Tutorial #1 - Blue and green as the sea

So I decided to post a tutorial, I hope you enjoy it :D

[+] - Selective Coloring (Photoshop only)
[+] - Textures
[+] - PSD-file included

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So I decided to do a tutorial on this one:

It's not that hard lol.

Step 1
So I started off with my base. If you are using a dark picture, lighten it up a bit first. Duplicate your image and set the duplicated layer to screen 100%.

Step 2
Now we are going to do some selective coloring (layer>new adjustment layer>selective coloring), yey. I used these settings. Method should be set to relative.

REDS

+46 | -60 | +14 | 0

YELLOWS

+70 | -20 | -99 | 0

GREENS

+100 | +87 | -41 | 0

CYANS

+100 | -49 | +46 | 0

BLUES

-21 | +78 | +100 | 0

MAGENTAS

+100 | +100 | -51 | 0

WHITES

+100 | -85 | -65 | 0

NEUTRALS

+10 | -25 | -38 | +12

Step 3
Now we are going to add an exposure layer (layer>new adjustment layer>exposure). Use these settings:

Exposure: 0,00

Offset: +0,0842

Gamma Correction: 0,74

Step 4
Time for a hue and saturation layer (layer>new adjustment layer>hue/saturation). Use these settings:

Master

0 | +27 | 0

Reds

-18 | +17 | 0

Cyans

0 | +12 | 0

Magentas

0 | +100 | 0

Step 5
Yea I know, a lot of adjustments. Now we are going to add a photo filter (layer>new adjustment layer>photo filter).
Chose Sepia and put the density to 25% and make sure that Preserve luminosity is checked.

Step 6
Now add a color balance layer (layer>new adjustment layer>color balance). Make sure that Preserve luminosity is checked and then use these settings:

-17 | +14 | +12

Step 7
Last adjustment layer, I promise! Make a curves layer (layer>new adjustment layer>curves). Use these settings:

RGB

Output: 133

Input: 109

Red

Point 1:

Output: 194

Input: 192

Point 2:

Output: 126

Input: 133

Point 3:

Output: 75

Input: 61

Green

Output: 124

Input: 132

Blue

Point 1:

Output: 161

Input: 167

Point 2:

Output: 112

Input: 132

Point 3:

Output: 51

Input: 49

Step 8
Yey time to get a bit creative, okay a lot. Take THIS texture by bambinainnero and put it on lighten 100%.
Now grab the smudge tool which you can find in the toolbox. I used a 6px smooth brush with the strength set to 54% and then I brushed from the middle on the red thingy and out. I made this just to make the icon more interesting. This is how mine looks like now:

Step 9
Time for some borders, well at least one for the moment. Take THIS texture by Crazykira and put it on the blending mode darken 100%. I moved it a bit to the left to make the border a bit smaller.

Step 10
Duplicate your texture you pasted in the previous step and then run the filter gaussian blur on it (filter>blur>gaussian blur). Set the radius to 3,0 pixles. Make sure that this duplicated layer also is set to darken.

Step 11
Now I just added a small light texture on the red "smoke", just to make it pop a bit more. Put the lighttexture on lighten.

Step 12
Now we are going to add some textures to the border, to make it look nicer and not that flat. Take THIS texture by (unknown, please tell me if you know) and put it on the blending mode Lighten 100%.

Step 13
Okay now I don't know which texture this is, because I can't find the whole of it haha. Well okay take THIS one and put it on Screen 100%.

Step 14
Take THIS texture by (unknown, please tell me if you know) and put it on Lighten 100%.

Step 15
Yey, now the border don't look flat anymore. Now I added some light textures and pasted them on various places. Just have fun and be creative.

Step 16
Now I wanted one more border at the bottom so I added THIS texture by (unknown, please tell me if you know) and put it on darken 100%.

Step 17
Now I just added one more light texture on the red "smoke" to make it catch the eye.

Step 18
Okay now you are going to stamp your image (ctrl+shift+alt+e). Add a gaussian blur on this stamped image (filter>blur>gaussian blur). I put the radius on 3,0 px. I lowered the opacity of this whole stamped image layer to 31%. This makes the blur a bit interesting.

Step 19
Stamp your image once again (ctrl+shift+alt+e). Sharpen this image twice (filter>sharpen>sharpen) and after the second sharpening go to edit>fade and then put it to around 50%. This depends on the quality of your image. If it's low, sharpen only once and if it's medium, set the fade to 25% or something like that.

And you are done :D

Download the PSD