3 Tutorials
If possible, and I hate to ask, but could all comments be directed to my icon community soul_flowers? I like all the comments to be in one place. Call me anal, I guess. ;) Thanks.
From THIS to
and THIS to
Tutorials for: Photoshop CS2
Made in: Photoshop CS2
Level of Difficulty: Easy.
Image Heavy? Sort of. But dial-up friendly I'd say.
Translatable? Yes. No selective coloring in this tut.
PSD?No.
Requested by: eryslash
These tutorials are going to be pretty basic, I won't be going into much detail on any of the steps as they both involve some of the same steps and coloring -- you should read closely on both though, as some steps ARE different. Hope I don't confuse anyone, LOL.
YOUR IMAGE/CROPPING:
a) I chose this screencap of Dean from the Supernatural episode 1x10 Asylum specifically with a crop in mind.
b) I pasted the screencap (without resizing) into a 200x200 square and using my free transform tool, scaled the cap down and moved it around the square until I got the crop I liked.
c) Resized to 100x100.
The icon so far:
BASE PREP:
a) Image --> Adjustments --> Auto Contrast.
b) Edit --> Fade Auto Contrast. Dragged the slider to 35% because it was too bright.
c) Image --> Adjustments --> Curves / RGB Channel
POINT ONE:
I: 240
O: 255
POINT TWO:
I: 15
O: 0
d) Image --> Adjustments --> Hue/Saturation
HUE: 0
SATURATION: +15
LIGHTNESS: 0
COLORING:
a) Layer --> Duplicate Layer, set the duplicate to Screen at 60%.
b) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Color Balance
MIDTONES: +25, +15, +25
SHADOWS: +25, +5, -35
HIGHLIGHTS: 0, 0, +25
c) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Levels
RGB
+5, 1.00, 255
BLUE
+15, 1.00, 255
d) Went back down to my base, duplicated it and dragged it to the top and set it to Screen at 37%.
e) Duplicated my base again, dragged to the top and set it to Soft Light at 20%.
f) Went back down to the screen layer above my base, selected it, and then added a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
HUE: 0
SATURATION: +25
LIGHTNESS: 0
The icon so far:
ADDITIONAL EFFECTS:
These final steps I've been adding to most of my icons lately:
a) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Gradient Fill (make sure the foreground color on your color palette is set to white)
GRADIENT: Foreground to Transparent
STYLE: Radial
ANGLE: 140.00
SCALE: 100%
b) I moved the gradient towards the left a little so it wasn't obliterating Dean's face and then clicked ok.
c) Lowered the opacity of my layer like so:
OPACITY: 35%
FILL: 75%
d) Select All --> Edit --> Copy-Merged --> Edit --> Paste, set the blend mode to Soft Light at 100%.
e) Flattened my layers and saved. That's it! :)
Final Result:
Compared to the Original:
YOUR IMAGE/CROPPING:
a) I chose this screencap of Buffy and Tara from the episode The Body.
b) I pasted the screencap (without resizing) into a 200x200 square and using my free transform tool, scaled the cap down and moved it around the square until I got the crop I liked. I think I rotated it a little as well to get the crop exactly the way I wanted.
c) Resized to 100x100.
The icon so far:
BASE PREP:
a) Image --> Adjustments --> Auto Contrast.
b) Edit --> Fade Auto Contrast. Dragged the slider to 50% because it was too bright.
c) Image --> Adjustments --> Curves / RGB Channel
POINT ONE:
I: 240
O: 255
POINT TWO:
I: 15
O: 0
d) Image --> Adjustments --> Hue/Saturation
HUE: 0
SATURATION: -15
LIGHTNESS: 0
I lowered the saturation this time because BTVS caps are so orange (especially in the later seasons) that any additional color at this point would make the icon radioactive.
COLORING:
a) I decided to go with a Curves layer on this icon instead of a Screen layer -- I just find they yield a better result on BTVS caps.
Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Curves / RGB Channel
POINT ONE:
I: 88
O: 147
b) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Color Balance
MIDTONES: +25, +15, +25
SHADOWS: +25, +5, -35
HIGHLIGHTS: 0, 0, +25
c) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Levels
RGB
+5, 1.00, 255
BLUE
+15, 1.00, 255
d) Went back down to my base, duplicated it and dragged it to the top and set it to Screen at 37%.
e) Duplicated my base again, dragged to the top and set it to Soft Light at 20%.
f) Went back down to the curves layer above my base, selected it, and then added a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
HUE: 0
SATURATION: +8
LIGHTNESS: 0
I didn't go so high on the saturation this time because again, too orange-y looking for my taste.
The icon so far:
ADDITIONAL EFFECTS:
a) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Gradient Fill (make sure the foreground color on your color palette is set to white)
GRADIENT: Foreground to Transparent
STYLE: Radial
ANGLE: 137.04
SCALE: 100%
c) Lowered the opacity of my layer like so:
OPACITY: 35%
FILL: 100%
d) Flattened my layers and saved. That's it! :)
Final Result:
Compared to the Original:
I know the original looks a little darker -- but honestly, I can't remember exactly how I achieved that, LOL. I like the lighter version better anyway, now that I look at it. ;)
From THIS to
Tutorial for: Photoshop CS2
Made in: Photoshop CS2
Level of Difficulty: Advanced. I don't explain every detail in depth here.
