Learn how to emulate the text effect used on Daft Punks famous album cover for Discovery. You will create a chrome text effect using layer styles, and incorporate other filters/lighting effects.
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This tutorial teaches you how to create a unique 3D download folder icon with textures. Learn some useful techniques for creating more visually impressive 3D icons.
Materials Needed:
- Grunge Texture
Step 1: Setting Up The Document
We’ll start with a canvas size of 512×512 pixel. Keep the background transparent. You can give it any title you want, I chose "Download" since it’s a download folder icon.
Fill (G) the first layer with #e6e6e6 and name it "Background" or "BG".
Icon Resolutions
Icons have standard resolution going in a pattern like so 512×512, 256×256, 128×128… Each time it will be divided or multiplied by 2. OSX can support up to 512×512 but Windows can only support up to 256×256.
Step 2: Laying The Foundation
Let’s start by drawing important sections of the icon to make sure it fills the space well. Create two groups called "Top" and "Bottom", placing "Top" above the other. Create a new layer inside "Top" and draw a rectangle in the bottom two thirds of the canvas using the Marquee Tool (M) and Fill it with #fae129. Name it "Face" for reference later. Center this layer by ctrl+A and clicking on the "Align horizontal center" button on the Tools Options Bar while the Move Tool (V) is active.
Create another layer inside the other group and draw a rectangle below the previous one and Fill it with this color #fbec93. Call this "Front". Create a new layer below and call it "Front Bottom". Draw a smaller rectangle below it with this color #5c5c5c.
Once you’re done, it’s a good practice to place guides at important areas. In this case it would be the edges of the drawing. Enable it by displaying Rulers ctrl+R.
Guides and Marquee Tool
Using guides can help you easily snap your drawings to the same place every time so it becomes more consistent and efficient. Marquee Tool is great for icons because it helps to create crisp edges.
Step 3: Starting From The Top
Go to the "Top" layer and enter Free Transform ctrl+T > Perspective then drag the top corners in. Apply the Layer Styles above.
Step 4: Drawing Stripes
Use the Line Tool (U) at 40px Weight to draw a diagonal line across the canvas. Then Duplicate ctrl+J it and move it evenly to the side so that it forms the following pattern. Try to space them evenly by using shift+arrow key, but it doesn’t matter that much. If you want to be precise, you can create a custom pattern (not covered in this tutorial).
Enter Free Transform and transform it, like below, by scaling and using Perspective. Delete the unwanted part by ctrl+clicking the thumbnail of "Face" and duplicate it ctrl+J, then deleting the previous layers. You can also use other techniques like simply Selecting Inverse ctrl+shift+I of the selection and deleting, or using layer mask. But the one I’m using also removes the part of the images which is not visible on canvas (outside the canvas area). Set the Blending mode to Multiply and Opacity to 80%.
Step 5: Adding Grunge
For this step you need the grunge pack I found on Tutorial9. The link is above. We need something a bit rusty and metallic so let’s go for "dirtygrungecement08". Import it to Photoshop and choose a small area, somewhere below the center is my favorite part. Make sure it’s big enough. Copy ctrl+C and paste ctrl+V it into the icon document.
We’ll prepare the texture by Desaturating ctrl+shift+U it then go to Levels ctrl+L and push the sliders inward, like above. This will be our stock texture for later use, so I placed it outside the group and called it "Texture Stock".
Use the selection (ctrl+click thumbnail) of "Face" and Duplicate the texture layer and bring it above that layer. Set Opacity to 10% and Blending mode to Multiply. You can hide the stock texture layer.
Step 6: Adding Details
Create a new layer and get the selection of "Face" then Fill it with white. Nudge it up by 4px the press delete. Nudge the image down by 2px. The reason why the edge needs to be so thick is because the icon is very big, so when scaled down the edge needs to be thick to be visible.
Use the Eraser Tool (E) at 0% Hardness and about 500px in diameter to erase both sides of the edge. Use the tip of the Eraser and keep the edge fully visible. You may need to zoom out and vary the Eraser size.
Edges
Adding edges, black or white, helps to add contrast between different areas and make the image more realistic.
Create a new layer and get the selection of "Face". Use a soft Brush of a varying diameter of 400px to brush around the sides with black and white. Press D to reset the foreground and background color to black and white, pressing X to swap the two colors. Bring down the Opacity to 20%.
Step 7: Styles For The Bottom
Go to "Front" layer in the "Bottom" group and apply the above Layer Styles. Then apply the following Layer Style to the "Front Bottom" layer.
Step 8: More Stripes
Create a new layer. Use the Marquee Tool (M) and draw the stripes with black. Zoom in to make sure the stripes are aligned. Use the selection of "Front " to remove excess stripes. Set Opacity to 60%.
Step 9: Shading and Textures
Create a new layer and Brush within the selection of "Front" at the sides with black. Make the right side darker than the left. Set Blending Mode to Overlay and Opacity to 40%.
Use the process I taught above to create a texture for "Front" with the stock texture. Set Opacity to 20% and Blending Mode to Overlay.
Create a new layer. Get the selection of "Front" and Fill it with black. Nudge the selection down by 2px and delete, then apply a 2px Gaussian Blur, Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Nudge it down by 1px and set Opacity to 20%.
This is a technique used to make edges pop and look more contrasting even though the effect is subtle.
Step 10: Creating The Hole
Create a new group called "Inside". Create a new layer inside and select the Line Tool (U) with 2px Weight and black in color. Draw a Diagonal line from one corner to the other end. When drawing the inside, make the corners intersect with the line.
Create a new layer and draw a rectangle with #b7b7b7 in the center. After this I’ve place two guides above and below the rectangle for convenience. Draw one triangle on the left using the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) and Fill it with #848484. Duplicate that layer and increase the Lightness by 80 ctrl+U. Flip it Horizontally by Free Transform > Flip Horizontal and place it on the right.
Name those layers according to their position i.e. "Left", "Center", "Right".
Copy the following Layer Styles to the three layers.
Apply the following Layer Style to "Center".
Step 11: Shading The Inside
Create a new layer and get the selection of all three previous layers. Do this by holding down Shift while getting a new selection. Use a black soft brush with 30px diameter and brush the two corners of the inside. Set Opacity to 10%.
Step 12: Adding Details
Create a new layer called "Left Corner". Get the selection of "Center" and Fill it with black. Nudge it 2px to the right and press delete. Apply a 2px Gaussian Blur and set Opacity to 30%. Create a new layer called "Right Corner" and do the same thing to get a white line on the right side. But this time use 1px Gaussian Blur and leave Opacity at 100%.
Get the selection of "Left, Center, Right" and Select Inverse ctrl+shift+I. Then use it to delete extra pixels on "Left Corner" and "Right Corner". From now on when I refer to the three layers, I’m referring to "Left, Center, Right".
Create a new layer and get the selection of the three layers then Fill it with white. Go Select > Modify > Contract and key in 3px and hit enter. Press delete and shift the selection down by 3px then delete again. Set Opacity to 50%.
Create a new layer and get the selection of the three layers then Fill it with black. Shift the selection up by 3px and delete. Nudge it down by 1px and set Opacity to 10%.
Create a new layer. Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) to draw the shape above and Fill it with black. Use the Blur Tool and brush the area as shown above using 100% Strength. Remove the area outside the three layers using the process we used above then set Opacity to 16%.
Step 13: Giving More Impact
Create a new layer and use the Polygon Tool (U) to draw an upside-down triangle. Resize and position it in the center like show above. Use the selection of the triangle to delete a portion (about 20px above) of the triangle. Duplicate it and move it about 40px away. Merge ctrl+E the layers together and set Opacity to 40%. Use the three layers to remove the area that is outside it.
Create a new layer, get the selection of the three layers and brush the top center with a soft white Brush at 200px diameter. Set Opacity to 20%.
Use the three layers selection to Duplicate the Texture Stock and put it above the previous layers we were working on. Set Blending Mode to Luminosity and Opacity to 5%.
Step 14: Drawing The Board
Create a group called "Board" and a new layer inside called "Board". Draw a Round Rectangle (U) with 10px radius in #f5e14b at the center. Then apply the following Layer Styles to it.
Create a new layer and get the selection of "Board". Select > Contract by 15px then Fill it with black. Contract it again by 10px and delete. Set Opacity to 80%.
Step 15: Refining The Board
Create a new layer and get the selection of the Board. Fill it with white then shift the selection down and right by 2px each. Delete and set Opacity to 60%. Create another layer and get the selection of the Board. Fill it with black then shift the selection up and left by 1px. Set Opacity to 40%.
Create a new layer for the arrow. Use the same process we used earlier to draw the arrows. Center it and set Opacity to 80%. Try to make it big so it will be visible on smaller resolution.
Create a new layer and get the selection of "Board". Use a soft Brush with black and white to paint the edges like above. Set Opacity to 20% and Blending Mode to Pin Light.
Shadings
Even on flat surface, applying a subtle shade can give the subject more interest.
