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Making a Yellow Ball to be used as a Replacement Bullet
- Launch Adobe Photoshop.
- Select New under the File menu and set the image size to a height of 20 pixels and a width of 20 pixels. Set the resolution to 72 dpi or pixels per inch. Set the Mode to RGB Color. This will allow us to use layers.
- Next we will create our basic sphere. Double-click on the Marquee tool (rectangle tool). Note: Double-clicking on a Photoshop tool always brings up the options palette for the tool. Set the following options:
- This will allow us to use the Marquee tool to select a fixed 10 x 10 pixel region as a sphere.
- Fill the sphere with yellow or any other color you wish. We used an RGB setting of R=217, G=130, and B=0 to create the shade of yellow we wanted. Note: Click on the foreground color box in the Tools palette to set an RGB color value. A dialog box will come up which allows to you type in the RGB values.
- Use the Fill command under the Edit pull-down menu to fill the sphere selection with your color. Use the following settings:
- With the sphere still selected we want to apply a glass lens or flare filter to give our ball a shiny quality. If you have Kai's Power Tools, use the KPT Glass Lens filter with the default settings. Otherwise you can use the Lens Flare Photoshop Filter found under Filter -> Render -> Lens Flare.
- Next we will add a drop shadow. We can use Alien Skin's Drop Shadow filter with X and Y offsets set at 4, blur at 7 pixels, opacity 90, and shadow color set to Black.
- To view your completed ball against different colored backgrounds simply add a layer and drag it below the yellow ball layer. Paint this layer the desired color and you will see how your ball works against different colors.
Variations on the Sphere
- Once you have the sphere made and selected you can try other effects.
- Using Noise. Try filling a sphere with a color, then applying the Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise filter with the Amount set at 70 and Distribution set to Gaussian. Apply the Glass Lens filter and the Drop Shadow filter. This creates the sphere that follows.
- Recess button. Next start with a new document 40 by 40 pixels. Make a sphere selection of 22 by 22 pixels. Fill with a color. Apply the KPT Glass Lens filter TWICE. Next, apply the Alien Skin Drop Shadow filter. Then change the Marquee tools options to 15 by 15 pixels. Select a sphere region within the larger sphere. Apply the KPT Glass Lens filter, then select Image -> Rotate -> 90 degrees CCW. This creates the recessed button look that follows.
- Marble button. Start with a new document 40 by 40 pixels. Make a sphere selection of 22 by 22 pixels. Stroke 2 pixels with a color. Using the Pencil tool draw a few lines from the center of the sphere to the edges. Apply the Filter -> Distort -> Twirl at an angle of 182. Apply the KPT Glass Lens filter. Next, apply the Alien Skin Drop Shadow filter. This creates the marbleized button look that follows.
- Gradated button. Start with a new document 40 by 40 pixels. Make a sphere selection of 35 by 35 pixels. Set the foreground color to a dark color and the background to a light color. In the following example we used R=12, G=89, B=12 as our dark green. We used R=179, G=239, B=179 as our light green. Using the Gradient tool set to Linear, fill the selection with a gradient by drawing a line from the lower right corner to the upper left corner. Then choose Select -> Modify -> Contract 3 pixels. Fill this selection with the same gradient going in the opposite direction. This creates the gradated look that follows.
- Target Icon. Start with a new document 40 by 40 pixels. Make a sphere selection of 35 by 35 pixels. Fill the selection with red. Apply Select -> Modify -> Contract 3 pixels. Apply Select -> Feather at 1 pixel. Fill with yellow or some other color. Repeat Select -> Modify -> Contract and Select -> Feather, alternating red and yellow fills, until you reach the center. This creates the icon that follows.
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