Download Source Files
A while ago Sean posted a very interesting article called 6 Techniques to Compose Your Work Using Repeating Shapes and Flexible Patterns. I carefully examined the articled and got inspired by a great artist named Guilherme Marconi. In this tutorial, you’ll learn one way to create a design using repeating elements in a style inspired by him.
Final Image Preview
Before we get started, let’s take a look at the image we’ll be creating. Click the screenshot below to view the full-size image. As always, the layered Photoshop file is available via our Psdtuts+ Plus membership.
Step 1
Open up a new document. Chose the size you want and create it according to what is the purpose of the the project. If you plan to print it, you should use 300dpi. If it’s destined for screen then 72 should be fine.
Step 2
To be able to follow this tutorial you’ll need to have a filter installed. The filter is called 3D Transform and it can be found on the Adobe Suite Extras CD. Here is an article on installing it.
Step 3
After you have installed your filter, go back into your document and create a new layer to put the cube in. You’ll create one new layer for each cube you create. Then start the 3D Transform by going to Filter > Render > 3D Transform.
Step 4
In the 3D Transform filter select the cube button and draw a cube.
Step 5
Select the Trackball Tool button. This will allow you to rotate the cube as you wish. Make sure you place it with the visible side only and press OK.
Step 6
As you can see you have one cube. You’ll need a whole lot more, so start adding new layers for each cube you make. You’ll need at least 20 or maybe 30 cubes. You’ll probably not use all of them, but you need them just in case.
Step 7
After making the cubes, you can go back to Leopard to finish the tutorial because this 3D Transform filter is not available for Mac, or at least I couldn’t make it work on my Mac. Of course, you could create cubes in a different program if you prefer and import them into Photoshop.
Step 8
Open up your document that has all those cubes you created. The next step you need to do is to make a shape for each side of the cubes. I will make these shapes colored, so I went to Kuler. This website is useful because it helps me chose the right colors that work with each other.
Step 9
Make one of the cubes visible. Then move it into a separate folder. In this folder, you’ll have all the colors for this specific cube.
Step 10
When you color the shapes you need to make sure you use different tones for each side. You can make selections and use fill in the colors with the Paint Bucket Tool (G), or any method you prefer.
Step 11
Next you need to make a stroke for each side of the cube. To do this, use the Line Tool (U) with a darker color than the other sides.
Step 12
And last make a black stroke as I did to the cube, not to the sides. Do this by going to the Blending Options of the cube. Double-click on the cube layer to open up the Layer Styles and use the settings below.
Step 13
Repeat this process for each cube, but do not use the same colors for all the cubes. Use the colors you chose from Kuler.
Step 14
Continue making more cubes, duplicating them, resize, and rotate them. Make them look different and fill the screen with them.
Step 15
You can continue making cubes one by one, but in this case I will make this faster simply by moving the cubes into a group and duplicating all of them. I have duplicated all those cubes in four different sections. Each was rotated so that they will each be distinct.
Step 16
Next you need to continue duplicating them until you fill the screen with cubes. This will take a while especially if the document is big. Also, Photoshop may start slowing down as it takes up a lot of memory space.
Step 17
Now you need to change some colors of these cubes and make them look nice. Maybe follow a pattern of colors you want. You do this by going in each cube folder and simply change the colors of the sides of each cube. Or maybe delete them and replace them with another one, whatever method works best for you to change the colors is fine. Be sure to play around with them until you are satisfied with the result.
Step 18
Make two cubes that will be the center of attention. They will also be bigger than the other cubes.
Step 19
Next you need to add the text on these two cubes. You’ll have to rotate, skew, and transform the text to fit in place. The font used is Stone Sans Sem.
Step 20
Save the work as a JPG. Now you’ll work directly with the JPG. Open up the JPG, and we’ll bring the colors to life. Duplicate the layer, go to Gaussian Blur, and set the Radius to 19.6px.
Step 21
Set the layer to Soft Light. Then flatten the image.
Step 22
Duplicate the layer again and use the settings shown below for the Blending Options.
Step 23
Make a nice black border around the image. Then make a new layer over the background and go to Filter > Render > Clouds.
Step 24
Set the clouds layer to Soft Light.
Step 25
Duplicate the clouds and set the duplicated layer to 50% Opacity to make the effect more intense.
Step 26
Lower in the Layer Palette you have a button that is called Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer. Click on that button and select Brightness and Contrast. Use 0 for Brightness and +20 for Contrast.
Step 27
Again go to Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer and this time select Hue/Saturation. Set the Saturation to +20 and leave the others at 0. Also, make sure that Colorize is not checked.
Step 28
Now repeat Step 27 but this time set Hue to +53, Saturation to +25 and Lightness to 0. Also, make sure Colorize is checked this time.
Conclusion
The tutorial is not very complicated, but if you want to achieve a similar result you’ll need to work at it a bit. You can experiment with this and add other design elements as well. I looking forward to seeing what others do with the techniques shown here.
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By Constantin Potorac
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Nice tutorial. though it is a long tutorial but it worth its time. Keep posting more tutorials on 3D objects.
WAS REALLY LOOKING FWD TO THIS thankyou
Thanks Constantin. I always discover “something” new when I visit this site and that includes from the comments.
For what it’s worth, there are no artists who do not appropriate techniques, concepts, styles, subject matter, political, philosophical and religious content, color schemes or pallets, etc., etc. from nature, cultures, life experience, schools AND other artists/designers. It is how you assemble, compose or orchestrate these elements into your work that causes it to speak to others in various ways and on differing levels. If you want to get down to it, the only artists who didn’t “rip-off” anything were the authors of the images found in the caves of France. But, I bet they learned from someone else as well. Finally, the author cited the source of his “tutorial”. What more can one do?
i have a problem when i’m trying to color the cube. i color the 1st ‘face’ of the cube, then the 2nd, but when i apply the color with Paint Bucket Tool on the 2nd it merges with the 3rd and results only a single color on the 2nd and the 3rd face, different from the 1st! how to put different colors on every face of the cube ? thanks :) and sorry if a i made mistakes in my writing!
Oh how I love listening to people complain about free stuff…..IT’S FREE…..be thankful that something was posted at all….
Best use of this tutorial:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loswl/2715122964/in/pool-psdtuts
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26471668@N04/2714156777/in/pool-psdtuts/
great work and a great tutorial.
This is great. You can also get the same results in illustrator. I think the people who are saying that this is lame and whatever have no idea what they can accomplish using this technique. Thumbs up!
“Yo all stop hating if you don’t like it then leave i dont think you could have done better”
so when your football team plays really bad you do not comment because maybe you cant play better (i can not tell since I don’t know you, and you do not know me)?
“Oh how I love listening to people complain about free stuff…..IT’S FREE…..be thankful that something was posted at all….”
quality over quantity.
there is something called copyright. this is too close to the original, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a tutorial or not. It could’ve been presented with another content but with the similar technique. I’m just saying. It’s cool that psdtuts are doing what they are doing, but as mentioned earlier: quality over quantity.
I think the first one is good but not the second one on “godonholiday’s” post
I love this tutorial, it makes it look so simple, even tho when i tried it i gave up on the time T_T.
Where do I find the 3d transform filter for mac photoshop cs3?
It is not in the Goodies folder :(
Ok, you can delete my posts. I read that it is not available for the mac :(
i wouldn’t say this tut is a ripoff off marconi. It’s the polishing and the attention to detail that make his style, u’ll have to slave for hours to make this tut’s result look anything similar
stunning… btw nice link to the kuler website. very useful!
I wonder if Marconi would be happy seeing his work owned. Anyways, looks freaking awesome! I will definately try it! :D
Hi guys ;
This link for 3DTransform plugin download.
http://www.resourcebag.com/plugin/plugin-adobe-photoshop-cs3-3dtransform/
Very good.
Thank you
Leandro Jorge
Really enjoyed this and saw an opportunity to create some cool repeating backgrounds using what I had made, so I wrote my own tutorial. Nothing complicated, but I think the results are pretty cool.
Please have a look: http://peter-pearson.com/tutorials/patterns/patterns-tutorial.htm
So I know this isn’t a technical forum but if people are googling this issue it’ll take them here.
I’m running OS X 10.5.4 on a PPC with CS3 Extended (10.0) and (of course) the 3DTransform is missing from the Goodies folder on my disc. So I download it from multiple other places but everyone has it as an “.8BF” extension when ALL other plugins are now in the “.plugin” extension. The .8BF file does not work.
Restart PSCS3, Restart OS X. Nothing.
I’ve read a post saying that for intel users, simply by running PSCS3 in Rosetta will make the plug work. This is wrong cause as a PPC, I’m always in “Rosetta” and the bugger still doesn’t boot up. Any thoughts anyone? Adobe is pretty useless and I never got any real answer from them. It appears tech support is going down the tubes over there.
Any thoughts would be appreciated :)
I’ve moved the tutorial from 2 posts above this one… you can now find therepeating backgrounds tutorial right here
make like 4 different angles of cubes and make them as brushes with scattering on
put scatter around 800%
count to 1
size jitter 10% to 80%
spacing around 80%
angle option anything you want
or just copy cubes with ctrl+alt while dragging them
making selection of a cube prevents it from making another time each time you duplicate them
well just my 2 cents, psdtuts is a great site, props to all the authors making these articles
Don’t have the 3D transformation plugin??
3D Transform.8BF
My pleasure to give you the link where I’ve posted the file ;)
http://www.sanjaym.com.np/1.html
CHEERS, Keep sharing..
Thank you for this post, the effect it’s amazing ! Hard but really great ;)
does somebody can give me an adress to download the 3D transform plugin for MAC ?
Thank you very much, I realy need it but it’s too hard to find it on the web…
I like the effect. Thanks for the cool tutorial.
However, why send it through lossy JPEG compression twice? Why not just flatten the image at the point where you saved/reopened as a JPEG?
time eater but eye catcher!
nice ,now i don’t have to import it from ai anyomore
Where can I downloaded the 3D Transform filter for Mac. Moved abroad and have not bought the Goodies disk with me.
All links in this discussion are not compatible with my computer
Any advice??
eXcelente tutorial!
Wow. You really know how to work your cubes! Nice!
thanks for your give >> i would like more >>
wow this is awesome great share
thanks
Thanks very much. It’s a serious/Corporate style.
it took me 2 hours but i’m satisfied with resoults. thank you for great tut! :)