Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
I'm going to show you how to create a realistic-looking, shiny, reflective 8-ball from scratch.
Create a new document by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + N or you can go to File and New.
Make its Width 1920 pixels, its Height: 1080 pixels and its Resolution: 150 pixels per inch.
It doesn't matter what the background color is, since we're going to fill it with a gradient.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click, "Gradient".
Click the Gradient bar and click the black and white box.
The Style is Linear, the Angle is 90 degrees, the Scale is 100% and check "Reverse".
We'll convert our gradient background into Smart Object,
so we can add a soft vignette to it non-destructively.
To do this, Shift-click the black layer to make it active, as well,
and click the icon at the upper, right corner to open the fly-out list.
Click "Convert to Smart Object".
Go to Filter and "Lens Correction".
Click the "Custom" tab and for the vignette amount, type in minus 50.
Next, we'll create a basic sphere that we'll add highlights and reflections to.
Click the New Layer icon to make a new layer.
Open your Elliptical Marquee Tool and go to the approximate center of your document.
Press and Hold Alt or Option + Shift as you drag out a circle approximately this size.
To place it in the exact center, first, go to View and if "Snap" is not checked, click it to activate it.
Then, drag your selection until it snaps to the center.
We'll fill it with black.
There are a few ways to do this, but for this example, open your "Fill" window by pressing
Shift + the F5 key at the top of your keyboard or you can go to Edit and "Fill".
Open the Contents list and click "Black".
Deselect it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + D. Convert it into a Smart Object.
Double-click an empty area of the circle layer to open its Layer Style window.
Click "Inner Glow".
The color is white, the Blend Mode is Normal and the Opacity is 40%.
The Technique is "Softer", the Source is "Edge", the Choke is 0 and the Size is 60 pixels.
Click "Gradient Overlay".
The Blend Mode is Normal and the Opacity is 50%.
Click the Gradient bar and click the Black and White box.
Check "Reverse" and make the Style: Radial.
The Angle is 90 degrees and slide the Scale all the way to the left.
Let's drag the window over, so we can see our sphere.
Drag the gradient overlay to approximately here and then increase the Scale to 100%.
Next, we'll add a highlight spot, but before we do, let's save some space in the Layers
panel by collapsing the effects.
Make a new layer and name it, "Highlight spot".
Open your Brush Tool and Brush Picker.
Pick a soft, round brush.
Make its Size 250 pixels and its Hardness: 0%.
Make its Opacity: 50% and the Flow 100%.
Check your foreground and background colors.
If they're not black and white, respectively, press "D" on your keyboard.
Invert them by pressing "x".
White should be your foreground color.
Place your cursor approximately here and click once.
Make a new layer and name it, "Bounce Light".
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the black circle to make a selection of its shape.
Go to Select and "Transform Selection".
Between the Width and Height, make sure the chain-link icon is active.
This links them together, so whatever percentage is typed into one is repeated in the other.
In either field, type in 91%.
Then press Enter or Return twice.
Open your Brush Picker and type in 900 pixels for its size.
For its opacity, type in 15%.
Place your cursor approximately here and click once.
Then, deselect it.
Make a new layer and name it, "Shape behind number” and name it, "Shape behind number".
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the black shape again to make a selection of it.
Go to Select and "Transform Selection".
This time, reduce its size to 49%.
Press Enter or Return twice.
We'll fill the selection with white and since our foreground color is white,
press Alt or Option + Delete.
Then, deselect it.
Reduce its opacity to 90%.
Open your Horizontal Type Tool and invert your colors by pressing "x" or by clicking this icon.
Pick font for the number on your billiard ball.
I'll make its size: 220 points, Sharp and center alignment.
Click on your document and type the number 8.
To center it, open your Move Tool and drag it to the center until it snaps in place.
Make a new layer and name it, "Top Reflection".
Scroll to the bottom and Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the black circle to make a selection of it.
As before, go to Select and Transform Selection.
In either the Width or the Height, type in 40%.
Click the "Warp Transform" icon
and open the "Custom" list of warp presets. Click "Arc"
and for the "Bend", type in 55.
We'll slide it straight up by pressing the "Up" arrow key until its positioned approximately here.
Then, press Enter or Return.
We'll fill it with white and since white is your background color, press Ctrl or Cmd + Delete.
Then, deselect it.
Change its Blend Mode to "Screen" and its opacity to 90%.
Double-click its thumbnail to open its Layer Style window.
In the Advanced Blending section, check "Blend Interior Effects as Group".
This makes any interior layer effect match the blending mode of the layer.
Click "Gradient Overlay".
The Blend Mode is Normal and the Opacity is 100%.
Uncheck "Reverse" and click the Gradient Bar.
Click the lower, left Stop and click the color box.
In the hexadecimal field, type in 40 three times.
Then, click OK on the Color Picker and the Gradient Editor.
Make the Style: "Linear", the Angle: 90 degrees and the Scale: 100%.
Click "Blending Options" and drag the Layer Style window to the side, so we can see the top highlight.
I’ll show you what our image looks like if we don't check “Blend Interior Effects as Group".
I’ll uncheck that option.
Notice that our top highlight is much darker and less transparent.
Let's check this option again.
Lastly, we'll create a shadow under our billiard ball.
Scroll to the bottom and make the bottom layer active.
Make a new layer above it.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the black shape to make a selection of it and go to Select, Modify and "Feather".
Feather it 3 pixels.
Fill the selection with the black foreground color by pressing Alt or Option + Delete.
Then, deselect it.
Slide the blurred circular shape down by pressing and holding Shift as you drag it to just under
the billiard ball.
Reduce its opacity to 40%.
Click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask next to the shadow.
Open your Gradient Tool and make sure the Linear gradient icon is active.
Click the gradient bar and click the Black, White box.
Go to the bottom of your image and press and hold Shift as you drag the tool up to the
bottom of the billiard ball.
Then, release.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
Thanks for watching!