Photoshop Help

[ihocky2]

I just got my first copy of Photoshop, and need some help on how to make guitar mockups with it. I basically have no idea on how to do any of the work. I would like to be able to make some pictoral mockups of my own personal deisgns with various color options, and bursts, as well as showing them with figured tops. If anyone can help out, or at least point me to somewhere to learn what I need to do I would appreciate it. I can use AutoCAD and Inventor and Solidworks just fine, but have never used Photoshop before. Thanks.

[NotYou]

I use Photoshop a lot when I'm doing something I've never seen that I think might not work visually.

There's a million different ways to do everything in Photoshop. I find it best to grab a large image of the general guitar shape you want and go from there. You can erase the details and use it as a solid colored template if that works best.

From there you can change the curves by just using some creative copying and pasting, or even just drawing the curves.

To add a burst you'll have to play around with the program a lot to make it convincing. Put the outside color (color a) down first, covering the whole body, then pick the inside color(color and lower the opacity. Make the brush large so it covers the whole area you want to be color b. Just click once or twice and shrink and the brush size and do it again, always in the middle. Do that a few time until the middle is a solid color. It probably won't look perfect, but it's a start. To make it convincing you have to finesse it a little.

If that sounds like too much, copying and pasting is always an option, especially if you're just trying to visualize something. I do it all the time.

I hope that makes sense. I went to art school for five years and had to mess this stuff a lot. It's tough to explain though.

[komodo]

I went to art school for five years and had to mess this stuff a lot. It's tough to explain though.

+1

I use Adobe Illustrator for mine, as eventually you will want to scale things, print templates, etc. It's closer to a CAD type program. While basic stuff isn't rocket science, you can quickly get into complex operations even for advanced users. Plus, you can get as complicated as you want to . . . Not trying to dissuade you, but you can't just plop down in front of it and start cranking out photo realistic stuff. I'm a graphic designer and have worked with these programs all day long since they first came out, and I'm a CHUMP compared to a friend of mine who can do scary things with it.

There are lots of other programs that may work for a visual mockup also . . .Whatever program you have, try getting a book at the library or doing tutorials on the web or even in the program itself. They will take you much farther than anyone trying to explain it over a web board.