Typography Wallpaper in Photoshop

Step 1

Create a new document at 1200 x 800 pixels with a resolution of 72dpi. Start off by importing all of your vector designs separately into a Photoshop canvas. In this case we divided our vectors into 3 separate smart objects and dragged them into the Photoshop canvas.

Step 2

Hide all vectors and create a new text box. In this case I typed out the name of our company, "Creative Volition Inc.". The font we chose was "ITC Avant Garde Gothic". Keep your font in full caps, especially if your using this one! Continue to copy/paste your text across the text box.

Step 3

Text settings: 16pt font, Regular, 16pt height spacing, Color #404040.

Step 4

Continue to copy/paste the text until it fills the entire canvas. Stretch the box out using the text tool until it expands beyond the canvas size.

Step 5

Once the text box is filled completely with the copy begin to rotate the box clockwise in about a 45 degree angle.

Step 6

Make one of the smart objects visible. Command/Apple click the preview box on the layer panel to create marching ants around your object.

Step 7

Once the marching ants appear, hide your smart object so you can see the selection.

Step 8

Rasterize the type layer and with the marching ants active on your rasterized layer click Edit > Cut.

Step 9

Then click Edit > Paste and align your new layer so all the words connect. Open the Layer Style box and change the "Color Overlay" to white.

Step 10

Continue to do the same procedure with your other smart object layers but make sure to always cut from the rasterized layer.

Step 11

Lastly create a new layer and fill it with any color. Place this layer on top of all other layers. Drop the fill down to 0%. Open the Layer Styles box and change the inner glow to the following settings and click OK.

Conclusion

Thats it! You should now have a beautiful design in front of you.

Amazing Photoshop light effect in 10 Steps

Step 1

Create a new document, apply a Layer Style on the background layer. Add a Gradient Overlay and a Pattern Overlay.

Step 2

Here I've used an icon I found on a cool site, but you can use whatever you want.

Step 3

Select the Ellipse Tool (U) and create a shape like I did. After that apply a Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur) with radius of 30px.

Step 4

Create a new Folder name it “Light Effects”. Change its blend mode to Color Dodge, and move the ellipse you created to this folder.

Step 5

In order to create the sparks we will use the amazing brush engine. Add a new layer, inside the “Light Effects” layer, set white for the color and follow the images below.

Step 6

Using the Layer Styles add a Outer Glow to the sparks

Step 7

Lets add some smoke. Create a new Layer, call it “Smoke”. Change its blend mode to Color Dodge and select the Lasso Tool. Set 40px for Feather and create a selection like I did below. After that make sure that the foreground is white and the background is black and apply a Filter>Render>Clouds. Tip: Continue applying the filter until you get the best clouds.

Step 8

Add some text and using the Layer Styles again lets create a nice effect.

Step 9

Place your logo and you can even add more effects like I did on the Magic Lighting Effect, but then you will have to follow that tutorial ;).

Conclusion

I have to say, if you know a bit of Layer Styles and the Brush engine in Photoshop you will be able to create amazing effects. It will depend exclusively on your imagination and playing with the tool. Sometimes just changing a some settings and you get a totally different effect.

The PSD file used in this tutorial can be downloaded here

Create Cool Watercolor Effects in Photoshop

Final Image Preview

Before we get started, let’s take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Click the screenshot below to view the full-size image. As always, the full layered Photoshop file is available  Psdtuts+ Plus membership.

Step 1

Create a new document and a new layer. Rename the layer to “texture” and fill it with white. Make sure that the foreground is white and the background is black. Then go to Filter>Texture>Texturizer, and use Canvas for the Texture, 80% Scaling, and 2 for the Relief.

Step 2

Place an image in your document. The one used in this tutorial can be downloaded at this link. Then delete the background. You can use the Path Tool (P) or the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L). Tip: It doesn’t need to be perfect because we will apply some filters in the next step.

Step 3

Select the layer of the girl and go to Image>Adjustments>Levels. We want to increase the whites here. Then go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation, and change the Saturation to -65.

Step 4

Now go to Filter>Artistic>Watercolor. Use the following settings: Brush Detail 9, Shadow Intensity 0, and Texture 1.

Step 5

With the girl’s layer selected, go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Then select the Brush Tool (B), with black for the color, and mask the body of the girl.

Step 6

We need the Bittbox Watercolor Brushes 2 that you can download at this link.
Next we create a new layer. Then with the Brush Tool (B) selected, choose the seventh brush from the BB Watercolor Brushes. Use black for the color. Then reduce its size to fit the document. After that, rotate and resize the layer. The idea is to create watercolor-style hair for the girl using the brush.

Step 7

Now go to Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options. Change the Fill Opacity to 0. Then select the Color Overlay option. Use red for the color and Multiply for the blend mode. For the Opacity use 70%. Then select the Satin option. Use Hard Light for the blend mode, purple (#5d085c) for the color, 20º for the Angle, Distance 4px, and Size 12px.

Step 8

Create a new layer. Then select another brush with the Brush Tool(B). I used the 17th Bittbox Brush. The concept we’re using is to design different creative-looking hairstyles. So let’s continue with that. On a new layer, paint some brush strokes in the middle of the screen. Then resize and rotate them until they look good. You should achieve a stylized hair look, as in the image below.

Step 9

Go to Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options. Set the Fill Options to 0. Then add a Color Overlay. Use Overlay for the blend mode, Blue (#002cec) for the color, and set it to 50% Opacity. Then select Satin. Then use the following settings: a slightly darker blue (#065795) color, a Linear Burn for the blend mode, a 100% Opacity, a 19º Angle, an 11px Distance, and a 14px Size.

Step 10

Let’s brush in some more hair. This time we’ll use green. Create a new layer, and select the Brush Tool(B). Then select another brush from the watercolor set. Select the last one, reduce its size, and paint more hair. Use just one click when brushing. After that you can resize and rotate it.
Now go to Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options. Again set the Fill Options to 0. Then add a Color Overlay, use Multiply for the blend mode, Green (#18ff00) for the color, and 100% for the Opacity. Then select Satin. Use the following settings: darker green (#0b9600), Darken for the blend mode, 100% Opacity, 19º Angle, 4px Distance, and 7px Size.

Step 11

Next we repeat the process one more time. Create a new layer. Then select the Brush Tool(B). Select another brush, reduce its size, and paint more hair. Adjust it by resizing and rotating it until it looks good.
Again, go to Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options. Change the Fill Options to 0. Then add a Color Overlay, use Hard Light for the blend mode, yellow (#ffe400) for the color, and 100% for the Opacity. Then select Satin. Use the following settings: darker yellow (#a2a406), Color Burn for the blend mode, 100% Opacity, 19º Angle, 17px Distance, and 73px Size.

Step 12

Now select the layer with the girl’s face. Change the blend mode to Screen. Then make some adjustments, like fixing the neck using a regular brush with a white color.

Step 13

Type the text you want; I typed Psdtuts+. Then go to Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay. Create a gradient using Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. Use 180º for the angle and Normal for the blend mode.
Create another layer, and make sure that the text is on top of this new layer. Then with the Rectangular Marquee Tool, create a rectangle selection and fill it with white. Next we merge these two layers (the text with the white rectangle). This is necessary to add some text effects; otherwise the filters wouldn’t work well.

Step 14

Now we apply some filters to the text. First go to Filter>Brush Strokes>Sprayed Strokes. Use Stroke Length 17, Spray Radius 0, and Stroke Direction Vertical. After that go to Filter>Artistic>Watercolor. Use the following settings: Brush Detail 11, Shadow Intensity 0, and texture 1. That will create a nice text effect, or you could experiment with different filters until you achieve optimal results.

Conclusion

This tutorial presents a quick and easy way to create a nice design. We achieved this by mixing a photo with watercolor effects. We used some watercolor brushes and played with blend modes. Keep in mind though, if you can paint it for real, you will be able to create very original artwork.

Smoke Type in Photoshop in 10 Steps

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document, I used 1920x1200 pixels. Then apply a gradient, you could fill it with a gradient or apply a Layer Style. I used the layer style, Gradient Overlay. Use Radial for the Style and #07090a - #202b35 for the colors.

Step 2

Add some text in white then go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Use 90º for the Angle, and 40 pixels for the Distance.

Step 3

Now go to Filter>Distort>Wave. use 3 for the Number of Generators, 10 and 346 for the Wavelength, and 5 and 35 for the Amplitude.

Step 4

Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 pixels for the Radius. Then group the layer and rename the folder's Blend Mode to Color Dodge. You will get a nice light effect.

Step 5

Create a new layer on top of the others and go to Filter>Render>Clouds, make sure you had black and white for the background and foreground colors, then change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge and go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. With a very soft brush, 0% hardness and black color, hide some areas of the clouds layer. Use the image below for reference.

Step 6

Create a new Folder on the Layers' Palette. Change the folder's Blend Mode to Color Dodge and add a new layer in it. Then use the Smoke Brushes from Qbrushes . Select white for the color and paint over some letters. If you think the brush is not very bright, just click twice.

Step 7

Paint a few more smokes like the image below.

Step 8

Create a new layer beneath the other layers but in front of the Background layer. Fill this layer with black and go to Filter>Texture>Texturizer. Use 100% for the Scaling and 4 for the Relief. For the Texture use Canvas and Light use Top. That will add a nice texture to the image but you will need to change the opacity to 10%.

Step 9

This is a nice new feature in the new Photoshop CS4, actually there's nothing new just the Adjustments palette, but it's very useful because you can edit all the image adjustments like Levels, Hue & Saturation, Curves in that palette. However it just adds a Adjustment Layer, that could be done in the previous versions too.
Anyway, on top of the other layers just add the Invert adjustment. You can go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Invert. It will be the same. You will get a very nice effect, like burning paper.

Add Visual Texture 3 Easy Steps

Step 1 – Find a Suitable Texture for your Design

Perhaps you have a photo that you’ve taken yourself, a texture you’ve designed, or maybe you’ve found a free texture to use online.  Whatever the case may be, you’ll need a texture to work with.
If you need help finding a texture, we’ve got a large collection of 99 Free Stock Textures which you’re welcome to browse through!
Once you find a texture, Copy > Paste it into a new layer in your design.  The texture layer should usually be on top of every other layer in your design (or at least the layers you want to apply the texture to).
Transform the Texture to fit your canvas.

Step 2 – Desaturate

Desaturate your texture layer (Image > Adjustments > Desaturate).  We only want to apply the texture over our design, not the color from the texture.

Step 3 – Set to Overlay

Now, set this layer to Overlay.  This will screen (brighten) all of the shades brighter than 50% gray in your texture, while multiply (darken) any shades darker than 50% gray, thus giving the illusion of light passing over your design for a more tactile appearance!
Adjust the opacity of your texture layer to increase or decrease the intensity of the effect.