How to Make Corn in Photoshop

Harvest your own corn using Adobe Photoshop.

Whether you prefer yours to be directly from the cob, candied or boiled, corn and its kernels can make for a striking image background, seasonal avatar or graphic. Use Adobe Photoshop to create your own corn picture. Photoshop gives you the tools to customize your cob kernel by kernel, which means you get to choose size and placement, as well as color. Create a corn image in Photoshop that you’ll really want to sink your teeth into.

Instructions

1. Open Adobe Photoshop. Click the “File” menu. Click “New.” Type “MyCorn” in the “Name” field on the “New” window. Enter dimensions for the corn canvas – this will be for the entire corn picture, not the single kernel – in the “Width” and “Height” boxes, such as “4” in each. Click “inches” from the two drop-down menus. Choose “White” from the “Background Contents” menu and click the “OK” button.

2. Click the “New Layer” icon, a folded-corner square at the bottom of the “Layers” pane on the right side of the screen. A Layer 1 is added to the palette but nothing appears on the “MyCorn” canvas.

3. Double-click the solid color square at the bottom of the “Tools” pane to open the “Color Picker.” Slide the tiny white arrows near the bottom of the vertical rainbow up to the yellow-orange section.

4. Click the cursor on your preferred corn kernel color and click the “OK” button. Note that this color changes in the solid square on the “Tools” pane.

5. Right-click an icon of a gray circle, gray square, gray star or line several icons above the “Color Picker” square. Choose “Rounded Rectangle Tool” from the fly-out menu.

6. Position the cursor on the white “MyCorn” canvas. Press and hold down the left mouse button, then drag to form the kernel. Release the mouse button. The larger you draw the kernel, the fewer you’ll be able to fit on the canvas.

7. Double-click Layer 1 to open the “Layer Style” window. Click the “Inner Shadow” line under “Styles.” Make sure to click the line so it’s highlighted in blue, not just the check box, so the dialog window opens. Twirl the “Angle” wheel until it looks like it’s pointing to about 5:00 on a clock, or “-32” in the degrees box. This gives the corn kernel a 3D-like appearance, as if it is real and standing up on the canvas. Click “OK.” This is optional.

8. Right-click Layer 1. Select “Duplicate Layer.” Click “OK.” The second corn kernel is added to the canvas, but it’s directly on top of the first so you can’t see it. Drag the cursor to reveal it, then add it into place on the canvas, such as directly abutting the first, just like corn on the cob.

9. Repeat the “Duplicate Layer” process as many times as desired. One option is to fill the canvas with layers, like an ear of corn’s many rows.

10. Right-click any of the layers in the “Layers” palette. Choose “Flatten Image.” Click the “File” menu. Click “Save” to save the picture.

Resources

• Bowling Green State University: Adobe Photoshop CS5 Tutorial
• University of Washington: Drawing