so you wanna know all of roni's secrets~
Since I was asked by Amanda so very nicely. I figured I'd make a tutorial and show you how I made a few of my favorite manga icons. Keep in mind that you'll need to know Photoshop pretty well for this tutorial, I'm not going to show the template of what your layer palette should look like. It's going to be reletively quick because I'm tired.
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First, I went through my DMC manga scans to find a suitable image and a suitable crop. I came across this wonderful picture where Dante looks like he's wearing eyeliner.
I cropped it, and took a good look at it. There was no good place to put text, and I already decided that I wanted there to be a larger headline with a smaller one atop it. So I cut out the bottom of the image by using the box tool, and then used free transform to tip it at a very slight angle.
So now I have something that looks just like this
To make sure I had enough room for the text, I set it right away, using Book Antiqua. The larger type is set at 14 pt, kerned at 100 ems, while the smaller type is 4 pt. All of which is set in caps lock. I tucked it nicely in the corner of the icon. I wanted some of it to be pushed off, but I still wanted it to be legiable. I used lyrics from Jucifer's Memphis, as this is the part in the manga where Dante and Virgil meet again for the first time since their mother died (hence "tell me again why you left").
So you have, this, ta dah~
The text is a little light, so just copy the layers above it, so it looks like this
Take this wonderful gradient and set it to screen, 100%
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Set this next gradient above it to multiply, 100%
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This next step is the fun step. I used a variety of Recife's brushes to produce this wonderful texture, color #230F45. Make sure the background is transparent. I then set it on overlay, 100%.
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Copy this gradient again, set it to the top. (Multiply 100%)
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Take the same gradient, reverse it 180 degrees, and then set it on lighten, 45%
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Copy the bottom layer, and bring it to the top. Copy the layers of text that you have, and bring those to the top show they're showing, and once again look like this
Link the upper text levels and the image together. You now have your layer linked together, set it on soft light, 100%
And you're all set! Now you know my secrets. If you do decide to use this tutorial, please show me the results. This is one of my favorite (and purely original) techniques. I'd like to see what you guys make out of it. Remember to keep your negative (black) space so the texture of the brushes show through.
>>
First, I went through my DMC manga scans to find a suitable image and a suitable crop. I came across this wonderful picture where Dante looks like he's wearing eyeliner.
I cropped it, and took a good look at it. There was no good place to put text, and I already decided that I wanted there to be a larger headline with a smaller one atop it. So I cut out the bottom of the image by using the box tool, and then used free transform to tip it at a very slight angle.
So now I have something that looks just like this
To make sure I had enough room for the text, I set it right away, using Book Antiqua. The larger type is set at 14 pt, kerned at 100 ems, while the smaller type is 4 pt. All of which is set in caps lock. I tucked it nicely in the corner of the icon. I wanted some of it to be pushed off, but I still wanted it to be legiable. I used lyrics from Jucifer's Memphis, as this is the part in the manga where Dante and Virgil meet again for the first time since their mother died (hence "tell me again why you left").
So you have, this, ta dah~
The text is a little light, so just copy the layers above it, so it looks like this
Take this wonderful gradient and set it to screen, 100%
>>
Set this next gradient above it to multiply, 100%
>>
This next step is the fun step. I used a variety of Recife's brushes to produce this wonderful texture, color #230F45. Make sure the background is transparent. I then set it on overlay, 100%.
>>
Copy this gradient again, set it to the top. (Multiply 100%)
>>
Take the same gradient, reverse it 180 degrees, and then set it on lighten, 45%
>>
Copy the bottom layer, and bring it to the top. Copy the layers of text that you have, and bring those to the top show they're showing, and once again look like this
Link the upper text levels and the image together. You now have your layer linked together, set it on soft light, 100%
And you're all set! Now you know my secrets. If you do decide to use this tutorial, please show me the results. This is one of my favorite (and purely original) techniques. I'd like to see what you guys make out of it. Remember to keep your negative (black) space so the texture of the brushes show through.