Colorful Bokeh Effect in PixelmatorListThumbs
Colorful Bokeh Effect in Pixelmator
A few days ago the guys behind Pixelmator released the new version of their really cool app, and if you check out the Pixelmator site you will notice that they are using my Bokeh image. I'm very happy :) not just because of that but, also because I had the chance to test Tempo very early and it's good to be part of the testing team.
Anyway, this tutorial is the original Bokeh effect I created, the one I use for my twitter background and the inspiration to the Photoshop version. You will see that this effect can easily be done in Pixelmator, actually much easier than in any other tool.
Step 1
Open Pixelmator and create a new document, I used 1920x1200 pixels. Fill the background layer with Black.
Step 2
Add a new layer and go to Quartz Composer>Generator>Defocus. Play with the settings, you can adjust size, blur, density, colors and even use hexagons. The best thing is the Blur because that will simply avoid the use of other filters. For this first layer use a big size and very blurry. I used 0.50 for the Size and 0.30 for the Blur.
After that duplicate the layer and change the Blending to Color Dodge.
Step 3
Add another layer and simply repeat the previous step, this time however, create much smaller circles. Also change the Primary Color to white and for the Blur use 0.01. The Blendings of this layer will be Screen.
Step 4
Again, add another layer on top of the others and repeat again the Defocus filter. For this we will create the medium size circles. I used 0.36 for the Size and 0.04 for the Blur. Also the Primary Color is white and the density is 0.50. The Blending for this layer is Screen as well. Tip: The Defocus filter is a Random so probably you won't have the same result in terms of positions.
Step 5
Duplicate the medium size bokeh layer and just change the Blending to Color Dodge.
Step 6
Duplicate the Small size bokeh layer and move it up to the other layers. Then just change the Blending to Color Dodge as well. The color dodge will create a very nice light effect and add some depth to the layers.
Step 7
Select the Gradient Tool (G) and choose the default rainbow gradient preset. Then create another layer on top of the others and fill it with the gradient. Use the image below for reference. After that just change the Blending to Overlay.
Conclusion
The Defocus filter in Pixelmator is really easy to use and the result that you can get just repeating the process changing some values and playing with blendings is really cool. That's why I like and recommend this app, you can create nice effects pretty quickly and with a gorgeous interface. As I said in the other tutorials you will be impressed by how fast some filters are compared with Photoshop. It's definitely worth downloading and testing it.
Click on the image for Full Preview
Download the Pixelmator File
Click here to download the Pixelmator file used for this tutorial
About the 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.
27 Comments
Cool. Thanks for the link. I never knew about this before :)
It seems you really have many contacts. You can even convince people to make tutorials for free in your site.
I'm not sure that test a software is a reason for proud, but tell us how you got related with so many people involved with graphics.
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http://picturetopeople.blogspot.com
Get Inside Computer Graphics
Leocda, I didnt understand your comment, this tutorial I wrote it this morning actually but the image is quite old now. I had the chance to play with the Tempo in the very beginning though. That was really nice.
Thanks for the comment ;)
Leocda.
It's very easy to make contacts in this world.
All you need is a good looking website with some useful / good / interesting content and you're already starting to 'network'.
Congrats to you, Fabio!
I'd get a Macbook for pixelmator alone. Looks very very cool!
@Leocda
it ain't hard to gain contacts. Got to socialize and talk to people. Also word of mouth of how good your work is. I just created a portfolio, showed it to family and friends. I shown it on myspace. Then talked on some graphic design forums. Share critique. Talk to some owners of blogs and more. And then if people like your work, they'll spread the word that your good and will ask you to do service for you etc...
Oh yeah, and don't forget about flickr and deviantart! Post and share your work in there. If people like your work, they'll feature them in sites, news, round ups etc... so people will know about you.
@leocda I think the best way to make contacts is sharing ideas and knowledge, everybody will gain ;) Of course using the tons of social sites and communities.
Thanks ;)
Great tutorial!
However you may want to fix where it says "I used 1920x12000 pixels."
@Carbon Thanks for that ;)
Thanks all of you for your ideas about virtual socialization.
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http://picturetopeople.blogspot.com
Get Inside Computer Graphics
O_O give us teh windoz version
:(
Thanks Fabio for yet another cool tutorial. I really like what you're doing!!
is there any way to bokeh a picture that has already been taken??
There is no "Quartz Composer" in my Pixelmator. HELP! :S
@Poshi
You have no "Quartz Composer" under the "Filters" menu because you need to update your Pixelmator!
The Quartz Composer is added somewhere between v1.0 and v1.4
I have no Quartz Composer filters, and I've got v1.4. What's going on?
how do i do that in Photoshop?
You mention the bokeh tutorial in Photoshop? How can one find that? Is it one of yours? Killer site BTW. Lurv it.
this is absolutely amazing!thanks fabio...but,which preset shoud I select at the start,because when i select 1920x1200- everything is too big...I'm little bit confused
Interesting post, i will come back to your blog soon, best regards
nice design and interesting posts, i have bookmarked your site for future referrence regards dzhsfdj
Fabio. I tried to make it in Photoshop, I think I failed a bit at it :P
made a brush settings, made some layers and then dodged ze rainbow like gradient, but I faild in some cases :P
if you wanna see it, it is as my background of my twitter acc...
hope you can give me tips, how to redo zis effect in Ps
nice tutorial but too many steps and confusing information about layers..
thanks u very much ! it's very cool
The design is awesome cool. I have notice that many websites now are inspired by this design = )
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