Tutorial: Perspective
Program: Photoshop CS/Corel Paint Shop Pro XI
Author: Melissa/crossroadscca
Date: 29th July 2009

In this tutorial we will be learning how to blend different backgrounds to create perspective.    

*DISCLAIMER* - I’m a self-taught amateur. I like to share what I’ve learned with others and hopefully it saves someone from a headache and they learn something new in the interim.  

It takes me days to do a layout and I’m not the ... ummmm … most organized person. This is my convoluted process.  

Let’s get started. 

This is an advanced tutorial and the instructions are written with the idea that you are familiar with Corel Paint Shop Pro and/or PS.  

This layout was originally created in Corel Paint Shop Pro XI, however this tutorial can also be used in PS, CS or other photo editing software, although the defining terms may be different.  

I’m going to be using these two backgrounds:

While both of these are gorgeous in and of themselves, I love different aspects from each of these papers and want to incorporate them all.  I’m greedy like that.  Bwahaha 

I am going to start with the sky.  We’re going to reshape our sky.  But first, duplicate your background layer.  You’ll want a copy of the original later.  Make sure the background layer you’ll be working on is highlighted and hide the original. 

In PSP, use your Pick tool.  It looks like an arrow.  You can find it on your toolbar

In Photoshop, it’s called the transform tool.  Use Free Transform and Perspective transform (Edit > Free Transform and Transform > Perspective) 

Hold the “Ctrl” key and pull the upper corners out.

Now we’re going to push the sky up.  Do NOT hold the “Ctrl” key this time.

I’m going to push in until the bottom corners of the sky hit the edges of the canvas.

Whew! We have created a sky line. Are you feeling divine? Heh

Let’s get started on the beach.

Duplicate you background beach layer and work on the duplicated layer.
Repeat what we did before: Pulling the corners out and pushing them both down and up. I’ve also moved the newly distorted beach over to right in order to hide the netting.

Now I still have some blank space at the bottom of my layout, so I’m going to activate (unhide) the layer to create more of a beach/sand/shoreline.  Better on the sand but now I have these harsh lines where the papers end. 

You have a couple of options. 

Option One:  You can extract the harsh lines out.  These are the settings I use with the extraction tool.

Option Two:  You can erase them out.  These are the settings I use with the eraser tool.

Whichever method you choose, I would recommend working on the bottom of the sky paper.  The beach paper already has a nice separation between the water and its sky.  Follow along the paper’s bottom line.

Back on the beach, I’m going to get rid of the harsh line to give the sand a smoother look.

Because you have the “Feather” set at 20, once you’ve closed your selection it will feather out giving your cut a more blended look.  OR if you are erasing … the hardness is set @ 7 and the opacity is set @ 15 which is very soft … also giving you a nice blend. 

After playing Mother Nature and transforming the sky; my sky now looks a bit stretched out. I really like the sun dappled look on the original.  Remember back at the beginning when we kept the original on a separate layer?  I’m going to bring out the dappling (dapples?)  I know there’s a professional name for it but all I can think of is sun dapples.  Heh 

Anyhow … I’m going to mirror the sky because I think it looks better that way (personal preference) and I’m going to use my original sky background and bring up the sunspot.  I’ve extracted the portion of the original sky background paper that I want to use and arrange it on top of my layers.  Here’s a shot of what I used.

I really hope this is making sense, because I feel like I’m babbling now.   

Now comes the fun part … adding all of the elements and cuties to your layout.   

Something to keep in mind while you are putting together your pieces:

Shadows – They can make your LO really sensational.  If your LO is complete and you don’t want to add a drop shadow.  Use the “Burn” tool.  Here are my settings. 

They make some beautiful shadow work.

Check out her feet … all done with the burn tool.

By the way the little cutie here is Annette’s daughter, Holli.  Annette is the owner of Pickleberrypop.com and just the nicest woman.  She graciously trusted me to use Holli in a layout.  Thank you, Annette!  :) 

Once I think my LO is complete, I always look for one more additional element (or two or more … hehe) I may be able to add without seeming to be overdone.   

Final edition:

Thank you for reading and I hoped you enjoyed this tutorial. 

Credits:

Photo – Annette “Pickleberrypop.com Owner”

Background Papers – E-lena Designs “Spring Wonderland” and “Where My Dreams Live”

Sand – E-lena Designs “Where My Dreams Live” and Magical Reality Designs “Sea of Dreams”

Lamp and Sparkles – Magical Reality Designs “Sea of Dreams”

Palm Tree – ON Designs “Anticipation of Summer”

Starfish, Seagulls – E-lena Designs “Where My Dreams Live”

Sailboat – Magical Reality Designs “Sea of Dreams”

Photo – Baby Ducks @ sxc.hu

Hair Texture Rendering – silver @ DA

Hair Brushes – alicefaux @ DA