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LCDs are undoubtedly the most commonly-used type of interface in modern consumer
electronics. Understandably, therefore, they are also used extensively in
skins, websites, consumer graphics, etc. Recreating a realistic LCD-type
display is, however, a little harder than it looks and takes quite a while to
get right. The aim of this tutorial is to detail my method for designing
the most '3-dimensional' display possible, whilst keeping the complexity down to a minimum.
I'll also spend a considerable amount of time explaining my processes and how
you can personalize them to your own design.
NB. Since this is intended
to be a tutorial for experienced users of Photoshop, I will not explain the basic functions and tools. If you get a little bewildered, a quick peek at
the PS help file should point you in the right direction.
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Step 1: Create a new document and fill the
background with whatever colours, gradient, or pattern you desire. In
my example I've opted for a size of 200x85px and filled it with a white-grey
gradient. |
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Step 2: Create a new layer called LCD.
Using either the rounded Rectangle Tool, or your own method, create a box
with rounded edges and fill with the colour #60A987. |
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Step 3: LCD screens are an irregular mix of liquid
crystals. Recreate this effect by selecting Filter > Noise > Add Noise
from the menu. Set the amount to 2, distribution to Gaussian, and check
monochromatic. |
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Step 4: With the LCD layer active, click on
Layer > Layer Style > Stroke in the menu and fill in the settings as
they are on the left. This will create the black inner border present on
many LCD interfaces (and probably your monitor too). Set the size to
whatever you feel is appropriate to your interface - you'll see the effect
immediately in the background. |
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Step 5: Without leaving the layer effects screen,
progress onto the drop shadow section and enter the settings on the left.
This step can be omitted if your background is of the darker variety - its
only included with my light background because step 6 doesn't generate a
very discernable inset otherwise. |
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Step 6: Progress onto the 'outer glow' section and fill in the
settings on the left. This will create a light halo around
the LCD screen and help it look like its inset into the background. If
the effect is a little too strong in your project, consider reducing the
opacity setting a little. |
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Step 7: Ok, now we're getting towards the main meat of the tutorial.
Enter these settings into the inner shadow section of layer effects.
The result is almost imperceptible, but it'll slightly lighten the top edges
of the LCD, but not show through the stroke effect. If you want more
highlighting, adjust this setting accordingly AFTER you have gone through
steps 12 to 14. |
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Step 8: This is an optional step, but will make the 3D effect a bit
more realistic. Enter the 'bevel and emboss' section and duplicate
these settings. This will add a slight glow at the bottom of the LCD,
almost like light is reflecting off the inside. You can change the
shape and intensity of the effect by altering the depth and opacity
accordingly. You can now leave the layer effects dialog by clicking OK. |
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Step 9: Looking good isn't it? Now you should add some text using the
text tool and an appropriate font. I use DS-Digital and LcdD
extensively - you can download them from all good font resource websites. |
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Step 10: Now create a new text layer beneath the main text layer with
lots of 8's to mimic LCD burn-in. Change the blending options in
the layer palette to 'soft light' and the opacity to 50%. Then move it
about until it looks good. |
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Step 11: OK, now for the hardest part of the tutorial. Select the pen
tool and draw a path similar to the one on the left. Create a new layer on
top of everything else called highlight. Make it the active layer. Go to the path palette,
right-click the path, and select 'make selection'. Then pick Edit > Fill
from the menu and fill the selection with white. |
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Step 12: Press Control + D to lose the current selection. Then run
the Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur filter with a setting of 5-10
pixels. With the layer palette active, Press CTRL on your keyboard
and click on the LCD layer to establish a new LCD-shaped selection. |
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Step 13: Invert the selection by clicking on Select > Inverse
from the menu. Then, with the highlight layer active, press
delete on the keyboard once. As a final step, select
Layer > Layer Style > Gradient Overlay and enter in the settings on the
left. Press ok and reduce the highlight layer's opacity
to 50%. |
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Step 14: Et voila, your finished masterpiece! If the highlight
layer is a little too bright or sharp, try reducing the opacity further or
Gaussian Blur it a little more. |
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Step 15: Play around with the layers to achieve the result you
desire. Adding a drop shadow to the active LCD text using layer
effects can also be helpful. Remember that the screen doesn't have to
be green! Have fun! :) |
- Tutorial written by Man1c M0g
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clean, easy to follow tutorial. it's also very customizable. no doubt it'll be easy to add extra touches like a light shine or a reflection. |
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thnaks alot for this..gonna make an animated sig out of it...thanks a lot dude |
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