Adobe Tutorial

There is a wonderful addition amongst the rich set of features in PSE 9 - Layer masks. This was something which was missing in PSE 8. It is a wonderful tool which helps in achieving a lot of good results in different editing operations. This tool is specially helpful for people like me who arent that precise in selection tools like lasso,quick selection etc. However, are more comfortable with the paint brush and eraser.

In this tutorial, I will be using Layer Masks to move one object from one image and place it on other precisely without using any of the other selection tools in PSE like Lasso, quick selection etc.

I have the following two pictures : one is butterfly on a white flower and other is a lady bug on a pink leaf. Now I want to place the lady bug from the second picture on the flower leaf of the first picture, next to the butterfly.



1. I opened both the images in PSE 9 Editor.

2. Now I keep the image of butterfly in display in the editing workspace.





Select the Move tool from the tools bar and drag the ladybug image from the project bin below over to the butterfly image in the workspace.



3. Now as you see in the image below, the lady bug image comes over the butterfly image occupying a lot of space. Also you would notice that there is a new layer formed in the layers palette which is that of the lady bug image.


Just drag one of the corners of the lady bug image inwards to reduce its size.

Now one can rotate the image of the lady bug by dragging the corner of the image keeping Control key pressed and revolving it through the corners like this.



Click the commit green button when you think that the orientation is correct.

4. Now select the lady bug layer in the layers palette and go to Layer> Layer Mask> Reveal All.



As you do this you would see that there is one white mask that got created in layers palette.

5. Now select the Brush tool from the tools bar and black color selected as foreground color in the color swatch (as shown below). Now brush over the rest of the area of the lady bug layer leaving just the lady bug. This will remove the pink and green background of the ladybug in the layer.



As you click and drag the mouse with the paint brush you would notice that some black color gets painted in the white mask in the layers palette.  And you would see the pink leaf disappearing.

In case you mistakingly paint any unwanted area or some extra area, you can correct it by changing the foreground color in the color swatch to white and paint over that area again. So you can keep switching between black and white foreground colors in the color swatch to correct your selection.

Also for best results, zoom the image to 200-300% and reduce the brush size when you brushing around the corners of the lady bug to get precision.


Once you are done, select zoom tool and right click -Fit to screen.


6. Now select the move tool again and move the lady bug over the white flower and change its orientation as per your needs. You may transform it using Control+Shift+Alt and dragging the corners.

Here is my final result ;




Layer Masks can be used in several other workflows like selective editing in a picture or applying filters to some part of the image etc.

Hope you would find it useful too.

Today we will learn the new features of the tracing engine in Adobe Illustrator CS6 and talk about its new functions. We will trace a photo, a sketch and a texture; then we will compare the results between Adobe Illustrator CS5 and CS6. Let’s get started!

In this tutorial I’ll use a photo a strawberry (credit to deviantART user StockProject1) ; the sketch was kindly provided by Victoria Vasilyeva and the texture (credit to deviantART user ~kingkool6).

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Step 1

In Adobe Illustrator CS6 the settings of the tracing is in the new Image Trace panel (Window > Image Trace).
This allows us to use other panels and tools while tracing. Such features did not exist in Adobe Illustrator CS5 as well as in earlier releases; the setting of the tracing was made in the Tracing Options dialog box, and then it was impossible to access the other objects and interfaces.

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Step 2

The presets have also changed between Adobe Illustrator CS5 and CS6
The new preset, "Silhouettes" allows quick creation of vector silhouettes.
After the Expand command we get the vector object with the optimal amount of points.

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Step 3

Let us evaluate the quality of the tracing using the same preset High Fidelity Photo in Adobe Illustrator CS5 and Adobe Illustrator CS6.
Note, in Adobe Illustrator CS6 you can set several of the Palette values. This parameter sets while the vector image is been made in color or in greyscale. As you can see, the new tracing engine in Adobe Illustrator CS6 shows better results.
There is a new feature in Adobe Illustrator according to which you can instantly check out your original image. To do so, press and hold the eye icon near the View option.

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Step 4

There were some changes in the Colors parameter. This parameter specifies the number of colors which the final vector image will consist of. In Adobe Illustrator CS5 the Max Colors options can be set in the number values, in Adobe Illustrator CS6 the Colors option can be set accurately in percentage.

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Step 5

You can get access to additional options of the settings if you press the Advanced key in the Image Trace panel. Now we have an opportunity to choose a tracing method. The Abutting method creates cutout paths. The contours of neighbor objects match.
The overlapping method creates stacked paths, the contours of neighbor objects overlay.

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Step 6

The Path Fitting option defines the accuracy of the tracing of the initial raster image. In Adobe Illustrator CS5 the smaller value allows to create a more accurate contour, the bigger- the rough contour. In Adobe Illustrator CS6 it is vice versa, the bigger the value is the more accurate contour we get.
The Minimum Area option corresponds to the Noise option in Adobe Illustrator CS6. This option specifies the size of the smallest areas of the initial image, which will be taken into account while tracing.
The Corner Angle option in Abode Illustrator CS5 corresponds with the Corners option in Adobe Illustrator CS6 and is been set in percentage. The higher value we set, the bigger amount of angles the final image will have.
In Adobe Illustrator CS6 there are no such function of the tracing as the Blur and the Resample. In Adobe Illustrator CS5 the Blur function is for the reducing the number of small artifacts and smoothing the jagged edges in the final image. The Resample option allows speeding up the process of tracing for big size images, losing the quality of the output image.

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Step 7

Let’s see how the new tracing engine works with sketches. Apply the preset Black & White Logo. The tracing of the sketch in Adobe Illustrator CS5 shows good results.
When we use the same preset in Adobe Illustrator CS6 the majority of small details disappear.
Unfortunately, you need to change the parameters of the tracing manually in order to get the same results in Adobe Illustrator CS6.

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Step 8

Let’s try to make the tracing of the texture. We will use the same Black&White Logo preset. As we can see, the result of the tracing in Adobe Illustrator CS5 looks better than in Adobe Illustrator CS6
I’ve used different presets and operated the parameters manually, but I still couldn’t get the result which would correspond to the result that can be made in Adobe Illustrator CS5.

---

Conclusion

The new tracing engine really works good with the photos and allows quick and accurate vector silhouettes. But when you use it for tracing sketches and textures you will need to operate all the tracing processes manually, and that will not always show good result. If you work with the sketches and textures, the Live Trace feature in Adobe Illustrator CS5 shows good results when you use the presets. Have you used the trace features in Adobe CS6 yet? If so, what do you think?

Today we will learn the new features of the tracing engine in Adobe Illustrator CS6 and talk about its new functions. We will trace a photo, a sketch and a texture; then we will compare the results between Adobe Illustrator CS5 and CS6. Let’s get started!

In this tutorial I’ll use a photo a strawberry (credit to deviantART user StockProject1) ; the sketch was kindly provided by Victoria Vasilyeva and the texture (credit to deviantART user ~kingkool6).

---

Step 1

In Adobe Illustrator CS6 the settings of the tracing is in the new Image Trace panel (Window > Image Trace).
This allows us to use other panels and tools while tracing. Such features did not exist in Adobe Illustrator CS5 as well as in earlier releases; the setting of the tracing was made in the Tracing Options dialog box, and then it was impossible to access the other objects and interfaces.

---

Step 2

The presets have also changed between Adobe Illustrator CS5 and CS6
The new preset, "Silhouettes" allows quick creation of vector silhouettes.
After the Expand command we get the vector object with the optimal amount of points.

---

Step 3

Let us evaluate the quality of the tracing using the same preset High Fidelity Photo in Adobe Illustrator CS5 and Adobe Illustrator CS6.
Note, in Adobe Illustrator CS6 you can set several of the Palette values. This parameter sets while the vector image is been made in color or in greyscale. As you can see, the new tracing engine in Adobe Illustrator CS6 shows better results.
There is a new feature in Adobe Illustrator according to which you can instantly check out your original image. To do so, press and hold the eye icon near the View option.

---

Step 4

There were some changes in the Colors parameter. This parameter specifies the number of colors which the final vector image will consist of. In Adobe Illustrator CS5 the Max Colors options can be set in the number values, in Adobe Illustrator CS6 the Colors option can be set accurately in percentage.

---

Step 5

You can get access to additional options of the settings if you press the Advanced key in the Image Trace panel. Now we have an opportunity to choose a tracing method. The Abutting method creates cutout paths. The contours of neighbor objects match.
The overlapping method creates stacked paths, the contours of neighbor objects overlay.

---

Step 6

The Path Fitting option defines the accuracy of the tracing of the initial raster image. In Adobe Illustrator CS5 the smaller value allows to create a more accurate contour, the bigger- the rough contour. In Adobe Illustrator CS6 it is vice versa, the bigger the value is the more accurate contour we get.
The Minimum Area option corresponds to the Noise option in Adobe Illustrator CS6. This option specifies the size of the smallest areas of the initial image, which will be taken into account while tracing.
The Corner Angle option in Abode Illustrator CS5 corresponds with the Corners option in Adobe Illustrator CS6 and is been set in percentage. The higher value we set, the bigger amount of angles the final image will have.
In Adobe Illustrator CS6 there are no such function of the tracing as the Blur and the Resample. In Adobe Illustrator CS5 the Blur function is for the reducing the number of small artifacts and smoothing the jagged edges in the final image. The Resample option allows speeding up the process of tracing for big size images, losing the quality of the output image.

---

Step 7

Let’s see how the new tracing engine works with sketches. Apply the preset Black & White Logo. The tracing of the sketch in Adobe Illustrator CS5 shows good results.
When we use the same preset in Adobe Illustrator CS6 the majority of small details disappear.
Unfortunately, you need to change the parameters of the tracing manually in order to get the same results in Adobe Illustrator CS6.

---

Step 8

Let’s try to make the tracing of the texture. We will use the same Black&White Logo preset. As we can see, the result of the tracing in Adobe Illustrator CS5 looks better than in Adobe Illustrator CS6
I’ve used different presets and operated the parameters manually, but I still couldn’t get the result which would correspond to the result that can be made in Adobe Illustrator CS5.

---

Conclusion

The new tracing engine really works good with the photos and allows quick and accurate vector silhouettes. But when you use it for tracing sketches and textures you will need to operate all the tracing processes manually, and that will not always show good result. If you work with the sketches and textures, the Live Trace feature in Adobe Illustrator CS5 shows good results when you use the presets. Have you used the trace features in Adobe CS6 yet? If so, what do you think?