Wet Glass Effect in Affinity Photo

In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to create a wet glass effect in Affinity Photo. You can use this wet glass effect to add an interesting aesthetic or mood to an image. It works well with cityscape, landscape, and portrait images.

Go to the following links to download the images for the tutorial:

• Woman
• Water Dew of Glass
• Cityscape
• Water Dew on Window

Step 1

First, go to File > Open and select the picture of the woman.

Step 2

With the image selected, press CTRL + J to duplicate the picture. Name the duplicated layer Blur. Turn the Background layer off.

Step 3

Select the Blur layer. Click the Adjustments icon in the Layers Panel. Select the Curves adjustment. Take the point on the left and slide it slightly to the right. Then, take the point on the right and drag it down slightly. In the Layers Panel, place this adjustment layer inside of the Blur layer.

Step 4

Now, click the Live Filters icon in the Layers Panel. Next, select the Gaussian Blur. Check the Preserve Alpha box. Set the Radius to 5 px. Make sure the Gaussian Blur layer is inside of the Blur layer.

Step 5

After that, go to File > Place. Select the first picture of the water dew of glass. Hold Shift and drag the picture across the document so that it covers it.

Step 6

With the water glass layer selected, go to the Layers Panel and set the Blend Mode to Hard Light.

Step 7

Next, go to the Adjustments icon in the Layers Panel and select the Curves adjustment. Drag this adjustment inside of the water glass layer. Select the point on the left and set the Y-axis to .05. Add a second point close to the point on the left. Set the X-axis to .136 and the Y-axis to .135. Next, add a point on the center of the point on the right and drag it down slightly. The X-axis of the point is 1 and the Y-axis is .937.

Step 8

In the Layers Panel, click the Add Pixel Layer icon to add a new layer.

Step 9

With the new layer select, grab the Paint Brush Tool from the Tools Panel. In the Swatches Panel, make sure the fill color is black. Take the brush and draw a straight line going down. Make a few of these straight lines and vary their sizes. To increase the brush size, press the right bracket key. Press the left key to decrease the brush size.

Step 10

After you’ve created the lines, go to the Layers Panel and set the Blend Mode of this layer to Erase. Then, drag the layer with the lines beneath the water on glass layer.

Step 11

With the line layer selected, go to the Filters menu. Select Distort > Ripple. Set the Intensity to 8. Then, in the Layers Panel, lower the Opacity of the line layer to about 30 percent.

Now, let’s create the wet glass effect on a cityscape image.

Bonus Steps

Step 1

Go to File > Open and select the picture of the cityscape.

Step 2

Press CTRL + J to duplicate the picture and label the duplicated picture Blur.

Step 3

Next, go to the Layers Panel and click on the Adjustments icon. Select the Levels adjustment. Set the Black Level to 7 percent and the Output White Level to 90 percent to make the picture slightly darker.

Step 4

After that, go to the Live Filters icon in the Layers Panel and select Gaussian Blur. Check the Preserve Alpha box. Then, set the Radius to 2 px. Make sure the Gaussian Blur and the Levels adjustment layer is inside the Blur layer.

Step 5

Now, go to File > Place and select the second picture of the water on the window.

Step 6

In the Layers Panel, set the Blend Mode of the layer to Hard Light.

Step 7

Next, click the Adjustments icon in the Layers Panel and select the Curves adjustment. Drag the adjustment inside of the water on the window layer. Take the left point and slide it up. Then, take the right point and slide it to the left.

Step 8

After that, click the Add Pixel Layer icon in the Layers Panel.

Step 9

Grab the Paintbrush Tool from the Tools Panel. Make sure the black color is active in the Swatches Panel. Take the Brush, draw lines down the document, and vary the sizes of the lines.

Step 10

Once you’ve done that, go to the Filters menu. Then, go to Distort > Ripple. Set the Intensity to 8. Drag the water streaks layer beneath the water layer in the Layers Panel.

Step 11

Now, set the Blend Mode of the streaks layer to Erase. Then, lower the Opacity to 50 percent.

Congratulations, this tutorial is complete! Now you know how to create a wet glass effect in Affinity Photo. If you’re interested in more Affinity Photo tutorials, check out this article on how to create a blueprint effect.