Photoshop Star

Explosion Effect

2008-04-27T04:06:00.000+03:00

Step 1.

Create a new picture with the size of 800X600 pixels and with black background. Press D button for setting colours, and then press X button for replacing them. Cover drawing by Radial Gradient Tool at will.

Step 2.

Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N). Apply the filter Clouds (Filter > Render > Clouds) one time and Difference Clouds (Filter > Render > Difference Clouds) two times. Set Blending Mode layer with clouds on Color Dodge.

Step 3.

Apply function Hue/Saturation (Image > Adjust > Hue/Saturation) with the meanings: Hue:30, Saturation:50, Lightness:40 to your layer.

Step 4.

Besides you can get the impressive tongues of flame using this effect. Apply such meanings in action 3 in Hue/Saturation: Hue:30, Saturation:50, Lightness:0.

Source

Company Logo Design

2008-04-27T03:57:00.003+03:00

Begin your work by creating a new file (File>New) with 1600x1200 px and 72 dpi. Using the Paint Bucket Tool (G), fill the new file with the color #A666B2

Find in Internet a pattern like this one and open it in Adobe Photoshop program.

Edit>Define Pattern

Next select the Rectangle Tool (U) to continue representing the background of our picture.

Select next parameters for the last layer by making a mouse click on the layer we work with on the layers' panel: Blending Options>Pattern Overlay

Select again the Rectangle Tool (U) to dark out the edges of our picture.

The layer's parameters: Fill 0%

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient's parameters:

Using the Rectangle Tool (U), it's possible to draw on this stage a kind of flatness.

The layer's parameters: Fill 0%

Blending Options>Outer Glow

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient's parameters:

Blending Options>Stroke

Now we should create a new file (File>New) with 1600x1200 px and 72 dpi.

Then fill it with the white color, applying the Paint Bucket Tool (G), choosing also this filter's option: Filter>Noise>Add Noise

Set for this layer also the next selection: Filter>Blur>Motion Blur

Edit>Define Pattern

Take again the Rectangle Tool (U) to represent the basic element of the logotype to be. Firstly we'll create the primary common layer and then press Alt button when applying the mentioned tool to cut out the inside part. Choose after that the Convert Point Tool to make the appropriate corrections of the made opening, like it is demonstrated on the next image:

The layer's parameters: Blending mode-Darken

Blending Options>Inner Glow

Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss

Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss (Texture) it's time to apply the pattern we have chosen for it the filters, like Add Noise and Motion Blur

Blending Options>Satin

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient's parameters:

Now we should write the logotype's title:

Select the same parameters for the text that we had applied for the basic layer of the logotype. It's necessary in this case to press the right mouse's button on the layer containing the basic elements of the logotype and select this option - Copy layer style. On the text's layer press the right mouse's button and choose this option - Paste layer style

Try to represent now the text in a more evident form. In this case we should hold Ctrl button when making a mouse click on the text's layer on the layers' panel:

Next mark out the layer containing the logotype's basis, make a mouse click on the bottom part of the layers' panel on Add a Mask option and press this combination of buttons – Ctrl+I. We'll see the Adobe inscription cut on the logotype's basis.

Next try to mark out the text's layer. Make a mouse click on the same layer on the layer's panel, choosing Add a Mask selection. After that we should apply the Brush Tool (B) of black color to clean out the Adobe word.

Write the word JOIN above the logotype, keeping the demands inserted in the next table:

The layer's parameters: Blending Options>Bevel and Emboss

Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient's parameters:

Create a new layer.

This time select the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) to mark out the zone under the logotype and choose the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to paint this zone in white color. This layer must be placed lower than logotype's layers (on the layers' panel).

Select for this layer this solution: Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur

Using the Eraser Tool (E), it's possible to delete that part of the layer the logotype is kept in.

