The transformation is shown step-by-step and the original image lends itself to this type of processing, as it works well with block colors.

Not a lot more to say about this other than encourage you to try the technique for yourself.

Once you have viewed the video you will sense that you can use any effect on the background – not just black and white effects. Give this a try too.

Kind regards,

Andrew

I wish to thank Jon (aka Fotoart) for giving me permission to use his interesting image for tutorial purposes.

Jon’s website link: http://500px.com/fotoartista

This video is offered as an extension concept to erasing which should be the first port of call in attempting to remove unwanted objects.

Hope you find my approach interesting and useful.

Kind regards,

Andrew

The original image in this example is a boat and tackle. I simply love boats of all descriptions and I could easily publish 1000’s of original photo images of boats. However, I try to take notice of many things when I photograph boats. The surrounds and textures that abound in the boat’s environment – for example, old nets, creels, fish boxes, water, sand, people, harbours, buildings. Likewise, I try to remember the day when I took the photograph, my mood, the weather, precious memories…and so on. I often do photo-shoots completely on my own as the way I photograph things is relatively selfish and personal – frankly, my wife would be bored to tears with my obsession for textures. I often limit myself to strict criterion, such as, a single focal length, 16 x 9 format, manual only, only 20 shots – daft things like that to make me think about what I’m shooting. Oh, and by the way – I never carry a camera with me when I am out and about normally – I only do  photo-shoots!

It is from this jumble of experiences that I select ideas to inform how I create my photo-art. Since I choose to make art from photographs, I don’t want the result to look like a photograph.

In order to move away from that look I choose painterly or sketchy effects and ‘all manner’ of textures, in combination to produce an end result.

In this example I started with an unprocessed and rather ‘dull’ image of a boat & tackle. The first step was to convert the image to a more graphic one. The foreground float in the image lent itself to selective masking to be used ‘as is’ or as an ‘inversion’. Next a ‘Rusty’ looking texture was superimposed on graphic one – informed by similar textures that I had photographed at the time. As there were some stray elements showing towards the edges, I applied a ‘Vignette Mask’ effect to clean up the image. An effect that created a strong border and a feeling of age was then applied. I could easily have stopped there, but I was influenced to add yet another effect from a fleeting memory that passed through my head – it was of another rusty texture that appealed to me, but this time it was ‘pitted’.

So, although it is easy to create photo-art in Smart Photo Editor through random selection of effects or pure experimentation (both of which I do too), it requires more artistic thinking to deliberately bring different elements together to produce a result similar to what was in your mind’s eye prior to starting the process of transformation. I’ve told you what was in my mind when I created the photo-art based on the boat & tackle image. The actual process is shown below.

The Process Outlined:

Love to hear your thoughts.

Regards,

Andrew

Below is shown a ‘before & after’ example of such a transformation.

So how was this achieved?

Here is a visual ‘step-by-step’ guide showing the  transformation stages. Note the mask – this was created using a soft edge brush – no attempt was made to be precise as it was not necessary in this instance.

Let me restate the process of transformation:

1. Load original image
2. Crop original image
3. Apply ‘Vibrance’ effect by Tony
4. Apply ‘Extreme Sharpness’ by David
5. Apply ‘Photo-art at a click 049′ by andrewb2012
6. Create mask at this stage – basically we erased some of the ‘Photo-art at a click 049′ effect to reveal previous stage
7. Apply ‘Vignette masks 012′ by andrewb2012
8. Use the ‘Image Treatment’ feature to:

• Lift ‘Darks’
• Lift ‘Shadows’
• Increase ‘Clarity’
• Reduce ‘Saturation’ a little

This process is typical of how I use Smart Photo Editor.

Hope you find this useful.

Regards,

Andrew

Here is my third video tutorial on creative masking techniques. The underlying concept for this one came to me as I was developing the previous two approaches. It is funny how these things happen.

This time the user is encouraged to make their own creative masking templates and use the Composite feature within Smart Photo Editor to apply it.

The masking template is simply an ‘means to an end’ – it is a temporary aid to creating a proper mask. The video shows how to use such a template and how to hide it once the ‘actual’ mask has been made.

Although new users might find this useful, the video assumes prior knowledge. Users are expected to be familiar with the ‘Composite’ and ‘Select Area’ features within SPE. Likewise, a basic knowledge of how to use ‘Selection Brushes’ would helpful.

I’ve not experimented with this new approach myself, but I will in due course. That leaves the field wide open to others to show what can be done with concept.

My view is that this particular approach, which gives users the opportunity to create unique ‘personalised’ masking templates, extends the scope of Smart Photo Editor and offers new directions to go in.

As always, I hope you find this video tutorial useful – enjoy and have FUN!

Regards,

Andrew

The concept here is to select an area of your image by randomly brushing over the focus of your attention – perhaps the subject. This is not about perfectly selecting the object – this process allows ‘spillage’ into other areas and may incompletely select the focal point. It is a kind of ‘Graffiti’ approach which may give surprising results.

Here is an example ‘before & after’ image created by applying a random masking technique, and then applying, in this instance, a combination of two effects.

The supporting video is basically a ‘slide-show’ of SPE screen shots and it assumes a basic familiarity with the general masking process.

This is an experimental approach, but it is also FUN!

Regards,

Andrew

I tested out my concept and created 27 new effects called ‘Creative masking templates 001-027′. There are instructions contained within the effects on how to use them, which are removed before using the effects. However, I thought it would be best to make a short video showing how these new templates should be used.

Here is a jpeg of example templates:

Example Templates

I have lots of ideas for using these templates and I hope to upload many more. I hope other effect designers will pick up the idea and develop it – look forward to what other might come up with!

Each template is in a strong color as this facilitates easy use.

Experienced users can open up the Manual Edit feature and change the template color to suit their own needs.

Hope you enjoy and find useful.

Cheers,

Andrew