fnl icon tutorial

start with your base; crop it; go to filter> sharpen> sharpen, & you should get something like this.

duplicate your layer (ctrl+j), and
set it to screen. this should lighten the icon up a bit. if your icon is REALLY dark, you may want to duplicate it twice.

choose a light blue color like this, and set it to soft light at 100%.

now, the famous EXCLUSION layer! choose a really dark blue color, i recommend just using this one (right click>copy, paste on document). set it to exclusion at 65% on top of your light blue.

MERGE LAYERS by going to layer>merge layers (it's at the bottom). duplicate the layer (ctrl+j) and set it to color burn. this should bring out the colors more.

uh-oh..curves. this is the part where you'll most likely get confused if you're not experienced with curves. go to layer>new adjustment layer> curves. just follow these pics:
rgb red green blue. set the layer to soft light, 100%.
for more help with the curves, look at the bottom of the tutorial for input/output numbers. (:

for the text, i wrote XX in font impact, not sure what size, but you can figure that out. it's set to overlay, 100%.

then i wrote jibberish, it's too small to read: tahoma, font size 2px, set on CRISP. that's important. then i took the sharpen tool, said YES to rasterize the layer, and sharpen the text twice so it stands out.

now add (this) brush, (nobody 'made' it, it's a stock image) and set it to screen. mask out the areas around the subject, and you should get this! show me what you made, and ask Q's if you need help!