free-PSD is a website that offers awesome templates in PSD format for absolutely free with the only condition to put a link back to their site, pretty fair considering the high quality of the templates offered.

No registration required to download any file. The PSD files are of very high quality in a professional grade and they are even sliced so you can save as separated images to build and customize your own variation of any template.

The templates can be found at free-PSD.com and they are well organized in “colors” categories. Just be sure to browse their template archive in the “free pdf templates” menu at the top right sidebar.

Just few examples of what they offer:

The site Shaboopie is the today’s star for offering such great free resource with direct downloads links.

Here is a small preview of these beautiful logos:

Hope you enjoy this resource.

When it comes to free resources is very difficult to find something of high quality, not impossible, but hard to find. FreePSDFiles.net is one of those resources that when found you’ll be visiting over and over again. Why? Because they offer free PSD files that will make you happy. FreePSDFiles.net carries lot of graphics, all of them available for free (no registration required, thank you) and the best of all is that any file is in native PSD Photoshop format.

Categories are, among others, 3D renders, backgrounds, buttons, icons, illustrations, objects, site templates, textures, web elements and many others.

A very clean and friendly web design makes this site a pleasure to browse. Each image includes a short description and vital file info like resolution, file format, file size, item in the set, author and the obvious download button.

Very recommended resource for designers and graphic artists.

Cool Dark Night Tutorial

Learn to use techniques and brushes in Photoshop to create a cool dark night.

Mystical Moonlight Tutorial

Watch this tutorial to learn how to make a moonlit sky background.

Motion Tutorial

This tutorial will teach you how to separate layers in a Photoshop file to create an animation.

Basic DVD Cover

Learn how to create cover art for a DVD (Harry Potter) in Photoshop.

Ice Age Disaster

Use this tutorial when you need to turn an ordinary landscape or cityscape into a snow and ice covered wasteland.

Fairy Dust in Photoshop Tutorial

By watching this video tutorial, you can learn how to add fairy dust to any picture.

Line Art Demonstration

Learn how to turn a photograph into line art by watching this Photoshop demonstration. Although not really a tutorial, this video shows the finer points of drawing lines to create an illustration.

Grunge Effect Tutorial

Using layers of texture, you can change any picture into a fabulous grunge image.

Smoke Tutorial

Learn how to create digital smoke with ease in both Photoshop and Illustrator.

iPhone Tutorial

Ever wanted to make your own iPhone? This video tutorial will show you exactly how to make your own digital iPhone.

Frilly Fonts Tutorial

Watch this tutorial to learn how to make super cool frilly typography.

Satin Tutorial for Photoshop

Watching this tutorial will teach you the simple and fun technique for creating a rumpled satin cloth effect.

Burnt Treasure Map Tutorial

This video tutorial will show you how to create a burnt treasure map effect. Perfect for your pirate needs!

Lava Planet Photoshop Video Tutorial

Whenever you need a lava planet graphic, check out this Photoshop video tutorial. Or simply learn some new advanced Photoshop skills!

Converting a Photoshop Mockup

Learn how to convert a Photoshop mock up to HTML/CSS for your website.

You may want to take the time to watch and even follow along most of these incredible tutorials. After all, graphic design is a continual learning process, and watching the talent of others in motion is one of the best ways to learn.

Free Christmas Fonts

Check out FontSpace for some impressive fonts perfect for Christmas designs.

Free Vector Christmas Icons

These beautifully done free Christmas icons are exactly what you need to decorate your website or desktop.

Christmas Clip Art

Here you will find many links to Christmas clip art, animation, graphics, wallpapers, and more.

Seamless Christmas Patterns

Find over 100 downloadable Photoshop patterns with a Christmas theme on this amazing site.

FreeVectors.net

Need images that can be used on a variety of projects? Find some cool Christmas themed vector graphics, backgrounds, banners, greeting cards, and more. Make sure to check out all 9 pages to see more vectors than you could ever use for this holiday.

36 Holly Jolly Textures

This collection of 100×100 textures for Photoshop will easily add some holiday fun to your designs.

