In and out of Photoshop

When most people consider incorporating tactile elements into digital art, they think in terms of a scanned background, or as the basis for a predictable texture effect. This project gets you thinking beyond that – you can do so much more when you incorporate the tactile into the middle of your workflow.

Using Photoshop, we’ll manipulate a number of images to lend them to tracing, before using traditional drawing techniques to create natural, personalised artwork. This is scanned back in and used alongside other elements as the basis for a stunning and original composition. Finally, all the elements are combined to build the files out of alpha channels, solid colour layers, masks and groups. Follow the steps to create impressive art while preserving the original work safely within an alpha channel and enjoying the luxury of being able to edit individual components at any later point.

Click here to download the support files (680KB)