bstract Lines Background

Step 1:

Let's start out by creating a new file. I used a 550x900 pixels canvas set at 72dpi, and I filled my background with a black color. [Edit:] Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Select black (#000000) for the first swatch and a dark blue (#002266) for the second swatch. (thanks lucy and crusado!)

Step 2:

Create a new layer set and name it 'Abstract Lines'. Now select the brush tool and set the size to 45 px soft brush. In a new layer paint a medium sized line with # 006C6A color shade as shown below.

Step 3:

Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur, apply the settings below to the paint line layer. If your results are thin in color just duplicate the layer and merge them both.

Step 4:

Under Layer Style(Layer > Layer Style) add an Inner Shadow and Gradient Overlay blending options to your motioned paint layer.

Step 5:

Duplicate the motioned paint layer without any layer styles attached. Position it on the right side and set the layer's blending mode to Color Dodge. Duplicate this layer so the dodge effect is thicker on the design.

Step 6:

Once again duplicate the motioned paint layer without any layer styles. Position it as shown below, finish it off by duplicating the layer so its thicker on the design.

Step 7:

Duplicate the 'Abstract Line' layer set and merge it by going to Layer > Merge Layer Set. Make sure you have the layer set highlighted on the layers window or the merge option won't be active. position the layer design next to the original abstract line. Then set the layer's blending mode to Lighten at 46%opacity level.

Step 8:

Now duplicate the lightened layer from the last step by 3 to 4 times and position this designs all over the canvas. Make each copy unique with a different opacity levels.

Step 9:

Add a marquee selection around your canvas and go to Edit > Copy Merged. Then go back to Edit > Paste, this should add a new layer with a copy of your current design. Set the layer's blending mode to Hard Light at 49% opacity level.

Step 10:

Copy your current design as shown on step nine then use rotate option on Edit > Transform.

Results:

Abstract Lines Background.

Luminescent Lines

Luminescent Lines

Written by Ross June 17, 2008

Here we will create some thin flowing lines that look as if they emit light. This technique is fairly simple and is a great way to create an abstract wallpaper or looks good integrated into another image. This tutorial will mainly explore the brush engine and you will also learn how to create custom brushes and use them effectively, combined with some interesting layer styles.

Tutorial Files

If you are a PSD PRO member then download the PSD file and much more by going here.

Final Image

This tutorial will show you how to create an image similar to this:

Step 1

Start by creating a new document, here I used 1024×768px and 72dpi. Using the paint bucket tool (G) fill the background layer with black, alternatively you could use a dark gradient instead. Click the brush tool (B) then change the settings of this brush to a 1px round, white brush with 0% hardness. Create a new layer then select the pen tool (P) and in the main toolbar make sure paths is selected, now start slightly outwith the canvas on the left then using about four points draw a curve with a similar shape to the one below. Right click anywhere inside the document then select stroke path, make sure simulate pressure is checked then hit OK. Lastly hit the Esc key twice to get rid of the path.

Step 2

Now hold Ctrl and click on the layer with this curve in it, in the layers panel, this should make a selection around the line. Next go edit>define brush preset and save that curve as a brush. You can now hide this layer by clicking the eye next to it in the layers panel. Select the brush tool again then bring up the brush settings by going window>brushes. Choose the brush that you just made then use the same settings as below.

Step 3

Create a new layer to hold our lines. Okay we now want to use this brush to create the lines in the picture so first drag from the left of the canvas to the right until you end up with something that resembles the image below. Not that each line is slightly different, this is because in settings we made it change angle and roundness.

Step 4

Now we will make the lines glow so right click on this layer in the layers panel then select blending options. Use the settings shown below for a drop shadow and an outer glow. Note that although we used a drop shadow we are still using it to create a glowing effect this is because we changed the blend mode of this effect from multiply to normal.

Step 5

Right click this layer then select duplicate layer to make an exact copy. Now go into the blending options for this layer and the only thing we want to change is the gradient to the the other rainbow one because you will notice there are two different rainbow gradients, one has transparent edges and one doesn’t.

Step 6

Optionally now you can blend out some of the ends of these lines by either using the erasor tool on both layers or a better way to do it would be to put both these layers in a new group then create a layer mask a paint it out some parts. If your happy with your image then skip on over to the next step.

Step 7

Here I added some beads on the line, this can be done using the same technique from step 3 to step 5 except use a small 2px or 3px round brush instead of the brush that you made yourself.

Step 8

Now create a new layer and select a large soft brush then change the foreground color to a bright color and brush some random shapes. Repeat this with a few diifferent colors to end up with an effect like this.

Step 9

Next go filter>blur>gaussian blur and use a value of around 100px then change the blend mode of this layer to color. I’ll let you decide what opacity this layer should be but I used about 50%.

Creating Smoke

1 - Create some Shapes: I created some random shapes.

2 - Apply a Gaussian blur on each shape

3 - Using the liquify filter

4 - Positioning the shapes

5 - Adding some colors

Add a background color on the layer of the shape, otherwise the Hue/Saturation won't work

6 - Creating a cloud behind the smoke

Set a feather with a high value, like 40 to 80, and after that apply the hue/saturation on the cloud too

7 - Adding a gradient to create an atmosphere

The gradient will give a atmosphere and more depth to the image

Final Result

The whole process took me about 30 to 40 minutes tops, it’s pretty simple, although it can be quite hard to create a natural smoke with the liquify filter, the best thing to do is to play with the brushes and with the tools to achieve the desired effect.

Shiny Starburst Effect

Follow these simple steps to create a shiny starburst effect in Photoshop.   Step 1 Open your canvas. Press D. (to set default foreground and background colors) Press Alt+Backspace to fill canvas with black color. Duplicate the layer ( right click on the current layer on the layer's panel and select 'duplicate layer '). Continue working on this new layer.

Step 2 Select the gradient tool from the tool bar, place the cursor at the bottom of the canvas, click and drag it to the top of the canvas. Now your canvas has a black and white gradient fill. Step 3 Click on Filter>Distort>Wave the Wave window appears, give the settings as in the image on the right. Step 4 Click on Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates. The polar coordinates window opens up, give the settings as 100% and check the 'Rectangular to Polar' option. Step 5 Click on Image>Adjustments>Hue/ Saturation and change the settings to : Hue - 200, Saturation - 25 and Lightness - 0. Check the Colorize option

Step 6

Next click on Filter>Render>Lighting Effects and set the Light type to Omni let the other settings be default.

Here's the shiny star!

lightroom 3 beta

parttern

 

In this tutorial i will show you how to make a custom carbon fiber pattern in just 3 easy steps.

Step 1.
Make a new document 4 x 4 px. Select the colors and fill as shown below.

Step 2.
Now that is done we can define the pattern. Go to Edit > Define pattern. Name as you wish then hit ok.

Step 3.
Now you have made the pattern you can now select the area you wish to make carbon fiber and then go Edit > Fill > Pattern and select yours, hit ok again and VIOLA! You have carbon fiber.

Here is a basic example of the pattern in effect.

 

 

Create a Glowing Globe Icon in Photoshop

Freebie, Tutorials by Tyler | June 29, 2009 | 26 Comments »

In this tutorial we are going to create a simple 3D glowing world globe icon. This can then be applied to a logo or one color image instead of a map.

Step 1

In Photoshop lets open up an 800×800px document. Our document doesn’t have to be huge because we are only making an icon.

Step 2

Now we are going to create the basic shape for our icon. Click on the Ellipse tool and hold down Shift, click and drag a circle across the top half of the document. Holding down shift gives us a perfectly round circle.

Step 3

If your colors are set at the default black and white, your circle probably came out black. We are going to change this to a blue to give us a base color to work with.

To change the color, double click on the black square on the circle layer. This will open up a color palette, and we can choose a color from there.

Step 4

Now we are going to go and grab our map image from stock.xchng and open it up in Photoshop. Before we bring it into our document we want to get rid of the white area. To do this, go into Select>Color Range. We want to bring the fuzziness up to 200 and then click on the black area of our document.

Make sure you are using the Pointer Tool (top left in the toolbar) and click on the map and drag it into our globe document.

Step 5

This Image is going to be way too big for our circle so we are going to shrink it down using. Before we do that though we want to drop down the opacity to 50% so that we can see both the map and the circle so we can judge where to line them up.

Now, using Control+T to transform our map we are going to shrink it down.

At this point if we drop the size way down we are going to lose it off somewhere hidden off the document. To make sure this doesn’t happen look for the crosshair that is in the middle of the map, make sure that this is on your document and when you shrink it down it, the map will stay on the screen.

Now, we are going to use the percentages at the top of our screen and drop them down to 15%.

Step 6

We can bring the opacity back up to 100%.

Now to give the globe a rounded, 3D look we are going to make sure we are on our “map” layer. Now we want to Control and click on our “Circle” layer to load that selection.

Go into Filter>Distort>Spherize and change the amount to 100%.

Step 7

With the circle selection that we still have, we are going to do Control + Shift + I to get the inverse selection and then delete. This will get rid of the extra map area we don’t need. Change the map layer’s blend mode to overlay.

Step 8

We are now going to give a little bit of shine to our globe. To do this we are going to duplicate our circle layer and fill with white. Then using Control + T to transform the shape, shrink the shine circle down so we get an oval shape like I have. Try to get the top edges of the circle and the shine to be parallel.

Step 9

Now we are going to take that shine layer, change the blend mode to screen, drop the opacity down to 80% and add a layer mask to it (second icon from the left on at the bottom of the layers palette).

Take a Linear Gradient and with black, click and drag the gradient up to get the shine to fade a bit, as I have done.

Step 10

Now we are going to do some layer styles to give the globe some lighting. First, we want to duplicate the circle layer and drop the Fill down to 0%. This will get rid of the circle but we will still be able to see the layer styles.

Drag the layer above the map layer.

The first thing we are going to add is the Inner Shadow.

Step 11

Next we are going to add a Gradient Overlay. This will give us sort of an inner glow to our globe.

Step 12

Your globe should look something like this so far.

Step 13

Select the “Map” layer. We are going to add some layer styles to it.

The first thing we are going to add is a Gradient Overlay. This is going to add to give our shadow more contrast.

Step 14

Now add a Bevel and Emboss. This is going to give our map a little dimension.

Step 15

Duplicate the circle layer again (Control + J), make sure the Fill is at 0%, and add an Inner Glow with #00C9FF for a color. Bring this layer up to the top of the rest of the layers.

Step 16

Now lets add a reflection. Link all the layers together by clicking on one of the layers and then clicking the empty box to the right of the eye icon on each layer. Then do Control + E. This will combine all our layers into just one layer.

Now duplicate the layer with Control + J and go to Edit>Transform>Flip Vertically (If you just rotate it the reflection will be backwards). Make sure the “Reflection” is just under the bottom of the globe, overlapping a little bit.

Step 17

Add a layer mask to the reflection, and using our black Linear Gradient, click and drag a gradient up until you get something like I have.

Step 18

Drop the opacity of the reflection to 50%.

Step 19

Now we want to add shadow under the globe. So to do this we want to create a new layer (Control + Shift + N). Get your Radial Gradient, and make a small gradient (which we are going to stretch out) using #01133B for a color.

Step 20

Using Control + T stretch out the gradient so it roughly covers the width of the globe.

Final

There you have it, a Globe Icon. This can be applied to other one-color logos, text or images. Just make sure you remember to change your reflection also.