Intro To Photoshop

[Torrent of Flame]

Hello. This is my 'Introduction To Photoshop' Tutorial, based on Photoshop CS3, that will teach you;


Brushes - How To get them, Install them and Utilise them.
Renders - How To get them, edit them, and blend them
Focus - How to create a focus point
Smudge - How To Do it
Photoshop Tools - What are all the Tools in the Palette?



The Photoshop Tools


http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/TheToolcopy.png

We will be making a signature throughout this tutorial, so the other things that you will learn will not have a header like as above.

Right. First off we need to make a Canvas. My canvas size is normally 350x150, but anything from 300x100 to 500x200 is probably acceptable.

So make your canvas and put in a basic background. The background I use is normally a stock (A background or something of the sort) or I just use Filter -> Render -> Clouds.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/Step-1.png



To get brushes, you will want to go to a website like http://www.deviantart.com and searching through their brushes. When you click 'Download' on a brush, 'Save' it, dont open it, and put it in a memorable folder. To install brushes, click on your brush tool, and do this;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/LoadBrusher.png

To open up the little side menu, click on the small arrow. When you have the window pop up, navigate to where you have saved your brushes, and double click on them. They will append themselves at the bottom of your brush list.[/CODE]

Now we need to start to brush over this layer of clouds, by first creating a new layer;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/NewLayer.png

After which, take out your brushes that you want to use, and brush a few on your new layer;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/BrushBlack.png

Then make another layer, change the colour to white from black, switch brush, and brush on a few more;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/BrushWhite.png

After brushing a few layers of that set, change to a different set of brushes, maybe something abstract, etc, depending on your signature's style;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/AllBrushedTillCntrast.png

After brushing about a bit with 2 or 3 packs, make your signatures black and white effects stand out more by using a Brightness/Contrast Layer.


Brightness/Contrast Layers can be found by Going to Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Brightness/Contrast

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/Brightness.png

Modify the two sliders until you get something which you think looks nice;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/aftercontrast.png

Now, we need to colourize the background. You can do this in many ways, like using hue/saturation, colour balance layers, etc. but to get colours that match your render, you want to follow this way.


Renders are cutouts of pictures, commonly saved as a .png so they are easy to work with. Go to www.planetrenders.net to find renders.

To get a render onto your cavnas, open the render, and drag it onto your signature's canvas.

Trust me, it pays off to find a great render, so dont just go there and look for something quick to find, look for a great quality render that you know will look good!

I used this render; http://planetrenders.net/renders/displayimage.php?pos=-34205

Drag the render onto your signature's cavnas, and place it about half way across your signature;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/rendercopy1.png

Duplicate the render layer and move it somewhere else, so you can get colour variation in the step later on.

Duplicate the layer again and click on the little 'eye' button to hide this layer. We will use it later on.

Merge the first two layers down by pressing Ctrl + E and then go to Filter -> Blur --> Motion Blur;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/motionblurd.png

You can set it to any old angle, but diagonal angles look better, and put the amount on 35+ and press ok. You will end up with something like this;

Go to the Blending Options, and set it to 'Overlay' or 'Soft Light' depending on what you think looks better;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/beforedoubleoverlay.png


To change the Blending Options;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/howtooverlay.png

If you dont think there is enough colour, then duplicate the layer you have set to overlay, and modify the opacity until you find something that you are happy with;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/doubleoverlay.png

Now its time to add in your render, scale it down and place it in the right spot. Click on the render layer and click on the little squares. Hold SHIFT to keep the dimensions the same otherwise your render will skew. Move the render about until you find something you are happy with. Do not make the render too big, or too small. You need to keep it as a focal point, so keep important things like faces on the signature;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/rendershirnk.png

Now at this current moment in time, I think my background is too dark compared to my render, so below the render layer I created another Brightness/Contrast Layer but only upped the brightness, so it wasnt too dark;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/withhighercontrast.png

Now there are two ways to blend your render in with your background. You can either brush blend it, which means erasing parts of your render, or you can feather it and add a layer mask. I will go with the feather mask, which is the easier option.

Ctrl+Click on the render layer to highlight it, and go to Select --> Modify --> Feather and feather by 5 or 10 pixels.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/feather.png

Then go to Layer -> Layer Mask -> Reveal Section.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/LayerMask.png

This blends it in with the background, but you can still use a small soft brush to erase some of the other parts that you dont really like;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/withfeathernerase.png

Now we need to make the render more focused. Create a new layer and go to Image --> Apply Image --> Ok. It is easier to do this part when everything is on one layer.

Take out the sharpen tool by clicking and holding in the mouse button on the blur tool, and picking sharpen from the options;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/sharpen.png

Make your brush about 50px, and make it a soft brush, and click on the areas you want to sharpen, I did the faces of the Elika and the Prince;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/sharpenednow.png

Now it’s just quickly time to add a border. Make a new layer above ALL of your current ones, and fill it white. Set the Fill % (found under Opacity) to 0, then Double click the layer to bring up the blending options panel. Click on stroke and set the Position to “Inside”. Lower the size from 3 to 2 or 1, depending on what you fancy, and change the colour to something that would suit your signature;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/withstroke.png


Now its time too add some text quickly. Put it somewhere nice, not like slap bang in the middle of your signature. Choose Arial or Veradana, as fancy fonts can ruin a picture. Put it in a colour that matches your signature, and your done;

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q312/josh075/finishedprocuct.png

Please if you follow this, let me see your results! :D

[Shuttleu]

Finally a photoshop tutorial
I can now learn how to use photoshop
Keep it up
I wanna learn

~shut

[sirlaughsalot]

Looks AMAZING will definetly (sad i dont knwo how to spell that word) use this :D

[Torrent of Flame]

^ I quite enjoy making tutorials to be honest :D

[Macros]

Thank-you! Please make more of these!

That looks picture you made looks intense.

[Torrent of Flame]

I do plan to make more tutorials (:

[Dervish]

Thats why you got the cup.

Honestly, what did you think of my first tut since you seem to be good at making them ?

Nice tutorial, I know most of this stuff, and thanks for "planetrenders" ;) didn't know that website yet :).

[Torrent of Flame]

I like how indepth your tutorials are, I just dont like the things that you do in them.

I got the tut writers cup for SRL Tutorials, like SCAR etc, not Graphics Design Tutorials xD

[Dervish]

I like how indepth your tutorials are, I just dont like the things that you do in them.

I got the tut writers cup for SRL Tutorials, like SCAR etc, not Graphics Design Tutorials xD

I know you didn't ;).

Is it possible though ? :O

[Torrent of Flame]

I dont know if it is or not.

[Macros]

Renders are cutouts of pictures, commonly saved as a .png so they are easy to work with. Go to www.planetrenders.org to find renders.

To get a render onto your cavnas, open the render, and drag it onto your signature's canvas.


Should be www.planetrenders.net, no?

Thanks again >.<

[Zyt3x]

Torrent of Flame; Let's ask Wizzup? to make a group called "GFX Artist" or something?

[Torrent of Flame]

I agree Zyt3x :D

[Dervish]

We asked on IRC, he didn't feel like it :(.

[Torrent of Flame]

Bump

[slackeru]

WOW! thats really good work!:eek:

[Torrent of Flame]

*sneeze*