In this tutorial I`m going to show you how to design a big good-looking button in Photoshop ready to link to the PSD file of this tutorial. Along the way, we`ll be using different Photoshop tools to create shapes and text and will beautify them by applying some blending options carefully chosen. Let`s begin!

What we`ll be doing today:

Materials Needed:

Wood Texture

Download Icon

Step 1: Open the Wood Texture with Photoshop

The first step is to download the wood texture and to open it with Photoshop. The image is 1024×768px and will be the background of our project.

Step 2: Building the Button Background

The button I have in mind is composed of 2 parts: the background of the button which will be like a transparent surface and the main button. For the main button, we`ll use a very nice green gradient which perfectly connects with the wood texture.

Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool(U) and with a radius of 40px draw a white shape of 360×80px. This will be an awesome big button!

We`re going to stylize the shape by adding an inner-shadow, a stroke and reducing the opacity of the shape to 25%. So, double click the shape`s layer and add the next blending options:

The first half of the button looks like this:

Step 2: Building the Main Button

This step is all about the second half of the button. Select again the Rounded Rectangle Tool(U) and with a radius of 30px draw a shape of 340×60px and place it in the center of the first shape so that between the middle shape and button`s background to be a margin of 10px. The effect created will be great.

Beautify the layer by adding the next blending options:

Applying the blending options above, you should obtain the second half of the button:

Final Touches

This is the last step. We`re gonna add some final touches. We`ll begin with the download icon, so download the icon from the “Materials Needed” from the beginning of the tutorial. Add it to the project but resize it from 36×36px to 24×24px to integrate well with the button. To resize an element in Photoshop, press Ctrl+T or just go to Edit->Transform->Scale.

The button needs some text and I think that a sentence like “Download this tutorial” fits very well. For your information, the font I used is the free Museo 500, an elegant and very popular font.

The result:

With these final touches, our button is done.

If you have any questions or just want to share with us your button, don`t hesitate to leave us a comment in the comments section. Till then, take a look at what we`ve done today!

Related posts:

1. How to do a glossy and animated jQuery button 1/2 Photoshop part
2. How to Design a Sleek Progress Bar in Photoshop
3. How to create a clean and design portfolio layout using Photoshop

Go to Source

Resources Used:

• Paper texture from Lost & Taken
• Pixel pattern from Premium Pixels
• Seamless wood texture from Graphic River

Preview of what we’re making:

Step 1

Create a new 500px by 500px Photoshop document with a background will color of #fefeea

Step 2

Using the Rounded Rectangle Tool with a radius of 10px, create the base of the button. The color I’ve used is #c9e886.

Step 3

Double click on the layer in the layers window to bring up the Layer Style pane. First check the Drop Shadow button, set the angle to 90 degrees, the color to #c3c49b, the distance to 2px and the size to 4px.

Step 4

Then we’ll add an inner shadow. Set the color to white, blend mode to normal and distance to 1px.

Step 5

Next we’ll add a subtle gradient to help give the button a hint of depth. I used a grey to white gradient with an opacity of 25%, and set the blend mode to soft light.

Step 6

Now it’s time do add a little bit of texture to the button. Download this set of pixel patterns from Premium Pixels and import them into PS. Once that’s done, go back to the Layer Style pane and select one of the diagonal patterns, set the blend mode to overlay and the opacity to 13%

Step 7

Lastly in the Layer Style window add a 1px stroke with a color of #a9bf79.

Step 8

To finish of the base of the button we’ll add a little bit more texture to it. Open one of these seamless paper textures from Lost & Taken in PS and resize it to 500px. Paste it into your document, create a layer mask for the button and delete the rest of the texture so you’re left with this:

Step 9

Desaturate the texture and in the layer window set the layer to Multiply with an opacity of 57%. You may have to adjust the Levels of the texture depending on which one you use.

Step 10

Next add your text for the button, here I’ve used the font Chalet with a color of #7d7915.

Step 11

Open the Layer Style pane and add a white drop shadow with a distance of 1px and an opacity of 85%. This helps give the text just a hint of depth.

Step 12

Next we’ll make the holes for the hooks. Using the Elipse tool draw a small circle the same color as the background.

Step 13

Add a drop shadow with the color of #d5f590, set the opacity to 53% and the distance to 2px.

Step 14

Add a black inner shadow with a distance of 1px and a size of 1px. Set the opacity to 47%.

Step 15

Add a 1px, white stroke with an opacity of 27%.

Step 16

That wraps up the first hole, duplicate the layer and position it on the opposite side of the button. Right now you have a perfectly good button in it’s own right, but I wanted to take it just a little further.

Step 17

Using the Rectangle Tool create a stripe above the button.

Step 18

Download this premium set of seamless wood textures (there are also free ones out there if you look), and open the .PAT file into Photoshop. In the Layer Styles overlay the pattern on top of the shape.

Step 19

Next we’ll add a grey drop shadow with an opacity of 34%, a distance of 2px, and a size of 4px.

Step 20

Also add a white, 1px inner shadow with an opacity of 41%.

Step 21

Next we’ll add a gradient to once again help with depth. Create a gradient similar to below in the gradient editor.

Step 22

Set it to soft light with an opacity of 67%.

Step 23

Lastly we’ll add a 1px, #926334 stroke with an opacity of 68% and that wraps up our wood bar.

Step 24

Now it’s time to create the hooks that the button hangs on. Using the Elipse tool create a small circle colored #979797 on top of the wood bar.

Step 25

Add a grey drop shadow with a distance of 1px, size of 1px, and opacity of 73%.

Step 26

Next add a white inner shadow with an opacity of 26%. (on step 26 nonetheless).

Step 27

And lastly add a grey to white gradient overlay. Set the blend mode to soft light and the opacity to 35%.

Step 28

Duplicate the shape and position it on the other side.

Step 29

For the next part of the hook, use the rounded rectangle tool with a diameter of 5px to create a long pill form shape.

Step 30

Next, under the layer styles pane, open the gradient editor and create a gradient similar to below.

Step 31

Set the style to radial, check the reverse box, and set the scale to 150%.

Step 32

Next we’ll add a black drop shadow with a distance and size of 2px and an opacity of 32% (on step 32 for what it’s worth, I swear I don’t plan this stuff).

Step 33

Lastly add a white inner shadow with a distance of 1px and size of 3px.

Step 34

Duplicate the shape and position it above the other hole in the button.

Step 35

The last detail we’ll add is a tiny pin that helps complete the hook assembly. Using the elipse tool draw a small circle with a color of #c3c3c3 in the center of the larger grey circle.

Step 36

Next add a #99b467, 1px stroke.

Step 37

Add a grey to white gradient set to soft light with an opacity of 25%.

Step 38

Then add a white inner shadow with a distance of 1px.

Step 39

Lastly add a drop shadow with a color of #b5b889, set the distance to 2px and the size to 4px. Then duplicate the shape and position it on the opposite side.

Complete!

And that wraps up this tutorial, I hope you guys were able to learn little something new. Thanks for reading!

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Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can download to use in your projects. Check out this week’s free textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

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For more texture visit http://abduzeedo.com/tags/ttt

Suggestions

Last week some people suggested that I posted some wood textures so today’s TTT is full of different wood textures. What would you like to see next week?

Square Wood Texture

Peeling Paint

Brown Plank

Umbrella of Palm Leaves

Atelier Decor

Stelplaats

Wood

Driftwood Texture

Cracked Wood

Wood

Go to Source

Be sure to check our our previous issues : January, February and March.

Icons

The best free icons icons and icon packs of this month.

• Flag by FamFamFam – 239 free icons (most, if not all country flags)
• Facebook Photo Browser – 3 icons
• Tweet Me Up Scotty by Little Box Of Ideas – 5 hilarious “space Twitter” icons
• Cocktails by CedarSeed – 59 free cocktail drinks icons
• Smooth Metal Rising Dragon by Rokey

PSDs

This section contains a collection of the best free Photoshop PSD files we could find this month.

• Disco ball icon (PSD)
• V-Card Minimal website PSD templates
• USB Pen Drive PSD
• Puzzle frame template
• Home PSD & icons
• Free Curriculum Vitae – Resume PSD
• Epic Fantasy Scene PSD
• Product box PSD template

Textures

The most creative and popular textures of the month.

• Colourful Smoke Textures
• 3+ Pavement Textures
• Blue Wood Texture Pack

Brushes

Interesting Photoshop brushes is what you can find in this section.

• Swirly Whirlies
• Basic Arrows

Vectors

You can never have enough vectors. These are the most popular free vectors of the month.

• Sushi Vector
• Bass Player Vector
• Toyota Vector Logo
• Computer Buttons Arrows
• Pit Bull Vector Image
• Aries Vector Img
• Middle Finger
• South Park Vectors
• Monster Robot Vector
• Free Guitar Vector Graphics
• Volvo
• Free Turntable Vector
• Eagle Lion Heraldry
• Countries Vector Map
• Baileys
• Formula One Vector
• Formula 1
• Beck’s Logo
• Budweiser Logo
• Burger King
• Jesus Meets A Woman
• Carlsberg Logo
• Coca-Cola
• Bond Girls
• Free Snowman Vector Art
• Free Twitter Birds Vectors
• Colorful Circles Vector
• Police Vectors
• Summer Fun Vector
• Kitchen Vectors

Get the stock images and vectors you need for your designs on Stutterstock

Want to advertise here ? Contact us

Related posts

You might also like these similar articles:

1. Design Freebies of the Week #3
2. Design Freebies of the Week #2
3. Design Freebies of the Week #1
4. Best Photoshop Tutorials, Brushes and Textures of April 2009
5. Best Design Resources of October 2008

Go to Source

Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can download to use in your projects. Check out this week’s free textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

<!–break–>

For more texture visit http://abduzeedo.com/tags/ttt

Water Drops

Paint Texture

Disco Returns

Backlit Feathers

Leaf Texture

Salt Crystal

Rusty Wall

Brown Wood Texture

Metallic Leather Texture

Orange Lentils Testure

Go to Source

Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can download to use in your projects. Check out this week’s free textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

<!–break–>

Colourful Shell

Glass Texture

Bubbles

Blue Light Flare

Brown Wood

Fountain in Kiev

Wood Shingles

Hay

Bark

Wood Texture

Go to Source

Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can download to use in your projects. Check out this week’s free textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

<!–break–>

Exploding Stars

Fireworks

Green Bottle Lights

Lionhill

Ice Texture

Dry Mud

Autumn Colours

Sand Pattern

Wood Texture

Marbles

Go to Source

Create a Photo-Realistic Realistic Hourglass

In this tutorial you will learn how to create an elegant hourglass in Photoshop. While using simple techniques and paying a little attention to the lights, shadows and reflection you can achieve perfect result with photorealistic details.

Final Image

As always, this is the final image that we’ll be creating:

What you will need to create this.

Wood Texture

Step 1

Create a new document of dimension 1900 x 1440 pixel and fill the background with color # ededed. Select pen tool and create the upper shape of hourglass. Make sure to turn shape layer on.

Step 2

Change the ‘Fill’ to 0% just below the ‘Opacity’ option in layer palate. Apply inner glow layer style with color #bdc1c2 and opacity 50%. Name this layer to “outer glass”.

Step 3

Duplicate “outer glass” layer, right click on the layer and choose ‘clear layer style’ to remove all layer styles. Press ctrl + t to transform layer, click on ‘Maintain Aspect ratio’ icon between width & height option and set the height to 98%. Name this layer to “inner glass” and apply inner glow layer style with these settings;

Step 4

Duplicate “inner glass” layer, group all layers and merge the group into a single layer. Name the group to “upper glass”. Now create another shape inside upper glass, make sure to turn shape layer on and apply inner glow layer style of color # 43494a, size 125px and opacity 75%. Name this layer to “glass shadow”.

Step 5

Now we will create some lights and reflections, to do this create a new shape with the help of pen tool. Set its color to white, change its blending mode to soft light & opacity to 40%. Name this layer to “reflection top”.

Step 6

Create two more shapes to create other reflections, set their color to white and rename both layers to “reflection top left” & “reflection top right”.

Step 7

Create lower glass by following steps 1 – 4 and step 6. Create another shape to create reflection on the top of lower glass. Change its color to white and set its blending mode to soft light with opacity to 40%.

Step 8

Now we are going to create middle part of hourglass for this, press P to select pen tool and create a shape with ‘Fill’ 0%. Ctrl + click on the layer to get its selection, select a soft brush of color #d2d2d2 and paint along the left and right edges. Name this layer to “middle”.

Step 9

Now merge “outer glass” layer into “inner glass” layer in both upper and lower glass. Create a layer mask and hide the edges in the centre part. The hourglass will look like this:

Step 10

Now we will create the sand inside the hourglass for this, create a new document of 1000 X 1000 pixels and fill it with color #b0926c. Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and add 28% noise to the layer, name this layer to “noise”.

Step 11

Import “noise” layer to our document, select pen too and create a shape for sand in lower glass. Don’t forget to set ‘Fill’ to 100%. Change this shape layer’s color to # b0926 and rename this shape layer to “lower sand”. Select the “noise” layer and keep it just above the “lower sand” layer now press ‘Alt + Ctrl + G’ to create a clip mask. You can also create a clip mask by going to Layer > Create Clip Mask.

Step 12

Now it’s time to add some shadows, to do this select a soft brush of color #a08d76 and brush the highlighted areas to create shadows.

If everything done properly your result will look like this:

Step 13

To create lights, select a soft brush of color # c7b59d & opacity to 60% and paint the highlighted area to create light at that part. Create another layer and paint the upper part of sand, set the blending mode of the layer to screen.

Step 14

Repeat step 11 – 13 to create sand for upper glass, create the upper surface of sand to give it natural look. Create another sand layer in middle part of hourglass in the same way as you created in step 11 – 13.

Step 15

Now to create falling sand, select the “noise” layer and select an area by rectangular marquee tool. Press Ctrl + J to isolate the selection, press Ctrl + T to transform layer and stretch it vertically, again transform layer, right click and select ‘warp’ then transform it to create falling sand. Apply some shadow to match with sand and result will look like this;

Step 16

To create reflections on middle part of hourglass, select pen tool and create reflections carefully. Group these layers and name the group to “white reflections”. Create a new group and rename it to “shadows”, now create some dark shadows in the middle part by pen tool and change its color to # 282828.

Step 17

Now we will create reflection of sand on upper and lower glasses. For this, select pen tool and create a shape of color # ccc3b5. Change its blending mode to color and opacity to 20%.

Step 18

Create another shape of color # 543f25 by pen tool and set its opacity to 30%. Hide the unwanted area by masking; name this shape layer to “lower sand reflection”. Duplicate this layer, transform it to make a little small and set its blending mode to hard light and opacity 20%. Create another shape of color white, change its opacity to 5% and name it “sand reflection white”.

Step 19

We have nearly completed hourglass just need to add some more details or shadows. Reflection in the middle part is quite complicated so pay more attention to this part. Create some more shadows and reflection in the same as in step 16. Change the opacity of layers wherever you feel needed.

Step 20

Create the lights for hourglass, make a selection of hourglass and brush the highlighted areas with color white with opacity 10%.

Step 21

Now we will create the wooden base of hourglass. For this, create a shape layer of color # 766044, name this shape layer to “base”. Open “woodtexture.jpg” and clip mask it to “base” layer, set its blending mode to ‘overlay’. Select a large soft brush of color black and create shadow to base.

Step 22

Next create an ellipse of color # 85643d, name this layer to “base surface” and apply inner glow layer style. Open “woodtexture.jpg”, go to Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates and select ‘Rectangular to Polar’ option. Import this layer to our document, clip mask this layer to “base surface” layer. Rename this layer to “wood polar”, duplicate this layer and set its blending mode to overlay with opacity 60%.

Step 23

Our hourglass is nearly completed now add shadows to the base of hourglass. Select a soft brush of color black, press F5 to access brush options and set roundness to 30%. Create shadows on base of hourglass. Group all layers and name the group to “hourglass”.

Step 24

Next create the desk on which hourglass will be placed. Create a rectangle of color # d4b383, import “woodtexture.jpg” and set its opacity to 60%. Name this layer to “base wood texture”, duplicate the layer and set its blending mode to ’soft light’ & opacity 60%. Duplicate “desk” layer, keep it to the top of texture layers and set its blending mode to ’soft light’. Rename this layer to “wood color”. Wooden base would look like this. Group these layers and name the group “base”. Duplicate this group and merge all layers, go to Filter > Blur >Gaussian Blur and apply blur of 2.5 radius. Add layer mask and hide lower part of base.

Step 25

Now we are creating walls for this, create a gradient of color # bd4300 & # cb8602. Go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise and apply noise to 4%.

Step 26

Create another radial gradient of color black and white, set its blending mode to ’soft light’ and opacity to 40%. Select a large brush of color # b88d71 and brush around the corners of the scene to darken them.

Step 27

Next select rectangular marquee tool and create four rectangles of color white to create window. Group them and name the group to “window”, copy and merge this group and rename it to “window glass”. Press Ctrl + T and transform “window glass” layer, apply blur of radius 5 pixel and set its blending mode to ’soft light ‘, set its opacity to 70%.

Step 28

We are about to finish this tutorial now we will add some lighting. Copy all layers and merge them, rename this file to “hourglass scene”. Go to Filter > Render > Lighting effect and apply these settings;

Mask the desk area to remove lighting effect from desk and create the hourglass reflection on the desk.

And We’re Done!

You can view the final outcome below. I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and would love to hear your feedback on the techniques and
outcome:

Download Source File for this Tutorial

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Since there is no hard and fast rule to create a vector artwork, artists are using somewhat similar techniques to create vector artwork which literally differ in their styles and are pleasing to eyes. Here we have assembled some really awesome vector artwork tutorials for your inspiration ranging from photo-realistic to appealing cartoon graphics and from far-out sci-fi to psychedelic aesthetics. Enjoy the full list after the jump!

Create Character Driven Book Cover Art

In this two part tutorial on creating the “Let’s Go To Monster School!” book cover, I’ll show you a complete process from initial sketch to the final artwork, using an Illustrator to Photoshop integrated workflow.

Create An Awesome Space Rocket Avatar in Illustrator

In this tutorial we will draw a shiny, awesome-looking space rocket in Adobe Illustrator using advanced techniques such as gradient meshes, pattern brushes and opacity masks.

Drawing the Bowl of the Pipe

This tutorial is on how to draw a stylish smoking tobacco pipe in Illustrator. You will learn how to create wood texture on the pipe in this tutorial. Also, you will learn how to make the tobacco and the smoke. The steps are simple and I hope you will find it useful.

How to Create a Rocketing, Vector Aircraft Shuttle

In this tutorial, we’ll be creating a illustration of a speeding aircraft shuttle. It’s going to be all vector, but along the way we’ll use blends, and other techniques that give this rocketing aircraft an interesting look. Let’s get to it!

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The new Bristle Brush in Illustrator CS5 gives you the best of both worlds: The painterly effects of real media and the control and flexibility of a vector drawing. We’ll use another new feature in CS5, the “Draw Inside” drawing mode, which will let us do what every artist likes to do — color outside the lines. Let’s get started!

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Cubism is one of the most outstanding movements in abstract art. Geometric shapes, vivid colors, simple figures, and textures are all distinctive features of this style. Let’s try to recreate the cubist painting in Illustrator inspired by works of Pablo Picasso – after learning some simple techniques you’ll be able to easily paint your own cubist composition.

How to Make an Inspired, Golden Painting in Illustrator

In this tutorial we will travel back in time to recreate the painting style of one of the most outstanding symbolism artists – Gustav Klimt. His works are full of warm golden colors, simple ornaments, irregular patterns, natural symbols, and asymmetric shapes.

How to Illustrate Dynamic Hair Using Adobe Illustrator’s Paintbrush Tool

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How to Create a Curious Owl in Illustrator CS4

A step by step beautiful tuturial where you will learn how to Create a Curious Owl in Illustrator CS4

How to Draw a Car

In this tutorial artist will show the different steps he take in drawing a realistic looking car. He chose to draw an american classic, the Corvette. This tutorial will apply to any car though because for the most part, they are all the same.

How to Create a Three-dimensional Airplane with Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a detailed three-dimensional image of an Airplane based on two two-dimensional plans. The knowledge acquired will help you to simulate a three-dimensional image of many different complex objects.

Create a Conical Gradient with Adobe Illustrator

Unfortunately, Adobe Illustrator doesn’t come with a conical gradient setting, although some vector programs, such as Corel Draw do. Using features and tools found in Adobe Illustrator, you can create an adjustable conical gradient to use in your work, and it only takes two minutes!

Drawing the Human Eye

How to Make an Attractive Vector Butterfly

In this tutorial artist will show you how to make a vector butterfly using the blending mode from transparency box and the gradient mesh. The techniques shown in this tutorial will help you make shades on objects and liquid transition of colors.

A Pseudo-Sugar Skull: From Start to Finish

In this tutorial you will leanr how to create a highly detailed sugar skull illustration, with details on the process from sketch to final digital design.

Design a Vintage Poster

In this tutorial, we’ll be modifying vector elements from Vector Set 16 to create a retro-vintage poster. Along the way we’ll uncover tips in Illustrator and Photoshop that can lend your designs a little extra TLC.s

Iconic Poster Design Tutorial

Marilyn Portrait Tutorial

A truly fantastic drawing tutorial to learn how to draw a portrait of Marilyn Monroe with pencil. Each step of the portrait is perfectly well explained and commented. This tutorial is very detailed, and involves a lot of patience.

How to Draw Optimus Prime From Transformers

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A step by step and detail tutorial about how to draw pet portraits with colored pencils. Basic process and tips.

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For this tutorial, we’ll use Livebrush’s innovative motion brush feature to create abstract shapes. We’ll then bring those shapes into Illustrator for further assembly and editing.

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Celebrating Halloween, Marcos Torres will show us how to create a sort of creepy composition playing with some textures, photos and blend modes in Photoshop. The name of this piece is called Sisters and it’s perfect for this halloween time.

Step 1

First off, open Photoshop and create a new document. This new document should have 1680 x 1050 pixels. Now, I used an image of a wood texture, you can download it here. Open the photo and paste it on the 1680 x 1050 canvas.

Step 2

Then you have to duplicate this layer (ctrl + J / command + J) and desaturate it (ctrl + shift + U / command + shift + U). After this, choose the Blending Mode called Soft Light. This will make the image more sharp and dark.

Step 3

Now go to Adjustments > Brightness / Contrast panel and adjust Brightness to 0 and contrast to 100. This will make the texture more sharp and dark.

Step 4

Go again to Adjustments, then the Levels panel and adjust the levels to 26 / 1,00 / 255 , just like the picture below. Now this texture is almost dramatic as we wanted.

Step 5

Go again to Adjustments, then Curves. Now we have to make three points on this curves graphic, adjust the first one with Output 54 an Input 102, just like the picture below.

Adjust the second one with Output 24 an Input 34, just like the picture below.

And finally, adjust the third one with Output 148 an Input 176, just like the picture below.

Now we’re done with the Background, the result should be like this:

Step 6

Now download this little girls photo here. Open it in Photoshop, copy and paste it in the canvas. Then using the Free Transform ( ctrl + T / command + T ) , resize it and rotate till you got this:

Done that, create a rectangle using the Rectangle Tool ( U ) and place his layer before the photo, the result should be this, creating a white border on the picture:

Step 7

Desaturate the image ( ctrl + shift + U / command + shift + U ), then using the Brush Tool ( B ) cover the girls eyes with black. Now with the Smudge Tool ( the one with a finger pointing ) use a 8 pixels diameter brush to create this expressions on the girls lips, the result should be like these:

Step 8

Duplicate the girls layer ( ctrl + J / command + J ) and choose the Blending Mode called Hard Light. The image will get more dark and heavy with this.

Step 9

Duplicate the first girls layer ( ctrl + shift + J / command + ctrl + J ) and put it the top. Go to Filters > Other > High Pass and adjust Radius to 9,9 pixels, just like the picture below.

Then, choose the Blending Mode called Soft Light, your image should get sharpier like this:

Step 10

Create a new layer ( ctrl + shift + n / command + shift + n ) and draw these tears on the girls faces with the Brush Tool ( B ), then choose the Blending Mode called Soft Light.

In order to make it more evident, duplicate this layer ( ctrl + J / command + J ) and you should get this:

Step 11

Select the girls photo ( ctrl + click / command + click ) and make a new layer ( ctrl + shift + N / command + shift + N ).

Now create a radial gradient in this area with the Gradient Tool ( G ), you should get something like these:

Then, change the Opacity of this layer to 70 % , he’s going to get like this:

Finally, choose the Blending Mode called Multiply, the light oh the gilrs pic will get more centralized and harmonic, your result should be like the image below:

Step 12

Remember the white rectangle? So, select him ( ctrl + click / command + click ) and create a new layer ( ctrl + shift + N / command + shift + N ). Now get this paper texture here and desaturate it ( ctrl + shift + U / command + shift + U ). Copy and paste it right in the white rectangle selection, like this:

Now choose the Blending Mode called Darken.

Right click on this image and select Blending Options > Drop Shadow and adjust Opacity to 100% , Distance to 0 pixels , Spread to 23% and Size to 35 pixels. The final result should be this:

Step 13

Duplicate this texture layer ( ctrl + J / command + J ) and use the Invert effect ( ctrl + I / command + I ). Change it Blending Mode to Soft Light, make a Mask and clear with the Brush Tool ( B ) these areas:

Step 14

Create a new layer ( ctrl + shift + n / command + shift + n ) and draw with the Brush Tool ( B ) with black some tiny lines in the mouth of the girls to enhance it gloomy look.

Create a new layer ( ctrl + shift + n / command + shift + n ) and draw with the Brush Tool ( B ) with red the nose of the girls, like a clown ( a bad clown in this case), then choose the Blending Mode called Soft Light, you may get this result:

Step 15

Choose the whole girls image selection by clicking on the white rectangle layer ( ctrl + click / command + click ) than create a new layer ( ctrl + shift + n / command + shift + n ) and make a linear gradient like this with the Gradient Tool ( G ).

Then change it’s Opacity to 45%, it should get like this:

Choose the Blending Mode called Multiply and we’re done with the girls manipulation.

Step 16

Download the image of the pin here. Cut it and his shadow with the Lasso ( L ) or the Pen Tool ( P ), copy and paste it on the canvas. Using the Free Transform ( ctrl + T / command + T ) rotate and put the pin and his shadow like this:

Separate the Shadow and the pin in two different layers by cutting and duplicating. Now select the shadow layer and change it opacity to 70%, then select the Blending Mode called Multiply, this shall be the result:

Step 17

Now we have to make this pin more gloomy, duplicate the pin layer ( ctrl + shift +J / command + shift + J ) , desaturate it ( ctrl + shift + U / command + shift +U ) and chosse the Blending Mode called Soft Light, it shall get darker.

Duplicate the original layer of the pin ( ctrl + J / command + J ) and go to Filters > Other > High Pass and adjust Radius to 9,9 pixels, just like the picture below.

Then select the Blending Mode called Overlay and you should get this result:

Step 18

To get a more realistic effect of the pin, i used a Crack Brush, there are lot of this kind of brush to download, you can have some of them here. Try to get this crack on the end of the pin in order to look like the photo was perforated.

Step 19

Now the blood is a splatter brush in red color, you can download some of this here. Try to find one with little drops to look more like blood. After that, choose the Blending Mode called Multiply, you should get this result:

Step 20

Final step, now we have to make a main light for all the picture, so create a new layer ( ctrl + shift + n / command + shift + n ) and with the Gradient Tool ( G ) create a radial gradient with it’s center close to the right side of the canvas, see the example below:

Choose the Blending Mode called Overlay and we’re done.

Conclusion

There are many ways to achieve this final result, but basically, you just have to know how to use textures and blending modes wisely.

Click on the image for full preview

Download the Photoshop File

Download the Photoshop file used for this tutorial

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Time for a little Photoshopping today! I want to share a very easy way to create a cool 3D room using only 2 images. We are going to start with 2 textures, and end up with a 3D room with some cool lighting effects in only a few steps. Let’s get started.

Step 1: The Images

In order to pull this off, we need to start with some cool textures. One should be a wood floor, or wooden plank texture, and the other can be brick, or any kind of wall/concrete texture you want to use. I used these 2 images (below) provided by Shutterstock.com

Step 2: Overlap the Images

To make this work, open your brick or wall texture first, then put the wood texture on top. The wood texture needs to be much wider than the artboard. (like below)

Step 3: Transform the Wood Texture

First, hit Command/Control + T to start the transform, then right click and select “Perspective.”

Bring the perspective in at the top.

Then, right click again and go back to “Free Transform.”

Now bring the top down. You might have to back and forth between free transform and perspective to get it to look the way you want.

Step 4: Adjust your layers

Now that you have taken your wood texture from a texture to more of a floor-like shape, we need to put the brick layer on top. So, move the brick layer above the wood layer and move it up until you like what you see. You should have something like this:

Step 5: Covert to Black and White (Optional)

We are going to now convert each layer to black and white individually. Select the brick layer and go to Image > Adjustments > Black and White.

You can play around with it at this point, but I like to make the “Red” values darker, so I move the slider to the left.

Do the same for the wood layer until you get it the way you like it. Again, I made the “Reds” darker.

Step 6: Gradient Overlays

Next, let’s put a gradient overlay on the brick layer. Here, we are going from black to transparent, from the bottom up. You also need to adjust the sliders a bit to make the gradient mostly transparent with a smaller black part at the bottom.

Do the same for the wood layer, but this time we’re going from top to bottom.

Step 7: Flatten

The reason we are flattening the image is so we can apply a lighting effect, and we want the lights to be applied to the entire image, not just one layer. At this point, you should have something like this:

Step 8: Lighting Effects

Now, go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects. Again, you can play around with these settings, but I like the Omni light for this particular effect. Depending on the size of your document, you can make the proper adjustments here to get a result you’re happy with. Unfortunately, it’s pretty much trial and error, because Photoshop’s preview for this effect kinda sucks.

Step 9: Done!

We just took 2 texture images and made a cool 3d room in about 10 mins, and we never used more than 2 layers. Not bad. Your final result should look something like this:

Here is a poster I designed using this technique: (click for a closer look on Flickr)

a

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How To Create a Detailed Briefcase Icon

Follow this step by step guide to create a detailed briefcase icon, building the rough outline with basic shapes, then adding depth and definition with various Photoshop layer styles such as Inner Glow and Stroke. And finally bringing the icon to life by using real photographic textures to give a tactile leather feel to the icon.
How To Create a Detailed Briefcase Icon

Draw a Trophy Icon in Photoshop

Draw a Trophy Icon in Photoshop

Shiny Lock Icon Photoshop Tutorial

Shiny Lock Icon Photoshop Tutorial

How to Create a Beautiful Guitar Icon

Learn how to start from scratch and draw your own guitar icon in Photoshop. This tutorial will show you how to create your own wood texture and create a guitar using the basic tools in Photoshop.
How to Create a Beautiful Guitar Icon

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboyand speckyboy@twitter).

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Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can use in your projects. Check out this week’s textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

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Click Here to View all Tuesday Total Textures

Dirty Paper

Fence

Abstract Gel

Broken Glass

Grunge

Rock Texture

Wood Texture

Light Texture

Fireworks

Water Texture

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Wood Fence

Wood Textures by QBit71

Grey Wood by Loona Loupe

Wood Slats

Wood Texture by Nortago

Local Texture: Three by One by Beyond Oddities

Wood Texture Set via Bittbox

Wood Texture Patterns by Silver

Then Shalt Though Count to Three

Wood Texture Brushes

Valle Old Wood Texture by Enframed

Wood Floor by Gnrbishop

Dark Wood Texture Pack by Cloaks

Dark Wood Texture background

Graffiti Fence

Create Wood Texture Tutorials

PSD Tuts - This tutorial is a creation from scratch.  You will create a wood texture and apply artwork on top to make it feel aged.

My Ink Blog – This tutorial will show you how to create a realistic wood texture using filters in Photoshop.

Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can use in your projects. Check out this week’s textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

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Click Here to View all Tuesday Total Textures

Main Board

Mosaic

Movement

Ray Dream

Metal

Wood Texture

Sea Water

Rendering

Wood

Wall

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Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can use in your projects. Check out this week’s textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

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Leather

Seattle Grunge

Jeans

Fabric

Silky

Broken Glass

Shutter

More Bricks

Old Wood Texture

Blue

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Ahhhh yes… the venerable wood texture. Showing up often in today’s designs, it always pays to have some decent wood textures handy for your next web or graphic design project. If you like these and are looking for more check out the first wood Texture Tuesday post and also the great set in the archives. Enjoy!

Preview

a

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Hello everyone! In today’s quick tip tutorial I will demonstrate how to create a really nice bas relief effect using a texture, any picture, and Photoshop’s 3D tools. Let’s get started!

Resources Used

The following resources were used in the production of this tutorial:

• Wood Texture
• Metal Texture
• Lion Statue

Step 1

Create a New Document in any size you want, in this case mine is 1024 x 968 px at 72dpi, RGB. Fill the Background with any dark color (Black #000000 in this case) and create a new layer above it named "Plane", then fill this layer with another lighter color, like 50% gray.

Step 2

Select the "Plane" layer and go to 3D > Plane. This action will create a 3D Layer with the gray background as Diffuse texture.

Step 3

Select the "Plane" 3D layer and show the 3D Tools panel (Window > 3D). Select the Scene object and under Global Ambient Color set this one: #FFFFFF (White). You can change Anti-Alias to Best for a better rendering.

Step 4

Double click at the "Diffuse" Texture on the Layers Panel. A New window will appear showing the texture’s layers, then open the "Wood Texture", select it, copy it on the clipboard and paste it to the texture file into a new layer. Save the texture file and go back to your main document, you’ll see the texture applied to the "Plane" layer.

Step 5

Click on the "Materials" Button on the 3D panel, then, next to the Bump Strength box, click on the tiny button next to it and select New Texture. Make the size of the new Texture layer exactly the same than your document (1024 x 768 px) and hit OK to commit.

Step 6

Double Click on the brand new "Bump" texture layer created in the previous step and just like the diffuse texture, a new window will appear. On this new document paste the "Lion Statue" picture into a new layer, you can do further editing here such as removing the white borders but it’s optional since it has white background as well as the document background. Finally using the Hue/Saturation panel (Command + U) lower the saturation to -100 (you can use any other technique to make it 100% grayscale) and save it.

