Gel Button Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to make a cool gel style button like the one above. For this tutorial, I will be using Photoshop CS2. It will probably be the same for other versions of PS.

First, click File > New. Set the size to 200 x 200 pixels.

Set black as your foreground color. Click the Rounded Rectangle tool. Next click the arrow button next to the squiggle looking button. Set the demensions to look like this:


Click somewhere in the middle of the blank image. It should draw a black rectangle.


Next, click the Add a Layer Style in the Layer Pallet.


Input these effects. You may need to change them slightly to your liking.









You button should now look like this:


Next, you need to chose the color for your button. Open up the Layer Styles again and chose the Color Overlay tab. Select the color of your chosing, and set the opacity to 100%. The Blend Mode should be set to Normal

Your button should look something like this now:

But wait! This is not gelly enough!

Ctrl + Click on the thing the arrow is pointing to. It is hard to explain, but it just selects all of your buton and not the background.


Click Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer and click Levels. Fill it in to look like this:


Your button should look like this:


You can crop out the background, and then delete the white background (use the Magic Wand) so that it is transparent. You can add text or whatever you want. When you are ready to save, click File > Save for Web so that the background will be transparent.
Here is the final result:


Here are some more buttons I made using this same style:




You can download the .psd's HERE!

Hope you liked it! If you make anything cool using this tutorial, send it to me!:)