Bokeh Photoshop Brushes

Bokeh is one of the best types of backgrounds for any kind of design, so it’s a good idea to add these cool bokeh effect brushes to your collection.

Download brush.

Cool Splatter Free Brush Set

A set of six high-quality paint splatter brushes that are cool and free for both commercial and non-commercial use.

Download brush.

30 So What

A set of 30 special Photoshop brushes created for designing magazines and other print materials.

Download brush.

Seamless Bokeh Textures

Do you want a quick and easy way to add bokeh to your images? Download these high-resolution seamless bokeh textures that are free to use.

Download brush.

Ballon

Create a collection of beautiful hand-drawn balloons with this simple and free brush.

Download brush.

Extreme Lashes

Ideal for magazine artists and fashion graphic designers, these 8 extreme faux lash brushes are perfect (including a set of 8 flipped brushes for easy use on both eyes).

Download brush.

Hair

Special brushes are available for different types of hair, including bangs, braids, wavy, straight, curly, and ponytails. These brushes are compatible with both Photoshop and GIMP.

Download brush.

Bokeh

Here are ten high-quality free bokeh brushes for Photoshop. However, please ensure that you read the terms of use before using these brushes.

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Eye-Lashes PS-CS Brush Set

A lifesaver for graphic designers who work in fashion and human art, these eyelash brushes were created for Photoshop CS.

Download brush.

The post Free Photo Effect Photoshop Brushes appeared first on Hongkiat.

In this blog post, we’ve compiled a list of 40+ free nature-inspired style Photoshop brushes that you can download and use to bring your artwork to life. With various brush types available, from watercolor to realistic foliage, these brushes are easy to use and can help you achieve stunning nature-inspired designs.

Water Waves Photoshop Brushes 2

Drawing water waves from scratch can be a daunting task. However, you can save time and achieve a cool effect by using these water wave brushes.

Download brush.

Snow Photoshop Brushes 2

This is a set of 15 high-quality snow effect brushes with a size of 2500+ px. They are a great substitute for creating a snow effect manually and are ideal for flyers, banners, cards, and art.

Download brush.

Magic Speels Moon

This is an amazing set of 21 Photoshop brushes featuring surreal elements such as the moon, fairies, angel wings, and feathers, among others.

Download brush.

Plant Brushes

Beautifully drawn line brushes (set of 11 free brushes). These brushes feature leaves, flowers, and branches, making them perfect for creating invitations or wedding cards.

Download brush.

Sketchy Cartography Brushes

Create an ancient map or illustration for a storybook using these cartography brushes that provide a beautiful hand-sketched appearance. The set comprises map lines, ancient languages, and geographical features such as mountains and trees, among others.

Download brush.

Owls Brushes

Wow your clients with these amazing and mysterious owl feather brushes. They can be used to create bookmarks or surreal designs.

Download brush.

Stardust PS Brushes

A set of seven stardust brushes can be used to create a busy background, a starry sky, or even your own galaxy.

Download brush.

The Magical Snowflakes

Your Christmas, New Year, or winter season designs always have something to do with snowflakes. And what better way to create magical snowflakes than with this set of 15 Photoshop brushes?.

Download brush.

Nature Silhouettes Trees & Grass

Spring and summer designs are never complete without trees and grass. Use this set of high-quality tree and grass silhouette brushes that are completely customizable.

Download brush.

Lightning

50 high-quality lightning strike and lightning bolt brushes for creating thunderstorm effects in the sky. These brushes can be customized with any color and incorporated into your designs with ease.

Download brush.

Rain

High-quality raindrop and raining effect brushes. These are free to use and are ideal for weather websites or apps, or wherever they are suitable.

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Aurora

A set of 10 cool brushes for Photoshop CS1 to CS5 created by ShiftyJ is available. These abstract brushes are inspired by the Aurora lights, but with a modern twist.

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Feathers and Birds

Most commonly used among nature-inspired designs, these 12 brushes represent feathers and birds.

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Flower

A beautiful set of flower brushes featuring a variety of different flowers. Customize them and incorporate them into your designs, but please remember to credit the creator.

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Night Sky

A set of three large brushes featuring night sky elements such as space dust, stars, and moon scenes. These brushes can be used to create eye-catching flyers, brochures, wallpapers, and even Twitter backgrounds.

Download brush.

Photoshop Fireworks

These 12 Photoshop fireworks brushes, designed by WebDesignerLab, are best suited for New Year celebration-themed design projects.

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Crystal Shapes

Abstract crystal-shaped Photoshop brushes were designed using Photoshop CS3 (and should work for any version above). They can be utilized in various designs.

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Attractors Effect

A vast collection of more than 50 brushes featuring light effects or attractor effects. Each of these brushes is larger than 900 pixels.

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Cute Flowers

The set includes five high-resolution Photoshop brushes that depict flowers of various designs.

Download brush.

Smoke

These are high-resolution Photoshop brushes of smoke. All of these brushes are free to use for both commercial and non-commercial projects.

Download brush.

Handmade Halos

Here are eight hand-drawn Photoshop brushes featuring various halo or circular designs. These brushes are perfect for creating wedding or invitation cards, or as a unique design element.

Download brush.

Summer Brushes

A set of premium summer brushes is available, which includes summer elements such as butterflies, swirls, trees, and other floral elements.

Download brush.

Rose Petals

These rose petal brushes are free and of high quality. They were created using Photoshop CS3 by Ann Frost.

Download brush.

Gladius

A set of edgy techno brushes featuring abstract shapes. The author has stepped out of their comfort zone to create a new and unique set of brushes.

Download brush.

50 High-Res Star

Here is another set of six high-resolution star brushes that can be downloaded and used for free.

Download brush.

Smokey Fire Brushes

With this set of smoky fire Photoshop brushes, you will receive a large pack of 50 brushes that are all compatible with Photoshop 7 and newer versions.

Download brush.

Fibers #1

This list includes another set of brushes by Titi Montaya, which consists of 5 high-definition (1000×1000) brushes with a fiber effect.

Download brush.

Electrifying Lightning Brush Strikes

Do you want to add electrifying lightning effects to your artwork? You must try this set of high-quality lightning brushes and patterns.

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Frosty Edges Brush

Add a lovely frosty effect to your winter or Christmas artwork with these frosty edge brushes, which are completely free to download.

Download brush.

Ultimate Space Brush Pack – Part 1

A comprehensive set of space and planet brushes is available. The set includes 154 high-resolution space elements such as falling stars, planets, nebulae, and galaxies, among others.

Download brush.

Tree Borders Brushes

Here are some amazing tree border brushes that can help you achieve realistic plant/tree effects. (No changes needed).

Download brush.

PatrioticPack Part 1

Awesome Photoshop brushes to create a 4th of July or similar celebration effect are available in this pack. It includes 10 detailed firework explosion brushes.

Download brush.

Jellyfish Brushes

Sea life is always difficult to draw, but with these jellyfish brushes, it becomes a piece of cake.

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Butterfly Wings Brush Set

Create beautiful butterfly wings with this fascinating set. Though they are made on CS2, you can also obtain PS7 brushes.

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Palm Trees Brushes for PS

Create beautiful palm trees with this set of 10 high-quality Photoshop brushes.

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8 fantasy butterfly brushes

Take a look at these eight stunning fantasy butterfly brushes to enhance your paintings.

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Butterflies with Flowers

Give your designs a spring, summer, or floral look with this set of butterfly and flower brushes.

Download brush.

Demolished Cracks

Here are 12 brushes for cracked surfaces that are compatible with Photoshop 7 and newer versions. These brushes can be used to draw cracked walls or any other surface.

Download brush.

Moon brushes for PS7 v.2

Here is another set of moon brushes to add to the list. This collection includes 45 brushes of varying sizes for Photoshop 7 and above, including large, medium, and small options.

Download brush.

Rainy

Create a surreal rain effect using these high-quality rain brushes.

Download brush.

Spider Webs

Ideal for giving your designs a Halloween or other scary or old effect, these 15 spider web brushes are the best way to save time and effort.

Download brush.

The post 40+ Free Nature-inspired Photoshop Brushes appeared first on Hongkiat.

In this blog post, we’ve gathered a list of 18 free grunge-style Photoshop brushes that you can download and use to enhance your creative projects. Whether you’re a seasoned graphic designer or just starting, these brushes are easy to use and can help take your work to the next level.

Grunge 2

High-quality and free grunge brushes can help you add extra texture or give a dirty look to any type of design.

Download brush.

Street Grunge

A set of simple yet high-quality street grunge brushes is available to give a gravel, street, or ripped effect to your artwork.

Download brush.

HighTech Reloaded

This is a set of 12 high-resolution Photoshop brushes that are compatible with Photoshop version 7 and above.

Download brush.

Paint Lines

Highly aesthetic paint line brushes (a set of 24 brushes) are very suitable for creating grungy backgrounds.

Download brush.

New Grunge

If you are looking to create a creative textured background, try using this fresh set of grunge brushes by Titi Montoya.

Download brush.

Watercolour and Ink

A set of Photoshop brushes is available for free to create an ink and watercolor effect. These brushes were made using watercolor paints or Indian ink on cardstock.

Download brush.

Grit and Grunge

Download this pack of high-quality grunge Photoshop brushes. They are also available for both commercial and non-commercial use for free.

Download brush.

Grunge Paint

A set of six high-resolution brushes is available to create a grungy paint effect. Although the creator does not require credits, any favors would be appreciated.

Download brush.

42 Subtle Brushes

If you’re looking for a grungy yet subtle background, this pack is perfect for you. It includes 42 textured brushes that are suitable for use in Photoshop CS.

Download brush.

Grunge

Here is another set of brushes by Titi Montoya. These Photoshop brushes are high-resolution and have a rich, grungy texture.

Download brush.

Urban Retro Brushes/ Save Ai Edition

A set of 12 brushes includes grungy shapes, clouds, and an additional 5 optical flares. These brushes are free to use in any type of project.

Download brush.

Zelink’s Cataclysm Brushset

Based on the stars in the heavens, this set is designed to cause violent destruction when used with other sets.

Download brush.

Crack Brushes I

There are 17 high-quality brushes created in Photoshop 7, with over 1000 options. Before using these brushes, please read the terms of use and any additional instructions.

Download brush.

Echolalie-stock 32

The package contains 15 different brushes made from various wall textures. You will find brushes with cracks, scratches, and dirt.

Download brush.

Floral brushes

8 large floral brushes for use in headers and wallpapers, and 7 100×100 floral brushes for use in icons.

Download brush.

Holes Holes Holes

These brushes have a higher resolution, making them suitable for high-resolution projects as well.

Download brush.

Smudge Brushes

Smudge brushes that can be used in almost any kind of design are available for free download without the need to credit the creator.

Download brush.

Industrial Brushes

An array of high-quality Photoshop CS3 brushes featuring various elements of industry, such as chimneys, metallic structures, and engines, are all available for free use.

Download brush.

The post 18 Free Grunge-style Photoshop Brushes appeared first on Hongkiat.

It’s really easy and merely takes a few steps to erase an object in Photoshop. But before we start, here’s a before and after of the image to give you an idea of what this technique will achieve.

To follow through with the tutorial, you can use the exact same image I use. The image can be downloaded here, or here.

1. Open the image in Photoshop and select the Object Selection Tool from the left Toolbar.



2. Drag it over the object you wish to remove.



3. Now go to Select > Modify > Expand.



4. Enter a value of anywhere from 10 to 100 (you might need to do some trial and error for the best result) and then hit OK.



5. The highlighted object will be expanded. It should look something like this.



6. Now, go to Edit > Fill. Make sure Content-Aware is selected, then click OK.



7. And Voila! your object has now vanished!

Do try out this technique and let us know how it went for you.

The post How to Remove Objects From the Background in Photoshop appeared first on Hongkiat.

Today we bring to you a fast and easy tutorial to make a nice-looking Christmas Baubles also known as Christmas ball ornaments to some of you.

At the end of the tutorial you will be know how to create the nice, glossy effect you see on 3D illustrations of metal balls. For this tutorial, we will be using Adobe Illustrator.

Let’s get started.

Step 1 – Shape And Gradient

With the Elipse tool, make a circle. Use shift to keep it round.

Use the gradient tool to fill the circle. Make a radial gradient in the shape as is shown in the image.

In this case, we made a red gradient so you might use the classic red (100 magenta and 100 yellow in CMYK). In the image you can see that the center of the gradient is not in the center of the ball but a little to the top right. The darker red goes left and downwards to simulate a shadow.

Step 2 – Adding The Glow And Shadow

Copy the circle (Ctrl / Command +C) and paste it back (Ctrl / Command + B) twice, so now we have 3 circles overlapped.

Select the one which is above and bring it down and to the left as it’s shown in the image.

Now with the shift button pressed, we select both circles and we go to the pathfinder tool and select minus front.

Fill the resultant shape with white.

You’ll get an inverted moon, which we will use to add a reflected glow effect on the bauble. Resize and move the shape until it looks like the image below.

Then go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and find the right Blur Radius that you are happy with.

After that add transparency to the shape, 50% should do the trick.

Now make a copy of the crescent (Ctrl / Command + C, Ctrl / Command + V) and use the reflect tool to reflect it horizontally and vertically (so that it is opposite the first crescent).

Then change the color to C=0, M=100, Y=100, K=100. As we are in a red background we won’t use only black.

Use Ctrl+2 to block both crescent shape, so we can select the bottom circle without trouble. Copy and paste back (Ctrl+C & Ctrl+B) once again and move it as it’s shown in the pic.

Again we will use the Pathfinder > Minus Front. Then fill it with white and 25% transparency. After that resize it smaller. This will give the bauble a nice glossy effect.

Step 3 – The Metal Top

Let’s create the top hanger. Use the rounded rectangle tool and fill it with a linear gradient of 3 greys and 1 white. Manage the gradient to achieve a metal style look.

After that we will inclinate that shape.

Use the Free Transform tool (E), click the corner, hold it while pressing Ctrl / Command + Shift + Alt and give it the desired shape (you can also reduce the height).

Then make a circle above, copy and paste back (Ctrl / Command + C & Ctrl / Command + B) we resize the one on the top.

Then with both selected go to pathfinder and select Exclude. This way we will crop the circle and have a "wheel" as shown in the pic.

Step 4 – The Decoration

To give the bauble the final touch, you could add stars, snowflakes, lines, circles, etc. In this case we made 3 lines but at this link you will be able to download the final artwork and other examples.

To add the three lines, use the rectangle tool and draw three rectangles, make a group (Ctrl / Command + G) with them and we make a gradient in light brown so it looks golden.

Then Copy and Paste Back the big circle again and bring it to the front. Select rectangles and the copied circle and we will make a clipping mask (Ctrl / Command + 7). This will crop the lines so they fit the circle.

Now select the circle and the rectangles and bring them back (right click > arrange bring to back).

And, that’s it. We really hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and we look forward to seeing your christmas baubles. Thanks for your time. Comments are welcomed.

Click here to download this free vector and 5 other more Christmas bauble.

The post How to Create a Glossy Christmas Bauble in Illustrator appeared first on Hongkiat.

Today, I’d like to share 20 pattern tutorials for Photoshop and Illustrator that you can use in your future designs. The best part about these tutorials is that you can set your imagination free and customize each pattern as you like. From nature-inspired patterns to more abstract themed ones, there’s plenty for you to choose from. Some of these tutorials require 2-3 hours of your time but it’s definitely worth it.

#1

You can channel your excitement for summer with this adorable summer-inspired underwater seamless pattern that features cute marine animals.

#2

Steven Bonner is an expert in repeating pattern. In this lesson, he guides us on how to create a damask pattern in Photoshop and Illustrator.

#3

Creating diagonal patterns can be a bit of a challenge but with this manual you’ll be able to do it easily.

#4

Take a look at this tutorial if you’d like to learn how to create a simple vector geometric pattern in Illustrator. You can play around with colors to customize this too.

#5

Create a repeating pattern that looks like a map with Illustrator. This tutorial is quite long and time-consuming, but the beautiful end result makes it worthwhile.

#6

This spring floral pattern would make a classy background for a wedding blog. Follow the tutorial if you’d like to recreate this.

#7

This awesome vivid abstract pattern seems like a tunnel to nowhere. By the end of this gudie, you’ll know how to turn it into a retro poster.

#8

This pattern is totally mind-blowing. The tutorial uses the method of tracing photos to create this surreal and endless pattern.

#9

Who says Halloween has to be over? Use the Pen Tool, the Blob Brush Tool, and Pattern Options to create this sweet candy corn pattern.

#10

In this guide, you’ll see how to use the Photoshop CS6 Pattern Tool to make repeating elements inside vector scenes.

#11

Geometric patterns are still pretty trendy. Follow this tutorial to create a colorful cube pattern.

#12

This honeycomb pattern looks realistic doesn’t it? Maybe you should try it out for yourself…

#13

There are many uses for a diagonal pattern, so this is useful for any kind of graphic design project.

#14

You can create this simple abstract geometric background with ease using this tutorial.

#15

This manual will show you how to create an Aztec inspired pattern in Inkscape.

#16

In this tutorial, you’ll learn the process of creating an amazing geometric gradient pattern in Illustrator and Photoshop.

#17

Use Photoshop custom shapes to create this interesting pattern.

#18

Here’s another cool geometric pattern in this collection you can try out.

#19

Master the repeating pattern technique with this cool tutorial. It showcases how to create the complex pattern using smart objects and the nudging technique with your arrow keys.

#20

This tutorial will teach you how to create a geometric circle pattern in Illustrator.

More Photoshop Tutorials:

• 10 Cool Photoshop Tutorials For Creating Your Own Cinemagraph
• 20 UI Design Photoshop Tutorials That Will Come In Handy
• 80 Best Photoshop Photo Effect Tutorials

The post 20 Pattern Tutorials For Seamless Repeating Background appeared first on Hongkiat.

If you’re looking to create creepy Halloween artwork, here are some cool Photoshop tutorials to get help from. From photo manipulation to text effects, this list caters to different Photoshop techniques with detailed tutorials. Let’s take a look.

Smashing glass effects

Here is a realistic glass-shattering effect that uses amazing techniques such as playing with different textures and custom brushes.

How to Create a Severed Arm

A tutorial that teaches you how to create a gruesome scene of a severed arm with fleshy stumps and strings of sinew using some basic Brushes and Layer Masks.

Post Apocalyptic Photo Manipulation

Create a perfect photo manipulation of a post-apocalyptic scene with the help of adjustment layers, vector masks, and some special effects.

Bloody Text Effect in Photoshop

Using layer styles you can create this awesome bloody text effect in Photoshop that you can use in any Halloween design.

Halloween Pumpkin Wallpaper

Convert just about any pumpkin image into a horrific jack-o-lantern with this tutorial. You can play with the colors and apply layer blending modes to create this effect.

Zombify Your Photos in Less Than 20 Steps

In a few easy steps, this Photoshop tutorial will teach you how to make a zombie out of your own picture.

Create a Chilling Photo Manipulation

Through this tutorial, you can create a fantasy photo manipulation using several Photoshop tools such as Color Range, different blending modes, and more.

Ghosting An Image

This tutorial teaches you a fun and easy way to spruce up a photo for Halloween with the help of Smart Objects and Smart Filters.

Create Spooky Halloween Typography

If you want to create slimy, gooey, and drippy Halloween typography in Photoshop, then this tutorial is the one you should check out. The tutorial also shows how to incorporate this typography in a poster.

Creating ‘The Vampire Hunter’

A tutorial that teaches you how to draw dark photo manipulation using techniques like retouching, masking, coloring, adjustment layers and more.

Create a Halloween-Inspired Children’s Illustration

A detailed tutorial on illustrating a cute and scary children’s illustration using techniques that you could easily incorporate into your own Halloween artwork.

Mysterious Hollow

A Photoshop tutorial that guides you in creating a mysterious landscape with tree, skulls and animals using adjustment layers and filters.

Create a Horror Movie-Themed Photo Composition

With this tutorial, you can blend together some photos into a realistic horror movie-themed composition.

Alien Photo Manipulation

A tutorial that teaches you several photo manipulation techniques to combine two different photos into a single scary poster.

Create an Evil Queen

Using digital painting technique in Photoshop, you can create this amazing evil queen image with textures and brushes.

Photo Manipulation of a Girl in a Red Field

Using a combination of stock images, you can create this amazing photo manipulation with grunge-style fire.

Add a Realistic Ghost Into any Image

A detailed tutorial that teaches you how to convert just about anyone into a ghost image with great Photoshop technique.

The post 20 Creepy Halloween Photoshop Tutorials appeared first on Hongkiat.

Well, this post is the sequel to our previous post listing one of the most comprehensive collections of Photoshop text effect tutorials you can find on the internet. Take a look at the following collection to find your inspiration.

More Photoshop tutorial posts:

• UI Design Photoshop Tutorials
• Website Interface Photoshop Tutorials
• Photo Effects Photoshop Tutorials

Read also:

• 200 Free Photoshop Brushes
• 18 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives
• Photoshop Alternatives for Windows

Glossy Emblem Text Effects

Create the following nice looking Glossy Emblem text effect in 4 simple steps.

Flaming Text Effect

Creating flamming text effect using Photoshop’s Flame Filter.

Geometric Collage Text Effect

In this Photoshop tutorial, you’ll get to know how to use both selection and move tools to cut parts of the image and fill the text with them in order to achieve the geometric look.

Create an Ice-Cream Scoop Effect

Who does not like ice cream? This guide will walk you through the process of creating ice cream letters using brushes, layers, and textures in Photoshop.

Atmospheric Under-Water Effect

This short article will tell you how to create a water splash text effect in no time. You’re going to use textures, gradients, and image of water drops.

How to Create a Portrait Quote

This quick Photoshop tutorial shows how to combine a text quote with the portrait using a few simple tools in just one minute. Such kind of text effect could be used for a portfolio website, business cards, or invitations.

Bold Floral Text Effect

Use simple selection and adjustment tools in Photoshop to create this fantastic floral text effect. This floral text will look amazing on wedding invitations.

Create a Futuristic Metal Effect

This step-by-step Photoshop tutorial will teach you how to create this futuristic metal text effect. This effect is created by using a texture, a pattern, and a few layer styles.

Cartoon Gradient Text Effect

Do you remember that nice fairytale text in the end of TV cartoons? In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a similar pink text effect with the move tool, layer styles, and strokes.

Design Skin-Textured Typography

This skin text effect looks a little creepy, however, this tutorial could be done just for practice. You are going to use skin texture and combine text with real meat photo to achieve a realistic look.

Stylized Hay Bale Typography

In this autumn-inspired Photoshop tutorial, you are going to learn how to create a text made of hay and place it on a field photo. You can follow step-by-step instructions or watch the video.

Double Exposure Inspired Text Effect

Double exposure effect has become quite poplar lately. It can be applied not only to portraits but to the text too. In this Photoshop tutorial, you’ll get to know how to combine a few exposure into a single image using blending modes and adjustment layers.

Retro ‘Saved by the Bell’ Inspired Effect

Are you a retro TV fan? In this guide, you’ll see the process of creating a vintage sitcom title art of the 80s and 90s. You will see how to use Photoshop’s 3D tools and settings, shapes, and filters to achieve the effect you need.

Photography & Type Dramatic Effect

In this article, you’re going to learn how to integrate typography with 3D effect into an image naturally. This text effect could be used to create flyers, posters, and postcards.

Quick & Easy Duotone Text Effect

Using gradient map and the textured image you can create fantastic modern duo tone text affect in Photoshop. This text effect can be used not only for graphic design but for motion design as well.

Create a Tasty 3D Typographic Illustration

Using this tutorial you can create a mouth-watering text effect with brownies, cookies, and donuts. This Photoshop tutorial is quite complicated and is created with advanced users in mind.

Conform Text to a Surface Using Displacement Map

In this article, you will learn how to add depth and shape to your text the same as the background, so your image looks complicated and great. In this exact post, you’ll see how to add a simple text into a towel surface.

Lollipop Inspired Text Effect

You can create realistic lollipop text effect using a few text and shape layers, textures, and filters. You can write your own text and change colors according to your needs.

Create a Glossy, Puffy Text Effect

This amazing Photoshop tutorial is similar to the previous one, but here you’re going to create puffy ice text effect with a gradient. This process won’t take a lot of time because the tutorial is short and sweet.

Create a Simple Wedding Confetti Effect

In this guide, you’ll see the process of using a couple of textures, brushes, and layer styles to create a confetti text effect. This text effect is a perfect choice for wedding invitations thanks to its elegant refined look.

Create a 3D Neon Night Club Sign

The neon sign created with this Photoshop tutorial is so realistic that it’s hard to believe it’s not a photo. Follow this simple yet powerful tutorial to create a similar neon sign of your own.

Layered Floral Typography Text Effect

Blending typography and images is my favorite type of Photoshop text effect tutorials. This one will help you combine a flower image with a simple text to achieve an elegant beautiful look.

Ice Cream Type Treatment

A cute and delicious way to treat your text.

Logo Design Process and Walk Through of Design

Make a beautiful nature-inspired text effect that will look awesome and unusual.

Create a Yummy Cookies Text Effect in Photoshop

Create a delicious text effect with just some simple steps and tricks!

Creating a Tron Legacy Text Effect

Make a ‘Tron’-like text effect that will surprise everybody and even confusing some of them.

Create an Awesome 3D Text Effect using Photoshop

Learn the basic ways of text manipulation together with this simple tutorial in which you will create an amazing 3D text.

Create a Festive Ornamental Text Effect

Create an impressive 3D effect for your text together with this amazing tutorial!

Design an Elegant Glassy 3D Typography in Photoshop

With a cold and elegant look, this text effect is great for a techno style project!

Make a Grungy Metal Text Effect

Great for graphics with futuristic look, this text effect may be the key in creating a perfect futuristic feeling for your graphic.

Create an Inception Poster Repousse

Such an effect may look hard at the first place to make, but it’s easy and the impact done on the viewer is greater than you would expect!

Woodcut Typographic Illustration in Photoshop

Create a very unusual yet artistic text effect with this quality tutorial!

Creating of a Pipe Typography in Photoshop

Create an unusual and interesting text effect using simple pipes and drains. I’m impressed by its funny yet realistic look and feeling.

Making of a Chrome Emblem

Shiny and interesting, this text effect allows you to create some beautiful car logotypes for your creation.

Design a Super Glossy 3D Typography Effect

A text effect that has an artistic look with realistic detail. Impressed by its shiny and glossy effect.

Make a Modern 3D Text Effect

Make an interesting and modern look 3D text that is worth using in different works.

Create a Retro Sci-Fi Movie Poster in Photoshop

A text effect with sci-fi feel that can create a perfect mood for sci-fi related poster.

Making of a Cool Text Effect Puppet Warp Tool

Manipulate the ropes as you want to create amazing and realistic text effect that definitely looks awesome and attractive.

3D Skyscraper Text Effect

Stack up your text in 3D skyscraper style using Photoshop CS5.

3D Ribbon Wrapped

Create a 3D ribbon cutout text effect in Photoshop from scratch with this detailed tutorial.

Cinematic "Sergeant America" Text Effect

This tutorial focuses on how to create a marvelous "Sergeant America" metallic text in Photoshop.

Retro Folded Typography

Put your text through the folds, with an awesome folded coloured paper text effect in Photoshop.

Super Glossy 3D Typography

This is a tutorial based on how to create a super glossy and colourful text effect with reflection in Photoshop.

Lost in Space Typography

This tutorial is based on creating an abstract composition of colours and lights, and applying that created texture in a text layer in Photoshop.

Smoke Text Effect

Learn how to create a realistic smoke text effect in Photoshop, easy and simple, with detailed guides.

Colorful Text Design

This is a tutorial which shows how to create marvelous and splendid colourful text styles with different layers in Photoshop.

Text In Stitches

How to convert text to a path and how to stitch that path using a custom brush set.

Spray Paint Text

Trendy Typographic Poster Design

Creating an interesting and eye-catching poster with a single typographic word.

Spiderman III

Awesome Grunge Text Effect

How to create an awesome grungy text effect. The effect can be used to liven up your website layouts, but can also provide a good way to display logos and other graphical elements alone.

Hell of Tutorial

Create a 3D text with fire coming from the inside of the document like a hole.

Icey Styles in Photoshop

Create an icey-cold effect using layer styles and that you can apply to different objects.

Gold Plated Text

Learn how to turn text into gold using Photoshop’s Layer Styles.

The post 60+ More Photoshop Text Effect Tutorials appeared first on Hongkiat.

As a designer never gets enough of these little automated processes, here is a long list of useful Photoshop actions. These actions range from photo enhancement, adding filters and effects and giving different color tones to the images. Feel free to download and use the ones you find potentially helpful for your projects.

Fairy action by meganjoy

Mystical light by meganjoy

Sweet pixie by meganjoy

Free Color Pop by shutterpulse

Nightmare by shutterpulse

Summer Haze by photographypla.net

Matte photographypla.net

Vibrant by exposureempire.com

Matte by shutterpulse

Desert Dustn by brusheezy

Sunken Sunlight by brusheezy

Matte by exposureempire

Blue Evening by photographypla.net

Dreamy rose by meganjoy

Faded Film by presetkingdom.com

Action pack #33 by miss-etikate

Marshmallow by meganjoy

Old Film by loadedlandscapes.com

Soft pastel by meganjoy

Yellow Mood by brusheezy

Vintage Light Leak by shutterpulse

Intensity by loadedlandscapes.com

Lomo by exposureempire.com

The Mini Collection by filtergrade.com

HDR Photoshop Action by photographypla.net

High Contrast Black & White by shutterpulse.com

‘Marshmallow’ by kayleighjune

Silver by photographypla.net

Skin Retouching actions by brusheezy

Retro by brusheezy

Film Effect by loadedlandscapes.com

Faux HDR by photographypla.net

Various effects by meganjoy

Amatorka Action 2 by amatorka

Ice by presetkingdom.com

Pretty Lady by brusheezy

Action pack #10 by saturn-rings

Action pack #1 by saturn-rings

Cinema Photoshop Action by photographypla.net

Cross Processed by loadedlandscapes.com

Teeth Whitening by modernactions

Spring Fever by carpesav

Soft Pink by leafbreeze7

Halftone by creativetacos

Purple wonderland by bokehlie

Photoshop Action 2 by saturn-rings

Cross-Processing ATN by mutato-nomine

50 Photoshop Postwork Actions by manicho

Portrait Actions I by ver00nika

Actions Clyck by muffim-clyck

Cool photo effect action by Numizmat

Dazzle Effects by dazzle-textures

Enhancing skin color by mermes

Eye Color by Jean31

Kalifbanane – Cross Coloring by KalifBanane

Lovely Action by orangetopatos

Pack Actions 01 by darviana

Photo Coloring 11 by iconmaker91

Photo Coloring 11.2 by iconmaker91

Photoshop Action Set o1 by lustdrunk

Photoshop Action Set o3 by lustdrunk

Photoshop Action: Diabolic by davidnanchin

Photoshop Action: Dim and Jade by davidnanchin

Rather Large Set of Actions by rocketlaunch

Skin Smoothing by Jean31

Wedding Enhancers Kit by Karl

Split toning by paranoidstock

Retro-Vintage by rocketlaunch

5 Black and White PS actions by cat-woman-amy

Black white sepia PS action by rosalindharrison

TackIt! Mini by finessefx

This handy little effect has plenty of customization options, including the width of the picture border, the amount of shadow for both the photo and tack, and the color of the tack.

HolgaRoid Generator BW by rawimage

Old Parchment by finessefx

Photoshop action that gives paper with tears, yellowed edges and other artifacts.

Page Curl by pstutorialsblog

Vintage Photo by mutato-nomine

Photo Aging by mutato-nomine

Photographers Toolkit 1 by WallStorm

Polaroid Generator by rawimage

Cinematic Effect by orangeycow

Comics Photoshop action by mutato-nomine

The post 80 Useful Photoshop Actions For Photo Enhancements appeared first on Hongkiat.

Step 1

Open a suitable background image on which you want to build up the flaming text effect. In this example, we will be using a distressed metal texture but any reasonably dark background texture would work equally well:

Step 2

We’ll add some shading and colour adjustments to create a low key effect over our background. Select the Elliptical Marquee tool (M) and draw a large oval over the centre of the background.

Step 3

Use Cmd / Ctrl + Shift + I to select the inverse area in the document:

Step 4

Go to the Layer menu > New Adjustment Layer > Curves command. Click to add a custom midtone point on the Curve line and drag downwards to darken the image:

Step 5

To soften the edges of the vignette, we’ll add a blur to the Adjustment Layer Mask. Go to the Filter menu > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Increase the Radius value as required to create a nice soft feather for the edges of the ellipse shape.

Step 6

Go to the Layer menu > New Adjustment Layer > Hue and Saturation. Check the Colorize tickbox and apply the following values: Hue (30), Saturation (50), Lightness (-40)

Step 7

Select the Text tool (T) and click on the canvas to create a Type Layer. Use the Options bar to set the required font size and colour and enter the required character.

In the example used here, we’ve used the following character values: Font: MetroBlack LT Two Regular, Size: 400 px, Colour: 474747. When you’ve finished, use the shortcut Cmd / Ctrl + Enter to commit the Type Layer changes.

Step 8

In the Window menu > Layers Panel select the Background Layer containing the metal texture image. Use the shortcut Cmd / Ctrl + J to duplicate the Layer and drag it above the Text Layer in the Panel.

Step 9

With the new texture Layer selected, use the shortcut Cmd / Ctrl + Alt + G to mask the copy image to the Text Layer beneath.

Step 10

With the Texture Layer selected, Go the Image menu > Adjustments > Curves command. Add a mid tone point to the Curve line and drag downwards to darken the texture overlay Layer.

Step 11

We’ll next add some Layer Styles to the Text Layer to lift it off the background. In the Layers Panel, click the ‘FX’ menu and apply the following Layer Styles:

• Drop Shadow
• Opacity:
• Distance: 20px
• Spread: 0 px
• Size: 20 px
• Bevel and Emboss
• Depth: 1000%
• Size: 5px
• Angle: 130
• Altitude: 48
• Highlight Colour: fa8b09
• Highlight Opacity: 95%
• Shadow Colour: 000000
• Shadow Opacity: 85%

Step 12

We’ll now create some digital fire to warp around our character, using the fantastic new Photoshop CC Flame Filter, and some custom Paths to indicate the placement and direction of the flames.

Use the shortcut Cmd / Ctrl + Shift + N to create a New Layer called ‘Flames’. Select the Pen tool (P) and in the document, draw out a path up one side of the text character where you want a flame to appear:

Step 13

When you reach the point where you want the flame to end, hold down the Cmd / Ctrl key and click anywhere on the document away from the Path points. To create another flame, draw another Path segment using the same steps, but remember to Cmd / Ctrl + click at the end of each Path segment so that the flames will be rendered individually:

Step 14

Go to the Filter > Render > Flame Filter. In the dialog box, set the following key values:

• Flame Type: One Flame along Path
• Width: 37 px
• Flame Lines: 9
• Turbulent: 66
• Jag: 0
• Opacity: 49

Step 15

The Filter dialog box provides a near infinite range of flame and fire effects, so you should also experiment with adjusting the above settings to create the flame look you want. Once you’ve adjusted the values, click OK to apply the Filter effect:

Step 16

Next we’ll add some extra shading to build up the glow around our flames.

In the Window > Layers Panel, select the flames Layer and use the shortcut Cmd / Ctrl + J to duplicate it.

Step 17

Re-name the copy Layer to ‘Flame Glow’ and move it below the Flames Layer in the Panel list.

Step 18

Change the Blending Mode in the Layers Panel to Color Dodge. Use the Move tool to offset the copy image a little to the right and down.

Step 19

Go to the Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur command. Adjust the Blur Radius to soften the edges of the glow effect. In the example used here, a value of 8.0 was used:

Step 20

To reduce the strength of the Color Dodge effect over the background image, go to the Image menu > Adjustments > Hue and Saturation command.

Step 21

Lower the Saturation slider to remove some of the colour intensity in the glow.

Step 22

Use the shortcut Cmd / Ctrl + Shift + N to create a New Layer. Name it ‘Extra Glow’. In the Layers Panel, move it below the Flames Glow Layer.

Step 23

Change the Layer Blending Mode to Color Dodge.

Step 24

Select the Brush tool (B). In the toolbox, click the Foreground Swatch and change the Colour to CAAF50.

Step 25

Use a large soft brush to paint in some extra glow details around the edges of the flames and over the text character.

The Color Dodge Mode works really well for building up vibrant glow effects, but it’s extremely sensitive to small changes in your paint colour. If the glow effect is too strong, or produces unwanted colour shifts, try reducing the Lightness and/or Hue values for the paint colour in the toolbox until you get the right result.

Step 26

For a finishing touch, we’ll add some sparks to the base of the flames using a custom made brush. Use the shortcut Cmd / Ctrl +N to create a new document In the dialog box, set the following properties and then click OK:

• Name: Spark Prototype
• Width: 50 px
• Height: 20 px
• Color Mode RGB
• Background Contents: White

Step 27

Select the Rectangular Marquee tool (M) and draw a small horizontal rectangle in the document.

Step 28

Use the shortcut Cmd / Ctrl + I to invert this area to black. Use the shortcut Cmd / Ctrl + D to remove the selection.

Step 29

To add some movement to the spark prototype, go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur Filter. Set the distance to 13px, the Angle to 0 degrees and click OK. To save a custom brush from the Spark image, go to the Edit menu > Define Brush Preset command:

Step 30

Now swap back to the Flaming text document. Select the Brush tool (B), which should now show our Spark Prototype as the active Brush tip. We’ll need to adjust some of the paint stroke properties for this custom tip to create some realistic spark like effects.

Go to the Window menu > Brush Panel and apply the following values to the Brush Properties:

• Brush Tip Shape
• Size: 10 Px
• Roundness: 35%
• Spacing: 350%
• Shape Dynamics:
• Size Jitter: 100 %
• Angle Jitter 3 %
• Angle Jitter Control: Direction
• Scattering:
• Scatter: 300%
• Both Axes: Ticked

Step 31

Use the Shortcut Cmd / Ctrl + Shift + N to create a New Layer called ‘ Coloured Sparks’.

Step 32

Set the Foreground Colour to White in the Toolbox. In the document window, start to paint in some sparks around the base of the flames. Start your paint strokes at the base and draw in the direction that you’d like them to travel in either in a straight line or curved arcs. As we’ve set the Angle Jitter Control to ‘Direction’, the sparks should always align to the direction of your mouse movement:

Step 33

As a finishing touch, we’ll add a few colour changes to some of the sparks. On the keyboard, press the ‘/’ key to Lock the Transparent areas of the Sparks Layer from change. Select a soft round paint brush preset, set the size value to 50 px.

Step 34

In the toolbox, set the Foreground colour to EB7E13. Begin to paint around the edges of the spark trails with the Brush tool to add some colour variation to the sparks.

You can continue to paint different orange and yellow hues into the sparks to build up a more complex colour palette as required.

Step 35

Marvel at your results.

More related:

• Glossy Emblem text effects with Photoshop (hongkiat.com)
• 3D-Text in Photoshop (photoshopbuzz.com)
• Avengers text effect with Photoshop (hongkiat.com)

The post How to Create Flaming Text Effect with Adobe Photoshop appeared first on Hongkiat.

Well, when working on a personal computer, this seems like a pretty useful option to access the recent files easily.

However, if you are working on a public workstation, or you are sharing the Photoshop app with colleagues, you might not want others to see the files you recently opened.

So for those who don’t want their privacy to be affected through this option in Photoshop, in this post, I’m going to show you how to clear the recently accessed images on your Home Screen or to disable this option altogether.

Let’s take a look.

How to clear recent files in Photoshop

By default, the Photoshop Home Screen will show a total of 20 images that you’ve recently opened. If you’re concerned with your privacy, then the best option would be, of course, to clear them.

To clear all images on your Photoshop Home Screen, go to Files > Open Recent, and choose Clear Recent File List.

