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In this tutorial we will be teaching how to integrate elements from different sources to create a realistic photo manipulation with dark and conceptual elements. You will learn some lighting and blending techniques as well as some interesting post-production tips. Let’s get started!

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial.

• Background
• Sky
• Cigarette
• Smoke
• Teddy Bear
• Toy Pieces
• Toy #1
• Toy #2
• Robot
• Paper Texture
• Streamers
• Party Blower

Step 1

Open a new document, 3,000 x 3,000 pixels, at 300 dpi resolution. Drag and drop the model stock photo, resize to fit using Edit > Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T) leaving some margins by the sides. Hold Shift to keep the aspect ratio. Name this layer "Model".

Step 2

Select the Pen Tool (P) to cut out the model from the background. Be sure that Paths mode is selected and that you are not using the Free Mode. To follow the shapes of the body, if you are not very familiar with this tool, you will have to click wherever you want to start, then, when you are going to do the second point, Click and hold, then move your mouse to adapt the path to the shape.

Once you are done, Right – Click and select Make Selection. Select a Feather Radius of 0 and check the Anti-aliased box.

Now go to Select > Inverse or Command/Ctrl + Shift + I and then press Delete. Put the image in Actual Pixels using the Zoom Tool (Z) and Right – Click, selecting that option from the emerging menu, or Double – Clicking on the Zoom Tool, to see if there are parts that have not been well cut out and use the Pen Tool (P) again to get rid of them. Now go to Edit > Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T) again, hold Shift, and resize the layer to occupy an area similar to the one shown in the screenshot below:

Step 3

Add the Background image and Free Transform it (Edit > Free Transform or Command/Ctrl + T) to fit the canvas, again holding Shift to maintain the aspect ratio. Place this layer under the "Model" one. Name this layer "BG" and be sure that the "Model" layer is in the center of the Depth of Field of the "BG" layer, which is the most sharpened part of the ground.

Create a new Mask for this layer clicking on Add Layer Mask in the Layers Palette, then select the Brush Tool (B) and pick a 700 pixels size black brush, with 50% Opacity and Flow and 0% Hardness, and paint over the edges of the layer (inside the Mask) to blend it with the white background.

Step 4

Now we will blend the borders of the "Model" layer. This way, it will look more integrated with the sorroundings, because if the edges are too sharpened, it will look like pasted on the canvas. Select the Blur Tool (R) with 30% Strenght and use a 0% Hardness brush, 40 pixels size, over the edges of the image. The result will be unseen if the image is Fit to Screen, but it will help integration in full view mode as well as if the image gets printed.

Step 5

Now we are going to get rid of certain details of the "Model" layer that we do not want anymore, like the paper borders in the cone and the tattoos of the feet. Command/Ctrl – Click the "Model" layer to make a selection of the entire layer because we don’t want to create new pixels outside the original shape. We are going to use the Clone Stamp Tool (S) selecting a 0% Hardness brush, 40 pixels size and 100% Opacity and Flow. Press the Alt key near the area we want to override to take that as a reference for the Clone Stamp Tool, and then paint over the paper border.

You should get something like the image above. To get rid of that darker shape, select a bigger soft brush (around 80 pixels size), and lower Opacity to 30%, and keep on painting over the dark line. Lower Opacity even more and paint carefully until the cone looks like the image below:

Repeat the process with the feet tattoos, except for using the bigger brush because you won’t be needing that, since the area is not as regular as the cone is. Play with different opacities to get the desired result.

Step 6

Add the sky image and name the layer "Sky". Place it above BG layer and under the "Model" one. Click on Add Layer Mask in the Layers Palette. Select a 600 pixels size brush, 0% Hardness, 20% Opacity and 60% Flow, and paint in the lower part of the layer to blend it with the BG one.

Step 7

Go to Filters > Blur > Lens Blur and use the following settings. This way you are adapting this layer to the original Depth of Filed the BG layer has.

Step 8

Now go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (Command/Ctrl + U) and drag the Saturation bar to the left like in the screenshot below, or input a value of -56, to lower the saturation of the "Sky" layer.

Step 9

Add a New Layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N) and name it "Blue". Place it above all layers. Select the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and pick the color #1a1664 (or a similar one of your liking) as a Foreground Color and click in any part of the layer. Set it in Overlay Blending Mode and lower its Opacity to 35%.

Step 10

Add the cigarette layer and name it "Ash". Place it above the "Model" layer and again, Free Transform it (Command/Ctrl + T, hold Shift key) to make it fit with the top of the cone.

Once the "Ash" layer is fitting with the top part of the cone, Free Transform it again, Right – Click and select Distort in the emerging menu. Expand the box by the lower corners and play with it until the borders of the cigarette fit perfectly with the cone shape. Do this in Actual Pixels mode (Zoom Tool (Z), Right – Click, then select Actual Pixels, or Double – Click the Zoom Tool icon) to get an accurate result.

Now we have to cut out the ash from the background. The obvious procedure with a solid background would be to select the Magic Wand Tool (W), but it will select some parts of the ash as well, so preferably pick the Pen Tool (P), Zoom In the image with the Zoom Tool (Z) selecting the ash area and start making the selection with the Pen Tool. Once you are done, Right – Click and in the emerging menu select Make Selection.. Then go to Select > Invert or Command/Ctrl + Shift + I and press the Delete key.

Select the Burn Tool (O) and choose a 30 pixels size brush, 0% Hardness, with Midtones Range and an Exposure of 10% and paint carefully in the left side of the cigarette to make the shadows fit with the ones of the cone. When you are done, pick the Dodge Tool (O) with the same settings and paint the right side of the cigarette to make the lighting fit. Then go to Image > Adjustments > Color Balance or Command/Ctrl + B and put the following settings in the Shadows Tone Balance panel: +10, 0, -14. And at last, select the Blur Tool (R), with a small soft brush and paint over the borders like we did in Step Four.

Step 11

Add the smoke image, name the layer "Smoke" and place it above the "Ash" layer. Select the Screen Blending Mode. Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate or just Command/Ctrl + Shift + U. Pick the Burn Tool (O) and select Shadows in the dropdown Range menu as well as an Exposure of 35% and paint over the white areas on the edges and corners of the layer to make the background completely transparent. Burn also a bit on the smoke "knot" in Highlights Range Mode with an Exposure of 10%. Use the Dodge Tool (O) in Highlights Range mode with an exposure of 15% in the base of the smoke to make it more visible.

Step 12

Now let’s use again the Free Transform command (Command/Ctrl + T) and Right – Click selecting the Warp mode. Drag the upper part of the image so the cut borders go outside of the canvas.

Step 13

Duplicate "Model" layer and name this new one as "Shadow". Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (Command/Ctrl + U) and in the Lightness bar drag it completely to the right, until it marks -100. You will get a black version of the model image. Place it under the "Model" layer and Free Transform it (Command/Ctrl + T). Then Right – Click and in the submenu select Flip Vertical and drag the layer until both feet get in touch. Now Right – Click again and select Distort. According to the model’s lighting, it is coming from the upper right part, so we have to make the shadow take direction a bit to the left, so drag the bottom left corner of the transform box to the left.

Step 14

Duplicate "Shadow" layer and hide the original. In the new layer, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and put an amount of 20,5 pixels. Create a new Layer Mask and pick a big black soft brush with the Brush Tool (B) and paint in the Mask deleting the blur near the model, leaving only blurred the farthest part (chest and cone).

Now make the original "Shadow" layer visible again, Mask it and again, use the same brush to delete exactly the opposite parts you have kept in the duplicated layer, so it looks like this:

In "Shadow" layer, go again to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and put the amount in 3 pixels.

Merge "Shadow" and its copy, selecting the one that is above and going to Layer > Merge Down or pressing Command/Ctrl + E, applying the masks when asked. Then, create a new Mask in this new merged layer, select the Brush Tool (B), pick black color (#000000), 200 pixels size, 30% Opacity and 50% Flow and carefully paint in the Mask the parts that are farther from the model, being the cone the most erased part (but not deleted at all) and then the chest. Erase a bit also the knees shadows since they are farther from the body than the ones generated by the feet. The end result should look like this:

Step 15

We are going to add a lighting focus to equalize all elements in composition. Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N) and name it "Light", pick the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and Click on the layer with white color (#ffffff) selected. Then go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects and use the following settings:

When you are done, put the layer in Overlay Blending Mode with 60% Opacity. It will look like this:

Step 16

Now we are going to adapt the "BG" and "Model" layers to the lighting we have just created. We will be using the Dodge and Burn Tools (O). Remember where the light focus is coming: the top right corner. Knowing this, we have to paint both layers with these tools. Everything has to look accordingly to the lighting source, so if we do this right, we will be near of doing a realistic photo manipulation: lighting is the key. We will be using the following method in all future compositive elements. In the screenshot below, you can find a sort of "map" of the lighting here. You have to use the Burn Tool (O) in the darker area of the image, first in Midtones Range and then in Highlighs Range. Use always big soft brushes, with no more than 20% Strength. Take as a reference the bottom left corner, which will be the darkest area of the ground, being the most highlighted the area before and after the right model’s leg. Here, use specially the Dodge Tool in Highlights Range. In the "Model" layer, you should use the Dodge Tool first in Midtones Range and then in Highlights Range. Use a smaller brush size than the one you used with the Burn Tool but keep it being with 0% Hardness and less than 20% Strength, and paint over the right leg and arm, and lower by 10% the Strength to paint over the left leg and arm. There is no need to use the Burn Tool on this layer since the shadows are fitting with the overall lighting and are hard enough.

Keep on painting (but not too much) until your image looks similar to this one:

Now let’s see a before/after example:

Step 17

Now we are going to start adding elements to the composition, that will add some conceptual depth to our image. First, add the teddy bear image and name this layer "Teddy" and place it above the "Model" layer. Then select the Magic Wand Tool (W) and use a Tolerance of 84 pixels and the settings shown in the example below. Then Click in the white background and in any areas of the shadow that might not be selected at first while you hold Shift Key to make multiple selections at once.

Now use Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T) holding the Shift key to maintin the aspect ratio of the image. Resize it keeping the reality of proportions shown in the image, and then Right – Click and in the menu choose Flip Horizontal, since the original lighting of the "Teddy" layer is inverted according to the lighting we are applying to the composition.

So, we have some annoying white borders around the image. Double – Click in the "Teddy" layer to display the Layer Style window. Go to Inner Shadow and apply the following settings: Blend Mode Multiply, 29% Opacity, 120º Angle, 0 pixels Distance, 0 pixels Choke, 161 pixels Size. This is a good shortcut to avoid cutting out the image again, specially in this case where no max highlights will be used on this layer since it’s far from the light focus.

Now select the Blur Tool (R) and as we did in Steps 4 and 10, blur a bit the borders of the layer for a better blending with the scene, using a very small brush since this element is smaller than the ones we blurred borders before. Then we are going to repeat Step 16 on this layer. Use the Burn Tool (O) with 20% Strength and with Midtones Range selected over the borders that seem to be lighter than the rest with a very small soft brush. Once you are rid of the borders, use a bigger brush to Burn Midtones over the dark areas according to lighting: full left arm, left parts of head, chest and both legs. Then use the Burn Tool in Highlights Range with very low Strength (between 5% – 10%) and paint over the same parts. Don’t use the Dodge Tool this time. Sometimes using Dodge and Burn might end up in over saturated colors, so go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation or Command/Ctrl + U, and drag the Saturation bar -30 pixels to the left. With all of this done, your "Teddy" layer should look like this:

Step 18

Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N) below the "Teddy" one and name it "Teddy Shadow". Pick the Brush Tool (B), select black color (#000000), 50 pixels size, 25% of Hardness, 50% Opacity and Flow, and paint carefully under the bear.

Now put Brush Hardness at 0% and decrease Opacity by 25% and paint around the ground where the bear is, specially on the left side.

Step 19

Add the pieces image, name it "Pieces" and place it above the "Model" layer. Use the Magic Wand Tool (W) with 60 pixels Tolerance and click on the white background, then press Delete.

Now select the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) and make a selection of the grey areas created by the figure shadows. Then press Delete again.

Now use Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T) holding Shift to keep aspect ratio and resize the layer to keep proportions with the rest of the elements. Place it near the right shoe. Lower the Opacity of the layer to around 70% and create a new Layer Mask. Now select the Pen Tool (P). You have to make a selection according to the rock shapes. Once you have the Path closed, Right – Click and select Make Selection. Paint it black with the Brush Tool (B) or the Paint Bucket Tool (G) in the Mask to make it disappear. Restore the layer Opacity to 100% when you are done.

Step 20

Go to Filter > Blur > Lens Blur and use the following settings. Again, we want to integrate this item within the Depth of Field of the image.

Step 21

Use the Burn Tool (O) to raise shadows in the Midtones Range on the left part of the layer as well as the bottom, then go to Image > Adjustments > Levels (Command/Ctrl + L) to raise a bit the lightings.

Step 22

Create a New Layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N), place it under "Pieces" and name it "Shadow Pieces". Use the Brush Tool (B), 60 pixels size, 0% Hardness, 25% Opacity and only 2% Flow, pick black color (#000000) and paint under the pieces just to darken a bit the area. Then take a smaller brush, and raise Opacity to 30% and Flow to 10% and paint the nearer shadows where the figure is touching the ground. You might need to paint also the borders of the near rocks.

Step 23

Grab the Toy1 image to the canvas, resize with Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T) holding Shift key to fit the canvas, then select the Magic Wand Tool (W) with 50 pixels Tolerance and select the white background, then press Delete. Name this layer "Toy1".

Now place the layer under "Shadow" layer and Free Transform it again to make it smaller. Place it at the left of the model. The top part of this layer should be at the same height where the bushes start to grow. Go to Filter > Blur > Lens Blur and use the following settings:

Double – Click this layer to open the Layer Style menu, select Inner Shadow and put the following settings. This way, we will get rid of the white borders. We don’t need them anymore since the item is placed in a dark area of the image.

Step 24

Create a New Layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N), place it under "Toy1" and name it "Toy1 Shadow". Use the Brush Tool (B) 80 pixels size, 0% Hardness, 25% Opacity and 15% Flow, pick the black color, and paint the shadows casted to the left. The nearer to the item, the darker it should be.

Step 25

Return to the layer "Toy1" and go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation or Command/Ctrl + U and in the Lightness bar, drag it a bit to the left or put in the field a -10 value to darken a bit this layer.

Step 26

Take the Toy2 image, add it to the canvas, name it "Toy2", Free Transform it (Command/Ctrl + T, hold Shift key) to fit on screen, add a Layer Mask, then select the Magic Wand Tool (W) with 50 pixels Tolerance and select the white background. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G) with black color selected, and go to the Mask and fill the selection to make it disappear.

When we deleted the background, we also erased some parts of the toy base. We are going to do something that is not very fancy, but it will work combined with the next step. Go to the Mask in "Toy2" layer, pick the Brush Tool (B), 100% Opacity and Flow, 0% Hardness and select white color (#ffffff) and paint in the disappeared areas to make them come back. Don’t worry if you end up painting a bit and revealing parts of the white background again.

If you haven’t applied any Filter since the last time we did it, press Command/Ctrl + F: This will repeat the last filter we used. Or just go to the Filter menu. The first option should be to Apply Last Filter, which in our case was the Lens Blur we used in "Toy1" layer. Apply it again. In case this option is not available anymore (you might have closed Photoshop in between steps, etc), just use the Lens Blur settings of Step 23. You will now notice why we had not to worry about the base. When you are done, Double – Click the layer to open the Layer Style window, go to Inner Shadow and use the following settings to get rid, again, of the white borders… although not at all yet.

Use Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T), Right – Click and select Flip Horizontal. We do this because the original lighting of the layer is opposite than the one we have in the composition. Then go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (Command/Ctrl + U), put Saturation -46.

Go to the Mask, select the Brush Tool (B), 15 pixels size, 0% Hardness, 40% Opacity and 25% Flow and paint carefully over the light grey edges, so we can get rid of them at last to enhace the layer integration. You can see the difference in the screenshot below.

Step 27

Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N), name it "Toy2 Shadow"and place it under "Toy2". Basically, what we have to do here is exactly what we did in Step 24 when we added the casted shadow of the "Toy1" item: Use the Brush Tool (B) 80 pixels size, 0% Hardness, 25% Opacity and 15% Flow, pick the black color, and paint the shadows casted to the left. The nearer to the item, the darker they should be.

Step 28

Take the robot image to the canvas. To erase the background, the best option here is to use the Pen Tool (P) with the same settings we have been using during this tutorial, so be sure that Paths mode is selected and that you are not using the Free Mode. Don’t worry about the white/transparent thing on the robot’s head… you are free to keep it, but in my case, I will just get rid of it.

When you are done, Right – Click and select Make Selection, then delete the background. Use the Pen Tool also to delete the white areas inside the clockwork. Use the Magic Wand Tool (W) with 50 pixels Tolerance to select the space between the legs faster. Now Free Transform it (Command/Ctrl + T) holding Shift. Resize and place as shown below and name this layer "Robot":

We have to adjust the lighting of this item. Use the Dodge Tool (O) with Highlights Range selected, Exposure of 8%, and paint over the right parts of the head, right arm and right foot. Now use the Burn Tool (O), first in Highlights Range with an Exposure of 15%, with a soft brush of 100 pixels Size, and paint over the left part of the robot as shown in the image below. This shadow occurs because the robot is under the shadow casted by the model. To finish, set the Burn Tool Range to Midtones, and use smaller brush and paint the areas more oriented to the left.

Step 29

Duplicate the "Robot" layer, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (Command/Ctrl + U )and use a value of -100 in the Lighting bar. Place this layer under the original one, use Free transform (Command/Ctrl + T), Right – Click, select Flip Vertical, drag it until both feet are touching, then Right – Click again and select Distort. Drag from the bottom left corner to make the shadow be casted to the left as usual and then drag from the bottom right corner to create a diagonal.

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use an amount of 2.7 pixels.

Create a New Mask for this layer and pick the Brush Tool (B), 80 pixels size, 0% Hardness, 40% Opacity and 25% Flow. As we are doing with all casted shadows, the farther the shadow is, the less it has to be seen, so start erasing from the part on the left and keep darker the shadows under the feet.

Step 30

Drag the party blower image to the canvas, name it "Party Blower" and use the Pen Tool (P) to cut it out using the same method as with the rest of elements. Place this layer above the "Model" one.

Free Transform it (Command/Ctrl + T) holding Shift and resize it until it fits within the shape of the left hand, then rotate it a bit to the left to follow the direction generated by the posture.

Use the Blur Tool (R) to blur a bit the borders (20 pixels size, soft, 50% Strength) to integrate the image in the composition. Then hide this layer and use the Pen Tool (P) to make a selection of the fingers like shown in the screenshot below. Command/Ctrl – Click and Make Selection, then erase it and make the layer visible again.

Use the Burn Tool (O) in Highlights Range with 35% Hardness, 20 pixels size and 15% Exposure to darken the part of the item that is being held by the hand. Darken the bottom part of it as well. Then put the Burn Tool in Midtones Range to darken the bottom part of the party blower. When you are done, grab the Sharpen Tool (R) with 23% Strenght and with Protect Detail checkbox enabled, use it to sharpen the left part of the party blower which was a bit out of focus in the original stock photo.

Step 31

Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N) and place it under the "Blue" one. Name it "Confetti". Now we are going to have some real fun. We are going to throw some confetti over the area and we want it to be very realistic. Select the Brush Tool (B) and go to the Brush Panel by pressing F5. Select any normal brush and use the following setting to create the new brush we are going to use to throw the confetti all around. When you are done, pick the color #ff00f0.

Step 32

Paint over the model (but not the cone), especially over the areas that could allow the confetti to be placed without falling, like shoulders, upper part of the legs, etc. Paint some confetti also on the ground, but not behind the model. Put some as well on the teddy bear.

We might have ended up painting outside the areas we wanted to, since the brush had the Scattering mode activated, so use the Eraser Tool (E), 100% Hardness, Flow and Opacity and with a size of about 30 pixels, delete any painted part that is outside of the model.

Select the Burn Tool (O), with Midtones Range and a Strength of 15%. Now, according to the casted shadows and overall lighting of the image, paint over the confetti parts that are standing out too much and that are obviously out of any concordance here, for example in the model’s shadows.

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply it with a Radius of 0,4 pixels.

Double – Click the layer to open the Layer Style panel. Go to Drop Shadow and set it as follows:

Use the Blur Tool (R) with 50% Strength and start blurring the parts that should be affected by the Depth of Field, like the bottom of the image and behind the model.

Now with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) start selecting the confetti by areas. What we are going to do now is to apply some perspective so they won’t look like pasted anymore. Do it by small areas. With every selection, use Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T) and then Right – Click and in the emerging menu choose Distort, then drag from the bottom corners and open the field until they look adjusted to the perspective of the ground. Do this with all the confetti at the bottom of the image. When it’s finished, if you find any confetti that, due to its roundness, looks strange, just take the Eraser Tool (E), 100% Hardness, Opacity and Flow and no bigger than 20 pixels and delete it.

Step 33

We can make the confetti we have just created a bit more realistic, so let’s go to add some paper texture to it. Insert the paper texture and name it "Paper". Press Command/Ctrl + T to Free Transform it, Right – Click to open the menu and select Perspective. Grab any of the bottom corners and expand the box, then grab one from the upper side and make it smaller, like in the screenshot below, then press Enter:

Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate or just Command/Ctrl + Shift + U. Set the Blending Mode of the Layer to Soft Light, then Command/Ctrl – Click the layer "Confetti" to select all of its content. Invert the selection with Command/Ctrl + Shift + I or go to Select > Inverse and press Delete in the "Paper" layer. We are done with the confetti, at last!

Step 34

Grab the streamers stock image, name it "Streamer" and place it above the "Confetti" layer. Select the Magic Wand Tool (W), put its Tolerance to 50 pixels, and very important, uncheck the Contiguous check box if it is checked, then Click on the background and press Delete.

We are going to place all the streamers around the image, in separate layers and we will give different treatments to them. We will be getting them from its original layer ("Streamer"). Select first the blue one with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L), and Copy/Paste it by pressing Command/Ctrl + C and then Command/Ctrl + V, or if you prefer, go to Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste. Name this new layer "Streamer2". Don’t forget to hide "Streamer" layer now.

Free transform the blue streamer (Command/Ctrl + T, hold Shift as usual for aspect ratio maintenance) and place it under the robot.

Still in Free Transform mode, Right – Click and select Distort. Play with the image until it looks right with the perspective.

Take the Blur Tool (R), and with 50% Strength blur the right zone, and with 100% Strength the left one, to adjust the streamer to the Depth of Field. By the way, don’t worry about the casted shadows for now: we will be applying them when all streamers are placed.

Step 35

Make the layer "Streamer" visible again, and with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L), select the red streamer, Copy/Paste it again (Command/Ctrl + C and Command/Ctrl + V) and name this new layer "Streamer3". Hide "Streamer" layer again.

Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T, then hold Shift) and go to Image > Adjustments > Level or press Command/Ctrl + L. The arrow in the middle controls the midtones of the image, so drag it closer to the dark, to the left, or put a value of 1,51.

Place the item in the left knee of the model, lower its Opacity by 80% and create a New Mask. Use the Pen Tool (P) to make a path on the knee, Right – Click and select Make Selection, and fill it with black color using the Paint Bucket Tool (G) on the Mask. Restore the Opacity of the layer.

Select the Blur Tool (R) and with a 10 pixels size brush blur a bit the edges of the streamer in the layer, not in the Mask.

Step 36

Return to "Streamer" layer, make it visible, and again, with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L), select the yellow streamer, Copy/Paste it (Command/Ctrl + C, Command/Ctrl + V), name the new layer "Streamer4" and hide "Streamer" layer as well.

Resize the image with Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T , then hold Shift). Blur the borders as usual with the Blur Tool (R), and then use Burn Tool (O) in Highlights Range with 15% Strength to darken all the area of the streamer under the casted shadow of the model. Change the Range to Midtones, lower Strength to 10% and burn the end of the streamer (the part more to the left).

Step 37

I guess it is obvious what we have to do now: Make visible "Streamer" layer, select the pink streamer with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L), Copy/Paste (Command/Ctrl + C, Command/Ctrl + V), name the new layer "Streamer5" and hide "Streamer".

Resize (Command/Ctrl + T, hold Shift), rotate a bit to the left and move it to the right shoe.

Still in Free Transform, Right Click and switch to Warp mode. You have to adapt the streamer to the shape of the foot. Follow the directions of the arrows in the screenshot below. When you are done use the Blur Tool (R) to blur the borders.

Step 38

Make visible "Streamer" layer, select the green streamer with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L), Copy/Paste (Command/Ctrl + C, Command/Ctrl + V), name the new layer "Streamer6" and hide "Streamer".

Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T, hold Shift), resize and place it near the teddy bear. Don’t forget to blur the borders with the Blur Tool (R).

Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels or press Command/Ctrl + L and move the Midtones bar a bit to the left or put a value of 1,52.

Step 39

This Step is optional and up to you. What we are going to do is to put some more streamers in the composition. You can duplicate any of the streamers layers (Going to Layer > Duplicate Layer, or pressing Command/Ctrl + J), or extract them again from the "Streamer" layer. Due to some modifications in the streamers layers, some might not be useful for duplicating. Don’t be afraid and get as creative as you wish, playing with different options to place your own streamers.

Now I am going to explain a quick guide of what I have done with the new streamers. The method to manipulate them is the same we have been using with the rest of streamers. Duplicate "Streamer2", Free Transform, then Right – Click and select Flip Horizontal, Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (Command/Ctrl + U) and change the Hue bar to any color you like. Place it in the plushie’s right leg.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels (Command/Ctrl + L) and move the midtone bar to the left or enter a value of 1,62. When you are done, Free Transform (Command/Ctrl + T), select Warp mode and adjust the streamer to the plushie.

Duplicate (Command/Ctrl + J) "Streamer4", Change its color with Hue/Saturation (Command/Ctrl + U), use the Pen Tool (P) and cut the bottom part to make it look like our character is holding it.

Use the Burn Tool in Highlights Range mode and darken specially on top. This area is very dark according to overall lighting, so you will have to increase Strength while you get on top of the layer.

Duplicate (Command/Ctrl + J) "Streamer3", change its color (Command/Ctrl + U), Flip Horizontal and apply a Gaussian Blur with a 4 pixels Radius.

Step 40

Create a New Layer (Layer > New > Layer, or Command/Ctrl +Shift + N) and name it "Streamer Shadows". Place it under the original "Streamer" layer. Pick the Brush Tool (B) and select a 10 pixels Size, 10% Hardness, 30% Opacity and 15% Flow brush and start painting under the streamers. Creating a base shadow under them all will be enough, but always following the original shapes. Also, remember than in all cases shadows must be casted to the left.

Step 41

Now, we are done with the composition. In the following steps, I am going to explain some post-production techniques to give a fine high-end effect to our photo manipulation. Select the "Light" layer and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White or click on the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon on the Layers palette and select it. Use the following settings and put the Blending Mode of the layer in Soft Light with 37% Opacity.

Step 42

Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. Click on the gradient image to open the Gradient Editor. In this new window, Double – Click on the left Color Stop marker (in the gradient bar, they are located below, in the right bottom corner). This way you will open the window of Select Stop Color. Choose #55bedc. Now Double – Click in the left Color Stop marker and choose #f5e70b. Click OK in the Gradient Editor. Set the Blending Mode of the Gradient Map to Overlay, and lower Opacity to 15%.

Step 43

Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Selective Color. We are going to enhace the natural colors of the image. For that reason, we have to change a bit its base colors. Choose one and start editing the settings. Leave Blacks unchanged.

Step 44

Let’s give some blurry atmosphere to our picture. Stamp Visible Layers by pressing Command/Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E. This will create a new layer containing all the items in the rest of layers, without affecting them. Name this layer "BW". Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set an Amount of 48,6 pixels. Set the Blending Mode of the layer to Screen and lower Opacity to 42%. Desaturate this layer by pressing Command/Ctrl + Shift + U or going to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. Then Duplicate the layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer or Command/Ctrl + J) and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 45

Now we are going to add some noise to the entire image. This way, we will get a more photographic approach, because it will be visible both in sharpened and blurred areas and will make the image to be more homogeneous. Again, Stamp Visible Layers by pressing Command/Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E. Go to Filter > Sketch > Reticulation. Set Density to 1, Foreground Level to 2 and Background Level to 6.

Set the Blending Mode of this layer to Luminosity, and Opacity to 22%.

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set an Radius amount of 2,1 pixels.

We are almost there. Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise. Set an Amount of 12% and select Uniform Distribution.

Step 46

Create a New Layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N). Name this layer "Gradient". Use the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to fill this layer with the color #eba102. Press de Paint Bucket Tool icon until it shows a small submenu and pick the Gradient Tool. Choose from the top menu the Radial Gradient and Click on the Gradient bar to open the Gradient Editor. Now we are going to invert the gradient, so that way, when we create the gradient, it will affect from outside to the inside, so we will add color basically to the corners and sides and we will leave the center without changes. In the Gradient Presets, choose the second one (Foreground to Transparent). Double – Click the left Color Marker to open the Select Stop Color window and pick #845e0c. Click OK. Now, to invert the Gradient, grab from the left Color Marker and move it to the right corner, and then grab the right Color Marker and move it to the left corner. If you did it well, the gradient bar should look like the one in the screenshot below. Click OK.

Click and hold in the center of the canvas and drag the cursor to any of the corners, then release to create the gradient. It should look like this:

We still need one more gradient. Open again the Gradient Editor and Click on the Foreground to Transparent icon to get back to normal. Double – Click the left bottom Color Marker on the Gradient Bar and pick the color #f88e1c. Click OK and Click and hold on the center of the canvas, drag to one of the corners and release.

Set the Blending Mode of this layer to Soft Light. Now we are going to play a bit with the atmosphere. You can leave the colors as they are now, but if you are not into warm tones, maybe you will prefer to switch them a little. Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation or press Command/Ctrl + U. Drag the Hue marker until you find a color combo that suits you well. In my case, I am choosing blues. When you are done, click OK and lower the Layer Opacity to 30%.

Let’s adjust the lighting of this layer a bit. Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels or press Command/Ctrl + L. We have to darken a bit the gradient, so drag the Shadows Input Level marker to the right (more or less until it marks 88).

The center area of the image now looks a bit weird and out of tune. Use the Gradient Tool (G) with the last color we picked ( #f88e1c) and create a gradient from center to any of the corners, Clicking and holding from the center of the canvas. Now, the image looks more natural.

Step 47

Go to the layer "BW" and create a New Mask. Select the Brush Tool (B), pick black color (#000000) and choose a soft 130 pixels size brush, 30% Opacity and 65% Flow, and start erasing some shadows in the teddy bear and the model’s legs that due to the latest modifications now are bad exposed.

Step 48

Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N) and fill it with any color you want with the Paint Bucket Tool (G). Set the Blending Mode to Difference and lower the Opacity to 13%. Name it "Difference".

Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation or Command/Ctrl + U. What we want is to tint highlights and shadows. I recommend to find a color that gives the highest contrast (in this case, deep blue or -163 in the Hue bar). Otherwise we will lose some contrast in the levels range.

Step 49

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance. We are going to give the final color touches to our photo manipulation. I recommend warming a bit the Midtones and set colder Highlights and Shadows:

Step 50

Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or Command/Ctrl + Shift + N), name it "Fog", place it above everything, select the Brush Tool (B) and press F5 to display the Brushes Panel. We want to create a new brush to add some subtle fog to the scene. Use the following settings to achieve that effect:

Start painting from where the ground starts (not the bushes) to the bottom of the canvas to create a dreamy effect. Lower the layer Opacity to 25%.

It might happen that some shadows might get lost during this proccess. If that is your case, create a New Mask, pick a soft black brush and with an Opacity lower than 50%, start erasing parts that might look annoying, like deepest shadows (legs, chest, plushie, shoes).

Step 51

We are almost there! To give the final touch, we are going to sharpen up the image. Since it is very big, we cannot use the Sharpen Tool or the Sharpen Filters. So Stamp Visible Layers by pressing Command/Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E, set the Blending Mode to Overlay, and go to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set a Radius of 5 pixels and press OK. Name it "Sharpening".

Final Image

Psdtuts+

http://burgeralaune.com/

http://fino.com.mt/Shopping/

http://theavenuemalta.com/

http://www.uzgames.com/COD/

Do you like exploding planets, energy spheres, ruined cities, telepathic warriors, gloomy nebulas, and light-rays? Well, you’ve come to the right place. In today’s round up we’ve put together a list of some of the coolest dark and futuristic Photoshop effects that we could find. Please take a moment to review some of our favorites.

This post was originally published on Psdtuts in August 2008.

1. Aurora eclipse effect

Top quality tutorial that teaches you how to create a flashy eclipse.

2. Create a ‘Bionic Diver’ using photo manipulation

Create a half-man half-robot diving machine. This effect could easily be applied to any human form.

3. Design a space scene in Photoshop

Learn how to create a realistic space scene.

4. Design a futuristic laptop advert

Create a laptop ad with a modern and futuristic look.

5. Transformers text effect

Learn how to make the cool futuristic text from the Transformer text.

6. Scan-line text

Add a Matrix-style feel to your text with this tutorial.

7. Create a fiery space explosion

Probably your only chance to blow up a planet outside a video game/nuclear warfare.

8. Seamless compositing in Photoshop

Get some top notch advice on blending photos into a realistic surreal image.

9. The making of Mystic

Another high quality tutorial on creating a sci-fi style facial effect.

10. Wicked alien-entity text effect

Add a simple alien type effect to your text.

11. Glowing orb with dial

Create a detailed glowing orb that has a wide variety of uses.

12. Space lighting effects

High quality tutorial that teaches some basic lighting techniques.

13. The Dark Knight grunge wallpaper

Create a dark poster that mimics the design of the new Batman movie.

14. Create a futuristic building interior

Create a futuristic looking interior for a hi-rise building.

15. Make a realistic star field

Neat tutorial that helps you create a realistic star field in outer space.

16. Create a futuristic smoke-like effect

A hyper-modern smoke effect to compliment a dark background.

17. Add speed-strails to a vehicle

The perfect effect to add to a super-fast futuristic vehicle.

18. The magic night

Create the sunset of the future. Learn how to create a surreal landscape.

19. Good and evil photo effect

Another good tutorial on turning people into something else.

20. Create meteoric text

Turn your words into a fiery space meteor bearing down on the viewer.

21. Robotic frog

Create a robot frog of the future with this tutorial.

22. Creating an awesome space effect

This is another cool tutorial for creating a neat space effect.

23. Create a futuristic daytime cityscape

This could easily appear on the cover of a Sci-fi novel.

24. Making of an abstract art piece: “Lonium”

This tutorial will teach you how to create a futuristic abstract image.

25. Creating energy spheres

Turn anyone into a someone with super powers with this cool tutorial.

26. Supernatural text effect

Create a dark and eerie Sci-fi text effect.

27. Transform a person into an alien

yet another good tutorial to turn people into aliens.

28. Reflective bubble

Create some neat bubble with reflections of your alien person from the tutorial above.

29. Windows Vista aurora effect

Learn how to create the spacey windows vista effect.

30. Chroma wallpapers

Create a cool futuristic type wallpaper and learn some neat techniques from a pro.

31. Deep space nebula

Make a slick nebula to add to your space tutorials from above.

32. Space tutorial

Here is another cool space tutorial on creating a realistic space scene.

33. Abstract light rays

These abstract light rays can add a futuristic feel to any advert.

34. Planet with rings

A nice tutorial that helps you create a realistic planet.

35. Create a powerful mental wave explosion effect

Another neat tutorial to turn everyday people into super heroes.

36. Our future

Create a image that depicts an end of the world scene.

37. Create an abstract space image

A sweet abstract image that has an awesome outer-space look to it.

38. Star Wars text effect

What’s more futuristic than the Star Wars text? A great text tutorial.

39. War movie poster

A top quality tutorial that teaches how to do dark well by creating a war movie poster.

40. Create a mysterious nebula

Another good nebula tutorial that will help add spice to a space scene image.

Psdtuts+

In this tutorial we’ll be using Adobe Photoshop to design a sleek web interface that can be used for any mobile app website. We’ll be covering an array of techniques including shapes, textures, masks, custom icons, typography and much more that can be easily adapted and applied to your own web designs.

About This Design

This tutorial is based on the dark, clean website design for Leaflet, an iPhone app designed for Envato marketplace publishers. Eric Alli of Trilab Media helped design and code the site, so he’ll be walking us through the step by step tutorial. Whether you’re looking to use a similar design for your own projects or just want to see how it was made, there are plenty of excellent tricks and techniques in this tutorial that you’ll be able to pick up on. Enjoy!

Step 1

Let’s begin by creating a new Photoshop document by selecting File > New.

Set both the canvas Width and Height to 1100px, Resolution to 72, and the Background Contents to White.

Next, we need to create two guides that will act as the container for our page.

Select View > New Guide…

For the first guide, set the Orientation to Vertical and the Position to 70 px.

For the second guide, select View > New Guide… again and create another Vertical guide with the Position set to 1030 px.

We should now have an outlined space that is 960px in width for our page.

Step 2

Next step is the background. Select the Paint Bucket Tool (G) and set your Foreground Color Swatch to “1e1e1e”. Then, click anywhere on the canvas to apply the color to our Background layer.

Let’s also add a bit of texture to our background by selecting Filter > Noise > Add Noise…

Set the Amount to 2.5 and click OK.

Step 3

Next we’re going to create a spotlight that will help add focus to the top area of our page.

Select the Brush Tool (B) and change the Master Diameter to 400px and set the Hardness to 0%.

Create a new layer by selecting Layer > New > Layer… and give it the name of “Spotlight”.

Change your Foreground Color Swatch to “FFFFFF” (white) and create a circle near the top of the canvas using the Brush tool.

To help blend the spotlight into the background, lets add some noise to the spotlight layer by selecting Filter > Add Noise…

Set the Amount to 20, check Monochromatic and click OK.

To smooth out our spotlight, select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur…

Set the Radius to 50.0 and click OK.

Finally set the Opacity on the Spotlight layer to around 25%.

Step 4

Next we’re going to be adding our phone graphics. For this tutorial I will be using the iPhone graphic from the superb Vector iPhone 4 PSD from Psdtuts+ which can be downloaded for free here. Also keep in mind, you may use any phone graphic that suits your particular needs (Android, Blackberry, etc…).

Once downloaded, open the PSD in Photoshop. Expand the “Phones” folder in the Layers panel, right click the “FRONT” folder and select Duplicate Group… Here, give the group a recognizable name (I used “iPhone”), set the destination to “Leaflet” (or whatever it is you named your PSD for this tutorial), and click OK. Once you’re finished, close this PSD.

Position our first iPhone touching the left guide and around 100px from the top of the canvas.

This is also a good time to customize the screenshot within the iPhone.

An easy way to do this is to expand the “iPhone” folder in our layers panel then click on the “SCREEN CONTENTS” folder. Now select File > Place, choose your screenshot from the browser, then click Place.

Drag your placed layer over the iPhone and resize to fit into the screen. Once finish, click Enter to save the changes.

Duplicate the “iPhone” group by selecting Layer > Duplicate Group… name it “iPhone 2″ and click OK on the dialog.

Select Edit > Transform > Scale and expand the duplicated iPhone to 107.0% width and height. Position this iPhone around 50px from the top and 200px from the left guide.

Repeat the step mentioned above to replace the screenshot within the “iPhone 2″ folder.

Step 5

The final touch for our iPhones is to create a reflection of them. Lets start by selecting both iPhone groups (“iPhone” and “iPhone 2″) then select Layer > Duplicate Layers… and click OK. Then select Layer > Merge Layers.

Next we need to flip our iPhones upside down. Select Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical, then position the flipped layer directly under the original iPhones.

Add a Layer Mask by clicking the Layer Mask icon in the Layers Panel.

Select the Gradient Tool (G) and choose a black to white swatch. Draw a line from top to bottom on the flipped iPhones that is around 50px in height.

Finally, lower the opacity on the layer to 30%.

Step 6

Next is to add our app’s main details to the right of our phones. Before we start, lets add another guide to keep things aligned. Select View > New Guide… select “Vertical” for orientation and 550 px for position.

At around 100px from the top of our canvas, we’re going to add in our logo. I’m using a logo I’ve previously made, you can simply use text or insert your own logo here.

Below the logo, we’re going to add a paragraph of text for our app’s description. Select the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and draw a rectangle between the center guide and the right guide. Set the character settings as follows:

• Font Family: Helvetica Neue
• Size: 16 px
• Style: Regular
• Leading: 26 px
• Tracking: -25
• Anti-aliasing: Crisp
• Color: #FFFFFF

Step 7

Next we’ll create a button for visitors to purchase our app. Using the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U), draw a 240x75px rectangle with a 4px radius. Align it so the left side of the button touches the center guide and it’s 45px below the text.

Now we’ll apply some layer styles. Double-click the right side of the layer in the Layers Panel and use the below image for reference.

