Icon Tutorial - PS7, IR
I've been noticing some requests for Adobe ImageReady tutorials in the comm lately, and thought I'll contribute a simple one that's relatively easy and fun to use. Icon tutorial also included in the package.
Base used is of Agatsuma Soubi, a character from Loveless, taken from a scan posted by
kiradyn_rhiode in 
raburesu.
Tools of trade: Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and Adobe ImageReady and again, I don't know how translate-able is the tutorial, I'm not familiar with anything else besides the two above. My second tutorial - feel free to jump on me for being a lousy tute-writer.
Tutorial is extremely image-heavy as I used graphical representations for the ImageReady section. My apologies to dial-up users.
From
to 
and it's all below =)
Step 01
Resize base to whatever sort of crop you want it to be. It should be noted that you can experiment with a variety of ways to crop an icon, it doesn't always need to be right smack in the middle (For example, here and here are other ways of cropping the base).
----
Step 02
As mentioned in my first tutorial, experimenting with the options on the Image menu (Image-Adjustments) of Color Balance, Levels, Brightness and Contrast are extremely useful. I probably won't bother with the exact values next time round (if I ever write another tutorial that is), just tweak the settings to achieve the colouring you want, it's quite simple.
Color Balance;
Shadows: -9, +7, +21
Midtones: +23, +26, +44
Highlights: +9, +12, -15
Brightness/Contrast: +12, +8
Curves: 128 (input), 119 (output)
----
Step 03
Duplicate the base layer, and set it to Multiply, Opacity 45% - I want to achieve a darkish effect. However, the Multiply command really varies according to your base - it can turn some bases really dark, so if you want the effect, you need to adjust the opacity levels accordingly (example of too-dark effect here).
----
Step 04
I'm quite a fan of the Overlay/Soft Light/Hard Light effects, because they give a soft, glowy look to the icon that I like. =) So for this one, I duplicated the base layer, use the Gaussian Blur (Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur) tool (for a softer effect), radius 2.0
I then set the opacity to 60%, because it's too bright at 100% for me.
----
Step 05
Soubi is looking a little blurry so I used the Sharpen tool (Filter-Sharpen-Sharpen) to bring out his eyes, glasses and the cigarette.
----
Step 06
I think Soubi is looking a little yellowish, so I lightened him up a little with a gradient (by myself), setting it to Screen, Opacity 30%.
----> 
(Gradient ----> Gradient over image)
----
Step 07
I then added a light texture by_joni for a reddish glow effect to the icon, set at Screen, opacity 100%. Light textures are fun and often creative so do experiment with them.
----> 
(Light texture ----> over image)
----
Step 08
A texture byserendipitysho is added just to have a bit of patterning around the shirt. I gradient the texture with a gradient for colouring purposes, and then set the texture to Color Burn, Opacity 60%.
----> 
----> 
----> 
(Texture ----> Gradient used ----> Gradient over texture ----> image)
----
Step 09
I don't like the yellow tinge around the chin and neck, so I chose to Erase the texture around those parts. (Tip: Always magnify for icon for more precise erasing)
----
Step 10
A text brush byohpaintbrush is used with the color #7D0101, rotated Counter-Clockwise (CCW). I then set it to Hard Light (for no particular reason, I'm just weird that way) with opacity of 75%.
----> 
----> 
(Text brush ----> brush rotated ----> image)
----
Step 11
(I always find boxes and stripes an interesting addition to icons)
A little white strip is added at the base of the icon - I intend for this to come in handy when adding text later. To make the box, just use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to draw a small strip, set it to a new layer and fill the stip with white.
Rotate it sideways slightly, and then set the opacity to 70%.
----> 
----> 
(Outline of box ----> coloured box ----> reduced opacity on image)
----
Step 12
And because the text of the icon is to be animated in ImageReady, I chose to add the border now instead of at the final step (as I would usually do). The border is coloured at #A22323, opacity set to 70%.
----
Step 13
The text "want to b r e a t h e" is Arial, Italic, 9.8pt, Strong, color #8D1F1E. I reduced the opacity to 70% so it wasn't starkingly bright.
----
Step 14
The text "can't find air"> is Grudblitter, 12pt, Strong, color #370505, opacity 50%.
Duplicate the later, rasterized it, and then use the Motion Blur filter (Fliter-Blur-Motion Blur), angle 0 degrees, distance 50 pixels.
As you can see, it's very light, so just reset the opacity of the blurred layer to 100%.
----> 
----> 
----> 
(Text ----> rasterized and blurred layer ----> looking too light ----> Opacity back to 100% for blurred layer)
----
Now on to Adobe ImageReady! I'll try to be as detailed as possible using graphics as I know people are more familiar with Photoshop, and not so with ImageReady. =)
What we have so far:
Step 15
Your workscreen in ImageReady should look somewhat like this.
The animating process as shown below:-
Because I am an idiot and didn't clarify above - by 'text layer hidden', I mean that you should make sure that the text layer of "can't find air" is not visible in frames 7, 8 and 9.
Run the animation of your icon a few times to make sure it's what you want and stuff like that before saving.
----
Step 16
The saving process (please take note to make sure your icon is animated upon saving):-
----
And that's it, we're all done!
Finished Product
Got this idea fromhaito a few posts below - I figured maybe a layer recap of the icon might be helpful. =)
A tip on icon-size that I capped, that'll tell you whether is your icon suitable to LJ's 40KB standards, comes in handy, I feel. Rather than saving the icon and then checking it out manually again for file size.
Feel free to hit me with any questions at all, or if you need graphical representations of any particular step in Photoshop, I'll be more than happy to clarify and such.
Comments more than appreciated, and works posted even more appreciated. Hope that this tutorial is useful to a few of you. =)
x-posted tomouseicons
Base used is of Agatsuma Soubi, a character from Loveless, taken from a scan posted by
kiradyn_rhiode in raburesu. Tools of trade: Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and Adobe ImageReady and again, I don't know how translate-able is the tutorial, I'm not familiar with anything else besides the two above. My second tutorial - feel free to jump on me for being a lousy tute-writer.
Tutorial is extremely image-heavy as I used graphical representations for the ImageReady section. My apologies to dial-up users.
From
to and it's all below =)Step 01
Resize base to whatever sort of crop you want it to be. It should be noted that you can experiment with a variety of ways to crop an icon, it doesn't always need to be right smack in the middle (For example, here and here are other ways of cropping the base).
----
Step 02
As mentioned in my first tutorial, experimenting with the options on the Image menu (Image-Adjustments) of Color Balance, Levels, Brightness and Contrast are extremely useful. I probably won't bother with the exact values next time round (if I ever write another tutorial that is), just tweak the settings to achieve the colouring you want, it's quite simple.
Color Balance;
Shadows: -9, +7, +21
Midtones: +23, +26, +44
Highlights: +9, +12, -15
Brightness/Contrast: +12, +8
Curves: 128 (input), 119 (output)
----
Step 03
Duplicate the base layer, and set it to Multiply, Opacity 45% - I want to achieve a darkish effect. However, the Multiply command really varies according to your base - it can turn some bases really dark, so if you want the effect, you need to adjust the opacity levels accordingly (example of too-dark effect here).
----
Step 04
I'm quite a fan of the Overlay/Soft Light/Hard Light effects, because they give a soft, glowy look to the icon that I like. =) So for this one, I duplicated the base layer, use the Gaussian Blur (Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur) tool (for a softer effect), radius 2.0
I then set the opacity to 60%, because it's too bright at 100% for me.
----
Step 05
Soubi is looking a little blurry so I used the Sharpen tool (Filter-Sharpen-Sharpen) to bring out his eyes, glasses and the cigarette.
----
Step 06
I think Soubi is looking a little yellowish, so I lightened him up a little with a gradient (by myself), setting it to Screen, Opacity 30%.
----> (Gradient ----> Gradient over image)
----
Step 07
I then added a light texture by
_joni for a reddish glow effect to the icon, set at Screen, opacity 100%. Light textures are fun and often creative so do experiment with them. ----> (Light texture ----> over image)
----
Step 08
A texture by
serendipitysho is added just to have a bit of patterning around the shirt. I gradient the texture with a gradient for colouring purposes, and then set the texture to Color Burn, Opacity 60%. ----> ----> ----> (Texture ----> Gradient used ----> Gradient over texture ----> image)
----
Step 09
I don't like the yellow tinge around the chin and neck, so I chose to Erase the texture around those parts. (Tip: Always magnify for icon for more precise erasing)
----
Step 10
A text brush by
ohpaintbrush is used with the color #7D0101, rotated Counter-Clockwise (CCW). I then set it to Hard Light (for no particular reason, I'm just weird that way) with opacity of 75%. ----> ----> (Text brush ----> brush rotated ----> image)
----
Step 11
(I always find boxes and stripes an interesting addition to icons)
A little white strip is added at the base of the icon - I intend for this to come in handy when adding text later. To make the box, just use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to draw a small strip, set it to a new layer and fill the stip with white.
Rotate it sideways slightly, and then set the opacity to 70%.
----> ----> (Outline of box ----> coloured box ----> reduced opacity on image)
----
Step 12
And because the text of the icon is to be animated in ImageReady, I chose to add the border now instead of at the final step (as I would usually do). The border is coloured at #A22323, opacity set to 70%.
----
Step 13
The text "want to b r e a t h e" is Arial, Italic, 9.8pt, Strong, color #8D1F1E. I reduced the opacity to 70% so it wasn't starkingly bright.
----
Step 14
The text "can't find air"> is Grudblitter, 12pt, Strong, color #370505, opacity 50%.
Duplicate the later, rasterized it, and then use the Motion Blur filter (Fliter-Blur-Motion Blur), angle 0 degrees, distance 50 pixels.
As you can see, it's very light, so just reset the opacity of the blurred layer to 100%.
----> ----> ----> (Text ----> rasterized and blurred layer ----> looking too light ----> Opacity back to 100% for blurred layer)
----
Now on to Adobe ImageReady! I'll try to be as detailed as possible using graphics as I know people are more familiar with Photoshop, and not so with ImageReady. =)
What we have so far:
Step 15
Your workscreen in ImageReady should look somewhat like this.
The animating process as shown below:-
Because I am an idiot and didn't clarify above - by 'text layer hidden', I mean that you should make sure that the text layer of "can't find air" is not visible in frames 7, 8 and 9.
Run the animation of your icon a few times to make sure it's what you want and stuff like that before saving.
----
Step 16
The saving process (please take note to make sure your icon is animated upon saving):-
----
And that's it, we're all done!
Got this idea from
haito a few posts below - I figured maybe a layer recap of the icon might be helpful. =)
A tip on icon-size that I capped, that'll tell you whether is your icon suitable to LJ's 40KB standards, comes in handy, I feel. Rather than saving the icon and then checking it out manually again for file size.
Feel free to hit me with any questions at all, or if you need graphical representations of any particular step in Photoshop, I'll be more than happy to clarify and such.
Comments more than appreciated, and works posted even more appreciated. Hope that this tutorial is useful to a few of you. =)
x-posted to
mouseicons
EDIT: Forgot to credit the text - Text are lyrics taken from Anastasia's Left Outside Alone, one of my favourite songs. Ever. ^.~