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To begin with create some Text in my example I used Cooper Black font as it looks like the kind of font you would find of a can of soda, the soda can 3D object is just to demonstrate a difficult surface to wrap text onto but could be any object.

Transforming Text – The Problems

As you may have already discovered transforming a Live Text Layer is problematic. (What I mean by ‘live’ is retaining its ability to edit the Text after the Transformation)

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As you can see in the above example the Warp function of the Transform Tool is ghosted and when you click any of the Anchor Points on the Transform Bounding Box it only allows you to Skew, Rotate and Resize the Text Layer. This is frustrating and very limiting.

So what are the options?

Well you could right mouse click on the Text Layer and Rasterize the Text Layer, however you gain the ability to Warp the Text any way you wish but you lose the editability of the text. Alternatively you might choose to use ‘Convert to Shape’ or ‘Create Work Path’ from the Text Layer and transform the paths instead – however you will still lose the ability to edit the actual text after converting it.

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Another thing to watch for is the an error warning regarding any text that has a faux bold style

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Transforming Text – The Solution

Ok so we have seen the limitation of transforming text and retaining its editability so what is the solution?

Converting the Text Layer into a Smart Object will allow it to be fully Transformable and retain its Text Layer for changes post-transformation.

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Firstly ensure you have the Text Layer selected in the Layer Palette and choose Layer > Smart Object > Convert to Smart Object. Then we can use the Transform Tools (Ctrl)+(T) to transform the text.

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Note that now we can access the Free Transform Warp tools and use any of the presets, custom Warp, Perspective transforms or a combination of any of them to create the text in any shape we put our minds to.

Of course the best part of converting the text to a Smart Object is that we retain text editability.

Double click on the Smart Object text layer in the Layer Palette will open up the Smart Object in its own Document window and in the Layer Palette is your original Text Layer for you to click on and edit as you see fit.

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Once you have changed the text close the Smart Object document and you will be prompted to save the changes – Click yes and you will be returned to your original Transformation document and the text will have updated to include the new edit.

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You can change Transformations and edit the text as many times as you feel fit which is the beauty of use a Smart Object also you can use Layer/Vector masks, any of the Layer Styles or even Filters directly on the Smart Object making it extremely versatile.

Have Fun with Smarter Texting.

Rebecca Fryer

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In this tutorial it’s my aim to take you through the process of creating a convincing 3D Glass Ball using basic layer styles and gradients.

Step One: Basic Shape & Fill

Firstly I created a new document (as above) and filled the background with a Radial Gradient using the Gradient Tool (G) set to the preset of Foreground to Background with White as your Foreground.

I clicked and dragged to simulate light coming from the top left corner.

I then added a Hue & Saturation Adjustment layer set to Colorize to give the background gradient some colour.

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You might be wondering why I chose to do it that way and not pick the colours for the Gradient Fill to begin with. The reason is flexibility, to be able to change hue, saturation and lightness to refine the end image.

Next I created an Ellipse Shape Layer (U) filled with #00c0ff colour (The colour is your choice depending on the final look) and set to an Overlay Blending Mode.

Pressing [Ctrl]+ LMB on the Vector mask thumbnail in the Layer Palette will load the shape as a selection, create a new layer above and using the Gradient Tool set to a Radial Gradient fill with White-to-Black starting from the point where you want the highlight to be on the sphere then drag in the opposite direction of the light. This will create a 3D effect to the selection – deselect this selection [Ctrl]+[D] and set the gradient filled layer to a Multiply blending mode and it inherits the colour from the Vector Layer.

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Okay so it looks less flat but hardly convincing 3D!

Step Two: Specularity & Shadow

First we need to put the Vector and the Gradient layers into their own group and name this group appropriately.

So we need to add a specular highlight to create a hotspot of light, so using the Elliptical Marquee Tool [Shift] drag an Ellipse selection where the light would strike the ball and fill with White. Deselect the selection and add Gaussian Blur to suit your image – Less for the impression of more reflectivity and more blur to give it a more Plastic look.

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You can lower the Opacity if you feel the highlight is too strong. You can even do a more custom shape to look like a studio light with a soft box or maybe like light from a window.

I also duplicated the specular layer and moved it below and to the right of the main highlight using the Move Tool (V) and set this layer to a Soft Light Blending Mode this was my preference but I leave the finer details down to your own taste.

Next duplicate the Gradient layer and place it above the highlight layers – this layer we will apply filters to create some inner glow and stroke using the following settings.

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As you can see on the Stroke FX I used an Inside stroke set to Soft Light with a Gradient Fill Type this was to give the appearance that the globe was hollow and therefore you could see thickness of the glass, once again this was my preference you could opt to leave this out and treat the globe as solid glass or crystal. The Inner Glow gives a nice sense of glass and depth to the Globe. Be sure to use a glow colour similar to the colour of your background but a few shades lighter.

Now that the first group is complete duplicate this group and rename it – something like ‘Multiply Group’.

Change the Blending Mode on the Vector Shape layer within this group to (of course) Multiply.

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Already it’s taking on the shape of a realistic glass globe but the purpose of this second group is to apply extra depth using Layers Effects to the FX Layer of this group. So we have to delete the Stroke and replace with an Inner Shadow.

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Also to boost the Inner Glow FX its Opacity was raised to 35 within this layer. Return to the first group and change the Blending Mode of the FX Layer from Multiply to Lighten to make the globe really pop.

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Step Three: Shadow & Falloff

At the moment the globe appears to be floating in space so let’s set a shadow and some reflection to really put the globe into the scene.

To start with grab a selection from the Vector Layer ( [Ctrl]+LMB on the Vector layer Mask in the Layer Palette) and create a new layer below the two grouped layers and fill the selection with Black (or if you want to sample a dark green colour from the background that would be better) and set this shadow layer to Multiply.

Next we need to do so finger-dancing with the Transform Tool – this is good practice – but just before we start on that create a layer mask and using a Linear Gradient White-to-Black drag a gradient onto the Layer Mask.

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This creates a fall-off effect – which is easier to do now than after the transformation. Now [Ctrl]+LMB click on the layer mask to load it as a selection, [Ctrl]+[Shift]+I to invert the selection now click on the Shadow layer’s Thumbnail icon in the Layer Palette to select that layer and add a Gaussian Blur.

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This applies a fall-off blur. Deselect the Selection [Ctrl]+D and we are ready to Transform the shadow.

[Ctrl]+T to bring up the Transform Tool transform box then press [Shift] and grab the top middle handle and drag down until the shadow sits correctly in the background and release the mouse button but don’t press [Enter] yet.

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Next press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Shift] and grab one of the top corner handles and drag outwards to simulate that a shadow will grow the further away from the object. Release the mouse button but don’t press [Enter] just yet one more stage to go.

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So far so good, we will now transform the Shadow to fall in the opposite direction of the light. [Ctrl]+[Shift] grab the Top Middle handle again and drag to the left like so.

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Press [Enter] to commit the Transformation.

The Shadow at the moment makes the object look as if it has no real depth so using Move Tool (V) and the arrow keys nudge the shadow down a little.

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Add a Gaussian Blur of about 5 pixels will soften the overall shadow.

Next as we have done before create a new layer and grab a selection from one of the Vector layers and fill with a dark colour sampled from the background. Transform this filled shape down grabbing the top middle handle and pressing [Shift] like we did before and press [Shift]+[Alt] whilst dragging one of the top corner handles to scale it down before releasing the Transform box nudge it into position and then hit [Enter] this will be a more solid shadow which gives weight to the globe.

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Add a Gaussian Blur of about 5 pixels again and now the Globe sit perfectly into the scene. Play around with the positioning to your own tastes.

Step Four: Reflection

Finally in this stage we will add a reflection – now this is tricky but if you follow closely you’ll be able to do perfect reflections without having to flatten the whole scene.

First hide all the layers (click on the eye icon in the Layer Palette) except the two globe groups, create a new layer above these groups and press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Shift]+E which will merge all the visible layers into one layer as a copy this will be your reflection layer name it appropriately.

Switch the visibility of the other layers back on now and Transform Flip Vertical this layer and move the layer to below the shadow layers. Nudge it down until it sits in the right place for a reflection.

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Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light and add a layer mask and apply a Linear Gradient (White-to-Black) to this layer mask to create a fall-off effects as with the shadow layer.

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As with the Shadow Layer [Ctrl]+LMB click on the Layer Mask to load as a selection [Ctrl]+[Shift]+I to invert the selection and click to select the Reflection Layer’s thumbnail and apply a Gaussian Blur of about 15 pixels for the fall off blur then deselect the selection and apply another Gaussian Blur of about 2 pixel to give an overall blur.

Okay everything looks lovely but unfortunately the globe isn’t as transparent as it should be so we will fix this by going to the Multiply Group and [Alt] clicking between the layers to clip them to the Vector Layer.

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So that’s the effect you could add some finishing touches by grabbing a selection of the globe as before and applying a Filter>Distort>Spherize… to both shadow layers and the reflection layer to give a truer distortion through the glass and applying a Vignette to a merged copy of the layers using Filter>Distort>Lens Correction…

I hope you’ve enjoyed this lengthy tutorial – have fun.

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You could choose to create your own magnifying glass within Photoshop if you feel particularly creative but a good quality photo will provide some nice specular highlights and colours and add realism to the final image, especially as in this case the Magnifying Glass was photographed on a plain white background which helps us later.

NB: I’m using a PC so I’ll be using the PC’s shortcut, but for reference where I say [CTRL] substitute [CMD] if using a MAC, and for [ALT] use the [OPTION] key on the MAC.

Step One – Magnifying Glass Selection

In the case of this image while it has been shot on a plain white background the background is off white so open up the Curves dialogue box [CTRL]+[M] and using the White Point Eyedropper click somewhere near the bottom left of the background and close the Curves dialogue box. This instantly brightens the whole image and the background layer has a nice bright white background.

Grab the Pen Tool [P] and make a path around the magnifying glass. Once you’re happy with the final path simply press [CTRL]+[ENTER] on the keyboard to create a selection from this path and press [CTRL]+[C] on the keyboard to copy to the clipboard.

Open up the image that you wish to use as your background image and Paste [CTRL]+[V] the Magnifying Glass into a new layer above your chosen image and resize to fit accordingly using the Free Transform tool [CTRL]+[T].

Step Two – Building the Layers

My background layer was created using a text layer on a simulated paper texture layer and some Dodge and Burn to create the look of folded paper and merged to one layer. Text is good for this exercise as it has good contrast so will look good when the magnifying glass passes over it, but any background image you chose should be fine.

The first thing we need to do is to double click on the background layer in the Layer Palette and rename the layer “Original” – the name is only important for differentiating between the layers, you can choose any name you like.

With this layer selected press [CTRL]+[J] to make a copy of the layer. Ensure this layer is selected in the Layer Palette and press [CTRL] + [T] to bring up the Free Transform options. On the Free Transform’s options bar check that the Aspect Ratio button is clicked on and resize this layer to say about 110-115% depending on what looks good to you, and press [ENTER] to commit the change. Move this layer below the “Original” layer and select Layer>New>Background From Layer

NB: It’s important this magnified layer is created as a Background otherwise the effect won’t work.

The next step is to select the Magnifying Glass layer (name this layer appropriately if you haven’t done so already) and select Layer>New>Group… and call the group something appropriate like “Magnifying Glass” – this puts the magnifying glass into a separate group where we can work upon the elements that make up this effect – it’s not entirely necessary for it to be in its own group but it’s good practice and is also helpful if you want to move all the elements of the group together to either position your magnifying glass for the final image or if you wish to animate this effect.

Select the Magnifying Glass layer and using the Pen Tool [P] make a path on only the lens part of the glass being careful not to include any part of the rim of the glass in the path as we don’t want anything showing through what should be opaque.

Once you have made your Path press [CTRL]+[ENTER] on the keyboard to convert the path to a selection and [SHIFT]+ [CTRL]+ [J] to cut the selected lens from the magnifying glass into a new layer above. Name this layer “Lens” and [CTRL]+[J] to make a copy of it calling this layer “Knockout”. Move the Knockout layer to the bottom of the Magnifying Glass group.

Now we have all the elements in place to make the effect work.

Step Three – Advanced Blending

Select the Lens Layer and change the Blending Mode to Multiply – this will take out all the lighter pixels leaving just the darker ones to sell the lens effect in the finished image.

Select the Knockout Layer and select Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options… to bring up the Layer Style dialogue box; in the Advanced Blending area find the drop-down menu called Knockout: and select the option Deep and then click OK to close the dialogue box.

What Knockout: does is to use the opaque pixels of the selected layer to punch a hole through layers directly below the Knockout layer. Shallow : affects only the layers within the same group as the knockout layer, Deep : affects all layers and groups except the Background layer – which is why it’s important it have a Background layer else the effect will punch through all the layers.

What you will have noticed is that nothing special happened but don’t worry this is just because the Knockout layer contains opaque pixels.

Now you’re worried! “Didn’t she just say that the Knockout Effect works upon the Opaque Pixels of the Layer?!”

Yes it’s true while the opaque pixels of the layer create the Knockout effect we obviously cannot see through opaque pixels so therefore cannot see the Background layer! But don’t panic all that needs to be done is to use the Fill slider on the Layer Palette and slide it down to 0% – what this does is affect only the pixels data and not any effects attributed to the layer so the Knockout effect will still work and now we can see the Background layer through the lens and the magnify effect can be seen for the first time.

Step Four – Finishing Touches

Another thing you can do to add realism is add a Drop Shadow: Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow…

As the highlight on the Magnifying Glass is on the top right dial in 45 degrees for the Angle, Distance of 40px, and a Size of 10, and finally changed the Opacity to about 50% – but feel free to adjust these values according to your own image.

45 degrees puts the drop shadow in the correct place according to the highlights on the Magnifying Glass and because we use a Layer Style then if we animate the Magnifying Glass or move it to another position then the Drop Shadow won’t be clipped by layer masks etc.

In the last step we dialled in on the Fill slider 0% to make the pixels transparent so we could see the effect but we don’t have to be this heavy handed as it also kills all those lovely colours and specular highlights that really sells the Photo-realism of the lens, so dial in about 20% or so to bring back some of those details – now that looks better!

And that’s the final effect. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

It’s a simple effect and once mastered and is flexible enough to allow for experimentation; such as instead of a magnify effect you can have the original image as a darkened version of the Background layer and use a Knockout shape layer to create a spotlight effect, or use the Knockout layer to isolate colours from a colour Background and a Black and White layer, maybe even a spooky X-Ray effect using a face layer with a skull image behind it – have fun.

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