Free vector graphics

A Vector graphic is a graphic which is created using primitive shapes such as lines, curves, polygons etc. Did you know there are places on the interest where you can download free vector graphics? Artists from around the world have created amazing vector graphics, free for people to use.



Below I have provided a list of places where you can download free vector graphics. All of the websites shown below have a submit feature, so if you are feeling particularly generous you can share your own vectors with the vector graphic community.

  • Vecteezy – Stupid name, cool vectors.
  • vectorportal – everything vector, everything free. There are 13 different category of vectors.
  • vector4free– a site dedicated to free vector graphic ( What a surprise!)

Free Photoshop gradients

Gradients are basically two or more colours blended together. You can create lots of wonderful gradients from the different colours in the Photoshop palette. If you are lazy or not feeling adventurous you can also use the default gradient in Photoshop. However, there are some complex gradients which can be downloaded for free. This avoids you having to create the gradients yourself. Checkout this guide to install Gradients in Photoshop.



Below I have provided a list of places where you can download free Photoshop gradient:

  • free4photoshop – 9 interesting Gradient sets. Every set contains 30 unique gradients.
  • designerpie – Large collection of interesting gradients.

Using Textures in Photoshop – part 2

This is the second part of the using textures in Photoshop tutorial. In this tutorial I will be adding texture to image with a person rather than a still object. There will be some additional steps from the previous texture tutorial, but most of the steps should look familiar.

Using Textures in Photoshop – part 2

Step 1

Open an image you wish to use and a texture in Photoshop.




Step 2

Select the selection tool (V) and drag and hold down the Shift key and drag your texture on top of your other image. Holding down the shift key centres the texture layer when you drag the layer.

Step 3

Change the blending style to either overlay or soft light. I have selected overlay, but you can experiment with the various options. The blending style will soften the texture on top of the background layer which will give a nice textured effect.



Step 4

You should notice the skin on the image has also been texturized. If you had a darker coloured texture, the skin would look very odd. Now add a layer mask by selecting Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Select the brush tool with the opacity at 40% and paint away the texture from the skin. The opacity is set low to give a more natural effect. If the opacity was at 100% the skin tone would stand out too much.



You should now be able to add texture to an image.

Using Textures in Photoshop

I recently wrote a blog post on free textures for Photoshop, so I have decided to make a tutorial on how add textures in an image. For this tutorial you will need a high resolution texture and any image. When you add texture to an image, it enhances the feel and look of the image.

Using Textures in Photoshop – part 1

Step 1

Open an image and a texture in Photoshop. I have used a texture of plywood and a free stock image of a dune race.


(image)


(Texture)


Step 2

Firstly, make sure your images are side by side. Now choose the selection tool and hold down the Shift key and drag your texture on top of your other image. You layer panel should look something like below:




Step 3

Change the blending style to either overlay or soft light. I have selected soft light, but you can experiment with the various options. The blending style will dissolve the texture on top of the background layer which will give a nice textured effect. You can lower the opacity of the layer if you wish.



Easy, you should now be able to add texture to an image.



Checkout out using texture part 2.

Rotating an image

There is a feature in Photoshop which allows you to rotate or flip an image in any direction. This feature is called the “rotate canvas” and can be found by choosing Image > Rotate Canvas.

Inside the rotate canvas, there are the following commands:

  • 180 – Rotates the image 180 degree.
  • 90 CW – Rotate the image the image 90 clockwise.
  • 90 CCW – Rotates the image 90 counter clockwise.
  • Arbitrary – Rotates the image by an angle you input. An input box appears and you select the angle and whether you want CW or CCW.
  • Flip canvas horizontal – Flips the canvas in the horizontal direction.
  • Flip canvas vertical – Flips the canvas in the vertical direction.

Examples


(Original image)


(90CW)


(90CCW)


(Flip canvas horizontal)


(Flip canvas vertical)

Free Photoshop actions

Photoshop actions are basically ways of performing repeated tasks easily. An action is a recorded sequence of commands that can be saved and played at a later stage. You can add actions for pretty much any procedure such as resize an image, adding filters, changing colours etc.

To use/install an action you can drag the .atn file directly into the action panel or you can drag it into the Photoshop action folder in the Photoshop directory. Another way is to select the "load Actions" from the actions panel which will load the action anywhere from your hard drive.



There are places on the internet that provide free Photoshop actions created by other Photoshop users. Below is a list of free Photoshop actions.

  • visual-blast - 124+ Free Photoshop Actions to Boost Your Designs.
  • Actionfx - 100+ free photoshop action. Work in all version.

Free Photoshop textures

Sometimes it is easier to download a high resolution texture rather than creating your own texture in Photoshop. There are all sort of free textures available to download such as wood, stone grass, metal etc.




Below I have provided a list of places where you can get free textures in Photoshop:

  • z7server - There are over 1350 texture in this site which are separated into catalogues.
  • Grsites – They claim they have the largest collection of textures on the internet
  • freephotoshop – Contains four main catogories which are grunge, rocks, rust and wood.
  • Archivetextures – Over 3500+ textures with many new textures added daily.
  • Change-books – Textures include metal, nature, sky, stone, textile and wood

Quick masks

Quick masks are a method of selecting areas in an image by using the brush or pen tools. This allows you to make more accurate selections as you are able to paint the areas you wish to select.

The process of using the quick masks involves:

  • Resetting the colour palette.
  • Entering quick mask mode.
  • Painting the mask.
  • Exiting the quick mask mode.

Resetting the colour palette

To begin using quick masks you must first reset the colour palette by pressing the “D” key. This will allow you to see the quick masks more clearly. Although, if you have two different colours in your palette you will notice the foreground colour turn gray when to enter quick mask mode.


Entering quick mask mode

There are two ways of entering the quick mask mode. You can either select the “Edit it quick mask mode” icon on the toolbox like below:



Or you can select the “Q” key on the keyboard. There are two different ways you can tell if you are in quick mask mode. Firstly, the title on the image will have “Quick Mask”; and the history panel on the right will have the message “Enter Quick mask”.


Painting the mask

When you paint in quick mask mode, you will notice a transparent red colour. The colour red indicates the areas which have masked out. For example below, I want to select the sky background, so have painted the area.


(no quick mask)



(Quick mask)

You can of course increase the size of your brush and zoom into your image when you are in quick mask mode.

If you make a mistake you can flip the colour palette by pressing the “X” key and paint to unmask the areas, but remember to flip the palette back. Or you can alternatively use the eraser tool to remove your mistake.


Exiting the quick mask mode

There are two ways of exiting the quick mask mode. You can select the icon opposite the “Edit it quick mask mod” in the toolbox. Or you select the “Q” key again to exit the quick masks. The example will look something like below:



You should notice the opposite area selected. You can reverse this choosing Select > Inverse and your image should look like below. Ideally you should paint the opposite of what you want to select in quick mask mode.




Summary

This is a quick summary of how to use quick mask mode:
  • Resetting the colour palette – Select the “D” key.
  • Entering quick mask mode – Select the “Q” key on the keyboard or the icon on the toolbox.
  • Painting the mask – Paint the mask area.
  • Exiting the quick mask mode – Select the “Q” key on the keyboard or the icon on the toolbox.

Text effect series

In this series I will provide a collection of different text effects created in Photoshop. All the text effects in this series are original and can provide an insight into the possibilities of Photoshop. There is practically an unlimited amount of text effects you can create using the tools in Photoshop.

Below are examples of the kind of text effects you can achieve.

Text effect example 1