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I figured out some things people might like to know about icon-making, so I put a bunch of basic tips behind the cut. Enjoy. Image-heavy, but they're mostly just old icons.
1. You can download brushes all over the place. I'm a member of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
100x100_brushes, and you can check out my userinfo for more brush makers. If you use Paint Shop Pro you want .jbr files, and if you use Photoshop you want .abr brushes.
I have an older version of Photoshop and I find it easier to download image packs (most brush makers have a zip file of the images they used to make their brushes) then open them in Photoshop and go to Edit -> Define Brush. You can make ANY image a brush doing this. Examples of brushes (I use at least one brush on almost every icon) (tiny text brushes are PARTICULARLY popular):
- I used two separate brushes above the green box, a tiny text one and a grunge one
- that's a brush with the picture of Viggo inside it
- with a brush on the bottom and a white tiny text brush along the top
- a tiny text brush and a smudge brush ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
crystalkirk underneath
- again, the tiny text, and one of the dotted line brushes so popular these days - this one was by 77words I believe.
2. Download as many fonts as possible. In Photoshop there is a box that looks like this:
Where it says 3.3 that's the size, but more important is the box that says -50. That's the spacing between the letters. For example, this icon has a negative number in that box, so the letters are closer together:
On the other hand, on this icon "Tea" has a really large number in that box, so the text is more spread out:
3. Learn what all these layer options mean:
I find Soft Light, Screen, Multiply, Soft Light, Lighten and Color particularly useful. Exclusion layers are very popular, particularly in blue tones, to get this sort of effect:
Experiment with layers as much as possible. Here are more examples:
- there's a colour layer on a high opacity over this whole icon
- the red part is simply a multiply layer
- the yellow & blue touches are from a texture that I set to soft light over the whole thing
- the orange part is a colorfilter light texture set to "lighten".
4. There are all sorts of light textures out there. All these icons use light textures:
Go out and get loads of them.colorfilter & awmp made the light textures I use the most.
5. Textures & bases are also very useful. Here are some icons I made using textures & bases:
I recommendgender, colorfilter and disappearicons for bases. colorfilter also makes great textures, and you can find more here.
Green Queen
1. You can download brushes all over the place. I'm a member of
100x100_brushes, and you can check out my userinfo for more brush makers. If you use Paint Shop Pro you want .jbr files, and if you use Photoshop you want .abr brushes.I have an older version of Photoshop and I find it easier to download image packs (most brush makers have a zip file of the images they used to make their brushes) then open them in Photoshop and go to Edit -> Define Brush. You can make ANY image a brush doing this. Examples of brushes (I use at least one brush on almost every icon) (tiny text brushes are PARTICULARLY popular):
- I used two separate brushes above the green box, a tiny text one and a grunge one - that's a brush with the picture of Viggo inside it - with a brush on the bottom and a white tiny text brush along the top - a tiny text brush and a smudge brush crystalkirk underneath - again, the tiny text, and one of the dotted line brushes so popular these days - this one was by 77words I believe.2. Download as many fonts as possible. In Photoshop there is a box that looks like this:
Where it says 3.3 that's the size, but more important is the box that says -50. That's the spacing between the letters. For example, this icon has a negative number in that box, so the letters are closer together:
On the other hand, on this icon "Tea" has a really large number in that box, so the text is more spread out:
3. Learn what all these layer options mean:
I find Soft Light, Screen, Multiply, Soft Light, Lighten and Color particularly useful. Exclusion layers are very popular, particularly in blue tones, to get this sort of effect:
Experiment with layers as much as possible. Here are more examples:
- there's a colour layer on a high opacity over this whole icon - the red part is simply a multiply layer - the yellow & blue touches are from a texture that I set to soft light over the whole thing - the orange part is a colorfilter light texture set to "lighten".4. There are all sorts of light textures out there. All these icons use light textures:
Go out and get loads of them.
colorfilter & awmp made the light textures I use the most.5. Textures & bases are also very useful. Here are some icons I made using textures & bases:
I recommend
gender, colorfilter and disappearicons for bases. colorfilter also makes great textures, and you can find more here.Green Queen
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The icon that I'm using, though not nearly as good as your gorgeous one in this post, was made in a far dumber way. I just highlighted part of it and filled it. *facepalm*. You're so much smarter (duh).
Again, thanks so much. I really appreciate this stuff.
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No, that's a perfectly logical way of doing things. However doing that won't make what's underneath show through, which was what I was going for with my icon :)
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