Alone in the Dark

Supplies:

Tube: andreeacernestean-54-1
Scrap: scrapfoxy_aloneinthedark-mini
Font: bald-eagle
Mask: Mask 616 from Package 14
Template: TutsByRene-AloneintheDark-Template
Filter: eyecandy

Please do not use any of the licensed supplies without purchasing them first.

First off, unzip all supplies.

Open the template I provided in the zip file. You can add a background layer, if you like. Layer > New Layer… and fill with white. Move this layer to the back of your tag. Layer > Arrange > Send to Back

Open one of the elements from your kit.

Use the dropper tool to grab a color from the element. You can now close the element.

Grab your “Color Replacement tool” from the tools panel. You may need to right click a few tools to find it.

Highlight “1” in the layers panel.

Right click the canvas and set the options for the brush.

At the top of the screen, adjust the settings of the tool.

Now click on the template. Twice, if you need to.

This should change the color of your template to match the element in your kit.

Repeat this with the other colored layers of the template.

Now that your template has been adjusted to match, let’s add some elements.

You can drag and drop items straight from your file browser into the canvas. This makes it faster to place items.

Instead of telling you exactly where to put what and what size to use, I am just going to show you a animated image of what I did. This way, you can create your own version of the tag without doing exactly what I have done.

When placing your elements, you can transform them again by going to Edit > Free Transform. Just be sure you hold the shift key to constrain the proportions.

As you can see, it is pretty random.  I just place the items where I think they might work.

We definitely want to add some shadows to our elements.  Without shadowing, the tag will just look flat. The secret to a good tag, is a good shadow effect.

Right click (or ctrl+click) a layer and choose “Blending Options.”
I add a drop shadow and an outer glow.  The glow enhances the effect a bit.

Now after you have hit OK, right click the layer again and choose “Copy Layer Style.”
Highlight all of your element layers (click the top one, then shift + click the bottom one) and right click again.  This time, choose “Paste Layer Style.”

It makes a HUGE difference to add shadows:

Now that we have all of that done, time to add the next details.  Tube and text.  Fun!

Choose where you want your main tube to be placed.

Now drag and drop your tube onto the canvas. Resize and adjust it to your liking. Always make sure you constrain your proportions while resizing.  Hold the Shift key while you drag the corners.

Thankfully, the EyeCandy software works on Smart Objects, so you don’t need to rasterize the tube before applying the filter.

We want to add a Perspective Shadow to the tube. (Ignore the contradicting light directions. It’s a tag, not reality lol)

Get rid of those overlapping shadows! They are hideous hanging outside of the tag.

Highlight all of your layers (except the background layer, if you added one).

Layer > Group Layers…

You will need to expand the group in the layers panel, because it auto-collapses when you create it.

Right click the thumbnail of your bottom template layer (Not the background layer, if you added one). Choose “Select Pixels.”

Right click the thumbnail of the next higher layer. Choose “Add transparency mask.”

Right click the next higher layer’s thumbnail. Choose “Add transparency mask.”

You see the next higher layer? That’s right. Right click its thumbnail and choose “Add transparency mask.”

You see where I am going with this? Do this with ALL of your template, element, and tube layers. You should have the marching ants all around your tag.

Highlight the group in the layers panel (the layer with the folder icon, instead of a thumbnail).

At the bottom of the layers panel, you will see a bunch of icons. Click the mask icon to add a mask to your group using the selection you created.

Shadows, be GONE! Woohoo!

You can now collapse the group in the layers panel. We won’t be doing anything in there anymore.

Now that you are free of excess shadows, we need to add a “paper” layer to the tag.

Hide the background layer, if you chose to create one.

Highlight the very top layer in the layers panel.

Edit > Copy Merged
Edit > Paste

This will add a new layer to your tag with the whole tag merged onto it.

Now move this layer down to below your group (above the background layer, if you added one).

Filter > Blur > Motion Blur…

Right click and duplicate this layer in the layers panel.

At the top of the layers panel, change the blend mode to “Multiply.”

Right click and merge down in the layers panel.

Duplicate it once more. Do not change the blend mode.

Merge down again.

You can now unhide the background layer.

As a separate document, open the mask(s) you would like to use.  You don’t have to use the ones I have chosen.

Select > All
Edit > Copy

This will save a “selection” of the white areas in the mask.

You can now close that mask.

With the merged layer highlighted in the layers panel…

Select > Edit in Quick Mask Mode.
Edit > Paste

This will leave parts of the layer in red. This is good! If it doesn’t, then you will need to open and copy the mask again.

It seems that our mask was too big for the tag. Let’s fix that.

With the red “quick mask” still in effect, go to Edit > Free Transform

Fit the red mask inside your tag.

Select > Uncheck the Edit in Quick Mask Mode.
Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection

Magic, right?? now you don’t have to worry about having an extra clipped layer.

Instead, you have a mask thumbnail attached to your layer.

That’s it! How easy is that?

Sometimes, this method will leave a dark line around your tag. You can take a very small round eraser and click in the very corner of the mask. Hold shift, and then click on the next corner. This will erase in a straight line. Repeat this until you have gone all the way around your tag, ending in the corner you started. You will need to do this for all masks. It only takes a couple of minutes, but it makes a big difference. My tag has the line still left intact. I don’t mind the line, but some may find it annoying.

Resize before adding copyrights!

Highlight the top layer of the layers panel.

Grab your text tool and add the name you would like.  Position it just where you want it and add a layer style.  This is mine:

And here we have our completed tag! You can now save it as a PNG or a JPG file. I prefer using the Export feature, so I know it is at the proper resolution for web-display.

If you would like to save your tag as a transparent PNG, don’t forget to hide that background layer that you may or may not have added.

Here are the settings I used:

My “Forever List” can find their tags in their Fotki Folders.