Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Typography Decoration

Typography Decoration is a trend nowadays. I'm sure you guys have seen it in most of the design sites.Here are some of the easy steps to get this done.





Step 1
Create a new document in Photoshop, File> New. Set the width to 900 pixels and the height to 400 pixels. Use the Type tool and type "adobe" in the middle of the document. Once you've done that, select the "Brush tool" and locate the flourishes/ Ornament brushes (These brushes available for download. See at the bottom of this page) before we can proceed to step 2.



Step 2
Create a new layer above the "adobe" layer before you paint. After that, select any one of the ornament brushes and place the brush to align with the letter "a". It's recommended to create new layers for each letter for easy placement and moving around the shapes.



Step 3
If you want to change the ornament's position, Go to Edit> Free Transform and rotate it. Don't worry if you messed up the positioning when placing in on each layers because we can adjusted it later by erasing parts of the ornaments using "Eraser tool". See Step 4.



Step 4
Clean up the ornaments with the use of "Eraser tool". Make sure you've changed the Eraser's brush before you start erasing.



Step 5
Once you've done placing all the ornaments on the each letter of "adobe", you need to merge all the layers (except for the "bg"). How to do this? Press "Shift" and click on each layers. Next, go to Layer> Merge Layers.



Step 6
Your layer should look something like this. Change the layer name to "adobe" and press on the "f" icon below the layer (As shown above)



Step 7
The Layer Style window will pop up. Choose the "Gradient Overlay" menu and click on the "Gradient" bar.



Step 8
Make 3 colors (or any colors you like) by just playing with the gradient type (see above). Once done, click "OK". Select any other layer style you want and then click "OK" again.



Step 9
The "adobe" word is now done with cool ornaments around it. If you want to add more extra effect to it, use the "Blur Tool" to give a depth of field feel.

Download Source Files here Ornaments Brushes - Get it here PSD File - Get it here

There you go! Very simple steps to make "Typography Decoration". Do you like it?

Adobe Flash & Photoshop Tutorials - Digital Painting

Do you like Digital Painting? Then this tutorial is for you. Even if you're not, you'll still enjoy learning it!




You need to have the following Adobe softwares
- Photoshop
- Flash (Any versions) but I'll be using Flash 8

Step 1


Open Adobe Flash then import any image source you like to trace. I'll be using sneakers as sample for this. Once you've imported in the sneakers, go to Modify> Convert to Symbol (F8).

Step 2

Once you've done with that, go to Properties bar. If you can't find the properties, go to Window> Properties> Properties.

Select "Alpha" on the Color drop down menu. By doing this, your tracing will be much easier.

Step 3

Next, make another layer (See above) right on top of the sneakers layer. You can now start tracing using the Pencil or Pen tool.

Step 4

There is few types of Strokes for you guys to choose from. I'll be using 3 types of strokes. The size of the Strokes is flexible, depends on your preference.

Step 5

Use the Text tool to type out the "All Star" text. Once you've done that, you need to "break it" by pressing "Ctrl B". Next, select the Free Transform tool and choose "Distort" to distort the text just like above.

Step 6

After you've completed tracing the whole sneakers, remove the Sneakers photo layer. Go to File>Export> Export Image. Choose "ai" type of file and save it.

Step 7

This will be the coloring stage. Open your Photoshop software and go to File> Open. Locate the "ai" file that you saved just now. A small window will popup. Choose "72" dpi resolution and click "OK"

Step 8

Rename the layers just like above.

Step 9

Start coloring the sneakers using the Brush tool. Make it messy kind of coloring style. Create different layers for different color parts of the sneakers. The top layer will always be the "outline". Choose any shapes of brush if you wanna have funky kind of shapes. It's all up to your creativity!

Note : You can do the coloring using Flash too but if you want different shapes of brushes and filters it's recommended to export the outline and use Photoshop for the coloring stage.

Download Source Files here Photoshop file, Flash File & Sneaker's image source - Get it here!

Now, don't you just love digital painting? :)

Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Photo Touch Ups

Here are some of the simple steps on how to make your photos looks more appealing.






Let's start off the tutorial by touching up clouds photo. I'm sure some of you guys took sky shots but sometimes it's not that bright or blue enough. Let me show you 1 easy step to get better result using Photoshop. Go to Image> Adjustment> Exposure . Simply set the Exposure slider to (+.40) and the Gamma to (1.20). As easy as that!

