Heavy Metal: Metal and Chrome Effects - Page 2

There's something about taking a dull, flat image and making it shiny and rounded that really appeals to me. I think it's the "Inner Emboss" that lives deep inside us all (this is what happens when they make me write chapter intro's after 2: 00 a. m.).

I really hadn't intended to write a chapter about chrome and metal effects, until someone looked at some early proofs of the book and said "Hey, you're really into this metal stuff aren't you?" It was at that moment that I realized "Hey, I'm really into this metal stuff." When I really took a good look at it, I saw that I had at least a chapter's worth of chrome and metal effects interspersed throughout the book. I thought to myself, "Hey, I could gather it together, creating what could possibly be the world's first all chrome and metal chapter. Hey, that would make this really special and unique. Then I could start to focus on why I keep injecting the word 'Hey' into all my inner thoughts." I'm not saying this stuff out loud, am I?

Instant Chrome Effect

Here's one of the easiest and quickest ways to create a metallic chrome effect. Don't worry if you've never used curves before. Although they play a major role in this effect, you're only in curves for a few seconds and the step is simple.

STEP ONE: Open a new document, any size, in RGB mode. Click on the Type tool and create some text. Hold the Command key ( PC: Control key) and click once on your Type layer in the Layers palette to put a selection around your text. Go under the Select menu and choose Save Selection. When the dialog appears, click OK. Press Command-D ( PC: Control-D) to deselect. Now, delete your Type layer by dragging it into the trash can at the bottom of the Layers palette.

STEP TWO: Go to the Channels palette (under the Window menu, choose Show Channels) and click on Alpha 1. (If your channel looks different than the one above [it has black text on a white background] press Command--I (PC: Control-I) to invert it.) Next, go under the Filter menu, under Blur, and choose Gaussian Blur. Enter 1 pixel and click OK. (Note: The 1-pixel setting is for 72- ppi images. High-res images will require a 2-or 3-pixel blur. The more blur, the wider the bevel.)

STEP THREE: Return to the Layers palette and click on the Background layer. Then go under the Filter menu, under Render, and choose Lighting Effects. When this dialog box appears, you only have to make one small change. At the bottom of the palette, where you choose the Texture Channel, choose Alpha 1 from the pop-up menu, then click OK.

STEP FOUR: Your background layer should now look like the image above. Press Command-A ( PC: Control-A) to select the entire background layer.

Photoshop 6 Down and Dirty Tricks
Metal and Chrome Effects: Continued - Page 3