|tutorial: bridget from ringer
A Ringer coloring tutorial as requested by hermionesparkle.
to
Made in Photoshop CS5.
Uses Selective Coloring, so may not be translatable.
OVERVIEW
This icon was created for a challenge at ringer_elite, so I can't take credit for the cap choice. However, it has all the elements I love in a good screencap, not to mention Sarah Michelle Gellar! XD This tutorial is going to be pretty cut & dry as it was a fairly simple icon to make. I will not be going into details on layers & tools. You should have good knowledge of your graphics program.
COLORING
I pasted the full size cap into Photoshop, resizing the image down to 400x225. I decided to color the image at this size before I cropped, for some odd reason. :)
To brighten the image:
Duplicate base + Screen + Screen + Screen
More brightening:
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Curves (my curves layer)
To add some contrast:
Back down to the base layer -> Duplicate -> Drag to top of all the layers and set the layer to Soft Light @ 100% opacity.
Slight color adjustments:
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Color Balance
SHAD: 0, 0, 0
MID: +35, +8, +1
HIGH: 0, 0, 0
More contrast:
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels
Input Levels: 0, 0.76, 255
More color (namely red for SMG's lips):
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Selective Color (on the red channel only)
Cyans: 0
Magenta: 0
Yellow: 0
Black: +40
Note: This step could easily be subsituted with a Hue/Saturation layer in combination with a Brightness/Contrast Layer. I'm only using it here for the added color + contrast. The black channel does excellent things for contrast, not only enhancing color, but darkening the 'blacks' that exist in the image.
The coloring (for the most part), is complete for this icon. Of course, I finished up in my usual way:
Copy-Merge + Paste -> Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur -> Radius 5.0 -> Set layer to Soft Light at 30%.
Copy-Merge + Paste -> Filter -> Sharpen -> Reduce opacity of layer to 20%.
CROPPING
Layer -> Merge Visible. This doesn't completely flatten the image. If I'm going to use my crop tool to crop an image I need to be able to move it around to try out different crops. Merge visible allows me to do that. If you completely flatten the image it becomes locked.
Crop tool settings:
WIDTH: 100PX
HEIGHT: 100PX
RESOLUTION: 72
CROP GUIDE OVERLAY: Rule of Thirds
SHIELD COLOR: Make sure this box is checked and that the color is black.
OPACITY: 75
The final crop:
COMPOSITION
I'm not really happy with how contrast-y and dark looking it got. I decided that it needed more light to ease up on the intensity of the contrast.
Select All -> Copy-Merge. I didn't paste right away. You'll see why in a minute.
Layer -> New Layer
Select a large soft round brush in white. I chose a 65px brush and painted some blobs on the new layer over the brightest areas of light in the image like so:
The light is too intense, so I lowered the opacity of the layer to 60%.
And that's when I paste the copy from the above step. I set the new copy to Soft Light and here's what we have:
See how nicely 'set' everything is now? The Soft Light layer adds just the right amount of contrast to blend the light blobs. I lowered the opacity of the Soft Light layer to around 30% to avoid more over-contrasting.
But now I'm noticing it's too red. I decided to add a couple more things:
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Color Balance
SHAD: -5, 0, -3
MID: -10, 0, -10
HIGH: 0, 0, -12
Layer -> New Fill Layer -> Solid Color
I picked a yellow color (#efb401) and filled the layer with it. I set the layer to Soft Light at @ 10-20%.
There we go. I'm pretty happy with how that looks.
I wanted more light so I added another layer of light blobs above the ones from the previous step.
Final steps: (of course!)
Copy-Merge + Paste + Blur + Soft Light
Copy-Merge + Paste + Sharpen
Time for the fun part: TEXT! ;D
ADDING TEXT
I know, I know. Everyone hates this part. For as much as I get complimented on my text (which is so flattering and amazing btw), I really loathe adding it to icons. It's hard work! Choosing the right font. Placement. What the words should say. It's time consuming, frustrating and annoying. But it all pays off when you find that right combination and it WORKS and that's worth it. Which is why I haven't given up on text and I don't plan to. Anyway, here's how I went about adding the text to this icon.
I had no clue what I wanted the words to say, so I made something up. LOL. I know. ;) If you watch Ringer, the premise of the show is built all around these carefully constructed lies that all the characters seem to have built their whole lives upon. It's one lie after another. It seemed appropriate to use the word 'lies' and feature it prominently. *shrug* I thought it was kind of a cop out to go with something so obvious, but it worked. And if it ain't broke...
I chose Times New Roman for the text because it's big and impactful and makes a statement. I wanted the word to really stand out because it worked for the subject.
Text Settings ('lies'):
FONT: Times New Roman (BOLD + BOLD ITALIC)
SIZE: 60pt
TRACKING: -75
ANTI-ALIAS: Sharp
And for the tiny text above 'lies', which was 'all these damn lies':
FONT: Times New Roman
SIZE: 4pt
VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL SCALE: 90%
TRACKING: +200
ANTI-ALIAS: Strong
And that's it!
Final:
Original:
CREDITS
Tips from tutorials by imaginary_lives & organza
Ringer screencap provided by misstress_tink at ringer_elite
Please use this tutorial as a guide! I do not provide PSD's, sorry.
to
Made in Photoshop CS5.
Uses Selective Coloring, so may not be translatable.
OVERVIEW
This icon was created for a challenge at ringer_elite, so I can't take credit for the cap choice. However, it has all the elements I love in a good screencap, not to mention Sarah Michelle Gellar! XD This tutorial is going to be pretty cut & dry as it was a fairly simple icon to make. I will not be going into details on layers & tools. You should have good knowledge of your graphics program.
COLORING
I pasted the full size cap into Photoshop, resizing the image down to 400x225. I decided to color the image at this size before I cropped, for some odd reason. :)
To brighten the image:
Duplicate base + Screen + Screen + Screen
More brightening:
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Curves (my curves layer)
To add some contrast:
Back down to the base layer -> Duplicate -> Drag to top of all the layers and set the layer to Soft Light @ 100% opacity.
Slight color adjustments:
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Color Balance
SHAD: 0, 0, 0
MID: +35, +8, +1
HIGH: 0, 0, 0
More contrast:
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels
Input Levels: 0, 0.76, 255
More color (namely red for SMG's lips):
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Selective Color (on the red channel only)
Cyans: 0
Magenta: 0
Yellow: 0
Black: +40
Note: This step could easily be subsituted with a Hue/Saturation layer in combination with a Brightness/Contrast Layer. I'm only using it here for the added color + contrast. The black channel does excellent things for contrast, not only enhancing color, but darkening the 'blacks' that exist in the image.
The coloring (for the most part), is complete for this icon. Of course, I finished up in my usual way:
Copy-Merge + Paste -> Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur -> Radius 5.0 -> Set layer to Soft Light at 30%.
Copy-Merge + Paste -> Filter -> Sharpen -> Reduce opacity of layer to 20%.
CROPPING
Layer -> Merge Visible. This doesn't completely flatten the image. If I'm going to use my crop tool to crop an image I need to be able to move it around to try out different crops. Merge visible allows me to do that. If you completely flatten the image it becomes locked.
Crop tool settings:
WIDTH: 100PX
HEIGHT: 100PX
RESOLUTION: 72
CROP GUIDE OVERLAY: Rule of Thirds
SHIELD COLOR: Make sure this box is checked and that the color is black.
OPACITY: 75
The final crop:
COMPOSITION
I'm not really happy with how contrast-y and dark looking it got. I decided that it needed more light to ease up on the intensity of the contrast.
Select All -> Copy-Merge. I didn't paste right away. You'll see why in a minute.
Layer -> New Layer
Select a large soft round brush in white. I chose a 65px brush and painted some blobs on the new layer over the brightest areas of light in the image like so:
The light is too intense, so I lowered the opacity of the layer to 60%.
And that's when I paste the copy from the above step. I set the new copy to Soft Light and here's what we have:
See how nicely 'set' everything is now? The Soft Light layer adds just the right amount of contrast to blend the light blobs. I lowered the opacity of the Soft Light layer to around 30% to avoid more over-contrasting.
But now I'm noticing it's too red. I decided to add a couple more things:
Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Color Balance
SHAD: -5, 0, -3
MID: -10, 0, -10
HIGH: 0, 0, -12
Layer -> New Fill Layer -> Solid Color
I picked a yellow color (#efb401) and filled the layer with it. I set the layer to Soft Light at @ 10-20%.
There we go. I'm pretty happy with how that looks.
I wanted more light so I added another layer of light blobs above the ones from the previous step.
Final steps: (of course!)
Copy-Merge + Paste + Blur + Soft Light
Copy-Merge + Paste + Sharpen
Time for the fun part: TEXT! ;D
ADDING TEXT
I know, I know. Everyone hates this part. For as much as I get complimented on my text (which is so flattering and amazing btw), I really loathe adding it to icons. It's hard work! Choosing the right font. Placement. What the words should say. It's time consuming, frustrating and annoying. But it all pays off when you find that right combination and it WORKS and that's worth it. Which is why I haven't given up on text and I don't plan to. Anyway, here's how I went about adding the text to this icon.
I had no clue what I wanted the words to say, so I made something up. LOL. I know. ;) If you watch Ringer, the premise of the show is built all around these carefully constructed lies that all the characters seem to have built their whole lives upon. It's one lie after another. It seemed appropriate to use the word 'lies' and feature it prominently. *shrug* I thought it was kind of a cop out to go with something so obvious, but it worked. And if it ain't broke...
I chose Times New Roman for the text because it's big and impactful and makes a statement. I wanted the word to really stand out because it worked for the subject.
Text Settings ('lies'):
FONT: Times New Roman (BOLD + BOLD ITALIC)
SIZE: 60pt
TRACKING: -75
ANTI-ALIAS: Sharp
And for the tiny text above 'lies', which was 'all these damn lies':
FONT: Times New Roman
SIZE: 4pt
VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL SCALE: 90%
TRACKING: +200
ANTI-ALIAS: Strong
And that's it!
Final:
Original:
CREDITS
Tips from tutorials by imaginary_lives & organza
Ringer screencap provided by misstress_tink at ringer_elite
Please use this tutorial as a guide! I do not provide PSD's, sorry.