Design a Coldplay/Apple Inspired Portrait in Photoshop
You don’t have to be an obsessive Coldplay fan like me to admire the beautiful effects shown in the latest Coldplay / Apple ad. This tutorial will show how to design portraits based on that style.
Coldplay / Apple Style Portrait
This tutorial will show you how to create a portrait based on the style of the latest Coldplay / Apple Ad featuring “Viva la Vida” from Coldplay. In case you’re not familiar with the commericial I’m referring too, findthatsong has uploaded a copy of it onto YouTube.
Here’s a quick look at what we’re going to create:
Before going any further, I’d like to give a quick shout out to Fabio who wrote an awesome tutorial for a similar effect based on the same ad. Maybe I’m not the only Coldplay fan out there!
Time to begin!
Step 1 – Create the Document
Begin with a document sized to your liking. I’m working at around 750x450px myself, but the exact size really doesn’t matter.
What does matter is the background color though. Using the Paint Bucket Tool, fill your background layer with a dark (nearly black) green or blue (#010500).
Step 2 – Adding Light
Create a new Layer.
Using a large, white, soft brush (500-1000px, 0% Hardness), paint the lower part of your image. The brush should basically extend from the very bottom of your canvas in all direction to the other edges of the canvas.
Lower the Opacity of your new layer to around 70%.
Step 3 – Coloring the Light
For this step, we’re going to be playing with a similar effect that I discussed in my Unique Abstract Website Header Photoshop Tutorial. Create a new Layer, and select a large (400-600px), soft, orange (#f38c11) brush. Paint a large dab to fill the bottom right of the canvas.
Now select a light blue (#2afaf0) and paint in the bottom left of the canvas.
Finally, fill in the top center of the canvas with a shade of purple (#c94ce1).
Set this layer to Overlay.
Step 4 – Adding some Highlights
Create a new Layer.
Using the Brush Tool, and a small (30-60px) soft, white brush, paint a few lines curving around the center of your canvas. Apply a Radial Blur (Filter > Blur Radial Blur), using the Spin blur method with an amount between 50-70. Set this layer to Overlay.
Step 5 – Insert Photo
Time to add a photograph of our subject into the portrait. Going over the process of cutting out a subject is out of the scope of this tutorial, but I will suggest using the Pen Tool to prepare such a cutout.
When you have a cutout prepared, Paste it into a new layer in your document. Line it up so that the highlights seem to be coming from behind it.
Destaturate (Images > Adjustments > Desaturate) the cutout so that the subject is black and white on top of the colored light we created earlier.
Step 6 – Dodge and Burn
In the Coldplay / Apple commercial, the subjects are nearly silhouetted with the light bursting out from behind them. However, the photo I chose is pretty clear, as if there is a light source in front of the subject.
If you have the similar problem on your image, you can fix it using the Dodge and Burn Tools.
Grab the Burn Tool (Located underneath the Paint Bucket Tool) from the toolbox, and in the Options Bar, set the Range to Shadows. Using a large, soft brush, paint over most of your subject to darken it. I’m going to leave a bit of the right side of my subject lit up to show that there is some light reflecting off of him.
You can go back with the Dodge Tool to bring out some brighter highlights if you find it helps light up part of your subject.
Step 7 – Adding the Smoke Effect
There are a few ways we could go about creating smoke in our design (We actually featured an interesting smoke effect in our May Tutorial Roundup), but in this tutorial we’re actually going to use a stock image.
Download the “smoke” stock image from stock.xchng (Requires a free account).
Paste and Transform the smoke stock image so that it’s positioned and sized somewhere over your subject. Set the blending mode for this new layer to Screen.
Screen Blending Mode
Confused about what just happened? The Screen Blending Mode can be very handy sometimes, as any pixels that are black will essentially become transparent in the blended layer.
Step 8 – Adjusting Smoke Color
Using any of the Selection Tools (Magic Wand Works Great), select the smoke from the stock image. Apply a feather to the selection (Select > Feather) of a 1-3px to soften things up.
Create a new layer, and using the Paint Bucket Tool, fill your selection with a light blue/cyan (#28dff5). Set this layer to Color.
Step 9 – Enhancing the Background
Duplicate the Smoke layer (not the color, but the smoke layer – Layer > Duplicate Layer while selected), and move the new layer underneath your subject layer.
Transform the new smoke layer so that it takes up a lot of the background behind your subject. Set this new layer to Color Dodge. You may wish to also apply a slight Guassian Blur to this layer.
Step 10 – Add Dark Lines
Create a new layer underneath your subject. Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, make a long selection spanning about the width of your canvas.
Fill the Selection using the Paint Bucket Tool with a dark color (black will work fine).
Deselect your selection by going to Select > Deselect (Or Ctrl + D).
Now, Transform your black rectangle (using Free Transform, Scale, Rotate, Perspective, or any mix of those you are comfortable with). We want the side of the bar that is going to be underneath our image to be more narrow than the end coming out of our subject (similar to a sunburst effect).
Use the Move Tool to reposition your bar. Set the blending Mode to Overlay. You may consider fading your bar out like I did with a large, soft eraser.
Add a few more of these bars using the same technique.
Time for Polish
At this point, you’ve finished the effect we were aiming for! You don’t have to stop here of course. If you’re going to continue playing with the design, and adding your own finishing touches, here are a few suggestions that may get you started:
- Add a Vignette – Fade out your borders to a dark black color. Since we’re designing a portrait in this tutorial, it’s a really nice way to frame your subject!
- Add some abstract dust – We’ve got a brilliant Photoshop tutorial for adding Abstract Dust and Spray Effects to designs like this which you may be interested in!
- Play with Text – Some clever text placement can really add a lot to a design! White text seems to look really great on top of this effect, especially if you’re using a blocky Type.
As usual, you can grab the PSD Sample to play with and see how we went about doing certain things!
And here is another example of the style put to good use!
An additional sample featuring the lead singer from the band Ocean is Theory. Thanks for letting me use the photograph Josh!
287 Comments
Very nice teaching of this lighting streaks….Keep up your work buddy. Thanks
Flag as inappropriateNice… Thanks for teaching me how to make a background I’ve been dying to make! :D Awesome!!
Flag as inappropriatenice tuts..
Flag as inappropriatevery nice and professional tuts.
Flag as inappropriatehi
Flag as inappropriateCool Effects
Flag as inappropriateall ya’ll niggas bad at this, get a life
Flag as inappropriatehush your mouth!
Flag as inappropriateGood design for my new album “Soul Of Her”
Flag as inappropriatenice tut. that´s what i search for
Flag as inappropriateOmg! I Did a proyect with this tutorial!!!! I Love it! Thanks you sooo mouchh ;D Im growing up with you guys love you And thanks :)
Flag as inappropriateWow totaly off the charts. Wonderful advice shown.
Flag as inappropriatedude! may i know what font did you use so that I can use the same thing to what I had done? thanks! :))
Flag as inappropriateAwsome sauce yo
Flag as inappropriatevist for basic training of photoshop
Flag as inappropriatehttp://training4free.co.cc/Basic%20training/Basic%20training.html
this is very creative and I like it
Flag as inappropriatevery good
Flag as inappropriateThis was really helpful, and really easy to understand (:, most of these are kind of hard to understand, but this was pretty easy, thank you (Y).
Flag as inappropriateThis is definitely one of the best tutorials I’ve ever seen, So pro haha thanks!
Flag as inappropriateNice Thank for shar.
Flag as inappropriateTime to make my own – thanks for sharing!!
Flag as inappropriatenice one..
Flag as inappropriatei love this site
more power and god speed to all the staff of this site as well as with their fellow contributors!.
Sharing is Caring!
so nice,,,
Flag as inappropriateGreat, Thank you for you share.
Flag as inappropriateThanks for this wonderful tutorial! I make my pic like this and I am loving it :)
Flag as inappropriateVery beautiful tutorial! post to webmaster “legitimate work at home jobs”
Flag as inappropriateWonderful tutorial , Thank you for your share!
Flag as inappropriateits so nice yaaar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Flag as inappropriateTks u so much. The article is so helpful.
Flag as inappropriategood idea for simple image
Flag as inappropriatewow Great article, thanks!166
Flag as inappropriatewow Great article, thanks!153
Flag as inappropriatewow Great article, thanks!148
Flag as inappropriatefor the first step
Flag as inappropriatewhen i lower the the opacity of the white
i just get gray
not a gradient effect
help :S?
Great reading! Thanks for sharing
Flag as inappropriatethis is thank you..
Flag as inappropriateWTF!@!! try being a little bit more detailed ayyye???
Flag as inappropriateJeez, it’s like you think were all rocket scientist on here.
mannntaaapppp..
Flag as inappropriatethanx banget…..
fantastic tutorial bro, thank a lot
Flag as inappropriateWOOOOWWW!!! you must be a genius. This is the most confusing tutorial I’ve ever read.
Flag as inappropriateVery beautiful tutorial!
Flag as inappropriateGreat post, thanks! :)
Flag as inappropriateThank you thank you thank you!
