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clez_icons
Tutorial: John Sheppard ("Aurora")
Well, here goes nothin’. This is my very first tutorial, and I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to even try one, because they seem like they take ages, and can be really stressful, but I thought I’d give it a try after I was playing with some simple settings and ideas, and it made a nice icon. So I’m sharing the idea, for others to try and whatever ^_^
We’re going from:
to
in eight easy steps, with no curves or adjustment layers
I’m using PSP8.
Okay, find a picture that you like. I used a high quality picture that I found on sheppard_daily. High quality pictures and clear screencaps are obviously the best things to make icons from, but use whatever you think is best. This technique might not work on all icons, but I haven’t had a problem yet.
Step 1: Once you find your picture, crop and resize (Shift+S). Do not sharpen! We’ll sort this out a little bit later.
Step 2: Go to Enhance - Automatic Contrast Enhancement: use settings “Neutral, Mild, Bold”.
Step 3: Use Automatic Contrast Enhancement again, with the same settings.
Step 4: Duplicate image twice. Set middle layer to Screen, and top layer to Soft Light.
Step 5: Sharpen the bottom image (the base).
Step 6: Flatten the image.
Step 7: Go to Enhance - Automatic Colour Balance: set to your preference. For this image, I chose a temperature of 5500, but it depends entirely on what image you use. Play with it and see what you like.
Step 8: Go to Enhance - Automatic Contrast Enhancement: use the same settings as in Stages 2 and 3.
And you’re done! ^_^ As easy as that.
Other icons made with this technique:
All icons, including the one used in this tutorial as a guide, are shareable with credit.
Don’t follow this exactly - use different pictures and experiment ^_^
I hope it gave you some ideas, at the very least, and I didn’t waste your time. I’d love to see what you made with the technique, if you give it a try, and comments would be loved, since I’ve never tried a tutorial before in my life, heh. If anything was unclear, feel free to ask questions.
We’re going from:
to
in eight easy steps, with no curves or adjustment layers
I’m using PSP8.
Okay, find a picture that you like. I used a high quality picture that I found on sheppard_daily. High quality pictures and clear screencaps are obviously the best things to make icons from, but use whatever you think is best. This technique might not work on all icons, but I haven’t had a problem yet.
Step 1: Once you find your picture, crop and resize (Shift+S). Do not sharpen! We’ll sort this out a little bit later.
Step 2: Go to Enhance - Automatic Contrast Enhancement: use settings “Neutral, Mild, Bold”.
Step 3: Use Automatic Contrast Enhancement again, with the same settings.
Step 4: Duplicate image twice. Set middle layer to Screen, and top layer to Soft Light.
Step 5: Sharpen the bottom image (the base).
Step 6: Flatten the image.
Step 7: Go to Enhance - Automatic Colour Balance: set to your preference. For this image, I chose a temperature of 5500, but it depends entirely on what image you use. Play with it and see what you like.
Step 8: Go to Enhance - Automatic Contrast Enhancement: use the same settings as in Stages 2 and 3.
And you’re done! ^_^ As easy as that.
Other icons made with this technique:
All icons, including the one used in this tutorial as a guide, are shareable with credit.
Don’t follow this exactly - use different pictures and experiment ^_^
I hope it gave you some ideas, at the very least, and I didn’t waste your time. I’d love to see what you made with the technique, if you give it a try, and comments would be loved, since I’ve never tried a tutorial before in my life, heh. If anything was unclear, feel free to ask questions.