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If you find out the portrait shots is under exposure (Dark kind of shot) get it fix using Levels. Go to Image>Adjustment> Levels. Change the Input Level to 9, 1.08, 220. Make sure you've ticked the preview so that you can actually see the photo changes according to your preference.



If you find there is wrinkles or black marks on the photo, get rid it by using Spot Healing Brush. Once you've choosen the tool, adjust the brush size and start touching up the photos with it.

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Took nice shot of a field and blue sky but not that contrast enough? Follow these steps and you'll love the result!

Simply create 2 layers above the original shot. On the first layer, use the brush and paint it blue and the other layer with brown. Once you've done that, change the layer's blending mode to "Color Burn". Can see the difference now?

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Open up one of your favourite shot and follow these steps! Make a duplicate layer from the original photo and label it "black and white" and set the blending mode to "Darken". Now go to Image> Adjustment> Desaturate.



Now, you need to merge the layers before we go to the final step. To do this, simply press "Ctrl" and click on both layers. Next, go to Layers> Merge Layers (Ctrl E) and you'll noticed that layers are now merged.



Let's add some lens flare on the glasses! Go to Filter> Render> Lens Flare. Once the window popup, set the Brightness to 100 and choose the "105mm Prime". Position the flare anywhere on the glasses and click ok!

There you have some of the simple steps for easy photo touch ups!

Do you find this post useful? :)

Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Blog Header Design

In this post, you’ll learn on how to design your very own customized header for your blog.



Before we start, let me share with you some of the Do’s and Don’ts in creating blog header.



Don’ts
- Stop creating header with Rectangular box!
- Avoid from using heavy outer glow and drop shadow effects (apply if it’s really necessary)
- Say no to gradient background!



Do’s
- Go wild when you design! Think outside the box.
- Do research, blog hop etc. to find out how you can be different then the rest.
- Come up with your very own identity.

Hope you’ll got what I meant. Ok, let’s start with the tutorial.

Step 1
You need to know your blog header size (width and height) If you're not sure, no worries...Simply go to your blog and press “Print Screen” button on your keyboard.

Step 2
Open up your Photoshop, create a new doc (File> New) and paste the Screenshot of your blog which you’ve just print screened.

Step 3

Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool and select the header portion of your header only. Once you’ve selected the header portion, go to Image>Crop.

Step 4

You will now see the header have been cropped out from your blog image. Now to find out your header size, go to Image>Image Size. A popup window will show the Width and Height of your blog (See above).

Step 5

Now that you know the sizes, let's create a new document. Go to File> New and create a new document (Use back the same width and height info)

Step 6

You can leave the new document at a side for now. Next, open a texture image (see right below this post to find links to different types of textures). In this sample, I’ll use paper texture. Once you’ve opened the image, go to Edit>Define Pattern and give it a name (see above).

Step 7

Now open back your document that you've created for your header and select the first layer (name it as "bg"). Then go to Edit> Fill. A small window will popup (see above). Select "Pattern" under the "Use" drop down and choose the paper texture. You will see the entire header document is now filled with paper texture.

Step 8

Open any image that you'll like to include as your main header image (probably your own photo or any other photos). In this sample, I'll be using a girl's photo that I've downloaded from Stock Exchange site. Cut out the girl from the background using Polygonal tool. You can also use pen tool or any other tools you familiar with.

Step 9

Create a new layer on your header document and set the layer blending modes to "Darken". By doing this, you'll notice that the girl's photo actually blends with the background. I've also erased some parts of the girl's photo to create some softness feel.

Step 10

To make the girl's photo to be more visible, all you have to do is duplicate the layer by dragging the layer to the new layer icon.

Step 11

Let's start coloring the header with some bright colors (any colors will do, according to your preference) and set the layer's blending mode to "Lighten". This is a long process, you can add as many colors as you want on to different layers. Try playing with the different types of the blending modes to see the difference.

Step 12

Import some brushes if you want. Just click on the small arrow (see above) and select "load brushes" (Download Free Photoshop Brushes from the Resources links below)

Step 13

You can see the brush appears on the left bar. Choose the shapes that you prefer and you use it on the header document. Please set the layer blending modes to "Soft Light". Try playing with different brushes or even add in more photos onto your header to create some montage feel.

