Adding a multi-colored glow to Photoshop. Soft glow effect on a photo using Photoshop

Here we'll show you a simple trick that can be used to create a beautiful, well-defined, subtle glow effect and apply it to any fine line. To achieve the goal, we will need the Pen Tool, the ability to work with styles and layer blending modes.

1 Step

Let's start by creating a background for the image. Select the Gradient Tool (G), switch its type to Radial and fill the background with a color from red-brown to black (colors #922f00 , #000000 ).

2 Step

We'll need a pretty bright color in the middle, so duplicate the background layer and set its blending mode to Color Dodge. There are several types of blend modes: burn, dodge, colorize, and invert. Color Dodge is probably the most powerful brightening mode. As you can see in the picture below, it turned out to be a pretty good bright center.

3 Step

Now it would be nice to get a nice textured base out of this background. Therefore, now we will create some kind of foggy haze. Create a new layer, set the foreground color to white and the background color to black. Now open Filter > Render > Clouds, as a result we will get something like the picture below.

4 Step

Set the layer's Opacity to 30% and set its blending mode to Overlay. In many cases this would be enough, but we will enhance the effect even more.

Open Filter > Sketch > Chrome and use values ​​of 4 and 7 for the Detail and Smoothness parameters respectively.

At the end of the manipulations, the result should be more realistic.

5 Step

Now, before we start creating the glow, we need something that will glow. Here we take the Pen Tool in our hands and apply some graceful curve to the drawing. Fortunately, it's not that difficult. An example of such an S-shaped curve is shown in the illustration below.

6 Step

Now create a new layer, select the Paintbrush Tool (B) and select a thin hard brush. Since soft brushes are relatively blurry, we need a hard one with a Hardness setting of 100%. Set the brush thickness to 3px. You can choose any color - we will cover it with the style color anyway.

7 Step

Switch to the Pen Tool (P) again. Now right-click and select Stroke Path. There, select Brush and be sure to select Simulate Pressure. Click OK and see what happens. Right-click again and select Delete Path.

8 Step

You should end up with something similar to the image below. Just a thin, graceful line.

9 Step

Let's add a little glow. The easiest way to create an aura of glow is to use styles. In short, I added two glow effects. First I set up Outer Glow and then added Drop Shadow with settings that make it not a shadow, but a glow. This can be achieved by adjusting the distance and changing the blending mode to something like Color Dodge. Oh, and I also used a Color Overlay to make the line bright white, making it look like it's glowing from within.

10 Step

And so now we have a line emitting a glow. The beauty of using styles is that they can be copied and added to other layers. To do this, right-click on the layer, select Copy Lyer Style, then create a new layer, right-click on it and select Paste Layer Style.

11 Step

Now repeat the process a few more times to get a couple more wavy lines. Here I made one of them thicker by changing the brush size before the Stroke Path process. I also erased part of the third line with an eraser to connect it with the rest this way. The result is a wonderful triangular shape.

12 Step

It is very important to pay maximum attention to your text. Use simple fonts and play with their sizes and letter spacing. Using simple tricks you can achieve a lot. I got good contrast by increasing the glow for the words, then made the words Advanced and FX much smaller in point size and letter-spaced them.

You can adjust the discharge using the Character window. If you don't have it open, open it through the Window > Character menu. Play with each parameter to understand which one does what.

13 Step

Now let's apply luminous particles to the image. Create a new layer, select a thin brush (Paint Brush) size 3px and apply a few dots to the drawing. It will look good if they are concentrated near the center so that the particles appear to be emitted from that area. The points closer to the center can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them with the brush again, as if expanding them. Now copy the glow styles and add them to this current layer.

14 Step

Now everything looks pretty nice, but you can make it even better if you add some color to the image.

Create a new layer and use a radial gradient to draw a blue sphere on the white background as shown below.

15 Step

Now set the layer's blending mode to Color and change its Opacity to 50%.

I changed the blending modes for each layer to Color and reduced the Opacity so that they were smoothed all together.

16 Step

That's it: the advanced glow effect combined with a beautiful, subtle background haze gives a great result. Don't forget to experiment with the settings and try out different sparkles - there are many color combinations that look amazing. Good luck!

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Translated from the site psd.tutsplus.com, the author of the translation is indicated at the beginning of the lesson.

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a super lighting effect in Photoshop using several textures, blur filters and adding some trick to add some magic to our composition. Using this effect, you can create beautiful projects.

Final result:

Let's start!

Step 1

Create a new document with a size of 1900 x 1200 px, resolution 72 pixels/inch, RGB 8 bit. Then create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N). Select a tool GradientTool (G)(Gradient) color from #031625 to black, style Radial and draw a gradient as shown below.

Step 2

Open the model image and move it to your working document. Make the image smaller (Ctrl+T) and position it as shown below.

Duplicate the layer (Ctrl+J) and apply a filter Filter > Blur > Motion Blur(Filter - Blur - Motion Blur).

Change the blending mode of this layer to Color Dodge(Brightening the base).

Add an adjustment layer to this layer Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation Saturation(Saturation) to -100.

Step 3

Duplicate the original model layer (Ctrl+J) and place it above all layers.

Apply a filter to this layer Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur(Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur), radius 7 px.

Then change the blending mode to Overlay(Overlap).

Duplicate this layer (Ctrl+J) to get a glow effect.

Step 4

In the layers panel, go to the original model layer and add a layer style Inner Shadow(Inner Shadow) with the settings shown below.

Above all layers, create a new layer (Ctrl + Shift + N). Select a tool Gradient Tool (G)(Gradient), Angular style. Extend the gradient from the model's hand to one of the corners of the document.

Translator's note: The author has on the screenshot the top settings window for the Gradient adjustment layer. Don't pay any attention to it. Use the Gradient tool. In the Gradient Editor, select a gradient type Noise(Noise), Smoothness (Roughness) 100%, check the boxes Limit colors (RestrictColors) and Enable transparency(AddTransparency). And also the button Another variant (Randomize) you can select a gradient.

Step 5

Desaturate the gradient layer Image > Adjustments > Desaturate(Ctrl + Shift + U) (Image - Adjustments - Desaturate).

Then the tool Eraser Tool (E)(Eraser), soft brush, erase along the edges of the gradient, as shown below.

Change the blending mode to Color Dodge(Brightening the base).

Step 6

Create a new layer (Ctrl + Shift + N) and place it in a group (Ctrl + G). Change the group's blending mode to Color Dodge(Brightening the base). Then the tool Brush Tool (B)(Brush), color white, hardness 0%, draw a spot at hand level. This way we will add a light effect.

Above the group layer, create a new layer (Ctrl + Shift + N), select the tool Brush Tool (B)(Brush) with these parameters

• Size(Size) - 100 - 300 px
• Hardness(Hardness) - 0%
• Opacity(Opacity) - 70%
• Flow(Press) - 60%
• Color - #80b2d6

And paint the canvas as shown in the image below.

Translator's note: In red the author shows where to paint.

Step 7

Open the smoke texture and move it to your working document. Reduce the size (Ctrl+T), rotate and position it on the leg as shown below.

Change the blending mode to Color Dodge(Brightening the base).

Do the same with the nebula image.

Change the blending mode to Color Dodge(Brightening the base).

For the nebula layer, add an adjustment layer Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation(Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Hue/Saturation) as a clipping mask. Install Saturation(Saturation) to -100.

Step 8

Open and move the image with the second nebula into the working document. Change the blending mode to Color Dodge(Base Dodge) and add the adjustment layer as for the first nebula layer as a clipping mask with the same settings.

Duplicate the gradient layer you created earlier two times and position the copies as shown below.

Step 9

Open the particle texture and place it as shown below.

Duplicate the particle layer and place it in the leg area. Tool Eraser Tool (E)(Eraser) use a soft brush on layers with particles to remove excess.

Step 10

Open and move the highlight texture into your work.

Change the blending mode to Screen(Screen)

Finally add an adjustment layer Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map(Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Gradient Map) color from #094b39 to white.

