light effect

Awesome Light Effect in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:28:23 +0000

Pixelmator is a really cool tool for image manipulations and editing. It is a really versatile tool for some photo manipulations and the new version of the tools, the 2.0 has a brand new text tool with more options. So I decided to create a light effect using Pixelmator.

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a really cool light effect playing with some photos and basic filters in Pixelmator. The effect is quite simple and it won't take you more than 30 minutes to achieve the same effect.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and import an image of a light bulb. The one I am using is from Tischenko Irina and it's called Glowing lamp on black background. The image is courtesy of Shutterstock. Note: Make sure that the filament is in the first plane.

Step 2

With the Eraser Tool (E) delete the parts of the glass that are being reflected.

Step 3

With the Brush Tool (B) click ALT to select a color. Pick the ones closer to the filament but not the filament, we need the yellow behind it so we can hide the filament. Add a new layer and start painting to hide the filament. That are we will add our text.

Step 4

Add the text you want. I added the word Pixelmator using Edwardian Script with white for the color.

Step 5

Duplicate the text layer and then go to Layer>Convert into Pixels. After that go to Edit>Stroke. Use yellow for the color, 3 pixels for the width, Outside for the Position. Make sure that the Preserve Transparency is not selected.

Step 6

Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 4 for the Radius. After that add a new layer and fill it with black using the Paint Bucket Tool (N). Merge the blurry layer with the black layer, then change the Blending to Color Dodge.

Step 7

Duplicate the blurry layer from the previous step and go to Filter>Blur>Zoom Blur. Use the image below for reference. After the filter make sure that the Blending is Color Dodge and change the Opacity to 35%.

Step 8

Let's import some lens flare to make the effect more realistic and a bit cheesier :) The ones I am using can be found here and then desaturate the color and increase the contrast so you have something like the image below.

Step 9

Change the blending of the lens flares to screen. Note that I moved them to the connection of the word with the rest of the light bulb.

Step 10

Add a new layer on top of the others and go to Filter>Generator>Clouds. Make sure you have black and white for the color. Also go to Layer>Add Layer Mask. Apply the clouds filter in the layer mask too.

Step 11

Change the blending mode of the clouds layer to Soft Light at 60%.

Step 12

Select all layers and duplicate them. Merge all the duplicated icons into one and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 5 for the Radius. After that duplicate the layer. Select one layer and go to Image>Desaturate and change the Blending to Overlay at 50%. For the other layer, change the Blending to Screen at 50%.

Conclusion

After a few blending changes and some basic filters we have a nice light effect done. It works really well for wallpapers and you can apply the same technique for other ideas. Now it's up to you.

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Download the Pixelmator file used for this tutorial

About the author

Abduzeedo is a blog about design. There are all sorts of articles for those who want to look for inspiration. Also you will find very useful tutorials for the most used applications out there, with a special selection of Photoshop Tutorials and Illustrator Tutorials. You can get in follow us via Twitter at @abduzeedo

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L.A Noire Neon Style in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:22:50 +0000

A few months ago I started seeing some poster in San Francisco about this game called L.A Noire. The text effect was really cool, sort of old style neon effect. I know I have done a few tutorials showing how to create this type of effect, but I needed to do that again in Photoshop.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create the text effect like you see in the L.A Noire game cover. The whole tutorial will take about 1-1:30h. It's a bit tricky but it's not easy and the outcome is really cool.

Step 1

The first thing to do is create the text you will use for the background of the neon. I used Illustrator for this part because it's easier to play with fonts. So basically I am using Arial Black for the font, however I changed the B, D and O so they are not so rounded.

Step 2

To create the neons use the Rounded Rectangle Tool. Start with a 100% rounded rectangle, then duplicate it and move it so you have one next ot the other. After that with the Direct Selection Tool (A) delete the rounded of the top of one of the rectangles and the bottom of the other. Use the image below for reference.

Step 3

Create the rest of the letters. Look at the B, D, and O. To create those letters you will basically repeat the previous step however with some different tweaks to make them fit in the character you are working on.

Step 4

Open Photoshop and create a new document. I am using 2560x1440 for the size. Fill the background with black and then copy the ABDUZEEDO work from Illustrator and paste it in Photoshop. I am using yellow (#f0af17) for the color.

Step 5

Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Inner Glow. Use Lighter Color for the Blend Mode, 60% for the Opacity, Center for the Source, 20% for the Choke and 60 pixels for the Size.

Step 6

Select Inner Shadow. Use black for the color, Linear Burn for the Blend Mode, 40% for the Opacity, 45º for the Angle, 10 pixels for the Distance, 5% for the Choke and 5 pixels for the Size.

Step 7

Now let's use some texture to give more realism. The one I am using is courtesy of Shutterstock and you can find it at http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-20761540/stock-photo-metal-plate-backgro...

Step 8

Change the texture Blend Mode to Overlay at 30% Opacity.

Step 9

Duplicate the text and fill the layer with black, after that start duplicating and moving 2 pixels up and left. Repeat that a few times to create a sort of 3D extrusion. After that select all layers you created for that effect and merge them into one (Layer>Merge Layers).

Select the layer and go to Layer>Layer Styles>Stroke. Use 14 pixels for the Size, 40% Opacity and (#b47200) for the color.

Step 10

Copy the neon objects from Illustrator and paste it in Photoshop. Then go to Layer>Layers Styles>Blending Options. Change the Fill Opacity to 0%.

Step 11

Select Drop Shadow. Use black for the color, Linear Burn for the Blend Mode, 40% for the Opacity, -23% for the Distance, 5% for the Spread, 5 pixels for the Size.

Step 12

Select Inner Shadow. Use Multiply for the Blend Mode, #865200 for the Color, 50% for the Opacity, 120º for the Angle, 1 pixel for the Distance, 2% for the Choke, 2 pixels for the Size and for the Contour use the same I used in the image below.

Step 13

Select Outer Glow. For the Blend Mode use Color Dodge at 50% Opacity and white for the Color. Also change the Spread to 0 and the Size to 10 pixels.

Step 14

Select Inner Glow. Then use Color Dodge for the Blend Mode at 100% Opacity. Also change the Source to Center, Choke to 2%, Size to 2 pixels, Range to 5% and Jitter to 100%.

Step 15

The neon is nice but it need some highlights. To do that is pretty simple. Create a folder in the Layers Palette and change its Blend Mode to Color Dodge. Add a layer inside the folder and then with the Brush Tool (B) a very soft brush and white for the color start painting some areas you want to highlight. You can see in the image below in in the letters how some have this brighter area.

Step 16

Now let's do the same but this time to create some dark spots. So add a new folder but this time change the Blend Mode to Linear Burn at 80%. Then add the layer inside the folder and with the Brush Tool (B) and a soft brush with black for the color paint some dark areas. Use the image below for reference.

Step 17

Select all layers and duplicate them, after that merge all duplicated layers into one. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 5 pixels for the Radius.

Conclusion

Change the Blend Mode to screen and with the Eraser Tool (E) delete most of the layer leaving only the areas that are close to the bright spots. As you can see to create the effect is pretty simple, basically some layer styles and blend modes, but it's a nice technique to use in future projects, especially icons. Now it's up to you :)

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Easy 3D Globe in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 05:57:25 +0000

A few weeks ago a friend of mine wanted to know how to create a sort of 3D globe effect using Photoshop. I didn't know how to do that but I got really intrigued with that, so I decided to give it a try. I knew that the Spherize would work in this case but didn't know how.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a nice 3D globe in Photoshop using basic tools and the Spherize filter. This whole tutorial won't take more than 30 minutes but the technique is really useful especially for icons and logos.

Step 1

Open Photoshop and then with the Rectangle Tool (U) create a rectangle, then start duplicating it until you get 7 columns. Use the Distribute Horizontal Centers to make the distances the same. After that duplicate those 7 rectangles and rotate them to create a grid.

Step 2

With the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) create a circle selection like the one I did in the image below.

Step 3

Go to Filter>Distort>Spherize. Use 100% for the Amount and Normal for the Mode.

Step 4

Cut the selection and paste it in order to get the front face of the globe.

Step 5

Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Gradient Overlay. Apply a gradient from dark red to light blue in linear mode. You can try with Radial as well.

Step 6

Duplicate the layer and rotate it 45º Also change the gradient colors to light red on top and dark blue at the bottom. This will create a really nice 3D effect and it's super simple.

Step 7

Select the background layer and go to Layer>Layer Styles>Gradient Overlay. Use (#aa616b) and (#2c354d) for the colors, Radial for the Style and 140% for the Scale. Position the center of the gradient a little bit on top of the center of the globe. To do that just click and hold to move the gradient position while you are in the Gradient Overlay properties.

