Tutorial #2
I don't know if anyone reads these, but I enjoy writing them!
From
to
1.
Start out with your base layer.
2.
Duplicate the base layer three times. Sharpen the second layer, set the third to Screen at 100%, and set the top layer to Soft Light at 100%. I like to leave the original layer alone, so that I can duplicate it and use it again if I want to. This is my standard start to an icon; from here I determine what I want to do with it.
3.
Create a new layer on top of everything and fill it with black. Set it to Color at 100%. (I realize there are many ways to desaturate an image; this is how I usually end up doing it.)
4.
Create a Curves layer on top of everything by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Curves..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Curves). Add two points:
Input: 52 Output: 7
Input: 212 Output: 217
This makes darks darker and lights lighter, so the texture will show up nicely but not overwhelm the icon. With this technique, it's better to have a fairly small amount of solid black and the rest lighter.
5.
Create a new layer with this texture by cdg:
. Set the layer to Lighten at 100%.
All done! Feel free to comment with icons made based on this - I'd love to see what you come up with. You're welcome to use the icon and base image to practice, but please don't post them as if they were your own.
Please comment if you have questions, problems, ideas, requests for other tutorials, or anything else!
From
to
1.
Start out with your base layer.
2.
Duplicate the base layer three times. Sharpen the second layer, set the third to Screen at 100%, and set the top layer to Soft Light at 100%. I like to leave the original layer alone, so that I can duplicate it and use it again if I want to. This is my standard start to an icon; from here I determine what I want to do with it.
3.
Create a new layer on top of everything and fill it with black. Set it to Color at 100%. (I realize there are many ways to desaturate an image; this is how I usually end up doing it.)
4.
Create a Curves layer on top of everything by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Curves..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Curves). Add two points:
Input: 52 Output: 7
Input: 212 Output: 217
This makes darks darker and lights lighter, so the texture will show up nicely but not overwhelm the icon. With this technique, it's better to have a fairly small amount of solid black and the rest lighter.
5.
Create a new layer with this texture by cdg:
. Set the layer to Lighten at 100%.
All done! Feel free to comment with icons made based on this - I'd love to see what you come up with. You're welcome to use the icon and base image to practice, but please don't post them as if they were your own.
Please comment if you have questions, problems, ideas, requests for other tutorials, or anything else!