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Post by tangomike on Jun 21, 2016 19:32:59 GMT
Moderately proficient user of PSE 14 with Elements + on a Mac running OS 10.11.5 has designed covers for eBooks and paperbacks for myself, friends, and a few clients. I'm currently working with a writer friend who wanted an illustrator to design a cover that I felt would push the boundaries of my current knowledge too far, so she contracted with someone else, who also provided her with two 3D designs to use on a website, etc.
I'd like to learn how to do that, but searching for information has been relatively unfruitful. I've been able to use a copy of one of my friend's 3D covers as a template to layer the front cover of another book on top, and then use Transform > Distort to achieve the effect for the view from the right front quarter. That one came out well enough that I might consider using the same technique again in the future.
But the left quarter view with the visible spine caused some headaches. With the front cover in place, I added a spine from the paperback cover and tried positioning it with the correct perspective to appear as one continuous image. I tried some blending tricks and got it almost right, but I never achieved the effect on the template, which had a really nice soft glare along the edge where the front cover wraps around to the spine as if it was collecting the light and concentrating it.
If anyone has suggestions to help me learn some new techniques for doing this better, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks in advance,
Tosh
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Post by Major Major on Jun 21, 2016 19:37:58 GMT
Tangomike -
It would probably help if you posted a few examples of what you're after.
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 21, 2016 19:38:55 GMT
But the left quarter view with the visible spine caused some headaches. With the front cover in place, I added a spine from the paperback cover and tried positioning it with the correct perspective to appear as one continuous image. I tries some blending tricks and got it almost right, but I never achieved the effect on the template, which had a really nice soft glare along the edge where the front cover wraps around to the spine as if it was collecting the light and concentrating it. Tosh,
I am going out on a limb here and suggesting the Dodge tool. That's usually the tool used to create the effect you have in mind. Drag the Dodge brush in the same direction as you want the glare to go. You may have to run the brush over the area more than once.
Check this thread for a tip on how to do dodging in a non-destructive way.
photoshopelementsandmore.com/thread/2439/dodge-burning-alternative
EDIT: You may want to check this free-for-all tutorial by Wendy Williams. It is about creating a scroll but she shows how to create a highlight effect on the scroll using a soft brush, white, low opacity. I believe this will help you add a soft glare, light-catching effect to your book.
www.photoshopelementsuser.com/html/making-a-scroll/
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Post by tangomike on Jun 21, 2016 20:46:10 GMT
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm reluctant to post any of the examples I'm working with because they aren't mine to share, especially with the new plug in for the forum and the cautions that go along with it.
And while I'm very interested in trying the Dodge tool and the scroll for the lighting effect, I'm still in the dark (pun intended) about how to begin from scratch or with a 3D .psd template which can be used to position and transform cover elements layered on top to achieve the effect.
One of the tutorials I found indicated that Transform > Perspective was used to create it, but that never worked for me. I had to use Distort, and fine tuning it was difficult because the adjustments occurred in jumps, and where I wanted the corners frequently seemed to be halfway in between the two closest positions I could find. I don't know whether that's a function of operator error or using the wrong tool.
Exploration continues . . .
Tosh
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 21, 2016 20:55:50 GMT
Tosh,
Depending on the kind of template you are working with, creating a Clipping Mask to clip the book cover to the template may do the job.
helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/using/clipping-masks.html
Without knowing all the details, I will say . . . I would also have used Perspective instead of Distort.
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Post by Lillias on Jun 21, 2016 22:30:24 GMT
I had to use Distort, and fine tuning it was difficult because the adjustments occurred in jumps, and where I wanted the corners frequently seemed to be halfway in between the two closest positions I could find. I don't know whether that's a function of operator error or using the wrong tool. I see you are using a Mac so don't know if this will work for you but on my Windows PC I discovered only recently that when using the Distort function if I hold down the Ctrl key as I drag the nodes they move smoothly with no jumps. Maybe that would work for you with the Command key. Worth a try at any rate... |
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Post by tangomike on Jun 21, 2016 22:34:48 GMT
Sepiana,
The template is nothing more than a .jpg of the 3D wrap cover the professional designer did for my friend with a view showing the spine and front cover together. The highlight is right along the spine/front cover junction. I placed the front cover and spine of another book on top of that background and transformed them both to get the perspective that matched the background. I thought Perspective should be the tool I wanted, and it may be due to not being proficient enough with it, but nothing I did while adjusting individual corners left what I'd already done where it was. Drove me nuts. Distort worked, and I don't know why.
