How to Create a Realistic iPhone

How To Create a Realistic Water Text Effect

Introduction
In this tutorial we will be creating a realistic water text effect that is sure to catch someones eyes. This tutorial requires some basic knowledge of Photoshop and how to work in it’s environment. For …

Read the full story »

Creative Corner

A series of in depth and heavily inspiring Graphic, Web and Logo Designer and Developer interviews.

Designer Apps

A resource vault of applications that would serve any Designer or Developer well to have in their arsenal.

Freelance Hub

A storage full of tips and tricks for every freelance Designer or Developer that wants to progress their business.

Geek Things

Every once in a while we’ll post a new geeky thing that might inspire you to go through the day with a laugh or a second thought.

Website Filter

A collection of websites that is sure to bring you creative inspiration and keep you on the edge of design.

Home » Photoshop

How to Create a Realistic iPhone

Submitted by Richard Darell116,687 Views | 128 Comments

iPhone Header In this tutorial we are going to learn how to create a realistic iPhone image in Photoshop.The only necessary skills to get through this tutorial is the basic knowledge of how to use the most common tools in Photoshop. In just a few steps we are going to create a truly eye catching iPhone ready to be used in any way you want and can think of. When using this tutorial you will be able to create and showcase the colored iPhone that fits your personality before anyone else. Your imagination sets the limit for what you can add to it.

I truly hope you will find this tutorial useful and inspiring.

Enjoy!

Step 1

When you have launched Photoshop and are ready to start working create a new work area by selecting “File” -> “New…” Name the new document “Realistic iPhone” and set the work area size to: Width: 500 and Height: 500. Click “OK“. We now have our work area all set up. However, let’s set the background color to black to make the image more appealing as the iPhone is usually white or black (however you can as said use any color you want for your iPhone). Select the “Paint Bucket Tool” and make sure that the color you are using is Black (#000000). Use the paint bucket tool on the background layer making it our black background.

Step 2

We are now going to create the chrome rim of the iPhone so go ahead and create a new layer and call it “iPhone Chrome Rim“. Select the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” and create a rectangle measuring Width: 220 and Height: 410 at the center of the work area. Go to “Select” -> “Refine Edge…” and insert the following settings. Click “OK“.

Now select the “Paint Bucket Tool” again and change the color to a medium Gray (#8C8C8C). Fill the newly created feathered rectangle. We now have the shape of our iPhone but we need to hollow it out to make sure we have the chrome area all freed up for us to work with and put effects on.

We need to make sure the iPhone shape is dead center of our work area before we start messing around with it for easier work flow so go ahead and select the whole work area using the “Rectangular Marquee Tool“. After selecting the entire work area select the “Move Tool” and use the align buttons on the top of the screen to align the iPhone shape to the center of the work area. You do so by clicking “Align Vertical Centers” and “Align Horizontal Centers“. Our iPhone is now dead center of the work area.

Now select the iPhone shape and got to “Select” -> “Transform Selection…” In the input fields on top of the screen use the following settings: W: 92% and H:96%. Click the “Move Tool” to fix the selection (a window will come up saying “Apply the transformation?“, just click “Apply“.)

Now, delete the selection in the “iPhone Chrome Rim” layer giving us this:

Now we have our rim to work with. We are going to add a few effects to make it look more like a chrome rim so go ahead and right click the “iPhone Chrome Rim” layer and select “Blending Options…”

We are first going to add some bevel to the rim so go ahead and click “Bevel and Emboss” in the left menu of the “Blending Options..” left menu. After doing so add these settings:

Now continue to select the “Contour” option to the left and insert these settings:

We also need to add a “Color Overlay” to the chrome to get that realistic and natural shine of the material itself. Go ahead and click the “Color Overlay” option on the left side of the “Blending Options…” menu and insert these settings:

The color we are using is a light blue:ish color (#E9EEF0) for the natural shine.

The last effect we are going to add is a “Gradient Overlay” to mimic the shine streaks and the light reflections. Go ahead and select the “Gradient Overlay” in the left menu of the “Blending Options…” menu and insert these settings:

The color we are using for the gradient is pure white which you can set by clicking the preview of the gradient called “Gradient“. When you have the window open make sure you have the color to transparent gradient selected and make sure it starts from white by clicking the bottom rectangle color box presented underneath the gradient preview to the left.

