[Guest]

Skin by Mangas

[zeptrader]

Brilliant pic, fatboy, can I ask you a question, how do you extract the image ie screen shot onto the background, its something ive always had problems with this in photoshop?

[Guest]

Hi, zeptrader :!:

Thank you very much, M8! Most kind of you

The good news is that it is VERY easy to do :!: hock:

Here are the steps:

1) Cut out the plane. The two most common tools used for this are the "Polygon Lasso" and the "Pen Tool". If you use the "Polygon Lasso" you will automatically have the plane as a "Selection" when you are done. If you use the "Pen Tool", you'll have a "Path". The advantage of the "Pen Tool" is that you can use Bezier curves which make smooth curves easily and quickly.

2) Create a new "Transparent Layer" large enough for the entire plane to fit on it.

3) Drag the plane "Selection" from the original screen capture on to the "Transparent Layer". Save the "Transparent Layer" with the plane on it and save a copy as well.

4) To get the plane on to the new background simply left mouse click on the plane on the "Transparent Layer" and keep the mouse button held down while you drag the cutout plane where you want it! It's really that easy! It's essentially just a drag operation from the transparent layer on to the new background :!: :wink:

I don't know how familiar you are with Photoshop, zeptrader, so if I left out details that you need explained, don't hesitate to ask. I'm more than happy to help to the limit of my ability. :wink:

BTW, your Spitfire sig is beautiful! It's a mini artwork in it's own right :!: 8)

[Guest]

Oh yeah, couple of things I forgot to mention. :oops:

1) No matter what type of image file you start with, when you drag the cutout plane on to the new transparent layer, the new layer with the plane on it automatically becomes a .psd file.

2) When you drag the cutout plane on to a new background, the background image too automatically becomes a .psd file.

3) What you end up with is two .psd "Layers" which can be manipulated independently of each other. So, for example, you can drag the plane layer around where ever you want! You can "Rotate" the plane if you want to. You can apply a "Filter" to the background layer without affecting the plane layer.

4) You can have as many layers as you'd like :!:

5) When you are all done working with layers and the image is finished, simply "Flatten" the "Layers" and make the image any type of file you wish, like .jpg, for example. :wink:

Just remember that once you "Flatten" the layers, the layers don't exist any more. So, be sure that you're done first AND save the last version composed of layers :!:

[BERSERKER]

hock: hock: hock: hock:


Superb work FB... excelent combination of background and capture....

Brilliant

[Mangas]

Absolutely nice! Thanks! And I adore that true spinning propeller blades effect!


Regards,
Mangas.

[CUJO_1970]

Great shot FB :!:

[Guest]

Thanks a lot, M8's! Much appreciated :!:

Mangas: A really nice and unique skin of a plane that isn't often featured. Also, I liked your dedication in the "Readme" to French enthusiasts :!: :wink:

[CUJO_1970]

Also, thanks for ^^those instructions^^ above - very informative :!:

[Guest]

No problem, M8! Give me a holler if you run into a snag and I'll see if I know how to deal with it :!: :wink:

[zeptrader]

hey thanks for that fatboy, im pretty used to photoshop since version 5, but have always struggled with the cutting out, I understand everything your saying 100%.
A yu can see from my pics photoshop is used all the time, but your instrucction have just confirmed what I thought, I just wondered if you had another magic way of doing it, as with photoshop there a zillion ways of doing one single task.
cheers mate, I apprtiate your time taking to write it down.

thanks
colin

[Guest]

You're most welcome, Colin! Always happy to help if I can :!:

I'm using PS5 right now! We call that "vintage" or "retro" :lol: :lol: :lol:

I use the "Pen Tool". I've heard other guys talking about a method of erasing everything around the plane but I'm not familiar with that. If I find something that works and I like it, I usually just stick with it.

You're certainly right about that, Colin. Thousands of ways to approach doing any task with PS. "Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer choice" :!: :lol:

[zeptrader]

I'm using CS3 and a neat little tool to help cut out images like your screen, It would be easier to get a screen than to explain......I'll post it soon.

Its called Refine Edges, you can adjust the radius of the running ants (Selection), Contrast, Smooth it out, Feather, Contract or Expand.



You may wonder why I asked about how you did yours after seeing this, but yours looked very very clean around the edges, plus you had the arial, I'm guessing you added that?

[Guest]

That's an interesting tool :!:

Is it part of newer versions of PS or is it a plugin :?:

So, how do you typically make use of it :?:

Yeah, I added the antenna wires. Someone like you used to making images couldn't miss the telltale glitch I left, lol :!: :lol:

I usually capture the plane as large as I can without getting too much distortion. Then, most of the time, I have to reduce it for the image. As the plane becomes smaller any roughness along the edges becomes smaller and less noticeable as well. Hence, an enhanced appearance of edge smoothness.

Some say not to adjust the size of the plane but to adjust the background instead, however, some background photos can't tolerate being made larger. More often than not, the photos are grainy or have noise as it is. That can be fixed to a degree but too much smoothing makes the background look like mush. There are other ways to fix the background but I find them to be a pain in the butt. lol :lol:

One other thing: I find making the image into a .png file provides the best quality because it's less compressed than a .jpg file. Irfanview has the ability to compress .png files, which can be quite large if not compressed at all, to 9 different levels of compression which enables one to fit within the max size limits of free hosting sites like Image Shack. I haven't had to compress a .png more than to the first and lowest level of compression yet so most of the quality is still there.

Irfanview also has a nice selection of resizing filters. I find that the "Triangle Filter" works quite well and, in most cases, seems to yield a better looking image than the others.

Of course, I'm using the Smithsonian Museum version of PS. The newest versions probably don't require so much jumping through hoops to get a decent quality image, lol :!: :lol:

[zeptrader]

Its part of Photoshop CS 3, the latest version, and a big bugger at that, I found this on youtube that can explain better than I can write regarding the use of refine edges -

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5bLC6JdlGd0

cheers
Colin