Hello everyone this is Chris from Spoon Graphics
back with another video tutorial for Adobe Photoshop.
Today we're going to create a surreal photo-manipulation piece featuring a sci-fi space scene, using
a free sample pack of the Ultimate Universe Creator product that's exclusively available
for Spoon Graphics viewers to download.
We'll compose the various space themed graphics to make a fantasy cosmic art piece, with a
starry universe background, detailed render of the planet Venus, various dust and light
flares and an already-clipped astronaut image.
We'll then apply a cool duotone colour scheme and give the artwork an abstract twist with
a neon style geometric shape.
Click the link in the description area to download the free sample pack of the Ultimate
Universe Creator product to follow along with this tutorial.
It contains all the assets you need, plus a couple of bonus items you can use to create
your own photo-manipulation pieces.
If you love creating out-of-this-world designs, definitely check out the full Ultimate Universe
Creator by Skybox Creative.
It's 6 huge products in 1, featuring 279 individual, high-res space graphics including colourful
space backgrounds, perfectly isolated galaxies, star clusters, planets, moons, constellations,
astronauts, space shuttles and more to help you build a beautiful scene in just minutes.
To create your sci-fi space scene, open Adobe Photoshop and create a new document.
I'm using a typical poster size of 24x36inches for my canvas, with a resolution of 150ppi,
which is decent enough for a large poster, while also being the perfect size for the
image assets without having to upscale them.
Open the UniverseCreator9 space background into Photoshop.
Use the CMD (or CTRL on Windows)+A shortcut for Select All, CMD+C to Copy, then CMD+W
to close the file.
Back in the poster document, use CMD+V to Paste, then CMD+T to Transform.
Drag the corner handle to rotate the image into a portrait orientation, then right click
and choose Flip Horizontally.
Position the layer centrally on the canvas before hitting Enter to confirm the changes.
Open the Venus image next.
Use the cocktail of shortcuts of CMD+A, CMD+C, CMD+W, CMD+V and CMD+T to select the graphic,
paste it into the main document and begin transforming it.
Move the planet off the bottom of the canvas and scale it slightly so it meets the corners.
Double-click the layer to open the Layer Styles.
Add an Inner Glow effect.
Change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge, then max out the Size to 250px.
Take the Opacity to around 60%.
Add an Outer Glow next.
Use the same Color Dodge at 250px settings, but with an Opacity of around 75%.
The Color Dodge mode interacts with the hues of the space background to create vibrant
effects.
Open up the Astronaut image next and paste it into the document.
Choose Flip Horizontally under the right click menu and position him near the centre of the
composition.
The combination of blues, greens and oranges is getting a little too colourful for my liking,
so a convenient way to create an interesting Duotone colour scheme is with a Gradient Map.
Apply a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer by choosing the option at the bottom of the Layers panel.
Click the gradient bar in the Properties panel to edit the gradient colours.
Double click the first swatch and choose a deep navy blue, something like #0C142C.
For the second gradient colour, choose a pale green, such as 5EC77C.
There's all kinds of other Duotone colour combinations you could experiment with too.
One of my downloads at Spoon Graphics is a set of free Duotone gradient presets.
Install them to immediately have 40 colour schemes to choose from.
The white of the Astronaut's suit stands out a little too much, so select the layer and
press CMD+I to Invert it.
Since we're going for an abstract style, this negative look suits the design quite well.
Double click the Astronaut layer to add an Inner and Outer Glow.
Use the same Color Dodge settings, but bring down the opacity to 35% so the effect is more
subtle.
Open up the other space background from the pack: UniverseCreator6.
Copy and paste it into the document, placing it above the Gradient Map in the layer stack
so it retains its colour.
Scale this layer to fit over the astronaut's visor.
Turn off the visibility of the layer for a moment, then zoom in for a better look at
the visor.
Choose the Magic Wand tool, then activate the astronaut layer so it can select the bright
green area.
Bring back the space background layer, then while the selection is active, click the Layer
Mask button to trim the space scene to the area of the visor.
The Magic Wand selection is quite rough, so set up the brush tool with a soft tip, then
softly paint around the mask to make it fade a little more smoothly.
Make sure you're painting with white so it reveals the mask.
Let's use some of the other assets to brighten up the scene with some cool lighting effects.
Open the Space Dust image next.
Paste it into the document and position it over the planet at the bottom.
Right click and Flip Horizontally to find the best layout.
Change this layer's blending mode to Color Dodge, then reduce the Fill amount to allow
the dust to interact with the colours below to produce a vibrant glow.
Aim for around 50%.
Open the Flare next and position it over the planet.
Choose Overlay this time, then reduce the opacity to around 75%, just enough to prevent
any harsh white highlights.
Add the Comet graphic to the scene and scale it to size while holding ALT and Shift to
keep it proportional.
The comet has a yellow tint to it.
Placing this layer underneath the Gradient Map would make the white highlights too green,
so instead, go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and adjust its colour to a green hue that
matches the overall piece.
To brighten up the stars, turn off the visibility of all layers except the space background.
Activate this layer, then go to Select > Color Range.
Choose Highlights, then move the Fuzziness slider until you see just a selection of the
stars in the preview.
Bring back the visibility of all the layers, then add a new layer at the top of the stack.
Fill this stars selection with white, then go to Select Deselect.
Change the blending mode to Color Dodge to allow the green to show through slightly,
then reduce the fill to around 60%.
There's a few unwanted stars that appear on top of the Astronaut.
Add a layer mask and use a black brush to erase them.
The addition of geometric neon shapes to abstract artwork has become a bit of a trend.
Use the Pen tool to draw a triangle within the scene.
Switch to the brush tool to set up the tip with 100% hardness and a size of around 10px.
Add a new layer, then choose the Pen tool again so when you right click, you'll see
the Stroke Path option.
Choose Brush in the Tool setting and make sure Simulate Pressure is unchecked.
Hit the Delete key to remove the original path lines.
Double click this layer to transform the white lines into vibrant neons.
Use an Outer Glow with the Screen blending mode and a colour of your choice for the neon
glow.
I'm using a hot pink of FF00F6.
Bring up the Opacity to 100%, but bring down the Size to around 35px.
The Outer Glow isn't a layer style you can duplicate, but the Drop Shadow can be configured
to produce the same effect.
Set it to the Screen blending mode and choose a slightly paler version of your neon colour.
I'm using a lighter pink of FF89F0.
Reset the Distance to zero, then alter the Size to around 65px to create a softer glow.
Don't forget to set the opacity to 100%.
Apply a Layer Mask, then set up the Brush tool with 50% hardness.
Paint over certain areas where the neon lines overlap with the astronaut to erase them,
making it appear as if the two are entwined.
Create a new layer and set up the foreground colour sampled from the neon glow.
Select the Brush tool and bring the softness back to zero, then paint a few dabs of colour
around the astronaut to act as an ambient glow.
Find the Astronaut layer in the Layers stack, then hold the CMD (or CTRL key on Windows)
and click the layer thumbnail to load its selection.
Apply a layer mask to the pink ambience layer to trim the glow to the outline of the astronaut.
Change this layer to Color Dodge at 10% opacity to produce a very subtle colour cast.
Repeat the process using a blue colour sampled from the galaxy in the helmet area.
Trim the glow to the outline of the astronaut with a layer mask, but also make a selection
of the visor Layer Mask and fill this area with black to remove this area from the blue
glow too.
Set this layer to Soft Light at 30% opacity.
With the same blue colour, use a much larger brush to paint some general ambience in the
top corner of the canvas, painting on a new layer to keep all the elements separate.
Set this layer to Linear Light at 5%.
Add some pink glows on another new layer, set again to Linear Light at 5%.
These subtle glows aren't immediately noticeable, but they add little touches of colour to the
artwork.
As a finishing touch, add a text element to the scene.
I'm using a Condensed sans-serif named Korolev Compressed Light from Adobe Fonts, set to
200 tracking.
The final result is an abstract sci-fi art piece with a detailed space scene and an interesting
colour scheme which helps the vibrant lighting effects and neon shape stand out.
It's the perfect artwork for posters, album covers, or just a cool device wallpaper.
If you enjoyed this tutorial or learnt any new tricks, be sure to give the video a Like.
Subscribe to the channel to stick around for more tutorials, and join my mailing list at
Spoon Graphics to get your hands on more free design resources.
As always thank you very much for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.