The Pen-Tool

I revamped the old Pen-Tool tutorial, because it was missing some explanation. Also I found it may be a bit hard for some people. Right now I have explained EVERYTHING about the different pen-tools and did this at a level, even people who are new to photoshop can understand!

Learn how to use the best tool in photoshop... The Pen-Tool!

In this tutorial I will teach you how to use maybe the best tool there is in Photoshop. But maybe also the hardest to learn. I use this tool every time I use photoshop. For me the tool has no more secrets. And I want to achieve the same thing for you, because this is a GREAT tool to create vectors or to seperate a picture from the background!

 

• Step 1 When you select the standard Pen-Tool, you will have the oportunity to do many things.
  Just click around and notice it works the same as the Polygonal Lass-Tool, only now you can scroll while selecting.
  Notice the squares. These are Anchor-Points. More about those later!!!

  

• Step 2 If you click first somewhere in the screen, and then click, BUT you hold the mousebutton and drag the mouse across the screen. Notice that you can create a curve:

  

• Step 3 You can't create a straight line after a curve, therefore you must do something else first;
  Hold ALT and drag the anchorpoint somewhere else;

  

• Step 4 Then click somewhere else and notice that you can create a new curve from a straight line!

  

• Step 5 The Freeform Pen-Tool can be used for many drawing-purposes. It works a bit the same as the pencil in Flash, because it tightens the lines you draw.
  Not much cools can be done with this unless you're very skilled with a mouse or have a drawingtablet.

  

• Step 6 Select the +Add anchor-point-Tool and click anywhere on a line to create a new anchor-point to make a different curve or edit the current curve:

  

• Step 7 The +Remove anchor-point-Tool works the exact the opposite; click on an anchor-point to remove it and make the line continue along the other anchor-points!

  

• Step 8 The COnvert Point-Tool is used to modify existing anchor-points.
  Just select the tool and click on an anchor-point. Then drag it around to change the curve:

  
  

Author        :  MICK MOOLHUIJSEN 
HomePage :  http://www.mickm.com 

Cell-Shading

The is the first tutorial on MickM.com on how to cell-shade your photo's just like in games like Zelda:Windwaker or XIII. It may take some time and tries, but the result is worth dying for...

Make Vector-cellshading your everyday business with this tutorial!

• Step 1 Open up a picture you want to cell-shade/vectorise;

  

• Step 2 First select all the parts that have the similar color;

  Note:I USED THE COLOR BLACK FIRST.

  

• Step 3 You must use the Polygonal Lasso-Tool for this all;

  Note:I WOULD HIGHLY SUGGEST TO USE THIS TOOL, BECAUSE IT GIVES A MUCH BETTER RESULT.
  I USE THE PEN-TOOL A LOT, BUT IN THIS CELLSHADING-CASE, IT'S BETTER TO GET POLYGONAL SHAPES THEN TO GET CURVED SHAPES!

  

• Step 4 When you select one color, make a new layer and just fill it with that color;

  Note:IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHICH COLOR-CODE IS THE COLOR YOU WANT, JUST GET OUT THE EYEDROPPER AND CLICK IT ON THE COLOR YOU WANT TO CELLSHADE.

  

• Step 5 When you're done, you should have A LOT of layers with all different colors;

  

• Step 6 It is a lot of work, but it pays off...
  REMEMBER: You don't need to use EVERY COLOR, just the basic, the shadow and the shining-part!!!
  Check out below how the Polygonal Lasso-Tool works;

  
  

Author        :  MICK MOOLHUIJSEN 
HomePage :  http://www.mickm.com 

Adobe Photoshop CS2: Digital Camera Raw File Support

The camera raw functionality in Adobe© Photoshop© software provides fast and easy access within Photoshop to the "raw" image formats produced by many leading professional and midrange digital cameras. By working with these "digital negatives," you can achieve the results you want with greater artistic control and flexibility while still maintaining the original "raw" files.

The Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in became the latest must-have tool for professional photographers when it was released in February 2003. This powerful plug-in has been updated to support more cameras and include more features, and is available as part of Adobe Photoshop CS2. With Photoshop CS2 you get not only the latest camera raw plug-in, but also the full range of exciting new features that are part of this release.

The Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in (2.3 or higher) now also supports raw files in the DNG format. Find out more about the benefits of the Digital Negative, a publicly documented raw file format recently announced by Adobe.

To learn more about Camera Raw, read these primers:

• Understanding digital raw capture (PDF, 1000k)
• Linear gamma (PDF, 235k)

Supported Cameras

Camera Raw 3.3

Newly supported cameras for Camera Raw 3.3 - January 2006

Support for the following cameras has been added from Camera Raw 3.2 to 3.3.

Supported cameras for Camera Raw 3.2

Support for the following cameras is included in Photoshop CS2. Camera Raw 3.1 is not compatible with Photoshop CS.

DNG Native Cameras

The following cameras can natively capture DNG-format raw files, and therefore are compatible with Adobe Camera Raw versions 2.4 and greater.

* The file encryption found in some Nikon raw formats has caused some users to question the level of cooperation between Nikon and Adobe in providing solutions for raw processing.

1. Open your favorite image:



2. Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer, set Mode Overlay for duplicated layer:



3. Go to Filter>Artistic>Cutout:



Results:



4. Add title text for flyer, I use font Bernard MT Condensed:



Blending Options and add Stroke:



add other important text for this flyer - location and event schedule:



5. Now add nice stars on background, Select the brush tool (B), then click in the brushes window. If you can’t see the panel go window > Options to show it:



Now, create another layer, hold down the left button of your mouse and tracing 2-3 lines made of stars. Go to Blending Mode>Outer Glow:



Now flyer it's ready: