Icon tutorial! PS 7
Hi, it's my first time posting here! </br>
I decided to write an icon tutorial.
Mainly just for myself, cause I always play around with Photoshop so much, </br>
without even knowing what exactly I did...
I would make an icon and it comes out all nice and pretty and 10 minutes later I don't even remember, </br>
what I did to make it look like that!
</br>
</br>
So yeah,
</br>
I wrote this tutorial!
</br>
</br>
The tutorial is written for Photoshop 7 </br>
It expects that you know all the basics like:</br>
what a layer is, how you create it, where all the tools are... blend modes and so on!
</br></br>
</br></br>
This is the icon we are gonna make...
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
and here you can see what my layers palette looked like when I was finished!:
</br>
Layers Palette
</br>
</br>
We start with this base:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
It's not very sharp so the first thing I do is dublicate the layer once (never touch the original layer!)
</br>
hit Filter -> Sharpen
</br>
(blend mode: normal, opacity 100%)
</br>
I think it could be a little bit sharper so I dublicate the sharpend layer! (named: "Background copy") </br>
and have a new layer now ("Background copy 2") this layer I sharpen again!
</br>
Filter -> Sharpen
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
now it really looks oversharpend to me so I lower the opacity of layer "background copy 2" to 50%
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
now this I am happy with!
</br>
</br>
Now I could actually merge the layers and start from there! </br>
But since I don't like to merge layers right away </br>
[cause every time I do that something happens during the making of an icon</br>
and with merged layers I would have to start over again instead of just going back to the layer I messed up] </br>
there is a neat trick I learned from the wonderful
shagalote </br>
in one of her great tutorials </br> </br>
Create a new raster layer on top of all your 3 layers! </br>
Select all by hitting Ctrl A, go to Edit –> Copy Merged (Shft Ctrl C) </br>
select your new layer and then click Edit –> Paste (Ctrl V). </br>
There! You have all the layers merged as a new layer on top of the original 3, </br>
so in case anything happens, you can always go back and change something!</br> </br>
Your new layer is called "Layer 1" now</br> </br>
Copy "Layer 1" once! You get "Layer 1 copy". </br>
Set the blend mode of "Layer 1 copy" to screen, opacity 100%</br>
then go to </br>
Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and put the Contrast up to 50 </br>
The result should look like this now:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Pretty, but not good enough yet!
</br>
</br>
Create a new raster layer on top of "Layer 1 copy"...the new layer is called "Layer 2" now! </br>
</br>Flood fill "Layer 2" with a dark blue! I choose # 080A5E
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Set the blend mode of the blue layer to exclusion, opacity 100% and you should get this now:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Not too bad, but way too yellow for my tastes! </br>
</br>
So I try to tune down the color a little by creating a new raster layer and filling it with a sepia tone gradient.
</br>
Photoshop 7 comes with gradients already so I choose the
</br>
Gradient tool-> Pastels -> and there choose the sepia gradient
</br>
I fill the layer with the gradient, so that the layer looks like this now:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now I set the blend mode to color and change the opacity to 75% ...
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Very pretty but it would be nice to have it a little bit darker and with some of its original colors</br>
</br>
So what I do now:
</br>
I go back to "layer 1" dublicate it once so I get "layer 1 copy 2"</br>
Now I take this new layer ("layer 1 copy 2") and drag it all the way up on top of the gradient layer. </br>
</br>I set the blend mode of "layer 1 copy 2" to soft light, the opacity 100%
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Much better, but it needs some colors... so I create a new raster layer again... "Layer 4"! </br>
</br>
I fill it with yet another gradient to get some nice colors.</br>
And again I choose a pastel layer from the gradients that come with photoshop. </br>
I choose the green yellow orange one and fill "layer 4" like this:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
I set the blend mode to soft light, opacity 100%
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Wheee pretty... you could leave it like this now, </br>
but I decided it really is too red for my taste so I wanna try to take some of the red color out of the pic</br></br>
I go to
</br>Layers-> New Adjustment Layer-> Channel mixer
</br>In the drop down thingy where it says "output channel" I choose RED </br>
(if you mark the little box where it says preview, you can see how the changing of the colors affects your icon) </br>
So I play a little until I find what I like:
</br></br>Red at 80%, green at 20%...
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now this is better!
</br>
</br>
I am almost happy! </br>
The only thing is, that I think Spike is too dark in the background </br>
So I use the pastel sepia gradient again to change that... This time I apply it like this
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
cause I want only spike to be brighter:
</br>
</br>
I set the blend mode to soft light and (since I think its too bright) lower the opacity to 50%</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Good, I am happy now!</br>
Time for brushes!
</br>
</br>
The brushes I use for this icon are those:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
This is the embarrassing part: I do not know who the first two brushes are from! I have a couple of people credited in my userinfo so I checked their brush sets but just couldn't find those brushes! Maybe I missed something or somebody else made those brushes and I didn't credit that person! I am sorry! If you recognize the brushes or if you made them, please let me know so I can give credit! Thanks!
</br></br>ETA: brush #1 and #2 byquebelly</br>Brush #3 by dtissagirl</br>
(this is also the order in which I use them)
</br>
</br>
Usually I just create a couple of new raster layers and then try a lot of border brushes </br>
until I finally find what I like best </br>
(this is the reason why there are some layers missing in my layers palette, </br>
I tried different border brushes and then kept the ones I liked and deleted all the others)</br>
</br>
From the color palette I choose black (#000000) and aply the first brush to the new raster layer </br>
(which would be "layer 6" normally, on my palette it's "layer 10") and set the blend mode to Overlay, opacity 100%</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now I create a new layer again (for you it would be "Layer 7", in my palette it's "layer 12") </br>
and apply the 2. brush to it</br>again black (#000000), this time blend mode: normal, opacity 100%</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now only one thing more! </br>
</br>
It needs some kinda texture to give it some depth... </br>
I love screen brushes so I choose brush #3.</br>
for this brush I use black again (#000000) </br>
cause I would rather like it to come out a little darker... </br>
I apply the brush </br>
Put the</i> blend mode to soft light, opacity 30%</i> .... and voilá</br>
</br>
we get this result:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now usually you would add some text in a nice font...
</br>
But I am really bad with text... I never know what to write on an icon!</br> So I leave that to you guys!
</br>
Well, I hope this helped a little! </br>
Play a little with different gradients, blend modes, opacities! </br>
It's fun to see how different colors and blend modes can completly change the look of an icon!
</br>
Here are 2 more examples of Icons I made using the same technique!
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
All 3 Icons are up for grabs! Add some text and make them pretty! Credit not necessary, but please comment!
</br>
</br>
If something is unclear or if I made spelling mistakes, let me know! I know every icon maker has their own way of doing things, so if you have suggestions, like how I could make thinks easier, or prettier or faster or anything like that! please tell me! I am always eager to learn new things!
</br>
</br>
♥ Messa
</br>
</br>
(lookpekeana! I was brave and posted it! :P )
I decided to write an icon tutorial.
Mainly just for myself, cause I always play around with Photoshop so much, </br>
without even knowing what exactly I did...
I would make an icon and it comes out all nice and pretty and 10 minutes later I don't even remember, </br>
what I did to make it look like that!
</br>
</br>
So yeah,
</br>
I wrote this tutorial!
</br>
</br>
The tutorial is written for Photoshop 7 </br>
It expects that you know all the basics like:</br>
what a layer is, how you create it, where all the tools are... blend modes and so on!
</br></br>
</br></br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
and here you can see what my layers palette looked like when I was finished!:
</br>
Layers Palette
</br>
</br>
We start with this base:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
It's not very sharp so the first thing I do is dublicate the layer once (never touch the original layer!)
</br>
hit Filter -> Sharpen
</br>
(blend mode: normal, opacity 100%)
</br>
I think it could be a little bit sharper so I dublicate the sharpend layer! (named: "Background copy") </br>
and have a new layer now ("Background copy 2") this layer I sharpen again!
</br>
Filter -> Sharpen
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
now it really looks oversharpend to me so I lower the opacity of layer "background copy 2" to 50%
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
now this I am happy with!
</br>
</br>
Now I could actually merge the layers and start from there! </br>
But since I don't like to merge layers right away </br>
[cause every time I do that something happens during the making of an icon</br>
and with merged layers I would have to start over again instead of just going back to the layer I messed up] </br>
there is a neat trick I learned from the wonderful
shagalote </br> in one of her great tutorials </br> </br>
Create a new raster layer on top of all your 3 layers! </br>
Select all by hitting Ctrl A, go to Edit –> Copy Merged (Shft Ctrl C) </br>
select your new layer and then click Edit –> Paste (Ctrl V). </br>
There! You have all the layers merged as a new layer on top of the original 3, </br>
so in case anything happens, you can always go back and change something!</br> </br>
Your new layer is called "Layer 1" now</br> </br>
Copy "Layer 1" once! You get "Layer 1 copy". </br>
Set the blend mode of "Layer 1 copy" to screen, opacity 100%</br>
then go to </br>
Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast and put the Contrast up to 50 </br>
The result should look like this now:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Pretty, but not good enough yet!
</br>
</br>
Create a new raster layer on top of "Layer 1 copy"...the new layer is called "Layer 2" now! </br>
</br>Flood fill "Layer 2" with a dark blue! I choose # 080A5E
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Set the blend mode of the blue layer to exclusion, opacity 100% and you should get this now:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Not too bad, but way too yellow for my tastes! </br>
</br>
So I try to tune down the color a little by creating a new raster layer and filling it with a sepia tone gradient.
</br>
Photoshop 7 comes with gradients already so I choose the
</br>
Gradient tool-> Pastels -> and there choose the sepia gradient
</br>
I fill the layer with the gradient, so that the layer looks like this now:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now I set the blend mode to color and change the opacity to 75% ...
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Very pretty but it would be nice to have it a little bit darker and with some of its original colors</br>
</br>
So what I do now:
</br>
I go back to "layer 1" dublicate it once so I get "layer 1 copy 2"</br>
Now I take this new layer ("layer 1 copy 2") and drag it all the way up on top of the gradient layer. </br>
</br>I set the blend mode of "layer 1 copy 2" to soft light, the opacity 100%
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Much better, but it needs some colors... so I create a new raster layer again... "Layer 4"! </br>
</br>
I fill it with yet another gradient to get some nice colors.</br>
And again I choose a pastel layer from the gradients that come with photoshop. </br>
I choose the green yellow orange one and fill "layer 4" like this:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
I set the blend mode to soft light, opacity 100%
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Wheee pretty... you could leave it like this now, </br>
but I decided it really is too red for my taste so I wanna try to take some of the red color out of the pic</br></br>
I go to
</br>Layers-> New Adjustment Layer-> Channel mixer
</br>In the drop down thingy where it says "output channel" I choose RED </br>
(if you mark the little box where it says preview, you can see how the changing of the colors affects your icon) </br>
So I play a little until I find what I like:
</br></br>Red at 80%, green at 20%...
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now this is better!
</br>
</br>
I am almost happy! </br>
The only thing is, that I think Spike is too dark in the background </br>
So I use the pastel sepia gradient again to change that... This time I apply it like this
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
cause I want only spike to be brighter:
</br>
</br>
I set the blend mode to soft light and (since I think its too bright) lower the opacity to 50%</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Good, I am happy now!</br>
Time for brushes!
</br>
</br>
The brushes I use for this icon are those:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
This is the embarrassing part: I do not know who the first two brushes are from! I have a couple of people credited in my userinfo so I checked their brush sets but just couldn't find those brushes! Maybe I missed something or somebody else made those brushes and I didn't credit that person! I am sorry! If you recognize the brushes or if you made them, please let me know so I can give credit! Thanks!
</br></br>ETA: brush #1 and #2 by
quebelly</br>Brush #3 by dtissagirl</br>(this is also the order in which I use them)
</br>
</br>
Usually I just create a couple of new raster layers and then try a lot of border brushes </br>
until I finally find what I like best </br>
(this is the reason why there are some layers missing in my layers palette, </br>
I tried different border brushes and then kept the ones I liked and deleted all the others)</br>
</br>
From the color palette I choose black (#000000) and aply the first brush to the new raster layer </br>
(which would be "layer 6" normally, on my palette it's "layer 10") and set the blend mode to Overlay, opacity 100%</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now I create a new layer again (for you it would be "Layer 7", in my palette it's "layer 12") </br>
and apply the 2. brush to it</br>again black (#000000), this time blend mode: normal, opacity 100%</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now only one thing more! </br>
</br>
It needs some kinda texture to give it some depth... </br>
I love screen brushes so I choose brush #3.</br>
for this brush I use black again (#000000) </br>
cause I would rather like it to come out a little darker... </br>
I apply the brush </br>
Put the</i> blend mode to soft light, opacity 30%</i> .... and voilá</br>
</br>
we get this result:
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
Now usually you would add some text in a nice font...
</br>
But I am really bad with text... I never know what to write on an icon!</br> So I leave that to you guys!
</br>
Well, I hope this helped a little! </br>
Play a little with different gradients, blend modes, opacities! </br>
It's fun to see how different colors and blend modes can completly change the look of an icon!
</br>
Here are 2 more examples of Icons I made using the same technique!
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
</br>
All 3 Icons are up for grabs! Add some text and make them pretty! Credit not necessary, but please comment!
</br>
</br>
If something is unclear or if I made spelling mistakes, let me know! I know every icon maker has their own way of doing things, so if you have suggestions, like how I could make thinks easier, or prettier or faster or anything like that! please tell me! I am always eager to learn new things!
</br>
</br>
♥ Messa
</br>
</br>
(look
pekeana! I was brave and posted it! :P )