For those that are new to the graphic design gig, welcome.  Let this tutorial be your tour guide to one of the most gruesome (yet rewarding) professions ever and you will find your stay slightly more pleasant. For the newbies out there, Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based drawing program that is often used for graphic design. Utilizing the program will help you create complicated patterns and designs faster and more efficiently than one normally could on pencil and paper or other traditional methods.

Let start with the program basics.?

Feel free to let my know if I’ve left anything out of my brief introduction of Adobe Illustrator. If you wish to learn more about the program it maybe best to pick up a book or find the many reliable resources online.

Keyboard shortcuts

Adobe actually has a really comprehensive library of ‘keyboard shortcuts‘ for all their programs. However I’ve made a small list of the more useful keyboard shortcuts that you will find useful on your journey as a designer.

• SHIFT – holding shift while moving and object will ensure that it moves in a straight line
• Command G – Also know as Ctrl G for PC users, this command is for grouping objects.
• O – to flip and object
• R – to rotate an object
• Alt Shift ] or [ – to move an object to the front or back
• Command 2 – to lock an object

It’s also possible to set your own keyboard shortcuts or import a custom set that others have set up and optimized for your designing experience.

Making Basic Shapes in Adobe Illustrator

Up in the depth of your tool palette is the shape tool.

If you hold down the mouse key on the shape tool button then a menu will appear with a list of shapes (or shape menu) for you to choose from like so.

Clicking on the arrow to the side of the shape menu allows the shape menu to pop out in a separate window.

Now you’re ready to make your first shape!

You’ll notice that when you select a shape and click on your new document that the shape is stamped onto your page. However if you hold down the click and drag the mouse you can adjust the size of the shape. You may have also noticed that you can rotate the shape if you you drag it in circles.

Holding down the shift button as you drag your shape will ensure your shape stays proportional as you change the size of the shape. When you hold down Alt, it centers your shape in its position while you decide on the size and rotational angle of your shape. Holding down control will give the shape a similar effect as hold down alt except it lets you position and angle the shape from the left side of the shape rather than from the center. Don’t worry about getting your shape perfect. You can always change the aspects of your shape later by clicking on it with the Selection tool (located at the top left corner of your tool palette) and dragging the corners of the selection box.

It is also possible for you to change the number of points your shape normally has by clicking on it with the Shape tool and adjusting the points section in the menu that pops up. This is how you create freak-of-nature-shapes such as the 110-point star.

So now we have a shape. It’s not quite as beautiful as we would like is it? Luckily, Illustrator has plenty of tools that will assist you in pimping out your custom shape.

Let’s start with the Fill and Stroke tools located here.

The fill color will always default to white however if you double click on the tool then a color menu opens up for you to choose your own custom color. After you choose a new color and click OK, your shape will automatically be filled with the color of your choosing like so.

The stroke of the shape can be treated the same way however if you decide not to have a stroke then just simply click the tiny red striped square below the Stroke tool to cancel out the stroke.

The Pathfinder palette is a key tool to creating shapes and most designers find themselves hugging the palette when they go to sleep at night. The palette lets you create new shapes from overlapping objects. Just select the objects you would like to combine with the Selection tool and click on the effect that you want in the Pathfinder palette.

The palette provides four different effects for shapes. You can either combine two or multiple shapes into a one unique shape like so.

You can also minus the object(s) that are in front.

You can also intersect two of the objects or exclude the space in-between them.

Most objects and graphics in Illustrator can be created by combining and transforming shapes creating enough possibilities to make Picasso jealous.

Drawing with the Pencil tool in Adobe Illustrator

Drawing in Illustrator doesn’t have to feel like it’s constrained to the five shapes that the program gives you. You can easily design your own custom shapes with the pencil tool by click on the pencil tool in your tool palette.

Click and drag the tool to create your own custom drawing like a real pencil.

If you accidentally leave an important component out of your custom drawing, you can easily add a new path or line to the one you’ve already made. First, select the path that you’ve already made and position the end of the pencil icon on the endpoint of the path to add an additional path like so.

Of course if you made a mistake in drawing a line, the pencil tool also lets you redraw parts of a path by selecting the path and just redrawing the part you wish to change. The program will automatically change the closest part of the path to match your new drawing.

The possibilities of the Pencil tool makes your shape repertoire even more endless however if you’re unhappy with the quality or texture of the paths that the Pencil tool creates then simply double click on the pencil tool in your tool palette to open up the Pencil tool options. From there you can change the fidelity or smoothness of the path.

The fidelity of the tool determines the frequency and distance of the anchor points on your path. The less anchor points there are then the smoother the path. The smoothness option lets you determines the amount of detail applied to your path. The lower the value the more you’ll see the irregularities in the line as well as the number of anchor points.

You can also smooth out parts of your line by holding down the Pencil tool button and selecting the Smooth tool in the new pop-up menu. Use the smooth tool to smooth out the part of the line that needs smoothing.

If switching to the smooth tool is way too inconvenient then a quick way to smooth out your lines is to hold ALT while using the Pencil tool to temporarily switch to the Smooth tool.

Drawing with the Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator

Speaking of anchor points, the pen tool lets you draw more precise lines by plotting anchor points and adjusting the path between anchor points. However the pen tool is one of the trickiest tools to use in all of the Creative Suite but if mastered, can prove to be one of the most useful.

The easiest shapes you can draw with the pen tool are the ones that consist only of straight lines. Click on the Pen tool in your tool palette and just simply drop anchor points where two straight lines should intersect in your shape like so.

You can adjust the position and size of your new shape with the selection tool as well as the placement of the lines with the Direct Selection tool (located to the right of the Selection tool in your tool palette).

Now that you’ve mastered the art of making polygons with the pen tool you can now tackle making curves with the pen tool.

The most essential snippet of information you need to know about using the pen tool is that the determining factor in getting the shape you want is placing the anchor points in the correct position. When you create a curve you want to place the actor points where the curve changes direction.

To create a curved line simply place an actor point and then a second one to create a line. While still clicking on the second anchor point, draw it to create a curved line. You can adjust the curve of the line by holding Command (or CTRL if you’re a PC) and pulling the handles or the path to the position you want.

You can also delete anchor points that you are having second thoughts about by hovering over those points until the – symbol shows up next to your Pen and click on the anchor point to remove it. You can also go back and change curved anchor points into straight ones by holding ALT and clicking the point you want to change.

The Pen tool is a tool that spans across the whole Adobe universe and can be really useful once one learns the fine art of mastering it. A good way to practice with the tool is to trace objects with it or cut out an object in a photo with the tool.

Using Brushes

Brushes can add a certain style to your shapes and can imitate crayon, calligraphy brushes, or other hand drawn mediums and patterns. There are four types of brushes in Illustrator: Calligraphic, Scatter, Art, and Pattern.

Your selection of brushes can be found in the Brushes Palette on the right hand side of the screen. If you can’t find it then simply open it by going to Window>Brushes or hit F5. Your brushes palette should come with a few selected brushes on display however you can find more options by clicking the menu button in the bottom left corner of the palette.

Once you select the type of brush you would like, a second palette will open up with more brush options for you.

To apply the brush, just simply select the path or shape you wish to apply it to and click on the brush you would like to use. The path or shape will instantly change to the style you desire.

Working with Typography in Adobe Illustrator

Many designers find that the Character Palette is their best (and sometimes only) friend. The palette does everything you need when it comes to typography and will adjust every little crevice of a word. However first it is important to learn how to place a word. Click on the Text tool in your tool palette located here.

Click and drag on your page to create a text box and click within the text box to start typing. You can always adjust the size of the text box by holding down Command (or CTRL in PC) and adjusting the corners.

You can also make a vertical text box by holding shift when you begin creating a new text box.

On your character palette you can adjust nearly anything when it comes to type. You can adjust the width and height of the letters or the width and height of the spacing between the letters.

You can adjust the font and font size as well as bold, italics, and such. You can even rotate the letters to your desired degree for those who love reading sideways.

The Align Palette is useful when using typography as well as creating shapes because the palette will automatically align your text or shape to a selection of your choice. Whether you want to align the object to the side or on top is up to your keen designer eye.

One of the most popular design styles of the past few years is to create interesting effects around a stock photo of a dancer or a person in motion.  The motion offers a unique base around which to build creative elements.

In this Photoshop tutorial, you’ll see how to manipulate a single stock image in Photoshop to create a dance illustration.

If you are looking for more of the best Photoshop tutorials, check out these posts:

• Create a Dynamic Dance Wallpaper in Photoshop and Illustrator
• Create Custom Shapes for an Asian Inspired Composition
• Create a Natural Flowery Peace and Harmony Composition
• Having Fun with Vectors, Custom Brushes and Stock Images

If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know in the comments!

Tools Used:

• Adobe Photoshop
• A stock image

Final Image Preview

Step 1: Scene Setup

Ok so to start off, we need to create our background and our new document. Now like almost all of my tutorials the resolution is up to you, however I still suggest something large (I will be using 3000*2000) and now we need to make the background. To create the background choose a light grey and make a grey to white gradient, I went with the circular gradient with white in the center expanding into grey but whatever you like should work just fine for this.

Now we need our stock image! You can use any kind of model you like, I went with a dancer picture which can be seen below. Once you have your stock you will need to isolate it out using your pen tool and drop it into your scene.

Step 2: Simple Background Aesthetics

Now to start building our scene up with some easy tricks. The first of which will be to help lessen the negative space in the scene by creating something for the background. So create a new layer under your model and make a large colored circle (I went with pink). You can do this by using the circular marquee tool and then just filling it. Once you have made your circle turn the layers opacity down to about 20%.

Now we can create another new layer under the figure for our shadow. To create the shadow grab any old brush and just draw it out. Once you have loosely (very loose in my case) drawn the shadow just apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of about 15 depending on how large your shadow area is going to be and how condensed you want it to be.

Once you shadow is done we can make a duplicate of our figure and turn the opacity to 0%. Once you have done this go to the F on the layer toolbar and select ‘stroke’. Once you have done that set your stroke dialog up as mine is in the below screenshot, then just decrease the opacity and move it around a tad to the left or right.

Step 3: Figure Aesthetics

Ok now its time to start my favorite part! The sketching! So at this point you will want to grab your 3px hard brush and get started!

So basically what you want to do hear is to just trace, doodle and shade in random sections with different colors. I used black, white, pink, cyan and green for my colors. Starting with green and white then moving on to the other colors but your color selections can be whatever you like, just make sure they complement one another. And remember we are going for a traditional doodle/sketch look so don’t worry if yours looks rough!

You can also play around with other filters/tools while doing this. For example I smudged my green lines in the below screenshot.

Ok so now that you have sketched all over your stock its time to move on to the next step which may not be necessary or viable on your piece but we will go over it regardless just for the sake of learning!

So what we are going to do is duplicate the cross on my figures necklace. So to do this in a cool way we will, isolate out the cross, drop it on a new layer and set it as an overlay layer at 100% and then under this layer on a new layer we will just fill in the cross. This way the solid cross that we just filled will have the shadows and highlights from the overlay cross and it will allow us to manipulate the colors much easier than with the standard hue adjustments.

You can also see where I drew (poorly) little loops to connect these new crosses to the original necklace, which you can add to yours if your doing something similar.

Now lets add some more color like effects. To do this just create a new layer above your figure and draw a bit patch on it in a color that fits with your piece (I went with blue). Then just apply a large Gaussian blur and set the layer up as a screen layer.

My document now looks like the below screen shot.

Now lets add some more to our figure! So grab one of your splat/brush stroke brushes ( see our tut on these here : http://design.creativefan.com/combining-custom-brushes-for-wild-effects-in-photoshop/ ) and throw down to in two different colors (I used dark purple and blue) then set them up as an overlay layer.

Now using some of the brushes just throw a few brush strokes on a new layer under your figure and some on top of your figure.

Step 4: Custom shapes

Once your brush strokes are all laid down we can move on to the next section, that being creating the dynamic swirly shapes! To do this start off by making a new document (you don’t have to but I find it easier) and then just using your pen tool make a quick random loop like shape. Then once you have your shape fill it with your desired color!

Now unlike our previous tutorials where we tried to create a light setup that related to the background this time we can just go all random. Just burn/dodge what you think looks good. Because in the end if you think it looks good, what else matters? If your having trouble at this step, or don’t know what im referring to I suggest you take a look at one of our tutorials that covers this in full, which can be found at: http://design.creativefan.com/create-colorful-ornamental-text-photoshop-tutorial/

Now we can create a new hue adjustment layer. This can be found in the layer drop down under adjustment layers -> hue and saturation. Once you have create a new adjustment layer and set it up to your desired color then just edit it like you would any mask! For example erasing a line would create a line in a different color and painting a line would do vice-versa. I used the pen tool to create my color swirls but you can just marquee them out or just paint them on, whatever is easier for you!

Now just drop it into your dance picture. The idea here being that part loops behind the figure whilst another part stays on top of the figure creating a 3D like illusion. As you can see in the below screen shot, I put a ton!

Now we can repeat the process of making our swirly shape but this time just make a sphere which is a thousand times easier. Just lasso out a sphere, fill, burn, dodge and color! If your sphere looks a tad flat you can spherize it with the spherize filter located in the deformation drop down in your filter tab. But if you do this be sure that you have it set to 100% on both axis’!

Once the shapes are in lets do some more fine tuning. So head over to your layer tab and choose create new layer > Fill layer > Pattern layer and then just grab a scan line pattern. Once you have done this just make some random selections or random brush strokes etc… which will be your scan lines. You can use your polygon lasso here to make various weird shapes or some brushes you have lying about its up to you. I used a splatter brush as well as the poly lasso.

But don’t be afraid of just using one type of pattern! For example below you can see I used another pattern, a black halftone to be exact.

Next grab your poly lasso and just make a few rectangles and triangles in various shapes all over your figure. Then just copy and paste these sections of your figure on to a new layer. Once you have done that just move them around to create some abstract dispersion. Also if you wanted you could use the displacement filter for this, however keep in mind that doing it that way gives you a thousand times less control!

To finish off our piece we will need to add in something more, something to help bring everything together. That will be light stocks! So we will head over to SXC and grab this stock and drop it into our document.  http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1114780

Once you have dropped the light stock into your document apply it as a screen beneath the figure. Then duplicate it and place it above the figure. Erase out the parts you don’t like that are on top of the figure and ta-da!

Now we are done! I finished my piece off with a bit more drawing and some graffiti work and my final image looks like the below screen shot.

I hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial and maybe learned a thing or two! If you have any questions regarding a technique don’t be afraid to post a message and ask!

Gradients can allow for the illusion of 3D objects, and because Illustrator uses vectors, the objects and gradients you create can be scaled up or down without loss of quality.  Thus, Illustrator is a great tool for product design and mockups, and can be used in place of, or in conjunction with 3D software.

In this Illustrator tutorial, you’ll learn how to use gradients in Illustrator to create a pair of iPod Nanos, and how you can quickly create a variety of other objects using these techniques.

If you need more Illustrator tutorials, check these other tutorials:

• Design the Macbook Line in Illustrator
• Create an Audio Casette Icon in Illustrator
• Create a Dynamic Dance Wallpaper in Photoshop and Illustrator

Let’s get started!

Tools Used:

• Adobe Illustrator

Final Image Preview:

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create the much loved Apple iPod Nano 5g! So let’s start off!

Body

1. So let’s start off! First, create a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (M) and fill in the measures shown.

2. Now let’s fill the shape with a linear gradient, so with the Gradient panel fill in the shown gradient, measures are as follows –
CS stands for color stop and L stands for location

• 1st CS – RGB = 86, 5, 41| L =0
• 2nd CS – RGB = 196,1,95 | L = 3
• 3rd CS – RGB = 208,0,105 | L = 5
• 4th CS – RGB = 182,0,85 | L = 21
• 5th CS – RGB = 192,2,98 | L = 34
• 6th CS – RGB = 201, 4,109 | L = 42
• 7th CS – RGB = 215, 14,120 | L =50
• 8th CS – RGB = 255, 81, 156 | L = 72
• 9TH CS – RGB = 255, 83, 158 | L = 74
• 10TH CS – RGB = 201, 4, 109 | L =75
• 11TH CS – RGB = 205, 4, 108 | L = 76
• 12TH CS – RGB = 204, 3, 105 | L = 78
• 13TH CS – RGB = 194, 4, 100 | L = 85
• 14TH CS – RGB = 152, 1, 70 | L = 91
• 15TH CS – RGB = 153, 19, 80 | L = 95
• 16TH CS – RGB = 240, 147, 200 | L = 99

I highly suggest enlarging the gradient panel.

3. Now let’s make the clickwheel, so first draw two circles with the Ellipse Tool (L) and fill in the measures. Fill them anything but cancel off any stroke.

4. Now centrally align both the circles and with both of them selected go to Window>Pathfinder and then click on the “Minus Front” option. Now fill the newly made shape with white and again make sure that there is no stroke.

5. Now just align the shape like shown to the main image.

6. Now let’s create the options, so with tools like the Star Tool, the Type Tool and the Rectangle Tool create these shapes and then again cancel off any stroke and fill them with # 616872.

7. Then again align the shapes like shown to the clickwheel.

8. Now let’s create the screen of the iPod, so with the Rectangle Tool (M) create two rectangles with the measures shown and then give the bigger rectangle a rounded corners effect of 10 pt (Effect>Stylize>Round Corners) and then fill and stroke accordingly with the image.

