We have another great tutorial available for our readers today. If you want to learn how to create amazing Christmas card with shining decorative star, using simple shapes and gradients in Adobe Photoshop CS5, then this tutorial is for you. Layered PSD file included. Let’s get started!

Final Image Preview

Start working by creating a new document (Ctrl+N) in Adobe Photoshop with the size 1000px by 1000px (RGB color mode) at a resolution of 72 pixels/inch. Use the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to fill with #3F2D56 color the new background layer.

Next we’ll create a new layer and select the Soft Round brush from Brush Tool (B).

Use this brush to paint the background with #443165 color.

On the next new layer we’ll continue painting the background applying the Soft Round brush of black color (set Opacity to 15% in Options bar).

Use this brush to paint the canvas edges.

Create a new layer and select again the Soft Round brush from Brush Tool (B).

Use this brush to paint the background with #FE5200 color on the top right side, brush Opacity is 30%. Change brush strong>Opacity to 15% and paint on the lowest right side.

Next we’ll represent a small polygon, select the Polygon Tool (U), go to Options bar and click on Polygon Options. Set Radius – 500px, Indent Sides by – 80% and check the Smooth Corners, Star, Smooth Indents. Also set in Options bar the Sides – 5

Click and drag to draw the polygon shape.

Set Fill to 0% for this layer and click on Add a layer style icon from bottom part of the Layers panel to select Stroke.

We’ve got the next result:

Make a copy of the last made layer and choose the Free Transform (Ctrl+T) command (check Maintain Aspect Ratio in Options bar) to enlarge the copy’s layer. Using the Convert Point Tool, we can make rounder the polygon’s anchor points.

Now we have to repeat two times the same operation of copying out the polygon, its proportional resizing and its shape’s corrections.

We’ve got the next result:

Combine in a group all polygons layers (press CTRL button to select the necessary layers and hold on the left mouse’s button while dragging the selected layers on Create a new group icon from bottom part of the Layers panel). Let’s rasterize the group now (in this select the group in Layers panel and press CTRL+E to Merge Down), using the Free Transform (Ctrl+T) command we can make smaller the rasterized layer, containing the polygon and placing it the same way from below:

Set Fill to 0% for this layer, change Opacity to 55% and click on Add a layer style icon from bottom part of the Layers panel to select Gradient Overlay.

Click on Add a layer style icon from bottom part of the Layers panel and select Bevel and Emboss.

We’ve got the next result:

Let’s rasterize the polygon’s layer. Create in this case a new layer above the polyon’s layer and hold CTRL button to select both layers in Layers panel. Then press CTRL+E to Merge Down. Make many copies of the new got layer and choose the Free Transform (Ctrl+T) command to change the copies’ sizes, placing them the same way from below:

On the copies’ layers we can apply on our wish the next Blending Modes: Linear Dodge, Color Dodge and Divide. On several stars we should change the Fill to 50% to get the approximate effect from the picture.