Monroe Contest

Hey everyone.  I had to cancel the Marilyn Monroe contest due to the lack of interest, but there was a person who went above and beyond.  She submitted 3 portraits of Monroe!  And guess what……all done by hand!!!  Super impressive.  I decided to award her the portrait starter kit for her wonderful talent.  Without further delay, here is the wonderful work she submitted.

 

 

My personal favorite is the Word Marilyn.  Thanks again Sara.  You ROCK!!  She has even showed me a self portrait that she did.  Really cool stuff.  I  can’t wait to see some more your work.

 

Portrait Tutorial: Creating your Cut Portrait

This is the final tutorial in my Paper Portrait series.  I know everyone has been waiting anxiously for this, so lets get started.  If you have any comments or suggestions, please add them to post.  Also, make sure to check out the newest freebie file…..Edgar Allan Poe!  Look for it at the bottom of the blog.

For this tutorial we are using Inkscape.  It is a open source (free)  software program that is used to make SVG vector images.  It is very similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or Xara Xtreme.  I know a lot of you may all ready have this program on your computer and I thought it best to work with what you got.  Also, using free programs are always great!

• We are going to start working on a very simple portrait, Edgar Allan Poe.  First, we need to do the preliminary photo editing.  Make sure the image is 8×10 in size and remove the background.  I’m going to use a grey background for this portrait.  (Please see my tutorial on Removing the Background)

  

• Open Inkscape and either drag the edited image into it or just go to File – Import and add your image.
• Next, click on Path – Trace Bitmap.  A new dialog box should open up called Trace Bitmap.  If you haven’t all ready, make sure you click on the image (you should have arrows around the sides and corners).
• Now comes the fun part.  Under the second grouping of options under Multiple scans, we are going to choose 4 as our Scans, b) click on Grays, c) Make sure smooth and Stack scans are selected, don’t click on remove background (we may want to go back to that original image).  Stack scans is the option that will give us our layers.

      

• Before we go any further, we are going to click on Options under Trace Bitmap window.
• Make sure to check the boxes for Suppress Speckles, Smooth corners, and Optimize paths.  I will start off by setting them all at 1.  Go back Mode and click the Update and then the OK button on bottom right hand corner.
• This is what our image looks like with out any further editing.

 

• There are a few dots we can get rid of.  This can be done by increasing the Suppress speckles Size.  Also, I don’t like that black piece around the right eye all by itself.  I want to connect it to the rest of the black layer right above it and probably add a little shading at where the eyelids would be.

• Now, you have the option of editing the settings, or doing your final touch up work in your Photo editing program.  If you proficient in Inkscape, you can just delete the nodes and connect islands to the larger pieces.  I’m not that good so I’m going to open the image in Photoshop Elements to edit the image.  Eyes are really important to me so I will probably spend a little time just touching up the areas around the  eyes to get them looking more defined.
• Also, I think I want to give this image a little bit more of an edgy feel, so I’m actually going to go back and change the Smooth corners setting to give the edges less of the smooth look and give them a little more edge to them.

Now, please refer to my tutorial on Photo Editing and Posterizing on how I go about touching up the photo.  I will just blend the dots, connect the black around the right eye and fix the areas around the eyes to give more detail.  I will then open the revised image back in Inkscape and follow the earlier steps of making sure my settings are where I want them.  Once you click on Update and Ok, you are now ready to move the file into your cutting software.

Finally, you are ready to move this file into your cutting software.  This part is different depending on the cutter you use.  Simply save the file as an SVG.  You just created an SVG of your portrait!  If you go to SCAL (Sure Cuts a Lot), it will open without any issues.  If you

If you are using SCAL (Sure Cuts a Lot) software.

1. Save the Inkscape file as an SVG
2. After opening the newly created SVG file in SCAL, go to Object – Ungroup.
3. Next, go to Window  - Layers.
4. Make sure the file size is 8×10.  If not, make the adjustments.  This is done in the Properties window.
5. Rename your layers. The lightest color (the bottom one) I usually call layer1 and the darkest layer would be the highest number (this case layer4).
6. Now you are ready to cut.  Start with layer1 and hide the other layers until your ready to cut them.  Also, I tend to cut layer1 after each layer.  Reason: I want each layer I cut to have a nice 8×10 border to easily line up my pieces.

