pixelmator

Hipster Text Effect in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:56:29 +0000

Every time I checked Dribbble I see a bunch of posts with this sort of vintage typography style. It's a very interesting look and very trendy nowadays. With that in mind I decided to improve my skills by trying to replicate this look and feel using Pixelmator. I will also post a tutorial using Photoshop, Fireworks and CSS.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a nice Hipster Text Effect in Pixelmator.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. I am using 1680x1050 pixels. With the Paint Bucket Tool (N) fill the background with a salmon color (#d97b64).

Step 2

Let's add some text now. For the font I used Sulivan Bevel. You can download it at http://www.losttype.com/font/?name=sullivan. For the color I used #cfbf9b. Use Overlay for the Blending.

Step 3

Duplicate the font layer and change the font to Sullivan Regular. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 1 for the radius, also change the Blending to Overlay.

Step 4

Just duplicate the layer created on step 2 to darken the text.

Step 5

The first thing to do here is duplicate the text layer and change the font to Sullivan Fill. Then use the same color of the background. We want to create some shadow but the problem is that the font has some cutout areas and by adding a layer with the text and the Sullivan Fill we solve the proble,

After that duplicate the layer with the Sulivan Fill and change the Blending to Color Burn. This layer will be underneath the others. Move the layer with color bur 2 pixels down and left.

Step 6

Keep duplicating and moving the layers 2 pixels down and left.

Step 7

After some new layers you will have a sort of 3D effect like the one in the image below. Group them all and in a folder.

Step 8

Duplicate the group with the color burn layers and merge the group into a layer. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian blur. Use 5 pixels for the radius. After that go again to Filter>Blur>Motion. Change the angle to 145º and the a Radius to 20 pixels.

Step 9

Let's add some nice texture to our design. I am using a nice pattern from SubtlePatterns.com You can download it here http://subtlepatterns.com/?p=834

Just place a stripe with the texture using Color Burn for the Blending.

Step 10

Let's add a tagline. Use the same color as the Pixelmator text, but for the font use Mensch Regular.

Step 11

Duplicate the layer a few times to create a drop shadow effect by using Color Burn for the Blending.

Conclusion

Select all layers and duplicate them. After that merge all new layers into one and go to Filter>Stylize>Noise. Use 2% for the Amount.

Our design is done. As you can see it was a very simple techique to create this type of effect. Now it's up to you to come up with your own. Enjoy :)

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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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LCD Style Effect in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:43:37 +0000

Digital LCD effects are very common but they still impress me especially in terms of light effects. The way the light gets blurry on the edges and super strong in the center is simply amazing. I have been doing this kind of effect for quite a long time but never shared exactly this one and using Pixelmator.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a LCD style text effect using Pixelmator. The whole process is quite simple and won't take you more than 30 minutes.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. I am using 1650x1080 pixels. After that fill the background layer with #191919

Step 2

Go to View>Show Gradients. Then add an new gradient preset by clicking with the right button of the mouse on an empty slot and select New Gradient. Create a gradient using black, dark grey, black, dark grey, black and dark grey like the image below.

Step 3

Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 100 pixels for the Radius.

Step 4

Add a new layer and using the Paint Bucket Tool (N) fill the layer with green (#3f7d00).

Step 5

Change the blending of the green layer to Multiply at 98%.

Step 6

Add a new layer and go to Filter>Generator>Stripes. Use white for the Primary Color and black for the Secondary Color. Also use 2.0 pixels for the Width and 0% for the Sharpness.

Step 7

Rotate the stripes layer so you will have horizontal lines. After that change the blending to Color Dodge at 40% Opacity.

Step 8

Time to add some text. I am using a font called DS-Digital. You can download it at http://www.dafont.com/ds-digital.font

After that add the text you want. I am using 00:00:09 with white for the color.

Step 9

Add a new layer underneath the text layer and with the Paint Bucket Tool (N) fill the layer with black.

Step 10

Select the text and the black layer and merge them into one. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 7.5 pixes for the Radius.

Step 11

Change the Blending of the blurry layer to Color Dodge.

Step 12

Duplicate the layer and change the Blending to Overlay.

Step 13

Repeat the same process to add more text to your composition.

Step 14

Select all layers and duplicate them. With the new copies selected, merge them into a new one. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10px for the Radius, then change the Blending to Screen at 50%. That will create a really nice and realistic glowing effect.

Conclusion

You can create different colors effects by simply adding different layers with different colors instead of the green one on step 4. This effect is simple but very cool for some more advanced compositions or even for some animations. Now it's up to you to come up with your own versions.

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Nice Vintage Badge in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 06:42:40 +0000

Last year we published a tutorial showing how to create a nice badge in Photoshop and Illustrator. Now we decided to do the same, or similar effect using Pixelmator and its new vector tools. The result is very good and there are some nice techniques to overcome the lack of some more complex shapes.

So in this tutorial we will show you how to create complex shapes in Pixelmator and add round corners to it. After that we will show you how to make it look like an old badge using textures and some basic filters and blending.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. I am using 1680x1050 pixels. After that using the new vector tools, select the Rectangle Shape and add a square by holding the shift key.

Step 2

Duplicate the square and rotate it 30º.

Step 3

Duplicate the rotated square, then go to Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal. You will have the base of our badge.

Step 4

Select the 3 squares and merge them into a layer. Layer>Merge Layers. After that go to FIlter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 7 for the radius.

Step 5

Go to Image>Levels. Change the Black to 86%, the grey to 88% and white to 90%. After that you will have a nice shape with rounded corners. If you want it to be more rounded you can use a higher value for the blur in the previous step.

Step 6

Go to Filter>Color>False Color. Use red for the color.

Step 7

Duplicate the shape and rotate it to have more sides on the badge.

Step 8

Change the color of one of the layers to blue and change the Blending to Multiply.

Step 9

Select both layers and merge them. Then with the Magic Wand Tool (W) select the center area. After that use black for the false color.

Step 10

Now let's start adding some text. I used a font called Carnevalee Freakshow for the font. Also used the Rectangle Shape Tool to add some other elements.

Step 11

I added more text using another font, called Birch Std for the words San Francisco and Abduzeedo. Also change the opacity of some text to 30% white.

Step 12

Let's add some texture. The one I used is from Subpatterns.com and can be found here: http://subtlepatterns.com/patterns/paper.png

Use one layer with it for the background and another on top of the other layers. With the one on top go to Image>Levels. Use 95% for Black, 99% for the Grey and 100% for White. Then change the Blending to Screen and the opacity to 60%.

Step 13

Select the badge with the text layers and duplicate them. After that merge the duplicated layers into one and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 5.2px for the Radius.

Step 14

Change the Blending to Hard Light at 60%. You might need to delete a bit of the center area to make the text more visible.

Step 15

Duplicate all layers and merge them again into one. Then go to Image>Desaturate. You can change the opacity of this layer to 60% to make the colors less vibrant or...

Conclusion

You can have the layer in black and white, which is my favorite. So the idea of this tutorial was to show you how to create some more complex shapes using Pixelmator vector tools. You can go much further and add more details, but that now is up to you :)

Conclusion

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Playing with Vectors in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:53:55 +0000

One of the new features of Pixelmator 2 is the vector tools. You can create primitve shapes like rectangles, triangles, ellipses and edit them like in Illustrator or using paths in Photoshop. I decided to give it a try and create a poster using some impossible structures like Escher.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a poster using the vector tool in Pixelmator mixed with some textures and basic painting tools. The whole process won't take you more than 45 minutes and I am sure you will like the outcome.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. I am using 1200x1600 pixels. After that select the Rectangle Shape Tool and add a rectangle like the image below.

Step 2

Click on the gear at the top right of the window and select Make Editable. Then click on the rectangle twice to edit the points. Move the bottom points to start adding a perspective to the rectangle. Duplicate the rectangle and again edit the points to create a 3D object. Note: add one shape per layer, not all in one layer only, otherwise it's not possible to select different colors for each side of the object.

Step 3

This is the basic object that we will use to create the whole composition.

Step 4

Duplicate the basic object and rotate. Move it to the left and match the edges.

Step 5

Duplicate again and rotate to finish the triangle.

Step 6

Select the bottom side of the horizontal object and the right side of the one on the right. Use a dark grey for the color. To do that is easy now in Pixelmator. Just select the shapes and the go to Shape Settings and select the Fill Color.

Step 7

Select the left side of the left object and the top one of the bottom object and fill it with a light grey.

Step 8

Select the other 2 shapes and use a middle grey. You might have to adjust the order of the layers and also adjust the middle grey one on the left. It will be on top of the bottom object, just move it so you have something like the image below.

Step 9

Time for some refinements, especially with strokes and the connection of the objects. Once you do that the impossible triangle is done :)

Step 10

Add a new layer and then with the Gradient Tool (G) fill the layer with a radial gradient with black on the outside and dark grey in the center.

Step 10

Select the light object at the bottom and add a layer on top of it. Go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. After that with the Brush Tool (B) and a big soft brush you will paint with black to create a shadow on that area.

Step 11

Repeat the same for the other 2 inner sides.

Step 12

Duplicate the left side and move it down. The idea here is to create the letter A of Abduzeedo.

Step 13

Repeat the same thing for the other side. You will have to create the top part of this object. Do that using a very dark grey for the color. It will give the depth we need to make the impression it is behind the impossible triangle.

Step 14

Now lets add a paper texture on top of everyhing. The one I am using is by R-studio and it's called Paper Texture. Courtesy of Shutterstock.

Add the texture on top of all the other layers and change the Blending to Multiply. After that go to Image>Hue and Saturation. Reduce the saturation to almost greyscale. Duplicate this layer and change the Blending to Color Burn at 30%.

Step 15

Select just the vector objects with shadows and duplicate them. After that merge the duplicated layers so you will have one layer with the impossible A. Rotate it and move it behind the main object. The last thing to do here is to change the Opacity to 10%.

Step 16

Duplicate a few more times to create a sort of pattern for the background.

Step 17

Add a new layer on top of all others. Select the Brush Tool (B) and then a very soft brush. Start paiting with blue, yellow and pink. Use the image below for reference. You can also try different colors to fit your taste and style.

Conclusion

Change the Blending of the previous layer to Overlay and the design is done. Just add the text you want and that is it, you have a nice poster design using impossible objects.

Pixelmator 2 and the vector tools make the process of creating this kinds of shapes much easier. It's all about trying and exploring.

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Sweet Cookies Typography in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:24:52 +0000

Playing with text is one of the coolest things to exercise your skills with any software, at least in my opinion. You can try to make fire with the word fire or water effects with the word water. In my case today I will show you how to create a sweet cookie effect using Pixelmator.

In this tutorial we will show you how to create a nice text effect using basic filters and some stock images. The result is really good for the amount of time required to achieve it.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. I am using 1920x1200 pixels for the size. The background is white. After that select the Type Tool (T) and type the word you want. I used "sweet" with Cooper Black for the font.

Step 2

Add a new layer and then with the Brush Tool (B) with black for the color select the clouds preset. Then start painting on the edges to make the word much less uniform. Once you finish the word ad a layer underneath and fill with it white using the Paint Bucket Tool (N). Duplicate these layers a few times and hide them for future use. Select the white layer, the text layer and layer with the brush effect and merge them. Layer>Merge Layers.

Step 3

Add a new layer and group it into a folder. After that holding Command, click on the thumb of the sweet word from the previous step to create a marquee selection. Select the folder and go to Layer>Add Layer Mask.

Step 4

Now let's use some cookies texture. The image I am using is from Bryan Solomon and it's called Three Peanut Butter Cookies Isolated on a White Background. The image is courtesy of Shutterstock.

Step 5

Add the images of the cookies inside the layer with the mask.

Step 6

Delete the areas where the cookies that overlap each other.

Step 7

Select the layer with the word "sweet" and the layer with the brush effects. Merge both and then go to Edit>Stroke. Use white for the color, 10 pixels for the width and Inside for the Position.

Step 8

Go to Image>Invert Color.

Step 9

Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 8 pixels for the Radius.

Step 10

Change the Blending to Soft Light. Duplicate the layer once again and hide it.

Step 11

Select the Eraser Tool (E) and start deleting the top and left sides of the visible layer from the previous step. The idea is create the shadows on the bottom and right only as if the lights are coming from the top left.

Step 12

Make the other layer visible and then go to Image>Invert Colors. Change the Blending to Overlay at 40%. Then with the Eraser Tool (E) delete the bottom right of the layer to create a highlight at the top left.

Step 12

Let's add a background to make the effect a bit more realistic. The image I am using is called Texture Series - Old aged antique parchment manuscript for background use. Reduce the opacity to 40%.

Conclusion

Using the same layer of the Step 2, make sure it's all in black and merged with a white background. Then move the layer so it will be underneath the cookies text. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and use 4 pixels for the radius. Duplicate the layer and apply the blur again with 10 pixels for the radius. Change the Blending of both layers to Color Burn and move them down a little bit to create a really nice shadow effect.

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Awesome Light Effect in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:28:23 +0000

Pixelmator is a really cool tool for image manipulations and editing. It is a really versatile tool for some photo manipulations and the new version of the tools, the 2.0 has a brand new text tool with more options. So I decided to create a light effect using Pixelmator.

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a really cool light effect playing with some photos and basic filters in Pixelmator. The effect is quite simple and it won't take you more than 30 minutes to achieve the same effect.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and import an image of a light bulb. The one I am using is from Tischenko Irina and it's called Glowing lamp on black background. The image is courtesy of Shutterstock. Note: Make sure that the filament is in the first plane.

Step 2

With the Eraser Tool (E) delete the parts of the glass that are being reflected.

Step 3

With the Brush Tool (B) click ALT to select a color. Pick the ones closer to the filament but not the filament, we need the yellow behind it so we can hide the filament. Add a new layer and start painting to hide the filament. That are we will add our text.

Step 4

Add the text you want. I added the word Pixelmator using Edwardian Script with white for the color.

Step 5

Duplicate the text layer and then go to Layer>Convert into Pixels. After that go to Edit>Stroke. Use yellow for the color, 3 pixels for the width, Outside for the Position. Make sure that the Preserve Transparency is not selected.

Step 6

Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 4 for the Radius. After that add a new layer and fill it with black using the Paint Bucket Tool (N). Merge the blurry layer with the black layer, then change the Blending to Color Dodge.

Step 7

Duplicate the blurry layer from the previous step and go to Filter>Blur>Zoom Blur. Use the image below for reference. After the filter make sure that the Blending is Color Dodge and change the Opacity to 35%.

Step 8

Let's import some lens flare to make the effect more realistic and a bit cheesier :) The ones I am using can be found here and then desaturate the color and increase the contrast so you have something like the image below.

Step 9

Change the blending of the lens flares to screen. Note that I moved them to the connection of the word with the rest of the light bulb.

Step 10

Add a new layer on top of the others and go to Filter>Generator>Clouds. Make sure you have black and white for the color. Also go to Layer>Add Layer Mask. Apply the clouds filter in the layer mask too.

Step 11

Change the blending mode of the clouds layer to Soft Light at 60%.

Step 12

Select all layers and duplicate them. Merge all the duplicated icons into one and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 5 for the Radius. After that duplicate the layer. Select one layer and go to Image>Desaturate and change the Blending to Overlay at 50%. For the other layer, change the Blending to Screen at 50%.

Conclusion

After a few blending changes and some basic filters we have a nice light effect done. It works really well for wallpapers and you can apply the same technique for other ideas. Now it's up to you.

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Super Easy Vintage Look to Photos in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:49:47 +0000

Vintage looking photography is super trendy especially with so many apps for Android and iPhone, apps like Instagram, Hipstmatic and so on. The vintage look is cool and easy to create in Pixelmator especially light leaks. That's why I decided to give it a try.

In this tutorial I will show you how to add a super cool vintage look to your photos in Pixelmator 2.0. The tutorial is very simple, it has 10 steps only and I'm sure you will have a lot of fun playing around with your photos.

Step 1

Open the photo you want to apply the vintage look in Pixelmator. The one I'm using is from ssuaphotos called beauty young woman blowing soap bubbles in summer day and you can find it here: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-57812896/stock-photo-beauty-young-woman-...

Step 2

Duplicate the layer of the photo and go to Image>Colorize. Reduce the Saturation to 25 and keep the Lightness at 0.

Step 3

With the layer you just applied the Colorized adjustment selected go to Layer>Add Layer Mask. After that with the Brush Tool (B) and a very soft brush with grey for the color start painting on the mask over the soap bubble and her face in order to hide that part of the layer. The idea is to let her face and the soap bubble in color while the rest in that sort of sepia tone.

Step 4

Add a new layer and the with the Paint Bucket Tool (N) fill it with black. After that with the Brush Tool (B) and white for the color start painting on the center of the layer. Use the image below for reference, also if you want you can apply a Gaussian Blur to make it more subtle.

Step 5

Change the Blending of the layer to Multiply at 30% in order to create a vignette effect.

Step 6

Add a layer on top of the others and with the Paint Bucket Tool (N) fill it with black, after that with the Brush Tool (B) and red for the color paint some spots that you want to create a light leak effect. Once you have the red spots, still with the Brush Tool, select yellow for the color and then paint some smaller yellow spots over the red ones. Use the image below for reference.

Tip: Use the motion blur with 90º angle to make the effect more realistic.

Step 7

Change the Blending to Screen to create a really nice light leak effect.

Step 8

Repeat the same thing to create the flares effect over her shoulder.

Step 9

Select all layers and duplicate them, after that, with all the duplicated copies selected go to Layer>Merge Layers. You will have one layer with all the effects merged. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 for the Radius.

Step 10

Duplicate this layer once, you will have 2 blurry layers. With the one on top change the Blending to Screen at 50% and the one that is beneath, use Soft Light at 50%.

Layers Order

Conclusion

You can add an old paper texture like a did in the final result, I'm using an texture from Shutterstock which you can find it here. For the Blending I used Multiply at 20%. Notice in the previous step that the light leaks layers are on top of the others, even though we have the merged layers. That's because I wanted to increase the strength of the light effect. Now it's up to you trying it with your own images.

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Captain America Shield in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:00:34 +0000

It is been a while since the last time we published a Pixelmator tutorial and now with Pixelmator 2.0 out there and App of the Year we decided to show more love to this really cool tool. We will be creating weekly Pixelmators tutorial here on Abduzeedo alongside with our Photoshop, Illustrator and Fireworks tutorials.

So in this tutorial we will show you how to create the Captain America Shield using Pixelmator only. The process is quite simple and won't take you more than 30 minutes.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. I am using 2560x1440 pixels for the size. After that with the Gradient Tool (G) fill the background with the default black/grey radial gradient.

Step 3

Pixelmator 2.0 has some amazing new features like vector shapes. So select the Ellipse Tool and create a circle. After that go to Shape Settings and change the fill color to red (#d51a37).

Step 4

In the shape Settings options you can now add shadow as well. So mark the Shadow option and use Black for the color, 90º Angle, 10px Offset and 30px Blur.

Step 5

Add 3 more circles. A light grey, another red and a blue. After that add a Star like te image below. Note that I added shadow to the internal circles as well, however I used 5px for the Offset and 2px for the blur. Another important thing you can do is duplicate the circles and change their colors to white and move them 2px up and make sure that they are underneath the original ones. The idea here is to create a highlight.

Another important thing is to make all the circles clipping masks of the bigger circle.

Step 6

Add a new layer and also go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. Fill this new layer with white using the Paint Bucket Tool (N). After that make sure you have black and white for the background and foreground color. Then go to Filter>Style>Noise. Use 30% for the Amount and select Monochrome.

Step 7

Now go to Filter>Distort>Twirl. Use 500 px for the Radius and 720º Angle.

Step 8

Repeat that 6 times to make the effect stronger.

Step 9

Change the Blending to Multiply. After that duplicate the layer to make the effect stronger again.

Step 10

Select the Gradient Tool (G) and then create a new gradient preset. Use Angle for the type and then use white, black, white, black and white. Add a new layer and again make it a clipping mask. Fill the layer with the new gradient like the image below.

Step 11

Change the Blending to Multiply at 60%, after that duplicate it and change the blending of the new one to Hard Light at 60%.

Step 12

Now let's make the effect more real by applying some textures. The one I am using is from maxstockphoto and it's called Metal plate background texture. Courtesy of Shutterstock.

Step 13

Change the blending to Overlay at 30%. After that go again to Filter>Distort>Twirl. Use the same presets of the Step 7.

Step 14

Duplicate the layer again and change the blending to Color Burn at 33%.

Conclusion

Now just add some texture on the background as well. The one I used is from Kompaniets Taras and it's called seamless silver metal texture with empty place for your text or image.

As you can see the process was very straightforward and Pixelmator with its new tools make it easier to play with basic shapes like circles, rectangles, stars and so on. This effect can be used to create nice UI buttons as well. But now it's up to you.

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Radar Icon in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:27:31 +0000

A few weeks ago I showed you how to create a Mac style icon using Photoshop. It was a radar one inspired by the Network Utility icon. As I like to play with all tools I decided to give it a try in Pixelmator as well.

So, in this tutorial I will show you how to create a beautiful Mac style icon using Pixelmator. I will show you how to create some bevels and light effects that are very characteristic of these icons.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document, I'm using 1024x1024 pixels. After that fill the background with a dark grey and add some noise using black for the background. Once you have the background with the Ellipse Marquee Tool (M) create circle and fill it with a 50% grey.

Step 2

Duplicate the circle and then go to Edit>Free Transform and resize it so it's slightly smaller. After that go to Edit>Load Selection to create a marquee selection of the smaller circle.

Step 3

Select the big circle with the marquee selection active and hit the Delete key to delete that area of the big circle. If you hide the small one you will have a result like the image below.

Step 4

Duplicate the grey border we created in the previous step and change the Blending to Screen in order to make it lighter.

Step 5

Duplicate the border again and fill it with black then, there are 2 ways to do that, once is using the Paint Bucket Tool (N) and the second one, which I prefer is to go to Filter>Color>False Color. Then just make sure that you have black as the background color before applying this filter.

After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 15 for the amount. Then move it down a little bit. Use the image below for reference.

Step 6

Duplicate the grey border again and use the fake color filter but this time to convert it to white. Then go again to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 15 again for the amount. After that resize it a little bit in order to make it a slightly smaller.

Another thing you will have to do here is this, add a new layer and fill it with black, this layer will be beneath the white border. After that merge the two layers and change the blending of the merged layer to Linear Dodge.

Step 7

Group all layers used to create the metallic border. After that create another circle that will be the center of our radar. Use black for the color and it will be beneath the border group.

Step 8

Go to View>Show Gradient. Create a new gradient preset and then use radial for the type and for the colors use black and #926007 for the center color.

Step 9

Duplicate the black circle in the center and resize it in order to make it slightly smaller. After that go to Edit>Load Selection. Then with the Gradient Tool (G) fill the circle with the gradient where the center will be at the bottom of the circle. Use the image below for reference.

Step 10

Add a new layer and with the Brush Tool (B) and with a very soft brush and #926007 for the color paint a light spot on top of the center of the circle with gradient. Notice that the circle marquee selection is still active.

Step 11

Add a new layer on top of the previous two layers. Now with the Brush Tool (B) and still with the same very soft round brush, use black to paint on the sides of the circle in order to create some depth.

Step 12

Add a new layer then fill with black. With the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) create a thin rectangle and fill it with white in order to create a line.

Step 13

Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and use 2 for the Radius. After that change the Blending to Color Dodge. You will get a really nice light effect. Duplicate this layer and rotate it 90º.

Step 14

Duplicate both layers and apply more gaussian blur to them in order to create a glow.

Step 15

Duplicate the black circle that we created in the step 7 then change its order so it is on top of the others. After that resize it so it will be much smaller like the image below. To create the light effect is very simple. The circle will be black already so go to Edit>Stroke. Use a inner stroke of 3 in white. After that change the Blending of the layer to Color Dodge and apply a Gaussian Blur of 2 or 3 for the radius. You can also duplicate this layer and apply more blur to create the same glow as we did in the previous step.

Step 16

Repeat the same thing we did in the previous step to add another white stroke circle.

Step 17

Add a new layer and fill it with Black. Notice this layer will be on top of the others but beneath the metallic border. After that with the Brush Tool (B) and a very soft and round brush create some white spots.

Step 18

Change the Blending to Color Dodge and you will have a super cool light effect.

Step 19

Add a new layer and with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) create a rectangular selection and fill it with black, after that create a thinner rectangular selection over the black area and fill it with white. Change the Blending to Color Dodge and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 5 for the radius. After that just go to Edit>Free Transform and rotate it 45º, then align it as I did in the image below.

Step 20

In order to create a sort of ghost tracking light effect for that rectangle as it is rotating let's use the Gradient Tool (G). Create a new gradient preset using Angle for the type and black and white for the colors. Once you have the gradient preset, add a new layer and create a circle the same size as the radar center one. Then fill this circle with the gradient we created. Rotate it so the white part is exactly over the rotating bar.

Step 21

Add a new layer on top of the other radar elements but beneath the border. Then create an elliptical selection of the center circle, just select the center circle and go to Edit>Load Selection. After that select the new layer and then with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) change the type to ellipse and then holding ALT create another selection a little bit below the center of the previous selection. Use the image below for reference.

Step 22

Fill the selection with white and reduce the opacity to 10% and you have created a nice glossy effect.

Conclusion

Select all the layers used to create the center area of the radar and duplicate them, after that merge the duplicated layers into one and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 15 for the radius and then change the Blending to Screen at 50% Opacity. That will increase the glowing effect.

As you can see, we created a very Mac style icon using Pixelmator only. We didn't have any specific filter for bevels but there's always ways to overcome that. Now it's up to you.

Download the Pixelmator File

Click here to download the Pixelmator file used for this tutorial

About the author

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UPDATED: Pixelmator Christmas Giveaway

nathanbweller — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:11:41 +0000

So yesterday's giveaway went great. In fact, it was so popular that some flaws in how we were judging the winners of the giveaway came to the surface very quickly (we're in the process of making sure everyone from yesterday is taken care of). So today we'd like to make one change that should clear everything up for today's Pixelmator Christmas Giveaway. Commenting.

At 1pm EST today (Wednesday), I will be posting the below image to the Abduzeedo facebook page. The rules are simple, the first 5 to COMMENT "Abduzeedo" (reasonable typos accepted) on the image will get a free copy of the Pixelmator software. This will go even faster than yesterday's contest so I'll be extra careful to be precise on the time. 1pm EST - on the dot!

About the author

Hi, my name is Nathan Weller. I'm a Columbus Ohio based artist, blogger and entrepreneur. I'm the Founder & CEO of Black Cat Digital Publishing LLC and the Editor & Chief of The Astonishing Post - an art and lifestyle tumblr and ezine. If you're passionate about art I'd love to connect and learn about what you do. I can be found on twitter, facebook and of course tumblr.

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Codemyconcept Winners & Tomorrow's Pixelmator Giveaway!

nathanbweller — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:14:15 +0000

Wow, what a response! I'm not sure I've ever seen an image explode with tags on Facebook like that! And I'm sure everyone who is still frantically tagging and commenting, trying to figure everything is wondering who the winners are…

So here we go, these are the winners:

Winners of $500 codemyconcept gift cards and t-shirts

1. Paul McDonough

2. Hugo Oliveira

3. Abrar Ahmad

4. Ben Albers

5. Alex Gurghis

6. Kyle W Martin

7. Aarikamarino (**need your email**)

8. Kelly Baker

9. Jonathan Dolan

10. John Wilson

Winners of $500 codemyconcept gift cards

1. Andy Shin

2. Gieljan Vantyghem

3. Frankie Frank

4. Ahmed Ziab

5. Jessica Emberson

6. Victor Samaue

7. Fabe Rnhrt

8. Angelo Ferreira

9. Jonathan Mitchum

10. Rory Geraghty

Winners of Wordpress packages from codemyconcept's new project, custompsds.com

1. Brennan Matthews Griffith

2. Tuxu Arts

**Note: Winners will receive a message today on facebook telling them how to collect on their winnings**

And a prize for everyone….

50% off any five page project in 2011! Is it free? No, but we gave away as much as possible. With this deal, you can get a half off on any five page project you might have in the coming year, and support your favorite source of inspiration in the process :)

So what's happening with tomorrow's giveaway?

At 1pm EST tomorrow (Wednesday), I will be posting the below image to the Abduzeedo facebook page. The rules are simple, the first 5 to tag the image with their name will get a free copy of the pixelmator software. This will go even fast than today's contest so I'll be extra careful to be precise on the time. 1pm EST - on the dot!

UPDATE: WE WILL NOT BE USING TAGGING TOMORROW. YOU MUST COMMENT! FIRST 5 COMMENTS OF "ABDUZEEDO" WILL WIN.

