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Web Design Articles - Mercator

Creating Mercator Effects

Now
we're going to apply some different effects to our original wireframe
sphere. There are innumerous options to do this, but we shall discuss a
few for your use. This header image to the right is just one good
example of how far you can develop a simple Mercator, toward creating a
more complex graphic.

Note to Mac Users: The PC key Ctrl = the Mac key Cmd. And the PC key Alt = the Mac key Option.

Even
though 'Style 2' is the more frequently used style, we want you to use
'Style 1' here, so we can show you how to create the inner wireframe
sphere of the graphic above. So, save and close your 'Style 2'
document, and re-open your 'Style 1' document. Don't forget to Save
after every 2 or 3 steps!

  1. Your 'Style 1' document should
    have only 2 layers -- the Mercator layer and the document Background
    layer. If it doesn't, then do whatever you have to in order to achieve
    this.

Then... if you didn't rotate your Mercator at the
end of the session, do that now. Press Ctrl+T, and in the settings box
for the Rotate function put -30. In PS6 and 7, look for this symbol
along the Option Bar for the Transform tools.

Press Ctrl+J to
duplicate the 'Mercator' layer. Name this layer '1'. Then press Ctrl+I
to invert the colour to white. Amazing! Now we have a pencil outline of
the Mercator.

Now
this next part will depend on how closely you followed the instructions
from the first part of the tutorial. But we are showing you an example
here so you can see exactly what we will explain. Under the FILTER
menu, choose 'Other>Maximum' and set it to 3. Then look at the
example image here.

 

  1. If the white lines don't look
    like ours, then either increase or decrease the value until they look
    the same. You want very thin lines, with small dots at the line
    intersections. Once you have the right setting, click OK to apply it.
    Then change the Blend Mode to Exclusion. And to help make these lines
    and dots stand out better against this busy image (you'll see the
    effect of this later on), press Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer.

Name
this new layer '2'. Now move this layer right below layer '1'. Press
Ctrl+I to invert the white to black, and set this layer's Blend Mode to
Overlay.

  1. Now duplicate the 'Mercator' layer again, and
    make sure this layer is below layer '2'. Name this layer '3'. Press
    Ctrl+I to invert the black lines to white, and change the Blend Mode to
    Exclusion.

 

 

 

  1. Create
    another new layer and move it so that it's right above the bottom
    'Mercator' layer. Name this new layer '4'. Then create a circular
    selection that's the exact same size as the Mercator. The easiest way
    to do this is to hold the ALT and SHIFT keys down, click in the center
    of the Mercator, and drag outward until you reach the desired size.

Now
fill the selection with a white-to-black Radial gradient, starting at
the top right, and ending at the bottom left. Your image should look
similar to the one shown here. Now change the Blend Mode of the
gradient sphere layer to 'Overlay'. Leave the selection going. And
don't worry -- we'll get this look back again in a few more steps.

  1. Duplicate
    layer '3'. Name this duplicate layer '5'. Now change your colour
    swatches to be white and a medium sky blue -- not too dark, not too
    light. Ctrl-click on the layer to select the Mercator shape, and run
    the Clouds filter on the selection. Then Deselect, and change the Blend
    Mode to Multiply. Also, turn down the Opacity of this layer to 25%.
  2. This
    next part is a bit complex, but it shouldn't take long. Create a new
    layer above the original 'Mercator' layer. Name this new layer '6'.
    Hide the other layers above this by clicking on their eye icons; we
    need to see the contents of just this layer while we work on it.

Now
Fill the circular selection with white. Keep the selection going. Under
the FILTER menu, choose "Sketch", then "Halftone Pattern...". Set the
'Pattern Type' to LINE. Then set the Contrast to full, and the line
thickness to 2px. Press OK to apply. Now under the FILTER menu choose
'Other>Maximum'. Set it to 2 pixels, and press OK.

Press
Ctrl+J to duplicate this layer, and then, from the EDIT menu, choose
'Transform>Rotate 90 CW'. Now change this layer's Blend Mode to
multiply, and press Ctrl+E to merge these 2 striped layers together.

Merging
layers deactivates a selection, so Ctrl-click the grid layer to select
it again. Then Contract the selection by 50 pixels. Users with older
versions of PS should just create a new selection over the middle of
the Mercator that's 50x50 pixels. Now Feather the selection by 2
pixels. Run the Spherize filter on the selected area, using the
settings +100% and 'Normal' mode.

 

 

 

  1. Expand
    the selection by 25 pixels -- users with older versions of PhotoShop
    will have to do this in 2 stages. Now invert the selection by pressing
    Ctrl+Shift+I. Next, we need to intersect our selection with the main
    circle shape. Do this by holding down the Alt, Shift, and Ctrl keys at
    the same time, and clicking on the layer. You should now have a
    donut-shaped selection like the one shown here. If you don't get this
    result, press Ctrl+Z to Undo, and try it again.

Now
under the FILTER menu, choose 'Distort>Pinch'. Set it to +100% and
apply it. Next, Ctrl-click layer '4', so you've fully selected the grid
circle, and run the Spherize filter on the selected area. This time,
set the filter to -100% and 'Normal' mode. Now Feather this selection
by 10 pixels, invert the selection, and press the Delete key 3 times.
Then Deselect. And finally, change this layer's Blend Mode to Multiply.

 

 

 

  1. Ok
    we've almost finished the effect. Now we have just few steps to go.
    Click on the original 'Mercator' layer, and create a new layer above it
    that you'll call layer '7'. Press the D key to reset your Fore and
    Background colours, and run the Clouds filter. Ctrl-click layer '4', to
    get a circular selection and, from the FILTER menu, choose
    'Pixelate>Mosaic'. Set it to 15, apply it, and then run the Unsharp
    Mask with the settings 150% / .5 / 0. Run the Spherize filter twice,
    with the settings +100% and 'Normal' mode. Now press Ctrl+Shift+I to
    invert the selection, press the Delete key, and then Deselect.

Under
the EDIT menu, choose 'Transform>Rotate'. Rotate the sphere -30
degrees to match the lines on this layer up with all the other lines.

And,
last but not least, change the layer's Blend Mode to Exclusion. You
should now have an image similar to the one shown here. The variable
that can have a visible impact on the look of the image is the Clouds
filter. As it's a random filter effect, everyone's results will look
different.

We hope you found this article an interesting and
one which you can utilize for your needs. There are a lot of things
that can be learned from the steps for this effect, only one of which
is the final result shown here.

Extra Tips

  • One
    step where you can affect the final look of the Mercator is to alter
    the colours used -- these should be in the 3rd layer from the top.
    Also, try setting that layer on Exclusion blend mode for a different
    look.
  • Another way to alter this effect is to turn off layer
    '4'. This produces an interesting outlined effect. Play around with
    turning off and on some of the other layers, and see what different
    options you can find for the look.