Coloring Techniques in Photoshop
Ever wondered how to get different sorts of color in your icons? This tutorial shows a few techniques with which to get the effects seen in the following icons. Please have a working knowledge of Photoshop, either independantly or through having read the two previous tutorials.
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Icon 1
From
to
.
Start with your base. Create a new layer and fill it with black.
Change the black layer's blend style to "Saturation". That sets the picture to black and white.
Now, zoom in a couple of steps, and click on the eraser tool (chosing a size for it where you would choose brush size).
Erase the part of the Saturation layer where you would want the color to show through.
There you go!
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Icon Two
From
to
.
This one's pretty easy. Create a new layer on top of your base and fill it in with a color or gradient. I chose a pretty dark purple.
Set that layer to "Color", and you're done!
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Icon 3
From
to
.
Ah, the elusive reddish glare seen in 90% of today's trendy icons. Used properly, it can add a little more interest to a plain icon.
Start with your base. Create a new layer, and fill it with a red-to-black gradient.
Set that layer to "Lighten"...
and lower its opacity.
Voila: trendy icon!
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon 4
From
to
.
This one's the most complicated, but it's not hard.
Start with your base. Add another layer, and fill it with black.
Set it to "Saturation" and lower the opacity a bit.
Create another new layer. Fill this one in with a muted green.
Set it to "Color", and lower the opacity.
Now you'll want to add a mask to the green layer. A "mask" is something that makes the layer see-through in some places. They're a bit hard to explain, but they work in a straightforward way. When you create a mask, it will start out white: that means that the layer is totally opaque. Adding black or other colors (they all will show up as greys on a mask) will make thoes parts of the layer either partially (grey) or totally (black) transparent.
Click on the indicated button to add a mask to the green layer.
There's the mask, all white, linked to the green layer in the layers window.
Now, we want to add a gradient to the mask. Click on the gradient tool, and go up to the little box at the top of your screen that shows your current gradient. Click on the second gradient from the left, on the top row. This gradient is called "Foreground to Transparent".
Choose on a medium color/grey for your foreground color. (Remember, if you're working within the mask, in the color boxes on the toolbar everything will show up as greyscale.) Your current setup should look something like this (though maybe without the 80s music on winamp).
Using your gradient tool, click and drag the mouse to create a grey-to-transparent gradient on one side of the mask.
Lower the opacity again a little bit...
And there you have it!
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon #5
From
to
.
On top of your base, create three layers. Fill the bottom one in black, the second one in a dark color, and the top one in a light color (order matters).
You can click on the eyes next to each layer in the Layers window to view or not view them, though that isn't necessary for this icon. As long as you know the steps, you should be fine.
Set the black layer to "Saturation".
Set the dark layer to "Lighten".
Set the light layer to "Darken". Make sure all the layers are visible, and there you go!
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon #6
From
to
.
Start with your base. Create a new layer, filled with black.
Set it to "Saturation" and lower the opacity a little.
A lot of trendy icons have this faded look, but if you don't use it in every icon you make it becomes a helpful tool.
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon #7
From
to
.
Start with a black and white base. Color bases can be used, but black and white works best. This technique is particularly effective on sketched/drawn images.
Create a new layer, and fill it with a gradient of your choice.
Set that layer to "Screen".
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon #8
From
to
.
This one looks more complicated than it is. I'd reccommend using a black and white base like the one I used-- that or else something with a lot of contrast.
This base didn't have enough contrast.
I duplicated it:
And set the duplicate to "Screen" to get a sharper white.
Now, I pasted in a fractal base that I made (I posted them on obsessiveicons, saying that they have many uses: this is one of them)... you can use a fractal, or any other brightly-colored image.
And set it to "Screen". Voila!
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon 1
From
to
.
Start with your base. Create a new layer and fill it with black.
Change the black layer's blend style to "Saturation". That sets the picture to black and white.
Now, zoom in a couple of steps, and click on the eraser tool (chosing a size for it where you would choose brush size).
Erase the part of the Saturation layer where you would want the color to show through.
There you go!
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon Two
From
to
.
This one's pretty easy. Create a new layer on top of your base and fill it in with a color or gradient. I chose a pretty dark purple.
Set that layer to "Color", and you're done!
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon 3
From
to
.
Ah, the elusive reddish glare seen in 90% of today's trendy icons. Used properly, it can add a little more interest to a plain icon.
Start with your base. Create a new layer, and fill it with a red-to-black gradient.
Set that layer to "Lighten"...
and lower its opacity.
Voila: trendy icon!
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon 4
From
to
.
This one's the most complicated, but it's not hard.
Start with your base. Add another layer, and fill it with black.
Set it to "Saturation" and lower the opacity a bit.
Create another new layer. Fill this one in with a muted green.
Set it to "Color", and lower the opacity.
Now you'll want to add a mask to the green layer. A "mask" is something that makes the layer see-through in some places. They're a bit hard to explain, but they work in a straightforward way. When you create a mask, it will start out white: that means that the layer is totally opaque. Adding black or other colors (they all will show up as greys on a mask) will make thoes parts of the layer either partially (grey) or totally (black) transparent.
Click on the indicated button to add a mask to the green layer.
There's the mask, all white, linked to the green layer in the layers window.
Now, we want to add a gradient to the mask. Click on the gradient tool, and go up to the little box at the top of your screen that shows your current gradient. Click on the second gradient from the left, on the top row. This gradient is called "Foreground to Transparent".
Choose on a medium color/grey for your foreground color. (Remember, if you're working within the mask, in the color boxes on the toolbar everything will show up as greyscale.) Your current setup should look something like this (though maybe without the 80s music on winamp).
Using your gradient tool, click and drag the mouse to create a grey-to-transparent gradient on one side of the mask.
Lower the opacity again a little bit...
And there you have it!
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon #5
From
to
.
On top of your base, create three layers. Fill the bottom one in black, the second one in a dark color, and the top one in a light color (order matters).
You can click on the eyes next to each layer in the Layers window to view or not view them, though that isn't necessary for this icon. As long as you know the steps, you should be fine.
Set the black layer to "Saturation".
Set the dark layer to "Lighten".
Set the light layer to "Darken". Make sure all the layers are visible, and there you go!
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon #6
From
to
.
Start with your base. Create a new layer, filled with black.
Set it to "Saturation" and lower the opacity a little.
A lot of trendy icons have this faded look, but if you don't use it in every icon you make it becomes a helpful tool.
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon #7
From
to
.
Start with a black and white base. Color bases can be used, but black and white works best. This technique is particularly effective on sketched/drawn images.
Create a new layer, and fill it with a gradient of your choice.
Set that layer to "Screen".
--------------- ~*~ ---------------
Icon #8
From
to
.
This one looks more complicated than it is. I'd reccommend using a black and white base like the one I used-- that or else something with a lot of contrast.
This base didn't have enough contrast.
I duplicated it:
And set the duplicate to "Screen" to get a sharper white.
Now, I pasted in a fractal base that I made (I posted them on obsessiveicons, saying that they have many uses: this is one of them)... you can use a fractal, or any other brightly-colored image.
And set it to "Screen". Voila!