TutorialSite.Org : Soda Pop Can Tutorial

In this Photoshop Tutorial we will be creating a soda can with a realistic shape and good contours. You will be assisted and guided with image illustrations and full descriptions to those images.

This tutorial was created with the aim of teaching you how to use certain tools and effects, and still have fun at the same time.

Tools used in this tutorial:

The ‘Marquee Tool’ consists of a few tools in its category, but we will be using the ‘Elliptical Marquee Tool’ exclusively. You can select this tool on the ‘Tools’ panel *or you can press ‘M’ at any time during your design to actively select this tool. This tool allows you to isolate a specific area on your design window, and then applying certain effects to this isolated area. The ‘Marquee Tool’ is very powerful, and you will soon realize that it is difficult to work without it.

The ‘Pen Tool’ is situated on the ‘Tools’ panel *or can be accessed by pressing ‘P’ at any time. This tool is very useful when creating custom shapes and designs. It has a few very basic features which will allow you to create a shape exactly how you want it to be. You can create anchor point by clicking on the design window, and you can move these points by holding the ‘Ctrl’ key and dragging the point/s. A very useful feature is the curving of connecting lines. You can curve connecting lines by holding down the ‘Alt’ key and then click and drag a point to curve the corresponding lines.

The ‘Color Box’ consists of two colors. The front/top box represents the primary color and the bottom/back box represents the secondary color. As you create your design, the primary color will be used mostly, but some tools do use both colors in conjunction. Example: The ‘Gradient Tool’ creates a color flow gradient, which will make use of the primary color flowing into the secondary color. Always ensure that you have the ‘Color Box’ correctly configured to the desired colors before you use a tool or effect on your design.

The ‘Gradient Tool’ is situated on the ‘Tools’ panel *and can be accessed by pressing ‘G’ at any time during your design. This tool is very useful when you need to create a certain color flow by using both the primary and secondary colors. Example: You can create a gradient on an isolated area of a design, and then set the blend mode of this gradient layer to ‘screen’, and you will notice that it looks like lighting coasted onto the object/design.

Creation & Implementation:

Open your Adobe Photoshop application. Once you have done this, you need to create a new ‘.psd’ document to create your design on. You can create a new document by going to ‘File > New…’ *or by pressing ‘Ctrl’ + ‘N’ as a keyboard shortcut. See Figure 1 as a reference to the exact values you need to input into the prompting dialog which will open on your workspace.

Figure 1

Name your document according to your preferences. Now set the width of the document to 500px and the height to 600px. The ‘Resolution’ field determines the amount of dots/pixels your design will contain per square inch. A higher value in this field is consequential to a higher quality design. Once you have done this, you may press ‘Ok’ to continue.

Your design window has opened on the workspace, and you are now ready to start creating your soda can. Select the ‘Elliptical Marquee Tool’ on the ‘Tools’ panel. You will now click and drag on the design window then create a flat oval shape which will represent the top base of the soda can. Press ‘Shift’ + ‘F5’ to fill the oval with the dashed outline with any color. Once you have your shape right, you will now press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘J’ to duplicate this layer. The new layer will be placed on the exact coordinates as the first layer, so you will hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key and move the new layer down to represent the bottom base of the can. View Figure 2 as an illustration to how your design should look.

Figure 2

Move over to the ‘Layers’ panel. If the ‘Layers’ panel is not visible, you can make it visible by going to ‘Window > Layers’ *or you can press ‘F7’ as a keyboard shortcut. You should notice that you have two layers. Rename ‘Layer1’ as ‘top_base’ and ‘Layer1 Copy’ as ‘bottom_base’. You can rename a layer at any time by double-clicking on the text/caption of the layer. This helps you to identify your layers with ease.

You will now create an edge for the top part, and for the bottom part. See Figure 3 as an illustration to get the right idea, and then follow the instructions below.

Figure 3

You can create this part simply by making use of the ‘Pen Tool’. You will click 5 anchor points, of which the 5th anchor point will be on the exact same position of the 1st anchor point in order to close the path. View the following instructions to grasp and understand the basic features of the ‘Pen Tool’.

- Hold ‘Ctrl’ and click on an anchor point to select it. Then drag the mouse to move the specific anchor point to a new position.
- When holding the ‘Alt’ key and moving the cursor over an anchor point, you should notice a small arrow shape appearing which tells you that you may click and drag to curve the connecting lines to that point. (Two dashed lines will appear on both sides of the anchor point, which you can then again move individually to obtain the right curve/shape).

Create your shape as show in Figure 3, and then do the same with the bottom base once you are done. You do not need to worry about the colors too much for now, for you can change the colors later on, and even add additional effects.

I have decided to use a photo of an artistic portrait to make my soda can unique and different. You an either draw the content, or use an image/photo as I will be illustrating.

Open you photo/image in Photoshop. Your photo will open in a new window. Now hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key as you click and drag the photo to the window of your soda can design. You should notice that it is placed on a new layer, named ‘Layer1’. You can rename this layer as ‘image’. Right click on the image and select ‘Free Transform’ to resize and position the image as desired. View Figure 4 as an illustration to the design at this stage.

Figure 4

We will now have to warp this image to take shape in order to make the can look realistic. You will right click on the image and select ‘Free Transform’. Then right click again and select ‘Warp’. The ‘Warp’ feature allows you to freely curve and shape any layer to accommodate your preferences. Play around with this feature to get used to it, and then when you are ready, warp the image so that its top edge curves with the top white part of the can. Do the same with the bottom edge of the image, so that it touches and blends with the bottom white edge of the can. See Figure 5 as an illustration to the result I have gained from this step.

Figure 5

Now for the finishing touches.

The can still looks flat and simple, so we need to add a few things to complete this design. Firstly we will create a highlighting effect to give it more depth. Create a new layer in the ‘Layers’ panel and rename this layer as ‘highlight’. Hold ‘Ctrl’ and click on the small white thumbnail next to the caption/text of the ‘image’ layer to actively isolate the area of the image which we have shaped in the previous step. Ensure that you now actively select the ‘highlight’ layer. Press ‘D’ to reset your colors to the default black and white. Press ‘X’ to switch them in order to make the white your primary color. Now actively select the ‘Gradient Tool’ from the ‘Tools’ panel, *or simply by pressing ‘G’.

With the ‘Gradient Tool’ selected, and the ‘highlight’ layer with the isolated area of the ‘image’ layer active, you are now ready to apply your highlighting gradient. Drag the gradient from the right edge of the isolated area, at a perfectly horizontal line to the left edge of the isolated area. Now set the blending mode of the ‘highlight’ layer to ‘Soft Light’ and reduce the opacity to 70%, making it 30% transparent. You can now apply the same type of highlighting gradient to the top and bottom white edges.

The design should be more or less done. You can use your own preference to add other features and effects to your design. An Idea: Create a hole in the top part of the can, representing the drinking hole. Be creative! View Figure 6 as an illustration to my completed design.

Finished Version of Soda Pop Can Tutorial