Free Christmas Animations

Any piece from this stunning collection of animations from Seven Oaks Art would be perfect for adding holiday spirit to a website or email newsletter.

Sparkle Christmas Images

Check out these gorgeous Christmas graphics with extra “bling” on Can Stock Photo. There are sparkling Christmas images and cards, all royalty-free and downloadable for a small fee.

Free Social Networking and RSS Feed Icons

Take advantage of one of these 6 free Christmas icon sets for your RSS feed or social networking account. All are high quality and quite stunning.

35 Beautiful Christmas Icon Sets

Find amazing Christmas icon sets on this site. From social networking icons to file folder icons to graphics perfect for adding to your holiday scene for greeting cards.

Free Transparent PNG or Paint Shop Pro tubes

View this collection of generously donated Christmas images for use with Paint Shop Pro or as transparent PNG files.

23 Photoshop Greeting Card Tutorials

Learn how to create Christmas cards using Photoshop with one of these helpful tutorials. Then use your newly learned skills to design your own custom greeting card for the holidays.

15 Christmas WordPress Themes

This nice list of free Christmas themes for WordPress will really get your blog readers in a festive spirit this year.

45 Illustrator and Photoshop Tutorials

Find Christmas tutorials for Photoshop and Illustrator in this incredible collection. Whether you need to design wallpaper, greeting cards, illustrations, or backgrounds, you can find it here.

Exclusive Free Photoshop Brushes

This thorough list of brushes includes snowflakes, ornaments, frosted snowflakes, Christmas trees, holiday stars, swirls, and fireworks.

Spice up your Christmas designs with some of items in the resources above. Or simply enjoy some holiday design inspiration to get you in a festive mood. Happy Holidays!

1. Colorful Plexi Text Effect

Follow this tutorial to create dazzling, multi-layered, semi-transparent lettering, with a Perspex-like quality. No files are needed- simply follow the instructions.

2. 3D Pixel Stretch Effect

File this tutorial under “simple but effective”. Stretching a line of pixels produces a tried-and-tested impressive visual effect, but this tutorial takes things one step further, introducing an exciting 3D element.

3. Photo Manipulation of a Flooded City Scene

Turn a simple cityscape into a torrentially flooded wasteland. The 15 steps are very well explained and the end product is nothing short of spectacular.

4. Light and Glow Effect

Become the master of light and glow on Photoshop with this brief, easy-to-follow guide. There are several different effects to learn, each one more rewarding than the last.

5. Master 3D Type Effects

Use masking tools, layers, gradients and lines to turn your favorite piece of 3D text into something more colorful and commercial.

6. Powerful Mental Wave Explosion

Mental waves do not exist, but if they did they’d look rather like this. Use filters and images to create an image fit for an X-Men movie.

7. Realistic Water Reflection

This tutorial is so versatile. Once you’ve mastered the methods it teaches you’ll be able to employ them in any number of different projects. A filter and displacement map is used to create the ripples.

8. Age Progression

Turning a young person old is one of the most fun things you can do with Photoshop, but more often than not you’ll simply end up with a saggier version of the original image. Follow the 16 steps in this tutorial for thoroughly professional results.

9. Watercolor Effect Menu

This is mainly one for the web designers, but the watercolor-like techniques can be used for various purposes. The end product is attractive, cool and in demand right now.

10. High Impact Gig Poster

Chances are if you’re a young graphic designer, friends will constantly bug you to do work for them. Designing a gig poster (or flyer) is often high on their list of demands, so you might as well know how to do it properly!

11. Draw a Portrait

Portraits occupy the more advanced end of the Photoshop learning spectrum. Creating a bad one is pretty easy, but producing a good one is rather trickier. This tutorial guides you through the basic process. There are valuable lessons to be learnt.

12. Graffiti

Spraying graffiti on walls is illegal, but not if you do it on Photoshop. With so many tutorials showing you how to produce the “whackest” graffiti effects possible, it’s refreshing to find one which produces authentic results.

