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.

A Vector graphic is a graphic which is created using primitive shapes such as lines, curves, polygons etc. Did you know there are places on the interest where you can download free vector graphics? Artists from around the world have created amazing vector graphics, free for people to use.



Below I have provided a list of places where you can download free vector graphics. All of the websites shown below have a submit feature, so if you are feeling particularly generous you can share your own vectors with the vector graphic community.

• Vecteezy – Stupid name, cool vectors.

• qvectors – quality vector graphics.

• vectorportal – everything vector, everything free. There are 13 different category of vectors.

• 123freevectors – Over 800 vector which are organised by categories.

• freevectors – Source for vector graphics

• vector4free– a site dedicated to free vector graphic ( What a surprise!)

• freevectorgraphics – like the name says, free vector graphics.

• vectorjunky – 0ver 15 different category of vectors

• vectormix – a modest selection of vectors

Gradients are basically two or more colours blended together. You can create lots of wonderful gradients from the different colours in the Photoshop palette. If you are lazy or not feeling adventurous you can also use the default gradient in Photoshop. However, there are some complex gradients which can be downloaded for free. This avoids you having to create the gradients yourself. Checkout this guide to install Gradients in Photoshop.



Below I have provided a list of places where you can download free Photoshop gradient:

• Emmaalvarez – 50 Free Photoshop gradients.

• free4photoshop – 9 interesting Gradient sets. Every set contains 30 unique gradients.

• designerpie – Large collection of interesting gradients.

• dezinerfolio – Ultimate web 2.0 Gradient

• thefreelogomakers – 150 gradient preset available.

• graphic-host – 1000 web 2.0 gradients.

This is the second part of the using textures in Photoshop tutorial. In this tutorial I will be adding texture to image with a person rather than a still object. There will be some additional steps from the previous texture tutorial, but most of the steps should look familiar.

Using Textures in Photoshop – part 2

Step 1

Open an image you wish to use and a texture in Photoshop.




Step 2

Select the selection tool (V) and drag and hold down the Shift key and drag your texture on top of your other image. Holding down the shift key centres the texture layer when you drag the layer.

Step 3

Change the blending style to either overlay or soft light. I have selected overlay, but you can experiment with the various options. The blending style will soften the texture on top of the background layer which will give a nice textured effect.



Step 4

You should notice the skin on the image has also been texturized. If you had a darker coloured texture, the skin would look very odd. Now add a layer mask by selecting Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Select the brush tool with the opacity at 40% and paint away the texture from the skin. The opacity is set low to give a more natural effect. If the opacity was at 100% the skin tone would stand out too much.



You should now be able to add texture to an image.

I recently wrote a blog post on free textures for Photoshop, so I have decided to make a tutorial on how add textures in an image. For this tutorial you will need a high resolution texture and any image. When you add texture to an image, it enhances the feel and look of the image.

Using Textures in Photoshop – part 1

Step 1

Open an image and a texture in Photoshop. I have used a texture of plywood and a free stock image of a dune race.

Step 2

Firstly, make sure your images are side by side. Now choose the selection tool and hold down the Shift key and drag your texture on top of your other image. You layer panel should look something like below:




Step 3

Change the blending style to either overlay or soft light. I have selected soft light, but you can experiment with the various options. The blending style will dissolve the texture on top of the background layer which will give a nice textured effect. You can lower the opacity of the layer if you wish.



Easy, you should now be able to add texture to an image.


Checkout out using texture part 2.

There is a feature in Photoshop which allows you to rotate or flip an image in any direction. This feature is called the “rotate canvas” and can be found by choosing Image > Rotate Canvas.

Inside the rotate canvas, there are the following commands:

• 180 – Rotates the image 180 degree.
• 90 CW – Rotate the image the image 90 clockwise.
• 90 CCW – Rotates the image 90 counter clockwise.
• Arbitrary – Rotates the image by an angle you input. An input box appears and you select the angle and whether you want CW or CCW.
• Flip canvas horizontal – Flips the canvas in the horizontal direction.
• Flip canvas vertical – Flips the canvas in the vertical direction.

Examples


(Original image)


(90CW)


(90CCW)


(Flip canvas horizontal)


(Flip canvas vertical)