Optik Tutorials |

Outcome:

Start off by making a new document (File > New). In this case, the signature’s size was 400px x 180px. Now, add your render or stock, do not resize it. For the one I used, click here. It should be almost unrecognizable (so pick a random part of your render or stock, not the face or something recognizable). In this case, the chest section of the Gears of war render took up the entire canvas. You should have something like this right now:

Now do an applied image. To do this, create a new layer, and then go to Edit > Apply Image. Now while you are on this layer, apply the Ripple filter. This is done by clicking on the filter menu, and opening the sub-menu called Distort, then, select Ripple. For the settings, use around 130% and on the drop down menu, select medium. Now, you should erase some of this layer. In this case splatter brushes were used to erase a little bit of this layer. If you are looking for splatter brushes, go to www.deviantart.com and run a search for them. Leave this layer’s blending mode on Normal, and don’t alter the Fill or Opacity. You should have something to the same effect as the following:

Now yet again make an applied image as explained in Step 2. This time, instead of using the ripple filter on the applied image, use the glass filter. To apply this filter, again, select the filter menu, and choose the distort sub-menu. Now select glass. Since I’m not sure of the exact settings, it would look like you should use around 10 on each of the sliders, and don’t mess with the texture. Now leave this layer on normal and erase with the splatter brushes that you downloaded earlier. Now, add in your resized render. Either paste it in (Hit Ctrl + a then Ctrl + c on the render document, then go to your signature document, and hit ctrl + v) or you can click and drag it from the render document to your signature document.

Now repeat the glass filter section of step 3. This time though, erase most of it, leaving only a few spots left. This should blend the render in with the background a bit.

Now, you will need to get some more brushes. This time, instead of splatter brushes we will be using abstract brushes. You can also find these on www.deviantart.com and running another search. Now, you need to select a black color on your color picker. Now brush around the edges a bit with the abstract brushes. This is what it should look like:

Leave that brushing on Normal blending mode on 100% opacity. Now repeat the brushing, but in a different area of the background to separate the background from the foreground / render. This time you should lower the opacity though, 30% is recommended.

You should now have (respectively) something like this:

In this step we are going to be adding some lighting. Start off by taking out a 200px soft round brush, and brushing where you want the lighting to start off at. Suggestion: Lower the opacity or flow on this brushing to about 50%. Now, select a 100px soft round brush, and do the same thing, but making a sort of light beam coming from your first brush like so:

Now make another applied image on a new layer. Now hit ctrl+t. This should put a gray box around your signature. Now, right click and hit “Flip Horizontally”. Now get out some splatter brushes (the ones you downloaded earlier) and erase everything but the top left hand corner (the corner opposite to your lighting). This should only be a subtle effect, but it fills up the background a bit more.

Just like in the last step create an applied image on a new layer. Now go to the filter menu, then the sharpen sub menu, and then select sharpen. This should, as you could have guessed, make your signature a little bit sharper. If there are places that are too sharp, erase it with whatever kind of brush suites it best. You should now have something like this:

In this step you will first need to select your lighting layer / layers. Now, once you have them selected, hit Ctrl + J. This should duplicate it, if you have more then one, it may not. If not, click and drag them down to the new layer button on your layers palette, no matter how many layers, this should duplicate them. Once you have duplicated your lighting layer(s) bring it(them) to the top and set them to soft Light. This is what you should have now:

This step is just adding Adjustment Layers. All of the following adjustment layers are set to Normal blending mode, and typically 100% opacity unless you think that it is too overbearing: