Want to know how to get the coloring in icons like these? (all icons by me, and created for tutorial purposes, which is why they don't have text or brushes)
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I created a whopping 3 small tutorials designed to teach you techniques to achieve coloring like these.
Warning: very image heavy
First off, I want to explain something. You can't just take my tutorials and follow them step by step on your icons and have them turn out the same. The steps I use to get my coloring greatly depend on the screencap the icon is from. Having said that, I use pretty much the same techniques on all my icons. Just in different order and different opacity levels. I experiment to get what i like. These tutorials are designed to teach you how to use this coloring technique on your icons. Don't follow them step by step because they won't turn out the same.
First of all, I tend to use caps where the person/people are outside. I like the coloring in those better than those inside. And I love bright caps. So all of these have caps that are semi-bright. You can achieve this look from caps that are dark, but you'll need more screened layers to do so.
These tutorials are designed for beginners, but you need to know basic Photoshop techniques. I think that they can be translated into PSP, but I have no idea how to use PSP, so don't ask me how to translate them.
If you do not like this style, this tutorial is not for you. I've had several friends who have had people comment on their tutorials and tell them that they don't like their style...which is dumb. If you don't like this style, don't bother reading the tutorials. Lol.
On to the tutorials (finally):
Tutorial 01: Rory and Jess
*If I don't tell you what opacity to set these layers on, asume that they are 100% opacity. If they aren't, I'll tell you.
1. Find a cap, crop it, and resize it to 100x100 px. All these caps are by
_jems_
Here's my base:
2. I've come to love this step. Duplicate your base and set the blend mode to linear dodge. Not all icons can handle this step. I use it because it really brightens the image up, and it creates a sort-of glow that I like. Now sharpen this layer.
Here's what we've got:
3. Duplicate the linear dodge layer and set it to screen.
4. Duplicate the screened layer and set it to soft light. Then go to "color variations" in your program. For mine, I go to "enhance", then "adjust color", then "color variations". You want to decrease red twice. I do this because I hate huge amounts of red in my icons. And it balances it out nicely. Then sharpen this layer.
Here's what we have:
5. Underneath the soft light layer, create a new layer and fill it with "E4D7BE", or a light brown color. Set this layer to multiply. This step increases the brown in the icon, and gives it a nice, even tone.
Here's what we have as a result:
6. On top of the "multiply" layer, but still underneath the soft light layer, create a new layer and fill it with "D8EFFB", or a light, light blue. Then set this layer to color burn. I love love love color-burn layers. This creates more contrast, while enhancing the blues and greens in the icon. Now duplicate this layer so that you have 2 light blue layers set to color burn.
I do this a lot; I duplicate light blue layers on burn until I find the contrast I want in the icon.
So not too hard, right? It just depends on how you want your icon to look. The next one is slightly more complicated than this one, and the third one is more complicated than the second one, in my opinion. Although they're all pretty simple.
So here's another tutorial using the same sort of techniques, but different. Well, you'll see.
Tutorial 02: Good Ole Luke
1. Find a cap, crop, resize, blah, blah, blah.
2. Duplicate the base and set it to linear dodge. Then go to "color variations" and decrease red once. Then sharpen it. You don't have to decrease the red if you don't want to. I do, because I don't like a lot of red, but you can leave this out if you like your icons to have a red tone.
3. Duplicate the linear dodge layer and set it to screen. Then sharpen it.
4. Duplicate the screened layer and set it to soft light. Then apply "gaussian blur" with a radius of 5.0. Again, this step depends on your program. For me, I go to "filter", "blur", and "gaussian blur". I like to blur the soft light layers sometimes, because it gives it a nice glow without messing up the sharpness.
5. In between the linear dodge layer and the screened layer (steps 2 and 3), create a new layer and fill it with "ABCAE4", or a light blue layer, but darker than the one used in the previous tutorial. Set it to color burn.
Here's what we get:
6. On top of everything, create a new layer and fill it with "D8EFFB" (the blue used in tutorial 1), or a light blue color. Set the layer on color burn.
7. Create a new layer and fill it with "E4D7BE" (the brown used in tutorial 1), or a light brown color. Set this layer to multiply.
8. Duplicate the light blue color burn layer (step 7) and bring it to the top. Set the opacity on this layer to 60%.
And you're done with that one. You could add or take away certain layers to get a different look.
Now, you may ask: why create three tutorials that use almost exactly the same steps?? Why not just create one?? The answer is: I'm teaching you that these techniques, used differently on different icons, will produce different results. If I took the steps from tutorial one and used them on the icon in tutorial 2, I would not get it nearly the way I want it. It's all about experimentation.
Tutorial 3: Sydney, in one of her many disguises
1. (copy from step 1 in the previous 2 tutorials) Here's my base:
2. Duplicate the base and set it to linear dodge. Sharpen it.
3. Duplicate the linear dodge layer and set it to screen. Then go to "color variations" and decrease red once. Sharpen this layer as well.
4. Duplicate the screened layer and set it to soft light.
5. On top of your base, and below ALL other layers, create a new layer and fill it with "61BADB" and set it to color burn, 55%. I got this step from somethingthe_true_slayer mentioned in one of her tutorials, and I love it. I use it a lot. Sometimes I'll put it on the top, and that really really enhances the blues and greens. Most of the time, though, I'll put it underneath some of the layers for a less extreme look.
6. In between the "screen" and "soft light" layers (steps 3 and 4), create a new layer and fill it with "E4D7BE", and then set it to multiply.
7. On top of the brown layer, but still underneath the soft light layer, create a new layer and fill it with "D8EFFB". Set this layer once again to color burn.
And voila! Finished.
In these tutorials, you'll see that I use the same colors (the brown and the light blue) over and over again. That is not the case when I make most of my icons. I vary a little bit on the colors to get a certain look, but it's late at night, and I like only writing 3 or 4 colors down, as opposed to 8. Lol.
If I messed up anything, I'm truly sorry. It's late at night, and I'm tired. i hope you learned something here, and if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them!!!
1.
2. 3.I created a whopping 3 small tutorials designed to teach you techniques to achieve coloring like these.
Warning: very image heavy
First off, I want to explain something. You can't just take my tutorials and follow them step by step on your icons and have them turn out the same. The steps I use to get my coloring greatly depend on the screencap the icon is from. Having said that, I use pretty much the same techniques on all my icons. Just in different order and different opacity levels. I experiment to get what i like. These tutorials are designed to teach you how to use this coloring technique on your icons. Don't follow them step by step because they won't turn out the same.
First of all, I tend to use caps where the person/people are outside. I like the coloring in those better than those inside. And I love bright caps. So all of these have caps that are semi-bright. You can achieve this look from caps that are dark, but you'll need more screened layers to do so.
These tutorials are designed for beginners, but you need to know basic Photoshop techniques. I think that they can be translated into PSP, but I have no idea how to use PSP, so don't ask me how to translate them.
If you do not like this style, this tutorial is not for you. I've had several friends who have had people comment on their tutorials and tell them that they don't like their style...which is dumb. If you don't like this style, don't bother reading the tutorials. Lol.
On to the tutorials (finally):
Tutorial 01: Rory and Jess
*If I don't tell you what opacity to set these layers on, asume that they are 100% opacity. If they aren't, I'll tell you.
1. Find a cap, crop it, and resize it to 100x100 px. All these caps are by
_jems_Here's my base:
2. I've come to love this step. Duplicate your base and set the blend mode to linear dodge. Not all icons can handle this step. I use it because it really brightens the image up, and it creates a sort-of glow that I like. Now sharpen this layer.
Here's what we've got:
3. Duplicate the linear dodge layer and set it to screen.
4. Duplicate the screened layer and set it to soft light. Then go to "color variations" in your program. For mine, I go to "enhance", then "adjust color", then "color variations". You want to decrease red twice. I do this because I hate huge amounts of red in my icons. And it balances it out nicely. Then sharpen this layer.
Here's what we have:
5. Underneath the soft light layer, create a new layer and fill it with "E4D7BE", or a light brown color. Set this layer to multiply. This step increases the brown in the icon, and gives it a nice, even tone.
Here's what we have as a result:
6. On top of the "multiply" layer, but still underneath the soft light layer, create a new layer and fill it with "D8EFFB", or a light, light blue. Then set this layer to color burn. I love love love color-burn layers. This creates more contrast, while enhancing the blues and greens in the icon. Now duplicate this layer so that you have 2 light blue layers set to color burn.
I do this a lot; I duplicate light blue layers on burn until I find the contrast I want in the icon.
So not too hard, right? It just depends on how you want your icon to look. The next one is slightly more complicated than this one, and the third one is more complicated than the second one, in my opinion. Although they're all pretty simple.
So here's another tutorial using the same sort of techniques, but different. Well, you'll see.
Tutorial 02: Good Ole Luke
1. Find a cap, crop, resize, blah, blah, blah.
2. Duplicate the base and set it to linear dodge. Then go to "color variations" and decrease red once. Then sharpen it. You don't have to decrease the red if you don't want to. I do, because I don't like a lot of red, but you can leave this out if you like your icons to have a red tone.
3. Duplicate the linear dodge layer and set it to screen. Then sharpen it.
4. Duplicate the screened layer and set it to soft light. Then apply "gaussian blur" with a radius of 5.0. Again, this step depends on your program. For me, I go to "filter", "blur", and "gaussian blur". I like to blur the soft light layers sometimes, because it gives it a nice glow without messing up the sharpness.
5. In between the linear dodge layer and the screened layer (steps 2 and 3), create a new layer and fill it with "ABCAE4", or a light blue layer, but darker than the one used in the previous tutorial. Set it to color burn.
Here's what we get:
6. On top of everything, create a new layer and fill it with "D8EFFB" (the blue used in tutorial 1), or a light blue color. Set the layer on color burn.
7. Create a new layer and fill it with "E4D7BE" (the brown used in tutorial 1), or a light brown color. Set this layer to multiply.
8. Duplicate the light blue color burn layer (step 7) and bring it to the top. Set the opacity on this layer to 60%.
And you're done with that one. You could add or take away certain layers to get a different look.
Now, you may ask: why create three tutorials that use almost exactly the same steps?? Why not just create one?? The answer is: I'm teaching you that these techniques, used differently on different icons, will produce different results. If I took the steps from tutorial one and used them on the icon in tutorial 2, I would not get it nearly the way I want it. It's all about experimentation.
Tutorial 3: Sydney, in one of her many disguises
1. (copy from step 1 in the previous 2 tutorials) Here's my base:
2. Duplicate the base and set it to linear dodge. Sharpen it.
3. Duplicate the linear dodge layer and set it to screen. Then go to "color variations" and decrease red once. Sharpen this layer as well.
4. Duplicate the screened layer and set it to soft light.
5. On top of your base, and below ALL other layers, create a new layer and fill it with "61BADB" and set it to color burn, 55%. I got this step from something
the_true_slayer mentioned in one of her tutorials, and I love it. I use it a lot. Sometimes I'll put it on the top, and that really really enhances the blues and greens. Most of the time, though, I'll put it underneath some of the layers for a less extreme look.6. In between the "screen" and "soft light" layers (steps 3 and 4), create a new layer and fill it with "E4D7BE", and then set it to multiply.
7. On top of the brown layer, but still underneath the soft light layer, create a new layer and fill it with "D8EFFB". Set this layer once again to color burn.
And voila! Finished.
In these tutorials, you'll see that I use the same colors (the brown and the light blue) over and over again. That is not the case when I make most of my icons. I vary a little bit on the colors to get a certain look, but it's late at night, and I like only writing 3 or 4 colors down, as opposed to 8. Lol.
If I messed up anything, I'm truly sorry. It's late at night, and I'm tired. i hope you learned something here, and if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them!!!