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!

In the post, I collected 15 Awesome (Fresh) Free Photoshop Brushsets to Spice Up Your Design. They’re fantastic Photoshop brushes that will suit a wide range of occasions, check them out :)

Photoshop Audio Lines Brushes

Fortune Brushes

Digital Smoke Brushes

Tree Silhouette Brushes

3D Halftone

Arrow Brushes

Veruct brushes

InkDrop — Sample brush Set

MB-Linear

SpaceBrushes HD v1 – HD Space Brushes for Photoshop

TypeShape Brushpack

Splatter Brush

Negativity Brushes

Fake Glitter

Abstract Toolkit

That’s it for this post! Hope you enjoy this collection and find them useful :)

Till next time, have a great day!

Along the way, we will be using two techniques mentioned in Previous two tutorials:

• Make Perfect Selection for Human Object by Utilising Channel Mask Technique in Photoshop
• Create Beautiful Hair-like Abstract Lines to Decorate Your Design in Photoshop

Plus a bunch of other Photoshop tricks.

Here is a preview of the final image 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 $4.95/Month (or less)! You will not only get this PSD File, but also 40+ 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!

You will need to the following stocks for this tutorial:

Model by *Dxlogic

Star Brushsets

Step 1

Create a new document sized 950px * 1250px, fill the background with black colour. Load the model image into Photoshop and extract the model out: (for more details the method I use to extract the model, check out this tutorial)

Resize and paste it on our canvas – don’t worry if you miss a few hair, this is not important for this tutorial (we’re not designing a megazine cover):

Tidy up the image and get rid of the unwanted part under the heel as shown below:

Use the Smudge Tool with 3-5% strength to smooth the leg skin a bit:

Now use the Dodge and Burn Tool (set strength to around 10-15% for both), apply to the areas shown below: (the overall contrast of the original image is good, so this step can be optional)

Also tidy up and erase the edge with a soft eraser so the image blends into the background:

Here is the effect so far:

Step 2

Let’s adjust the model further. Add the following 3 adjustment layers to the model layer as clipping mask:

Curves

Vibrance

Colour Balance

and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

Now load the star brushsets into PS. Create a new layer just above the background layer, paint some star pattern on the bottom of the canvas, use the free transfrom to adjust its shape if necessary:

Paint some shadow for the model on the star floor:

Now if you combine the free transform tool and the star brush together, you can create some interesting effect as shown below:

Attach it to the model as shown below: (duplicate the layer once for brighter effect)

We can also distort and reduce the size of the star brush layer, and apply the smaller star pattern around canvas to create some micro effect:

Decorate those smaller Star Pattern around the canvas: (behind and in front of the model)

Step 4

Now let’s create an abstract shaped brush to add some random pattern to our image. To do this, create a new document sized 200px * 200px and fill the background layer with black. Draw a work path as shown below:

Stroke this path with a 1px hard brush:

DO NOT tick the “Simulate Pressure” setting in this case:

Ctrl + left-click on the thumbnail image of this path layer, go to Edit > Define Brushset and create a new brushset”

Press F5 and bring up the brush window, apply the following settings to this brush we just made:

Now paint some randam pattern around girl with this dynamic brush: (Quick Tip: as you paint, use a soft eraser tool to erase some portion of the pattern to create depth)

Step 5

Now let’s create a quick eclipse effect. Create a new layer called “Eclipse” and use a soft white brush to do a single click:

Then grab the eraser tool, reduce the brush size a bit comparing with the white dot we drew, then incrase the brush hardness to around 70%, and reduce the brush opacity to around 60%:

In the position shown below, do two left clicks to produce the eclipse effect:

Duplicate this eclipse layer a few times, rotate and postions as shown below:

Step 6

Now we can add some abstract hair line to the image as shown below: (For detailed tutorials about how to create those hair lines, please refer to this tutorial)

Add a new layer called “focal points” on top of all previous layers, grab a soft white brush do a few clicks on it:

Change the blending mode of this layer to “overlay”, here is the effect:

Now you can use the colour balance adjustment layer to add some custom colour scheme to the image. I won’t limit your imagination with my own settings, go wild with colours :)

After you’re done with the colours, flatten the image, duplicate the background layer, then apply the following Reduce Noise settings:

As you can see, the image now become a lot smoother, plus we get this glowing, painting style effect: (As shown below)

The Clothes now shine on the image:

The legs now look smoothers, glowing:

Of course you don’t want to the whole image to be glowing, so use the layer mask to hide the portions you don’t want glowing effect.

Lastly, we can also paint some more star around the eclipse planet to spice up the image even further:

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!

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)

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.

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!

Photoshop has the amazing power of tranforming an average object into something unique and beautiful – we all knwo this. However, to master the techniques involved, you need lots of practices and patience. This can be quite a difficult task for beginners. Luckily, there are tons of tutorials available on the internet showing you how to make some really cool effect via a few simple easy-to-learn steps.

In this post, I hand-picked 20 Beautiful and Unique Photoshop Effect Tutorials around the web. I personally tried all of them and found them quite interesting and informative. Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as I did and find them useful :)

Here goes the list, enjoy!

Create a Face Paint Dripping Effect

Create a Stunning Burning Meteor

Create a truck coming from a flame

The Making of “Golden Apple Tree”

Awesome Glowing Effect on Text

How to design a grunge styled portrait in Photoshop

Creation of “Get Digitised” – Photoshop CS tutorial

Create an Electrifying Light Guitar

How to enhance your subjects with striking light effects in Photoshop

Make a Meteoric Composition with Stellar Light Effects

Creation of Chroma Wallpapers in Photoshop

Making of the Magical Heroes of 10Steps.SG

Photoshop Tutorial: Create a Photo-Realistic Candle with Basic Photoshop Tools

How to create amazing glowing neon lines

Create a Magic Crystal Ball

Drawing an Abstract Lightbulb

Create a Simple Vibrant Light Effect in Photoshop

Create Convincing Watercolor Effects Using Photoshop

Create Colorful Swirl in Photoshop

Ring of Fire – Photoshop Tutorials

That’s it for this post! Hope you enjoy this collection and find those tuts useful.

Till next time, have a great day!

One more extra content for the VIP Member :) This is an exclusive Photoshop tutorial written specifically for those who sign-up to the PSD Vault VIP Membership.

If you’re VIP member, you can log in to the VIP Members Area and click on Exclusive Tutorial button to download the tutorial.

If you’re yet to become a VIP member, you can simply click on the banner below to signup:

To find out more about PSD Vault VIP Membership, check out this post: http://www.psdvault.com/vault-news/psd-vault-vip-members-area-launched-signup-and-get-exclusive/

This tutorial is written by Joonas Sairiala for PSD Vault. Here is a brief intro of Joonas:

Joonas is a finnish student studying for a Bachelor’s in Culture and Arts at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Joonas has a passion towards multimedia and visual arts and is currently working around the clock to educate himself in the creative fields. When he is not adventuring in the realm of art and media he is gaming and watching sci-fi.

You can find more of Joonas work on: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teloscore/

What You Will Learn

In this tutorial, Joonas will walk you through the creation of this Dark Fantasy Scenary. You should have a firm grip on the different tools in Photoshop, especially adjustment layers.

Final Image Preview

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

Tutorial Spotlights

Here are some sample screenshots from this tutorial:

Interested? Log in to your VIP members area to download it now :)

Not a member yet? Click on the banner below to sign up now:

To find out more about PSD Vault VIP Membership, check out this post: http://www.psdvault.com/vault-news/psd-vault-vip-members-area-launched-signup-and-get-exclusive/

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!

The purpose of this tutorial is to revise several skills taught in previous tutorials, such as:

• Vexel Hair
• Cloud Warping
• Focal Points
• Adjustment Layers

Here is a preview of the final effect 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 40+ 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 stocks:

Mountain

Model -by tanit-isis-stock

Some grunge, cloud and star brushes from qbrushes.net

Step 1

Create a new document sized 800px * 1100px, fill the background with black colour. Create a new layer on top of the background layer, render some fibre texture via Filter > Render > Fibre with the following settings on the new layer:

Reduce the layer opacity to around 30%, you will have the following effect:

Step 2

Load the “Mountain” stock image into Photoshop, select the following portion from the image:

Copy and paste the selection onto the image, resize and flip in vertically, and use a soft black brush to erase the edge and some parts of the rock to create a bit of depth:

I decided to add a trace of cloud to the bottom of the mountain. To do this, we can use the Lasso Tool with (50px feather) to draw a selectin, then render some cloud inside it:

Hit Ctrl + L and bring up the Levels tool, apply the following settings to the cloud:

Then Warp it as shown below:

When you are done with the cloud warping, attach it to the bottom of the mountain as shown below:

Step 3

Group all these layers created in Step 2 into a layer group. Name it as “Mountain Group” and duplicate this group once, resize it to the small scale:

You might also want to use the dodge tool to add some highlight to the top left part of the mountain, for some lighting dynamics:

Duplicate the mountain group again and flip the group horizontally, move it the left part of the canvas, as shown below:

Step 4

Use a cloud brush, or texture image to add some cloud onto the mountain:

Load the Model stock image into Photoshop, cut out the model and paste it to the position below:

Now we’re on the vexel hair part. Use the Pen Tool to draw a work path as shown below, and select a 3px hard brush for stroking later on:

Now pick a dark hair colour from the model layer:

Stroke the path with this dark color:

Now go back to the model layer and pick a lighter colour:

Then stroke the path with this light color:

Duplicate the dark and light stroke layer several times, bind them together as shown below: (merge those layer together afterwards)

Duplicate the hair group, move the duplicated layers to different positions, also resize, rotate them for best result:

Step 5

Now let’s paint some splash and star texture on the image to spice it up a bit. No doubt you have downloaded a few brushes from the internet – now it’s the time to use them!

Create a new layer under the model layer and paint some splash to the position shown below:

also add some star texture to the position shown below:

Use the same cloud warping technique mentioned in previous step for some nebula effect:

you will have the following effect so far:

Step 6

Ok we’re almost done. Let’s add a few adjustment layer to fine-tune the image a bit:

Black and White

Color Balance

Layer Mask on the color balance adjustment layer:

Also I added a few focal points with soft white brush to the spots shown below: (Adjust brush blend mode to “Normal” or “overlay”)

Step 7

Now we can do some final retouches of the image. As you can see, by using all the brushes we created a lot of noise on the image, would be great if we can reduce the noise a bit.

Flatten the image, duplicate the background layer and apply the following “Reduce Noise” options:

As you can see, by using this filter we soften the hair we created before, plus getting rid of a large portion of the unwanted noise on the image:

and here is my final effect for this tutorial:

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 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

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!

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!