Result of this signature tutorial:

optional result without gradient map adjustment layer:

1. We start this signature tutorial by creating a new file and fill this with a dark color. Our size was set to 370 by 120 pixels.

2. Find a good dark stock with a few lighter areas on it. We’re going to distort this stock by using the clone stamp tool and a splatter brush. Select the clone stamp tool, grab a splatter brush (check out our resources section for brushes) and hold ALT on your keyboard. Then select a region with some dark texture in it. Then tap around your canvas with your brush. Our result:

Select a splatter brush:

Press and hold alt to create a destination point, and tap around your tag:

3. In the next few steps we will be making some lighting on our tag. Grab a large round soft brush, and tap once near the button with a white color.

4. Set this layers blending mode to overlay:

5. Repeat these few steps with a lighter color to create some more lighting. Tap around with your brush, we selected a color from the render we are going to use later. If you’ve found a stock already, use your eyedropper tool to select a color:

6. Change its blending mode to either screen or overlay, we picked screen:

7. Brush some more with the same color until you’ve created some good looking lighting:

8. Add text to your canvas, the font we used for this tag is Kingthings SpikeMT. Add some text, ours made no sense, but add whatever you feel fits the tag with a bright matching color:

9. Use the same bright color we used for the text to tap softly with a smaller brush in the center of the lighting we made:

10. Find some good stock, and paste it on the canvas (duplicate the stock and keep a backup at all times, we will use it later). Remove the right side of this stock where we have the most texture in the background:

11. Change this stocks blending mode to lighten:

Our result:

12. Our render is too blended in, so we duplicated our render, set its blending mode to normal, and erased all parts but around the shoulder:

This is the render shown on a white background to show you what we’ve erased:

our result (we kept the renders blending mode on normal)

13. Go back to the backup render we kept (step 10) and duplicate it. Move it to the top of your layer panel. Set its blending mode to lighten:

moving the layer panel:

the result afterwards:

14. Add an effect render that matches the color of your render, and remove some sections of it. Make sure if follors the flow of your tag. Set its blending mode to screen afterwards.

Our render added:

The signature shown with Its blending mode set to screen

15. We’re going to add a gradient map adjustment layer with some very bright colors, and we’re going to reduce this layers opacity to ~ 80% to 85%. Our gradient map (colors used were black #070003, pink #FC006C, and yellow #F6FC02):

Our layer map (we set it to reverse:)

result after putting the opacity down somewhat:

16. We’re going to use the original colors of the render, duplicate the backup of the render we kept and move it on top of the layer panel:

The duplciated stock from step 10:

Erase the stock apart from the section around the head:

17. Set the copied stocks blending mode to lighten to blend it in slightly:

18. We’re going to make another gradient map, this time a black to white gradient map. We’re going to change the blending mode to Luminosity, and reduce the opacity somewhat, we used 44%:

After changing the blending mode to Luminosity and reducing the opacity to 44% :

19. We’re going to add some more detail by creating a clipping mask on splatter brushing. Before we add the brushing, hide the text, and apply the image on a new layer (Image > Apply Image).

20. On a new layer, add some brushing with a splatter brush where your tag needs some more texture:

21. Move the applied image layer up over the brushing layer, and go to Layer > Create Vector Mask, or press ALT + CTRL + G. Move the layer up a bit to cover some of the brushing.

22. Duplicate that clipping mask, and move it down a bit to cover the other part of the brushing, and set its blending mode to lighten:

23. Make a new layer, and select Image > Apply image. We’re going to sharpen our tag, go to Filter > Sharpen, if it’s too sharp you can reduce the opacity. We’ve kept it on a 100% though:

There are two more things we can do, the right side still looks a little dark.

24. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness Contrast Layer…, and put the contrast down a little. We set it down to -15 for our final result:

25. The second optional result we can make is creating a version without the adjustment layer. Hide the adjustment layers, the brushing and the clipping masks:

26. apply this result on a new layer (Image > Apply Image):

27. Unhide the splatter layer we’ve made:

28. Drag the applied image above the splatter layer, and create a clipping mask, move this layer up a bit:

29. Duplicate this layer, and move the render sidewards and down a little:

30. Apply the image on a new layer, and select Filter > Sharpen for our final optional result: