Hell of a Tutorial in Pixelmator

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a really cool effect. First, we will use basic filters to create a 3D text effect; then, we will blend some stock photos and textures to produce one hell of a wallpaper.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. I’m using, as usual, 1440×900 pixels. Then with the Gradient Tool (G), fill the background layer with a radial gradient. To create the radial gradient, go to View>Show Gradient. Add a new gradient and use black and brown (#3b251c) for the colors.

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Step 2

Using the Type Tool (T), add some text to the document. I typed “ HELL.” The font I used is MOD, and you can download it for free at this Website: http://abduzeedo.com/friday-fresh-free-fonts-1.

Step 3

Change the font color to a dark grey, and then go to Layer>Rasterize Type Layer. After that, go to Edit>Transform>Distort. Then move the points to apply a perspective to the text. The idea is that the text will then appear to be holes on the floor either going to or coming straight from hell.?

Step 4

It is quite simple to create this perspective. Select the Lasso Tool (L) and start creating selections in the portions of the text that will be the walls. First, let’s select the ones that are facing the same direction.

Step 5

Add a new layer on top of the HELL layer and go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. This step will restrict the render area to the area within the HELL text. Fill the selection with a very dark grey.

Step 6

Then repeat the same process for the other parts of the text that have these kind of walls. Use different shades of grey to create the 3D effect.

Step 7

Holding Command, click on the thumb of the HELL layer, which will create a marquee selection in the area of that layer. Add a new layer on top of the other layers used to create the 3D effect; then go back to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. Fill the selection with orange and, with the marquee selection still active, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 30 pixels for the radius. After that, change the opacity to 60 percent.

Step 8

Add a new layer on top of the previous one (the orange one); then go again to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. After that, go to Filter>Generate>Clouds. Use black and white for the colors. Then just change the b lending to Color Dodge and the opacity to 40 percent.

Step 9

Once again, add another layer and transform it to Clipping Mask. Then fill the layer with black, using the Paint Bucket Tool (N). Because it’s a clipping mask, you will only see the area within HELL. Select the Brush Tool (B) and use white for the color. Then paint some areas in white as shown in the image below. After that, just change the blending to Color Dodge.?

Step 10

At this stage, we will add some realism to the scene. To do that, let’s use some stock images of fire. The one I used was courtesy of Shutterstock images, and you can download it from this Website: (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-2933444/stock-photo-fire.html).
Copy a part of the flame and paste it into the document. Use the image below for reference.

Step 11

Now add more flames. You can use different stock photos, but just try to get a fire image with a black background, because it’s easier to hide the blacks using Screen for the blending. Also use the Transform tools to create variations of the same flame. You will have to use the Lasso Tool (L) to delete parts of the flames to make it look like they are coming from the hole.

Step 12

Add another layer on top of the other layers and go to Filter>Generate>Clouds. Use black and white for the colors. Then using the Eraser Tool (E), delete most parts of the layer, leaving just the area over the effect. Also you can go to Image>Levels and increase the black inputs. Use the image below for reference.

Step 13

Change the blending of the clouds to Color Dodge.

Step 14

Import a concrete texture and put it behind the other layers. I obtained the one below from Shutterstock images, and it can be found at this Website: (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-16751947/stock-photo-large-concrete-wall-texture-background.html).
To apply the perspective, go to Edit>Transform>Distort.

Step 15

Change the blending to Multiply and the opacity to 40 percent.

Step 16

Now let’s add some cracks to the floor. To do that, we will simply repeat the same thing we did in the previous step. Select a stock photo to illustrate your purpose. The image I used is from Shutterstock images and can be located at this Website: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-44864269/stock-photo-cracked-ground.html. Apply the perspective through Edit>Transform>Distort. Then desaturate the image by going to (Image>Desaturate). After that, change the blending to Multiply. Then use the Eraser Tool (E) to delete the areas that are far from the center.

Step 17

Duplicate the layer with the cracks from the previous step; then go to Image>Invert. After that, change the blending to Color Dodge and move the layer 1 pixel down. This will create a really nice effect, making it look as if lava were flowing from the cracks.

Step 18

Select the layers you used to create the fire effect and duplicate them. After that, merge all the copied layers and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 pixels for the radius. Finally, change the blending setting to Screen. This step is optional, but it adds a nice glow to the effect.

Conclusion

Select all layers and duplicate them. After that, merge all the copies once more so that you will have the image in one layer only. You can then go to Image>Brightness and Contrast and just slightly increase the contrast, raising it to +3. That should be sufficient to add that dramatic dimension to the image.

As you can see, the creation of the fire part is quite simple–pretty much just using blending and some blurs. But the most important part of this tutorial, in my opinion, is the beginning, where the Lasso Tool and Clipping Mask Layers were used to create a nice 3D effect.

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www.abduzeedo.com

Clash of the Titans Text Effect

So, in this tutorial I will show you how to create a text effect inspired by the Clash of the Titans posters and artworks. We will use layer styles and basic filters to achieve the effect. It will not take you more than 45 minutes to achieve the effect, but the outcome is really cool.

Step 1

Let's start our design in Illustrator, it's easier to get the text done in Illustrator, even though you can do that in Photoshop as well. When I saw the official Clash of the Titans poster I knew that font, it was the Bank Gothic, or the Bank Gothic is very similar. So with the Type Tool (T) add the word "clash", then "of the" in another independent object and then "titans", again in another object and line. All of the in uppercase.

Step 2

Select the texts and go to Type>Create Outlines. With the Direct Selection Tool (A) start editing the text. First the A of "clash". then the F of "of" and the T and E of "the". After that edit the word "titans" by changing the T and A. Use the image below for reference. Basically you will be moving points, but be careful to keep the same alignments and angles as the original text.

Step 3

Now open Photoshop and create a new document. Create a new layer and fill it with any color, then go to Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay. Use a light beige #fee4c8 and a very dark brown #0f0802 for the gradient, use Radial for the Style and 100% opacity.

Step 4

Add a new layer and go to Filter>Render>Clouds. Make sure you have black and white for the colors.

Step 5

Change the clouds' layer Blend Mode to Color Dodge. After that go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Over the Layers Palette, click on the mask thumb of the layer and go to Filter>Render>Clouds to apply the clouds to the layer mask, that will make the clouds less strong. Tip: play with masks and apply filter on the masks, you will be surprise with the possibilities and the results.

Step 6

Go to Edit>Transform>Warp. Select the Fisheye warp type, then move the controller towards the center of the document. That will create a really nice blur effect, much faster than the zoom blur in Photoshop.

Step 7

Copy the words "Clash of the " from Illustrator to Photoshop. We will do these words first because we will apply a different Layer Style preset for the Bevel and Emboss.

Step 8

First thing here is to search for a old and rusty metal texture. I found the one I'm using on Google Images.

Open the image in Photoshop and then go to Edit>Define Pattern. After that go back to our design and select the layer with the words "clash of the", the go to Layer>Layer Style>Pattern Overlay. Select the metal pattern you have just created.

Step 9

After the Pattern Overlay, select Bevel and Emboss. For the Technique use Chisel Hard, for the Depth use 500%, for the Size use 120 pixels, for the Soften use 0 pixel. Over the Shading Options, use 95º for the Angle, 35º for the Altitude, then for the Highlight Mode use Color Dodge with white for the color and 65% for the Opacity. For the Shadow Mode use Color Burn with Black for the color, then 40% for the Opacity.

Step 10

Now select Contour, then just change the Range to 50%.

Step 11

Here you can see the effect you will have. Notice that the ligths are coming from the bottom, or the center of the document, and that is why we split the words.

Step 12

Copy the word "titans" from Illustrator and paste it in Photoshop. On the layers palette select the layer we applied the layer styles in the previous steps and with the right button of the mouse click and select Copy Layer Styles. After that select the "titans" layer and click again with the right button of the mouse click and select Paste Layer Styles. Double click on the layer to open the Layer Style dialog box. Select Bevel and Emboss, then just change the Direction to Up.

Step 13

This is the effect you wll have gotten so far, notice now that the light for the word "titans" is coming from the top while for the "clash of the" is coming from the bottom.

Step 14

If you watched the movie you will know that the Pegasus was a black winged horse, so I got an image of a winged horse from Shutterstock, you can find it over here. It's a vector image, but that is fine, just place it as it is coming from the center.

