If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed.

In this tutorial I am going to show you some cool tricks to get some awesome custom wallpapers. First we need to find our subject, I chose Transformers because they were my favorite cartoon and still are the coolest toys ever.

Section 1: The Custom Brush

You need to do a search for the autobot logo. Google comes in really handy with this the higher quality the better. Now that you have the emblem we are going to create a custom brush.

Section 1: The Custom Emblem BrushNow that you have your emblem select the background and hit DEL to delete it. Then CTRL+click on the emblem layer to make a selection. Next go to Select > Modify > Contract and contract 3px. Finally cut your new selection to a new layer and call it ‘Fill’. De select your fill layer by clicking on the eye icon. Finally go to Edit > Define Brush and name it Autobot Emblem.

Now do the same with the fill layer as you did with the outline. Now that you have both of those brushes, on to the meat and potatoes of this tutorial.

Section 2: The Wallpaper

Open a new document with the dimension of your monitor mine is 1400×1050 so you can work with that size if you like and set the fill to white. Then right click the layer to add a gradient.

Next create a new layer and call it Rays. Then go to your tool palette and choose Custom
Shape Tool or hit (U) then you will want to select the Registration
Target 2. With that selected Drag the Shape so it covers the entire Image. The easiest way to do this is zoom out to 30% and hold shift to keep the shape of the custom shape. Once you have the shape where you want it go to the Paths tab in your layer palette and CTRL+click on the work path to make a selection. Go back to the layer “Rays” select you Paint Bucket tool and fill the selection with #992A31.

Section 3: The Emblem Shield

Now we are going to create the AutoBot Emblem Shield. Open a new layer and name it Shield
Base. Grab your “Autobot Emblem” brush and make sure to place it in the center of the image. Make the brush about 500
pixels and click once. Now grab your Magic Wand Tool and select all the transparent area outside the emblem. Then go to Select > Inverse. Next go to Select > Modify > Expand and expand 10
pixels. Now fill the entire selection with black. Now select two shades of gray for the foreground/background (I used #e3e3e3 and #8f8f8f) and go to Blending
Option > Gradient Overlay.

Then add a Drop Shadow Again create a new layer name it Shield Inner, go to Select > Modify > Contract by 10px and click ok. Follow the same steps as you did on the shield base but this time do not add a drop shadow and invert the gradient. Once more, create a new layer name it Jewel, go to Select > Modify > Contract by 10px in Contract by field and click ok. Now select lighter and darker shade of red for the foreground/background. Pick the radial gradient tool and draw diagonally inside a selection with lighter part in the top left. Select the Jewel layer and choose the Blending options. Use the Inner and the Outer shadow give them the same settings. Create a new Layer and Name is Emblem Fill. Now go to your brushes and select your “Autobot Emblem”. Now make sure your brush is in the middle of the shield with your foreground color set to #6F1D09 and click one time. Next we need to make the halftone that is going under the shield. Go back to your “Shield Base” layer and CTRL+click on the layer in the layer palette. Next Create a new layer under the Shield
Base layer and call it “Shield Halftone”. Fill your selection with black then hit CTRL+D to De select. Next get your paint bucket and fill the rest of the layer with white. Now go to Filter > Pixelate > Halftones and set all parameters to 10 and hit enter. Next we need to remove the whitespace from the half tone. Again grab your Magic
Wand tool and select the white and delete it. Then go into the layer blending options and give the halftone a color overlay in #6F091F. Finally move the half tone in place just under the drop shadow of the shield. We are now on our last step of the shield. Select your “Emblem Fill” layer and create a new layer call it “Shield Rays”. Follow the same steps as you did with the “Rays” layers but make the custom shape only large enough to cover the entire shield. This time fill the selection with #C82B05. Next CTRL+click on the “Jewel” with the “Shield Rays” still selected and cut out the selected area and discard the layer that contains the rays out side of the jewel. Then add Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur of 1.0 px and set the layer to “Soft Light”

Section 4: The Title Plaque

Create a New layer directly above the “Rays” layer and call it Plaque Select now the Rounded
Rectangle Tool (U) to insert the text’s selection table. This layer should be situated under the layers belonging to the emblem and its shadow (on the layers panel). The color of the selection is white. Next add some blending options shown below:

Drop Shadow:

Inner Shadow: Inner Glow: Bevel and Emboss: Bevel and Emboss Contour: Satin: Gradient Overlay: Gradient Overlay Settings: After all the blending options are added your result should look like this: Then repeat the halftone layer for the plaque. Now select your plaque layer and grab your Text tool. Type in the word AutoBot, I used the free Transformer
font, all caps in #605F5F. Next added these blending options:Inner Shadow:

Outer Glow: Then you should have this look on the text. Next we need to add a bit of a reflective shine on the plaque. Choose the Ellipse
Tool (U) to represent the shine. This layer needs to be directly above the text layer. Now change this layer’s fill to 0%. Then right click the layer and go to Blending
Options > Gradient Overlay and add these settings: Now we are at the very last step.

Section 5: Transformer Robot Brush

Just like the first step search for your favorite autobot. I chose Optimus Prime but that is totally up to you. Once you have the brushes you want create a new layer above the “Rays” layer and name the layer “AutoBots”. Place them where ever you like in the background. Make sure your foreground color is set to the default. When you are happy with where they are set the layer to Overlay.

And you’re done. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial as much as I did making it. Here is the final along with three variation samples. Click the images below for the full size versions.