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About Me Premium Member DA Addict TheLaughingLibraFemale/United States Recent Activity Deviant for 2 Years
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Using Photoshop to assemble your answers to memes

Fri Aug 7, 2009, 10:00 AM
dA Journal


I've been asked to explain how traditional media artists can use Photoshop to assemble their work into answers for a meme. Here is a bare-bones explanation. I may eventually do an actual tutorial with pictures that will go a bit more in-depth and explain some nice extra Photoshop tips to know, but this’ll definitely get you started:

Step 1. Once you have your drawings done to your satisfaction, scan the pictures in at at least 150dpi.

Step 2. Save a copy of the meme to your computer. In Photoshop, open both the files for the meme and for the picture you are using for panel 1. Move them so that they are side by side and you can see them both.

Step 3. Make sure that Auto Select Layer option is turned off (there’s a little button to click or unclick at the top-left of the screen, right underneath “Edit” and “Image” on your menu).

Step 4. Make sure you have the Layers window open (if it’s not, you can open it by going to, on the menu, Window>Layers.) The Layers window displays the layers for whichever picture you are currently clicked on. If you click on each picture right now and look at your Layers window, both files will have just one layer called “Background” with a little icon of a lock on it.

Step 5. Now, click on the picture for panel 1. Using the Move Tool (if you hover over a tool on the tool bar, it will display its name), click on the center of the picture for panel 1 and, holding the mouse button down, drag the mouse cursor over to the meme. Let go of the mouse button. Check the Layers window and your picture for panel one will now be a new layer called “Layer 1” on the meme file.

Step 6. Most likely, your picture will be waaay too big to fit in the space for panel 1, so you’ll need to resize it. First, look at your Layers window to make sure panel 1 is selected (It will be highlighted blue. If it’s not, click on it to make it so). Now, go to Edit>Transform>Scale (the keyboard shortcut for this on a PC is Ctrl + T. I don’t know if this shortcut is the same on a Mac). A big rectangle with tiny squares at its corners and the center of its sides will appear around the image on Layer 1, letting you know it’s ready to be transformed. You may need to zoom out to see the whole rectangle (use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + - (to clarify, that's Ctrl and the minus sign: each time you hit the minus sign you'll zoom out more. Hit the plus sign instead to zoom in)).

This part is very important to get right! With your mouse, hover over any corner—not side—of the transformation rectangle. You will know you are in the right spot if the cursor turns to a double-ended arrow that is on a diagonal—NOT a double-ended arrow that is vertical, horizontal, or curved. One you are in the right spot, click both the mouse button and the shift key at the same time and continue holding both of them down as you move your mouse around. As you see, your picture will shrink or grow depending on which way you move the mouse. The important thing about this is that your picture is keeping its proportions while it’s resizing—if you were not holding down the shift key while doing this, your picture would distort as you resized.

Step 7. Once you have your picture resized to fit the panel, let go of the mouse button first and then the shift key—if you let go of the shift key too soon, the picture might distort at the last second. Click on any one of your tools in the toolbar (I usually click the Move Tool, because that’s what we’re going to use next anyway) to prompt Photoshop to ask you if you’d like to apply they transformation. Click “apply” to keep the new size, click “don’t apply” to have it revert back to how it was before, or click “cancel” to continue resizing.

Step 8. Once resized, if the picture isn’t in the right place on the meme, use the Move Tool to move it to the spot you wish it to be.

Step 9. Open the picture for panel 2 and, as you did in step 5, use the Move Tool to drag it to the meme, and it will appear there as a layer named “Layer 2.” Continue repeating steps from step 5 until the meme is completely filled out.

Notes:

Save the file as a tiff or psd (to preserve the layers) while you’re working on it, and, once you’re finally done, save a copy as a jpeg (which will flatten the layers) so you can upload it to dA.

If you find you’d like to go back to a previous panel and adjust things, simply select that layer in the Layers window (so that layer is highlighted blue). What is great about working in layers is that if you need to fix something (like, say, move the picture for panel 2 a hair to the left), having it on its own layer means that only that picture will be affected—if you move it, the other panels will still stay put.

You can hide or show layers by clicking or unclicking the eye icon in the Layers window. If a layer is hidden when you finally save as a jpeg, it will not show up in the image.

You can rename layers by double-clicking on its name in the Layers window. So if Layer 1 is, say, the only picture of Rick in the meme, renaming it “Rick” will make that layer easier to keep track of.

Layers that have a lock icon on them cannot be altered in any way. You can lock or unlock layers by clicking the lock icon in the Layers window. The locked background layer that most images start with when you open them, is a special exception to this. To unlock that, double click on it in the Layers window. A box will pop up prompting you to rename it (with the default name “Layer 0”—I usually name it “Background” again, but it’s up to you). Click “okay” to this box and the background layer will now be unlocked.

Once you upload your finished meme, be sure to credit the meme’s creator and link back to the blank one, so others can have fun filling the meme out, too!

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So, I hope this all made sense! Good luck with your memes, everyone! ^_^

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In the Gameboy Advance game "Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town," who is your favorite bachelorette to marry? 

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Comments


:iconpirateboy123:
WASSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

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:icondancin-hamster:
thanks for the :+fav: again!!! :D

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and when they catch you, they will kill you...
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:iconszelenbaum:
I wish I could draw like you *_*

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HoWtOToRtUrEaPiG[link]
:giggle: TiCkLeToRtUrE---> [link] :D :rofl:
str8jacketFUN [link]
:icondancin-hamster:
thank you so much for the:+fav:!!!

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all the world will be your enemy...
and when they catch you, they will kill you...
but first, they must catch you
--Watership Down
:iconwicabeth:
Thanks for the fav! =D

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Bloodbabe2003: ....
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:iconsamuraiyuki:
heey! i love your art! i think you should enter my contest! (info is in my journal, labeled contest set) if you're interested you should enter! any art style (drawing style) is acceptable! :3

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LAAALALALAAALAAALAAALAAALAAAA I AM PIMP >8D
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my journal need comments still! 8D [link]
:iconwithinourtemptation:
I have tagged you.

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:icontauruschick12:
Thanks for the fave~
:iconmae-b:
Hi! thanks a lot for fav ^_^

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:iconhiromana:
How do you get the blue feather in harvest moon mfomt?

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