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Painterly Effect using Topaz Detail and Simplify

I was looking through my notes from last year and came across some nice info on using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Simplify and Detail together to create an oil painting look. (See Creating an Oil Painting Effect from Topaz Labs.) My Hawaiian image from the east coast of the Big Island was one I had not originally processed as it really did not catch my eye – hoover over image to toggle to original. While doing a little Hawaii dreaming, I came across it again and thought it might look good using some of the settings from this video. (I really was thinking about how it would be to live in the house up in the top left – hum!) I actually did not follow the exact video workflow, but it did get me thinking about how to do this. Now that both Simplify and Detail have been updated, it was easier to get some different looks. Here are the steps I followed:

1.  Duplicated the Background layer (CTRL+J). Topaz Detail 3 was opened and the settings from the second example in the video were applied:  Small Detail  .53, Medium Detail  .46, and Large Detail  .44.
2. Duplicated the Detail layer. Next Topaz Simplify 4 was opened and the Painting IV preset was applied. The only change to it is that the Edges section was turned off as it made the trees in the background stand out.
3. A Layer Mask was applied to the top Simplify layer. Some of the Detail Layer was brought back in by painting black on the mask on the foreground leaves. Also some detail in the little rock island was painted back.
4. What I did different was to add a New Layer and paint over the foreground leaves and trees in the midground to give a more painterly look and smoothing out some of the rough edges and colors that Simplify can bring into an image. A wet mixer brush was used for this.
5. Next a general Curves Adjustment Layer was added to bring in some contrast.
6. The sky was really blown out, so I added another Curves Adjustment Layer that brought back the natural clouds from the original image into the sky. The Layer Mask was filled with black and just the sky area was painted back with a soft black low opacity brush.
7. The water was way too cyan for my taste, so another Curves Adjustment Layer was added and the different color channels were adjusted to get a better color for the water.
8. I felt like the eye was not guided with a strong enough element to get you through the image. Therefore, a New Layer that was set to Overlay Blend Mode was added. With a large black brush set to 15% opacity, the edge of the bay was lightly painted on the water all the way to the back center. This burned in a slight contrast in the water for the eye to follow. Much better overall impact for the image.
9. The last step involved adding my SJ Thin Double Edge Frame layer style left at the default colors.

That is how I got this very Hawaiian Oil Paint feeling. Give these two plug ins a try and see what you think…..Digital Lady Syd

Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Topaz Simplify and Topaz Detail Together

02/12/2013 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photo Art, Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Vintage Effect on Hanging Pots


The image was taken at the 24th Annual Native American Festival in Ormond Beach, Florida recently. I just loved the way this image turned out since it started out with a very cluttered background. It was an three image HDR image that was processed using Photomatix Pro’s Merge to 32-bit HDR in Lightroom. The resulting TIFF file was adjusted and Matt’s 70’s preset was applied before taking the image into Photoshop. Some background clean-up was done and the Kim Klassen cafe simplicity texture (sign up to get several beautiful free textures including this one) at 55% opacity was added to the image – really gives it that vintage feel. The pots were painted out with a low opacity black brush on a white layer mask. A Curves Adjustment Layer was added to give just a little more contrast in the image. That was it – very simple processing but one of my favorite images from the event.

It is amazing how pretty the results can be by trying different textures on an image. Really loved this one….Digital Lady Syd

Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Check out my Textures category in the sidebar for more Tidbits Blogs
Check out my Fun Photoshop Blog (link at top of page) and click Textures category in the sidebar

02/07/2013 | Categories: Textures | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

EPCOT Texturized


Was looking at some of my older work and came across one of my first texture images from three years ago. I really liked the treatment of this image so I thought I would try to reconstruct how I did it. A very different workflow was used. When the Lightroom adjusted image was opened in Photoshop, I did some clean up to remove some tourist heads. Then Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Adjust’s Spicify preset was applied. Next Nik Silver Efex Pro Antique Plate preset (pretty close to SEP2’s Antique Plate II) was added and set to 42% opacity. Ash Texture 25 was added (it’s a shame but they are no longer available, but Isabelle Lafrance free Decemberpack1 texture 1 has a very similar look) and set to Overlay at 100% opacity. Back into Silver Efex Pro where the Neutral preset was applied – layer was set to Screen at 51%. Next a Curves Adjustment Layer was added using a slight S curve to enhance contrast. Topaz Simplify was applied using the basic BuzSim preset. The last step used OnOne’s (see sidebar for website link) PhotoFrame Dave Cross 15 set to 72% opacity –  the PhotoFrames are no long available in the newest release but many are incorporated in the new Perfect Effects 4 module. The final result is really nice – I am going to experiment some more using these plug-ins to enhance my texture effects…..Digital Lady Syd

02/05/2013 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photoshop Filters, Textures | Tags: , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Beautiful Feathers!


These beautiful feathers were from the 24th Annual Native American Festival held in Ormond Beach, Florida. Totally enjoyed looking at the many exhibits and vendor tents, and the shows were very entertaining. This image is of a display of feather hair bungies that was in a vendor tent. Very little treatment was done to the image. The biggest change in Lightroom was changing the aspect ratio to a square crop. A few Basic sliders were adjusted before opening Photoshop. First the image was taken into Topaz (see sidebar for website link) photoFXlab where the layer was duplicated and in the Effects tab, Black and White Albumen – Chocolate was applied (this is actually a preset in the Black and White Effects plug-in). Next in the Adjustment Tab, Saturation was set to 2, Exposure to -0.05, Contrast to -5, and Dynamics 25. The top layer was set to 52% opacity and a Color Blend Mode. Once back in Photoshop, Topaz Detail 3 was opened and the Overall Medium Detail preset applied. A black layer mask was added and with a soft white low opacity brush, only areas I wanted really sharpened were painted back in. Then a little clean up to smooth the background was done. I really like the soft looking feathers in this image. What a fun place to take pictures – and not much processing needed afterwards!…..Digital Lady Syd

01/31/2013 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Some French Tulips!


Love this image of my beautiful red tulips I got from the grocery a few weeks ago. I was experimenting with different settings and this one turned out perfect in my mind! It was shot with my 60 mm Nikon Macro Lens set at F/2.8, 1/3000, and ISO 400. Very little was done in Lightroom other then a little Basic slider adjustments following the workflow in my blog How to Use Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) or Lightroom 4 Quickly. I added a pretty texture (1) from 2 Lil’ Owls Studio textures (a free one from the site – see sidebar for website link) that I had first opened in Nik Color Efex Pro 4 and applied BiColor Filters using 40% opacity and Darken Center Filter to the texture. It gives more of a colorful look than the original texture.  The beautiful French text is from French Kiss Glorious Grunge Letter 2 (a free download) – a brown colored Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to the text (to clip just hold down ALT+click between the two layers in the Layers Panel, and the Adjustment Layer will attach to just the text). The text layer was set to 66% opacity. To keep the text from covering the flower, a Layer Mask was added to the text layer – with a black brush at 100% opacity, the text was removed from the flower itself. Next French Kiss Artiste Gateaux was added, set to Overlay blend mode and 28% Opacity. This makes the image look like a canvas – love this texture! The last step was a Curves Adjustment Layer added to the whole image to add some contrast. Sometimes it is just fun to play with an image you just like!…..Digital Lady Syd

Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Check out my Textures category in the sidebar for more Tidbits Blogs
Check out my Fun Photoshop Blog (link at top of page) and click Textures category in the sidebar

01/29/2013 | Categories: Macro, Textures | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Hyacinths Deep in Reflection


Recently I posted a blog using this image called Take the Time to Experiment! where a Mirror Effect filter from The Plugin Galaxy was used. This time the Flood Filter from Flaming Pear was applied. I love this filter. It is the only one that gives a really realistic look to a water reflection. Before applying the filter, the canvas had to be increased to add the reflection under the image. (Here are the Flood filter settings used so you can see all the sliders that can be manipulated: Horizon  60, Offset  0, Perspective  68, Altitude  6, Waviness  17, Complexity  17, Brilliance  28, Blur  15, Size  0, Height  23, Undulation  46, and Glue  Normal.) See my Fun Photoshop Blog The Flood Look for tips on how to apply this filter. Nik Color Efex Pro 4‘s Midnight, Polaroid Transfer, and Detail Extractor filters were applied to just the hyacinths to add back some color to the flowers, especially in the reflection. In Photoshop the layer was then set to 69% opacity. That was it. Really fun effect!…..Digital Lady Syd

01/24/2013 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Musical Daisies


My musical flower image basically started out by my experimenting with some inexpensive French Kiss Brushes I recently bought. The background is from Shadowhouse Creations – Old Paper Texture 4. My flower image was added and a layer mask applied so that only a few daisies were showing. Once done, the layer mask was applied to the image (right click on layer mask and choose Apply Mask). A Color Balance Adjustment Layer was added and sliders in the Midtones (0, +13, -18), Highlights (), +11, -12), and Shadows (-31, +4, _32) were set to change the flower color somewhat. (I am listing the settings just to give you a feel for how these can be adjusted.) All the following brush layers were added underneath the image but above the texture layer – that way the brush strokes look like they are part of the texture and do not cover the image. It is also now easier to  adjust the layer opacity and color. French Kiss Watercolor Spots 1_14 PNG brush file was applied on a New Layer and a bright pink Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to it (ALT+click between the two layers to clip). Next a layer with one French Kiss Spatter4_14 brush PNG file stroke was applied and a purplish Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to it. Another new layer and French Kiss Spatter 2_04 was applied with a deeper purple and set to 51% opacity. I seem to like adjusting a PNG file over the actual painted stroke – it seems easier to me but I am not sure it makes that much difference whether you actually stroke the image or use an overlay PNG stroke. French Kiss Vintage French Music in a set called French Kiss Vintage French Brushes 2 was added on top at 82% opacity, and a brown Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to the layer. The music was painted off the flowers by using a layer mask. (Not sure why I placed it above the image – it would have been easier below.) The last step was a Curves Adjustment Layer to lighten up the image overall. This actually was not as hard as it sounds. Mainly just a lot of paint being spattered! What fun!…..Digital Lady Syd

01/22/2013 | Categories: Textures | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Where Am I?


This is the beautiful Scott Monument in Edinburgh, Scotland. There is an excellent tutorial called Processing with Textures by Colleen of Chasing Dreams Photography that shows you how to create a vintage feel that looks somewhat like this. After doing basic processing in Lightroom, the image was brought into Photoshop where Lenabem-Anna Texture – 208 was added and set to Overlay blend mode at 17%. She has such beautiful textures that can be downloaded from FlickR – see her Use Information before downloading. This texture was chosen to lighten the dark image in the center. The texture was removed by painting a sampled color from the texture over the building areas using a low opacity brush. Next her beautiful vintage sky Texture – 230 was applied and set to Darken at 100% – a layer mask was used to remove texture from the parts of the image where the texture should not be covering. A vintage action was run on the background layer to add more of the effect and the layer was set to 49% opacity. On top Flypaper Elysium Copy Taster Texture was added but a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer was added with Saturation set to -100 so no color but just the scratches were seen. The texture was set Overlay blend mode at 45% opacity. French Kiss free Glorious Grunge Edging Overlay was added and a Solid Color Adjustment Layer using a cream color for the edging. A dark vignette was applied at 54%. To get a better feel for all these steps, check out the video. This image was a lot of fun to do and I really like the vintage look!…..Digital Lady Syd

01/17/2013 | Categories: Photo Art, Textures, Where Am I? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Dingbats on Textures – Who Knew?


This beautiful cat statue was located outside the door to the breakfast buffet at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island in Hawaii. After initial processing in Lightroom, the image was brought into Photoshop where French Kiss Bohemian Texture, a free download, was added behind the cat image. A black layer mask was added to the cat layer and the cat image was painted out with a white brush – it was refined by going into the Properties panel with the mask selected and clicking on the Mask Edge button to smooth out the selection. French Kiss Grunge No1 Chateau (a free download of PNG brush overlays) was placed on a layer above the texture but under the cat, and a brown Solid Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to the layer (go to Layers -> New Layer -> Solid Color Fill and check Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Group). The overlay was set to 69% opacity. Just above this layer another French Kiss overlay – Bohemian Template Overlay was applied (in set with Bohemian Texture download) with another Solid Color Fill Adjustment layer added using a soft cream color. The overlay texture was set to 48% opacity. Next above the cat image, French Kiss Artiste Impasto Texture (not free) was set to 32% to get a textured look on the cat – my own free gray Cat Painting Texture would probably work just as well.  Now what was really neat is how I got the interesting animal and markings effect – they are from Tangaroa Dingbats font. By adding a layer style (double click on the layer) and selecting the Inner Glow with the default settings, and Pattern Overlay using my free Digital Lady Syd’s Smudge Texture as a pattern set to 258% scale, you get the soft orange-brown look. (To create a pattern from a texture, just open it up in Photoshop and go to Edit -> Define Pattern and it will appear at the bottom of your patterns list.) A separate text layer had to be created for each of the three objects selected and each text layer was set to approximately 30%. The Sharpen Tool was used on New Layer to sharpen the eyes just a little and that was it. I think it turned out pretty nice and it was a lot of fun to create. Try out using dingbats in your images to add a little different look to a texture…..Digital Lady Syd

01/15/2013 | Categories: Textures | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Adding Texture to a Landscape

Usually I use my own images to alter, but I found this beautiful texture image of old buildings in Porto, Portugal, from Mayang’s Free Textures (scroll down a ways in link to see original) and it seemed like a good candidate to see what I could do with some more textures to enhance it some. Click their link to see the original image and lots of others that can be used for personal use.

This image was first processed using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) photoFXlab. First duplicated the layer. On top layer the Black & White Effects plug-in was opened and Hand Tinted Chiffon was selected with Transparency set to 1.00 and Vignette Strength to .45. After applying the plug-in, back in photoFXlab this layer was set to Linear Light at 100%. A +From Stamp layer was created and these Adjustment tab sliders set:  Tint  -8, Saturation 17, and Dynamics  -28. Next exited to Photoshop where some clean up was done and French Kiss Artiste Collection Fantasie texture was applied.  Two Hue/Saturation Adjustments Layers were added with black filled layer masks – the red-orange color needed to be adjusted and the greens above the buildings were off. These areas were painted back in the masks to create the correct tone in the image. An Ash texture (no long available – but Shadowhouse Creations has a very similar texture called ArtGrunge 5 which would give a very similar effect) and it was set to Hard Light blend mode at 45%. A hazy feel was added to the image by adding a Levels Adjustment Layer and just moving the Output Level black tab to 80. A Curves Adjustment Layer was added next to just slightly add contrast. This image had a very low resolution on it so I created a composite layer on top (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) and went to Image -> Image Size and checked the Resample Image box and set the resolution to 240, leaving the size alone. The last step was adding my Mid Size Double Edge Frame layer style – sampled colors in the image for frame colors. I was really pleased with how painterly this image turned out. It is a little different from creating a flower type texture image, but you can really add some creative aspects with a little experimenting. And thank you Mayang.com for supplying such a interesting image to work with!….Digital Lady Syd

01/10/2013 | Categories: Photoshop Filters, Textures | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

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