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Wires are very popular additions to photoshop interfaces, and this is mainly because they add a certain cohesiveness to the design, yet remain unobstrusive enough to avoid becoming a main focal point. This tutorial details a tehnique for creating a wire with a unique segmented metal appearance, and is an excellent variant of the usual plastic wires look.

Step 1:  Create a new document in Photoshop of a suitable size. This can really be as big as desired, but for the sake of this tutorial I have set the dimensions to 600px*600px with a white background. Now select the Pen Tool and be sure that the “paths” option is set (as shown below). With the Pen Tool selected create a simple curvy path by clicking and dragging on the canvas. After creating the path go to the Channels tab in your layers palette and create a new channel with black selected as the background color, and name it alpha1.

Step 2: Select the Brush Tool and choose a hard-edged round tip 13px in diameter (this can be wider, but for the sake of this tutorial we will stick to this preset). Now edit the brush settings as shown below. To access the brush settings click the brushes tab on your toolbar (in CS2 this is on the upper right).

Step 3: Reelect the Pen Tool, making sure that you are still on the 'alpha1' channel you made in step 1. Right click on the path with your mouse and select Stroke Path. Select the Brush Tool in the dialog box that pops up and then click on OK. You should now see a white stroke on a black background. Select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur from the main menu and enter in a radius of 3.0px, as shown in the image to the left. This will give the wire its rounded edges, and the radius setting may need to be adjusted accordingly if you have opted for a larger cable by altering the brush diameter in step 2.

Step 4: Hold CTRL on your keyboard and click on the alpha1 channel thumbnail in the channels palette to form a selection around the white area, as shown in the image to the left. Navigate back into your Layers Palette and create a new transparent layer on top of the background called wire. Grab your Paint Bucket Tool and fill the selected area with the color #888888. IMPORTANT: Do not lose your selection until told to do so!

Step 5: Now go to filter > render > lighting effects, and fill the dialog with the settings shown below. Don't worry if your preview doesn't look exactly like mine - even small changes can have profound effects, and the beauty of this technique is that no two cables ever look the same.

Step 6: Now reselect your Brush Tool and choose a brush tip that is hollow. If you can't find a hollow circular brush you may need to load the "Assorted Brushes" brush set included as default in Photoshop. With the tip selected, set the diameter to 13px (or another appropriate size if you've opted for a different size wire in steps 2 & 3).

Step 7: Reselect your Pen Tool again, and choose a color in the foreground color palette that is quite dark (i.e. dark red, navy blue, black). For my creation i've chosen black. Now, in much the same way as in step 3, right click on your path and choose Stroke Path from the mini menu. Choose the Brush Tool from the dialog, and click OK. If everything has gone correctly, you should have a cool wire that resembles my one on the left.

Step 8: As a final step to improve the wire's clarity, run Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen More. Now all you have to do is lose your selection (yes, finally), and there is your wire, completely ready for use! You shouldn't stop there of course. Feel free to add drop shadows to everything, a funky background, or even twisted wires using your own ingenuity. Just experiment and soon you'll be creating the coolest wires and cables known to man. :)

- Tutorial written by Unleash

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