Learn Image Manipulation & Create a Glassy Wallpaper on GIMP

Glass Text Reflection

1. Select “glass_text” layer, click the layer duplicate button on the Layer Window, and send this layer just below the “glass_text”. Name this duplicated layer “glass_text_reflection”.
2. Select Flip Tool from tool box, select Flip Type to “Vertical” from the tool configuration.

   

   

3. While the “glass_text_reflection” is selected click on that layer, to flip it vertically.
4. Select Move Tool, and while Shift is pressed drag the flipped layer below the original text
5. Drag down a guide to make a reflection plane reference and place both the “glass_text” and “glass_text_reflection” equally separated from the guide. Use the arrow keys for fine movements of the layers.
6. With the Rectangle Selection tool select an area, such that 40 to 50 percent of the lower part of the “glass_text_reflection” layer is inside the selection.

   

7. Now feather the selection with a good high value of about 200 to 250 pixels. Select -> Feather {200px}
8. Press Delete button once to feather delete the section, you can try hitting the Delete button twice and see how the effect looks and keep it if you like. Now the reflection will fade outward.

   

   

Glass Sparkle

Here we will make the text sparkle in 2 or 3 places of the text. We will draw the sparkles in the brightest edges of the text. We will make a small (1pixel) spot on a transparency so that it is on the glass text font, and then make the spots sparkle.

1. Create a new Transparency layer, and name it “glass_sparkle”, and bring it at the top.
2. Select the Pencil Tool.
3. Select the smallest brush {Circle (01)}
4. Select the foreground color to White {#ffffff}
5. Select the “glass_sparkle” layer and click on the points only once where you want the text to sparkle.
6. Click only a few edges of the text where you want it to sparkle (2 or 3).
7. Toggle the visibility of the “glass_text” layer to see actually where you have created the white spots.

   

8. Select The dots individually with the Rectangle Selection tool, and apply Sparkle filter as below to each of the dots individually. For each dot slightly change the parameters so that the three dots create different looking sparkles.

   

My initial setting for First Dot:
Filters -> Light And Shadow -> Sparkle {Luminosity Threshold=0.001, Flare Intensity=0.50, Spike Length=20, Spike Points=4, Spike Angle=15, Spike Density=1.0, Transperency=0.0, Random Hue=0.0, Random Saturation=0.0, Select Natural Color, Uncheck all check boxes}

Changes for Second Dot:

• Spike Angle changed to: -1 (Random)
• Spike Length changed to: 45

Changes for Third Dot:

• Spike Angle changed to: -1 (Random)
• Spike Length changed to: 68
• Spike Points changed to : 2

  

  

  

This is a matter of personal taste, so you should keep on researching and make trial and error and see which parameters come with the best. After this, select a rectangular portion of the “glass_sparkle” layer include all the sparkles and crop the layer to the selection. this will keep the sparkle layer compact by only keeping the needed area. Make the “glass_test” layer visible from the Layer window. Put the “glass_sparkle” Layer just below the “glass_text” layer.