Create a new layer and use the Pen Tool (P) to draw the shape above. Fill it by right-click > Fill Path with white. Then remove the area outside the board and set Opacity to 20% and Blending Mode to Soft Light,
Step 16: Grunge For The Board
Duplicate two Grunge texture from the stock and place one above the other. Set Blending Mode to Hard Light and Opacity to 10% for the bottom layer. Apply Filter > Stylize > Emboss for the second layer with 90 degree, 1px Height and 100% Amount. Set Blending Mode to Overlay and Opacity to 40%.
Nicer Textures
Using Emboss on textures can reduce the flatness of the surface.
Step 17: Drawing Screws
Create a new layer and draw one Ellipse (U) on the left with #d7d7d7. Duplicate and mirror it on the right then Merge ctrl+E the two layers together. Apply the Layer Styles below.
Create a new layer and Zoom (Z) in on one screw. Use either the Marquee Tool or Line Tool to draw the cross of 2px with black. Set the Opacity to 40%. Then create another layer and draw a 1px edge on the bottom right with white. Set Opacity to 80%.
Step 18: Creating The Shadow
Create a new layer. Get the selection of "Face" and Fill it with black. Bring the layer just above the background layer. Convert it to Smart Object and resize it like seen above. Name it "Small Shadow". Create another layer and do the same thing, except without resizing. Nudge it 10px to the right. Call it "Big Shadow".
Smart Objects
Using Smart Objects you can easily experiment with different transformation and filters without destroying the original copy.
Apply a 3px Gaussian Blur to "Small Shadow" and set Opacity to 70%. Apply a 7px Gaussian Blur to "Big Shadow" and set Opacity to 30%. Now you’re done!
Category: Do It Your Self
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This tutorial is going to teach you how to make a stylish, metallic Adobe Icon Set with a glossy finish.
Quick Nav:
- Tutorial
- Download the PSD (Source Files)
Step 1: Creating a New Document
We are going to create a new document with a standard resolution of 256px. But because our icon is quite short the height will be smaller.
Next, grab the Paint Bucket Tool (G), and fill the document with the following colour #F2F2F2. This is to make viewing easier.
Step 2: Setting The Base
Using the Ellipse Tool (U), draw an oval on a new layer as shown above. Let’s name this "Top".
Shape layers
Using the Shape layers instead of Fill pixels allows you to transform your circle as many times as you want without quality loss. This is great for experimenting.
Step 3: Going 3D
Select your Move Tool (V). While holding down the alt key, press the down arrow 20 times. This will determine the height of the icon. Now select the past duplicates and Merge (ctrl+E). Arrange that layer below the "Top" layer. Remember that there should be one extra layer named "Top". We’ll just name this new merged layer "3D" for readability.
Step 4: Layer Styles
Now we are going to apply some Layer Styles to the "Top" layer (the non-3D one). You can do this by double clicking on the layer.
You should end up with this:
Step 5: 3D Layer Styles
Now select the "3D" layer and apply the following Layer Styles.
Once you are done you should have this:
Step 6: Creating The Shadow
Create a new layer below the previous two layers and name it "Shadow". Get the selection of the "Top" layer by ctrl+clicking on the layer icon. Fill the selection with Black and Deselect (ctrl+D) it. Go to Filters>Blur>Gaussian Blur and use 5px. Set the Opacity to 75%. Using the Move Tool (V), shift the shadow down just below the body of the icon.
Step 7: Adding Polish
Create new layer right at the top. Get a White Brush with a Hardness of 0% and Master Diameter of 125px. Get the selection of the "3D" layer and Brush once at the corner. Set the Opacity to 85%.
Create another layer and get a Black Brush with a Hardness of 0% and a Master Diameter of 20px and Brush it downwards while holding Shift. Use Gaussian Blur with 8px. Now ctrl+click on the "3D" layer icon then ctrl+alt+click on the "Top" layer mask icon. Finally invert your selection with ctrl+shift+I and Delete the selection. Repeat the same process with a white Brush with 25px Master Diameter and set the Opacity to 70%.
Foreground & Background Colour
You can easily switch your background and foreground colour by pressing D. You can swap colours between the two by pressing X.
Step 8: Adding Glow
Create a new layer and name it "Glow". Get the selection of the "3D" layer and move it up by 7px. Fill the selection with the following colour: #6ab2f6. Before deselecting, shift the selection up by another 3px and press Delete. Bring down the Fill to 70%.
Now give it the following Layer Styles.
