black/dark icon tutorial
here's how to make your icons that are very dark or are mainly black stand out more (:
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uses photoshop, selective colouring, curves and colour balance
i tried to be pretty lenient on how you can use this tutorial!
i'd like to see results too ;D ifyoudon'tmiiiind!
you can ask any questions if you have any on here!
1. prepare your base the way you usually do (crop, sharpen, etc). however, if you need to lighten it up by screening, stay at a low opacity so you can keep your icon black.
2. new adjustment layer >> selective colour
- whites: +40, 0, -34, 0
- neutrals: +8, +4, 0, +10 (this step can be eliminated if you want)
- blacks: -8, 0, 0, +48 (the +48 can be adjusted lower/higher depending on how black you want your icon. if only your subject is very black, use a higher setting. if mostly everything is black, keep it lower.)
3. new adjustment layer >> curves
- point one: RBG - I: 206 / O: 217
- point one: RBG - I: 53 / O: 42
4. new adjustment layer >> colour balance
shadows: 0, 0, +18
highlights: 0, 0, +18
if you find that these settings make your icon too dark you can uncheck the "preserve luminosity"
5. new layer, fill with a medium grey like #909090 and set to multiply 20% (can be adjusted higher to about 40%)
6. new layer, fill with black #000000. i took an eraser at 110px with 0% hardness and clicked it in the middle (or around your subject) to create a vignette. then i set it to a low opacity of soft light. the opacity varies on how much of a vignette you want.
7. then i flattened the image, duplicated the picture and set it to screen 16 - 28% but if you have a very dark icon, this number can be higher at about 46 - 60%
8. and that's it! you can add textures if you wish, but i didn't (:
my other results:
uses photoshop, selective colouring, curves and colour balance
i tried to be pretty lenient on how you can use this tutorial!
i'd like to see results too ;D ifyoudon'tmiiiind!
you can ask any questions if you have any on here!
1. prepare your base the way you usually do (crop, sharpen, etc). however, if you need to lighten it up by screening, stay at a low opacity so you can keep your icon black.
2. new adjustment layer >> selective colour
- whites: +40, 0, -34, 0
- neutrals: +8, +4, 0, +10 (this step can be eliminated if you want)
- blacks: -8, 0, 0, +48 (the +48 can be adjusted lower/higher depending on how black you want your icon. if only your subject is very black, use a higher setting. if mostly everything is black, keep it lower.)
3. new adjustment layer >> curves
- point one: RBG - I: 206 / O: 217
- point one: RBG - I: 53 / O: 42
4. new adjustment layer >> colour balance
shadows: 0, 0, +18
highlights: 0, 0, +18
if you find that these settings make your icon too dark you can uncheck the "preserve luminosity"
5. new layer, fill with a medium grey like #909090 and set to multiply 20% (can be adjusted higher to about 40%)
6. new layer, fill with black #000000. i took an eraser at 110px with 0% hardness and clicked it in the middle (or around your subject) to create a vignette. then i set it to a low opacity of soft light. the opacity varies on how much of a vignette you want.
7. then i flattened the image, duplicated the picture and set it to screen 16 - 28% but if you have a very dark icon, this number can be higher at about 46 - 60%
8. and that's it! you can add textures if you wish, but i didn't (:
my other results: