Download the 3 card sizes below.

5×7 Bifold (120.71MB)

5×5 Bifold (57.92MB)

5×5 Trifold (83.1MB)

Problems opening file? See FAQ.

Photoshop Kitchen, in partnership with GraphicAuthority.com, is giving again this Holiday Season (well, it’s not quite that season yet, but I think I saw tinsel the last time I was in Target–so it’s time to get moving with cards).
We’re giving you 3 terrific card sizes in layered TIF files. (These will open in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, just like all of the Graphic Authority template files–the TIF fomat allows for smaller file sizes than PSDs, but they’ll work just the same.) There’s no catch, no hook, we’re not trying to sell an full set, we’re just giving our fans something to enjoy for the Holidays. We hope you enjoy!

Print them at your favorite lab, or give our favorite lab, ACI, a try!

Save 10% on any purchase at GraphicAuthority.com with Coupon Code PK1.

If you are new to working with templates, I would suggest downloading our previous podcast, Photoshop Kitchen 04.20.07, for instruction on working with clipping masks and resizing your images to fit the designated spots.

Graphic Authority Holiday Card Templates FREE Download

In today’s tutorial you will learn how to polish your knowledge of perspective with a simple but very useful technique widely used by concept artists and professionals in the entertainment industry. Let’s get started!

Step 1

Even without special equipment and measurements, we can easily repeat a quadrilateral towards a vanishing point. Let’s start off with a basic scenario that will evolve a little as we proceed.

Assuming you know the basics of one, two, and three-point perspectives, we’ll begin with a rectangle drawn in one-point perspective – aiming to repeat it towards the vanishing point.

Step 2

Draw a cross using the corners to establish the center of the rectangle.

Step 3

Using this center point, we now know where the center of the x-axis would be (green), but more importantly the center of the y-axis (yellow).

Step 4

Starting from the lower left corner we can strike a line through the center of the y-axis we just established, stopping at the vanishing point line (black). Starting from the upper left corner would work the same, as long as the line passes through the middle.

Step 5

Can you see what just happened? We successfully found the corner of the next rectangle. Draw a line directly downwards to finish the rectangle off, like in the example below. This technique is extremely useful and could be used in one-point perspective drawing things such as walls, floor tiles, cabinets, etc.

Step 6

As long as we have the corner, we can repeat this technique as much as we like, eventually ending up very small near the vanishing point. There are obviously digital transform tools and such to achieve this effect much quicker but this makes for another check-box in your skills list, especially when working on paper.

Step 7

Let’s try that technique with a second vanishing point (two-point perspective). As you can see in the example below, there’s a purple vanishing point (to the right) and a black vanishing point (off the image, to the left).

Step 8

Again, if we find the center of the y-axis (yellow), we can use that information to strike a line from a corner through it to reveal where the next shape’s opposite corner would be. Any combination of corners and center lines work but only for their individual sides, so try it out for yourself!

Step 9

If we continue the black lines, we can use the purple vanishing point to see when the purple lines at the bottom collide with the black vanishing point’s line. This gives us the information to map out what these repeating shapes look like on the other side.

Step 10

Now let’s jump to a three-point perspective. The rule for joining the corners of the vertical lines (red) still applies, as the center line (yellow) can still be drawn with an initial cross (faded blue).

Step 11

As demonstrated, this technique can be used to repeat geometry very effectively and in large scales, accurately as well. Just don’t get your axes all mixed up! If it helps, then by all means visually differentiate the separate axes like the example below.

Step 12

Now that we’ve learned that simple technique, we’ll use it to draw a spaceship This is just to show accuracy though, so don’t judge the design. (If the accuracy doesn’t impress you however, that’s clearly because I’m doing it strictly to show off the design) So, let’s pick a thumbnail and get drawing! I think design two has some nice clear forms.

Step 13

To make things easier, the perspective lines will be drawn as a consistent reference. In the example, I’ve drawn some thin lines with the Brush Tool (B) on a New Layer (Ctrl+Shift+N or Cmd+Shift+N) and used the Transform Tool (Ctrl+T or Cmd+T) to lift a corner up, mimicking the existing yet rough perspective in the drawing. The lines can be kept straight while drawing by holding down Shift.

Step 14

The same is done for the second vanishing point and both opacities are lowered in the Layers Palette (F7) giving us a clearer view of our own line art.

Step 15

The sketch is still too apparent and would interfere heavily with my weak and precious drawing to come. Use the Hue/Saturation (Ctrl+U or Cmd+U) window to slide the Lightness values higher.

Step 16

The canvas feels quite limited so let’s use the Crop Tool (C) to extend the canvas space. In the example below I’ve dragged across the entire image with Left-click and then dragged the center-bottom control point lower, pressing Enter to perform the crop.

Step 17

Let’s drag the perspective lines down with the Move Tool (V) and draw on top of those. We can keep the rough sketch above as a visual reference. If you’ve got multiple layers to handle like in the example, you can hold Ctrl or Cmd and Left-click the layers you want to highlight to move.

Step 18

When drawing complex shapes, it is often crucial knowing where on the ground it is for reference. We’re essentially mapping out a lot of the actual spaceship’s virtual form, not just simply the lines we can see.

Let’s dot in the height of the ship’s nose and neck. By following the axis, we can see the spatial relationships of the dots. I’ve added a third vanishing point as well as some colours to differentiate the three axis.

Step 19

Let’s focus on establishing the points in the example labeled ‘A’ and ‘B’. We can estimate ‘A’ judging from the sketch above, but what will be challenge is finding out where to dot in ‘B’. This is where we’ll use the new technique we just learned.

Step 20

Let’s extend a line from ‘A’ to show the blue axis associated with it (blue line). Then we’ll pick a point from the noise that’s of equal height to ‘A’ and extend a line from it to show its brown axis (brown line). Now we have another corner and a perfect square.

Step 21

This square is touching the center line, now all we need to do is repeat this square towards the brown vanishing point once to reveal where the symmetrical equivalent to point ‘A’ would be. Does this feel familiar? Let’s make a cross using the four corners.

Step 22

We have the middle point we need (circled red).

Step 23

Now strike a line from a corner through that middle point until it touches the same brown vanishing point line as ‘A’, as shown in the example. When it touches, we can repeat the square shape and thus, we have B.

Step 24

We can draw in the shape of the fuselage because we have the three points. Very nice.

Step 25

Yes. Very nice, moving on…

Step 26

Let’s do a similar process for the upper tip of the wings now. I’ve flipped the canvas in the example because I find it more convenient to strike lines in that direction. You can do this by choosing Image > Rotate Canvas > Flip Canvas Horizontally.

Step 27

We’ll extend the lower left corner upwards along the blue axis towards the vanishing point, then along the brown axis until it hits the center line. Now we have a square once again. Remember, it is very important that the heights of the corners are symmetrically consistent, otherwise the new point on the other side of the center line will be miscalculated.

Step 28

The same simple steps as before – make a cross with two lines using the four corners, like in the example below. Make sure it’s fairly accurate.

Step 29

Now we have a center point, we’ll run a line through it along the brown axis to find the mid-point, which in the example, is on the center line.

Step 30

From the lower left corner, we can draw a line through that mid-point we just revealed until it hits the brown line at the back of the spaceship. Using that point we can extend a line from it along the blue axis until it hits the brown axis of the original corner again.

Step 31

With the three main points that we established on Step 24, we can run a line on the blue axis from each point until it hits the back of the spaceship (brown line). The point representing the upper tip of the fuselage stops when it collides with the height (green axis).

Step 32

The back of the spaceship isn’t as wide as the front, so we’ll place a point it where it looks ideal, then begin the technique to reveal the point on the other side of the center line.

Step 33

A little quicker this time. Find the center point. Find the mid-point on the side.

Step 34

Run a line through it.

Step 35

Now we have the upper points for both outer ends of the wings, we can join them together.

Step 36

Then the back-end points to the fuselage.

Step 37

There’s some small air intakes on the wings which will be trickier but will follow the same rules. The points just need to be drawn one by one, starting with ‘A’. We have to make sure the boxes for each point are in line with the center line.

For points ‘A’ to ‘D’, we’ll extend a line along the blue axis until it hits the brown line. ‘E’ is a different height so we can’t just run a line along the wing like the others. Instead we’ll draw a line along the brown axis straight towards the center line.

Things are about to get pretty messy, so I’d highly recommend either using layers for your guides or erasing them after you’re done with it.

Step 38

From the 5 points we just established, we can dot-to-dot them together.

Step 39

Then using the same technique, we can establish the points for the wings, too.

Step 40

And the large air intakes under the wings

Step 41

We’ve already dotted in the point for the tip of the nose, now it’s just a case of joining them. We could place dots around the first curve and match them perfectly on the other side of the center line using the same technique as before, but you’re getting pretty good at that now

Step 42

It’s getting a little too messy now. Let’s grab all the scruffy guide lines and lighten them. Select the layer with the scruffy lines and click the Create New Fill Or Adjustment Layer icon, then choose Levels.

Step 43

In the Output Levels section, slide the black triangle to the right to lighten the darker values until it’s light enough to draw a cleaner revision over the top. If the result isn’t being previewed as you make the change, you may have the Preview option unchecked or you may have accidently made a selection prior to this step. Use Ctrl+D or Cmd+D to deselect the current selection.

Step 44

With the old lines in, we can trace over it on a new layer with some nice, clean line art. If it suits your purpose though, you can leave the underlying line art in, maybe lower the opacity a little for a rough blueprint-esque look.

Step 45

You may have noticed, I erased the box guide lines earlier for the air intakes and elevons as the images would otherwise have been extremely cluttered, like this!

Step 46

Thank Photoshop for layers.

Step 47

As you can imagine, with this clean sketch you can take it further to more polished levels. It’s often very useful to have a clean line-art, working great with tasks such as vector tracing and shading with selection tools.

Conclusion

Be it for a design, illustration or just for leisure, you can use this new technique to assist you with your work. If you were trying to communicate designs quickly it wouldn’t be realistic to try and incorporate this technique perfectly every time. But I hope that learning this may improve your overall work flow where you need it

I hope you’ve learned something in this tutorial – feel free to comment any questions or share your own samples!

Perspective Basics: A Draw-Through Technique, With a Spaceship – Basix

Today, we have another Psd Premium tutorial exclusively available to Premium members. If you want to take your package design skills to the next level, then we have an awesome tutorial for you. Learn more after the jump!

This Premium Tutorial is Filled with Creative Tips

We have all been there before; how can we make our artwork look great when we are presenting to clients? The single easiest way to show something to a client is to show them in a way that they can understand. This tutorial will show you how to create a realistic energy drink in a way that you can demonstrate to your clients. Lets get started!

Professional and Detailed Instructions Inside

Premium members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! Below are some sample images from this tutorial.

Psd Premium Membership

As you know, we run a premium membership system here that costs $9 a month (or $22 for 3 months!) which gives members access to the Source files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials, like this one! You’ll also get access to Net Premium and Vector Premium, too. If you’re a Premium member, you can log in and download the tutorial. If you’re not a member, you can of course join today!

Create a Realistic Energy Drink Can to Present to Clients – Psd Premium Tutorial

Today I will show you how to imitate evening eye make up in Photoshop CS3. This lesson will be very useful to those who process the photos for fashion magazines.

So, let’s start by finding some appropriate picture of girl’s face. You can also use your own photos to experiment with, if you’re girl of course Go to Google Images and find needed photo or feel free to use mine also. Open up the photo and start to work with it.

I think it will be better to start with adding eye shadows to eyelids. Get out the Polygonal Lasso Tool and create selection similar to mine on the picture below:

Then holding Shift button and when the plus sign near cursor will appear just add second eye area selection. After that fill selected area with color of # 806475 on the new layer.

Remove selection with Ctrl+D and apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with next presets:

Change layer mode to Overlay:

To correct eye shadows borders we can apply Smudge Tool (Brush: 50 px, Mode: Normal : Strenght: 70%).

Then create a new layer and start with creating eyeliner effect. Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool again and create one more selection as on my picture below, then fill it with color of #282a37 on the new layer.

Deselect chosen area with Select > Deselect and apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with similar settings to these:

The result should be next:

After that apply Smudge Tool for this layer again.

Time to add white shining under the eyebrows. Create new layer, then select the Brush Tool and a soft round brush about 35px to color some area under eyebrows with white color.

After that apply Filter > Noise > Add Noise with similar settings to these:

Then change layer mode to Soft Light:

After that apply Blur Tool a little bit.

Ok, now make some clean work with Eraser Tool to bring shining realistic view.

Tome to color eyebrows. Create new layer, then select the Polygonal Lasso Tool again and create selected areas similar to mine and fill it with black color.

Remove selection with Ctrl+D and apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to blur current layer content about 1,5px, then reduce opacity to 40% for this layer.

And the last one thing that I would like to add is eyelashes. I’m gonna show you one interesting method how we can add it by using Pen Tool. Before we start making it, just get out the Brush Tool before and set up with the following settings for it:

Then set foreground color as black. After that select the Pen Tool (you need to make sure that you’re working with Paths instead of Shape Layers). Draw out the line using paths:

Then right-click and select Stroke Path.

A little dialog box will appear as in the screenshot. Choose Brush and make sure there is a tick next to Simulate Pressure. This is important as it will give your curve tapered ends which will make it rock!

You should get result similar to mine:

Next right click again and select Delete Path. Create more eyelashes on the same way.

Looks cool, isn’t it? Hope, you got the same good results as me, if not, just keep on training and you will good the best results! Good luck!

Evening Eye Make Up Effect in Photoshop

Create a new document sized 500×300 pixels and fill it with white color. Then use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to create selection similar to mine on the picture below and fill it with black color on the new layer.

Press Ctrl+D to deselect chosen area, then apply Filter > Noise > Add Noise with similar settings to these:

Now we have effect like this:

After that select Single Row Marque Tool to create selection about 1 pixel height.

Press Ctrl+T to transform selected area like on my screenshot which you can see below.

Remove selection with Ctrl+D again and move to the next step. Now we need to cut off some lines on the bottom to add the numbers. Use Rectangular Marquee Tool to create selection again and press Delete button to clean selected area.

Remove selection with Select > Deselect. Get out the Horizontal Type Tool to add the numbers with black color to our bar code area. Before you start typing the numbers just go to Window > Character and set up following presets for the text:

After that type your text line:

Merge text layer with previous one with Ctrl+E. We are done with creating bar code. Now we can add it to some goods. I found this picture to work with. Open up it and copy to our main canvas under the layer with bar code. Go to bar code layer again and apply Edit > Free Transform to reduce code a little bit and rotate it.

Then apply Edit > Transform > Warp to make right perspective for code on the lemon surface.

Then change layer mode to Multiply for current layer and apply Sharpen Tool a little bit:

We are done on this step. It was easy but very useful, isn’t it? Hope, you have the same good results as me. If you have done similar technique with this post, feel free to post the link in the comment form.

Recreating Bar Code by Using Photoshop

Download the 3 card sizes below.

5×7 Bifold (120.71MB)

5×5 Bifold (57.92MB)

5×5 Trifold (83.1MB)

Problems opening file? See FAQ.

Photoshop Kitchen, in partnership with GraphicAuthority.com, is giving again this Holiday Season (well, it’s not quite that season yet, but I think I saw tinsel the last time I was in Target–so it’s time to get moving with cards).
We’re giving you 3 terrific card sizes in layered TIF files. (These will open in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, just like all of the Graphic Authority template files–the TIF fomat allows for smaller file sizes than PSDs, but they’ll work just the same.) There’s no catch, no hook, we’re not trying to sell an full set, we’re just giving our fans something to enjoy for the Holidays. We hope you enjoy!

Print them at your favorite lab, or give our favorite lab, ACI, a try!

Save 10% on any purchase at GraphicAuthority.com with Coupon Code PK1.

If you are new to working with templates, I would suggest downloading our previous podcast, Photoshop Kitchen 04.20.07, for instruction on working with clipping masks and resizing your images to fit the designated spots.

