1. Start off my creating a new image 100x400 (this doesn't leave much room to work with so you can change it if you like)
2. I like to save now and often, name it something like nail or my nail
3. Set colors to Background=Light Gray (I used #C0C0C0) Foreground dark gray (I used #808080)
4. Select Preset Shapes tool-settings Rectangle, create as vector and Anti-alias checked, line style solid, line width 1.
5. Draw out a rectangle about 60 pixels wide, length is up to you but I like mine pretty long, just make sure you leave enough rooom for the nail head.
6. Now for the node editing. Don't worry it's not that hard ;o) Start off by moving the bottom two nodes up and over just a few pixels. Then add a new node in the middle (bottom only!) and pull it down a little past the original position
As you can see you only move the bottom nodes in 2 or 3 pixels.Rename this layer Nail body.
7. Select Preset Shapes tool again, same settings but change shape to Ellipse.
8. Draw out a small ellipse at the top of the image.No need to edit the nodes here but you may need to size it a bit.Rename this layer Nail head 1.
9. Select Preset Shapes tool again same settings but change back to rectangle. Draw out a rectangle the same width as the ellipse.Rename this layer Nail head 2.
10. Time to node edit again. Now I know there are probably easier ways to do this but this is the way I do it.
Right click on the bottom left node and change node type to Curve Before and right click on the bottom right node and change to Curve After.
Change top left node to Curve After and top right node to Curve Before adjust by dragging the handles down until you get something like this
 
Now you've got the nail shape finished now to make it look like a "real" nail. I know I could have done this from the beginning but this is just the way I like to do things.
11. Select the Object Selection tool. Click on the nail body to select it.
In PSP 7 you can right click on the object and select properties to change the propereties but in PSP 8 it's slightly different.
Once you select the object you can change the background directly in the Materials Pallette or by clicking on this icon  to bring up the vector property box
Change the background (or fill) to the Chrome gradient, angle 90, repeats 0.
Now select the ellipse and change the background (or fill) to the Chrome 2 gradient, style sunburst, center point set at 56 horizontal and 49 vertical
Lastly select the last object and change the background (or fill) to Chrome 2 gradient same settings as before.
This is what you should have now
Now we could leave it like this but I didn't think it looked "real" enough so I added some bevels.
12. Convert all 3 layers to raster
13. Make Nail body layer active, Inner bevel with these settings
Bevel 2
Width 6
Smoothness 57
Depth 38
Ambience 23
Shininess 40
Angle 318
Intensity 39
Elevation 83
Color White
This isn't the exact bevel I used at first but I forgot to save it so I had to recreate it.
14. Make Nail Head 2 active, Inner bevel with these settings
Bevel 10
Width 12
Smoothness 57
Depth 75
Ambience 23
Shininess 40
Angle 318
Intensity 39
Elevation 83
Color White
15. Make Nail Head 1 layer active, Adjust Brightness and Contrast, settings Brightness 40 Contrast 0
16. You may want to move this layer below Nail Head 2 but that's up to you.
That's it you're done! You should have something like this
Now I know what you're thinking, you're thinking it's way too big. The reason behind this is I always make the images bigger than I need too. I can easily make it smaller but making it larger and keep it looking as it is is almost impossible.
If you have any problems e-mail and I'll try to help. I hope it was fun for you!
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