Extra Unique Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - PSD Vault » Abstracts

Create Realistic Laser Beam Effect Inspired by Battlefield 3 Cover Art in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:57:49 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to Create this Abstract Text Effect with Metal Texture and Cloud Effect in Photoshop. This is a beginner level tutorial and the steps should be quite easy to follow, have a try :)

This tutorial is inspired by the Battlefield 3 game Cover Art and we will be mainly using brush options and filter effect to render this laser beam.

Clever sticker printing designs can be used as gift labels and are great around the holiday season.

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

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OK Let’s get started!

No stock image is required for this tutorial. However, if you wish to add that stone ground in my final image, you download the texture here.

Step 1

Create a new document (size doesn’t really matter) with black background – Let’s start by creating a particle brush: grab a soft 45px brush from the default brush set:

Then press F5 to bring up the Brush window, apply the following brush options:

Shape Dynamics

Scattering

Other Dynamics

And make sure you tick the “Smoothing” option.

Save this brush, create a new layer and test it out on it- you will have the following effect:

Step 2

Now let’s turn those particle into laser beams. Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and apply some Motion Blur to the dots we’ve just painted on the new layer:

and you will have the following effect:

Then press Ctrl + F to re-apply this motion blur filter twice:

Use the free transform tool to scale it down a bit:

Then duplicate this Laser beam layer 5 times, and merge those layers together, you will have the following effect:

Duplicate this merged layer a few times, rotate and scatter them around the canvas as shown below:

On each laser beam layer, you can use a soft eraser (50% flow and opacity) to remove some parts so it looks like passing through the air:

Step 3

Let’s add some light effect to the image – grab a soft white brush and paint three dots to the position shown below:

Hint: For more image depth, use three different sized brush, and set their smallest brush to have the highest opacity, and the biggest brush to have the lowest opacity.

And we can create some light particles by creating a new layer, paint a small white dot with a soft brush, and use the warp tool to warp it as shown below:

You will have the following shape after the Warping:

Duplicate this layer a few times and scatter those particles around the centre light:

Step 4

Now we can add some blurring effect around the laser – you can create this effect by repeating the Step 2 (but without press Ctrl + F to re-apply the motion blur filter):

Make a few duplicates of those blurring effect layers and attach them to the laser beams around the canvas:

Hint: You can adjust the layer opacity of each duplicated layer to generate more image depth.

Create a new layer and use the particle brush we created in Step 1 to add some particles around the laser beam:

Step 5

We’re almost done :) For some extra effect, we can add some particles with a 1px hard brush on the Laser Beams:

And paint some soft light on the bottom witha soft white brush:

Also you can add some extra light dots in the centre with a soft white brush:

Optionally, you can add some ground texture with cloud and the crack texture you downloaded: (If you would like to how to make this ground from the crack texture, please drop me a comment below)

Step 6

OK for the final step, we can flatten the image and duplicate the background layer, apply the following Reduce Noise Filter to the duplicate layer to sharpen the image a bit:

Then we can add some colour effect to the image to make it look better. Here I decided to add some golden/fiery colour scheme with the following 2 adjustment layers:

Selective Color

Colour Balance

and here is the final effect for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful :) Till next time, have a great day!

Create an Abstract Golden Circle with Smoke Brushset in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 10:56:41 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you how you can Create an Abstract Golden Circle with Smoke Brushset in Photoshop. This is a beginner level tutorial and should be quite easy to follow. Have a try :)

Along the way, we focus on introducing the use of custom brushsets and the free transform tool, as well as some selection and masking techniques.

