Tutorials

Cinematic realism and its techniques

What is realism in cinema? Cinematic realism aims to show life as authentically as possible, with a focus on being believable and accurate and generally avoiding overly stylised or dramatic scenes. There’s a focus on the everyday, which puts it in contrast with the escapist nature of other popular films where we expect to be… Continue reading Cinematic realism and its techniques

How to create a rubber stamp effect in Affinity Photo

Today, we will be learning how to create a rubber stamp texture and design in Affinity Photo. In this tutorial, we will use simple shapes and blending tools to create an authentic-looking stamped texture that is completely customizable. Let’s get started! What you’ll learn in this Affinity Photo tutorial What you’ll need Find more on… Continue reading How to create a rubber stamp effect in Affinity Photo

What is the Bezold effect?

The Bezold effect, named after the German meteorologist who discovered it, Wilhelm von Bezold, is a phenomenon in which changing one color in a design changes the appearance of all colors. This phenomenon shows how a change can dramatically shift the appearance of all other colors due to their interplay. The Bezold effect is rooted… Continue reading What is the Bezold effect?

How to blend text in an album cover in Photoshop

2. How to enhance your text with the Camera RAW filter in Photoshop Step 1 When you’ve finessed your design, select all your layers, go to Edit > Copy Merged, and then paste the entire design onto a single layer. Convert this new layer into a smart object and name it “Final”. Step 2 Add… Continue reading How to blend text in an album cover in Photoshop

How to add visual effects to an album cover in Photoshop

1. Adding a sun flare Photoshop highlight Let’s add a few more visual effects, starting with a sun flare highlight on the rocks. Step 1 Go to the top of the layer stack and add a Solid Color Adjustment Layer based on a bright part of the sky. Invert it, select the brush tool, and… Continue reading How to add visual effects to an album cover in Photoshop

How to work with color and textures in Photoshop

In our previous tutorial, you learnt how to retouch underwater elements to make things appear more realistic. In this lesson, you will learn how to work with color and textures to enhance your composition. If you prefer video tutorials, watch the complete Advanced Photoshop Techniques course from the Tuts+ YouTube channel. Additionally, you can check… Continue reading How to work with color and textures in Photoshop

How to retouch underwater elements in Photoshop

Retouching underwater elements Step 1 Start by applying an adjustment layer to the guitar. You can make it darker or lighter depending on the direction you push the three sliders—Exposure, Offset, and Gamma Correction. In this case, you want to make the guitar darker, so move the sliders to the left and keep them in… Continue reading How to retouch underwater elements in Photoshop

How to create a neotribal 3D chrome text effect

What is cybersigilism? Cybersigilism is an emerging digital art movement that blends ancient symbology, futuristic design, and cyber-inspired aesthetics. It often incorporates elements of sharp, geometric patterns, bold lettering, and metallic textures, much like the chrome 3D text effect we’re creating in this tutorial. Cybersigilism draws inspiration from mystical symbols, tribal art, and modern technological… Continue reading How to create a neotribal 3D chrome text effect

How to create underwater effects in Photoshop

Create an underwater effect in Photoshop Now, we need to start making everything look as if it’s underwater. Here are the steps to follow: Step 1 Go to the sky layer, add a layer mask, and remove the waves in the background at the bottom of the image. Underwater effect in Photoshop Step 2 Now… Continue reading How to create underwater effects in Photoshop

How to start a Photoshop composite for an album cover

In this seven-part advanced Photoshop compositing course, you’ll learn how to create a highly creative music album cover design. You’ll be compositing multiple images together, adjusting the lighting, submerging half of the design in water, and adding plenty of visual effects. In this lesson, we’ll start with preparing and composing the assets we’re using in… Continue reading How to start a Photoshop composite for an album cover

How to put variable fonts to work in WordPress

Variable fonts make it easier to design websites. After all, they offer a more flexible and efficient way to handle typography. And with the introduction of WordPress 6.5, leveraging these fonts has become easier than ever thanks to the new Font Library feature. Whether you’re a professional developer or a DIY website owner, understanding how… Continue reading How to put variable fonts to work in WordPress

Vibrating Boundaries: Making Colors POP!

warning This article covers vibrating colors, which may be difficult to read for people with visual and sensory processing issues. There are very few color illusions as visually striking as vibrating boundaries. This optical phenomenon is a kind of simultaneous contrast that occurs when two highly saturated, complementary colors are close to each other in… Continue reading Vibrating Boundaries: Making Colors POP!

How to animate CSS Grid layouts (image grid project)

That’s right—it turns out we can animate some of the CSS Grid properties! Today, we’ll see this behavior in action by building a responsive image grid with hover effects. Taking this opportunity, we’ll also utilize the powerful :has() CSS selector. Let’s get started! Our Image Grid Here’s what we’re going to create—be sure to view… Continue reading How to animate CSS Grid layouts (image grid project)

How to design an anti-design poster

The anti-design movement, as the name implies, is a style that ignores all rules proposed by traditional graphic design. Many artistic movements are considered anti-design, like Dada and De Stijl, due to their strong opinions on politics, society, and art. While some of these anti-design styles are rooted almost 100 years ago, this is a… Continue reading How to design an anti-design poster

Create a JavaScript tab component with an adaptive stepper UI

In the past, I’ve shown you how to create different tabbed interfaces. Today, we’ll build another responsive JavaScript tab component where the clickable tabs will appear as a stepper component. If you aren’t familiar with stepper components, their primary goal is to improve the user experience by organizing large logical content blocks into smaller sequential… Continue reading Create a JavaScript tab component with an adaptive stepper UI

How to create a lettering design in Adobe Illustrator

Learn how to create a hand lettering poster step by step in Adobe Illustrator. Inspired by Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, this design highlights her famous quote: “The stars don’t look bigger, but they do look brighter.” We’ll walk through each step to transform your sketch into a digital… Continue reading How to create a lettering design in Adobe Illustrator

Why we see ghost images: After-images and successive contrast

In this next article of our Advanced Color Theory series, we’ll discover the science behind “ghost images” and how after-image and successive contrast affect your designs. This article explores physiological and psychological reasons for these intriguing visual effects, based on how our eyes and brain process color and value. Learn how these phenomena not only… Continue reading Why we see ghost images: After-images and successive contrast

Tips to Master Advanced Compositing Techniques

Advanced Photoshop compositing techniques Now that you’ve learn a number of photo manipulation and composition skills in the previous tutorials of this course, let’s use these four main components to practice some advanced Photoshop compositing techniques: a landscape a panda a group of fog layers a color grade This isn’t… Continue reading Tips to Master Advanced Compositing Techniques

How to add finishing touches to a photo manipulation

* { box-sizing: border-box; } body {margin: 0;}*{box-sizing:border-box;}body{margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;} In this short tutorial, you’ll learn how to add finishing touches to your photo manipulation Photoshop project to create a cohesive look. If you prefer video tutorials, check out the complete Photo Manipulation for Beginners course from the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel, and if you want to… Continue reading How to add finishing touches to a photo manipulation

How to create light and shadow in photo manipulation

There are several ways to do add light and shadow to your images, and in this tutorial we’ll focus on two easy methods. Method 1: Photoshop layer modes You can use Photoshop layer modes to add fast shadows to the fruit in our example image with just a default round brush. Method 1: Photoshop layer… Continue reading How to create light and shadow in photo manipulation

How to create a scratch card effect with vanilla JavaScript

Let’s begin by taking a look at what we’re creating. By the end of this tutorial, you will have something like this (move your mouse cursor over the scratch panel and watch a uniquely generated code reveal itself): OverView In HTML, the <canvas> element is a powerful tool for directly rendering 2D graphics, such… Continue reading How to create a scratch card effect with vanilla JavaScript

How to match saturation in photo manipulation

Color saturation in Photoshop is a subtle setting, but an important one. In this image, for example, the colour of the strawberries looks almost radioactive, and the bananas should be much paler. Step 1 To remedy these issues, create a saturation check layer, which is a Selective Color adjustment layer right at the top of… Continue reading How to match saturation in photo manipulation

How to match contrast in photo manipulation

Values are how light or dark something is independent of color. We control the values by changing the contrast. Step 1 First, create a value check layer by making a new layer and filling it with 50% gray. Now, set the Layer Mode to Color. This will give a true black and white view of… Continue reading How to match contrast in photo manipulation

How to match color in photo manipulation

Trying to guess things like color, contrast, and saturation by eye when working in Photoshop isn’t the best option. Instead, create “color check” layers that simplify your image so you can pinpoint and adjust the different settings more precisely, without having to guess. Step 1 Create a new layer at the top of your layer… Continue reading How to match color in photo manipulation