In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to recreate the Mr Robot
poster effect in Photoshop.
Hey everyone, welcome to another Photoshop tutorial.
My name is Jesus Ramirez and you can find me on Instagram @JRfromPTC.
In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to recreate the MR.
ROBOT poster.
For those of you who don’t know MR.
ROBOT is a TV show, it happens to be one of my favorite TV shows.
And I recently saw the poster for that show and I really liked it so I thought I would
recreate it in Photoshop and show you the steps.
In this tutorial, you’re going to learn how to apply a color toning effect to this
image, as well as apply a texture.
So if you haven’t seen what the original poster looks like, you can simply type MR.
ROBOT poster on Google Images and you’ll immediately see what we’re trying to recreate
here.
But anyway, so we’re going to use this image here and the first step is to take him out
of his background.
So I’m going to select the Quick Selection Tool and just make a selection around his
body, like so.
Then, I’m going to click on the New Layer Mask icon and I’m going to click on Select
and Mask from the Properties panel to bring up the Select and Mask workspace.
I’m going to be working on the On Black view and I’m just going to change the Opacity,
make that darker.
If you’re working on an older version of Photoshop, you’re going to be on the Refine
Edge window, a lot of these adjustments are the same, so you can follow along.
I’m going to simply check Smart Radius and increase a little bit.
In this case, it’s not that necessary but I always like to do that anyway.
I’m also going to smooth out the selection just a bit and I’m going to shift the edge
into the negative values.
So, -20 or -19, something like that should work.
And if I take the Opacity all the way up to 100 on the View Mode, you’ll see that we
have a nice selection.
And actually, maybe I’ll Feather it just a bit, so something like that then I’m going
to press OK.
And there it is, that’s our layer mask.
We’re now going to create a solid color as our background.
I want a dark grey solid colour, I’m going to type 20% on the Brightness and press OK.
And I’m going to click and drag that to the back and I’ll call this layer Background.
And it’s not necessary to delete the Layer Mask, but I always like deleting them if I’m
not going to use them.
So that’s what we have so far.
The next step is to create a Gradient layer and select the Linear that goes from black
to black and the Opacity is set 100% on the left and 0% on the right, on that point there.
So it’s going to give you this Gradient that goes from black to transparent with an
Angle of 90 degrees.
So you can adjust the Scale, just make sure that the bottom part is darker than the top
and maybe reduce the Opacity to something like 70% or so.
Actually, let’s try 80, yeah, I think that looks better.
So that’s before and after.
And this is just to make the bottom half darker.
And just like before I’m going to delete the Layer Mask.
Again, not necessary but I like doing it.
Now we’re going to work a little bit on the character.
So I’m going to select that layer and I’ll just call him Actor, he’s our actor.
And let me get the right capitalization there.
So, he’s our actor and we’re going to work with him.
We’re going to create a Curves Adjustment Layer that only is going to affect him.
So if I make an adjustment and it affects the entire image, but if I click on this icon
here, I can clip it to the layer below it, so that it only affects him and you can see
that down pointing arrow here on the left that it’s telling us that this adjustment
layer will only affect the layer below it.
And let me click and drag that down so we have more room to work with.
I’m going to click on this icon to reset the curve and what I’m going to do first
is click on the grey point eyedropper and just click anywhere on his jacket.
He’s wearing a black jacket so it should be in neutral color so that shouldn’t have
a color chasm.
I’m just going to click on there once and it removes that blue it had, just to keep
it neutralized and that’s what we want.
Then in the RGB, I can add just a little bit of Contrast.
So that’s before and after.
I’m also going to create a blank layer.
I’m going to call this layer Dodge and Burn and the previous curves, I’ll call it Contrast,
and Neutralize.
So this Dodge and Burn layer should also be clipped to the layer below it.
You can clip a layer also by pressing Ctrl Alt G/Command Option G on the Mac.
And with that layer selected, I’m going to hold Shift and Backspace to bring up the
Fill window.
You can also go into Edit + Fill.
And under Contents, select 50% Gray and a lot probably know this technique.
You use the Dodge and Burn Layer and you use the Burn Tool and Dodge Tool to make the pixels
darker and brighter.
So if I start making these pixels darker, when I change the Blending Mode to something
like Soft Light then you apply that darkening effect to the image.
So that’s what we’re going to do.
If you notice the photo of the lights coming from the left, so we’re just going to make
the right side darker and we’re going to make the left side just a little bit brighter.
So I’m going to use the bracket keys on the keyboard to increase the size of my brush
and with the Dodge Tool selected, I’m just going to make this left side just a little
bit brighter.
So that’s before and after.
What we’re going to do now is on top of all these layers, we’re going to create
a blank layer and I’m going to call it Wall Texture.
And for those of you that saw what the actual poster for the show looks like, you’ll notice
that there’s a wall texture all across the image including the background and the actor.
So with this blank layer selected, I’m going to hold Shift and Backspace and fill up with
30% gray then I’m going to go into Filter + Filter Gallery and from the Texture folder,
select Texturizer, select the texture called Sandstone and Scaling to 150 and a Relief
of 9 or 10 should work.
I’m going to change it to 10.
Also the Light source, where is your light source coming from.
We already know that in our composite, the light source is coming from the left so you
can choose Left, but I think Top Left might be even a little bit better.
So, the light source is coming from the top left, then press OK.
And that’s our result.
Then you can change the Blending Mode to Overlay and that gets overlaid across the entire image.
So this is what we’re going to start working with now to color correct the image or to
give it a color gray rather a creative color correction.
We’re going to color correct the Background first.
So I’m going to select it and create a new Selective Colour Adjustment Layer and we’re
going to work with the blacks.
That’s the darker color on the image and we’re going to bring down the yellow to
add blue, add cyan and bring down the magenta to add green.
So we’re looking for a teal color here, maybe something like that and you can adjust
the blacks if you need to make the background brighter or darker so maybe something like
this, in this case.
And by the way, these sliders work with the opposite colors.
So the opposite of cyan is red so we can reduce cyan to get red.
The opposite of magenta is green so we reduce magenta, we get green.
So you need to know your opposite colors when you’re working with this adjustment.
If you don’t know what they are, the easiest way to find out is by creating a Colour Balance
Adjustment Layer and just look at how it’s labeled here.
Photoshop does a much better job of labeling that relationship with these sliders.
But it’s the same relationship in the Selective Colour Adjustment Layer.
Obviously, the opposite of black is white.
And this Selective Colour Adjustment Layer is for the background, so I’ll just call
it BG Colour and I’m going to click on the Dodge and Burn Layer and add another Selective
Colour Adjustment Layer, clip it to all the layers below it.
And this one is going to be Actor Colour Grade and with that layer selected, in the Properties
panel, I can start working also with the blacks and just add a little bit of cyan, reduce
the magenta to get green, and reduce the yellow to get blue and just to, just a little tiny
adjustment like that.
Most of the adjustments that we’re going to do in this adjustment layer are under the
reds and that is because that’s where the skin tones usually lie, no matter the ethnicity
of a person.
So we’re going to increase the cyan, reduce the magenta, and reduce the yellow, and maybe
add a little bit more of cyan.
I’m just looking at the face here, trying to give it a hint of green.
I’m also going to work in the yellows and reduce magenta, reduce yellow, increase cyan.
And I’m going to work with the Neutrals and in the Neutrals, I’m also going to increase
the cyan a little bit, reduce the magentas and reduce the yellows, so something like
that.
So that’s before and after.
Then, I’m going to create a Levels Adjustment Layer and this is going to flatten the colors
on the image.
I’m just going to call this layer Flatten Dark.
So I’m actually going to flatten the darks, not the colors.
So with this layer selected, I’m going to click on this icon to clip it to all the layers
below it.
Then I’m going to click and drag the black point here to the right and drag this black
point to the right as well.
So that effect flattens the colors as you can see.
And that’s what I want.
Again, for those of you that saw what the original poster looks like, there is a crack
coming on the side of the wall here that actually goes into the actor, so let’s replicate
that.
You can just find any crack, a wall crack that you want from anywhere.
It really doesn’t matter where you get it from.
I’m using one from Adobe stock.
There’s a watermark version, you can download for free.
There’s a link to it right below in the description if you want to use that one, but
we’re going to use this layer here.
And I’m actually going to just drag this to very, very top.
And I’m going to create a Solid Colour, it’s going to be a white Solid Colour.
And I’m going to place that below the crack.
And now we’re going to go into the Channels Panel and select any one of these channels.
It doesn’t really matter which one, they’re all the same, and we’re going to duplicate
the Channel blue.
So now we have this blue copy.
And with this blue copy we can go into Image + Adjustments + Levels and now we can try
to make that wall completely white and make that crack a little bit darker, like so, and
press OK.
Now, if I press Ctrl I/ Command I to inverse, we’re going to have this white outline of
the crack, which is what we want but I’m going to use the Lasso Tool to make a selection
out of all these stray pixels and then fill with black.
Black is my Foreground color so I can press Alt and Backspace to fill with the Foreground
color.
And now I’m going to do this side here, and fill as well, and then that part and finally
this top part, and I missed a part here on the side.
But anyway, that’s what it looks like now.
Then, I’m going to hold Ctrl, that’s Command on the Mac and click on the blue copy channel
thumbnail to make a selection out of those bright pixels.
Click on RGB, go back into the Layers panel, we no longer need that white color fill and
we actually don’t even need that layer with the wall and the crack in it.
Instead, I can just create a new Solid Colour, fill it with black and press OK.
Now, I’m going to zoom in just so that you can see what we’re going to do.
