How to create a dynamic nature poster in Photoshop

How to create a dynamic nature poster in Photoshop

In this tutorial we will create a nature poster using stock images, vectors and brushes.

Tools: Adobe Photoshop CS3

Difficulty: Intermediate – Advanced

Completion time: 1-2 hours

Resources:

floral vector pack 31 from designious.com

paper texture

dry earth

girl from npoz1

parrot from RainaDayze

branches from PKVstock

bonsai from Resurgere

splashes from fotolia.com

What you’ll be creating

 

create a dynamic nature poster Final image

STEP 1

Create a new document of 800×1200 px at 72 dpi in RGB color mode. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill the layer with pure white (#ffffff).

create a dynamic nature poster step 1

STEP 2

Open the “paper texture” image. Select all (CTRL+A), copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it in our drawing.

create a dynamic nature poster step 2

STEP 3

Go to Edit > Free Transform (CTRL+T), hold the ALT+SHIFT keys and click-drag one of the corners to resize it. Make it fit our canvas.

Then hit Enter.

create a dynamic nature poster step 3

STEP 4

Open the Layers palette (F7) and set Opacity to 45%.  Grab the Dodge Tool (O), set it to Shadows at 17% Exposure and lighten the dark areas.

create a dynamic nature poster step 4

STEP 5

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J). Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (CTRL+SHIFT+U). Set Blending mode to Hard Light and Opacity to 18%.
This will amplify the small midtones.

create a dynamic nature poster step 5

STEP 6

Duplicate the layer again (CTRL+J) and set layer Blending mode to Overlay at 100% Opacity. This will enhance the small highlights on the paper texture.

create a dynamic nature poster step 6

STEP 7

Select the top-most layer in the Layers palette and click the “New Layer Group” button. Name it “background”. Select all layers (shift-click selection) and drag them in the layer group.

create a dynamic nature poster step 7

STEP 8

Open the “dancer” image. Double-click the lock in the Layers palette (F7) and hit OK to make it editable.

create a dynamic nature poster step 8

STEP 9

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J), then go to Image > Invert (CTRL+I).

create a dynamic nature poster step 9

Note:

Since we are doing a selection via Channels, I will explain how the trick works.
Try to envision the tints rather than the colors in a picture, like you would see only red, blue or green.

In our case, blue is dominant and stands out the most from the background.
Knowing this, we will be able create even higher contrasts between the element and the background using the Blue channel. The higher the contrast, the more precise our selection will be.

STEP 10

Go to the Channels window (Window > Channels) and click-drag the “Blue” channel on the “New Channel” button. This will create a copy of the blue channel to work on, so we don’t damage the original

picture.
create a dynamic nature poster step 10

STEP 11

Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves (CTRL+M) and adjust the graph like below.

create a dynamic nature poster step 11

STEP 12

Repeat STEP 11 until the midtones disappear almost completely.

create a dynamic nature poster step 12

STEP 13

Use the Path Tool (P) and trace the midtone areas. Try to be more accurate in the contour areas.
Once you made a closed shape, right-click > Make Selection… and paint inside the selection with white using the Brush Tool (B).
Once done, go to Select > Deselect (CTRL+D).

create a dynamic nature poster step 13

STEP 14

In the Layers palette, CTRL+click the “Blue copy” channel thumbnail. This will make a selection of the body.
Turn on the “RGB” channel’s visibility and off the “Blue copy” ‘s.
Open the Layers palette (F7), turn of visibility of the “Layer 0 copy” layer and select the “Layer 0” and click the “Add Layer Mask” button.

create a dynamic nature poster step 14

STEP 15

Select “Layer 0” layer and go to Layer > Duplicate Layer… (CTRL+J). Select both layers and go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+E).

create a dynamic nature poster step 15

STEP 16

There’s a nasty white contour left from the selection.
CTRL+click the layer thumbnail, then go to Select > Modify > Contract and set it to 1 px. Go to Select > Inverse and hit “Delete”.

create a dynamic nature poster step 16

STEP 17

Go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and paint with black over the shadow under the right foot.

create a dynamic nature poster step 17

STEP 18

Go to Window > Arrange > Cascade and click-drag this layer into our document.

create a dynamic nature poster step 18

STEP 19

In the Layers palette (F7), click the “New layer Group” button and click-drag this layer into the group. Name this group “girl”.

create a dynamic nature poster step 19

STEP 20

Create a new layer above the “Layer 0 copy 2” layer. Now grab the Pen Tool (P), set it on Paths and draw a shape like i did. Feel free to make another one if you like.
Then right-click > Stroke Path… Hit OK.
This will be only a guideline, so don’t bother polishing it.

