Software Used: Adobe Photoshop 7.0.1
Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Taking It Up A Notch
In today's saturated adult design industry everyone is wondering where the next big change is coming from. Being such an independent branch of the biz, we're left to our own devices when it comes to seeking new ways to make our site designs attractive and convert.
In part one of this tutorial, we focused on the 'Text Warp' tool and it's uses in logo creation. Part two will now show you how to use the Transform command to bring your logos up to another level.
Let's open up Photoshop and get the ball rolling.
Using the Transform Command for Perspective:
1. Press [CTRL + N] to create another canvas in Photoshop
with white as a background color, the dimensions should be 400 x 250 pixels
at 72 dpi. Once again use the Text
tool to click on the canvas once, then type in a long word, using a large
font size. I decided to use the word 'COMPANY' using Impact at 72pt:
2. Once again use the Text tool to create another word under your 'COMPANY' text layer. Make sure this word is on a different layer. I chose the word 'IDENTITY' using Impact at 30pt:
3. Link both the text layers 'COMPANY' and 'IDENTITY' together by activating the 'COMPANY' text layer and left-clicking the small box in between the eye and the 'INDENTITY' text (a small chain should appear next to each layer to indicate that it's been linked).
4. Now make sure that 'COMPANY' is still the active layer and press [CTRL + E] to merge both text layers together. This should form one new layer with both pieces of text. Press [CTRL + T] to start using the transform tool. A bounding rectangle should appear around the text. I've taken the liberty of naming the four corners of the box, these will be referred to in a few steps:
5. Now right-click within the bounding rectangle and choose the 'Distort' command:
6. Now left-click and drag Point A (refer to Fig. 9) to the top and left of the canvas as shown:
7. Left-click and drag each of the other points (B,C and D) where I have placed them below:
8. Now hit [ENTER] (or click on the tick shown in the options bar) to apply the transformation:
You can see how this has given the logo some perspective. It now appears as if the left-side of the logo is closer to you than the right-side; the vanishing point¹ would be somewhere off to the right of the canvas. I prefer to use the first method I showed you with the Text Warp tool; if you look closely at Fig. 13 you'll notice some blurriness around the edges of the logo showing that the Transform command is not the best way to keep your images crisp and clear. I've provided another example to show you what your logo can look like through use of perspective:
Now that you've learnt how to use both the Text Warp tool and the Transform command, you can go ahead and make a stunning logo in a few simple steps! If you have any questions on this tutorial, please feel free to contact me here.
¹Vanishing Point: When looking along a straight road, the parallel sides of the road appear to meet at a point on the horizon. This point is called the vanishing point and has been used in perspective art since the 1400's.
Online Adult Designs has been providing adult webmasters with quality site and promo designs at reasonable prices for over a year. They can be contacted through ICQ or via their website.
