FINAL PREVIEW:

Create a text reflection in photoshop using a displacement map.

Quick Tip No. 1

Today I thought I would start the quick tip series for Photoshop. This series will be covering  how to do certain effects & smart ways to get more done in Photoshop . 

This is a thorough and flexible technique to add a reflection to text on water and in other settings. This technique is also nearly 100% non destructive which is what we should always aim for; the smart filter can be altered very easily as can the reflection – this all makes our design lives easier.

(thanks to Marcus Vegas for the sea image)

Step1

To start download this image of the sea and place it into Photoshop.

Save this as a photoshop psd file and name it ‘displacement map 1’ . Save it somewhere easy to find on your desktop.

Step 2

Add a curves adjustment layer with output at 31 and input at 179 .

Step 3

Ad an exposure adjustment layer with exposure set to – 0.10

Step 4

Type out ‘ Digital Art Empire’, or something else memorable that you like.  A sans serif bold font will work nicely.

Step 5

Add a gradient layer style with the stops in a similar place and colour to these. Black, then dark grey, then Black again .

Step 6

Copy this layer using ctrl + J .

Step 7

Press Ctrl + T to free transform and choose flip vertical , then holding shift drag the copy down so it’s a reflection.

Step 8

Ctrl + T again and drag the top of the copy reflection down a bit.

Step 9

Right click the copied text layer and rasterize type, then right click again and select convert to smart object . This way the filter we use , the displacement map, will be a smart filter and we can change it as we go.

Step 10

With the copied text layer selected go to filter , distort and displace. Choose 3 and 3 for the scales and leave the rest as defaults. Then choose the PSD file we saved earlier called  ‘displacement map 1′

Step 11

Add a layer mask to the copied text layer , choose a black to white linear gradient and drag so the reflection is faded