Flag as inappropriatethis tutorial is so very amazing
Flag as inappropriateuseful techniques, thanks…
Flag as inappropriateGood post, very informative, I already bookmark it ;)
Flag as inappropriatei need help with the smoke effect??,, i have ps7 and i cant seem to figure it out…??? help plz??? email me:x0inn0c3nt0x@aol.com (yes those r zeros)
Flag as inappropriateWith such a complex email like that, who can really be bothered emailing u?
Flag as inappropriateTks u so much. The article is so helpful.
Flag as inappropriatewhat is the font you used for “Ocean is Theory”?
Flag as inappropriatethis is epic awesome.
also, this helped me find out the awesomeness that is Ocean Is Theory. lol
Flag as inappropriatewow i would have never known how to do tht COOL
=]
Flag as inappropriateAbsolutely fantastic tutorial, thank you for sharing !
Flag as inappropriatenice tutorial, thank you :)
Flag as inappropriateExcellent tut! I think it’s brilliant and very well explained. The outcome looks beautiful. Cheers!
Flag as inappropriateThe smoke effect is cool, but i want to make one myself, i wanna learn how to make smoke…
Flag as inappropriatecool!!!
Flag as inappropriateHow come when I lower the opacity of the new layer to 70% in step 2, the background color goes away and leaves a checkerboard? Am I initially opening a new document wrong? I’ve tried it many different ways and it’s always the same result. If anyone can assist me ASAP, it would be very much appreciated!
By the way, I love Coldplay and I love the Apple ads. I’ve always wanted to design what Apple designs, so this is a great tutorial to practice what they do yet make my own. Coldplay is just an added bonus. Thanks a bunch!
Flag as inappropriateThe checkerboard pattern in the background you are seeing means the background is transparent. Make sure you filled the background, and then made a new layer.
Flag as inappropriateI have just found your site today, and will come back often! Great tuts, awesome work! You have shown some awesome effects and how to put to good use! Thanks so much :)
Flag as inappropriateWhat version of photoshop are we using in this tutorial?
Flag as inappropriateits gud & nc.thx
Flag as inappropriateCool tutorial. http://www.monchee.me . I’ve made my own and for some of my friends… It’s pretty awesome that we could also do this ad. :) Thanks!
Flag as inappropriatethanks for tutor….you have done greet job to ‘how to’X100 bla..bla..bla’.. made some art skill….thanks again David Leggett…
Flag as inappropriateplz tell how to select smoke.any one………………
Flag as inappropriateYou don’t need to do that. Just set the layer to screen or something like that.
Orrr, if you want to select it, Then do it via magic wand tool or if that won’t work Go to select>Color range, the black will not be selected
Flag as inappropriateGreat tutorial! Not too wordy that I wasnt interested (sometimes I don’t like to read that much), and at the same time, gave enough information to really do it. Thanks
Flag as inappropriateCool man… Very good tutorial, and an impressive one. Keep up the good work
Flag as inappropriateWhere is the Overlay thing? i cant find it:S
Flag as inappropriateGorgeous effects! Really, really cool.
Flag as inappropriatethank you , I love it.
Flag as inappropriatewow greats thanks. its very wonderfull
Flag as inappropriateA little bit different… :-)
http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=framdisconk3.jpg
Flag as inappropriateit very usefull to me
Thankyou
Flag as inappropriatethats realy cool!!! hi to all… I´m Asuncion, Paraguay byee!!!
Flag as inappropriateMy attempt:
http://flickr.com/photos/christinelamphotography/2991281999/
Flag as inappropriatehey dude,, this is really cool ,,,excellentoooo..
Flag as inappropriateHey, awesome tutorial!
Flag as inappropriateI just downloaded your PSD and was wondering what font you used for “coldplay”
Could you please let us know as soon as you can!
Thanks alot for the great tut,
Vibe
just showing my work: http://img385.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cpcopyvt5.jpg
Flag as inappropriateI just wanna show you my work Sir . . .
http://images.orkut.com/orkut/albums2/ATYAAABgkXLMjo_ths_Y2o41UL7OYIUhvPIPvGBWfvMMVkxUHwAeEogQqgs4OSWqwjZNgr0_kUMVsulSBjPAMFxe7OEoAJtU9VBVJk3ZosnR-IxG5scPrfH-Py2lSw.jpg
Please revierw it & reply if there is any correction to be made
Flag as inappropriateQue buen Trabajooooo !!!
Flag as inappropriateesta increible ! me gustaria que me ayuden con una foto mia !
Podrian ayudarme !
Gracias !
Anyone know what font COLDPLAY is using?
