In this tutorial I will explain how to use the gradient tool in detail. To begin, a gradient is basically two colours blended seamlessly together. The gradients can contain a blend of one single colour, or a blend of multiple colours.

The gradient tool is located in the same place as the paint bucket tool. To use this tool you simply drag out a line representing the direction of the gradient. The first point defines where the first colour will end, and the second point defines where the second colour will begin. The example below shows the gradient from left to right. The number one shows the first point of the gradient.

(You can hold down the Shift key to constrain the gradient to right angles.)


The length of the gradient defines the width of the gradient. So, a small length will give you a small gradient and a long length will give you a long gradient. A long gradient gives a more blended look while a short gradient will give you a more defined look. Below is examples of a long and short gradient.

In this section I will be discussing the gradients, fills and the eraser in detail. Firstly, a gradient is a colour which gradually changes into another colour. There are different kinds of gradient shapes available in Photoshop for example: linear, radial, angular, reflected and diamond. You can also have more than one colour for a gradient which will allow you to create complex gradients with different colours.

The eraser tool allows you to remove pixels like a brush, and the fill tool is basically a way of pouring a flat colour onto a selected area.

Below is a preview of Gradients, Fills and the Eraser tools:

In this tutorial you will learn how to create simple twirl effect using the distort filter and gradients. This process is quick and only requires three steps.

Twirl effect

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480 dimension.
Select the gradient tool with the linear gradient and whatever gradient colour you wish. If you can’t find a gradient you like, I have provided a list of free photoshop gradients.




Step 2

Click and drag a gradient on the canvas you can choose whatever direction you wish. You canvas should look something like below:




Step 3

Select Filter > Distort > Twirl and give the angle 250 and click ok. Now select Ctrl + F about 4 -5 times and you should get a pattern like below. If you want more twirls then simply select Ctrl + F a few more times.



You should now have a twirl effect.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a comic style effect. You will need to use the quick mask tool and the poster edge filter for this tutorial. I will be using the comic style effect on an individual person in the image.

Comic style effect

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop.



Step 2

Reset the colour palette by selecting ‘D’ key.
Select the brush tool with an appropriate size and hit the ‘Q’ key to enter quick mask mode. Paint the areas where you want to make a selection. In my case I have painted the woman in the image. If you make a mistake you can use the eraser tool.



Step 3

Exit the quick mask tool by selecting the ‘Q’ key. Then choose Select > Inverse and your image should look like below.



Step 4

Select Ctrl + J to copy the selection into a new layer. Then select Filter > Artistic > Poster Edges and add the following settings.

• Edge thickness = 0
• Edge intensity = 0
• Posterization = 1

You should now have a Comic style effect

Turning an image black and white is actually quite an easy process. The process involves converting the colour image values in greyscale values. Below i will discuss three methods of turning an image black and white.

Method 1

• Open an image in Photoshop.
• Select Image > Mode > Greyscale.
• Done!

Method 2

• Open an image in Photoshop.
• Select Image > Adjustment > Desaturate.
• Done!

Method 3

• Open an image in Photoshop.
• Select Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation.
• Drag the Saturation slider to -100.
• Done!

As you can see above the process is very short and simple. Below I have shown an example of the before and after black and white transformation.

I recently wrote a blog post about free Photoshop gradients, so have decided to write a post about how to install gradients in Photoshop. There are two ways to install gradients in Photoshop and both are very simple. The first method requires that your Photoshop is shut down, and the second method allows you to load a gradient when Photoshop is loaded up.



Method 1:

• Make sure your Photoshop is shut down.
• Locate the ‘Presets’ folder directory and select the subdirectory ‘Gradient’ folder. The default location is in the C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS\Preset
• Extract the ‘.grd’ file into the Gradient folder. If your gradient is in a zip file, then simple extract the ‘.grd’ into the gradient folder.
• The next time you start up Photoshop the gradient will appear in Presets.
• Done.

Method 2:

• Double click on the gradient bar shown below.
  
• Then select the ‘Load’ button from the gradient editor.
• Location your ‘.grd’ file and click open.
• Done.

We have all seen computer generated graphic icons on various websites, but hand sketched icons are becoming very popular. Sketched icons are basically icons which have been hand drawn by artists. The sketched icons work particularly well with the web 2.0 style websites.

Below I have provided a list of places for free hand drawn icon:


ColorStroked freehand Icon



ColorStroked freehand Icon contain over 22 graphicsicons for your personal needs.
This pack includes many social media icons such as Delicious, Digg, Flickr, StumbleUpon, Technorati ,Twitter, WindowsLive and more.


Handy Icons



Handycons are hand drawn social media icon that contains 12 icons.Package contains icons for del.icio.us, Digg, Mixx, DesignBump, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Developer Zone, DesignFloat, Technorati, Twitter and RSS feed & Email icon.


Social Icons hand drawned



The sketched icon include: Blip.fm, LastFM, Blogger, Gmail, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg, Facebook, Firefox, Flickr, Myspace, Twitter, Wordpress and Youtube.


Sketch'd up



Hand sketch icon set, free to use for both private and commerical.


Hand-Drawn Icons



Hand Drawn in pencil and paper. The icon are in the following sizes 16x16, 32x32 and
48x48.


Children's Drawings Icon Set



Icon drawn in the style of children drawing.