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Win a Free Book, ‘1000 Graphic Elements’
We’ve got another contest for our readership, and this time we’re rewarding one random commenter with a bountiful source of graphic design inspiration! Imagine having 1000 fresh ideas at your finger tips spanning from books to brochures, invitations to menus, CDs to annual reports, and much more. Read more to find out just how easy it is to participate.
How to Enter
To be eligible to win, all you need to do is leave a comment. Make sure to include your correct email address with your comment so that we can contact you. This giveaway is open worldwide, but make sure to get your comment in before midnight this Saturday, November 14th, 2009, Eastern Eastern Standard Time. We’ll be announcing the winner next week.
Please note: Envato staff and people who have written more than two tutorials/articles for a Tuts+ site are not eligible to enter.
The Prize
1,000 Graphic Elements: Details for Distinctive Designs, by Harvey, Wilson. Rockport Publishers, 2004.
Product Description
Often, the small, delightful details make a piece shine, similar to the way unique buttons on a white shirt can give it an entirely new look. This book explores 1,000 of these embellishments available to graphic designers across all kinds of projects, from books to brochures, invitations to menus, CDs to annual reports.
Exacting photography, which is accompanied by credits outlining the vendors and materials used, focuses on these details. This book invites designers to literally shop for ideas. Content is organized by type; if you?re in the market for an unusual binding, turn to the bindings section to see a wide collection of fresh ideas.
Other topics covered include fasteners, graphics, unique materials, embossing, debossing, specialty inks, type treatments, interesting color usage, add-ons, die cuts, and much more.
Mixing Textures with Hand Drawn Lettering – Psd Plus Tutorial
We have another Psd Plus tutorial exclusively available to Plus members today. If you want to take your creative abilities to the next level, then we have a great tutorial for you. Learn how to make unique lettering and mix it with creative textures and imagery. Learn more at the jump!
This Plus Tutorial is Filled with Creative Techniques
In this tutorial, I do a walk-through of the “NOMENA” Illustration of my SVSV/Pilot Mag Series. You’ll how to create unique, hand drawn lettering mixed with a photo and textures. Let’s get stared!
Plus members can Log in and Download! If you’re not a member, you can of course join today! Below is the final image we’ll be creating in this tutorial.
Zoomed in View.
Professional and Detailed Instructions Inside
Plus members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! Below are some sample images from this tutorial.
PSD Plus Membership
As you know, we run a premium membership system here called ‘Plus’ that costs $9 a month (or $22 for 3 months!) which gives members access to the Source files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials, like this one! You’ll also get access to Net Plus and Vector Plus, too. If you’re a Plus member, you can log in and download the tutorial. If you’re not a member, you can of course join today!
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How To Create a Photo Manipulation with Your Own Photos and Textures
In this tutorial I will give you some tips on how to take your own photos for the photo manipulation. You will learn, how to blend pictures, apply textures, create your own brushes etc. So let’s get started!
Final Image Preview
Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below.
Tutorial Details
- Program : Photoshop CS and Higher
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Estimated Completion Time: Around 3 hours
Step 1 – Preparation for Taking the Photos
Usually tutorials start with a list of stock photos you should download. But today we’ll make it differently. The only one thing you have to do is to take your camera outside and shoot your own images! Don’t worry, it doesn’t take much of your time and you don’t have to be an awesome photographer.
If you want to take stock photos it’s good to do it when it is cloudy outside because in this case you will have no strong directional light from the sun but nice diffuse light, which will be easy to change in your graphic program to fit with the global light of your photo manipulation.
When you’re taking stock photos it’s always a good to take it from different angles and directions because you never know what you will find useful for your photo. And it would be bad if you would have a perfect photo, but you would need it just rotated a little different.
Step 2 – Taking Photos for the Background
As I said before, take your camera outside and take the picture which will suit for the background. For this manipulation we need an easy background with not so much details on it. This absence of details helps the mood which we’ll try be creating of a hopeless situation or feeling of loneliness or emptiness.
As you can see in the picture below, I used a simple photo of the concrete behind my house. A photo of some empty parking place,field or road would be great too. You can see the angle from which I took the photo.
Step 3 – Taking Photos of The Sky
This is very easy. Just wait for some cloudy weather (there will be a lot of cloudy days during autumn), open a window and shoot a few pictures of sky. Shaped clouds are the best because the sky will not be boring. It should be dramatical and this type of clouds is best for it.
On the picture below you can see what kind of sky I mean.
And below is an example of the sky which doesn’t look as good.
Step 4 – Taking the Photo Texture for the Monument
It’s very easy again. For the monument we’ll use texture of some beaten wall – so just stand in front of some wall and shoot it 
It’s good to stand directly in front of the wall because this way there will be no perspective distortion in the photo.
If you want to use exactly this texture (shown above) you can download the texture pack from my deviantArt page, but I recommend you shoot your own.
Step 5 – Taking Photos of People
This is the last step before we start to do the photo manipulation. Take your camera to a train station or another similar place where there is a big concentration of people. Be a little like a paparazzi, and shoot some of them. Don’t worry if you’re shy, you can shoot them from a distance (depends on the zoom of your camera).
It would be enough to have five or six types of people for what we’ll be creating.
Step 6 – Preparing the Background
After you downloaded all necessary photos from your camera to the computer open Photoshop and drag the picture of the ground and of the sky into one document. Name the layer’s appropriately as: “GROUND” and “SKY.” Make sure that “SKY” is above the “GROUND.” It’s always good to name all the layers. This way you can orientate everything better in your PSD file.
Add a vector mask to the “SKY.” You can find the button Add Vector Mask at the bottom part of the Layers palette. If you don’t see the Layers just press F7 and it will appear.
It is better to use a vector mask instead of the Eraser Tool because this way all the steps you do are non destructive, and you can change them anytime. If you paint with a black color over the vector mask, then the picture disappears. If you want to have it visible again, the only thing you have to do is paint white over it.
After you have vector mask added to the “SKY,” grab the Brush Tool (B), select a soft round brush, pick black for the color, and paint over the areas which should be hidden. Change to a smaller size of brush for more precise blending. You can also change the opacity of the brush to get a better result.
After this step, my manipulation looks like the image below. Yours should be similar, but it depends on your stock pictures used.
If your background doesn’t look realistic you can try one of two tricks. At first you can use the Spherize Filter, which will help you to add more space into the manipulation. To use it go to Filter > Distort > Spherize… and set the Amount to a negative value.
The next thing you can do is transform the perspective. To do it go to Edit > Transform > Perspective and transform your “GROUND” layer as you need.
What I did in my manipulation is that I added texture to the ground to add more details. If you want to try it too, you can use the texture you took for the monument. Open the picture with texture, drag it into the manipulation, place it above the “GROUND” (you can also create a Clipping Mask from it), and name it “TEXTURE FOR GROUND.” Now change the Opacity of the layer and also the Blending Mode. I just changed Blending Mode to Overlay.
As you can see the ground should have more cyan tones than it has now. To fix that add a new adjustment layer of Color Balance above the “GROUND” layer. If you don’t know how to add an adjustment layer, then look at the image below.
Click on the button which is circled and select Color Balance. The button is on the same palette (Layers) as the Add Vector Mask button which we used a few steps back.
Set the Color Levels to: -6, 0, and +12 in Midtones and press OK.
I think it would be better if the whole background would be a little darker. To do that add an adjustment layer of Levels above the “GROUND” and “SKY.” Set Input Levels to: 31; 0,85; 255 and press OK.
Step 7 – Creating the Monument
In this step we will create the monument. Open the picture of texture you took and drag it into your photo manipulation. Name the layer “MONUMENT.” Resize it to proper proportions. To do that press Command + T, and hold Shift to make the picture smaller. If you hold Shift, then the width and height will have the same proportion as they had before.
Press Command + T again and make the picture a little slimmer. Then go to Edit > Transform > Perspective and change the perspective so the monument will be slimmer on the top and wider on the bottom.
Add a Vector Mask to the monument. Now use a soft, round brush to make the bottom part of the monument softer.
At this point, my photo manipulation looks like the one below. You should have something similar, but again – it depends on your stock photos used.
Step 8 – Color Adjustment of the Monument
Now change the colors and contrast of the monument so it fits in with the rest of the picture. This step depends on what stock photos you took. For inspiration I will show you what I did.
The monument should be a bit darker and have more contrast for this look. Add a new adjustment layer of Levels above the “MONUMENT” and set Input Levels on 31; 0,79;255. Just for your information, the first value makes dark tones (shadows, etc.) darker. The second changes midtones. If you increase this value, then the midtones are darker. If you decrease it, then the midtones are lighter. The third value changes highlights.
Step 9 – Creating the Light Ray
In this step we will create a light ray on the top of the monument. Create a new layer above the “MONUMENT” and name it “LIGHT RAY.” Now grab the Brush Tool (B), select a soft, round brush and choose a proper size (depends on size of your photo manipulation). Pick a very light color. It can be pure white or something a little more yellowish.
Paint one dot on the top of the monument and then one dot on the place where you want the ray to end. During the painting of the second dot hold Shift. It will paint you a nice line. Instead of this method you can also use the Line Tool.
Once you have the line you can press the button Add a Layer Style, which can be found in the bottom part of the Layers palette, and add an Outer Glow to the ray to make it look more realistic. In my case, it wasn’t necessary.
Add a Vector Mask to the “LIGHT RAY.” Now with a black, soft, round brush and low opacity, paint over the top of the light ray. It will look more realistic, as if the light is less intensive and it is far from the monument.
In the picture below you can see the manipulation with the light ray.
There should be some diffuse light around the top of the monument. To add it go ahead and create a new layer above the “MONUMENT” and name it “DIFUSE LIGHT.” Grab the Brush Tool (B), select the same color as for the light ray, lower the opacity of the brush and make it bigger. Now paint a little over the top of the monument. In the picture below you can see what I mean.
Step 10 – Adding People
In this step we will add the people you shot with your camera. But before we do that let me say a few words about perspective. To add depth to the manipulation it’s important to keep the rules of the perspective in mind. It’s very simple – objects which are closer are bigger than those which are farther away.
The next important thing you should know when you’re creating a photo manipulation is that objects which are closer are darker and more saturated. If you want to make this rule even stronger you can make closer object also sharper and with more details.
Open your stock photos of people, cut them out and drag them into the manipulation. Change the size of them, duplicate them a few times and start arranging them. You can flip (Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal) them to have more variation. Arrange them as you below.
As you can see I added no people in the distance. It’s because we will use a special brush which we’ll create in the next step.
Step 11 – Creating the Brush
Creating your own brushes is very simple and can also be very useful. Open a new document and drag one layer with a man into it. Command-click on the thumbnail of this layer. It activates the mask of the layer.
Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick a solid black color and fill the mask with black. Now use the Crop Tool (C) to crop the picture. You should have something like that shown below.
Now go to Edit > Define Brush Preset… Press OK in the window which will open and you’re done. You have your own brush!
Go to your photo manipulation, Grab the Brush Tool (B) and select the brush you’ve just created. Pick a dark gray and paint people in the distance. Don’t forget to make people smaller and lighter when they are further away.
You can create more types of brushes to have more variation.
Step 12 – Adding Shadows
There should be shadows under the monument and from people. To fix that add a new layer above all the layers and name it “SHADOWS.” Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick the color #808080, and fill the layer with it. Now change the Blending Mode of the layer to Overlay.
You have two options on how to make shadows. At first you can paint them with a black brush or use the Burn Tool. In the picture below you can see how the “SHADOWS” layer should look.
Step 13 – Adding Mist
Download some mist brushes (I used these) and install them into Photoshop. If you don’t know how to install brushes, then look at this tutorial. Add a new layer under the “MONUMENT,” name it “MIST,” and paint a nice fog with a white color.
Step 14 – Applying Texture
If you want your manipulation to have a grungy look you can add some grunge texture, which you will download or (like me) you can use the same texture which you used for creating the monument.
Open the document with the texture and drag it into the photo manipulation on the top of your layers. Name it “TEXTURE.” Then change the Blending Mode of the layer and also the opacity. I used an Overlay blending mode and Opacity of 30%, but you can experiment with different modes and opacities to get some interesting results.
Step 15 – Final Adjustment
This step depends on the photos you used again. For inspiration I will show you what I did.
I want the picture to be a little darker. To fix it, add a new adjustment layer of Levels on the top of the layers and set the Input Levels on: 0; 0,84; 255.
You can also add a vignette. Add one more Levels adjustment layer and now set the Input Levels on: 0; 0,55; 255. Grab the Gradient Tool (G), pick a solid black color, and fill the Layer Mask with it.
Now pick a white color, Grab the Brush Tool (B), and paint over the edges of the layer mask. It makes them darker.
Conclusion
Congrats! You’re finished. I hope that you’ve learned something new in this tutorial. Experiment with taking your own stock photos, which you can use in your photo manipulations!
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The Making of “Constant Slip”
Today I’ll take you through the creative process of making intriguing light effects and applying them in your work. This is more a process description of making this illustration, than a detailed step by step how to. I’ll give you some good guidance on how to deal with an illustration like this and cover the overall workflow. Let’s get started!
Final Image Preview
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Tutorial Details
- Program: Adobe Photoshop CS3
- Difficulty: Advanced
- Estimated Completion Time: 45 minutes
Preparation
This is an advanced piece, I mean there are no hard to do techniques, but this kind of work requires a lot of good taste, some color experience and casting shadows knowledge. So I do not recommend this tutorial for beginners. I’ll skip basic pointers and go straight to the main point. Basically, I want you to get the idea of how to create an illustration like this and follow your own way with these effects.
Before we start, I wanted to show you how the concept changed during the whole session:
- This first image below is the main concept, that I planned. It’s the first idea that came to my head: an energy ball with lots of shine lines around it.
- While searching images I accidently found an image of a man in a very cool position, so I thought this must be used here. So I put him there and wanted to make an illusion that this man is creating all the energy.
- The first plans were done and I started to work on this project. During the process this concept somehow lacked dynamics, so I decided to rotate the whole piece.
- Finally, when I had no idea how this energy ball could look like, and this took me some time before I came up with the final idea, I rejected the ball and went into energy touch only for this man.
So you see each project changes when you work on it, so before you get into this tutorial remember to work flexible, not everything needs to look the same way as you planned. Take your time and use your imagination.
Step 1
Before we start, you need to know that the shining effects work best on a black background. The darker the background is, the more visible and contrasted shine you will achieve. So I started with a black background of the canvas around 900px by 1100px (this should work for you fine).
Step 2
Now is the first hard part, searching for the right image. I know many people are unhappy with buying pictures, but well, the truth is: if you want good quality, you need to pay for it. I’ve nothing against free stock photos, if you have the time to search for a good image among mixed quality free pictures it’s OK.
Anyway, if you have the right image, then extract the person (or object) from the image of your choice. The biggest problem of all cut-outs is always the hair. But, as you can see in the image below, I had a short haired man. In this case I simply used the Pen Tool to deal with short hair. And because we have a black background in our main project document, we can easily blend this black hair with the background. To do this I used the Burn Tool with Range set to Midtones and burned the hair edges a little.
Step 3
Now, in the Layers Palette I added two adjustment layers: Levels and Gradient Map to make a better blending between this person and the black background. I used a gradient from black to white and set the Gradient Map layer’s Blending Mode to Soft Light, then lowered the Opacity just a touch.
Step 4
OK, next we’ll create ground. I used a Gradient Tool and on a new layer created a radial gradient from white to transparent (as you see in the first picture below). Then this big white dot needed some perspective, so here I hit Command + T to Distort (second image below).
The dot was blurred using Gaussian Blur at around 40 pixel Radius. Then I duplicated this blurred dot, stretched it a little bit (Command + T) and made two more copies to enhance the ground effect. If necessary, the opacities of these ground layers can be lowered just a touch. It means that this surface shouldn’t be too bright, as this will kinda destroy the concept of having the whole background black.
Step 5
Now, as you can see in the first image below, I started adding shadows under the shoes. It’s not suppose to be great and totally pimped shadow. I just needed to make an accent that this man is standing on something. This always works pretty well, as you start to see how your illustration is shaping up, even thought the shade will change, it’s good to have it sketched.
To do the shadow I used a black brush with Flow set to 2% and Hardness to 0%, then I slowly started creating it click by click (don’t hold the left mouse button while doing this, as you may make a very ugly kind of shadow that way). Individual brush clicks did the job just fine.
Now let’s focus on the second image below. Something didn’t work for me in this piece, so I decided to add the first dynamic touch to this illustration, so I selected all the layers and used Command + T to rotate them at a small angle (for now it looked kinda like a slip).
Step 6
I zoomed out and positioned this man and ground to the right. I kinda wanted to avoid the center focus of illustration. Sometimes it’s good to move the main object/person to the side, looks more dynamic and original to me.
OK, then I decided that this position works perfectly for this piece and started touching up shadows. Looking at this man it’s visible that few sources of light hit him (for example his left hand shows that light reaches it from left and right). So in this case I decided to give this man a soft shadow, only underneath him by using the same technique as previously.
I only want you to pay attention to his shoes which are the closest objects to the ground. Shoes stick to the surface, this means they need more shadow around them. The farther the objects are from the ground, the more they start to disappear (and the shadow starts to soften, then slowly vanish).
Step 7
As I was watching my illustration now, I felt like there are some spots that are too bright, so I used the Burn Tool to enhance the shade effect of the shoes. I also did some blending with the hand, as It seemed too bright on the left side.
Step 8
Finally this man is ready. Now this illustration needs to look more like one piece. So I did some overall color adjusting. I added a Curves adjustment layer and then a Gradient Map with a Violet to Orange gradient (picked from standard presets). Then I lowered the Opacity of the Gradient Map to around 25-30% and changed its Blending Mode to Soft Light. Both adjustment layers were set up to give this illustration a yellowish touch (as I experimented and liked it).
Step 9
Now it looks like this man really belongs to this place, and that’s the thing we want. Next, I started all the light tricks.
Here is something abstract that I prepared for this piece. So I opened these lights and dragged them into the project while changing its Blending Mode to Linear Dodge. It was put above all layers just not to get colorized by two previous adjustment layers.
Now look at the process. As I already had these abstract lights, I took the Burn Tool (Midtones) and burned parts of this piece that I wanted to get rid of (2nd image below). Then many less of these lines lasted, so I used a hard Eraser Tool to erase the rest of the disturbing lines, which I didn’t want to see here (3rd image below). Finally I added Image > Adjustments > Color Balance and adjusted this color exactly for these three main lines (blue, green and yellow). I worked to achieve cool, bright coloring for these lines.
This can be done for each line separately, but before that they need to be cut out into new layers.
Step 10
As I said, if you don’t have some color experience, this tutorial will be difficult for you to follow. Now is the further part when I repeated the same process as in the previous step. I created, erased, separated new lines and added various colors.
Step 11
I was still into adding color light lines, and I want to show you another example of flexible work. During this process I had many ideas of how to connect and set these lines.
First I thought maybe a good idea would be to cross them and make them in different positions (1st image below). This didn’t work out and I decided to make all the lines almost parallel (2nd image below). So I made it, and for some variation I added one green line that kinda crossed the space, but it gave some depth to the illustration so I left it be.
Step 12
Now I added some more brightness in places indicated below using soft white brush. The new layer was created below the lines layers, as these lines are half transparent (cause of the linear dodge mode), so everything put below these lines is visible.
Step 13
I played around with these lines and achieved some cool results (first image below). All done the same way as I showed previously.
Next I felt like this piece needs some more details going all around it and filling in some blanks. You can find some similar brushes to the ones I used for this. Experiment with various brushes in this step.
I picked one my grungy splatter brushes. Then found a nice dark color (coming from the color that I used in light lines – in my case it happened to be blue) and made a brush mark (second image below). Then I brought up the selection of this brush mark and contracted it by 2 pixels by going to Select > Modify > Contract (third image below). Next I hit Delete to get rid of the center brush part (forth image below). Then I positioned it near a light blue line.
Step 14
Now as I had this brush mark placed correctly, I used a soft eraser and erased disturbing parts. Then switching between the Burn Tool (Midtones) and Dodge Tool (Highlights) I pimped out selected dark spots of this brush mark.
When using the Burn Tool you actually darken the spot. When using the Dodge Tool, you brighten it up. So I was very careful in this step, a small overdo can destroy the idea.
So this process is just to show you how it works, the brush mark in the first three images below are just an example. In the forth image below you can see the brushes that I used originally.
Step 15
By the way we’re still with these brushes, pay attention to the little pieces above the man’s head (first image below) and the ones near his leg (second image below). Yes, they were made the same way as previously. To do this you can even use some splatter brushes and follow the same process.
Also pay attention to the second image below. I indicated a spot that points to shadow. This shadow made an illusion that these little pieces are in the air. So if you get more small pieces around the ground, you can cast some shadows underneath them (but on the ground) and this will give your effects more depth.
Step 16
Next to to add some sparkle to this illustration I decided to use a picture of sky and cut the sun out of it. Then I desaturated this piece (second image below) and set its Blending Mode to Linear Dodge and I erased all the unnecessary parts around this sun (with the Eraser Tool). I also brought up the Levels (Command + L) and enhanced the contrast. Then I used Burn Tool (Midtones) to enhance the light effect and darken the rays (fourth image below). Finally, I colored this sun using Hue/Saturation and Color Balance, I made it green and then gave it a touch of yellow.
Step 17
The sun was resized down to a very small size, and at this size it completely stops being recognizable as a shining sun. Now it’s just a shining spot. I duplicated it many times and placed it in various spots. By the way, I changed the color when it was necessary to make these lights fit. To change colors I followed similar steps as before (basically Hue/Saturation and when the tone was not fully satisfying I pimped it with Color Balance).
Step 18
Moving forward I thought I’d use these nice clouds of this sky to make some dust. So I opened the image and desaturated it. Then (as previously) I used Levels (Command + L) to make the clouds stand out. Next, I used a soft Eraser and got rid of unwanted parts (fifth image below). Finally, I grabbed Burn Tool (Midtones) and made some touch-ups to these clouds. I kinda separated them and brought them up more.
Step 19
I named these clouds "Dust" and changed the layer’s Blending Mode to Linear Dodge. Then rotated them and placed them towards the lines direction (as you can see in the image below).
I made a small comparison below, the whole illustration got a little bit smoother when I added this dust.
Step 20
So the illustration was almost finished, but the light lines were still not blended enough with the model. I hit Command + A to select the whole canvas, and then Command + Shift + C (copy merged) and Command + V (paste). This way I made a duplicate of the whole image and put it on top of all the layers.
Then while having this image selected, I went to Filter > Liquify and as you can see in the first image below, I did some stretching using the Forward Warp Tool (in Liquify filter). In the second image below you can see how smooth and nice these lines were blended.
Step 21
As the final touch I wanted to give this piece a little more realism, so I casted light reflections on this man’s clothes and skin. Each arrow below has the color of the nearest line. For example, the first orange arrow point of the shirt spot which should be affected by the orange light line. So I gave an orange color to this spot, and so on with the others.
To do that I made a new layer with the Blending Mode set to Color (Soft Light in some cases works fine also), then I used a very soft brush with proper color, and Voilà!
Conclusion
In the end you can give it a nice overall sharpen using highpass filter, this will bring even more quality to your work. So I hope you liked this piece, thanks for reading. The main purpose of this tutorial was to show you a good direction in how to use these effects. So be creative and try to discover your way of using them.
You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.
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How to Create a Side View Concept Car
In this tutorial, I will be taking you through the steps to create a rendering of a car. It will take you from initial sketch to this stylized polished off piece suitable for a presentation. The time taken to complete such a rendering depends on the complexity and the level of detail on the car. This particular one took me about an hour. So grab a cup of coffee and let’s get started!
Final Image Preview
Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below.
Tutorial Details
- Program: Photoshop CS4
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Estimated Completion Time: 1-2 hours
Step 1
For this tutorial I will be rendering the side of a vehicle. This is just a random sketch of mine that I chose. Notice the wheels are vastly exaggerated perhaps a little too much, but for the purpose of this tutorial it works fine.
There are countless different ways to render a vehicle and the purpose of the rendering should determine the style of the rendering. If you are in the initial stages of a project, you can be very loose with your rendering and only spend about ten minutes on it. If you are further along in the project the rendering will be tighter to demonstrate a truer illustration of what the real vehicle might look like. This tutorial demonstrates how I would tackle the latter. The style is my style and should be used as a guide and catalyst to developing your own style.
Scan your image and open it up in Photoshop. The quality of the sketch is not important in this case because the whole thing will be redrawn in Photoshop and any mistakes will be corrected (for example, one of the wheels might be smaller than the other).
Select Alt + Command + I and change the document size width to 210mm and the DPI to 300. This means that if the resulting image is printed at full size on an A4 sheet of paper the quality will be good, even if it were to be printed at A3 it would still look good.
By default the sketch will be on a layer called “Background” and the layer will be locked. To unlock it, right-click on it and select Layer from Background … a New Layer dialog box will appear, click OK and the layer will change to “Layer 0.” Now click “Layer 0″ once so that it is selected, then double-click it and change its name to "sketch." Next click the little padlock above it to lock the layer.
Go to Layer > New > Layer to create a new layer, then rename it "bg." You can now drag and drop layers to reorder them. Place the "bg" layer below the "sketch" layer. These two layers will remain at the bottom of the layers tab.
Step 2
This is the most laborious of the process. Using the Pen Tool (P) trace over your sketched lines. Use as few points as possible to keep the sketch flowing, light and clean. As an example, the top curve uses only two points, the first one and the end.
