FrankenFan's Photoshop Fundamentals — Sig Tutorial

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FrankenFan

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This tutorial is aimed at the beginning- to intermediate-level Photoshop user, and attempts to demonstrate basic uses of the crop, type, selection and transformation tools; clipping masks; layer blending modes, masks, and styles; the grow, select color, and levels commands; and the minimum, gaussian blur, and clouds filters.

I'm using Photoshop CS3, but I've tried to limit tools and commands retroactive to Photoshop 7. I'm also using a Mac, so Windows users should substitute all references to the Command Key (Mac) with the Control Key (PC), all references to the Option Key (Mac) to the Alt Key (Windows), and all references to the Delete Key (Mac) to the Backspace Key (Windows).

If I use a Command or Filter that is unavailable in your version of Photoshop, LMK and I'll try to suggest an alternative for you.

We're going to make this Iron Man sig...

imsigkz8.gif


...using these images:



If you want to follow along in Photoshop, click on a thumbnail to open the full-size image and download it to your computer.

There are 15 steps to follow to make this sig, so don't forget to save your work early and often!

Ready? Let's begin!
 
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Step 1:

Open the im_flight.jpg image. Press the C key on your keyboard to select the Crop Tool. Click and drag a selection marquee around the Iron Man figure and press the Enter key to crop the image.

Your selection should look something like this:

f01cropih5.jpg
 
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Step 2

Press the W key to select the Magic Wand tool, leave the Tolerance set at the default 32 pixels, and be sure Anti-Alias and Contiguous are both checked.

Click in the lower left corner of the im_flight.jpg image, then hold down the Shift key to add the upper right and left corners of the image to the selection. Next, from the main menu bar, choose Select>Grow to select the remaining pixels in the clouds and sky.

f02growry6.jpg


Hold down the Space bar and the Command key to Zoom-in and check your selection, and if necessary, press the L key to select the Lasso tool to edit your selection. Set the Tolerence to Zero, check Anti-Alias, and hold down the Shift key to add to your selection and hold down the Option key to subtract from it.

Don't be too concerned with the fidelity of the edge of your selection, since we will be reducing the image significantly which will smooth out any rough edges.

Press Command Shift I to Inverse the selection from the background to the Iron Man figure, then press Command J to copy the Iron Man figure to a new layer. Name the new layer IM.
 
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Step 3

Next, Press Command N to create a new PSD document and enter 392-pixels for its width and 72-pixels for its height.

Now press Command A to select the entire canvas, then press Command J to create a new layer. Name it Clipping Mask.

Press Command S to save the file. Name it im_sig.

Your Layers Palette should look like this:

f03layersoo2.jpg
 
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Step 4

Press Command Option C to open the Canvas Size dialog and change the Height of the canvas to 144 pixels.

Open the im_chest.jpg image, press M to select the Rectangular Marquee tool, and make a selection around the glowy power core thingy, like this:

f04chestys9.jpg


Press V on your keyboard to select the Move tool, click on your selection in the im_chest.jpg image and drag it onto the im_sig.psd file. Name this layer Chest and be sure it is above the Clipping Mask layer.

Your im_sig.psd doc and Layers Palette should look like this:

f05_chest_a.gif
 
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Step 5:

In the Layers Palette select the Chest layer and press Command Option G to create a Clipping Mask.

Your im_sig.psd doc and Layers Palette should now look like this:

f05chestbzd5.gif
 
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Step 6

Return to the im_flight.jpg, press Command Option I to open the Image Size dialog box. Under Document Size select Percent and enter 20 for the Width and Height.

Next, select the IM layer and drag it onto the im_sig.psd doc, above the chest layer. Press Command B to select the Free Transform Tool, enter a percentage of 75 in the Width and Height fields in the Options bar, then press the Enter key to confirm your changes:

f06transformat0.gif


Your im_sig.psd doc and Layers Palette should now look like this:

f06transformbcq3.gif
 
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Step 7

Open the im_poster image, use the Rectangular Marquee tool to select Tony Stark's head and shoulders along with about half of Iron Man's helmet, and drag it onto the im_sig.psd doc above the Chest layer and name it Stark.

Press Command Option G to add it to the Clipping Mask, then select the Free Transform tool and enter a percentage of 45 in the Width and Height fields in the Options bar. Use the Move tool to position the image on the left side of the canvas.

