In today’s quick tip tutorial, we will demonstrate how to add depth of field to a scene that we will be creating with 3D objects to help improve a presentation to a client.

Step 1

First, create a new document (Cmd/Ctrl + N) and make it 600 pixels by 400 pixels. You could of course set the resolution up to 300 pixels per inch for any printed document, but we’ll keep it down to 72 for this tutorial.

Step 2

Then, we need to place the major part of this tutorial onto the scene, our business card. Choose File > Place and select your image.

Place it onto your canvas and make sure it’s big enough, we could still scale it down if it doesn’t fit well, but scaling up is something we don’t want to do because of the pixel loss.

Step 3

Now, in order to distort it in a certain perspective, you need to convert it to a 3D layer using the New 3D Postcard From Layer command. Select your layer and select 3D > New 3D Postcard From Layer. Once it’s done, take the 3D Rotate Tool in your tool palette and start playing around by simply dragging your card in any direction. A similar result can be achieved in earlier versions of Photoshop using the Distort tool or the Perspective tool, but the 3D Rotate Tool makes sure everything looks right.

Place your card as shown below. We don’t want too much inclination, only a subtle effect. You can now drag some guides on each corner of the layer to prepare the next step where we’ll need to create a reflection to this postcard.

Step 4

Use the Ruler Tool to create a straight line that joins the two corners on the left. This is going to help create a reflection that has the same height as your 3D layer.

Now, simply drag it down to the next corner and create a new guide at the new intersection. Do the exact same for the two remaining corners on the right.

Step 5

Place a second card onto a new layer and name it "reflection". An easy way to flip your image out is to simple add a "-" operator before the height dimension. Align the top left corner of the reflection to the bottom left corner of the card.

Step 6

Press Cmd/Ctrl + T, then right click, we’ll be able to bring up the transformation menu.

Select Distort and start dragging your anchor points to the appropriate intersections we just made with the Ruler Tool.

Step 7

The next step is how to make it fade to transparent. Select a big and soft brush about 200 pixels. We could also be using the Gradient Tool for this part, but I prefer the brush because it gives us a little bit of control we don’t get with the Gradient Tool.

Create a new layer mask to this layer by clicking the little mask icon at the bottom of your palette. Select this newly made mask and start brushing with a pure black the bottom area of the reflection. Bring down the Opacity value to about 20% the get a more subtle effect.