Glitter Text Effect Tutorial

In this tutorial I am going to show you the steps for creating a sparkling glitter text effect in Adobe Illustrator CS3 or higher. 

This is the video tutorial for the glitter text effect.

First take a Basic RGB Document 1024X768 pts. 72 ppi resolution and artboard orientation Landscape. 

Next, select the rectangle tool and draw a rectangle of the size of your artboard and fill it up with a radial gradient of a lighter and darker shade of the same colour. I chose red, you may choose any colour you like. Keep the layer locked. It is your background layer.

Create a new layer, select the Text tool and write any text you want. I wrote "Merry Christmas"  :) Choose a good font and keep the size 200 pts. , you may resize it according to your font style.

Now select the text, go to Object and click on Expand. Next right click on the text and click on Ungroup. Select all and fill it up with white colour, turn off the stroke.

Now press Ctrl + A / Select all and Ctrl+C to copy. Make 2 more layers and in each layer press Ctrl+F to paste the text in same position. So, there should be total 3 layers with the same text.

Turn off visibility for the 2 upper layers and also keep them locked. Select the text in the lowest layer and fill it up with the second gradient in the metals rack. 

Keeping the text selected, go to Object - Path - Offset Path -- Offset: 2, Joins: Miter, Miter Limit: 4. This will increase the thickness of the text. Now, lock this layer.

Turn on visibility for the second layer. Select the first letter, go to Effect- Sketch- Note Paper -- Image Balance: 25, Graininess: 10, Relief: 11. Press- Ok. Now, select the other letters and go to Effect- Apply Note Paper (Ctrl+Shft+E).

Select the first letter again, go to Effect- Texture- Stained Glass-- Cell Size: 2,Border Thickness: 4, Light Intensity: 0. Press Ok. Apply this effect to the other letters as before.

Now, again select the first letter, go to Effect- Sketch- Torn Edges-- Image Balance: 22, Smoothness: 1, Contrast: 16. Press Ok. Apply this effect to the other letters too.

This is how it should look.

Now lock this layer and turn on visibility for the topmost layer. Set the blending mode of this layer to color or overlay. Select each individual letter and give it a separate colour. You may change the colours and blending modes to get the desired effect.

Happy with the results?? Good. Now, there is just one little thing left to do.

Create a new layer at the top of all the others. Keep the foreground colour white. Select the star tool. Click anywhere. In the options box -- Radius 1 : 3pt, Radius 2: 50 pt, Points: 5.

Select the star, Ctrl+C , Ctrl+F, resize and rotate the new star. Select both of them and group them (Ctrl+G). Now go to -- Filter- Outer Glow-- Mode: Screen, Colour: White, Opacity: 75%, Blur: 8 pt. 

Select the star and make it smaller. Make several copies of the star and place them on the text to complete the sparkle effect.

This is the final image.

Floral fractal tutorial in Photoshop (Advanced)

1. Launch Photoshop CS3 (or higher) and create a new document with the dimensions 1920 x 1080 px, 72 ppi in RGB color mode.

2. Keep the background color black.

3. Create a new layer (layer 1) above the background layer. Press 'G' for gradient. Open gradient editor and click on the tiny arrow next to presets and select noise samples from the dropdown menu.
Select any color you like.

4. Fill the layer with the selected gradient.

5. Set the blending mode of layer 1 to overlay.

6. Create a new layer in between the two existing layers and draw a petal using the pen tool (P). Press Ctrl+enter to make a selection and fill it with white color. Keep the selection.

7. With the marquee tool selected, right click and select feather and set it to 30 pixels.

 8. Now hit delete.

9. Duplicate(Ctrl+J) the petal and rotate it and follow steps 12 and 13 to make a complete flower.

10. Press Ctrl+J , now press Ctrl+T, resize the new petal and move it downwards as shown in the image. Press enter when done.

11. Press Ctrl+Alt+Shft+T  to repeat the previous action. Select all the layers and merge them using Ctrl+E.

12. Press Ctrl+J , now press Ctrl+T, set the pivot point at the bottom, resize and rotate it as shown in the image. Press enter when done.

