How to Create an Epic Portal Scene in Photoshop

How to Create an Epic Portal Scene in Photoshop
How to Create an Epic Portal Scene in Photoshop
portal15[3]
portal15a[3]

Step 16

In this step we'll add more light in front of portal. Make a new layer and use soft brush with color #ffd865 painting on this part and then set the mode to Overlay 70%. There is part I paint with brush 100% opacity ( in front of portal) and with 70% opacity ( around this part):

portal16[3]
portal16a[3]

Step 17

To make some light rays going out from the cleft, I use a new layer. Use brush with color #ffd865 to spot on the picture as shown below:

portal17[3]

Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to stretch it longer:

portal17a[3]

Set the mode to Overlay 70% and you can use layer mask to clear any unwanted parts.

portal17b[3]

Duplicate this ray and move it to the right:

portal17c[3]

Duplicate and move to the center and increase opacity to 100%:

portal17d[3]

Step 18

Open man stock. Isolate the man, downsize and place him in front of portal:

portal18[3]
portal18a[3]

Name this layer as "man".

Create a new layer under man layer. Use same techniques done in step 8 to make shadow on the land for the man. Call it "man shadow 1":

portal18b[3]

To create cast shadow to make him really look like standing on the land, create a new layer between man and man shadow 1. Use soft black brush with very small size ( 3-5 px) to paint under man's feet.

portal18c[3]

Step 19

To change color and light/darkness of the man to fit background I use some adjustment layers above man layer with Clipping Mask:

Go to Layer-New adjustment layer- Curves:

portal19[3]
portal19a[3]

Selective Color:

portal19b[3]

Hue/Saturation:

portal19c[3]

On Curves layer, use soft black brush to clear the unwanted effect on man arms:

portal19d[3]

Step 20

To darken the shirt as it's too bright against the dark background I use a new layer with Clipping Mask and take brush with color #202229. Paint over the shirt and change the mode to Multipy 80%:

portal20[3]

To darken jeans I use brush with color #1b2030 painting on a new layer and set the mode to Multipy 100%:

portal20a[3]

Step 21

In order to make some glowing light for the man , first I use Inner Shadow effect. Right lick man layer, choose Blending options. I use a bright yellow for light effect (# fde6c6) :

portal21[3]
portal21a[3]

Step 22

To make this light more visible, I use three layers with Clipping Mask for the man. Take soft brush with very small size and color #ffd865 painting over man contour. You should do it gently and subtly and erase any unwanted effects. I change first layer to Color 100%, the rest as Normal 80% and Overlay 80%:

portal22[3]

Step 23

I use some adjustment layers which are set on the top ( non-Clipping Mask) to change color of picture.

Selective Color:

portal23[3]

Color Balance:

portal23a[3]
portal23b[3]

Step 24

To increase the darkness for sky, make a new layer on the top. Use soft brush with color #56707d painting on two edges of sky and put the mode as Multipy 100%:

portal24[3]
portal24a[3]

Step 25

In final step I use a Levels layer to increase contrast for whole picture, especially the light. Go to Layer-New adjustment layer-Levels, decrease the midtones but increase the shadows and highlights:

portal25[3]

Use soft brush on Levels layer mask to clear the contrast of sky and on the land:

portal25a[3]

Final Results

image

Download the PSD

Portal.zip

Tutorial by Jenny Le

avatar0[3]Thank you for following this tutorial. I hope you found something useful in it. Let me know by leaving your comment here or contact me via my website. Have fun with your day!
- Jenny

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26 comments on “How to Create an Epic Portal Scene in Photoshop”

  1. I received an email with a link to this tutorial. It's pretty old, so some of the links to images we can use, are gone. Could someone help me find something like them that I can use?

  2. Excellent! Very well explained tutorial. Found a cool epic comet on pinterest that could fit to the nature of the pic.

  3. I don't know what shall I do, because I have trouble with Step 7. I could create the clipping mask with one of the portal's side but I can't do it with the other part... If I create the clipping mask the whole part disappear. With the other part it worked perfectly. Help pls! :(

  4. Great tutorial. Thanks for sharing. Excellent photo manipulation, by the way, with the light glow providing a nice touch.

  5. this tutorial was awesome!!!!!!! It was easy to understand and it really got me to explore PS more and do some problem solving, for my computer was being stubborn and not letting me do certain features. :)
     
    i give it a 10/10! :D

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