Photoshop Tutorial

Create a Realistic 3D Blueprint

2009-04-23T01:30:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial i will show you how to create a 3d blueprint. In the next days i will use my result to create a new layout. The result will be very nice, and i will promise you it is not difficult to create a nice looking 3D blueprint with photoshop.

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This is my final result:

For start i will create a new document with the following size: 800x 800 pixels and with a white background.

I will set my foreground color to #196cca

I will select Rectangle Tool and i will create a simple shape

Now i will download the following font : Download

I will add this font to my sistem. To add a new font you need to copy the font to your “font” folder. I recommend you to search how to install a font under your own operating sistem.
After you have the font installed, you can write some text over this blue shape. Please use a white color when you write something

Select Rectangular Marquee Tool and create a selection like in the following image

Create a new layer ( the easy way to create a new layer in photoshop is by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+N )
The next step is to go to Edit > Stroke.

Use the following settings

After you click on OK, be sure you press also CTRL+D to deselect

I will create a new pattern. For this i need to create a new document 60 x 60 pixels with a transparent background

Now you can zoom the document to 500 %. You can use the navigator panel. If you do not have this pannel open you can navigate to Windows > Navigator

Select Pencil Tool, and set the brush size to 2 pixles

I will create two lines on the document. for a short moment i will create a background. It will be easier for you to see what i am doing

The i will change the brush size to 1 pixel and i will create another thin lines

I will delete the blue layer i have used, and this is my result

I will Go to Edit > Define Pattern

I will choose a name for my pattern, then i will click on OK. You can close this document because we don’t need it anymore.I will create another selection with Rectangular Marquee Tool

Then i will create another new layer ( press on CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+N )

I will grab Paint Bucket Tool, and with the the following pattern ( the one from above )
Note : Download our huge set of photoshop pixel patterns

I will click one time on my document, then i will deselect the selection ( press CTRL+D )

I will drag this layer over the blue shape, and in the same time i will change the opacity value to 10 %

I will create another layer ( press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+N ). Be sure you have this layer on top of all layers, then with Pencil Tool ( set the brush size to 1 pixel ) i will create some lines like in the following image

I will select Eraser Tool, and with a smooth round brush i will delete the end parts of the lines. This is my result. If you look carefully you will see that mine lines look like some thin arrows. This is the effect i am trying to create.

Now i will create some circles with Ellipse Tool ( while you create the circles please hold down the SHIFT key ) it will allow you to create some perfect circles. I will create these shapes with a white color

Now for all these small circles add the same settings for the layer styles

This is my result so far.

I will add some other details with another patterns. You can download my huge set of pixel patterns. I will load the patterns, thne i will create new layers each time i want to create a different pattern

I will select the layer with Grafpedia Text in my layer palette

Then i will press on CTRL+J ( this shortcut will duplicate the selected layer )

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. You will be asked if you want to rasterize layer. Press OK. In the Gaussian Blur settings, please use a big value like 20 pixels

I will change the blending mode for this layer to Overlay. This is my result

Now we will transform this 2D blueprint into nice 3D blueprint.For this we need to work only on a single layer. I will select all my layers in my layer palette ( Hold CTRL and click on all layers without the background layer ) Then drag all the layers to the ” Create new layer ” button from the bottom of your layer palette

You will see that you have duplicate layers for all the layers. If you do not touch anything you will have all the duplicated layers selected. Press now on CTRL+E. This action will merge all the duplicate layers into a single one. Then you can hide the previous ones because we do not need it anymore. It will be usefull in the future if you want to change something

From now one we will work only with this layer. Now i will select Pen Tool, and i will create a simple shape like in the following image

I will right click on this layer, and i will choose Rasterize Layer.

Then i will add the following layer styles

You can find the gradient in one of the biggest gradients packages available

This is my result so far

I will select Eliptical Marquee Tool, and i will create a small selection on the left side of our blueprint

Then i will hit delete on my keyboard ( be sure you have the last layer selected - the one made with the Pen Tool )

Then i will press a few times on my Up arrow key until i place the selection tangent with my bottom part of the blueprint

Now i will inverse the selection ( press CTRL+SHIFT+I ).

I will select the blueprint layer. With Eraser Tool i will delete the bottom left part of my image.

Now i will hide the selection by pressing CTRL+D.
I will duplicate the corner layer

Then i will select both of them in my layer palette, and i will merge them together ( press CTRL+E ) to merge both layers into a single one.
The effect is not visible. I did this step because i will use the Dodge Tool in the following step to add some lights. If you want to draw with Dodge Tool or Burn Tool over a layer with layer styles you will not see the effect. that’s why i merged the two layers.

As i have told you i will use the Dodge Tool with the following settings

Then i will start drawing over the corner of the blueprint. the following steps are very important if you want to have the same effect like mine. So please be careful. Select Smooth Round brush with the following size: 80 pixels, and click one time on the following spot.

HOLD DOWN SHIFT KEY, and press on the second spot

You will not see a big difference, but i prommise you will see in the following steps. Change the size of the brush to 60 pixels, and click one more time following the steps from above. Repeat these steps a few times until your brush size will be 10 pixels. This is my result so far

I will select the other layer, and with Brush Tool, i will cover the white lines

Now i will create a white line with Line Tool ( set the line weight to 3 pixels )

Go to Edit > Transform > Warp, and modify the line until you get a nice result

Now i will select one more time the layer with the corner, adn i will go to Image > Adjustmens > Desaturate

Now i will give the nice 3D Effect i was talking about. I will select all my layers in my layers palette ( without the background layer ) and i will merge all the files into a single one ( press CTRL+E ).
The next step is to go to Edit > Transform > Skew, and play with the corners until you are happy with your result

For this layer add a simple layer style with a drop shadow

You can add also another warp effect. Go to Edit > Transform > Warp , and play a little with this blueprint

This is my result

I will select Lasso Tool, and i will create a selection

Then with Burn Tool, and with Dodge Tool i will add some shadows and highlights. This is my result so far.

I will create another layer on top of all layers ( press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+N )
Then with Brush Tool, and with a smooth round brush ( 500 pixels ) i will press one time over my blueprint

Then i will change the blending mode to Overlay, and i will change also the opacity value to

This is my final result

If you want you can duplicate the blueprint layer, and you can modify by using one more time using the warp tool.

Dreamy Scene

2009-04-23T01:24:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial we are going to create a beautiful scene that
works well with fairy stories. You can also use it in some posters which require dreamy effects as well

First let's have a look at the original image and the result to understand what we'll be creating:

Original image:

And what we will create:

Let's start our tutorial!

Step 1: Download the original image or open your own image. Duplicate our image by pressing Ctrl-J. Before applying some effect on it, we should increase its contrast by going to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast and increase the Contrast slider to 100%

Step 2: Change its blending mode to Multiply to make the picture sharper

Step 3: Press Ctrl-Shift-Alt-E to create a new layer which is the result of its underlying layers. Next we will add a nice sky to it. You can cut out the sky from this picture

Place it on our castle picture. Make sure the sky covers most of our image

Step 4: Change the sky layer's blending mode to Multiply to apply the new sky to our image. This mode works well because we had a nearly white sky in the original image (notice that Multiply mode eliminates white areas and retains darker areas)

Step 5: Use the Eraser Tool with a soft brush (0% hardness) to erase the junction of two layers

Step 6: In this step we will add a light source to our image, a cold sun!

Create a new layer and use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to create a small selection area on the sky

then fill it with black

Go to Filter>Render>Lens Flare and choose 105mm Prime light source

and change its blending mode to Overlay

Finally use the Eraser tool with a soft brush to wipe out the edges. Now we had a beautiful Sun!

Step 7: Now we will add a dreamy effect to our image. Press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E again to create a composited layer and press Ctrl-J to duplicate it. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and set a Radius of 1.5 pixels

then change the blending mode of this layer to Overlay

Finally, you can use the Eraser tool to reveal some dark areas on the castle. Let's have a look at the final result again:

This is the end of the tutorial. I hope this lesson will useful for you!

Creating a Touching Story Scene in Photoshop

2009-04-22T04:20:00.000-07:00

I worked on this illustration especially for you with Ciursa Ionut, he is the founder of PSDBURN where he writes Photoshop tutorials. He started working in Photoshop many years ago when he began to utilize this great tool all the time. In this tutorial, you are going to create a story scene using photo manipulation and a lot of color adjustments.

Final Image Preview

Before you get started, let’s take a look at the image you’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.

Also, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the photographers for giving me permission to use their images. These are the images I have used to create this illustration: Land, Sky, Bird, Model by Jessica, Cascade by Steph, Flowers, Vines by Erica and Abstract Glow by Andreea’s and Dianora’s stock.

Video Tutorial

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

Step 1

First of all, download the Land image and open it in Photoshop. Then hold down the Alt key and double-click on the “background” layer to unlock it.

Step 2

Now you are going to delete the sky and later you will replace it with a more beautiful one. In order to select the sky, go to the Channels palette and identify the channel with the highest contrast between the sky and the rest of the image. In our case, select the blue channel and duplicate it (to duplicate a channel, drag it over the Create New Channel button).

Step 3

You need a higher contrast between the sky and the rest of the image. To obtain the contrast needed use the Curves. Go to Image > Adjustments > Curves (Command + M) and drag the two controllers further together. Take a look at the following image for reference.

Step 4

Note that the sky has to be completely white and the land has to be black. Now the land has some white areas. You don’t want that, so grab the Pen Tool (P) and use it to select the land. With the Pen Tool still selected, right-click on the image, chose Make Selection and click OK. Now the path has been transformed into a selection. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and fill this selection with black. Then go to Select > Deselect.

Step 5

Use the Pen Tool (P) to select the trees from the left side of the image. Then right-click on the image, select “Make Selection” and click OK. Use the Paint Bucket Tool (B) to fill the selection with white. Then go to Select > Deselect (Command + D).

Step 6

There are some gray areas on the sky, but you can fix this easily. Select a white hard brush (B) to paint over those gray areas with white.

Step 7

In the Channels palette Command-click on the "Blue copy" channel’s thumbnail. This will select all the white pixels. Then click on the RGB channel, go back to the Layers palette and hit the Delete key to delete the sky. Press Command + D to deselect and then name this layer "background."

Step 8

The trees from the left side of the image look ugly right now (at least in my case). To fix that go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All, select a black grunge brush with the opacity set to 80% and mask the edge of those trees. Take a look at the next image for reference.

Note: you can create a new layer (Command + Shift + N), fill it with white and put it beneath the background layer to help you mask those trees. When you’re done you can delete the white layer.

Step 9

Select the Pen Tool (P) and use it to delete the rock selected in the following image. That is the place where you need to place the model.

Note: Make sure that you are working on the layer and not on the mask.

Step 10

Select the Move Tool (V) and move the “background” layer down about 200 pixels.

Step 11

Right-click on the “background” layer and select Convert to Smart Object

Note: If you need to make some changes to this layer, double-click on it’s thumbnail. A new document will appear and you will be able to edit the “background” layer. Then save (Command + S) the document, close it and you will see that the changes have been applied to the smart object.

Step 12

Now it’s time to add some adjustments to the “background” layer to make it more vivid. You will find each of these adjustment layers in the Layer > New Adjustment Layer menu or in the Adjustments palette (Window > Adjustments). Now follow these steps exactly:

a. Create a new Brightness/Contrast layer.

b. Apply a Photo Filter. The color that I have used is #9b1dea

c. Create a Color Balance adjustment layer. After you add the settings for this adjustment layer, fill it’s mask with black using the Paint Bucket Tool (G), select a white soft brush with the diameter of 100px and paint over the grass with white. Take a look at the image below for reference.

d. Create another Color Balance adjustment layer for the rocks. After you enter the settings from the next image, use a black soft brush to paint over the grass. This way the adjustment layer will take effect only on the rocks.

e. The grass from the bottom-right corner of the image is too orange. So let’s change that color by adding a new Color Balance adjustment layer. Use the settings from the following image, fill the mask with black using the Paint Bucket Tool (G), and paint with a white soft brush (B) over the orange grass.

f. This is the last Color Balance adjustment layer for this step. Use it to make some of those rocks and the bush from the bottom-left corner more yellow.

Step 13

Hold down the Command key and click on each adjustment layer to select them, then use the shortcut Command + G to group them all. Now Command-click on the background layer thumbnail to select it’s pixels. Make sure that you have the group selected and then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection. Name this group "adjustments."

Step 14

Open the sky image and use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to select the sky. Then use the Move Tool (V) to move it in your first document. You see that the sky is not big enough for our document. Use the Clone Stamp Tool (S) and the Healing Brush Tool (J) to make it bigger. Then name this layer "sky" and convert it to a smart object (right-click on the layer and select Convert to Smart Object). Note that this layer has to be beneath the "background" layer.

Step 15

Now you will add some adjustments to the sky. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance, check the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option and use the following settings.

Step 16

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast, check the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option and use 15 for the brightness and 28 for the contrast. Then select the “sky” layer and the two adjustment layers and group them (Command + G). Name the group "sky."

Step 17

Create a new layer (Command + Shift + N) above the background layer and fill it with black using the Paint Bucket Tool (G). Right-click on this layer and select Convert to Smart Object. Then go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare and use the settings from the following image. Change the blend mode for this layer to Color Dodge, the Opacity to 80% and name it "lens flare." You can use a mask if you want to mask some parts of this layer.

Step 18

Now you need to add the model. It might take you some time to cut the woman from the image below. You can download this image created by me to use for this tutorial. The already cut out “model.png” image is available in your “source” folder for Psd Plus members. For those without Plus memberships, cut the woman out of the image using the Pen Tool (P). Don’t worry about the hair, as we’ll recreate it later on.

Step 19

Now let’s make the woman’s hair longer. Open the “model.png” file in Photoshop, which you have downloaded in the previous step.

a. Go to Filter > Liquify and use the Forward Warp Tool (W) with the size set to 30, the density at 100 and the pressure at 100 to make the woman’s hair longer.

b. Select the Smudge Tool (R) and use a brush with a diameter of 35px and a strength of 55% to make the hair smoother.

c. Use again the Smudge Tool (R), but this time use a smaller brush with a diameter of 4px and a strength of 85% to add more detail to the hair.

d. Select the Dodge Tool (O) and use the settings from the next image to add some light to the hair. Then use the Burn Tool (O) to make some parts of the hair darker. Note: you can switch quickly between these two tools by holding down the Alt key.

e. Use the Dodge Tool (O) and the Burn Tool (O) again, but this time use a brush with the diameter of 3px. Leave the rest of the settings as they are and try to make the hair look more realistic using these two tools. Take a look at the following image for reference.

Step 20

Use the Move Tool (V) to move the model in your document and convert this layer to a smart object. Go to Edit > Free Transform (Command + T) and scale this layer down. Then go to Edit > Flip Horizontal and use the Move Tool (V) to put the model where you want.

Note: This layer has to be directly beneath the “background” layer.

Step 21

Add two adjustment layers to the "model" layer. First go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast and use the settings from the next image. Then go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance and use the settings from the next image.

Note: When you create these adjustment layers, check the option Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask. Then group the “model” layer and the two adjustment layers. Name the group "model."

Step 22

Now we’re going to add some vines. Open the image in Photoshop and move it into your document using the Move Tool (V). Then covert this layer to a smart object, go to Edit > Free Transform to scale it down and then go to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen. Duplicate this layer a few times and put the vines above and below the model (to duplicate a layer you can use the shortcut Command + J or you could select the Move Tool (V), hold down the Alt key and drag the layer). I organized my layers using two groups, one above the “model” and the other one below.

Step 23

Select the bird image and extract the pigeon using the Pen Tool (P) and move it into your document with the Move Tool (V). Then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Select a black soft brush (B) with the diameter of 45px and the Opacity 25% and use this brush to make the bird’s left wing transparent just a little.

Step 24

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast and use the settings from the following image. Then group (Command + G) the “bird” layer and the adjustment layer together.

Step 25

Download the brush set, go to Edit > Preset Manager and load the brushes. Then create a new layer, select the Brush Tool (B), set the foreground color to white and use one of those brushes like I did. In the following imagine it looks like the woman is giving her soul to the bird. That is the idea of this brush. Then change the name of this layer to "smoke," and put it inside a group. Put the smoke above the bird, create a layer mask and use a black soft brush to mask some parts of the layer. Let the smoke be only above the bird’s left wing. Take a look at the following image for reference.

Step 26

Create a new layer beneath the “background” layer and use again the brushes, which you have downloaded in the previous step to create some kind of mist. Then put these layers inside a group and name the group "smoke 2." Also, create a layer mask again and use a black soft brush to mask some parts of the smoke.

Step 27

Now we’re going to put some flowers in the tree on the right side of the image. Cut some Flowers out with the Pen Tool (P) and use the Move Tool (V) to move them into your document. Arrange the flowers the way you want, go to Edit > Free Transform, then scale and rotate them as you wish.

Step 28

Two of my flowers are a little too blue because of the shadow. If you are in the same situation you can fix this with a curves adjustment layer. Simply select the layer with those flowers, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves, check the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option and use the settings from the next image.

Step 29

Add the cascade. Download the image, open it in Photoshop and move it into your document using the Move Tool (V). Then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All, select a black soft brush and mask some parts of this layer. We need only the water. Take a look at the next image for reference.

Step 30

Now you are going to add some adjustments to the "cascade" layer. First go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and use the settings from the next image. Then go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance and use the settings from the following image. Group the "cascade" layer and the two adjustment layers and name the new group "cascade."

Step 31

Select the “background” layer and cut some rocks out of it using the Pen Tool (P). Put all these rocks layers above all the other ones, select and convert them into a smart object. Name the smart object "rocks."

Step 32

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance, check the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask option and use the settings from the next image.

Step 33

Select the "cascade" layer, select the Lasso Tool (L), set the Feather to 10px and select a part of the cascade. Then go to Edit > Copy, create a new layer above all the other ones and go to Edit > Paste.

Step 34

Set the Opacity for the layer, which you have created in the previous step to 30%. Then duplicate that layer about 10 times and use the Move Tool (V) to arrange the layers. Then group the layers and name the group "water above the rocks." Take a look at the following image for reference.

Step 35

Now all we have to do is add a couple of adjustments. First, select the "sky" layer and go to Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise. Use the settings from the next image. Then go to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen.

Step 36

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer, put this layer above all the other ones and use the settings from the image below.

Conclusion

Hope you learned some new techniques and had fun while doing so. You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.

How to Create a Grunge Style Illustration with Stains

2009-04-22T03:15:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the article “18+ Sources of Inspiration from Coffee, Ink, Blood and other Stains,” by Steven Snell, I decided to show my personal way of creating stain based designs in Photoshop. In this tutorial, we’ll grab a picture, apply several filters to it and obtain a monochromatic stain, which combined with stain brushes and a texture will transform into an eye-catching grunge result. Let’s get it started!

Final Image Preview

Before we get started, let’s take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Click the screenshot below to view the full-size image. As always, the layered Photoshop file is available via our Psdtuts+ Plus membership.

Video Tutorial

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

Step 1

It’s time to get dirty. For this tutorial you’ll need to choose a picture, a portrait will be nice (I’m using this picture from stock.xchng). Open it in Photoshop, then make the image layer editable by double-clicking the locked "Background" layer miniature. Now name the layer "Girl" and add a new Fill Layer below using this color: #F6EDD6.

Step 2

Now, convert the image to black and white adding a Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer, for the Preset choose Black & White with Blue Filter (RGB). I’m using this because it increases the darkness of the red areas of the picture, like the lips and the flowers. Once you’ve applied the Adjustment Layer, merge it with the "Girl" layer. I’m leaving the original Adjustments in a Group in the source file and hiding it.

Step 3

Use the Burn Tool darken the lips, eyelids, eyebrows and hair of the "Girl" layer.

Step 4

There are many ways to create a two color (black and white) shapes from a picture, I’ll describe my personal process. Select the "Girl" layer, use Filter > Filter Gallery > Artistic > Watercolor to add a watercolor style to the layer. Set the values as shown below.

Step 5

The image still has a lot of gray areas which must be lightened. For this go to Filter > Filter Gallery > Brush Strokes > Dark Strokes and set the values shown below. The Dark Stroke filter will reduce the amount of gray and darken the lips, hair and eye shadows.

Step 6

Increase the contrast by adjusting the Levels (Command + L) of the "Girl" layer, as shown the image below.

Step 7

Following, select all on the "Girl" layer and copy it (Command + C), then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all and Alt-click the Layer mask miniature. You should look at a full white image, there, paste the girl shape on it. Hit Command + I on your keyboard to invert the colors and click on the "Girl" layer miniature. To check if the mask is working OK, change the "BG" layer background to any other color but white.

Step 8

Using a soft black brush, paint over the "Girl" Layer Mask to hide the white visible areas over the shoulder and everywhere where the white is too intense. Finally, change the background color to #E1D3BC.

Step 9

Select the "Girl" layer, set the layer’s Fill value to 0% and apply the following effects: an Inner Glow (#580200) and Color Overlay (#7F4141) 50%. I’m choosing this colors because want to create a wine stain detail, anyway feel free to try different colors. Duplicate the "Girl" layer and move the copy below it, then Alt-click on the "Girl copy" layer and click on Clear Layer Styles.

Step 10

Now the real stains, first of all, download this brush set from Brusheezy, a nice stain set created by Nissa previously featured on Steven Snell’s inspirational post. I’m using the brush named "coffee 10." Set a black foreground and paint a stain over the Layer Mask of the "Girl." Do not paint directly over the "Girl" layer though.

Step 11

Add two or three more stains using the same technique as shown in the previous step, but use different brushes.

Step 12

Add more stains on the "Girl" Layer mask, but this time reduce the Opacity and Flow to between 50% and 75%. You can use the same brush set or mix some other. I’m using the water stains brush pack from Obsidian Dawn. Work it in as random as possible. Finally, you should have something like the bottom of the image below.

Step 13

Select the "Girl copy" Layer Mask and use a huge brush (I’m using the “brush13″) from the Coffee stains set to paint a big stain on that layer.

Step 14

Repeat the previous step, but change the brush and set both the Opacity and Flow values between 50% to 75%.

Step 15

Using the “coffee7″ brush, paint a big stain (#B99048) into a new layer below the "Girl copy" layer, feel free to add more stains if you want.

Step 16

Merge both the "Girl" and the "Girl copy" layers. You can put both layers into a group, duplicate it and merge the copy.

Step 17

Select the "Girl copy" layer and set the Eraser Tool’s brush options to the one from the water stains of Step 12 and delete the girl’s cheek. Change both the Opacity and Flow values to 50% and delete some little areas over the eyelids as well.

Step 18

Download this Coffee Stains brush set by Guerilla Graphics. Using the first brush of the set paint a bottle stain over girl’s cheek into a new layer above all others, use this foreground color: #411516. Then select the Eraser tool, use one of the Water Stains brushes (see Step 12) and delete some areas of the new “stain” layer.

Step 19

Add more glass/bottles stains (#411516), over the shoulder and neck ares. Also, delete some areas over the face using a water stain brush. Finally, change the Blending Mode of these stains to Hard Light.

Step 20

Let’s add some final small details, like those tiny spots of random Water Stain brushes (#4E3105). Paint them into a new layer and set its Blending Mode to Overlay.

Step 21

As a final touch, use the 3rd brush of the last “Coffee Stains” set to extract a splatter. Rotate the splatter and place it somewhere over the girl’s face merging one of the vertical lines of her hair. Feel free to add more stains anywhere.

Step 22

Let’s add a background texture. Paste this image into a new layer named "Texture." Then duplicate that layer into a new document called "map.psd" since we’ll use it as a displacement map. On "map.psd" apply a new Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer. Set the preset to Black and White With Red Filter (RGB). Then adjust the Levels and Hue/Saturation, as shown in the following images. Finally, save the document and go back to the main design.

Step 23

Group all the layers except "BG" and "Texture" into a folder, you may name it "Design" and convert it into a Smart Object. Then change the Blending Mode to Multiply.

Step 24

To add a little bit more realism, select the "Design" Smart Object and go to Filter > Distort > Displace. Then set both the Horizontal and Vertical Scale to 4. Hit OK and look for the "map.psd" file previously created in Step 22.

Step 25

Finally, select the "Texture" layer and adjust the levels as shows in the image below.

Step 26

As a final touch, add some text to the design, I’m using this font and this foreground color: #5B1B19. Change the text layer Blending Mode to Multiply and re-apply the Displacement Map filter (use exactly the same displace map image).

Conclusion

Have fun trying to create different designs using this style and these techniques. Thanks for reading!

How to Design the Firefox Logo in Photoshop

2009-04-22T03:13:00.000-07:00

This tutorial will go through how you can create the Firefox logo in a scalable Photoshop format.

The World

Firstly create a new document at 1024px x 970px and start off with selecting the ellipse tool (U) and drawing a large circle (hold SHIFT to constrain the proportions) and make the top of the circle nearly touch the top of the document and the bottom of the circle nearly touch the base of the document. Change the colour of this new shape by double clicking the colour next to your shape in the Layers Palette and then entering #1f0e6d in the space underneath RGB. This is your basic shape for your globe and should look like this:

1.) We first create the world shape

We now need to duplicate the world shape by right clicking on the circle we’ve just created in the Layers Palette and clicking Duplicate. We need to scale this down slightly, so press CTRL+T and you will be switched to Free Transform in which we can manipulate the shape freely. Scale the shape down ever so slightly by selecting the top-right resizing handle and by dragging inwards whilst holding both SHIFT+ALT. Now we add a new gradient layer by going Layer>New Fill Layer>Gradient. Give it a name and click OK and you should be brought up with a gradient fill dialogue. Now you need to click on the gradient next to Gradient: (not the dropdown, the actual gradient) and this should bring up a gradient editor. Along the gradient slider there should be a black box on the bottom left and a white box on the bottom right. Double click on the left black box and change its colour to #251979 and then double click the right box and change the colour to #67c4d4. Then click the top right box and change its Opacity value to 100%. Click OK and you should be presented with a Layers Palette that looks like this:

Your layers palette should look like this.

Now you need to click on your 3rd layers (or what should be called ‘Shape 1 Copy’) vector mask and drag it onto your newly created gradient fill layer. This should create a vector mask for your gradient fill layer and should look like this:

The layers palette with your new vector mask.

Now comes the tricky part, creating the land on the globe. To achieve this we use the pen tool (P) to create the organic shapes required to look like the land. Select the pen tool (P) and make sure Shape Layers is selected in the tools menu instead of Paths. Now begin the clicking and dragging process involved in using the pen tool until you achieve the following result (I can’t help any more than this for the pen tool (P) but if you want to cover the basics check out this tutorial):

The globe with the land added.

Now we need to subtract a piece of land from the island we’ve created and to do this you click on the vector mask on the land shape in the Layers Palette (with the pen tool (P) still selected) to select the land; then click the Subtract From Shape Area button on the tool options bar. Now just remove the piece of land using the same method used for adding it until you have removed the piece shown in the image below:

Remove the chunk displayed from your land shape.

With your shape selected, we now need to invert the land so that it appears the same as on the Firefox logo. To do this, select the path selection tool (A) and select just your main land (not the subtracted one). Now press the ‘-‘ (minus) button to invert the selection and then click your subtracted piece of land and press ‘+’ (plus) to add the island back to the shape. Now right click on your layer in the layers palette and select Create Clipping Mask to clip your land to the globe and it should look like this:

This is how you're globe should look with the land removed.

Now to achieve a gradient effect utilising layer styles. To achieve this you need to select Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay in the Photoshop menu and you will be presented with the options needed to edit a gradient. Click on the gradient next to Gradient: (not the dropdown, the actual gradient) and this should bring up a gradient editor. Along the gradient slider there should be a black box on the bottom left and a white box on the bottom right. Double click on the bottom left black box and change its colour to #00022e and slide it along until Location reads 40%. Then double click the bottom right box and change the colour to #0f80bc, click OK, OK, OK and you should be presented with this:

The globe with a subtle gradient.

Now we need to create the classic Web 2.0 shiny orb effect (when will we tire of it?) by selecting the ellipse tool (u) and drawing an oval at the top of the globe so that it looks like this:

Add the reflection.

Now select Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay in the Photoshop menu and you will be presented with the options needed to edit a gradient. Click on the gradient next to Gradient: (not the dropdown, the actual gradient) and this should bring up a gradient editor. Along the gradient slider double click the bottom left black box and change it to #ffffff (white). Now click the upper left black box and change the Opacity to 0% and location to 40%. Click OK and this will appear to make no difference. Click the Blending Options in the layer style dialogue and look for the Advanced Blending section. In this section should be a Fill Opacity slider which you need to drag to 0%. Above that section is General Blending where you’ll find an Opacity slider which needs to be dragged to 50%.

After this brief bit of advanced blending, click OK and you should be presented with this:

The finished globe.

The Fox

The fox is definitely the tricky bit and you’ll need to have a good understanding of the pen tool and how it works to pull this off. I am writing the following on the presumption that you have managed to achieve the previous section of this tutorial and are confident with the pen tool and layer styles.

First we need to start off with the arm. Draw the following shape with the pen tool (P) and double click the layer to bring up the Layer Style dialogue. Change the gradient properties until you achieve a result that resembles the image following. I used the colours #941403 and #c04b11 to achieve the following effect (remember to tweak the angle and scale in the layer styles dialogue to achieve the desired result):

We start with the arm.

Now we have the base of the arm. We now need to duplicate this layer so we can add the orange upper-half of the arm. After the layer has been duplicated (right-click, duplicate in Layers Palette) we need to subtract a chunk out of it in the same way we removed land from the globe in the first part of this tutorial; click on the vector mask of your duplicated shape in the Layers Palette and with the pen tool (p) selected click the Subtract Shape Area Button. Now draw a curve that matches the image that follows, removing the lower part of the foxes arm. Once complete, double-click the colour at the side of the layer and apply #d46518 as the shapes fill colour. Tweak the angle and scale in the layer styles dialogue to achieve the desired result and you should now have something that resembles this:

The arm and shading.

We now need to create a quick highlight. To do this select the pen tool (p) and draw a shape on the fox’s paw that resembles the image that follows. Apply a simple layer style with a gradient that uses #f5f498 colour for the left gradient box and the same colour on the right but with 0% opacity. Click Ok, Ok and go to Blending Options in the layer styles dialogue and in Advanced Blending change Fill Opacity to 0%. Tweak the angle and scale in the layer style dialogue to achieve the desired result and he result should be something like the following:

The completed arm with highlights.

Now we need to start creating the bulk of the fox’s shape. We’ll start with the initial outline and can then build the details of the fox as individual layers. Begin by creating the fox outline that includes the ear but excludes the head as the following image demonstrates (using the pen tool (p)).

The body base shape.

Then bring up the layer style dialogue and apply a new gradient using the colours in a similar manner to what I have used as follows (to add new colours to the palette, click an empty space on the gradient slider). Tweak the angle and scale in the layer styles dialogue to achieve the desired result.

The fox's body gradient.

The foxes outline should hopefully now look like this:

The fox with the gradient applied.

You’ll notice that the fox’s tail is far too red with the existing gradient applied. A quick and easy way to get rid of this is to duplicate the foxes outline and with the pen tool selected and Subtract From Shapes Area selected, draw a shape removing everything but the foxes tail. Then in the layer style dialogue, tweak the gradient to remove the redness of the tail tip.

Now using the techniques employed before we need to begin on the fox’s jaw and snout. Begin by drawing the lower part of the snout with the pen tool (P) and change the shapes fill colour to #ffffcc.

The beginnings of the jaw.

We now create a new shape to act as the jaw’s highlight. Draw a shape similar to that which follows, using the fill colour #eea273. The shape can spill over the bottom half of the jaw because we then apply a clipping mask by right-clicking on the new layer and selecting Create Clipping Mask. This should nicely anchor your new shape to the jaw and remove any of the shapes overspill.

The jaw shading.

The upper snout now needs to be created, so with the pen tool (P) draw the following shape and change the gradient in the layer styles dialogue (double click the layer in the layers palette) to use the colours #9a1d06 and #db5009, remembering to tweak the scale and angle in the layer styles dialogue.

The upper snout starts to take shape.

We now need to create a subtle highlight to the fox’s upper snout. To do this, duplicate the upper snout you’ve just created and with the pen tool (P) selected, select the Subtract From Shape Area and remove the chunk as illustrated below.

Add subtle highlights to the fox's snout.

Now change the layer style of this highlight to have a gradient using the colour #df731b in both boxes, but with the right box having 0% opacity. Then remember to go to Blending Options, look for Advanced Blending and change the Fill Opacity to 0%. Remember to go back to Gradient Overlay in the layer style dialogue and tweak the Angle and Scale to match the image below. You should end up with something like this:

Fade out the highlights of the highlights.

Finally add a black button nose with a simple black/white Gradient Overlay and drag the layer beneath the other snout shapes in the layers palette.

Now we need to refine the details of the fox’s tail. Create a shape that resembles the following and apply a Gradient Overlay layer style with a gradient that resembles the following (remember to tweak the angle and scale in the Gradient Overlay options in the Layer Style dialogue):

The shape should look like this:

Fox's tail highlight shape.

The gradient should look like this:

The gradient for the tail highlights.

Together they should look like this:

The tail highlight with gradient applied.

Repeat this process until all the detail on the tail is complete, using the same gradient styles, just tweaking them slightly to suit each separate bit of detail. After you have finished the detail you should have something that looks like this:

The tail starts to look more defined.

Now you need to create the final piece of detail to the tail that also acts as the shadow to the fox’s back. To do this, duplicate the shape that makes up the fox’s body and in the Layers Palette, drag in to the top so that it overlays all your existing layers. Now select the pen tool (P) and CTRL+click your shape to bring up the shapes outline with all the anchor points displayed. Single click the majority of the anchor points to delete them and pull a few of the existing ones about until you get a shape that resembles the image that follows. Change the gradient overlay in the Layer Style dialogue to also resemble the following (tweak the layer style you used for the tails detail before):

The fox's back and finished tail definition.

