The Big Cover Up

[cca]

Hi there everybody. =D

Carena and Monja invited me to share this tutorial with you all. I hope you enjoy it. +D

In this tutorial we will be learning how to do away with or hide unwanted objects, changing the color of fabric and adding extra little details: such as a pattern to fabric and some shadowing.

This tutorial will help you. (Hopefully… heh)

*WARNING* - It takes me days to do a layout and I’m not the ... ummmm … most organized person. This is my convoluted process. I always save processes and when I say “I save processes” that means I save everything I’ve done to reach the end result.

That being said, this tutorial may induce headaches, nausea and frustration. Please remain calm, keep chocolate (or your favorite comforts) close at hand and we’ll get you through this as painlessly as possible.

Here’s the before picture. The photographer is Carena and this is her beautiful daughter, Caitlyn. She graciously gave me permission to use her photo for this tutorial. You can see more of her gorgeous photos on her blog: carenasextravagance.com

And after we’re finished we should have this:


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 should also work with other versions of PSP or other photo editing software. The same effects I used in Corel Paint Shop Pro can also be used in PS although the defining terms may be different.

The first thing I did was take two aspirin.

Next … getting rid of the bread bag. While delightful for feeding ducks, it doesn’t quite work with what I wanted to create.

I decided to work directly on the original photo.

I extracted this portion of the skirt here because it is the largest portion of skirt that is clear of the bag.


These are my settings for the extraction tool.


While the ants are marching … promote the selection to a layer.

I’ve manipulated the promoted skirt layer in order to cover the bag. I matched up the bottom hem and aligned the sequin border so that it actually looks like it belongs there and is part of the skirt’s design.


One layer is not going to do it for me, so I continued duplicating the layer until most of the bag was actually covered. This is what I have now:


For this tutorial, I’ve also merged my skirt layers. Usually, I don’t … but it can be a bit overwhelming if you’re not used to working with so many layers.

** Bonus tip** Label your layers. Most of my layouts go over 75-100 layers. When I want to go back and change something and I hate clicking on every layer to find what I’m looking for; so labeling them as I go along saves me a lot of time in the long run.

For example … this is what I have now:


I’m going to continue building up the skirt. I took the extraction tool, using the same settings as above, and I’ve extracted along the top line of the skirt and manipulated it to align with the natural curve.


I’m going to be using my airbrush tool to paint the skirt’s color to appear more uniform.

Create a new layer and trace or outline the area you wish to paint.

Using my extraction tool, I outlined the lower skirt. I’ve changed the feather to “5”.


To paint, I’ve chosen the most predominant color. It doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, I would recommend a very slight hand while using the airbrush otherwise it will overwhelm your pleats in the skirt.

Here are the settings I’ve used for the airbrush:


I’ve lightly sprayed my color into the skirt. I’ve also taken the darker color from the shadow of the folds inside the pleats and added some definition.

Here’s a shot of what I’ve colored. I put a light box behind it so you can see exactly what I’ve actually painted.


I want to add more definition to the pleats so I extracted this portion of the dress and layered it on top of everything else on the skirt.


After maneuvering the piece where I thought it would be used to the best advantage, I changed the opacity of this layer to Luminance (L). This allows for the color I’ve painted to show through, and also highlights the pleats in the dress. This is what my layer palette looks like now:


This is what the photo looks like so far:


At this point I would recommend a break. You deserve it! LOL

Break’s over … back to work.

Now it’s time to work on the bodice of the dress.

The first thing I did was extract her hand (the one holding the bag) and promoted it onto a separate layer so that it doesn’t get lost behind the dress material.

I took the extraction tool, using the same settings as above although I’ve changed the feather to “2”.


I want to cover that portion of bag she’s holding. Using my extraction tool I’m going to cut out a portion of the design on the front of her dress. Here I used the same settings as before, but I’ve gone back to a feather of “20”.


I’m going to manipulate this swatch of fabric to hide the bag. Remember to keep the “hand layer” as your first (top) layer so it is visible. Again, if one extraction doesn’t cover it all, keep duplicating your layer until the area you are trying to cover is completely covered.


Now that you’re familiar with the method of my madness … I still have a few areas to clean up. Such as: the area along the insider of her elbow on the outstretched hand and the white piping on the dress.

Again, I’ve extracted the areas that correspond with the materials that I’m using. Using a piece from her sleeve and a portion of the white piping along her dress I’ve effectively covered up the remaining “baggage”.


I’m happy with the bag coverage. I’m going to go with this:

Here’s a last look at my layer palette before I merge them all together:


Here's a look at the doctored photo I will be working with:


I am now ready for extraction. Joy!

First, I’m going to lighten up Caitlyn’s photo. Here are the settings I used:


Bright and beautiful!


