Old School Filter Effect

Intro

In this tutorial I'll be showing you how to make one of those old-school filter effects that you might have seen a few years ago!
These effects are useful for a couple of things, such as:

1. Display pictures, avatars, wanting to start an avatar website? You can make a few hundred avatars from this effect.
2. Simple forum signatures. I always love simplistic filter effects in forum sigs.
3. Abstract headers/banners etc. You can use abstract effects for a quick header or ad banner.

Step 1.

First start by making a new document of any size. I'll be using a document size of 400 x 300 pixels for this tutorial.
Find and get out the Gradient Tool.

Reset your colors to black & white by pressing D on your keyboard, now make sure you have the following settings set for the gradient tool:

Now start by dragging the gradient tool once on your background.

Now drag the gradient tool over the canvas a few more times, smaller lengths though.
You should now have an effect like so:

Step 2.

If you want you can duplicate the background layer, but it's not necesary.
Apply Filter > Distort > Wave to your main layer, use similar settings as these:

Your image should now look something like this, though it will always turn out differently:

Step 3.

Duplicate the distorted layer then press CTRL+F to repeat the last filter (Filter > Distort > Wave)

Change the layer mode for the duplicated layer to Light.

Step 4.

Now you need to add some color to the effect. There are a few ways to add color, I used a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer to color mine orange.
To use a Gradient Map to color your image, follow these steps:

1. First create the Gradient Map (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map), use a gradient of your choice.
2. After making the gradient map, change the layer mode for your Gradient Map layer to Color.

Step 5.

I think it needs a little more. So start by merging the layers together then duplicating the remaining layer. In the filters menu go to Filter > Distort > Displace, you can use the default settings. After you press OK, you'll have to choose a PSD file. I used this PSD file.

Change the layer mode for that layer to Lighten.

Duplicate the Displaced layer, change the layer mode to Soft Light and lower the opacity to about 75%.

Looks pretty cool doesn't it? :)
Thanks for reading this tutorial, we hope you enjoyed it! You can download the PSD file for this tutorial from here.

If you would like more help with this tutorial please register and visit the forum.