Tutorial Resources

• Crocodile1 – SXC
• Crocodile2 – charadestock
• Crocodile3 – frostdragon64
• Old car – achatinastock
• Background – SXC
• Bird – rml-stock
• sign1 – discordia-stock
• Sign2 – ecathe

Step 1

Open the background image and place it on the right. Because the image in not wide enough we need to duplicate it and complete the empty space with the same photography. Duplicate the background layer and place it on the left. Create a clipping mask and erase the edge of the duplicated layer.

Now you will see that some parts are repeating themselves , such as clouds and bushes. Select the clone stamp tool and cover them up.

Step 2

In this step we will cut out the car using the pen tool and place it in the desert. Remember cu cut out the windows also .

Erase the front part of the car using a brush on the layer’s mask. We don’t need this part because it will be replaced with the crocodile. Always use a mask when you want to erase things in photoshop because you never know if you want it back.

Create a new layer under the car an, using a basic brush , paint the windows white. Set the opacity to about 15-20%.

Step 3

Let’s create the car’s shadow. Create a new layer. Use your imagination to see how this will look. Use the pen tool for this and fill the path with black. Go Filters-Blur-Gaussian Blur and set it to 2,5. Now the the layer’s opacity to 45%.

The car needs to have a small and darker shadow, so on a new layer, using a basic brush add a small shadow. Use the image below for guidance.

Step 4

In step 4 you will need to create a few clipping masks for the adjustment layers so we will adapt the car’s colors to the desert. Go to Adjustment Layers-Levels. Make the presets as you see below, and remember that this is a clipping mask, so it only affects the car ( to create a clipping mask you need to press the alt key and click between the layers you want to clip together.)

Adjustment Layers-Photo Filter Adjustment Layers- Gradient mask . Both layers are clipping masks.

Step 5

Open the first crocodile photo. We will use the tail from this crocodile. So cut out it and place it at the back side of the car as you see in the image below.

Use a clipping mask to add to make the tail look darker, so go to Adjustment Layers-Curves. You have the presets in the image.

We need to add some shadow to the tail so using the pen tool create a shape that resembles to the tail’s edge. Fill the path with black and the opacity to 70%.

Using the same techniques as you did on the step before this , create a bigger shadow. Set the opacity to 28%. Remember that the tail casts a shadow in the inner corner so create a shadow there to. Set the layer’s opacity to 84%.

Preview of Final Results

Tutorial Resources

· Wooden Background – sxc.hu

Step 1

Open up Photoshop and create new document

Step 2

Open the Wooden background , press Ctrl+ T to scale it fit to our background.Now Image > Adjustment> Curve, like this image

-

Step 3

And this is result

Step 4

Create a Rounded rectangle (shortcut U) with fixed size 700px x 550px and Radius = 40px. Fill it with color # 742b00

Step 5

Now press Filter > Noise > Add noise

Step 6

Then right click for Blending Option > Drop Shadow

Step 7

And we got result like this, we name it ” cover 1″

Step 8

Next, we create second Rounded rectangle (shortcut U) with same size 700px x 550px and Radius = 40px. Fill it with color # 5c3016. Then press Ctrl + T to scale it a little bit smaller than first rectangle which name “cover 1″. And we name the second rounded rectangle as “cover 2″

You can create amazing HDR and DRI effects with fully-editable layers. Note that the video shown below is using the premium set which includes more HDR and DRI actions.

If you shoot multiple exposures, you can combine them using this action for natural halo-free HDRI photos.

Only have a single image to work with? Use the Auto DRI action to automatically reveal details in the highlights and shadows without altering the overall look of your photo.

Download HDR Pro

Tutorial Resources

• Girl – DeviantART
• Tree – DeviantART
• Fairy house – DeviantART
• Fairy 1 – DeviantART
• Ariata – DeviantART
• Flowers – DeviantART
• Background – DeviantART
• Tree 2 – DeviantART
• Door – sxc.hu
• Twig – DeviantART
• Vines – DeviantART
• Path – DeviantART
• Witch house – DeviantART
• Birs, butterfly – Dek Wid

Step 1 (Creating the background’s base)

Start by creating a new document (Ctrl+N) of 1500 pixels wide and 1000 pixels high:

Hit G on the keyboard to activate Gradient Tool. Set the foreground color to white and background to black. Choose Linier Gradient. Fill the white document with gradient by clicking on the top and dragging to the bottom of it.

Step 2 (Creating foreground)

Open the tree stock image in the document. Hit Ctrl+G to place the image in a group. Name this group foreground 1. Then, with the tree layer selected, go to Layer > Smart Objects > Convert To Smart Object. This will change the layer into a smart object layer.

Now scale up the image to cover the document. Use Free Transform Tool to do this. Hit Shift on the keyboard along with clicking and dragging one of the dragging point marked in blue in the screenshot. Place and arrange its position in a such way that the stem of the tree fill the left foreground.

This is the result should look like:

Now give this layer filter: Custom. To achieve this, go to Filter > Others > Custom. Take a look at the screenshot below to figure out the setting of the custom filter:

Here is the result should be:

We just need the stem of the tree as the foreground of the scene. We will hide the rest of image so that only the stem is visible. To achieve this, we will mask the background of the image. Go to Layer > Layer Mask. There will be a white layer mask thumbnail next to the layer. Now make selection around the background. Use Lasso Tool to achieve this. With the layer mask thumbnail is activated, hit Shift+F5 to fill it. Fill the mask with black. This will mask hide the background.

Step 3 (The other foregrounds)

Duplicate (Ctrl+J) the tree image layer used as the previous foreground. Group this layer and name the group foreground 2. With this duplication layer, we will add another foreground on the other side. Do almost the same steps as the ones taken in creating the previous foreground. One thing to remember is try to alter the shape, position and size of the the second foreground so it does not look uniform:

Create another group for another foreground. Name the new group more foreground. Place the group under the previous foregrounds. We still do almost the stem steps as the previous ones.

Again, create another group for the last foreground. Name this group another foreground.

Step 4 (Adding background image)

Open the background stock image to the document. Convert this image into a smart object. Place it under the foreground groups in the layer panel. With the Free Transform Tool, scale the image up. Arrange its position where needed. Please take a look at the screenshot below for your inspiration:

Give this smart object a smart filter: Custom. Apply the same setting of the previous step 2 for the custom filter. Here is the result will look like:

Next, give this layer another smart filter: Surface Blur. To achieve this, go to Filter > Blur > Surface Blur.

Give this background layer a mask and mask some areas on the red marked ones. Try to use a very soft round brush at 10-20% opacity. The screenshot below will guide you the areas to be masked:

This is the result should be:

Click on the filter effect mask thumbnail and mask the red marked areas. Use a very soft round brush to mask the areas.

70+ Products from 10 Independent Creatives

The Creative Market Bundle is the perfect bundle for designers, artists, and photographers. You can get beautiful handcraft icons, premium WordPress themes, amazing Photoshop actions + brushes, fonts, and more! These items would normally cost you $850 if you were to buy it separately but with the Creative Market Bundle, you can get all $850 worth of products for $39 or less. This deal expires soon so be sure to get one before it ends. We’re also giving out 4 copies free on our website so fill out the simple form at the bottom of this page for a chance to win.

Stock photos are expensive but there are ways to many ways to get free stock photos. Generally, the quality of free stock photos does not match those from paid stock photo websites but if you’re looking for something simple (i.e. landscapes), you’ll be able to find it from these websites. Be sure to check out these free stock photo websites before buying them from other stock photo agencies!

stock.xchng

stock.xchng is one the largest free stock photo website with over 400,000 photos and 2.5 million registered users. They have been purchased by Getty Images but still run as a free website. All their images use a standard image license agreement. Their website still looks the same way it did years ago but it’s still easy to use despite the smaller thumbnail sizes.

Dreamstime

Dreamstime is one of our favorite places fore free stock photos. What makes Dreamstime great is that they have a lot of high-quality stock and you don’t have to worry about licenses or restrictions. Dreamstime has nearly 10,000 royalty-free images licensed under their Limited Royalty Free License (RF-LL) that gives you the same terms as their regular Royalty Free license but with a maximum amount of 10,000 copies. If 10,000 copies isn’t enough for you, you can still purchase the image under the regular RF license.

MorgueFile

MorgueFile is one of the oldest free stock photo websites; founded in 1996 with the purpose to “provide free image reference material for use in all creative pursuits. This is the world wide web’s morguefile.”. Because of their age, they have a lot of good quality photos and an easy-to-browse website. The best part about MorgueFile is no registration required!

RGBstock

RGBstock has a huge collection of free stock and they seem to be growing fast. We checked their new photos section and they had 181 new photos yesterday – all good quality shots. They also have a nice Pinterest-style random photos section.

CG Textures

This is the world’s most popular website for textures. As implied by its name, CG textures has a lot of textures but they also have stock photos too. We love CG Textures because all their photos are distortion/noise free and perfect for 3D artists. They offer a free account which lets you download up to 15MB/day in most sizes.

DeviantART Stock Images Section

DeviantART separates from all other free stock photo websites because their images tend to be geared towards artists and you can typically photos here that you can’t find on other websites (ex. fantasy, models, etc.). We’re in love with the stock on DeviantART but the rules some authors use make it more of a hassle to use than other stock photo websites. No registration required but please read their rules – many authors on DeviantART have their own rules and they vary greatly from one author to another.

Unsplash

Unsplash is unlike any other stock photo websites here – it’s simply a Tumblr blog with 10 free high-res copyright-free(CC0) photos every 10 days.

Pixabay

Pixabay is a clean and uncluttered website that lets you download photos without registering!

Pixel Perfect Digital

Pixel Perfect Digital only has around 500 images but their website is easy to use and they have a great tool that allows you to search by color. There are plenty of pictures of inanimate objects but we weren’t able to find any with people in it.

NASA ArtSpace

If you’re looking for space photos, NASA has an enormous amount of royalty-free images for you to use. They have photos from the Hubble Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA Image of the Day, and more!

StockVault

StockVault was once as a small online gallery of the owners own photos and manually updated. In 2004, they switched to a new automated image gallery software and kept growing with new photos from different photographers and designers. Their photos a are free for personal or educational use. See their terms of use for more information.

Freerange Stock

Freerange Stock runs like stock.xchng but they allow their authors to earn money by placing ads where their images are. They only have around 700 images but it is worth a try.

Creative Commons Search

CC Search is one of the best ways to find images from multiple websites including Google Images. They rely on the Creative Commons license but it is typically misunderstood by authors. You’ll often find images that doesn’t look like the author intended for it to be used as stock. The last thing you want is an angry message from the author accusing you of stealing his/her image so send the author a message if you’re not sure.

everystockphoto

Everystockphoto is similar to the Creative Commons search but searches some websites not found on the Creative Commons search. This includes photos from websites like Photo Xpress that offer free photos but don’t have a particular section to find them.

FreePik

Free pick is another search engine and it mostly links to photos from Stock Vault. In addition to photos, you can search vectors and PSDs.

Free Pixels

The website looks dated but they have a pretty nice collection of photos that aren’t just random snapshots as seen in many free stock photo websites with a lot of downloads. Free Pixels is worth the try if you can’t find what you’re looking for in the other websites.

Paid Stock Photo Websites with Free Downloads

There are a lot of free stock photo websites but typically their quality and resolution doesn’t match those from paid photo websites. In particular, if you’re looking for pictures with people or faces, you’ll have a tough time finding good ones on free stock photo websites. For designers, it’s also important to have a good collection of stock photos and one great way of building it up is to download the weekly/monthly free images from these paid photo websites. Check out these websites weekly/monthly and start building your collection!

iStockPhoto

iStockPhoto consistently has some of the best free weekly photos. They also allow you to download the previous 3 stock photos in case you missed any. The free image link is on the homepage but you’ll need to login first to find it.

Shutterstock

ShutterStock

Shutterstock has a free file every week and they usually pick pretty good photos.

Crestock

Crestock also has free stock photos that they give away.

Tutorial Resources

• Landscape 1 – B-r-a-c-i-a-t-a
• Landscape 2 – B-r-a-c-i-a-t-a
• Mountains – Public Domain Pictures

Step 1

Open the image ‘Landscape 1′.

Step 2

Open the image ‘Lanscape 2′ and place it above the ‘Landscape 1′ like you see below.

Step 3

Place your mouse on the ‘Landscape 2′ image and add a clipping mask by clicking the button I show you below.

Step 4

Now we have to delete the unwanted parts of ‘Landscape 2′ image by painting with black on the clipping mask.

I painted with a big soft brush at 100%. When I was closer to the image below I set the Opacity of the brush at 20% so that the blending is better. We want the effect that it’s only one image!

Step 5

We have now to fix the light of this field. Add a Curves Adjustment Layer only for the ‘Landscape 2′ image and set it like you see below. (Output 110; Input 141).

Step 6

Open the image ‘Mountains’ and place it above everything.

Step 7

Now we have to fit this image with the rest. You have to activate only the first layer (like shown below).

Using snapshot prerendering, you can switch between the effects as your video is playing. This is extremely convenient and a huge time saver.

There are 8 cinematic effects. The warm/cool effects uses the same color tone as the 2012 movie, “Skyfall”. Other sampled effects are “Surreal” from “Alice in Wonderland” (1951 film), Process 2 from “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925 film), “and “Old Film” from “The Sound of Music” (1965 film).

Premium Version

In the premium version, you get access to 19 cinematic color effects and 6 tonal adjustments. You can see all the effects in the video below.

Download Cinematic FX Photoshop Actions

Tutorial Resources

• Clouds – aussiegal7
• Bridge – montvalentstock
• Castle – pixellyperfectstock
• Waterfall – bleu-claire-stock
• Ruins – pixellyperfectstock
• Ruins – nixie04
• Ruins – sacmaluk
• Ruins – whynotastock
• River – cat-in-the-stock
• Mountains – castock
• City – knightfall-stock
• Model – liam-stock

Step 1 – Size

Open the background stock. The size of the stock is width: 2250px and Height: 1500px.

Step 2 – Smart Object

Transform the background into a smart object. Pressing right click in the layer thumbnail and selecting the option Convert to smart object.

Step 3 – Smart Object

Press double click in the smart object thumbnail.

Step 4 – Edit

Now a new window will pop up. This allow you to edit the smart object. So press ok.

Step 5 – Duplicate

Now press Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer in case you need to go back to the original image.In this layer you will use the patch tool to hide undesired parts of the image.

Step 6 – Duplicate and Change color

Press Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer and then press Ctrl+U and in the option saturation put -70. The image will have this color.

Step 7 – Save

The the changes you made to the smart object  press ctrl + S and close the window.

Step 8 – River

Now go to folder you have the stocks and grab the image of the river. You will see that the image is an smart object itself, you can change the size clicking in the corners.

Step 9 – Layer Mask

Create a layer mask to erase the undesired parts of the image. Pick a soft round brush to paint over the parts you want to remove. You will have something like this:

Step 10 – Hue and Saturation

Go to Create a new fill or adjustment layer and click in the option Hue/Saturation.

Reduce the Saturation to -60.

Step 11 – Apply to one object

To Apply the changes only in the layer of the river you have to press right click over the Hue and Saturation layer and select the option Create Clipping Mask.

Step 12 – Duplicate

Now go back to the Background image and duplicate the layer pressing Ctrl+J and then change the layer mode to soft light.

These faded film effects are popular with many wedding and portrait photographers. They work great on high-contrast photos and they’re useful whenever your clients want the the retro/film look.

With the right effect, you can change the mood of your photo. Although the faded film can look drastic, they’re actually created with only 1-2 adjustment layers to give you the maximum dynamic range and image quality.

These faded actions can be used to make your photos more nostalgic. We found some of the light leaks to be too strong but you can reduce the opacity of it or reposition the light leak.

Faded film effects are commonly used for logos, quotes, or inspirational messages because it has a low-contrast effect that makes any white or black text stand out.

Video Demonstration

The Photoshop actions used in the video is the premium version which you can download if you’re a SparkleStock member.

Download the Photoshop Actions