bit surprising about this search was that Google presented me with a large number of family birthday photos that were taken in peoples homes or backyards - also some in rental halls that families had engaged for the festive private event.
STYLE PAINTING
BASICS
With a new Layer and the Paintbrush tool selected click on the Layer Style pull-down menu (at the bottom of Layers Palette) and choose Bevel and Emboss. This dialog box is shown in the image to the left. Even with the default settings the Paintbrush will now draw a contoured shape with highlights and shadows. As you tweak the settings the appearance of your painted shapes can change a lot... here’s some tips on how the settings will effect your art work.
With only Bevel and Emboss selected (Contour & Texture unchecked) I usually start by making changes in the Structure area, with the Style set to Inner Bevel you can paint a rounded shape. With Technique set to Smooth you adjust the Size slider to alter the degree of roundness of the shape. The Depth slider also effects the shape of the stroke your painting - some experimentation is required here taking into consideration the diameter setting of your Paintbrush tool. The Direction - Up/Down selectors will make your painted shape appear to stand up on top of the surface or recede into it.
A COOL TECHNIQUE
A very useful adjustment technique is the use of the Up and Down Arrow Keys on your keyboard. Clicking once in any of the Layer Styles numeric entry boxes (like the rectangular box to the right of the SIZE slider) and then by repeatedly pressing either the Up or Down Arrow Keys will cause single number incremental changes to be automatically entered.
INTERNET BIRTHDAYS
While I was experimenting with the features of Photoshop’s (ver.6.0) Layer Style dialog box I realized that it would be easy to have the Paintbrush settings adjusted so that it would allow me to paint in a cake-frosting-look with my Wacom (USB drawing tablet) pen. After a bit of experimentation and coming up with a basic idea for this months cover I called the downtown Library to see what kind of books they have on birthday cake decoration. The librarian said they had several that would be just what I was looking for, but she asked if I had considered taping the voluminous resources of the internet to fulfill this need? I thanked her for the great suggestion and clicked through to www.google.com/mac where I selected the “Image” tab.... a pleasant surprise was soon to come my way!
After about forty-five minutes of entering search terms like “cake”, “birthday cake” and “cake decoration”, and then opening the links that I found it was just a matter of “saving to disk” a couple dozen of the best reference photos. The only thing I found a bit surprising about this search was that Google presented me with a large number of family birthday photos that were taken in peoples homes or backyards - also some in rental halls that families had engaged for the festive private event.
With a new Layer and the Paintbrush tool selected click on the Layer Style pull-down menu (at the bottom of Layers Palette) and choose Bevel and Emboss. This dialog box is shown in the image to the left. Even with the default settings the Paintbrush will now draw a contoured shape with highlights and shadows. As you tweak the settings the appearance of your painted shapes can change a lot... here’s some tips on how the settings will effect your art work.
With only Bevel and Emboss selected (Contour & Texture unchecked) I usually start by making changes in the Structure area, with the Style set to Inner Bevel you can paint a rounded shape. With Technique set to Smooth you adjust the Size slider to alter the degree of roundness of the shape. The Depth slider also effects the shape of the stroke your painting - some experimentation is required here taking into consideration the diameter setting of your Paintbrush tool. The Direction - Up/Down selectors will make your painted shape appear to stand up on top of the surface or recede into it.
A COOL TECHNIQUE
A very useful adjustment technique is the use of the Up and Down Arrow Keys on your keyboard. Clicking once in any of the Layer Styles numeric entry boxes (like the rectangular box to the right of the SIZE slider) and then by repeatedly pressing either the Up or Down Arrow Keys will cause single number incremental changes to be automatically entered.
If
your painting a small shape it’s almost impossible to
accurately change it’s Size with that adjustments
Slider - but using the Arrow key adjustments can yield
the subtle adjustments you may need. The Arrow Keys
adjustment technique is also about the only way you can
easily adjust the lighting effects settings in the
Shadings area in the Layer Styles dialog box. While the
Angle and Altitude adjustments can be altered by
dragging on their control point this causes rather
broad adjustments. By using the Up/Down Arrow Keys very
small changes can be made in the simulated lighting.
ADJUSTING THE CONTOURS
Another important part of the Layer Style dialog box is the Glass Contour selector (I added it’s large text in the image above) in the Shadings area. When you click on the box that has the gray shaded shape in it the larger selection box appears as I have indicted with the heavy black line and arrow in the image below. This gives you an easy way to try out each of these edge effect selections. As you click on each of the grayed shapes your painted objects edges and some of the top surfaces will change in a real-time preview. Once you find an edge shape you like press Return to select it.
CUSTOM
CONTOURS
If you want to create your own edge shapes just click on the gray shape box to the right of the words “Glass Contour” and the Contour Editor window will appear as seen in the image to the left. As I have indicated in this image just click and drag on the control points indicated by the black arrow lines. To add additional control points just click anywhere on the curves line and to delete points just drag them out of the window. Once you have a shape you like click the “NEW” button where I’ve indicated and enter a name for your custom contour. This feature is a very powerful tool that allows you to dramatically effect the appearance of your painting. I created several new Contours for this months cover and finally used only a couple of them and deleted the others. As I’m developing the styles I’m using I SAVE them quite often with the New Style button in the Layer Style dialog box. The new ones appear (with a sample thumbnail image) in the Styles Palette - once there it’s very convenient to click on one after another and see how it alters your project.
WHO GETS THE CREDIT?
Once I created the design for this months cover I needed some additional information before I could continue... who started PMUG and when? I asked Janet DeVore about this via email and she told me to write to Michael Pearce who is the group’s founder. Michael wrote back indicating that he bought his first Mac at Computerland in April of 1984. He said he created Issue #0 of the groups first “flyer/newsletter” which was sent out to announce the initial group meeting. Michael’s Issue #1 of the groups newsletter, which was called “MacAttack”, came out in May of 1984. Thanks Michael for your years of dedication.
ADJUSTING THE CONTOURS
Another important part of the Layer Style dialog box is the Glass Contour selector (I added it’s large text in the image above) in the Shadings area. When you click on the box that has the gray shaded shape in it the larger selection box appears as I have indicted with the heavy black line and arrow in the image below. This gives you an easy way to try out each of these edge effect selections. As you click on each of the grayed shapes your painted objects edges and some of the top surfaces will change in a real-time preview. Once you find an edge shape you like press Return to select it.
If you want to create your own edge shapes just click on the gray shape box to the right of the words “Glass Contour” and the Contour Editor window will appear as seen in the image to the left. As I have indicated in this image just click and drag on the control points indicated by the black arrow lines. To add additional control points just click anywhere on the curves line and to delete points just drag them out of the window. Once you have a shape you like click the “NEW” button where I’ve indicated and enter a name for your custom contour. This feature is a very powerful tool that allows you to dramatically effect the appearance of your painting. I created several new Contours for this months cover and finally used only a couple of them and deleted the others. As I’m developing the styles I’m using I SAVE them quite often with the New Style button in the Layer Style dialog box. The new ones appear (with a sample thumbnail image) in the Styles Palette - once there it’s very convenient to click on one after another and see how it alters your project.
WHO GETS THE CREDIT?
Once I created the design for this months cover I needed some additional information before I could continue... who started PMUG and when? I asked Janet DeVore about this via email and she told me to write to Michael Pearce who is the group’s founder. Michael wrote back indicating that he bought his first Mac at Computerland in April of 1984. He said he created Issue #0 of the groups first “flyer/newsletter” which was sent out to announce the initial group meeting. Michael’s Issue #1 of the groups newsletter, which was called “MacAttack”, came out in May of 1984. Thanks Michael for your years of dedication.
