By Design Bundles
Photoshop Tutorials8 min
Glass Sphere in Photoshop
For this tutorial, you will need an image to be used as Background.
1 - In Photoshop, open the image you want to use as “Background”.
2 - Select the “Elliptical Marquee Tool” (M) and while holding the “Shift” key, draw a circle in the middle of your document. Ours was 2000 pixels by 2000 pixels approximately.
3 - Create a “New Layer” by clicking on the button at the bottom of the “Layers” Panel and name it “Sphere”.
4 - Make your “Foreground” color a light gray (#dddfdf) and select the “Paint Bucket Tool” (G) to fill your circle.
5 - Double-click on your “Sphere” Layer thumbnail and apply the following “layer Styles”:
Inner Shadow: (#ffffff)
6 - Create a “New Layer” and make sure to place it on top of everything. Right-click on top of its thumbnail and choose “Create Clipping Mask”.
7 - Select the “Gradient Tool” (G), change your “Background” color to a medium-dark grey (#6f7373) and remember to leave the light grey as your “Foreground” color. Make your gradient from “Foreground” to “Background” and click the “Reverse” checkbox. Draw a line from about the center of your circle to the bottom right.
8 - Click the “Add Layer Mask” button at the bottom of the “Layers” Panel, select it, change your “Gradient” type to “Radial” and un-check the “Reverse” button, then drag your cursor from the middle of your sphere to the bottom-right section to draw a small circle. It should be placed in the center of your “Sphere”.
9 - Duplicate your “Sphere” Layer (Command/Control + J), place it on top and repeat the “Create Clipping Mask” action to clip the “Fade” Layer to the original “Sphere”.
10 - Double-click on your duplicate “Sphere” Layer and apply the following “Layer Styles”:
Blending Options:
Inner Shadow: (#000000)
Inner Glow: (#000000)
11 - Create a “New layer”, select the “Brush Tool” (B) and with a large soft brush (0% “Hardness”) draw a dot of light in the center of your sphere using white as “Fill” color. The size will depend on your document’s resolution). Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use a 30 Pixel “Radius”. Then, change the “Blending Options” to “Soft Light”.
12 - Create another layer, change your brush “Size” and “Hardness” to about 200 Pixels and 100 % “Hardness” and draw a dot on the top-left of your sphere. Apply a “Gaussian Blur” of 5.0 and double-click on the thumbnail to apply the following “Layer Styles”:
Outer Glow: (#ffffff)
13 - Select your “Sphere” Layer and lower the “Fill” to about 25%. Check how the “Light” and “Light2” Layers look and adjust their “Opacity” if needed. We changed it to 50% and 80% respectively.
1 - In Photoshop, open the image you want to use as “Background”.
2 - Select the “Elliptical Marquee Tool” (M) and while holding the “Shift” key, draw a circle in the middle of your document. Ours was 2000 pixels by 2000 pixels approximately.
3 - Create a “New Layer” by clicking on the button at the bottom of the “Layers” Panel and name it “Sphere”.
4 - Make your “Foreground” color a light gray (#dddfdf) and select the “Paint Bucket Tool” (G) to fill your circle.
5 - Double-click on your “Sphere” Layer thumbnail and apply the following “layer Styles”:
Inner Shadow: (#ffffff)
6 - Create a “New Layer” and make sure to place it on top of everything. Right-click on top of its thumbnail and choose “Create Clipping Mask”.
7 - Select the “Gradient Tool” (G), change your “Background” color to a medium-dark grey (#6f7373) and remember to leave the light grey as your “Foreground” color. Make your gradient from “Foreground” to “Background” and click the “Reverse” checkbox. Draw a line from about the center of your circle to the bottom right.
8 - Click the “Add Layer Mask” button at the bottom of the “Layers” Panel, select it, change your “Gradient” type to “Radial” and un-check the “Reverse” button, then drag your cursor from the middle of your sphere to the bottom-right section to draw a small circle. It should be placed in the center of your “Sphere”.
9 - Duplicate your “Sphere” Layer (Command/Control + J), place it on top and repeat the “Create Clipping Mask” action to clip the “Fade” Layer to the original “Sphere”.
10 - Double-click on your duplicate “Sphere” Layer and apply the following “Layer Styles”:
Blending Options:
Inner Shadow: (#000000)
Inner Glow: (#000000)
11 - Create a “New layer”, select the “Brush Tool” (B) and with a large soft brush (0% “Hardness”) draw a dot of light in the center of your sphere using white as “Fill” color. The size will depend on your document’s resolution). Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use a 30 Pixel “Radius”. Then, change the “Blending Options” to “Soft Light”.
12 - Create another layer, change your brush “Size” and “Hardness” to about 200 Pixels and 100 % “Hardness” and draw a dot on the top-left of your sphere. Apply a “Gaussian Blur” of 5.0 and double-click on the thumbnail to apply the following “Layer Styles”:
Outer Glow: (#ffffff)
13 - Select your “Sphere” Layer and lower the “Fill” to about 25%. Check how the “Light” and “Light2” Layers look and adjust their “Opacity” if needed. We changed it to 50% and 80% respectively.
by @lornacane
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