Step 12
Finally, the 'Home Stretch'. All that is left is to create some nice highlights and some little sparkles to give our final image that clean refreshing look!

First we need to make a copy of our 'water 2' channel. You know the drill. Next make the copy active by selecting it in the Layers Palette. It will most likely be named 'Alpha 1'. Double click on it to open the Channels Options Dialog Box and rename it to 'highlights mask'. Now we need to blur the 'highlights mask' channel twice using Gaussian Blur set at a Radius of 3. Open the Gaussian Blur Filter (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur), set the Radius to 3 and click OK. To run it once more you simply need to hit (Ctrl/Command+F) or select (Filter>Guassian Blur) from the top of the Filter Menu. Running this twice at 3 rather than once at 6 will give us a much more subtle effect.

Next open up Levels (Image>Adjust>Levels or Ctrl/Command+L) and use the setting found in figure 29 (200,1.00.255). This will 'shrink' or 'choke' the 'highlights mask' channel. Next, open the Emboss Filter (Filter>Stylize>Emboss) and use the same setting as in figure 30. They should already be set at these values since they are identical to the last time we used the filter. Click OK. Your channel should look like figure 31.

Open levels again (Ctrl/Command+L or Image>Adjust>Levels) and set the Input levels to 128, 1.00, 255 and click OK. You will notice that all of the gray has disappeared leaving us only the white highlight areas. Cool Stuff! This is the channel we will use to create our highlights. First, however, we need to tone them down a bit. Open the Gaussian Blur Filter (Filter>Blur>Guassian Blur) and blur the 'highlights mask' at a Radius of 3. Open Levels once more, this is the last time, I promise! Use the settings found in figure 32 (130, 1.00, 200). That's much better. Your 'highlights mask' should now look like the one in figure 33.

Now let's put it to use. Load your 'highlights mask' channel as a selection as we did way back in step 6. Go back to the Layers Palette, click on the 'water' layer to make it active, and add a new layer above it (Layer>New>Layer or Shift+Ctrl/Command+N). Call this layer 'highlights' and click OK. With 'highlights' as the active layer, fill the selection with white. Deselect, and you should have an image much like that in figure 34.

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Levels

Figure 29
The Levels settings to 'choke' the blurred 'highlights mask' channel.

Emboss

Figure 30
Emboss the 'highlights mask' channel.

Water.psd (highlights mask)

Figure 31
The Embossed 'highlights mask' channel.

Levels

Figure 32
Using levels to create highlights.

Water.psd (highlights mask)

Figure 33
The finished 'Highlights mask' channel ready for use.

Water.psd (highlights)

Figure 34
The water object the with highlights applied.