Exercises
> Creating Vignettes: Rectangles & Ovals
Creating
Vignettes in Photoshop for Print and Web:
Rectangles and Ovals
This
exercise is for vignettes on a white background, including white
paper. If your background is any other colour, see the exercise
for creating vignettes on colour backgrounds.The
art for this exercise is located in IVLE workbin under Assignments:
Art for Exercises. Download the image and open it in Photoshop.
Crop as desired, and Save as a PSD (Photoshop document) if
not already in PSD format.
- Open
the Layers window, if it isn't already open. Add Duplicate
Layer.
- Click
on the eye next to the original Background layer to turn off visibility
of that layer.
- With
the New Layer highlighted, select the desired Marquee Selection
Tool: rectangle, oval, etc.
- Choose
amount of Feather radius pixels in the Marquee Tool properties
window. This determines how far in the pixels will be removed.
The above vignette was set at 10 pixels. Draw the shape of
vignette edge with the Marquis tool. In older versions of Photoshop,
choose Select > Feather. Set Feather radius to same
as in Marquee Tool window if necessary. (This step is not necessary
in CS4.) Choose Select
> Inverse. Shape of masking layer is indicated by "marching
ants."
| In
CS4, select Refine Edge. Select the first icon in the
row at the lower third of the window (see below, right). Experiment
with the different effects until you find one you want. The
Radius and Feather tools were employed most in the above example.
|
 |
- Use
the delete or backspace key on your keyboard to remove the background
from the duplicate layer. Then delete the original Background
layer.
- Save
As a TIFF in CMYK mode for importing into InDesign. Use at
150 dpi for drafts; 300 dpi for portfolio quality. When working
with professional printers, set to dpi that your printer specifies.
- Save
as a JPG in RGB mode for the Web. (JPGs don't support transparencies,
but Photoshop actually adds a white background to the image, so
it's not really transparent. Remember to set the resolution at
72ppi first before adjusting image size. Adjust
so that image is about 35K, no heavier than 50K.
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