Change the blending mode to Overlay(Overlap) and reduce Opacity(Opacity) to 50%.

Final result:

Lighting is a huge integral part of a film's success. This is true for photography as well. To create drama in an image, you need light, or the lack thereof. Edge glow, as the term suggests, is also called backlighting. In this article I'll show you how to create this dramatic lighting style.

An edge glow effect created in the scene and an Inner Glow effect added toPhotoshop.

Glow edges adds dramas

There was a scene in the movie Alien (1979) when the character played by Harry Dean Stanton goes looking for Jones the cat. This scene made me cover my mouth with both hands. I just knew something terrible was going to happen—it was created with such incredible tension.

« Stranger» film companies20th Century Fox

The lighting throughout the film was low key to create a moody, atmospheric feel.

A good example of edge glow is using lights on both sides or one behind the subject, as in the image below.

In this photo, the light source behind the subject creates an edge glow around the head. This is also called hair glow.

Before I show you how to create this effect in Photoshop, I want to show you how easy it is to create it in a scene. And then you can try to do it yourself in the comfort of your own home.

Create a glow effect around the edges of a scene

I used the following items to create the edge glow:

• One bottle of water
• One glossy black tile
• Two light sources
• Camera mounted on a tripod.

I purchased the black gloss tiles from a local tile store that only had one available. As for lighting, strip boxes are ideal for these purposes. You place them on both sides slightly behind the subject (closer to the background).

Unlike softboxes, stripboxes are narrow and rectangular in shape. But for the purposes of this article, you can use whatever light sources you have at your disposal.

I stood my iPad upright on one side of the bottle and opened the Soft Box app, which is free to download, and set the color to white. On the other side, an LED lamp was installed. The stage was set up on my kitchen table.

As you can see in the photo below, I could control the angle of the light hitting the bottle. The camera settings were as follows: ISO 2000, shutter speed 1/60, aperture f/5.6.

A simple pattern you can use at home to create an edge glow effect using glossy black tiles, props and two lights.

Note:

If you don't want to use two lights and have a regular softbox, try placing it directly behind your subject and cover the center of the softbox with a black panel (this will be your background). You will need to experiment to get the desired glow effect on the object.

This is a photo of a water bottle straight from the camera.

Now let's dive into Photoshop.

Creating a backlit effect inPhotoshop

The key to adding an edge glow effect in Photoshop is a Layer Style and an object separated from the background. Before you apply any layer style, it is necessary that the image you will be using is carefully cropped out. Use any selection tool, but I recommend the Pen tool.

Layer Style

Let's take a look at the Layer Style. With Photoshop open, go to the Layers panel. At the very bottom you will see a group of icons. Among them, the second from the left is fx. Click on it and a dialog box will appear with different style options.

Layer styles will appear if you click on the iconfxlocated at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Kit Internal glow

Another way you can go to Layer Style is by clicking on the button with horizontal lines in the upper right corner of the Layers panel. Scroll down to Blending Options. The same dialog box will appear and now just click on Inner Glow.

When you click on any of the layer style options, there will already be preset settings, but you can easily edit them. In this example, we will leave some settings as they are, and configure the following three:

1. Feathering
2. Size
3. Opacity

Experiment until you're happy with the result, then click OK.

A pop-up dialog box displays the Layer Style and default settings.

Edge glow effect added toPhotoshopusing Internal glow from recruitment Style layer.

Using the Dodge blending mode instead of Screen

When using the Layer Style technique, I prefer to change the blending mode from Screen to Color Dodge. I used this on the water bottle in the title photo. To see the difference between the two blend modes, look at the two photos below.

The first image is Inner Glow with the blend mode Screen and default settings. In the second image, the blending mode has been changed to Color Dodge.

Changing the blending mode to Dodge

Edge glow effect created inPhotoshop using Internal glow from recruitment Style layer.

This edge glow effect was created using the Inner Glow from the Layer Style set, but changing the Blend Mode to Color Dodge.

Create an edge glow effect from scratch usingPhotoshop

However, this technique is really great if you want to create an edge glow from scratch. For example, take this image of the Caligo butterfly. There is no glow effect on it at all.

