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In this tutorial, I will show the steps I took to design this absolutely magical, floating Eiffel Tower scene in Photoshop. The inspiration of this tutorial came from this wonderful design done by matu02 in PSD Vault Flickr Group.

Along the way, we will be using a lot of layer masking techniques, blending options, selection technques, pen tool and dynamic brushes. Hope you enjoy it and find it useful and inspirational!

Here is my final result for this tutorial: (click to enlarge)

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

Misty Ocean

Dark Water

Tower Image

Moon

Cloudy Scene

Eagle

Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Load the “Misty Ocean” stock image into Photoshop. Duplicate the background layer once and set blending mode of the duplicated layer to be “Soft Light”.

We can see the overall image become darker a little bit and the colour contrast increases comparing with the original image:

Rename this layer as “soft light” and make a duplicate of this layer, set the duplicated layer blending mode to “overlay” and this will further increase the light and contrast of the image:

Rename this layer as “light overlay”.

Step 2

Now you will see the ocean portion disappeared and we don’t really want that. To reveal the ocean portion,  add a vector mask to the “light overlay” by clicking the following button on the layer palette:

Click on the mask thumbnail to select it, grab a big soft brush (I chose a 300px round brush), erase the ocean portion off the “light overlay” layer.

You will now see the ocean become more visible:

Optional: I feel the colour tone of the image is a bit dull and a bit more variation will make the image looks a bit more lively. So I add a new Adjustment layer (Color Balance) and apply the following settings:

Change the blending mode of this adjustment layer to “lighten” and you will have the following effect:

Step 3

Now let’s again focus on the ocean portion of the image. Currently we have a very smooth ocean without much movement at all. This can be a bit of problem because the end result we would like to achieve is a dynamic, active image.

So let’s load the “Dark Water” image into Photoshop. Go back to our document and use the Rectangular Marquee Tool with 20px feather to select the ocean portion of the image:

Drag this selection onto the “Dark Water” Texture to position the selection as shown below:

Copy and paste it back to our document, and you will see now the image become a bit dynamic and not so boring:

Step 4

Load the “Tower Image” into Photoshop. Use the Pen Tool to make a working path around the Tower:

Make a selection (Right-click and choose “Make selection”) from the working path (0px feather), copy and paste the selection onto our document. Desaturate the layer, resize and position it as shown below:

Rename this layer as “Tower”. Then add a vector mask to this layer,  grab the Gradient Tool and apply the following gradient to the mask: (You can go the mask by Alt+left-click the mask thumbnail on the layer palette)

Go back to our document and you will see the tower is seamlessly linked to the cloud:

Step 5

Load the “Moon” image into Photoshop, use whatever selection tool you feel comfortable with to make a selection of the moon, as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection back to our document, resize, rotate and position it on the top right corner of the canvas:

Name this layer as “Moon” and change the layer blending mode to “soft light”, you will have the following effect:

Duplicate the “Moon” layer a couple of times, you will see the the Moon become more visible:

Step 6

Load the “cloud scene” image into Photoshop, use the Lasso Tool with 100px feather to make a selection as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection back to our document to the tower position, use Free Transform Tool (Ctrl + T) with Warp, perspective, resize, transform the cloud into a flaming effect:

Name this layer as “Flame” and set its blending mode to “Overlay”. After this, duplicate this layer once, change the duplicated layer blending mode back to normal, use the Eraser Tool to erase off the bottom part of the flame on the duplicated layer:

Step 7

Load the “Eagle” image into Photoshop, use the same Pen Tool technique to make a selection of the eagle. Tip: after you make the selection, use the refine edge option to further enhance your selection: (The setting below can be used as a guideline only, you might have to apply slightly different settings according to your own selection)

Copy and paste the image onto our dcoument to the position as shown below:

Name this layer as “eagle” anc change the layer blending mode to “linear burn”. Make several duplicated of this “eagle” layer, resize and rotate each layer and position the eagles in different places: (Assign different opacity, fill opacity to each duplicated layer as well)

Step 8

Create a new layer called “shining effect” on top of all layers, use the Pen Tool to create a working path like this:

Stroke the path using the following dynamic brush:

Shape Dynamics

Scattering

And you will have the following end result:

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! You can of course add some of your own texture or filter effect and see what the end results are!

Here is my final image for this tutorial. I Added a few light beams – If you like to know a quick way of rendering this, I have another tutorial here containing a part about doing so. Also tried aonther colour scheme:

Hope you enjoy this tutorial, drop me a comment if you have any question, I will try my best to help you out.

