How to Put Smokin’ Bullet Holes and a Wanted Sign into a Piece of Wood

Step 1

So here’s the image we’re going to be creating, it’s a sort of Wild West wood sign with some bullet holes for extra effect.

Step 2

First up, we need a wood texture. I used the excellent EveryStockPhoto search tool that searches a bunch of free stock image banks to find an image. We have to be particularly careful here on Psdtuts+ because of usage agreements and what not. This image is from ImageAfter (SRC) who kindly allow you to use their images in commercial projects, yay!

Step 3

So here’s my lovely wood texture!

Step 4

First, we need some text. In a new layer, add your text in a nice brown color (#803508). The color is important because we’re going to set it to Multiply to get a nice darkening of the wood texture behind it.
The font I’ve used is Anatole Display SSi, it’s kind of Western-looking without being too over the top. Use whatever you please.

Step 5

Basically, next I added a whole bunch of layer styles. Here’s how it comes out; in the next step I’ll show you all the styles I applied.
Before we get to the styles though, there are two settings you need to apply:

• Set the Fill of the layer to 90%. (If you’re not sure what Fill is, it’s right below Opacity. Opacity controls how transparent everything on the layer is, while Fill controls how transparent only the layer and not the layer styles are)
• Set the layer blending mode to Multiply

Step 6

Ok there are a bazillion styles here. The main points to take away are:

• Drop Shadow — I’ve used the drop shadow in an unusual way here. It’s set to put a 1px highlight on the bottom right. This is where the light (which in this example we’re going to have coming from the top left) hits the edge.
• Inner Shadow — I’ve used the inner shadow to make it seem like the text is stamped on to the wood.
• Inner Glow — This is used to give a general stamped-in look on top of the inner shadow.
• Bevel / Emboss — I’ve used this to double-over the drop shadow highlight and give it even more of an embossed feel.
• Gradient Overlay — This is used just to give a bit of variation in the color of the item it’s applied to.

And of course, if you’re too lazy to copy that many styles, you can always buy the sample PSD and just copy them :-)

Step 7

Now this is looking pretty good. One problem, though, is it’s a bit too clean cut. It would be nicer if the text looked a bit worn down. To do that, we’ll apply a Displacement map. Actually, we’re going to do this step quite a few times over during the rest of the tutorial, so it’s quite important to learn (and quite simple).

Step 8

First, create a new file and paste in the wood texture. Press Ctrl+Shift+U to desaturate it and then save it as Displacement.psd

Step 9

Now back on the main file, duplicate the Wanted text. Rasterize one copy by going to Layer > Rasterize > Type. Then set the other non-rasterized layer to 40% Fill. Then switch it off for the time being so it doesn’t get in the way. Now back to the rasterized version, go to Filter > Distort > Displace and use values of 5 and 5 for the scale as shown below. Press OK and then it will ask you what file to use as the displacement map, choose Displacement.psd from the previous step.
You can read a bit about displacement maps and how they work in this post at Worth1000. They can be quite powerful. For our purposes, we’re mainly using them to roughen up edges to match the background.

Step 10

Now we switch the other non-rasterized layer back on, and together they make a rougher-looking version of the original.

Step 11

Now I wanted to add some shapes and more text to embellish my wanted text. I used Photoshop shapes like stars and added some extra text below. Then I just copied steps 4-10 for each one.
The one difference is that because the objects/text is smaller, I adjusted the layer styles to suit. So, for example, I made the inner shadow 1px instead of 3px for the distance, and so on.

Step 12

So here we are. It’s looking pretty cool already! But to make this image really kick, we’re going to need a bit more bazoomph!
At this point, I selected all the layers so far except the background wood texture and stuck them in a Layer Group and called it Wanted Text or something like that. The utility of this is that I can now switch it on or off while doing the other parts of the image without it getting in the way. I suggest you do the same.

Step 13

So with the Wanted Text group switched off for the time being, it’s time to make the bullet holes.
First, we create two new layers. On the lower one, we draw a largish circle of grey. Then in the upper layer, we draw a smaller circle of black. You should have something like shown.
The idea here is the black bit will be the actual hole, the grey bit is going to be the roughed-up wood texture around the hole.

Step 14

Now we need some neat layer styles to make this work. Here I’ve applied them already; in the next steps I’ll show you the actual settings.

Step 15

For the bullet hole part it’s really simple, we use an Emboss with these settings. Note that the highlight I’ve used a beige color that I picked out of the wood texture so it would match.

Step 16

The back layer is more complicated. The main points to notice are:

• I’ve used the Drop Shadow in the same way as with the text earlier (i.e. to create a highlight) but much fainter this time
• I’ve used Color Overlay to lighten it up
• I’ve used the Gradient to make it seem indented
• I’ve used Inner Shadow to generally make it seem depressed

Step 17

Now that we’ve got our main bullet hole, I suggest making a layer group out of it, then duplicating this layer group. Because all our bullet holes need to look different, we need a bunch of these and then we apply some randomizing stuff (like displacement maps and wave distortions) to each of them, in turn, to make them different.
So duplicate the pair of layers. Then select the black hole layer and go to Filter > Distort > Displace. Again use the same Displacement.psd as your map. This time I set the scale to 10,10.

Step 18

Next, we select the back layer and apple a Filters > Distort > Wave transform. You may need to fiddle with the settings, as you don’t want to distort it too much. I’ve never fully understood the wave tool, I just move sliders around and press Randomize a lot until I get the look I want … makes you wonder if I should be teaching Photoshop really :-)

Step 19

After that, apply a Filters > Distort > Displace to this backing layer too. This time use a scale of 50,50 to make it really rough (see image).
Additionally, I found that because of the wood texture it actually looked best when I placed the bullet holes on the natural grooves of the wood. You can see an example below where I have the same bullet hole layers in two different places on the wood. The right one looks more natural because it uses the texture to good effect.

Step 20

Now we do this whole bullet thing a few times over. Make sure to move them around and then use the displacement maps so that they come out differently. Also make sure to press "Randomize" on the wave distortion so again they come out differently. Here’s what I’ve got now…

Step 21

One drawback to the current image is it looks flat, so it’d be a good idea to apply a bit of lighting and shadow. I put all the bullet layers into a Layer Group called Bullets, and then in a brand new layer above all the others, we draw a Radial Gradient going from White to Transparency as shown.

Step 22

I then set that layer to Overlay and 50% Opacity, then duplicated it and set the duplicate to Soft Light and 50%. This gave me a nice subtle lighting as shown below.

Step 23

Next, I duplicated the very back texture layer, pressed Ctrl+Shift+U to desaturate, placed it above all the other layers, then set the layer to Overlay and 40% opacity. This basically ups the contrast on the image.

Step 24

This is it so far — already looking much better!

Step 25

Now create one more layer above the others and draw a Radial Gradient going from white to black, looking something like this. You don’t want too much black because that’s going to be the shadowy part.

Step 26

We set this latest layer to Soft Light and 50% Opacity, and finally we have a nice lighting effect. All of a sudden our image is really coming to life.

Step 27

We have one last mission, and that is to add smoke! For this effect we’re going to use the smoky effect from my previous Slick Supernatural Text Effect tutorial.
First create a new layer and with a small soft brush, just draw in some wavy lines like shown.

Step 28

Next, we go to Filters > Distort > Wave and mess about to make a nice wave distortion. When that’s done we press Ctrl+F to redo the same filter (the wave) again a couple of times to make it look even more distorted. Occasionally use the eraser to erase bits that are looking weird.

Step 29

Basically, we repeat those steps over a few times, fade out the layer, do it again with another one, and you’ll get some small smoky waves like this.
Just keep going and make a bunch more to add to the other bullet holes. You can learn a bit more about the effect in the supernatural tutorial that I linked to earlier.

Final Image

And voila! One awesome Wild West Photoshopped-to-the-max image. Hope you enjoyed the tutorial and learned something useful, or failing that, at least found out where to get good wood textures :-)

Reference : http://psd.tutsplus.com

Super Cool Frilly Bits Typography

Step 1

The first thing to do is to find the elements we will use. There are lots of websites where you can find nice vectors, and there's a post from Cameron Moll with a huge list of these sites. So that's a nice place to start. http://cameronmoll.com/archives/2008/05/25_resources_ornaments_fleurons/
After checking all the sites out, I bought the vectors from http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/object/5836792_floral_design_elements.php?id=5836792

Step 2

Open Photoshop and create a new document. I used 1680x1050 pixels. After that, type abduzeedo and go to Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay. Use Red, Yellow, Green, and Light Blue for the colors. I used Futura for the typeface

Step 3

Let's start mixing the vectors with the type. First you will have to find the right "ornament" for the letter you want. Then you will have to place it in a way that it follows the shape of that letter. In the image below you can see that the "ornament" seems to be coming from the "a".

