PSP Tutorial: Windows Media Player 11 Navigation Bar

Posted 1 year, 11 months ago at 1:18 am. 10 comments
Posted in Design, Tutorials, Uncategorized.

Hello! Our first tutorial for PSP9. It is compatible with other versions of PSP also. Windows Media Player introduced a slick Black Aqua look. What makes Black Aqua hard to create is its use of colors. You can’t really use pure white or else it will turn out as a strip of white,  and you can’t fade to white because it will come out embossed and unprofessional. As PSP Graphic Designers, you don’t really get much slack from the Photoshop Community as they really think PSP isn’t capable of anything. Sometimes they are right, but we still can push the limits when it comes to interface design, with the added benefit of more control from the vector tools. 

Vectoring isn’t pretty much heard of in the PSP community, and its widely avoided because it features alot of clicking and editing. Besides, making a bunch of rectangles just look uninteresting. I want you to think of vectors as rectangular boxes. Boxes that can be Opaque, and boxes that can be transparent. This Tutorial will also use layers for neatness, so make sure you are versed in using layers.

The Elements of WMP Design.
Windows Media Player uses 4 main Components.
1) The Top Gloss
2) The Bottom Glow
3) The Container Box
4) Background Color can Be #00000 or #050608

Step 1.
Create a New Image. In this Example the Image is 500×300.

Step 2.
Click on the Paint Fill Tool, or Press (F). Choose a color thats very close to black. In This example I chose #050608. Click on the your white image to fill it with a black background.

Step 3.
Next, get your Layers Pallete out. You can Click on F8 or Right Click on the Top Menu Bars and Click Pallete, Click Layers.

Step 4.
Create a New VECTOR Layer and call it "Contents". Select the "Contents" Vector Layer.

Step 5. 
Click on the Rectangle Tool (G). Before you Start… Make Sure "Create on Vector" is Checked or Grayed Out, You can find that setting in your Tool Options Palette (F4). Create A Box like This One Below. Don’t worry about the color. You must then click on Object Selection Tool (O). Make sure your box is Highlighted.

Step 6.
Right Click on your Box, and Click on Properties. Click on Stroke, Change the Stroke to White. UnCheck Fill. Change the Stroke Width to 2, you can change this later if you feel its to fat. Make sure Anti-Alias is Checked! Press OK.

Step 7. 
Try To Resize your Box to make it look similar to this Below. You must be In Object Selection Tool (O) to Resize.

Step 8.
Now that you know how to change colors of Vector Boxes, I’ll assume you’ll know how to do it with each additional box that your going to create next. In this step we’ll create "The Top Gloss". First Create another Box but make it small enough to fit inside your container box. Do not worry about the colors now. You can Edit the Box Size By Clicking Object Selection Tool (O) and changing its dimensions. Right Click on your New Box and Click Arrange > Move Down. This will make the gloss box underneath the container box.

Step 9.
Right Click on the Gloss Box you just made, and click Properties. Before you continue make sure its anti aliased, and stroke must be unchecked.  Click on Fill > Gradients TAB > Edit.

Step 10.
Create A New Gradient by clicking New and type any name. At [1] and [3] are the color position boxes.  You will first click on [1].  Click on Custom Box [2]. Click on the color to the right of the custom box. Type #303748 in HTML area and hit OK. Click on the right side’s color position box [3], click on the Custom Box and click the color to the right of it. Type #5e6985 in the HTML area. Try to set it up as how it is below. Make sure there is a gradient, meaning you see two differen colors blend together. The dark on the left Side and the bright on the right.  When you finish editing your gradient, the angle and repeat must be 0. Below is an image on how its set up.

Step 11.
Your outcome should look like this! Your Almost Done.

Step 12.
Create another Box. Put it at the bottom of the Container Box. This new box will be called the Bottom Glow. The Bottom Glow Box must be very thin, and you can change its length by clicking the Object Selection Tool (O). Try to get it looking like the one below. Also, Right Click > Arrange > Bottom.

Step 13.
Now Lets Create a Gradient for it, make sure its anti-aliased, and stroke is unchecked.  Right Click, then Click on Properties, Click on Fill, Click on Gradients Tab, Click Edit. Create a new Gradient, name it. Click on the left color color position, click on the custom box. In the HTML type in #445e8c and on the Right Side Type in #050608. Click OK and Save your Gradient. Make sure Angle and Repeat is 0. Click OK and your Done.

Additional Steps
You can Add Text, buttons, vertical bar lines, and other glossy objects. To curve the box…

Curve Steps.
Click on the Container White Box. Click on the Pen Tool. Click on the Edges, and drag your mouse to the right to create a curve. Don’t curve too much or you’ll have to resize the Gloss Box and Bottom Glow box and you may have to node edit but thats another tutorial…