Final Image Preview

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Photoshop CS4
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hours

Video Tutorial

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

Step 1

Just as painters exercise their skills with real life drawing, icon designers create existing objects to study form, textures and lighting. For this tutorial we’ll create a piece of contemporary furniture, Isamu Noguchi’s 1944 coffee table. Do a Google search about it then fire up Photoshop.

Create a new blank document and set both width and height to 512 pixels, the maximum icon size required by operating systems today. When you create icons, you start with the biggest size then create the smaller images, adjusting the details to keep the icon crisp. Our coffee table has a symmetrical glass top so let’s add some guides to help us draw it.

Step 2

Activate Snap from the View menu (Shift + Command + Semi-Colon key). Using the Pen Tool in Shape Layers mode, draw the right half of the glass top, snapping to the guides we drew before (2a).

Right-click on this layer and choose Duplicate Layer. Flip the new shape horizontally and position it to the left of the middle vertical guide (2b). Now right-click both layers and choose Rasterize Layer. Finally select both layers and hit Command + E to merge them together. Name this layer “top.” In the Layers palette reduce the Fill to 0%, then apply the following layer effects: Gradient Overlay, Stroke, and Inner Glow (2c). The top surface is done (2d).

Step 3

Make a copy of the “top” layer, move it underneath it, and rename it “bottom.” Clear the Gradient Overlay effect, leave the Inner Glow intact and make the Stroke darker. This way the bottom surface will shine through the top, keeping some ambient shading without adding opacity to the glass pane (3a).

Copy both the “top” and “bottom” layers. Command-click the “top copy” layer to select its outline, select the “bottom copy” layer and hit Delete to erase those pixels (3b). Rename this layer “thickness” and discard the “top copy” layer. We have a horizontal curved strip to fill so let’s apply a dark Gradient Overlay with a couple of light spots at the corners (3c).

Step 4

Let’s add a reflection to the top surface. Duplicate the “top” layer and rename it “reflection.” Hit L to select the Lassoo Tool and draw a diagonal wedge on the bottom half of the surface (4a). Delete this selection. Apply a white Gradient Overlay in Overlay mode and reduce the layer’s Opacity to 60% (4b). Group all layers (4c).

Step 5

On to the legs. With the help of perspective guides draw the side of the left leg with a Shape Layer (5a). Copy it. Hit Command + T, right-click and select Flip Horizontal, then Flip Vertical. With the Direct Selection Tool (A) skew and adjust the new shape to make the right leg’s side. Add dark-to-medium gray Gradient Overlays to both shapes and name them “side” (5b).

Step 6

Now comes the complicated part. We need to add thickness to the legs. Read the instructions but refer to the images for easier understanding of the procedure.

Make a copy of the left “side” layer, hiding the original. Name this copy “inner thickness.” Erase all the outer points, leaving only those shown in image 6a. With the path still selected go to the Paths palette and create a new path, naming it “inner profile” (6a). Create another copy of the left “side” and move it to the left and up (6b). Make a copy if this layer, name it “outer thickness” and follow the same method outlined above, erasing all outer points then naming the new path “outer profile” (6c).

Step 7

In the Paths palette select the “outer profile” path. On the toolbar choose the black arrow (A) and select the path on the canvas. Hit Command + C to copy it to the clipboard (7a).

Now select the “inner profile” in the Paths palette and hit Command + V to paste the “outer profile” path into it. Discard the “outer profile” path from the Paths palette (7b). With the Pen Tool (P) connect the two paths with straight lines (7c). Command-click the path in the Paths palette to select its outline.

In the Layers palette create a new layer, name it “inner thickness” and move it under the “side” layer. Hit Alt + Backspace to fill the selection on the new layer with the foreground color, any color will do, just make sure you can see it (7d). See the result below (7e).

Step 8

Using a similar method draw the outer thickness of the left leg. Refer to the image sequence for the necessary steps. It’s easier done than said.

Step 9

Add thickness to the right leg. Again refer to the image sequence for the necessary steps, which is easier done than said.

Step 10

We’re done with the legs. Just add a soft, light blue shadow beneath the table and you can call it a day!

Conclusion

This tutorial has taught us that even simple objects require painstaking attention to detail to be rendered correctly. It’s this approach that gives the most convincing results. They say crime doesn’t pay, but quality does!

Before Getting Started

A couple of things before getting started.

For this tutorial you must have the last version of Photoshop, CS4 Extended. Besides you need to have a good Graphic Card since we’re going to work with several 3D layers at the same time, if you don’t have one you may experience some kind of lag on your computer. This isn’t a basic tutorial, so I’ll skip some basic explanations like how to create a Layer Mask, or how to create a Gradient Fill Layer.

You’ll need to download this picture of a splashing milk bowl. And this awesome twitter icon set from my friend Gopal Raju.

Step 1 – Setting up the Document

First of all create a new Photoshop Document 800 pixels by 1120 pixels, 72dpi, and set to RGB. Then create a new Gradient Fill Layer named “Gradient.” I’m using these colors: #F20000 – #8E0000 anyway feel free to change them.

Add the Milk Bowl

Step 2 – Extract the Image from its Background

Paste the splashing milk bowl into a new layer named “Splash.” Next we need to get rid of the black background, for this go to Select > Color Range, sample the black background and set the Fuzziness value to around 85, then click OK to commit the selection. Now Expand the resultant selection 1px and create a Quick Mask or a Layer Mask hiding the Black background. Finally flip the image horizontally and place it at the bottom right of the document.

Step 3 – Whitening the Milk

In the picture the milk looks a little bit pink, to make it white just add a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, select Reds on the colors selector and set the Lightness value to +100, ensure the clipping mask option is enabled on the Adjustments Panel in order to apply the adjustment only to one layer. In this case the “Splash” layer. We will leave the bowl as is for awhile, it’s time to create the cereal loops. Finally add both layers, “Splash” and the Adjustment into a folder named “Bowl.”

Render the Cereal Loops

Step 4 – Create a 3D Shape from a Layer

Here comes the fun, we’ll start creating the cereal loops using some 3D layers. First, create a new layer named “Loop” and fill it with some color. I’m using the Rectangular Marquee tool and the Paint Bucket to fill it with this color: #FF363E.

Go to Window > 3D to show the 3D Panel. Now go to 3D > New Shape From Layer > Donut to automatically create a 3D Layer named “Loop.” Leave it as is and go to the next step.

Step 5 – 3D Panel Overview

Before we move forward you’ll need to feel comfortable with the 3D panel. All the 3D objects are inside a container named Scene, each Scene may have several 3D objects that can be Meshes with its respective Textures or Lights. You can put as many objects as you want into a Scene.

You can Filter the objects by clicking on any of the four buttons on top of the panel. Below there are the Scene options, there you will be able to change the Render Preset, Anti-Aliasing, Global Ambient Color (this one is very important in this tutorial) and select the texture where you will be painting on (we will see that shortly). Finally at the bottom of the panel you can toggle the Plane and Lights view on/off or add a new light, and of course the Delete button. Feel free to play with this panel before going to the next step.

Step 6 – Change Ambient Color and Show the Ground Plane

Our loop looks a little bit dark even though we create it from a pink layer, that’s because the Global Ambient Color is Black by default; click on the color box to change it into a dark red color (#7E0001). Now the loop looks pretty good, but there is so much left to do.

Click on the Toggle Plane button to show the plane as a reference, you’ll notice the plane perspective is almost the same as the bowl perspective, which is very convenient for the composition and lighting so we will leave everything as is.

Step 7 – Transform the Mesh View

Following, click on the Mesh button to work only with the “Donut” object (See image 1 below). In the options panel there are several transform options related to this mesh. First we’ll need to rotate the loop by selecting the Rotate button on the Mesh Tools Panel; just drag the cursor over the 3D object to rotate it, as shown in image 2 below.

Following, Roll the mesh a little bit if you need to. Then drag the mesh a little bit up, using the Drag button in the Mesh Panel (image 4), and finally slide the mesh a little bit inside the space by dragging the Slide cursor as shown in image 5 below, and then hide the Plane View.

At this point you should have something like the last image below. This step is important because we’ll repeat the 3D transform several times shortly. Feel free to practice with the Mesh options before moving forward. Remember, Photoshop isn’t 3D modeling software, so if you want to edit the mesh itself you will need other software.

Step 8 – Paint Over the Texture Layers

Now it is time to edit the textures a little bit. Select Paint On: Diffuse in the 3D options, then Select the Brush Tool and using this color #FFC6CA or something similar, chose a 100px soft brush (Opacity and Flow 50%) and paint directly over the 3D mesh. Rotate the mesh as much as you need in order to cover the entire surface of the object.

Notice that there’s a Layer named “Loop” under Textures – Diffuse in the Layers Panel, Double-Click on it to open a .psb file containing a plain view of the texture. We’ll work on that layer in the next step.

Step 9 – Working on the Diffuse Texture

On the .psb file, select the “Loop” Layer (this layer name may vary depending on your previous editing), and apply a Patter Overlay Effect to it, I chose a Rock Pattern named “Granite” built in Photoshop, but feel free to try with different textures. To keep the layer color, set the Effect’s Blending Mode to Soft Light. Finally save the .psb file, close it, go back to the main document and see how the texture looks now.

Step 10 – Bumping

Now we’ll make the surface a little bit irregular. In the 3D options panel set Paint On: Bump, select an irregular black Brush, and start paining.

Since the Bump texture is not created yet, you will see an alert about it, just hit OK on it. Then just start painting over the 3D object, using black as foreground will emboss the object, otherwise using white as the foreground will bevel the object, play with both colors until you feel happy with the texture. It’s very important to have the entire surface texturized and not only the front view (we will see why shortly).

If is easier for you, Double-click on the “Bump” texture layer in the Layer Panel and paint the bump texture over the .psb file as shows the bottom of the image below, you can use the Clone Tool for that purpose. Once you feel happy with the result, close the .psb file and go back to the main document.

Step 11 – Glossiness

To finish the texturing process we’ll add a Glossiness texture layer. Select Paint On: Glossiness in the 3D panel and using any Brush paint a little invisible white spot somewhere over the 3D layer. The important thing in this step is to switch to the Materials View, and change the Shininess Value from 40% to 80% in order to make the gloss less intense.

You can paint over the texture layer as well just like in the previous steps, but this time use a light color, white will be OK.

The loop is not finished yet, we’ll need further edits on it to make it look more real.

More Flavors

Step 12 – Duplicate the Loop

Now we’ll duplicate the loop in order to create several flavors. Select the Move Tool (V), then while holding the Alt Key select the 3D layer and drag it to duplicate it. Hide the original “Loop” 3D layer and select the copy, by the way I name it “Loop 2.” Show the 3D panel, switch to Mesh view and use the Rotate Tool to rotate the new mesh in order to make it look different.

Step 13 – Change the Loop’s Colors

Double-click over the Diffuse Texture of the “Loop 2″ layer in the Layers Panel, you will see the texture that we’ve created in Step 9. In order to easily change the color we will use a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer as shown below. Save the changes, close the .psb file and see how it looks.

Step 14 – Change the Glossiness Color

Following, double-click over the “Loop 2″ layer’s Glossiness texture. You’ll see the color of the texture just as we left it in Step 11. We’ll change its color by adding a new Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. The final color is up to you, but try to obtain almost the same color tone as the previous step. Save the texture file and see how it looks in the main document.

Step 15 – Change Ambient Light

Finally, to complete the new flavor, change the Global Ambient light of the new 3D Scene to a more appropriate tone, in this case the following color: #01261E.

