Making an image carousel in Photoshop is a great way to showcase multiple images in a dynamic and engaging way on a website. With some basic Photoshop skills, you can easily create a functioning image carousel without needing to code anything yourself.
What is an Image Carousel?
An image carousel, also known as a slideshow gallery, is a gallery of images that rotates through automatically or with user interaction. The images slide horizontally or vertically within a designated viewing area. You’ve likely seen carousels on many websites showing collections of images, products, testimonials, or other content that site owners want to highlight.
Image carousels allow you to:
- Display more images in a smaller space
- Add visual interest to a website
- Highlight important or eye-catching visuals
- Showcase products, portfolio pieces, testimonials, or other collections of images
- Allow users to view images without navigating away from the page
Why Make a Carousel in Photoshop?
You may be wondering why you would create an image carousel in Photoshop rather than coding one yourself or using a plugin on a site builder. Here are some of the benefits of making carousel images in Photoshop:
- You have full creative control over the look and feel of the carousel.
- You can create visually rich and complex designs not easily replicated with code.
- No coding or technical skills needed.
- Ability to add elaborate textures, patterns, typography, shapes, and styles.
- Faster and easier than coding a carousel from scratch.
- Allows for intricate photo editing and manipulation.
- Works for websites built with any platform.
The only minor drawback is that you will need to manually update the carousel images each time you want to modify them rather than having a dynamic carousel that pulls images from a database or CMS. However, the design flexibility often makes creating mockup carousel images in Photoshop worthwhile.
How to Make a Carousel in Photoshop
Now let’s go through the process of making a carousel image by image in Photoshop.
1. Create the Carousel Container
First, you’ll want to create the overall container that will hold the carousel. This can be any dimension, but common responsive sizes are around 1000 x 500 px or larger. Make sure to use an aspect ratio that fits with the images you’ll be including.
Use the Rectangle Tool or Rectangle Shape layers to make a rectangle that will become your carousel background. You can fill it with a color, gradient, or pattern.
If you want rounded rectangle edges, make sure the rectangle shape layer is highlighted in the Layers panel and go to Layer > Round Corners.
2. Add Navigation Buttons
Navigation buttons allow users to click through the images in your carousel. Add circular buttons using the Ellipse Tool on either side of the carousel container. To keep them even, hold Shift while drawing the circles.
Right click on each navigation button layer and click Blending Options. Apply a Gradient Overlay going from dark to light. This will create a 3D button effect. You can also add a Drop Shadow.
Use the Move Tool to evenly space the buttons on either side of the carousel.
3. Create Individual Image Slides
Now it’s time to create the individual image slides for your carousel. Make a new 1000 x 500 px document (or the dimensions of your carousel container). Paste or place your first image. Use the crop and transform tools to fit the image within the slide canvas.
Repeat this for each additional slide image, saving them as individual files. Make sure they are all the same exact pixel dimensions.
4. Add Image Slides to Main File
Go back to your main carousel file. Use File > Place Linked to import your carousel slide images. Place each image slide within the carousel container you created.
If the images are different aspect ratios from the container, you can use Layer > Smart Objects > Convert to Smart Object to transform the images to fit without losing quality.
5. Add Masks to Hide Slides
With all the images placed, you’ll want to hide all but the first slide initially. To do this, add layer masks to each slide layer except the first. The masks will reveal the slide only when activated.
Right click on the layer for slide 2 and select Add Layer Mask > Reveal All. Click the mask thumbnail to make it active. Use the Gradient Tool to make a black to white gradient going left to right to hide this layer.
Repeat this process for all other slide layers, making sure the masks are black to white gradients going from left to right.
6. Animate and Link the Masks
Now it’s time to animate the masks so the slides transition when clicked. Go to Window > Timeline to open the timeline panel. Click the arrow beside “Create Video Timeline” and choose Make Frames from Layers.
Click the stopwatch icon on the mask layer for slide 2. Move the playhead 5-10 frames ahead. Change the mask gradient to white on the left and black on the right. This will make the slide transition in when played.
Repeat the animation process for each slide mask. Adjust the timing between animations so they have even transitions.
Last, link the navigation buttons. Name the slide layers clearly (Slide 1, Slide 2 etc). Go to the Actions panel. Choose Button 1 and create a new action. Click the visibility icon for Slide 1 so it’s off, and Slide 2 so it’s on. End and close the action.
Do this for each button and corresponding slide layer to link your navigation. Your animated carousel is complete!
Additional Carousel Design Tips
You can take your carousel from basic to spectacular with some extraPhotoshop techniques.
- Add interesting textures or shapes between slides
- Animate slide transitions with Motion Blur for smoother movement
- Use adjustment layers to color grade or alter images
- Add text captions or headlines to each slide
- Animate text elements for more visual interest
- Incorporate vector shapes, illustrations or icons
- Apply layer styles to buttons or images
The design options are endless for making your image carousel stand out visually. Look to other carousels or slideshows for inspiration on taking your design further.
How to Code the Carousel
Once your carousel is complete in Photoshop, you need to export the assets and code it up for use on your website. Here’s an overview of the process:
Exporting Assets
Export each of the slide images on their own. Optimize and compress them. Also export the buttons, background, and any other individual assets.
HTML Structure
Set up your HTML with a container div for the carousel. Inside place a div for the slide images, previous/next buttons, and navigation dots or thumbnails if using.
CSS Styling
Add CSS to position the elements, set heights/widths, etc. Make sure the slide images and container are set to overflow: hidden.
Slideshow Functionality
Use JavaScript or jQuery to activate functions that cycle the slides on a timed loop, react to button clicks, and transition the slides smoothly.
There are many JavaScript carousel plugins available with pre-built functionality as well.
Conclusion
Creating an image carousel in Photoshop gives you unlimited creative control before having to code up the functionality. The process involves making a container, adding navigation buttons, creating individual slide images, animating transitions between slides, and finally coding it up for use on your site.
With some Photoshop practice, you can easily mock up beautiful responsive image carousels that will spruce up any website design.
What kinds of projects will you use your new carousel-making skills for? Let me know in the comments!
| Step | Instructions |
|---|---|
| 1 | Create the carousel container |
| 2 | Add navigation buttons |
| 3 | Create individual image slides |
| 4 | Add image slides to main file |
| 5 | Add masks to hide slides |
| 6 | Animate and link the masks |
Here is a helpful summary of the steps we covered:
Making a carousel in Photoshop takes some patience but allows for limitless creative options. With practice, you’ll be able to churn out beautiful, custom carousel designs in no time! Let me know if you have any other questions.
