Psdtuts+ Updates - Best of the Web – September 2010

Best of the Web – September 2010
Tuts+ is Taking Part in Blog Action Day 2010
Create A Realistic Loaf of Bread in Photoshop

Best of the Web – September 2010

Posted: 30 Sep 2010 05:00 AM PDT

As you know, each month, we round up some of the best Photoshop-related content from around the web. This month, there were some excellent Photoshop tutorials, articles, and freebies to choose from; including some excellent tutorials demonstrating the power of the Displace filter in Photoshop, some excellent free icons and Photoshop brushes, as well as some fantastic articles that will help improve your design skills and efficiency. Please take a moment to review our favorites from September 2010.

Tutorial Wrap

Playing With the Displace Filter in Photoshop

The displace filter in Photoshop is a very powerful tool. This tutorial from Abduzeedo demonstrates how to make brick wall made of cloth.

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Create Beautiful Surreal Photo Effect via Cloud, Star and Vexel Hair in Photoshop

There are lots of ways to create surreal effects in Photoshop. This tutorial from Psd Vault demonstrates how to utilize several techniques to create a really nice cosmic scene.

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Add a Realistic Reflection Using the Clone Stamp Tool

Most people use the clone stamp tool to help clean up photos but did you know that it also has some other practical uses? This tutorial from Psdtop demonstrates how to use the clone stamp tool to add a realistic floor reflection.

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Two Simple Techniques To Help You Master the Pen Tool

Most new designers struggle, at first to learn how to use the pen tool. This short tutorial from Spoon Graphics demonstrates how to use the pen tool in Photoshop and Illustrator.

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Photoshop and Illustrator Interaction

Photoshop and Illustrator repeat many of the same functions but there are a few things that Photoshop can do much better than Illustrator and vise versa. This tutorial from Layers Magazine demonstrates how to utilize both programs to save time.

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Tips on Using The Filter Gallery

Filters in Photoshop can help you do lots of things. This video tutorial from The Digital Photography Connection demonstrates how to use the filter gallery in Photoshop to help make your design experience a bit simpler.

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Free Downloads

iCandies Icon Set: 60 Free Icons For Your User Interfaces and Apps

Looking to spruce up your interface designs? This set of 60 icons from Icon Eden and Smashing Magazine includes a ton of high quality icons available in several sizes and formats.

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16 High-Res Decorative Frame Pictures

Sometimes it’s a lot easier to just take a picture of something than it is to create it from scratch in Photoshop. This set of 16 High Resolution Decorative Picture Frames from Think Design Blog can be used to add dimension and character to your photographs.

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7 Shining Brushes

When you need to add a bit of shine or sparkle to your designs it is always nice to have a handy set of brushes in your library. This set of 7 brushes available from Brusheezy can be used to add a bit of flare to your compositions.

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8 Colorful Grunge Textures

Grunge textures have a ton of purposes in design. This set of 8 colorful grunge textures from Lost and Taken can be used for just about any purpose. Give them a download and see what you can create with them.

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25 Apocalyptic High Resolution Rust Textures

Rust can be beautiful and disgusting all at the same time. This set of 25 high resolution rust textures from Colorburned is beautiful and elegant. Give them a download and use them to destroy your clean and perfect designs.

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Articles and Inspiration

Photoshop Patterns: Ultimate Guide

Patterns in Adobe Photoshop are wonderful for incorporating interesting repeating elements in your design. Patterns are easy to use and make, yet can have a significant impact in your compositions. This guide from Design Instruct will explore the use, creation, and management of Photoshop patterns through a hands-on approach.

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Gorgeous Packaging Designs and Concepts

Packaging design is all around us. This post from DesignM.ag features a handful of beautiful packaging designs, from music EP’s to snack food products and alcohol bottles to disposable "take out" coffee cups.

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Why Sketching And Wireframing Ideas Strengthens Designs

It is always a good idea to sit down and plan a design before you even attempt to open up Photoshop. This article from Spyre Studios explains how sketching and wireframing can improve the quality of your designs.

