123RF Tutorial: Creating a Digital CD Cover Design

This is a simple way of creating a CD cover design with digitized background and neon lights text. This method was adapted from an old Photoshop tutorial which I've then modified and used to create this cool digital-concept CD cover design.

Final Result:

:

Step 1
Open an image for the background and Duplicate the layer.
Image ID: 3502224 © Aleksey Baskakov 123RF.com

Step 2
NOTE: The following effects are all created using Filters.
Firstly, go to Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic. Set Cell Size to 8 square.

Then, go to Filter > Stylize > Find Edges. The results should be similar to what you see here. Cool ain't it?

Next, go to Filter > Noise > Median > Radius: 2 pixels.

Step 3
Invert the layer before duplicating it.

Next, go to Filter > Stylize > Find Edges again. This is to add more outline on the colorful dots.

You should get something like this by now:

Step 4
Go to New Adjustment Layer > Levels to adjust the contrast of the layer.

Step 5
Duplicate this layer (Layer 1 copy 2) for the next effect. Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and follow the settings below:

Now, hide “Layer 1 copy 2” and work on “Layer 1 Copy”. Do the same steps as previous layer, but change the Angle to -45.

Step 6
Adjust the Opacity of “Layer 1 copy 2” to 60. Now you will see that the lines are cross-hatched.

Correct the color by adjusting its New Adjustment Layer > Curve. Next, merge the layers by pressing Ctrl+E.

Step 7
Open the next image. Mask out the dancer using Magic Tool (W) and bring it to background workspace we have just created. Transform it to your prefered size.

Image ID: 3683121 © Alexander Yakovlev 123RF.com

Step 8
Next, fill the selected area in Black and Crop (C) the image into a square (or whichever size you might want it to be).

To enhance the effect, set Opacity level to 70% and let some of the background lines overlap the black dancer.



You can also use the Brush tool to bring out more lines from the background, just like the example shown below:

Step 9
Now for the Text, choose a font that you like. I've personally chosen “SF Distant Galaxy AltOuline”.



Step 10
Now is the time to add some neon effects on the text. To do this, you can double click on the layer or go to Blending Options and just follow the steps below.





a) Set the Blending Mode to Overlay.

b) Duplicate the text layer, and set the Blending Mode to Darken.

c) Duplicate the text layer again, and set its Blending Mode to Hue this time.

Dont forget to do the neccesary color corrections for better output. Flatten the layers when you are done and you will have your final image.

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