quick tute
go from
to 
Okie dokie…I’m recovering from minor surgery and bored out of my mind so I decided to write a tute…I haven’t written one in quite some time so bear with me. Hopefully I make it easy to understand :P As always…PLEASE don’t follow the instructions identically…unless it’s for practice…put your own spin on things and be creative…it’ll be way more fun! Anywho…on to the tutorial!!!
1.First of all I took this cropped screen cap - go to Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen – Scale to 100x100 your preferred method
2. Go to Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen again and then Edit>Fade Sharpen to anywhere from 50-30% (I went down to about 40). Duplicate the background layer, set the blend mode to ‘Screen’ and set the opacity level to around 40% ( it doesn’t seem like a ton of difference but it just makes the whole thing a bit brighter which is the desired effect for this icon). Duplicate the background layer and click off the visibility for both; you will need copy of the original background layer shortly so this step is important. Merge the two visible layers.
3. Create a new blank layer above the new background layer; fill this layer with black (#000000) and set the blend mode to ‘Color’ at full opacity to. The image is now desaturated. ( I know you can just go and desat. the image in the adjustments menu but I like the way this method works better…it gives it a nicer effect in my opinion. ). Merge the visible layers
4. Duplicate the desaturated background. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and set the radius to about 2.5. Set this layer’s blend mode to ‘Screen’ at about 70% opacity. This will give the icon a slightly glowy look. It may seem a bit bright but that will be adjusted in later steps. Merge the two desaturated layers.
5. Restore the visibility to the duplicated color background from step two. At the bottom of your layers pallet, select the ‘add layer mask button’ to create an editable mask over your image. This is FAR better than using an eraser because you can fix it a million times over if you need to. Just make sure that your color pallet is set to black and white with white in the front…painting with white will now erase detail and painting with black will restore it. Zoom in on the image to about 300% or 400% and carefully remove the black and white from a section of the image. Try to make it as accurate as humanly possible; if you make a small tiny tiny mistake its no big deal, it wont be noticeable in the end product.
6. Select the black and white layer and change the opacity to about 90-95%. This is just enough to keep most of the desaturation but give a hint of background color without taking away from the more dominant foreground color. Merge the layers.
You could add some text or a brush and call the icon finished at this point if you wanted but the next steps just make it more interesting and I feel…a better icon.
7.Now that the modified base has been created, more color effects will be applied to the background. Create a new layer above the background, and flood it with a dark blue (#082047). Set the blend mode to exclusion and the opacity at 50%. DO NOT MERGE YET!!!
8. Keeping the exclusion layer selected, create another layer mask and remove the color from the same area as was removed in step five.
9. Create a new layer above the background layer and fill it with a gradient. Set the blend mode to ‘Soft Light’ at full opacity and duplicate the layer. Merge the gradient layers together
At this point you could remove the gradient color from the section of the image but depending on your image it may not be very noticeable that the color is still there.
10.Create a new layer above everything; using your rectangular marquee, select a section at the top and the bottom of the image and fill with black. The width of these bars is up to you. DON’T MERGE YET!!
11. Decrease the opacity of the black bars to make it easier to see what portions need to be erased, and using an eraser or a layer mask, erase the parts that cover up the foreground image to make it look like it is in front of the bars. Restore the opacity to the level you desire and merge.
12. Add your text, brush, texture and the icon is complete!
Please snag the icon, its part of an incomplete set so I don’t want it taken before I’m ready for it to be taken.
to Okie dokie…I’m recovering from minor surgery and bored out of my mind so I decided to write a tute…I haven’t written one in quite some time so bear with me. Hopefully I make it easy to understand :P As always…PLEASE don’t follow the instructions identically…unless it’s for practice…put your own spin on things and be creative…it’ll be way more fun! Anywho…on to the tutorial!!!
1.First of all I took this cropped screen cap - go to Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen – Scale to 100x100 your preferred method
2. Go to Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen again and then Edit>Fade Sharpen to anywhere from 50-30% (I went down to about 40). Duplicate the background layer, set the blend mode to ‘Screen’ and set the opacity level to around 40% ( it doesn’t seem like a ton of difference but it just makes the whole thing a bit brighter which is the desired effect for this icon). Duplicate the background layer and click off the visibility for both; you will need copy of the original background layer shortly so this step is important. Merge the two visible layers.
3. Create a new blank layer above the new background layer; fill this layer with black (#000000) and set the blend mode to ‘Color’ at full opacity to. The image is now desaturated. ( I know you can just go and desat. the image in the adjustments menu but I like the way this method works better…it gives it a nicer effect in my opinion. ). Merge the visible layers
4. Duplicate the desaturated background. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and set the radius to about 2.5. Set this layer’s blend mode to ‘Screen’ at about 70% opacity. This will give the icon a slightly glowy look. It may seem a bit bright but that will be adjusted in later steps. Merge the two desaturated layers.
5. Restore the visibility to the duplicated color background from step two. At the bottom of your layers pallet, select the ‘add layer mask button’ to create an editable mask over your image. This is FAR better than using an eraser because you can fix it a million times over if you need to. Just make sure that your color pallet is set to black and white with white in the front…painting with white will now erase detail and painting with black will restore it. Zoom in on the image to about 300% or 400% and carefully remove the black and white from a section of the image. Try to make it as accurate as humanly possible; if you make a small tiny tiny mistake its no big deal, it wont be noticeable in the end product.
6. Select the black and white layer and change the opacity to about 90-95%. This is just enough to keep most of the desaturation but give a hint of background color without taking away from the more dominant foreground color. Merge the layers.
You could add some text or a brush and call the icon finished at this point if you wanted but the next steps just make it more interesting and I feel…a better icon.
7.Now that the modified base has been created, more color effects will be applied to the background. Create a new layer above the background, and flood it with a dark blue (#082047). Set the blend mode to exclusion and the opacity at 50%. DO NOT MERGE YET!!!
8. Keeping the exclusion layer selected, create another layer mask and remove the color from the same area as was removed in step five.
9. Create a new layer above the background layer and fill it with a gradient. Set the blend mode to ‘Soft Light’ at full opacity and duplicate the layer. Merge the gradient layers together
At this point you could remove the gradient color from the section of the image but depending on your image it may not be very noticeable that the color is still there.
10.Create a new layer above everything; using your rectangular marquee, select a section at the top and the bottom of the image and fill with black. The width of these bars is up to you. DON’T MERGE YET!!
11. Decrease the opacity of the black bars to make it easier to see what portions need to be erased, and using an eraser or a layer mask, erase the parts that cover up the foreground image to make it look like it is in front of the bars. Restore the opacity to the level you desire and merge.
12. Add your text, brush, texture and the icon is complete!
Please snag the icon, its part of an incomplete set so I don’t want it taken before I’m ready for it to be taken.