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Lets face it - big chunky metallic keypads are in the past!   If sci-fi movies are to be believed, the future lies with semi-transparent keypads, possibly with the added luxury of funky backlighting, so you can use them in the dark just as well as a fully lit environment.  This tutorial details a very simple yet effective method for creating semi-transparent keypads of any size, and even gives numerous ideas for further developments of more complex designs.
 

Step 1:  Create a new document with a neutral-greyish background layer. I like to work with lots of space, so I've gone for a 500x500 pixel canvas. Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) on top of the background, select it, and rename it "Button". Take the Rectangular Marquee Tool and create a rectangular selection. This will determine your button's aspect ratio, so get it right - I decided upon a 96 x 74 pixel selection. Now we need to remove the sharp edges.  With the marquee selection still active, choose Select > Modify > Smooth from the main Photoshop menu and choose a value that relates directly to the rounding of the edges.  In my example I used a value of 5px - use a higher value if you want to make the corners more rounded, and vice versa,  Press OK.  You should now be left with a rounded selection much like my example to the left.  If not, go back and try out some alternate values.  If everything looks fine, however, Edit > Fill this selection with white (or any other color - it can be altered later) and deselect.

Step 2: Now that you have one button, you should create the entire keypad.  No need to repeat step 1 - just copy the Button layer a few times (Ctrl+J; layer via copy) and line them up next to and under each other so you get a “keyboard”. Then just merge all the buttons together into one layer. I only used 16 buttons but you can use as many as you want, and even make it look like a real keyboard by nudging every other lateral line in around half of a button.  If you need a reference, just look down at the keyboard right in front of you!

Step 3: If you are so inclined, you should now take the time to build some extra details into your buttons.  In my example to the left I created a small polygonal grey area in the top left with the assistance of the polygonal Lasso Tool... but you are free to play around with symbols, text, etc.  You can make these details on separate layers, but remember to merge them all together before going any further with this tutorial.

Step 4: Here’s where the magic begins. Take your Move Tool (v) and rotate the layer a few degrees counter-clockwise. This is quick and easy if you have the “Show Transform Controls” checkbox activated. Place your cursor near a corner and a curbed double-ended arrow will appear. Click and rotate. When you’re done rotating press Enter on your keyboard to finalize the changes. Tip:  If you don't like using the Move Tool, you can get the same effect by going via Edit > Transform > Rotate.

Step 5: With the layer still selected,  press Ctrl+T, right click on the layer and choose Perspective. This will enable you to make the keyboard look 3-dimensional(ish). Just move the control points until you have something that resembles my image on the left.   Play around to your heart's content to get the effect that looks best in your eyes. Tip:  You can also get the same perspective controls via Edit > Transform > Perspective.

Step 6: Now we’ll make the buttons thicker. Press and hold ALT (OPT if you have a MAC) and press the following cursor keys on your keyboard: down, left, down, left, down, left. Move your original Buttons layer on top of these six copies and merge the copies together (not the Buttons layer, only the “Buttons copy X”-layers). With the ‘Buttons copy’-layer selected press Ctrl+L to bring up the levels dialogue box (or go via Edit > Adjustments > Levels). Enter a white output level value of 175.

After all these steps you should end up with something that looks a little like the image on the left.  As you can see, the buttons appear like they have a degree of depth, but no shadow or transparency.  Well, this is something we will now correct.

Step 7: Select the Buttons layer and press Ctrl+J to make a copy of that layer. Press Ctrl+L to bring up the levels dialogue box again. Now, using the same technique as before enter a white output level value of 0, so the layer turns completely black. Move the new layer into “shadow position” (i.e. a few pixels to downwards and to the left) and add a Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. I used a value of 1 pixel since the distance between the shadow and background isn’t really that long. When you are finished tweaking your shadow, move it to the bottom of the layer stack. You should have something like this:

Step 8: Now for the finishing touches! Merge the Buttons layer with the Buttons copy (depth-creating) layer.  Reduce the layer opacity to 80-90% and the opacity of the shadow layer to something like 30-40%. If you want, you can add a low-opacity color tinge via Layer > Layer Style > Color to your buttons layer... but I'll leave this up to you!   Here is my example after a few personal finishing touches and a little creative cropping:

- Tutorial written by Little T

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