Creating Raindrops by BethLiz of Lizard Dau Designs

© 2008 Lizard Dau Designs. For personal use only.

This tutorial is was written by BethLiz of Lizard Dau Designs. Please do not copy, upload to any website, or claim my tutorial, or any of the graphics used as your own. Images created by you, as a result of using my tutorials, are your own to do with as you wish. If you have any questions about this tutorial or would like to obtain permission to share this tutorial, please contact me at bethlizard@msn.com for written permission. Thank you

Step 1: Open a new document 600 x 600 pixels, 300ppi - transparent background.

Step 2: Go to “Effects” on your top toolbar, “Artistic Effects” and “Balls & Bubbles”. When the dialogue box appears, change the following settings.

Shape Tab: Single ball or bubble = checked.

Surface Tab:


Material: Light Grey = #808080
Opacity: 15
Shininess: 50
Gloss: 0

Maps Tab: Default

Illumination Tab:


Ambience: Max=50 : Min=0
Lights: Light 1
Position: Lower right quadrant
Backlight: Checked
Colour: White
Highlight Size: 33

Now click OK and this is what you should see

Step 3: Using the “Move” tool from your left hand toolbar, drag your bubble down towards the bottom of the screen to give yourself a bit more room to work.

Step 4: Go to “Image” on your top toolbar and increase the size of your canvas to 750 pixels high x 600 wide, making sure that the bottom centre button in the “Placement” map is checked.

Step 5: Click on the “Mesh Warp” tool on your left hand toolbar and make the following changes to the Mesh Warp palette at the top of your screen

Mesh Horizontal = 6
Mesh Vertical = 8
Show Mesh = Checked
Edge Mode = Background
Draft Quality = High
Final Apply = Best Quality - Checked

Your screen should now be covered with a grid of red lines with small square node intersections.

Step 6: By clicking on the individual nodes shown in the diagram to select them, you can drag the nodes to the positions marked on the diagram in order and thus alter the shape of your bubble to a teardrop shape.

When you are happy with the shape you have created, click on the “Tick” button on the Mesh Warp palette to apply the changes, and this is what your final teardrop should look like.

Now click on your Selections Box to get rid of the Mesh Warp lines.

Step 7: All that remains now is to export your teardrop as a PNG file for future reference. If you are unsure how to do this, then please refer to the tutorial on Exporting files in PNG Fomat.