In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a cool grunge poster in Photohop. We will play in particular with blending modes to mix stock images and with some filters to create nice effects.
Also I’ll show you how to integrate 3d text into your compositions and how to replace existing colors using adjustment layers.
Step 1
Let’s start creating a new 1200×1700 pixels document in Photoshop
Step 2
Grab the gradient tool (G) and add a radial gradient going from a light brown (#ddc083) to a darker one (#927538).
Step 3
Download a texture from our “old dirty paper set”. Paste it into the canvas, desaturate it (shift+ctrl+U) and set the layer to overlay with opacity 50%.
Step 4
Now that we have created a nice grunge background, we can add natural elements to the composition. Photoshop give us the opportunity to mix elements using layers blending modes. I will show you how to achieve beautiful results using this tool. Paste in the mountains image, place it at the bottom of the canvas and set the layer to overlay. Now use the erase tool (E), or a mask if you prefer, to delete the upper part of the mountains image. Use a large soft (hardness 0%) brush for this purpose
Step 5
Paste in the image of the tree. Flip it vertically (Edit>>Transform>>Flip Vertical) and place it at the top of the canvas. Set the layer to overlay with opacity around 70%. Now once again use the erase tool to remove unwanted pixels (the bottom of the image and the meadow). There is not a specific reason to rotate the tree, simply I like these kind of surreal effects into my works. Also notice how blending options allow us to create beautiful colors mix.
Step 6
I want to create a light effect around the tree. Create a new layer below the paper texture one and use a large soft white brush to create light. Reduce the opacity of the layer until you’re satisfied with the outcome
Step 7
At this point I created 3D text using Xara3D, which is a super easy to use 3d tool for windows users. All what I made to add a grunge style to the text was to apply this cool texture. If you haven’t xara3d, you can create 3d text in Illustrator, or Cinema4D, or Photoshop CS4 (I haven’t again updated my version). Anyway you will find 3D text into the source file available for premium members at the end of the post
Step 8
There’s nothing better then a lens flare to enhance your text. Create a new layer above the text and fill it with black. Now go to Filter>Render>Lens Flare. In the option window select “movie prime”. Then set the layer to screen to eliminate black parts.
Step 9
Let’s Analise together our work. It’s evident that it needs more contrast, more color harmony and more details. My first idea was to introduce 2 animals into the composition because I believed they could perfectly match with the natural landscape. This is why I put in a bear and a tiger. But after a coffee break I observed my work and I wasn’t satisfied. So I decided to firstly focus my attention to color adjustments.
Step 10
The first thing to do is to strongly decrease saturation. Go to Layer>>New Adjustment Layer>>Hue/Saturation and set saturation to -60.
Step 11
Use curves to increase image contrasts. Create a new adjustment layer and this time select Curves. Create a “S” using the curve to give vividness to the image:
Step 12
I always end up color adjustments with a gradient map. This is a step I love because I have the impression to have full color control and my images achieve more harmony. Try this exercise: open some of your old Photoshop works and create a new gradient map adjustment (Layer>>New Adjustment Layer>>Gradient Map), then choose a nice gradient, set the layer to overlay and reduce opacity to around 70%. Isn’t it nice? Try different gradients until you find the best one. In this tutorial, for example, I have in mind 2 colors I’d like to enhance: blue and yellow. So I create a gradient map layer going from blue (#080d4e) to yellow (#f6f091). And this is the result (my layer’s opacity is 40%):
Step 13
Open in Photoshop the image of the dude and extract it using the pen tool. Paste it into our document (below adjustment layers). You need to resize it, so click ctrl+T to select the transform tool and make it smaller.
Step 14
There’s a dude and a light source: we must add shadow behind the dude. So duplicate the dude layer and select the distort tool (Edit>>Transform>>Distort). Now select the top-left and top-right anchor points and drag them below the bottom-left and the bottom-right. Then click enter to apply the transformation. Use the screenshot below as a reference:
Step 15
To make the shadow more realistic, let’s apply a gaussian blur (Filter>>Blur>>Gaussian Blur) with a radius around 5 pixels and reduce the opacity to 65%
Step 16
I want to enhance the dude with a kind of light effect that surrounds him. So right-click on its layer and select Blending Options. Then apply an outer glow with the following settings:
Step 17
The work is almost complete. At this point I decided to add another detail: flying birds. I downloaded this item from the gomedia arsenal freebie section. However you can find lots of free vector birds surfing sites like vecteezy or qvectors.
Step 18
As a last touch we can place a nice linear pattern over the canvas. This effect will be visible only if you see the image in its real dimensions. Take a closer look:
Create a new 5×5 pixels document and fill it with black.
Now make sure to have white as foreground color and use the line tool to create a 45° line of 1px. Place it at the right of the square diagonal.
Tip: if you press shift while drawing the line, it will be easy to create a 45° line.
Duplicate this line (select the line layer and press ctrl+J) and move the duplicated one to the top-left corner:
Go to Edit>>Define Pattern and choose a title for this one. Return to your canvas, create a new transparent layer and place it immediately below the adjustment layers. Select Edit>>Fill and choose the just created pattern.
Step 19
All what remains to do is to set the layer to screen and reduce the opacity to 20%. Done!
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