Hello, and welcome to Divine Inspiration, my personal portfolio / blog.

        I want to thank God, the reason for this site's name, for the inspiration for
    every artistic expression of which I am capable, and for making me the way I
  am. I couldn't do this without Him! Okee, well take a look around,enjoy, have
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  God Bless!
   - Chloe
 

 

Tutorial | Icon: Hard Light

Use this tutorial to get from:

- to -

If you have any questions after the tutorial, feel free to contact me!

Start


First, position means a lot. Make sure you put the picture in a place that looks artistic. You don't want it to be boring, but not too weird either. Also, if you intend to add a caption, you may want to leave a space for that as well. Here are some examples:

I chose the last one.

Step 1

Star by copying the bottom layer and pasting it on top. Change the pasted layer to "Screen".

Step 2

Now paste the layer again, turn it black and white (Ctr + Alt + U) and set it to "Soft Light".

Step 3

Select the bottom layer, and Sharpen it (Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen).

Step 4

Now create a new layer on the top. Choose a color between muted and vibrant. I chose #C0926E. Use the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the top layer with this color, and then change the layer to "Hard Light" (TIP: If you don't like the color you chose, go to your Hue/Saturation editor [Ctrl + U] and mess with the slider-bars till you have the color you want).

Step 5

Create another new layer. Use the Eyedropper Tool to select the darkest color in the icon. I chose #822E0B. Now select the Polygonal Lasso Tool. Make a crooked border around the outside of the icon, starting in the corner, and being careful not to cut off too much of Frodo's face.

Step 6

Right-Click on the border you just outlined, and hit "Select Inverse". Right-Click again, and select "Fill", and it will fill the inverted area with the darker color you just chose. You can now diselect it.

Step 7

Now, flatten the image (Ctrl + Shift + E), copy it, undo the "Flatten Image", and paste the completed icon on top. Set this new layer to "Multiply" and fade the Opacidy to 50%.

Step 8

Create another new layer, select the Paint Bucket Tool, and set it to "Fill: Pattern". The pattern I used was from a set called "lights" by ColorFilter.

Step 9

Set this Pattern Layer to "Soft Light".

Conclusion

Pwetty, hmn? ;) Now you can quit, if you like, but you can also add text. I chose Arial Black, size 7pt, color #4F2C1D (the same color as the darker parts of the border). For the "SUNSET" part, I turned it to "Overlay". I hope this tutorial was useful! Keep in mind, the finer points can be tweaked, and sometimes must be, depending on what picture you choose.