Flag orbs

[kazuya]

Flag orbs are the state flag in the glass sphere (orb). This is very useful for changing the language on multilanguage pages as wallpaper, and much more.

Step 1: Download state flag whose flag orb you want to do (I chose the flag of Croatia).
Open in Photoshop and over Image -> Image Size reduce height of flag to 250px.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3452/77668056.jpg

Step 2: Make a circular selection from the top to the bottom, Elliptical Marquee tool

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9955/84296828.jpg

Press Right klick->Select inverese,then Delete. You will get this:

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8077/38353959.jpg

Step 3: Create a square selection big exactly so the circle of flag fits inside,Rectangular Marquee tool


http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6853/39319077.jpg

Then go to Image -> Crop. (If you're draw good a circle, now you should have an image size of 250x250px)

Step 4: Select the gaps (hidden parts),Magic wand tool (deselect option contiguos-up on toolbar)then left klick on any white space outside the flag orb(flag circle)


http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7183/57060785.jpg

Again, Right klick->select inverse, and the flag will again be selected. Then go to Select -> Modify -> Contract, and enter 3px.


http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8291/42964501.jpg

You can also do this with just selecting Eliptical marquee Tool and draw a little bit smaller circle inside of this flag orb

Step 5: Now take the Eliptical marquee Tool and select Intersect with selection option

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1060/photoshopflagorb6.gif

Make this selection:

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3840/46574409.jpg

Now drag the white-foreground to transparent gradient from the top toward the middle.Gradient tool->foreground to transparent(up left on toolbar)->choose white color(right)

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/8902/50558509.jpg

Klick back on Eliptical marquee Tool and then right klick on picture and deselect

Result:

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7329/800pxflagofcroatiacopy2.png

I made some more,hope you recognize your flag:biggrin::


http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/9207/photoshopflagorb11gif.pnghttp://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4859/photoshopflagorb12gif.pnghttp://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2508/photoshopflagorb13gif.pnghttp://img22.imageshack.us/img22/5265/usaflag.pnghttp://img9.imageshack.us/img9/1185/750pxflagofspain.png