Crazy Lighting in Photoshop Tutorial

In this tutorial I will show you how to get a very cool effect that will look like the images below when finished:

The fist step is to get a collection of images that you want to bend to make your background. What I did was took the end effects of many of my tutorials, and used them so that you are able to follow along easier. You can use any images that you like, though I think the 3d abstract ones look the best.

So, lets start blending. First make an image with the bg color of this:

and a width and height of around 500

Now take your first image and put it in your picture. I used a 3d image.

Now on a new layer, past in another picture, and lower the opacity to around 50%

Now on a new layer, past in another picture, and lower the opacity to around 50% It may look

little bad now, but tick with me.

Once again, on a new layer, past in another picture, and lower the opacity to around 50%

Now, that's enough pictures for now. You can add more if you would like, just keep adding them until you are satisfied.

Now, make a new layer and change the mode to color. Fill your layer with this color:

Now, flatten your image by going layer> merge visible

Now take out your dodge tool, and start rubbing. Make it really light in the bottom left corner, and let the light slowly travel outward. Your image should look like this:

Now, on a new layer, take out your paintbrush, choose a small brush size and get out a light purple color. Start making dots around your picture, more of them towards the lightest areas, and less as you go out. Now change that layer opacity to around 50%. Your picture should now look like this:

Now I added some typography and other trendy image and I'm all done!Your image should look close to mine below.

Color Effects with Alpha Channel

		Preparations: We will need an image of a model, prefably a close-up on the face. I'm using Keeley Hazell for this tutorial. All rights of these resources belong to their respective owners.
		Step 1 - Setting Up Background: Create a document of size 750 by 550px and save it as example.psd. Fill the background with #E6D4A7.
		Step 2 - Create Strip Pattern: Create a new document with 3 by 3px, then create a new layer above Background layer. Select Pencil tool with 1px and color #000000, paint 3 dots as shown on the left. Delete the Background layer. Press Ctrl+A and go to Edit > Define Pattern. Close this document w/o saving. In example.psd, create a new layer. Select Paint Bucket tool and fill in the pattern you created.
		Step 3 - Transparent Rainbow: Create a new layer above the rest. Select the Gradient tool and choose Transparent Rainbow. Drag the gradient from top-left of the document diagonally across to the bottom-right.
		Step 4 - Create a Color Frame: Select the rainbow gradient layer and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the radius to 250. Create a layer mask on this layer and fill the mask with #FFFFFF. Using Soft Brush tool of size 350px and color #000000, paint center of the mask as shown on left.
		Step 5 - Selecting Image Channel: Open up your model image and drag it into example.psd using Move tool. Hide the rest of layers except for the model. Go to Channels tab and choose the brightess image out of the Red, Green and Blue (for mine is Red).
		Step 6 - Create Alpha Channel: Ctrl+left click on the Red channel layer to load selection of those bright areas. Click on Create New Channel to generate an alpha channel and fill it with #FFFFFF. Using Soft Brush tool of size 100px and color #FFFFFF, paint away the grey background behind the model. Note: View animation on the left.
		Step 7 - Gradient on Model: Ctrl+left click on the Alpha Channel to load selection. Go to Select > Inverse. Back to Layers tab and create a new layer. Fill the selection with any color. Right-click on the layer and choose Blending Options. Activate Gradient Overlay and choose the preset Yellow, Violet, Orange, Blue. Set its angle to -45 and scale to 150.
		Step 8 - Enhancing the Colors: Duplicate the model layer and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set its radius to 3px. Right-click on duplicated layer and choose Blending Options. Set the mode of Gradient Overlay to Hard Light.
		Step 9 - Drawing Lines: Create a new layer and draw some white vertical lines of various sizes with Pencil tool. You will need to hold down the Shift key while drawing so your lines will be straight.
		Step 10 - Fading Lines: Go to Edit > Transform > Rotate and set its value to 45. Using Soft Eraser tool of size 150px, fade the two ends of the lines. Repeat Step 9 and 10 if you need more lines on your model.
		Optional: Add some texts to complete the design. That's all! Hope you like this tutorial. Video tutorial is posted at Vimeo Click here to view

Use Photoshop lighting effects to make photos sparkle

From fashion shots to portraits, here's how to add a touch of magic with Photoshop lighting effects.

Turning a run-of-the-mill photo into a dazzling one is simple – when you know the right tricks. In this tutorial, Photoshop maestro Aeiko shows how to create a variety of light effects that can be applied to photography or illustration with equal impact.

From sparkles, pixie dust effects, coloured light spots and light beams, to using splatter effects as a form of lighting, it's all here. Some of the tricks you'll learn are created through cunning use of stock photography, while others make use of Photoshop's built-in tools.

01. In Photoshop, open the file model.jpg from the cover CD. Open a new adjustment layer and select Hue/ Saturation. Drag the Saturation slider down to -100 to turn the image into black and white using the Hue slider. We'll use our own colours in this tutorial, so we don't need any colour in the photo at this point.

02. Duplicate the model layer (Cmd/ Ctrl + J) and press F to activate full-screen mode. Zoom into the photo so it's actual size (Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + 0). Use the Pen tool to trace around the model. Once you have finished, right-click (Ctrl + click) with the mouse and select 『Create Vector Mask'.

03. Import paint_splat.jpg from the cover CD. Drag it onto the composition under the layer you made in Step 02. Then hit Cmd/Ctrl + I (this inverts the layer) and set the Layer Mode to Screen.

04. Repeat this process with different types of splatters (you could even make your own) spread over a number of different layers. Vary some of them using Distort, Perspective and Cmd/Ctrl + T. Erase some parts of them, vary the opacity and set the Layer Mode to Screen.

05. Click on some of the layers you just created, then select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the radius to around 5 pixels, and arrange these on the canvas. Place some over the model, and make others seem like they're shooting out from behind her.

06. Import another splatter image into Photoshop. Click on Select > Colour Range, click on the splatter colour and set the Fuzziness to 40. Drag the selection onto the main canvas, give it a black colour overlay and arrange it on the canvas. Repeat this process a few times and erase some areas with a soft brush.

07. Repeat Step 06, but instead of using black for the colour overlay, use white. In Layer Options tick Outer Glow and choose a pink colour, set the spread to around 30 pixels. Repeat this process using other colours and also white outer glows; place these around the canvas above the saturation layer you made in Step 01.

08. Go to your brushes panel and choose a soft round brush; make the size of the brush about half the size of the canvas. Click on the canvas and arrange this into the scene. Next, duplicate the layer to make some smaller splatters, and arrange these around the model.

09. Repeat Step 08 to extend the light effects along the model's leg. Hold Alt and drag, then Cmd/Ctrl + T to make it smaller. Repeat this a few times to make each consecutive loop down her leg smaller than the last. You can do this around her body too, if you wish. Use the same brush, but in black, to darken some areas of the background under the Vector Mask Layer.

10. Select white again and create a new layer above all the others. Open the Brushes window and change the Spacing to 100%. Click on Shape Dynamics and set the Size Jitter to 80%. Set the Scattering to 440%. Start brushing areas on the canvas alternating brush diameter. Give some layers outer glows and vary the softness of the brush.

11. Import Smoke.jpg from the cover CD and place it on a new layer. Set the Layer Mode to Lighten. Duplicate the layer a couple of times and move it around slightly. Select Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. Use a soft black brush set to around 20% flow to mask of certain areas of the smoke to make it fit with the composition.

12. Next we're going to create some paths, use the Pen tool to draw a smooth curve around the model. Click New Layer and open up the Brushes menu; change the spacing to around 10% and drop the diameter right down to create a thin line. Click on the Paths tab and then on the Work Path Layer you just created. Click Stroke Path.

13. Repeat Step 12 with new path layers. Erase parts of the lines so they look like they are fading out in places. Add some Outer Glows (from the Layer Styles menu) using the same colour palette you picked. Vary the brush diameter on some of the strokes.

14. Create a new document. Using the soft brush with the Spacing set to 14%, hold shift and drag the brush downwards to create a straight line on this new layer. Put a 50-pixel Gaussian blur on it and use the Eraser tool to rub out some of the ends of the line. Go Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + T and rotate by 45º. Alt + click the layer and flip horizontal to make an X shape with the lines. Merge the two selected layers (Cmd/Ctrl + E) and transform it (Cmd/Ctrl + T) to make it smaller. Place this shape on the canvas near a light burst, and Alt + Drag and transform a few smaller ones, place these around the composition too.

15. Create five black rectangles at equal spaces apart. Cmd/Ctrl + T and rotate 45º. Select them all using Shift and the Magic Wand tool. Turn the layer visibility off and create a new layer; hit Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + C followed by Cmd/Ctrl + V to paste back in. Use the arrow keys to offset this a little from the main image, and perhaps erase some of the areas with a soft brush.

16. Repeat some of the previous steps but vary the colours, outer glows, brush strokes and whatever else you want. Add any additional elements you see fit, such as more curved lines. Play with layer styles, gradients and blending modes. Remember: Photoshop is only a tool for visualizing your creativity.

Create a magical rainbow color flame in Photoshop

One of the things I've seen around quite a bit lately is a transparent rainbow gradient effect on a dark background. It seems to me that flashy transparent gradients are in these days. They make me think about magic. Today I'll show you how you can create a magical rainbow color flame. OK, maybe I'm using too many words in a row here, but it's the best I can do to describe this.

I should tell you upfront that for this tutorial basic knowledge of Photoshop is needed.

Draw smoky lines

First we start with the creation of the smoky lines by using the Pen tool. Use a white fill for each shape layer and an Opacity of 40%. Set the Layer mode of the layer to Overlay and the Fill to 0%.

Double click on the right on one of the layers to open the Layer Styles. Add a white Drop Shadow of 100% Opacity and set the Blend Mode to Overlay. Distance and Spread is set to 0 and Size to 11. Next, make sure to uncheck Layer Knocks Out Shadow. Now check the Gradient Overlay in the styles palette. Choose Overlay as blend mode. Double click the Gradient thumbnail to edit the color stops in the Preset window. Select white as color for the left stop and give it 0% Opacity do the same for the right stop. Now add a stop at the Location of 50% (right in the middle), select white as color and give it an Opacity of 100%. Click OK to apply these Layer Styles to the layer. Select Copy Layer Style from the dropdown menu in the Layers palette (arrow on the right of the layer next to the fx icon). Now select all other smoke line Shape layers and select Paste Layer Style from that same dropdown menu. The style should be applied to all these layers now.

Add a cold gradient color flame

First we'll create a rainbow gradient preset. Select the Gradient tool in the Toolbox and go to the Gradient picker in the Toolbar at the top. If I'm not mistaken there should be a gradient called Transparent Rainbow by default in there. Double click to edit it. Remove the orange and yellow stop and move the the green, aqua, dark blue and hot pink stop so the colors are more equally divided over the length of the gradient. Give the gradient a name, for example 'Cold Gradient' and click the Newbutton. Click OK to close the window. Set the Opacity of the gradient in the Toolbar to 50%.

Create a new layer, select the Elliptical Marquee tool and drag a circular selection (hold down shift while dragging) towards the bottom of the smoky lines. Make sure the circular selection is big enough so you can add a Feather 85 pixels: Select > Modify > Feather. Now select the Gradient tool and drag a perfect horizontal line from the left of the circle and release the right of the circle (see image to the right above).

Touch up the flame using the Smudge tool

If all goes well your gradient should look more or less as in the image below. To be extra save, create a copy of this layer first just in case. This touching up and reshaping needs a bit of work and the result could be too messy. This way you can come back and give it another try.

Select the Smudge tool to reshape the gradient a bit so it looks a bit more like a colored flame. I've used a very big brush to reshape the area at the bottom and a smaller one to smudge out some colors so it looks a bit like they follow some of the smoky lines.

Add a warm gradient color flame

Add a second gradient effect in a new layer on top of the previous one. Just like before, select the Gradient tool in the Toolbox and go to the Gradient picker in the Toolbar at the top. Select the gradient called Transparent Rainbow from the dropdown gradient list and double click to edit. Remove the dark blue and aqua stop in the gradient. Rearrange the stops so the colors are equally divided over the entire length. Give the gradient a name, something like 'Warm Gradient' and click the Newbutton. Click OK to close the window. Make sure the Opacity of the gradient is set to 50% in the Toolbar.

Apply the gradient just like the previous one except create the selection a bit smaller and place it more towards the top of the smoky lines instead of at the bottom. Touch up and reshape the gradient using the Smudge tool. Make sure to make a copy of your layer (just to be safe) so you can always come back to it in case the result is not looking good.

Add glowing sparks

To add some extra magic effect, we'll add some sparkles. In one of my previous tutorials I've already showed you how to create glowing sparks. Anyhow here is it again to refresh your memory (but with slightly different settings). Open the Brushes palette (F5 or Window > Brushes). Choose the 21 sized feathered brush. Check Shape Dynamics and Scattering. Select Brush Tip Shape and in the sliders at the bottom, set the Hardness to 0%. Check Spacing and drag the slider towards 403%. Select Scattering, check Both Axes and put the Scatter to 775%. Select Shape Dynamics and change the Size Jitter slider to 100%

Create a new layer on top of the other layers and set the Layer mode to Overlay. Select the Brush tooland select white as Foreground color. Now draw a random line. Duplicate the layer with the sparks once or twice depending on the glow effect you want to achieve. Then merge these layers back together (command/control + e).

My end result

Here is my end result. I've added some stars as well in 3 different colors each as a Shape layer: hot pink, aqua blue and bright green. They where drawn in Illustrator and pasted into Photoshop as a Shape layer.

The O Series Tutorial

I have had many requests for tutorials over the past months, but given that they are quite time-consuming to create I have stayed away from them to continue with my poster designs and freelance work.

Last week I posted a few images entitled The O Series. The process behind the images is fairly simple and I thought it would make for a good first tutorial post. There is nothing advanced here, and all you will need is a basic knowledge of the layers palette, blending modes and masks.

So, if you were at all interested in the creation of these pieces, here you go.

Step 1
Start by creating a white circle in the middle of the canvas, and apply a radial gradient layer mask so the center is faded out. Drop the opacity down to 15%.

Step 2
Duplicate the circle layer we just made, and move it up and to the left. Bring the opacity up to 100% and set the layer Blending Mode to Overlay.

Step 3
Duplicate the layer we just made and drop the opacity down to 25%. Set the Blending Mode of this new layer to Color Dodge. Move the circle a bit to the right on the canvas.

Step 4
Duplicate the layer we just made, bring the opacity back up to 100% and set the Blending Mode to Soft Light. Shift the circle to the left a bit, and this time scale the circle down a little.

Step 5
Make a straight duplicate of the layer we just made, and shift it a bit to the right. Keep all the layer settings the same.

Step 6
Now that we have all of our circles in place, it's now time to add some shadows and highlights to bring a bit more definition to the shapes. Create a new layer, and set its Blending Mode to Overlay. Using the Brush Tool set to black, proceed to paint in a few soft shadows concentrating more on the lower-left portion of the sphere. Then on the same layer, set your brush to white and paint in a few highlights. Try to keep in mind where a light source might hit our sphere, and paint the shadows and highlights accordingly. I lassoed where I painted for the sake of clarity in the example image.

Step 7
To make the shading and highlights a bit more dramatic, duplicate the layer we just made and set its opacity to 50%. Keep the Blending Mode at Overlay.

Step 8
Now we need to make the highlights really pop. Create a new layer and set the Blending Mode to Soft Light. Then using the Brush Tool with a soft setting, paint in a few focused highlight areas building on where you placed highlights in step 6.

Step 9
Duplicate the layer we just made and set the Blending Mode to Overlay.

Step 10
Once again, duplicate the layer we just made and this time drop the opacity to 50%.

Step 11
Create a new Adjustment Layer and select Levels. When the levels dialogue box appears, set the white side to 145 and the dark side to 15, and click Okay. Keep this new layer above all of the layers we have created so the level setting will be applied to all.

Step 12
Finally, we can now add some color to our sphere. Create a new layer, and remember to keep it below the Levels Adjustment Layer we just made. Using the Brush tool on a soft setting, paint in some color highlights on the sphere. Do this for a few colors to add some interest to the composition, in my case I chose red and purple.

Step 13
Set the Blending Mode of our color layer to Overlay. You can continue to add some color on this layer until it feels right.

Step 14
After placing so many overlays on top of gradients you will notice some fragmentation or banding. To solve this, switch the canvas to 16-bit and everything will smooth out. Simply go to Image > Mode > 16-Bits/Channel. After saving your PSD as 16-bit, you can then flatten your canvas and switch back to 8-bit to save your work as a jpeg.

Step 15
Have some fun and try a few different color treatments using the Brush Tool or some gradients. Also shift the circle layers around a bit for more diversity.

I tried to keep this is simple and straight-forward as I could, so I hope this helps out those curious about my process. I do a great deal of adjusting and experimenting with my work, so be sure to try new things as you go to see how the slightest of alterations can change how color and overlays react with one another. But most of all, have fun.