PSP8 Full Icon Tutorial - FMA

PSP8 Full icon tutorial, pretty image heavy.

Going from to



Alright, first off, we need to make our 100x100 pixels base image, possibly taken from a larger picture or screencap. I chose this screencap from an episode of Full Metal Alchemist, capped by crumblingwalls

I clicked on the Crop Tool, selected the part of the image I wanted, Cropped it and then Resized it to 100x100 pixels, obtaining this:



As it is, it’s a bit dark and saturated for my taste, so I Duplicated it and set the First Duplicated Layer to Blend Mode: Screen, Opacity 100%



Now it’s too bright and sunny, so I Duplicated it again, setting the Blend Mode to Soft Light (Op. 100%) and then I Desaturated it: Adjust>Hue and Saturation>Colorize and took the Saturation to 0. The Hue doesn’t matter.



Now, I Duplicate this last layer, obtaining my Third Duplicated Layer and so far, our icon looks like this:



However, I wasn’t yet satisfied with my base, so I Duplicate my last layer again and drag it to the top, setting the Blend Mode to Screen, Opacity 60%. And still, something’s missing, so one last Duplicate, setting the Blend Mode to Hard Light (Op. 100%).



So much for our base. But I think it’s a lot better than what we started out with, so let’s carry on.

I took one of cdg_brushes’s textures and Pasted it as a New Layer on top of all my previous layers. I set the Blend Mode to Hard Light, Opacity 75%



Now I clicked on the Dropper Tool and went to find a color I liked from my icon; I chose #AA8660 and applied it on the New Layer (#2) using a decorate box Brush by firaga



Now, this seems tricky, but it’s really not. I went back to my Base, Duplicated it and Desaturated it using the same method as before (Adjust>Hue and Saturation>Colorize and took the Saturation to 0) Then I dragged it all the way to the top and left it between my Texture Layer and my Brush Layer (that is, on top of the First Layer and below the Second Layer).

It should look something like this:



Nasty.
So I took the Eraser Tool (Square, Hardness 100, Opacity 100, Size 50) and erased all around the Box Brush, leaving only that little grey square, seemingly inside the box brush.



Now, I Duplicated the black&white layer with our square in it and set it's Blend Mode to Screen, Op. 100% and then Duplicated it again, setting it to Hard Light, Op. 75%. While still on this last Layer (Copy 2 of B&W Square), I went to Adjust>Brightness/Contrast>Brightness/Contrast and set Brightness:5 and Contrast: 65



The whole should be looking like this:



Now, time to add Text. I click on the layer below my Texture Layer (it should be our Fifth Duplicated Base) and create a New Layer (Layer #3). Then I click on the Text Tool and using the font Decker, size 14, I write ‘whatever’ and place it where I want it to go. On your Color Palette, there should still be the brown color we used on the box brush; I used the same color for the text, but you can, of course, choose whatever you like. Then I click to add Text again and write ‘it takes’, still on Decker, size 10 this time.



And now for the very last step, adding the border. I create a New Layer on top of them all and then click on the Selection Tool. Select the entire icon, then go to Selections>Modify>Contract and write 1 on the Number of pixels. Now go again to Selections>Invert.

Click on the Flood Fill Tool and with the same brown color you used for the brush and the text, Flood Fill the 1 pixel selection around your icon (you’ll probably need to zoom in quite a lot to make the task easier).

My Layers Palette now:




And there you have it, our finished product:



Hope it was easy to follow and clear enough; it wasn't a difficult to make icon, but whatever comes up, just ask.
Also, this tutorial isn't meant to create icon clones, so just have fun and experiment, since this always brings out the best results. ^_^