In this article we use Photoshop to return the zoo tiger to the forest.
Simulation points: The biggest difficulty in this photo is the occlusion of the leaves in front of the tiger. The tiger is hiding in it and it looks very real (Figure 1). There are many ways to achieve this in Photoshop. The simplest is to use masks combined with the brush tool. As long as you master the principle of masks, you can create photos with this effect in less than 5 minutes.
Technical points: Master the principles of Photoshop masking, and the role of large and small brushes in masking.
Analysis of the principles of Photoshop mask technology
Photoshop masks convert different grayscale color values into different transparency and apply it to the layer where it is located. Black is completely transparent and white is completely opaque. Gray is translucent. You can use masks to achieve many effects, such as precise selection, color adjustment, and the use of different filters to produce some unexpected special effects. The biggest advantage of using a mask is that it is easy to modify, and there will be no regrets caused by using an eraser or cutting to delete; it will not damage the original image. If you are not satisfied, you only need to remove the mask.
Next, let’s find a picture of a tiger in the zoo and a picture of a virgin forest, and experience the technical principles from the synthesis example process.
Use a mask to quickly remove a large area of background from the original tiger image
1. Open two material pictures in PS, drag the South China tiger picture into the background picture, adjust it to a suitable size, click "Add Quick Mask" in the layer panel, and create a mask layer on the South China tiger layer.
2. Select the Brush Tool in the toolbox and set the foreground color to black
3. Set the opacity to "100%" on the brush function panel
4. Select a soft-edged pen tip and set the pen tip size to about "50" (you can set it a bit larger).
5. Drag the mouse on the background of the tiger to remove the background.
Handle details with a small pen
1. Change the pen tip to a smaller one (shortcut key: press the "[" key on the keyboard to quickly reduce the pen tip, and press "]" to quickly enlarge the pen tip). 2. Handle the edge of the tiger carefully.
Tips:
In the front, use a large pen tip to remove a large area of background, and use a smaller pen tip to process the edge of the tiger for precise control. If the painting process is not ideal, for example, the main part is accidentally covered, change the foreground color to white, and paint the covered area again, and the covered area will come back.
Let occluded plants show
It is relatively simple to remove the background of the tiger. Now it is a bit difficult to display the plants blocked by the tiger, because the blocked plants cannot be seen. How to do it? It doesn't matter, we can easily handle it by using a little trick.
1. In the layers panel, set the fill of the tiger picture layer to about "50%", making it translucent so that you can see the plants on the back.
2. Adjust the tip of the brush smaller again.
3. Apply on the parts with plants (pay attention to the details).
Check details and adjust multiple times
1. Set the fill to "100%" in the layers panel and observe whether the details are satisfactory.
2. You can change the pen tip to a larger one to enrich the continuous display effect of the plants in front.
Light processing makes the picture more realistic
Through the previous processing, the tiger has been well integrated into the background picture, but the light effect does not match the surrounding environmental conditions. How to make the light better integrate with the environment, we will introduce in detail in the next issue.
