Photoshop tutorial on using layers for effects

Tutorial on how to cut out an image in Photoshop and stack layers to create image effects.

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Soften Skin effect on girl with adobe photoshop tutorial

Soften Skin effect on girl using photoshop - this tutorial is to show how to soften the appearance of the skin in digital pictures using simple photoshop tools ...

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Photoshop Tutorial: digital drawing Girl

This tutorial is for beginner Photoshop users, so we will explain everything in detail; you’ll learn to use the vector drawing tools of Photoshop using our mouse… for now we won’t be using a digitizer tablet.

To start, the best thing to do is having a good sketch on paper; the size of the drawing doesn’t have to be very big because we will delete it at the end, but also it doesn’t have to be very small. Let’s scan it at 150-300 dots per inches (dpi from now on) to make sure that when we zoom we can clearly see the lines to work properly.

Let’s start with a white canvas (Ctrl + n), with a good size and resolution just in case we want to print in a big size.

To add new layers just click the button “Create layer”.

Let’s put the sketch in it (to do this, open up the file where you have your drawing, select everything with Ctrl + a and cut the selection with Ctrl + x. After that, paste it with Ctrl + v in the layer; if it’s small, alter it with Ctrl + t) and name it “sketch”, then create a new layer where we will put the trace of the figure and let’s name it “lines”. So we should have the 3 layers as it appears in the image.

Now we’ll use the Pen Tool to redraw the sketch; select it and activate the Paths Mode (left superior corner, the icon of the pen inside the square):

Now let’s click in the 3 sectors, and 3 little squares like these ones will be created:

If you right click (or click and maintain pressed) the Pen Tool, a menu like this one will appear:

Choose “Convert Point Tool”(the last one), press in any of the 3 squares we created a moment ago and drag it; this way you can twist the line and form what it’s called a Berzier Curve. Start shaping it in the way you want (we can always add or remove this squares with the Add Anchor Point or Delete Anchor Point as we want more or less complex shapes). You should get something like this:

There’s a little trick to create rounded shapes. It consist in create the vertexes and to add an intermediate point, after that you just have to move it with the Direct Selection Tool and that curve will be made by itself.

Make sure you are in the “lines” layer, select the Brush Tool and choose a hard brush (right click in the canvas, they are the first ones in the brushes list) of about 5 pixels with a different color from the one of the sketch, for example red:

With the Pen Tool selected, right click in the canvas and choose “Stroke Path”, and a window like this will appear:

Choose the Brush Tool and hit OK; this will generate a trace with the characteristics of the brush we chose before that will follow the previous route (this can be done with all the other tools).

If you mark the square Simulate Pressure we will obtain traces that will be smaller in the edges; with a little of imagination you can get all types of traces.

WELL DONE! You have you first trace, now do the rest The trick here is to make the traces in parts, in different layers so you can retouch comfortably superposed traces… like in this image:

It’d be ideal if you could make traces of the complete areas (for example we trace the glasses in one layer and the hair in another one, after that we delete the traces of the glasses covered with hair); it’s better to do it that way than starting tracing through the eyebrows and the hair with the same trace.

Now you have to work with the rest of the traces. When you’re done with it, we have to put together all the layers; we can do this selecting all the layers and pressing Ctrl + e. At the beginning it can be hard to manage with all the curves, but with some practice, the sketch can look as the original.

We have just finished our digital inking. You might probably notice that the lines are a bit boring as they aren’t modulated… patience, we’ll see that with more detail soon

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web 2.0 Badges - tutorial and psd file

You’ve seen them everywhere. No self-respecting Web2.0 site would be without them; those little splashes of color that jump out at you and scream “HEY LOOK AT ME! OVER HERE!” Yes, that’s right. We’re talking about perhaps the most over-used trendy little design fad to come out of the two-oh movement-the badge!

Admit it. They’re pretty cool, huh? So let’s make one…

Crack open a new Photoshop file and create a new layer. Call it “badge” or something like that. Now grab the shape tool and select the 8 point star shape from the dropdown palette of available shapes.

Note: If this shape isn’t available for you, you may need to load it into Photoshop by clicking on the options menu icon (>) in that same palette and selecting “shapes” and then when prompted, choose “append.”

Now that you’ve done this, draw a shape the size of your badge. Make sure you’re creating either using either filled pixel shapes or paths, not vector shape layers. For this example, I’m using paths.

Next, Ctrl+Click on the path in your paths palette to load its selection and fill it with a color. Any color will do for now.

Next, hit Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer. Now go up to Edit - Transform - Rotate. Enter a rotation amount of 23 degrees in the rotation options. Alternately, you can just eyeball it if you like. It’s pretty easy to see when everything is lined up correctly. This rotation will finish creating your badge shape, so merge the two layers by hitting Ctrl+E.

Now click on the “Lock transparent pixels” icon in the layers palette for the “badge” layer. Set your foreground color to #ff8400 and your background color to #ff4900. Using the gradient tool, with the foreground to background gradient selected, drag from the top left or your badge to the bottom right. Hold down the shift key to constrain your gradient on a 45 degree downward angle.