Cheers and have a nice day!

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps involved in designing this dark and misty mountain scene with a gloomy looking far-away city scene in Photoshop.

Along the way, we will use techniques such as layer blending and masking, adjustments layer, filters effects and a variety of image adjustment options. You will learn methods to seamless blend two (or more) images together and generate cinematic effect. This is a simple tutorial with just 5 steps,  have a go!

Here is a preview of before and after effect:

Before

After

Alternative colour scheme:

Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Download the following two stock photos from stockvault.net:

Mountain Image

New York City Stock Photo

Load the “Moutain Image” into Photoshop, duplicate the background layer once. The reason we duplicate the background layer is in case we mess up this duplicated layer, we can always delete it and go back to the original background layer.

We can firstly give this photo a nice and cool gradient effect. So after duplicating, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Fill, apply the following gradient settings:

Then set the layer blending mode of this adjustment layer to “soft light” and you will have the following effect:

Step 2

Duplicate the background layer once more and drag it to the top. Set the blending mode of this to “Screen” and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer >Color Balance and apply the following settings:

Keep the blending mode of the adjustment layer as “normal” and you will see the following effect:

Step 3

Now we will add some more colour depth and make the image a bit darker. Firstly, we go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer >Channel Mixer and apply the following settings:

Then go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and apply the following settings:

Lastly we go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels and apply the following settings:

And you will have the following effect so far:

Step 4

Load the “New York City Stock Photo” into Photoshop, use the Rectangular Marquee (M) tool to select a portion of the image as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection onto our document and name the layer as “city”. Resize the image until it fits the width of our canvas and position it as shown below:

Set the blending mode of  “city” layer to “multiply” and erase (using a big soft brush, I used 1,000px with 0% hardness) the the bottom portion of the layer (use a layer mask if you would like to be safe)

Duplicate the “city” layer once and apply the following Gaussian Blur settings:

Set the blending mode of the duplicated layer to “screen” and you will add a glowing effect for the city far-away:

Step 5

Now we can render some mist/cloud for the forest and also add some uneven lighting effect. To do this, create a new layer called “lighting effect”, use the Lasso Tool with 80px feather to make a selection for the mountain forest, and render some cloud inside it (Filter > Render > Cloud):

Change layer blending option to “overlay” and you will see the following effect:

Duplicate the “lighting effect” layer and hit Ctrl + L, apply the following Curves Adjustments to the duplicated layer:

Change the blending mode of the duplicated layer to “color dodge” and you will see the following effect: (lighting effect towards certain area has been enhanced)

Duplicate this layer a few more times, drag each of the duplicated layers around the image to produce more dynamic lighting effect and misty environment: (keep the blending mode to “color dodge” for each layer).

Here is the effect after duplication:

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! As for my final image, I slightly adjusted the hue/saturation:

Alternative colour scheme:

Hope you enjoy this tutorial, drop me a comment if you have any question, I will try my best to help you out.

Cheers and have a nice day!

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In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to make a Grungy-Style Abstract Typography using rusted metal texture in Photoshop. The inspiration of this tutorial came from a grungy metal image I came across on stockvault.net and thought I could have a play with it :)

Together we will explore some layer blending techniques, variuos filter effects, and an interesting method of making the text look 3D. Have a go!

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

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OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Download a copy of this grungy image from stockvault.net and load it into Photoshop. We will use it as the background of this poster.

Rotate the canvas by 90 degree CW by going into Image > Rotate Canvas > 90 degree CW:

We can add a bit of noise on the background image and make it look more grungy. To do this, duplicate the background layer and go to Filter > Noise > Dust & Scratches and apply the following settings:

Change the layer blending option to “Overlay” and you will have the following effect:

Step 2

Duplicate the “Background copy” layer once, go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen and apply the following settings:

Keep the layer blending mode as “overlay” and you will have the following effect:

Step 3

Duplicate the “Background copy 2″ layer once and go to Filter > Stylize > Glowing edge and apply the following settings:

Keep the layer blending option as “overlay” and you will see the following effect:

Then hit Ctrl + Shift + Alt + B and bring up the Black and White adjustment Tool, apply the following settings:

And you will have the following effect:

Step 4

Duplicate the “Background Copy 3″ layer once, change the blending option of the duplicated layer to “Screen” and you have the following effect:

To create a bit of colour depth, we apply the Black and White adjustments to this layer (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + B) with the following settings:

Step 5

Still on the previous layer, grab the Eraser Tool with a big soft round brush, erase the area where covering the yellow/golden part:

Change the layer blending option to “Color” and you will have the following effect:

Go back to the “Background copy 3″ layer, again use the Eraser Tool with a big soft brush to erase the centre portion of the image:

Step 6

Now let’s add some text onto the background texture. Download a copy of this font and type some text onto the canvas:

When you’re happy with the text, rasterize it and change its layer blending mode to “Hard Light”.  Apply the following layer blending options:

Drop Shadow:

Bevel and Emboss:

Texture

Gradient Overlay:

And you will have the following effect:

Duplicate the text layer 7-8 times, keep the blending mode of each layer as “hard light”, and you will have a deeper text effect as a result:

Merge those duplicated layers together and name the merge layer as “Text”.

Step 7

Change the blend mode of the text layer to “Hard light”, duplicate it once again and apply the following Gaussian Blur filter on the duplicated layer:

After applying the Blur filter, duplicate this layer once more. On the duplicated layer, add a White colour overlay blending option as shown below:

Then on this layer, use the Eraser Tool to gently eraser some part of the text, by doing so you can create a uneven lighting effect and make the text look 3D:

Step 8

To a bit of extra flavor to the image, we can add a new layer called “cloud” in between the text and the background texture layer, use the Lasso Tool with 40px feather to make a selection around the text and render some cloud inside:

To make the cloud look a bit uneven, we can simply duplicate the existing cloud layer once and set the blending mode of the duplicated layer to “hard light”.

Here is the effect so far:

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! You can of course add some of your own texture or filter effect and see what the end results are!

Here is my final result for this tutorial: (I add a bit of radial blur, and adjusted the colour balance a bit)

Hope you enjoy this tutorial, drop me a comment if you have any question, I will try my best to help you out.

Cheers and have a nice day!

In this tutorial, I will show you how you can apply dynamic colour and lighting effect to highlight your images and give them a shining and metallic effect in Photoshop. I will also introduce some techniques that you could use to hightlight certain objects within the image to make them stand out.

By following this tutorial, you will gain further understanding into image adjustment tools, layer blending modes and various filters. Have a go, it’s simple :)

Here is a before and after preview:

Before:

After:

Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Download a copy of this image and load it into Photoshop. This image is of my own stock and you may use it freely for anywhere.

Duplicate the background layer FIVE TIMES and hide the top 4 layers, leaving just the one directly above the background layer visible:

We will focus on the “Background copy” layer first and as the tutorial progresses, we will un-hide other layers and apply filters and adjustments to those layers as well.

Step 2

Firstly we would like to get rid of the crowd on the image so as to make it look less busy. However, you may like to retain the crowd and do stuff with them, that’s totally up to you.

OK so get rid of the crowd, select the “background copy” layer, grab a big, soft, round brush with 50% opacity and flow, gently brush over the crowd until you achieve the following effects:

Then change the blending mode to “Multiply” and you will have the following effect:

Step 3

Now un-hide the “Background copy 2″ layer, go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effect and apply the following settings:

The reason I did this step is that I would like to make the light sort of coming from the sky and create some depth for the image.

Change the blending mode of this layer to “Soft light” and your effect will now look like this:

Step 4

Now un-hide the “Background copy 3″ layer and drag it down below the “Background copy” layer:

Use the Dodge Tool with a 100px soft brush and 70% Exposure in Highlight mode, brush over the edges of the building where necessary to create some dynamic lighting.

Below is the effect after apply Dodge Tool:

Optionally, you can apply the following Brightness and Contrast setting on this layer to enchance the lighting effect:

Step 5

Now un-hide the “Background copy 4″ layer, apply the Black and White Image Adjustment Tool with the following settings:

Change the blending mode of this layer to “Color” and reduce the opacity to 50%, and you will have the following effect:

Step 6

Now we’re going to add some more colour and lighting contrast to the image. Un-hide the “Background copy 5″ layer, hit Ctrl + M and apply the following Curve Settings:

Then Go to Filter > Render > Gaussian Blur and apply the following settings:

Then change the layer blending mode of this layer to “Color Dodge” and reduce the opacity to 55%. The image will now look like this:

Step 7

Now go back to the “Background Copy” layer, use the Eraser Tool with a soft round brush (I used 200px, 30% flow and opacity), gently erase some portions of the dark area down the bottom (where the crowd located).

This creates more lighting dynamics and make it easier to focus on certain objects:

Step 8

We can add some final touches for this image. Create a new layer and fill it with Black colour, go to Filter > Render > Fiber and apply the following settings:

Then apply this Level Adjustment setting to it:

Change the layer blending option to “Screen” and you will have the following image:

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! The rest is once again left upon your own imagination. Have a play with layers and filters, see what results they will bring you :)

Here is two other versions with different colour scheme I did for this tutorial:

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it inspirational :)

Thanks very much and have a nice day!

In this tutorial, I will show you the processes I used to transform an average forest Photo into a Dark and Crimson Forest Scene, inspired by the Japanese Survival Horror Playstation game “Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly”.

We will explore various layer blending options, an interesting way of rendering light and various image adjustment options.

Here is a preview of the the final result:

Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Download this image off the net and use it as a starting point of this tutorial.

Load the image into Photoshop and duplicate the background layer. Set the blending option of the duplicated layer to “Hard Light”.

Step 2

Duplicate the background layer again and put this duplicated layer on top of the one in the previous step.

Hit Ctrl + U to bring the Hue and Saturation Image adjustment tool, apply the following settings:

Change the layer blending option to “Soft Light” and keep all other blending options unchanged.

Here is the effect so far:

Step 3

Create a new Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer (see below for detailed path)

Apply the following Hue and Saturation Settings:

The effect so far will look like this:

Step 4

This is an optional step. Personally I feel the image is a bit saturated and feel a bit hard. So i decided to add some softness to the image and desaturate it a bit.

To desaturate the image, duplicate the “Background Copy 2″ layer, hit Ctrl + Alt + Shift + B to bring up the Black and White image adjustment tool, apply the following settings:

Still on this layer, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply the following settings:

Here is the image so far:

Step 5

Now we can add some butterflies on the image. Create a new layer called “Butterfly” and load the “Special Effect Brushes” brush preset (see image below for details):

Paint some butterfly on the image as shown below (be aware that your result may look slightly different to mine because the brush dynamics).

Hint: User the Eraser Tool with 50% opacity and flow to erase some parts of the butterfly to create some depth. You may also hit Ctrl + T to bring up the free transformation Tool to adjust the shape of the butterfly a bit.

After painting the butterflies, set the layer blending option of this layer to “Color Dodge”:

Step 6

We can add some extra lighting effect to image. To do this, create a new layer called “lighting”, use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to make a selection. Fill the selection with black colour:

Maintain the current selection, go to Filter > Render > Fiber and apply the following setting:

Hit Crtl + T to bring up Free Transformation Tool, rotate the selection as shown below:

Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and apply the following settings:

After rendering motion blur, change the layer blending option of this layer to “Overlay” and you will have the following image:

Ok let’s it for this tutorial~ You may add some more lighting effect, adjust the colour balance, or test applying some more texture onto it! Always remember not to limit your creativity!

Here is my final image for this tutorial:

If you have any question, simply drop me a line!

Thank you very much and have a nice day!

In this tutorial, I will show you the processses involved in transforming an average photo into a mysterious dark portal to the underworld scene, inspired by the famous Playstation hack-and-slash game Devil May Cry.

The techniques used in this tutorial include layer blending styles, various image adjustment tools, filters and some basic selection techniques. The steps are very simple and straight-forward. Give it a go!

Here is a before-and-after comparison:

Before

After

PSD File for this Tutorial

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Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Download the above “Before” image and load it into Photoshop. On the background layer, use curve tool to adjust the lighting contrast a bit. See below for detailed settings:

Step 2

Duplicate the background layer once, then hit Ctrl+Alt+Shift+B to bring up the the Black and White image adjustment tool, apply the following settings on the duplicated layer:

After applying Black and White, right-click on the layer and choose “Blending Option”, change the layer blending option of the duplicated layer to “Saturation”.

So far the effect looks like:

Step 3

Now we add some glowing light on the stone pillars. Duplicate the Background layer once more, and the duplicated layer above the previous duplicated layer in Step 2. Apply the Black and White image adjustment on this layer, using the following setting:

After Black and White, go to filter > blur > Gaussian Blur and apply the following settings:

After applying gaussian blur, change the layer blending option to “Screen” and set the layer opacity to about 70%.

Optional: You may apply the Curve Tool (Ctrl + M) on this layer if you wouldl like to adjust the colour constrast.

The effect so far looks like this:

Step 4

Now we want to create some cloud/mist inside the archway so it looks like a portal to the underworld and add some extra CG effect.

Create a new layer named “cloud” on top of every other layer, use the Lasso Tool with a 15-20px feather, select the six archways respectively. (To do this, you need hold down the Shift key while selecting)

Fill the selection with Black and go to Filter > Render > Cloud and render some cloud:

You can repeatly hit Ctrl + F to re-render the cloud untill you’re happy with it.

After rendering cloud, hit Ctrl + L to bring up the Level Tool, apply the following settings:

Then hit Ctrl + M to bring up the Curve Tool, apply the following settings:

Optional: You may use the Clone Stamp Tool to clone some clouds and fill the empty gap.

Step 5

Now we can add some colour to the image. Create a new layer and set the layer blending option to overlay. Grab a big brush and change its setting as the following:

To make the Devil May Cry Theme, I Chose a Dark red colour and brush over the cloudy part of the image:

The effect so far looks like this:

Ok! That’s it for this tutorial. You may still want to adjust its Hue and Saturaton a bit more, or simply add some more lighting effects to it.

Here is my final image for this tutorial:

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and if you have any question, just drop me a comment below.

PS: I used a lot of Keyboard shortcuts in this tutorial. The reason is that I think it’s a good idea for a beginner to practice some shortcuts and later on you will form this habit and increase your work efficiency.

Welcome to the second Volume of “Seeking Inspiration” on PSD Vault.

As I mentioned in Part I, this series is aimed to provide inspirational contents to readers and to give an extra boost for your creativity. For each part, I will be focusing on a specific topic and I will feature design works from fine artists an designers all over the world.

In Part II, we take a look at those design works containing a reletively dark theme. In my opinion, although the dark colour/theme can be a little depressive sometimes, they can always offer a mysterious and gloomy atmosphere and make you feel there are something unique to discover.

OK here it goes the works. I Hope you enjoy this post and let me know what you think of them :)

OK that’s it for Part II of the “Seeking Inspiration” Series. Hope you enjoy those works!

Cheers and have a great day!

In this tutorial, I will demonstrate how you can easily turn a normal photo taken in daylight, into a realistic Night-Scened Image, inspired by the moive Sin City.

We will be using tools such as the curve tool, brush tool, level adjustment and various layer blending options.

In fact, you are able to use this method I showed you on pretty any image with daylight on.

Step 1

Download a copy of the following image. Load it into Photoshop.

This is a photo I took while holidaying in London, you can use it freely anywhere.

Step 2

Use a big black brush with the following settings to gentle brush over the image, you should pay attention to the sky in particular.

Step 3

Use another big brush with a hard-mix mode, brush over the other left hand side of the buidling with red roof, this will create some extra contrast and kill some day lights. See below for detailed settings:

Step 4

Go to Image > adjustments > level and alter the RGB level of the image a bit. See below for detailed settings:

Step 5

Double click the background layer to unlock it, duplicate this background layer once, click on the duplicated layer and go to image > adjustment > curve to adjustment the colour contrast a bit, see below for details:

then set the layer blending option to “color-dodge” by right-click on the layer and choose “blending options”. See below for detailed setting:

Step 6

Duplicate the background layer once more and put it on top of the previously duplicated layer, change the layer blending option to “lighten” (See below) and apply some Dodge and Burn tool effects (use a big brush for overall effect, a smaller brush for fine-tune details).

You should now have the following image (or similar):

Step 7

Go to image > adjustment > channel mixer and apply the following settings:

This is the image so far:

Ok, that’s it for this tutorial, you can use your own imaginatios from here and add some street lighting and further adjust the existing lighting condition. Have a try!

Here is my finished work:

Hope you enjoy this tutorial! Any comment or feedback, just drop me a comment!

Thanks and have a great day!

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This tutorial shows the path I took to create this Diablo III Inspired Grunge Text Effect.

I was looking for some design inspirations on the net and I bumped into the Diablo III website. I  was intrigued by the design of the title text and I thought: what happen if I add something extra to it? What will the end result like if I apply a cracked texture on top of the text? The story begins…

Just a sneak-peak of the final text effect:

Step 1

Firstly we need a nice font and a texture for overlay effect. You can use any font you like, I chose this font from dafont.com. After choosing your font, donwload a copy of this texture below (click to enlarge and download)

Step 2

Create a new document of any size, I chose 800*600px because it provides more room later on if I want to add something extra on. Fill the background layer with black.