Step 15

To make the horse more realistic and less vector style go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Use 35º for the Angle and 20 pixels for the Distance.

Step 16

For the flares you can create them using different techniques, you can do that using the noise gradient, the lens flare filter (least recommended) and using an image. I have used a image that is really good for that on most of my projects, the only thing I do is to change the Hue and Saturation to make the colors match the design. You can find the image I used here.

As you can se the background of the image is black so the only thing you have to do is to change the Blend Mode to Screen, so the black will be transparent.

Step 17

Add more lens flares over some letters of the texts. Use the image below fore reference.

Step 18

Select all layers and duplicate them, after that merge all the duplicated layers into one layer only. The keyboard shortcut to that is Command(mac)/Control(pc) + Alt + Shit + E. Select this layer and go to Filter>Blur>Radial Blur. Use 5 for the Amount, Zoom for the Blur Method and Best for the Quality.

Conclusion

The zoom blur will give that movement idea to our design, as the text is coming out of the page, exactly like the credits at the end of the movie. You can add some noise as well to give that movie style to the image. The technique on this tutorial is pretty simple, there's nothing that is difficult to be done, but the most important thing was that I wanted to show you that you can find inspiration everywhere, but it's important that you turn this inspiration into something real. The best way to do that is through personal projects ;)

Click on the image for full preview.

www.abduzeedo.com

Zombiefied People

Introduction:
As you can see below, we will transform the beautifull Pussycat Dollz-Nicole Scherzinger into a terrifying zombie.
Note that this tutorial contains material that may be graphic to younger users. Then again, we're making this, so we all know it's as fake as it can get. That's the beauty of Photoshop.
I am gonna aim to make it as gorey as my favorite kind of zombies. The ones from CapCom's Dead Rising and the new Dawn of the Dead.
That means lots of blood, limbs and even some torn off skin. You will really regret seeing her again when the zombie-apocalypse is in order. Let's hope that never happens... Or do we? Haha!

Pale Skin
Zombies are dead. And they have been for a while. When a person dies, the blood stops flowing through their body not giving the skin that characteristic redish look. Everyone will look much paler then they normally should.
And since Nicole is from Hawaii, her skin is a bit tanned. But you can use this technique with ANY skintype. Just make sure that you don't overdo it. For example with people with a very dark skintone. If you overdo it, they tend to look more like albino's and we don't want that.
For this tutorial I've chosen a very nice pose on which we can add loads of things that will be cool!

Create a new layer on top of the photo and set the blending-mode to COLOR and select a brush and start brushing with black over the skin.
Lower the opacity slightly and notice that your person gets that death-look written all over him/her.

Now grab your black brush again, but this time a VERY small size. 1px or 2px is enough. Then zoom in a lot if that makes you paint a little better.
With the blending-mode of a new layer set to OVERLAY, lower the opacity slightly and start brushing small cuts and bruises around the face and arms.
Imagine this zombie having to fight it's way through flocks of zombies and having his/her head bashed in a few times by objects.

Adding the Bones
Now with the image supplied by sxc.hu, use these bones and paste them into your document and press CTRL+T to transform it down to a size suitable for the person we're turning into a zombie.

Press CTRL+L to play with the sliders of the levels of the image to make the bones look more real and matching to the image you're using. This is different for every image, just make sure that the amount of shading and lighting in the image are almost the same as the image you're using.
Then press CTRL+T again to make it a little smaller and rotate it. Then place it near the arm.

Press CTRL+U and drag the middle slider (the saturation) some to the left to make it look a little greyer. Also drag the lower slider a little too the left a little to make it darker if needed.
Then grab your Pen-Tool or Lasso-Tool or Polygonal Lasso-Tool and cut away all the white in the bones-image and the other bone as well. Also cut a little off the bone to make it look like only a part of the bone is coming out his/her arm.
Then open up a new layer above the bones layer and press CTRL+G or CTRL+SHIFT+G to mask it with the layer below and use your black brush at around 4px to brush a little at the bottom where the brush and the skin are connecting. Lower the opacity to make it a little transparent.

Grab the Burn-Tool and press D to reset your colors to black and white. Then look at the taskbar and set the range to Shadows and the exposure to 20%. Then start brushing around the bone-area on the original photo-layer. This will make it look like the skin is all rotten and the bone is coming right through.

Continue with the Burn-Tool on the face and notice that if you brush over the same area twice or more then once, the color will get "burned" like the tool's name. Be very carefull with this/ You don't want to make it too red. That's why your trusty friend "CTRL+Z" is always there to save the day!
Pay special attention to the area around the eyes and mouth to give the eyes that death-look and the mouth.. well let's just say I got a surprise for that later!

Blood Everywhere
From the great, yet sick, site AngryBlue.com, download the AngryBlue-brushes pack v1 and use the largest brush of them all to brush around your document on a new layer.
Set the color to standard red and just play around with the placing. Remember that you can always remove pieces of the blood if unwanted, so don't worry and place it away!

Set the blending-mode of the blood to MULTIPLY and press CTRL+U to darked it a little by dragging the bottom slider a little to the left. Your blood should look very real. Blood may be very red, but we're talking about zombies who have been out for days with blood on their bodies and clothes which has gone old. And the older blood gets, the darker it gets!

Grab your Eraser and just erase anything blood-related outside the person itself. Don't worry about the unwanted blood inside the person. We'll fix that later!

Now with the Eraser again, brush away all the blood you think is too much. If you're using the same image as mine, make sure the right part of her belly is empty, because we're gonna do some cool stuff to that later!

Press D again and select the Burn-Tool once more and after selecting the original layer again, brush a little darkness over the places where you placed the blood to make some blood-stains look even darker and dirtier. Gross!

Now on a new layer, grab your brush and set it to 1px or 2px and use a red color to brush small strokes around the mouth making it look like blood is dripping out of the mouth. You can set the blending-mode again to MULTIPLY or OVERLAY depending on the darkness of red you used.
I used the standard red and set the layer to MULITPLY just like the other blood-layer to make it look the same.

On a new layer, grab a white brush of 2px-5px and brush a little over the eyes to make them look all white and undead. Which is weird, considdering the zombies are dead. Nevermind that. Just make the pupils be gone with this effect!

With the image again supplied from the awesome sxc.hu, place the skull-image found below into your document and adjust the size a little so you can see all of it. We're gonna crop it down even more, but just make sure it's small enough to be completely seen, but not smaller then the head of your photo!

Now press CTRL+T to make the skull the same size as the head of your photo and rotate it if needed to make sure it fits over the head of your photo perfectly!

Grab your Eraser again and brush away all the parts you do not need. I chose for a part of the jaw I wish to keep. Then just remove all that!
Then press CTRL+U to drag the middle slider again a little to the left to make it look greyer. Make it look like the bone coming out of his/her arm.

Create a layer above the skull and press CTRL+G or CTRL+SHIFT+G to mask it with the layer below and use a soft black brush to brush a little shadow at the top. Again, lower the opacity if it's too much.

And just as with the face, grab a 1px or 2px red brush and paint a little drips on a new layer. Again, set it to MULTIPLY.

The Big Wound
Now because my image has a plain white background, this step is a lot easier for me. If you are using an image with a background that is filled with objects, you will need to follow my Invisible People-tutorial to learn how to remove unwanted skin or body from a filled background.
For those of you who have the same image or an image with a white background, make a new layer and use a white brush to paint a cut over the belly.

And with the same settings as last time you used the Burn-Tool, grab it again and on the original layer, brush around the hole and make it look like an actual bite or rip is out of the body. Pay close attention to the angle you're looking at and the facts that area's which are deeper then others, are also darker.

And again, use the same settings used for adding blood to the body to paint some more blood dripping from the gaping hole of her belly.

And with the exact same settings, on a layer below the white cut, add some more blood using the AngryBlue-brushes to make it look nice and dirty.
Remember, it's a zombie. Not your partner (or maybe that's what you *are* working on), but you don't have to be gentil. Make it as dirty and gross as possible!

Final Touches
Hey, let's also add a gunshotwound, because who here hasn't shot a zombie? Well probably no-one, but imagine if zombies *were* infesting the earth. Then you'd shoot one yeah!
With the exact same settings as before, use the Burn-Tool to brush a little more bruises and a little hole in his/her arm.

And then with the same settings for the blood again, make some blood drip out of the hole as if the wound was fresh!

www.mickm.com