Welcome back to another very exciting tutorial here at the PhotoshopTrainingChannel.com.
My name is Jesus Ramirez and you can find me on Instagram @JRfromPTC.
In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to create a window reflection effect in Photoshop.
The goal is to make it seem as if this woman is sitting behind a glass window.
Weíll create reflections, shadows, and highlights to create the illusion of a real glass window.
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Okay, let's get started.
We're going to be working with this document here that contains three layers.
Each of these images in this document is an Adobe Stock image.
You can look at the description to see where you can download each file.
You can download the free watermarked preview or license a full resolution file to work
with.
We have this layer here, this woman checking her phone, this busy city, and the dirty glass.
We're going to start out by enabling the busy city and simply changing the Blend Mode from
Normal to Lighten.
This is going to create this effect here which already sort of looks like a window.
I want to bring the Opacity down.
You can bring the opacity down by clicking and dragging on the label, by clicking on
the dropdown and selecting the value, or simply pressing a number on the keyboard to represent
that numerical value.
So I'm just going to press 2 for 20% and that looks pretty good.
Now, I don't really think this image requires it, but I'm going to show you a technique
that you can use in case your image is not blending the way you would like it to.
We have to remember that these blend modes look at the luminosity values of the layer
and use those luminance values to determine how it's going to blend with the layer below
it.
If we adjust the luminance values of this layer, then, of course, the layer will blend
differently.
I can create a new Levels Adjustment layer and clip it to the layer below it so that
it only affects that layer.
I want to press Ctrl Alt G, Command Option G on the Mac.
Now, notice this down pointing arrow.
This is telling us that this adjustment layer will only affect the layer below it.
You could also click on this icon here to enable or disable the clipping mask.
Notice what happens when I start adjusting these sliders.
Notice how the reflection changes.
So you can come in here and adjust how the reflection is going to be applied to the image
by simply dragging these sliders around.
I want to click on this icon here to reset the adjustment layer.
I want you to realize one thing.
All the Blend Modes that you see here from this divider to this divider here, so between
Lighten and Lighter Color are blend modes that show bright pixels but hide dark pixels.
So watch what happens if I click and drag this over to the right.
You'll see that all the pixels start disappearing because they're now black, so they're invisible
in this blend mode, and the same thing will happen if we make pixels brighterómore will
show.
But, anyway, I will reset this and I'm going to actually delete the layer because I don't
really need it for this layer.
I'm also going to show you a different technique.
You can go into the Black and White Adjustment Layer, which is going to turn everything black
and white.
But if I turn that into a clipping mask, Ctrl Alt G, Command Option G, it will only affect
the layer directly below it.
Then we can use the Properties panel to control the luminance values of individual colors.
So, for example, the yellow here, I can click and drag that over to the right and make this
cab brighter or click and drag it over to the left, to hide that cab.
Now you really can't see the colors because this layer is set to Normal.
If we change the Blend Mode to Luminosity and drag this over to the left, now you'll
see the colors; so there it is.
So you can come in here, make adjustments as to how the reflection is going to interact
with the background based on that individual colors and their luminance values.
So, as I mentioned before, I don't really need it for my particular image, but I just
wanted to give you those options in case your image is not blending the way that you intended
it to.
One thing that I will do to my image, however, is duplicate it, so I'm going to press Ctrl
J, Command J on the Mac, to have a second version of itóexactly the same thingóand
what I'm going to do is I'm going to go into Screen, which is a similar blend mode, and
I'm going to turn the image black and white, so I'm going to press Ctrl Shift U, Command
Shift U on the Mac, so now I have a black and white image.
Now let me set it to Normal so you could see it and bring it up to 100%.
So there it is, that's what it looks like now.
So I'm going to make this 20% again and change the blend mode back to Screen, enable my other
layers.
So what I'm going to do now is enhance the bright pixels.
So I want to hide anything that is dark, so I'm going to double click on the side of the
layer here and just under this layer, I'm going to click and drag this point over to
the right.
So, now, any point that is this shade of gray or darker will be invisible.
Notice the outline here.
That's too sharp.
I want to smooth that out, so I'm going to hold Alt, Option on the Mac, click, split
those two in half, and then, separate them to create a smoother transition.
I'm going to press OK, and this is before and that's after, and, of course, I can bring
down the Opacity to adjust it.
I can alsoóbut that layer is selectedógo into Image, Adjustment, Levels, and just make
it darker in some areas and brighter in other areas, like that, and maybe play around with
the contrast, so, maybe, something like this, and then, press OK; so that's before and that's
after.
That might be, again, too strong, so I'm going to go to zero and just increase it just a
little bit.
I can actually click on this input box and with the up arrow key, just go really slow
until I find something that I like, so, maybe, something like that.
It just really makes those bright pixels pop.
What I'm going to do now is create a Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer that is going
to help me add a green tint to it just to give it more of a glass effect.
So, a Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer, select Colorize, then I'm going to click and
drag this slider over to the rightóthe Hue slideróright about here; somewhere around
the greens, around 85 should be good.
25 and zero should be okay, then you can click and drag the opacity down or just press 2
for 20% and that might be okay.
Maybe we need a little more, so I'm going to click inside the input box and use the
up arrow keys to add just a little bit more, maybe 25%; before and after.
And now I'm going to enable the texture layer.
And what I'm going to do now is use the Blend If sliders that we used before, but this time
we're going to hide the bright pixels and only keep the dark pixels.
That way, we keep the dirt that's going to be on the window.
So I'm going to double click on the side of the layer to bring up the Layer Style Window
and I'm going to click and drag this slider, Bright Pixels slider to the left.
Notice how it starts disappearing.
At about this point, I'm going to hold Alt, Option on the Mac, click, split those in half,
and create a smoother transition; something like that.
Then, I'm going to adjust the Opacity, so I'm going to click and drag this over to the
left, and then, with the Up arrow key, let's bring some of that dirt.
We'll just go at 10% for now.
I'm going to press OK.
If I zoom in by pressing on the Z key and tapping, you'll see the result, so that's
before and after.
It's a very subtle effect.
I don't want it to be too noticeable.
I just wanted a little bit of dirt on that glass, so I'm going to Fit to Screen and,
now, I'm going to add a new Gradient Adjustment layer, and the gradient that I want is already
selected.
It's the one that goes from foreground color to transparent.
My foreground color is black so it shows black.
It's this one here.
If you don't have it, you can double click on the gradient.
Make sure that the two stops at the bottom are black and that the stop on the top right,
when you click on it, reads zero on Opacity, and then, you can click and drag this accordingly,
and I just wanted it to be dark here at the bottom, maybe bring the scale down a bit.
Press OK; before and after.
I think that might be a little too strong so I'm going to bring down the Opacity just
a little bit, maybe even more; so something like this.
Now I'm going to show you how to create some highlights in the glass because maybe there's
lights shining on the glass, so I'm going to add a new layer.
I'm going to select the Brush Tool or you can press B on the keyboard.
This brush is way too big so I'm going to hit the left bracket key on the keyboard to
make it smalleróright about this big here.
Make sure that you have a soft brush, set it to zero.
The size is not important.
It's going to vary depending on the size of the image that you're working with.
Just make sure that the brush is not too big so that no pixels go outside the edges, so
you can actually make it quite small.
So I'm going to make it about this size here and, also, make sure that white is my foreground
color; currently, it's my background color, but if I press X on the keyboard, I swap those.
Notice how the foreground and background color swap whenever I hit the X key.
So with white, I'm going to tap once, and there it is.
That's my highlight.
I'm going to press V on the keyboard for the Move Tool and I'm going to press Ctrl T, Command
T, to transform, and I'm just going to scale that up, like so.
So that's my highlight there and, now, I can apply a color so that it looks better, so
I'm going to go into the Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer, click and colorize, and
also, clip it to the layer below it, Ctrl Alt G, Command Option G on the Mac, or click
on this icon here.
And then, bring the lightness down so we can see some of that color, and then, move the
hue to the right, maybe right about here, maybe add a little bit more saturation and
something like that, just so it is that yellowish color.
I'm going to click on the Glow layer here and that's what I'll call it.
I'll rename it, double click on it, and call it "glow."
And I'm going to double click off the side here to bring up the Layer Style window and
what I'm going to do is I'm going to change the blending mode.
I'm going to go from Normal to Linear Dodge.
Notice the difference.
Then, under Transparency Shapes Layer, watch what happens if I uncheck this check box.
See how it changes?
So I'm going to uncheck it so it blends a little bit better and press OK.
And with the Move Tool selected, I can click and drag this and place it accordingly.
So maybe I can place it up here, I can press Ctrl T, Command T, to transform, and scale
it even further, so maybe right up here somewhere, just like a big bright highlight.
And I can select the Glow Layer, the Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer that is giving
it the color, press Ctrl G, Command G on the Mac, to turn that into a group.
With the group selected, I can hold Alt, Option on the Mac, click and drag to duplicate it,
so maybe have another highlight here at the bottom, and I can place that accordingly.
If the highlights are too bright, like the one here at the bottom, I can open up the
group, go into the Glow layer and bring down the Fill.
Linear Dodge is one of eight Blend Modes that reacts differently when you change Opacity
and Fill.
In this case, Fill will give you a better result, so I'm going to click and drag that
down right about there.
And maybe I can do the same thing for the glow on the top; so this is with the highlights
and without the highlights.
Now that we're at this point, you can go back and make any final adjustments.
I think, overall, the image is looking pretty good.
I can maybe come around and select the busy city and the busy city copy, hold Shift, click
on both, and move them around together, maybe to find a better spot for the image.
I think we were at a good location so I'm not going to make any changes to that, but
I just wanted to let you know that you could do that at this point.
What we're going to do now is we're going to actually flatten everything into one layer
so that we can apply a blur and some noise, so I'm just going to select the group on top
and press Ctrl Alt Shift E, Command Option Shift E on the Mac, and that's going to put
everything into one layer.
There it is at the very top.
Then I can go into Filter, Blur, Lens Blur, and we're going to add just a little bit of
blur, and I'm going to zoom in just so you could see what's going on.
You can increase the radius to add more blur, but we don't need that much so I'm just going
to bring it back down to, maybe, 7 and I'm going to use the down arrow key on the keyboard
to decrease the blur.
Let me remove the noise for now just so we can see without the noise.
And I'm going to go back into the radius here and start adding a little bit of blur, so
maybe about 5 or 4.
I'm going to stay at 4 in this case, and then, I'm going to add noise.
I'm going to click on here, on the input box, hit the Up arrow key on the keyboard to add
some noise, maybe two or three will work so, I'm just going to stay at 3, and press OK.
And this is one of my favorite filters to add blur with because we can add blur, and
then, add noise so that the images don't look too smooth.
So I know that you probably can't see the before and after, so that's before and that's
after.
It's very much the same unless we, of course, zoom in and look at the before and the after.
It's a very subtle effect but I think it works.
So I'm going to fit this to screen and I'm going to select the top layer by clicking
on it, and then, holding Shift and clicking on the busy city layer, and pressing Ctrl
G, Command G on the Mac, to put that into a group, and that's before and that's after.
And that's it for this tutorial.
I hope that you enjoyed it and that you learned something new.
Make sure that you leave all your comments or questions down below.
If you create an image using this tutorial or any other of my tutorials, feel free to
share it on Instagram with the hashtag #ptcvids.
I often do a search for this hashtag to see what you're all up to.
If I find your image, I would leave you a comment.
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Thank you for watching and I'll talk to you again soon.