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

OK Let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stocks:

Smoke Brush

Step 1

Create a new document (size doesn’t really matter) with black background. Create a new layer and grab the Elliptical Marquee tool with the following settings:

Hold down the Shift key, and draw a circle shape as shown below:

Right-click on the selection and select “Stroke”:

Stroke the selection with the following settings: (2px with white colour)

Reduce the opacity of this layer to around 40%, and here is the effect so far:

Step 2

Now let’s use the smoke brushset to add some textures around the circle. Create a new layer and pick one brush from the set, paint as shown below: (Reduce the brush size to a smaller scale before you paint)

Use the Warp tool to adjust the shape of the smoke texture as shown below:

Use a soft eraser to remove the edge of the smoke texture so it fades into the circle:

If you’re having a hard time with this step, check out this video tutorial I have below:

Duplicate this smoke texture layer a few times and attach each of those layers around the circle:

Hint: Use the free transform tool to rotate each layer and adjust the shapes as you go.

Merge all these layers of smoke textures together, and duplicate this merged layer a few times. Use the free transform tool to rotate and resize the duplicated layer a few times, in order to add some more effect:

Create a new layer and paint some smoke texture inside the circle, then reduce the layer opacity to around 20%:

Add the following levels adjustment layer on top of all previous layers:

Add the following layer mask on this levels adjustment layer:

Here is the effect so far: (As you can see, by adding this levels adjustment layer, we increase the contrast and depth of the smoke texture)

Step 3

Now let’s add some simple light effect on the circle. Create a new layer on top of all the previous layers, and use a soft white brush to do a single click to the position shown below:

Warp this layer with the warp tool and transform this light dot into a curvy shape as shown below:

As you can see, now we have some highlight on the circle:

Duplicate this light layer a few times to enhance this light effect a bit:

Repeat this process and add some highlights on the top left corner of the circle:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 4

We can add some cloud effect around the circle. To do this, create a new layer and draw a circle selection with the elliptical marquee tool (40px feather), render some cloud with the cloud filter within the selection:

Hit Ctrl + L and apply the following levels adjustment to this cloud layer:

Then use the warp tool to warp the cloud as shown below: (this creates some motions around circle)

and you will have have following effect so far:

Step 5

OK we’re almost done! For some final retouches, we can add the following extra effect to improve the overall result.

I added some smoke texture on top and bottom of the circle for some extra flowing effect:

I also added some particle effect around the circle: (For details steps of creating this particle brush, you can check out Step 3 of this tutorial)

To add some golden colour to the image, I added one Color Balance adjustment layer on top of all layers:

Lastly we can flatten the image, then apply this Reduce Noise filter settings below: (By doing so we can sharpen the effect, and reduce the colour noise for the circle shape)

and here is my final effect for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful! Till next time, have a great day!

Create a Final Fantasy VII Lifestream-Like Abstract Design in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 11:01:44 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Final Fantasy VII Lifestream Like Abstract Design in Photoshop. This is a beginner level tutorial with lots of detailed screenshots. Have a try :)

If you happen to be a fan of Final Fantasy VII like me, you will know what I’m talking about and where the idea came from. If not, check out this image here.

I tried to keep the steps as few as possible for this tutorial – so if you’re a Photoshop beginner, you won’t be overwhelmed with information. In this mean time, you can check out my other basic Photoshop tutorials here.

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

Ok Let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document with black background, size doesn’t really matter in this tutorial. Press the “P” key to select the Pen Tool, draw a work path as shown below:

Hint: you can check out this Pen Tool Guide if you happen to fresh to Pen Tool.

Once you’ve drawn the path, select the brush tool and apply the following settings: (5px, 95% hardness)

Press “P” to select the Pen Tool again, right-click on the path and choose “Stroke Path”:

Stroke the path with the brush we selected, tick the Simulate Pressure setting:

Here is the stroke effect: (I used the green colour here)

Duplicate this layer once, hit Ctrl + T and rotate it slightly counter-clockwise, move it to left a little as shown below:

Repeat this process, duplicate a few more lines, rotate and move each line slightly to form the following effect:

When you’re happy with the shape, merge those layers together by selecting all of them in layer palette, right-click on one of the layers and choose “Merge Layers”. Duplicate the merged layer a few times, rotate, resize them with Free Transform Tool to form the effect shown below:

Adjust the layer opacity of each duplicated layer to create some image depth:

Step 2

Now we can paint some crystal dots around the stream symbolising some sort of life form. We can use brush dynamics to achieve this effect. So grab the brush tool with the following settings:

Scattering

Other Dynamics

and make sure you tick Airbrush and Smoothing options.

Use this brush to paint some dots around the stream lines with green/blue colour:

After you’ve done the painting, apply the Sharpen filter on this dots layer:

As you can see, now the dots look sharper and crystal-like:

and here is the overall effect so far:

Optional: You can also paint some dots on the background to add some depth for the image. You can use a softer brush as shown below and use it to paint around the canvas:

Step 3

Now we can add some starry background to the image by creating a new layer just above the background layer, and use some space brushes to paint over it.

We can then flatten the image, then duplicate the background layer and apply some Motion blur to the duplicated layer:

Change the blending mode of this motion blur layer to “Screen” and drop its opacity to around 60%:

and here is the final effect of this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful! Till next time, have a great day!

Create Realistic Rain Drop via Brush Tool in Photoshop

James Qu — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:32:35 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you a quick and clever way to Create Realistic Rain Drop via Brush Tool in Photoshop. Personally I think this is the most efficient way of creating rainy effect, have a try :)

This is a basic tutorial great for beginners who would like to have a practice on the use of brush tool and various other features.

Here is the effect you’re aiming to achieve:

A practical example can be seen in this image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickmonkel/5131176801/in/pool-969234@N23/

No stock image required to achieve this effect.

OK Let’s get started!

Create a new document (size doesn’t really matter here), fill the background with black colour. Create a new layer and grab a 1px, hard round brush:

On the new layer, choose a point, hold down the Shift key and use your mouse/or tablet pen, flick it upwards:

Rotate this layer slightly to the right via Free Transform Tool (Ctrl + T):

Then turn off the background layer, and go to Image > Trim and apply the following trim setting:

After the trim, you will have only the brush area left. Hit Ctrl + A to select the brush layer:

Go to Edit > Define Brush Set and define a brush set, name it “rain brush” and hit ok:

Press F5 and bring up the brush dynamics window, apply the following brush dynamics:

Shape Dynamics

Scattering

Other Dynamics

and tick the “Airbrush”, “Smoothing”, “Protect Texture” options.

That’s it! Now you can use this brush to paint on a new layer and you will have this rain drop effect below:

Hint: you can also adjust the flow and opacity of the brush to create more depth.

Make sure you save this brush so you can use it in the future.

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful! Till next time, have a great day!

Create Awesome Abstract Artwork with Clone Stamp Tool in Photoshop

James Qu — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:42:09 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to Create Awesome Abstract Artwork with Clone Stamp Tool in Photoshop. The main focus of this tutorial is the use of clone stamp tool and how to combine it with Pen Tool to create abstract patterns quickly and effectively. Have a try!

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (Click to Enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $6.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 70+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

Ok Let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stock:

Grungy Texture (choose the first one from the pack)

Model

Step 1

Load the Grungy Texture into Photoshop, crop out the middle section as shown below:

Add the following two adjustment layers on top:

Hue/Saturation

Levels

and you will have the following effect:

Step 2

Load the model image into Photoshop, cut out the model and paste it onto our canvas. Don’t worry if the selection is not perfect, this is not the focus of this tutorial.

Add the following two adjustment layer as clipping mask on top of the model layer:

Curves

Levels

Mask on Levels adjustment layer:

and you will have the following effect:

Step 3

Now let’s add some variety into the image. Duplicate the original model layer, reduce its size and rotate it as shown below:

Add the following black and white adjustment layer as clipping mask to this duplicated layer:

and you will have the following effect:

On the layer mask of the black and white adjustment layer, use a hard round brush to erase some parts as shown below:

and you will have the following effect:

Duplicate the original mask layer again, resize and put of the hand as shown below:

Add the following black and white adjustment layer as clipping mask to this duplicated layer:

and you will have the following effect:

Again, on the layer mask of the black and white adjustment layer, use a hard round brush to erase some parts as shown below: (Please note that screenshot is indicative only)

Hint: try adjusting the brush opacity and flow when you erase for more depth

and you will have the following effect:

and here is the overall effect so far:

Step 4

We can now add some abstract pattern to the image. Make sure you put all layer created in this step below the original model layer.

Use the Pen Tool to draw a work path as shown below – try following the curve the body:

Stroke the path with a 30-40px soft black brush, and set the layer blending mode to “overlay”. You will have the following effect:

Duplicate this layer a few more times, scatter them around the canvas as shown below:

Now grab the clone stamp tool, use the chalk brush and choose “All Layers” for sample:

Hold Alt + left-click to choose an area on the body as clone source:

Optionally, after you choose an area to clone, draw a work path with Pen Tool and stroke the path with clone stamp tool:

Then use the brush + clone stamp, just go crazy on the layer and you will have some great patterns as shown below:

Once you’re done, duplicate this layer and warp it to create some flying motion to the image:

Duplicate this warped layer and attach it to both side of the model as shown below:

Step 5

We can also add some circle shape to the image to spice it up a little more. To do this, draw a circle and fill it with black colour:

Apply Gradient Overlay on this circle layer:

Duplicate this circle layer a few more times, scatter them around and use “color burn”, “overlay” or “soft light” blending mode for those layers and try out the effect:

Add the following Levels adjustment layer on top of previous layers:

and the following layer mask on the Levels adjustment layer:

and here is the effect so far: (As you can see, we can create some great looking abstract pattern with clone stamp tool + pen tool + warp tool)

Step 6

For some final touch-ups, add the following adjustment layers on top of the layers:

Curves

Photo Filter

I also added Len Flare and a few more lighting effect to the image, and here is the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

That’s all for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful :) Till next time, have a great day!

Create a Detailed Meteorite and Surrounding Space Environment in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:18:28 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this Detailed Meteorite and Surrounding Space Environment in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorials and some steps can be a bit tricky, but why not have a try!

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (Click to Enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $6.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 70+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

Ok Let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following stock:

Rock

Debris Brush

Fire Explosion Brush

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1400px * 900px with black background. Create a new layer and use the fire explosion brush, paint some nebula pattern as shown below:

(Hint: do not set the brush opacity and flow to be too high, try set them both at around 20%. Use Soft Eraser to remove part s of the cloud to create depth)

Create a new layer and draw a black circle as shown below:

Step 2

Load the rock image into Photoshop, grab the Quick Selection Tool from the toolbox, set the brush tip to be around 35px (hard brush):

Select one rock piece from the image with Quick Selection Tool:

Paste your selection to the base, desaturate it as we don’t need the colour:

Go back to the rock stock photo, grab a few more different pieces and paste them on the base, until them form the following shape: (desaturate while pasting them)

Make the base layer invisible, and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

Now merge those rock layers together, duplicate the merged layer a few times, reduce their size and scatter them around the canvas, as shown below:

Then use the debris brush you downloaded, paint some scattering effect around the meteorite (make sure you adjust the flow and opacity to be both around 40% before you start painting)

Also make sure you paint some debris to the smaller meteorite on the side:

Use the fire explosion brush, paint some cloud effect around the meteorite as shown below:

Step 4

I decided to add some motion blur effect into the image to make it more dynamic. So let’s create a new layer and paint with the debris brush as shown below:

Apply the following Motion Blur settings to it:

and you will have the following effect:

Go to Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen and sharpen this image a bit:

and you will see parts of the image become brighter:

Reduce the layer opacity to around 50%, and you will have the following effect:

Duplicate this layer a a few times, and scatter them around the image, adjust the size and opacity of them accordingly:

Step 5

We’re almost done. For some final touchups, I added some lighting effect with a soft round, white brush to the position shown below (on a new layer):

Warp this light to fit the top left corner of the meteorite:

and you will have the following effect:

Add the following Curves Adjustment layer on top:

and you will have the following effect:

You can add more colour to the image, and dodge/burn the following areas to increase the image depth:

I also made some slight colour changes and here is the final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s all for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful :) Till next time, have a great day!

Create Awesome Abstract Nebula Circle Shape in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 05:33:45 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show the steps I took to create this Create Awesome Abstract Nebula Circle Shape in Photoshop. This is an intermediate level tutorial so some steps can be a little tricky for beginners, but why not have a try!

Along the way, I will show you how you can combine the liquify filter with nebula texture and cloud to render some very interesting effect :)

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $6.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 70+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

OK let’s get started!

To complete this tutorial, you will need to the following stock:

Nebula Texture – by =Moonchilde-Stock

Step 1

Create a new document sized 800px * 1080px, filter the background with a dark grey color, and draw a base circle on a new layer:

Use Lasso Tool with around 30px feather to draw a selection, set the foreground colour to dark purple, and render some cloud into it:

Compress this cloud layer to a very thin strip, then warp it as shown below:

Apply the Twirl filter to make it look like a half circle:

Erase the unnecessary bits and attach it to the base circle:

Duplicate this layer a few times, rotate and resize them until they form a full circle shape roughly, then fill the background layer with black colour:

Step 2

Load the nebula texture into Photoshop, use Lasso Tool with 30px feather to select a portion:

Copy and paste into onto our image, warp it according to the base circle:

Bring up the liquify filter (Shift + Ctrl + X) and use the following settings:

Apply it to the position shown below:

and you will have the following effect:

Duplicate this nebula layer a few times, resize them and put them around the circle as shown below:

When you duplicate the nebula layer, make sure you adjust the layer opacity for each duplicate layer for some image depth:

and here is the effect so far:

Note: make sure you use a soft eraser to get rid of the rough edges when necessary:

Step 3

Now we’re getting into the liquify filter + cloud effect. Again we draw a selection with Lasso Tool (30px feather), render some cloud inside it, hit Ctrl + L and apply the following Levels settings to it:

Apply the liquify filter to this cloud as shown below: (you’re free to use whatever tip size you wish)

and you will have similar effect to this:

Attach this layer to the circle, also duplicate a few times and scatter them around the canvas:

Step 4

Now we can put all those layers we made into a group, then duplicate this group twice, resize them and move them to the positions shown below.

You should also merge the layers under the duplicated group together, and lower their layer opacity:

Optionally, you can paint some stars/dots around the circle. You can find lots of star brushes around the net:

Step 5

I decided to use some alternative colour scheme for this image. So I go ahead and added the following three adjustment layers:

Black and White:

Curves:

Color Balance:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 6

We’re almost done! To adjust the final effect, I flatten the image and duplicate the background, then apply the following Reduce Noise filter:

Then use the dodge and burn tool to add some highlights and shadows around the image, as shown below:

and here is the final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it! I hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful! Till next time, have a great day!

Easily Create Planetary Ring via Cloud and Twirl Filter in Photoshop

James Qu — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 14:07:13 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you how to Easily Create Planetary Ring via Cloud and Twirl Tool in Photoshop. The steps are very simple and if you have some experiences with Photoshop in the past, you should be able to complete it without any problem. Have a try!

Along the way, we will render some cloud, then apply the twirl filter to turn it into a planetary ring. We will also make a simple planet with some lighting effect.

Here is a preview of the final effect I have for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

You can download the PSD File for this tutorial via the VIP Members Area for only $6.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 70+ other PSD Files + Extra Goodies + Exclusive Photoshop tutorial there. Signup now and get exclusive :) Find out more about the VIP Members Areas

OK let’s get started!

No stock image is required for this tutorial – although you may need some star and debris brushset.

Step 1

Create a new document sized 940px * 700px, fill the background with black colour. Let’s create the Planetary Ring first.

