How to design water reflections in Photoshop

ripple water reflections

“Reflections are the new drop shadows!” If that’s the case, here’s how!

Copy the text layer – or layer – that you want to reflect (Cmd/Ctrl-J). If the layer that you want to reflect is a text layer then you should Rasterize it. To do this, right-click on the text layer in the Layers palette and choose Rasterize Type.

This is my method of quickly flipping something vertically in Photoshop. Go Cmd/Ctrl-T for Free Transform, grab the top-middle point, pull down (see below) and then hit Return. Simple, no need for cumbersome menus.

Next you need to create a gradient mask to fade the reflection from top to bottom. To do this, select the layer that is the reflection, click on the “Add layer mask” icon at the bottom of the Layers palette (looks like a washing machine), select the Gradient Tool (G) and drag from above the top to below the bottom of the reflection. Easy! (Didn’t work? Make sure your Foreground and Background colors and your Gradient picker are defaulted.)

Lastly a bit of rippling and blurring. Go Filters > Distort > Ripple… and choose the desired level of wobble. Only blur it a touch.

water reflections tutorial

Tags: color, design, drop shadows, foreground and background, gradient tool, layer mask, palette, Photoshop, reflection, simple, transform, type

This article was posted on Monday, December 31st, 2007 at 3:04 pm and is filed under Photoshop.
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7 Responses to “How to design water reflections in Photoshop”

Zazsis sterling silver earing, on January 26th, 2008 at 4:51 am, said:

This effect is so cool. I have always wandered how the reflection effect is accomplished. Thanks for sharing.
philippine joomla designer, on February 5th, 2008 at 6:48 am, said:

tried this tricks at my own site and it works great. the header logo works great thanks for this tutorials.
Rob Cubbon, on February 8th, 2008 at 12:03 am, said:

Thanks guys, more tips and tricks to come!
Article Rewriter, on May 23rd, 2008 at 7:47 pm, said:

I love photoshop articles like this thanks!
Rob Cubbon, on May 26th, 2008 at 9:55 am, said:

Thank you, Article Rewriter.
sean potter, on May 9th, 2009 at 2:44 pm, said:

i read every single of your post sometimes i read it over and over again ..you really inspired many people here..wish you a good luck in everything you do..
Rob Cubbon, on December 26th, 2009 at 4:18 pm, said:

Sean, thank you for your kind words! Good luck to you!

Graphic and Web Designer London UK