In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to create a futuristic looking photo manipulation using some special tools, such as the Background Eraser Tool and how to blend pictures properly using Match Color Adjustments and Lighting Effects. So let’s start!

Final Preview

Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Photoshop CS2
• Difficulty: Advanced
• Estimated Completion Time: 3-4 hrs

Preparation

Before we start let’s download all the pictures we will need: road, bigger factory, smaller factory, woman, mist brushes and texture. The picture of sky is not available for downloading but you can use any sunset you find.

Step 1 – Blending the Background

Open the picture of the road and of the sky you’ve chosen, then drag them into the new document. Name the layers "Road" and "Sky." The layer "Road" should be above the "Sky" layer.

Now you have to flip the pictures. To do that go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Do it with both layers. Add a vector mask to the "Road." You can find the button Add Vector Mask in the Layers palette (F7).

The good thing about vector masks is that all the steps you do are reversible. If you use the Eraser Tool instead it’s very hard to get back erased parts. But if you use vector masks, then you can always paint with a white color instead of the black, and the hidden parts will appear again.

So as I said, add a vector mask, press B to pull up the Brush Tool, choose a soft, round brush and pick a black color. Start to paint over the areas you want to disappear. After this step, you should have a picture similar to the one below.

Step 2 – Adding the Bigger Factory

Open the picture with the bigger factory and drag it into the manipulation. Call the layer "Bigger Factory" and place it above the "Sky" and "Road" layers. Flip the picture as you did with the previous layers. Now we have to remove the blue sky. Use the Background Eraser Tool to do this.

Good thing on the Background Eraser Tool is that you don’t have to mask all the parts of the factory with the Lasso Tool or with the Pen Tool. Set the tool as in the picture below.

Click carefully on the blue sky. It will disappear, but the factory will stay. You can change Diameter and Tolerance to get a more realistic result. Don’t worry if some parts of the factory will be a little transparent. It will look like some reflection from the sun, but still be very careful.

The more patient you are with the blending, the more realistic the whole manipulation will look. After this step, you should have something like the image below.

Step 3 – Adding the Smaller Factory

Open the picture of the smaller factory, drag it into the manipulation, flip it, then name the layer "Smaller Factory." Place it on the top of the layers.

Now choose the Background Eraser Tool again and paint over the sky area. One of the good things about this picture is that there is some artificial mist, as we’ll be adding some more in the next steps.

In the stock picture of the factory the whole smoke is not shown. To add it and make it round press S on your keyboard for the Clone Stamp Tool. Press Alt and (still pressing it) choose some area with the smoke. Paint some more smoke to make it nice and rounded as shown.

Step 4 – Blending the Factory

As you can see the factory is too dark. To fix that add a Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer and lower the contrast to about -20. Click directly on the adjustment layer and create a clipping mask from it. Thanks to the clipping mask, the adjustment layer affects only the "Smaller Factory" layer.

The factory is fixed, but I think it would be better if the smoke had some more contrast. Let’s add one more Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer. Now increase the contrast to the value of +40, then clip the mask again.

We want to affect the smoke only, and not the whole factory. To fix it press B on your keyboard, choose a soft, round brush with a black color, then paint over the vector mask of the factory (not the smoke!). The result of this step should be similar to the image below.

Step 5 – Fixing the Road

If you take a look at the previous picture, you can see that the road is too dark, it has the wrong lighting, and also the colors don’t fit. All these problems will be fixed in this step though.

At first we’ll improve the colors. Right-click on the layer "Road" and choose Duplicate Layer. I usually make a backup of the layer if the next step is not reversible and I don’t know if I will like the result later.

Click on the new "Road copy" layer. Go to Image > Adjustments > Match Color… and set the values on the palette as shown below.

Thanks to Color Match… your picture should look like this one.

Much better isn’t it? Now we’ll add Omni Light. Go to Filters > Render > Lighting Effects and set it similar to that shown below.

The result after this step is shown below.

Step 6 – Adding Mist

To create a more dreamy atmosphere we’ll add mist. Add the mist brushes you downloaded. If you don’t know how to add brushes into the Photoshop, then review this tutorial.

Select a bright yellow color from the manipulation. Create a new layer and start painting fog. Don’t paint it too much – we want just small, light touches. If the mist doesn’t look realistic, then you can lower the Opacity or change the blending mode of the layer to Screen or Lighten.

Step 7 – Sharpening

In this step, we’ll make the picture more sharp. Press M for the Rectangular Marquee Tool, then select the whole image. Got to Edit > Copy Merged, and then Edit > Paste. It will paste the merged image with all the visible layers.

Now go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask… and set the values as shown.

Step 8 – Color Adjustment

Now it’s time for the first color adjustment. We’ll add more violet colors to create a bit of a futuristic or unrealistic look. Add a Color Balance Adjustment Layer on the top of the layers, then set it as shown below.

Click here for full Tutorial…