Metal Ring

We’ll use channels and lighting effects to create a simple 3d metal ring. This is a very basic technique, but looks good and is an essential time-saver for creating a lot of interface elements.

Start with a new image. I’m using 200px by 200px. Set the background color to black and make a new layer.

Using the eliptical marquee tool, create a circle in the center of the image. Fill it with white. Then make another smaller selection inside of that and delete it.

Now Ctrl+Click on the layer to load the selection and go to the Channels palette. Click on the New Channel icon and now hit Ctrl+D to feather the selection. Select a value of around 4 and click ok. Now fill the selection with white.

Release the selection and now go back to the ring layer and Ctrl+Click again. Now go to Filters - Render - Lighting Effects and use the following settings: Intensity = 20, Gloss = 100, Material = 69, Texture channel = Alpha 1. Make the light source come from the top left. Leave everything else at its default values.

Now you have a basic shiney metal ring that can be colorized, textured, or whatever you need to suit your needs.

Added Saturday, May 13th, 2006 at 9:08 pm under Interface Elements.