(no subject)
Well, I haven't done a tut since Christmas, so I figured it was about time. I had some people choose this one over the other Way, way, way shorter icon I offered to do a tut on, so I hope that it's helpful and that I did't ramble too much. This tutorial is long, since it involves multiple images and I tried to give you an idea of the coloring first, then explain the cropping. That said, keep in mind, the particular coloring doesn't matter that much, as long as you remember to choose with images that pick up the same coloring well. Some screencaps or promos pick up blue nicely while others tend to give you really odd, reddish looking skin tones. Whatever coloring you choose to use for your icon, make sure that the bases you end up with compliment each other in terms of coloring.
The icon was made for obiwanstillness using caps by leia06.
We'll be going from this and this to
This is a PSP 8 Tutorial. Translates easily to other versions of the program; not sure about PS and GIMP since I haven't tried it. Like all my tuts, this is meant to be beginner friendly, so there are detailed explanations, even about things that you may find obvious if you've been doing this for a while. My goal is to answer questions I have been asked and to address issues I've seen around the icon sharing comms. Feel free to skip anything you don't need.
*Image and texture credits can be found in my resource post.
Tutorial 16: Cropping With Obi, or: How to Make the Nifty White Thing Without Brushes
Step 1: Choose and image and resize it to fit a 100x100 canvas. There are a couple of ways to do this depending on the technique you're using for the icon, or just personal preference. This is the way I find simplest:
Step 1: Choose an image and crop to 100x100.
-- With your image open, go to File>New and open a new blank image, 100x100. Then go back to your original picture, click on the layer in your layer palette and drag from the layer palette onto the blank base. You'll end up with something that looks totally wrong, but hang in there. Now go to Image> resize and set it to anything between 75-20 percent, depending on the image. Make sure the box that says "resize all layers is not checked. Click OK. If it's too big or too small, just undo and mess with it until you get what you like. For these caps, I used 20 percent. Then just use your move tool to slide the image over until you have it where you like.
In this case, one half of Obi-Wan's face is deep in the shadow, and I am chronically lazy, so rather than deal with trying to even his features, I cropped it so that half of his face wasn't showing and figured out a way to use the ugly purple/pink light on the cap to my advantage--
Additional explanation for why I do my resizing this way, since it apparently caused some confusion for a person reading an earlier tutorial. When I first started making icons, one of the most difficult aspects for me was getting that 100x100 square to contain meaningful information. This is a common pitfall with beginning icon makers, and one of the reasons that you will often see the image centered in the canvas, because the impulse is to get as much of the image as possible. This method gives the icon maker a way to try out different crops quickly and easily, without having to go back to the source cap and cutting pieces again.. I have a habit of changing my mind halfway through anything I do--as evidenced by the multiple variations I tend to do of most icons--so, this give me the freedom to do that.
The crop tool doesn't give me enough leeway to move the image and try things before I commit to a crop, plus I didn't start out having the best eye to be able to pick out which part of a picture I wanted. Using the selection tool to create a 100x100 selection and cut it out of your source image works better. You can move the image around the canvas so that different parts are within the selection, giving you the opportunity to see what you want, but again, once you actually copy or cut that selected portion and paste it into your icon canvas, if you decide you don't like the crop later, you have to start the icon over
Step 2: Sharpen the base if needed.
--Adjust>sharpness>sharpen. Only once Sometimes you can get away with twice, but very rarely. If I find a base still blurry, I duplicate the layer, then sharpen the duplicate. This way, if it's too sharp, I can just lower the opacity. There are a few methods (like heck and then smooth the skin, for example) that will sometimes look good with a lot of sharpening, but in my opinion it only works about 1/3 of the time and the rest it leaves you with an icon that is rather frightening in appearance.
More explanation. I try to be somewhat picky about image quality to start with. If it needs that much sharpening, chances are that your finished icon is not going to be very good anyway. This is another thing I've seen a lot with new icon makers, and sadly, sometimes those who should know better. Just because you've found a source image that looks like your subject is standing the way you want or smiling nicely does not mean that the picture is a good source for graphic art, even icons. You don't need really, really big HQ caps for icons, necessarily. The image is going to be resized anyway. Dark images are okay for the most part, since that is fairly easy to fix. But, if it's grainy, oddly colored, washed out, over-sharpened or blurry to begin with, you are setting yourself up for a mediocre icon at the very best. Unless you are truly skilled enough with your image program to know how to correct these problems before you even think about making the icon, I recommend that you find a better source.
Step 3: Brighten the image.
Layers>Duplicate. Set the duplicate to screen.
(To do this, make sure the base layer is highlighted and click where it says "Normal" on your layer palette. From the drop down menu, choose "Screen.)
If it looks washed out or too bright, lower the opacity of the screen layer.
(To do this, move the slider on your layer palette down from 100 until you are happy with it.)
Step 4: Coloring.
I just wanted something quick that would work with both caps, so I used this by patterne.
It's one of my favorites, but it didn't work so well with Obi-Wan here. First he's too dark, and pinkish.
Copy and paste as a new layer. Set the blend mode to overlay. I used a 20% opacity here, but don't be afraid to experiment.
-He's too yellow, so I duplicate my base, set to screen and drag to the top of the layer palette. Lower the opacity to about 30 and you have this.
-Now I wanted to soften the colors a bit more, so I duplicate the exclusion layer and drag it just under the top screen layer of my layer palette.
Despite the use of them here, blue exclusion layers are not my favorite at all. They tend to make things faded and/or jaundiced. I hoped that the screen layer would counteract some of the yellowish look, and it did to a degree, but the icon still has this *cough* lovely 50 year old postage stamp look.
-When I want to fix this the first thing I try is this:
on burn @ 100 between the exclusion layer and the top screen layer in your palette. Duplicate it maybe a couple of times depending on your picture. If it looks weird, increase the opacity of the screen layer until you have something you like.
Now I have this, which I actually like. The problem is, this is really similar coloring to the Prequel Trilogy set I recently posted even though I used a different coloring method for them. This is an icontest entry, so I want something different. I happen to be having my own version of a "blue period" at the moment. (Call me Picaso) So, I added a color balance layer. Remember color balance settings don't work the same for every image. Play with the sliders.
When I first started using color balance, I tended toward very drastic changes. Like, I've got ice-blue and jade-green Teal'c floating around my PB account. (No, don't go looking.) Don't be afraid to move the sliders around, but try not to end up with icon subjects who look like SMURFS. Unless your subject isn't human, you want the skin to still look like human skin even though it picks up some of the color.
-Layers>New Adjustment Layer>Color Balance
In the dialog box that opens, you should see three boxes with number values in them. Below that, you'll see those sliders I was talking about. Below those you'll see three buttons--Shadows, Midtones, Highlights.
Their names are pretty much self explanatory, so I won't go into a big spiel, but try playing with all of them when you're looking to create an effect. You can change the settings either by moving the sliders or by imputing numbers in the boxes. Start with these values as a guide, and experiment to see what works for your icon.
Preserve Luminance box should be checked
Select the Shadows button. Settings: -45, 0, 30
Select the Midtones button. Settings: -60, -20, 60
Select the Highlights button: Settings: -15, -15, -20
It's a bit dark, so I duplicated the screen layer again, dragged it to top, and then lowered the opacity until the icon was brighter but not blinding. The exact setting will vary.
Step 5: Repeat steps 1-4 on the second screencap. I get this:
Step 6: Combine the images
Now I've got two very nice icons, which I'd planned to enter into the icontest as they were, but as I looked at them, I noticed a really obvious symmetry between them, so I decided to combine the two.
-Open a new PSP image 100x100.
-Go back to one of the icons and go to
Edit>Copy Merged.
-On the blank canvas, go to
Edit> Paste> Paste As New Layer.
Repeat for the second icon
-Now, use your move tool to position the images how you want them on the canvas. The bottom one should overlap the top somewhat, but make sure that enough of the top is visible. I wanted to emphasize Obi-Wan's eye, so I focused on that.
Step 6: Tweaking the coloring (optional)
Now I got nitpicky. As mentioned, I'm going through a blue phase, and I decided that this icon wasn't quite blue or bright enough to suit me, So, I added a color balance layer with the same settings as the one we did earlier on the bases.
Set this one to screen and play with the opacity until you have it as you want, or just don't bother.
Step 7: The Nifty White Thing
I have lots of soft brushes and things like that which can accomplish the same thing, but sometimes I'm picky and it takes longer to find the brush I want than just to do it this way.
-create a new Raster Layer
-Use your rectangular selection tool to create a narrow selection along the edge between the two pictures. I won't give you an exact pixel size here because I don't remember because it's really a matter of preference anyway, but you want just a thin rectangle from one side of the icon to the other.
-Make sure the new raster layer you just created is highlighted in your layer palette. This way your white thing is on its own layer and you can stretch or squish it if you need to without messing up your icon.
-Go to Selections>Modify>Feather Selection and set the feathering anywhere between 3 and 6, depending how solid you want the white and how big your original selection is.
-Now, flood fill the selection with a very light gray (I don't remember exactly which one I used)
-Flood fill again, on the same layer, with white.
-Stretch or squish as needed.
For an accent, I added a line of 1pt text in Verdana. It doesn't particularly matter what it says, but I was looking at Anakin at the time, and I typed "Why don't you ever listen to me?" a couple of times.
The icon was made for obiwanstillness using caps by leia06.
We'll be going from this and this to
This is a PSP 8 Tutorial. Translates easily to other versions of the program; not sure about PS and GIMP since I haven't tried it. Like all my tuts, this is meant to be beginner friendly, so there are detailed explanations, even about things that you may find obvious if you've been doing this for a while. My goal is to answer questions I have been asked and to address issues I've seen around the icon sharing comms. Feel free to skip anything you don't need.
*Image and texture credits can be found in my resource post.
Tutorial 16: Cropping With Obi, or: How to Make the Nifty White Thing Without Brushes
Step 1: Choose and image and resize it to fit a 100x100 canvas. There are a couple of ways to do this depending on the technique you're using for the icon, or just personal preference. This is the way I find simplest:
Step 1: Choose an image and crop to 100x100.
-- With your image open, go to File>New and open a new blank image, 100x100. Then go back to your original picture, click on the layer in your layer palette and drag from the layer palette onto the blank base. You'll end up with something that looks totally wrong, but hang in there. Now go to Image> resize and set it to anything between 75-20 percent, depending on the image. Make sure the box that says "resize all layers is not checked. Click OK. If it's too big or too small, just undo and mess with it until you get what you like. For these caps, I used 20 percent. Then just use your move tool to slide the image over until you have it where you like.
In this case, one half of Obi-Wan's face is deep in the shadow, and I am chronically lazy, so rather than deal with trying to even his features, I cropped it so that half of his face wasn't showing and figured out a way to use the ugly purple/pink light on the cap to my advantage--
Additional explanation for why I do my resizing this way, since it apparently caused some confusion for a person reading an earlier tutorial. When I first started making icons, one of the most difficult aspects for me was getting that 100x100 square to contain meaningful information. This is a common pitfall with beginning icon makers, and one of the reasons that you will often see the image centered in the canvas, because the impulse is to get as much of the image as possible. This method gives the icon maker a way to try out different crops quickly and easily, without having to go back to the source cap and cutting pieces again.. I have a habit of changing my mind halfway through anything I do--as evidenced by the multiple variations I tend to do of most icons--so, this give me the freedom to do that.
The crop tool doesn't give me enough leeway to move the image and try things before I commit to a crop, plus I didn't start out having the best eye to be able to pick out which part of a picture I wanted. Using the selection tool to create a 100x100 selection and cut it out of your source image works better. You can move the image around the canvas so that different parts are within the selection, giving you the opportunity to see what you want, but again, once you actually copy or cut that selected portion and paste it into your icon canvas, if you decide you don't like the crop later, you have to start the icon over
Step 2: Sharpen the base if needed.
--Adjust>sharpness>sharpen. Only once Sometimes you can get away with twice, but very rarely. If I find a base still blurry, I duplicate the layer, then sharpen the duplicate. This way, if it's too sharp, I can just lower the opacity. There are a few methods (like heck and then smooth the skin, for example) that will sometimes look good with a lot of sharpening, but in my opinion it only works about 1/3 of the time and the rest it leaves you with an icon that is rather frightening in appearance.
More explanation. I try to be somewhat picky about image quality to start with. If it needs that much sharpening, chances are that your finished icon is not going to be very good anyway. This is another thing I've seen a lot with new icon makers, and sadly, sometimes those who should know better. Just because you've found a source image that looks like your subject is standing the way you want or smiling nicely does not mean that the picture is a good source for graphic art, even icons. You don't need really, really big HQ caps for icons, necessarily. The image is going to be resized anyway. Dark images are okay for the most part, since that is fairly easy to fix. But, if it's grainy, oddly colored, washed out, over-sharpened or blurry to begin with, you are setting yourself up for a mediocre icon at the very best. Unless you are truly skilled enough with your image program to know how to correct these problems before you even think about making the icon, I recommend that you find a better source.
Step 3: Brighten the image.
Layers>Duplicate. Set the duplicate to screen.
(To do this, make sure the base layer is highlighted and click where it says "Normal" on your layer palette. From the drop down menu, choose "Screen.)
If it looks washed out or too bright, lower the opacity of the screen layer.
(To do this, move the slider on your layer palette down from 100 until you are happy with it.)
Step 4: Coloring.
