There are several ways to add a glow
to lighting and adjust the intensity. Each method below shows
different ways to do . Practice a little and mix and match the
techniques to make your own custom lighting!
These screen shots are from Photoshop CS, but
are almost identical in lower versions.
This tutorial should follow the previous tutorial on Sparkle Trails.
In this tutorial we’ll use the Brushes Palette, Layer Styles,
Stroke, and Blur Filters.
Use some photographs of real lighting, of sunsets, galaxies, flashlights,
etc, to get an idea of what you’re trying to copy.
Preparing an image
1. Open a new document, at least 200 dpi for good printing, and
make a new layer. Fill the background with a daker color or gradient
so you will see the lighting, or start with a photo with a dark
background.
2. We’ll start with a photo as a subject, or extract the
subject as seen here. To make the lighting look believable emitting
from the subject, the subject can’t be dark, so we’ll
apply a Distort>Diffuse Glow. To decrease the intensity, either
decrease Glow, or increase Clear Amount.
3. If using the background already on the photo, you’ll
still need to extract the image onto its own layer so we can put
the lighting behind the subject as well as on top.
4. This is the image I’ll use to start painting my lighting.
Save this file, as I will go back to this state to start all the
various lighting effects.
Soft Halo
1. Make a new layer under the photo and name it Light.
2. In your brushes menu select a large, soft airbrush, color white.
3. Begin painting the halo around the subject
with low opacity and flow settings. The Mode is variable, experiment
to see which mode you prefer.
a. With each pass of the brush, you only paint with one opacity.
Release the mouse button and paint again to paint over the area
to increase opacity.
b. Make the white more intense closer to the subject and fading
out away from it.
4. Apply Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur value
about 4, or the amount you like to really soften the edges.
5. The blur will soften the edges, but also the center. Go back
with the brush if needed to intensify the lighting close to the
subject.
6. While on the Halo layer, click Edit>Stroke, and add a bright
yellow, 2px, Center stroke on 20% opacity.
7. Add another Stroke in bright orange, 1px, outside,
15% opacity. An orange Outer Glow Layer Style works as well. Double
click on the Light layer icon in the layers palette to bring up
the Layer Styles dialog box and change the color to orange, lower
the opacity, and increase the spread.
8. Experiment with all the Mode and Opacity settings as well as
Blur amounts to make this effect as intense and concentrated or
as soft and spread as you like.
Colored Light
1. Go back to original state, and paint on your Light layer with
color instead of white. Most light will be white right in the
center, so paint a little intense white near the subject
2. Stroke with various colors, or just apply an Outer Glow Layer
Style in whatever color you like. Here is pink light with a green
Outer Glow.
3. Adjust the Hue to change to color. Ctrl-H or Image>Adjustments>Hue
and move the sliders until you find what you like.
4. You can always paint on a little more white to intensify the
center or apply a Gaussian blur to soften the edges.
Beams
1. Go back to original state and click on the Light layer
a. Use the brush to paint beams of light. These should have more
distinctive edges than the halo, so lower the setting when you
Blur. And still focus the brightest white around the subject.
OR
b. Use the Polygonal Lasso to create triangular selections, using
high Feather. The higher the feather, the softer the edge. Fill
selection with a white to transparent Radial gradient, with the
white near to subject and the transparent away from it. Deselect.
I prefer this second method as it gives more distinct and smooth
beam lines. Choose what works best for you .
2. Apply multiple Strokes of gradiating colors
and opacities. If the effect is too intense, click Edit>Fade
and lower the opacity or change the Mode.
3. You can also add gradient Outer Glow Layer
Style instead of a single color.
a. Open the Layer Styles dialog box and click the gradient bar.
b. Choose a preset, or customize the colors and color stops. Click
OK and adjust the effect in the Layer Styles dialog box.
4. To add more brightness to the ends of the beam near the subject,
right click on the Light layer icon in the Layers Palette, and
click Select Layer Transparency. Ctrl-H to hide the lines so you
can see what you’re doing, or click View>Extras. Use
your large airbrush to paint on a little more white at the base
of the beams. Deselect.
5. Continue to apply Gaussian Blur or adjust Levels
to increase or decrease intensity. Ctrl-L or Image>Adjustments>Levels
and move the right slider up to increase brightness, or the center
slider up to decrease contrast. The amount of light you needs
depends on the mood you want and the background you choose. This
shot is a lot more intense that what I would actually use in a
layout, it’s for demonstration purposes only. I would lower
the opacity and increase the center brightness with a brush for
actual use.
Explosions
1. The same principle as the other lighting effects by painting
on soft white and applying one of the edge glow methods. The key
to good explosions is the right brush and bright glows.
2. Go back to the original state, and choose a rough, irregular
brush from the brush menu. Different brushes will give different
effects, but the best is something with sparkles or an edge that’s
scattered. Try making your own brush or downloading some free
ones. As always, click on the brush palette to adjust the size,
spacing, angle and size jitters, colors, etc, or add a Dual brush
to get a setting that works for you. The brush is the key to making
this look good, so play around!
3. Apply the light with a scrubbing and circular
motions, keeping the focus around the subject and letting beams
shoot off. Here are examples with two different brushes.
4. Add an edge glow with either multiple strokes as discussed
above or add an Outer Glow. This effect should be more distinct
and brilliant than the other techniques, and the glow effects
should be bright.
5. This effect usually looks better on a lighter
colored and textured background as shown. Choosing the subject
for an explosion effect is critical to the realism. This isn’t
a good example of that that: there wouldn’t be an explosion
this close to a baby, and she certainly wouldn’t have this
expression on her face if there was!
Now you should be able to add lighting to many
layouts. This takes practice, so don’t get frustrated! Add
a little lighting here and there until you improve and can start
making more dramatic effects.
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