Photoshop Tutorials » RoundedArrow Tutorial

Step 1 - Starting Out
Make a new 300x300 image, and create a new layer. On the new layer, make a rounded rectangle like the one below, with a radius of 10px. Step 2 - Pen Tool and Blur
Next, on another new layer, make a triangle with the pen tool. Use the guide below to help you out. After you do that, you'll want to go to Filter»Blur»Gaussian Blur. Give it a blur of about 1.0 pixels. Step 3 - Get the Smooth Triangle Wanted
Once the triangle is blurred, hold down CTRL and select the triangle layer and the background layer (not the rounded rectangle layer.). Now right-click on the layers, and hit "Merge Layers" (See image for more detail for what the pop-up image should look like, and which button to choose.) Once you have done that, select the layer you just merged, and then hit Ctrl+L on your keyboard to bring up the Levels. Put the settings in the boxes accordingly to the image. (Note- if the triangle still seems to be blurred, mess with the little pointer icons and fine-tune it out until it is a smooth rounded triangle.) Try to get something like the image below. Step 4 - Erasing, and combining
Next, we're going to use the Magic Eraser to get rid of that unwanted white background left over from the triangle. With the "Magic Eraser" tool, click anywhere in the white area of the correct area. Make sure your Magic Eraser settings match the ones in the image below. Next, position the triangle so that is to the right of the rounded rectangle, play with it a bit until you get a position that appeals you. Once you've done that, you're going to want to merge the triangle, and rectangle layers. This will create your arrow base. Step 5 - Blending Options
Right-click the layer, and go into the blending options. Follow the animation above to get the correct blending options that we want to use on this arrow. Step 6 - Giving it Some Gloss :)
Just orange feels so dull and boring, let's add some gloss to this arrow. Ctrl+Click on the little icon, just like it says in the image. This will create a nice outline of the arrow that we can use to add some gloss in. Next, create a new layer. Then select the "Gradient Tool." Change your foreground color to white by hitting "D", and then "X" on your keyboard to reset and reverse the colors. Now on the image, drag your gradient tool from the top of the image to about half-way down. If you did it right, you should get our final image below. End! Job well done!

Photoshop Tutorials » RoundedArrow Tutorial