Anti-Aliasing: the smoothing of jagged pixel edges in an image or graphic.

Bevel: applying a beveled effect – giving a 3d appearance to an otherwise flat looking graphic. This is achieved by adding highlights and shadows to an object’s edges.

Bleed (bleed edge): when creating a design for print, a “bleed edge” needs to be added to the document’s page size. For example, a brochure with the dimensions  8″ x 10″ needs to be created at something like 8.5″ x 10.5″. This leaves room for the design to extend past the cut area.

CMYK: a very common color mode used for printing, also known as “process colors”. The CMYK stands for the colors cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The letter K represents black as a way to not confuse with blue. When printing in CMYK, not all colors are achievable (ex: bright blues). For this reason, spot colors (pantone colors) can be used to add shots of necessary colors (see “spot colors” to learn more).

DPI (dots per inch): represents the resolution of an output device such as a printer. The higher the DPI, the more pixels (dots) fit into each inch of the image. In other words, the higher the DPI, the better an image will look in print. 300 dpi is sufficient for many print jobs, but it’s all dependent on the detail required and the material being printed on. DPI is often confused with the term “PPI” (see “ppi” to learn more).

Duotone: Just like the name implies, a duotone is simply an image consisting of 2 colors. Printing an image with 2 colors rather than 1 will result in an image that has more depth than a single monotone color print.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): ability to transfer files from one computer to another using the internet. There are FTP software programs (ex: “CuteFTP” or “Transmit” for mac) that make the process of transferring large amounts of data possible and simple. FTP programs (also referred to FTP clients) are commonly used tools for uploading and updating sites on the web.

Gamut: basically a range of available color. There are color modes in graphic design. Each mode consists of a certain amount of colors. This range of available color is referred to as “gamut”. Any color that falls out of this range is called “out of gamut”.

GIF: one of the most widely used graphic image file formats on the web.

-web browser friendly
-small file size is great for web pages.
-support background transparency
-limited to only 256 colors
-photos don’t look good saved as GIF

Gradient: a gradual transition of colors. The way the sky fades from one color to another during a sunset is an example of a gradient.

JPG: (also spelled “JPEG”) this image format is the most commonly used web format when it comes to photos or detailed imagery. JPGS are a “lossy” format, meaning some quality is lost to achieve their smaller file size.

-look great on a monitor, despite “lossy” format
-support a higher number colors than gifs, however larger file sizes
-web browser friendly
-ok for print if saved as highest quality
-Saving jpg images at high quality will result in better picture quality but longer loading times on the internet. Saving at low quality will result in lower picture quality but fast web page loading times.
-unlike “PNG” and “GIF” file formats, JPG’s don’t support background transparency

Kerning: the horizontal spacing between a pair of letters in a word. Certain letter pairs look awkward together, so sometimes it’s necessary to move the letters closer together or further apart. Examples of how spacing varries with various letter combinations: AV, PA, AT, and AY. Kerning is often confused with the term “tracking” (see “tracking”). Tracking is used for spacing larger groups of letters or text.

Pantone matching system: a color matching system allowing designers and print shops to more easily match colors. This is accomplished by referencing Pantone swatch books (guides) for the proper recipe of colors. This Pantone system is not perfect, but it has become the industry standard for color matching.

-good way to select “out of gamut” (see “gamut”) spot colors (see “spot colors”) for print projects.
-spot colors can be expensive
-no two color guides are printed exactly the same

PDF (portable document format): a document format that allows for the reading and writing of multi-page documents or articles. It’s possible to keep the same format, layout, and fonts of a document across any computer setup. A free software program like Adobe Acrobat is needed to read PDF’s. PDF’s are a good way to write ebooks, articles, and also serve as a good way to show images.

Pixelation: raster images (see “raster”) are comprised of tiny dots. The more dots that fit into a certain area (1×1″ for example), the higher the resolution. Often times images with low resolution appear “blocky” or pixelated because of their lack of pixels per inch (see “ppi”). This blocky appearance is referred to as pixelation. Vector (see “vector”) image are void of pixelation.

To understand pixelation, think of the old Atari video games. Remember how the graphics were made up of tiny blocks. Each of these blocks are called pixels. Now look at today’s video games, monitors, and tv screens where the pixels are much less noticeable. The reason is because the pixels are smaller and more crammed. This results in a more detailed viewing image.

PNG: a common image format used for displaying images on the web.

-offers background transparency (great for web)

-larger in file size than a gif, but still reasonable for web use
-display many colors
-display text more crisp than jpg images.

PPI (pixels per inch): specifies the resolution of an input device (digital camera, scanner, monitor). Web pages run at a resolution of 72-96 PPI. PPI is often confused with the term “DPI” (see “dpi”).

Raster: a raster image is an image that is made up of pixels (tiny dots). Raster graphics or images are resolution dependent, meaning they cannot scale to arbitrary size without apparent loss in quality. Photographs are raster images. Vector (see “vector”) images on the other hand, can be scaled to any size, with no worries of pixelation (see “pixelation”) or quality loss associated with raster imagery.

Resolution: The detail of an image is based on how many pixels (dots) are included in 1 square inch of space. The more pixels (see “pixels”) included in that space, the higher the resolution.  Computer monitors use no more than 72 pixels (dots) per inch, so going higher is pointless. However a minimum of 300 dots per inch is usually recommended for printing.

RGB: the color mode that is read by computer screens and the web. The RGB mode consists of red, green, and blue color combinations. Anything created for web use should be created in RGB color mode, while anything for print should be created in CMYK color mode.

San Serif: A kind of font type that is void of the strokes on the end of letters that can be found on a “serif” typeface (see “serif”).

Serif: A type of font that has exaggerated strokes or details at the end of it’s letters (unlike “san serif” typefaces).

Spot Color: When printing in CMYK color (see “cmyk”), often times certain colors can not be achieved. This is when “spot colors” are called upon. An extra printing plate with the spot color is added to the printing process (costing extra money). Spot colors are also used for limited color print jobs, since it’s sometime cheaper to print just the single or double spot colors rather than the entire 4 used in CMYK process printing. The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is the most widely recognized system for spot colors.

TIFF: (also spelled TIF) image format commonly used when printing of high quality is necessary. Unlike the “JPG” format that sacrifices quality for file size, TIFF’s sacrifice file size for quality.

-very large file sizes
-great format for printing (not “lossless” like JPG)
-not web friendly due to large file size

Tracking: the adjustment of space between a group of letters or entire blocks of text. A change in tracking can result in easier to read text, making it feel more “airy” and open. Tracking is often confused with “kerning” (see “kerning”). Kerning is more the spacing between 2 letters that appear to close together.

Vector: a graphics format that uses shapes and paths (lines) to form graphic images. Vector graphics are resolution independent and regardless of how magnified, all edges  will remain crisp, clear, and smooth. This ability to stay crisp at any size, means vector graphics are great for logos, line art, and other designs that don’t require complicated coloring or textures.

Since the majority of the salon’s customers are women I didn’t see the harm in using the contour of a woman’s face in the logo design. And besides, what man doesn’t like the look of a woman’s face? I incorporated the letter “W” into the hair. Can you see it? The client loved the design, so I consider it a successful piece.

You can view a full size preview of this design by clicking the image above.

The challenge with this project was coming up with an identity which combined both of Michael and Carla’s services. They wanted something clean, modern, elegant, and reflective of their collaboration. They wished to receive 3 logo concepts.

My approach with this particular concept was to somehow find a way to separate the Retief and Stephanides names without showing a complete division. This required me to come up with a graphic which would represent both of their services.

Since a woman’s body and face are symbolic of both beauty and elegance, this seemed to be an obvious route to take with this design. My only concern was that using female specific imagery in the design may detour male clients from seeking their services. I approached Michael with the concern and he said he didn’t think this would be a problem, especially since the majority of their clientele were women. It turned out the design was not overly feminine after all anyway.

The graphic mark separating the “Stephanides” and “Retief” names is suppose to represent the curve of a woman’s body. It also acts as a good separating mark, similar to a forward slash often used for this purpose (/).

As with all of my clients I approached Michael with a list of selling points with this logo. A way for me to tell him why I think the design works. Here they are:

• Elegant, clean, and simple design.
• The curved separator symbolizes the contour of a woman’s body=beauty.
• Design looks good in a single color.
• The dividing mark can be used by itself as a branding symbol.
• Timeless design (no trendy features).
• Dividing mark shows that there are 2 separate companies, but as a whole; the logo shows the union of the both.

Michael and Carla seemed to be very pleased with their new logo. I created them business cards and letterhead as well. They were a pleasure to work with and I hope to do business with them again.

Like with all my logo projects, before pencil touches paper I research my clients industry/field. This allows me to get a better idea of what they do, who their competitors are, and what overused/cliche logo designs to avoid. I learned there were way too many gavels and scales of justice’s used in law based logos, so I wanted to avoid those if I could.

For the featured concept I chose to draw up a simplified law building. After some sketching and brainstorming I noticed the pillars of the building looked very similar to the vertical sections of a capital letter “H” (for “Hill”). After implementing the idea I submitted the concept to Adam. He liked the design and wanted to see a couple of revisions.

I tweaked the logo and showed him requested color and style options. The design was then finalized. Traditional, solid, modern, and unique is what Adam wanted to portray with his new logo. Based on his feedback on the design I think this was accomplished.

The logo displayed above is one of the concepts they liked the most. The blending of the flame and music note seemed to reflect the company name well. The logo mark is easy to understand, memorable, and can be used alone without text if needed.

For the typeface I chose a font that seemed to fit the feel of the logo and the flames. Because of the company’s long history I didn’t want to chose a font that was too modern looking either. I made a couple slight modifications with the type, including removing the tail from the first letter “r” to help balance the design.

Please click on the image above to view the full size preview.

1. Don’t worry about adding colors to your logo until after the design has been established.
2. Keep your design somewhat balanced.
3. Understand the meaning behind colors. You can read more about this in my post on Color Psychology.
4. Stay away from logos that are too wide or too tall. Try to keep the design compact.
5. A font choice can make or break a design. Chose one that fits the company you’re designing for. Also make sure the typeface goes well with the rest of the design.
6. Sketch out your ideas before you even touch a computer.
7. Your logo’s outline should be distinct. Avoid overly detailed or soft edges.
8. Any logo should look good in black and white.
9. Don’t use lines or strokes that are really thin.
10. Avoid using too many colors. There are exceptions to every rule, but try to limit your color choices to 3 or less.
11. Research the company you are designing for, as well as it’s industry and competition.
12. Be unique and original rather than following the obvious or cliche route.
13. Avoid using too much detail or creating designs that are overly complex. Simple is usually best, but there is such a thing as too simple as well.
14. The logo needs to be distinguishable when viewed or printed at smaller sizes.
15. Create a design that communicates well.
16. Stay away from neon or extremely bright colors when ever possible.
17. Avoid cliche/overused marks and symbols such as the “swoosh”.
18. Logos based around type should not include more than 2 fonts.
19. Create in vector format only. No raster logos.
20. Not every logo needs a graphic symbol (mark).
21. If your design includes both; a graphic and text, then make sure they compliment each other well.
22. Get your friends or family’s opinion on a logo before submitting it to a client.
23. Know the audience or target group you are creating the logo for.
24. Learn your software so it doesn’t hold you back.
25. Play around with shapes and typefaces if you are having trouble sketching out ideas.
26. A logo doesn’t always need to say what a company does.
27. Don’t design around trends. A logo should be timeless.
28. Chose fonts that are easily readable at large and smaller sizes.
29. Take advantage of the excellent online resources and books available on logo design.
30. A logo should be memorable.

Have any logo creation tips to add? Please share them in the comment section below.

What you will need:

• Adobe Photoshop (I used version CS3)
• Drawing tablet (highly recommended)
• A quality portrait photograph
• A little patience and a few hours of time

Worth mentioning before starting:

• If you don’t have a drawing tablet, you  may have trouble drawing things like hair using a mouse. I highly recommend you invest in a decent tablet. It will greatly enhance your ability to paint and draw more accurately. I use a Wacom 8×10, and I couldn’t do without it.

• Program your tablet’s “hot keys” before you begin painting. This will save you a lot of time. The configuration settings for my Wacom are located in the “system preferences” on my mac. I personally like to have the “alt”, “cmd”, and “shift” keys programed into my “hot keys”. I also have the “undo” (ctrl z) (cmd z on mac) shortcut programmed. You don’t want to be reaching for the keyboard every time you paint a bad stroke.

• Make sure you take advantage of the “alt” key (”option” on mac). When you have a paint brush active, holding the “alt” key will allow you to switch to the “eye-dropper tool” on the fly. You will be using the eyedropper tool quite often for sampling colors. It is recommended you program the “alt” key into your tablet.

Find an image:

First step is to find a quality portrait photo. Feel free to chose an entire body shot, but this tutorial will mainly be covering techniques for painting your subject’s head.

For my image, I chose the 2006 Playboy “Miss July” centerfold of Sara Jean Underwood. I went with this photo for a couple of reasons; it’s fairly large and detailed, she looks beautiful, and I wanted to see how well I could draw skin.

The image was scanned into my computer at a resolution of 400 dpi, then imported into Photoshop. When you’re selecting your image, keep in mind; the larger and higher the quality, the easier it will be to paint in those intricate details like the eyes.

If you find your photo has some color issues, take advantage of Photoshop’s great image adjustment tools (Image > Adjustments) to make any necessary corrections.

Sara Jean Underwood – copyright “Playboy”

Document Setup:

Create a new Photoshop document and name it “photo”. Now import your chosen photograph into this document. This will serve as your reference image throughout the painting process.

Now create a second Photoshop document and name it “painting”. This document should be positioned beside the “photo” document you just created. Having the two windows side by side will allow us work in one window and view our photo in the other.

When creating the “painting” document, you may or may not want to use the same dimensions of your photo. If you plan on printing and possibly framing your painting, then consider using a common frame size. I created my painting document a bit larger than my photo, this way I could zoom in to paint the detailed areas easier. I used a document resolution of 300 ppi, which is high enough for print (if I ever chose to print).

Below is what my Photoshop document setup looks like. You can see how I have my “photo” document window on the left, and my “painting” document window on the right.

Create a tracing guide:

One of the most difficult parts of painting is keeping proportions correct. For example, lets say you draw the left eye a half an inch too far to the right. As a result, now the left side of the face may also be drawn a half inch too far to the right.

Now you are left with eyes too close together and a skinny face. And you may not even catch the mistake until half way through your painting. To avoid this problem from the get-go, consider using a tracing guide to assure proper proportions.

You may be thinking “What’s the point in creating this tracing guide when I can just trace directly over the image itself?”. Well, it’s a personal choice I guess, but I don’t like to paint directly over a photograph as it makes me feel like I’m image-editing rather than painting.

I actually find it easier to paint over a flat white color (tracing guide) rather than attempting to paint over a photo itself. It’s tough to distinguish what’s been painted and what hasn’t when painting directly over a photograph. Really, it comes down to what works best for you. For this tutorial, I will be referring to a “tracing guide”, so it’s assumed you are using one as well.

To create your tracing guide, first drag the “photo” document layer to the “painting” document using the “move tool”. Now give the newly dragged layer a name. I named mine “template”, and reduced the opacity to about 50%.

Above the “template” layer, create another layer and name it “tracing guide”. With your drawing tablet pen, begin tracing the important features of the template layer (mouth, eyes, nose, eyebrows, hairline, face contour, neck line).

I wouldn’t get overly detailed here; this is just to help with proportions. Once your tracing guide is complete, you can turn off the visibility to the “template” layer.

Throughout the painting, use both, the “tracing guide” as well as the photo “template” layer as you see fit. The image below shows my tracing guide to the right of my photo document:

Create a painting layer:

You don’t want to paint directly on the “tracing guide”, so lets create a new layer above that one, and name it “painting”. The majority of your painting can be done directly on this one layer.

Things like eyelashes, eyebrows, facial hair, freckles, and hair should be put on separate layers however. We will get to that in a little while. As of now, your “painting” document’s layer list should look something like this:

Creating a path selection:

Next step is to separate your subject’s head and body from the background area. This will allow you to stay inside the lines when painting. It will also allow you to easily place your finished portrait painting onto any background. Lets start with the head. Select the “pen tool” and start drawing a path around the contour of the face (shown in image below).

When your path is complete, go to your path’s palette and give it a name. This saves the path automatically. Now you can access it any time you wish by just going into the path’s pallette like seen below.

Now to use this newly created path, you first have to make it active. To do this, just right click on the path (inside your document window) and chose “Make Selection” from the listed options. When the dialog option appears, just hit ok.

Now you should see the “marching ants” appear where your path was. Just repeat this process when ever you need an active selection to work in.

Painting base layer:

Let’s get some color down. With the “eyedropper tool”, select a neutral skin color from your “photo” document. (Note: when ever I mention selecting or sampling a new color, I’m referring to the photo document).

With the new color selected, chose a soft brush (brush size and pen pressure is up to you) and begin filling in the head selection. If you have your selection activated properly, then everything you paint should stay contained inside the head area.

Adding depth:

When I’m painting I like to reduce the opacity or flow of my brushes quite a bit. 100% is too strong in most cases. Play around with the values to see what works best for you. Tip: the number keys on your keyboard allow you to quickly switch opacity values. 1 is equivalent to 10%, 2 is 20% and so on.

If you are using a pen tablet, one thing to consider when painting is turning on your “pen pressure” in Photoshop’s brush settings. As seen in the pic below, this can be done by changing the “control” setting under “shape dynamics”. Changing the control to “pen pressure” will allow you more control with your paint strokes.

Also in the the brush setting presets is an option called “other dynamics”. I highly recommend you change it’s control to “pen pressure” as well. Rather than trying to explain how these settings will effect your brush stroke, it will be easier for you to just take a minute and familiarize yourself with them if you haven’t already.

Keep in mind, the main settings for your pen tablet are located in the tablet’ program settings. Here you can change the “tip feel”, which determines how hard you have to press down when drawing. My Wacom settings appear in the “System Preferences” on my Mac. They probably appear somewhere in the control panel on a PC.

Now we are going to add some depth to the face. Go ahead and sample a new color from your “photo” document. This time, chose a darker skin tone from a shadowed area of the face. Back in the “painting layer” with your head still actively selected, start painting in the shadowed areas.

Continue sampling colors from the photo document and painting in the appropriate areas using soft brushes set at low capacities. After awhile you will begin to see things like the cheeks, chin, nose, and forehead take form.

If you utilize your tracing guide and reference image throughout the painting, you should be able to move along quite smoothly and problem free. Don’t be worried about mis-painted strokes, just paint over them.

Remember to be patient, the entire process takes some time. Keep experimenting with various brush sizes and capacities, and pen pressures to see what works best for you.

Note: once you have painted a variety of hues in your “painting” document, it’s not really necessary to keep sampling colors from your “photo” document any more. Save the time and start sampling from colors in your painting when possible.

In this image below, you can see my nose is looking pretty good. It still needs more work, but now I’ve got the basic shading and shape how I want it. The great thing about painting digitally is that blending colors is much easier than painting with oils on a canvas.

I find it best to not get too far ahead with any one part of the face. So lets catch up by drawing in the eyes and mouth at this stage. As you can see in the image below, I haven’t added any detail yet because I want to go back in and touch up my skin and facial structure a bit. The cheeks are flat, the chin isn’t defined, and the eyebrows are just brown lines.

The painting won’t look like the subject unless the bone structure is precise. In the image below, you can see the big difference that a little added shading can make. The skin is blended better, the cheek is more pronounced, and the shading around the eye area has been improved. I also added detail to the eyes, eyebrows, nose, and lips; which I describe below.

Eyes:

For the eyes you will be using a harder brush. Make sure you are zoomed in to both your photo and your painting.

For the iris I drew dozens of various colored lines in overlapping fashion. I also added a few freckles and eyelashes; both on separate layers. For the wrinkles surrounding the eyes, use a harder brush and try to draw every wrinkle line individually. The reflections of light were also added to create depth. Here is a zoomed in shot of my eyes:

Eyebrows:

First, zoom in. Create a new layer and name it “eyebrows”. With a small brush size (I used 1 pixel size) begin drawing individual hair strands over the basic shaded brow we created earlier. I lowered my brush opacity a bit when drawing these hairs because 100% tends to leave too strong of lines.

Since hairs are thicker at the root and thinner at the ends, try painting with your pen pressure turned on. Press harder for the hair’s root side, and use less pressure as you reach the other end.

Notice how eyebrow hairs do not all flow in one single direction. This is true for all eyebrows. Also keep in mind that the left and right brows are not the same either. Don’t just create one, duplicate, and flip.

Body:

You may want to create the body on a separate layer. For my painting, my subject is nude, so basically I just created the body like I did the face. I began with drawing a path around the body edge, making the path selection active, and began filling in the area with a neutral skin tone. I then continued to sample various skin colors to add depth and shadow.

If your body has clothing, of course your painting technique will differ. Since clothes are made out of many different types of material, you may have to experiment with various brush types or textures.

Mouth:

Make sure you are zoomed far enough to see the cracks and light reflections of the lips. Before you add those details, first make sure to create some depth by painting in the darker and lighter areas of the lips.

For the teeth, avoid using straight white. If you color sample your reference image, you will see that your teeth are more likely made up of light blues, greys, and yellows. I added a little more border around my teeth to separate them a bit.

Hair:

Drawing hair can get a little tedious; so take a break if necessary. A couple things should be mentioned before starting. First, make sure you put your hair on it’s own layer. It’s much easier to erase the hair than it is to re-paint a screw up on the face. Second, don’t draw all the hair strands the same color. Mix it up a little, regardless if the overall color is dark or blonde. This will add depth.

Ok, lets get started. First turn on the “tracing guide” layer. The hair outline we traced earlier will act as a guideline. Now pick a color that totally contrasts your subject’s hair color. If they are a brunette, chose a blonde color and vise versa. This will make it easier to see which parts of the head have hair drawn and which parts don’t. Here is what my hair looks like in it’s first stages:

With a base in place, start drawing strands of hair. For fine hair like in my painting, I found it better to use a harder brush set at just 1 pixel, with the “flow” set to about 50%. Mess around with the pen pressure settings if you feel the need.

If your subject has long hair like mine, it may be difficult drawing one continuous strand from head to end. Don’t worry too much about doing that. Your hair strands will be overlapping anyway, so drawing with shorter paint strokes shouldn’t be a problem as long as you don’t over do it. Keep filling in the hair area using different shades.

For the blonde hair in my painting, I used dark browns, greys, whites, and yellows. The dominant color will show through as long as you don’t overdo the other colors. Try to avoid using just one color when creating the shadowed area; mix the colors up a bit. Here is my hair with a little more detail added:

If you just keep adding strands, you will eventually begin to see some pretty realistic hair taking shape. If your subject’s hair is straight like mine, try to vary the strand lengths a bit. Also, don’t be afraid to draw in some stray hairs every once in a while.

your hair is looking a bit to uniform throughout; try adding a few more lighter colored strands to show light reflection, and darker strands for the shadowed areas. Here is my hair with even more fine strands added:

Finishing touches:

Hopefully you are happy with the results of your painting so far. Now is the time to go back and make any necessary revisions and add those final details. If you haven’t added the ears yet, go ahead and do so.

People have imperfections such as blemishes, freckles, and scars on their face or body. Adding these will help add to the realism and depth of the painting. Just make sure you create them on a separate layer so you can easily erase any unwanted additions.

Background:

I chose to use a simple gradient for the background to my painting, but chances are you will chose something quite different. Just create a new layer and place it below the previously created layers. Now what every background you chose, it will be on it’s own separate layer.

When choosing a background for your painting there are a couple of things you may want to keep in mind. First consider the direction of the light source. If you find an image with a light source that differs from your subject; you can always use Photoshop’s canvas flipping capabilities (Edit > Transform) as a work around.

Also keep in mind, the over all color of your background will most likely differ from your portrait. This can easily be tweaked by using the color settings in the (Image > Adjustments) menu. The “match color” tool works especially well for this sort of thing.

Completion:

Well, that’s it. I hope your painting turned out great, and you were able to learn a new technique or two. If you have any tips or tricks of your own, please do share. I would like to see the results of your following this tutorial as well. Please email me your paintings. I would appreciate it very much.

Please email me your results, I would love to see what you come up with. If you have any suggestions or tips of your own, please share!

You can expect new Photoshop tutorials, non-biased reviews on design related books and products, free downloads, and more. Suggestions for new ideas or improvements are always welcome.

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This image of hands with eyes has no deep seeded meaning. I just like strange and abstract imagery. The original image is not nearly as wide as shown in this preview. You can view the full size preview by clicking the image above.

The next step involved adding in the images that would work with my scene. I took different parts of various images and blended them together to create the cave wall and rocky floor. After a few painting touch ups and color corrections, my first digital painting was complete.