The late (great!) sci-fi author Douglas Adams once said, "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing noise they make as they go by." Sadly, that "whooshing noise" is far too familiar, and in today's economically stressed world deadlines are mission critical. After all, to get money in your pocket you have to get projects out the door! Unfortunately for most creatives, the sun rises each day only to illuminate a mile-long to-do list and mountains of email. Heck, it's a wonder we're able to get out of bed at all!

Thankfully, Photoshop's Smart Objects make it easy for you to work smarter instead of harder, saving tons of time. In this tutorial you'll learn what a Smart Object is, why they're useful, and how you can use them to make some of the slickest photo templates you've ever seen. Then use what you've learned to create limitless smart effects of your own!

What's a Smart Object?
While Adobe refers to a Smart Object as a container, "miracle layer" is a better fit. Smart Objects (which debuted back in Photoshop CS2) let you work with all kinds of image files, even those that weren't created with Photoshop (think Camera Raw and vector files). When you open an image as a Smart Object, or place one in an existing document, Photoshop remembers everything about the original, including its size and file format. This lets you:

Resize content without losing quality. Instead of resizing the instance (a copy) of the content that you inserted into your document, Photoshop remembers information about the original, resizes that, and then places that information back into your image (leaving the actual original file safely unaltered). It doesn't matter whether that original lives elsewhere on your hard drive (a vector, Camera Raw file, and so on), or right there in your Photoshop document (on another layer, say). In the blink of an eye, Photoshop updates your document with the newly resized content. If it's a vector-based image, you can make it honkin' big and it won't look blocky. If it's a pixel-based image, be sure not to exceed the image's original size. And if you're running CS4, you can also use the full range of Transform commands on Smart Objects.

Compress a bunch of layers into a single layer nondestructively. Unlike merging layers, you can convert several layers into a single Smart Object and preserve the original layers. This is helpful if Photoshop's choking on the number of layers you've got in your document, or if you want to edit several layers as if they were one (such as when you're applying layer styles)

Run filters nondestructively. When you run a filter on a Smart Object, the filtering happens on a new layer. That way you can tweak or undo the effects of the filter. They even come with their own layer mask allowing you to hide the filter effect in certain areas. Look for more on Smart Filters in a future tutorial.

Update multiple instances of the same content. If you've placed the same content in several places in your document -- like a big logo in one spot and a smaller version of the same logo somewhere else -- and you make changes to the original file, Photoshop automatically updates it for you wherever it appears in your document. Sweet!

Swap content. Once you've formatted a Smart Object just right, you can swap its contents for another image, and the new image will take on the original's attributes. This is powerful magic when it comes to making creative templates that you can use over and over, but with different images (photographers love this kind of thing).

While the range of effects you can create with a Smart Object template is limitless, today you'll learn how to make one that converts a color image to black and white, gives it a sepia tint and a vignette. Here's how to do it.

Step 1
Fire up Photoshop and choose File > Open As Smart Object. Navigate to where the image lives on your hard drive and press Open (you can use a variety of file formats including Raw, JPEG, TIFF, EPS, etc.). Photoshop will then create a new document containing the image as a Smart Object (note the little Smart Object badge on the layer thumbnail circled below).

Step 2
Create a Black & White adjustment layer by using the new Adjustments panel in Photoshop CS4 (shown below at left), or by clicking the half black/half white circle at the bottom of the Layers panel (shown below at right).

Step 3
If you're using CS4, you'll see a set of sliders appear in the Adjustments panel. If you're using CS3, a dialog box will open containing the same set of sliders. In either case, you can tweak the color sliders until you get a high contrast, black and white image. NOTE: If you're in CS3, don't close the Black & White dialog box just yet!

Step 4
Next, you can add a sepia tint to your image. If you're in CS4, turn on the Tint checkbox at the top of the Adjustments panel (circled below). If you're in CS3, the Tint checkbox lives at the bottom of the Black & White Adjustment dialog box. If you'd like to change the color of the tint you can click the little color swatch to the right of the Tint checkbox in CS4, or by using the rainbow sliders at the bottom of the dialog box in CS3. In either case, the Color Picker will open letting you choose another color for the tint.

Step 5
Over in your Layers panel, click once to select the Smart Object photo layer and then choose Filters > Distort > Lens Correction. In the resulting petite dialog box (ha!), turn off the grid checkbox at the very bottom so you can see what the heck you're doing. Next, mouse over to the right side of the dialog box and locate the section called Vignette. Grab the Amount slider and drag it all the way to the left, and the edges of your image will immediately darken. To darken them a little more, drag the Midpoint slider slightly to the left. Click OK when you're finished.

Don't be alarmed that your image appears color in the filter's preview window. You're actually seeing the original image, sans the Black & White adjustment layer you created earlier.

Here's the final result:

Step 6
Save your template by choosing File > Save As and then give it a clever name like "My Way Cool Smart Sepia Template" and click Save.

Step 7
To swap photos, open the template, mouse over to your Layers panel and Ctrl-click (right-click on a PC) the Smart Object photo layer. Choose Replace Contents from the resulting menu, navigate to where the new image lives, and click Place.

Take a peek in your Layers panel and you'll see that the photo has indeed changed:

And you'll also see that the new photo has taken on all the effects of the original:

See how easy that was? There's no end to the creative templates you can make using Smart Objects in this manner. Sure, you could set up an action instead, but actions can be fussy and difficult to troubleshoot, whereas a Smart Object template couldn't be easier. As you can see, it's an extremely fast and flexible way to work.

This isn’t exactly a tutorial, but more of a quick “time lapse” demo of a simple illustration technique I use. In this video, I’m going to draw a skull in Photoshop with my Wacom Tablet. I will use a photo of a skull for reference and I will “trace” on top of it on a separate layer.

It’s not exactly tracing so to speak, but rather “illustrating” because I’m embellishing linework on top of a photo reference. I’m creating a line drawing of my own liking based off a photograph. Things you should pay attention to are line weights, the variation of thick to thin, stippling shading, and cross hatching.

In most cases, I’ll work with a huge document, maybe like 25″ x 30″ at 300 DPI if I’m doing a shirt design. But in this case, I will just work at 2500×2500 pixels at 300dpi. My brush settings are pretty standard. Like a 19 pixel round brush with pressure sensitivity turned on. That’s it. Sometimes I might adjust the angle of my brush and the width. So I get a little bit of a calligraphic brush going on. But it’s not always necessary.

It should give you some insight as to how I create some of my skulls. I’m usually going for a more realistic illustrated look, but sometimes if I want a more stylized look I’ll draw it freehand.

Here are some examples of designs made using this technique:

Have you ever seen that wonderful wood like texture or background found on many websites and wanted to know how it is done? This tutorial will teach you a basic but effective way to complete this desired outcome, which would work great as a background.

Step 1: Setting up the file.

Open Photoshop and create a new document with the size 500px by 500px. You can use any size you desire but for the sake of this tutorial we will stick to this size.
Create a new layer and using the Rectangle Tool cover the entire document with black (#000000).

Step 2: Creating the texture

Make sure your foreground colour is set to black and your background colour is set to white before completing the next step. You can also reset them to these colours by hitting “D” on your keyboard.

Now have your layer selected and click on “Filter” in the top menu bar. Then from the drop down menu hover over “Render” and then select “Fibers” from the next drop down menu.

After clicking on the Fibers link a new window will pop up allowing you to change the settings. Use the below settings:

After entering the above settings click on Ok to save your changes.

Your image will now look like this:

Step 3: Enhance and colour

Now we want to make everything look a lot better and add some colour.
Start by opening the blending options for your layer, this can be done like so:

Now with the blending window open, choose “Gradient Overlay” from the left hand side menu and enter these settings:

Click on Ok to save your changes.

Your image should now look like this:

Now all that is left to do is the colouring.
Make a new layer above your current layer. Change your foreground colour to brown (#42301b) and using the Rectangle Tool; fill the entire layer with the colour.

All we need to do now is set the layer style to “Color”

And you are all finished.
The final result should look like this:

In this tutorial I will show you how to create an unusual website layout inspired by nature. If you have the right photos you will need less than 30 minutes to complete this layout. This type of tutorial was requested by Grafpedia Members.

If you want to download this layout you need to apply for a VIP account. The cost is 9.95 $ and it will allow you to download all our VIP resources

Create a new document with the following size: 960 x 900 pixels. I will select Gradient Tool, and I will draw a vertical gradient with the following colors : #2c6ed5 on the top and #ffffff on the bottom.

I will download the following set of cloud brushes

Load the brushes in Photoshop, and on a new layer add some clouds over the layout.

Select Rounded Rectangle Tool and create a white shape in the middle of the layout

For this white shape add the following layer styles

I will add some stock images with nature elements.

After that I will add a stock image with a tree and some flowers

On the top of the layout I will add a image with a ladybug and a butterfly.

Now I will add a navigation bar on the top of the layout with Rounded Rectangle Tool

or this navigation bar I will add the following layer styles

This is my result

With Type Tool I will add the text

On the bottom of the layout I will create a shape. You can place there some images with your latest clients, or your latest work.

Over this white shape I will add some image spots. you can add here whatever you want.

On the left side and on the right side I will add a simple button. It will allow your users to browse through your latest work. I have used the same layer styles I have used for the navigation bar, and the arrow was made with a custom shape tool.

This is my final result.

Today I will guide you through this tutorial for creating this cool text effect and smooth background using Photoshop . We will be using some vectors some layer styles and quite a bit of motion blur. To download the vector for this tutorial and the final psd. just scroll down to the bottom of this page.

For this tutorial I used Photoshop CS3, the Plastic Pill font from DaFont and a vector floral from Vector pack 47.

