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Happy Birthday Postcard

Place this layer under the basic layer containing the stars and blur it out with the usual option Gaussian Blur.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Create now a new layer above the girl’s layer and select the Brush Tool of Starburst – Small type to picture the flares on the girl’s jewelry, changing a little the brush’s size.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Insert
on her hair a little more brightness and nuance. At the beginning we
have to draw white stripes on that places we want the hair look
brighter. Select the Brush Tool of Hard Round type for this operation and do it on a new layer. Blur out this layer (Gaussian Blur) and change its type on Overlay.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Process the same way the color which we want to be on her hair, but don’t forget to minimize the Opacity till 35%,for example, just for the color not to look too mush intensive.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Make a copy of the sky’s layer now (ctrl+j) and apply to this copy the following combination: Filter – Artistic – Rouge Pastels.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Change the layer’s type on Soft Light and minimize the Opacity till 75%.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Combine now all the layers: Layer – Merge Visible (shift+ctrl+e) and make a copy of this final layer (ctrl+j). Apply the next filter for the new layer too: Filter – Sketch – Halftone Pattern.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs 

Take now the Eraser Tool with smooth edges and erase the stripes situated upper the stars and the girl, and then minimize the Opacity of the layer till 20%.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Insert the illustration in a frame finally by choosing the next usual instruments designed for this manipulation: the Crop Tool and the Rectangular Tool.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Insert on a new layer now the picture of a little baby.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Erase the background the child is situated on with Polygonal Lasso Tool and insert this picture in our illustration’s corner.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Create the layer’s mask: Layer – Add Layer Mask – Reveal all. Take now the Gradient Tool to hide the picture in that place it covers the frame.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Select the next command: Layer – Remove Layer Mask – Apply and correct baby’s color (Selective Color).

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Create a new layer now and insert several stars on the baby’s cheek then minimize the layer’s Opacity till 30% (change the angle of their placement selecting the usual option, Free Transform).

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Using the Type Tool, write the next expression, applying Angelina type.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Applying the next command Layer – Rasterize – Layer, copy it and make it white with the next combination: Image – Adjustments – Brightness/Contrast.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Blur out the colored layer (Gaussian Blur) and combine the layers containing the text (ctrl+e). Then make a copy of the final layer and turn it vertically: Edit – Transform – Flip Horizontal. The command Edit – Transform – Perspective will help us to make the corrections on it.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

The layer’s Opacity should be around 55%.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs 

Introduce
several more stars and threads, separated one from another, placed on
both girl’s sides. Change the stars’ angle to create the illusion of
the stars’ breaking away and falling down:

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

The illustration is ready!

+ View full size image

Made by Sigma
Learn how to make an illustration by combining several pictures, use some of the program filters and learn using the instrument Custom Shape Tool, increase the quantity of the clouds on the sky and represent the text’s reflection also.

Now open in a new window the picture of a girl we want to process next: File – Open (ctrl+o).

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Make a copy of the layer with the girl: Layer – Duplicate Layer (ctrl+j) and delete the previous one moving it on the recycle bin’s icon in the Layers window. Choose now the Polygonal Lasso Tool and mark out the background around the girl, and then erase it with the Delete button on the keyboard.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Move off the markings: Select – Deselect
(ctrl+d) and insert on a new layer the picture of the sky. It’s
necessary to open the sky in a new window (ctrl+o), mark it out with Rectangular Marquee Tool and copy it: Edit – Copy (ctrl+c). Then get back to the processed picture and insert it on a new layer: Edit – Paste (ctrl+v).

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Place
this layer lower than the girl’s layer and correct the size of both
layers referring one to another. Use for this operation the command Edit – Free Transform (ctrl+t).

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

As
you may see, on the girl’s right side it’s necessary to add more
clouds, this is why we need to hide the visibility of the girl’s layer
by clicking on the eye’s icon near the sky in the Layers window and mark out the already present cloud on the sky’s layer with Magic Wand Tool. Correct the markings applying the Polygonal Lasso Tool.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Copy this marked zone (ctrl+j) and make the necessary corrections of the new cloud’s placement (ctrl+t).

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Create a mask out of this layer: Layer – Create Clipping Mask – Reveal all, then select the Brush Tool of a big size with smooth edges and hide all the clear edges of this cloud with very accurate motions:

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Select the next command now Layer – Remove Layer Mask – Apply.
Start correcting the colors after that. Minimize a little the intensity
on the sky’s layer by copying it (ctrl+j). Blur it out with the
necessary filter (Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur) and change the layer’s type on Multiply.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs 

Merge down these layers: Layer – Merge Down (ctrl+e). Then make the operation of inverting the colors, selecting this combination: Image – Adjustments – Invert (ctrl+i).

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Change the sky’s color after that, using Image – Adjustments – Selective Color.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Applying the same command, it’s possible to make the corrections on the girl’s layer:

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Select now the Smudge Tool and set in the Brushes option the following adjustments:

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

We
have to represent now the wing’s edges more fluffy by applying short
smudging motions. On a black background it would look this way:

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Create now a new layer above the sky’s layer and select a star from the table below Custom Shape Tool.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Represent several stars by holding the shift button:

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Then take the Line Tool of 3 px, depending on the picture’s size and draw the threads the stars are hold on with.

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs

Make a copy of this layer and change the color of the copy, selecting the next combination: Image – Adjustments – Hue/Saturation (ctrl+u).

designing Happy Birthday Postcard in adobe Photoshop cs 

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