Step 1

Create a new RGB Image of you desired size.

In the channels pallete click on new Channel. It will become alpha 1.

Step 2

Press “D” To reset the foreground and background colors. Filter>Render>Clouds

Step 3

This is what you will see in alpha 1. Still in the Channels palette, click on the RGB thumbnail. Switch to the layers pallete.

Step 4

Filter>Render>Lighting effects.

Set light to directional.

Select Alpha 1.

Click ok.

Step 5

Instant rock.

Step 6

Go to Hue/Saturation and add some color if you like

Step 1

To start with you will need 2 pictures.

I chose a picture of a hot rod and a person

Step 2

Using the pen tool draw a loose path around the window.

Step 3

Now switch to the “add anchor point” path tool
Drag the anchor points into place.
To add a curve: Click once on the midway point between 2 anchor points, release the mouse button, then click and drag, you will notice you are now creating a curve. That is the biggest secret to the path tool. A bit of practice and it will be a breeze.

Step 4

Once you have created the path, go to the paths palette and click, save path.

Now we want to load the path as a selection.
To do this just ctrl/cmd+click on the paths thumbnail

Step 5

You now will have a selection around the area we are going to position the person.

Step 6

Select the person in the 2nd image and choose “copy”

Step 7

Select the hotrod image again and choose edit>paste into

You will notice a new layer is created with a layer mask around the window.

Step 8

Press Ctrl/Cmd+T for free transform and scale and position your person to fit inside the window

Step 9

There all nicely positioned and sized in the window.

The only problem now is that it looks a bit fake because the window has a highlight and the person is opaque.

Step 10

Lets create a highlight for the window. Load the path of the window shape
create a new layer
Fill with white

Step 10

Now switch to screen mode and lower the opacity to 29%

Step 11

There all done. Wanna take a ride?

Don’t limit this techniques for people and windows, use it for all kinds of photo foolery and collaging.

Step 1

Start with a gradient. Tip: To constrain the gradient to 90 degrees hold down the shift key.

Step 2

Add your text or image

Step 3

Make a copy of the text by dragging to the new layer icon

Step 4

On the copy go into free transform by pressing Ctr/Cmd+T. Mac: Option+Click>Flip Vertical. PC: Left click >Flip Vertical.

Drag the reflected copy below the original

Step 5

Free Transform again and stretch image by dragging down on the bottom middle handle.

Step 6

Add a layer mask to the reflected copy and fill with a black to white gradient

Step 7

Should look like this

Step 8

Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Angle -90

Step 9

Make a selection around the bottom part of the background layer. Image>Adjust>Levels or Ctrl/Cmd+L Adjust the sliders to lighten the surface

Step 10

Free Transform again – Perspective

Step 11

Select the background. Open Hue Saturation box. Colorize to add some color to the background.

Step 12

Merge the reflection layer with the background by clicking on the box between the eye and the thumbnail, a link should now appear in the box. Click on layers>merged linked.

Step 13

Make a selection around the bottom part of the image by using the rectangular selection tool

Step 14

Filter>Distort>Ocean Ripple. Adjust settings to suit

Step 1

Start with a square. Here I made a new document 300X300, created a new layer and filled it with a gradient

Step 2

Press Crtl/Cmd+T to enter free-transform mode.

Right click/Cmd click… when the dropdown menu appears, select SKEW

Click on the right middle square and drag up until you get your desired angle. Press Enter/return to apply the transformation.

Step 3

Duplicate the layer

Step 4

Enter free transform again (Ctrl/Cmd+t) Right click and this time select FLIP HORIZONTAL.

Drag out the copy to the left. Hold down the shift key to keep the baselines aligned.

You may also want to make this side a bit thinner by clicking the left middle square (node) and drag it in a little bit.

Step 5

Create a new layer and make another square and fill it with the same gradient, this time make the lightest color at the bottom left.

Step 6

This time while in the free transform mode… when you right click/Cmd click select DISTORT

drag each corner until you get a good match. Be sure the corners fit nice and snug. This step will take a bit of practice to master.

Step 7

Finally select the top of the cube.

Image>adjust>LEVELS slide the middle triangle over to the right to darken up the mid-tones. Repeat for the left side. This step adds more realistic lighting to the cube.

Step 8

Ta-da A complete cube. Don’t limit yourself to just cubes. You can use this effect for all kinds of shapes. You can even construct a cube out of pictures. Just use images instead of the gradients.

Step 1

Create a new document

Create some text. (I used Planet Kosmos at 50 points)

Ctrl/Cmd+Click on the texts’ layer thumbnail to load the selection

Select>Modify>Expand

Enter 5 pixels and click ok

Step 2

The selection should now look like this

Step 3

With the selection still active create a new layer and name it beads

Step 4

Go to the Paths Palette

Click the top right arrow and choose “Make Work Path” from the fly out menu

Enter a setting of 0.5 (The minimum allowed)

Click ok

We have now made a path out of the selection

Step 5

Prepare the brush…

Choose White as your foreground color

Select the Brush tool from the Toolbox

Open the brushes palette

Turn off all the boxes on the left

Choose a 10 Pixel hard brush

Set the spacing to 105% (This will make a dotted line)

Step 6

Click on the Stroke path button as shown

The path will now be stroked with white dots.

Click in the blank area of the paths palette (Below the work path) to turn off the path

Step 7

Go back to the layers palette

You should now have something like this

Step 8

Click the little “f” at the bottom of the layers palette to add a layer style

Choose bevel and emboss and use the settings shown

Step 9

Choose inner shadow and use the shown settings

Click Ok to apply the style.

Step 10

At this point we have a problem. The text is a bit small for the beads (There is a gap showing)

Increase the size of the text to compensate, the edge of the text should line up with the beads

Step 11

Add a layer style to the text. Apply a default drop shadow and a Bevel as shown

Step 12

In this variation, I repeated the step and expanded by 10 pixels to create a second ring of beads. I also enhanced it a bit with some sparkles.