Flawless draw

Amazing

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:50:00 +0000

Stock Photos

Here are the stock photos used for this website. You can purchase the images through Dreamstime by clicking on the image below. We used the highest resolution (unscaled) images available to write this tutorial. If you would like to follow this tutorial using the same settings we used, download the highest resolution (unscaled) images available.

Step 1 – Open the image of the dancer

Load the image of the dancer into Photoshop.

Step 2 – Place the image of the clouds

Choose File > Place, browse for the image of the clouds, then click OK. The image of the clouds will appear in your document window with the transform tool activated. Resize and position the clouds where you like it to appear then press enter on your keyboard to apply the changes. The reason why we use the place command rather than other methods is because the place command will place the image as a smart object (if you are using Photoshop CS2 or newer) to help keep the file size small if you save the document without the maximize compatibility option.

Step 3 – Blend the clouds

Now we’ll make the sky transparent so that only the clouds are visible. Instead of using a mask, we’ll use the blending options. This will help keep the file size small and reduce the number of layers in your document. Right click on the layer of the clouds then choose Blending Options.

In the blending options, move the black input slider towards the right until the sky disappears.

Hold the alt key on your keyboard and drag the black input slider all the way towards the right. The hard edges of the clouds should disappear and the clouds should have some transparency. Don’t click OK yet.

In the same layer style window, click on the Color Overlay option. Choose white as the color then set the blend mode to color. This is a simple non-destructive trick to desaturate a layer using layer styles. Click OK to apply the changes.

Here’s what the image looks like right now. You have just blended the cloud into the background without using any layer masks. We’re not 100% complete with blending the clouds in but we’re going to pause here and continue after we create a mask of the model.

Step 4 – Create an inverse selection of the model

Hide the layer with the clouds then select the background layer.

Select the magic wand tool then set the tolerance to 0 so that the black sweater won’t be included in the selection.

Click on the black area to create a selection of the background. You’ll get most of the background selected.

You can continue to add to the selection using the lasso tool. Or, if you’re using Photoshop CS3 or newer, switch to the quick selection tool, to easily add the bottom of the background into the selection.

If you’re using Photoshop CS3 or newer, you can use the refine edge tool to enhance the selection. Simply select any one of the selection tools then click on the “Refine Edge” button on the option bar.

Step 5 – Create a layer mask of the selection on a group

By applying the mask in a group instead of a layer, we can simply place any layer we want in this group and it will only be visible behind the model. This saves us from having unnecessary layer masks.

Select the layer of the clouds then click on the button in the layers palette.

With the group selected, click on the button to add a layer mask. It will automatically apply your selected area into the layer mask. Anything we put inside this group will appear around the model.

Now we’ll check to see if there are any flaws to the mask. Add a color fill layer with a contrasting color such a red. To do this, select the layer with the clouds then choose Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color.

Step 6 – Refine the layer mask

Zoom into 100% view to find any flaws such as this one on the shoe.

Select the layer mask in the layer palette then use the brush and eraser to refine the edges. Use the brush tool to erase the background or the eraser tool to add. In the option bar of the brush and eraser tool, you can change the brush hardness. Use a hardness of 50% or more for sharper edges.

When you’re done refining the mask, you can delete the color fill layer and make the layer with the clouds visible.

Step 7 – Complete the blending of the clouds

Add a layer mask to the layer with the clouds. To do this, select the layer then choose Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All.

Select the eraser tool. Right click anywhere in the document window to bring up the brush options. Use a very large brush size with a hardness of 0%.

Make sure that the layer mask of the cloud layer is selected. To select the layer mask, click on the layer mask thumbnail in the layers palette. It should have a border around the layer mask to indicate that it is selected. With the eraser tool, erase the bottom of the clouds so that it fades gradually.

Select the move tool then move the clouds lower so that it is just above the spotlight.

Step 8 - Place the city background

Before you can use the place command, you need to have the layer mask deselected. Click on the layer thumbnail of the clouds layer to deselect the layer mask.

Choose File > Place. Browse for the photo of the city then click OK. Scale and position the image like shown below then press enter on your keyboard to apply the changes.

Move the layer with the city background below the layer with the clouds.

Step 9 – Desaturate the city background

First, we’ll make the layer grayscale using the same technique we used earlier with the clouds layer. Right click on the layer of the city background then choose blending options.

Apply the settings as shown below then click OK.

Step 10 – Fade the bottom edge of the layer with the city background

If you look closely at the bottom of the city edge layer there is a hard edge. To fix this, we’ll fade the edge with a layer mask.

With the layer of the city background selected, click on the to add a layer mask.

Select the eraser tool then right click anywhere in the document window. Use a large brush with a hardness of 0%.

Make sure that your layer mask is selected. It should have a white border around the layer mask thumbnail to indicate that it is selected. With the eraser tool, erase the bottom of the edge so that the hard edge is gone.

Here’s the before and after of fading the bottom edge.

Here’s what our image looks like so far.

Step 11 – Add abstract colors to the background

Create a new layer above the clouds layer then set the blending mode to color. Now we can paint in this layer with any color and it will only affect the color of the layers below.

In the swatches palette (Window > Swatches), click on the menu then choose any one of the PANTONE CMYK swatches.

Now you have the yellow, magenta, and cyan colors easily accessible form your swatches palette.

Select the brush tool. On the option bar at the top, you can select the brush size, hardness, and opacity. I recommend starting with a 50% opacity to paint.

Select any of the first three colors in the swatches palette then begin painting.

You can overlap two colors to create other colors such as teal. Remember that you can adjust the size, hardness, and opacity of your brush for different results. Here is what we ended up with and how we got the results.

Step 12 – Add a swirling beam of light

Create a new layer inside a new group. This group will be used to store all the special effects we’ll be adding on later. Select Group 1 then click on the button to create a new group above it. Then, click on the button to add a new layer inside Group 2.

Select the pen tool then apply the settings in the option bar as shown in the image below.

Create a curved path similar to the image below.

Select the brush tool and adjust the settings. Use the settings as shown below but adjust the master diameter setting to change the size of the brush. The size of this brush will determine the thickness of the beam of light. We used a brush size of 30 px on the high resolution file used for this tutorial. But if you are working on a low resolution file (ex. 800 x 600 pixels), then you should use a smaller brush size such as 7 pixels.

Make sure that you have the new layer in Group 2 selected. In the paths palette (Window > Paths), right click on the work path then choose stroke path.

In the stroke path dialog, select brush from the drop down menu and enable simulate pressure.

This is what our image looks like so far with the swirling beam of light. However, it doesn’t look like it is swirling around the model. In the next step, we’ll mask out certain areas to make it look like it is swirling around the model.

Step 13 – Create a mask for the swirling beam of light

Hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard then click on the layer mask of group one.

Select the layer with the beam of light then click on the button to add a layer mask. It should apply the selected area as the layer mask.

Make sure that you have the new layer mask selected. Select the brush tool the paint in white over the areas shown in the image below. This will make the beam of light look like it is swirling around the model.

Step 14 – Create a lens flare

Create a new layer as the top layer in Group 2 then fill it with black.

Choose Filter > Render > Lens Flare. Set the brightness to 100% and choose movie prime as the lens type. Adjust the flare center to get a flare that you like then click OK.

Choose Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation then apply the settings as shown below. If you are using Photoshop CS3 or older, enable the colorize option first then adjust the hue and saturation settings.

Step 14 – Duplicate and position the lens flare

First, change the blend mode of the lens flare layer to screen.

Select the move tool then reposition the lens flare to models right top hand.

While holding down the Alt key on your keyboard, drag the lens flare to the models left hand. This will create a duplicate of the lens flare.

Step 15 – Mask the lens flare

We want to make the second lens flare appear as behind the models hand. To do this, we’ll mask it out using a layer mask. Click on the button to add a layer mask.

Select the eraser tool then use a large brush with 0% hardness.

Erase over the hand and arm so that the lens flare looks like it is behind the hand.

Here’s the before and after results.

Step 16 – Merge the lens flare layers

Because we will not need to reposition the lens flare anymore, we can merge them together. If you simply merge the two layers right now, the layer mask will be lost. To preserve the layer mask, move the layer without the layer mask up so that it is on the top. Then, choose Layer > Merge Down or Ctrl+E.

A dialog will appear asking if you want to apply or preserve the layer mask. Select preserve.

Now the two layers are merged and the layer mask is still there.

Step 17 – Import the image of the shattered glass

Choose File > Place, browse for the image of the shattered glass, then click OK. Press enter on your keyboard to exit out of the transform tool.

Step 18 – Add transparency to the glass layer

Using the same technique used earlier, we’ll make the dark area of the layer transparent so that it blends into the photo. Right click on the layer with the glass then choose Blending Options.

At the bottom of the window in the blend if options, drag the black input sliders towards the right until the background disappears.

Hold the Alt key on your keyboard then drag the right black input slider towards the right until the edges are softened.

Change the blending mode of the current layer to luminosity. This will allow the color from the layers below to be seen through the glass.

Step 19 – Prepare the layers

Duplicate the layer with the glass (Layer > Duplicate Layer)

Hide the other layer by clicking on the icon.

Step 20 – Distort the first glass layer

With the current glass layer selected, choose Edit > Free Transform to use the transform tool. Hold down your left mouse button anywhere inside the boundary border then drag it to the models left ankle.

While holding down the Alt key on your keyboard, drag the upper middle handle downwards so that your shattered glass looks like the image below.

Rotate the layer like shown below. To rotate, position your cursor outside the bounding border then drag to rotate.

While holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard, drag the bottom left handle towards the bottom left like shown below.

While holding down the Ctrl key, drag the bottom right handle towards the upper left like shown below. Press enter on your keyboard to apply the changes.

Step 21 – Distort the second glass layer

Select the other shattered glass layer then enable back the visibility by clicking where the icon should be.

Like before, we’ll use the transform tool to distort the layer. Choose Edit > Free Transform then position the center of the shattered glass at the models other ankle.

While holding down the alt key, drag the upper middle handle towards the bottom to shrink the layer like shown in the image below.

Rotate the layer like shown below by clicking anywhere outside the boundary border and dragging.

While holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard, drag the top left corner downwards. Press enter on your keyboard to apply the changes.

Step 22 – Swap the layers

Switch the position of the two shattered glass layers. Move the bottom one above the top one. This is because the shattered glass on the models left ankle is supposed to appear in front of his left ankle.

Here’s a before and after comparison of switching the layers. You can see that the shattered glass doesn’t appear to be wrapping around the models legs. We’ll fix this with a layer mask in the next step.

Step 23 – Add masks to the shattered glass layers

Select the second layer with the shattered glass then click on the button to add a layer mask.

Zoom in to 100% and use the move tool to position the center of the shattered glass on the leg.

Select the eraser tool, right click anywhere in the document window, then set the hardness to 100%.

Erase the upper part of the shattered glass that touches the leg and the beam of light like shown below. Now it looks like the shattered glass is wrapped around the leg but not in front of the beam of light.

We’ll repeat this for the other leg. Select the other layer then click on the to add a layer mask.

Like before, erase the upper area of the shattered glass that touches the leg as shown below.

Step 24 – Make the beam of light glow

To finish this photo manipulation, we’ll make the swirling beam of light glow. Right click on the layer with the beam of light then choose blending options.

Select the outer glow layer style then adjust the size until you see a glow on the beam of light.

Select a color that you like for the glow.

Next, enable the inner glow layer style and zoom in so that you can see the beam of light. Press Ctrl+ to zoom in and drag in the document window to reposition. Set the blend mode to normal.

Set the color to the same or similar color you used in your outer glow layer style then adjust the size so that the inner glow is more visible.

Final Results

Exotic tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:57:00 +0000

Exotic Fashion Photoshop Tutorial

Setting the canvas

The first step is to create a new canvas; most important and overlooked. Choose what you want your output size to be. The larger the canvas dimensions, the more time and effort will be required to complete the painting. If you're not entering the width and height in pixels, make sure that you set the resolution to 300 pixels/inch. If you plan on printing this, make sure that you have the color mode set to CMYK color. You should also choose to use 16 bit color if you will not be using many filters and if your computer can handle it.

Creating the layers

Before you paint anything, you'll need to create two additional layers with the blending mode on Multiply. One of the layer will be used to hold the drawing or sketch and the other will be used for the color and painting. This is the most basic layer setup and is recommended for beginners who just want to get started with painting in Photoshop. More advance users will have groups of layers for each part of the painting.

Painting

When painting, it is very helpful to have a pen tablet such as the Wacom Bamboo. A pen tablet will allow you to create brush strokes that are pressure sensitive.

Enable Pen Pressure

First, select the Brush tool and click on the "Enable Airbrush Capabilities" button in the option bar near the top of your Photoshop window. In the Brush palette, set the control to Pen Pressure or Pen Tilt (if you have a tilt sensitive pen tablet). If you're using a mouse, set the control to Fade. Fade will simulate natural brush strokes by making the brush size smaller as according to the stroke length.

Face

Painting the face is a simple process using the brush, dodge, and burn tool.

First, use the brush tool to paint a base color. Then, use the burn tool to burn the edges. Finally, select the dodge tool to dodge the highlights.

When you're done, you can use the Smudge tool to refine the edges between the highlights and shadows. In the option bar, you can specify if you only want to smudge the shadows, midtones, or highlights.

Hair

The hair can be created with almost the same technique as the one used for the face. Except this time, you'll be using the smudge tool to create the texture of the hair.

Feathers

Creating the feathers is more complicated. Begin by choosing a base color for the feather. Then, draw the shape of the feather. Using the Smudge tool at 80% strength, smudge from the center out to create the individual feathers. Finish it with the Dodge and Burn tool to create shadows and highlights.

Dress pattern

To create the pattern for the dress, draw a design on a separate layer. Then, duplicate and rotate the pattern to form other shapes.

Twigs

Creating the twigs is simple. Draw the twigs with the brush tool then apply bevel and drop shadow layer styles make it look three dimensional.

Final Results

Road sign...

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:41:00 +0000

Create a new document - 600*800 px.
Create post using Illustrator and 3d effect (Effects > 3D > Revolve) or make it using Pen Tool and grey/ black gradient in Photoshop.
You may download vector file here.

Insert downloaded file into a new layer in Photoshop.
Duplicate post layer. Adjust Fill setting about 0% for created layer.
Apply Gradient Overlay, just like in the screen shots below. You may add Layer Mask and erase bottom and top part of shape using soft brush.

Duplicate layer once again and apply following pattern to it.

In order to create light spot, make line 1px, using Line Tool, and apply Gaussian Blur filter about 1%.

Merge all post layers.
Duplicate created layer, and transform it using Free and Rotate transformation to make cross-bar.

Create path just like in the example below using Rounded Rectangle Tool.

Click Ctrl+ Click to load selection.
Fill selection with wooden pattern.

Select Eraser Tool.
Choose Ornament 5 brush from preset Assorted brushes. Create ragged edges using it for wooden board.

Duplicate board layer, move bottom layer a little bit left and down (about 1-2 px).

Apply dark Color Overlay to moved layer just like in the example below.

Duplicate wooden board layer, adjust Fill about 0%.
Apply Gradient Overlay and Inner Shadow layer style effects.

In order to create board holders, make small rectangular using Rectangle Tool and apply Reflected gradient to it.

Add one stroke to the left and one to the right side of the rectangular. Apply black/transparent reflected gradient to left stroke and white/transparent to the right stroke.

Now create rounded rectangular and apply following Drop Shadow and Gradient Overlay to it.

Draw small circles for screws.

Add white strokes.

Duplicate created shapes for second board holder.

Create next detail using previous actions, but change gradient angle.

Here you may see the same shapes, created with using Free Transformation.

Duplicate these shapes several times.

Create the wooden arrow and fixing by the same way as a wooden board in the previous actions.

Create second wooden arrow.

Apply Skew transformation to it.

Reduce arrow size across using Free Transformation

Apply Gradient Overlay layer style effect just like in the example below.

Duplicate arrow layer, apply dark Color Overlay and move it little bit left.

Add holder elements, create perspective effect using transformation (Free transformation, Distort or Perspective), small gradient displacement to the right.

Move screws a little bit right.

Use Horizontal Flip transformation for third arrow.

Type any sign.

Apply Fill about 0%.

Add following layer style effects.

And here is result!

Create your own planet !

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:52:00 +0000

Ever wanted to know how people create a realistic looking planet just using photoshop? If so then this tutorial will show you some of those tricks! Even if you never
really wanted to know how to do that, this tutorial will show you some methods you can use for many other projects.

Step 1: Download your patterns

If you want some good free patterns check out http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml

That is where I downloaded this one for the tutorial:

And this one:

After saving the images, open up the first pattern, and go to edit>>define pattern and call it whatever you want. Also define a pattern for the rocky image.

Step 2: Creating the high resolution planet base

Start a new document at 4000×4000px and fill it with black. I am working at 16.7% zoom by the way.

Create a new layer and grab your elliptical marquee tool.

Hold down shift and make a large circle that fills up most of the canvas.

Get your paint bucket tool and change it from foreground to pattern on the top menu

Once you do that pick the pattern you made earlier and fill your circle with it

As you can see the pattern repeated itself and you can see where it repeated. I want this to look seamless so to make that happen I am going to use the clone stamp tool.

I will use a 300px soft brush as my clone stamp tool to get rid of the lines. So click on a section above the line and then paint over it

When you are done it should look something like this

The final step on creating our planet base will be to add the spherize filter to it.

Go to filter>>distort>>spherize and use it at 100%.

Hit ctrl+f 2 times to use the filter 2 more times. Save that if you want and just sit it off to the side to use later. You may notice a few lines on the planet base after you use the spherize filter, if so, just use the clone stamp tool again. Now on to the next step.

Step3: Creating the planet and putting it all together

Start a new document with the size 1000×1000px and fill the background with black yet again.

Use your elliptical marquee tool again to fill most of the canvas with a circle.

Just fill your circle with any color and then add these blending options

Gradient Overlay

Inner Glow

Now you should have something that looks like this

Time to use the huge planet we made earlier. Drag it into your canvas and size it down to fit over our blue circle layer. Zoom out a lot to fit it over the other circle.

If you sized it down and there is some excess over the other layer, just hold down ctrl and click on the little icon beside our blue circle layer making an outline around it. Choose the new layer we made, cut and paste it back in the document then delete the other layer with the excess.

Next I will create a new layer below the one we just made. Also hide the previous layer we made. Fill the circle in this layer with the other rocky pattern I had you download.

It will have some repeating lines like the other one did so use your clone stamp tool to get rid of those.

Add gaussian blur to the layer after that

Change its blending mode to hard light and it should look like this

Now unhide the layer above it and change its blending mode to linear light.

Here is what mine looks like now:

I think it starting to look like a planet, what do you think? Time for the last step!

Step 4: Adding the shadow to cover the planet

Create a new layer above all the others and fill it with black.

Now use gaussian blur on it without the selection around it

After that zoom out to about 33.5% and use ctrl+t on the layer to transform it and drag the bottom right until the shadow move down over the planet.

Here is how the planet should look now

I think it should have a little outer glow so go to your first layer and add this outer glow to it:

Just experiment with different layers and blending modes to get the planet you want. If you want to change the colors merge all the layers together and mess with the hue/sautration.

I messed with the brightness/contrast to get my final planet:

How to make a tag!

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:35:00 +0000

n this tutorial we will learn how to make a tag. We will also learn some advanced steps in brush settings.

Final Preview of the Tag

Brown Sack Texture used for making the Tag

Open a document, 600 x 450 with black background.

Draw a shape as below. Save the path.

Select the brush tool. Change the brush size to 15px.

Apply stroke path from the menu with red color (#ba0d00).

Apply default bevel settings.

Keeping the path selected, hit Ctrl + Enter to Load path to selection.

Make a new layer and paste Into (crtl + shift + V ) the selection.

Make an ellipse on the top. delete the ellipse area as shown below.

Apply the same border bevel settings for the ellipse too.

To make the stitch, we need to do some groundwork. Select the brush tool.

Click on any hard brush and change the size to 9px.

From the brush settings, Brush Tip Shape , move the spacing slider to 200%. Now you can see the dots a far apart.

Apply the stroke. You can see the dotted line running around the path.

Apply Gaussian blur with the following settings.

To make the stitching we need to select 15px hard brush.

Change the roundness and spacing as shown.

To make the brush move according as the path, change the control to Direction from the drop menu.

Apply default bevel to lift the stitch thread.

Results are shown below.

Apply the same technique for the ellipse.

Its now time to put your content. Now you can place logo image or type. But be sute to use the layer blending to overlay.

Hope you enjoyed.

Tutorial from: PSDGUIDES.COM

Underwater your text

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:38:00 +0000

Step 1:

Let’s start out by creating a new file. I used a 700×700 pixels canvas set at 72dpi, and I filled my background with #000921 color shade. Now make a new layer set and name it ‘Under Water Text Effect’. Then select the Horizontal Type Tool then set the font family to Arial Black, regular, 100 pt, smooth and white color shade. In a new text layer type your name, i used the show Deadliest Catch.

Step 2:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Shadow, Outer Glow, Inner Glow and Pattern Overlay blending options to your white text layer.

Result:

Step 3:

Here I added the word deadliest in its own text layer.

Step 4:

Merge down your ‘Under Water Text Effect’ layer set through Layer > Merge Layer Set. Then rotate the text design to the right by a couple of pixels and apply a Plastic Wrap effect through Filter > Artistic, use the settings below.

Result:

Step 5:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Glow blending option to your text design layer.

Result:

Step 6:

Now duplicate your Text Design layer and remove the layer styles attached with it. Then apply a Gaussian Blur through Filter > Blur, use the settings below.

Result:

Step 7:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Glow blending option to your blurred text design layer. Then set the layer’s blending mode to Hard Light at 79% opacity level.

Result:

Results:

Underwater Text Effect.

Underwater your text

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:38:00 +0000

Step 1:

Step 2:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Shadow, Outer Glow, Inner Glow and Pattern Overlay blending options to your white text layer.

Result:

Step 3:

Here I added the word deadliest in its own text layer.

Step 4:

Result:

Step 5:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Glow blending option to your text design layer.

Result:

Step 6:

Now duplicate your Text Design layer and remove the layer styles attached with it. Then apply a Gaussian Blur through Filter > Blur, use the settings below.

Result:

Step 7:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Glow blending option to your blurred text design layer. Then set the layer’s blending mode to Hard Light at 79% opacity level.

Result:

Results:

Underwater Text Effect.

Text Efect II

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:26:00 +0000

Hi there! Another tutorial is coming for you.

Here is a preview of the final text effect for this tutorial:

Alternative version:

Let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need to the following stocks:

Grunge Brushset

Font

Crack Brushset

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1200px * 800px, fill the background layer with Black colour. Create a new layer called “background texture” on top of the background layer, and we’re going to do some painting with the Grunge Brushset we have just downloaded.

Firstly we want to load the brushset into Photoshop. To do this, press the “B” key to select the Brush Tool, and following the steps as shown in the following screenshot:

1. Click the down arrow next to the Brush shape/size

2. Click the right arrow on the top right corner of the brush palette

3. Click the “Load Brushes” option on the menu

After this, you will see a window pop-up and simply select the Grunge Brush set you just downloaded/extracted, and you will see those brushes appear in the palette as shown below:

(The yellow highlighted part indicates the brushset we have just loaded)

So now we have a set of grunge textures we can use to create our background texture. On the “background texture” layer, use those brushsets we just loaded and paint some irregular, grungy patterns on it:

(Hint: don’t just stick with one brush, try out a combination of them and adjust the flow and opacity for each different brushset, experiment and see what result that bring you)

Here is what I have after a bit of painting with the grunge brushset:

Step 2

Now we have a grungy style background texture. Let’s type some text onto it by using the font we downloaded at the start of this tutorial:

On this text layer, apply the following layer blending options:

Drop Shadow

Inner Shadow

Bevel and Emboss

Gradient Overlay (Hint: you can adjust the position of the gradient by left-click and drag on the text)

And you will have the following effect:

Duplicate this text layer once and make the text look bolder and thicker:

Step 3

Load the selection of the text layer (if you’re not sure how to do so, please take a look at Step 3 of my previous post) and create a new layer called “crack texture”. While maintaining the selection, load the “Crack brushset” into Photoshop and on the “crack texture” layer, use this brushset to paint over it.

You will see because we keep the selection active, the crack texture appears only within the selection:

Duplicate the “crack texture” layer once and change the blending mode of the duplcated layer to “Multiply”, you will have the following effect (the crack texture darkened) :

To create some more variation to the crack, we can add some more layers and on each added layer, apply a different crack texture from the brushset, and set the layer blending mode to “overlay”.

You can add as many layer as you wish, here is what I have after adding two more layers of crack texture:

Step 4

Now we can some colour on the text. To do this, load the selection of the text layer again, create a new layer on top of all other layers called “colour overlay”.

Here is the tricky bit: What I would like to achieve is some colour variation, so I use the Lasso Tool with a 10px feather, substract the upper portion of the selection off by holding down the Alt Key while making the selection:

While maintaining the selection, pick a colour and a soft round brush, and paint inside the selection:

Load the text layer again, create a new layer above the previous colour overlay layer, this time choose a lighter colour and soft brush, paint it on the upper portion of the text:

Step 5

Now we can add some adjustment layers to bring out some colour contrast and lightness for the overall effect. I added the following two adjustment layers (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > …)

Levels

Curves

And here is the final effect for this text effect: (Click to enlarge)

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! You can of course add some of your own texture or filter effect and see what the end results are! Remember to always keep your own creativity!

Here is an alternative version I have: (click to enlarge)

Change the colour of your rims!

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:59:00 +0000

This tutorial will teach you how to modify the colour of the car rims. You need to use Elliptical Marquee tool and various layer styles for this tutorial. I have used a free stock image which is available at: www.sxc.hu

Modify rim colour

Step 1

Open an image of a car in Photoshop

Step 2

Insert a new layer by selecting Layer > New > Layer.
Take the Elliptical Marquee tool and make a selection around the rims. You could alternatively use the polygon lasso tool or the quick mask tool, if you wish.

Step 3

Select paint bucket and fill the selection with your favourite colour. I have used #ffc350, but you can select whatever you wish.

Step 4

Change the blending option to Colour. You can experiment with various settings and choose the blending option you prefer. Then deselect the selection Ctrl + D.

Step 5 – optional

You may have noticed the brake discs and callipers have also changed colour. Use the eraser tool and carefully erase the colour.

Make-up you girlfriends!

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:14:00 +0000

Here's a nice tutorial for you and you can do lots of nice things with it!
Step 1: Take a picture you want, a portrait may be the best. If you feel lazy, you can use the picture below:

Step 2: Duplicate your image (hit Ctrl-J) and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Fill in 6.1 for the radius and hit OK. By blurring this layer, we can make her skin smoother and brighter

Step 3: Go to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate to turn this layer into a black-and-white image, this will greatly increase the contrast on the lady. Change the blending mode of this layer to Overlay. The Overlay mode just leaves bright and dark colors get through, so the colors are greatly enhanced.

Step 4: Hit Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E to create a new flatten layer, which is the result of all visible layers below. On this new layer, apply a gradient map on it

Set your settings as following:

Step 5: Once you finished, change the blending mode of this gradient map to Soft Light. Your photo now become brighter and "softer"

Step 6: If you see your photo a bit too bright then reduce the Opacity of this map to 50%

It looks better, doesn't it?

Step 7: We just have to make some subtle changes on her lips. Press Ctrl-Shift-Alt-E again to make another flatten layer. Create a new layer and go to Edit>Fill and fill it with 50% gray option. Change the blending mode to Overlay. As you see, this layer seems transparent because Overlay does not let gray get through. Why do we do it? Because we can retouch on this separate layer without destroying the original one!

Use the Burn tool to trace along her lips. As you see, they are now pinker. Remember you should work with a small, soft brush

Step 8: Repeat step 7 with her eyebrows. Reduce the Exposure parameter of the Burn tool to make it look realistic. You can see my result below:

(for the text, I just used Outer Glow)

If women are malware then men are BitDefenders !

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:36:00 +0000

Well just finished reading a crazy post from a nice guy Steve Aether. I read his post " what if women were Malware?!(1) " . Good question?! And he's right women are malware. Like a malware they come into your life (pc) when the world is very pink for you (the computer is running smooth) and they suck the life out of you (some of them destroy every bit of your files) and others just clean out your credit card(phishing scams). So in a world with lots of threats (more women than men) you need to be careful and be protected(you need an antivirus)...That's why we need a good solution against malware(women) and the other threats like phishing scams(they can empty your bank account) or they can be even like Confiker (a virus that stops you from accessing security web pages) and stop you from watching a football game or going to a beer with your friends. A world without women would be like the internet without malware and the fun wouldn't exist. So what is the solution to this malware(women)? Well it's called BitDefender(men) ! Some men are real men(BitDefender Total Security 2009), others are macho men(BitDefender Internet Security 2009) while others are just grown up kids(BitDefender Antivirus 2009). What sort of men are you?!

What AV should I use?

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:15:00 +0000

Many of you will probably ask why do I post about a security solution on a blog that is designed to talk about photoshop. Well the "magic" happened yesterday when a "naughty" virus deleted all my photoshop projects. My luck was that I make back-up of them but still it was a warning that I have a security issue. My antivirus was norton. So now after a clean sweap of my OS i'm looking to instal another av solution. I heard that BitDefender is great? Any advices? Leave a comment with the name of the AV I should use.

The magic of Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:28:00 +0000

Here's the most incredible thing I saw lately drawn in Photoshop. I found even the tutorial on: tutorialized.com. Enjoy...and see the magic happen...

Open interior picture in Photoshop.

Create a new layer, fill it with black and white radial gradient just like in the example below.
Apply Multiply Blending Mode to this layer.

Make TV set silhouette contour using Pen Tool. Load selection for created contour - Ctrl + Enter.
Copy selected TV area and paste it into a new layer above radial gradient layer.
Increase TV set size using Free Transformation.

Insert painting frame image. Transform it using Distort transformation.

Paste Crocodile image into a new layer.

Add Layer Mask to this layer.
Erase superfluous areas in Layer Mask just like in the screen shot.

Add water splashes to the crocodile mouth. Apply Screen Blending Mode to this layer.

Add sand effect using small round brush with special adjustments.

Use the following settings for your brush.

You should get something like in the picture below.

Insert zebra's image. Erase superfluous areas using the same way as in the previous example with crocodile.

Duplicate Zebra layer.
Apply Motion Blur Filter to the bottom zebra layer.

Filter > Blur > Motion Blur.

Add layer Mask to blurred layer, and fill it with black and white liner gradient like in the screen shot.

Duplicate zebra layer once again and apply more strong Motion Blur effect.
Choose Linear Dodge (Add) Blending Mode to created layer.
Apply small Warp transformation to grated shape.

You may see two blurred layers on the screen shot below.

Add some grass or bushes into the inside area of the frame.

Fill inside area of the frame with black color. Adjust Opacity about 30% and Multiply Blending Mode.
Erase front area using translucent soft brush.

Duplicate previous layer, apply Overlay Blending Mode and Opacity about 20% to this layer.

Add shade effect.

You may insert small details, for example snakes or birds.

Draw shades to create volume effect.

Merge all of layers.
Duplicate created layer.
Go to Image > Adjustments > Equalize.

Choose Multiply Blending Mode to this layer and opacity 70%.

Flatten layers.
Click Quick Mask Icon.
Fill layer with black and white Reflected gradient.

Click Quick Mask again.
Go to Filter > Blur > Lens Blur.

Apply following settings.

Keep selection.
Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/ Saturation.

And here is result!

When day becomes night

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:52:00 +0000

In this tutorial I have tried to explain the process of turning a photo from a day shot into a night image using photoshop. Bellow is the image that we start with.

1) Sky color
The first thing that we need to do is to change the sky color to a much darker tone.
For this we need to select it first; I usually start with the wand tool with a tolerance of about 22, and refine the selection using the magnetic lasso tool or the polygonal lasso.
After having completed the selection it would be a good idea to save the selection set (click on “selection, save selection, and type “sky”)
With the selection active, you can either paint the sky in a new layer, or paste a photo of the sky taken at night time.

2) Environment color
Click on “select”, “inverse” and create a new layer). Change the blending mode of the new layer from “normal” to “color”. Using the brush tool paint the new layer with a shade of dark blue. If you need more chromatic variety you can combine several shades with the brush hardness set to “0”.
You should obtain something similar to the image bellow:

The color is starting to look ok, but as you notice, the building needs to be a little bit darker. You can do this easily by selecting the “background” layer (the base layer that represents the original photo) and click on “Image”, “Adjustments”, “Brightness/Contrast”. Drag the “brightness” slider to the left until you obtain a result that you are happy with.

