Coffee Stain Social Networking Icons Tutorial
Posted on 08. May, 2009
by Tutorials Etc in Icons
In this Etc Tutorial we will be making a set of coffee stain social networking icons. We will be using a set of custom hand drawn social networking Photoshop shape.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create the Coffee Stain Social Bookmarking Icons found on WebTreats ETC.
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STEP #1
Download and install the following great, free Photoshop shapes and brushes:
STEP #2
Start by creating a nice coffee stained paper background. Create a new document 1440px by 900px with a white background. Select the brush tool by typing “B,” then go up to the toolbar, and open up your brush presets. If you’ve installed the brushes from step #1 in the order listed in that step, your brush presets should look something like this:

STEP #3
Choose the third brush from the paper textures brushes, set your foreground color to #9c8d48, and then click once in the center of your canvas. Your image should now look something like the image below:

STEP #4
To add some coffee stains, create a new layer by going to “LAYER >> NEW >> LAYER.” Then select one of the coffee stain brushes, set the opacity to 40%, and click somewhere on your canvas. Repeat this with a couple other coffee stains until you have something like the image below:

STEP #5
To add some social bookmarking shapes, activate the shape tool by clicking “U.” Then go up to the toolbar, and open up your shape presets by clicking on the little down arrow. If you have installed the Hand Drawn Social Network Shapes, you will see something like the image below. Select one of the shapes, and make sure you have “Custom Shape Tool” and “Shape Layers” selected as shown below:

STEP #6
Now select another shape, this time with the setting “Add to Shape Area” selected as shown below. This will keep all your shapes in one layer, which will make future steps easier.

STEP #7
Repeat this for several more shapes until you have something that looks like the image below:

STEP #8
You will now need to add some layer styles to your shape layer. Double click on the shape layer to bring up the layer styles pallet, and then add the layer styles shown below:

STEP #9
To make these icons look a little more like a coffee stain, you will need to add some texture. To do this, first select all the shapes in the shape layer by holding down CTRL (or COMMAND) and then clicking on the thumbnail of the shape layer as shown below.

STEP #10
To make your shapes appear to bleed into the paper, you will need to enlarge and feather your selection. To do that, go to “SELECT >> REFINE EDGE” and apply the settings below:

STEP #11
Go to “LAYER >> NEW >> LAYER” to create a new layer. Activate your brushes by typing “B,” and select one of the Bittbox watercolor brushes. Click once anywhere on your canvas to drop the watercolor texture within the selected areas. Then set the layer blend mode to linear burn, the opacity to 58%, and you should have something that looks like this:
That’s it!
You should have something that looks like this.
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Didn’t get the exact same results? Want to save some time? Download the source files below.
What’s Included in the Download:
• Fully layered source PSD
• 74 .PNG social media icons in this style as seen in the preview.




























Susan Libertiny
14. May, 2009
Sweet tutorial. Thanks for including my paper texture brushes. The end results looks great. Keep up the great work.

teuingsaha
15. May, 2009
Nice..thanks for sharing
Pamela
15. May, 2009
@Susan Libertiny,
Thank you. We love your brushes!
@teuingsaha,
You’re welcome!
huwaw69
18. May, 2009
thanks for sharing the downloadables, and for the great tutorial, it really is awesome!
Roger
22. May, 2009
@huwaw69
Thanks for telling us that the tutorial is awesome. We love compliments !!!
Kai
14. Jun, 2009
This is awesome! Thank you. I’m wondering how to create the effect from using the refine edge selection when you’re working in Photoshop CS2?
Pamela
15. Jun, 2009
@Kai,
Thank you!
I don’t have CS2, but I believe feathering the selection by about 3px should work somewhat similarly (go to “SELECT >> FEATHER” and enter 3 for the feather radius).
Denis
12. Sep, 2009
Hello, there are these shapes, as shown in Step 5 or Step 6 to download? I am looking for quite a few now, but I will unfortunately not find it!
Many thanks in advance
Pamela
13. Sep, 2009
Hi Denis ~ If you click on the first link in step #1 you will be taken to a page where you can download them.
Denis
14. Sep, 2009
Thanks Pamela,
there is also the normal shapes for it to download? Seen from row 6 to row 10 on the picture? That`s wonderful and I would be very happy
Pamela
14. Sep, 2009
Ah I misunderstood – unfortunately those are not available for download right now.
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