* Program: Adobe Illustrator CS2
* Difficulty: Intermediate
* Estimated Completion Time: 30 mins

Final Image looks like below.

n this Quick Tip, you’ll create a Symbol, which you will then map to a 3D globe. The result looks like a ribbon wrapped around a hollow sphere. Let’s get started!

Step 1

Click once with the Rectangle tool (M) and draw a thin rectangle, about 300px x 20px.

Step 2

Switch to the Selection tool (V), then press Return to bring up the Move dialog box. Position the rectangle down 30px and press Copy. Press Command + D four times so you end up with six rectangles.

Step 3

Select all the rectangles. Double-click the Shear tool, and enter an angle of 6 degrees on a vertical axis.

Step 4

Draw a rectangle over the sheared objects so that its corners align as in the image below.

Step 5

Select all, then Crop, using the Pathfinder panel.

Step 6

Drag the resulting objects onto the Symbols panel to create a new symbol.

Step 7

Draw a perfect circle using the Ellipse tool (L). It can be any color. Next, draw a line with the Line Segment tool (Backslash) that dissects the circle vertically (turn on Smart Guides to position it exactly down the middle). Select both the circle and the line and click Divide in the Pathfinder panel. Delete the left half of the circle.

Step 8

With the half-circle selected, go to Effect > 3D > Revolve. In the dialog box, enter 360 degrees to form a sphere.

Step 9

While still in the 3d Revolve Options dialog box, click the Map Art button. Choose your symbol from the drop-down menu at the top left, then click Scale to Fit, Shade Artwork and Invisible Geometry.

Conclusion

You’re done! But if you want to modify the sphere and/or the lighting, go to the Appearance panel and click the 3D Revolve effect to bring up the Options dialog again. Experiment with different rotations and shading to create some interesting results.

* Program: Adobe Photoshop CS3+
* Difficulty: Beginner
* Estimated Completion Time: 1 – 2 Hours

Final Product .

Photoshop is an excellent tool to combine several photos into one seamless image. In today’s tutorial we will use different tools and techniques to create an abandoned automobile in a moonlit night scene in Photoshop. Let’s get started!

Resources Used

You can download the following images from the links below. Just sign up for free to download the image.

• Car
• Mountain
• Road
• Moon

Step 1

Create a new document 2856 x 1888 px in 300 dpi

Step 2

Next open Car.jpg and resize it by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + T. Place the car on the left portion of your canvass as shown.

Step 3

Open Road.jpg, then press Cmd/Ctrl + T. Once the resizing handles have been activated, right-click and choose Free Transform from the dropdown menu.

Step 4

After that, make sure to place the Road.jpg’s layer below the Car.jpg as shown below. Make sure that the car’s perspective matches that of the road and vice-versa. Use the resizing handles, Cmd/Ctrl+T, just in case you still need to adjust the images.

Step 5

Next, use the Pen tool (P) to trace all the way around the car. Then, right-click and select Make Selection from the dropdown menu. Next, hold Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I to inverse the selection, then hit delete.

Step 6

Next, create a new layer above Road.jpg layer and name it "Primary Shadow." Using the Pen tool (P), make a rectangular shape in line with the perspective of the road as shown. This will serve the primary shadow of the car.

Step 7

After that, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply the settings as shown below for the "Primary Shadow."

Step 8

Next, select the Brush tool (B) with a size of 60 px, a Hardness of 20% and color #000000, brush the areas indicated below.

Step 9

Next go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and change its radius setting to 25px.

Step 10

Use the Burn tool (O) to burn the indicated areas of the car using a mid-sized brush with a low level of hardness.

Step 11

Next, let’s darken Road.jpg to match the darkness of the car . To do this, hold Cmd/Ctrl + L to activate the Levels window. In the Levels window, input the values indicated below.

Step 12

The next step would be to extend the road further backward. To do this, first duplicate Road.jpg by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + J in the Road.jpg’s layer. Next, press Cmd/Ctrl + T to activate the resizing handles. Once activated, right-click and select Free Transform from the dropdown menu. Adjust the road to fit to the perspective of the first road.

