Tutorial #5 - Rainbow Kaylee
From 
to
1.
Start out with your base layer.
2.
Duplicate the base layer three times. Sharpen the second layer, set the third to Screen at 100%, and set the top layer to Soft Light at 100%. I like to leave the original layer alone, so that I can duplicate it and use it again if I want to. This is my standard start to an icon; from here I determine what I want to do with it. In this case I also applied a Gaussian Blur filter to the Screen layer, with the radius somewhere from 2 to 3 pixels.
3.
The above image was a bit washed out for what I wanted so I added three layers of the background image in between the existing Screen and Soft Light layers; I set all three to Soft Light. The one just above the Screen layer I set to 87% opacity, desaturated by clicking Ctrl-Shift-U (or go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate), and applied a Gaussian Blur filter with the radius somewhere between 2 and 3 pixels. This step will vary based on your image; ideally I aim for an image with nice contrast and which isn't too light or too dark.
4.
Here I blacked out some of the light bits in the background that were distracting with a small-ish brush.
5.
I decided I wanted to use this texture by _iconographer:
. Create a new layer on top with this texture in it and set the layer to Lighten. This texture works well for this image because there's not a lot going on at the top and that's where the texture has the most color; other textures will work better with other images.
6.
Now I wanted to tweak the colors of the image so they go better with the texture. Create a Selective Color Layer under the texture layer by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Selective Color..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Selective Color).
Select "Reds" from the drop-down menu at the top and set the colors to the following values:
Cyan: +36%
Magenta: +40%
Yellow: -43%
Black: -15%
Now select "Yellows":
Cyan: -1%
Magenta: +12%
Yellow: -13%
Black: -27%
Greens:
Cyan: +79%
Magenta: -34%
Yellow: -50%
Black: -58%
Blues:
Cyan: +40%
Magenta: +55%
Yellow: 0%
Black: +50%
Neutrals:
Cyan: +21%
Magenta: 0%
Yellow: 0%
Black: 0%
This generally makes the colors lighter and bluer.
7.
Now I want the colors to be a little bit more intense. Create a Hue/Saturation Layer under the texture layer but above the Selective Color layer by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Hue/Saturation..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Hue/Saturation). Set Saturation to +20 (or whatever works best for your image).
8.
The image is a tad bit washed out, so create a Levels Layer on top of everything by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Levels..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Levels). Drag the black triangle on the left a bit to the right until the contrast is where you want it; here I ended up with Input Levels at 19, 0.93, and 244 (the numbers in the boxes under the Channel drop-box).
9.
One last tweak of the image. Create two new layers on top of everything. Fill the bottom layer with a dark blue (I used #00002C) and set it to Exclusion. Fill the top layer with bright green (I used #00FF00) and set it to Saturation at 9%. The Exclusion layer makes the blacks bluer and the whites yellower, and the Saturation layer ups the saturation.
10.
Add an 'X' and some tiny text (or whatever you wish) and you're done! The 'X' is a font called "It Ain't Rocket Science" at 30pt and the tiny text is Palatino Linotype 3 pt with tracking of 200 (Tracking is the box in the Character window one box down and one over from the font size box; it's the one with AV with a double-sided arrow underneath. It determines how far apart the letters are.).
Whew - all done! Feel free to comment with icons made based on this - I'd love to see what you come up with. You're welcome to use the icon and base image to practice, but please don't post them as if they were your own.
Please comment if you have questions, problems, ideas, requests for other tutorials, or anything else!
Other tutorials | Recent icons
to
1.
Start out with your base layer.
2.
Duplicate the base layer three times. Sharpen the second layer, set the third to Screen at 100%, and set the top layer to Soft Light at 100%. I like to leave the original layer alone, so that I can duplicate it and use it again if I want to. This is my standard start to an icon; from here I determine what I want to do with it. In this case I also applied a Gaussian Blur filter to the Screen layer, with the radius somewhere from 2 to 3 pixels.
3.
The above image was a bit washed out for what I wanted so I added three layers of the background image in between the existing Screen and Soft Light layers; I set all three to Soft Light. The one just above the Screen layer I set to 87% opacity, desaturated by clicking Ctrl-Shift-U (or go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate), and applied a Gaussian Blur filter with the radius somewhere between 2 and 3 pixels. This step will vary based on your image; ideally I aim for an image with nice contrast and which isn't too light or too dark.
4.
Here I blacked out some of the light bits in the background that were distracting with a small-ish brush.
5.
I decided I wanted to use this texture by _iconographer:
. Create a new layer on top with this texture in it and set the layer to Lighten. This texture works well for this image because there's not a lot going on at the top and that's where the texture has the most color; other textures will work better with other images.
6.
Now I wanted to tweak the colors of the image so they go better with the texture. Create a Selective Color Layer under the texture layer by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Selective Color..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Selective Color).
Select "Reds" from the drop-down menu at the top and set the colors to the following values:
Cyan: +36%
Magenta: +40%
Yellow: -43%
Black: -15%
Now select "Yellows":
Cyan: -1%
Magenta: +12%
Yellow: -13%
Black: -27%
Greens:
Cyan: +79%
Magenta: -34%
Yellow: -50%
Black: -58%
Blues:
Cyan: +40%
Magenta: +55%
Yellow: 0%
Black: +50%
Neutrals:
Cyan: +21%
Magenta: 0%
Yellow: 0%
Black: 0%
This generally makes the colors lighter and bluer.
7.
Now I want the colors to be a little bit more intense. Create a Hue/Saturation Layer under the texture layer but above the Selective Color layer by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Hue/Saturation..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Hue/Saturation). Set Saturation to +20 (or whatever works best for your image).
8.
The image is a tad bit washed out, so create a Levels Layer on top of everything by clicking the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the layers window and selecting "Levels..." (or go to Layers >> New Adjustment Layer >> Levels). Drag the black triangle on the left a bit to the right until the contrast is where you want it; here I ended up with Input Levels at 19, 0.93, and 244 (the numbers in the boxes under the Channel drop-box).
9.
One last tweak of the image. Create two new layers on top of everything. Fill the bottom layer with a dark blue (I used #00002C) and set it to Exclusion. Fill the top layer with bright green (I used #00FF00) and set it to Saturation at 9%. The Exclusion layer makes the blacks bluer and the whites yellower, and the Saturation layer ups the saturation.
10.
Add an 'X' and some tiny text (or whatever you wish) and you're done! The 'X' is a font called "It Ain't Rocket Science" at 30pt and the tiny text is Palatino Linotype 3 pt with tracking of 200 (Tracking is the box in the Character window one box down and one over from the font size box; it's the one with AV with a double-sided arrow underneath. It determines how far apart the letters are.).
Whew - all done! Feel free to comment with icons made based on this - I'd love to see what you come up with. You're welcome to use the icon and base image to practice, but please don't post them as if they were your own.
Please comment if you have questions, problems, ideas, requests for other tutorials, or anything else!
Other tutorials | Recent icons