Creating Illustrated 1980s Vintage Tees in Photoshop

Summary

In this creative Photoshop tutorial, Brady from Texture Labs guides viewers through the process of achieving an 80s retro rock and roll screen print look. The tutorial focuses on mimicking the technical constraints of traditional screen printing, using a limited color palette, no anti-aliasing, and no color blending. Brady demonstrates how to work with a small, blurry image, enhance it with filters, and apply a hard mix blending mode to create a four-value color scheme. He then introduces color to the image, adds elements like typography and stars, and shows how to create a t-shirt mock-up. The result is a vintage-inspired design that captures the spirit of a bygone era in screen printing.

Takeaways

• 🎨 Emulate the 80s screen print look in Photoshop to capture the spirit of a golden age of screen printing.
• 🖌️ Work with a limited color palette, no anti-aliasing, and no blending of colors to maintain the retro style.
• 📏 Start with a large canvas size suitable for t-shirt printing, like 11x10 inches at 355 pixels per inch.
• 🌈 Remove color from the image and work with four values: black, dark gray, light gray, and white.
• 🔴 Use a 'hard mix' blending mode with a solid fill layer of a specific color (between red and yellow) to limit the image colors.
• ⚫️ Apply a black and white adjustment layer to assign gray values to the colors red and yellow in the image.
• 🖼️ Enhance the image with filters and adjustments like shadows and highlights, noise reduction, and unsharp mask.
• 🎭 Reintroduce noise and grain using filters like add noise and gaussian blur to achieve a chunky grainy texture.
• 🌈 Colorize the image by replacing the gray values with chosen colors, using blend if sliders to target specific gray levels.
• 🎨 Add additional colors and elements like alternate shadow and highlight colors, and use clipping masks to control their application.
• 👕 Create a mock-up of the design on a t-shirt using select color range and smart object techniques for flexibility.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the Photoshop tutorial?

The main theme of the Photoshop tutorial is to create a retro 80s rock and roll screen print look, capturing the spirit of the golden age of screen printing with limited colors, no anti-aliasing, and no blending of colors.

What is the initial canvas size used in the tutorial?

The initial canvas size used in the tutorial is 39.05 by 35.5 inches at 355 pixels per inch, which translates to 11 by 10 inches.

How does the presenter handle the challenge of working with a low-resolution image?

The presenter acknowledges the challenge of working with a low-resolution, blurry, and grainy image. They decide to work with it and see if they can make it work, converting the layer to a Smart Object for further manipulation.

What is the purpose of using a 'hard mix' blending mode in the tutorial?

The 'hard mix' blending mode is used to limit the image to just four values: black, white, red, and yellow. This helps in capturing the essence of the 80s screen print look while working under specific constraints.

How does the presenter adjust the color balance in the image?

The presenter adjusts the color balance by changing the color of the 'hard mix' layer, which allows them to control the balance between the four values (black, white, red, and yellow) intuitively.

What filters and adjustments are used to enhance the image details?

The presenter uses a combination of Shadows and Highlights adjustment to bring out detail in the shadows, Camera Raw filter for noise reduction, Unsharp Mask for adding sharp details, and additional Shadows and Highlights adjustment for further image flattening.

How are noise and grain reintroduced into the image?

Noise and grain are reintroduced by adding a layer of uniform noise set to monochromatic at about 15%, followed by a Gaussian Blur with a one-pixel radius. This transforms the sharp detailed noise into a chunky grain.

What is the process for colorizing the image?

The process for colorizing the image involves replacing the gray values with specific colors. The presenter creates new solid layers for darker gray, lighter gray, and bright whites, and uses blend if sliders to target and replace the gray values with chosen colors.

How does the presenter add additional colors and elements to the design?

The presenter adds additional colors by creating new solid layers for alternate shadow and highlight colors, and uses clipping masks to apply these colors where needed. They also add elements like typography, stars, and a gray Radiance at the bottom of the design.

How is the final design transferred onto a t-shirt blank?

The final design is transferred onto a t-shirt blank using the Select Color Range tool to select non-black pixels, and then copying and pasting the selection onto a t-shirt blank. The presenter also uses a high-resolution texture and blend if to add a grungy texture to the t-shirt design.

What resources are available for further learning and implementing the techniques shown in the tutorial?

