Deke’s Techniques

Your weekly quick-fix of Deke, with ideas you may inspire or inform your own projects.

Deke’s Techniques 336: Drawing a Clenched Hand in Illustrator

Deke shows you how to draw a hand in Illustrator, traced from a photo of a sketch in Photoshop.

Deke’s Techniques 334: Straightening and “Uncropping” a Photograph

Deke straightens a once-in-a-lifetime family photo, then "uncrops" the photo by filling in background and restoring missing details.

Deke’s Techniques 333: Selectively Converting Parts of Your Image to Black & White

Deke reveals how to turn part of an image to black & white whilst leaving other elements highly saturated.

Deke’s Techniques 330: Create a Penrose Triangle of Cubes in Illustrator

Deke creates an Escher-esque Penrose triangle made of individual cubes in Adobe Illustrator.

Deke’s Techniques 328: Draw a M

Deke twists pixels into a mind-bending double M

Deke’s Techniques 326: Masking a Caricature against a New Background

Deke shows you how to quickly mask a caricature (or anyone, really) against a new background in Photoshop

Deke’s Techniques 324: Create a Caricature from a Photograph

Deke takes an unsuspecting portrait and turns it into an exaggerated caricature using the Liquify filter in Photoshop.

Deke’s Techniques 322: Blending Two Camera Raw Exposures of the Same Scene

Deke shows you how to blend two different exposures of the same scene, processed in Camera Raw and merged in Photoshop.

Deke’s Techniques 319: Reducing Glare in a Photograph

Deke explores two methods, of increasing difficulty, to reduce glare in a product shot.

Deke’s Techniques 317: Using the Perspective Crop Tool

Deke fixes both crop and perspective in one fell swoop, using the Perspective Crop tool in Photoshop.

Deke’s Techniques 316: Using Lens Flare for Good Not Evil

Deke uses the oft-misused Lens Flare filter to create a perfectly reasonable effect on an alien spacecraft.

Deke’s Techniques 314: Create a Riveting 3D Bump Map

Deke applies a 3D bump map to add texture to his Photoshop-created rocket ship.