The resource files  I used are these below:

Vector seamless from Designious.com.

Splatter vector from Designious.com

Brush Script Std font.

So let’s begin, shall we ?

STEP 1

Create a new document using the settings below or feel free to use your own. I use these because i can use the image as a wallpaper and 1680×1050 is my screen resolution, for widescreen.(1) Fill it with a gray color using the Paint Bucket Tool (G). We do this to reduce the eye-strain of the white background so it doesn’t really matter which one you use.

STEP 2

Open the Vector seamless pack and pick one of the images. Copy it, paste it as Smart Object in our drawing. Resize it to look like below using Move Tool (V) with “Show transform controls” checked. This will be the model on the table.

STEP 3

Select the “Vector Smart Object” layer from layers palette (F7). Duplicate layer “CTRL+J”. Now select the new layer and grab the Move Tool (V) and reposition the pattern with the lower edge on the top edge of the image below it. Notice that there is a pattern so you can use the design of the seamless as guide to your repositioning. It should look like below.

STEP 4

Repeat STEP 3 until you cover up the entire drawing. To keep things organised, let’s create a layer group to put in all these layers. Go to layers palette (F7) and

click the icon that looks like a folder. You should see a folder in your layers palette named Group 1. Double-click its tag and rename it “table”.

select the top-most “Vector Smart Copy” layer, hold SHIFT key and click the first “Vector Smart Object” you created. Now drag them into “Table” layer group.

NOTE: Notice the gray flipped triangle ? That’s the button the expand or contract our layer group. Let’s click that.

STEP 5

Drag the “Table” layer group onto the “New Layer” icon. This will create a copy of our group. Now select the “Table copy” group and go to Layer > Merge Layers (CTRL+E). Click the “eye” near the “Table” layer group to turn off its visibility. This is a good way to edit images in a non-destructive way. Also it helpls for later editing.

STEP 6

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation and use the settings below or use your own settings to give it a brownish tint.

STEP 7

Create a new layer above the “Table copy” one and set it to Multiply blending mode with a 40% Opacity. Name it “Table Shade”. Grab the Brush Tool (B) and set it to 300-400 px size and 0% Hardness. Now Start hand-painting the shadows like in the image below.

STEP 8

Now we will start creating the plate for the coffee cup. Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N). Grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) make a circle selection in the center of our image (hold ALT+SHIFT key while dragging). Now select Gradient Tool (G) and set it like below or use different tones of gray. Now drag an aproximate 45 degrees diagonal over our selection to fill it. Make it look like below.

STEP 9

Double-click the “Shape 1″ layer to open the Layer Style window and check the “Bevel and Emboss” tabs. Click that tab and set it like below or use your own settings. This is done so we have a soft thin border of our plate.

STEP 10

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer… (CTRL + J) to duplicate the “Shape 1″ layer. Grab Move Tool (V), hold ALT and SHIFT keys and make it a bit smaller. Now CTRL+CLICK the layer icon in the layer palette (F7) to make a selection. Use the Gradient Tool (G) like in STEP 8, only this time with the reverse tones of gray and at a different angle. Make it look like below.

Starting to look like a plate, huh ?

STEP 11

Duplicate this layer (CTRL+J) and resize it like in STEP 10. This will be the bottom part of our plate. Grab the Gradient Tool (G) and use the below setting of gradient.

CTRL+CLICK the “Shape 1 copy 2″ icon in the layer palette (F7) to make a selection. Fill this with the gradient set.

STEP 12

Create a new layer group like we did in STEP  4: Click the “Create a new group” icon, double-click its tag and name it “Plate”. Now select the “Shape 1″ layers and place them in this folder. Then copy this group and merge it, like we did in STEP 5: Drag the layer group above the “New Layer” icon, hit CTRL+E to merge them. Turn off the group’s visibility.

Go to Filter > Noise > Add noise and give it a 1% Uniform noise. Make sure Monochromatic is checked.

We do this to “kill” the straight lines of the gradients and give it a more satin-like smooth look.

STEP 13

Double-click the “Plate copy” layer icon in the layers palette to pop up the Layer Styles menu and check “Drop shadow” with the following settings.

STEP 14

Let’s put a coffee cup on our plate !

Duplicate one of the “Plate” layer in the group and place it above all layers. Rename this layer to “cup body”. Grab the Gradient Tool (G) and set a gradient like below.

STEP 15

Double-click the “cup body”’s layer icon in the layer palette to bring up the Layer Style menu. check “Drop shadow” and “Bevel and emboss” options, with the following settings.

STEP 16

Duplicate the “cup body” layer (select Layer in the Layer palette, hit CTRL+J). Right-click on the “fx” in the layer palette and select “Clear Layer Style”.

Grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) and make a selection like below, then hit Delete key. Then deselect (CTRL+D). Open up the Layer Styles menu and use the settings below.

STEP 17

Coffee cups have handles, right? Right! Let’s create one.

Create a new layer below “cup body” layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N). Rename it “handle”. Grab the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) and draw a shape like below.

Now CTRL+CLICK the “Shape 1″ layer icon to make a selection and click the “handle” layer.

Use a gradient like below to fill it, just like we did with the plate. Delete the “Shape 1″ we just created, it’s the shape we were after (drag layer above “trash can” icon).

STEP 18

Create a new layer group and name it “cup”. Place the layers above the “plate” layer group into the newly created group.

The coffee cup should look like this image below. Since it’s empty, let’s pour in some coffee.

STEP 19

Grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) and make a selection of the interior of the cup, just like below. Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N) and name it “coffee”.

STEP 20

Go the colors palette in the left side of your screen and select two brown colors: one darker and one lighter. I used #4b1b00 and #834300. Now go to Filter > Render > Clouds.

Press CTRL+F until you get some nice contrasts. Grab the Burn Tool (O) and set it to Midtones with a 52% Exposure and click-drag on the edges of the selection. It should look like below.

STEP 21

Now we are going to create a teaspoon. Create a new layer above all layers (select top-most layer, press CTRL+SHIFT+N). Name this to “teaspoon cup”. Grab the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) and make an oval selection like the cup of the teaspoon.

STEP 22

Grab the Gradient Tool (G) and fill our selection with a gradient like below.

STEP 23

Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and make a selection smaller than the previous one.

We do this to give the spoon some volume. Fill it with Gradient Tool (G) set on Radial, like in STEP 22, only with these settings below. Should look like this.

STEP 24

Create a new layer below the “teaspoon cup” layer. Now grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) with 10 px Feather and make a selection like below. This will be the tail of our spoon.

STEP 25

Grab the Gradient Tool (G) and fill it with a gradient like below.

STEP 26

Place all these layers into a new layer group. Name it “teaspoon”. Now duplicate this layer group and merge all layers within it. Turn off visibility of the original layer group. (View STEP 5)

Double-click the newly merged layer to pop up the Layer Styles menu. Use these settings below.

Now place it above the plate like below.

STEP 27

Let’s create a message to put on our image! We’ll use a handwritten text typed with milk. Use the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and click our image. Type in “Good morning!” or any other text you want. It will do nicely. Set its color to white. (#fafafa).

STEP 28

Open the Splatter vector. Copy it and paste it in our drawing. Notice it’s true black, not quite the milky color, eh ? Let’s fix that. Double-click the newly created layer in the layer palette (F7)

and check the Color Overlay. Click that tab and set the color to white. I used #fafafa. Hit OK.

STEP 29

Select these two layers (SHIFT+click) and merge them (CTRL+E). It should look like below.

It’s a bit plane and with no volume, isn’t it? Let’s fix that too.

Double-click the layer icon on the layer palette to pop up the Layer Styles menu and use these settings below.

That’s it !

The files I used are the following:

• Castle image
• Iguana image
• Crocodile from Google Images. You just need the teeth,  so any hi-res picture of a croc head would do nicely.
• Bat image
• Fire pack
• Fire pack 2

This is a preview of our final image.

STEP 1

Create a 1680 x 1050 px new document. I use this size because its my desktop resolution so it fits as a wallpaper without stretching the picture.

It’s meant for wide screen, but feel free to use your own settings, just make sure it is a high resolution.(1)

STEP 2

Open the “castle” picture, press “CTRL+A” to select it, copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it (CTRL+V) in our drawing. Resize it to fit the page.

Also name this layer “castle”, we will edit this later.

STEP 3

Open the “iguana” picture and use the Pen Tool to outline the iguana. I suppose not everyone can use this tool without having trouble with some big loops, so I’m going to explain how this works.

So: grab your Pen (P), set it on “Paths” (a small icon in the top right corner of your screen) and click a point near the iguana. Make sure it’s on the outline.

Next click on a point in the vicinity of the first one and drag mouse or graphic pen until you get a curve like this one below.

At some point, you will find areas that have a sharp corner like the image below so when you click and drag to make a new path curve, it will automatically smooth that area to have a

more fluid flow. But we don’t want Photoshop to control us, don’t we? Go back one step (CTRL+Z), hold ALT key (Option for Mac OS users) and click the anchor point.

Notice the “angle” thingy on your mouse cursor? That tells you you’re about to turn that anchor point into a sharp corner.

STEP 4

Repeat STEP 3 until the whole iguana is contoured. When you’re done, right-click and select “Make selection”. Give it 5px feather and click OK.

You’ll know when you have a selection when you see the “marching ants” line. Copy and paste it in our drawing. Name this layer “dragon body”.

STEP 5

Place it over the castle in a possible physical position. Resize it if you see fit to.

Hit CTRL+U to open the Hue/Saturation window and adjust Hue to give the lizard a green tint. make sure the “Colorize” option is checked.(5)

STEP 6

Open the “bat” picture and cut out the wing, same as STEPS 3 and 4. Then paste it in our drawing. Also repeat STEP 5, with the Hue/Saturation.

Resize it and place it like in the image below. Name layer “wing1″. In order to keep things organised, we’ll place these layers in a group named “dragon”.

STEP 7

Use Warp Tool (Edit > Transform > Warp)to stretch the wing a bit to have a more slim look. Don’t overdo it though. Copy the “wing1″ layer (CTRL+J), flip it horizontally

(Edit > Transform > Flip horizontal) and make it a bit smaller. That will be the other wing. It should look like this:

STEP 8

Drag the “dragon” layer group onto the “New Layer” icon in the Layers palette twice. This will copy the entire group. Then merge each copy. Do NOT merge them together though!

Select “dragon copy (merged)” layer and press CTRL+L to open the Levels adjustment. Move the cursors around and try to give it a darker tint. Do the same for the other copy.

Let’s create some layer masks for the re-lighting of the dragon, shall we ? Select one copy of the layer and go to Layers > Layer Mask > Hide all. Do the same for the other copy.

STEP 9

CTRL+click the “dragon” layer icon in the Layers palette.

Use the Brush Tool (B) with a soft brush set on pure white (press D to return to default colors, then X to switch to white) and start adding some lights on the dragon. Make sure you have the layer mask selected. Do the same for shadows: select the other layer mask, press B for Brush Tool, press X to switch to true black and start painting.

You don’t have to be really precise with it, the “marching ants” selection won’t let you past the contour.

STEP 10

Now or dragon seems to get some contour, right? Select the 3 layers and drag them on the “New Layer” icon. Then merge the newly created layers (CTRL+E)

and turn off the other ones. Place them in a folder if you like, then turn off their visibility. With this done, lets move further to open the dragon’s mouth!

Grab the Lasso Tool (L) and select only the bottom jaw like below. Don’t be afraid to go beyond it’s eye, dragon mouth’s joints are just like a snake’s.

Use the Move Tool (V) to rotate it and to move it in place. Then hit Enter key then CTRL+D to deselect.

STEP 11

Use Clone Stamp Tool to cover up the imperfections: ALT+click an area, then click the area where you want to cover up the mistakes.

STEP 12

We have a dragon, but it also needs to be scary. So let’s add him some teeth! Open the “crocodile” picture. Grab Pen Tool(P) and select the upper jaw like STEP 2. Copy it and paste it in our drawing. Also repreat STEP 3: press CTRL+U and give him the same greenish tint like the dragon. Resize it with Move Tool (V) to fit the dragon’s jaw. Do the same for the bottom jaw. You should get something like this below.

I got second thoughts about the dragon’s color and I used Saturation/Hue again. I also erased the skin on the neck with Eraser Tool (SHIFT+E)  and a soft brush.

Feel free to modify it as you please.

STEP 13

Notice that the teeth are green from that Hue/Saturation effect ? Let’s turn them into white! CTRL+click the layer in the Layers palette and grab the Brush Tool (B) with pure white and start painting them.

STEP 14

Select the jaws layers and the “dragon” and merge them (CTRL+E). Rename this “dragon” again. Now we can change our focus towards the castle.

Duplicate the “castle” layer (CTRL+J). Then go to Color Balance (CTRL+B) and give it a warmer look: move cursor towards Red and towards Yellow. I used the settings below.

STEP 15

Grab the Burn Tool with a soft brush, set on Shadows with a 37% Exposure and darken the shadows on the castle. Then switch to Midtones and darken the bushes, the brick walls a bit and the grass in front of the walls, to look like the image below. Leave intact the grass in the middle.

STEP 16

Since we want to turn this image into a dark day, let’s darken the sky a bit. Grab the Pen Tool and select the sky, same technique as STEP 2. The selection should be like the image below.

STEP 17

Right-click and select Layer Via Copy. This will copy your selection to a new layer. CTRL+click the new layer. Now go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Press CTRL+F until you are happy with the result. Set the Layer blending mode to Overlay and name it “sky”.

STEP 18

Double-click the “sky” layer in the layer palette to bring up the Blending Properties. Check the Gradient Overlay then click the tab. Set a gradient like below or feel free to use your own settings. The colors are: #330101, #02491b and #b2710c.

STEP 19

Let’s add the dragon’s shadow on the castle. Turn on the “dragon” layer’s visiblity. Create a new layer above the “castle copy” layer and set it’s blending mode to Multiply. Now CTRL+click the “dragon” layer to make a selection. Hit CTRL+SHIFT+N  to create a new layer. rename it “dragon shadows”.

Use Brush Tool (B) with a soft brush set on pure black (hit D) and start adding the shadows as you see fit. It should look like the image below.

STEP 20

Notice the left wing is spread wide, but it has no shadow on the castle. Let’s do that now. Remember the “dragon” layer group we created in the first steps?

Go back to it and copy the “wing1″ layer above the “castle copy”. Now double-click the layer to open the Blending Properties and check Color Overlay and set it to pure black (#000000) and hit OK.

Set the layer to Multiply blending mode and reduce opacity to 60% or as you see fit.

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and give it a 15 px. It should look like this image below.

STEP 21

Dragons breathe fire, right? Right! Let’s do that. Open the fire packs and cut out some fire. This time you can use Lasso Tool (L), there’s no need for that tiresome Pen Tool. Copy it, paste it in our drawing. Name this layer “fire breath”. Set layer to “Screen” blending mode.

STEP 22

Fire means light. Let’s make it glow a bit. We’re not going to use the Outer Glow blend property. We do this professionally! Duplicate the layer (CTRL+J) and set layer to “Color Dodge” blending mode. Select the “fire breath” layer, then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and give it a 40 px blur. Hit OK. Use Burn Tool to clean up the rough edges. Bend it a bit with Warp Tool (Edit > Transform > Warp)

STEP 23

Now we set the castle on fire. I know this will sound really weird, but let’s add the smoke first, then the fire. Create a new layer(CTRL+SHIFT+N) above all the layers and name it “castle smoke”. Now grab the Eliptical Marquee Tool (M)  and draw an elipse with a 30 px feather above the entire castle like below. Then go to Filter > Render > Clouds.Should look like below.

STEP 24

Set the layer to “Lighten” blending mode. Use the Eraser Tool with a soft brush, 48% Opacity, 52% Flow to clear the rough edges and the extra smoke.Should look like below.

STEP 25

Now for the fire. Open the fire packs and cut out pieces you like. Then place them on the walls like in the image below. Resize them as you see fit. Use the same technique as in STEPS 21-22, then merge all these fire layers (select them using SHIFT+click, hit CTRL+E). Rename this to “fire on castle”.(25). Should look like below.

STEP 26

Remember we left a part of the grass “unburned” ? Well this is why. Create a new layer above the “castle copy” layer and name it “light on grass”. Set it to “Color dodge blending mode. Grab the Eliptical Marquee Tool (M), set feather to 30px and draw a large elips above that unburned grass. Now grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G). Hold ALT key to pick a bright color from the fire and fill the elipse with it. Hit CTRL+D to deselect. Should look like below.

STEP 27

Now for the sun rays. Create a new layer above the “light on grass” layer. Name it “sunlight”. Grab the Rectangular Lasso Tool (L) and make a selection like below.

STEP 28

Go to Filter > Render > Clouds. With the selection still on, go to Filter > Blur > Radial Blur. Use the settings below.

STEP 29

Set the layer blending mode to Overlay. Now press CTRL+B for Color Balance window and give it a yellowish tint.

STEP 30

Now for the text. Use the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and write anything you want. Make sure it’s above all layers. I used the Medieval 3 font from [url=http://www.designious.com/fonts/]here[/url] but any font would do. It wouldn’t look have the same forged iron look though.

Double-click the layer to pop up the Blending Properties and check Bevel and Emboss, Gradient Overlay and Outer Glow. Use the settings below.(30),(30.1),(30.2)

STEP 31

We want to give it a feeling of red hot iron so this is what we do. Create a new layer above the text one. Set it to “Color Dodge” blending mode. Grab the Brush Tool (B) with a soft brush and a red vivid color (any would do nicely). CTRL-click on the text layer to grab selection and draw some lines on the upper part of the text until you’re satisfied with the result. It should look like below.

STEP 32

Let’s set the text on fire. Go back to the fire packs and cut out parts of fire. Paste them above the text and resize it until you like what you see. Repeat this ultil the entire text is covered up. Now we’re going to do a little trick so the eye focus will get off the text. If you look at the picture after 10 minutes, you’ll notice that you’ll look at the text first, not at the dragon. So let’s fix that.

Merge all the fire layers on the text. Now go to to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and give it a 6 px blur. Hit OK. Should look like below. That’s it!

FINAL IMAGE

Hope you enjoy it!

FINAL IMAGE

You can download the psd file at the end of the tutorial.

Let us begin!

STEP 1

Create a new document of a desired size and fill it with black by using Default Foreground and background Colors(D and the Paint Bucket Tool(G) and click on the workspace. This is usually the first step for many other drawings, so you should get used to this part. You can also add a gradient.

Now duplicate this layer by going to Layers > Duplicate layer… or just press CTRL+J. I recommend you learn shortcuts, they are a life saver.

STEP 2

Grab the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and draw a rectangle to cover about 80% of the “Background copy” layer like below.

STEP 3

Go to Filter > Render > Fibers… Set the Variance to about 23 and Strength to 5. Click OK. Now press CTRL+D to deselect.

STEP 4

Now go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur. Set Angle to 90 degrees and Distance to 500. Should look like the image below.

STEP 5

Open the Levels window (CTRL+L) and play around with the cursors to give it more contrast.

STEP 6

Double-click the top-most layer in the layer palette to bring up the Blending Properties window and check Color Overlay tab. Click that tab and set Blend mode to Multiply.

Grab a color of your choice. I used (#ff0000 – default overlay color).

STEP 7

Duplicate this layer (CTRL+J) and move the curtain on the new layer to the right. Then duplicate it one more time.

STEP 8

Grab the Warp Tool (Edit > Transform > Warp) and curve up the top-most layer image. Then move it to the top right like below.

STEP 9

Open the Blending Properties window (double-click layer) and check “Drop shadow”. Use the settings below.

STEP 10

Duplicate this layer, then move it to the top left corner. Now go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Reposition it to look natural.

STEP 11

Go to layer palette and create a new layer group and drag all layers in it. Drag that layer over the “New Layer” button.

Merge the new layer group (select group, press (CTRL+E). Turn off “Group 1″ layer group. We do this so we can be able to edit them later of we need to.

Done!

You can also take the idea even further and make those cheesy colored drapes by adding patterns over them like below.

DOWNLOAD Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

Final image:

Creating the space effect

Step 1.

Create a new layer by going to File->New. I used a document of 1000×1000 px at 72 dpi (screen res), in RGB mode, you can enter whatever dimensions you like, it’s your space.

Step2.

Fill the layer with black.

Step3.

Duplicate the background layer by pressing CTRL+J when the background layer is selected.

Now it’s time to create the stars

Step4.

Having the background copy layer selected, go to  Filter-> Noise -> Add Noise with the following settings: Amount 30%, Gaussian Distribution and with the Monochromatic box checked. Hit OK and you will get a noisy image. Don’t worry, that’s what we’re looking for.

To get our image to look like a spacey star field, we have to bring in the blacks, to cover a big part of all the white dots.

Step5.

So, go to Image-> Adjustments->Levels. The leves dialogue will pop-up and there we’ll have to push the blacks in, as i mentioned earlier. Depending on your image size and the amount of noise you have added, dial the blacks just as much as your eye likes.

Step6.

Soften the stars a bit by going to Filter->Blur->Blur More. The stars! There theyare!

Creating the nebulas

Download the stormy fractal brushes from brusheezy. Now load the brushes. To do this, select the brush tool (B) and go to the brush drop down menu, and select load brushes. Select the newly downloaded brush (stormy9.abr) and click Load.

Step 7.

Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N). In this layer we will paint in the nebulas, or something like that.

NOTE! Create a new layer for each shape!

Step8.

Having the brushes loaded, bring up the brushes window, (F5 or Window-Brushes) then select some stormy brushes and paint a circular form, or whatever form you like best for your final image.

The color you’re using while drawing the shapes is not important, because we we color them later with layer styles.

Step9.

Now that you’re finished with the nebula painting stuff, let’s give them some color. I decided to use layer styles for this, so double click the nebulas layer and applygradient overlay using vibrant colors. Now apply an outer glow with low opacity and that’s it for the coloring part.

Step10.

Select the shape with more interest in the composition of the image, duplicate it (CTRL+J) and apply a radial blur. To do this go to Filter->Blur->Radial Blur

I used the Zoom blurring method, best quality and an amount of 20.

Shades of light

Step11.

Create a new layer for the lights. To do this press the create new layer icon on the bottom right of your layers palette, or press CTRL+SHIFT+N.  Now move the layer on top of the stars layer.

Step12.

To create the shades, we need some clouds to blur, so hold ALT and Go to Filter->Render->Clouds with the default colors inverted (foreground black, background white). You’re probably wondering why you had to hold ALT for this step. Well, by holding ALT the effect of the filter you apply is stronger than normal.

Step13.

Now apply a strong motion blur. Go to Filter->Blur->Motion Blur and give it a big and strong motion blur.

I used an agle of -45 and a distance of 999 pixels (maximum)

Step14.

Having the light layer selected, change the blending mode from Normal to Hard Light.

Step15.

Giving color to the shades of light. There are numerous ways to do this, i chose Color Balance.

Go to Image->Adjustments->Color Balance, and dial in the settings as you preffer.

If you think there’s too much light in there (definetly s), just go ahead and brush away the excess.

Step 16.

Grab the eraser tool (E), set the hardness to 0% (right click on the image with the brush selected) and start erasing. You can use a lower opacity for better effects.

Adding text

Step17.

Create a new layer for the text. CTRL+SHIFT+N or click the create new layer icon from the bottom right of the layers palette.

Step18.

Grab the type tool (T) and type in some text. I used the Abstract typeface, this is available at on www.designious.com along with other 12 good-looking typefaces.

Step19.

Set the layer blending mode from Normal to Overlay

Step20.

Apply layer styles to the text. I used the following settings:

I cropped the image for final preview so it has a bit more consistency in the composition.

Final image preview:

One more thing, before we end this. I want to say that this tutorial is meant to get your hand and mouse to exercise, like every other tutorial for that matter. Probably you’ve heard or read this before, but: you can always improve your design by playing with the different settings. Do it! Don’t just stand there!  The most important part is to experiment and find new techniques that can improve your design and make it better for you, or the client…or both!

Cheers!

There are two types of cross processing that we will illustrate today. The first is E-6 to C-41 and the second C-41 to E -6. So let’s begin with a photo of your choice. I am using this photo from my personal collection.

So open up your photo, go to the adjustments layer and choose Curves. Now perform these  settings:

And this should be the result :

If you are not completely satisfied with the result, you can always go back and play around with the settings. Now let’s try the C-41 to E- 6 version Again open up the Curves Adjustments Layer and perform the following settings :

And here is the final result :

This is a great effect for a retro look, although, I ussualy prefer to give an Overlay mode to the Curves layer .  It’s simply up to you  to experiment with different settings.

What is great about cross processing the result will also depend on the characteristics of  the photo you are using ( the amount of darks, the proportion between color) . So if you use a different photo you end up with a different result.  I’ll go a little extreme and use a this shall I call it almost black and white  photo from stock xchange .

Open it up and perform an E-6 to C- 41 Curves Adjustment. Only reduce the opacity lever to about 40%  . And you have taken the photo in a whole new direction.

You can save your settings for future use or you can download my set of presets.

Download presets: Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

This is the end of this tutorial. Hope you find it useful and we will see you next time!

Vanishing point is a relatively new plug-in, that has been introduced in the AdobePhotoshopCS2. It has the ability to clone, paint and transform in the perspective of your images. It’s absolutely fabulous and easy to use. You actually don’t need, or better yet, you shouldn’t use the skew, distort or perspective features from the transform menu for perspectives anymore. When it comes to complex jobs, they’re not as precise as vanishing point and they don’t have the ability to automatically adjust perspective. Oh, and most important, it does not take you forever to get the perfect result.

So, this plug-in has been in photoshop since 2005, that’s 4 years ago. Ok, it’s not new, but it’s certainly overlooked by many photoshop users and that’s why i want to talk about it today. Yes, I admit, It may look difficult at first, but after spending 5 minutes with it, you’ll thank yourself for giving it a change.

Long story short, here’s how it works:

Step 1. Open an image with strong visual perspective.

Step 2. Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N) by clicking the create new layer icon in the bottom of the layers palette. This layer will be the one we’ll be applying the filter to. Name it accordingly. I named mine “vanishing point”.

Step 3. Open the Vanishing point window by going to Filters – Vanishing Point.

*If you haven’t used Vanishing Point before, you should probably read these few lines first.

The filter window has 2 tools that you have never seen before: Edit Plane tool (V) and Create Plane tool (C). These two tools do the whole smart and nifty job, and that is: they let you create and edit a plane in perspective.

Step 4. Create a plane in perspective. Grab the Create Plane tool and draw 4 lines over the object that is shot or made in perspective.

If your grid changes its color(yellow or red), it means it’s not in a right angle for a good perspective.

Good, now you have to create the other 2 planes in perspective (if its the case).

Step 5. Create a new plane linked with the first one, you have to first select the original plane, move your cursor over one of the anchor points until the cursor changes,  hold down the CTRL key and drag. Excellent!

Step 6. The new created plane is very likely to be unfitted with the perspective you want, so if you want to change the angle of a plane, you have to select it first, move your cursor over an anchor point, hold down the ALT key until your cursor changes into a two way arrow, then start moving it till you get the desired result. When you’re done, hit the OK button and we’ll be right on to the next step.

If you used my image, it should look like this by the time you have finished drawing your grids

The trickiest part is over. Now we have our perspective plane, all we have to do is copy and paste the image we want to place in perspective.

Step 7. Open the image you want to place in perspective.

Step 8. Select it and then copy it (CTRL+A, CTRL+C). Swith to the original document, and open the vanishing point filter window again. You’ll see that the grids you made earlier are still there.

Step 9. We have our image copied to the clipboard, now let’s paste it, so: CTRL+V.

Step 10. Move your image over to the grids (by dragging it) and place it wherever you want. You can see how the image automatically adjusts its scale and p. If the image is distorted, don’t worry, you can transform it as you wish as soon as you drop it on the grids.

Step 11. To activate the transform tool, you have to press T. Now you can drag the anchor points to adjust your image as you like.

When you’re satisfied with the results, hit OK and the settings will apply automatically. The job is done!

Other things you can do with the Vanishing Point filter:

After you’ve defined your planes, you can use the Clone Stamp tool to clone everything you want directly into perspective! There’s the brush tool that you can paint with, obviously.

Very important to know is that all the other tools will work in the perspective plane you’ve created. So, if you want to select an area from the perspective you’ve just defined, it will automatically adjust in perspective.

A cool feature in this filter is Heal. You can turn heal on, off or set it to luminance.  We’ll see how all those work in part 2 of Perspective Up!

For this tutorial I used Photoshop CS3, the Plastic Pill font from DaFont and a vector floral from Vector pack 47.

Step 1

Start with a plain white background. Write down your text using any font you like ( just make sure it’s pretty thick). Use a bright color ( blue  for me # 0083fe ).

Step 2

Now duplicate this layer . Give it a black color and set it behind the original text layer. Name it Shadow and nudge it a few times to the right and a few times downwards.It should look like this.

Step 3

Duplicate the Shadow layer too (you can name this layer blur). Again make sure it’s behind the two text layers. And go to Filter/Blur/Motion Blur and use the following settings.

Step 4

Nudge this layer too, but this time only down and lower the opacity to about 40%.In the end you should have something looking like this.

Step 5

And now we are going to put the floral vector to good use. Import it your layout and duplicate it a few times so that every letter of the word is covered.

Step 6

Merge all these vectors layers into one single layer named Floral. And now we are going to get rid of all the vectors that are not in the text area. So  Ctrl+ click on the text layer icon to select the  text. Press Shift+ Ctrl+ I to inverse the selection and after selecting the Floral layer hit the delete key.

Step 7

And now let’s   give some layer styles to the text. So select the text layer ,open up the layer styles menu and perform the following settings.

And you should end up with something looking like this:

Step 8

Duplicate the text layer, set the mode to overlay. Go to Filter/Noise/ Add Noise and insert these settings :

Reduce the opacity to about 20%.

Step 9

Select the floral layer and let’s make it stand out . Again go to layer styles and give it a little shadow and an outer glow.

Step10

Now let’s take care of the background. Go to layer style and give it a subtle gradient.

Step 11

Import again the floral vector we’ve used earlier. Only this time resize them and make them bigger. Duplicate it and  then drag the two layer in opposite corners; something like this:

Step 12

But we don’t want these to floral vectors to steal all the attention. So we will make their presence very subtle. Give them a  little drop shadow and lower the fill and the opacity to about 30%.

Step 13

Now you are gonna have to trust me on this. With your workspace visible   make a print screen  and paste it just on top of the background. Resize it if necessary so that it  fits on the whole document.

Step 14

Go to Filter/ Blur/Motion Blur and use these settings:

Step 15

Now , with the same layer selected , go to Adjustments/ Curves and let’s bring up the brights.

And you are about done. Of course you can play around with the adjusment layers or you could give  the background  an interesting pattern ( on a soft light mode).

Hope you find this tutorial useful and see you next time!

Download Psd:

Download vector:

Background effect

1. Open a colorful image in Photoshop. I used a photo taken a few years  ago, i thought it was appropriate for this project.

2. Crop the most colorful part of the image, where’s the biggest diversity in color, and maybe a little black too.

3.  Duplicate the layer (CTRL + J) by dragging and dropping the layer onto the create new layer icon.

4. We have to make the image to look kind of squared, so go to the Filter menu – Pixelate – Mosaic. I used a cell size of 15. You can adjust it depending on the image you’re editing.

5. Good! Now let’s go to Filter – Stylize – Find Edges

To make this image into a more rounded glittery wanna-be shape, we have to apply the Median filter->

6. Filter – Noise – Median. I used a value of 2.

The next step is to make the image darker, and make the glittery colorful shapes pop out.

7.  Achieve this by inverting it (CTRL + I)  Image – Adjustments – Invert.

8. Duplicate this layer using the shortcut CTRL + J or drag and drop the layer onto the create new layer icon.

9. Now change the blend mode to screen.

10. Apply a find edges filter. Filter – Stylize – Find edges

11. Invert the layer (CTRL + I) by going to the Image menu – Adjustments – Invert. Ok, now duplicate the layer twice and we’re on the right track.

12. CTRL + J x2 -  duplicate the layer twice

13. Select the first layer (Layer1 Copy2 is the default name), and we’re going to give it a half-glittery look. This is the interesting part, so go to the Filter menu – Blur – Motion Blur. I used an agle of 45 and 155 distance, but you can use whatever values think its best.

14. If you think it looks kind of dull, and with a low color level, adjust the image by going to Image-Adjustments-Levels. Dial the settings until you come up with a brighter and shiny image.

15. Now, go to the Adjustments menu again and mess with the Brightness/Contrast a bit too, that will definetly get your image a bit more of shiny look.

We’re one step away from completing the background, so hang on a little bit more.

16. Repeat the steps 13,14 and 15, using the other layer (Layer1Copy – default name).

In this stage, all you have to do is select the layer below the top layer and apply the same settings, but with a minor change, and that is: a “-” minus in front of the value in the motion blur settings. Short and clear:

Filter-Blur-Motion Blur – 45 (or whatever angle you entered in the first place, but with a minus in front of it).

Image-Adjustments-Levels, then Image-Adjustments-Brightness/Contrast.

That’s pretty much it for the background guys! Now,  if you’re not completely satisfied with the result, you can apply an adjustment layer to all of the other layer , and give the final image more life, or more glitter, or more whatever you think it is.

17. Image-Adjustments-Brightness/Contrast

Text effect

18. Merge all the layers, and rotate the canvas 90 degrees CW. To merge the layers you have to select all the layers, right click and choose merge all layers. To rotate the canvas you have to go to Image – Rotate Canvas 90CW.

19. Now type in some text. and rotate it about 45 degrees, or whatever suits you.

I used a white text and rotated it at about 45 degrees.

20. Rasterize the type (Layer-Rasterize-Type or right click the type layer and choose rasterize) then duplicate the background layer.

Now we have to clip the background to the rasterized type layer.

21. To do this you must first select the background copy layer, then hold the ALT key and move the cursor between the two layers until the cursor changes, then click! Now you have clipped the background copy to the type. Excellent work!

22. Merge the two layers (background copy and the one below it) and move it in the dark area of the image (where’s the case).

23. Duplicate the background layer (aren’t we all saturated with this duplicate thing?)  and change the blending mode to screen, then dial down the opacity a bit (i used 60%).

24. Final step go to filter blur – motion blur, and use the same blurring distance as in the steps above. For the angle, use the same value as the rotation of the type.

You can always boost the colors if they seem too dull. I saturated my image with a value of 80 by going to Image-Adjustments-Hue/Saturation.

25. Finally, to give the text a more interesting effect, i duplicated the layer which I’ve saturated, and applied a radial blur with the following settings:

Spin, best and an amount of 28.

That’s it! Enjoy! But remember, you can ALWAYS improve your effect!…Photoshop offers us endless possibilities to do this.

Final image:

1. Create the paisley shape with the pen tool

2. Create an ellipse scatter brush and then apply it to the paisley shape. Feel free to change the size and spacing as you wish.

3. Expand the brush(Object>Expand), ungroup it from the paisley shape and then send it to back(SHIFT+CTRL+D.

4. Create another paisley shape inside the initial one and then apply again, the ellipse scatter brush.

5. Repeat Step 4 and change only the size.

6. Create an ellipse and using copy/paste in front (Ctrl+c/Cctrl+f), create another one and so on. You could also use blend tool if you want.

7. Create a hexagon inside the tiniest ellipse.

8. Add the Pucker & Bloat effect( Effect>Distort& Transform>Pucker & Bloat)

9. Create more flowers and fill the rest of the shape with them(use different colors to create contrast)

10. Create a square and align it to your artwork, which should be 600×600 pt.

11. Take the paisley shape and randomly put it on the Y ax. You will see that the y=630 pt.

Ctrl+c/Ctrl+f and shift till you get to the bottom of your artwork. This shape will have the coordinate y=30 pt.

13. Do the same thing as in Step 11 & 12 , but on the X ax. The first shape has x=-30

14.  The second x= 570. The summary of the two coordinates must always be 600pt. (ex. 630-30=600 pt, 570-(-30)=600pt )

15. Fill the rest of the square with different colored paisley shapes.

16. Duplicate the light green square, bring it to front and change the fill with the stroke.

17. Select all the shapes and the stroke (do not select the square) and apply the Crop Filter from the Pathfinder Panel (CTR+SHIFT+F9).

18. Ctrl+A and Clean Up

19. Verify your pattern by duplicating it.

20. Make sure you save it at 600 x 600 pt. ENJOY!

FINAL IMAGE

DOWNLOAD:

Although reflection appears to be simple , you can easily go wrong  and end up with an unnatural effect or a photoshop disaster like these guys :

And these are just a few examples because the Internet it’s full of them . And we don’t want that. No No! We want a nice and clean reflection respecting the laws of Physics and those of common sense.So today I will guide you trough some different types of reflection in Photoshop  to make sure you always get it right.

We’ll begin with the easy-do  reflection.

I’ll use as an example a line of text on a black background.

Select the text layer and hit CTRl+ J on your keyboard to copy it on a new layer. You can name  this layer reflection. Now go to Edit/ Transform/ Flip Vertical. And lower this layer underneath the original. It should look like this.

Create a new layer and  get the Gradient Tool  choosing a black to transparent gradient.  Keep the Shift key down and drag a gradient like this.

Now lower the opacity of the reflection layer to a value of about 35. Here is the final result.

Now let’s apply the same principle to a phone (I am using a photo from stock Xchange) in order to create   the illusion that its standing on a somewhat reflective surface. The procedure is made more complicated by the fact that we’re looking down on the phone , resulting in a tricky three-point perspective viewpoint that actually looks pretty cool.

So start by removing the background of your object.

Then copy the phone on a new layer ( CTRL+ J) .  Drag this layer just under the original.

Now go to Edit/ Transform/ Distort and do some distorting on the image until it looks similar to this.

Repeat the steps from the first examples. Use a gradient and reduce the opacity of the under layer.

Finally we will give a reflection to a 3D looking object. The principle stays the same only we need to create the reflection from different sections of our object.

I’ll use as an example this Koi Fish Pack we have on designious.com.

We need to grab the polygonal lasso tool and select the front cover. Once selected hit Ctrl + J and copy it on a new layer. And yes as you have guessed we will  flip it vertical and drag it under the original.

As you can se some distortion is in order  so hit Ctrl+ T to activate the Free Transform mode and while keeping the Ctrl key pressed drag the upper right corner.

You should have something similar to this.

Now repeat these steps for the side of the box.

And now do that Gradient / Reduce Opacity thing and call yourself the master of reflection.

So as you may have noticed, it’s pretty simple to create a good and may I say healthy reflection. A little transforming, some gradient, and an opacity reduction and you are done. However, keep in mind that a good reflection isn’t only about the tecniques involved but it also depends on a good eye and respecting a few basic Physics principles. It may be tempting to try a revolutionary reflection but you risk ending up with an image that just looks weird. So be afraid, be very afraid!