The scroll tutorial is fascinating, but the highlighting is accomplished by adding shadow so the original background color looks lighter than the very reduced opacity shadow. That won't work on this cover because the background colors are relatively dark with a good bit of black, and I can't lighten it with more black no matter what I do with the opacity.
I just tried this and it's getting there: Selected a vertical strip encompassing the spine/front edge with the Marquee, added a layer on top, filled it with a soft white, and reduced the opacity to get what looks like a slight highlighting to the edge. It doesn't look as good as the template example, in part because the colors of the spine and front in the trial cover aren't as uniform as the template and coverage isn't as uniform.
At any rate, I think this method may prove worth the effort for the time being.
Tosh
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Post by tangomike on Jun 21, 2016 22:36:13 GMT
Billie Jean, thank you, and I'll be trying that ASAP!
Tosh
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 21, 2016 22:44:39 GMT
The scroll tutorial is fascinating, but the highlighting is accomplished by adding shadow so the original background color looks lighter than the very reduced opacity shadow. That won't work on this cover because the background colors are relatively dark with a good bit of black, and I can't lighten it with more black no matter what I do with the opacity. I just tried this and it's getting there: Selected a vertical strip encompassing the spine/front edge with the Marquee, added a layer on top, filled it with a soft white, and reduced the opacity to get what looks like a slight highlighting to the edge. It doesn't look as good as the template example, in part because the colors of the spine and front in the trial cover aren't as uniform as the template and coverage isn't as uniform. Tosh,
OK! I got it. I would suggest trying the technique I posted the link to earlier in this thread -- doing Dodging on a blank layer, filled with 50% gray, Overlay blending mode, soft brush, white, etc., etc. You have more editing flexibility to fine-tune the highlights. It may be worth a try!
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 21, 2016 23:10:10 GMT
Sepiana, The template is nothing more than a .jpg of the 3D wrap cover the professional designer did for my friend with a view showing the spine and front cover together. The highlight is right along the spine/front cover junction. I placed the front cover and spine of another book on top of that background and transformed them both to get the perspective that matched the background. I thought Perspective should be the tool I wanted, and it may be due to not being proficient enough with it, but nothing I did while adjusting individual corners left what I'd already done where it was. Drove me nuts. Distort worked, and I don't know why. Tosh, my apologies. I overlooked this part of your post.
What about if you tried Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmmd-T). Hold down the Ctrl/Cmmd key and drag each individual corner handle of the front cover and of the spine onto the corresponding corner of the template. This technique will give you much more control at aligning the corners. It will also take care of the perspective angle. Just make sure your cursor is over the little corner handle. If not, your cursor will turn into a two-head arrow and you will be rotating your image instead.
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Post by tangomike on Jun 21, 2016 23:41:12 GMT
Sepiana,
Thanks for the Transform tool suggestions. I tried the Dodge tool and didn't have the right technique, I guess, because I couldn't get the effect I wanted. That's a work in progress.
The method I described earlier with the layers filled with white and reducing the opacity didn't work because the darker lines of contrast showed through way too much. I tried 50% gray and that didn't work either.
Here we go again . . .
Tosh
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Post by Lillias on Jun 22, 2016 14:03:51 GMT
I may be off on the wrong track entirely here but in lieu of any examples from yourself is this anything like the kind of thing you are trying to do? I did this from scratch in PSE and it does take patience because you find if you have to alter one thing it affects the other parts of your design or template. I judged the whole thing by eye not being very technically minded as regards measurements so I'll leave it up to you to decide if I've got the perspective correct or not… For the shading to the left of the front facing I used a gradient layer together with a layer mask to brush away some of the shading leaving the darker tones nearer the spine. Same with the spine. Photo used came from Pixabay.  |
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Post by Major Major on Jun 22, 2016 14:22:06 GMT
That's excellent work, BillieJean!
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ChrisAnn
Junior Forum Member
Posts: 227 
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by ChrisAnn on Jun 22, 2016 14:42:34 GMT
It certainly impresses me BillieJean.
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 22, 2016 15:11:05 GMT
BillieJean,
Amazing work! Great job!
For the shading to the left of the front facing I used a gradient layer together with a layer mask to brush away some of the shading leaving the darker tones nearer the spine. Same with the spine. I believe you are on the right track here with a gradient. I was checking a few techniques last night and I was going to come back and suggest the same. For a highlight, a white-to-transparent linear gradient would work.
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