How do you create the glass effect?

Wednesday, February 27, 2002 by MGJohn | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk

I see a lot of glass-looking buttons and such. Can someone tell me how to create this effect? I've got Photoshop 5.5. Do I need a plugin? Another imaging tool?

Thanks,

John
8 Reply 2 Referrals
grayhaze
Reply #1 Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:26 AM
I create the glass effect in my metalX skin as a scaleable vector image in Fireworks. It's basically three ellipses - one for the background shape, one for the top hightlight, and one for the inner reflected highlight. The highlight ellipses are filled with a gradient from white to transparent, while the background ellipse is just a solid colour. Does any of that make sense?

paxx
Reply #2 Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:29 AM
You mean something like this http://www.neofrog.com/tips/plasticpill.html ?
There is also this http://robouk.mchost.com/tuts/tutorial.php?tutorial=macosx , although the tutorial shows it with text, it can also be applied to any shape.

craeonics
Reply #3 Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:39 AM
Elementary drawing techniques. And if that doesn't work, try those tutorials paxx mentioned.

MGJohn
Reply #4 Wednesday, February 27, 2002 12:11 PM
Excellent. Thanks.

"Elementary drawing techniques"
-That's what I figured. I was hoping for the magic "Add Glass Effect" option though.

BoXXi
Reply #5 Wednesday, February 27, 2002 3:41 PM
I tend to just use the airbrush tool set at about 8% and work slowly using varying sizes of brush. I also work with a large image and reduce it when I am finished. For instance, if I wanted a glass sphere that measures 100x100 pixels, I would probably make it at about 400x 400 and reduce it afterwards. If you work like this you will see any flaws more clearly, and it looks nice and tight when you downscale it. Works for me!

Griffinme
Reply #6 Wednesday, February 27, 2002 5:17 PM
I have found that gradients work well to help generate these effects.

mokuboy
Reply #7 Wednesday, February 27, 2002 7:30 PM
In the Photoshop 6.0 Wow book, the accompanying CD has a variety of glass and plastic styles that you can add to any shape or image. It also shows you how to to do it by hand, but it's a lot easier and faster to use the included Photoshop Style when you're pressed for time.

Although you have to buy it, there are variety of other great tips and techniques that are included in the book -- lots of good stuff. It's definitely one of my favorite books in my design library.

MGJohn
Reply #8 Thursday, February 28, 2002 8:55 AM
Thanks for the tips!

John

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