Graphic Authority Holiday Card Templates FREE Download

When we design websites or user interfaces, often times we need to create unique and creative icons. Most websites these days have some sort of social media presence; with a link to their Facebook or Twitter pages prominently displayed on their front pages. With so many sites linking to their social media profiles, it’s not surprising that many sites are simple regurgitating the same icons. In today’s tutorial we will demonstrate how to create a completely unique UFO inspired social media icon based on a theme. Let’s get started!

Resources

The following resources were used during the production of this tutorial:

• Facebook Logo
• Twitter Logo
• 3D Character
• Free Font

Step 1

Create a new file 600 x 450 pixels and fill the background with black. Then apply a radial gradient using a layer style with the center color #353535 and the edges black #000000.

Step 2

Create an oval shape layer that will become the base of our UFO.

Step 3

Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer and duplicate the oval but make this one a darker gray color.

Step 4

Now duplicate the layer again but distort its upper area as shown below.

Step 5

To create a polished metallic texture use an Angle and scale it up to 150%. Double click the gradient bar and open the Gradient Editor window.

Step 6

Use 2 tones of gray; #CCCCCC and #666666.

Step 7

Place the center of the gradient towards the top of the shape to reinforce the conic shape of the object.

Step 8

To create a 3D extrusion of the upper oval, use an inverted Inner Shadow (this means a –90º angle) with a black color and an Overlay blend. Drag the Choke to 100 and reduce the Size to zero.

Step 9

Include a thin Inner Glow that will allow the upper oval to receive the light reflected on its inner edge.

Step 10

Now let’s work on the central oval. Add a Gradient Overlay using the settings below and place the gradient just below the center of the shape.

Step 11

Use a white Drop Shadow to simulate a glow over the bottom oval.

Step 12

Apply the same layer style to the bottom saucer by copying and pasting the layer style.

Step 13

Reduce the opacity of the bottom layer’s gradient.

Step 14

Now we need to create an insert over the upper oval.

Step 15

Apply a gradient to this layer as shown below.

Step 16

Also add a stroke in gradient mode, using colors white #FFFFFF and grey #CCCCCC.

Step 17

Now it’s time to create a glass dome of our UFO. To do this draw a shape as shown below. Use a blue #1D408A color.

Step 18

Edit the anchor points as shown below. By pressing the Alt key (Windows) you can separate the anchor points and transform each segment of the oval independently.

Step 19

Let’s add some layer styles. First, a Satin effect with the values shown below.

Step 20

Now apply an inner glow using #1D408A.

Step 21

Add a radial gradient color #000000 and #76B9FD using Linear Dodge (Add).

Step 22

Then add an inner shadow but used as a light over the dome. Use the values as shown below.

Step 23

Finally add a Drop shadow to lighten up the bottom edge of the dome.

Step 24

Now let’s add a reflection to the sphere. Use a smaller oval and edit the anchor points as shown below.

Step 25

Apply a layer style to the reflection and add a gradient that starts from #44A9FE and ends with black. Set the Blending Mode to Screen as shown below.

Step 26

Add an inner shadow using the values shown below.

Step 27

Download the Facebook Logo in EPS or, if you prefer Twitter, you can download it from here as well.

Step 28

Open the vector logo directly into Photoshop. This will open a raster.

Step 29

Use the settings below to set the logo to a larger size.

Step 30

Make a selection of the letter "f." Once it is selected go to Edit > Copy o Cmd + C.

Step 31

Paste the letter "f" onto the canvas and reduce its size to fit within the sphere.

Step 32

Apply a gradient as shown below.

Step 33

Create an illusion of 3D by adding a small stroke as shown below.

Step 34

Intensify the stroke using Bevel & Emboss.

Step 35

Apply an inner glow using to the "f" as shown below.

Step 36

Use the dome to hide part of the "f" by selecting the path and by converting it into a selection.

Step 37

Return to the Layers palette and mask the letter.

Step 38

Hide all the effects inside the mask by clicking the “Layer Mask Hides Effects” in the layer styles dialog box.

Step 39

Use different brushes to paint the perimeter lights depending on their distance. Try to make them as symmetrical as possible.

Step 40

Add an Outer Glow using #0099FF.

Step 41

Group all the layers in a folder.

Step 42

Name the folder.

Step 43

Duplicate the folder to keep a safe copy of your work.

Step 44

Convert the group into a Smart Object or select the option Merge Groups. The aim is to have the whole UFO on one layer so we can reduce the size without affecting the proportion of the layer styles.

Step 45

Reduce the UFO to 65% of its original size and place it as shown below.

Step 46

Now create the ray of light that the UFO will project onto the floor. To do this, draw a rectangular shape layer with the same width as the dome.

Step 47

Edit the anchor points of the shape layer as shown below.

Step 48

Add an anchor point to make a curve as shown below.

Step 49

Convert the vector into a selection using the Paths Palette.

Step 50

Soften the selection by going to Select > Modify > Feather.

Step 51

Set the Feathering to 3 px.

Step 52

Paint inside the selection with more intensity near the source of light (the UFO). And with the same softened selection technique, paint the floor of the scene.

Step 53

Now add light to the floor.

Step 54

Add the following image to our artwork. Or find another one that you feel appropriate.

Step 55

Cut it out from its background and reduce its size as shown below.

Step 56

Create a shadow of the character by duplicating, inverting, blurring, and distorting it as shown below.

Step 57

Download this font and include it in our composition.

Conclusion

For some finishing touches, apply a drop shadow to our text with the color set to #0099FF and its blending mode set to screen. Then add an Outer Glow with its Blending Mode set to Linear Dodge. For the Background, paint a blue glow to give the icon more visual appeal.

How to Create a Social Media UFO Icon

Have you ever wanted to apply the same effect to several images at once? This is an issue that most designers face at some point in their career. In some situations, you might be able to apply an effect individually one photo at a time. That takes time however, and if you have dozens or even hundreds of images to process, that is simply not possible. The solution is to create an action and apply it using a batch process. In today’s quick tip tutorial we will demonstrate how to create an action and apply it to several images using Photoshop’s batch process function.

Step 1

In my particular case , I decided to apply a vintage effect to all the photos in a folder on my machine. So the first step is to open a folder with all the photos you want to apply an effect to.

Step 2

Next, choose a random photograph and open it in Photoshop.

To apply the same effect to all the photos you will need to create an action. Go to the actions panel and press the New Action button. Name it Action 1.

Press record.

Step 3

In this step I will detail all the steps I took to apply a vintage effect to my images but you should feel free to apply any effects that you see fit, depending on your project. Keep in mind that you are recording so every step you take from this moment on will be recorded until you press the Stop button.

Apply an Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation.

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur: 4 px. Layer Blending Mode: Soft Light. Opacity: 70%.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Variations (2 clicks on more cyan ). Blending mode: Overlay. Opacity: 80%.

Go to Filter > Other > High pass: 3 px. Layer Blending Mode: Soft Light.

Go to Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. Opacity: 60%.

Go to Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter: 15%.

Now let’s save our work as a JPEG. This is very important because it needs to be recorded as an action. Name it as Copy as shown below.

Next, close the document. When prompted to save the changes in a PSD, select No. This is necessary because otherwise Photoshop will ask you the same question for all your photos.

Step 4

Now the action is ready. Press the Stop button.

Step 5

Go to File > Automate > Batch. Select Action 1, go to Source and select the folder in which your photos are located. Check Suppress File Open Options Dialog and press Ok.

Step 6

Sit back and watch as Photoshop does all the work for.

Conclusion

That’s it! We’re finished! Hope you learned something new!

Quick Tip: Apply a Vintage Effect to Several Images Using Actions

One more tutorial about how to process objects in Photoshop by using design engineering skills.

In the beginning you should find some appropriate photo to work with. I prefer to use photo of tomato. Feel free also to use your own photos. Open up your photo and start to process it. The first step that I would like to do is to remove all defects from tomato surface (we have some damaged area from the left upper side).

Select the Clone Stamp Tool (Brush: 40 px, Opacity: 100%) and hold down the Alt key — the cursor will change to a target. Click the point you wish to use as a sampling point. This will be used as the reference point for cloning. Click and draw where you want the cloned image to appear. As you draw, a cross will appear on the original image while a corresponding circle appears where you are drawing.

Ok, after removing defects I would like to add a few glares to our tomato surface. Set up foreground color as white, then select Pen Tool and try to create the same area as you can see on the picture below.

Rasterize this shape with Layer > Rasterize > Shape. Than apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with next presets:

After applying this filter result should be next:

Ok, now set up opacity to 60%, after that use the Eraser Tool and soft round brush about 40 pixels to make small clean work.

Add a few more strokes on the same way. Try to experiment with layer opacity for each layer to get better different looking results.

Merge all layers with glare in one, somewhere glare is above the leaves, it shouldn’t be like this, just use the Eraser Tool to remove glare on leaves area.

The result should be similar to the picture which you can see below:

After that I want to add some global reflection from white background to tomato. For this effect create a new layer, then use the Brush Tool (soft brush with radius about 125 pixels) and draw curve line with white color as you can see on my picture:

Then change layer style to Overlay and set up opacity to 57% for current layer.

Ok, looks better as before, isn’t it? Move to the next step. Time to process green leaves. Merge all layers in one, after that use the Dodge Tool (Brush: 100px, Range: Midtones, Exposure: 30%) to make dark part of tomato stalk which is located on center a little bight brighter.

Then I would like to reduce tomato stalk length. Use the Brush Tool and hard round brush about 20 pixels remove part of tomato as shown on the picture below:

Now, time to improve color depth, relief and texture for stalk. It will be better to bring more contrast between green stalk and red tomato. For this effect use the Polygonal Lasso Tool to select stalk area.

Then press Ctrl+C to copy it to the new layer, now we can experiment with out green stalk and leaves. In the beginning we should correct green color balance and saturation. Use Image > Adjustments > Levels (or press Ctrl+L) and set up following presets for Green and Blue channels:

Your result should be the same as mine:

After that apply Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen:

Ok, now we need to add a few lines with light green color (#dddd84). Select the Brush Tool and a soft round brush about 1 pixel to add these lines on the new layer.

Then use Blur Tool to blur it a little bit and change layer mode to Overlay. We got light contrast on our leaves area.

Move to the next step. Now I would like to add some white gradients to light leaves area. Select the Polygonal Lasso Tool again and create area which you like to process and fill it with white to transparent gradient.

Add more gradients to different part of tomato stalk.

Remove selection with Ctrl+D. Ok, looks better for now, isn’t it? And the last one thing that we need to do is to add shadow on the tomato bottom. Merge all the layers in one. Then use the Polygonal Lasso Tool again to create selection which you can see on my picture and fill it with color of #9c2c2c.

After that remove selection and apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with similar settings to these:

See the difference now:

Then apply Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and set up next presets:

Change layer mode to Multiply for current layer and set up opacity to 85%.

After that use the Eraser Tool to clean shadow effect on tomato area.

Ok, merge all layers in one with Shift+Ctrl+E. To finish off the tutorial duplicate new layer with Ctrl+J and apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to blur image about 2 pixels. Then mess with the layer mode & opacity/fill. I tried Soft Light with opacity of 50%.

Now you can check our photo before and after:

That’s it for now!

Applying Design Engineering Skills in Photoshop

Download the 3 card sizes below.

5×7 Bifold (120.71MB)

5×5 Bifold (57.92MB)

5×5 Trifold (83.1MB)

Problems opening file? See FAQ.

Photoshop Kitchen, in partnership with GraphicAuthority.com, is giving again this Holiday Season (well, it’s not quite that season yet, but I think I saw tinsel the last time I was in Target–so it’s time to get moving with cards).
We’re giving you 3 terrific card sizes in layered TIF files. (These will open in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, just like all of the Graphic Authority template files–the TIF fomat allows for smaller file sizes than PSDs, but they’ll work just the same.) There’s no catch, no hook, we’re not trying to sell an full set, we’re just giving our fans something to enjoy for the Holidays. We hope you enjoy!

Print them at your favorite lab, or give our favorite lab, ACI, a try!

Save 10% on any purchase at GraphicAuthority.com with Coupon Code PK1.

If you are new to working with templates, I would suggest downloading our previous podcast, Photoshop Kitchen 04.20.07, for instruction on working with clipping masks and resizing your images to fit the designated spots.

Graphic Authority Holiday Card Templates FREE Download