Smoothe Chrome Styling Effect

We'll start off with a shape with which we are going to apply our chrome texture. For our lesson today, I'll choose to make a chromed out version Photoshop's Flubber shape. (You could use anything, even on text.) Let's go ahead and fill that with a nice grey, #c0c0c0. I went ahead and gave it a nice little drop shadow as well.



Now, we add ze Stroke to the Chrome Flubber. Leave it with the default with of 3px, but change the Fill Type to Gradient, and choose a nice white to grey to white radial gradient. Or, you can copy my settings, ya lazy bastard.



Next, we add a Gradient Overlay with the same gradient we used for the stroke, except keep it linear. You shouldn't need the reference, but here are the settings for the overlay.



Now comes the tricky part. Choose the Bevel and Emboss blending option, and check Contour below it as well. Go back to the Bevel and Emboss settings, and set the Highlight and Shadow Modes to Screen, 25% Opacity, and #FFFFFF. Make your Gloss Contour lines similar to what I have on my bevel, and go to town with the depth and size sliders to find your desired chrome effect.

Polished Wood Background Texture

In today's tutorial I will show you how to create an authentic "Polished Wood" background / texture in Adobe Photoshop. This technique is perfect when you're doing wood paneling for cabinetry and furniture, as well as walls for houses.

Make a new image, I chose 600x200, but use whatever you please. Set your foreground color to #bb9966 and your background color to #885533. Fill the layer with your foreground color.



Select Filter » Render » Fibers and set the variance to 16.0 and the strength to 42.0. Render the fibers.



Now to add a varnished look to the wood texture. Style your layer with a Gradient Overlay, using the following options: Soft Light Blend Mode, 45% Opacity, Default Black to White Gradient (Reversed), Reflected Style.