If you have been following PSD Vault Photoshop tutorial for a while, you probably would have noticed a lot of them contain steps involving Photoshop Masks – which can be a little difficult to understand if you just started Photoshop.

In this second part, I will cover the following topics:

• The Use of Quick Mask
• The Use of Clipping Mask
• Apply Mask on Image Adjustment Layer

Also if you would like to read the first part of this series, please click this link below:

A Beginner’s Guide to Photoshop Masks – Part One

OK let’s get started!

The Use of Quick Mask

Firstly download this stock image and use it for this part of the tutorial.

Before we begin, I would like to mention a bit of introduction of “Quick Mask” – although it’s got the word “Mask” in it, it’s more widely used as a tool to make selection of certain objects on an image, rather than hide or reveal them.

Quick mask can be quite useful if want to cut out one part of the image that would be otherwise difficult to select using selection tools such as lasso or marquee tools.

Now let’s load the stock image you just downloaded into Photoshop.

To enter the Quick Mask Mode, Press the “Q” key or Press the button down the bottom of the toolbox:

Choose the black colour as the foreground colour:

Now you can also adjust the brush size prior to painting the mask:

Use this brush to paint over the eagle, as shown below: (for tutorial purpose, I did not go into making a precise selection here)

Now press “Q” key to exit quick mask mode, you will see the mask become a selection:

Once the selection is made, you can copy, cut and move it anywhere you want.

That’s pretty much it for Quick Mask. If you want to make a more precise selection, adjust the brush size and use erase tool along with the brush tool when you paint the mask.

The Use of Clipping Mask

Now let’s get to the clipping mask part. Personally I think this is one of the greatest feature of Photoshop and I seriously can not be without it :)

Basically a clipping mask can take the shape of the  base layer – the base layer can be text, shape, or a filled selection.

Let’s take a look at the clipping mask in action. Download this stock image and use it for this part of the tutorial.

Create a new document sized 600px * 600px with a white background and type some texts onto it:

Load the stock image in and select a portion of it, copy and paste onto the text document you just created:

Right-click on this layer and choose “Create Clipping Mask”:

Now you can the layer has a little down arrow attached to it, meaning it has been transformed into a clipping mask:

Now if you take a look at the canvas, you will see the texture layer takes on the shape of the text layer. As a result, we successfully apply the texture to the text and make it look more stylish :)

You can also use clipping mask on shapes, just using the same method as on a text layer. Have a try with it and experiment the effect yourself :)

Applying Mask on Image Adjustment Layer

On later versions of Photoshop, we’re introduced a new featured called “Adjustment Layer”, which you can apply image adjustment options such as curves, color balance and channel mixer, etc onto it – without the need of changing the original layer content.

Now on those adjustment layers, you can also apply mask in order to hide or reveal certain portion.

As shown below, I added a color balance adjustment layer to the background layer. By default, Photoshop will automatically attach a mask to the adjustment layer:

Same as the layer mask on a normal layer, you can use brush tool/eraser tool to paint or erase on the layer mask:

As the portion on the adjustment layer will be hidden, and reveal the content on the layer below:

One more thing you need to remember is that you can make the adjustment layer as clipping mask via right-clicking menu:

This way you can apply image adjustment only on the layer that it “clips” onto, without affect other layers. Also when you combine the layer mask on the adjustment layer, and the clipping mask option together, you can add very complex effect to the image :)

OK that’s it for this tutorial! Hopefully you learn a few things about the masks in Photoshop and find those tips useful :)

Till next time, have a great day!

Welcome to the 4th 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 Create Widescreen Wallpaper via Image Merging in Photoshop. Have a try!

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

To complete this tutorial, you will need the following 4 images:

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Load the “Image 1″ stock image into Photoshop, hit Ctrl + A to select the entire image, then press Ctrl + C to make a copy.

Hit Ctrl + N to create a new file, you will notice the width and height of the new file will be set automatically:

Because we have four images here, in order to fit them into one canvas, we need to increase the width of the image to 4 times the width of one individual image:

Once the new file is created, paste the image onto it and drag it to the right side:

Step 2

Load the rest of the images into Photoshop, copy and paste them on the canvas, as shown below:

As you can see, the edge of each layer doesn’t not line up properly against each other:

Reduce the fill opacity of layer 1 to around 70%:

Reduce the fill opacity to layer 2 to around 70%:

Now let’s find a distintive object which we can use as a guide – I chose this building shown below:

Adjust the position of the layer 2, and merge it into layer 1, using this building as a guide.

Once there is no blur appearing on the image, you’re pretty much done with the merge: (don’t worry about the river edge is a bit rough now, we will deal with it later)

and here is the overall effect:

Step 3

Now we need to merge the other two photos together. Use the same techique as described in the previous step, reduce the layer opacity and find a distintive object, adjust the layer position to fit them together:

From Image 3 to Image 2:

Result:

From Image 4 to Image 3:

Result:

Once you’re happy with the merge, make sure you go to Image > Trim and trim out the empty white background.

Step 4

Increase the layer opacity of each layer back to 100%.

Now let’s take a look at the river portion of the image. As you can see, because we tried to align the images in the previous step, we now have some white space on the right side of the canvas:

To tackle this problem, we can simply make a selection with the rectangular marquee tool as shown below:

Press Ctrl + T to bring out the free transform tool:

Drag the bottom center portion down to fill the white space:

As you can see, the white space is now filled:

and here is the overall effect so far:

Step 5

Flatten the image layers by right-clicking any one of the layers on the layer palette, then choose “Flatten Image”.

Now let’s tidy up the image a bit. As you can see, on the edge of each image we pasted previously, some parts did not blend with each other prefectly. We need to somehow get rid of them.

Now instead of using the blur tool, I found the Smudge Tool prefect for this job:

Set the brush size to around 10-12px, blending mode to “normal”, strength to around 50% for the Smudge Tool, apply it to the edge of the image.

Here is the effect after applying the Smudge Brush:

You can apply the same smudge tool technique to the sky portion as well:

Here is the effect after applying the smudge tool the sky portion:

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

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

Till next time, have a great day!

I thought it might be the time that I write an article specifically explaining the relevant areas you know about layer mask, and how you can apply it in different occasions to suit your needs.

In Part One of this Beginner’s Guide to Photoshop Masks, I will show you some basic information about masks and simple way of adding, deleting and painting on layer mask.

A Brief Overview of Photoshop Mask

I’m sure everyone here knows what a Mask is and what it is used for in real life – it hides things so people can’t see what is behind the mask. Photoshop mask works exactly the same way.

In Photoshop, there are two types of Masks – Layer (Pixel) Mask and Vector Mask.

By definition (extracted from the Adobe Help Centre):

Layer Masks are resolution-dependent bitmap images that are edited with the painting or selection tools.

Vector masks are resolution independent and are created with a pen or shape tool.

Layer and vector masks are non-destructive, which means you can go back and re‑edit the masks later without losing the pixels they hide.

Where Can I Find the Masking Options?

In Photoshop, there are many ways of adding masks to layer. One Method is to go into Layer > Layer Mask from the top menu.

Once you expand the Layer Mask menu, you will see a list of options such as “Reveal All”, “Hide All” and so on. In this tutorial, we will start with the first two options.

Now Load any image into Photoshop, press Ctrl + J to duplicate the background layer then fill the background layer with black colour then click on the “Reveal All” option:

As you can see, there is now a white layer mask being linked to this layer, as shown below:

Now Right-click on the layer mask you just added, and choose “Delete Layer Mask”:

Go back to Layer > Layer Mask and choose “Hide All” option this time:

Now instead of a white mask, you will a black mask being attached to this layer, and in the mean time the image will become invisible on the canvas:

In practice, if you have only a small portion of the image you wish to the conceal, you can choose the “Reveal All” and use brush tool the paint on it to hide the portion.

Else, if you have a large portion of the image you wish to conceal, you can use the “Hide All” option, then use a brush tool to paint on it, in order to the reveal the portion you don’t wish to hide.

A quick note: you can also add a layer mask by clicking on the button shown below on the layer palette:

Additional Masking Options

Now you may wonder: is there any extra settings I can apply to a layer mask? The answer is yes :)

If you go into “Window > Masks” and click on it:

Once you enable this mask window, you will see extra options appearing and you can adjust the settings to specific layer mask you wish:

Have a try with those settings and see what result they bring you :)

Use Soft or Hard Brush Tool to Paint on Layer Mask

One quick way of hiding and revealing object is to use brush tool to paint on the mask. By adjusting the brush hardness, you will have totally different results. Therefore, depending on the effect you’re trying to achieve, adjust the hardness of your brush to before you start painting.

To start painting on the mask, hold down Alt + Left-click to switch to the mask, then grab the brush tool from the toolbox.

Here is an example of using a 0% hardness brush with a single-click on the centre: (a reveal-all mask)

On the layer palette:

On the canvas:

The outcome:

Here is an example of using a 100% hardness brush with a single-click on the centre: (a reveal-all mask)

On the layer palette:

On the Canvas:

The Outcome:

As you can see, by having a different set of brush hardness, the outcome is entirely different.

There is no restriction as to which brush you use on the mask, you’re free to experiment any brush you prefer and see what results they bring you.

OK that’s it for this part one of the beginners’ guide to masking in Photoshop. Hope you find these information useful :)

In Part Two, I will be talking about advance masking such as:

• Quick Mask
• Clipping Mask
• Mask on Image Adjustment Layers

Stay Tuned and have a great day!

In this tutorial, I will show you how you can use Warp tool plus to create great looking abstract shapes to decorate your design. The steps are really simple and the effect can be used in a wide range of occasions, have a try :)

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

PSD File Download

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OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 900px * 790px, fill the background layer with black color.

Create a new layer called “custom shape” and grab the Ellipse Tool from the toolbox:

On the toolbox, set style to “none”, and color to be “white”: (you can use a different colour if you wish)

Draw a shape as shown below:

Now we want to add some shadow to it to create some depth. Apply the following Inner Shadow Settings to this layer:

Here is the effect so far:

Step 2

On this layer, hit Ctrl + T and right-click, choose “Warp”:

Then click and drag the edge of the shape:

Now use your creativity, experiment with all sorts of warping options – Go Wild!

Here are a few examples:

Step 3

Apart from using the Shape Tool, we can also use the Rectangular or Elliptical Marquee too with brush tool to the create shape, then warp them.

Now grab the Elliptical Marquee tool to draw a selection on a new layer:

While the selection is active, grab a soft white brush and paint to the spot as shown below:

Again, you can experiment with the warp tool with this shape:

One thing you should notice is that the mouse cursor changes its shape into a solid black arrow when dragging is enabled:

Step 4

No doubt so far you will have a bunch of custom shapes after all those warping done previously. Combine them together and form any shapes you like. I did the following shape:

Now let’s add a globe to the image. Create a new layer called “globe” and draw a white circle as shown below:

Apply the following layer blending options to this layer:

Inner Shadow

Gradient Overlay

Now let’s add a hole on the globe. Create a new layer on top of the globe layer, then draw a black hole as shown below: (with shape tool)

Apply the following layer blending mode to this layer:

Inner Glow

Stroke

Here is the effect so far:

Add another hole of the left side by duplicating the one on the right, made sure you resize/distort it to the fit the shape of the globe:

Create a new layer on top of the globe layer, grab a soft white brush and do a single-click on the spot below, set the layer blending mode to “overlay”:

Now we’re done with one globe, for more effect depth, we can produce two more globe simply by duplicating all the previous globe layers (or you can group them together first, then duplicate the group):

Make sure you resize each globe so they vary in size.

Step 5

We’re nearly done! For some extra effects, I decided to add a black and white gradient fill layer on top of the background layer for some contrast:

Also we can add some highlights by using a soft white brush, and paint to the following spots:

Now flatten the image, duplicate the background layer ocean and go to Filter > Noise > Median and apply the following settings:

Drop the opacity of this medium layer to around 60% – as you can see, the image becomes a bit softer and have a dreamy effect:

Optionally, you can render some cloud on the image to create extra effect:

Finally, create a new layer called “colour overlay” and set the blending mode to “overlay”, opacity around 80%, grab a soft brush and paint some colour of your choice on it.

Here is the final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it interesting and inspirational. Until next time, have a nice day!

In this tutorial, I will show you how you can Create this Awesome Abstract Photo Effect via Layer Masking and Custom Patterns. Some steps can be a little tricky, but why not have a try!

Along the way, I will show you some interesting method of making custom, abstract style patterns by mixing hard and soft round brush, plus some lighting techniques.

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

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You will need the following stock to complete this tutorial:

Model

Cloud Brush

Smoke Brush

Star Brush 1

Star Brush 2

OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 800px * 1044px, fill the background layer with black colour. Create a new layer called “background light” and use the Cloud Brush and big soft white brush, create some random light as shown below:

Load the Model image into Photoshop, cut out the model and paste it onto our document. Don’t worry if edges appear to be a bit rough – this is not important for this tutorial as we will be masking them out later on.

We will be doing a bit of retouching for this model. If you look closely, you will see some black spots on the girl’s cheek. We will remove them by using the healing brush, as shown below:

This is the effect after applying the healing brush:

Grab the Sharpen Tool from the toolbox, set strength to around 20%, apply some sharp effect onto the girl:

Hair

Lips

Step 2

We can create some abstract pattern by mixing Soft and Hard Circle round brush. As you can see, below is a big soft white brush with 0% hardness (a single-click):

Now grab the eraser tool, set the brush hardness to 100% for the round brush, do a single-click to the position shown below:

Then use the free tranform tool to warp it, distort it, whatever you like:

You can create abstract shape like this, which you can then apply to the image:

Meanwhile, you can add some shining stripes by doing the followings:

Firstly use a soft white brush to do a single-click on the top edge:

Then compress it down using the free-transform tool:

Rotate it to an angle you prefer:

By repeating the steps shown above, we can create some cool abstract patten quickly and use the to spice up the effect:

and this is the overall effect so far: (you effect may look different, as the pattern you create may be different from mine)

Step 3

Now let’s add a layer mask on the model layer, use a combination of hard, soft and smoke brush sets on it. Use your own creativity on the mask, and see what result it brings you:

and here is my effect after messing up with my layer mask:

Add a Curves adjustment layer to the top of the model layer: (make sure to tick the “use previous layer as clipping mask” option when adding them)

As you can see, by adjusting the channels on the curves adjustment layer, we can add colours to the image:

I added another levels adjsutment layer as clipping mask to increase the contrast a bit:

Mask on the levels adjustment layer:

here is the effect so far:

Step 4

Now let’s play with the lighting effect for a while. Create a new layer on top of all previous layer called “highlights” and set the blending mode to “overlay”, use a soft white brush to do a single-click to the spot shown below:

Create another light layer on top and use a big soft white brush to do a single-click on the spot shown below:

Optional: duplicate this light layer once for brighter effect:

We can add some light strips to the image. Grab a big soft brush to do a single-click on a new layer:

Then narrow it down by using the free transform tool:

and add those lights on the position shown below:

Step 5

Now let’s use the star brushes we downloaded to paint some star to the image, make sure you use a mixture of big and small stars:

(you can either create a new layer on top of all previous layer to paint star, or you can create layer below the original model layer if you want to add stars behind the model)

Also make sure you use both white and black colour to paint the star.

Once you’re done with the painting, add the following two adjustment layers on top:

Color Balance

Layer Mask on Colour Balance adjustment layer:

Vibrance

Layer Mask on Vibrance adjustment layer:

and here is the effect you will have so far:

For some final lighting touch-ups, you can use the dodge tool (set strength to around 30%) to add some highlights to the girls hair and face, as shown below: (after you flatten the image)

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

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

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this gloomy-looking text effect by using the amazing cloud filter in Photoshop. Have a try :)

The purpose of this tutorial is to show you the use of the cloud filter to create various effect, such as light and shadow, as a result bringing more depth to your text effect.

I personally love the cloud filter and I think it’s so versatile and you can use it to generate amazing effect and spice up your design. The trick is how you apply it and what other options do you use to combine it with (such as selection tools, other filter effects, or layer blending mode).

Here is a preview of the final effect:

Alternative darker version: (I adjust the brightness and contrast of the final effect, and some abstract texture to it)

PSD File Download

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Ok let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1400px * 600px (in fact size doesn’t really matter much in this tutorial), fill the background with the following gradients:

Personally I like to start with a gradient background with light grey, as it helps setting the mood for the text effect later on we will be created.

On the canvas, type a letter on the centre with a big bold font (I chose this font) as shown below:

On the text layer, apply the following blending options:

Inner Shadow

Gradient Overlay

Pattern Overlay

and you will have the following effect so far:

Step 2

Duplicate the text layer three times, disable the layer effects for those duplicated layers and put them below the original text layer. Alter the font color a bit and adjust the position of the text to the left and right of the original text layer a bit.

Your result should be looking similar to the following screenshot:

Then on each duplicated layer, add a layer mask respectively and erase a portion of the text with a soft brush on the spots as shown below:

The ulimiate goal of this step is to blend the edge of the text with the surrounding, so we can get ready for the next step.

To further increase the depth of the text, we can make a copy of any one of the duplicated text layer, replace the font color with a dark one, apply the following Gaussian Blur to the text layer: (Make sure this layer is beneath the original text layer)

You will have followin effect:

Step 3

Create a new layer on top of all previous layers called “cloud” and grab the Lasso Tool and draw a selection with 25px feather around the text, as shown below:

Go to Filter > Render > Cloud and render some cloud inside it (with white as foreground colour and dark grey as background colour)

Hint: try experimenting with different feather settings for the Lasso Tool, you will see by changing the feather, the cloud with become either thinner or thicker.

Once you finish with the rendering, resize the cloud and position it as shown below:

Duplcate the cloud layer once and position it to the lower position as shown below:

Change the blending mode of both cloud layer to “Hard Light”, you will have the following effect:

Step 4

Duplicate the cloud once more and name the duplicated layer as “shadow”, put it just above the background layer,  hit Ctrl + I to invert the colour and position it on the bottom of the text.

Change the blending mode of the shadow layer to “Normal” and opacity to 40%, you will have the following effect:

Duplicate the Cloud layer once and put it above all previous layer, rotate it to around 60 degree and apply the following motion blur setting to the duplicated layer:

Name this layer as “Light”.

Change the blending mode of  this light layer to be “overlay”, duplicate it a few times and drag them around the text, and you will have the following effect:

Step 5

OK now we can do some fine tuning to the text by adding a Curves adjustment layer to it:

and add some colour over the text by adding another layer on top of the curves adjustment layer with the “overlay” blending mode. Here is my final effect for this tutorial:

Alternative darker version: (I adjust the brightness and contrast of the final effect, and some abstract texture to it)

Ok that’s it for this tutorial! Hopefully I gave you some ideas about the cloud filter and how you can use it for creating light, shadows and adding more depth to text effect.

Till next time, have a great day!

I was just playing around with the Photoshop the other day and discovered this funny effect by accident, thought it looks good and perhaps can be added to some of the photo effect you’re creating, or use it as some sorts of website background.

Along the way, we will be using the brush tool, filter effects, layer blending and some image adjustments. The steps of this tutorial is extremely simple and will be suitable for a PS beginner. Have a try!

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

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

Crack Brushset

OK let’s get started!

