Source & Mix Digital Collages from Vintage Illustrations in Adobe Photoshop | Evgeniya & Dominic Righini-Brand | Skillshare

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Source & Mix Digital Collages from Vintage Illustrations in Adobe Photoshop

teacher avatar Evgeniya & Dominic Righini-Brand, Graphic Design & Photography

Watch this class and thousands more

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Introduction & Class Overview

      2:28

    • 2.

      What to Expect & Your Class Project

      4:06

    • 3.

      Vintage Image Archives & Copyright Considerations

      5:20

    • 4.

      Approaches to Sourcing & Combining Images

      7:12

    • 5.

      Organising Project Files

      2:45

    • 6.

      Preparing Images for Cutting

      5:52

    • 7.

      Cutting Techniques: Introduction

      1:44

    • 8.

      Using Object Selection Tool & Layer Masks

      6:16

    • 9.

      Creating Manual Selections with Polygonal Lasso Tool

      4:35

    • 10.

      Creating Manual Selections with Pen Tool

      4:33

    • 11.

      Creating Complex Selections in Select & Mask Workspace

      15:16

    • 12.

      Collage Document Setup

      2:12

    • 13.

      Adding Cut Images into Your Collage Document

      3:19

    • 14.

      Composing Your Collage

      9:57

    • 15.

      Enhancing Your Composition with Geometric Shapes

      9:34

    • 16.

      Applying Non-Destructive Image Adjustments

      8:29

    • 17.

      Finishing Touches

      8:17

    • 18.

      Saving Your Collage for Print & Web

      4:59

    • 19.

      Final Thoughts & Conclusion

      3:31

    • 20.

      Bonus Lesson: From Vintage Illustrations to a Surreal Vibrant Collage

      16:28

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About This Class

Creating collages is a playful and accessible way to make original, sometimes quirky, surreal or funny, but always engaging illustrations!

Whilst traditional collages often bring to mind scissors, glue, and messy layers of paper, digital collages open up a whole new realm of creative possibilities! With the range of tools available in Adobe Photoshop you can easily cut, combine, layer, scale, recolour, and ultimately transform your found images into something entirely new and often completely unexpected! And your digital collages can be as rough or as refined as you want them to be: from quick and spontaneous compositions to carefully constructed artworks with neatly cut and arranged elements.

I’m Jenya from Attitude Creative, and as a graphic designer, I love working with vintage graphics and giving them a new life as prints and surface patterns. And with this class, I invite you to explore creating captivating digital collages using vintage illustrations, all freely available online.

This class is beginner-friendly and perfect whether you’re just starting out in Adobe Photoshop or simply looking for a low-pressure and fun creative project. And even if you are not new to Adobe Photoshop, I’m sure you’ll pick up some new tips & techniques for using a range of different tools and working smart.

Throughout this class, I’ll walk you through the complete step-by-step process, including:

  • sourcing vintage illustrations from online image archives;
  • approaches to creating collages & combining elements;
  • cutting out images of different levels of complexity using a range of Adobe Photoshop tools;
  • arranging, scaling and layering your cut-outs to build your collage composition;
  • creating geometric elements to add more visual interest to your collage;
  • enhancing the aesthetics of your collage with non-destructive image adjustments;
  • fine-tuning the colours and texturing your collage to bring it all together;
  • and saving your work for print and sharing online.

Whether you want to create eye-catching collages just for fun, make designs to sell as prints, t-shirts or posters, or just want to get more confident at using Adobe Photoshop — this class is for you!

I cannot wait to see what kind of collages you create following this class!

Software:

This class is suitable for any skill level and covers all Adobe Photoshop techniques needed to complete this class. To get the most out of this class you’ll need an up-to-date desktop version of Adobe Photoshop.

Meet Your Teacher

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Evgeniya & Dominic Righini-Brand

Graphic Design & Photography

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NEW CLASS: Source & Mix Botanical Illustrations with Typography to Create Timeless Designs in Adobe Photoshop

Turn beautiful botanical illustrations (vintage or your own) into refined, professional designs ready for print, digital sharing, or selling.

In this class, you'll learn a complete step-by-step workflow for transforming botanical illustrations into polished compositions suitable for greeting cards, posters, wedding stationery, packaging, branding elements, playlist or podcast covers, or social media graphics.

This class is perfect for:

graphic designers looking to elevate their work with vintage botanical elements and elegant typography; illustrators and artists who want to transform standalone botanical artworks into fini... See full profile

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Transcripts

1. Introduction & Class Overview: Creating digital collages is a playful and accessible way to make original, sometimes quirky, surreal, or funny, but always engaging illustrations. And whether you want to create a quick and spontaneous composition or a carefully constructed artwork with neatly cut and arranged elements with a range of tools available in Adobe Photoshop, you can easily transform your found images into something entirely new and often completely unexpected. I am Jenya from Attitude Creative, and I love working with vintage graphics and giving them a new life as prints and surface patterns. And with this class, I invite you to explore creating captivating digital collages, using vintage Illustrations, all freely available online. This class is beginner-friendly and perfect whether you're just starting out in Adobe Photoshop or simply looking for a low pressure and fun creative project. And even if you're not new to Adobe Photoshop, I'm sure you will pick up some new tips and techniques for using a range of different tools and working smart. Throughout this class, I will walk you through the complete step-by-step process, including sourcing vintage illustrations from online image archives, approaches to creating collages and combining elements, cutting out images of different levels of complexity, using a range of Adobe Photoshop tools, arranging, scaling and layering your cutouts to build your collage composition, creating geometric elements to add more visual interest to your collage, enhancing the aesthetics of your collage with non-destructive image adjustments, fine-tuning the colors and texturing your collage to bring it all together, and saving your work for print and sharing online. Whether you want to create eye-catching collages just for fun, make designs to sell as prints, t-shirts, or posters. or just want to get more confident at using Adobe Photoshop, this class is for you! I cannot wait to see what kind of collages you create following this class. So join in now, and let's make something awesome. 2. What to Expect & Your Class Project: Since I first taught a digital collage workshop at Uni back in 2009 and later created the first iteration of this online class in 2016, both Adobe Photoshop, and I have evolved quite a bit. It took me a while, but I'm super excited to finally share with you a brand new edition of this class that reflects all the changes in Adobe Photoshop, features some of the latest game changing tools and introduces a smarter way of working. Digital collages come in many different forms. And in this class, we'll be exploring using digital techniques to create collages reminiscent of traditional physical paper collages, which involve cutting, combining, arranging, and layering elements, but with the added digital benefits of easily scaling, reflecting, recoloring, and duplicating images. And we'll also be using some simple digital shapes to mimic colored paper cutouts or lines drawn with a pen. Collage as a technique is a great way to tell a story, but you can also approach it in a more abstract or playful manner, where the final piece doesn't need to have a clear narrative, but simply look intriguing or beautiful. Inspired by my original archetypes collage series, where this whole journey began for me. In this class, I will be creating a new collage that follows a similar theme, but I will be taking it further visually so that I can share with you a range of tools and techniques you can use to create your collages using different kinds of elements and visual approaches. In the main body of this class, I will step by step, walk you through all of the tools and techniques you might need to create your collages from scratch. And in a separate bonus lesson at the end of the class, I will share a different, more advanced collage example and talk more about my creative process and decisions and share a few extra tips and alternative technical workflows. You can create your collage purely as an artwork, for example, for prints, wall art or postcards and keep things minimal. Or if you want to take it a step further, you can consider using your collage in a specific design context such as book cover, calendar graphics, a social media post, or a packaging label. But if you're just starting out, I highly recommend keeping things simple and focusing on creating your actual collage and not worrying about adding any extra design elements just yet. And if you're interested in exploring typography and combining the advantage graphics, once you have finished this class, be sure to check out my other class where we dive deeper into that. For your class project, follow along with the class and create at least one digital collage and share it alone with the original images you have used in the project and resources tab for this class. You can complete your class project and share it all in one go. We start by uploading the source images you have gathered and add your finished collage when you're ready. If you want, you can also snap screenshots of your process as you go and share them in your class project, along with the source images, and eventually your finished collage. I love seeing your work in progress images and seeing your process also makes it easier to provide more detailed feedback and answer any questions you might have. I cannot wait to see what images you choose and how you combine them in your own unique collages. Without further ado, let's get started. 3. Vintage Image Archives & Copyright Considerations: Whilst a lot of museums started digitizing their archives quite a long time ago, these days, there is finally a great range of public domain and creative commons image archives, which include a variety of different images, and importantly, for us designers, the size and quality of these images make them suitable for use in any kind of projects. Following this class, you can create your collage using any kind of vintage images you like. I'll talk about what types of images make good collage combinations in the next lesson. But first, in this lesson, I want to quickly cover the copyright considerations and share with you some of my favorite online resources for finding public domain images. To help you get started with sourcing your images in the class resources, you can find APDF with a list of direct links to the albums containing different kinds of copyright expired images that I specifically recommend you to check out as they will make great collages. But if you want to browse broader archives and select other images, here are a few tips to help you find whatever you're looking for faster. If like me, you're in the plants, animals, and natural history, be sure to explore the biodiversity Heritage Library archive. It is an extensive archive where you can get lost for hours, but you are bound to find a good range of exciting images to use in your work. If you are after other types of images, including maps, architecture or vintage adverts, check out the British Library Archive. The images here are organized in the albums by subject matter, which makes it easier to browse. But the downside of this archive is the quality of some of the images. Archive of the University of Seville is my recent favorite for some more original images, including various objects, portraits, scientific, cultural and religious illustrations. Generally, this archive features a vast range of different images, and most are in super high quality and resolution. Regardless of which flicker archive you'll be getting your images from, always make sure to download the largest size available to give yourself maximum flexibility when creating your collages. Before you start downloading images for your collages, you need to check their copyright status. The good thing about using flicker and trustworthy institutions is that the correct license for each image is displayed right here. If the copyright status says either public domain or no known copyright restrictions, these images are in public domain with the expired copyright due to their creation and publication dates. This means that you are free to use these images and you do not have to credit the original source. You might also come across some images under the Creative Commons license or with Sam rights reserve status. And in this case, you need to look into which specific license it is. As long as it is a creative commons license, which is not a non commercial and not a no derivatives kind, you can use the image for any purpose. And if the license requires attribution, you must include a credit somewhere, for example, in the images caption. One thing to keep in mind here is that attribution should go to the creator of the original artwork, not the person or institution that scanned and uploaded it. And if the original work was created centuries ago, it is in the public domain by default. So if someone asks for attribution, it isn't technically required. If you find the images under attribution non commercial, share like license. You can use these images for personal or educational projects, but you cannot use them in commercial project or sell your derivative work. But if you want to make something just for fun for yourself, your friends or family, that's absolutely fine. You shouldn't come across any all rights reserved images in the archives I recommend you to explore. But if you do, remember that you cannot use any of these images without permission. All that said, it is always best to stick to public domain images that expired copyright whenever possible. Thankfully, most of the images in the archives I have recommended fall into this category. Keep these copyright considerations in mind when you source images for your collages. But before you start looking for images, join me in the next lesson in which I'll cover a few different approaches to creating collages. Uh, 4. Approaches to Sourcing & Combining Images: There are a few different ways. You can go about searching images for your collages, and which one you go with will mostly depend on your creative goals and how much time you have at your disposal. If you already have a strong vision for your collage, for example, if you want to create a narrative illustration or a conceptual artwork, you can begin by looking for specific images that fit your idea. This approach is great if you are working on a brief, for example, for an editorial illustration or on a personal project with meaning behind it. But the downside is that it can take ages to find the right images, and sometimes they simply do not exist in the form you want. So if you're here for the creative play, just getting started or don't have all the time in the world to dig through archives, skip this method for now and save it for later when you're working on a more defined project. Alternatively, you can try what I call the lucky dip approach. It is the most playful and organic way to create collages, which is perfect for when you want to experiment, loosen up, or just get going without overthinking it. So if this sounds like fun to you, start browsing through the public domain archives with an open mind. Save anything that resonates with you, either visually or conceptually, but don't go too crazy and be selective. I know how easy it is to spend hours just looking for images. So to avoid getting lost in the archives, it is a good idea to set a timer, say for 15 or 50 minutes and challenge yourself to find a selection of interesting images in that allocated time. And when ready, review your findings and decide which images you want to use in your collage. I love using this approach because you never know what you'll end up finding and creating. The third approach is to start with one specific element and build a collection around it. This is a great middle ground if too much choice overwhelms you and you want a bit of direction. This approach provides you with a helpful constraint to work within, while still leaving room for spontaneity and unexpected combinations. Simply start by picking a general theme and finding one specific subject image you want to work with. W one image selected, look for other images that work with it. The whole point of collage as a medium is to create something new from existing parts by combining juxtaposing and altering your original images. Regardless of what source and approach you choose to use, what you need to look for will be the same. That is images with either visual, contextual or conceptual contrast. The most exciting thing about collages is that there is really no limit of unexpected combinations. But to help you get started, here are a few proven themes and approaches you can explore. My personal favorite is organic versus structural or geometric forms. For example, pairing animals or plants with geometric shapes or architecture. Then there is an approach which I call a head swap. Simply replace a human head with an animal head or some other object, and your collage is ready. You can also create contrast through subject matter. For example, animal or human versus object or machine or something alive, contrasted with something anatomical or skeletal. Another thing to explore is context. For example, you can put sea creatures in the sky, birds on the water, or any animal in space and then push the narrative further with some additional unexpected elements. Then you can create collages with an apparent strong visual contrast. These can explore scale contrast and exaggerated proportions to create a serial fill or feature a combination of elements which have very different aesthetics. For example, black and white versus full color, pteralistic versus graphic or highly detailed or textured versus flat shapes. And finally, if you don't want to make it conceptual, you can create collages which are based on visual unity. These can utilize repetition or arrangement of elements which are tied together by specific theme or aesthetics. By the way, all of the examples I have just shown you are from the projects created by the students who have taken this class over the years. You can see all these projects and more in the projects and resources tab for this class. When you start collecting your images, you should also think about how you want your collage to be constructed. You might want to create something layered and complex where the elements intertwine and form a single composition or object, or you might prefer to arrange your elements moloosly placing them next to each other and letting them overlap and layer slightly so they still feel separate. Either way it works, it is just about how complex or messy you want your collage to be. Also, you need to consider the visual style of your sourced images. If you're going for a distinct cut and paste collage look, then choose any mix of images you like. But if you want to create a more minimal and refined collage, concentrate on collecting images which are created using the same technique or can be easily edited in Photoshop to look similar. Take your time at the stage of looking for images and enjoy the process. As you gather your images, you'll start getting ideas just from seeing them next to each other. And if you end up collecting a lot of images, consider grouping them together to be used in a few different collages. For your collage, you'll need just a handful of interesting images. Anything 2-5 images is usually enough to get you started. Once you have a small selection of images for one collage, you can move on to cutting them out. We'll get to the cutting techniques shortly, but first, let's quickly talk about the file organization. 5. Organising Project Files: With all images you want to use in your collected, now it is a good idea to organize your files in a project folder. Because creating collages usually requires quite a few elements, it is best to set up a separate folder for your collage experiments and create a few folders within it to organize all of the files. Start by collecting all of your downloaded source images in one folder, named something like source or materials. And if you want to be able to easily find your images later, be sure to rename your files. This folder will contain your unmodified downloaded images, and it is always a good idea to keep them just in case. In this class, we will be cutting each collage element in its own separate file. This way, you will be able to easily reuse any of the materials in your future collages without needing to get them from any previous work. So you'll need a separate folder for your cutouts. Don't put any files into it just yet. This is where we'll be saving our cutout elements from Photoshop. Next, create another folder for your future collage files, and name it CollagesPSD. Then you'll need a couple more folders. One for final flattened images in full resolution, and another for any scaled or cropped versions for sharing in your portfolio on social media or in your class project. You might also need a few additional folders, for example, for mockups or for separate versions of your final collages, converted for print in CMYK. So if you're going to create anything else, set up a separate folder for each type of files. Organizing your project files into separate folders and giving all folders and files understandable names might seem like an unnecessary waste of time, but believe me, in the long run, it will save you a lot of time and frustration when you need to look for something or want to put your project in an archive. So organize your project files, and when you're ready, join me in the next lesson in which I'll share with you tips for preparing your sourced images for cutting. 6. Preparing Images for Cutting: With all source files ready and organized, we can now start preparing them for cutting. Start by opening your files in Adobe Photoshop. Then hit Command Shift S or Control Shift S in Windows and receive each file in your cutouts folder. Send the format to Photoshop here, embed the color profile, and hit Save. Then repeat this process for all the images you plan to use. If you have an image with multiple elements, but only want to use one of them, now it is a good idea to crop the image to get rid of anything unnecessary in the document. Switch to the crop tool in the options bar, hit clear if any values are set, then select the width by height by resolution preset and leave the field blank to preserve the original scale and resolution. Make sure delete cropped pixels is checked, and then crop the element you want to use. When ready with your selection, hit Enter and then save the cropped image in your cutout folder as a PSD document. If you want to use another element from the same source image, just undo the crop and crop the image differently for that second element. Then hit Enter, open save as dialog and save this new image in the cutout folder, but be sure to use a different name. For example, like this and save your document. When you're done cropping, switch back to the Move tool. And if you have saved multiple elements from the same source image, go ahead and open these new files now they are all ready for cutting. With all your elements now saved as separate PSDs, you can resize them if needed. Press Command Option I or Control Alt I in Windows to open the image size dialog. Make sure the width and height are linked, and then change one of the dimensions to your desired value. And you'll see both values change. If you're creating your collage for print, it is best to change the units here 2 " centimeters or millimeters depending on what units you are used to working with. Then set the resolution to 300 DPA, if it is lower than that. Then just the image dimensions for the approximate size you'll use in your collage. For example, this size is way too big, so I will resize it to 30 centimeters wide like this. When you switch to print units, you'll also see the pixel dimensions here. Keep an eye on them, and if your computer isn't very powerful, avoid working with huge files to prevent any performance issues. After setting size and resolution, go to the sample method menu and select Preserve Details 2.0, which helps to improve image quality when scaling up. Play around with the reduced noise slider here and watch the preview to see the effect. A small amount of noise reduction often makes a big difference. Don't overdo it and avoid making your images look overly processed or too sharp. Once you're happy with all these settings, click Okay, and your resized image is now ready. So make sure to save it. But in my case, to avoid any issues whilst recording this class, I will undo the changes and stick with the original size, which is already big enough for what I have in mind. It is fine to enlarge your images a little, but if you want to create high quality, large scale collages, it is always best to look around and try to find the largest and best quality source images to begin with. Now, before we move on to cut in, let's take a quick look at which panels you'll need in your workspace. When working in Photoshop, it is essential to keep the layers panel visible at all times so you can work with the different elements. So be sure to keep it open. We'll be also using the properties panel in this class. So if it is not already open, go and add it to your workspace via the Window Manu other than these two panels, if you have any other panels open, you can minimize them for now, so they don't clutter your workspace. Resave and resize your source images if needed. Next, let's get on with cutting. 7. Cutting Techniques: Introduction: To cut your images out of the background, you can use a few different techniques depending on the type of images you're working with. In recent years, Adobe Photoshop has come a long way, and now it offers a range of tools to help you cut out images quickly and cleanly. And in this class, I will show you a few different tools so you can decide which ones work best for your particular images and the way you want to cut them. Cutting tools in Adobe Photoshop range from super simple automatic options like the Object Selection tool and the Quick Selection tool, which let you quickly select objects or areas in the images to some manual tools like the different lasso tools and the pen tool, which allow more control. And finally, there is Select and Mask tool, which you need to use to cut out more complex and detailed images. We'll go through all these tools in increasing order of complexity in a moment. Photoshop also has some old school tools like the Magic one tool, which allows to select areas based on color. But when dealing with collages, with the object selection tool now available, you can forget about these basic tools, as the new ones give you much better and cleaner results. So let's have a look at how you can use different cutting tools and techniques to effectively cut out various kinds of images for your collages. 8. Using Object Selection Tool & Layer Masks: If your image has a clear difference between the object and the background, and the object has well defined shapes and edges, you can use the object selection tool to isolate. When this tool is active, hovering over the object, we highlight it like this. But before clicking to create the selection, check your settings in the options bar. Make sure hard edges is selected to create clean and crisp edges, perfect for a traditional collage look without any soft feathering or transparency. In the dropdown menu here, choose Cloud for better detailed results. It might take a little longer to process, but it's worth it. Since I'm not selecting people, this option here isn't important right now, but if you're working with images of people, this option will come in handy. With your settings ready, click on the object in your document and wait for the selection to process. You will see marching ants appear around the selection and you can now zoom in and inspect your selection if you want. With the selection ready, go to the layers panel, unlock the background layer here, and then click on the Ed New Layer Mask button to apply the selection as a mask. And if you're lucky, this technique will give you a perfectly usable element for your collage. And if not, now you can inspect the edges in more detail and clean things up if something was selected by mistake or missed. To check the quality of your cutout, go to the Laris panel, click on the Add New fill or adjustment layer button and choose solid color. Click Okay. And then quickly drag this new color fill layer below your cutout like this. Now you'll be able to clearly see any cutting issues. So double click on the fill color Lea thumbnail and pick any color you want to better see the edges of your cut element. I usually check my cut out against a few different colors, including something bright like magenta, as well as white and black because they usually highlight different issues. But something bright is usually my go to background whilst I'm refining the edges. So set your color and it okay. If you spot anything that needs fixing, like in my example here, go to your image layer, select the mask thumbnail and make sure it shows a border around it, which means that it is selected. Layer masks, let you remove parts of an image non destructively, meaning that any changes you make with your mask can be undone at any stage in the process, which makes it a smarter way to work in Photoshop. Unlike cutting or erasin which permanently delete pixels, masking keeps all of the original image information. If you have never used layer masks before, there is a bit of a learning curve, but the concept is simple. Black color hides parts of the layer. White, makes them visible, and shades of gray create different levels of transparency. For collages, I recommend sticking to pure black and pure white to keep a clean graphic look and avoid soft edges or translucent bits. So, for example, to hide any visible bit which was added to the selection by mistake, like this one here, you need to cover it with black. And you can paint on your layer mask using the brush tool. With the brush selected in the options bar set the hardness to around 95 to 100%. To create hard edges with just a touch of softness. Next, press D to reset the colors in a tall s panel to black and white, and then press X to bring black to the foreground and paint over any unwanted bits to remove them. And that's how easy it is. So inspect the edges and clean them up where necessary. Use the square bracket keys to adjust brush size quickly as you work to make the size work better with the area you are working with. With elements like this that have clean edges, it really doesn't take much time or effort. But sometimes the object selection tool might miss some parts of your elements, and then you will also need to paint some areas within the object back in using the white color to make them visible. Once you're happy with the mask, press V to switch back to the move tool. You can now delete your color let here or keep it hidden if you want to refine the mask further later. With your object cut out and ready against the transparent background, hit save. Now this element is ready to be placed in your collage. This is the easiest cutting technique, always try first. For any elements, you need to cut out fully from the background, but not all images can be cut this way, let's move on to the next cutting technique. 9. Creating Manual Selections with Polygonal Lasso Tool: If you're working with the images where it is difficult for Photoshop to work out what is the subject and what is the background, you need to use the manual cutting techniques. Cutting things manually is also the way to go when you need to isolate specific parts of an image, cut out custom shapes which don't follow the exact outline of a subject, or simply when the object has a basic outline and you want precise clean edges. Many old tools that allow you to create precise selections include the polygonal Lasoto and the Pentl. Let's start with the pretty straightforward polygonal Lasoto and I'll share with you the benefits of using more complex Pento in the next lesson. Before you start creating your selection, go to the Layers panel and unlock your background layer. Then go and add LAA mask to it and make sure it is selected to keep all the changes you will start making in a moment non destructive. Starting with the mask is particularly handy when working with more complex images that you cannot select for cutting in one go. Now, to use the polygonal las tool, zoom into your image, click to place your first anchor point and then continue placing points to create straight line segments. Think of it as using a scalpel to cut paper along a ruler. You need to be quite precise when placing your points, but if you put a point in the wrong place, you can press delete or backspace to remove the last point. For simple objects like this, you can easily go around the full perimeter in one go. But for more complex shapes, it is better to work in sections. For example, like this. To close a selection, return to your first point. And when you see your cursor change to indicate closure, click to close the selection. To hide the selected area, make sure your foreground color is set to black. Your mask thumbnail is selected here, and press Option Delete or Alt backspace in Windows to fill the selected area on the mask with black. And this will hide that part of the image. Next, press Command D or Control D in Windows to the select A and then continue selecting and masking any other parts you want to hide the same way. One annoying thing when using the polygonal Lasso tool is that double clicking with it automatically closes the selection, which sometimes can make it tricky if you're working with something complex. If you close the selection by mistake, press Command D or Control D in Windows and start the selection again from scratch. And once finished, again, close the selection, fill it with black, and the select all the polygonal las tool is great for clean straight cuts, which are perfect for geometric shapes or structured forms. But you need to be careful with your point placement and always check that you're working on the mask before filling anything in. But it is a very useful tool to master, be sure to give it a go. After completing your mask, you can check the quality of your cut out against a solid field background like I have shown you in the previous lesson. I will skip that here since this was a fairly simple cut. But if you need to, be sure to inspect and refine the edges. And once you're happy with the result, as usual, save your document. Next, let's have a look at a more advanced menial selection technique using the pentel 10. Creating Manual Selections with Pen Tool: If you need to manually select and cut out some complex elements for your collages, you can use the Pento instead of the polygonal asuto. Before creating a selection, go to the Layers panel, unlock the background layer and add a layer mask. Although with the pent, you can also easily create the mask later from the final selection. To create a selection using the pentol go around the element you want to isolate and draw a path for cutting. This is similar to using the polygonal acutol but with the pentol your selection remains editable as you work. You can move points by holding down Command or Control key like this and then continue from where you left off. If you're used to working in Adobe Illustrator, this will feel familiar. With the pentol you can also create both straight lines and curves. If needed, you can also convert curves into corners by option or clicking on a point and create a curve from a corner by dragging your mouse out from the point, whilst holding down the option or old key. This gives you way more flexibility when outlining your object. Whilst more advanced, it can also be less stressful than using the polygonal Lasot because the selections made with the pentol are non destructive and can be saved at any point throughout the process and edited whenever necessary. It is really useful if you're working on a complex outline and intricate non linear shapes and on to take breaks or return to refine your work later. Once you're finished with your outline, close the path and switch to the move tool. Now to turn the path into a selection, you'll need the paths panel. If the panel isn't in your workspace already, go and open it via the window menu. With the panel open, you'll see your work path here. To convert it into a selection, simply Command click or Control click in Windows on a thumbnail like this. Now, since we already have a layer mask added, we need to invert the selection so it covers the background instead of the object. Press Command Shift I or Control Shift I in Windows to invert the selection. Then make sure the mask is selected in the Layers panel, and black is set as the foreground color. And hit option delete or out backspace in Windows to fill the selection on the mask and hide the background. With that done, press Command D or Control D in Windows to the select hull. You can now close the paths panel or minimize and docket with some other panels, so it is readily available later on. If needed, now you can inspect and refine the edges of your cut out against a solid background color, like you have done earlier. And once you're happy with the result, save your document. In this case, this was just to demonstrate the technique, and I'm not going to use this shape in my collage. So just save it for future collages and close it for now. Using the object selection, polygonal lasso and the pen tool to create the initial selections and then making minor manual edits to your masks. Using the brush tool will allow you to cut out most of the images for your collages. But sometimes when you need to cut out something even more tricky and complex, you need to use the select and mask tool with all of its available features. And I'll walk you through this more advanced workflow in the next lesson. 11. Creating Complex Selections in Select & Mask Workspace: Using the tools I have covered in the previous lessons will work for cutting out most images. But when you need to cut out something tricky and confusing for Photoshop, you will need to use a combination of the different tools available in the select and mask workspace. It is a more complex and time consuming workflow. If you're just getting started with creating your collages, I highly recommend picking your elements carefully and avoiding anything with hair or really complex details that you cannot easily isolate or cut out manually. But if you're up for a challenge and want to level up your masking skills, here's how to go about the process of cutting out more complex images. Start by unlocking the background layer here and then switch to the Object Selection tool first and check out what results it produces. In this case, it selects some of the shapes really well, but it also misses some parts because Photoshop can distinguish what's the background and what's part of the subject. The fact that this image is a monochromatic print doesn't help, but this selection is a good starting point. The initial selection created with the Object Selection tool, go to the options bar. And click on the Select and Mask button here. And this will launch the Select and Mask workspace. The Select and Mask interface combines a lot of different tools and features, which allow you to refine your selection, preview it in different modes, and also gives you access to the same tools you can use in the regular Photoshop interface, including the Lasso tools, the brush tool, the Quick Selection tool, and the Object Selection tool. Before you start refining your selection, go to the properties panel and the view mode, select the view that helps you best see the edges of your selection. In this case, I recommend using an overlay, which imitates the view against a colored background. You can set the color for the overlay here and pick any color you want in the color picker. You can also control the opacity of the overlay here. This will allow you to faintly see your image as you work, so you don't miss anything whilst refining your mask. In this menu here, be sure to select masked areas so you can clearly see which areas are being masked and which remain visible. Then before using any tools to refine the selection, you need to select the refined mode here. Use color aware when your image has a good contrast between the object and the background and both are relatively simple and set it to object aware when working with complex objects and busy backgrounds. In this case, because I'm working with a melochromatic print against a plain background, I'm going to use color aware to ensure that all tiny fur details are selected properly. Next in the edge detection section, you can set the radius. The smaller the radius, the sharper the edges. I recommend setting it to zero for proper sharp edges. You can also enable smart radius, which adjusts the edge detection radius dynamically depending on the image content. But when preparing images for collages where you want hard edges, I suggest keeping smart radius unchecked to avoid any fuzzy edges. There are also global refinement settings, and these you can tweak later on after refining your selection. To start with, keep them at zero, so they don't affect the preview and don't slow everything down. When the setting is ready, now you can go and manually refine the selection using any available tools. First, there is the quick selection tool. It allows you to automatically select well defined objects or their parts, as well as any areas of a similar color which have clear edges. As with any other brush based tools, you can change the brush size using the square bracket keys as you go like this. To add to the selection, just paint over the area you want to add and to remove from the selection, either select the subtract from selection option here or keep it set to add to selection here and simply hold down the option or old key whilst painting. Quick Selection tool can be good for some small adjustments and tricky edges. But if there are larger areas you need to fill in, like inside these spikes here, it is better to use the brush tool instead. This brush tool works just like any regular brush in Photoshop, then you can adjust its settings here. Again, set the hardness 95-100%. I will use 100% for hard edges. Then either resize it here or go to the area you need to refine and adjust the size in relation to it using the square bracket keys. Then simply paint to fill in the areas that should be selected. Compared to the quick selection tool, this gives you clean fields and no weird or fuzzy areas or edges. Brush is also a great tool for cleaning up the edges and removing bits of the image. To remove areas, again, simply hold down the option or old key and carefully brush them away. Since it works like any other brush, you can also hold down shift to draw straight lines between two points to speed up the process and create clean straight selections along the edges. If you need to refine corners or small tricky areas like this, you will need to use either of the lastols. For example, you can use the polygonal lastol as we have done earlier and trace around a shape and close the selection. In this case, it will add to the selection to subtract from your selection, you will need to hold down the option or old key wh creating a selection like this. When using the lasso tool to subtract, make sure you start holding down the option or old key before you start creating the selection. Otherwise, it won't activate subtraction. You'll notice that the edges created with the lasso tools are quite harsh. But once you refine them with the refinement settings, they will look similar to the rest of the edges in your selection. Besides the polygonal Lasotol, you can also use the regular Lasot draw your selection free hand like this. It automatically closes the selection when you release the mouse button and it can be super quick to use to fill in some areas within the shapes. I find it to be super useful for refining any corners and subtracting small areas, for example, like this. The asto is great for refining selections in a predictable and precise way, but it might take some time to master drawn your selections where you want them to be. But if you learn to use it well, it will allow you to quickly create complex f hand selections to imitate the look of elements cut out by hand that have hard edges and no fuzziness, which is ideal for more traditional collage look. But that said, even vintage engravings can have some elements, for example, like this for here, which you need to refine further to avoid having a very crude cut out look. And for this, you need to use the refined edge brush tool. With this tool selected, just brush over the areas you want to refine like this to add to the selection or subtract from the selection by brushing while holding down the option or old key. Refine Edge Brush tool automatically detects the areas to add to or subtract from the selection, and it makes selecting the areas pretty quick and easy. Use a combination of these tools to refine your selection and always pick the tool based on the details in the image you need selecting. I'm going to refine the porcupine elements which Photoshop failed to select correctly, and I'll speed up this process, so you can see how I go about it, but without taking too much of your time. If it gets difficult to see what you need to select, remember that you can turn down the opacity of the color overlay to better see the details in your original image. And then carry on refining your selection. When cutting elements for your collages, think about how you want them to look in your collage rather than base your selection on what is precisely in the image. And sometimes you need to cut things out in a way that is different from what's actually in the image, just to make it look better in your collage. This masking process takes some time and effort. So if you're not as patient as I am, it is best to avoid overly complex subjects like this, so you can make it to the actual collage making stage faster. But if you do choose something like this, just be ready to spend the time and make your selection as clean as possible. For most of my process, I usually use the combination of the brush tool and the regular asto and switch between them as I work. To make it faster when you work, consider learning and using shortcuts to quickly switch between the tools. B is the shortcut for the brush tool, and L is the shortcut for the Lasotols which will be either the regular Lasote or the polygonal Lasotol depending on what you last use. For larger shapes with sharp corners, I find it easier to use the polygonal Lasotol and work in short line segments to build the selection. Instead of trying to create complex and precise selections by hand with the regular Lasot. Pick the tools which work best for the area you need to select, practice using them and you will soon get proficient and the complex masking refinement process won't be too hard. When ready with your selection, it is time to apply a bit of refinement. First, increase the contrast a little to ensure that all the edges are consistently sharp. If you push it all the way up, you will notice super crisp pixelated edges. So don't go too far and stick to about 20%. When you start applying the refinement tools, you'll notice that some areas change a bit and now you might need to further clean up the selection manually, for example, like this. If you apply a tiny bit of feathering, just one pixel, together with the contrast, this can help clean up some roughness and artifacts around the edges. Then you can add a bit of smoothing, something around five, which will simplify the edge Eva so slightly and remove any jaggedness. At this stage, it is a good idea to increase the overlay opacity to 100%, so you can clearly see the edges of your cutout. Then just the shift edge value here. Setting it to a negative value moves the selection inward and helps eliminate translucent pixels or unwanted fringe around the object. Something around -5% usually works well, but check it out in relation to your image size and the level of tiny detail around the edges. After applying the global refinement settings, you need to quickly inspect your selection once again and add or remove bits to finalize the mask. And once the selection is ready, double check that everything looks correct and that you have not accidentally cut out any parts of the image. Then go to the output settings and select layer mask here and hit Okay. And here is your mask element ready, and you can now save this document. These are the different techniques you can use to cut out your collage elements. To sum it up, I recommend always starting with the object selection tool and seeing what result it gives you. If it is good, use it as it is or build on top of it. If not, use a more manual method. Cut out all the elements you want to use, and when ready, join me in the next part of the class to start putting it all together in a collage. 12. Collage Document Setup: With all of your cutouts ready, we can now start putting them together into a collage. We will be creating our collages in a new document. So let's start by going to the file menu and selecting new. Decide on the size of the document based on what you want to create and just keep in mind the size of the images you are working with and don't push it too far. I'm going to create a fairly large collage. This will be a little bit larger than a free format and about 13 by 16 ". In general, I would recommend creating something that's at least 2000 pixels white. If you're going for an Instagram friendly four to five poster format, aim for a minimum of 2000 by 2,500 pixels. This will give you good enough quality, but still a manageable file size to work with. Whatever size you choose, set the resolution 2300 pixels per inch. Use RGB color mode, even if you plan to print your work because you will be able to convert it to CMIKey later if needed. Set the bit depth to eight bit, background contents to white, and under Advanced Options, select SRGB for the color profile and square pixels. Then hit Create. And as soon as your new document opens, press Command Shift or Control Shift as in Windows to save it into your collages folder and give it a descriptive name. Set the format to Photoshop. Make sure embed color profile is checked, and hit safe. And now we can start bringing our images into this document. 13. Adding Cut Images into Your Collage Document: There are a few different ways. You can add images to your new collage document. And whilst it might be tempting, I highly recommend not copying and pasting them directly. Instead, we will be using smart objects, which will allow you to work on destructively, avoid problems with image quality, apply consistent adjustments to copies of the same elements, and keep your main collage document a little bit less cluttered. So you can now close all your saved cutout document tabs and keep just your new collage document open. To place your images into this document, go to the file menu and select Place Embedded. Then locate your cutout folder and choose the images you want to add. You need to select and place them one by one. Start with the first one and hit Place. When the image appears, it will be constrained to the size of your new document, and you will see the scale is being placed at in the options bar. Because you're working with smart objects, it doesn't really matter what scale the image is being placed at, and you'll be able to scale it freely later. So once the image pops up on the canvas, hit Enter. Then repeat the process for all other elements you want to use in your collage. When placing documents as embedded smart objects in your new collage file, the layer famnil will have this icon in the corner and you will see only your cutout in your main document. But if you double click on the layers Famnail, it will open the original contents in a YouTube and you will see a layer mask and any other layers you might have here. Because this is an embedded document, any changes you make within it will only affect the look of this image in your main collage document. The embedded smart object is stored within your collage document, and the changes you make to it won't be saved to your original cutout file in this folder. This is a great way to keep your original cutouts intact. For example, if you want to use them across a number of different collages and apply different graphic treatments to each of them, to avoid confusion about what is what? Pay attention to the document tabs and names here. So this was our smart object. Let's close it for now to return to our main collage document. And now with all the elements placed, let's quickly save the document once again. And next, we can start building our collage composition. 14. Composing Your Collage: Once you have placed all your elements inside the collage document as smart objects, you can start arranging them in the right order in the layers panel, moving them around the canvas and layering them to build your composition. During this process, it is super important to pay attention to what is selected in the layers panel and you can either manually select the layer you want and then use the move tool to reposition it. Or alternatively, if you do not have too many elements and can easily see and click on them on the canvas, activate Autoselect here layers and then just click and drag the elements around in any desired way. If you want to start by arranging a main collage element first in relation to the canvas, so you can build your composition around it, you can turn off the visibility of all other layers and then move that element around. If smart guides start popping up like here and they get in the way, go to the view menu and on the show and check Smart Guides. So you can move things freely without snapping them into alignment with the canas or with each other. Because you're working with a digital collage, aside from layering elements, you can also scale, rotate, and even reflect them if needed. To scale an element, select it, and press Command T or Control T in Windows to enter a free transform mode and then use the bounding box to scale it to the desired size. In new photoshop versions, check whether proportions are constrained in the options bar. And if the link icon isn't active, hold down shift while scaling to constrain proportions. And if you want to scale from the center, also hold down option or Old key. Alternatively, if proportions are linked, you don't need to hold down Shift and holding it, in this case, will make you distort your element, which you probably don't want to do. Always check if that link is active and if something goes wrong, just hit Command Z or Control Z in Windows to undo and go back to the desired previous state. The biggest advantage of using smart objects is that they allow you to scale your elements as many times as you need without affecting the image quality and to a certain extent avoiding pixelation, provided that you don't scale the elements up too much beyond their 100% scale. In this case, this element is much larger than the canvas as it is, which is great as it gives me flexibility to scale and experiment freely. So I'm going to scale it to the size I want and place it somewhere that feels right for now. When you're done with the scale and general placement of your first element, hit Enter. And then turn on the visibility of the next layer or layers, you want to add to your collage and carry on building your composition using the move and free transform tools when required. If you need to rotate an element, move your mouse just outside the bounding box and hold on the mouse button and drag to rotate your element as much or as little as you like. I find that adding one element at a time really helps to stay focused and not get distracted by everything else in the document. If you have multiple elements, you are yet to add to your collage, you can hide them for a moment to concentrate on arranging other elements first. For example, I'm going to build the composition of my porcupine floating in space, and I want to include a few copies of this geometric shape. Because it is a smart object, I wanted to link to the same document so I can make consistent changes across all copies at once later on. If you need to create copies of a Smart Object, select it in the layers panel, and press Command J or Control J in Windows. This creates duplicates that are instances of the same smart object contents, and this will allow you to make unified changes, for example, color adjustments to all of the copies at once later on. If you right click on the Smart Object layer, you'll also see an option called New Smart Object via Copy. Avoid using this in this case, as it creates a new separate Smart Object with independent contents instead. And Command J or Control J in Windows is the shortcut for the duplicate layer command here. As you build your composition, you might need to rearrange the layer order. Remember that like physical paper layers, whatever is on top in the layers panel appears on top on the canvas and it covers whatever is underneath it. To change the order of the layers, just drag the layers up or down in the layers panel to create the desired layering effect. Then either select layers manually or use autoselect and carry on composing your collage. If you need to make tiny adjustments to the placement of the elements in your collage, instead of moving them manually, you can nudge elements into place using the arrow keys like this. As you create your collage, pay attention to the relationship between the shapes, the scale, and how they overlap, so that everything works nicely together, and you get an interesting layering effect. If at this point, elements start to blend with each other, do not worry. You'll be able to differentiate between them later with simple edits to add more depth to your collage. So experiment with rotating and scaling your elements to make them work better together and keep adding more elements to build your composition. In my collage, I want to use this as a sort of landscape, so I will make it fairly large, but I still be mindful of the scale here, and I won't scale it too much and keep it close to 100%. If you want to reflect any elements, select them either in the layers panel or using auto select, then go to the edit menu, transform and choose flip vertical or flip horizontal. I want to flip this cut out horizontally so that this part of the image ends up on the opposite side like this. Then I'll just place it where I want. If you want to move several elements at once, just shift click to select them together either on the canvas with the auto select being active or in the layers panel and drag them wherever you want. I want to create a bit more complex composition here, so I'm going to add a few more geometric shapes and place them around the canvas. In this case, I'm simply dragging the elements on the canvas whilst holding down the option key, which also duplicates them and keeps them linked to the same smart object contents. One of the great things about digital collages is the ability to scale elements freely and also use multiple repeating elements in different ways throughout the composition. Have fun experimenting, but remember that you don't need to make something super complex and you don't have to use a lot of elements like I'm doing here. Just explore different ideas and compositions using your sourced images and see what you come up with and make sure to press Command S or control as in Windows from time to time to save your work, so you do not lose anything. So build your composition using your cutout elements and see what you can create. But make sure that you do not restrict yourself by using the images you have chosen and cut out originally. When you create your color composition, you might find that you need more images to tie it all together. So if necessary, source and cut out more images to bring your idea to life. Likewise, do not hesitate to remove some of the elements to simplify things. Besides using vintage source images, you might also want to enhance your color by adding some geometric shapes created directly in Photoshop. I'll show you how in the next lesson. A 15. Enhancing Your Composition with Geometric Shapes: Using only sourced vintage images in your collages can work absolutely fine. But sometimes you might want to add a few additional touches but imitate the look of shapes cut out of colored paper. To do that, you can use various shape tools in Photoshop. You can use any shapes you want, for example, to create a circle, select the Ellipse tool. Hold down the Shift key to constrain proportions and draw your circle like so. Holding Shift works the same way for all shape tools and allows you to create perfect shapes. Once your shape is created, you'll see it in the layers panel. If you want to change its color, you can do that in the properties panel and you can change both the field color and the stroke color. Since we're imitating cut paper, I recommend setting the stroke to none. To change the field color, simply click here and either select Ace watch or use the color pie to choose any color you like. For example, I want to use a bright green color to contrast with the other elements in my collage. Pick your color and it. After that, you can rearrange your shape layer like any other. For example, I want to move it below all other elements, so I will drag it down here. This will allow me to easily experiment with different placements of this shape. Using additional geometric shapes is a great way to add a pop of color to another itemchromatic collage or to add a spot of white or black color to a colorful collage. And it is also an easy way to make the whole collage more visually exciting. So try adding shapes to your collage and experiment with the placement and layering in relation to other elements. In this case, I want to place the shape centrally. To do that, I will go to the alignment options in the options bar, make sure align to Canvas is selected, and then click on the align buttons here to center the shape. I like using geometric shapes this way to add a focal point to my compositions. So consider trying this out as well if you when using geometric shapes, be sure to experiment with the scale and use the free transform tool to do it right on the canvas like this. Again, if you want to scale from the center point, remember to hold down the option or old key whilst scaling. This works exactly the same way as with any image layers and because it is a shape layer, you can scale it as much as you want without losing quality. After adding any geometric shapes, you will most likely need to slightly rearrange the other elements to make the whole composition more balanced. For example, I'm going to select the porcupine and these shapes whilst holding down shift, and then just nice them all together to better align them with the circle and the center of the composition. And then quickly nudge the other shapes to make everything sit nicely in relation to the circle. Another way to add interest to your composition is by using some lines or stroked elements, which will create contrast with the bulky or filled elements in your collage. To draw lines, you can use the line tool or just use the rectangle tool to create tall, narrow rectangles like this. Again, select the desired fill color for your line. Photoshop shows you recently used colors here. So I'll apply the same bright green color to keep the coloring minimal and consistent. To keep the shape clean and simple, set the stroke to none. Or alternatively, if you're using a line or any other shape, you can apply a thin stroke and no fill to it. After setting up your new shape, switch back to the move tool to seed clearly. Then select the shape in the layers panel, and if necessary, you just its size in the property panel. You can lock or unlock proportions depending on how you want to scale it and change the values here. Changing the size of the elements, this way is considerably less fiddly than trying to scale them using the free transform tool. If you try moving them with the auto select feature on, you might find it to be quite tricky as well. In this case, it is better to turn it off and select layers manually in the layers panel and move them around this way. If you want, you can also easily copy your linear elements, so you've got more to play around with. To do this, simply drag them on the canvas whilst holding down the option or old key. When using multiple copies, you can also explore coloring your lines differently from each other if you want. For example, I'm going to make this copyright and I will layer it over the circle to make it more visible. Then I will make another copy and set it to a dark gray but not pure black, so it is not too harsh and works better with the rest of the colors, which I'll be adjusting shortly. Add any linear elements to your collage if you want and arrange them around the canvas by selecting layers. Imagine dragging them into place. I after adding new elements, you feel that some elements aren't positioned too well in relation to each other, do not hesitate to scale or move things further. Creating collages is all about making changes until everything falls into place. For example, I think the porcupine and these shapes are a little too big. Again, I'll activate auto select, then shift click to select these shapes the free transform mode and scale them down ever so slightly. And then I'll nudge them into a better position. I also feel like these lines are too narrow, so I'll unlock the proportions and make them a bit wider one by one, so they are more visible. So keep adjusting and refining your composition as needed and use scaling rotation and alignment to improve the relationship between the cutout elements and any shapes you have added. If you have been working against a plain background, like I've been doing here, now you can also quickly change your background color. To do this, start by selecting your background layer to add a new layer just above it, and then click on the Add New fill or adjustment layer button and choose solid color. And pick any color to imitate colored paper. I'm going to go with a light gray and hit Okay. If you want to adjust this color further, simply double click on the fill color layer famil to reopen the color picker and take the color as required. You will be able to see the changes you make as you go, which is great for fine tuning the look and much better than filling in the background there with the paint bucket tool. When ready, apply changes. And if you want, you can even delete this background layer at this point as it is no longer affecting anything. Finalize your composition and remember to save your document regularly. Once your collage composition is complete and you have added all the elements you want, next, we'll look at adjustments and bringing everything together with a bit of color editing. 16. Applying Non-Destructive Image Adjustments: With all your collage elements arranged, you can keep your collage as it is to retain a genuine vintage look, or you can take it as the filter and make your collage feel more refined, sophisticated, or playful by applying some tonel and color correction. For example, if like me, you're working with multiple images that are supposed to be monochromatic, you might want to make them all black and white to simplify the overall look of your collage. Or if you're working with color images, you can adjust contrast what the colors for consistency. In this lesson, I will show you a non destructive way to make adjustments to your source images to further develop the look of your collage using human saturation levels, brightness and contrast and invert adjustment layers. To get started, choose the smart object you want to edit and double click on its Fumnil in the Layers panel to open its contents. To edit non destructively, you will need to add new adjustment layers inside this Smart Object content document. For example, if you want to change colors or desaturate your image, go to the add new fill or adjustment layer button and choose hue and saturation. Place it above your image layer and edit its properties in the properties panel. To desaturate the image, simply drag the saturation slider down to -100 or increase saturation if you want the image to appear more vibrant. If you want, you can also use the colorized option here. By checking it, you will apply a single hue across the entire image, which you can control using the hue slider and control the saturation using the saturation slider. Or if you don't check colorize and don't turn the saturation all the way down, you can shift the hues of your original colors using the hue slider. Experiment and see what works best for your collage. In my case, I will simply desaturate this image. Besides color changes, you might also want to adjust brightness and contrast, and there are a few ways to do this. One option is to use a levels adjustment layer. When you add a new levels layer, a histogram will appear in the properties panel and you can make adjustments using these sliders. Drag the black slider to the right to darken the shadows, drag the white slider to the left to brighten highlights. And use the midtone slider to adjust contrast. This gives you a lot of control over the tunnel adjustments. Play around with the sliders and see where it takes you. There are a few other things that you can do with the levels adjustment, and I'll share them shortly. When you're done adjusting your image, remember to save the smart object, close its stub, and the changes will appear in your main collage. Now you can move on to editing other elements. Open the contents of the next smart object and apply the desired adjustments. For example, I will quickly desaturate this one as well. Then I will add a levels adjustment again and quickly tweak the slider's here. Apart from using sliders, you can also use the eyedroppers here. For example, to set a white point and make a specific tonal range white, select the white point eyedropper and click in the image on the area which is supposed to be white. In grayscale images, this is just the tones, and in color images, this also affects colors and white balance. So use it with care. If you hold on option or Alt whilst using the eyedropper, Photoshop will show you which areas are being affected. Next, you can do the same with the black point eyedropper to set the Blackpoint and use the gray one if you want to set neutral mid tones. These eyedropper tools are especially helpful when working with black and white images and particularly vintage etchings or engravings. So be sure to try using them to adjust your images and make them look cleaner. Again, once you're done, remember to save the Smart Object document and close its tab and then move on to the next collage element, which requires adjustments. I save the best that my geometric shapes for last because they all come from the same smart object, I only need to apply adjustments once and I can access the contents of the smart object by double clicking on any of the smart object instances in the layers panel. So again, I'll quickly desaturate the image inside the smart object and adjust the levels to increase contrast. Now, when I save it and return to the main color document, all instances of the shape are updated. This looks great, but I want to try inverting the colors to make the shapes appear darker and heavier. So I'll go back into the Smart Object and add an invert adjustment layer above everything. So here's the inverted look. Now I'll save the document again and check the effect in the collage document. There's a bit too much contrast now, so I'll go and edit it further. For example, I can go and tick the existing adjustments a bit more, but I want to share a different useful technique instead. To adjust the brightness of the shape, I will add the good old brightness and contrast adjustment layer above all other layers. Then in the properties panel, check legacy here and move both sliders to the left to reduce both the brightness and contrast. This little trick works well for all sorts of images, use it if you want to create a dark low contrast look. I still want to bring back a bit more detail, so I will keep tweaking the adjustments until it fills right. And then I'll save the changes and return to the main collage document. So these were a few simple but impactful image adjustments, you can apply to your sourced collage elements. They can help unify your composition and elevate the overall look of your collage. Have fun experimenting and don't forget to save your document frequently, and be sure to close any smart object tabs when you're done editing. I love using this approach of using mechromatic elements and then adding APOp of single bright color, try it out as well if it appeals to you or use full color images or other color combinations that suit your own collage style. In the next lesson, I will share with you if you finish and touches, you can add to your collage to complete the. 17. Finishing Touches: When you're getting clothes to finish collage, it is a good idea to check all the elements and see how sharp they are. And if needed, it's just the sharpness to bring everything together visually. To sharpen a smart object, select it in the layers panel, and go to the filter menu, sharpen and select smart sharpen. Make sure preview is checked here so you can see the effect in the preview window and in the actual image on the canvas. Keep the radius fairly small around one to two pixels depending on your image. Set reduced noise to about 10% to help minimize any pixelation and then adjust the amount. But don't go too high and watch how it affects your image. It depends on the image, but generally 52 to 100% is a good range to explore. Avoid over sharpening, or your image may start looking over processed and lose its vintage charm. A great benefit of smart sharpen is that it also helps reduce scan related blur. Check between Gaussian blur and lens blur and see which one works best. Lens blur usually works well to fix scanned images. Play around with the settings and click Okay. Then repeat the process for any other elements that need sharpening. If you're using multiple instances of the same smart object, do not sharpen them in the main collage document. Instead, open the smart object, right, click on the image layer inside it, and convert it into another smart object. And then apply sharpening to it. This way, it will stay non destructive and you won't need to apply sharpening to all of the copies in the main collage document separately. Again, the settings will vary depending on the image. When ready, apply changes, save this document and close the Smart Object tab and your updates will appear across all instances of the same smart object in your collage. Repeat this process to make sure all elements are consistently sharp. Besides sharpening, you can also add texture to make your collage feel more tactile. You can layer texture image over or under your collage or apply texture using Photoshop filters. If you want to learn how to do that with filters, check out my class about five easy techniques for texturing images using filters in Adobe Photoshop. If you prefer a real paper texture, you can add your own or use one I have provided in the class resources. Or for more options, check out my High Resolution old paper texture pack available as a separate affordable digital product. To a texture, go to the file menu and select Place Embedded. Blocate your texture and embed it into the document. Scale it to cover the entire canvas and press Enter. You can place it under all layers as a background or on top and use a blending mode, for example, multiply. Since it is a smart object, you can also apply quick non destructive edits to it. For example, press Command U or control you in Windows to open hue and saturation adjustment. Adjust saturation to make it less intense, the ato, and this adjustment will be applied as a smart filter to the smart object with your texture. If the texture looks too strong, you can experiment with other blending mode or reduce the layer opacity for a more subtle effect. At this point, you can also quickly adjust colors in your collage. For example, I like this green color, but I want to see how it would look in a different hue. So I will go and add a new hue and saturation adjustment layer, place it under the texture layer, and adjust the hue. Since the rest of my collage is black and white, this only affects the circle and the line at the bottom. But if you have any other colored elements in your collage, place the hue saturation layer right above the layer you want to adjust. Then click between the two layers whilst holding down the option or old key to clip the adjustment to the layer below, it doesn't affect anything else in your document. In this case, I want to adjust both the circle and the line. I will undo the last few steps and bring this layer back up like this. Now I generally like how everything looks, but I want to quickly mask this line, so it appears to come from inside of this shape here. I'm going to find this layer, zoom in, add a layer mask to it, and then I'm going to switch to the regular brush tool set hardness to 95% to give it a little bit of softness and with black set as the foreground color, quickly paint over the part I want to hide like this. So check out your overall collage and make any final changes. For example, here, I also want to make the background just a little bit darker to make things stand out a bit more. Also, if you have some layered elements in your document, you might want to make them stand out from each other. For example, I want to adjust this shape here because I've got the paper layer above everything else and unlocked, I cannot select the shape with the auto select, so I will turn it off and go and find this layer manually in the layer s panel. To adapt to your collage and to differentiate between layered elements, you need to make the elements which are further away a bit darker. In this case, I will use a levels adjustment layer, but you can also use the brightness and contrast adjustment to the same effect. Add your adjustment layer right above the smart object layer you need to adjust, then clip it to it so it doesn't affect any other layers. Then go and make it ever so slightly darker. So finalize your collage and save your document. And next, it is time to save it for posting online or printing. 18. Saving Your Collage for Print & Web: Your colors ready, it is time to save it in a few different formats so that you can share, print or use it however you like. Start by pressing Command Shift S or Control Shift S in Windows to open the saves dialog. Choose your folder for the flattened high resolution files in GB mode. Set the format to JPEG, embed the color profile, and click Save. Set the quality to maximum. Then click Okay, and that's one version done. Next, if you need a version for print in CMYK, go to the image menu mode and select CMYK color. When prompted, choose to flatten the image because CMYK mode doesn't support some adjustments. Once converted, you'll see a color shift, and that's normal and unavoidable when converting to CMYK. Now open the save as dialog again. Choose your printing wiki folder, set the format to TIF and embed the color profile. If you're printing professionally, you'll need to ask your print shop which one to use. Click Save, then set compression to none. I just a settings if your print shop requires specific ones, and then click Okay. Generally, SOC conversion is only necessary if you're working with professional print shops, and if you are printing at home using basic services or uploading to print on demand platforms, you can keep your file in RGB and skip this step. Next, go and open the JPEG you saved earlier. You can now resize this version for sharing online. For Instagram, for example, you need to scale it down. Press Command Option I or Control Alt I in Windows to open the image size dialog. Set the deside width. For Instagram, that's 1080 pixels, which in my case, will result in a size of 1080 by 13 50 pixels, which is ideal for Instagram. In the resample menu here, choose either bicubic sharper and check the preview or try bilinear use whichea looks better. I usually prefer bilinear. Now you can also reduce the resolution to 72 DPI or leave it at 300 DPI. For sharing your work online, it doesn't really matter. And once you're happy with the settings, click Okay. Now open the save as dialog and save this scaled version into your previews folder and make a note in the filename for what it is for. Then select JPEG format, embed the color profile, and hit Save. Set quality to maximum once again and hit Okay. If you want to share your collage as a Skillshare project, which I would love to see, go ahead and open the High Resolution JPEG image again. Open the image size dialog, and this time scale it to about 1,200 pixels wide and use the same resampling method as before. You can also go larger if you want. For example, I often use 1920 pixels out of habit for preparing images for HD videos. But 1,200 pixels is perfectly fine. Hit Okay, and then save this version in your previous folder under a different name. Again, select JPEG, embed the color profile, click Save, inset quality to maximum, and that's it. Now you have all your files ready for sharing online or print them. Let's wrap up the class with a few final thoughts about where you can take your collagen and Photoshop skills next. 19. Final Thoughts & Conclusion: So this is how you can create digital collages in Adobe Photoshop using various Vintage illustrations. I hope that you have enjoyed this class, learned something new and will have a lot of fun working with Vintage illustrations and creating your collages. If you want to learn a bit more about how I approach creating collages from scratch and see a slightly different technical workflow, be sure to watch the following bonus video in this class. I cannot wait to see what images you select and how you combine them into your collages. Be sure to share finished collages and source images you have used in the Projects and Resources tab fois class. If you want some specific technical or creative feedback, please include some work in progress images or screenshots and ask any questions you might have and do not hesitate to explore the project created by your fellow students in the projects and resources tab footie class. They are a great source of inspiration and it is always nice to give others kudos. If you are going to share your work created in this class on Instagram, please tag us at Attitude Creative in your posts so that we can easily discover them and share your work with our followers. We share our favorite student projects on Pinterest, Instagram, and on Facebook, do not hesitate to follow us there and join our broader online community. Whether you're creating your collage purely as an artwork or for a specific design application, it is always a great idea to visualize the potential applications as mockups. If you fancy creating your own mockups to showcase your collages, be sure to check out my classes about creating unique mockups using Adobe Firefly and Adobe Photoshop and present your collages in any setting you desire. If you're interested in taking your collages further by adding typographic elements, check out my class dedicated to creating designs which combine vintage botanical illustrations with modern digital type. And if you're in a more minimal and graphic collage look, be sure to join me in my other class to learn how to reimagine found vintage graphics as timeless and clean collages in reduced color palettes with a hint of a risograph look. And if you want to learn a few super easy techniques for texturing work, do not hesitate to check out my class texturing in Adobe Photoshop, five easy techniques using filters. So let's sit for this class. If you have found it helpful, please leave a review in the review stub for this class. It really means a lot to us and helps other students discover our classes. If you have any sort of questions, be sure to leave a comment in the discussion stub for this class, and I'll happily answer and provide feedback. And be sure to follow us here on Skillshare. B the first to know about our new classes and updates. Thank you for watching this class, and I hope to see you in our other classes. So 20. Bonus Lesson: From Vintage Illustrations to a Surreal Vibrant Collage: Great to see you stick around for more. In this bonus lesson, I'm going to take you behind the scenes of another collage I created. It is quite different from my usual collages and explore some playful elements and vibrant colos. And it is a great example of how playful experimentation can take your collage in an unexpected direction, even when you start with a rough idea of what you want to create. I started with this skull image I headline around, and I wanted to combine it with some plants and maybe some insects to create a composition where things are coming out of the skull and sort of living around it. I started by isolating the skull, and for this, I just use the object selection tool and it pretty much worked in one click. Then I quickly retouched and remove the numbers using the spot healing brush tool, which was really easy. If you need to retouch your images and want to learn how to do it non destructively, you can learn this in our class inners guide to retouching old photographs in Adobe Photoshop. So don't hesitate to check it out. With the scale ready, I then edit a plant, which I also isolated using the Object Selection tool and then cleaned up a bit manually. I started playing around with combining the two images, but then I had this other image here, which I thought would make a nice addition and help frame the skull. But once I layered it over, I noticed that this part here looked a little like a toupee or a fancy hat, and it changed the tone of the whole collage to more playful, which I really liked. So I decided to pursue the direction instead of what I planned originally. I had to meticulously cut out this image manually because all these elements couldn't be selected any other way. I cut along the shapes of the flowers using the combination of the Lasots and the brush tool to clean up the edges and also tried two alternatives. But this one with more flowers look a bit fussier over the skull. So I went with a simpler version. But as you can see, I kept both versions here inside my Smart Object document just in case I want to try out any alternatives in the future. I layered this flower composition over the skull and scaled it so it would work nicely with the shape of the skull and work with my flower to pay idea. This is how it looked in the original colors of both elements, but I wanted to create more contrast between the skull and the flowers to make the composition more vibrant and playful. Since everything was in this warm natural palette, I started by adding adjustments to the skull. In this case, I applied all of the adjustments in the main document, so I could instantly see how they worked in relation to the colors of the other elements. Since in this collage, I'm working with just a single instance of the smart object. Applying adjustments in the main color document works absolutely fine. This is the approach I usually use when I don't have multiple copies of the same smart object or when I need different adjustments applied to different copies. These adjustments are applied as smart filters, and to apply them this way, you need to either use the shortcuts for various adjustments or add them to the smart object via the image menu. This is an alternative to using separate adjustment layers above Smart Object. And as you can see, I've got some of these here too. But in this case, they used to apply adjustments to specific parts of the smart objects which are masked. And I'll get back to this in a moment. But if you want to learn more about different types of adjustments and the differences between adjustment layers and smart filters, I've got an in depth blogpost covering all of this, so do not hesitate to check it out and see how you can integrate different non destructive adjustments into your workflow. But back to this collage. So first, I increased the contrast and then recolored it into a sort of complimentary color to the warm hues in the flowers. And for this, I used a hue and saturation adjustment with the colorize enabled and shifted the hue to get this bluish violet color. Then I added a few levels adjustments on top and I like to use multiple levels adjustments to be able to fine tune the effect more precisely. Some of them I use for the overall tonal range correction and others for adjusting the contrast. Next, I also added a smart sharpen filter to make the skull a little sharper. I love how these images now work together, but I also wanted to push the vibrant colors in the collage filter and add more color contrast. I experimented with a few different backgrounds. First, I tried a bluish purple color inspired by the hue of the skull, but this was not creating enough contrast. I decided to try something warmer and I tested an orange color inspired by the flowers. And then I tried an even brighter acidic green, which worked really well and enhanced the contrast in the collage. I also checked out a more subdued gray option as an alternative, but in the end, I settled on this green color. But again, I kept all these color fill layers in a separate folder in case I want to switch between them or try out other color versions later on. I really like the colors in the original flower image and just increase the contra slightly using A levels adjustment. Also applied as a smart filter. That was the only adjustment applied to this image, and that was it for the initial color work. I liked how the collage looked at this stage, but I still felt like something was missing. So as I often do in my collages, I started by adding a geometric shape. In this case, I wanted to make a circle appear like a halo. I tried using a solid color, but I didn't like how it interacted with the elements, so I settled on a relatively thin stroke instead. Then I quickly masked it so it wouldn't be visible for the hose in the skull to make it a bit cleaner and to keep it above and around the skull, which also helps tie the composition together at the top. With the addition of one white element, the collar started to look a bit more interesting. Then I thought that since I'm working with a skull that has both bone and teeth, maybe it would be fun to work with the teeth separately and bring a bit more whiteness into the composition by whitening them. First, I worked with the mask applied to the smart filters here, the adjustments and color shifts wouldn't affect the teeth. Then I applied adjustments to the teeth using separate adjustment layers. I added a black and white adjustment layer to whiten the teeth, and I clipped to the skull layer, so it wouldn't affect anything else. Though, in this case, I have a precise mask here for the tif area, so this adjustment cannot affect any layers below in any case. Then I added a levels adjustment, also clipped to the smart object layer out of habit, and it is used to increase the contrast in the teeth. I really liked how the small change instantly made the composition more fun and added an extra focal point and made the collage look more considered. Then I thought, why not add a gold tooth to the skull? That way, I could bring in more of the yellow orange hue from the flowers into the composition and also make the collage a bit more playful because why not? So I added a new blank layer above the skull and adjustment layers, set its blending mode to color, and painted the yellow on the tooth. That was a good start, but I wanted to intensify the color just a bit. So I duplicated the layer, sent the copy to Caliburn, and reduced its opacity to get the color just right. And this gold tof added a fun little detail to the collage. At this point, I looked again at the composition. This area was really nice and detailed, and the bottom part of the skull was working well, too with enough contrast and details. But the eye socket area was boring. And since it is an enclosed space within the skull, it presented an opportunity to put something inside the skull, both to visually enhance the composition and to potentially introduce a bit of narrative. Whilst my initial idea was to add plants, I thought it might be more exciting to add some insects or butterflies instead. And while searching for images, I came across this image of them off that I thought would work even better conceptually than butterflies. So I cut them into two separate smart objects, use the object selection tool to isolate them and clean the edges a bit with the refined edge brush tool in the select and mask workspace. And it worked well for both images. Then I place them over the eye sockets and to make them appear inside the skull, I put both layers in the E group and added a mask to the group using the selection from the eye sockets and the nasal cavity, which I selected using the click selection tool, which is a great tool for creating this selection. The mofs look nice against the color of the skull, and these are actually the original colors of the mofs from the print. I really liked how the orange in the mofs worked with the flowers and how the greenish blue hues worked with the colors in the skull. But I also wanted to see if I could make the moths look a bit more surreal. I tried an invert adjustment together with a little hue and saturation twig and a little levels adjustment to change the look. Whilst it did make them look like they were glowing inside the skull, which was quite fun, I still preferred the more natural look. I decided to hide the applied smart filters, but I kept them here just in case I changed my mind later. Next, I wanted to make the mofs stand out a little more against the inside of the skull. So I copied the mask from the mos group and applied it to a separate brightness and contrast adjustment layer, which I used to darken the inside of the skull ever so slightly. This helped bring it all together by increasing the contrast and adding more focus to the mofs. With the mask applied to the group with the mops images, it was really easy to play around with positioning the mops to add a sense of motion as if they were flying inside the skull. But more dynamic arrangements made the skull look sort of crossed, which was a funny discovery, but I wanted something a bit more balanced. So I settled on this arrangement. As I was showing you all of this, I already had all my texture layers applied to the collage. And these are just my standard textures I usually use in my collages. One is the paper texture from my old paper pack, just like I shown you in the class, and the other two were generated in Photoshop. And you can learn how to create the sort of textures in my class about texturing your work using Photoshop filters. So this is how this collage came together. It might look complex with all these different elements, but in reality, it is only five main elements. The skull, to mops, flowers, and the circle. But the way they are arranged and recolored, make this collage feel more intricate and sophisticated. I had a lot of fun working on this collage, and I think rereading 100 years of solitude at the moment is influencing some of my design choices, including colors and general themes. And this is something for you to consider as well. If you're here for the creative play and experimentation, take inspiration from the books you're reading, films or series you're watching, or even games you're playing and see how it can influence what you explore in your collages and your visual language, and what your collages can be used as beyond some interesting prints. For example, I'm thinking that this collage could make a fun cover for 100 years of solitude book. This is it for this bonus lesson. I hope you have picked up some extra ideas and technical tips for different ways of working with adjustments, which will help you choose between applying them inside of the Smart Object document when you use multiple instances, or if you're using individual elements, simply applying them as smart filters in the main collage document. And if you do so, remember that they don't have to clutter layer spinal, and you can always just minimize the smart filters here and see your layer like this. And if you need to apply any additional adjustments to parts of the elements in your collage, remember that you can always work with a smart filters mask applied to your smart object. And you can also add additional adjustment layers, clip them to your smart object and use masks to make them affect only select parts of the image. Just keep in mind that if you need to move them around, you must move them altogether so nothing falls apart. In any case, have fun experimenting with your collages. Keep an open mind and enjoy the process. Um,