Impressions - January 2017 - 52

Figure 7

Figure 4

Step 3:
Select the image by clicking on the Magic Wand. Make sure the Contiguous box is
unchecked and click on the background
(Figure 5).This will select everything but
the dragon.

Step 7:
Now it is time to blur the image to get
ready to halftone. Deselect the image by
pressing Cmd+D.Then apply a Guassian
Blur by clicking Filter > Blur > Guassian
Blur (Figure 8). Select how much you
want to blur the shadow.The higher the
number, the blurrier the image edges. I
selected 35 and click OK.

Figure 5

Figure 8

Step 4:
Press Cmd+Shift+I to inverse the selection so that only the dragon image is
selected.

Step 8:
Next click Image > Mode > Grey
Scale. It will ask if you want to flatten
the image. It doesn't matter at this point.
But you will lose all of the color information (this is why we made a copy of
the dragon).

Step 5:
Expand the selected image to include
more visible black area before applying
a blur.To do this, go to Select > Modify
> Expand (Figure 6).You can select any
number for this, but the higher the number, the bigger the selection. I selected 20
pixels and clicked OK.

Figure 6

Step 6:
Now, fill with a pure black. Do this
by clicking on Edit > Fill > and select
"Contents Use: Black" (Figure 7).

Step 9:
Now go to Image > Mode > Bitmap.
Make sure that the resolution output
number is the same as the input number.
If it does not match, the image size will
be adjusted and won't match the color
version of the dragon when put back
together.
It also will ask for the Halftone Screen.
The frequency is the lines per inch as
discussed in the beginning of this article. Use a frequency of 20 and an angle
of 110 degrees. Select "Round" for the
shape. You can experiment with other
shapes once you understand the process.
Click OK.
The background image now is officially halftoned.You can see that there
are different sized dots that give a shaded
effect as the dots go from solid to small
to simulate a fade-out effect (Figure 9).

Figure 9

Step 10:
The image now needs to be converted back
to the original working color mode.First,go
back to a Grey Scale mode by clicking Image
> Mode > Grey Scale. It will ask what scale
you prefer when converting back;keep it at 1.
Then, convert back to RGB by clicking:
Image > Mode > RGB Color (Figure 10).

Figure 10

Step 11:
Select everything on the newly converted
halftone layer by clicking Cmd+A and then
copying it by pressing Cmd+C. Select the
original artwork file and press Cmd+V to
paste this new layer into the art.
Step 12:
The new "shadow" layer may need
to be moved to the bottom by dragging
the newly pasted layer below the original artwork layer. If it doesn't line up
correctly, just drag the halftoned drop
shadow into position.
The resulting retro-looking drop shadow gives the original artwork a unique
look (Figure 11).

Figure 11
P.52

50-53_IMP_0117_TMDdtg.indd 52

i m p r e s s i o n s m a g . c o m JANUARY 2017

12/15/16 11:42 AM
http://www.impressionsmag.com
Impressions - January 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - January 2017
