Adobe Photoshop: Create a mirror effect - how it works
In this practical tip we will show you how you can create a mirror effect with Adobe Photoshop.
Create a mirror effect with Photoshop
- Start Photoshop and open the photo you want to mirror.
- Free up your image object with the quick selection tool and create a new layer for it, if you have not already done so.
- Duplicate the layer with your picture object and then mark your photo on this layer using the key combination Ctrl + T. The picture is framed. Move your copy of the image to any position where you want the reflection to be later.
- Right click in the frame and at the bottom choose either the "Flip horizontally" or "Flip vertically" option. Your image will then be mirrored. With the "Enter" key the picture is fixed and the frame is released.
- Lower the opacity of the layer with your reflection so that it doesn't look too hard and therefore unnatural.
- Finally, you can add a gradient to your mirror effect. To do this, first simply place a layer mask on your mirrored layer. Before you continue working, you should make sure that the clipping mask is selected.
- Then select the gradient tool in the vertical toolbar and an individual gradient type at the top of the gradient bar. Now just drag it over your reflection to give it a gradient.
- The shift is drawn evenly when the Shift key is pressed. Simply try out different variants until you are satisfied with the result. You can also drag the gradient tool over your reflection several times and undo a step at any time with the key combination Ctrl + Z.
- As can be clearly seen in the reference picture, you can distort your reflection a little at the end. To do this, select your reflection again with Ctrl and T. The "Distort" command can be found by right-clicking on the picture. With the corner points you can now align your mirror effect as you like.
