(distinct music)
- Hello and welcome to this video tutorial.
Gareth here from tastytuts.com.
So, in the previous two episodes
we learnt how to create various design elements
for our book cover design.
We learnt how to create this 3D paper type composition
and we learnt how to create the rainbow composition
with the clouds.
Now currently, they exist separately
in their own documents.
Now we did this for a good reason.
Due to the fact, these are rather complicated compositions
containing multiple layers,
We created these independently so we could focus
on the specific job.
Now if we take a look at the final design,
we can see that the 3D paper type,
has the clouds and rainbow around it.
So, in this tutorial we are going to bring together
all the creative elements we created
over the past two videos
and place them into the book cover document.
In this tutorial I'll be demonstrating
a smart way to manage complexity in Photoshop.
So first,
I'm going to begin by opening up the documents
I have created over the previous three episodes.
So, I'll come into the project folder.
I'll come into my project folder.
Now if you have been following along this file
you should have your document saved in here.
Though if you're new to this course
and would like to follow along,
simply navigate to the finished artwork folder,
and you can open the documents from there.
So, I'll select all the documents
and open them in Photoshop.
So here we have the book cover print document
which is currently empty.
We have the paper type
and the rainbow and clouds document open.
OK.
So, the first thing we are going to do
is focus on the paper type document.
What we are going to do here
is bring in the illustrative elements
from the rainbow and clouds document
to create the complete header design for the book cover.
Once we are happy with that we will then bring
the main header composition into the book cover design.
So, nice and simple,
one step at a time.
So with the rainbow and clouds document open
in the layers panel,
we should have some nice neat folders
we created in the previous video.
We have the BALLOONS layer folder,
the CLOUDS folder and the RAINBOW.
So, what we are going to do now
is get the creative elements
from this document into the header document.
So I'm going to begin with the clouds.
So the first thing I'm going to do
is press V to activate the move tool.
I'll carefully select the CLOUDS layer folder
in the layers panel,
then I'll click into the canvas area,
then click and drag up into the tab
of the 3D paper type document.
While it appears, I'll place my mouse cursor
into the document and release.
Upon release,
the clouds will now appear in my type document.
Excellent.
So upon dropping the clouds in
they now appear to be on top of the type.
If we look in the layers panel
we can see that the clouds layer folder is at the top
of the layer structure.
So in the layers panel
I'll drag the layer folder below the paper folder
and place the clouds behind the type,
like so.
Now, inside the CLOUDS folder
are all the clouds smart objects we duplicated
in the previous episode,
also, we can see all the adjustment layers
we applied to each cloud to adjust the brightness.
So, at this stage these cloud elements are just fine.
Now on this occasion I may not be entirely happy
with the position of the clouds around my type,
also, I have some clouds directly below the type.
So next I'm going to do a little editing of the clouds
to get an arrangement I am more happy with.
First, I'm going to get rid of the two clouds
behind the type here.
So, with the move tool active,
I'll right click on the left cloud,
I'll select the right layer from the popup menu.
In the layers panel,
the layer will be selected.
Now notice this layer
also has an adjustment layer applied up of it.
So I'll press Shift and select the adjustment layer above
with Emboss selected I'll press Backspace
to remove them completely.
Next, I'll right click and select the next cloud.
I'll also select the adjustment layer above
and press Backspace to delete.
Next, I'll continue to right click on various clouds
and select them from the menu that appears,
and move them around my type to get a better arrangement.
If I wish I may even use the free transform tool
to resize the clouds.
So, once I have finished positioning the clouds
around my type,
I'll come back into the layers panel,
and toggle up my folders so everything is neat
in my layers panel.
So next I'm going to bring in the rainbow element.
So, I'll first select the friends folder
in the layers panel then I'll come back
into the rainbow and clouds document.
So this time I'll click on the RAINBOW folder
with the move tool active I'll click into the canvas area,
and click and drag up into the paper type tab.
Just like earlier,
I'll drag the mouse cursor into the canvas area
and release click to reveal the new element in my document.
So I'll, coming to the layers, right click on the RAINBOW
folder and select convert to smart object.
Next, I'll drag the smart object layer
down beneath the CLOUDS folder, like so,
then I'll reposition up in the top right.
I'll press Command + T to activate free transform,
press and hold Alt + Shift on the keyboard
and scale down like so.
Then position neatly behind the letter R
of the paper and the cloud just to the right.
Once happy, I'll press Enter to commit
and I might just need to right click on the cloud
to select it and reposition like so.
Perfect.
So I'll come back into the rainbow and clouds document,
I'll right click on a balloon
and make sure to select the layer in the layers panel.
We can see that this is currently a smart object
that we created in the previous episode.
So with the layer selected in the layers panel,
using the same technique with the move tool,
I'll click and drag this up into the tab
of the 3D paper type document and drop it in.
In the layers panel I'll click the layer
and drag it on top of the CLOUDS folder,
making sure not to drop the layer
into the clouds layer group.
I'll position the balloon up in the top left
and scale appropriately using the free transform tools.
So, that completes the header composition.
Now, we have the clouds, the rainbow and the balloon
all positioned nicely around the main header type.
Once I'm happy I'll press Command + S to save.
So now we are ready to bring this header design
into the empty book cover document.
At this point, I'll click back into the rainbow
and clouds document and close the document,
as we no longer need this open.
On this occasion I will not save.
So after dragging in all the elements from
the previous document into this paper type document,
we now have quite a large layer structure
containing lots of individual layers.
We just used a drag and drop technique
to take creative elements from one document
and place them into another.
Now for the next task
I'm going to use a different technique.
So now I'm just going to come to File and Close,
and come back to the empty document.
This time I'm going to come up to File
scroll down and select Place Embedded.
Now, if you're using an earlier version of Photoshop
this will only appear as Place instead of Place Embedded.
So upon click I will navigate to the project folder.
Now if you have been following along
with this course from the start
you should have your document in your my project folder.
Though, if you have only just joined this video
you will need to navigate to the finished artwork folder
to the file you just saved.
So, I will come into my project folder
I'll select the 3D paper type document
I just made and click Place.
Upon click I will now see the composition
inside my new document with a bounding box around it.
This will give me the flexibility to move it around
and scale the composition to the size I wish.
So I'll move the composition up to the top
of the canvas area.
I'll press Command + ; to activate the guides.
I'll press and hold Alt + Shift on the keyboard
and click and drag a corner point like so,
to scale the composition slightly.
I'll make sure not to go outside my inner margins.
Once satisfied I'll press Enter to commit,
and then I'll press Command + ; to toggle away the guides.
So now we have a new smart object layer in the layers panel.
What I just did there was import the entire composition
we made previously into this document as a smart object.
So now that very busy layer structure
in the previous document
is only represented in this document by one layer.
This will now make it very easy for me to manage
this composition as one element in my main document.
Simple.
Though now we have a small problem here.
Currently, we can see
that the sky in the composition we just placed in,
is interfering with the sky in the main document.
So now I'll come into the layers panel
and double click on the smart object thumbnail.
Upon click we will now jump into the smart object
and here we can see all the layers here in the layers panel.
So, I'll come into the layers panel
and toggle the visibility of the background layer folder,
and I'll toggle it off and the white base layer.
So now we can see the transparency in the background.
I'll press Command + W to close the document.
When asked, I'll click Save
and now we are back in the main book cover document,
and the header is now placed nicely
on top of the main document background.
Excellent.
So, to finish off,
I'll come into the layers panel,
I'll select the new smart object layer,
I'll press Command + G
to group this into its own layer folder,
and name this Header.
I'll right click and assign a yellow color to the folder
and once I'm happy I'll press Command + S to save.
So, those are some of the methods you can use
to manage your creative elements in a smart way.
It really helps to keep in mind
the nature of your creative elements,
and break them down so they become easy to manage.
Especially, if you're beginning to create
really complex design.
When creating a complex design in Photoshop,
it can quickly get out of hand
and suddenly, you will find yourself
overwhelmed by lots of layers.
This can get confusing for you
or anyone who needs to work with your document.
So it really helps in the long run
and for a swift workflow to pay close attention
to your house keeping,
and stay on top of your layer structure.
In this video I demonstrated two scenarios.
The first scenario I was building up
a particular composition, the header artwork.
In that instance it was appropriate to use
the drag and drop technique from one document to another
to build up the composition.
In the second scenario I used the place method
to import a complete design composition into a document
as a single smart object.
This was done to break the main composition down
into simple sections to manage complexity.
So now we have the header section in the document,
it's now time to move on.
If we take a look at the finished design,
under the header we have these paper bird characters.
In the next video we are going to create these characters
and then bring them into our main cover document.
See you in the next video.
(upbeat electronic dance music)