The presenter mentions that the textures used in the video and a t-shirt blank are available for free on the Texture Labs site, which is linked in the video description for viewers to access.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Introduction to Retro 80s Screen Print Design

In this segment, Brady from Texture Labs introduces the viewer to a Photoshop project focused on creating an 80s retro rock and roll screen print look. The aim is to capture the essence of a golden era in screen printing, marked by significant innovation and experimentation in both artwork and the technical process. Brady explains the constraints of the physical screen printing process, such as limited color palette, no anti-aliasing, and no blending of colors, which will be mimicked in the Photoshop work. The video begins with Brady setting up a large canvas suitable for t-shirt printing and discussing the challenge of working with a small, blurry image that will be scaled up. He also covers the conversion of the image layer to a Smart Object for further manipulation and the application of filters.

05:02

🌈 Color Limitation and Image Adjustment

This paragraph details the process of limiting the image to four values: black, dark gray, light gray, and white. Brady uses the Hue/Saturation adjustment to remove color and then introduces a solid fill layer with an orange tone to set the base for the hard mix blending mode. The hard mix blending mode is explained as a way to restrict the image to red and yellow, in addition to black and white. Adjustment layers are used to assign gray values to the red and yellow, allowing for control over the balance of the four color values. The paragraph also covers the use of Shadows and Highlights adjustment to bring out detail in the image and the use of the Camera Raw filter for noise reduction and sharpening. The goal is to clean up the image while retaining sharp details, and the process of reintroducing noise and grain for a more illustrated look is discussed.

10:03

🎨 Colorization and Layering Techniques

In this part, Brady focuses on colorizing the image by replacing the gray values with specific colors. He creates new solid layers for different color tones, such as dark red for shadows and lighter orange for mid-tones, and uses blend if sliders to target and replace the specific gray values. The process involves adjusting the colors and using clipping masks to apply the new colors to desired areas of the image. Brady also introduces alternate colors for shadows and highlights, and uses the pencil tool to apply these colors precisely, avoiding anti-aliased edges for a crisp, pure color effect. The paragraph concludes with the addition of more elements and colors to the design, including a gray Radiance layer, a blurry version of the main subject, and typographical elements, all while adhering to the limited color palette.

👕 Creating a T-shirt Mock-up and Final Touches

The final paragraph covers the process of transferring the completed design onto a t-shirt mock-up. Brady uses the Select Color Range tool to isolate non-black pixels and invert the selection to copy the design onto a t-shirt blank. He discusses the use of blend if masks to apply grungy textures and the importance of keeping the texture as a live smart object for flexibility. The paragraph concludes with Brady offering to share the textures and t-shirt blank used in the video, and he encourages viewers to fine-tune the final image with additional adjustments and layers as needed. The video ends with a thank you note and a teaser for the next episode.

Keywords

💡Photoshop

Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed by Adobe Inc. It is widely used for image editing, graphic design, and digital art. In the video, Photoshop is the primary tool used to create an 80s retro rock and roll screen print look, showcasing its capabilities for manipulating images, colors, and creating specific visual effects.

💡Screen printing

Screen printing is a printing technique where ink is pushed through a mesh screen onto a substrate, such as fabric or paper. It was particularly popular in the 80s for creating posters, t-shirts, and other promotional materials. The video aims to replicate the spirit of this era by mimicking the technical process and aesthetic of screen printing within Photoshop.

💡Retro

Retro refers to a style or trend from the past that is revived or appreciated in the present. In the context of the video, the term is used to describe the 80s rock and roll aesthetic that the creator is attempting to replicate. This includes the use of bold colors, specific design elements, and a particular visual 'feel' that was characteristic of the era.

💡Palette

In art and design, a palette refers to the selection of colors used in a particular work. A limited palette means that the number of colors used is restricted, which can give a piece a more uniform and cohesive look. In the video, a limited color palette is used to emulate the screen printing techniques of the 80s, where fewer colors were typically used to create bold, impactful designs.

💡Smart object

In Photoshop, a smart object is a layer that allows for non-destructive editing, meaning that the original image data is preserved and can be edited at any time without losing quality. This feature is useful for applying filters and effects while keeping the original layer intact.

