Designing

Step 1Create a new document. Using a Layer Style, apply a Gradient Overlay, using a dark red to a black.Step 2Using the the Line Tool, let’s create two lines as shown. This will be our reference for the Christmas tree.Step 3Let’s place our Santa Claus Icon in the center of our tree. Using the Pen Tool, draw some lines like I’ve shown below. In order to do that, we need to change the way we will create our lines. Instead of using the Shape Layer, let’s choose Paths.Step 4Now, still using the Pen Tool, let’s round our lines choosing the Convert Point Tool.Step 5Next, create a new Layer Folder and name it “Star Tree.” Change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, then create a new layer inside this folder and name it “Stars path.” Next open your Brushes Palette (Window > Brushes) and sel...

Final Product What You'll Be Creating step 1 Create a new document with 1000x750px. Double click on the background’s layer and in Color Overlay and choose a dark brown. Step 2 Enable the rulers (View>Rulers) on your document and add some guides as shown below. Create 2 horizontal guides, the first at 30px and the second at 250px. After that add 2 vertical guides at 100px and 900px. Step 3 Create a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (U). Use the guides for reference. Rename the layer to header. Step 4 Choose black for your foreground color. Select the Ellipse Tool and create the shape that will be the shadow. Make it a bit higher than the white rectangle as shown. Rename the layer to shadow and put it below the header layer. After that, convert it to Smart Filters, ap...

A few days ago, I decided to make a special present for my girlfriend. I also thought this technique could be used by others that have the same plan, so here it goes. I will teach you some nice techniques that could improve your experience and also help you make a great gift.Step 1First of all, create a new document and fill it with black.Step 2Now import your 3D text and position it as you want. For making this text, I used Xara 3D. It is a very simple program that you can use. Next add some shadows to each letter.Step 3The thing I want to achieve here is to make some kind of colorful clouds behind the text. This technique is also known as “nebula,” so it is most likely that you will know about this effect.To do this we will use the Brush Tool first with a Hardness set to 0%. Make...

One of my favorite ‘looks’ is the sort of old-collage feel of old photos and old paper. It’s a favorite because it lets you work images and text together really easily. In this tutorial we’ll put together a poster where there is a main photograph and a lot of text using the old-collage feel.Step 1This tutorial is based on a job I did a few days ago for a charity client who needed a poster to promote an upcoming event. They are a choir made up of homeless people called the Sydney Street Choir and it’s a pretty neat little organization that you can learn about at www.sydneystreetchoir.com. The brief was to promote the event using this really nice photo (shown) of the choir down by the Sydney Harbour Bridge shot by John Marmaras and including some written copy, which I’ve shown belo...

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a sort of grunge poster. We will learn how to make some elements look a bit dirty, create textures, and add some depths to the elements using shadows and blend modes.Step 1Create a new document. Fill the background layer with a dark brown.Step 2Set the background color to black and the foreground color to white. Select the background layer and go to Filter>Texture>Texturizer.Step 3Select the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and type PSD. Then Select the Rectangle Tool (U) and create some shapes like the image below. After that, group the PSD text and the rectangles. Rename the group to “white lines.”Step 4Rotate the group like the image below.Step 5Using the Pen Tool (P), create some shapes to fill the gaps before the P, the S, and the D. ...

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a poster design inspired by an art movement called Russian Constructivism. We will cut up some images and paste them together to create a stylized revolutionary design. We’ll then tie it all together by overlaying some texture to give it a vintage feel. Step 1 First we research, gather resources, and sketch a plan. I took visual direction from this poster. I also looked at a lot of Russian Constructivist poster art on the Net to get into the groove of the style. I created a draft in Photoshop with quickly cut photographs as I gathered images for the design. The rough draft below is similar to doing a detailed sketch, only it is done in Photoshop instead of on paper. Step 2 We need to gather the assets for this tutorial. We’ll need...

Last month while I was selecting some images for blog post, I found an amazing design created by Nik Ainley, one of my favorite Photoshop masters. He had created some incredible clouds using Photoshop. I thought to myself, “Damn that’s really cool. I have to know how to do something like that!”So in this tutorial, I will show you how to create cartoon-style clouds using Photoshop and a bit of Illustrator.Step 1Create a new document. Double-click on the background layer to open the Layer Styles dialog box. Select Gradient Overlay. For the colors, use three colors: pink, blue, and black. Select Radial for the Style.Step 2Create a new layer and rename it to”ps clouds.” Make sure that the foreground is white and the background is black. Go to Filters>Render>Clouds. Tip: Hold the...

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a retro-style design or vintage collage style. We will use images from old ads, handwritten texts, patterns, and other things to give to our design a vintage look.There are excellent designers that we can consider masters on this subject. One of them, in particular, is a Brazilian named Eduardo Recife. His work is fantastic and it’s totally worth checking his Web site out.Step 1The first thing to do is plan your design so you will have to have an idea of what you want to show with your image. It’s best to draw some concepts—it’s faster to do some sketches than to go straight to the computer (even though I am a terrible drawer)! Step 2With some drawings and ideas in mind, it’s time to go to the computer. Go to Photoshop and create a n...

Final Image PreviewStep 1Let’s start with a new document, filled with a light grey color (#D5D5D5). Choose the Rounded Rectangle Tool. Then draw the basic shape of a lock. Set the Radius how you feel is right. Then fill it with a light grey color (#DDDDDD).Step 2Let’s add the upper part. Use the Ellipse Tool to draw a circle. Choose it with the Path Selection Tool, then copy, paste, and make it a little smaller using (Ctrl + T). Then Subtract the smaller circle from the larger one by punching a hole in it.Step 3Change your tool to the Rectangle Tool, and with the Alt key pressed (subtracting), draw a rectangle as shown below. Then with the same tool, but with the Shift key pressed (adding), finish the left and right side.Make the left end rounded by drawing an ellipse with the ...

Final Image PreviewStep 1We’ll start with the grunge image. You can use a Web banner, a disk label, or anything you want. This tutorial is about creating a mock-up intended to improve the final presentation of your work. Feel free to use any image you prefer.First create a new blank document 1000px by 330px, RGB, 72 ppi, and paste this image as a background. Then save the document with the name of "My texture." Keep this file handy, as we’ll need it later in the tutorial.Step 2Adjust the image Levels using these values.Step 3Now add some images to create a grunge collage. Paste this image of a guitar player into a new layer above the background. Then go to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Set the Blending mode to Darken. Resize it and place it near the building. Finally u...