Photo Realistic Water Droplets

In this tutorial for Adobe Fireworks (all versions) I'm going to take you step by step in the process of creating very realistic looking water droplets without ever getting wet!

This tutorial relies on two vector ovals and some simple gradient fill styles to trick the eye into seeing water! First, let me point out that I've never seen a perfectly round drop of water. I'm sure they exist, but I've yet to see one!

Start by creating a new image in Adobe Fireworks with a size of about 400 x 400 pixels. Set the background color to a light blue... Then, using the Vector Oval Tool I want you to draw two circles, like the ones below. Draw a medium grey oval and a white oval inside it. Yours doesn't have to be exactly like mine, every water droplet should be different!



Next, we'll use the Subselection Tool (shown below) to adjust the shape of the two ovals you've created. Remember that we don't want perfect circles for these water droplets!



The subselection tool allows you to manipulate vector objects... giving you the ability to re-shape them! Just click the shape you want to manipulate and then grab the blue selection handles and drag them around like I've done below.



Do the same thing for the white oval (which is the highlight for the water droplet), but shape this oval to match the upper edge contour of the grey oval. Don't be afraid to play around with it, you can always UNDO (CTRL+Z) as needed until you get it right (as shown below) .



Now we need to add some depth to the water droplet. We'll do this by adding a dark grey Inner Glow to the grey oval. Click once on the grey oval then use the Live Filter Tool to perform this simple task (seen below):



This filter results in the following effect: Make note of the properties of the inner glow. The color of the inner glow is dark grey (NOT BLACK) and the distance and opacity settings should be set to something close to what is shown below!



Continuing on, we're now going to change the solid white oval shape to having a Linear Gradient fill style. This will create the illusion that light is reflecting off the water droplet. Click the white oval shape once to select it, then change the Fill Style to Gradient>Linear. See the illustration below! Please look closely at the direction the gradient fill flows. Going from WHITE at the upper left of the shape, moving to grey at the lower right of the shape. This is the direction the light is shining from.


Now we need to allow the simulated light pass through the water droplet. To do this, we'll change the fill style on the grey oval shape to a Radial Gradient. This is done the same as above, only this time, select Gradient > Radial. The center color should be white, and the edge color should be the color of the grey oval. This is done as shown below.



We are very nearly done! The next step is to add a Drop Shadow to the water droplet. Using the Live Filter > Shadow and Glow > Drop Shadow just as was done a few steps above where you added the Inner Glow. Your water droplet should look something like this:



And finally, select the entire water droplet (drag the mouse around it while holding the left button). Hit CTRL+G this groups the two shapes together into one vector layer. All you need to do now is change the shape's OPACITY so it's transparent enough to see through! Be sure you have selected the shape, then adjust the opacity value. This step is shown below, as is the final product. I've added text to the image so you can see through it.