Image Heavy? Not so much.
Translatable? To an extent, if you leave out the selective coloring.
PSD?Yes.
Requested by: i_gota_rock
I don't remember exactly how I made this icon, so this is going to be really basic. Apologies in advance.
BASE PREP:
a) Resized my cap down to 500x500.
b) Used my color picker tool to pick a color from the background, which in this case was a greenish color.
c) Made a new layer, and with a largish round soft paintbrush (around 65 px) I brushed in the color to 'erase' the picture frame in the background and whatnot. This won't look perfect of course.
d) Whatever looked fuzzy from the paintbrush I just erased and then I flattened my layers.
e) I then went to Image --> Canvas Size. At the bottom where it says Canvas Extension Color, I clicked the little square to bring up a color palette, where I then typed in (you can paste it in too) the hex code for the same greenish color I used to paint the background with earlier. I hit ok and then went to the dropdown boxes above, selected the first box and changed inches to pixels. I then changed the height to 500 and hit ok. This extends your background in a pinch with color to match!
f) But I wanted to move Amber further down so there was some space above her head. So, I duplicated my background layer, selected the layer below it (would be named background, not background copy) and deleted it. Voila! You instantly have a transparent background again. This enables you to move the layer.
g) I wanted to fill in the space above Amber's head so I filled a new layer with the greenish color I used earlier and moved it below the Amber layer. That essentially, is your new background layer.
h) Your layers at this point should be ordered like so:
BACKGROUND COPY
LAYER 1 (this being your greenish color layer)
i) I flattened my layers and sharpened the new base.
j) Resized to 250x250 and then resized again to 100x100.
Result:
COLORING:
a) For the coloring on this icon, I used a tutorial by drawmymind. The coloring is really good for making brightly colored icons, I've found. I won't go into the steps for the coloring because I don't remember exactly what I did with it. I know that I probably tweaked some things here and there, like I usually do. Here's the icon so far:
EFFECTS:
a) Next, I added some light to the icon by smearing the color white on a new layer and adding a Gaussian blur at 20.0 pixels. I set the blob of light layer to Screen at 100%.
b) Lastly, I pasted this texture by babliz on top of everything and set it to Multiply 100%.
And here's our final result:
Compared to the original:
It's sort of close, but not really. I don't know. I guess I'll leave that up to you to decide. I hope nothing's too confusing here. You can download the .PSD and try it out for yourself! :)
From THIS to
and THIS to
Tutorials for: Photoshop CS2
Made in: Photoshop CS2
Level of Difficulty: Easy.
Image Heavy? Sort of. But dial-up friendly I'd say.
Translatable? Yes. No selective coloring in this tut.
PSD?No.
Requested by: eryslash
These tutorials are going to be pretty basic, I won't be going into much detail on any of the steps as they both involve some of the same steps and coloring -- you should read closely on both though, as some steps ARE different. Hope I don't confuse anyone, LOL.
YOUR IMAGE/CROPPING:
a) I chose this screencap of Dean from the Supernatural episode 1x10 Asylum specifically with a crop in mind.
b) I pasted the screencap (without resizing) into a 200x200 square and using my free transform tool, scaled the cap down and moved it around the square until I got the crop I liked.
c) Resized to 100x100.
The icon so far:
BASE PREP:
a) Image --> Adjustments --> Auto Contrast.
b) Edit --> Fade Auto Contrast. Dragged the slider to 35% because it was too bright.
c) Image --> Adjustments --> Curves / RGB Channel
POINT ONE:
I: 240
O: 255
POINT TWO:
I: 15
O: 0
d) Image --> Adjustments --> Hue/Saturation
HUE: 0
SATURATION: +15
LIGHTNESS: 0
COLORING:
a) Layer --> Duplicate Layer, set the duplicate to Screen at 60%.
b) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Color Balance
MIDTONES: +25, +15, +25
SHADOWS: +25, +5, -35
HIGHLIGHTS: 0, 0, +25
c) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Levels
RGB
+5, 1.00, 255
BLUE
+15, 1.00, 255
d) Went back down to my base, duplicated it and dragged it to the top and set it to Screen at 37%.
e) Duplicated my base again, dragged to the top and set it to Soft Light at 20%.
f) Went back down to the screen layer above my base, selected it, and then added a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
HUE: 0
SATURATION: +25
LIGHTNESS: 0
The icon so far:
ADDITIONAL EFFECTS:
These final steps I've been adding to most of my icons lately:
a) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Gradient Fill (make sure the foreground color on your color palette is set to white)
GRADIENT: Foreground to Transparent
STYLE: Radial
ANGLE: 140.00
SCALE: 100%
b) I moved the gradient towards the left a little so it wasn't obliterating Dean's face and then clicked ok.
c) Lowered the opacity of my layer like so:
OPACITY: 35%
FILL: 75%
d) Select All --> Edit --> Copy-Merged --> Edit --> Paste, set the blend mode to Soft Light at 100%.
e) Flattened my layers and saved. That's it! :)
Final Result:
Compared to the Original:
YOUR IMAGE/CROPPING:
a) I chose this screencap of Buffy and Tara from the episode The Body.
b) I pasted the screencap (without resizing) into a 200x200 square and using my free transform tool, scaled the cap down and moved it around the square until I got the crop I liked. I think I rotated it a little as well to get the crop exactly the way I wanted.
c) Resized to 100x100.
