ExTrEmEDwarf

:s

`

`

ade akoma dn arxisate to spam?

Introduction: This tutorial will show you step by step on how to create a “Badass Bling Effect” using layer styles in Photoshop. Once you create the layer style, you can easily “blingify” any layer. There is also a video tutorial as well. STEP 1 Choose an image you want to sprinkle with golden Photoshop magic. In this case i chose a full color image of a boombox and I’m going to make it look like it is solid gold. Make the image into a grayscale image by “Desaturating” the layer in the Image/Adjustments/Desaturate menu. STEP 2 Apply a color overlay Layer Style by clicking the FX button at the bottom of your Layers Palette. STEP 3 Set the color overlay to a rich golden color and make sure the Blend Mode is set to Color Burn PhotoshopScreenSnapz013 Badass Bling Effect in Photoshop STEP 4 Adjust your levels like so and… Brace yourselves… We’ve got a solid gold boombox in less than 2 minutes! SUPER RAD! STEP 5 Repeat the exact same steps for 2 different cars. I copied and flipped horizontally the radios and 90s sports car to get a symmetrical composition started STEP 6 We are creating a background for our composition that will look like a close of the boom box speaker shield. In Adobe Illustrator, draw 2 circles and separate them a descent width. Keep them aligned horizontally. Then choose Object/Blend/Make. You can also choose the blend tool from your tools palette. Once you have a blend, you’ll want to open the blending options by going to Object/Blend/Blend Options or double clicking the Blend tool in the tools palette will bring up the same dialog box. Choose a # of blends that will leave some space between your circles. STEP 7 Expand your blend by choosing Object/Blend/Expand. Now Each circle is treated individually and can be edited. Select your entire row of circles. Hold down option and drag it down a good distance. Hold down shift at the same time to keep the layer aligned vertically. Then repeat the steps to make a blend. I chose 15 steps. You can see that I have now blended my 2 rows of circles to make a grid of evenly spaced circles. Select the entire grid and hold down option & shift while dragging on a 45 degree angle. Copy and paste it into your Photoshop document 7 STEP 8 Apply Bevel & Emboss layer style to your grid of circles. Choose Outer Bevel. Add a black background… and get crunk! STEP 9 This is the hardest part of the tutorial… and it’s all trial and error… at least for me it was. We’re going to create our own layer style that take a solid 2d object and make it look all bling’d out. I chose this amazing vector artwork First use a Gradient Overlay from the FX Layer Style tab in your layers palette. I created this gradient of different hues and values of Gold. Make sure you have contrast in your gradient. This is what the Go Media vector crest will look like after the gradient has been applied: Apply a Satin layer style within the same dialog box. You will want to experiment with your settings. Each object you bling out could require tweaking the settings. You will see some depth start to take place and that is important. Choose a different Contour as well. I chose this double peaked one. Choose a Bevel and Emboss from the Layer Style window. Select Inner Bevel. Adjust the size and softness. I chose 10 and 1. Set the Shadow Mode to Color Burn and you may want to decrease the opacity. Check the Contour Box under Bevel and Emboss. Choose a Contour. Each one will give a different look. Choose the Texture box under Bevel and Emboss as well. Select a pattern from one of the Photoshop presets. Adjust the scale and depth and watch how it effects the Go Media Crest. Again, experiment with these settings to get something that is really starting to look like gold reflections. At this point I feel as though the crest is a little too orange. I could go back in and adjust my gradient overlay… but then i’d have to adjust each point in the gradient where there is a color change. Instead, add a color overlay. I chose a darker desaturated green to help tone down the red in my gold layer style. I adjusted the opacity until i felt it was beginning to match the golden cars a little better. And the last layer style for our gold effect will be to add a drop shadow to help with some depth. Now, before you close the Layer Style box. You are going to save this style so you can reuse it on anything! Click the New Style button just below “Ok” and give your style a name. Check both boxes – Include Layer Effects & Include Layer Blending Options. Notice now that your style appears in the Styles palette! SICK! And your new golden style shines so bright! STEP 10 Add more bling to your design. I choosed this one: Copy and paste into Photoshop and this time… apply your new style you just finished creating. Repeat the same step for any additional elements you want to turn into gold. STEP 11 We’re going to add some light effects using the airbrush and a layer style. Choose a standard airbrush and set it really large. I clicked one time at 100%. Apply a Layer Style of Outer Glow from the FX tab in the layers palette. Choose a color for the Outer Glow. Set the Blend mode to Add. Opacity 100% Copy that layer and then place it in front of everything. Adjust the opacity to be quite a bit lower. Then use the eraser with an air brush setting that will allow you to erase over the middle of the car and near the edges. The result gives you the look of over spill from the light source. STEP 12 We’re going to add some sparkle to our bling using Illustrator and more layer styles. We’ll then make a custom brush from our sparkle shape and bling this piece out with tons of rad sparkly things. Create a star shape in illustrator. I chose a 5 point star and duplicated/rotated slightly to get my final sparkle shape. Copy and Paste it into Photoshop. Apply a Layer Style of Outer Glow. Only this time change the Blend Mode to normal and adjust the spread/size to give a faint blur around your sparkle shape. Now option click directly on the Effect of the layer. It will bring up these options. Choose Create Layer. This will make the outer glow an actual image on the layer below your sparkly image. Choose the layer above blurry sparkle shape. This should be the crisp sparkle. Choose Merge Down from the Layer Palette tab in the right hand corner. Now go to Edit/Define Brush Preset. Name your new brush. And now you will see your new brush in the brush palette. (and you can see that I’ve created some of these before) Click once in your desired spot to add sparkle to your bling! However… these sparkles could look even better with… another layer style applied to it! Why not? right! Apply an outer glow with some color. Set the Blending Mode to Screen. Adjust the size/spread. Ba da boom. Ba da BLING! To tighten this design up a little more, I’ve added the Go Media Logo complimented by an icy hot diamond because that’s how Chris Wilson likes to roll at Go Media. ;-) I simply applied my own style that I created earlier in the tutorial. Unfortunately, not everything is quite as successful when the style is applied to it. I actually had to tweak my style settings quite a bit to get it to match the other Go Media vectors that turned gold fairly easy. So there you have it. Some badass blingin’ sparklies. Feel free to post a link to anything you blingify in your comments. Download the Photoshop Layer Style Video Tutorial Credits: Barton Damer

well for me it works perfect..even without fishing shots it didnt make any single mistake..i left it afk for some time and when i came back i had 100+ fish

Step 1 First create a new document and fill it with a dark grey. Step 2 Create a new layer, call it "Clouds," and using the Lasso Tool (L), make a selection similar to the one I've shown below. Set your background color to a 50% grey and the foreground to a dark grey. Go to Filter > Render > Clouds and, holding the Alt key, create clouds. After that go to Images > Adjustments > Levels, and change the input levels and output levels until you make the clouds neither too dark nor too light (see the image shown). This layer will be on top of the others. Step 3 Create another layer and repeat Step 2, but this time just change the background color from 50% gray to a blue or green color. This will create a small cloud, lighter than the big one. Step 4 Now we'll switch to Adobe Illustrator to create some text. I used Times New Roman for the font. After that go to Effect > 3D > Extrude and Bevel. Now we will create the 3D text. Rotate the object and change the perspective. You can use the same values as I did (shown below). Step 5 1. Copy the 3D text and paste it in Photoshop. 2. Place it in the center and add some Noise (Filter > Noise > Add Noise). 3. Now let's change the Layer Style. First add Bevel and Emboss. 4. After that, let's add a Gradient Overlay. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/31_Fire/fire_s5.jpg[/img] Step 6 1. Duplicate the Type layer and add a Motion Blur (Filter > Blur > Motion Blur). 2. Set the angle of the blur to -53. 3. Change the layer mode to Linear Dodge (Add). 4. Create a Folder, call it "Typo," and move these two layers into it. Step 7 Create a new layer and repeat the Step 2, this time using a selection as shown going out the back of the letter T. This will create the trailing smoke. Step 8 Creating the FIRE 1 - Create a new layer and call it "fire1." 2 - With the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M), create a selection. 3 - Set the background color to light grey and the background to black. 4 - Create clouds as we did in Step 2. 5 - Change the Levels to increase the contrast; 6 - Change the Hue/Saturation with Colorize selected until you get an orange/yellow color. Step 9 Create a new layer, call it "blazes," and repeat Step 8. After that, duplicate the layer and call it "flames." Create a folder and move the Fire1, Blazes, and Flames layers to this folder and call the whole folder "Fire." It will be on top of the Typo layer. Step 10 Select the layer "blazes" and go to Filter > Liquefy. There select the Turbulence Tool (T). Now, on the edges of the fire, start creating some blazes. Use it like you would the smudge tool. Set 11 After the Liquefy, go to Edit > Transform > Warp and change the blaze's form to something similar to the image below. After that apply Filter > Sharpen > Sharp. Step 12 1. Create a new layer and call it "yellow color." 2. Create an ellipse selection with 30px feather and fill it with white. 3. After that edit the Layer Style and apply a Color Overlay using an yellow color and Multiply for the layer's blend mode. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/31_Fire/fire_s12.jpg[/img] Step 13 The order and the Blend modes for the fire are: 1. Flames: Lighter Color 2. Blazes: Normal 3. Fire1: Lighten 4. Yellow Color: Multiply Step 14 Sparks For the sparks we will use brushes. Create a folder and call it "Sparks." It will be on top of the Fire folder. 1. Inside the folder, add a new layer. 2. Fill it with black and change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge. 3. Select the Brush Tool and let's create a brush. 4. In Brush Tip Shape, change the Diameter to 12, and increase the spacing. 5. Select Scattering and set Scatter to the 1000% and Control to off. Change the Count to 2 and Count Jitter to 100%. 6. Select white and start painting some sparks. Step 15 Create a new layer and repeat the Step 14 but now change the Scatter Option to 0%. Start creating some single line sparks like swirls. Step 16 Here I used the Gomedia Spraypaint brushes to create those tiny little sparks, but you can repeat the step 14 changing the Brush size only. Basically, create a new layer, put it behind the others, fill it with black, change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge, see the color to white, and create the sparks. Conclusion http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/31_Fire/firetut_big.png[/img] Credits: Fabio

Open your image. Go to channels. Right click on Blue channel and select duplicate channel. Press control+m to open Curves. Apply these settings in it :-) Go to filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and set the radius to 4 pixels. Click on the layers tab to return back to layer pallate. Now, go to select>load selection and in the channel, select Blue Copy Press control+j to duplicate and create a new layer from the selected part of the image. Set the layer style to Screen. Finally, apply curves as shown: - You now have glowing image :) About credits, i dont remember where i found it :s

Firstly, we need to identify a few key features we’ll need to pay attention to as we path. First, the base shadow and the shadow reflection on the actual oranges. We will be removing the base shadow and leaving the shadow reflection on the orange for now. Secondly, let’s choose our pen tool We need to verify that the pen tool is set correctly for what we’re doing – the graphic below depicts how your pen tool options should be set: Now, we begin to path. Usually, I like to start at a spot where two circular shapes meet at a rough, sharp angle. In this case, it’s on top. Click once there as shown to create your first anchor point. Next, follow (with your eyes) along to the right around the circumference of the orange. Since the orange is not a perfect circle, follow until you see a jitter of some sort in the smoothness of the circle, in this case its near the stem. Click and HOLD the left mouse button where you see a jitter to create another anchor point and pull the handle it creates to manipulate the resulting path to snugly fit around the shape of the orange as shown on the left. Don’t be afraid to take the tool outside of the white work area. You can now release the mouse button. The next step, while holding down the Alt key, grab (click and hold) the handle that extends in the direction you’re traveling with the pathing tool (clockwise), in this case the handle on the bottom right. Drag this handle point into the origin of the anchor point as shown and release. You’ve just created your first path line! Note: The Bezier tool is only capable of creating partial circles with each pair of path points. Anything more than a quarter-circle will require another pair of anchor points as it will become oval, thus losing its roundness. Continue these 3 steps while following snugly around the oranges. Make sure not to spread your anchor points too thinly. Once you follow around the oranges, taking care to exclude the base shadow from your path as shown. Close the path by simply clicking and holding on the path point where you first started as shown, while pulling the handle out until the desired final shape is achieved. You now have a completed path. You can use this path to create a cutout selection using the paths panel alongside the layers panel, while also knocking out the shadow that was previously given to this picture. All Done! In order to knock out the shadows remaining on the oranges themselves, you have to simply grab the dodge tool at maybe 10% and start to lightly brush away the shadowy areas on the bottom until the area is a nice orange. On top of that, you can also create your own shadow and lighting direction since you will have knocked out the original shadow and now have a layer with an actual shape to it.

Step 1 Open a new canvas that is 600x335px. Begin by showing rulers (View>Rulers), then create two guides similar to the image below. Create one at 285px and the other at 310px. Step 2 Create a Rectangle (U) that fills the lower ruled area and label the layer "lower bar." Open up the Effects Menu for the layer. Navigate to the Gradient Overlay property and apply a gradient between #000000 and #0c0c0c at 90 degrees. Now create another rectangle in the upper rules area and name the layer "upper bar." Again open up the effects menu and apply a Gradient Overlay between #35393d and #787b7d at 90 degrees. Select the two rectangles created so far and change the Opacity to 90%. When a background is added later, this will provide a nice effect, as it allows the background to slightly show through. Step 3 The next step is to add a highlight to the menu using the Line Tool (U). Select the Line Tool and change the weight to 2px. Draw a line across the bar and change the color to #9fa2a4. Rename this layer to "lower highlight." Now draw another line directly above the previous and change the color to #484b4d and change the name to "upper highlight." Group these layers with bar layers in a group called "bar." This stage completes the basis of the menu. Step 5 Select the Type Tool (T) and change the color to white (#FFFFFF). The font I chose to use for the menu is called Segoe UI because it is the font used in the Vista user interface. However not everyone has this font, so as a replacement Arial will do. Set the size to 11pt and type your links out, spacing them evenly. Group them together and name the group "links." Now copy your dividers and space them in between the links. You should end up with something similar to this. Step 6 Now the menu bar is basically completed, so you can add a background of your choice. The background I chose is a photograph of grass. Anything colorful or scenic will do. Copy your background into the menu and rename the layer Background. Make sure this layer is at the back in your layers palette. Note the transparency in the menu allows the background to show through without overpowering. Step 7 This step will create the blurred rounded rectangle that is behind the text. This effect is quite common in Vista and is a good technique. It takes the focus of the background and places it on the text, but still shows the beautiful scene behind. First of all, duplicate the background. This layer is not permanent, but we will be cutting a selection out of it. Then using the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U), draw a shape that starts past the left edge of the canvas. This means that the shape only has two rounded edges. Rasterize the layer and then using the Magic Wand Tool (W), select the rectangle and delete the color while keeping the outline. Now select the background copy and cut from that layer. Delete the background copy layer and add another new layer called "blur." Paste the shape in the layer called "blur" and then apply a Gaussian Blur of 5px (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur). Then apply a Drop Shadow as shown below. Step 8 Now add your text inside the blur. Using the same typeface as the links (Segoe UI) type your name and tagline. Select some of the text and make it bold and keep some normal, apply a Drop Shadow, and a Gradient. This produces a modern-looking text that has a striking look. Step 9 This step is optional, as it will produce the blue highlighted glow that will become our hover effect. Draw a large Ellipse (U) that fills the area between the dividers. Change the color of the ellipse to #5c94c5 and apply a Gaussian blur of 10px. The shape has now become a raster layer, and you can clean up the excess blur by using the Marquee Tool (M). Conclusion This menu produces a stunning effect when coupled with a bright scenic background. It uses transparency to great effect as well as modern gradients. The use of highlights is a great trick to providing a cutting-edge modern look to pictures. This menu would be quite easy to slice up and turn into a very functional web-based menu with hover states.

Step 1 Using the Pen Tool (P), create a path as shown below. Don't worry about the background color. I chose this color so that you can see the path. Next, go to your Paths Palette and hit the Create New Path button. This will create a new Path Layer and save your existing path to the layer below it. I named mine "Separator." Note: If at any point you lose the selection of your path, go to the paths tab and select the separator layer. This is important for the coming steps. Step 2 Create a new layer, select the Brush Tool (B), and select a 1px, hard brush. Switch your foreground color to a black and then select the Pen Tool again. Now right-click on the path and choose Stroke Path. In the box that pops up, make sure the Brush Tool is selected and that Simulate Pressure is off. Call this layer "black separator." Hit Enter if the path is blocking your view of the black line. And don't worry, as I mentioned earlier, you can re-select this path in the Paths Palette. Step 3 Duplicate the "black separator" layer, make sure the Move Tool (V) is selected, then hit the left arrow key once. This will nudge that line one pixel to the left, now hit Ctrl+I to invert the colors. Name this layer "white separator" and place them in a layer set called "separator." Note that the Create a New Group button is right next to the Create a New Layer button. For now, keep the mode of this layer set to Normal Although we will change it later on in the tutorial. Step 4 Select the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and use the settings shown in the screenshot below. Then create a layer below the separator set and fill the left side of the separator with #3d3d3d. Create a layer above that and do the same for the right side, except this time use #111111. Nudge the "dark grey" fill, one pixel to the left (using the arrow keys!) and the "light grey" fill, one to the right. You should be aware that if you are at 100% zoom view, then hitting the left/right arrow key will move 1px, if, however, you are zoomed out further, then it will move a different number of pixels. For example, if you are at 66% view, then hitting the arrow key once will move 2px, at 50% view it will move 3px, and so on. So make sure you are at 100% :-) After this, using the Brush Tool or the Pencil Tool, brush along the sides of the canvas to fill that one transparent pixel back up with the correct color. Drop these two into a set called "background." Step 5 We have our basic set-up ready. Now it's time to add the highlights and shadows. Create a gradient with the color #707070 as shown below and then gradient-fill a new layer with that gradient. Make sure the size of the gradient is about the same as mine. If you are having trouble with gradients, you can either expand them vertically by hitting Ctrl+T and dragging them out vertically or you can use the Filter > Blur > Motion Blur filter (I prefer the free transform). On top of that, on a new layer, create a similar narrow gradient filled with white. Set that to Overlay and drop the Opacity to 40%. I put these two layers into a set called "highlights." Step 6 The shadows were created in a similar way. First a "large shadow" gradient using black with the layer and set to Soft Light and 80% Opacity, a stretched out gradient was created. Then on top of that, a "small shadow" was added, again using black but this time the layer was set to Overlay and the Opacity dropped down to 40. These two layers were put in a set called "shadows." Step 7 The highlights and shadows are way too defined on the dark grey area—time to fix that. Put the "shadows" and "highlights" into a new set. I called mine S/H. Make sure the highlights set is below the shadows set. Add a layer mask to the S/H set. Now Ctrl-click on your "dark grey" layer. This time, using a low opacity black brush go over the masked area within the selection. With each stroke, the shadows and highlights fade away. Regulate the opacity of your black brush in order to gain more control over the transparency. The more opaque the brush, the more transparent the shadows and highlights will become. If you still feel you need even more control, you can add masks to the layers themselves. For instance, adding a mask to the "highlight large" layer will let you edit the opacity of that layer only. Use this to your advantage. Step 8 Now comes the hard part. Depending on your taste and skill, you will now have to brush in additional shadows and highlights. I suggest you put all of the brushwork into a separate set called "Brush" at the top of the document. Use low opacity black brushes to add shadows. Patience is key here. There is no fixed way of doing it. I used a big (180px), soft, black brush set to 10% Opacity and tapped along the edges. Step 9 Duplicate the "background" layer set and hit Ctrl+E. This will rasterize it into a single layer. Use the Dodge and Burn Tools to add additional highlights and shadows if necessary. Highlight mode works best here, with a low exposure (around 15-20%). Step 10 Until now we've used the separator to help us in our process with the shadows/highlights etc. so that we have a clear division between the light and dark area. Now we are going to finalize this design. Set the "separator" set to Overlay. Wow, an indent appears! If you are not happy with it, duplicate both the "white separator" and "black separator" layers and nudge them one pixel to the right. It creates a less prominent appearance. The effect isn't too hard to achieve. When I first analyzed the Web page, I understood that the shape could be created with the Path Tool and the rest were just a bunch of shadows and highlights that could be created thanks to a combination of brushing and gradients. The more work you put into those shadows, the better the end result. Credits: Arik

Give your photos a grunge look with this popular Photoshop effect. Although this Photoshop effect is commonly referred as HDR photo effect, it is it can be done with regular, non-HDR photos. Note: This photo effect is titled Gritty HDR due to the common use of the name and is not intended to be an accurate description of the effect. HDR means high dynamic range but this photo effect does not require the use of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos. This effect is better described as a grungy tone mapping effect that can be done without the use of HDR images. Preview of Final Results Gritty HDR Photoshop Tutorial Step 1: Open a photo into Photoshop Start by opening an image into Photoshop. To do this, run Photoshop and choose File> Open. Browse and select the photo you would like to edit then click OK. Photoshop CS2 or Older: Select the layer and press Ctrl+J or go to Layer> Duplicate Layer to create a duplicate of the layer. Do not do any editing on the Background layer. Instead, work on the Background copy layer. This will ensure you always have a copy of the original unedited image in case you require it for further post processing. Photoshop CS3 If you are using Adobe Photoshop CS3, right mouse click on the layer an select "Convert to Smart Object". This will allow you to apply Smart Filters which can be edited at anytime and will keep the file size smaller. Step 2: Make details more visible with the Shadow/Highlights tool First, we'll mimic the tone mapping effect by using the Shadow/Highlights tool. Choose Image> Adjustments> Shadow/Highlights. In the Shadow/Highlights tool, adjust the settings so that all details are easy to see without making the photo look fake. Step 3: Add a halo effect with the Unsharp Mask filter Choose Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp Mask. We will not be using this filter to sharpen the image. Instead, we'll use this filter to add a high-contrast halo effect to the image. In the Unsharp Mask filter, set the Radius to 250 pixels and adjust the amount to get an effect that you desire. Step 4: Add a Black and White adjustment layer Photoshop CS2 or Older: Select Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue/Saturation. Set the Saturation to -100 and click OK. Photoshop CS3 Select Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Black and White. A window with the settings will appear. For now, just click OK without touching any of the settings and change the blending mode of the Black and White adjustment layer to Overlay. Step 5: Adjust the Black and White adjustment layer settings (For Photoshop CS3 only) Photoshop CS2 or Older: Skip this step Photoshop CS3 In the previous step, we skipped the settings to change the layer blending mode. Now, we'll go back and edit the settings that we previously skipped. The reason for this is so that we can see the live preview effect of the Black and White adjustment layer with Overlay blending mode instead of the Normal blending mode. Double-click on the Black and White adjustment layer and a Black and White window will appear. In this window, adjust the settings to get the results you desire. Start by scrolling through the Presets and find the one that closely matches your Step 6: Create a new layer named "Grain" Choose Layer> New Layer or press Ctrl+Shift+N. Type in "Grain" (without the quotations) as the layer name and select Overlay as the blending mode. We will use this layer to add noise to the image. Step 7: Add a 50% gray fill Select the Grain layer that we created in the previous step. Then, press Ctrl+Backspace to access the Fill tool. In the Fill tool, select 50% Gray in the Use drop down menu and click OK. This will fill the layer with 50% gray. The reason we're using 50% gray is because it will not be visible on many layer blending modes including Overlay. This means that the gray will not be visible on our Grain layer because it's using Overlay as the blending mode. So why did we do this if it does nothing? Some filters including the Add Noise filter we'll be using in the next step won't work on an empty layer. In order to use it, we had to fill the layer with 50% gray and change the blending mode to one of the blending modes that won't show the 50% gray. Step 8: Add Noise Choose Filter> Noise> Add Noise. In the Add Noise tool, checkmark Monochromatic and click OK. Step 9: Blur the noise Choose Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur and enter 0.3 in the Radius setting then click OK. Step 10: Increase the contrast of the layer with Auto Levels Choose Image> Adjustments> Auto Levels. This will increase the contrast of the layer making the noise extremely visible. Reduce the opacity of the layer until you get the noise level you desire. Final Results Original Image Gritty HDR Credits: Denny

In this tutorial I am going to show you some simple ways using the pen and brush tools to create a really cool abstract background. These techniques can used for many different projects. In this particular tutorial I thought it would be cool to show you how to make a wallpaper using these techniques. First, just start off with whatever size your screen is, in my case I am using a widescreen monitor at 1680X1050 but that is so large I am just going to use the size 800X600. So start a new file with whatever size you are going to use and make the background black. Now we need to grab our brush tool and choose some settings for it so go to your main tools and pick your brush: Now in my version of photoshop to choose my brush settings I am going to go to the brushes tab that is on my main top bar of photoshop: If you don’t see it there click this little icon beside those tabs: In brush tip shape key in a 4px regular brush or just use a 5px: Then check “Shape Dynamics” and use these settings: Ok that is it for the brush settings for now. Also, pick white as your brush color on your regular tools palette. Next get your pen tool: On your canvas within your new layer click a little below the actual canvas with your pen tool: *This is the bottom left corner of my canvas Next click in your canvas, while holding down your mouse button drag your line to the top left like this: Then just click somewhere else and you should get a curved shape: Now right click (still using your pen tool) on your line and click stroke path: Then hit OK and you should get something like this: Actually after you click ok your pen line will still be there so right click on it and click “delete path”. That simple way of using your brushes and pen tool is pretty much the basis for this whole tutorial. We are now going to stay in the same layer and create multiple curved lines with different sizes like this: Then pick a 2 or 3px brush and do the same thing in a new layer until you get something you like. Here is my result: Ok one more time pick a larger brush size like 6px and make some a few longer curves that extend past the other ones. Also you need to change your fade setting to a larger number so the longer curves won’t fade out too soon. I put my fade level on 425. Here is my result of that step: Now those 3 different layers you have, duplicate the mid sized lines you made and move them around so you have more lines on your canvas: After that step we want to add a glow to the curves so just pick any layer and add these blending options to it: outer glow: After you are done right click on that layer and click copy layer style: Now paste that layer style on all the other layers by right clicking on each later and clicking “paste layer style”: My result: Ok Now to add another touch to make this really stand out… Just pick the layer you have at the very top and grab a 200px soft brush with the color white. Click with it a few time in the bottom left corner until you get this result: I think this is turning out really well but there are a few more touches I would like to add to make this even better. Get your pen tool again and in a new layer make a shape on your canvas like this: Just do a random shape similar or whatever you feel like experimenting with. After that right click with your pen tool on your shape and click “make selection”. Now pick your gradient tool and drag random gradients all through the shape. I used the same color blue as with the glow and made it have transparency. Here is my result: Now I am going to add a motion blur to this shape to give it a cool effect: In my version of photoshop I just go to filter>>blur>>motion blur on my main menu… Motion blur: My result: That is about it, I am going to add a few more touches with my brush and changing its brush settings to scatter. If anyone would like me to add on to this tutorial for this part let me know. Thanks for reading! Final Result: Click here to see full image Click here to view large image Credits: Stumble

For this tutorial, we'll need two photos that I took. You can download them to follow along. These are my photos: castle photo and clouds photo. What We're Making Step 1 First of all, my apologies for this step. I waited for a good 20 minutes but that car didn't move, so I had to take the photo with it! Anyway, just use the Patch Tool (J) to remove the car and the Clone Stamp Tool (S) to recreate the pattern of the bricks where it used to be. If you've never used the Patch Tool, there are a couple of ways to use it. First, make a selection as you would if you were using the Lasso Tool, then click inside the area and drag with your mouse. Depending on whether you are using Source or Destination as your checked option you will either move the image inside the selection, or move the whole selection around. The Patch Tool will blend-in the area you've chosen when you let go. You can also use patterns and transparency. All in all, it's a great tool. Step 2 Once the van has been removed, apply Filter > Render > Lighting Effects to make the light come from the top right. Step 3 With the tool that you prefer, create a selection of the part that you want to hide. For example, I used the Pen Tool (P) to select the sky and the buildings around the castle. With the selection active, add a Layer Mask. Step 4 Duplicate the background layer, desaturate it with Ctrl+Shift+U, apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with 4-pixel Radius, and set the Blending Mode for the layer to Overlay. Step 5 Now we need a photo with clouds and the rays of the sun coming from the right. I used this photo of mine that was perfect for this situation. Send it to the back of the other layers. Then duplicate it and set the copy layer Blending Mode to Lighter Color. Step 6 Duplicate again the original background photo (Layer 1) and put the this new layer below the Layer 1 copy. Set the Blending Mode to Multiply. Step 7 Now turn off the visibility of the two castle layers, go to the Layer 1 copy, and merge the visible layers into a new layer with Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E. Then desaturate it with Ctrl+Shift+U, set the Blending Mode to Overlay, and the Opacity to 50%. Step 8 Make a new layer on the top of the other. With a large, white, soft brush that matches the size of the light of the sun, just make a round spot. Then apply the Luce filter , to make this light coming through the clouds. Set the Blending Mode to Overlay. This is an example with black background to demonstrate the effect. Step 9 Just Burn the dark side of the castle and Dodge the light part of it with a large, soft brush. By doing this, we make it seem as if the light is coming from the clouds and hitting the right side of the castle, leaving the other side in darkness. At this point we're almost done, but the image is overall quite dark and our blur earlier has left it slightly too blurry, so we'll fix that next. Step 10 To finish the image, create a new layer above the rest and go to Image > Apply Image, use the settings "Merged", "RGB" and "Normal" for blending. This will create a new layer above the rest holding a copy of the image. Set this layer to Screen and about 70% Opacity. Then go through each layer and apply Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and use the settings Amount: 250% and Radius .2px (Use a larger radius for larger images). This should sharpen the image back up to give us a good final result. Credits: Giackop

Step 1: Create a new document First of all create a new document 500 by 500 pixels. Now we are going to be filling the background with a dark brown colour, to do this go Edit > Fill and use Color with the colour number #2C241f. Step 2: Draw the box Secondly, we are going to be creating the actual box that we are going to be sticking everything into. So create a new layer by going Layer > New > Layer (or Ctrl + Shift + Alt + N for the shortcut). Select the rounded rectangle tool and set the following settings. Now click somewhere in the document around the middle so you have a outline of a rounded box. Now right click and go Make Selection. Set your foreground colour to #483A2E and your background colour to #30271F. Now select the gradient tool and set it to linear gradient (and make sure that it is going from the foreground colour to the background colour). Left click somewhere in the top left and drag to the bottom right of the selection and release. Now it should be looking something like this. Step 3: Draw the header Next up we are going to be applying an outer glow to our box. To do this we are going to be going Layer > Layer Styles > Outer Glow and fill in the settings below (the colour is #1e1815) This is how your box should be looking now: Step 4 Thirdly we are going to be creating a header for the box. So select the area of your box (Ctrl + Click the layer in the layers window). Select the rectangular marquee tool and while holding down the Alt key drag across from the bottom right up to the top left (leaving 30-40 pixels at the top) - this will deselect most of the selection so we are just left with the header part. Set your foreground colour to #d0d63e and your background colour to #819026. Select the gradient tool (this time set it to radial gradient) and left click near the top left and drag to about the middle of the selection and release. Step 5: Add a reflection Using the move tool move the selection down about 20-30 pixels so that the top of it is in the middle of the header (hold down shift so that it does not go sideways when you are moving the selection). Now go Edit > Fill and fill the selection with the colour white (the hex number is #ffffff). You can deselect (Ctrl + D) now because you don't need that selection anymore. Select the area of the green header like you did before and invert the selection (this will select everything except the header - the shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + I). Hit delete on your keyboard and you should be left with something like this. Now set the blend mode of the white layer to Soft Light and the opacity level to 30%. Step 6: Add a title Using the text tool add in some text for the header of the box. Step 7: Add the thumbnails Lastly we are going to be adding in some Flickr images to show you what it would look like. So get some Flickr images (I've got some 75 by 75 pixel ones) and stick them with 10 pixel spaces between each other. Now we are going to be applying a stroke to the Flickr images. So go Layer > Layer Styles > Stroke and enter the settings below (the colour is #483a2e). Your completed box should look something like this :) Credits: James Hewett

1: We're going to try to get a really metallic chrome effect on our text, using curves and other features in Photoshop. Start off with a large canvas, the larger the better - I'm using 800x800. Make some text and have it a light-medium grey, in the example I'll use #B3B3B3. Start off by using a nice big bevel and emboss with settings similar to these. As usual, the size should be suitable for the size of the image; try to make it look like the example. 2: Now we need to rasterize our layer. Create a new layer by pressing ctrl/cmd + shift + N, then link the new layer with the text layer, and press ctrl/cmd + E to merge it. This will rasterize our text layer. Now we need to adjust the image using curves - press ctrl/cmd + M to open the curves menu, then enter a nice even zig zag 3: Go Image || Adjustments || Variations, set the slider at the top to one notch from the bottom, and then click once on the 'Current Pick' box, once on the 'More Blue' box, and then once on the 'More Green' box - now click OK. Press ctrl/cmd + M again to open up the curves menu, and enter a slightly different curve like this. Now add a drop shadow using the default settings by going Layer || Layer Style || Drop Shadow and clicking OK. 4: Now use the layer styles again (Layer || Layer Styles) to add an inner glow using these settings. Go to layer styles again and this time add a second bevel and emboss, with these settings. For the next stage, we need to create a selection - hold ctrl/cmd and click on the main layer in the layers palette. This will select the letter/text - now go Select || Modify || Contract and enter a value of 3. Now go Select || Feather (ctrl/cmd + shift + D) and enter 3 again. 5: At the bottom of the layers palette, click the 'Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer' button - a circle half black and half white - and click 'Gradient Map'. Click the arrow at the side of the dialogue box that appears (see thisimage), and load the file 'Metals'. Apply the gradient in the bottom left (black > white > black - "Steel Bar"), then set this layer's blending mode as 'overlay'. This should give a similar effect to that seen opposite. If not, try the tutorial a few times - there are several variables such as the curves input that can make quite a difference, and it takes some practise!

Step 1: BACKGROUND LAYER To begin this tutorial, we'll first give ourselves a nice background gradient. Now while most gradients are two-color, in Photoshop you can actually make much more complex gradients by clicking on the Gradient icon in the top left. You'll get a panel showing the gradient and you can add more colors to it. In this case, I've used three colors to make a gradual change from green to a set of blues. Multi-color gradients can make for a stunning background. I've used a Radial Gradient and centered it to the bottom right. The colors I've used are: Color 1 - #2e5b15 Color 2 - #103533 Color 3 - #090e13 Step 2: Now we need a letter. I've used the letter Q because it's my favorite, particularly in this serifed style. This is from the font Adobe Caslon Pro which I suspect came with my Photoshop install--although who knows, I have way to many fonts to remember! Give your letter a nice blue- green color. I've used #41a993. Step 3: Now after this, I basically went through all the different types of layer styles and just experimented with them all. You can produce some really wicked combinations with a bit of trying out. The main things I did here were: * Decrease Fill Opacity to 20%. Fill Opacity makes the layer transparent WITHOUT making the styles transparent. Note that this is DIFFERENT to Opacity which just makes everything see-through. * Another thing I did was to try changing angles around, using different blending modes, and building the layers up slowly. In any case, you can see all the exact settings by downloading the sample PSD file from the link on the top right. You can then right click that layer and hit Copy Layer Styles if you just want to paste it into your own file. Step 4: So here is the result of my layer styles. It's a pretty cool-looking style. Note that I've made it look as if the light is coming from the bottom. This matches the direction of my gradient and gives a convincing look. I've then also used a fainter set of highlights coming from the other side. This vaguely matches how glass sometimes reflects light about. Step 5: Now hold down Ctrl and click on the Q layer to select the shape and add a white to transparent gradient coming from the bottom into a NEW layer. You can do color to transparent gradients by clicking on the Gradient Tool in the top left and holding it down to see the whole set of gradients (as we did earlier in this tutorial). The second one along is color to transparency. It's SUCH a useful gradient. Great for this sort of glass/plastic effects in particular. Now fade this back by changing its blend mode to Overlay. Step 6: Now again hold Ctrl and select the Q layer. In a new layer, again add a radial white to transparent gradient, this time coming from the top down as shown. Fade this one out by setting its opacity to 40%. Step 7: Now on the same layer as in the last step, draw an ellipse with the Selection Tool and hit Ctrl+Shift+I to select the inverse. Then hit delete to remove some of that gradient that we just drew. Basically this makes the white suddenly stop and gives us a glassy feel. Try cutting in different ways to see the different sort of effects you can make. Step 8: Now glass shines, so lets add some highlights to make it look really shiny. You can do this by choosing the Custom Shape Tool (U) and then in the top left click on Polygon and then on the down arrow to get options as shown. Tick Star and make sure your indent is set to 99% to make some nice little 5 pointed stars. Now in a new layer with white as your foreground color, just add some highlighted stars liberally about. It's best to place them on the most highlighted parts of the Q to make it look like they are sparkles from those highlights. And there you have the finished product: a glassy lettering style. Download the PSD for this tutorial Credits: Collis

With the recent release of Mac OS X Leopard, I’ve decided to create a tutorial where you can create your own ‘X’. This tutorial is a great exercise in using the dodge and burn tool as well as working with selections. Set the stage. Take a dark photo will very little color so you can see the X in proper lighting. If the X were against a white background, it would be hard to see the highlights of the edges in the later stages of this tutorial. This desatuared Cosmos Wallpaper will do the job to achieve this. Type out the ‘X’ Take the text tool and type out the capital letter ‘X’. I’ve found that the “Myriad Pro Bold” font creates a close resemblance to the real X used in Apple’s artwork. Make the size of the X around 800 pt. (Remember, its always better to start large, then scale down when you are finished.) Set the color to the default black. Gradient Overlay Layer Style Next, apply a layer style effect to the ‘X’. To access the layer style palette, with the X layer selected, go to the menu under Layer >> Layer Style >> Gradient Overlay. Set the opacity to 9% and the angle to -90 degrees. Bevel Edge Right click the ‘T’ corresponding to the text layer and choose “Select Layer Transparency”. Create a new layer above the X and fill in the selection with the color #4c4c4c. After that, go to Select >> Modify >> Contract… Contracting the selection will reduce the size of the selection similar to how a image transform would. Depending on how large you’re, you’ll want to change the contraction size, but the particular size I made the ‘X’, I’ll choose 3 pixels. Now with that new layer still select, hit delete so that the new layer trims around the ‘X’. A small subtle trim will give the effect of depth. Dodge & Burn Tools Its time to take out the dodge and burn tools. These tools are very good for a situation like this because they won’t add any new pixels and the tools won’t harm layers other than the one that is selection. With both of these tools, make sure you use a brush hardness of 0%. This will stop any harsh lines created. It takes a while to get the setting right for the situation, but I’ve found the dodge tool works great at a Range of Shadows and Exposure at 21% (changes these in the options palette). For the burn tool, a Range of Shadows and Exposure set to 6% (yes that 6%, these tools need little exposure have an effect on the image). Add highlights and shadows to the trim layer just like you were painting on it. The dodge and burn tools should add perspective and proper lighting to the ‘X’. Use the Selection Tool As A Mask A great way to create an edge is to take the square marquee selection tool, and create along the crease of the ‘X’. Take the dodge tool and brush inside the selection, then go to Select >> Inverse and burn the other side. Using the rectangle marquee tool is a great way to create edges at joints in the ‘X’ when using the dodge and burn tools. Gloss Last but not least is the large gloss reflection that will come across the X. Create a new layer and select the pen tool. With the paths option chosen from options palette, create a swoosh across the ‘X’ and close the pen path outside & around the ‘X’. Take the Path Selection Tool (the point just above the pen tool) and right click on the path and pick “Fill Path…”. Fill the path with white. Again using the “Select Layer Transparency” from the X text layer, create the selection and go to Select >> Inverse and delete the white outside the X. Change the opacity of the gloss layer to around 40%. Create a layer mask for the gloss layer. Take a white to black gradient set to radial, and drag a gradient from the left side of the X where the reflection appears on the X to about 200 pixels past where the reflection leaves on other side of the X. With a large black brush set to 0% hardness (we don’t want any edges) brush along top left of ‘X’ to fade out some reflection. Final Result: Download PSD File Video how to: Credits: tutorialdog

If you’re a Windows Vista user, you’re probably familiar the eye catching graphics shown off on the box, and in some of their wallpapers/screensavers. In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to create that effect yourself. This Vista Lighting Effect, sometimes referred to as the Aurora Effect, can really transform an ordinary wallpaper to something extraordinary. What makes it even better is that it’s very easy to achieve. Just follow these simple steps! Step 1 Before we can actually get started on the lighting effects, we need to create a background for the effect. We can’t simply use any background we choose, but rather create an appropriate canvas to begin with. Find a photograph to use as the basic palette for your background. It can be any image really… just make sure it has a lot of lights and darks in it. Alternatively, you can Download the Attached Photo Sample and work with the same photograph I’ll be using. Step 2 From here, we need to apply a very strong Gaussian Blur to our Photograph. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and bring the slider to something high. You really want to get rid of all the detail in the photo, and have all the colors mesh together. I applied a Gaussian Blur of 75. Step 3 Now we are going to drastically change our background by adding a Color Balance Adjustment Layer. To create this layer, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance. A “New Layer” box may pop up, just click Ok through that. Next you’ll see 3 different sliders, as well as 3 separate ranges to choose from (Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights). At this point, it’s really just about experimenting with the sliders in each range until you find a suitable result. If you’re using the photograph I supplied, these were the values I used: Shadows: -37, -40, 7 Midtones: 15, 62, 0 Highlights: -34, 0, 69 Step 4 That’s it for the background. We’re done with it. You may choose to edit your Color Balance layer later on (just double click the icon next to it), but otherwise, we can move onto the effect. To begin, select the Elliptical Marquee Tool from your toolbar. Make a large selection, spanning all the way across your canvas. You may need to move your selection while making it in order to make such a large selection. If you need to do this, hold the spacbar while dragging your mouse (Don’t let go of the left mouse button). You should end up with a slightly curved selection that covers at least half the canvas. Step 5 Create a new Layer (Above the Adjustment Layer, mind you), and grab your Brush tool from the toolbar. Choose the default brush, and then modify the size to something large, such as 200-300, and set the hardness to 0. Choose White as your foreground color. This part may take some trial and error, but essentially, you are going to brush just the very inside of the selection you just made. Try to brush evenly across the whole selection. Step 6 Easy enough, huh? Set the blending mode of this layer to Overlay. Deselect everything (Ctrl + D or Select > Deselect). Now, transform this layer so that is is positioned near-vertically along the right side of the canvas. To transform, go to Edit > Free Transform, or Ctrl + T. Step 7 Repeat steps 5 and 6 once or twice, and use smaller brush sizes (and possibly a larger brush size). Be sure to put each new band of light onto a new layer! Step 8 Now that we have 2 or 3 different bands of light, we won’t need to make anymore of them. Instead, you can Duplicate the layers you’ve made, and Freely transform them to become new shapes. Remember, Ctrl + T to transform. You can get some interesting effects by holding the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift Keys while dragging the transformation nodes. Step 9 That’s really all there is too it! For add effect, you can add some extra color into it using Color Balance Layers. In order to do this, Select several of your light layers (Ctrl + Shift + Click a Layer in the Layers Panel), and then add a new Color Balance Adjustment layer (Like we did in step 3). The Color Balance Adjustment layer will automatically create a layer mask so that it only gets applied over the selection you made. Just be sure that these new adjustment layers are on top of the lighting layers. Download the PSD File Credits: David Leggett

Start this out with a 500×200 blank canvas. Drag a gradient like so over the canvas. Left= #d3d3d3 Right= #f8f8f8. Using the line tool, draw a 2px line across the canvas with #d3d3d3 as the foreground color. Mine looks like this: Create a new layer and name it “Tab Bottom.” Grab the rounded rectangle tool. Set your radius to 6. Draw a rounded rectangle. Remove any of the tab above your horizontal line. It should look like this: Add the following layer styles: Left= #bebebe Right= #c8c8c8. Your tab should look something like this: Duplicate the “tab bottom” layer. Name it “tab top.” Add this gradient overlay – Left= #f9f9f9 Right= #f6f5f5. Lower the opacity of “tab top” to around 80%. Hopefully, you have something like this: Type in some black text. I wrote ‘home.’ Lower the opacity of the text to around 67%. For this step, grab the pencil tool with a 1px size. Draw these small details on the tab in a slightly darker gray. So far, your tabs should look like this: Duplicate all these layers: Tab bottom, tab top, and the designs on the tab.Put these layers underneath the original tab and position them underneath your original tab. On Tab Bottom Copy, use this gradient overlay – Left= #2a2a2a Right= #4e4e4e. On Tab Top Copy, add this gradient overlay – Left= #222222 Right= #2e2e2e. Change the text on this second tab. I made mine white, opacity 67%. Mine looks like this: Make a selection over the top half of the black tab. Create a new layer. Title it “gloss.” With the gloss layer selected, Cmd+Alt+Shift click the thumbnail for Tab Top Copy. Your selection should automatically look like this: Drag a white to transparent gradient vertically across this selection. Lower the opacity to around 5% to get this smooth gloss effect. I went ahead and made a second black tab: For the last part of this tutorial, I really want to add in a distinct tab for my RSS feed. Go ahead and duplicate one of your current tabs and drag it to the right edge of the canvas.I added the following gradient overlays to Tab Bottom and Tab Top respectively: Left= #fea203 Right= #c98001. Left= #fea203 Right= #ff8a00. I changed the text to RSS and shortened the size of the tab. My final product looks like this: Credits: Brian

When I think of the perfect sunset photo, my mind immediately fills with lots of warm reds, oranges and yellows as the sun gently sets across the water or beyond the hills. Sunsets are one of the most commonly photographed aspects of nature, and yet photos rarely manage to capture their intense beauty. What was once a sky filled with rich, golden hues often ends up looking cooler, less vivid, and ultimately less interesting. Here's a photo I took one summer evening at the beach: I like how the sun is getting ready to dip below the horizon as a boat heads out across the lake, but the colors are quite muted and dull. They could definitely use a little help. Here's how the photo will look after a quick and easy adjustment using a Gradient Map: Let's get started! Step 1: Add A "Gradient Map" Adjustment Layer If you've been following along with our tutorials for a while, you know that in most cases, the very first thing we do is duplicate the Background layer, which allows us to work on the image without harming the original pixel information. In this case though, we're going to be using one of Photoshop's adjustment layers, and one of the great things about adjustment layers is that they allow us to work non-destructively. In other words, we get to work on the image without actually touching it! Photoshop gives us a complete preview of what the image looks like after making our adjustments, whether we're using a Levels or Curves adjustment layer to improve overall image contrast, a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to colorize an image, or a Threshold adjustment layer to find the lightest and darkest parts of the image, but all of the work is actually being done inside the adjustment layer itself. None of it is being done directly to the image. We'll save a big discussion about adjustment layers for another tutorial, but for now, just know that nothing we do with the Gradient Map adjustment layer we're about to add will harm the image in any way, which is why there's no need to first duplicate our Background layer. Before we can do anything with our adjustment layer though, we first need to add it, so click on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette: Photoshop Sunset: Clicking on the "New Adjustment Layer" icon. Then choose Gradient Map from the list of adjustment layers that appears: Photoshop Sunset: Select "Gradient Map" from the list. Step 2: Click On The Gradient Preview Area To Edit The Gradient This brings up Photoshop's Gradient Map dialog box: Photoshop Sunset: The Gradient Map dialog box. Photoshop's Gradient Map feature gets its name from what it does. It allows us to "map", or assign, different colors to different tonal values in the image. We can use a Gradient Map to make all dark areas in an image one color, all light areas a different color, and all mid-tone areas yet another color. We can say "I want all dark areas to be blue", for example, and "I want all light areas to be red, and all mid-tones to be green". I'm just using random examples, of course. You can choose any colors you like! In fact, you can divide the tonal range of an image into a rainbow of colors if you want, and since we're working with gradients (hence the name "Gradient Map"), Photoshop will create smooth transitions between the colors for us. When the Gradient Map dialog box appears, it will most likely be set to the "Foreground to Background" gradient as we can see above, going from black on the left to white on the right (assuming that your Foreground and Background colors are currently set to the defaults). If we were to map this gradient to our image, we'd instantly convert our image into black and white. In fact, if you look at your image in the document window, you'll see that all the color is now gone (as long as the Preview option is selected in the dialog box): Photoshop Sunset: The image appears black and white with the default gradient. Of course, this isn't what we want. We want to add reds, oranges and yellows to our sunset, not convert it to black and white, so the first thing we need to do is edit the gradient. To do that, click directly on the gradient preview area: Photoshop Sunset: Edit the gradient by clicking directly on the preview area. This will bring up the Gradient Editor which we'll look at next. Step 3: Set The Dark Areas In The Image To Red When Photoshop's Gradient Editor appears, you'll see another gradient preview area in the bottom half of the dialog box. We're going to change the colors of the gradient, starting with the black color on the left. Double-click on the black color stop on the bottom left of the gradient preview area: Photoshop Sunset: Double-click on the black color stop. This brings up Photoshop's Color Picker. Choose a nice red color for the dark areas of the image: Photoshop Sunset: Selecting red from the Color Picker. You'll see all the dark areas of your image become red in your document window: Photoshop Sunset: The dark areas of the image are now red. Click OK to exit out of the Color Picker when you're done, but don't exit out of the Gradient Editor just yet. We still have to change the color for the light areas. Step 4: Set The Light Areas In The Image To Yellow Next, we're going to change the color of the light areas in the image. Double-click on the white color stop on the bottom right of the gradient preview area: Photoshop Sunset: Double-click on the black color stop. The Color Picker will appear once again. This time, choose a bright yellow for the light areas: Photoshop Sunset: Selecting a yellow color from the Color Picker. Click OK to exit out of the Color Picker once you've chosen your color. If we look at our gradient preview area in the Gradient Editor now, we can see that we've changed the gradient from black and white to red and yellow, with Photoshop blending the two colors together for us, giving us a nice orange color in the mid-tones: Photoshop Sunset: The colors in the gradient have now been changed. Click OK to exit out of the Gradient Editor at this point, and then click OK to exit out of the Gradient Map dialog box as well. Here's what our image looks like now after editing our gradient: Photoshop Sunset: The image after editing the colors in the gradient. Unfortunately, the colors aren't really blending in with the photo all that well, but we're going to fix that using Photoshop's layer blend modes and the Opacity option next! Step 5: Change The Blend Mode Of The Gradient Map Layer To "Overlay" We've added our Gradient Map adjustment layer and successfully edited the colors that are being mapped to our sunset photo using Photoshop's Gradient Editor. The only problem now is that the colors are much too strong. There's two things we can do to fix that, and we're going to be combining both of them to give us complete control over the final result. First, we need to change the blend mode of the Gradient Map adjustment layer. If we look in our Layers palette, we can see that we now have two layers - the Background layer which contains our photo and the Gradient Map adjustment layer above it. Make sure you have the Gradient Map layer selected, then go up to the blend mode option in the top left corner of the Layers palette, click on the down-pointing arrow to the right of the word "Normal", and select Overlay from the list of blend modes that appears: Photoshop Sunset: Change the blend mode of the Gradient Map adjustment layer to "Overlay". The Overlay blend mode is part of the Contrast group of blend modes, and one of it primary purposes is to boost the contrast in an image, making light areas lighter and dark areas darker. If we look at our image now, we can see that the contrast has definitely been increased. The reds, oranges and yellows from our gradient are blending in better with the photo at this point, but the colors are still much too intense: Photoshop Sunset: The image after changing the blend mode of the Gradient Map layer to "Overlay". Step 6: Lower The Opacity Of The Gradient Map Layer To reduce the intensity of the colors so it looks more like a sunset and less like a nuclear explosion, all we need to do is lower the opacity of the Gradient Map layer. The Opacity option is located at the top of the Layers palette, directly to the right of the blend mode option. I'm going to lower my opacity all the way down to 40%. You may need to set yours to a different value depending on your image: Photoshop Sunset: Lower the opacity of the Gradient Map layer to reduce the color intensity. Once you've lowered the opacity of the adjustment layer to fine-tune the result, you're done! Here's my original image once again for comparison: Photoshop Sunset: The original image once again. And here is our final "warm, golden sunset" result: Photoshop Sunset: The final result. And there we have it! Credits: Steve Patterson

Step 1 First, search for a panoramic or skyline picture, I found this one. Try to use a big resolution and wide format picture. This is because when creating the planet view, you'll reduce the image's width a lot. Next make a new document with the same dimensions as your picture. Then paste your image into a new layer. Step 2 Details are the most important. Draw a horizontal guide to ensure the horizon is fine. In this case, the horizontal perspective it's a little up on the picture's right side. To fix this, go to Filter > Distort > Lens Correction. Then set the angle a tiny bit down on the right side (356,78º it means less than one degree). You can play with the Perspective angles when you're using a different picture. This is a crucial step. If you don't do it well, you'll have more to do on Step 4 by changing the Offset. Finally, crop the image deleting all the extra sky and sea that we don't need. Step 3 Using a soft Dodge tool (O), highlight the sky. Try to get almost white on both the left and right sides of the sky. Also, highlight the right side water a little bit. Step 4 To create the "planet" we need to change the Offset of our image. Go to Filter > Other > Offset. Then change the horizontal value to change the offset to the center of the image. Step 5 Now using the Healing Brush tool (J), fix the hard offset line over both the sky and the water. Also, using a small Blur tool ®, blur the sharpen line of the building next to the offset. Step 6 Now go to Image > Image Size and resize the image. Try to keep the height of your original document to preserve the good quality. In this case, I'll make it a little bigger 1000 pixels by 1000 pixels. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/6.jpg[/img] Step 7 Go to Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates and select Rectangular to Polar. This way you have a nice "planet" view, but its still needs a few more adjustments. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/7.jpg[/img] Step 8 Using the Liquify Filter window, select the Bloat tool. Then use a large brush, like 600 pixels, and make a few clicks to inflate the center of the planet. Step 9 Apply a quick Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen More. Then you'll can see the building's windows glowing better. Step 10 Using the Lasso Tool (L), select the building's shapes. Leave some space between the selection and the buildings. Feather the selection (Ctrl + D) 30 pixels. Then hit Ctrl + Shift + I to invert the selection. Then delete it. Finally, add a new Solid Color Layer (#7F5E6F) below the "planet" layer. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/10.jpg[/img] Step 11 Rotate the "planet" a few angles to put most of the buildings on the top. Step 12 Now we'll create a pattern background. For this I'll use some default shapes that come with Photoshop CS3. Create a new document 150 pixels by 150 pixels. Draw a shape in the middle of the document and apply a Drop Shadow to it. Then draw more objects over the four corners using the same Drop Shadow effect. Use any color, I used #75455D, #572D41, and #8B5B71. Then delete the background. Go to Edit > Define Pattern and type some name for it. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/12.jpg[/img] Step 13 Apply the pattern overlay to the background layer. Use the values shown below. Step 14 Duplicate the "Planet" layer. Then go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur and apply a Zoom Blur. Do it twice while pressing Ctrl + F. Finally, change the "Planet copy" Layer Blending Mode to Color Dodge and Opacity to 75%. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/14.jpg[/img] Step 15 Render some Clouds (Filter > Render > Clouds) into a new layer above the "Background" layer. Use a Foreground color of #583144 and Background color of #C29CAB. Then change the Blending Mode to Hard Light and Opacity to 50%. Step 16 Create a new background layer (#583144) below the pattern background. Select the pattern background, and apply a Layer mask > Hide all, filled with a radial (black - white) gradient. Step 17 Apply an Outer Glow to the "Planet" layer using the values shown below. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/17.jpg[/img] Step 18 Now draw Photoshop's default "Sun" shape. Below is the list of the effects applied to that shape to make it more impressive. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/18.jpg[/img] Step 19 Duplicate the "Sun" layer. Make the copy smaller than the original. Rotate it a little bit. Then change the colors of the Gradient Overlay to make it lighter. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/19.jpg[/img] Step 20 Duplicate the "Sun copy" layer, resize it, and place the copy above the "Planet copy" layer. Make it 60% smaller, and rasterize the copy including the effects. A quick way to do it is by creating a new blank layer above the shape, select both, and press Ctrl + E to merge them. Then change the "Sun rasterized copy" Blending Mode to Hard Light and Opacity to 75%. Make two more copies of it and put them somewhere around the planet. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/20.jpg[/img] Step 21 Now let's add some text to our design. I found this old school font called Pacmania. Type the text, "PSDTUTS." Then apply all the Layer Styles in the image below to the text. http://psdtuts.s3.amazonaws.com/166_Violet_Planet/21.jpg[/img] Step 22 Finally, I decided to apply a Layer Mask > Hide All (filled with a white-black gradient) to the "Clouds" layer. You can skip this step if you want to. It's used to add a finishing touch, but at this point it's up to the eye of the designer. Conclusion And that's it! A very quick way to get a glowing planet, try your own! Remember the higher quality the panoramic picture, the best the result. I hope you found this tutorial fun and useful. Credits: Alvaro Guzman

Step One Fill the background layer with black (shift F5). Then select the Gradient Tool (G). Set the gradient to black/white, choose the radial type, and screen mode, as shown below. Make several passes using the tool at different sizes until you get something like this: Step Two Apply clouds to the layer. Make sure that black and white are your background/foreground colors. We don't want to completely cover what we already made, so we are going to use the Fade function. Fade the clouds back to 50% and use soft light as the blending mode. Note: you must use Fade directly after applying the clouds. If not, the option will be grayed out. Step Three Now we will repeat the same process again, but this time we will apply fibers instead of clouds. This time we are going to fade the fibers way back to 7% and leave the blending mode at normal. Step Four Posterize the layer with 18 levels. You can now see our wood effect starting to take shape. Duplicate your layer so that we have a backup copy of it. Step Five Apply a High Pass filter to one of the layers as shown below: Step Six Select both layers by holding Cmd/Ctrl and clicking on each of them. Stretch both of your layers vertically about 250% Step Seven Create a new Solid Color Adjustment Layer below the layer and choose a brown that you like for the base of the wood color. Set the blending mode to Vivid Light on the layer that you applied the High Pass to. Set the opacity to 50%. Turn the backup layer off. Now the wood effect is very apparent. Step Eight Turn on the backup layer. In the Channels Palette, duplicate the red channel by dragging it to the New Channel button at the bottom of the palette. Invert the new alpha channel by selecting all (Cmd/Ctrl+A) and inverting (Cmd/Ctrl+I). Now you can delete the backup layer from the Layers Palette since we have a copy saved as an alpha channel. Go Select>Load Selection and choose red copy. Make a new Curve adjustment layer and darken the image slightly like so: That gives it a little more dimensionality. Step Nine Now I am going to just put a curve over the entire image to make it a little more natural looking. Here is what I did: Notice that all the channels were adjusted individually. Step Ten Duplicate the wood layer and bring the opacity down to 20% on the new one. Go Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Apply an h3 blur at an angle of 90 degrees and a distance of 70. This just adds another subtle layer of texture. Step Eleven In the Channels Palette, create a new channel by clicking the New Channel button at the bottom of the palette. Apply the same Fibers that we used earlier. Stretch that layer vertically to 250%. Go Select>Load Selection and load Alpha 2. Make a curve adjustment layer above the motion blur layer and just lighten the image just a little like so: Step Twelve Create a gradient adjustment layer at the top of the layers palette. Make it go from black to transparent to create a vignette around the edges. Set that layer's blending mode to Color Burn and reduce the fill to 30%. Make sure you reduce the Fill and not the Opacity. They are not the same thing. Step Thirteen It's looking a little too saturated for my taste, so I am just going to put a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer on top of everything to desaturate a little. Step Fourteen Select all your layers by clicking on the top one, holding shift, and then clicking on the bottom one. In the layer palette menu, select New Group from Layers. Call your group Wood. Step Fifteen Now we are going to place some artwork onto this and make it look like it was painted on a long time ago. Go File>Place and pick whatever artwork you would like. I just used an EPS of the PSDTUTS logo, You can get that here. Line up the artwork however you like. I skewed it a little just for kicks. Make a new group from the art layer and call the group Art. Step Sixteen Turn off the Art group. In the Channels palette duplicate the red channel. Apply a very harsh curve (Cmd/Ctrl+M) to your new channel so it almost becomes black-and-white with the black around the edges. Invert the channel. It should look like this: Load the selection and make a curves adjustment layer just above the art layer. Without adjusting any of the curves, hit Ok. With the curves layer selected, Go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. This will make the curve apply only to the artwork. There should be an arrow on the curve layer pointing downwards to indicate that the clipping maks is applied. Open the curve dialog and darken slightly so the outside edges of the art get darker. Step Seventeen Turn off the art group again and then duplicate the blue channel. Apply another very harsh curve (Cmd/Ctrl+M) to the channel like this one: This is what you should end up with: Select the Art group folder then go to Select>Load Selection and load the channel that you just made. Go to Layer>Layer Mask>Apply. This will mask parts of the artwork. If you feel like it is masking too much or too little, then just select the mask on the group and hit Cmd/Ctrl+M to apply a curve to it until you hare happy. Step Eighteen I am just going to add the text Wood to the Art group above the other elements in the group. I used black as the color and skewed it to match the other artwork. I reduced the opacity to 85%. The last thing I need to do is rasterize the text. Just Ctrl-click or right-click the layer to the right of the name and choose Rasterize Type. Step Nineteen Go back to the channels palette and find the channel with the fibers on it. It should be Alpha 2. Ctrl-click or right-click on the channel to the right of the name and choose duplicate channel. For Document select New and call it Displace. Save it to your desktop. Step Twenty Select the artwork layer and go to Filter>Distort>Displace. Use the settings below, and then when prompted use the Displace.psd that we just saved out. Select the Wood type layer and do the same. This makes the art sit on the wood. Step Twenty One I want to desaturate and darken the red a little bit. Make a new Hue/Saturation adjustment layer just above the art layer. It should automatically become a clipping mask. Take down the saturation and lightness a little bit. Step Twenty Two I really liked how the mask on the art group looked, so I am going to take that channel and apply it to the wood texture just to make it even more convincing. Go back to the channel that we used as a mask for the art group. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+A to select all, Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy, select the alo/vignette layer in the wood group and Cmd/Ctrl+V to paste. This gives us the black-and-white pixel information from the channel and just pastes it into a layer. Set the blending mode the Hard Light and bring the Fill down to 15%. Step Twenty Three Create a new blank layer at the very top, above both groups. Hit Shift+F5 to fill the layer and choose 50% gray. Go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise and add an amount of 40, Uniform noise. Make the blending mode Soft Light and set the Opacity to 20%. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to transform and make the noise layer about 200%. Noise always helps make artificial things look more organic. Thats it. We are done! Credits: Kyle Pero

tomorrow i will post more tutorials like that..now im tired..im going to sleep :P

for the light armor mastery..u have 3 classes with L armor mastery so they stuck and u have more casting with light than with robe. U can also wear blue wolf light (Yes, b grade. U will have much more p def than DC) and it gives casting speed too but the only bad thing is the -3 int. But how can u die with these subs? :D