      

If you are using MTC (Make the Cut) software:

MTC usually gives me a little difficulty when creating the cut file from the SVG.  If you have SCAL, open it and then resave the file as an SVG.  Now MTC will recognize all the layers.  If anyone can explain to me why the layers don’t work properly or if I’m doing something wrong, please let me know, and I will edit this post.  If you don’t have SCAL, you have a few extra steps to make.  They are:

1. Go up to Object – Ungroup.
2. Duplicate the image depending on how many layers you have.  In this case, it is 4 layers
3. You will need to delete the layers not needed so they go from lightest to darkest. (see screenshot)
4. Now highlight them and click copy.  Open up MTC and paste them.
5. Under Height, change it to 10 inches.  (Remember, keep your Lock Aspect Ratio on)
6. Now, Right click on the image and go down to Shape Magic – then Split.
7. Make sure each layer is entire welded together.  If not, highlight the layer and right click.  Go down to Shape Magic – Weld
8. Now go to the Layer Properties and right click – To Each Its Own.
9. Place the Layers in the correct order.  Refer back to Inkscape if you don’t remember which layer is the lightest to darkest.  Use the arrow keys to move the layer up or down in the order.
10. Align the layers to overlap each other properly.
11. Rename your layers. The lightest color (the bottom one) I usually call layer1 and the darkest layer would be the highest number (this case layer4).
12. Change the layers color properties or create texture for them.
13. Now you are ready to cut.  Start with layer1 and hide the other layers until your ready to cut them.  Also, I tend to cut layer1 after each layer.  Reason, I want each layer I cut to have a nice 8×10 border to easily line up my pieces.

        

If you are wanting to cut by hand:

1. In Inkscape, go to Object – Ungroup.
2. Now copy and past each individual layer in its own document.
3. Right click on the image and scroll down to Fill Stroke.  Under the Fill tab, click the X.  Under the Stroke Paint tab, click the flat color (right of the X button).
4. Save the document.  Go through these steps for each layer.  You are ready to print them and cut them out.

Well, that is the final tutorial of making my Paper Portraits.  I know it is a lot of information, but I wanted to make sure you fully understood the process.  If you have any questions or comments about any of the tutorials, please feel free to comment.  Let me know if you are working on any portraits of your own.  I would love to see them.

If you love the idea of paper portraits, but are not up to making them on your own, please contact me as I do the occasional commission.

Paperkutz

Portrait Tutorial: Photo Editing and Posterizing

The following tutorial will cover how to edit your photo before creating your cut file using Photoshop Elements.  This is probably the most important step in whole process.  I will try to give a general overview over the features you may need to use.  Of course, many other photo editing programs give you similar features, but I find that PSE is the best for price.  Use what is best for you.  If your familiar with other programs, use them.

I will be using a few different pics of Johnny Depp to demonstrate the process.

• Why do I need to remove the background?  The following pic shows the before and after of posterizing a pic No editing has been done.  This image needs a lot of work.  If your background is not a solid color, you will get busy areas that are not needed.  Also, the shirt seems to just disappear.  I covered removing the background in a previous tutorial that you can refer back to.  On purpose, I’m using a difficult picture to demonstrate a few techniques.

  

The following steps are another technique for removing the background using the Quick Selection Tool.  We will be using this tool later on in the tutorial and I wanted to give a quick demonstration of how it is used.

• Click on the Quick Selection Tool.

• Next you will go all around the image using the Quick Select Tool and highlight the background. Once done, it should look like this.  Notice the dotted lines that are flashing. You now can hit your delete button and whatever the background color is set at will be seen.

• To change the background color, you will need to click on the farthest color box.  The Color picker window will open that allows you to change the color.

