Reflection Effect in Paint.NET

Hot to make beautiful reflections in Paint.NET.

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Edited: 2017-01-11 02:23

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A Reflection effect can be created in many ways, but one of the best ways in Paint.NET is to use a gradient inside a selection. This allows us to create a reflection that is independent of the background color.

In this tutorial we will show how to reflect text in Paint.NET, but the technique we are using can also be used to reflect other shapes. The steps are as follows:

  1. Create a new layer.
  2. Write the text in the new layer.
  3. Duplicate the new layer.
  4. Flip the copy of the layer vertically.
  5. Use the Magic Wand Tool with 0% tolerance to make a selection.
  6. Invert the selection to only select the reflected text.
  7. Remove unwanted areas of the selection using the Magic Wand Tool.
  8. Create a gradient with transparrent background inside the selection.

The result should look like:

Screenshot of reflected text in Paint.NET.

Detailed explanation

Create a new layer by clicking on Layers->Add New Layer, and then write your text using the text tool, as seen in the screenshots:

Screenshot showing how to create a new layer in Paint.NET Screenshot of the text-tool in Paint.NET

After writing the text, go to the layers menu and click on Flip Vertical:

Screenshot showing how to flip a layer vertically in Paint.NET

Now, move the text using the Move tool. First click on the Move tool, then use the Up arrow key on the keyboard to carefully move the reflection upwards until it touches the text.

Screenshot of the move tool in Paint.NET Screenshot showing the reflection placed directly under the text in Paint.NET
Screenshot of the magic wand tool in Paint.NET

Select the magic wand tool from the tools window, and turn the tolerance all the way down to 0%.

Screenshot showing how to adjust the magic-wand tolerance in Paint.NET

Then click in empty area of the reflection layer. This will select everything except for the reflection.

After doing this, go to Edit->Invert Selection to only select the reflected text. The result should look like:

Substract from the selection in Paint.NET

As a final touch, depending on the nature of your selection, you may also need to subtract some areas from your selection, such as that located in the red circle in the above image. To subtract unwanted parts of a selection using the magic wand tool, hold down the Alt button on the keyboard while clicking on the areas you want to subtract. The result should look like:

Screenshot of selection with subtracted area.

Select the gradient tool, and change the background color to transparrent by moving the Opacity - Alpha slider inside Colors, as shown in the below screenshots: Screenshot of where to find the Gradient tool in Paint.NET. Using the opacity - alpha color slider in Paint.NET.

Then use the gradient tool to create a gradient inside the selection. Carefully adjust it until you got the desired effect. The finished result should look like:

Screenshot of reflected text in Paint.NET.

You can hold down shift to enable snapping while making the gradient, this should achieve a more precise result.

If you remove the white background layer before saving your image, your reflection effect will become transparrent, allowing you to use the resulting image independently of the background color.

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