Aurora Borealis Effect in Pixelmator (Win a Pixelmator Copy)
A while ago I had the opportunity to be a Pixelmator beta tester, and let me tell you, it sure has been a fun experience. Pixelmator is now on its 1.1.2 version with new features such as the Quark Composer Filter that uses the same image system as the Mac OS Core. It’s now amazingly faster and much more stable; the blurs and filters are in real time; no preview windows, nothing. It has one of the most beautiful interfaces I’ve ever seen, and that’s no exaggeration there, folks .
Pixelmator, the beautifully designed, easy-to-use, fast and powerful image editor for Mac OS X has everything you need to create, edit and enhance your images.
If you’re not looking to spend a lot of money or you just simply want an easy to use application to do some image adjustments on and create very nice effects, then Pixelmator is the tool for you.
No need to search far to get your hands on it though because I have a copy of Pixelmator to give away right here. To win just leave a comment below and don’t forget to leave your email too. You have until Friday, February 15th.
I wrote you guys another tutorial to help you get started using Pixelmator. In this tutorial I’ll show you how easy it is to create the Aurora Borealis effect which I’ve previously created in GIMP and Photoshop. I must say, Pixelmator is by far the fastest of the three though.
Step 1
Open Pixelmator and create a new document. Then select a very dark blue and fill the background layer with it.
Step 2
Create a new layer and select the Gradient Tool (G). If the Gradient box is hidden go to View>Show Gradient or just (shift+command+5) to show it, select the gradient that starts with yellow and go to cyan, pink, and red. Fill the layer with that gradient.
Step 3
Using the Lasso Tool (L), create a selection like I did. After that go to Edit>Inverse and delete the selection.
Step 4
Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and add a blur. Then select the Eraser Tool (E) and delete some parts of our shape, like the image below. After that go to Filter>Stylize>Pointilize and apply the filter.
Step 5
Go to Filter>Quartz Composer>Stylize>Zoom Blur and apply the filter. A dialog box will open with a rope and a controller. Move the rope to change the direction of the effect like the image below. After that change the Blend Mode to Hard Light.
Step 6
Create a New Layer, fill it with black, and change the blend mode to Color Dodge. Then select the Brush Tool (B) and open the Brush Box. Create a new Brush with:
- Diameter 41px,
- Hardness 13px,
- Spacing 1px.
After that select white for the color and start creating some stars, it’s not necessary to create lots of stars because we will use a filter to do that. Tip: click 2 or more times without moving the mouse to create bigger stars.
Step 7
Go to Tile>Affine... and apply the filter. This filter will create more stars for us.
Step 8
Now just add your logo to the image and that’s it.
Conclusion
You will need less than 20 minutes to create this image. As I said before the filters in Pixelmator are really fast, and there is good variety of effects you can do. Some of them you won't need to change any property to get amazing results. Even though it lacks some filters and feautures like Render Clouds, the Layer Styles, and non-destrcutive filters, Pixelmator is an excellent tool, and with the price of $59 dollars, it's much more affordable than Photoshop and definitely worth downloading and testing out.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| PixelmatorTut.zip | 1.53 MB |
About author
My name is Fabio Sasso, I'm a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I'm the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through Abduzeedo. Also you can follow me on Twitter or my personal site at http://fabiosasso.com.
Oooh awesome tutorial!
It's so cool, and the Pixelmator is so beautiful.
How to do this style with photoshop?
This looks cool and easy. I am a novice in Pixelmator, just installed it last night. I'll try this later.
This is cool. I'll try this later. I recently installed Pixelmator. I'll follow the instruction by heart :D.
Very nice tutorial! Thanks for posting this!
nice tut.
is it possible in photoshop?
Seems cool!
How do I get these quartz composer filters? I downloaded the pixelmator but then got stuck at the quarts composer filter step (5)? and I can't find anywhere that you referenced this before and you don't show how to get like you did with the other sections.......
Nice Tuto. thanks for posting it. and the others tips are very intresting.
nice tutorial
Thanks so much for posting another excellent Pixelmator tutorial! It showed me some interesting effects I hadn't known about yet.
Just one problem - I followed the instructions word for word, but my stars came out blue and pink (depending on which part of the image they were on), not white. Did you maybe skip a step in the tutorial?
Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to future Pixelmator tutorials from you :D
That's a sweet effect you've made there with what looks like a very easy to use graphics program. To be honest I never heard of Pixelmator until I saw this tutorial, and it looks great. I'd love to give it a try and see what I can come up with.
I'd also appreciate it if you could drop by my website which is the Head Quarters for the MasterWorks Family/Group of graphic artists, which I am a Senior Member.
Regards
+mw.friction
SLD Admin
MW Senior Member
The tutorial is very useful, it allowed me to create some cool stuff. It took a little longer than expected.
I am very much pleased with your tutorial as well your theme...
Which theme do you use in your PC. Please tell me the name or the site from where you got it..
Thanks
I love you site, and I already have pixelmator but I think that you should do some more tutorials using pixelmator. You are amazing.
Hey I am the one you should give the pixelmator software ;)
I haven't posted any comment on your pages so far, but am looking from time to time - keep the good work going!
I'd like to have a copy as well. I'm a game programmer and not a professional designer but still have my artistic side.
Great article. Well written and very useful. Thanks alot!
Oh brazilian folk,
I'd love my copy too. I really seems to be an aewsome app.
Thanks,
LAILSON BANDEIRA
I love this site... and I'd like to throw my hat into the ring for a copy, too!
mattjh2@mac.com
*Love* the UI design and the functionality... would love a copy.
Thanks, I just love the tutorial! Great effect!
I love using Pixelmator. It's a great tool and I love the Quartz filters...
