Mission Impossible .

[gautamz07]

Hey Guys , this is an image i found on google , i think its really simple and neat , though it has some effects that i have no clue how to make or design , that why i need your help . I basically want to re-create this image , its ok if it takes a while to come to the final output , a day , a week thats fine , now i'am going to go start on this image , so please keep giving me your inputs . mmmm So lets start with the background 1st , i'll make it a dark blue , but how did he get those sparkles ? :/ . Well as we keep progressing on this i'll keep uploading the zip file . so everyone can learn with me or even add thier own effects .

Kind regards .

Gautam.

 

[gautamz07]

Here you go , i just made the background .

Step 1 : added a Back Background

Step 2 : went to Google / Bing and searched "Starry Sky" and got a decent enough image and posted it on the BG



Now I really want to add that Pink round shape , i could usually do it by adding a pink shake and giving it a "stroke", but that would only give it two layers . The pink shape in this image has alot of pink layers , so hmm how am i going to do that ??

 

[DannyOlivier]

On a new layer you would do a circular marquee tool (whilst holidng shift) on a new layer then use the gradient tool with a lighter pink and a slightly darker pink as foreground and background colours to get a slight gradient in the circle. Then reselect that layer so you get the selection back again and go to select > modify > contract and reduce it by a certain amount (depends on how big your image is) maybe like 40-50 pixels. Do the same again but choose slightly lighter pink and repeat this a couple of times on a new layer each time so it is editable.

On the biggest ring you also want to add a black outer glow. This is odne by double clicking on the layer to view the layer styles and you go to outer glow, chose the colour to be black and have a fiddle with the size, spread, opacity and range to you achieve the desired affect.

Just on second thoughts I dont think the layers use gradients I think they are just solid colours.

HTH

Danny

 

[ibclare]

You're probably right Danny. I see the same apparent effect, but now that you mention it, I believe it is a result of the lighting effect nearby - the glow, spark, or star, etc, behind and to the right of the character. Same as the one over his shoulder.

 

[gautamz07]

Danny and Ibclare , Thank you for joining in , had gone for lunch , Now i'am back , here's the latest update


Now how did i make this ? well i used dannys trick (Sorry danny , i could't understand all you said , but what ever i could i implemented)

Let me begin :

Step 0 : On the "Layer 1" which is the layer on which i have the starry sky image , you need to apply a blur effect , this is very simple and fun , select that layer , go to -- FILTER - BLUR - RADIEL BLUR -- Input 10 and OK .

Step 1 : On a new Layer Use the circular marque tool and make a circle . Now take the gradient and make sure your forground and background are the same color , select foreground to background in the gradient options (i made it a dark pink as you can see in the image) now using the gradient fill that circular area .

Step 2 : Very Simple step and this is the fun Part -- select > modify > contract and reduce the circle by 80px , now use the gradient tool again and fill in the circle again . repeat this process twice , each time with alternating colors (i have used dark pink and light pink ).

Step 3 : Make a New Layer and go to select > modify > expand , and enter 180 px and Now a very subtle but important change here , in the gradients option select foreground to transperent and make sure your foreground color is set to white . Finally , use the gradient tool to fill in the circle and play with the opacity to your hearts desire.


Now i know nobody likes reading theory , so heres a screen shot , thats the best i could do .



PS :

The circles apart from the outermost one are not exactly comeout circular , i donno why , but thats something minor , lets not focus on that , moving on to the next task . Do you see that Lovely Black Circular thing , with those white dotted lines , I love that , now i can use the shape tool and make the circle , But notice that the black circle has a gradient inside it (I'll try figuring out how to do that ) but how do i get the white dotted lines .

Thank you .

Gautam

 

[DannyOlivier]

Sorry if my inital advice sounded a bit to complicated Guatamz! If I get a spare ten minutes il screen shot and show how to do the dotted circle unless someone else does it first.

My mistake with contracting! is doesnt quite work with circles for some reason. When you do your initial circle you need to duplicate it so there are two layers which have the circles on. On the top one press cmd + T to free transform (or go to edit > free transform) and then at the top of the screen there will be Width and Height both on 100%.

You then reduce these by 10 - 20% so bring them both down to 80. You can now change the colour of this new circle to whatever you want. Repeat again and again with the different colours.

Sorry again if this sounds to complicated. I'm bad a getting ym workflow into words.

Danny

 

[dv8_fx]

Gautam, why are your circles jagged?

No time for me to show & tell as I'm going out in a minute. I'll get back with something simpler as I've noticed something about those rings.

For your job purpose, there's really no need to do exactly what you see. It's up to your imagination how you'ld create something like that and chances are, you'd create one even better or unique.

But for practice and the sake of learning, it doesnt hurt if you really want to duplicate that look as closely as possible. You need to zoom in on your sample for you to see what I think I saw.

 

[gautamz07]

Danny Thank you for your input , once i got the 1st shape on a new layer and filled it with the color , all i did was Duplicate layer (Control Or CMD + J) and than to change the color of that layer i went to the blend options and choosed color overlay (I'am sure there might be other options though) .

Than each time , i used the Free Transform to reduce the circular Shape By 20% or so, as u pointed out and each time also , to change the color of the layer i used color overlay . By the way , i have the same problem as u , Hard to put work into word . Never mind .


Div8 , please be back , i love taking inputs from you or atleast you can just give me your review , Hehe . I am copying this image because i am trying to reverse - engineer it , i don't have much skills thats why too much creativety is't helping me , hmmm though if i get this one right , in my next flyer , i'll use some similar effects , and i'll be more creative .

Heres the latest Update .



Regards .

Gautam

 

[DannyOlivier]

The white dots in a circle are a little bit more complicated. I achieved them by first getting a black background, then on a new layer you need to create a circular path this is done by using the elipse tool show in screenshot 1, make sure you hold shift when you create the circle to keep it perfectly spherical. It will create a path shown in the bottom right of the screenshot as well Screenshot 1:

You then need to make sure you have a hard circled white brush. Go to the brush panel by clicking the top left button shown in screenshot 2, this should open the window like in the screenshot. If you click on the top part where it says "brush tip shape" the window will have an option called scattering. You should put this upto around 180% (this can vary alot depending on the size of the image and brush size. (with my final image I put it down to 179%)
2:

Once you have done these on the new layer you would right click the path and click "stroke path"


You then make sure you have brush selected and have simulate pressure unticked.


Here is what should happen. I did have to fiddle with the scattering and brush size to achieve the spacing desired.


The stroke path tool is very useful when you want to draw around any of the shapes in the shape tool. You can oviously change the colours of the brush and edit the brush in anyway and then stroke the path of the shape and will outline around it for you. Its a very good technique that I use quite a lot for various bits and bobs and should help you to be more creative. Danny

 

[IamSam]

Here another way if you like.

I added centering guides.


Then I used the Ellipse Tool to create the rings. By using a shape tool, you get better results if you want to resize later.

I removed the BG so you can see the first ring.

Place your cursor on the center of the guides, hit an hold your shift key, then drag the ellipse to the size you like then release your mouse click first to preserve roundness.
Double click the shape layers thumbnail and choose a color.


Repeat the previous step for the next smaller ring...


And so on until your done..


Create a new layer and add a white highlight using your Brush Tool.
Lower the opacity to your liking.


Go to VIEW > CLEAR GUIDES
Add new layers and more highlights matching those of the original.

 

[gautamz07]

The File i was working on got deleted , So i created a new one , this time not using the Elliptical tool but the shapes tool . exactly the way Iam has done it in the previous example , Thank you Iam , now i am going to go and work on the black round shape Iam you've reverse engineered it pritty well . hehe .

Gautam .

 

[gautamz07]

Danny i did all you said , except that in the last step its not showing the stroke path option i donno why . anyway , i really liked your idea and thank you for taking the pain to post all the screen shots . .

Well its wrap up time for me , i'll keep this thread going , the first thing in the morning tomorrow and also once i get the black circle effect , i'll post the zip file , so everyone can tinker around hehe .

Thank you once again everyone for your contributions . good night and see you tomorrow .

Gautam

 

[dv8_fx]

Hmmmm.... seems everyone's got their own version of it.....

Arrived a couple of hours ago from a meeting and just had time to figure this design out......



Not an exact reproduction but guess it will do. Haven't prepared the tute images from the psd file for it, gautamz... I'll load it later.

Time for bed......

 

[ibclare]

Not bad. I like the way dv8 and IamSam did it better. Yours is very harsh contrast. If you change the colors so they are closer together where they intersect, it would be better. You may also want to feather the edges for your own tastes to increase the blend. This would be a bit different, but it would make it easier for the concentric circles to work. IMO.

Otherwise, I think you have the glowing light effects going well. Once you have superimposed the other layers, you can adjust those as needed. The top glow may be a bit too intense if you want to reproduce the glow as it is in the image you are copying. You might also make a copy of those layers (the glow) and once you have everything done, move them to the top and play with opacity and blend mode to bring a bit more glow to the guy. Or you could work with inner glow. I personally like to use the center option and play around with the size and choke. You'll see what I mean if you give it a shot.

Keep up the great work!

 

[IamSam]

There are two ways to create the dotted line in the black circle.

Let me elaborate on Danny's technique as the first one.

First notice that the dots are actually squares...


We're going to make a new document for this object and then we can drag it into the main document later.

You must first set up your Brush Tool to make the squares.
If you do not have any square brushes, here is a set I made for myself a long time ago. View attachment SquareBrushes.abr

Choose an appropriately sized square brush.


Open your brushes panel, under "Brush Tip Shape" set the spacing. Mine happened to be 325.
Click on "Shape Dynamics" and set the angle jitter control to direction. This will align the squares on an angle.


Now set your center guides.
Select your Ellipse Tool and make sure it's set to shape.
Set your color to black, press and hold the shift key, starting from the center of the guides, press and hold the mouse click and drag out an ellipse, release the mouse first to maintain roundness.

Now set the Ellipse Tool to path....



Again, press and hold the shift key, starting from the center of the guides, press and hold the mouse click and drag out an ellipse, release the mouse first to maintain roundness. This is the path that will contain the squares.
Now right click on or near the path, a widow will appear, select stroke path.


A new window will appear and under Tool, select brush.
Turn off simulate pressure. Hit OK.


Here's what you should have....


Now you may have to play with this a few times, (alt + control + Z) to get the path in the right spot as well as the spacing to get the squares in the right position.

Of course you would then turn off your guides, save the document. I would not add the text to it here, I would wait until you have it in you main document and you have it transformed to the right size.

 

[IamSam]

As I said, there are two ways to do this dotted line.

Here is the second. This way will use another shape tool which will give it much better quality when resized. It's also easier and much more accurate. It's also a bit confusing.

Again, we will work on a new document. The bigger the better this time.
Create your center guides.
Select the Ellipse Tool, set your color to black, press and hold the shift key, starting from the center of the guides, press and hold the mouse click and drag out an ellipse, release the mouse first to maintain roundness.

Now select the Rectangle Tool (shape Tools).
At the top of the black ellipse and on the guide line, click once. A "Create Rectangle" widow will appear. Set the width and height to 10px and check the from center box. Click OK.


Next, duplicate the Rectangle by hitting Control + J.

On the new duplicate rectangle layer, hit Control + T to enter the transform function.
Now you may have to zoom in to see it but there is a pivot point in the center of the transform box.


Normally we can move the pivot point by clicking and dragging but this rectangle is too small. So, zoom out if you zoomed in to look. Hold down the Option key and click on the center of your guide lines, this will place the pivot point where you clicked. However notice that it's probably not dead on center (unless your crazy lucky).


Now all you have to do is place your cursor on the pivot point click and move to the center.
You will know it's centered when it looks like this....


Now go up to the tool options bar and enter a number in the Angle window, I used 8.


Doing this will offset the second or duplicated rectangle by 8 degrees.
It will look like this....


If it's too far or too close, change the number.
Hit enter or the checkmark when you have it where you want it.

Ok, here comes the fun part!
Press an hold the shift + alt + control keys and then hit the T key until the rectangles go all the way around!



Clear guides, save.

 

[dv8_fx]

Gautamz... as you may have noticed, there could be a multitude of ways to achieve what you ask. None of the techniques used are wrong and in fact, they are all correct. Its a matter of individual interpretation and one's style of doing work drawn from experience.

Here's how I did mine. Its like a combination of Danny's and Sam's idea and styles. I could have ended up doing it in similar fashion because it could be the first most obvious thing that anyone could have done with it. But the nutty lizard in me ended up doing it this way ..... and as a chance for you to try different things..... so bear with me.....

Pay close attention to my document palette's thumbnails to know what's happening in the work document as it progresses. The shape was created at the same size as in your sample with resolution of 300dpi. This resolution is what an actual job project work document should be set to... regardless of width and length, resolution is set at either 150 dpi or 300dpi.


STEP 1 and 2 -





Create your elliptical selection. Fill with desired color. I used R-201, G-45, B-83 (sampled from your image).


STEP 3





Duplicate the layer , click on the lock transparency icon and proceed to fill white (the locked transparency will not be affected by the fill).


STEP 4 -



CTRL+T ... resize as shown. There's your first ring .....


STEP 5 -





Duplicate Layer 1. Move layer up to the top of the layer tier (above layer 1 copy). CTRL+T and resize as shown.

 

[dv8_fx]

STEP 6 -




Duplicate layer previously created in Step 5. Lock transparency and fill white. CTRL+T as shown.

You now have the component parts of the object design. Now the effects part.......


STEP 7 -

There is a solid black object or outline behind the shapes. I decided on using a solid shadow.

You can use a solid object or outline if you wish. But this gives you an exercise on using the layer style effects.



Use the Drop Shadow Layer Style. Follow the settings I used to create the shadow.


STEP 8 -



The next layer (layer 1 copy) is nothing else than lowered opacity. Decrease to 20%.


STEP 9 -



This layer (layer 1 copy 2) requires a lowered opacity. Decrease to 40%.


STEP 10 - We have 2 things to do here .... an outer glow and decreased layer opacity.



Follow the settings used to create the glow using Outer Glow Layer Style.


STEP 11 - and finally....



Lower the opacity to 32%.

DONE.......


Remember.... the settings shown for the layer style effects will work different for you if your document resolution is NOT set at 300dpi.

I hope this is helpful and that you can understand this. Post your questions if you have any.

 

[gautamz07]

Wow That Black circle was such an important part of this image and Iam , your 1st example is the one i used , it was pritty simple and easy to understand , Though i think you forgot to mention something really important , i.e the shape created using the Elliptal tool needs to be rastisized for the "Stroke path" option to work .

The 2nd example is the one that i would love to try and when i do , i'll surely use your square brushes (Thanks for the brushes) , i never taught it could be done that way , so i'll certainly post it in the same thread later .

Div8 , Hmmmm you always have something out of the box , By the way someone deleted my file , so i'am going to recreate the whole PSD document and post it in a few mins . Also thank you for your time and patience and uploading the tutorial .

Iam below i have created the dotted circle , i got it after a few tries .


Ibclair , i see you have a eye for perfection but i am just trying to get all the effects and structure right , though a better approach might be to refine each section as you go , I am just trying to create something fuctional and pleasant enough . to make it speactacular though , we'll work on the refinement part in the end ty for your observation though.




Regards . Gautam .

 

[IamSam]

Though i think you forgot to mention something really important , i.e the shape created using the Elliptal tool needs to be rastisized for the "Stroke path" option to work .

No, it does not! In fact that is why I used the tool so you would NOT have to rasterize the shape!