Tutorial 6: Twicon
lali_sweety requested a tutorial for this icon: 
While I did in fact have the psd for this, it turned out that I had flattened lots of the essential layers, basically rendering the psd useless. Long story short, I can't remember exactly what I did, but after a bit of experimenting, I made a copy that's pretty darn close, if I say so myself. So here we go:
Made with PS CS2
No selective coloring, might be translatable
PSD included
1. Get your images out. I'm using two from the Twilight set: here and here. Drool over that first one for as long as necessary (well, unless you're a guy... yeah, awkward), and then paste yours on your canvas. I'm keeping my canvas simple with a random sky stock that I'm pretty sure I got from morgueFile (it's too big to upload, sorry).
(click on thumbnail for bigger version, of course.)
2. Set both image layers' blending mode to Darken.
THAT LOOKS AWFUL. Let's fix that.
3. Put layer masks on both image layers, select the gradient tool (black-to-white gradient selected), select the layer mask on the top layer (Kristin's layer), and get to blending. Clear up any blending imperfections on the layer masks with the brush tool. If you need a more in-depth guide to layer mask blending, check out this tut by me. :)
Remember: using black with the brush tool on the layer mask erases parts of the image, and using white restores parts of the image. Once they look decent, Ctrl+E to merge the two image layers together. A little box will pop up that should ask you whether to apply, preserve, or cancel. Click Apply. If things still look funky after the merging like mine did, go to Edit>Undo, erase those parts on the layer masks that show up after merging, and merge again. Mine ended up like this:
4. Apply a layer mask to the image layer, select the brush tool (color set to black), and erase with a soft, round brush around the bottom edges. Mine's like this:
Done with blending! Wheeeeeee. Merge the image layer with your background layer, crop, resize, whatever, in your method of choice. Just as long as it ends up as 100x100. Mine's like this:
Now, as I said before, I couldn't remember exactly how I did the coloring. So this might look slightly different:
1. Duplicate the base layer twice, and set both layers to Soft Light.
2. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves. Settings = Input: 105, Output: 159
3. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation. Don't change the settings, just set the layer to Soft Light.
4. Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color, fill with #eedcca. Set to Multiply.
5. Duplicate the base again, drag it on top of all the other layers, desaturate it and set to Soft Light.
6. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves. Settings = Input: 118, Output: 144
7. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Color Balance. Settings = Midtones: 0, 0, -27
8. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation. Saturation: -16
9. Duplicate the base again, drag to the top, and set to Soft Light, 50%.
On the left is the original, and on the right is the copy I made with this tut:
Similar? Y/N?
Here's the PSD for the coloring. If you have any questions, ask them, experiment, and enjoy! I love results. ;D *runs off to wash hair*
Like what you see?
WATCH // JOIN
While I did in fact have the psd for this, it turned out that I had flattened lots of the essential layers, basically rendering the psd useless. Long story short, I can't remember exactly what I did, but after a bit of experimenting, I made a copy that's pretty darn close, if I say so myself. So here we go:
Made with PS CS2
No selective coloring, might be translatable
PSD included
1. Get your images out. I'm using two from the Twilight set: here and here. Drool over that first one for as long as necessary (well, unless you're a guy... yeah, awkward), and then paste yours on your canvas. I'm keeping my canvas simple with a random sky stock that I'm pretty sure I got from morgueFile (it's too big to upload, sorry).
(click on thumbnail for bigger version, of course.)
2. Set both image layers' blending mode to Darken.
THAT LOOKS AWFUL. Let's fix that.
3. Put layer masks on both image layers, select the gradient tool (black-to-white gradient selected), select the layer mask on the top layer (Kristin's layer), and get to blending. Clear up any blending imperfections on the layer masks with the brush tool. If you need a more in-depth guide to layer mask blending, check out this tut by me. :)
Remember: using black with the brush tool on the layer mask erases parts of the image, and using white restores parts of the image. Once they look decent, Ctrl+E to merge the two image layers together. A little box will pop up that should ask you whether to apply, preserve, or cancel. Click Apply. If things still look funky after the merging like mine did, go to Edit>Undo, erase those parts on the layer masks that show up after merging, and merge again. Mine ended up like this:
4. Apply a layer mask to the image layer, select the brush tool (color set to black), and erase with a soft, round brush around the bottom edges. Mine's like this:
Done with blending! Wheeeeeee. Merge the image layer with your background layer, crop, resize, whatever, in your method of choice. Just as long as it ends up as 100x100. Mine's like this:
Now, as I said before, I couldn't remember exactly how I did the coloring. So this might look slightly different:
1. Duplicate the base layer twice, and set both layers to Soft Light.
2. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves. Settings = Input: 105, Output: 159
3. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation. Don't change the settings, just set the layer to Soft Light.
4. Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color, fill with #eedcca. Set to Multiply.
5. Duplicate the base again, drag it on top of all the other layers, desaturate it and set to Soft Light.
6. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves. Settings = Input: 118, Output: 144
7. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Color Balance. Settings = Midtones: 0, 0, -27
8. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation. Saturation: -16
9. Duplicate the base again, drag to the top, and set to Soft Light, 50%.
On the left is the original, and on the right is the copy I made with this tut:
Similar? Y/N?
Here's the PSD for the coloring. If you have any questions, ask them, experiment, and enjoy! I love results. ;D *runs off to wash hair*
Like what you see?
WATCH // JOIN