There are many emerging design trends and concepts in the graphic design world. And these trends help us graphic designers to create more competitive and better designs. My favorite concepts are the Letter Press and Huge Typography designs. These two concepts were widely used by different graphic designers for creating logos, posters, and even in magazines.

Letter Press | Design Concepts Using Typography

The Letter Press design concept, one of the most widely used design concepts all over the web. It has been very popular because of its professional look, especially when used in business cards, posters and book covers. I also use this concept in my new designs especially in business cards.

Here are some Letter Press Photoshop Tutorials from the web:

• Ps Letterpress emboss text effect
• Photoshop CS3+ Letterpress Tutorial
• Photoshop Tutorial: The Letterpress Effect

Huge Typography | Design Concepts Using Typography

The Huge Typography is very remarkable because of its elegant and simple style. Huge Typography style is also used in the new Windows Phone 7 Series UI, which was said to be a great innovative design. This design is my favorite style whenever I am creating posters.

Here are some Huge Typography Photoshop Tutorials from the web:

• Create a Trendy Typographic Poster Design
• Creating a Typographic Wallpaper

How about you? What’s your favorite design concept?

It’s been a long time since I posted a Photoshop Tutorial here on my blog. I think this tutorial is the first one for year 2010. Actually, this tutorial was already planned to be posted earlier, but I wasn’t able to work on it because of my migration from old to a new hosting account. But of course, the delay was worth it because I got a better blogging experience right now.

Anyway, the purpose of this tutorial is to help you build or create a better or more realistic feel on your photo. This tutorial is perfect for Still Life photography, and not for Portraits. And you should be glad because this tutorial is very easy.

What you need:

• Adobe Photoshop CS+
• A nice photo
• Creative mind (optional)

The first thing you must do is to open up Adobe Photoshop and open the image file you want to edit.

Next is to create a Black and White layer on the image.

Create Black and White Layer - Create a More Realistic Look on Your Photo

You can create a Black and White layer by just selecting the “Create a new fill or adjustment layer” button below the Layers Pallet. Please make sure that the created Black and White layer is at the top of the Background layer.

Layers Pallet - Create a More Realistic Look on Your Photo

Then, create a new copy of Background Layer by selecting the Background layer and hit CTRL+J on your keyboard. After that, drag the “Background copy” layer and drop at the top of the Black and White Layer.

The image at the left is a screen shot of my Layers pallet. And that must be proper location of the three layers that we created. “Background copy” then “Black and White” and the “Background” layer at the bottom.

Next is to set the Blend mode of the “Background copy” to “Overlay” or “Soft Light”. You can do this by simply following the image below.

Note: “Overlay” Blend mode is much harder (or blacker) compared to “Soft Light”. But in most cases, “Overlay” is much better than “Soft Light”. But still, you can play with different blend modes by simply adjusting the opacity of the Background layer. And take note, do not overdo it.

Select "Overlay" as the Blend Mode - Create a More Realistic Look on Your Photo

You can select the Overlay blend mode by simply clicking the Blend mode list box at the Layers pallet. And the last thing that you need to do is to analyze your image. Adjust it until the desired image is achieved.

And you’re done.

Here’s the original photo:

Original Image | © Kelvin Servigon Photography

And the processed photo:

Finished Product - Create a More Realistic Look on Your Photo

You’ll see a great difference between the original and the edited photo. The edited one has more realistic look and better contrast, making it nicer than the original image.

I hope you liked this Photoshop Tutorial. You can subscribe now to my RSS Feed for more Photoshop tutorials, soon.

You can be really beautiful in just few clicks using Adobe Photoshop. Your dream face can be real (but virtually – which is not real at all) in Photoshop. And now, I’ll be teaching you a new trick, How to whiten your teeth in Adobe Photoshop.

First, open up Adobe Photoshop (any version will do) and your photo that you’ll going to manipulate.

In this tutorial, I used a photo of my friend which I photographed from our last pictorial. Her name is Mikhaila. Say hello to her here.

Before (Zoomed) | How to Whiten Teeth in Adobe Photoshop

As you can see, our model’s teeth is a bit yellowish. But if her teeth is whiter, then it’s better. So we need to follow some simple (very simple) steps that I’ll write here on my post.

After opening your photo, select the Brush Tool. You can see it on the tool box at the left side of the Photoshop or just hit the “B” key on your keyboard.

Brush Tool - Overlay mode | How to Whiten Teeth in Adobe Photoshop

Next, select a white foreground color and change the mode of the brush to overlay and 30% opacity. We need this setting because we don’t want to overdo the teeth whitening. Because once we overdid it, the photo will became unrealistic.  (See photo above)

Brush Tool - Brushing the teeth | How to Whiten Teeth in Adobe Photoshop

After that, you’ll do the most important step, the teeth whitening! Using your brush, stroke the brush to the teeth. You’ll see the changes as you stroke the brush to the teeth. Again, avoid overdoing it. (See photo above)

Next to that step is… nothing! You’re done! Yeah, as simple and easy as that.

Before and After | How to Whiten Teeth in Adobe Photoshop

In the comparison of before and after photos above, you’ll see only few changes in her teeth because I didn’t overdid it. Again, I’ll mention the important note in this tutorial : don’t overdo it.

Virtually, you can be very beautiful in Adobe Photoshop. If you want to fool your online friends in social networking sites, use Adobe Photoshop to do some major surgery in your face. And now, I am teaching you how to do some of it, smoothen your skin using Adobe Photoshop tutorial.

What you need:

1. Adobe Photoshop CS+
2. Your sexiest photo (High-resolution pictures are recommended)
3. And some patience

Here’s one of the photos from my cousin’s debut party last April. Her name is Camille Polintan, and she’s been my model for my eXperiment photo series with my sister, Keith Anne.

Before | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

Face Inset Before | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

You’ll notice in our photo, our face are not really looking good because of the grainy photo quality and of course, the effect of heavy make-ups on our faces.

Let’s get it on.

First step is to clean your face. Remove the unwanted spots or blemishes in your face. You can read my “Remove Pimples in Your Photos Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial” for this.

Duplicate Layer | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

Next is to make a duplicate of the Background Layer or the original layer. You can do this by hitting the Ctrl+J on your keyboard.

Surface Blur | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

Then, Go to Filter > Blur > Surface Blur. This is the most important step in this Photoshop tutorial because it’s the virtual beauty product that will smoothen your face.

Surface Blur Window | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

A pop-up window will show and this is the Surface Blur window, where you’ll adjust the Radius and Threshold things. The higher the number, the greater the density of skin smoothing.

Note: Do not overuse it. If you want a smooth face, fine. But you don’t want to be like a porcelain doll or a mannequin, right? Don’t over use it.

After hitting the “OK” button, you’ll see the changes. You’re face and the entire photo looks so smooth (literally) which is not that good at all. Why? Because it is overused. The next step is how to apply the Surface Blur thing only on your face.

Add a mask | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

What you need to do now is to click the Layer 1 on the Layers pallet or the duplicate copy of the original photo. Then, hit the “Add a mask” button below the Layers pallet (shown above).

Note: If you can’t find where the Layers pallet is, you can show it up by going to Window > Layers, or just hit the F7 key on your keyboard.

Masked Layer | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

At the photo shown above, you’ll see that there’s a white box positioned next to the Layer 1 photo thumbnail. That white thing is the mask that we recently added to the Layer 1. That didn’t changed the whole image at all, but the next step will do.

From white to black mask box | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

The next step is to blacken the mask box. We can do this by using the Paint Bucket Tool which can be found on the Tool Dock. Or just hit the “G” key on your keyboard.

Tip: Sometimes, when you hit the “G” key, the Gradient Tool will show up instead of Paint Bucket Tool. What you need to do is hold the “Shift” key and press the “G” key so you can select either Gradient Tool or Paint Bucket Tool.

To blacken the mask, make sure your foreground color is set to black (can be found in the lower section of Tool Dock) and just click the photo in the work panel. Please make sure that before you do this, the mask on Layer 1 or the duplicate layer was selected.

What will happen if we blacken the mask? That will revert the “Surface Blur” that we applied in the duplicate layer in the whole photo.

Then, the next step is to smoothen only your face and not the whole photo. We can do this by using the Brush Tool which can be found on the Tool Dock or just hit the “B” key. Next, make sure the “black mask” on duplicate layer is selected (click on it to select). And please make sure, too, that the foreground color that you are using is white and the opacity is set to 60% (or lower to not overuse the Surface Blur).

Apply the brush tool on your face. As you do this, you’ll notice that your face is smoothing instantly.

Tip: Do not apply the brush on your face’s edges, eyes, eyebrows and lips to make it more realistic.

And that’s it. Your are now a virtual dermatologist. BTW, here’s my finished work:

Face Inset After | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

You can see that the grainy look were gone and our faces were more glowing than the first one. I hope you find this tutorial helpful with your profile pic dilemma. More virtual beauty Photoshop tutorial, soon.

After | Skin Smoothing Using Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

Ever dream of having a nice face in your profile pic? Without the mess in your lovely face? The answer is here! The new Glowing Skin Facial Product. Let the new Glowing Skin Facial Product remove all your hated pimples in just two weeks. Buy it for Php 10,000 or buy it for the next 24 hours and get a special price for only Php 9,999!

Yeah, many of us believed in such facial products just to remove our pimples. Yes, me too, have faith in one facial product (LOL), and it’s good. But, it is so annoying that you need to put it in your face every night, and so many stuffs to do. Why are we doing this? Some says, because they want to have a nice smooth face, but some says, they want a lovely profile pic without any pimples in their face! Yeah, some said that.

So in this post, I will teach you the instant trick that will remove that pimples in your profile pic to make it a lovely profile pic. And the instant trick that I am talking about is in the mighty Adobe Photoshop.

This is very simple so I guarantee that you’ll gonna make it perfect… uhm, 9/10 is almost perfect too.

Ok, let’s start. First thing, you’ll need to search your greatest picture but not so nice because of the distracting huge pimple in your face. Then, open it in Adobe Photoshop.

That's me years ago.

In the photo above, I circled my pimples all over my face just to show you where my pimples are (and how heavy they are), and hey, you don’t have to do that.

The Spot Healing Brush Tool

Next is to look for the Spot Healing Brush Tool in the Tool dock or just hit the “J” key on your keyboard. The Spot Healing Brush is your facial care doctor in Photoshop. It removes dark spots, pimples, or any dirt in a specific spot. This tool is very great in cleaning up your face.

Widen your brush as large as your pimple

Then, the next step is just a piece of cake. It is very easy. Using the Spot Healing Brush, widen the diameter of the brush (see photo above) or just hit the right bracket (“]”) key to widen it or the left bracket (“[") key to make it smaller. Make it as large as your pimple. Then, just click your pimple in your photo. The Spot Healing Brush tool will copy a spot from your face and paste it in your pimple (something like that). So, when you clicked your pimple and it just worsen the spot, just hit the Ctrl+z (undo) and try it again. That's how Spot Healing Brush Tool works.

And that's it. Just click and click and click using the Spot Healing Brush tool. I hope you made it perfectly or 9/10. He-he-he.

Now tell me, who's cuter? :P

For past months, I’ve been blogging about graphic designing, the importance of great visuals in a blog, and many things related to it. But, I just encourage you to create or enhance the graphics of your blog, but not teaching you how to create it. And now, I decided to post a tutorial on how to create a simple logo for your blog, step-by-step. (For Photoshop geeks, hit the back button because this post is for newbies only, he-he-he)

Now, the first thing to do is check if your PC or Mac has an Adobe Photoshop. If you don’t have, it is time to install one. Next, open it and take a deep breath.

Click for larger version.

Ok, the real first step, is to create a new file (see image above). Then, you’ll see a pop-up window where you need to enter your desired dimensions of your logo. You can also set the background color, too. This time, I use white background.

Click the image for larger version.

