{"id":1900,"date":"2024-04-17T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skylinereptiles.com\/?p=1900"},"modified":"2024-05-01T16:14:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T16:14:26","slug":"how-to-create-a-reflection-in-photoshop-6-easy-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylinereptiles.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/17\/how-to-create-a-reflection-in-photoshop-6-easy-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create a Reflection in Photoshop (6 Easy Steps)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post How to Create a Reflection in Photoshop (6 Easy Steps)<\/a> appeared first on Digital Photography School<\/a>. It was authored by Darlene Hildebrandt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/span>\"How<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Looking to create a realistic-looking reflection in Photoshop<\/a>? Honestly, while using Photoshop to create a reflection might seem hard at first glance, it really isn’t. You just have to follow a specific set of steps relatively carefully!<\/p>\n

In this article, I’m going to explain how I use Photoshop to create reflections. This technique works particularly well on images with open pavement, and it also looks great if your images have some level of HDR processing<\/a> (which tends to make the pavement look wet already).<\/p>\n

Specifically, you’re going to learn how to go from this:<\/p>\n

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<\/span>\"reflection-before\"<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

To this:<\/p>\n

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<\/span>\"reflection-after-photoshop\"<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

And you’ll be able to do it in less than 10 minutes. <\/p>\n

I recently showed one of my HDR classes how to do this, and they all followed along with me step by step. Some of them were using Photoshop Elements<\/a> (which works just fine, but the menus and choices look slightly different). Many of my students were also self-proclaimed “Photoshop novices,” and when I asked them if they thought they’d be able to do this when I showed the before-and-after images, most said “No”! <\/p>\n

But they all created their reflections successfully, and we were done in less than 10 minutes. (Note that my 10-minute count also <\/em>included me going super slow to ensure each of the 12 people in the class was on the same page with me. Reading along, I’m going to guess this will take less than 5. Ready? Go!<\/p>\n

Creating a reflection in Photoshop: The 6 basic steps<\/h2>\n

Here are the six easy steps to follow in Photoshop. This is the super condensed version for quick readers and skimmers:<\/p>\n

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  1. Copy<\/strong> a section of the image.<\/li>\n
  2. Paste<\/strong> it as a new layer.<\/li>\n
  3. Flip<\/strong> it.<\/li>\n
  4. Position<\/strong> it.<\/li>\n
  5. Change<\/strong> the layer blend mode.<\/li>\n
  6. Mask<\/strong> it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    That’s it! Do you want a few more details? Let’s dive a little deeper into each step:<\/p>\n

    Step 1: Copy a section of your image<\/h2>\n

    Using the Marquee tool (M<\/strong> is the keyboard shortcut), draw a box around an area of your image that will become the reflection (see my example below). <\/p>\n

    Make sure you go edge to edge on the sides and get enough of the image vertically. If you grab more than you need, that’s fine; we’ll be moving it around and masking later anyway.<\/p>\n

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    <\/span>\"select-section\"<\/span>
    To start, make a selection!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    Then copy the selection as a new layer<\/a>. You can do that in a few ways:<\/p>\n