13. A Slow Motion Bullet Effect

With 47 steps, this isn’t the easiest tutorial to master, but it’s certainly one of the best. So long as you know how to select an area with the pen tool and you’ve used the liquefier a couple of times, you shouldn’t have any problems.

14. Abstract Watercolor

Layer masking is the best way to get a watercolor effect in Photoshop. You’ll learn the technique properly in this excellent tut, transforming a photograph into an abstract watercolor.

15. Glass Ball

Creating a glass ball in Photoshop is a great way to impress. It looks as though it would be really hard, but in fact it’s relatively straightforward for intermediate and advances users.

16. Vintage Photograph

This tutorial was written a long time ago, but it’s as useful today as it was 7 years ago. Colorizing is a very time-consuming process, but the results can be stunning, provided your source image is up to scratch.

17. Star and Meteor Impact

Intermediate Photoshop users should find making this intergalactic explosion lots of fun. The “soil texture” is used for a realistic, extraterrestrial planetary ground surface.

18. Mold Paint Splatter to a Face

Splatting paint onto somebody’s face is very satisfying, but you’re more than likely to get a punch from the splat recipient unless you do it on Photoshop! You’ll find this paint splatter effect popping up in all kinds of ads.

19. Watercolor Effect

You’ll be amazed by what you can achieve in just 10 simple steps. Use masks and watercolor brushes to produce a thoroughly eye-catching image.

20. 3D Text Photo Manipulation

Follow this tutorial to learn how to superimpose a 3D object of any kind into natural surroundings. You don’t have to use 3D text, but it looks brilliant if you do.

Become photoshop guru with testkings online web designing course. Learn how to create inspiring web designs using testking mcts photoshop tutorials and testking mcitp guide.

In this article I am going to tell you what you should do before you start looking
for your first job as a web designer. You might not have any knowledge about
developing for the web but do not worry; I will tell you what I did that got me into
this industry a couple years ago.

Do I need tertiary education or school to become a web designer?

It will definitely not be a disadvantage if you have some course but it is not
necessary, what is necessary is your knowledge and the way you can show it
and prove it, but we will come back to this later.

What is the basic skill set required to get a job as a web designer?

As a web designer you should concentrate on learning how to use Photoshop,
how to code by hand in HTML/CSS and how to code some JavaScript basics, I
would recommend jQuery as itʼs very well connected to CSS knowledge you will
be learning. You might also learn how to setup your first blog; I would
recommend WordPress as it is the simplest and most used option out there.

This might sound like a lot when you are just starting but trust me it is not and
you will learn a hundred times more once you start your first full time job.

How much time should I spent studying before applying for my first job?

It will take you about one year to get all this knowledge to get to the level where
you can start looking for a junior position. Keep in mind you have to study every
single day, you are passionate about this right?

How do I start?

First of all you really need to want this so you must be passionate about it. If you
are thinking of getting the knowledge just to have “a job”, or your main focus is on
money, do not do it. You will stop in the middle thinking it’s too difficult. You need
the passion that will push you through the hard times.

You might find a course where they teach you this knowledge or you start buying
books. The second option is cheaper but requires more self-discipline.
The books will give you the latest actual knowledge that you will not find in just

one location on the web. You might find hundreds of very useful articles but you
will still feel like you do not see the whole picture and there is something missing
in the knowledge mosaic. If you go to Amazon.com, search for any of the
technologies I have mentioned before and get the most popular book published
this or the previous year you are on the right track. You might need to read every
book 2-3 times to really get everything you need and you will also need about 3
books per technology so you will see it from the perspective of different
people/writers/designers.

Trial and error

The first day you start studying you need to try whatever youʼre reading about.
There is nothing that can replace hands-on experience. Youʼll learn all you need
a lot quicker once you can see whatʼs going on for yourself, try it and not only will
you remember solutions – it will help you resolve future problems even quicker.
Whatever you produce probably wonʼt be very good in the beginning but
remember this: In your future career you will look back at the work you have
done a couple of months/years ago and you might not like it because it may feel
old or not good enough to you so enjoy every moment you create something as
that is the best time to appreciate it.

What tools do I need?

To try coding you will need a text editor. There are quite a few free ones out there
but even the ones you need to pay for are not that expensive. I would
recommend Coda or Textmate. You will also need Photoshop – this one is
expensive one but you might get a good discount (as I did) if you are a student.
Check out the options available on the Adobe website.

So, is studying and trying to code enough?

No, here comes the most important part. You need to breath and live with the
community. You need to find the best designers and developers out there and
follow them. Read their blogs, tweets, check their code snippets regularly or
screenshots on sites like flickr, dribble, forest, watch videos about their code on
youtube, vimeo, listen to podcasts, screen-casts, visit conferences,
presentations. This is the only way you will keep up to speed with whatʼs new.
We are in a very fast-paced industry and no education system can keep up with
this speed. You need to follow the individuals that you get the latest knowledge
from. These are the people who have been in the industry for years, they know
what is important, what will be a game changer, what tool will help you the most
and so on. I have been doing this for five years now and I still get the best
information from following people like Veerle, Inman, Snook, Jason Santa Maria,
Mark Bouton, John Resign and so on, the list is very long.

How do you know whom to follow? You don’t. It takes time to realize who is
interesting for you, who’s work you like the most, who is the best inspiration for
you. Remember that your ultimate goal is to work in an industry that you love.

Play

Do not forget to explore new areas and play. Even if you do not have any
projects on your hands and you see interesting scripts or functionality, try to
replicate it. It is not violating any rights if you just learning and the best way to
learn is to try and reproduce the best work out there. Lets say you like the tiny
drop-shadow on the button, open Photoshop and spend as much time as you
need to replicate it. Try different options. It does not matter how long it takes.
Next time you might work on a real project and you will know exactly how to do it.
Or lets say you like some cool fadeOut effect, search on the web for the solution.
You will realize that some really interesting stuff can be done with very little code
and again this will come very handy when you work on some real projects in the
future.

I learned some coding and Photoshop now what?

Once you get some knowledge you need to start building your portfolio so you
have something to show to your new employer. The best way to do this is by
doing voluntary work. Build a site for charity, or any other company. It would be
good if you could build at least three projects before you start looking for a job.
You get some experience and you have something to show.

If you have already learned how HTML/CSS work you might try to start your first
site. The best solution is installing a WordPress blog. If you are not a very
technical person this might take you a while but you will learn a lot and it will
definitely help you once you start looking for your dream job. Try to blog as often
as you can about stuff you are passionate about.

Companies out there are not looking for individuals who know everything; you are
just starting, right? But they need to see that you like what you do, you are willing
to learn new things and you have discipline. Your small portfolio and blog will
prove all this.

This is all way too much work

You thought it would be easy? I am sorry, nothing is easy if you want to do it
properly. If you love what you do, you do not have to force yourself to study to
explore and that means you will progress and you will learn.

Do not stop

You will end up in the situation where you think, this is way too complicated, I do
not understand it, and I do not know how to do it. Trust me, you will be able to do
it. It is just a matter of time. Do not stop. Search on the web for solutions. You
might not find the exact answer but you might find something that will help you to
understand one piece of it then you will find another piece and at the end you will
know how to do it, you will understand. Trust me, I have been there so many
times. We are actually a lot better than we think.

So here you are thinking about your first step, remember, in only one year you
could be doing your dream job, so lets start today.

Create A Professional Web 2.0 Layout

In this Photoshop tutorial you’re going to learn how to create a web 2.0 layout, As you go through the tutorial you’ll deal with so many Photoshop techniques

Create A Kids Oriented Web Layout Using Photoshop

In this tutorial, you will be creating a simple, easy to use and colorful web design layout in Photoshop that is primarily aimed at children. The simple navigation, bright colors and limited content is something that would really appeal to the youngsters.

Design A Clean Web Layout With The 960 Grid

In this tutorial, you’ll be designing a clean website layout using the 960 Grid System. You’ll see how working with this system can streamline web development workflow, and how to work with a grid system.

How To Design A Blue Marketing Company Layout In Photoshop

Today you’ll be going through the process of designing a website for a fictitious marketing company, step-by-step.

