In this tutorial I will show you how to create The Chronicles of Narnia logo.

Step 1

Create a new document (mine is 1600×560 px) and write “The Chronicles of Narnia”. “The Chronicles of” and “Narnia” must be on two separate layers. Set letters tracking to 100 for “Narnia” and to 50 for “The chronicles of”.
I use Narnia font from Dafont.com.

Step 2

Double click on “Narnia” layer and set the following layer styles.

Step 3

Right click on “Narnia” layer and choose “Copy layer style”, the on the “Chronicles” layer and “Paste layer Style”. Double click on the “Chronicles” layer and make the following style adjustments.

Step 4

Select Pen tool and create outlines for the half of banner. Something like this:

Step 5

Create new layer, click “Load path as selection” on the Paths palette and fill the selection with yellow.

Step 6

Select Burn tool with Exposure set to 50% and start darkening the folded places of banner. Use selection tool to isolate different parts when you need to create hard borders between the light and shadow areas. Use Dodge tool to lighten raised parts.

Step 7

Duplicate the layer with banner half and mirror it with Edit - Transform - Flip Horizontal. Merge layers with two halves by pressing Ctrl+E.

Step 8

The shadows are too saturated, we need to make them a little paler. Go to Image - Adjustments - Replace Color and click on any shadow area and reduce Saturation and Lightness.

Step 9

Double click on the layer with banner and apply the following layer styles.

Step 10

Select Type tool and create some text on the banner with (black color, Times New Roman, Tracking=-75, Faux Bold, Small Caps).

Step 11

Select Warp Text tool and deform text a little with Arch style.

Step 12

Place the photo of sky with clouds to the background. I used this one from SXC.

Step 13

Ctrl+M to call Curves window. Adjust the contrast of sky to make it look spectacular.

Step 14

Create a new layer beneath the banner. Select Pen tool and create a shape like this.

Step 15

Fill the shape with #be8649 and mirror it just like we did with banner.

Step 16

Double click on the layer and apply the following layer style.

Step 17

Create a new layer and make a selection with Polygonal Lasso tool for the sword blade. Fill it with #a7b6b9.

Step 18

Double click on the layer and apply the following layer style.

Step 19

Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer. Then Ctrl+T and narrow the copy to make the blade gutter.

Step 20

Double click on the layer and change Bevel and Emboss settings.

Step 21

Create a new layer above the sky, make a selection with Elliptical Marquee tool and fill it with pale pink #d09ea1.

Step 22

We’re going to apply some filters to turn this circle to glow. Go to Filter - Distort - Polar Coordinates (Polar to Rectangular), then Image - Rotate - 90 CCW. Apply Filter - Stylize - Wind (check Wind, From the Left) and press Ctrl+F several times to repeat the last filter. Apply motion blur (Filter - Blur - Motion Blur) to soften the effect.

Step 23

Rotate the image 90 CW, change coordinates from rectangular to polar and set the layer blending mode to Linear Dodge.

Step 24

Create gradient like on the picture below (opacity from 100% to 0%, colors are #fbf27c and #f5bf62). Create new layer, ctrl+click on the layer with glow and fill the selection with radial gradient.

Step 25

Take Burn Tool with Exposure set to 90% and darken the top half of the glow.

Step 26

Take Soft Round brush, change it’s parameters like shown below and paint some magic dust with white color on a new layer.

Step 27

Select Crosshatch brush from Assorted brushes and add rays to the biggest specks of dust.

Step 28

Create new layer below the banner. Make a selection for the banner shadow with Elliptical Marquee tool. Right-click on selection, choose “Feather” and set it to 15. Fill the selection with black, change layer opacity to 80% and blending mode to Multiply.

Final

That’s it! Thanks for reading.

In this tutorial I will show you how to create realistic gold jewelry design.

Step 1

Before running Photoshop, download free gem brushes from here.
Place *.abr file to Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop X\Presets\Brushes where X is the version number of your Photoshop.

Now run Photoshop and create a new document. If you’re planning to make many fine details then it’s easier to work with the large document size. I begin with 2000 px at the long side of the image.

Step 2

First we’re going to create some basic elements. Find an ornament that you like or create your own for the gold chain. I’ve found a small lineart image of the swan for the pendant and transformed it to look stylized and impressive. Then I made outlines with with Pen Tool set to the Paths mode.
Ctrl+D to reset swatches. Then for each unique element create new layer and press “Fill path with foreground color” at the bottom of the Paths palette.

Step 3

I create helping lines for the chain with Pen Tool.

Step 4

Now take the chain element, duplicate it and place along the helping line until the chain half won’t be finished. Ctrl+J to duplicate layer, Ctrl+T to call Free Transform box in order to move and rotate a chain element. I am doing this manually because I have a limited number of such units.
If you have many of them, a hundred for example, it would be more efficient to create an action, that will duplicate, move and rotate each element automatically.

Step 5

Merge the chain units to one layer, press Ctrl+T and add some perspective to the chain. Hold Ctrl when you want to move box point independently.

Step 6

Duplicate the chain half and mirror it (Edit - Transform - Flip Horisontal). Note that I added a little ring that connects the chain and the swan, and erased the leaves on the bottom unit so they won’t mix with the leves on the other half. The helping lines were deleted too.

Step 7

Merge the layers with chain and swan in order to get one black silhouette. Ctrl+click on this layer to load selection.
Open Channels palette and click “Create new channel” at the bottom of the palette. Ctrl+Backspace to fill the selection with white.

Step 8

Duplicate new alpha channel and name it “Alpha 2″. Go to Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur and add a little blur. Duplicate new alpha channel and name it “Alpha 3″.

Step 9

Select Move Tool. Move Alpha 2 with keyboard keys one time up and one time left. Move Alpha 3 to the right and down in the same way.

Go to Image - Calculations and enter the values like on the picture below. A new channel called “Alpha 4″ will appear.

Step 10

Select Alpha 4 and press Ctrl+I to invert it. Go to Image - Adjustments - Curves and paint a curve like on the following picture.

Step 11

Ctrl+Click on Alpha 1. Choose Select - Modify - Expand and enter the value of 1 px. With the active selection, go to Alpha 4 and press Ctrl+C. Return to RGB mode.
Create new layer and press Ctrl+V. Ctrl+U to add color to the pendant. Do not add color if you want a silver jewel.

Step 12

Ctrl+click on the layer. Go to Select - Modify - Contract and enter the value between 5 and 10 px (I used 8 px). Right mouse click on the selection and select “Layer via copy”. Double click on the new layer and apply the following layer style. It will add some volume to the pendant. Reduce the layer opacity to 70%.

Step 13

I made some lines for the wing, feathers and eye with Pen Tool basing on the original lineart image of swan.

Step 14

Create new layer, set brush to Hard Round 5px #A88E4C and click “Stroke path with brush” at the bottom of the Layers palette.
Double click on the layer and apply the following layer style.

Step 15

There are some intersections between the inner lines and outlines appeared. It’s easy to fix by erasing the excess inner lines’ endings.

Step 16

Create new document with white background and paint three solitary gems on the new layer: blue for eye, red for bill and yellowish white for decoration (in the last case the brush color will be almost black with little yellow tint). Duplicate this layer and set its blending mode to Multiply, Opacity to 70%.
Now you need to cut out the white base for gems with Pen Tool. It is needed because we need non-transparent gems but the brushes are transparent. Merge down all three layers to get gems that are ready for use.

Step 17

Now just copy, resize and transform gems with Free Transform until you like the result.
You may meet a problem with the beak because there is no beak-formed jewel. Go to Filter - Liquify… and use Forward Warp Tool with a small Brush Pressure value to achieve the desired form of jewel.

Step 18

The pendant looks lonely with the empty background. Let’s add silk cloth here.
I took the photo of silk from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/963912.

Step 19

Remember, there was a black silhouette? Hope you didn’t delete it It will be the shadow.
Place the shadow between the pendant and the silk and move it so it can be seen. Switch layer blending mode to Overlay and set Opacity to 70%.

Step 20

Let’s displace the shadow in accordance with the cloth to make it more natural.
Copy the cloth to a new document, press Shift+Ctrl+U to desaturate it and apply about 30 px Gaussian Blur to remove it’s texture. Save this file as “displacement map.psd”.

Step 21

Apply Filter - Distort - Displace to the shadow.

Step 22

At the end I decided to add some glossiness. In order to this, I duplicated the layer that adds volume to the pendant, set its Opacity to 60% and layer blending mode to Screen and applied the following layer style.

Final

That’s it. You can imitate different precious metals with this technique just by changing color and playing with blending modes. The only limitation in this jeweler’s art is your imagination.
Thanks for reading.

Step 1

The first thing you need to do is to find a great source image to start with. The techniques of this tutorial can be used
on any animal or even human, so choose something to your liking. Try to find expressive and clean image, it is one of the important steps that will ensure great result.

I chose a photo of horse that I had taken this summer. Why this one? It is crisp and has a beautiful perspective. And finally, I just love it.

You can take this photo here.

Step 2

Now we have to find mechanical parts for our horse. Different photos of cars, motorcycles, engines, even washing machines and medieval armor are our purpose.

Here is the set of links to photos that I used in this tutorial:

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1020017

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/315179

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/233279

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/187500

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/648267

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/486277

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/805174

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/189425

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/172724

Step 3

I selected the bridle with Pen Tool and copied it to a new layer before mechanizing the horse. The bridle must always remain at the top layer and the mechanical parts will be place under it.

Open the photo of motorcycle engine and select the proper part. There are many different ways to select something. It is easier to make an exact selection of mechanical part with Pen Tool because such parts usually have smooth and flat contours. Use Lasso Tool for more complex contours.

Copy selected part to the document with horse. Press Ctrl+T and then resize, move and transform the part to give it the best fit. This operation will be the main one until you cover the animal with metal parts completely.

Step 4

This chrome detail is cropped and has undesirable reflections. I fixed that with Clone Stamp Tool.

Step 5

Your task is to find mechanical parts that resemble certain parts of animal. For example, use car headlight to create the eye. The principle is the same: select, copy, move and transform. Hold Ctrl when you want to move the point of Free Transform box independently.

Step 6

Motorcycle cylinder is a good variant for a cheek…

Step 7

…and the steel cuff - for an ear.

Step 8

Sometimes you’ll need to adjust the form of a part. Go to Filter - Liquify… and use Forward Warp Tool (it is usually selected by default) to give it the best look.

Step 9

I transformed neck part of knight armor to create horse neck plates.

Step 10

When you’ve done with one neck plate, duplicate the layer to create the next. Adjust its size and angle. Repeat this procedure until the whole neck will be covered with plates. Notice that a certain gap between the plates is needed to provide the flexibility of neck.

Step 11

Go on with the following parts, the principle remains the same.

Step 12

The robot looks out of place because of the background. Fill the background layer with black and use Filter - Render - Clouds. Apply Filter - Render - Difference Clouds to the same layer.

Apply three filters one after another:

1. Filter - Sketch - Chrome (Detail=10, Smoothness=0)

2. Filter - Artistic - Film Grain (Grain=0, Highlight Area=2, Intensity=5)

3. Filter - Brush Strokes - Angled Strokes (Direction Balance=85, Stroke Lenght=50, Sharpness=4)

At last, double click on the layer and apply the following style:

Step 13

There are relections on some parts, which I want to remove. Smudge Tool (spatter brush, 85% strength) will help in this case.

Step 14

Almost last stage. I am adding shadows to make a complete creature from the separate elements. Create a new layer above the layers with parts of robot, take hard round black brush, choose the direction of light and paint black areas where shadows supposed to be. Every element has its shadow.

Step 15

I smoothed the rough edges of shadows with Smudge Tool (soft round brush, 70% strength).

Step 16

Set layer opacity to 70%. Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer with shadows. Set blending mode of the first layer to Overlay. The first layer adds the necessary color and the second - the depth of shadows.

Step 17

Now it’s time to put the final touches to picture. Create new layer over the layers with robot, change its blending mode to Overlay, choose red color and paint a red stain over the eye. Select blue color and repeat the procedure with nostril.

Final

At the last moment I decided to add metal plates to the bridle using the part of ear as a source.

Now it’s done. Thank you for reading.

In this tutorial I will show you some easy steps to create a sleek template.

Step 1

First open up a new white document. My size is 1404×1300.

Step 2

Next using the Rectangle Tool (U) and this color: #161f24 draw a shape as I did. Do not fill the entire screen with it. Leave a part of the upper part alone for now.

Step 3

Now again using the Rectangle Tool (U) and a different color: #161e23 draw a shape in the upper part that we left empty in Step 2.

The difference between the colors of the 2 shapes is not that big but it is visible.

Step 4

Again using the Rectangle Tool (U) and this color: #0f1619 draw another shape as I did in the bottom of the screen. Here is where the copyright text will go.

Step 5

We will work on the bottom part first.

I will zoom a little bit so you can see what is going on here. Make a selection of the lower part then create a new layer. You will need next to use the Gradient Tool (G) set to Black, Linear Gradient and Foreground to Transparent. In the new layer click and drag from up to down to make a nice shadow effect over the bottom shape.

Step 6

Next using the Line Tool (U) draw a 1 pixel white line along the edge of the bottom part and then set the Opacity value of the white line to 10%.

Step 7

Next I will use the Helvetica Neue (Light) font and add some text in. I also set the Opacity value of the font to 50%.

Step 8

Now let’s get to work on the upper part and buttons.

Create a new layer and then make a selection of the upper part. Then as you did in Step 5 using the Gradient Tool (G) and the same settings draw a shadow as I did.

Step 9

Make another selection as I did. Now again using the gradient tool you will need to draw again from up to down but this time use a white color. Then set the Opacity value to 30%.

Step 10

Using the Eraser Tool (E) erase the left and right sides of the gradient you created in Step 9.

Step 11

Use the Line Tool (U) set to #de0000 and 1 pixel and draw a straight line as I did. The line needs to be set exactly over the edge of the upper part. I made a selection of the upper part so you can see what I mean.

Step 12

Same as you did in Step 10 with the gradient you will need to do the same thing to this line but first you will need to Resterize the layer before you can edit it.

Step 13

Next I want to make some light rays on the red line.

Make a new layer, using the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) make a selection as I did.

Step 14

Fill the layer with the same red you used for the line and then go to Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur and use a value of 4.1.

Step 15

Now you need to pres Ctrl + T to transform the shape a little.

Step 16

Last thing you want to do is to set the Blending Options to Lighten and duplicate the light layer 3 more time. Change the Opacity of the images and also maybe make them smaller or larger to make them different.

Step 17

It is time to make the buttons now.

First make a new folder and name it buttons.

To make the button we will use the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) and set the Radius to 5 px. Color #bb0101. Draw a shape as I did. Keep in mind that I have zoomed in so you can see well.

Step 18

Using the same tool you will need to extract some of the shape by holding the Alt button while drawing the shape.

Step 19

Next double click on the layer to enter the Blending Options panel and use my settings.

Step 20

Next I will add the text. I used Arial font.

Step 21

Now we need to give a more 2.0 look to the button.

Make a new layer over the Home text and make a selection of the button.

Step 22

Using a white Gradient Tool (G) you need to draw from up to down in the new layer using the selection you just made.

Step 23

Next continue keeping the selection and go to Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur and use a Radius of 3.0.

Step 24

Now you need to transform the gloss a little and then lower the Opacity of the gloss to 40%.

Step 25

Use the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) and make a selection as I did.

Step 26

Create a new layer and fill the selection with white.

Step 27

Ctrl + click on the button layer to make a selection of the button. Press Ctrl + Shift + I to inverse the selection and delete the excess circle by simply pressing Backspace.

Step 28

Last thing is to set the Opacity of the layer to 10%.

Step 29

Next you need to use the Line Tool (U) set to white and 2 pixels. Draw a straight line as I did.

Step 30

Next use the Eraser Tool (E) and erase the left and right sides a little. You will need to Resterize the shape in order to erase the sides. Do this by simply click-in once with the Eraser Tool (E) anywhere on the screen.

Step 31

Now go into the Blending Options of this layer and use my settings.

Step 32

Next thing I will do is to duplicate the button 5 more times. Also I have changed the colors of the other duplicated buttons: Text color - Black and Button color - #69747b.

Step 33

Now duplicate all the buttons. I will use them to make a reflection so you will need to transform and move them lower. Keep in mind that I duplicated only the buttons and not the lights we just created in Step 29.

Step 34

As you can see in the lower image I have removed the text and the color from the 5 gray buttons.

Step 35

Next you need to Erase or better Mask the buttons to give them a reflection effect I have also set the Opacity to 60%.

Step 36

Make a selection as I did using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and create e new layer over the reflection layer you just finished, select the Gradient Tool set to Radial Gradient and using a the same red color you used for the Home button make a gradient in the selection and set the layer to Soft Light.

Step 37

Now simply duplicate the layer you created in Step 36 and move it up.

Step 38

Next you need to repeat Step 36 and Step 37 for each button but this time make the selection white.

Step 39

Now that you are done with the buttons we need start giving shape to the template.

Using the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) make a shape as I did. The Radius is still set to 5 px. Also the color used is: #d40101.

Step 40

Ctrl + click on the red shape you created and using the Elliptical Marquee Tool deselect a part of selection as I did.

Step 41

Next using a black Gradient you will need to create a new layer and fill the layer with the gradient as I did. And finally you will need to erase some of the gradient and also set the layer Opacity to 33%.

Step 42

Repeat Step 41 but this time make this spot of shadow in a different place.

Step 43

Last shadow you will add to the shape. Make a selection of the shape and fill it with some black. Use the Gradient Tool (G) for this.

Step 44

Next I will add some text: font used Helvetica Neue and also I have used as a mascot the hat that I also wrote a tutorial a wile ago.

Step 45

Next use the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) with this color: #161f24 (same color as the background) and make a shape over the big red shape.

Also add your text in.

Step 46

Next step is to add more content to the template. Also I have made a simple logo just by using a font called Harrington and also I have added 2 boxes for login members.

To help me keep everything organized and lined up I used the Grid Lines That you activate by pressing Ctrl + R and dragging a line from the rollers. You can also hide and show the grid lines by pressing Ctrl + H.

Conclusion

I hope you learned some simple techniques to make a simple and good looking website design.

Keep experimenting and use what you learned here with your own techniques.

Step 1

First we’re going to light the stars. Create a new document and fill it with black. I’ve set the dimensions to 1600×1200 so it can be used as a wallpaper in future. Duplicate this layer.

Go to Filter - Noise - Add Noise. Set Amount to 10%, distribution to Gaussian and check Monochromatic.

Step 2

Go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness & Contrast and set Brightness -30 and Contrast 75. Now the noise begins to remind stars.

Step 3

Now we are adding some large stars. Duplicate the stars layer, set its Brightness -100 and Contrast 50.

Step 4

Press Ctrl+T and make layer with large stars about two times bigger. Hold Shift to transform layer proportionally.
Press Ctrl+L to call Levels window. Input the values like on the picture below to increase the contrast.

Step 5

Change layer blending mode to Screen. To avoid echo effect, press Ctrl+T and rotate layer for 90 degrees (hold Shift while rotating to get the right angle).

Step 6

Take soft round eraser with diameter about 20-30 px and begin to erase our stars on both layers. Try to create different strokes in all directions to make the star distribution look natural. Remember that there must be more black space than the space with stars and more little stars than large.

Step 7

Create some stellar fields with Clone Stamp tool (use the brush with soft edges). You must decide yourself how to place star clouds and empty spaces. Just use your imagination.

Step 8

Add glow to the star clouds. Duplicate the layer with large stars. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with radius about 10 px and change layer blending mode to Linear Dodge.
Press Ctrl+U and colorize star glow (I set hue to 230). You can repeat this step several times to make starlight more expressive.

Step 9

Now we are creating some details: huge stars, star dust and multicolored nebula.
Create new layer with Blending mode set to Linear Dodge and fill it with black. Go to Filter - Render - Lens Flare.
I used 35 mm prime. You can transform, colorize and duplicate this layer to create several different huge stars. Use a little different color for each star, it will bring some diversity (the easiest way to do it is to press Ctrl+U and change Hue).

Step 10

Create new layer for star dust. Set layer opacity to 25% and blending mode to Screen. Take any brush with soft edges and configure it to add texture. I used Confetti texture, it is one of the standard Photoshop textures.
Paint some star dust with blue color.

Step 11

Create new layer, take soft round brush and paint a cloud like this. It’s quite easy: first paint the blue base, then red field, then yellow and white. Use Filter - Blur - Gaussian blur with radius 50 px.

Step 12

Create new black layer and use Filter - Render - Clouds. Change layer blending mode to Overlay. Duplicate the layer with clouds.

Step 13

Select the layer with nebula and change its opacity to 55%, layer blending mode Screen. Find the best place for your nebula and move it there.

Step 14

We’ve finished with sky. Now let’s create a planet.
Find rock texture for your future planet. I used this one from SXC.

Step 15

Increase canvas size to make it square. Use Clone Stamp tool to fill the empty space with texture. Also remove too dark spots with the same tool.
Edit - Define Pattern to create a pattern from our picture.

Step 16

Create a new document 1600×1600. Make round selection with Elliptical Marquee Tool (hold Shift to make a circle) and fill it with our pattern.

Step 17

Do not reset selection. Go to Filter - Distort - Spherize with Amount set to 100%. Press Ctrl+F to repeat this filter.

Step 18

Duplicate the layer with planet and fill the circle with pale blue. It will be the atmosphere of the planet. You can use green or any other color. I am creating a blue planet, so it will be #455571.

Step 19

Duplicate this layer and fill it with black. It will be planet shadow. Select the layer with atmosphere, double click on it to call Layer Style window. Apply the following style changes:

Step 20

Place the layer with shadow above the atmosphere. Apply 75 px Gaussian blur (Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur).

Step 21

Press Ctrl+T and transform the shadow: increase its size and move slightly to upper left corner. I chose this position of shadow because I am going to place the planet in the upper left corner of picture, and the light is going from the biggest star in the center of it.

Step 22

Select the layer with atmosphere and set its blending mode to Screen, so we will see the surface of the planet. I don’t like the brightness and contrast of it at this moment, so I reduced layer opacity to 33%.
Then I duplicated the layer with surface and set layer blending mode to Soft Light. Also I changed the opacity of shadow to 90%.

Step 23

Make the background layer invisible by clicking on the eye that indicates visibility in the Layers palette. Shift+Ctrl+E to merge visible layers. Now copy the planet and place it at the corner of the document with space. I applied some additional glow to the planet.

Final

That’s all. Thank you for reading.

This tutorial will teach you how to create Starcraft theme wallpaper.

Step 1

First we need to find some textures and Starcraft font. I use 2 images from SXC:
Rusted metal texture and Texture for metal tiles

Starcraft font can be downloaded from Dafont.com (you need to install it before running Photoshop).

Step 2

Create a new document. I start with 1600×1200 which can be resized to a smaller resolution later.

Open rusted metal texture and resize it until you like its appearance. I resized the original image to 1900×1577.

We are going to bring some order in texture pattern so it will look more impressive.
Copy resized image to your document and place it with 200px blank space to the right. We need only a half of an image, the other half will be mirrored.
Select and clear everything to the left from the horizontal center. You will get something like this:

Step 3

Duplicate the layer with your texture, mirror it (Edit - Transform - Flip Horizontal) and place in the blank space which we left on the right side. Merge down this layer by pressing Ctrl+E.

Step 4

Press Ctrl+U to adjust color and lightness. Here’s my settings:

Step 5

Mirror image to the left and merge layers so you will have the complete texture.

Step 6

Create new layer and fill it with gradient like this:

Step 7

Set Layer Blending mode to Overlay and reduce opacity about 50%. At this step I additionally reduced lightness of the layer with texture to -22 (Ctrl+U).

Step 8

Now we will make a dark area in the center. Select Lasso tool with Feather set to 5. Make free selection at the rust texture image, copy it to your document, then mirror and center.
Set layer blending mode to Multiply and reduce opacity to 60%.

Step 9

It’s time to paint some rust. Set brush color to brownish orange (I used #40230C) and Blending Mode to Color.
Select one of the standard Spatter brushes and adjust brush scattering to imitate the natural spreading of rust.
Now paint some orange stains right over the metal texture. To make it look more natural, you can change brush opacity and size while painting.
Here are my brush settings and the resulting image:

Step 10

Select Horizontal Type Tool and write your text. I used 36 pt for big letters and 24 pt for small.
I made some tracking changes to make the text look better (tracking is the distance between the letters in the Character palette).
Tracking between S-t and C-r is set to -200, f-t 50 and 0 for others.
Now rasterize text layer, select small letters with Polygonal Lasso Tool and lift them a little.

Step 11

Double click on the text layer to open the Layer Style window. We are going to make the text look like following.
Change layer blending options according to the pictures.

Step 12

Select Pen tool and draw a shape like on the picture below. Instead of this you can just type “1″ with Starcraft font but I don’t like how it looks.

Step 13

Copy and mirror your “1″ to get “II”. Merge the layers with “1″ and place the resulting layer beneath the text layer. Copy layer style from the text layer and paste it to the layer with “II”.

Step 14

Double click on the “II” layer to open Layer Style window. Uncheck “Drop Shadow”, add “Outer Glow” and make changes to the other effects like on the picture below.

Step 15

Create a new layer. Duplicate the “II” layer by pressing Ctrl+J and merge it with the empty layer to rasterize all effects. Place the resulting layer below the “II” layer and add some blur (Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur…) to create glowing effect.

Step 16

We are going to add some orange reflection like on the letters. Create new layer above “II”, select soft round brush and set it’s opacity to 30% and color to light orange (mine was #F8CA9D) and make a few strokes at the top of each “I”. Also you can add some white strokes over the orange to make it look more glittering.

Step 17

Make a new layer. Ctrl+click on the “II” layer to select all its objects. Go to Edit - Stroke. Set Width to 5 px, Color to white, Location to Inside and press “OK”.
To make the same thing with the inner edges, select Pen tool and draw a path going along the center edge of each “I”. Then use “Stroke path with brush” option on the Paths palette (don’t forget to change brush to hard round 5px white).

Step 18

Select Pen tool and draw a path for the bottom leaf of the gate. Hold Shift when you need to create straight line.

Step 19

Stroke this path with hard round brush 13 px dark blue (#283547). Apply layer style like it is shown on the picture below. Then duplicate this layer, choose Edit - Transform - Flip Vertical and move it upwards to create the top leaf of the gate.
In Bevel and Emboss set Shading Angle to -90 for this layer. It’s needed because the light goes from the center of the image.

Step 20

Make a selection like this. There are many ways to do it: with quick mask, Pen tool or Polygonal lasso tool. I used Pen tool.
At the Channels palette, click “Save selection as channel”. New alpha channel called “Alpha 1″ will be created.

Step 21

Create new layer and fill it with the original rust metal texture. Now go to Channels palette, Ctrl+click on our new channel to load the selection and then press delete key to clear it.
In this way we get the form of our gates filled with metal texture

Step 22

Press “Ctrl+U” and adjust the color. Add a little shadow using Drop shadow in Layer Blending Options menu (distance 5 px, size 10 px).

Step 23

Open the Tiles texture and press Shift+Ctrl+U to desaturate it.
Create new layer in our wallpaper document and fill it with this texture. Delete the unneeded part like we did in the previous step using the alpha channel.

Step 24

Adjust the tiles contrast with Levels tool (Ctrl+L).

Step 25

Set layer blending mode to Vivid Light and Opacity to 50%.

Final

That’s it. In order to bring some variety you can create a few dark and light spots on the gates with Dodge/Burn Tool.

In this tutorial I will show you guys some simple but efficient techniques that will help you make great movie posters.

Step 1

In this tutorial we are going to use only 2 stock images that I found on SXC.

Here are the links:

http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=912717

http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=1047566

Step 2

First thing you need to do is to cut the soldier out of the background using the Pen Tool (P) and delete the background. Leave only the soldier visible and a transparent background. Name the layer Soldier.

Step 3

Next I want you to make a new layer and place it under the Soldier layer.

Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) make a selection and fill it with black as I did. Name the layer Ground.

Step 4

Next I need you to bring on the project the other image stock and resize it and maybe remove the pigeons using the Clone Stamp Tool (S). Also name the layer Sky.

Step 5

Duplicate the sky image and then go to Image - Adjustments - Black & White and play with the settings a little. If you are not using Photoshop CS3 you might not have this buttons. In this case use the Desaturate button.

Step 6

Now set the Black & White sky layer to Multiply.

Step 7

Again repeat step 5 but this time, apply the technique to the Soldier.

Step 8

Now duplicate the Soldier layer that you just made Black & White to make the soldier darker.

Step 9

Make a new layer and place it above all the layers. Using the Brush Tool (B) simply brush with black over the soldiers feet.

Step 10

Repeat step 9 but, this time make a selection of the soldier and brush as I did.

Next set the layer to Multiply and Opacity 33%.

Step 11

Make a new layer over the soldier. Fill it with white and go to Filter - Render - Clouds. Now go to Filter - Sketch - Chrome. Set the Details to 10 and Sharpness to 10.

Step 12

Transform the chrome layer. Next you need to mask it to be visible only around the soldier. Last set it to Multiply and 78% Opacity. This will make the soldier look like he is wet.

Step 13

In this step we will make the rain.

Make a new layer, name it Rain and place it over all the other layers. Fill the layer with white then go to Filter - Noise - Add Noise.

Step 14

Next go to Filter - Blur - Motion Blur and set it to 24 pixels and angle -63.

Step 15

Now go to Image - Adjustments - Levels and use my settings:

Step 16

Last thing you want to do is to set the Blending Options to Screen.

Step 17

Now you need to start adding you text. Use my settings for the Blending Options.

Step 18

Next make another rain layer just as you did with the first rain layer you made. But this time you will leave the rain to be more intense and also mask the rain layer into the WAR text as I did.

Step 19

Set the layer to Multiply and Opacity 62%.

Step 20

Next you will need to add your own text. For the rest of the text I did not used any effect. Just made the text grey #9f9f9f.

Final

In the end you will be able to add more detail to the soldier by brushing some white over him as I did.

Keep experimenting and use what you learned here with your own techniques.

Hi there guys. I have prepared a new tutorial. In this tutorial we will be learning some more photomanipulation but this time different than the first one I did.

Step 1

First of all I need you to look at the stock we will use for this tutorial. Also you will see there an image that I have created “finish” image.

Here are the links:

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1026758

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1012586

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/788012

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1011828

Step 2

First open up the highway image.

Step 3

The first thing we’re going to do is change the light of the sky to heat up the atmosphere. In order to start editing we must make the background layer editable.

Using the pen tool make a shape of the sky as I did.

Step 4

Set the opacity of the layer to about 25% so you can see the line of the road. Then, using the add anchor point tool, make the shape to match the road.

