Round Glassy Buttons

Creating glass buttons is not the easiest thing I've ever tried to do in Paint Shop Pro but it's not as bad as other things I've tried. There are a lot of steps.

The first thing we need to do is create a new image 200 x 200 pixels with a transparent background.

Create a new layer and name it Base layer. Select the Circle Selection tool and start a selection exactly in the center of the canvas.

Draw the selection out until it is about 150 pixels in diameter. You can see this information on the bottom right of your Paint Shop Pro 8 interface.

Set your foreground color to #4040FF and your background color to #090B55

Set the fill to radial gradient and using the flood fill tool, fill in the selection.

Select the bottom layer and name it Background. Go to Selections>Select None. Fill the Background layer with the same radial gradient.

Select the Base Layer and go to Layers>Duplicate. Double click on the new layer and name it hard light.

Click on the Base layer again and go to  Layers>Duplicate. Double click on this new layer and name it lighten and apply the settings shown below.

With the lighten layer selected go to Layers>Duplicate. Double click on the new layer and name it burn. Apply the settings shown below.

Create a new blank layer and make sure it is on the top of the layer stack. Name it bottom highlight and apply the settings shown below.

Select the paint brush tool and apply the settings shown below.

Click one time on the new layer in approximately the same area as shown below.

Create a new layer and name it top large highlight. Select the Base layer and using the magic wand tool click anywhere on that layer except on the button.

Select the top large highlight layer.

Using the same settings and the paint brush tool, paint across the top of the selection.

Double click on the top large highlight layer and apply the settings shown below. After applying the settings your image should look similar to the one below.

Create a new layer and name it small top highlight.

Using all the same settings for the paint brush tool except change the size to 32, click one time in the top region of the layer as shown below.

Select the Base layer and using the magic wand tool click anywhere but on the button on that layer.

Create a new layer and name it transform linear grad.

Using a linear gradient of black and white with black being the bottom color fill in the selection on the transform linear grad layer.

Go to Selections>Select None. Click on the transform tool and drag the bottom handle up to about half way through the button. Move the left and right sides in to fit inside the button shape.

Go to Adjust>Blur>Blur More.

Double click on the transform linear grad layer and set the Blend mode to Screen and the opacity to 65.

    

Below is an image of what is supposed to be clouds. Right click on it and save it to your hard drive.

Select the burn layer.

Open the clouds image in Paint Shop Pro 8 and go to Edit>Copy. Select our button image and go to Edit>Paste>Paste as a new layer.

Double click on the new layer and name it clouds and glass.

    

Go to Effects>Texture Effects>Mosaic-Glass and apply the settings shown below.

    

Select the Base layer and using the magic wand tool click anywhere on that layer except the button.

    

Hit the delete key.

Go to Effects>Geometric Effects>Spherize and apply the settings shown below. Do this twice.

Double click on the clouds and glass layer and apply the settings shown below.

Find a nice image to use as a reflection map and open it in Paint Shop Pro 8.

Select the image you want to use as a reflection map and go to Edit>Copy.

Select the clouds and glass layer then go to Edit>Paste as a New layer.

Double click the new layer and name it photo.

Go to Effects>Geometric Effects>Spherize twice.

    

Go to Selections>Invert and hit the delete key.

Double click on the photo layer and apply the settings shown below.

Go to Adjust>Blur>Blur More twice

         

Below is what your layer palette should look like so far.

Below are the final product, some with a little more blur added to the clouds and glass layer and with some finishing touches like the inset. You can learn how to create the inset effect by going to the Paint Shop Pro main tutorial page.

         

Have fun!

Copyright Vikki Olds, All Rights Reserved