In this tutorial, you will learn the process of how to create this great-looking, runic magic photo effect in Photoshop.
This tutorial is of intermediate difficulty and I recommend that you have sound knowledge of layer blending, image adjustments & masking, prior to attempting this tutorial.
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Here is a preview of the final effect: (click to enlarge)
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OK Let’s begin!
To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:
Step 1
Create a new document sized 1300px * 700px with black background. Load the cliff stock image into Photoshop, select the following portion:
Copy and paste the selection to our document, use a soft eraser to fade the edge of the rock so it blends into our background:
Apply the following image adjustment layer on top:
Levels
Paint or render some cloud around the rock, and this is the effect so far:
Step 2
Load the model image into Photoshop, copy & paste it onto our document. Resize and place the model at the centre:
Apply the following image adjustment layer as clipping masks to the model layer:
Black & White
I decided to retain some hair & face colours on the right side, so I added the following layer mask to the above Black & White adjustment layer:
Levels
Curves
Use a soft black brush, paint some shadow under the model as shown below:
Step 3
Load the “nebula 1” image into Photoshop, select the following portion:
Copy & paste the selection to our document, use a big soft eraser, fade some parts of the nebula as shown below:
Use the Lasso Tool with 30px feather, select the following portion from the nebula stock:
Copy and paste the selection to our document:
Duplicate this copied nebula layer a few times, move the duplicated layer around the model as shown below:
Tip: use the free transform tool to adjust the shape and size of the nebula to increase variety.
Add nebula around the facial area:
Add some nebula colour over the rocks by duplicating the existing nebula layer, make sure you set the layer blend mode of the duplicated layer to “screen”:
Step 4
We will add a few runic symbol around the model int this step. Use the Ellipse Tool with the following settings:
Draw a circle as shown below:
Change the layer blend mode to “overlay” for this circle layer:
Duplicate it and resize the duplicated layer to smaller one:
Load the runic symbol into Photoshop, select a symbol:
Copy & paste the selection to our document, place it within the circle as shown below:
Repeat the process, add more symbols into the circle:
Then merge all the symbol layers into one, change the layer blend mode of this layer to “overlay”. You will have the following effect:
Step 5
Load the “nebula 2” stock image into Photoshop, select the following portion:
Copy & paste the selection onto our document, set its layer blend mode to “lighten”:
Apply the following levels adjustment to this nebula layer:
Duplicate this layer a few times and scatter them around the canvas, you will have the following effect:
I further adjusted the colour balance of the entire image, and this is my final result: (click to enlarge)
That’s it for this Photoshop tutorial! If you have any questions, simply leave a comment below. Till next time, have a great day!
