In this lesson you will learn how to create a futuristic cityscape. You will learn the technique of combining images to create a beautiful landscape with the image of a fantastic city and a futuristic atmosphere.
Final result
Source materials:
Step 1
Open the UFO image. We use part of the UFO as a dome to create futuristic buildings.
Step 2
Next, select the tool Pen 
(pen tool) and using this tool, create a contour of the upper part of the body. As soon as you create the contour, right-click on the created contour and in the window that appears, select the option To form a selected area (make selection). Once you have created the active selection, press the keys (Shift + Ctrl + I) to invert the selection, and then press the Del key to remove the background.
Step 3
After you cut out the upper part of the case, modify the shape of this case. Press the keys (Ctrl + T) to activate the tool. Free transformation (free transform tool). Next, with this tool, apply the option Deformation (warp) to change shape. In conclusion, after you are satisfied with the result of the deformation, remove the excess areas (the inscription). Use the tool Stamp 
(Clone Stamp) for this action.
Step 4
Get ready to create a dome for a futuristic structure. Select tool again Pen (pen tool). Next, press the keys (Shift + Ctrl + N) to create a new layer. Place a new layer below the dome layer. On the new layer, with the pen tool, draw a shape, as shown in the screenshot below. Close the created contour, and then form a selected area. Press (Shift + F5) to fill the selection. Fill it with color # 6b7776.
Step 5
Now, on the created shape, apply Layer styles (layer style):
Step 6
Create another new layer, place this layer below the created layers with a dome and an additional figure. The technique for creating the shape is the same as in Step 4. Create another shape, as shown in the screenshot below. For this shape, I used the fill color # 141414.
Step 7
Also apply to the created shape Layer styles (layer style):
Step 8
Create another new layer, place this layer on top of the layer with the 2nd shape you created in Step 6-7. Now, select the tool Rounded Rectangle
(Rounded Rectangle Tool). The screenshot below shows the settings for this tool. Being on a new layer, create a rectangle, like mine. Next, duplicate the rectangle several times, placing it as in the screenshot below. Merge all layers with the created rectangles into one layer. Name this merged layer, for example, window. Next to this layer, apply Layer styles (layer style):
Step 9
Next, we will continue to create the dome for our futuristic structure, creating the lower part of the building dome. Do not forget, every detail must be created on a separate layer each time. Finally, after creating the shapes, select the tool Clarifier 
(Dodge Tool). We will add some light highlights to the shapes. Select a soft round brush, set the parameter Exposure (exposure) for the tool Clarifier (Dodge Tool) by 12%. Stroke the shapes. See screenshot below.
Step 10
Create another shape, apply layer styles to the created shape, almost the same as in the previous steps.
Step 11
Next, we will create a platform for our building. To do this, select the tool Oval area 
(Elliptical Marquee Tool) to create a selection, as in the screenshot below. To do this, create a new layer. Fill the selection with the color tint # 323334.
Step 12
This is how the structure will look like after I added additional elements, presumably supporting walls (in fact, I’m not sure what it is, but let’s just say that these are supporting walls 
Step 13
Next, open the image with the tower. Separate the image of the tower from the background, and then add the highlighted image of the tower to our domed building. Thus, we have a futuristic building.
Step 14
Next, create a new document (Ctrl + N) with dimensions of 1200 px in width and 857 px in height. Make sure the foreground color is set to # 3787c7 and the background color is # f0f8fd. Choose a tool Gradient 
(Gradient Tool) to fill the gradient with a new document, as shown in the screenshot below:
Step 15
Open the image with green hills. Select the sky area in the background. Next, with the tool Free transformation (Free Transform Tool), zoom out with hills. Duplicate this layer as many times as you need by arranging duplicate layers in such a way as to get the result, as in the screenshot below or as you like. (Do not forget, it is not necessary to reproduce exactly the result that I created, in this step, you can make your own changes or create a slightly distinctive landscape).
Step 16
So, it’s time to add our structure with a dome! Move the dome building to our working paper. Do not forget to apply scaling according to the size of the document:
Step 17
Next, open the image with the city. Move this image to our working paper. The main action for this step is working with a layer mask. Once you have moved the image of the city, add a layer mask to the image, and then on the layer mask of the layer, hide the sky and clouds. Next, duplicate the layer with the image of the city, arranging the duplicate layer in accordance with the composition.
Step 18
Create a new layer. While on a new layer, draw clouds to fill the void on the left.
Step 19
Add another stock image to our working paper, placing this layer below the city layer. Using a layer mask, hide the extra areas.
Step 20
I decided to add more buildings on the left side of our composition, however, it is very difficult to choose such buildings that would fit the whole composition and complement the futuristic atmosphere of the landscape. Therefore, I decided to use the buildings from the stock image. I cut out some elements of the image and played with the transformation tool to deform the shape. In conclusion, I duplicated some of the elements and built a building out of them.
Step 21
Next, I added the created building to our working paper.
Step 22
To enhance the background, I added some clouds. I placed a cloud layer on top of a layer with a gradient background, setting the blending mode for the cloud layer to Overlap (Overlay) 100% layer opacity.
Step 23
In this step, we will apply the adjustment layer Brightness / Contrast (Brightness / Contrast) to the entire image. Let’s go Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Brightness / Contrast (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Brightness / Contrast). I created 2 adjustment layers Brightness / Contrast (Brightness / Contrast). Hide the correction on the layer mask of the adjustment layer:
Step 24
Create a new layer, fill this layer with the color shade # 020227. Choose a tool Brush 
(Brush Tool). Set the foreground color to #fefefe. Using a soft round brush, stroke the strokes around the city. Change the blending mode for this layer to Multiplication (Multiply), layer opacity 54%.
Step 25
To add more dynamics to the scene, I decided to add a few aircraft. In the screenshot below, the aircraft that I created. The technique of creating an aircraft is almost the same as for creating a building with a dome. To do this, I used the layer styles, and also applied the coloring of the created elements.
Step 26
I also added images of people. For these purposes, I used a standard brush Arbitrary shape 
(costume shapes).
Step 27
Next, we will add more adjustment layers to our scene. See the screenshots below for the settings for each adjustment layer.
Step 28
Now we will add additional lighting effects to the green hill that we created in Steps 15-16. Go to the green hill layer. Duplicate this layer. Add a layer mask to this layer as a clipping mask. Next, fill this layer 50% gray (50% gray). Then paint with a white brush on this layer. After that, change the blending mode to Overlap (Overlay) 100% layer opacity. Finally, create an adjustment layer. Channel Mixing (Channel Mixer). Remember to convert this adjustment layer to a clipping mask.
Step 29
Finally, create another new layer. Fill this layer with black. Change the blending mode for this layer to Lightening basics (Color Dodge), the opacity of the layer is 100%. Being on this layer, paint it with a light shade over the city and buildings, creating the effect of light in the windows. For these purposes, use a small hard round brush.
Step 30
Press the keys (Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E) to merge all layers into one layer. Next, go Filter – Other – Color Contrast (filter> others> high pass). Set the radius to about 2-4 px. Paint it soft pink over the combined layer. Change the blending mode for this layer to Multiplication (Multiply), layer opacity is 100%.
Step 31
For the final correction, we will apply a correction layer. Levels (Level). Go again Layer – New Adjustment Layer – Levels (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Level). When the settings window for this adjustment layer appears, just click Auto (Auto). The result is in the screenshot below:
Step 32
In addition, I added a small nuance to our scene, adding stars taken from the stock image of the nebula. Position the nebula layer over the cloud layer (step 22) and change the blending mode for the nebula layer to Overlap (Overlay) 100% layer opacity.
I hope you learned something new today and had a good time at work in Photoshop!
Final result
Author: Dek Wid
