Pen tool sports collage

You will be creating an homage to an athlete from your favorite sport using pen tool. We have used pen tool before, but many people are reluctant to use this powerful tool because it takes a little extra time. Unfortunately, pen tool usually gives you the best results when cutting an object, giving you complete control and smooth edges.

You have 3 days to do this, so take your time and make it look good.

1. Think about your favorite sport. If you're not into sports, pick a sport you find visually appealing. It can be anything! I have had people use tennis, ballet, running, martial arts, etc.

2. In photoshop, click File-->New and create a document that is 10" wide by 8" tall, 300 resolution.

3. Using Google image search, click TOOLS and modify the SIZE filter to LARGE.
This will give you the highest quality images.

4. Find high quality images of your selected athlete. Copy and paste the photo into your new document in Photoshop.

5. Click on the pen tool. Zoom in on your athlete so you can see the details very clearly. I tell you to zoom in so you can do a precise job with the pen tool.

6. Click  to connect a path of dots around the outside of your athlete.

7. Once you have completed your path, right click and click "make selection". This tutorial says you can also click CTRL+ENTER to get your marching ants.

8. Once you have ants around the outside of your athlete, you can click CTRL+J to copy a fresh, trimmed up version of your athlete into a new layer.

9. Discard the old athlete layer once you have your trimmed one.

10. Repeat this process until you have your athlete 5-7 different ways. Arrange them nicely so they overlap and make a nice composition. The athletes should have perfect, smooth edges. If you try to short cut using quick select, I will know.

This example is a different size/shape than yours, but the figures are still arranged nicely, so you get the idea. (I do not have access to my past examples to show you the proper ones!)

Here are some posters with a concept similar to yours

11. Finally, create an interesting background- whether you choose to use text like the Chicago bulls example above, or a custom gradient of your team's colors using this tutorial. Scroll down to where it says "The presets area" to begin. 

If it works with your background, you can add drop shadows to your figures.

I WILL MAKE TURN IN FOLDERS ON THURSDAY when I return. Plan on having this finished by then. 

If you finish early, here are a couple links to some interesting tutorials to try: 

***Tutorials***