Design a Holographic X-Ray Tattoo Flash Sheet

Choose File → New, enter 1200 × 1540 (close to the classic 11 × 14 inch flash sheet) and click Create. Click the Background row, set the foreground to #0B0720 and choose Edit → Fill.

Double-click Layer 1, rename it Holo Wash, and pick the Gradient tool. Click Advanced… and set five stops: #22E8FF at 0%, #FF3FD8 at 30%, #7B4DFF at 58%, #3DFFC8 at 80% and #FFE45C at 100%. Drag a Linear gradient from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner.

Add a Nebula layer and run Filter → Clouds… at Scale 4. Then run Filter → Brightness/Contrast… with Brightness −45 and Contrast 90, so most of the cloud goes black and only wisps stay bright. Open the layer's effects and set Blend to Multiply. The foil wash now only shows through the wisps.

First set Holo Wash to 40% opacity, so the colour stays in the background. Then add a Stars layer, fill it black, and run Filter → Add Noise… with Amount 100 and Mono. Then run Filter → Threshold… at Level 48. Only the brightest noise grains survive, and they become stars. Set the layer to Screen at 60%, so the black disappears and only the stars stay.

Add a Frame layer. Marquee 1148 × 1488 at (26, 26) and drag the foil gradient corner to corner. Press Cmd+D, marquee 1120 × 1460 at (40, 40) and press Delete. That leaves a 14 px band.

For the inner rule, marquee 1092 × 1432 at (54, 54), fill it with #F4F0FF, choose Select → Shrink… with 3 px, and press Delete. Add an Outer Glow in #22E8FF (Size 18, Opacity 55). Then click Rasterize Layer Style to bake it in: glows are recalculated every time the canvas redraws, and a flash sheet ends up with a lot of them.

Click the top ruler at x 330, 600 and 870, and the left ruler at y 170, 600 and 1130. Those are the column centres, the sheet's middle, the banner line and the two row centres. Turn on View → Show Grid with an 8 px grid for later alignment, then turn it off again while you draw freehand shapes.

Add a Banner Tails layer. With the Lasso (L), click out a swallowtail: (210, 128), (62, 128), (118, 188), (62, 248), (210, 248). Fill it with a Linear #7B4DFF → #FF3FD8 → #22E8FF gradient, and repeat the tail mirrored on the right. Lasso a small triangle under each inner end ((170, 218), (210, 218), (210, 248)) and fill it with #2A124F. That's the fold where the ribbon turns behind itself. Add a 6 px #120A2E Stroke.

Add a Banner layer, marquee 860 × 126 at (170, 92) and drag the five-stop foil gradient across it. Give it a 7 px ink Stroke, a white Inner Glow (Size 14, Opacity 70) for a chrome edge, and a #FF3FD8 Outer Glow (Size 30, Opacity 60). Rasterize the style on both ribbon layers.

Choose the Text tool (T), set Size 84 and pick Rye in the font browser. Its spurred Western capitals look like hand-painted flash lettering. With white as the foreground, click on the ribbon and type COSMIC X-RAY with two spaces. Rye's space is narrow, and a single one runs the words together. Press Tab to commit.

White on a bright foil band is hard to read. Raise Size to 92, click into the title with the Text tool, press Cmd+A to select every letter, and set the foreground to #120A2E. The selected text takes the new colour. Press Tab to commit.

Switch to Move (V) and nudge the title with the arrow keys (hold Shift for 10 px) until the letters sit in the middle of the band. That's about 70 px from each end of the band, and 27 px above and below the caps. Add a white Stroke of 3 and a #2A124F Drop Shadow with Offset 4 / 4, Blur 0 and Opacity 55. The white keyline separates the ink from the foil, and the hard offset shadow reads as a printed sticker.

Add a Comet Tail layer. Lasso a long tapered wedge from (500, 500) to (115, 380), about 88 px wide at the head. Fill it with a Linear gradient from the head to the tip: white, #22E8FF at 25%, #FF3FD8 at 70% (alpha 60%), and #7B4DFF at 0% alpha. Press Cmd+D and run Filter → Motion Blur… at Angle 17, Distance 24.

On a Comet Head layer, fill a 60 px circle at (500, 500) with a Radial white → #FFF3B0 → #22E8FF gradient. Give it a 5 px ink Stroke and a #22E8FF Outer Glow (Size 40, Opacity 90).

Add a Skull layer. Lasso a skull centred on (330, 620): a domed cranium 260 px wide, cheekbones that flare at y 690, and a jaw that narrows to a 60 px chin at y 772. Fill it with the pastel foil diagonally from the top-left. A lighter ramp keeps bone looking like bone. Add a 7 px ink Stroke and a #7B4DFF Inner Glow (Size 34, Opacity 80) so the edges darken like an x-ray.

On a Skull Ink layer, use the Elliptical Marquee to fill two 74 × 66 eye sockets at (280, 648) and (380, 648) with ink. Lasso a spade shape for the nose. Marquee a 108 × 34 mouth at (276, 728) and fill it. Then fill two rows of 13 px #F4F0FF squares, 17 px apart, for the teeth.

Add a Skull X-Ray Lines layer and pick the Brush (B) at Size 5, Hardness 100, in white. Click where a line starts, then Shift-click each next point. Each click draws a straight segment from the last one, so you can build the zig-zag coronal suture across the crown, the temple curves, and arcs over the brows and cheekbones point by point. Give the layer a #22E8FF Outer Glow (Size 16, Opacity 90).

On a Skull Eyes layer, fill a 26 px cyan circle in each socket with a small white catch-light, and add a cyan Outer Glow (Size 26).

Select Banner Tails so new layers land outside the skull, and add a Hand Flesh layer. Lasso a palm around (870, 670), then lasso a capsule for each finger and the thumb, filling each with #4A22B8. The overlaps merge into one hand. Cmd-click the layer thumbnail to select its shape, and drag a diagonal #7B4DFF → #3A1C8C → #1C0E4A gradient from the upper left, the same light direction as the skull. Add a 7 px ink Stroke and a #FF3FD8 Outer Glow (Size 30, Opacity 85).

On a Hand Bones layer, lasso-fill thin white capsules: three phalanges per finger with a 6 px gap at every joint, four metacarpals fanning to the wrist, three thumb bones, and seven small round carpals. Cmd-click the thumbnail and refill the bones with the pastel foil, then give them a 3 px ink Stroke and a cyan Outer Glow. The dark gaps are what make it read as an x-ray rather than a glove.

Select Banner Tails again and add a Moon layer, so the fingertips overlap the moon. Fill a 168 px circle at (864, 480) with a #FFF3B0 → #FFB3F0 → #22E8FF gradient. Then select a 152 px circle offset up and right (centre (898, 450)) and press Delete to bite out the crescent. Cmd-click the thumbnail, switch to Move, and drag a corner rotation handle about 25° anticlockwise so the horns cradle the fingertips. Press Cmd+D, then add an ink Stroke, a white Inner Glow and a pale yellow Outer Glow.

Rasterize the layer styles you've finished. Click Comet Tail, Shift-click Skull Eyes and choose Layer → Group Layers. Name the group 01 Skull & Comet. Do the same for Moon to Hand Bones as 02 Hand & Moon. Each flash design is now one unit you can move.

Add a Heart layer and lasso a classic heart centred at (330, 1103), 320 px wide. Drag a Radial gradient from (270, 1040) out to (480, 1280) with #FFF3B0, #FF3FD8 at 30%, #7B4DFF at 68% and #22E8FF. Add a 7 px ink Stroke, a white Inner Glow and a #FF3FD8 Outer Glow. On a Heart Shine layer, fill a curved kidney-shaped glint on the left lobe in white and set it to Screen.

On a Ribcage layer, fill a vertical sternum capsule, then four pairs of curved, tapering rib bands that sweep out and down from it. Each rib is one Lasso selection. Cmd-click the thumbnail, refill with the pastel foil, and add a 3 px ink Stroke and a cyan Outer Glow. At 92% opacity the heart glows faintly through the bone.

On a Shooting Star Trail layer, lasso three thin wedges from (470, 962) up-left toward (240, 880), and fill each with #FFF3B0 → #FF3FD8 (alpha 80%) → #7B4DFF (alpha 0). Add Motion Blur (Angle 19, Distance 14). On a Shooting Star layer, lasso a five-point star at (480, 962) and fill it with a radial white → #FFF3B0 → #FFB3F0 gradient. Add an ink Stroke and a warm Outer Glow. Group the heart layers as 03 Heart & Star.

Click Banner Tails so the planet starts outside group 03, and add a Planet layer. Fill a 236 px circle at (870, 1140) with a Radial gradient from the upper left: white, #B8F7FF, #C9B6FF, #FF3FD8, #3A1C8C. Pick Dodge / Burn (O), set Mode: Burn, Exposure 16 and Size 110, and drag once along the lower-right edge to turn the sphere away from the light.

On a Planet Bands layer, lasso four slanted bands across the planet in #7B4DFF. To clip them, click the Planet row, Cmd-click its thumbnail, click back on Planet Bands, choose Select → Inverse and press Delete. Set the bands to Multiply at 45%.

Add a Ring layer. Fill a 430 × 116 ellipse centred on the planet in white, then select a 368 × 80 ellipse at the same centre and press Delete. Cmd-click the thumbnail and drag the foil gradient across it left to right. With the selection still active, use the Move tool's rotation handle to tilt the ring about 18° anticlockwise.

Now the ring needs to pass behind the planet. Click the Planet row, Cmd-click its thumbnail, then click back on the Ring row. The planet's shape is now the selection, and the Ring layer is active. Pick the Eraser (E) at Size 30, click at the left end of the ring's upper arc, and Shift-click along it to the right end. The selection keeps the eraser inside the disc, so only the back arc over the planet disappears.

Add an ink Stroke and a cyan Outer Glow to the ring. Add a 44 px Moonlet at its upper right. Then group Planet to Moonlet as 04 Ringed Planet.

Flash numbers let a client say "number 3, please". Add a Badge 1 layer, fill a 54 px circle at (112, 302) with the pastel foil, and give it an ink Stroke and a cyan Outer Glow. Rasterize the style so the effects travel with the pixels. Then marquee the badge, press Cmd+C, Cmd+V (it pastes in place on a new layer) and Cmd+D, and drag the copy with Move to (700, 380). Paste two more copies at (112, 862) and (652, 952). Each badge sits just above and to the left of its own design.

Set each number in Rye, Size 34, ink, and nudge it with the arrow keys until it's centred on its badge.

On a Sparkle layer, lasso a four-point star with concave sides, 68 px across, at (560, 790) and fill it white. Marquee it, then Cmd+C and Cmd+V. Cmd-click the pasted layer's thumbnail and rotate it 45° with the Move tool's rotation handle.

Press Cmd+D, Cmd-click the thumbnail again, and Cmd-drag the bottom-right handle inward to about 80%. Cmd keeps the scale uniform. Press Cmd+D, nudge the copy back to the original's centre and choose Layer → Merge Down. Add a white Outer Glow (Size 22, Opacity 95) and rasterize it.

Copy and paste the glint into the empty spaces: (1070, 360), (140, 1320), (1070, 1320) and (600, 880) between the rows. Use Cmd+X and Cmd+V to move the original up beside the comet at (560, 470). Scale two of the copies down to about 65% so they read as further away.

Every sheet needs its series line. On a Footer Plate layer, lasso two small notched ends in #7B4DFF, then marquee 540 × 62 at (330, 1420) and fill it with the pastel foil. Give it a 4 px ink Stroke and a pink Outer Glow, and rasterize it. Set FLASH No. 13 ~ X-RAY SERIES in Rye 30, ink, and nudge it to the centre of the plate. On a plate, the line stays readable over the busiest part of the star field.

The bottom row sits too high and leaves a dead band above the footer. Turn on View → Show Grid. Click the 03 Heart & Star group, then Cmd-click 04 Ringed Planet, Badge 3, No. 3, Badge 4 and No. 4. With Move, drag the heart down about 40 px. Every selected layer and group moves together and snaps to the 8 px grid. Turn the grid off.

This is also a good time to check your history: Cmd+Z three times, then Cmd+Shift+Z three times, and the row lands exactly where you left it.

Select Stars and run Filter → Bloom… (Threshold 40, Soft Knee 50, Radius 6, Intensity 140) so the brightest stars bloom. Select Comet Tail and run Filter → Chromatic Aberration… (Amount 7, Direction 17) for a foil-like colour split along the streak. Last, add a Grain layer above everything: fill it with #808080, run Add Noise… (Amount 22, Mono, Gaussian), and set it to Overlay at 18%. Export with File → Quick Export PNG.