Windows

In this tutorial we are going to create the illusion of a window. It's not as hard as you may think.

The first step is to choose or create two images. You'll need one for inside of the window (or inside the building the window is in) and one for what is outside the window that will be reflected in it.

The two images I have chosen are below.

I started with an image 300 wide by 400 high with a white background.

Copy the image that goes inside the window and paste it to your new image as a new layer. Edit>Paste>As New Layer.

The new layer will be named layer one. Double click in the Layer palette on Layer 1. Name the new layer Room Inside.

Create a new layer by either clicking on the new layer icon on the layer palette or going to Layers>New Raster Layer. Name the new layer Window Bars.

Select the Shapes tool and with black as the fill color using the rectangle shape draw two lines as shown below. Don't worry that they don't have any depth. We'll take care of that after you've drawn them.

Using the magic wand tool, click on the shape you just drew. Go to Effects>3D Effects>Inner Bevel and create a bevel to your liking. Click ok.

Go to Selections>Select None.

Using the magic wand tool making sure you have the Windows bars layer active, click where each pane of glass should be. Go to Selections>Invert.

On the layer palette, click on the layer named Room Inside. Go to Effects>3D Effects>Drop Shadow. Set opacity to 100, Vertical to 1, Horizontal to 6 and Blur to 7.5. Click ok.

Create a new layer by clicking on the new layer icon on the layer palette or by going to Layers>New Raster Layer. Name the new layer Glass.

Set your foreground color to Gradient and choose the Black to White gradient. Make sure to set the repeats to at least four.

Use the flood fill tool to fill the layer.

You should now have an image that looks similar to below.

Copy your outside image and paste it as a new layer. Name the layer Scene Outside.

Use the Deformation tool the stretch the outside layer to fit the image if necessary.

Turn off the Scene Outside layer by clicking on the eyeglasses for that layer on the layer palette.

Set the opacity of the Glass layer to 12 by using the slider on the layer palette.

You should now have something similar to the image below.

Click on the Scene Outside layer to activate it and then set the opacity of that layer to 21 using the slider on the layer palette.

If your layers are not in the same order as below, click and drag them into the proper order.

Below is the final image. We have the appearance of a small thickness of glass with the faint reflection of trees outside on them. We even have shadows from the window pane dividers to add a little depth. More could be added by adjusting the shadow blur and opacity. This technique could be refined even further with a little tweaking here and there. You try it and have fun!

Copyright Vikki Olds, All Rights Reserved