Photoshop

Learn how to create a Vista styled menu in 11 steps

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Step 1:

Open up the following image in photoshop.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Set your foreground color to #545d66, then make a shape similar like mine below with the rounded rectangle tool

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

You can rasterize the shape if your happy with the result or leave as it is, now rename the Shape 1 to "Menu Base". Change the opacity to 31% in the layers pallette.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 2:

Now that we have our base it's time to add a gradient stroke. HOLD the CTRL key on your keyboard and click the "Menu base" layer to make a selection of the base. Then make a new layer (Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+N), name this layer "Stroke". Then right-click in the project window and choose Stroke. Use a 1 px width, color: #000000 and location: Inside rest leave as it is.

Then right-click the Stroke layer in the layers pallette and choose blending options, check the box infront of Gradient overlay and change its settings to below.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 3:

The step we take now it actually kinda optional but I advice you to make it anyways, since you can view the 2 differences when we're done and see which one you like better. So let's get it going.

Duplicate the layer that contains the photo of the Dubai hotel, and name it "Blur layer". Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian blur and change the radius to 5.6 pixels, click OK. Change the opacity to 67%.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 4:

Now it's time to add some brush lightning and a curved shine.
Make a new layer named Brush, change the foreground color to white (#FFFFFF).
take a 30px soft brush Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu and make a nice curving brush on the left of the shape, it's nice to have a tablet at this point :).

If you don't have a tablet like me you can use the pentool to make a nice smooth curve. Take the pentool Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu Set it on Paths, make a nice curving path. Then right-click the path and choose "Stroke path", from the dropdown menu choose brush and hit OK.

Make another smaller brush going from the bottom-right corner to the middle of the shape.

If you went out of the shape with the brushing do the following. Hold CTRL and click "Menu base" layer, and hit Ctrl+Shift+I to inverse the selection, Hit delete.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 5:

Ctrl+Click the menu base layer again, Go to Select > Modify > Contract, and use 1px, hit OK. Make a new layer named "Shine", take the gradient tool, set the foreground to white, and use a foreground to transparant gradient, now make a gradient like mine below.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Take the eliptical marquee tool Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu and make a round shape like mine below.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Hit delete on your keyboard to make the curve, and set the opacity of this layer to 42%.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 6:

Change the foreground color to black (#000000), take the gradient tool, we use the same gradient as before (the foreground to transparant gradient). Make a new layer called "Bottom shadow", and make a nice gradient like below.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Change opacity of this layer to 46%.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 7:

Ctrl+Click the menu base layer again, Go to Select > Modify > Contract, and use 1px, hit OK. Make a new layer named "Side shadow", and make a gradient like below.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Change opacity to 20%, duplicate "Side shadow" layer, Go to Edit > Transform > Flip horizontal. Move this layer to the left side.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 8:

Make a new layer named "Line" and make a line with the penciltool like below (DON'T overlap the stroke layer!) Change the color of this line in the blending options with color overlay, use color #555454. Change the opacity to 41%.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Duplicate the "Line" layer, HOLD shift key and press downwards 6 times. Then duplicate the "Line copy" layer, HOLD and press downwards 6 times again. Do this until you have the same as me below.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 9:

Make a new layer named "Bevel shine", take the gradient tool, change foreground to white and use the same gradient again (foreground to transparant). Make a gradient like mi ne .

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Change opacity to 24%.
Duplicate the Bevel shine layer, and hide the duplicated layer. Select the Original Bevel shine layer, Ctrl+Click the menu base layer again, Go to Select > Modify > Contract, and use 1px, hit OK. Make an inverse selection and hit delete.

Unhide the Bevel shine copy layer, take the Rectangular marquee tool and delete the surrounding pieces like below, also delete the parts on top of the Stroke layer or the result will be shabby.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Then make a selection like below

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

And hit delete. Then select the original bevel shine layer with the selection still active hit delete also.

Select the "Bevel shine copy" layer, HOLD shift and press down key 6 times, then copy the layer and hold shift and press down 6 times again until you reached the last line like below. For the last Bevel shine layer use an opacity of 10%.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 10:

Now let's add some text, take the text tool and type your preferred text, I use the font Trebuchet MS with a size of 20.33pt with a left alignment. And apply the following blending options.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu
Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Then duplicate the layer, hold shift and press down 6 times again and change the text. do this until you reached your goal =)

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Step 11:

Ctrl+Click Menu base layer again, go to this icon in the layers pallette Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu (this icon is called Layer adjustment) and hit Color balance. Use the following values:

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu
Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu
Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Change opacity of the color balance layer to 26% and the mode to Vivid light.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Now duplicate the color balance layer and change the opacity to 27% and the mode to Color dodge.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

The last thing we have to do is add another adjustment layer, and choose levels, use the following settings.

Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

The end result of this tutorial:
Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu

Since I think I overdid the blur a tiny bit I lowered the opacity of the blur layer which we made in step 3 to 69%, leaving us with the following result.
Free Photoshop tutorial - Vista styled menu


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