In this beginners level tutorial, you will learn how to create a vibrant 3D leaf compilation from a single 2D photograph. You will be able to manipulate the object however you prefer. Let's have fun with this display of greenery.!
Final Image Preview
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Video Tutorial
Our video editor Gavin Steele has created this video tutorial to compliment this text + image tutorial.
Step 1
To begin, you'll need to find a photograph texture of a leaf. I have chosen this one from lostandtaken.com by a a photographer named Caleb Kimbrough.

Step 2
Load your new found texture into a new project. With the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) selected, Right-click on your layer in the artboard and select Free Transform. Once you have done that right-click on the texture again and select Warp. I have labeled each corner respectively as we will be moving them around quite a bit.

Step 3
Now that you have your layer in Warp mode, click and drag the corner (a) down 1/3 of your grid.

Step 4
Now click and drag the corner (point c) up 1/3 of your grid. Already our leaf is beginning to take on it's natural form.

Step 5
Each corner has 2 arms that you can move in order to manipulate your layer even further. Pull the corner's (point a) left arm down as shown below.

Step 6
You should give a sharper edge to your leaf. Something like this. Press Enter to finalize the Warp.

Step 7
You should have a sharp point on your leaf after the last several steps. However, your point may be a bit bent due to the Warp Tool curling. Fix this by using the Polygonal Laso Tool (L), selecting the excess curl and pressing the Delete key.


Step 8
Now lets focus on the other end of the leaf. Use the Warp Tool again (see Step 2) and drag point d as shown in the picture below. You'll want to get both of the arms of point d to be parallel.

Step 9
Now do the same with the top-right corner (point b). Also, if you want you can tweak the leaf into whatever position you require by holding your mouse down and dragging the inner grid, as well as the other points.

Step 10
To add a bit of additional perspective Right-click on your leaf and select Free Transform. Now hold Alt + Shift and drag the top-right corner, then move it left a bit. This will give the leaf a bit of distance perspective.

Step 11
If you want to make the leaf drop at its point, use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and select only the left half of the leaf. Then proceed to Free Transform > Warp. This will allow you to move that half of the leaf without warping the right half. Make sure not to move the points that are in contact with the leaf that is not selected as this will cause a tear between the two pieces.

Step 12
Next, duplicate the layer with your leaf on it, drag that layer below your original leaf layer. Warp it a little to show some discrepancy. Repeat this process as many times as your desire. Play with it and have fun.



Step 13
On each layer you can add a simple drop shadow by double-clicking on the layer and checking the box labelled Drop Shadow. To give leaves even more depth, make sure you adjust the Distance, Size, and Opacity accordingly. The larger leaf has an Opacity of 63%, a Distance of 299px, and a Size of 84px (this is on an artboard sized at 2590px by 1943px at 72px per inch). If you have a leaf that is directly on top of another, you will want to have the distance significantly lower, as well as the size. It should be more sharp and distinct.

Step 14
Next I added a quick and easy Bevel and Emboss. It is often frowned upon to use this but it gets the job done quick. You can paint the sunlight hitting the leaf if you desire, but this is only an intermediate tutorial.
Double-click on the desired layer and check the box Bevel and Emboss. Change your Depth to 100%, Size to 65px, and Soften to 0px. Also you may want to lower the Opacity of the Highlight Mode as well as the Shadow Mode.

Step 15
You may want to add some depth of field. To do this I recommend you use a simple Gaussian Blur. Select the leaf that is below the rest of them. Right-click on the layer in the Layer Window and select Convert to Smart Object. Now select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set it to 2.6 pixels.
A Smart Object will allow you to change the settings of your applied filters non-destructively. If you are really thoughtful, you could do this with the Drop Shadow and the Bevel and Emboss on the leaves...repeat this process with the other leaves, but lower the blur as the leaves get closer to the largest leaf. We want that to be the focus.
You can also use the paint brush to mask the Smart Filter on the Smart Object. If you select the Smart Filter on your Smart Object layer, select the color black and paint on the artboard with the Paintbrush Tool. You will find that it removes the Gaussian Blur (or any other filter you applied to your Smart Object) in the area that you paint black. I did this with the largest leaf and left only the edges slightly blurred.

Final Image
There you have it. A quick and easy display of greenery. You can really play around with this and do a lot of different types of leaves and positioning. I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial. Half the fun is just messing around with the Warp tool. The final image is below. You can view it larger here.
Other Uses
This technique can be used in so many different projects. I have used it specifically in the Audio Jungle wallpaper contest several times and it increased the traffic to my Flickr site significantly.
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Nikhil July 27th
This is simply awesome…
Its looking more beautiful in Audio Jungle use…
Thumbs Up..
( )mahesh September 17th
ur contact send me
( )MrrB July 27th
It’s great. I like it ^_^
( )Melody July 27th
Nice, I like the integration of the leafs in the final images….
( )tom July 27th
It’s fantastic! Thanks!
( )Saro July 27th
Wow, amazing. Never thought of that before.
( )g3niuz July 27th
Your Message…oh yea..
i like that…
really high quality stuff ;D
( )Rohan July 27th
This technique is really, really useful, and not very hard either! Thanks.
( )Aerodynamic July 27th
Simple yet really useful.
( )David Richmond July 27th
that tutorial looks great and i am going to have a lot of fun with that. thanks!
( )RUGRLN July 27th
Originally it didn’t look so appealing but when I saw the applications….then it really looked cool!!
( )Nahid July 28th
yeah i Agree with you RG!
( )hitesh July 27th
not much impressed this one is only finishing technique to be give to any 3d material
( )Margaret July 27th
it is listed as a “beginner’s” tutorial.
( )I think it’s a great technique that could be applied to many things.
Laneth July 27th
For someone that’s here to get tips and tricks to help me develop my skills, I like it. I really have no real skill in Photoshop or any other of the programs like Fireworks or Illustrator, so little tutorials like this are massive help, especially for a beginner.
I know the Tuts+ network has a reputation for providing awesome tutorials that provide insightful, alternative or groundbreaking ways of doing things, but you can’t expect every single tutorial to be of this level.
zach July 27th
Great tutorial!
( )Luis Ahmed July 27th
the most beautiful thing here is the simplicity of the technique, very original idea, thanks for sharing
( )Jay July 27th
lol I could tell how its done by just looking at the result and the title, but yea,…. I think its nice tho
( )Emil Lyngbo July 27th
Yeah! Love the audio jungle ones!
( )Must have taken a hell of a long time, to put all those leaves on the branch, or whatever you call that..
ktyellow July 27th
very cool and easy to apply to other things
( )Symon July 27th
Nice. Thanks.
( )Uzayr July 27th
So all in all you warped a picture and put a basic layer effect on it and some drop shadows.
( )matt July 27th
Pretty much, super basic stuff. The warp effect is good, but the bevel is too strong, it’s too obvious.
( )Alvaro July 27th
Awesome, gonna use this technique sometime…
( )Marcel July 27th
much appreciated.
( )Brett July 27th
This is a brilliant tutorial! It’s really easy to follow, simple to do…and looks amazing! Great job!
( )spidermonkey July 27th
I like the way you showed how to achieve the effect and then provided examples of ways in which it could be used. Really great stuff! It shows the practical use for simple tricks like these.
( )landscape photography July 27th
thanks, cool technique, certainly somethig that wil be useful to have in my knowledge bank.
( )ev4n July 27th
Step 14 (the bevel + emboss) doesnt look right. The leaf is way too thick. I would lower the ‘depth’ setting to around 30-50%.
( )Jonathan July 27th
Nice wallpaper.
( )snnaqvi July 27th
Nice tutorial
( )B-to-the-A July 27th
Great stuff, but: is there a certain way to make the (sort of) ’string’ of leafs, seen in comp 1??
( )Brent Nelson July 28th
Copy the leaf several times and arrange it in a semi circle. Than group the leaf layers into a folder. Copy the folder and arrange as necessary. You don’t have to place them one at a time this way.
