Don't you hate it when that happens? I sure do. You work and work for a desired effect, then some time later you want to do it again -- but can't remember how it was done in the first place! And, as you get older, it doesn't get any better. Believe me.
However, remembering some really key concepts of using Photoshop should help you reason your way through most any technique. I knew almost instantly how the effect was accomplished -- and it didn't take any fancy work, just the basic, fundamental tools you've got to work with.
Open the original image and see a quick analysis of what's there. Keep it open in a separate window to refer to
1. Lift the image: The image area to be featured was selected and then duplicated onto its own layer. (Cmd/J or Ctrl/J)
2. Inner Cut-out: An inner cut-out was created to give the recessed shadow look. This can be done with a layer style, but can also be done manually for better control.
3 White Frame: This sliver of white is a duplicate of the cropped image, Select > Modify > Expand several pixels, and filled with white - set behind. (The layer below the cropped image.)
4. Colorize the Matt: To achieve the ochre monochromatic of the outside "matt" of the image, the user returned to the full photo layer, and set a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, clicked the "Colorize" button, and slid the Hue slider to about 40, and then set Saturation and Lightness to suit.
5. Ragged Edge: The ochre photo matt was then given a tattered edge effect by selecting the inverse of the photo, filling with black, and applying a distortion filter. Probably "Brush"
6. White panel behind: To show off the tattered edge, another white panel was placed behind the photo, a few more pixels beyond the edges.
7. Textured Brown Matt: To add the effect of dimension, yet another matt was added. The Canvas was expanded x-number of pixels, then filled with brown. This was then texturized using the Filter > Texture > Texturizer filter.
8. Add more depth: To reinforce the illusion of depth, the white panel created in step #6 was duplicated, filled with black, Gaussian blurred and offset several pixels to the lower right in a drop shadow effect.
All of the above rely on simple, straight-forward functions of Photoshop: duplicating, selecting, trimming or expanding, colorizing, blurring and the application of filters.
Now open our simulation of the same steps in the above image.
You'll note that each layer represents one of the steps above, and with the exception of the subject matter and typography, it brings across the same effect. We have provided the raw Photoshop file, complete with layers, so you can see what each layer looks like, and how they are stacked. (It's a 3 megabyte Zip file frame_work.zip, so allow some download time.) The file took about 20 minutes to complete.
No further instruction is required here -- we feel if you download and look at the contents of each layer, you'll realize very quickly how it was done. Sometimes effects like this can be confusing, but when broken into individual steps the process becomes clear.
Key Concept: Layer Sequencing. Always remember that the stacking order of your layers affects the final product. As you look at the file, you'll understand that the layers were generated in that specific stack order to achieve the effect -- even though they may not have been created in that order.
Key Concept: Cookie Cutter Selections. When working with a specific image shape, like that of our cropped image, you can return to that layer; select it; and act upon that selection...
* Command/Click the layer thumbnail to select its contents (Control/Click for Windows)
* Command/J "floats" a copy of the selection to another layer. (Control/J for Windows)
Key Concept: Selections are everything. Once there's an active selection (racing Ants) they can be utilized in dozens of ways to achieve the desired results:
*
Cookie cutter - cuts out other images
* Fill in another layer
* Expand and fill for a border
* Expand, Fill, Guassian Blur, offset -- for a shadow
* Invert to fill the 'unselected' for masks, filters and frames
* and many others, all of which are very basic to Photoshop.
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from the Editor:
I was delighted that day back in 1989 when Peggy Killburn called to ask if I could handle one more speaker in my "Great Graphics Tips & Tricks" session scheduled for the 1990 Macworld Expo. "Yes" was my response to her request to add Russell Brown to my panel. After all, we loved Adobe's young "Illustrator" program, and were quite anxious to try out their upcoming new product called "Photoshop." After seeing his demo, I was convinced Photoshop would be big. So the next month we added "Photoshop Tips & Tricks" to our regular DTG Magazine uploads to Compuserve, GEnie and AOL. The rest is history.
I only regret that I didn't trademark the name.
Editor / Publisher: Photoshop Tips & Tricks, DTG Magazine.