If you’ve finished the projects that we’ve done in class and have finished three of your own, you should be well on your way to becoming a Photoshop master. Now it’s time to put your impressive skills to the test by creating something AMAZING!

Read through ALL of the instructions before you begin!

You will need to find images for this assignment. For ones found online, make sure that they are BIG, HIGH QUALITY images! If you’re tempted to use good ol’ Google Images, make sure that you use the available search tools to limit your search to LARGE images! CHOOSE WISELY! Quality really counts! Use CREATIVE COMMONS pictures like the ones found on Unsplash, wherever possible!

You may also need to TAKE PHOTOS yourself as well. Use a good camera (ie use one of mine or something similar.) Make sure that your photos turn out well and that you’ve made life easy for yourself (ie if you can help it, take your photo against a plain background, make sure that there’s enough light. We do have a photo studio in the other room, you know!

Any photos placed into your project must include an ORIGINAL copy of the image that you HAVE NOT touched. These will be layers that are hidden, but there for me to compare the ORIGINAL image to the one(s) that you have manipulated.

Any objects that are cut out of the original should be cut out cleanly. Use the correct selection tools/methods, NOT THE ERASER!

All layers should be properly named.

Your file should be saved with the correct name. eg: photoshopproject.psd

You will have to remove/cover/modify parts of an image (or images). Use the correct tools.

Use text! Make that text fit in with the original image (try to match the font, size, colour, or choose something that fits in with what’s already there.)

Use drawing tools/shapes/brushes to add new elements in.

Use layer styles to add appeal/interest to your layers.

The assignment:

Create or modify a movie poster, album cover, or book cover. If you have a different idea, please run it by me first, but I am certainly open to new suggestions.

Find a movie poster/album or book cover online. Add new elements to it using the criteria above OR recreate one with new pieces. Change/modify the look of what’s already there (take out, replace, and/or add new stars to the movie, songs to the CD, information about the book, etc.)

This is NOT as simple as putting your face on top of someone else’s in a movie poster (although that could be part of what you do.) You need to be creative and you need to use the tools listed above.

Doing this well will require some PLANNING/thinking ahead. Before you commit to an idea, take some time to think about what you’re going to remove, add, or modify. If you’re not sure whether something will work or whether it’s a good idea, TALK TO ME.

The finished project should look realistic. If it’s easy to tell what you’ve added/changed/replaced, you probably didn’t do a good job.

MOST IMPORTANT:

TAKE YOUR TIME

DO A GOOD JOB (don’t just worry about just getting it done, actually create something you will be proud of)

Don’t be afraid to MAKE MISTAKES and FIX THEM. This means that you could have to go back a bit and undo some mistakes, or in extreme cases, start again!

If you need help with a particular tool or idea, consider looking up a video tutorial on Youtube or search for one and find a website that will show you how to do something. There are thousands of great Photoshop tutorials out there.

HAVE FUN! If this isn’t fun, you aren’t doing it right!

Examples

before:

after:

before:

after:

Some of my QUICK (not necessarily GOOD) Photoshop projects: (yours will be BETTER THAN THESE! These do not necessarily meet all of the criteria for this assignment!):