Design a photorealistic app icon in Photoshop

06 For a more realistic shadow, place a grey rectangle on top of the vinyl, add an Outer Glow with the same colour and change the blend mode to Linear Burn. I used a 50% tint of a grey colour and then played around with the opacity until I achieved the desired effect.
 

07 Textures are also very important for adding realism. You can either use your own or find some on a stock website. For this project, I used a wood texture: I saturated it and applied some levels. I then created a clipping mask on the layer and changed the blend mode to Overlay.
 

08 When you’re happy with all the layer style options, make a copy of the folder. At this point, separate some of the styles (Layer> Layer Style> Create Layer) so that you can control them with masks.
 

09 You can now duplicate or erase some of the layer styles – play around for the desired effect. Some parts of my icon were too light or too dark, so I selected the layer effect, masked it and deleted parts of the layer with a brush.
 

10 Create a new layer, place it at the top of the stack, and add Inner Glow and Satin effects. With Satin, I used the same overlay colour, making the entire icon the same tone. You now have a realistic looking app icon.