Quick Tip: How to Create a Smeared Liquid Effect in Photoshop

Final Image Preview

STEP 1

Create a new document of 1000 x 1000 px in RGB color mode with a “White” background setting.

STEP 2

Create a new layer (CTRL+SHIFT+N or Layer > New > Layer). Hit OK in the popup window.

STEP 3

Hit D to reset foreground and background colors, then go to Filter > Render > Clouds. Hit CTRL+F until they have a nice contrast.

STEP 4

Go to Filter > Noise > Median and use a 26 px setting. Hit OK.

STEP 5

Go to Filter > Sketch > Chrome. Set Detail to “0” and Smoothness to “10”. hit OK.

STEP 6

In the Channels palette (Window > Channels), right-click the “Blue” channel and select “Duplicate Channel”.

STEP 7

Select the “Blue copy” channel and go to Image > Adjustments > Curves (CTRL+M). Use the settings below and hit OK.

STEP 8

CTRL+click the channel thumb to load a selection. In the Layers palette (F7), click the “Layer 1” layer, go to Select > Inverse (CTRL+_SHIFT+I) and click the “Add Layer Mask” Button. Apply the same Curve settings again (the mask is still selected).

STEP 9

Click the “fx” button and select Blending Options. Click the “Bevel & Emboss” box tag and use the settings below. Hit OK.

STEP 10

Select the layer and go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (CTRL+U). Check the “Colorize” box and move the “Hue” slider until you obtain the desired color. Saturate the color to fit your design. Hit OK.

Done!