3) Placing lights inside the building
At the moment the picture already looks like a night photo, but due to the fact that there are no lights inside the building, the place looks deserted.
What we need to do at this point is to select the windows of the rooms that you want to place lights inside. You don’t need to select all the windows, because just like in real life the probability that every light in a building is on, is quite small. After having selected everything you need, save the selection set as “windows”.
Now comes the fun part; with the windows selection still active, make a new layer above the stack and start painting with shades of yellow, orange and very light blue. You need this kind of diversity in color, because in real life, different types of light sources produce different light colors. For example tungsten light bulbs cast an orange/yellowish light, while neon produces white/light blue hue and so on.
After having finished with the painting, change the blending mode of the layer, from “normal” to “linear light” and change the opacity to around 80%.
Here is what we have so far:

For more realism, we can add a subtle glow to the light in the windows; make a copy of the last layer and add a gaussian blur (in this case I have used a 20 a radius of 20 pixels for it). As you can see, the widows look much too bright. We can adjust this by loading the “windows” selection set, and press delete. This way there will be no overlapping between the new layer and the previous one, and we will only keep the glow around the windows.

Here is how it looks:

You can take this even further by cropping windows from other photos of buildings taken at night and compositing them in your imag.
4) Final touches
We’re almost there…
However, there is one more thing to do. If you look at photos taken at night you will notice that the bottom parts have a subtle orange/yellowish hue, due to the artificial lights cast by the street lights, car lights and neighboring buildings.
You can simulate this, by making a “foreground to transparent” gradient tool (with the foreground color set to orange), in a new layer, dragged from bottom to top. Change the blending mode to “color” and adjust the opacity to around 50% (or whatever looks good to you) and you are done.

Here is the final result:

This tutorial was brought to you by : tutorialsfordesigners.com

Another cool text effect

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:06:00 +0000

Another cool text effect bough to you by: PDS VAULT

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1200 * 800 px (in fact size doesn’t really matter here, choose one you feel comfortable with), use White as background colour.

In order to maxmise the effect, the choice of font is quite important here. For me I tend to use a Bold, Clean Font from at the start, simply because they are easy to manipulate and stylise. So go head and use the font we have just downloaded and type some text onto the canvas: (Hint: you can use Ctrl + T free transform tool to adjust the size of the text)

Step 2

On this text layer, apply the following layer blending options:

General Blending

Drop Shadow

Inner Shadow

Bevel and Emboss

Contour

Gradient Overlay

Stroke

and you will have the following effect:

Step 3

Load the selection of the text layer by holding down the Ctrl key and left click the thumbnail image of the text layer on the layer palette:

Hit Ctrl + Alt + R and bring up the Refine Edge Tool, apply the following settings:

and your selection will become like this:

Step 4

Maintaining the selection, create a new layer on top of the text layer and name it “Dirt Spray”, load the Dirt Spray brushset into Photoshop, and use the different brushes in this set, paint on the new layer.

You will see because we have the selection enable, the dirt appears within the selection:

and here is the effect I have after a bit painting with the dirt brush:

Step 5

Now we can add some background textures to make the effect a bit richer. Load the “Stroke and Splatter” brushset into Photoshop, create a new layer called “texture” just above the background layer, select the brushes from this set to paint over the new layer: (I chose the red colour)

Also you can use the splatter brushset for additional effect.

Now we can add some more decorations onto the text. I decided to add some curvy lines . To do this, create a new layer called “lines” and grab the Pen Tool, create the following working path on this “lines” layer:

And right0-click and choose the “Stroke Path” option, as shown below:

Then select the option “Brush” and tick the “Simulate Pressure” option (Make sure set the brush size to 16px, with 100% hardness). Use the Free Transform Tool (Ctrl + T) and free transform it as shown below:

Duplicate this “lines” layer a few times, on each duplicated layer, free tranform it to different sizes. Here is what I have after the duplication and free transformation:

Optional: You can further enhance this effect by duplicating some more layers of the “lines” layer, and drag them on top of the text layer. Here is what I have after moving them above the text layer:

Step 6

To create some uneven light effect, we can add a new layer on top of all previous layer, grab a soft round brush (I chose 150px) and select the White colour, do some single-clicks on the spot you would like to highlight:

Change the layer blending mode to “Overlay” and you will have the following effect:

I further added some more background textures by using the splatter brushsets and here is what I have after the paintings:

Step 7

For some final adjustments, I decided to flatten the image (make sure before you do so, save a copy of the non-flattened one first), and duplicate the background layer once and desaturate the duplicated layer, go to filter > sharpen > smart sharpen and apply the following settings:

And add a new layer on top of the duplicated layer, grab a big soft brush and paint some colour onto it:

Change the layer blending mode to “Color” and you will have the following effect

Add the following two adjustment layers on top of all previous layers by going into “Layer > Adjustment Layer >…”:

Curves

Colour Balance

and you will have the following final effect: (click to enlarge)

Combined tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Hey there! Found a very cool tutorial on You Tube. Take a look and give your opinion.

Crazy Tutorials

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:03:00 +0000

Cool Brush Set

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:13:00 +0000

Found on the net a very nice brush set. It's for all of you who like Chinese Symbols. You can download it from here.

How to instal brushes?

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:26:00 +0000

I've noticed that lots of you, fans of photoshop, are having trouble installing the brushes for photoshop. So I found a nice tutorial for " How to? " from http://www.brushesdownload.com and here it is.
How to install PhotoshopBrushesTutorial First of all, be sure that Photoshop is CLOSE.
Installing .ABR files could not be much easier. You simply need to copy the file to the correct directory. If you downloaded the brush set in a zip file, you can just extract the 'abr' file straight to the right place. That "right place" is in the 'Presets' directory of your main Photoshop program folder, under the subdirectory 'Brushes'. For example, using the default installation path for Photoshop CS2, my brushes reside here:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Presets\Brushes\

Simply copy the file there, and the next time you start Photoshop, the brushes will be available from your brush set menu.

