#graphic tutorials

keep in mind i’m just showing you what i did! if you want a more in depth explanation about AE, there are many great tutorials all over youtube including the one i linked above!

basically you duplicate your main text and nudge it to your preferred position. 

press ‘q’ or select the shape tool (while having the text layer selected) to create a mask over the part of the text you want to show. the overlapping part will disappear. set the feather to 9 for the gradient effect. here’s some screenshot to help visualize it better 

don’t forget to set the character style to no fill and a 1 pt stroke. here’s the final result 

next we want to animate it so the text pops from underneath the main text. select the text you want to animate, go to the 1s mark (or any time at all you want the text to pop), press p, click on the clock icon besides to create a keyframe. then go back to around 10-20 frames before, and move the text until it’s covered by the main text. this will automatically create a new keyframe :)

for the spread out effect, click the little arrow besides animate -> select tracking. move the time indicator to your last position keyframe, then click on the clock icon next to ‘tracking amount’. move the time indicator a couple frames forward, and change the amount to 25, or whatever spacing you need.

this is how my keyframes look

basically i repeated the same steps for the rest of the text! adjust the tracking amount at the topmost text so it spread out more.

yay! to animate the text going back, basically sellect all the key frames, copy them (ctrl +c) move the time indicator to around thee end of your gif (anytime you want the text to move back), paste the key frames (ctrl v), then right click -> keyframe assistant -> time reverse keyframe. move the position keyframes to the right, after the final tracking key frame (because we want the text to contract before moving anywhere).

we want smooth animation! so select all the keyframes, then press f9 (or right click -> easy ease). 

now that all your keyframes are in order, you can adjust the timing to your heart’s desire! just drag the keyframes around and see what looks good :) to see the keyframes easier, select the text layer, and press u on your keyboard. here is how mine look:

since the text is above a gif, i select all the text, go to layers -> blending mode -> exclusion. i change the font color to white so it has a nice black and white exclusion color.

now to export the gif! you have to use adobe media encoder (as far as i know anyways), so go to file -> export -> add to adobe media encoder queue. it’ll open the app, where you can select the file type ‘animated gif’.

1. Finish editing your image and adding your psd. We want to put the overlay over the psd, that way the white stands out. Here I have edited this picture and I will soon be adding an overlay:

2. Find an overlay gif.

Here is a blog of some: https://overlaygifs.tumblr.com.

octomoosey has posted some gif overlays before, and you can go through their tag to check them out.

library-mermaid has made some as well: 1, 2.

You can also search "gif overlay" on Tumblr and see if you can find any, or go through the tag.

Find the one you like and download it.

I'll be using one from one of library-mermaid's posts.

3. Open the gif in Photoshop and open the timeline (Window>Timelime or Window>Animation). The frame animation should be on.

Example (it should look something like this):

4. Go to the corner of the timeline and click the settings arrow, and then click "Select All Frames."

5. Once the frames are selected, click the settings arrow again, and select "Convert to Timeline."

It will now look something like this:

6. In the Photoshop menu, go to Select and click "Select All Layers."

7. Once the layers are selected, right-click on one of them, and select "Convert to Smart Object."

It will place all the layers into one, like this:

8. Drag the gif over to your edit document.

***Make sure to place the gif layer above all the other layers from the edit, like so:

9. Put the gif layer mode to "Screen" or "Lighten."

It doesn't matter which, but I think people use Screen mode more because it picks up more of the gif. But for certain things, Lighten mode looks better. It is up to you.

It will now look something like this:

10. If your gif doesn't fit like mine clearly doesn't, select the gif layer, click the select tool, right-click on the document, and select "Free Transform" to make the gif bigger.

If it ends up blurry, sharpen it by going to Filter>Sharpen>Smart Sharpen.

Now it fits:

11. Now, before saving it, make sure the timeline duration is in sync to the gif.

As you can see below, the timeline duration ends way after the gif. You don't want that because the overlay will stop for a long period of time.

Drag the end point to where the gif ends.

12. Finally, go to File>Save for Web & Devices, and save it.

***Make sure the looping option is on "Forever" and I recommend setting the Gif to "Adaption" and "Pattern"!!

Here is my final result:

OTHER INFO / TUTORIALS:

Sometimes the background of gif overlay isn't entirely black, so it'll end up looking like this:

It will have a white background and it won't look right. If this happens, add a Selective Color adjustment.

Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Selective Color.

On the adjustment, switch the color to black. Add some to the "Black" section to darken the background.

Here I added 26% more to the black:

Now it is just the overlay with no white background: 

For this, I used this gif.

Another obstacle you might run into is the overlay might not be white or grey.

Here mine is light pink, but I don't want that:

If that happens and you want it to be black and white, go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map.

On the adjustment, click the arrow to choose and black and white gradient.

Place that into a clipping mask, so that it only makes that layer black and white, not the rest. (right-click on the adjustment and select "create clipping mask.")

It is now black and white:

For this, I used this gif.

But what if you want to change it to a different color?

Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color.

Upon the pop-up box, set the mode to "Multiply" and click OK.

Now choose a color you want it to be. (Btw, it's going to temporarily change the entire thing to that color, but we'll fix that in a second.)

I chose cyan, but click OK when you're done.

Now it's gonna look something like this:

To fix it, make sure the color layer is right above the gradient layer, right-click on the color layer, and select "Create Clipping Mask" to put it inside the gif only.

Now it should color the gif overlay only.

That’s all there is to it!

I hope you found this helpful and plan on using it. If you need any further help, just send me a message!

First, when making your gif, I recommend using the dimensions of the element you’re trying to put it in. That way you can see what you’re working with and what parts will be cut out.

To figure out the dimensions of an element, open your template, select the element layer, use the select tool and select the element on the document, go to edit>copy, then go to file>new, preset: clipboard, and it should show you the dimension, and click cancel (since we’re not actually making a new document).

For example, I’ll use this template. I will be putting my gif in this element:

That element is the layer titled “7″ in the template.

So, I would click that layer, select around the element with one of the selecting tools, go to edit>copy, go to file>new, preset: clipboard, and it will say the dimensions. Like so:

The dimensions of the element I want to put it in is 116px by 220px. So I would adjust the cropping settings to 116x220 and resize to that same amount.

Now as for putting the gif into the element; select all the frames of the gif and convert to video timeline, then select all the layers and convert to smart object, as you usually would with a gif.

At this point, you can also sharpen and do some touch-ups for your gif before putting it in.

Once you’re ready, drag the smart object layer over to the template document. Place that layer right above the element layer, like so:

Right-click on the gif layer and select “create clipping mask.” It should now have an arrow pointing towards the element layer, indicating it’s been put inside, like so:

You can then rearrange the gif so it fits inside perfectly.

Now open the video timeline. 

You’ll have to rearrange the other layers to align with the gif layer. To do so, go to the end point of the timeline–it looks like this:

–and drag it to the end point of the gif layer.

If you don’t do that, the document will add more layers to the gif and make it longer than the actual gif itself.

& that is all for the tutorial.

If you wish to add more gifs into different elements, you repeat the same steps as before.

However, you should keep the gifs to be the same amount of layers at the same speed. It’s also important to keep in mind that whatever point you set the end point of the timeline to, is where the gif ends. If you add another gif longer than the layers from your previous gif, it will be cut off. That is why I recommend using the same amount of layers, at the same speed for all of the gifs you use.

Edit any other parts of your template (such as adding pictures, changing text, etc.), add a coloring if you want, and when you’re done, go to file>save for web.. and save your gif. (Remember to set the looping option on “forever”!)

Here is the end result of the edit I was doing:

If you have any further questions, or you got lost at some step, don’t hesitate to send me another message!

I hope you (and anyone else who clicked on this tutorial) found this helpful.

These steps should be the same for all templates, and any other elements you want to put a gif in.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED:

photoshop , i use cs6 extended portable something idk

pngs ( one of ur fc/model , and just plain objects )

a background texture ( optional )

patience , lots of it.

some snacs bc why not

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: medium , it’s not hard it just takes a lot of time. also this tutorial is suited for people who are familiar with the program and have used photoshop before.

STEP ONE: THE BACKGROUND ( OPTIONAL )

first , i created a 540x540px canvas. i filled it with some snazzy brown/tan color. you can just leave the background a solid color but if you wanna be bougie , you can add a soft texture. i often use a crumbled paper texture but i went with a dotted one like below:

i then changed the layer to “lighten” , set the fill layer to “22%” , and erased a bit of it here and there to get a fading effect

STEP TWO: THE PNG

now that we have our background we can place the png of our model. i’ll be using my mans , the loml , pedro pascal. i suggest making pngs from screencaps or anything that isn’t a photoshoot. the png i’m using is from a character promotion poster. it just looks natural in the graphic but ,,, u can do whatever u want tbh

as for placement , middle is always the best place. and leave a good distance for a title if you wish to have one. 

ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL STEP: i just added a little drop shadow because i just thought it fit the graphic. you can get the same effect by following this tutorial from like 2013... yikes 

STEP THREE ADDING OBJECTS:

now this is my favorite part !!! adding the objects , so basically. you pick the things that “represent” that character’s style. i would stick to five or less items. anything more looks wack as fuck

the items i chose were: a cowboy hat , rosary , tie/bolo tie , and a watch. some other ideas are: necklace , rings , bracelets , cuff links , sunglasses , hair accessories , etc ....

ADDITIONAL TIP: add a small drop shadow to your objects to give it dimension , place them with a good deal of distance apart from one another. we’re going to be adding text !

STEP FOUR ADDING TEXT AND LINES:

pretty self explanatory. just click the shape tool , click line and point at where you’d find the object. 

now just add ya text. you can be serious or you can be a headass like me and joke around with it. for the font i used good ol’ montserrat , serif fonts look the best ( e.g arial , helvectia ) the head font is montserratet / semibold / 14pt the description is montserrate / regular / 11pt

lookin sexy, right ?? now you’re almost done !!! just title left. 

STEP FIVE: TITLE 

you can do a simple title , but if you gucci then you be extra w/ it. here’s how i got my text effect. 

i started it simple , my boi’s name in the font “lucky turns”

then i duplicated it. in blending options i gave it a stroke of 1pt. again , this is the duplicate layer. 

that’s ugli kno , just wait ! i lowered the opacity to 16% and the fill to 0% and moved the layer a little to the right to get this:

now on the ORIGINAL LAYER i just added drop shadow and glow. i know it doesn’t look that different so it’s optional u feel

then for the subtitle i just used the montserrat font all caps font size 8pt

finally , ya add your psd make those minor face lifts and you’re left with this bad boy

ADDITIONAL TIPS 

bigass , hd photos are always a win. even when using the objects , it makes hella difference.

place your shit in folders , it’s so much easier 

use “clean” psds that look natural. none of that high contrast , funky colors mess.

give yourself a break , this graphic takes a while and it gets fucking annoying after a while. be patient , leave it alone. let the inspo come to you !!!!!!

Open Photoshop and create a new document, using whatever dimensions you want. I used 540x300 for this post because I made 9 of them, but you can make it longer if you want. 

If you plan on doing two of them, place a divider in the middle of the document to split the two sides up. Or I create a new document, change the width dimension to half of the original one (so since the original is 540px, i’ll do 270px, as it’s half of 540), keep the height the same, and fill the new document with a solid color, drag it over to the edit document, and place it on the left or right side, duplicate it, change the color, and put it on the other side.

2.1. Now we’ll do the actual edit part. I’ll start with the lucky one part (not the 3D/monster one). Open the image of your choice, place it onto the edit document, choose which side you want to put it on, and resize it to fit half of the document size. If you did what I did, you can create a clipping mask on one of the squares, and resize it like that.

2.2. All I did for this side was make the background lighter, giving it an angelic-like effect. So use the brush tool (one with soft edges not hard), use a white color, create a new layer, put that new layer into clipping mask so everything goes inside that image only, and draw over the background.

2.3. On the brush layer, set the mode to overlay or soft light (depending on which one you think looks better). 

That’s all I did for that part, but you can add some more stuff if you want--like stars and what not.

3.1. Now we’ll do the monster/3D part. Open your image, place it into the document on the other side, resize, etc. If you did what I did, put the image into the other square using a clipping mask.

3.2. This is where it’s going to get complicated.I suggest to move the angel/lucky one part layers above the monster/3d layers because you’re going to be duplicating the image a lot and it’s easy to get confused and mess up. So select all the lucky one/angel layers (which should be the image, the white brush, the background square if you used it, and any other edits you made to it)

3.3. Now go back to the other image layer (the monster/3d one), and download these 3D actions: X. After you’ve added them to your actions, select the monster/3D image layer and copy it.

3.4. Open up your actions (window>actions) and open the 3D actions folder. Firstly, click the “normal 3D” one and play it. 

(Ignore the pop-up box, it doesn’t matter)

3.5. Adjust the 3D layers given. Move the 3D layers so it looks better. Once you’re satisfied, select the pattern, the 3D layers, and the copy layer, right click and select “merge layers”. You can rename that layer so you know what it is and put that into a clipping mask as well.

3.6. Go to the original image layer, not the 3D one we just did, and create another copy. Drag that copy over the previous 3D layer. (You might have to put the previous 3D layer in a clipping mask again, btw)

3.7. Go back to the actions (window>actions) and back to the 3D actions folder and open it. This time go to the “wind 3D” action and play it.

Select all the 3D layers, patterns, texture, and the copy layer and right click and select “merge layers”. You can create a clipping mask on that too and rename that layer to “wind 3d”.

3.8. Go back to the original image, duplicate it, place the copy above the other layers (the original & the two previous 3d layers). You might need to put the previous two 3d layers into the clipping mask again.

3.9.Go to the actions again, back to the 3d actions folder, and this time select the “mosaic 3d” action and play it.

Select the 3d layers, the copy, the pattern, and the texture from the action, right click and select “merge layers”. You can rename it to “mosaic 3d” and place it into the clipping mask.

3.10. Go to the original image, duplicate it, place it above the other layers. (You might need to put the previous 3d layers in a clipping mask again)

Go to the actions and the 3d actions folder. This time select the “radial blur 3d” action and play it.

Select the 3d layers, the copy, the pattern, and the texture given from the action, right click and select “merge layers”. You can rename it to “radial blur 3d” and put it into a clipping mask.

3.11. Go to the original image, duplicate it, place it above the other layers. (You might need to put the previous 3d layers in the clipping mask again).

Go to the action pack, and select the “tiles 3d” action and play it.

Select all the layers given from the action and the copy, right click and select “merge layers”. You can rename it to “tiles 3d” and place it into a clipping mask.

That’s all the actions I used, but you are free to do the other actions too. Just follow the general pattern I’ve shown you. 

4.1. Now we’ll delete some parts of each 3d layer. So, go to one of them (I’ll start with the first one I did), select the rectangular marquee tool, and drag random parts of the document, and delete parts of the 3d layer.

Do the same for the next 3d layer.

Do the same for the next 3d layer.

Do the same for the next 3d layer.

Keep doing that for all your 3d layers. For the tiles 3d layer, I like to keep the lines/boxes it makes and I delete most of the outside of it.

5.1. Now before making it into a gif, this is where you can sharpen or do any other effects and add a psd coloring. This is also where you can add anything else you want, whether you want brushes, textures, or if you want to put your credit on it, etc. 

If you plan on sharpening, go to the original images and sharpen them like that. Try not to create copies because it gets confusing, but if you do, be sure to put them in a clipping mask with the original image. I wouldn’t recommend sharpening the 3d layers, though.

When adding a psd, you can either select the top layer and put a psd on the document (so the psd is on top of everything), or you can place one above the monster/3d edit and place another on top of the lucky one/angel edit using a mask.

6.1. Now it’s time to make it into a gif. Go to the monster/3d part, hide all the 3d layers so only the original image is shown. Open the timeline up (window>timeline) (make sure it’s the frame animation not the video timeline).

Set the frame animation time to 0.1 seconds. Create a new frame.

6.2. On the 2nd frame, un-hide one of the 3d layers.

Create a new frame.

6.3. On the 3rd frame, un-hide another one of the 3d layers.

Create a new frame.

6.4. On the 4th frame, un-hide another one of the 3d layers.

Create a new frame and repeat until all of your 3d layers are visible. All of mine will be visible in the 6th frame.

6.5. Create a new frame and from here we’ll slowly start to hide each layer again. On the new frame, hide one of the 3d layers.

6.6. Create a new frame and hide another 3d layer.

6.7. Create a new frame and hide another 3d layer and repeat until all of the 3d layers are no longer visible, just the original image will be. Mine will stop at the 11th frame.

6.8. Once you’re there, that means you’re done. Therefore, go to file>save for web, and save your gif. Here are my settings:

Make sure the looping option is on “forever”. This step is important, otherwise, it won’t repeat.

Save it and you’re done. :)

If you’re curious about how mine turned out, here it is:

If you have any questions, just ask away! 

Feel free to send me your finished products, if you want, I’d like to see them!

1. Open photoshop and create a new document with the size you want.

For this tutorial, I’ll be doing 540x540px.

