Flag Waves: House Flags From The National Maritime Museum

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Use Command T/Ctrl T to enter Free Transform mode, and adjust the size of the flag so it fits onto the existing tape attached to the flagpole. Don’t perform any more distortions yet. All we’re interested in here is the approximate size. The Burn tool darkens the image; the Dodge tool brightens it. You can hold Alt or Option to temporarily access the Dodge tool. Drag another loop just above the original Burn loop, to add the highlight to the flag. Here’s our starting image: a flagpole and a flag, on separate layers. I’ve chosen the flag of Sweden to begin with, because it’s a simple design that will allow us to see the distortion and shading process clearly. We can change the design to whatever we want later. Creating a new flag to promote your own business, root your favorite sports team, or show your allegiance to a cause or a community? Create a flag design that’s distinct and memorable, the kind you’ll be flying with pride for years to come. Shedding more light on these flags is senior curator Sue Prichard’s excellent introduction, which explains the history of what’s effectively maritime corporate identity, and how boat owners have used the rather limited visual vocabulary at their disposal to come up with endlessly new and exciting designs.

Switch to the Burn tool, set to Highlights at 100% opacity. Using a soft-edged brush, drag from the top left of the flag to the top right, performing a loop downwards in between. There’s only one handle on the Flag distortion, about a third of the way along the top edge. Grab it and drag it to create a more traditional flag shape. You can choose to wave it up or down; I’ve chosen to go up first. Continued use of the Smudge tool can turn that coarse shading into something altogether more appealing. The good thing about the Smudge tool is that you can keep working away until you’re happy with the result. Canva has a selection of stunning flag templates in a variety of styles and themes. Grab one and put your personal touch on the design with ease using our beginner-friendly drag-and-drop tools. Show your vibrant true colorsHere’s the result of the work so far. The flat artwork we started with now looks much more like a real rippling flag—so much so that you barely notice that the design of the flag itself isn’t really rippling. Depending on how much you darkened and brightened the image with Dodge and Burn, you may find it looks a little washed out. Use the Brightness/Contrast adjustment if desired to boost the contrast for a more dynamic look. And there you have it—a simple waving flag animation! Of course, you can manipulate the wave warp values and set keyframes to change the way it waves throughout a video if you can’t handle a tutorial being this simple.

Continue to add highlights above each fold. You should set the Dodge tool to about 50% strength, to avoid burning the gray of the Hard Light layer to pure white. Continue to work around the flag, adding more loops with the Burn tool below and above the original. In the corners, just match the direction and shape of the original loops.The folds created so far can look a little lumpy. So use the Smudge tool to smear the ends into more precise, tighter folds. Use a small brush, with a strength of around 90% for best results.