Hot Photoshop How-Tos

How To: Use custom patterns with layer styles in Photoshop

This is a two-part video where Al Ward teaches you to use custom patterns with layer styles. Learn to turn off Gradient Overlay, and apply Pattern Overlay. Then use custom patterns with layer styles and turn them into textures and play with Stroke setting in the layer style. Use custom patterns with layer styles in Photoshop - Part 1 of 2.

How To: Design a logo in Photoshop

In this video series, watch as graphic design expert John Moore teaches how to design a logo. Learn what software you need for logo design, how to prepare for logo design, the importance of text, the importance of color, the use of different fonts, how to manipulate graphics, how to use filters to enhance text, and how to use wingdings to design a logo. Coming up with a recognizable brand and logo is essential to the success of any company or small business, so let the experts at Expert Villa...

How To: Work with a Wacom tablet in Photoshop CS3

In this video, Justin Seeley shows how to use a Wacom tablet to create photo collages in Photoshop CS3 Extended. He shows how to blend photographs together using the Wacom pen to create a print ad type image. He shows how to increase the size of the brush, change the opacity, blend the image, and lightly paint into the image to control the amount of the fade.

How To: Prepare seemless bitmap textures in Photoshop

For all kinds of 3D material channels, it sometimes benefits the project to have a small, tileable image that will fill the surface of the object without an obvious seam. Of course, a tileable image will show the duplication if the instance shows up enough times. The trick is to avoid any hard lines where the image might change dramatically as it tiles across the face of the 3D object. Here's one method to avoid those nasty straight seams. (In two parts).

How To: Create neon tubes in Photoshop

In this tutorial you will learn how to make realistic looking neon tubes. The most popular use is of course, for neon signs, but feel free to branch out and get creative. It will be helpful if you have some previous Photoshop experience to follow this video.

How To: Create rusty, corroded type in Photoshop

Making text look old and weathered, or rusty and corroded is a long standing effect but it's a good one to know. In this episode, Bert will show you how to do a nice, detailed weathered type from scratch. You may want to download his example files or full rez version to see a detailed view.

How To: Create glow swirls using Illustrator & Photoshop

This "glow swirl" effect is doable via drawing a flashlight really fast at night and then taking snapshots of its path (we used to draw fun doodles and write our names in "glow" lighting with our roommates in college). However, since such night snapshots are hard to capture on camera, Photoshop can do you for you instead in far less time.

How To: Create chrome text in Photoshop CS2

Pimp my text!! We've all seen those car and videogame ads with the pimped out chromed text effect. Guess what? You don't need to go out and pay professional designers thousands of dollars for it. All you need to invest is about 10 minutes and watch this episode of Pixel Perfect and see how easy it is to get that nice shiney sparkly chrome effect.

How To: Use the brush engine in Photoshop

The brush engine was developed back in Photoshop 7 (before CS) and is what makes Photoshop a true painting program and revolutionized the way Photoshop works. In the longest episode of PixelPerfect yet, Bert explains and demonstrates the inner workings of the brush engine. This is a great tutorial for those that are new to Photoshop. Use the brush engine in Photoshop.

How To: Create a stormy rain scene in Photoshop

The universal solvent is back. It looms, floating in a condensed visible mass, then bursts from its vaporous state, streaking to the earth at teminal velocity. Those blurred droplets called rain are a pretty simple thing to create, it's just a couple of filters and you've got it. Bert takes it a few of steps further to create a whole stormy scene with rain, lightning and an ominous sky. Oh, and there's a pirate ship in there too.

How To: Create fire in Photoshop

HOT!! HOT!! HOT!! This episode is smoking hot. By popular demand, Bert works his magic and shows us how to create fire. It is not quite as simple as lighting a match, but as Bert demonstrates, it is not too much more complicated than that.