Step 1) Creating the document

Open Photoshop and create a new document. I'm using 2560x1440 pixels for the document size. After that I filled the background layer with a dark grey. This part will be necessary to create the water drops.

 

Step 2) Creating the brushes

Go to Window>Brushes to create the brush for the water drops. Follow the image below for the settings but it's important to change the shape to an ellipse and also for this first part the brush has to be very soft.

 

Step 3) Adding the Droplets

Add a new layer and group this layer into a folder. The change the Blend Mode of the folder to Color Dodge. With theBrush Tool and white for the color, paint some drops on the page with the tool. As you can see the burry edges of the light objects melt with one another depending on how close they are.

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Step 4) Adjusting the Drops

Select the background layer and the group with the drops and merge them into one layer. After that go toImage>Adjustments>Levels. Change the Black Input to 124 and the White to 161. The values might vary depending on the drops, so just make sure that you get rid of the blurry edges.

Step 5) Magic Wand

With the Magic Wand Tool (W) select the black area, then go to Select>Similar to make sure all the black areas get selected. Then delete this area.

 

Step 6) Adding the image

Import an image to use in our design. The one I'm using is courtesy from Thinkstock and you can find it here. Duplicate this layer because we will use it a few more times with different blur values.

 

Step 7) Adding some Blur

Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 pixels for the Radius.

 

Step 8) Color Overlay

Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Color Overlay. Use a dark grey for the color and change the Opacity to 60%.

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Step 9) Placing the water drops in front of the image

Now put the water drops in front of the image and let's apply some layer styles to give them the realistic effect we want.

 

Step 10) Adding some contour and blending

Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Blending Options and change the Fill Opacity to 0. After that select Inner Shadow. Use white for the color and LInear Dodge for the Blend Mode, for the Opacity use 50%, for the angle 90º, then for theDistance use 3 pixels and for the Size use 5 pixels. Also change the Contour mode to the Cone one.

Step 11) Adding Bevel and Emboss

Select Bevel and Emboss. Change the Depth to 350%, the Direction to Down, the Size to 7 pixels, the Soften to 5 pixels, then over the Shading options use 54º for the Angle and 42º for the Altitude. Also change the Gloss Contour to the Cove Deep one, the for the Highlight Mode use 80% with white and Color Dodge for the Blend Mode, then for the Shadow Mode use Multiply with black and 50% of Opacity.

 

Step 12) Adding Inner Glow

Select Inner Glow then for the Blend Mode use Darken with 40% Oapcity and black for the color. Change the Sourceto Edge and the Size to 25 pixels.

 

Step 13) Adding a color overlay

Now select Color Overlay and use (#907f72) for the color with Color Dodge with 45% Opacity

 

Step 14) Adding a Drop Shadow

The last layer style option will be Drop Shadow. Use Multiply for the Blend Mode, black for the Color and 20% Opacity. Change the Angle to 90º and use 9 pixels for the Distance, 5% for the Spread and 10 pixels for the Size.

 

Step 15) Adding a layer mask for the Blur

Make the photo without blur visible again and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 5 pixels this time. Then over the Layer Palette click with the right button of the mouse on the thumb of the water drops layer, then select"Select Pixel" to select just the water drops.

Select the photo that we applied the 5 pixles Gaussian Blur and go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection. This way the image with 5 pixels blur will be only visible beneath the water drops.

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Step 16) Adding a Motion Blur

Select the layer mask that we created in the previous step and go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Use -90º for the Angle and 80 pixels for the Distance.

 

Step 17) Adjusting the Levels

After the motion blur, go to Image>Adjustments>Levels. Change the black and white inputs again to get rid of the blurry edges caused by the blur. You will have an effect like the image below as if the water drops were running down on the window.

 

Step 18) Adding Type

Duplicate the layer with the photo that we applied the Gaussian Blur with 5 pixels for the radius only and delete the layer mask. The with the Horizontal Type Tool (T) add a text with a handwriting font, or if you have a tablet or is really good with the mouse you can write with your own handwriting. Again select just the pixels of the text like we did in the Step 15. Then mask this new photo with the shape of the text, so again the photo will be visible only beneath the text area.

 

Step 19) Adding more Droplets

Duplicate the layer with the photo that we applied the Gaussian Blur with 5 pixels for the radius only and delete the layer mask. The with the Horizontal Type Tool (T) add a text with a handwriting font, or if you have a tablet or is really good with the mouse you can write with your own handwriting. Again select just the pixels of the text like we did in the Step 15. Then mask this new photo with the shape of the text, so again the photo will be visible only beneath the text area.

 

Step 20) Duplicating the Photo

Duplicate the photo again and delete the layer mask, after that go to Layer>Layer Mask>Hide All. Select the thumb of the layer mask and go to Filter>Render>Clouds. Make sure you had black and white for the colors. This will apply a cloud texture to the foggy window effect, that will make it more realistic.

 

Step 21) Merge the Layers

Select all layers and duplicate them, after that merge all the duplicated layers into one. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Command+Alt+Shift+E. Then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 pixels for the Radius.

 

Step 22) Changing the Blend Mode Again

Change the Blend Mode of this blurry layer to Overlay with 40% opacity.

 

Step 23) Adding another blending mode

Duplicate the previous layer and just change the Blend Mode to Screen, keep the same 40% of Opacity.

 

Step 24) Adding a new layer with a gradient

Add a new layer on top of the others and fill it with a radial gradient using dark grey and light grey for the colors. Also use Multiply for the Blend Mode.

Congratulations you have successfully completed this tutorial. As always the source files will be available for you to download and help you along the way.