Here’s a quick little tutorial on how to create an emboss + brushed metal + some fire effect in pixelmator. This will actually work in photoshop as well since the tools used are the same (even the same keyboard shortcuts). So if you’re a photoshop user feel free to also try it.
So here we go :
Let’s create an 800×600 image and fill the background layer with a circular gradient like so.
Then let’s add another layer, fill it with a grey linear gradient and change the blending mode to screen with an opacity of 76%. The final result should look like that:
So here’s the tricky part. For the whole background to look “metalic” we need to make it less uniform. And what better way to do that than with some noise? Go to filter / stylize / noise and add some monochromatic noise on a new layer. Then change the layer opacity to about 5 or 7%. We’ll keep it at “normal” blending this time, but you can go wild and experiment if you like.
Ok now it’s time for some text. Let’s write the same line (in this case “Creation Machine”) twice on two separate layers. One should be black, and the other white. Now the trick for those emboss, nice letters is to move the white layer underneath 1 pixel to the right and 1 pixel down (while selected press right arrow and down arrow once). Then change the blending mode of the white layer to Overlay, the opacity to about 50% and you’re done. The black text stays the same.
Now a slightly different trick for the subtitle – this time we’ll have the Overlay also for the black text, and the opacity down to about 60/70%. White just as before.
This is a little bit tricky but the effect is one of my favorites recently. Make a rectangular selection. Choose a white brush with soft edge and a really large size. Then put a drop of white in the top middle of the selection. Making it sort of a “half-circle” thingie.
Turn the opacity down to 50 or 60% and with a soft-edged eraser tool erase around the sides where the lower edges could be visible. The effect should look somewhat like that:
Now let’s add our guy from the “Let’s move the creation machine monster around the world” idea. I copied his layer and took the brightness down. Then moved it down and to the right by 1 pixel. Pixelmator doesn’t have (as of now) a dropshadow layer style, so that’s the way to go until they implement it.
And we could probably stop at that simple, stylish thing, but let’s make it a bit less stylish and a bit less simple. With a black brush draw some amazingly complicated shapes such as those :
Now let’s add some motion blur (filter – motion blur) and play with the settings until the effect is satisfying. Then change the blending mode to Overlay.
Now focus please since this is the most important (and hardest) part. Well, not really ;) Select the upper or lower part of the layer and move it to the left or right. So it’ll look as if those lines break a bit.
Let’s add some more embossed text. Why not ?
Those lines were too dark and you didn’t tell me? How could you!? I should just pack my things and go home now. Well ok, let’s take the opacity down a bit, to say – 74.5%. And if you can’t do it 74 is also fine. Just as 75.
Same as with the text, let’s make a circle on two layers. One is black and one is white. White should be below black on the layer palette. Then change the white to Overlay, the opacity to 50% and move it down and to the right.
So what is as cool as my sense of humor? People in business suits? WRONG! I’m talking of course about fire in design ideas. Find an image of fire over a black background, copy and paste it onto a new layer. Then change the blending mode to screen. That looks sweet doesn’t it ? Well not yet.
We could either fit this fire unharmed but inside the circle, or go much more crazy. Of course we’ll stick with the latter, since this is no place to do the first thing that comes to mind :P Go to filter – distortion – hole and play around with the settings. Set the starting point somewhere below the fire first. When you get a big circle (that should be big) press ok, then just use transform controls to change it to the size of the hole. Ain’t that cool ?
Yeah but that’s not exactly it yet. Duplicate the fire layer 3 times. So now you have 4 layers of the same “ring of fire”. What would Johnny Cash say to that? He only had one. Well take each layer and rotate it 90, 180 and 270 degrees respectively. Then with a soft eraser delete parts of each layer so the final composition would be more natural. Mine ended up looking like that.
And to be perfectly cool let’s add some text below. “Drop ideas here” seems perfectly fine for that. But remember, those have to be really HOT ideas, otherwise they won’t really survive long in there.
And this is it boys and girls. A pretty quick and simple way of messing around and creating something out of nothing. Enjoy!