Post-Apocalyptic Full Signature Tutorial

[Amergin's Cola]

Hey guys! This tutorial was taking a bit longer than I thought, so I'm going to start off with a regular forum post and try to collate everything into a proper tutorial image later. I apologize for the inconvenience.

So today we'll be making this signature:



To start off with, create a new 370 x 140 canvas with whatever background and throw the stock in. Move it around to find a placement you like. Duplicate your stock layer that you use and hide it so that if you screw the stock layer up beyond repair, you have a backup (this is a good habit to get into, in my opinion).



NOTE: Do not take this step lightly. It's the first step but also one of the most important and one of the biggest pains in the ass to change later on as you pile layers on top/underneath. Proper stock choice and placement is key to establishing good flow, lighting, etc. in the tag. For EVERY tag you do that starts with a stock, take the extra couple of minutes and really move the stock around and resize it a bit until you find something you like - it'll pay dividends in the long run. Also, be sure to try and follow the Rule of Thirds. I personally don't use a grid (I really should), I just sorta eyeball it.

So we have our stock in place, but it's fairly low-quality (jaggy, a little washed out, etc). A quick and easy way to remedy this is to duplicate the stock layer and do Filter->Blur->Gaussian blur. Do anywhere from 1-3 as the setting (I usually do 2.5-3). Set this layer to a different layer type (I usually choose Hard Light, Soft Light or Overlay) - I set this one on Soft Light 100% opacity.



It already looks better, but I'm going to duplicate the original stock layer, do a Filter->Sharpen->Sharpen, erase everything except the face and torso, and set it to Soft Light ~75% opacity.



Remember that you don't have to wait until the rest of the sig is together to start working on depth, blurring/sharpening, and lighting. A few extra layers right after the stock in the beginning can help get you a good start.

Next I made a new layer and used a 300px soft round default brush and just did a single splotch of white on the upper part of the sig, set to Soft Light ~50%. Then I duplicated the original stock layer, did a Filter->Blur->Blur, and erased the focus so that the background looks a bit more out of focus.



Now I took some grunge brushes and placed them around the bottom of the tag. I want a post-apocalyptic feel, so I'm going for lots of grunge, lots of dirty textures, and dark/grimy/washed-out colors. I just place these on the bottom to help "frame" the scene, as well as to help connect the focus to the right side of the tag. Set this layer to Darker Color 100% opacity.



Next I made several new layers and used bits of C4Ds and sparkly grunge brushes. All of these were either Screen or Color Dodge 100% opacity.




Now I go splatter-crazy. In total I used 19 splatter layers (double that to include the clipping masks for each). I actually didn't use this tag in the clipping masks - I used an older tag of mine:



I primarily used this splatter pack.

To do this, first make a new layer and brush with a splatter brush. I usually just use one brush once per layer in order to have more control over the splatters.
If you want to use the current tag for clipping masks: Create another new layer on top of the splatter. HIDE THE SPLATTER LAYER, and on this new layer, go to Image->Apply Image. Then right-click this layer and select Create Clipping Mask. This will "clip" this layer to the layer below it, essentially ONLY showing the clipped layer where ever anything on the layer beneath is shown. In simple terms, it shows the above layer on the splatter, and you can move either layer around to get the best look.
Otherwise, just use whatever you want to have shown through the splatter as the clipping mask. In my case, I used that other tag in many duplicated layers set as clipping masks to many layers of splatters.

This is one of the reasons to save all your own tags in .PSD and .PNG/.JPEG format. The .PSD not only allows you to edit your old tags, but you can use pieces of them in your newer tags to save time and effort. There's nothing wrong with ripping your own work.
The reason I used this piece specifically is that the colors and splatters were perfect for the post-apocalyptic theme, whereas my current tag doesn't have much in it to use for clipping masks. If I wanted to, I could make some Applied Image layers, used the Displace filter and try to achieve some texture that way, but I felt like doing something different.




Notice how I don't really use these masked splatter layers to distort the tag, but to function as full-on effects. Normally I advocate barely moving the clipping masks around to make the effect more subtle, but in this case that doesn't apply.

Next I add some layers with C4Ds and sparkly grunge brushes - the C4Ds for color, the grunge for lighting.
Sparkly grunge, all Screen 100% opacity:



C4D, all Lighter Color 100% opacity:



I continue the lighting adjustments. The first new layer is a space stock set to Linear Dodge 100% opacity. I place this above the head to draw attention to the texture it adds, as well as to light up the face area and draw more attention to it. I also brushed with the 300px soft round brush again in the upper right corner to server as a subtle light source (two layers, one Normal 100% and one Soft Light 50%), and a 100px soft round brush (Soft Light, 100%) over her face to again draw more attention to the face (and to match the lightness of the space stock).




Almost done. Now for the finishing touches: Adjustment Layers!
Notice how my splatters, while cool, totally stand out against the black&white background in a bad way. I really need to tie the colors in together, and replace the stark black&white look with something more... post-apocalyptic.

There are three adjustment layers - all Gradient Layers - in this order:






I used Filter->Render->Difference Clouds on the last two adjustment layers to add some dynamism in the coloring (just keep hitting Difference Clouds until you come up with something you like). Normally I advocate using more adjustment layer types than just Gradient, but I was lazy and liked the outcome enough to leave it. However be sure to experiment with ALL of these adjustment layer types.

There you have it! I didn't add text or a border because, honestly, those are optional and I didn't feel like adding them. No loss (well, that's a matter of opinion).

This tutorial and all images related to it are property of Amergin ('s Cola). Please do not rip any of the images. The tutorial was made for learning purposes only.

Please feel free to post your outcomes and comments here!

[-Shahzal]

Great tut!

Cant wait for the one picture version of it!

I will post outcome soon.

[Destiny]

As soon as i've seen the "Tutorial ->" i clicked it right away!
not meant to go ot but is it the same way what you did on this one?

That mic piece is really cool!!11

[Amergin's Cola]

That piece was mostly splatter and use of stocks as effects. It was pretty simple to do and pretty similar in the way I made it to this tutorial here.

[Destiny]

ohh so you mean instead of clipping the "apply image" layer you use some other stocks instead? :O

[Amergin's Cola]

That too, but I mostly used stocks in the same way I used the stock for the Text Tag #2 - using them as effects set to certain blending options.

[Destiny]

My outcome:

what you say? >.<

PS:
can i get a copy of the stock of your MIC tag?

[RoCrox]

Stock's awesome

Gj on the tut

[Ayatollah]

This is my outcome. I didn't wanted to use the stock you used because there are allready 2 sigs made with that one, so I used my own. Hope it turned out well (:

[Amergin's Cola]

That looks really good, Wyrx. I love the effects you have on the bottom.

[Ayatollah]

Effects are the same ones you used in your Post Apocalyptic Tag. Anyway, Tnx (:

[DrJigsaw]

i kinda fucked up
im on a laptop with no brushes(or anything else) though so i skipped that part