1st Photoshop Web Design Professional Layout Tutorial

Photoshop tutorial that will show you how to create professional web layout.

Make A Dark Blog Web Design Layout With Photoshop

This tutorial will be showing you a quick and easy way to develop a simple dark-themed blog layout with the use of Photoshop.

How To Create A Clean Blue Web Layout Using Photoshop

In this tutorial you will learn how create a clean blue web layout in Photoshop.

How To Create A Rockin’ Website Layout In Photoshop

In this Photoshop tutorial you’re going to create a chocolate-looking website layout.

Create A Grungy, Translucent Web Portfolio Design

Not only have watercolor brush strokes become a popular trend in modern web design, but so have advanced layers of transparency (or what I call, translucence). The new Envato design has received a lot of kudos for using this effect, and this tutorial will show you how to create a similar effect, while combining it with other popular web trends.

Create A Wooden Grunge Portfolio Web Layout In Photoshop

In this beginner-level web design tutorial, you will learn how to construct a portfolio web layout that has a fixed wooden background with Photoshop. you’ll be also using some brushes to accent the design.

Design Grunge WordPress Theme

In this tutorial you’ll be learning how to make a nice, clean, eye catching web layout that anyone could make. Really, it’s quite easy, and I hope you learn new things from it.

How To Design A Portfolio Site In Photoshop, Plus Free WordPress Theme

This post will take you step-by-step through the process of designing the front page of Modest Folio WordPress portfolio theme in Photoshop in case you would like to see how it was done.

Web Design Layout #14

You’ll be learning how to create a sleek web design company style web template.

Create A Bright And Sleek Web Design In Photoshop

In this web design tutorial you will create a clean, professional, and modern web layout in Photoshop using the 960 Grid System as your layout guide.

Design A Dark Business Layout

In this tutorial you will use only a few colors to create a dark business layout.With small modifications this layout can be used also as a wordpress blog.

Design A Bold And Vibrant Portfolio

Learn how to design a bold and vibrant portfolio website, using a combination of lighting techniques and blending options.

How To Make A Highly-Textured Site Layout In Photoshop

In this tutorial, you’ll create a textured site layout by layering multiple images. Creating highly-textured web design layouts is easier than you may think. You can learn to build image intensive designs rapidly.

Create A Clean And Professional Web Design In Photoshop

In this Photoshop web design tutorial you are going to design a smashing, clean, and professional website layout in Photoshop. The layout you are doing in this tutorial can be used as personal or corporate website design.

Graphic Design Studio Web Layout

Learn how to create an effective and contemporary web layout for your design studio.

Design An Ecommerce Website In Photoshop

You are going to design the homepage layout for an ecommerce site in this Photoshop tutorial.

Create A Webdesign Company Layout In Photoshop

How to create a modern looking Photoshop design for your web design company.

Create A Clean And Classy Web Design In Photoshop

In this web design tutorial, you will learn how to create an elegant and professional web layout that can be used as a web portfolio site.

How To Create A Web Hosting Layout

How to create another eye catching hosting layout. In this tutorial you will use only 2-3 colors, with small variations, and you can use this layout for any internet business you have.

Design A Sleek Bokeh Styled Portfolio

Learn how to create and integrate the popular bokeh effect into a sleek, professional website design.

Create A Watercolor-Themed Website Design With Photoshop

You will learn how to use the Art History Brush and combine it with watercolor custom brushes to create a nice background header image and more.

Create A Slick And Minimalist Web Layout In Photoshop

In this Photoshop web design tutorial, you’re going to learn how to create a slick and minimal-looking website layout. You will use the 960 Grid System as a template to make it easy to align the design elements on the layout.

Modern And Colorful Web Layout

This tutorial will show you how to create a trendy portfolio layout.

Design An Attractive One-Page Portfolio Using Photoshop

You will be designing a one-page portfolio in Photoshop. You’ll go through the process step-by-step and you can download the PSD file from Folio Focus if you would like to use it.

How To Make A Vibrant Portfolio Web Design In Photoshop

In this web design tutorial, you will create a beautiful and colorful portfolio layout using Photoshop.

Create A Business Web Template

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a nice looking layout for a business.

Design A Sleek Textured Blue Portfolio

Learn how to design a sleek and textured portfolio web design from scratch, including guide techniques, sketching/drawing tips and content placement.

How To Make A Creative Blog Layout

In this tutorial, you’ll make a creative blog layout using mostly simple shapes, a few brush techniques, some images, and a dose of Photoshop ingenuity.

Create A Winter Theme Web Design In Photoshop

In this web design tutorial, you will learn how to create a winter blog layout in Photoshop. You will use a photo of a forest for the background and then blur areas of that photo to create other elements like the logo and the navigation bar.

Design An Online Template Shop Layout Using Photoshop

You will be designing a homepage layout for a premium template or theme seller. The design uses a dark color scheme and some textures.

Learn How To Create A Clean Layout In Photoshop

In this Photoshop tutorial you’ll learn how to create a clean looking website layout, you’ll also be using 960s grid system to keep everything aligned.

Design A Clean Business Layout

This tutorial will teach you how to create a clean portfolio layout, or business layout.

Create A Gnarly Snowboarding Themed Web Design

Get your Photoshop shred on and follow this step by step overview of building a snowboarding themed website layout. The design you’ll be creating takes inspiration from the typical style of the snowboarding culture, with grungy textures and distressed brush marks adding detail to the design.

How To Create A Unique Colorful Site Layout

This tutorial will guide you through the process of designing a professional website with a funky colorful flair. The tutorial features some great colors, effects and layer styles in which you can use over and over for future projects.

How To Design A Band Website Layout in Photoshop

In this tutorial, you’ll learn step-by-step how to design an awesome band website that any rock and roller would be proud to call their own.

How To Create A Software Web Layout

You will create a new dark website layout, where you can sell your software.

Portfolio Layout Created With Jeans Texture

If you want to create an eye catching portfolio , then you need to use a different style. If your portfolio will be unique, then you might be hired more than other designers. In this tutorial you will learn how to create a portfolio layout based on a jeans seamless texture.

Create A Magic Night Themed Web Design From Scratch In Photoshop

How to design an artistic web design depicting a “Magic Night” concept using Photoshop.

Design A Minimal And Modern Portfolio Layout With Photoshop

In this Photoshop web design tutorial, you’re going to create a mock-up of a clean and modern-looking website.

Create A Hosting Layout In Adobe Photoshop

This layout can be used for any internet business you have: an ISP provider, a domain registrar, or even a intranet website. You will learn how to design a layout for a hosting company.

Create A Simple Yet Attractive Web Layout

You will learn how easy is to create a dark layout for your business in just a few steps.

Create A Clean Business Web Template Design In Photoshop

In this web design tutorial, you’ll see a method for creating a professional web design mockup that’s perfect for a modern business or e-commerce website.

Design An Elegant Rustic Layout For Hotels Or Restaurants

How to create a layout for a hotel. This layout will work also if you have site related to the hotel industry: bed and breakfast, motels, and it will work very good for restaurants, cafes, pizzerias , bars, wineries layouts, etc.

Create A Simple Layout For Architecture Or Real Estate

How to create a simple layout for architecture business.

Create A Very Simple Portfolio Web Layout With Photoshop

In this web design tutorial, you will be creating a minimalist, dark-themed web layout that’s perfect for a portfolio site.

How To Make An Impressive Blog Layout In Photoshop

In this easy to follow web design tutorial, you will learn how to construct a beautiful, sleek, and professional-level weblog design using Adobe Photoshop that you can later use for your very own blog theme.

Design A Light WordPress Theme In Photoshop

How to create a new wordpress theme with a web 2.0 look.

How To Make A Light And Sleek Web Layout in Photoshop

In this web design tutorial, you’ll create a light and sleek layout in Photoshop. You will use the 960 Grid System, and if you haven’t used it before, no problem, this tutorial will show you how it works and how it can help you design better layouts.

