Build Beautiful Buttons in Photoshop, Part I

Making a Metallic Button with a Matte Finish

More buttons that use gradients! Just as well we brushed up on our gradient button-making skills in "Making a Gradient Button". We're going to make matte-finish metallic buttons like the ones shown here.

Solution

Rectangular, Matte-finish, Metallic Button

1. First, create a simple raster gradient button. I'm going to use two different shades of gray for mine.

   

2. Lock the layer by clicking on the Lock Transparent Pixels icon at the top of the Layers palette. Selecta light gray (I've used #ebeef0) and use the Pencil Tool (B) to draw left-hand and top borders on the rectangle button layer.


3. Select a dark gray (I've used #515a60) and draw bottom and right-hand borders onto the button layer, as shown in the example below. Remember to keep your lines straight by holding down Shift as you're drawing them.

   

4. Sure, we could use the button as is, but I'd like to do a few more things to it. First, we're going to apply a noise filter to our button. Before we do this, make sure that you're happy with the size, shape, and color of the button, as it's hard to make changes to these properties after the filter has been applied. To add the matte finish, select Filter > Noise > Add Noise. This will give the button a grainy look and display the Add Noise dialog. Be sure to check the Monochromatic checkbox, and adjust the amount of noise that you want to introduce. I've set mine to 2%.

   

5. If you feel that the grainy effect is too pronounced, select Edit > Fade Add Noise to drop it back a bit. Change the opacity of the fade (in the example below, I set mine to 50%) and click OK.

   

   NOTE: Use Fade Promptly!

   To use the Fade command on a filter, you'll need to do so immediately after the filter has been applied -- otherwise it won't be available.

6. Let's look at our button now. It's certainly something we could use, but while we're on a roll, let's jazz it up a bit more with some lighting effects.

   

7. Select Filter > Render > Lighting Effects to bring up the Lighting Effects dialog, as shown. Select Spotlight from the Light type drop-down.

   

8. In the preview graphic, you'll see an ellipse with a line through it -- this line indicates the direction of the light. Click on the direction handle at the end of the line and drag it to the upper left-hand corner of the preview window. You can then click and drag the handles on the ellipse outwards to increase the "spotlight" area, as shown here.

   

9. Finally, drag the Gloss property slider towards its Matte side (shown at the bottom of the previous page). When you're satisfied with your button preview, click OK.

Now we're happy! Here's our finished button.