![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_qK29y1wluTipzd2XFqizYF3XzdVwNoJMH5YQjyiLgwpTvJ9oPV40VzWp6mqtOQ3yrdSPcJ2kyhDZyF_ZSWHcNo9SDNFPs5YysUuPvIrN9eB6OVbFnCjYtsIrhCVM4NbfZh1XmKj27qc/s400/GOTG_HW.jpg)
I started with this image cropped to the correct proportions:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBu4hUYCzXU2kFBoC2EgEbVm5v52SyHSmiGqxx-mWt5Ap3IiHrpU5JtuvtDlc0oyflkFylcpAsGdO8G5Zh7D8NdEhSgHPB8YY_UNF_Wf0srBomX_cTsPLQaBPM9dnutrqkCixI-M5WHbc/s400/Creature_1.jpg)
The first step was to adjust the image background to be visible but faded. The first thing I did was use the Photoshop quick selection tool to select everything in the image except the Gill Man. Once that was accomplished, I added a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. When you add an adjustment layer after making a selection, that layer only changes the area selected. With that layer, I cranked up the lightness, with the following result.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9h-HkNllmlzBNmuhyKULf53vltwwiLuRH7qOSv1JgENMhiBpH3rBmuwGQCDGtWoE49rptytGe6sGSFYd6n4DP7ou0Qh5ydNk460_8ExR8TwZ-EXr0ow1xOgxqBrDgzJTYrlAgK1V8DEQ/s400/Creature_2.jpg)
I left more detail in the image background than the real GOTG cards had, since the image was so iconic and I really wanted to have the heroine recognizable. Of course, the model card above had a more sepia tone to it. Luckily, the hue and saturation adjustment allows the image to be colorized. So, I clicked the colorize box, then adjusted the hue into the yellow range. At this point, I also softened the edges of the selection and added an embossing effect to bring in the shadow around The Gill Man. That took a lot of trial and error and I didn't do it in a way to save the intermediate step. So, all of the changes in this paragraph led to this result:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLaEIQze1naD0LD7rSharRTFqx_D-DH8A_pgmz-pOAHLCaWVev1C7IiHXspPxKvqLXyXZfwcICyydShgZzJxkrjVYW1LKbBfApe9dh1T6yBZy2hQoFNSrJiPRsXzTNqFTssEyz4CzUO0/s400/Creature_3.jpg)
The next step was to add the border. This was fairly simple. I opened a real GOTG card image, scaled it up to the same size as my base image, then selected the border and hit Control-C to copy the selection. I went back to the Gill Man image, pasted it on.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivW6PMqkP1rmhp28-gQrp5h2taTbrjhZp7nHQ-U_3bQVz9H8XOgzTvT7KqkL3rkCZLcMtjehOUp2AuiIhnnmp-Lg-iNe9i-wiG2U-ynaY7OV9BXYe9HxG1AbXoI0RsBZqSIcYWZbPGeTU/s400/Creature_4.jpg)
This is where one of the weaknesses of my effort is noticeable. The border was at a different level of detail resolution which is blatantly obvious when you zoom in.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_0D2Gzyc9BHBqaizxEgW7EcC0ptceleksf8eelKq-jbv-jCAzW0x8BME3L85KJRUDyGfZsNyHGkijjUHUahbnZ-CFEmFVkf_VmxU3yB6zVIQer0lcJXDM4OstrYhsZxMLI-6hyphenhyphenJxe3I/s400/Creature_4B.jpg)
Next, I added the Fleer logo, and embellishment at the bottom, by using the lasso tool to select it on a real GOTG card then drop it into a new layer on my image.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Fea3nCo4G9PU_6GUox0WsOGhzUUs4KiYnNKDBjqP66JP7EDB6FcV2a_zj0QQC-PnhOOfhZbhc_yb7If-YQmS5HrPl7kB9uuO0Atd_xTL9RzZgQLtORG0TpxtF41n0id_ujf9XUxWCqU/s400/Creature_5.jpg)
Then I added a layer mask and used the pencil tool to mask out all the white space around the logo so the underlying image shows through:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyFxRc8FiWedtofH94GqNAeRR8K895AQu7s2RmyZ4fUTHYb63uRhzCLExvQIN5MSSCSooKc3j61Nu1aEAMxp8B0Xjt7zzid2JNP-_WJVsg1t6FFHqM5nJgUMxSbOhehuICyIE94vZ85M/s400/Creature_6.jpg)
I wasn't real happy how the logo looked at this point. So I cranked up the intensity of the red channel on the crown and lowered the brightness on the script to make it pop better:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlhR5kBZMuaqxf3IOO4arUgiCiDFr0fSWX-jA2t7GChRJkGDkB6_5bvfNlShKdpvKcZwk_aygFR1CjNl5TLmHhk3faVTMaCUWDreYDzzYsr6QKNTVf-9UYh6h5CW3Fq6VWV7SaUjxjOY/s400/Creature_7.jpg)
The last part to complete the card front was to add text, which is a fairly simple thing to do. I had to make one change here. On the real cards, the text is in silver foil. But, that would not show up well in a digital image, so I decided to put the text in black. Also,the layout of the card led to a problem. Where the text went on top of the Gill Man, it disappeared:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioHcjP59h7kJpObTDoRrIf3QWLG88O7hFh27LcMHDtOznNTljfeZCpXZLXnCzbcoo8HYu6LNeaCSpKbDZ0WzjeZYXoXBKgSTGnmg96Ggld_mm8AGQn35tOCoo0jzYKDEoMI6iE1IRvVYo/s400/Creature_8.jpg)
To resolve this, I determined the "base" color of the card, since it wasn't pure white and dropped a solid layer of that color down over the top of the card. I then added a layer mask and basically brought the complete underlying image back in except for a one pixel border around the text where it crosses over the Gill Man's legs, so it can be more visible.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1T25Pm7aQrvSqrJpo9BgXF7DVhKZ4OO9T751H4fvWEYKhSAfsIej2cQJ1l23s5DibeSrrY_L_GZMhjXrKjkSoy9bZ-6u6a3W1ceAmwJpdn9XmiPvC3eRFvqgVDEDmq1X6J90PoZkIko/s400/CFBL_Front.jpg)
And that was it. The front of the card.
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