Chromage
This tutorial will show
you how to make chrome effects that are as smooth as Craig David.
There are a variety of different methods for making chrome.
Here, we will make use of some new effects added in Photoshop
6 as well as a background image used as a relection map.
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In case you don't feel like scouring
around for a background image, you may download the file
I used in this tutorial. Any type of photo with clouds or
water usually works well for making chrome, however I used
a picture of skyscrapers. Make sure that your text or other
object you wish to apply chrome effect to is solid black
in color.
Download
Chromage File
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Start by making sure your object layer
is selected (Chrome in the example). Add a Bevel and
Emboss effect by hitting the button. This adjustment will the apply the brightest white
shine that will effect the top left edges of your object.
Set your settings similar to what I have used (click the
image to the left to see). It is important to pay attention
to the Glass Contour setting. As you can see, I changed
mine a little bit. Feel free to work your chrome-making
mojo on this one. If you decide later that you do not like
the contour setting you made, you can always come back and
change it.
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While still in the Bevel and Emboss
effect, click on the word Contour in the left menu
to select it and display the additional Contour Options.
Set your options similar to the way I have (see image).
This effect allows subtle highlights to be added to the
bottom edges of your object.
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Next, click Satin effect in
the left menu. This step is the most difficult, and dare
I say thrilling, step of the whole process. Here you get
apply the level of detail for the main chrome effect. You
may click the image to the left to see all the settings
I used. Modify the Contour via the Contour Editor
to suite your particular metallic taste.
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Now it is time to increase the effect
by adding Inner Shadow and Inner Glow effects
the same way you applied the last two steps. These two effects
serve to darken your object and make the lighting effects
even more realistic. My options for both effects can be
seen by clicking the two images to the left.
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Just incase you are not already tired
of applying Layer Styles, we will apply two more. Click
Drop Shadow and Outer Glow to add a nice dark
shadow around your object. Like the last step, you can see
my options by clicking the images to the left.
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Looking at the the image, you could
probably stop now with a fairly decent chrome object. We
will continue, however to make it even better. Load your
object layer (Chrome) as a selection by right-clicking it.
Then go to the Channels Palette and create a new channel.
Make sure white is the foreground color (it should be) and
fill the selection by hitting Alt+Backspace. Hit
Ctrl+A to select everything and go Filter>Blur>Gaussian
Blur. Blur by approximately 5 pixels. Hit Ctrl+D
to deselect when you are done. We need to make the channel
into an external file to be used as a displacement map,
so right-click your new channel and select Duplicate
Channel. Choose New under the Document menu.
Save your file in a location where you remember it.
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Go back to your original document.
In the Layers Palette, drag the reflection image layer (Layer
1 in the example) above the object layer (Chrome). We need
to add some extra white around the border of the image to
produce a stronger distortion in the following step, so
go Image>Canvas Size and increase the width and
height by 20 pixels a piece. Grab the Paint Bucket Tool,
select white as your foreground color, and fill in the new
blank area (which will probably appear white) around your
reflection image.
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Blur the reflection image by going
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. I chose 4.5 pixels.
Now, go Filter>Distort>Glass. Load the file
you previously saved as the Texture. I used a Distortion
of 16 and Smoothness of 5.
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My object text was not pefectly aligned
in the example, so I had to move the reflection image layer
(Layer 1) around to make it properly align with the layer
underneath. If you need to do this, lower the opacity of
your top layer and move it with the Move Tool. It doesn't
have to be perfectly aligned, but my example needed a little
editing. Once that is done, make the opacity 100% again
and Alt-click the border between the reflection image layer
and object layer to make a clipping group. Double-click
the name of the object layer in the Layers Palette to bring
up our friend the Layer Style box. Check the box called
Blend Interior Effects as a Group and uncheck Blend
Clipped Layers as a Group. Apply this change and your
image will get noticibly darker. Play with the opacity setting
of the top layer until your image looks pleasing. I settled
for 35% opacity.
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Now your effect is essentially complete.
At this point, it is a good idea to go back and tweak the
numerous Layer Style settings on your object layer to make
it look even better. I also added a blue background layer
with lighting effects for dramatic effect. The chrome effect
gets progressively better with larger resolution objects,
but I would say the example looks pretty chromodelic.
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| Tutorial
provided by: Spoono.com
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