Create a new layer and use the lasso tool (50px feather) to draw a selection, render some cloud in it:

Hit Ctrl + L and apply the following Levels adjustments:

Go to Filter > Distort > Twirl:

and apply the following settings:

Then hit Ctrl + T and perspective the ring as shown below:

Reduce the height a bit and you will have the following effect:

Erase the edges with a a soft eraser, and you have made a simple ring:

Step 2

Now let’s draw a planet on top of the ring layer. Firstly draw a circle on a new layer, then fill the circle with black color and apply the following layer blending options:

Outer Glow

Bevel and Emboss

Gradient Overlay

Stroke

here is the effect so far:

Step 3

Now create a new layer under the planet layer, use the star and debris brush you downloaded, paint some splashing effect around the planet, as shown below:

Now we can create some cloud/nebula effect around the planet. To do this, create a new layer below the planet layer, use a lasso tool (50px feather)to draw a selection, render some cloud inside.

Then apply the Difference cloud filter to it:

Here is the effect after applying the difference cloud filter:

Then Warp the cloud as shown below:

Duplicate this layer a few times and scatter them around the globle, as shown below:

You can also duplicate and drag some nebula layers above the planet layer, position the nebula as shown below: (make sure to set the blending mode of those layers to “screen”)

Here is the effect so far:

Now we can add a bit of backlight for this planet to increase the depth. Create a new layer under the planet layer called “highlight”, grab a soft white brush and do a single-click to the position shown below:

Step 4

Now let’s add some abstract lines to decorate the planet. Once again we can use the Pen Tool to draw a path as shown below:

Choose the 1px hard brush from the brush pane:

Right-click on the path with Pen Tool selected, and choose “Stroke Path”:

Select “Brush” from the drop down box, tick “Simulate Pressure”, click “OK”:

and here is the effect:

Duplicate this line layer a few more times, rotate and resize them then scatter the lines around the planet, as shown below:

Step 5

Ok we’re almost done. Let’s add a few image adjustment layer on top of all previous layers to fine tune the image a bit:

Curves

Mask on Curves adjustment layer:

As you can see, we increased the contrast of the debris on the left so it looks more distinctive:

Colour Balance

and here is the effect after apply those adjustment layers:

and here is the final effect for this tutorial: (I further adjusted the colour and contrast of the image)

That’s it! Hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful :)

Till next time, have a great day!

Mini PS Tutorial Series Vol.5 – Create Fiery Particle Effect in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:57:35 +0000

Welcome to the 5th volume of the Mini PS Tutorial series here on PSD Vault! I created this series focusing on providing some easy and fun Photoshop tutorial for all Photoshop beginners.

In this tutorial, I will show you how you can easily create some awesome Fiery Particle Effect in Photoshop in just a few easy steps, which you can use for a wide range of occasions. Have a try!

Along the way, we will go through a variety of Photoshop features such as free transform, brush options, adjustment layers, and a number of filters.

Here is a preview of the final effect we will be aiming to achieve: (click to enlarge)

No Stock Image is required for this tutorial.

OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document size 200px * 200px, fill the background with black colour. We will use this document to define a simple brush.

Make a new layer on top of the background layer, press “B” to select the brush tool, choose a soft round brush with 0% hardness, choose a foreground colour close to white:

Grab a soft round brush and do a single click to the position shown below:

Right-click and choose “Distort”, drag the top right corner 45 degree upwards, as shown below:

Hit “Enter” key to apply the change, then hit Ctrl + T, right-click and choose “distort”, repeat the above step:

and here is effect you will have:

Step 2

Now make the background layer transparent:

Go to Edit > Define Brush Preset:

Give your brush a name, and press “OK”:

You will see the brush appears on the brush pane:

Step 3

Now press F5 to bring up the brush windows, apply the following settings:

Shape Dynamics

Scattering

Other Dynamics

Now we complete the brush making process, it’s time to put it into action.

Step 4

Create a new document and fill its background with black colour.

Use this brush we made, paint some random pattens on the canvas, don’t worry if it appears a bit dark right now, we can adjust it later:

Now we can apply some image adjustments onto the image to tune up the effect. You can find those adjustment layer options under Layer > New Adjustment Layer:

Add the following 3 adjustment layers:

Color Balance

Curves

Hue and Saturation

Optionally, you can also add some small dots round the canvas, make sure you create a new layer under those adjustment layers:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 5

Now we can spice up the effect by adding some blur into the image. Flatten the image, duplicate the background layer once, go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and apply the following settings:

Change the blending mode of this layer to “Screen” and reduce the layer opacity to 40%, you will have the following blurring effect:

and here is the final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this mini Photoshop tutorial! Hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful :)

Till next time, have a great day!

Create Beautiful Hair-like Abstract Lines to Decorate Your Design in Photoshop

James Qu — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 08:16:20 +0000

In this tutorial, I will show you the process of creating Beautiful Hair-like Abstract Lines to Decorate Your Design in Photoshop. This is a beginner level tutorial with the aim of teaching how you to utitilise the Pen Tool and dynamic brush settings. Have a try :)

Previously I published a tutorial called “Create Beautiful Surreal Photo Effect via Cloud, Star and Vexel Hair in Photoshop” and received a number of emails about the vexel hair part, which requires extensive use of Pen Tool. As a result, I decided to create a new tutorial showing more details about it, but with a different effect which you can use in a wider range of occasions (such as Photoshop retouch, web graphics and so on).

Here is a preview of the final result: (click to enlarge)

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OK let’s get started!

No stock image is required for this tutorial.

Step 1

Create a new document size 800px * 800px, fill the background with black colour. Create a new layer on top of the background layer, press the “P” key to choose the Pen Tool, draw a work path as shown below:

If you’re a beginner, you may not get the curve in one go – it doesn’s matter, you can hold down the Alt key and left-click to drag the corner point to adjust its shape:

Press “B” key to select the brush tool, choose a 1px hard brush, as shown below:

Choose a colour from the colour picker (I use a light pick colour here):

Press “P” key again, then right-click on the path, choose “Stroke Path”:

Choose “Brush” from the drop down box, and make sure you tick the “Simulate Pressure” option, then press “OK”:

and here ist effect after the path stroke:

Step 2

Use the Same Process as described above, create another 3 lines. Make sure you:

Put each line on a seperate layer
Adjust the brush size to be 2px, 3px, 4px respectively
Adjust the layer opacity to be 80%, 60% and 40%

Details please refer to the screenshots below:

Adjust the positions of the lines (move them slighly left and right against each other), And here is the effect so far: (4 lines on 4 layers)

Step 3

Make a folder called “lines” and put those four layers into it. Duplicate this folder once and merge the duplicated layers, reduce the opacity of the merged layer to around 70% and move it slightly left to create a bit of depth for the image:

Then keep duplicated the merge layer to add more lines to the image:

Now you will want to add some colour variety into it. Instead of picking a new colour and go through the stroke process, you can simply add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to the merged line layer: (make sure you tick the “Use Previous Layer as clipping mask” option when adding it)

and adjust the hue and use a colour you like:

Keeping add more colour onto it. You can use the Free Transform tool (Ctrl + T) to the line layers you added to adjust their angle:

Also resize the layer when you see fit:

Step 4

Now we also want to add a few grey lines into the image. To do this, simply go to image > adjustments > desaturate (or Shift + Ctrl + U) to desaturate a merged line layer:

Blend those grey lins into the image, as shown below:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 5

We’re almost done. Now merge those lines layer we made, then duplicate, rotate them around the canvas:

We can add some dots around the lines to decorate it a bit. To do this, create a new brush with the settings shown below: (press f5 to bring up the brush window)

Tick “Airbrush”, “Smoothing” and “Protect Texture” option.

Use the brush we just made, paint some dots around the image on a new layer, as shown below:

We can also paint some random lins around to spice up the image a bit: (Use a 1px hard brush and simply paint away!)

Once you’ve done the painting, go to filter > Sharpen > Sharpen and sharpen this dots layer a bit. (You will see the dots become brighter)

Here is the overall effect:

You may want to alter the colour balance or use a different colour scheme.Totally up to you :)

Here is an alternative version I made: (click to enlarge)

That’s it! Hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful :)

Till next time, have a great day!