Create a Simple Vibrant Light Effect in Photoshop

Starting away from the computer, we’ll use a few household objects to create some

photographic resources. Then follow this Adobe Photoshop tutorial to manipulate

the images with various tools and techiques to produce a vibrant design made up of

intense light streams effect.

My previous How to Create Intense Light Streaks in Photoshop article turned out to

become the most popular tutorial here on Blog.SpoonGraphics, so it seems to be

quite a hot topic! It makes sense, therefore to take another look at the intense light

effects area of design and experiment with a range of techniques to produce our

own vibrant artwork.

In this article we’ll be starting from scratch, working away from the computer to

gather together the resources which we’ll be manipulating later. If you would prefer

to skip straight to the digital techniques, download the ready-made resources from

the Six Free High-Res Glowing Light Stream Images post and head on down the

page!

To begin, you’d need a couple of items, namely a digital camera some kind of

torch. Ideally an SLR type camera would be the better option, as an extremely long

exposure time and small aperture setting are required. Torch wise, any household

light emitting device will do, but feel free to experiment with various styles of

torches, bulb, LED etc.

Find yourself a large space, close all curtains and turn out the lights making the

area as dark as possible. Setup your camera on a tripod or sturdily rest on a hard

surface, in manual mode set the camera to a high Aperture F value to increase the

depth of field, and lengthen the shutter speed to around 20 to 30 seconds.

With torch in hand and camera active, wave your arms around like a

mad-man/mad-woman until the shutter closes. Experiment with various camera

settings and movement techniques to record a collection of images to choose from.

After a few attempts you’ll have a good selection of images to work with. Here’s my

example we’ll be working with in this article. Feel free to download it yourself.

Open up the light stream image into Photoshop, adjust the Levels, Curves and

Hue/Saturation to darken out the background and brighten up the light streams.

Import the image into a new document and erase out the edges to blend smoothly

into a black background.

On a new layer, use the Gradient Tool to overlay three bright colours from the

edges of the document. Change the blend mode to Color.

Press CTRL/CMD + U to open up the Hue/Saturation window and move the slider

to adjust the colours to a palette that takes your preference.

Choose a dark purple colour and select a soft brush tip.

Create a new layer and set the blending mode to Color Dodge. Paint over areas of

the light stream with the purple brush to intensify specific areas, such as the

crossing of two points. The Color Dodge setting burns into the colours producing a

vibrant effect.

Create a new 4px by 4px document. Zoom right in and draw a line diagonally

across the document with the Pencil Tool. Go to Edit > Define Pattern.

Back in the main document, fill a new layer with the pattern using the Fill Tool set to

Pattern from the drop down menu. Change the blending mode to Overlay and

reduce the opacity to around 25%.

Create a Layer Mask on this layer and paint areas of black onto the mask to erase

out sections of the scan lines.

Create another pattern swatch, this time based on a single square, which will

repeat to form a tiny dotted pattern.

Fill another new layer, again set to Overlay at 25% with this new swatch and erase

out areas using a Layer Mask.

Draw a large gradient of dark purple onto a new layer, reduce the opacity right

down to 15%. This will be needed for the next step, the overlaying technique we’ll

be using won’t work on pure black, so the subtle purple is added to allow the effect

to shine through.

In the Brush options palette create a custom brush that is made up of multiple

particles. Start by reducing the hardness of a standard circular brush to 0, and

setting the spacing to 100.

Under Shape Dynamics, adjust the size Jitter to 100%. If you’re using a Pen Tablet

the option of Pen Pressure will allow the effect of the brush by manipulated

depending on the force used with the tablet.

Under Scattering, adjust the Scatter to 1000%.

On a new layer set to Color Dodge, paint over areas of the light streams to add a

range of particles, adding to the vibrant style of the design.

Create a new brush, this time with similar settings but using a larger and harder

brush tip.

Sampling a light blue from the design, paint in a range of lens flare style shapes.

Use the Blur tool to add depth by blurring some of the flare shapes.

Change the layer style to Color Dodge and reduce the opacity to 60%.

Use the same colour to fill a range of diagonal strips, drawn with the Polygonal

Lasso Tool.

Erase out the edges of the strips to blend them into the document.

Change the layer style of these strips to Soft Light to allow the colour mix to add to

the vibrant design.

Make any final tweaks and adjust the design into a composition that suits. Here I’ve

simply added some text, also using the Color Dodge blending mode to tie it into the

design.

Overall, while light streaks can just as easily be created digitally on the computer, I

think using hand crafted light streaks from a camera and real light source gives that

extra element of detail to the design.

March 28, 2007 From

Since my last article on how to create smoke generated lots of traffic, I decided to write another one on some of the photoshop effects. Although I use Photoshop on a daily basis, I am by no means a photoshop expert.

Well what I want to show here is how to create a nice light and magic effect.

1 - Create a radial gradient, in this case from a purple to a really dark purple

2 - Here I added a really cool Icon of a magic hat from the Crystal Clear Collection by Everaldo

3 - Add some text, I used the source code of a site to get the text and apply the Distort >Wave filter

Create two stripes of text

4 - Rotate and place the text

5 - Add some light using glow : Use different values for each line of text, the secret here is the blending option COLOR DODGE..

Change the values of Spread, Size and Range

6 - Group the 2 lines of texts and with one apply a mask to make the stripes disappear at their ends.

7 - With the other group of text apply a gaussian blur, after that delete some parts to show the non-blury text.

This will add a movement feel to the text, like they are really being magically created.

8 - Create a new layer below the text and with a regular big brush like 100px add a spot of light in white.

The layer must be below the text, otherwise the glow will not affect the white spot

9 - Make some smoke again, I used the eraser, I could've used the liquify as well

10 - Create a cloud: to do that make use a marquee with feather set to a value bigger than 20 and apply the render>clouds holding the command key(mac), ctrl key(win).

The same as the previous post, and the most important thing apply the COLOR DODGE blending options on it

11 - Sparks: For the sparks create a brush, play with the shape dynamics, scattering, and other dynamics. After that, apply a Outer Glow and Inner Glow to create the magic effect.

End - The result is really simple but at the same time it looks beautiful.

The whole process took me about 35 minutes, one thing I think is really cool is to apply the color dodge blending option to folder, and put blurred elements inside of it. Using it you can create some really amazing light effects.

November 17, 2008 From Abduzeedo's Blog

A few weeks ago I published a tutorial called Girl in Tempo. I used the new version of Pixelmator that had the codename Tempo. The result was really nice and I got a very positive feedback, and, also some emails asking me to do that tutorial in Adobe Photoshop. So yesterday I took a couple of hours to create the Photoshop version of my flying girl.

In this tutorial we will use some stock photos and mix them together to create a nice effect. It was inspired by a chapter of the depthCORE collective called NOIR.

Step 1

Create a new document in Photoshop, as usual I used 1920x1200 pixels. Then select the background layer and add a layer style, go to Layer>Layer Style>Gradient

Overlay. Use Radial for the Style, and Scale 62%. You will have to position the gradient later on as well, but try to move it a bit to the left, use the image below for reference.

Step 2

Here I used a photo from iStockphoto, http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=6178363. You can use any photo. Just extract the girl from the background and place it in the center. Try to position her right hand in the center of the gradient.

Step 3

Duplicate the girl's layer and hide one. Select the visible layer and go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation.Reduce the Saturation to -100. You will have a grayscale photo.

Step 4

Duplicate the hidden layer with the color girl layer. This layer has to be in front of the grayscale layer. Change theBlend Mode to Color Dodge and go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur. Use 90º Angle and 100 pixels for the Distance.

Step 5

Duplicate again the color copy of the girl layer. Then move it to the top of the others and change the Blend Mode to Overlay. After that go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 7 pixels for the Radius.

Step 6

Select the color girl layer, the one that is behind the others and just add a Gaussian Blur, use 40 pixels for theRadius and change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge. As this layer will be behind the others it will create a nice outer glow when we start adding lights and other effects.

Select the 4 layers we created for the girl and group them. Rename the folder to "girl".

Step 7

Select the Gradient Tool (G) and then go to the Gradient Editor. Just click on the gradient colors. Change theType to Noise, Roughness to 100% and for the Options select Restrict Colors and Add Transparency.

Step 8

Create a new layer on top of the others and with the Gradient Tool and the gradient you have just created, select the Angle Gradient Style. Then just starting for the girl's right hand fill the layer with the gradient. You will get an effect like the image below.

Step 9

Go to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate. Then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Use 4.5 pixels for the Radius. Change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge and go to Image>Adjustments>Levels. Increase the white so the rays are brighter. Also with the Eraser Too (E)l, or mask. Delete some areas of the layer, leave just the area close to the hand and the background's gradient.

Step 10

Create a new Folder and rename it to Light, this folder has to be on top of the others. Change the folder's Blend Mode to Color Dodge. Inside this folder create a new layer and with the Brush Tool(B), use a basic round brush,very soft (0% hardness), and white color. Paint the area in the girls hand. You will get a nice light effect.

Step 11

Now lets add some lights behind the girl. Create a new layer and with the Brush Tool (B) change the opacity to 5%. Using a soft brush with white, paint a very subtle area behind the girl.

Step 12

Now select a blue color and with a bigger brush, create a new layer and paint a blue light coming from the top.

Step 13

Here let's use another photo, you can download it at http://www.sensitivelight.com/coloured_smoke0D0T9227.jpg.Just place it in the document. Resize and rotate it the way you want and change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge. Use the image below for reference.

Step 14

Let's do the same thing with another photo, this time a photo of some clouds I took sometime ago, you can download it at http://flickr.com/photos/azeected/2917610951/. The first thing to do is go toImage>Adjustments>Desaturate. Then go to Image>Adjustments>Levels. Increase the blacks until you get a full black background. Then change the Blend Mode of the photo to Screen. What was black becomes transparent and we're good to go ;)

Step 15

Here you just duplicate the cloud's layer and create more instances of that. Resize and rotate them so you can get better results. Also, place one cloud behind the girl to give some depth to the image.

Step 16

Once again, let's use a photo to create the stars, you can download it here. You can create them using the Noise, but as there are so many excellent photos of that subject on the internet that sometimes it's not worth spend time creating something from scratch, at least in my humble opinion. Place the photo in the document and change theBlend Mode to Color Dodge.

Step 17

Repeat the Step 8 and 9 to create another Angle Gradient. This time start from the the girls right foot. Then with the Eraser Tool or Mask, delete almost all layer, leave just the top part over the blue light. That will work like some rays of light coming from the top. Also if you want to make the lights brighter just duplicate the layer. I duplicated 2 times, so there are 3 layers for that light.

Step 18

Here I used a image I created in Cinema 4D that is like an explosion full of particles, you can download it here. Place the image and then go to Filter>Blur>Radial Blur. The most difficult thing here is find the right position for the Blur Center because the idea is that the center is the girls hand with that shine light. I recommend you to convert the layer to Smart Objects so you will be able to edit the blur anytime until you find the right place. Use 10 for the Amount, Zoom for the Blur Method, and Best for the Quality.

Conclusion

You can add a layer on top of the others with a bit of noise just to give to the image a bit of realist feeling. The process is quite similar to the Pixelmator version, of course each tool has some pros and cons, but the best thing is that the idea of the filters and blend modes are the same. Actually all these types of tools share the same sort of base so if you know one it's pretty easy to learn and use another. That's why I say that the tool is the least important part of the design process.

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INTRODUCTION

This tutorial will go over the steps involved in creating artistic 3D typography and blending it into a scene.LEGAL DISCLAIMERThis tutorial is for learning purposes only, you will agree not to recreate this “Evoke” and call it your own work. If you disagree to this, then close this window immediately.

STEP 1: Find a suitable stock imageI had a good idea of what kind of stock I needed before i began. I wanted a cliff mountainside with water for my typography to lay on.

I usually start off with a concept then go searching for stock that is suitable for it. I found this particular photo on iStockPhoto.com which cost me a couple of credits.

