Photoshop tutorial
How to Make Unique Geometric Shapes in Photoshop
Build a symmetrical geometric shape pattern out of nothing but stock Photoshop filters. You start with the Picture Frame render, pixelate it, then alternate Threshold and Gaussian Blur passes to round the blocks into organic tiles. The last step deletes the white pixels and stacks three strokes plus a color overlay to finish the look.
Setup
Document
Photoshop document: 16 in x 20 in, 300 dpi, 16-bit.
Settings
- Size 16 in x 20 in (4800 px x 6000 px)
- Resolution 300 dpi
- Bit depth 16-bit
Step 1
Picture Frame
On a new empty layer, use Filter > Render > Picture Frame. Adjust the settings to your liking. Here are the settings I used.
Picture Frame (Basic)
- Preset Custom
- Frame 5: Big Curls
- Vine Color Black
- Margin 60
- Size 100
- Arrangement 66
- Flower 2: Circle
- Flower Color Black
- Flower Size 1
- Leaf 4: Leaf 1
- Leaf Color Black
- Leaf Size 1
Picture Frame (Advanced)
- Number of Lines 15 (greyed out for this frame)
- Thickness 36
- Angle 108.5
- Fade 0
- Invert Off
Step 2
Mosaic
Use Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic and adjust to your desired size.
Mosaic
- Cell Size 104 square
- Preview On
- Zoom 100%
Step 3
Threshold and Merge
Add a white background layer underneath your Mosaic and a Threshold Adjustment above it.
Select all 3 layers and use Ctrl (Cmd) + E to merge these layers.
Layers
- Top layer Threshold 1 (adjustment layer)
- Middle layer Layer 1 copy, Smart Filters: Mosaic
- Bottom layer Background copy (white)
Step 4
Gaussian Blur and Second Threshold
Use Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur on your merged layer. Adjust the radius to your liking.
Add another white background layer underneath and Threshold Adjustment above. Merge these layers.
Gaussian Blur
- Radius 31.7 Pixels
- Preview On
- Zoom 100%
Layers
- Top layer Threshold 2 (adjustment layer)
- Middle layer Group 1 copy, Smart Filters: Gaussian Blur
- Bottom layer Background copy 2 (white)
Step 5
Delete White Pixels, Color Overlay and Strokes
Use the Magic Wand Tool to delete the white pixels.
Here are the settings I used to achieve this look.
Layers
- Top layer Group 2 copy 2, fx: Stroke, Stroke, Stroke, Color Overlay
- Middle layer Group 2 copy, fx: Color Overlay
- Bottom layer Background copy 3 (white)
Layer Style, Color Overlay (Group 2 copy)
- Color Overlay On
- Blend Mode Normal
- Opacity 100 %
Color Picker (Overlay Color)
- Hex ee6c6c
- H / S / B 0 / 55 / 93
- R / G / B 238 / 108 / 108
- L / a / b 62 / 51 / 26
- C / M / Y / K 1 / 72 / 49 / 0
- Only Web Colors Off
Blending Options (Group 2 copy 2)
- Blend Mode Normal
- Opacity 100 %
- Fill Opacity 0 %
- Channels R On, G On, B On
- Knockout None
- Blend Interior Effects as Group Off
- Blend Clipped Layers as Group On
- Transparency Shapes Layer On
- Layer Mask Hides Effects Off
- Vector Mask Hides Effects Off
Stroke 1
- Size 8 px
- Position Outside
- Blend Mode Normal
- Opacity 100 %
- Overprint Off
- Fill Type Color
- Color Dark grey, near black (swatch reads about #333333)
Stroke 2
- Size 16 px
- Position Outside
- Blend Mode Normal
- Opacity 100 %
- Overprint Off
- Fill Type Color
- Color White
Stroke 3
- Size 24 px
- Position Outside
- Blend Mode Normal
- Opacity 100 %
- Overprint Off
- Fill Type Color
- Color Black
Finish
Result
Done!
