Create a 3D Ball in Photoshop

Create a Black Circle

This will be the base of your ball. You will be adding white lights and reflections on it to give it a shine and a 3D affect.

Add White light

With a brush go around the circle at the bottom. What I did was, I used gaussian blur and motion blur. You can have the light move anywhere on the ball.

Add Another Light Ellipse

What you can do now is create another circle shape that is wider. With the shape, I used gradient; white ontop and gray on bottom. You may also want to lower the opacity.

Add Top White Light

Copy the gradiant circle shape. Now make it completely white. Use gaussian blur and motion blur moving downward. You may also want to use the eraser so its a top light of the gray shape. You should have this now.

Add Reflexion Light

What I did here was I used the pen tool to create the shape. You may want to use the transformation tool to curve it a bit. I created two copies of the shape. One being a gradient from gray to black and an opacity of 60%. The second being on top with a white gradient and black going down. You may want to lower the opacity a little. What this does is it makes it look like it has a cruve on the ball, making it look more 3D.

More Light Effects

Here, I used the pen tool to create the curve on the  bottom, and on the top. I used guassian blur and motion blur to direct where the light is coming from. You can also use gradients of white to black.All your trying to do is make it more like a sphere with lights and shadows.

Lens Flare Effect

Finally I used the brush tool with full opacity and hard lines. Make sure the color of your brush is white. You will move around where you want the light coming from as well as lowering the opacity. Similar to a photograph with light rays.

Final Result

You can change an modify it in anyway you want, you can change the color, etc.. You can also add a shadow behind it and also a simple sparkle effect. Enjoy!

My logo and design using the 3D Balls

Ian Vicknair

Hello, My name is Ian Vicknair. I am a digital artist who loves to work with photo manipulation, photography, drawing, and graphic design. I am still a young artist, and am working to improve my skills. Currently I am living in Lithuania. Because I have traveled a lot in different parts of the world, I have gathered so much knowledge and perspective on the world allowing me to integrate it in my work and share it with the others. If you have any questions please contact me.