This is a simple tutorial that I am writing just because I think it would be interesting to do, and because I want all to become proficient in Photoshop. I am writing this tutorial for Adobe Photoshop CS on a Windows system. It may or may not work on previous versions because Adobe likes to add cool features on newer versions.

Ok, so this tutorial will teach the Photoshop Beginner how to make a pretty cool inspirational or mystical looking design. I don't think that I can just add images in the text, so I will do the best I can to provide adequate explanations of each step. I will however, provide before and after pics on a seperate site listed below.

Step One:
Find a picture of something that you want to use... In my case, I will use a picture of a cross that I took in my room. You can find it and the finished product for part one of this tutorial here:http://todditn.tripod.com/pstut01.htm
The files were too large to attach here, and I didn't feel like resizing them, so just right click on the images there on the page to save them to a file so you can work with them (at least the first one)

Step Two:
So once you have your picture all ready, open up Photoshop CS. Now go to file open and select your file (cross.jpg).

Step Three:
You will notice that my cross picture is sideways. To fix this go to IMAGE->ROTATE CANVAS->90 CW. This will rotate the image ninety degrees clockwise (thus CW).

Step Four:
Once the image is there, you need to get rid of that background! If the background were more constant and bright, I would tell you to use the magic eraser to get rid of it, but it's not. The lighting in my house is pretty cheesy, so we'll have to work around it. Start by selecting the "Polygonal Lasso Tool" or the "Magnetic Lasso Tool". These tools are in the "TOOLS" toolbar, and they are just below the dotted rectangle (Rectangular Marque Tool) at the top. You can choose whichever one you want, but I favor the Polygonal Lasso more because I have more control that way.
Now you need to select a point along the perimeter of the cross, and click around the cross until you get back to the start point and all of the cross is encased in "marching ants" (this means it is selected).
With the cross selected, Press CTRL+ALT+J (New Layer Via Cut) to make the cross go to a new layer. This can alternatively be done by going, with the cross still selected, to the menu: LAYER->NEW->LAYER VIA CUT.

Step Five:
Well, now we have the cross isolated from the rest of the image! If you can not tell this, go to the LAYERS PALLETTE (which is by default at the bottom right of the screen), and click on the "eyeball" beside the layer called "Background". Now you will see that the new layer is just the cross. The checkerboard look in the background means that the background is transparent.
So now we're ready to get started on the actual Photoshopping! Right click on the "Background" layer in the LAYERS PALLETTE, and select "Delete Layer" as we won't be needing it anymore. Once you have done this, you will have just the cross. Now you should change the Canvas size, because I personally might want to make myself a desktop background with this image. but you do not have to... If you choose to change the Canvas size, just go the the menu: IMAGE->CANVAS SIZE and type in your desired canvas size. I recommend 1280x1024, cause that's what I like.
Be Warned! If you make any of these numbers less than the original size you will need to resize the cross itself, as it does not change with the canvas! To do this, you can go to the menu: EDIT->FREE TRANSFORM and hold down the shift button as you drag the boxes along the edges of the cross to make it smaller in the same proportion. Be sure to click the check button on the top right of the screen to accept the changes

Step Six:
Alright, with your cross on its transparent background, you can now start making things look nice. To start with I would recommend doing a Gaussian Blur to make the edges of the cross smoother. You can do this by going to the menu: FILTER->BLUR->GAUSSIAN BLUR and set the settings as you like them. I personally set mine to 3 pixels because I do horrible at cutting things out in a nice way! Its all up to your eye and how you want to make it look!! :-)
Now lets do something else to this thing to make it even cooler! Press CTRL+L to open up the Levels menu. Alternatively you can go to the menu: LAYER->NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER->LEVELS... Once you are in the levels menu, you need to change the levels to get the desired output. I just played around with the adjusters until I could barely see the details of the cross. You can do more by putting more fileters or whatever on your cross, but you don't have to...

Step Seven:
With the cross in acceptable condition for your taste, you are now ready adding the inspirational/mystical look. Create a new Layer by pressing the New Layer button on the Layers Palette, or by going to the menu: LAYER->NEW->LAYER... Now we will work with this new layer (don't worry if the cross dissapears during this process, its still there).
With this new layer selected, select two colors from the color pickers on the left. Put one color as your Foreground Color and the other as your Background Color.
To set foreground and background colors, look in the toolbox on the left and they are the two overlapping boxes towards the bottom. The order of colors will not matter in this instance...
Be sure to pick sublte grayish colors. I chose a grayish purplish blue (#393747) for one color (notice that you can input that Hexidecimal number in the color picker window to get the exact color), and a gray for the other color (#7E7E7E). Now you are ready to make things happen, the Photoshop way!!! Go and add the Clouds filter to this new blank layer by going to the menu: FILTER->RENDER->CLOUDS.
TADA!!! Cool huh? If not, then you can always press CTRL+Z or go to the menu:EDIT->UNDO to undo the filter and change the colors and repeat the process.

Step Eight:
Now you need to bring that cross back in front of the cloudy layer. To do this go to the Layers Palette and drag the current layer below the cross layer, or go to the menu: LAYER->ARRANGE->SEND BACKWARD... Now the cross will be back on top! From here you can position the cross as desired...

Step Nine:
Almost done, now you just need some text to make it actually inspirational/mystical!!! So you should create a new layer using either of the methods I described earlier. Arrange or drag this layer to the top, above all the other layers using either way that I described earlier. Now click the Text Tool from the Toolbox and click where you would like to put the text on the image. Type your inspirational/mystical message ( I used John 12:46 ). Now click the check mark at the top right of the screen to accept the changes. You should probably change the color to white or whatever you want by going to the top of the screen on the same bar as the checkmark and choosing whatever color you would like.
Now make your text however you want it... I recommend simply going to the menu: EDIT->FREE TRANSFORM to do this Once you get the text how you like it, you can now begin to make it pretty!!! If you haven't selected your font yet, you can now by going to the menu: WINDOW->CHARACTER to open the character palette. With this palette open, you can make all the changes you want, even the size, kerning, tracking, etc... Techincal stuff...

Step Ten: To make your text pretty, I recommend to simply go to the Blending Options by going to the menu: LAYER->LAYER STYLE->BLENDING OPTIONS... Here in the blending options, you can do whatever you like, but here's what I did... I started by adding a drop shadow (click the drop shadow box) I changed the settings of the drop shadow to an angle of 90 degrees, the distance to 9 , and the size to 9. BUT DON"T CLICK OK YET!!! We're not done. Next I click on the Bevel And Emboss option to add a bevel. I kept the default settings for time's sake, but you can do whatever you like. I also added the Satin option to the text with a 20% opacity to make it look more sleek... Now you can click ok if your done here. Remember to press CTRL+Z if you want to undo your changes!
Now I could take you further and show you how to make the actual light behind the cross, but I will have to do that at another time, because I don't have the time right now. Remember, I would not at all consider this piece finished, its just a nice stopping point for now!

Step Eleven: DONT FORGET TO SAVE!! First you should save the Photoshop file by going to the menu: FILE->SAVE or SAVE AS. Select where you want it and name it and click OK. You have just saved the .PSD file, which is Photoshop only (and its huge!). Now you need to save the actual file you can look at out of Photoshop. I don't have the time to explain this right now, so I will tell you once you finish the second part of the tutorial that I will add next...

Well thats it for part one! Let me know what you think! There is more to come to finish this graphic.

__________________
http://ssprodnc.tripod.com -"Will work for a laptop!"-
Jesus lived a perfect life only to die we sinners' death. It is our eternal responsibility to serve Him in gratitude for His sacrifice that He made for us!

So I guess, no one is interested in my tutorial! That's alright, I was just putting it out there just in case there were any Photoshop folks out there... Guess not.

__________________
http://ssprodnc.tripod.com -"Will work for a laptop!"-
Jesus lived a perfect life only to die we sinners' death. It is our eternal responsibility to serve Him in gratitude for His sacrifice that He made for us!

wow thx for that great tutorial

No problem!! It is I who should thank you, my friend! I think that maybe I should post some tips and tricks for Photoshop from now on, because your the only one that has posted a comment on my tutorial, and its been there for some time now!!

__________________
http://ssprodnc.tripod.com -"Will work for a laptop!"-
Jesus lived a perfect life only to die we sinners' death. It is our eternal responsibility to serve Him in gratitude for His sacrifice that He made for us!

Todd, you have been here long enough to know that we discourage members from replying to a thread just for the sake of replying.

If your thread is good, it should be attracting a lot of readers via the Search Engines. I can tell you that I read EVERY single thread on this forum. Just because I don't reply, doesn't mean I didn't appreciate what you shared with us on this thread. I am sure many others feel and act the same way as I do.

If you check your REP, you'll find at least one positive vote for this article I am sure!

__________________
J de Silva
Learning Journal | GIDForums™ | GIDNetwork™ | GIDWebhosts™ | GIDSearch™

Yeah, I know, I just didn't know whether or not people thought it was a flop or something like that. No offense implied!

__________________
http://ssprodnc.tripod.com -"Will work for a laptop!"-
Jesus lived a perfect life only to die we sinners' death. It is our eternal responsibility to serve Him in gratitude for His sacrifice that He made for us!

Nice tutorial you have there..

i'd love to see more photoshop tutorials here.
with image examples, those are always helpful, thansk

__________________
Xrum!

cool, perhaps I will add one sometime. Its been quite a while since Ive even been on to GID, but I will seriously consider making a better tutorial. Maybe one for Macromedia Flash also, that is a very nice program.

__________________
http://ssprodnc.tripod.com -"Will work for a laptop!"-
Jesus lived a perfect life only to die we sinners' death. It is our eternal responsibility to serve Him in gratitude for His sacrifice that He made for us!

While you were away Todd, we created a new (but still in BETA) web site for the community: GIDNetwork, which is better suited to handle member submitted tutorials, articles, blogs, stories, whatever.

You can log into GIDNetwork with the same username and password as the one you have set up for GIDForums™.

__________________
J de Silva
Learning Journal | GIDForums™ | GIDNetwork™ | GIDWebhosts™ | GIDSearch™