Overview :

Open a new document of width = 800 px and height = 600 px and continue with the following.

STEP 1 > Creating Background :

The first layer which is available by default is the Background, but is not a layer and can not be used to add changes as it is a locked item. Hence above the Background layer, Create a new layer by selecting the 'New layer' icon in layers section. Name this layer = Background. Now set the fore ground color in the color box under tools as = # 00313d ( Dark Blue shade ) and set the Background color as = # 014759 (Blue shade).For the Background layer, use shortcut = ALT + Backspace to fill it with foreground layer. Next, to add the soft spots to the background, apply Filter effect. Go to FILTER menu > FILTER GALLERY > ARTISTIC > FILM GRAIN to set the Grain value to = 4, Highlight area to = zero and Intensity is set to = 10. The result of the effect with change in color can not be visible clearly as both the foreground color and the background color are almost the same shade but the grain texture is effective.

STEP 2 > Adding Border :

Set the foreground color in the color swatch under Tools menu as = # 28b7c4 ( Light Blue shade ). For drawing the border for the Background, use Rectangular Marquee tool and make a rectangular selection in such a way that you leave some margin on all four sides and select the entire work area of the document. Use SELECT menu > REVERSE option and you will notice that the inverse of what was previously selected is selected now. That is, previously you select the whole document with some margin, and reverse option selects the distance between the selection rectangle and the border of the document. Next, create a new layer and name it as = BORDER, and keeping the selection as it is, use the shortcut, ALT + Backspace to fill the Border layer. The result is that, the selection is filled with Blue color in the new layer created = BORDER. Another method of filling the selection is while keeping the selection, go to EDIT menu > FILL and under ' Use ' option, select > Foreground color to fill with the blue color set as foreground color to fill the selection with color (or any pattern if desired). Now that the border is created, right click the Border layer and select the option > Blending options which is also available at > Layer menu > Layer styles > Blending options. Use the Bevel and Emboss option to get the required 3D result.

Bevel and Emboss settings > The bevel used is = ' INNER BEVEL ' and technique used is = Smooth and size is= 5 px with Depth= 900 ( Nine hundred and not ninety ) percentage and direction is set to = UP and soften level is zero px. The contour used is = ' Linear contour ' and Highlight color is white and mode is = Screen and shadow color is Black and mode is = multiply and both set at 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree.

STEP 3 > Creating a Smiley Face common to all Smiley faces :

The smiley face that we are going to create is common for all the Nine smiley faces. Hence use this for reference and do not alter it.Use the Ellipse Shape Tool under the tools window and draw a circle. Just click and drag to get an ellipse. To get a perfect circle, click on the document, and Hold the SHIFT key in the keyboard and then drag. Once the circle is drawn, the shape is automatically created as a shape layer. Name this shape layer as > FACE. The benefit of this is that, you can change the color of the shape any time after drawing the shape. Click the color icon of the shape layer twice ( Double-click ) and when the color swatches appear, set the color value to # ffcc00 ( Yellow color shade ). Right click the Face layer and select the Blending options to adjust Bevel setting.

Bevel and Emboss settings > The bevel used is = ' PILLOW EMBOSS ' and technique used is = Smooth with Depth set to = 1000 percentage ( Thousand and not hundred percentage ) and direction is set to = UP. The size of the Bevel is 21 px and soften level is 7 px. The contour used is = ' Linear contour ' and Highlight color is white with highlight opacity set as = 90 % and mode is = Screen. The shadow color is Black and mode is = multiply and shadow opacity is set at 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree.

STEP 4 > Some common Bevel adjustments used :

We are going to use a lot of Bevel adjustments for various parts contributing to a Smiley button. Repeating the same setting for every step would be pointless. Hence, i shall include the list of Bevel settings used with a reference letter.
Bevel and Emboss Adjustments :

Category ( A ) The bevel used is = ' EMBOSS ' and technique used is = Smooth with Depth set to = 100 percentage ( Hundred percentage ) and direction is set to = UP. The size of the Bevel is 20 px and soften level is 15 px. The contour used is = ' Linear contour ' and Highlight color is white with highlight opacity set as = 75 % and mode is = Screen. The shadow color is Black and mode is = Multiply and shadow opacity is set as 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree.

Category ( B ) The bevel used is = ' EMBOSS ' and technique used is = Smooth with Depth set to = 90 percentage and direction is set to = UP. The size of the Bevel is 16 px and soften level is 2 px. The contour used is = ' Linear contour ' and Highlight color is white with highlight opacity set as = 75 % and mode is = Screen. The shadow color is Black and mode is = Multiply and shadow opacity is set as 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree.

STEP 5 > Smiley 1 - Happy :

• Make a copy of the smiley face created in Step 3 by first selecting the shape and then holding on to the ALT key, click the shape and drag to make a single copy. Similarly, you can make many copies for all the smiley faces later. Name this layer as F1 (denoting the face of first smiley being created).

• Next, to draw the mouth, use the Pen tool and draw a straight line by clicking on the document and again clicking at an horizontal distance. Then click at a vertical distance and without removing your finger drag a little to get a curve and click the first anchor point again to get a closed shape. Name this shape layer as = Mouth. The color of the shape is White. This can be adjusted by clicking twice the color icon of the shape layer.

• To get the black outline, right click the Mouth layer and select Blending options and set the following Stroke adjustment. Stroke setting > The stroke size is 7 px. The stroke is positioned Outside with blend mode set to = Normal. The stroke opacity is 100 % and the fill type for stroke is Color with Black being the color used. Another setting used for giving a 3D highlight is Bevel and Emboss. The Bevel used belongs to the ( A ) category mentioned above with stroke size 20 px and soften level set to 15 px. To separate the mouth area with teeth, use the Line tool and draw two straight lines in vertical direction. The line colors are Black. Place them over the mouth with a decent distance between both the lines.
  

• We can use the Line shape tool to draw the eyes also. Using the Pen tool would be an elongated process as the shape drawn using a pen tool needs to be a closed figure. Using the line tool, draw a diagonal line with weight set as 3 px and create a duplicate copy using copy - paste option or other duplication methods and use Free Transform tool and right click and select the sub option called > Flip Horizontal to change the angle of the diagonal line. Place bothe the lines together to form an inverted ' V ' alphabet. Select both the lines and right click the layers and select > Merge Layers option to form them as a single shape.

• Make a copy of the merged layer and place it at the other end of the face to contribute to the other eye shape. You can name these layers as > Eye 1 and Eye 2. Select eye 1 layer and set the Blending option > Bevel. The bevel adjustment to this belongs to the ( B ) category listed above. Right click the eye 1 layer after the bevel is applied and select the feature > Copy Layer Style. Now, right click the eye 2 layer and select > Paste Layer style option to apply the same bevel to the other piece of eye instead of adjusting them individually.

STEP 6 > Smiley 2 - Smile :

• The mouth is a combination of three parts that is two diagonal lines and an arc drawn using a pen tool. Use the line tool,  to draw a diagonal line of weight 3 px and create a duplicate copy using copy - paste option and use Free Transform tool ( CTRL + T) and right click and select the sub option called > Flip Horizontal to change the angle of the diagonal line of the duplicate line.

• Using the Pen tool click on an area and you will notice an anchor point. Click below the point and drag to get a curve and click again near the first anchor point. Totally you will have three anchor points. You can use the direct selection tool to alter the curve. Create a new layer and name it = Arc. Once the path is drawn, while the Pen tool is still selected, right click and select the option = Stroke path. Before using this option, set the foreground color as Black and adjust the necessary brush size. Once the stroke path is selected, choose the style = Brush. The path is changed to Black color in the layer called = Arc.
  

• Position the arc and the two diagonal lines creates above to form a mouth form. Select all the three shapes ( CTRL + select layers to select multiple layers ) and merge them by right click and selecting the option = Merge layers. Name this layer as = Mouth. The Bevel used for this layer in Blending options belongs to the ( B ) category.

• For the eyes, Draw small oval shape using the Ellipse shape tool. The oval shape should be in vertical order. The color of the shape is white. Make a duplicate of this oval shape using shortcut, CTRL + J and position it on the other end of the face. The Bevel and Emboss used for this pair of eyes belong to the ( A ) category.

• To draw the pupils, use the same ellipse shape tool to draw oval shapes in vertical form. These shapes are smaller and thinner than the eyes shapes created above. Make another copy and position both the pupils over the white colored eyes. The Bevel for these belong to the ( B ) category. You can simply use the Copy Layer style feature from an existing layer where the same Bevel setting is applied and Paste it in these layers using, Paste layer style option in layers window.

STEP 7 > Smiley 3 - Grumpy :

• Make a duplicate of the Face layer and then use the Rounded Rectangle shape tool, to draw a rectangle with corners that are in the form of curves instead of sharp edges. the color of the shape is White. For applying the black stroke, right click the rectangle shape layer and select Blending options and set the stroke size to 7 px, positioned Outside with blend mode set to = Normal. The stroke opacity is 100 % and the fill for stroke is Black color. The bevel used belongs to the ( A ) category mentioned above with stroke size 20 px and soften level set to 15 px.
  

• Use the Line shape tool to draw the eyes also. Either draw a diagonal line or draw a line and then rotate it using Transform tool. Create a duplicate copy using ALT + click the shape and drag method and for the duplicate, use Free Transform tool and right click and select the sub option called > Flip Horizontal to change the angle of the diagonal line. Position both the lines on each end of the face. The weight of line is 3 px.The Bevel used for both, belongs to ( B ) category.

STEP 8 > Smiley 4 - Sleepy :

• After you have created a duplicate copy of the yellow colored face, perform the same steps for creating the white colored eyes and the black pupils as mentioned in Step 6. Use the Ellipse tool for both the eyes and pupils and the color for eyes is white and pupils are black. The bevel for eyes belongs to category = A and the bevel for pupils belong to category = B.
  

• Over the eyes, let us draw the eye lids. The eye lids have to be large in size, that is it has to be at the least half the size of the eyes. The reason for this is that the smiley shows sleepy effect, so his eyes are only half opened. If he is active, like in other smiley faces, we need not draw the eye lids as they are very thin and are not visible properly. For the eye lids, we require a semi circle. For this, let us draw an oval shape with Ellipse Marquee Tool and NOT the ellipse shape tool. If we use the shape tool, we will not be able to cut the oval shape to half. Hence, use ellipse marquee tool and after drawing an ellipse selection, fill the selection with # 6c3e3e ( Brown color ) using the shortcut, ALT + Backspace ( First set this color for foreground in color swatch and then fill the shape ). Once you have a filled oval shape, use the rectangular marquee tool and select half the portion of the whole oval shape and press the DELETE key. You will have a semi circle as a result. Place this over the eye. Make a duplicate copy of the semi circle and place it over the other eye. The bevel used for these eye lids belong to category (A).

• Draw a rectangle with the simple Rectangle shape tool. This shape forms the mouth. The size of the shape is very small because we have to create a sleepy effect. If the mouth was big, it would look like he is smiling and active. Since he has to look so lazy, the mouth should be smaller. Use the ellipse tool and draw a very small oval shape and place it over the mouth at the right side corner. This is just to add a sleepy drooling effect. The color for this tiny ellipse is # 6c3e3e ( Brown color ).

STEP 9 > Smiley 5 - Cry :

• Make a duplicate copy of the face. For this, we need to fill a lot of extras on the face area. Hence use the Transform tool to increase the size a little if necessary. Use the ellipse tool and draw thin oval shapes to form the eyes. The Bevel belonging to the category, ( B ) is used. Position the pair of eyes closer to each other and not far apart like in other smiley faces because, due to the crying expression the eyes turn smaller than usual and also closer to each other.

• For the mouth, use the Pen tool and draw a straight line by clicking on the work area and again clicking at an horizontal distance. Then click at a vertical distance at the top and without removing your finger drag a little to get a curve and click the first anchor point again to get a closed shape. The color of the shape is # d30e0e ( Red color shade ). This can be adjusted by clicking the color icon of the shape layer. To apply stroke, right click the shape layer and under Blending options, set the stroke size to 7 px and color used is Black, positioned outside. The bevel used for the mouth shape belongs to category ( A ).
  

• For creating the tear drops, we will not use sny shape tools. Let us draw them with free hand with the Brush tool. Set the Brush size to 3 px. Set the foreground color in the tools window as = # 13badb ( Light Blue color ). When you select the Brush tool, the Brush presets options become visible. Go to Brush Presets, and tick the option = SHAPE DYNAMICS. Under the Control type, select the style = FADE and set the steps for fade value as = 25. Now create a new layer and click on an area and swipe ( slight drag ) once. You will have a brush stroke which looks like tear drop. This drop might not look strong yet. Once you apply bevel, it would look perfect. Apply the following Bevel adjustment to it. Once the Bevel is added, make many copies of the layer and rotate them using Transform tool and position them accordingly to get a crying expression.

Bevel and Emboss setting for Tear Drop : The bevel used is = ' OUTER BEVEL ' and technique used is = Smooth with Depth set to = 181 percentage and direction is set to = UP. The size of the Bevel is 4 px and soften level is 1 px. The contour used is = ' Linear contour ' and Highlight color is white with highlight opacity set as = 75 % and mode is = Screen. The shadow color is Black and mode is = Multiply and shadow opacity is set as 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree.

STEP 10 > Smiley 6 - Naughty :

• Once you have made a duplicate copy of the face, start with the eyes. There is one oval shaped eye which is colored Black and drawn using ellipse shape tool. The Bevel for the oval shaped eye belongs to the ( B ) category. For the eye that gives the Wink expression, use the brush tool. Set the brush size to 5 px. The foreground color in color swatch should be set to black. Select the brush tool and under the Brush preset > Shape dynamics, set the control type to = Fade and set the fade value to 45. The greater the fade value, the longer will be the fade stroke. With the values set, click and drag to get the desired result. Bevel and Emboss setting for Winking Eye : The bevel used is = ' EMBOSS ' and technique used is = Smooth with Depth set to = 90 percentage and direction is set to = UP. The size of the Bevel is 7 px and soften level is 2 px. All other values such as the contour, bevel angle highlight and shadow values are the same as default.

• For the mouth, use the Pen tool to draw an arc. You can use the Convert Point tool to alter the curve. Once the path is drawn, set the foreground color as Black and adjust the brush size to 3 px. While the Pen tool is still selected, right click and select the option = Stroke path and choose the style = Brush. The path is changed to Black color to the size adjusted in the brush box and the color set in the color swatch as foreground color. Use the Line tool to draw straight lines at a 45 degree angle. Rotate them and position them at each end of the arc created using pen tool. Select all the three shapes and merge them by right click and selecting the option = Merge layers. The Bevel used for this layer in Blending options belongs to the ( B ) category.
  

• For the tongue, use the pen tool and draw a random curved shape. You can always use the Direct selection tool to select particular anchor points and drag them by selecting those points. Doing this would change the shapes of curves. The color for the closed shape is # c60909 ( Red shade ). Position this tongue shape beneath the arc representing the mouth. Bevel and Emboss setting for Tongue : The bevel used is = ' EMBOSS ' and technique used is = Smooth with Depth set to = 90 percentage and direction is set to = UP. The size of the Bevel is 5 px and soften level is 2 px. All other values are same. Use the brush tool, and by adjusting the brush preset > shape dynamics to Fade style with fade value as 15, click and drag to get a small brush stroke. Position this over the tongue. The color of the brush stroke is Black.

STEP 11 > Smiley 7 - Surprised :

Make a copy of the face shape. Draw the eyes using ellipse shape in black color and apply bevel belonging to category ( B ). Draw an oval shape using Ellipse tool and draw the mouth in vertical position which almost looks like a circle. The shape color is # de3232 ( Red color shade ). The stroke set to it under Bevel options is of size 5 px and color is black. The bevel for the mouth is of category ( A ). Use the transform tool to rotate the mouth, as it should not be perfectly straight. For the eyebrows, use the Pen tool to draw a random shape. It most be elongated shape that looks like a line but with pointed edges. Direct selection tool can be used to modify the shape after drawing with pen tool. The shape color is black and the bevel used belongs to the ( A ) category.

STEP 12 > Smiley 8 - Lovely :

• Make a duplicate copy of the face layer. Use the pen tool to draw the mouth OR draw a full circle with ellipse selection tool and fill color using ALT + backspace and then select half of the oval shape and delete the selection. The color of the mouth is # 3ce0a3 ( Green shade ). The stroke option under Blending options has the stroke size set as 7 px, with stroke positioned outside with normal blend mode and the fill color used is = # 781d1d ( Brown color shade ).

• Use the Custom Shape tool to draw the eyes. Select th shape style called = Heart Card. The color of the shapes is Red ( # c30e0e ). The bevel for the eyes under the Blending options is as following. Bevel and Emboss setting : The bevel used is = ' INNER BEVEL ' and technique used is = Smooth with Depth set to = 100 percentage and direction is set to = UP. The size of the Bevel is 5 px and soften level is zero px. The contour used is = ' Linear contour ' and Highlight color is white with highlight opacity set as = 75 % and mode is = Screen. The shadow color is Black and mode is = Multiply and shadow opacity is set as 75%. The bevel is placed at an angle of 120 degree. Rotate the eyes using transform tool in such a way their angles are opposite to each other.

STEP 13 > Smiley 9 - Pirate :

• Once a duplicate of the shape is created, start with the eye. Use an ellipse shape tool and draw an eye with black color. Category ( B ) bevel is applied to the eye shape. For the Pirate eye patch, use the Pen tool and draw an arc shaped path. Set the foreground color as Black in color swatch. Set the brush size to 5 px. Create a new layer and while the pen tool is selected, right click and select Stroke path option and set the stroke style as = Brush. The path is stroked with black brush.

• Use an ellipse marquee tool and draw an oval shape and select the 'Subtract' as the sub option under marquee tools and select the top half of the oval shape. As a result, the top half is removed / subtracted and only the bottom half selection remains. Leaving the foreground color as black, create a new layer and use the short cut, ALT + backspace to fill the semi circle selection with foreground color black. Position this piece over the arc created by pen tool. The bevel used is = ' EMBOSS ' and technique used is = Smooth with Depth set to = 90 percentage and direction is set to = UP. The size of the Bevel is 9 px and soften level is 15 px. All other values are left to their default values.
  

• To draw the mouth, use the Rectangle shape tool and draw a rectangle. Using the Direct selection tool, select only the bottom side of the rectangle shape. The two anchor points of the bottom side become visible. Select the anchor point present at the right and drag towards the right. Similarly, select the anchor point which is present at the left and further drag towards the left. You will have the desired polygonal shape. The shape color is white. Set the stroke size under Blending options as = 7 px and stroke color is set as Black. The bevel for this is of category ( A ).

• To divide the mouth into parts that form the teeth, draw lines using the line tool. The weights of the lines is only 1 px.If the line is too thick, the teeth would not be visible properly. Draw three vertical lines and a horizontal line. Place the three vertical lines at equal spacing inside the mouth (over the mouth layer) Place the horizontal line in the middle of all the vertical lines. Bevel and Emboss is NOT applied to the lines.
  

• Written by Anusha.M.
• In category Animation & 3d Design.
• 14 years ago.

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