photoshop

Playing with Timeline in Photoshop CS6

abduzeedo — Mon, 21 May 2012 05:37:12 +0000

Photoshop CS6 has some great features, one of them is the new timeline for basic animations and this time Photoshop gets a little bit of the After Effects taste. As the idea of the blog is to play with these tools, we decided to come up with something for this new feature.

So in this tutorial we will show you a simple animation using the new timeline and some light effect tricks. The whole process is super simple and won't take you more than 20 minutes.

Step 1

Open Photoshop CS6 and create a new document. Fill the background layer with any color, then go to Layer>Layer>Styles>Gradient Overlay. Use Radial for the Style and for the colors use black and #38556f for the center.

Step 2

Add a new layer and fill it with a pattern. I am using one from http://subtlepatterns.com/ called Broken Noise. Use Soft Light for the Blend Mode.

Step 3

Add a text you want to use for the light effect. I am using the letter A of Abduzeedo using a stencil font called Major Snafu. You can download it at http://www.dafont.com/major-snafu.font?text=a+A

Step 4

To create the light effect we will use Layer Styles. Just follow the instructions below for Bevel & Emboss, Inner Shadow, Inner Glow, Color Overlay, Outer Glow and Drop Shadow.

Step 5

Duplicate the layer and disable the layer styles. Use Inner Shadow and Inner Glow using the settings below.

Step 6

This is the results you will get after the layer styles. It's very similar with another tutorial I wrote a few years ago showing how to create a neon effect in Photoshop. Again the idea of this tutorial is to play with the timeline feature. That's why I will cover the first steps quickly.

Step 7

Add 2 layers on top of the other layers and name them right and left. After that group these 2 layers in a folder. Change the folder's Blend Mode to Color Dodge. With the Brush Tool (B) and a very soft brush, paint with white on top of the right part of the letter A. Select the left layer and paint another spot of light on top of the left part. Use the image below for reference.

Step 8

Go to Window>Timeline. You will see the timeline panel. The first thing you will notice is that all layers are in the timeline. Select the 2 layers in the folder. Expand them in the tree and make sure that the timeline is in the 0 frame. Click on the Position option to create a keyframe.

Step 9

Move the timeline to the position 1:00 and then move the layers in the composition where you want them to move to.

Step 10

This would be the second position of the light spots.

Step 11

Move the timeline again and after that move the layers to create new keyframes.

Step 12

Keep moving them until you complete the animation you want.

Timeline

This is how the timeline looks like. Note the keyframes for the points where the animation changes position.

Conclusion

After a few steps this is the final animation. Using the timeline is quite simple if you compare the number of steps necessary to create the light effect. The cool thing is that Photoshop makes our lives much easier when it comes to create simple animations.

Download the Photoshop file

Click here to download the Photoshop file used for this tutorial.

About the author

Abduzeedo is a blog about design. There are all sorts of articles for those who want to look for inspiration. Also you will find very useful tutorials for the most used applications out there, with a special selection of Photoshop Tutorials and Illustrator Tutorials. You can get in follow us via Twitter at @abduzeedo

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Hipster Text Effect in Photoshop CS6

abduzeedo — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:05:48 +0000

A few weeks ago we posted a tutorial showing how to create a hipster text effect using Pixelmator. Now we decided to show you the same effect using Photoshop CS6. As we had said, we will be doing that in Fireworks and CSS as well. So stay tuned.

So in this tutorial we will show you how to create a simple text effect with a very trendy hipster look. We will use just basic filters and layer styles to achieve the effect. The whole process won't take you more than 30 minutes.

Step 1

Open Photoshop CS6 and create a new document. The one I created is 2560x1600 pixels. After that fill the background layer with #e4cba9.

Step 2

With the Horizontal Type Tool (T) add a text using the font Sulivan. You can download it at http://www.losttype.com/font/?name=sullivan. Use the same font as the background and use the fill type for the font.

Step 3

Duplicate the font layer and gange the Blend Mode to Overlay. Chage the font type to Sullivan Bevel.

Step 4

Duplicate the layer again and change the Blend Mode to Overlay and use the Sullivan Regular for the font.

Step 5

Select the text layer created on step 2. Duplicat the layer and change the Blend Mode to Multiply. Move it 1px down and 1 pixel left.

Step 6

Keep duplicating the layer and moving down and left to create a nice 3D effect.

Step 7

After you duplicate a few times will have an effect like the one in the image below.

Step 8

Group all layers used to create the 3D effect and then merge them into one layer only. After that go to Layer>Layer Styles>Color Overlay. Use #c66d33 for the Color with Multiply for the Blend Mode.

Step 9

Let's create another 3D effect but now going to the top right.

Step 10

Repeat the same process to merge the layers into one and apply the Color Overlay, then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 7.5 pixels for the Radius.

Step 11

Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Use 45º for the Angle and 50 pixels for the Distance.

Step 12

With the Rectangle Tool (U), create a rectangle in the center of the document, below the texts and just above the background. Go to Layer>Layer Style>Patter Overlay. Use Graphy 80 by 80 pixels patter from Subtlepatterns.com. Change the Blend Mode to Linear Burn.

Step 13

Add a complement text using the font Mensch. You can download it at http://www.losttype.com/font/?name=mensch. Repeat the same process to create the little 3D effect.

Step 14

Add a new layer on top of the others and then fill it with anoter pattern from subtlepatterns.com. I am using Rcocky Wall. For the Blend Mode use Multiply at 50%.

Step 15

Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Photo Filter. Use Sepia at 60%

Conclusion

You can duplicate all layers and merge them into one, then apply the Noise filter to add a nice texture on top of the design. The idea of this tutorial was just to show you how to create a simple vintage look typography effect using photoshop. We did that in Pixelmator before and now in Photoshop. The next one will be in CSS :) I hope you enjoy it and have fun trying to create your own.

Download Photoshop File

Click here to download the Photoshop file used for this tutorial

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Awesome Photoshop Custom Cars by Richard Andersen

PauloGabriel — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:29:58 +0000

I really enjoy seeing people doing cool photoshop works in photographs, doing all kinds of crazy stuff, like customizing real-life cars. That's exactly what Richard Andersen does, and it's pretty awesome.

Richard is a South African graphic designer. For more of his custom cars, you must check his portfolio. Do so, for us to show him some appreciation! I hope you enjoy these. Cheers! ;)

About the author

Hello, everyone! I'm Paulo Gabriel, designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil, born in 1984. I have worked as a webdesigner since 2006, but websites and blogs have been a hobby for me since 1999. Here in Abduzeedo, I try to bring only the hot stuff for you... and hope that all of you enjoy my posts! For more cool stuff, you may also follow me on Twitter.

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Wrath of the Titans in Photoshop CS6

abduzeedo — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 05:44:55 +0000

We always try to publish tutorials based on effects we like especially from movies, posters and other sources of inspiration. Most of the times we want to redo effects so we want to learn how that was done. This tutorial is not different. We will be revisiting the Clash of the Titans tutorial with the new effect inspiring on the Wrath of the Titans poster. All done using the new Photoshop CS6.

So in this tutorial we will show you how to create a nice text effect based on the Wrath of the Titans poster in Photoshop CS6. The whole process is simple but it will take you 1 to 2 hours to go through everything.

Step 1

First thing to do is to get the text right. To do that is pretty easy, we have already showed a tutorial on how to make the Clash of the Titans logo, so you can just follow that at http://abduzeedo.com/clash-titans-text-effect-photoshop.

Step 2

Now in Photoshop, create a new document and fill the background layer with a radial gradient from #181818 (dark) to #757575 (light).

Step 3

Copy the text from Illustrator and paste it Photoshop. Just make sure to have a light grey for the color of the text.

Step 4

In order to add some cracks and deformations on the logo we will use an image for reference. The one I am using is from Roberto Castillo entitled Cracked Set. Courtesy of Shutterstock.

Just import the image and place it on top of the logo. Try to find a position that doesn't destroy the logo that much. Then just create a marquee selection of the cracks.

Step 5

With the logo layer selected go to Layer>Mask>Hide Selection. You will have an effect like the image below.

Step 6

Time to play with Layer Styles. WIth the logo selected go to Layer>Layer Styles>Bevel and Emboss. Select Inner Bevel for the Style, Chisel Hard for the Technique, 365% for the Depth, 250 pixels for the SIze, 0 for Softness, 100º for the Angle, 32º for the Altitude. For the Highlight Mode use Color Dodge with orange at 65%. For the Shadow Mode use Darken with Black at 85%

Step 7

Select Pattern Overlay. Then we will use a custom texture. The one I used is courtesy of Shutterstock and it's entitled The surface of the old metal, visible rust by Supertrooper. Basically what you will do is open the file in Photoshop and go to Edit>Define Pattern. Name it "Meta". Back to the design. Select the texture you created for the pattern. Use Hard Light for the Blend Mode.

Step 8

Select Color Overlay. Use grey with Overlay for the Blend Mode.

Step 9

Select Inner Shadow. Use orange for the color with Hard Light for the Blend Mode. For the Angle use -90º with 11 pixel for the Distance, 20% for the Choke, 13 pixels for the Size and change the Contour for the same we are using in the image below.

Step 10

Go to Edit>Transform>Perspective. Add a little perspective like the image below.

Step 11

Back with the cracks from the step 4. Make it visible and then create a marquee selection of the logo.

Step 12

With the cracks layer selected go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection. The blue cracks will be visible on top of the areas we deformed on the step 2.

Step 13

Now let's add some layer styles to the cracks to make the melting metal. Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Color Overlay. Use Orange for the color.

Step 14

Select Outer Glow and then use Overlay for the Blend Mode with red for the color. For the Technique use Softer with 10% Spread and 30 pixels Size.

Step 15

Select Inner Glow. Use Color Dodge for the Blend Mode, 60% for the Opacity, white for the color. For the elements use center with 1 for Choke and Size.

Step 16

Duplicate the layer so the effect is a bit stronger.

Step 16

Let's create a brush now so we can add some nice smoke effects. Go to Window>Brush. Select the Cloud tip preset. Change the Spacing to 1%

Step 17

Select the Shape Dynamics. Use the image below for the values.

Step 18

Select the Scattering and use the image below for the values.

Step 19

Select Texture. The for the Pattern select the Cloud one. Also change the Scale to 200% and the mode to Color Burn.

Step 20

Select Transfer and change the Opacity Jitter to 100%.

Step 21

Add a new layer on top of the background. Use the Brush Tool (B) with the brush you have just created to paint some clouds. Use grey for the color.

Step 22

Add another layer, this time underneath the previous one. The still with the Brush Tool and the brush you created. Paint some red clouds.

Step 23

Repeat the same process, this time to create some black clouds on top of the others.

Step 24

Add a layer on top of the grey clouds one. Then fill it with brown #574f41. Then change the Blend Mode to Overlay.

Step 25

Now let's add a nice Google Map satelite view. I print screen a map from greece. Put underneath all the other layers, but on top of the background one.

Step 26

Go to Image>Saturation>Hue and Saturation. Change the Hue to 40 and the saturation to 15.

Step 27

Add a layer on top of the clouds but underneath the text effect. Then fill it with a radial gradient from black to white in the center. Change the Blend Mode to Multiply at 80% Opacity to create a Vignette Effect.

Step 28

To create some nice shatters on our text effect we will use another image to get the assets from. The one I am using is courtesy of Shutterstock and can be found here http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-73243228/stock-photo-abstract-character-...

Step 29

Copy some shatters from the stock image and paste in the document. Position them on the areas that we deformed the text. Just copy the layer style from the logo and apply to them. You can change the inner shadow a bit so they won't be so yellow. After that merge all layers with shatters into one and go to Filter>Blur>Radial Blur. Use 10 for the Amount, Zoom for the Blur Method and Best for the Quality.

Step 30

Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Photo Filter. Use a dark yellow with 75% Density on top of the other layers.

Step 31

Select all layers and duplicate them. Group all the new layers into one so you will have a layer with your composotion. Go to Filter>Blur>Radial Blur. Use the same settings as on the Step 29.

Conclusion

Duplicate the previous layer and then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 8 pixels for the Radius and then change the Blend Mode to Screen with 50% Opacity. Your design will be done by now.

As you can see the process wasn't based on new techiques but on how to reuse them to create the effect we wanted. Using the tools will be always like that. Tweaking and evolving techniques.

Download the Photoshop File

Click here to download the Photoshop file used for this tutorial

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The Artist Inspiring Design in Illustrator and Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 05:12:50 +0000

A few weeks ago I watched The Artist. Since the first time I saw and read about the movie I got curious about it, especially because it was a black and white movie. I wasn't expecting that much from the movie but I got really impressed in the end and ended up loving it. The style, the story and the little dog makes it a very pleasant experience.

So in this tutorial I decided to create a tutorial based on one of the scenes of the movie. The one in the very end in which there were a skyline while the 2 main characters were dancing.

The whole process won't take you more than 45 minutes to get the same result. However this should be considered more as a case study than a tutorial in terms of details.

Step 1

Open Illustrator and create a new document. With the Rectangle Tool create two rectangles to create the first building that will be in the center.

Step 2

Using the rectangle tool again, create a rectangle and with the Direct Selection Tool (A) modify the rectangle to sort of skew it. After that duplicate it and move it to the right.

Step 3

With the Blend Tool, create the details on the facade of the building.

Step 4

Create a rectangle with dark grey and move it below. Also duplicat the facade details and flip it horizontally. The idea is have one side with light grey (1) and another with dark grey (2).

Step 5

Create more details using the rectangle tool and the direct selection tool to add some perspective.

Step 6

Still with the rectangle tool, let's create some more buidings. Now with some perspective converging to the main building. The perspective doesn't need to be super perfect, but make sure it's good enough to look convincing.

Step 7

Keep adding a few more buildings. Move the higher ones behind the lower ones.

Step 8

Once you have one side right just duplicate it to make the other side.

Step 9

Time to Photoshop. Copy the main building and paste it Illustrator.

Step 10

Copy the other buildings and arrange them in the document. The main building in the center will be behind the others.

Step 11

For the main building, create a layer on top and then go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. With the Brush Tool (B) and a very soft brush, paint with white to create a sort of radial light effect coming from the bottom. Repeat the same for the other buildings.

Step 11

Select all buildings and light effect layers, then duplicate them. Go to Layer>Merge Layers. After that go to Edit>Transform>Flip Vertically. Then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 for the radius.

The idea here is to create the popular wet floor effect.

Step 12

Fill the background layer with black.

Step 13

Add a new layer and fill it with black. After that go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Use 45% for the Amount with Gaussian for the Distribution and Monochromatic.

Step 14

Go to Image>Adjustement>Levels. Change the black input to 160 the grey to 1.00 and the white to 205. That will create some stars in the black background.

Step 15

Add a white frame to your design. To do that is pretty simple. Create a new layer and fill it with black. Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Stroke. Use 70px for the Size and white for the color. After that just change the Blend Mode of this layer to Screen. What is black will be invisible and what is white will be shown.

Step 16

Now just add your text. I used a font called Andes for that. Also duplicate the background and the buildings then merge them into a new layer. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 for the amount.

Change the Blend Mode of this layer to Overlay at 50% Opacity. Duplicate it again and change the Blend Mode of the new one to Soft Light at 60%.

Conclusion

Time to add some paper texture on top of the all layers to add the nice vintage look. I used two paper textures using Overlay and Multiply for the Blend Mode.

The result is simple but it looks the way I was envision since I saw the movie. I got really impressed by the classic style of the movie and wanted to make a nice interpretation.

Download the Photoshop file

Download Photoshop file used for this tutorial

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Easy Hulk Logo on Illustrator and Photoshop

marcos333 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:10:57 +0000

Being a great fan of comic books, I always loved the visual identities used for some famous characters. Most super-heroes logos are like a incorporation of many aspects of the characters and their superpowers. I always liked Hulk logo as everytime I look at it I always remember his famous quote "Hulk Smash".

This is a intermediary tutorial, so it's not as long and it's not as hard as my usual tutorials. As always, a tablet will be pretty handy here, but in case of not having one, you still can do it with a mouse, you're just going to have a bit more of difficulty on some parts. Anyway, hope you guys have fun and understand the simple dinamics behind this logotype formation.

Step 1

First I did a really simple rough, making 2 lines and 4 columns to simbolyze the letter tracking. Then just draw the 4 letters on a really squared version, tryin to make then quite similar.

Put it on Illustrator and use the round rectangle tool with a 0,5 cm radius to create the letter shapes. I rather use some smoother shapes as this, than just simple and sharp rectangles, because it looks less flat.

After you done all the letters, you should select them all use the pathfinder option called Unite in order to make all pieces just one.

You can also adjust some corner by creating another round rectangles over it and using the pathfinder option called Minus Front, this will get the type a all round appearance.

I used a sans serf typeface for the lettering, this one it's called Gotham Black, but you can pretty much a use a similar sans serif heavy typeface.

Outline it (command + shift + O / ctrl +shift + O), adjust the tracking between the letters as we're going to apply a offset path and so they should not overlap each other. Ok,now go to Object > Path > Offset path and set the offset to 0,2 cm.

You should get something like these, now let's apply a soft gradient using the gradient tool (G).

Step 2

Let's make the cracks around the lettering, it's quite simple, but it will be easier If you use the pencil tool (N) an a a tablet, as the irregularity of it it's easier to get this way then using a more flat tool as the pen tool (P).

Now it's time to add the reflexes to it, the logic it's simple: Put the lights on the top of every crack, at first I mays not make any sense, but just take a look at the samples bellow and you understand it.

Let's repeat the same procedure on each one of the big letters, but this time let's make it more detailed. It should look like a brick based shape, so first you're going to draw horizontal lines, then the vertical lines. Later using the pencil tool (N) add some cracks and ajust the lines to look more irregular.

This is a bit boring on the beginning, but as you understand the dynamic behing it, you will start doing it faster.

Using the same lightning rule applied on the lettering, do it again on the big letters. Remember: the light comes from the top, so most lights should be directed to this side.

Step 3

Now that we have the vector type ready, let's open photoshop and add some textures and effects. First make a black background using the paint bucket tool (G).

Paste the type as a Smart Object and select it by command + click / ctrl + click on its layer.

Then make a new layer and using the paint bucket tool (G) fill it with a neon green. Duplicate this layer (command + J / ctrl + J).

On the first one (the one on the top) you're going to apply a motion blur (Filter > Blur > Motion Blur) with this settings. Then, set his blending mode to Soft Light.

On the second one you're going to apply a radial blur (Filter > Blur > Radial Blur) with this settings. Don't forget to put both behind the smart object layer.

You should get this:

You can also add a soft outer glow on the type smart object (Layer Style > Outer Glow).

I used this grunge texture to give a a more realistic appearance to the image, you can download it right here. So first I paste it and used the smart objetc selection to create two new layer with it (command + J / ctrl + J).

On the first one I used the blending mode called Multiply and set the opacity to 50%.

On the second one I used the blending mode called overlay, in order to lighten it. Don't forget to put the one with the Multiply on the top and the overlay one bellow to get his final effect.

Conclusion

Download the Adobe Illustrator File

Download the Adobe Illustrator file used for this tutorial

About the author

My name is Marcos Torres, I'm Graphic Artist from Porto Alegre, Brasil. You can get to know more about me by acessing my Personal Website or by following me on Twitter: @marcos333. You can also see some of my last projects at my Flickr.

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The Avengers Poster in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:20:09 +0000

Super Bowl is always a great time to see some nice movie trailers and previews. One that caught my attention was for the new The Avengers movie. I am looking forward to watching this movie but I also was looking forward to trying to recreate that poster in Photoshop.

So in this tutorial we will show you how to create the shine effect of The Avengers poster using only Photoshop. We will pretty much play only with Layer Styles and the Brush Tool (B).

Step 1

First thing to do is to find the Avengers logo. Just search on Google and you will find a vector version. Then in Illustrator you will have to create 2 new versions using the Object>Path>Offset Path. Use negative value for the offset. I used 2mm for both inner and outer versions.

Step 2

Copy one by one from Illustrator to Photoshop so you will have 3 layers, inner, middle and outer. Hide the inner and middle and let's start creating the effect with the outer shape.

Step 3

Go to Layer>Layert Style>Bevel and Emboss. Use Inner Bevel for the Style, Chisel Hard for the Technique, 140% for the Depth, 50 pixels for the Size, 3 for the Soften. For the Shading use 175º, 32º Altitude and for the Gloss Contour use the same I am using in the image below. Also change the Highlight Mode to Color Dodge with white for the color at 70% Opacity. For the Shadow Mode use Color Burn with black for the color at 100% Opacity.

After that select Color Overlay. Use #32333a for the color.

Step 4

Make the middle symbol visible again and duplicate it. Hide the duplicated version for now.

Step 5

With the middle version selected go to Layer>Layer Styles>Bevel and Emboss. Use Inner Bevel for the Style, Chisel Hard for the Technique, 200% for the Depth, 20 pixels for the Size, 3 pixels for the Soften. Then for the Shading use 175º for the Angle, 32º for the Altitude. Then for the Gloss Contour use the same as the image below. For the Highlight Mode use Color Dodge with white for the color at 80% and for the Shadow Mode use Color Burn with black for the color at 70%.

For the Color Overlay use the same as the previous step.

Step 6

Go to Layer>Layer Style>Inner Shadow and then use Color Dodge for the Blend Mode with white for the color. For the Opacity use 80%, for the Angle use 175%, for the Distance use 20 pixels and for the Size use 30 pixels.

Step 7

Make the duplicated layer visible again and apply the same inner shadow as the previous step. Also for the color overlay use #21262f.

Step 8

Make the inner symbol layer visible. Then go to Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay. Use #031532 for the darker color and #a4c2d6 for the lighter.

Step 9

Select Stroke and then use a gradient from light blue to white with 4 pixels for the size and inside for the position.

Step 10

Now it's time to add the shine effects. That is quite simple it's pretty much basic shapes masked. In this step just create 3 black ellipses and maske them so they will be visible only on top of the inner symbol

Step 11

Now add a new layer on top of the others and start painting some shadows using the Brush Tool (B) with black for the color. Note that this shadows only apply for the middle and outer symbols. Also note that some areas it the shadow gets blurry. You can do that by either using a soft brush or using the Blur Tool.

Step 12

Add a new layer and group it into a folder. Change the Blend Mode of the folder to Color Dodge. Select the layer and then with the Brush Tool and white for the color paint some highlights (1-5)

Step 13

Add some new hightlights if necessary, in this case I highlighted the bottom part of the arrow (1-2).

Step 14

Add the text you want using the Text Tool (T) and then using layer styles apply a linear gradient like the image below.

Conclusion

Select all layers and duplicated them, them merge all the layers into one. Go to Fitler>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 for the radius. Change the Blend Mode to Overlay at 50%. Duplicate this layer and change the Blend Mode to Screen. The last thing here is to duplicate all the layers again and merge them into one so you can add some noise to the image.

The design is quite simple as you can see and this was just an exercise. There's still quite a few fine tunes to be made, especially the contours. But now it's up to you.

Download the Photoshop file

Click here to download the Photoshop file used for this tutorial

About the author

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Easy Wax Seal in Illustrator and Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:41:12 +0000

A few weeks ago I was having my Maker's Mark and decided it was time to do the wax effect they have on their brand using Photoshop. After looking for some references I found some references and started creating a wax seal using Illustrator and Photoshop.

So in this tutorial we will create a Wax Seal effect using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. The whole process is pretty much done using Layer Styles and won't take more than 45 minutes to be achieved.

Step 1

Open Illustrator and with the Ellipse Tool (L) create 3 circles.

Step 2

Using the Type on Path tool to use one of the circles to add a text following it. I added "Approved by Abduzeedo" and "Design-Inspiration-Tutorials". After that for the outer circle use the Warp Tool to distort the circle like the image below.

Step 3

Select the outer and the bigger inner circle and then using Pathfinder you subtract the center area to have just the melted wax area. Then copy that in Illustrator and paste in Photoshop in a new document.

Step 4

Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Ineer Shadow. Use Multiply for the Blend Mode, black for the color, 30% for the Opacity, 90º for the Angle, 20 pixels for the Distance, 0 for the Choke and 75 pixels for the size.

Step 5

Select Inner Glow. Use Overlay for the Blend Mode, 45% for the Opacity, White for the color, Center for the Edge, 1 for the Choke, 30 pixels for the Size and use the same contour as the image below.

Step 6

Select Bevel and Emboss. Use Inner Bevel for the Style, Smooth for the Technique, 150% for the Depth, Up for the Direction, 30 pixels for the Size, 10 pixels for the Soften, 90º for the Angle, 32º for the Altitutde. For the Highight Mode use Screen for the Blend Mode, white for the color at 65%. For the Shadow Mode use Color Burn for the Blend Mode with black for the color and 20% for the Opacity.

Step 7

For the color overlay use Burgundy for the color.

Step 5

This is the effect you will have after the first set of layer styles.

Step 6

Create a circle using the Ellipse Tool (U) add a circle underneath the wax effect we created in the previous step.

Step 7

Duplicate the circle and apply the same layer styles but let's edit a few styles.

Step 8

Here is a list of the layer styles for the circle that will be on top of the other layers. The idea is to make the circle less unifor as it was really made with wax.

Step 9

With the Eraser Tool (E) you can delete some parts of the circle as well. Again the idea is make it less uniform.

Step 10

Add another circle in the center of the wax effect.

Step 11

The layer styles will be pretty much the same but here is the screenshots of the new layer styles.

Step 12

This is the effect you will get after the layer styles.

Step 13

Copy the text from Illustrator and paste in Photoshop. Scale them to fit the design in Photoshop.

Step 14

Again the layer styles here are pretty much the same with a few adjustments in the Bevel and Emboss and Inner Shadow values.

Step 15

The text with the layer styles will look something like the image below.

Step 16

Time to add the Abduzeedo Symbol.

Step 17

Here the layer styles again will have pretty much the same as the wax in the first steps howver the Bevel and Emboss will be completely different especially technique. We will use Chisel Hard.

Step 18

Here is the symbol with the Layer Styles.

Step 19

Select all layers and duplicate them, after that merge all the new duplicate layers. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 px for the Radius.

Step 20

Import a sand texture and place on top of the other layers. Mask the sand texture using the wax shape.

Step 21

Change the Blend Mode of the Sand texture to Overlay. Make sure your texture is in grey scale, otherwise go to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate.

Step 22

Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue and Saturation. Reduce the Saturation to -20.

Step 23

Now just place a paper texture in the background. The one I am using is from Polina Katritch and it's called old paper background. The image is courtesy of Shutterstock.

Conclusion

This is another one of those effects that can always be tweaked and improved. I had an amazing time playing with this and I am sure you can improve upon it by adding your style. Now it's up to you.

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Realistic Letterpress Effect in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:45:07 +0000

For the first tutorial of 2012 we wanted to have a really good one and the most important thing a very easy one because our goal for this new year is to provide good tutorials with simple techniques that achieve great outcomes. In this first case we will explore ways to create letterpress effect using Photoshop only.

So in this tutorial we will show you how to create a super easy and realistic letterpress effect using Layer Styles in Photoshop. The process is super simple and I am sure that you won't take more than 45 minutes to achieve the same result.

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document. I am using 2560x1600 pixels for my so I can use this design as wallpaper. After that make sure you have a black background.

The secret to create a cool letterpress effect is to use different typefaces, sizes and styles next to one another. As you can see on the image below I started with the number 2012 and then add rectangles underneath each number. Adjust the rectangles depending on the typefaces. Try to make them slightly irregular in terms of alignment.

Step 2

Select one of the rectangles and go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Use black for the color, multiply for the Blend Mode, 120 for the Angle, 5 pixels for the Distance and 18 pixels for the Size.

Step 3

Select Bevel and Emboss now and then use Inner Bevel for the Style. Chisel Hard for the Technique, 1000 for the Depth, 2 for the Size, 90º for the Angle, 5º for the Altitude, White at 58% Opacity for the Highlight Mode with Color Dodge and black at 75% Opacity for the Shadow Mode using Darker Color.

Step 4

Select Color Overlay and then use Soft Light for the Blend Mode with a dark grey for the color. Here is the trick. For each rectangle use a different shade of grey so they won't look the same.

Step 5

Select Pattern Overlay. Now it's a very important part. We need to have convincing texture to give a realistic look to our design. The texture I use is by Supertrooper called The surface of the old metal, visible rust. Courtesy of Shutterstock. So open this texture in Photoshop and go to Edit>Define Pattern. Then back to our design work, go back to the Pattern Overlay and click on the Pattern option. Select the one we just created from the photo. Change the Scale to 50%. This value will vary depending on the size of your pattern

Step 6

Here is the rectangle effect with the layer styles. Now let's work on the types.

Step 7

Select the number 2 and go to Layer>Layer Styles>Drop Shadow. Use black for the Color withe Color Burn for the Blend Mode at 25%. For the Angle use 90º with 5 pixes for the Distance, 0 for the Spread and 5 pixels for the Size.

Step 8

Select Bevel and Emboss. Use Emboss for the Style, Chisel Hard for the Technique, 625% for the Depth, Up for the Direction, 3 pixels for the Size, 0 for the Soften. Also use 90º for the Angle, 50º for Altitude. Then change the Gloss Contour using the one like I am using in the image below. For the Highlight Mode use Screen with white at 40% Opacity. For the Shadow Mode use Darker Color with black at 74% Opacity.

Step 9

For the pattern here let's use another texture. This one is by maxstockphoto and it's called Metal plate background texture. Courtesy by Shutterstock.

Step 10

Here is the final result of the text effect with layer styles.

Step 11

Repeat the same steps for the other numbers.

Step 12

To make it a bit more realistic and old let's use some dirty brushes to destroy a bit of the rectangles. Select the rectangle and then go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Then with the Brush Tool (B) and a grunge brush start paiting on the edges with black for the color. Use the image below for reference

Step 13

Here is how the effect will look like after apply the mask on the other rectangles.

Step 14

Repeat the same thing to add more words to your design. In my case I added Happy New Year 2012 and the Abduzeedo Symbol.

Step 15

Change the background layer to a radial gradient with a dark grey in the center.

Step 16

Copy the metal texture we used for the text and then paste right on top of the background layer. After that change the Blend Mode of the metal texture to Multiply.

Conclusion

You can select all layers and then duplicate them. After that merge all the new layers into a new one and apply a Gaussian Blur with 5 pixels for the Radius. Then just change the Blend Mode to Overlay at 70% Opacity. Duplicate the layer and change the Blend Mode to Screen at 40% opacity.

That is it! As I mentioned in the beginning of the tutorial, it's a very easy and straightforward technique but the result is quite nice. Now it's up to you to try it with different textures and colors. I would love to see some versions with white background as well.

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Medieval Metal Text Effect in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:56:11 +0000

Last week I saw the movie Immortals and before the movie I was walking around at the movie theater checking some poster. I saw the Immortals poster, as well as some old Harry Potter and all have the same kind of metal text effect. With that in mind I decided to come up with a Medieval Metal Text Effect using Photoshop.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a nice metal text effect using just layer styles. It's a simple tutorial and won't take you more than 30 minutes to go through the step by step.

Step 1

Open Photoshop and start a new document. I am using 2560x1440 pixels for the size. Fill the background layer with grey #464646.

Step 2

Search for some metal textures. I used some for Shutterstock. The one I used is from Kompaniets Taras called seamless silver metal texture with empty place for your text or image. Use Multiply for the Blend Mode

Step 3

Add a new layer and then select red and yellow for the background and foreground colors. After that go to Filter>Render>Clouds.

Step 4

With the layer selected go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Select the layer mask thumb and then change the background and foreground colors to black and white. With the layer mask thumb selected go to Filter>Render>Clouds. You will apply render clouds filter to the mask.

Step 5

Group the layer into a folder and then add a mask to the folder and apply the same render cloud filter to this new mask.

Step 6

Change the Blend Mode to Overlay.

Step 7

Add the text you want to use for this design, the one I am using was created in Illustrator and I used the font called Roman SD.

Step 8

Now it's time to create the bronze effect. To do that we will use Layer Styles. Basically we will use Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Inner Glow, Bevel and Emboss, Color Overlay and Pattern Overlay.

Step 9

For the Pattern Overlay create a metal pattern before using the same metal pattern used in the step 2.

Step 10

This is the result after the layer styles. It's pretty much done now and you can apply that to all sorts of symbols.

Step 11

Let's add some more details, this time I used a knight from a Shutterstock image called 4 Metal medals background by granata1111.

Step 12

Apply the same layer styles, the only difference is in the Pattern Overlay that this time we will apply Overlay for the Blend Mode.

Step 13

This is the effect after the layer styles. It looks god but still need some little refinements.

Step 14

This is an optional step but it always add some little magic to this kind of artwork, I am talking about Lens Flare. You can search on Google Images or Shutterstock to find one you like, I am using an image that I found on Google Images, you can download it here.

Step 15

Let's add a vignette effect, to do that is very easy. Add a new layer and fill it with black using the Paint Bucket Tool (G). After that with the Eraser Tool (E) and a very soft and rounded brush, erase the center of the image.

Step 16

Select all layers and duplicate them, after that group all the new layers into a new one. The keyboard shortcut for that is Command(mac)/Control(PC) + Alt + Shift + E. With the new layer selected go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 for the radius. After that duplicate the blurry layer. Use Overlay Blend Mode for the one that is underneath and Screen Blend Mode for the one that is on top. Also change the opacity of both layers to 50%.

Conclusion

Here is the final result. As you could see the effect was create with basically layer styles. It's a impressive how powerful layer styles are and the different kind of effects you can create. So now it's up to you to try and play around with them to come up with your own effects.

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RAWZ Light Effects in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 04:51:19 +0000

Last Friday we launched our new way for users to submit work for the Daily Inspiration at Abduzeedo. We call it RAWZ or Abduzeedo Raw Inspiration. Anybody can submit their work and we will select some to be featured on Abduzeedo. We also created a logo in Illustrator and then this cool effect in Photoshop, inspired by Tron.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create the RAWZ light effect in Photoshop. It's a beginner/intermediate tutorial and it will take you 45 minutes to go through it. I hope you have fun doing it as much as I had.

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document. With the Paint Bucket Tool (G) fill the background layer with black.

Step 2

To create a carbon fiber texture is quite simple. Create a new document and using the Rectangle Tool (U) create squares in black, grey and dark grey like the image below. That will be the base for our pattern. Notice that the size is really small.

Step 3

With the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) create a square selection like in the image below.

Step 4

Go to Edit>Define Pattern. Name it Carbon Fiber. That was it for the pattern part.

Step 5

Back to the document of our design, add a new layer and fill it with black too. Then go to Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay. Use dark grey for the colors. The darker one will be at the bottom. Also change the Blend Mode to Multiply.

Step 6

Select Pattern Overlay, then for the Pattern select the Carbon Fiber we created in the previous steps. Also change the Scale to 60%.

Step 7

Here is our carbon fiber background.

Step 8

Import the logo you would like to use. In my case I am using the RAWZ logo I created in Illustrator.

Step 9

Go to Layer>Layer Style. Select Drop Shadow. For the Blend Mode use Color Burn at 50% Opacity, 90• for the Angle, 2 pixels for Distance and 5 pixels for the Size.

Step 10

Select Stroke and then use 3 pixels for the Size, Inside for the Position, 95% for the Opacity and then for the color use #5c7a92, #000000, #5c7a92, #5c7a92, #000000, #5c7a92. For the Style use Linear and for the Angle use 90º.

Step 11

Here is the logo with the Layer Styles.

Step 12

To create the neon light in the middle is quite simple. I did that in Illustrator and imported to Photoshop.

Step 13

Select the layer you want to apply the neon effect and go to Layer>Layer Style. Select Drop Shadow. For the color use black, with Color Burn for the Blend Mode at 100% for the Opacity. For the Angle use 90º and then 2 pixels for the Distance and 3 pixels for the Size.

Step 14

Selec Outer Glow. For the Blend Mode use Screen, for the Opacity use 100% and blue (#00a2ff) for the color. Change the Spread to 0 and the Size to 9 pixels.

Step 15

Select Inner Glow. Use Lighten for the Blend Mode with cyan for the color. Also select Edge and change the Size to 10 pixels. Over the Quality change the Contour to the same as in the image below.

Step 16

Here is the result after the Layer Styles.

Step 17

Add a new layer and group it into a folder. Change the folder's Blend Mode to Color Dodge and then with the Brush Tool (B) and a very soft brush, 0 hardness, and then paint some spots ver the neon to create those light spots you can see in the image below.

Step 18

Add a new layer inside the folder with color dodge and fill it with the carbon fiber pattern. Create a marquee selection of the neon layer by clicking on the thumbnail of the layer holding Command (Mac)/Control (PC), then with the layer with the carbon fiber pattern selected, go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection. That will create really nice light effect on the neon.

Step 19

Here is what we have gotten so far.

Step 20

Select all layers and duplicate them, after that merge all the new layers into one and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 pixels for the Radius.

Step 21

Duplicate the blurry layer again, and change the Blend Mode of the one that is underneath to Overlay and the one on top to Screen.

Step 22

Group both layers into a folder and change the Opacity to 50%.

Step 23

Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Photo Filter. Use Cyan for the Filter with 50% Density.

Conclusion

Here is the final result. As you can see, the whole process is quite simple and this technique is very versatile, I use it all the time. The cool new thing I believe we learn here is how to create the carbon fiber background. So now it's up to you.

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Vintage Typography Experiment in Illustrator and Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:20:17 +0000

We all love typography and especially the vintage/retro ones. There's something on those artworks that catch our eyes and makes us really crazy about them. Despite the fact that some are quite old and done with rudimentary process the quality of the design is amazing and that's why books are the best way to get inspired by those and especially trying to learn how to do that using modern tools like Illustrator and Photoshop.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a nice vintage/retro typography based on an artwork from the book New Vintage Type: Classic Fonts for the Digital Age. The whole process will take you 2-3 hours, but it's quite simple. However it requires time. I hope you enjoy it and keep practicing always.

Simple Sketch

Step 1

Open Illustrator and create a new document. The size doesn't even matter because it's vector and we will finalize our work in Photoshop. Type the words "inspiration" and "speaks'". Use uppercase. For the speaks, create 3 different text objects, 2 for the S and one for peaks. Make the Ss bigger than the peaks like the image below.

Step 2

Select the word peaks and go to Object>Envelop Distort>Maker with Warp. Select Ark Lower. Use - 25% for the Horizontal.

Step 3

With the Ellipse Tool (L) create 3 ellipses like the image below. Note that some have thicker strokes than the others.

Step 4

Agai with the Ellipse Tool (L) add 2 circles. One at the top and the other at the bottom of the ellipses.

Step 5

Select the Blend Tool and click on the top circle, then on the botton one to create the blend. Edit the number of steps until you have something like the image below. This values might change depending on your design.

Step 6

Create an ellipse in between the 2 big ones, this new ellipse will be the path for the circles. Delete half of the ellipse then. With the Direct Selection Tool (A) select the line that the blend follows and then select the half of ellipse let. Go to Object>Blend>Place Spine. Now the circles will follow the ellipse spine.

Step 7

Duplicate the blend and flip it vertically using the transform tools via pathfinder (View>Pathfinder).

Step 8

Add more text, in this case I added by ABDUZEEDO. Also add 2 lines one at the top and the other at the bottom.

Step 9

Keed adding more elements, this time I added a rounded rectangle using the Rounded Rectangle Tool. Then I typed ABDUCTED BY DESIGN.

Step 10

With the Rectangle Tool (M) create 2 rectangles, the top one thinner than the bottom and position it next to the big ellispe.

Step 11

With the Spiral Tool create a spiral to use in the end of one of the rectangles.

Step 12

With the Ellipse Tool (L) create a ellipse to fill the end of the spiral.

Step 13

Now with the Star Tool add one star, then duplicate it twice to have 3. Align and ditribute them uniformly.

Step 14

Now just duplicate elements to have the center part as the image below.

Step 15

Again with the Spiral Tool create spirals for the lines of the By Abduzeedo element.

Step 16

Select the elements of the By Abduzeedo part and go to Object>Envelop Distort>Envelop with Warp. Use Arc with the same 25% Horizontal.

Step 17

With the Line Segnent Tool (\) add 2 lines and then with the Blend Tool create a diagonal pattern like the image below.

Step 18

The select the Inspiration Speaks part and group them. Duplicate it once and change the color to white. Move this new copy so it is beneath the black text, and also move a few pixels down and right. After that duplicate this white layer and move it a few more pixels down and left, but then cut it (Edit>Cut). Select the diagonal pattern and go to View>Transparency. You will see 2 thumbs, one with the pattern and another empty. Double click on the empty one to enable the clip mask, then copy the white text in place (Command + F). That will mask the pattern with the text object.

Step 19

This is the final vector object we have. Notice that I also duplicate the By Abduzeedo part. It's up to you here, the idea is try different things :)

Step 20

Open Photoshop and import the vector image. You can do that by copying and pasting or exporting a bitmap from Illustrator. In my case the latter was the fastest one, so it was the one I recommend. Also I added here a image of the Abduzeedo logo I created in Pixelmator a long time ago for testing and place it in the center of the ellipse.

Step 21

Go to Image>Adjustments>Invert. Now we have a black background with white elements.

Step 22

Duplicate the image and with the new layer go to Filter>Sketch>Contê Crayon. Use 13 for the Foreground Level, 10 for the Background Level, Sandstone for the Texture, 150% for the Scaling and 5 for the Relief.

Step 23

With the Brush Tool (B) and some vintage/dirty brushes from Eduardo Recife (http://www.misprintedtype.com/v4/) start painting with black and white over the image. Also add a new layer and start paiting with white only. Tip: Go to Window>Brush (F5) and then create a brush activating the Shape Dynamics, Scattering and Transfer. That way you can paint of the image without looking too uniform.

Conclusion

Here is the final image, you can exaggerate a littel bit because my idea here is use this design on top of an photo, then using Screen for the Blend Mode, all the black will be transparent and only the white will be shown.

As you can see, the design process is quite simple and it's all about trying and practicing. Now we understand a bit on how this vintage elements are creating, therefore we can start creating our own. The typography books were indeed very useful.

Another Version

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Reader Tutorial: Flaming Car in Photoshop by Lincoln Soares

abduzeedo — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 04:56:23 +0000

This week’s tutorial we will show you how to create a flaming car. We saw this effect before and it’s quite simple but it’s a good exercise and the result is quite good. You can also apply this effect on other images.

So let’s do that.

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document. Make the background with a mix of black and red (#160000). Then with the image of a car with no background. For this first step the idea is get the outlines of the car for our image. To do that, it's pretty easy. Create a new layer by duplicating the car's layer. Rename it to "Base" and hide the original. Go to Image>Adjustments>Invert.

After that go to Filter>Stylize>Find Edges. Repeat the same thing again in order to have another layer but for the Blend Mode use Hard Light. After that you can merge those 2 layers into one.

Step 2

Your image will look like this:

Step 3

Now that we've gotten the cars outline we will have to apply the light effect on it so it will look like a flaming car.

In the same layer that we created in the step 1, let's apply a Gaussian Blur. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. The value will vary depending on the resolution you are working on. In my case I used 1.6 for the Radius. After that change the Blend Mode to Scree.

Duplicate the the layer keeping the same blend mode, however let's apply a Gaussian Blur again, go to Fitler>Blur>Gaussian Blur and use 3.6 pixels. Rename this layer to "Top". Duplicate the layer we created in the first step and merge it down with this one. Then duplicate the first layer again and rename it to Red and go to Image>Adjustments>Hue and Saturation. Select Colorize and change the Saturation to 100. The Blend Mode of this layer will be Overlay.

Let's repeat this again to create the yellow version. Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue and Saturation and use 40 for the Hue. Do the same again to create an orange version, then for the Hue and Saturation use -22.

After that change the Opacity of the yellow and orange layers to 50% and put them inside a folder. You can do that by selection both and going to Layer>Group Layers. Then with the group select go to Layer>Vector Mask and then delete the outlines on the rear part of the car.

Step 4

Our effect is pretty much done. Now let's duplicate the original layer that we hid on the step 1. Select it and go to Image>Adjustments>Hue an Saturation. Select colorize and change the Saturation to 100. Put this layer in a folder and rename it to Car.

Step 5

Add a new layer and name it "Superior Line" before starting adding flames and other light rays. With the Brush Tool (B) with Hardness 0 add a line following the tires skid marks and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. I used 4.5 pixels for the radius. After that go again to Image>Adjustments>Hue and Saturation. Use +76 for the Hue. Tip: You will have to do that for the right side tires and the left ones as well.

Step 6

Now let's start mixing some images in our composition. Get some flame images ad start adding them in your image. Notice that the flame images I have they are all in black background, that way you can use Screen for the Blend Mode and the black will be transparent.

Step 7

Keep adding more flames.

Step 8

Here I added another flame image. You can change the perspective of the image by going to Edit>Transform>Perspective. Once again use Screen for the Blend Mode, and if you wan the effect to be stronger, just duplicate the layer.

Img8

Step 9

Select one of the flames that you used for the skid mark and move it so it is underneath the car. Do that for the front and rear part of the car.

Step 10

Almost done. Let's add a few more details. Add a new layer and then with the Brush Tool (B), use a rounded brush with 0% Hardness to create some little spots of fire following the skid marks. Make sure you use different sizes for the spots like the image below.

Step 11

Duplicate the layer and go to Image>Adjustment>Hue and Saturation. Select Colorize and change the Saturation to 100 and the Lightness to -50. After that change the Blend Mode to Overlay. Duplicate that layer again and go to Image>Adjustments>Hue and Saturation. Change the Hue to 76.

The next thing here is add an image of smoke like the image below.

Conclusion

That's it, our image is done. It takes a little time and work but the technique is quite simple. The end result is quite nice as well. I also hope you liked my first tutorial here at Abduzeedo. If you have any questions or want any asset I use here you can reach me at designsoares@hotmail.com

I am very happy to contribute with Abduzeedo, a blog that has helped me quite a lot.

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This tutorial was written by Lincoln Soares, an art director from São Paulo, Brazil. Lincoln has been working for over 5 years and you can check out more of his works at http://behance.com/lincolnsoares. You can also follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lincolnsoares.

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Create a Zee Vintage Label on Illustrator

marcos333 — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 05:48:43 +0000

It seems that the past 3 years had a boom of retro design, starting with the "cosmic neon lightning" 80's aesthetic that I think most of you are already bored about. Not just because it became a trend, but also because everyone with a photoshop could emulate one. So here's the thing, this new retro wave more focused on 50's and 60's design and illustration seems to be really different, why? Because most of it is hand drawn, and when it to comes to drawing, you wouldn't believe how many designers can't do it.

Let's assume, the last 20 years were pretty revolutionary to design since the computer took a big role on productivity and creation. But he also created patterns and made things more similar, some designers can't even work "old school", since they rely too much on the computer and that's not good. Drawing is a really personal rechnique, you will ever found two persons who will drawn a flower the same way, even with they pratice it. I think that's a thing this trend is rescuing. But, before someone asks, today's tutorial it's not about drawing, it's more about emulating, but sure you should thing about this subject.

Step 1

First of all, let's open Adobe Illustrator and create a new canvas with 21 x 21 cm (8,27 x 8,27 inches).

You probably already know I'm addicted to guides, they're quite useful to get layout orientation, but not exactly a need to. But If you want to use some, just unhide them (command + R/ ctrl +R) and pull from each axys to the position desired.

You should divide your layer like these, use command + L / ctrl + L to create new layers.

Using the rectangle tool (M) make this big square that fits over the canvas.

Make a rectangle inside, using the previous tool.

And another black one inside the white one. You can use the pathfinder option called Minusfront here, but it's not really necessary.

Step 2

Make this thin rectangles around the borders, use the align tool to help you out.

Then go to the pathfinder panel and choose the option called Minus Front.

Uisng the ellipse tool (L) make a circle with the center exactly on the edge of the black square. If you're using guides this will be way easier to posicionate.

Again, using the Minus Front option, get ride of this part on the square.

Repeat the same procedure on the other corners.

Using the ellips tool (L)let's make this circles filling the space the orther one took. Select the cirlce and the frame, then go to the pathfinder panel and choose the option called DIvide.

You're going to get this:

Just repeat the same proceure on the other corners.

Step 3

You probably already kno the hard gradient trick (aka. hachures), he can be really handy when trying to create a stylish frame. Using the polygon tool create a triangle. Then resize it using the selection tool (V) to make it thiner.

Tunr it black and make a group of at least three triangles that fit the white rectangles space on the frame.

Copy and paste on the other spaces.

This is a new trick a learn recently: create a square using the rectangle tool (M), then use the pucker tool on it, just set all the options to be lesse heavier.

You should get these flower shape:

Place it on the corner, then create another one inside of it with a white fill. Also add a circle inside of the last one.

Let's make a circle using the ellipse tool (L), then another one but in the corner.

Also make some leaf shapes using the pen tool (P). Copy and paste all this shapes on the other corners.

Step 4

Let's make the type, you can get this font here. First make a circle using the ellipse tool (L), then use the type on path tool, you can find it on the text type menu, it' pretty easy to use. I just wrote "Design and Web Development", then press command + O / ctrl + O to turn the type into curves.

I just copied the previous flower ornament and changed the colors to give contrast. Paste one on each extremity of the type.

Let make a circle using a white fill and a black stroke on it.

Access the stroke panel and choose to use a stroke inside the path, also add 7,53pt dashed line on it.

Using a black fill, I wrote "by" using the same type.

I dig a lot those old icons used on books and ad's with a more simplified shapes. So, as a way to symbolize the Design and Web development, I decided to use a brush and a eye. Let's start by the eye, make two circles, one with a fill other with just a stroke.

More two circles inside of the white one.

Make this dashes around the iris using the pen tool (P).

Let's make a brush, first draw this pieces using the pen tool (P).

Using the previous tool, let's add this reflexes.

Now duplicate all the shapes and just right-click on it, go to Transform > Reflect, turn the Vertical Axis.

Step 5

You can grab Snake Oil Font at Legacy of Defeat, I must say I'm addicted to this font. First you should write "ZEE", then curve it before anything command + O / ctrl + O.

Make a lot of thin rectangles using the rectangle tool (M), then use the align tools to keep an order on them. Doube-click on the letter of the type (not the shadow areas) and duplicate it.

Make a clipping mask all over the rectangles using the letter shape (command + 7 / ctrl + 7), repeat this procedure on other letters.

Also added a simple detail using the pen tool (P).

Step 6

Let's a make a trapezium using the rectangle tool (M), then adjust it using the direct selection tool (A). Duplicate it and sue the option called Unite.

I made tis folds on the ribbon by simply using the pen tool (P) and space between the shapes.

Add some of the hacures used previously. Just don't forget to add a clipping mask on them and using the direct selection tool (A) leave a space between it and the original shape.

You probably already familiar with the blend tool. In order to get a hard gradient using it, you just need to make two rectangles, one large and one thin. Then click on the tool icon and a panel will pop up, set spacing as Specified Steps and use just 5.

Grab the result and place it on the ribbon letting, duplicate it and reflect it. Then finally add a clipping mask over it.

OLd trick: Write Est. 2004 using this font. Then write agian over using a black fill, just to make a hard shadow.

Step 7

We need to add some grain in order to give that used look. We will need a little help from Photoshop so. Open it and make a squared canvas, place the whole art as a Smart Object.

Get this book texture here, using the magic wand (W), select the texture of it randomly. Back to the Smart Object layer, use this selection and create a mask, if necessary use invert the selection (command + I/ ctrl + I).

Conclusion

Trying to simulate vintage design is more about rethinking how people would create such graphics in a era without computers and, of course, lots of references. Most of the things done on the 50's and 60's were hand made, even If they look really sharp and clean, the methods and techniques were pretty basic. So part of trying to reach this aesthetic is to going back to what i call fundamental: drawing technique. If you don't know how to draw what you do on the computer, you should definitely worry about, because a good designer can't rely only on a tool. That's it. thanks for you time, hope you enjoyed it.

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Nike Hair in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 03:50:55 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I was playing in Photoshop in a Saturday afternoon and decided to create something using hair texture and photos. I was thinking about just a text with that but then I had this crazy idea of playing with the NIke Air brand to create the Nike Hair Ad in Photoshop. This idea is heavily inspired on the work of Glenn Jones AKA Glennz, always playing with real brands :)

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a funny photo manipulation to create the Nike Hair ad. The tutorial is very simple and won't take you more than 30 minutes.

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document. I am using 2560x1440 pixels and white background. After that get the Nike logo online. It's pretty easy to find, just do a Google Image Search

Step 2

Once you have the Nike symbol it's time to use some hair photos. The one I am using is by 1809056 Ontario Ltd and it's called long brown hair style on white. Courtesy of Shutterstock.

Place the image on your document and make sure that the Nike logo is on top of it. We will use it for reference.

Step 3

With the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) select the area of the hair image you want to use only. Delete the rest of the hair.

Step 4

Go to Edit>Transform>Warp. Start deforming the image so you can sort of make the hair follow the nike symbol.

Step 5

With the Magic Wand Tool (W) select the nike symbol. Then select the layer with the hair photo and group it (Layer>Group Layers). With the group selected go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection.

Step 6

Now that you have the base for the nike hair idea you will have to make it look more real. The secret here is start adding some hair on the edges of the symbol to make it less uniform. To do that is easy. First select the hair image again and delete the white background. Use the Magic Wand Tool (W) again and select the white part. Go to Select>Refine Edges. Enable the Smart Radius and select the brush icon. Paint over the hair and then press okay. After that just delete the selection and you will have extracted the white background of the layer.

Step 7

Start mixing some parts of the image with your logo especially the edges. The sort of tail is pretty easy (1) just add a part of the image and adjust with the warp tool again. Now the curve on the left requires more work. Notice that the edges are not perfect. So to do that just select the Brush Tool (B) with a very small and rounded brush. Then select the group with the hair and click on the mask. Now start painting on the mask with white color like as you were creating some hair.

Step 8

Select all layers and duplicate them. After that with all the duplicated layers selected go to Layer>Merge Layers. You can use the keyboard shortcut for that: Command(mac)/Control(pc) + Alt + Shift + E. With the new layer selected go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 pixels for the Radius. Change the Blend Mode of this layer to Soft Light.

Step 9

Add a new layer and then with the Brush Tool (B) and black for the color paint a little shadow underneath the symbol. You can use gaussian blur to make it very soft like the image below.

Conclusion

Just add the word Hair using Futura Condensed for the font and our funny Nike Hair image is done. As you could see the process was extremely easy. The most important thing is always the ideas. Creating funny representations of brands is a good exercise and we can always learn a lot from that. Now it's up to you, I would love to see what you can come up with :)

Download Photoshop File

Download the Photoshop file used for this tutorial