Clouds Text Effect

This tutorial explains how to use simple brushes to create an easy clouds text effect.

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Final Image Preview

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Note: Original tutorial published on Photoshopstar.com some years ago. Tutorial was updated and now republished.

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Resources

• Cloud brushes by Adaae-stock.

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Step 1

Create a new 1000 x 500 px document. Set the Foreground color to #3497b6 and the Background color to #97d5e6. Pick the Gradient Tool, choose the Foreground to Background gradient, and click the Linear Gradient icon in the Options bar at the top. Then, click and drag from the top to the bottom of the document to create the gradient.

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Step 2

Create the text in white using the font Arial Black. In the Character panel (Window -> Character), set the Size to 350 pt and the Tracking value to 100.

Ctrl/Cmd + Click the text layer’s thumbnail to create a selection.

Make the text layer invisible by clicking the eye icon next to it.

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Step 3

Pick the Brush Tool, set the Foreground color to white, create a new layer on top of the text layer and call it “Clouds”.

Pick one of the Cloud brushes, reduce its size to something around 200 to 300 px, then start adding the brush inside the selection. You can use more than one brush to add some variations. Don’t leave lots of empty spaces, just enough for the clouds to maintain their details.

Once your done, go to Select -> Deselect (or press Ctrl/Cmd + D) to get rid of the selection.

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Step 4

Right click the text layer and choose Create Work Path.

Pick the Eraser Tool, then open the Brush panel once again.

Choose the “Per Stroke Brightness Variance” brush and modify its settings as shown below:

- Brush Tip Shape:

- Shape Dynamics:

This will create a jagged edges brush.

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Step 5

Pick the Direct Selection Tool, select the “Clouds” layer so that it is the active layer, right click the work path and choose Stroke Path.

Choose Eraser from the Tool drop down menu, and make sure that the Simulate Pressure box is un-checked. Click OK.

This will stroke the path with the Eraser Tool brush, making the edges more fluffy and feathery. Hit the Enter/Return key to get rid of the path.

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Step 6

Create a new layer right on top of the Background layer and change its Opacity to a value around 30%. Then, pick some of the cloud brushes again to add some clouds on that layer.

And that’s it!

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Final Image

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial.

sumber : www.photoshopstar.com

20 Beautiful Free Christmas Brush Sets

Whatever your Christmas design may be, you may well be looking for some brushes to either be the main feature of the design or to enhance the main design.

Here we have selected 20 sets of Christmas brushes for Photoshop, all of which are free for personal use.

Christmas Decorations

Cute Christmas Brushes

Christmas Doodles

Santa Claus St. Nick Brushes

Lovely Christmas Brushes

Christmas Brushes

Holiday Brushes

Holiday Brush Set

Christmas Ornaments Brushes

Christmas Tree Brushes

Christmas Ornament PS Brushes

Funny Happy Xmas Brushes

Christmas Cheer Brushes

15 Santa Pictures PS Brushes

Grunge Christmas Tags

Xmas Gift Tags

Hi-Res Christmas Filmstrip Photoshop Brushes

Christmas Tree Brushes

Crystal Xmas Miniatures

Christmas Brushes Corners

Hopefully there will be some brush sets in this showcase that you think are worth downloading and experimenting with.

source : www.photoshopstar.com

Convert your Photos to Stunning Black and White Versions

So, you want to convert your photos to stunning black and white versions? If that’s true then you are in the right place. Photoshop offers a wide variety of tools for performing black and white conversions. Some are obvious – like the black and white adjustment layer – and others are more obscure.

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Resources

• Dirt Road with Maple Trees in Winter Sunrise
• Mountain Lake
• Sunrise on Fields
• family moments
• City Skyline 1
• Lake – HDR

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Black And White Adjustment Layer

Let’s begin with the most obvious one: Black And White Adjustment Layer. Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White. Tweak the available sliders to your liking.

You can see here before and after:

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Gradient Map Adjustment Layer

Another way to convert to B&W is the Gradient Map Adjustment Layer. Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map and choose a black to white gradient.

You can see here before and after:

Bonus tip. For a more dark and contrasted look duplicate the Gradient Map Adjustment Layer (Ctrl + J) and change it’s blending mode to Soft Light. Here’s how it looks:

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Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer

Channel Mixe Adjustment Layer is another way to go. Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer and check Monochrome. Play with the Red, Green and Blue sliders to achieve the effect you want. I went for some really blown out Highlights.

You can see here before and after:

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Desaturate

Another option for converting photos to black and white is the simple Photoshop command Desaturate. Press Ctrl + Shift + U and your image will be converted to a grayscale version. This is the simplest way but it is the least flexible and it doesn’t look so great.

You can see here before and after:

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Lab color mode

Maybe the most obscure way to convert a color image to a black and white version is by using the Lab color mode. To do this choose Image > Mode > Lab Color. After that discard the color channels by selecting Image > Mode > Grayscale.

You can see here before and after:

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Learn complex/advanced techniques

Those were some simple techniques for converting to black and white. Let me share with you some of the more complex/advanced techniques.

One thing you can do after you’ve done one of the conversions above is to add a monotone, duotone or tritone effect.

One of the simplest and obvious ways to achieve this is to first convert a image to Grayscale (Image > Mode > Grayscale) and afterwards choose Image > Mode > Duotone. The options window is pretty self-explanatory so I won’t be covering it.

The way I like to do it involves Blending Modes and Solid Color Adjustment layer. It allows for more unexpected and beautiful results than with the Duotone command. Here’s how to do it:

First convert the image to black and white using one of the techniques from above. Afterwards add one, two or three Solid Color Adjustment layers. Use a different color for each. Now start changing their blending modes. Good blending modes for this kind of toning are Overlay, Soft Light, Color and Color Dodge.

Here’s some of what I made using the City picture from above (after converting it to black and white):

A dark/blue Solid Color with the blending mode set to Overlay:

A dark red Solid Color with the Color Dodge Blending Mode and a dark blue Solid Color with the Color Blending Mode for a duotone effect:

Another advanced technique is to simply go through the image Channels (channels hold information about image color and luminosity) by holding Ctrl and pressing 3,4 or 5. Once you find a channel you like press Ctrl + C to copy, create a new layer (Ctrl + Shift + Alt + N) and paste it (Ctrl + V).

You can see here before and after:

source : http://www.photoshopstar.com/