Skeuomorphic PSD to Flat Design With Skeuomorphism.it

So skeuomorphism is out and flat design is in, which is old news but hey, trends can be real fickle and designers are at the mercy of trying to keep up. If you have skeuomorphic designs that you want to turn flat, here is a tool that is going to be a big help.

Skeuomorphism.it is a free Photoshop extension, by Roy Barber which turns skeuomorphism design to flat design in just a single click. If you find anything skeuomorphic (icon, background or website templates) that you want to turn flat, this is the plugin to get.

Installation

Note that to be able to use this extension, you must at least have Photoshop CS6 installed on your machine. Now let’s head to the Skeuomorphism.it homepage and download the extension first.
Double click the Skeuomorphism.it.zxp file and Adobe Extension Manager will be opened. Accept the license agreement. Before the installation process begin you must first verify the publisher of the extension. Install it and restart your Photoshop if necessary. You’re now ready to use the extension.

Just Takes A Click

We’re going to use this Facebook Icon by Christophe Tauziet for the demo. This is the original icon.

On your Photoshop you should see a new panel in the right. If it doesn’t appear simply head to Window > Extensions > Skeuomorphism.

Click the Work The Magic button and all the shadows, inner shadows, gradients or light will be removed or reduced to make the design flat. Check it out.

Limitations

When you use this extension, not all skeuomorphism design will be transformed flat as you expect it. Sometimes the original color or shape of the design may change. In this Subscribe form from Tempees you will notice that the subscribe button is in blue.

When I tried to turn it flat with the plugin, the subscribe button turned grey. If this doesn’t work for you, Ctrl+Z to revert to the initial state.

Final Thought

I just have to say that the name of this plugin is ironic but it is a real useful time-saver and it makes the transformation almost instantaneous. You don’t have to repeat or do the design process from scratch. All it takes is a click and your designs are flat. How cool is that?