Step 3
Go to the Brush Tool, select a Hard Round 1px brush and make sure the color is set to black. The Opacity and Flow should be set to 100%, which is the default.
Create a new layer (Shift + Command + N) and call it "outline." Click on the Pen Tool, right-click anywhere on the image and select Stroke Path, the dialog box should come up with the brush tool selected (this should be the brush that was defined earlier). Make sure simulated pressure is not selected and click OK.
In the path panel (Windows > Paths) the "work path" will be highlighted in blue. Click outside of the blue area to deselect it. The paths will now be invisible. To make them visible again click on the work path (notice that the background is a light blue color, this is just a personal preference of mine and is not necessary).
Step 4
Select a medium color, (I have chosen a light blue, but it can be anything in the midrange), make sure that this is the foreground color.
Make sure that the "outline" layer is selected, then use the Magic Want Tool (W) to select all the areas of the car that will be made into metal. Between each piece selected there will be a gap where the line is, so you need to expand the selection by 1 pixel. To do this go to Select > Modify > Expand, and enter 1 in the box, then apply.
Make sure that the selection is still active. Now create a new layer and Edit > Fill the foreground color. Rename this layer "base" and make sure that it’s below the "outline" layer.
Step 5
Reduce the opacity of the "outline" layer.
Step 6
Using the Magic Wand Tool (W) select the wheels and ground area and any area which will be black. Now fill it with black. Put this layer underneath the "base" layer.
Step 7
For this next stage I have modeled some wheels using Alias (I am in the process of writing a tutorial on how to do this, visit Designer Mart for more news on this in the future), though you can find a stock image of wheels to use.
Step 8
Create a new layer and name it "outer lines." Go to the Brush Tool (B) and select a slightly thicker brush that is Hard and Round with 3 Pixels for size. Turn the paths on. Grab the Direct Selection Tool (A) and click on an outer path to select it, then right-click and select Stroke Path. Turn the paths off to get a clearer view of the new stroke.
Step 9
Create a new layer and name it “glue.” Using the same method as Step 7, create the strokes to highlight the glasshouse and lights.
Step 10
Create a new layer and name it "shutlines." Use the same method as in step 7 to create some shutlines. Select the Eraser Tool (E), right-click anywhere on the image and select a large, soft, round shape. Use this eraser to rub out bits of the ends of the shutlines to make them look lighter towards the ends.
Step 11
It’s important to decide which parts of the vehicle face upwards and which face downwards. Any part that faces up will reflect light and any part facing down will be darker.
Create a new layer and name it "ground darkness." Command + Right-click the base layer to select the area. Make sure that the "ground darkness" layer is selected.
Select the Gradient Tool (G) and make sure that the black to transparent setting is active and apply it from the bottom of the selection upwards.
Step 12
Make the "outline" layer active and use the Wand Tool (W) to select the shapes above the wheel arches. Create a new layer and name it highlights. Fill this layer with white, then use the Eraser (E) tool to soften the top edges of the arches. Using the techniques described above work your way down the car.
Step 13
The area underneath the glass is facing upwards so it will reflect light.
Step 14
The area at the top of the side of the car, known as the waistline, is a large area facing upwards so it will be lighter. I’ve added a little darker bit to the bottom right of it. Sometimes when something large reflects the sky it’s nice to add a little break in it. Some houses or trees might create such a shadow.
Step 15
The sill area will reflect light.
Step 16
Add a little light coming in from the front to give it more depth.
Step 17
Select the area just below the waistline and add a slight gradient to that area, this will give the impression that the area below it is reflecting the atmosphere.
Step 18
Add a little shade to the front grille area.
Step 19
Add a little shadow just below the shoulder-line near the front to make it look like its slightly pinched.
Step 20
Then add a solid block to that to accentuate it further.
Step 21
Select the “base” and add a large gradient from the right. Play with the Opacity of it to make it subtle. This it to make it look like there is light coming from the right.
Step 22
Select the glasshouse area and fill it with a light blue color.
Step 23
Select the bottom half of the glasshouse and fill it with black and turn down the opacity until you get a nice gray color. Then select the upper section of the glasshouse and add a light gradient and again adjust the opacity until you get a realistic look.
Step 24
Often cars reflect road markings or the environment and creates nice flowing shapes on the side.
Step 25
Then add an outline to the reflection.
Step 26
Add a large shape to the left of the car and add a gradient to it. This will make the vehicle stand out.
Step 27
This step is to make the vehicle stand out. If there was a theme to the design, then the image might be more relevant. In this case, I just painted some random shapes using stock Photoshop brushes. Put this image in the bottom of the layer tab just in front of the "bg" layer and name it "atm."
Step 28
Make a copy of the "atm" layer and name it "atm reflect." Go to Edit > Transform > Scale to scale the "atm reflect" layer down a little bit. Command + Right-click the “base” layer to select the area. Command + Shift + I to select the inverse of what is selected. Make sure the "atm reflect" layer is selected then delete it.
Step 29
Now turn all your layers on apart from the "outline" layer.
Step 30
For the back light draw a random squiggle.
Step 31
Then apply an "outer glow" layer style to that layer to give it a glow.
Step 32
The front lights were created using a scatter brush painted in a straight line and erased towards the front. Then I added a glow on the back lights.
Step 33
It’s nice to flip the outcome to see how it looks from the other side. Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal
Step 34
Using this method you can easily change the color of the car without having to worry about the highlights, lowlights, etc… simply change the "base" color.
Step 35
Experiment with different wheels. (this is another of the designs) …
Conclusion
Experiment with different background colors. The final design is below. There are lots of different styles of rendering, this is just one, have fun making your own!
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Jerico Santander Interview
Jerico Santander is an illustrator from Spain. His works includes 3D, illustration, drawings and much more. Own World and Open Source are some of his most famous artworks. Jerico Santander talks about his fantastic works and his design life. Let’s have a chat with him!
1. Welcome to Psdtuts+. Can you please introduce yourself?
Hi there! I’m Jerico Santander, an illustrator from Canary Islands, Spain. Apart from the obvious, I also enjoy going out for a run, fishing and eating my mum’s cheesecake
2. How did you start your design career? What motivated you?
At primary school I felt way more interested in drawing than for playing with a ball, then at high school I had more communication with computers than with girls…Somehow I’ve always been connected to this world. 
I still can remember the first time I saw Flash and Photoshop (thanks cousin).