( )human torch July 28th
Great tutorial man, I think I’m gonna use this technique right now
( )merb July 28th
genial!! un tut de 10!!! simple pero contundente!!! gracias!!!
( )Daniel GILLES - Créations du Net July 28th
very nice technique here and a great tutorial! thank you very much for sharing
( )Ramon July 28th
Good! But why are those leaves so thick?
( )Nahid July 28th
Overall it looks kinna cool
( )Radeesh a.k.a. Radix July 28th
Cool technique, must try out
( )Grafiko July 28th
Great technique, I personally will lower the embossing a little. It takes away from the realistic look.
( )New Web Design July 28th
Brilliant tutorial and I’m going to give it a try and see what I come up with. Will be good to use in some projects or just for fun. Thanks for sharing.
( )LIGHTNING July 28th
If i only knew, this was so easy to acomplish
( )Thanks
Nahid July 28th
wooh this is cool! great technique
( )javo July 28th
just great. Who can imagine this with very simple technique, thanks.
( )Moksha July 28th
Really Simple and Cool Tutorial, thanks
( )Max July 28th
Don’t forget about reflexes on shadow from leaves!….
( )tutorialslounge July 28th
as before this is also very nice training.
( )Gfenesx July 29th
not so impressed
( )Jash Sayani July 29th
Great tutorial!
Actually the tutorial is good, but the “Other Uses” section is amazing.
( )Toniccio July 29th
This is very simple but, calm and professional, I like it, I’m gonna use it some work, thanks very much
cheers
( )jeprie July 29th
I never thought of that. Awesome. Simple but awesome.
( )ksquared design July 29th
looks a bit to flat… personally, I prefer the leaf without the bevel and a softer drop shadow.
( )Gustavo Lemos July 31st
Simple and great
( )mike July 31st
great I totally loved it !!
( )Francesco July 31st
WOW That’s Great! Amazing! Good Job!
( )Lorenzo August 5th
since not all of us are pros or experts, this is a very helpful tutorial.
many thanks!
( )Divyesh Gajjar August 7th
your creativites Very Good Baddy
( )zhanghao August 10th
I like it , thank you very much.
( )BHEEMA August 10th
nice, thanks for your tutorial.
( )sayan mukherjee August 11th
Awesome, thanks for sharing
( )CgBaran Tuts August 12th
Creative tutorial i love it
( )dee August 13th
wAw…. kereen…
)
( )Trevor August 16th
Thanks – its shed light on a raft of simple useful tweaks that I’ll have great fun exploiting.
( )Kieran Innes August 16th
Congratulations on having your tutorial featured on TV Brent.
If you missed it; it was featured on the BBC’s technology programme called CLICK.
You can check it out on BBC iPlayer.
( )Kieran Innes August 16th
Here is a link to the WebScape section it was shown on:
http://twitterurl.net//N4800
You’re a few minutes into the video
( )Brent Nelson August 17th
Hey cool. Maybe I will get to meet the Queen.
( )suzy August 17th
this is very nice one
( )thanks for it
Alan August 18th
very basic thing but nice utilization in the audio jungle
keep it up
( )Clay Jackson August 18th
Very nice! Thanks for sharing…
( )Nonascreations August 25th
Thanks so much for this great technique! I’ve tried it out, and here is the link of my work using this tut :
http://nonascreations.blogspot.com/2009/08/freebie-my-secret-garden-kit.html
( )musc August 26th
Help !
is usin this “Free Transform” tool for the texture, from C4
or CS3
did not know thos was possible in photoshop
(i know only something similary in illustrator)
( )Msila-Net September 4th
Thank you very much the subject of a beautiful and coordinated
( )And I have benefited greatly
photo effects September 13th
I loved in these kind of tuts thanks for many many times
( )tolga September 19th
great tutorial, thanks
( )evilkitty75 September 29th
thx 2 u i now understand warp tool better i had a go was easy thxxx
( )Vikram October 3rd
its really too good use of photoshop……
( )Block Paving October 18th
Great tutorial and a great site, thanks for sharing
( )Kissmo October 20th
Really Helpful…Thanx
( )chris October 24th
In the beginning when you warp it I can’t get the leaf to curve down like yours does with point A. What am i doing wrong? I don’t use the warp tool a lot.
( )