tutorial #6 - Turning a PNG into an icon
<< Create that out of [ THIS ] PNG from visualaddiction.net
( Made in PSP-X, but is easily translatable to most other programs)
First, crop your PNG & resize it to 100x100.
Using the magic wand tool, select all the transparent areas around your PNG & press CTRL + I; there should be moving dashes around your PNG.
On your toolbar; Selections -> Modify -> Expand -> 2px, and press OK. Next; Selections -> Modify -> Smooth -> 5px, and press OK. The moving dashes should be expanded & smooth now.
Create a new layer and set it below the PNG. DO NOT DESELECT. Using the flood fill tool, fill the selected area on the new layer with white, still do not deselect.
Next; Selections -> Modify -> Expand -> 1px, and press OK. Create a new layer & set it below the white outline one. Fill it with black. Deselect and on your toolbar; Adjust -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur -> 7. Finally, merge all visible layers.
You can use any texture you want, but I recommend a texture that has similar colors to your PNG. Lay the texture behind the base image. Merge both layers together. The texture I used is [ HERE ] and is from
colorfilter.
Lay [ THIS ] texture from
zemieand set it to lighten.
Lay [ THIS ] texture, also from
zemie, and set it to burn.
Duplicate your background layer & lay it on top of the other layers, setting it to soft light.
Finally, add some text & a border of your choice color (I usually use black)
I hope that you've found this tutorial helpful to you.
If you would, please show me your results :]
Thanks & comment!!