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From Adobe’s press release:

First Major Release since April 2010 Packed with New Features and Huge Performance Enhancements

SAN JOSE, Calif. — March 22, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 beta, a preview of what’s to come in the next release of the industry standard in digital imaging, is available as a free download from Adobe Labs. Customers can download the beta, try out the experience and provide feedback to the product team. Packed with groundbreaking new innovations, features and incredible performance enhancements, Photoshop CS6 beta is available for the Mac OS and Microsoft® Windows® platforms. The final release is expected in the first half of 2012.

“Photoshop CS6 will be a milestone release that pushes the boundaries of imaging innovation with incredible speed and performance,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “We couldn’t wait to share this beta of Photoshop CS6 with our customers and are looking forward to hearing from them and seeing the ways they are incorporating the beta into their daily creative workflows.”

New Features in Photoshop CS6 Beta

Photoshop CS6 beta demonstrates Adobe’s focus on huge performance enhancements, imaging magic and creativity tools that offer customers a new experience in digital imaging. Key features include new additions to the Content-Aware tools: Content- Aware Patch allows greater control by letting users select and duplicate an area of an image to fill in or “patch” another, and Content-Aware Move lets users select and magically move an object to a new place in the image.

Customers will experience incredible performance, powered by the new Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine*, enabling near-instant results from popular editing tools including Liquify, Puppet Warp, Transform and Lighting Effects; and a refined, modern interface featuring dark UI options to make images pop. New and re-engineered design tools make creating designs faster and more efficient. Vector layers allow users to apply dashed lines and gradient strokes, searchable layers quickly zero in on any layer, and new type styles let designers swiftly apply type treatments to their designs.

In addition, the Photoshop CS6 beta offers all the features of Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, such as new 3D editing features and quantitative imaging analysis capabilities. These features will be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6 Extended when it becomes available.

Pricing and Availability

The Photoshop CS6 beta is available immediately as a free download in English and Japanese. At installation, users will be required to provide an Adobe ID to complete a one-time login and online product activation. For information on how to install Photoshop CS6 beta, visit www.adobe.com/go/photoshopcs6. Customers can submit feedback via the Photoshop CS6 beta forum.

Users can also connect with the Photoshop team via the community-powered site; on Facebook; YouTube; Photoshop.com blog; or via Twitter.

Most online print services specify a resolution setting and won’t accept images that are configured differently. But what resolution should you choose if you’re printing the image yourself, and does it really matter? The answer to the second question is: Yes, it matters because resolution choice can impact image quality. The answer to the first question is a little more complicated.

Resolution Defined
Unfortunately, largely because of camera vendors, the term “resolution” is rarely used correctly. For instance, people speak of a camera having “a resolution of 12 megapixels.” “Twelve megapixels” is not a resolution, it’s a pixel count.

Resolution is the measure of how many pixels fit within a given area. In other words, resolution determines how closely pixels are spaced. “12 megapixels of resolution” is an incorrect statement because it doesn’t tell you if those 12 million pixels are arranged so that they cover an inch or a mile.

An image has no inherent resolution—it’s just a grid of pixels. Instead, you get to set the resolution by specifying how closely spaced the pixels are. Depending on the resolution you choose, your image will cover more or less area (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The first example below has not been resampled. The second example has been resampled. For more on what that means, keep reading.

If your image will only be viewed onscreen, then the file’s resolution is irrelevant. A monitor has a specific resolution. Its pixels are spaced a certain way, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Resizing Revisited
When it comes to size, every image file has three properties:

1. Pixel dimensions
2. Print size
3. Resolution

Pixel dimensions are simply the number of horizontal and vertical pixels.

Print size is measured by how wide and high the outputted image is; for example, 3″ wide and 5″ high.

Resolution determines how closely those pixels are spaced, and a higher resolution will yield a smaller print size, because the pixels will be packed closer together.

Photoshop’s Image Size dialog box makes this relationship very clear. In Figure 2, you can se that I have an image with 3744 x 5616 pixels. My resolution is set to 300 pixels per inch, so when all those pixels are lined up that closely, my final print size works out to be 12.48 x 18.72 inches.

Figure 2. At 300 dpi, 3744 x 5616 pixels result in a final print size of 12.48 x 18.72 inches.

The Image Size dialog box gives you visual clues as to the relationship of the print size parameters In the Document Size Area, the black line thingy to the right of the Inches pop-up menus indicates that Width, Height, and Resolution are locked together. You can’t change one without changing another. For example, if I set the resolution to 600, the print size goes down, as reflected in Figure 3.

Figure 3. With an increase in resolution, the print size goes down because pixels are now more tightly packed.

Similarly, if I change print size to, say, 8″ x 12″, the resolution goes up:

Figure 4. Larger print size yields a smaller resolution.

At this point, I can’t change one of these properties without changing the other. So if I wanted to create a 4″ x 6″ print at 300 pixels per inch, I’d be out of luck.

Fortunately, there’s a simple switch to throw in the Image Size dialog box that allows this.

Resampling
The process of changing the number of pixels in an image is called “resampling”. To understand that term, think of it this way: If I have a 12-megapixel file, but I need an 8-megapixel file, then I need to take an 8-million pixel sample from those original 12 million pixels. I must keep some pixels and throw the rest away.

To do this in the Image Size dialog box, I simply check the Resample Image box. When I do, a few things change, as you can see in Figure 5.

Figure 5. With Resample Image checked, I have more options.

First, notice that the Width and Height fields under Pixel Dimensions are now editable. I can change the number of pixels in this image, which is great, because my original goal was to end up with fewer pixels.

Note too, that in the Document size area, the black line thingy is no longer showing a connection between Width/Height and Resolution. In other words, print size is now independent of resolution. Because I’m allowing Photoshop to resample, I’ve given it permission to discard (or create) pixels to get to an image with a specific print size and resolution.

Finally, The Constrain Proportions check box is now active. If I turn this off, I can change Width independently of Height, which lets me create a distorted image.

With Resample Image checked, I can now enter the exact size and resolution settings that I want.

Figure 6. By checking Resample Image, I allow Photoshop to discard pixels, so that I can shrink my file to a 4″ x 6″ image at 300 dpi.

Beneath the Resample Image check box is a pop-up menu that contains different interpolation algorithms. These determine how Photoshop goes about choosing which pixels to keep and which to discard. Each includes a parenthetical statement about its purpose. I’ve chosen Bicubic Sharper because Adobe says it’s “best for reduction.” And if Adobe said “go jump in the lake…”

What Resolution Should You Choose?
Now that you have the ability to choose resolution, what resolution should you choose? Your gut reaction might be to leave it as high as possible; more is always better, right? Wrong. If that were the case, there’d be no reason for this article.

Say you want to print your photo on a desktop inkjet printer. All inkjet printers have a native resolution. If the image you send to the printer is not in the printer’s native resolution, then the printer will resample the image to what it wants. If your printer has a native resolution of 300, and you send it an image with a resolution of 600, the printer will downsample it.

“In that case,” you might be thinking, “why should I worry about resolution if the printer takes care of it?”

While your printer can resample on its own, its resampling algorithms might not be as sophisticated as your image editor’s. In theory, it’s possible that you’ll get a better-quality resizing if you do it yourself. In practice, it’s hard to find a visible difference.

More important to control yourself is sharpening. The sharpening algorithms in an image editor work by creating light and dark halos around the edges in your image. These halos make edges more acute and thus make the image look sharper. But sharpening should be applied precisely. Too much, and your image will be visibly degraded.

Consequently, it’s always best to apply sharpening at your final print size and resolution. When you do this, you’re creating halos of a particular width to achieve the sharpening effect that you want.

But if you sharpen an image, and then it’s resampled by a printer—that is, the pixel count changes—those sharpening halos may be enlarged, and therefore more visible; or smaller, and therefore less effective.

So before you send an image to your printer, it’s best to first size the image to the print size that you want, then to your printer’s native resolution, and finally apply sharpening. This prevents your printer from resizing the image and helps ensure that your sharpening remains effective.

There’s one problem. It can difficult to find out a printer’s native resolution. The manual probably doesn’t include that information, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find it on a printer vendor’s website.

I can give you some general specs, though. Epson inkjets typically have a native resolution of 360 pixels per inch. Canon and HP printers typically have a native resolution of 300 pixels per inch.

The best way to find out if one resolution works better than another is to output test prints. Proper sharpening and resolution choice is especially critical when you enlarge images, but a little testing should answer the resolution question.

Related articles

• Image resolution–the key to excellent prints (macworld.com)
• Digital Photography Tutorial on Resolution (brighthub.com)
• How To Resize An Image In Photoshop And Keep It Sharp (blogs.sitepoint.com)
• How many megapixels do I need? (theglobeandmail.com)

Brushes for Adobe Photoshop are known to be one of the most used add-ons since they don’t just enhance your designs, but also help give your works a new, fresh and stunning look. Those of you who have a love for brushes may probably know a number of them listed in this post. Nevertheless, new brushes are being designed for Photoshop and hence, you will surely find ones you’d like to try out without any delay! Enjoy!
Retro Photoshop Brushes

Watercolor Related Brushes

Real Brush Stroke Set

Grunge Typo Brushes

Photoshop Splatter Brushes

Acrylic Photoshop Brushes

Floral Deco Brushes

Free Grunge Splatter Photoshop Brushes

Free Splatter Brushes

Photoshop Cracks Brushes

Free Splatter Brushes

Vector Photoshop Brushes

Messy Spraipaint Photoshop Brushes

Free Hi-Res Watercolor Brushes

30 Free Photoshop Swirl Brushes

Hair Brushes Set

Paint Stroke Photoshop Brushes

Halftone Brushes

Free Halftone Photoshop Brushes

Photoshop Hyper Brushes

Winter Breeze Brush

Extremely Abstract Brushes

Sui Generis Brushes

Energy Photoshop Brushes

Abstract Curves Brushes

Serenity Brushes

Silicon Photoshop Brushes

Galactic Photoshop Brushes

Unreal Photoshop Brushes

Refresh Photoshop Brushes

Abstract Paint Brushes

3D Abstract Lines Brushes

Coffee Happens Reloaded Brushes

Splatter and Watercolor Brushes

Grunge Photoshop Brushes

Grunge Alphabet Brushes

Grunge Photoshop Brushes 3

Grunge Set Photoshop Brushes

High-Tech Reloaded

Grungy Brushes New-Set

Stars Brushes 2

Hi-Res Photoshop Fabric Brushes

Quad Grunged Brushes

Skin-Texture Photoshop Brushes

Fur Photoshop Brushes

Photoshop Brushes

Skin Care Photoshop Brushes

Nebulae Photoshop Brushes

Angel Wings Photoshop Brushes

Cool Photoshop Brushes

Cloud Photoshop Brushes

Floral Photoshop Brushes

Fingerprint Photoshop Brushes

Rising Sun Photoshop Brushes

Japanese Photoshop Brushes

Miss M Photoshop Brushes

Fences Photoshop Brushes

Manga Photoshop Brushes

Bubble Sparkle Brushes

Photoshop Tech Brushes

Skin Care and Cosmic Brushes

Photoshop Hurricane Brushes

Eyelash Brushes

RisingSun Photoshop Brushes

Photoshop Blood Brushes

Ornament Photoshop Brushes

Bat Demon Wings Brushes

Download Source

Demon Free Photoshop Brushes #2

Cloud Photoshop Brushes

Fur Photoshop Brushes

Fairy Tale Photoshop Brushes

Green Lotus Photoshop Brushes

Burnt Paper Brushes

Abstract Photoshop Brushes

Moon Photoshop Brushes

Photoshop Brushes Part 3

Random Splatter Brushes

Photoshop Brushes Vector Brushes

Influenced Photoshop Brushes

Technical Photoshop Brushes

Scary illustrations do not only mean creating monsters. It should look realistic. If truth be told, not all artists are able to portray and/or create scary and realistic images.

In this next post, a compilation of Halloween Photoshop Tutorials are showcased to help you in creating the perfect and scariest image possible. Take time to read through these and learn a trick or two on how to make your Halloween designs truly terrifying!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Create a Fantasy Horror Scene in Photoshop

Create a fantasy horror scene in Photoshop.

Mysterious Night

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a mysterious night.

Design a Poster for a Terrible Film

This tutorial will let you design a poster for a thrilling film.

Grunge Manipulation in Photoshop Tutorial

The tutorial teaches you how to make your own ‘grunge’ manipulation in Photoshop.

42 Freakish Zombie in 11 Steps

Learn how to construct a freakish zombie in just 11 steps.

Create a Quick Vampire Scene in Photoshop

Construct a scary vampire environment with just this simple steps.

Monsterosity Makeover

You will be able to makeover a monster using this tutorial.

Dark Eye blend Modes and Gradients

Create a dark eye blend modes and gradients with this tutorial.

Skull Face

You can create a lovely top-hatted woman and turn her into a grim reaper-esque figure in this tutorial.

Halloween Photo Effect the Evil Eye

In this tutorial you will be shown how to used the lens flare filter in Photoshop in creating sinister B-movie glowing eyes.

Decay

In this tutorial, you will learn the technique in creating an image of decaying.

Photoshop Tutorial Creating a Zombie

In this CS2 tutorial, you will learn to make people’s face rot, expose their skull and turn them into zombie.

Showthread

Create a showthread in this tutorial.

Grunge Dark Art Tutorial

You can create a grunge dark art in this Photoshop.

Vampirize Gwen Stefani

In just a a few simple steps, you can create a perfect “vampire look’ of anyone’s picture using Adobe Photoshop.

Dark Art Tutorial

Learn how to create a dark tutorial.

Easy Zom Photoshop Tutorial

Some easy steps in creating a zombie will be shown in this Photoshop tutorial.

Design a HalloweenPumpkin Wallpaper in Photoshop

This tutorial, you will learn how to get this nice effect on any pumpkin picture, how to play with the colors, apply some layer blending modes to skip the extraction process, and more.

Create a Vintage Horror Movie Poster for Halloween

You can create a vintage horror movie poster for Halloween in this tutorial.

Dark Book Of Photoshop

Create a dark book of photoshop with this tutorial.

Texturing Basics

With the help of this tutorial you will be shown how to use textures to dramatically change the look of pictures in a few easy steps.

Good and Evil

This tutorial is a demonstration on how to make one side of the photo light and colorful while the other in contrast, will be dark, evil, and brooding.

Photoshop Burning Flesh Effect

Follow this step by step process in creating realistic burning effect on human skin.

Realistic Blood

In this tutorial, you can create a sort of bloody mouth look with a dark and quite dynamic style of flow.

Carving a Virtual Jackolantern

Learn how to carve a virtual Jack O’ Lantern with this tutorial.

How to Create a Severed Arm in Photoshop

Severed arm with fleshy stumps and strings of sinew can be created with this tutorial.

Photo Retouching Photoshop Tutorials

Rose The One – The sexy pink tutorial
Author has given a pink tone to the original photograph. This effect is just suitable for indoor photos as its background is based on a light color, a bit dreamy, so a background with high contrast between dark and light doesnt fit this tone.

How to fake reflections in Photoshop
Adding a reflection is a great way to draw attention and improve a dull water/sea/river photo.In this tutorial, author will explain you how to do it in post-processing.

Adding color to your subjects in photoshop
Most of us now use a handy little tool “Actions” in Photoshop for correcting an stylizing our photographs. But if you want your subject to pop, and actions sometimes seem to flatten the colors of your image especially of your subject then ypu must go through this article.

Soft and dreamy movie effect
Author will create a soft, dreamy effect on the face also make it stand out with warm color from the background darkened. With few simple steps your photograph can get a special effect like its in a movie scene.

Reducing Wrinkles With The Healing Brush In Photoshop
In this tutorial, author will tell about the Healing Brush, by far the best photo retouching tool in all of Photoshop, and how we can use it to easily reduce distracting skin wrinkles in an image.

Color your Black and White Photos Easily
Ever had a photograph you wished was in color? Read on and find out how to color it in using nothing more than the Brush Tool and Curve Adjustments.

Removing Skin Blemishes With The Spot Healing Brush
In this Photoshop tutorial, author will tell about ne of the most amazing and time saving photo retouching tools available, the Spot Healing Brush, the first of three image “healing” tools in Photoshop.

Blending exposure and adjusting light in Photoshop
This tutorial is a advanced version of exposure blending where you take one RAW shot that is exposed correctly for the land and then sky is recovered afterwards and saved as a second file. These two files can then be blended together using masks. This tutorial will also show you how to use photo filters to alter the light in your image.

How to add vignette to photos in Photoshop
Vignetting is the process of darkening the corners of a photo as it can help direct the eye on a particular subject of the photo, minimising distractions. Vignetting can also improve photos by giving them an artistic look and making them somehow more interesting. Author has used this technique to draw the focus on building rather thatn on tourists.

Improve photos by straightening the horizon in Photoshop
In this tutorial, author has straightened the horizon of the photograph as the horizon, especially in a landscape or seascape photo, can make or break your photo. A tilted horizon is not a good idea, unless it can aid the effect you’re trying to achieve.

Basic exposure blending in Photoshop
One problem you can encounter in photography is lack of dynamic range. The dynamic range is the range of light levels that can be seen from black to white. In this tutorial author will share with you some techniques for basic exposure blending.

Complete portrait retouching
In this tutorial author will tell you how to make a complete portrait retouch. You will know how to remove blemishes, retouch and enhance the skin, eyes, eyebrows, lips, as well as improve the highlight and shadow to make your picture look natural, vivid and beautiful. During this process many different techniques are shown and everything is explained in detail.

Adjusting skin tones in Photoshop
In this tutiorial, author have answered a common question about how to adjust skin tones in a photo. This can be anything from someone coming out looking a bit overly red to hiding a rash that isn’t normally there.

Post-Processing Infrared Photographs in Photoshop
In this tutorial, author will share his method to editing those starkly ‘red/magenta’ photographs or we can say Infrared Photography.

Selective Noise Reduction using Photoshop
Its every photographers nightmare. That fuzzy grain and colour dotting that seems you ruin your images. Noise. It lives in the shadows, loves high ISO’s, grows as you correct underexposed images and it destroys detail throughout a shot. Author will share you about how to beat this noise.

High Key Glow Effect In Photoshop
In this Photoshop tutorial, we’ll learn how to create a high key glow effect, which is a fancy way of saying we’ll be applying a glow only to the highlights in an image. This effect works especially well with wedding portraits since it’s great for adding a romantic, magical look to your photos.

Quick-Masking Soft Light Leaks on Photographs in Photoshop
This is a tutorial on how to recreate light leaks on photographs similarly to the those found on film photos that have been exposed to light via a crack or gap in the case. It is not as sharp and defined as most light leaks, as a softer finish is more appealing in this case.

How to improve your dull and boring landscapes in 5min
Dull and boring photos can be improved in an instant using the magic of post-processing. In this article you’ll get a chance to see author’s workflow of transforming dull and boring landscapes into dramatic photos.

