| | PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS/TUTORIALS
Here, I would describe and show you many techniques I use in layout making. You do NOT have to give me any credits for making any graphics or layouts. However, if you do, I would really appreciate. Here, you will not FIND tutorials made by people, only tutorials made by me. Therefore, re contributing these tutorials are not allowed. If you really need to, please ask me for permission. Any comments or suggestions for the tutorials are welcomed. :]
Icon Tutorial #2
This is the second edition of my icon tutorial! Now, I'll focus on more advance stuff, so whenever I say something that makes no sense, please refer to the previous tutorial. Although I'll doubt there will be any confusion. In this tutorial, I will give you the procedures to manipulate images into an 100x100 icons. These--- of course--- are my personal techniques, so this tutorial isn't the only way to make an icon. The following images will show the starting image, and the final result: From this:
to
 In order to follow this tutorial, you need: +Photoshop
+This Page to Be Opened
+An Image of your Choice
+Brushes [Optional]
+Textures
+Gradients Now that you have everything need, you are ready. Step 1: The Image:
Browse through the internet and find a picture that you would like transform into an icon. The picture can be bright or dark, and it could be at any size BUT NOT under 100x100 [unless you're making a tiny icon]. The picture I prefer to use for this tutorial is this:
Right click on the image, and click on Copy. If the image was specifically designed by someone in a graphics site, please give credits to them. Click on your Photoshop icon to open up Photoshop. Go to file, and new. Usually, the Canvas size will automatically fit to the exact size of the image you copied. If not, make it exactly the size of your picture. You can find that out by right-clicking on the picture on the web-page, and go to properties. It should have something like 200x300 or something like that. Copy the width's Px [pixels] and paste it on to Canvas size. Repeat the same for the Height. After you finished with the canvas size, click 'Okay'. Paste the image on the canvas. Quick paste can be done by holding Ctrl and pressing "V". Crop the image with the crop tool. Hold Shift, and make a square on the area in which you want your icon to focus on. I choose to focus the icon on Ashe's face and hand.
 http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/843/tutorialcq9.jpg Right-click inside the the box, and click on "Crop".On the top of your screen, there should be File, Edit, Image, Layer, Select etc. Click on Image, and near the bottom of the drop-down menu, click on "Image Size". Change the Width and the Height of the Image to 100px. Make sure that it is set on pixels.
 http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/8666/tutorial0wi.jpg Then, click "Okay". Now, your icon should be 100x100. 
Step 2: Texture Blend:
This is where it gets different from the other tutorial. Instead of Gradient blending first, you can texture blend. A texture is a natural image with no specific characters from any media, and have a feel to it. For example, you can visit here to see some textures I've created myself. You can also create your own texture. But when you do, it's best not to use other people's brushes, and stay with Filtering, or natural brushes that originally came from your Photoshop. For this icon, I will use my fifth texture on the Texture page, which is this: 
Proceed back the canvas, and hold Ctrl and press "V", which is equivalent to right-clicking and Paste. So far, you should have Two Layers. The one on the bottom is your picture, and the one on top is the texture. On the layer blending dropdown right below the word "Layers"... , click on the arrow pointing down, and select a blending mode. My favorite ones for icons is Screen, Pin Light, Overlay, Soft Light, Darken, and Lighten. For now, I'll just pick Pin Light  because I love the effect it does on the icon.
Although this already looks good, I prefer to add another texture. Of course, you can always add as much texture as you want to an icon. As long as... +You give the person that made the texture credits in the end.
+It doesn't come out too funky. Wondering how to credit those that you borrowed textures from? Usually in Livejournal.com, on the beginning of their icon count, or at the end, they will list a bunch of different referrals for texture. On real domain sites, you can go to the credits section, and they should list every single site they went to that provided the image, brush, font, or texture. Another thing that people do, is designing a little pop-up indicating where the icon is from when you hover over it for about five seconds. However, this is all usually for Livejournal-ers. Wow, I guess I got off the subject--- the second texture I'll be using for the icon is the sixth one on my texture list. 
On this texture, I tried all of the Layer Blending styles. . After some experiments, I have come to the conclusion to use "Vivid Light" as the Layer blend.  This is the result after having two textures on the icon. 
In case if you're curious, these are my layers so far: 
Step 3: Brush Designs:
Similar to the other tutorial, you can add brush design to the icon! But unlike the other tutorial, the icon was scaled down first so using textures won't be such a huge pain. [especially my textures] The result of this, is that you won't be able to brush much. As you should know though, brushing doesn't really make an icon good. It's the design and the color that matters. I usually don't use brushes on icons like these, so I will leave it alone. But if you're heading in a different direction, feel free to add more brushing. Just ONE THING. ALWAYS remember to give credit for the brushes. [unless it is a default one.] Also, remember to make a new Layer before you brush. This will prevent any loss of the image when you want to get rid of the brushing you did. The arrow here will show you where to click to get a new layer.
Click on it for a new layer. For this icon I'm making, I decide to avoid brushing on my icon. Instead, with my brush tool , I drew an "X". Remember, if you can't find the brush tool on your Tools, right-click on Pencil , and select Brush.
 Here is the "X" I drew: 
I would recommend that whenever you do brushing, always use the eyedropper tool  and click on an area of the image to get a specific color. Use that color to brush. Especially if you use a random color like green while the rest of the icon is reddish, it would make the icon look silly. So don't use random brushes for brushing. The most used color when it comes to icons would have to be the color white, in my opinion. I love using that too. Also, remember to credit the brushes if used on the icon. If you want to save the hassle of crediting, just use default brushes like I do. Finish up the brushing, or if you didn't brush, that is still fine. As long as the icon doesn't appear very plain, it can do.
Step 4: Text:
Finally, let's add some text. Like I've stated before, it's best not to use techy small fonts like 04b08, Rendensek, or Silkscreen for the icon. Using default fonts would look nicer, or you can always use other fonts. Cursive fonts usually don't show up well. However, it doesn't really matter whether the text is readable or not. In my opinion, as long as the icon looks very nice, it should be fine. Click on your Text Tool Button  and click on whereever you want to type your icon's quotes. Some of my favorite fonts includes Arial, Arial Black, Georgia, Verdana, Garamound, or Times New Roman. As for cursive fonts, I love Carpenter. After you choose, set the font's size to around 8-10pt. I have an odd urge to use Tahoma as the font. So these are my settings: Tahoma, Regular, 10pt, None, Align Left, Color #87767E.
 http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/8808/tutorialwo4.jpg I wrote "f a n t a s y" with space inbetween each letter. And below that, I used Georgia to write "F I N A L". I set that font to 12pt, and smooth. Excluding those two difference, every setting is the same as the setting for the word: "f a n t a s y". 
Final Step: Border and Hosting:
The final step to this almost completed icon is to add a border. As you may have thought, this is optional. My obsession with icons is to always add a border, so let's add one. Change your Brush tool back to a Pencil tool by right-clicking on the Brush and selecting Pencil . Select any color for the rims of your icon. I'll use white for this icon because... well I love white borders. Make a new layer, and outline the whole image with the pencil at 1px. If you can't draw it correctly, using the Zoom Tool  as a utility to everything easier. Holding SHIFT helps you draw a straight line, too, so don't forget about that. LAYERS: 
ICON:
Ahh... doesn't that look cool? Does it look better than my first tutorial? I hope so, because this is a slightly more advance tutorial due to the blending of textures. Your icon, on the other hand, may not look like this at all. But don't fret, you probably chose a different texture and image--- that's probably the reason for the differences between our icons. You can host your icon at Imageshack. Click on File, then select "Save As..." On the drop down menu, choose: JPEG [*.JPG; *.JPEG; *.JPE]
Name your icon an unique name, and when you're done, click on the Save button. You can host your icons on Photobucket.com or Imageshack.us. Most Livejournal users have a tendency to select Photobucket because of the ability to arrange your images specifically into different categories. However, Imageshack.us has unlimited Bandwidth--- as long as you sign up. I always host everything in Imageshack.us, so I suggest you to do the same.=D
You can have the icon if you wish too. ^_^ I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial..This is just a more advance tutorial, but we're not all the way to where the pros are at. ^_^ CONGRATULATIONS! You're done. :] :] :]
More tutorials to come soon.... -Angel Wings, Ancient Whisper, Aeris |