STEP 2: Visualize the designI wanted my typography to say “Evoke” and look ancient, like it had been there for ages. Now for this to lookconvincing it needed to be rock like, and match the environment. I also wanted it to look tall and surreal so theindividual letters should be at awkward angles / perspectives thus creating more depth in the scene.

STEP 3: Cinema 4DCinema 4D will be used for this tutorial because it’s a user-friendly 3D program that anyone can learn with time. If you don’t want to use Cinema 4D, you can use any other 3D program but just make sure you can play with the perspectives and the textures of the typography. What I needed was a good stone-age looking font that wasn’t too cartoonish. After searching on the internet for some time, I found Berlin Sans FB Demi – which is a free font that worked perfectly for what I needed.

In C4D I chose the text spline:

Then, in the attributes text window i typed “E” and clicked on fonts (circled)

and navigated to Berlin Sans FB Demi.

I Ctrl + clicked and dragged on the text layer in the objects window, and duplicated them 5 times.

This made each letter separate object which was helpful later when I wanted to create different perspectiveson each letter.

To give the text a 3rd dimension I dragged each text object into an Extrude NURBS.

I then changed the movement to 40

Now that my text was in 3D I needed to apply textures and position it according to how I wanted it to sit in my scene.

In the materials window I clicked File > New Material

In the attributes window I clicked the little arrow next to texture, then load image. I navigated to a rock texture i had found earlier that day.

I dragged the material onto the object and choose “cubic” for the material projection.

I angled the camera to how I wanted each individual letter to look best in the scene.

In render settings I checked global illumination, ambient occlusion and anti-aliasing as best. After rendering topicture viewer, I saved it as a .targa-straight alpha so that I could easily extract them in Photoshop.

I repeated this process for each letter.

STEP 4: Photoshop polishing

All the letters were rendered and ready for some heavy Photoshop work. I knew this was going to be a long process so I came back to it some time later.

I opened all the letters in PS and extracted them by selecting the alpha channel that was saved in it.

 After all the letters were extracted, I dragged them into my scene and resized them according to my initial idea.

STEP 5: Light and ShadowOne of the most important things is to establish coherent sense of lighting and shadows according to the scene. I had a look at the cliffs and tried to get an idea of where the light source is, and whether they it projecting hard or soft shadows. There’s an overcast sky in this scene, so the shadows/light would be softer; and also the light seems to be coming from behind where I planned to put the text.

Keeping in mind what I established in step 2, I started brushing the shadows with a soft brush on low opacity (around 20-30%)

The further the shadow from the object the less opaque and more blurred it would be.

I did this for all 5 letters and this is what it looked like after the shadows were brushed.

Then I started on the lighting. The letters contrasted the setting too much, and needed a touch of light to fit the scene properly.

I brushed white with a large soft brush on the top end of the letters then lowered the opacity of the layer to 33% to depict a sense of subtle lighting.

It still wasn’t real enough so using the same technique i brushed some light in front of “V” but behind “O”. This created depth between the letters.

This is what it looked like after all the light had been added

STEP 6: Grass and VinesThere’s no way that the letters could have been there for long without some kind of grass/vines forming on them. Foliage like this will help give the stone letters a little organic feel to them.

I found the perfect stock for this on http://sxc.hu ; I extracted it, and resized it so it covered just the bottom half of the letter

I applied a layer mask to the grass layer, and then selected the brush shown above.

In the brush engine i used these settings.

In a layer mask brushing with black hides, and white reveals so with black selected i brushed out the areas i didn’t need until i got something like this.

The first image is what I had initially but it didn’t look convincing. So I dragged the grass layer under the shadows layer, then right clicked on the grass layer -> blending options and

applied inner shadow. These are the values I used.

I repeated these steps for each letter.

In my opinion this was the most fun and creative part of the whole process. It allowed lots of creative freedom and the longer i spent on it, the better the outcome. In the end I had probably spent more time on this alone than the whole piece. What really makes this effect work are the little details like the vines hanging off the “K”on the right side, and the strands hanging off the “O”.

I repeated these steps for each letter.

CONCLUSIONThose are the foundations of creating a piece such as this. After a few extra finishing touches: