August 2015 Challenge: Bogie's Mapping Element Tutorial

[Bogie]

August 2015 Challenge: Bogie's Mapping Element Tutorial

I have never made a tutorial before so I was not going to enter this challenge, but after some recent questions and comments in the Lite Challenge by Chashio ChickPea and Chick I realized I could do this.

Full Disclaimer: I use Adobe Photoshop CS2. I have learned by trial and error ( lots of error ). I know how to use a few functions moderately well, but I am sure many of you are far more advanced users than I, ( please don't laugh at how I do things,,,, OK, go ahead and laugh, I can take it.)
I believe there are similar functions in GIMP and other editing programs that would allow you to do the same thing with them.

It all starts with me getting a good, top-down picture of some object that I might want to make into an element. My wife loves shopping and exploring so I go with her and bring my camera and I am always looking at things to see what I can do with them.

Step 1: Make sure no one is looking, especially my wife. Take a couple photos. Top down is a tough perspective and you have to watch the lighting.

Here is a photo I took of a statue of a demon. I have already changed the image size closer to the resolution I want 200 DPI x 1000 pixels wide, then saved it as a .png file.


Step 2: Open it up in PS. Now I need to separate the statue from the background. I will need a transparent background so by double clicking the lock symbol and then OK there will be a transparent background wherever I erase. There are specific terms for this that have to do with Layers and Alpha Channels, but I don't know what they are, so I just do it this way. this is what that panel looks like.


I used a small eraser tool and carefully traced the outline of the statue. Notice the erased outline is transparent not white.


Then I choose the magic wand select tool and set it at maximum ( 200 on this program ). When I click any where outside of the erased area, everything but the statue is selected. This only works if you have been careful with your tracing. Even the slightest connection between the statue and the background will cause the statue to be selected also.


Now when I hit Delete, everything but the statue is deleted. Sometimes I am fortunate to have a dark object on a plain white background or a bright one on a
dark background. If that is the case, then all I have to do is use the magic select wand to delete the background. Just watch the edges of your object so you are not deleting little parts of it.


Step 3: Take a good look at your object and see if anything needs to be fixed. In this case I see a price tag I need to get rid of, and I don't like how the body is lit by sunlight, but the feet are dull gray like the base. There is also a chain and lock that is partially obscured. While the lock is kinda cool, I have no way to easily recreate the chain so I will just erase it along with the tag.


So first I am going to use the clone tool set for a smallish brush size and with soft edges. I will then clone areas of the statue base over the tag and string, trying to make it look like it all blends in together.


And this is what it looks like when I'm done.


Now about those feet. I want them to match the rest of the statue which is brighter and has a warmer color. Using the select tool I carefully trace around the foot to select it.


Next I use the "Brightnest / Contrast" Image Adjustment to brighten it up a bit to match the statue. And I use the Color Balance adjustment to add more Yellow and Red until it is a close match to the statue.




Step 4: I set the final Image Size to what I think will work. I usually over-size things about 25%. It is fairly easy to reduce the objects as I place them on my maps, but if I have to increase the size to much they get pixelated and fuzzy.

Step 5: Now I use the Inner and Outer Glow to create a little 3D shading to make it stand out on the map. I don't usually make a Dropshadow at this point because you never know which way the light direction will be on the map. I usually add shadows as I make my maps later on.


So there you go, a new Demon Statue. This one was very straightforward without a lot of modifications. It took longer to write this tutorial than it did to make the statue. ( about 40 minutes for the statue. ) Now you try, have fun, experiment.
### Latest WIP ###

[ChickPea]

Very nice tutorial! I must confess I did laugh at the first sentence of Step One!