Background

• To start your anime layout, create a new document in Adobe Photoshop and size it as large or small as you want the layout to be. Change your background name to "bg" and make the foreground color CCCCCC. Change the background color to B3B3B3 or dark gray, which makes it easier to spot unfilled layers. Fill your "bg" layer with dark gray.
  
  

The Banner

• Once your background is finished, select the rectangle tool, or whichever shape you wish to make the banner, and form a rectangle in the center of your screen. Size the rectangle so that it's the size you want the banner to be. Now use the "layers" and "shadow" tools to apply any visual effects you want to be around the banner. If you want the banner to have a 3D effect against your background, this is where you add that effect. Most anime banners will have an inverted 3D effect, making a shadow outline like usual 3D effects and adding a white line around the end of the shading.
  
  

Pictures

• Now add in any pictures you want in your banner; most anime banners have a collection of their favorite anime characters or perhaps a scene from one of the shows. Resize the image so that it fits within the rectangle you created earlier. Cut away any part of the pictures you don't want to be seen, remember that anything cut away will have the background shine through it if you make the layers color transparent.
  
  

Clickable Buttons

• Now add a new rectangle and layer for any buttons you want to have. Position them so that when you upload the layout to whatever web site you're using the rectangles will fall over the link fields. Add the text to your buttons and decide how you want them to look. A common trend in anime layouts is to have a different anime character or scene from different shows be the picture for each button. If you just want the buttons to appear in the background, make everything in the layer, except the text, transparent. This will make it so that your background image shows through and the text will appear on top of the image.
  
  

Finishing Touches

• Now go back to the "bg" layer and add whatever image you like. This will pull all the layers together and allow you to preview the finished project before you upload. Note that some background images will clash with your buttons making them hard to read. Check all your buttons here to make sure this isn't the case, if it is, change the color of the fonts or perhaps using a different background image. Last, make sure that all images are present, sometimes buttons and other layers will slip behind the background, making them unviewable and unclickable.