Step 8

Select the two globe layers and duplicate them. After that go to Layer>Merge Layers. You will have one layer with the globe. Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Color Overlay. Use black for the color. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 15 for the radius. Then just resize it and change the opacity to 20%. to create a nice shadow effect.

Step 9

Select the front face of the globe and edit the Layer Styles. Click then on Inner Shadow and use white for the color, Color Dodge for the Blend Mode at 60% Opacity. Also change the Angle to 100%, Distance to 3 pixesl and Size to 7 pixels.

Step 10

After the Inner Shadow you will get a nice light effect in your globe.

Step 11

Select all layers and duplicate them. After that go to Layer>Merge Layers to have one layer with all the image merged. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 pixels for the Radius.

Step 12

Change the Blend Mode to Overlay and you will get a really nice light effect.

Conclusion

Now just add the text you want and also you can apply a texture on top. I am using a scanline pattern I created. The whole idea of this tutorial was showing how to create a nice 3D globe using only Photoshop, it's a nice technique for logos and icons and it's super simple to achieve.

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Photoshop Quick Tip: Light Effect Text Button

abduzeedo — Mon, 02 May 2011 03:27:15 +0000

A few weeks ago I wrote a tutorial showing how to create a stylish metallic button effect using Photoshop. In that tutorial I posted to conclusions and one of them had a light effect in the text. The tutorial was well received and a lot of people wanted to know how to create that effect.

So in this tutorial or quick tip because it's more about layer styles and we will use the base of a previous tutorial, I will show you how to create a super simple light effect using only layer styles, blend modes and the blur filter.

Step 1

Download the PSD from the Stylish Metallic Button in Photoshop tutorial and open it. Hide the symbol in the center of the button so we can create the light effect.

Step 2

With the Horizontal Type Tool (T) add the text you want, I typed START using Impact for the typeface. The color is not really important because we will apply some layer styles to create the effect.

Step 3

Go to Layer>Layer Styles>Color Overlay. Use Blue #5ba0c8 for the color.

Step 4

Select Inner Glow, for the Blend Mode use Color Dodge with 65% Opacity, white for the color, Center for the Source, 4% for the Choke and 10 pixels for the Size. Also change the Range to 52%.

Step 5

Select Outer Glow. Use Screen for the Blend Mode, 42% for the Opacity, blue (#33b5ff) for the Color, 0% for the Spread, 13 pixels for the Size.

Step 6

Select Inner Shadow, then for the Blend Mode use Darker Color with black for the color. For the Opacity use 76% with 127º for the Angle. For the Distance use 2 pixels, 0% for the Choke and 5 pixels for the Size.

Step 7

Now a very important part of the effect, create the scanlines effect. To do that is pretty simple, just create a new document with 10 pixels of width and 2 pixels height. Then create a black rectangle of 10x1 pixels so you will have one line black and another in white. After that go to Edit>Define Pattern. Name your pattern and your are good to go.

Step 8

Create a new layer and fill it with the pattern background, then create a marquee selection of the text by clicking on the thumbnail of the icon holding Command (MAC)/Control (PC)

Step 9

Go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection, so the pattern will be visible only within the marquee selection area. After that change the Blend Mode to Overlay.

Step 10

Duplicate the text layer and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 pixels for the Radius. Then group the layer into a folder and change its blend mode to Soft Light.

Conclusion

You can merge all the layers used to create the button and duplicate them twice, then apply a gaussian blur to both. For the one beneath change the blend mode to Overlay and for one at the top use screen, both at 40% Opacity. After that the light effect is pretty much done.

The cool thing about this effect is that it works amazingly well for texts, but when you have symbols with larger areas you will have to make a few tweeks in the Layer Styles, nothing that will be completely different though.

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Easy Casino Style Sign in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 02:19:05 +0000

A few weeks ago while walking on the streets of NYC, I saw this big billboard of a movie called Burlesque (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1126591/). What really caught my attention was the effect applied in the text, sort of those old signage that casinos used to have. I loved that effect and thought it would be a good exercise trying to do that in Photoshop.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a very nice light effect using basic filters, layer style, blend modes and some stock photos. The whole process won't take you more than 45 minutes and the level of this tutorial is in my opinion easy, but it require some attention to the details.

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document, the size I'm using is 1113x1440 pixels. Make sure that the background is in black. After that add a text in a vertical order. The word I added is Abduzeedo and I used Arial Black for the font.

Step 2

With the text layer selected go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Use the values below for the Drop Shadow.

Step 3

Now to add some depth to the text use Inner Shadow first. Again use the values below to get the effect.

Step 4

Let's use Bevel and Emboss to add some nice 3D effect to our text. Again follow the values below in order to achieve the same effect, or you can tweak them to see how that it would behave.

Step 5

In case your text is not the sort of dark pink I'm using you can use Color Overlay to change that. The exact color I'm using is #b2355b.

Step 6

Now let's add a stroke, again follow the values below and for the color, I used #6f0022.

Step 7

Here is the effect you will get by using the layer style values from the previous steps. You can save that for future projects as well.

Step 8

To create the light effects and give a more realistic feel I used a stock photo from where I copy just one light spot. The image I used is courtesy of Shutterstock and you can find it here.

Step 9

Paste the light spot in your design and then start filling the letters with the lights. You can use smaller lights if you want make them 2 colums instead of one like I did. After that select all lights and merge them into one layer only (Layer>Merge Layers).

Step 10

Select the lights layer and go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Use the values below for reference.

Step 11

Now select Outer Glow. Again use the image below to get the right values. The whole idea of these two layer styles it to add a shadow so the lights will look more realistic and part of the image, and the same is for the outer glow.

Step 12

Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue and Saturation. Click on Colorize and them change the Hue to pink.

Step 13

Duplicate this layer and clean the drop shadow and outer glow effect. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 pixels for the Radius. Group this layer into a folder and change the folder's Blend Mode to Color Dodge.

Step 14

With the Eraser Tool (E) and a very soft brush, resize it so it will be the size of the lights bulbs. Then with the blurry layer from the previous step selected start erasing some lights in order to make the signage less uniform, so there will be lights not so bright. That again will give more realism to the composition.

Step 15

Back to our stock photo, courtesy of Shutterstock (http://shutterstock.com), select a burned light and copy it.

Step 16

Paste the burned light bulb and then resize it so it will be the same size as the other ones. Duplicate it several times so in each letter there will be one or two lights not functioning. After you did that select all of them and merge them into a layer.

Step 17

Go to Layer>Layer Style>Drop Shadow. Use the image below for the values of the drop shadow.

Step 18

This is the effect we have gotten so far.

Step 19

Let's add some flares as there is in the Burlesque poster I used for reference. The flares I'm using is from an image and you can download it here. After that resize the image and delete the other parts of it leaving just the flare itself. To make the colors match, go to Image>Adjustments>Hue and Saturation. Again select the Colorize option and change the hue to pink. This layer will use Screen for its Blend Mode.

Duplicate the flares a few times and put them on top of certain letters. You can also rotate and resize them.

Step 20

Now you can either duplicate the text and turn off all effects leaving it just with the pink color, then applying a Gaussian Blur to create a sort of pink glow behind the word or you can do that using the Bruth Tool (B) with pink. Both ways will work just fine. I did the first one, duplicating the word.

Step 21

Now let's place a concrete texture as the background of our image. The texture I'm using is courtesy of Shutterstock and you can find it here.

Step 22

Move the texture so it will be behind the black background. Then with the Eraser Tool (E) delete and a very soft brush with 20% opacity, start erasing the area over the text in order to show off the texture a little bit.

Step 23

Select the texture layer and go to Layer>Layer Style>Color Overlay. Use pink for the color and Multiply for the Blend Mode. We are doing this in order to make the texture get the pink color, as it was being illumiated by the pink lights of the sign.

Step 24

Select all layers and duplicate them, after that merge the copies into a new document, you can also do that using the keyboard shortcuts Command(mac)Control(pc) + Alt + Shift + E. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 pixels for the Radius. You will get a pretty blurry layer, so change the Blend Mode to Screen and the Opacity to 60%, that will create a really cool glowing effect.

Conclusion

In this tutorial we just played with layer styles and blend modes, mixing with some elements from real images in order to create some realism. The process is pretty straight forward and now you can apply that to your future projects or if you want you can go ahead and finish the Burlesque poster playing around with some photos of girls.

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Stylish Light Effect in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 06:53:02 +0000

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a really nice light effect using basic filters and tools in Pixelmator. The idea is to create an image with that 80s feeling in it but modern as well.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. The size I am using is 1440×2000 pixels. After that, import a photo of a girl; the one I’m using is courtesy of Shutterstock and you can find it here.

Step 2

Duplicate the layer of the girl and go to Image>Hue and Saturation. Increase the Saturation to 20.

Step 3

Now the color of your image will be a little bit more saturated, in this case warmer as well.

Step 4

Duplicate the layer of the girl, the one on which you increased the saturation, and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 for the radius. So you will have a pretty blurry image on top of the other. The idea here is to make the girl’s skin super smooth.

Step 5

With the blur layer selected, go to Layer>Add Layer Mask. Then with the Brush Tool (B) and a very soft brush, start painting on the layer mask over the eyes, nose and mouth in order to hide the blurry layer. So you will have all the details in those areas but keep a super soft skin. This is not supposed to be highly realistic, so there won’t be any problem in doing that.

Step 6

Now, duplicate the layer with no blur and go to Image>Desaturate. Rearrange this layer so it will be on top of the others. After that, change its Blending to Soft Light.

Step 7

Add a new layer and with the Brush Tool (B) and the same soft brush, start painting with black in order to hide the background. Leave just her face with a part of her hair and neck. Use the image below for reference.

Step 8

Still with the Brush Tool selected, add a new layer on top of the others and start painting with red and orange on to bottom left, and top right and left. Play with the opacity of the brushes; these colors have to be very subtle.

Step 9

Now let’s use another image. You can do that using brushes if you want as well; however, I use a stock photo from Shutterstock. You can find it here.
Position the image on top of the other layers and change the Blending to Hard Light at 40% Opacity.

Step 10

This will be the result you will have after these 10 steps. The concept is pretty much done. Now let’s just add a few more effects.

Step 11

Add a new layer beneath the lights layer from the previous one. After that go to Filter>Quartz Composer>Generator>Defocus. Use the image below for the values.

Step 12

You will have an effect like the image below. Change the Blending to Color Dodge. After that, go to Image>Levels. Increase values of the white input in order to make the bokeh stronger.

Step 13

If you didn’t like how the bokeh was rendered, simply try a few more times until you get a nice result. You will also have to delete the bokeh effect that is over the girl’s face. I also added a little lens-flare effect next to her eye. That lens flare is from a photo that you can download for free at http://www.williams.edu/astronomy/IAU_eclipses/jmp_eclipse03_04.jpg.
Resize the image and use Screen for the Blending.

Step 14

Add a new layer on top of the previous one and go to Filter>Generator>Sunbeans. Make sure you had black and white for the colors. Move the controller far to the top right and use the image below for the values.

Step 15

Add a new layer and fill it with black. This layer will be beneath the one you applied the sunbeams filter. Select both layers and merge them into one. Change the Blending of this new layer to Color Dodge. You can go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and add some blur to the rays.

Step 16

With the Eraser Tool (E) and a very soft brush, delete most of the rays, leaving just the area over the girl’s face and the top right. Also reduce the Opacity to 40%.

Step 17

Duplicate the rays layer and move it to the top a little bit. After that, change the Blending to Soft Light. After that add a layer on top of the others and fill it with yellow. Change this layer’s Blending to Soft Light at 15%.

Layers Order

Conclusion

Now, it’s all about adding some noise and your logo. The effect is done. We basically played with brushes and blendings to create this effect. Now it’s up to you to apply the technique to your own projects.

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Speed of Light Effect in Pixelmator

abduzeedo — Sun, 23 May 2010 12:49:23 +0000

In this tutorial, I will demonstrate how to create a very nice abstract effect, using the super cool Travelator filter. I will make use of some of the Quartz Composer filters in order to show the many different exciting effects that can be achieved with them.

Step 1

Open Pixelmator and create a new document. Let’s go ahead and use a size of 1920×1200 pixels. Next, fill the background layer with black.

Step 2

Add another layer and go to Filter > Quartz Composer > Generator > Travelator. Use 0.25 for the pace and 0.30 for the depth. Also, move the controller to the center of the document.

Step 3

Add another layer on top of the others, and using the Paint Bucket Tool (N), fill the new layer with black. After that, go to View > Show Brushes. Select the smoke brush, then use the Brush Tool (B) and the color white, paint some smoke in the center of the design. Use the image below as a reference.

Step 4

Go to Filter > Blur > Zoom Blur. Enter 70 as the amount, and once again move the controller to the center of the image. These steps will create a nice flare effect.

Step 5

Change the opacity of the layer created in the previous step with the flare to 20%. Also, change the Blending option to Screen.

Step 6

Use the Type Tool (T) to add text. First, I added the title “Speed of Light,” in Adobe Garamond Italic with a 42 pt font size. Next, I included a short paragraph using Helvetica Neue Light in 14 pt font. Use the image below to compare the alignment.

Step 7

Now, let’s import a texture of old paper. I utilized a texture (courtesy of Shutterstock). Insert this texture on top of the other layers, and then change the Blending option to Overlay.

Step 8

Add another layer, this time underneath the text layers, then go to Filter > Generator > Stripes. Use 2 for the width and 0 for sharpness.

Step 9

Go to Edit > Transform > Rotate 90º CCW. Then go to Edit > Free Transform. Resize the width so that it fills the whole screen.

Step 10

Change the stripes layer Blending to Color Dodge and the opacity to 10%.

Step 11

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Use 5 as the Radius. The blur will lessen the intensity of the stripes.

Conclusion

This tutorial was very simple, and only a few filters were used; nevertheless, the outcome is beautiful. The next tutorials I will prepare for Pixelmator will focus on exactly that, simplicity in terms of procedure that yields stunning results.

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Easy Star Light in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:30:22 +0000

I've been writing tutorials inspired by skateboard deck designs for a few weeks and today it's not going to be different. I'm very addicted to that, I love the ideas some of the designers have and for this tutorial I will recreate a really nice effect with lines forming a star. However I will go a little bit further and I will transform it in a light effect and add a nice pattern overlay. Everything using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

So in this tutorial we will create a composition from scratch first in Illustrator where we will play with shapes and the Blend Tool. After that in Photoshop we will add the light effects and the pattern overlay.

Step 1

We will start our image in Adobe Illustrator. We could have done it entirely in Adobe Photoshop but I like to use the right tool for the right type of work, if there's vector I will always use Illustrator, it's easier and faster. In Illustrator select the Star Tool and create a star.

Step 2

With the Line Segment Tool (\) create 2 lines following the base shape of the star. Use the image below for reference.

Step 3

With the Blend Tool (W), click on one line then click on the other one. You will apply the blend effect to the lines. Now double click on the Blend Tool icon to open the Blend Options. Change the Spacing to 10.

Step 4

Duplicate the whole blend object and move it to the other side of the star.

Step 5

Just flip horizontally the on side to get the other one.

Step 6

Keep duplicating until you get all the sides covered.

Step 7

Now lets add some color to the lines. I used red, yellow, green, cyan and purple for the colors.

Step 8

Open Photoshop and create a new document. I used 1920x1200 pixels. Then fill the background layer with a very dark grey.

Step 9

Copy each blend object from Illustrator and paste them in Photoshop separately, you will have 5 layers. Now it's really important to organize them.

Using the Lasso Tool (L) and mask (Layer>Layer Mask>Hide Selection) hide parts of the lines so they do not cross one another. That way the green lines will be on top of the blue and yellows. Use the image below for reference.

Step 10

Select all line layers and go to Layer>Merge Layers. Duplicate the layer. After go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 pixels for the Radius.

Step 11

With the duplicate layer go again to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 2 pixels for the Radius.

Step 12

Go to Layer>Layer Style>Color Overlay. For the color use white. After that group the layer and then change Blend Mode to Color Dodge.

Step 13

This is the effect you will have after these steps. Take a look at the order of the layers, it's really important for the lines effect.

Step 14

Add a group folder in the layer palettes and change the Blend Mode of the group to Color Dodge. After that inside this group add another layer. With the Brush Tool (B), select white for the color and get a very soft brush to start paint some light spots over the green lines.

Step 15

Let's use an image to add another light effect. The one I used can be downloaded for free at http://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/IAU_eclipses/eclipse_results.html. Place the image and change the its Blend Mode to Screen. After that with the Eraser Tool (E) delete most of the image leaving only the light effect in the middle of the document.

After that, go to Image>Adjustments>Hue and Saturation. Move the Hue until you get a greenish color.

Step 16

With the Brush Tool (B) and a very soft brush, change the opacity to 20% and start with a green color. So paint over the green lines, add another layer and select cyan and paint over the cyan lines. Do the same for the other colors. The idea is to make the light effect a little bit stronger. This layers will be beneath the lines.

Step 17

Add another layer, this time on top of the layers we painted in the previous step and beneath the lines. Go to Filter>Render>Clouds. Make sure you had black and white for the background and foreground colors. Change the Blend Mode to Overlay, then with the Eraser Tool (E) delete some parts of the layer to make the clouds less uniform.

Step 18

Now let's create a pattern, actually let's use an image and create a pattern from that. Download the Free Seamless Vector Perforated Metal Pattern (http://www.bittbox.com/freebies/free-seamless-vector-perforated-metal-pa...) and open it in Photoshop. Go to Edit>Define Pattern.

Back to our design, add another layer on top of the others and fill it with any color, the go to Layer>Layer Styles. First go to Blend Options and change the fill opacity to 0. After that go to Pattern Overlay. Select the pattern we've just created for the Pattern and reduce the Scale to 50%.

Step 19

Go to Layer>Layer Style>Create Layer. You will break the layer style into layers, so you will have a layer with the pattern you applied. Delete the other layers and with the pattern layer, change the Blend Mode to Multiply, then go to Edit>Transform>Warp. Use Fish Eye for the Warp and then move the controller to reduce the size of the warp in the middle. Use the image below for reference.

After that, change the Opacity to 20%.

Step 20

This is the order of the layers I have so you can have an idea and use it for reference.

Conclusion

The light effect we created here is nothing new, I've shown you how to create this quite a few times. However this time we played with patterns and the warp transform to add a very nice effect to the image. Once again I was inspired by a skateboard deck design and wanted to reproduce that in Photoshop. The whole idea of this tutorials is that we can play with the tool and learn at least something new.

Click on the image for full preview

Download the Photoshop File

Click here to download the Photoshop File used for this tutorial

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Colorful Light Effect in Photoshop

abduzeedo — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:23:21 +0000

Last week I was waiting hours in airports, as usual, I was wandering and checking out banners and signs when I found a beautiful Sony ad of a cel phone called Xperia. The thing that really caught my attention was the wallpaper of the phone. It was a colorful light bean crossing the screen . I really like the effect and thought to myself, that is a good idea for a tutorial.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a super easy but at the same time beautiful light effect.

Step 1

Open Photoshop and create a new document, for the size I used 1920x1200 pixels. After that fill the background layer with a very dark grey (121212).

Step 2

With the Rectangle Tool (U) create a rectangle in the middle and crossing the canvas, use white for the color.

Step 3

If you are using Photoshop CS4, convert the rectangle to Smart Objects so you can apply Smart Fllters. Then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 10 pixels for the Radius.

Step 4

Add another layer and then with the Brush Tool (B), use a very soft brush, with 0 hardness. Select white for the color and then start painting some spots. Use the keyboard shortcuts [ and ] to reduce the opacity of the brush, that way you will be abel to create more variations.

After that select the rectangel layer and this layer you have just painted and then go to Layer>Group Layers. The layers will be in an folder on the Layer Panel. Change the folder's Blend Mode to Color Dodge then.

Step 5

Add a new layer on top of the backround layer but beneath the other layers including the group with the light effects. Then fill the layer with any color and go to Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay. Use Multiply for the Blend Mode, 90% for the Opacity , 180º for the Style and for the Colors use purple, red, yellow, and green. Also over the Blending Options, change the Fill Opacity to 0, that way the layer will have just the Gradient Overlay.

After this step you will be able to see a very nice and colorful background already.

Step 6

Add a new layer, on top of the gradient layer but beneath the others. Then go to Filter>Render>Clouds. Make sure you had black and white for the background and foreground colors. After the clouds filter, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 20 pixels for the Radius. Change the Blend Mode to Soft Light, then with the Eraser Tool (E) using again a very soft brush, delete parts of the layer. The idea is to make the gradient less uniform, like a smoke.

Step 7

Create a new document using 100 pixels for the width and 10 pixels for the height. Resize the background layer so it's half of the height, 5 pixels. Select all and go to Edit>Define Pattern. Name the new pattern the way you want it, and you will have a very cool stripe pattern.

Back to our design, add a layer on top of the background layer but beneath the others. Then with the Paint Bucket Tool (G), change the type from foreground to pattern. Select the stripped pattern you have just created and fill the layer with it. After that change the Opacity to 2% and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 2 pixels for the Radius.

Conclusion

Press Command(mac)/Control (pc) + Alt + Shitf + E, and you will have a new layer with all the layer merged. Then go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Use 1.4% for the Amount and Gaussian for the type. Now it's all about adding your brand and you have an awesome wallpaper. Once again we have just played with Blend Modes and basic filters. Most of the light effects use the same process, so it's all about trying and playing with the tool.