I just wanted something quick that would work with both caps, so I used this by patterne.
It's one of my favorites, but it didn't work so well with Obi-Wan here. First he's too dark, and pinkish.
Copy and paste as a new layer. Set the blend mode to overlay. I used a 20% opacity here, but don't be afraid to experiment.
-He's too yellow, so I duplicate my base, set to screen and drag to the top of the layer palette. Lower the opacity to about 30 and you have this.
-Now I wanted to soften the colors a bit more, so I duplicate the exclusion layer and drag it just under the top screen layer of my layer palette.
Despite the use of them here, blue exclusion layers are not my favorite at all. They tend to make things faded and/or jaundiced. I hoped that the screen layer would counteract some of the yellowish look, and it did to a degree, but the icon still has this *cough* lovely 50 year old postage stamp look.
-When I want to fix this the first thing I try is this:
on burn @ 100 between the exclusion layer and the top screen layer in your palette. Duplicate it maybe a couple of times depending on your picture. If it looks weird, increase the opacity of the screen layer until you have something you like.
Now I have this, which I actually like. The problem is, this is really similar coloring to the Prequel Trilogy set I recently posted even though I used a different coloring method for them. This is an icontest entry, so I want something different. I happen to be having my own version of a "blue period" at the moment. (Call me Picaso) So, I added a color balance layer. Remember color balance settings don't work the same for every image. Play with the sliders.
When I first started using color balance, I tended toward very drastic changes. Like, I've got ice-blue and jade-green Teal'c floating around my PB account. (No, don't go looking.) Don't be afraid to move the sliders around, but try not to end up with icon subjects who look like SMURFS. Unless your subject isn't human, you want the skin to still look like human skin even though it picks up some of the color.
-Layers>New Adjustment Layer>Color Balance
In the dialog box that opens, you should see three boxes with number values in them. Below that, you'll see those sliders I was talking about. Below those you'll see three buttons--Shadows, Midtones, Highlights.
Their names are pretty much self explanatory, so I won't go into a big spiel, but try playing with all of them when you're looking to create an effect. You can change the settings either by moving the sliders or by imputing numbers in the boxes. Start with these values as a guide, and experiment to see what works for your icon.
Preserve Luminance box should be checked
Select the Shadows button. Settings: -45, 0, 30
Select the Midtones button. Settings: -60, -20, 60
Select the Highlights button: Settings: -15, -15, -20
It's a bit dark, so I duplicated the screen layer again, dragged it to top, and then lowered the opacity until the icon was brighter but not blinding. The exact setting will vary.
Step 5: Repeat steps 1-4 on the second screencap. I get this:
Step 6: Combine the images
Now I've got two very nice icons, which I'd planned to enter into the icontest as they were, but as I looked at them, I noticed a really obvious symmetry between them, so I decided to combine the two.
-Open a new PSP image 100x100.
-Go back to one of the icons and go to
Edit>Copy Merged.
-On the blank canvas, go to
Edit> Paste> Paste As New Layer.
Repeat for the second icon
-Now, use your move tool to position the images how you want them on the canvas. The bottom one should overlap the top somewhat, but make sure that enough of the top is visible. I wanted to emphasize Obi-Wan's eye, so I focused on that.
Step 6: Tweaking the coloring (optional)
Now I got nitpicky. As mentioned, I'm going through a blue phase, and I decided that this icon wasn't quite blue or bright enough to suit me, So, I added a color balance layer with the same settings as the one we did earlier on the bases.
Set this one to screen and play with the opacity until you have it as you want, or just don't bother.
Step 7: The Nifty White Thing
I have lots of soft brushes and things like that which can accomplish the same thing, but sometimes I'm picky and it takes longer to find the brush I want than just to do it this way.
-create a new Raster Layer
-Use your rectangular selection tool to create a narrow selection along the edge between the two pictures. I won't give you an exact pixel size here because I don't remember because it's really a matter of preference anyway, but you want just a thin rectangle from one side of the icon to the other.
-Make sure the new raster layer you just created is highlighted in your layer palette. This way your white thing is on its own layer and you can stretch or squish it if you need to without messing up your icon.
-Go to Selections>Modify>Feather Selection and set the feathering anywhere between 3 and 6, depending how solid you want the white and how big your original selection is.
-Now, flood fill the selection with a very light gray (I don't remember exactly which one I used)
-Flood fill again, on the same layer, with white.
-Stretch or squish as needed.
For an accent, I added a line of 1pt text in Verdana. It doesn't particularly matter what it says, but I was looking at Anakin at the time, and I typed "Why don't you ever listen to me?" a couple of times.