nick's design

Creating a Mac-Type Background in Photoshop

2009-09-08T03:09:00.000-07:00

Creating a Mac-Type Background in Photoshop
Sep 14th in Effects by Collis

This tutorial is about making a "mac" style background. You can use these in all sorts of situations, including the obvious --your desktop-- as well as part of your designs or for corporate work (Powerpoint presentations, Flash work, etc). Naturally, you wouldnâ€™t want to use this exact set of steps, but following them will give you a good idea of the technique. Good luck!

Author: Collis

Hello! I started Psdtuts+ because years ago reading Photoshop tutorials was how I got into design. You can find me on Twitter or on my blog theNetsetter.

Step 1:

We begin with a blank canvas and then draw a subtle gradient across it. (Iâ€™m using a 1280x1024 canvas here.)Donâ€™t be fooled by the black border, incidentally, thatâ€™s just Photoshop. So anyhow, Iâ€™ve chosen two orange colors that are similar to each other to make a very subtle gradient indeed.

Step 2:

Add a NEW LAYERNow take your Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) and draw in a rough triangular selection as shown.Then take a really fat soft brush (size 300 or so) and draw some faded-in white with the edge of it, again as shown. Be careful not to make it too strong.

Step 3:

Set your white from step 2 to Overlay.NEW LAYERNow again, take your Polygonal Lasso Tool and do a similar triangle but back and against it (like shown). This time add some black. I actually used a gradient fill here using black and nothing. You can get this type of gradient by selecting your gradient tool then dropping down and choosing the second one along:

Step 4:

Set your black layer to Overlay at 34%.NEW LAYERNow use the Pen Tool and draw a nice-looking curve. The secret to nice curves with the Pen Tool is dragging the handle a long way.Join the path back up so it is one continuous blob, then right click and select Make Selection

Step 5:

You should now have a selection of a nice curve (as shown). Once again use the Gradient Tool, this time with white fading to nothing and add some white.Set this layer to Overlay and you should have something similar to what is shown.

Step 6:

NEW LAYERAnd again grab the Pen Tool and this time make a new even more interesting shape. You can see the shape I created on the leftâ€¦Close the shape back in on itself so it is one continuous path and again right click and choose Make Selection.

Step 7:

Now with your selection, grab that fat soft brush again (size 300) and add some black just at the top on one side (as shown).Donâ€™t let go of your selection as you'll need it for the next few steps.

Step 8:

NEW LAYERNow choose a selection tool (doesnâ€™t matter which one) and hit the Down arrow key 10 times. You need to have a selection tool on to move your selection around or Photoshop will try to move some of your artwork (since you are on a new layer, it will give you an error). So make sure youâ€™ve chosen a Polygonal Lasso Tool or one of the others.Now press Ctrl+Shift+I to inverse your selection. Then with your soft brush (size 300) paint some black down the bottom as shown. When youâ€™re done set the layer to Overlay and fade it back to 60%.

Step 9:

NEW LAYERNow press Ctrl+Shift+I to inverse your selection again (back to the original) and this time paint some nice white as shown. Note that because we moved our selection down back in Step 8, this wonâ€™t quite align with the black.

Step 10:

NEW LAYERNow grab your Gradient Tool, choose white to nothing and set it to Radial Gradient. Then add a white light at the top left as shown. Set this layer to Overlay.

Step 11:

Now at the moment, the colors arenâ€™t looking quite right. If I were really energetic, Iâ€™d go back to the beginning and start again with a different set of oranges. But instead weâ€™re going to do a quick adjustment.NEW LAYER On the new layer, add a fill of a good orange similar to the one shown. Set the blending mode to Color and set the Opacity to 55%. This should adjust nicely.

Step 12:

Now thatâ€™s looking a bit better.NEW LAYERNow once again, use the usual method of using the pen tool to draw a nice curved selection (as shown) and then right click and choose Make Selection.

Step 13:

Use the White â€“ Nothing gradient and add a smooth white transition from left to right as shown. And set the layer to Overlay.

Step 14:

NEW LAYERAs you can see, weâ€™re getting close. Now create one final curved selection down in the bottom left add a white gradient fading to nothing (our favorite tool as you can see) and switch to Overlay.

Step 15:

For the final touches, I added a tinge of black overlayed bottom right and a bit more white overlayed on the top left. But these are inconsequential changes.You might want to go through and polish yours up a little too at this point because other than that youâ€™re done!You'll find the Photoshop PSD file for this tutorial available up above on the right. Enjoy!

Creating an Environmentally Friendly Green Type Treatment

2009-05-19T04:37:00.000-07:00

Jul 21st in Text Effects by Rype

With oil prices the way they are today, everybody is thinking Green. I have done many projects recently that require a Green style applied to the design. In the following Illustrator tutorial, I'll teach you how to create a Green type treatment. It works great for logos and other design elements.

Author: Rype

Ryan Putnam (Rype) is a professional vector illustrator and master of Adobe Illustrator. He runs the blog Vectips.

Final Image

First, let's take a look at the image we'll be creating. Below is the completed illustration to see what you'll be working toward.

Step 1

Create a document that is 8.5 inches by 11 inches. Choose a typeface for the type treatment (I used Helvetica Bold) and type out what you want. Next, Outline the text by going to Type > Create Outlines.

Step 2

With the text selected, create a Linear Gradient from the Gradient Panel. Change the color of the first swatch on the Gradient Slider (left swatch) to a light green (I used these CMYK values: C=40, M=0, Y=100, and K=0). Change the second swatch on the Gradient Slider to a darker green (C=60 M=16 Y=100 K=0). Use the Gradient Tool (G) to adjust the gradient by clicking at the top of the type and dragging to the bottom of the type so the dark part is at the bottom.

Step 3

Now we're going to create some leaves. Start by drawing a leaf shape with the Pen Tool (P). Again, with the Pen Tool (P), draw a line that starts at the tip of leaf and ends in the middle of the bottom part of the leaf. After selecting the line and the leaf shape, press the Divide button in the Pathfinder Panel, located on the bottom left side of the panel. Ungroup (Command+Shift+G) the objects so you have two separate shapes.

Step 4

Select both shapes and create the same colored Linear Gradient as the Text. Next, select one shape and use the Gradient Tool (G) to click and drag at a 45 degree angle across the leaf half shape. Do this again for the other half of the leaf.

Step 5

With the Pen Tool (P) draw a highlight shape on the top leaf half. Change the highlight shape to a Radial Gradient. Change the left swatch to white and the right swatch to your green color (C=40 M=0 Y=100 K=0).

Step 6

With the Pen Tool (P), create a stem shape and send it behind the leaf shapes. Create a Linear Gradient, make the gradient the same colors as the leaf shapes, and adjust the gradient so the darker green is at the top of the stem.

Step 7

Next come the water droplets. Create an oblong ellipse with the Ellipse Tool (L). Then create a Linear Gradient using the same colors as the leaf and text. Adjust the gradient so the dark side is on the bottom left.

Create another ellipse on top of the previous ellipse and create a Radial Gradient with the same swatches as the highlight gradient. Adjust this gradient so the light part of the gradient is coming from the bottom left.

Create two more smaller ellipses with Linear Gradients matching the highlight gradient. Once you are done, group all the ellipses, scale and place them on the leaf shapes. You can easily copy the droplet by holding down Alt and dragging a copy.

Step 8

The next couple of steps deal with creating the ladybug. Create an ellipse and fill it with a Linear Gradient. Make the first swatch in the gradient a red (C=0 M=100 Y=100 K=0) and the second an even darker red (C=0 M=100 Y=100 K=35). Adjust the gradient so the red color is at the bottom of the ellipse.

Copy (Command + C) the ellipse and Paste it in Front (Command + F). Draw another bigger ellipse that overlaps the center of the original ellipse. After selecting one of the original ellipses and the overlapping circle, press the Intersect Shape Areas button in the Pathfinder Panel. Make the intersected shape a Linear Gradient with the first swatch white and the second swatch red. Adjust the gradient so the white is at the top of the shape.