Action Zoom Blurring Effect In Photoshop
In this Photoshop photo effects tutorial, we’ll learn how to add some action and a sense of motion to a photo with a zoom blur effect. We’ll use Photoshop’s Radial Blur filter to add the initial blurring, then we’ll bring back some of the original image using a layer mask and the Gradient Tool.

Lomo-Effect on Photographs in Photoshop
The Lomo-Effect on photographs is used frequently to provide an old photograph feel or simply a colour manipulation.Author will explain you how to achieve this effect.

Photo Treatment: A Delicious Hamburger
In this tutorial author will edit a photo of a hamburger, making it looks more delicious but not very artifical. Light and a few adjustmes like deleting little holes of the bread makes a lot of difference.

Quick Tip: Precision Colour Control in Photoshop
n this quick tip, Author will show you a simple and easy way to take control of the colours in your Photoshop documents using the power of adjustment layer

The Color Replacement Tool In Photoshop
The Color Replacement Tool is not the most professional way to change colors in an image and won’t always give you the results you need, but it usually works well for simple tasks and it’s such an easy tool to use that it’s worth giving it a try before moving on to more advanced and time consuming methods.

How To Repair Scratches, Tears, and Spots on an Old Photograph
In this tutorial you will learn how to repair cracks, scratches, and spots. Author has purposely avoid using some of the quick fix tools such as the healing brush so that you can gain an understanding of the basics of photo restoration.

Faking a Dental Ad: From Gorgeous to Gross – Reverse Cosmetic Dentistry
In this reverse cosmetic dentistry tutorial, where author made an ugly set of teeth for a dental template’s “before” photo, and kept the original spotless smile as the after in the Delicious Smile Template.

Photo Effects With The Dissolve Blend Mode In Photoshop
In this tutorial, author will tell you about a lesser known but useful tool of photoshop, known as Dissolve Blend Mode. After applying a simple sepia tone effect to the image, he will add a bit more of an artistic look to it by combining the Dissolve mode with one of Photoshop’s filters. Then he will tell how to use Dissolve to easily create a speckled photo border

Photoshop Tutorial – Photo to Pencil Sketch
This tutorial will show you how to easily transform a photograph to a pencil sketch using only Photoshop’s built in tools and filters.

Photograph Retouching Tutorial
Here is the step by step detail on how to retouch photo using Clone Stamp Tool in Photoshop.

Smoothing Skin With Photoshop CS5
In this tutorial, Author will show you how to use the Surface Blur filter in Photoshop to achieve a smooth skin effect without blurring out the details of the skin texture.

Gritty HDR Photo Effects
In this tutorial, author will show you how to give your photos a grunge look with this popular Photoshop effect. Although this Photoshop effect is commonly referred as HDR Photo effect, it is it can be done with regular, non-HDR photos.

Refine Edge Tool: Remove Flyaway Hairs Photoshop CS5 (Video)
Using the Refine Edge tool, you will learn how to quickly and effectively remove flyaway hairs and other distractions from your images.

Outlining The Action In Photoshop
In this Photoshop photo effects tutorial, author will tell you how to highlight the main subject of a photo with a simple outline and he will throw in a blur effect to further reduce the importance of the background.

Photo Souping up By Photoshop
There are times when a regular photo just doesn’t cut it and you need your photo to pack a punch. Here is one technique that you may find useful. As with all photo-based techniques, it doesn’t really make up for having a crappy photo but a general re touching.

High Speed Motion Trail Effect In Photoshop
In this photo effects tutorial, we’ll learn how to add a sense of speed to an object using an easy to create motion blur effect! This “speed trail” effect is very popular in sports photography since it’s a great way to add motion, direction and excitement to an image.

The 300 Effect
In this tutorial, author will walk you through the steps to create 300 effect using adjustment layers and blend modes to achieve this high-contrast 300 look.

Tutorial from PSDTuts+

Final Product What You’ll Be Creating

Today, we will demonstrate how to create a cute Twitter bird icon in Photoshop. Let’s get started!

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Step 1

In a new PSD file of 800×600 pixels, 72 dpi, RGB color and white background, we will draw a circular shape layer, color #0099FF. By pressing Shift you can create a perfect circle no matter in which direction you drag your mouse.

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Step 2

By pressing Alt + Shift we will duplicate this shape down to create the head and body of the character. Both vectors will remain inside one unique layer.

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Step 3

We will change the proportions of the duplicated circle. The object’s controls will appear when you press Cmd/Ctrl + T.

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Step 4

With the Direct Selection Tool arrow we will take the upper curve of the circle to the edges of the other one to create opposite curves that will softly link head and body.

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Step 5

We will create some shape layers to later add layer styles. For the eyes, we will create a vertical oval that will be duplicated as we did previously.

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Step 6

When we are finished with the eyes, we will create some hair for the character using two similar vectors of different sizes to gain depth.

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Step 7

Now it’s the turn of the tail feathers. We will draw a rectangular vector with a rounded corners shape layer, setting a 30 pixels radius. With the Direct Selection Tool we will select the 3 upper anchor points and by pressing Cmd/Ctrl + T the direction points will appear. In the upper menu, we will click the link proportions tool and with a horizontal click + drag over the letter “W” (width) we will reduce these anchor points 60% from its original size.

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Step 8

We will duplicate, reduce and turn 4 copies of this anchor point to create the feathers group for the tail of our bird.

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Step 9

We will reduce the height of this group of vectors by selecting all of them and pressing Cmd/Ctrl + T.

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Step 10

Now we will create the bird’s beak with a small horizontal oval that we will edit in a simple way.

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Step 11

By selecting the upper and bottom anchor points and taking them some pixels up we will create a sadness expression.

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Step 12

We will use again the rectangles with rounded corners in 30 pixels to create the fingers (3) on the character’s feet that we will later duplicate to get the pair.

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Step 13

With the Pen Tool we will draw a tree branch. Using click + drag you will be able to create anchor points with curves control points that you will later adjust with the Path selection arrow.

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Step 14

Duplicate this vector and we will enlarge it a 20% following the same steps used in the modification of the upper menu.

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Step 15

Adjust the base of the branch to increase its thickness while it approaches the tree trunk. Then we will unify both lines with the Pen Tool to get one solid vector.

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Step 16

Now we will create the fingers on both hands of the bird. Starting from a circle you can modify the vector and create anchor points with independent direction points, pressing the Alt key while you try to change the controls in a curve. In this way the anchor point you can see in this edition it’s now a corner and not a curve, and it has two independent controls for you to move them as you wish.

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Step 17

We will draw 3 fingers for each hand. They will be placed in a praying position and then the fingers will be seen intertwined.

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Step 18

Once we’ve created the fingers of one hand, we will duplicate them by dragging with Alt + Shift pressed and then we will go to Path > Flip Horizontal to flip the duplicated hand.

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Step 19

With the Pen Tool we will create the arms of the character.

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Step 20

Now a tear will fall on the bird’s left cheek, in 3 steps. We will draw a circle, we will select the upper anchor point and we drag it up. With the Convert Point tool we will make a click to convert it into a corner.

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Step 21

We will finally start to add some layer styles. By hiding the hair and arms layers to visualize better what we will do on the body, we will add an Inner Shadow to our vector by unclicking the Use Global Light option and taking the angle direction of the effect to -90 degrees to get a shadow in the inferior area of the character.

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Step 22

We will make the hair or head feathers layer visible again. Now that its Inner Shadow has a darker tone on its edge, we will make double click on the color of the shape of the hair’s layer. When we open the color editor we can extract the exact tone of the head’s edge so these hairs can be perfectly integrated with the rest of the body.

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Step 23

Now it’s the turn of the spherical volume of the eyes. We will use a Radial Gradient, unclicking the Align with Layer option so the gradient won’t be limited to the shape’s edges. We will reduce its size a 50% so the change from one color to the other won’t be so soft.

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Step 24

Inside the gradient editor (make a double click on it) we will place the white color on a third part of the starting point so our gradient can be even more precise and sharp.

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Step 25

Now we will use an Inner Shadow but just to light, providing a inferior reflection on the eyes, coming from the general light of the scene.

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Step 26

We will apply an inner glow on the eyes edge with the values shown on this image.

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Step 27

We will create a bevel around the eyes, using Stroke, and Bevel and Emboss. We will first use a stroke of the same color of the character, #0099FF.

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Step 28

Now we will use the bevel and extrusion to get some shadow on the upper area (as the light does not impact there) and to have a clearer bottom area to give a 3D effect on this bevel.

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Step 29

Some Outer Glow around the eyes bevel will make this edge have a plastic appearance glow.

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Step 30

Finally a soft Drop Shadow to go together with the opposite curve of the body of the bird to get some shadow there where the neck folds in.

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Step 31

In the eyes iris we will include the pupils using layer styles. We will use a black Inner Glow and Multiply blend, checking the Source Center option for the glow to start from the center of the figure and not from the edges as it’s usually used. We will take the Choke to 100 and the glow to 10 and we will get two black circles perfectly sharp.

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Step 32

Now we will use a Linear Gradient to create volume inside the iris. Anytime you’d like to add an acrylic glow it will be always better if the gradient makes darker the upper area.

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Step 33

Here we will use the Inner Shadow style to light the inferior edge of the iris by using a different contour quality than the one that appears by default, unclicking also the global angle of the light.

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Step 34

A Drop Shadow is used here to light a bevel around the irises to create an insertion effect on the eyes.

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Step 35

Now the acrylic glows for the eyes: this typical effect gives the lubricated appearance. With 2 horizontal ovals we will edit its inferior anchor points to create this photo studio reflection on the eyes.

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Step 36

We will take the shape layer transparency to zero and we will add a Gradient Overlay with these values. Remember you can move the position of the gradient using click + drag on the layer when you are editing this gradient.

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Step 37

Now we will add an upper glow that will reinforce the light source appearance on a highly reflective surface.

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Step 38

We will now take care of the projected shadows on the hairs of the head. Selecting both shapes in the Layers section, we will go the Paths section where we will see our vectors selected there too. We will convert these vectors into selection by using the options menu below the floating window.

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Step 39

With this selection that will be used as a mask, we will now softly paint a shadow on the new layer. Make sure to set the tool just like you see it here in the upper menu. With some clicks we will get a delicate shadow of the object.

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Step 40

With the eraser and the values you see here, we will erase the paint excess. We will repeat all the steps to paint the second lock of hair.

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Step 41

Now we will work on the bird’s beak. First we will add a projected shadow towards down.

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Step 42

Then we will use an inverted Inner Shadow to create a shadow on the inferior area of the beak.

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Step 43

An Inner Glow to surround the beak with a light reflection on its perimeter.

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Step 44

With two new circular shape layers and a 30% transparency we will add a Drop Shadow but to light. With these values you will be able to create an inferior bevel that will simulate a hole in the beak’s surface.

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Step 45

Now we will work on the tear. Apply a radial Gradient Overlay to create a relief area on its center.

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Step 46

An Inner Shadow to light, unclicking the global light and taking the values to the extreme for this effect to be very sharp, as if it was an acrylic glow.

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Step 47

Finally, a projected shadow towards down will separate the tear from the background.

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Step 48

We will work on the bird’s feet. With an inverted Inner Shadow we will create the areas where the light that comes from above at 90 degrees.

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Step 49

Add an Inner Glow but to get it darker allows us to give a more 3D aspect to these vectors.

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Step 50

Let’s work now on the tail feathers. A gradient will allow us to create a shadow underneath the branch and above the feathers.

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Step 51

Finally, a 3 pixels stroke to make a bevel on the feathers, using a darker tone than the character’s body.

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Step 52

We will add some relief to the tree branch. With Bevel and Emboss and these values we get the cylindrical aspect of the object.

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Step 53

An Inner Shadow but to light the inferior area of the branch to reinforce the shadowed area with a reflection coming from the general light.

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Step 54

We will continue with the arms and the Bevel and Emboss effect with the values shown here.

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Step 55

Don’t forget to check the Layer Mask Hides Effect option that will allow us to hide part of the arms with a hand painted mask.

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Step 56

We will now create a selection around the arms and will convert it into a mask.

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Step 57

Let’s paint the mask. With black color, the mask hides the contact area between the arm and the body, helping both objects to integrate better.

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Step 58

Now we will create the shadow for these arms but it won’t be automatic – using layer styles- because we also need to hide some areas from the shadows. By selecting the arms Shapes we will convert them into selection in the Path section.

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Step 59

We will paint black the selection we’ve obtained and then pressing Cmd/Ctrl + T and clicking on the Wrap Tool icon on the upper menu, we will distort this shadow for it not to be identical to the arms’ shape.

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Step 60

Now we will make the shadow softer with a Gaussian Blur of 2 pixels.

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Step 61

We will mask this shadow and with the Brush tool we will paint the mask black. Then we will hide a layer again with the idea of integrating those shadows to the character’s body.

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Step 62

The fists also require the same layer style job and masking. Let’s start with a projected shadow.

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Step 63

With Bevel and Emboss we will give the 3D shape to these vectors.

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Step 64

We will reinforce the inferior shadow of the fists with an inverted Inner Shadow.

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Step 65

A bit of Inner Glow will give a touch of light to the upper area of the hands.

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Step 66

Every finger we’ve drawn before will be converted into selection and we will paint fingers in different layers.

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Step 67

With the shape layer converted into selection, we will paint on a new layer the shadow area of the little finger and the palm of the hand. Use a small point Brush and a soft flow of 10% giving just some touches in the key areas but avoiding the excess.

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Step 68

We will contract the selection 1 pixel to erase the excess.

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Step 69

Let’s paint the mask. With black color, the mask hides the contact area between the arm and the body, helping both objects to integrate better.

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Step 70

We will repeat the same steps to paint and erase each finger, always using different layers. When we are finished, we will keep on erasing the excess to make the fingers look intertwined. Once you are finished, select all the layers and link them with Cmd/Ctrl + E. Then you can decrease the intensity of these shadows by increasing the layer transparency.

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Step 71

We just have some reflection and light details to add to the bird’s body. We will select its shape layer and we will convert it into selection as we’ve learnt in the previous steps.

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Step 72

Let’s contract the selection about 5 or 6 pixels.

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Step 73

Then we will make this selection softer about 2 or 3 pixels.

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Step 74

With this selection reduced and softened, we will create a new layer and using Blend Overlay we will paint the sides of the character and its front in the area above the eyes.

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Step 75

Now we will keep contracting the selection to erase the excess considering the side reflections should look like a thin line, as what the eye is looking at is a reflection over the object’s sides: as it is a reflective surface, it cuts the gradient formed by this light source.

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Step 76

We will now erase the paint excess. By pressing Cmd/Ctrl + H you can hide the selection to see better the area you are working on.

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Conclusion

Using any background and a Call To Action headline, our Twitter icon is now complete!

By Alberto Sosa

My name is Alberto ‘Kaiser’ Sosa. I am a user experience expert with more than 20 years in advertising and digital art direction. I have directed small and large creative and digital production teams and have mentored many colleagues. My work is a source of inspiration in Latin America.

Once you have the file selected in Illustrator go ahead and copy it to the clipboard. Then go to Photoshop and create a new document. Photoshop will remember the dimensions of the copied graphic and apply to the new image file. Once the file is created, go under the Edit menu and choose Paste. It will then ask you how you want to paste the graphic. Choose Path and click OK.

With it still selected, right-click directly on the shape and choose Define Custom Shape from the menu. You will then be prompted to give the shape a name. When done, click OK. Now to access the new shape just select the Custom Shape tool in the toolbar. Then click on the Shape menu icon in the options bar. The new shape will be the last shape in the menu. Now you can use the shape anytime without having to go get it from Illustrator or wherever again. You can even quit Photoshop and relaunch and the shapes will still be there. It comes in handy if you find yourself always adding a logo to signature to your images. You can define the logo as a custom shape, then use them whenever you need them.

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Lightroom is a pretty diverse program, which is simple to start learning, but contain hidden depths. Here’s some shortcut tricks that use modifier keys to access hidden features.

1. Straighten your Photo: Press ‘R’ to go to the crop mode in Develop. Press the Control key on PC, Command key on Mac. Then click on a point and drag to a second to let Lightroom rotate to make that line straight.

2. Quick Develop. You can access hidden settings in Quick Develop by holding down the Alt Key on PC, or the Option Key on Mac. This will change the Vibrance and Clarity controls into Saturation and Sharpening.

3. Print. In Custom or Print Package, hold down the Alt Key on PC, Option key on Mac, and drag a cell to make a duplicate copy of the cell, image included.

4. Catalogs. Hold down the Control Key on PC, Option key on Mac, when starting Lightroom to bring up the Select Catalog dialog box. From here you can choose between recent Catalogs, pick an alternative, unlisted, Catalog, or even create a new one.

5. Web. In the Web Module, you can cheat to access settings not available to you via the normal UI. Use the shortcut ‘Shift Control Alt /’ on PC, ‘Shift Command Option /’ on Mac, to turn the Appearance panel into a list of internal CSS tag items. To go back to normal, simply use the same shortcut again.

6. Color Picker. When you’re using the Color Picker in Slideshow, Print, or Web, sometimes you’d like to keep consistent colours between the work you’re doing, for example, using your brand colours. Find the colours via the Hex (or click on the word HEX to change to RGB) settings, then Alt/Option click on the swatches to save the colour for reuse elsewhere.

7. Setting your clipping points. Hold down the Alt/Option key and go to the Basic Panel in Develop. Drag Exposure, Blacks and Highlights in turn to see the points that are currently clipping. For example, clicking Exposure with Alt/Option held down will make the central area black. As you drag the slider, you can start to see the areas that are clipping. The colour represents the which channels are clipping, so red means the red channel is clipping etc. Recovery also makes the screen black, whereas Blacks will make the screen white.

8. Reset. Holding down Alt/Option will turn titles into Reset buttons. For example Presence becomes Reset Presence. Clicking this will reset all the Presence sliders.

9. Delete. Delete brings up a Remove/Delete box, or removes from a Collection. What if you want to get right of it no matter where it is? Here’s a dangerous shortcut to learn. ‘Shift Control Alt Delete Shift’ on PC, ‘Shift Command Option Delete’ on Mac. This is the ‘terminate with extreme predjudice’ command. It even deletes from within a collection. Use with care. Undo does not work with this command.

10. Change Import and Export. Holding down Alt/Option in Library will change the Import to Import Catalog, and Export will change to Export Catalog.

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Flawless skin can be key to successful portraits of ladies. Make their skin creamy soft by tapping the K key in Adobe Camera Raw 5 to call up the Adjustment Brush. Set the Clarity slider to ~40 for starters. Brush over the skin you want to smooth. Want it smoother? Drag the slider farther to the left. This is a great way to get proofs out quickly without losing gallons of time with the Healing Brush tool in Photoshop.