Topaz Software / Discuss

jfdpl686 says:

Great tutorial! Simple yet get the work done beautifuly!

For all people who wanted to know, here it is, our friend Lester just made our life easier... Thank you.

So now, jum in an give ideas, modify and share presets and mix and match this new technique and post it in this thread.

It will be linked to all other tutorials.
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Ah Hman    says:

Thanks..have to try this! Very cool ;-)
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Ah Hman    says:

Here is my attempt with some of your settings

Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

myway4all    says:

The great thing about Topaz Simplify 2 is you could play around with it and get different style images.

Your baseball images look great, it look like someone painted it but it is a photograph.

It is a new whole world for people like me that cannot draw. Topaz makes it happen.
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Jeff Clow    says:

Very cool tutorial on a very cool software capability.

Thanks much for sharing your approach - much appreciated....!
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Jeff Clow    says:

My first attempt using your technique....and to say I was BLOWN AWAY would be an understatement:


Originally posted 37 months ago. (permalink)
Jeff Clow edited this topic 37 months ago.

Geoff in Kingston says:

Nice recipe..... not sure I got the same result but I like it. Probably needed larger areas of solid tones.

Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Ah Hman    says:

too much fun!! thanks!

Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

windrider86    says:

Thanks so much for posting this. I think I have a new addiction! Here is my first attempy using my hubby as an example

Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Jeff Clow    says:

Highly addictive....and it also works well with color to black and white conversions:


Originally posted 37 months ago. (permalink)
Jeff Clow edited this topic 37 months ago.

ImageGenic    says:

Not too shabby! I like this tutorial... thanks so much for sharing. I'd like to play around more with the sliders when i have more time. My Simplify quit working and it took forever for me to track down my user log-in info to purchase a new key.But here is my first attempt:



I have several versions of this image in my stream in one form or another, including a Topaz labs Adjust with the Psychedelic pre-set, which of course was used here.

Thanks again!
Originally posted 37 months ago. (permalink)
ImageGenic edited this topic 37 months ago.

jfdpl686 says:

Where's Trevor??? He liked it too... He will be so happy with this too...

Anyway, guys, now that Lester gave us the inspiration to use again Simplify, I want to remind you about a couple tutorials more and the notorious problem Simplify create... in small areas, it does not render correctly.
Simplify problem
www.flickr.com/groups/topaz/discuss/72157612808761660/

All our tutorial up to day
www.flickr.com/groups/topaz/discuss/72157614327909055/
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

jfdpl686 says:

Now, when you want to have absolute control about the colors you want to show in this kind of sketches, there is an easy way.

Following Lester's instructions:
1. Open the image.
2. Apply Topaz Adjust to your liking.
3. Duplicate the layer.
Now we will apply Topaz Simplify twice in two different layers, so pay attention.
4. Apply Topaz SIMPLIFY. Here is the trick. Use ONLY the “EDGES” mode. Invoke Topaz Simplify, rest all by clicking in the proper button, then click on Edges mode and go into the Edges tab. Pick Mono Edge-normal as Edge type and play with the sliders to get a dark line sketch (tip, increase Edge strength and Fatten Edge, then play with reduce weak and simplify edge to get the best single line sketch). KEEP YOUR SETTINGS!!!! Write them down or better yet, save it as a preset. Apply Topaz Simplify.
5. Now grab the original image (the one you applied Adjust, which shall be your background) and duplicate it. Then move it to the top of your layers.
6. Apply Topaz SIMPLIFY to this top layer. Use the SAME settings you used for your edge sketch but don’t apply it yet. Click on the COMBINE mode. Then go to the Adjust Tab and play with the sliders for a colorful cool effect… then you can go to Simplify tab to enhance further your effect).
7. Create a “show all” layer mask in the top layer. With a soft black brush paint over the areas of color you want to clean so the B&W sketch below will show
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

suziqb    says:

jfsp, could you show an example of your method, please.
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Geoff in Kingston says:

Seems to work well in urban scenes....


Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

jfdpl686 says:

Ok, here’s a better tutorial and example of the process I described in my previous post; as I mentioned, to get a better control on the color areas, we need to create two layers and then hide the parts we don’t want with color. It is the same process as Lester show, only we are creating two layer as follow:

Step 1
Open your original Image. I’m using this flowers to explain the process.


And Apply Topaz Adjust or anything you want to enhance your picture. Here I used Topaz Adjust with the Neutralizer preset.


Notice that I always leave my background alone, so if I need a detail, sample a color or check the original picture, I have it there.

Step 2.
Duplicate the layer (In this case “Base” and apply Topaz Simplify. Here is the trick. Use ONLY the “EDGES” mode. Invoke Topaz Simplify, rest all by clicking in the proper button, then click on Edges mode and go into the Edges tab. Pick Mono Edge-normal as Edge type and play with the sliders to get a dark line sketch (tip, increase Edge strength and Fatten Edge, then play with reduce weak and simplify edge to get the best single line sketch). KEEP YOUR SETTINGS!!!! Write them down or better yet, save it as a preset. Apply Topaz Simplify; you can see the settings I used in the screen capture.


Step 3
Click on the original Image (In this case Base) and duplicate it. Move it to the top of the layers as shown.


Step 4
We will apply again Topaz Simplify, but this time we want color and effect into our SAME sketch, so when we invoke Topaz Simplify, it wil have our latest preset (or use the preset you saved in the last step). Remember, for the “edges” you have to use the same settings you used in the last step; then Click on the COMBINE mode. Then go to the Adjust Tab and play with the sliders for a colorful cool effect… then you can go to Simplify tab to enhance further your effect).



Step 5
Create a “show all” layer mask in the top layer.


Step 6
Whit a soft black brush paint over the areas you want to hide and therefore reveal the B&W sketch below. Here I’m showing the layers and the mask I used.



And then you have your final image where you only have color in the areas you want.


Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Jeff Clow    says:

Thanks for the latest addition to this tutorial discussion.......very helpful.
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Peter2010    says:

wow!
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Harry Limey    says:

Some great stuff on here, and it's very nice when someone contributes such a good tutorial too.
That's very artistic Jorge.
I just had a suggestion from Delos on a picture I submitted which I will mention a little later.
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Harry Limey    says:

I posted this image which had been through Adjust and Clean,
I created a copy layer, as Jorge does, then used the Buzz sim preset in Simplify, but reduced the effect somewhat, so that I ended with how the background looks now, I also used the line feature to strengthen the main lines but to remove all the small and weak lines.
I then created another copy above the Buzz version, and enhanced that in adjust to bring out the colours and strengthen the detail.
I then put this second layer through Clean 2 and pushed the Clean slider over to 4 or 5.
I liked the glossy effect which was created on the Mercedez,
I then masked back to get to the sort of semi matt cartoon finish for the background of the image (All but the car itself in fact)

Delos then suggested I might like to make the background even less intrusive by running the Underpainting preset in Simplify........


I tried the underpainting preset and pulled the saturation slider back to the left to remove even more colour, and make the car stand out even more, might be very useful for a product shot!!
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

DianeWorth    says:

Tried this out as per original instructions. I also used a lot of noise reduction (3.0) on each just after choosing Psychedelic, before the rest of the steps.





Originally posted 37 months ago. (permalink)
DianeWorth (a group admin) edited this topic 37 months ago.

Jeff Clow    says:

The more I play with the combination of Topaz Adjust and Topaz Simplify....the more I realize that it allows all of us who can't draw or paint to actually feel a bit like an artist:


Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

RogerM2009 says:

I finally got around to trying LesTer's Cannery Row effect. Must confess I'm usually not a big fan of this type of image manipulation BUT this was kind of cool and thanks to Topaz products, it's not only fun to do I like the results. This first one is LesTer's effect exactly. Cowboys on Cannery Row

The second is a variation of what Jorge described. I followed his steps exactly except at the end I converted the top layer (the second simplify) to COLOR BLEND mode, the middle layer (first simplify) to OVERLAY MODE . I thought the resulting blend, while not as colorful, still very interesting.. I'll gave to experiment with this some more.




Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

RogerM2009 says:

I also wanted to add, I really like the San Antonio River Walk that Jeff did--Nice Job.
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

myway4all    says:

I too cannot draw or paint, but Topaz makes photographers look good. Topaz Ajust and Simplify is a powerfull plug in, when combine, makes it just that more powerfull. The combination of those 2 plug in is what I used the most, I just like the out come. Everyone should play with those 2 plug in, they do so much to the images.
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

jfdpl686 says:

Great effect just changing a blending... wow...
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

catz1779 says:

I saved the instructions for this one. I can't wait to try it.
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

jfdpl686 says:

Great Melissa, remeber to post your results here too...
Posted 37 months ago. (permalink)

Cath S (sn000py)    says:

heres my results of the first one I like, I have done others but wasnt happy... Still would like more control on the colouring, the 2 darker signs I'm not happy with, but overall I like it.

jfdpl686 says:

Cath, It looks very good!
You have a lot of control with color... remember to use different opacities when recovering it...
Now, if you want even more control... create several layers! and use different opacities for each one and you will have an infinte number of tones...
Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

Cath S (sn000py)    says:

thks...
I printed off what you had written above ^^^ on the colour control, so I will practice.. thks for your reply
Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

Peter2010    says:

Looks interesting. Just got Simplify so I'll give it a go
Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

ImageGenic    says:

Yay!!! I finally got back to Houston, Texas from a vacation in Orlando, Florida.
I'll be putting up some pics as soon as I have the energy after that 17 hour drive!

Here's one of my poolside:


Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

Peter2010    says:

Tried out the original directions from "myway4all" but lost all the colour in the result. Any ideas what I am doing wrong of failing to do would be much appreciated.
Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

jfdpl686 says:

In Simplify make sure you're not applying only "edges" .
I'm at work so I don't have it right now but Simplify presents 3 previews color, edges and combined (or the such) make sure you're in combined.

Now, remember to play with all the sliders; not all pictures are good for this method since some tones are similar and when you revome one all could go away... think as a low key picture and you want to remove the darks...
Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

Cath S (sn000py)    says:

Peter2010    says:

Many thanks "jfdp1686". You were right - I didn't have the combine active. Looks great.
Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

Scott (sfinley_nh)    says:

very cool effect - I will have to try this!
Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

tbegor says:

My first attempt at using this technique..and I see a lot of possibilities here. Looking forward to doing some more playing with this. :-)


Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

jfdpl686 says:

wow.. that is very nice!
Posted 36 months ago. (permalink)

Sully_C5er says:

I thought I would give it a shot too...

marina0195    says:

Hi, i tried tutorial from myway4all
here is the result.
Thanks for the tutorials.. just learning and loving what can do with Topaz
Posted 35 months ago. (permalink)

sal4gal says:

Thank you for all of the examples and especially the steps (tutorial) to achieve the looks. I am new and this artwork is very exciting!
Posted 29 months ago. (permalink)

tennie2    says:

I love this. Can see many possibilites for different looks. I tried it with a combination of the 2 different techniques and continued with BuzSim, an art effect in PSE, blending with soft texture and a watercolor wash.


Posted 29 months ago. (permalink)