Convert Photos into Stone- Photoshop Tutorial

Case Studies, Photography, Photoshop, Tutorials 17 Comments »

statue-tutorial-promo

Photoshop special effects are amongst my favorite things to do with photographs.� I recently found a tutorial over at psdtuts.com that shows you how to convert a regular portrait photo into a Michelangelo-esque statue using a few photoshop tricks.� You can see my two attempts at following this tutorial below. One statue looks more like stone, I then added a column and some lighting.� I made the other statue look more like marble for a sleeker surface texture, I then added some angel wings.

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Photoshop Tutorial: Dramatically Improve a Typical Vacation Photo

Photoshop, Tutorials 11 Comments »

This Photoshop tutorial combines two different vacation photos. Using a free Photoshop brush, a few layer effects and a little masking, we end up with a layered file (dowloadable) that demonstrates how to use adjustable effects to turn up the drama and maintain complete control of the amount – either crank it up or pull it back. If you find the file useful (or not), please leave a comment.

Photo retouch before and after Read the rest of this entry »


Use Blend Tool for a Stylish Vector Flower – Illustrator Tutorial

Illustrator, Tutorials 3 Comments »

vector flower
A great tutorial and a good exercise for using Illustrator’s blend tool to make a stylish vector flower out of colorful lines. An .ai source file is included for hands-on learning.

source: n.Design


Cool Vector Text Effects Using Illustrator – Instantly!

Illustrator, Tutorials 20 Comments »

Adobe Illustrator’s brushes are a treasure trove of creative possibilities, if you know how to use them wrong. Yep, wrong. Using them as ‘intended’ is fine, but I believe the real power of Illustrator brushes comes from applying them to things you might not consider at first – text for instance. There are literally hundreds of free brushes that come with Illustrator – banners, borders, florals, textures, flourishes etc. When applied to outlined letter shapes, interesting effects instantly take shape.

To view Illustrator’s many brush libraries, go to Window>Brush Libraries. Select one and it will open in a pallete that shows all the individual brushes.

It’s so easy to get started:
1. Type in some text
2. Convert to Outlines – YOU MUST DO THIS!
3. Click on brushes to apply them!

It took just a few clicks to create each of the text effects below. The Illustrator brushes being used are shown next to each sample. I find the libraries named Artistic Paintbrush, Artistic Scroll, Borders Ornate and Circular Decorative pretty useful for this technique. Given the hundreds of brushes available, the design possibilities are wide open.

The first 3 below are made with two copies of the outlined text, stacked on top of each other, using different brushes.

Illustrator brushes vector effect Read the rest of this entry »

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