Reflections Made Simple

Original Author: Inknition
Source:Inknition Blog

This is a really easy tutorial one of my favorites effects that you can make with Photoshop
hope you guys like it!

You gonna learn in this tutorial to Cut, Transform, Duplicate, Fill, Layer FX, and the most important one Make a Cool Reflection with the most basic steps…

First step: once you have the image you wanna use, you need to duplicate the layer to manipulate that image

Then Delete the old layer and keep the one that you just made!

Pick the Lasso Tool (L) from the Tools Bar

Select the image with the Lasso all the way around to cut the background of the image

Once you have it selected invert the selection with apple key (cntrl pc) + shift + (i)

Then click Delete to erase the background (apple key (cntrl pc) + (D) to deselect)

Now we gonna make the image smaller apple key (cntrl pc) + (T) until get the transform frame

Then with your mouse click and hold on one corner don’t release, then option key(alt pc) + shift and start dragging to the center of the image until you get half of the size, when you get the size desired hit enter

Ok what we gonna do now is make a new layer to make the floor where the reflection is gonna sit

Now pick the Paint Bucket to fill that layer you just made

Click white in the color Picker

It’s gonna look something like this!

Then we’re going to add a gradient with the layer style tool, select Gradient Overlay

Once the layer style window is open click on the gradient bar to open the Gradient Editor
Select the white color on the bar and then type the location % to 50

It’s gonna look something close to this!

Ok now we’re gonna duplicate the image layer (not the background) to do the reflection

With apple key(cntrl pc) + (T) we goona transform the image then with the right click on your mouse
select the option Flip Vertical and Enter

Then we gonna select the Marquee Tool from the Tool Bar to make a square on the bottom part of the image covering a third part then hit delete to erase that part

Move that Layer all the way down until the top part of the invert image touch the straight one

With the Marquee tool make a square arround the front of the box

Then hold apple key (contrl pc) + (T) to transform, now click & hold the middle dot of the right site of the transform box then without releasing click apple key(cntrl pc) + shift and with the mouse move it up until hit the corner of the upper image, hit enter and then apple key (cntrl pc) + (D) to deselect

Do the same steps for the side of the bottom box

Now It should look like this, we’re almost there!

With the Marquee tool make a square to select the half of the bottom image (reflection one)

Then Select the Mask tool on the bottom part of the tool bar

That makes the image looks like this

Now go to Filters on The top Bar then Blur / Gaussian Blur

When the Pop Up window of the Gaussian Blur show up type the radius or move the slide at the point
the you like the most hit the preview option for a better control I choose 25 pixels

It looks like this

Then Click on the Mask Tool again to exit Mask

Then Hit Delete until you think looks good to you I hit it twice then apple key(cntrl pc) + (D) to deselect

Select the Layer of the reflection image and on the opacity menu turn it down until you like it, I go for 20%

And yes! finally you got a Really Cool Reflection!!!

You can add some shadows to make the composition looks nicer

Grunge – Gritty HDR Photo Retouch

Original Author: Denny Tang

Give your photos a grunge look with this popular Photoshop effect. Although this Photoshop effect is commonly referred as HDR photo effect, it is it can be done with regular, non-HDR photos.

Note: This photo effect is titled Gritty HDR due to the common use of the name and is not intended to be an accurate description of the effect. HDR means high dynamic range but this photo effect does not require the use of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos. This effect is better described as a grungy tone mapping effect that can be done without the use of HDR images.

Preview of Final Results

Gritty HDR Photoshop Tutorial

Step 1: Open a photo into Photoshop

Start by opening an image into Photoshop. To do this, run Photoshop and choose File> Open. Browse and select the photo you would like to edit then click OK.

Photoshop CS2 or Older:

Select the layer and press Ctrl+J or go to Layer> Duplicate Layer to create a duplicate of the layer. Do not do any editing on the Background layer. Instead, work on the Background copy layer. This will ensure you always have a copy of the original unedited image in case you require it for further post processing.

Photoshop CS3

If you are using Adobe Photoshop CS3, right mouse click on the layer an select “Convert to Smart Object”. This will allow you to apply Smart Filters which can be edited at anytime and will keep the file size smaller.

Step 2: Make details more visible with the Shadow/Highlights tool

First, we’ll mimic the tone mapping effect by using the Shadow/Highlights tool. Choose Image> Adjustments> Shadow/Highlights. In the Shadow/Highlights tool, adjust the settings so that all details are easy to see without making the photo look fake.

Step 3: Add a halo effect with the Unsharp Mask filter

Choose Filter> Sharpen> Unsharp Mask. We will not be using this filter to sharpen the image. Instead, we’ll use this filter to add a high-contrast halo effect to the image. In the Unsharp Mask filter, set the Radius to 250 pixels and adjust the amount to get an effect that you desire.

Step 4: Add a Black and White adjustment layer

Photoshop CS2 or Older:

Select Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue/Saturation. Set the Saturation to -100 and click OK.

Photoshop CS3

Select Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Black and White. A window with the settings will appear. For now, just click OK without touching any of the settings and change the blending mode of the Black and White adjustment layer to Overlay.

Step 5: Adjust the Black and White adjustment layer settings (For Photoshop CS3 only)

Photoshop CS2 or Older:

Skip this step

Photoshop CS3

In the previous step, we skipped the settings to change the layer blending mode. Now, we’ll go back and edit the settings that we previously skipped. The reason for this is so that we can see the live preview effect of the Black and White adjustment layer with Overlay blending mode instead of the Normal blending mode.

Double-click on the Black and White adjustment layer and a Black and White window will appear. In this window, adjust the settings to get the results you desire. Start by scrolling through the Presets and find the one that closely matches your

Step 6: Create a new layer named “Grain”

Choose Layer> New Layer or press Ctrl+Shift+N. Type in “Grain” (without the quotations) as the layer name and select Overlay as the blending mode. We will use this layer to add noise to the image.

Step 7: Add a 50% gray fill

Select the Grain layer that we created in the previous step. Then, press Ctrl+Backspace to access the Fill tool. In the Fill tool, select 50% Gray in the Use drop down menu and click OK. This will fill the layer with 50% gray.

The reason we’re using 50% gray is because it will not be visible on many layer blending modes including Overlay. This means that the gray will not be visible on our Grain layer because it’s using Overlay as the blending mode. So why did we do this if it does nothing?

Some filters including the Add Noise filter we’ll be using in the next step won’t work on an empty layer. In order to use it, we had to fill the layer with 50% gray and change the blending mode to one of the blending modes that won’t show the 50% gray.

Step 8: Add Noise

Choose Filter> Noise> Add Noise. In the Add Noise tool, checkmark Monochromatic and click OK.

Step 9: Blur the noise

Choose Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur and enter 0.3 in the Radius setting then click OK.

Step 10: Increase the contrast of the layer with Auto Levels

Choose Image> Adjustments> Auto Levels. This will increase the contrast of the layer making the noise extremely visible. Reduce the opacity of the layer until you get the noise level you desire.

Final Results

Original Image

Gritty HDR

Glowing Lighting Effects

Original Author: Johnson

Preparations:We will need a nice model image and some vector curves. There are plenty to be found at Vecteezy and here is where I got mine. All rights of these resources belong to their respective owners. Step 1 – Setting Up Background: Create a document of size 750 by 550px. Set your foreground color to #505050 and background color to #000000. Drag a Radial Gradient at the position shown in the diagram. Step 2 – Cropping the Model: Crop out the model with Pen tool. You can check out this post to find out how. Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels to tone it darker. Open up the vector curves you downloaded from Vecteezy in Illustrator. Select the curves and press Ctrl+C. Switch back to Photoshop and press Ctrl-V. Select Paste As Smart Object. Postion the curves as shown on the left. Step 3 – Glowing Curves: Duplicate the vector curves layer. Right-click on this new layer and choose Rasterize. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur with 2px. Set the Blending Mode for this layer to Color Dodge. With Soft Eraser tool of 300px, erase those parts that are further away from the model. Step 4 – Adding Color Light: Create a new layer between the curves and the model. Make a circular selection with Elliptical Marquee tool at the center. Go to Select > Modify > Feather with 30px. Fill this selection with #D200FF. Change the Blending Mode to Screen and opacity to 40%. Step 5 – Adding More Lights: Using the same method in Step 4, create 2 more colored lights above the model layer. The colors used are #F6FF00 and #00A2FF. Change the Blending Mode for these two layers to Overlay and opacity to 60%. Step 6 – Creating Smoke: Create a new layer below the model and draw a large rectangle with color #FFFFFF. Go to Filter > Liquify. Using the Forward Warp tool with size 300px, push the white rectangle any way you like to form a wavy look. Step 7 – Glowing Smoke: Select the Smudge tool with size 200px, smudge the white wave earlier around the model. You can pull and push the waves around in any manner. You can start to see nice glow of colors blending around the blurred edges. Step 8 – Adding Point Lights: Create a new layer on top of the rest. Select a Soft Brush tool with #FFFFFF. Paint some white dots of various sizes along the edge of the model. Step 9 – Stroking Paths: Create another new layer on top. Use the Pen tool and make one or two paths similar to the one I had in the diagram. Set the foreground color to #FFFFFF. Select the Brush tool and reduce the size to 3px. Right-click on the path(s) you drawn and choose Stroke Path. Check on Simulate Pressure then OK. Step 10 – Glowing Lines: Right-click on the lines layer and choose Blending Options > Outer Glow. Set the Blend Mode to Linear Dodge (Add), Size to 6px and Color to #00D2FF. The rest leave as default. Click here to view the final image.