Today I will show you how to make one of those buttons that are found throughout the Apple website.
Like this:

P R E P A R A T I O NFirst of all, download that image ^^ and open it in Photoshop.You should now have this:

ALWAYS use guides to help you center objects.View>New Guide...Press CTRL+T and move the image so it is centered. With the Move Tool (V) selected, press the UP DIRECTIONAL key TWICE
(You can skip this, it's my mistake    )
Now you should see this:
V E C T O R I Z I N G / G R O U P I N GDraw a rounded rectangle the size of the main image with the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) (Press ALT+Click on the Rectangle Tool to switch to this tool) using these settings:

You should get something similar to this:

Now with the Elipse Tool (Press ALT+Click on the Rounded Rectangle Tool to switch to this tool) draw a circle like the following:

(do not worry, it does not have to be exact )
Next, with the Pen Tool (P) , create a triangle like the one shown:

(by holding down SHIFT while making the points, you can create straight lines.)
work around moving it to a good location. Of course, around the circles center.
What you have now created are vectors, meaning that you can resize them and no image quality will be lost.
This is a good of creating graphics since you never know when you might want to make things bigger.
Select all these layers by CTRL+Clicking on the three shapes.
Press CTRL+G to group them.
you should get something like this in your layers window:

Groups are great ways of organizing your layers. You can easily access layers that may need modification without having to waste time looking for it. You can put groups IN groups. Remember, it's all about working smart
you can close each group or even make it invisible by clicking on the eye icon |
Select all three layers again, and duplicate them.With layers selected, right click on which ever you please.Select Duplicate Layers...Click OK.Now three additional layers will appear, named:
Shape 1 copy, Shape 2 copy, Shape 3 copy
While layers are still selected, drag them above the group. I believe you might now how to do this.
Click on the arrow on Group 1. You should see the following:

This group is now collapsed, to save space.
Now, as I noted above, click on the eye on Group 1. The layers are now hidden, since we won't need them anymore.A P P L Y I N G - B L E N D I N G - O P T I O N SThis is the easiest part of the tutorial. We will go layer by layer, and I will give you the blending options.
First of all, Rename the layers for more distinction.Shape 1 copy = BodyShape 2 copy = CircleShape 3 copy = ArrowRight click on the Body layer and select Blending Options...
(It might seem like it doesn't make a difference)Click OKRight click on the Circle layer and select Blending Options...Click OK
Right click on the Arrow layer and select Blending Options...The arrow should be white.
Next, with the Text tool , write whatever you please under the following settings:

Apply the following settings in the Character window (Window>Character):

Now center the Text in the button, to the left side like the one at the beginning of this tutorial.
With that done, Right click on the layer with the text, and select Blending Options...And there you have it
Here is what i got:

/* Myriad Pro might not be included in your system. But there are ways to find it online for download. */

/* Please notify me if I have made a mistake and show your outcome for others to see */

-stevenepic

Thanks a lot for this tutorial! The result as well as the tutorial itself are high quality work. I'll surely try this tutorial when I got time, hopefully this weekend!

Nice tut. !

Only what i don't know is why you have to make it so dificult ? With all the vectors and stuff..
You can do it much easier than what you do...?¿!

But its nice it looks prof.

This makes the extra work often worth it.

Vectorizing is a great way to work on graphics from scratch. You might think it is harder, but it will help you in the future. As I stated above, it's about working smart.

I have got to try this one!  Very nice tutorial.  Very well written.

Will post results

Done! It was good to follow and well explained. The only thing which caused some trouble was the Inner Shadow of the text. You didn't put the color of the shadow in the picture. I think the color has the code 'dedede'. Also, how do you make the text size 12.67 pt? Mine just wants to be 12 or 13. Well, my result is here:

Apply_style_button_trimmed.png

I just put in my name. I'm not happy with the aliasing on the rectangle shape, perhaps I can fix it later.

you can smooth out the aliasing with a little inner glow if needed i will fix these issues when i get home.

PS. This tutorial took me about 3 days, so correct me when you find a mistake

-stevenepic

any more results? give it a try

You haven't added the part about the anti aliasing with the inner glow right? I'd like to try this tutorial again when you have added that.

Thanks

I guess that's because you didn't disappear the unused layers

In my opinion, for this type of tutorial, vectors were not necessary. Also, you didn't specify what Resolution is the documents. When working with vectors, you should always use no less than 300 DPI.

i dont follow most of the "rules" of art
plus, i know some of the members of this forum might not be proffessionals, so this would be like a little push on the bike. maybe the training wheels, for future vectorizing.

+GRUZZ
Gandof is right, you might have not dissappeared the vectors/starting layers