March 2014 Giveaway - Wisps of Smoke and Steam

[handrawn]

that is one realistic match Rik, and it is very effective in the background you have chosen, I would be proud of that myself if I had done it...

[Crow Haven]

Great burnt match, Rik!

I used a wisp for a firey effect on the cartoon dragon.

[Gare]

Care to share, Maya, how you tinted the smoke?

Did you use the Contone feature?

-g

[Crow Haven]

Hi,
No. Since the wisp is a png I just used PS to quickly effect a color change on the wisp and create another png file. Any color can be used, and I was tempted to use the blue fire also as it really looks cool.

[Gare]

Hi,
No. Since the wisp is a png I just used PS to quickly effect a color change on the wisp and create another png file.

The same can be done with Contoning in Xara, one might argue that it's even faster than using Photoshop's Gradient Map, which is essentially the same thing in Xara.

1. Select the bitmap.

2. Press Ctrl+E to bring up the Colour Editor.

3. Probably the Light Contone will already be your choice in the drop down box at top. That's what you want. Set your color mixer thing there to HSV, and then move the Hue/Saturation indicator in the color field to a bright orange or whatever, the Dark Contone should be black and it already is if you check it from the drop-down.



It's news to some, bizarre to others to be able to remap a continuous tone photo (con-tone) and an underused feature in Xara. Admittedly, there's a lot to learn since the program reached maturity several years ago. You know me: you even helped me with one or two of my Photoshop books. But the company wants to LOAN you the program for what we used to pay retail to OWN a disk, and I'm getting to that point where I'd prefer to stay in one program when possible, witrhout compromising.

My Best,

Gary

[Crow Haven]

That's one way to do it. I didn't even use the PS gradients though, just the color variations mode. Then I liked the added depth and highlights when using the color dodge, which varied the depth of colors in the wisp more than just using one tone throughout the wisp. It's all good!

[theinonen]

Instead of using those files directly as PNG images with an alpha mask, there is another possibility to get rid of the alpha channel and then use them itself as a mask.

It opens up many interesting paths to experiment with.

[Rik]

Your match stick looks a lot more photorealistic than mine, Rik. I didn't do the burnt paper/wood, nor did I char the match head.

Is that the candle you used to light my birthday cake last year?

And if so, I don't think you put it out completely.

-g

Thanks, Gary. That matchstick has done a lot of work. So, I thought it was time to put it out!

that is one realistic match Rik, and it is very effective in the background you have chosen, I would be proud of that myself if I had done it...

Thanks for your kind words, Steve. If you would be proud of it, then I'm doubly proud.

Great burnt match, Rik!

THanks also, Maya.