tutorial times two!
If you think I missed something, let me know. I made these using Photoshop 7, but I think they should be pretty easy to follow with other programs as well, as long as you have the basic understanding for the layers. If you want, you can comment with the icons you made using this, it's always fun to see them!
Anyways, I'll stop babbling now, I hope you find these useful!
Go from to
Step 01: Picture
Alright, so first you pick your base picture. This time I've chosen one with our new lovely companion, Donna Noble!
Step 02: Curves
Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves
RGB
Point 1; input: 109, output: 156
Point 2; input: 50, output: 102
Remember that every pic is different, you might need it to be brighter or darker, just see what looks good for the picture.
Step 03: Color Balance
Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance
Shadows; 0, 0, -18
Midtones; -11, 0, -07
Highlights; 0, 0, +2
Again, it really depends on what you're looking for. If your pic is already very red or very yellow, try to balance it out with adding more green and blue.
Step 04: Gradient
Next I added this gradient/texture thingy I've made. I set it to Screen. It was originally black and white, but I thought I wanted a more colourful effect for this icon so I made it orange by using the colour adjustment. (If you decide to change the colour of the gradient, make sure you change it for this layer only, to do that go Image > Adjustments > Variations)
Step 05: Soft Light
Duplicate the base layer and drag it on top of all the layers, set the mode on Soft Light. This way we get more deepness to the icon. At this point I usually also Sharpen the picture, but this is really individual choice, some people like to sharpen the picture right in the beginning. Just as long as you sharpen at some point, you're all set.
Step 06: Hue/Saturation
Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturations
This depends much about the surroundings on the icon, take a look and decide if it needs more colour or is it good as it is. Like I said, every pic is different and it might be colourful enough as it is. I decided I wanted more saturation for this one.
Saturation: +24
Step 07: Texture
It still looks kind of dull, so I went through the textures I have saved and I used one by 
gummishiip. I set it on Screen. (It was originally light down, but I decided the light looked better coming from the top, so I rotated the texture 180 degrees. See the connection with the texture and the picture, where does the light look good coming from?)
Step 08: Gradient #2
I still thought there was something missing, so I used a gradient layer to mess with the lighting a bit to 'deepen' the icon. I set it on Soft Light. It makes the light textures I used earlier to stand out and makes Donna's face look deeper.
Voilá, you have your icon! Now add whatever text or other effects you might like. Like I said, it depends of the picture, for some images this technique might not work.
Feel free to show me what you came up with!
Go from
Step 01: Picture
So, first you need a picture. This time I chose the handsome John Simm as Sam Tyler.
Step 02: Screen
Most pictures, especially screen caps, need more light. So duplicate your base and set it on Screen. I usually end up Sharpening this layer afterwards, you can do it now or later, which ever you prefer.
Step 03: Difference
Make a new layer, fill it with a dark brown colour (I used #170900) and set the mode to Difference. Be careful with this step, see how it works with your image. If your image has alot of black areas, make sure the brown doesn't stick out too much from them. If it sticks out too much, make the brown slightly more dark.
Step 04: Colour Burn
To increase the 'deepness' and balance the colouring out a bit, I made a new layer and filled it with #EDDDC5 and set the mode to Colour Burn. If your picture is already very beige, try to fill it with a light blue colour. This is what I usually do with colour burn, but this cap was already blue and I wanted to balance it out a bit.
Step 05: Colour Balance
Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Colour Balance
I wanted to make the background step out more. If your picture doesn't have a clear background like mine, you might not need this step, but you can still try it out.
Highlights: -5, 0, +19
Step 06: Curves
Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves
RGB
Point 1; input: 191, output: 193
Point 2; input: 115 , output: 106
Point 3; input: 58 , output: 53
Blue
Point 1; input: 164 , output: 172
Observe if you think the icon needs higher contrast, some pictures need higher than what I have here.
Step 07: Gradient
Next I added a gradient/texture layer I made and set the mode to Lighten.
Step 08: Soft Light
I decided I didn't want this to be one of those "light comes from the side" icons like my Donna one, so I duplicated the base, dragged it up and set it to Soft Light. I realized the whole picture didn't need the soft light, so I used the eraser tool to erase the part I thought didn't need the effect. (This, once again, depends of your picture, if you think the whole picture needs the soft light then go for it, if you think it doesn't need it at all or needs more of it, delete/duplicate the layer.)
Step 09: Selective Colour
Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Selective Colour
It was too less saturated for my taste, so I decided it needed some colouring up before it was done. I was going for a blue look obviously, but if you feel like something else would look good, then try different numbers. All I do really is play around with the selective colour until it pleases my eye, I recommend you do the same.
Reds
Cyan: -34
Yellows
Cyan: -28
Cyans
Cyan: +100
Whites
Cyan: +100
Yellow: -100
Black: -22
Neutrals:
Black: -13
Blacks:
Black: +9
Voilá, your icon is done! See if it needs text or any other final touches. Like I said, it depends of the picture, for some images this technique might not work.
Feel free to show me what you came up with!
New icon post coming soon, most likely tomorrow!