Yo, here's a preview of an upcoming tutorial update, aiming for a more realistic gemstone texture this time.

And suggestions or criticisms welcome.

Tutorials you make could be much faster if you learned GEGL syntax. Every time you do two or more GEGL filters in a row, just know that that can be automated using the GEGL Graph filter. Infact some of your tutorials could be fully automatable I just haven't got around to it.

Coolies David.
I've tried to get that 'sparkle' effect on things but am obviously going sbout it the wrong way.
Sparkle filer makes everything light sparkle - just need it in one or two places - any tips?

He likely used a sparkle brush.

Yeah, but that doesn't sound fun at all. I prefer hands-on editing to automation. My tutorials aren't just to show the cut and dry method, but the experimentation along the way.





No brushes for me!

1. Make a new black layer.

2. Add a dot of white where the center of the sparkle should be.

3. Use Guassian Blur to blur it horizontally into a nice thin line.

4. Duplicate the layer and rotate 90 degrees. Re-align it. Merge together.

5. Crop layer to content, then reposition or rotate to taste.

Another test for the gemstone texture, I am very pleased with the result. The metal border... not so much...



Side note, both pictures have a super nice vibrant red for the gem color but in viewing the images in Microsoft Photos AND when uploaded to Imgur it comes out looking dull and slightly desaturated. Can't figure out a fix for that.

Thank you

Ok, third test. I am really happy with the result. The gold border was done with multiple layers and blend modes instead of a filter. I think this is the final outcome for the tutorial.

Looks good!