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Running liquid effect
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Running Liquid Effect:
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1.
Coffee, Tea, or...
In the top image at left you can see a preliminary attempt at what I'm going to show you here. Namely, trying to create a graphic that looks something like a running liquid using only the tools and filters of Photoshop.
To make this liquid effect, I began by making a 1200 x 1200 pixel RGB file (relatively large compared to the images you're seeing here.) In a couple of steps below, the variables I use to achieve certain effects by using filters will depend on your file size.
To begin I created the clouds effect you see at lower left by creating a new layer and choosing Filter: Render: Clouds. Clouds is a filter that created a random (different each time) cloud-like pattern using your foreground and background colors. Mine were set to the defaults, Black and White. |
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2.
Distortions
Now I'm going to alter that cloud layer to get it to look a little more like liquid. To do this, I'll use one of the Distort filters, called Displace.
This filter takes one image (which you specify) and uses its values to alter the pixels in another image. So when I choose Filter: Distort: Displace... I first see the dialog box here:
Here I enter values to control the direction and amount of distortion. The numbers you use here will depend on the resolution of your file. I typed 40 in the Horizontal Scale box and nothing in the other because of the effect I was trying to get. Next, you are prompted to select a file to be the Displacement Map (the image which will be used to distort the clouds). I used one that I had made for another tutorial, Underwater Effect on a Photo, where I did something similar.
You see my displacement map image at top left, and the result of on the bottom.
For more information on exactly how this filter works, see my tutorials, Using Displacement Maps To Distort An Image, and More Fun with Displacement Maps. |
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3.
Scale & Distort (again)
What I'm ultimately looking to get here is a graphic which resembles a vertical stream of running liquid. So next I'm going to Select: All and scale it using Edit: Transform: Scale (see the left image). If you hold down the Option/Alt key and scale one side of the image towards the middle the opposite side will move in as well.
After I hit return I had a compressed tall rectangular version of what we had in the last step. But water doesn't pour so geometrically precise, so to give this shape an organic quality, I'm going back to the Displace filter. This time I used the same image as a displacement map and still entered zero for the Vertical Scale box, but lowered my value to 10 in the Horizontal Scale box.
You can see my results in the image on the right side of the two. Looks a little like a piece of Beef Jerky, doesn't it? Hmmm. I sense another tutorial.... |
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4.
Pick A Color
The next thing I wanted to do was give it some color. I wanted to make this particular liquid look like coffee or tea.
First, I chose Image: Adjust: Brightness/Contrast and cranked the contrast up to a value of +30 to make the values in the graphic seem more extreme; as you might see in a highly reflective liquid.
Then, I altered the color by choosing Image: Adjust: Hue/Saturation... I checked the Colorize option and moved the Hue (color) and Saturation (intensity) sliders until I had the monochrome I thought I wanted. You can see the results at left. I changed it a little later, because I was unsure. Having a photo reference helps. |
 
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5.
Shearing Time
The more-or-less straight (beef jerky) line I had didn't look right. So next, I went to the sink and poured some water out of a cup to observe how it ran. The stream of water had a slight twist, or curl to it, so to mimic that I turned to the Shear filter.
Yet another Distort filter, Shear allows you to do exactly what I needed. In the image to the far left you can see the filter preview at the bottom showing how I gave the vertical image a subtle twist by adding points to the vertical line in the 16-square grid at the top.
Next, I used the Perspective transformation to narrow the shape nearer the bottom. According to what I had observed with the water, with a few exceptions, running liquid in a steady stream narrows as it moves away from the source.
I chose Edit: Transform: Perspective and moved the bottom corners in slightly, as you see in the bottom left image.
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6.
Pouring Device
Now it was time to associate my Photoshop graphic with some real objects. First ,I went to Image: Canvas Size... and made my work area bigger to allow for the addition of other images. Then I found this stock shot of a coffee pot and moved my "liquid" into place. Now to work on the area near the spout. |
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7.
Mr. Liquify
Here you see Before/After shots of my brown liquid.
To make it turn and taper as if it's coming out of the pot's spout, I used the Photoshop 6.0 or newer command, Liquify. This acts like a combination of many of the Distort Filters, but you're able to apply distortions selectively using paintbrush-like tools. One annoying thing about Liquify is it doesn't allow you to see any layers other than the one you're working on. So to get an exact fit, I had to click OK, check my work, then go back to Liquify and make further changes.
I used the Warp Tool  for all my work, controlling its size and pressure with the sliders under Tool Options on the right side of the Liquify Dialog. The tools are pretty intuitive, and you'll get the feel of them quickly. I simply "brushed" the pixels in the direction I wanted them to go. |
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8.
Put On Your Mask
To fix the area near the spout (top left), created a Layer Mask. To do this, click the Add a mask icon  at the bottom of the Layers Palette. Your layer should look like this:  Then I clicked on the mask icon (the black & white one to the right of the layer icon) and choose the airbrush and a small, hard-edged brush and painted with black to conceal the portion of my graphic that I wanted to hide. Now the brown liquid looks like it's actually coming out of the coffee spout. |
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9.
Pour Reception Device
Now to stop my pseudo-liquid from making a big mess, I snagged an image of someone holding a cup. I just have to make the liquid look like it's actually going in the cup, so I again turned to the Layer Mask.
First I drew an oval marquee with the Elliptical Marquee Tool and nudged it in place using the arrow keys. The I chose Select: Inverse. Now I'll be able to cover up the part of my graphic that I want hidden.
Make sure you're still working on the layer mask. See the thin outline around the mask icon?
That tells me that any work I do will affect the mask, not the actual liquid image. I added to the mask by painting with black and concealing the liquid that would be hidden beyond the cup's edge. |
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10.
Blur that Mask
Always a good final step when you're trying to get two or more images to look as if they belong together is to feather the edges of the shapes. There's more than one way to do this, but lately I always just putt on a layer mask and blur it a little. That does the trick. Compare the edge of my liquid at far left there and the one in step 11 below. I used Gaussian blur to make the mask (near left) a little fuzzier.
I also had some final second-guessing as to the actual color of my liquid. After all, I don't even drink coffee. But I thought it was too dark and brown. I chose Image: Adjust: Brightness/Contrast... and moved both sliders up to positive values over thirty to change the liquid a bit. That looks better. |
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11.
Coffee Break
Whew! Man, we worked hard, didn't we? Take a break.
While you're resting have a look at our final image over there. It looks pretty good. If you know what you're looking for, you might not be fooled, but show anyone else the image and they won't question it. Another victory for Photoshop! |
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