Create Photoshop water ripple effects in seconds. First thing to do is to open an image and then go to the window menu and select the channels. Go to the channels panel and right side menu and new channel and create an alpha channel. Select the selected area option and give it a name and click OK and now you have the entry, you need to fill it with something such as a gradient
You can fill the it with anything. Select the entry in the panel. If it does not allow you to access it then I would suggest click on the RGB and then go back to the entry. Select the gradient tool etc and difference blending mode and apply a gradient to the entry, all kinds of gray scale designs can be created. You can create multiple entries
You can then go back to the RGB and go to the select menu and load selection command and display panel and select the entry (you may have multiple and it may be in a different document). You will now have a selection. Go to the edit menu and copy and edit menu and paste and now you have the design (just the selection) as a new layer. At this point it looks like little has changed.
Go to the layer menu and layer style and bevel command and you will see the layer styles panel. Set the style to emboss and manipulate the depth (maybe 800%) and size etc as well as change the angle and also the highlight mode to linear dodge (add) blending mode and also set the gloss contour to the double peak preset. Press return and apply the it. Go to the layer menu and flatten image
Go to the channels panel again and the alpha channel and perhaps clear it using the edit menu and fill and then add a new gradient set to it. Click the RGB entry and then go to the select menu and load selection and re-load the it (from the list) and you will now see the new selection, repeat the copy and paste
Go to the edit menu and copy and then edit menu and paste the new layer and then go to the layer menu and layer style and bevel. Change the angle, size, etc as required. You can repeat this over and over if you wish to create an ever complex art design
You can always go to the entry and use the filter commands 'twirl' as well as 'wave' (found in the distort menu) to vary the end result of the alpha channel and therefore the selection and the end result of the style added. Go to the select menu and then load selection and select the required entry. You can also invert the selection via the select menu and you can also tweak the entry by using adjustments such as brightness and levels.
Twirl,
You can also go to the actions panel and set up a recording by clicking the + at the bottom of the panel and record all the steps perhaps leaving out the initial gradient as that means you can vary the source of the action effect otherwise the result will be the same every time the action runs (unless that is what you want). Record all the steps such as the load selection, layer style, copy and paste and flatten etc. Stop the action via the bottom of the actions panel. You can now re-run the action by selecting and pressing play. You can also change the source gradient so the result will vary. Or perhaps use some shapes such as basic circle. Apply it more than once using the action playback. All kinds of weird and wonderful surfaces designs can be created using a very basic set of shapes.