Airbrushed Chrome Gradient - Page 12

This effect mimics the style of chrome gradients created by traditional airbrush artists. It uses one of Photoshop's built-in gradients, but we added a little twist that makes it look realistic (the Chrome gradient has a horizon line that is perfectly straight, and it looks too contrived using it "as is").

STEP ONE: Open a new RGB document at 72-ppi, and use the Type tool to create some type. Create a new blank layer by clicking once on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

STEP TWO: Switch to the Rectangular Marquee tool by pressing the letter "m", and draw a rectangular selection slightly larger than your type.

STEP THREE: Press the letter "g" to switch to the Gradient tool, and in the Options Bar up top, click on the down- facing triangle next to the gradient sample to reveal the flyout Gradient Picker. Choose the Chrome gradient (if you can't find it, choose Text Only in the Gradient Picker s pop-down menu). With the Gradient tool, drag from the top to the bottom of your selection to fill it with the Chrome gradient (blue should appear on top with brown at the bottom).

STEP FOUR: Go under the Filter menu, under Distort, and choose Wave (to help us make a slightly rolling horizon line). In the Wave dialog box, set the Type to Sine and lower the Number of Generators to 2. For Wavelength, choose 10 for Min. and 289 for Max. For Amplitude, choose 5 for Min. and 14 for Max. Leave the Horiz. and Vert. Scale set at 100% and then click OK. (Note: If you don't like what you re seeing in the preview window, click the Randomize button a few times.)

STEP FIVE: Deselect by pressing Command-D (PC: Control-D). To get your Chrome gradient inside your type, press Command- G (PC: Control-G). Press the letter "d", then in the Layers palette, click on the Background layer. Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the background with black.

STEP SIX: Click on the Type layer, then go under the Layer menu, under Layer Style, and choose Bevel and Emboss. In the Bevel and Emboss dialog box, under Shading, click the downward-facing triangle next to the Gloss Contour sample to reveal a flyout menu of preset contours. Click on the Triple Ring contour, turn on the Anti-Aliasing check box, and click OK. Lastly, create a new layer above your gradient layer, and add some white airbrush glints using the technique shown on page 118 in Chapter 7.

Reflective Chrome - Page 11
Photoshop 6 Down and Dirty Tricks