Basic Icon Tutorial (PS7)
I just did a very basic icon tutorial. It is also extremely image intensive, so dial up users beware. I hope that that helps some people.
I am starting out with this base:
Once I have opened it in photoshop, I right click on the layers box and click on duplicate layer:
I normally duplicate it twice, so the layers box should look like so:
Please bear in mind that I love layers, and that I use a lot of them, because they let me remove effects if I've made a mistake, or if I've decided that I didn't like a specific effect. I will be mentioning this box throughout the tutorial. Learn to love it, because I do! ;o)
I then select my top most layer and blur it because I want the image to come out smooth.
As the base is quite busy, I've only made it blurred at 1.1 pixels. If I have a close up of a face or an object, I normally use 1.5 pixels, but go ahead and tinker around with it.
In order to make the image darker and clearer, I made a blending change to soft light. You can find that drop down menu on your layers box:
In order to intensify that look, I also make a blending to soft light for the second layer as well.
Then, I made the bottom-most layer invisible by clicking on the eye in the layer box. The eye should have disappeared and left you with a blank grey box:
Then I hit Shift + Ctrl + E to merge layers. You can also go to Layers --> Merge Visible. And then I duplicated the layer like I did to the original base, except to what is now the second layer. I then turned the third layer to a black and white image by hitting Shift + Ctrl + U. It can also be done by going to Image --> Adjustments --> Desaturate. I then used the eraser tool to erase the portions of that layer that covered Cate and the goldfish, so that they were the only ones in colour.
Because I didn't feel there was enough difference between Cate and the background, I then picked out a colour from the image #6B675E and painted it on a new layer (Shift + Ctrl + N) and then did a blending change to Screen. And I again erased the portions of that layer lying over Cate and the goldfish.
The image now looks like this:
I like to label my layers so that I know what I've done to each layer. I haven't been keeping track during this tutorial because I've been writing this, but I've found that it's a good way to keep track of what I've been doing and what I've done to each layer, especially if I have to stop in the middle and go and do something else. You can do so by double clicking on the words in the layer box and typing something that makes sense in there. For instance, I typed in the hexadecimal colour number and also the blending layer:
Now, I just want to make a simple border around the image. I press Ctrl + A to select the whole image, and then go to Edit --> Stroke and select a one pixel border with a dark brown (#331B0D) that I've selected from the image.
I like having borders around icons because I feel that it draws your eye to the centre of the piece and it completes it. If you're happy with the results, you can stop there, but I want to add some text to the image.
I choose a blue from Cate's dress (#1C6B7D) to use for the text. The way she's looking at the goldfish, and the way it's balanced so precariously in her hand just makes me think that the word "life" is appropriate. I've chosen to use Times New Roman, size 18.
The most important thing for you to note is that antialias should be ON. Anti alias smooths out the rough edges, making the font look less pixel-y. HOWEVER, if you are using a pixel font like Redensek or one of the 04 fonts, then antialias should be OFF. I can never repeat myself enough:
Pixel font? anti alias OFF (read: None)
NOT pixel font? anti alias ON (Strong, Sharp, Crisp, Smooth)
Now that I've gotten the text up there, I decide that it's too dark, and I want it to be a little luminous and a wee transparent, so I change the blending layer to Hard Light.
The final product should look like so:
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. Also, any comments on the tutorial would be helpful so that I know how to make further tutorials clearer.
I am starting out with this base:
Once I have opened it in photoshop, I right click on the layers box and click on duplicate layer:
I normally duplicate it twice, so the layers box should look like so:
Please bear in mind that I love layers, and that I use a lot of them, because they let me remove effects if I've made a mistake, or if I've decided that I didn't like a specific effect. I will be mentioning this box throughout the tutorial. Learn to love it, because I do! ;o)
I then select my top most layer and blur it because I want the image to come out smooth.
As the base is quite busy, I've only made it blurred at 1.1 pixels. If I have a close up of a face or an object, I normally use 1.5 pixels, but go ahead and tinker around with it.
In order to make the image darker and clearer, I made a blending change to soft light. You can find that drop down menu on your layers box:
In order to intensify that look, I also make a blending to soft light for the second layer as well.
Then, I made the bottom-most layer invisible by clicking on the eye in the layer box. The eye should have disappeared and left you with a blank grey box:
Then I hit Shift + Ctrl + E to merge layers. You can also go to Layers --> Merge Visible. And then I duplicated the layer like I did to the original base, except to what is now the second layer. I then turned the third layer to a black and white image by hitting Shift + Ctrl + U. It can also be done by going to Image --> Adjustments --> Desaturate. I then used the eraser tool to erase the portions of that layer that covered Cate and the goldfish, so that they were the only ones in colour.
Because I didn't feel there was enough difference between Cate and the background, I then picked out a colour from the image #6B675E and painted it on a new layer (Shift + Ctrl + N) and then did a blending change to Screen. And I again erased the portions of that layer lying over Cate and the goldfish.
The image now looks like this:
I like to label my layers so that I know what I've done to each layer. I haven't been keeping track during this tutorial because I've been writing this, but I've found that it's a good way to keep track of what I've been doing and what I've done to each layer, especially if I have to stop in the middle and go and do something else. You can do so by double clicking on the words in the layer box and typing something that makes sense in there. For instance, I typed in the hexadecimal colour number and also the blending layer:
Now, I just want to make a simple border around the image. I press Ctrl + A to select the whole image, and then go to Edit --> Stroke and select a one pixel border with a dark brown (#331B0D) that I've selected from the image.
I like having borders around icons because I feel that it draws your eye to the centre of the piece and it completes it. If you're happy with the results, you can stop there, but I want to add some text to the image.
I choose a blue from Cate's dress (#1C6B7D) to use for the text. The way she's looking at the goldfish, and the way it's balanced so precariously in her hand just makes me think that the word "life" is appropriate. I've chosen to use Times New Roman, size 18.
The most important thing for you to note is that antialias should be ON. Anti alias smooths out the rough edges, making the font look less pixel-y. HOWEVER, if you are using a pixel font like Redensek or one of the 04 fonts, then antialias should be OFF. I can never repeat myself enough:
Pixel font? anti alias OFF (read: None)
NOT pixel font? anti alias ON (Strong, Sharp, Crisp, Smooth)
Now that I've gotten the text up there, I decide that it's too dark, and I want it to be a little luminous and a wee transparent, so I change the blending layer to Hard Light.
The final product should look like so:
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. Also, any comments on the tutorial would be helpful so that I know how to make further tutorials clearer.