Creating Blended Backgrounds

• 1). Launch Photoshop and press “Ctrl-N” to open the New document window. Type “800” in the Width field and “600” in the Height field, using “Pixels” as the unit of measurement. Type “72” in the Resolution field. Select “RGB Color” and “32-bit” as the Color Mode and select “Transparent” as the Background Contents.
  
  
• 2). Click the “Foreground Color” swatch in the Toolbox, type “0066CC” in the “#” field of the color picker; then click “OK.” Select the “Paint Bucket Tool” from the Toolbox and click the canvas. The background becomes blue.
  
  
• 3). Click the “Foreground Color” swatch again and change the color to “#0083D7” in the Color Picker, which is a lighter blue.
  
  
• 4). Select “New Fill Layer” from the Layer menu and click “Gradient.” Click “OK.” The Gradient Fill window opens. Use the default gradient where the color fades to a transparency in a Linear Style. Type “-90” in the Angle field and select “Align with Layer” option. Click “OK.” The lighter blue is blended into the darker blue of the background.
  
  

Icons and Objects

• 1). Click the “New Layer” button at the bottom of the Layers Panel. Press “F7” to make the Layers Panel visible if you can’t see it.
  
  
• 2). Draw icons and objects any size you like. Icons in Windows XP are drawn in sizes of 48, 32, 24, or 16 pixels square.
  
  
• 3). Use Windows XP colors for icons. Blues include #333366, #003399, #0066CC, and #0083D7. Additional colors include #996600 (yellow-orange), #CC9900 (gold), #FFFF00 (yellow) and #990000 (red). You can find more colors on the Windows MSDN: Icon Design Overview resource listed below.
  
  
• 4). Add text as desired by clicking the “Text Tool” in the Toolbar. Select “Tahoma” in the Options Bar or the Character Panel to replicate the default Windows XP fonts.
  
  
• 5). Select “Transformation” from the Edit menu and click “Skew.” Type “-12” in the “V” text box located in the options bar.
  
  
• 6). Select “Layer Style” from the Layer menu and click “Drop Shadow.” Select “Normal” from the Blend Mode menu and click the color swatch to make it black. Type “135” in the Angle field, “2” in the Distance field, “0” in the Spread field, “2” in the Size field and “0” in the Noise field. Click “OK.”
  
  
• 7). Adjust the Levels to create an XP “hot” appearance. Select “Adjustments” from the Image menu, and then click “Levels.” Three input levels are specified. Click the second input field, type “0.75” and click “OK.”