Picture references.

This is my final product of the wallpaper.


and below are the pictures I used.

E-wallpaper

The E-wallpaper is finally done! I'm doing Thailand's Loy Krathong festival a.k.a. Festival of Floating Bowls. The detailed description is in the previous post.

Now, here are the steps to the completion of my wallpaper:

Firstly, you have to open Photoshop in order to begin.
Clcik on File > New and customize the size to be an A4 with a resolution of 72 pixels.

Secondly, you open up the picture that you want to use.

I cropped the image out using lasso tool.

This is the image after cropping out.

After that, I use the eraser tool to erase off the extras.

You can set the brush size by just right-clicking the mouse.
You can even set the hardness of the eraser as well.

Next, I open another image that I want.

Repeating the same steps as before, cropping it out with lasso tool.

Right-click to select copy and paste or using keyboard shortcut, Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V to copy and paste the images to the same location.

After that, erase off the excess of the background that is not needed using eraser tool.
Set the hardness to 0% to get a blurry effect.

Double click on the background and adjust it's setting.

And here is the outcome with colour overlay.

To open a new image, repeat the same steps again by clicking File > Open.

Select the image that you want and open it.

This time, I didn't make any changes. I just apply the image right at the very back.
Arrange it in the layers.

I opened another image but I didn't crop out this time. Instead, I just use the eraser tool to erase the background and keep on the lotus.

Zoom in or Ctrl + to see the edges more clearly.
This is the outcome.

Copy and paste the lotus image with the rest. Using selection tool, move the image to where you want it to be.

Lock all other layers except the one that you want to work on to make some adjustments.
I erased off the dark sky to make the fireworks more visible.

Using selection tool, select the image and copy it.

Paste it on the your wallpaper. Then adjust to where you want it to be.

Next, use text tool to type out the words of your choice.

Select the type of font you want in the type gallery.
You can also adjust the size of the words and the colours.

Move the words around to place it where you want it to be.
Make sure the words are visible.

And this is the final outcome. =)

Loy Krathong Festival

I've finally settled down to do Thailand's 'Loy Krathong' Festival for my wallpaper after much research and thinking. There are so many festivals around the world but why did I choose this? Well, it first caught my attention when I read about Buddhist Festivals and Special Days on the net.

Loy Krathong Festival or Festival of Floating Bowls
At the end of the Kathin Festival season, when the rivers and canals are full of water, the Loy Krathong Festival takes place in all parts of Thailand on the full moon night of the Twelfth Lunar month. People bring bowls made of leaves (which contain flowers) candles and incense sticks, and float them in the water mainly in rivers, canals, ponds and the sea. As they go, all bad luck is suppose to disappear. The traditional practice of Loy Krathong was meant to pay homage to the holy footprint of the Buddha on the beach of the Namada River in India.


Below are pictures of Loy Krathong Festival celebrated in Thailand:

This is not done by me.

Floating candle bowls on the river.

Lotus flower makes it even more beautiful.

Candle-lit lanterns in the water. BIG ONES!

Intricately folded banana leaves, in the shape of lotus petals.
So pretty and colourful!

There is a meaning of lotus flower in Buddhism.

In Buddhism, lotus flowers mean purity of speech, mind and body rising above the waters of desire and attachment. The lotus is one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols. Different colours of lotus are symbolically used to represent aspects of perfection. There are four colours , which are pink, blue, red and white.

• Red represents the heart; it's purity, original nature, compassion, passion, love and other qualities.
• White symbolizes spiritual perfection and complete mental purity.
• Pink represents the Buddha and it's supreme lotus.
• Blue means wisdom, knowledge and victory over senses.

So, this is what I'm going to do for my assignment 1 - festival wallpaper.
I'm still new to Photoshop but I will try and give my best shot.


Information source: http://www.buddhanet.net/festival.htm

Working with layers

Introduction:

Layers are the substance of Photoshop. All image modification in Photoshop are done with layers. All image pixel information resides on at least one layer. Images can be constructed on multiple layers with great effect. The ability to stack image elements to achieve a final result is what layers are designed for. Yet, this is only part of the story. Understanding and using layers to their full ability will be the difference between producing good work and producing great work.


To create a layer,

FIRST,

I choose an image from the web.

I've selected this image as my background.


SECONDLY,

To open an image, click on File > New to select the image you want.

A layer is formed when you open an image.

To create a text, click on the 'T' from the toolbox

A new layer is formed from the text.

You can also change the layer visibility.

You can also select the opacity on the top right corner.

The type of layer of can be changed.

Layers can also be locked.

and it's DONE!

Now, it can be saved.



Select the type of file you want to save as.