Step 16 – Do it All Again

Repeat the Steps from 12 to 15 to create different flavors of cereal loops, the colors are entirely up to you. Remember keep your layers organized, I created a Folder named “3D Loops” and four sub folders each one containing its respective loop.

Step 17 – More and More Loops

Since each loop is inside a folder named with its respective color, we will duplicate and rotate each loop several times in order to create many of them. This time I’m creating four copies for each color.

Rasterize and Liquify

Step 18 – Rasterize the Loops

Create a copy of the entire “3D Loops” folder and hide the original, just in case you need to use any 3D layers later in the process. Now rasterize every single 3D layer in the “3D Loops” copy folder. Do this by Right-clicking a 3D Layer and selecting the Rasterize 3D option.

Step 19 – Liquify

Since we’ve got all our 3D layers rasterized, we will distort them a little bit to make the loop’s borders irregular. Select any of the “Loop” layers and go to Filter > Liquify. In the Liquify window, select the Forward Warp Tool, set 100 as the Brush Size and 25 as the Brush Density and push the loop’s edges inside and outside, as shown below. Repeat this step with every single rasterized loop in your document.

Mix the Cereal Loops with the Milk Bowl

Step 20 – Resize and Distribute the Loops

Now that we have a handful of nice cereal loops we’re going to put them into the milk bowl. First of all, duplicate the folder containing the rasterized loops, hide the original (by the way I named it “3D loops raster big”) and name the copy something like “3D loops raster small.” Next resize the entire folder in order to make the loops really small. Now use the Move Tool to distribute the loops randomly.

Step 21 – Placing the Loops

Grab any loop and place it somewhere over the bowl, try to cover a milk splash with it. Then select the mentioned loop and add a Layer Mask > Reveal All. Select the mask and using a small black brush, hide some of the loop’s areas with the milk splash. Repeat this step with all the “Loop” layers. This is maybe the most difficult part of the process, since you’ll need to re-order the Loops distribution several times.

Step 22 – Some Shadows

Create a new Layer named “Shadows” above “3d Loops raster small” folder. There paint some shadows using a small black brush (use the brush settings shown below). Besides you can use an irregular brush (like a chalk brush) and add some irregular shadows over the loops.

Step 23 – More Splashes!

As a final touch, merge the “Bowl” folder (look at Step 3) and use the Clone Tool to duplicate some areas of the splashing milk into a new Layer above all the others named “More Milk.” This is easy, grab the Clone Tool, select the rasterized “Bowl” layer and hold down the Alt key, then click somewhere over the milk splashes as the clone source. Ensure the Sample value in the Options Panel is Current Layer, then select the “More milk” layer and start painting anywhere. Finally use a small Eraser to delete the extra milk. This is only one way to create more milk splashes.

Another way to do it (my personal favorite) is to grab the Selection Tool, select a portion of the milk splashes, copy, paste and delete the undesired areas. Finally, put the “3D loops raster small” folder, and the “Bowl” folder into a new Folder and name it “Bowl Final.”

Add a Mascot

Step 24 – Add it into the Scene

Merge the “Bowl Final” folder (I always duplicate the folder, hide the original and merge the copy in case I need to roll back). Then look over the web for a nice mascot for our brand new cereal box, or draw one yourself. I’m using one of these nice birds of the twitter icon set, since the author has released the .PNG source file (you can open it with Fireworks) I increased its size a lot. Paste it just behind the milk bowl.

Step 25 – Add Some Background Details

Following we will add some background details, in this step I’m adding a White oval above the mascot. Select and copy a part of the bird’s wing and paste it above the oval, then duplicate the wing, turn down its Lightness and Opacity, then place it behind the original in order to create a subtle shadow.

Step 26 – Some Layer Styles

Continue with the background details, select the White Oval and add to it a Gradient Overlay (yellow tones), and a Stroke effect. Repeat this with a smaller oval but this time with red tones. Remember: keep your layers organized.

Step 27 – Brighten the Background

Create a white circle above the red gradient from Step One. Apply a Gaussian Blur to it and change its Blending Mode to Overlay, and its Opacity to 75% or so. Now you have a brighter background.

Step 28 – Add a Shadow to the Milk Bowl

Duplicate the “bowl” layer, name it “Bowl shadow” and turn down its Lighting value to -100 using Hue/Saturation Adjustments. Delete the shadow outside of the background ovals and turn down its Opacity to 40%.

Finally the Product Name

Step 29 – Type the Name

Type a sticky cereal name, use a bold and narrow font with all caps. Using the Text Warp options distort it a little bit.

Step 30 – Convert the Type into a Shape and Distort it

Select the “Type” layer and go to Layer > Type > Convert to Shape in order to convert the text into a vector mask. Then use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to distort the paths a little bit, this way you can add a comic style to any kind of typography.

Step 31 – Delete the O’s

Using the Path Selection Tool (A) delete the “O” letters.

Step 33 – Add New O’s

Remember the “3D loops raster big” folder of the Step 20? It’s time to use it again, make that folder visible, duplicate it and put it above everything else. Then select four loops, delete the rest, and place each one of the four loops as an “O” in the word.

Step 34 – Style the O’s

We’ll add a simple Drop Shadow style to each loop in the title.

Step 35 – Style the Text

A simple Drop Shadow and soft Bevel effects will be enough to increase the visual impact of the name. As always, it’s up to you to create more advanced effects or work with more detailed and complex layer styles. Finally put all the logo related layers into a folder named “Logo.”

Final Touches

Step 36 – More Effects on the Logo

Duplicate the “Logo” folder, rasterize it and apply a Gaussian Blur over the Copy, then Command-click over the blurred layer in the Layers Panel to create a selection around the text. Expand the Selection by 25 pixels. Then grab the Marquee Tool, Option-click over the selection and choose Make Work Path…, set the Tolerance value to 5 pixels and hit OK. Finally, go to Layer > Vector Mask > Current Path and fill the masked layer with a reference color like red. Name this layer “LogoBG.”

Step 37 – More Layer Styles

I’m using a red Gradient Overlay, a yellow Stroke and a black Drop Shadow for the “LogoBG” layer. Feel free to try something different if you want to. Place the “Logo” folder behind the “Mascot” layer, I added a Drop Shadow to the bird as well.

Conclusion

And we’re finished! I hope you liked this tutorial and found it useful. Feel free to try it with different colors, styles and create your own cereal box!

Source: psd tuts

Step 1

First, I wanted to raise the overall Contrast of the image. This was simply done by opening the Brightness % Contrast menu from the Image tab. I lowered the Brightness by -12 and raised the contrast 9. I clicked Ok to confirm this and it gave my image a slight boost in contrast which was a good start

Step 2: Brighten the teeth

I noticed this gave the teeth in the image a slight yellowish hue. Wanting to retouch this area before I proceeded, I made a selection around the teeth with the Lasso Selection Tool and copied and pasted this selection onto a new layer.  With the teeth layer selected, I selected the Hue & Saturation menu from the Image tab. I lowered the Saturation of this layer by -40 and raised the Brightness slightly by 4. This lightened the teeth for me not creating a distracting element from the cherry.

  Using the Eraser Tool, I then simple erased out the lips and cherry on this layer that happened to get desaturated in the process, leaving just the teeth exposed on this layer.

  And to increase the vibrancy in the cherry, I selected my original image’s layer again. Using the Lasso Selection Tool, I made a selection around the cherry and pasted it onto a new layer. I opened the Hue & Saturation menu again but this time I raised the Saturation of the cherry by 12, lowered the Brightness by -12, and slid the Hue slider over to the left to the -6 mark. This gave the cherry a very bright red color that I desired.

 And finally, I bumped up the Saturation in the original background image some more. I selected the green background area directly behind the cherry area and pasted it onto a new layer. I then raised this selection’s Saturation by 21. This created a deeper saturated green hue to the area giving great contrast to the red in the cherry making it pop even further, and I was done.

By selectively increasing and decreasing the saturation levels in certain parts of your photographs, you can quickly make the important elements in your pictures stand out.

Final Result

Source: Aviary.com

Step 5: Increase the saturation

Step 4: Make the cherry more vibrant

Step 3: Use Eraser to fix up your layers

Author: Axeraider70

Author: David Leggett

Source

1. Create the disco ball texture

First, we need to turn on the grid and enable snapping. Go View>Show Grid and View>Snap to Grid. With the Rectangle Tool draw a grey square with a 1pixel white stroke. You realise it will snap perfectly to the grid while drawing. Using the Selection Tool, select the grey square and hold Alt/Option as you drag to the side. This will duplicate a new square.

Press Ctrl/Command+D to duplicate a row of 20 squares. Select the whole row of squares. Hold Alt/Option and drag below to duplicate a new row of squares. Repeat this by pressing Ctrl/Command+D. Do this until you get a 20 by 20 rows of squares.

With the Selection Tool, select a square. Hold Shift and randomly select a number of different squares and fill it with a shade of teal color. Repeat the steps until you have a range of 5 different shades all spread out. Select all the squares and duplicate by holding Alt/Option and drag it to the right side. Now open your Symbols Palette by going to Window>Symbol. Create a new symbol by dragging all the square into it. And we are done with our texture.

2. Create a 3D sphere

Now draw a circle with the Circle Tool. Hold Shift as you drag to create a perfect circle. Next, draw a rectangle that overlaps the circle in the middle. Select both shapes and open up your Pathfinder Palette. Hold Alt/Option and click Subtract from shape area. This will create a semi-circle

With the semi-circle still selected, go Effect>3D>Revolve. Choose Map Art and select the texture we created under Symbol. Click Scale to Fit to fill up the whole sphere. Press Ok to confirm.

Under 3D Revolve Options, select No Shading for Surface and turn the Preview option on. Spin the cube to create the angle of the disco ball you want. Click Ok to confirm. We are done with our disco ball.

3. Add sparkles and glow

Draw a circle and fill it with Radial Gradient. Open up your Transparency Palette and set the Normal to Screen. This will create a glow on the disco ball.

We will need to add in more sparkles. Select the Star Tool, click and drag to create a basic star. Without releasing your mouse, press Arrow Up key to increase the number of points. Hold Ctrl/Command and drag to adjust the radius until you get the shape below. Next, we draw a Circle and fill up with a Radial Gradient as shown below. Align both in the center and set them to Screen under Transparency Palette. Select both and duplicate a few with different sizes to add sparkles to the disco ball.

4. Disco Ball Reflections

Let’s begin to do the disco reflection. Create a black solid circle. Select it and press Ctrl/Command+C to copy it. Paste it to the front by pressing Ctrl/Command+F to paste in front. Hold Shift and grab to corners to resize it smaller. Fill it with white after that. Select the Blend Tool and click the white circle once then hold Alt/Option and click the black circle. The Blend Options will pop up. Set a value of 6 steps and choose Specified Steps for it. Expand it by going to Object>Expand to break them into individual circles.

Duplicate a few of the reflections and spread them around. Select all the reflections and group them by pressing Ctrl/Command+G and go Effect>Warp>Fisheye. Play around with the options until you find something you like. Go Object>Expand Appearances to expand the warp after that.

Next we create a new rectangle above the reflections. Give it a Radial Gradient from teal to black color. With the Gradient Tool we can click and drag in the gradient to create the gradient below. Open up Transparency Palette and set it to Multiply.

Finally we will create a faint glow for the disco cube. Draw a circle and fill it with Radial Gradient. Go to the Layers Palette and move it behind the disco ball and your done!

Here’s the final disco ball. Hope this tutorial has helped you have a better understanding of using the Map Art in 3D Revolve.

Bonus Tip: We can further make changes to the disco ball by going to Window>Appearance and double click 3D Revolve (Mapped)

Download source file (Illustrator CS)

Author: seudavi

Author: Graphic Identity Blog