CREATE THE BACKGROUND

In a new document, create a background using the gradient tool. I’m using a light grey and dark grey color, with the gradient tool set to Radial Gradient. I start at the upper left corner and aim towards the lower right corner to give a subtle light effect. You may need to make a few passes to get the look you want.

SET YOUR TYPE

The best typeface for this effect is a sans serif font. I’m using Futura Condensed Extrabold and a dark red color.

SET YOUR LAYER STYLES

Now that you have your type set in the font and color you want, set up the layer styles for Inner Shadow, Inner Glow & Bevel and Emboss as seen below. Remember, if you choose a different color than the red I’m using, you will need to adjust the Inner Shadow and Inner Glow color so that it is in a shade and tint of the color you are using.

DUPLICATE TYPE LAYER

To create the “back” of the type and give you a guide for creating the 3D effect, duplicate the type layer you’ve made (select the type layer and press Command+J). You will be working on the bottom type layer, so make sure you have it selected. Open up the Layer Style for this layer and select only the Gradient Overlay, using the the settings below.

ADJUST GRADIENT OVERLAY

Make the adjustments to the Gradient Overlay you need to get the desired result, which is light at the top moving down to dark at the bottom.

OFFSET THE LAYER

With the adjustments made to the back type layer, offset it to give it the desired 3D effect.

FILL IN THE GAPS

Next, you’ll use the Rectangle Tool to connect the front and back type layers. Start by making a shape that is flush with the edge of the front type layer and connect it to the edge of the back type layer.

Extend the shape all of the way to the top and shift the sides to match up with the both layers of type.

ADD GRADIENT OVERLAY

Open up the Layer Style for this shape and set the Gradient Overlay to the settings below.

The idea is to go from light, at the top, to dark, at the bottom.

ADD DIMENSION TO ALL

Continue this same technique to all exposed sides of the type, making sure to fill in all gaps. An easy way to do this is to duplicate shapes that are similar and can be applied to other letters of the type.

ADD THE GLOSS

When you have finished the above actions, you can now add the gloss to the type. Create a new layer in the Paths palette and using the Pen Tool, create a shape over the top type layer. The shape I’m using is organic, but you can easily use a more symmetrical shape such as a half circle or straight line.

Make a selection of the shape by holding down the Command key and clicking on the path layer in the Paths palette. When you have made the selection, create a new layer, above the front type layer, and fill the selection with 100% white.

Now, with the new shape layer still selected, hold down the Command key and click on the thumbnail of the front type layer. Make sure you click on the thumbnail and not just the layer. This will create a selection in the shape of the front type layer.

TRIM THE ACCESS

Inverse this selection by either holding down the Shift and Command key at the same time and press “i“, or go to Select–Inverse. After that, press the delete key to remove any extra parts of the white shape you don’t need.

FINISH THE GLOSS

With this layer selected, set the Blending Mode to Multiply. Go to the Layer Style of this layer and apply the Gradient Overlay using the settings below.

THE FINISHED IMAGE

The Gradient Overlay and layer opacity can be adjusted to give you the result you desire.

See link below for PSD file for this tutorial.

Here is what the image of the button will look like when we are finished with this tutorial.

DRAW THE BUTTON SHAPE

Using the Ellipse Tool, draw a circle. It doesn’t matter what color it is, that will all be changed in the Layer Style.

ADD LAYER STYLES TO THE BUTTON SHAPE

Double click on the button shape layer to bring up the Layer Style palette and apply the following specs for Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, and Gradient Overlay. As for the Gradient Overlay, you can use any color you would like,  as long as it goes from light to dark.

ADJUST HIGHTLIGHT

While in the above palette, click and hold on the highlight area of the shape. Pull down the highlight area of the shape until it is down towards the bottom of the shape.

CREATE THE BASE FOR BUTTON

To create the base for the button, duplicate the button shape layer and scale it up so that is larger that the original button shape.

CHANGE THE LAYER STYLES FOR THE BASE SHAPE

Double click on the base shape layer to bring up the Layer Style palette and change the specs for Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, and Gradient Overlay. For the Gradient Overlay, change it to a metallic gradient that will work well as a texture for the button base.

CREATE THE GLOSSY HIGHLIGHT

Above the button shape, draw a white oval shape using the Ellipse Tool and position it towards the top of the button shape. Set the blending mode of this layer to Multiply and set the opacity to 40%.

Double click on this layer and apply the below layer style for the Gradient Overlay as seen below, making sure the Blend Mode is set to Screen.

FINISHED IMAGE

This technique can be used with any shape you can create in Photoshop. Have fun experimenting with it!

]]> http://rubberspark.com/glossy-button-in-adobe-photoshop/feed/ 2 http://rubberspark.com/making-a-contact-sheet-with-photoshop/ http://rubberspark.com/making-a-contact-sheet-with-photoshop/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 20:33:00 +0000 Joseph http://rubberspark.com/?p=580 If you’ve ever had a large number of images and you needed to make a contact sheet, Photoshop has a great feature that will create contact sheets for you.

STEP 1

In Photoshop, go to File-Automate-Contact Sheet II

STEP 2

This will bring up a palette where you select the images you will use in the contact sheet. Select “Choose” under the “Source Images” area.

STEP 3

Go to the location of the folder containing the images, select it and click Open.

STEP 4

This will bring you back to the first palette, where you can change the settings of the size, resolution and color mode you want the contact sheet to be. Depending on how many images you have and what your settings are in the “Thumbnails” area, Photoshop will calculate how many pages will be needed.

STEP 5

When you are finished putting in your settings and hit “Ok”, Photoshop will create a new document, open each of the images, resize them and put them in the new document along with the filename of each image.

If you ever need to create a die-cut of an image, you will need to create a bleed for the image in case the die-line is off a little during the cutting process. Here is how you do it:

Open the image that is going to be die-cut. It should already be clipped out of the background and on it’s own layer. Duplicate that layer. This layer you will labeled “bleed”.

Hide the original layer and select the bleed layer. Go to the filters menu and select “Filter – Other – Minimum”.

Depending on the resolution of the image, put in a setting that will expand the bleed layer at least 1/8 inch outwards.

Now turn on your original layer, but keep the bleed layer selected. Make a selection of the bleed layer by holding down the apple key and clicking on the bleed layer icon in the layer’s palette. Select the brush tool, set it to 20 pixals, with a 50% hardness and zoom in on the bleed area.

If you hold down the option key, you’ll notice the cursor change from the brush tool to the eye dropper tool. You will use this move to select the color you need for the bleed.

Using the eye dropper tool, you will select the color of the outer edge of the original image. Then you will “paint” the bleed with this color. And because the bleed is selected, you won’t be painting outside of it.

The object is to make the edge of the original image and bleed image seamless. You will want to pay close attention to how the color changes around the image. The more attention you pay to detail, the better the bleed will be.

When you update your file in Illustrator, your bleed should fit nicely with the die-cut you’ve created in your layout.

Start off with a new Photoshop document at 300 dpi. Type in the line of copy that you want to apply this effect to and then rasterize it. The type should be white in color and preferably a font that is somewhat thick. Thinner fonts don’t show the effects as well, but with minor adjustments to the layer styles, you can make it work.

In the layer styles of the type layer, set the “Bevel and Emboss” to these settings:

When you have made those changes, create a new layer below your type layer. Hold down the apple key and click on the icon of that layer to make a selection of the type. In the “Select” menu, to got “Modify–Expand” and give a pixel setting of 6.

Fill this with white. It will be larger than the layer above it, which is the effect we want.

In the layer styles of this layer, set the “Bevel and Emboss” to these settings:

With thicker fonts, the chrome effect will have a bulky look. By adjusting the settings, you can make this technique work for thinner fonts too.

If you create the file in a lower resolution, you will need to lower the settings in the layer styles to the desired effect.

Creating drop shadows its tricky. If you do it wrong, it can look very fake and throw the feeling of the image off. If done right, it can add that touch of realism to an object that compliments the overall look of the product.

The two filters I use in creating drop shadows are Gaussian Blur and Motion Blur.

First, put the object that is to have a drop shadow on a separate layer. In this example I will use a block. The object must be by itself, so you might need to clip it out of a background (see tutorial on clipping out objects.) Create another layer below the object. This is where the first drop shadow will go. With the lasso tool create a shape of the bottom of the object. In other words, where the object lays on the ground. It will need to be “flat” and not run up the side of the object, because in the real world, shadows don’t work like that.(figure 1)

When you have your selection, fill it with black. Set the layer to multiply and give it a opacity of 80%. Go to FILTER-BLUR- and select Gaussian Blur. Give it a setting of about 3. This setting will depend on the resolution of the image. The higher the resolution, the higher the setting. You will want this shadow to have a very soft edge. (figure 2).

Now copy this layer and hide the first layer. Go to FILTER-BLUR- and select Motion Blur. The angle setting will depend on what type of object you are using, and how it is positioned. For instance, the block I’m using has straight sides and is at a 3/4 angle, so I will set the angle so that the shadow stretches perpendicular with the sides of the box. (figure 3) You might want to set the DISTANCE setting a little high right now to help you see which way the shadow is moving. TIP: by highlighting the angle, you can use the up and down buttons to change the angle in single increments. Some ojects, such as a ball, can have any angle setting. But this will visually determine where the horizon is. Once you have the angle set, adjust the DISTANCE of the shadow to give it the “movement” you want. Too much and the shadow will be over powering and too little will not give enough “movement”.

When you have both shadows created, turn the first layer back on and adjust the opacity on each to get the effect you want. (figure 4)

If you need more help with creating drop shadows, please contact me at jaugustine@rubberspark.com.