Dark Tower Effect

Step 1.

Create a new document of any size, for this tutorial I will be working with a document that is 400x400 in size.

Fill the background with black (#00000) using the Flood Fill Paint Bucket ( )

Step 2.

Get out your Custom Shape Tool ( ) and select the "Rounded Square Frame Shape" as I've done here:

Step 3.

Double click this layer, and apply the following Blending Options:

Bevel & Emboss

Color Overlay:

Result:

Step 4.

Press Ctrl + J On your keyboard to duplicate this layer. Press Ctrl + T on your keyboard to bring up the Free Transform Tool.

Double click this layer, and change the Color Overlay blending option as I've done here:

Color Overlay

Rotate and scale this duplicate shape a few pixels by placing your mouse cursor near the top right corner node (box) and dragging inward slightly. Press enter on your keyboard to deselect the selection to complete the transformation:

Change the blending mode of this layer to "Vivid Light" as I've done here:

Result:

Step 5.

Press Ctrl + Shift + T on your keyboard 7 Times to repeat the free transformation 7 times.

Apply Luminosity, Hard Light, Linear Dodge, and Linear Light blending options to these layers randomly to create an effect similar to what I've done here:

Step 6.

Select and merge all the rounded square frame layers.

Photoshop CS(2):

Hold the Shift key on your keyboard, and click each of the layers once. Next go to Layer->Merge Selected to merge these layers.

Photoshop 7 and below:

Click the topmost layer to select it, and press Ctrl + E on your keyboard 7 times, to merge each of these layers together. Your canvas should look similar to this afterwords:

Step 7.

Press Ctrl + J on your keyboard to duplicate this layer.

Go to Filter->Texture->Stained Glass, and apply the following settings:

Result:

Step 8.

Change the blending option of this layer to "Vivid Light":

Result:

Step 9.

Merge these two layers together:

Photoshop CS(2):

Hold the Shift key on your keyboard, and click each of the layers once. Next go to Layer->Merge Selected to merge these layers.

Photoshop 7 and below:

Click the topmost layer to select it, and press Ctrl + E on your keyboard 7 times, to merge each of these layers together.

Press Ctrl + J and duplicate this layer.

Press Ctrl + T on your keyboard to get out the free transform tool, and scale the duplicate layer down as I have done here:

Step 10.

Go to Layer->New Adjustment Layer->Hue/Saturation, and apply the following settings:

Result:

Step 11.

Select and merge all layers.

Photoshop CS(2):

Hold the Shift key on your keyboard, and click each of the layers once. Next go to Layer->Merge Selected to merge these layers.

Photoshop 7 and below:

Click the topmost layer to select it, and press Ctrl + E on your keyboard 7 times, to merge each of these layers together.

Go to Filter->Brush Strokes -> Accented Edges, and apply the following settings:

Change the blending mode of this layer to "Overlay":

Here is how my final result turned out:

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial.