Compass Tutorial

Posted on October 11th, 2007.

7 Votes, Rating: 3.86

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Learn how create a digital compass from scratch.

Create a new document 500×400 with any desired background. Select the elliptical marquee tool and draw a circle, fill the circle with a temporary color. In the layers window click on your layer whilst holding the “CTRL” key on the keyboard to load a selection, now goto “select > modify > contract”. when the box comes up enter a value of around 20-30 pixels. Now goto “select > modify > smooth” and enter a value of 20. You should now have a ring like this.

Now add these layer styles to your ring.

You should have something like this.

Now create a shape like this.

All done with the elliptical marquee tool using to shapes, merge both shapes together on one layer and place behind your ring.

Right-Click your ring layer and goto “copy layer styles” then right-click your shape you just made and goto “paste layer styles” you should have something like this.

Using the same concept as the 1st step create another ring, only this time make it smaller to fit inside the first one we made.

Now add these layer styles.

You should have something like this.

Now create another circle big enough to fill whats left inside. Add these layer styles.

You should have something like this.

Add your letters N, E, S and W.

Add your lines that go around the compass, to do this we create a circle from the custom shapes menu, then select the type tool and use type on a path. Ive already written a tutorial about type text along a path check that out for more detail.

Select the pen tool and create a shape like this.

Fill the shape with the color white and set opacity to 25%.

Now goto the custom shapes tool within photoshop and select a custom shape same as the image below. Stretch it out to fit the inside of the compass also set layer opacity to 50%.

Now add your little arrows which are also shapes from the custom shapes menu, just fill each side of the shape a darker shade of the main color.

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Tags: compass, design, draw, scratch

13 responses so far!

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• 1 Bas ~ Oct 13, 2007 at 8:03 am

  Great tutorial!

  Thank you.

• 2 Helpfull hand ~ Oct 13, 2007 at 9:35 am

  Looks like the Safari Compass, i like it

• 3 tuananh ~ Oct 22, 2007 at 3:33 am

  Always great tutorial!

• 4 KBT2M ~ Oct 24, 2007 at 3:34 am

  Good Tut… wonderful! ye … study!

• 5 BARMAN2005 ~ Oct 24, 2007 at 3:11 pm

  Nice tut man! Great result!

• 6 Nobstutorials ~ Oct 25, 2007 at 7:27 am

  Dude, this is awesome! Excellent technique, thanks for sharing!

• 7 arabsquad ~ Oct 27, 2007 at 9:49 pm

  wow .. GREAT TUTORIAL … TRUELLY ! !

• 8 Poxline ~ Oct 30, 2007 at 5:12 pm

  Very nice and great tutorial.

  Finally look right very good !.

  Thanks guy.

• 9 Lith ~ Nov 2, 2007 at 1:31 am

  Thanks very nice tutorial

• 10 Rachael ~ Mar 20, 2008 at 5:03 pm

  Awesome tutorial, thank you very much!

• 11 Ali AbdelKarim ~ Apr 20, 2008 at 10:52 am

  wow what a very nice tutorial from ur friend ak.

• 12 Ali Abdelkarim ~ Apr 20, 2008 at 10:57 am

  wow what a nice tutorial thats for that. from your friend ak. love u

• 13 ali abdelkarim ~ May 8, 2008 at 7:51 am

  hey it is u r friend Ak agian i would like to see more toutorials from u dudes u are my best friends i love you guys u are my best friends i always watch your programs and i love it when you make new toutourlias so i understand photoshop and i love you dudes you are the best