Icon Tutorial: Adjustment layers and blending
to
OK, it's been a while since I did one of these, and I'm bored, so I'm gonna show you lot a technique I use a lot when making icons. It generally yields the kind of bright, vibrant coloring that's so popular now, while (hopefully) avoiding the whole fluorescent-crayola-box-just-threw-up-on-this-icon/selective-coloring-gone-tragically-wrong phenomenon that occasionally attacks even the most well-intentioned icon tutorials.
This tutorial uses Photoshop CS2 and includes gradients and adjustment layers, as well as selective coloring. However, the selective coloring is mostly to tweak, so PSP users can probably figure out a similar effect.
Not for n00bs. I'm not going to explain every little thing so you should know your program pretty well.
This is less of a "create this exact icon in X easy steps!" tutorial and more of a guide, so don't follow it to the letter except perhaps the first time, while you get the hang of it. There will be subtle changes you'll have to make depending on the icon, which I will explain more later.
Now, enough tl;dr already. Here we go!
1. First we start off with this base, featuring the lovely Ayumi Hamasaki:
2. Time to brighten things up a bit. We're going to create a hue/saturation adjustment layer (layer >> new adjustment layer >> hue/saturation). Move the "saturation" slider to about 30-40, depending on how saturated your original image is. It's going to look kind of manky, but don't worry about that for now.
The next step is optional. I use it about 90% of the time, though, unless the original pic is really bright. Go back to your background image and duplicate it (ctrl+J) and drag the duplicate up so it's your top layer (or press shift+ctrl+]). Set the blend mode to "screen" and adjust the opacity to suit your base. You want it bright but not so bright it looks like a flashbulb exploded in your subject's face. In this example, I used 47%.
3. Next I'm going to add a new gradient adjustment layer (layer >> new adjustment layer >> gradient... hopefully you're getting the idea by now). I used the following gradient, made by me:
I use this gradient often b/c it gives a nice, warm glowy look when blended on "soft light" (change the blend mode at this time). I changed the angle to 135°, although yours will be different depending on your base. Experiment with the angle and opacity till you get an effect you like. This is what I like so much about adjustment layers... you can go back anytime you want and tweak. My final settings were soft light, 100%:
4. Using the same method as above, I added another gradient adjustment layer, using the following gradient, made by someone on my resource post but I forgot who:
This was blended on soft light at 100%.
Obviously, these particular gradients will not have the same effect on every base. As a general rule, lighter gradients will brighten and intensify color while darker gradients will deepen tones and intensify shadows. Think about what effect you're trying to go for and choose a gradient accordingly. This example has a lot of warm tones at the moment, so I chose a cool-toned gradient to balance things out. Conversely, if a base is looking to cool-toned, I warm things up with a peachy or brownish gradient. Use your judgment and remember, experimentation is the key!
Progress report:
5. The icon's looking a bit washed out now, so we're going to darken things up. One of my favorite methods is the old standby, a light blue fill layer on color burn. You know the drill by now (I hope)-create a new adjustment layer in solid color, using a light blue shade, and set on color burn. Your opacity (or even the particular shade of blue) will vary depending on your base. Mess around with it till you find an effect you like. I used #bed2ea at 70%.
6. It's looking a little too bluish now, so I add another color burn layer in a pale yellow shade. (I used #fff4db at 67% opacity).
7. I'm pretty satisfied with the coloring, but it could use a bit more oomph. I created a selective coloring adjustment layer to punch up the tones a bit. Here are the settings I used (I'm only listing what I changed from the defaults):
Reds:
C: -100
Y: +100
Yellows:
C: -100
Y: -100
Neutrals:
C: -24
M: -15
Y: -24
B: +32
These settings aren't graven in stone. While I usually stick to the same basic formula, I tweak a lot, depending on the base. Anyway, here's our progress so far:
8. It's still a little too yellowish for my tastes so I add another selective coloring adjustment layer. This time, I only tweak a little, just to tone down the yellow somewhat. Here are my settings:
Reds:
C: +25
Y: -15
M: -10
B: +17
Yellows:
Y: -52
B: +36
Neutrals:
C: -10
B: +10
9. The following step is optional, but my monitor tends to be really bright, so sometimes I have to tone it down just a bit. I added a hue/saturation adjustment layer and pulled the saturation down to -10.
I didn't need to do this in this particular example, but if your icon turns out too light, you might want to add a brightness/contrast adjustment layer to up the contrast. But don't go overboard-just a couple small tweaks should be enough.
And you're done! Pat yourself on the back and have a cookie. Hopefully you learned some useful techniques. Here are some other icons I made using variations of this method:
Good luck!
For more tutorials, check out my Big Damn Tutorial page. /shameless plug