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Stencil or Silhouette Effect


Nikki Neal

New Member
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Hi, first forum post. Im a screen printer learning how to design for printing. In this post, I am trying to create a silhouette of all dark areas of a color image ( bridge with suspension cables, some water and horizon- no sun). I am not getting the results I am looking for.

skyway-original.jpg


My steps:
1. mode > grayscale
2. adjustments > threshold

S-Shot 2014-09-04 at 11.07.00 AM.JPGS-Shot 2014-09-04 at 11.11.47 AM.JPG

When adjusting the levels, either I lose some of the detail that is needed or the results becomes too dark. See attachment.

Do I have other options to create a silhouette without using the pen tool?

Thanks
/Nikki
 

dv8_fx

Retired Administrator
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There are other ways. here's one.....

Click the red channel in the Channels palette. This will turn off the other channels. Is the result a good start for you? There's more to it to get a finished image .... but I gotta go to get a hot ginger drink..... lol.
 

dv8_fx

Retired Administrator
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As I said , this is one way. Others may have other ideas. What works depends on the look you're going for.

Create a new layer above background image and fill white. Hide this layer. Create another layer (2) above this for your fill.

CTRL+click the red channel to create a selection of the bridge and other details. INVERSE selection.

Unhide white fill layer and click on layer 2 to make it active. Fill black. You may repeat the fill to get a richer look. In this example, I used fill once. Deselect.

Merge this down to the white layer. Play with Levels to bring out the darker tones and brighten the whites.

You may need a bit of clone tool work to retouch unwanted areas or add a bit more detail.

skyway-lizad.jpg
 

Nikki Neal

New Member
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As I said , this is one way. Others may have other ideas. What works depends on the look you're going for.

Create a new layer above background image and fill white. Hide this layer. Create another layer (2) above this for your fill......

Yes, just tried your option and it produced a nice result. - Thanks for your speedy input. : )
 

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