The fox’s head of hair now needs to be created by drawing the following shape with the pen tool (P). You need to create a Layer Style with a Gradient Overlay that uses the colours #df731b and #e79041 and in the Gradient Overlay properties in the Layer Style palette, change the gradient type to Radial instead of Linear. This way we can add a circular highlight that follows the arch of the fox’s head. Your result should look something like this:

Nearly done - the fox's head begins to take shape.

This radial gradient that we employed previously unfortunately hasn’t encompassed the top of the fox’s head as hoped, so we need to duplicate the previous layer and using the pen tool (p) select Subtract From Shapes Area and remove 80% of the fox’s hair from roughly below the snout. I have highlighted the shape as green in the following example so you can see what I mean:

The area you need to subtract from the duplicated shape.

Now change the gradient overlay in the Layer Style dialogue to create a highlight on the upper part of the fox’s head. The result should be as follows:

The gradient applied to the upper head.

Now we need the ear to appear in front of the head, so we have to duplicate the layer you just created and cut off everywhere apart from the ear using the pen tool (P) with Subtract From Shape Area selected. I have an example below, with the ear highlighted in green so you can see the exact shape that needs to be used:

The ear shape to remove from your duplicated layer.

Now apply a gradient overlay in the Layer Style dialogue and modify the gradient so it resembles the following image:

The ear with a gradient applied.

Finally you need to create the last bits of detail to the fox’s hair in a similar fashion to how you created the detail to the fox’s tail. Draw a succession of spiky hair shapes as seen in the image below and create a gradient that uses the colours #e27d23 and #efa869, making sure you alter the angle and scale for the gradient in each spike to blend it in with the fox’s hair.

The final result!

Whew. . .

That should be it, you should end up with a Firefox logo that looks like the one above. This uses several techniques that perhaps aren't as manageable as if you approached the same task in Illustrator, but it avoids the classic problem of having to jump between Illustrator and Photoshop to make alterations, giving you a bit more flexibility. Now you have a customisable, scalable Firefox logo for whatever uses you desire. If there are any questions, please leave a comment below and I’ll try and help you as best I can.

Create an Out of Bounds Fantasy Illustration

2009-04-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

Here is another illustration I have worked on with Toma Alin Gabriel. Worked on this piece with a lot of images and I would also like to thank the photographers for giving us permission to use their stuff. In this tutorial, we will take you through the process of creating a fantasy scene, make water pour out of a painting, make some sort of a absorption effect and end up with a really nice looking color. The main idea behind this surreal illustration is that we are actually in a painting and the painting on the wall is the real world, the world where our vulture tries to escape.

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.

Step 1

Open the Old Dark Room image provided by Anne. This room looks pretty freaky already but you want it to have more cracks. To do this, import the Vintage Grunge Texture and resize it using Command + T.

Set the texture layer to Multiply and erase the edges using the Eraser Tool (E) so that it blends in. Also, you will need to use the Burn Tool (O) on the image to darken it some more, and then desaturate the image to obtain a better result. The texture will blend in just perfectly.

Step 2

Import the frame into the scene and cut it out of its background using the Pen Tool (P). Select some parts of the frame and using (Command + J), duplicate them. Next, enlarge the frame. After you place each layer into place, merge them all together. Using the Clone Stamp Tool (S), clean up the frame so that each piece you have create will blend in with the others.

Step 3

Now that you have your frame ready we need to add some color effects. Change the Hue/Saturation to: Hue -25, Saturation -60 and Lightness 0; Levels to 17, 1.00, 255; Vibrance to -26 and Saturation -53. Follow the images below for reference.

Step 4

Now that we have set the frame color, we need to make some serious cracks on it. For this you will have to use a cracked texture that you can find on cgtextures.

Set the texture over the frame and set it to Overlay and Opacity 50%. Cut the texture layer so that it is only over the frame or simply make a selection of the frame and mask the texture. Duplicate the layer two times. In the end merge the crack with the frame and add some final adjustments: Brightness/Contrast 0, -40 and Exposure -0.80, Offset 0.0000, Gamma 1.00.

Step 5

Next you need to add a picture in the frame and create a painting. For this use the image created by painting by night-fate-stock. Position the image behind the frame and rotate it a little bit.

Apply some Vibrance adjustments to the painting: Vibrance 26 and Saturation -30. Merge the painting and frame. Now use the Transform Tool (Command + T), then chose Distort to pull the corners of the frame to create something like in the image below (you need to give the impression that some force is absorbing from there). Set the Exposure to -1.00 and for the Color Balance Midtones set the Yellow and Blue to -10.

Step 6

Import the couch by Tattoomaus78 image. Next, Use the Pen Tool (P) to cut it and remove it’s background. Next you need to add some color adjustments so that the couch will blend in with the rest of the composition. For Levels use 17, 1.00 and 255; for Vibrance use Vibrance 21 and Saturation - 16; for Exposure -0.50, Offset 0.0000, Gamma 1.0; for Hue/Saturation change only the Saturation to -60.

After you position your couch, Command-click on the “couch” layer to make a selection around it, then create a new layer above it. Now use a black soft brush to draw on the corners and edges of the couch. Then set the layer Opacity to 80%.

Step 7

Now you need to add some more shadows for the couch. First, create a new layer and place it below the couch layer. Next use the same black brush tool to add some spots behind the couch, and in the end set the layer’s Opacity to 50%.

Make another selection of the couch and create a new layer. Use the same technique as before to add some black spots on the couch. Also, use the Burn Tool (O) in some places, then in the end set the layer to Soft Light and Opacity to 90%.

One last thing here is to merge these layers. Next, use the Transform Tool to change the shape of the couch a bit, just pull the right corners to make it look like a black hole is sucking everything in it’s path.

Step 8

This step will be more interesting. So for this, you need to import some water into your document. Use the Waterfall by xPhate image.

Use the Lasso Tool (L) to make a few selections of the water, then place them into your composition. In some cases, you will also need to use the Transform Tool (Command + T) and deform the pieces you import so that they combine and blend in nicely.

After you place each piece in the right place, desaturate each piece of the water, then set them to Lighten and Opacity 80%, or just experiment and chose the settings you consider to work best for you. Also, in some cases you will need to use a soft Eraser Tool (E) and soften the water.

Remember to use small parts of water like in the last image in this step. Position these pieces in places like the couch and floor, painting, the end of the painting, and the rest of the edges that look a bit strange and in need of some more water. You are actually recreating a waterfall in this step, and it can take a long time until you reach your goal.

Step 9

Now you need to work with another water image. This image will be used on the floor. Place the image in the composition using the Transform Tool, then you need to pull the lower corners a little so that there will be some perspective visible and desaturate the layer.

In the end, set the layer to Screen and Opacity to 60%. Finally, use a soft brush for the Eraser Tool, and erase the lower left and right parts to make it blend in. Another good tool to use here is the Burn Tool (O); use this to darken some parts of the water. You can also play a little with the Saturation (-40) and Exposure (-0.40).

Step 10

It’s time to add another object in the scene, which is the Vintage Mandolin. After you cut out the mandolin from it’s original background, import the image into your composition and place it on the couch. Be sure to place it as though it looks like it’s floating above the couch.

Duplicate the “mandolin” layer and then double-click on it to enter the Blending Options. Here chose Color Overlay and set it to Black. Next move the “black mandolin” layer below the original one. Go to Edit > Transform > Warp. You need to modify the shape of the shadow a little so that it looks like it’s morphing with the shape of the couch. Finally, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and chose a 3px radius. Now set the layer to Overlay and Opacity to 60%.

In the end, make the mandolin look as old as the rest of the objects in the composition. To do this, change the Brightness to -26 and Contrast to -8; Saturation to -44; Vibrance +26 and Vibrance Saturation to -8.

Step 11

Let’s add another object, which is the pedestal. Cut it out using the Pen Tool (P) and then place it in you composition, behind the couch layer.

Use the Burn Tool (O) set to a low Opacity, and draw over the pedestal to make it look darker. Another great technique to make objects look darker is to duplicate them, desaturate them, and then set the copy to Multiply.

Now that you made your pedestal look darker, you need to create some cracks on it to make it look old. Now create a new layer and place it lower then the pedestal. In this layer, draw using a black brush and create something that looks like the shadow of this object.

Apply a soft blur to the shadow, then set the layer to Multiply, and set the Opacity to 70%. One last thing you need to do to this pedestal is to add the cracks. Use the same texture and technique as you used for the wall. Also, use the Burn Tool if you consider some sports to be too light.

Step 12

Cut the second pedestal using the Pen Tool and then import it into your document. Resize, rotate and place it on the left side of the screen slightly going out of the document.

Let’s make its colors look the same as the first one. Change the Vibrance settings to +17, Saturation -35; Hue 0, Saturation -8, Lightness 0; Brightness -8, and Contrast -17.

Same as you did with the first pedestal, you need to add the shadow and cracks. For the shadow repeat the same steps used for the mandolin shadow. To create the cracks, use the same texture and techniques applied to the wall and first pedestal.

Step 13

Time to insert another image in the composition. This time we will add a Bird Cage and later on you will also add the bird that actually escaped from the cage and flies straight for the painting attempting to escape into the real world.

So after you finish cutting the cage out of its background, import it into your document and transform, rotate and position it in the top-right side of the image.

Duplicate the layer and then double-click the new layer to enter the Blending Options. Now go to Color Overlay and set it to Black. In the end, set the duplicated layer to 50% and the original cage layer to 85%.

Step 14

Next you need to add some Adjustments to the cage. Set Vibrance +26 , Saturation -8; Levels 8, 1.00, 255; Hue 0, Saturation -30, and Lightness 0.

One last thing to do is to create a gate for the cage. Using the Pen Tool, make a selection like in the image below. Copy it into a new layer, then use the Transform Tool to make it look like it is part of the cage.

Step 15

After you cut out the golf ball, import it into your composition. Now resize it and place it above the first pedestal. It will look like it’s levitating above the pedestal Play around with the brightness/contrast settings and make it a little lighter.

Step 16

It is time to add the last object and that is the bird. Cut it out using the Pen Tool, then place it into the document between the painting and cage to give the impression we are looking for, which is the bird has just escaped from the cage and flies straight at the painting.

Also, you need to duplicate the bird and move it somewhere over the couch. Also, fill it with black, apply some blur ,then lower the Opacity to 70% or lower. Doing this creates the bird’s shadow.

Step 17

Next add some final adjustments to the bird. Set Levels to 20, 1.00, 255; Hue/Saturation to 0, -40, 0; Vibrance to +20, -30; Brightness/Contrast to 0, -30.

Step 18

It is time to start creating the break-apart effect. For this use the Lasso Tool (L) and select small pieces of the painting. For the moment, drag them a little (not too far though). Repeat this step until you get something like in the image below. Also, you can use a slash brush to make the effect more powerful. You can find some really great brushes at cgtextures in the splatter section.

Step 19

Continue creating the break-apart for all the elements. Look at the image below for reference. Also, use the splatter brush for greater effect.

Step 20

Use Topaz Adjust with the Portrait Drama effect. This will bring out more details in the image.

Step 21

Next use Adobe Lightroom and apply the settings from the image.

Step 22

Next you need to save the image as a JPG and open it in Photoshop. Duplicate the layer and go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur, set it to 5px and Zoom. The last step is to create a layer mask, then use a black soft brush to mask some parts that are more important, like the center of the image and objects.

Step 23

If you want, you can stop at this point, but we will take you through the process of adding a really cool color effect. Open the JPG and darken the image a little by changing the Levels settings.

Step 24

Select the Green Channel and press (Command + A) then go to Edit > Copy. Select the Blue Channel and go to Edit > Paste and then select the RGB Channel.

Step 25

And final step is to create a new Adjustment Layer set to Curves and look at the image below for reference.

Conclusion

Hope you learned some new techniques and had fun while doing so. You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.

Photoshop Tutorial: Modern Eve

2009-04-21T04:54:00.000-07:00

Crestock sent five stock images to Peter Nowacki (aka. Velendil) and challenged him to Photoshop it into something weird or wonderful. Check out the end result, complete with an illustrated tutorial of how it was created.

Source images

The rules of our challenge to Peter are essentially the same as in our popular Photoshop contests. We supply five images selected by ourselves, and the artist then creates a design where at least one of the images are a central element.

In this case, Peter chose to incorporate two photos, one of a woman shaking her hair, and a photo of a snake which he managed to work into her hair.

Without any further ado, here's Peter's step by step guide to how he did it.

Inspiration and sketch. First off, I gather all references images and make a fast sketch on paper by hand. Just a general sketch to catch the main idea and composition. I’m trying to find inspiration everywhere, from books, TV, music to my environment.

This image will contain my personal feeling about God and people’s lifestyle nowadays, so it will be desaturated to be in tune with the image’s spirit. For this work I used many textures made by myself, a few of the source photos, a Wacom Intuos3 graphic tablet, a Canon Scanner and Photoshop CS3. A graphic tablet is highly recommended for this type of work. I can’t imagine only using a mouse.

01. Background. My first step is to begin creating the background. I would like to use light colors and add a few textures with different Blend modes. Then I'll rub out the many elements and try to separate them visually as much as possible.

02. Now I've added two book pages, removed their backgrounds and added some shadows. After that the main background is ready.

03. Fast sketch, making a few lines, adding and visualising the main composition. The spiral you see here is really helpful to find the golden section in the composition.

04. The next step is to gather a few cloud photos, desaturate them and invert their colors. I used a custom brush shape to erase out unwanted portions of the clouds.

05. Now I want to check if everything is erased properly, so I create a new layer and fill it with a solid color. It’s recommended to do this test with two different colors, one light color and one dark color. It all depends on what blending mode you are using.

06. After checking for errors, it's time to fill the left part of the image and add a few stars and some stardust.

07. Main character. I cut off as much as I can from the picture of the woman, with a cutting technique based on channels and the pen tool.

08. Now it’s time to remove cropped hair and paint some new “replacement hair”, while also adding a few details and sketching out the snakes. It took me a few hours to find suitable reference images for the snakes, and to create images of snakes by hand in my sketch book.

09. There are still a few errors in her hair, so I fix them as well as laying the finishing touches on her glasses and tattoos.

10. The snakes. Having first sketched the snakes by hand in my sketch book was really helpful once I started doing them digitally.

11, 12, 13. In these 3 steps I’m adding skin details and fusing the snakes with the hair in a fairly smooth way.

14. Having finished the snakes I decide to finish the ropes around the woman’s body using a round brush and burn tools.

15. It is time to add some personal textures to the background. I have to invert and desaturate the colors of some textures, like I did earlier with the clouds. I experiment with blending and using the Eraser to make them all fit together. To create textures I used coffee and acrylic paints, slopping them in different way on paper and scanning in the end result.

16. God. To create the triangle, I used stock images of smoke and changed the blending modes to “Screen”. To get the right shape, I have to rub out parts of the smoke textures, paint some details and transform them in different ways using the Warp filter.

17. After finishing the smoke part, I add a shape using Pen Tool, as well as texturing to the halo around the woman and to the snakes which make them more detailed. To do it properly, I apply a Clipping Mask to the texture layer. You may experiment with clipping masks, applying them to a few layers. I add these masks to Adjustments layers so that in the future I may change for example Brightness without destroying the original layer.

18. The next steps are to make the triangle shape look more like smoke. For this I again used the Eraser tool with low opacity and softly removed parts of it. I also add color, the eye and few more details.

19. I decide to make the triangle bigger and lighten the background a little. I then decide to add a few few syringes and a splash under the woman’s head. Next, I use the Burn tool to add a few details on the girl’s skin. I make a printout of this design to inspect it, which is very useful to find mistakes in the composition or other errors. This is almost final, now we are just going to add a finishing touch using a little trick.

20. High Pass. All you need to do is duplicate and flatten the main image. Then you go to Filters => Other => High Pass and adjust it to what you feel is a suitable level (you will get a feel for this once you see the final effect). After that, copy this layer back to your main document and move it on top of all the other layers. Now experiment with the opacity mode. You will see that the High pass filter is a really good way to enhance and sharpen the details of your image while avoiding the undesireable haloes around the edges that the standard sharpening filters often produce.

Final touches. Finally, I make adjustments to the Brightness/Contrast layer and Curves to get the right brightness and colors. View Larger.

Great Gooey Photoshop Text Tutorial

2009-04-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

Create great looking, 3-Dimensional, gooey looking text . This technique does require minimal drawing skills but is definitely suitable for beginners. Enjoy and stay tuned for more tutorials!

Gooey Photoshop Text Tutorial

Step 1 – Canvas

It’s important for this tutorial that you set up the same size canvas as the effects we’ll apply will vary depending on how many pixels it’s across. To use in smaller or bigger projects you will need to tweak the settings applied throughout this tutorial. Set up a 2500 X 1500 pixel, RGB document at 300dpi.

Step 2 – Texting

Select the Horizontal Type Tool, set the colour to a lightish grey and write your word. It’s best to use a fairly uncomplicated and bold font, I’ve gone for Avant Garde in Bold. Adjust the tracking to 50 as we’ll need space in between letters to allow for gooey growth. Press CTRL+T or go to Edit > Free Transform and resize your text by holding the SHIFT key (to maintain aspect ratio) and pulling one of the corner points with the mouse.

Step 3 – Ready the Tools

Select the Pen Tool and set it Shape Layers. Set the foreground colour to 40C, 10M, 100Y, 0K. Zoom into 100% and you are now ready to draw.

Step 4 – Drawing

Draw your first point at the start of the first letter. The best way to draw a curve is to position one anchor point at the origin of the curve and one at the end point or point at which the curve changes. To split an anchor point you hold the ALT key and click on the last drawn anchor point. This will delete the outward part of the handle and allow you to draw another one in (on the same anchor point) at any angle without altering the direction of the inward handle. This splitting technique allows for sharp angles following a curve.

Step 5 – Editing your points

Continue drawing loosely around the shape, adding some drips at the bottom to mimic gravity. Use the Direct Selection Tool (Behind the Path Selection Tool if you hold the mouse button) to manipulate the anchor points and the curve handles. In order to create an elongated bulbous end at the bottom of a drip you’ll need to pull the bottom facing handles out further. At any point if you’re not happy with the position or angle of your point, you can manipulate it with the Direct Selection Tool.

Step 6 – Best foot forward

I find it’s easier to draw the drips from top to bottom (following the gravitational pull) so once you hit the bottom of the letter, use the Direct Selection Tool to click anywhere on the canvas. Then select the first point (at the top of the letter) with the Pen Tool and draw in the rest. Something I forgot to mention earlier is to set the fill at 80% so you can see the letter underneath.

Step 7 – Subtracting

To get the hole in letters such as ‘O’ or ‘A’ you’ll need to set the Pen Tool to Subtract from shape area. Draw the outer shape of the ‘O’ and close off the path. Select the path thumbnail so that it highlights the path, set the Pen Tool to Subtract from shape area and draw in where the hole should be.

Step 8 – Finishing off

Complete the rest of the letters and set the Fill for each layer at 100%.

Step 9 – Inner Shadow

Select the ‘G’ layer and go to Layer > Layer Style > Inner shadow and setup as in the screen grab.

Step 10 – Inner Glow

Working on the same layer, select the Inner Glow setting and setup as in the screen grab.

Step 11 – Bevel and Emboss

Do the same with the Bevel and Emboss…

Step 12 – Satin

…And finally Satin.

Step 13 – Copy and paste

Select the ‘G’ layer and go to Layer > Layer Style > Copy Layer Style. Select the remaining letter layers and go to Layer > Layer Style > Paste Layer Style.

Step 14 – Ol’ Drippy

Draw in more drips on top of the letters. Copy and paste the Layer Style as before and go to Layer > Layer Style > Scale Effects… scale them back to fit the size of the drip, in this case it’s 40%. Then go to Layer > Layer Style > Inner Glow and scale the opacity back to 60%.

Step 15 – Rasterize and Mask

Create a new layer directly below the new drip you just drew. Select the drip and the blank layer and merge them (Layer > Merge Layers). Add a Layer Mask (Layer > Add Layer Mask > Reveal All) and use a soft-edged paintbrush loaded with black to mask off the top of the drip. Repeat this process until you’ve covered the word.

Step 16 – Depth

To add depth, draw some more drips beneath the letter layers. Copy, paste and scale the layer effects to save time.

Step 17 – Texture

It’s a good idea to add texture to the final text to make it feel more ‘real world’. You can either overlay an easily downloadable grunge texture or try the following method: Go to Filter > Noise and add a 2 pixel noise filter. Then go to Filter > Blur Gaussian Blur and apply a 0.6 pixel blur.

How to Create a Hellacious Flaming Skull in Photoshop

2009-04-21T04:06:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial, we’ll go through all the steps of creating a flaming skull in Photoshop. We’ll be using some images we shot ourself of flames, and a stock Designious vector skull to get us started. This tutorial covers some relatively simple steps and some clever photo manipulation techniques. Let’s get to it!

Final Image Preview

Step 1

For this tutorial, I used Photoshop CS3, a skull from Designious.com (you could choose to use a free skull though, such as Skull Vector Pack 1) and some hi-res flames images. The high-res image files are available to Psd Plus members in the download pack. Though non-members are certainly welcome to shoot your own flame photos or find some stock to use here, so you can follow along.

To get things started, create a new document 210mm by 290mm with a 100% black background.

Step 2

Copy (Command + C) and paste (Command + V) the vector from Illustrator to Photoshop as pixels.

Step 3

On a new layer create an ellipse filled with dark red (#4c0400) that surrounds the skull. Next, apply a Gaussian Blur of 250px (maximum value), and place that layer under the skull.

Step 4

Let’s prepare the skull for the flames. Select the white color from the skull. (Select > Color Range) and fill it with an orange-yellow color(#f9ae31), except the teeth and mandible that will be filled with light red (#e82b19).

Step 5

Select the red area using Select > Color Range and then contract using Select > Contract > with 4 px, then and Delete.

Step 6

Select the yellow color. Next use a Brush with Toll on 250-300 px, Hardness of 0, Opacity at 10-15%, red for the color (d02207), and gradually color from the interior towards the exterior, until you get a skull with a bit of glow.

Step 7

Lets try to add some volume to the skull. Use the Eraser Tool with a diameter of 200px, Hardness of 0, and Opacity of 70%, and erase some of the red. Here we establish the lighter and darker parts of the skull so we can see some volume.

Step 8

Now double the Skull layer. Select the skull closest to the background and apply a Gaussian Blur of 8-10 px to create a glow.

Select the area under the nose including the teeth. Now grab a 80px Brush with a color of red (#d02207). Brush color on the right and left sides creating a soft gradient that ads depth to the lower part of the skull.

Step 9

Now that we have a hot skull on our screen, let’s start the fire! Open the files with the flames and prepare each of them to be used on our image as follows:

A. Open the flames files.

B. Go to Select > Color Range, and select the darker area of the background. Next, Invert the selection (Command + Shift + I).

C. Go to Select > Modify > Feather, and set to about 20px. Then drag and drop them into our main skull document.

D. Set the blend modes to Screen or Lighten.

E. For the flames that will have other flames on top of them, we’ll need to adjust the color Balance. You can do this by going to Image > Adjustments > Color Balance (Command + B).

Step 10

Use the Free Transform Tool (Command + T) to arrange each flame into the desired position and the desired proportions.

Step 11

Notice that the teeth area looks a bit darker than the rest of the skull so using the Brush Tool(B) and yellow (d02207) you lighten some parts of the teeth so they can blend better with the flames.

Step 12

Use the Smudge Tool (R) on the flames near the eyeballs to make them touch the skull so that you create a smooth transition from the skull to the flames.

Step 13

Use the Smudge Tool (R) to make the yellow parts of the skull blend with the base of the flames.

Step 14

Use the Smudge Tool again in the red areas from the shadow where you try to draw a contour going towards the dark areas.

Step 15

Use the Dodge Tool (O) to enhance the glowing effect on the edges of the skull.

Step 16

Use the Burn Tool to work on the shadow areas of the contour so you can smoothen the passes from light to dark.

Step 17

Now for the smoke. To create the smoke, use the same flame images and apply the same techniques you did in Steps 10 and 11 to them. The difference here though is that you’ll need to desaturate these images to make them look like smoke. You can do this by going to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation > Desaturate (Command + U), then set it to -100 for Saturation, and -16 for Luminosity.

Step 18

Now lets apply a 2px Blur filter on the smoke so it blends better. Do this by going to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

Conclusion

Now the sparks! Using a Brush of 3px with 100% Hardness and 100% Opacity you start drawing the sparks. You can alter some of them using the Smudge Tool (R). And that puts the finishing touches on this image.

Creating A Vector Style MacBook From Scratch

2009-04-20T01:56:00.000-07:00

First of All

Don’f forget to create a new document as always this time I am using the sizes 1000 x 800 to make sure I can add alot of detail to the Mac

Part 1 - Basic Shapes

This section will cover creating the basic shapes for the Mac, so here it doesn’t matter about colours or gradients but make sure to use slightly different colours for each seperate section as not to get confused between them, this combined with giving each layer it’s own name will help to differentiate between them.

Step 1 - Creating The Front

The first step is to create the front of the Mac, to do this simply pick the Rounded Rectangle Tool (shown below) and draw a fairly long rectangle similar to the one below:

The shape is drawn near the bottom of the canvas in order to leave enough room for the rest of the Mac above:

When the shape has been drawn right click the layer in the layers tab and choose rasterize layer this is so that we can erase some of the top, to do this choose the Rectangular Marquee Tool (shown below) and cut off the top of the rectangle with a selection similar to below, this is to get rid of the curved top and create a flat base:

Selection to be made:

Once the above selection has been made press delete on your keyboard to be left with a rounded rectangle with a flat top:

Step 2 - Creating The Keyboard Section

This step will show you how to create the keyboard section for the Mac, this will require us to create some perspective so it looks like it is 3D, First slightly change your foreground colour and then draw a rectangle like below using the normal Rectangle Tool:

Now press CTRL + T to make it so that the shape can be transformed and on one of the anchor points right click to bring up the transformation menu, from this menu choose the Perspective option:

Now when you click and drag one of the anchor points it will make the shape seem to get smaller therefore creating perspective, with this option click the top right anchor point and drag to the left so that you have something similar to below:

Now you have the above shape then you need to make it smaller, so make sure you are out of the transform option by pressing Enter or clicking the Tick Icon in the top toolbar, and simply drag the shape downwards so that it isn’t as tall and you should have something the same as below:

Step 3 - Creating The Screen/Monitor

To create the screen is simple as it is just one rectangle but making sure you get the size right is important as it won’t look realistic if the screen is to big/small so again slightly change the colour of the foreground colour and simply choose the Rounded Rectangle Tool and draw the shape below (Note: After the shape has been drawn simply go to the layers tab and drag it below the keyboard layer so that it doesn’t appear on top of it)

Position in Layers Tab:

Main Screen Drawn:

With this done we now need to create the final main shape which is the inner part of the screen

Step 4 - Creating The Inner Screen

The final main shape to be drawn is the inner part of the screen which again is just a simple rectangle but it’s size and position is important, so as before make sure your using the rounded rectangle tool and drawn the below shape with again a slightly different foreground colour:

Part 2 - Adding The Blending Options

Now we have all of the main shapes we can start to add the blending options to each different shape to make them look more like a MacBook,

Step 1 - Blending Options For The Front

To get the blending options menu up simply double click the chosen layer in the layers tab which will bring up the blending options menu,

Most of the blending options for the layers are similar as to what options to use but the settings for each maybe different so I will just simply put up the screenshot of each setting followed by what it should look like,

Inner Shadow:

Gradient - Set To 90 Degrees:

After applying these settings then your front should look like this:

Step 2 - Blending Options For The Keyboard Area

Inner Shadow:

Gradient - Set To 90 Degrees:

After applying these settings then your keyboard area should look like this:

Step 3 - Blending Options For The Outer Screen

Inner Shadow:

Gradient - Set To 90 Degrees:

Stroke:

After applying these settings then your Outer Screen should look like this:

Step 4 - Blending Options For The Inner Screen

This being the most simple part all it has is a Stroke as an image will be placed over the top later to make it look more like a desktop screen:

Stroke:

So after all these options have been applied you should have something that resembles a laptop sort of shape and more specifically a MacBook Pro shape and colour, the next section we will start to add some details onto the image.

Part 3 - Adding The Details

Possibly the most time consuming part is adding the little details e.g. buttons, webcam etc…but all of it adds to the realism so lets start with adding a wallpaper to the background,

Step 1 - Adding An Image To The Inner Screen

First thing is first, we need an image to add to the inner screen, so I have just chosen a standard Mac wallpaper that you seem to see everywhere, but for the sake of this tutorial we shall use THIS image

To add it to the inner screen simply copy and paste it into your document and place it directly above the Inner Screen layer in the layers tab,

When it is in the right position simpy right click the wallpaper layer and choose “Create Clipping Mask” which should make it a clipping mask of the Inner Screen layer and just be displayed there as shown below:

Step 2 - Adding The Button on The Front

Now we need to add the button on the front of the Mac which is simply three rounded rectangles inside one another,

Outer Part:

Choose the Rounded Rectangle Tool and set the radius to 20px (Top Toolbar) and draw a rectangle in the middle of the front base the same as below:

Now add the following Blending Options:

Gradient - Set At 0 Degrees:

Stroke:

Now once this is done you should have something the same as below:

Inner Part:

The inner button is pretty much exactly the same as the outer button except it is smaller so it fits inside the outer button and also it has the same blending options except the Stroke is set to 2px instead of just one, use the below image for size referencing:

(Inner) Inner Part:

This is simply just a very small inner rectangle with the colour #717D8A and is placed within the inner part on the left hand side:

Step 3 - Adding The CD Slot

The next part is to add the CD slot onto the front of the Mac, to do this first draw another rounded rectangle with the radius set to 20px, this time draw it on the right hand side of the image and then go on Blending Options and use the same Blending Options as used on the Outer Part of the button, when done you will have something similar to below:

Now we need to add another inner part to the CD drive this is where the CD bit actually goes but there is no blending options needed for this so set the foreground colour to #808080 and draw another rounded rectangle just inside the outer part, use the image below for reference:

Finally for the CD drive we need to add a little slot in the middle so that it looks like a CD can be put inside for this use the Line Tool (Shown below) and set the foreground colour to #6E6E6E and draw a line from the left edge to the right edge so that you have something like below:

Now to finish off the front of the Mac we need to add a little hole, where the headphones plug in (I think I can’t afford a Mac atm so wouldn’t know) to do this simply choose the Elipse Tool and draw a small circle on the left hand side of the button and make sure the foreground colour is set to black (#000000) and there we have finished the front of the Mac as shown below:

Step 4 - Adding The Clips At The Top

These clips are what keep the lid closed and are very simple to create as again it is just a case of using the Rounded Rectangle tool and creating two little rectangles,

1st Rectangle

The first rectangle is simply thin and long and just needs to be black (#000000) place it just to the left of centre at the very top of the screen as shown below (Note: Make sure the radius of the Rounded Rectangle Tool is set to 2px)

2nd Rectangle

This rectangle is the same thickness but also really short and needs to be placed on the very left of the first rectangle and on top, draw it with the foreground colour at #90939B and then go on blending options and set the stroke to the below settings,

When this has been applied you will have something similar to below:

Now all we need to do is the same for just right of centre on the screen so that there is two clips, the best way to do this would be to in the layers tab go on the 1st rectangle and press CTRL + J (Duplicates Layer) and move it across to the other side and then do the same for the 2nd Rectangle, when this has been done you will have the same as below:

After this is done we are nearly there, just the webcam and feet to go,

Step 5 - Adding The Webcam

The simplest thing to add would probably be the Webcam as this is just a black rounded rectangle placed in between the two clips at the top and next to this a little dot which is found on Mac’s make sure the radius is set to 2px and simply add these two features using the below image as reference:

Step 6 - Adding The Feet

The penultimate step to creating the MacBook Pro is to add the feet simply again draw a rounded rectangle underneath the bottom of the Mac just in from the left hand side and make sure it is below your Front Base layer in the layers tab and when this is done simply press CTRL + J and transfer to the right hand side of the Mac and there you go you now have feet:

First Foot:

Second Foot and Progress upto Now:

Step 7 - Writing MacBook Pro

The final main step is to simply write MacBook Pro in the centre of the screen just above the keyboard area I used font Verdana and font size 10, and then when this is done we have our finished MacBook Pro.

Alternatively you could keep going and add a shadow underneath and maybe a reflection, each of which I have written tutorials on:

Reflection

Shadow

And if you wanted to tell people Mac’s are made by Apple then you can add the Apple logo in the centre of the display, and below is the final image which you should have, click the image to see the full size version

UPDATE: Thanks to an email from “Scot”, he sent me a picture of the Mac keyboard which can be implemented into the design first of all here is the picture:

Mac Keyboard

And to insert it onto the current keyboard simply open it up in Photoshop and drag it into your current document as shown below:

Now set the opacity to about 40% of the layer so that you can see through it and now press CTRL + T to go into transform mode, whilst in transform mode right click on one of the anchor points and choose Distort as shown below:

The distort menu allows you to drag the corners of the image in to any position, in this case we are going to drag them onto each corner of the keyboard layer like below:

Using the above method do the same with the other 3 corners so that they each match up with the correct corners, when done press enter or the tick in the top toolbar to apply the transformation and set the opacity back to 100% then you will have something similar to below (Note: Zooming into the corner helps when tryin to be precise)

To finish double click the new keyboard layer to bring up the blending options and use the settings shown below:

When this has been applied then you are complete and we have the final MacBook Pro including the keyboard (Thanks to Scot) and we should have the final image like below:

And as always if you have any problems with this tutorial then don’t hesitate to leave me a comment or email me at: stevie489@googlemail.com and I will help you as much as I can…