Playing with basic typography, creating custom brushes and using water splash brushes together with manipulation of stock photos , we hope to achieve something of this nature. We would be messing around with the blending options a whole lot so this tutorial would help you get a detailed insight regarding the feature.

Details

Program:            Illustrator CS5, Photoshop CS 5

Approximate time:       45 – 60 Minutes

Resources

Light brushes

Water brushes

River image

Grunge Paper

Final Result:

Step No.1 – Text :

First of all we would be writing in our text. For this particular tutorial we would be using the “VTC Switch Blade Romance” Font. Open up Adobe Illustrator and type in your text. Right click on the text and choose the “Create Outlines” option. This would convert your text into objects. You can ungroup the text and use the pen tool to arrange the typography as shown in the image below.

Step No.2 – Photoshop :

Choose white color for your text, open up Photoshop and drag your text on to the canvas. Right click on the layer and go to the blending options. Use the following details for your layer.

Step No.3 – Text Overlay :

Bring in the “Kayaking on River” image on to the canvas. Place the layer right on the top. Press CTRL and click on the text layer. This would automatically load the selection of the text. Now select the image layer and press CTRL+C and CTRL+V. This would copy and paste the selection on to a new layer. Rename the file “Text Overlay Basic”.

Step No.4 – Gaussian Blur:

Go to Filter, Blur and choose the Gaussian Blur effect on the “Text Overlay Basic” Layer. Use the following details for the effect.

Step No.5 – Duplicate :

Duplicate the layers 5 times. Now you would have 6 blur layers. Now keep changing the blending options of each layer in the order shown below. (The name of layer is the blending option you should choose for that particular layer).

Step No.6 – Backdrop :

Once done with our text, we would be using the bokeh effect for our back drop. For this particular effect we would making a custom made brush. First of all pick up the Ellipse tool and make a circular shape as shown below. Press the shift key while making the circle as this would enable you to make the shape in proper proportion.

Step No.7 –Brush Preset :

Reduce the fill of the shape to 40% and right click on the layer palette. Go to the blending options and tick the Stroke check box. Use 10px for the stroke and choose black color for your stroke. Once that is done you can click on the “Define Brush Preset” option which can be found under the Edit tab. Now, go to Windows and choose the Brushes option. A new pop up would appear. Here is where we make our shape into a brush. Use the following details for your brush:

Brush Tip Shape Tab:

Spacing Value = 200%

Shape Dynamics Tab:

Size Jitter = 100%

Minimum Diameter = 50%

Shape Dynamics Tab:

Scatter Value = 1000%

Count = 5

Count Jitter = 0%

Shape Dynamics Tab:

Scatter Value = 1000%

Count Jitter = 50%

Opacity Jitter = 50%

Step No.8 –Applying the Brush :

Once done with the settings, hide the black backdrop and create a new layer. Position the new layer above the background layer but below the text layer. Choose blue color for your fill and apply the brush on the canvas as shown below.

Step No.9 –Clouds :

Create a new layer. Choose White color for your forground and choose black for your background color. Go to Filter, Render and choose the Clouds option. Once done, change the blending options of the layer to “Multiply”.

Step No.10 – Blue Grunge Paper :

Now bring in the blue grunge paper on to the canvas. Position the layer right at the top. Change the blending options of the layer to “Soft Light”.

Step No.11 – Background :

Now simply un hide the black background. You would see something like this on your canvas.

Step No.12 – Basic Structure :

Now unhide the text layers. Duplicate the clouds layer and bring it right to the top. Change the blending options of the duplicated layer to “Pin Light”. You would see something like this on your canvas. Now that we’re done with the basic structure, we would start with the effects.

Step No.13 – Brush :

Now we would be using the splash brushes that were downloaded in the beginning. Use you own combination and fill the canvas with splashes. Choose white color fill for the brush. You can apply the brush on different layers or use the same layer. Once you’re done with this step, you would see something like this on your canvas. Change the blending options of the layer (or layers for that matter) to “Overlay”.

Step No.14 – Gaussian Blur :

Bring in the “Kayaking on River” image on the canvas once more. Go to Filter, Blur and apply the Gaussian Blur effect. Use the following details for the effect.

Step No.15 – Blending Options :

Duplicate the blurred layer. Change the blending options of the first layer to “Color”. Next reduce the opacity of the duplicated layer to 10%. After that change the blending options of the layer to “Pin Light”.

Step No.16 – Basic Brush :

Pick up the basic brush preset and set the hardness to 0%. Pick up the Color Value #772302. Create a new layer and apply the brush on the canvas like shown below. Once done change the blending mode of the layer to “Color”. Change the name of the layer to Color Overlay.

Step No.17 – Fantasy Brush Preset:

Now pick up the fantasy brush preset installed in the beginning. Create a new layer and position it below the Color Overlay layer. Apply the brush on the canvas as shown below. The colors would automatically blend in.

Step No.18 – Shapes:

Pick up the pen tool and make triangular shapes as shown below.

Step No.19 – Final Result:

Change the blending modes of all the shape layers to “Soft Light” and there you have it. The shapes would blend in with the background image and you would see the following output.

About the author: Anum

Anum is the co-founder and creative director of "websoulz". She’s also a web developer/designer. Providing valuable information in her own witty style. She loves to write about technical stuff, and you can see her posts on various technical blogs. If you’d like to connect with her, go to the Contact Page or follow her on Twitter @websoulz.

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