As many other illustrators, I also started designing website layouts. Then someday I found the legendary Infinity Digital Vision catalog with some old school shit from masters like Mike Young or Jens Karlsson. I felt the need of getting in that digital art world. Trying to imitate them is how I started to mesh up with Photoshop in a more artistic way.
3. How do you define yourself? As I see you make use of illustrations, 3D objects and lots of other stuff. One cannot say Jerico is only an “illustrator.” You did not limited yourself to one field. Will you continue in this fashion? Also what are your future plans?
Many artists find resources everywhere. I do use photography, digital painting and sometimes, a bit of 3D. I do nothing but welding many images together building up a totally new one, I guess I understand digital art as an extension from collage?
Honestly I don’t know which resources/tools I will work with in the future, probably I’ll paint more and use less photography. I’m bored of long hours trying to find the perfect stock image. I just hope to still have fun working!
4. I think there are a lot of people wondering about this: How does your process of designing evolve? How do you start a design and how do you finish it? For instance, can you share design process of Own World?
It depends on the project. I always need to do a few sketches, then search for the main stock, rendering some 3D (if needed), putting them all together, painting lights and shadows, etc. Anyways I usually get the best ideas when I’m about finished and that can mean the need to remake a big part of the process!
5. Who are your favorite artists? How do you enrich your dream world? Can you share your favorite websites?
Traditional artists: Mars-1 and Josh Keyes. Digital artists: Alex Trochut and Microbot. About my favorite sites and inspiration sources: depthcore.com, behance.net, cgsociety, and deviantart.
6. To date what would you say is your favorite illustration that you have created? What motivated you?
From the ones in my Behance page I don’t have an absolutely top one so I’d mention two and why I like them: “Own World“: I enjoyed crafting this image for the amount of effort, frustration and headaches I had with it. I felt way free when I finally got it done. “Nereid“: I always wanted to do something like this. I had fun experimenting with the human body and light while working. But honestly I would change some parts of this piece now, maybe I will!
7. Which software do you use? Do you use a tablet? Can you share with us your favorite software and also favorite tool in Photoshop? Why?
Yes, I can’t work without a tablet. I’m married to a a Cintiq 21″, I love you baby! ;-* Software I use? Photoshop, and a bit of 3dsmax.
About which PS tool would I bring to a deserted island, I’d say the brush tool as it’s the most versatile and the one I use the most.
8. Thank you for your answers. Finally, what do you want to say to Psdtuts+ readers?
Thanks psdtuts for the interview and to their followers for reading!
9. How can readers reach Jerico Santander on the Web?
Tracing my IP address and with some hacking knowledge, I guess!
Okay, I do not have a personal site yet. I’m a lazy ass, I know. The truth is that for the last two years I’ve pushed art and design to a second plane while focused life into other things. But now I have a bunch of new artwork and I’ll release them really soon together with a new site, I promise!
In the meantime, you can check Jerico Santander on Behance with the same old stuff!
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New Grunge Photoshop Brushes – Psd Plus Pack
This is a new pack of Photoshop brushes available exclusively from Psdtuts+ for Psd Plus Members. These Grunge Brushes are great for adding an artistic touch to your next project. This set of high quality brushes is available for Psd Plus members to download today! Learn more at the jump!
New Exclusive High Resolution Photoshop Brushes
This new Photoshop Brushes Pack is created by Qbrushes and is available for Psd Plus members today. This is a set of 16 Brushes, which are all high resolution at around 2500 pixels by 2500 pixels. Members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! A preview of the brushes are below.
See the Brushes in Action Below
Members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now!
Psd Plus Membership
As you know, we run a premium membership system here called Psdtuts+ Plus that costs $9 a month (or $22 for 3 months!) which gives members access to the PSD files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials, like this one! If you’re a member you can log in and download the tutorial. If you’re not a member, you can of course join today!
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Create a Funky Perspective of a Model Riding Digital Volume
This is a tutorial illustrating perspective techniques and how you can achieve the feeling of depth and motion. We will be doing this in a few steps, such as placing the main character, creating the volume fading away and adding foreground and background images. Let’s get started!
Final Image Preview
Take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Want access to the full PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Psd Plus for just $9/month. You can view the final image preview below or view a larger version here.
Tutorial details:
- Programs: Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Modo
- Difficulty: Advanced
- Estimated Completion Time: 5-7 h
Step 1 – Preparing the canvas
Before we begin there are a few things worth mentioning. All the photos in this tutorial belong to the author, Pirosca Marcel. They were not gathered from stock sites around the net. The main character was shot in my photo studio.
First off I opened the original image resulted from the shooting with the main purpose being isolating the character and the shadows on the floor. First thing I noticed was that his face was not expressive enough for what I had in mind.
Before we begin cutting out the character I needed to replace his head with one from another picture where he looked more optimistic. I always shoot a lot of pictures every session, so when situations like this arise I have plenty of other images to choose from. The most important thing is that the light sources must be in the same place so it integrates seamlessly and believably. The light needs to come from the same directions. I have found the image below to be a good match for what I needed.
Using the Polygonal Lasso Tool create a selection around his head. The background contains only a flat color, so the selection should be very easy to make. I selected his head just as in the image below, then copy/pasted it into the original image, on a new layer.
I scaled and rotated it so that it matched the old head.
As you can see some integration is needed to be done for the head to blend perfectly. First off, cut out the background head so we can work on our new one. Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool to select and delete it. We should now have something similar to what we see below.
Notice that the most important region to work on is his neck. In order to obtain a nice transition from one to the other we need a transparency mask on the new head, then with a relatively soft (50%) Eraser Brush start deleting some of the harsh edges on the neck until you reach a good result. This part is open to a lot of trial and error, so using a mask will help us recover some of the parts we may have accidentally deleted. Finally, you should obtain something similar to the next image.
As we can see we need to work on some of the details. We need to fix the shirt and neck lighting in order for him to be believable. For the neck I used a combination of Dodge/Sponge tool as illustrated below.
In order to fix the shirt I copy/pasted a part of his shirt and then I blended it (using curves and transparency mask).
We are now ready to isolate our guy and the shadows on the floor. As he is a hard edged surface against a flat background it should be fairly easy to select him using the Polygonal Lasso Tool. I personally prefer this tool over the paths approach to selection because I don’t have to adjust any control points and tangents, even though it means a lot more clicks. Copy/paste him into a new layer.
Next thing we want is having the shadow on a different layer. As you can see the background of the photo studio was kind of dirty, so in order to remove the stains I applied some Surface Blur. I found that this type of blur is best for this operation as it removes noise while preserving some detail.
Once we got to this stage we can select the shadow using Color Range and the following settings.
Of course there will be some unwanted regions in the selection. Hit OK, and after the selection was made enter Quick Mask mode. Proceed to erase the unnecessary parts, as depicted in the image below.
Now in order to have the exact shadow we need to subtract the contour of our guy from the remaining selection. While in Quick Mask mode Control-click the thumbnail of the main character layer in the layers palette. This will load the selection for that layer. Press Delete to erase the quick mask inside the selection.
Exit Quick Mask mode and we have the selection of the shadow. Just copy/paste it onto a new layer.
We now have the character and his shadow isolated and on separate layers. We are ready to begin the final image.
Step 2 – Composition
This was a HUGE piece of work, size related. In order to achieve the final image we need to create an image 3613 by 5000 pixels. To get an idea of what I actually wanted, first I took the main character and moved it around the canvas; finally deciding to place him on the lower half of the image following the flow of his body. Being on a separate layer meant I could add all sorts of details behind him. The first thing that needed to be done was to further differentiate him from the gray background.
Use a white, soft brush with 20% Opacity to create a glow behind the guy.
Next it’s time to determine how the lines in the image would flow. For this I used my tablet with the size controlled by the pen pressure and Opacity set to about 30%. I proceeded in drawing the lines on which our man was surfing by holding Shift (so that the brush draws a straight line) and pressing harder on the tablet (for the line to be thicker) at his feet and then pressing less as the lines faded away.
This gave the lines the feeling of perspective and also helped me to give a sense of depth. I have to add that this is a process prone to a lot of trial and error, so it might take a while until you are satisfied with the results.
Now it gets interesting. In order to be able to replicate all of the planes fading away and also maintain proper perspective I used the Vanishing Point Filter to eyeball the plane our man is surfing on. There is an entire discussion here, because you can’t define that plane exactly how it is in reality since you have no reference. After several attempts I settled for the one below, thinking it works. To do this go to Filter > Vanishing Point.
The deal with Vanishing Point is that these planes can be extended at 90 degrees or arbitrarily. Using this method I further constructed additional planes to help me keep track of perspective, while trying to match my sketch lines as close as I could.
With this setup in position I was now able to add elements that will be flowing along these planes. But first I had a point to settle.
Somewhere along the line I experimented with color variations since the gray seemed a little dull. I love color and decided to use its power to give it a little punch.
Step 3 – Color Scheme
In order to obtain the proper colors for this piece I used three adjustment layers and placed them on top of the image. Two of them affecting only the skin (using masks), and a third one to set the general mood. For the skin, a Levels and a Color Balance to add subtle color enhancement.
And then a Color Balance affecting the whole image to give an overall greenish mood. The settings are shown below.
We are now ready to add in the details.
Step 4 – Digital Volume
Open Illustrator and by copy/pasting and then scaling vertical rectangles you can obtain something similar to the first digital volume in the image below. Make a copy and move it below.
By adding horizontal rectangles and subtracting them, it’s easy to obtain the second one. Just create one rectangle, move it vertically (by holding down the Alt key to create a copy) and press Command + D repeatedly to multiply it.
Copy the second volume graphic and go to Photoshop.
Now paste it into the Vanishing Point filter. For some reason Photoshop doesn’t allow directly pasting paths from Illustrator there. So we must paste it on a new layer as pixels first. Rotate it and scale it vertically just as in the image below in order to have as much resolution as we can.
Then Command-click the layer thumbnail in the layers palette. This will bring up the selection of that layer. Press Command + C to copy it into the cache, then delete the layer. We can now move to the Vanishing Point filter.
Go to Filter > Vanishing Point and paste. You should have something like that shown below.
Now if you drag that selection onto the floor plane, Photoshop will automatically calculate the right perspective for you.
Do it again to extend the volume further back.
Go to blending options and add the styles shown below.
You should now have something looking like this.
In order to to have some of the squares transparent, like in the final image, create a Transparency Mask for this layer, and then use a 50% gray (#7a7a7a) to paint over the squares that you want transparent. This can be a tedious process and it is up to you to decide which ones you leave opaque and which not. I will illustrate.
Now to give it a little punch, duplicate that layer, set its Opacity to 68%, and apply the following Curves (Command + M) to its transparency mask and you get this. The gray in the mask should have turned to black so this layer affects only the opaque squares.
It should look something like this.
We have reached a delicate part which takes a lot of tweaking to get right, but the main idea is to use a copy of the volume, move it into place and then use the Warp Tool to simulate the curvature. The tricky part is that some of the lines may get curved the wrong way and I had to personally correct them. Fairly time consuming I must say, but no other idea to create that corner came to mind.
Using the same technique as before, create a transparency mask and block out some transparent squares using a 50% gray.
Again, use the Vanishing Point Filter, Warp and a Transparency Mask to create the next section. It will take some work, but I already illustrated the necessary techniques.
We proceed to add the rest of the sections until they vanish.
Back to Illustrator. Using the Pen Tool to create a path along the sketch lines. Then round the corners. The easiest way for rounding vertices is to use a script called Round Any Corner found in this archive. Read more here.
Fill the final path with white, remove the stroke, and copy/paste it into Photoshop underneath the “volume” layer.
In order to enhance the look I decided to add another volume, this time white, underneath the one we created. Use the Vanishing Point filter once again, copy the first volume created in Illustrator, and extend it into perspective, as shown below.
As we can see, the trail is overlapping the white volume, so we need a mask to hide part of it. Leave only the top-left section visible.
We just need to add the shadow underneath our guy and we’re done with this section. We isolated it earlier in another document so just copy/paste in a new layer and align it. Set it to Color Burn with 50% Opacity. Now he looks like he’s actually there.
Step 5 – Background and Foreground Images
There are multiple ways to create the flying images, but I found that the quickest and easiest was the 3D approach. Basically, I took the planes generated by Vanishing Point and tried to recreate them in 3D. Considering that they were flying on a vertical plane on the surfer’s sides meant I had to create only one plane. I could extend everything else from there. Hang on, you’ll see what I mean.
The application of choice was Modo, but this can be done just as easily in others too. Again, I did this in 3D because it was much faster, I could move the planes into perspective much easier, which means more experimenting hence better results. Arguably I could have done this with Vanishing Point too, but it would have been time consuming.
Besides on my computer, Photoshop kept crashing if I worked more than 30 seconds with Vanishing Point, which happened about 100 times when doing work on the music volume. After that, I knew 3D was the only choice. Besides you’ll learn a new technique.
First and foremost we need to prepare a backplate for the 3D environment with the plane we need to match. I used the following image. Save it as a separate JPG.