The icon so far:
BASE PREP:
a) Image --> Adjustments --> Auto Contrast.
b) Edit --> Fade Auto Contrast. Dragged the slider to 50% because it was too bright.
c) Image --> Adjustments --> Curves / RGB Channel
POINT ONE:
I: 240
O: 255
POINT TWO:
I: 15
O: 0
d) Image --> Adjustments --> Hue/Saturation
HUE: 0
SATURATION: -15
LIGHTNESS: 0
I lowered the saturation this time because BTVS caps are so orange (especially in the later seasons) that any additional color at this point would make the icon radioactive.
COLORING:
a) I decided to go with a Curves layer on this icon instead of a Screen layer -- I just find they yield a better result on BTVS caps.
Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Curves / RGB Channel
POINT ONE:
I: 88
O: 147
b) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Color Balance
MIDTONES: +25, +15, +25
SHADOWS: +25, +5, -35
HIGHLIGHTS: 0, 0, +25
c) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Levels
RGB
+5, 1.00, 255
BLUE
+15, 1.00, 255
d) Went back down to my base, duplicated it and dragged it to the top and set it to Screen at 37%.
e) Duplicated my base again, dragged to the top and set it to Soft Light at 20%.
f) Went back down to the curves layer above my base, selected it, and then added a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
HUE: 0
SATURATION: +8
LIGHTNESS: 0
I didn't go so high on the saturation this time because again, too orange-y looking for my taste.
The icon so far:
ADDITIONAL EFFECTS:
a) Layer --> New Adjustment Layer --> Gradient Fill (make sure the foreground color on your color palette is set to white)
GRADIENT: Foreground to Transparent
STYLE: Radial
ANGLE: 137.04
SCALE: 100%
c) Lowered the opacity of my layer like so:
OPACITY: 35%
FILL: 100%
d) Flattened my layers and saved. That's it! :)
Final Result:
Compared to the Original:
I know the original looks a little darker -- but honestly, I can't remember exactly how I achieved that, LOL. I like the lighter version better anyway, now that I look at it. ;)
From THIS to
Tutorial for: Photoshop CS2
Made in: Photoshop CS2
Level of Difficulty: Advanced. I don't explain every detail in depth here.
Image Heavy? Not so much.
Translatable? To an extent, if you leave out the selective coloring.
PSD?Yes.
Requested by: i_gota_rock
I don't remember exactly how I made this icon, so this is going to be really basic. Apologies in advance.
BASE PREP:
a) Resized my cap down to 500x500.
b) Used my color picker tool to pick a color from the background, which in this case was a greenish color.
c) Made a new layer, and with a largish round soft paintbrush (around 65 px) I brushed in the color to 'erase' the picture frame in the background and whatnot. This won't look perfect of course.
d) Whatever looked fuzzy from the paintbrush I just erased and then I flattened my layers.
e) I then went to Image --> Canvas Size. At the bottom where it says Canvas Extension Color, I clicked the little square to bring up a color palette, where I then typed in (you can paste it in too) the hex code for the same greenish color I used to paint the background with earlier. I hit ok and then went to the dropdown boxes above, selected the first box and changed inches to pixels. I then changed the height to 500 and hit ok. This extends your background in a pinch with color to match!
f) But I wanted to move Amber further down so there was some space above her head. So, I duplicated my background layer, selected the layer below it (would be named background, not background copy) and deleted it. Voila! You instantly have a transparent background again. This enables you to move the layer.
g) I wanted to fill in the space above Amber's head so I filled a new layer with the greenish color I used earlier and moved it below the Amber layer. That essentially, is your new background layer.
h) Your layers at this point should be ordered like so:
BACKGROUND COPY
LAYER 1 (this being your greenish color layer)
i) I flattened my layers and sharpened the new base.
j) Resized to 250x250 and then resized again to 100x100.
Result:
COLORING:
a) For the coloring on this icon, I used a tutorial by drawmymind. The coloring is really good for making brightly colored icons, I've found. I won't go into the steps for the coloring because I don't remember exactly what I did with it. I know that I probably tweaked some things here and there, like I usually do. Here's the icon so far:
EFFECTS:
a) Next, I added some light to the icon by smearing the color white on a new layer and adding a Gaussian blur at 20.0 pixels. I set the blob of light layer to Screen at 100%.
b) Lastly, I pasted this texture by babliz on top of everything and set it to Multiply 100%.
And here's our final result:
Compared to the original:
It's sort of close, but not really. I don't know. I guess I'll leave that up to you to decide. I hope nothing's too confusing here. You can download the .PSD and try it out for yourself! :)