The Artfkt collection library
Holographic & Metallic
Shape metal, foil and interference color
Holographic & Metallic turns source detail into reflective material: brushed grooves, sculptural chrome, crumpled foil, liquid contours, and uneven thin-film color.
Use it in Artfkt to give an image or large lettering a material identity. Start with the surface structure, then balance reflected light, roughness, and color.
Included in Artfkt for Mac. All collections, one desktop studio.
Choose how the surface catches light
Brushed Metal directs grooves and elongated reflections along a chosen angle. Chrome bends studio reflections around form derived from image brightness. Foil introduces crease networks, flat facets, and smaller wrinkles. These structures create different relationships between a source shape and its highlights.
Broad lettering and simple high-contrast images make material changes easy to read. Fine type can disappear under reflection bands or creases. If the source contains many small changes in brightness, simplify its contrast or crop before expecting a clean metallic silhouette.
Separate molten contours from interference color
Liquid Chrome pulls the image into flowing contours with traveling reflections and a separately controlled colored rim. Thin Film derives color from film thickness and viewing angle across an uneven surface. Both can reach vivid surreal results, but their controls describe different material ideas.
For a restrained sheen, keep enough variation between dark and bright regions for reflected light to explain the form. For an oil-slick direction, explore thickness and its variation rather than simply raising saturation. These are rendered image treatments, not exported metal geometry or measurements of a physical coating.
Keep the reflection subordinate to the shape
A strong highlight can become the visual subject even when the original image was meant to lead. Turn the light and adjust roughness while watching the full silhouette. The most convincing material is often the one whose reflection makes the object easier to understand.
Liquid Chrome and Thin Film start still. Raise Evolution rate and use playback when the surface should move, then compare the changing reflections over the full composition. A still poster can remain effective without motion if the highlight placement and negative space are deliberate.
Effects in Holographic & Metallic
5 effects to explore and combine.
Thin Film
Film thickness and viewing angle drive interference color across an uneven surface, from a soft sheen to broad oil-slick ribbons.
Chrome
Brightness-derived form bends studio reflections into chrome, from restrained metal surfaces to sculptural reflected bands.
Brushed Metal
Directional grooves and elongated reflected lights turn the picture into brushed metal.
Foil
Irregular crease networks, flat reflective facets and small wrinkles give the picture the character of foil.
Liquid Chrome
Smooth contours and traveling studio reflections turn the image into a molten surface. A separately controlled colored rim reaches surreal hues.
Creative applications
- Make large metallic lettering the focal element of a cover or event poster.
- Reinterpret a simple object photograph as crumpled foil or polished chrome.
- Develop an iridescent abstract background whose color movement supports separate clean typography.
Starting workflow
- For a chrome lettering study, start with broad bright letterforms against a contrasting background.
- Apply Chrome and adjust Relief until reflected bands describe the letters without breaking their readability.
- Balance surface scale and Roughness, then turn Light angle to choose where highlights cross the word.
- Compare the lettering at final size and simplify the treatment if small counters or gaps disappear.
- Try Foil as an alternative if a creased surface supports the message better than a polished reflection. Compare the alternatives before stacking them.
Make it part of your next composition.
Combine Holographic & Metallic with other collections, images, and editable text in Artfkt for Mac.