How to Make an Aquarium in Photoshop

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Find necessary pictures.

   This may include pictures such as a fish bowl or glass bowl, a bonsai tree, pebbles, a goldfish and two different pictures of water.
   
   Begin by opening your fish or glass bowl picture on Photoshop; this will be your working file.
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   Step 2: Open the bonsai picture.

   Drag or copy/paste it onto your working file. ,, Using the pen tool, draw a shape resembling the inside of the bowl and save the path. , To do so, follow these three steps:
   Drag or copy your bonsai picture to your working file.
   
   To copy the picture, open the file on Photoshop and then select the entire picture by typing in Ctrl + A; type again Ctrl + C to copy the picture and paste it on your working file by typing in Ctrl + V.
   
   Go to your paths panel and Ctrl click the path you previously made to make the selection.
   
   Apply a layer mask on the layer by clicking the add layer mask icon. , Select the layer and then go to Filter>Distort>Spherize, apply an amount of
   -52 pixels on the distortion.
   
   Remember also to experiment with the filter application since the distortion will depend on the glass bowl or fish bowl you have chosen. , Erase the sharp edges of your picture.
   
   Shape the picture according to the pebbles stacked, leaving an illusion that the picture wasn’t cropped. ,,, To do so, follow these three steps:
   Change the blend mode of the picture to multiply.
   
   Using the pen tool, draw a path resembling the inside of the glass bowl and draw it up to where you want your bowl to be filled with water.
   
   Save the path and Ctrl-click it to make the selection.
   
   Type in Ctrl + I to select the outside space of the picture.
   
   Delete or crop the excess space and you now have an illusion of water on your glass bowl. , Open and copy your second water picture to your working file.
   
   Make a circular path using the ellipse tool and set it just above your first water picture.
   
   Ctrl-click the path to make the selection and then Ctrl + I to select the outside space of the picture.
   
   Crop the excess space by clicking delete on your keyboard.
   
   Remember also to not change the blend mode of the layer.
   
   But you can hide it or change the blend to multiply in order to make the next step. , Create an illusion that the leaves of the tree are just on top of the water.
   
   To do so, use the direct selection tool to select a portion of the picture that you want to appear as on the surface of the water.
   
   Copy (Ctrl +C) the selection and paste it again (Ctrl + V). , Erase the outside space of the layer by clicking delete. , Remember to be careful when doing so and to change the opacity of the eraser for the edges of the leaves. , Use your direct selection tool to crop the excess space of the picture.
   
   Then, move the layer just below your first water picture. , If you want the colors to pop out follow the settings on the accompanied picture. ,
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   Step 3: Change the blend of the layer to multiply to make the tree appear to be inside the glass bowl.

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   Step 4: Add the pebbles into the glass bowl.

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   Step 5: Superimpose the picture.

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   Step 6: Apply a filter on the picture.

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   Step 7: Click the eraser tool.

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   Step 8: Continue until your picture looks similar to the one in the example.

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   Step 9: Drag or copy/paste your water picture into your working file.

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    Step 10: Create the illusion of water in the glass bowl.

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    Step 11: Create the surface of the water.

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    Step 12: Go back to the bonsai image.

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    Step 13: Using the circular path you created earlier

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    Step 14: Ctrl-click it and type in Ctrl + I.

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    Step 15: Erase the excess white space of the layer.

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    Step 16: Drag or copy your goldfish picture into your working file.

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    Step 17: Go to your adjustment layer icon and select vibrance.

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    Step 18: If you want a picture with duller colors

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    Step 19: apply a different set of settings by following again the settings on the accompanied picture.

Detailed Guide

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