Create A Realistic TV Remote Controller In Photoshop

The following tutorial should be considered more like a “guide with tricks”, rather than a “follow strictly the steps”.

I will just show you the technique, and what you’ll create depends on your imagination. I hope you’ll enjoy it and find at least one thing interesting and/or useful in it.

If you like this article, you might be interested in some of our other articles on Create Ravishing Interweaving Photo-Strips Effect in Photoshop, Create A 3D Movie Poster In Photoshop, Photoshop Cheatsheets & Our Must Know Shortcuts and Puppet Warp and Content Aware Feature In Photoshop CS5.

Final Image Preview

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Photoshop
• Version: CS5
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 Hour

Step 1

Create a new document in Photoshop using 1200×800 px, 300 dpi, RGB color 8 bit. Leave the background white. You can make the size smaller but I prefer working on a big canvas. You can always crop the image after your design’s ready.

Step 2

First of all, you need to create the basic shape of your remote controller, and for that you have to use the Pen Tool (P). Before starting setting anchor point though, drag a vertical guide that will be your controller’s center. Pick #111111 from the colors palette and draw a shape like the one on the image below.

Now duplicate this layer and go Edit -> Transform -> Flip Horizontal. Merge the two layers and then duplicate the new layer. Go Edit -> Transform -> Flip Vertical. Merge the two layers and apply these styles.

Step 3

Create a new layer, pick #400025 from the colors palette and grab the Pen Tool (P). Create a shape like this.

Then duplicate this layer and go Edit -> Transform -> Flip Horizontal. Merge those two layers and apply the following styles.

Step 4

Now it’s time for the buttons. Create a new layer, chose #a71d1d from the colors palette and grab the Ellipse Tool (U). Draw a perfect circle (hold Shift) and place it where you want your “power” button to be. After doing that, simply apply these styles.

Now create a new layer and draw a “power symbol” (or find a ready one) using the Pen Tool (P). After you draw the path, select the Brush Tool (B), pick the Hard Round Pressure Size brush from the list and change the foreground color to white (#ffffff). Turn the size to something around 5 px and pick the Pen Tool (P) again. Right click on the path you previously drew and select Stroke Path. Make sure the Simulate Pressure box is unchecked. Change the Blend Mode to Multiply and apply these styles.

Your “power button” should then look like this.

Then select the Type Tool (T) and write anything you want. Change the color of the text to #cccccc and move it a bit above the “power button”. It should look like this.

Group all these three layers (Ctrl+G) and name the group “Power Button” or something.

Step 5

Now you’ve to add more buttons. Create a new layer and select the #cccccc from the colors palette once again. Draw a perfect circle using the Ellipse Tool (U) only this time make it smaller. Then apply these styles.

Add some text above the button and duplicate those two layers (shape, text) and place them on the other side of the remote controller. The image below explains it better. Change the text and add any icons you want onto the buttons.

To make an icon like the one I’m using, draw a rectangle using the Rectangle Tool (U). Turn the Fill down to 0% and apply Inner Stroke with 2px and pick the #111111 for color. Then go Edit -> Transform -> Warp and extend the four centered anchor point.

Scale it down and place it inside your button. Group all these layers and name the group after the text you typed above the buttons (in my case “TV/DTV SOURCE”).

Step 6

Now comes the super-easy part. Create a new layer and draw a perfect circle; again using the Ellipse Tool (U). Make it big enough (a bit bigger than the “power button”) and fill it with #cccccc. Apply these styles.

It should then look like this.

Now using the Type Tool (T) add number 1. Chose a “fat” font and change the text’s color to #111111. Turn down the Opacity to 70%. Duplicate these layers and place them in the center of your remote controller. Don’t forget to change the text to “2″. Then once again duplicate the two layers and place them near the right edge. Your remote controller should look like this.

Group these six layers and name it “1,2,3″.

Step 7

Duplicate the “1,2,3″ group and using the Move Tool (V) place it under the 1,2,3 buttons. Leave a sane gap between those two button groups. Using the Type Tool (T) change the “1″, “2″, “3″ to “4″, “5″, “6″ and name the group like that. Then duplicate the “4,5,6″ group, rename it to “7,8,9″ and change the text to “7″, “8″, “9″. Duplicate the “7,8,9″ group and name it “0″. Again leave a gap between the button groups and change the text to “-/–”, “0″, “PRE-CH” (or anything you want).

Step 8

We’re already half way done. Create a new layer and pick #679db1 from the colors palette. Draw a big (proportionally to the other buttons) perfect circle using the Ellipse Tool (U) and apply these styles.