Get the selection of the current layer and create a new layer. Get a White Brush with 0% Hardness and 300px Diameter and and click once right in the center of the selection. Bring down the Opacity to 70%. Set the Blending Mode to Overlay.
Brush cursor
you can easily find the center of the Brush cursor by pressing Caps Lock. Or you can go to Edit>Preferences>Cursors and enable "Show Crosshair in Brush Tip".
Step 9: Adding Definition
Create a new layer and get the selection of the "3D" layer. Fill the selection with any colour you want. I chose black for easier reference. Bring the Fill to 0% and add the following Layer Styles.
Create another layer and get the selection of the “Top” layer. Shift it down by 4px and Fill it with black. Move the selection up by 2px and press Delete. Apply a 1px Gaussian Blur to it and set the Opacity to 10%.
Step 10: Making it Shine
Create a new layer with the Opacity of 75%. Get the selection of the “Top” layer and get a white Brush with 0% Hardness and 250px Diameter. Click once right at the edge of the selection.
Now create a new layer and get a Pen Tool (P). Draw it as seen below and right-click>Make Selection. Fill it with White. Set Opacity to 25% and Fill to 50%. Get the selection of "Top" layer and Invert Selection (ctrl+shift+I) then press Delete. Apply the following Layer Styles.
Repeat the same process except with a different Layer Style so that it looks like so.
Create a new layer with 80% Opacity. Click once with a White Brush on the edge of the selection of "Top" layer. It has 0% Hardness, 200px Diameter. Create another layer. With the same selection and same Brush with 70px Diameter, click once at the same spot.
With a new layer, get a selection of the "Top" layer and shift it down by 1px. Fill it with White and shift the selection up by 1px then press Delete. Apply Gaussian Blur with 1px.
Step 11: Creating The Face
Duplicate (ctrl+J) the "Top" layer, place it right at the top and rename it to "Inner". Transform (ctrl+T), and while pressing alt+shift, and shrink it as shown below. Then add the following Layer Styles.
Create a new layer and get the selection of "Inner" layer. Using a White Brush click once at the center, bottom edge of the selection. Set the Opacity to 40%.
Step 12: Creating Depth & Detail
Duplicate the "Inner" layer and place it right at the top. Clear the Layer Style by right-clicking on the layer then "Clear Layer Style". Apply the following Layer Styles to it.
Create a new layer and get the Gradient Tool. You can select this by first selecting the Fill Tool (G) then pressing Shift+G. Set the colours to Default (D). Select the Radial Gradient option. Get the selection of "Inner" layer and Fill it as shown, then set the Opacity to 20% and Blending Mode to Screen.
Create a new layer. Get the selection of "Inner" and nudge it down and right once each. Fill it with White then nudge it back to it’s original position and press Delete. Set the Opacity to 80%.
Create a new layer and while using the same selection, nudge it down by 4px. Fill it with White and nudgeit down another 1px then press Delete. Set the Opacity to 30%.
Now create a new layer and and grab the Pen Tool and draw the following shape. Notice the point of contact between the shining areas. Also apply the following Layer Styles with 15% Opacity and 50% Fill.
Step 13: Adding Alphabets
Create a new layer and select the Type Tool (T) with any colour. Use Arial as the font and set it to Bold and 98px. Any font is fine actually. Now type in "Ps" and place it in the center of the icon. Right-click on the layer and click Rasterize Type. Transform it and shorten it slightly. Right-click the bounding box and click Perspective. Squeeze the top in to make it look 3D. Later add the following Layer Styles with 0% Fill.
Step 14: Final Details
Create a new layer. Get the selection of the "Ps" layer and nudge it up and right once each. Fill it with White then shift the selection back and press Delete. Set the Opacity to 30%.
Finally create the last layer and get the selection of the "3D" layer. Fill it with White and apply Filter>Noise>Add Noise with Gaussian and Monochromatic enabled. Set the Blending Mode to Multiply and Opacity to 30%.
Now you are DONE! You can hide or delete the background if you want to export it as an icon. But it’s not over if you want to make a set. For now your icon should look something like this.
Step 15: Creating a Set
You can save this document and duplicate it. Open the new one and find for the layer called "Glow". Temporarily hide the layer right above it. Now go Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation or (ctrl+U) for layer "Glow" and adjust the Hue to whatever you like. Once you’re done, go to the Layer Style>Outer Glow and adjust the colour to whatever you like. Now you can un-hide your above layer.
Navigate to your font layer. Delete it and repeat the process I taught you to create another alphabet you want. Remember to change the above layer which is the edge shine. Repeat this step for as many other icons you want.
Download the PSD and Icon Set
Download the Icon Set
Category: Do It Your Self
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I love graphs. There is something gorgeous in aesthetically pleasing, visual representation of data. In this tutorial I’ll show you how to put some style into graphs generated in Adobe Illustrator.
Quick Nav:
- Tutorial
- Download theSource Files
Step 1: The Column Graph
Not a lot of people are aware of the fact that Illustrator has a tool for generating graphs. While being very useful, the graphs it generates are not really visually interesting…
But let me first introduce you to the basics of this tool. You’ll find it on the tools panel just below the symbol tools. Click and hold the left mouse button over it, and it will reveal the list of all graphs it can create for you.
As you can seethere is a pretty big list of graphs you can generate. In this tutorial I’ll talk about three most popular types: column graph, pie graph and line graph.
So now, please select the Column Graph Tool and draw your first graph.
Step 1.1
After drawing the graph you’ll be greeted with a window that resembles a spreadsheet. Well in fact, it is a spreadsheet Just input some numbers in a horizontal fashion and click OK.
Step 1.2
We’ve got our first graph on the screen, now it’s time to give it some style. I’ll show you how to draw a shape which we’ll later use as a graphic style for the columns.
Close the spreadsheet and hide the layer with the graph, you won’t need it right now. Create a new layer, draw a square on it and fill it with a gradient (#DBF9FF to #00BCE0, angle: -137).
Copy the square, and double click on the shear tool (you’ll find it under the pencil and rotate tool) to shear the object 55 degrees horizontally.
Position it like in the picture below. Then draw a straight line as indicated in the picture. Select both, the sheared square and the line, go to Pathfinder and use the Divide option.
Delete the unnecessary part of the rectangle, play with the gradient settings (I just changed the angle) and you’ll be left with that:
To create the third wall, you need to draw a newrectangle, turn on the Smart Guides option (ctrl/cmd+U), copy the top wall of the cube and align it with the bottom of the front wall.
Then using the Smart Guides snapping feature, position each corner of the rectangle as indicated below.
You should get something like in the picture below. Delete the lower part of the cube, we won’t need it any more, and give the new wall a dark blue gradient (Irecommend using the Edit Colors option in the Color Guide panel for this).
To fake the cubestransparency we need to copy the front side and align it like in the picture below.
Now give the rectangle a pure white to dark blue gradient (#FFFFFF to #00B0D8, angle:0). Go to the Transparency panel, turn on the Multiply mode and lower the rectangles opacity to 20%.
In this step we’ll give some contrast to the cubes edges by drawing white strokes over them. So grab the pen tool and draw 1 pt thick strokes over the edges and adjust their opacity like in the picture below.
Now we’ll add a shine on the corner of the cube. To do so, take the Star Tool and draw a 4 pointed star. You can change the number of points by pressing up or down on your keyboard while you are holding the left mouse button. Position the star like in the picture and give it 80% opacity,
To add final touches to the star, draw two triangles with the Star Tool. Do it like in a previous step, just reduce the number of points to 3 by pressing the down arrow.
Position the triangles like in the picture. Select the bottomcentre points of each rectangle and delete them. Then put the triangles closer to one another. Select two rightmost points of each triangle, right click and select Join, do the same for two leftmost points. Then scale the joined triangles to get a thin pointy shape.
Duplicate the pointy shape. Give both shapes white color and position them like below.
Step 1.3
Style for the columns is ready. Now we need to take care of the most important part. Applying and configuring the graph design in Illustrator. There are four ways in which you can apply the style to a bar graph. Vertically scaled, uniformly scaled, repeating and sliding.
Now you’re probably wondering why didn’t I show the newly created style with the vertical scaling option? Let me show you.
Looks pretty bad… When dealing with more complicated column designs it’s always better to use the sliding option because it enables you to specify which part of design you want to scale and which you want to leave unscaled.
As you can see it looks good. Now let me show you, how you can prepare a design to be scaled this way.
Step 1.4
Lets get back to the cube we created a few steps earlier. To make our design scale properly using the sliding option we need todraw two things.
1. A rectangle which will indicate the boundaries of our design
2. straight line to define which part of the design will be stretched.
Draw the rectangle and the line just like you see them below:
Now group everything (ctrl/cmd+G). Go to the layers panel and put the boundary rectangle at the very bottom of the group (this is very important!), the rectangle shouldn’t have any fill or stroke, so turn them off.
Select the black line with the Direct Selection Tool. Go to View>Guides>Make Guides or press ctrl/cmd+5. We need to convert this line into a guide or else it won’t work. This is the only way to show the Illustrator where to stretch the design.
Now uncheck View>Guides>Lock Guides. It’s just for convenience, if the guides have been locked you wouldn’t be able to move the guide we just created.
Step 1.5
Select the group, go to Object>Graph>Design and click "New Design". Your design is now ready to be applied to the graph . You can also rename it by clicking the "Rename Design" button.
Delete the cube from the page area, make the graph we created earlier visible again and select it. Then go to Object>Graph>Column, select your design from the list, and choose Sliding from the drop down menu. Click OK.
Your graph should look similar to this. If your columns seem to be too wide, change the Column Width parameter in Object>Graph>Type.
Creating graph designs may be a complicated task. If you can’t do it, justdownload the source files. You’ll find a ready made column design outside of the artboard in "bar_final.ai".
In this last step I added a few touches. I made some lines invisible, and changed the font. I also added the orizontal lines by using the Tick Marks option in Object>Graph>Type>Value Axis.
The graph is ready, and what is the most important, it’s editable, you can change column values or add newvalues to the spreadsheet and it will work just fine.
It’s worth noting that design we created will also work withdifferent types of graphs:Stacked Column Graph,Bar Graph and Stacked Bar Graph.
Step 2 The Pie Graph
In this step we’ll try to get some nice glossy reflections on the pie graph.We’ll be using advanced 3D and lighting options, so don’t worry if things will get slow on your machine.
Take the Pie Graph tool, draw a new pie graph and input some numbers into the spreadsheet.
The following steps will be very processor intensive. If your computer is slow, you may have to wait a few minutes before the 3D effect renders. If it doesn’t, click "Stop", exit the "3D Extrude & Bevel" option and try again.
You can also decrease the "Blend Steps" parameter in the light settings. This parameter directly affects the quality and speed of rendering (the lower the faster but with less quality).
Step 2.1
Give the graph some colours, then go to Effects>3D>Extrude and Bevel and input values from the picture below.
To create nice reflections on our graph we need to round its edges by using the Rounded Bevel option from the Bevel drop down menu. Adjust the bevel to 4 pt height and make it Extent in. It is also essential to select the Plastic Shading, this is the option responsible for rendering lighting reflections.
Now you can notice nice little reflections on the edges of the graph, but this is just the beginning, we’ll make it look much better.
Click the "More Options" button to expand the window and make the light configuration visible. Now add two more lights. Position all three lights and give them all the same parameters like in the picture.
Do you notice thegorgeous big reflection on the side of our graph? It looks great, but it needs one more adjustment. If you zoom into the reflection you’ll see strangeartefacts in the color blending.
Actually it’s quite easy to fix, just go back to the Extrude and Bevel options (you have to do this by double clicking on this effect in the Appearance Panel after you select the graph) andincrease the Blend Steps parameter to 100. You mayincrease this parameter even more, but it has a great impact on the rendering time. If your computer is slow I advise you to keep the blend steps as low as possible.
Step 2.2 (Optional)
The graph looks good andis 100% editable, you may change the numbers in the spreadsheet and it will update. This step is optional because if you want to style the graph a little more you will have to redo Step 2.2 each time you update the spreadsheet.
Duplicate the pie graph and go to its Extrude andBevel options. Change the Surface Shading to Wireframe and click OK.
Expand the wireframe (Object>Expand Appearance) and delete every line except the top edges of the object. You should be left with something that looks like that:
You may have to ungroup the shapes a few times (ctrl/cmd+shift+G) because Illustator tends to group objects several times after they are expanded.
Then after your shapes are ungrouped, group them, to make sure they are all in one group.
Select the shapes, give them a white, 1 pt stroke with 50% opacity.
Duplicate the whole group. Make it 100% opacity, no stoke, white fill.
Take the rectangle tool and draw a new rectangle. Rotate and scale it like in the picture below. Fill it with white to black gradient.
Select the rectangle and the white filled group. Go to the Transparency Panel and from the drop down menu, click "Make Opacity Mask".
The graph is now ready Your outcome should resemble this:
Step 3 The Line Graph
Select the Line Graph tool, draw a new graph and input data into the spreadsheet.
Now we will create a marker design for the graph. Markers are those little rectangles located in places where the lines connect.
Select one of the markers, copy it and paste it.
Use the Ellipse Tool to create a circle, give it a white stroke and a dark blue to light blue radial gradient. Then select the gradient tool and click on the place indicated in the picture to move the gradients centre.
Select the circle and the marker that we copied and pasted earlier. Align them to their horizontal and verticalcentres. Select the marker and turn off any stroke or fill.