Count me in for the contest.
those light are AWESOME!!! wow! It's amazing what can be done with programs like these.
those light are AWESOME!!! wow! It's amazing what can be done with programs like these.
I WANT PIXELMATOR. D
j.vanalstyne@mac.com
Hello,
Abduzeedo has always been a great resource for me and I always love coming here.
Thanks for this another great tutorial writeup!
Sincerely,
Keehun
Oh, and I wouldn't mind that Pixelmator copy =]
I would put it to great use.
me@keehun.com
Great contest. I hope that with more and more people adopting Pixelmator, more tutorials as good as this one will start to spring up.
Hey dude! This software rocks! I'm studin' architecture and without photoshop I can't live, but this piece of software...can make my life a beautiful experience!
Because I believe PS is like a wife, a fat wife... and Pixelmator is like a blonde, fresh and young lover! :-)
michele.mac@email.it
Neat tut, thanks a lot. :) Looks great.
no Windows version!!
I tried the trial, and was really exited to see that someone was at last taking up the monopoly that Adobe has on creative programs! I hope this will be a big sucess and lead Adobe to maybe lower their prices to compete. The interface of picelmator is smooo-oooth too so, it'll be interesting to see what happens ^_^
-alyCe
A interface do programa é realmente 10.
ehhehe eu sou o cara, amigo do Guilherme (Tarsa), que foi com uma guria um dia entrevistar vocês na Zee. Como estão?
O trabalho ficou bem tri, se quiser, a gente repassa pra vocês os vídeos. Todo mundo da sala aplaudiu hehehe...
Bom, como assinante do feed, consumidor voraz de tutoriais e leitor compulsivo deste site, vou por o meu email na roda tb.
endrigo.valadao@gmail.com
Abraço!
i love this program and what ive seen you do with this im graphic design student and would love a copy of this
pixelmator rox!
thank you!
Great tutorial! I like the idea of posting tutorials not only for Photoshop, but also for other graphic apps like GIMP and Pixelmator... so please pick me for the free Pixelmator copy, I'd like to start playing with it ;)
Well.. I'd definitely not pay to find out whether its worth to kick the photoshop habit now and then, but if I could try for free ;)
ok buddy i think your right...can you pls have a copy for me tnx a lot.
This looks like a great alternative to Photoshop. Hope I could have the chance to get to use it and learn about it.
Great Tutorial!
Wow what a great app. thanks for the great blog. i check it twice everyday.
Great tutorial, just as all the rest are. Thanks!
I listed Pixelmator on my forum in the Apple Mac section, then found this - nice and helpful tutorial to go with my post, thanks!
Oo Oo, pick me, pick me
Discovered your blog a few weeks back and immediately subscribed to your feed. Great stuff! (And great Drupal theming too.)
And Pixelmator looks good too... I had a demo copy running a while back, and was impressed. A very full-featured image editor that didn't take have the launch-time overhead of Photoshop... nice for when you need to edit a quick image, but obviously capable of much more.
Pixelmator looks cool (nice design), I really want to try it! ;)
jubass@essbredbaand.dk
I want a copy!!!
Great tutorial BTW!
Thanks!
waow great tut...As usual!
congrats
Great tutorial.
I just bought a macbook and I only have photoshop on my pc. I downloaded the trial version of pixelmator and I have to say it is a joy to work with. I'm just working on a project with my school so it would be perfect if i can take my macbook with pixelmator to school.
woutervreven@yahoo.com
It's incredible how many things can be done through playing around and experimening. I'm trying to make a career out of Graphic Design. After watching the tutorial I really want to give Pixelmator a try. The posibilities now seem endless.
Cookie503@gmail.com
Nice tutorial as usual Fabio! I read some great reviews on PixelMator and I must say it realy looks awesome! I would love to mess around with it! :-)
kevinwittevrongel@operamail.com
I was testing Pixelmator once, but now I see that this program is better than I thought ... So it'll be nice to test it one more time :)
dkowalik@gmail.com
great post. i liked it...
Great site ñ_ñ
Oh, sorry for the dobbel comment. But i forgot to say: Nice tutorial! :D I must try it ;)
I want Pixelmator, please :P
markus_nielsen@hotmail.com
Me wants Pixelmator! ;)
mariusz[at]dotmariusz.net ;)
I´m a mac newbie (and now without money ;-) ), i would like to try out pixelmator.
whupfer[a_t]gmail[d_o_t]com
I never paid much attention to this app since already owning CS3 suite, but the real time effects sounds almost too good to be true!
Nice simple tutorial too, especially for someone with no formal design skills.
ben.tortora [at] idhsolutions [dot] com
Fantastic idea in this tutorial !
Very short, very effective.
so cool! Competition is a good thing for users, support Pixelmator
Looks great, I was wandering if you could have taking an actual photo of the night sky and placed it as a background layer for the image?
great one. thanks for posting it.
i'm looking at leopard's aurora wallpaper differently now lol.
bberg at bject dot net
Nice tut as usual. You have very interesting tutorials up your sleeve.
Nicely done, the end result is very impressive!
With the recent rash of image editors, Pixelmator looks to be leading the bunch—can't wait for it to fully support the CYMK colour space.
I agree, I've been watching Pixelmator's development since last summer and it looks pretty cool.
pizzaboxknight(AT)gmail.com
I first want to say that you have some amazing effects that you create. Thank you for the lighting effects with the coffee cup. I always forget about the brush settings, but that one saved a lot of time a project of mine. This is a nice effect as well. I am unfamiliar with Pixelmator, but would love to see the process done in Photoshop.
Keep up the great work, and I really enjoy learning your techniques.
Sean
Nice tutorial. I would also like to try out pixelmator.
Awsome tut...I so def want to try out that pixelmator.
ptgraphicdesign10@yahoo.com
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