Text Reflections

Tue, May 6, 2008

Create a new Document in Photoshop - Open Photoshop, go to the File menu and choose New or press the keyboard shortcut CTRL+N to create a new document.
Enter your desired text - Select the Type tool from the Tools Palette and start typing your text.

Duplicate the Text Layer - Because our reflection will be vertical , first we need to duplicate the text layer. Select the layer containing the text, right click on it choose Duplicate Layer and the click the Ok button in the new dialog box that opens.

Rasterize the Duplicated Text Layer - This method is used to make the layer directly editable. To rasterize the duplicated text layer right click on it and choose Rasterize Type.

Flip the duplicated layer vertically- Next we have to flip the duplicated layer vertically so we can create the text reflection. With our duplicated layer selected (in our case “Text Reflection Tutorial copy” we will go to the Edit menu, choose Transform and then Flip Vertical.

Nudge flipped layer- Next we will have to drag the flipped text below the initial text. To obtain a perfect vertical movement keep the Shift key pressed when dragging downwards.

Edit Layer in Quick Mask Mode- Select the duplicated layer which contains our vertically flipped text and then from the Tools Palette click the “Edit in Quick Mask mode” button .

Select the Gradient Tool from the Tools Palette- We have to use the Gradient tool in order to create the fade of our reflections. Click the Gradient Tool from the Tools Palette, or press the G key on your keyboard. Make sure you are still on the Quick Mask Mode.

Choose the Gradient- From the Options bar we will choose the Foreground to Transparent gradient. Click the arrow next to the gradient bar to open the Gradients palette. Or you can click once on the gradients bar and then from the Gradient Editor window choose the Foreground to Transparent one.

Drag the Gradient over the Text- Next with our Foreground to Transparent gradient selected we will drag from the center of our text downwards to the bottom of the text…Do not exceed the text area!! After you release the mouse button you will see a red fade over the text.

Edit in Standard Mode- After you have finished with the gradient it’s time to exit the Quick Mask Mode. To do that click the same button which is now called “Edit in Standard Mode” or press again the Q key.
Delete the Marquee Selection- The result will be a Marquee Selection around our vertically flipped text. Next we will delete the selection by pressing the Delete key. Remember that you must have the flipped layer selected. After you delete the Marquee Selection the fade will appear giving us the Text Reflection. You can press CTRL+D to deselect the selection.