Creating Soap Bubblesby Andy Halls


Step 9: Create new layer, select brush and change “Hardness to 0%” and adjust the size of the brush as per your circle size and create 2 highlights as shown in picture.


Step 10: Go into Window > Channels again and press Ctrl and click on the Alpha layer for the selection and go into Effect >Distort > Pinch and select value around -60, so your highlights can bloat.


Step 11: Select brush and change the hardness to 100% and create 2 more highlights on the previous highlights as shown in above picture

Step 12: Select soft edged brush and paint a highlight in the bottom of the bubble too.


Step 13: Select all the layers and merged them, create a marquee around a bubble and invert (Ctrl + I) the selection. If you don’t invert it then you messed the brush, tried out yourself.


Step 14: Save this as a brush by Edit > Define Brush Preset and now you can select from the Brush Tip shape and start painting on the image. But few settings need to be check before proceed and before painting set the foreground color as white for transparency.

Tip: Don’t move the Angle Jitter much otherwise your highlights will come in the side or top.



Before conclude I like to mention “As light impinges on the film, some of it is reflected off the outer surface while some of it enters the film and reemerges after being reflected back and forth between the two surfaces.” So for color film you can use an Effect > Pixelate > Color Halftone on the grey background circle with default values, feather delete the border and reduce the opacity.


For reflection choose the image on which you are creating this bubble and use Effect > Distort > Polar Coordinates with default values and adjust that image in the bubble by reducing the opacity and feather out the borders.


Hope you like this tutorial, if you have any critiques and comments then please email me.