Now we are done with the effects for our Chrome rim for our iPhone. Click “OK” to see your result. You should now have something looking like this:

Step 3

It’s time to add that shiny black touch surface that has become synonymous with the iPhone. We need to have a reflection image to use to enhance the realism of the image itself so go ahead and download this image before we start.

Select the “iPhone Chrome Rim” layer and then pick the “Magic Wand Tool” and select the inner void of the iPhone Chrome Rim.

OK, now select the “Background” layer and create a new layer above it. Call it “Touch Surface“.

With it selected and your selection still intact use the “Paint Bucket Tool” on your selection. Use pure Black (#000000) for color.

Now, with the “Touch Surface” layer still selected right click it and select “Blending Options…” Pick the “Bevel and Emboss” option in the menu to the left. Add these settings:

We need to create a little black outline of the surface to make it have the illusion of a real surface. Create another layer underneath the newly created “Touch Surface” layer name it “Touch Surface” as well. With the old “Touch Surface” layer selected go to “Layer” -> “Merge Down“. Our layer is now all fixated and we can add a few more effects to it.

With our new “Touch Surface” layer selected once again right click the layer and choose “Blending Options…” Select the “Stroke” option in the menu and add these settings:

Now we have a nice outer black line that encapsulates the touch surface giving the illusion that it’s mounted inside the chrome rim. You should now have something looking like this:

Step 4

Time to add that little touch window where all the action is happening. The illusion of a surface over the actual screen is captured by making the viewer believe the work window is underneath the black touch surface that makes up the front of the iPhone.

What we need to do is to first fixate the “Touch Surface” layer and cut a hole out in the middle of it to fit our “Touch Area” inside and underneath it. Create a new layer underneath the “Touch Surface” layer and again name it “Touch Surface“. Select the old “Touch Surface” and choose “Layer” -> “Merge Down“.

Now, with the new “Touch Surface” selected use the “Rectangular Marquee Toll” and create a rectangle right in the center of the iPhone “Touch Surface” with the following measures. Width: 180 and Height: 284. Delete the contents of your selected area.

Create a new layer underneath the “Touch Surface” and call it “Work Area“. We’re going to place a screenshot from the iPhone right in that opening so go ahead and download it and open it in Photoshop.

Copy the entire downloaded image and paste it into the “Work Area” layer and place it right in the center of the hole we just cut out from the “Touch Surface” layer.

Select the “Touch Surface” layer and right click it. Choose “Blending Options…” and from the menu click the “Drop Shadow” and add these settings:

We now have our work area in place and we are ready to go ahead and add more of the details to the iPhone itself. You should by now have something looking like this:

Step 5

It’s time to insert the all important “Home” button on our iPhone. It’s the one most important feature on the iPhone so let’s try and pay some extra attention to detail when we incorporate it.

Create a new layer above the “Touch Surface” layer for our “Home” button and call it simply “Home Button“. With the “Home Button” layer selected and at the bottom and in the horizontal center of the iPhone create a circle using the “Elliptical Marquee Tool” with the measure: Width: 35 and Height: 35.

Fill the selected circle using the “Paint Bucket Tool” with the color Black (#000000).

We now have our home button (even though we can’t see it yet) and we need to add some effects to it to make it really realistic.

With the “Home Button” layer selected right click it and choose “Blending Options…” In the menu to the left click “Bevel and Emboss” and insert the following settings:

We need to accentuate the button so it’s easy to see where the edges are so we need to add a little outline. Select the “Stroke” option in the menu and add the following settings:

Our button is done for now but we are still missing the little icon square that symbolizes home on the iPhone.

Create a new layer above the “Home Button” layer and call it “Home Icon“. Choose the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” and create a square measuring: Width: 13 and Height: 13.

Choose “Select” -> “Modify” -> “Smooth…” and set it to “1” and click “OK“.

Choose “Select” -> “Modify” -> “Feather…” and set it to “0,4” and click “OK“.

Now when we have our smooth, feathered selection we can go ahead and fill it with pure White color (#FFFFFF) using the “Paint Bucket Tool“.

With the selection intact choose “Select” -> “Transform Selection” and set the measures at the top of the screen to: Width: 80% and Height: 80%. Click the “Move Tool” and click “Apply“. With the intact selection delete the content inside it leaving only a round edged square icon. Position the square icon in the middle of the home button.

We now have our home button all completed and we can move on to the next detail on the iPhone. You should now have something looking like this:

Step 6

Let’s create the speaker at the top of the iPhone next. We want it to look as realistic as possible and for every little extra effort we put in to the details of this iPhone the more realistic it will look.

Create a new layer above the “Home Icon” layer and call it “Speaker Hollow“. Pick the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” and create a rectangle at the to top center of the iPhone using the measure: Width: 34 and Height: 6.

Choose “Select” -> “Modify” -> “Smooth…” and insert “1” and click “OK“.

Choose “Select” -> “Modify” -> “Border…” and insert “2” and click “OK“.

Choose “Select” -> “Modify” -> “Feather…” and insert “0,4” and click “OK“.

Now when we have our little feathered square ready go ahead and pick the “Paint Bucket Tool“. Select the color Black “#000000” and fill the selection.

Let’s add some effects to our newly created feathered rectangle. With the “Speaker Hollow” layer selected right click it and choose “Blending Options…” In the menu click “Bevel and Emboss” and insert these settings:

Now we need to add that little speaker “Net” that is present in the speaker hollow on the iPhone. We can get that from the picture we used for the “Work Area“, the iPhone Screenshot.

Load the iPhone Screenshot again if you have closed it already. Now, copy a piece of the “Net” from the iPhone “Dock” panel. Pick the upper top of the panel to get the a great piece. Make the piece: Width: 32 and Height: 6.

Create a new layer underneath the “Speaker Hollow” layer and name it “Speaker Net“. Paste the piece of net into our new layer and place the piece of the “Net” directly underneath the “Speaker Hollow“.

Let’s add some shadowing to our hollow to make it even more realistic. With the “Speaker Net” layer still selected set the layer’s “Opacity” to “50%“. This should make our “Net” appear a little more indent.

We now have our speaker all mad and we are ready to move along to the next little detail. You should now have something looking like this:

Step 7

We still have a few more details we need to take care of before we add the finishing touches to our new iPhone. There are three buttons on the left side of the iPhone and one on top of the iPhone. We are going to start with the “Volume” buttons on the left side of the iPhone.

Create a new layer underneath the “iPhone Chrome Rim” and name it “Left Buttons“. At the side of the iPhone, using the “Rectangular Marquee Tool“, create a rectangle using these measures: Width: 5 and Height: 30.

Using the “Paint Bucket Tool” fill the rectangle with a light Gray color (#8C8C8C).

Pick the “Elliptical Marquee Tool” and create a circle with the measures: Width: 25 and Height: 100. Position the circle like this and delete the contents of it:

Now we have the upper volume button done but we need the bottom one as well so go ahead and select the upper button using the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” and copy and paste it into a new layer.

Select the new layer that is named “Layer 1” and choose “Edit” -> “Transform” -> “Flip Vertical“.

Now move the new layer (“Layer 1“) and align it just underneath the upper button. Now choose “Layer” -> “Merge Down“. We now have our volume buttons all created. We now need to add some effects to it to make it look realistic.

Now pick the “Move Tool” and move the buttons four (4) pixels underneath the side of the Chrome Rim.

Go ahead and right click the “iPhone Chrome Rim” layer and choose “Copy Layer Style“. Select the “Left Buttons” layer and right click it and choose “Paste Layer Style“. There, now our buttons are made out of chrome as well.

Let’s add the “Vibrate/Mute” button before we take a look at what we have and move along to the top button.

Create a new layer above the “Left Buttons” layer. Pick the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” again and create a rectangle on the left side and above the volume buttons measuring: Width: 5 and Height: 10.

Fill it just like with the other buttons using the same Gray color we used for the “Volume” buttons.

When finished position it about ten (10) pixels above the top volume button. and again four (4) pixels in to the iPhone chrome rim.

With the new layer selected choose “Layer” -> “Merge Down” to fuse it with the “Left Buttons” layer.

Our left buttons are done and you should now have something looking like this:

Step 8

Now we only have the upper “Sleep” button left to create before we add the finishing touches to our iPhone.

Create another new layer above the “Left Buttons” layer and call it “Top Button“. With the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” create a rectangle on top of the iPhone to the right with the following measures: Width: 35 and Height: 6.

Again fill it, with the Gray color we used for all the other buttons, using the “Paint Bucket Tool“.

