Sticky Bookmarks in Photoshop

Creating the illusion of a sticky bookmark in Photoshop presents a gentle introduction to using this program for trick photography. The bookmark's shape and color are basic, and only a few commands are needed to make it look like the bookmark is stuck to a book's pages. You can spice up your bookmark by adding text to it with Photoshop's "Text" tool.

Load Photo

A sticky bookmark will look more convincing if you attach it to the image of a book, especially one in a photo. Load a book photo into Photoshop by clicking the file menu's "Open" command, then navigating to and double-clicking the photo on your hard drive.

Make Rectangle Selection

Create the sticky bookmark by creating a new layer, creating a rectangular selection from that layer, then coloring your selection. Create a new layer by clicking the "Layer" palette's page icon. To select a rectangle from that layer, click the tool palette icon shaped like a rectangle with a dashed line, then drag the mouse diagonally over the new layer. Color the rectangle by clicking a rich color from the tool palette's upper color swatch, clicking the paint bucket icon from the tool palette to run the Fill tool, then clicking your rectangle.

Free Transform

After creating your sticky bookmark, the next step is to shape the bookmark so its orientation matches that of the book from which you want the bookmark to appear to emerge. With your bookmark selected, click the "Edit" menu's "Free transform" command, which lets you shape selection regions. Press and hold the "Control" key, then drag on the bookmark's corners so that the bookmark's edges align with the book's edges. Press "Enter" to tell Photoshop you're done shaping the bookmark.

Position

After shaping your bookmark, make it appear to be sticking out from the book. Click the tool palette's four headed arrow to run the Move command, then drag on the bookmark until it's over the part of your book photo that shows the book's pages. You can do this whether the book is opened or closed.

Add Drop Shadow

To make your bookmark look more realistic, add a drop shadow. You can begin doing this by double-clicking the right side of the layer containing your bookmark, in the Layers palette. Photoshop will display a list of effects you can add to the bookmark, one of which is a drop shadow. Click the "Drop shadow" checkbox, then click "OK" to install the drop shadow.

References

• "Photoshop CS5 for Dummies"; Peter Bauer; 2010