💡Hard mix blending mode

The hard mix blending mode in Photoshop is a color blending mode that creates a high-contrast effect by reducing an image to a limited color palette. It works by mixing colors based on their brightness values, and it can give a graphic, posterized look that is reminiscent of screen printing.

💡Noise reduction

Noise reduction in image editing refers to the process of reducing or eliminating visual noise, which can appear as random speckles or graininess in an image. This is often done to enhance the quality of the image, making it look cleaner and more professional.

💡Unsharp mask

Unsharp mask is a technique used in image editing to sharpen an image by increasing the contrast along the edges of objects or details. It can give the image a more defined and crisp appearance, which can be particularly effective when trying to achieve an illustrated or detailed look.

💡Colorization

Colorization is the process of adding color to an image or a black-and-white photograph. In the context of the video, colorization refers to replacing the gray values in the image with specific colors to achieve the desired aesthetic and visual effect.

💡Masking

Masking in Photoshop is the process of hiding or revealing certain parts of an image or layer. It is a fundamental technique used for selective editing, allowing the creator to apply effects or adjustments to specific areas of the image without affecting the rest.

💡Mock-up

A mock-up is a visual representation or prototype of a design, often used to demonstrate how it will look when applied to a particular product or surface. In the video, the mock-up refers to placing the final design onto a t-shirt blank to visualize how it would appear as a finished product.

Highlights

Introduction to creating retro 80s rock and roll screen print looks in Photoshop.

Capturing the spirit of the golden age of screen printing with innovation and experimentation.

Working with specific constraints in Photoshop similar to physical screen printing limitations.

Using a limited color palette, no anti-aliasing, and no blending of colors to mimic screen printing.

Starting with a large canvas size suitable for t-shirt screen printing.

Transforming a small, blurry image into a workable piece by scaling it up and applying filters.

Utilizing the 'hard mix' blending mode to limit the image to four values: black, white, red, and yellow.

Adjusting gray values of the image using a combination of adjustment layers and blending modes.

Applying filters and adjustments to enhance details and reduce noise while maintaining the desired aesthetic.

Reintroducing noise and grain to the image for a more authentic screen-printed look.

Colorizing the image by replacing gray values with chosen colors, using a specific blending if slider technique.

Adding secondary colors to shadows and mid-tones for more depth and variety.

Creating a mock-up of the final design on a t-shirt using select color range and blending techniques.

Using high-resolution textures and smart objects to add a grungy texture to the t-shirt design without baking it into a mask.

Finalizing the 80s rock t-shirt design and offering resources for further customization and exploration.