Step 7

As an additional detail I’m using a swirl brush to paint details around the Bump texture, remember to always use a gray color for best results. Save the texture document, close it and go back to the main document, and you’ll see the bump texture applied.

Step 8

Using the 3D transformation tools, rotate the layer a little bit (if you have doubts on how to use the 3D tools take a look at my Basic Guide to Photoshop’s 3D Tools). Then, on the Bump Strength box, change the value from 1 to 5 (this is very important, if you want more strength on the effect try with a larger number), and set both Glossiness and Shininess to 0% to remove undesired reflections.

Step 9

If you would like to try something different, change the Diffuse Texture (Double click on the Diffuse texture on layers panel) and on the texture file, add a new layer with another texture, in this case a brushed metal. After that, save the texture layer and you’ll see the bas relief effect applied to this new texture. You can also change the Glossiness and Shininess values on the material to add some reflections.

Conclusion

Really simple right? You can also try this effect with different materials and images.

.

Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can use in your projects. Check out this week’s textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

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Click Here to View all Tuesday Total Textures

Old Aged Paper

Texture

Train Workshop

Tree Bark

Abstract Shapes

Leaf Macro

Wood Texture

Colortex

Bamboo

Rainbow Bokeh

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Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can use in your projects. Check out this week’s textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

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Click Here to View all Tuesday Total Textures

Today I selected some Texture Packs that Rock!

Craze of Colors Texture Pack

Wallpaper Texture Pack

Glitter Bokeh Texture Pack

Paper Texture Pack

Rock Texture Pack

Vintage IV Texture Pack

Wood Texture Pack

Cracks Texture Pack

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Step 1

Create new file 1280 x 1024 px. Create a rectangular selection in the center of the image, hit Q to enter quick mask mode. Go to Filter > Pixelate > Crystallize, use small cell size and click OK. Hit Q again to return to normal mode. Hit Cmd+shift+alt+N to create a new layer. Press D then Cmd+Delete to fill selection with white. To remove selection press Cmd+D.

Step 2

Activate the burn tool with exposure 20%. Paint the paper until it looks dark and dirty. Go to Filter > Texture > Texturizer, use Texture: Canvas and click OK.

Step 3

Double click the paper layer to open the Layer Styles dialog and activate the Drop Shadow effect. Don’t worry with the settings, just click OK. This shadow is very flat and unrealistic, but we’ll fix it.

Step 4

From the Layers panel, right click Drop Shadow and choose Create Layer. This step will separate the Drop Shadow from the paper.

Step 5

Select the shadow layer, hit Cmd+T to transform it. Right click it and choose Warp. Move the handles until the shadow looks irregular, just like a real one.

Step 6

Activate the Gradient Tool, in the option bar and choose Linear and Mode: Difference. Create a random gradient, from top to bottom, bottom to top, left right, and right to left. Just go crazy!

Step 7

Go to Filter > Stylize > Emboss. Hit Cmd+L and move the white and black sliders to the middle.

Step 8

Hit Cmd+alt+G. Change blending mode to Overlay.

Conclusion

That’s it! You can turn this into a thin paper by lowering its opacity. Below is the final paper on a wood texture. Click here or click on the image to see it in full size.

The best thing about this technique is that the result is always different. Below are some alternative examples.

Step 1

Create a new document with the settings shown below. You can fill your background with any color, but I prefer to work with a transparent canvas. It’s up to you.

Step 2

Create a new layer folder and call it "Frame". Inside, create a new layer and call it "Wood". Select the Rectangle Tool (U) and draw a rectangle shape as shown below.

Open the Blending Options of the Layer "Wood" and apply the following styles: Inner Shadow, Inner Glow, and Gradient Overlay with the settings shown below. When you finish you will get a yellow-orange rectangle like the one shown in the last image.

Step 3

Create a new layer and call it "Wood Texture". Fill this layer with black and go to filter > noise > add noise and set the options shown below. With the same layer selected, go to filter > blur > Gaussian blur and type in the settings shown bellow in the second image. Next with the same layer selected go to image > adjustments > levels (or press cmd+L for Mac or ctrl+L for windows), and type in the settings from the third image. Finally with the same layer selected press cmd and click in the "Wood" layer to make a selection, go to select > inverse, and press backspace, to remove the extra layer and match the rectangle shape of the "Wood" layer. Change the Blending Mode to "Soft Light" and reduce the opacity to 30%. The image so far should look like the one below.

Step 4

Duplicate the "Wood Texture Layer" twice and rename them to "Wood Texture 1" and "Wood Texture 2". In the "Wood Texture 1" Change the Blending Mode to Overlay and reduce the opacity to 10%, and in the "Wood Texture 2" Set the Blending Mode to "Soft Light" and reduce the opacity to 15%. At this point you should see something like this:

Step 5

Create a new layer and call it "board". With the new layer selected hold shift and click over the "Wood" layer, this will make a selection. Go to select > modify > contract, and when the dialog box shows, enter 60px and click OK. Fill the selection with black. Right now you should have the "Wood" Layer with the orange rectangle and the "Green" Layer with a smaller black rectangle. Open up the Blending Options of the "Green" layer and apply the following styles:

Step 6

Create a new layer and name it "Board Grunge", you need a corner grunge brush set. I used the Grunge Corner Brush Pack by midnightstouch. Set the foreground color to black and select a corner brush and make some grunge effects. Set the Blending Mode to Normal and reduce the opacity to 10%. Hopefully, you came up with something like the image below:

Step 7

Create a new layer and call it "Old Effect". Make sure the foreground color is black and select a Chalk brush (these brushes are included by default in Photoshop). Set it to 100px, draw some lines to make an old effect and reduce the opacity layer to 10%. At this point you should have something like:

Step 8

Create a new layer and call it "Shadows". With the Shadow layer selected press cmd and click on the board layer to make a selection of that size, fill the new selection with black. Now go to your layer palette and make a new layer mask, select a big soft brush (about 600px) and with black as your foreground color and the brush opacity of 50% start drawing a circle in the middle of the layer. You will see that the black color start to fade; when you are happy with the result reduce the layer opacity to 50%. Your creation must look similar to:

Step 9

Here, you should fire up your creativity. Create a new layer and call it "Content". Draw whatever you want here; for the purpose of this tutorial I already have a bearing illustration ready. Make sure that all you draw or write in this layer have is white. When you are done, reduce the layer opacity to 70%. Here are some examples of what you might do in this part:

Step 10

Now we are going to grunge the content drawing. To your content layer add a layer mask like we did in Step 8 with the shadows. Select a grunge brush, I used Function Brush Set: 33 Subtle Grunge Textures & Effects, you could also use the chalk default brushes. Set the foreground color to black and add some grunge effects to your Content layer, until you feel it looks right. At this point, hopefully your image looks akin to:

Step 11

Now we’re going to do the wood joints. With the Rectangle Tool (U). Draw a 2px vertical rectangle; make sure your height is the same of your wood frame. Apply the following layer style to your shape. Then place each line in each of the corners of the frame. Select the 4 layers and merge them (cmd+E). Call this layer "Lines" and move it below the "Wood Texture" layer.

Step 12

Select all your layers and copy them by right clicking and selecting duplicate layers. Merge your new duplicate layers and press cmd+J or ctrl+J three times to duplicate your new merged layer. You can put the original layers in a folder since we need to hide them and work with the new ones. Don’t do anything to the top layer, as we are going to work with the other two copies to make the shadows. Add a Gaussian blur (filter > blur > Gaussian blur) of 5.0px to both layers. Move one of the blurry layers 3px down. This is sort of how your icon looks at this point:

Step 13

On this step you must merge your three layers and click cmd+t or ctrl+t to open the Free Transformation Tool and rotate 9 degrees counter-clockwise. Finally, resize your image to fit in your canvas.

We are finished our icon, and now we are going to learn how to prepare it and export it. You have two choices, we can use the IconBuilder from the Iconfactory, which is a Photoshop plug-in that helps you create and save your own icons in different sizes. It costs $79, with a free trial, so if you really want to learn how to do it, you can download and work with the trial version. The other choice is with an App called IMG2ICNS from Shiny Frog. Like IconBuilder, IMG2ICNS has a freeware version that you can use while you decide whether to buy it or not. This one costs just $12.90 for the Pro version, which is really cheap! So if you are interested in designing icons you may consider buying this application as it’s really a good deal.

Option 1: IconBuilder (Step 1)

Download the IconBuilder from the Iconfactory webpage provided in the last step. You need to install it, its very easy just follow the instructions. Open the "IconBuilder Essentials" Folder and you will see several folders and some tutorials and guides; we are going to search into the "IconBuilder Grid Files" folder and I’m going to open the "Expanded.psd" file.

Option 1: IconBuilder (Step 2)

Go to your icon file, and copy your icon image by pressing cmd+A (ctrl+A) and cmd+C (ctrl+C). Now go to the "Expanded.psd" file and press cmd+V or ctrl+V to paste the selection. Hide the blue icons layer and with the Free Transform Tool (cmd+T or ctrl+T) resize your icon to fit into the big square (512×512)

Option 1: IconBuilder (Step 3)

Repeat the last step with the 256, 128, 48, 32, 16 boxes.

Option 1: IconBuilder (Step 4)

Merge all the layers and go to Filter > Iconfactory > Iconbuilder. A new window will open. Make sure the initial settings are "Expanded" like the image below:

Option 1: IconBuilder (Step 5)

Click on the left arrow and the icons will fit the left boxes. Click "Save" and set the following parameters. Check the folder where you previously save your icon and you will see a new folder named "Board" and there are your new icons, ready to use in Mac and Windows, also you have a PNG copy of each size.

Now that we’ve finished with the IconBuilder, if you want an easier way to create your icons, follow these steps. We are going to use IMG2ICNS.

Option 2: IMG2ICNS (Step 1)

Go to your main icon file, and copy the image. Open a new document in Photoshop of 512×512 and paste your icon, resize the image using the Free Transform Tool (cmd+T or ctrl+T) to fit in your canvas. Save your icon in PNG format. Open IMG2ICNS and drag your file. Now, select the "ICNS" option and save the new icon in any folder you want.

Final Image

This is how your icon will look in the finder.

Conclusion

That’s it, now you have a new icon. If you are a Mac user I highly recommend you buy Candybar by Panic, to manage all your icons.

I want to give a special thanks to Sebastiaan de With for allowing me to write this tutorial inspired by one of his icons.

Tuesday Total Textures is post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can use in your projects. Check out this week’s textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

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Click Here to View all Tuesday Total Textures

Abstract Painting

CrinkleTexture

Texture

Wood Texture

Ice Planet

Stay

Foamy

Texture

Light

Watercolor Technique

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Today we start a new post series that will bring a new life to your Tuesdays. Every week I’ll be posting some free hi resolution textures that you can use in your projects. Check out this week’s textures, download the ones you like and start making your texture collection.

<!–break–>

Click on the texture you like to get directed to the download page

Wood Texture

by SynGT

Leaves

by pendlestock

Old Paper

by Ayelie-stock

Gravel

by ntyb

Black Board

by djsoundwav

Rusty Metal

by ntyb

Old Bricks

by ntyb

Hair

by tatt2dchic

Old Newspaper

by powerpuffjazz

Wrinkled Paper

by Manarangi

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Here are 10 high quality wooden textures that you can use in your design projects free of charge. Each texture file is extremely large-scale at 3,872px x 2,592px so that you can use them in many types of projects, large or small.

Preview

Here is a preview of them. Click on their title or image to go to their Flickr pages where you can download various sizes. Alternatively, you may wish to browse the Six Revisions Grungy Wood texture set on Flickr.

Grungy Wood 01

Grungy Wood 02

Grungy Wood 03

Grungy Wood 04

Grungy Wood 05

Grungy Wood 06

Grungy Wood 07

Grungy Wood 08

Grungy Wood 09

Grungy Wood 10

Licensing Information

The above works featured here in the Grungy Wood texture set are licensed under the Creative Commons license and can be used for personal and/or commercial purposes.

The Creative Commons license requires you to "attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor". Our attribution specification: you don’t need to attribute the work to us (though you’re more then welcome to, and we will definitely appreciate it).

Related Content

• 12 Free and High-Res Grungy Wall Textures
• Free and High-Quality Cloud Textures
• Free High-Res Photoshop Leaf Brushes
• Related categories: Freebies and Graphic Design

About the Author

Hasan Aydin is a 22 year old photographer and website administrator from Turkey. His weapon of choice: a Nikon D60 DSLR camera. His website is called Yağcılar (which is in Turkish). You can connect with him through Facebook.

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Web designers frequently browse through CSS Galleries Websites of other designers work for inspiration and ideas that can be used in their own work. All professional web designers have a need to display an attractive portfolio for their websites visitors, and many web designers have excellent portfolio websites. In this post I’d like to take a look at 20 of the best, as well as links to other useful resources to quality ready to use XHTML/CSS based free web templates for free download.

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• 40+ CodeIgniter Framework Tutorials for Kick-Ass PHP Application
• 150 Useful Adobe Photoshp Web Design Layout Tutorials and Techniques
• Variety of Accordion Effects: Cool Websites + Free Downloads + Easy Tutorials
• Build Your Own Beautiful Website With Ease
• 20 Most Beautiful Corporate Website Designs Powered by WordPress
• 400+ Beautifully Footers In Web Design
• 15 Minimalist Dark Website Designs Part3
• Showcase of Minimalist Dark Website Designs Part 2
• Showcase of Minimalist Dark Website Designs
• 24 Beautiful Wood Texture Websites Designs

If you don’t want to miss out our next posts, you can Subscribe to the 2Experts Design Blog or follow us on twitter

EMQuinn

HolteDesign

davidortiz

Quicknet

New toYork

olliekav

Puppetbrain

TheMolitor

CSS Dharma

Sebastian Laube

ThePeachDesign

Bouloutidis

MilosZekovic

Marc Andre Boivin

LEWEBDÉFI

Mediasoldier

Efingo

thesevenfive

IamGarth

AlbertoFortes

Resources to Download Free Quality Web Templates

100 Free High-Quality XHTML/CSS Templates

Web Design Resource – 25 Sites to download Free Web Templates

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• 40+ CodeIgniter Framework Tutorials for Kick-Ass PHP Application
• 150 Useful Adobe Photoshp Web Design Layout Tutorials and Techniques
• Variety of Accordion Effects: Cool Websites + Free Downloads + Easy Tutorials
• Build Your Own Beautiful Website With Ease
• 20 Most Beautiful Corporate Website Designs Powered by WordPress
• 400+ Beautifully Footers In Web Design
• 15 Minimalist Dark Website Designs Part3
• Showcase of Minimalist Dark Website Designs Part 2
• Showcase of Minimalist Dark Website Designs
• 24 Beautiful Wood Texture Websites Designs

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Our blog is updated regularly with content related to web design, inspiration, tutorials, wordpress, freebies and much more. If you don’t want to miss out on future posts, you can subscribe by RSS or Email.

Go to Source

Web designers frequently browse through CSS Galleries Websites of other designers work for inspiration and ideas that can be used in their own work. All professional web designers have a need to display an attractive portfolio for their websites visitors, and many web designers have excellent portfolio websites. In this post I’d like to take a look at 20 of the best, as well as links to other useful resources to quality ready to use XHTML/CSS based free web templates for free download.

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• 40+ CodeIgniter Framework Tutorials for Kick-Ass PHP Application
• 150 Useful Adobe Photoshp Web Design Layout Tutorials and Techniques
• Variety of Accordion Effects: Cool Websites + Free Downloads + Easy Tutorials
• Build Your Own Beautiful Website With Ease
• 20 Most Beautiful Corporate Website Designs Powered by WordPress
• 400+ Beautifully Footers In Web Design
• 15 Minimalist Dark Website Designs Part3
• Showcase of Minimalist Dark Website Designs Part 2
• Showcase of Minimalist Dark Website Designs
• 24 Beautiful Wood Texture Websites Designs

If you don’t want to miss out our next posts, you can Subscribe to the 2Experts Design Blog or follow us on twitter

EMQuinn

HolteDesign

davidortiz

Quicknet

New toYork

olliekav

Puppetbrain

TheMolitor

CSS Dharma

Sebastian Laube

ThePeachDesign

Bouloutidis

MilosZekovic

Marc Andre Boivin

LEWEBDÉFI

Mediasoldier

Efingo

thesevenfive

IamGarth

AlbertoFortes

Resources to Download Free Quality Web Templates

100 Free High-Quality XHTML/CSS Templates

Web Design Resource – 25 Sites to download Free Web Templates

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Providing a simple and reliable means of feedback from site visitors is a crucial part of any web presence. The most simple and common feedback channel are contact forms.

In this tutorial we are going to make an AJAX contact form which leverages modern web development techniques.
We are using PHP, CSS and jQuery with the help of the formValidator plugin for form validation and the JQTransform plugin, which will style all the input fields and buttons of the form. In addition we are using the PHPMailer class to send out the contact form emails.

For the page background we are using a fantastic dark wood texture by Matt Hamm.

The form degrades gracefully, which means it is perfectly usable even with JavaScript turned off.

So lets start with the tutorial.

Step 1 – XHTML

First, we are going to take a look at the XHTML markup behind the form.

demo.php

<div id="main-container">	<!-- The main container element -->

<div id="form-container">	<!-- The form container -->

<h1>Fancy Contact Form</h1>	<!-- Headings -->
<h2>Drop us a line and we will get back to you</h2>

<form id="contact-form" name="contact-form" method="post" action="submit.php">	<!-- The form, sent to submit.php -->

<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">

<tr>
<td width="18%"><label for="name">Name</label></td>	<!-- Text label for the input field -->
<td width="45%"><input type="text" class="validate[required,custom[onlyLetter]]" name="name" id="name" value="<?=$_SESSION['post']['name']?>" /></td>
<!-- We are using session to prevent losing data between page redirects -->

<td width="37%" id="errOffset">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td><label for="email">Email</label></td>
<td><input type="text" class="validate[required,custom[email]]" name="email" id="email" value="<?=$_SESSION['post']['email']?>" /></td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td><label for="subject">Subject</label></td>

<!-- This select is being replaced entirely by the jqtransorm plugin -->

<td><select name="subject" id="subject">
<option value="" selected="selected"> - Choose -</option>
<option value="Question">Question</option>
<option value="Business proposal">Business proposal</option>
<option value="Advertisement">Advertising</option>
<option value="Complaint">Complaint</option>
</select>          </td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top"><label for="message">Message</label></td>
<td><textarea name="message" id="message" class="validate[required]" cols="35" rows="5"><?=$_SESSION['post']['message']?></textarea></td>
<td valign="top">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td><label for="captcha"><?=$_SESSION['n1']?> + <?=$_SESSION['n2']?> =</label></td>

<!-- A simple captcha math problem -->

<td><input type="text" class="validate[required,custom[onlyNumber]]" name="captcha" id="captcha" /></td>
<td valign="top">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top">&nbsp;</td>
<!-- These input buttons are being replaced with button elements -->
<td colspan="2"><input type="submit" name="button" id="button" value="Submit" />
<input type="reset" name="button2" id="button2" value="Reset" />
<?=$str?>

<!-- $str contains the error string if the form is used with JS disabled -->

<img id="loading" src="img/ajax-load.gif" width="16" height="16" alt="loading" />
<!-- the rotating gif animation, hidden by default -->
</td></tr>

</table>
</form>

<?=$success?>
<!-- The $success variable contains the message that is shown if JS is disabled and the form is submitted successfully -->

</div>
</div>	<!-- closing the containers -->

As you can see from line 8, we are submitting our form to submit.php. We are using this file to handle both the regular form submit (for visitors with JS disabled) and the AJAX form submit. This allows the code to be updated easily with no need to merge changes between files.

Later you can see that we use the $_SESSION array to populate the values of the input fields. This is done to insure that the data is not lost during page redirects, which occur when the form is submitted to submit.php during the regular form submit.

Another important aspect are the classes assigned to the input fields – classs=”validate[required,custom[onlyLetter]]”. These classes are used by the validation plug-in to define the validation rules for every input field, or text area. We are basically saying that the field is required, and only letters are allowed.

There is a number of available validation rules. You can see them at the plug-in’s homepage.

Now lets see how the plain form is fancyfied with the use of the JQtransform plugin.

The fancy contact form

Step 2 – jQuery

We are using two jQuery plugins – JQtransform for styling all the form elements, and formValidator, which will help us validate all the input fields on the client side.

It is important to remember to always validate the input data on the server side in addition to client side validation.

First we need to include all the required libraries.

demo.php

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="jqtransformplugin/jqtransform.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="formValidator/validationEngine.jquery.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="demo.css" />

<?=$css?> <!-- Special CSS rules, created by PHP -->

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="jqtransformplugin/jquery.jqtransform.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="formValidator/jquery.validationEngine.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="script.js"></script>

The above code is from the head section of demo.php. We first include the stylesheets that are used by the two plugins, and then the jQuery library and the plugins. You might find line 5 interesting – this is a special set of CSS rules that we create with PHP to show a confirmation message, as you will see later.

Now lets take a look at our script.js.

script.js

$(document).ready(function(){
	/* after the page has finished loading */

	$('#contact-form').jqTransform();
	/* transform the form using the jqtransform plugin */

	$("button").click(function(){

		$(".formError").hide();
		/* hide all the error tooltips */
	});

	var use_ajax=true;
	$.validationEngine.settings={};
	/* initialize the settings object for the formValidation plugin */

	$("#contact-form").validationEngine({	/* create the form validation */
		inlineValidation: false,
		promptPosition: "centerRight",
		success :  function(){use_ajax=true},	/* if everything is OK enable AJAX */
		failure : function(){use_ajax=false}	/* in case of validation failure disable AJAX */
	 })

	$("#contact-form").submit(function(e){

			if(!$('#subject').val().length)
			{
				$.validationEngine.buildPrompt(".jqTransformSelectWrapper","* This field is required","error")
				/* a custom validation tooltip, using the buildPrompt method */

				return false;
			}

			if(use_ajax)
			{
				$('#loading').css('visibility','visible');
				/* show the rotating gif */

				$.post('submit.php',$(this).serialize()+'&ajax=1',
				/* using jQuery's post method to send data */

				function(data){
					if(parseInt(data)==-1)
						$.validationEngine.buildPrompt("#captcha","* Wrong verification number!","error");
						/* if there is an error, build a custom error tooltip for the captcha */
					else
					{
						$("#contact-form").hide('slow').after('<h1>Thank you!</h1>');
						/* show the confirmation message */
					}

					$('#loading').css('visibility','hidden');
					/* hide the rotating gif */
				});
			}

e.preventDefault();	/* stop the default form submit */
})

});

This entire script block is executed within the $(document).ready method, which guarantees that it is run after the page has finished loading.

Next we use the jqTransform() method that is defined by the jqtransform plugin. It converts and styles all of the form’s elements (input fields, text areas, buttons).

The select element is actually replaced by a set of divs and anchors. It surely looks great, but opens up some problems with the validation plugin which make us handle our own tooltip for the select drop-down.

After this on line 7 we bind every click on the buttons at the bottom of the page with a line of code that hides all currently displayed error tooltips by the validation plugin. This insures they are properly refreshed and do not stay on screen if the user enters valid data.

Later we initialize the formValidation plugin with the validationEngine() method and on line 24 define the form’s onsubmit event. A few things worth mentioning here – the custom tooltip on line 28, and the additional ajax=1 parameter on line 39. This parameter is used by submit.php to distinguish whether the request has been made through ajax or directly with the form submit.

Also notice that we use a special variable use_ajax, to prevent ajax interactions if the form fails to validate.

How the form is submitted

Step 3 – CSS

All of our CSS rules are defined in demo.css

demo.css

body,h1,h2,h3,p,quote,small,form,input,ul,li,ol,label{
	/* reset some of the page elements */
	margin:0px;
	padding:0px;
}

body{
	color:#555555;
	font-size:13px;
	background: url(img/dark_wood_texture.jpg) #282828;
	font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}

.clear{
	clear:both;
}

#main-container{
	width:400px;
	margin:30px auto;
}

#form-container{
	background-color:#f5f5f5;
	padding:15px;

	/* rounded corners */
	-moz-border-radius:12px;
	-khtml-border-radius: 12px;
	-webkit-border-radius: 12px;
	border-radius:12px;
}

td{
	/* prevent multiline text */
	white-space:nowrap;
}

a, a:visited {
	color:#00BBFF;
	text-decoration:none;
	outline:none;
}

a:hover{
	text-decoration:underline;
}

h1{
	color:#777777;
	font-size:22px;
	font-weight:normal;
	text-transform:uppercase;
	margin-bottom:5px;
}

h2{
	font-weight:normal;
	font-size:10px;

	text-transform:uppercase;

	color:#aaaaaa;
	margin-bottom:15px;

	border-bottom:1px solid #eeeeee;
	margin-bottom:15px;
	padding-bottom:10px;
}

label{
	text-transform:uppercase;
	font-size:10px;
	font-family:Tahoma,Arial,Sans-serif;
}

textarea{
	color:#404040;
	font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
	font-size:12px;
}

td > button{
	/* A special CSS selector that targets non-IE6 browsers */
	text-indent:8px;
}

.error{
	/* this class is used if JS is disabled */
	background-color:#AB0000;
	color:white;
	font-size:10px;
	font-weight:bold;
	margin-top:10px;
	padding:10px;
	text-transform:uppercase;
	width:300px;
}

#loading{
	/* the loading gif is hidden on page load */
	position:relative;
	bottom:9px;
	visibility:hidden;
}

.tutorial-info{
	color:white;
	text-align:center;
	padding:10px;
	margin-top:10px;
}

Nothing out of this world here. Notice line 85. This makes the buttons at the bottom of the form wider, but unfortunately they look buggy in IE6. That is why I used a special CSS selector that is ignored in IE6, to target the rest of the browsers.

Now all that is left is the PHP code.

The form validation plugin

Step 4 – PHP

First lets take a look at the code in the beginning of demo.php.

demo.php

session_name("fancyform");
session_start();

$_SESSION['n1'] = rand(1,20);	/* generate the first number */
$_SESSION['n2'] = rand(1,20);	/* then the second */
$_SESSION['expect'] = $_SESSION['n1']+$_SESSION['n2'];	/* the expected result */

/* the code below is used if JS has been disabled by the user */
$str='';
if($_SESSION['errStr'])	/* if submit.php returns an error string in the session array */
{
	$str='<div class="error">'.$_SESSION['errStr'].'</div>';
	unset($_SESSION['errStr']);	/* will be shown only once */
}

$success='';
if($_SESSION['sent'])
{
	$success='<h1>Thank you!</h1>';	/* the success message */

	$css='<style type="text/css">#contact-form{display:none;}</style>';
	/* a special CSS rule that hides our form */

	unset($_SESSION['sent']);
}

As you can see, we use the $_SESSION array to store the two random numbers and the expected result. This is later used in submit.php to confirm the captcha has been solved.

Another interesting moment is line 21 where we define a custom CSS class. This hides the form, so that the only thing shown is the success message in case the visitor has disabled JS.

submit.php

require "phpmailer/class.phpmailer.php";

session_name("fancyform");	/* starting the session */
session_start();

foreach($_POST as $k=>$v)
{
	/* if magic_quotes is enabled, strip the post array */
	if(ini_get('magic_quotes_gpc'))
	$_POST[$k]=stripslashes($_POST[$k]);

	$_POST[$k]=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($_POST[$k]));
	/* escape the special chars */
}

$err = array();

/* some error checks */
if(!checkLen('name'))
	$err[]='The name field is too short or empty!';

if(!checkLen('email'))
	$err[]='The email field is too short or empty!';
else if(!checkEmail($_POST['email']))
	$err[]='Your email is not valid!';

if(!checkLen('subject'))
	$err[]='You have not selected a subject!';

if(!checkLen('message'))
	$err[]='The message field is too short or empty!';

/* compare the received captcha code to the one in the session array */
if((int)$_POST['captcha'] != $_SESSION['expect'])
	$err[]='The captcha code is wrong!';

/* if there are errors */
if(count($err))
{
	/* if the form was submitted via AJAX */
	if($_POST['ajax'])
	{
		echo '-1';
	}

	/* else fill the SESSION array and redirect back to the form */
	else if($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'])
	{
		$_SESSION['errStr'] = implode('<br />',$err);
		$_SESSION['post']=$_POST;

		header('Location: '.$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']);
	}

	exit;
}

/* the email body */
$msg=
'Name:	'.$_POST['name'].'<br />
Email:	'.$_POST['email'].'<br />
IP:	'.$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'].'<br /><br />

Message:<br /><br />

'.nl2br($_POST['message']).'

';

$mail = new PHPMailer();	/* using PHPMailer */
$mail->IsMail();

$mail->AddReplyTo($_POST['email'], $_POST['name']);
$mail->AddAddress($emailAddress);
$mail->SetFrom($_POST['email'], $_POST['name']);
$mail->Subject = "A new ".mb_strtolower($_POST['subject'])." from ".$_POST['name']." | contact form feedback";

$mail->MsgHTML($msg);

$mail->Send();

unset($_SESSION['post']);	/* unsetting */

/* the form was successfully sent */
if($_POST['ajax'])
{
	echo '1';
}
else
{
	$_SESSION['sent']=1;

	if($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'])
		header('Location: '.$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']);

	exit;
}

/* some helpful functions */
function checkLen($str,$len=2)
{
	return isset($_POST[$str]) && mb_strlen(strip_tags($_POST[$str]),"utf-8") > $len;
}

function checkEmail($str)
{
	return preg_match("/^[\.A-z0-9_\-\+]+[@][A-z0-9_\-]+([.][A-z0-9_\-]+)+[A-z]{1,4}$/", $str);
}

Note how we check whether the $_POST['ajax'] variable has been set and act accordingly. As you remember, we set it back in script.js to indicate we were using AJAX to fetch the data.

The two $_SESSION variables errStr and post are used to share data between the form and submit.php in case JS is disabled. Here post contains the $_POST array we sent and is used to populate the fields of the form, once the user is redirected back.

With this our fancy contact form is finished!

Conclusion

Today we used two great jQuery plugins in conjunction to create a fancy looking contact form. The best thing is that it works in any browser and thanks to graceful degradation you don’t even need to have javascript enabled.

You are free to download and modify the code. The only thing needed to run this demo on your own is to put in the email address you want to receive the emails to in submit.php.

Go to Source

A while ago we had the pleasure of working with DreamTemple for a WordPress Theme which they’ve given away for free on Smashing Magazine. That means you can get this beautiful and unique theme for free, from the king of freebies Smashing Magazine.

We’re very happy to once again have some of our work featured on such a wonderful resource, and are working on another free theme which will be also be released on Smashing Magazine.

Theme Details

Details and Subtle Touches

As always we’ve added many subtle background effects and textures, the beautiful dark wood texture contrasted with the clean open paper background on which the content lies. We’ve managed to make something which remains very spacious and clean when it comes to the content, even though it sits on top of something very decorative and grungy.

Colour Changes

As a added extra touch, we’ve created some additional schemes which you can easily switch through by clicking any one of the colour tabs on the side of the theme. This will change the colour of the links throughout the page. We were going to have a completely new theme for each tab, but the colours never looked as good as they do right now, so we felt it would be better to retain the quality of the original and just have the links change colour.

Traditional Blog Layout

Although Magazine styles are great (well I still think so at least) – we’re just as happy to see more and more personal blog layouts coming back. The truth is, not every blog needs to have a magazine layout, so we’re glad to have been able to offering something for those of you who prefer something which is more personal.

Once again, we’d like to thank DreamTemplate for working with us on this theme and Smashing Magazine for releasing the theme and their great support.

Download & Demo

Download & Details |  Demo

More details and information is available on the link above, also you can check out the live demo to see the theme fully working. And as the theme is free you’ve got no reason not to try it out. The PSD file is also available for download, make sure you check the download & details link for that. Thanks, let me know what you think.

Go to Source

A couple of posts ago I was talking about how the template market is decreasing in value and I hinted that I was going to be getting back into the premium wordpress business.

Well, I think its now time to introduce my plans. simnorWP is the highly original name I have given to my collection of premium wordpress themes which will be on sale at http://simnorwp.com. It will be launched at the end of December with two themes, one of which I am going to give you a sneak peak at in this post, the other is in the image above (first edition mind, this may change). You can keep up to date with progress at simnorWP with the simnorWP blog: http://blog.simnorwp.com.

So onto the theme I am showing off today, it is called blogWP (I’m full of great names!), blogWP is designed for use on blogs and is packed full of options such as different colours/textures, the ability to choose fonts, hide/show links, social bookmarking sites, author display’s and everything in between. It’s widget ready of course and has some nice comments features.

I’m going to show you blogWP in the Wood texture (I think this one looks the nicest), it will give your blog a nice warm homely feel complete with features to make it easier to use.

Index Page

There are actually 10 posts shown on the homepage, I’ve just reduced it for this screenshot. Drop down menu’s for the pages and categories and a meta area including author thumbnail next to each post.

Post Page

This is the post page, it sports social bookmarking which you can edit on the theme options page, an author box with details/bio etc. of the author (this can be turned on/off). Seperated Comments and Trackbacks, and different styling for author comments.

A few more screenshots

Page

Drop Down Menu

Archives

Admin Page

Don’t forget to check out http://blog.simnorwp.com to keep up to date with development as well as twitter: http://twitter.com/simnorwp

Go to Source

You are welcome to share if you know more free and high quality texture sets that our readers/viewers may like. Do you want to be the first one to know the latest happenings at SmashingApps.com just subscribe to our rss feed and you can follow us on twitter as well.

Apple Leaf Texture by texurestockbyhjs

Just A Texture by  jm-stock

Grunge Texture by euphoricdesire-stock

Texture 59 by Sirius-sdz

Old Paper Texture by WingsOfAHero

Texture 34 by why-i-am-so-ugly

Scratch Texture by WingsOfAHero

Forgotten Texture by firesign24-7

Texture by EViL-KiTTie-stock

Grungy Textures by Amal

Desktop Stock Texture by LyndsayHarper

Grungy Texture by Amall

Music Texture by night-fate-stock

Bone Texture by redwolf518

Damp Wall by rock-errr

Texture by Fall-Out-M

Texture 20 by Insan-Stock

Texture 2 by skythecat

Wood Texture by xNickixstockx

Texture by skythecat

Grunge Texture 01 by midoriankh