Text Efect

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:12:00 +0000

Delicate Text Effect

I’m going to share with you about how to make a delicate text effect by using some layer styles. Is it interesting for you? If yes, let’s start to read and make!

First of all, make a new document in Photoshop. I created a new document sized 1000×500 pixels with all the default settings, RGB, 72 dpi, white background etc.

Apply the Gradient Overlay layer style to this layer:

Now we have something like this:

This is the easy part; all you have to do is write out your desired text on the canvas. Get out the Horizontal Type Tool and write out your text, for example ‘Delicate’ in whatever color you want.

In the above image I’ve used a font called Cooper (170 pt, Crisp), which is sadly a commercial font. Feel free to try a different font, or you know, buy or ‘get’ a nice font from somewhere.
Ok, now let’s start with creating delicate text effect. First of all we need to add some pattern to Photoshop patterns palette to use it for creating text effect later. Open this texture or find another one using Google Images and use Edit > Define Pattern to save this picture as pattern.
Go back to our created file and apply the following layer styles to the text layer:
• Drop Shadow
• Inner Shadow
• Outer Glow
• Inner Glow
• Bevel and Emboss
• Contour
• Texture
• Satin
• Pattern Overlay
• Stroke

Now your image should now look like the image shown below:

Create a new layer and merge it with text layer to get all styles in one image. Then Press Ctrl+J to duplicate this layer, then go to previous layer and apply Filter > Blur > Motion Blur with similar settings to these:

Now we have interesting effect.

After that go to the upper layer and apply the following layer style:
• Outer Glow

If you like you can add some graphic elements to background, for example, stars. Get out the Brush Tool and select the standard brush with the next presets:

Go to background layer, create a new layer above and make the stars using color of #ffbebe.

Well, we’re pretty much finished for this tutorial, thanks for taking the time to read it!

Thanks for the tutorial to: http://www.tutorialkit.com/tutorials/Delicate-Text-Effect-12489.html

Date removal from Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:46:00 +0000

The patch tool lets you repair a selected area with pixels from another area or a pattern. Like the healing brush tool, the patch tool matches the texture, lighting, and shading of the sampled pixels to the source pixels. You can also use the patch tool to clone isolated areas of an image.

Sampled pixels and source pixels

Patched image

To repair an area using sampled pixels:

Select the patch tool .
Do one of the following:

Drag in the image to select the area you want to repair, and select Source in the options bar.
Drag in the image to select the area from which you want to sample, and select Destination in the options bar.

Note: You can also make a selection prior to selecting the patch tool.

To adjust the selection, do one of the following:

Shift-drag in the image to add to the existing selection.
Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) in the image to subtract from the existing selection.
Alt-Shift-drag (Windows) or Option-Shift-drag (Mac OS) in the image to select an area intersected by the existing selection.

Position the pointer inside the selection, and do one of the following:

If Source is selected in the options bar, drag the selection border to the area from which you want to sample. When you release the mouse button, the originally selected area is patched with the sampled pixels.
If Destination is selected in the options bar, drag the selection border to the area you want to patch. When you release the mouse button, the newly selected area is patched with the sampled pixels.

To repair an area using a pattern:

Select the patch tool .
Drag in the image to select the area you want to repair.

Note: You can also make a selection prior to selecting the patch tool.

To adjust the selection, do one of the following:

Shift-drag in the image to add to the existing selection.
Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) in the image to subtract from the existing selection.
Alt-Shift-drag (Windows) or Option-Shift-drag (Mac OS) in the image to select an area intersected by the existing selection.

Select a pattern from the Pattern pop-up palette in the options bar, and click Use Pattern.

Photoshop Screens

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:51:00 +0000

History of the Photoshop welcome screen.Do you remember it?

Display .07 (Photoshop precursor)

Photoshop .87 Splash Screen
(Barneyscan XP)

Photoshop 1.07 Retail Release Splash Screen. Version 1.0 ship date: February 1990.

Photoshop 2.0.1 Retail Release Splash Screen. Version 2.0 ship date: June 1991, 2.01 release: December 1991.

Photoshop 2.5 Retail Release Splash Screen. Version 2.5 ship date: February 1993, version 1.5.1 update: July 1993.

Photoshop 3.0 Retail Release Splash Screen. Version 3.0 ship date: September 1994, 3.05 update released June 1995.

Photoshop 4.0 Retail Release Splash Screen. Version 4.0 ship date: November 1996, 4.01 update released April 1997.

Photoshop 5.0 Retail Release Splash Screen. Version 5.0 ship date: May 1998, 5.01 update released June 1998.

Photoshop 5.5 Retail Release Splash Screen. Version 5.5 ship date: July 1999.

Photoshop 6.0 Retail Release Splash Screen. Version 6.0 ship date: October 2000, 6.01 update released February 2001.

Photoshop 7.0 Retail Release Splash Screen. Version 7.0 ship date: April 2002, update 7.01 released July 2002.

Photoshop CS (8.0) Retail Release Splash Screen. Version CS (8) ship date: October 2003.

Photoshop CS2 (9.0) Retail Release Splash Screen. Version CS2 (9) ship date: late April 2005 (was supposed to be May, but Photoshop CS2 shipped to users early).

The magic of Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:23:00 +0000

I found a nice and incredible video on youtube. It's a tutorial that learns you how to weigh loose digital.It's a very nice way to make you or your friends look good, or you can make pranks on them by making them fatter. So have fun you guys!

Just listen...

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:14:00 +0000

Patterns

noreply@blogger.com (Edward Stream) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:07:00 +0000

Hy there to you all. I come today for you with a nice pack of photoshop patterns. You can download this nice pack from here. Down here there is a nice tutorial for you to know how to create your own personalized patterns.