Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Rainbows, Glows and Light

Lighting effects in Adobe Photoshop are used to add flare and polish to images. They communicate feelings of creativity, technology, magic, and fantasy. Creating beams, glows, motion trails, rainbows, or an assortment of other lighting effects, give your images ambiance and depth.

Now its time for a sparkling dose of related Photoshop learning material. This article provides a resource of Adobe Photoshop Light Effects tutorials. These tutorials offer an assortment of techniques for making your work creatively glow.

Please consider them as an extension of our ultimate Adobe Photoshop series:

Photoshop Light Effects Tutorials

• Lines Tutorial³
  A super simple tutorial that makes rainbow colored lines. It shows you how to give them an appearance of brightness and depth.

  ⁴

• Expressive lighting effects⁵⁴⁵
  This tutorial combines both vector and raster based techniques to achieve a glowing floral design. The glows are applied in Photoshop.

  ⁶

• Vector Polishing Techniques⁷
  This tutorial covers numerous ways to transform your vector illustrations into masterpieces by using Photoshop lighting techniques, glows, and filters.

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• How to Make the Flare Effect As Seen On WPCustomization.com
  In this tutorial, the Lens Flare filter is used on the background. Then the lighting is created with brushes and different blending modes.

  

• Sparkling Hot Girl in Photoshop⁹
  Utilize an assortment of techniques to achieve a sparkling design. Masks, blurs, brushes, layers styles and other effects are used in this tutorial.

  ¹⁰

• Amazing Photoshop light effect in 10 Steps¹¹
  If you know a bit of Layer Styles and the Brush engine in Photoshop you will be able to create amazing effects. It will depend exclusively on your imagination and playing with the tool. Sometimes just changing some settings and you get a totally different effect. This tutorial applies lighting effects to a coffee cup icon.

  ¹²

• Creating A Fantastic Fantasy Night Sky In Photoshop¹³
  Create cartoon style clouds with rainbows, stars, and glowing effects. Based on a Nik Ainley¹⁴ design.

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• Neon lights with Photoshop¹⁶
  Tutorial on how to make glowing lights effects out of vector shapes and brushes.

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• Electrifying Energy Beams¹⁸
  In this tutorial you start with the pen tool by drawing a line. Then you transform that line into an energy beam with layer effects. This makes it glow white and purple around a microphone.

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• Add Another Dimension²⁰
  Use glows and blending modes to add another dimension to your Photoshop artwork

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• Magic lighting effect in Photoshop²²
  Learn to magically make text wave and glow out of a magicians hat.

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• Extreme sports branding²⁴
  This tutorial first covers creating a logo then it gets into the main snowboard illustration. Vector shapes are applied with layer effects and brushes to make the illustration stand out. This is part one in a series.

  ²⁵

• How to Create Intense Light Streaks in Photoshop²⁶
  This tutorial shows you how to create light streaks that appear to flow around an object.

  ²⁷

• Chroma Wallpapers⁵⁷⁵⁶²⁸
  This tutorial explains how to create an energetic design with lines. Utilize blurs, warps, and other effects. Add glowing and vibrating colors to give this image a dynamic feeling.

  ²⁹

• Advanced Glow Effects³⁰
  This tutorial teaches how to create glow effects using layer styles, the pen tool, and some color blending effects.

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• Lighting Effects Beam Wave³²
  Learn to transform a one pixel lines into a glowing beam. Then add radial balls of light to emulate a pulse explosion.

  ³³

• Add A Sparkle Trail To A Photo³⁴
  Learn how to add a sparkling trail of stars to your photos using brushes, layer styles, and effects.

  ³⁵

• Creating light motion trails & glowing sparks³⁶
  This tutorial covers creating light motion trails by using the pen tool with layer styles. It also covers creating sparkling stars in Illustrator and then importing them into the Photoshop design.

  ³⁷

• Blue Glow Layout³⁸
  This tutorial reviews the process for creating a simple layout in Photoshop, while revealing techniques for creating an abstract glowing centerpiece design.

  ³⁹

• Fantasy Art Photoshop tutorial⁴⁰
  Learn to create a fantasy image with glowing halos of lights and stars. Notice how you can apply glow directly to a cropped image. The tutorial creates the halos with the Elliptical Marquee tool. It applies a stroke and then a glow to the selection, on its own layer.

  ⁴¹

• Photoshop: Light Beam⁴²
  This tutorial reviews the basic process of creating a light beam in Photoshop; however, it does refer to other tutorials for some effects. The techniques in this tutorial involve using different brushes to paint the light, and then they are smeared with the Smudge Tool. There are a few filters used as well.

  ⁴³

• Even fairies have to rest glow and lightning tutorial⁴⁴
  First, the photograph is treated to make it a little darker so that the points of light in the design will stand out. Both a linear wrapping beam and points of radiating light are covered in this tutorial.

  ⁴⁵

• Beautiful lighting FX effect in Photoshop⁴⁶
  This tutorial will show you how to make a beautiful lighting effect with the scatter brush. This tutorial covers the basics.

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• High-Tech Swirling Aurora⁴⁸
  This tutorial covers how to apply the Wind Filter to a waving light beam to create an aurora effect.

  ⁴⁹

• Slow shutter text effect Photoshop⁵⁰
  Layers of blurred elements are used in this tutorial. This blurring technique is worked into glowing linear text and circle shapes.

  ⁵¹

• Seriously Cool Photoshop Explosion Effect⁵²
  Use layer masks and light effects to creatively break apart an image. Points of bright lights, swirly brushes, and warped lines help bring this design together.

  ⁵³

Which techniques can be applied?

At the compositional level, these effects are often applied through shapes. So, you might start with the pen tool by drawing a curvy line. Or, grab a brush and draw some scattered stars. Or, open up Illustrator first to compose design elements that you then pull back into Photoshop. The tutorial Expressive lighting effects⁵⁴⁵ demonstrates how to use interesting design shapes first and then apply glowing effects to them.

Once you know how youd like to use shapes, you can apply effects to them. Layer styles and Blending Modes are common effects used to create this look. With Layer Styles, you might apply Glow. Or, with Blending Modes, you might set the layer to Lighten, Overlay, or Color Dodge get the element youre working with to sparkle and shine.

⁵⁵
In the tutorial Chroma Wallpapers⁵⁷⁵⁶²⁸, lines are bent with the Warp Transform tool before being given a glow treatment.

There are more techniques often used; such as different types of blurs and gradients. You could play with Photoshops built in lighting effects, like Lens Flare, as well. Or get creative. Mix in rainbows. Paint glowing bursts of light. Manipulate the lines and shapes your working with.

In the tutorial Chroma Wallpapers⁵⁷⁵⁶²⁸ lines are bent with the Warp Transform tool before being given a glow treatment. This puts a new spin on the use of glowing light techniques.

Where can I get some inspiration?

Consider raising it to the next level, after youve mastered the basics of lighting and glow techniques. To raise the quality of your glowing work youll need inspiration and imagination.

Look at artists, such as Chuck Anderson⁶⁰⁵⁸, that have mastered these techniques. Try to figure out what they have done beyond the basics.

⁵⁹
Chuck Anderson⁶⁰⁵⁸s work impresses with the beauty of its lightning effects.

Also, look at photographic effects; for example, look at how light appears to blur and travel in long exposure photography. See the Flickr Group Light Stream⁶¹ for samples of this kind of photography.

Keep your eyes and mind open. Youll start to see these effects in the real world. Or look to fantasy art; the sparkling feel of these effects can be used to supersede reality, magically transforming your designs.

Footnotes

1. 1 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/10/adobe-photoshop-tutorials-best-of/
2. 2 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/28/adobe-photoshop-video-tutorials-best-of/
3. 3 http://www.giackop.com/?p=70
4. 4 http://www.giackop.com/?p=70
5. 5 http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop/expressive_lighting_effects
6. 6 http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop/expressive_lighting_effects
7. 7 http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/vector-polishing-techniques/
8. 8 http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/vector-polishing-techniques/
9. 9 http://abduzeedo.com/sparkling-hot-girl-photoshop
10. 10 http://abduzeedo.com/sparkling-hot-girl-photoshop
11. 11 http://abduzeedo.com/amazing-photoshop-light-effect-10-steps
12. 12 http://abduzeedo.com/amazing-photoshop-light-effect-10-steps
13. 13 http://psdtuts.com/designing-tutorials/creating-a-fantastic-fantasy-night-sky-in-photoshop/
14. 14 http://www.shinybinary.com/
15. 15 http://psdtuts.com/designing-tutorials/creating-a-fantastic-fantasy-night-sky-in-photoshop/
16. 16 http://www.darjanpanic.com/tutorials/neon-lights-with-photoshop/
17. 17 http://www.darjanpanic.com/tutorials/neon-lights-with-photoshop/
18. 18 http://luxa.org/tutorial_electrifying_energy_beams.php
19. 19 http://luxa.org/tutorial_electrifying_energy_beams.php
20. 20 http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/premium_content/2d__and__photoshop/add_another_dimension
21. 21 http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/premium_content/2d__and__photoshop/add_another_dimension
22. 22 http://abduzeedo.com/magic-lighting-effect-photoshop
23. 23 http://abduzeedo.com/magic-lighting-effect-photoshop
24. 24 http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop/extreme_sports_branding,_part_one
25. 25 http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop/extreme_sports_branding,_part_one
26. 26 http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-create-intense-light-streaks-in-photoshop
27. 27 http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-create-intense-light-streaks-in-photoshop
28. 28 http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/chroma-wallpapers/
29. 29 http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/chroma-wallpapers/
30. 30 http://psdtuts.com/tutorials-effects/advanced-glow-effects/
31. 31 http://psdtuts.com/tutorials-effects/advanced-glow-effects/
32. 32 http://www.bluesfear.com/submittuts/ps/6/index.php
33. 33 http://www.bluesfear.com/submittuts/ps/6/index.php
34. 34 http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/sparkle/
35. 35 http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/sparkle/
36. 36 http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/creating_light_motion_trails_glowing_spark/
37. 37 http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/creating_light_motion_trails_glowing_spark/
38. 38 http://www.flash-game-design.com/tutorials/blueGlow-photoshop-tutorial.html
39. 39 http://www.flash-game-design.com/tutorials/blueGlow-photoshop-tutorial.html
40. 40 http://loreleiwebdesign.com/2008/07/05/fantasy-art-photopshop-tutorial-plasma-in-the-lake/
41. 41 http://www.loreleiweb.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9518
42. 42 http://photoncubetutorials.blogspot.com/2006/04/photoshop-light-beam.html
43. 43 http://photoncubetutorials.blogspot.com/2006/04/photoshop-light-beam.html
44. 44 http://bwebi.com/fairy-glow-lightning.html
45. 45 http://bwebi.com/fairy-glow-lightning.html
46. 46 http://pixelmana.com/?p=26
47. 47 http://pixelmana.com/?p=26
48. 48 http://freeonlineclasses.net/index.php/Photoshop-Classes/Photoshop-CS3-Photo-Effects-for-Photographers/High-Tech-Swirling-Aurora.html
49. 49 http://freeonlineclasses.net/index.php/Photoshop-Classes/Photoshop-CS3-Photo-Effects-for-Photographers/High-Tech-Swirling-Aurora.html
50. 50 http://www.shotgunmag.co.uk/?p=33
51. 51 http://www.shotgunmag.co.uk/?p=33
52. 52 http://psdtuts.com/tutorials-effects/seriously-cool-photoshop-explosion-effect/
53. 53 http://psdtuts.com/tutorials-effects/seriously-cool-photoshop-explosion-effect/
54. 54 http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop/expressive_lighting_effects
55. 55 http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/chroma-wallpapers/
56. 56 http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/chroma-wallpapers/
57. 57 http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/chroma-wallpapers/
58. 58 http://www.nopattern.com/nopattern/
59. 59 http://www.nopattern.com/nopattern/
60. 60 http://www.nopattern.com/nopattern/
61. 61 http://www.flickr.com/groups/lightstream____/pool/

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About K-Sora

Travelling is my life

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