Lifted Photo Question

[Suzy]

Hi, Cassel, I'm going through old blog posts today -- I don't always read them when the newsletter come out.

We all know there are always a couple ways to do something in PSP, but in the case of lifted shadows, I wondered why you chose the warp brush instead of the (to my mind)  easier Pick Tool* set to Shear (instead of scale where it usually is).  You don't have to decide on the size, for one thing....which I find incredibly time consuming to decide on the size.  The Pick Tool -- Shear just pulls the whole thing out of whack for you.  I know it's personal choice, but do you find the push tool works better for some reason?  Maybe the bands of color of the shadow have more noise and are therefore less banded upon printing?

"An element that is away from a surface will always cast a wider shadow than an element that is flat on that surface. That means that the lifted corner will need to be stretched outward. Since the light source is typically on the top left, we will need to stretch the shadow toward the bottom right. ***The most effective tool to use is the Warp Brush, set to the Push mode. Then, you push the shadow from the bottom right corner very slightly. Just a little push will give the necessary effect.***"

https://scrapbookcampus.com/2023/10/creating-lifted-photo-effect/

* Pick Tool - For others reading this, the pick tool is the arrow which shares the second spot with the move tool on the tool toolbar.

[Cassel]

12 minutes ago, Suzy said:

I know it's personal choice, but do you find the push tool works better for some reason?  Maybe the bands of color of the shadow have more noise and are therefore less banded upon printing?

It is not just a personal preference. In fact, it will depend on what kind of lift you want. You are correct that the Pick tool CAN be used, but as you pointed, it will distort the whole layer so if you want the lift to affect the whole side, it is fine. On the other hand, if you want to lift only one part of the shadow, the Pick tool won't work. In that case, the Warp brush will be more "precise" for the section you want to lift. 

Does that make sense?

If you want, you can also add that question to the January Q&A and I will be happy to demonstrate the difference.

[Suzy]

I think the pick tool --> Shear (where it just deals with one corner of a rectangle) looks better - probably because my warp brush was too small, but deciding the size without a lit of trial and error is a problem.

I'm not sure this is worth a Q&A question. I bet other people already know all this.

 

[Corrie Kinkel]

On 12/17/2023 at 10:05 PM, Suzy said:

I think the pick tool --> Shear (where it just deals with one corner of a rectangle) looks better - probably because my warp brush was too small, but deciding the size without a lit of trial and error is a problem.

I'm not sure this is worth a Q&A question. I bet other people already know all this.

 

Suzy I have had this look from using the warp brush many times, but I think it has also to do with the size of the brush you use. In my experience it is best to use a big size for the brush, so the sides of the shadow become longer with a more even look.

Maybe this is a short topic for the January Q&A, because we won't be the only ones that have/had problems with this tool.

[Suzy]

Shoot! I wrote an answer to this a long time ago, but I guess I forgot to hit, “send”!

You are no doubt right about the size, but I will have to be convinced it’s worth the effort to pull out the warp brush and decide on a size….but Carole can probably do it. Right now, I am using guides and grids all over the place, for every thing I do! And I *never* thought I’d say that! 🙂

Have a Merry Christmas! (Unless you do everything on Dec 6…I’m not sure I know what you do on the 25th. LOL!)

[Corrie Kinkel]

16 hours ago, Suzy said:

Shoot! I wrote an answer to this a long time ago, but I guess I forgot to hit, “send”!

You are no doubt right about the size, but I will have to be convinced it’s worth the effort to pull out the warp brush and decide on a size….but Carole can probably do it. Right now, I am using guides and grids all over the place, for every thing I do! And I *never* thought I’d say that! 🙂

Have a Merry Christmas! (Unless you do everything on Dec 6…I’m not sure I know what you do on the 25th. LOL!)

We don't do anything on Dec 5 (or 6) for a long time now. It was only fun when the kids were young and living at home and we always had Christmas too, only without all the presents which came on Sinterklaas. Of course there was a little something for them as well under the tree. Most years our son and his wife come for dinner and the next day we go over to friends for lunch. Over here we have 2 days of Christmas, so almost everyone that is working is lucky, 2 days off. But we miss our daughter and the grandkids who live in the States, I have mentioned earlier that my husband isn't able to travel due to health problems and I will not leave him alone at home on Christmas. I'll hope to visit them again somewhere next year.

A Merry Christmas to you too!