Step 13

Now let’s add a background. First, open Mountain.jpg and place it below Road.jpg. Press Cmd/Ctrl + T to activate the resizing handles. Once activated, resize the image as shown below. After resizing, go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate.

Step 14

Use the Magic Wand tool (W) to select the areas shown below then hit delete.

Step 15

Next, use the Clone Stamp tool (S) to clone the areas indicated and transfer the cloned areas to the indicated areas in orange.

Step 16

Next, go to "Car.jpg" layer, then go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate, After desaturating, press Cmd/Ctrl + L to activate the Levels window. From the Levels window, change the values as indicated below.

Step 17

Create a new layer and name it "Black Shade." Using the Brush tool (B), set to 1400 px with 0% hardness and color #000000, brush the areas indicated below. After that, decrease its Opacity level to 62%.

Step 18

Now we’ll add the light effects for the car’s headlights. First add a new layer and name it "Base light", then using the Brush tool (B) set to a master diameter of 60 px, a hardness of 0% and color #ffffff, brush the inside parts of the headlights. After that, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and change its radius value to 60 px.

Step 19

Next, add a new layer and name it "Secondary light", then using the Brush tool (B) set to a master diameter of 500px, a hardness of 0% and color #ffffff and paint as shown.

Step 20

Add a new layer and name it "Extended light-1" then using the Brush tool (B), brush the indicated areas as shown below, Then, using the Eraser tool (E), erase the indicated areas. Lastly go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply the indicated value. Decrease its opacity level to 40%.

Step 21

Now it is time to add more light coming from the headlights. First add a new a layer and name it "Extended light-2." Instead of using the Brush tool (B), we’ll be using the Pen tool (P). First, define a path from the headlight to the road. Next right-click and select Stroke Path from the dropdown menu. From the Stroke path window, select the Brush tool. Prior to doing this, make sure to change the brush settings with the values indicated. Next, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply the values as indicated. Lastly, change the opacity level to 20%.

Step 22

The next step is to add the moon. First add a new layer and name it as "moon." Using the Brush tool (B), set to a size of 200px, a hardness of 0% and color #ffffff, brush a small area in the upper right corner of our image, just as shown. After that go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and change the value of the radius to 18px.

Step 23

Next, add the surface reflection lights from the moon to the car’s body and also to the mountain ranges. To do this first add a new layer and name it as "Light lines." Using the Pen tool (P), define a path just like as shown in a. Make sure to change the brush settings with the values indicated in b prior to creating the path. After defining the path, right-click and choose Stroke Path from the dropdown menu. From the Stroke path window, select the Brush tool.

Finally, using the Eraser tool (E), erase the both ends of the lines.

Apply light using the same technique to other parts of the car where light might hit. Change the layer blending mode to Overlay.

Do the same for the mountain ranges. Set blending mode to Normal.

Step 24

Next, add a new layer and name it "Blue tint." Using the Paint Bucket tool (G), fill the entire image with #004179. After that, set its Blending mode to Overlay and change its opacity level to 60%.

Step 25

Next, using the Brush tool (B) set the values as indicated below, brush a small spot over the moon.

Step 26

Next, duplicate "Extended light-2" and place it over the "Blue tint" layer. Increase its Opacity level back to 100% and change its Blending mode to Overlay.

Step 27

Next, add a subtle smoke effect in front of the car. To do this, first add a new layer and name it "Smoke." Next, using the Lasso tool (L), define an area as shown in below. Next, using the Paint Bucket tool (G), fill the entire selection with color #000000. Then go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Lastly, change the layer’s Blend mode to Overlay and decrease its Opacity level to 40% then use the Eraser tool (E) to erase some remaining hard edges.

Step 28

Next, Moon.jpg. Press Cmd/Ctrl + T to activate the resizing handles and resize the Moon as shown. After resizing, move the Moon slightly to the lower left corner.

Step 29

Next, select the Brush tool (B) and change its values as indicated below. Then, using the Pen tool (P), make a path on the upper right corner of the moon as shown. Finally, using the Eraser tool (E), erase the end parts of the path we’ve created.

