How to Create a Glass Reflection in Adobe Photoshop

Learning how to make a reflection is a great way to make product photos look lifelike.
With a few easy steps, you can put your product on a dramatically reflective glass.

Step 1

Open your image in Photoshop

Use a photo that features the product at eye-level, as this will make creating a reflection an easier process than creating a reflection of an angled object.

Step 2

Enlarge your canvas

Your canvas size needs to be big enough to accommodate your product’s reflection.
Go to the Image menu and select Canvas Size. Set the canvas height to double its original height.

Step 3

Select your object

Use the Magic Wand tool and choose Select Subject. Photoshop will automatically create a selection of your product when it is on a white background.

Step 4

Duplicate and flip your object

With your product still selected, copy your object by typing CTRL+C and paste it by typing CTRL+V. The isolated product should automatically appear in a new layer which you can name ‘Product’ by double-clicking on the layer and renaming it.

Select your Product layer and duplicate it by right-clicking and selecting ‘Duplicate Layer’. You can name this layer ‘Reflection’.

Step 5

Create symmetry with your reflection

Select your Reflection layer and choose Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical.

Step 6

Move your product down

With the Reflection layer still selected, move the flipped product image down to rest just under the product image using the Move tool.

You can select the image while holding down the SHIFT key to keep the image lined up correctly while dragging it down.

Step 7

Add a layer mask

Once the product and its reflection are lined up, we create a layer mask to make the reflection gradually fade away. To add a layer mask to the Reflection layer, click on the mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Select your layer mask. When selected your layer mask will look like it has a dashed line around it in the Layers panel.

Step 8

Set your gradient

In your Toolbar, set your background color to black and your foreground color to white.

Then select the Gradient tool from the toolbar and make sure the gradient is set to white-to-black at the top of the application window.

Step 9

Create the reflection

Make sure you still have your Reflection layer’s mask selected. Starting in the middle of your product, draw a straight line through your image to the bottom of your reflection.

To make the reflection look even more realistic, reduce the opacity of your Reflection layer until you like the way it looks. Make sure you’ve selected the layer and not the mask.