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1000px * 600px, fill the background layer with black colour. Create a new layer on top of the background and called it “light”, grab a 600px soft round brush with white colour, do a single click on the position shown below:

Then Hit Ctrl + T and free-transform this light layer as shown below:

Reduce the layer opacity of this light layer to around 85%, you will have the following effect:

Step 2

Drag this “light” layer to the centre of our canvas, then go to Filter > Distort > Twirl and apply the following settings:

And you will the following effect:

Duplicate this layer a few times, try using the free-transform tool on different layers to create depth and shape variations. Here is the effect I can after the duplication and free-transformation:

To bring out more lighting contrast, I added the following Curves adjustment layer on top of all previous duplicated layers:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

I then decided to have a try and see if I add some cloud to those shape, what effect that can bring me. So I create a new layer called “Cloud”, use the Lasso Tool with a 25px feather to draw a selection, then go to Filter > Render > Cloud and render the cloud as shown below:

Change the blending mode of this cloud layer to “Soft Light” and you will have the following effect:

Download a copy of this crack brushset and create a new layer called “crack” on top of all layers, change its blending mode to “Overlay”, grab any crack brush from the set and paint on it.

You will have this effect (or similar) so far:

Step 4

Now let’s add some colours to those shapes we created. To do so, simply create a new layer on top of all previous layers, change the new layer’s blending mode to “soft light”, and grab a big soft brush with some colour and paint on it:

To add a bit of extra lighting depth to the image, I simply duplicate the original “cloud” layer and drag the duplicated layer to the top, change its blending mode to “Vivid Light”, and apply the following motion blur settings to it:

Duplicate this motion blur layer a few times and drag each duplicated layer to different position of the canvas. You will have the following effect:

To touch up the image, I finally added this following curves adjustment layer:

with the following mask attached to it:

And this 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 and inspirational! Cheers and have a great day!

In this tutorial, I will show the processes involved in designing and creating this really cool, Geometric Shaped Typography with Grungy Background in Photoshop. This is a simple tutorial yet the effect looks awesome, have a try!

Along the way, I will also give you some tricks that you can use for creating awesome lighting and smoky effect to spice up your design.

The techniques involved in creating this typo include layer blending, filter effects, image adjustments and custom brushsets. Hope you enjoy it!

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

PSD File Download

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OK let’s get started!

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

Font

Brushset

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1200 * 1700px, fill the background layer with black colour. Create a new layer on top of it and grab the brushset we just downloaded and paint some grungy texture as shown below:

The trick here is to set your brush flow and opacity to a reletively low level, both around 30% – 40%, and vary the brushset size when you paint. Also don’t stick with one brushset, try mixing different ones together and see what result that brings you.

If you want to skip this step, you can simply download a copy of this background texture here.

Now we want to make a space for our text and create some depth for the image. To do so, on the texture layer, add the following layer mask to it:

To adjust the lighting contrast a bit, we can add a Curves adjustment layer on top of all previous layers:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 2

Use the font we download before, type and position the text as shown below: (Use a dark gray colour as font colour)

Tips: type the texts on seperate layers, use the free transform tool (Ctrl + T) to rotate and fit them together.

Once you’re happy with the position, rasterise and merge those text layers and apply the following layer blending option to the merged layer:

Drop Shadow

Bevel and Emboss

Gradient Overlay

and you will have the following effect:

Now we’re in the fun part of this tutorial – Duplicate this merged text layer five times, and set each layer’s opacity as shown below:

Use your up and right arrow key on your keyboard, repeatly type them until each layer seperates from each other and form this effect as shown below:

Step 3

Load the selection of the last text layer (hold ctrl + left-click the thumbnail image of that text layer on the layer pallette), and apply the following refine edge settings:

Maintain the selection, create a new layer called “cloud” and render some cloud in it: (Black and White colour)

Duplicate this cloud layer three times, and drag the last text layer on top of the duplicated cloud layer, you will have the following effect:

Duplicate the cloud layer twice, and drag the two layers on top of text layer, change their blending mode to “overlay” and you will have the following effect:

Step 4

Now we can add some colours onto the image to spice it up a bit. To do this, I simply create a new layer called “colour 1″ on top of all previous layers, and grab a big soft round brush and select some colour I like to paint over it:

Change the blending mode of this layer to “overlay”.

I also want to highlight the edge of the grungy background, so I add another layer called “colour 2″ and grab a brown colour brush to paint around the edges:

Set the blending mode of this layer to “colour dodge”.

You can also highlight some part of the text, simply create another layer called “highlight” and grab a white soft round, big size brush and paint over desired area:

Change thie blending mode of this layer to “soft light”.

For final refinement, I added two adjustment layers on top of all previous layers:

Curves

Colour balance

Apply the following mask to the colour balance adjustment layer:

Overall, you will have the following effect:

Ok that’s pretty much it for this tutorial! Of course this doesn’t stop you from enhancing it and put it some your own creativity to it.

I further added some lines and apply some of this brushset around the edge of the text.

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

That’s it for this tut! Hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it useful and inspirational! Cheers and have a great day!

In this tutorial, I will show you how you can utilise the amazing power of image adjustment layers to make colour, contrast and lighting change for any chosen image in Photoshop, by walking you through the design process of this man jumping scene.

The reason I put up this basic tutorial is that lately I have receive some requests from people wishing to learn some techniques involved in using adjustment layers.

Along the way, not only I will be using image adjustment layers techniques, but also I will show you some skills I use to create break-apart effects, pen tool and layer blendings. Have a try!

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

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OK let’s get started!

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

Jump

Step 1

Load the “Jump” stock image into Photoshop, double-click on the background layer inside the layer pallatte to unlock it. Then create a new layer called “bg” , fill it with black colour and put it under the background layer we just unlock.

Use whatever selection tool you perfer to clear out the surroundings, and leave just the jumping man on the canvas:

It doesn’t really matter if the selection isn’t perfect. The tutorial is not about teaching you how to make the perfect human selection (However if you do want to learn, here is a tutorial for you).

Step 2

Now let’s head straight to the image adjustment layers. You will find those options under Layer > New Adjustment Layer > … , as shown below:

In this tutorial, I will be using three adjustment layers to retouch this jumping man: colour balance, curves and brightness and contrast. In my opinion, these are probably the most frequent used adjustment layers you will be using for whatever design you’re doing.

Step 3

Let’s go ahead and apply those adjustment layers. From bottom to top,

Color Balance

Curves

Brightness and Contrast

And you will have the following effect:

You will see now the colour tone and the lightness of the image are completely changed, just by adding those three adjustment layers. And the good thing about them is that you can have more flexibility if you do want to make changes later on, because the original layer is not altered.

Also, because those adjustment layers are in fact layer, you can apply mask, or change the blending mode for them, to experience different result.

Step 4

Now I will show you a quick way I use to create this cool dis-integration effect. Firstly let’s create a custom brushset.

Select a 5px, soft round brush, and apply the following brush dynamics to it:

Shape Dynamics

Scattering

and tick Noise, Airbrush and Smoothing options.

Now load the selection of the jumping man layer by Ctrl + left click the thumbnail image of that layer, click the rectangular marquee tool, then right-click inside the selection and choose “Make work path”:

Then define the Feather as 2px, and you will have the following effect:

After you made the work path, create a new layer called “stroke” and put it just under the jumping man layer, then click on the Pen Tool icon, and right-click on the work path and choose “stroke path”:

Make sure the brushset you just created is still selected and choose “Brush” in the next window, leave “simulate pressure” option un-checked.

Change the layer blending mode of this stroke layer to be “Screen” and drop the opacity to 40%. You will now have this effect:

Step 5

To create some motion for the image, we can duplicate the “stroke” layer from the previous layer once, drag the duplicated layer to the top of the jumping man layer, and apply the following radial blur:

Change the blending mode to “Hard Light” for this duplicated layer, and duplicate it once again. You will now have this effect:

Step 6

To add some more effect to the image, we can grab this Debris brushset and create a new layer just below the “Brightness and Contrast” adjustment layer, and paint some debris on it:

And that’s pretty much it for this tutorial! I added some abstract lines stretching from his arm to make this image more vibrant. This require some basic use of the Pen Tool, if you’re interested, I have a pretty neat tutorial here showing you how to make this sort of effect.

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

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 I took to design this chilling and icy text effect in Photoshop. Yesterday and today are both really hot in my city (suppose to be winter right now here!!), so I though I can make something to cool myself down :)

Along the way, we will be practicing a lot of layer blending technques, applying texture, selection technique, and an interesting method to create snowy/foggy effect.  Have a try!

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

Alternative version: (click to enlarge)

PSD File Download

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Ok let’s get started!

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

Ice Grunge Brushset

Font

Ice Package

Step 1

Create a new document sized 1000px * 600px, leave the background colour as white, and let’s firstly make a background to work on.

Grab the Ice Grunge Brushset we just downloaded, paint around the edges of the background layer as shown below: (tip: set the opacity and flow of the brush to around 50%, and try to use a variety of brushes in the set so we can have a mixture of patterns)

Optionally, you can apply the Star Brushset for extra effect.

We can now add some cooling effect to the background. To do so, I added two adjustment layers to it:

Colour Balance

Brightness and Contrast

and here is the effect so far:

Step 2

Use the font we just downloaded and type some texts onto the document:

Apply the following layer blending option to this text layer:

Drop Shadow

Inner Shadow

Outer Glow

Inner Glow

Bevel and Emboss

Color Overlay

Gradient Overlay

Pattern Overlay

Stroke

and you will have the following effect:

Step 3

Load any one image from the Ice Package into Photoshop (I chose the ice6_0174 image), select a distinct portion of the image use the Rectangluar Marquee Tool, copy and paste the selection onto our document, rotate it slightly as shown below:

Rename this layer as “Icy Texture right” and change its blending mode to “Screen”, use the ice brushset we download to erase the edge of this layer so only the centre part of the image remains:

Duplicate this “Icy Texture right” layer once and drag the duplicated layer to the left, rename the layer as “”Icy Texture Left”, keep the blending mode as “Screen”, and you will have the following effect:

Step 4

Now let’s create some shattered ice around the text.

Load a different image from the ice package into Photoshop (I chose ice6_0176.jpg file) and use the same method as described above, select a portion of the image, copy and paste it onto our document, and put it just beneath text layer:

Use the ice grunge brushset to erase the edge and leave just the bits in the centre. (Tip: repeatly left-click the centre of this image for the shattering effect)

Rename this layer as “Background Ice Texture Right”, Add the following adjustment layers to this layer (make sure to tick “use previous layer as clipping mask” option)

Black and White

Colour Balance

and you will have the following effect:

Duplicate the above three layers, and drag them to the left, you will have the following effect:

And we can add some extra effect under the text. To do this, grab the Ellipitical Marquee Tool with 20px feather, create a new layer just below the text layer, draw a selection as shown below:

Maintain the selection, again grab the ice brushset we downloaded, paint inside the selection. You will have the following effect:

Step 5

Now we can fine-tune the image a bit. Firstly, we flatten the image (don’t forget to save a copy of the original before flatten it) and duplicate the background layer once, apply the following motion blur settings to the duplicate layer:

Now we come to the interesting part: change the blending mode of this duplicated layer to “Pin Light”, keep the opacity of this layer to 100%, and hit Ctrl + T and resize the duplicate layer as shown below:

Erase the edges of the duplicated layer.

You can see by doing so, we created a nice snowy/foggy to our icy text.

Now we can finalise the image by adding the following adjustment layers:

Curves

Hue/Saturation

Colour Balance

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

That’s it for this tutorial! Of course you can further enhance the image effect by mixing lighting effect, change hue/saturation settings, etc.

Here is an alternative version I have after I change a few things (Decided to give it a darker/groovy theme): (click to enlarge)

Hope you enjoy it! Drop me a comment if you have any question, I will try my best to help you out.

Till next time, have a great day!