Topic awaiting preservation: shiny plastic

i was wondering how to do that shiny, brittle plastic that you see on coloured letter fridge magnets. (you know the ones, the ones you can write messages with.)

mmm... i wanna say Layer Styles will be your best friend here.

Bevel/Emboss... Color Overlay... Gradient Overlay.

And perhaps also lowering the "FILL" opacity too.


That vague enough for everyone? :P

thats vague alright but thanks heaps.

hehee ya sorry bout that Josh.

To be honest, i'm not exactly sure of the effect you're after. Got any reference pics i could see? I am after all, the "Master of all things shiny". lol
I think i can help more specifically.



[This message has been edited by theGuest (edited 07-30-2003).]

Hey Josh, I think I've got what you want...

Try setting up this layer-style on a rounded font or a rounded shape.
You might however need to experiment a little with the settings to get it work for the size of the font your'e using.
Okay, here we go:


Drop shadow
--------------
Opacity: 57%
Distance: 17%
Spread: 0
Size: 10
Noise: 0%

Inner shadow
----------------
Blend Mode: Multiply (the shadow-color right next to it should be: R: 0, G: 4, B: 167)
Opacity: 75%
Distance: 12 px
Choke: 7%
Size: 27 px
Noise: 0%

Outer Glow
------------
Blend Mode: Screen
Opacity: 100%
Noise: 0%
Color of Glow should be the solid color selected not the gradient and the values for it are: R: 0, G: 4, B: 167
Technique: Softer
Spread: 0%
Size: 163%
Range: 50%
Jitter: 0%

Inner Glow
------------
Blend Mode: Multiply
Opacity: 50%
Noise: 0%
Color of Glow should be the solid color selected not the gradient and the values for it are: R: 0, G: 4, B: 167
Technique: Softer
Source: Edge
Choke: 10%
Size: 13 px
Range: 43%
Jitter: 0%

Bevel and Emboss (this will produce the white highlight-glow)
--------------------
Style: Inner bevel
Technique: Smooth
Depth: 100%
Direction: Up
Size: 6 px
Soften: 0 px
Angle: 90 degrees
Altitude: 70 (this setting controls how far in from the edge the higlight will be and this varies for different font-sizes!)
Higlight mode: Screen (white color)
Opacity: 100%
shadow mode: Multiply (black color)
Opacity: 0%

Color overlay
--------------
Blend mode: Normal (color: R: 0, G: 234, B: 255)
Opacity: 100%


That's it! But also but also click the area saying: "Blending Options: Custom" in the left column and check the box saying: "Blend Clipped Layers as a Group". Hope it works for you and if you like it, save it up in "Styles" on the top left in the Layer-style window.

hmm... that was a bit vague too... could you be little clearer please?

Basically you need to add a thin sharp highlight along one edge of the letter or other object, and you need to add some indication of it's depth - either a simple drop shadow or a more complex visual of the actual depth of the letter.

Forget all the spelled out layer style settings and get to know your program

Figuring out the basic concept of making the object is far more important than figuring layer style settings with which to achieve it....

(how was that for vague?)

wow, these are gems. getting more and more vague! im working on a project for school, and the letters are actually supposed to be fridge magnets. i'll give them all a go, thanks.

DL-44,
I agree that you need "a thin sharp highlight along one edge of the letter or other object" and that's what the inner-bevel effect does in this case. And yes, you also need "some indication of it's depth - either a simple drop shadow..." and that's why we're using the inner shadow and the inner glow.

But offcourse, this is just ONE way of doing it. Sure you can go ahead create everything the long way but using layer styles it get a little more intutive and easy to understand. And since you can save it - you can also re-use it easily as many times as you like.

Ofcourse you can apply all the filtering and gradients and save them in an action but this way you can alter any setting any time, experimenting with it and learning from it.

In the beginning I was against using layer-styles because it felt more like robotic work and less artistic. The skill was to be able to create the effects "by hand..." but now I use layer-styles to my advantage.

whoops..i mis-interpreted this post. ignorant words deleted.


[This message has been edited by r@m (edited 07-30-2003).]

flyer - not attacking your method at all. Nothing wrong with layer styles if used properly.

My point is only that understanding *what* is needed is far more important than how exactly to achieve it.

As you said, your way is one of many, and questions of this nature are counterproductive, as they always seem to be asking for that "one method" of making "X" object.

The first step is *always* observing the object to be recreated. Not just glancing at one and saying "yeah, I know what they look like" but really observing. Sittin gwith the object in front of you and playing with different lighting and environments to see hwo it behaves.

Then recognizing thing like 'thin sharp highlight, not highly reflective, hard edges' etc....

*Then* you can worry about which methods to use to make them.

Now, while josh may feel this post is also vague, it is actually quite specific. And it is good solid advice =)

this is my understanding... if you have an object, making your own layer styles to change the way the object behaves isnt robotic. asking for a specific layer style to change the way the object looked was also a guideline as to what other layer styles i could apply, and how to achieve that basic "shiny" look.

now that's vague.