Water Reflection Effect Photoshop

8/18/2019 Water Reflection Effect Photoshop

1/15

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

With our image newly opened inside Photoshop, we can see in the Layers palette that wecurrently have one layer, the Background layer, which contains our image:

The original image on the Background layer in the Layers palette.

We need to duplicate the Background layer, and we can do that using the keyboard shortcut

Ctrl+J (Win ! Command+J ("ac . #ow when $ look in my Layers palette now, $ can see that

$ now have two layers % my original Background layer on the bottom and a new layer, &Layer '&,above it which is my duplicate:

Press &trl)*& (Win ! &ommand)*& ("ac to duplicate the Background layer.

Step 2: Add More Cana! Space To The Bottom "# The Document

We+re going to add our water relection below the image, so let+s add some canvas space to the

bottom o our document to make room or our relection. To do that, go up to the $mage menu atthe top o the screen and choose Cana! Si%e. This will bring up Photoshop+s &anvas -ie&

dialog bo/. The easiest thing to do here is to add twice as much canvas space as what we

currently have, but we only want it to appear at the bottom o the document, not above it or oneither side, so we need to tell Photoshop e/actly where we want this e/tra canvas space to go.

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/water-reflection/http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/water-reflection/


2/15

0irst, enter 1&& or the 'eight and set the measurement to percent, as circled in red below.

Leave the Width option set to 1. Then make sure the (elatie option is checked, which tells

Photoshop to give us '112 more canvas space than what we already have. Below the &3elative&option is a 4/4 grid o s5uares. This is where we tell Photoshop where we want to place our

additional canvas space. lick inside the s5uare in the middle o the top row (again as circled

below. This tells Photoshop not to place any o the e/tra canvas space above the document andinstead to place all o it at the bottom:

6dd more canvas space using the &anvas -ie& dialog bo/.

lick 78 to e/it out o the dialog bo/, and Photoshop will add the e/tra canvas space to the

bottom o the image:

Step ): *lip The Top Layer ertically

$n order to create our relection, we need to lip our image upside down, so let+s do that.

With the top layer selected in the Layers palette, go up to the ,dit menu at the top o the screen,choose Tran!#orm, and then choose *lip ertical.

Photoshop will lip the image upside down in the document:


3/15

9o to dit ; Transorm ; 0lip


4/15

>rag the lipped image down below the original.

Step .: Add A /e0 Blank Layer

#ow that we have our lipped image in place, we can begin to create our water ripple eect.

0irst, we need to add a new blank layer at the top o the Layers palette, so with &Layer '& still

selected, click on the /e0 Layer icon at the bottom o the Layers palette:


5/15

6dd a new blank layer to the document.

Step : *ill The /e0 Layer ith hite

We+re going to ill our new blank layer with white. $ white is not currently your Backgroundcolor, press D on your keyboard, which will reset Photoshop+s 0oreground and Background

colors, making black your 0oreground color and white your Background color. Then use the

keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Back!pace (Win ! Command+Delete ("ac to ill the new layer with

the Background color (white. ?our document will be illed with solid white.

The entire image is now illed with white.

Step 3: Apply The 4'al#tone 5attern4 *ilter To Create Black And hite

'ori%ontal Line!

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/water-reflection/page-2.phphttp://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/water-reflection/page-2.php


6/15

9o up to the *ilter menu at the top o the screen, choose Sketch, and then choose 'al#tone5attern. This brings up Photoshop+s 0ilter 9allery (in Photoshop - and higher set to the

&=altone Pattern& ilter options on the right, with a large preview o the eect on the let. We+regoing to use this ilter to add a series o black and white horiontal lines to the image. These

lines are going to become our water ripples . The more lines we have, the more ripples we+ll

have. 0irst, we want to make sure we+re creating lines and not dots or circles, so set the 5atternType option to Line!. We control the number o lines by ad@usting the Si%e option. Lower values

give us more lines, since we+re lowering the sie o each line, and higher values give us ewer but

thicker lines. $+m going to set my -ie value to A, which $ think works best or my image. ?oumay want to e/periment with this value on your own. The Contra!t option below it determines

how sharp the edges o the lines are. Lower values give you soter lines, white higher values give

you hard edge lines. -et this value all the way to .& to give your lines sharp edges. We+re going

to soten them ourselves with the 9aussian Blur ilter in a moment:

6d@ust the =altone Pattern ilter options to create a series o black and white lines through theimage.

lick 78 when you+re done to e/it out o the dialog bo/, and Photoshop will ill the image romtop to bottom with your black and white lines:


7/15

The image is now illed with black and white horiontal lines.

Step 6: Apply The 47au!!ian Blur4 *ilter To The Line!

Beore we can use our black and white lines as water ripples , we need to smooth them out and

create nice, smooth transitions between them. To do that, go up to the *ilter menu once again,choose Blur, and then choose 7au!!ian Blur, which brings up the &9aussian Blur& dialog bo/.

8eep an eye on your image and drag the slider at the bottom o the dialog bo/ to increase the

(adiu! value until the lines have a very sot edge to them. $+m using a small image or this

tutorial, so or me, a 3adius value o about pi/els works well. $ you+re using a larger, high

resolution image, you+ll need to set yours to a higher value:


8/15

Cse the 9aussian Blur ilter to smooth out the edges o the lines.

lick 78 to e/it out o the dialog bo/ and apply the blur to the lines.

Step 8: Duplicate The Line! Layer A! A /e0 Document

We+re going to create a brand new document out o our lines layer, which we+ll then use as ourdisplacement map or our water ripples . With the lines layer selected, go up to the Layer menu

at the top o the screen and select Duplicate Layer, which brings up the &>uplicate Layer&

dialog bo/. $n the &>estination& options, click on the down%pointing arrow to the right o theDocument option and set it to /e0, which will create a new Photoshop document out o our

layer:

-et the &>ocument& option in the &>uplicate Layer& dialog bo/ to ew&.

lick 78 to e/it out o the dialog bo/, and your layer will open up in a new document on the

screen.


9/15

Step 1&: Sae The /e0 Document And Clo!e "ut "# $t

This new document that we+ve created is going to become our displacement map, but beore wecan use it, we need to save it. We+re also going to close out o it ater we+ve saved it, since we

won+t need it open anymore, and the easiest way to accomplish both o those tasks is to simply

close out o the document. When you try to close out o it, Photoshop will as you i you want tosave the document beore closing it. lick 9e!:

hoose &?es& when Photoshop asks i you want to save the document beore closing it.

Photoshop will bring up the Sae A! dialog bo/. ?ou can name your new document anything you

like. $+m going to name mine &water%ripples&. "ake sure you save it as a Photoshop .P-> ile,

since those are the only iles that Photoshop can use as a displacement map. ?ou+ll probably want

to save the document to your >esktop, since we+ll need to ind it again in a moment.

Step 11: Delete The Line! Layer

#ow that we+ve used our black and white lines to create the ile we+ll be using as ourdisplacement map, we can get rid o it. To do that, simply click on it and drag it down onto the

Trash Bin icon at the bottom o the Layers palette:

lick and drag the lines layer (&Layer D& onto the Trash Bin at the bottom o the Layers palette

to delete it.


10/15

Step 12: Merge The T0o Layer! "nto A /e0 Layer

Beore we can add use our displacement map, we need to merge our two image layers onto a newlayer above them. To do that, with &Layer '& selected, use the keyboard shortcut

Shi#t+Ctrl+Alt+, (Win ! Shi#t+Command+"ption+, ("ac . #othing will appear to have

happened in the document, but i we look in the Layers palette, we can see that both layers have been merged onto a new layer at the top:

Both layers are now merged onto a new layer, &Layer D&.

Step 1): !e The 4Di!place4 *ilter To Create The ater (ipple!

We+re ready to create our water ripples using the displacement map we @ust created. With the newmerged layer selected in the Layers palette, go back up to the *ilter menu at the top o the

screen, choose Di!tort and then choose Di!place .

This brings up Photoshop+s &>isplace& ilter dialog bo/. This is where we determine the strengtho our ripple eect, and we do that with the 'ori%ontal Scale option at the top. $+m going to set

mine to a value o , which will give me a realistic ripple eect. ?ou may want to e/periment

with this value with your own image. -etting it too high though will create too much o a

horiontal distortion and you+ll lose the realism.

We don+t need any vertical distortion to create our eect, so set the ertical Scale option to &.6lso, make sure that Stretch To *it and (epeat ,dge 5i;el! are selected:

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/water-reflection/page-3.phphttp://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/water-reflection/page-3.php


11/15

9o to 0ilter ; >istort ; >isplace to bring up the >isplace dialog bo/.

lick 78 in the top right corner o the dialog bo/, and Photoshop will ask you which ile youwant to use as your displacement map. hoose the ile that you @ust saved a moment ago, which $

saved to my >esktop as &water%ripples.P->&, and then click 7pen. Photoshop will then apply thedisplacement map to the entire image, creating our water ripples :


12/15

The image ater applying our displacement map with the &>isplace& ilter.

Step 1-: 'ide The (ipple! "n Top ith A Layer Ma!k

7 course, we have a slight problem at the moment. We+ve added our water ripple eect to the

entire image, and we only wanted it in the bottom hal. We can i/ that easily though using a

layer mask. 0irst, Ctrl


13/15

&3ight%click& (Win ! &ontrol%click& ("ac directly on Layer '+s thumbnail in the Layers paletteto place a selection around the lipped image.

?ou+ll see a selection appear around the bottom hal o the image in your document. #ow, withthe merged layer still selected, click on the Layer Ma!k icon at the bottom o the Layers palette:

lick on the &Layer "ask& icon to add a layer mask to the merged layer at the top o the Layers palette.

Photoshop will add a layer mask to the merged layer, and because we had a selection around the

bottom hal o our document when we added the layer mask, only the bottom hal o the mergedlayer remains visible. The top hal becomes hidden rom view, removing the unwanted water

ripples rom that part o the image:


14/15

The ripple eect is now hidden rom the top hal o the image ater applying the layer mask.


15/15

/

The height o the document has now been doubled with the e/tra canvas space added to the bottom.

Documents

Water Reflection Effect Photoshop