Step 5

Set the foreground color to #FF7200 and the background color to #F5CB08.

Step 6

Now go to Filter -> Render -> Clouds. Click yes when asked to resterize the layer. Change the Opacity back to 100%. The result should look something like this:

Step 7

Change the blending mode of Shape 1 to linear burn and then rename the layer “sky”.

Step 8

Open the image snail1.jpg and make a path of it using the Pen Tool than Ctrl + Enter to select it.

Step 9

You can see that the snail has a different light than the road, and we need to adjust it. We do that by using the Match color option. Set the luminance and color intensity to 100 and fate to 23. On the source select highway.jpg (make sure it is open), and on the layer dropdown select merged.

Step 10

Now copy the selection of the snail by pressing Ctrl+C and paste it in the document we are working with the highway. Because the selection is very large we need to resize it. Do that by pressing Ctrl+T (Free transform tool). Make sure you press the Shift key when resizing to keep the proportions.

Resize it to a size similar to the one in the picture below and arrange it in the same way.

Step 11

You can see that the snail looks not that good than should be. Adjust this by using the Auto levels option (Image -> Adjustments -> Auto levels) or play with the levels yourself.

Step 12

Now go to Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and set the brightness to -50%.

Step 13

Now we need to put some shadow to the snail. Rename layer 1 to snail1. Select layer transparency and duplicate layer. Press D on the keyboard to switch to default colors then fill the selection with black. Move this layer below snail1.

Press Ctrl+T for Free Transform tool then right click the snail and select distort. Now play with distort option until you get something like this:

Rename the layer to shadow.

Step 14

Make sure you still have selected the layer transparency and go to Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur and use my settings.

Step 15

Now lets create a brake tail. Using the pen tool create a shape similar to the one in the image below.

Than change the Blending mode to Overlay, then apply the Gaussian Blur to a 7.3 px.

Step 16

Next we need to create some smoke rising up from the brake. First make a selection using polygonal lasso tool along the brake tail similar to the one in the image below.

Step 17

Then fill the selection with ABA4A4. Use the dodge tool around the corners with the brush size set to 50, and Range highlights.

After that switch to burn tool with the same brush size and range set to shadows and you should get something like this:

Step 18

Then go to Filter -> Distort -> Wave, and Edit -> Fade wave to 50%.

Step 19

Repeat this (Wave, fade wave step) until you are satisfied with the result. Then use the free transform tool if necessary and adjust the smoke along the brake tail. Duplicate the layer.

Step 20

To add the smoke behind the snail, just copy the smoke along the tail, fill it with black and play with free transform tool until you get something like the image below.

Step 21

Now it’s time to make the Slime trail left by the snail. Using the pen tool draw a shape similar to the one in the image below.

Step 22

Press D to set the default colors. Then apply the clouds filter on the selection.

Step 23

After that apply the chrome filter. Go to Filter -> Sketch -> Chrome.

Step 24

Set the blending mode to Hard Light, and the Opacity to 60%.

Step 25

Use the free transform tool to arrange the slime in a realistic way. Load the selection and using the blur tool, blur a little bit around the edges to blend the slime into the road.

Select the snail and blur a little bit on its lower part just above the slime.

Step 26

Now it’s time to add the other racers to the scene.

Open Snail 2. Select the snail with the Pen Tool.

Step 27

Match the color with the other document, just as you did with the first snail.

Paste the snail into the document and resize it using free transform tool. Place the third snail similar to the image below.

Also duplicate the slime layer and move it behind each snail. Then, using free transform tool distort the slime and shape it as you like. Last you need to add shadows, blur and light to the slime to make it look different and more realistic. Do this using the burn, dodge and brush tools.

Step 28

Next open sign.jpg.

Make a selection of the sign, and use match color with the document you are working with. Copy paste the selection into the document, resize it and place it on the middle left part of the image, just above the smaller column, then use the free transform.

Rename the layer to sign, move it under the layer sky and apply a 0.3 Gaussian Blur on it. The result should be similar to the one in the image below.

Step 29

Now all we need to do is add the finish line.

I have created an image using adobe illustrator and called finish line.jpg. This image could also be easily created simply in Photoshop just by using some shapes and guidelines.

What you need to do with this image is to import it into the document, transform it and place it as I did in the image below.

Step 30

Set the Blending Mode of the Finish line to Soft Light and you are done.

Final

In the end add your favorite light, colors or vintage effects and you are finished.

Hello! In this tutorial we are going to learn how to achieve a candy-like coloring over any kind of line-art.

Step 1

First we will need to draw a sketch that we will use for this tutorial. The image below is what I have made.

Step 2

As you can see it’s pretty dirty so the first step will be cleaning, but before anything else we should add a bit of contrast, it looks pale. Be careful not to exaggerate: between 10 and 20 is enough. Too much contrast is cheap.

You can find it in Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast. After you enter your value click ok.

Use a soft eraser tool and keep in mind that you will be able to erase some more later. Focus on areas like the ones below.

Step 3

Notice I didn’t pay any attention to the outer “dirt”. That’s going to come off smoothly later in the tutorial.

Change the blending options of the layer to “Multiply”. Multiply leaves only the dark areas visible while make the bright areas transparent. Nothing will happen on the screen, as there is nothing behind the image.

Step 4

Create a new layer and place it under the line-art. Call it “flat”.

Start laying down some midtowns in whatever way you want. I used a round hard brush and the following colors.

Step 5

I’ll use paths on the eyes to better control the shape.

Step 6

When you’re ready right-click on the path and choose “Make Selection”. If you’re settings correspond with the ones in the following image click ok and the fill that mask with white.

Step 7

Don’t forget to paint the eyes with dark grey (black is too strong and leads to a big contrast) and the candy stick with white.

Step 8

I’m going to add some freckles using a small brush (sizes between 2 and 4) of the same color as the hair and just lay down a few random spots.

Step 9

Next we’re going to be adding shadows so create a new layer and name it accordingly. It should be under “scan” and on top of “flat”. We’ll use paths to make selections and then we fill with one color (avoid black; I used #5F5F5F). We will control the tone thought the Master Opacity of the layer.

Start with the nose first.

Step 10

Next is the face.

Step 11

Continue with the rest of the body (Arms, shirt, hair). The result should be something like this:

As you can see I tried different degrees of opacity in order to find the one I like.

Step 12

Highlights. It’s the same procedure as the one we used for shadows. Path. Selection. Fill (white).

Step 13

Here is were the magic begins.

Make a selection of the “flat” layer (Hold down Ctrl and click on it in your layer panel). Go to Select > Modify > Expand and expand your selection by 2 px, then go to Select > Feather and enter 1px.

Step 14

Invert your selection (Select > Inverse or SHIFT+CTRL+I) and move to the “scan” layer. Press DELETE. This was to further clean our image.

Invert the selection again and create another layer (put it on top of all of the other layers) and click the “Add Layer Mask” button.

Step 15

You have created a mask for your layer (which will be named “candy”), a b/w thumbnail will appear beside it. Click on the chain between them. Now that the chain has disappeared it means that the two layers are no longer linked and can act independently from one another.

Step 16

How do masks work? Masks show the white areas while hide the black areas. If your mask layer is fully-filled with black your mask won’t show anything, as if the layer doesn’t even exist, respectively, a white mask layer will show everything in that layer.

What about grays? A medium gray reduces visibility to 50% therefore dark-grays tend to hide and light-grays tend to show.

Duplicate the “scan” layer and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

Step 17

Beautiful effect, but it’s not enough. Go to the “candy” layer and with a huge and soft brush start spreading powerful colors like in the picture below. Notice the role of the mask when you go over the lines (going over the lines here is essential).

Use soft brushes, various brush sizes and use different opacity levels (as you go inside the line-art lower it; start from around 70%).

Step 18

Apply another Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to make it look fuzzy.

Step 19

Now it looks too fuzzy. Select the mask of the “candy” layer and with a soft black brush and low opacity paint wherever you feel like hiding some of the fuzziness.

I did that on the eyes mostly and I also used a Polygonal Lasso Tool to make a selection of the nose highlight (filled it with black hiding the that part of the candy layer which was obscuring the highlight).

Final

Finalize your work with a very nice and interesting background, maybe a texture and use the candy technique.

Thank you for reading.

In this tutorial we will be working on a Star Wars text effect.

Step 1

Start with a new black document. Mine is 1024×768.

Step 2

Before you can do anything you will need the Star Wars Font. I found it on http://www.dafont.com/.

Now write you text. What I have in mind is to make a nice grunge text to use for a Clone Wars Poster.

Step 3

Double click on the layer to enter the Blending Options menu. Here use my settings:

Step 4

Next you need to duplicate the layer by clicking Ctrl + J. In the Blending Options Menu use these settings:

Step 5

Set the Fill of the layer to 0%.

Step 6

Next I will add some more text and place it on the bottom of the Clone Wars text. Also I will use some different settings:

Step 7

In the next step I will use the Rectangle Tool to make some simple shapes.

Step 8

Now for all these 3 shapes add my settings for the Blending Options.

Step 9

Make a new layer over all the layers and name it Gold.

Ctrl + Click on all the layer thumbnails to make a selection.

Step 10

Next go to Select - Modify - Expand and use 3 pixels.

Step 11

Make sure you have the Gold layer selected.

Set the foreground color to #fcff00 and fill the Gold layer with this color.

Step 12

Set the layer to Soft Light and Opacity to 35%.

Step 13

Make a new layer and name it texture.

Fill the layer with #7e4f2f. Next go to Filter - Noise - Add noise and use my settings.

Step 14

Next go to Filter - Blur - Motion Blur and again use my settings:

Step 15

Next you need to add one more effect to this texture. Go to Filter - Sharpen - Unsharp Mask and again use my settings:

Step 16

Ctrl + Click on the Gold layer thumbnail to make a selection. Now that the text is selected make sure you have the texture layer selected and Add a layer Mask. Last set the layer to Overlay.

Step 17

Next I will bring in a texture that I found on this link: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=599574

I have imported the texture to the document and resized it so it will fit into my image size. Next you need to go to Image - Adjustments - Desaturate to make the image Black and White.

Step 18

Again as we did with the first texture we need to make a selection of the text and Add a Mask to the layer. So please do that right now. Basically you will repeat Step 16 but this time for a different layer.

Step 19

The last thing we will do for this second texture is to set it to 63% Opacity and Overlay.

Final

You are finished. If you want you can add some more lights or shadows to the text.

Thank you for reading.