🎉 Try Slides With Friends — Zoom Trivia, Live Polls, Icebreakers & more! Check it out →
How to Create an Artwork Mockup with Studio Lighting in Photoshop CS6+

How to Create an Artwork Mockup with Studio Lighting in Photoshop CS6+

Create stunning shadows and reflections

This tutorial for Photoshop CS6 shows you how to use Smart Objects and the new Blur Gallery effects to create an impressive, studio lighting style shadow and reflection perfect for displaying business card designs, app screenshots, album artwork and more.

Please check your version of Photoshop before starting this tutorial, you must have either CS6, CC or newer to use the Tilt-Shift blur filter

Step 1

Open a new document in Photoshop, width 900px and height 680px. Then create a new color fill layer or fill the existing background layer with a light pink-ish gray color (#e1dcdf). shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 2

The next step is to create the Smart Object that will be used for the artwork, the shadow and also the reflection. Draw a rectangle 320 x 320 pixels and in the Layers panel right click the layer and select Convert to Smart Object. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 3

Double click on the Smart Object thumbnail to open in it, and design or paste in your artwork. In this example I am using the cover art for the album Another Eternity by the artist Purity Ring. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, 4AD, or the graphic artist(s), Tallulah Fontaine. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 4

Save and close the Smart Object to return to the main document, then duplicate the Smart Object layer and move it below the original layer in Layers panel. Press CMD+T or CTRL+T to enter Transform mode, and drag the top edge of the bounding box down until it is only 60 pixels tall. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 5

Still in Transform mode, hold down the CMD key and drag the top left and right points out to the sides as shown in the screenshot below. Try to keep them roughly an equal distance apart on each side, but don't worry too much if it isn't perfect. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 6

Set the Foreground Color to black and open the Blending Options window for the duplicated Smart Object, then set the Fill Opacity to 0% shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 7

Apply a Gradient Overlay from Foreground Color (black) to transparent. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 8

The duplicated Smart Object layer should now be starting to resemble a shadow. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 9

The shadow is currently much too sharp, so let's start by applying a subtle all over Gaussian Blur filter. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 10

Now we can use the Tilt-Shift effect from the Filter > Blur Gallery menu to add a dynamic blur. Lower the position of the effect so that the top solid line lines up with the bottom of the artwork, then bring the dashed line closer, roughly 30 pixels above the solid line. Set the Blur value 25px, or optionally tweak it until you find a value that works for you. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 11

After applying the blur effect, click OK and return to the main document. Then duplicate the main Smart Object once more and move it down one place in the Layers panel. Press CMD+T or CTRL+T to enter Transform mode and drag the top edge of the bounding box down around 190 pixels below the bottom edge which will also flip the artwork vertically. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 12

Set the Foreground Color to #e1dcdf. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 13

Open the Blending Options window and set the Fill Opacity to 25% shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 14

Apply a Gradient Overlay from Foreground Color (#e1dcdf) to transparent. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 15

This layer should now look like a reflection on the surface below the artwork. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 16

Apply a subtle 1 pixel Gaussian Blur to the reflection layer to make it look a little more realistic. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 17

Select the original Smart Object layer and use the up arrow key to Nudge the artwork up 2 pixels shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 18

We now have a shadow and reflection, but no discernible light source. So lets add one with a new Gradient Fill layer above all other layers. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 19

Use the default Black to White preset gradient, and change the angle to a value of 105° (or something else close to but not quite 90°). shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Step 20

Finally, set the Blending Mode of the Gradient Fill layer to Soft Light. shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Result

Here is the result: shadow and reflection effect in photoshop

Conclusion

The techniques covered in this tutorial are the basic building blocks for creating business card, app screen and album artwork mockups in Photoshop. Hopefully by following along you will now have a better understanding of how to manipulate Smart Objects in Photoshop and even use the new Tilt-Shift blur filter for a creative effect that it wasn't actually intended for.

Comments

X

You've successfully logged in!