#70
25th Jun 2010 at 8:01 PM
Posts: 310
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No idea if you can do it with Paint. Never tried it.
What I've been doing with Photoshop has been making a copy layer of the original texture, moving it up to the top, and creating a new layer that I paint on. One color gets picked up for shadows, and there may be a second or third layer if the outfit has different colors in different sections. Using a faded edge brush, anywhere from 9-24 pixels, I'll make lines or dots where the shadows are on the original texture (pay attention to which layer is highlighted before you start, or you'll be painting on the background copy layer instead of the shadow layer!) Using the smudge tool, I smudge the lines and dots until they match the original as closely as possible.
Then click on the background copy layer in your layers palette and slide the opacity to zero so you can see how the shadows look on your texture. If the color isn't right, select Image>Adjustments>Curves. Even if you don't know how to "properly" use this tool, you can play around with it and see what looks right. It's a lot less guesswork than trying to fool around with Hue/Saturation.
When the color looks right, then go to your layers palette and play with the Fill and Opacity. Fill basically changes the size of your shadows. The lower the fill, the more your shadows will retreat from their edges. Opacity changes how much of your texture will show through the shadows.
If you get an opacity that you like, but the color of the shadow doesn't work anymore, try going to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and changing the saturation of the shadows. If you got the color right the first time, this will do the trick. If not, then go back to Curves, but only as a last resort. Once you change the curves, you'll get a COMPLETELY different result when you adjust the opacity of your layer. If your version of PS has Vibrance, that might work, too. It depends on the colors and pattern of your texture.
Keep checking your results in Body Shop. Hit F9 if you want to get rid of the tool tips box on the right and get a better full view. (F9 again brings the tool tips back.)
Once you've got that, do the exact same thing with a new layer for highlights. You may like the look of the highlights layer on top, or you might prefer the shadow layer on top instead.
The nice thing about this is that you can make a mistake and not have to trash your whole project. My artist daughter scoffs at me because using the smudge tool is typical of amateurs, but I'm an amateur, and she's shown no inclination to teach me a better way. So there.