Tuesday, February 09, 2016

CoffeeShop "Gossamer Wings Dramatic B&W Storyboard" Photoshop/PSE Action and Tutorial!


Today I am so excited to walk you through my newest tutorial for Photoshop/PSE.

Vickie contacted me on Facebook and asked if I had a tutorial on creating dramatic B&W storyboards like the one seen below. I told her I hadn't put one together yet, but I knew exactly how I would do it and planned on writing a tutorial for this week.

Well, here it is!




I think this is a lovely way to create stunning custom storyboards and it is so incredibly easy if you use my Gossamer Wings action.

So today I am going to walk you through the steps to turn your color images into stunning faded-edges B&W images and put them on a simple white custom storyboard.

I love when my readers send me questions or make suggestions for my blog. Please keep them coming, I work for you!

CoffeeShop "Gossamer Wings"B&W Storyboard Tutorial:


For this tutorial I used some beautiful baby images from Jill Wellington (Etsy ShopFacebook, Blog, YouTube Videos, Pixabay). This image is gorgeous in color, but it is also very lovely in B&W.


Download the CoffeeShop "Gossamer Wings B&W" action and run it on your image. This action is also in my CoffeeShop Download Pack.


This is what the image looks like after the action finishes, no adjustments.


I wanted to remove some of the white off the baby, so I clicked to select the "Edges Fade" layer's mask and painted over the baby with a soft black brush at 100%. You can see where I painted in red in the screenshot above. (Press the " \ " key to see it in red on your computer.)


Sometimes when you run the "Gossamer Wings B&W" action the edges won't completely fade to white. This is an easy fix.


Double click the Gradient  Fill layer on top and when the window opens, dial down the Scale. I used 94% in this example, down from 150%. Then click OK.


Now the edges completely fade to white. I used a soft white brush to remove all of the Edges Fade from the center of the image.


Once I was happy with the faded white around the image I merged the layers. You can also just flatten the image.


To create your own custom storyboard, just go to File, New, and  enter the final dimensions  (8x10, 20x10, 5x7, etc.) with white as the background. For print make sure the pixels/inch is around 240.

Drag your edited B&W image on top of your storyboard and resize it and decide on its final placement.


Often you will see some grayish edges around the image against the white background and there is an easy trick to remove them. I discuss it below.


I like to add some contrast to the image, so I added a Black to White Gradient Map layer on top and adjusted the opacity to taste. This brightens up the baby.


Then I added a new new blank layer on the very top and grabbed a soft white brush and painted over any visible edges or parts of the image I didn't want to see on my storyboard.

If you paint too much, grab your erasure tool and erase it off that layer.


I ran the action on two other images and dragged them under the B&W Gradient Map and painted white layer. I used the top layer to paint out any discolored edges on the other two images using a soft white brush.

Once I was happy with the storyboard I just flattened it and it is ready to print! This entire edit just took a few minutes.


I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial. I would love to see your own edits on my Facebook page.

Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.


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6 comments:

  1. These photos look perfect with your Gossamer Wings B & W!

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  2. I'm new to all this, do I need to be shooting in RAW to best utilize the actions or does it not matter? I look forward to trying out some of these great tools you've created!c

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    Replies
    1. I run all of my actions on jpgs. I usually don't shoot RAW.

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  3. Hello, I've just stumbled onto your site, and its latterly LIFE CHANGING the amount I have learned in short amount of time! I'd like to practice this effect, however the Action Link for Gossamer Wings B & W is not working. is it still available?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for letting me know, I just corrected the link. :-)

      Delete

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Rita