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This week's tutorial comes
from a special request I received. I would have done this
earlier but had to practice a bit first. I love this effect, and
as a result of working with this technique think I've found the
perfect present for grandma this year.
The request deals with placing images into a
bubble. Though placing them in a circle is a snap, creating a
semi-realistic bubble takes a few steps. If this is a long one,
I apologize. Then again, not really: If it's worth doing, then
it's worth doing well!
To begin, I have an image I would like to put in
a bubble.
I also have an image I will use for reflections:
We will use the latter image later in the
tutorial/
Before we can make my son float away, we need a
bubble to place him into. Here comes the fun part!
Create a new image. Here are my dimensions:
Width= 9 in
Height= 5 in
Background= White
RGB
150 DPI
Create a new layer and make a circular selection
with the Elliptical Marquee tool. Fill this layer with the
radial gradient, white to light blue. In the layer styles apply
a slight drop shadow.
Make a selection around the image you want to
place in the bubble. I used a slight feather when making my
selection, copied it, and pasted it into the bubble image. Using
the Edit>Transform>Scale command, I resized the photo to fit
within the bubble, centering the face roughly in the middle. I
applied the Distort>Spherize filter to give the photo a bit of a
curve, and finished up this layer by applying Filter>Render>Lens
Flare.
Create a new layer. We need some highlights to
further the illusion, so with white as your foreground color,
Command/Control>Click the layer with the gradient. This will
make your circular selection active again. Select the Airbrush
Tool and select a feathered, circular brush.
In the new layer, paint some highlights along
the bottom edge of the bubble.
Select a blue or purple for your foreground
color. Create a new layer and, with your selection still active,
repeat the process in the previous step. This time go around the
upper edges as well. You may even want to use a couple different
colors for your highlight. For my image, I then clicked the
layer styles icon, selected a light blue outer glow, and applied
a slight drop shadow to this layer.
Create a new layer, select a blue foreground
color. Go to Edit>Stroke, Inside, 10 points. Gaussian Blur the
stroke to 25.
Create yet another layer. Set your foreground
color to white, background to light blue. Fill this layer with
the radial gradient again, and set the layer opacity to 25%.
Remember that second photo we opened? We are
going to need it now. Copy the photo, and paste it into the
bubble photo. Resize it so that it fits within the bubble
(Edit>Transform>Scale). Go to Filter>Distort>Wave, and give the
image a slight distortion. You may also want to apply the
spherize filter. Set the layer mode to overlay, and move the
pasted image around so that it appears to be reflected in the
bubble.
Now for some more highlights. Create another
layer, and with white set to foreground, choose the airbrush
tool again. Select a circular brush with sharp edges and paint
along the curve at the bottom of the bubble. You now want to
distort this a bit, so go to Image>Liquify, and just warp
portions of the highlight a bit. You may even want to add some
sparkles with the paintbrush to this layer.
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