create a dynamic nature poster step 20

STEP 21

Open the “splashes”, double-click the lock in the Layers palette and hit OK. grab the Magic Wand (W) and select the background. Hit Delete.
Select all (CTRL+A), copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it in our document (CTRL+V).

create a dynamic nature poster step 21

STEP 22

Go to Edit > Free Transform and resize it. Hold SHIFT key to preserve proportions. Hit Enter.

create a dynamic nature poster step 22
Go to Edit > Transform > Warp and make it look something similar to below. Hit OK.
create a dynamic nature poster step 22.1

STEP 23

Repeat STEP 22 until you cover the entire black guide. Feel free to add layer masks to cover the loose areas, like in STEP 17.

create a dynamic nature poster step 23

STEP 24

Select all the splashes layers in the Layers palette and go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+E). Rename the resulting layer to “water”. Also place it in a new layer group.

create a dynamic nature poster step 24

STEP 25

Select small splashes areas from the “splashes” picture and paste them in our drawing. Resize them, but do NOT warp them like the first ones. Try selecting areas with shapes similar to our splash.

create a dynamic nature poster step 25

STEP 26

Repeat STEP 25 until you cover up the entire splash. Then select all splash layers and go to Layer > Merge Layers. Also Add a Clipping Mask like in STEP 17 to make the water pass behind the girl.

create a dynamic nature poster step 26

STEP 27

Select the top-most layer in the “water” layer group and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation. Make sure you check the “Use previous layer to create Clipping mask”.

Use the settings below.

create a dynamic nature poster step 27

STEP 28

Create a new layer above the “Background” layer group (Layer > New Layer or CTRL+SHIFT+N). Open the “paint brushes” and select one of your choice.
Use the settings below or similar.

create a dynamic nature poster step 28

STEP 29

On the newly created layer, throw a few brush strokes, behind the girl. Set layer Blending mode to Multiply and Opacity to 54%.

create a dynamic nature poster step 29

STEP 30

Repeat STEP 29, but set Opacity to 59%. Place these in a layer group and name it “splashes”.

create a dynamic nature poster step 30

STEP 31

Create a new layer group below the “splashes” layer group. Name it “flowers”. Now open the “vector flowers”, use the Lasso Tool (L) to select a flower of your choice, copy it and paste it in our drawing.
Also place it in the “flowers” layer group.

create a dynamic nature poster step 31

STEP 32

Place flowers around and try to follow or continue the body lines or the water. Feel free to mask any harsh intersections that will create strong spots.

create a dynamic nature poster step 32

STEP 33

For each flower, click the “fx” button in the Layers palette and set Color Overlay to white (#ffffff).

create a dynamic nature poster step 33

STEP 34

Open the “bonsai” picture and extract it like we did with the woman.

Hint: Since the dominant color is green, try exploiting the “Green” Channel.

create a dynamic nature poster step 34

STEP 35

Place the “bonsai” layer behind the “Layer 0 copy 2” layer – the one with the girl.

create a dynamic nature poster step 35

STEP 36

Create a new layer above the “girl” layer and ALT+click between the layers. Set the layer’s Blending mode to Overlay, with 70% Opacity.

create a dynamic nature poster step 36

STEP 37

Grab the Brush Tool (B), select a round, soft brush, lower Opacity a bit, pick a light color from the girl’s body (ALT+click) and paint over the girl’s body lights.

create a dynamic nature poster step 37
create a dynamic nature poster step 37.1

STEP 38

Create a new layer group and name it “text”. Then grab the Type Tool (T), make a large type box and type a text of your choice.
I wrote “INFINITE” with Franklin Gothic font.

create a dynamic nature poster step 38

STEP 39

From the “splashes” pictures, pick a detailed area of splashes, copy it and paste it in our drawing. Make it fit like below.

create a dynamic nature poster step 39

STEP 40

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (CTRL+U) and set Saturation to minimum and lower Lightness.

create a dynamic nature poster step 40

STEP 41

Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves. Create a curve similar to mine. The “S” shaped curve creates a higher contrast between shadows and highlights.

create a dynamic nature poster step 41

STEP 42

Select the layer with the text from the Layers palette (F7). Then go to Layer > Layer mask > Reveal all.

create a dynamic nature poster step 42

STEP 43

Press D key to return to the default color setting, select the layer mask, grab the Brush Tool (B) and paint over the extra areas of the text.

create a dynamic nature poster step 43

STEP 44

Repeat STEPS 42-43 for the other letters. Don’t modify too many, else the text will be unreadable. Place all the splashes in the layer group.

create a dynamic nature poster step 44

STEP 45

Open the “desert earth” picture, select a piece, rotate it and copy it (CTRL+C).
In our document, create a new layer above the “background” layer group. Go to Filter > Vanishing Point (CTRL+ALT+V).
Create the plane like below.

create a dynamic nature poster step 45

STEP 46

Paste the texture in the new window and click-drag it onto the plane. Hit OK.

create a dynamic nature poster step 46

STEP 47

Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (CTRL+SHIFT+U). Then create a new layer above it and ALT+click between the layers.
Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill this layer with a light brown color. Set Blending mode to “Color”.

create a dynamic nature poster step 47

STEP 48

Select the layer below and go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and paint over the edges with a round soft brush.

create a dynamic nature poster step 48

STEP 49

Create a layer group above all layers and name it “nature”. Then open the “parrot” picture, copy it and paste it in our document. Also resize it like below.

create a dynamic nature poster step 49

STEP 50

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and play around with the “Hue” cursor till you get more vibrant colors on the parrot.

create a dynamic nature poster step 50

STEP 51

Open the “branches” image and extract the branches from the background like in STEPS 10-14. Copy it, paste it in our document and place it like below.
Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer (CTRL+J) to create more copies.

create a dynamic nature poster step 51
create a dynamic nature poster step 51.1

STEP 52

Open the “vines” picture. Extract it using STEPS 10-14. Then copy it, paste it in our document and resize it.
Create copies (CTRL+J) and place them like below. Place all layers in a group and name it “vines”.

create a dynamic nature poster step 52

STEP 53

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and adjust it to have the same tint as the tree behind the girl.

create a dynamic nature poster step 53

STEP 54

Create a new layer and place it below the “vines” layer group. From the Layers palette, set Blending mode to Multiply.
Grab the Brush Tool (B), pick a dark color from the skin (ALT+click) and paint the shadows of the vines on the leg.

create a dynamic nature poster step 54

STEP 55

Go to Blur > Gaussian Blur and set it to about 3 px Radius. Hit OK.

From the Layers palette, reduce Opacity to 70% or until you are happy with the result. Then CTRL+click the “girl” layer thumbnail and click the “Add Layer Mask” button.
This will mask the unwanted areas of the shadows from the sloppy painting, if you’re using a mouse.

create a dynamic nature poster step 55

STEP 56

Select the top-most layer and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color balance. Use the settings below of feel free to use your own.

create a dynamic nature poster step 56
create a dynamic nature poster step 57

STEP 57

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. Set Blending mode to Saturation and Opacity to 20%.

create a dynamic nature poster step 58

create a dynamic nature poster step 57.1

STEP 58

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map.

create a dynamic nature poster step 58

create a dynamic nature poster step 58.1

STEP 59

Select all layers and drag them on the “New Layer” button. Then go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+D).

Go to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set it to 1.5 px. Hit OK. Set blending mode to Overlay and Opacity to 75%.

create a dynamic nature poster step 59

Done!

22 Comments on “How to create a dynamic nature poster in Photoshop

  1. Great tutorial. Same tutorial from PSDTuts’ premium section with a twist, but still good stuff.

  2. waw thats good i love it–♥ ♥:) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ ♥♥ ♥:) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ ♥♥ ♥:) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ ♥♥ ♥:) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ :) ♥ ♥

  3. Thanks for the following benefits:

    1- Technique applied on splash over text for them to blend together.

    2- The way creating selection from channels for subtracting difficult pic’s with hair and trees from backgrounds .. is wooow.

    3-Creating guideline for any effect to be done later like pen tool line for water splash. My friend … many THANXX to you

  4. With havin so much written content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright infringement? My site has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my permission. Do you know any ways to help stop content from being stolen? I’d really appreciate it.

  5. Thank You… Iam a fresher and i took 2 days to complete this….your descriptions are very detailed…thank you once again

  6. This guide would be good, IF IT TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAD TO PAY FOR SOME OF THE FUCKING PICTURES. Jesus I swear almost every guide I’ve tried on here leads me like half way only to tell me to download a picture that i have to fucking pay for, so I waste like 30 minutes of my time.

    • Or use the equivalent: a free picture. Try this: create your own textures and then give them away, for free. After spending 500$ on a camera and roughly another 200$ on other gadgets, such as diffuse lighting umbrellas.

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