Liquid in Glass

Objective: To make a glass globe appear as though it has liquid inside it.

Tools Used: Selection Tool, Ellipse Tool

There has been some demand to know exactly how I create orbs half-full (or half-empty?) with liquid. The first piece that many PSP users learn to create with Paint Shop Pro is an orb. After all, it is the easiest shape to learn to make and one can produce many different effects with globes. The next logical step with making globes, would be how to make something appear inside the globe itself.

This tutorial will not use many tools, and will demonstrate the simplest way to add liquid to globes. By learning these five simple steps will send you on your way to achieving nicely detailed effects to your globes. The effect is very interesting and can draw attention to any image. It's easy! Here's how to do it...

Step 1

We're going to make this glass orb look like it has liquid inside of it. You can use (or create from scratch) any existing globe. Use the Selection Tool (S) and Selection Type: Rectangle. Select the lower half of your globe, like so:

Step 2

With the bottom portion of your globe now selected, contract your selection area by 5 pixels. You can adjust this depending on your personal tastes. (Selections > Modify > Contract).

Step 3

Now adjust the brightness by -80% (Adjust > Brightness and Contrast > Brightness/Contrast) Brightness: -25 and Contrast: 15.

Step 4

We're half-way there! Next, we create a new raster layer and choose the ellipse selection tool. This next part might be a little tricky, so pay attention! We're going to give the liquid inside a more three-dimensional look.

Draw a narrow ellipse that fits across the straight top of the darkened inner hemisphere. Color it with the same gradient you used to make your orb, and position it so that it fits perfectly from one corner of the darkened hemisphere to the other. Like this:

Step 5

Ta-da! Piece of cake, huh? You can use this effect on all kinds of shapes, not just orbs. Play around with it. Enjoy!