In this lesson, you will learn how to create a stunning effect of a bill image. I will try to explain everything in as much detail as possible so that you can precisely repeat the process of creating this effect, even if you opened Photoshop for the first time.
Above you can see the effect, the creation of which I will describe in this lesson.
Download with materials for the lesson
1. Let’s get started!
First, open the photo you want to work with. To open a photo, click File> Open (File> Open). Before we begin, you should check a couple of things:
- Your photo should be in color mode. Rgb, 8 bits per channel. To check this, click Image > Mode (Image> Mode).
- For best results, choose a photo in the region of 1500-3500 pixels in height / width. To check this, click Image > ImageSize (Image> Image Size).
- Your photo should be a background layer. If not, click Layer > New > BackgroundfromLayer (Layers> New> Background from layer).
2. How to Create a Bill Image Effect
Step 1
In this section, we will, in fact, create the effect of the bill image. Press Crtl + J on the keyboard to duplicate the background layer. Then click Image> Adjustments> Shadows / Highlights (Image> Correction> Shadows / Highlights) and enter the values from the image below.
Settings on the screenshot: Shadows: Effect: 50%; Tone: 50%; Radius: 30 pixels; Light: Effect: 0%; Tone: 50%; Radius: 30 pixels; Corrections: Color: +20, Medium tone: 0, Shadow truncation: 0.01%, Truncation of highlights: 0.01%
Step 2
Now click Image> Adjustments> Shadows / Highlights (Image> Correction> Shadows / Lights) again and enter the values from the image below:
Step 3
Click Image> Adjustments> Brightness / Contrast (Image> Correction> Brightness / Contrast) and change the Brightness parameter to -20, as shown below:
Step 4
Now click Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp Mask (Filter> Sharpen> Contour Sharpness), change the setting Amount (Effect) by 500%, Radius (Radius) by 5 pixels and parameter Threshold (Isohelium) at level 0, as shown below:
Step 5
Click Filter> Stylize> Diffuse (Filter> Stylize> Diffusion) and change the mode to Anisotropic (Anisotropic) as below:
Step 6
Next, click Filter> Noise> Reduce Noise (Filter> Noise> Reduce Noise) and enter the settings, as in the screenshot below:
Step 7
Click Filter> Blur> Smart Blur (Filter> Blur> Smart Blur) and change the parameter Radius (Radius) by 5, Threshold (Threshold) at 25, Quality (Quality) on Low (Low) and Mode (Mode) on Normal (Manual).
Step 8
Now click Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp Mask (Filter> Sharpen> Contour Sharpness), change the parameter Amount (Effect) by 500%, Radius (Radius) by 1 pixel and parameter Threshold (Isohelium) at level 0 ..
Step 9
Click Filter> Stylize> Diffuse (Filter> Stylize> Diffusion) and change the mode to Anisotropic (Anisotropic).
Step 10
Now click Filter> Stylize> Oil Paint (Filter> Styling> Oil Paint), change the setting Stylization (Stylization) at 5, Cleanliness (Clean) by 2, and also uncheck the box Lighting (Lighting).
Step 11
Click Filter> Stylize> Oil Paint (Filter> Stylize> Oil paint) again, change the setting Stylization (Stylization) at 10, Cleanliness (Clean) by 10, and also remove the check mark from the box Lighting (Lighting).
Step 12
Next, click Filter> Blur> Surface Blur (Filter> Blur> Blur over the surface) and change Radius (radius) by 5 pixels, and Threshold (Isohelium) at level 15, as shown below:
Step 13
Click Filter> Filter Gallery> Artistic> Cutout (Filter> Filter Gallery> Imitation> Application) and change Number of Levels (Number of levels) by 8, Edge simplicity (Simplicity of edges) by 5, and Edge fidelity (Edge sharpness) by 3, as shown below:
Step 14
Now click Image> Auto Tone (Image> Autoton) and Image> Auto Contrast (Image> Dynamic Contrast), in order to make some automatic adjustments to the tone and contrast of the picture.
Step 15
Click Image> Adjustments> Brightness / Contrast (Image> Correction> Brightness / Contrast) and change Contrast (Contrast) at 100, as shown below:
Step 16
Now click Now click Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp Mask (Filter> Sharpen> Contour Sharpness), change the parameter Amount (Effect) by 50%, Radius (Radius) by 5 pixels and parameter Threshold (Isohelium) at level 0, as shown below:
Step 17
Rename the resulting layer to Vexel Art (Bill style).
3. How to make final adjustments
Step 1
In this section, we will make some final adjustments to our design. Press D on the keyboard to change the foreground and background colors to the default colors. Next, click Image> Adjustments> Gradient Map (Image> Correction> Gradient Map) to create an adjustment layer with a gradient map. Name this layer Overall contrast (General contrast).
Step 2
Now change the blending mode of this layer to Luminosity (Brightness) and change its opacity to 56%.
Step 3
Click Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Levels (Layers> New Adjustment Layer> Levels, to create a new adjustment layer, name it Overall brightness (Overall brightness).
Step 4
Now double click on the layer thumbnail and on the panel Properties (Properties) enter the values from the screenshot:
Step 5
Click Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Gradient Map (Layers> New Adjustment Layer> Gradient Map) to create an adjustment layer with a gradient map. Name this layer Color Look.
Step 6
Now double click on the layer thumbnail and on the panel Properties (Properties), and then click on the gradient to open the gradient editing panel, and create a gradient, as in the screenshot below:
Gradient colors: Left color: e000e0, Right: 005161
Step 7
Change the blending mode of this layer to Color (Chromaticity).
Step 8
Click Layer> New Adjustment Layer > Vibrance (Layers> New Adjustment Layer> Juiciness). Call it Overall Vibrance / Saturation (General Juiciness / Saturation).
Step 9
Double click on the layer thumbnail and on the panel Properties (Properties) and change the parameter Vibrance (Juiciness) at +43, and the parameter Saturation (Saturation) at +22, as shown below:
Step 10
Now press Control-Alt-Shift-E on the keyboard to print visible layers, and then press Control-Shift-U to discolor the resulting layer. Then, click Filter> Other> High Pass (Filter> Other> Color Contrast) and change Radius (Radius) by 2 pixels.
Step 11
Name this layer Overall sharpening (Sharpness) and change the blending mode to Overlay (Overlap).
You did it!
Congratulations, you did it! And here is the final result:
