Aluseu's Mega Mod Guide

Ok guys so this is my guide on different photoshop techniques for modding, before I begin, these are inteneded to teach new comers about different ways of modding or anyone who wants to try something new, all i ask is that if you release a mod using my tut that you give me some credits.

Included in this tut:

-How to begin every mod you'll ever do.
-How to add pictures/images to mods.
-How to overlay properly
-How to render images
-Sub-tuts on 3 different textures founded by me
-How to use gradients to make things blend
-How to use lighting effects to get a nice look on your mod
-How to engrave Text

Ok, lets begin.

First off, before starting any mod make sure that you have in your mind what your gonna do, you dont wanna sit there with a blank canvas just sitting there

once you have your idea open up your gun and before you do anything at all you wanna get your gun preped for modding.

This is where saturation comes in to essentially "clean" your gun before you start modding it.

To do this you want to choose your brush and go to Mode: Saturation

Make sure you use a Black or a White to saturate otherwise it wont turn out right.

After so you can add a little gray overlay so you can see what your doing.

Now time to add an image to your gun

Doing this is very simple but can be kinda confusing especially to new comers.

All you need to do is open up your prefferd image and open it up in Microsoft Picture Manager.

After this you simply just drag it into photoshop onto your desired project.

It will show up like this depending on what size of image you have chosen.

So resize it and move it to your desired spot and double click to smack it on there.

Once its on there you can give it different characteristics like beveling or overlaying by simple double clicking its layer.

It has a lot of features that you can play around with to get the look you desire.

Next up we have overlaying which can either make, or break a mod and is usually a noobs nightmare.

To begin you want to create a new layer.

when you add your new layer double click the layer and change the blending mode to Overlay, you may also find that other blending modes work for you better, just experiment.

After so, choose a color you want and paint the area you desire. Dont worry about accuracy can you just clean it up later.

To clean it up you can use the Eraser tool, youll notice that it has 3 options
-Brush
-Pencil
-And Block

heres my info on all three, the brush is good for getting rid of large areas of area. The Pencil is used for very delicate erasing up to a pixel in size, The block is great for getting those pesky corners.

so for this im justing going to use the brush eraser.

Ok so you may be thinking, well i dont like how the image looks below my overlay. Not a problem, just simply go over to your layers and select your image and drag it above your overlay layer and wah la.

Next ill be showing you guys how to add a gradient effect to blend images.

To do this youll want to add layer mask, you do this by clickinth this icon under your layers, make sure you have your image layer selected.

youll notice that there is a box next to your image in your layer box.

Now you want to choose your gradient tool.

Then with your gradient tool make a line across your image using the shift key, you may need to experiment to get a look you like.

youll notice that your image will blend when u let go, I chose this:

Next we'll make it look a little nicer by using some lighting effects, just go to Filter->Render->Lighting effects.

When you open it up youll notice there are a lot of features, again just play around it until you get something that looks good.

I chose that as my settings and got this:

Next I will show you how to "Engrave" Text

First off you want to use your text tool and add some text.

With your text selected you can choose a font size to make sure it fits, you can type in your own font size if they dont have one that works for u.

Now to get the engraving look youll want to double click your text layer and go to bevel and emboss and select "Pillow Emboss" again this all experimentation so just experiemtn untill you get what you like, you can also use the glows and shadows to help you.

Ok now we get to work on some custom textures that can be quite useful when making cwertain mods.

The textures include:
-Wood
-Brushed Stainless Steel
-Ice Blocks

Lets start off with wood shall we? ok so for this one you want to select an area you want using the select tool

Then go to Filter->Render->Clouds
Make sure your background and forground color are white and black, this can be achieved by pressing "D" on your keyboard.

Once you have your clous you want to go into Filter->Blue->Motion Blur.

Use these settings for the best result:
90 degress and 999pixels

Next go into Filter->Sharpen->Sharpen Edges.

Next, go to Filter->BrushStrokes->Accented Edges.

Next, you want to go to Filter-> Atristic-> Film Grain. Its very important that you dont use a lot, just go 1,0,0

Now you want to go to Filter->Render->Lighting effects, but this time use Omni and choose a brown color, play with the settings til you get something you liked.

Final Product:

NOTE* It looks better on a bigger surface

Next we have the Stainless Steel Texture which personally is my favorite

For this again you want to add your clouds like before.

now you want to go to Filter->Noise->Add Noise.

use these settings for best results:

Now you want to go to Filter->Blur->Motiuon Blue and use these settings for best results.

Now you go into Filter->Render->Lighting effents and play around with it til you get an effect you like.

final Product:

Next We have the Iced Cubes Texture

Again, start off with clouds, but this time overlay it with a nice blue color.

now you want to go to Filter->Distort->Glass

Use these settings for best results:

Well thats it for textures, your final product for the iced cubes should be

Now have u wanted to add an image to a gun but cant get past that pesky white background? Well ill tell you how to render or get rid of that background, this can be complicated and time consuming depening on the image you wnat to render, im using an easy one to show you guys.

Open up your image in photshop:

and using the Magic Brush tool click on the white background.

this will select anything that is white.

Add a new layer and make sure your new layer is below your picture in form of layers.

now just simply erase with your image layer selected.

A Few notes when rendering:
Make sure that you get all the white
If your magic wand isnt working you may have to manually erase what you want removed. (it happens)
Make sure you save it as a .png when you save it for the best quality.

This is basically all i have to tell you, I hope you enjoyed this tut and I hope to see some great mods out there, good luck on your future with modding and just remember that modding can be fun and usually takes a lot of experimantation in photoshop and trial and error.

Feel free to ask any questions, leave comments, and thank +rep me