Creating a Rocking Silhouette in Photoshop
In Effects by Ben Merckx
If you've ever wanted to shine in the spotlight, try this tutorial. It shows you how to create a silhouette of a person taken from a normal photo, adding colorful light to it as if the light source is located behind this object.
Step 1
Start out by importing the image you want to cut the silhouette from into Photoshop. I used an image with a white background, which makes cutting very easy. Everyone has their own way of cutting something out, so I will not include that part in this tutorial. If you are unsure how to cut something out, look for a tutorial on that subject first.
When you are ready and feel like you have a clean cut, go into the layer's blending options, choose Color Overlay, and set the color to black. This should give you the silhouette of what you cut out. In my example, I did the hair separately and used a lower opacity on the Color Overlay so you can still see some gray tones.
Step 2
We can add a background by creating a radial gradient (Layer > New Fill Layer > Gradient). In the gradient options, change the style to Radial and choose dark colors on the outside and light colors for the inside.
Step 3
To get some light shining, we add a Layer Mask (Layer > Add Layer Mask > Reveal All, do this while having the silhouettes layer selected). Select a large, soft brush and set the foreground color to black. While having the layer mask selected (click on it in the layers pallet), brush at the sides of the silhouette so it becomes transparent. With a hard brush I got rid of the cable that runs to the guitar.
Step 4
At this point we can add a bit more color to the light. I made a Levels adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels). When I hit the Auto button it came up with some colors I liked. If you dislike the automatic settings, you can try hitting the Options button and changing the shadows and highlights there, or try out other types of adjustment layers.
Step 5
Cut a little piece of the original guitar and put it over the silhouette to give it some depth. For a smooth transition, use a the eraser or a mask to soften the edges. Desaturate the layer (Image > Adjustments > Desaturate) and set the blending mode to Multiply with an opacity of 60-70%.
Step 6
Copy the silhouette layer and change the Color Overlay in the Blendings Options to white. Give this layer a Gaussian Blur (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) of 3-4px. Update the layers mask if needed (at some places too much white may shine through).
Step 7
If we want to insinuate some movement, we can make a few paths on a new layer. Before stroking, select a small hard brush and a darker color. Right-click the path and choose Stroke Path (while having the Pen Tool or Path Selection Tool active), in the options choose Brush and check Simulate Pressure.
Step 8
Create two more paths on a new layer, but stroke these with a large white soft brush. Add a Motion Blur (Filter > Blur > Motion Blur) to this layer.
Step 9
When adding text, we can use a piece of the background as on overlay so it fits in perfectly. Create a new layer above your text layer and use apply image (<em>Image > Apply Image) on it. Make this layer a Clipping Mask (Layer > Create Clipping Mask) and move it around to find a good part of the background. If you don't find a good position, try Apply Image again but this time with only the background layers shown. I also added two black boxes (with a low opacity) to create a subtle letterbox effect.
Conclusion
As a finishing touch, we need some more light and color. Add a new layer and use apply image (Image > Apply Image). In the lighting effects (Filter > Render > Lighting Effects) options, add more lights to the scene (drag the light bulb icon onto the small preview). Set this layer to Soft Light with an opacity of 80-90%.
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Sean Hodge
February 2nd, 2008
This tutorial Rocks.
Juanjo Vargas
February 2nd, 2008
nice!!
Zenor
February 2nd, 2008
Kewl
Backley
February 2nd, 2008
Really nice!
Jim
February 2nd, 2008
yar she be a nice tut
Aloke Pillai
February 2nd, 2008
Amazing stuff! Great job, Ben!
Scorpiono
February 2nd, 2008
neat!
giackop
February 2nd, 2008
cooooooool!!
Very nice thanks…
Firewalker
February 2nd, 2008
That’s it
I thought it could be more.
Mr_LeE
February 2nd, 2008
love it love it
Gleb
February 2nd, 2008
Very good tutorial as usual.
Remus
February 2nd, 2008
I seen better, cool never the less.
BogDinamita
February 2nd, 2008
great tut man, really creative ideas that you don’t see all over the web. What’s bugging me is whatever happened to Web Roundup - DEC, and JAN, cos we’re in Feb already
Mohammed
February 2nd, 2008
woow nice!
Markus
February 2nd, 2008
I have to try it!
I ask the same questions as BogDinamita?! Where is the Web Roundups?
Constantin Potorac
February 2nd, 2008
Simple and very old school…. hmmm… why didn’t I think of that :))
Constantin Potorac
February 2nd, 2008
Congrats
Andrei Constantin
February 2nd, 2008
Simple and astonishing
naveed ahmad
February 2nd, 2008
AWESOME STUFF
Tama
February 2nd, 2008
I don’t like it…
that’s nothing new
fabio sasso "zee"
February 2nd, 2008
That’s awesome. I really like the colors…..
I think I would have added a Render Clouds somewhere behind the dude… but that’s because I cant do anything without smokes…
Mark H. Abucayon
February 3rd, 2008
wow that was nice yet simple. I will try this tut later.
5011
February 3rd, 2008
It’s so cool, hot-rocking
Nancy
February 3rd, 2008
~sigh~ I’m not a good cutter…good job.
Arzun
February 3rd, 2008
Very Nice Tutorial. I love that. I am practicing for many times.
alex bacs
February 3rd, 2008
its nice and coll
Ahmed Kachkach
February 4th, 2008
Wow
Amazing dude ! But the text isn’t as good as the reste , but we definitly don’t care about that !
REALLY REALLY AMAZING ! Thumbs up
Ben
February 4th, 2008
Thanks everyone for the appreciation.
@Nancy: you can try and find a photo with a solid background like all white or all black which makes cutting a lot easier. Anyway practice makes perfect, right.
@Fabio: I’m not a ‘render clouds’ fan but you seem to use it very well in your designs.
Jonathan Solichin
February 4th, 2008
That’s awesome! I agree with Fabio, I think putting render clouds will make it that much better. Thumbs up
Vitec
February 4th, 2008
Nice thanks.
GeminiArt
February 4th, 2008
nice effects
great work dude 
Ralph
February 5th, 2008
fun to try with a female silhouette. my result at: http://tinyurl.com/2c54f5
thank you!
Ben Gribbin
February 5th, 2008
WOW
Fubiz
February 7th, 2008
Thanks for the tips!
bratwurst
February 8th, 2008
ben: take a bow! nice work man.
kojie
February 8th, 2008
tnx again!!
i will try it now>>
Laura
February 10th, 2008
Amazing! Glamour!
Bunny
February 12th, 2008
nice website good CBT
phia
February 15th, 2008
2 thumbs up!
Pedro
February 15th, 2008
just awesome
Prakash
February 16th, 2008
Must say, very good stuff
Neal
March 8th, 2008
The “simulate pressure” option isn’t working when I make the stroke path. I tried everything but its doesn’t work. I just get regular brush strokes that kind of mess up my picture.
Earl
May 7th, 2008
THIS IS GREAATT WORK! GOOD JOB BUDDY!
Slev7n
May 13th, 2008
2 Neal,
make sure that ‘Pen Pressure’ is chosen in ‘Control’ drop down menu under ‘Shape Dynamics’…
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7443/penpressureiz5.gif
k phyo
June 8th, 2008
nice!!
MD
June 11th, 2008
Hey! Nice tut! thnx!
Mansoor
July 24th, 2008
Thanks for Posting.
Good Tut.
Harry
July 27th, 2008
awesome!