2. Add your background. You can make it a solid color, use a pattern, gradient, texture, etc.

For example, I used the paint bucket tool to fill the background with a solid color (#d1ecff, to be exact), and I applied a pattern overlay (using the last one here) in soft light mode.

So my background looks like this:

A/N: I’m making the example pastel-ish, but you don’t have to!

3. Now make a png of a vintage-esque TV, or you can use one of these: 1, 2, 3, 4.

I’ll be using the 2nd png in the 1st pack.

A/N: You’re going to want the screen portion erased if it isn’t already, because that is where you’re going to put an image.

4. This is optional, but if you don’t like the color of the TV, you can change it by: 

Double-clicking on the TV layer, and go to the “Color Overlay” tab, clicked the colored rectangle, choose the color you want, click OK, and change the mode to one of the following: Overlay, Soft Light, Color, Hue, or Multiply. Choose which one looks best with your color and you can adjust the opacity if you want.

For example, here’s what I did:

5. If you chose a TV that already has antennae, skip this step. If your TV does not have antennae, like mine, I will show you how to quickly make some.

Create a new layer, choose a foreground color to a color that matches your TV color, select the line shape tool, make the line 2px weight with no stroke, and click and drag a couple lines from the top of the TV to make antennae. 

A/N: You might want to rasterize those shapes (to do so, right-click on each layer and click “rasterize layer”) or put those shape layers under the TV layer.

Now create another new layer, use the ellipse shape tool, click and drag a small circle to fit on top of one of the antennae (hold shift as you do so to get an even circle). Duplicate that and drag it over to the other antenna.

6. Now for the screen image.

Create a new layer and drag it under all of the TV/antennae layers.

Select the pen tool. You’re going to make some points around the screen portion and connect them.

Once you connect them, It’ll make a line like this:

Go to the top bar and click the “Selection...” button. It will make the outline into a selection and that’s what you want.

A/N: There will be a dialogue box pop up, but just click OK.

Now it is a selection.

Click the fill bucket tool and click inside the selection to fill it. It doesn’t matter what color it is.

Click CTRL+D to deselect it.

7. Now we will put an image/edit inside.

If you just want to put an image, open the image, drag it to the TV edit document, make sure it’s right above the screen fill layer, right-click on the image layer, and select “Create Clipping Mask.” It will be inside the screen portion and you can resize.

If you want to put an edit inside, I’d suggest making the edit in a new document, merge all of the layers of the edit document when you’re done, drag it over to the TV edit document, make sure it’s right above the screen fill layer, right-click on the image layer, and select “Create Clipping Mask.” It will be inside the screen portion and you can resize.

For example, I quickly made this edit in a new document and merged all the layers:

Then I followed the steps above and put it inside the screen.

8. Creating the “electricity”. 

Create a new layer and use the brush tool with a simple hard round brush in a small size and draw a couple little zig-zags coming from one of the antennae. 

Create another new layer and make a couple more for the other antenna.

Now you could stop here, or if you want, you can make them into a little gif with the next step:

9. Duplicate one of the electricity layers, choose the select tool, right click on the document, and click “Free Transform”. Go to the top bar, and in the rotation box, enter -10. Hit the Enter key when you’re done.

It rotated the duplicate slightly to the left.

A/N: If it’s blurry around the edges, apply a Surface Blur with 5 Radius and 10 Threshold.

Duplicate the other electricity layer, Free Transform it, and apply a Rotation of 10. (Do the same number but polarize it. i.e., if you previously put -10, put +10 for this one. If you previously put +10, now put -10.)

10. Open the frame animation timeline.

For the first frame, hide the duplicated electricity layers. Only the original ones should be visible.

Create a new frame and in this one, hide the original electricity layers and un-hide the duplicates.

Set the speed of the gif to 0.5, or something around there. You don’t want it too fast because it’ll hurt people’s eyes!

Make sure the loop is on “Forever” as well!

11. Go to File>Save for Web.., and save the gif.

And you’re done!

Here is my edit, image version:

And here it is as a gif:

Other Suggestions:

> For the full effect, you can go to the screen fill layer (not the image/edit inside of it) and select it, double-click, and apply a pattern overlay with a horizontal stripe and put the mode on Soft Light and lower the opacity to create that line effect.

Result:

> You can also apply an Inner Glow to the screen layer and create a shadow.

Result: