Creating Aqua Style Button

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Step 1.

Create a new image (size: 200 x 200 pixels) with grey and white stripes as its background texture.

Step 2.

Switch over to Channels palette and create a new layer which named as Alpha 1.

Step 3.

Use Rounded Rectangle Tools or other tool to draw a shape. Then click on RGB layer to turn on the layer.

Step 4.

Return to Layers palette and create a new layer. Set its Opacity to 70%.

 

Step 5.

On the Select menu, click Load Selection, select Alpha 1 from the Channel drop down and click OK.

 
Step 6.

Select Fill from the Edit menu and fill it with Black colour. Click OK to exit the dialog box. Select Deselect from Select menu to remove the selection box. 

 

Step 7.

Click on menu Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur, set the Radius to 2.5 pixels and click OK. 

 

Step 8.

With Layer 1 active, select the Move Tool (press 'V'), press the down arrow on the keyboard 5 times to move it down by 5 pixels. Then click on the New Layer icon to create a new layer named Layer 2. 

 

Step 9.

Select Load Selection... from the Select menu. Select Alpha 1 from the Channel drop down and click OK. 

 

Step 10.

Select Fill... from Edit menu, select White from the drop down to fill the selection with white colour. Select Deselect from Select menu to remove the selection box. 

Step 11.

Right-click on Layer 2 and select Duplicate Layer.... Accept the default layer name as Layer 2 copy and click OK. 

Step 12.

With Layer 2 copy active, select Exclusion from the Layers Palette. 

Step 13.

Click on menu Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur, set the Radius to 11 pixels and click OK. 

Step 14.

With Layer 2 copy active, select the Move Tool (press 'V'), then hit the down arrow on the keyboard 18 times to move it down by 18 pixels. The result should looks like the following. 

Step 15.

Select Merge Down from the Layer menu to merge Layer 2 copy and Layer 2. 

Step 16.

Select the menu Image -> Adjustments -> Invert. The result should looks like the following. 

 

 

Step 17.

Select Load Selection... from the Select menu. Select Alpha 1 from the Channel drop down, check the Invert checkbox and click OK. 

Step 18.

Select Clear from the Edit menu to remove the selected region. Then click Deselect from Select menu to remove the selection box. You will get the following result. 

Step 19.

Go to the menu Image -> Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation. Check the Colorize checkbox, and move the Hue and Saturation handle to change the colour of the image to the one you want. 

Step 20.

Select Merge Down from the Layer menu to merge Layer 2 and Layer 1. Select Hard Light from the Layers Palette. 

Step 21.

Select Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast. Set both Brightness and Contrast to -60 and -25 respectively. You may want to use a different value as the values stated here are only for reference. 

Step 22.

Create a new layer named Layer 2. Select White colour from the Colour Palette and use the Brush Tool (press 'B') to draw the highlight (see the example below). 

Step 23.

Click on menu Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur, set the Radius to 1.5 pixels and click OK. 

Step 24.

The final result.

 

Feel free to experiment with different value for opacity, Hue/Saturation and etc while walking thru this tutorial.

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