Set the next parameters for the same layer: Blending mode-Overlay

Create a new layer and use on it the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to mark out the zone under the logotype and after that choose the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to fill this zone with white color:

Select Free Transform solution to stretch out the lowest edge and compress a little the laying, the same way shown below:

Set on the same layer the next option: Filter>Blur>Radial Blur

…and Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur

Choose once again the Eraser Tool (E) on this layer to clean out the shown below logotype's zone, setting the next layer's parameters: Blending mode-Overlay

Create a new layer and use on it the Brush Tool (B) of white color for drawing the shadow under the logotype. This layer must be situated lower than all other logotype's layers (on the layers' panel).

Set the next parameters for the layer: Blending mode-Soft Light

Select again the already known Brush Tool (B) of black color (Opacity 30%) to dark out the zone under the word TUTORIALZ. Place the layer with the shadow lower than all other logotype's layers (on the layers' panel):

Set the next parameters for the layer: Blending mode-Soft Light

Click to enlarge

Finished!

Source

3D Photo

2008-04-08T02:48:00.002+02:00

Open up a photo in photoshop, make a new layer, then select the "rectangular marquee tool" and draw a rectangle over your photo fill it with the color white, with the rectangle still selected goto "select > modify > contract" and contract by 15-20 pixels, then hit the delete key. Goto "edit > transform > perspective" transform the photo frame like the image below.

Select the "magic wand tool" and select the inner part of the photo frame.

Select your background layer while it is selected then press "ctrl + c" then "ctrl + v". Hide your background layer ensuring your photo frame layer is on top of the of the bit you just copied and pasted. You should have something like this.

Set your opacity on your photo frame layer to 50% to make it easier to do the next step. Unhide your background layer and cut out the other half of the image that will be jumping out of the picture. I've also cut out the shadow to save me making my own.

Once selected goto "select > inverse" and hit the delete key. Now move this layer on top of your photo frame. layer you should have something like this.

Now its just a case of creating a new background to finish the image. Here's mine

Source : Click here

Creating Realistic 3D Flag

2008-04-08T02:42:00.002+02:00

This tutorial will show you how you can use displacement maps for placing many kinds of design onto many different surfaces. I'm going to map a 2d flag image using a photograph of some crumpled silk to create a realistic 3D flag;

Step 1: Open your fabric and your flag image in photoshop. Apply gaussian blur to your fabric photograph (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) and experiment with the radius to hide the detail of the fabric and keeping only the folds.

Step 2: Save your fabric to a PSD file (File > Save as). I saved mine as silk.psd

Step 3: Starts working on your flag photo. Apply the displacement map filter to your flag with your blurred fabric photo, so mine is the silk.psd file. (Filter > Distort > Displace)

and I get this..

Step 4: Go back to your fabric photograph and select all area in your fabric photo with your marquee tool or simply by using ctrl+a, copy (ctrl+c), paste it (ctrl+v) on your flag image and change the layer mode to "Hard Light".

That's it..and, here's my final image;

Source : Click here

Massive Game Header

2008-04-08T01:47:00.002+02:00

Open a new document
Size: 760 x 450 pixels
Background color: #333333

Then Create a shape like in the following image with the Rounded Rectangle Tool ( set the radius to 5 pixels )

Click to enlarge

Then go to Layer > Rasterize > Shape

Select Rectangular marquee tool ( set the radius to 0 pixels ) and make the following selection

Click to enlarge

Then Hit Delete on your keyboard
Then press CTRL+D to deselect

Select pen Tool and use the following settings

Then with Pen tool make the following path

Then press on The Load Path as a selection

The result will be in the following image

Then hit one more time the delete key from your keyboard
Press CTRL+D to deselect and you should have something like this

Duplicate this layer , then go to Edit > transform > Flip Horizontal
Then with the right arrow key move this new layer to the right

Click to enlarge

Then Select both layers , and press CTRL+E ( this will merge this 2 layer into a single one )

Now add the following layer styles

This is the result

Click to enlarge

Select Elliptical marquee tool and make a selection like in the following image

Click to enlarge

Create a new layer ( press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+N )
Then go to Edit > Stroke and use the following settings

Press CTRL+D to deselect
Then with the erase tool , delete all the line , and be sure you will leave only some small lines like in the following image

Then for this small lines add the following layer style

This is the result

Now Create some small shapes.

Click to enlarge

Now rasterize all this red shapes
Then apply the following layer styles for all red shapes

This is the result

Click to enlarge

Now take the Eraser Tool and delete half of the shapes. Be sure you have this result

Click to enlarge

Now select Rounded Rectangle Tool and make some small shapes like in the following image

Duplicate this small shapes as many times you want and place it like me
You can use different colors if you want

Click to enlarge

Grab the rectangle Tool, and make a simple shape

Click to enlarge

Then add this layer styles

Then drag the layer above the background layer

Click to enlarge

Then duplicate the following layers

And place it like me. You can also add some text on the blue navigation bar

Click to enlarge

Select Line Tool, Set the line weight to 1 pixel and make 3 lines. one gray, one black and one gray ( gray|black|gray ) and place it between your text buttons

Click to enlarge

Select Rounded rectangle Tool and create a white shape

Click to enlarge

Drag the layer above the background layer ( in layer palette )
Then add the following layer styles

This is the result

Click to enlarge

After that you can add some tech brushes. You can find some one deviantart.
Or you can add your own details, or your own images

This is my final result

Click to enlarge

Source : Clock here

Full Moon in The Midnight Forest

2008-04-08T01:18:00.001+02:00

Here we go! Create new document, fill background layer with dark blue.

Open Layer Style -> Blending Options, select Gradient, change gradient blend mode to Overlay, and style to Radial. also scale up to 150%. (I also added black Inner Glow).

Create new layer, use selection tool or shape tool to create grey ellipse (this will be our earth). If you used shape, rasterize it.

Add some noise (menu Filter - Noise - Add Noise).

Tricky part now - we are going to simulate macro photo where only part of a photo is focused, and the rest is blurred. - switch to quick mask mode (Q) - select gradient tool. make sure that foreground color is black, and background is white - on top of window, switch gradient type to Reflected - create gradient similar to show here. Since we are in quick mask mode, you should see gradient in red.

return to normal mode from quick mask mode (hit Q again). Your gradient should become the selection. Apply Gaussian Blur to selected area (Filter - Blur - Gaussian blur), with radius about 4-6 pixels. Now, only part of our "earth" is focused, and the rest is blurred.

change the layer's blend mode to Overlay. Now the earth is almost ready, but how about some grass growing on it?

Click to enlarge

Create new layer, select Brush tool, open brush properties, and find the grass brush (scale it down as needed). make foreground black and background blue.

fill all the earth with grass.

Use the same technique as above to blur top and bottom of grass area.

and lastly, change layer blend mode to overlay.

now let's make some trees! Open ContextFree - this is cool fractal freeware available from http://www.contextfreeart.org/wiki/ - and choose Demo1 in Examples menu.

Click to enlarge

Manipulate the code on left column unless you are satisfied with the tree you get. I really did not want to learn the code, so I removed couple of lines, changed couple of digits, etc.

Click to enlarge

When the tree is rendered, save it as PNG and open this PNG in Photoshop. Now we need to remove white, that is, make it transparent and keep only black tree. Here's how: - select all (Ctrl-A) - copy (Ctrl-C) - go to quick mask mode (Q) - paste (Ctrl-V) - turn off quick mask (Q) - clear (Del) - Deselect all (Ctrl-D) - Turn all to black (Ctrl-U, Lightness = -100%)

Copy the result and paste into the wallpaper. Use shape tool to draw white eyes. Now that looks good already!

Go back to ContextFree, create new tree, repeat the steps above to put it into the wallpaper. To make it look far away, scale the tree down, and then apply Gaussian Blur.

..and again, and again, and again.... :-)

Now, the moon. Select the background layer, create new layer above it, and use shape tool, or white brush, to draw a white circle. Then, use layer effects to add outer glow with settings similar to shown here.

Click to enlarge

Since there is the light source (moon), all trees should have reflection. They are easy to do. Select a tree layer, duplicate it, (menu layer - duplicate), flip vertically (edit - transform - flip vertical).

turn all to black (Ctrl-U, Lightness = -100%), and then use Distort tool (edit - transform - distort) to make the shadow fall correctly from the moon.

repeat for all trees :-)

The shadows are they are now are too much, of course. For each shadow layer (you did make them in separate layers, right?) change its opacity to 30%-40%.

The part where a shadow touches a tree did not look good to me, so I added more black using big black brush.

The last thing to add are the clouds. They look like generated by Photoshop, but they are not! I found this photo at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/559389 , desaturated it (Ctrl-Shift-U), removed unnecessary parts....

...and added into the wallpaper with layer blend mode set to Overlay, as always. That's it! Hope it will be useful.

Source : Click here

Creating an Urban-Style Piece of Artwork

2008-04-05T03:02:00.002+02:00

What We're Making

This is the final image which we will create:

Preparation

This tutorial is very stock heavy. Since the basic theme of the image will be "music", I gathered a few stock images from iStockPhoto. I suggest that you also choose a theme and gather a bunch of stock images which you think will be useful before you start creating the image. Here are links to the ones I used: Girl, Speakers, Boombox

Step 1

Before we start with the stock, we will quickly create a texture for later use.

So create a new document, I used 800 x 600px for my canvas size. Make sure your foreground color is black and your background color is white. You can simply press "D" to do that.

Add a new layer and go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Then go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Choose the following settings: Amount 50%; Distribution = Uniform; Monochromatic = On. After that, use Filter > Artistic > Dry Brush with settings: Brush Size = 2; Brush Detail = 8; Texture = 1.

Now again, add some noise by going to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and use the previous settings. Then, use Filter > Artistic > Paint Daubs with the settings shown in the screenshot:

Step 2

Now use Filter > Brush Strokes > Splatter with Spray Radius = 20 and Smoothness = 5. Your image should look like this:

Step 3

Go to Select > Color Range, choose Highlights, hit the "OK" button and you will see that random areas in your texture are now selected. We will delete them by pressing DEL. Also, delete the background layer and you're done with your texture! Save it, we'll use it later.

Step 4

Now we will just cut out all the images which we will use for our further work and save them.

You can do that by using the pen tool. If you have a complex shape which you want to select accurately (i.e. hairstrands), then fear not because I will show you a very useful technique in the following steps.

The model in the stock photo which I'm using has very fine hair strands. We want to select her body shape while also accurately selecting the fine hair strands. In order to do this, go to the Channels palette and identify the channel with the highest contrast between model and background. In this case, I chose the green channel and duplicated it. Make sure the channel is selected and not hidden.

Step 5

Our goal is to make a selection of the model. The model should be solid black and the background as white as possible. With that in mind, we need to paint the headphones and the model's top solid black, as they are too bright. So trace around the parts and fill the selection with solid black.

Step 6

Press CTRL+M to open up the curves window and drag the two controllers further together to raise the contrast between model and background. You might need to repeat this a few times. In the end there may still be some bright parts. Quickly trace around them and fill them with black.

Step 7

If you're satisfied with the result, CTRL+click the channel to make a selection. Press SHIFT+CTRL+I to invert the selection or go to Select > Invert. Now click on the RGB channel and copy+paste the selection into a new 800x600px file. Voila! You have selected the model with all the fine hairstrands.

Step 8

We want to give the model a distressed look. Desaturate the model (SHIFT+CTRL+U) and duplicate the layer. Set the duplicated layer to Multiply and make sure it's on top. Select this layer, open up the curves window again (CTRL+M) and raise the contrast until you like the result.

Step 9

Desaturate the other images, add them to the model and make a nice composition.

Step 10

For the next step we will use some damaged paper as a texture. Just scan some crinkled paper or try to make a picture with your camera. You can download my paper texture here.

Step 11

Paste the texture above our image and set the layer style to Multiply. If necessary you should also desaturate it and raise the contrast a bit. Flatten the image and make a rough selection of the objects, like below:

Step 12

Paste the selection into a new file and add the texture wich we made in the beginning. Set the opacity of the texture to 15% so it's more of a background effect.

Fill the background layer of the new file with a color of your choice to give the image more life - by making the paper cut outs really contrast out from the background. I also added some notes which I quickly scribbled by using a small, round brush and then followed the same paper texture technique.

Don't forget to add drop shadows to your objects. This way they will look like they were cut out of paper and pasted on top.

Step 13

Next I've added some halftone effects and swirl brushes as well as some splatter brushes. If you don't know how to make halftone effects, check out Sean's Halftone Tutorial. For swirl/splatter brushes go to DeviantART or Brusheezy.com. Besides that, I added an image of an cityscape. You can find some great scapes for free at Sxc.hu. When you find an appropriate image, desaturate the cityscape, boost up the contrast and set it to multiply to get the effect in the final image below.

Conclusion

I am sure that the textures you created and used during this tutorial will be very useful for some of your following projects. I also believe that the new technique I showed you to extract complex shapes will also help you in your further work. You might have realized that we didn't necessarily need to cut out the hair so exactly, since we pasted the model to a plain white canvas. However, I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to show you this technique :-)

Source : Click Here

Sponsored By : http://www.wblogw.com

Adding Flames and Effects to Make an Image with Impact

2008-04-05T01:42:00.003+02:00

The Photo

First we need an image to work with. I chose an image of a snowboarder jumping from Stock.xchang, it's great because he's quite isolated against a straight blue background which will make cutting him out much easier.

Step 1

Let's start off with a subtle gradient. Create a radial gradient (Layer > New Fill Layer > Gradient...) with a black outside and a dark grey inside.

Next import the image you wish to edit on a new layer. Scale it, place it and cut it out. If you choose a snowboarder against a blue sky like me, it's easy to cut using color range (Select > Color Range...) or the Magic Wand tool. I desatured (Image > Adjustments > Desaturate) the image because I only want the flames to be colored - this will give a punchier effect.

Step 2

Now we'll create the background and the smoke. Create a new layer under the snowboarder and use the clouds filter on it (Filter > Render > Render Clouds, make sure you have white and black as front and back color). Erase over the outside and over the place where snowboarder sits and then set the opacity to 18%.

On a new layer use the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) to create 3 circles and fill them with different shades of grey (start with the biggest one). You can also duplicate the layer, resize the circle (with SHIFT+ALT selected) and fill it with another shade. Change the opacity to make the circles less visible.

I also used a halftone effect behind the snowboarder. It doesn't add much but if you like this detail check out Sean's Halftone Tutorial on how to achieve it.

Step 3

To create more smoke, I copied the snowboarder to a new layer and used the Smudge Tool (R) on it. Change the settings to what you see below and just move your mouse around to create a smoke-like effect. I set this layer's opacity to 40%, it's located beneath the boarder but above the other background layers.

Smudge settings:
Spacing: 10%
(In Shape Dynamics:)
Size Jitter: 46%
Minimum Diameter: 64%
Angle Jitter: 30%
Roundness Jitter: 0%
(In Scattering:)
Scatter: 43%
Count: 1
Count Jitter: 86%
(In Other Dynamics:)
Strength Jitter: 100%

Step 4

This has been discussed in other tutorials, but in case you haven't seen it explained yet don't skip this step.

Take out the Pen Tool (P) and create a path around the snowboard and the right arm. When you're finished right click the path and choose Stroke Path (set your brush to the right size first, in my case a 1px hard brush), you can use Simulate Pressure if you like.

Delete the vector path (Right click > Delete Path) and erase the parts you don't need (behind the board/arm) on the newly created line. In the Blending Options for this layer, I chose an orange Color Overlay and red Outer Glow which I set to Linear Dodge.

Step 5

Now we'll create the hardest part: the flames. Create a new layer and choose a 5px hard brush (I chose a shade of grey because I wanted to add real color to it later, you can start with that already by choosing an orange color for this step, if you like). I used my wacom to create some random flame like strokes. If you're using a mouse you can right click anywhere on the canvas to change your brush size easily. Try varying them and make them go in one direction, I'm making most go from bottom left to upper right.

Step 6

Next I used three filters on those flames to make them appear more realistic. I started with the ripple filter (Filter > Distort > Ripple...) at 100%. Next I used ocean ripple (Filter > Distort > Ocean Ripple...) with default settings, this will not change the shapes but it will create some darker and lighter tones in the flames. I faded that filter (Edit > Fade Ocean Ripple...) to 40%. The last filter is a motion blur (Filter > Blur > Motion Blur...), set the angle right (45° here) and choose a low value. I changed the opacity of the layer to 66%.

Step 7

To create even more flames, I duplicated that layer and used wave (Filter > Distort > Wave...) on it with the default values. I set the layer to orange in the preview so it would be clear what kind of outcome you can expect. I also lowered the opacity to 66% and erased some parts that didn't look good.

Step 8

To bring out the flames more, I applied the image on a new layer (Image > Apply Image...) and gave that layer an unsharp mask (Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask...). Then I created a grey to orange gradient map (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map...) to give the boarder an orange tint.

The flames are still in need of color. CTRL+SHIFT+Click on all the thumbnails next to the flame layers so you have a selection of the flames. Fill this selection, in a new layer, with orange and set it to Color with an opacity of 80%.

Conclusion

As finishing touch we need some more light and color. Add a new layer and use apply image (Image > Apply Image). In the lighting effects (Filter > Render > Lighting Effects...) options add more lights to the scene (drag the light bulb icon onto the small preview). Erase the part of the snowboarder because it might get overlighted. You can set this layer to Lighten. The smoke might not be visible enough now, so if needed you can copy one of the layers and set it on top with a low opacity and erase over the main parts.

Creating realistic fire isn't easy and might not work out for the first time. But after some tries you might even end up with something better than me. If you wish to make it even more realistic you can try to focus on the colors of the flames and give them a yellow inside and a red outside.

In any case, hope you enjoyed the tutorial. Along with the flames, the main point here is to see how a little photoshop adornment when combined with a photo can make a really punchy graphic, especially when you contrast the black and white areas with some strong color.

Source : Click here

Making Composites with Octoberfest Glassware

2008-04-04T22:50:00.002+02:00

Step 1

We start with a picture of myself holding a beer mug and a photograph of the Octoberfest scene. The picture was a snapshot I shot while I was visiting Munich during Octoberfest. Download the images to get started: Octoberfest image and Beer image. The crowd image has been blurred. This does two things: it fakes a depth of field and it protects the identity of the passerby's.

Step 2

Every good photomontage starts with a good mask. Use the Path Tool and mask out the person, the beer, and anything that is behind the glass that isn't transparent. You should end up with three different paths: one for the guy, one for the glass, and one for behind the glass.

Step 3

Right click on the path and select Make Selection. You will get prompted by a dialog box; make sure it's set to 1 pixel, Anti-Aliased checked, and Operation New Selection is checked. Once you press OK, it will make a nice crisp selection. Right click the original background and press (Command + J) to make a new layer out of the selection. Do that with the person, the beer, and the behind the beer path.

Step 4

You should have 4 layers in your document: the beer layer should be on top, the inside beer should be next, the person should be afterwards, and then the original picture in the background. You can delete the background layer if you want to, or hide it.

Now it's time to place the Octoberfest picture behind the person. One thing that becomes obvious is that the beer mug isn't transparent. It still has the old background on it.

Step 5

The trick of making it look realistic is to make 2 beer mug layers. One is for the shadows only and the other is for the highlights only. Set the Blend Mode on the top beer to Multiply and the bottom beer to Screen. At the moment the composite image still looks too dense, but the secret is in the next step.

Step 6

With the beer multiply layer selected, click the Blending Options dialog box. You should have the Layer Style menu box open. On the bottom you should see the Blend if Gray box. Move the white triangle to the left. Option Click on the triangle, it will split into two halves. This gives you more control to create smoother transitions. There is no cookie cutter solution for this step. Use your own intuition until it looks good. Every glass behaves a little different.