Step 3

After you align the ornament with the letter, it's time to add some depth. To do that let's use the Layer Styles. Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Drop Shadow. Use Multiply for the Blend Mode, Black for the color, 100% Opacity, -60% Angle, Distance of 5 pixels and Size of 5 pixels as well.

Step 4

Here let's create a layer from the shadow of the layer style. To do that click with the right button of the mouse on the layer with the drop shadow. Then select Create Layer from the menu. That's it, you'll now have a layer with the shadow.

Step 5

Now that you have the shadow in a layer let's apply a mask. Go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All. Then select the Brush Tool(B). The color will be black and the brush will be regular with a diameter of 45 pixels and 0% hardness. Then just paint the mask to hide some parts of the shadow. The idea is to create the impression that the ornament is coming from, and passing above the letter.

Step 6

Repeat the same thing for the other letters. However it's not necessary to do that for all of them. I only did it on the A, B, D, Z, E, D, and O. After that select the ornament and word layers, group them together and rename the group to "logo". Tip: Always use the color of the exact part of the letter that the ornamet will come from.

Step 7

Here let's add some texture to the image. You can hide the other layers. We'll use some textures from a blog called DesignReviver, they published an article called 300+ Vintage Style Textures and Photoshop Brushes.
Download the Vintage II pack and place "Vintage10.jpg" image to the document. Because the image is 1500 pixels and the document is 1680 pixels, you'll have to duplicate the image and fill the remaining part of the document with it. After that go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Use Hue 49, Saturation 19, Lightness +35.

Step 8

Download the "15_textures__art___vintage_by_jocosity" pack and place the "textur2.jpg" in the document. Then change the Blend Mode to Overlay and go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Use Hue +2, Saturation -41, Lightness -75.

Step 9

Download the "Old_Paper_Textures_by_lailomeiel" pack and place the "DSC02679.JPG" in the document. It will go over the other textures, then just change the Blend Mode to Color burn. Now, select all texture layers and group them. Rename the group Textures.

Step 10

Select the "logo" group and go to Layer>Merge Group. This will convert the layer and all groups inside it to a single layer. Then go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Use Color Burn for the Blend Mode, 100% Opacity, -60º for the Angle, Distance and Size of 5px.

Step 11

Duplicate the "texture" group and change the blend mode of the "paper" layer to Overlay. Merge the group in order to create a unique layer from it. Change the order of the layers and put the new texture layer on top of the logo layer. Then go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask and change the Blend Mode to Multiply. Duplicate the texture layer again making sure that it is still with the clipping mask. Then just change the Blend Mode to Overlay.

Step 12

Group the "Logo" layer with the two texture clipping mask layers. Duplicate the group and merge it to a single layer. Then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 4.5 pixels for the Radius and change the Blend Mode to Screen and 80% Opacity.

Conclusion

In this tutorial we learnt how to mix some vector ornaments with a word to produce a nice typography. We also played around with vintage textures and cliping masks that gave our image a not so "clean" look. You can create many variations of this effect. Below I added a Radial Gradient so the textures only appear where the logo is. Again it's all about experimentation.

 

Reference : http://abduzeedo.com/

Hell of Tutorial in Photoshop

Step 1

The first thing you will have to do is create the 3D text. To do that you can use Illustrator. It has a very nice 3D filter and it will work just fine.
Type the text you want and go to Effect>3D>Extrude & Bevel. Change the Position to Off-Axix Bottom. Then you just rotate the X,Y, and X Axis until you get the result you want. Follow the image below for reference. Tip: It's very important that you select Draw Hidden Faces. Otherwise Illustrator will not create some faces that will be very important for the end result.

Step 2

Now you will have to expand the 3D effect in order to select and change the color of the faces you want. Go to Obejct>Expand Appearance. First select the top faces, and move them away. Then select just the outer faces and fill them with black.

Step 3 - Photoshop

Create a new document in Photoshop and fill the background with Black. Copy the 3D text without the top faces and paste it in Phothoshop. Position it in the middle of the document and reduce its size.

Step 4

With the Magic Wand Tool (W) select the black faces and delete them.

Step 5

Go to Images>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation, change the color of the text to Orange.

Step 6

Make sure you have black and white for the background and foreground colors. Then go to Filter>Render>Clouds... After that, resize the layer. Make it smaller just to cover the word. Then just change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge

Step 7

Now create a new layer on top of the others and fill it with black, then with the Brush Tool (B) select a regular brush, very soft, like 0% hardness, and white for the color. Then just paint over some ares to make them brighter. (1-4)

Step 8

Apply a Layer Style to the 3D word, use Stroke with 1px Size, 40% Opacity and Black for the color.

Step 9

Let's add a Gradient Overlay to the background. It will be necessary in order to make some of the light effects work. Use Radial for the Style and use Black and #412e1d(brown) for the colors.

Step 10

Now duplicate the 3D layer and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur use 30px for the Radius. Position this layer beneath the Hell layer.

Step 11

With the Ellipse Tool(U) create an ellipse like the image below, then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 70px for the Radius. After that, just change the Blend Mode to Overlay.

Step 12

Create a new layer on top of the Backgroud layer. Fill it with white and go to Filter>Texture>Texturizer. Use 60% for Scaling, 15 for the Relief and Top for the Light. Change the Blend Mode to Multiply.

Step 13

Here I wanted to add a nice texture to the floor, so I used a wooden texture. You can find the one I used at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/947335. Or you can check the Great Wood Textures at http://abduzeedo.com/great-wood-textures.
Paste the image in the document and resize it to make it cover the gradient area. Then go to Edit>Transform>Distort. Move the vertices to apply a nice perspective to the wood. After that just change the Blend Mode to Multiply.

Step 14 - Fire

Now let's create the fire. To do that I will use what I learnt from the awesome Dramatic Text on Fire Effect in Photoshop by Collis from PSDTUTS.com. Basically we will get a photo of fire with flames and use the Warp tool to create different variations of the flame.
Download the image at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/985088 and paste it in the document. Make sure that it's in front of the other layes. Then with the Eraser Tool (E) delete some areas. Also go to Edit>Transform>Warp and distort the flame to get a nice effect. Then just change the Blend Mode to Screen.

Step 15

Create more flames using the same technique, you can even use the Smudge Tool (R) to change the form of the flames.

Step 16

Create a new layer in front of the other layers and go to Filter>Render>Clouds. Make sure you have selected Black and White for the Background and Foreground colors. Then you can resize the layer a bit to make the smoke smaller. With the Eraser Tool (E) delete some areas and just leave smoke over the text. Then change the Blend Mode to Soft Light.

Step 17

Repeat the same thing as the previous step, this time however use Hard Light for the Blend Mode. This step will create a more volumetric smoke to the image.

Step 18

Let's create the cracks on the floor. To do that let's use another image from sxc.hu, you can download it at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/995884. Place the image on the document and resize it to cover the gradient area. Then like we did before with the wood texture, go to Edit>Transform>Distort. Distort the image until you get a nice perspective, then change the Blend Mode to Multiply.

Step 19

This step might look complicated but it's not. Actually it's quite simple. Duplicate the crack layer and change the blend mode to Normal again. Go to Image>Adjustments>Invert, then go to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate. This will invert the colors so what was once black will now become white and vice-versa. Now go to Image>Adjustments>Levels and use 40, 1.00, and 226.
Right after that select the Magic Wand Tool (W) and select the black part of the image. Then go to Select>Similar, Photoshop will select all the black from the layer. Then delete the blacks and you will have the cracks in white. Now just apply a Layer Style. Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Color Overlay. Use #ffba00 for the color.

Step 20

Select the Eraser Tool (E) with a big soft brush, use 0% hardness. Then start deleting the layer. Leave just a small area close to the word. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use a small value 0.5%. Then the last thing here, move this layer 2 pixels left and bottom, so it will create a nice 3D effect.

Step 21

Here you can duplicate the yellow crack layer and apply a another gaussian blur, this time use a greater value and change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge. If you want you can duplicate it one or two more times to make the effect brighter.

Conclusion

You can add more cracks or change the flames, now it's up to you. The idea of this tutorial was to create an image using fire coming from hell, like a deeper place using 3D typography. It's basically a mix of tutorials and techniques. It's all about playing and looking on the web, there are really great tutorials out there.

Click on the image to see a full preview

Reference : http://abduzeedo.com/