Now that she’s extracted, I’ve added some hair … (that’s a tutorial for another day) … and I’ve placed her into the layout. However, I think her dress is too pink and works against the softness of the layout. This pink is vibrant and gorgeous but it draws the eye to it and overwhelms the entire design.


Let’s color!

Using the extraction tool, I’ve traced the lower parameters of her dress. I’ve used the same setting as before with the feather set at “2”.


I want to add some texture as well as coloring. I really like the soft swirls and the gorgeous colors I’ve found in this paper. It’s from PTON’s The Oasis kit:


Highlight the layer that includes the background paper. The skirt outline should now be an anti-alias - “marching” on your background. Promote this to a new Raster layer.


I’ve changed the Opacity of this layer to “Overlay”.


I want to continue to build the slight color and texture so I’ve flipped the background paper and repeated the previous step.


I’ve also changed the Opacity of this layer to “Overlay”.

Now I have a bit of a pattern and want to focus in on choosing a complimentary color that tie in the dress colors to the layout.

I’ve chosen to use my Flood Fill tool with these settings.


I think a gradient would work nicely here so here is shot of what I used:


I set the Opacity of this layer to “Color (L)”.


I find it almost hides the pattern in the PTON background paper, so I’ve duplicated the previous Overlay Layer.


Then I arranged this layer on top of the gradient layer and changed the Opacity to “Color (L)”.


More texture … please.

I want more “oomph” to the dress so I’m going to paint a design. Create a new Raster Layer and use your paintbrush. I used a lace pattern from DA, but any nicely textured brush will do.

Here are the settings I used:


I chose to use the lightest color found on the dress to make the design.

Again, go back to the original extracted dress layer. This ensures you do not paint outside the lines. Paint your pattern in. (I forgot to do this which is why you see paint on her neck, et. al.)


I set the Opacity of this layer to “Multiply”


I’m going to go smaller with the design so I readjusted the size of the brush and repainted. (This time I remembered to set my extraction layer. Yay me!)


I set the Opacity of this layer to “Hue (L)”. Then duplicated this layer twice and set the Opacity of both new layers to “Multiply”.

I also think she needs a finishing touch to the bottom edges of her dress so I’ve added a spot of lace trim to the ends.


Did you get all that? LOL Here’s a screen shot of my Layer palette. Hopefully it will help with any confusion.


Of course, I added a texture to the overall layout. My favorite texture comes from Lotta Designs’ “Spirit of Christmas” kit.

I converted this layer to black and white then set the Opacity of this layer to “Soft Light”. I’ve left this layer on “Normal” so you can see the areas I erased so that the layout didn’t look overly – textured.


That’s it folks.

I’ve added another tutorial that shows how I achieved the soft focus filter for this layout. You can find it here: Soft Porcelain Filter

For a complete list of credits used in this layout, the “After” photo is linked to my gallery.

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

If you loved this tutorial … please let me know. It’s VERY encouraging to get feedback.
(In other words, I don’t feel like I wasted a day of my life writing this and it was worthwhile … hehe) And if you use this tutorial in your layouts … please, please, please let me know. I really enjoy looking how other people have used my tutorials.

[carena]

OMG this is so totally awesome - I'm so honoured that you have shared this tutorial with us and even more honoured that it Caitlyns photo that you've used in this tutorial.

I'm sure our members are going to love this - I think I am gonna have to shout this to the entire world and yahoo advertise about this awesome tutorial.

I hope you are adding this layout to our gallery also - We'd be very honoured if you could do so. Fantastic - I sure am a fan.

NOTE: Tutorial done in Paint Shop Pro but the methods are much the same in photoshop also. I'm sure that most could adapt the tutorial to most other programs as many work in a similar manner.

[kims_scrappin]

Stunning!! This is gorgeous!! Thanks so much for sharing the tutorial on how you created this. Now if I can only get up the courage to try it myself in a layout.

[JanetB]

Wow! Loved this when Carena showed us the layout, and it's an even bigger WOW now that I've seen all the steps you went through. It's just stunningly gorgeous. Thank you so much for this tutorial, a real labor of love. One day I'll get brave enough to try something like this.

[emst]

The layout is just stunning and I've enjoyed the tutorial on how you did this, thank you

[stmac]

This is amazing! You make it sound so easy. ( not for me ) LOL ...beautiful page and excellent tutorial. Thank you so much!!

[grannymike]

This layout is indeed a work of art. The work and detail you put into it are incredible. I couldn't begin to do something like this, but it was fascinating to see and read how you did it. Thanks so much for sharing.

[ikscrap]

wow that was a lot of work but the result is gorgeous, love your tutorial

[gigichet]

OMGosh...this is totally awesome and no wonder that it takes you forever to do a layout...but the end result is sooooo worth all of the work. Thank you for sharing your info!

[Patamomma]

That is indeed a lot of work! Wow, thanks for sharing how you did it. Patty