Forum Moderators: not2easy
That's kind of like asking can anyone show me how to make a wood finish.... way too many possibilities. oak, pine, ash? with steel, are you looking for burnished, polished, chrome?
The best thing to do is go to any search engine and ask this question, you will find hundreds of free tutorials on this. Many tof these tutorials will be for Photoshop, but I am sure you will find others that fit your need...
Everyone here is right... it all depends on what you're trying to get, what applications you have, 2d or 3d, the distance between two lovers, etc. Also, I'm assuming you want the "brushed aluminum" effect that is popular nowadays. Stainless steel, i.e. silverware, doesn't really have a finish... it relies on what is being reflected upon it, which is why it's really only suitable for 3d design. If you want stainless steel in 2d, you're better off finding a tutorial for a "chrome effect".
But in case you don't feel like channeling your chi to come to a conclusion on this question, here's a very basic 2d "Mac-application-esque" way to do it (in Photoshop, though it is probably done very much the same in other high end photo/art programs).
1. Fill a blank canvas with a monochrome linear gradient, preferably on a diagonal. (This will give your steel the effect of having a mild light source shining on it)
2. From the Photoshop filters menu, choose Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise. (if you don't have a program with this, you can use "grain" texture or something like that)
3. Apply the "noise" to taste; this will make your canvas look like a static-y TV set.
4. Go to Filters -> Blur -> Motion Blur and apply blur to the pixels horizontally. Mess around with how much the pixels are blurred, and you'll start to see the effect. How much noise you put in and how much blur you apply dictates the strength of this effect. Hope that helps.