Flag as inappropriatehttp://www.free-fonts-ttf.org/true-type-fonts/albertus-medium-341-download.htm for album -
Flag as inappropriateCOLDPLAY
A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD
@KingofLeon: I’ll disagree with you, and also point out that we are trying to capture elements like swirling smoke, bursts of light, and other ideas that insinuate motion all in a single frame. For implied motion, I think this tutorial does a good job imitating the ad.
Flag as inappropriateDude, this sucks. Doesn’t even look like the Coldplay Ad. I keep seeing lame attempts to re-create the cloud swirls and energy bursts and its just not happening.
Flag as inappropriateI agree with you, Lame attempt.
Flag as inappropriate[IMG]http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa251/robwoj/vivalavidaLONGGALMOSTDONEtehrevscre.jpg[/IMG]
Thanks.
Flag as inappropriateHere are my two tries, featuring Chris Martin! I know the pen cutout isn’t perfect, but I’m too lazy to correct it. The difference between the two pictures are minuscule but I’m OCD like that, the first one has a little bit of the glow surrounding Chris Martin kind of flowing and overlapping him, displeased with this, I corrected it in the second one.
http://www.addictedblogging.com/ChrisMartin.jpg
Flag as inappropriatehttp://www.addictedblogging.com/ChrisMartinv2.jpg
hi… thanx for da tut.. its help me a lot… Your Awesome…. ^^
Flag as inappropriatethis what i get:..
http://img239.imageshack.us/my.php?image=44711810yj1.jpg
awesome tut….this is wath i get…
Flag as inappropriatehttp://img384.imageshack.us/img384/4379/sfondoficofb6.jpg
i use this one as wallpaper…
and this is the work with my face…
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/2986/iosfondoys5.jpg
i d0nt like it….
you can find the original ad on apple’s website:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/ads/sonic/
Flag as inappropriateNICE But
Flag as inappropriatei dont get the setup of the image do you use CMYK RGB what is the setup ther i do not get the color right and the mask of the smoke not remove compleat the black
what i do rong
thank you
Hi
i really liked your tutorial :)
My two tries:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nithon/2717832240/
Flag as inappropriatehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/nithon/2717045963/
**http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g272/arnaud360/SS.jpg
Flag as inappropriateThank you very much for this great tutorial! Keeep em coming :)
My really nice(ithink) result :
[IMG]http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g272/arnaud360/SS.jpg[/IMG]
Flag as inappropriatethis is a really easy guide even for noobs thnx
Flag as inappropriatei am a photo shop noob here
i couldn’t get photo shop brush to paint the colors i followed exactly what you wrote there
btw nice website
Flag as inappropriatenever mind i got it finally . =)
Flag as inappropriatehey im trying to get the color distribution right but im not getting the same effect you got can u help me out
email- fredy_915@hotmail.com
a video would help me out a on how you made this .
Flag as inappropriateGreat TUT as design is my second string. The rollovers make your explanations really clear and easy to follow.
Flag as inappropriateTried some variations; I liked generating clouds and using that as an overlay instead of the smoke.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arsheffield/2674536019/
Flag as inappropriatehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/arsheffield/2674536019/
If anyone is interested in photoshop magazines and ebooks go check photoprodirect.blogspot.com.Thanks
Flag as inappropriateIf anyone is interested in photoshop magazines and ebooks go check photoprodirect.blogspot.com.Thnks
Flag as inappropriatelove it! Great tut!
http://www.kihitsu.com/images/viva.jpg
Flag as inappropriateThis is exactly what i was looking for …thanks man
Flag as inappropriateHoly crap!!
Flag as inappropriateOcean Is Theory are the freaking shit!
I have seen them at shows like four times.
So weird to see them here.
Really nice effects. For desaturating the portrait image you should probably use channel mixer and check the monochrome option rather than using default desaturation. Normal desaturation sort of deadens the image while channel mixer allows you to make it black and white with nice contrasts.
Flag as inappropriateI found this Tutorial great for creating a header image for my blog.
Flag as inappropriatehttp://anilpatel721.wordpress.com/
I lurrve coldplay to death. that ad such an ace, and i’m gonna try this. :D
Flag as inappropriateI had a go at this tutorial and this is what I came up with.
I thought that it was really straightforward and was really impressed with the result.
http://www.christinelam.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-1294
Flag as inappropriateThis Is A killer Tutorial! You Rock !!
Flag as inappropriategreat one
Flag as inappropriateAhahaha, Viva la Fifi. I love it :)
A job well done Allan!
Flag as inappropriateThought I would give this a shot tonight when I got home. I took a picture of my dog and spruced it up. Would love to hear what you guys think. The cutout of the dog was a little rough because I didn’t feel like taking tons of time to do it. Here’s my result!
Flag as inappropriatehttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/2630099256_c048b1139c_o.jpg
I love this, thanks for sharing it with everyone!
Flag as inappropriateMy result: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e323/YRProcks66/Stuff/highvoltagecopy.jpg
Used this effect with some masks on a client business card. Turned out SWEEET! Thanks for the tut man.
Flag as inappropriateNICE COLORS ,AND GOOD WORK , THANK YOU :)
Flag as inappropriateAwesome tutorial! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Flag as inappropriateAh, I did not know that. Thanks.
Flag as inappropriateThe topic Coldplay is used because this is the effect used in the new Coldplay Apple commercial.
Flag as inappropriateI love the outcome, but I’m wondering why the topic (Coldplay) is so specific. o.O
Flag as inappropriateOutcome: http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/919/kanyewestuk4.png
Awesome tutorial
Flag as inappropriateSeriously….. awesome tut.
Flag as inappropriateEXCELENTE TUTORIAL…
Flag as inappropriate@ David Leggett …Wow! Thanks man!!!
Flag as inappropriate@ ANGST – That would be Caligari designed by Jérôme Berthemet. Hope that’s what you were looking for mate!
Flag as inappropriate…Font I mean
:|
Flag as inappropriateOne question: what source is the one that appears in the final example? , where says “theory ocean is”…
Thanks! :D
Flag as inappropriateI also found you through PSDTuts, and I like what I see. I Will definitely be coming around more often. Thanks for the great work.
Flag as inappropriatehahahah… nice one!
Flag as inappropriateColdplay rocks!!
But I’m gonna do something similar for my fav band, which is Muse!!
xxxx
It is a very good tutorial indeed. I’ve seen a number of comments spread (not here) regarding how the finished images don’t seem to match the quality of the commercial. This tutorial is well done, but I believe that there should be a few more steps involved into creating the effect. The current background is somewhat only half-finished. It needs more depth and a better sense of realism. I’m going to be working on my own concept of Coldplay and I hope that I can find a way to add a few steps onto the end of this tutorial.
Flag as inappropriategreat tutorial
Flag as inappropriateHello David, this my first time visit your great site. I knew it from abduzeedo.com. I think tutorial9 will be one of my favourite sites. Great Works and helpful tutorial!!! God bless!
Flag as inappropriateAwesome tutorial!!
Not as good as I’d hoped but I like it.
(I’m aware of the little mistake in the lower right corner, just didn’t fix it)
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/bookfreak_lilly/coldplay1.jpg
Flag as inappropriatehttp://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/bookfreak_lilly/coldplay2.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/bookfreak_lilly/coldplay3.jpg
awesome!! i’m a coldplay fan too! hehe.. thanks so much.. i just finished this project :D
Flag as inappropriateserendipity! was just browsing some blogs while listening to that track and voila! (cant get that song outta my head!). Tried out the tutorial, just having difficulty with the black lines – and maybe i need a “cooler” photo… thanks!
Flag as inappropriateThanks al! It thrills me that we were featured there this morning, and we’re seeing so many new faces today. They’ve got a wonderful site going over there. Hope you’ll subscribe and join in the discussion whenever you can mate!
Flag as inappropriateVery cool tut man – great work. I really like the rollovers and the Note on the overlay effect.
BTW – found your site through PSDTUTS but I have to say I prefer your style… Thanks!
Flag as inappropriateAppreciate all the feedback folks =) I’m glad you all found it so useful!
Flag as inappropriateStep 4, what is “spin blur method” and how do I do it? Another question on step 4, how did you get your white lines so crisp? Mine look all shaky.
Flag as inappropriategreat job I love the tutorial and i love the way u made it. thats exactly what this site needs to get it going at full steam.
Flag as inappropriateExcellent tutorial! I love it, great job =]
Flag as inappropriateCool, very nice end effect. Capture the feel of the video well :)
Flag as inappropriateThats cool thanks I will give it a try
Flag as inappropriateAmazing!
Flag as inappropriateThank You, David!
Thanks Anthony and blakdev1l! I’m looking forward to seeing your finished version on the forum Anthony ;)
Flag as inappropriatedude! great tutorial! :) may I ask what are the fontnames of the fonts that you have used so that I can use the same thing to what I had done? thanks! :))
Flag as inappropriateNICE TUTE man!! GREAT JOB!!
Flag as inappropriatewow :O just wow :O im going to try this after i wake up later and be sure to post my result on the forums! Give it a crack readers and post your results on the forum :)
Once again, top notch tutorial david!
Flag as inappropriate