How to Make a Glass Effect in Photoshop

Stretched across the top of the Adobe Photoshop work desk is a row of actions to use to apply to the images on the Photoshop canvas. In the middle of these header menus is "Filter" which drops down a long list of ways to basically render a new image or an existing image into a completely different appearance. Instead of painstakingly trying to draw the effect of glass take advantage of Photoshop's "Glass" filter option and enjoy the customization options such as smoothness and rippling.

Instructions

New Image

1. Open Adobe Photoshop and pull down the "File" menu then select "New." Type "GlassImage" in the "Name" field. Select the dimensions for the image by typing them into the "Width" and "Height" boxes and clicking the "inches" option for each. Click the "OK" button.

2. Double-click the "Color Picker" on the top-left square at the bottom of the "Tools" column. Choose a color to start the glass image and click "OK."

3. Click either the "Brush" or "Pencil" tool -- these two icons share the same space on the "Tools" column so only one will be showing and they work approximately the same way. Draw the design on the "GlassImage" box. Change paint colors as desired to complete the image.

4. Pull down the "Filter" menu. Click "Distort" and select "Glass" from the fly-out menu. The work area changes with the image previewed in the left-side pane and two dialog columns.

5. Click the "Glass" button in the middle dialog column to activate the right-side dialog column. The picture is instantly rendered into the default glass options.

6. Experiment with the three slider bars "Distortion," "Smoothness" and "Scaling" and see how the changes instantly affect the image. Pull down the "Texture" menu and choose another option, such as "Frosted."

7. Click the "OK" button when satisfied to return to the image. Click the "File" menu, select "Save As" and click the "Save" button.

Existing Image

1. Open Adobe Photoshop, pull down the "File" menu and click "Open." Navigate to the image to turn to glass and double-click the file name opening the picture on the Photoshop work area.

2. Pull down the "Filter" menu. Click "Distort" and select "Glass" from the fly-out menu. The work area changes with the image previewed in the left-side pane and two dialog columns.

3. Click the "Glass" button in the middle dialog column to activate the right-side dialog column. The picture is instantly rendered into the default glass options.

4. Experiment with the three slider bars "Distortion," "Smoothness" and "Scaling" and see how the changes instantly affect the image. Pull down the "Texture" menu and choose another option, such as "Frosted."

5. Click the "OK" button when satisfied to return to the image. Click the "File" menu and select "Save As." Type a new name for the picture to preserve the original and click the "Save" button.

References

• University of Washington: Photoshop Filters