Rectangular Gel Banner

Tutorial

1. Make a new canvas. I will be using a 400x200px one.

2. Make a New Layer . I'm going to name it base.

   

3. Use the Rectangular Marquee tool to make a rectangle selection. Then, fill it with the Paint Bucket with a color that is duller than the color you want to end up with.

   

4. Make a New Layer above base. I will name this one lower light.

   

5. Select the Gradient tool and set these settings. The gradient should go from white to transparent, and it is a Linear Gradient.

   

   Make a gradient from the bottom to about half-way up.

   

6. Set the Opacity of lower light around 30-50%...

   

   ...so that we end up with this.

   

7. Make another New Layer . I will name it shadow.

   

8. Load a selection on layer base, and then fill layer shadow with black.

   

9. With that rectangle selection still on, go to Select >> Feather. Set it to around 15px, then hit Delete on your keyboard.

   

10. Set the Blending Option of layer shadow to Overlay.

    

    Now we have this.

    

11. Make another New Layer . I will name this one highlight.

    

12. Load a selection on layer base, then select a Paint Brush that is about 5px round. On layer highlight, draw a line across. There should be a little space on the left, right, and top. Hold Shift to help you draw a straight line.

    

13. Now go to Filter >> Blur >> Gaussian Blur. Set it to 2px.

    

14. Hide the Background layer...

    

    ...then select layer base and Merge Visible (Ctrl + Shift + E OR Layer >> Merge Visible) all of the visible layers together.

    

15. Duplicate layer base. You can do this by hitting Ctrl + J OR by right clicking the layer and hitting "Duplicate..." I will name the duplicate layer as copy.

    

16. Load a selection on layer copy, and then go to Filter >> Blur >> Gaussian Blur. Set it to 1px.

    

17. Set the Blending Option of layer copy to Overlay.

    

    Now we have this.

    

18. Add whatever you want to it, and it's done!