When creating collages, it is often necessary to draw a flat surface. If the texture and size of such a plane does not really matter to the final result, the surface will be denoted by casting shadows from objects on it. A plane painted in a specific color and covered with a texture can be created using the fill and transformation tools of Photoshop.
It is necessary
Photoshop program
Instructions
Step 1
To indicate a plane using a shadow, load a file with an object that will cast this shadow into Photoshop using the Open option of the File menu. If you are dealing with an object on a transparent background, select it by clicking with the Ctrl key pressed on the layer thumbnail. An object on a colored background can be selected with the Lasso tool or the Magic Wand.
Step 2
Use the Ctrl + Shift + N combination to paste into the document the layer on which the shadow will be located. Fill the selection with a dark color by turning on the Paint Bucket tool. Use the Ctrl + D keys to remove the selection. Using the Gaussian Blur option of the Blur group of the Filter menu, slightly blur the edges of the created preform.
Step 3
Warp the resulting shadow using the Distort option in the Transform group of the Edit menu. Drag the anchor points of the frame with the mouse so that the shadow of the object is lying on the plane. The degree and direction of deformation of a dark silhouette depends on the degree of illumination of the object casting the shadow and the angle at which the light falls on it.
Step 4
Adjusting the Opacity parameter in the layers palette, make the shadow transparent. If you worked with a picture on a colored background, turn on the Eraser tool and erase the excess parts of the dark layer overlapping the object.
Step 5
If you need a plane without objects, use the Ctrl + N keys to create a document with a transparent background and fill it with color. If necessary, add a texture to the picture using the Textutizer filter, the settings of which are opened by the option from the Texture group of the Filter menu.
Step 6
Expand the workpiece at the desired angle using the Perspective option of the Transform group. If the texture at the bottom of the image is stretched during the transformation, reduce the height of the image.
Step 7
If necessary, you can give the drawn plane additional realism by changing the depth of field in the image using a gradient map and the Lens Blur filter. To do this, add a layer to the document, on which the depth map will be located.
Step 8
Using the Gradient Tool, fill the layer with a linear gradient from black to white. The areas of the plane corresponding to the black zone of the map will retain their original sharpness, the fragments that fall into the white area will become blurred.
Step 9
Select all the contents of the gradient layer and copy it using the Ctrl + C keys. Go to the plane layer and open the Channels palette. Use the Create a new channel button to add a new channel and paste the copied map into it using the Ctrl + V keys. Turn off the gradient in the layers palette with the Hide Layers option of the Layer menu.
Step 10
Change the depth of field by opening the filter settings with the Lens Blur option in the Blur group of the Filter menu. In the Depth Map panel, specify a channel with a depth of field map. It is named “Alpha1” by default.
Step 11
If you are going to use the drawn plane in the collage, save it with the Save option of the File menu in psd format. You can use a layer with a depth-of-field map when rendering the same map for objects inserted on a plane.