Step 30

Using the Elliptical Marquee tool (M), make a circle just right with the size of the moon, a. You can hold down the Shift key to create perfect circles. Next, using the Brush tool (B) set to a size of 298 px, hardness of 0% and color #000000, brush the lower left corners of the selection we’ve made.

Step 31

Apply the following brush settings. After that, use the Pen tool (P) to draw a path as shown. After defining the path, right-click and choose Stroke Path from the drop down menu. From there, choose Brush as the tool of reference. Next, using the Eraser tool (E) with the indicated values, erase the areas as indicated.

Step 32

Next, add a new layer and name it "Lens Flare." Using the Paint Bucket tool (G), fill the entire image with color #000000. Next go to Filter > Render > Lens Flare and change the values indicated below. Finally, change its Blending mode to Screen and decrease its Opacity level to 70%.

Step 33

Create a new layer and name it "Additional Light." Using the Brush tool (B) set to a size of 250 px, a Hardness of 0% and color #fffffff, brush a small portion on the indicated area. Next, press Cmd/Ctrl + T to activate the resizing handles then right-click and select Warp from the dropdown menu. Warp the selection as shown.

Step 34

The next step is to duplicate all layers except the "Lens Flare" and "Additional Light" layers. Once duplicated, merge all these layers by right-clicking and selecting Merge layers from the dropdown menu. Next go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and change the value with the one indicated below. Finally, decrease its Opacity level to 51%.

Step 35

Erase the areas indicated below.

Step 36

Finally, add a new layer and name it "Brown tint." Next, using the Paint Bucket tool (G), fill the entire image with color #573e13. Next change its Blend mode to Overlay and decrease its Opacity level to 55%.

Final Image

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In this tutorial you will learn how to illustrate satisfaction guaranteed seal with basic shapes and gradients. You will find that the basic structure of this graphic can be reused many times to make a set of web assets that are perfect for e-commerce. Let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a 700 by 700px document. Start by turning on the Grid and the Snap to Grid then go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grids. Enter “5″ in the “Guideline every” box and “1″ in the “Subdivisions” box. Now, you’ll need to make 9 concentric circles.

1. Select the Ellipse Tool (L), hold Shift and create a 500×500px shape. Name it “1″ then go to Object > Path > Offset Path, enter a “-30px” offset and hit OK.
2. Name the resulting circle “2″, select it and go again to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a “-5px” offset and hit OK.
3. Name this new shape “3″. Select it, go to Object > Path > Offset Path, enter a “-5px” offset and hit OK.
4. Name the resulting shape “4″, select it and go again to Object > Path > Offset Path. Once again enter a “-5px” offset and hit OK.
5. Name this new circle “5″ then go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a “-25px” offset and hit OK.
6. Select this new circle, name it “6″ go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a “-20px” offset and hit OK.
7. Select the resulting shape, name it “7″ and go one more time to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a “-10px” offset and hit OK.
8. Select this new shape, name it “8″ and go one last time to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a “-5px” offset and hit OK.
9. Select this last circle and name it “9″. …Click to enlarge below image.

Step 2

Here, you can take a closer look at the shapes created so far. Next, you’ll need to select the shapes from 2 to 9 and make them invisible (for the moment).

Step 3

Turn off the Grid and the Snap to Grid. Now, let’s focus on shape #1. Select it, add the Zig Zag effect then go to Object > Expand Appearance. First, fill it with the linear gradient and add a 1pt aligned to outside stroke (R=204 G=204 B=204). Next, add a new, black fill. Select this fill (from the Appearance panel), lower its opacity to 3% then and add the Grain effect. Finally, reselect the entire path and add the Drop Shadow effect (Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow). Click below image to see

Step 4

Create a copy of shape “1″ then select the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a shape like the red one shown in image #1. Select these two shapes and click on the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with black, lower its opacity to 10% and move it right above shape #1 (make sure it’ll stay there until the end).

