Don't Ask!!!  Not everything has to make sense, especially when you are talking about image creation inside of PhotoShop.  Sometimes you just have to sit back and say "I don't know what the hell it is, but, it's pretty damned cool!".  That is pretty much what happened here for the Copper Syrup Action.  This action by itself is really not overly useful (unless, of coarse, you actually manufacture pancake syrup made out of blue and gold copper), however, there are some very cool techniques in this one that rely heavily on image calculations and composite modes.

Image Calculations is probably one of those things that newer PhotoShoppers have no clue about.  It just sits under the Image menu, minding it's own business, maybe getting opened up once or twice, just to see what the hell it is, but that's about it.  But, if you've been around since the 'pre-layers era', you've most likely dabbled in it quite a bit.  Many of it's functions can be done today with composite modes and layers, but, I still like to play with it occasionally.  There is a great book called 'PhotoShop Channel Chops' by David Biedny, Bert Monroy and Nathan Moody for anyone that wants to learn more about some real 'Nuts and Bolts PhotoShop'.  I got my copy from Amazon.com.  Good luck finding a copy laying around your local Crown Books.

Also, pay attention to the way curves are used to create those shinny looking surfaces.  Curves is another 'Nuts and Bolts' tool that looks much more intimidating than it really is.  I'm sure it's another one of those tools that gets opened on occasion, only to be closed down just as quickly when just a bit of playing around makes your image look like a 1970, tye dye, psychedelic, bad acid trip mess.  But, learn to use it correctly and it's like Levels on steroids with a touch of Hue, Saturation and Lightness, and a bit of Brightness and Contrast thrown in.  I guess you could say it's the Swiss Army Knife of PhotoShop tools.

For the final image above, I used a pretty large image to keep the letters from running together and becoming an unrecognizable ooze.  The original looked like this.  I painted a few extra drips here and there to enhance the effect.  If you click on the small black and white, you can view and download a gif version of the original.  Try the action on this image first to make sure you get the same results as in the image as at the top of this page.

Be sure to experiment with different words, different sizes, different shapes and see how it works.  We hope you enjoy these actions.  Email Us or sign our Guest Book and let us know what you think.  Send us some of your final images.  Have Fun!!

The Usual Disclaimer
These actions are created for 72dpi images only and are only guaranteed to work in Photoshop 5.5.  They were also created on a PC, not a MAC. (Please, no more hate mail from MAC users, I like PCs, I'm sorry!)  If you wish to create these effects for a higher resolution, you will need to tear the action apart and redo the steps.