Author: James Qu

In this post, I will introduce 7 Highly Practical Photoshop Site Mockups I have came aross on the net from a variety of sources, plus 1 Amazingly Detailed Tutorial About Converting Them into Working Web Pages.

For the 7 mockup tutorials I have selected, although they all aim towards the same objective, the techniques used during the process can be seen differently, mainly because the difference in genre (e.g. corporate design v.s watercolour design). Interesting to see the methods the authors use to achive the end result :)

As for the convertion tutorial I included here, I personally think it’s the best and most detailed one on the net! I’m sure you will find it useful, too. Enjoy!

In this tutorial, I will show you the processes I used to design this awesome space dancer scene with Nebula Texture in Photoshop. The inspiration of the tutorial in fact came from the latest “Prince of Persia” game cover (and yes, I do love this game very much!)

Together we will be using image adjustment options, layer blending, masking and filter effect. I will also like to emphasise that it’s very importance to choose the right stock texture for your design, as they will contribute and improve your final effect dramatically.

This is an fairly easy tutorial and I hope you enjoy it! Have a try!

In this tutorial, I will show the processes involved in designing a God of War III Inspired Cracked Text Effect in Photoshop. I personally have been a fan of the God of War Series for a long time and got the inspiration for this tutorial from the game title text effect, and thought I could make a tut for it :)

Along the way, I would like to show you the use of custom brushsets in Photoshop and how to use them to create eye-catching effect for your design work. There are also techinques such as layer blending mode, masking and image adjustments. Have a go!

Welcome to the ninth volume of “Creativity Fine-Tuning: Best of PSD Vault Flickr Group”, which is a showcase I run fortnightly here on psdvault.com featuring some fantanstic, highly-creative design works in the PSD Vault Flickr Group.

Hope you enjoy those works as much as I did and find them inspirational! Meanwhile, if you have some cool designs and would like to share them here, you can simply join the PSD Vault Flickr group.

You can click on the images to view them on Flickr and access the author’s photostream from there.

Here goes the list, enjoy!

Have you ever come across an amazing looking photo that has vibrant colour and huge depth, and you wondered how on earth could this image be created in the first place? If you have, you probably bumped into one of those HDR (High Dynamic Range) images.

In this post, I have included 30 Mind-blowing HDR Images + 10 Articles that I found useful on How to Generate Them. Hopefully those wonderful works would inspire you, and the articles can get you started on HDR image processing.

I would love to hear from you about the experience you have for this respective, simply drop me a comment below and we can all learn together!

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create the Super Sleek, eye-catching text effect with Water Drop Texture. This effect is simple but effective, and would be suitable for any water/rainy/ocean themed designs you’re creating.

Along the way, we will be using Photoshop techniques such as make selections, layer blending effects, image adjustment tools and a bit of masking. This is a beginner level tutorial and the steps are really easy to follow, have a try!

Futuristic City Themed artwork is a style I always love looking at. I’m alwasys attached by the emotions that are expressed in those artworks, and this amazing creativity and telent those artists displayed in those artworks.

In this post, I will include 30 Magnificant, Simply Stunning Urban City Matte Painting Artworks for you to browse through. They’re wonderful works done by some awesome artists with tons of effort.

Hope you enjoy them and if you wish, share your thoughts with us : )

“An action is a series of tasks that you play back on a single file or a batch of files—menu commands, palette options, tool actions, and so on. For example, you can create an action that changes the size of an image, applies a filter to the image for a particular effect, and then saves the file in the desired format.” – From Photoshop Help File.

The above says it all: By using Photoshop Actions, you can greatly improve your productivity and efficiency, especially if you would like to apply the same effect over and over again. I use it all the time

In this post, I have included 10 Highly Useful Articles (Intro + Roundups) that Talk About Photoshop Action, which I have in my personal collection for you to go through. Get ready for some actions!

Welcome to the eighth volume of “Creativity Fine-Tuning: Best of PSD Vault Flickr Group”, which is a showcase I run fortnightly here on psdvault.com featuring some fantanstic, highly-creative design works in the PSD Vault Flickr Group.

Hope you enjoy those works as much as I did and find them inspirational! Meanwhile, if you have some cool designs and would like to share them here, you can simply join the PSD Vault Flickr group.

Regardless whether you’re an Apple fan or not, it is no doubt that iPhone is a revolutional product that has taken mobile communication to a brand new level. Meanwhile, there are many graphic designers/digital artists utilised their creative flares to produce some truly awesome design works for iPhone.

In this post, I included 22 highly creative, ultra-stylish Advert designs for iPhone from deviantArt.com. The majority of those works were not done on paid basis and are just purely for fun/experiments, but no doubt they are of very high quality and the techniques used in those iPhone designs are simply superb :)

In this tutorial, I will show you the method I use to drastically change the Mood and Colour Tones for your photo via Adobe Photoshop. Along the way, I will also demonstrate an interesting method of adding misty effect to your image.

This mood/colour tones changing method can be particularly useful for images that are reletively dark and lack of colour depth. We will be using a lof image adjustment tool, masking techniques and layer blending options. Have a go!

In this tutorial, I will show you the method I use to design a simple, yet elegant abstract spectrum lines in Photoshop. You will see how easy it is to achieve this nice effect and you can use it a wide range of occasions including perhaps site header backgrounds, logos, or add extra flavor to your photo manipulations.

This tutorial is suitable for beginners and I included the ways of creating new brush presets and also the use of Pen Tool. You will ample opportunities to practive layer blending, filters and Free Transform Tools. Have a try!

According to DeviantArt.com, Digital Portrait is a “Digital Art of a person that usually shows them from the shoulders and up, focusing on the persons face.”

I always enjoy looking at those digital portraint artworks, simply because I love the emotion that is convayed via the portraits, the expressions on faces, and overall environment those protrait people are in. You can always sense the powerful feelings behind those paintings – some are sorrow, sad and dark, yet some are full of joy and happiness.

In this post, I included 30 absolutely Breath-Taking, Beyond Awesome Digital Portrait Artworks from devaintArt.com. They are exceptional works done by some very inspirational artists. Hope you enjoy them!

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to create this cool, ancient-style typography using dry soil texture and floral brushset in Photoshop. I will also share with you the technique I learnt for creating some really cool light strips for your image.

Along the way, we will be using a lot of layer blending technqiues, musking, image adjustment tools and adjustment layers, plus the gradient tool and blur tool. This is an intermediate tutorial so beginners may find it a bit tricky. Well, never hurt to have a try!

Welcome to the seventh volume of “Creativity Fine-Tuning: Best of PSD Vault Flickr Group”, which is a showcase I run fortnightly here on psdvault.com featuring some fantanstic, highly-creative design works in the PSD Vault Flickr Group.

Hope you enjoy those works as much as I did and find them inspirational! Meanwhile, if you have some really cool designs and would like to share them here, simply join the PSD Vault Flickr group!

Welcome to First Free Giveaway Contest on PSD Vault! This contest is sponsored by Stock Graphic Designs, which offers several premium vector packs on their site and this time they offer 3 sets of MASTER PACK – Decorative elements – Vector + Brush (3 * 10 = 30 Packs) to 3 lucky winners absolutely free!

This contest has now ended, winners will be announced shortly.

In this tutorial, I will show you an interesting technique I use to produce realistic break-apart/disintegration effect in Photoshop by using debris brushes, with a watercolour background attached. There are many tutorials on the web showing techniques about break-aparts but, it never hurts to learn more :)

It will be a bit boring if the whole tut is just to break something apart, so I also combined a bit of photo retouch techniques along side and hopefully they can be useful to you as well. Together we will be using layer blending options, masking, the pen tool, adjustment layers and of course, brushsets. Have a try!

I have always been a huge fan for those surreal, fantasy-styled digital artworks. Every time I look at them, I’m captured by the powerful theme they represent, and the spiritual meaning behind those artworks. Not to mention the technique used in those artwork are simply world-class.

In this post, I hand-picked 22 Absolutely Amazing Surreal Fantasy-Styled Digital Artworks from deviantART. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do and maxmise your creativity :)