000; TUTORIALS
Please note that tutorial 1 uses a lot of Vibrance layers. Tutorial 2 has a couple, but I think they can be optional. These are for kasiopeia - sorry to you and firstillusion; I couldn't get the other Downton Abbey icon to look right :x
Another tutorial and some textures will be posted in a separate post.
Also hey I wrote these with my brain still worn out from understanding a 3-hour lecture on humanism. Forgive my tenses.
------------
Okay so we're starting with this screencap. As you can see, it's a lovely screencap, but really dark, as with most of DH. I really want to make the two girls the focus without losing all the cool smoke detail, so I cropped it into a rectangle, and resized it to 102 by ##. Why the extra 2 pixels? Because PS is weird; if you go straight to 100 x 100, you get a tiny one-pixel border that gets on my nerves. Maybe you've noticed it, maybe it's just me. Anyway, I then changed the Canvas Size to 100 x ##.
First things first: adding light. I duplicated the base twice and set them both to screen at 100% opacity.
>>>
Then, I got Vibrance-crazy. First I put one Vibrance layer set to +100, normal, 100%. There's some colour. Duplicated the Vibrance layer. Nice electric blues coming out. Duplicated again, and set to soft light for contrast. And then one more Vibrance layer set to 100% Normal.
>>>
Duplicated everything and merge layers. Gaussian blurred it 4-5 times. I set mine to 3.0 pixels by the way. Set this GB layer to soft light. This adds contrast and also a softness to the cap.
>>>
We need to change the canvas size, but if we leave the GB layer as is, we're going to get a weird glow on the top and bottom of the original cap. So what you can do is to use the Crop tool. Just stretch the selection over the entire canvas. This makes all the layers 100 x 62. After that, change canvas size to 100 x 100.
I decided that the icon needed a teeny contrast, so Levels time! I moved the black bit to 25, and left the layer at 100% Normal. Then, I duplicated and merged all the layers again. Idk how best to describe it, so have a picture of how it looked after I fiddled around with the cap. Quite obvious, really lol.
>>>
>>>
And then I thought that the edges looked strange without something easing the breaks. Create a white rectangle a couple of pixels in width and set to soft light, then duplicate. Move them to the top or bottom. Do the same for the other edge.
>>>
DONE. lol.
------------
Okay so for this one, I don't have the original cap lol. It was a request icon, so I just copied the cap right from Photobucket.
Firstly, I resize it to about 600 by xxx pixels. (I think, because the psd I have is icon-sized lol and this was weeks ago XD) Then I use the clone tool to extend the pillars upwards. This takes a while. I clone some bits from the right pillar to the left and vice versa. I also select random bits of the pillars to paste into different places for some variety. And I try to make the pillars uneven and ~natural. Then for the middle bit, I just smudge my way up.
>>>
Looks kind of weird with the pale bit right? I create a new layer, sample the blue-grey, and paint the top bit with a brush set at 80% opacity. Good time to resize to 102 by 102 and then canvas resize to 100 x 100.
>>>
Next, I create a new layer and fill it with a black (top) to white (bottom) gradient - set to soft light at 77%. Why? One, it adds light to the foreground. Two, it hides my ugly pillars.
>>>
>>>
Now we can add some colour and light to this icon. I make a new Levels layer, set to soft light at 100%, with the grey triangle all the way to the left. I then duplicate it and change the opacity to 30%.
>>>
>>>
Needs more colour. I then move to Colour Balance! Mainly, I add Red, Magenta, and Yellow. The original cap tends towards the dark blues and cyans, so I choose all the opposite colours so as to balance the icon. I set this layer to soft light. Then I add a Vibrance layer (+100, soft light, 100%). More colour and contrast. If you don't have Vibrance, I suggest another Colour Balance layer (adjust the midtones to -8, -13, -18) set to soft light.
>>>
>>>
OR W/ COLOUR BALANCE:
kasiopeia asked me how I get my soft glowish colouring, and the answer is soft light and Gaussian Blur with a pinch of Levels and screen. For this icon, you can see a lot of rough edges, and the colours aren't pretty. It's washed out at the moment.
I duplicate all the layers and merge them. Then I use GB (more than 4 times for sure, idk the exact number) and set it to soft light. This hides the top bit of my ugly pillars and adds colour and contrast. I duplicate this GB layer. More colours, more contrast, but oops getting darker! Normally, I stop after two GB layers, but why not experiment? I duplicate the layer again. Now I've got loads of colour, but whoops~ can't see who's who now, can we?
0 GB:
1 GB:
2 GB:
3 GB:
Add a Levels layer. Again, set to soft light, and move the grey triangle all the way to the left. LIGHT. We can also see what the soft light-ed GB layers have done to add a softness to the icon.
>>>
To add more light and more softness, duplicate and merge everything, and GB it quite a few times. Set it to screen. Then take a large soft brush at about 80+% opacity and erase random bits of the layer. I usually go zigzag up and down. This adds light to certain areas of the icon.
>>>
(see here for how my zigzag erase looks like)
But then I see that Ron, Harry, and Neville are still quite dark. Especially Neville, whose face is a tad too magenta. Paint using a soft white brush some blobs over them and set them to 61% soft light. We're nearly done. I then add another Vibrance layer (again, you can play with Colour Balance) set to +100, Normal, 100%. WHOO COLOURS.
>>>
>>>
>>>
Last step is sharpening. I duplicate the base layer and use Unsharp Mask on it (my settings: 38%, 1.0 pixels). I let it stay at 100% Normal, because it's wayyyy down the layers and therefore the sharpness is reduced. Also, the three GB layers help maintain the softness. Done.
>>>
AAAAND DONE. I have never done a tutorial before, so I hope these make sense <3
Another tutorial and some textures will be posted in a separate post.
Also hey I wrote these with my brain still worn out from understanding a 3-hour lecture on humanism. Forgive my tenses.
------------
Okay so we're starting with this screencap. As you can see, it's a lovely screencap, but really dark, as with most of DH. I really want to make the two girls the focus without losing all the cool smoke detail, so I cropped it into a rectangle, and resized it to 102 by ##. Why the extra 2 pixels? Because PS is weird; if you go straight to 100 x 100, you get a tiny one-pixel border that gets on my nerves. Maybe you've noticed it, maybe it's just me. Anyway, I then changed the Canvas Size to 100 x ##.
First things first: adding light. I duplicated the base twice and set them both to screen at 100% opacity.
>>>
Then, I got Vibrance-crazy. First I put one Vibrance layer set to +100, normal, 100%. There's some colour. Duplicated the Vibrance layer. Nice electric blues coming out. Duplicated again, and set to soft light for contrast. And then one more Vibrance layer set to 100% Normal.
>>>
Duplicated everything and merge layers. Gaussian blurred it 4-5 times. I set mine to 3.0 pixels by the way. Set this GB layer to soft light. This adds contrast and also a softness to the cap.
>>>
We need to change the canvas size, but if we leave the GB layer as is, we're going to get a weird glow on the top and bottom of the original cap. So what you can do is to use the Crop tool. Just stretch the selection over the entire canvas. This makes all the layers 100 x 62. After that, change canvas size to 100 x 100.
I decided that the icon needed a teeny contrast, so Levels time! I moved the black bit to 25, and left the layer at 100% Normal. Then, I duplicated and merged all the layers again. Idk how best to describe it, so have a picture of how it looked after I fiddled around with the cap. Quite obvious, really lol.
>>>
>>>
And then I thought that the edges looked strange without something easing the breaks. Create a white rectangle a couple of pixels in width and set to soft light, then duplicate. Move them to the top or bottom. Do the same for the other edge.
>>>
DONE. lol.
------------
Okay so for this one, I don't have the original cap lol. It was a request icon, so I just copied the cap right from Photobucket.
Firstly, I resize it to about 600 by xxx pixels. (I think, because the psd I have is icon-sized lol and this was weeks ago XD) Then I use the clone tool to extend the pillars upwards. This takes a while. I clone some bits from the right pillar to the left and vice versa. I also select random bits of the pillars to paste into different places for some variety. And I try to make the pillars uneven and ~natural. Then for the middle bit, I just smudge my way up.
>>>
Looks kind of weird with the pale bit right? I create a new layer, sample the blue-grey, and paint the top bit with a brush set at 80% opacity. Good time to resize to 102 by 102 and then canvas resize to 100 x 100.
>>>
Next, I create a new layer and fill it with a black (top) to white (bottom) gradient - set to soft light at 77%. Why? One, it adds light to the foreground. Two, it hides my ugly pillars.
>>>
>>>
Now we can add some colour and light to this icon. I make a new Levels layer, set to soft light at 100%, with the grey triangle all the way to the left. I then duplicate it and change the opacity to 30%.
>>>
>>>
Needs more colour. I then move to Colour Balance! Mainly, I add Red, Magenta, and Yellow. The original cap tends towards the dark blues and cyans, so I choose all the opposite colours so as to balance the icon. I set this layer to soft light. Then I add a Vibrance layer (+100, soft light, 100%). More colour and contrast. If you don't have Vibrance, I suggest another Colour Balance layer (adjust the midtones to -8, -13, -18) set to soft light.
>>>
>>>
OR W/ COLOUR BALANCE:
kasiopeia asked me how I get my soft glowish colouring, and the answer is soft light and Gaussian Blur with a pinch of Levels and screen. For this icon, you can see a lot of rough edges, and the colours aren't pretty. It's washed out at the moment.
I duplicate all the layers and merge them. Then I use GB (more than 4 times for sure, idk the exact number) and set it to soft light. This hides the top bit of my ugly pillars and adds colour and contrast. I duplicate this GB layer. More colours, more contrast, but oops getting darker! Normally, I stop after two GB layers, but why not experiment? I duplicate the layer again. Now I've got loads of colour, but whoops~ can't see who's who now, can we?
0 GB:
1 GB:
2 GB:
3 GB:
Add a Levels layer. Again, set to soft light, and move the grey triangle all the way to the left. LIGHT. We can also see what the soft light-ed GB layers have done to add a softness to the icon.
>>>
To add more light and more softness, duplicate and merge everything, and GB it quite a few times. Set it to screen. Then take a large soft brush at about 80+% opacity and erase random bits of the layer. I usually go zigzag up and down. This adds light to certain areas of the icon.
>>>
(see here for how my zigzag erase looks like)
But then I see that Ron, Harry, and Neville are still quite dark. Especially Neville, whose face is a tad too magenta. Paint using a soft white brush some blobs over them and set them to 61% soft light. We're nearly done. I then add another Vibrance layer (again, you can play with Colour Balance) set to +100, Normal, 100%. WHOO COLOURS.
>>>
>>>
>>>
Last step is sharpening. I duplicate the base layer and use Unsharp Mask on it (my settings: 38%, 1.0 pixels). I let it stay at 100% Normal, because it's wayyyy down the layers and therefore the sharpness is reduced. Also, the three GB layers help maintain the softness. Done.
>>>
AAAAND DONE. I have never done a tutorial before, so I hope these make sense <3