advanced glow effects

pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API

All Topics Find tutorials, courses, and more...

Design & Illustration Expert HelpCategories Learning Guides New!

In this tutorial, we're going to create some really sharp-looking glow effects using a

combination of layer styles, the Pen Tool and Color Blending. The end effect is quite

stunning and hopefully you'll pick up some tips you didn't know before.

Step 1:

As with pretty much every tutorial I've ever written, we begin with a radial gradient.

EFFECTS

Advanced Glow Effectsby Collis Ta'eed 15 Sep 2007 1127 Comments

41 7 41


This one is pretty harsh and goes from a reddish brown color to black. Here are the

exact color codes:

Foreground color - #922f00

Background color - #000000


Step 2:

In this tutorial, we actually need a pretty intense center, so what we'll do is duplicate

the layer we just made and set the one above to a blending mode of Color Dodge.

There are a few types of blending modes, darkening ones, lightening ones,

colorizing ones and inverting ones. Color Dodge is probably the strongest of the

lightening ones. As you can see in the screenshot, it produces a pretty full-on

center.


Step 3:

Now in our glow effect, it helps to have a nice textured background. So we are

going to create a sort of smoky haze. To do this, create a new layer, then make

sure you have white, #ffffff, and black, #000000, selected as your background and

foreground colors.

Then go to Filter > Render > Clouds. This will give you the same random cloud

pattern as above.


Step 4:

Now set the opacity of your layer to Overlay and 30% transparency. In some

instances this would be enough, but for our needs we want it even smokier looking!

So go to Filter > Sketch > Chrome and use default settings of 4 and 7 for detail and

smoothness respectively. Actually you can probably mess around with those if you

want, but the defaults seem to be fine.

When you're done, the result should look a lot smokier (once its overlayed at 30%

transparency that is). You can see the result in the background of the next

screenshot.


Step 5:

Now before we can start making glows, we need to have something to glow. Here's

where we break out the pen tool. If you have used the pen tool much I suggest

playing around with it a little. There are some tricky things you can do with

shortcuts, but for this tutorial you don't need those.

In fact all we want to achieve are some nice curves. Fortunately this isn't too hard. I

find the trick is not to use too many points. Instead rely on the Pen Tool's natural

curving and drag the mouse out for each point so you get a big angle. In this S-

curve shown above, I've only used three points, the starting point, the end point and

one in between to give it the bend.


Step 6:

Once you have a nice curve, create a new layer. Then click on the Paintbrush Tool

(B) and choose a very thin, hard brush. As you know, soft brushes are the blurry

ones and hard brushes are more solid. In this case I suggest using a thickness of 3.

Note that you can have any color selected as your brush color because we'll go

over it with a layer style shortly.


Step 7:

Now switch back to the Pen Tool. You must switch tools in order to do this next bit.

Then right-click and select Stroke Path. A little dialog box will appear as in the

screenshot. Choose Brush and make sure there is a tick next to Simulate Pressure.

This is important as it will give your curve tapered ends which will make it rock!

Next right click again and select Delete Path.


Step 8:

You should now have something like the above. Just a thin, cool swishy thing.


Step 9:

Now we add some glows. The easiest way to make our glows is to use layer styles.

And the best way to tell you what layer styles to use is to tell you to download the

sample Photoshop PSD from the bottom of this page and then open it up and look

through them there.

In a nutshell, I've added two sets of glows. To do this I first use Outer Glow and

then because I want a second glow, I change the Drop Shadow settings so that it

becomes a glow (you can do this by reducing the Distance and changing the blend

mode to something like Color Dodge)

Oh and also I've used a Color Overlay to make the item white so that its like the

center of an intense glow.


Step 10:

So now you have the same line but with a cool glow coming off it. The beauty of

using a layer style is that you can copy and paste it to other layers. To do this you

just right-click the layer and select Copy Layer Style then create a new layer and

right-click and choose Paste Layer Style.


Step 11:

So now repeat the same process a couple of times to make more squiggly lines.

In this instance, I made one a little thicker by changing the paint brush size before I

did the Stroke Path bit of the process. I also made a third line and erased part of it

and sorta made it join the other two to look like a cool triangular shape.


Step 12:

Here I've added some text in and applied the same layer style to the text layers.

It's important to pay lots of care and attention to your text. When you're first starting

out, use simple fonts and play with spacing between letters, words and sizes. You

can achieve a lot with just some small tricks. Here I've contrasted the three words

by making Glow a lot larger and in regular casing, then made Advanced and FX

much smaller, with greater space between the letters and all caps.

You can control spacing with text using the Character window. If it isn't already open

go to Window > Character and it should appear. Mess about with the different

settings until you learn what each controls.


Step 13:

Now we add some particles. To do this, create a new layer then select a tiny paint

brush - size 3 - and just paint some dots on. It helps if they are clustered towards

the center of the glow so that it looks like they are emanating from there.

You can make some of the central ones larger by doubling over on them with a

second paint brush dab.

Then paste our Glow layer style on to that layer too!


Step 14:

Now that's looking pretty cool, but it will look even cooler if we give it some subtle

coloring instead of this super gaudy red.

So create a new layer, and using a radial gradient, draw a blue to white gradient as

shown.


Advertisement

Step 15:

Then set that layer to a blending mode of Color and change the opacity to 50%.

You'll see that it turns the image kind of bluish. I think that's looking much cooler

already, but just to go that extra step I also created a couple of extra layers, one

with some faint yellow and one with faint purple. You can see them in the

screenshot above.


I set each layer to blending mode of Color and thin opacities so that they all fade

together.


Step 16:

And there you have it: advanced glow effects with a cool color blend and subtle

smoky background combined make for a pretty great effect.

Just remember to experiment with settings and try applying the glow to different

things to see how it turns out. And try different color combinations, some surprising

combinations turn out really beautiful. Good luck!


Suggested Tuts+ Course

Advertisement

Difficulty:

Intermediate

Length:

Medium

Categories:

Effects Photo Effects Graphic Design

Pen Tool Color Blending

Adobe Photoshop

Translations:Selections and Masking in AdobePhotoshop

$15


Related Tutorials

Tuts+ tutorials are translated into other languages byour community membersyou can be involved too!

Translate this

post

Download Attachment

About Collis Ta'eed

Hi I'm Collis and I work at Envato makingawesome websites and generallywandering about the internets!

Quick Tip: Expanding on the StyleInspired Double Exposure EffectDesign & Illustration

Learn How to Paint a Realistic Nosein Adobe PhotoshopDesign & Illustration

How to Create Custom Brushes toRender Fur in Adobe PhotoshopDesign & Illustration


Advertisement

Jobs

Envato Market Item

1127 Comments Psdtuts+

Support Staffat Artbees in stanbul, Turkey

Front-End WordPress Developerat ThemeIsle in Bucharest, Romania


1127 Comments Psdtuts+

Share

Join the discussion

Reply

Sammy 4 years ago

I can't do the step 7. why?when I right click, i can't choose the stroke path

15

Reply

akosiKapitanObyus 7 months ago> Sammy1. make sure it's a path and not a shape.2. create new layer and then select it.3. select pen tool and then right click the path

2

Reply

mark 6 months ago> akosiKapitanObyuswhere is the download Photoshop PSD?

8

Ren Patel 2 years ago

Using CS6, glow effect isn't working well at all for me. It shows as very shadowy rather than the clean ultra brightstrokes in yours. Any ideas? I have tried copying and pasting your layer styles from the download and it's no better.

It's ok, adjusted the brush opacity settings to 100%.

Recommend 6

Share

Share

Share


Reply

It's ok, adjusted the brush opacity settings to 100%.

11

Reply

Adam 3 years ago

I have "simulate pressure" ticked yet I do not get the tapered edges. :S

6

Reply

euls 3 years ago> Adampress F5 > Click Shape Dynamics > in Control choose Pen Pressure

7

Reply

AliNoorani 2 years ago> AdamI had the same problem in CS6follow what euls said press F5 > Click Shape Dynamics > in Control choose Pen PressureIf nothing happened (like in my case) you should make sure that JITTER is set to a number rather than 0%the more you set the jitter number the more dramatic the curve tapers

5

Reply

anh a year ago> AliNooranithanks

1

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share


Reply

Bob a year ago

Great, so, you're tutorial is to have me download a PSD file ...

Oh, and the download doesn't work either ... yeah, great.

4

Reply

CheyN Ngadino 2 years ago

I want a video ! -_-

4

Reply

Chase 4 months ago

Alot of major details missing, but i got it.

2

Reply

Mary Winkler 2 months agoMod > ChaseThank you so much for sharing your result! You'll be featured in our upcoming "Created by You" communityproject (published in April).

Reply

amy 4 years ago

my "stroke path" isnt working can any one tell how does it work?

2

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share


Reply

mark 6 months ago

hi im at no. 9 now but i cant find the glow effects, where is the download sample Photoshop PSD link? thanks!

1

Reply

mohammad 2 years ago

in step 4 it says go to filter>sketch>chrome. i went to filter but there is no sketch, can someone help me pleae?thank you :)

1

Reply

Venesh Privin 2 years ago> mohammadYou can use Filter Gallery also.

1

Reply

Satyajit Sahu 2 years ago

This is such an awesome tutorial!

1

Reply

ing.var 2 years ago

woow thanks for tutorial, I esspecialy like those light effects, but these I create in app called Flame Painter - mucheasier and faster..and then I edit everything back in PS

1

Reply

Jackson Sandland 3 years ago

Wow! Thanks for posting this tutorial. It is phenomenal. What is the name of the font? The link above is expired. So,we can't see what the font is anymore. Thanks, Jackson

1

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share


Reply

Sudhir Yadav 13 days ago

Never seen a bad tutorial like this. A lot of steps are missing and not clearly explained

Reply

didina 3 months ago

awsome now i will draw quickly this saved me unexpectedly i was here for glow and learned how to use path thankyou kinde ser!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply

Sunnyokapi 5 months ago

I can't get the gradient the way it's done here. It would be nice to have that explained rather than just jumping in. Cananyone help? When I do it it goes from the red to gray then black instead of red gradually getting darker until black.

Reply

Sunnyokapi 5 months ago

How was the radial gradient done? Whenever I try it goes from the red colour to grey then to black instead of straightto black.

Reply

Anne 9 months ago

This is the worst tutorial I've ever seen... Sorry, but you didn't explain anything important at all, there are so manythings I didn't understand. For example Step 12: "Here I've added some text in and applied the same layer style to thetext layers." - HOW ????

Lauren 2 years ago

This is great! I'm a beginner trying to learn some new techniques and this was perfect. Thank you!

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share


Reply

This is great! I'm a beginner trying to learn some new techniques and this was perfect. Thank you!

Reply

Guest 2 years ago

I was wondering if anyone can help me. I'm stuck on Step 7. After creating a new layer (Step 6), I clicked on the Pentool, I right clicked, but in the menu that popped up, the Stroke Path option was greyed out. passed this step, what layer am I suppose to be on, the new one I created on Step 6 or the one I drew the curve on?

Reply

Venesh Privin 2 years ago> GuestDid you draw the curve. Stroke path should come. after you did the curve. Goto Window>Paths, you can seeWork Path, right click and stroke path.(you can save it by double clicking the text "Work Path" and naming itand pressing ok)

Reply

Jared Ye 2 years ago

thanks, really helpful

Reply

Alli Rossi 2 years ago

What is the canvas size that was used? Mine is coming out very pix-elated, Thanks :)

Reply

Venesh Privin 2 years ago> Alli Rossithe bigger the canvas the higher value you should add. example distance 3px dont work well in big canvasyou should higher the value.

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share


Reply

Amidesigh 2 years ago

in the 7*th step i have only the white line (white was my colour on the box) and in the 9*th step, i dont underestand what to do in outer glow, you just showed the drop shadow :(... come on man:( ...

Reply

Venesh Privin 2 years ago> Amidesighfor outer glow try this value: Blend mode-Screen; opacity:75%;color:# ff793b. *Elements -Technique:softer;Spread:0%; Size:25px. Quality -Range:50%

Reply

nat 2 years ago

Just wanted to point out how great this tut is. Clear, detailed and a wonderful effect. Most of the tutorials out there area real mess, so well done.

Reply

ataur 2 years ago

nice tutorial for me

Reply

Ping 2 years ago

Thanks a lot :) Really informative

Reply

Mike 2 years ago

Beginner Alert - hey, can this be done in Illustrator CS2-4? What would be different? Thanks so much for this post

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share


Reply

Reply

Marksz 2 years ago

Guys, simulate pressure, depends on the stats of your brush..Draw your lines with pen, Press B, select a brushes that flows at the sides, Press P, and press ENTER.. now itshould be working

Reply

testdl.ir 2 years ago

tnx for this tutorial

Reply

Johanne 3 years ago

why are you so awesome. well explained. i would love to subscribe or pay for your tutorials!!!

Reply

Akakasi Raymond 3 years ago

Thanks a lot... This tutorial helped in many ways! Cheers! :)

Reply

Maaz Ahmed 3 years ago

Helpfull!! but my glow not u like is really yelloish:(

Reply

Mitul Gogoi 3 years ago

I just learned simulate pressure through this tutorial. This is an awesome tutorial.

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share


Reply

Gary 3 years ago

Excellent tut - learnt a lot, thank you

Reply

Azzakura 3 years ago

This is awsome , thank you !!

Reply

Min Htin 3 years ago

Thank you !!so nice this site !!

Reply

esse 3 years ago

you need to go to your brushes window>brushes and turn on shape dynamics.

Reply

saha 3 years ago

Amazing sharing. Every tutorial is very helpful and very well explained. Thanks for sharing.

Reply

taran 3 years ago

its not working in 8th step i am trying to make glow stroke path its not working

Daniel Miller 3 years ago

Thanks for this awesome tutorial!!!!!! I used it on my site www.thewinstonshow.com it looks amazing you rock...I

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share


Load more comments

Reply

Thanks for this awesome tutorial!!!!!! I used it on my site www.thewinstonshow.com it looks amazing you rock...Iwould have had an ugly plain title, but thanks to you it looks really cool! :)

Reply

andrei 3 years ago

thanks alot:x

Subscribe Add Disqus to your sited Privacy

Share

Share


19,722 Tutorials 545 Video Courses

Advertisement

Teaching skills to millions worldwide.

Follow Us

Email Newsletters

Get Tuts+ updates, news, surveys &

offers.

Email Address


Custom digital services like logo design, WordPress installation, video

production and more.

Check out Envato Studio

Choose from over 5 million royalty-free photos and images priced from $1.

No subscription required.

Browse Photos on PhotoDune

Help and Support

FAQ

Terms of Use

Contact Support

About Tuts+

Advertise

Teach at Tuts+

Translate for Tuts+

Meetups

Email Address

Subscribe

Privacy Policy


2015 Envato Pty Ltd. Trademarks and brands are the property of their respective

owners.

advanced glow effects

Documents