Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to transform logos, text or any other flat shape into the look
of shiny, highly reflective, chrome.
This is an update of a tutorial I did many years ago.
This update is quicker and more flexible.
For your convenience, I provided a template that you can download, so you can follow along.
It includes two layers: a dark gradient background and this black logo on a white background.
Feel free to use your own image if you like or type in text over the background instead.
First, we'll remove the white background behind the logo.
To do this, open your Channels panel.
If you don't see it, go to Window and Channels.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the RGB thumbnail to make a selection of the logo's shape.
Invert the selection by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + Shift + I.
Open back your Layers panel.
Click the New Layer icon to make a new layer.
Check your foreground and background colors.
If they're not black and white respectively, press "d" on your keyboard.
Since black is your foreground color, press Alt or Option + Delete.
Deselect it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + D. Now that we have the shape of the logo,
we can delete the layer below it by making it active and pressing the "Delete" key
or by dragging it to the Trash can icon.
Make the logo active.
We'll convert it into a Smart Object, so we can modify it non-destructively, as well as
allow us to replace it with another image without having to redo the effects.
To do this, click the icon at the upper, right and click "Convert to Smart Object".
Double-click an empty area of the layer to open its Layer Style window.
Click "Color Overlay" and the color box.
In the Brightness field, type in 70.
Its hexadecimal code is B2, three times.
Click "Bevel & Emboss".
The Style is "Inner Bevel", the Technique is "Smooth" and the Depth is 600%.
The Direction is "Up", the Size is 40 pixels and the Soften is 5 pixels.
"Use Global Light" is unchecked.
The Angle is is 120 degrees and the Altitude is 30 degrees.
The Gloss Contour is Linear.
The Highlight Mode is Screen, the color is white and the Opacity is 75%.
The Shadow Mode is Multiply, the color is black and its opacity is also 75%.
Convert your visible image into another Smart Object.
Double-click an empty area of the layer to open its Layer Style window.
Click "Bevel & Emboss".
The Style is "Outer Bevel" and the Depth is 100%.
The Size is 7 pixels and the Soften is 0 pixels.
Open Gloss Contour.
If you don't see the names next to the shapes, click the gear icon and click "Small List".
Click "Ring - Double".
Click "Inner Glow".
The Blend Mode is Screen and the Opacity is 75% and the color is white.
The Technique is "Softer" and Source is "Edge".
The Choke is 10% and the Size is 7 pixels.
The Contour is "Linear" and the Range is 50%.
Click "Gradient Overlay".
The Blend Mode is Color Burn and the Opacity is 60%.
Click the Gradient bar to open the Gradient Editor.
Click the "Black, White" thumbnail and drag the white, lower, right Stop to the middle.
Click below the bar on the lower, right to add another Stop.
Click the color box and pick black.
Then, click OK on the Color Picker and the Gradient Editor . The Style is “Linear”,
the Angle is 90 degrees and the Scale is 100%.
Click "Drop Shadow".
The Blend Mode is Multiply and the Opacity is 50%.
Global Light is unchecked and the Angle is 120 degrees.
The Distance is 14 pixels, the Spread is 0 and the Size is 14 pixels.
Next, we'll make the metal into super-reflective, shiny chrome, but before we do,
let's collapse the effects to save some space in the Layers panel.
Click the small arrow next to the "fx" icon.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Curves".
If you can't see the entire Curves panel, just drag the bottom down to reveal it.
Before we use "Curves", it's important to know that Adjustment layers affect all of
the layers below them in the Layers panel.
However, since we want Curves to affect just our logo and not include the background,
we need to clip the adjustment layer to the logo.
You can choose one of 4 ways to do this.
My preferred way is to click the Clipping Mask icon.
A second way is to press Ctrl + Alt + G on Windows or Cmd + Option + G on a Mac.
A third way is to hover your cursor between the two layers and when you see this icon,
Alt-click or Option-click.
The fourth way is to go to Layer and "Create Clipping Mask".
The Curves panel is essentially a graph that shows the luminosity of your image.
The diagonal line represents all the tones from black to white.
By dragging the line to into a hill, a valley and a hill makes the tones of our image look like chrome.
To increase the effect, press Ctrl or Cmd + J to make a copy of the adjustment layer.
Then, make it into a clipping mask.
You can adjust the tonality of the chrome by playing with the line.
Lastly, we'll add a lens flare.
Make a composite snapshot of your visible image by clicking the New Layer icon to make
a new layer and pressing Alt + Ctrl + Shift + E on Windows or Option + Cmd + Shift + E on a Mac.
Go to Filter, Render and Lens Flare.
Drag the lens flare over an area of a bright spot on the chrome.
I'll tick "105mm Prime", but feel free to try the others, as well.
I'll reduce its Brightness to 60%.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!