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Project Budgets and Secrets

With the year coming to an end, it’s time for businesses to reflect on the previous year and decide what worked and what did not. This article from the Design Cubicle explains the importance of budgets when working with clients.

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How to Set Up an Effective Mobile Office

One of the best things about mobile technology is that it breaks the mold of the traditional office. All you need to do your work these days is a laptop and a wireless connection. This article from Six Revisions explains how to set up an effective mobile office.

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Tuts+ is Taking Part in Blog Action Day 2010

Posted: 29 Sep 2010 09:45 AM PDT

Did you know that Collis and Cyan founded Blog Action Day in 2007? Though the event is now run by Change.org, Blog Action Day is still dear to our hearts here at Envato.

This year, we’ll be joining thousands of other bloggers on October 15th and posting to raise awareness about clean water and water conservation. We’ll be sharing a whole bunch of great tutorials and articles that raise awareness about clean water while teaching you something awesome, or inspiring your creativity.

Who don’t you join the Tuts+ Network in taking part in Blog Action Day on your own blog? Learn more or register your blog today.

Stay tuned for our Blog Action Day posts on October 15th!

Create A Realistic Loaf of Bread in Photoshop

Posted: 29 Sep 2010 06:00 AM PDT

A while back I saw a still life photo of a loaf of bread sitting on a table. That photo inspired me to attempt to recreate this still life photo using Photoshop. In today’s tutorial, I will demonstrate how to create a realistic looking loaf of bread in Photoshop. Let’s get started!

Step 1

Begin by creating a 1000 x 550 px document. Create a new group called “BG”. Inside this new group, create a new layer called “Tile BG” and fill with a medium brown color.

Step 2

Set your Background Color to white and add the Tiles filter (Filter > Stylize > Tiles) with the following settings:

Step 3

Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill the white with a light gray color. (Repeat the Fill several times). To add some color variation to the tiles, select the square brush and set its size to the same size of the tiles (in this case, it is roughly 108 px). Use this brush to Dodge and Burn individual tiles.

Step 4

Keep going until you are happy with the variation in the tiles. Next, go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and set the amount to 12%, Distribution to Gaussian, and check the Monochromatic box. Next, add a Gaussian Blur of 1.4 px

Step 5

Now that we have a good sampling of some tiles, we can start to build the back two walls. To do this, we need to resize and reposition the tiles. Copy and paste this layer as you see fit to fill in the back wall. Transform one of the layer copies to resemble a side wall as shown below. Before we continue, we can merge the extra layers back into one layer named "Tile BG." (For the sake of this tutorial I am merging into one layer, however, you can also merge to a new layer if you prefer).

We need to adjust the lighting on the tiled walls. Start by selecting the back wall (not the side wall) with the Polygonal Marquee Tool to adjust its levels. Do the same to the side wall, but make it lighter.

Step 6

Create a new layer called “Shadow 1″ and use a dark brown color and a large brush tool with 0% hardness to add some shadows in the corner. Set the Blending Mode to Multiply and the Opacity to
53%. Add a second layer called “Shadow 2″ and paint in some more shadows toward the bottom. Set this layer’s Blending Mode to Multiply and Opacity to 74%.

Step 7

We want to get a nice depth of field effect, so we need to blur this back wall. To do this, select the “Tile BG” layer and give it a Gaussian Blur of 7.0 px. For added detail, create a new layer called “Sunlight” and use white to paint in some areas of direct sunlight on the side wall. Give this layer a Gaussian blur of 20 pixels and set its Blending Mode to Overlay and its Opacity to 90%.

Step 8

Now it’s time to add a counter top to our image. Create a new layer called "Table Top" and fill with a brownish-gray color. Open up the Layer Style and add a Gradient Overlay and Pattern Overlay as shown below. In order to properly edit this layer in the next step, we will need to merge the Layer Styles to the layer. Do this by right clicking on the Effects sub-layer and selecting Create Layers. This will expand the Layer Style on to their own layers. We can now merge (Cmd/Ctrl + E) these layers.

Step 9

Now that the “Table Top” layers have been merged, we can Transform (Cmd/Ctrl + T) this layer into perspective to resemble the counter top.

Step 10

We want to make the counter appear out of focus towards the back. To do this, we are going to use smart filters. Start by converting this layer for smart filters (Filter > Convert for Smart Filters). Now you can add a Gaussian Blur (set to 6.1px) and it will appear as an editable layer. We will complete the effect in the next step.

Step 11

When the Gaussian Blur Smart Filter was added, it also added a mask for the filter. Select this mask and with your foreground and background colors set to black and white, add a gradient to hide the effect as it gets closer to the foreground.

Step 12

The counter looks a little too blurry—we can easily change this since we’re using smart filters. Double click the Gaussian Blur effect to open the properties and change the Radius to 4.4 px. We are now done with the background!

Step 13

To start the cutting board, create a new group called “Cutting Board” and add a new layer called “Board” inside it. Position this above the “BG” Group

Step 14

Use the pen tool to create the shape of a cutting board. It may help to turn on the grid. Fill this with a tan color.

Step 15

To add a texture to the cutting board, start by setting your foreground and background colors to a light and dark tan (such as #CCAA7B and #A07349). Next, go to Filter > Render > Fibers and set the Variance to 8.0 and the Strength to 12.0. You can click “Randomize” until you have a good texture. When you’re done, Transform (Cmd/Ctrl + T) this into perspective.

Step 16

Copy the “Board” layer and rename it “Board Shadow.” Postion this layer below the original. Now, move the “Board Shadow” down on your canvas and adjust the Levels (Cmd/Ctrl + L) to make it darker.

Step 17

Create a new layer called “Board Side” and place it in between the two existing layers. Use a brush tool with a similar tan color to paint in the rest of the board as shown:

Step 18

Create a new layer called “Grain” and position it as shown. Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to create a long rectangle filled with a light tan color. Add Fibers (Filter > Render > Fibers) to this layer, just like we did in step 15.

Step 19

Transform (Cmd/Ctrl + T) the “Grain” Layer to cover the entire side of the cutting board, making the grain run parallel to the side. Make this layer a clipping layer by Alt + Clicking in between the “Grain” and “Board Side” layers.

Step 20

Use Liquify (Filter > Liquify) on the “Grain” layer to add some realistic distortions (the Forward Warp Tool works best). You can also add some grain to the small area of the cutting board we haven’t touched yet.

Step 21

Use the Dodge and Burn Tools to add highlights and lowlights to the cutting board. It will be necessary to dodge and burn the “Board” and “Grain” layers separately.

Step 22

The cutting board appears to be floating. In order to ground it, we need to work on the shadows. Select the “Board Shadow” layer and make two extra copies.

Select the top “Board Shadow” layer and give it a Motion Blur (Filter > Blur > Motion Blur) with an Angle set to -67 degrees and a Distance of 6 px.

Select the second shadow layer and make this shadow black (you can use Levels to do this). Give this layer a Motion Blur (Angle: 0 degrees; Distance: 40 px) and a Gaussian Blur (Radius: 5.0 px).

Select the thirds shadow layer and give this layer a Motion Blur (Angle: 0 degrees; Distance: 40 px) and another Motion Blur (Angle: 90 degrees; Distance: 7 px). Set the Blending Mode on all three layers to Multiply and you’re done.

Step 23

To finish the cutting board, we need to add a reflection. Do this by selecting the three cutting board layers and merging them to a new layer (Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + E). Position this layer at the bottom of the Cutting Board group stack. Set the Opacity to 42% and create a new Layer Mask to mask out part of the reflection as shown. Give the layer a Motion Blur with an Angle of 90 degrees and a Distance of 7 px. We are done with the cuttin board!

Step 24

To start the bread, create a new group called “Bread” and a layer inside called “Sketch.” Go ahead and rough in a sketch of a loaf of bread.

Step 25

Create a new layer called “Bread Base” and use a nice brownish-orange color (#B07344) to paint in a rough shape of the loaf of bread. Use the sketch as a guide. It is not necesssary to be exact, adding organic bumps on the bread will add to the realism.

Step 26

Next, we need to add some complex textures. Open the Layer Style on the “Bread Base” layer and give it a Pattern Overlay using the “Blistered Paint” texture. Go ahead and create this effect in to its own layer.

Step 27

Notice that the texture looks pixelated. To fix this, add a Median filter (Filter > Noise > Median) with a Radius of 2 px.

Step 28

Invert the colors by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + I and give it an Emboss (Filter > Stylize > Emboss) with an Angle of 90 degrees, a Height of 2 px and an Amount of 54%. Set this layer to Overlay.

Step 29

We need to create another texture very similar to the last one. To do this, we will repeat the last three steps with some small changes. Start by creating another Layer Style on the “Bread Base” layer, but this time, use the different settings shown.

Go ahead and create this effect in to its own layer. You may get an error, but just click “OK” (Photoshop is just warning you that you have a clipping layer already applied to this layer). Since this is a smaller texture, we can skip the Median filter. Invert the colors by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + I and give it an Emboss (Filter > Stylize > Emboss) with an Angle of 90 degrees, a Height of 2 px and an Amount of 54%. Set this layer to Overlay with an Opacity of 34%.

Step 30

Add a Layer Mask to both texture layers we just created. Mask out some areas on each layer to make the textures less uniform.

Step 31

To give the bread some added realism, we want to recreate the small air bubbles that bake in to the bread. To start, create a new brush with the following settings:

Create a new layer called “Bubbles” and paint in some bubbles as shown. When you’re done add a Bevel and Emboss with the settings shown. Set the layer’s Blending Mode to Overlay, the Opacity to 67% and the fill to 53%. You may need to use a layer mask to make some of the bubbles more subtle.

Step 32

In order to continue, we need to merge all bread layers together. Just copy the “Bread” group and merge that group. Use the Dodge and Burn tools to add lowlights and highlights to the bread.

Step 33

The bread is still too smooth. To add more variation to the texture, create a new brush (similar to the one we used for the air bubbles) and use it to dodge and burn areas of the bread. You can get more detail by adjusting the size of the brush as you work.

Step 34

To create the texture for the top of the bread, we need to create a new layer called "Bread Top" and fill it with white. With the Foreground and Background Colors set to Black and White, go to Filter > Render > Difference Clouds. Add the same filter a few more times (Cmd/Ctrl + F) and use Levels to adjust the contrast.

Next, scale the layer down to cover just the top of the bread. Change the opacity to 25% so we can see where we’re working. Use Edit > Transform > Warp, and start warping this layer around the top of the bread.

Step 35

To finish this effect, go to Filter > Stylize > Emboss. Set the Blending Mode to Vivid Light and make it a clipping layer. Use this technique to add more texture to the top of the bread as you see necessary.

Step 36

To create shadows for the bread, use the same technique we did for the shadows of the cutting board. It helps to create a new group called “Bread Shadows”

Step 37

To finish the shadows, we need to give the bottom of the bread the subtle appearance that it is casting shadows on itself. To do this, we will create a new layer called “Casted Shadows” and clip it to the “Bread copy” layer. We can now paint in some subtle shadows.

Step 38

Almost done! The last step is to add a reflection of the bread on the cutting board. To start, make a copy of the "Bread Copy" layer (Be careful not to un-clip all of your clipping layers.) Place this copy inside the "Cutting Board" group at the top of its stack.

Flip the copy of the bread layer vertically (Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical) and position it as shown below. Give this a Motion Blur of around 50 px at 90 degrees. Make this layer in to a clipping layer and set its Blending Mode to Overlay and its Opacity to 24%. You’re done!

Thursday, September 30, 2010