In this tutorial you will learn how to add a multicoloured iris effect to an image in Photoshop. This effect uses the gradient and quick mask tool to create the multicoloured iris.

Multicoloured iris in Photoshop

Step 1

Open an image in Photoshop that contain eyes and duplicate the layer by selecting Ctrl + J.




Step 2

Make a selection around the eye using either with the quick mask tool or the pen tool.




Step 3

Desaturate the selection by selecting Image > Adjustments > Desaturate and insert a new layer Ctrl + Shift + N.


Step 4

Select the gradient tool with any coloured gradient you choose. I have selected the rainbow gradient. Make sure you also select the ‘Angle gradient’ option as shown below.




Step 5

Drag a gradient within the selection of the eye like below. If you are unhappy with your gradient you can undo the selection and reapply the gradient.




Step 6

Deselect the selection around the eye Ctrl + D, and then change the blending option of the layer to ‘Overlay’. You can experiment with the various settings if you wish. If the colour of the overlay is too intense you can add a Gaussian blur by selecting Filter > Blur > Gaussian blur.


You should now have a multicoloured iris in Photoshop.

I recently wrote a post on free Twitter icons, this time I will provide a list of free Twitter backgrounds. If you have a Twitter account then you will have probably noticed the limited amount of defaults backgrounds which you can use on your profile. You can however apply your own designs for the background, but this can be especially time consuming if you are not a designer. The easiest option would be to use a free Twitter background for your profile page. This would give you a unique background design that will be different to all the other Twitter profiles you see online.

There are many different websites which provide free backgrounds, but I will be limiting my list to only five websites.

1. Freetwitterdesigner – This websites let you completely personalise your Twitter background with a set of tools that allow you to add text, shapes, and images. You can even change the colours of the links and text colours on your profile.


2. Twitterbackgroundsgallery – This website contains the largest showcase of Twitter backgrounds which have been submitted by Twitter users from around the world.


3. Twitterbackgrounds – This website has a premium collection of backgrounds that have been designed by ‘a bunch of guys that like Twitter’. In this site there are seven categories of backgrounds that you can choose from.


4. Twitbacks – You can either download backgrounds created by this website, or design your own background. There are seven different categories to choose from.


5. Twitterbackgroundimages – This website contains a large collection of background. The goal of the site is to provide the best collection, themes and wallpapers for Twitter.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a solid outline around text. For this effect you will need to use the stroke blending option, and the expand selection.


Solid outline around text

Step 1

Open a new Photoshop document with the size 640 x 480 dimension. Then select the text tool with any colour any type your message on the canvas. Make sure the font you choose does not have too much detail. I have used impact font with #0fe738 colour, but you can use whatever font and colour you wish.




Step 2

Rasterize the layer by selecting Layer > Rasterize > Type. Then choose Select > Load selection and you should see a dotted outline around each character like below.




Step 3

Choose Select > Modify > Expand and expand by 3 pixel and click ok. This expand the selection around the text character by 3 pixels.


Step 4

Select Edit > Stroke and add the following settings below. Make sure you choose a slightly darker colour from the text colour and choose ‘outside’ for the location. You can experiment with the various settings if you wish.



You should now have a solid outline around text.

Everyone seems to be talking about Twitter, so I have decided to write a post on free twitter icons. Twitter icons are a great way to expose people to twitter profile which should encourage more visibility to your blog/website.

There are many websites that supply free Twitter icons, but I will only be providing a small list of websites below.


The Cutest Freebies: Twitter Bird Icons & Illustration




Tweetie: a free icon set





Free Twitter icon set




Twittericons, Twitter buttons and Twitter graphics




If you have any suggestions for any websites with free Twitter icons. Feel free to leave any comments or links below.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a Cubed text effect. This effect uses the Mosaic filter to create the cubed text.

Cubed text

Step 1

Create a new Photoshop document with the dimension 640 x 480 and fill the background colour in black.




Step 2

Choose the text tool with white text and type your message on the canvas. I have used impact font type, but you can use whatever font you wish.


Step 3

Select Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic. If you get a message about rasterizing the type then click ok, and give the cell size of 5 squares.




Step 4

Select Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen and repeat this step 3 – 4 times by pressing Ctrl + F. And merge the layers together by selecting the layers and pressing Ctrl + E.


Step 5

Now select Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation and adjust the three sliders to your liking. Make sure you have selected the ‘Colorize’ tab. I have selected 108 for the hue, 86 for saturation and -5 for the lightness.



You should now have a cubed text effect.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a blur focus effect in Photoshop. You will need to use the Gaussian blur for this effect. I have used a free stock image of a dog which is available from www.sxc.hu. You can find a list of places for stock images here.

Blur focus

Step 1

Open an image you wish to add a blur focus effect to.




Step 2

Make a selection around the area you wish to add a blur focus to. You can either use the polygon lasso tool or the quick mask tool for creating a selection.




Step 3

Inverse the selection by choosing Select > Inverse and you should get the following image like below.




Step 4

Select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and add a 3 or 4 pixel radius, depending on the size of your image.



You should now have a blur focus effect.