Well I noticed that in the "show off your best" people sagte they had trouble in a way with creating Icons they liked. I go the simple but effective way with Icons all the time...and usually people enjoy them, yay! Because who doesn't like some nice colouring? (this was all done in photoshop CS2, I'm pretty sure it can be done is other photoshops and possibly other programs)

Any ways to start off get a picture that is clear (try really hard to do this because it'll make everything easier for you, but it doesn't always matter)

Step 1: Choose your image


Step 2: Resize it to 100x100 so what Du want to be shown in the Icon is being shown clearly


Step 3: Now...I am a dirty cheater when it comes to step 3, lol. Actions are gods gift to...everything <3 Liebe Du actions.
(What actions are, is they are a group of steps Du can just click play instead of having to do them individually Von yourself. This is super helpful if Du create oder find a good one)


(contained in this action is...duplicate layer, sharpen layer, set layer to screen, hue & saturation - saturation to +20, selective colour - Reds - cyan: -100 | magenta: +20 - Neutrals - cyan :+60 | yellow: -17 - Blacks - black: +30) (or go link and download it)

oder Du can take the selective colour layer off and get...


Step 4: Add your text that Du like

(Font: Augie | Size: 19 | Mode: Smooth | Leading: 13pt (have "Character" as a palette so Du can get the leading))
(Blending Options - Stroke - Size: 2px | Colour: #7f4f30 (which was a colour i just picked up from the tv))

ta-da! Du have an Icon and Du learnt to do quick colouring. Mehr complex things I would do is brighten the colours up, so a soft light layer on 50% opacity.

This may seem like a lot but all it is is resizing your image, using the action and adding your type.

This also works nicely on photographs oder anything else. This one especially with a good image can create a great pop of colour.

Examples of the action used (no other editing):