Photshop fun

[railwayman198]

I'm new to photoshop so I would be interested to see folks before and after pics.

I know that not everyone approves of photoshop but if are open about what we are doing and not trying to pass off mutton as lamb then it can certainly produce some good effects.

As for most of us my biggest problem is out of scale background so I had a go at replacing it. For good measure I put a mini-me on the platform.

Before:

After:

 

[Woderwick]

He casts no shadow, beware....

 

[mike]

still miles better than anything i can do!!

 

[railwayman198]

He casts no shadow, beware....

Yes, I thought about that, but I didn't put one in for 2 reasons:
-nothing else is casting a shadow, lamposts etc
-I wouldn't know how to put a shadow in (suggestions please)

Here it is without mini-me:

 

[railwayman198]

Or a cropped version to avoid the problem. I agree with Wod...mini-me didn't look properly planted somehow

 

[pugwash]

In the original the lighting is coming from the upper left, in your figure the lighting is coming from the upper right. 8|

 

[railwayman198]

In the original the lighting is coming from the upper left, in your figure the lighting is coming from the upper right. 8|

Yes I had all kinds of difficulty with light direction when trying to transpose a pic of my head onto one of my son's torso for the family merriment. The end result is not suitable for those of a sensitive disposition...

 

[peterbunce]

Nice work, are you going to give us a short lesson on how to do it please?

 

[stockers]

I do like those rasta vans.

 

[coyote97]

Oh yes, lets do some "optimalizing":

(last two pics shot while visting the gorgeous layout of Mr. Diesener, the former owner of THIEL-Gleis)

 

[railwayman198]

Nice work, are you going to give us a short lesson on how to do it please?

I'll do my best, though there may be better ways as I'm picking it up as I go along. I'm using Adobe Elements.

Open 2 images in Elements - the main one and the one you want as your new background.

Using the 'quick select' tool draw around the bit of the main image you want to keep (or, if it's easier, draw around the bit you want to discard then press 'invert').

Select 'float all in widows' command

Select 'move' button

Drag your selected bit of the main image over the background image and drop it roughly in position.

Use the handles to resize and move your selection until it's as you want it.

press the 'tick' symbol

Press 'flatten image button' under 'layers' menu.

All that remains then is to tidy up any untidy edges where the 2 images joined using clone tool or similar.

 

[ge_rik]

In the original the lighting is coming from the upper left, in your figure the lighting is coming from the upper right. 8|

Could that be corrected by flipping the image of yourself (ie left to right) and then inserting it in the main image? Just a thought

Rik

 

[sir haydn]

Add some steam, I have 'stock' images that I can pull things off

 

[peterbunce]

Nice work, are you going to give us a short lesson on how to do it please?

I'll do my best, though there may be better ways as I'm picking it up as I go along. I'm using Adobe Elements.

Open 2 images in Elements - the main one and the one you want as your new background.

Using the 'quick select' tool draw around the bit of the main image you want to keep (or, if it's easier, draw around the bit you want to discard then press 'invert').

Select 'float all in widows' command

Select 'move' button

Drag your selected bit of the main image over the background image and drop it roughly in position.

Use the handles to resize and move your selection until it's as you want it.

press the 'tick' symbol

Press 'flatten image button' under 'layers' menu.

All that remains then is to tidy up any untidy edges where the 2 images joined using clone tool or similar.

Thanks Phillip, that is most useful, I will have to try it and see how steep the learning curve is! Thanks again!

 

[ge_rik]

Philip

Just out of interest and at the risk of going off topic, how did you construct your platform. It's very realistic.

Rik

 

[railwayman198]

Philip

Just out of interest and at the risk of going off topic, how did you construct your platform. It's very realistic.

Rik

The walls and coping stones are 1" square mosaic tiles laid edge on, mortared with waterproof tile adhesive, then infilled with concrete made with fine grit aggregate. I made it to suit the U.K. style station building I had at the time, as shown one of the attached pics below. I've since gone Jamaican theme so a simpler platform would be more appropriate, but I'm not going to demolish it now.

Just to pull back to topic here are a few more pics with scenic backgrounds to replace the fence, shrubs and garden shed that actually appear.

 

[duncan1_9_8_4]

I love the pics!

 

[stockers]

A bit of fun! My Mallet on the old Bredebahn