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Easy step by step processes for Photoshop


by David Peters

Want to learn how to create your own word shadowing technique? Here it is in four easy steps: 1. Open a new document. (The size I used is 500×100) Now type some text, doesn’t really matter what. (I used Arial Black 36pt) 2. Now hit CTRL A(=select all), CTRL C(=copy) and then CTRL V(=paste). You have now copied the layer. Move the new layer exactly above the original text layer. Hit CTRL T(=transform) and click the right mouse button, select “flip vertical”. Now move the layer down by dragging it or using the arrow keys. 3. Hit CTRL T again and now select “Perspective”. Move the lower right box to the right. 4. Now simply go to the layers window and lower the opacity of the “reflection layer” to whatever you want. (I used 25%)

A fun way to add texture to your photo is by adding lines overlapping the picture. This will create a cool effect often seen in photo albums and slide shows. You can one of the most interesting sites out there. Grids can be used in headers, pictures anything you want really. The first thing you would do is: 1. Open Photoshop. Open an image to apply line effect. 2. Desaturate the image by Image > Adjustments > Desaturate 3. Create New file with 1 pixel width, 2 pixel height and transparent background. 4. Keep Black as a foreground color. Fill the top 1 X 1 pixel of transparent background using Pencil Tool. 5. Select All using CTRL A 6. Create a pattern by Edit > Define Pattern. Name the pattern. 7. Close the Pattern file and go back to image file. 8. Edit > Fill (Choose “Pattern” from “Use” drop down menu and again in “Custom Pattern” you will find newly created pattern) 9. Select newly created pattern and fill the image.

Often websites will use effects that will make their site look really fun. There are fire blasts, smoke, lightening and other cool effects that can make your site look quite professional or fun, whatever way you chose to have it. To create a quick and easy fire blast you can use the polygon lasso tool to select a shape like an elongated triangle. Then fill with white. Then you would Apply Filter > Distort > Radial Blur Zoom 100%. Next you would want to set the eraser as above and brush lightly around the edges of the shape until you have a triangle that has some missing parts around it, you don’t want to go to heavy with this tool, just enough to take off a bit of the outer edges. Finally Apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur Radius 1.2. Now you have a full blown fire blast, you can really do whatever you want to your blast, make it red or yellow, but these are the initial steps to doing it.

Interfaces are around us everyday, they look different for some really fun sites. Some find that is really entertaining is creating a skin for a media player, you can make them look really cool with different fun colors. They can be metallic, hunter like anything you want really. First you want to start with the base: 1. The Base With a new file in blank, make a new layer and in this, create an oval and fill it with black. Center it, and add the soft metal style. 2. Internal shape Make a selection of the oval, reduce it 15 pts. Now take out some parts, making the image more interesting. Copy the entire layer, and paste this into a new alpha layer. 3. Blur In the alpha layer, apply a Gaussian blur of 15 px 4. Levels Then hit Ctrl L, and in the levels box, use the settings I show here in the image. Copy the alpha channel, and paste the image into a new layer ( standard layer). 5. Round corners The trick with the alpha results in an image with some rounded corners, very nice and with this style, better! Well, we need to select the shape again (Ctrl mouse click) contract the selection a bit and create a new shape in a new layer. 6. New shape In the new layer, we need to fill the selection and apply the same style of the “base” but only changing the direction of the gradient fill to inverse. This change increases the effect of bevel here. 7. Screen Now, in a new layer we draw a shape for our screen and make it more rounded using the “alpha trick”. Again, I fill this one with a gradient, inverse to make more effect. 8. Color screen One more layer to create the screen: A gradient (I like this green tones) and an inner shadow. I’ve added here some little lines to give the “scan effect”. 9. Screen details And the rest of the screen details: The text, some lines for the volume and equalizer… Whatever you want. We are almost done… 10. Details Well… Now, the rest are add some details like buttons, screws and stuff like that… And of course, a logo if you want. Remember the use of the “alpha trick” and the styles that give the cool final effects.

You know those images that bring some things into focus and shove others out? Well this is easily accomplished. These photo techniques can be used for anything really. Were going to start off by choosing a image. I used one of a piano. Feel free to download it and do the same as I did with it. Now press the “Quick Mask Mode” (Q) button. Double-click to choose color and opacity. Now grab the “Brush Tool” (B) and start coloring. You can either color what you want to select or what you don’t want to select. Doesn’t really matter at this stage. Go back to “Standard Mode” (Q , button left to the “Quick Mask Mode” button) and now you’ll see that either the part you left blank (and thus didn’t paint red) is selected. NOTE: If you colored the part you wanted to select you’ll see that is that part is NOT selected. You’ll have to press SHIFT CTRL i or Select > Inverse. Now go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and I used a 2,5 Pixel radius. (Experiment with it!) As an extra you can press CTRL U and set the “Lightness” to -15. And now you have a shaded picture.

Want to do something cool? Turn mere chicken scratches into a commonly seen airbrushing techniques, here’s how to do it: Set a pen tool as above and scribble across the canvas until you have a similar lock to the one below. Apply the Filter > Distort > Wave effect with the standard settings. Then Edit > Fade Wave. Repeat another two times but don’t fade the wave on the last round it should look something like this. Apply the Filter > Blur > Radical Blur Zoom 50%. Click Edit > Fade Radical Blur > 75%.Set the eraser as above and brush lightly across the canvas until you have a similar look to the one below. Next Apply a Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur set the radius so you get the required detail of airbrushing Apply > edit > Transform > Distort to create the required shape.

People rarely get the opportunity to see exactly how specific images are created. I am going to give you access to a step by step way to create an awesome picture: Layer 1 Create a normal gradient fill. Layer 2 Apply Filter > Render > Clouds and set the layer to soft light, opacity 25%. Layer 2-5 Importing two different views of the model, Apply filter > Blur >gaussian blur: Radius 5. Also added some lighting to the left model. Layer 6 Using Airbrushing tutorial add “wings” of airbrushing to go behind the main render. Layer 6,7 Import the main render and duplicate the layer on the first layer apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur radius 10 and set to multiply to add a shadow. Layer 7-25 Using the architectural lighting tutorial add lighting to the underside and uppersides of various “blocks”. Layer 26 Duplicate the original gradient layer and place it over the top of the image, then erase the center so the sides are slightly faded as above. Layer 27-42 Importing the three views of the craft model use the architectural lighting tutorial to add engine lights of blue and red, also add airbrushing with motion blur to work as engine trails. Layer 43-46 Add small areas of red lights to the upper blocks apply gaussian blur, radius 3 and then Edit -> Fade Gaussian Blur to 50%. Layer 47 Using the architectural lighting 2 tutorial add lighting to the faces of the “blocks” and the side of the “bridge” on the left of the image. Layer 48 To add “over-clouds” Apply Filter > Render > Clouds. Then Apply Filter -> Render -> Difference clouds 5 times, and erase the bottom third of the layer. Finally set the layer to soft light 40% opacity. Layer 49 On the next layer just use Filter -> Render -> Clouds erasing most of the perimeter of the layer set to color dodge 20% opacity. Layer 50 Create a color balance layer with -44, Yellow on highlight and 5 blue on both midtones and shadows.

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