13. Press Ctrl+Alt+Shft+T  to repeat the previous action. Select all the layers and merge them using Ctrl+E.

14. Now, copy, resize and arrange the motif you just made to complete your design.

15. Watch this video tutorial to completely understand the method.

Low Poly Art in Illustrator

In this tutorial I will show you how to make a low poly art in the easiest way. You will need Adobe Illustrator CS3 or higher.

Remember these shortcuts : 

Selection tool : V

Pen tool : P

Eyedropper tool : I

Live Paint Bucket tool : K

Click here to download the image

Open Adobe Illustrator and create a new RGB document.

First you need a nice picture of a real object. I have taken a picture of oranges [that's my favourite fruit ;) ] 

Click on File--Place--select the picture--OK.....or simply drag & drop the picture to your workspace.

Keep the image selected and click 'Embed' .

Go to View--check Smart Guides and Snap to Point.

Create a new layer in the layers panel. Start by creating lines with the help of pen tool (P). First create the border and then form quadrilaterals (four sided geometric shapes). Next divide the quadrilaterals into triangles by drawing lines inside them. 

When it's done, it will look something like this image below.

 Turn off the visibility of the reference picture layer. Now you can see the cage. When you are happy with the result, start colouring , here is where the fun begins.

Select all Ctrl+A and press "K" on your keyboard to activate the live paint bucket tool. Click anywhere inside your drawing. Now you can colour the triangles each one separately. Press "I" for eye dropper tool. Click inside a triangle to get the colour, press K and click on that triangle to fill colour. Repeat this process for all the triangles. This will take some time, so be patient. Keep colouring and colour all the triangles.

When you have finished colouring, select all again and turn the stroke colour off to see the result. 

Select a nice colour for the background. It's done.

This is my final image. Click on the image to download. Hope you enjoyed the tutorial. :)

Light Streaks Wallpaper Tutorial in Photoshop

We are going to make a light streaks desktop wallpaper in Photoshop.

Light Streaks Desktop Wallpaper

1. For making this wallpaper you will need Photoshop, any version would do, CS3 or higher. First, launch Photoshop and create a new document. 

File--New or Ctrl+N

The dimensions should be 1920x1080 px, this gives an HD output. 75 ppi resolution is enough and choose RGB color mode.

2. Now select the Gradient tool (G) and choose a black and white gradient and both colors must have 100% opacity. Use shift while dragging the gradient tool. Make a linear gradient like the picture below. Double click on the background layer to unlock it.

3. Now, go to Filter--Distort--Wave

4. Select the settings as shown in the picture below.

No. of Generations: 10, Type: Square

You should get something like this.

5. Double click on the layer you just created and choose Gradient Overlay from the Layer Styles. Click on the small arrow next to Presets and select Spectrum. Choose the first one.

6. Change the Blend Mode to Linear Burn, Opacity: 65, Style: Reflected, Angle: 0 and click OK.

7. Create a new layer and repeat steps 2, 3 & 4 and change the blending mode of this layer to Soft Light. This will add some shine to our light streaks.

8. Now, create a new layer. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and draw a small rectangle and fill it with black color. Keep the rectangle selected and go to Edit--Define Brush Preset. A new brush will be created. Now you can delete the layer containing the rectangle.

9. Select the brush you just created and go to 

Window--Brushes (F5). 

Brush Tip Shape--Spacing: 160%

Shape Dynamics--Size Jitter: 100%, Angle Jitter: 16%, Roundness Jitter: 67%, Minimum Roundness: 38%

Scattering--Scatter: 596%, Count: 1

Resize your brush using ( [ ) & ( ] ) and click in your wallpaper to add tiny rectangles like I did.

10. Use a good font (Arial and size:200pt) to write your name or a quote and set the blending mode to Overlay. Now, double click on the text layer to access Layer Styles. Select Outer Glow--Blend Mode--Linear Light, Opacity: 75%, Color: ccffff, Spread: 8, Size: 7 and click OK.

Your Light Streaks Desktop HD Wallpaper is ready. :)