This will clear the history of recently accessed images, and return the Home Screen back to a black screen, just like this:

However, this is only going to work until you start opening more image files, and the Home Screen is going to get populated with your recently opened images all over again.

Therefore, this method is only useful if you want to clear your files history for the time being, or to make sure that the next person who uses Photoshop does not know what image files you were working on previously.

How to disable "Recent" in Photoshop

If you want to permanently disable the option to show recent files in Photoshop Homescreen, then try the following method.

Step 1. Go to Photoshop Preferences Settings

For Mac users, go to Photoshop > Preferences > General, or use the shortcut key Command + K. Similarly, for Windows users, go to Edit > Preferences > General, or use the shortcut key Control + K.

Step 2. Change File Handling Settings

Click on"File Handling"on the left sidebar, look for “Recent File List Contains”, and change the default value from “20” to “0”.

This will tell Photoshop to display 0, or no images instead of the default 20 recently accessed images.

Step 3. Disable Home Screen

Last but not least, go back to the General tab in Preferences and uncheck "Auto show the Home Screen". This will skip showing the Home Screen the next time Photoshop is launched.

The post How to Remove Recent Files in Photoshop Home Screen appeared first on Hongkiat.

Here are some of the most interesting collage Photoshop tutorials that will teach you to combine photography with hand-drawn elements and turn an otherwise ordinary image into awesome photo manipulation. You’ll get to know how to incorporate lots of objects into one stunning image.

Recommended Reading: How to Create A Painting Effect – Photoshop Tutorial

Who knows, later on you might be able to create gift cards, postcards or even a beautiful cover for your own book. Let’s get inspired!

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The post 29 Collage Photoshop Tutorials for Beginners appeared first on Hongkiat.

This post combines all the keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Photoshop into a single list that you can bookmark. So whenever you forget a certain Photoshop short key, you can refer to this list.

Selection Tools

Camera Raw Dialog Box

Move and copy selections

Painting

Text

Brush Panel

Layers Panel

The post 100+ Adobe Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts appeared first on Hongkiat.

So either you are looking for inspiration for your next project or want to incorporate the retro theme in your current one, here is a long list of beautifully designed retro vintage Photoshop tutorials. Pick the one you like and take a leap into it.

Vintage Look Film Effect

Here is a lovely image of a girl in the fields near the house with the soft vintage effect applied. You can replicate the same look with this video guide.

Digital Retouching

Just in three easy steps, you are going to learn how to create a fancy retro look in Photoshop. You will use selective color and light leak image.

How to Create a Vintage Photo Filter in 60 Seconds

If you want to learn how to apply vintage filters to your photos in Photoshop, but don’t feel like spending a lot of time on it, take a look at this tutorial.

Quick Way to Roughen the Edges of Your Work

Learn how to create a retro sign for postal service in Adobe Photoshop. Besides, here you can also download the pack of brushes for free.

Vintage Photo Effect

This photo effect looks almost like sepia. This tutorial will teach you to apply this soft yellow filter to your pictures.

Vintage Stamped Text

You can quickly learn how to create a beautiful vintage stamped text effect in Photoshop and re-use it over and over again for your designs.

Vintage Rusted Metal Sign

In this article, you are going to see the process of creating a rusty dusty vintage car sign.

Retro Style Design

Here is an easy video tutorial showing you how to create a retro duotone effect Photoshop. You will use shapes and color fill.

Vintage feel with custom brush strokes

This article tells how to use custom brush strokes to create a vintage-inspired image. You can use brush strokes in any kind of design.

Colorful, Wavy, Tribal Photo Manipulation

Here is a gorgeous wavy vibrant photo manipulation which looks like a collage. You will combine many different images and textures into one fantastic masterpiece.

Vintage Technicolor

The video tutorial you see above will show you the process of applying a technicolor vintage effect to a picture with a girl. You can use it for any image to give it a retro feel.

Retro 3D Displaced Text Effect

You can combine 2d and 3d styles into one cool poster with text effect in retro style. This is a step-by-step tutorial to teach you this text effect.

Retro poster effects

Here is a tutorial that will show you how to create an old-school poster with lots of details. You will turn a real hand-drawn image into a digital image.

Hanze Vintage

Use blending modes and adjustment layers to create this excellent vintage color effect for your images. It works great for portraits.

Grunge Retro Text Effect

Check out this cool noisy grunge text effect. It can be applied to logos and signs.

Old Paper Effect

Do you remember all those old photos of your grandmother where she is young? This technique will help you to achieve a similar effect of old paper and green tones.

Matchbook Print Effect

Matchbooks was a famous advertising style in the 1950s. You can apply the same effect to your designs using this video guide.

Vintage Gig Poster

Here is an easy video tutorial showing you how to make an old vintage poster with scratches and retro typography.

Ornate, Vintage, Poster Design

In this article, you’ll get to know how to create an ornate poster in vintage style. It has beautiful typography and an eagle image.

Wood Type Inspired Design

Check out this stunning retro text effect tutorial which will show you how to create a sign in Photoshop. It has red text and blue label in the background.

Vintage/Retro Effect

Here is a no sound video which will show you the process of creating a retro style photo effect. It is using an image with a retro car on a beach.

Vintage Effect In Photoshop CS6

This is a faded vintage photo effect tutorial. You can apply the filter on any type of image from flowers to portraits. You are going to use a bucket tool and blending modes.

80s-Inspired Double Exposure Manipulation

Look at this fantastic tutorial showing how to create a photo manipulation in 1980s style. It displays a woman on a background with a city.

Retro 90s Grunge Photo Effect

Grunge of the 1990s was a part of American culture which was known in the whole world. This article will tell you how to create a red grunge poster in Photoshop.

Create Low-poly Art

Look at this cool low poly poster featuring two men with airplanes. It looks like a retro poster for pilots or air force.

Create a Stunning old-school Halftone Effect

Halftone is one of the old styles used many years ago. You can re-create this effect and apply them to your latest shots to add them a vintage feel.

Give Illustrations a Retro Look

What does make vintage style and effect? Washed out colors, scratches, and old style typography. All these techniques are described in the following tutorial.

Create a 90s Geometric Pattern Using Basic Shapes in Photoshop

Here is a quick tutorial showing how to create a colorful, vibrant 90s geometric texture. Just follow this guide step by step.

Outrun Retro-Futuristic Pixel Text Effect Photoshop Tutorial

Combine retro and futuristic style at one text effect which you can create using this useful video.

Photoshop Vintage & Retro Photo Effect Tutorial

With the help of this video guide, you are going to learn how to create this fantastic film look for your images. It seems like a red and blue light leak or a smooth gradient.

More:

Old Fantasy Map

3D Retro Strip

Retro Photo with Background

Space-Helmeted Future Retro Illustration

Retro Boxing Poster

Rockin’ 80’s Party Poster

Old-Style Safari Map

Retro Comic Book Effect

Old School Type – Line Gradients

Retro Cosmic Design

Photo Transfer Edge Effect

Old World Wax Seal

Old Paper

Old Envelope

WWII Airplane

Retro Lighting – Ford Mustang

Sweet Old School Album Cover

Turn A New Photo Into An Old Photo

Curvy Cross Processing

The post 50+ Best Retro & Vintage Photoshop Tutorials appeared first on Hongkiat.

In this tutorial, I will share some of my favourite enhancing and retouching techniques. You may know some of my techniques, and others, you may not. So, let’s get started.

Step 1

Open the Cosplay Girl image. Special thanks to Priestess Shizuka for her permission to use this image. You can find the image here. Crop it (Ctrl + C) to get rid of those black edges at the top and bottom.

Step 2

Notice that the image isn’t smooth enough, especially the hair, so I want to make it smoother by increasing the amount of the pixels. Choose Image > Image size, or hit Alt + Ctrl + I on the keyboard. In the resolution column, change the value to 200 pixels/inch or more. And then click OK.

Step 3

Now I want to level it, to make this image better. As you can see when we open the histogram (Window > Histogram), the histogram tells us that this image suffered an ‘unbalance’ tonal range. The gap at the light area (right side) means the highlight areas are not as bright as they could be. Thats why the image looks rather dull.

It will be good if we can trace the brightest, darkest and midtone pixels of this image to apply proper level adjustment on it. This is so Photoshop can convert the brightest pixels in this image to become pure bright (pure white), darkest pixels to be pure dark, and the midtones as well, for ideal tonal distribution.

To do that, duplicate the background layer by hitting Ctrl + J. Create a new layer under it by hitting Ctrl + Shift + N, and then, fill it with white color (Ctrl + Backspace).

Step 4

Target layer 1, and double click it to bring up the Layer Style dialog box. On the Blending Options window, drag the white triangle to the left, until it almost meets the black triangle on the left post. The remaining spot is the darkest pixel in this image.

Step 5

Take the Color Sampler tool, change the Sample Size to 3 by 3 Average, then point it to one of those remaining spots in this image. We’ve got sample 1 here — the darkest pixels.

Step 6

Repeat step 4, but this time in the Layer Style window, do the opposite by dragging the black triangle to the right.

Again with the Color Sampler tool, point it to the one of those remaining spots. We’ve got sample 2: the lightest pixels.

Step 7

This time we want to trace the midtones. Repeat step 4, and in the Layer Style window drag the black and white triangles to the center, around 127.5 (= 255/2). However, when we drag it close to 127.5, the spot sample becomes too narrow, with a focus on the girl only, not the background, thus we should drag the black triangle to 121, and the white triangle to 134 (6.5 units either way of 127.5).

That will be the ‘equal’ value for both of them. Then, with the Sampler Color tool, take a sample from one of those remaining spots. Here we’ve got Sample 3: the midtones.

Step 8

Now target Layer 1, double click it to bring up the Layer Style dialog box, and then reset those triangles to the original post. Now, with the Sampler tool still active, you should indications as shown below:

You can use actual pixel mode when tracing those spots, to get more accurate results, but in this case, I think what we did before is enough.

Step 9

Now, create a Levels Adjustments layer above layer 1. On the Levels Adjustments window, use the eyedropper to set the black point. Click on the eyedropper, at black, then on Sample 1 that we made previously.

Step 10

For the midtones, click the eyedropper for gray point, point and click it to Sample 3. And last, click the eyedropper for white point, then point and click Sample 2.

Now, what we’ve got here is an image with an ‘ideal’ tonal and color range. We’ve got pure black, pure white and the tonal spans mathematically ideal. With a quick visual check, you can see that the image is indeed getting better. That’s the best I can achieve for this image so far.

Step 11

Now let’s add some details and emphasize some parts of the image. Of course, Photoshop can’t create any details, but it can reveal or enhance it. First, hit Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E to merge the layers without flattening all layers beneath it. Target this new layer, then go to Image > Calculations. This will bring us to the Calculations dialog box.

Step 12

After taking a closer look at each channel, you will see that the green channel contains the most details, so we’re going to use that channel as a ‘patch’. We’re going to multiply it to get a more significant result. In the Calculations dialog box, set the value as shown below.

Step 13

The result will be located at the bottom of the Channels palette, name it ‘Alpha 1’. Click it, select all (Ctrl + A), copy (Ctrl + C), and then go back to the Layers Palette and paste it (Ctrl + V) on top of all the layers. Then set the Blending Mode to Soft light. Name it ‘Basic’.

Step 14

The dark details distribute nicely, but there seems to be too much light. Let’s decrease it a little. Double click the Basic Layer to bring up the Layer Style dialog box, then while holding the Alt key, move the white triangle to the left; it will separate the triangles to give us a smooth transition.

Step 15

On step 13, we may have lost some details on her clothes; so let’s fix that. To do that, add a layer mask for this Layer (Basic Layer), and brush that area with the soft black brush, to get back some detail from the underlying layer. I use a Soft Round Brush with size 50 px, Hardness 0%, and Opacity 20%. Make sure you target the Layer Mask Thumbnail on the Layers Pallete before brushing.

Step 16

Now let’s smooth out the skin especially the right shoulder. To do that, hit Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E again and apply the median filter. Choose Filter > Noise > Median. Set the radius to 10 pixels. Again, apply a layer mask to this layer, Hide All by holding the Alt key when you click the Add Layer Mask button. Use a white smooth brush to cover the rough areas, but leave the hair and edges. Name this layer ‘Smooth Skin’.

Step 17

Now let’s sharpen the image. Like before, hit Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E, and name it ‘Sharpen’. Copy this new layer by hitting Ctrl + J. Hide the copy by clicking the eye icon on the Layers Palette. And then target the original Sharpen layer, go to Filter > Other > High Pass. Set the radius to 2 pixels, and change the Blending Mode to Vivid Light.

We can see now, how the details become more vivid in this image. However, the hair has also ‘sharpened’ and looks rough, which is not wanted, so, let’s add a layer mask again, reveal only some parts: eyes, nose, lips and clothes using a smooth soft brush.

Step 18

Now target the Sharpen Copy layer that we’ve made before. Make it visible. Name it ‘Smooth Hair’, because this time I want to smooth out the hair using this layer. Go to Filter > Stylize > Diffuse. Select Anisotropic, and then click OK. Add a Layer Mask, and hide all areas except the hair. Zoom in to see the result.

Step 19

Finally, create the Hue/Saturation adjustments layer on top. Set the Saturation value to 20 to give this image more color. You can compare this final result with the original image, by simply holding the Alt key, and clicking on the eye icon of the original layer image.

Final result

And walla, here’s our final image! You can download the PSD here.

The post How to Enhance & Retouch an Image [Photoshop Tutorial] appeared first on Hongkiat.