Photoshop tutorial - Creating a banner

Tutorial details
Created using: Photoshop CS3 Extended
Difficulty: Beginner
Skills: Learning how to duplicate, blend, make a quick reflection, depth and basic use of layer masks.

Preview
Take a look at this banner we will be creating:


Preparation
To create the banner, you'll need to download the following resources:
Car
Background
Axeraider70's decimation brushes.
Dark stock

Step 1
Open up photoshop and create a new image. 650*150 pixels, resolution: 300 pixels/inch. You can use other dimensions if you prefer.
Click gradient tool, in the side of the toolbar. Go up to the top and click on .

Change the first part of the gradient to #000000, the last part of the gradient to #333333.
Click ok, and remember to change it to a radial gradient.
Drag it out, so that it resembles this:

Step 2
Open up the background pack that you should have downloaded, and drag cosmos4_0005 into photoshop, and drag it onto the banner.

Now, it's way too big, so zoom out with Ctrl - and press Ctrl T to size it down.
Take care to only let the space part of the stock in, and not anything else. Press Enter when you're done.
Press Ctrl B to go into Colour Balance and adjust the settings to your liking. My settings were:
Color Levels: -100, +13, -16
Set the layer to Hard Light, 100% opacity.
Duplicate the layer by pressing Ctrl J and set it to Overlay at 45%.

It looks a little too unfocused, so Ctrl J again and set it to Soft Light, 100%.
This is what I ended up with:


Step 3
Time to put in the render of the car.
Open up the car in photoshop and drag it to the banner. Set it to soft light at 100% and put it where it can be vaguely visible. Duplicate it with a Ctrl J.


Step 4
Drag the dark stock in, and place it at the left hand side. Resize using Ctrl T it so that it fits, and then grab a large, soft brush, the 100px one, in eraser mode.(Press E) It's in the default set of brushes; if you don't have it: go to brush > little arrow at the side > reset brushes.
Set the brush's opacity to 50%, then gently erase at the right hand side so that it blends more with the background.
Then set the layer to Screen, 37%



Step 5
Going back to the car again: click on the car layers that should be under the dark stock's layer, and duplicate it once. Drag the newly duplicated layer above the dark stock layer, and make it so that it's half on the dark stock, and half in the background.
Duplicate it one more time.
(Check that the layer style is set to Soft Light)


Step 6

Go to the folder that you've saved the decimation brushes in and double click the brush. Go back into photoshop and go to brushes. If it isn't all there, then: click the little arrow button at the side > click text only > click the arrow button again > Click small thumbnail.
Create a new layer and brush very lightly on the left side; use 1-3 brushes. We're going to use that as a backdrop for the car image.


Step 7
You're probably getting sick of all the duplicating by now, but click the car layer that is under the brush layer and duplicate it. Drag the duplication above the brush layer and set the layer style to Normal. Duplicate it twice and set one layer to Soft Light, to make the car look sharper.
As for the second duplicated layer, we're going to use that for a reflection. Drag the layer underneath the "Normal" car layer, and go to: Edit > Transform > Flip vertical.
Ctrl T, and transform it so that it looks like this:

Press E to go into eraser mode and take out the big, soft brush, size 65px.

Erase at the top of the car and set the layer's opacity to 39%.


Step 8
Scroll down the layer box, and select the space stock that was set to overlay. Duplicate it and drag the layer all the way above your topmost layer, the car set on soft light. Make sure you change its opacity to 100%.
Drag the space stock to the left so that it covers the car. Use a large brush to erase the edge on the right side to make it blend with the background.
Duplicate the layer, but move it back slightly, so there's more blue.


Step 9
Press U to use rectangle tool, and make a thin line.
At the bottom of the layer box, there should be . Click on it.
Press G to get to gradient tool, and from the gradient box at the top, choose the White to Black gradient, radial.

Drag it from the middle to the left. Tip: Press shift while you're dragging to have a straight line.
Result:


White is a pretty boring colour, so let's duplicate that layer.
Merging layers:
Hide the original by clicking the eye, and create a new layer.
Click the new layer while pressing Ctrl, and then click the duplication.
Right click -> Merge layers.

Layer styles:


#02304d > #079b95

Duplicate the layer, merge the duplicated layer with a newly created one, and set the layer to Color Dodge.
I also duplicated the hidden layer and moved it a little above the blue line. I changed its colour to teal with colour overlay, #028179.

Step 10
Add text!
I used white Times New Roman.

We're done, but now the car is looking a little flat. We want it to stand out, so let's add some depth. Create a new layer, on top of all your layers. Go to Image > Apply image.
Zoom in to 300% and grab your burn tool. Use a soft 5px brush and lightly outline the car only.
It looks far sharper than before.
Now, new layer > image > apply image again. Ctrl A, edit > stroke > 3 px#028179. Ctrl A > Edit > Stroke > 1 px #000000.

Extras
If you want to add more sparkly things, brush tool -> 5 px soft brush, and do little dots around, picking colours from the banner.

Conclusion
Congratulations, you've made a basic banner! I hope you've learnt something new during this tutorial. Have a great day and thanks for reading.