It should look like this

Duplicate this layer four times. Place the copies according to the image below. Note that the center button is scaled down.

Change the foreground color to #ffffff (white) and decorate your buttons. The left ones are the Volume so using the Type Tool (T) type “+” for the upper button and “-” for the lower one. The right ones are the Channels so draw simple “UP/DOWN” arrows. The center button is the Mute. To create the Mute icon, create a new layer and grab the Custom Shape Tool (U). From the list pick the “Volume”.

Rasterize the layer, erase the “sound waves”, and grab the Line Tool (U). Set the size to 1-2 px and draw a simple diagonal line. Duplicate it and go Edit -> Transform -> Flip Horizontal so that they create an “X”. Merge these three layers and name the new layer “Mute icon”.

Step 9

Now that you’ve decorated your button, you have to add some styles (to the “+”, “-”, “UP”, “DOWN” and “MUTE ICON”). Change the Blend Mode to Multiply, the Opacity down to 70% and apply the following styles.

It should look like this.

*To create the “volume” icon above the “+”, “-” buttons, draw a triangle (color #cccccc) and erase the right half. Group all these layers and name the group “Volume Progr”.

Step 10

Next you’ll be creating even more buttons only this time you’re going to use the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U). Set the Radius to 10 px and draw a rectangle like the one in the image below.

Again the color we’re using is #cccccc. Apply these styles.

Then select the Type Tool (T) and write anything you want (color: #111111) and place it inside the button you’ve previously created. The result should be this.

Step 11

Duplicate the two layers you created in the previous step and place the in the center of your remote controller. Change the text and then duplicate once again those layers and place them near the right edge. Remember to change the text. Your design then should like this.

Group those six layers and name the group after the text you used (in my case “Guide Menu W.Link”).

Step 12

Create a new layer and select the Ellipse Tool (U). The color’s still #cccccc. Draw a small circle and apply these styles.

Duplicate this layer three times and place the copies as shown in the image below.

Leave a big gap as we’ll need that space in the very next step. Add any text you want above the buttons (e.g. Tools, Return, Info, Exit).

Group all those layers and name the group after the text you applied (in this case “Tools Return Info Exit”).

Step 13

Now the tricky part. First of all draw a big circle using the Ellipse Tool (U) and apply these styles.

Decorate the button with an icon. To create the one I’m using see Step 5 par.3.

Step 14

Create a new layer. Change the foreground color to #bababa and pick the Pen Tool (P). Draw a shape like this.

Once you’ve done this, duplicate this layer three times and place them using the image below as a guide.

Step 15

Switch the color back to #cccccc and select the Custom Shape Tool (U). From the list pick the triangle and draw a small triangle. Place it in the center of one of the shapes you created in the previous step and apply these styles.

Change the Blend Mode to Multiply and the Opacity to 70%. Duplicate this layer three times and place the copies inside the other three side buttons. It should look like this.

Group all the layers you created in steps 13-15 and name the group anything you want.

Step 16

Create a new layer and pick #a71d1d from the colors palette. Grab the Ellipse Tool (U) and draw a perfect circle. Place it under the “Info” button and apply the same styles you used in step 12. Duplicate the layer three times and place the copies next to each other. Use the image as a guide.

Now change the colors to make each button unique. I’ve used #598527, #0076a3 and #e5bb13.

Group those layers and change group’s name to “Color Buttons”.

Step 17

Repeat steps 10-11 only this time change the buttons’ color to #252525, and place them under the “Color Buttons”. Change the text as well.

Group these layers and name the group after the text you typed inside the buttons (e.g. “TTX/MIX CH LIST P.SIZE”).

Step 18

Create a new layer and select the Pen Tool (P). Draw a shape like this one.

Don’t fill it. Go to the Paths tab (next to Layers and Channels) and while holding Ctrl+Shift+Alt, left click on the thumbnail of the path layer. Now go back to the Layers tab and find your original remote controller shape layer you created in step 2. Hold Ctrl+Shift+Alt again and left click on the layer’s thumbnail. You’ll notice that your selection is now perfectly contracted to the controller’s edges. Pick the Gradient Tool (G) and select the Foreground To Transparent from the Gradient presets. Make sure your foreground color is #ffffff (white). Now, simply add a gradient to your selection.

Your design should look like this.

Now select Free Transform (Ctrl+T) and using the bottom-left anchor point, downscale just a little bit the gradient. The idea is to create a pseudo-stroke. The image below explains it better.

Final Result

That’s it, your TV remote controller is now ready. Add any effects you want to make it look even better. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial.