[BoulderDash]

Hey there,
Is there a filter that can take an image and make it look like a pin (such as below):



Or are there a set of steps which will help me achieve the same effect?

Thanks in advance,
BD

[Eyenovation]

There's no filter. You will have to do it manually using layers and lighting effects. It's actually very easy. If there's enough demand, I'll whip together a tutorial and post it here, if not PM me and I'll walk you through it.

Regards,
Chris

[Eyenovation]

Fist, grab the .PSD file from my server:
Click here to download

You'll see upon opening it how it's basically setup. Because different colored buttons will reflect and refract light differently every layer is completely editable. You'll want to play with opacity and different layer settings to achieve the look you're after.

It will basically look like this when we're done:


Here's another version of the button, albeit a different image:


For your button, you'll want to PASTE a picture of whatever it is you want on the layer that simply says, 'INSERT YOUR PICTURE HERE'

Once your image is on that layer, you're going to use the image BELOW it (the layer entitled CIRCLE) as a cookie cutter, or stencil. You'll want to make the selection by holding down the Apple key, and clicking that particular layer. That will give you the selection for which your image is to be cut.



Right now, it's set to cut everything within the layer, and we don't want that. Hit (Shift+Apple)+i *for invert selection* and you will see the selection change to everything OUTSIDE the cirlce.

From here, CLICK the layer your picture resides on, and hit DELETE. This will remove everything that does not reside on our circle. Now the layer WITH The circle, you'll want to make it invisible (by clicking OFF the eye). This will hide any small jagged lines you might see with two layers of the same exact shape.



After this, it's all a matter of tweaking the shadows to your individual liking. The buttons you have up top have much harsher shadows. This will all vary depending on the light source you're supposedly using. Play with the settings to achieve desired effects.

Any more questions, just let me know.

[skalie]

That was impressively helpfull Eyenovation.

[BoulderDash]

All right,
Way to go... thanks!

BD

[ultra-V]

Another way to do it is with layer styles. This would give you a little more flexibility to customize the amount of shadow and highlight you want, and allow for different sized buttons.

I did a sample psd you can download here.

It looks like this:




To apply to your own image, you would paste it in as a layer.
- Use the ellipse marquee tool to select the portion you want (holding shift to constrain to a circle).
- Go to Layer Menu > Add Layer Mask >Reveal Selection
- In the layers palette, control-click my Layer 2 and choose "Copy Layer Style"
- Control-click on your layer in the palette and choose "Paste Layer Style"
- You can then double click on the layer style in the palette to play with the sliders and shading angles to adjust to your taste and the size of your image.

[BoulderDash]

Great! Thanks again guys for your help.

BD

[andi*pandi]

very interesting guys!