free, lightning, lightning text, Manipulation, merge layers, Photoshop Elements 10, screen blending mode, Special Effects, Text Effects, text tool, video tutorial
After setting the mood, crafting a bolt of lightning, and generating a block of burnt text, it's now time to add the lightning effect to the text itself. To do this we'll be duplicating the original lightning bolt and getting help from a neat little clipping trick in order to confine the electricity to the inside of the font. The result is a high-voltage, action packed Utah valley a million miles away from where the original photograph was taken.
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burnt, free, grunge, lightning, Manipulation, Photoshop Elements 10, Special Effects, Text Effects, text tool, wind filter, video tutorial
If we're going to be electrifying our image, what with a bolt of Lightning from the Utah sky, and pulses of electricity flowing through the text, then we'll need to make the text fit into our theme. Using the Wind filter and some multi-directional (you'll see) assistance, as well as some subtle layer styles and adjustment layers, we'll have the text smouldering in no time!
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Most tutorials out there that demonstrate how to create a realistic lightning strike use hand-drawn custom brushes. Although this method produces great results, the brushes have to be downloaded and installed, and they're seldom free. That's why I prefer the alternative method of creating a bolt of lightning the old fashioned way - using filters, tools and a little creativity. It's also much more fun and easier than you think - when you know how!
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The first video I ever created was a Lightning Effect for Photoshop CS2 users way back in 2007. 5 years later, to the day, I release an updated version for Photoshop Elements 10. Instead of just creating the lightning effect though, we start with the basics - setting the mood and tone of the image so it's ready to have a bolt of electricity zapping through the scene. Here we'll use a neat layer trick to add darkness to the cloudy sky, and levels to correct for an underexposed foreground.
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One of the new features in Photoshop Elements 10 is the ability to add type to a selection, custom path or as we'll see in this video - a standard shape. Using the Ellipse Tool we’ll trace the outline of the moon and then add text to it. One of the benefits of this tool is it leaves the text editable and therefore completely available to change later on. Once you've worked through this video you'll understand the principle of all three tools, and be able to use them to create custom text of your own.
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beginner's guide to photoshop elements 9, combine, Commands / Tools, copy, Creative, free, Manipulation, move tool, paste, Photoshop Elements 9, video tutorial
One of the most common questions I get asked is 'how can I combine two images into one'. Well the answer lies inside this video, where we'll examine two typical ways to do so. Firstly we'll combine images using the copy and paste commands, and then I'll demonstrate how it's done with the Move Tool. Generally speaking of course, this is the sort of video that answers a lot of questions.
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The Quick Selection Tool creates a freeform selection outline around objects with similar colours and shades. In this example I'll use it to select Elvis Presley's Pink Cadillac leaving us with the option of changing pink to blue, or any other colour you fancy. The wonderful thing about this tool is its ease of use, the slightly annoying thing is its not always as quick as you'd imagine - especially if you're looking for quality results. Nonetheless its a great tool to have on your side, and will definitely come to your aid if you use the selection tools regularly.
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It's common to shoot an image that isn't completely straight or has too many details that, well, you just don't need. In those circumstances a good understanding of how to straighten and crop a photograph will be the difference between living with it and doing something about it.
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The Guided and Quick edit modes are great if you're performing basic adjustments but if you want to take advantage of some of Elements more powerful features then you'll need to work inside of the Full Edit mode. In this tutorial we'll explore the screen layout and I'll familiarise you with some key concepts.
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Once you've organised and edited your photographs you may want to show them off to friends and family - after all, they're no good just sitting at the back of your hard drive gathering digital dust. In this video I'll show you how to set up contacts and send an image file out as an email.
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