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Tweak says, "We're both so...tall."

𝚟𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 (vader) wrote in rp_tutorials,
@ 2010-10-16 01:41:00

You Know You Want to Icon Like starforge (Take Two!)

~VADER'S ICONING TUTORIAL

∞Hey, you're on InsaneJournal and looking at a roleplay tutorial community. I assume this means you roleplay. You may also even want to or actually make your own icons – and I feel the same way. But simply cropping a picture isn't snazzy enough. You want yours to be radioactive because everyone knows the brighter your icon, the more awesome it is. People will know that you mean some serious nuclear business.

This tutorial will show you how I make some of my icons for starforge. Nothing specific, just a general means of going about making it shiny. This method may also work for banners, layout headers, profile image, et cetera and is easy to tweak to your own preferences. Note: I do not use this exact method for every icon I make. This is simply the base structure of how I go about it. (Of course, now that I've shown this off I will have to come up with a new and ingenious method.)

STEP ONE find the victim

Find an image, any image. Since I ~~have a crush on~~ frequently use Jared Leto, I will be using this image.

STEP TWO croppity crop chops

Crop it – traditional icon size is 100x100, but if you want to be edgy and different you can do that too.

STEP THREE selective colour

I love drop down menus.
UNDER RED: Cyan -20, Black +5
UNDER YELLOW: Cyan +10, Magenta +20, Yellow +10

STEP FOUR make it glow

This mode will make your image appear a bit, well, radioactive to say the least. Don't panic. It's supposed to bring out the reds and wash the rest out with the blueish tint. Alternatively, you can also do +125/-25 to have a similar, albeit much less atomic, effect.

STEP FIVE i have ke$ha stuck in my head

Time to bring down that crazy nuked out look we have going. Use Gradient Map → Soft Light to tone it down and make it look a bit more natural.

THE end

End result: brought out the eyes, darkened the jacket, hair, and eyebrows to make his face the main focus on the icon. Be sure to save it as a .PNG file or it will look like poop.

If you have any questions, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.

MISCELLANEOUS images i've used this technique on

PRIMARY COLOURS: Cyan, Yellow

PRIMARY COLOURS: Red, Yellow

PRIMARY COLOURS: Green, Black, Cyan
OTHER: Used Lighting Effects - Spotlight + Gradient Map Soft Light (Black & White)

	cordate 2010-10-15 04:13 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, so that's how you do it, you crafty bastard. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	vader 2010-10-15 07:12 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, well, now that I have divulged my secrets in full, do you still love me? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	cordate 2010-10-15 08:14 pm UTC (link)
	No. We're over now. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	vader 2010-10-15 08:39 pm UTC (link)
	(Reply to this) (Parent)