  

• The following examples show the before and after posterizing of two colored backgrounds.  First is the gray background.  This works well if it didn’t blend into the hat.  The second is your standard white background.  You can see that the shirt just disappears with the background.  This is a problem.  Try to stay away from using pictures with white shirts.  They can blend with the background and also the skin tones when you posterize.

  

  

What if I have a great  picture with a white shirt?  I’m glad you asked.  We are going to use the Quick Selection Tool to go around the shirt and change its color to make it stand out from a white background.

• Click on your Quick Selection Tool again and go around the shirt. Don’t worry if you mess up, you can always just click on the plus or minus tool to Add or Subtract from the selection.  Once done, you will copy and paste the shirt into a new layer.

      

• Next, we are going to change the color of the shirt.  Click on the Smart Brush Tool.  Go around the shirt and cover the space.  Again, look at the top and you will have a Add and Subtract feature if you make mistakes  (Notice, the new layer that was automatically created).  Once done, you can go to the Refine Edge and click the drop down menu to change to the appropriate feature.  I’m going to try using the Chocoholic selection.

      

• This helps, but the shirt doesn’t stand out enough.  Next, we are going to click on Enhance – Adjust Color – Adjust Color Curves.  A new dialog box will pop up.  You can now tinker with the settings to get the look your going for.

  

Here is image after adjusting the shirt color.  Also, I included a picture of what it looks like posterized in color and in black & white.  Changing the color of the shirt made a major difference.  When it was posterized in b&w, there is only a few touch ups that are remaining and we are ready to create our cut file. I will probably make this image a silhouette style.

    

Using the Enhance – Adjust Lighting and Adjust Color windows give you many areas to fix your photo before posterizing.  I know I only covered a small area of photo editing, but using the Quick Selection tool and moving parts of the photo into new layers, gives you the freedom to adjust specific areas of the photo that needs correcting.  There are times that I can spend a hours making a picture just the right look before I even go to creating the cut file.  Here are a few of the most used editing areas in Photoshop to adjust your photo.

• Two of the more useful features that I didn’t cover above can be found  under Enhance Adjust Lighting.  They are: Shadows/Highlights and Brightness/Contrast.  These are probably the two most useful feature for making a bad picture better.  Even a a bad photo can become a great Paper Portrait.

  

Photo Editing after You Posterize

The second part of this tutorial covers the editing after you posterize.  There are many photo editing programs that have posterizing features.  I use Photoshop Elements 8 and the plugin program Filterforge, but you can use other similar programs.  No worries if you don’t have any.  Next week, I will cover creating a vector file and making your cut file.  I will be using a free program that will actually posterize as well as create your vector file that can be converted to a SVG file for your cutting software.

I decided to use a different Johnny Depp picture to demonstrate some simple techniques to fine tune your posterized image before creating a cut file.  This will become a four layer paper portrait.

• The following picture doesn’t have much of a background and we can bypass the removing the background step.  See the before and after of the image.  It is basically done.  I only need to make a few edits and we are ready to go.

  

• First, we are going to whiten around the eyes to make them more noticeable and then we are going to get rid of the light color on the nose and cheek.  I want them to blend with the rest of the face.  To make these corrections, we are going to click on our foreground color button.  This will bring up the Color Picker window we discussed earlier.  We are going to choose the lightest color to make those eyes stand out.
• Once you used the eyedropper to select the color, click on the Brush Tool to paint the color around the eyes.
• Next, change the foreground color to that of the rest of the cheek.  We are now going to paint over the cheek and nose.
• Finally, we are going to make the Brush Tool that of the 3rd color to give a little more definition to the nose.

    

• Here is the final image before I vectorized the layers.  Next is the final image after I created the cut files for the layers.  Since this is the free file for this week, I did simplify the edges a little.  It is more noticeable around the beard. Final image is the actual paper portrait all cut out.

  

I hope you found this tutorial helpful.  I know I didn’t cover all the features of Shadows/Highlights and Brightness/Contrast, but these tutorials are not made for photographers and graphic designers but a quick guide to get you to the point to make cut files for Paper Portaits.

The Johnny Depp file will be found in my Box.net account.  Just look for it in the folder at the bottom of my blog.  Next week, is the final tutorial I have scheduled for my series on making Paper Portraits.  I will cover how to create a vector file out of your photo or posterized image that can be used in your cutting software.  So, make sure to come back and see how the process is finished up.  Please feel free to comment.  Let me know what you think of the tutorials or what I should do differently.  Thanks for following.

Portrait Tutorial: Choosing your Paper (part 2)

Welcome back to the second part of the tutorial.  We will now be discussing paper used in 5 layer portraits and helpful tips for converting your color palette to paper.  You can use this reference guide to help choose paper for a 4 layer portrait as well.  You can just decide on which end of the color scale you want the portrait to be on.  Lighter or darker side of the set.

Standard 4 Layer sets:  Here are some of my favorite shades that I typically buy in bulk.

1. Warm Gray Series:  Mystique, Stonehenge, Dusk, London Fog
2. True Gray Series:  Avalanche, Hurricane, Nor’easter, Blackbird
3. Chocolate Series:  Ice Cocoa, Cinnamon Stick, Truffle, Mocha Divine

5 Layer Monochromatic Sets:  Remember, to click on the pic to get a closeup of the image.  Also, the names of the papers are listed lightest to darkest.

vintage, smokey, stormy, thunder, raven

vanilla, fawn, walnut, pinecone, java

serenade, wisteria, heather, forget me not, pansy

morning glory, rosebud, jubilee, heidi, violet

breathtaking, lavender, dahlia, grape, blackberry

poweder blue, splash, stonewash, typhoon, admiral

hazel, aqua, lagoon, bluegrass, jade

sprout, aloe vera, pear, leapfrog, ivy

bamboo, reed, lilypad, pickle, gecko

chiffon, lemonade, sunbeam, desert sun, amber

savannah, sherbert, papaya, cheddar, marigold

adobe, casa, arizona, hopi, satillo

cancas, peach, cantaloupe, apricot, yam

quartz, blosom, flamingo, watermelon, maraschino

petalsoft, romance, petunia, sweetheart, juneberry

This tutorial was a tedious process, but it was something I really wanted to do.  This gave me a reason to create a Bazzill texture folder to use in my cutting software.  I highly recommend doing this.  It helps tremendously in visualizing what your finished portrait will look like.  Much better than trying to match up RGB numbers to paper.

This leads me into the next topic for discussion. How do you quickly convert your color palette to paper?  Well, I have a few tips for you.  First, is for you Apple users.  Bazzill Basics Paper has a iPhone App.  It is a little pricey.  $9.99 but so worth it for you serious paper fiends.  All you do is take a picture with your phone and the Bazzill App will tell you what cardstock you need.  That simple.  Also, the App gives color choices for all the major brands of paper.  They give you recommendations from everything from Basic Grey to Tattered Angels.  Awesome stuff!  Confession, I don’t own an iPhone, but a friend of mine who is always at the local store has it and I use it whenever I need.  So, I can officially recommend it.  I just hope Bazzills get to making one for both Android and Windows Phone.

• Don’t worry, I have suggestions for those don’t own an iPhone.   Check out the following link:   http://www.scrapbook.com/color/?m=color .  Some of you might already be familiar with this website.  It is great for choosing paper.  You can even upload a picture and it will give you recommended paper.  Not only will you get cardstock options, but also pattern paper that fits in the color match

• What if I don’t want to do a typical monochromatic color for my portrait?  No fear, you can try going to http://colorschemedesigner.com/.  You can generate a color palette by using not only mono color, but also complementary, triad, tetrad, analogic and accented analogic.  I will suggest using complement to select your background.  This will help select not only your mono color, but your opposite (complement) color as well.

• Finally, I have one other very useful website.  Try going to http://kuler.adobe.com/#themes/rating?time=30.  This website is brought to you by Adobe, the people that made Photoshop and Illustrator.  There are hundreds of color schemes that other people have already made, or you can make your own.  Try it out.  Click on the Create button on the left hand side.  You know have the options to create from color or create from an image.

