Icon Tutorial

[jadesunsets]

INTO

I use PSP 9, but I believe it will work in other versions.


1. Here is the image we're going to work with. Many thanks to Magical Screencaps for the screencap! Resize and crop to get the base.


2. Duplicate the background layer three times. Set the properties to the following.

TOP LAYER
Blend mode: Soft Light
Opacity: 100

MIDDLE LAYER
Blend mode: Soft Light
Opacity: 100

BOTTOM LAYER
Blend mode: Screen
Opacity: 100

The screen layer makes the image lighter, and the two soft light layers add contrast.


3. Below the top most layer, create two new raster layers. Here are the settings.

TOP LAYER
FLOOD FILL the layer with the color
(#efd079)
Blend mode: Multiply
Opacity: 65

BOTTOM LAYER
FLOOD FILL the layer with the color
(#13063e)
Blend mode: Exclusion
Opacity: 100


4. Duplicate the base another two times. Here are the layer settings.

UPPER LAYER
Blend mode: Multiply
Opacity: 15

LOWER LAYER
Blend mode: Screen
Opacity: 100


5. Duplicate the base once more. Drag this layer directly under the two raster layers.

DUPLICATE LAYER
Blend mode: Soft Light
Opacity: 15


6. Right under the layer you were just working on, create a new raster layer.

RASTER LAYER
FLOOD FILL the layer with the color
(#efd079)
Blend mode: Color (Legacy)
Opacity: 74


7. Create yet another raster layer. This one should go directly beneath the very top layer.

RASTER LAYER
FLOOD FILL the layer with the color
(#3a4f93)
Blend mode: Saturation (Legacy)
Opacity: 40


8. Either copy the merged image (CTRL + SHIFT + C) and paste it as a new image (CTRL + V) OR merge the layers of the image (LAYERS >> MERGE >> MERGE ALL (FLATTEN)).

9. Take the soften brush
and clean up any pixely areas. The places you want to be sure to get are the large spaces of just one color. EX: the trunk, Dumbo's ear, etc etc.


10. Duplicate the background layer. Set the OPACITY of the duplicate layer to 90. Select the original layer and then sharpen it (ADJUST >> SHARPNESS >> SHARPEN). Make sure that you sharpen the original layer and not the duplicate.


11. Select the duplicate layer. Use the magic wand tool to select the blue part of Dumbo's eyes. Try not to select too many other pixels. Now feather the selection (CTRL + H). Input 2 for the number of pixels. Promote the selection into a layer (CTRL + SHIFT + B). Then, select none (CTRL + D). Set the layer to the following settings.

PROMOTED SELECTION LAYER
Blend mode: Hard Light
Opacity: 55

This step helps the eyes stand out more. You can mess around the opacity/blend mode/other to enhance the eyes as much or as little as you want.


12.You're basically done now. I added a brush (on a new raster layer set to Hard Light at 55%) that was the same tan color that we used earlier. I can't remember where I got this brush from, or I would link to it, but if anybody knows, please let me know! Here is our final product.