Step 7

Do the same thing with the screen layer except move the black triangle to the left. Once your done you will have convincing transparent glass.

Step 8

The problem now is that the multiply layer is too intense. You can see this on the layer behind the hand. Make a selection of the inside beer path in the Paths Palette. Go back to the Layers Palette. Then invert the selection by going to Select > Inverse. Create a new Layer Mask on the multiply beer layer. This solves the intensity issue.

Step 9

You may need to go back to the multiply layer and screen layer and tweak in the Blend If box. In some cases, there is too much transparency in the beer mug. In those cases, make tweaks through the Blend if dialog box. Since every glass is different, there is no exact value that applies to all glassware. Just try playing with the arrows until you get something satisfactory.

Sometimes, you need to make minor touch-ups. If so, then make a selection of the beer and lightly brush in some areas through the Layer Mask.

Final Image

The last step is a simple technique used to make the image look good. Create a new layer named Vignette. Use a big soft dark colored brush. Paint the edges to create a vignette. Set the Blending Mode to Linear Burn. Play with the Layer Opacity until it looks good. I set it to 80 percent. And there we have it, a composite image of me holding a beer mug at Octoberfest.

Source : Click here to view the Original Article

Underwater 2

2008-04-04T22:16:00.001+02:00

Start with blank document. Fill background layer with gradient going from light blue to dark blue.

In Layer effects, use very large (250px) black Inner Glow, with blend mode = overlay.

In new layer, select very large brush, set color to white and put a single dot.

Transform layer (Ctrl-T) to make dot width less and height more.

Move white dot to top of image (so that only bottom half of it is visible) and set its layer blend mode to Overlay.

Duplicate this layer and make it about 50% smaller.

Next step is to create nice light rays. Create new document, with square size (width = height), and width is about 200% of your original image width. (if you design wallpaper at 1024x768, create 2000x2000 image). Fill it with any color, and in Layer effects, check Gradient Overlay. Open dropdown list of gradient selection, select Noise family of gradients, and select any noise gradient. Then, set Style to Angle.

Click to enlarge

To convert Layer effect to editable image, flatten image (from Layer menu). Desaturate (Ctrl-Shift-U).

Crop image as shown here. Example: if entire image with gradient is 2000x2000, crop to 1024x768.

Copy all (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C) and paste into our original image.

Then, simply set the blend mode of this layer to Overlay. Voila!

Next step is some bubbles. Select 19px hard brush, and set its spacing to very large value (500-700%).

Also, check Shape Dynamics, and set size jitter and minimum diameter as shown here.

Make some chaotic brush strokes.

Set layer blend mode to screen (this will make black dots invisible). Then, use layer effects (such as inner glow, drop shadow, bevel and emboss) to make dots look like bubbles. Registered users can download PSD file from Downloads page of my site, and see what exactly effects are used.

Repeat bubble-making steps 3-4 times.

...and here is the result!

Click to enlarge

Source : WebDesign.org Click here to view the Original Article

Fire Dragon

2008-04-04T21:36:00.001+02:00

Well the process of designing Fire Dragon wallpaper is not full of interesting tips and tricks. It was actually 24 hours of drawing with brushes of different sizes and colors. As always, to start, we need background. Set foreground to dark red, background to black. Select Gradient tool, choose Radial type, fill the document dragging the mouse from bottom to top of image.

The mountains in the background are very easy to do - they are simply black shapes made with Pen tool. So, take a Pen tool and make a shape :-)

Create new layer, take soft brush tool, set color to lighter red, and make strokes as shown here, touching the edge of mountain.

Create clipping mask (from Layers menu). The mountain is ready.

The same way, create as many mountains as you'd like.

The dragon itself consists of 2 parts: soft brushes and hard brushes (outlines). Without many comments, let me show you soft brushes, layer by layer. Start with dark red very large soft brush (you can apply Gaussian Blur as well), and with each new layer, make brush smaller, make color lighter and move it from red to yellow.

Next layer...

Finally, here goes real Photoshop trick! The soft brushes are good for background colors, and hard brushes are good for outlines, but neither are good enough to draw fire. I tried using my tablet pressing hard brush gently, but I ended up with dragon made of fur, not fire :-) So I started playing with changing settings of default Photoshop brushes. Finally, I achieved something that satisfied me (I realize it is not perfect but drawing fire takes a lot of skills, I am only starting my way to it). You can download tool preset and try this brush yourself. Download tool preset here.

Using this brush, make some strokes around the edges of dragon... (on this image, I show only this layer on black background, so you can better see how this brush looks)

And then set layer mode to Overlay, and duplicate layer. This is the result, shown with all layers visible.

Next trick is usually used in tutorials like Make your own Aqua OSX wallpaper! But I found I wanted this effect here too. Set color to grey (HEX 808080). With pen tool, create a shape of dragon.

Set layer mode to Overlay. Because layer is grey, it will become invisible - do not worry! :-) Create new layer, and with black and white large soft brushes, put some dots here and there.

Then, Create clipping mask (from layer menu). Magically, the brush is masked by vector layer, and inherited overlay!

You can repeat the same steps to create additional curve inside wings.

And, use the same technique to make dragon head (or, unlike me, you could do it on previous step! That would be wiser :-)

This is how the head looks when I set shape layer mode to Overlay, then add black and white brush dots, and create clipping mask.

Use Pen tool to add white eye, then set its layer mode to Overlay too.

Here goes most fun and time-consuming part: outlines. For next steps below, I made outlines with small hard white brush, then set layer mode to Overlay.

This is how it looks with layer mode = overlay...

next layer... hitting my tablet with pen a lot :-)

setting layer mode to overlay...

next layer...

setting layer mode to overlay...

Next step - volcano. As with previous mountains, set color to black, and use Pen tool to make a shape of a mountain.

In new layer, use large soft brushes (from dark red to gold) to fill mountain with color. Create clipping mask (from layer menu). Apply gaussian blur if needed.

Add lava in the same way as with dragon wings - with small white hard brush.

You guessed it right! set layer mode to overlay :-)

The final touch is clouds above the volcano (to tell the truth, I added clouds to hide transition between volcano and dragon :-) I was not happy with it). Create new document, with width twice more than height. set foreground to white and background to black. Then apply Clouds filter (Filters menu - Render).

select central part of image, as shown here. Transform (Ctrl-T), holding Alt key, and stretch selection to fill entire document.

(like this)

Enable Quick Mask (Q key), apply Clouds filter again, disable Quick Mask (Q key again). You should get selection similar to this.

Fill selection with black color (simply hit Ctrl-Backspace for that). Then, set Auto Levels (Ctrl-Shift-L).

Do that again - enable quick mask, apply Clouds filter, disable quick mask, fill selection with black, set auto levels (or, in shortcuts - Q, Ctrl-F, Q, Ctrl-Backspace, Ctrl-Shift-F).

Now we need to remove black from this image. To do so, select all (Ctrl-A), copy (Ctrl-C), enable quick mask (Q), paste (Ctrl-V), disabled quick mask (Q). Note how white parts are selected.

Invert selection (Ctrl-Shift-I) and delete (Del). Then open Hue/Saturation window (Ctrl-U), and set lightness to 100. You should get white clouds on transparent background.

Copy and paste clouds into our artwork.

switch to Eraser tool (E). select very large soft brush, and erase edges of clouds layer, so that clouds start to actually look like clouds.

Open Hue/Saturation window again (Ctrl-U). set lightness to -40 .. -50, saturation to 80..90. Then play with Hue to get vivid red clouds.

Repeat all steps to create another layer with clouds (only, do not make them red this time).

Then add another layer with clouds, and another one :-) That's all! Thanks for reading!

Final Result

Click to enlarge

Source : WebDesign.org Click here to view the Original Article