Next, click the “Horizontal Type Tool” at the left side of the screen where different tools were placed or simply hit the “T” key at your keyboard (see image above).

Click the image for larger version.

Then, click the blank file at the center of the workspace and start typing your desired name. At the top of the screen, you can select your desired font style (see image above). Not satisfied with the pre-installed fonts on your PC? Try browsing DaFont.com and download their cool FREE fonts.

Click the image for larger version.

After typing your blog’s title, hit the “V” key on your keyboard to activate the Move tool. Then, see the “Layers” palette.  If you can’t see it, just go to the menu bar and select Window, then click Layers (of just hit the F7 key at your keyboard). Next, click the “fx/Add a Layer Style” icon at the bottom of the Layers palette, and click the Color Overlay.

Click the image for larger version.

The Layer Style window will pop-up. Then, the Color Overlay will change the color of the name you typed earlier. Just click the little box next to the Blend mode (see the image above, the encircled box). And you’ll see a small window full of colors! Yeah, that’s your moment to pick your favorite color.

Click the image for larger version.

After picking your favorite color, click the “Drop Shadow” at the left of the Layer Style Window (see image above). Then, play with the buttons there and see what combination fits your style. For me, I picked a smoother drop shadow, (see image above, encircled).

Click the image for larger version.

Look the image above, and you’ll notice, the logo looks better with Layer Styles. And that’s it! Yeah, you can stop right here. But if you want to put more fancy things, just continue reading.

The next thing that I’ll teach you is how to put “reflection” at the bottom of the logo (which is one of my favorite styles).

Click the image for larger version.

First, copy the “Your Blog” Layer (The “Your Blog” was named after the name I typed, so if you typed Kelvin, the layer will be named “Kelvin”, ok?). To copy, right click the “Your Blog” layer and click the “Duplicate Layer…” or just hit the CTRL+J in your keyboard. Then, you”ll see a duplicated layer named “Your Blog copy” (see image above, encircled).

Click the image for larger version.

Then, right click the duplicate layer and click the “Rasterize Type” (see image above, encircled). This will turn the Text-editable layer into an ordinary layer.

Click the image for larger version.

After rasterizing the duplicate layer, move it at the bottom of the “Your Blog” layer. But make sure you are using the Move Tool (hit the “V” key) and the duplicate/copy layer is selected (see image above). After moving it, click the Edit at the menu bar then go to “Transform” then “Flip Vertical”.

Click the image for larger version.

After flipping the duplicate layer, we need to create a new layer. The new layer was automatically named Layer 1 in this tutorial.

Click the image for larger version.

Next, click both the duplicate/copy layer and Layer 1. Then, right click it and hit the “Merge Layers”. This will combine two layers into one (see image above). Question, why we need to do this step? the answer will be revealed, just continue reading (just to excite you, LOL).

Click the image for larger version.

Then, make sure the Layer 1 is selected, so we can continue. So, you need to go again to Layer Style, and click the Gradient Overlay this time. This one is a bit complicated so take a deep breath first. At the Gradient Overlay, click the colored bar at the bottom of the buttons and sliders and another window full of colors will pop up. Then, in the selection of colors, select the white + transparent color. Why white? Because color white is the background I used in my logo. So if you use black, you need to choose black + transparent in the gradient overlay.

Click the image for larger version.

Can’t do it? There’s an alternative way to make a Gradient-like thing. You just need to use the Eraser tool, and make sure it’s hardness is down to 0% (see image above). Then, start erasing the bottom part of the duplicate/color until it looks like a fading logo. And btw, here comes the answer at the question at the earlier step. We created a new layer, then merged it with the duplicate/copy layer to remove the interactivity of the Layer styles. Try not doing the merging of new layer, then erase the duplicate layer. Result? Huge mess (see it for yourself, try it).

Click the image for larger version.

And we’re finally done! Yeah, it’s very easy. Now, you can create your own nice blog logo too. And remember, learn the concept of great color combination and great creativity!

I hope I helped you with this tutorial. More tutorials coming, soon!

Finished product! :D