Step 1

Start with a plain white background. Write down your text using any font you like ( just make sure it’s pretty thick). Use a bright color ( blue for me # 0083fe ).

Step 2

Now duplicate this layer . Give it a black color and set it behind the original text layer. Name it Shadow and nudge it a few times to the right and a few times downwards.It should look like this.

Step 3

Duplicate the Shadow layer too (you can name this layer blur). Again make sure it’s behind the two text layers. And go to Filter/Blur/Motion Blur and use the following settings.

Step 4

Nudge this layer too, but this time only down and lower the opacity to about 40%.In the end you should have something looking like this.

Step 5

And now we are going to put the floral vector to good use. Import it your layout and duplicate it a few times so that every letter of the word is covered.

Step 6

Merge all these vectors layers into one single layer named Floral. And now we are going to get rid of all the vectors that are not in the text area. So Ctrl+ click on the text layer icon to select the text. Press Shift+ Ctrl+ I to inverse the selection and after selecting the Floral layer hit the delete key.

Step 7

And now let’s give some layer styles to the text. So select the text layer ,open up the layer styles menu and perform the following settings.

http://www.designioustimes.com/tutorials/create-bright-floral-text-effect.html

The dodge and burn tools are perfect for changing areas of light and shadow to give a more dramatic effect.

What these 2 tools do is darken or lighten the shadows, highlights or midtones of an image using a brush tool. Just some of these tools uses are to lighten harsh shadows, darken areas that are to light, create dramatic images by increasing the shadow areas, alter exposure problems and add depth a textured surface.

Open up this image in Photoshop

The dodge tool

The dodge tool is used to lighten areas of an image.

Select your dodge tool

Take note of the options at the top.

Select a brush size with a hardness or between 0-20%.

The range is what areas the tool will effect. So Shadows is the dark areas, Highlights are the lighter parts while Midtones are the areas in between. Choose shadows.

The exposure is how strong the tool is. Make it about 10% so that you have more control and don’t over do it.

What we want to do is lighten the shadows on the face area. Zoom into the apes face. Before you do anything else create a duplicate of the layer (right click > duplicate) and work on that. This way if any mistakes are made you can delete the layer, create a new duplicate and start again.

Work the brush carefully over the shadows. You should notice them start to lighten. Work over the areas repeatedly until you no longer have harsh shadowing over the face. This will give the image a more natural look by removing the harsh shadow.

If you had an image where you thought the highlights were to dark you could use this tool to lighten them a touch. Just make sure you change the Range to suit the area you are altering.

The burn tool

The burn tool does the opposite of what the dodge tool does. While the dodge tool lightens the burn tool darkens. Everything else about it is the same so its basically the dodge tool in reverse.

Select the burn tool.

The options at the top are the same as for the dodge tool. Set them as before. A soft brush with range set to Shadows and an exposure of 10%. Again, zoom into the face area

As before create a duplicate layer to work on. Work the burn tool in the same way as the dodge tool over the shadows on the face. The shadow should now become darker the more you go over it with the brush.

Using dodge and burn together

If your correcting exposure or giving your images more dramatic lighting you will often use both these tools together. This next example will show you how you can work them together to alter the lighting on your subject.

We will be using this image.

What we want to do is create a more dramatic lighting effect over the lady bug. We will make the shadows at the back a lot harsher and lighten some of the reflections on the front where the light is more prominent.

Select your burn tool. Create a duplicate layer. Set the range to Shadows. Using a soft brush and an exposure of 10% run the tool repeatedly over the back part of the bug until you have a nice dark shadow effect.

To carry this shadow on further and blend it more seamlessly change the range to Midtones. Duplicate the previous layer. Work the tool over the middle/back of the shell so you have a slowly progressing shadow over the bug.

Change to the Doge tool. Duplicate the last layer. Keep the range set to Midtones and run the tool over the front of the red shell to lighten it a touch. Then run the tool over the sky reflection on the bugs head to make it stand out more.

The final result should have a more dramatic shadow over the shell with a more prominent reflection on the head.

Dodge and Burn tips

Always create duplicate layers in case you make a mistake. I have said this several times for a reason. The last thing you want to do is make all your changes to one layer, make a few mistakes and have to start completely from the beginning.

Always keep the exposure at a low number (5-10%). Using a high number makes it much harder to blend well due to its strength.

Be careful on areas that are almost white or black. If you try and lighten an area to dark with the dodge tool it will just turn grey. The same will happen if you use the burn tool to darken a very white area. This is because it has no colour tones to work with.

Use the dodge tool to make catch lights in your subjects eyes stand out more. This is similar to making the reflection stand out on the bug above.

Use the burn tool to give something more depth. By slightly increasing the dark areas you can make an image stand out and appear less flat.

Use different size brushes. For larger areas, use a large brush with a very soft edge. This will create a more seamless blend into the areas you are not effecting.