I'm trying to achieve negative space icons. They've been trendy awhile, and I horribly suck at them.

These are my attempts and their originals.

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What I did was crop the image to the part where the selection box goes over the image. Then I just used the smudge tool to fill the blank part.


Is cutting out the person much better than my process? I really need help.

They look a bit more choppy your way than they would cutting them out. They also look a little over-saturated.

I dig the last one. It's flashy!

Yeah, i just realized it being choppy cause i sharpened it..

And it's over saturated because of the coloring i did on the harry potter icons. i think over saturation looks best on harry potter.

Yeah, i just realized it being choppy cause i sharpened it..

And it's over saturated because of the coloring i did on the harry potter icons. i think over saturation looks best on harry potter.

Smudging and copying the background and blurring it together looks better on icons. Since it's such a small space there really is no need to be THAT intricate with the slicing and dicing.


The tip is also in the cropping. Sometimes, shrink the picture and THEN crop to allow for more of your negative space but enough of the subject to see what it is.

I guess it takes some practice to be a pro like you...
* Admires Kristina's avatar. *

Did you mean for the second to say "Weasel" and the third to say "Heroine"?

When it comes to that type of cropping, it takes a few tries. Sometimes I have to crop some things 4 or 5 times until I'm completely satisfied. It's just all about practice. Also keep the Rule of Thirds in mind when cropping.

Yes, it's a pun on their names.


I know.. I think center subjects look great with negative space though. Like these..

On the latter ones, that's why I tend to size down and then crop. The Rule of Thirds always..seemed a little subjective. Not everything looks great off to the sides. It's a logical rule, it's just also one of those artistic rules you have to know before you break them. There is NOTHING wrong with center cropping either if done correctly.


On terms of cropping in general..it's all subjective.



And i'm no pro, yo. I just have no life so I fiddle. A lot. Haha.