How to Make A Sword in Photoshop With Nicks Cuts Scratches and Blood Stains (3D lookalike)

Creating a sword in Photoshop

Requirements: Photoshop

Ever wondered how to make a sword / dagger in Photoshop? Ready your anvils and hammers! You should be able to make something like this by the end of the tutorial.

Part 1 - Creating the Blade -

1. First, open up Photoshop and create a 400 x 100 sized .psd (or however big you want the sword / dagger to be). 2. Create a layer called "sword". Then using the rectangular marquee tool, make a selection of HALF of the basic blade (not including the point of the blade): Selection of the sword

3. Now, change the foreground to #BCBCBC and the background to #514F4F. Then using the gradient tool, create a linear gradient by dragging the tool from the bottom to the top (you should have the option "reverse" un-checked and the colors of the foreground and background selected). 4. After that, duplicate the layer and flip the second layer vertically by going to Edit -> Transform -> Flip Vertical. Then move that below the first layer and merge those two layers. It should like like: this now.

5. Now, create a selection at the end of the blade (this will be the point of the blade, so make the selection as big as you want the point of the sword to be) Then copy and paste that on a new layer and delete the selection from the original layer: example.

6. On the new layer, go to edit -> transform -> perspective and pull in the right hand ends until it meets the middle and forms a sharp point. Example After applying the perspective transform, it should look like this Then merge those two layers together (the point of the sword layer and the blade of the sword). 7. Go to Select -> All and then Edit -> Cut. Then create a new channel and Ctrl + V to paste the sword onto the channel. Example

8. Then using your magic wand tool, select outside of the sword (at the channel) and go to Select -> Inverse. Example

9. After that, go to your sword layer and select your gradient tool (check the option "Reverse"). Then drag the tool from the middle of the selection to the outside of it. Example Then it should look like: Example

10. After that, go to Filter -> Render -> Lighting Effects.. and follow these settings: Here (you should experiment with the lighting effects to meet your needs). After you apply the lighting effect, it will look like this.

11. Then duplicate that sword layer and lower the opacity of that layer to 65%. Go to Filter -> Noise -> Add noise (5-10). After that, go to Filter -> Blur -> Motion Blur with 30 distance and 0 angle. Then Ctrl and click the original sword layer. Go to Select -> Inverse and click the second sword layer and delete the selection. Example

12. Then create a new layer and using the rectangular marquee tool, create a very thin selection in the middle of the sword that goes from the end of the sword to the point of the sword. After that, fill the selection with the color #828282 (it should look like this now: example) and go to "channels" (the "line" should still be selected). Then click the button "Save Selection As channel" and then go to the layer with the line.

13. After that, go to Filter -> Render -> Lighting Effects.. and use these settings: here It should now look like this. 14. Now, right-click the blade layer (not the layer where it has noise for the blade) and click Blending Options.. Then check inner-shadow and follow these settings here.

Part 2 - Creating the Guard / Handle -

A. (creating the guard)

1. Now, using the polygonal lasso tool, create HALF of the basic shape of the guard (down down SHIFT to create straight lines). Heres what I came up with: Here.

2. After that, create a new layer for the guard and then change your foreground color to #828282. Fill the selection using the paint bucket tool (it should look like this now ).

3. After that, go to Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur and blur it with 1 radius. It should look like this now. After that, go to Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask.. and follow these settings After that, it should look like this.

4. Then make a copy of that layer and vertically flip it. Move it below the first layer so that it will look like this. Then merge those two layers and right-click that layer and click Blending Options..

5. After that, check Inner-Shadow and follow these settings.

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6. Then check Inner-glow and follow these settings.

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7. After that, check bevel and emboss and follow these settings.

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8. Then check Gradient-Overlay and follow these settings.

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9. Then check Stroke and follow these settings. It should now look like this.

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Part 3- Adding effects like nicks, scratchs and blood marks (OPTIONAL)

A. (creating nicks) Create a duplicate copy of the blade layer and uncheck the "eye" of the original layer. Then grab your eraser and set the size to 1 px. After that, use your Zoom Tool to zoom in and erase bits of the blade on the sides to make it look like its used. Heres what I came up with example.

B. (creating scratches) Create a layer above the blade layer and name it "scratches". Then right-click the layer and click Blending Options. After that, change the opacity of the layer to 44 and check Inner Shadow. Then follow these settings for Inner Shadow. After that, make some small 1px black marks using the brush. Heres what I came up with: example.

C. (creating blood) Create a new layer called "Blood" and select the Brush tool. Set the foreground color to #D00000 and set your brush size to 8 px. Then make a small line at the tip of the sword or at any other part of the sword.. and then use your smudge tool to make it look like its "splattered" all other the sword. After that, change the opacity of the blood layer to 49% and go to the blending options of the layer. Check Inner Shadow and your are done with the sword! Heres what I came up with: Example.