fourteen

I have seen and tried the Realistic Glass/Plastic Pill Tutorial which is awsome btw. But ive actually been looking for a way to do something similar in a Rectangle about business card size. I modified the Pill technique as i went to see if i could use that, and it wasnt too bad. But I know you guys out there could do better as im only a novice. Any pointers of info would be much appeciated.

Blinky2004

Welcome to the community fourteen, hope you enjoy your stay. [excited]

The answer to your question is relative to what exact type of "material" you're after. Glass, plastic, metal, glossy paper? etc... they all have a unique look. And the "look" of the effect is somewhat dependant on what type of environment the card will be put into as well.

But no matter which material use decide on, a couple of things will be consistent in each type -- reflections and highlights.

Use any type of photo for the reflection. Put it on a layer above your card shape. Size it to match your card, or mask out the unwanted areas. Then Blur it 2-3 pixels and either lower the opacity or set the blend mode to screen or hardlight. Try other modes too because if you're using colour, that'll effect how the blend modes work to create the look of the reflection.
You can also apply a linear gradient (on a new layer) to help with highlights.
I used a thin white outline here set to Exclusion blend mode. Just to add a bit of a border edge.

One thing is certain though... for this kind of effect, you can NOT be afraid of losing some of the detail on the card. You don't have to wash it out as much as i have here, but if your type is super bright and clean looking, it'll ruin the effect. Mine here is put above all other layers and set to Overlay.

You may also notice i've used a pixelated effect to to add a bit of texture. (FILTER>Pixelate>Mosaic)

And also very important is the fact that i did NOT use a "beveled" edge effect for depth. That wouldn't be realistic if you were viewing a card from a straight-on perspective. Only if the perspective was tilted in some way. With a straight-on view, a drop shadow is enough to create the illusion of a depth/thickness to the card.

This is just one example of what a metal or plastic card might look like. This type of effect can have an unlimited amount of 'looks' to it.

wbiss

Welcome to the forum fourteen!

Hey Mark, great explanation and example! B7 [righton]

fourteen, Mark is the 'expert' around here on all things shiny!

Chillin

Yes Welcome Fourteen!!! Post what your version looked like

mmagikman

Welcome aboard fourteen.

Please post your version of the card. We will be glad to help you "refine it".

We're all just try'n to learn.

fourteen

I have two different cards... One has a brushed metal edge which i used a tutorial from an old site and the other is a variant of the glass pill from this site... which isnt too crash hot when printed.

The empty section at the bottom normally has my phone number and business email took it off so no silly people bother me... Not including you guys.

And the Pointer graphic probably wont be used as its to retro/old for the rest of the design.

And thank you all for your welcomes... ;\

tranquil222

I'd keep the hand. It gives a nice contrast to old and new. Not conforming everything to a particular style/genre/decade etc., etc, sometimes conveys a nice message. In your case it might work for you because you have computer expertise that goes back so far, and the knowledge to make it work in the present day. Just my take

[righton] Good Luck [excited]

tranquil222

And as far as printing it, a lot of the reflections in the card 1 are totally out of gamut. Card 2 looks fine to print, but i'd print it on glossy paper. Same with card one, except i'd put an adjustment curve on it to make the brights brighter. One tip: if you plan to print these out, do it, if you can from start to finish in CMYK. It will give a more accurate representation than an RGB image. However, if you can't, then you should always have view-->proof colors checked.

Hercules

Welcome fourteen

Good looking cards guys. [righton]
And Mark the backgraund looks awsome.I like it a lot.

Blinky2004

Ya thx guys.

Fourteen... ok so this is an ACTUAL card then you're making. That's turns things around a fair bit then. I was assuming it was only for a 'screen' image. The effect on your top sample looks good to me. Perhaps just try to address the out-of-gamut issue.

One thing is... i wouldn't worry so much about creating a "fake" shiny reflective effect on the card... if it's printed on a glossy paper then it'll have those "naturally". And it'll look much better than faking it.

And if you're NOT using high gloss paper, then using a fake shiny/reflective effect will not look that good. A matte paper will simply 'soak up' most of the effect.

In that case though, it does leave you with the option to create a hightech styled bg for the card. Perhaps something blurred, like a photo, with a faint scanline llok to it...?

So what type of paper will you be using Fourteen?