Now open the im_proto.jpg image, select the head and shoulders, drag it onto the im_sig.psd doc above the Stark layer and name it Proto.

Add it to the Clipping Mask, then select the Free Transform tool and enter a percentage of 25 in the Width and Height fields in the Options bar. Use the Move tool to position the image on the right side of the canvas.

Your im_sig.psd doc should now look similar to this:

f07starkprotoeb4.jpg
 
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Step 8

Now we are going to add Layer Masks to the Stark and Proto layers, and blend them into the Chest layer by using Layer Blending Modes and reducing the Master opacity of the layers.

With the Stark layer active, click the Add Layer Mask icon on the bottom of the Layers Palette:

f08starkmasklx3.jpg


Press the D key on your keyboard to set the Foreground Color to Black and the Background Color to White, then press the G key to select the Gradient tool and select Linear Gradient from the Options bar.

Hold down the Shift key and drag the Gradient tool in a straight line from right to left to remove the hard edge from the Stark layer and blend it into the Chest layer. Change the layer's Blending Mode from Normal to Luminosity and reduce the layer's Opacity to 50%.

Repeat this action with the Proto layer, but drag the Gradient tool in the opposite direction. Leave the Blending Mode set to Normal.

Your file and Layers Palette should now look something like this:

f09starkprotoblendsg2.gif
 
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Step 9

Return to the chest.jpg image and select a section of "data readout" text large enough to cover the canvas size of the im_sig.psd file, and drag it onto the canvas above the Stark layer. Name this layer Data.

Next, press Command I to Invert the image, and then change its Blending Mode to Difference.

Select another section of "data readout" text, and repeat the above steps.

Your image and Layers Palette should now look similar to this:

f10datavf6.gif


Our layout is now complete and it's time for some finishing touches.
 
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Step 10

With Data 2 the active layer, press Command J to create a new layer above it, add it to the Clipping Path, and change its Blending Mode to Hard Light. Name this layer Clouds.

Next, click the Set Foreground Color Swatch on the Toolbar to open the Color Picker, and enter 128 for the RGB values. Press the Enter key to exit the Color Picker. Set your Background Color to White.

With the Clouds layer active, select Filter>Render>Clouds from the main menu and apply the filter.

Next, add a Layer Mask to the Clouds layer, then add a Linear Gradient from top to bottom.

The Clouds layer adds some atmosphere to our image, but it also washes out our background a bit too much, so we're going to adjust the Levels of the Data layers.

Make Data the active layer, then hold down the Option key and click the Create New Fill Or Adjustment Layer icon on the bottom of the Layers Palette (4th icon from the right), and select Levels from the pop-up menu to open the New Layer dialog. Check Use Previous Layer To Create Clipping Mask and click OK to open the Levels dialog box. Under Input Levels change the White Point from 255 to 228. Click OK.

Repeat this proceedure with the Data 2 layer, but instead of changing the White Point, change the Black Point from zero to 19.

Has your head exploded, yet? :google

If it hasn't, your image and Layers Palette should now resemble this:

f11levelsit3.gif


Now we need to finesse the Iron Man figure a bit, and we're done!

Well. Almost. :)
 
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Step 11

First, select the IM layer, then click the Add A Layer Style icon (the FX icon, second from the left on the bottom of the Layers Palette) and select Bevel and Emboss... from the Blending Options pop-up menu. Enter these values in the options fields:

f12bvlembssme2.jpg


With the IM layer still active, hold down the Option key and click the Create New Fill Or Adjustment Layer icon on the bottom of the Layers Palette, and select Selective Color from the pop-up menu to open the New Layer dialog. Check Use Previous Layer To Create Clipping Mask and click OK to open the Selective Color Options dialog box.

For Method, select Absolute, then select Reds from the Colors pop-up and change the Cyan percentage to -100 and the Magenta percentage to +100.

Next, select Yellows from the Colors pop-up, and change the Cyan percentage to -100 and the Yellow percentage to +100. Click OK.

Iron Man is starting to pop, but let's add a little more drama.

Duplicate the IM layer, name it IM_Reflect and drag it under the IM layer. Click the Lock Transparent Pixels icon (first icon after the word Lock: at the top of the Layers Palette).

Set your Foreground Color to the RGB values 0, 124, 239 and your Background Color to 255, 255, 255.

Select Filter>Render>Clouds.

Now select the IM layer and change its Blending Mode to Hard Light. Presto! Instant reflection! Pretty cool, huh?

