Create an iPhone 4 in Photoshop

19. Jul, 2010 16 Comments

Today we will learn how to create an iPhone 4 in Photoshop. We will use some basic drawing tools and layer effects to make it as realistic as possible. The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smart phones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. An iPhone functions as a camera phone, including text messaging and visual voice mail, a portable media player, and an Internet client, with e-mail, web browsing, and Wi-Fi connectivity. The user interface is built around the device’s multi-touch screen, including a virtual keyboard rather than a physical one. We will concentrate on the camera interface in this tutorial. The techniques demonstrated here can help you to recreate any device, like flat screen TV’s, laptops etc. hope you have fun with it. Let’s get started!

Final Image

Skill Level

Intermediate

Resource

Reference Photo by apple.com
Dandelion.Wallpaper Pack by SimekOneLove
Background Texture by Stock.Xchng

Step 1

First we will create a background. Open a new document with a White Background 6.33cm x 7.79cm at 300dpi. Change the background to a layer (double click the background) then apply a gradient overlay.

Hex Colors

#9d9d9d
#cecece
#ffffff

Step 2

Open the Background Texture by Stock.Xchng and drag it above the background gradient, lower the opacity to 8%.

Texture

Step 3

Now we can plan our design using the Reference Photo by apple.com, draw some guide lines for the outline of the iPhone and for the interface section.

Step 4

Draw a rounded rectangle with the Rounded Rectangle Tool. Use the Fill Pixels option with a Radius of 27 pix. Name the Layer “Body”. Make sure your foreground color is set to black.

Step 5

Give the “body” a Gradient Stroke, with the settings below.

Step 6

Draw some small black indents with the Rectangle Tool.

Step 7

Draw four more rectangles behind the “body” layer for the iPhone buttons.

Apply a Gradient Overlay to the side buttons. (Settings below)

Hex Colors:

#515050
#a29f9f
#d9d5d5
#545353
#ecebeb
#5f5f5f

Apply a Gradient Overlay to the top button. (Settings below)

Hex Colors:

#7f7b7b
#a29f9f
#d9d5d5
#aeabab
#ecebeb
#979696

Apply a 1 pixel stroke to the inside of all of the buttons, with hex color # 716f6f.

Step 8

Now create the home button, Use the Ellipse Tool and draw a circle. (hold shift and drag to, draw a perfect circle.)

Add a Linear Gradient to the circle, with the settings below.

Hex Colors:

#000000
#3d3c3c

Then create a small rounded square above the circle and give it a 1px white stroke.

Step 9

Now create the iPhone screen with the Rectangle Tool.

Open the iPhone wallpaper from the Dandelion.Wallpaper Pack by SimekOneLove. Place it above the interface layer, drag the wallpaper above the “Screen” Layer, then point your mouse right between the layers of the “Screen Layer” and the Wallpaper and Alt-Click when you see the Pathfinder Symbol appear, this will create a mask, re-size the wallpaper to fit inside the mask.

Step 10

Now we will create the interface for the camera, Draw a rectangular shape for the main section of the interface and give it a Gradient Overlay with hex colors #abacb0 and #ffffff

Step 11

Next we will create the camera button. Draw a rounded rectangle with the Rounded Rectangle Tool, with a radius of 20 pixel. Apply the same Gradient Overlay as the main section of the interface (you can copy and paste the layer style). Give the layer an inner shadow to create some depth, see inner shadow settings below.

Step 12

Next, draw the camera icon by drawing and connecting simple shapes with the Rectangle Tool. The circle for the camera icon was made with the Ellipse Tool and a 3 pixel white outer stroke was added. Group and duplicate the camera icon, then go ahead and draw the video icon.

Next create the Camera Options Slider Button. First create a Rounded Rectangle Tool, with a radius of 20 pixels. Add a color overlay, hex #7e7f84 and an inner shadow.

Draw a smaller rounded rectangle to represent the slider button. Copy the layer style from the “Camera Button” and paste it on the rounded rectangle layer. Position it like the image below.

Step 13

Now we will draw another rounded rectangle for the “image preview” window, this time make the radius 10 pixels.

Place the Dandelion.Wallpaper Pack by SimekOneLove above the new “image preview layer”, then point your mouse right between the layers of the “Screen Layer” and the Wallpaper and Alt-Click when you see the Pathfinder Symbol appear, this will create a mask, re-size the wallpaper, so that a small section of it shows in the window, like the image below.

Step 14

Now we will create the reflective glare over the phone. Flatten or make the “Body Layer” a smart object. Command(mac)/Alt(pc)/click the “Body layer” to make a selection.

Click, Selection>Modify> Contract and Contract the selection by 5 Pixels.