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Pixelmator Giveaway - Winner

fabiano — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:32:23 +0000

Last week we showed you the amazing Pixelmator Office, and besides that Saulius also gave us a copy of Pixelmator to give away on Abduzeedo. Today we will announce the winner!

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.

Winner

Last week we launched a giveaway from Pixelmator. And the winner of a Pixelmator copy is:

Samir

Congratulation man! We will get in touch to you soon! And if you're not the winner and want to know more about Pixelmator, stay tunned on Twitter at @pixelmator.

Some photos from Pixelmator office

If you want to take a look on more photos, visit the other post at abduzeedo.com/pixelmator-office-photos-1-copy-giveaway.

More about Pixelmator

If you want to know more about this powerful image editing tool, visit: pixelmator.com.

About the author

I'm from Brazil, co-founder of Zee with Fabio. Nowadays I like to play with Fireworks, Photoshop and improve my skills in CSS. If you wanna request some posts, please feel free to contact me or follow on Twitter.

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Pixelmator Office Photos - 1 Copy to Giveaway

fabiano — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:39:21 +0000

Pixelmator has been growing in a fast pace since 2007, not only in terms of popularity but their team has increased considerably too. They also have moved to a new office and thanks to Saulius, we will share with you a little bit of the workspace where the Pixelmator guys come up with their crazy ideas. But that's not all, we've also gotten a copy of Pixelmator to give away.

Founded by the brothers Saulius and Aidas, today Pixelmator has 9 people on the team helping to create the software that is called "the best image editor for the rest of us." And we have to say that the working environment of those guys over there is inspiring. Based in London, it differs a little bit from those "organized" offices with everything in their proper places, and shows an area with so much life and personality into every corner.

About the giveaway

We'll be giving away 1 copy of Pixelmator. To win, simply follow Pixelmator on Twitter @pixelmator and tweet or add a comment below showing why you must win this Pixelmator. Next week we will be announcing the winners

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.

More about Pixelmator

If you want to know more about this powerful image editing tool, visit: pixelmator.com.

About the author

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Water Text in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 11:09:41 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create text with water effects. To do this, we will use some stock photos with masks and image adjustments. I will also show you how to create bevels using Pixelmator.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. I used 1440×900 pixels. Also, keep the background white.

Step 2

With the Type Tool (T), add a text. I typed “WATER” using Arial black for the font. The color here doesn’t matter because we will use it to mask images. To create a marquee selection of the text, just click on the thumb of the text layer while holding the Command Key.

Step 3

Now, let’s use a photo of water. The one I used was courtesy of Shutterstock, and you can find it here. Import it and place it in your document. Go to Edit>Transform and reduce its size; also, duplicate it 3 times, always flipping the new copy horizontally. That way, you will be able to match the sides. Use the image below for a reference.

Step 4

With the marquee selection of the text active, go to Layer>Add Layer Mask; that way, the photo will show only on the text area. You will have to repeat this 2 more times for the duplicated layers of the photo.

Step 5

To make the water more realistic, let’s use another photo. You can find one here. This one is of some water bubbles. To make the colors of the images match, go to Image>Colorize. Move the little controller to the cyan area and increase the saturation to over 70. We will use this often for other images throughout the tutorial so keep that in mind. You also will have to try different values depending on the imagery you are using.

Step 6

Repeat the Masking process so the bubbles will be within the text area. The result here already looks pretty cool.

Step 7

To spicy it up a little, add some water splashes. The ones I used can be found here, courtesy of Shuterstock, once again. You also will have to colorize them in order to make the colors match, exactly like we did in Step 6.

Step 8

Select all layers but the white background and duplicate them. Merge all the duplicated layers (Layer>Merge Layers) and then go to Edit>Flip Vertically. Move this upside down text right below the text aligning the words. After that, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur; use 20 for the amount.

To finish the effect, go to Layer>Add Layer Mask, then select the Gradient Tool (G) and a linear gradient from black to white. Mask the layer in which the black area will be hidden and the white will be shown. Use the image below for reference or download the PXM file in the end of the tutorial.

Step 9

Add a layer on top of the others and fill it with a very subtle gradient. Use the Gradient Tool (G), and for the colors, use Grey to White and play with the Opacity in order to make it very, very subtle, exactly like the image below.

Step 10

Let’s now place a photo of some water droplets. The one I used can be found here. The image is in grey scale, so go again to Image>Colorize and change the color of the image to this cyan scheme we are using.

Step 11

Put this layer beneath the other layers; also, change its opacity to 55%. After that, go to Edit>Transform. Then, the Transform panel will open. Click on the little gear icon and choose perspective. Then, apply the perspective I used. Use the image below for a reference, but basically, the only thing you will have to do is move the controllers on the bottom area while holding shift to make them wider than the top area.

Step 12

Duplicate the droplets layer and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 30 for the amount.

Step 13

With the Eraser Tool (E), delete the areas close to the text in order to remove the blur. Also, notice that the horizon is sort of fading out. That’s because I added a gradient from white to cyan and applied an overlay for the blending.

Step 14

Again, repeat the “WATER” text with the marquee selection like we did in Step 2; however, this time, the text has to be black.

Step 15

Go to Edit>Stroke. Use white for the color and 5 for the width. Also, make sure that the Inside option is selected.

Step 16

Now, still with the marquee selection active, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 15 for the Radius.

Step 17

Just change the Blending of the layer to Color Dodge and you will already have a really nice bevel effect.

Step 18

With the Eraser Tool (E), delete the bottom left areas of the bevel to try to match the droplets.

Step 19

Select all layers and duplicate them. Then, merge all of them into a layer and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 for the Radius.

Step 20

Change the Blending to Screen.

Step 21

Add a new layer on top of the others and fill it with cyan using the Paint Bucket Tool (N). Then, change the Blending to Color Burn with 30% Opacity.

Step 22

Now, add another layer, this time, beneath the cyan layer and fill it with a radial gradient from white in the center to grey. Change the Blending to Multiply with 25% for the Opacity.

Layers Order

I love that we can now have groups of layers in Pixelmator.

Conclusion

This is the outcome you will have. The idea is pretty simple and straight forward; we are just mixing some photos and masking them with text. However, I believe the Bevel technique will be very useful for your projects in Pixelmator because there is no filter for that yet.

Download the Pixelmator File

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

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Stylish Light Effect in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 06:53:02 +0000

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a really nice light effect using basic filters and tools in Pixelmator. The idea is to create an image with that 80s feeling in it but modern as well.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. The size I am using is 1440×2000 pixels. After that, import a photo of a girl; the one I’m using is courtesy of Shutterstock and you can find it here.

Step 2

Duplicate the layer of the girl and go to Image>Hue and Saturation. Increase the Saturation to 20.

Step 3

Now the color of your image will be a little bit more saturated, in this case warmer as well.

Step 4

Duplicate the layer of the girl, the one on which you increased the saturation, and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 for the radius. So you will have a pretty blurry image on top of the other. The idea here is to make the girl’s skin super smooth.

Step 5

With the blur layer selected, go to Layer>Add Layer Mask. Then with the Brush Tool (B) and a very soft brush, start painting on the layer mask over the eyes, nose and mouth in order to hide the blurry layer. So you will have all the details in those areas but keep a super soft skin. This is not supposed to be highly realistic, so there won’t be any problem in doing that.

Step 6

Now, duplicate the layer with no blur and go to Image>Desaturate. Rearrange this layer so it will be on top of the others. After that, change its Blending to Soft Light.

Step 7

Add a new layer and with the Brush Tool (B) and the same soft brush, start painting with black in order to hide the background. Leave just her face with a part of her hair and neck. Use the image below for reference.

Step 8

Still with the Brush Tool selected, add a new layer on top of the others and start painting with red and orange on to bottom left, and top right and left. Play with the opacity of the brushes; these colors have to be very subtle.

Step 9

Now let’s use another image. You can do that using brushes if you want as well; however, I use a stock photo from Shutterstock. You can find it here.
Position the image on top of the other layers and change the Blending to Hard Light at 40% Opacity.

Step 10

This will be the result you will have after these 10 steps. The concept is pretty much done. Now let’s just add a few more effects.

Step 11

Add a new layer beneath the lights layer from the previous one. After that go to Filter>Quartz Composer>Generator>Defocus. Use the image below for the values.

Step 12

You will have an effect like the image below. Change the Blending to Color Dodge. After that, go to Image>Levels. Increase values of the white input in order to make the bokeh stronger.

Step 13

If you didn’t like how the bokeh was rendered, simply try a few more times until you get a nice result. You will also have to delete the bokeh effect that is over the girl’s face. I also added a little lens-flare effect next to her eye. That lens flare is from a photo that you can download for free at http://www.williams.edu/astronomy/IAU_eclipses/jmp_eclipse03_04.jpg.
Resize the image and use Screen for the Blending.

Step 14

Add a new layer on top of the previous one and go to Filter>Generator>Sunbeans. Make sure you had black and white for the colors. Move the controller far to the top right and use the image below for the values.

Step 15

Add a new layer and fill it with black. This layer will be beneath the one you applied the sunbeams filter. Select both layers and merge them into one. Change the Blending of this new layer to Color Dodge. You can go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and add some blur to the rays.

Step 16

With the Eraser Tool (E) and a very soft brush, delete most of the rays, leaving just the area over the girl’s face and the top right. Also reduce the Opacity to 40%.

Step 17

Duplicate the rays layer and move it to the top a little bit. After that, change the Blending to Soft Light. After that add a layer on top of the others and fill it with yellow. Change this layer’s Blending to Soft Light at 15%.

Layers Order

Conclusion

Now, it’s all about adding some noise and your logo. The effect is done. We basically played with brushes and blendings to create this effect. Now it’s up to you to apply the technique to your own projects.

Download the Pixelmator File

Click here to download the Pixelmator file used for this tutorial