Its been a while since I wrote a photoshop tutorial, so I thought I’d set the ball rolling again and get some serious tutorials done. The effect that I will be showcasing today I have used for a long time when creating things such as forum signatures, and concept art.

As with most photoshop tutorials, it’s always a good idea to load up photoshop before you start (run along now). I will be expecting that you will have some prior knowledge of photoshop, and I will not be taking you through the very very basics.

Create An Image

The first step to making this effect, is to already have an image that you want to apply the effect to. In this tutorial I will be creating a simple forum signature that is 500px in length, and 100px in height. This standard for forum signatures has always been my favourite.

To create the image below, I have used a few brushes and made pretty patterns on the canvas. If you cant be bothered to create your own, just save the image below and open it up with photoshop.

Merge all layers

It is possible that you have an image that is made up of several layers. Before you move on to creating the effect, you will need to merge these layers all into one. Before you do this, save a copy of the original PSD so that you can get back to it later if you mess things up.

To merge all the layers in the image into one, simply go to Layers / Flatten Image

Creating The Effect

Duplicate the layer

To start with, we need to create a copy of the image layer. To this, right click on the layer and click “Duplicate Layer”. You will then see an identical copy of the layer appear above the old one. The reason for creating a duplicate layer is so that we can reduce the intensity of the mosaic effect, by blending it in to the original image.

Apply the mosaic effect

Ensuring that the topmost layer is selected, go to Filter / Pixelate / Mosaic… On the window that appears, modify the cell size and make the squares about a medium size. Obviously saying “medium size” doesn’t help much, so just try and match the image below the best you can (just don’t make them too small).

Apply sharpening to the mosaic

Now we need to sharpen this layer also. This places more definition on the edges of the mosaic effect, and makes it look less uniform. The sharpen button is located in Filter / Sharpen / Sharpen. Sharpen this layer three times (go back and click the Sharpen button twice again).

Increase the contrast

You only need to increase the contrast if the base image you have used doesn’t have very much contrast in it to start with (like ours). I am increasing the contrast by a whopping 88%. This is what mine looks like now.

Change the blending mode

This little step improves the impact of the image greatly. Go to blending modes, and select overlay. You will notice immediately that the colours of the original image have become more vibrant, and that there is a slight opacity of the mosaic, allowing you to see the original image through it.

Decrease the opacity

Its now a time for personal preference. I personally do not like the harsh image that just changing the blending mode produces. To remove this harshness, simply lower the opacity of the mosaic layer. This allows more of the original image to come through, and the subtlety of the image is much nicer to look at.

The Finished Item

On the image below, I just added a border to it, and put some of my own text on. Nothing more. However, this creates a stunning forum signature that incorporates simplicity into it.