Once of the common things you see in all the new graphics on the web, in stores, and throughout programs, is the reflection theme. Adding gloss and then reflecting the object seems to be a fairly common practice, if not required, among graphic designers right now. That’s not to say I don’t like it; I actually do. That’s why I am going to show you how to do the same thing in Photoshop, with minimal time and effort.

The first thing you need to do is create a background. I used a Gradient from gray to white, because it goes well with a reflection. Then you need to add the object you are reflecting, and color it to your tastes. I used a blue square with a white, stylized “W” as you can see.

I also added a shadow under the “W,” purely for good looks, and did some work on the square to make it look 3D. To do this, I added a small oval under the “W” and adjusted it, with a drop shadow, to make it blend. I made the square 3D by added a bevel. I did both of these through the Blending Options windows, which you can get to by right clicking on any layer.

Now we need to create the gloss. TO do this, we need to make a copy of the layer we want to gloss. Click on the layer and press Control and J at the same time. This will give you another layer to play with. Once you have the other layer, remove the bevel, and give it a gradient overlay from transparent to black. Then select a circular portion and delete it. This will leave you with a nice curve, as you can see in the picture.

Since you have two layers now, edit the gradient settings on both until you have a significant difference in color between the two, and both fade from a darker color to a lighter one, away from the separation line. This will give you a gloss look to your image, and it will work well with a reflection.

Now we can focus on the reflection. To do a reflection is fairly simple. You have to copy your layers, and then flip them vertically. Once you’ve place them next to each other, you can apply a gradient from your background color to transparent to give the reflection a fading effect, and you’re all set.