Have you ever seen an ad for iPod? There is always a person in an expressive pose and that person is completly silhouetted. Then there is the element of the iPod that is highlighted in white. Below are some samples.

This tutorial will teach you how to create an "iPod Ad". You do not need to use an ipod. You are able to use any object that you wish including basketballs, guitars, or an article of clothing. 

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STEP 1 ñ Strike a Pose:
Have someone take a picture of yourself using the digital camera and green screen. Make sure that your pose is expressive and that you have an element that can be highlighted in white.

STEP 2 ñ Download Your Picture to Your Student Space:
Use the USB cable to connect the camera (make sure the power is on) to your computer. On your computer go to Start>My Computer and the camera will show up as Sony Memory Stick. Open the DCIM Folder and then the 101MSDCF Folder. Find your picture and then you copy it to your Images folder on your Student Space.

STEP 3 ñ Create a New Photoshop File:
Name = A8_iPodGraphic; Width = 10 inches; Height = 8 inches; Resolution = 100 pixels/inch; Color Mode = RGB. Leave the other settings at the defaults. Immediately save the file to your assignments folder.

STEP 4 ñ Determine Layout Orientation:
Open the file with your image and determine if your layout will work best in a horizontal or vertical layout. If a horizontal layout is best, skip to STEP 5. If your image will work better in vertical mode, in A8_iPodGraphic, rotate the canvas 90ƒ (Image>Rotate Canvas>90ƒ).

STEP 5 ñ Crop, Copy and Size Your Image:
Use the Crop Tool to Crop your image as close as possible without removing any part of you. Copy the cropped image to A8_iPodGraphic file (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C). Rename the layer Original Image. Resize your image (Edit>Transform>Scale) so that the figure will fit in your layout. Leave some room so the vibrant background will show through. Make sure you hold down the Shift key and drag from the corner handles when you scale the image to maintain the proportion and avoid distorting the image.

STEP 6 ñ Make a Selection of Your Image:
Make a Copy of the Original Image layer and name it Silhouette Image. Turn off the viewing of the Original Image layer. Select the Silhouette Image layer. Use the Magic Wand Tool and click on the green screen area. Hold down the Shift Key to select other green screen areas that are not continuous and other areas that are not part of you. You can also use Quick Mask Mode to clean-up or even make your selection. Once you have all of the background selected, save the selection to a Channel (Select>Save Selection). Name the channel Silhouette.

STEP 7 ñ Remove the Background from the Silhouette Image Layer:
Reload the Silhouette Selection (Select>Load Selection>Silhouette). Press the Delete key and the background of the Threshold Image layer will be Deleted. Make sure viewing of the Original Image layer is turned off otherwise it will look like the background was not deleted.

STEP 8 ñ Threshold the Silhouette Image Layer:
Make sure that Silhouette Image layer is selected. Use Threshold (Image>Adjust>Threshold) to convert the image into black and white. Choose a setting that leaves some of the areas white but not too many. Move the slider until you get the result you are looking for.

STEP 9 ñ Fill the White Areas with Dark Gray:
Use the Magic Wand Tool to select a white area of the Silhouette Image layer and then Select all Similar whites (Select>Similar). Choose a dark gray foreground Color and fill the selected area (Alt-Delete).

STEP 10 ñ Make a White Selection:
Turn off viewing of the Silhouette Image layer and turn on the viewing of the Original Image layer. Make a Selection (using the Polygon Lasso) of the element in your image that you want to highlight in white. Save that Selection (Selection>Save Selection) as White Element.

STEP 11 ñ Create the White Element:
Create a New Layer and call it White Element. Select white as your Foreground Color. Make sure the White Element Layer is active by clicking on it. Load the White Element Selection (Selection>Load Selection>White Element). Fill the Selection with white (Alt-Delete).

STEP 12 ñ Typeset Your iTitle.
Select white as your Foreground Color. Use the Type Tool to set a title to your graphic such as iJohn or iScorer. Use a font size of 48 points.

STEP 13 ñ Create the Background.
Select a vibrant Foreground color and fill the background layer with it (Ctrl-A, Alt-Delete).

STEP 14 ñ Create an Alternate Background in the Style of the New iPod Ads.
Use your creativity, imagination and Photoshop skills to create an Alternate Background for your iPod Graphic. A cool background to create is going to Filter>Render>Clouds or Different Clouds. You can also make your own any way you know how. Call the Layer Background ñ New Background Style.