photoshop tutorials

Decorating Your Photo's Background

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:11:00 +0000

Learn how to use some brushes and blending techniques to decorate a photo's background

Open the picture below, then press Ctrl+J to duplicate layer

Use Pen tool to make a selection like this:

Click on the eye of layer background to hide that layer

Hit Delete key, you will have:

Click on the eye of layer background to show it again, pick Gradient tool and set properties like this:

Apply gradient color to layer background, you will get the result:

You can put some text on layer background

Pick Brush tool and select these brush (Download these brushes at the end of this tutorial)

Apply brush to background layer, you will get the result:

Add a text to the picture, in this tutorial I used font Transylvania

Select layer "Background copy" then press Ctrl+B to open Color Balance, set properties like this:

You will get:

Open Brush tool and pick this brush:

Apply it to the picture:

Merge Visible all layers then use Crop tool to crop the picture like this:

Go to Image -> Adjustment -> Brightness/Contrast to adjust the contrast of picture

Press Ctrl+B to open Color Balance

Press Ctrl+L to open Levels, set properties like this:

Finally, you will get the result:

Gold Rims

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:40:00 +0000

Your ride is not so fly? Pimp it out by throwing on some new D's. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to change the color of your rims to gold. Now you too can ride in style.

First off we have to pick out a car. Any car will do the job just fine; I went with the poor man’s Ferrari/Corvette ZR1.

Before doing anything, make sure you have your pen tool set to the following settings.

Make a new layer and zoom in about 800%. Start outlining the wheel on the car and make your way around the wheel until the pen dots disappear and a circle forms.

Using the color #dfc855 fill in the circle and set the blending option to color burn.

Repeat the same procedure until all the wheels are gold.

And if you want to make the color lighter or darker just simply duplicate the color layer and change the blending option to multiply (darker) or soft light (lighter).

Capturing Great Landscape Photography

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Written by: Ted Burns
Photos by: Daniel Chinchay

Wide angle lenses are best suited for landscape pictures. A great landscape view for a picture depends largely on the amount of light falling on its location.
Action, Lights and Location

After selecting the location which you feel will enable you to capture a great picture, evaluate the amount of light available in the area. If this is for an important picture, make the effort to consider the effects of light at different times over the course of 24 hours and decide during which part of the day the light will be most beneficial.

Once you have done this, you can then determine which features or additional components added to your camera foreground will help to produce a more enhanced effect and depth for the picture. Don't discount the possibility of using other nearby areas as well for an even better shot. Sometimes the greatest landscape backgrounds are available in locations you might not ordinarily consider. You might also try taking pictures from different angles to weigh their impact on the snapshots, positive or negative.

To avoid any shadows or darkness appearing over the picture as you take the shot, it is best to capture a view early in the morning or in the latter portion of the afternoon.

Once you have determined the time of the day to shoot, set up your camera using a tripod. After all, you don't want a shaking hand to diminish the beauty you are attempting to capture. Also, use a light meter to gauge the amount of light, and adjust the aperture and shutter speed accordingly.

Using Natural Effects

You can always add parts of nature in your pictures to help produce a very different, though natural, effect on your picture. For example, sunset moments can be best captured when the sun is touching the horizon. Take the picture about five minutes after this point. It is also advisable to take the picture from as high a position as you can find. And you can also make use of a polarizing filter to highlight sky color and tone. Making use of these techniques can produce an effect similar to a postcard.

Equip Yourself with Necessary Supplies

Normally, to capture a landscape view a photographer will likely need to travel out of the confines of city life. However, any time you travel some distance to take photos, bring extra personal and photography supplies, such as a water bottle, flash light, additional rolls of film, etc. You definitely do not want to migrate several miles from home only to discover you have neglected to bring a sufficient supply of anything you will need!

Finally, determining which lens is best suited for snapping a particular view is really a matter of experience, skill, and taste. Mastering landscape photography is not a difficult task but requires practice, interest, and skill development. Locating that jaw-dropping view and then capturing the right shot takes both persistence and patience - traits of which many frustrated photographers fall short. If you are not able to capture that stunning landscape photograph the first or second time, don't give up. The landscape isn't going anywhere.

About the Author
For photography and camera information, please visit http://www.photography-and-cameras.com, for practical photography insights.

Create a Spectacular Style Text Effect

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:39:00 +0000

Begin your work with creating a new file of 1280x1024 px and 72 dpi.

Then we shall use the Rectangle Tool (U) to draw the background of the picture to be.

Set the next shown parameters for the made new layer by making a mouse click on this layer in the layers’ palette. Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Using the Custom Shape Tool (U)

Custom Shape Tool (U). You use the shape tools to draw lines, rectangles, rounded rectangles, and ellipses in an image. In Photoshop, you can also draw polygons and create custom shape libraries to reuse and share custom shapes.
'); return false">Custom Shape Tool (U), try to represent the rays coming out of the central picture’s part.

Mark out the inside tops, applying the Convert Point Tool (holding on SHIFT button) and then press CTRL+T, while using Maintain aspect ratio for getting together the rays in a single point on the central part of the picture.

The layer’s parameters: Opacity 70%, Fill 0%
Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Create now a new layer (Create new layer) and select a standard brush of black color, Brush Tool (B)

Brush Tool (B). The brush tool is used for making good backgrounds and also on new layers they have different types so that you get a different effect with every brush you use.'); return false">Brush Tool (B) (Opacity of 10%) to dark out the picture’s edges.

Next we shall write the word STYLE, representing each letter on a separate layer.

Select the parameter Free Transform>Skew for each letter, changing also their shape the same way demonstrated next picture:

Merge down the layers containing the letters of the word STYLE. It’s necessary in this case to press Ctrl button, mark out the corresponding layers and then press CTRL+E. We need after that to represent a kind of train of the word STYLE. This time we shall hold on CTRL+Alt buttons while pressing several times the cursor button (on the keyboard).

Merge Down the multiplied layers, except the one from the top (the layers containing the STYLE word) in a single layer (press Ctrl button for accentuating the appropriate layers and then press CTRL+E). Set the next parameters for the last layer we’ve got. Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Blending Options>Stroke

Merge Down the last layer with the demonstrated above parameters. It’s necessary in this case to create a new layer above the one we work with (Create new layer) and press Ctrl button to mark out both of the layers and only after that press CTRL+E.

On this layer we shall use the Burn Tool (O) to put some shadows on the voluminous parts of the letters.

On the same layer we shall use the Dodge Tool (O) to draw several highlights.

Set the next shown parameters on the top layer containing the letters. Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Blending Options>Stroke

Choose the Line Tool (U)

Line Tool (U). The line tool is used to draw straight lines on the canvas. It is pretty intuitive, you simply choose the line tool from the toolbox, click once on the canvas to specify the beginning point of your line and then drag the mouse to define the line extending from the starting point.'); return false">Line Tool (U) to create the vertical lines of white color, showing the edges of the voluminous letters.

Select the Pen Tool (P)

Pen Tool (P). allows you to make lines that change colour and shapes on the project.'); return false">Pen Tool (P) now for drawing a band of black color, applying after that the Convert Point Tool for making the appropriate corrections on its shape.

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Using the last applied tools, it’s possible to draw one more band, like the one from next image:

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

It’s necessary to draw the third band too:

The layer’s parameters: Blending Options>Gradient Overlay

Gradient’s parameters:

Combine in a group all the layers containing those three bands (press Ctrl button to mark out the necessary layers and then hold on the left mouse’s button while taking the marked layers on Create a new group selection). Make a copy of the last made group and move off the layers’ effects. After that we shall use the Free Transform option to displace the layers the same way shown below:

Merge down the group containing the black bands, representing the shadows and then press Ctrl+E. Make a click on the same layer on the bottom part of the layers’ panel on Add a Mask selection. Then apply the Brush Tool (B)

Brush Tool (B). The brush tool is used for making good backgrounds and also on new layers they have different types so that you get a different effect with every brush you use.'); return false">Brush Tool (B) of black color to erase the unnecessary parts of the shadows.

Create a new layer and select the above mentioned brush of white color to draw a kind of ornament like that one from the next image:

The layer’s parameters: Blending mode-Overlay

Create a new layer again and use on it the same brush used before for drawing several more elements of the same ornament, started at the beginning. The color is white.

Select the parameters from here for the layer: Filter>Blur>Gaussian blur

Set the parameters from below for the same layer: Fill 50%

Using the Pen Tool (P)

Pen Tool (P). allows you to make lines that change colour and shapes on the project.'); return false">Pen Tool (P) and the Convert Point Tool by turn, it’s possible to represent three more elements on the ornament, having the color #545E4E

Finished!

How to Make Great Fireworks in Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:32:00 +0000

Step 1 - The Background

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

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

Fill your background layer with your chosen color.

Step 2 -The Burst (Stroke Paths)

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

Create a New Layer.

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

If you’re new to the pen tool, you might need some time getting used to it. We’ve prepared a separate Pen Tool Basics Tutorial if you’d like to learn more about it!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 3 - Burst Blending Options

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

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

Step 4 - Ambiance Effects

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

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

Set this layers Blending Mode to Overlay.

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

Step 5 - Adding the Sparks

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

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

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

Your firework should look pretty good by now!

Final Remarks

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

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

Feel free to download our Fireworks Example PSD to see how we went about doing things!

Web 2.0 clean layout

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:28:00 +0000

Web 2.0 style is hot these days. Although now some web designer set new trend for anti Web 2.0, anti-gradient and anti-glossy-icon, this tutorial will show you how to make a clean style layout with some basic tools with Photoshop.

STEP 1:
Creat a new document, any size. (Ctrl+N)

Pick the rounded recangle tool, look on Option Bar and choose Ridius : 10px

Rightclick on your new appear layer and choose “Rasterize layer”.
Continue rightclick on that layer and choose ” Blending Option” and set the detail like these :

OK, And here is result :

STEP 2:
Still working on uper layer.
Pick “Recangular Maquee Tool”, draw a selection like this :

And then, pick Pollygon Lasso Tool, hold ALT and remove a part of recangle selection :

Press ALT+BACKSPACE at the same time to fill in the selection with foreground color.
(remember, you’re still working on “Overlay and Stroke” layer, DO NOT creat any new layer)
And here is the result :

STEP 3:
Creat a new layer, set foreground color to eae9e8
CTRL+CLICK on “One rounded corner” layer, a selection will appear on the working area.
Choose Menu Select ~> Modify ~> Contract = 1px

Pick “Gradient Tool” , look on Option bar at the top of window, choose this box :

OK, now look over working stage. First, drag straight from A to B :

Result :

Pick Move Tool (V) and press DOWN arrow and RIGHT arrow ONCE :

Creat a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N)
CTRL+CLICK on thumnail image of “One rounded corner” layer, Menu select ~> Modify ~> Contract ~>2px
Pick GRADIENT TOOL , and set option :

Drag a path from C to D :

Result :

STEP 4:
Pick “Brush Tool” , set foreground color to BLACK and set option :

Creat a new layer lower “One rounded corner”, name it “shadow”
Start brush a little bit to make a little shadow on the right bottom corner, set Opacity on layer palette = 70%:

STEP 5 : (Creat a clean bullet)
Pick Eliptical Marquee Tool , Hold Shift and draw a small circle selection, press ALT+BACKSPACE at the same time to fill selection with any color :

Rightclick on “Bullet” layer and choose “Blending Option”, set detail information :

And you’ll have….

Creat a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N)
Set foreground color to ffff76
Pick Brush Tool , and set option like this :

Zoom out your work and click to brush on the center of uper bullet :

Final result : (added text and photos)

Unique Color Fade Text Effect

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:14:00 +0000

Preview:

Step 1:

Let's start out by creating a new file. I used a 900x500 pixels canvas set at 72dpi, and I filled my background with a black color. Now create a new layer set and name it 'Text Design'.

Select the Horizontal Type Tool and set the font family to Georgia Ref, regular, 110 pt, crisp and #00BAFF color shade. In a new text layer type your website name or whatever name you want to use.

Step 2:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Shadow and Satin blending options to your text layer.

Step 3:

Now add another copy of your text layer with a white color and the same font settings from step one.

Step 4:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Shadow, Inner Glow and Stroke blending options to your white text layer. Then set the layers blending mode to Darken.

Step 5:

Duplicate your 'Text Design' layer set and merge it down through Layer > Merge Layer Set. The duplicated layer set should turn into a layer. Now go to Filter > Blur > Guassian Blur and apply a 4.0 pixels radius guassian blur.

Step 6:

Now go back to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and set the angle to 90 degrees at 31 pixels distance. Then drag down the blurry text design layer down so its fading from the original text design.

Step 7:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add a Satin blending option to your layer from step six.

Results:

Unique Color Fade Text Effect.

Cool Kitchen Illustration

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:45:00 +0000

Hi, a cool kitchen illustration for today. This illustration was done very fast using only Adobe Photoshop CS.

So let's start.
Create a document first.

Leave the background and it is and create a new layer. Ad some texture to the layer filling the area with pattern.

Click image to expand.

On another separate layer use a round gradient fill.

Click image to expand.

I will set the layer mode to Color Burn.

Plus to that I've overlaid the Gradient layer with pattern.

Color result is very good. Like a lot this burned yellow.

It is time to put some text there.

Click image to expand.

Here is our text I'm searching for additional elements here; maybe to add some plain dots.

Click image to expand.

Instead of playing with my text design I've decided to just add some additional tones on the left.

Create a new layer put it BELOW the text layer and overlay it with the same black - to white gradient; the same as in the beginning o the tutorial.

Click image to expand.

Layer mode is OVERLAY.

Click image to expand.

Well, not really what I've had in my mind.

I will add some color, drop a shadow and of course texture using layer styles

Click image to expand.

Moreover I will use my one of the favorite texture generators - PS plug-in from Alien Skin Software.

I will texture MY TEXT now.

Click image to expand.

Very good looking! I will do a little bit color balancing to this one.

Click image to expand.

Let's now deal with these dots.

Click image to expand.

Here are my layer styles of my dots.

Now let's accessorize our future logo.

Grab Pen Tool for this one.

Settings:

Click image to expand.

Make a curve.

Click image to expand.

Make a curved selection by double tapping on the line.

Click image to expand.

Use the same texture plug-in from Alien

Skin.

Click image to expand.

Looks ok; just a little bit transformation.

Click image to expand.

And we are done here.

Click image to expand.

View full size picture 1.2MB - Kitchen Illustration

Sleek 3D Text

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:39:00 +0000

In this Photoshop tutorial we will make a great glossy 3d text effect, check out the result below.

First start by typing in the text you want to add this effect to, make sure to use a big bold font to make this text effect look right.

Place it in the middle of the stage in Photoshop, then go to edit -> transform -> perspective then drag the upper handles a bit closer together as shown below.

Now in the layers panel right click the text layer and choose rasterize layer, then double click the layer to get to the layers style panel and give it settings as shown below.

Having the text layer selected, hold down the alt key and press the up arrow on your keyboard, do this hmm 10 - 15 times, this will make copies of the layer and places them 1 pixel above the previous ones.

Now we will merge all those layers together, so in the layer panel select all the new created layers except 1, the top one, right click and choose merge layers.

Double click the top layer, (the one we kept from before). and in the layers styles panel give it the following settings.

Now we will make a small reflection, so hold down ctrl and click the top layer to load the selection, then make a new layer above it and name it reflection.

with the elliptical selection tool choose selection mode intersect with selection and drag as shown below.

Make a gradient from white to transparent and drag it into the selection.

Now double click the bottom layer, the layer with the text 3d effect and give the layers style panel the following settings.

And you should be done, you can always change the gradient colors, you dont need to use blue as I did, I just like blue :-)

3d my space text effect

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:31:00 +0000

Here we will tell you how to make a 3d my space text effect in photoshop.

[1] Take a new file of 400 pixels, 400 pixels, of resolution 72 dpi in the RGB mode.

[2] Fill the background with gray. Select the type tool and create a white text.

[3] Now rasterize the layer right click on the text layer select rasterize layer, then press Cntl+T, to Rotate your text layer.

[4] Go to Blending Option use the following settings.

[5] Make the copy of the Text layer then right click on the copy text layer, now click on clear layer style then press the down button on your keyboard 4 times.

[6] Go to Blending Option use the following settings.

[7] Your image will be as shown image below.

[8] Your done! Play around with the Brush Tool for more cool effects.

photoshop glass text effect

photoshop cs2 text effects

photoshop 7 text effects

Stylish glowing web 2 text

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:26:00 +0000

In this adobe photoshop tutorial we will be making a stylish glowing web 2.0 text effect. I know there is different opinions on what a web 2.0 graphic is, and I have read thousand of different definitions, here is one that I think would fit in that category.

Here is some of the elements a web 2.0 graphic can contain (note I dont say must contain) some glossiness, sleek curved lines or just a unique design.

First type in the text you want to apply this effect to.

Then in the layers panel double click the text layer to get to the layers styles panel and give it settings as shown below.

And we are done.. that was quite easy.

Fancy Text Shadow & Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:22:00 +0000

By Lasha

Here is a tutorial that shows how to get a nice looking shadow behind the text, and a simple reflection below it. Albeit being a very simple tutorial, this skill can be applied to many advanced techniques for a very impressive outcome. Apple is notorious for their reflections on pretty much everything, but it’s no secret how they do it!

If you have any questions on how to do something, a suggestion, or a general comment, don’t hesitate to post in the comments section or contact me directly.

View the tutorial after the jump!

1) Create a new document and call it whatever you want. Set the dimensions to the 656px wide, and 265px height. Make sure the Background type is set to “white.”

2) Create some text that preferably doesn’t have a descender below the baseline like “MacBook Pro.” It can be done just as well with something like “Money Boy” with the “y” characters going below but some extra steps would be required. Here’s what I have so far:

3) Duplicate the “MacBook Pro” layer and rename the bottom layer to “shadow” + hide the top text later so we’re only looking at the shadow layer.

4) In order to make this look like a shadow, we have to add a blur to the text. FIRST: Have the “shadow” layer selected and go in the menu go to LAYER > RASTERIZE… > TYPE. After this, go to FILTER > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR… and set the Radius to 4.0 pixels. This will make it soft enough to replicate a shadow. You should have something like this:

5) Now reveal the “MacBook Pro” layer so that it overlaps the shadow layer. With the “shadow” layer still selected, go to EDIT > TRANSFORM > SCALE. Now drag down and shrink from the top edge so you get something like this:

6) Nudge the shadow layer up by a few pixel to make it fit on the base of the MacBook Pro text, like this:

7) Now, on the shadow layer, we must add a layer mask by hitting the “vector mask” button like this:

8 ) Now, grab the Gradient tool (shortcut key: G) with the default colors going from black to white. Point your cursor on the top edge of the shadow, and slightly drag DOWNWARD. You should get a fading effect where the top is faded away. You might have to try this a few times until you get it right. You should have something like this:

Note: Our shadow is pretty much done. Now we must create the soft reflection below the MacBook Pro text.

9) Now duplicate the MacBook Pro layer and rename the copy to “reflection.” Now we must flip the text vertically: EDIT > TRANSFORM > FLIP VERTICAL. Now select the Move Tool (shortcut key: V) and use the arrow keys on your keyboard to nudge it below the MacBook Pro text. Set the Opacity of this layer to 20%. Your layers panel should look like this:

And your artwork should look like this (if doesn’t, make sure you didn’t skip a step):

10) Now add a layer mask to this layer just like we did in step 7. With the same Gradient Tool settings, this time drag UPWARD from the bottom of the layer to fade away the bottom edge. After a few tries, you should have something like this:

YOU’RE DONE!

This is pretty much as basic as it can get. With advanced knowledge of Photoshop’s features and skills, you can modify all of the text and the layers to have something really cool like this:

If you would like to see a second part for this tutorial on how to achieve this final effect, please comment and let me know! I will be more than glad to put it together.

UPDATE: REFLETION & SHADOW WITH A DESCENDER

1) First, duplicate your text layer and flip it vertically so it looks like this:

2) Rasterize the reflected text layer. Take the Rectangular Marquee tool (keyboard shortcut: M) and nudge the “y” and the “g” down so it looks something like this:

3) Now you can apply the layer mask on to it to make it look like a reflection. You can also apply the same effect for the shadow by repeating steps 1 through 8. You should have something like this after rasterizing the text reflection layer, and creating a shadow layer just like I did above. Note: You might have to play with the shadow a bit so that you get a desirable result. Here’s how I did it

Note: Once the shadow the layer is properly aligned, you can use the smudge tool to shift the lower shadow regions of the “y” and “g.” Remember, always make sure you’re working on the right layer.

Hope you enjoyed this update! If there are any more requests, feel free to ask!

Photoshop animation burn fire Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Here we will tell you how to make a Photoshop animation burn fire in photoshop.

[1] Finding a good image like this.

[2] Take the Text Tool select the Horizontal Type Mask Tool, download this font http://cooltext.com/Fonts-c

[3] Create a text.

[4] Make the new layer and fill the selection with White color.

[5] Now hide the Layer 1 click on the eye.

[6] Make the copy of the Background.

[7] Then Go to Edit>Transform>Wrap Adjust nodes as shown..

[8] Create three duplicates of this Burn layers. Repeat the above step and warp each layer differently.

[9] Now Unhide the Layer 1.

[10] Go to Window>Animation.

[11] And now Hide these layer do not hide these two layers.

[12] Now Duplicates Selected Frames, click on this icon.

[13] Now Hide this Layer and unhide the Next one.

[14] Now Duplicates Selected Frames, click on this icon.

[15] Now Hide this Layer and unhide the Next one.

[16] Use the same think to next layer now click on this icon to Play Animation.

[17] Save Optimised as, and it should look like this

photoshop cs2 animation

photoshop cs3 animation

photoshop create animation

Self Writing Text

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:21:00 +0000

This time you will learn how to make a self-writing text. See how it looks:

1. Start a new document 400x400. Select Type Tool (T) and write any text you want. In this tutorial we'll use a “WDL” text. Set the font family " Freestyle Script" or any font that looks like hand-writing, text size 72.

2. Select Pen Tool (P). In Shape Tools options choose Paths. Click where you want the path to begin. Then click where you want the path to end.

With the left mouse button held down, drag the points to make accentuation shape.

3. Select Brush Tool (B). Set Hard Round 3px Brush. Now go to Window>Brushes (F5) and use the following "Shape Dynamics" settings: Control: "Fade" 150. Create new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N). Select Pen Tool (P) again, right click on the shape and select Stroke Path... Use Brush to stroke. Repeat Stroke Path one more time.

Now it's time to switch to ImageReady (Ctrl+Shift+M)

The main idea is that in each frame you should delete almost whole image, leaving the already written lines. Each frame should contain a bit more image in comparison to the previous one, until the whole phrase is written… But let ' s do it step - by - step :

1. First you should prepare your workspace. In Layers Palette you should have something like this:

Select Shape 1 layer (left mouse click) and delete it (Layer>Delete Layer). Then select Layer 1 and merge it with WDL text layer (Layer>Merge Layers or Ctrl+E). Duplicate it (Layer>Duplicate Layer or Ctrl+J). Hide "WDL" layer (just click on the eye left to the layer).

Call rulers (View>Rulers) and start adding lines (just drag ruler to the place you need). Add every 5 px horizontal rulers on the WDL text. This will show you writing stepping.

Open Animation Panel (Window>Animation)

2. Now everything is ready. The first frame should contain the beginning of the text. In our case it is the upper left part of the “W” letter. Select Eraser Tool (E) and erase everything, except the upper left part. In animation panel set frame delay time to 0.04. The first frame is ready.

3. Click the Duplicate Current Frame button on the Animation panel.

Now make invisible your top (WDL copy) layer. Duplicate WDL Layer and make this duplicate visible. Select this layer.

As in step 2, select Eraser Tool (E) and erase everything, except the upper left part, but now leave some more (remember about rulers - use them to measure how many you should erase).

4. Repeat step 3 until you see the frame which will contain all letters and underlining.

5. Make new empty frame. Then click on Tween in Animation panel and use the following settings:

This is done to make your text disappear after it is written.

6. Now it's time to change the frame delay time. To make your animation look more realistic, you should change the delay time in some places. The biggest delay should be between your letters (about 0.35 ms). Also, you may set a small delay in the sharp curves of the letters (about 0.06 ms). The last frame should have the 0.6 ms delay .

Click to enlarge

7. That's it! You can use this effect for you signings, greetings and other – looks very impressive!

Photoshop Shining Text Animation

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:13:00 +0000

Follow these guidelines to create the signature.

1. Make a signature and add a text-layer (Make sure the layer doesn't have any layer-style)

2. Create a new layer;

Grab your gradient-tool and set it to Reflected Gradient

3. Create something like this and press: Ctrl+I

4. Press: Ctrl+U and set it to your favourite color;

Press Ctrl+G and set the blending option to "Lighten";

And press this button

5. When in Image-Ready, select the gradient-layer;

Move it all the way out of the text so that you can't see it (left);

Press this button and select "New frame"

6. Press right until you see the gradient move to the other side of the text-area;

Press this button and select these options

7. Save Optimised as, and it should look like this

How to import video into Gif-file

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:51:00 +0000

If you have a small video clip, then it's possible to import it into .Gif and use it as part of an animated banner or as a stand-alone cool signature.

This tutorial will work in Image Ready 7.0 or higher. Note that Image Ready CS compresses the .gif to a smaller file size (almost 3x smaller) than Image Ready 7.0.

1. Open Adobe Image Ready.

2. Prepare the video clip in .mov format.

3. Click File > Open...(Ctrl+O) and select your video clip in .mov format. (I used the preview to Star Wars episode III).

The following dialog box will open:

Select the option you need (from the beginning to end uses the whole movie, selected range is only a part). And don't forget to limit frames to decrease size of .gif file (the larger the font size, the smaller the frame will be, and accordingly the poorer the quality and the smaller the size).

4. The next step is to set the timing of your video clip. Image Ready normally sets it too fast. So we have to decrease it. Simply select all frames in your animation window by clicking the first frame, holding shift and clicking the last frame and then click on the timing. Set it at about 0.12.

5. Check to see if your animation runs smooth in Internet explorer IE (Ctrl+Alt+P).

6. Now it's time to change the movie to the needed size and set its necessary rotation. Link all layers (if you check all the boxes you will be able to see the target near small pictures in layers palette).

Now use Edit > free Transform (Ctrl+T) on any of layers and set desirable size (when resizing, hold down Shift button to save aspect ratio).

7. Now save the result (File > Save Optimized)

You can also add decoration and paste the movie as a frame in the picture. Se what i've done:

Photoshop Animated Signature

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:37:00 +0000

Have you ever had the desire to create a cool signature on a forum, an animated banner, or just something that moves? Here I will tell you how to create an inscription, giving you skills that will serve as the foundation for further experimentation. You can create such things with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe ImageReady. My tutorial will show you how to do something like this:

This tutorial consists of two parts: Photoshop and Image Ready.

Part1:

1. Open Photoshop .
2. Create a new document having the size of 750x50 (pixels).
3. Select Type Tool (T). Set size 16xp, font size - Comic Sans MS, font style – Bold, font color - #FE5858.
4. Type the text: “Pink elephants are frolicking about the room... running and leaping, the pigs are happy.”
5. Duplicate the layer twice (Layer > Duplicate Layer…). Rename the created layers something like "1" and "2".
6. Rasterize "1" and "2" layers (click on "1" layer and then Layer > Rasterize Layer > Layer. After which you should repeat the same procedure with "2" layer)
7. Now hide each layer except "1". (click on the eye near the layers you wish to hide) After that select "1" layer (left button click on it).

8. Select Rectangular Marquee Tool (M).
9. Now with the help of this tool, while pressing and holding shift, select the letters in the text (the length and width selected for every letter is insignificant – the most important thing is to ensure that you have completely highlighted the letters). You should choose letters, including all spaces, having from 2 to 5 symbols, but in such way that the intervals are various.
10. Select Move Tool (V) and drag the chosen section about 7-10 pixels upwards.
11. Deselect by pressing ctrl +D. Now you may have something like that:

12. Now unhide and select "2" layer (click on the eye near the layer, then on the layer itself) and select the letters as described in the ninth point, but with the exception that you should not chose the very same letters, and preferably in a way such that the main portion of the letters was neighboring the previous ones in the previous layer.)
13. Select Move Tool (V) and drag the chosen portion about 7-10 pixels upwards.
14. Deselect by pressing ctrl +D. Now you may have something like that:

Now it is time to move on to the ImageReady parts.

Part2

1. Open ImageReady (click Jump to ImageReady or press Ctrl+Shift+M).
2. In the Animation panel (if you cannot see such panel, then go to Window > Animation) duplicate the first frame twice (double-click on Duplicate Current Frame 2 times)

3. Set a delay of 0.1 seconds between the frames.(under the described frame click on the drop down menu, where you will choose 0,1)

4. Choose the first frame. Make only the layer with the original text visible.
5. Choose the second frame. Make only "1" layer visible.
6. Choose the third frame . Make only "2" layer visible .
7. You can test your results by clicking on Play/Stop animation on animation panel.

That's all there is to it. All that remains to be done is to save the picture - File > Save Optimized as…. (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S), give it a name and push Save.

I hope this tutorial was helpful for you and helped you better understand how to work with animated figures (and Pink Elephants).

By Dustin Kein

Text Effect (Moving Gradient)

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:32:00 +0000

First off i just want to say that I purposely kept to the basics with this tutorial. For the sake of educating....once people play with it and are comfortable with the basic steps its very easy to start experimenting and vary your results....this was meant to be a tutorial on the general theory without any other complications....have fun.

1) Make dark colored words, background is unimportant.

2) Create new layer, select gradient tool, make sure you are on reflective gradient, and make sure its one of the gradients with the white in the middle and black on the outsides....

3) just off to the right side of the middle of the picture draw a short line near the top of the screen, basically try and duplicate your forward slash but maybe a little longer but not much.

4) At this point you will have your original picture covered by a blackscreen with a white line in it, sittin there goin what the hell this has to be wrong. but its not.

5) Press CTRL-G with your gradient layer selected which should be immediately above your text layer. This makes it so the gradient layer only affects the text not the whole picture.

6) Click File, select edit image in image ready.

7) In image ready select your gradient layer within the layer palette, and position it so the gradient is at the beginning of your word.

8) Create new frame, again select the gradient layer, and this time move it across the word holding shift down so it stays in place, to the end of the word.

9) click the tween button add 15 frames.

10) Hit play tweak the timing as needbe. If it doesnt work delete and start over this time follow directions better.

Something to keep in mind if you are using this to add effects to your sigs or what have you, you must keep in mind certain blending effects on the text will nullify the gradient...im pretty sure mainly color and gradient overlay's are the things that will give you trouble so if its not working check to make sure you didnt use these blending options

Here you can see how i put it to work in a signature, each frame has a .1 second frame delay, except for the last one which i set to 4 seconds to slow the effect down for a more dramatic effect.

This tutorial has been created and brought to you by the Pimps of Pain Design Krew, enjoy!

ImageReady Gravity Ball Animation

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:23:00 +0000

Here's a few simple steps to create a gravity ball animation effect.

Open ImageReady, start a new document. I started with a preset of 297 x 300.
Next, select the 'Rectangle Tool (U)' from the Toolbar, with a foreground color of your choice (I used #CCBDA8) and 'Create New Shape Layer' active on the Options Bar, draw a basic shape as I have captured below.

This is the Layers Palette view.

Next, with the 'Shape 1' layer active (highlighted in blue), click the 'Add a mask' button on the bottom of the Layers Palette (encased in red below), to add a new Layer Mask Thumbnail between the Layer Thumbnail & the Vector Mask Thumbnail. (Pointing red arrow).

Next, activate the new 'Layer Mask' by clicking on it. Then select the 'Pencil Tool (B)', set your foreground color to Black (#000000) and with a brush tip size of 27, (or of your choice) make a single click inside the Shape, and you should have something similar to below.

And here is the Layers Palette view.
Note: I enlarged the Layers Palette preview so you can see that the above Pencil click is onto the Layer Mask.
As with Layer Masks, painting with Black, HIDES. So essentially, all I did was knock a hole into Shape 1 layer, thus revealing the white color underneath from the default background layer.

As a final preparation before the animation, turn off the two Links between the Layer Thmbnails by single clicking on them. This will allow us to move the mask around during the animation without having to create additional layers for the effect.

Lets animate this Mask!

Go 'Window/Animation' to bring the Animation Palette to the foreground.

Click here for a preview of the workspace thus far.

Make sure that no options are selected from the 'Animation Palette' menu, as captured below.

To begin:

Duplicate current Frame

Activate the new frame

Click on the Layer Mask Thumbnail

Select the 'Move Tool (V)'

Hold the Shift key & drag the mask in the desired direction.

Repeat process with each additional frames added.

Here is my final version. Click the DemoReel graphic below, then click the main graphic to Play/Replay.
Note: My final animation has been tweaked with play back features not outlined in this tutorial.

Summary:

1. Created a Shape Layer
2. Added a Layer Mask
3. With Pencil Tool painted a Black hole onto the LayerMask
4. Unlinked the Layer Thumnails
5. Open Animation Palette
6. Duplicate Frames & with the Move Tool adjusted the position of the Layer Mask to simulate a gravity drop.

I must point out that this method is quite useful for two reasons.
A.) The file size of my final animation is only 3k
B.) Only a single layer was used. The Layer mask did all the work.

Animation Primer with Adobe ImageReady

noreply@blogger.com (fauzi) — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:00:00 +0000

Animation Primer with Adobe ImageReady

Here's a tutorial introducing the basics of utilizing Adobe ImageReady's Animation tool.

Lets begin this tutorial directly inside Photoshop.

First, run Adobe ImageReady , start a new document, I used a small preset of 300x250.
Note: If you already have Photoshop open, then simply create the new document, and hit the 'Edit in ImageReady' button on the bottom of the Toolbar.)

First things first, lets arrange the ImageReady Workspace area to one that will allow for easy access to the appropriate tools.
If not already in view, go 'Window/Layers' and 'Window/Animation' and hide the rest. (with exception to Tools & Options from the Window menu command list)

Here is a screenshot of my Workspace Area.

Then, create a new empty Layer (Shift + Ctrl + N (Mac: Shift + Command + N)), which should default to 'Layer 1', just above the default document background Layer.

Next, hit the D key on your keyboard to set the 'Foreground Color' to Black, then select the 'Rectangle Tool (U)' on the Toolbar and click and drag to draw a black rectangle as I have captured below in the Animation preview window.
Note: This layer will remain constant, and is used just as a backdrop for the text animation to come.

Just a few pointers with the Animation Palette before moving on.

First Frame: Contains all active elements of your document, and remains constant until changes are made.
Loop Controls: Specifies time delay bewteen frames as well as a loop control command ranging from 'Once/Forever/Other'.
Playback Controls: First Frame | Previous Frame | Play (Stop) | Next Frame playback controls.
Note: Theres a 'Previous|Forward' playback controls also on the lower left of the 'Layers Palette' and is activated/enabled when two or more Frames exist in an animation.
Tween: Allows for smooth transitions 'In Between' frames that you specify.
New Frame: Add a new frame to the existing animation with applied new affects.
Delete Frame: Delete a selected frame from the existing animation.
Animation Palette Options: A list of further options to configure the palette and your animation.

Selecting Frames within the Animation Palette is as common a task as in most applications.

Current selected 'Frame' is highlighted in blue.

Shift + clicking selects all contiguous frames between the first and last click.

Ctrl + click (Mac:Command + click) selects discontiguous frames upon click. (One at a time.)

You can 'Select All Frames' from the 'Animation Palette Options Menu'.

Things to note:
For ease of use with ImageReady animations, it's best to have all additional layers (containing additional animation elemnts) and affects prepared before creating additional frames.
These multiple elements (layers) will help simulate a smooth transition or motion, by simply toggling the Visibility, Opacity Level and Layer position within your document.

Now back to the animation, lets add some layered elements that will make up the altered frame states.
I've created a Layer Set and within the set, I've added a Text Layer 'Powered by ImageReady CS', and a custom pixel shape 'Figure' and its 'shadow' layer.

Download this 'Figure' layer separately if you choose to use them in this animation exercise.

Here is the document thus far.

For an added effect, lets duplicate the 'Powered by..' type layer, select it then apply a 'Filter/Blur/Motion Blur' setting that I have captured below.

So that now the Layers Palette should appear as below.

Now that all the elements are in place, lets apply the criteria that I mentioned in the above Notes section. The criteria upon which ImageReady animations are based, and they are Visibility, Opacity and Positioning.

So, lets begin with positioning the elements in place.
The 'Figure Set' is fine where it is. But lets place the 'Powered by Adobe ImageReady...' rastered/motioned blured layer off screen to the far right, ready for use in frame two of the animation. (Note: This text layer will slide from right to the center position with a slight fade in affect)
Also, lets turn off visibility of the original Type layer 'Powered by Adobe...' layer.
Also, reduce the Opacity of the 'Figure' Set to around 35%.

Here is what the document window should look like.

Hope your still with me. Lets, now add a new frame, but clicking on the 'Duplicates Current Frame' button on the Animation Palette. With that Frame (2) selected, activate the blurred type layer, and with the 'Move Tool (V)' click and drag to the postion that I have captured below.
Also, select the 'Figure Set' and adjust the Opacity Level of that set to 48%.

Here is the full document view of that last step.