9. Now centrally align both the rectangles on top of each other and then align like shown to the main body.

10. Now let’s change the colors of the screen’s border to match the reflection, so fill in it with the shown gradient.
Here are the measures –

• 1ST CS – RGB = 3, 1, 2 | L = 0
• 2ND CS – RGB = 2, 6, 5 | L = 18
• 3RD CS – RGB = 25, 25, 25 | L = 38
• 4TH CS – RGB = 55, 55, 55 | L = 56
• 5TH CS – RGB = 60, 58, 59 | L = 77
• 6TH CS – RGB = 9, 9, 9 | L = 78
• 7TH CS – RGB = 3, 0, 0 | L = 100

Again enlarging the gradient panel will ease out the process.

11. Now let’s create the button at the top so make a squished rounded rectangle and fill in the shown gradient. (I’ve zoomed in that’s why it looks big, but actual size is quite small)
Measures –

• 1ST CS – RGB = 83, 91, 94 | L = 0
• 2ND CS – RGB = 254, 254, 254 | L = 25
• 3RD CS – RGB = 74, 81, 84 | L = 50
• 4TH CS – RGB = 146, 146, 146 | L = 54
• 5TH CS – RGB = 99, 99, 99 | L = 61
• 6TH CS – RGB = 253, 253, 253 | L = 75
• 7TH CS – RGB = 83, 91, 94 | L = 100

12. And then align the button like shown preferably at the top.

13. Now add some text and maybe add any logo to give it a personalized feel, here I’ve added the apple logo along with the text “iPod” (Apple’s used font is Tahoma).

14. Now add a subtle drop shadow by going to Effect>Stylize>Drop Shadow and set any parameters that you prefer.

15. Now import your design to Photoshop and play with Hue to get your desired color!

Final Image

Conclusion

Use of powerful gradients always makes stuff look photo-realistic. I hope you’ve enjoyed the tut!

Creating custom shapes can be a powerful way to add a personal touch to an artwork, and they can allow you to control the composition completely.  While you can use 3D programs for this task, as we have demonstrated in several previous tutorials here on Design.CreativeFan, it’s also great to use Photoshop and Illustrator to quickly create shapes with patterns and 3D styles that are perfect for digital art.

In this tutorial, you’ll be walked through how to create shapes and combine them together to create an amazing Asian-inspired artwork.

If you liked this tutorial, check out our other tutorials:

• Create a Natural Flowery Peace and Harmony Composition
• Having Fun with Vectors, Custom Brushes and Stock Images
• Create a Dynamic Dance Wallpaper in Photoshop and Illustrator

Tools Used:

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator

Final Image Preview:

Step 1 – First, I started by creating a file size of 1407 x 2214 (I usually open an A4 sheet and crop it to a good size.)

Step 2 – Next, I added a Gradient > Radial Gradient.  Here, I choose a gray to white gradient as seen below.

Step 3 – Now, I know what my composition will be, so I added a shadow.  To do this, I pressed F5, chose a soft brush and set the color to black and 30% opacity.  I put some more shadows on the side to give more depth at the bottom, but with the opacity lower.

Step 4 – Next, I used a soft brush to paint a little white down the center of the piece.

Step 5 – Here, I started to add some shapes (three white and one black with a pattern of stripes), which I’ll cover how to create now.

5.1 – Well let’s start with the top shape first.  Take your pen tool to create something like this and paint it black.

5.2 – Then go to Blending Options and enter the following settings:

5.3 – Then I applied this pattern in Soft Light layer mode.

5.4 – Now, our shape looks like this:

5.5 – Then, create a  new layer and make a black ball with your circle shape tool.

5.6 – Then go to Blending Options and enter the following settings:

5.7 – Now, let’s get the white shape, so as before, make a similar shape and paint it white:

5.8 – Then go to Blending Options and enter the following settings:

5.9 – Again, create the ball like this:

5.10 – Then go to Blending Options and enter the following settings:

5.11 – Almost done, now let’s make this shape, do a format similar to the pen tool and fill it with black.

5.12 – Then go to Blending Options and enter the following settings:

5.13 – Again, create a circle:

5.14 – Then go to Blending Options and enter the following settings:

5.15 – Then I duplicated the first shape that we made and decreased the size.

Step 6 – Some more shapes can be made in Illustrator and Photoshop, put some underneath and on top of the main shapes from above.

6.1 – So let’s see how to create some of these shapes.  Well, first begin by creating two white balls with black border, a big ball and a smaller ball using Illustrator.

6.2 – Then we’ll use the Blend tool to create the other shapes.  First click on the blend tool, then click the big ball followed by the small one.

6.3 - Double click on the icon to open the tool options, and choose Specified Steps with 15 spaces.

6.4 - Use the direct selection tool, click on the Points> Convert to round the corners.

6.5 - Then move the way you prefer and voila!. (In my work ”God’ ‘I basically duplicated, turned and inverted the colors of the same object).

Step 7 – It will look something like this with the shapes.  For the shapes I didn’t cover, it’s just a simple matter of using the pen tool and a Gradient Overlay in the layer styles.  Experiment and have fun!

Step 8 – I added some red dots, and a larger center, with a shade of red.

Step 9 – I created a line with the red balls, and added a white shape with a white glow around them.

Step 10 – Apply a 3d elements and delete the parts that you do not want, and then apply a white shadow. I have used the 3D balls from K3nzus, you can find them here: (K3nzus.deviantart.com).

Step 11 – Add some red lines, use the Liquify to distort, duplicate, and mirror it, then add a shade of red, and then erase the central area.

Step 12 – Add the symbol in Japanese which means ”God’ ‘in two work pieces, a red ball in the biggest center, and a larger red symbol in the upper right corner.

Step 13 – Work is going well, so this is what we have so far.

Step 14 – I painted several times with the brush near the Japanese symbol, you can use a simple splatter brush.

Step 15 – Now the effects.  Create a new layer and to to Image -> Apply Image.  Next, go to Filter > Brush Strokes> Spatter.  Place the Spray Radius to 13 and Smoothness to 8.

Step 16 – Erase some parts and boat underneath all the shapes and duplicate twice.

Step 17 – Join the 3 layers this way so they fit together.

Step 18 – Place the layers from above under the composition, and we’re done!  Here’s the finished work, you can add a noise in the background, I chose to keep it as is.

One of the most popular techniques in portfolio design is to have a computer monitor or screen to display your works.  While you can try to find a free stock image to use, raster graphics tend to be lossy and lower quality, so it’s a better option to use Adobe Illustrator to design your own.

In this tutorial you will learn how to design the Macbook line for your portfolios!  Haven’t you felt the need for a good realistic design to help you preview your works?  Well this tutorial is just what you need then!  With more emphasis on screen space, you’ll be able to show your works in style!

Tools Used

• Adobe Illustrator

Final Image Preview

Macbook White

1. First of all let’s create the Mac book white model. So to start off, create a rounded rectangle with The Rounded Rectangle Tool and fill in the shown measures.

2. Now, fill in the rounded rectangle with a linear gradient. With the gradient panel (Window>Gradient) or the Gradient Tool (G) fill in the shown measures.

3. Now with the shape selected go to Object>Path>Offset Path and enter 2pt in the popup box. Now with the new shape selected, go to Effect>Stylize>Inner glow and enter the shown measures.

4. Now with both shapes centrally aligned, duplicate the grey rectangle and fill it with the shown gradient [Gradient Panel or Gradient Tool (G)]

5. Now with both the Rectangle Tool (M) and the Rounded Rectangle Tool create two shapes (measures in image), then align them as shown (First centrally align them, then move the bigger rectangle up 1.5pt), Then with the Pathfinder Panel (Window>Pathfinder) and with both the shapes selected, click on the “Minus Front” button.

6. Now fill in the newly created shape with the gradient shown. (The location of all the “upper” handles is 50).

7. Now align this shape with the main screen like shown (Make sure you have Smart Guides turned on). This is our main body, now we’ll be adding more shapes to make it look more realistic).

8. Now duplicate the shape we just created (Ctrl + C to copy and then Ctrl + F to paste in front) and then with the transparency panel (Window>Transparency) set it on overlay and reduce the opacity to 50%. This intensifies the main shape and gives nice contrast.

9. Now we’ll be making apple’s “Magnetic Opener” (I’m not so sure what they call it) so first create the two shapes shown and centrally align them and then move the upper rectangle up 1.5pt. (The measures don’t matter for the rectangle as it is being used only as a temporary shape). So now with both the shapes selected, go to the Pathfinder Panel and click on “Minus Front”.

10. Now to add realism to the shape, so first fill the shape with white and cancel off any stroke and then select the Mesh Tool (U) and click on the shapes three times (shown in the image), then with the Direct Selection Tool (A), holding down Ctrl select the highlighted points and change their color to something gray.

11. Now just align the “opener” with the main body as shown. (It looks good, doesn’t it?).

12. Now time to make “power” or “sleep” shower (Again don’t know exactly what they call it). So first with the Line Segment Tool (\) make a line of 12pt everything else at default. Now cancel the fill and give it a stoke of color #383838 and then with the stroke panel change the weight to 2pt and click on the round cap button and finally align it to the main shape.

13. Now time to make the screws which appear on the bottom of the macbook, so first make an ellipse with the Ellipse Tool (L) [measures in image] and then fill it with #494949 and give it a stroke of #2C3235 and with opacity of 50%.

14. So now make 3 more copies of the screw and then align them at the bottom as shown.

15. In this step we’ll be using the appearance panel (Window> Appearance) to add multiple strokes to make the webcam on top of the macbook. So first with the Ellipse tool (L) make a circle of width and height 2pt, and then give the following strokes and fill shown in the image (To add multiple strokes click on the appearance fly-out menu and click on “Add New Stroke).

16. Now just align the webcam as shown in the image (at the top).

17. Now let’s make a temporary screen for our macbook, so first with the Rectangle Tool (M) make a rectangle (measures in image) and then simply align it to the main body as shown.

18. Now let’s make the famous reflection of the screen, so first duplicate the screen (Ctrl + C and then Ctrl + F) and then with the pentool, roughly create the shape as in the image. Then select both of them and with pathfinder click on “Minus Front”, voila you have the shape!

19. Now give the newly made shape a white-to-transparent gradient and at a slanting angle then align it to the screen. After aligning just reduce it’s opacity to 75%.

20. We are reaching the final stages! Now add some text at the bottom of the screen and fill it with a slightly darker grey than the body itself. Now to simulate a illusion so that it looks like it’s sitting on something, so let’s make a reflection! Duplicate the lower part and go to Object>Transform>Reflect and with Horizontal selected click on OK. Now just align it and fill it with grey to transparent gradient.

21. As the image says, Plant in a screenshot and you’re macbook is finished!

Macbook Pro

22. Now let’s make the awesome MacbookPro that everyone uses! So first of all with the Rounded Rectangle Tool create a rectangle with the measures shown in the image.

23. Now again with the same tool, create another rectangle with the measures shown and then give it a inner glow by going to Effect> Stylize > Inner Glow and fill in the shown measures.

24. Now centrally align both the shapes to get a similar looking figure in the image.

25. Now let’s make the camera, so first with the Ellipse Tool (L) create a circle of width and height 12pt, then fill it with a radial gradient like shown in the image and then align it to the top of the body we just made.

26. Now let’s make the temporary screen, so with the Rectangle Tool (M) create a rectangle with the measures shown and fill it with #OCOCOC and then align it to the main body as shown.

27. Now add a reflection like the way we made previously for the macbook white and then add some text at the bottom, now our screen is complete, so let’s move onto creating the base.

28. Ok so now let’s create the base, so to start off, select the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a rectangle with the measures shown, then fill it with a metallic gradient (measures in image).

29. Now make 2 copies of the “base” and then select the first one and go to Effect>Texture>Grain and fill in the measures shown, similarly do it for the second one also and then finally align them on each other. This is done to add a realistic metal feel.

30. Now, just align them to the screen like shown. Align them in such a way that the “base” overlaps the screen a bit.

31. With the Rectangle Tool (M) create a rectangle of width 875pt and height of 14pt, then fill it with a linear gradient (measures in image) and then with the Direct Selection Tool (A) select one-by-one the top corners of the rectangle and move the 25pt to right and left respectively, then go to Effect>Stylize>Round Corners and type in 10pt.

32. Now make a copy of the shape we made previously and go to Effect>Stylize>Texture and type in the measures in the image shown. Then align both the shapes on each other and then align then to the bottom of the “base” as shown in the image.

33. Now, add the final details (Gradient mesh opener, the power shower and the screws) like we did in the macbook. Then similarly again add a reflection at the bottom.

34. Again plant in a screenshot and you are good to go!

Macbook Air

35. Similarly with the same effects and gradients, you can create the Macbook Air also!!

Final Image

Why and where should I use it?

These have a lot of uses; they can be used for portfolios, marketplace previews and even for icon sets! In web design, when you need to show your client your work these are great for showing them, they enhance the design, these are awesome for portfolios to show your latest work, it gives a sense of professionalism to the viewer and they can also be made into icon sets! The great thing about these is that they can be practically used in any kind of design and since they are vector, these are scalable. There are endless possibilities for which you can use these for. And since the MacApp store is opening soon, these will be just the thing you’ll need for previewing those apps! And with the main focus on the screen and not other details like keyboard etc. it gives the maximum space for previewing your great websites and portfolios!!

Conclusion

By using simple shapes and gradients, You can make possibly anything!.

Mastering Adobe Illustrator’s tools can allow you to create vector objects that scale without loss, which are perfect for icons and logos.  However, Adobe Illustrator can be a bit of a change for people familiar with Adobe Photoshop, as Illustrator has different tools and methods for creating objects.

In this tutorial you will learn how to make an Audio Cassette Icon. We’ll be using only lines, rectangles and ellipses! We will also work with mutiple fills and in built vector textures! along with some valuable tips and tricks!

Let us know what you think in the comments!

As always, if you have any suggestions or feedback, please let us know and we’ll do our best to help out.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator
• Version: CS4
• Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 1 1/2 hours

Final Image Preview

Step 1

Draw a rounded rectangle with the Rounded Rectangle Tool with the measures as shown below. (Width = 188pt, Height = 116pt and Corner Radius = 5pt).

Step 2

Now fill the newly made rectangle with a linear gradient with measures shown below. (If you cannot see the gradient panel, go to Window > Gradient or alternatively hit Ctrl + F9).

Step 3

Now let’s add some objects to make the cassette look more realistic. So somewhere else on the art board make four ellipses with the Ellipse Tool (L) of the measures shown below and fill and stroke them with the shown measures.

Step 4

Now align the four ellipses to the corners of the rectangle as shown.

Step 5

Let’s keep on adding shapes! , So now make two rectangles with the Rectangle Tool (M) and hit in the measures shown below. After that, align both the shapes such that both their left edges meet. Now with both the objects selected unite them with pathfinder. (If you cannot view the pathfinder panel go to Window > Pathfinder).

Step 6

Now fill the united shape with #484848 and cancel off any stroke. Now give this shape an Inner glow, Effect > Stylize > Inner glow and fill in the shown measures.

Step 7

Now make a copy of the shape we made previously and reflect it by going to Object > Transform > Reflect and then align both the shapes as shown below (Make both their top edges meet).

Step 8

Make two rounded rectangles with the Rounded Rectangle Tool and hit in the measures shown below (Any fill works, they don’t matter right now). Now align them like shown (First centrally align them and then move the smaller shape down 5pt). Now select both the shapes and with the pathfinder, select the minus front option to cut a hole.

Step 9

Now fill in a linear gradient to the shape we made previously and use the measures shown. Then add an Inner glow Effect>Stylize>Inner glow and hit in the shown measures.

Step 10

Now align the yellow shape we just made to the main body. Align the top edge of the yellow shape to the bottom edge of the two guns like shapes as shown below.

Step 11

Now let’s texturize the yellow shape. So with the appearance panel open (Window>Appearance) click on the fly-out menu and select “New Fill”. Then with that fill selected, open up the swatches panel (Window>Swatches) and in the fly-out menu go to Open Swatches library>Patterns>Basic Graphics_Texture. Now select the “Lines” texture. Now the design should look familiar to the image shown below.

Step 12

Now adjust the texture. So open up the transparency panel (Window>Transparency) and set the new fill on overlay with 50% opacity.

Step 13

Again add a new fill to the yellow shape. This time fill it with a radial gradient with the measures shown. Now to change where the start point of the gradient is, select the Gradient Tool (G) and click once somewhere above the main shape and drag it till the lower edge as shown below.

Step 14

Now adjust the new fill. Again with the transparency panel set the new fill on overlay with 50% opacity.

Step 15

Let’s add some Text now. With the Type Tool (T), type some text to make the whole icon look realistic. Use the image below for some measures.

Step 16

Now add more text, draw couple of lines with the Line Segment Tool (/) and give it a 1pt black stroke. Make sure that the text on these lines is of a hand-writing font to give a more realistic feel. (Here I’ve used Comic Sans).

Step 17

Now add some dummy text at the bottom to finish the use of the Type Tool (T) for this tutorial.

Step 18

Now select all the text [If you cannot do that in the art board, use the layers panel (Window>Layers or alternatively F7) and select them]. Now with the transparency panel reduce the opacity from 100 to 50% to blend in the text.

Step 19

Now let’s create the “turners” or the “scrollers” that one can see in Audio Cassettes. To start off, create a circle with the Ellipse Tool (L) and fill it with a radial gradient (measures in image) and then add an Inner glow (Effect>Stylize>Inner Glow) and again hit in the measures shown in the image below.

Step 20

Let’s continue creating the “scrollers” or “turners”. So now create the following shapes shown in the image. Use both the Rectangle Tool (M) and Ellipse Tool (L). For the big grey circles, uncheck the fill and give a stroke. For adjusting strokes use the Stroke Panel (Window>Stroke or alternatively Ctrl+F10).

