Basic Icon Tutorial [PSP 7]
Hey everyone.
I decided to whip up my very first icon tutorial because several folks have said they really liked this icon that I did (credit goes to
play_by as one set of her HP icons inspired me). It's nothing fancy, but hopefully you'll find it useful. :) It's a bit image intensive (just a bit), in case you were wondering, and yes, this tutorial requires basic knowledge of PSP 7.
We'll be going from
to 
Since I like me some handsome Bulgarian men, Stanislav Ianevski (Viktor Krum in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film), gets to be my guinea pig for my first tutorial using PSP 7. Bwahaha.
I'll be using this picture, which is from the House of Wax premiere in London some days ago.
So, let's get started!
1. Create 100x100 icon in black:
2. Crop this to desired look; resize to 100x70:
3. Sharpen image [Effects > Sharpen > Sharpen]:
4. Use Smooth Tool around face and background to get rid of watermark [Size 10, Hardness 0, Opacity 50, Step 25]:
5. Duplicate Background 3 times
6. Set blend mode of first duplicated layer (above Background layer) to Screen at 50% opacity:
7. Desaturate [Shift H] second duplicated layer at -60, set blend mode to Hard Light at 50% opacity:
8. Set blend mode of third duplicated layer to Soft Light at 100% opacity:
9. Merge all layers [Layers > Merge > Merge All (Flatten)]
10. Select part of the picture (I selected his right eye using the Selection Tool at 25x14), copy, and paste it as a new image:
11. Add a two pixel border in white around that image [Image > Add Borders]
12. Copy and paste main picture over the 100x100 icon you made earlier:
13. Copy and paste small picture as a new layer over your icon and position it like so:
14. Create a new layer and add some text [Arial, Antialias unchecked, Size 1], then position it below the icon like so:
15. Create a new layer and add a + sign brush (made by me, but you could feasibly create one using the Paint Brush tool at Size 1 or 2):
16. Merge all layers [Merge all layers [Layers > Merge > Merge All (Flatten)]
Voila! You're done!
I hope you folks found this tutorial easy to follow. :)
[+] Feedback is loved and appreciated
[+] Don't copy my tutorial exactly, feel free to mess with different pictures, brushes, blend modes, positioning, whatever your iconist heart desires
I decided to whip up my very first icon tutorial because several folks have said they really liked this icon that I did (credit goes to
play_by as one set of her HP icons inspired me). It's nothing fancy, but hopefully you'll find it useful. :) It's a bit image intensive (just a bit), in case you were wondering, and yes, this tutorial requires basic knowledge of PSP 7. We'll be going from
to Since I like me some handsome Bulgarian men, Stanislav Ianevski (Viktor Krum in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film), gets to be my guinea pig for my first tutorial using PSP 7. Bwahaha.
I'll be using this picture, which is from the House of Wax premiere in London some days ago.
So, let's get started!
1. Create 100x100 icon in black:
2. Crop this to desired look; resize to 100x70:
3. Sharpen image [Effects > Sharpen > Sharpen]:
4. Use Smooth Tool around face and background to get rid of watermark [Size 10, Hardness 0, Opacity 50, Step 25]:
5. Duplicate Background 3 times
6. Set blend mode of first duplicated layer (above Background layer) to Screen at 50% opacity:
7. Desaturate [Shift H] second duplicated layer at -60, set blend mode to Hard Light at 50% opacity:
8. Set blend mode of third duplicated layer to Soft Light at 100% opacity:
9. Merge all layers [Layers > Merge > Merge All (Flatten)]
10. Select part of the picture (I selected his right eye using the Selection Tool at 25x14), copy, and paste it as a new image:
11. Add a two pixel border in white around that image [Image > Add Borders]
12. Copy and paste main picture over the 100x100 icon you made earlier:
13. Copy and paste small picture as a new layer over your icon and position it like so:
14. Create a new layer and add some text [Arial, Antialias unchecked, Size 1], then position it below the icon like so:
15. Create a new layer and add a + sign brush (made by me, but you could feasibly create one using the Paint Brush tool at Size 1 or 2):
16. Merge all layers [Merge all layers [Layers > Merge > Merge All (Flatten)]
Voila! You're done!
I hope you folks found this tutorial easy to follow. :)
[+] Feedback is loved and appreciated
[+] Don't copy my tutorial exactly, feel free to mess with different pictures, brushes, blend modes, positioning, whatever your iconist heart desires