In this tutorial we are going to create a simple semi-realistic chain using some Photoshop effects and a texture. This chain is best used as a part of a bigger project. So if you need some chain in a photo manipulation that you are doing something like this would be perfect.

What You’ll Need:

Adobe Photoshop
This texture from Zen Textures

Step 1

Lets start out by opening up a new document in Photoshop, 500×500px

Step 2

Using the Rounded Rectangle Tool, create a rectangle about the size that I have mine with a radius of 30px. Change the color so you have a brownish-gray color (#574D44).

Step 3

Create another rounded rectangle with the same radius and color, but this one with be about half the width of the first one.

Step 4

Now what we are going to do is setup the wider rectangle so we can add a hole in the middle so the two chains will link together. First we are going to drop down the opacity on the bigger rectangle to about 50% and then put the smaller one in the middle so it looks something like what I have below.

Step 5

We are going to add some guides on either side of the smaller rectangle. First make sure that you have “Snap to” checked in your View dropdown menu.

After you add the guides on the sides, hold down shift and move the smaller rectangle down three spaces and put a guide on the top of it. Move the rectangle up six spaces and put a guide on the bottom of it.

Step 6

Bring you opacity back up to 100% on the larger rectangle and move the smaller one off to the side.. Click on the icon in the toolbar to add a new rounded rectangle, and click on the “Exclude overlapping shape areas” button. Make sure you have the larger rectangle layer selected. Create a new rectangle in the middle of the larger rectangle inside the guides. This should give you a hole in the middle of the larger rectangle.

Step 7

To give the links some depth we are going to add a bevel/emboss to them.

Click on the first icon on the bottom of the layers palette and open up Bevel and Emboss. Change the settings like I have them to get the 3D look. Change your highlight color to #FFEED2 and your shadow color to #443416.

Step 8

Now we are going to give our links some texture. So go to Filter>Distort>Ripple and when it asks you to rasterize your layer just press ok.

In the settings change the size to Medium and the amount to 41%.

Repeat this for the other link as well.

Step 9

We are going add a texture, but before we do that we are going to open it up in Photoshop. So go get our texture from Zen Textures (http://www.unsigneddesign.com/rust7_edited.jpg) and open it in Photoshop.

Now go to File>Save As and make sure you save it as a Photoshop file. We are going to use this for a Displacement map next.

Step 10

Click on one of the links and press Control + J to duplicate the layer. Go into Filter>Distort>Displace and change the settings like I have them below. Press ok, and open up our texture that we saved.

Step 11

The Displacement is going to give us a really rough edge, which we are going to get rid of. Control and click on our original link to select it, then do Control + Shift + I to get the inverse selection and delete. This should get rid of the area we don’t want.

As you can see, it gives our link a little more of a distorted look.

Step 12

Repeat steps 10 and 11 on the other link.

Step 13

Open up or texture file and bring it into our document and using Control + T (Free Transform) shrink it down to 20%. Make sure the texture is the top most layer, and change the blend mode to Overlay.

Step 14

If you are using a white background you’ll notice that the texture is only visible on the chain links. If you put your link on a different color the texture will show up, so we want to get rid of our extra that we don’t need. To do this Control and click on one of the non-displaced links, click on the texture layer and do a Control + J. This will duplicate the selected layer.

Repeat this with the other link. Once you have duplicated the texture for both the links we can drag the original texture layer to the trash.

Step 15

We are going to drop down the saturation of the texture. Go into Hue/Saturation and drop down the saturation to -60. Do this with both of the links.

Step 16

At this point we should have three layers for each link: the original, the displaced and the texture. We want to merge the layers so there is only one layer for each link. To do this we are going to click on one of the layers and then click on the empty box to the right of the eye icon. A link icon should appear in the empty box. This will link the layers together. Link all the small link layers together and press Control + E to merge them together. Do the same thing with the large link.

So now you should be left with the two link layers and a background layer.

Step 17

Now we can start linking them together. You can duplicate the links with Control J. You should end up with something like what I have below.

Step 18

To give it some final touches we are going to add a shadow. Control and click on the large link in the middle and create a new layer (Control + Shift + N) just above the large link layer.

Using a brush with 0% hardness at 70px, paint with black, around the where the two links meet as I have below.

You can do this with the other visible links also.

Final

Here is what I came up with for my final outcome.

There are a great bunch of logos out there that can inspire you to create your own, however it is very difficult to find customizable logos that are free and let you tweak them to your needs. The guys from Shaboopie.com were frustrated when they couldn’t find any customizable logos to play with so they made their own. This set of 84 logos allows for easy tweaking for the most beginner of graphic designers. Use the logos as they are, or customize to your preference and add a personal touch to reflect your website or business!

Creative Commons (also included in the zip files)

Download links:

Pack 1: http://www.shaboopie.com/files/shaboopiepacks/ShaboopiePack1.zip
Pack 2: http://www.shaboopie.com/files/shaboopiepacks/ShaboopiePack2.zip
Pack 3: http://www.shaboopie.com/files/shaboopiepacks/ShaboopiePack3.zip

All packs together: http://www.shaboopie.com/files/shaboopiepacks/ShaboopieLogos.zip

Pixmac has kindly let us offer 5 of our readers a chance to win 20 stock photo credits through their website.

Pixmac is a stock photo agency who offers more than 7,000,000 pictures of a wide variety. They have many features to help you search fast to find just the photo you are looking for. Everyone can buy an image in 3 minutes. No registrations required!

Also, you can check out their credit packs to save on images.

The Prize:

If you are picked as one of the 5 winners you will receive 20 stock photo credits (A $20 value!) at pixmac.

How to win:

In order to be in the running for the free 20 stock image credits find this picture at pixmac.com:

Write your Pixmac nickname with your opinion about Pixmac into the comments section (under the article) and send an email with picture URL to martin.vlcko@pixmac.com.

Deadline:

Enter by next Saturday (November 7th, 2009) to be in the running for the contest. Good Luck!

Also, be sure to check out Pixmac’s blog, follow them on Twitter or on Facebook.

Be sure to check out my newest tutorial over at Six Revisions.

This tutorial can help you create a 3D looking text using only Photoshop.

Link to: How to Create Remarkable 3D Text in Photoshop

In the spirit of Halloween, I am giving away a free wallpaper. Feel free to download it and use it on your desktop. It is free to use, not for commercial use or to resell.

Here is more information on the license .

Enjoy!

This wallpaper comes in three different sizes:

1024×768

1280×1024

1680×1050

These following artists do a great job of mixing different photographs and techniques to create on flawless composition. Some are subtle changes while others are much more dramatic, but they are all very inspirational!

Stonehenge Landscape by =phatpuppy

Japan landscape by ~lorency

Landscape by ~okti

landscape. by ~veronica-p

Landscape photomanipulation by =blackkitty666

Landscape by *proyektvampyre

Landscape of solitude by *MindTuber

New Landscape by ~Oceandeep76

relocationist by Cole Rise

A promotional piece for my new portfolio by Artur Neufeld

b; serving evokeone.com by Artur Neufeld

You can’t escape genetics by Riffel

What’s Going On? By Touch

Belgian Railways by Frank Uyttenhove

City of Exile by Jim Lind

Lingering whispers by Midnight-digital

One of my favorite kinds of photography is night photography. The places the light sources come from at night compared to the day gives regular objects a whole new look. Lets have a look at some great photos that I found from around the web. Enjoy!

Sydney Bridge Australia by =Thrill-Seeker

Sleepy Hollow by *InthenamePhotography

cathedral by ~Arrakis7

Habour Light by =Alomie

Plaines d’Abraham by ~AlexQuinn

26 by ~Darina-Porubova

These City Lights by Levi Wedel

Invisible City by Levi Wedel

Urban Nights by Mark Mawson

Moscow Night Lights by Nickolas Sushkevich

Navigated Light by Dominik Kruger

Wavy Gravy by Dominik Kruger

Unequaled Balance by Dominik Kruger

PreOccupied by Winni Wintermyer

A Moment Suspended In Time by *angelreich

Wuzhen by `foureyes

Generator by ~187-lockdown

lights in the fog by ~RitterRunkel

Brooklyn Bridge by =seenew

Night lights by Hampus Olsson

Be sure to check out my latest tutorial over at Six Revisions: Create a Realistic Space Scene from Scratch with Photoshop

In this intermediate-to-advanced-level design tutorial, we are going to create a stunning space scene that has realistic-looking planets, stars, and lighting effects using a few innovative Photoshop techniques and some textures. Continue…

I just got back from my wedding and honeymoon. For our honeymoon we went to Niagara Falls, so as a way of saying that I’m back, I have rounded up a few images of Niagara falls from around the web, as well as a couple I took while I was there. Enjoy!

…and here are a couple I took of the falls

We are going to look at some vehicles from some very talented CG artists. I love cars, and to see all the details and everything in these is just awesome. We tried to get a nice variety, everything from old and new Dodge Chargers, to the old and new Chevy Camaro, to all kinds of race cars. Enjoy!

Like a bull by ~maxon

Dodge Charger by Mel Bright

1983 Volkswagen Golf GTi by David Finlay

accident by cem erdogan

Goldie by ~MUCK-ONE

Mustang at Harbourcity Hamburg by ~MUCK-ONE

TT-Las Vegas by ~MUCK-ONE

Tribal Charger by *SmokinGrafix

Just Another Charger by *SmokinGrafix

Darkness by *SmokinGrafix

Nissan R390 by `dangeruss

1970 Dodge Challenger by `dangeruss

1969 Camaro mild custom by `dangeruss

Urban Porsche 911 by `dangeruss

Xanavi Nismo 350-Z JGTC by `dangeruss

Nissan Skyline GT-R 34 by `dangeruss

Racing Volvo C70 – ficticious by `dangeruss

GTi Widebody 03 by `dangeruss

1932 Ford Car Toon by `dangeruss

Team 5Zigen Civic Type-R HDRI by `dangeruss