In Modo create a new scene.
Go to Item > Create Backdrop. This creates a plane which we can add the image above as reference.
On the right you will see the following menu. From the Items list choose the backdrop item you just created, then in Properties, go to Image > Load Image.
Choose the “backplate” we saved earlier.
As you can see, the backdrop rotates as we rotate the view. We don’t want that, we want it to remain still and only move the geometry. In order to do that go to Projection Type > Camera. This will make the “backdrop” invisible for the current perspective view, but it will act as a background for the camera.
Press Command + Space. This will bring up a pop-up menu where you can choose what your viewport will display. Select Camera of course.
Now if we rotate the viewport the background image will remain still. To make sure the rendering will have the same dimensions as our piece, on the right side go to Shader Tree > Render and set the width/height of the scene to 3613/5000.
We are ready now to match some geometry.
Make sure that Trackball Rotation is active in your camera Advanced OpenGL menu. This will ensure that the camera will be able to rotate on all axis not only on XZ.
Now the tricky part. By rotating the camera slowly try to match our 3D plane with the one in the reference. Also scale the plane and make it longer.
One thing is obvious, the camera perspective is not dramatic enough to match the two planes. When I say dramatic I mean that the parallel lines do not converge fast enough. So we need to increase it.
The perspective of a camera depends on how wide the entering cone of light is. The wider the cone, the greater the perspective. The narrower the cone, the lower. That’s why wide camera lenses tend to distort images and emphasize perspective. That cone angle is directly controlled by the focal length. Fortunately Modo’s camera model is very similar to the real world one, so we can edit that parameter.
I have found by trial and error that 10mm focal length is close to what we need.
Of course the objects are now smaller, because the wide angle covers more space. No worries there. We just have to close in with the camera, and rotate it. Suddenly, the plane fits much better.
Not the perfect match but with a little bit of tweaking the camera we are there.
This can be a tedious process because the first time you create the plane, you have to rotate the camera and change the focal length at the same time to get a good match. Which can be tricky and time consuming. But once you have the focal length determined, everything else is a piece of cake. Below are the camera settings to get the exact match.
Once we have that plane into place, we can duplicate, scale and move it to create different copies. You can move them parallel to each other to give the feeling of depth.
Observe the wide angle of the camera and the final geometry.
Press F9 to render the Camera view. It shouldn’t take long because it is a simple scene. This is what you get. Switch to Alpha Output and save a JPEG.
Back to Photoshop. Let’s see what we got so far.
Open the Alpha Image we saved from Modo in Photoshop. Copy it, then switch to our surfer, in the Channels tab create a new one and paste the alpha inside.
Now if you Command-click the channel thumbnail you get a selection.
Create a new layer and fill it with orange (#ff8f00).
Cut and paste the images that are supposed to be behind him on a new layer and move it underneath the “digital surfer” layer in the Layers Palette. This way they will seem to be behind him in space.
There are too many of them flying right now, they overcrowd the scene so proceed to erase some of them in order to maintain balance. Most are from the lower-left corner.
Now we will round off the corners of the images, so they look a little less pointy. To do that load the layer selection by Command-clicking on its thumbnail in the Layers Palette. We will first round off the small rectangles, as they need a smaller radius, and then progressively do the others. Subtract parts of the selection to obtain the one below.
Go to Select > Modify > Smooth and set the radius to 10 pixels. Then press Command + Shift + I to inverse the selection and delete. There you go. You now have rounded corners.
We need to apply the same technique to the larger images. This time with a radius of 20 pixels since they are closer to the camera. Do this for the next selection.
You will get this result.
And now the final step of this process is to round the corners of the foreground images. Repeat the above steps with using the radius in the image.
Proceed to apply the following style to the image layers. We need to give it a little depth.
The difference is very subtle around the edges but its still there.
Now we will assign different opacities to various images depending on how far they are from the camera. I need you to copy and paste the following onto a new layer and assign it 25% Opacity.
Copy and paste into a new layer the following selection and assign it a 65% Opacity.
Copy and paste the following selection into a new layer and assign it a 44% Opacity.
Copy and paste the following selection into a new layer and assign it a 75% Opacity.
After all these steps you should be looking at something like this.
The next thing to add are some highlights over the flying rectangles. Select all of them, then with a 20% Opacity, soft brush, paint some highlights on them. Take a look at the second picture below to get an idea.
The only thing left to do now is add some textures on top of them. I will demonstrate the technique used for one of the images, then by repeating it a lot all the other rectangles can be filled too. We’ll use one of my photos to do this. You can find the rest of the images used images here: xn3ctz.deviantart.com/gallery/. This is my portfolio of stock photography. Feel free to use them.
Anyway, copy and paste this image into a new layer in Photoshop.
Using the Transform tool Command-drag the corners to fit one of the rectangles we want to texture.
Then set the layer to Overlay blending mode and use a mask to round off the corners. The opacity can depend on the distance to the camera, meaning that the images in the background can be a little transparent to give the feeling of depth.
After you do this with all the other images you should end up with something pretty nice. Anyway, it is time consuming so I’ll jump straight to the end result.
Step 6 – Translucent Interface
I started by creating these fairly simple shapes in Illustrator. They will act as textures for the interface pieces.
Copy the bottom left shape into Photoshop and place it into position.
Set it to Multiply with 35% Opacity and apply the following layer styles.
Use the same settings and the Illustrator paths we first created to add the next shapes.
Add some texture using the other shapes. They should be white set to Soft Light blending mode at 100% Opacity. Place them using the Transform Tool (Command + T) and fit them to the interface pieces.
And now FINALLY the last step. Create a new layer, load the interface selection, and with a 20% Opacity, soft, white brush paint some highlights just as we did with the rectangles.
THAT’S IT! Just zoom-out turn on the visibility of all layers and enjoy!
Conclusion
With this tutorial we have explored various ways to create the feeling of depth and space while maintaining perspective. All starting from a simple photo, adding layers and layers of details all working together in a seamless piece.
I hope you liked it and learned some new techniques from this tutorial. See you online. Cheers!
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Create a Leather-Textured, Realistic Briefcase Icon – Screencast
“Our goal for this tutorial is to draw a realistic leather briefcase entirely from scratch. We’ll use Photoshop’s amazing layer styles and incredible brush engine to create textured leather, convincing stitches and gold-plated locks. Let’s get started!” Andrea Austoni
Here is a link to the written version of the tutorial Create a Leather-Textured, Realistic Briefcase Icon and the video version is below.