Using Hard Light and Overlay in Photoshop - Great Graphic Design in 2 Minutes

The potential for creating unique designs in photoshop is unlimited. Previously we used the soft light and gaussian blur options, but this is what can be done with hard light and overlay. When we combined the 3 images below

and added a swirl, this was the fantastic result.

Face Silhouette in Adobe Photoshop CS4

We wanted to use the face only from this photo and used photoshop's linear dodge tool and a large pixel eraser to remove the rest of the image we didn't want. Great results for messing around with photos.

Cute Inset Typography in Photoshop CS4

Inset typography is a fantastic way of making graphics look as though they are 3D and implanted within the background. This technique uses the gradient overlay, inner shadow and drop shadow blending options in varying degrees to achieve a great effect. Perfect for web work.

Glass Looking Text in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Another great 'fun' typography using the Bevel and Emboss blending tool. We used the A.C.M.E. Secret Agent font, one of the new and free fonts available to download. This font is perfect for web work, graphic design and blog banners, sadly does not transfer that well to printed copy.  The beauty of the blending tools in photoshop mean that with a simple font, the options to 'create' are limitless.

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Pop Art Effect in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Using the luminosity and multiply blending modes of photoshop allows us to make a pop art effect of any picture.

The Boss Gets Herself Photoshopped

This is a great Graphic Design effect in Photoshop CS4. Take a general photo and apply a linear dodge to duplicates of that layer to give a fantastic blurred effect which highlights a specific aspect of the image. The photo does not have to be good quality as the linear dodge is very forgiving.

Plastic Looking Text in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Creating this 'plastic' text effect used the Bevel and Emboss, Colour Overlay and Drop Shadow blending tools in Photoshop. Not such a good idea for a corporate branding, perfect for a fun project though, birthday invitations or posters.

Worth a read....
Merging Photos in Photoshop
Glass looking text in Photoshop
The Boss gets herself photoshopped with Linear Dodge

Merging 2 Photos in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Merging photos into a collage is not used much nowadays, it can be perceived as being old-fashioned. For an illustration we loved the image to the right, the man standing on the cliff top makes a dramatic impression. The left hand side of the image looks bare in comparison so we have added mountains to that side to in the shape of the image to the left.



By merging photos, we can create a much richer image, that looks the way we want it to. The finished photo looks much more balanced.

Blurring Images in Photoshop - Very Cool!

This concept works great where there are groups of people and you want to highlight one only. It is achieved by cutting the photo into 6 layers and applying a different tool to each, from blurring to black and white, finally merging them together to give the impression of time standing still for that person. This can be a very powerful visual element.

original photo

with layering and motion blur applied

Blending Tools in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Adobe Photoshop has a wealth of great blending options that add texture, depth and perspective to simple text. Perfect for dynamic web graphic design that creates impact and impression.

Perspective Typography in Adobe Photoshop CS4

Using a combination of blending options, to add depth and 3D to text, and the perspective tool creates a dramatic effect with our text. With Adobe Photoshop, the options for creating great visuals with text are incredible.

How Good is Photoshop CS4!

The beauty of understanding photoshop is that the possibilities of altering how an image is perceived are endless. With each image or text being a different layer, it is possible to apply any format to individual layers and pile them on top of each other for often dramatic effects.

By adding soft light layering to these 2 JPEGs

and a gaussian blur layering to this JPEG

placing them on top of each other and adding text, the results are far removed from our starting images