Full Icon Tutorial For PSP7
Tutorial using PSP7 for this icon:
Graphic heavy, and you should know your way around PSP fairly well. THis could probably be translated into PS.
1. We start out with this picture of Amy Acker from www.chosentwo.com.
2. Crop the image. Do not center Amy's face, instead put the focus in one of the corners. I rotated my base, you can if you would like. Resize to 100x100 (settings should be to "smart size"). Mine came out like this:
3. Sharpen your image. Click of the retouch use, using the soften setting. Enter the settings: Size: 9 , Hardness: 10, Opacity: 70, and step: 2. Smooth out the skin, but avoid blurring the eyes/mouth/nose and any defining lines.
4. Duplicate your image. Set the blend mode to Multiply. Fiddle around with the opacity, find something you like. I used 32.
5. Merge your image, then duplicate twice. Set the first to screen, second to soft light, opacities 70 and 45. Create two raster layers between the copies. Set the first to Exclusion, and flood fill with a dark blue color. I used #013260. Set the second to Overlay and fill it with a rose color. For this one, I used #A47971. Leave them both at 100 percent opacity.
6. Merge your layers. Duplicate once, and set it to Soft Light, opacity 20. Next part stolen from
teh_indy. :D Paste this gradient as a new layer.
Set it to Multiply, opacity 80. Now it's likewhoa orange, so we'll create a blue layer. Use the same blue that was in the Exclusion layer. Set it to Color, opacity 20.
7. Merge again! Merge is a weird word. Anyway. Time for brushes! This is where you make your icon your own. Use a texture brush in that same blue color. I used one ofteh_indy's cloudy brushes. I set mine to Overlay, 72 opacity. Since you'll be using a different brush, find something that gives the icon a bit more depth.
8. Now this next part, I've only really seenwithpaperwings_ do this, so I shall credit her. Merge your layers once more. Duplicate once. Resize the layer to 25x25. Make sure "resize all layers" is unchecked. You should now have a tiny picture in the middle of your icon. Using the Move tool, put it in the space between Amy and the side of the icon.
9. Create a new layer. Select the blue color from before. Draw a one pixel line around the small picture. Set the layer to Multiply, 40 opacity.
8. Last step! Border brush. Select your favorite border brush. Select a dark color from the icon. Apply the brush on a new layer. Play around with the blend modes and opacity to find something you like. I don't use much text, so I left it blank.
Finished icon:
Have fun!
Graphic heavy, and you should know your way around PSP fairly well. THis could probably be translated into PS.
1. We start out with this picture of Amy Acker from www.chosentwo.com.
2. Crop the image. Do not center Amy's face, instead put the focus in one of the corners. I rotated my base, you can if you would like. Resize to 100x100 (settings should be to "smart size"). Mine came out like this:
3. Sharpen your image. Click of the retouch use, using the soften setting. Enter the settings: Size: 9 , Hardness: 10, Opacity: 70, and step: 2. Smooth out the skin, but avoid blurring the eyes/mouth/nose and any defining lines.
4. Duplicate your image. Set the blend mode to Multiply. Fiddle around with the opacity, find something you like. I used 32.
5. Merge your image, then duplicate twice. Set the first to screen, second to soft light, opacities 70 and 45. Create two raster layers between the copies. Set the first to Exclusion, and flood fill with a dark blue color. I used #013260. Set the second to Overlay and fill it with a rose color. For this one, I used #A47971. Leave them both at 100 percent opacity.
6. Merge your layers. Duplicate once, and set it to Soft Light, opacity 20. Next part stolen from
teh_indy. :D Paste this gradient as a new layer.Set it to Multiply, opacity 80. Now it's likewhoa orange, so we'll create a blue layer. Use the same blue that was in the Exclusion layer. Set it to Color, opacity 20.
7. Merge again! Merge is a weird word. Anyway. Time for brushes! This is where you make your icon your own. Use a texture brush in that same blue color. I used one of
teh_indy's cloudy brushes. I set mine to Overlay, 72 opacity. Since you'll be using a different brush, find something that gives the icon a bit more depth. 8. Now this next part, I've only really seen
withpaperwings_ do this, so I shall credit her. Merge your layers once more. Duplicate once. Resize the layer to 25x25. Make sure "resize all layers" is unchecked. You should now have a tiny picture in the middle of your icon. Using the Move tool, put it in the space between Amy and the side of the icon. 9. Create a new layer. Select the blue color from before. Draw a one pixel line around the small picture. Set the layer to Multiply, 40 opacity.
8. Last step! Border brush. Select your favorite border brush. Select a dark color from the icon. Apply the brush on a new layer. Play around with the blend modes and opacity to find something you like. I don't use much text, so I left it blank.
Finished icon:
Have fun!