Water splashes and drops in Photoshop Photoshop Tutorial

How to make water splashes and blood splatters in photoshop tutorial.

How to make realistic blood and water splashes in Photoshop

Step 1

Open background image. Here we used 400 X 250 pixels at 72dpi.

Copy this image to your computer or use your own.

Step 2

Create a new layer. Press “D” to set default foreground and background colors. Filter > Render > Clouds.

Step 3

Filter > Stylize > Find edges.

Step 4

Now adjust the levels for more definition in the image: Image > Adjust > Levels or (Mac:Command+L / Windows:Ctrl+L)

Step 5

To create the drops: Filter > Sketch > Plaster. You will have to experiment to find the best settings for your image size and intensity of the effect, here we used: Balance 40, Smooth 14, Light – Top Left.

Step 6

The result should resemble this

Step 7

To define the edges a bit more: Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask: Amount 500, Radius 1.0, Threshold 0.

Step 8

Select the magic-wand tool, Check the contiguous box on the options bar.
Set the appropriate tolerance setting, we used 10. Now select the background around the drops.

Step 9

Hit the del key to erase the unwanted background. Invert the selection to the drops. Select > Inverse or Mac:Cmd+Shift+I / PC:Ctrl+Shift+I. You should now see the original image and the drops.

If you wanted the image to appear as if mercury had been spilled on it you can stop right here. For the water – proceed…

Step 10

To make the drops look more like water change the layer blending mode to soft light.

We now have an image that looks like water drops on it. But lets have some fun and give it that lens-type distortion typical to real water drops

Step 11

With the drops still selected, click the background layer on the layers palette to activate the background layer.

Step 12

Make the distortion: Filter > Distort > Spherize. 35% (experiment to find what best works for you.)

Step 13

You now have an image that looks like it was left out in the rain with realistic water drops. Play around with it and see what else you can come up with here is a graphic example of blood

Follow along for more tips

Keep growing with Premium Courses

Photoshop 2026 for Digital Photographers

Learn Photoshop properly, from the basics to pro retouching, step by step.

$129.00 · one-time purchase · instant download

View the course See all courses

Free for you

The Photoshop Vault

Get my free Layer Blending Modes ebook along with dozens of exclusive Photoshop goodies: actions, brushes, presets and cheat sheets.

You're on the list, so your free goodies are waiting for you in the Vault.

Get Free Photoshop Goodies Open the Vault

Collaging in Photoshop Photoshop Tutorial

More collaging techniques for Photoshop, using channels and layers.This is a bit more in depth than some of the other tutorials, you... Read tutorial →

How to make re-usable graffiti in Photoshop tutorial

Time to tag your images in Photoshop, here's the tutorial on creating reusable graffiti in Photoshop. Read tutorial →

Round Glassy Buttons in Photoshop Photoshop Tutorial

An interface would never be complete without the little buttons that appear to be made of glass. This tutorial will show you... Read tutorial →

Segmented tubes in Photoshop Tutorial

Here is my Version of the ever popular Segmented Pipes photoshop tutorial. A staple for interfaces.Enjoy Read tutorial →

Cast Shadow in Photoshop Tutorial

What do you do when a drop shadow isn't realistic enough? Create a cast shadow. When you see an object in a... Read tutorial →

Realistic Spotlight Effect in Photoshop Photoshop Tutorial

I am going to show you an alternative to lightening your photographs. This technique will add depth to your lighting and emphisis... Read tutorial →