Paper Blending Tutorial - Summer School Week 3

Discussion in 'Learning Pad' started by HeyJude, Jul 18, 2016.

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  1. Jul 18, 2016 #1
    HeyJude

    HeyJude Professor of Digital Wizardry

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    Welcome to the third week of TLP Summer School! The tutorials and challenges have been fabulous so far, and I am so excited to talk to you about one of my favorite techniques for blending papers (and other elements): The Blend If slider. This amazing tool (available in Photoshop) helps to realistically blend papers, word art and elements onto textured backgrounds (such as those "oh so luscious" wood papers). The best part is that it is super easy to do - so let's get started. :)

    1. Stack the paper (or element) you want to blend in on top of the textured background in the layers palette. With the top paper (or element) selected, choose the Add Layer Style button at the bottom of the layers palette (the "fx" symbol) and you should see a pop up window with different layer style options. Choose "Blending Options" at the top of the menu.

    [​IMG]

    2. Now you should see the Blending Options Panel, which looks like this:

    [​IMG]

    You will need to play with the "Underlying Layer" sliders at the bottom of the panel. The black sliders blend away the dark areas on the underlying layer and the white sliders blend away the light areas on the underlying layer. There is no magic number to achieve the perfect blend - it really depends on the colors in your paper(s)/elements.

    You will also notice that each of the sliders splits apart. You can split each slider by clicking on one side of it while pressing the alt/opt key. When you move the slider as a whole object, it blends with very sharp edges. However, when you split the slider, the blend becomes much softer (and often more realistic). Move the slider as a whole until you get fairly close to the desired effect, then split the slider to soften up the edges a bit and finish the blending effect.

    Here are some examples of blended papers. I LOVE to use this technique on wood papers:

    [​IMG]

    And get this blended background:

    [​IMG]

    (You can find the papers in Chapter 2: Slightly Worn and Chapter 4: Defining Him by Etc. by Danyale)

    It also works on other textured background papers:

    [​IMG]

    And get this gorgeous background:

    [​IMG]

    (You can find the papers in Chapter 2: Slightly Worn and Chapter 4: Defining Him by Etc. by Danyale)

    You can also take elements or extract portions of papers and then blend them into another paper:

    [​IMG]

    And you get the background I used for this page (papers and elements from the Life is an Adventure TLP Collab):

    [​IMG]

    I also used the blend if tool on the word "curious" at the top of the page to make it look like it was actually painted onto the background.

    There are so many fun ways to play with this technique and make your pages look more realistic (not to mention all of the new blended papers you can make to add to your stash) - I can't wait to see what you create with it!
     
    HeyJude, Jul 18, 2016
    HeyJude, Jul 18, 2016
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  2. Jul 18, 2016 #2
    Ga_L

    Ga_L Well-Known Member

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    stunning tutorial ! I use that for titles but I never used it to blend papers. thank you for the idea. I think I will have very fun moments with that... really love the result on your page to extract the WA
     
    Ga_L, Jul 18, 2016
    Ga_L, Jul 18, 2016
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  3. Jul 18, 2016 #3
    A-M

    A-M Not a lot of hustle in my hustle anymore

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    Thank you for the great tutorial. I also had not used the blending in styles for papers - only text.
     
    A-M, Jul 18, 2016
    A-M, Jul 18, 2016
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  4. Jul 18, 2016 #4
    AllisonPennington

    AllisonPennington Queen of the Realm

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    Awesome!
     
    AllisonPennington, Jul 18, 2016
    AllisonPennington, Jul 18, 2016
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  5. Jul 18, 2016 #5
    jenn mccabe

    jenn mccabe She's OUR sunshine!

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    love the look of the crackled paper with the pretty pattern peeking through! so cool! :)
     
    jenn mccabe, Jul 18, 2016
    jenn mccabe, Jul 18, 2016
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  6. Jul 18, 2016 #6
    tinkerbell1112

    tinkerbell1112 Offical Ambassador of the Magic Kingdom

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    do you know how to do this in Artisan? Or does anyone else? I tried looking for something similar to your instructions, but :(
     
    tinkerbell1112, Jul 18, 2016
    tinkerbell1112, Jul 18, 2016
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  7. Jul 18, 2016 #7
    HeyJude

    HeyJude Professor of Digital Wizardry

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    I'm sorry - I am not familiar with the Artisan Software, but I will check to see if anyone else has some tips for you.
     
    HeyJude, Jul 18, 2016
    HeyJude, Jul 18, 2016
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  8. Jul 18, 2016 #8
    tinkerbell1112

    tinkerbell1112 Offical Ambassador of the Magic Kingdom

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    thank you!
     
    tinkerbell1112, Jul 18, 2016
    tinkerbell1112, Jul 18, 2016
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  9. Jul 19, 2016 #9
    bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

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    Maybe @QuiltyMom or @BevG or @disneysheryl65 or @bonnenuit Knows? I know they use Artisan too!
     
    bestcee, Jul 19, 2016
    bestcee, Jul 19, 2016
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  10. Jul 19, 2016 #10
    bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

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    Oh! I forgot! Danyale has a tutorial on her blog too, it might help? The first part is PSE, but the second is Artisan.
    http://etcbydanyale.com/2016/01/blended-background-tutorial/
     
    bestcee, Jul 19, 2016
    bestcee, Jul 19, 2016
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  11. Jul 19, 2016 #11
    Teri

    Teri You bought a used lion?

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    I use this for blending my journaling into the background, so it looks like it might have actually been written on there, but I have never used it to blend papers....I will be playing with that. I love your examples.
     
    Teri, Jul 19, 2016
    Teri, Jul 19, 2016
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  12. Jul 19, 2016 #12
    BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    I tired a bit last night to blend in Artisan. It is limited but does work somewhat. I will need to watch Danyale's video. The one tip that seemed to work last night was to convert one of the papers to black&white and then use it as the blend layer on the other paper. Lighter colored paper works best for the blending. Let me know if you figure it out.
     
    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
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  13. Jul 19, 2016 #13
    BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    Here is what I did. Top left is same paper as shown in the demo above. I converted it to black and white. Right clicked and picked Copy. Then I brought the flower paper onto the page (center paper). Right-click on the paper, Effect, Add Effect, Add Blend layer. Click down-arrow on Pattern and chose Paste (this should bring in your b/w chipped paper). I left the blend on Normal, but try the other layers to see what it does. Adjust opacity to what you want. Click Okay. Result is top right.

    Bottom left is a different paper from the same kit. I left it the original color and blended it with the same flower paper. Result is bottom right.

    Comments: did not work too well when I started with a dark flowered paper. It is not as impressive as the PS version. I might try some more - maybe playing with the contrast on the b/w. I also tried rubber-stamp, but it was not even close. Nor was using it as an overlay with changed opacity.

    I also tried making the b/w paper a mask and doing it that way. Did not work so well. I was thinking if I could invert it and get there to be holes where the chips and cracks are, then the paper would not go into that area - i.e. it would have a transparent spot on the paper. Then I could put a grey paper behind it to fill in the chips and cracks. I will play with this tonight and see if I can get it closer to the PS example as I really like that affect.
     

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    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
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  14. Jul 19, 2016 #14
    gonewiththewind

    gonewiththewind I choose joy.

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    @LBscraps might have something to add to Bev's information . . . I'm not sure. I don't use the program, but Bev and Lori are two of the top peeps I thought would be able to help!
     
    gonewiththewind, Jul 19, 2016
    gonewiththewind, Jul 19, 2016
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  15. Jul 19, 2016 #15
    BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    Got it! Perhaps a little over the top but certainly in the right direction. I used a mask.
    Take your chipped paper and convert it to b/w. Then apply Filter, Stylize, Threshold. I used 189 and swapped the colors. For your mask, remember it fills in where the mask is black and not where it is white. Adjust to get the level of detail you want. Result of this step is on the left.

    Right-click, Copy. Then right-click on flower paper, Effect, Add Mask Layer. On Pattern drop-down, pick Paste. If it pops up as all black (mine did), then pick Blue or one of the other colors to get the pattern you want. You may need to pick Invert. Click okay. ta-da.
     

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    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
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  16. Jul 19, 2016 #16
    n33

    n33 Well-Known Member

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    Inspiring! Thank you!!
     
    n33, Jul 19, 2016
    n33, Jul 19, 2016
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  17. Jul 19, 2016 #17
    BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    Okay, one more. This time I did the threshold directly on the chipped paper at 166. I also put a blue to brown gradient background behind the paper. And I added a Block texture filter to the background. What fun!
     

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    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
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  18. Jul 19, 2016 #18
    BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    I'll talk to Lori and maybe she can make a video. :circles
     
    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
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  19. Jul 19, 2016 #19
    BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    Okay, last post from me on this. Don't forget to add a shadow to the top paper to give it depth. I didn't do that in the pictures I posted. It helps a lot.
     
    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
    BevG, Jul 19, 2016
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  20. Jul 19, 2016 #20
    tinkerbell1112

    tinkerbell1112 Offical Ambassador of the Magic Kingdom

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    @BevG AWESOME! Thank you so much!!!
     
    tinkerbell1112, Jul 19, 2016
    tinkerbell1112, Jul 19, 2016
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