Program: Photoshop
Difficulty: Beginner
Completion Time: 10-15 minutes
In this tutorial you will learn how to make a black button icon very easy. Let’s get started!
Final image
Step 1: Create a new document 500 x 500 px. Then create a new layer and fill it with dark gray.
Step 2: Now go to Filter/Render/Lighting effects and set these settings:
Step 3: First press d to to reset your fereground and beckground to black and white. Now lets create the circular base of the icon. To do this activate the shape tool by pressing U. Make sure the circle tool is selected then draw out a circle similar to the one shown below.
TIP: Hold the shift key down while dragging to maintain the correct proportions.
Step 4: Go to Layer/Layer style/Blending options. Then enter the settings below.
Step 5: To create the shadow that helps give these icons their 3D look first create a new layer below circle layer. Activate the brush tool by typeing B. Choose a simple round brush, set the opacity to 60%, the size to 35, and the Hardness to 0 (right click mouse and set hardness to 0%), then paint in a rough shadow around the base of the icon as seen below.
Step 6: Now while your shadow layer is active go to Filter/Blur/Motion blur and set Angle to 0, and Distance to 150.
Step 7: Now go to Filter/Blur/ Gaussian blur and set Radius to 5 px.
Step 8: Now create a new layer on the top of all others. Activate the shape tool by typeing U. Make sure the custom shape tool is selected then choose any sign you want.
TIP: Hold the shift key down while dragging to maintain the correct proportions.
Step 9: Activate the layer styles of your sign layer (right click on the layer and than press Blending options) and enter the settings below:
You will get something like this:
Congratulations, you’re done!
