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How do you make a glass effect in Illustrator?

Last updated on April 18, 2023 @ 10:04 am

In this tutorial, we will show you how to create a glass effect in Illustrator. This effect can be used in a variety of designs, such as logos, buttons, or web graphics.

To create the glass effect, we will use the Bevel and Emboss plug-in in Illustrator.

1. Begin by creating a new document in Illustrator.

You can use any size or shape for your document, but we recommend using a relatively large size so that the glass effect will be noticeable.

2. Next, add a background picture and duplicate it.

You can duplicate the Background layer by going to the Layers window and dragging the layer to the plus icon at the bottom part of the window.

3. Add Gaussian Blur and Glass Effects to the duplicate layer.

To add the Gaussian Blur to your duplicate layer, first, select the duplicate layer on your canvas, then go to the Appearance window and select the “fx” icon to open the Effects menu.

From there, open the Blur menu and select “Gaussian Blur” from the options.

In this example, we will set the Radius of the Gaussian Blur to 5. You can also adjust this to your preference.

Next is to apply the Glass Effect to the duplicate layer. To do this, go to the Effects menu again by clicking on the “fx” icon. Then, go to Distort > Glass to open the Glass Effect window.

In the Glass Effect window, adjust the settings to your preference. In this example, we recommend using the following settings:

Distortion: 12

Smoothness: 7

Glass Texture: Frosted

Scaling: 200%

4. Apply the Glass Effect to an object.

Once the Glass Effect has been applied to the duplicate layer, you can now try combining this with shapes or text.

 

To do this, select the Rectangle Tool from the left toolbar to create the shape.

Next, select both the shape created and the duplicate layer, then right-click on them and select “Make Clipping Mask” from the options that will appear.

NOTE: This will create a clipping mask between the duplicate layer with the glass effect and the created shape, resulting in the shape absorbing the glass effect of the layer.

The glass effect should now be applied to the shape object. To finalize the effect, we recommend adding a bit of text or graphics to the document and using the glass effect to create a subtle effect.

And there you have it! You have successfully created the Glass Effect in Illustrator!

PRO TIP: This question is often asked in the Adobe Illustrator help forums. The answer is simple: there is a “glass effect” in Illustrator. However, there it is recommended to combine it with other additional effects like Gaussian Blur to make the illusion of glass more evident.

 

 

Kathy McFarland

Kathy McFarland

Devops woman in trade, tech explorer and problem navigator.