Step 21

Now align the shapes we just created. First centrally align all the circles and then add the rectangles and the couples of squares as shown in the image below. Then rotate the whole shape by 35.5 degrees (Go to Object>Transform>Reflect).

Step 22

Now select only the outer rings and the couple of squares and with the transparency panel lower their opacity to 50%. Then select the whole “turner” shapes again and group them (Ctrl + G). Now duplicate the whole shape and rotate it slightly differently and then align both of them to the main shape as shown below. Don’t forget to arrange them below the yellow shape. (Repeatedly hit Ctrl + [ ).

Step 23

Now as I look at the shape, I really don’t want the Inner Glow, so select the yellow shape and with the appearance panel and uncheck the little eye next to “Inner Glow”.

Step 24

Now again with the Ellipse Tool (L) create couple of circles (measures in image) and fill and stroke them with the measures shown. Again customize the stroke by using the Stroke Panel.

Step 25

Continue making shapes with the Rectangle Tool (M) with the shown measures and fill them with #1E1E1E and then with the transparency panel select the shapes shown and reduce their opacity to 50%.

Step 26

Now create last couple of shapes. With the Ellipse Tool (L) create an oval with measures shown and fill and stroke it with the measures shown below as well. Then feather it with 4pt (Effect>Stylize>Feather) and then reduce it’s opacity to 50%. Now create a circle again with the Ellipse Tool (L) and uncheck its fill and stroke it with measures shown. Again customize strokes with the Stroke Panel.

Step 27

Now again align the shapes we made previously as shown in the image. Don’t forget to reflect the copy of couple of shapes we made previously (Object>Transform>Reflect). Now send the oval below the yellow shape (Repeatedly hit Ctrl + [ ).

Step 28

Now let’s texturize the main blackish-grey shape. We will not be adding a new fill because we want all the shapes (except the contents falling inside the yellow shape and the two gun like shapes) also to get “texturized”. So let’s make first make a line with the Line Segment Tool (\) with a length of 40.8pt and then give it a black 0.5pt stroke. Now copy the shape (Ctrl + C) and then paste it in front (Ctrl + F) and then hit enter to access the “move” panel and then enter 1.5pt for Horizontal and 0pt for Vertical, leave everything else at default. Now select both the lines and drag them into the swatches panel to make a new swatch.

Step 29

Now duplicate the main grey-black rectangle and send it to front (Ctrl + Shift +]) and then with the rectangle selected click on the newly made swatch in the swatches panel, it should texturize the shape now. Now send the rectangle below the yellow shape, the gun like shapes and the two scrollers ( Repeatedly hit Ctrl + [ ). Now with the transparency panel set the new shape on Color Burn and lower the opacity to 10%.

Step 30

Now again duplicate the main grey-black shape (not the texturized one) and send it to front (Ctrl + Shift +] ) now fill it with a radial gradient (Use the Gradient Tool (G) to change the start point and the end point of the gradient) and then with the transparency panel set the newly made shape on Overlay and lower the opacity to 50%.

Step 31

Again duplicate the main shape and then make a big oval and align it as shown. Then with both of them selected with the pathfinder panel click on “Minus Front”. Now fill the new shape with black and set it on overlay with 30% opacity.

Step 32

As shown below, align the shape we made previously to the main body (Send it to front). Now we have basically finished creating the icon.

Step 33

Add a box and fill it with #353535 and send it to back. Now again duplicate the main shape and send it back just above the box we made . Fill it with black and give it a 7px Gaussian blur (Effect>Blur>Gaussian Blur) Then add some swirls to enhance the design. You can get them here. Now add an oval at the bottom edge and give it a Gaussian blur. Your Icon is done!!.

Conclusion

By using simple shapes, gradients and subtle textures, You can make possibly anything!.

In this tutorial, we’ll be putting together a variety of techniques from previous tutorials, including a 3D wireframe from our Liquid Explosion artwork tutorial, custom brushes from our Wild Effects with Custom Brushes tutorial, as well as some new techniques involving photographs, textures and fractals.  Combining techniques is one of the best ways to achieve varied and interesting results in your digital art, and it really helps with your experimentation and creative process when you can rely on a variety of techniques.

This tutorial is jam-packed with techniques and tips for you to apply, so let’s get to it!

Tools Used:

• Adobe Photoshop
• 3DS Max (not required)
• Fractal stocks, you can supplement your own

Final Image Preview:

Step 1: Background creation

Ok so to start off we need to create our document. You will need to base this off of your stock image size. I will be using a 2000*3000 size canvas, but you can use whatever you like. Once you have your document open fill it with black and create a new layer. Fill the new layer with black just as we did the first layer.

Now we need to apply a noise filter which will be the base for our stars. To do this go to “Filter”>”Noise”>”Add Noise” and set yours up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Your star field should look something like the below screenshot now.

Our next step is to edit the levels for our star field. Doing this will get rid of the grey stars and help open up some negative space so they don’t look so clustered and awful. So go ahead and press “CTRL L” on your keyboard to open up your level editor and set yours up as mine is in the below screenshot. The three triangles are in order of right to left, black level, gray level and the white level. I have moved the grey level over closer to the black level. This will result in the grays becoming whiter. The white level was then moved to closer to the grey level which means the white spots have become even whiter.

Your star field should now look something like mine in the below screenshot.

Go ahead and click the layer mask button on your layer tab, it should look like a square with a circle in the middle. Now we can apply another filter, this time one called “Difference clouds”. Basically it will render some cloud like blobs in black and white causing our stars to only be seen where the white clouds are on the layer mask. To apply this filter click “Filter”>”Render”>”Difference clouds”. Your results should look something like the below screenshot, however keep in mind that the difference cloud filter is randomly generated.



Now you can adjust the levels and play with other filters to get something that suits you. I used a small 3px hard brush with white and painted some brighter stars to go with my noise stars. The stars I painted are the same size as my noise stars so it’s just basically putting a random dot on your canvas if you wanted to do this.

Now we can create a new layer above the star layers. Once you have done that grab any brush you like (a standard 100px hard brush will work fine) and select two colors. I went with pink and blue as they work very well together. Once you have done this use this brush with these colors and draw all over the canvas as I have done in the below screenshot.

Now we can apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 250 twice. Then set the layer opacity to 15%. Now we can repeat this step on another layer.

Now we will repeat the above process again, this time rather than leaving the layer mode as normal we will change it to screen or color dodge with an opacity ranging from 50-100% depending upon how many additional layers you create. This can be applied as many times as you like, I did mine about 2 more times and also incorporated yellow into the my two colors. Also when doing this be sure that your layers are above the previously created normal layers otherwise this will not work!

Step 2: Figure Incorporation

Alright we need to grab a stock image. You can use whatever image you like. The image I’m using is from shutterstock, you can see it in the below screenshot.

Once you have your figure it’s time to start the isolation process. Now when isolating your figure, it’s incredibly important that you get all of the background off the figure. If you fail to do this properly your image will look terrible no matter what effects you apply. So its imperative that you get this right. This is why I will not demonstrate my isolation, you need to isolate out your stock the way you are most accustomed to do. But, in case you’re curious, I used a layer mask and painted over my figure.

Next we can apply a dust and scratches filter. This is not required but it’s something I thought helped the image. By applying the dust and scratch filter it smooth’s out the skin and gives it almost a painted look. If you want to apply this filter it is located in the noise section of your filter drop down.

The filter gives a result like the screen shot below.

Step 3: Wire frame integration

Ok, so now it’s time to get some wireframes! You could, painstakingly draw out the lines yourself or you could reference a previous tutorial and change a few of the settings. So, we will be referencing. If you have not read our tutorial located at http://design.creativefan.com/create-a-stunning-3d-liquid-explosion-artwork/ then I suggest you go ahead and read up on it!

Once your figure is dropped into 3DS and you have applied a material, try to line it up with your stock image. It doesn’t have to be perfect (see below image) but as long as the basic pose is somewhat close you should be fine.

Now we have two new options. Render the scene using the scanline setting with forced wireframe turned ON or apply a new wireframe material.


I went with the force wireframe since it gives you more control over the wires themselves but you can do whatever you like.
Now just render the scene and save it as a png!
My render came out looking like the below image.

Now depending on your pose you will want to incorporate this in different ways. But below I will describe how I approached and finished the incorporation.

Start off by dropping your wireframe in and placing it so it covers the figure (size it using the free transform tool if needed). Once that is done erase everything but the shoulder/neck area.

Now that we have the shoulders dropped in we can throw some on the neck and in various other places. You can vary the opacity if you like but that’s really the only major adjustment you should have to do. Once you have finished that we can move on to our eye. The eye will become one of two epicenters or dynamic spots for the piece. To create the base for our epicenter on the eye we can drop in a section of the wireframe. I used a section of the top of the head, a piece of the nose and of course the eye. Drop in sections that you like and that fit your scene and then we can continue on, keep in mind that you may want to reduce the opacity of some of the sections so it doesn’t get too cluttered.

Step 4: Fractal implementation and coloring

Ok so now we need to head out to DA to grab two wonderful and free fractal packs. Both created by Greentunic, so much props to him for creating such a wonderful pack and allowing the community to use it.
Pack #2
http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/?q=fractal#/d1we1ib
Pack #3
http://greentunic.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d28h8ra

Once you have downloaded and extracted both packs it’s time to choose your first fractal. I went with a very nice one in pack #3 and would suggest you do the same.

Once you have opened up your fractal you can apply a quick auto color adjustment (CTRL + SHIFT + B) and place it on the eye. Set your blending mode to screen and then just erase anything you don’t like. I erased 90% of the original fractal, only leaving behind the cool hook looking shapes.

Next just grab a few of the curve like areas on the fractal and place them all over your image. I placed mine at the base of the neck and in her hair. Make sure that you don’t leave any hard edges when doing this thought!


Next we can go back to our eye and start building it up. Grab a splatter brush and drop in a few splats here and there in a color that you prefer, I went with yellow since it was so abundant on the eye and would meld well with the eye. Once you have applied the splat set this new layers opacity to 50% and the blending mode to overlay.

Next we can head over to CGtextures to grab a brush stroke. The brush stroke is located at: http://cgtextures.com/login.php?&texid=10476&destination=texview.php?id=10476&PHPSESSID=f33d4d18c63594dcdb4ca05c7dc1aef0
Once you have it go ahead and quickly make a brush out of it. If you don’t know how to do this you can reference a previous tutorial located at: http://design.creativefan.com/combining-custom-brushes-for-wild-effects-in-photoshop/

Once you have created your new brush you can apply one in blue and place it at the base of the eye. Then do it once more using yellow. Set this layer to overlay and we can continue on. Keep in mind you don’t have to use blue and yellow, you can choose whatever colors work best with your stock or colors you like the most.


Next we can another brush from a stock image at CGtextures, this time the stock link is: http://cgtextures.com/login.php?&texid=10916&destination=texview.php?id=10916&PHPSESSID=f33d4d18c63594dcdb4ca05c7dc1aef0

Once you have made a brush place it in black right underneath the eye. Then just grab a few of the far edges of the splatter to make your eyelashes for the opposite eye.

Next we can create a new layer and repeat the method we applied to color the BG to the eye in blue and yellow.
I then went on to use the 3px brush tool to paint in some details, for instance I connected the yellow fractal to the nose and painted a new eye. But these are not necessary.

Next we can create another new layer and grab our 3px brush (or larger if you like). Now you want to just to place a few random white dots where the wireframe intersects. Meaning, choose a few spots where the vertical lines hit horizontal lines and place a dot. You can do this as many times as you like but I would stay away from cluttering them together. This can (and should) be applied to the shoulder area as well as the neck.

Now we can move on to our additional coloring. To do this we will start off by choosing any color (I went with a darker blue) and painting over half of the canvas on a new layer, be sure not to cover the face though!

Next we can apply a Gaussian blur and set the layer to overlay, keep your opacity between 15-35% so it doesn’t appear oversaturated. Now we can create another new layer, use the same color and apply the effect to that side of the face. Why use two layers for this? Well really you could use one but using two allows you to control the opacity with much more ease. Say for instance at 20% opacity your BG looks great but the face is oversaturated, well this is why we use two layers!
I set my face overlays opacity to 20%.

Now do the same effect (on two layers) to the opposite side of the face using a new color. This time I went with a pinkish color, I really like the way pink and cyan complement one another, but you can use whatever color you like.

Step 5: Wireframe touchups and fractals continued

Now it’s time to start making pieces of our wireframe stand out more. To do this you could use the line tool/pen tool or the brush tool. The choice is up to you and what your more comfortable with. I went with the 3px brush as its easier for me then the pen tool. Once you have decided on your method go ahead and look at your wireframe. Look for shapes that sort of ‘pop out’, its more than likely going to look like squares or triangles. I went with the squares and lightly outlined these to make them more visible, this is exactly what you need to do. Just do it randomly all over. I started with the eye and then did the neck and shoulders.



Now go back over your shapes and brighten them up if you feel that they need to be brightened, you can use the shadows as a guideline here. Lines that are in the brighter areas of the face should obviously be much brighter then lines in the shadows. You can also add dots to your squares/triangles if you like now.

Now we can move on to the base of the neck, where I figure ends and space starts. This is where we will add in much more fractals. So open up your two packs and grab a few and start placing them around with a screen blending mode. I started off using two images from pack # 3.




Be sure to use a soft edged eraser when doing this so you don’t have any hard edges!
To finish off the neck I just added in a few more fractals with random color. Varying your color will bring a new dynamic to your piece and is something you should defiantly do.

Now we can grab a fractal from pack #2.

What you want to do here is grab a few of the glowing sparks that are not clustered. Once you have these selected with your marquee tool just copy and paste them all over your canvas. These will be the random super stars if you will. Be sure to vary their opacity as well thought!

Also double check that you have no hard edges!

Step 6: Constellation building and completion

Ok so now we can move on to our constellations. To create the constellations grab your line tool and set it up as mine is in the below screen shot.

Once you have done that create a new layer and look at your stars. Look for any random shapes and then just draw the lines using the line tool to connect these stars!

Once you have drawn the lines right click and select stroke, once the dialog appears select ‘brush’.

Be sure when doing this you have your brush set up the way you want (I used the 3px)!
Now hit ok and the lines will appear!
Repeat this process all over your BG. Be sure not to cluster them up too much though. Once you have all your constellations drown out and stroked set the layers opacity to about 45%.


And now we are done! I added in a few painted details to finish mine and you can as well or you can add anything you think would look cool for that matter. My final image looks like the below screen shot.

I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial and wound up with an image you like! Or came out with knowing a few new tricks! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
Also, if you have any ideas for future tutorials please say so!

Photoshop, when combined with a vector program such as Illustrator, can yield some incredible effects that are perfect for creating desktop wallpapers.  The ability to combine stock images with vector shapes, 3d objects and lines will help make any of your compositions more dynamic.

In this tutorial, Bram Vanhaeren of into1 will show you how to create a dynamic desktop wallpaper called ‘Dance’.  You’ll learn how to manipulate some stock images, create super cool vector 3D shapes, and build a dynamic composition using multiple elements.

Read on to get started!

Tools Used

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator

Final Image Preview:

(Wallpapers Here)

Step 01

When I’ve got an idea in mind and I’m ready to start the artwork, I begin by gathering my resources. In this case, I’ll build up my artwork around a stock picture. Take the time to get the most fitting photograph for your concept. There are plenty of websites where you can find lots of good-quality stock pictures to buy. For this project I’ve found a beautiful girl break dancing.

I’ve chosen this stock image, because I wanted to create a energetic dance scene for a desktop wallpaper.  You can get images such as this either from paid stock sites, or from free sites like SXC and deviantART.

Step 02

To start off I like to cut out the model from the stock image, I prefer the Polygonal Lasso Tool and the Pen tool for the final touches. Make sure you cut everything out well. Work on a black background to check if everything is cut out smoothly. I also desaturated the model colors. We will be working on black and white, because it’s easy to add nice color effects on them later.

Step 03

Before I go on to work on the model, I want my dark background already finished. I took a paper texture,desaturated it (cmd+u) and inverted the colors by using cmd + i and changed the brightness and contrast, so it really looked dark but still good enough so you can see the texture. Then take a nice brush from brush strokes and create a new floor by brushing with a 100% opacity and flow White brush. (for example the great set from FlightOf Grey on deviantART: http://flightofgrey.deviantart.com/art/FlightOfGrey-Stroke-Brush-Set-101600320 )

Step 04

For the next step you will need Adobe Illustrator, or if you prefer the brush tool in Photoshop to draw, it’s perfectly possible to work with Photoshop too. I prefer Illustrator for this part. What we’re going to do is easy, just take your pen tool with a white stroke and draw lines around her arms, clothes and cap. Once you have your lines, change the brush stroke by opening brush library>artistic>artistic_ink and pick a brush stroke, then change your strokes to 0.25 pt. I also drew some angle wings.

Step 05

Next I’ve cut out some parts from her arm and her jacket to create a energetic touch by adding some nebulae stock images. So first search for a nice nebula stock. ( You can find them almost anywhere if you search them on deviantART or sxc.hu) Place the nebulae stock behind our model and use the warp tool to edit.. Feel free to play with the colors! Don’t forget to change the blend options from your nebulae stock to lighten.

Step 06

Now create a new group off layers, this group will be used to add layers to add small details and patterns. I’ve used an easy pattern and my paint stroke brushes one more time to add some artistic effects. Feel free to experiment with patterns, textures and other brushes to add these small details. This is what I have so far.

Step 07

Before we add our lightning effects I choose to add some 3D objects to fly around her. It gives the artwork more energy in my opinion and it’s easy to do. Open your Adobe Illustrator and create 4 basic rectangles in the colors your working on. I went with grey-dark red-red-orange.

Step 08

Now go to your symbols and delete all the existent symbols. Then select your 4 rectangles and drag them into your symbol box and name it. Once you did this, make a black circle with the ellipse tool and delete the left point so you get a half circle.

Step 09

Next go to effects>3D>evolve. Check your preview option so you can see what your doing. You should have a nice Black 3D Ball. Now let’s add our symbol we’ve created earlier by clicking on map art. now choose your symbol and place it over your object and check shade artwork to add shades. Click ok and you have your trendy 3D ball.

You can also add this effect with different symbols and object. Feel free to experiment with it and add it to your work.

Step 10

Before we finish the artwork we still have to add some lightning effects. I love to work with the nebulae stocks. The stars are perfect to add lovely effects on our model with blending option on overlay or screen. First I added some dark parts from the nebulae on her arms and use overlay to darken her skin.

Step 11

Now the work is done, before you want to show it on the web I presume you worked on a A3 sized file or something? Now Change the size to 1600 width on a flatten image. Then go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask ( Amount 90%, radius 0,3 and Zero Threshold) Now change your size again to the actual preview size for the web, i guess around 650 or 700 px width. You can sharpen again on 40% if you want, but make sure not to oversharpen.

Place your signature on the work and have fun!

Combining the power of some of Photoshop’s most basic tools can yield awesome results.  The power of the pen tool, when mastered, can allow a designer to create nearly anything in their creative vision.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to combine the power of the pen tool with some patterns and shapes to create an awesome illustration.   Designer Bram Vanhaeren will walk you through his technique for working at print quality, using various compositional techniques to achieve a creative result.  You’ll also learn some great tips for workflow, along with learning a variety of skills that you can apply in your own design works.

Hopefully you enjoy the tutorial, let us know in the comments if you have any questions, suggestions or just to say hi.

Tools Used

• Adobe Photoshop
• Stock Images

Links resources:

• Nebulae Stocks: http://moonchilde-stock.deviantart.com/gallery/#Nebulae-and-Scifi–5
• Paper texture: http://bashcorpo.deviantart.com/art/Grungy-paper-texture-v-5-22966998

Final Image Preview

Step 1

Open a new document, A3 300 dpi or bigger so we always have a nice High resolution artwork incase Magazines or other people want to buy your work or use it for an exhibition. It’s also a lot easier to work on a bigger canvas, to get your details correct.

Step 2

Now before I start adding new layers, i quickly make some groups to arrange my layers. I add more groups on my way but I start with these groups, from top to bottom; Color effects – Play – Logo or Model – PLay – Background. The “Play” groups are all the experimental textures and patterns with my shapes.

Step 3

Personally I don’t like to starting on a blank background, lately I just grab a paper texture and place it in the background, change the contrast and brightness a little bit and we’re ready to go.

Step 4

I’m going to make an artwork around the number 5. Why? To be short it’s my favorite number, or lucky number. And with the new cs5 I though it would be cool to work with this number. Plus it is a really nice shape to work with. I used the font, Avant Garde Bold, but you can choose any font or shape to try this tutorial on.

Step 5

First thing I want to do with my number is add some white shapes to create a glossy vector effect to my number. Use your pen tool and add every shape in another layer, so you can correct them a little bit till it fits perfectly.

Step 6

For the next Step we’re going to create a useful pattern. We will be using this pattern to add some cool effects on our number and background. Open a new file, 25px on 25px with a transparent background. Now select the LineTool (5px) and make a cross. Go to Edit>Define Pattern, give it a name and save.

Step 7

Now create some new layers (in our “play” group) with shapes filled with our new pattern.  Ellipses, circles, rectangles and triangles can be filled with the pattern and placed to match the natural features of the number that we’re using, or you can use the pen tool to do it.  These shapes can be used to add shadows or just make the graphic a bit more interesting. You can see my example for inspiration.

Step 8

The next step has everything to do with my personal taste. I prefer a more grungy look on my patterns, so I softly erase some parts with a traditional paint brush selected.

Step 9

Now I want to add a soft texture on my Number. For this I open one of my paper stocks in a new layer and desaturate them by (cmd + U). New you select your number layer by (cmd + click on layer), go to select inverse and delete. Now you change your layer blending option to ‘multiply’ and adjust some brightness and contrast till you think it looks perfect.

Step 10

Next, duplicate your texture layer, with the ‘multiply’ blending option on and place it under the original layer. Next I made kind of “fluid dripping selection” with my pen tool and press (cmd+c) top copy and (cmd+v) to paste some of this pattern in a new layer. Create some darker spots in your work with these pattern selections. You can choose where you use this technique. Check my example, to see where I added mine and see what I mean with ‘fluid dripping bubble selection”.  This can also be done with custom brushes, but if you use the pen tool, you have infinitely more control over how they will look.

Step 11

Next step is to add some more abstract shapes into our number. Simply add a new layer under our paper texture and create some round white abstract shapes with your pen tool (see example).  In order to get good looking abstract shapes, you’ll have to understand how Bezier curves work with the pen tool.  For those of you who haven’t used the pen tool in this manner before, there’s a nice quick tutorial over at PhotoshopCAFE that demonstrates these techniques: http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/pen/pen.htm

The white abstract shapes will keep the texture, but makes it a little brighter. Do this few times till you like the outcome. This is what I’ve done.

Step 12

Now it’s time to add some colors. What we’re going to do is simple. Again, use your pen tool to make some round fluid selections at the bottom of our five or whatever shape you’re using (like something is dripping of our shape). Give the selection some real velvet colors. Feel free to use my example.

Step 13

For the next step we have to make another pattern, Some oblique lines to fill our abstract round shapes again. Side note, feel free to create your own patterns and go crazy with it, experiment and make amazing artworks.

Step 14

Now I ask you to stop thinking and do some crazy stuff with colors and shapes. At this point you need something different that makes your artwork interesting and personal. Just keep on experimenting with shapes drawn with pen tool and different patterns. This is what i got after a couple minutes of 0% brain usage.

Step 15

As you can see I’ve been experimenting with some movement here. I came up with the idea inspired by the game “spin the bottle”. As you can see, I only concentrated on shapes and pattern and completely ignored my color usage. This step is to fix that moment of ignorance. This time we only concentrate on colors. This my way to create this stuff. If you can do shapes and colors in one step,that’s great, but most people will tend to get bogged down trying to do both at once. I simply took the time to workout the idea and then finalize it with the coloring.

Step 16

Now we start with my finishing touches. Lately I love to use the “nebula” Stock photographs from “http://moonchilde-stock.deviantart.com/gallery/#Nebulae-and-Scifi” to add some sci-fi effects to my work. Nebulae have an amazing selection of stars and outer space stocks, perfectly to cover some parts of your work with blending option “screen” selected.

Step 17

Quick tip on making your artwork look great on the web. You started to work on A3 with 300 dpi. You know the web is 72 dpi, so we can show some high quality work here if you use the right techniques. What I do is, quickly go to layer>flatten image after I saved my A3 as .psd Reduced the image size to 1500 pixels width go to to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp mask with an amount of 80% , radius of 0.3 pixels and threshold of 0.

Step 18

Now repeat the last step but play with the % try 50%, 80% will be a little bit to sharp after you resized it to your favorite preview size, I prefer 650x… but for this tutorial I used 500px width.

Hopefully you learned something with this tutorial. Use these techniques to create your own personal work. Be creative with it and don’t be scared to experiment and show off your results. Every comment can help you getting closer to your goal. Don’t forget to have fun experimenting with objects, shapes, numbers, typography, you name it. Just have fun!

The ability for a designer to be multidisciplinary is one of the most important abilities that a designer can develop as a part of his or her skill repertoire.  Whether it’s today, or a few months down the road, most designers will encounter a situation where they must be able to work with 3D, vector graphics and raster graphics seamlessly, in order to achieve a desired result.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn an essential workflow for dealing with multiple styles of graphics, and you’ll also learn how to combine them to create a visually polished and dynamic composition.  Using custom shapes, brushes, stock images and Photoshop tools, this tutorial will supercharge your skill set.

Let us know what you think in the comments, feel free to link to your results, or if there’s a tutorial you’d like to see, let us know!

Tools used:

• Photoshop
• Photo Stocks
• Illustrator/Photoshop pen tool (not required)

Final Image Preview:

Step 1: Stock selection

Okay to start off we need a stock image to build on. I choose a dancer stock off of shutter stock, they are in abundance all over the net and should be pretty easy to find. However you can use any stock that you like for this, I have seen many pieces done in this style that just used a posed stock or some random action shot like someone running or jumping; in the end, it just really depends on if you like what you find and if it’s of a somewhat decent size.

My stock image looks like the below screen shot, I sized it down to 2500*3600.

Stock selection tips:

• Choose a stock you actually like, don’t settle because you haven’t found a large one yet.
• Choose a stock that is of decent size, you don’t want to use a stock that’s only 800*600.
• If you get a stock that you need to isolate take your time! Don’t rush through this it will define how your final product looks.
• Experiment; don’t assume that since I used a dance stock you have to as well.

Step 2: Glowing Lines

Now we will start adding some nice lighting effects. Now there is a few ways to start go about doing this, for example you can use the pen tool, the shear tool or the brush tool. I will be using the brush tool to just draw the lines in. However if you’re having difficulties drawing your lines you can look at one of my tutorials on making brushes using the shear filter located at : http://design.creativefan.com/create-a-cosmic-xbox-using-custom-brushes/

So to start off create a new layer (“CTRL SHIFT N”) and then grab your brush tool (“B”); I would suggesting using a small and hard brush. Once you have your brush tool enabled select the 3px hard brush, if you are struggling you can change the size back up to something around 5, however you’re going to want your lines as thin as possible.

Next just start sketching! Your color choices really don’t matter at this point since we will change it with our layer styles later on in the tutorial.  To help out visually I will be using blue so you can see where I have sketched easily but white, yellow, green, blue, pink etc… will work fine for this.

Once you have your brush and started sketching it important to follow the contours of what you’re sketching around, for example I started with the torso and just sketched in the folds of her jacket as well as outlining the jacket.

Now I just continued sketching, this time focusing on her shoe. I sketched over the stitching at the toe of her shoe to add a little bit more details to them.

Once you feel like you have a good bit accomplished you can set up your layer styles. To open your layer style dialog box you need to click the ‘F’ icon located on the layer toolbar. Once this comes up just set your layer style up similar to mine in the following screenshots, however if you want you can replace blue for whatever color you want to use.

So now that my layer styles have been applied my image looks like the below screenshots now and yours should look similar in comparison.

Now just keep adding in more lines! I created a new layer and sketched on some more to her torso to start off. I kept the layer styles exactly the same I just changed the color from blue to pink. I then added in some more random lines to kind of spice up the rest of the image, specifically her hood and again on her torso. You can add the lines in wherever you see fit, just be careful not to clump them all together in one location.

Step 3: Glow Effects Continued

You could stop adding in lighting effects here if you wanted to but I want to add something more, specifically a glowing floor; a glowing floor tile to be more specific. So create yet again another new layer and set your brush up as mine is in the below screenshot.

Now just draw a square! You could use the polygon lasso tool, shape tool or pen tool, I just feel more comfortable with my tablet. Once you have drawn your square go ahead and give it a slight Gaussian blur, I went with one with a pixel radius of about 5, but anything from 4-11 should do fine for this. Next you will want to set the layer up as a soft light at 100% and then duplicate it and set it as an overlay layer.

Next duplicate the layer once again and set it to screen, keep the opacity around 50-75% for this. Then once you have duplicated it go ahead and apply another Gaussian blur, something around a 15 pixel radius should work well.

Once that’s done create a new layer and grab your 3px hard brush again. Now just sketch along the outside of your colored square to create a frame around it. I used white for this but you can substitute it for any color you would rather use.

Step 4: Vector Shapes, Part 1

In this section we will be using two kinds of vector shapes, 3D and 2D; in part one we will discuss the 3D vectors.  If you don’t have illustrator don’t worry. You can find vector packs and resources all over the net, specifically Deviant art and vecteezy.com.  Both offer tons of free vector packs and no registration is required to download them. If you don’t like the idea of using the vector packs you have a few more options you can choose from:

1. Use your pen tool in Photoshop! While it will not produce true vector formats the look and shapes will be identical
2. Paint them! If you have a wacom or are good with a mouse you can easily just draw these up!
3. Use 3DS or C4D! With the right material you can turn a basic shape into something that looks vector made really fairly easily.

Now we won’t be getting into the creation of these shapes (that will be another tutorial!) I will show you mine before we start.

All of mine are fairly simple shapes, X or +, O’s and a few cubes. Once you have yours ready or you have found some you would like to use we can start placing them into our piece!

Since I did not isolate my stock image I will be dropping the vectors in and erasing out the pieces I didn’t want in the final image. If you have isolated your stock you won’t have to do this erasing process which will make your placement much easier.

I erased specifically the pieces that went atop the figure in places.  To do this I used a semi hard large eraser.

Next we can start to place our shapes down. I started off by placing a large circle shape over her leg. Then I just erased the part that covers her leg and ta da! So just do the same with your shapes and start varying the colors. The next few screenshots will show my process as far as placing and erasing went.

I placed a few cubes and spheres on the outside of the figure and sized them down.

I then dropped in a plus shape and changed the color. I went with a purple color since it looks good with the blue. Then I just erased it!

I placed another O shape, kept it blue and then erased it. I also placed a small 2D vector behind it.

Then I placed a few more shapes around her body and ta da, we are done with the placement of the 3D shapes. As of now my image looks like the below screenshots. However you don’t have to stop here, you can place in as many 3D shapes as you like!

Step 4: 2D Vector Shapes

This section is extremely quick and easy. In my piece I used only free resources from Deviant art. I did draw a few shapes but primarily just Deviant art vector packs. And if you are I have placed the links below for the packs I used, don’t worry if you don’t have illustrator you can open illustrator files with Photoshop!

The packs I used:

http://djmonkeyboy.deviantart.com/art/MONKEY-VECTOR-PACK-2-15646105

http://djmonkeyboy.deviantart.com/art/MONKEY-VECTOR-PACK-1-2226445

http://fot.deviantart.com/art/My-first-vector-stock-55886491

http://mrsuma.deviantart.com/art/Suma-zFactory2-86558652

http://jonny-doomsday.deviantart.com/art/Vector-Pack-Tres-92731399

Once you have your packs just grab and drop them into your piece. I placed my pieces behind my 3D shapes primarily. To start off with though I placed a rainbow colored 2D shape atop my shoe.

Next I just dropped a ton of vectors behind the plus sign and finished it off with a bit of drawn on shapes with my 3px brush.

Step 5: More Glow Lines and Extras

In this section we will be just adding in a few more bits, specifically more glow lines on our 3D shapes and then a few splats. To start off we will add more glow lines since we have already created these layers and there layer styles.

So to start off we will go back to our previous layers with the layer styles and just draw/pen tool more glow lines that wrap around our 3D vectors. I started off by drawing two new lines on my blue layer style over my pink pluses.

I then went to my pink layer style and drew more lines over and around my two blue O shapes.

Next we can apply two splats. If you don’t have any splats you can head over to my tutorial on creative fan located at: http://design.creativefan.com/brilliant-matte-dispersion-effects-in-photoshop/

What you’re going to want to do is use your eye drop tool (I) and grab the color closest to your figure and then just drop a splat. I did two splats that overlapped my figure and some of my shapes and it looks like the below screenshot.

Step 6: Sketching and Closing

To finish the piece off we will do some sketching. This section is not required but I did it to add a bit of extra personality to the final piece. So to start off we will make a new layer on top of all of the other layers and select your brush tool.  There are a few things to keep in mind if you are going to do this section, such as:

• Use the smallest brush you can when doing this step, it’s important to capture the detail but you want it to look more like a sketch then a speed paint.
• Try different effects with your sketching. For example try doing some crosshatching or stippling.
• Don’t just add details also enhance the natural shadows/highlights of your subject.
• Follow the contours of your subject!
• Take your time, even though we are going for a sketch look we still want it to look like we tried! You don’t want some strange box shapes on the subject!

Then just start sketching! I used blue and pink to sketch and started off by sketching on the small O shaped 3D vector.

I then went ahead and drew over the zipper of her hoodie and added in some more highlights and shadow lines onto her pants.

Next we can add in some drips shapes. We can do these the same as we did the other sketch marks with our small 3px brush. I started off by adding some paint drips on the giant pink plus and then moved on to the hands, shoe and O.

Now we can break off from the drips and go to the eyes. To start off we can draw some desgins under the eyes or you can use a brush stroke brush under the eye. I used pink and used a brush stroke brush under her eye. I then sketched on that with blue, it came out looking like the below screenshot.

Next we can start on the eyes; I used a single color per eye. To start off just sketch the first color and then go over it with your burn tool and dodge tool to add in the highlights. Once you do that than just drop in a tiny white orb over the pupil of each eye to finish them off.

Now to add the last bits switch your color to black and just add some dark lines for the shadows, folds and outlines. Mine came out looking like the below screenshot.

Now just size it down and sharpen it! I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and learned a few things or followed along and made something you liked. My final image came out looking like the below screenshot, but keep in mind that the piece doesn’t have to stop here, you could add in a lot more it’s just up to what your trying to make! I ended up painting some designs on my stocks hoodie just to add a bit of flare, but it’s up to you!