Use the type tool to type some text onto it using the white colour. Name this layer as “text”, right-click on the layer and go to Blending Options, use the follow settings:

Drop shadow

Bevel and Emboss

Hightlight Mode colour for Bevel and Emboss option

Gradient Overlay

Step 3

Open the texture image file you downloaded, use the selection tool to select a portion of the image and drag your selection on top of the “text” layer. Name it “texture”, right-click it and choose “create clipping mask”.

Use the curve tool to adjust the colour mixture of this layer a bit. See below for detailed curve tool setting:

Step 4

Change the layer blending option of this layer to “screen”, apply inner glow and some dark brown satin in the blending options. See below for details:

Step 5

On the “texture” layer, use a big circle brush with a low opacity and flow (30% each) and dark yellow colour to add some colour contrast on it. Below is the text effect so far:

Step 6

Duplicate the “texture” layer once, apply the “Glass” filter onto it. See below for detailed settings:

Then set the layer blending option to “Color Burn”.

Step 7

Optional: you can some extra effects on top of the duplicated texture layer. I added a dupilcated layer with a “Medium” filter on and set the layer blending option to “Color Dodge”. See below image for details:

Medium filter

Layer blending option

Ok, that’s it for this tutorial! You may want to add some more creativity onto this text effect, go ahead with it!

Below is my finished work, I added some brush effects and motion blur:

I hope you enjoy this tutorial. Any questions or feedback, just drop me a comment!

In this tutorial, we create a Star-skined Playstation 3 with Nebula Background in Photoshop. The techique I used in this tutorial is similar to the previous “rocky laptop” tutorial.

Together we can explore tools such as the selection tool, various image adjustment tool and various filters and layer style effects. I would also like to raise to attentions to features such as the curve, levels and black and white adjustment tool.

Let’s get started!

Step 1

download a copy of playstation 3 image

load it into photoshop and use any selection tool of your choice to outline the playstation console.

Step 2

Create a new document, size doesn’t really matter (I chose 800*600px), filled it with black background and drag the selected ps3 onto the new document. You may have to resize it a bit so it fits into the centre of the document. Name the layer “ps3″ and save the document.

Step 3

Hide the “PS3″ layer we just created for now and create a new layer called “nebula cloud”, fill it with black and put it under the “PS3″ layer.

Step 4

Use the lasso tool with 20px feather, draw a few circles. Tip: hold down the SHIFT key to draw circles simultaneously and link them together. Then go to filter > render > cloud to create some clouds.

Step 5

Use a big brush to add some colour on the cloud, remember to set the brush mode to color dodge (details see below images)

Go to Edit > adjustments > levels and Edit > adjustments > Curves to adjust the black and white contrast of the cloud layer, so it looks more like a nebula. (Optional: you can also adjust the hue setting)

Detailed settings see below:

Step 6

Hide the “Nebula cloud” layer,  download a star image below (source: NASA)

select any portion of the star image you like and drag it on top of the “ps3″ layer of your document. Name the layer “Star skin”, resize and rotate the star image a bit so it fits the angle of the playstation console.

Step 7

Set the blending option of “Star skin” layer to overlay and go to edit > adjustments > black and white to get rid of its colour. Detailed settings see below

Step 8

Right click on the “star skin” layer and choose “create clipping mask”, this will turn this layer into a clipping mask.

10. Now we can add some stars onto the image. Create a new layer called “Star” put it on top of the “nebula cloud” layer. Set the layer blending option to “Screen”. Now hold down the ctrl key and click on the “nebula cloud” layer, this will outline the edge of the nebula:

add some noise onto it. Detailed settings see below

Step 9

Use the dodge tool to add some contrast onto the “star” layer, setting see below:

optional: you can go to edit > adjustment > curve tool for some minor adjustments, I used the following setting:

Step 10

Now we go and add some lighting effect and flares. Create a new layer called “lighting” on top of the “Star skin” layer and set it to clipping mask.

Add a lens flare filter effect onto it. Here you can try different layer blending options and lens flares, see which one you like the best.

Step 11

Duplicate the “nebula cloud” layer a couple of times and we will have the follow image:

That’s it! The rest is left upon your own creativity. You may want to add some glowing text, stroke path or more cloud/nebula onto it, but that’s totally up to you!

Here is one of my finished designs:

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Any questions, just drop me a comment!

Have a great day!