Filter and blending effects in Pixelmator
After a week on vacations, I’m back and lots of things happened while I was off. One of the coolest things was that the Pixelmator was released and everybody can get it for 59 dollars, that is a really affordable price. However the sad part of the story is, as I was fortunate to be a beta tester, I lost the beta user’s discount because I was away.
As I said, I’ve been using it since the early versions. It has evolved a lot since then. The interface is one of the most beautiful I have seen, although sometimes I get lost because my background usually is dark and the interface seems to blend with it.
In terms of functionalities it cannot be compared to Photoshop or even GIMP, however it’s the very first version and probably the further updates will make it more powerful. But I have to say it has some very nice features, like very fast real time preview of filter effects, the gradient editing tool, and the iPhoto library integration.
Here I show a tutorial testing the Layer Blending options and some filters.
1 - Create a new document, any size, here I used 1440x900.
2 - Create a gradient: Go to Views>Show Gradients, then click on the add gradient button (+). Just drag the colors to the create the gradients. The circular controllers are for the gradient distribution.
3 - Add a new layer and fill with black, after that change the blending options to Color Dodge.
4 - Using the Ellipse Selection tool, create an ellipse and fill it with white.
5 - Apply a Gaussian Blur, a sort of glow will be created.
6 - Rotate the Layer in Edit>Transform>Rotate.
7 - Duplicate the ellipse layer, resize it in Edit>Transform>Scale and change its position to something like the second photo below. After that use the Text tool.
8 - Create another layer fill it with black, put it below the Text Layer. after that select both layers and merge them Layer>Merge Layer.
9 - Apply the gaussian blur to the merged layer, the same as the step 5.
10 - Create one more layer, fill it with black. Set the Background Color to a dark blue and the Foreground Color to black and go to Filter>Generator>Stripes.
11 - There it goes, the first effect completed.
Second effect
12 - Using the same document, create a new layer and fill it with a beige. Put it in front of the others and set the blending options to Exclusion.
13 - Now it looks like a burned paper or something like that. Anyways, create a new layer and go to Filter>Halftone>Hatched Screen like the image below.
14 - Place the image to your document using the very handy Photo Browser tool ( the image used can be downloaded here). Set the blending options to Color Burn.
15 - Create another layer, go to Filter>Generator>Random to add a bit of noise to the image. Change the blending options to Color Burn 35%.
16 - Using the text tool, add the tag line.
17 - Create another layer and fill it with a gradient. Put it in front of the tag line layer and go to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. Your text will get the gradient effect.
Final Result
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| pixelmatorTut.zip | 3.75 MB |
About author
My name is Fabio Sasso, I'm a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I'm the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through abduzeedo.
em Umair, I much like it, I'nt imagine that Silent tutorial prove much of wonderance.
Cara grande tutorial..muito bom mesmo, mas o que fiquei mais curioso é em saber se vc usa algum tipo de skin para seu photoshop ficar transparent ...ter esse icones da hora e tals..fico no aguardo da sua resposta
Great work! Please Please please make more pixelmator guides!!!!!!
Your projects are a joy to view.
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Everything looks so beautiful in those designs. I wonder how beauty flows from mind to canvas, with photos.
Nothing beats Pixelmator!
Eye-popping graphics and tutorial. You are so talented!
I really like your site. It is so full of excellent tutorials.
Thank you.
Very Nice Tutorial
Thank you.Very Nice....
Nice effect, but you left some major steps out, and put random things in. Text shouldn't be merged with the black layer, and you did not tell us layer blending options. Please put the blending options in! :)
Wow, what a beautiful tutorial! Thanks so much for sharing this! I just got Pixelmator in the MacHeist bundle (so if you haven't bought it yet you can get it and 13 other apps for $49, which I'm sure works out cheaper than the beta discount ;p), and have been looking for tutorials for it. I would love to see more of them if you post any in the future ^__^
this is amazing
me again...
Sorry to be an idiot. I meant Mac... not MAC.
wow great, i hope you write the same topic tutorial using gimp ;)
First of all, thank you very much for the comments.
Chriz, that tiny pattern can be created using the Hatched Screen Filter, Filters>Halftone>Hatched Screen. I just changed angle and width.
Thanks for the great tutorial, provides a good start with Pixelmator.
How was the tiny pattern created which is visible on the picture after the stripes (picture 11)? It has the stripes and some different pattern, which is also on the downloadable file.
Thanks for the great tutorial, provides a good start with Pixelmator.
How was the tiny pattern created which is visible on the picture after the stripes (picture 11)? It has the stripes and some different pattern, which is also on the downloadable file.
Thanks for the great tutorial, provides a good start with Pixelmator.
How was the tiny pattern created which is visible on the picture after the stripes (picture 11)? It has the stripes and some different pattern, which is also on the downloadable file.
awwww that's really nice!!
i was so sad when pixelmator was released and i discovered it didn't feature a "ps like non-destructive filter panel"... great app though. by the way, great tutorial too!
Either you don't merge the text with black or you set a special mixing mode... You don't tell us which blending mode to use... Like some parts of the tutorial aren't complete and I can't recreate it... Well partially I'm more coder than designer but still...
Also I can't seem to recreate that blurring effect? I think you did something? No? Oh well.
Thanks,
Keehun
I, too, know Photoshop well, and havn't found anything that beats it yet. But trying the program won't hurt and possibly help broaden my range of knowledge for my graphic and design carreer.
Great aplication - just downloaded the trial version - I know Photoshop and naturally Photoshop is better (but it costs much more), but for this price I´ll perhaps buy it.
nice work!!!
Is this software only for MAC??
great tutorial dud.... cheers from staff of revistasl
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