Introduction

Heres a really easy way to replicate the “linen” look that Apple uses throughout their stuff (Lion’s Mission Control background). Just by using the Noise and Motion Blur filter you can come up with a really cool looking effect.

Step 1

In Photoshop create a new document. Fill the background layer with #aeb6ba. Create four new layers fill the bottom two with white and the remaining two with black.

Heres what layers you should have:

Step 2

Select Layer 1 (Bottom white layer). Go to Filter->Noise->Add Noise…. Use these settings or play around with something you like.

Repeat this process for each of the layers but change the Amount Percentage each time. Heres what I did:

• Layer 2 – 70%
• Layer 3 – 65%
• Layer 4 – 55%

Hint

When reapplying Add Noise you can use the keyboard short cut: Cmd+Option+F to bring up the filter dialog again but allowing you to edit its options (Unlike Cmd+F which reapplies the filter with the same settings as last used)

Step 3

Now we get to make it actually look like something besides a couple layers filled with noise!

Starting in Layer 1 go to Filter->Blur->Motion Blur… change Angle to 0 and distance to 70 pixels (Again this is all preference, play around with it and see what you like best! It doesn’t hurt to explore a little bit).

Select Layer 2 bring up Motion Blur (Cmd+Option+F) change Angle to 90 degrees and distance to 75

Step 4

Repeat Step 3 but do it on Layer 3 and Layer 4 and changing the Distance a little bit.

NOTE: Make Layer 3 0 Angle and Layer 4′s Angle be 90

Step 5

Change Layer 3 and Layer 4‘s Layer Properties to Screen

Finally change Layer 1 and Layer 2‘s Layer Properties to Multiply

Conclusion

You might notice that the edges of your document look a little funny if this is the case just crop it down so they are gone.

Other than that, you’re done! That was a incredibly simple way to create a pretty cool looking effect! You can always play around with the background color to change the color of your “Linen”.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and learned a few things! If you have any questions feel free to email me or comment below and I will try my best to respond.

Introduction

In this tutorial I will be teaching you how to create a cool looking effect that Apple used in their new iPod Touch Ads and stuff.

Heres what were making:

Of course my or your results will look exactly like this but were not learning how to accomplish this just to copy Apple! We’re learning it so you can apply this to other instances as well. Lets begin!

Step 1

In this tutorial you will need to get a picture of a finger print, I found the one I’m using by a simple google search.

Once you found a finger print, create a new document and paste the print into the document. The finger print I’m using was pretty big so I had to scale it down to about 75px by 115px

Step 2

I’m going to spell touch so I need five of the finger prints, so duplicate the layer as many times as you need and put them next to each other over lapping a tiny bit.

Step 3

Okay now its time for the fun part! Coloring the finger prints.

You might think this is going to be hard but its actually incredibly simple! So lets get started.

Create a new layer above all the other layers. Change the Blend Mode to Color.

Command+Click a finger print layer (I’m going left to right) to select it, then with your newly created color layer fill the selection with #ff7c21

Step 4

Now all we have to do is repeat Step 3 four more times, but each time change the color.

Heres the colors in order from left to right.

#1 #ff7c21
#2 #fb321d
#3 #2b6aff
#4 #0098d1
#5 #a9da56

Step 5

One more final touch left on the color. On #2 add a radial gradient at the bottom to about the middle using a foreground to transparent gradient. Set your foreground to: #fd3180

Add another radial gradient on #3 on the top left, again use a foreground to transparent, set your foreground to: #e067f3

And lastly, another radial gradient on #5, from the left to the center. Set your foreground to #69bfe0

Step 6 – Final Step!

For the final step all we have to do is add text!
Create a text layer (T) and write “touch”. set your font settings to: Lucida Grande at 100pt with 85 tracking (spacing) and color #ffffff.

Create another text layer this time have the font Myriad Pro and set it to Semibold and the size 165pt with -65 tracking

Move the touch text in front of the finger prints, play around with your font size and spacing till it looks right, it will be different for you depending on how close you put each print and what size you made them. Lastly, move the iPod text layer above the finger prints and center it on them and thats it!

Conclusion

Congratulations! You completed this incredibly easy tutorial to show you how to create the finger prints like Apple did for their new iPod touch! Hopefully you learned enough from this tutorial to create your own things using these methods. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions please leave them in the comments or send me an email.

Step 1

Create a new document, I made mine 1100px by 700px. It doesn’t matter what you use so use whatever you want. Fill the background with a color that you want. I chose #f9eddf.

Step 2

In this tutorial I’m going to be making the banner wrap around the container of a website. If you are going to do this aswell, create a new layer above the background layer and make the container using the Marquee Tool. I made mine 600px wide and 100% tall and filled it with white.

Step 3

Select the Marquee Tool (M). Make a selection a little bit wider then the container. I made mine 686px by 60px (Remember my container is 600px wide). Fill it with #f26c4f

Step 4

Duplicate the layer you just made, select the Move Tool (V) and move the newly made layer down about 40 pixels

An easy way to do this is to use the arrow keys while holding down the Shift Key. Each time you move the selection while doing this will move it 10px. So just hit the down arrow four times.

Move layer below the container.

Step 5

Select the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) and cut out the ends of the layer that you just made in the last step by drawing a triangle from each point to somewhere in the middle of the banner.

When you have drawn the selection hit Delete

Step 6

With the Polygonal Lasso Tool still selected draw a triangle at the bottom of the first banner going all the way to the bottom of the second one.

To create a triangle that looks good, create Paths (The easiest way to create a path is to turn on the Rulers and just click and drag from the ruler on to the document and unclick where you want to place the guide) on the outer side of the first banner as well as the bottom side and on the second banner create one on the inner side as well as the bottom of it. If that was confusing look at the picture to see the guides as well as the selection I drew.

Once you have made the selection create a new layer and fill it with #a54a36. Duplicate the first triangle layer and use Free Transform to flip it horizontally and move it to the other side of the banner.

Step 7

All that’s left is just adding finishing touches to the banner.

You can create a shadow, to do this duplicate both layers of the banner and fill them with black. Move them down a few pixels and change the layer opacity to 10%.

Lastly, Add text to the banner and your all done!

Step 1

Set your Foreground Color to #FFFCDB, select the Rectangle Tool (U) and draw a square (hold shift)

Step 2

Go to menu Edit > Transform > Warp. Now you should see an overlay grid on top of the square. Drag the points, handles, or any where in the grid to warp the image.

Step 3

Select Free Trasnform (Command+T) and rotate the note a little to the left. Set your foreground color to #FFF799. Open Layer Styles, select Gradient Overlay Use the foreground to transparent gradient and click and drag the gradient to the top section of your note.

Note: Depending on how much you rotated your note, your Angle will be different then mine!

Step 4

Control click the note layer, (Command+Click the Thumbnail) create a new layer below the layer. Fill it with black. Apply the Gaussian Blur filter with a radius of 8 pixels. Go to menu Edit > Transform > Distort, hold down Alt+Shift and drag either of the top corner anchors in until you cant see the shadow on the sides of the note. Now, drag the center anchor down until you cant see the shadow above the note. Use the arrow keys to nudge the shadow down and to the left a few pixels.

Lower the shadows Layer Opacity to 55%

Final Image

Start off with a new document and fill the background with your desired color. I’m using 6dcff6. Reset your Foreground and Background Colors (D) and Switch them (X). Select the Ellipse Tool (U) and draw a circle (hold down shift to constrain it) that is relatively big. Set your layer opacity to 10%

Step 2

Now we are going to be using Actions. An Action is a recording of a series of commands that can be played back layer on to speed up repetitive tasks. Open up your Actions window, Window->Actions, and click the Create new action button. Name it whatever you want and hit Record. Okay now your action is being recorded, so all commands that you do will be recorded into the action.

Step 3

The first thing were going to do is duplicate the Ellipse Layer, so hit Command+J, then Command+T now in the Options Toolbar set the horizontal and vertical scale to 80% and then set the layer opacity to 20%

Step 4

Alright! Now that your action is complete just hit the Play button a couple times until you like what you see! I hit mine 4 times. Add some text and you have a cool looking effect! I hope this tutorial helped you learn more about Photoshop Actions and how helpful they can be in some situations!

Step 1

First, start with a new document, my document size is 820px by 580 and create a new layer. In that new layer take the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and draw a rectangle about 260px wide and as high as your document. Fill it with 50% gray (Shift+Delete, and then select Contents “50% Gray”).

Step 2

While on your 50% Gray layer, apply a Fibers filter (Render->Fibers). Set the Variance to 10 and Strength to around 20. If you don’t like what’s in the preview hit Randomize a few times. Hit OK. Hit Command+T to transform the layer and stretch it to the width of your document.

Step 3

Go to Filter->Blur->Motion Blur and set the distance to around 550px. Hit OK and now you should have something that resembles a curtain! Except black and white, So lets fix that. Create a layer below your current layer by holding Command and clicking the new layer icon. Fill the layer with a dark red, I chose #B21418 now go back to the curtain layer and set the Blending Mode to Multiply. Now it should look A LOT more like a curtain!

Step 4

Create a new layer above all the other layers and fill it with 50% Gray, then go to Filter->Render->Lighting Effects and create two light sources one from each corner. Here are my settings.

Step 5

You’re done! If you want to have the curtain look like its opened just select the Polygonal Lasso Tool and play around with that and maybe use the Transform->Warp to add a curve on each side.

Overview

In this tutorial I’m going to be showing you how to draw an old fashioned fan in Photoshop CS3.

Step 1

First we are going to start out with the wire encasing the fan. Create a new document fill the background with white and create a new layer. Hit D on your keyboard, this sets the foreground and background color to the default color. Select the Ellipse Tool (U) hold down shift, click and drag to create a circle. Mine is about 390px wide.

Step 2

Select all the anchors on the circle, hit command+c (control+c on windows), now command+v then command+t, this opens Free Transform. Hold down Alt+Shit and click and drag one of the corners of the Transform box. Make the circle a little bit smaller then the outer circle. After you are done with the transformation hit enter. Make sure you have the Pen Tool selected (P) then click the Subtract From Area which is located in the Options tool bar.

Step 3

Next, create four blades for the fan using the Pen Tool (P), with #464646 for the color. Then create a circle in the middle using the Ellipse Tool (#333333)

Step 4

Using the pen tool draw six wires in front of the fan blades

Step 5

Select the center ellipse in the layers window, command click on it to make a selection around it. Click Select->Modify->Contract enter 1px. Create a new layer above the ellipse (Command+Shift+Alt+N) fill it with white, apply another contraction but this time by 5px. Hit delete. Command+Click the new layer and create a new layer. Select the Gradient Tool (G) and click the Reflected Gradient. Hit D then X. Now click about three fourths of the way down the circle and drag to around the bottom edge of the circle. Set the layer opacity to 22%

Step 6

Next, draw a circle below all the other layers then make four smaller circles inside of that one. Play around with contracting and drawing gradients using the techniques used in Step 5

Step 7

In this step were going to draw the base, Select the pen tool and draw the base, use the the ellipse tool to draw the bottom of the base. To create the reflection on the base select the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) draw an ellipse, apply a Gaussian Blur (Filters->Blur-Gaussian Blur) and then use the Transform Tool and select Warp to transform it to fit the bend of the base.

Final Step

The final step really isnt a step but instead of going on about putting the final touches on it just play around with what you have so far, i added a few shadows on the middle of the fan blades to give it a slight bevel look, I also added the words in the center of the fan, the font used is “Museo”.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and learned some techniques from it. Thanks for reading!

Start with a new document, create a new layer, and select the Rounded Rectangle Tool and draw a 69px by 22px rectangle.

Select the layer (Command+Click on the layers thumbnail) and create a new layer above it and fill it with a gradient with the colors:
#b7b7b7 (foreground), #767777 (background)

Delete the rectangle layer.

Step 2

Select the layer and create a new layer above it then go to Select->Modify->Contract and contract the selection by 1px.
Now with the selection still present go to Select->Modify->Border and enter 1px.

Select the Gradient Tool and select the foreground to transparent option and put #d5d5d5 as your foreground color.

Draw a gradient starting at the top and ending about 3/4s of the way down on the button.

Step 3

Select the rectangle layer (the button) create a new layer and go to Select-Modify->Contract and contract it by 2px
Fill the layer with #adadad and set the Opacity to 42%.

Select the newly created layer, create a new layer, select the Gradient Tool, hit D then X and draw a gradient from the top of the selection to about the middle. Lower the Opacity to 20%.

Step 4

Duplicate the base layer, select the Move Tool hit the down arrow key and the right arrow key once. Lower the Opacity to 30%

Conclusion

Now add some text and your done! I hope you learned some new things form this tutorial and it was easy to follow. If you have any suggestions please visit the Suggest A Tutorial page.

Download PSD

Download “button.psd”

Start with a new document, create a new layer, and select the Marquee Tool and draw the container of the layout.

Select the layer and then create a new one. Then go to Select->Modify->Expand and expand the selection by 1px fill the layer with black and set the opacity to 6% and nudge the layer down by 1px

Step 2

Create a layer mask and apply a black to white gradient starting from the bottom and ending around the middle of the container.

Step 3

Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Draw a elongated elliptical at the bottom of the container. Fill it with black. Apply a Guassian Blur with a radius of whatever looks good with the size you are using.

Use Free Transform to make it fit the container. And lastly, lower the opacity to about 20%

Hopefully, you should end up with something like this:

Step 4

Ok for the next part it will be hard to explain it so i will just show images.

Use the Marquee Tool to make a selection like this:

Then use the Gradient Tool and create a gradient thats black to white and start at the top of the selection and go below the bottom of the selection so the gradient ends in gray.

Lower the opacity to about 5%

Conclusion

And your done! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Download PSD

Download “footer.psd”

Overview

Create a sleek looking button in Photoshop.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a sleek looking button in Photoshop.

Step 1

Start with a new document, filled with a white background. Choose the Rounded Rectangle Tool, with a Radius of 5px. Then fill it with a teal (#188098)

Step 2

Select the shape layer and do a Select->Modify->Contract and put 1px.
Now create a new layer and select the gradient tool and with a foreground to transparent gradient hit D and then X then draw a gradient starting from the top of the button to about a little below the middle.

Change the Opacity of the layer to 44%.

Step 3

Ok, now your going to do the same thing as the step above but this time just hit D and start your gradient from the bottom instead of the top.

Change the Opacity of the layer to 55%.

Step 4

Again, select the shape layer and contract it, but this time contract 2px.
create a new layer and fill it with #188098.

Step 5

Select the shape layer, contract the selection (2px), make a new layer and create a black to transparent gradient from the bottom to about 3/4 of the way to the top.

Change the Opacity of the layer to 33%.

Step 6

Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool, with a Radius of 5px. and draw a small rectangle like this:

Fill it with white and set the Blending Mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 33%.

Conclusion

All thats left is adding some text and you are all done! I hope you learned something new.