Transcripts

hey everyone Brady from texture Labs

here working in Photoshop today and

we're getting into some retro rock and

roll 80s screen print looks we're going

to try to capture a little bit of the

spirit of a certain golden age of screen

printing where there was a lot of

innovation a lot of experimentation both

with the artwork but also with the

technical process of screen printing it

screen printing of course a physical

process with certain technical

constraints so we're going to get into

Photoshop and we're gonna work under

some very specific kind of similar

constraints we're going to use a very

limited palette of colors no

anti-aliasing no blending of colors and

we'll see if we can capture a little bit

of that rock and roll Spirit let's get

into Photoshop and get started

all right I'm here in Photoshop and I'm

starting off with a fairly large canvas

size it's 39.05 by 3550 which basically

translates to 11 by 10 inches at 355

pixels per inch a pretty reasonable size

for a t-shirt screen print but I'm

starting off with a little bit of a

challenge I've got an image here that

was really tiny and I clipped it out and

scaled it way up so it's a little bit

blurry a little bit grainy but we'll see

if we can make it work I'm going to

right click and convert this layer to a

Smart object so we can apply some

filters and things and keep all those

settings live all right let's get

started with part one and here we're

going to limit the image to just four

values black then dark gray light gray

and white so I'm going to start by

removing all the color from this image

I'll just use Hue saturation bring the

saturation all the way down then I'm

going to create a solid fill layer I'm

going to set this to be somewhere in the

oranges with kind of a middle of the

road brightness and saturation to get

started alright then by the way I have

this pet peeve about unused mask so this

isn't necessary but unless I need a mask

I'm just going to right click and delete

it anyways I'm going to call this layer

hard mix and I'm going to set the

blending mode to hard mix if you haven't

already heard me talk about hard mix a

million times I'll link to a video that

gets into a little bit more detail but

the important part is that as long as

this solid is somewhere between red and

yellow the hard mix blending mode is

going to limit the image to just black

white red and yellow okay then I'm going

to follow up this hard mix layer with an

adjustment layer a black and white

adjustment layer and that's going to

assign gray values to the yellow and the

red so I'm going to change the Reds to

be 33 gray and the yellows to be 66 just

so they're a little bit more evenly

spaced out so the nice thing about the

setup is that by changing the color of

this hard mix layer we have all kinds of

control over the balance between these

four values it's pretty intuitive

shifting this around but obviously we

can change kind of the overall

brightness but then the more saturation

there is the more the mid tones we get

at if we introduce more red it's going

to shift the balance toward that darker

gray moving toward yellow is going to

bring out more of the lighter gray so

for now I'm just going to kind of

eyeball this and we will move on to part

two and here I'm going to go back to the

image layer and give it some treatment

some filters and things but it's nice to

do this once these layers are set up so

that I can treat the image in a way that

works well under these kind of minimal

conditions so there's not necessarily a

one size fits all treatment for images

but I'm going to walk through kind of a

cocktail of adjustments and filters that

generally do a pretty good job first of

all I'm almost always going to use these

shadows and highlights adjustment to

bring out lots of detail in the shadows

and kind of flatten out the image I'm

not using the highlights option at all

but I've got Shadows cranked all the way

up to 100. all right after that even

though I like some of the grunginess

that's kind of built into this image I'd

rather clean it up as much as I can and

then introduce any noise or grunge as a

more controlled deliberate effect so I'm

going to use camera raw filter to clean

up the image and I'm not messing with

any of the color or exposure settings

I'm just going into the detail section

and using the noise reduction settings

I've got noise reduction here all the

way up at 100 and then kind of just

pushing around the detail and even some

of these sharpening options to try to

get rid of all the noise and grunge but

leave as much of the sharp detail as I

can okay next up is unsharp mask and

when unsharp mask is purposely cranked

up really high it can give you all these

little outlines and sharp details that

create almost more of an illustrated

look next we're going to reintroduce

some of that noise and grain first by

adding some noise I'm going to use

uniform noise at about 15 and set to

monochromatic I'm going to follow that

with gaussian blur with the radius it's

just one pixel that's going to take that

sharp detailed noise and turn it into

more of a large chunky grain

and finally I'm going to double down on

the shadows and highlights adjustment

I'm going to use that again to flatten

out the image even a little bit more

sometimes this additional shadows and

highlights can be a little bit too much

but on this image I think it's working

pretty well okay we're ready for part

three and here we're gonna colorize the

image replacing these gray values with

colors so I'm going to leave the black

as black but let's replace this darker

gray value what I'm going to do is

create a new solid and for now I'm

thinking about skin tone so I'm going to

go with kind of a dark red then to make

this red basically replace that dark

gray I'm going to double click the layer

and in the blend if slider the very

bottom one for underlying layer I'm

going to drag the blacks up and the

whites down and find that very very

narrow spot in the Spectrum where the

dark gray is remember that darker gray

is 33 gray so it makes sense that it

would be right around here so now

whatever this solid color is it's

basically going to replace that darker

Shadow color all right then let's create

another color to replace the lighter

gray again I'm thinking about skin tones

so I'm going to do a lighter orange

color then I'm going to double click for

the blending options and Target the

lighter gray which was 66 gray so that's

going to be somewhere right around here

and I will call this layer mid-tones

color one then I'm going to create a

solid that will replace those bright

whites so kind of a light peach sort of

color and since this is replacing the

whites the blend if slider is going to

be all the way up here at the top so now

I've got these three colors and I'm

going to push them around a little bit

in relationship to one another but I'm

still not too worried about the exact

colors it's a little hard to get a sense

of when you're only looking at these

three colors and there's nothing for

them to be in a relationship to so let's

introduce some more colors first of all

I want to create an alternate Shadow

color maybe in some of these areas I

don't want the Shadows to be red I want

them to be more of a blue so what I'll

do is right over the Shadows color

create another solid sort of a bluish

color and it doesn't need any kind of

special blend diff settings or anything

all I need to do is alt or option click

between these layers to create a

clipping mask so this blue is now

sitting on top of the red and basically

filling it in with blue instead now I

actually do want to keep the mask on

this blue layer because I can use this

mask to decide where I want the blue

shadows and where I want the red Shadows

here's an important note though if I use

the paint brush tool in this mask even

at its hardest setting a paintbrush

still has these slightly anti-aliased

smoothed edges and that creates just a

little bit of a soft transition between

the colors and I don't want that I want

absolutely crunchy pure colors so

instead of the paint brush tool in The

Mask I'm going to use the pencil tool

it's basically the same as the paint

brush but it has no anti-aliasing it's

nice and sharp All or nothing and this

way I'm only introducing one color no

soft edges no purplish in between colors

so what I'm going to do is fill this

mask with black and then I'll just go

through the image and use this mask to

determine where I want this alternate

Shadow color to be then we'll do the

same thing for the mid-tones introduce a

secondary mid-tones color so this should

probably be a yellowish color that I can

use for the blonde hair I'll use a

clipping mask to put this on top of the

mid-tones color and then I'm going to

fill this mask with black and then just

use the pencil tool to decide where I

just want these yellow mid-tones finally

an alternate highlight color a pure

white so this is going to sit on top of

the highlights color solid and then I'll

use the pencil tool to decide where I

want these white highlights Okay so

we've now got two shadow colors two

mid-tones and two highlights and there's

nothing wrong with going back in and

adjusting these colors as you go maybe

you've got a reference image of an old

screen print that you could pull samples

from or you can just eyeball it like I'm

doing here in any case that's the

overall structure of this setup and that

brings us to part four where I can

continue to add elements underneath all

these adjustments and colors so first

I'm going to add a gray Radiance at the

bottom here to create kind of a fade out

I'll just set this layer to multiply and

then maybe we can create a big blurry

glowing version of Randy and I'm going

to give this some noise and a little bit

of blur to give it kind of a grainy look

I'll add some typography in here and

it's really just a matter of getting

into these masks and painting or filling

in with a pencil where and which one of

these colors you want to apply to each

element I'm going to drop some stars in

the backgrounds and give these kind of a

soft mask around the edges I can get

back into that highlights mask and make

some of these Stars pop out as white and

then after pushing things around and I

think I've established that these are my

six colors we can go to another step

where we start to move these colors

around and what I mean is we've got our

six colors and they're kind of paired

with the shadows and the mid-tones and

the highlights but there's no reason why

I can't decide well maybe I want to

reuse this blue in some of the

highlights so by duplicating this blue

solid and applying it in the highlights

I can make some of these Bright Stars

blue and I can copy this red into the

highlights and make some of the Stars

red additionally everything we've done

so far has been underneath these colors

and hard mix layers but of course we can

put things on top of these layers we

just have to make sure they're

restricted to this color palette so this

lightning bolt is going to sit on top

but I'm using a little bit of noise and

blur and then adding a threshold to make

sure it's just pure white since white is

one of our colors we're still good all

right finally let's take this design and

create a mock-up I'm going to copy this

over to a t-shirt blank and the way I'm

going to copy this is by using select

color range I'm going to set it to

select Shadows with the fuzziness and

the range at zero and then selecting

invert so that's going to select every

pixel that is not black then I'm going

to use command shift C to make a merged

copy paste this onto a t-shirt blank and

this would probably make a whole

separate video in and of itself but

we'll do kind of the rapid fire version

I'm going to use a little bit of blend

if to let through some of the blacks in

the background and then I want to use a

mask for some grungy texture here but if

you'll indulge me for a second I really

almost never use masks for this and I

feel like I should do this the way I

actually do this which is dragging in a

high resolution texture then using blend

if to knock out the blacks on that

texture then putting it in a folder and

setting the folder to zero fill and

knock out shallow what's the point of

that well it means we can use this

texture as a mask but we get to keep it

as a live smart object and avoid baking

it into a mask where you get one shot to

place it and get the contrast or the

scale just right you can also try out

different mask textures by putting them

in this folder in any case that's it our

80s rock t-shirt is done we can always

dial in this final image with camera raw

filter or some adjustment layers you can

grab any of the textures I've used in

this video or this t-shirt blank those

are free on the texture lab site which I

will link to below thanks for watching

and I will see you next time

thank you

[Music]