Full Icon Tutorial for PS7 - Blending, Gradient Fills
I've made a PS7 tutorial for this icon:
It's fairly simple, so should be easy for people to follow who have moved beyond basic skills.
Before I start, let me say that tutorials are guidelines. They're a way for the readers to break apart how a certain icon was made so that they can try different effects on their own. If you're following the tutorial exactly for learning purposes, that's cool, but try and implement these skills in your own way to come up with original icons and graphics!
/soapbox
Okay, so I've started with this image of Natalie Portman. It's fairly large and good quality, which is important. Bad quality photos can be masked a bit using brushes or effects, but the results are never as nice! First, make sure your resolution is set to 72. That's always important, especially if you're going to be using text.
All right, so the first thing I did was crop and resize the image. Normally I like closer crops so that you can actually see the person's face, but I've seen some really lovely icons lately using longer shots, and I wanted to try it out.
I then duplicated the background layer, set the duplicate to soft light, opacity 100%. You may or may not want to sharpen your image at this point. This one didn't really need it because it was high quality.
Then I wanted to lighten up the bottom of the image a bit, so I selected a beige color from the wall behind Natalie (#ECE0B6) and in between the two photo layers I inserted a gradient fill (Layer>New Fill Layer>Gradient). I set the gradient at -90 degrees. I didn't think it was quite light enough, so I duplicated the gradient layer and set the duplicate to normal, opacity 45%.
Time to add a border! Create a new layer first. I'm going for a simple look here, so I then picked a light sort of brown color (#9D6F49). I used the rectangular marquee tool and outlined the whole image and went to Edit>Stroke>3px. This will create a square border. You can, of course, choose different pixel widths depending on your image. I then set the layer to multiply, opacity 35%.
Time for text! Let me tell you, I despise text, but on an icon this light, it's easier to add. I chose a slightly darker brown color from Natalie's hair (#7C6748). Then I added "TIMELESS" in Century Gothic, 9pts, all caps.
Finally, I added the word "Elegance" in Adine Kirnberg Script, 30 pts. I normally don't like using script fonts because they have to be so large to be legible, but since this icon uses such a wide shot, it looks more balanced with larger text in the corner.
Voila! Icon! Thanks for sticking with me so far, it's my first tutorial ;D
It's fairly simple, so should be easy for people to follow who have moved beyond basic skills.
Before I start, let me say that tutorials are guidelines. They're a way for the readers to break apart how a certain icon was made so that they can try different effects on their own. If you're following the tutorial exactly for learning purposes, that's cool, but try and implement these skills in your own way to come up with original icons and graphics!
/soapbox
Okay, so I've started with this image of Natalie Portman. It's fairly large and good quality, which is important. Bad quality photos can be masked a bit using brushes or effects, but the results are never as nice! First, make sure your resolution is set to 72. That's always important, especially if you're going to be using text.
All right, so the first thing I did was crop and resize the image. Normally I like closer crops so that you can actually see the person's face, but I've seen some really lovely icons lately using longer shots, and I wanted to try it out. I then duplicated the background layer, set the duplicate to soft light, opacity 100%. You may or may not want to sharpen your image at this point. This one didn't really need it because it was high quality. Then I wanted to lighten up the bottom of the image a bit, so I selected a beige color from the wall behind Natalie (#ECE0B6) and in between the two photo layers I inserted a gradient fill (Layer>New Fill Layer>Gradient). I set the gradient at -90 degrees. I didn't think it was quite light enough, so I duplicated the gradient layer and set the duplicate to normal, opacity 45%. Time to add a border! Create a new layer first. I'm going for a simple look here, so I then picked a light sort of brown color (#9D6F49). I used the rectangular marquee tool and outlined the whole image and went to Edit>Stroke>3px. This will create a square border. You can, of course, choose different pixel widths depending on your image. I then set the layer to multiply, opacity 35%. Time for text! Let me tell you, I despise text, but on an icon this light, it's easier to add. I chose a slightly darker brown color from Natalie's hair (#7C6748). Then I added "TIMELESS" in Century Gothic, 9pts, all caps. Finally, I added the word "Elegance" in Adine Kirnberg Script, 30 pts. I normally don't like using script fonts because they have to be so large to be legible, but since this icon uses such a wide shot, it looks more balanced with larger text in the corner.Voila! Icon! Thanks for sticking with me so far, it's my first tutorial ;D