Below is one of the results you’ll get by following this tutorial. I also show other examples at the end:
Here I have a photograph of a horse and rider jumping that I’ll drop into Photoshop. It’s a nice shot, but I want to get a little creative with it, so I’ll add a custom shape to make it interesting:
I’ll make sure to change the name of the background layer by double clicking on the word “Background” in the Layers palette. I’ll do this because I want to unlock the layer:
I’ll rename “Layer 0” to “Original Background”. Then I’ll click OK:
Here is the Layers palette at this point:
Now I want to add a new layer below the original background layer and fill it with white. To do this I’ll click on the “New Layer” icon at the bottom of the Layers palette, while at the same time I’ll hold down the CTRL key on my keyboard:
This is what the Layers palette looks like at this point:
To fill “Layer 1” with white, first I’ll click on the double arrows on the color picker in the tools palette and make sure that white is the foreground color:
Now I’ll hit ALT+Backspace on my keyboard to fill “Layer 1” with white.
This is what the Layers palette looks like at this point:
In this step I’ll make sure to click on the “Original Background” layer to make it active. When a layer is highlighted in blue, then you know it’s active:
Now I want to add a “Vector Mask” to the “Original Layer Background” I’ll go to Layer / Vector Mask / Hide All.
Note: When you finish this step, the white fill will cover the photo. That is what’s supposed to happen.
Now it’s time to pick a shape. I’ll go to the custom shape tool in the tools palette. At the top of the screen I’ll make sure that the “Add to Path” button is selected:
Here I’ll click on the drop down menu to see all the custom shapes. I found a great web site that offers free custom shapes. It’s www.ladyoak.com. This is where I got the custom shape that I’m using for this tutorial.
Now that I have a shape selected, I’ll just drag it across the white box. I usually start from the upper left hand corner and drag down to the bottom right hand corner. I’m a lefty, so if you feel more comfortable going from right to left then do whatever is easiest for you.
If I need to move the custom shape to the left, right, up or down for a fine adjustment, I’ll click on the path selection tool in the Tools palette. Then I’ll click on the shape and drag the shape to the position I want:
This is the shape I chose for my photo, and this is what it looks like so far:
And this is what my Layer palette looks like at this point too:
The next thing I want to do is give the shape a drop shadow. So, I’ll click on the “Layer Style” icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:
Here the Layer Style menu comes up, and I’ll click on the Drop Shadow option:
Here are the settings I chose for the “Drop Shadow”. Blend Mode is set to “Multiply”. Angle is set to 129, Distance: 39, Spread: 17 and Size: 3:
I also decided to do a “Bevel and Emboss”, so I’ll click on the words “Bevel and Emboss†to bring up its own dialog box. Here are the settings I used in the Structure portion. Style: Inner Bevel, Technique: Smooth, Depth: 100%, Direction: Up, Size: 5 and Soften: 0. In the Shading portion I used Angles: 40, Altitude: 30, Highlight Mode: Screen, Opacity: 75%, Shadow Mode: Multiply and Opacity for the shadow mode: 75%. When I’m finished I’ll click OK:
Here is what the Layers palette looks like in the end:
And here is the finished image:
Here’s one last step you can do, if you want to add a color to the background. Make sure “Layer 1″ is selected:
Click on the paint bucket in the Tools palette:
Then go to the Swatches palette:
When I click on a color, the color that was chosen will appear in the color picker in the tools bar:
I’ll just hover the paint bucket over any part of the white background and click:
Here are some other shape examples:
Again, thank you www.ladyoak.com for all the free custom shapes and so much more.
Great is the effect I’m looking for