Creating Image Reflections with iWork (Pages)

I have been searching for a way to create images that contain the nifty Apple style reflections found in the iLife and iWork suite of apps. I love the ease and simplicity of these Apple apps, but sometimes I need to use other programs to finish my work. Take this blog for example. While I could use iWeb to create this site, it is just not the right product to meet the strict demands and guidelines that I need for this site. Unfortunately there are some great effects that Apple allows you to create in iWeb (as well as other iLife apps), and they are not easily created elsewhere. But I have finally found a quick and easy workaround for getting these images out of Apple’s apps, so you can used them wherever you need to.

A Quick Note About the Format
The format that you work in, is the format that you will end up with. This is important because depending on the final application, it is important to make sure that have the correct image format. I prefer to work with PNG files. These files are just about as compatible as JPEGs and they can contain transparency information. This very important to me, as I often will place images on different colored backgrounds. But there is no reason that you can’t work in another format if you prefer.

How you do it

  1. Create your image. For this example we will use the Geeky Mac logo. I created the image using Adobe Illustrator, but exported a PNG file.
  2. Open Pages, start with a blank layout.
    gmr-example-2.png
  3. Drag and drop (or import) your image onto the page. If you have multiple images that you would like to work with, you can bring all on them in at once.
  4. Select the images that you want to manipulate.
  5. Apply the effects that you want, like the reflection. You may also use any of the other options available if you wish. Make sure to tweak the reflection (or any other) settings until you are happy with results.
    gmr-example-5.png
  6. You should now see what the final image will look like. It is time to export. Under the file menu go to Export. Select HTML and then the Next button. Select a location to save, and give the file a name of your choice. Then press the export button. You might get a warning message, that relates to position, this is not a concern and will not effect the outcome for this purpose.
    gmr-example-6.pnggmr-example-7.png
  7. Go to the location where you saved your file. You will see a new folder named after the file you just exported. Inside the folder you should find several files. Locate the file or files with the same name of the original image that you imported into Pages.
    gmr-example-9.png
  8. Open the file, and note that the changes have been applied. You have successfully added a reflection (or other effect) to your image. Now you can use the image for whatever you need.
    gmr-example-10.png

NOTE: The reason that I use Pages instead of the other iLife or iWork apps, is because of the ease of the export. You can modify the directions to use one of the other apps if you wish.


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2 Responses to “Creating Image Reflections with iWork (Pages)”


  1. 1 Movie Forums Feb 2nd, 2008 at 12:54 am

    Hi Guru, I am glad I pressed harder enough until I found movie forums, because this post on ing Image Reflections with iWork (Pages) at Geeky Mac was extremely helpful. Just last Saturday I was pondering on this quite a bit.

  1. 1 Creating Image Reflections with iWork « The Picune Blog Pingback on Nov 21st, 2006 at 8:54 pm
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