I know that you’re dieing to see how they will look in the end, so this is how:

Ok, so let’s get going. First create a new document any size you want (I’ve used 180×80) and fill it up with #212121.

Create a new layer and using your “Rectangular Marque Tool” () make a selection which is going to be your button. Now go to Select>Modify>Smooth, set it to 3 px and press OK.

Now you can fill it up wih any color you want using the “Paint Bucket Tool” (). I’ve used #b00000 and this is what I came up with:

Doesn’t look so good, ehm? So what are you waiting for, let’s add some blending options. Right click on the layer and select “Blending Options”. Add the following than:

You should be having something like this:

Let’s add some text. Select your “Horizontal Type Tool” () and add some text with the color #ffffff. I’ve used the font “Arial Narrow”, Regular, with size of 13 px and Sharp. You can use any size you want, it depends on the size of your button.

Doesn’t look so sharp, right? Let’s add some “Drop Shadow”. Again right click on your layer in the “Layers Panel” and press “Bledning Options”. Add the following:

And this is what we got than:

Well believe it or not, we’re done! You can now create buttons with any color you want just by changing the color of your first layer. Here’s an examples:

If you want to download the source files, you can do it from the link bellow:

I hope you liked the tutorial. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions you might have (my e-mail is btw admin@coregfx.org). You can use these buttons in your designs or anywhere else. Please leave a comment with your thoughts about this tutorial.

This tutorial has been sponsored by:

Let’s cut the talking and get down to business. So once you’re done this is how it’s going to look like:

Nice? Hehe. Let’s begin. Open up a new document size 250×150 and fill the background out with #252a38 .

Now let’s create a shape. Now get any color you want (we are going to change it later anyway) and get your “Rounded Rectangle Tool” ().  On the top of the screen you’ll have some properties and I have made a screenshot on which ones to select:

If you have put those properties you can continue making a shape. Create a new layer and just make a shape on the middle of your screen.

Now we are going to fill it with some gradient. We will need two colors though:

As you can see on the image above the two used colors are #3a4056 and #303548. Now Ctrl+Click on the layer where you made the shape (in your layers panel, CTRL + click on the image next to the layer name and it will be selected). Now the outline of that layer should be marked. Grab your “Gradient Tool” () and while holding “Shift” on your keyboard make a gradient from top to bottom of your shape:

Now let’s add a Drop Shadow to that layer. Right click on the layer and select Blending Options. Now apply these ones to the layer:

Now we’re going to add a Stroke but on one different way. Hold Ctrl and click on the shape layer. You should see a selection on your screen. Now go to Select>Modify>Contract , put it to 1px and press OK. Now create a new layer and fill it with any color you want and put the “Fill” to 0%. Now right click on that layer and go to Blending Options and apply these ones:

If you followed the tutorial carefuly you should be having three layers (Background, Shape and Stroke) and your button would look like this:

Now let’s make our button a bit stylish as I said in the title. For this you are going to need Dodge () and Burn () Tool. For both you are going to use the following properties:

I have used the Soft Brushes which you get in every Photoshop. Now select your Shape layer. I have made an image to show you were to use your Dodge and Burn Tool. Please note that you should press your mouse a few times before you get the amount of brigthness/darkness you wanted.

If everything turned out well, you should be having something like this:

Let’s add some more light to make it look glossy. Ctrl+Click on your shape layer and grab your “Elliptical Marquee Tool” (). Now while holding Alt cut down a bit of the selection. My example:

Grab your “Gradient Tool” () and press your keyboard the letter “D” and than “G”. Now you should be having white (#ffffff) as your first color. Now at your Gradient Properties select “Foreground to Transparent” like shown on the picture below:

Now use your gradient like this (from bottom to top):

After your done you can deselect the layer (Ctrl+D). Now put the layer to “Overlay” and “Opacity” to 40%. It should look like this:

Looks perfect, doesn’t it? I think it’s the time to add some text and icons. First will go with the text. I have chosen the font “Arial”, Regular, 25 pt, Smooth; and the color of the font is #ffffff. Write something down and add these Blending Options to the text:

This is how my text looks like now (I have moved it a bit to the right because the icon will go left):

I have added another small text underneath this one as a description with a size 11pt:

It’s time to addthe icon. You can chose which ever you want but I have decided to use the ones by Free Icons Download (they are Spyware free don’t worry). Grab the icon you need (I have chosen the home button for the obvious reason) and paste into your design. Now go to Image>Adjustements>Hue/Saturation (Ctr+U) and put the “Saturation” to -100:

After that just put your icon to “Overlay” and your done. Note: If your icon is too bright (too hard to see), you can duplicate it and just change the opacity of the duplicated layer. This should be your final image than:

Well believe it or not we’re all done. As I sad in the begining, you can change to colors to which ones you want and add any icons. Here’s an example of just a few variatations:

If you want you can download the source .psd files.

Thank you for reading this tutorial. Please do not redistribute this tutorial without any written permission by me. If you want it, please contact me on admin@coregfx.org .

This tutorial was sponsored by:

Click on the image for tutorial.