It seems to me that each of us, at least once in our life, traced the brush of our hand with a pencil, putting it on a sheet of paper. Or maybe it happened on the beach. The hand lay on the sand and we circled it with a stick or a long pebble. In both cases, we got a contour. Let's do something similar, but now in Photoshop.
A photo of the hand will help us:
For working in Photoshop, this image of a palm is ideal and simple material. And that's why. A solid, white background and the object - a hand, can also be considered relatively monochromatic, and on a white background the hand looks quite contrasting.
In cases where the general background and the object of interest to us, the outline of which we are going to create, contrast to a significant extent, then we can use the Quick Selection tool. To make the tool work more accurately, we need to help him a little. Our help might be to duplicate the layer. And we will do this in order to enhance the contrast. That is, we will make the hand more saturated, well, or darker.
For this purpose, move the mouse cursor over the layer in the layers palette (blue selection), and make a right-click. By these actions, we will open the options window, in which we will select the item "Duplicate layer":
After we selected the "Duplicate Layer" option, by clicking the left mouse button, a new window appeared before our eyes:
We can just press the "Ok" button, or we can, after the appearance of this window, immediately write something on the keyboard, that is, assign a name to the layer, or a name, and after that press the "Ok" button. We do it at our discretion.
I just clicked the "Ok" button:
Done! The duplicate layer appears in the layers palette (window).
Now we need to change the blending mode of the duplicate layer, and we need to do this to darken the hand, or enhance the contrast with the white general background of the photo.
Let's turn to the list of blending modes in the top menu of the layer window, expanding the list of modes by a normal mouse click on the arrow button:
A list of layer blend modes appeared before our eyes:
Let's increase the contrast, so let's increase it. Let's select the "Linear Dimmer" mode from the list:
And this is what we got as a result:
Well, everything is ready to work with the Quick Selection tool. Hover the mouse cursor over the "Quick Selection" tool we need at the moment in the tool window:
And by clicking the left mouse button, select it. The mouse cursor turns into a circle with a crosshair inside.
Now let's pay attention to the technical settings of the instrument. Let's take a look at the control unit with these very technical settings:
The tool should work in the "Add to selection" mode. To make it so, click on the tool icon with a plus sign. If the icon is highlighted in blue, then you do not need to click on it, - the mode is already activated:
If you set the value to 3 or 5, the selection will be sharper. If we choose a value much larger than what we see now, and we see a value of 18, then starting to select the palm, we will capture the white background, since with a large diameter of the instrument its sensitivity will decrease.
Perhaps the "golden mean" can be considered the value at which the circle-cursor of the tool will be slightly smaller than any finger of the hand. For me, the diameter of the tool is convenient within 15-22. I opted for the value 18. Perhaps it is better to focus on your feelings and the process of selection itself. Depending on how convenient and high-quality (there is no capture of a white background) we carry out the selection, and we need to move the slider for adjusting the tool diameter, choosing the optimal value.
For the tool to work, as they say, "to the fullest", the stiffness must be set to 100%. Well, now we are ready to select the hand. I suggest starting the selection from the wrist:
We also set the intervals of the dotted line-selection not very large. In my case, 7%. If we set the selection intervals much larger, then the selection will be less even, I would even say, rough or rough. But even this may be necessary in some cases. We do everything, of course, at our discretion.
Well, let's start. Move the tool cursor to the wrist. By pressing and holding the left mouse button, we begin to move the tool up towards the fingertips:
We start the tool on the thumb, then on the palm and the other finger ..., and then the tool worked on its own, and the brush became completely covered by the selection.
If such an independent selection did not happen, then we smoothly move the tool cursor over all fingers until the hand is completely selected.
In the event that we felt inconvenience in holding the left mouse button or some physical discomfort began to be experienced by our hand, then the selection process can be suspended. Let's stop holding the mouse at all. Let's twirl the brush, knead the fingers, and then continue the selection process again from where we left off.
What to do if a white background still falls into the selection area? You can cancel the selection altogether by pressing the Ctrl + D keyboard shortcut and start selecting the palm again. Or you can turn to the block of technical settings of the tool and switch the mode of its operation by clicking the mouse, but now by the tool icon with a minus:
It is not necessary to change other settings of the tool (diameter of the circle cursor, its hardness, intervals of the dotted selection itself).
This mode switch gives us the ability to remove the "capture" by highlighting a white background:
Well, let's get rid of the unnecessary selection of a part of the white background. Move the cursor-circle of the tool to the selection and, by pressing the left mouse button and then holding it, begin to move the excess selection towards the edge of the palm. We try to move the selection smoothly so as not to shift the selection deeper into the palm:
When one of the areas of excess selection touches the palm contour, we move on to the next area of \u200b\u200bthe selection and shift it in the same way.
In the case when we still climbed the selection into the palm, then we need to switch the tool's mode of operation again by pressing its plus icon and moving the selection to the edge (outline) of the palm with smooth movements. In order for the selection to be of high quality and clearly flow around the contour of the hand, and it was more convenient for us to work ourselves, the best will be, when starting the selection, to increase the visibility scale:
And when we did it, and we did it, and I have no doubt about it, we move on to the part of the process that is directly related to the creation of the palm contour. Let go of the left mouse button and exhale of relief.
The brush is selected - selection "ants" are actively running along its contour, and we change the tool and create a new layer in the layers window.
Let's start by creating a new layer. Click in the bottom menu of the layers window, the icon for creating a new layer. Done:
In a few seconds this new layer will turn into a palm outline layer, or rather a future outline. We only have a selection so far, and the outline is in front.
Now let's change the tools or selection modes. With a normal mouse click, select the regular (not quick) selection tool. And which instrument we choose from the list, in our case, does not matter:
Let's take the topmost one. It is also the first from top to bottom, called "Rectangular area":
So, a new, still empty layer has been created, the tool has been changed and now, we move the tool cursor to the palm area and find ourselves inside the selection. The tool cursor looks like two crosses. One is big and the other is small. We make a right-click. An options window has appeared, in which we are currently interested in the "Stroke" option:
Let's choose it. And then the following settings window appeared:
In this window, we can, at will, adjust the thickness (width) of the contour line, its color, and also select the location of the stroke, and then click the "OK" button. I will not change the settings and will just press the "OK" button. And this is what happened:
In order for us to be able to fully admire our creation, we need to hide or delete unnecessary visible elements that interfere with the view. Let's not rush to delete elements, but just turn off the visibility of some of them. Let's start with layers. In the layers window, click on the "Eye" icon next to the background layer and the copy background layer:
Well, that's another matter:
To make sure that the contour we have created is free of flaws and defects, we increase the visibility scale (Photoshop CS5 version):
Unfortunately, we must admit that the contour turned out to be "so-so". The contour line has many irregularities, which were noticeable at the very beginning of its creation and at 100% visibility scale.
Using the technique of creating a contour from a selection, we should not get carried away with darkening (lightening) the selected area of \u200b\u200bthe future contour. Overemphasizing contrast enhances the existing roughness of the images we are working with, even if they are of good quality.
In addition, the image itself may not be the original. So, the image of the palm with which we just worked was already subjected to not very high-quality processing in some kind of image editor, which was reflected in the contour we created from the selection. It is the placement of images on a white background that allows you to hide the roughness of the contour while reducing the contrast of the object (lightening).
But for all those irregularities of the resulting contour, it is still not worth underestimating the convenience and significance of the technique for creating a contour from a selection.
In the near future we will continue to talk about creating contours using other techniques, well, or approaches.
In this article, we will look at how you can create an outline for text or an object in an image in Photoshop. This is not at all difficult to do and it will take a little time. Now you will be convinced of this.
How to outline text in Photoshop
We will start with the fact that let's make an outline for the text in Photoshop... You can have an image on which the text is written, or you can create the text yourself, choosing the appropriate size and font.
I wrote the following text using the Horizontal Type Tool and selected the settings for it, which are underlined in the image below.
Now we need to select our text. You can read about different selection methods by clicking on the link. Since the text is solid color and has enough contrast in relation to the background, I will use the Magic Wand Tool.
In the tool settings, select the value "Tolerance" (Tolerance) - selects an area with pixels of similar color, and uncheck the box opposite "Contiguous" (Adjacent pixels). By unchecking the checkbox, you can select all pixels of a similar color in the entire image at once, even if areas with a similar color are located in different places.
Click on the text with the Magic Wand. As a result, it will be highlighted. If we left a checkmark in front of "Contiguous" (Adjacent pixels), then only one letter on which we clicked would be selected, and we would have to click on each letter to select it.
Now let's circle the text. Move the cursor over the selection and right-click on it. Select "Make Work Path" from the context menu.
In the next window, set the Tolerance value and click OK.
The text will be outlined with a thin line. To see it, hide the layer on which the text is written in the layers panel - remove the eye in front of it.
Make back the text layer visible. Now we need to create a new layer. To do this, on the layers panel, click on the "Create a new layer" button.
Leave the created layer "Layer 1" selected.
You can make a contour in Photoshop using various tools: "Brush Tool" (Brush), "Eraser Tool" (Eraser), "Smudge Tool" (Finger) and others. But before doing it, you need to configure the necessary parameters for the tool.
We will create a path using the "Brush Tool" (Brush). Therefore, we select it on the toolbar and set the desired parameters. I chose a hard size 7 brush in light green.
After that, on the toolbar select the "Path Selection Tool" (Selection of the path).
Click with the mouse inside the selected path and select from the menu "Stroke Path" (Perform a stroke of the path).
In the next window, from the drop-down list, select the tool with which we will make the contour. Choose the instrument that you tuned in the previous step. I have this "Brush Tool" (Brush). Click OK.
The outline of the text will be outlined. In the example, a light green brush.
Press Backspace to remove the thin gray line that was originally circled for the text. In the figure, a dark stripe is visible through the light outline - this will remove it.
That's all - we made an outline for the text in Photoshop.
You can save the image on a transparent background, and then add it to any other, without a white background. Read the article by following the link.
For this example, it is done like this: unlock the "Background" layer, delete the "Background" and "site" layers, save the image in * .png or * .gif format.
How to outline an image
Now consider, how to make an outline for an object in an image... Let's create an outline for this rose.
You can create an outline of anything: a person, a building, an animal.
Open the image or photo in Photoshop. Now we need to select the object. I will be using the Quick Selection Tool.
Select it and click on the rose. If an unnecessary part of the image is mistakenly selected, hold down "Alt" and click on it with the mouse to subtract this area from the selection.
When the desired object is selected, right-click on it and select "Make Work Path" from the menu. Our rose will be outlined with a thin gray line.
On the layers palette, create a new layer and leave it selected.
Now go to setting up the tool with which you will make the path. I will have a "Brush Tool" (Brush) of the seventh size black.
Select the "Path Selection Tool" from the toolbar. Click with the mouse inside the selected path and select from the menu "Stroke Path" (Perform a stroke on the path).
In the next window, select the tool that you configured.
If you turn off the visibility of the main layer, you get the following. You can delete a thin gray line of the contour with the "Backspace" key.
Now with a thin brush, let's paint the paths inside the image. Turn on the visibility of the rose layer.
We will draw on the layer where the outline is selected, so "Layer 1" should be active.
I chose black for the brush, size 4 and traced all the lines inside the rose.
Here is the image as a result. You can fill the outline with any color you want. Similarly, you can create interesting patterns using strokes.
Instructions
There are several ways to select an outline in Photoshop. The simplest is associated with the use of the "Magic Wand" - Magic Wand. In the Component Palette, its icon looks like a stick with an asterisk at the end. For correct selection of outlines, Magic Wand should be configured correctly. Set the Tolerance parameter in the tool properties to 30. This value will allow you to fairly confidently separate the outline of the desired image from the background.
Working with the Magic Wand is very simple. Bring it to the edge of the object, the outline of which you want to select, and click the left mouse button. The outline of a part of the image will be highlighted. Now press Shift and, while holding the key, left-click again near the part of the image that has not yet been selected by the outline. Pressing Shift allows you to drag further on an already selected path. Continue to create the path in the same way. If you are mistaken, switch the layout and press Ctrl + Z - the last action will be canceled.
When the path is closed, proceed to editing the selection. It may be needed if contouring was performed incorrectly in some areas of the image, and the contour cut off part of the image. Decrease the tolerance value a little, then move the Magic Wand to the part of the image captured by the outline. Hold down the Alt key and click the mistakenly selected area with the mouse. The contour will be corrected. Now press Del, the existing background around the image will be removed and filled with the background selected in the Component Palette.
To select more complex paths, especially those that merge with the background, use the component "Lasso" (Lasso Tool). Select it, press the left mouse button and drag the tool along the perimeter of the selected image until the path is closed. The disadvantage of this tool is that the selection is done manually and its quality is determined by how accurately you move the mouse.
In many cases, the Magic Wand and Lasso capabilities are insufficient to accurately outline the contours of a complex object. For example, you need to cut out the image of a cat from a photo, so that the mustache is preserved and. It is impossible and unnecessary to select each hair with a Magic Wand or Lasso - there is a more convenient Pen tool for this.
Select Pen Tool - Paths. Now, by successive mouse clicks, select the outline of the image element you need. The creation of a complex contour is quite laborious, but the result pays for all the time spent. At the same time, do not strive to select the smallest elements of the contour (like the mustache and the cat's hair), at this stage you need to select the general contour. Close it by clicking the mouse one last time on the first point. Now with the Refine Edge tool, you can more accurately define the boundaries of the path. Considering that working with this tool is quite difficult, read about it in specialized articles.
Hello ladies and gentlemen. Some of you have asked me about how I do my line art. Here is a simple lesson on how, in fact, I do them ... in the style of JUU-YUKI! You can apply this lesson to almost all programs. (Photoshop, Sai, Open Canvas, etc.). For this tutorial, I will be using Sai and a tablet.
Approx. translator: Dear site users, for convenience, some screenshots from this lesson have been replaced with screenshots from the programPhotoshop.
Please note that everything that I will talk about in the lesson is my own technique, I have never taken any lessons on creating paths. I am not a professional, so my recommendations may not be perfect. Read this tutorial at your own risk.
Now, I hope you already know all the tools. And you know how to work with the basic tools: pen (pen), pencil (pencil), brush (brush) and eraser (eraser). Your tablet must also have pen pressure enabled. For those using Photoshop, go here to activate it:
You need to choose a tool Brush (Brush) or press B.
Now click on the small square in the settings panel or click on the panel Brushes (Brushes) ( approx. lane
... you can also use the keyF5 to call the same menu).
Now go to parameter Shape dynamics (Shape Dynamics) and opposite the parameter Control (control) select Pen pressure (pen pressure).
We are now ready to draw the paths.
You should have a rough sketch first. Here is my. I know it's dirty. To see the lines better, we need to reduce the Opacity (Opacity) sketch. How much to reduce Opacity (Opacity), decide for yourself.
Note: I work on a large canvas to get a nice and neat outline. The larger the canvas, the better. When I did this sketch, its resolution was 3400x4000px.
After that we need to create a new transparent layer above the sketch. Here we will draw our outline. Your layer palette should look like this:
Now we begin to sketch out the outlines. The brush you are using comes in a variety of sizes, but please be within reason. At this point, the contours should not be clear. We just need to get rid of this awful sketch. I got rid of this dirt.
Once you've drawn the rough outlines, you can get rid of your sketch. I usually don't save my sketches, but this time I'll just hide it. After you hide / delete the sketch, we only have the outline.
Now you need to use the tool Eraser (Eraser) (note the size of my brush). Make sure the brush is not too big or you won't be able to work with details.
Follow the direction of the hair and erase any extra lines you don't need. At this stage, you can change the thickness of each strand using the tool Eraser (Eraser).
Here are some more screenshots of my completed paths. Since you are working on a zoomed in large canvas, the lines will be perfect.
Do the same for all details, including clothing and background (if you have any). Yes, it is time consuming, I also spend a lot of time creating contours, but it will pay off, trust me. After you've done everything, you should end up with something like this:
I still have this awful sketch with me since I haven't completely outlined the rest of the image, but you should have the whole image clean and ready, no sketching.
Feel free to zoom out and watch how you get it. It will look better when reduced.
Sometimes it is better to use multiple outline layers to streamline your work. For example, a separate layer for hair, separate for clothing, etc. I am personally insanely lazy to use separate layers in this work, so I did everything on one layer.
Additionally:
This is an additional step, but it remains at your discretion, if you want it, do it, if you don't want it - don't do it. I usually always do this extra step as it gives my contours more depth.
Create a transparent layer above your path layer. We've finished working on the outline, so don't you dare touch it. This extra step needs to be done entirely on the separate layer we just created.
For all strands that are in contact with each other, it is necessary to make the lines thicker. Here's an example:
Also have an idea of \u200b\u200bwhere the light source is. If the hero is closer to the light on the right side, the left side should have more depth.
Merge all layers so that they form a single line art. And here is the last appointment for today. Your canvas should be around 3000px in size. Reduce it to 1000px and your lines will be perfect as ever.
So, after we spent more than 6 hours creating the line art, it is finally completed. TA-dah! Pat yourself on the back and go and eat a cookie for such painstaking work.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I apologize if there are lexical mistakes in the lesson and if my ability to explain is not the best, as well as for those points that were not clear enough. Have a nice day!
In this article, we will look at how you can create an outline for text or an object in an image in Photoshop. This is not at all difficult to do and it will take a little time. Now you will be convinced of this.
How to outline text in Photoshop
We will start with the fact that let's make an outline for the text in Photoshop... You can have an image on which the text is written, or you can create the text yourself, choosing the appropriate size and font.
I wrote the following text using the Horizontal Type Tool and selected the settings for it, which are underlined in the image below.
Now we need to select our text. You can read about different selection methods by clicking on the link. Since the text is solid color and has enough contrast in relation to the background, I will use the Magic Wand Tool.
In the tool settings, select the value "Tolerance" (Tolerance) - selects an area with pixels of similar color, and uncheck the box opposite "Contiguous" (Adjacent pixels). By unchecking the checkbox, you can select all pixels of a similar color in the entire image at once, even if areas with a similar color are located in different places.
Click on the text with the Magic Wand. As a result, it will be highlighted. If we left a checkmark in front of "Contiguous" (Adjacent pixels), then only one letter on which we clicked would be selected, and we would have to click on each letter to select it.
Now let's circle the text. Move the cursor over the selection and right-click on it. Select "Make Work Path" from the context menu.
In the next window, set the Tolerance value and click OK.
The text will be outlined with a thin line. To see it, hide the layer on which the text is written in the layers panel - remove the eye in front of it.
Make back the text layer visible. Now we need to create a new layer. To do this, on the layers panel, click on the "Create a new layer" button.
Leave the created layer "Layer 1" selected.
You can make a contour in Photoshop using various tools: "Brush Tool" (Brush), "Eraser Tool" (Eraser), "Smudge Tool" (Finger) and others. But before doing it, you need to configure the necessary parameters for the tool.
We will create a path using the "Brush Tool" (Brush). Therefore, we select it on the toolbar and set the desired parameters. I chose a hard size 7 brush in light green.
After that, on the toolbar select the "Path Selection Tool" (Selection of the path).
Click with the mouse inside the selected path and select from the menu "Stroke Path" (Perform a stroke of the path).
In the next window, from the drop-down list, select the tool with which we will make the contour. Choose the instrument that you tuned in the previous step. I have this "Brush Tool" (Brush). Click OK.
The outline of the text will be outlined. In the example, a light green brush.
Press Backspace to remove the thin gray line that was originally circled for the text. In the figure, a dark stripe is visible through the light outline - this will remove it.
That's all - we made an outline for the text in Photoshop.
You can save the image on a transparent background, and then add it to any other, without a white background. Read the article by following the link.
For this example, it is done like this: unlock the "Background" layer, delete the "Background" and "site" layers, save the image in * .png or * .gif format.
How to outline an image
Now consider, how to make an outline for an object in an image... Let's create an outline for this rose.
You can create an outline of anything: a person, a building, an animal.
Open the image or photo in Photoshop. Now we need to select the object. I will be using the Quick Selection Tool.
Select it and click on the rose. If an unnecessary part of the image is mistakenly selected, hold down "Alt" and click on it with the mouse to subtract this area from the selection.
When the desired object is selected, right-click on it and select "Make Work Path" from the menu. Our rose will be outlined with a thin gray line.
On the layers palette, create a new layer and leave it selected.
Now go to setting up the tool with which you will make the path. I will have a "Brush Tool" (Brush) of the seventh size black.
Select the "Path Selection Tool" from the toolbar. Click with the mouse inside the selected path and select from the menu "Stroke Path" (Perform a stroke on the path).
In the next window, select the tool that you configured.
If you turn off the visibility of the main layer, you get the following. You can delete a thin gray line of the contour with the "Backspace" key.
Now with a thin brush, let's paint the paths inside the image. Turn on the visibility of the rose layer.
We will draw on the layer where the outline is selected, so "Layer 1" should be active.
I chose black for the brush, size 4 and traced all the lines inside the rose.
Here is the image as a result. You can fill the outline with any color you want. Similarly, you can create interesting patterns using strokes.
