Using Vector Masks

There's a fun way to create some interesting digital art, like you see below:

 Example No. 1

 Example No. 2

The idea is to decide first which background you'd like to use and open that image in Photoshop. Then, decide which images you'd like to have inside the shapes (in the examples above the custom shapes used are the stars, the bird and the fish). You will have the background as your bottom layer, you can duplicate the background if you wish one or more times. Later you will add another image, like the sky with rainbow, or the cartoon sky - you can add more than one image, like in Example No. 1, and add Layer Styles to them (like Stroke or other, or more than one). In Example No. 2, the second image is the sky (Cartoon Sky) - for the other two fish, Layer Styles (Pattern Overlay and Bevel and Emboss) were used. I will explain in class. I also added two shells and added drop shadows.

While you are selecting the top layer (the one you want to use as the shape fill), select a custom shape of your choice and then go to Layer - Vector Mask - Reveal All, then add the shape on that top layer and see what happens. You can then add "Blending Options" to that layer, like Drop Shadow or Bevel and Emboss, etc. You can also add other custom shapes without using the Vector Mask, you can simply add a pattern of your choice.

If you have any questions, please ask Mrs. Feld.