How To Paint Realistic Reflections In Photoshop For Stunning Visuals

How To Paint Realistic Reflections In Photoshop For Stunning Visuals – It’s hard to capture beautiful reflections in photos. Sometimes it’s easier to create a reflection in Photoshop. You’ll have more control over how the image looks and can avoid the hassle of mirror photography.

Most of the time, you can’t find the right place to stand to capture the perfect reflection. Sometimes, when the light is wrong, the natural reflection can be very dark. Choosing to create reflections in Photoshop makes it much easier to get the look you want.

How To Paint Realistic Reflections In Photoshop For Stunning Visuals

How To Paint Realistic Reflections In Photoshop For Stunning Visuals

It’s not that hard to do. In this article, I will walk you through a series of steps to create a mirror image in Photoshop.

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When creating a reflection in Photoshop, it’s important to start by selecting an appropriate image. Not all images will look good when mirrored.

When looking for images to use in this technique, pay attention to images. Basically you want to use an image where the main object has a clear line where the reflection is happening.

Open your image in Photoshop. You can crop the bottom of the photo to create a clear line to place the mirror.

Go to the top menu and select Image->Canvas Size. In the pop-up window that appears in the box next to Height, click the drop-down menu and select Percentage. Make the high 200th percentile.

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Click in the top center of the binding options grid. This will cause the new canvas space you create to appear below your image.

In the Layers panel, unlock the base layer. To do this, click on the lock icon. You can now duplicate this layer by going to the top menu and selecting “Layer->New->Duplicate Layer”.

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Convert both layers to visuals by right-clicking on each layer and selecting Menu to Visual. Now name both boards to make it easier to keep track of who is who.

How To Paint Realistic Reflections In Photoshop For Stunning Visuals

Now you need to change the bottom layer. It will be your reflection. From the top menu, select Edit->Transform->Flip Vertical and press Enter.

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With the display layer selected, select Select->Blur->Motion Blur from the top menu. Set the angle to 90 degrees and use the distance slider to add more coverage. The amount you add depends on the resolution of the image you’re working with. In my example, I set the value to 30.

You can change the position of the mirror layer by moving it slightly up if there is a gap between the two layers.

Create a copy of the file by going to the top menu and selecting Image->Duplicate. Crop the image so that only the reflection remains.

Remove a layer and you’re left with a blank canvas. Expand the file to 30% or it will be too large to process. Select the paint bucket and fill the shape with black.

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This file you created will be added to the display layer to make the water look better.

From the top menu, select Filter->Noise->Add Noise. Win 350% of your money and check Uniform and Monochrome. Click OK.

Now add some dark colors. Select Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur from the top menu and set the Radius to 1.5px and click OK.

How To Paint Realistic Reflections In Photoshop For Stunning Visuals

Then go to the top menu again and select Options->Image->Delete. Set the angle to 90, the height to 5, and the magnitude to 500. In general, you can experiment with any of these values. Click OK.

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Then select the Green Channel and Filter-> Stylize-> Emboss from the top menu. Set the angle to 0, the height to 5, and the count to 500. Click OK.

Returns all channels through the RGB panel. Go back to the Layers panel, right-click the layer and go to Visual Object.

From the top menu, select Edit->Free Edits. Right-click inside the image and select View. Make sure you zoom in so the image is in the center of the monitor.

Press on one of the bottom corners of the frame and pull it out. This will stretch and revive the lower part of the seed. Don’t worry about it looking weird, if you put it in a mirror it will look better.

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Return to 100%. Save this image as a .PSD and give it a recognizable name.

Click on the main image display layer and copy it by pressing Ctrl (Cmd)+j on your keyboard. Name it “Screenshot”. With the new layer selected (directly above the other mirrored layer), choose Select->Distort->Displace from the top menu. Set the vertical and horizontal scale to about 10.

You can change them if they don’t look right depending on the image size and resolution. Click OK.

How To Paint Realistic Reflections In Photoshop For Stunning Visuals

In the window that opens, find and select the other image you created and save it. This will use the texture image as the motion layer. If the ripple effect is too large or too small, remove this step. Repeat the step, but this time choose a larger or smaller number for the sliding scale.

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Experiment with it until you like the look. It really depends on your preference.

With the mirror layer selected, click the face layer icon at the bottom of the layers panel. Select the Brush tool with the color Black with a large brush size and 0% Opacity.

In the options panel above the image, set the opacity of the brush to 20%. Select the canvas layer, not the main mirror layer. Move it back and forth across the top half of the mirror layer, following the top layer until it looks natural.

What you do is remove 20% of the percentage every time you paint. You want the display to be as smooth as possible at a distance.

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Select both layers in the Layers panel. Right-click on one of them and select “Merge Layers”. Make sure your main character is not selected. It has the same mirror as your base layer.

With the display layer selected, go to the top menu and select Image->Adjustments->Brushes. Click in the middle of the adjustment lines and drag the curves down to darken the mirror. Adjust it to look natural. The reflection in the water is darker than where it is reflected.

Follow these steps a few times and experiment with the variables. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Your personal preferences and the photos you choose will determine the result.

How To Paint Realistic Reflections In Photoshop For Stunning Visuals

Try this method of creating reflections in Photoshop and share your photos with us in the comments below.

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Kevin Landwehr-Johan is a photographer, photography teacher and writer with over 30 years of experience that he enjoys sharing with others.

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