Photoshop Creative No. 152

Layers are such a humble part of Photoshop that it’s easy to take them for granted. They are absolutely essential though, and as our cover feature explains, they’re behind every great image you make on the software. Find out 10 top tips for how to exploit the power of layers on page 18. Elsewhere in the magazine this month we have some wonderful tutorials on creating surreal animal imagery by giving a giraffe a new lick of paint (page 42); learn some top tips for adding grit and machismo to male model photography (page 66); make eye-popping 3D text (page 48) and create beautifully psychedelic dramatic portraits on page 38. Plus, we have 18 packed pages of Elements guides and tutorials, reviews of new software and interviews with talented designers…

Backgrounds Check out the 70 vintage wood backgrounds Cityscapes Give your work some urban flavour with 44 Tokyo cityscapes Tutorial files The assets and start photos you need to follow our tutorials On the FileSilo this issue… • 70 vintage wood backgrounds, $36 • 10 ladies t-shirt mockups, $37 • 10 textures, $10 • 44 Tokyo aerial cityscapes, $14 • 3D text creator, $5 • 80 beautiful frosted backgrounds, $10 • Capacarica font, free • 50 5K feather overlays, $14 • 14 plastered walls textures, $8 • Plus all the files to follow the tutorials! Log in to www.filesilo.co.uk/photoshopcreative Register to get instant access to this pack of must-have creative resources, how-to videos and tutorial assets FileSilo The home of great downloads – exclusive to your favourite magazines from Future…

There’s nothing more inspiring than surfing the internet and seeing what other artists are creating, and we encourage you to do so. Here are some of our favourite pictures that caught our attention recently, from some of the world’s most exciting artists and designers. Patrick Seymour www.behance.net/ patrickseymour When it comes to colours and subtle retouching, I always make adjustments in Photoshop. In this case, the hair on my portrait and the interior of the glasses were managed in Photoshop; I also used a little bit of Liquify to make everything perfect. Anil Saxena www.behance.net/ anilrealism Curves, Dodge and Burn were key in bringing in depth by creating highlights and shadows. Layers play a pivotal role in my pictures as they not only create effects but keep work organised. I…

Manon Moreau www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/ manon.M Image of the issue For this image I used two contrasting colours to add magic and contrast. I worked with colour filters and textures to give the golden colour to the moon. I then painted shadows and lights on the character to integrate it. Yannis Papadimitriou www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/ Zanno I love blue, so that was the base colour of this image. The lighthouse, the dog, and the surface are photographs I took during travelling. The turtle and the deep sea are stock images. Raqee S Najmuldeen www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/Abulrook I made this image by mixing six photos. I tried to create a world that seemed novel and original; I added the sense of movement through the two surfers and then used brushes for the spatter. Estelle Chomienne www.photoshopcreative.co.uk/user/Stellart I…

Challenge entries The best entries and overall challenge winner 1 Trevor Budd In A Whirl For this challenge I decided to create a surreal scene using just the four images supplied. Combining them was quite difficult and required many filters, cutouts and effects. 2 Katarzyna Grzeczkowicz Balloons The main goal here was to make the image simple and colourful and achieve a dreamy vacation photo. I mainly used masks and adjustments. 3 Marcus Jones Piggy Banks This involved loads of cutting out, adjustment layers, Levels, Hue/Saturation and copying layers. I used the piggy image and the girl. 4 Sheri Emerson Beach World I made a little world out of the beach scene, spun the paint to make a vortex after changing the hue and used a Soft Light blend mode.…

ABOUT THE STUDIO Flipside www.flipsidestudio.co.uk @flipsidestudio Flipside was raised on a healthy diet of music, fashion, free-sports and stylish lifestyle brands. The studio loves nothing more than getting involved in branding for artists, promotion for festivals, and working with boutique restaurants, hotels and coffee houses. Flipside was born out of a love for progressive imaging and a dream of working for the music industry, skate and surf brands. When creative director, Adam Wyatt, realised his creative vision, he quickly went about turning it into a reality. He packed in his ordinary 9-5 and got to work setting up the foundations for a new studio. He reveals how it all started: “I got on the phone to record labels, music festivals, surf and skate brands in the south west and Wales.…