Leah's Editing Tips and Tricks for Beginners

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Hi, I'm Leah. If you don't already know me, which many don't, I am fairly new in activity on Unbound, but I've been a member for a long time. I have been doing Photoshop off and on and have been a member of the Sims community for over three years. For my first picture for an assignment, I took a picture in build mode, grid lines and all! I am in no way a pro or very amazing at editing, but I wish that when I was beginning to edit, there was someone to give me tips and help me along the way. That's where I come in for any of you who are new or scared to enter the realm of editing/the community. Feel free to post some of your edits, give others help, ask questions, and express yourself in this thread because I want this to be a place that anyone can feel welcomed!

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Know What You're Making
Start with an idea, whether it be an inspiration, an assignment, or anything else. Picture what your picture will look like before you begin making it. On the note of inspiration, don't ever try to copy a picture someone else has made. It's important to create your own style. We all know people on here that make beautiful pictures, and that should be a motivation and an inspiration for you, not a guideline or a rubric for how to make good pictures. It all boils down to your expression, not anyone else's.

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Don't Rush Yourself
If you have done tip one and have an idea of what you will be making, it's time to crack open your game and take a screenshot. Often, before you open your game, you might need some CC to be able to complete your vision. In your game, you can use a few cheats that will allow you to fully use your space and make your Sims look exactly how you want.

Click the spoilers below!


Later, I'll post some actual tips in Photoshop. Sorry about the lack of that...

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Lighting and Faking Quality In-game
When taking your screenshot in game, you should use the "buydebug on" cheat to give you access to many special things you can buy. You can buy large invisible lights. These will be near the top of the "miscellaneous" category. You can also put some outdoor lights in front of your Sims to give that extra bit of spotlight. As far as faking quality in your game, there are a few things you should do. You need to have your graphics set on high for Sim-detail, definitely. If you have a beast of a computer, you should also go ahead and slide all other settings all the way up, at least for taking screenshots. If you ever have a full body shot that you have to take, you can press tab to go into camera mode, then press shift+A/D to turn the angle. (You can also go up and down with Q and E) When the angle is at 90 degrees with the Sim, you can take the screenshot. Then, before you go to cut them out in PS, just flip the picture. This way you avoid have low-quality blurriness. Yay!

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Cutting Out Sims Perfectly
This requires use of the pen tool. It's nothing difficult, but if that scares you, this might not be the right tutorial. You should have a screenshot of your Sim on a white or lime green background. I suppose you could use other colors, but I've found these work best. I'm using this screenshot, and you can use it too for practice.
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1. Open your screenshot in Photoshop, and click on the quick selection tool.
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2. Select the area around your Sim.
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3. Duplicate the background layer, and call it "Sim Layer". Then, delete the original layer.
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4. Press Ctrl+x to delete the background now.
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5. Make an empty layer below the Sim layer. Afterwards, make sure your foreground color is set to black by clicking the icon in red that says "Resets colors", and fill the layer with black using the fill tool. Now, you learn you have little bumpy edges! Let's get rid of those.
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6. Zoom into the edge of your Sim, making sure you are on their layer, and use the pen tool to click along the white edges. It may be helpful to look up a video on using the pen tool. You should alt+left click the vertex of each point to be able to get free shaping. Go all along the edges of your Sim and around the screenshot's border.
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7. Connect the path up. It should be a light gray line. Right click and make selection.
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8. Press delete to cut off the stuff in the selection. Then, ctrl+d to get rid of the selection. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

9. Delete the layer below, and paste your background in. You have a perfectly cut Sim!
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