Make yourself an Amazing Typographic Portrait
The tutorial is made after receiving a reader’s request. As we know, typographic portrait art takes a huge amount of work. Here is a much simpler version I made, which hopes to give beginners an idea on how to start. This tutorial will show how to create custom brushes and fill patterns. Also you will learn more about selection and posterize tool.
Preview of Final Image
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The texts and images are copyrighted to 10Steps.SG and their respective owners. You CANNOT copy the whole tutorial, either in English or translate to another language. |
Download a nice portrait image here. There is no need to create any document as we will be working on this image directly.
Using the Pen tool, crop away the black areas on both sides below the ears. Double-click on the Background layer on the Layers tab to unlock it and rename as Portrait. Create a new layer below the Portrait layer and fill it with #FFFFFF. Then go to Image > Adjustments > Posterize. Set the Levels to 4.
Hide the Portrait layer for awhile by clicking the Eye icon on the left beside the layer. Using the Type tool with your favorite font and color #000000, type in a few words as shown below.
Now we are going to create a Photoshop brush. To do so, simply make a selection around the first word like what I did below. Go to Edit > Define Brush Preset. There you have it! A new brush will appear under your Brush Preset window. Do the same for the remaining words too.
Next, we are going to customize a Fill Pattern. To do so, merge all your words together as one single layer. Go to Edit > Free Transform. Reduce the size of the words to very small like what I done below. Now hide all other layers except these words. Make a selection around them and go to Edit > Define Pattern. You can find your newly created pattern now in your Pattern Preset window.
We have not much use for the words layer anymore so you can hide it away. Unhide the Portrait and Background layers again. This time make a small selection around the black area like what I did on her neck.
With that selection, go to Select > Similar. This will select all the areas with that particular color.
Before I go on further, try to select the Brush tool and right-click on any part within the document. This is the shortcut for changing Brush sizes and its type. Hide the Portrait layer, leaving the selection loaded. Create a new layer and start to stamp around with the Brushes you created earlier. What you need to take note is to adjust the sizes before you stamp so it fits nicely within the selection. Do a few times with the right-clicking, size adjusting and stamping. Very soon you will get the hang of it.
Realize that there are some parts really small and will be troublesome to stamp into those areas. So what we can do is to fill those areas up with the Fill Pattern you made earlier too. Create a new layer below the stamps. Use the Paint Bucket tool and fill it with your preset pattern.
However, the Fill Pattern made our stamps less visible. So CTRL+left click on your stamps layer to load selections around the words, go to Select > Modify > Expand. Set the Radius to 1 pixel. Then follow by Select > Inverse. Select the Fill Pattern layer and create a Layer Mask with that selection. This will create a 1 pixel border around the stamped words.
Repeat these steps for the other two tones of grey color in the Portrait layer.
And we are done! This is roughly how you should get as your finished work.
Although the black-and-white style already looks great for me, you can also add a texture background and replace the colors to your personal preferences. Hope you enjoy this tutorial. Have fun!
I am Johnson Koh, a graphic and web designer in Singapore. Founded 10Steps.SG with the purpose to share my experiments and interesting design news. Follow me on Twitter here. Other Design Articles You May Find Interesting
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117 Comments | Write a Comment
WOW!! tnks for sharing!!
I’m gonna try it!!
Great taxation images ! Nice work. Thanks for sharing. I really like it.
thanks so much! this tutorial helped so much! i love my final image! very nice of u for sharing this tutorial! this can also be done on photoshop elements 4 =] im glad i got a decent tutorial for my old software lol thanks so much
I seem to be stuck at the step where i am trying to get a border around the stamped words, Is the selection supposed to still be selected when modifying and inversed, and are you supposed to have both the stamp and bucket layers hilighted when doing that step?, if you could send me an email clarifying the steps at that point @ sbarrientez@hotmail.com it would be appreciated, thanks
Steven
i lost using pen tool and crop something
This is awesome, lov tis tut. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks a bunch.. awesome tutorial
WOW! its gr8. i love this tuts.
awsome tut dude…
Great tutorial!
Thank you very much!
i tried to posterize from white layer and it doesn’t work, how come your image got an black and white after the posterize?
That’s a great one, really thank you.
this is good shiit
Erm… thanks
Wow! real nice one, helped me alot on the website i just designing right now
thanks!
i just dont get why the color of the posterized result isnt black and white
Hi, I am a beginner in PS, most helpful, clear tutorial. Thanks!
My attempt: http://www.pbase.com/anuschka/image/122377541
Thx for the tutorial, my attempt can be found here;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotografie_opzolder/4410695758/
Awesome tutorial! I attempted it here: http://acolorlesssky.deviantart.com/art/Kaley-A-Typographic-Portrait-155119807
Will try again, once I find a better picture to go off of.
dude.. dude.. i love your tutorials!
nicely done..
Great job dude!!!
love it!
Effects looks super cheesy. Not at all like a real fitted-type effect. Why would you want to do this?
Because it’s arty?
Could you post a link to a “real fitted-type effect” that you like or better yet have done? This is not an attack so please don’t take it as that (just to be clear). I’d just like to see where you’re coming from for style comparison.
Thanks for the pointers, patrobertson.
We are all here to learn and inspire, including myself. I am always trying out new experiments and sharing with the friends here. It may or may not be the best techniques available but i guarantee that it is original
This tutorial is meant as a basic to those who wish to try out within a short time. Of course we can add in much more details to make it even better with more time.
Well, finally got a chance to do the colour version. Here’s my attempt at your effect:
BW: http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w42/master_blaster_2007/Art/Typo_portrait_David_BW_800px.jpg
Colour: http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w42/master_blaster_2007/Art/Typo_portrait_David_FC2_900px.jpg
Thanks again Johnson. Had fun doing them.
Hey David that looks pretty good! Personally prefer the effect to be in plain black and white. That is also why I ended the tutorial at that stage.
Thanks for trying out. You have done great!
Thanks Johnson.
I’m inclined to agree with you. The colour one is colourful and all but there’s something pristine-like about the plain black and white that I prefer too. Sometimes simplicity is best.
Cheers and keep up the good work.
Look forward to more of your tutorials.
posted wrong link.
pic is here.
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll146/shamaria_s/typ.jpg
thanks
Hello Mari, you have done a fantastic job I must say. Great work!
OoOoooooo Mari, that IS an excellent rendition. It’s awesome.
Johnson, I just want to say again how enlightening this tutorial is. I actually took a crack at it shortly after I posted on Dec 29,’09 and it gave me a lot of pleasure doing it. Did one in BW but held off on posting it cause I wanted to do one in colour too and post at the same time. Gonna see if I can do the colour one soon. Only thing is seeing how awesome Mari’s version is mine looks ordinary in comparison. *sighs*
Hey, great job Mari.
And Johnson, so wonderful of you to put up this great tutorial. Cheers.
Thanks for the tutorial here’s my pic.
This is a really nice…matter of fact beautiful effect but I have to admit it lacks somewhat in instruction detail/ clarity. I’m a professional graphic artist so I could well understand others who may not be as experienced encountering some probs in understanding altogether.
I got through stamping the black area (and filling rest of black with pattern). Proceeded next to stamping the dark gray area. However when I proceeded to fill the rest of the dark gray area with the fill pattern it’s filling with black type instead of dark gray. I’m stumped at this point.
Gotta admit I hardly use the Paint bucket tool. Question is, how do I get, using the paint bucket tool as instructed, to fill the text with the saved pattern fill in any other colour (gray in this case) instead of black?
I tried setting the foreground colour (default Black/White tool pallet) to green, before selecting the Paint Bucket tool, to test but when I try to fill the pattern (Edit>Fill>Pattern) it keeps filling the pattern fill in selected area with black type instead of other colour or gray type.
Any assistance would be appreciated.
Try filling the whole pattern in black, locking the layer transparency, and filling the layer with whatever colour you want it to be. All you have to do is make sure you keep each colour on a separate layer.
Thanks for replying Jocelyn.
Yup, that does work.
Thought about doing it before but didn’t try it.
So the only way to get a (black) fill pattern to appear in a colour other than black is to do it that way?
Somehow I thought it could have been done by choosing a colour before applying. Guess not. That would have been better I think just in case you don’t have the area you want filled on a layer by itself. Fortunately I was using separate layers for each area.
WaaaHHH !
Really nice…!
I love it
thanks for sharing knowledge.
Neat-o. Simple and innovative.
awesome tut, im getting suck on the first step though, i would really appericate a step by step explaination
my email is bklynstfc@aol.com
thanks thanks thanks
http://twitpic.com/usc0x
Here is my version of this. Thank you for this tut.
Great try! Happy to know this tut is useful for you.
hey johnson
texture brother!
could you share that texture
or send my e-mail
chechen04@hotmail.com
thank you
i’ll will try it bro..thanks, loveeeeeeeeett!!!!
Nice tuto bro… but u shud have explained the last step
cool tut but please give us to textures link of your using in tutorial please
nice tutorial, thankx man
Thanks a lot, it is just beautiful
Awesome technique! Although it doesn’t work well with every picture.
I love this idea and keep trying to do it but I must be missing something. Are there steps missing? Please send me a step by step if you have one. I see others have asked. Thanks for this amazing idea.
good tut.. but im new to photoshop and would really like a step-by-step guide on how to do this. Do you mind sending me one?
thanks for the tutorial. loved it. here’s my take on it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndabelardo/4132600313/
I like this. If you could please send me a detailed tutorial would really appreciate.
hi johnson koh im so happy when i saw ur teach. it very good. but can u make one more photo like obama’ photo. you know it the designer typography build text make obama’ face.
i use to make like obama but no good can you show me?
i’m sorry my english very poor
thank u i will try do like u
bye bey !!!
I think you forgot to say that before applying posterize you desaturated the image
However, it is a great tut, it is very useful!
ya he did thanks a lot. I think a lot of the tutorials here are great but they tend to forget a step or two.
hi,its super man
Really pro,
I will try it
Thanks a lot
Keep going
Hy, thanks for writing this tutorial love it
Hey Johnson ty so much i’ve been looking forward to learn this typographic style. But i have a problem with the first step i don’t why i can’t get the same result as u did. BTW: i’m working on another photo.
could you please mail me a more detailed tutorial with screen shots im new to photoshop thanks
its sexy…wats ur numbuh girl
i’ve been wanting to do this forever but i just didn’t know how… thanks for sharing!
Nice, but I thik quiete unfinished tutorial, coloring as a last step missing.
Great typhography effect
like it and use a lot
great piece of art !
thank you very nice
One of the best tutorial. Well explained. Thanks for sharing this nice tutorial.
Great ! love it!
as an aspiring desidner i find this vewi helpful, if u don’t please could you possibly have another tutorial only this time be in coulor?
squab south africa thanks
great tutorial….nice work
Hey …. amazing .. I’ll try it right now.
wowowowowowowowow!!
Nice, thanks
awesum………
very innovative idea
Love this effect, Johnson….Thank You!
wow amazing
Wow wow
This ones awesome man. Keep up bro 
yes!yes.i ♥ typography
wooo, this is the one that i am currently working, post my result on this one
this is the result http://www.flickr.com/photos/orphicpixel/3974613863/ not as quite good as yours
Great tutorial! I will be adding this one to my favorites!
great tut man!
stunning tutorial! I love it