Create A Clean Elegant WordPress Theme

In this tutorial you will learn a very simple way to create great looking layouts. Even if you use simple techniques you can create a wonderful wordpress themes.

Create A Web Layout With 3D Elements Using Photoshop

In this web design tutorial, you will discover a way to create a sleek and professional web page layout that incorporates the 3D Ribbon design trend, as well as some other captivating 3D elements, using Photoshop.

Create A Dark Portfolio Layout Or A CSS Design Showcase Layout

This tutorial will show you how to create a dark portfolio layout.

How To Create A Clean Blog Design With Photoshop

In this step-by-step web design layout tutorial, you will discover a method for designing a clean blog design with stunning gradient and lighting effects using Adobe Photoshop. This tutorial is geared for beginner to intermediate Photoshop users.

Mobile App Layout

Learn how to create a dark theme mobile app web layout.

Create A Theme Store Website Layout In Photoshop

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a simple and beautiful theme store layout in Photoshop.

Software Layout #6

In this tutorial you’ll be reading how to create a simplistic product layout with a green theme.

Design A Modern Portfolio Web Layout In Photoshop

You’ll be walking through the creation of a contemporary web page layout that’s perfect for a personal or agency portfolio site.

Sign up for SY0-201 training to make your career in web designing and learn how to excel in your field using 70-640 photoshop tutorials and 350-030 study guides.

We can apply the Pareto Principle in design the following way. 80% of all design work can be produced with only 20% of the Photoshops functionality. I will show you on a real example as to how you can produce professional, realistically looking icons using only a few of the Photoshop effects.

If you are just starting to learn Photoshop and you feel overwhelmed with all the functionality, relax; there is no need to learn it all at once.

The final product will be an Apple mouse.

During the whole process of creating this icon I have used the following tools.

• Pen tool to create the basic shapes
• Layer styles such as – drop shadow, inner shadow, outer glow, inner glow, color overlay, gradient overlay, and stroke
• Smart Objects – to be able to apply Gaussian Blur filter
• Opacity – applying opacity to layers for smooth transactions

Step 1

Create a basic shape which represents the basic shape of an old Apple mouse using the pen tool.

Apply layer styles.

This is the most important screen in Photoshop for any web designer. You learn how all this layer styles work and you will be able to produce most of the effects you need. I have applied a white/gray gradient and a 1 pixel stroke to the basic shape.

Step 2

In the next step I have created another shape which sits on top of the first layer. The purpose of this is to create the illusion that the mouse consists of two pieces which are connected at the bottom. I have applied a glow, bevel, gradient and stroke. You will need to find the right balance between the effects to achieve the desired effect. The best way to do this is by looking at a real object or a photograph of it.

Step 3

Second image in Step 1 is showing the shape which represents the light. It has a white color applied to it. In order to apply a gaussian blur you will need to convert this shape into a smart object. You can achieve this by right clicking on the layer and selecting “convert to smart object“. Once the shape is converted to a smart object you can apply filters to it. The advantage of smart objects is that you can always change the original shape and the filters will stay applied.

The filter we need to apply is a gaussian blur which will blur the in the edges of the shape so the light effect feels more natural and realistic.

Step 4

In this step we need to create the drop-shadow which will create the 3D feel on the side of the mouse. I have used the same smart object I used for the lighting effects but I have rotated it 180 degrees and applied a dark colour to it. And lastly I have applied a 26% opacity so it blends nicely into the mouse object.

Step 5

Create a shape which represents the mouse side button. Apply layer styles. Reduce the opacity. Here I have used a gradient, glow and stroke to create the side button.

Step 6

Create a shape which represents the mouse wheel. Apply a simple gradient creates a 3D wheel effect, reduce the opacity so the button sits better on top of the mouse.

Step 7

Image in Step 4 illustrates a simple shape which will be used as a drop shadow below the mouse, there is black colour applied to it. First image in Step 5 shows again that the shape has been converted to a smart object so the gaussian blur could be applied and the opacity has been dropped so the drop shadow blends with the background nicely.

Thats all which has to be done to create a realistic mouse icon. You could use these few layer style techniques to create visually appealing icons and/or artwork for your sites.

Download 642-642 tutorials and 70-662 demos to learn how to create perfect web designs. Become expert with 70-432 web designing course.

Photoshop CS5 – Content-Aware Fill Sneak Peek

Photoshop CS5 – Painting Sneak Peek

Photoshop CS5 – PatchMatch

Photoshop CS5 – Intelligent Spot Healing

Photoshop CS5 – Better Edge Detection And Masking Results In Less Time

Photoshop CS5 – “Just Do It” Sneak Peek

Photoshop CS5 – Layer Styles And Preferences Sneak Peek

Sneak Peek Of New Adobe Photoshop CS5 Technologies

Anything Missing?

So this is what we found till now about new features of Photoshop CS5. Adobe will continue with more teasers until their launch and we will keep updating this page with the updates. If you find something missing or related, please share with us in the comments below!

Related Resources:

• http://cs5launch.adobe.com/
• http://cs5.org/

Our HP0-S25 study pack provide in detail knowledge about photoshop that one must go through in order to pass 646-985 and 642-982 exam.

The Winner for Smashing Photoshop PSD Template:
- #20 Mikael @mikaelpittam

Congratulations to the winner. We are coming with another giveaway of multiple wordpress themes at Smashing Share very soon, so stay tuned.

Follow us on twitter @smashingshare or subscribe to our RSS or Email to keep yourself updated about coming giveaway.

BorderLine

CITC EuraRFID

Wokine – New Era 2/4

Feel My Greatest Temptation

POSTER

ARTWORK 2008

Diesel – Only The Brave

The Red Bulletin

AFL Players

Beauty Spirit

Stay Green. Go Red. Poster/ Wallpaper

Childs Imagination

Photomanipulations

Atutiplen

Loading a Beautiful Life

Urban Environment

Pride

Pleasure

Uncontrolled

HERO

Dangerous Colors

Krump It

The Other Stream – Her Woods

Separated Unity

Gold Leaves

Appetite for Destruction

Guardians of Revolution

Bulls on Parade

Sphinx

Sphinx

Living Paints

Flower Power

Escape

After 10pm

Regeneration

Jump Green

The Ark

Transistion

Vogelhaus

Funny jean

Sandals

Val

Cutting the edge

Mechanical Insect Art

Kherson

T- 4R0G

Twin Pears House

Xbox Arms Portrait

Horse Hair Style

Help Stop Global Warming

Teenage Madness

Beauty and Shark

Lungs

Light Bulb

Waiting for U

Fly

One Upon A Time

Trail Blazer

Sandpile

Coloring Myself

Deep Cuts

Piphant

Fishy Island

Attack

Aquarium

Xbox Eyes

The Smoke

Self Illumination

The Devil Himself

Smoking Kills

Digital Photo Photoshop Cover

Drawing Myself

Rav4 Exploding Couch

Giraffe

On An Island

McCormick Chicken

Dry

My House

Slow Tongue

Oops

Once-Upon-A-Time-In-My-World

Creativity

Assorted Images

Freudenthal Verhagen

Clorets

Basket Fishers

Fishing At Sea

Voices

An Experiment With Photos

The Drill

Daily Basis

Chromatic Flow

Bacardi – Shoot and Fly

Laudable Recollection

The FWA – Stay Alive

Martini Asti Elements – Air

MadinSpain

VIZIOMAG Art Magazine

Dreams Of A City

Attentions

Check out our latest collection of E20-501 design resources and pick the best design tips to create quality web page using E20-591 tutorials and EX0-105 study guide.

How To Win Photoshop PSD Template?

To win simply follow Smashing Share account on Twitter @smashingshare and leave your Twitter username in the comment’s section below.

Contest starts today (28 November 2009). Last Date for the contest is 6th December 2009 and the winner will be announced on 7th December 2009.
Goodluck to everyone!

Photoshop PSD Template Preview

More giveaways are coming soon including wordpress themes, so don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS or email to keep yourself updated.

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