****WARNING****
this tutorial assumes a certain amount of knowledge regarding the use of layers, filters, and the tools of photoshop. I am using CS3, but this technique should work for any version that uses filters


Step 1.

Open up a nice, large photo of the car that you would like to use. The one I am using here measures about 1900 x 1200 pixels (I wasn't kidding when i said large ).

pictures taken at around midday on a sunny day seem to work best for this technique, as do photos where there's not too many objects reflecting off the paint





Step 2. using the polygonal lasso tool, highlight the car and shadow.



now cut it and place on a fersh new background of white or off-white.... I used the forum background color [141,141,141]





Step 3.

Separate the shadow of the car from the car istelf with the polygonal lasso and give the shadow its own layer behind the main car view layer

now, keeping the selection of the shadow, paint the shadow layer pure black with the paintbrush tool

it should look like this when you are done





Step 4.

now, deselect and go back to the car layer. Under the filter menu, click on Filter>Artistic>Watercolor...

change the sliders so that they are set to

Brush Detail: 14 (max)
Shadow Intensity: 0 (min)
Texture: 1 (min)

and click OK

your project should now look something like this



Step 5.

again, go to the Fliter menu and hit Filters>Artistic>Poster Edges...

change the settings to

Edge Thickness: 9
Edge Intensity: 4
Posterization: 6 (max)

and click ok

your project should now look like this



Now you have little scratches and speckles and other irregularities. we will fix this in the next step
NOTE: if you are having trouble keeping the irregularies to a minimum, try playing with the "Edge Thickness" and "Edge Intensity" settings on the poster edges filter

Step 6.

Time to fix those imperfections!!

Here is where you get to be artistic. We are going to use the paintbrush and smudge tool (looks like a hand pressing its index finger on the canvas) to get rid of the dirt on your picture

For places where the color is pretty uniform, you can just use the eyedropper tool to select a similar color and paint over the irregularities with the paintbrush

If the color fades from one color to another (like white to grey), use the smudge tool to kind of rub out the dirt in that area. Kinda like you would rub dirt off with your thumb if you saw some on your freshly waxed car. Make sure the check box titled "fingerpainting" is NOT checked

we wont worry about the windows for now

when you are done, it should look similar to this





Step 7.

now we will fix the windows

using the polygonal lasso tool again, highlight all the winows like so




now, we will simplify the colors on the windows. this is completely up to you on how much detail you want. Generally, I try to use only 1 or 2 colors per window, sometimes 3.

For my windshield here, theres black, and a medium cobaltish blue
For the drivers front window, theres black and a very dark navy blue
For the rear quarter window, its just dark navy blue or black

using the paintbrush tool, I separated each window into those colors using fluid shapes, and this is how it turned out

deselect the windows when you are done





Step 8.

The car has all the bodylines outlined, but there is no outline around the body itself. To fix that, open the Layers menu to Layer>Layer Style>Stroke...

change the color to black, and change the thick ness to match your other lines






Step 9.

Now do all of the previous steps with 2 other views of the car. I chose the grille and the rear for mine

Make sure to put these on a layer below the main view of the car, but above the shadow layer, and merge them together smoothly using a combination of the paintbrush tool and proper proportion





Step 10.

Now, on the shadow layer, use the paintbrush to give a black backing to your image

then, ad a signature and a few details if you desire, and you're done!

 

pretty nice tut, i'll try it out once i get my new computer. This thing runs CS2 like crap[:@]

 

finally, i've been waiting for this tutorial. Anyway thanks for the nice writeup, i think i'll try it tonight

 

its been sticky'd

 

Very nice tutorial Joolander

 

[sm=shades.gif][sm=wootwoot.gif]

 

i think i have you beat

3100x 2900 pixels...

 

if you end up doing this, post up results!!, id like to see them


also, fuzzy, what camera are you using that lets you take a pic that big?

 

its probably about a 6.5mp camera if its taking pictures on its highest resolution.

 

really?

i need to figure out my camera better then