Tutorial 001
Okay, this tutorial has a lot of steps, because when I started this icon I didn't quite know where I was going :P I've kept things from all the steps in the end icon, but I'm sure it's an easier way to do this, if you actually have a plan when you start :P
Today we'll be going from
to
Program: Photoshop CS5
Tools: Curves, Levels, Selective Colors
This is my first tutorial, and please keep in mind that my first language isn't English, so there might be mistakes :) This is also pretty long winded, so feel free to not read all my ramblings. I like to say why I do the things I do, not just show you how it's done :P
I did this icon for a challenge at trope_overdosed, where the requirements was The subject must be centered and preferably facing ahead. It must also have softness to it. So I knew the general idea of what I wanted, but not the details.
I wont be talking about cropping in this one, because I was pretty sure I wanted to change the background, so I gave it a simple centered crop. The only thing that's important to remember when making icons with a new background is to include the whole character in your crop. You can always add more background or cut parts of the character out later, but it's more difficult to add the character back :)
The first thing I did after cropping (and re-seizing) was lighting the base.
I duplicated the base four times. I set the first to soft light, the next two to screen and the last to soft light again. This is a nice way to improve your base, it gives light and contrast. It depends on the screencap how many layers I use and what opacity I set them to. On this I ended on 100% on the bottom three and 49% on the top soft light layer.
>>
Then I added a Levels layer for even more light. I set it to dark 9 and light 1.26
>>
I added a curves layer, just to enchant the color and contrast. I often do this type of curves layer in the beginning, just to give me an idea of the colors naturally in the icon :) I love curves, they are by far my favorite tool. But I promise to talk about that in the Q and A post later this week ;)
Individual channels:
>>
After that I made a new layer, set it to soft light and painted over some areas (mostly her coat) with a light blue color with a soft brush. I moved it under the curves and the levels layer.
>>
I added this texture to bring out some warmer tones:
by azuremonkey
I set it to soft light and erased some of the parts over the blue coat.
>>
It was at this point I decided I wanted to remove the background. The current background is too cluttered for my taste, and I wanted to clean it up. There are several ways to remove a background and depending on the cap I use a lot of different techniques.
In this one I made a new layer and painted around the character with the blue I wanted (#9fc9f0) with a soft brush. I like this way of doing it, but it requires some practice and that you are careful with the details. I usually start around the edges and do the difficult parts first (like hair) and then fill out the rest. Use a combination of soft and hard brushes, and vary the seize of the brush depending on what you take out. It's just practice and it can be time consuming on some objects, but I like the look of it ^^
My finished first layer with a white background:
I then added two soft light layers to create some texture in the background and to blend the character with the background. That way the character fits in more with the background, and the edges of your last layer isn't that visible.
The first one for more light:
>>
And one for shadows (first in normal settings, and then finished with the soft light)
>>
>>
You can also play with the opacity in those soft light layers until it fits.
Look, we're beginning to see the finished product now ^^ Lets keep going!
I added another curves layer on channel blue to bring out the yellow and blue, since those are the colors this icon focus on.
>>
I added a hue/saturation layer with saturation +30
>>
I added another curves layer (yes I do a lot of those, shush :P)
>>
I was still not happy with the color and contrast, so I added another curves layer, and set the opacity on this to 53%
>>
OKAY final steps :)
I copy merged the whole thing (select all, edit > copy merged) and pasted it on two times. I set the top layer to invisible (we'll come back to this later), and put an unsharpen mask on the bottom on. I can't remember the exact settings I ended on, but I just played around with the settings until it looked right. I also erased some parts that didn't quite work out (the edges of her coat got to sharp etc).
>>
Now, remember the layer we turned invisible earlier? I set it to soft light, lowered the opacity to 47% and used a gaussian blur filter on 8,7. I almost always finish my icons with a soft light, blurred layer like this. It brings out the colors, and gives most icons a nice soft glow.
>>
Last step: A new Selective Color layer with these settings:
Cyan: -2
Magenta: +17
Yellow: +13
>>
And that's it. That was short and sweet right? XD I hope it proved helpful. As I've said earlier, use this only as a base, don't be afraid to play around with the settings and experiment! Any questions, just ask me :) The Q and A post is still open for more general questions
Today we'll be going from
to
Program: Photoshop CS5
Tools: Curves, Levels, Selective Colors
This is my first tutorial, and please keep in mind that my first language isn't English, so there might be mistakes :) This is also pretty long winded, so feel free to not read all my ramblings. I like to say why I do the things I do, not just show you how it's done :P
I did this icon for a challenge at trope_overdosed, where the requirements was The subject must be centered and preferably facing ahead. It must also have softness to it. So I knew the general idea of what I wanted, but not the details.
I wont be talking about cropping in this one, because I was pretty sure I wanted to change the background, so I gave it a simple centered crop. The only thing that's important to remember when making icons with a new background is to include the whole character in your crop. You can always add more background or cut parts of the character out later, but it's more difficult to add the character back :)
The first thing I did after cropping (and re-seizing) was lighting the base.
I duplicated the base four times. I set the first to soft light, the next two to screen and the last to soft light again. This is a nice way to improve your base, it gives light and contrast. It depends on the screencap how many layers I use and what opacity I set them to. On this I ended on 100% on the bottom three and 49% on the top soft light layer.
>>
Then I added a Levels layer for even more light. I set it to dark 9 and light 1.26
>>
I added a curves layer, just to enchant the color and contrast. I often do this type of curves layer in the beginning, just to give me an idea of the colors naturally in the icon :) I love curves, they are by far my favorite tool. But I promise to talk about that in the Q and A post later this week ;)
Individual channels:
>>
After that I made a new layer, set it to soft light and painted over some areas (mostly her coat) with a light blue color with a soft brush. I moved it under the curves and the levels layer.
>>
I added this texture to bring out some warmer tones:
by azuremonkey
I set it to soft light and erased some of the parts over the blue coat.
>>
It was at this point I decided I wanted to remove the background. The current background is too cluttered for my taste, and I wanted to clean it up. There are several ways to remove a background and depending on the cap I use a lot of different techniques.
In this one I made a new layer and painted around the character with the blue I wanted (#9fc9f0) with a soft brush. I like this way of doing it, but it requires some practice and that you are careful with the details. I usually start around the edges and do the difficult parts first (like hair) and then fill out the rest. Use a combination of soft and hard brushes, and vary the seize of the brush depending on what you take out. It's just practice and it can be time consuming on some objects, but I like the look of it ^^
My finished first layer with a white background:
I then added two soft light layers to create some texture in the background and to blend the character with the background. That way the character fits in more with the background, and the edges of your last layer isn't that visible.
The first one for more light:
>>
And one for shadows (first in normal settings, and then finished with the soft light)
>>
>>
You can also play with the opacity in those soft light layers until it fits.
Look, we're beginning to see the finished product now ^^ Lets keep going!
I added another curves layer on channel blue to bring out the yellow and blue, since those are the colors this icon focus on.
>>
I added a hue/saturation layer with saturation +30
>>
I added another curves layer (yes I do a lot of those, shush :P)
>>
I was still not happy with the color and contrast, so I added another curves layer, and set the opacity on this to 53%
>>
OKAY final steps :)
I copy merged the whole thing (select all, edit > copy merged) and pasted it on two times. I set the top layer to invisible (we'll come back to this later), and put an unsharpen mask on the bottom on. I can't remember the exact settings I ended on, but I just played around with the settings until it looked right. I also erased some parts that didn't quite work out (the edges of her coat got to sharp etc).
>>
Now, remember the layer we turned invisible earlier? I set it to soft light, lowered the opacity to 47% and used a gaussian blur filter on 8,7. I almost always finish my icons with a soft light, blurred layer like this. It brings out the colors, and gives most icons a nice soft glow.
>>
Last step: A new Selective Color layer with these settings:
Cyan: -2
Magenta: +17
Yellow: +13
>>
And that's it. That was short and sweet right? XD I hope it proved helpful. As I've said earlier, use this only as a base, don't be afraid to play around with the settings and experiment! Any questions, just ask me :) The Q and A post is still open for more general questions