I wont be going more details on this since it's a repeating process.

Here's the PSD header of this file. Download and check it out yourself.

Hold on a second, we're not actually done yet. You have your header ready to be uploaded,but your blog's background doesn't really blend with your header. You need to get that fixed. How?

Simply copy the css code below and replace with your current body css. Replace the "http://XXXX" path with the paper texture once you've uploaded the graphic anywhere on the internet. Remember to backup your codes first ya!


body {
background-color: #FFFFFF;
background-image: url("http://XXXXX");
background-repeat: y;
background-position: top center;
}

Last but not least, when you done with all that, your blog should look something like this :



Resources
Photoshop Brushes (Free)
http://www.brushking.eu/148/floral-brushes.html
http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/psbrushes/

Stockphotos (Free)
http://www.sxc.hu/

Textures (Free)
http://www.spiralgraphics.biz/packs/index.htm
http://www.form8.org/download/textures.html

Walla! We're done! Do leave any questions or comments if you have any!

Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Photo Manipulation

First of all, welcome to my newly launched Adobe Tutorials Blog. I hope you’ll have fun learning some of the amazing softwares from Adobe!

Now, let me start the “Photo Manipulation” tutorial by showing you guys step by step on how to get this done.






Step 1

Import all the images into Photoshop (any versions will do but I recommend CS versions) First, let’s edit the background image that you want to use for this image manipulation. In this tutorial, I use “Image 1” as the main background.
Next, go to Image> Adjustments> Levels

Here, use the “Eyedropper” to pick colors around the image and get the color tone (the vintage feel) you want on the image. Do also make sure you choose the “Set Gray Point” eyedropper tool before you the pick the colors.

Step 2

Once you’ve done with, cut out the girl’s photo (Image 2) by using “Polygonal Lasso” tool. Do practice a lot using this tool as you’ll need to use it most of the time.

Step 3

Copy the girl’s photo onto the Image 1’s document just like the image above.

Step 4

You might need to adjust the color tone of the girl to match the background image. To do this, go to Image>Adjustments > Color Balance. Play around with the color by moving the color slider (Cyan, Magenta and Yellow). Make sure you’ve ticked the “Preserve Luminosity” and choose the “Highlights” tone balance.

Step 5

We are now done with the 2 images. Let’s add Image 3 onto the Image 1 document. I need to use this image because of the clouds (Image 1’s clouds is not that much compared to this image). Positioned the photo on slightly to the top, so that the clouds position is the same as Image 1. Right after that, erase the bottom part of the clouds by using the “Eraser tool” because we don’t need the grass anymore. You can choose different size of the eraser by selecting it from the top menu (the part you see Brush, Mode, Opacity and Flow) . Once you’ve done erasing the grass, go to Image> Adjustments> Levels to adjust the clouds to look vintage as well so that it blends with the rest of the images.

Step 6

Now, your document will look something like this (See above). Do label the layers for your future reference.

Step 7

Copy the last Image onto the document and resize it using the Edit> Transform> Scale tool (Ctrl T). After that, use the Polygonal Lasso tool to cut the background of the image.

Step 8

Once you’ve done cutting out the background, use the “Eraser” tool to make the image blend with the grass at the background. How to do this? You need to adjust the eraser’s shape first. Click on top left’s brush menu and select the “Rough Round Bristle” (the name appears when once you rollover on any of the brushes)

Step 9

Slowly erase the Image and you can see as if the Buddha image is positioned on top of the grass.

Step 10

We’ve almost there. Create a new layer by pressing the “New layer document” icon so that we can make the final work which is the “Sun ray”.

Step 11

Use the “Polygonal Lasso” tool to create the “Sun Ray” shape. Then, filled it with white color using the “Paint Bucket” tool.

Step 12

Select the layer and adjust the “Fill” to 18% so that the Sun Ray looks transparent.

Step 13

Go to Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur. Set the bar to point to 3.6 pixels blur and click “OK”

Step 14

Erase the bottom and top part of the Sun Ray, so that it looks blend with the Buddha statue.

We’re now done! Here’s the outcome of the photo manipulation process!



PS: FYI, I've edited the final result using Image>Adjustments > Color Balance.

Do leave your comments and critiques on what do you think of this tutorial, so that I can improve in preparing the future upcoming tutorials. Thank you.