I’m going to zoom in by holding Alt and scrolling up on the mouse wheel and I’m
going to double-click to the side of that Colour Fill Layer and I’m just going to
bring the Fill Opacity down to 0.
This will make it so that the only visible pixels on that layer are pixels that we generate
through the Layer Style.
So I can click on Bevel and Emboss and I can Reset it to Default and make sure that the
direction is down.
This is where the light is coming from so the light is coming from the top left.
And I can adjust the shadows, so make the shadows darker.
The Highlight, I’m going to change that to Soft Light or Overlay.
Let me increase it more and see which looks better.
I think at this point it really does make a difference.
So I can increase or decrease the size.
Adjust the depth and just keep adjusting it till it looks right.
At this point, I’m just going to press OK.
And I’m going to zoom out so that we can see what that looks like.
That’s looking okay.
Let me double-click on this again and keep adjusting it.
And something like this should work.
And then you can press V on the keyboard, just like Move Tool, you can move it and rotate
it accordingly.
So you could also select the Mask, go into image + Adjustment + Levels and just try to
brighten that up more so that that crack shows up even more.
Maybe something like that and I think that looks much better.
But now I think that crack has a lot of contrast.
So I’m going to go back into Bevel and Emboss and I’m going to bring down the Shadows
and also bring down the Opacity.
And now, let me see what works better, Overlay or Soft Light.
I think I like Overlay better and I’m just going to bring that down as well.
So maybe something like this.
I’m going to double-click on the Hand Tool and now you can see that result.
And this is, of course, that crack on the wall.
One of the things that I’m going to add that’s not necessarily in the original poster
is I’m going to add a Solid Colour, set it to black, in the Layer Mask I’m just
going to go into Elliptical Marquee Tool and just make a selection that covers pretty much
the entire canvass, like so.
I’m going to fill that with black, so I’m going to hold Alt and Backspace and that is
because black is my Foreground color and that is the keyboard shortcut to fill with Foreground
color, then I’m going to press Ctrl D/ Command D to Deselect.
And I’m going into the Properties Panel for that Layer Mask, and Feather the Layer
Mask to create a vignette.
I’m going to change the Blending Mode to Multiply and bring down to Opacity to maybe
about 15%, so it’s just the vignette that is barely noticeable.
So I’m going to put the actor into a group, so I’m going to select the Flatten Darks
Level Adjustments, hold Shift, click on the Actor Layer, press Ctrl G/ Command G on the
Mac and rename this group to Actor Group and there it is.
And these two layers, I can put into a group called Wall Texture.
And actually, I missed the crack on the wall so I’m going to click and drag that one
in there and there it is.
And to finalize the tutorial, I’m just going to add text to the image.
I’m going to use a font called Amboy which you can get from to Adobe type kit.
If you’re a creative cloud member you can just look that up on Type kit and upload it
to Photoshop.
I’m going to use just a red like this one here and I’m going to click in the center
here and type the word ROBOT in capital letters, tap the check mark.
Press Ctrl T / Command T to Transform.
Hold Shift, click on the corner handle then hold Alt / Option on the Mac to scale from
the center.
And actually, let me show you a trick.
I’m going to move this up to the side.
If you want that right in the center, just press Ctrl A / Command A on the Mac to make
a selection around the canvas and then just click on this center icon and it puts it right
in the center.
This one here puts it on the center vertically and I don’t really want it there.
So, I’m going to press Ctrl D/ Command D to Deselect and I’m going to click and drag
this one down, still in the center horizontally but not vertically obviously.
And now I can type with the Arial font and just put Photoshop Training Channel at the
bottom.
And I’m going to fill this with white and I’m going to scale that up as well.
And, also, Ctrl A / Command A on the Mac, press V for the Move Tool button and click
on that center vertical button.
And I’m going to duplicate this layer by holding Alt/ Option on the Mac, click and
drag, go to the very top and I can just call it Photoshop tutorial and change the Blending
Mode to Soft Light.
And this is the effect that you see in the poster for the show.
You can now continue to make any adjustments that you want.
For example, I think he’s a little too high, so I’m going to bring him down.
This is a non-destructive workflow, so you can come back and make adjustments.
You can give more contrast to the actor.
You can adjust the actor color grade, so maybe, you can make him darker, add more color to
the shadows.
Maybe make it look a little more green, more cyan.
It’s totally up to you the adjustments that you make.
What I’m trying to show is that you’re never stuck with the adjustments that you
make, you can always go back and make edits.
And by the way, if you create an image using this tutorial, don’t forget to share it
on Instagram with the hashtag #PTCVIDS.
I often look for that hashtag to see what you’re all up to.
And that’s it for this tutorial.
Let me know if you enjoy this effect in the comments below.
Also, let me know if there’s another movie poster or TV show poster that you would like
me to recreate and maybe I can create a tutorial out of that.
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Thank you so much for watching and I will talk to you again next time.