Step 6

Turn shape “7″ back to visible. Select the Type on a Path Tool, click on the path (“7″) to bring up a blinking cursor then add the Satisfaction Guaranteed text. Use the Arial Black font with a size of 40px. Reselect this text and go to Object > Expand. Select the resulting shapes, fill them with white then go to Object > Compound Path > Make. Name the resulting shape “Text”. Turn circle “6″ back to visible. Duplicate “Text”. Select this copy along with circle “6″ and click on the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Select the resulting group of shapes, fill it with R=251 G=188 B=12 then lower its opacity to 10%.

Step 7

Select the Type Tool and add the 100% text in the middle of circle #9. Use the Impact font (110px for the text and 80px for the percent sign). Expand this text, fill the resulting shapes with white then go to Object > Compound Path > Make. Select the resulting shape, go to Object > Path > Offset Path, enter a “-3px” offset and hit OK. Fill the resulting shape with the linear gradient.

Step 8

Pick the Star Tool and create a star shape like the one shown in image #1. Hold Control, while you click & drag, to increase/decrease the volume of your star. Fill it with the radial gradient and add a 5pt white, aligned to outside, stroke. Reselect the Star Tool and create four smaller star shapes. Fill them with the same radial gradient but use a different stroke size.

Step 9

Create a copy of shape “2″ then select the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a shape like the red one shown in image #1. Now, select both shapes and click on the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with white and lower its opacity to 15%.

Step 10

Now, let’s create the ribbons. Turn on the Grid and the Snap to Grid. Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a 100 by 250px shape. Select this rectangle and go to Object > Path > Add Anchor Points. Pick the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the anchor point highlighted in image #1 and move it 50px up. Reselect the entire shape, add the Arc effect (Effect > Warp > Arc) then go to Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 11

Duplicate the shapes made in the previous step. Now, rotate these two shapes and place them as shown in the image below. Fill them both with the same radial gradient then add a 5pt aligned to inside, stroke (R=242 G=242 B=242).

Finally, add the Drop Shadow effect and you’re done. This style of graphic is particularly useful for e-commerce sites as it can be re-colored to suit different needs.

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]]> http://www.freetutorialbase.com/create-a-satisfaction-guaranteed-graphic/feed/ 13 http://www.freetutorialbase.com/plastic-text-in-photoshop/ http://www.freetutorialbase.com/plastic-text-in-photoshop/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:14:03 +0000 admin http://www.freetutorialbase.com/?p=161

in this tutorial, we’ll be using layer styles to make a plastic gel-type style that you can easily apply to text and shapes. You can download the PSD file from the link at the bottom of the tutorial to just copy+paste the styles.

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One of the best features of Photoshop is the Layer Styles. We can create all sorts of effects like plastic, glass, water, ice, metal, and many more. In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a gold text effect. I will use only Layer Styles, and once our new style is created, we will be able to save the style and apply it wherever we want.

STEP 1

Create a new document, apply a Layer Style on the background layer. Add a Gradient Overlay from black to a dark brown (#443501).  Click below image to enlarge.

You will see below image

STEP 2

Create a new Layer and apply Filter>Texture>Texturizer. Make sure that the foreground color is white and the background is black. After that, change the Blend Mode to Multiply. click below image to enlarge

STEP 3

Type some text I have used times new roman font

STEP 4

Now we start creating our gold layer style. We’ll set up the Gradient Overlay first, as shown below.

After setting up you will fowlling.

STEP 5

Now we’ll add a Stroke. For the Fill Type use Gradient. The position of the gradient will vary for different typefaces, so experiment and see what looks good.

STEP 6

Add Bevel and Emboss,  & Shadow as show below

Final Result shown below

This a very nice example of how powerful Layer Styles are in Photoshop. Sometimes just changing some values can create a totally different effect. For this tutorial I created gold, but if you change the gradient color to variations of grey you will have silver instead of gold.

click below to download psd file for this tutorial

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]]> http://www.freetutorialbase.com/create-gold-text-effect-in-photoshop/feed/ 21 http://www.freetutorialbase.com/photshop-abstract-brushset/ http://www.freetutorialbase.com/photshop-abstract-brushset/#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 06:55:48 +0000 admin http://www.freetutorialbase.com/?p=116

Photoshop nice brush . it will work with Photoshop 7 & more.

