This is a tutorial that teaches you how to create beautiful icons in Windows Vista style. I mainly used the marquee tool in Photoshop to draw graphics, and used layer styles to express the texture of the icons. The Chinese version of Photoshop CS3 is used as a demonstration in the tutorial, but in fact, the implementation and operation methods of Photoshop 6.0 and above are basically the same.
Figure 1 Rendering
1) Create a new image document with a transparent background of 256 × 256 pixels. Rename the first layer name to "Background".
2) Fill the background with white #ffffff.
3) Create a new layer and rename the layer to "circle".
4) Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool, hold down the Shift key at the same time, and draw a perfect circle of 222 × 222 pixels. Save the selection as "Perfect Circle Selection".
Translator’s additional explanation:
1. An easy way to draw a perfect circle of 222×222 pixels: After selecting the Ellipse tool, change the style to "Fixed Size" on the options bar, and specify the width and height as 222 pixels.
2. How to save the selection: Select the menu "Select->Save Selection".
5) Fill the selection with any color. The author used #880303.
Figure 2: Draw a perfect circle selection and fill it with color
6) Choose dark red as the foreground and lighter red as the background. The author used #880303 and #b51919. Select the Gradient Tool (Radial Gradient style) and drag from the top left corner of the selection to the bottom right corner.
Figure 3: Fill the selection with gradient color
7) Create a new layer and rename the layer to "Reflection".
8) Load the "Perfect Circle Selection" and select the Elliptical Marquee Tool, while pressing the Alt key, and then draw a curve from the lower right corner to the middle. Release the mouse button and you will get a selection like this:
Figure 4: Draw the “reflection” selection
9) Select the "Reflection" layer and fill the selection with white #ffffff. Set the layer opacity to 15%.
Figure 5: Fill the “Reflection” area with white
10) Create a new layer and rename the layer "Border".
11) Select the Elliptical Marquee Tool while holding down the Shift key, and draw a perfect circle of 242 × 242 pixels. Wrap this circle around the first circle.
Translator's additional explanation: After selecting the Ellipse tool, change the style to "Fixed Size" on the options bar, and specify the width and height as 242 pixels, turn on the ruler, and pull out the auxiliary line to determine the center point of the screen. When drawing an ellipse, hold down the Alt key to draw a perfect circle with the origin as the starting point.
Figure 6: Drawing a “border” selection
12) Fill the selection with gray color #b6b6bc.
13) Load the "perfect circle selection".
Figure 7: Fill the “border” selection with gray
14) Press the Del key to get a border surrounding a perfect circle.
Figure 8: Delete the gray color in the perfect circle selection
15) Right-click on the "Border" layer and select Blending Options to apply these settings:
projection:
Figure 9: “Projection” layer style parameter settings
Inner glow:
Figure 10: “Inner Glow” layer style parameter settings
Bevel and relief:
Figure 11: "Bevel and Emboss" layer style parameter settings
Gradient overlay:
Figure 12: “Gradient Overlay” layer style parameter settings