Pale September

I am a fledgling web designer and I have been asked to create a site using a sample graphic. Unfortunately my client has now lost the original files so all I have is a small image to work with. I am familiar with photoshop for cropping, resizing, slicing and using layers but not at all with the different filters.
What I would like to know is how do I achieve this kind of effect?

Thanking you so much for taking the time to read

DrSilver

Well, aside from the flames at the bottom, the red/yellow effect is pretty straightforward. There's probably other ways to do this, but the quickest and easiest is probably a gradient map. My understanding of the gradient map command is this: You set a gradient (so, at the simplest, two colors that fade into one another, but you can do as many as you want inbetween), and gradient map applies colors to portions of the image based on the brightness of each pixel in the image. For example, you set a gradient from red to blue. Gradient map would then convert pure black pixels to pure red, and pure white pixels to pure blue. Anything inbetween would be filled with varying shades of purple, based on their brightness.

So, to get roughly what you want, we're going to take the original image, and create a gradient map based on the sample image.


So, you've got two ways to access the gradient map command. You can either go to Image > Adjustments > Gradient map, or, (a better way), create an adjustment layer above the layer you're working with, so that you can adjust the settings later if you want. This is the way we're going to go over.

First, load up the new image that you want to adjust, as well as the sample image, and make sure you can see them both. This is the image I used:
[img width=700 height=524]http://ownedgear.com/pstut/GirlFace.jpg[/img]

With the new image selected, click the "Adjustment layer" button, then select "Gradient Map":


This should present you with a gradient map dialog box:
[img width=700 height=423]http://ownedgear.com/pstut/GradMapDialog.jpg[/img]

In this box, click on the gradient itself (where the cursor is in the above image), to access the gradient editor:
[img width=700 height=423]http://ownedgear.com/pstut/GradEditor.jpg[/img]

Now we're in the home stretch. Next, double-click on the button below the gradient on the left-hand side (where the cursor is, above). This will open the color picker. Use the eyedropper to select the darkest color (or whatever appears to be representing black) in the sample image, and hit OK. I chose the red on her jacket. You've just set the color that will represent black.

Next, double-click the button below the gradient to the right. This time, use the eyedropper to select the lightest portion of the sample image (or whatever should be representing white), and hit OK. You've just set the color that will represent white. I chose the lightest parts of the girl's hair.

Now, we're pretty close, but it still doesn't look quite right. It appears we need to add another color into the mix somewhere. To do so, just click once below the gradient (between the two existing buttons) in the gradient editor window, and it'll add another button for you to double-click. This time, let's use the eyedropper to select a color kind of in the middle. I used the darker part of the girl's cheek (far left side of the image).

Finally, all you have to do is adjust the mixing of the gradient. To do so, just drag the colored boxes around, or drag the diamonds between them. This takes a little bit of playing, but you should be able to get a pretty accurate approximation with just these three colors.

Here's what I came up with:
[img width=700 height=524]http://ownedgear.com/pstut/GirlDone.jpg[/img]

Here's a PSD of what I did. To see the gradient settings I used, just double-click the gradient icon on the adjustment layer.


Hope this helps!

Pale September

Thank you so much for such a detailed response. Very kind. I will give it a go .
Cheers 8))

Pale September

In just a few minutes I was able to produce this :surprised: which has more than exceeded my expectations. Thank you again.


I don't suppose you could help me with the melting flame effect at the bottom of the original picture too, could you? Or do I need a special photoshop filter for this effect?

DrSilver

Ahhh, is that what it was supposed to be? Like a picture on fire or something? Gotcha.

There are some commercial plugins that do the fire thing fairly well (the last one I remember using was either eye candy or xenofex, but that was yeaaaaars ago).

I'd suggest just trimming off the parts that are supposed to be missing (the parts that are already "melted", that is) by just selecting and deleting. The pen tool is probably your best bet for getting smooth lines out of your selection on that part. Pen tool is definitely worth learning. I don't have time to go in-depth right now, but there's a lot of good tutorials online about the pen tool. http://www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-pentool2.html was the first I found in a quick google search.

As for the flames, I found this tutorial for adding flames to text: http://photoshoptechniques.com/texp/fireptk.php

Play around with it, and let me know if you have any questions. I should be back in an hour or two. I'm on AIM & MSN: rootyb423 and rudyb423@hotmail.com, respectively.

Glad I could be of assistance. I've learned a ton from tutorials over the years. It's nice to be able to help someone else out.


Edit: Also, for the record, you should pretty much never "Need" a special plugin or filter for any effect. A plugin might make things EASIER, but should (almost) never be necessary. Photoshop is extremely powerful and versatile out of the box, once you know where to find things.

When I first started learning, I went through every tutorial I could get my hands on. They're really great for getting the hang of the program in general, and showing you what different functions do, without getting boring, 'cuz you're actually creating something while you learn.

Pale September

Thank you. Lots for me to learn over the next few days. I will definitely take your advice and have a play about. The pen tool is new to me too so I will work through the tutorials and try and get a handle on it .
Yes, I am beginning to find out the power and versatility of Photoshop .