Image editing for the rest of us
In this tutorial, I will show you a very quick and easy way to use Pixelmator to create a text made up entirely of flowers. This only takes 10 steps, but the end result is very nice.
Step 1
Open Pixelmator and create a new document; I used 1920×1200 pixels. Then, import a paper texture to the document. You can purchase the one that I used here.

Step 2
We need to have a nice background, so let’s import another texture, a concrete one. Again, you can buy the one I used here or use one that you already have. Afterwards, just change the Blending to Color Burn.

Step 3
Let’s add more texture; this time, I imported a green grunge texture. Because it was smaller than my document, I simply duplicated it and flipped it horizontally. When you finish, change the Blending to Overlay.

Step 4
Using the Type Tool (T), type the word(s) that you want to use. I simply typed ABDZ using a Museo font.

Step 5
Now we need some photos of flowers. I got mine from here, but you can find free photos of flower at http://sxc.hu.

Step 6
Now it’s all about copy and paste. Start adding the flowers, using the text for references. You can also go to Edit>Free Transform, or simply Command + F, then rotate and scale the flowers to change their appearances.

Step 7
After we have completely covered the text with flowers, select all the layers and duplicate them. Then, go to Layer>Merge Layers so that you have only l layer with the entire effect, then go to Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical. Move the flipped text so that it is directly below the original text. This creates a reflection; when you finish, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, using 10 for the Radius.
Now, just go to Layer>Add Layer Mask, and select the Gradient Tool (G) and a linear gradient from black to white. Fill the mask layer with the gradient to create a wet floor effect, starting from close to the text and fading away.

Step 8
Import a place a big flower that will be in front of the camera. Then go to Filter>Blur>Zoom Blur. Use 4 for the Amount; this will create a depth of field effect.

Step 9
Add more flowers to make it look as though the flowers are being thrown away from the camera. Go to Filter>Blur>Zoom Blur and apply the effect for each flower, but for the ones that are closer to the text, use less value for the effect.

Conclusion
This is a very simple effect and can be done very quickly. It is all about duplicating, organizing and placing the photos of the flowers on and around the text. But you can also using different images, not just flowers.

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July 23rd, 2009 at 7:15 am
Wow, incredible tutorial and effects!
Really awesome!
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Very nice, I’m starting to think abduzeedo is a genius (except for the name he chose…)
July 24th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Thanks for this!
July 30th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
your instruction do not help. They do not explain how anything in this program works. I have had this all day and have not figured out how to use one thing on this pixelmater program. I am ready to send it back. The manuals don’t even explain the simple first steps needed to start something. Is this for people who already know how to use such things?
July 31st, 2009 at 8:57 am
@katrina – i’m sure you can figure out how everything works if you play a little with the menus and the toolbar.
@abduzeedo – why would a grunge background reflect the flowers? =P
August 1st, 2009 at 1:13 pm
@katrina – Pixelmator is one of the most intuitive graphics apps I’ve worked with. I typically use Photoshop, but find myself loading Pixelmator more and more to do less complex operations.
August 8th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I tried to download the pxm file, but got an access denied error.
August 8th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
@Thomas – Thank you, we fixed link.
August 15th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Twice you mention “importing” textures. I have searched through all the menus in Pixelmator but can’t find a single “import” command. Would you please explain how to do this?
August 25th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I think that maybe with these tutorials we should keep in mind that some of the people using Pixelmator may be first timers or relatively new. (Chester and Katrina Lee – along the same lines guys, I spend two years fiddling with photoshop and illustrator before I even dared to question the applications abilities.)
To clarify Chester, ‘importing textures’ isn’t exactly the right way to phrase it – what should have been said was that a textured image (photo from a stock site) was opened in Pixelmator and added as a layer to the existing project. It’s like combining two documents. The easiest way to do this is to have both images open at the same time, then click on the layer of the image you want to bring INTO the other image and drag it across, then let go. Viola – texture overlay. Then proceed with the rest of the tutorial.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Very nice template. I like the theme. You are a great designer.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Hmm… I read blogs on a similar topic, but i never visited your blog. I have added it to my favorites and i’ll be your constant reader.
October 27th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points as well.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Your “here” links aren’t showing up