Now let’s add some layer styles. Double click on the layer to bring up the layer styles dialog and apply the following:

Now create another new layer and call it “highlight”. Using your circular marquee tool, make a selection just big enough to encompass the badge shape. Fill it with white and move it so that it obscures the upper left half to two-thirds of the badge. Alt+Click between the “badge” and the “highlight” layer in the layers palette to group them together. Now lower the layer’s opacity to 30%.

Now click on the layer mask icon for the “highlight” layer in the layers palette. Select a black to white gradient and drag from the top left of the badge down to the bottom right, just as we did above.

Great! We’re almost done. Let’s add some text. Of course, be sure to use a nice, trendy Web2.- font.

That text looks a little plain. Let’s give it a simple layer style to make it pop out more (or in, in this case). Double click on the text layer and apply the following style.

There you have it, our finished badge!

If you liked this tutorial or want to take a closer look, you can also download the PSD file.

All thanks to http://freephotoshopguides.com

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Michael Oswald - Step by Step - Photomanipulation

VOYAGER STEPS

All Thanks To Michael Oswald

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Designing with Video in Photoshop cs3 tutorial

In this tutorial we will use photoshop cs3 extended to embed video in a design and make a video design inside photoshop and even exported ....enjoy Read more!

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Smokin' Woman

In this tutorial, I'm going to show how to create one smokin' woman using a couple source pics, and just a few of the features associated with Phoenix.
So follow along and I'll try to share a few secrets into some of the magic, without the smoke and mirrors.
Well, maybe a little smoke.

With the general idea already in my mind, I needed to find a suitable background image.
The image I found turned out perfect because of the line of direction of the main figure's vision. He's looking directly where we're going to place our smoke, creating unity among our elements. How convenient!

1. The first step was to remove most of the smoke from the original image, as we'll be bringing in our own later on.
I did this simply by taking the Clone stamp tool, shift-clicking a clean area of the background to sample, and painting over the smoke covered areas with our selected sample.

It doesn't need to be perfect at this point, as most of it will be covered by the end anyways.

2. Next, I brought in a high contrast image of a model. Not only do the natural stark shadows and highlights of this image look good, but hey, the contrast will do half the work for us in the long run.
Using a combination of the Move and Distortion tools, I resized and situated the model right where we want her.
Then set the layer's blend mode to "Screen".

3. Now that we have our basic composition in place, it's time to get to the real action.
Using the liquify tool, I smudged the edges of the figure and pulled out trails to draw a smokey effect.
I did that until I was left with a wispy looking figure.
And remember, the more work you do in this stage, the less time it'll take to cover your overlooked areas later on.

It's almost good to go just as is, if I do say so myself.
But since we saved time by finding excellent source pics to begin with, let's spend our free time fine tuning this thing up.

4. Our lady could always be more smokin'. And what's more smokin' than, well, smoke?
Using the Lasso tool, I copied and pasted a segment from an image of actual smoke onto a new layer.

I set this layer to "Screen", just as we did with the woman. Using the Move tool, I resized the piece to situate around our lady friend.
I repeated that step numerous times until our lady was covered entirely hiding my earlier (now hideous in comparison) attempts to freehand the smoke entirely.

5. Now we're getting somewhere! But I still wanted to expose a few of the highlights of the smoke a bit more. Just to give it that extra pop.
I did this by using a white brush to paint a rough outline around the figure on a new layer, then set this layer to "Overlay".

6. Then, as a final touch, I filled the entire image in a light blue on a new layer, then set this layer to "Overlay", and set the opacity to 25%.
Of course, this step is not 100% necessary, but it adds a little extra mood and brings the whole image together harmoniously.

And there you have it. With the magic of Phoenix, you've created the smokin' woman of your dreams.

Man and smoke from www.istockphoto.com
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=1703022
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=1369639

Woman from www.sxc.hu

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Make Pinup Girl effect photoshop Tutorial

Pinup Girl Tutorial - how to make a Girl looks like from the 80's using a normal photo.

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Water Effect Using Photoshop - Tutorial

Water Effect - how to make a Water Effect using only photoshop. Read more!

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3D Text Effect Tutorials & Inspirations

3D Text Effect using Photoshop and 3D Software is one of my curiosity these days.

Importing 3D text into Photoshop and then adds some patterns and gradients. It looks really awsome to me.

I’ve gathered up some 3D Text Effect Tutorials & Inspirations.

Tutorials

3D typographic effects in Photoshop

Taking 3D objects into Photoshop is going to get more popular thanks to the latest release of Photoshop Extended. But you don’t need Adobe’s latest high-end version of Photoshop to create some unique 3D effects – this masterclass works for Photoshop CS and above. And using Xara3D for 3D text.

Vectors with a lacing of 3D | madPotato.de

This tutorial - taking Photoshop and Cinema4D as an example - introduces you to the basic concepts and ideas of merging 2D-vector elements with a 3-dimensional modelling environment.

You can grab a gift-basket full of free wallpaper-packs as well.

Valentines Day - Photoshop Style

This tutorial is also using a Xara3D and Photoshop to create the effect.

Inspirations

25 Tasty 3D Graphic Design Treats

3D graphic design is becoming more popular and I have noticed a surge in 3D Type work on portfolio sites.

Shinybinary v2.1 - Art and designs of Nik Ainley

Nik Ainley is a UK based designer who has a passion for producing personal art and illustrations.

Serial Cut™

Serial Cut™ is a creative studio established in 1999 by Sergio del Puerto, focused on Art Direction + Graphic Design + Illustration. Quality design from Madrid, Spain.

All Thanks To DesignWalker

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Stylized Girl Comic Book Effect

Stylized Comic Book Effect- how to make a comic book character using a normal photo in this tutorial we will use a girl photo to make it look like comics

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Fire Lines Tutorial - photoshop

Written by: Flash

This tutorial will teach you how to create creative and stylish fire lines in 10 easy steps.

01

For this tutorial your going to need a good stock photo lined up. Something with action...and preferably dark (this effect works much better in a dark setting)

02

Open the stock photo, then go to the paths tab and click create new path (A) .
Press "P" on the keyboard to select the pen tool, Get a basic idea of where the fire is going. Keep in mind dimension and action. Swirls do wonders!

03

A. Click to start your path
B. Click your next point, hold and drag to create a bezier spline path, which is necessary to create flowing lines
C. Continue doing this, following the idea of where you want the fire to go.
Dont worry about getting it right the first time as you can change the spline at any time...another little tip - if you press press and hold ctrl while using the pen tool you can temporarily access the direct selection tool which will allow you to edit the spline (a big time saver)

04

And eventually...you get something like what i have below....now remember that your only going to use the parts of ur path that aren't behind the object your pathing along....in this case the models arms, and legs. So dont worry about making the hidden parts pretty.

05

A. Now you want to select a soft round brush (i used a 5 pixel brush here) and pick an orange color.
B. Make a new layer and name it FIRE (I have mine named The Amazing Shoelace)
C. Go back to the paths tab and select stroke path with brush.

06

You should immediately see the stroked path.
On mine you'll see parts that weren't originally pathed that are now there. Those give the fire the illusion that it is moving, and were accomplished by simply grabbing the clone stamp tool - using a spatter brush and cloning/stamping....wala!

07

Erase the parts behind the legs/arms or whatever it is your paths follows.

08

Right click on the FIRE layer and select blending options.
Use these options/values for the exact product i got...but your free to play with them, (thats how i discovered this technique) you might end up with something better!

09

Duplicate the FIRE layer, and set the layer mode to OVERLAY
Click the eye next to inner shadow and inner glow on the duplicate layer to deactivate them.

10

Now double click on outer glow on the duplicate and change the values to this.

Conclusion

Spend a little time, and you can make something like what i have below...

For added coolness, duplicate the FIRE layer again, and filter>distort>wave....play with the opacity levels, and play with the blending modes, particularily OVERLAY.
Good luck!

Click here for the forum's version of this tutorial so you can post comments, share your result, and get help/answers if you're stuck

Copyright © 2007 Anothera.net. All Rights Reserved.
This tutorial rightfully belongs to the owner(s) of http://www.anothera.net and may not be reproduced, sold and/or re-distributed without the explicit written consent of the original author.

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8 Photoshop Tutorials Dealing with Water

Here is the list of Creative Photoshop Tutorials dealing with water.

1. Add A Realistic Water Reflection: By Steve Patterson

In this Photoshop photo effects tutorial, we’re going to learn how to easily add a realistic water reflection to any photo. It’s a very easy effect to create and you can add it to any photo you like, although it tends to work best with images that don’t already contain water in them.

Displacement Water: By aliased

Creating a realistic water surface in Photoshop is quite a challenge because it is the distorted reflection of the surroundings that makes the water look liquid. The displace filter is an excellent tool for making this distortion.

Awesome Underwater Scenery: By Pixel Mana

This tutorial will show you how to create awesome underwater scenery in Photoshop. Through this tutorial, we will cover the use of channels as well as cool filters such as chrome and radial blur. Make sure to download the PSD file at the bottom of the page for reference.

Alien Water: By Andrei Bilan

Learn how to make realistic alien-looking water with this photoshop tutorial

Alien Water

Reflective Liquid Type: By Al Ward

Tutorials on creating metal type abound online, as do variations on simple liquid effects. Most are fairly short, offering a good foundation for the reader on how certain effects are achieved but fail to take that extra step (or few steps) to make the piece really shine. Once you have an idea of how different techniques fit together in a piece, it is fairly easy to combine, say, the process to create metal and the process to create liquid to create something that exists in both sides of the FX map.

Creating Water From a Tap: By Fiery Darts

Start by opening an image of a tap. We’ll create water flowing from the tap.

Water Drops: By Lunacore

A photoshop tutorial that explains how to create a water drop

Water drops in photoshop in 5 minutes: By Abduzeedo

A couple of days ago while I was reading a magazine I saw a pretty cool soda ad where they used a lot of water drops in its design. It was excellent and I thought that I could create the same effect in Photoshop using the layer styles.

Water drops in photoshop in 5 minutes

All Thanks and Rights to DesignWalker

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