Splash an Image with Water Droplets Using Photoshop

Steve Caplin

Displacement maps are one of the least frequently used features in Photoshop, but they provide a function that’s found nowhere else in the program: the ability to distort images based on the brightness values in a second image. This means you can move around pixels to create refraction effects, such as the view through water droplets–and that’s the effect we’re going to create here.

Step 1
Water displacement is an effect that can be seen much more clearly on a graphic rather than a photographic image. For a starting image, create some text on a dotted background.

Step 2
Make a new layer, then switch to the Brush tool. Paint your water on it in a mid-tone gray using a hard-edged brush. Vary the size of the brush to make it easier to paint both small droplets and larger bodies of water.

Step 3
Hide the background layer. As you can see, the hard-edged brush you used means that the edges of the water are somewhat ragged and lumpy. In real life, water would have much smoother edges.

Step 4
Use Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to soften the water droplet edges. I used a radius of 10 pixels, but the amount you choose depends on the size of the rough edges. Use a blur setting just large enough that no small bumps and lumps are visible.

Step 5
Make a new layer, filled with white, above the water layer. Hold Ctrl (Windows)/Command (Mac) and click on the thumbnail of the blurred water layer in the Layers Panel to load it as a selection. Press Q to enter QuickMask mode, and you’ll see the fuzzy water in white against a red background.

Step 6
Now to tighten up that soft edge. Open the Levels dialog (Images > Adjustments > Levels). There are three sliders beneath the Input Levels histogram. Drag the black slider to the right, and the white slider to the left, until they just (or very nearly) touch the edges of the gray slider right in the middle.

Step 7
By dragging these sliders, you lose all the fuzziness from the edges. But you’re still in QuickMask mode, and you need to turn this into a proper selection so you can work with it.

Step 8
Press Q again to exit QuickMask, and you’ll see the “marching ants” selection edges on your plain white layer. Hide this layer and make another new layer, calling it “Water” so you can find it again easily. Choose a mid-gray from the Swatches panel, and press Alt/Option-backspace to fill the selection with gray. You’ll now have just the gray water on a transparent background.

Step 9
Let’s add some shine to that water. Choose Layer > Layer Style > Bevel and Emboss, or select it from the pop-up menu at the bottom of the Layers panel. Choose an Inner bevel with a high Soften value to avoid hard edges.


Step 10
Put a tick in the Contour section (on the left pane, beneath Bevel and Emboss) and click on it to change the settings. Click on the triangle next to the thumbnail and choose the U-shaped curve. This adds an extra shine beneath the shadow on the right, and to the right of the shadow on the left, which makes the water look more like it’s refracting light internally.


Step 11
Move to the Color Overlay section and click the color swatch to change it. Choose a pale blue and click OK; then drag the slider to set the opacity to around 40% so the color doesn’t appear too strong.


Step 12
In the final part of the Layer Style process, move to the Drop Shadow section and add a soft shadow. With the Use Global Light checkbox ticked, the shadow will follow the direction of the Bevel and Emboss. Adjust the Distance, Spread and Size (I’ve used values of 7px, 24% and 10px) to create the effect of a subtle shadow cast by the water. This shadow also accentuates the gloss on the bottom right edge of the water, produced by the Contour.


Step 13
Click the Eye icon next to the background layer to reveal it again. Then use the pop-up menu at the top of Layers Panel to change the mode of the Water layer from Normal to Hard Light. This lets you see through the water, revealing the background beneath it. So far, so good: but we really need to distort the view through the water.

Go to page 2 for the final steps in this process.

1 2 Next