Your file and Layers Palette should now look something like this:

f13imrflctfq4.gif
 
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Step 12

Now we're going to add a glow behind Iron Man to give the image a bit of depth.

Duplicate the IM_Reflect layer, name it IM_Glow, and drag it under the IM_Reflect layer.

Click the Lock Transparent Pixels icon, set your Foreground Color to the RGB values 252, 248, 203, and press Option Delete to fill the layer with a pale, yellow color.

Next, Deselect the Lock Transparent Pixels icon, select Filter>Other>Minimum, set the Radius to 5 pixels and click OK.

Now select Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, set the Radius to 6 pixels and click OK.

Finally, change the Blending Mode of the layer to Overlay and add the layer to the Clipping Mask.

Your file and Layers Palette should now look like this:

f14glowal1.gif
 
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Step 13

Now, let's add a Stroke around the background art to frame it and add a Drop Shadow to give our sig a faux 3-D look.

First, click the Clipping Mask layer to make it active, then click on the FX icon and select Stroke from the Blending Options pop-up. Change the Size to 1, the Position to Inside, and the Color to the RGB values 0, 0, 0.

Next, click on the words Drop Shadow in the Styles column and set the Opacity to 50, the Angle to 120, Distance to 5, Spread to 0, and Size to 5. Press the Enter key to exit the Layers Style dialog.

Now press Command Option C to open the Canvas Size box, and change the Width to 399. For Anchor, click the Upper Left square to add 7 pixels to the right side of our canvas to reveal the rest of the Drop Shadow. Click OK.

Your file and Layers Palette should now look like this:

f15resizemn1.gif
 
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Step 14

Next, let's Crop our file to remove the unused portion of the canvas and reduce the overall file size of our sig.

Select the Crop tool and drag a selection marquee that extends to the left and right edges of the canvas, and from the top of Iron Man's right hand to the bottom of the drop shadow. Zoom-in (Space Option Click) to make your selection as precise as possible

f16cropdj6.gif


Your file and Layers Palette should now look like this:

f16bcropef7.gif
 
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Step 15

Okay. Time to save our file as a Transparent GIF and wrap this session up!

But! Not before we add one more very important final touch to out sig: Our name!

Press the letter T on your keyboard to select the Type tool, then click on the Selective Color 1 layer to make it active, and and type your name.

With the type selected, choose a font, size, and color from the Options bar, and drag it into place on the canvas. Press Enter to confirm the type to the new layer. I also added an Outer Glow in black set to Multiply to offset my name from the background.

Now we're ready to save our file for the web. Click on the Eye icon next to the Background layer to toggle the background off.

Your file and Layers Palette should now look like this:

f16ctranskt2.gif


Press Command Option Shift S to open the Save For Web dialog and enter the settings, below. For Matte select Other from the pop-up menu to open the Color Picker and enter the RGB values 241, 242, 228. This matte color will fill or blend any transparent pixels in our drop shadow with the color of the Freaks board background against which sigs are typically displayed. If you're saving a transparent GIF for display against a different color background, choose that color for your matte.

f17sfwlt5.jpg


Click Save, to name and save the file, and we're done! Here's another look at the final image:

imsigkz8.gif


For those of you who had the patience and endurance to read this far, thank you for your interest and attention. I hope you picked up a trip or trick or three along the way!

Happy Photoshopping! :duff
 
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Thank you so much Kurt! Those are some of the tools and commands I've wanted to learn how to use. I only have Photoshop available at work, but I plan on going through the tutorial and learning how to use these tools!

Thanks again!
 
Thank you, Kurt! :duff

I'm such a beginner when it comes to Photoshop. This will be very helpful.
 
Thanks for the replies, guys! I hope you are finding some useful info and techniques that you can apply to your own work. Please feel free to post any suggestions you may have as to how to make future tutorials better — assuming there is enough interest from you guys for me to continue them. :)

Was this first lesson too long? Were my instruction easy to understand? Were the screen caps helpful? Was the content too basic? What other topics would interest you? Would a PDF download be preferable? Your comments, critiques, and constructive criticism are always encouraged!

Reading through the tutorial again, I did find a few typos that I have since corrected, so if you come across a specific step that doesn't seem to be working, check the edit date and time on the bottom of the post to be sure you are working from the most up-to-date and accurate content. If you find any additional typos or other inaccuracies, please let me know and I will revise a.s.a.p.

Thanks, again!
 
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