Caligo

I separated the butterfly from the background using the Pen tool, and placed it on another background, to which I added a Gaussian blur.

Wheat

Since Caligo is on a separate layer, I added an Inner Glow from the Layer Style and changed the Blend Mode to Color Dodge, choosing a dark yellow. I wanted the wings to be highlighted by the setting sun in the background.

The Caligo butterfly was carved with the Pen tool inPhotoshop and placed on a different background. I blurred the background using Gaussian Blur.

I placed this Layer Style effect on its own layer. Then I applied a layer mask and painted over the yellow glow on the wings to make them look realistic. I did some more retouching by adding a gradient overlay and then applied Filter>Blur>Medium to blend the colors of the two images.

By placing the Layer Style effect on a separate layer, I was able to apply a layer mask and paint over the glow effect on the butterfly's wings.

The inner glow was added using the Color Dodge blending mode. A gradient overlay was then added to darken the bottom of the butterfly. Then a Medium Blur was applied to blend the colors of the two images.

Here we see several new parameters that are different from those we looked at previously. These are “Method” (Technique), “Range” (Range) and “Oscillation” (Jitter):

Blend Modes

Blending modes allow you to set the Outer Glow blending mode to a layer. If you are creating a glow effect, then Linear Dodge or Screen are good options, if you want to create an outer shadow type effect, then it is better to use Linear Burn or Multiply " (Multiply), if you are creating a stroke, then the "Normal" mode is suitable.

Opacity

This option adjusts the transparency of Outer Glow. A value of 0% makes it completely transparent. those. invisible, value 100% - completely opaque.
The parameter is fully consistent with that in “Shadow” and other layer styles.

Noise

This parameter is also similar to those in “Shadows” and others. Increasing the “Noise” value gives graininess to the glow, with its help you can get effects like “glowing dust”.

The example shows the left text with a noise value of 0%, the right - 62%

Color and Gradient

"Color" allows you to change the color of the glow.
If the radio button is enabled for "Gradient", then your possibilities are not limited to just one color, with the help of several gradient colors and transitions you can create very complex and abstract glowing effects:

The example shows orange and a rainbow gradient:

Technique

The "Method" drop-down list gives us two different options for rendering (visualization) of the glow, soft and precise (Softer and Precise). The "Soft" method gives us a more organic and natural glow with smooth transitions, blurs and rounded corners, while the "Precise" method makes the glow more closely match the shape of the object from which it comes.

In the following example you can see the difference between soft organic and precise methods:

Spread

The Sweep option changes the fade in intensity of the glow linearly, or in other words, changes how gradually it fades out as it approaches the edge.

Usually this parameter is left at 0%, but if you need sharp edges of the light, you will need to increase its value. A value of 100% gives a sharp boundary.

The figure shows the "Span" values ​​at 0 and 60%

Size

The name of the option speaks for itself. This adjustment allows you to change the size of the glow in one-pixel increments.

Contour

The contour of the shape allows you to change the decrease in glow towards the edges in a non-linear mode. By selecting different curve profiles, you can get different glow attenuation. Using Contour can be useful when you are trying to achieve a specific type of glow or some abstract effect.
Additionally, the Anti-Aliasing checkbox allows you to improve the quality of the shine with a very slight drop in performance, so I recommend always checking it.

The figure shows what effect a sinusoidal circuit can have:

Range

The Range option is similar to the Span option. It allows you to control the decay of the glow towards the edge in almost the same way.
A lower value gives us a hard glow, while a higher value gives us a softer glow.

The following example shows how the Range value affects the softness of the light:

Jitter

While Range is similar to Span, Jitter is similar to Noise. The difference is that Noise creates transparency in adjacent pixels using a Normal blending mode, while Jitter does the same thing using a blending mode similar to Overlay.

In this tutorial I'll show you how to create an interesting glow and add mood to an image. For this we will use blending modes(blending options), selection tools and a little of your imagination.

After.

Let's start. Open the image to which you want to apply the effect. The author chose this.

Step 1. You need to separate the girl from the background. Do it with
using the method that works best for you. Author
used the tool Feather
(Pen Tool), drawing a path around the girl’s figure, you need to close the outline,
create a selected area. Set the feathering to 1 px.

Step 2. Copy the selection (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) it to a new layer, name the layer "Young woman».

Step 3. Duplicate the layer "Young woman". Apply an adjustment to a copy of this layer Brightness/Contrast on the menu Image - Correction(Image > Adjustments > Brightness and Contrast).

Step 4. Select the layer "Young woman". Let's go to the menu Filter - Blur - Motion Blur(Filter > Blur > Motion Blur). We set these settings Corner(Angle) - 40 degrees, Bias(Distance) - 120. Merge layers "Young woman" and a copy of it.

Step 5. with a girl and call him "Smoke". Using the tool Lasso(Lasso Tool), draw an area around the girl. Set the feathering to 150 px.

Step 6. Make sure your Foreground color is white and your Background color is black. Now let's go to the menu Filter - Rendering - Clouds(Filter > Render > Clouds). After that, set the blending mode for this layer Overlap(Overlay).

Step 7 Create a new layer below the layer "Smoke" and name it "Gradient". Select Tool Gradient(Gradient Tool) and click to bring up the Gradient Editor. Set the foreground color #c6229e and background color #1dbdda. In the tool settings, set Linear. Draw a gradient from the top left to the bottom right, set the opacity of this layer to 60%.

Step 8 Set the layer "Gradient" blending mode Overlap(Overlay), then merge the layers " Smoke" And "Gradient".
You should get something like the screenshot below. Can
experiment with different gradient color combinations and others
blending modes for the “Gradient” layer.

Step 9 Create a new layer below the layer "Gradient" and name it "Glow". Using white soft Brush(Brush), paint over the edges of the girl with a brush. This will create a glowing effect behind the girl.

Step 10 Make the tool active Brush(Brush
tool), go to the brush settings palette (F5) and enter the following
settings as shown in the screenshots below. Save this brush
pressing Save a new brush (Create New Brush) and name her "Splash".
Then you can select it again in the brushes palette and use it later.
Drag the customized brush over the image as in the image below.
Achieve the desired effect.

Step 11 Create a new layer, name it "Stripes". The name speaks for itself. We're going to make glow stripes. To make them, select a tool Polygon Lasso
(Polygonal Lasso Tool) and create a triangle. Then using white
Using a soft brush, paint on the opposite side of the triangle base. You
You can also experiment with different shapes and sizes to
create the effects you want.

Step 12 Now let's do the lighting on the girl herself. To do this, create a new layer above the layer "Young woman" and set its blending mode to Lightening the base
(Color Dodge). Load the girl outline you made earlier in
contours palette or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+click on
thumbnail of the layer with the girl. The selection will load. Using the tool PIpetka(Eyedropper
Tool), select the color of the glow around the girl that we made
earlier and with the same color, with a soft brush, draw along the inner
outline of the selected area.

Step 13 Now we will create the light lines. Create a new layer called "Lines" above the girl layer. Set the color foreground(foreground color) white, select tool Brush(Brush Tool) and open the brush settings window. Select a soft brush, approximately 9 px. In the tab Dynamics of shape(Shape Dynamics) install Size fluctuation(size jitter control) on pen pressure(Pen Pressure). This will give your brush strokes an interesting effect.

Step 14 Using the tool Feather(Pen tool), create several lines (see screenshot). After that, right-click and select the option - Stroke the outline(Stroke Path). The settings window will open. It is necessary to put Brush(Brush) and check the box Simulate pressure(Simulate Pressure). Click OK. After this, your lines made with a pen will be outlined with a brush.

Step 15 Now double click on the lines layer to bring up Layer Styles(Blending Options). Applicable External glow(Outer Glow). Use the settings as in the screenshot below.

Step 16 Using a layer mask, if desired, you can
remove some parts of the lines that fall on the girl. And
you can add more elements to the image to make it
look even more unique.

Here's the final image.

While studying this lesson, I made this picture.