Make Silhouette Art In Photoshop

Make Silhouette Art In Adobe Photoshop
by: Grant Freeman

This article will assist you with making a subject in a Photograph into silhoette art.

If you're wanting a simple black and white image to make silhoette art in photoshop, click the link for that article.

Onward!

There's no doubt that Photoshop is the best tool to make silhouette art. Adobe Illustrator comes in at a close second in my book.

To begin, I always suggest working in 300dpi for a photograph or 600dpi if you want nothing but a black and white image for use as clip art or illustration- The black being the subject, and a white or transparent background.

In other words, make the master file.

This setup leaves lots of different options open to you, especially if you think you might be using this silhouette for different areas like the web, flash, in a catalog, for a brochure, a poster, or a book cover.

Even if all you want is an image for a webpage, you may find that you'll need that 600dpi version for printing at a later date, so plan ahead and save time.

I've had clients that want a simple image for a website, then a few weeks later they want to use it for print. I always make a 300 dpi master if it's something that might be open to other areas of use.

The first thing you want to do is open the photograph in photoshop.

1. Now, with the LAYERS PALLET open, make a new adjustment layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Levels).

You'll want to adjust all three sliders that you see. The far right slider will adjust the darker pixels of the image, the middle adjusts the mid frequency pixels, and the right slider adjusts the highlights. Move the right slider toward the middle slider to darken the image.

2. When you've moved the left slider inward, you'll need to adjust the left slider inward as well.

3. Next, select and move the middle slider so the photo looks natural, and be careful not to white out, or blackout areas of the photograph. What you want is an image that is darker, but has a natural color curve with maximum color range.

You're adjustments to these sliders will vary depending on the type of photograph you're dealing with.

4. Adjust the exposure to achieve balance, but don't try to make the subject black. We'lll do that in a minute. What you're going for here is to get close in making your subject a silhouette.

When you're satisfied with your level adjustments, click OK.

Make Silhouette Art In Adobe Photoshop by: Grant Freeman

Make Silhouette Art In Adobe Photoshop
by: Grant Freeman