Tutorial #2 - Adobe Photoshop 7
Quick easy tutorial to go from
to
Step 1
First you have to prep the image. Prepping is EXTREMELY important, but I'm not going to cover it in this tutorial. There are tons of tutorials on this already though so check out
icon_tutorial for tutorials on this in the memory section. Basically, prepping means sharpening, smoothing, resizing, and cropping the image. For this icon, crop the image so that it IS NOT A SQUARE. A rectangular shape looks a lot LOT better.
Here's my base after prepping:
Step 2
The next step is to set up the foundation of your icon. Duplicate the base image 3 times. You should now have 4 copies of the base image layered on top of each other. Desaturate the topmost 2 images by pressing Ctrl+Shift+U at the same time. Set the very top one to SCREEN, set the 2nd from the top to OVERLAY, set the 3rd from the top to SOFT LIGHT. Leave the background at NORMAL.
You should now have this on your screen:
Step 3
Now it's time to ass the light feature to the icon. Take any light stock image and place it over the bottom picture in the layers. Then set it to HARD LIGHT. A good place to get light images, gradients and brushes isicon_extras.
I have used this gradient by
awmp:
If there is not enough light, colour, or detail after one light gradient, you may want to combine more than one. For this icon I also used this gradient byblue_orchidea
Erase the bits of the gradients that may be blocking out facial features by using the erase tool, set on a blurry/soft brush, at about 6 in size, and 20% opacity.
Your screen/image should now look like this:
Step 4
Now you have to merge all the layers of your image. To do this go to Layer > Merge Visible. There should only be one layer visible in the Layer/Channel/Path box. Now create a new image, with a white background, or another colour if you wish, and have it sized 100x100. Copy the image you just created (Ctrl+A or Select All, then Ctrl+C) and paste it onto your new 100x100 base. You can place the image anywhere on the icon, it doesn't have to be set in the center. For vertical images i reccomened off-center images.
This is what your icon should look somewhat like now:
Step 5
Now it's time to add your choice of text and you're done! For text i reccomend Georgia and Times New Roman, in small writing at 60% opacity.
Congrats! You've finished the tutorial. If you have any questions, feel free to post them. Also, I always love to see what people come up with using this tutorial as a base.
Here's a few more using this technique:
to
Step 1
First you have to prep the image. Prepping is EXTREMELY important, but I'm not going to cover it in this tutorial. There are tons of tutorials on this already though so check out
icon_tutorial for tutorials on this in the memory section. Basically, prepping means sharpening, smoothing, resizing, and cropping the image. For this icon, crop the image so that it IS NOT A SQUARE. A rectangular shape looks a lot LOT better. Here's my base after prepping:
Step 2
The next step is to set up the foundation of your icon. Duplicate the base image 3 times. You should now have 4 copies of the base image layered on top of each other. Desaturate the topmost 2 images by pressing Ctrl+Shift+U at the same time. Set the very top one to SCREEN, set the 2nd from the top to OVERLAY, set the 3rd from the top to SOFT LIGHT. Leave the background at NORMAL.
You should now have this on your screen:
Step 3
Now it's time to ass the light feature to the icon. Take any light stock image and place it over the bottom picture in the layers. Then set it to HARD LIGHT. A good place to get light images, gradients and brushes is
icon_extras.I have used this gradient by
awmp: If there is not enough light, colour, or detail after one light gradient, you may want to combine more than one. For this icon I also used this gradient by
blue_orchideaErase the bits of the gradients that may be blocking out facial features by using the erase tool, set on a blurry/soft brush, at about 6 in size, and 20% opacity.
Your screen/image should now look like this:
Step 4
Now you have to merge all the layers of your image. To do this go to Layer > Merge Visible. There should only be one layer visible in the Layer/Channel/Path box. Now create a new image, with a white background, or another colour if you wish, and have it sized 100x100. Copy the image you just created (Ctrl+A or Select All, then Ctrl+C) and paste it onto your new 100x100 base. You can place the image anywhere on the icon, it doesn't have to be set in the center. For vertical images i reccomened off-center images.
This is what your icon should look somewhat like now:
Step 5
Now it's time to add your choice of text and you're done! For text i reccomend Georgia and Times New Roman, in small writing at 60% opacity.
Congrats! You've finished the tutorial. If you have any questions, feel free to post them. Also, I always love to see what people come up with using this tutorial as a base.
Here's a few more using this technique: