First Time Tutorial
This is my first attempt at writing up and posting a tutorial, so I hope its not too confusing or long-winded. I tried to screen-shot each step so that first time users (and people like me, who do better if they can SEE as well as read what is being demonstrated) could follow it as well and know exactly what I was meaning for each step. Its pretty image heavy so dial-up users beware.
I did this with PSP 8, but it should be fairly easy to translate to other versions of PSP, as well as PS. Please keep in mind that this is only a general guide, nothing is set in stone. Play with your settings and layer properties to get the effects YOU like. If you don’t already have them, you will need to get the Radiance and Improver plug-ins from Xero found HERE. You can get the Oasis gradient (made by me) that you need HERE. That said, on with the tutorial...
Go from this:
to this: 
Step 1: Open and sharpen your image and duplicate the background layer.
Step 2: On the Duplicated Layer go to Adjust/Brightness & Contrast/Threshold and set it to 120.
Step 3: Go to Adjust/Blur/Gaussian Blur. Set the blur between 3 and 5. (I used 4.)
Step 4: Go to your Layer Properties and set the Duplicated Layer to Soft Light at 100% opacity.
Step5: Highlight and duplicate your original Background Layer in your layer palette and drag the copy ABOVE your first duplicated layer.
Step 6: Set the properties for Duplicate 2 to Lighten at 100% opacity.
Step 7: Go to Layers/New Raster Layer and set to Exclusion at 50% opacity and flood fill with color #001D4E.
Step 8: Duplicate the original Background Layer again and drag the copy ABOVE the Exclusion Layer. Set the new duplicated layer properties to Multiply at 45% opacity. Go to Adjust/Softness/Soft Focus adjust your settings to Softness: 60, Edge Importance: 40, Halo Amount, Halo Size, and Halo Visibility all at 50 and checkmark the box by Include Scattered Light.
Step 9: Go to Layers/New Raster Layer and set to Exclusion at 65% opacity and flood fill again with the same blue as the previous exclusion layer.
Step 10: Go to Layers/Merge/Merge All (Flatten).
Step 11: Now go to Effects/Plug-ins/Xero/Improver and make sure your settings are Smoothness: 9, Edge Sensitivity: 30, and Sharpening: 9. Click portrait. Next go to Effects/Plug-ins/Xero/Radiance and adjust your settings to Strangeness: 160, Charm: 242, Truth: 74, and Beauty: 70.
Step 12: Go to Layers/New Raster Layer and create a new layer set to Burn at 35% opacity. Flood fill with Oasis Gradient (or one you may already have or prefer).
Now all you have to do is merge the layers, crop, and resize the picture to make your Icon. Play with your layer properties and brushes to get nice effects on your Icon. I didn't include all of that because everyone has different ideas of what makes an Icon pretty. Hope this was easy enough to follow and not TOO image heavy for the community.
This
is my final product after playing with brushes, layers, colors, and such.
I did this with PSP 8, but it should be fairly easy to translate to other versions of PSP, as well as PS. Please keep in mind that this is only a general guide, nothing is set in stone. Play with your settings and layer properties to get the effects YOU like. If you don’t already have them, you will need to get the Radiance and Improver plug-ins from Xero found HERE. You can get the Oasis gradient (made by me) that you need HERE. That said, on with the tutorial...
Go from this:
to this: Step 1: Open and sharpen your image and duplicate the background layer.
Step 2: On the Duplicated Layer go to Adjust/Brightness & Contrast/Threshold and set it to 120.
Step 3: Go to Adjust/Blur/Gaussian Blur. Set the blur between 3 and 5. (I used 4.)
Step 4: Go to your Layer Properties and set the Duplicated Layer to Soft Light at 100% opacity.
Step5: Highlight and duplicate your original Background Layer in your layer palette and drag the copy ABOVE your first duplicated layer.
Step 6: Set the properties for Duplicate 2 to Lighten at 100% opacity.
Step 7: Go to Layers/New Raster Layer and set to Exclusion at 50% opacity and flood fill with color #001D4E.
Step 8: Duplicate the original Background Layer again and drag the copy ABOVE the Exclusion Layer. Set the new duplicated layer properties to Multiply at 45% opacity. Go to Adjust/Softness/Soft Focus adjust your settings to Softness: 60, Edge Importance: 40, Halo Amount, Halo Size, and Halo Visibility all at 50 and checkmark the box by Include Scattered Light.
Step 9: Go to Layers/New Raster Layer and set to Exclusion at 65% opacity and flood fill again with the same blue as the previous exclusion layer.
Step 10: Go to Layers/Merge/Merge All (Flatten).
Step 11: Now go to Effects/Plug-ins/Xero/Improver and make sure your settings are Smoothness: 9, Edge Sensitivity: 30, and Sharpening: 9. Click portrait. Next go to Effects/Plug-ins/Xero/Radiance and adjust your settings to Strangeness: 160, Charm: 242, Truth: 74, and Beauty: 70.
Step 12: Go to Layers/New Raster Layer and create a new layer set to Burn at 35% opacity. Flood fill with Oasis Gradient (or one you may already have or prefer).
Now all you have to do is merge the layers, crop, and resize the picture to make your Icon. Play with your layer properties and brushes to get nice effects on your Icon. I didn't include all of that because everyone has different ideas of what makes an Icon pretty. Hope this was easy enough to follow and not TOO image heavy for the community.
This
is my final product after playing with brushes, layers, colors, and such.