Platinum Author Mug Illustration
The coffee mug shown in the photograph below was in a surprise package received from Chris Knight of EzineArticles.com in recognition after they promoted me as a platinum author. I once mentioned this item to a client who said they'd love to see the mug and then suggested I post it on my website.
The customer is always right, so a smaller version of the photo is now featured on my Directory of Small Business Articles Published Online, and the graphic art tutorial that follows explains how the coffee mug was edited using Xara Xtreme to create the dynamic look and special effects.
By combining graphics and digital magic, this is how a photograph of a simple item like a coffee mug can be enhanced. The photo edit took less than an hour using Xara Xtreme which is perfect for creating professional illustrations for your small business website or advertising artwork for print.
The left photo (A) is just the mug held at arm's length outdoors, and the center photo (B) was a recent Florida sunset that I snapped and chose to use for the background. I took each photograph with a Canon PowerShot A80 digital camera in auto mode. The right photo (C) shows the 6 elements that were combined as layers in Xara Xtreme, and then placed on top of the golden sunset photograph for the finished illustration. Here's the tutorial showing how the 6 elements were created:
1. The coffee mug was precisely traced in Xara Xtreme and the background removed
2. The glass table top effect was done using a black rectangle overlay with 75% transparency
3. A clone of the coffee mug was cropped and flipped to create a partial mirror image
4. The shadow of the mug and handle was applied in Xara Xtreme at 38% black
5. The shadow under the mug was done as a black ellipse with 4.4px feathering
6. Part of the sunset photograph was cloned, cropped, and flipped to create the reflection
If you are interested in a cost effective vector graphics software program, Xara Xtreme is my choice for custom graphics and photo edits. Download a free 30 day trial of Xara Xtreme here.
UPDATE: Download this illustration as free desktop wallpaper here (250kb JPG zipped folder). Readers do not have to register or reveal their email address, so just right click the link and "save target as" for your copy.
TAGS: advice graphic artwork photo edit tutorial xara xtreme
The customer is always right, so a smaller version of the photo is now featured on my Directory of Small Business Articles Published Online, and the graphic art tutorial that follows explains how the coffee mug was edited using Xara Xtreme to create the dynamic look and special effects.
By combining graphics and digital magic, this is how a photograph of a simple item like a coffee mug can be enhanced. The photo edit took less than an hour using Xara Xtreme which is perfect for creating professional illustrations for your small business website or advertising artwork for print.
The left photo (A) is just the mug held at arm's length outdoors, and the center photo (B) was a recent Florida sunset that I snapped and chose to use for the background. I took each photograph with a Canon PowerShot A80 digital camera in auto mode. The right photo (C) shows the 6 elements that were combined as layers in Xara Xtreme, and then placed on top of the golden sunset photograph for the finished illustration. Here's the tutorial showing how the 6 elements were created:
1. The coffee mug was precisely traced in Xara Xtreme and the background removed
2. The glass table top effect was done using a black rectangle overlay with 75% transparency
3. A clone of the coffee mug was cropped and flipped to create a partial mirror image
4. The shadow of the mug and handle was applied in Xara Xtreme at 38% black
5. The shadow under the mug was done as a black ellipse with 4.4px feathering
6. Part of the sunset photograph was cloned, cropped, and flipped to create the reflection
If you are interested in a cost effective vector graphics software program, Xara Xtreme is my choice for custom graphics and photo edits. Download a free 30 day trial of Xara Xtreme here.
UPDATE: Download this illustration as free desktop wallpaper here (250kb JPG zipped folder). Readers do not have to register or reveal their email address, so just right click the link and "save target as" for your copy.
TAGS: advice graphic artwork photo edit tutorial xara xtreme
Labels: advice, artwork, examples, photographs, tutorials
Jim Degerstrom 
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