Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design

With the help of a graphics software named Photoshop, available from the Adobe Creative Suite, designers, artists and photographers are no longer limited to what they see through the other end of their cameras. Photoshop offers the ability to transform and edit images, combining two or three into one or taking one and changing it entirely. If you’re looking to create rivers, Photoshop can help you add rivers to entirely landlocked places (such as baseball stadiums) or draw your own, all with just a few quick clicks.

Drawing a river

1. Step 1

   Open Photoshop and click “File,” then “New.” Name the file “MyRiver” and set the dimensions you want for the river. Change the “Mode” to “RGB Color” and set the “Contents” to “White.” Then click the “OK” button.

2. Step 2

   Click the “Fill” tool, which looks like a tipping paint can. Then double-click the top left colored square in the “Color Picker,” which is the two overlapping squares on the “Tools” palette. Choose a main base color for the river. Click inside the “MyRiver” box, which fills with the color.

3. Step 3

   Click the “Paintbrush” tool on the palette and choose a new color from the “Color Picker,” such as a slightly darker blue. Notice the new toolbar at the top. Pull down the “Brush” menu and choose a scattershot brush, such as #27. Check the “Wet Edges” box on the toolbar. Hover your cursor over the “MyRiver” box and draw a wave. Repeat to add a few more waves.

4. Step 4

   Choose a white or gray paint color from the “Color Picker” and a smaller brush head, then draw a few slightly smaller waves or whitecaps.

5. Step 5

   Change paint colors and brush heads to add sea life such as turtles and fish, or kelp and algae. This step is optional.

Adding a river

6. Step 1

   Open Photoshop and click “File,” then “Open.” Browse to where you have to photographs, including one river, located on your computer. Double-click both and they appear in your workspace.

7. Step 2

   Click the river photo to give it focus, then click the “Lasso” tool on the “Tools” palette on the left side of the screen. Draw a line around the river in the photo. A blinking, dotted line appears. Press the “Ctrl” and “C” keys on your keyboard, which is the copy function.

8. Step 3

   Click onto the other photo and press the “Ctrl” and “V” keys on your keyboard, the paste function. Click the “Move” tool, which looks like a black arrowhead and cross, then move the river into place on the picture.