Photoshop Tutorials: Create Silky Smooth Waterfalls

Step 6: Use The Warp Tool To Curve The Blur Effect If Needed

In Photoshop CS2, which is the version I'm using for this tutorial, Adobe introduced us to the Warp tool, which, as the name implies, allows us to easily warp and distort images. I'm going to use it to give my blur effect a bit of a curve so it more closely follows the path of the water as it rushes over the edge of the cliff. To do that, with my waterfall layer still selected in the Layers palette, I'm going to go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen, select Transform, and then select Warp. A grid appears over my waterfall, with a hollow square (called a "corner point") in each corner and a handle sticking out from either end of the corner points:

To create a bit of a curve in my blurring effect, I'm first going to click on the handle that's extending out below the top left corner point and drag it down and to the right:

That adds a slight curve to the left side. To add a curve to the right side as well, I'll just click inside the right middle grid section and drag towards the right. You can see the vertical grid lines bending as I drag:

My blur effect how has a curve to it, but after creating the curve, the left edge of my blur effect no longer reaches the left edge of the waterfall itself. It's been pushed in a bit too far to the right. To compensate for that, all I need to do is click my mouse anywhere inside the left middle grid section and drag back towards the left until the edge of my blur reaches the edge of the waterfall once again:

The warp grid takes a bit of practice before you'll really get the hang of it, but it can be lots of fun to play around with so don't be afraid to give it a try. If you make a mistake, simply press Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac) to undo the warp and try again.

When you're happy with the curve and your warp grid, press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to accept it and apply the warp, and you're done!

Here once again is my original waterfall photo:

And here is my finished "silky smooth waterfall" effect after adding a bit of a curve to the blur using the Warp tool:

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