How to Cheat in Photoshop

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Posted on 25/12/10 09:59:40 AM

Stefano Giacomuzzi
Modernist Maestro
Posts: 146

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Pinwheel effect in photoshop

How to create this simple image in photoshop.

1.Open Photoshop and create a new square document, I'm using 1000x1000 pixels for the size.

2.Drag out two guidelines to find the center of the document.

3.Select the Polygon Tool (U) and create a triangle, which has to have a vertex on the center of the document and a side on the vertical guideline. Now select the pixels of the triangle shape (ctrl on PC or command on Mac + left click on the vector mask thumbnail) and in a new layer fill the selection using the gradient tool with two different types of cyan (I used #01a6e7 and #0191e1)

4.Duplicate this layer and fill the selection of the triangle using the gradient tool with two different types of green (I used #6fc401 and #5fa900). Press Ctrl + T (PC) / Command + T (Mac) to go to the Free Transform option and move the rotation point to the center of the document. Then in the Control palette enter a rotation value of -20°. Repeat this process twice by pressing ctrl + alt + Shift + T (PC) or command + option + Shift + T (Mac). Now fill the two new triangles with two different types of yellow (I used #fee900 and #f6e200) and orange (I used #ff7500 and #ff5b00).

5.Merge the four layers and duplicate this new layer. Use Free Transform to rotate this layer: move the rotation point to the center of the document and enter a rotation value of -80°. Repeat this process three times by pressing ctrl + alt + Shift + T (PC) or command + option + Shift + T (Mac).

6.Merge all the layers (background excluded), delete the right side of the image, then duplicate the left side, flip it horizontal and move it to the right.

7.Let’s add some shading: select each color with the Magic Wand Tool (W) and add some shadows with the gradient tool (black to transparent). Then add a bit of Gaussian Monochromatic Noise (set the amount to 1,5).

8.To make the creased paper effect download this image (http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/7072/paperac.jpg) then change the blending mode to Linear Burn and set the opacity to 75%. Select the pixels of the logo and add a layer mask.

9.For the background I took a photo of an old book. You can download the image here (http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9071/oldpaperc.jpg). Reduce the saturation of the photo to -40.

10.To create the shadow of the logo on the book you can use the Layer Style dialog or you can select the pixels of the logo and fill the selection with a dark brown (I used #2d1600) and apply a Gaussian Blur (13 pixels radius).