Subtle reflections with Photoshop

Now that you have some great backgrounds, let’s apply some Web 2.0 effects to text and objects. One of the effects you may have seen a lot of is the standard reflection. This effect can be created with either a text layer, shape layer, or a graphic layer.
1. The first step is to duplicate your layer. Drag on the layer in the Layers palette and drop it on top of the “new layer” icon at the bottom of the palette (shown in Figure 16).
Figure 16. Duplicating a layer (click to view image)
2. This creates a copy of the layer, which you can now flip upside down. With the copied layer selected, type Ctrl-T (Command-T on Mac) to “transform” the shape. You’ll see a boundary box with handles on the corners and sides appear around your layer. Click on the top handle and, holding the Shift key, drag downward to flip the text vertically like that shown in Figure 17.
Figure 17. Transforming our duplicated text (click to view image)
3. Double-click inside the bounding box to commit the transformation, then change to the Move tool (V) and move the layer up to meet the bottom of the original layer. Lower the opacity slightly, as I’ve done in Figure 18.
Figure 18. Lowering the opacity of our reflection (click to view image)
4. To add another level of visual interest, add a layer mask to fade out the bottom part of the reflection. Click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. As shown in Figure 19, you’ll see a linked blank square attached to your layer.
Figure 19. Adding a layer mask (click to view image)
5. Set your foreground color to black and select the gradient tool (G), choosing the Foreground to Transparent option in the options bar.
Figure 20. Making our mask a gradient (click to view image)
6. Click on the white mask thumbnail in the Layers palette to make sure you’re going to edit it, then click a little below the bottom of your reflected layer. Hold the Shift key, and drag upwards until you’re just about at the top of your layer. Release your mouse button, and you’ll see that a gradient has been completed on the mask layer, as shown in Figure 21. The black areas of the mask hide the layer, so the gradient effectively fades out your reflected layer.
Figure 21. Creating a gradient layer mask (click to view image)
Tip: You can add a layer mask to any layer for a similar faded effect. Or, add a layer mask and then use a paint or shape tool to hide part of a layer — black will completely hide the area you paint, and different shades of grey will provide different levels of opacity!