tutorials

Colorful Bokeh Effect in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:27:05 +0000

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

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

Learning the new Adobe CS4 Apps with Lynda

abduzeedo — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:36:18 +0000

Last week Adobe started shipping the new version of their CS suite of applications. The Adobe CS4 family comes with a redesigned interface and a ton of new features. To get up to speed with all of the new features Lynda.com has created the CS4 University.

I had a chance to access the CS4 University, and found that you'll have everything you need to upgrade your skills for the new Adobe Apps. There are videos lessons such as: New Features, Getting Started, and Essential Training for Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, After Effects, InDesign, Flash, Soundbooth, Premiere, Contribute, and Encore.

“We are excited to offer in-box training from lynda.com and have worked closely on the development of their CS4U video training to help our designers and developers discover new possibilities and unleash their creative potential”.

Thomas DeMeo,
Director of Product Management
Adobe Creative Suite

ABOUT CS4 University:

CS4 University is comprised of very diverse, specialized course titles that cover virtually every aspect of the Adobe Creative Suite 4 product family. Some of these courses are very advanced, while others include special applications for people working more at the consumer level. All of these courses are designed to help lynda.com’s Online Training Library® subscribers get the most out of the new Adobe software. Included within these courses are three new series:

The “New Features” series focuses on what has changed since Adobe Creative Suite 3 software was released.
The “Getting Started” series is designed to get Creative Suite 4 users up and running quickly.
The “Essential Training” series supplies the ground-up fundamentals needed to master each application in Creative Suite 4

Lynda Weinman, co-founder of lynda.com, said:

“As the software landscape continually evolves, a lynda.com Online Training Library subscription remains the most comprehensive and efficient way for designers, instructors, students, and hobbyists to keep their skill sets up to date.”

“Packed with hundreds of new, innovative features—the Creative Suite 4 product line advances the creative process across print, Web, mobile, interactive, film and video production,” said Chad Siegel, group product manager for Creative Suites at Adobe. “lynda.com shows our customers just how to incorporate these innovations within their daily creative workflows with their new training offerings for CS4.”

After a few days taking the Lynda Courses, I have to say, they are really good. I’m taking the After Effects and Cinema 4D courses, and I’m pretty happy with my evolution on those apps. I highly recommend that you check their courses out. They have both subscription plans and DVDs; but the access to their online library is definitely worth it.

About the author

Video tutorials

abduzeedo — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:17:54 +0000

Last night I was reading the news and I saw that PSDTUTS now has a video page on VIMEO. I checked that out and it’s really good. They are making videos of the PSDTUTS tutorials. There are some of my tuts in video already, so I decided to share them here too.

Web 2.0 Badge in Photoshop from godonholiday on Vimeo

3D Web Design Effect in Photoshop from godonholiday on Vimeo.

Digital Smoke in Photoshop from godonholiday on Vimeo.

Also I will try to make some video tutorials as well, even though my voice and speaking skills are terrible, so, maybe I will need somebody to help me, any volunteer?

tutorials

Colorful Bokeh Effect in Pixelmator

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Conclusion

Download the Pixelmator File

About the author

Sponsored Links:

Learning the new Adobe CS4 Apps with Lynda

Last week Adobe started shipping the new version of their CS suite of applications. The Adobe CS4 family comes with a redesigned interface and a ton of new features. To get up to speed with all of the new features Lynda.com has created the CS4 University.

ABOUT CS4 University:

About the author

Sponsored Links:

Video tutorials

Last night I was reading the news and I saw that PSDTUTS now has a video page on VIMEO. I checked that out and it’s really good. They are making videos of the PSDTUTS tutorials. There are some of my tuts in video already, so I decided to share them here too.

About the author

Sponsored Links: