People in photos can also be given superhero-type costumes with graphics programs
SLAM! BANG! POW! Make your boring picture look like a retro comic book cover! Study some old comic books to get ideas, and then apply them to your photo. With all the computer software available, drawing and design abilities are not necessarily required, though they are helpful. The average person should have enough skill to make it happen. Then you can thrill your friends and family with your newly-altered retro comic book cover photo!
Instructions
1. Use a digital camera to take a photo and move it to your computer through your USB port, or Scan an image in and save it as a jpeg or bitmap file.
2. Open a picture in photoshop. Click "File" on the top menu bar and select "Open" from the drop down menu. Pick your file and click the "Open" button. Click "Image" from the menu bar and click "Adjustments" and then "Levels" from the drop down menus. Change the Input levels so there is a higher contrast in the picture, meaning that there are less subtle areas. Comic covers were traditionally drawn in high contrast since the only options for drawing then (without the use of halftone screens for value) were the stark black and white look of pen and ink. Make your photo reflect this by increasing the contrast.
3. Select "Filter" from the "Image" drop down menu. Select "Artistic" and then "Film Grain" from the menus that pop up. The photo should now have a graininess that is similar to the dot color patterns used in the comics of old. Increase this effect by adding a halftone screen. Select "Filter," "Pixelate," and then "Color Halftone." Set the maximum radius to something that increases the dot pattern look.
4. Add text to create a logo by using the text tool in the tool bar on the left. Click the icon and start typing. There are also free font sites which can be used to add logos that look like retro comic book cover lettering.
5. Adobe Illustrator can be used to create logos. They can then be dropped into Photoshop documents with ease. Open Illustrator and click on the text tool. Start typing the text in whatever font you wish. Use the key combos of "Shift+Ctrl+ to increase or decrease font size and and "Shift+Ctrl+[ or ]" to increase of decrease space between letters. Select "Type" and "Create Outlines" from the drop down menu. This allows you to alter individual letters. Pick the "Direct Selection" tool in the tool bar and click on the small blue boxes to move parts of each individual letter. Copy the image by using the key combo "Ctrl+C." Go to Photoshop again and type "Ctrl+V" to paste the logo into the document as a smart object.