I hope you found this information useful and hopefully get you to try out new color choices for your portraits.

Don’t forget to go to my Facebook account and vote for who should be the next paper portrait file I should make.  Also, next week I start discussing Photo editing, and posterizing your image.  This is a request for all my viewers to email me some pics that they want me to demonstrate with.

I plan to take 6-8 different photos and show how they look before during and after the photo editing process.  If I get enough volunteers emailing me pics, I will draw at random one lucky person who will not only get there picture posterized, but also get a free cut file of there picture.  What are you waiting for?  Go through your computer/camera and email me some pics.  I need you….the reader to help out on the final two weeks of tutorials.  my email is paperkutzstudio (@) gmail (dot) com.  

Thanks in advance for your help.

Paperkutz

Portrait Tutorial: Choosing your Color (part 1)

Today, we are discussing color choices for your portraits.  Once you determine how many layers your portrait will be, you can start selecting your paper.  I will be breaking this tutorial into two parts.  The first will cover 3 layer portraits and an intro to how layers are determined.  The second will be on 5 layer portraits and some websites/applications that will aid in choosing your paper, based off of your color palette.

I will be using Bazzill cardstock paper in this tutorial.  I am a big fan of Bazzill’s line of paper.   They have over 500 colors available and you should be able to find whatever shade your looking for, or at least come close.   The following post is a cheat sheet guide to choosing your paper based on how many layers your portrait will have.

Let us start off simple and work on a 3 Layer portrait.   We are using the  newest  file in my Box.net account.  It is located at the bottom of the blog in the Tom Selleck folder.

(Note: the example portrait  is done using a silhouette style.  So, I’m not counting the background as a layer)

 

Monochromatic Color Series

I have taken a 3 layer portrait and changed the color palette, but kept them in monochromatic sets.  This means every tone or layer is based off of one color.  Keeping your portraits in a monochromatic scale is the easiest way to define each layer and to choose your paper.  Below are 29  different sets of monochromatic paper I have demonstrated.  Each picture will have the name of the paper used, going from lightest to darkest.  Click on the pictures to get a better look at them.

3 Layer Portrait combinations:

ash, cinder, raven

white, smokey, thunder

twig, bark, brown

fawn, pinecone, java

vanilla, walnut, hershey

wisteria, heather, pansy

windy, steel blue, nightmist

sidney, typhoon, admiral

powder blue, splash, stonewash

star mist, jacaranda, artic

sea-water, ocean, pauly-poo

jetstream, lake shore, bahama

coastal, simon, mysterious sea

aqua, lagoon, jade

moss, fern, aspen

leafrog, nixon, ivy

sprout, aloe vera, pear

limeade, parkaeet, hillary

palm, lizard, saquaro

glow, beeswax, candle

chiffon, lemonade, sunbeam

papaya, cheddar, marigold

cantaloupe, apricot, yam

arizona, hopi, saltillo

foxy, haley, cajun

watermelon, maraschino, pomengranate

quartz, blossom, flamingo

stella, sweetheart, juneberry

petalsoft, romance, petunia

Every layer of your portrait helps distinguish the different tones of a picture.  The “tone” or “tonal range” refers to the different intensities or colors and how they interrelate.   In photography, you can manipulate the tone by adjusting the highlight, midtone, and shadows.  This is where your different layers come from.  Don’t let this confuse you, I will discuss how to adjust these tones in my photo editing tutorial in two weeks.

Not all pictures are taken equally.  If you have bad lighting, your shadows will cause your last layer (darkest color) to be more pronounced.  Too much light gives the opposite effect.  You will be left with little or no shadows that will cause a lack of the dark layer.  With your photo editing software, you can adjust theses settings  sometimes turn a bad picture, into a good paper portrait.

Another point to consider, is the pixel rate of the photograph.  A small photograph will have less tonal range than a 10+ megapixel picture.  So, It is always better to use a digital photo that was taken at a bigger size.