Position it five (5) pixels in under the chrome rim and about twenty (20) pixels in from the right edge of the iPhone.

With the layer still selected choose “Layer” -> “Merge Down“.

Select the “Left Buttons” layer and right click it. Choose “Copy Layer Style” then select the “Top Button” and right click it and choose “Paste Layer Style“.

We need to do some modifications to it in order to make it look good as the settings are meant for the side buttons.

Right click the “Top Button” layer and choose “Blending Options…” Click the “Bevel and Emboss” option in the menu. Now, change the angle of the shading to the following settings:

There, we are now all done with the details for the iPhone and all that’s left to do is to add the finishing touches to it. You should now have something looking like this:

Step 9

All we have to do now is to add a little shine to the thing and we are all done with our new iPhone.

Create a new layer on top of everything and call it “iPhone Shine“. Select the “iPhone Chrome Rim” layer and pick the “Magic Wand Tool“. Select the insides of the chrome rim and then pick the “Elliptical Marquee Tool“. With the “Elliptical Marquee Tool” hold down the “Alt” tool and start selecting as far as you can get at the bottom of the screen approximately 4/6th from the left edge of the iPhone.

Drag till you are about 4/6th from the top of the iPhone and drag it out to the right. You might have to do it a couple of times in order to achieve the right feel to it.

When you feel are done you should have a selection looking something like this:

Now, let’s add some shine shall we? Click the “Paint Bucket Tool” and hold down the button until you get to choose the “Gradient Tool“. With the tool selected make sure you have the “Color to Transparent” gradient in the list on top of the screen selected along with pure White (#000000) color.

Start using the “Gradient Tool” approximately about “50” pixels out on top of the selection and drag down (still holding down the mouse button) to approximately “100” pixels out under the selection and now release the mouse button.

After you’ve done adding the “Gradient Tool” to the selection you should have something looking like this:

The shine is still a little bit too overtaking so we need to quiet it down a bit for the really realistic look before we add THE final touch.

So, with the “iPhone Shine” layer selected change it’s “Opacity” to “30%“.

Step 10

It is finally time for the final step of this tutorial. It’s time to add some reflections to the iPhone for the ultra realistic effect.

Load your downloaded “Reflection Image” image and copy the entire image and paste it into a new layer underneath the “iPhone Shine” layer. Call the new layer “iPhone Reflection“. Position it where you think the image’s details would benefit the iPhone reflection.

Select the “iPhone Chrome Rim” layer and again, using the “Magic Wand Tool“, select the inside of the chrome rim.

Again select the “iPhone Reflection” layer (still having the “inside chrome rim” selection intact) and copy the content of the selection.

In a new layer (call it “iPhone Reflection” as well) paste the copied piece of the reflection image.

With the “iPhone Reflection” layer selected we need to change the “Opacity” of it to make it believable. Change it’s “Opacity” to “8%” which should give the iPhone a nice and realistic reflection of the surrounding room.

There! Our iPhone is finally finished and the result should look something like this with either Black or White background:

Note that I have adjusted the “Speaker Hollow” for a more vertical centration at the top of the iPhone. I had missed it during the creation and saw it now when I created the finishing images. Should be quite easy for you to do as well using the “Move Tool“.

Round Up

Well, that’s that ladies and gentlemen. The result is presented and the tutorial has come ti it’s end. I hope you all have enjoyed the this tutorial as much as I have enjoyed creating it. I find it soothing and inspirational working with graphics and I hope that it shows in the dedication of this tutorial.

As you can see there are no limits to what you can do with Photoshop and the trick is really only to set your mind to it and open up your imagination. As you can imagine you can now add any color to your iPhone and still have it looking quite realistic. Why not create a pink one and send the image to your friend as a joke saying you have the only pink one ever made. If you do, please send me the reaction and the response. I would very much like to hear it.

More tutorials will come shortly. Stay tuned!

Thank you!

If you need 1Y0-A17 training to strengthen your expertise so that you can pass your exam on time then testking 70-290 online training is certainly useful for you. Just download the 70-662 dumps, study it and pass your exam guaranteed.

128 Comments »

9swords said:

Nice tut! That reflection is great.

How to Create a Realistic iPhone

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Round Up

128 Comments »

Leave a comment!

Friends & Partners

Random Posts

Latest Video Post

Recent Posts

Most Commented

Most Popular