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Click to Download

Photoshop nice brush . it will work with Photoshop 7 & more.

Click to Download

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Files are in zip format kindly extract them in appropriate folder and use them.

he brushes are compatible with any version of Photoshop.

Click Here to Download

Getting a nice watercolor effect is something everyone has tried at least once. The Photoshop watercolor filter is a poor substitute since it adds too much black to define the edges. In this tutorial I will show you an easy way to achieve this. Read the full post to find out how it’s done.

To get started open a photo you like in Photoshop. It’s usually better to use a photo with vivid colors but just about anything will do. This is what I used.

Step 1.

The first thing you need to do is dupliacte your backgorund layer 3 times. We will be applying a different effect to each. To duplicate a layer, just right click on the background layer in the layers pallete and select dupliace. Once done, rename the layers to something easier to remember to avoid confusion. In this case (since we don’t have too many layers), I just used numbers.

Step 2

OK, so now we have all the layers we need. Go ahead and turn off layers 2 and 3 and apply the artistic/cutout effect from the filters menu with the following settings. Make sure you have selected Layer 1 before applying the effect.

Now need to change the Layer 1 blend mode to Luminosity

This is what the image will look like but don’t worry we’re on the right track.

Step 3

Now turn Layer 2 back on and select it so we can make the required changes.

First apply the artistic/drybrush filter with the follwoing settings

Then change the layer blend mode to screen. Your picture should now look like this.

So far so good, keep going, we’re almost there.

Step 4

Turn on Layer 3, select it and apply the Noise/Median filter. You may want to play around with values once youre done. The value I have chosen is based on my image size. What we want here is to have enough blur to give the impression of seeping colors, but don’t overdo it.

There, now all you need is to change the Layer blend mode to soft light and you’re done.

If you want a little more realisme, select Layer 2 again and use the texturizer filter with the following values.

And you get…

Ok here we start, first take a new file with dimension 600px X 250px with 72 dpi. Create a background layer and color it with blue color I use #008dca color code. Type some text in black color I have used Berlin Sans FB Demi font you can use any font you like. It should look like below image.

Next you’ll add some pretty basic layer styles by double clicking the layer in the layer window (Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options First set the Fill Opacity in the Blending Options tab. You can also adjust the layers Fill amount in the layer window, but since you’re in the Layer Styles window its easy to do here.

Add a bevel and emboss style. Use inner Bevel with Smooth technique. Set depth to about 100, direction Up, size approximately 5 with soften set to 0. The shading angle and altitude should be fine, but you’ll need to adjust the highlight and shadow modes so the colors are white and the opacities are higher. Set Highlight mode to normal 100%, and Shadow mode to lighten at 50%.

Here’s what will make the basic frosted texture. Add a texture to the bevel and emboss style. Make it the Clouds pattern. Scale it down to 15 and set the depth 114.

Result will like below image.

Duplicate this layer so you have two text layers.
Open the layer styles for the duplicate text layer. Change the texture to the Satin pattern, adjust the scale to about 49 and depth 42 or by eye. This will add a cracked ice type pattern to the text. You will get something like below image

Now we will add icicles, Start out by adding a new empty layer. Now select a brush of appropriate size for the base of the icicle. In my case, I used the hard round brush of size 7.
Now go to the brushes window (F5) and set the brush control to fade. The amount, which I set to 20, will depend on your text size, so try 20 and if its too short or too long, come back and change it.

On the black layer, start drawing icicle shaped lines using the brush tool (B). Since we are using a fade, the bush will quickly shrink to nothing making drawing icicles fairly easy, Image will look like.

To make the icicles simply select the bottom most text layer and copy the layer styles (right click Copy Layer Styles) then apply them to the icicles layer (right click on new icicle layer and Paste Layer Styles). And there you have it, a frosted, frozen, ice cubed text effect. An added bonus is that each layer is still a text layer, so if you wanted to change the text its relatively easy.