Signature Stop, Photoshop signature tutorials, renders, tag tutorials and signature backgrounds!

In this tutorial we will be making this awesome kickflip tag. The tag and original tutorial have been made by CaptainNapkins, he’s a great artist so be sure to check out his DeviantArt if you’re interested. You can also find the stock on CaptainNapkins’ deviantart page. This is the outcome of this tutorial:

This tutorial can be a bit advanced, we will not be teaching you how to make adjustment layers and what settings to use, it’s best to experiment with these settings yourself since no stock gives the same outcome as the other. We will show you each layer made and the technique used to make the layer, however you should be aware of what tools you have and be able to apply them yourself. Let’s get going

1. Grab your stock or render, and paste them on your canvas.

2. Add an adjustment layer. Make a Curves layer to make the colors a bit more interesting:

3. Get your smudge tool, and smudge with your prefered settings. Give it a bit of flow:

4. Displace it with a good PSD (Filter > Distort > Displace) , erase whatever looks bad, and smudge some more.

5. We’re going to flip it horizontally. Make a new layer, apply the image (Image > Apply Image…) and Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. Erase parts of it to make the stock a bit more interested and smudge some more.

6. Continue flipping it horizontally, smudging and erasing for a few layers until you get what you like:

7. Add in a gradient map to make the colors look good (Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map…)

8. Flip it again (Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontally…)

9. Displace the image with another PSD and smudge it some more (Filter > Distort > Displace…).

10. Apply the iamge, Add in a clipping mask (Layer > Add Clipping Mask, or ALT + CTRL + G), and move the layer around.

11. Displace the image again, and smudge it (Filter > Distort > Displace…)

12. Copy the original stock back in, and erase/smudge the background until it blends in and looks good:

13. Add a few adjustment layers. Layer > New Adjustment Layer, and pick some curves and gradient maps:

14. Make some more clipping masks (Layer > Add Clipping Mask, or ALT + CTRL + G), and move the layers around:

15. Apply the image again, flip it horizontally (Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontally…), erase some parts, and smudge some more.

16. Sharpen your focal either with the sharpening tool, or go to Filter > Sharpen

17. Add another clipping mask (Layer > Add Clipping Mask, or ALT + CTRL + G).

18. Make a new layer, set the blending mode to screen, and brush with a bright color near your focal. Reduce the opacity if its too bright, or pick a brighter color if it’s too dull.

19. Apply the image on a new layer (Image > Apply Image), move it around, erase some of it and smudge some more until you see what you like.

20. Darken your signature a bit by either brushing with a dark color and reducing the opacity, or use your burn tool.

21. Smudge the signature some more.

22. Flip the signature horizontally after applying the image on a new layer.

23. Smudge some parts that still don’t look good some more (we smudged the left side):

24. Make a new layer, set it to screen, and add some soft brushing over your focal point:

25. Apply the image, move it around, erase and smudge to decorate the background some more.

26. Aaaand some more smudging:

27. Flip the signature one more time depending on where your focal is. In this case, the flow looked better when it went somewhat to the right. Our result:

and you’re done! This tutorial was used to show you the layers made and changed, however this will not teach you to do the same thing. Please experiment with these techniques and try creating your own style. Thanks again to CaptainNapkins!