Stay tuned, I will be uploading Part 2 of Choosing Your Paper tutorial later tonight.

Contest Update

I decided to extend the deadline to the contest until Friday 08/26/11.  Voting will now begin on Aug 29th and end Sept 4th.  I will announce the winner on Sept 5th.  I wanted to give time for more people to play along.

I received a few requests for other file formats for the contest.  The Marilyn Monroe folder in my shared Box.net account (located at the bottom of my blog), now has a WPC file for the Pazzles.  Also, I updated the  MTC file to make it easier to hide layers while working.  There was also a request for someone who hand cuts, so the individual layers have been converted to PDF.  This will be provided by email to any who request it.

Other news,  Tom Selleck is finished.  You will find a Tom Selleck folder in the shared Box.net.  Also, check out my Facebook account and vote on who should be the next portrait file for next week.  I had to link my Facebook page to my normal account a couple days ago.  So, if you hit the LIKE button, you may want to hit it again and if you haven’t … what’s up?  Show me the like…

I should be finishing up the next tutorial Wednesday evening.  Make sure to check back.

FilterForge Friday (but on Saturday?!)

Welcome to another week of Filterforge Friday.  Yes, I know it is Saturday, but I wanted to get the post about the contest up yesterday and had to put this off until today.  In recognition of my, “Make Marilyn Monroe” contest, I decided to show off a few filters that can be used on Marilyn.  Feel free to use the auto/pixel trace in your cutting software to use these images in the contest.

The first filter is called Halftone Pop.  It has a lot of presets that can be used on it.  This filter makes your pictures into a three-toned ink print.  Now, you might want to try this Marilyn out if you are nervous about starting off with a 5 layer portrait.

• The second filter is called Marilynizer.  Yes, that is the name.  You can see why.  It tries to simulate the famous Marilyn Diptych painting by Andy Warhol.  It also multiplies the picture into 9 squares automatically.

• The 3rd filter is very similiar to the top two.  It is called Color Art.  It can create a single posterized image or group it into four squares automatically.  Only problem, make sure you start off with a square image.  I had to crop the Marilyn before using the filter.  I plan to make a 16×20 art piece out of the Marilyn’s I do.  This will give you an idea of what I probably will be going for.

• The final filter I wanted to show off is called 8-bit.  I know it is not like the others, but I love this filter!  Ever since I found it, I wanted to try out a new style.  It would be called Pixel Portraits.  Perfect for that computer geek in your family.  It reduces the resolution and color depth to create a retro pixel art effect.  Kind of like an old 8 and 16 bit video game systems.  It also adds an outline to emphasize the edges.  Super cool.  Filterforge has a few different filters that has similar styles to this one.  Imagine using this on a color image.  Awesome!  Once I finish my Marilyn Pop artpiece, I am so doing a Pixel Portrait.  Am I silly for thinking this is cool?  I guess I am the computer geek in the family.

Well, that’s all for now.  I hope I gave you some ideas for your Marilyn project.  If you haven’t decided on playing along, please do so.  I think it will be fun.  As extra incentive, I will turn these into cut files and provide to anyone who participates  in the Marilyn contest.

Marilyn Monroe Contest

  

Happy Friday Everyone!  I’m pleased to announce my first contest that I will have on my blog.  It is dedicated to the memory of a true icon, Marilyn Monroe (06/01/1926 to 08/05/1962).  I’m releasing a portrait file based off of a publicity photo from the movie Niagara.  This picture was made famous by Andy Warhol’s painting Marilyn Diptych.  It is probably one of the most recognizable pop art images of all time.

The contest is very simple.  I want to see your best “Warholic” portrait of Marilyn.  Feel free to use the cut file, original image, and even the posterized photo I have in my box.net account.  You can find it at the bottom of the blog or you can email me and I forward you the requested file.  The cut file will be available as MTC, SCAL, WPC and SVG.  Let me know if you need it converted to another file type.  The purpose of the contest is to get creative and to finally try making a paper portrait for yourself.  You can use whatever cardstock or pattern paper you want.  Try using a paper palette other than monochromatic or complementary choices.  Experiment.  Have fun with this contest.  There are hundreds of possibilities.  You can use all or parts of  any Marilyn images and files I make available .

The contest is open to everyone.  It doesn’t matter what cutting machine or software you use.  We are all paper artists that can learn and feed off each others creative and artistic styles.

Once you created your mini Marilyn masterpiece, email the picture to paperkutzstudio (@) gmail (dot) com or put a comment in this post linking the picture found on your blog, Flickr account, etc.  Don’t worry about cropping the image if you email it.  I can do that once I receive your submission.  Also, enter as many times as want.  The more Marilyn’s the better.

The contest will run until midnight 08/26/2011.  I will then take all the submissions and put them on a new post for everyone to vote on their favorite Marilyn portrait the next day.  Voting will begin on Monday 08/29/11 and end on midnight 09/04/2011.  I will announce the winner Monday 09/05/2011  Voting will take place on my blog and Facebook account.

The prize will be your very own Paper Portrait Starter Pack.  It will include the following:

1. liquid glue by Tombo
2. craft pick by Tim Holtz
3. X-acto knife
4. tweezers
5. detailing scissors
6. and a healthy supply of Bazzill cardstock to keep you busy creating your own portraits!

*If I reach 100 followers on my blog and/or Facebook, I will add a cut file of your choice from my personal collection.

*If I reach 200 followers, I will even include an original portrait that can be found in my Flickr page.

*If I reach 300 followers, I will create a Paperkutz original cut file from the picture you provide!  (Awesome)

• As you can tell, the more followers I get, the bigger the prize you win!  So, tell all your friends and family to follow Paperkutz Studio.  Also, I will award one lucky participant with a special exclusive prize for the portrait I feel is the most creative.  That is two chances to win!!  No excuses not to play along.

• Besides the design files and images, I plan to make available a picture of all the submitted Marilyn portraits in a group shot at the end of the contest.  I will even include some Marilyn portraits I plan to make in the group shot.  I thought it would be fun to use this picture as my wallpaper on the computer in my studio.  If we get enough submissions, I might even upload the pic to one of those online sites that turns pictures into posters.  That way anyone can have a poster of the Marilyn contest submissions.  So, participation in the contest means you don’t mind sharing the picture of your work for the group collaboration project.

• The rules are simple.  So get creative and get cutting!  There is no longer a reason not to try making your own paper portrait.  If you have any questions, just email me at paperkutzstudio (@) gmail (dot) com.  Remember, have fun.  The point of this contest is give you practice making portraits.  That way you will be ready to go when I finished my tutorials at the end of August on making your Own Paper Portraits.

Paperkutz

Portrait Tutorial: Removing the Background

The following steps will walk you through the process of removing unwanted backgrounds in your photo.  In this tutorial, I will be using Photoshop Elements 8 (PSE).  Don’t worry if you don’t have this program, as you can do roughly the same process in other photo editing programs.

  

Busy Background

As you can tell from the photograph on the left, the background is a little busy and can distract from the portrait.  It will also make your job of cutting the portrait unnecessarily difficult.  I will start off by taking you through the steps to remove this.  Feel free to follow along with a picture you may all ready have in mind about using as your own portrait.

Step 1:  Cropping the Image:

• After opening the program in PSE, click on the Rectangular Marque Tool.

Rectangle Marque Tool

• You will need to change the Mode to Fixed Ratio.  Also, your setting will need to be set at Width: 8 and Height: 10.  You want to make sure you have a standard 8×10 size to work with.  In this case, my picture already that size.

Fixed Ratio 8x10

• If you need to crop the picture, you will use the Move Tool to adjust your rectangle to the area you want to keep.

Move Tool

• Next, go to the Edit option up top and click Copy.

Copy

• Finally you will go up to the top and select File and select New, then Image from Clipboard.  You now have a perfect 8×10 to start working with.

Image from Clipboard

Step 2:  Creating the Fill Layer:

• Once you have started a new file with the cropped  image, you are ready to start removing the unwanted background.  First, go over to the right under your Layers Tool Bar and right click the image.  You will select Duplicate Layer.  Feel free to label it.  I decided on removed background.

Duplicate Layer

• Next click on the Create a New Layer button that is on the far bottom left of the Layer Tool Bar.

Create a new layer

• Finally, drag it in between your two layers.  At this point, hit the Eyeball button on the background (bottom Layer).  We don’t want it to be visible while we start deleting.  It is only there to compare from the original.

Create Fill Layer

Step 3:  Deleting the background:  

• Click on your Zoom Tool and zoom into the area you want to start deleting.  I usually start at the bottom of one of the sides.

• Next click on your Eraser tool.  Go up to to the top and choose your brush size.  I usually start off with 5 (Make sure the Mode is set at Brush).  Also, you want the opacity setting at 100%.  Anything less start causing a transparency feel to the brush.

  

• Now we are ready to start deleting.  work around your photograph until you go all around the body.  Don’t worry if you make any mistakes, you can just hit the undo button that is under the Edit Menu.

    

• Once you go around the body, click the Eraser tool again and choose a bigger brush size to remove all the other areas.  To ensure you have a “clean background”, we are going to to click on the Fill Layer and then select Paint Bucket Tool.  It doesn’t matter what color you choose.  I used green.  This allows you to make sure you spot any areas you may have missed.  Now you can go back and delete them.  (Make sure you clicked on the Remove background layer first).  I recommend going back and selecting the Eraser  Tool again and choosing a smaller brush.  This will help  get any small areas around the body you were unable to reach.

    

• Click on the Eyeball for your fill layer to remove the visibility of the Fill layer. You will only be left with the Removed background layer.

• Now you can go up to the top and save the file as whatever format you want.  Click on File and then Save As.  I used JPEG  for this example.

  

Silhouette Layer  

The next photograph all ready has a blank background, but it is gray.  In normal cases, I would find this picture good to go.  If you look at my prior portraits, I seldom use a white background.  My personal preference is to use the color of the 2nd layer to be the background.

Lately, I have  needed to make it a white background to create a silhouette layer.  You will want the background to blend with your lightest layer to easily transition layer 1 into a silhouette.  I will cover more on creating silhouette layers in a future tutorial.  I will also discuss making the fill layer in Photoshop black to give the portrait that dramatic style portraits such as the True Blood series, Jack Sparrow, and Robert Plant.  (Helpful tip:  Black as the background tends to be the easier ones to piece)

Here is a pic of the finished portrait as a silhouette as the lightest layer.  Remember that when you make your layer 1 a silhouette, any paper can be used to make your 8×10 background.

• Last week, I allowed everyone to vote on what they wanted as the next portrait file.  The majority wanted to do TOM SELLECK.  The picture I decided to make was a little to advanced for beginners, so I redid Tom Selleck as a 3 layer portrait.  You can find it it in the Tom Selleck folder in Flash widget Shared Box at the bottom of my blog.

Also, I will be releasing a bonus file tomorrow.  Make sure to come back and you will score two new files this week!!

Later.

Yellow Submarine

A friend of mine has a birthday coming up and she did her bathroom in the theme “Yellow Submarine”.  So, I thought it would be cool to give her an 8×10 paper piecing from the Beatles movie.  It was actually an excuse to finally start designing some of the Beatles for myself.  I have always wanted to do a 16×20 poster from the movie.

I normally don’t like to show pieces until there finished, but since this will be a side project that I will probably be working on in phases, I might as well show them in sections as I finish them and just keep adding to this post.

I didn’t want to do the typical “coloring book” type paper piecing, where you have a background and the pieces on top.  So, I designed this to be layers on top of layers with a black mat to each piece (except for the flower on the sub).  It is a little more labor intensive but It gives the pieces more dimension.  I envision the completed project being in a shadow box to give a more 3D look.

If anybody wants to help in this endeavor, just reply to this thread or email me.  We can split up the work load and swap files as we finish them.