Now, this is very important, put the marker below the circle in the layershierarchy and group both objects (the circle and the marker).
With both objects (circle and marker) still selected go to Object>Graph>Design. Click "New Design" button, your design is ready to be applied to the graph.
Lets use the design we just created to style our graph. Select the graph and go to Object>Graph>Marker, select your design and click OK.
The graph is almost ready it just needs a few more tweaks. Select it and go to Object>Graph>Type. In the Graph Options select "Draw Filled Lines" and make them 3pt thick.
Then in Value Axis options select "Override Calculated Values" and in the Max field input a number higher than last number in your value axis. Mine is 10, so I input 12. Also select Full Width tick marks.
Go to the Category Axis and make it draw Full Length tick marks.
Your result should look more or less like this:
The last step is fairly simple. I played with some colours and stroke widths.Changed gradient to green on the second lines markers (I recommend using Edit Colors option in the Colour Guide panel for this), and added arrowheads to the main axes (Effect>Add Arrowheads).
You may also apply this style to the Scatter Graph and, to some extent, the Area Graph.
This is the end of the tutorial, as you can see Illustrator is capable of producing some nice looking graphs. I encourage you to read Illustrators help files. You will find there a lot of additional info about graph tools. And as always, try to experiment and have fun.
Download the source files
Download the source files
Category: Do It Your Self
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Create an Abstract Cloud Jumper in Photoshop
10
May 2010
In this tutorial, we’ll manipulate a photo with abstract elements to make it more interesting and active.
Materials Needed:
- Stock Photo of your choice. I have used iStock: Female &
Funky Swirls. - Cloud Brushes: JavierZhX
- Photoshop Action: Manicho.
- Sinedots 2
The Final Image
You can see the original full sized piece here. This tutorial is based off my original work shown in the full size image.
Step 1: Plan Ahead
First thing to look at is the angle of your photo and consider what direction your photo is already moving in. If you take a look at my final outcome, I chose a diagonal angle (already an active direction) since that is what fitted best with the subject.
I have also chosen to use the two main colours that were already on the stock photo—Greyscale (black/white/grey) & Blue. You may also want to add tones/ contrast at the very end but we will get to that soon enough.
Step 2: The Swirls
I have opened up the .EPS file for the swirls to a nice large size and cut out 3. Using our imagination, we can place them and rotate them to follow the direction we decided earlier on. Once you have them in a nice place turn all of the swirls greyscale (Shift+Ctrl+U). Make sure they are all on seperate layers.
The reason as to why I’ve told you to keep the swirls on different layers is because we will be editing them a bit, and you wouldnt be able to do that if they are all merged flat layers.
Swirl 1: This is the swirl on her left arm. Set the layer opacity to 50%. I really dont like having so much grey on the model—the base stock is what you have to either go around or try to “flow” through. I will be removing some of the swirl parts to make her body still show yet still have some swirl bits around her arm as if it’s joined to her or as if she’s jumping through it.
As you can see I have removed parts from her arm and stomach.
When you remove parts of the swirl you can use either or both of these tools: Eraser Tool with a Soft Brush and/ or the Polygonal Laso Tool. The Pen tool can be used to draw selections or masks too if you feel comfortable with it. I used the Eraser Tool for the stomach area and the hand, while I used the Polygonal Laso Tool for the arm.
Swirl 2: This is the swirl on her right arm. Set the layer opacity to 50%. This is pretty much the same as “swirl 1″: make it flow with her body in the angle shes jumping.
As you can see I have removed parts from her arm and hand.
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Swirl 3: This is the swirl on her legs going up to the stomach. Set the layer opacity to 50%. Tthis is a bit more difficult then the other two as you may have to remove some more to make it look good and not “out of place”.
Step 3: Adding Some Colour
Caution: Always Save a .PSD file of all the Layers !
Save your work regulary and keep all layers. Saving more than one copy with Save As… can’t hurt if you want to try different variations of your document.
To add some colour onto the swirls/ graphic just take a soft round brush and make a line curving inside parts of the swirls, this will make it look as if the colours were on it already.
This is just a base—the swirls and colour will look more refined later on.
Once you have drawn a few lines (if they are not close it’s ok to put them on the same layer but if they are close together put them on seperate layers. This makes editing easier.) use the Smudge Tool. Point the corners out making them fade around corners.
After you have smudged all the brush strokes, set those layers to Hard Light blending mode.
It will now look like the image to the right. It should have a nice ‘glow’ to it.
You can repeat this process for any other colors you may want to add, just be careful you don’t combine so many colors that nothing fits together.
Step 4: The Diagonal Lines
To create the lines in our image, we’re going to use the Polygonal Laso Tool. You can also try a pixel stretching technique, and rotating the stretched pixels if you’re comfortable with that.
All you have to do is click (outside the art) hold down Shift on your keyboard and click again over the other side of the art (while holding shift you will see it the tool works in nice angles) make a straight line down a few pixels click again then work your way back up to where you first clicked. It’s a diagonal line! Fill it in (with the paint bucket) once you’ve closed it off.
Create a few more stripes in various sizes and color.
All my diagonal lines are on top of all the other layers. I have also used different colours to fill in the lines, various versions of the blue colour that I selected – darker blue, lighter blue etc.
Now to make them blend more, merge the stripes. Duplicate (CRTL+J) the stripes and hide them (click on the eye next to one of the stripe layers). Set the new stripes layer to: Colour Burn. Now this will look a bit heavy on the eyes so get your Eraser Tool and set it to a really big size( “]” key) and remove 50% of the stripes in the middle like the image below:
Now Un-hide the other stripes layer, duplicate it and repeat the above step but with a layer setting of Overlay and erase a different area, but keep the stripes away from the stomach, face etc etc you can touch parts of the body with the stripes just dont cover the model in them.
If you want more intensity in colour if you haven’t got a lot then duplicate the original stripe lines and go to Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur and set it to about 20 and layer setting to
Keep an original stripe layer at all times while doing this. Once you’ve done all the stripes you can now add the stripe “lines” this is done by using the original stripe layer—select all the stripe layers (CTRL + Click the layer witht he original stripes). Go to Select -> Modify -> Contract, a small box will pop up, by the size of your image it will depend if you want nice small 1px lines put in 1. I will be using this setting (1 for 1 pixel lines). Once you click “OK” it will contract it for you, press delete on your keyboard.
Your original stripes are now 1 pixel lines. Do the same as what you did with the bigger stripes but you can set them to anything you like, I will be setting the layers to: Linear Dodge and Overlay. Don’t forget to keep an original handy but hidden. If you want your 1 pixel lines to stand out more you can try this, get any layer of lines duplicate them and go to Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur and set it to about 2.0 to 3.0.
You can also duplicate the bigger lines to add to random areas, for example her right arm is facing slightly away from the angle I chose so I will add a little bit of the big stripes next/ near to it. Also her knee is facing downwards so I added a little bit there too.
Step 5: The Blue Gradient Lines
This Requires the Pen Tool. I am only using this to increase the intesity of the blue colours in the swirls.
When I use this tool I use the settings shown in the image below.
Make a new layer then select the Pen Tool and click on the end of a blue smudged area (on the swirl part) then click on the other end of it. You should have a line, click in the middle of it and click and hold CTRL (also hold the left mouse button down like when you click) and drag it to a rounded shape, click near the first point you created and do the same so it sort of looks like the image above.
Right click the path (the rounded shape you just created) and click Fill Path. Make sure you have the blue colour selected as your Foreground color. You should now have a blue shape with the pen tool paths still around it—just click delete twice to get rid of the paths. Once you have the shape by itself get the Eraser Tool and rub out the inner part of the shape then set the shapes’ layer to Hard Light like the image to the right. Duplicate it and move it down slightly. Do the same for the others.
Step 6: The Clouds
Use which ever cloud textures/brushes you want. I have picked 4 just to surround the model.
One more thing.
Keep the clouds at the angle you have chosen otherwise it might not fit in. Also remember whenever your doing a graphic with brushes, stocks, actions etc check with the artist for terms of use etc.
Step 7: Tones & Sinedots
I used a program called Sinedots II plugin for Photoshop to get the white lines across the model. You just download it, open it up in the filters menu and click random til you get a nice one that will fit in with the image. Duplicate it and blur it to 3.0.
Really, it’s that simple.
If you’re clever with Illustrator, you can probably create them using that software as well.
For the Tones, I like using “Photoshop Actions” or “Photo Filters”. Some are great, some aren’t so great. Here are some examples:
With this outcome merged everything and placed the merged image into a new canvas, duplicated the image twice and the one closest to the original I set it to Multiply (layer blending), then added the tone from Manicho (found in at the top of this tutorial) its “#42 Contrast Desat 3″ onto the second one, set that to Overlay, opacity 50%, duplicated that and erased the top and bottom grey corners to add depth to the model/ graphics.
Experiment with tones and the intensity of your image. Test out different color combinations to see what you can do with your own version of this!
Category: Do It Your Self
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