To add the Apple icon, draw a small text box inside the button using the Horizontal Type Tool (T), then copy and paste this symbol:  into the text box and set the character settings as follows:

• Font Family: Helvetica Neue
• Size: 50 px
• Style: Regular
• Anti-aliasing: Crisp
• Color: #000000

Finally, change the opacity on this layer to 30%.

Create another text box to the right and add 2 lines of text (ex: “Download now on the App Store”). Apply the following character settings:

• Font Family: Helvetica Neue
• Size: 11 px (first line) 24 px (second line)
• Style: Bold
• Leading: 26 px
• Tracking: -25
• Anti-aliasing: Crisp
• Color: #FFFFFF

Add a Layer style to this text using the following image for reference:

Next, we’re going to add a separator to the right of the text we’ve just added. Select the Line Tool (U) and while holding the SHIFT key, draw a 1px line from the top of the button to the bottom, then change the line’s color to “FFFFFF” (white).

Change the opacity of this line to 15% and duplicate it by selecting Layer > Duplicate Layer… and click OK. Change the color of this duplicated line to #000000 (black) and change it’s opacity to 10%. Then, move the duplicated line 1px to the left.

The last element to add to this button is an icon that indicates download. Begin by selecting the Ellipse Tool (U) and creating a circle that is 25px in diameter.

Then, add the following Layer Styles:

Finally, grab the Custom Shape Tool (U) and choose an arrow shape (I’m using a default shape called “Arrow 9″). Create a small arrow 10px in width inside the circle and change the color to “FFFFFF” (white).

Step 8

Now to create a small box to display our app’s price. Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U), set the Radius to 4px and create a rectangle that overlaps our download button and is 52px in height and any width greater then 100px.

Change the color of this box to “2B2B2B” and move it below the download button in the Layers Panel.

Next, add a Stroke Layer Style to this box with the following settings:

Now we can add the actual price information. For this we’re going to create two separate text boxes since the content within requires different styling.

For the first text box, add some text (I used “ONLY”) and apply the following character settings:

• Font Family: Helvetica Neue
• Size: 19 px
• Style: Bold
• Anti-aliasing: Crisp
• Color: #FFFFFF

For the second text box, add your price (I used “.99″) and apply the following character settings:

Step 9

Moving on to the bottom portion of our page, we need to create some separation. For this, we’ll use the two-line technique we applied earlier on the download button to give the separator an “inset” look.

Select the Line Tool (U) and while holding the SHIFT key, draw a 1px line from the left guide to the right guide, then change the line’s color to “000000″ (black).

Change the opacity of this line to 80% and duplicate it by selecting Layer > Duplicate Layer… and click OK. Change the color of this duplicated line to “FFFFFF” (white) and change it’s opacity to 10%. Then, move the duplicated line 1px down so it’s under the black line.

Step 10

In the section below the line separator we’ve just created, we’re going to be adding two columns, for screenshots and a list of features.

Starting with screenshots, begin by importing your first screenshot by selecting File > Place. Choose our screenshot from the file browser and click Place. Resize the screenshot to 80% width and height, then move the screenshot near the left guide and click Enter.

Select the layer in the Layers Panel and click the “Add Mask” button twice to add a Vector Mask.

Now select the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) and change the radius to 6px and create a rectangle over the screenshot with the size of 175x120px.

Lastly, we’re going to add a Stroke Layer Style with the following settings:

Repeat the above steps for all of your screenshots and give them 35px of space between each other.

Step 11

To separate our screenshots from the features, draw a 1px line from the top of the first screenshot to the bottom of the last screenshot that is around 55px from the screenshots.

Change the line’s color to “FFFFFF” (white) and set it’s opacity to 5%.

Step 12

Let’s add a title that will describe our features (I used “Leaflet Features”). Position the text 55px from the left separator line and use the following character settings:

• Font Family: Helvetica Neue
• Size: 24 px
• Style: Regular
• Tracking: -10
• Anti-aliasing: Crisp
• Color: #FFFFFF

Now let’s create our list of features and position it below the title. Create a text box and add five or six lines of features and give them the following character settings:

• Font Family: Helvetica Neue
• Size: 15 px
• Style: Regular
• Leading: 28 px
• Tracking: -10
• Anti-aliasing: Sharp
• Color: #8d8c90

Repeat the above steps to add the app’s requirements.

Step 13

To make our list of features stand out, let’s create some simple, custom bullets.

Start by shifting the list of features text box 25px to the right.

Now select the Ellipse Tool (U) and create a circle that is 9px in diameter to the left of the first feature. Change the circle’s color to “bce086″.

Add the following Layer Style to the circle:

Step 14

Now we need to duplicate our bullets and align them to each feature. Start by duplicating the circle layer by selecting the layer then clicking Layer > Duplicate Layer…

Next, move the duplicated layer down 28px (the amount of Leading we applied to the feature list). Repeat the above steps three times.

Step 15

Moving on to the footer portion of our page, we’ll once again apply the two-line technique we applied earlier in Step 9 to add some separation.

Step 16

Now we can add some useful links to our footer area. First we need to create four text boxes, side-by-side, that will hold our links.

Start by creating a text box that is around 160x40px. Add some text to it and repeat 3 times. Here is some sample text you can use:

• Box 1: Follow @mycompany on Twitter for news and updates.
• Box 2: For help & support head to our Support area.
• Box 3: Download our press and media kit.
• Box 4: Copyright 2010 My Company, LLC.

Use the following for the character settings:

• Font Family: Helvetica Neue
• Size: 12 px
• Style: Regular
• Leading: 20 px
• Anti-aliasing: Sharp
• Color: #5555552

As you may notice our boxes are uneven and not aligned properly, don’t worry, we’ll be fixing this in the next step.

Step 17

To fix our alignment issues, begin by placing the four text boxes we’ve created above into a folder and name it “Footer”.

First, position the first text box 55px from the left guide and the last text box touch the right guide.

Now select the four text layers in the Footer folder and grab the Move Tool (V). Click on the Align vertical centers button, then click Distribute horizontal centers button from the Move toolbar.

Step 18

Now we can add some custom icons to accentuate our links.

Select the Ellipse Tool (U) and create a circle that is 36px in diameter next to our first text box. Change the color of this circle to “FFFFFF” (white).

Now select Layer > Rasterize > Layer.

Next up is to add our icon to this circle. For the first icon, I’m using the Twitter “t” that i’ve downloaded for free here.

Once downloaded, select File > Place in photoshop to import the icon into our document. Once imported, resize the icon to 28% width and height, position it over our circle, then click enter.

Next, right-click on the thumbnail of the Twitter icon in the Layers Panel and click Select Pixels.

Now select the circle layer in the Layers Panel then select Edit > Clear.

Delete the imported Twitter Icon by selecting it in the Layers panel and click or drag it to the Trash icon.

Finally, lower the opacity on the circle layer to 15%.

Step 19

For the rest of the icons shown above, repeat the steps in Step 18 by using other icons or with custom shapes in photoshop.

Step 20

To add a finishing touch to our footer links, lets give them a hit of color to help them stand out.

Using the Horizontal Text Tool (T) highlight a part of the text in each text box and change it’s color to “83b546″.

Conclusion

That’s all! I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and have found some useful techniques that you can adapt / apply to your next design.

Webdesigntuts+

In this tutorial we’re about to learn how to design a dark, clean website in Adobe Photoshop. As we go through this tutorial, we’ll work with: simple shapes (rectangles, lines, arrows, etc), layer styles, patterns, importation, and paragraph styles, and many other Photoshop design techniques that you can adapt to your Website interface design workflow.

About the Author

Julian Chaniolleau, also known as Devilcantburn, is a freelance graphic and web designer. He’s also an author at ThemeForest, with templates like 96Display or Stereoline, you can also find more of his work at devilcantburn.com.

This design is a great example of Julian’s unique style: dark, yet sophisticated enough to be used for a business site. You can check out more of Julian’s design at his ThemeForest profile, DevilCantBurn.

Let’s dive right in!

Step 1 Setting the document

Begin by creating a new document in Photoshop that is 1200px x 1600px. Be sure your resolution is set to 72 pixels/inch and your background is set to white. We need to unlock the background layer so we can add some layer styles, right click the background and select “Layer from Background”. You can then rename the layer back to background..

Fill the background with the color #101010.

Now create the following guides (Menu > View > New guide…) :

• 120px vertical
• 600px vertical
• 1080px vertical

Now you have the borders and middle of the interface’s area.

Step 2 Organize Your Groups…

Organization is really important to my own workflow – so the next step is to start creating our Layer Groups. Starting organized is important for one main reason: most big website projects end with hundreds of layers, so if you don’t start with organization in mind, it’ll be easy to get lost if you don’t take the time to group elements into “folders” and keep everything named properly.

In the Layers panel, click on the icon to create a new folder, double-click on the name of the folder to edit the name. Do the same for all the folders.

The main layer folders that we want are :

• Header
• Slider
• Main
• Footer

Step 3 Create the Header

Select the “header” folder in Layers panel. Then, select the rectangle tool from the Vector Shapes area of the toolbar:

Draw a rectangle. Rename it like “Top bar bg“. Do Ctrl+T or Cmd+T (Mac) and set the proprieties to be 1200px wide by 10px tall:

Now let’s add some subtle styling; Double click on the colored thumbnail in the layers panel to set the color to #252525. Double-click on the layer to set the FX-layer like this:

This subtle “inner shadow” will add a border effect to the bottom of this rectangle – this is important to separate it from the rest of the header design.

Step 4 Create the Menu

Create a new folder named “Top Menu” in the HEADER group.

Draw a new rectangle. Rename it like “Top Menu bg“. Do Ctrl+T or Apple+T and set the proprieties like the “Top bar bg” but with 90px height and 10px in Y axis. So this rectangle will be just under the “Top nar bg” layer in the Layers panel.

Create the item menu text as you need. I use the font, “Droid Serif”, to create the menu, but you can use anything that you’d like. Position it at 20px from the right guide line.

I put 4 “spaces” (hit the spacebar 4x) between each item and the font-size is 18px.

Step 5 Place the Logo

Create a new folder named “Top Logo” in the HEADER group over all groups. Select it and go to Menu > Files > Import. In the resources folder i have included a sample of logo named “logo_zombie.psd”. Choose it and position it at 130px of the left and 5px of the top.

You can add a new FX style on this logo as you need.

Step 6 Create the Slider

Select the SLIDER group and create a rectangle like the step 3 and set the proprieties with 400px height and 100px in Y axis.

Rename it something like “Gradient” and double-click on the colored thumbnail in the layers panel to set the color to #77b400. Double-click on the layer to set the FX-layer like this:

Gradient Black (#00000) with opacity at 100% to Black with opactity at 0

Now, you should get a design like this :

This strategy of adding a “shadow gradient” instead of using fixed colors is important because it will allow us to easily change the colors later on by adjusting the base-rectangle color.

Next, Create a new folder named “slider_block“. Create a rectangle (with the Vector Tools (U) as always) in this group named “Transparency“.

Position it with those values : Double-click on the layer in layer’s panel to open the FX-Layer options. and set it like this :

Duplicate the “Transparency” layer, remove the FX-layer options and name it “picture area“.
Set the background opactity to 100% and resize it with this values to create the multi-layer effect:

Step 7 Create the Slider Control Elements

Create a new document 100px x 100px. Select the Custom Vector Shape (U) from the tools bar and click-right on the document to open the list of custom vector shapes. To create the arrow, I’ll start with a default arrow shape, and then we’ll customize it:

Create the shape with about a 50px width. Name the layer “Arrow slider“. Transform the shape as you need… with the white arrow tool (A) , you can adjust the vector paths to make your own arrow…

Put a FX-Layer on the layer with this settings :

Remove the background of this document and save the document as : ArrowSlider.psd in the PSD folder.

Place this arrow in the “slider_block” group. To do that, Menu > File > Import…
Choose the ArrowSlider.psd and place it at the position you want next to the slider.

Duplicate the arrow layer (Ctrl+J or Cmd+J) to create the left arrow and position it.
Use Menu > Edit > Transform > Rotate on horizontal axis to rotate the arrow in the proper direction.

Step 8 Highlight the Slider

Hide the “slider_block” group.
Create a new blank layer, and use the Circle selection tool (M) to create a circle about 200px.
Fill it in with white color.

Release your selection, and then use Filter > Gaussian Blur and set it at 50px.

Set the layer fusion on “overlay” and move it at the top of the slider.
Duplicate this layer 2 times and position the layers at the bottom the slider area at left and right…

Step 9 Enhance the Slider

Duplicate the “gradient” layer and rename it “dark bar”. Reduce the height to 20px and position it at the bottom ot the “gradient” layer.

Change the color of the layer to Black instead of the gradient color and set the layer background opacity at 60%.
Double-click to open the FX-layer options and create a dropshadow and innershadow like this:

Move the layer at 1px down.
Now you got a nice highlighted line between the slider and the black background.

Step 10 Make the Slider Float!

Open the background.jpg file from the resources folder (from the downloaded files) and go to Menu > Edit > Define pattern…. Then close the file.
Now select the background layer and double-click on it to open the FX-layer options and click on Patterns tab. Here select your new background, just created.

Now get the selection of the Transparency layer (Ctrl + click or Cmd + click on the layer).
Create a new layer named “Shadow” and place it under the “Transparency” layer.
Fill it in black and add a Gaussian Blur on.
Menu > Filters > Blurs > Gaussian Blur… and make it with 20px lenght.
Now transform it to make it like a dropshadow….

Once again, use Menu > Filters > Blurs > Gaussian Blur… but now with 5px length.
Now transform it again to resize it to match the transparency layer….

Keep selected the “Shadow” layer and take the “Transparency” layer’s selection (Ctrl+click or Cmd+click on the layer in layers panel).

Now, invert the selection Ctrl+i or Cmd+i and click on the icon to create an opacity mask on the “Shadow” layer. The shadow is now hidden behind the transparency area.

Step 11 Enhance the Logo

Just before we move on to the main part, we are going to enhance the logo to make it more dynamic.

Create a new blank layer under the logo layer and name it “shadow logo“. Get the selection of the logo layer and fill the “shadow logo” layer in black.

Add a Gaussian Blur on with 1,5px lenght.
Transform it. Ctrl + T or Cmd + T to transform it, move the referer point totally at left and move the right
handle to the bottom for 20px…

Now you got a nice depth shadow effect. You can also add more effect on the logo itself if you want!

Step 12 Define the Columns

Now we’re going to add some additional guides to create the 4 columns that the rest of the content has been designed with…

Create the following guides (Menu > View > New guide…) :

• 355px vertical
• 375px vertical
• 590px vertical
• 610px vertical
• 825px vertical
• 845px vertical

We have now 4 columns of 215px each and 20px between them.

Step 13 Slogan Block

Import the geek_zombie.png from the resources folder and position it at the middle of the first column.

Create a big line of text for the slogan with the text of your choice. I used the font “Droid Serif” at the size of 30px and line-height at 42pt. You can adjust the typography as you wish though

Draw a rectangle under the slogan with 7px of height.

On the black rectangle create the FX-Layer options like this :

You have now a nice bevel (pressed) bar.

Select the 3 layers (Zombie + Slogan + black bar) and do Ctrl + G or Cmd + G to group them. Rename the group “Slogan“. Note how we’re staying organized through the entire process!

Step 14 First Column Block

Take the Text tool and create a title. I’m using 30pt type again – notice how this is the same as the slogan, to help keep the typography similar. This helps to ensure a consistent, professional look across the whole design.

Define a zone of text at around 128px of the title and put some small “filler” text inside it. I’m using 13pt Arial, but you can use what you’d like.

Duplicate the black bar we have created for the slogan in the step before and put it under the text at 20px of the bottom of the text.
Resize it to make it fill the first column.

Create a picture area with the Vector Shape tool (U). 215 x 88px.
Duplicate it, rename it as “Tranparency_1col” and stretch it in height to get a block of 215 x 108px.
Press Ctrl+, or Cmd+, to move the layer down in the Layer panel.

Select the “Transparency” layer and copy the FX-Layer style to put it on the layer just duplicated (“Tranparency_1col“).

Now you can put you image over the picture area. Right-click on the image and select “Create clipping mask“.

Step 15 Create the Other Columns

You can now duplicate the first column (layer group), and then move it to the second column. Change the content (image/text) as needed.

Do the same for the columns 3 and 4…

Step 16 The Footer

Go to Menu > Image > Canvas size and edit the size of the canvas like this :

Draw a rectangle. Rename it like “Footer bg“. Do Ctrl+T or Cmd+T (Mac) and set the proprieties to :

Double click on the colored thumbnail in the layers panel to set the color to #101010. Double-click on the layer to set the FX-layer like this :

Select and duplicate the layers “dark bar” and “Gradient” from the Slider group.

Group the layers and place them under the “footer bg” in the Layers panel.

Move them to the bottom of the document.

Resize them to create the style you want.
In my example, I made the Gradient layer 35px tall and the “Dark bar” layer 8px tall…

Put the logo at the bottom right at 20px of guide right.

Duplicate the top menu items to put them in the footer over the “footer bg” layer.

Create a copyright line in Arial, 11pt, black color.

Duplicate the “footer bg” and resize it in height at 10px.
Move it just over the “footer bg”. That create a nice bevel effect for the bottom menu.

Done! Create Your Own Custom Versions!

Conclusion

Thanks for following along! I hope you’re able to use some of the tricks and techniques in this tutorial in some of your own projects. If you remember anything, I hope it’s that staying organized is crucial to creating a well-designed site. These same layer-sets can be used to create the HTML/CSS framework when you begin coding. Thanks again!

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Hello,

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Photoshop is great because it allows us to combine several images into a scene that can’t always be created in real life. In today’s tutorial we will demonstrate how to combine several stock images into one gloomy scene. Let’s get started!

Tutorial Assets

You can download the following pictures, fonts and brushes from the links below. Just sign up for free (if necessary) to download the assets below.

• Room
• Girl
• Paper Texture
• Second Paper Texture
• Fog Brush – Thanks to Chrysitan Alvarado
• Iron Gothic Font

Step 1

Open the image of the room in Adobe Photoshop. First thing which you need to do is to unlock the background layer. To do this, double click on the “Background” layer in the layers palette and name it “Room.”

Step 2

Next, you need to remove the garbage in the lower right corner. Use the Clone Stamp Tool (S) to remove unwanted areas. Use a 130px brush with 0% Hardness, then Alt-click in the area to the left of the garbage and paint over the areas you want to remove.

Step 3

Now, using the same process remove the graffiti on the pillar, only this time, Alt-click on the pillar above the graffiti, as indicated below.

Step 4

Create a new layer above the “Room” layer and name it “Fog”. Select the Brush tool (B) and load brush pack DarkFog.abr, which you downloaded. Using those brushes paint on the “Fog” layer, until you have results similar to below.

Step 5

Fog should have lesser opacity, and should not be so strong. To achieve this effect add a mask to the “Fog” layer (a), and Alt-click on the mask to edit (b).

Step 6

Use the Brush tool (B), soft rounded with #000000 and paint on the mask as shown below. You may have to lower the opacity of the brush for areas which are next to the bottom edge of the Vector mask.

Step 7

Now click on the “Fog” layer thumbnail to exit mask mode. You should have the similar results as shown below.

Step 8

Next, add the girl. Open the image 867275_95262327.jpg. Unlock the “Background” layer the same way as you did already, but this time name it “Girl”. Right-click on the “Girl” layer and choose Duplicate Layer. In new window, change Document to ReFuge.psd, and click OK.

Step 9

Now place the “Girl” layer below the “Fog” layer to achieve some realism and add a mask.

Step 10

Now while you’re on the “Girl” layer, go to Edit > Free Transform or use shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + T to enter Free Transform Mode, and scale down the image and position as shown.

Step 11

Using the Pen tool (P), create a path around the girl.

Step 12

Right click on the canvas and click Make Selection. For Feather radius enter 0px, with Anti-aliased checked. Click OK.

Step 13

Next, inverse the selection. To do this, go to Select > Inverse or use shortcut keys Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I. Now click on the “Girl” layer mask, and using Brush tool (B), with #000000 colour, paint until everything is invisible except the girl, as shown below. After that, deselect the image by going to Select > Deselect, or use shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + D.

Step 14

Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), select the part of the girl as shown below. Make sure that you are still on the girl’s mask layer, and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Apply Radius amount of 3.0 and click OK.

Step 15

While you’re still on the mask layer, inverse the selection by going to Select > Inverse or use shortcut keys Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply amount of 1.9 pixels. Deselect the image by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + D on your keyboard.

Step 16

Next, click on the “Girl” layer thumbnail and go to Edit > Transform > Skew and move upper right point slightly down, and bottom right point up.

Step 17

Create a new layer, place it under the “Girl” layer and name it “Shadow”. Turn off the visibility of the “Fog” layer and go back to the “Shadow” layer. Set opacity of the “Shadow” layer to 84%. Using the Brush tool (B), with soft brush paint with black colour, to create shadow as shown below.

Step 18

Turn on the “Fog” layer. Create new layer, call it “Blue 1″ and place it above the “Fog” layer. Using the Paint Bucket Tool (G), with #001d3e fill the layer. Set blending mode to Soft Light and Fill of the layer to 80%.

Step 19

While you’re still on the “Blue 1″ layer, press Cmd/Ctrl + J to Duplicate layer. Rename new layer to “Blue 2″ and set Fill of the layer to 69%.

Step 20

Again, duplicate layer “Blue 2″, rename it to the “Blue 3″ and set Fill of the layer to 47%.

Step 21

Now select layers “Blue 1″, “Blue 2″ and “Blue 3″. Press Cmd/Ctrl + G on your keyboard to create a new group, rename it to “Blue blending”. Now add new mask to the group.

Step 22

Alt-click on the group’s mask. Using the Gradient Tool (G), with gradient set from #000000 to #FFFFFF, hold down the Shift key click and hold left mouse button somewhere around the left edge of the image and release it at the right edge of the image. The mask should look similar as below.

Step 23

Click on the group’s thumbnail to exit mask mode. Create new layer, name it “Green blending” and position it above the group “Blue blending”. Using Paint Bucket Tool (G), fill the layer with #00e610 colour, change Fill of the layer to 53% and change Blending mode to Multiply.

Step 24

Now add a mask to the “Green blending” layer, Alt-click on mask and with Gradient Tool (G), with gradient set from #000000 to #FFFFFF, hold down the Shift key click and hold left mouse button somewhere around 1/3 of the image from the right edge of the picture and release it at the left edge of the picture.

Step 25

Click on the “Green blending” layer’s thumbnail to exit mask mode. Now we need to adjust the lightning of the girl to achieve better results. Select the “Girl” layer, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels and check Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask. Use the following settings for the Levels.

Step 26

Now, go back to the “Girl” layer. Go to Image > Auto Color or press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + B and after that go to Image > Auto Contrast or press Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + Shift + L. Next, using the Burn Tool (O), burn the parts of the girl which should be covered with shadow created from the light which comes through the windows on her right side. Using Dodge Tool (O), highlight the parts of the girl which should be more highlighted.

Step 27

We need to darken the right side of the picture. Just above the “Room” layer create another layer and name it “Darker Parts”. Turn off visibility of all layers except “Room” and “Darker Parts”. Using Brush Tool (B), with large soft brush using #000000 colour paint on the layer until you get results similar as shown below.

Step 28

Set Fill of the “Darker Parts” layer to 16% and turn on the visibility of other layers. Now you need to make a frame. To do this, create new layer at top of the others and name it “Frame”. Now, go to Select > All or press Cmd/Ctrl + A on keyboard. Now select Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) right-click on the canvas and click Stroke. Set the following settings and press OK.

Step 29

Now Ctrl-click the “Frame” layer’s thumbnail to make a selection. Go to Select > Inverse or press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + I. Now, go to Select > Modify > Expand for 12px. Now, using Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) right click on the canvas and choose Stroke. Use the following settings.

Step 30

Using Horizontal Type Tool (T) in top right corner of the canvas type “Refuge” (but NOT over the frame) with SF Iron Gothic Extended font, Regular style, 18pt size of the font, Strong anti-aliasing and white colour.

Step 31

Right-click on text layer you just created and go to Blending options. Insert values as shown below for Inner Shadow and Satin.

Step 32

Now open the 471469_37266465.jpg paper texture and duplicate it to the project (as done with girl). Position the layer at top of the others and name it “Paper texture 1″ and go to Edit > Transform > Rotate 90 Degrees CW. And position it like shown below.

Step 33

Set “Paper texture 1’s” layer blending mode to Multiply.

Step 34

Next, and final step is to open the 256004_5343.jpg image, duplicate it to the project, position it at top of the others and name it “Paper texture 2″. Rotate the image, scale it down a little bit. Set Blending mode for the layer to Overlay and opacity of layer to 70%.

Final Image

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