Step 9

Draw five more ellipses over the ladybug body shape and group them together. Copy (Command + C) the original body ellipse shape and Paste it in Front (Command + F). With the copied body shape and the five ellipse selected, Intersect the shapes.

Change the dots to a Linear Gradient with the first swatch a really dark red and the second swatch a black red. Adjust the gradient so the lightest red is at the bottom of the combined shapes. Next, Copy (Command + C) the top highlighted shape of the body and Paste it in Front (Command + F).

Copy (Command + C) the dots and Paste it in Front (Command + F). Select the copied highlight and one of the dots copy and Intersect them. Create a Linear Gradient with the first swatch at 60% black and the second at 90% black. Adjust the gradient so the lighter black is at the top of the shape.

Step 10

Create another ellipse for the ladybug's head. Create a gradient the same as the top dots gradient and send the head behind the body shape. Draw an antenna shape with the Pen Tool (P) and place it behind the head. Copy (Command + C) the antenna and Paste it in Front (Command + F). Reflect the antenna by pressing the Flip Horizontal option from the pop-up menu of the Transform Panel.

Step 11

Draw an ellipse roughly the size of the completed ladybug. Create a Radial Gradient so the inside swatch is black and the outside is white. Set the ellipse to Multiply from the Transparency Panel and send it behind the ladybug to the bottom left, creating a drop shadow. After grouping the ladybug and drop shadow, place it on the leaf. Then scale and rotate the lady bug as needed.

Step 12

After selecting the leaf and all the elements on it, place them over your text. I placed mine over the first letter of the word.

Step 13

Copy (Command + C) the leaf and elements, except the lady bug, and Paste (Command + V). Flip the leaf horizontally and scale down the leaf. When scaling you don't have to constrain the proportions, this helps the leaf look different from the other. Repeat this step a couple of times around the text.

Step 14

For the other leaves we are going to create an Art Brush. You can draw these elements with the Pen Tool (P), but you'll find it more consistent and easier to use a brush.

Draw an oblong ellipse. Then with the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the right anchor point in the ellipse. When you select an anchor point the Control Panel will default to the Anchor Point Options. Convert the anchor point to a Corner (the first button to the right on the Control Panel). Do this again for the left anchor point. Next, squish the ellipse down from the top to half its original size.

Step 15

Drag the oval into the Brush Panel and choose New Art Brush. In the Art Brush options change Colorization to Tints. This lets you change the color of the brush without creating a new brush. You don't need to change the colors of the brush strokes for this tutorial, but it is good practice.

Step 16

With your new brush, make a swirl shape for a leaf blade. You might need to change the stroke of the brush if it looks to small or too big. When you get a stroke you like, go to Object > Expand. You will also want to clean up the unfilled stroke. An easy way to do this is to go Object > Path > Clean Up. Also, make sure all the check boxes are checked and press OK.

Step 17

Select the expanded brush shape and create a Linear Gradient with the same swatches as the original text gradient.

Step 18

Repeat the steps for creating the leaf blade around your text. Try to vary the shape and size of the blades.

Step 19

Next we're going to add some more water droplets around the text. Simply Copy (Command + C) the droplets on the leaf you already made and Paste (Command + V) them around the text. Also, be sure to vary their size and shape.

Step 20

Now it is time to work on the dirt at the bottom of the text. Double click on the Pencil Tool (N) in the Tools Panel to bring up the Pencil Tool Options. Change the Fidelity to 5 to get really smooth lines.

Use you Pencil Tool (N) to draw a small circular shape. Press Alt before you let go to close the shape. Next, create a Radial Gradient with the interior swatch a brown color (C=35 M=60 Y=80 K=25) and the exterior swatch a dark brown color (C=50 M=70 Y=80 K=70) . Place the spot on the first letter of your word. Scale the dot down smaller than one of the droplets.

Step 21

Repeat this till you have a pile of dirt spots on you first letter.

Step 22

Copy (Command + C) and Paste the dirt pile until you have covered the very bottom of all the letters.

Step 23

Draw a Radial Gradient ellipse like you did for the ladybug drop shadow. Squish the ellipse to about half the size. Send the ellipse behind all the artwork and set it to Multiply.

Step 24

Repeat this drop shadow under all the letters.

Step 25

For the background create a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool that is the size of you document. Give it a Radial Gradient, make the interior swatch white and the second swatch a light green (C=13 M=0 Y=38 K=0).

Final Image

Now you have a nice Green type treatment!

Swirl Mania in Illustrator & Photoshop

2009-05-19T04:03:00.000-07:00

by abduzeedo | Apr 30, 2008

abduzeedo's blog

There are lots of ways to create swirls in Illustrator, you can even download vectors from sites such as bittbox and dezignus, and if you are using Photoshop you can download brushes with those sorts of symbols.

However in this tutorial I will show 4 ways to create swirls, and by mixing them you will learn some very powerful techniques that will allow you to easily make tons of different styles of swirls and crazy sperm vectors.

1st Way - Arc, Circle, and Path tool

Select the Arc Tool and create an arc. You can change the arc's properties by holding the mouse button and pressing the UP and DOWN keys for the angle of the arc, SPACE to move it, and ALT to change the center point.

Now create an ellipse using the Ellipse Tool (L).

After you create the arc go to Object>Path>Outline Stroke. The stroke will be converted to a shape, the select the Direct Selection Tool(A).

2nd Way - Blend Tool(W)

Create 2 circles, one will be the start and the other the end points of our swirl. Then select the Blend Tool (W) and click on the small circle and after that on the big circle. Double-click the Blend Tool icon to open the Blend Options, there you will be able to change the spacing of the elements and the orientation. Select Specified Distance and use 1pt, for the Orientation use Align to Path.

The spine is the path along which the steps in a blended object are aligned. By default, the spine forms a straight line.

To adjust the shape of the spine, drag the anchor points and path segments on the spine with the Direct Selection tool.
To replace the spine with a different path, draw an object to use as the new spine. Select the spine object and the blended object, and choose Object > Blend > Replace Spine.
To reverse the order of a blend on its spine, select the blended object and choose Object > Blend > Reverse Spine.

You can test different styles for the blend, like adding a dark stroke with some light color.

3rd Way - Spiral Tool

Select the Spiral Tool and create a spiral, you can change the style of the spiral by holding the mouse button and some keys like CMD/CTRL, ALT, SPACE, UP, and Down.

You can go to Object>Path>Offset Path and specify the offset to 3pt, you will create a uniform spiral. But if you want to make the start point smaller than the end or vice-versa, you can use the spiral as spine for a Blend.

4th Way - Twirl Tool

Create an ellipse with the Ellipse Tool, after that select the Twirl Tool and double click on the icon to open the Twirl Tool Options. Deselect the Simplify option and use 10 for detail. Then go with the center of the twirl tool over the edge of the circle and press and hold the mouse button to create a spiral.

Mixing Techniques

Step 1

Create the first swirl using the first technique. Use a very long line with a circle at the end.

Step 2

Duplicate the swirls and resize it, repeat that to create another one, so you will have 3 swirls.

Step 3

Create a spiral applying the 3rd or 4th technique, actually you can do that with blends too.

Step 4

Create another swirl this time make the circle or much bigger.

Step 5

Duplicate the new swirl, resize and make it a bit smaller than the other like the image below.

Step 6

Duplicate again the swirl, now go to Object>Transform>Reflect. Change the color to yellow.

Step 7

Create a new spiral like the image below, then duplicate it again resize it like and place it above the other spiral.

Step 8

Keep adding swirls.

Step 9

Now we will add some 3D effects using the Mesh Tool (U). This tool allows us to apply multiple gradients to one object. Just select the object then with the Mesh Tool click where you want to add a new color.

Here in our swirl we will create a highlight area and a dark area. Repeat the process to the other swirls.

Step 10

With the Pen Tool create two lines following the shape of the tail of our "sperm" shape, then apply the Blend Tool with 5 Specified Steps. After that duplicate and resize the blend and use it on the other swirl

Step 11

Add more shapes and apply the Mesh Tool. Duplicate the yellow swirl and make it really bigger like the image below.

Step 12

For the spiral add a gradient from pink to cyan, then go to Effect>Stylize>Inner Glow... Use Screen for the Mode, 75% Opacity, 5pt Blur and Center.

Step 13

For those stripes following the spiral we will create a brush. To do that is really simple in Illustrator. Just create a rectangle and drag and drop it in the Brushes Palette, then in this case select New Pattern Brush. Use the image below for reference.

After that create a spiral exactly like the one you want to add the stripes, and apply the brush.

Step 14

Select the spiral without the Brush Stroke and copy it. Then select the spiral with the stroke and go to the Transparency Palette (Window>Transparency). Double click the area next to the thumbnail, it will create a new thumb all black, select this thumb and paste the spiral. It will create a mask, just move the mast to align it with the original spiral. It looks complicated but it's easier than the explanation ;)

Step 15

Use the blend tool to add more elements and details to some shapes.

Step 16

Create more swirls using the techniques we've seen before and just change the sizes and colors. After that group all swirls.

End result in Illustrator.

Step 17 (Photoshop)

Create a new document and place your image, I used a photo from http://sxc.hu and 1440x900px for the document size.

Step 18

Copy the swirls in illustrator, the group with all swirls we have created, and paste it in Photoshop. Select Paste As Smart Objects. After that go to Layer>Layer Style>Bevel and Emboss, use the image below for reference.

Step 19

Duplicate the layer and go to Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical, and reduce the size of the layer and move it like the image below. After that select the 2 layers and convert them to Smart Objects and rename it to "Swirls"

Step 20

Duplicate the new "Swirls" and rename it to "Swirls Glow", then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, use 3px for the Amount, place it behind the "Swirls" and change the Blend Mode to Hard Light

Step 21

Duplicate the "Swirls" layer again and go to Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal, again reduce its size and move it like the image below. Then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, use 3px for the amount again, but don't change the blend mode.

Step 22

Duplicate the "Swirls" layer one more time and this time just rotate it like the image below. Then go again to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, however this time use 5.5px for the Amount and reduce the opacity to 70%

Conclusion

Just place your logo and that's it. You can add more elements, you can even copy and paste each element separately and apply different layer styles to each swirl. There are many options and tons of different results from these methods, now it's all about trying different combinations.

Luminescent Lines

2009-05-19T04:01:00.000-07:00

Written by Ross June 17, 2008

Here we will create some thin flowing lines that look as if they emit light. This technique is fairly simple and is a great way to create an abstract wallpaper or looks good integrated into another image. This tutorial will mainly explore the brush engine and you will also learn how to create custom brushes and use them effectively, combined with some interesting layer styles.

Tutorial Files

If you are a PSD PRO member then download the PSD file and much more by going here.

Final Image

This tutorial will show you how to create an image similar to this:

Step 1

Start by creating a new document, here I used 1024×768px and 72dpi. Using the paint bucket tool (G) fill the background layer with black, alternatively you could use a dark gradient instead. Click the brush tool (B) then change the settings of this brush to a 1px round, white brush with 0% hardness. Create a new layer then select the pen tool (P) and in the main toolbar make sure paths is selected, now start slightly outwith the canvas on the left then using about four points draw a curve with a similar shape to the one below. Right click anywhere inside the document then select stroke path, make sure simulate pressure is checked then hit OK. Lastly hit the Esc key twice to get rid of the path.

Step 2

Now hold Ctrl and click on the layer with this curve in it, in the layers panel, this should make a selection around the line. Next go edit>define brush preset and save that curve as a brush. You can now hide this layer by clicking the eye next to it in the layers panel. Select the brush tool again then bring up the brush settings by going window>brushes. Choose the brush that you just made then use the same settings as below.

Step 3

Create a new layer to hold our lines. Okay we now want to use this brush to create the lines in the picture so first drag from the left of the canvas to the right until you end up with something that resembles the image below. Not that each line is slightly different, this is because in settings we made it change angle and roundness.

Step 4

Now we will make the lines glow so right click on this layer in the layers panel then select blending options. Use the settings shown below for a drop shadow and an outer glow. Note that although we used a drop shadow we are still using it to create a glowing effect this is because we changed the blend mode of this effect from multiply to normal.

Step 5

Right click this layer then select duplicate layer to make an exact copy. Now go into the blending options for this layer and the only thing we want to change is the gradient to the the other rainbow one because you will notice there are two different rainbow gradients, one has transparent edges and one doesn’t.

Step 6

Optionally now you can blend out some of the ends of these lines by either using the erasor tool on both layers or a better way to do it would be to put both these layers in a new group then create a layer mask a paint it out some parts. If your happy with your image then skip on over to the next step.

Step 7

Here I added some beads on the line, this can be done using the same technique from step 3 to step 5 except use a small 2px or 3px round brush instead of the brush that you made yourself.

Step 8

Now create a new layer and select a large soft brush then change the foreground color to a bright color and brush some random shapes. Repeat this with a few diifferent colors to end up with an effect like this.

Step 9

Next go filter>blur>gaussian blur and use a value of around 100px then change the blend mode of this layer to color. I’ll let you decide what opacity this layer should be but I used about 50%.

Adding Texture to the Skin

2009-05-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

Basically, in this tutorial I’m going to be showing you how to add texture to the skin like the one in the below image.

Firstly, start by finding a stock photo that you can add the texture to. For example, you can use this one or you can of course, go to Google Images and look up some picture you are interesting in. Also you need to find some appropriate stone texture. You can do it in the same way or feel free to use mine. Ok, now open up both of your photos in Photoshop, you can either keep it at it’s current size of resize it down a little bit if you want. After that bring the texture picture to the canvas with the man’s face:

Flip this texture vertical with Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical and set opacity up to 50% for this layer:

Ok, then mess with the layer mode & opacity/fill. I tried Multiply with opacity of 80%. After that apply Edit > Transform > Warp to transform the texture as on picture below:

This texture will cover the face and we need one more for the neck covering. Copy the stone texture one more time to our canvas and then change layer mode to the Multiply for the new layer, also set opacity to 80% up. After that resize it a little bit and transform is as below using Edit > Transform > Warp like on picture below:

Now it’s time to compose two different texture layers in one and cut away the textures out the skin area. Hide the upper layer (click on the eye, which indicates layer visibility) and go to lower layer with the texture. Select the Eraser Tool and a soft round brush about 20 px and process the edges to get the picture like mine:

Go back to the hidden layer and make it visible again. Now process its edges in the same way.

Merge two of these layers and change layer mode to Multiply again. Then you might want to make more sharpen this layer. Get out the Sharpen Tool and a soft round brush about 400 px and make a little sharpen work:

Now I would like to clear eyes area from the texture. To do this use the Eraser Tool and a soft round brush about 10 px:

Time to make the texture three-dimensional. For this effect use Dodge Tool (Range: Highlights, Exposure: 35%) and Burn Tool (Range: Shadows, Exposure: 40%) to make some parts of the face more brightness and bring some shadows to the dark parts. Try to do it more realistic.

Now I would like to bring man’s clothes some sharpness. Use the Sharpen Tool (Size: 90px, Mode: Normal, Strength: 50%) to get the picture similar to this:

Looks good! Isn’t it? But we are not finished yet! Now time to add some color to the skin. Use Select > Load Selection to create selection as on picture below, after that create a new layer and fill the selected area with color of #331e01:

Remove the selection with Ctrl+D and change the layer mode for this layer to Color:

After creating a new color for the man’s skin I think we should add some cold hue to his face. For this effect select the Rectangular Marquee Tool (Feather: 100 px) and make selection as on picture below:

Then use Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation with similar settings to these:

Remove selection with Ctrl+D. Now we have an effect like this one:

Looks great! To finish off the tutorial select the Eraser Tool and a soft round brush with size of 100 px and make clear the lower part of the face and neck, but a little bit!

That is it for now! Read this tutorial, make it and enjoy your own cool pictures! Also thanks for visiting PhotoshopStar.

How to Illustrate a Wooden Frame on a Wall Scene

2009-05-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

Nov 1st in Drawing, Photo Effects by Eren Goksel

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to draw a wooden frame. We'll place a photo inside the frame, add some reflection and dirt to the glass, then place the frame on a wall. You can take your favorite picture and make it look like it's hung in your home. Let's get started!

Author: Eren Goksel

I'm a lecturer in Anadolu University. Photoshop, Max, and CorelDraw are my favorite tools.

Final Image Preview

First, take a look at the image we'll be creating. As always, the layered Photoshop file is available via our PSDTUTS Plus membership. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.

Step 1

First we'll create the frame. Although our final image will be 1200 pixels wide and 800 pixels high, we'll start by drawing a frame which is bigger than our final image. Thus we'll have more detail on the frame, then we'll scale it down to fit in our final composition. Now create a new document using the settings shown below.

Step 2

Create a new layer and name it "Wood." Set your Foreground Color to #994400 and Background Color to #ffcc66. Fill the layer with your Foreground Color. Go to Filter > Render > Fibers. Set the Variance to 16 and Strength to 55, then apply.

Step 3

Hit Command + T to enter Free Transform mode, set the Reference Point Location to middle-left, set the Horizontal Scale to 30%, and hit Enter twice to apply. Scaling the layer down horizontally makes the texture more dense.

Step 4

Get the Rectangular Marquee Tool, set the Style to a Fixed Size and set the Width and Height to 125 pixels. Click anywhere on the canvas, then move the selection to the top-left corner of the canvas. Drag two horizontal and two vertical guides from the rulers (Hit Command + R to make them visible if they are not) and snap them to the edges of the selection. Move the selection to the bottom-right corner of the canvas, then drag the guides around the selection as shown below.

Step 5

Create a new layer and name it "Dent 1." Get the Rectangular Marquee Tool, make sure Style is set to Fixed Size, then set the Width to 38 pixels and Height to 1200 pixels. Make a selection as shown below. The selection I made is 20 pixels away from the left edge, so you can place the selection to the most left of the canvas and move it 20 pixels right by hitting the Right Arrow key two times, do this while holding the Shift key. Fill the selection with the Foreground color and the Deselect.

Step 6

This rectangle is going to be one of the dents in our wooden frame. We'll now apply two layer styles to it. First set the layer's Interior Opacity (Fill) at 0%. Now apply a Bevel and Emboss layer style to the layer using these settings: Style set to Inner Bevel, Depth set at 75%, Direction set to Down, Size set to 40 pixels, and Highlight Mode Opacity set at 100%. Next, apply a Gradient Overlay and use the following settings: Blend Mode of Multiply, Gradient set at Black to White, Opacity set at 70%, Angle set to 0 degrees, and Scale set at 150%.

Step 7

We are going to make two more dents. Create a new layer named "Dent 2." Get the Rectangular Marquee Tool and set the Width to 32 pixels and make a selection. Snap the right edge of the selection to the second vertical guide and move the selection 18 pixels left. Fill the selection with the Foreground Color. Create another new layer and name it "Dent 3."

Make another rectangular selection which is 12 pixels wide and place it 2 pixels left from the second guide, as you can see in the below image, then fill with the Foreground Color again and Deselect. Now go back to the "Dent 1" layer in the Layers palette, go to Layer > Layer Style > Copy Layer Style. Select both "Dent 2" and "Dent 3" layers in the Layers Palette, then go to Layer > Layer Style > Paste Layer Style.

Step 8

Now we're almost done with the left piece of our wooden frame. Select all Dent layers and the "Wood" layer in the Layers Palette and go to Layer > New > Group From Layers. Name the group "Left." Duplicate the "Left" layer group and name it "Right." Make the "Right" layer group invisible for now.

Step 9

Go back to the "Left" layer group, open it, then go to the "Wood" layer. Also, make sure Guides are visible. Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool, set the Style to Normal, and make a selection as shown below, and hit Delete to clear the selected area. Deselect by hitting Command + D. Select the "Left" group in the Layers palette and go to Layer > Merge Group (Command + E).

Step 10

Go to the "Right" layer group in the Layers Palette and open it. Select the "Wood" layer and go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. This way we won't have the exact same texture in for the left and right pieces. Get the Rectangular Marquee Tool and make a selection as shown, then clear by hitting Delete. Deselect by hitting Command+ D.

Step 11

Select the "Right" Layer Group and go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Move the layer group to the right of the canvas as shown. Open the layer group and change the Blend Mode of each Dent layers' Gradient Overlay Layer Style from Multiply to Screen. Select the "Right" Layer Group in the Layers Palette and hit Command + E to merge.

Step 12

Duplicate the "Right" layer and name it "Bottom." Hit Command + T and rotate it 90 degrees, then place it at the bottom of the canvas. Duplicate the "Left" layer and name it "Top." Rotate it 90 degrees, then place it at the top of the canvas. Go to the Layers palette and drag the "Top" layer above the "Right" layer.

Step 13

Grab the Polygonal Lasso Tool and make a selection with the help of the guides, as shown below, then hit Delete to clear.

Step 14

Go to the "Bottom" layer in the Layers Palette and do the same thing for the bottom part: Make a selection as shown with the Polygonal Lasso Tool and hit clear. Go to the Layers Palette and select all layers except for the "background" layer, then merge them by hitting Command + E. Name the merged layer "Frame."

Step 15

Hit Command + A to select all and then hit Command + C to copy. Go to the Channels Palette and create a new channel. Hit Command + V to paste. Go to Filter > Artistic > Paint Daubs. Set the Brush Size to 1, Sharpness to 10, and set the Brush Type at Simple. Command-click the Alpha Channel to load the white areas as a selection.

Step 16

Go to the Layers Palette and select the "Frame" layer. Go to Layer > New > Layer via Copy and name the new layer "Bumps." Apply a Drop Shadow to the "Bump" layer with these settings: Blend Mode set to Multiply, Opacity at 90%, Angle set to 120 degrees, Distance and Size set to 3 px.

Apply an Inner Shadow layer style using these settings: Blend Mode set at Color Burn, Opacity at 100%, Angle set at 120 degrees, and Distance and Size set to 0 px. Next, apply a Bevel and Emboss layer style and use these settings: Style set to Inner Bevel, Depth at 1000%, Direction set at Down, and Size set to 0 px.

Step 17

Now select all the layers other than the "Background" layer and merge them by hitting Command + E. Name the merged layer "Frame." Now we need a photo to put inside the frame. I used a photo from Stock.xchng, uploaded by papaleguas. You can download it here.

Open it in Photoshop and drag the image into your "Frame" document, place it beneath the "Frame" layer, then scale and position as shown below. Name this layer "Photo."

Go to the "Frame" layer and apply an Outer Glow Layer Style using these settings: Blend Mode of Multiply, Opacity set at 40%, Color set to black, and Size set to 9 px. Now apply a Drop Shadow with these settings: Blend Mode set to Multiply, Opacity at 35%, Angle set to 120 degrees, Distance set to 3 px, and Size set to 9 px.

Step 18

It is now time to make the glass. Actually, we'll make the reflections. You can get the image that is reflected on the glass here. It's a photo from Stock.xchng uploaded by the swedish.

Open it in Photoshop and drag it into your "Frame" document, then scale and place as shown below image. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 3 pixels. Set the Layer Blending Mode to Screen and Opacity at 15%. Name this layer "Ref 1."

We need two reflections on the glass, so duplicate the "Ref1" layer and name it "Ref 2." Move the "Ref2" layer five pixels left.

Step 19

Create a new layer above the "Ref2" layer and name it "Highlight." Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool and make a selection as shown. Get the Gradient Tool, set the Gradient to Foreground as Transparent and set it to a Radial Gradient. Select white as the Foreground color. Fill the selection as shown and Deselect.

Step 20

Hit Command + T and scale the highlight down horizontally and up vertically, as shown below. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 3 pixels.

Step 21

Now we'll make the dirty edges of the glass. Go to the Channels Palette, create a new channel, and name it "Dirt1." Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Go to Filter > Artistic > Film Grain, set the Grain to 9, set the Highlight Area and Intensity to 0, and hit OK. Go to Filter > Brush Strokes > Accented Edges, then set the Edge Width to 1, Edge Brightness to 20, Smoothness to 1 and apply.

Step 22

Create another channel and name it "Dirt Area." Make sure the guides are visible. Grab the Rounded Rectangle Tool, set it to Fill Pixels, set the Radius to 25 pixels, and choose white as your Foreground color. Draw a rectangle as shown below.

Step 23

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 15 pixels. Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels (Command + L) and set the Shadow Input Level to 200 and Highlight Input Level to 220. Now apply another Gaussian Blur filter, this time with a Radius of 7 pixels.

Now go to Image > Adjustments > Invert (Command+I). This channel will define the area that the dirt will be visible in. Now Command-click the channel in the Channels Palette to make a selection out of the white areas. Alt + Command-click the "Dirt" channel to select where the white area of the "Dirt" channel intersects the already selected area.

Step 24

Go to the Layers Palette and create a new layer below the "Frame" layer, then name it "Dirt1." Fill the selection with the color #a79988. Go to the Channels Palette again, then Command-click the "Dirt Area" channel to load the selection. Go back to the Layers palette and create a new layer above the "Dirt1" and name it "Dirt2." Fill the selection again with the color #a79988.

Step 25

The frame is almost finished. Before we merge the layers, lets make some final adjustments. Go to the "Frame" layer and hit Command + U to bring up the Hue/Saturation dialog. Set the Saturation to -15. Go to the "Photo" layer, press Command + U again and set the Lightness to -10 and apply. Now we're ready! Go to Layer > Flatten Image.

Step 26

Now we can start making the wall. Let's create a new document 1200 pixels wide and 800 pixels high with a resolution of 300 pixels/inch. Create a new layer and name it "Wall." Set your Foreground to 85% gray and Background Color to black. Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Go to Filter > Distort > Glass. Set Distortion to 20, Smoothness to 1, Scaling to 120%, and set the Texture to Frosted.

Step 27

Go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects and apply with the settings from the image below. Next we'll cover the wall with a wallpaper. I used the "Free Wallpaper Patterns for PS7+" by c130 which I downloaded from the Brusheezy web site. You can download the Photoshop pattern here.

Step 28

Copy the "wallpapers.pat" to the Presets\Patterns folder in your Photoshop directory. Apply a Pattern Overlay Layer Style to the "Wall" layer and use these settings: Blend Mode set to Overlay, Opacity at 20%, Pattern set to Floral. To load the patterns you downloaded, open the Pattern Picker, then click the little triangle icon to open the menu and select Load Pattern, then pick the "wallpapers.pat" file.

Step 29

Go to your "Frame.PSD" document and drag the image to the "Wall.PSD" document, do this while holding down the Shift key so it is centered on the wall. Name the layer "Frame." It needs to be scaled down so hit Command + T and set the Horizontal and Vertical Scales to 50% and apply.

Step 30

Create a new layer below the "Frame" layer and name it "Shadow." Command-click the "Frame" layer thumbnail to load it's pixels. Fill the selection with black and Deselect. Hit Command + T and rotate -30 degrees. Hold down the Alt key and press the Right Arrow key twenty times. Select all the shadow layers in the Layers Palette and merge them by hitting Command + E.

Step 31

Hit Command + T and rotate the shadow 30 degrees. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 10 pixels, then place the shadow as shown.

Step 32

Create a new layer on top and name it "Tree Shadow." Get the Brush Tool, pick Scattered Maple Leaves brush and set the Master Diameter to 130 px. Open the Brushes panel and Under Shape Dynamics, set Size Jitter to 50% and Under Scattering set Scatter at 300% and Count to 3. Set the Foreground Color to black and paint as shown.

Conclusion

As the final step, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply with a Radius of 50 pixels. Set the Opacity of the layer at 70%. This will give us some light and shade and also the frame will become the focus of the illustration. That's it! Hope you found this tutorial useful! You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.

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How to Create a Flaming Photo Manipulation

2009-05-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

Jan 20th in Effects, Photo Effects by Jayan Saputra

In this tutorial, we'll manipulate a picture so it looks like a woman burning in flames. The idea behind this manipulation was to create a nice looking illustration, only by using simple techniques and tools such as the Brush tool and Warp command. I hope you enjoy the tutorial and try it with your own stock imagery.

Author: Jayan Saputra

Hello, I'm an asian graphic designer. I like to share Photoshop techniques and interesting design solutions. I'm open to critiques if you have any!

Final Image Preview

Below is the image you will create in this tutorial. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join PSDTUTS PLUS for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.

Step 1

For this project, I used two nice images that suits for the manipulation; image1, image2. I would like to thank the author of this two great pictures, which is thiquinho and huibidos from sxc.hu. And before we continue with the steps, I need to inform you that this tutorial is written using Photoshop CS3.

Step 2

Let's start with image1, open and duplicate this image by using the Image > Duplicate command from the menu bar. In the Duplicate Image dialog box, you can name it anything you like, but to follow this tutorial reference, name it "PassionFire" and hit OK. By doing this, we kept the original image. Be sure to save.

Step 3

With the "PassionFire" image active, duplicate the "background" layer. Set the foreground and background color to black and white by pressing D on the keyboard. Click the "background" layer again and fill it with the foreground color ~ which is set to black. See the images below.

Step 4

Reactivate "Layer 1," then press Command + Shift + U to apply desaturate command. Now invert the color by pressing Command + I. Your image should look like a film's negative now.

Step 5

Duplicate "Layer 1," then apply the find edges filter from Filter > Stylized > Find Edges. Next, invert the color by pressing Command + I and change the Blending Mode to Hard light. There, your image now has contrast white line and a very dark background.

Step 6

To give the white line more contrast, duplicate the "Layer 1" copy then change the Blending Mode to Screen.

Step 7

Now we move to the second image. Drag image2 into "PassionFire" document image window using the Move tool. If the Paste profile mismatch dialog appears, just click OK to fix it.

Step 8

The fire image from "image2" should be in "Layer 2" now. Change its Blending Mode to screen, this will hide all the black colors in "Layer 2." If done right, your image should be similar to the one below.

Step 9

Duplicate "Layer 2" by pressing Command + J. Make sure you use the Screen Blending mode, same as the original "Layer 2." Next, make "Layer 2" become invisible by hiding it from the layers panel.

Step 10

Click the "Layer 2 copy" to make it active, then use the Free Transform command ( Edit > Free Transform) to rotate and resize the fire image like shown below. Don't forget to press Enter when you're done transforming.

Step 11

Still in the same layer, now use the warp command (Edit > Transform > Warp) to bend the fire image - so it following the hair flow. Press Enter when done. See the example below as a reference.

Step 12

If you feel the result is not quite good enough, simply use the Liquify filter to fix it. I assume you already know how to use the liquify filter; the Forward Warp tool and Twirl Clockwise tool is the only tool I used to get this result (see image below).

Step 13

Duplicate the "Layer 2" copy, then use the Free Transform command to resize and rotate the fire image in the current layer. Don't forget to reposition the fire image too. Once you get this composition (see image below), hit Enter.

Step 14

Repeat the previous process to get the hair covered with fire. Just duplicate and modify the layer until you get all the hair part covered. If needed, use the Liquify Filter again. The end result of this process should look like the image below, notice how many layers are used.

Step 15

Okay, now activate "Layer 2" and make it visible again. Then Change the Blending Mode to Vivid Light. This step will colorize only the white line in the layer below it.

Step 16

Still in "Layer 2," apply the Free Transform command to resize and rotate the fire image like shown below. The purpose is to cover up the girl's body and hair with the fire texture. Press Enter when you're done transforming.

Step 17

We're gonna blur the fire image in "Layer 2," To do so, apply the Gaussian Blur filter from the Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur menu. Fill the Radius around 10 to 15 pixels, then click OK when done. Blurring the fire image will cause its texture to blend smoother with the layer below it.

Step 18

Now add a layer mask to "Layer 2." Then use a soft round Brush tool with Opacity at 100%. Set the brush size according to your need, then just mask until the fire outside becoming hidden. See the process below.

Step 19

Sure we will remove the white line shown in the image (marked in red rectangle below). First, add a new blank layer below "Layer 2." Then simply paint it with black using the soft round brush tool.

Step 20

Now go to the top most layer (mine is: "Layer 2 copy 6"), add two adjustment layers which is Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast. Careful not to change the layer adjustment order, or the color effect will be wrong. Below you can see the setting I used to complete this step, also pay attention to the adjustment layer order.

By adding a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, we unify all colors. The Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer brings more color contrast and makes sure the image color's looks like real fire.

Step 21

I'm sure you notice the fire sparks effect. I create it using the Brush tool with this simple setting. No special brush needed, but if you have one that will be useful then feel free to use it. Below you can see all the settings I used within the Brush palette, of course you can change the setting as you like. Just make sure the brush spatter enough and vary the size.

Step 22

Now to use the modified brush, create a new blank layer below the adjustment layers ( mine is named "Layer 4"). Choose 50% gray from the swatches palette, then you can start creating the fire sparks. Remember not to be monotone, resize the brush size if needed. I start using a big sized brush, then reduce it to smaller size (you can change brush size faster by pressing the bracket keys on the keyboard ).

If you're not sure how to do this steps, just imagine where and how the fire sparks will flow if it was real fire. For me, imagining stuff is very helpful.

Step 23

To make it more interesting, create a new layer and change the Blending Mode to Screen. Then use a normal soft round brush (not the one we modified earlier), with an Opacity of 50%. Just click in the part of body, neck, and hair. I'm not sure how to explain this, but you can see the difference between the above and below images.

Conclusion

And that's all of it! Hope you learned something new and had fun. You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.

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Create an Illustrated Look From a Photograph

2009-05-18T05:51:00.000-07:00

Mar 12th in Photo Effects by Kyle Pero

In this tutorial, I will show you how the create a stylized illustrated look from a photograph. The best part is that it requires no artistic ability! You can do this to any photo and pretty much any subject, but I think it works best with people.

Author: Kyle Pero

Kyle Pero has worked in the creative fields for many years now. With a background in photography and graphic design he naturally became a Photoshop whiz. Now he works in advertising doing photographic retouching, but also does freelance design and illustration work.

Before/After

You can see a Before/After below (just roll over the image once it's all loaded in). I bought my image from iStockPhoto - here's the item (Note if you download the sample PSD file from PSDTUTS Plus, the image has a watermark over it, so you'll need to purchase it and swap it in).

Step One:

Create a new Solid Color Adjustment layer and fill it with White. Above that layer, create a new blank layer by hitting the New Layer Button at the bottom of the layer palette. Name that layer "Basic Shapes." Now turn both of those layers off.

Step Two:

We are going to use the Pen Tool (P) to trace all of the basic structural elements of the image. In my case, it will be the outline of the body and the outlines of the clothes.

With the Pen Tool selected, simply click anywhere you would like to start then continue to click and drag to trace the part you are working on with the path. To make it look more like a sketch, we are going to use a lot of small paths rather than trace the whole thing with one long path. When you come to a place where you think the path should end, hold down the Cmd (or Ctrl) key ,and click anywhere off the path. That will deselect it and now you are free to create another one. Keep doing this until all of your basic shapes are traced. Here are a few shots of how I traced my image:

A common misconception is that a path needs to be a loop. Not true. We are going to use all "open paths" in this tutorial.

Step Three:

Turn on your white layer and your blank layer. Select the blank layer. In the paths palette, drag your work path down to the New Path button at the bottom of the palette to save it. Select the Brush Tool and open the brushes palette. Select any round, hard brush preset. Under the Brush Tip Shape section, modify the brush to create a thin ellipse by bringing the roundness down to 12%. Make the angle 45 degrees. Turn on the Shape Dynamics section bring the Size Jitter to 100, the Minimum diameter to 35, and the Angle Jitter to 5.

With the blank layer still selected, hit D to make black your foreground color then right/control - click on the path and choose Stroke Path. Make sure that Simulate Pressure is checked and use Brush as your source. Hit OK. You might have to adjust the Master Diameter in the brushes palette if the lines are too thin or thick.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 a few more times, each time getting more and more detailed in what you trace. The more detail you trace, the thinner you should set the Master Diameter on the brushes palette. Each time you do a pass, make sure to apply the stroke onto a new layer.

Step Four:

Now that we have the outlines, let's paint in some color. Duplicate the the layer that contains your photograph. Put the copy at the top, above all the other layers. Set the Blending Mode to "Color".

Hit B for the Brush Tool. In the Brushes palette set the Brush Angle to -45 degrees and turn off the Shape Dynamics. Make the brush a bit larger.

Make a new blank layer and call it "Paint." Make sure that it's below all of your outline layers. Make sure that your foreground color is still set to black. In the properties bar, set the Opacity of the brush to 10%. Very roughly paint in the color where you want it. Be sure to release the mouse every now and then so that the color begins to multiply over itself. Don't worry about staying in the lines too much. I used a Wacom Tablet so it was easy for me to get nice strokes but if all you have is a mouse just do the best you can.

Step Five:

Hit E for the Eraser Tool. Set the eraser brush up the same way that we did the paint brush. Make sure that the eraser brush's Opacity is at 50%. Now go back and tidy up your paint job. I like it when you can still slightly see the paint going over the lines.

Step Six:

On my image, I want the pants to be blue instead of that peachy color, so I am going to make a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer at the very top of the layers palette. Drag the Hue slider over until you get the hue that you like. Adjust the saturation as you like. Wait, the whole image changed! Thats Ok — we are going to fix that.

Click on the layer mask thumbnail on the Hue/Sat layer and hit Cmd+I to invert it. The image will go back to the way it was before. Set your background color to white and select the Eraser Tool. Set the eraser's opacity to 100% and paint on the mask so that the hue adjustment we made appears. Now just paint where you want the color shift.

Continue this way until you are happy with the colors.

The shirt adjusted.

The skin tone adjusted.

Step Seven:

Make one more new blank layer just below the "Paint" layer. Call it "bkg paint". Select the brush tool again and make the master diameter huge. Mine is at 200. With the brush opacity at 5% do a few really broad strokes across the whole image just to bring in a little color to the background.

Super Slick Dusky Lighting Effects in Photoshop

2009-05-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

Sep 28th in Photo Effects by Collis

One of the best sites around for desktops has to be Desktopography. I've been inspired by their amazing work, so today we are going to put together a sunset image mixing some vector shapes and dusky lighting effects to produce a slick image that would make a nice album cover for a chillout mix!

Author: Collis

Hello! I started Psdtuts+ because years ago reading Photoshop tutorials was how I got into design. You can find me on Twitter or on my blog theNetsetter.

What we are Making

Click the image for the high-res version.

Steps and Assets

As always you can download the PSD file to follow along at the bottom of this tutorial. It's a pretty large file so be warned! Additionally we are using a few assets including a photo from iStockPhoto and some vectors from Arsenal's Freebie Section. Note that in the sample PSD, I've merged some text onto the original image to protect its copyright since it's such a large copy.

Step 1:

So here's our original photo from iStock. It's a pretty gorgeous photo with great sunset lighting and contrast for us to build on.

Step 2:

First off we duplicate the photo, press Ctrl-Shift-U to desaturate the image to Black and White. Then go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast and make the image a bit brighter and contrastier as shown.

Step 3:

Now go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply a mild blur of 2px.

Step 4:

Now we set the blurred black and white layer to blending mode Overlay and Opacity 50%. This gives us a slightly surreal blurring on the image. BE WARNED: This effect (blurring then overlaying) is a bit of favorite of amateurs, so go easy on it. When you do use it, make sure you fade it out a reasonable amount so it doesn't look too tacky.

Step 5:

Now the lighting is pretty nice already, but I'd like some pinkish hues in the image as it makes the image a lot warmer than bluish colors. So in a new layer, use the Paintbucket to fill with a bright pink color. Then use the Eraser Tool with a large, soft brush and remove some areas where you don't want as much pink to shine through (this was pretty arbitrary for me and just gives the image more depth rather it being uniformly colored). We then set the blending mode to Color and 20% Opacity. Actually I did those two steps the other way around (I blended first then erased the bits I didn't want).

Step 6:

Here's the image after adding the pink.

Step 7:

Now to make the sun rays, we are going to use a combination of glowing edges and radial blurring. So duplicate the original colored layer and put it on top of all the other layers. Then go to Filter > Stylize > Glowing Edges and use settings of 1, 11, and 15 respectively for Width, Brightness, and Smoothness.

Step 8:

Now we go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur and apply settings as shown. Make sure that you have set the blur method to Zoom (not Spin). Also importantly move the Blur Center until it's roughly in the position of the image where the woman was standing, i.e. where the 'sun' is going to be. You may have to do this a couple of times to get the positioning exactly right because it's a bit trial and error.

Once you've got it, apply the Radial Blur again by pressing Ctrl+F (to repeat the last filter used).

Step 9:

Now set the blending mode for this layer to Screen.

Screen blending mode basically knocks out darker colors to only leave the lighter ones. This is the opposite to Multiply which knocks out any lighter colors and just leaves darker ones. This is really handy for when you have say a logo on a white background and you want to apply it to an image but don't want to cut it out - instead you just set it to Multiply (or Screen if it's on black).

Step 10:

To get the light looking more like sunlight, we go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and tick the box that says Colorize to add some more color to the light rays. Then move the sliders around until you get a reddish tint and press OK.

Step 11:

Now repeat the process (Glowing Edges > Radial Blur > Screening the Image) a couple of times to get more light rays as shown. Try moving the Radial Zoom filter around a little to get different casts of light to mix together.

Also as you add extra layers on you can always use the Eraser tool to remove some parts of a layer and leave others so that they blend together well. This is generally a matter of playing around with the image until it looks right. Also note that you can use Layer Masks to do this without losing any image data, but because I never used Masks when I was learning Photoshop, out of habit I still do things the old (and probably a bit dumb) way :-)

Step 12:

Next we want to add the big glowing center to the image. So create a new layer on top of all the others and get a large, soft brush and with White as your foreground color paint a blob of white over where the woman's silhouette is.

Step 13:

To this blob of white, we now add an Outer Glow of yellow set to Overlay (as shown). You can do this by right clicking on the layer and selecting Blending Options.

Step 14:

Now in your tools palette choose the Smudge Tool (R) which you can see in the image. Using your mouse, smudge your ball of light outwards. Note that in the image shown, I've done some pretty big smudges so you can see roughly what we're doing, but in reality you should make smaller, more subtle smudges.

What you are trying to do here is give it a burst of light feel. You might want to duplicate the layer and have a couple of them together which is what I've done in the sample PSD.

Step 15:

Now what sunset would be complete without a lens flare? Rather than using the filter though just create a new layer on top and draw a circle as shown and fill it with white. Set it to blending mode Overlay and about 10% Opacity. Then create a new layer and do the same with a smaller circle and repeat again a couple of times until you have a subtle lens flare as shown.

Then merge the layers together and set it all to about 30% because we want this to be really subtle!

Step 16:

Now in new layers we paste in some of our vector images. I've used a sort of swirly wing thing from Arsenal's Freebie Section and also the capital letter A from a font called Porcelain, which you can get from Misprinted Type for free.

I chose both because they have lots of lines and swirls which fits what I want to do. I also duplicated the swirly wing vector, flipped it by going to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal, then Ctrl+T to scaled it down in the transform menu. That way its good for little details.

Step 17:

Now fit the three images together as shown. When we switch them to white, we want most of the objects to be obscured with just bits of swirl poking out the edges.

Step 18:

So now for each layer we press Ctrl+I to invert the color from Black to White and then right-click the layers and select Blending Options. Then we add an Outer Glow as shown to make them fit in with the main ball of light.

Step 19:

You should now have something that looks like the image below.

Step 20:

Now for the final touches, I've added some text using the font Chalet which is wonderfully elegant but isn't too over the top. Note that you might feel tempted to add a swirly, cursive type font for text, but this would be overkill. It's much better to contrast the complexity of the main image with a very simple and understated type treatment (in my opinion). Anyhow as you can see I've placed it near the center of the image.

Looking at the final image, I also decided it needed a little more color so I added a layer at the very top filled with a reddish color (#957070) and set it to Overlay at 30%. This warms up the image a little more, and you'll see that layer in the final shot.

Final Image:

And finally we're all done. Click the image below for the high-res version of our finished product!

How to Apply Textures to Uneven Surfaces

2009-05-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Mar 9th in Illustration, Photo Effects by James Davies

Applying texture to a flat surface, or flatly applying a texture across a whole image (as a means to age it or degrade it) is simple stuff. Realistically applying a texture to an uneven surface is much more hands-on (more so than simply overlaying a texture and changing the Blending mode).

Author: James Davies

I am JamesZilla. I write tutorials for various magazines and websites when I'm not designing gig posters, t-shirts, catalogues, magazine, etc.

Final Image Preview

Take a look at the image we'll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.

Video Tutorial

Our video editor Gavin Steele has created this video tutorial to compliment this text + image tutorial.

Step 1

Job number one, as ever, is pooling your assets together. I got the man from iStockphoto here and the tree bark (courtesy of K. Tuck) from stock.xchng here.

Step 2

Cut out the face using the Pen tool (set to Paths not Shape Layers). Cut and paste it into your blank canvas (1562 pixels by 1172 pixels at 300dpi). Open up the bark image, and import it into your working document. Resize and rotate the document as in the screengrab.

Step 3

Use the Clone Stamp tool to fill in the rest of the texture. Avoid easily recognizable repetitions in the texture like the ones circled. Clone them out. I used a 200 pixel, soft-edged brush to do this

Step 4

Turn the visibility of the "Bark" layer off (clicking the eye icon next to the layer thumbnail will do this). Go to the Channels palette, select the channel with the best contrast, and duplicate this channel into a new document.

Step 5

Apply a 2 pixel Gaussian Blur to your new document and then adjust the Levels as in the screengrab below. Save as "Displace.psd."

Step 6

Reselect the "RGB" channel (so all channels are selected and the image is now back in color) and return to the Layers palette. Make the "Bark" layer visible and select it. Go to Filter > Distort > Displace. Set the Horizontal and Vertical scale to 1 (or try other values), select Stretch To Fit and Repeat Edge Pixels. Set the Layer Blending Mode to Multiply. You can see how it's distorted over parts of the face.

It hasn't quite put it in the right place so move the "Bark" down the face until the distortions match the face. Use this wrinkle (circled) as a guide as to where to put it.

Step 7

Duplicate the "Bark" layer twice. Set one to Multiply with an Opacity of 100%. Set the other to Normal at 40% Opacity. Position in the Layer hierarchy as in the image below.

Step 8

Command-click on the "Face" Layer to create a selection. Select the "Bark Normal 40% Layer" and go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal selection. Repeat this for the "Bark Multiply" Layer. Zoom into 300% and use the Pen tool to draw around the eyes and the mouth. Add a rough edge to the top of the mouth. Press Commmand-click on the Path thumbnail to create a selection.

Step 9

Select the "Bark Normal 40%" Layer Mask thumbnail to work directly on the Mask. Select black as the background color and then delete the selection from the Layer Mask. Repeat this process for the "Bark Multiply" Layer.

Step 10

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and set up as shown below. Then fill the Adjustment Layer Mask with black so the effects aren't visible.

Step 11

Turn off the visibility of the "Bark" Layers and use the Pen tool to draw a paths around the hard edges we need to mask. The bottom of the nose and cheek lines are good examples. Command-click on the Path thumbnail to create a selection from it.

Step 12

Select a soft-edged (0% Hardness) brush, loaded with white (as the foreground color) and set to 16% Opacity. Paint directly on the Layer Mask. Press Command + H to hide selection the, if it helps. Draw over several times, applying more at the shadow source and less as you get further from the harsher shadows.

Step 13

Draw around other features which produce hard lines such as the bottom lip. Draw the Shadows in the same manner.

Step 14

Create a selection from the "Face" layer by Command-clicking the layer thumbnail. Draw all the shadows in...

Step 15

...Changing the Brush size to suit size of the area you're treating. Around the lip for example, use a small brush.

Step 16

Turn the "Bark" layers off to see the key areas of shadow. You can still work on the Mask with the face showing. I flick between working with the "Bark" visible and invisible.

Step 17

In order to soften or erase any shadows that you're not happy with, change the brush color to black and draw on the mask in the same way as before. Keep working on the Mask until you get it right.

Step 18

Whilst drawing on the Mask, you should be changing your brush size and the opacity to suit the shadow. For a big gradual shadow you'll want around a 300 pixel brush set to 16% Opacity, all the way down to 18 pixels and increasing the opacity to suit. Finally, apply a 0.6 pixel Gaussian Blur to the Adjustment Curve Layer Mask to soften the hard edges.

Step 19

Duplicate the "Bark" Layer that sits beneath the "Face" Layer. Set them up so they are the same as the top Bark layers, one Normal at 40% opacity, one Multiply at 100%. Then under those two layers create a new layer and fill it with C=61%, M=66%, Y=66%, and K=62%.

Step 20

Create a selection from the "Face" Layer (Command-click the Layer thumbnail) and go to Select > Inverse. Then go to Select > Modify > Expand. Give it a 1 pixel expansion. Select the Curves Adjustment Layer Mask and Fill the selection with 20% black.

Step 21

Create a selection from the Eyes/Mouth Path you made earlier. Add some shadows by drawing on the Curves Adjustment Layer Mask.

Step 22

To further fuse the elements together, and to grade the image, add a Curves and a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer to the top of the Layers hierarchy.

Step 23

Flatten the image and go to Filter > Liquify. Select the Bloat tool and set up roughly how it is in the image below. We want to add a 3D quality to the areas such as cheeks, nose, and forehead. Select an appropriate Brush size for each of these areas and click on each a few times rather than dragging the brush around.

Conclusion

You can always add some real world effects such as leaves and bugs to the final image - go nuts. This technique works for applying any texture to any surface, for example you could make a brand new Mercedes SLK rusty and riveted, or make a house out of skin. Go have fun whilst you perfect your craft. You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.

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2009-05-15T04:46:00.000-07:00

Kumpulan website tentang tutorial adobe :

1) http://photoshoptutorials.ws/
2) www.layersmagazine.com
3) www.sribd.com

Creating a Water Effect on Text and Graphics in Adobe Photoshop

2009-05-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

CATEGORIES: Photoshop, Tutorials | Dave Cross | March 31, 2009

One of the many great things about Photoshop is that you can start with a basic idea and then just start experimenting (a.k.a. playing) to see what you get. Although the following technique was originally designed to make water droplets (and discovered through playing—I mean experimenting), it’s easy to apply the same idea to type and graphics of any kind.

1 MAKE NEW DOCUMENT; ADD GRADIENT
Create a new document in the size you need and fill the Background layer with a color or a gradient. In this case, we used the Gradient tool (G) with two shades of blue. To create a custom gradient, click on the gradient preview thumbnail in the Options Bar to open the Gradient Editor. Double-click on the color stops below the gradient bar to change their colors and click OK. With the Gradient tool, click-and-drag from the left edge of the document to the right edge.

2 ADD STRIPES; FLATTEN LAYERS
We need to add a series of slightly darker stripes. Click the Create a New Layer icon, choose the Rectangular Marquee tool (M), drag out a selection across your background, and fill it with a darker color. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) around 10 times (depending on the size of your document), then using the Move tool (V), Shift-drag each of the darker stripes to a new location, leaving space between. Do this until your document is filled with the alternating pattern. Select all of the stripe layers, then click the Distribute Top Edges icon in the Options Bar. Choose Layer>Merge Down, and change the blend mode to Overlay.

3 DRAW CIRCULAR SELECTIONS
Go to Layer>Flatten Image to merge all of your elements into the Background layer. Click on the Create a New Layer icon in the Layers panel. On the new layer, draw a few circular marquee selections using the Elliptical Marquee tool. To draw multiple selections, hold down the Shift key. (Tip: To reposition a selection while you’re drawing it, press-and-hold the Spacebar make sure you’re still pressing the mouse button, move the selection to the desired location, release the Spacebar, and then finish drawing your selection.)

4 USE LAYER STYLES TO ADD DIMENSION
Fill the selections with any color and then in the Layers panel, lower the Fill opacity to 0%. Click the Add a Layer Style icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Bevel and Emboss. Experiment with the Depth, Size, and Soften settings to create a soft edge. (We used Style: Inner Bevel; Technique: Smooth; Depth: 61; Direction: Up; Size: 24; and Soften: 14.) Change the Shadow Mode to Soft Light and click its color swatch and change it to white. (Optional: Change the Gloss Contour to add to the effect: here we used Rounded Steps.) Click OK.

5 CREATE A “DROPLET BRUSH”
Click on the Brush tool (B) and then use the Brushes panel (Window>Brushes) to edit the brush settings. Start with a 35-pixel hard-edged brush, click on Brush Tip Shape, and change the Spacing to 95%. Then in Shape Dynamics, change the Size Jitter to 50%, Minimum Diameter to 10%, Angle Jitter to 25%, and Roundness Jitter to 50%. In Scattering, use a high value for the Scatter (we used 650%), a Count of 2, and a Count Jitter of around 40%. Of course these are just guidelines: take advantage of the preview at the bottom of the panel to tweak your results.

6 PAINT IN SOME DROPLETS
On the layer where you originally created the ovals, press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to select the shapes and then press Delete (PC: Backspace) to delete them. Now you can paint with your new droplet brush. (Since the Bevel and Emboss style is active on this layer, your brush shapes will automatically have the look we want.) (Note: Make sure that the blend mode of the brush is set to Normal in the Options Bar and that the Opacity and Flow are both set to 100%.)

7 ADD TEXT
Use the Type tool (T) to add some text using a handwriting- or grungy-style of typeface (we used A Bite, available from www.dafont.com). Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and click-and-hold on the word “Effects” under the droplet layer in the Layers panel and drag it onto the type layer (to copy the Bevel and Emboss layer style). Lower the Fill opacity of the type layer to 0%. If necessary, double-click on the Bevel and Emboss effect to adjust the settings for the type layer. In this example, we lowered the Size and Soften settings and set the Contour setting back to Linear.

8 MASK PORTIONS OF THE TYPE LAYER
If you used a smooth-style typeface as shown in this example, you’ll want to beat up the text a little to add to the water effect. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a layer mask to the type layer. With your Foreground color set to black and a small round brush (not the droplet brush), paint over several areas of the type to create gaps in the text.

9 LIQUIFY THE BACKGROUND
To add to the look, we’ll liquify the areas under the droplets. First, hold down Command (PC: Ctrl) and click on the thumbnail of the droplets layer to load these shapes as selections. Then hold down Shift-Command (PC: Shift-Ctrl) and click on the type layer thumbnail to add the text to the selection. With the Background layer active, choose Filter>Liquify. Liquify will open with a mask based on your selection. Use the Forward Warp and Bloat tools to paint over the droplets to distort the stripes.

10 ADD OTHER ELEMENTS TO COMPLETE LOOK
In our final example, we added additional text and an image to create an ad for bottled water. I encourage you to experiment with this technique on objects, as well. Just use the Marquee tool to select any object, such as a person or can of soda, and then drag-and-drop the selection onto your striped background. After creating a layer and filling the selection with a color, lower the Fill Opacity to 0% and copy the droplet layer style onto this layer. Then added a few more drops with your droplet brush as needed.