Now create a new layer above all the other layers and make a gradient from white to transparent in the selection.

Use the Polygon Lasso Tool to make a new selection like the image below.

Delete the area that is selected then, reduce the opacity of the gradient by to 43%.

Step 15

Now we will create the speaker at the top of the iPhone. Draw a small rounded rectangle.

Make a selection of the rounded rectangle and contract the selection by 3 pixels ( selection> Modify>Contract). Create a new layer and fill the layer with any color.

Add the Layer Styles below.

Step 16

Now we will create the camera, Use the Ellipse Tool and draw a circle. (hold shift and drag to, draw a perfect circle.) Add a Linear Gradient to the circle, with the settings below.

Hex Colors:

#3d3c3c
#000000

Duplicate the circle and reduce the size, while holding shift. Add a Outer Stroke with hex color # 566771

Final Image

Conclusion

We successfully created an iPhone from scratch, using some of the basic Photoshop tools, as you can see the steps are not that hard to accomplish, as long as we plan our design ahead of time. The use of reference photos and Photoshop guides, can help to keep our design correctly aligned, guides are great when doing any kind of design, from business cards to bill boards. Using short cuts, like copy and pasting layer styles are a great way to speed up our design time.

DOWNLOAD .PSD

iPhone 4 PSD (4.1 MiB, 2,543 hits)
Graphics Files Includes: Layered psd file, Resolution: 374x460 pixel /150 dpi, Minimum Application : Photoshop CS4

After Download, Unzip Zip files with WinRAR

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Tutorials

Iphone 4, Mail Web, Rectangle Tool, Resource Reference, Side Buttons, Stock.xchng

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Telling the Truth Without Photoshop

16 Responses to “Create an iPhone 4 in Photoshop”

Duvcan45 Reply 19. Jul, 2010 at 9:57 am

Nicely done!! looks very realistic, like the fact that you did the camera phone version of the interface, I will try it
FAQPAL Reply 20. Jul, 2010 at 9:31 am

Wow, looks fantastic.
Jae Xavier Reply 20. Jul, 2010 at 5:42 pm

This is also good framework for designing other touch screen phones.
Avenged Sevenfold Reply 22. Jul, 2010 at 3:22 am

Here’s my remake using this guide.
http://tinypic.com/r/19pp1s/3

Thank you for the guide, learned alot about photoshop by using it.
- loswl Reply 22. Jul, 2010 at 7:56 am
  
  Ahhh! very nice!! the only thing you left out was the buttons on the sides and top, but you did a great job overall, congrats
  - Avenged Sevenfold Reply 22. Jul, 2010 at 12:53 pm
    
    Thanks. I actually did draw the buttons which looked very nice but after creating the glare effect, they got covered from the small outer glow. I guess i made them too small.
Amy Reply 22. Jul, 2010 at 8:16 am

Very nice, how long it take you to figure this out?
- loswl Reply 22. Jul, 2010 at 11:17 am
  
  It did not take me long to figure it out, because I had done a similar tutorial before "Create an iPad in Photoshop" It took me roughly an hour to create the iPhone.
  - Avenged Sevenfold Reply 22. Jul, 2010 at 5:53 pm
    
    It took me about two and a half hours because i was watching tv while i made it.
Guner Reply 24. Jul, 2010 at 5:51 pm

This is awsome
MJ Reply 26. Jul, 2010 at 4:05 am

Thanks sir, a lot of thanks. This is really awesome tut thanks again sir, you r great!
Jeff Reply 30. Jul, 2010 at 11:48 pm

The archive is damaged, i go to open it, and sadly don’t worky….
- loswl Reply 31. Jul, 2010 at 12:04 am
  
  Hi Jeff, I just download the file and it works on my end on pc and mac. Did you use WinRAR? if not, try it and see if that works (a link to download WinRAR is at the end of the post)
  
  Note: the file will not open with WinZip.
Jeff Reply 31. Jul, 2010 at 12:06 am

yep got all that, hrms will try again! thanks bro! Blessings to you!
André Silva Reply 19. Aug, 2010 at 7:26 pm

I appreciate the fact your shared your work, but the final product is far to be what developers really need, but please don’t get me wrong, I’m just trying to improve the result.

1 – Try a different radius for the main shape.
2 – Pain more attention to the aluminum border, and try to get more of an “aluminum” texture. Remember it is matte and not glossy like you did.
3 – Pay more attention to the reflections on the glass.
4 – Spent more time, much much more time with the speaker.
- loswl Reply 19. Aug, 2010 at 9:45 pm
  
  Thank you André, for that honest and in-depth critique. I agree with you on every point, there are some room for improvements, especially for developers, not so much for graphic designers