My first tutorial on here as requested by bottledshapes. This icon was created in Photoshop 7 and the steps can probably be translated into other software. Remember to experiment, you don't have to stick to these 100%, they're just a guide as to what I did with this particular image.

From this: to this:

This tutorial assumes you're familiar with photoshop 7 and it's tools.

Step 1 is the same regardless of what icon your making. Always spend a few minutes getting the foundations right.

1. Copy, paste and resize. Sharpen once. If the image looks too sharp fade it (Shift+Ctrl+F - handy tool, remember it!) and adjust as desired. This is your base layer.


2. Ctrl+L (opens level adustments).
Input Levels:
10, 1.67 and 136


3. Add a new layer and fill it with #002241. Set the layer to exclusion and 63%.


4. Duplicate the base layer and move it to the top. Set it to soft light 100%.


5. To finish off this icon I flattened it (Layer>Flatten Image) and duplicated it. Using transform (Ctrl+T) I shrunk it down and rotated it slightly. Then I added a stroke (Layer>Layer Style>Stroke) ...

(colour: #FFF4EA / position: inside / size: 2 / blend mode: normal / opacity: 100%)

and a drop shadow (Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow)... (default settings). You should end up with something like this:



Here are some examples of other icons that used this tutorial:


Don't forget to request icons, wallpapers and tuts over in the request-a-thon thread.
( Request! Request! Request! )

Comments welcomed.