Photoshop CS Timesaving Techniques For Dummies [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Putting It All Together

This final section takes the “Liquid” channel and “Water” layer and shows you how to put them together to finish this cool liquid effect.

In the Channels palette, select the Liquid channel and then click the Load Channel as Selection button at the bottom of the palette.





Choose Select>Inverse or press Ctrl+Shift+I/z+Shift+I to invert the selection.





In the Layers palette, select the Water layer.





Choose Select>Feather.





Set the Feather Radius to 2 in the Feather Selection dialog box.

This smoothes and softens the selection.





Set the Foreground color to black.

A quick way to do this is to press D.





Press Alt+Backspace/Option+Backspace to fill the selected area with black.





Choose Edit>Fade Fill.





In the Fade dialog box, set the Opacity to 50% and select Normal from the Mode drop-down list, as shown in Figure 43-10.




Figure 43-10: Use the Fade dialog box to fade the black fill.






Click OK to close the Fade dialog box and apply the settings.





Press Ctrl+D/z +D to remove the selection.

The Water layer should now look something like the one shown in Figure 43-11.




Figure 43-11: The Water layer is an embossed gray on gray layer.






Choose Image>Adjustments>Curves or press Ctrl+M/z +M to open the Curves dialog box.

You’re using curves to make the Water layer look more like liquid. (If you want to find out more about curves, turn to Technique 30.)





In the Curves dialog box, click the line five times to create five evenly spaced points, as shown in Figure 43-12.




Figure 43-12: Click the line to add five points.


It doesn’t matter exactly where you place the points, but one point should roughly be in the center and two more should be on either side of the center point.





Drag the second point up and the fourth point down until the plotted line resembles the one shown in Figure 43-13.




Figure 43-13: Drag the second point up and the fourth point down.


Don’t worry; it doesn’t have to exactly match the figure. Just get it close.






Click OK to close the Curves dialog box and apply the settings.

The Water layer should now appear like the one shown in Figure 43-14.




Figure 43-14: The Water layer is looking more and more like liquid.






With the Water layer still selected, choose Filter>Artistic>Plastic Wrap.

The Plastic Wrap filter adds more highlights and drippy qualities to the Water layer.





In the Filter Gallery, set the Plastic Wrap settings: Highlight Strength to 20, Detail to 10, and Smoothness to 10, as shown in Figure 43-15.




Figure 43-15: Set the Plastic Wrap filter settings.







Click OK to close the Filter Gallery and apply the filter to the Water layer.





Choose Edit>Fade Plastic Wrap.





In the Fade dialog box, set the Opacity to 30% and then click OK.

The Water layer now has some highlights and quite a liquid edge.





In the Channels palette, select the Liquid channel and then click the Load Channel as Selection button at the bottom of the palette.





In the Layers palette, select the Water layer.





Choose Select>Inverse or press Ctrl+Shift+I/z+Shift+I.

This inverts the selected area. The inverted selection removes the background behind the liquid areas of the layer.





Press Delete to remove the background behind the liquid areas.





Press Ctrl+D/z +D to remove the selection marquee.





In the Layers palette, choose Hard Light from the Blending Mode drop-down list.

This blends the Water layer with the image layer below. The Water layer does look like water, but it’s a bit too light to really be noticeable.





Choose Layer>New>Layer via Copy or press Ctrl+J/z +J.

A copy of the Water layer (named Water Copy) appears above the Water layer in the Layers palette.





Add a drop shadow to the Water Copy layer by clicking the Add Layer Style button at the bottom of the Layers palette and choosing Drop Shadow from the menu.





In the Layer Style dialog box, set the Angle to the direction where the light source in your image is coming from. (This should be the same setting that you used in Step 14 in the “Creating the ‘Water’ Layer” section.)

For my key example, I used 135 degrees.





Set the Distance to 20 pixels, Spread to 0%, and Size to 5 pixels, as shown in Figure 43-16.




Figure 43-16: Use the sliders to set the drop shadow settings.


You may need to fiddle with these settings to get the best look for your liquid image.





Click OK to close the Layer Style dialog box and apply the drop shadow to the Water Copy layer.

You made it! Your image should now look like liquid, like the key in Figure 43-17. Congratulations!




Figure 43-17: The liquid key with the drop shadow applied.











Tip

You could also delete the layer containing the image and add a solid fill layer below the two Water layers to just show the liquid effect. Figure 43-18 shows a white fill layer behind the two Water layers. Figure 43-18: The two Water layers shown with a white fill layer.








Tip

To change the color of the liquid, add a solid fill layer above the Water Copy layer and select any color that you want. Then, set the fill layer’s blending mode to Color by using the Layers palette. (To find out how to add fill layers, take a look at Technique 21.)