Reflections and Lighting

1: Ok, lets start with a blank document, 300x100 px with a WHITE background.

2: Select your rectangular Marquee Tool with a fixed size of 200x40 px.

3: Create a new layer. ( Layer > New - Layer ) call it button and set your foreground color to #D5D5D5.

4: With the button layer active, and your rectangular selection still made, go to Edit > Fill and select foreground colour from the drop menu.

5: KEEP THE RECTANGLE SELECTED, if you have deselected already hold ctrl and click on your button layer in the layers palette.

6: Go to Select > Modify > Smooth and choose 8px.

7: Now go to Select > Inverse and press Delete.

8: This should have deleted the corners of the rectangle as shown below.

9: Ok, now create a new layer and name it Reflection.

10: Ctrl and click on your Button layer but keep the Reflection layer active.

11: With this selection made, drag the rounded rectangle selection up about halfway.

12: It is essential that you have the Reflection layer active at this point. Go to Edit > Fill and choose White from the drop down menu.

13: Now ctrl and click on your button layer again, with the Reflection layer still active to go Select > Inverse and press delete.

14: Now set the opacity of your Reflection layer to 30%.

15: Create a new layer beneath the Reflection layer in the layers palette, call it Reflection 2.

16: Ctrl and click on your Button layer, go to Select > Modify > Contract and contract by 2px.

17: With the Reflection 2 layer active, go to Edit > Fill and once again choose white.

18: Make sure your Reflection 2 layer is active for the next step.

19: Take your Polygonal Lasso Tool and make a selection like the following:

20: Press delete.

21: Now lower the opacity of your Reflection 2 layer to 40%.

22: Go to layer > Add layer Mask > Reveal All.

23: Set your colours to default by pressing D and then take your Linear Gradient tool.

24: Drag the gradient tool from the bottom of reflection 2 on the canvas to about half way up it, gradually lowering the opacity of the bottom of the layer.

25: Now for the text, select the Button layer from your layers palette, take your text tool and type whatever you like, it will automatically create a new layer, I used Arial and size 18px.

26: Ok, now create a new layer, BELOW your Button layer, making it the first layer above the background. Call it shadow.

27: Good, now make the selection of the button again by holding ctrl and clicking the Button layer in the layers palette.

28: With your Shadow layer still active, select your brush tool with these settings:

29: The size does not really matter as long as it covers the selection, and the brush must be soft and Black.

30: With the selection still made, drag the brush across the selection, covering it all in black.

31: With your shadow layer still selected, go to Edit > Free transform.

32: When it is in the free transform mode, right click the canvas and select Perspective.

33: Play around a little until you have it looking slanted, then drag it down a couple of pixels.

34: Now drop the opacity of the layer to about 60%.

35: To finish, go to Filter > Blur > Blur and just keep pressing Ctrl and F to repeat the blur until you are happy!