For today’s Photoshop Tutorial, We’re going to cover something I’m sure all of you photoshop-geeks refer to as the most overused effect in the “biz.” However, its also the one that gets messed up the most. So here is the CORRECT technique to make a button/image/icon/whatever look “aqua-fied” or “mac-ish.” Please “Continue Reading” below for the tutorial, I didn’t want to dirty up the front page with all the images. As always email me or go post it in the forums, peace out-

-b

			1. This tutorial is a very close replica of the famous Aqua button. It’s not recommended for novice Photoshop users because it doesn’t explain how to make each and every single detail.
			2. On a new layer create a pattern as show in the picture. Use 10-15% layer Opacity.
			3. On a new channel create a pill-shaped button. In order to complete this tutorial, the pill must be 311×96 pixels in size.
			4. Load selection² from the pill channel. Create a new layer and fill the selection with R: 65; G: 113; B: 166; HEX: 4171A6; using the Paint Bucket¹ tool.
			5. Apply Inner Shadow (Layer > Effects > Inner Shadow) layer effect to the pill layer as shown in the picture.
			6. Apply Inner Glow (Layer > Effects > Inner Glow) layer effect to the pill layer as shown in the picture.
			7. Select Layer > Effects > Create Layer to separate the layer effects to a new layer.
			8. Apply Bevel & Emboss (Layer > Effects > Bevel and Emboss) layer effect to the pill layer as shown in the picture.
			9. Apply Inner Shadow (Layer > Effects > Inner Shadow) layer effect to the pill layer as shown in the picture. Use the color R: 240; G: 208; B: 224; HEX: F0D0E0;
			10. In the Layers palette make the layer called “Layer 1’s Inner Glow” active. Using the Rectangular Marquee¹ make a rectangular selection all around the pill as shown in the picture.
			11. Select Edit > Transform > Scale. Stretch the selection 125% vertically. Press Enter to apply changes.
			12. Load selection² from the pill channel again. Contract selection (Select > Modify > Contract) by 10 pixels twice. Feather selection (Select > Feather) by 10 pixles.
			13. Create a new layer. Fill the selection with white using the Paint Bucket¹ tool. Set Blending Mode to Color Dodge and its Opacity to 35%. Shift it down as shown in the picture.
			14. Load selection² from the pill channel. Having the new layer with Color Dodge active, press the “Add Layer Mask” button located at the bottom of the Layers palette.
			15. Apply the Gaussian Blur filter (Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur) to the layer with Color Dodge. Use a value of 10.
			16. Make the blue pill layer active and Add mask² to it. Repeat step number 12. Having the pill’s mask active, fill the selection with R: 166; G: 166; B: 166; HEX: A6A6A6; using the Paint Bucket¹ tool.
			17. Having the pill’s mask active apply the Gaussian Blur filter (Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur). Set the Radius value to 20 and press OK. Set Opacity of the pill layer to 95%.
			18. Load selection² from the pill channel. Contract it by 5 (Select > Modify > Contract).
			19. Usingthe Rectangular Marquee¹ tool subtract² the bottom part as shown in the picture.
			20. Create a new channel² and fill the selection with white using the PaintBucket¹ tool. Apply the Gaussian Blur filter (Filters > Blur >Gaussian Blur). Set the Radius value to 10 and press OK.
			21. With the new channel active, in the main menu select Image > Adjust > Levels. Set the Input levels values to 120, 1, 132 and press OK. Load selection² from the result channel.
			22. Create a new layer. Reset colors to black and white (press ‘D’). Using the Linear Gradient¹ tool, make a gradient from the bottom of the selection to the top. Set Blending Mode to Screen and Opacity to 65%.
			23. Select Edit > Transform > Scale to scale the layer down horizontally to 95% of its original width. Press Enter to apply changes.
			24. Using the Type¹ tool, enter “AQUA”. Use Arial regular, 65 pixels size. Apply the Drop Shadow layer effect (Layer > Effects > Drop Shadow) as shown in the picture.
			25. For the shadow use R: 72; G: 111; B: 166; HEX: 486FA6; color, Multiply Blending Mode and 50% Opacity.