How to Create a Detailed Audio Rotary Knob Control in Photoshop & Illustrator

Preview of what we will be creating

create an audio knob in photoshop tutorial final product

Step 1

The first step is to create a new document in Photoshop and fill the background layer with a dark solid colour (#2e2f31). start with a dark solid background color for the audio knob photoshop tutorial

Step 2

Next draw a circle in the center of document using the Oval tool and holding the Shift key to constrain proportions. This shape will act as the base of our knob, fill the circle with a dark colour only slightly lighter than the background (#303030). draw a circle in the center of your document for the audio knob photoshop tutorial

Step 3

To make the base appear to be slightly indented we apply some layer styles: add an inner shadow layer style for the audio knob photoshop tutorial add a drop shadow layer style for the audio knob photoshop tutorial

Step 4

Draw another circle in the middle of the base layer about 85% smaller, and set the fill colour to the same as the base layer. This will be the main shape of the knob. draw a smaller circle in the middle of the base layer for the main part of the knob for the audio knob photoshop tutorial

Step 5

Apply the following layer styles to the new shape to give it some depth: add a bevel and emboss layer style for the audio knob photoshop tutorial add a 2px stroke outside with layer styles for the audio knob photoshop tutorial add a soft light inner shadow layer style for the audio knob photoshop tutorial add a normal dark inner glow layer style for the audio knob photoshop tutorial add a soft light gradient overlay layer style for the audio knob photoshop tutorial add a normal drop shadow for the audio knob photoshop tutorial You should now have something that looks like this: the base layer for the audio knob is complete for the audio knob photoshop tutorial

Step 6

To give the top shape a sense of depth, it also needs a large shadow. Rather than use the Drop Shadow layer style, we can create our own shadow manually by duplicating the shape layer, moving it down one layer to be between the base and top shape and positioning it about 40 pixels lower. create a large shadow by duplicating the layer shape for the audio knob photoshop tutorial

Step 7

Use the Feather option in the Properties panel to blur the edges of the shadow layer, and set the opacity to about 75%. heavily feather the layer for the shadow for the audio knob photoshop tutorial set the deep shadow shape to a lower opacity for the audio knob photoshop tutorial

Step 8

Okay, let's add another circle layer between the base layer and shadow layer, about 5% smaller than the base layer. create a slightly smaller circle between the base layer and shadow layer for the audio knob photoshop tutorial

Step 9

Time for some more layer styles on our new circle: