Screencast Video Tutorials

Welcome to the second part in our Photoshop design tutorial. In this part you will learn how to design the main rounded corner content along with with faded shadows. If you need some visual instructions please view the screencast or check the outcome of the tutorial using the demo link to the right of the video.

Changes To Last Tutorial

The video shows some elements to change from the last screencast. If you followed the written instructions on the previous tutorial there should be no changes needed.

Admin Link

The admin link a simple inset looking button to be displayed in the top right.

1. Write text for link "Admin" in bold, Arial with anti-aliasing set to none.
2. Using the rounded rectangle tool create a button for the text to be displayed on. Make sure to place this shape below the text layer.
3. On the shape set a black colour overlay set to darken and 15% opacity.
4. Add an inner glow, set to black and darken, reduce the opacity from 100%.
5. Stroke set to 1px, almost white.
6. Add a 1px drop shadow to the admin text. Blend mode normal with a light grey colour.

Main Content Area

The main content area is a white box running the full template with rounded corners on the top and shadows to the sides.

1. Rounded rectangle with fixed size of 1000px x 500px. Placed centrally, around 30px below the navigation.
2. Add to this a drop shadow at -94 degrees, 22% opacity.
3. Duplicate this shape but change the angle of the drop shadow to -86 degrees.
4. Create a new layer and using the rectangle outline select the rest of the area in the central 1000px (starting from the mid-point of the white rounded rectangles) and fill in with white.
5. In order to fade the shadows to the side out create a new layer. Using the rectangle outline tool create a rectangle which is roughly 100px tall and placed on the last 100px of the left shadow. Fill this in with any colour.
6. Add a gradient overlay to this rectangle, the same colour as the background for both ends (#f9f9f9). Set the second colour and set to 0% opacity. This should hide the shadows at the bottom making it seem like the shadows fade away.
7. Duplicate the layer and reposition on the right side shadow.
8. Finally create a new layer, just above the background and select a rectangle going across the whole 1400px document width, just below the small grey bar. Fill this in with any colour and go into blend options.
9. Add a gradient overlay from black at the top to the colour of the background at the bottom. Set opacity to around 10%.
10. Finally add some text to show the user where they are on the page. Position this between the navigation and main content. Make this a grey colour with a black 1px drop shadow.

These instructions are intended as a guide to go along with the screencast. For a better understanding of what’s going on view the video. In the next part I will describe how to design the main featured area. If you haven’t already done so be sure to check out part 1 – setting up the document and designing the header.