Photoshop Tutorials

Loading Interface

2008-11-30T13:51:00.003-08:00

Loading Interface - part 1

Sick of the loading interface? Learn how to make rich loading interface with blending modes, gradients, and tons of layers.

Download out of Internet the same texture, like the next one, having 1280x1024 px and 72 dpi.

Press CTRL+SHIFT+U

Set the next parameters for the above downloaded texture’s layer by making a mouse click on the layer we work with in the layers’ panel: Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Next we shall use the Ellipse Tool (U)

Ellipse Tool (U). Use the ellipse tool to draw ovals and circles. To draw a circle, hold down the Shift key while dragging. Double-click the ellipse tool to open the Color inspector.'); return false">Ellipse Tool (U) to represent the primary layer of an abstract element:

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Outer Glow

Blending Options>Inner Glow

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Loading Interface - part 2

Blending Options>Stroke

Next try to represent a circle, colored with #565656. It’s necessary to use for the beginning the Ellipse Tool (U)

Ellipse Tool (U). Use the ellipse tool to draw ovals and circles. To draw a circle, hold down the Shift key while dragging. Double-click the ellipse tool to open the Color inspector.'); return false">Ellipse Tool (U) to represent the outside edges and then press Alt button to cut out the inside element’s part, applying the same tool.

The layer’s parameters: Blending mode-Lighten
Blending Options>Inner Glow

Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss

Using the already known Ellipse Tool (U), try to create the next layer, belonging to the same element:

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Blending Options>Stroke

Loading Interface - part 3

Use the last applied tool to represent the next layer, belonging to the same abstract element we want to get finally:

The layer’s parameters: Fill 0%
Blending Options>Drop Shadow

Blending Options>Inner Glow

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Blending Options>Stroke

Gradient’s parameters:

Select the Rectangle Tool (U) for the next step to draw a vertical black stripe, crossing the central part of the colored circle:

Loading Interface - part 4

Make twenty - three copies of this last made layer and select Free Transform option to turn the copies around their axes on a certain angle:

Combine in a group all the layers containing the black lines (press Ctrl button to mark out the corresponding layers and hold on the left mouse’s button to take the accentuated layers on Create a new group selection). Apply the next indicated parameters for the new group: Opacity 20%

Make a copy of the last made group containing the black lines. We need to get back the Opacity option on 100% on the copied group, erasing on the copy all the lines, except those shown below:

Select the Ellipse Tool (U)

Ellipse Tool (U). Use the ellipse tool to draw ovals and circles. To draw a circle, hold down the Shift key while dragging. Double-click the ellipse tool to open the Color inspector.'); return false">Ellipse Tool (U) to represent the next layer of the abstract element on the central part of the colored circle:

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Outer Glow

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Blending Options>Stroke

Loading Interface - part 5

Try to make one more circle, choosing the same Ellipse Tool (U)

Ellipse Tool (U). Use the ellipse tool to draw ovals and circles. To draw a circle, hold down the Shift key while dragging. Double-click the ellipse tool to open the Color inspector.'); return false">Ellipse Tool (U). Firstly we’ll represent the outside edges of this circle and then when pressing Alt button, applying the mentioned tool, it’s possible to cut out the middle part of the circle and after that cut out one more part of the same circle, like it is represented below:

The layer’s parameters: Fill 20%
Blending Options>Drop Shadow

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Use the Pen Tool (P)

Pen Tool (P). allows you to make lines that change colour and shapes on the project.'); return false">Pen Tool (P), for drawing the next layer of the abstract figure. Its shape may be corrected with the Convert Point Tool.

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Inner Glow

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Blending Options>Stroke

Loading Interface - part 6

Gradient’s parameters:

Select once again the Pen Tool (P)

Pen Tool (P). allows you to make lines that change colour and shapes on the project.'); return false">Pen Tool (P) to picture a highlight of white color which shape is possible to correct with the Convert Point Tool.

Choose the next demonstrated parameters for the layer: Fill 20%

Select the same Pen Tool (P) to create a triangle which shape must be corrected with the Convert Point Tool.

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Drop Shadow

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Blending Options>Stroke

Loading Interface - part 7

Applying the earlier chosen instruments (Pen Tool (U) and Convert Point Tool), it is possible to draw another highlight of white color:

Set the next parameters for the last made layer: Fill 17%

Now we shall use the Ellipse Tool (U)

Ellipse Tool (U). Use the ellipse tool to draw ovals and circles. To draw a circle, hold down the Shift key while dragging. Double-click the ellipse tool to open the Color inspector.'); return false">Ellipse Tool (U) to draw a highlight of white color. Next there will be used the Add Anchior Point Tool to insert a top on the bottom part, as it is shown next image and then make the appropriate corrections the same way from below:

The layer’s parameters: Fill 20%

Create a new file (File>New) of 4x4 px and 72 dpi. We shall use on it the Pencil Tool (B)

Pencil Tool (B). To use the pencil tool, simply select it from the toolbar by depressing the pencil tool icon. When you do so, you can draw on the canvas. Try it out. And don\'t forget to modify your brush size, roundness, angle, etc ...'); return false">Pencil Tool (B) (brush 1 px) to represent the same pattern from next picture of white color.

Edit>Define Pattern
Next step includes using the Ellipse Tool (U) on a new layer (Create new layer) on which must be inserted the last made pattern.

The layer’s parameters: Opacity 20%, Fill 0%
Blending Options>Pattern Overlay

The loading interface is finished!

Military Wallpaper

2008-11-30T13:51:00.001-08:00

Military Wallpaper - part 1

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a nice looking military wallpaper.

Create a new file (File>New), having 1280x1024 px and 72 dpi.

Choose the Rectangle Tool (U) to draw the background of the picture we want to get on the final stage:

Select the next parameters for the new made layer by making a mouse click on the processed layer on the layers’ panel: Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Select now the Custom Shape Tool (U)

Custom Shape Tool (U). You use the shape tools to draw lines, rectangles, rounded rectangles, and ellipses in an image. In Photoshop, you can also draw polygons and create custom shape libraries to reuse and share custom shapes.
'); return false">Custom Shape Tool (U) for drawing several rays colored with #595D35. Choose the appropriate pattern from the table demonstrated next picture.

Use the last applied tool to draw a small star. Select the Convert Point Tool to represent the inside tops of the element. After that we shall use the Free Transform option to narrow them uniformly.

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Drop Shadow

Military Wallpaper - part 2

Make a mouse click on the same layer on the layers panel, choosing Drop Shadow option and then select Create layer option. The shadow will be represented on a separate layer.

Create a new layer that will be situated above the shadow’s layer (on the layers’ panel). After that, select the Paint Bucket Tool (G)

Paint Bucket Tool (G). The Paint Bucket tool fills adjacent pixels that are similar in color value to the pixels you click.'); return false">Paint Bucket Tool (G) to paint it in white color. Press CTRL button to mark out the shadow’s layers and the white one, merging them together (CTRL+E). Apply for the merged layers a new option: Filter>Pixelate>Color Halftone

Mark out the white background, using Magic Wand Tool (W) and press Delete button.

Now we shall choose Lock transparent pixels option by making a mouse click on the same layer we work with on the layers’ panel.

Select a standard brush to paint the shadow with the color #334110

Get back to the star’s layer:

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Drop Shadow

Military Wallpaper - part 3

Blending Options>Inner Glow

Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss

Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss (Contour)

Blending Options>Satin

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Make a copy of the star’s layer and select Free Transform option to make the copy smaller, changing also the layer’s parameters. The layer’s color in this case is #DD2A2B

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Inner Glow

Blending Options>Stroke

Military Wallpaper - part 4

Apply again the earlier chosen instrument – Custom Shape Tool (U)

Custom Shape Tool (U). You use the shape tools to draw lines, rectangles, rounded rectangles, and ellipses in an image. In Photoshop, you can also draw polygons and create custom shape libraries to reuse and share custom shapes.
'); return false">Custom Shape Tool (U) to represent the rays on the star. The rays’ color is #A60A07

Press Alt button and make a mouse click between the rays’ layers and the star’s upper layer for the rays to be applied in the star’s limits.

Make a copy of the earlier made layer with the red star and place it above the other layers on the layers’ panel. Select also for the copy Delete Anchior Point Tool to erase on the bottom part several tops. The Convert Point Tool will be helpful in making right corrections on the element’s shape:

The layer’s parameters: Fill 0%
Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Select now the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U)

Rounded Rectangle Tool (U). To reshape the corners of a rounded rectangle, select the rounded rectangle tool and select the rectangle. Extra selection handles appear inside the rectangle corners. Dragging an inside handle toward the center of the rectangle to make it more rounded; drag it toward the outside of the rectangle to make it less rounded.'); return false">Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) (radius 30 px) to insert the text’s selection table. This layer should be situated under the layers belonging to the star and its shadow (on the layers’ panel). The color of the selection is white.

Military Wallpaper - part 5

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Drop Shadow

Now we shall make the same operations we’ve made for the star’s shadow (I mean dividing the layers, merging together the shadow’s layer with the white one, applying the filter, erasing the white background on the shadow’s layer and painting out the shadow). This shadow’s color is the same with the star’s shadow.

Get back to the text’s inscription:

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Drop Shadow

Blending Options>Inner Shadow

Blending Options>Outer Glow

Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss

Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss (Contour)

Blending Options>Satin

Military Wallpaper - part 6

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Insert the text next step. This layer should be placed above the table’s selection, but lower than the star’s layers and its shadow (on the layers’ panel).

The layer’s panel: Blending Options>Inner Shadow

Blending Options>Outer Glow

Choose the Ellipse Tool (U)

Ellipse Tool (U). Use the ellipse tool to draw ovals and circles. To draw a circle, hold down the Shift key while dragging. Double-click the ellipse tool to open the Color inspector.'); return false">Ellipse Tool (U) to represent a highlight. This layer should be placed lower than the star’s layers and its shadow (on the layers’ panel).

The layer’s parameters: Fill 0%
Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Military Wallpaper - part 7

Gradient’s parameters:

Select on this stage the Ellipse Tool (U)

Ellipse Tool (U). Use the ellipse tool to draw ovals and circles. To draw a circle, hold down the Shift key while dragging. Double-click the ellipse tool to open the Color inspector.'); return false">Ellipse Tool (U) to draw a kind of rivet, colored with #8B8B8B, placing it the same way shown below:

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Drop Shadow

Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss

Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss (Contour)

Make a copy of the last made layer and choose Free Transform option to place the copy, like it is indicated below:

Next we shall use a standard brush of white color to draw a kind of frame, like the one demonstrated next picture:

Natural Brushes

Take the Eraser Tool (E)

Eraser Tool (E). The Eraser tool changes pixels in the image as you drag through them. If you\'re working in the background or in a layer with transparency locked, the pixels change to the background color; otherwise, the pixels are erased to transparency. You can also use the eraser to return the affected area to a state selected in the History palette.'); return false">Eraser Tool (E) to clean out the picture’s edges, applying the same brush:

The picture is finished!

Abstract Universe

2008-11-30T13:50:00.006-08:00

Learn to create an awesome universe by your hands! This tutorial will show you how to use some cool tools in Photoshop, step by step

Step 1: Create a new 800x800 pixels document. Press D and X to reset your foreground and background colors. We will create the universe first, so use the Gradient Tool (G) with Foreground to Background and Diamond Gradient settings

draw a line from the center to the corner like this

Step 2: Go to Filter > Distort > Twirl and twirl it with a big angle:

Step 3: Duplicate the Background by pressing Ctrl-J. Now we are on the Layer 1. Go to Edit > Transform > Perspective and drag 2 points on the top down

After finished, click on the Move Tool to leave the Perspective mode. A dialog box will appear, click Apply. Congratulations, you have just created the universe!

Step 4: Hide the Background layer by clicking on the Eye icon on the left.

Now we need some planets! We can create one with Photoshop but it will take a long time to do, so we use an available photo. Here is the one I recommend:

Copy this image and paste it onto our current document and you have:

Step 5: Change the blend mode of the current layer to Screen to remove its black areas

If you still see its border then use the Eraser Tool (E) with a soft brush to delete it

After this step we will have:

Step 6: Use the Marquee Tool (M) to select each planet and use the Move Tool (V) to move it to a more suitable place

Repeat this step until we have a nice universe filled with nice planets ^_^

Step 7: Press Ctrl-D to make sure we don't select anything. Now click on the Layer 1 in the Layers tab to select it (Layer 1 is the layer contains the universe). Press Ctrl-U to open up the Hue/Saturation dialog box, make sure to click on the Colorize checkbox and use these settings:

See our universe changed to blue, right? Next we will decorate our universe a bit

Step 8: Choose the Brush Tool (B) and click on the Brushes icon on the right, click on the Brush Tip Shape and choose a star shape

Make sure to tick on the Shape Dynamics and Scattering checkboxes as well

Step 9: Create a new layer and use the Pen Tool (P) to make a rough "curve" with some clicks

Right click and choose Stroke Path, a dialog box will appear. Make sure to tick on the Simulate Pressure checkbox

Note: The Simulate Pressure effect will make our line thin at the two ends and thick at the middle

See something beautiful? Something like this:

Repeat this step with other curves to make a wonderful universe. It doesn't take much time to get the result!

You can stop at this step. But we can make our universe more real by adding some stars with just a few simple steps. If you want to know how, continue reading...

Step 10: Create a new layer, notice that this is the top layer. Press Ctrl-Backspace to fill it with black because this is our background color

Step 11: Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and use these settings:

Change its blending mode to Screen. Go to Image > Adjustments > Threshold and set a Threshold Level of 147 and ...finished! Here is the final result:

This tutorial requires pretty much work to achieve the final result but you should focus on the way how these tools are used, not the way how it is created

Making retro background

2008-11-30T13:50:00.005-08:00

In this adobe photoshop tutorial we will make a nice retro style effect wallpaper for your desktop.

First drag a gradient across the stage, the color of your choice, just make sure its matte, not bright not dark. Take a look at my green color above.

Now with the pen tool create a spike like I did below, with the color black.

Make a lot of copies and rotate them along the center of the stage like I did in the process below...

Make sure to merge all the spike layers together in the layers panel by selecting them all, right click and choose merge layers.

Now double click the layer containing all the spikes to get into the layers styles panel and give it settings as shown below.

Now just place some object or text in the center of the stage like I did, you can even give it some layer styles like I did below.

The last thing is to make the background a bit dirty, so with a dark color, select a brush that looks a bit like smudge and draw some nice dirt on the background (not too dark).

And we are done..

Abstract Dust And Spray Effect

2008-11-30T13:50:00.003-08:00

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to create colorful abstract spray effect for use in your graphics. This has become quite a trendy technique recently, and can be accomplished fairly easily.

Where to use this effect

This is a great post-effect for your compositions, so you’ll probably want to use it towards the completion of your works.

For this demonstration, I’ve prepared a Photoshop Document (1.35 Mb) that you may choose to use to practice this technique on.

This effect generally looks best when it takes on the appearance of emerging from behind an object. We are going to have the spray come out from behind the cloud in our example. If you’re following along in the Photoshop Document provided above, you’ll want to work in new layers under the “Cloud” layer, but above the background.

Setting up the Brush

The spray effect does not require you to go out and download any new Brushes, but we will need to adjust some of the brush options to get the right effect. You’ll want to be using a nice soft brush (the standard brush set to 0% hardness, and a large size works well), and you’re going to want to set the Brush mode to Dissolve (The Brush mode is located in the options bar. This is not the blending mode in the layers panel.) Also, set your brush’s Opacity to something around 50% (The Lower the opacity, the less dust/spray you’ll get).

Playing with Color

When using this effect, it is important to select colors that are bright, and vibrant with color. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule, and you’ll ultimately have to pick colors that work with the rest of your composition, but as rule of thumb, colors that work best include white, yellow, magenta, purple, cyan, pink, etc. Generally anything with a high luminance level will work well.

There are cases when dark colors can work, but I’ll leave that up to you for experimenting.

For starters, lets select a Foreground Color of White, and get to the brushing!

The Technique in Action

Starting in a layer underneath your object of choice (In our case, the cloud layer), start brushing with single clicks around the edges of the foreground object.

At this point, the specks don’t seem much like spray at all, but more like extraneous pixels floating about. To fix this, we are going to resize this layer. Go to Edit > Transform > Scale, or Ctrl + T, and then make the layer smaller by dragging the corner selection nodes inward (hold shift to keep constrained proportions). Resizing to 80% of the original layer size should be sufficient.

Resizing the layer gives the effect of varying brightness and size of the individual pixels which were very uniform before.

Fading the Specks Away

I find that this effect looks nicer when the spray seems to fade out rather than just disappear along a rounded edge. To do this, grab your Eraser tool from the toolbar, and set up a nice large soft brush (0% hardness, 100-300px).

Erase some of the dust so that it seems to have varying volume in different parts of the layer, and also try to have it fade out the spray as it gets close to the edge.

Blending the Spray

Sometimes, changing the blending mode of a spray layer will greatly alter the effect of the spray. Blending modes like Overlay, Linear Dodge, Color Dodge, and Screen seem to work best in most cases.

Furthermore, by Duplicating and Erasing Parts of each of the duplicated layers can also make for some excellent effects.

New Layer > Repeat

You know everything you need to know now to create some great spray effects! All you need to do now is repeat the steps shown above several times with new layers (With different color sprays of course), and blend all of the different spray layers together until you get the desired result.

How to Make Great Fireworks

2008-11-30T13:50:00.001-08:00

This tutorial will show you how to make some really great fireworks using Photoshop. It’s a great technique to use on celebration cards and posters, as well as graphics pertaining to holidays such as New Years and Independence Day.

You may have seen this effect a few days ago in Tutorial9’s New Year’s Announcement.

In this tutorial, I’ll be demonstrating how to create this effect.

Step 1 - The Background

Go ahead and create a new document, and select the Paint Bucket Tool.

Unless you plan on tweaking your fireworks color with Color Balance Layers (or by some other means) later on, the fireworks color will largely depend on what you choose your background color to be. We want a background color that is sort of dark, but also has some color value to it. I’ll be using a dark purple (#1c1727).

Fill your background layer with your chosen color.

Step 2 -The Burst (Stroke Paths)

If’ you’ve ever used Photoshop’s Stroke Path option before, this ought to be a cinch for you. For everyone else, we’ve got an easy guide to get you going.

Create a New Layer.

You’re going to need to select the Pen Tool from the tool bar, and in the options bar, you need to make sure that you’re working with Paths instead of Shape Layers.

On your document, left click somewhere near the center of the canvas to create a point with the pen tool.

Left click again up and to the right of this point to create a new point. This time, hold down the mouse button, and drag towards the bottom right to Curve your path.

This will become the path which we will use to streak a beam of light across to make the “Burst Effect”.

Select the Brush Tool. Select a Foreground Color of White. Set the Size of the brush to 3px (Hardness 100%).

Under Shape Dynamics for your brush, set up a fade of around 200px.

Go back to the Pen Tool. Right Click anywhere on the Canvas, and select Stroke Path. From the Box that pops up, make sure you select the Brush as the tool. This will tell Photoshop to use that brush you just set up to stroke the path you drew with the pen tool.

Once you have stroked your path, hit Esc Twice to make the Path line disappear.

Repeat this step several times until you have a few similar lines. Remember to always start your path from the outside going in, as the fade will begin from the first point.

Step 3 - Burst Blending Options

We need to touch up our burst effect a bit by adding some blending options to our burst layer. Right Click the Layer, and select Blending Options. Add the following Drop Shadow, and Outer Glow.

This will add a slight glowing effect to your burst streaks.

Step 4 - Ambiance Effects

Create a new Layer, and place it underneath your burst streaks layer.

Select the Brush Tool, select a default round brush (to override your earlier modifications to the brush tool), and then set the hardness to 0% and the size to somewhere around 200px. Set the Foreground Color to white. Click once to near the center of your streaks.

Set this layers Blending Mode to Overlay.

Create a new Layer above the streaks now. Using a smaller brush (50-100px, hardness still at 0%, or very soft), create a small circle at the center of the streaks again, where they all start to converge. Set this layers Blending Mode to Overlay. Repeat this a few times (you should end up with 3-4 layers).

Step 5 - Adding the Sparks

Select the Brush Tool once more, and set it up as follows (We are setting up a “Glitter”, “Sparkle”, “Fairy Dust” brush, so you may already have the idea on how to set this up).

Now that you have your brush set up (which you may want to save for later use), Create a new Layer on top of all your previous layers, and brush in some sparks for your firework. Try to concentrate mostly around the center area, easing up on the sparks as you go outwards.

I usually like to add an Outer Glow at this point in the Blending options of this new layer. It lets me add some spark ambiance, as well as add some extra color to the firework.

Your firework should look pretty good by now!

Final Remarks

The fireworks in this tutorial hardly aim to replicate the look of a real world firework, but from an illustration perspective, they capture the elements of fireworks in a fun, creative manner.

To go a step further, you may want to add some Color Balance layers to add some colorful effects to your fireworks. You could also play with depth of field effects to give more depth to larger scenes.

Realistic Graffiti Effect

2008-11-30T13:49:00.003-08:00

Description
I'm going to attempt to put together a tutorial to give any aspiring photoshop graf writer the techniques needed to tag your images with a certain amount of realism.

Time
This would take me a few hours to complete, because I'm a perfectionist and like to dick with projects long after they're done.

What you need to know
The steps are pretty basic and with a working knowledge of the:
-Selection tool (lasso, pen or other)
-Brush tool
-Blur tool
-Layer blending modes & styles

you should be good to go.

Thanks goes out to ck1gsy the photographer on the wall image I'm taggin.

1.Find your image you want to tag I'm using this wall. I chose it because its straight on, but also it already had some decent graffiti on it. for what I'm going to show you, It would take a bit more working of the images to get it that good. Im just giving you the tools to get started.

2.Find a source you want to put on your wall. Im going to start with this, a pic from bofft also on [url]www.sxc.hu

3. MAKE a selection & cut it out.

3. Make a stencil from it by doing the Image > Adjustments > Threshold. I set it to 32 for my image, yours may be different.

4. Go Select > Color Range. Then pick the white color. Set this to around 150 to 180. When you have your selection made, hit Cmd/Ctrl + X to cut it out. Then Cmd/Ctrl + V to paste it on to a new layer. (you will now have a black layer and a white layer.

5. Drag and Drop your Black layer on your wall image. Size it and place it wherever you like. Run the Gaussian Blur filter. 1 Px radius.

6. Select Brush Tool, Round Soft edged brush / Dissolve Blending Mode / 30% Opacity. Brush around some of the edges of your image. (on the same layer). This creates the overspray effect.

7. Select Blur Tool. Round Soft edged brush / 30% Opacity. Work on the edges you just sprayed on. So there's detail, but not so crisp.

8. Drag in the white layer that accompanies the black one. Position and size accordingly. put under the Black layer

9.Work the white layer just like you did the Black one. Gaussian Blur > Brush Tool on Dissolve on some of the edges > Blur Tool on edges.

10. Adding some drips. I found some excellent free brushes at [url]www.brusheezy.com SpoonGraphics sets 1 and 2 to be specific. Work them into the white layer. Set your White layer to Overlay Blending Mode in the Layers Palette.

11.the white was too blah for me... so using a layer style I changed the white layer to a green/yellow gradient. I flattened that layer after I set my gradient, so i can set my "white" layer to Overlay again.

12. That's about it. A simple process of getting your image broken down to only a few colors. b/w for starters. Working the edges a little. adding some bells and whistles.

13. I added a few more elements to this. Excellent graffiti fonts can be found at www.dafont.com "Street Art" is the Nosegrind font. I built this up to 3 layers and played with some of the layer blending modes.

14. Photochopz logo. is just a brush. It got treated and tweaked like the rest. Same goes for Wefunk. Logo of an excellent radio station. Find them on Itunes or [url]www.wefunkradio.com

15. Tejmik, drawn up, scanned in, cleaned up. treated and tweaked like the rest.

Hope you enjoyed this and found it useful. And THAT is my 100 bar rhyme. Happy Tagging

Colorful Abstract

2008-11-30T13:49:00.001-08:00

Use distortion filters and the stained glass filter to create this colorful burst abstract.

1. Create a large document. Try 800x600. Make the background black.

2. Create a new layer. Take a white thin soft brush and create a few strokes. Keep them thin and separated.

3. Go to Filter Distort> Wave.
Settings:
Number of Generators: 12
Wavelength: Min: 85 Max: 576
Amplitude: Min: 21 Max: 22
Scale: 100%, 100%
Type: Triangle

(You may want to apply the wave filter a few times with different effect values. The goal is to get a bunch of strands ranging in size . If its all clumped up then you need to try again. I suggest using the zig zag and shear filters to achieve this as well as using the wave filter.)

4. Create a new layer. Take the Dark Spectrum Gradient and make a diagonal gradient. Set the layer to overlay. This is always above the brush layer.

5. Duplicate the brush layer. Go to Filters>Blur>Radial Blur.
Settings:
Amount: 62
Blur Method: Zoom
Quality: Good

6. Duplicate the brush layer again. And go to Filter>Texture>Stained Glass.
Settings:
Cell Size: Around 40 (You want to achieve the greatest amounts of cracks.)
Border Thickness: 4
Light Intensity: 0

(Multiple applications of the filter may need to be applied. To get more cells, try setting the initial cell size large, and then decreasing each time as you apply it.)

Final Result:

Making a Marty Turco Wallpaper

2008-11-30T13:48:00.004-08:00

Hello everyone! Today we’re going to be learning how to make our favorite athlete’s wallpaper. In this case, we’ll be making a Marty Turco wallpaper, but feel free to use any professional athlete (or yourself).

The first step of making our Marty Turco wallpaper/poster is getting a picture of Marty himself. An action shot is preferred, but use whatever you can find. I’ll be using this picture:

Once you have your picture of your athlete, you (obviously) need to create a new document in Photoshop. The size of your document is really up to you, but I’ll be using 1280x1024 since it’s the size of my screen resolution.

When you have your size figured out, we’re going to but a black background on the first layer, then put the render on top of it.

After you’ve placed your render, we’re going to lay down some simple brush work. Basically just take a large, soft, round brush and make a rough sketch where you think light would look good in your wallpaper. Make sure to do this on a new layer.

Once you have your basic brushing down, we’re going to make our first big change to our wallpaper. Grab a C4D render, it doesn’t matter how it looks, but make sure that it’s one of the team’s major colors.

Don’t worry about making your C4D render placement perfect. We’re going to duplicate the C4D render two times and randomly place them in the document. Be sure the rotate them (ctrl+t) to give them a different look then the original.

When you’re happy with your placement/rotation, you’ll need to merge the three C4D layers together. To do this, just go to layer – Merge Down. Repeat as necessary. Once you’ve combined them all into one layer, we’re going to apply a radial blur to them. With your merged C4D layer highlighted, go to Filter – Blur – Radial Blur. Changer the blur type to ‘zoom’ and the amount to ‘100’. Additionally, set the blur center in the direction of your render. Your settings should look something like this:

Hit OK. You should get something like I have below:

As of right now, the C4D makes the whole thing look too dark. To fix this, we’re going to change the blending of the layer to “Color Dodge”. This will give our C4D a much lighter and energetic color.

As you can easily see now, the C4D looks much better.

Our next step to our wallpaper is making is making some thick lines that come out from our render. This step requires knowledge of the pen tool, so if you don’t know how to use it, now’s a great opportunity to learn. These lines are similar to what we did on the Template Tutorial’s header. Here’s what our final result will be like:

Once you’ve made your lines, duplicate your render layer (your athlete). We’re going to smudge the render some. Take your favorite smudge brush (I’m using LPF_Smudge) and smudge your render some. (Remember if your smudge brush doesn’t come preset with scatter and shape dynamics, you’ll need to set them in the brush options.) Don’t worry about smudging a ton, less is more since we’ll be smudging the render a few more times. Once your happy with your result, set the blending options to “Overlay” and put the smudged layer behind the original layer. Here’s my result:

Duplicate your render layer again and smudge it again. This time though, smudge it with a bigger brush (I used a star brush). Again, set the blend mode to “Overlay”. Here’s my result:

Duplicate your render layer again and smudge it with a small to medium sized brush.

We’re now going to duplicate our render layer one more time, and smudge it one more time. But this won’t be our typical smudge like our last few. Turn your shape-dynamics and scattering off. Simply click on your render and drag outwards. You’ll understand completely when you see what I did:

The next step is simple, basically get another C4D render of the same color and “flow” or “direction” and place it in your document. We’re not going to be doing any fancy blurs or anything to this layer, so leave it as it is. However, you can erase some of the render if you do not like all of it.

Now let’s move on to one of our final steps. We’re going to use some custom pen-tool action to make our own abstract designs. Think of these like our own C4D, but not really. Basically we’re going to make the top part of our design first, and fill it with a green color (or whatever color your team is). Here’s a look at what our final result will be. (Quick Tip: For best visibility when creating these abstract designs, create them on layers that are above all your previous ones. Then, for optimal looks, move them under C4D and Smudge layers.)

We’re going to start by making our top “layer” first. Make this pen tool path go in the some-what same direction and flow of our previous lines. This is going to look pretty random at first, but that’s because we haven’t made our sides to this 3D-design.

Now that we have our top finished, we’re going to make the side. We only have to make one side because the abstract design starts behind our render. Making the side is easy, just follow the direction and flow of the top. Remember that the top half of the side doesn’t have to be perfectly aligned with the top because the side layer will sit behind the top layer.

Now we have both the top and side of our abstract design. Just to clearly separate the top from the side, on a new layer, we’re going to stroke a 1 px black brush along the edge.

We’re going to do one more of these abstract-designs. Placement is up to you, I did mine in the lower right corner. Just make sure it flows well with the rest of the design.

Now all we need to do is add the players name and number. This is completely optional – I think it looks just as good with the name as it does without, so it’s really up to you and your design. Here’s the finished product (click for full size):

Thank you for viewing this tutorial, if you would like to comment on the tutorial, please do so on the blog

Using Actions Creatively

2008-11-30T13:48:00.003-08:00

Photoshop actions are commonly overlooked when creating designs and artwork, often left only for batch editing photographs. However this is about to change, with a bit of imagination you can create very impressive abstract pieces, detailed images which beg for a closer look. Read on to discover how to transform one small image into a large, colorful piece of abstract art.

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

This tutorial will act more as a guide rather than a step-by-step walkthrough, this is because, although your final image will be similar to the one I created, the results tend to vary due to technique we are using. However this does mean you will get a unique final piece so don’t worry if your images do not match exactly while we go through the steps. Most of the images in the steps show what your image should look like after the step rather than how to complete the step as i figured this would be the most helpful way to illustrate this tutorial.
Begin by selecting an image, images which tend to work well are high contrast with distinctive areas of color, Here is the image I used Tail Light. Create a new document at 1600×2000px and paste the tail light image in. Get rid of the unwanted parts of this photo, I won’t go into detail here as there are more than enough tutorials on this subject, however the pen tool or the polygonal lasso work well. By looking at the image below you can see which parts of this image I opted to keep. Note that I used black as the background color and also adjusted the levels slightly and scaled the image. Lastly duplicate this layer and name the duplicated layer ‘original’ then hide the layer.

Step 2

Find the actions panel, we will be using this a lot. With the panel open create a new action, this should immediately start recording any commands you use so it is important you are careful in what buttons you press for example ‘undo’ and ‘redo’ don’t get recorded.

Step 3

Duplicate the visible image layer then hit ctrl+T to enter free transform mode then scale the image down very slightly, next rotate it clockwise slightly then move it to the left slightly. All of these transforms should be hardly noticeable. We also want to change the colour of the bulbs; go image>adjustments>hue/saturation and change the hue to +10. Use the image shown below as a guide for the transforms.

Step 4

This is where it all happens, in the actions panel click stop then click on action 1 or whatever you named your action. Now press play… a lot of times, until it looks similar to below. Bin this action as you won’t need it again. Now select all the images except for the one you named ‘original’ and the background obviously, hit ctrl+E to merge them.

Step 5

This is a good time to create a more interesting background as we have a taste for what the image will look like, This will be a very simple background so in the background layer create a radial gradient going from #3c001c to #000 starting from the middle out to the edges. Create a new layer directly above the background layer, hit D then filter>render>clouds set this layer to 25% opacity and overlay blending mode.

Step 6

You should have four layers now, the background, the clouds, the hidden original image and the edited image at the top. Select the top layer then create a new action, duplicate the layer and in the layers panel move it down one place. Using the same techniques as in step 3 transform the image then image>adjustments>hue/saturation and change the hue to -15. Try and get it looking like the following image.

Step 7

Without clicking anything else, stop the action and click on the action title then play the action multiple times until something similar is gained. As before, delete this action then merge all the layers involved with this action leaving you with four layers.

Step 8

Move this image more into the center of the page then go image>adjustments>color balance and change the values for midtones to +35 -35 -35. Now duplicate the layer and move the duplicated layer behind this layer, scale the duplicated layer down, rotate it then move it to roughly the same place as below.

Step 9

Remember that layer we named original, move it to the top of the layer stack and unhide it. Now filter>distort>twirl set the value to -250 then scale it down slightly.

Step 10

Okay, create an action in exactly the same way as before. This time duplicate the layer and move it down one place add a twirl with a value of +5, change the hue to -20 then maybe just move, scale and rotate until it is similar to the image shown below.

Step 11

It should be easy to work out what to do here; stop, click the action title then play the action a few times then merge the appropriate layers. I also scaled this layer down a small bit.

Step 12

And again, create a new action. This time I’ll let you work out what I did to make it look like this.

Step 13

Again, I wont go into much detail here, just remember to merge the appropriate layers

Step 14

Hit ctrl+T then scale the layer slightly, move it then in the layers panel move it to the back of the other images.

Step 15

You may have noticed the steps are getting more vague, this is basically because our images probably don’t look the same and because you should know what to do by now. Merge all your layers except the background and the clouds, duplicate this layer, move it down one in the layers stack then filter>distort>twirl with -200 as the value. I then used a combination of the adjustments; color balance and curves to modify the color of this layer. Using a few transforms, try and get a result you are happy with.

Step 16

Select the eraser tool and set the brush to 200px, 0% hardness, 40% opacity. Use this to erase certain parts of each image layer in order to make them blend into the background more.

Step 17

Now using the knowledge gained from the steps so far, add a few more elements by using actions, some ideas for using in an action could be a type of blur, lowering the saturation or opacity, maybe even adding some noise. Just experiment for a bit. You will notice I also added some text in the upper right.

Step 18

Select a radial gradient going from a color of your choice to 0% opacity as shown

Step 19

Create a new layer then use this gradient to create a blurry ball like so, next change the color on the gradient then create a few more, I used four in total. Lastly change the blend mode of this layer to color then the opacity to what suits your image best.

Conclusion

I have only scratched the surface of what can be achieved by using Photoshop actions creatively, for example; brush strokes could be used instead of photographs, as well as a lot more commands being included in each action. The possibilities for this technique are endless. After experimenting for a while, amazing effects can be created very easily. Have fun with it.

Flower Design

2008-11-30T13:48:00.001-08:00

1. Open a new file in Photoshop size 300 x 300 (any size works, but that's the size used in the tutorial). Fill in the background with a lightish color.

2. Change your color to black, make a new layer, and use the circle tool to "draw" (click and drag while holding the shift key, then let go) a circle that overlaps over the whole canvas and is slightly down from the top. Change the layer style to Overlay and the opacity to 50%.

Repeat two more times, lowering where you draw the circle each time (note: they must all be on new layers!)

3. Make a new layer and change your color to white. Find a flower in the custom shapes and draw some of varying sizes.

Make a new layer and repeat with a couple bigger flowers (change to a different style flower), drop the opacity to around 20%, and change the layer style to Overlay.

4. Make a new layer and use the line tool (hold down shift) to make straight vertical white lines (1px wide) that are close together. Go to Layer- Duplicate Layer and then move each layer to a side.

5. It looks kind of weird now, but it'll look better in a second! Pick one of the layers (I used the left side) and go to Filter- Distort- Shear. There should be a box with a vertical line in it and grids in the background. Click on the bottom right corner of the first box and the upper left corner of the last box (you're making an S curve).

Change the layer style to Overlay.

6. Click on the other layer with the vertical lines from before, and then go to Filter- Distort- Ripple. Change the settings to -900% and medium. Change the layer style to Soft Light, and use a size 100px or so brush to erase one side of it (hold down shift so you get a straight line) so it looks like it's fading in.

And there you have it! :) You can use this for pretty designs, backgrounds of things, part of a layout, etc. Here's another example:

Supernatural Sunbeam

2008-11-30T13:47:00.006-08:00

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a supernatural sunbeam. We will enhance an old image and use our skills to create this fairy effect!

Before we begin, let's take a look at the image we're creating

You can download the original image here or use the image below (it has a copyright mark at the bottom)

Now let's start!

Step 1

Open this image and resize it if you want. First of all, we will enhance the color of our image by using an old trick but still valuable.

Change your image's mode to Lab Color by going to Image > Mode > Lab Color. If you switch to Channels tab, you can see there are four channels (they are named Lab, Lightness, a and b). We can use "a" channel to enhance our image.

Create a new layer and set the blending mode to Soft Light, as you see below:

Go to Image > Apply Image and use these settings:

It is simple, isn't it? But now you can realize your image has been changed, click on the Eye icon near the Layer 1 several times to feel the change if you don't believe!

Press Ctrl-E to merge the 2 layers and change your image to RGB mode by going to Image > Mode > RGB Color.

Step 2

Create a new layer and fill it with black. Go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare and choose 105mm Prime. Remember to place your lens flare in the center of our image.

Step 3

Change the Blending Mode of this layer to Screen. If you don't see your Len flare in the center of our galaxy then go back and correct your lens flare location at step 2.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (or press Ctrl-U). For this image I used 18 for Hue, 57 for Saturation and 0 for Lightness but these values depend on the image you use

Step 4

Create a new layer and change the Blending Mode to Overlay so that it interacts with the dark and bright colors of our image. Reset your foreground to white and background to black (press D and X). Use the Gradient Tool (G) with Foreground to Background and Reflected Gradient options

draw it from the center and you will achieve the result as shown below

Select the Eraser Tool (E) and set the eraser's opacity to 100% to wipe everything EXCEPT the light we created in the previous step. This step will make our image brighter

Step 5

Press Ctrl-J to duplicate your current layer. Go to Edit > Transform > Scale and rotate it a bit. Press Enter to leave this mode

Repeat this step several times until you get the following result:

Step 6

Create a new layer and select the Gradient Tool (G). Keep the previous settings and draw a line as we did previously, but notice that we DO NOT use Overlay mode

Step 7

Change is blending mode to Screen. Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and use these settings

Step 8

Select the Burn Tool and drag along our light to make it thinner. The more you trace, the thinner it becomes. Here is my image after this step:

Step 9

Now we will add some glowing lights in the center with the Pen Tool. But first, we need to make some adjustments with the Brush Tool.

Select the Brush Tool and look on the right toolbar until you find an icon named "Brush" (you can see it in the next image). Click on it, tick on the Shape Dynamics checkbox and choose a soft brush size

Use the Pen Tool (P) and draw a nice curve. If you don't do it right, press Delete and try again. When you finished right, right click and choose Stroke Path.

Choose Brush from the drop-down box and make sure to tick on the Simulate Pressure checkbox

Delete the path you just created by pressing Delete twice

Double click on the current layer to bring up the Layer Style dialog, choose Outer Glow and use these settings:

Step 10

Press Ctrl-J to duplicate this layer, go to Edit > Transform > Scale to scale and rotate it

Step 11

This step is very simple, just use the Rough Round Bristle brush to decorate our light, I leave this step for you.

And the final result is shown below... what will you say ^_^ ?

Two things I think are really cool in this tutorial are to apply the Overlay blending mode and the Burn Tool to make our lights more appealing

Heaven Light

2008-11-30T13:47:00.005-08:00

In this tutorial we will be creating a nice lighting effect for the sky after enhancing its colors. You can apply this technique to any photo but I think it works best with the sky!

Final Image preview:

In this tutorial we will use two images below:

and

Step 1: Open the first image, we will enhance the sky's color to make it pretty eye-catching. Go to Select > Color Range to sample the sky's color with Eye Dropper Tool and Add to Sample

Step 2: Use the Marquee Tool to deselect unwanted selected areas (on houses) until you get something like this

Step 3: Duplicate selected areas by pressing Ctrl-J and change the Blending Mode of this layer to Overlay. Now it looks more vivid and softer

Step 4: Let's enhance it a little more with the second image. Use the same method to select a part of the wave and paste it onto the main document

Move it to the top of your document and change its blending mode to Overlay

Step 5: Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use this setting:

Step 6: Reset your colors by pressing D. Create a new layer and fill it with black, use the Gradient Tool with Reflected Gradient and Difference mode and draw some lines like the image below, notice that these lines shouldn't overlap with each other.

Once again, change its blending mode to Overlay

Step 7: Use the Eraser Tool to delete some unnatural rays of light and you can see the final result below

Conclusion
By using Overlay mode with some "cut out" tricks we can create nice images with a very eye-catching effect. I hope you enjoy this tutorial and use it in your future work!

Artistic fire forest – With Firefox Logo

2008-11-30T13:47:00.003-08:00

This tutorial will show you how to make an similar photo. We will work with these tools: Layers and layer styles, masking and brushes. You don't need to be an expert in Photoshop, but some basic knowledge in how too use layers and masks would be...

Introduction.

This tutorial will show you how to make an similar photo.

We will work with these tools: Layers and layer styles, masking and brushes.

You don't need to be an expert in Photoshop, but some basic knowledge in how too use layers and masks would be nice.

The tutorial has 11 steps.

1-New.

2-Main background.

3-Background.

4-Shadows.

5-Brush.

6-Foreground.

7-Masking.

8-Drawing.

9-More drawing.

10.-Repeat step 9.

11-some finishing touches.

1-New

Ctrl+n (File->New). Choose the with and height. I always starts with 3000*3000 pixels and then afterwards I can crop it with a screen resolution.

2-Background

I made the background layer dark gray and added some difference, this could be achieved using either dodge and burn tool, or gradient tool, don't tamper with it too much(you can barely see that I've done something too it.

3-Background

Make a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N, holding the Alt key will jump over the “new layer” window).

In this layer, use the gradient tool and make a colorful background (I've chosen red and orange).

4-Shadows

A little tricky part... Go too Layer ->Layer styles->Drop shadow I've chosen these settings:

Also stop by the Inner Shadow

5-Brush

Also a little tricky part. Go to Window-> Brushes (F5) and apply these settings:

Save the brush for later use.

6-Foreground

I've chosen a Firefox logo to have in the foreground, You can choose whatever you want. You can skip this step, or you can choose too wait.

Simply copy a photo and paste it in and remove unwanted area.

7-Masking

Layer->Vector mask->Reveal all. Now you have created a vector mask as seen as a white rectangle next to your layer thumbnail. Mark it and paint it black with the bucket (PS: alt+click on the mask too see it full sized).

8-Drawing

Choose the brush you made earlier and draw with white color on the mask. Start with a huge brush I used 300-400 px as master diameter. Have fun, but don't cross your “trees”.

9-More drawing.

First, duplicate the colorful layer with the mask and make the mask black. Now you change the shadows settings, look at step 4. Make the distance larger. Start drawing again in the new layers mask.

10.-Repeat step 9.

Do this until you are happy with the result, I think that I have a little bit too much trees.

11-some finishing touches.

Add a shadow to the logo and you can also change the contrast and you can blur some parts of the trees, I've chosen to done nothing with my trees afterwards.

Abstract Planetary Rings

2008-11-30T13:47:00.001-08:00

In this tutorial we'll be creating abstract planetary rings on Earth to give it a supernatural feel. It is also a good tutorial in using Filter effects...
Before we begin, let's take a look at the image we're creating

Step 1

First of all create a new square document and fill it with black. Reset your background and foregrounds colors by pressing D. Go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare. Use the settings in the image below

Step 2

Go to Filter > Distort > Twirl and set a big angle

Step 3

Go to Filter > Sketch > Chrome and use these settings

Step 4

Now we will add color to our image. Press Ctrl-U to open the Hue/Saturation box, adjust its color as you like

Step 5

We will make its color more vivid. Press Ctrl-J to duplicate the current layer and change its blending mode to Screen

Press Ctrl-E to merge down this layer

Step 6

Go to Filter > Distort > Twirl and use the settings in the image (same as step 2)

Step 7

We need a planet image. You can use the image below

Cut it out and paste on our document, resize it to a smaller size

Step 8

Choose the Background layer and press Ctrl-J to duplicate it. Go to Edit > Transform > Perspective and scale it down

(Leave this mode by selecting Move Tool and click Apply when the dialog box appears)

Step 9

With the Move Tool selected, click on the Show Transform Controls checkbox to turn it on. Rotate the image a bit

Leave this mode, hide the Background layer by clicking on the Eye icon near it. Your image will look like this

Step 10

Move Layer 2 (the Earth layer) under Background copy layer

Step 11

Change the Blending Mode of the Background copy Layer to Screen and move the Earth to the center

Step 12

Create a new layer (Layer 3) under Layer 2 and fill it with black

Now we have a broader outer space!

Step 13

Make a selection on the planet. The easiest way to do it is press Ctrl and left click on Layer 2

Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool and set a big feather with Subtract from Selection option and make a big selection area to exclude it out

Press Delete to clear it. Here is our image after this step

Now the main idea is finished. Next we will decorate the image with a starry sky!

Step 14

Select the Brush Tool and set a Brush size of 3 pixels

Select the Brushes on the right toolbar and click on Scattering checkbox, use the settings below

Now create a new layer and draw as you like. We will have a nice background soon!

Step 15

Double click on the current layer to open up the Layer Style box, we just need to use Outer Glow effect

That's it! This tutorial produces a stunning effect when coupled with a starry background. However the best thing is that it shows a few things we can do with Filters - and in my opinion one of the best features in Photoshop!

Sound Equalizer

2008-11-30T13:46:00.003-08:00

Create an equalizer looking image for things like album covers and abstract art.

Follow up:

First of all, create a black background

Create a strip of a color, make sure its on a new layer.

Rotate the canvas clockwise 90 degrees

In the menu, go to (Filter -> Stylize -> Wind) Make sure you have "Wind" selected, not stagger or blast

Do this a few times. Make sure you do it for both sides at least once (I did it 2 times to each side)

Now, merge the background with with the layer that has your stripe on it.

Repeat (Filter -> Stylize -> Wind) to your layer at least twice in each direction.

To add it some glow, go to (Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast) and adjust both contrast and brightness. Levels will depend on the color of your strip.

I personally used the Dodge and Burn Tool to spice up the image, but thats up to you.

Now, simply rotate the image counter clock wise 90 degrees, and your done!

Rendering a Striking Matchbox

2008-11-30T13:46:00.001-08:00

This tutorial consists of creating a digital illustration in Photoshop of a box of matches. We'll be creating the matchbox cover design, the striker on the matchbox from a pattern, and placing the cardboard texture on the box. We'll also create the matches and align everything into a 3D perspective.

Step 1

Create a New Document with a width of 525 inches by 750 inches. Set the Resolution at 300 pixels per inch. Then create a new layer, name it "Texture" and fill it with white. Apply a Pattern Overlay Layer Style with these settings: Blend Mode of Normal, Opacity at 60%, and the Pattern set to Charcoal Flecks (it is in the Grayscale Paper set).

Step 2

Create a new layer, name it "Border," and fill it with black. Then apply a Stroke Layer Style with these settings: Size of 10, Position set to Inside, and a Color of white. Now we need to rasterize the layer style. In order to do this, create a new layer. Select the new layer and the "Border" layer, then merge them with Command + E. Then set the layer Blending Mode to Multiply.

Get the Magic Wand Tool and click on the black area . Now create a new layer, and fill the selection with "baa36d" color. Name this layer "Color." Hide it for now, as we're going to need this one later. Now go back to the "Border" layer. Contract the selection. Go to Select > Modify > Contract. Contract by 5 pixels and hit Delete. Contract again by 10 pixels and fill the selection with black. Contract the selection once more by 2 pixels and hit Delete. Now the border is ready. Turn the "Color" layer visible and set the Blending Mode to Linear Burn.

Step 3

Create a new layer. Select a rectangular area and fill it with black. Drag and snap a vertical guideline to the center. Pick up the Elliptical Marque Tool. Starting from that guideline, while holding down the Alt key, make a selection and hit Delete. Then create two black rectangles on the same layer.

Step 4

Get the Type Tool. Choose your favorite font and put some text on your design. You can go to Edit > Transform > Warp to bend the text.

Step 5

Now we're going to take a screenshot of the Photoshop toolbox and use the Pen Tool icon in our design. You can follow the instructions below and do it yourself, or skip this step and download a copy of Pentool.png.

Take a screenshot using whatever tool or shortcut you prefer (Hit PrintScrn on the keyboard in Windows). This will copy the screenshot image to the clipboard. Create a new Photoshop document and go to Edit > Paste. Zoom 1600% to toolbox area in order to take a close look at our pen tool.

Hit Alt + PrntScrn to capture the active window only. Create a new document and paste. Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels and tweak to increase the contrast. You can use the Magic Wand or Rectangular Marque Tool to clean up around the pen. Then drag and place it in your matchbox design. Now if you are happy with your design, flatten the image by going to Layer > Flatten Image. Save it as "Design.jpg."

Step 6

Create a new document with a width of 35 pixels and a height of 42 pixels. Se the resolution to 300 pixels/inch. Hit Command + A to select the whole canvas, then drag and snap guides to all edges and the center of the selection. Then hit Command + D to deselect.

Pick #551100 as your foreground color. Then grab the Polygon Tool, and use these settings: set it to Fill Pixels and set the sides to 6. Create a new layer and name it "Hexagon." Then click and drag starting from the center of the layer to the right edge.

Step 7

Go to Image > Canvas Size. Make sure Relative is checked. Enter 200 percent for Width and Height. Duplicate the "Hexagon" layer. Move it up and snap the bottom of the hexagon to the upper guide. Duplicate the layer again, this time move it down and snap the top of the hexagon to the lower guide. Merge the two duplicated layers by selecting them both and going to Layer > Merge Layers. Name the merged layer "Hex2."

Step 8

Duplicate the "Hex2" layer and rotate it -60 degrees. Duplicate the "Hex2" layer again and this time rotate it 60 degrees. Name this layer "Hex60." Goto View > Clear Guides. Now grab the Polygonal Lassoo Tool and make a selection that covers the lower left hexagon.

Right-click inside the selection and choose Layer Via Cut. The selected hexagon is now placed into a new layer. Drag vertical and horizontal guides to the center of that hexagon. Go back to the "Hex60" layer and drag two guides to the center of the upper right one. Flatten the image and make a selection with the Rectangular Marque Tool. Go to Edit > Define Pattern, name the pattern "Hexagon," and click OK.

Step 9

Create a new document 750 pixels wide by 210 pixels high with a resolution of 300 pixels/inch. Create a new layer named "Striker" and fill it with any color. Apply the Layer Styles shown below.

Step 10

Now let's add some texture. I used this free texture from the Urban Dirty website. Download this file, open it in Photoshop, and drag the texture into your document in front of the "Striker" layer.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Threshold, and change the value till you get something similar to that shown below. Invert the image by going to Image > Adjustments > Invert. Then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and enter a radius of about 1.5.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels, and try to get something as shown in the below image. Set the layer Blending Mode to Screen. If you're happy with the striker, flatten the image by going to Layer > Flatten Image. Save it as "Striker.jpg."

Step 11

Let's create a nice cardboard texture now. Create a new document again with the same settings as we did for the striker, which are a Width of 750 pixels, a Height of 210 pixels, and a Resolution 300 pixels/inch. Create a new layer and fill it with white. Apply a Pattern Overlay Layer Style and choose "Charcoal Flecks" pattern. Flatten the Image.

Hit Command + U to bring up the Hue/Sauration controls. Use these settings: Colorize set to checked, Hue of 30, Saturation of 20, and a Lightness of 0. If you're happy with the striker, flatten the image by going to Layer > Flatten Image. Save the image as "Cardboard.jpg."

Step 12

Now we have all the parts we need for the box. Because we're going to give a perspective look to our box, using a reference image is a good idea. You can use a photo of a matchbox or make a simple model in your favorite 3D application to use as a reference. I modeled three boxes and rendered the wireframe. You can download the reference image here. Go ahead and open the reference image in Photoshop. Duplicate the "Background" layer, name it "3D Reference" and fill the "Background" layer with white.

Step 13

Open the "Design.jpg" file. Select all by going to Select > Select All. Then go to Edit > Copy. At this point, I turn on the magnifier in the operating system. I use Windows XP. The magnifier can be very helpful in the following steps. You can get information about the magnifier from this link.

Create a new layer and name it "Design." Now go to Filter > Vanishing Point. Click on 4 points to create a perspective plane. Then hit Command + V to paste the image. Hit Command + T to transform the image, scale it down a little bit, rotate it CCW 90°, and drag it inside the plane.

Step 14

Place it, scale it to fit the perspective plane, and click OK. Set the Opacity of the Layer to 50% so that you can see the reference image because we will repeat this step a few times more.

Step 15

Now repeat the previous step for the striker. Create a new layer and name it "Striker." Open the "Striker.jpg" file. Select all and Hit Command + C to copy. Go to Filter > Vanishing Point, and create another plane to match the side of the box. Paste the image and adjust the size and position.

Step 16

Repeat the process with the "Cardboard.jpg" for all four sides of the inner box. Note that the layer order is important.

All the cardboard pieces look flat for now. We'll add some depth to them by applying a Gradient Overlay to these layers. Use the following settings for all Card layers: a Gradient that goes from Black to White, a Style set to Linear.

Following are some other parameters to change for each layer:

For the "Striker" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 30, and Angle to -95.
For the "Design" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 30, and Angle to -95.
For the "Card03" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 10, and Angle to 180.
For the "Card02" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 25, and Angle to 180.
For the "Card01" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 40, and Angle to -145.
For the "Card04" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 40, and Angle to -125.
Select the "Card04" layer, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, set Lightness to -15

Step 17

The pieces of the matchbox has no thickness, so let's fix that. Select the "Card03" layer, Duplicate the layer, and move the original (not the copy) 1 pixel up. Hit Command + U and bring the lightness up to make it lighter until you have the thickness effect, as shown below.

Repeat this for all the parts except the bottom part of the box which is "Card04" Layer. Now select each layer and it's duplicate, then merge them. Command-click the "Card03 copy" layer to load the selection. Then using the Brush Tool set to a soft brush, paint the edge to black. Then adjust the Opacity.

Step 18

Finally, make a selection with the help of the "3D Reference" layer. Create a new layer above the "3D Reference" layer and fill the selection with dark gray. The box is now finished. Save the file as "Matchbox.psd."

Step 19

Create a new document 32 pixels wide by 750 pixels high with a resolution of 300 pixels/inch. Fill the Background Layer with the color ffeecc. Hit D on the keyboard to change to default colors. Create a new layer and fill it with black.

Go to Filters > Render > Fibers, and set the Variance to 55, Strength to 40, and apply it. Then go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur, then set the Angle to 90 and Distance to 40. Go to Select > Color Range. The cursor will turn to an Eye Dropper. Click white on the Swatches Panel to select white areas in the image. Bring Fuzziness up to 200.

Create a new layer and fill the selection with the color "ffeecc" again. Apply Bevel and Emboss with these settings: Style of Inner Bevel, Direction set to Down, Size of 1, Depth of 510, and the Shadow Mode set to Color Burn.

Delete the fibers layer and flatten the image. Hit Command + A to select all and Command + C to copy. If you don't want all your matches to be the same, you can repeat this step as many times as yo wish. Clicking on the Randomize button when applying the Fibers filter will produce different textures.

Step 20

Now go back to "Matchbox.psd." Drag the "3D Reference" layer to the top of the layer stack. Hit Command + V to paste the stick above the "3D Reference" Layer. Turn off snapping by opening the View menu and unchecking Snap. Turning off Snap will make things easier in the next step. Go to Edit > Transform > Distort. Fit the perspective of the stick to the perspective in the reference image by dragging the corners.

First make the top side of the stick. Hit Command + V again. This time create the facing side of the stick. This side should be a little bit darker so hit Command + U and lower the Lightness value. Apply a Gradient Overlay to both stick layers with these settings: Blend Mode set to Linear Burn, Opacity set to 40, and an Angle set to -140.

Step 21

Select both stick layers and merge them. Name the layer "Matchstick." Make the "3D Reference" layer invisible. Drag the "Matchstick" layer down below the "Card02" layer. Create a new layer and name it "Tip." Get the Elliptical Lassoo Tool and make a selection for the tip of the match. Fill the selection with the color #410000. Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Apply with these settings: Amount of 22%, Uniform, and Monochromatic checked.

Go to Filter > Distort > Spherize. Use these settings: Amount of 100% and Mode set to Normal. Now apply a Gradient Overlay Layer Style: Blend Mode set to Soft Light, Opacity of 75, Gradient of Black to White, Reverse checked, Style of Radial, and Scale at 150%.

Now place the ellipse on the tip of the matchstick and go to Edit > Transform > Skew. Make it parallel to the stick and adjust the scale and position. Finally, select the "Matchstick" and "Tip" layers and merge them.

Step 22

Populate the matchstick by holding the Alt key and dragging. Go to Edit > Transform > Distort. Distort the layer to match the perspective of the sticks to the perspective of the box. Now we'll make the shadow of the box on the matches. Now Command-click the "Card04" layer to load the selection. Command + Shift-click "Card01 copy" layer to add the selection. Then Command + Alt-click "Card02 copy" layer to subtract. Then Command + Alt-click "Card03 copy" layer to subtract. You should have a selection like this one.

Step 23

Create a new layer above the matchsticks. Paint it with black, as you can see in the image below. Then give it some Gaussian Blur.

Step 24

It's now time to make the reflection and the shadow of our box. Now make the "Background" layer invisible. Make sure the "3D Reference" layer is also turned off. With one of the visible layers selected, go to Layer > Merge Visible. Name the merged layer "Reflection." Hit Command + T and scale about 70%. Duplicate the "Reflection" layer and name it "Matchbox." Turn the "Background" layer on.

Select the "Reflection" layer and apply a Motion Blur with an Angle of 90 and Distance of 270 pixels. Hit Command + T to scale the "Reflection" layer horizontally to line up the edges of the reflection with the edges of the box. Select and clear the upper part of the reflection, then Deselect by hitting Command + D. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the Radius to 5.

Step 25

Make a selection, as in the image below. Command + Alt + Shift-click the "Matchbox" layer to get the intersection selected. Create a new layer above the "Reflection" layer and fill it with black. Deselect by hitting Command + D and apply a Gaussian Blur with a Radius of 8.

Conclusion

Yes, we're done! You can change the background color if you want. I filled it with a gradient. Hope you liked the tutorial. The result is below and you can view the larger final version down.

Rendering a Striking Matchbox

2008-11-30T13:13:00.000-08:00

Step 1

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Step 4

Get the Type Tool. Choose your favorite font and put some text on your design. You can go to Edit > Transform > Warp to bend the text.

Step 5

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Step 9

Create a new document 750 pixels wide by 210 pixels high with a resolution of 300 pixels/inch. Create a new layer named "Striker" and fill it with any color. Apply the Layer Styles shown below.

Step 10

Now let's add some texture. I used this free texture from the Urban Dirty website. Download this file, open it in Photoshop, and drag the texture into your document in front of the "Striker" layer.

Step 11

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Step 14

Place it, scale it to fit the perspective plane, and click OK. Set the Opacity of the Layer to 50% so that you can see the reference image because we will repeat this step a few times more.

Step 15

Step 16

Repeat the process with the "Cardboard.jpg" for all four sides of the inner box. Note that the layer order is important.

Following are some other parameters to change for each layer:

For the "Striker" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 30, and Angle to -95.
For the "Design" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 30, and Angle to -95.
For the "Card03" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 10, and Angle to 180.
For the "Card02" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 25, and Angle to 180.
For the "Card01" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 40, and Angle to -145.
For the "Card04" layer, set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Opacity to 40, and Angle to -125.
Select the "Card04" layer, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation, set Lightness to -15

Step 17

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Step 19

Step 20

Step 21

Step 22

Step 23

Create a new layer above the matchsticks. Paint it with black, as you can see in the image below. Then give it some Gaussian Blur.

Step 24

Step 25

Conclusion

Yes, we're done! You can change the background color if you want. I filled it with a gradient. Hope you liked the tutorial. The result is below and you can view the larger final version down.