Symmetrical Abstract Photoshop Effect Tutorial

Introduction:

Spoiler

Hey everyody. I just thought I'd share a cool technique to create a cool looking effect using Abstract C4d Renders to create a cool looking pattern. For this tutorial, I will try to make it as user-friendly as possible so that even if you have little to no experience using Photoshop, you should be able to follow the tutorial.

Spoiler

This is one of my favourite results I got using this technique (I used more techniques than will be mentioned in the tutorial, simply because I cannot remember every step I took in creating it as it was over 2 years ago):



Here is another result I got with the friend who initially showed me the technique. This one was more heavily focused on Brushes and smudging than C4d renders.


The final product of the tutorial will be this:

Step 1:
Find some abstract c4d renders that appeal to you. The ones that I use are the following:
http://deceptivx.deviantart.com/art/C4D-16-293302816
http://deceptivx.deviantart.com/art/C4D-4-280191039

Step 2:
Create a new canvas. To do this, type ctrl+N. Choose the dimensions you would like, for my example I chose 500x500 pixels. Select the Background contents as Black. You should now have a black canvas.

Step 3:
Place your c4ds. You can do this by clicking File > Place and locating the images, or by simply dragging them on to the canvas. Arrange them to your liking. At this stage, colours do not really matter as they can always be changed later. I find having a section of the c4d that you find particularly interesting in the centre of the image produces a nice effect. Try not to overcrowd the canvas, otherwise the final image may be cluttered.



Step 4:
Apply the image. To do this, create a new layer (ctrl+shift+n) and type ctrl+alt+shift+e, or click Image > Apply Image. This creates a copy of the current image on a new layer. Now type ctrl+t or click Edit > Free Transform. Right click in the middle of the canvas and select 'Flip Horizontal'. Change the layer style to 'Difference' (This is on the top of the layers window next to Opacity, by default is set to 'Normal').


Step 5:
Repeat the above steps, however instead of clicking 'Flip Horizontal', select 'Flip Vertical'. Again, make sure the layer style is on 'Difference'.



Step 6:
Once again, repeat the above steps, but instead of selecting either 'Flip Horizontal' or 'Flip Vertical', select 'Rotate 90 degrees CW'. Again, make sure the layer style is on 'Difference'.



This is the main effect complete, the following steps are just steps I took to achieve the final image.

Step 7:
Recolouring the image. I only wanted to use one colour for this image to keep it simple. I did this by creating a new Gradient Map (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map) and selected a default gradient, orange/yellow/orange.
I set this layer on Hue with a 100% opacity.



Step 8 (optional):
I used Topaz Clean 3 to create a cartoon-like effect. This is a plug-in by Topaz Labs. To get this for free, download Topaz Clean 3 from their site, google 'Topaz clean 3 key' and click on the first link and click show serial number.



Step 9:
Add lights. I did this by creating a new layer (ctrl+shift+n), filling it in black and setting the layer style as 'Linear Dodge'. I then picked a light colour and using a soft brush (0% hardness) on the brush tool (type I clicked where I wanted to add lights. To make it perfectly symmetrical, I only added lights to one corner. I then duplicated this layer and flipped it horizontally. I then merged these two layers (ctrl+click on each layer, right click one of the layers and click 'Merge Layers'), set the layer style back to Linear Dodge, duplicated this layer once again and flipped it vertically. Finally, merge these two layers together again and set the layer style to Linear Dodge.

The Lights Layer when the Layer style is set to 'Normal':




Step 10:
Add Shadows and Highlights. I did this by creating a new layer (ctrl+shift+n) and clicking Edit > Fill (Shift+F5) and selecting Use: 50% Gray. I set this layer on Overlay. I then used the Dodge tool on this layer to add highlights and the Dodge tool to add shadows. I did a similar process to Step 9 to make it perfectly symmetrical, but this may be unnecessary.

This new layer set on 'Normal':




Step 11:
Darken the Edges. I did this by typing D (Makes Foreground colour Black and Background colour White), and creating a new Gradient Map. Keep the colours what comes up by default and your image should be black and white. Set the layer style to 'Multiply'. Then, using a Large soft brush, with your foreground colour as Black, click the centre of the image. This should lighten up the centre, leaving the edges darker. Adjust the opacity of this layer to your liking. At this step, I also added another Black and white Gradient Map and set the layer style to 'Luminosity'.



Step 12 (optional):
Add a border. There are many styles of border, but I chose my favourite, and seemingly most popular border. On a new layer, type ctrl+a and click Edit > Stroke. Select a width of '2 px' and a colour of white. Set the layer style to Overlay. Then double click this layer and a window should pop up, with a number of tick boxes un-ticked. Tick the Stroke box. Set the size as 1 px and the colour as Black.



And you're done! Hopefully this wasn't too difficult to understand, it's not very easy to explain some of these techniques when they are practically second nature to you, so if you didn't understand anything, please feel free to ask and I will try to explain it better.