Snape Icon Tutorial
Go from 
to
in Photoshop CS.
The difficulty level of this tutorial is moderate to low. It should work for older versions of Photoshop and I think it should translate fairly well to PSP, too. Please don't copy this icon exactly, but feel free to use any and all techniques it contains. I hope you find it useful.
1. I started by taking this screencap from dj43 / dj_capslock, cropping it, reducing it to 100x100, and Sharpening once.
2. I duplicated my base layer and set it to Screen. Then I duplicated the new Screen layer, and Merged all layers. Now back to just one layer, I duplicated that layer three times and set all three new layers to Screen. (It looks really ugly and pixelly but that will get better. )
3. Next, I made yet another duplicate of the base layer. Under the Filters menu, I chose Blur > Gaussian Blur, selecting a radius of 0.7 pixels. I then set my blurred layer to Hard Light and moved it to the top of the layer order.
4. Next, I duplicated one of the (unblurred) Screen layers and moved it to the top of the layer order. Then I duplicated the (blurred) Hard Light layer and moved it to the top of the layer order. At this point, my layers palette looked like this, from bottom to top: Base Layer > Screen > Screen > Screen > Hard Light > Screen > Hard Light.
5. I created a new layer and filled it with solid white, and set that layer to Exclusion. In the layer order, I placed it above those first three Screen layers but below the first Hard Light layer.
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6. Using the polygonal lasso tool, I selected only the background, clipping around Snape's head and shoulder. I created a new layer, filled the selection with solid black, and set the layer to Color. This essentially desaturated the background.
Note: this layer should go at the top of the layer order. From here to the end, each new layer I mention goes on top.
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7. Next I created a new layer and filled it with #C1E8FB (light blue), and set this layer to Soft Light.
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8. Then I created another new layer, filled it with #FFDCC4 (pale peach), and set it to Multiply.
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9. Next, I created a layer underneath the light blue and pale peach layers and used the gradient tool with the color #00082F (navy blue) to create a gradient in the lower left corner of the image. I set this gradient layer to Exclusion.
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10. Next I created yet another layer, set my color picker to #1C8BC6 (bright blue), chose the brush tool (hardness set at 0% so it's got nice soft edges) and painted in the area over Snape's face. I set this layer to Overlay. Then I duplicated it and set the duplicate to Soft Light 50%.
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11. Next, I set my color picker to #DEAF8F (tan), selected my brush, created a new layer, painted that same area over Snape's face, and set the layer to Color Burn. Then I duplicated it and set the duplicate to Color 35%.
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12. Almost there! Then I created yet another new layer, set my color picker to white, and made a gradient in the lower left corner, kept the blending set on Normal, and reduced the opacity to 28%.
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13. That's it! I added some white text (Parker's Hand Bold, 14pt), made a little white dotted line to put under it, and I'm done! (The dotted line is no big deal to make, but I'm sure you can get brushes with that sort of thing. However, if someone wants, I can explain how I made it.)
>
Tutorial format borrowed from the brilliant and talented aiken_4graphics.
to
in Photoshop CS.
The difficulty level of this tutorial is moderate to low. It should work for older versions of Photoshop and I think it should translate fairly well to PSP, too. Please don't copy this icon exactly, but feel free to use any and all techniques it contains. I hope you find it useful.
1. I started by taking this screencap from dj43 / dj_capslock, cropping it, reducing it to 100x100, and Sharpening once.
2. I duplicated my base layer and set it to Screen. Then I duplicated the new Screen layer, and Merged all layers. Now back to just one layer, I duplicated that layer three times and set all three new layers to Screen. (It looks really ugly and pixelly but that will get better. )
3. Next, I made yet another duplicate of the base layer. Under the Filters menu, I chose Blur > Gaussian Blur, selecting a radius of 0.7 pixels. I then set my blurred layer to Hard Light and moved it to the top of the layer order.
4. Next, I duplicated one of the (unblurred) Screen layers and moved it to the top of the layer order. Then I duplicated the (blurred) Hard Light layer and moved it to the top of the layer order. At this point, my layers palette looked like this, from bottom to top: Base Layer > Screen > Screen > Screen > Hard Light > Screen > Hard Light.
5. I created a new layer and filled it with solid white, and set that layer to Exclusion. In the layer order, I placed it above those first three Screen layers but below the first Hard Light layer.
>
6. Using the polygonal lasso tool, I selected only the background, clipping around Snape's head and shoulder. I created a new layer, filled the selection with solid black, and set the layer to Color. This essentially desaturated the background.
Note: this layer should go at the top of the layer order. From here to the end, each new layer I mention goes on top.
>
7. Next I created a new layer and filled it with #C1E8FB (light blue), and set this layer to Soft Light.
>
8. Then I created another new layer, filled it with #FFDCC4 (pale peach), and set it to Multiply.
>
9. Next, I created a layer underneath the light blue and pale peach layers and used the gradient tool with the color #00082F (navy blue) to create a gradient in the lower left corner of the image. I set this gradient layer to Exclusion.
>
10. Next I created yet another layer, set my color picker to #1C8BC6 (bright blue), chose the brush tool (hardness set at 0% so it's got nice soft edges) and painted in the area over Snape's face. I set this layer to Overlay. Then I duplicated it and set the duplicate to Soft Light 50%.
>
>
11. Next, I set my color picker to #DEAF8F (tan), selected my brush, created a new layer, painted that same area over Snape's face, and set the layer to Color Burn. Then I duplicated it and set the duplicate to Color 35%.
>
>
12. Almost there! Then I created yet another new layer, set my color picker to white, and made a gradient in the lower left corner, kept the blending set on Normal, and reduced the opacity to 28%.
>
13. That's it! I added some white text (Parker's Hand Bold, 14pt), made a little white dotted line to put under it, and I'm done! (The dotted line is no big deal to make, but I'm sure you can get brushes with that sort of thing. However, if someone wants, I can explain how I made it.)
>
Tutorial format borrowed from the brilliant and talented aiken_4graphics.